Week 27

Salutations,

It's been a good week y'all, for real.  We have a couple friends with baptismal dates, we taught a bunch and finished off the transfer with goals met and friends made.

Tuesday we had our last district council for the transfer, we have tabbed book of Mormons that we're using to proselytize, so we talked about the questions that it answers and role played talking to people about it.  Elder Leishman and I used it most nights this week to try and teach people and make new friends, it went pretty well, same results as usual, but it was nice to switch it up.

We had a couple slow days and spent a lot of time knocking doors, we gave a blessing to an addict, she was shaking like crazy and hasn't been doing a lot to help herself so we won't be going back, but it's always nice to help out when we can.

We had a cool lesson with an Episcopalian lady we've been teaching, she had some good questions and it was nice to talk about the Book of Mormon and the necessity of Priesthood authority and learning the true nature of God.  We taught the son of a less active member, and he wants to get baptized.  We're taking our time with him and trying to reactivate his mom before jumping into the water, but we're glad he's enthusiastic to learn more.  He started reading the Bible in Genesis before our appointment.  This kid is 11 but he was comprehending it all really well and we gave him a book of Mormon to read, we're excited for him. 

Saturday we got calls regarding transfer information, Elder Leishman is going to the YSA here in Modesto, and I've been assigned to train a new missionary starting this week.  I'll meet him on Wednesday and be back in our ward the next day.  I'm pretty stoked, it'll be cool to work with someone brand new.  We spent our last Sunday playing pool with our friend Alan again.  He's really cool, they fed us a bunch, and he told us that out of the missionaries that visit his home, he enjoyed us spending time with him, so that was nice. 

The Church is true y'all, keep reading your Book of Mormon and praying every day, God loves you and if you put your mind to it, you can be like him.  Keep pressing forward and choosing the right, y'all got this.

Love, 

Elder Gneiting

This is our friend Nichols from my training, love this guy. 

Week 26 - 6 Months

Dear y'all,

This is the final week of the transfer, we'll find out this weekend if any changes are gonna happen, but for now, I'm confident I won't be moving again soon.  Recently, we've been finding and teaching a lot.  We began teaching 2 new people this week, and they're looking pretty promising.  We've been helping one of our friends pray about baptism, we took him to a baptismal service on Saturday and helped him understand the purpose and importance of ordinances.  He's a little standoffish, but we're praying for him!  We taught another of our friends this week, and asked him about baptism.  He seems a little open, we said there's no stress right now, but we'd enjoy exploring that concept and also invited him to have his children in on the lesson.  He said he and his wife will talk about it, so we're praying we can teach their whole family!  One of our new friends is of another faith, and it was awesome talking with her about the Bible and her beliefs and we invited her to pray about the Book of Mormon.  We're hoping we continue to have meaningful lessons with her.  We had an exchange this week, we split up with the elders from the Asian branch, one is a German citizen who's been learning English and laos, and also his Hmong speaking companion.  It's really cool working with them.  We interviewed a lady for baptism being taught by the sisters in our district, her baptism was awesome!  She has a strong testimony and was well prepared to make promises to live a better life.  She also got baptized with her daughter, it's so sick to see the kingdom of God rolling forth.  We were at the mall today and met some dude from Israel and talked to him about being missionaries when he offered us a lotion sample.  So many cool people out here!  Another morning last week, I trio'd with missionaries in the zone, I joined them in their Spanish area and it was fun teaching and learning.  I currently don't know enough Spanish to teach, but I enjoy helping out when I can.  Elder Leishman and I have been listening to Saints again and reading up on Joseph Smith and strengthening our testimonies of the First Vision, as the 200 year anniversary arrives in celebration of that monumental moment in history, I encourage you all to think about how your life would be different without the blessings and knowledge you receive from the book of Mormon.  I know the book is true, that Joseph Smith is the Lord's revelator and prophet of the last dispensation, and that God's kingdom will roll forth among the inhabitants of this world, never to be taken away again.  Love y'all, let's make this year one to remember!

Elder Gneiting

Enjoy pictures of our latest shenanigans. 

(PS, 6 Months this week, what the-?) 

Week 25

This one goes out to the fans,

Hello to y'all from California, this week has been litttt.  Monday night our trio drove down to Fresno and dropped my grandpa, Elder Falke, off at the mission home.  He and other missionaries leaving before the transfer had their departing ceremonies and he is spending his last week in a ward down there.  It was sick to drive again, I basically had a 4 hour road trip with Elder Leishman, we listened to Christmas music and got home in the evening, it's been a little more quiet with just 2 missionaries, but now I'm not sleeping on the floor or showering in 30 seconds.  Yeet!  We had another good Tuesday, district council, not a lot of appointments, but we had dinner with some cool members.  My comp and I didn't do a whole lot for new years eve, but we listened to the last of the christmas music.  New years day, we visited with the same part member family as last week, and we played pool for like 4 hours.  I was pretty bad at pool, but this member had us shoot drills and mark places on the table and by the end I was able to beat him a couple times.  The following day was full of appointments, and we invited one of our friends to pray about being baptized.  We had another couple lessons that week, we taught another friend the plan of salvation and he understood it all really well, we're still trying to get him to church.  Thursday, we had dinner with our pool friend, Alan again.  He had us play a couple games before we went and we've been keepin it up!  He's kind of atheist so it's hard to teach him anything, but he likes us and let's us pray there so we'll keep trying.  We taught another friend we found a couple weeks ago, and he came to church!  He's been moving along great and we're helping him make friends in the ward.  Sunday night, we ate with Alan and his wife, another part member couple, and our elders quroum president and his friend.  A lot of old people, but it was alright.  So far it's been a good week, just trying to grind and get work done.  Pretty close to 6 months which is blowing my mind, but I know that God is watching over me and that I'm blessed for doing his work.  I hope you all have the opportunity to read from the book of Mormon as part of the come follow me curriculum, that book has promises that can't be found anywhere else, and I know that by living the principles found in its pages brings blessings of happiness, peace, and hope.

Love y'all, 

Elder Gneiting