This week Elder Andrew and I achieved the Standard of Excellence. Basically that is a set of goals from our key indicators that President and the MLC have determined shows that an area is really progressing. These indicators have changed a couple of times over the course of my mission, mostly in the direction of making it harder to achieve. I had never been able to reach that standard until this week. So it was kind of a big deal to me and it was cool to finally achieve it.
The Dotson's are still doing great! We taught the Word of Wisdom on Wednesday, and she has committed to live it. Then on Friday we went over there and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was pretty straightforward to them. The thing is that they are too much fun to hang out with so it is hard to stay on track sometimes. But they are so golden and ready that the fellowship is almost more important at this point, as long as they follow the basic doctrines. This week we should be teaching the last lesson and getting them interviewed for baptism. Though they are kind of concerned about their daughter because she hasn't always been the most involved in the lessons and so she isn't really making the decision for herself. So we're going to go over there one day when the little kids are still at daycare so we can talk to just the 8 year old daughter and the mother. That should be really good and help with her concerns.
This past week we had to bike a bit. In order to try and save our miles, we decided to bike on Tuesday after District Meeting. That meant we came home from the meeting and had lunch and finished studies, but then after that we biked down to nearly the far end of our area to pick up our dinner money for that night. That was pretty easy, because Ken lives at the top of Moreno Valley, so it was downhill 90% of the way. But that unfortunately meant that on the way home it was 90% uphill. It really isn't too steep until right near the end. We were about to turn onto the street that leads to the dirt road Ken lives on, when Ken pulls up next to us. At first it looked like he was going to drive past, but he said we looked pretty beat so he decided to have mercy on us and threw the bikes in the back and gave us a ride the last mile or so. That really is the most brutal part of the bike ride home since the dirt road he lives on is super steep.
Ken also had mercy on us to drive us to Bible Study that night so that we wouldn't have to bike to the church, and then bike home afterwards. So that helped out a bit. Though on Tuesday night after Bible Study, half the bishopric was there talking when Brother Rodriguez realized that they didn't have any speakers for the next week because it was a 5th Sunday. And so that responsibility fell to us. I was not exactly enthused about giving a talk on 5 days notice, but it went alright. Elder Andrew spoke on the Responsibilities of Being a Member of the Church, and I spoke on the Blessings of Being a Member of the Church.
For Memorial Day, we are staying at Ken's house and cleaning/organizing. As of this morning we had 67 miles left for the month, and about 35 of those will be used driving to and from the stake center between e-mailing today and District Meeting tomorrow. So we can't really do anything. Last P-Day was a ton of fun though. We went to this really nice sports park and we played soccer, which was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It was like a full length field though, so there was a lot of running involved. And people slowly grew more and more apathetic, so by the end I was one of the few still trying to play and keep up with Elder Hoyt, who has played soccer for forever. So it was a lot of fun, but I was sore until Saturday from all the running. And of course after the zone activity we hung out for a little bit and I threw Frisbee with Elder Pennington which was fun.
This coming week we are having a couple different Ward parties. First, on Tuesday there is a ward potluck, apparently they always do it after 5th Sundays. And then this Saturday is the big ward party that has been in the works for nearly 3 months. It should be a lot of fun. It's western themed, so there will be animals and BB gun shooting and a mechanical bull and a pie eating contest and some really great food too. The Dotson's are going to be there, and quite a few members say they've invited people too. It should be a good opportunity for us to meet some members' friends.
In some ways it feels like I have been here for nearly a year (11 months), but mostly due to the e-mails of my friends. If it weren't for them telling me that two semesters of college are over, I would probably have very little sense of time. The time is passing quickly which is good and I have enjoyed my time in both of the areas where I have served. The Wards have been really great!
See you soon,
Elder Cornaby
"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." - Gordon B. Hinckley