Dear family and everyone else,
We had a wonderful 7 hour long Zone Conference on Friday. We started at 9:00, and we didn't finish until about 4:00. Though it was long and tiring at the end, it was wonderful hearing from Elder and Sister Evans and President and Sister Palmer. Sister Palmer gave a good short speech of what it means to be a missionary. Elder Evans had so much to say and to train on, one of them being him expounding upon our missionary goal which is to 1. preach repentance, and 2. baptize converts. Step one could mean different things. It doesn't always have to be declaring repentance to non-members. It can also be for family, friends, members, and less active's. Repentance is for all. He also told us to refocus our efforts on proselyting. Since the wave of missionaries has come and now is receding, they want us to pull away from doing too much service and do what we have been called to do, which is to find, teach, and baptize.
Apparently, we received word last night, that we will be having a, "Special Zone Conference" at the mission office Tuesday with Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca Zones. I thought nothing too big about it until this morning when I was more awake. I realized, LODI! That's where my 2nd cousin is, so...I guess I will get to see him after all and his trainer Elder Campbell. This will be interesting what President Palmer has to say to us. Maybe Elder Evans will be there again because he still had some unfinished business to take care of. Oh, and an exchange with Hidden Lake that night as well. I will be in my area with Elder Guernsey. We will also be teaching a less active family he just found called the Browning's. I was hoping she was related to somebody in Utah since I knew some Browning's back in West Jordan, but I guess not. I bet Elder Guernsey will be super excited to see Marcia again on this exchange.
On Tuesday, we went to one of our investigators named Sally Molenari to see how see's doing since last week. She's getting better from whatever she had, due to being old and having a weak immune system. Her son Tyler seems to be creating a heck/ **** out of her household, so she asked us for a blessing that she can continue to maintain her health and that she might be supported in her trial in trying to clean up his act while waiting to become a member of the church. She just can't seem to find the time or health to make it to church. She loved the blessing.
We also found out that Marcia Baker will be moving into the Jones' house this weekend, so she doesn't have to worry about all the homeless people showing up to her door, or Ken her roommate, or even her apartment manager kicking her out. She will finally find her peace that she desperately deserves to have. The Lord blesses those who follow him in his good timing. The Lord is bound when we keep our end of our promises and covenants.
We also taught Secret Gonzalez again on Wednesday at Sister Smith's house. It was a good visit. We talked about some of the plan of salvation, and we plan on finishing that one this week. We also taught Dirwin and his brother Melvin/Alex some more from the Child Book of Mormon up until about Lehi's dream and them getting their own spouses.
Thursday, we totally just got a randomly new investigator. His name is Corey Scheeringa. He is from a part member family, and his wife decided she wanted to start getting active again in the church. He referred himself because he truly wanted to learn more about the church. What happened was their 7 year old daughter started getting sick or inflamed, so they drove her to the hospital in Oakland and they found through her blood tests that her anti-bodies were attacking her own body. After a little while, the wife asked for a blessing from a member. A few hours after the priesthood blessing, the girl was miraculously healed. Corey witnessed this, and it sparked his testimony in the power of the priesthood. They visited the Oakland Temple visitor's center, and like I said, he referred himself. We taught him the restoration, and we focused on the priesthood. We asked him if he wanted the priesthood, and he said yes. We promised that as he reads the Book of Mormon, he will find that it is true and that Joseph Smith restored the church and priesthood authority back onto the earth. It was a wonderful visit. We plan on seeing him again on Thursday.
Lastly, last night, we sat down with Maria Tagal while her husband worked on the T.V. sound system. She read up until Nephi chapter 5. We were both surprised how far she read from our last visit. We expected the worst, but she came out to be pretty good. We talked about Lehi's family's travels and travails in the wilderness. We also showed from Ezekiel 37 that the Book of Judah (Bible), and the Book of Joseph/Ephraim (The Book of Mormon), would come together into one book. She was slightly puzzled, but we got the understanding through. She then thought that was interesting and that she would pray more about the matter as she continues to read.
That's about it for you all. Have a great week.
Sincerely,
Elder White
We had a wonderful 7 hour long Zone Conference on Friday. We started at 9:00, and we didn't finish until about 4:00. Though it was long and tiring at the end, it was wonderful hearing from Elder and Sister Evans and President and Sister Palmer. Sister Palmer gave a good short speech of what it means to be a missionary. Elder Evans had so much to say and to train on, one of them being him expounding upon our missionary goal which is to 1. preach repentance, and 2. baptize converts. Step one could mean different things. It doesn't always have to be declaring repentance to non-members. It can also be for family, friends, members, and less active's. Repentance is for all. He also told us to refocus our efforts on proselyting. Since the wave of missionaries has come and now is receding, they want us to pull away from doing too much service and do what we have been called to do, which is to find, teach, and baptize.
Apparently, we received word last night, that we will be having a, "Special Zone Conference" at the mission office Tuesday with Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca Zones. I thought nothing too big about it until this morning when I was more awake. I realized, LODI! That's where my 2nd cousin is, so...I guess I will get to see him after all and his trainer Elder Campbell. This will be interesting what President Palmer has to say to us. Maybe Elder Evans will be there again because he still had some unfinished business to take care of. Oh, and an exchange with Hidden Lake that night as well. I will be in my area with Elder Guernsey. We will also be teaching a less active family he just found called the Browning's. I was hoping she was related to somebody in Utah since I knew some Browning's back in West Jordan, but I guess not. I bet Elder Guernsey will be super excited to see Marcia again on this exchange.
On Tuesday, we went to one of our investigators named Sally Molenari to see how see's doing since last week. She's getting better from whatever she had, due to being old and having a weak immune system. Her son Tyler seems to be creating a heck/ **** out of her household, so she asked us for a blessing that she can continue to maintain her health and that she might be supported in her trial in trying to clean up his act while waiting to become a member of the church. She just can't seem to find the time or health to make it to church. She loved the blessing.
We also found out that Marcia Baker will be moving into the Jones' house this weekend, so she doesn't have to worry about all the homeless people showing up to her door, or Ken her roommate, or even her apartment manager kicking her out. She will finally find her peace that she desperately deserves to have. The Lord blesses those who follow him in his good timing. The Lord is bound when we keep our end of our promises and covenants.
We also taught Secret Gonzalez again on Wednesday at Sister Smith's house. It was a good visit. We talked about some of the plan of salvation, and we plan on finishing that one this week. We also taught Dirwin and his brother Melvin/Alex some more from the Child Book of Mormon up until about Lehi's dream and them getting their own spouses.
Thursday, we totally just got a randomly new investigator. His name is Corey Scheeringa. He is from a part member family, and his wife decided she wanted to start getting active again in the church. He referred himself because he truly wanted to learn more about the church. What happened was their 7 year old daughter started getting sick or inflamed, so they drove her to the hospital in Oakland and they found through her blood tests that her anti-bodies were attacking her own body. After a little while, the wife asked for a blessing from a member. A few hours after the priesthood blessing, the girl was miraculously healed. Corey witnessed this, and it sparked his testimony in the power of the priesthood. They visited the Oakland Temple visitor's center, and like I said, he referred himself. We taught him the restoration, and we focused on the priesthood. We asked him if he wanted the priesthood, and he said yes. We promised that as he reads the Book of Mormon, he will find that it is true and that Joseph Smith restored the church and priesthood authority back onto the earth. It was a wonderful visit. We plan on seeing him again on Thursday.
Lastly, last night, we sat down with Maria Tagal while her husband worked on the T.V. sound system. She read up until Nephi chapter 5. We were both surprised how far she read from our last visit. We expected the worst, but she came out to be pretty good. We talked about Lehi's family's travels and travails in the wilderness. We also showed from Ezekiel 37 that the Book of Judah (Bible), and the Book of Joseph/Ephraim (The Book of Mormon), would come together into one book. She was slightly puzzled, but we got the understanding through. She then thought that was interesting and that she would pray more about the matter as she continues to read.
That's about it for you all. Have a great week.
Sincerely,
Elder White