This was a week of reunions. First I went on exchanges with Elder Andrew. It was fun to be working with him again and biking Hemet is way easier than anywhere else I've biked in the mission. It also brings my total bike time up to 6 days, so I'll probably end up with a full week of bike days by the time I go home. The second reunion was with the Dotson Family that Elder Andrew and I had taught in Moreno Valley!
For our dinner appointment, the Smiths arranged for the Dotson family to come join us. At first it was kind of awkward because I hadn't seen them for almost a year, and Elder Andrew had only seen them once a few months ago. But once we got talking, it was a ton of fun and just like old times. It was kind of sad to hear how rough of a go they've had this past year. They've had quite a few family emergencies, which has taken them away from church at times. Ken is their home teacher, and he's great for them, but other than that, I don't think they have too many people that they feel like they have connected with in the Ward. They do still want to go to the temple, or at least learn more about exactly what the purpose of the temple is. I think they understand the idea of a sealing pretty well, but the endowment is different, and people haven't really answered their questions very well. So they're hoping to start the temple prep class soon, and they have also started meeting with the Sister missionaries again. One of the last things Emily said to us before we left was, "Will you guys come to our sealing?", so that was a good sign. Sister Dotson also bore her testimony this past week. She sent me a copy of what she had written out and I think it was really good and a huge step for them. It was so good to see them and I think it helped them a little to talk with us again. So I look forward to attending their sealing (I'm hoping by the end of the year), but we'll just have to wait and see.
We had a baptism on Sunday for Isaiah. It was awesome! At first I was kind of worried because the font was filling super slow. We arrived at the church over an hour before the baptism was supposed to begin, but it still seemed like there wasn't going to be very much water in the font by the time we needed to start. But since he was a kid I wasn't too worried about having enough water. It was also kind of stressful because most of the people that came didn't show up until about 4:59, so the room seemed somewhat empty for a while. It was kind of sad because half of Isaiah's family was sick with strep, so they weren't able to be there. But it turned out to be well attended in the end. We scraped together a musical number with Primary children from the Ward and then afterwards they had refreshments at the Washburn's home.
As for other investigators, this past week was sort of rough for missionary work. We were on exchanges for 2 days, one of which we were with the ZL's which means that no work was being done in our area because of how they do those exchanges now. Also our desire to go seeking with faith this week was a little lack luster. There were some good parts to the week though. On Friday while I was with Elder Andrew in Fruitvale, Elder Herald had another lesson with the young woman and her friends. He brought along the Ward Mission Leader's wife, and they just answered questions. He said that it was just like before; there were a couple who were more interested than the others, and it's hard to commit people to things in groups. But the girls are taking turns praying for the most part so that's a good thing.
From the West Side . . . .
Elder Cornaby
We had a baptism on Sunday for Isaiah. It was awesome! At first I was kind of worried because the font was filling super slow. We arrived at the church over an hour before the baptism was supposed to begin, but it still seemed like there wasn't going to be very much water in the font by the time we needed to start. But since he was a kid I wasn't too worried about having enough water. It was also kind of stressful because most of the people that came didn't show up until about 4:59, so the room seemed somewhat empty for a while. It was kind of sad because half of Isaiah's family was sick with strep, so they weren't able to be there. But it turned out to be well attended in the end. We scraped together a musical number with Primary children from the Ward and then afterwards they had refreshments at the Washburn's home.
As for other investigators, this past week was sort of rough for missionary work. We were on exchanges for 2 days, one of which we were with the ZL's which means that no work was being done in our area because of how they do those exchanges now. Also our desire to go seeking with faith this week was a little lack luster. There were some good parts to the week though. On Friday while I was with Elder Andrew in Fruitvale, Elder Herald had another lesson with the young woman and her friends. He brought along the Ward Mission Leader's wife, and they just answered questions. He said that it was just like before; there were a couple who were more interested than the others, and it's hard to commit people to things in groups. But the girls are taking turns praying for the most part so that's a good thing.
From the West Side . . . .
Elder Cornaby