Cecilia. . . Sigh. . . She didn't come to church yet again. We had planned to meet with her on Friday, but on our way home from the mission tour she texted us and told us that she had to cancel because she had to cover a shift for a sick coworker. But she said she'd be there on Sunday. Then on Sunday morning she texted and said she had to cover someone else's shift again. So that means she will fall off date. It is impossible for her to make her date of January 31st. So next time we meet with her we'll have to push it back, probably a couple weeks just to be safe. And that wouldn't be such a big deal, but the advice I'm starting to get from Elder Beck and Elder Benson, two of the DL's in Corona, is that she probably needs to be given the 'drop talk'. She isn't making church, or even our regular lessons, a priority anymore, and so she isn't really progressing towards baptism. So this week we will meet with her once, maybe twice, and basically have to give her the 'drop talk'. That's where you teach repentance, re-extend commitments, and in the case of church, you basically tell them that they need to come to church and if they don't come you can't continue to visit them. They are welcome to church whenever they can and when they can make that commitment you can continue to meet with them, but that for now you need to stop contacting them. That really sucks because she seemed so enthusiastic and promising, so to drop her now would break my heart, but maybe it needs to be done. Just 30 minutes ago, she cancelled our appointment for tonight, so it's hard. We'll see where it goes, I'll update you again next week.
The weather has been pretty wet. On Tuesday through Thursday it rained on and off for most of the day. On Wednesday it even down-poured for about an hour, we went out in it a little, and I can attest to the waterproof-ness of my shoes. I was in 2 or 3 inches of water a couple times but I stayed completely dry. Because it was raining we did have the opportunity to do a little bit of tracting, just a half dozen houses here or there when we had a few extra minutes. We've never really worked on door approaches so we're working on that, but I think I like street contacting better anyways. Apparently Corona got around 4 inches of rain this past week and that is nearly unheard of!
I have been doing much better at letting Elder Walker take the lead. For one thing, this month they told Elder Walker he is the designated driver, so that has helped him learn the area better. When I drove, he would normally fall asleep, even if we were going somewhere two minutes away, so the first couple days he had literally no idea what we were doing or where we were going but he's getting better now. Also, he is doing a little more of the planning, we probably do it about 50-50 now, whether that is switching off taking the lead on different days, or just equally sharing ideas during any given planning session. Unfortunately because he's the driver, he can't do as much stuff with the phone as I would like him to unless we do it during studies or stick around at the apartment a little longer, so I'm working on finding opportunities for him to get him used to setting up appointments and such. Because of his background as a home schooled kid, such things as driving and texting and scheduling, are a little out of his areas of expertise. He can do all of them, but they aren't quite as second nature as they are for the rest of us, and on the way to Riverside the other two Elders and I were all a little nervous and doing plenty of back seat driving. But he's doing much better, as long as I make sure and remind him to actually wear his glasses when he's driving.
I haven't really felt any earthquakes yet, the biggest one that most people felt we were driving during so we didn't feel it. And also, in the middle of one of the stormy nights, there was a really loud thunderclap and a really close lightning bolt, but I just slept through both of them. I wonder if they were really that loud or if these people just have never experienced an Oklahoma thunderstorm.
Something that did wake me up this week though, was Elder Benson, when we were on exchanges. I went to the Spanish area with him, and he talks in his sleep a lot. He probably woke me up half a dozen times. I can't blame him though because Elder Walker tells me that I extend commitments and ask people for referrals in my sleep all the time. Exchanges with Elder Benson were a lot of fun, and getting to know him better will help with our district unity a bit. Things have just been different since Elder Ferrin left so hopefully getting know our new DL will help become closer.
This week has been sort of a rough week in general. So I woke up on Sunday with not the best attitude. During studies and such I was very quiet and reserved and distracted, which isn't very typical. It was one of those days where hearing other people chew their food just makes you want to rip their head off, you know? But as I read an article in the December Ensign, "Christmas Hug", things started to change a little bit, I was able to focus a little better. And then when we went to church, even though I was bummed about not having Cecilia there, as I took the sacrament and contemplated all the things we'd been taught by Elder Hamula, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace come over me, much stronger than I ever have before. And as I listened to the speaker, I was entirely overcome by the Spirit and could not keep from tearing up more than a little. I can testify of the importance of the sacrament each week, that it truly does sanctify us in order to prepare us for our week and keep us spiritually filled and I hope that each of you looks on it as the sacred ordinance that it truly is. Sister Haughawout shared an article, also from the December Ensign called "The Last Sacrament Cup" that really gets across the point of it all. I hope you all have a chance to read it this week and think about that.
See you soon,
Elder Cornaby