We had a better week. At least we got a lot of service hours in. The
Our Center was having their annual fundraiser where they sell handmade
bowls that have been donated by schools and also have soup for lunch.
We helped set up chairs and tables, assemble kits in bags, take
tickets for about 8 hours, and take everything down. On the sign
"leave your ticket here" (with me or my companion), we wrote "with the
handsome one". Not many people noticed it, though. One worker
volunteered to take us out to Starbucks for our help, so we went and
got some coffee-free Starbucks. We took our whitest white girl selfie.
We also helped someone that got evicted load or trash their stuff late
one night when we couldn't find anything to do. That was really hard
to see. This lady could hardly breathe due to age, stress, smoking,
and asthma. She sat in the car while we tried to sort through the
stuff. We also shoveled snow for 2 hours when we got around 5 inches
this week. Most of it has melted, and it's supposed to be in the 70s
today. Tennis will be perfect.
Last week playing tennis, we got kicked off the courts by a bunch of
young kids and their leader who had reserved the court. We talked to
them for a bit, and then we asked if they needed volunteers. They said
they had a huge need. We signed up online, but they haven't called us
yet...? We'll probably see them today since we are going to play
tennis again, so we'll ask them why we haven't heard back. I think
helping kids play sports would be a fun way to give service.
We had 2 good lessons with the Flores family. The second had a member
with us, and that helped a lot. Here is the problem we encounter ALL
THE TIME with Catholic investigators: We teach the first lesson, it
goes well. We talk and emphasize the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the
priesthood, and the need for all of those. They seem to get it or say
that they do. Sometimes we invite them to be baptized, they say
they've already been baptized, then we re explain the need for
priesthood. We ask again if they'll be baptized, and they avoid the
question. Sometimes they will commit to read the Book of Mormon to get
out of the baptismal commitment. Those that at least commit to read
are usually interested enough to hear the Plan of Salvation. We teach
it, and they say "that's basically what our church teaches!" And I
silently think "no, it's not even close, actually". Then we teach the
third lesson (Gospel of Jesus Christ), re invite them to be baptized,
they say again that the have already been baptized, and we go over the
restoration again. Repeat until they either have a change of heart and
get baptized or lose interest, or they were golden and they skip all
of those above steps and just understand everything and get baptized.
We are hoping that the Flores family is one that either just
understands or has a change of heart and understanding. The girl that
recently got home from her mission in Honduras spoke in sacrament
meeting, and I was cracking up the whole time. She was speaking so
fast, and she could hardly think about what she was saying before she
said it. She kept saying things that sound weird in English but make
sense if you speak Spanish and are translating from Spanish to
English, like "the temple has 3 years", "my companion and I we went",
I accustomed myself", or "we talked to a lot of families inactives".
She also spoke in a very singsongy voice that is characteristic, I'm
told, of that area. The other thing was she would get lost in the
middle of her thought with a word that she didn't remember and took
her a minute to think of, like how she said "We saw this random guy
that had a folle.... Folle.... Pamphlet". It was just really cool for
me to see and understand why she was saying things the way she was.
She is really excited to come and teach with us this Tuesday. We will
see how it goes.
one night when we couldn't find anything to do. That was really hard
to see. This lady could hardly breathe due to age, stress, smoking,
and asthma. She sat in the car while we tried to sort through the
stuff. We also shoveled snow for 2 hours when we got around 5 inches
this week. Most of it has melted, and it's supposed to be in the 70s
today. Tennis will be perfect.
Last week playing tennis, we got kicked off the courts by a bunch of
young kids and their leader who had reserved the court. We talked to
them for a bit, and then we asked if they needed volunteers. They said
they had a huge need. We signed up online, but they haven't called us
yet...? We'll probably see them today since we are going to play
tennis again, so we'll ask them why we haven't heard back. I think
helping kids play sports would be a fun way to give service.
We had 2 good lessons with the Flores family. The second had a member
with us, and that helped a lot. Here is the problem we encounter ALL
THE TIME with Catholic investigators: We teach the first lesson, it
goes well. We talk and emphasize the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the
priesthood, and the need for all of those. They seem to get it or say
that they do. Sometimes we invite them to be baptized, they say
they've already been baptized, then we re explain the need for
priesthood. We ask again if they'll be baptized, and they avoid the
question. Sometimes they will commit to read the Book of Mormon to get
out of the baptismal commitment. Those that at least commit to read
are usually interested enough to hear the Plan of Salvation. We teach
it, and they say "that's basically what our church teaches!" And I
silently think "no, it's not even close, actually". Then we teach the
third lesson (Gospel of Jesus Christ), re invite them to be baptized,
they say again that the have already been baptized, and we go over the
restoration again. Repeat until they either have a change of heart and
get baptized or lose interest, or they were golden and they skip all
of those above steps and just understand everything and get baptized.
We are hoping that the Flores family is one that either just
understands or has a change of heart and understanding. The girl that
recently got home from her mission in Honduras spoke in sacrament
meeting, and I was cracking up the whole time. She was speaking so
fast, and she could hardly think about what she was saying before she
said it. She kept saying things that sound weird in English but make
sense if you speak Spanish and are translating from Spanish to
English, like "the temple has 3 years", "my companion and I we went",
I accustomed myself", or "we talked to a lot of families inactives".
She also spoke in a very singsongy voice that is characteristic, I'm
told, of that area. The other thing was she would get lost in the
middle of her thought with a word that she didn't remember and took
her a minute to think of, like how she said "We saw this random guy
that had a folle.... Folle.... Pamphlet". It was just really cool for
me to see and understand why she was saying things the way she was.
She is really excited to come and teach with us this Tuesday. We will
see how it goes.
The bowl I got from the Our Center event. He's my happy, chill turtle.
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