Tomorrow officially marks 19 months on my mission, so that means I have a little less than 5 months left. It's kind of crazy to think how quickly it is going to pass.
This week our district meeting is going to be on Wednesday, and it's going to be on "How To Begin Teaching". It's something that I've found has kind of been lacking in myself in this area. In the YSA, we had so many people who were either referrals or self-referrals, that the idea of setting expectations with people had kind of slipped away. So I think this training will be as good for me as for everybody else. Hopefully I can make sure it's a good one. I really enjoy training because it challenges me to teach something in a new way, which is kind of fun.
This week our district meeting is going to be on Wednesday, and it's going to be on "How To Begin Teaching". It's something that I've found has kind of been lacking in myself in this area. In the YSA, we had so many people who were either referrals or self-referrals, that the idea of setting expectations with people had kind of slipped away. So I think this training will be as good for me as for everybody else. Hopefully I can make sure it's a good one. I really enjoy training because it challenges me to teach something in a new way, which is kind of fun.
The teaching pool here is growing slowly but surely. We still have a lot of people that are early on in the teaching process, but that's alright as long as we continue to meet with them. We're also finding a little more consistently, so that helps. We haven't had anybody at church yet, but we're working on that. We had dinner with a couple of ward members in leadership positions like our Elder's Quorum President and Primary 1st Counselor, and they are both very proactive in working with members and investigators alike. Also on the 5th Sunday, our ward mission leader was given some time to talk about his vision for the ward. So it allows us to kind of play off of that and put the blame on him. We aren't asking them to go pick up less actives, the Ward Mission Leader is the one that asked them to do it. We are just going to follow up with them and encourage them. I think now that he has presented his vision to the ward, we can start getting him to ask for team-ups too.
Other highlights, We went on exchanges with the ZL's this week and that was super fun. I was with Elder Pennington. The way they did the exchange this time though, was that Elder Goodrich and I went into their area, I was with one and he was with the other. So we got to talk at night and eat meals together and things like that, so it made for a really fun day. Also, Elder Pennington is just a really cool guy, I got to know him a little in Moreno Valley but I'd never been on an exchange with him before so it was cool. We were able to pick up two new investigators, and we also randomly found a member who had recently moved, but because she's less active, wasn't on their radar. It's a part member family and they hope to start working with them. So it's the little miracles like that that keep you going on your mission.
On Saturday, it was interesting, because we kind of got into two sort of bashes. They weren't hostile or anything, and it didn't get to the point where we pulled out our scriptures and were saying "see, we're right!". But they were pretty lengthy conversations, that were sometimes focused on typical anti/bash topics. But one of them we were able to give a Book of Mormon and get a return appointment, so that was pretty cool. I also noticed that we were pretty bold with him, when it came to a point where he was just plain misinformed, we were not afraid to just tell him straight up how it is. Elder Goodrich just tells it how it is, and I think it's helping me in my teaching. Also, I think our street contacts are becoming a lot more confident and sincere. Now that we aren't keeping track of them, it's kind of like every single person we talk to, we're talking to now because we have a sincere desire to talk to them and share the gospel, not to get the number.
We were also able to work with a member in a way I never had before. They'd previously given us a name of a neighbor, but we hadn't been able to go see them yet, because they live in the part of our area that is like 15 miles away. But we were up there before dinner, and we just stopped by the member and asked him to come introduce us, and he said sure. So we were able to talk, just on the porch and meet him. His wife is an accountant, and she must do taxes because he said she'll be busy until April 15th, so it's become a long term referral, but it was mostly just really cool to work with a member in the way that we always hope, but had never really happened for me yet. Hopefully it left an impact on them as much as it did for me.
I think that pretty much sums up the week. Next week P-Day will finally be on Monday again, so I don't have to worry about a weird schedule throwing our week off anymore. It really does throw it off when you have P-Day on Tuesday, everything just feels weird.
From the West Side . . . .
Elder Cornaby
Other highlights, We went on exchanges with the ZL's this week and that was super fun. I was with Elder Pennington. The way they did the exchange this time though, was that Elder Goodrich and I went into their area, I was with one and he was with the other. So we got to talk at night and eat meals together and things like that, so it made for a really fun day. Also, Elder Pennington is just a really cool guy, I got to know him a little in Moreno Valley but I'd never been on an exchange with him before so it was cool. We were able to pick up two new investigators, and we also randomly found a member who had recently moved, but because she's less active, wasn't on their radar. It's a part member family and they hope to start working with them. So it's the little miracles like that that keep you going on your mission.
On Saturday, it was interesting, because we kind of got into two sort of bashes. They weren't hostile or anything, and it didn't get to the point where we pulled out our scriptures and were saying "see, we're right!". But they were pretty lengthy conversations, that were sometimes focused on typical anti/bash topics. But one of them we were able to give a Book of Mormon and get a return appointment, so that was pretty cool. I also noticed that we were pretty bold with him, when it came to a point where he was just plain misinformed, we were not afraid to just tell him straight up how it is. Elder Goodrich just tells it how it is, and I think it's helping me in my teaching. Also, I think our street contacts are becoming a lot more confident and sincere. Now that we aren't keeping track of them, it's kind of like every single person we talk to, we're talking to now because we have a sincere desire to talk to them and share the gospel, not to get the number.
We were also able to work with a member in a way I never had before. They'd previously given us a name of a neighbor, but we hadn't been able to go see them yet, because they live in the part of our area that is like 15 miles away. But we were up there before dinner, and we just stopped by the member and asked him to come introduce us, and he said sure. So we were able to talk, just on the porch and meet him. His wife is an accountant, and she must do taxes because he said she'll be busy until April 15th, so it's become a long term referral, but it was mostly just really cool to work with a member in the way that we always hope, but had never really happened for me yet. Hopefully it left an impact on them as much as it did for me.
I think that pretty much sums up the week. Next week P-Day will finally be on Monday again, so I don't have to worry about a weird schedule throwing our week off anymore. It really does throw it off when you have P-Day on Tuesday, everything just feels weird.
From the West Side . . . .
Elder Cornaby