Week 29

To whom it may concern,

It's been quite a week.  My appreciation for the Plan of Salvation is always increasing, this week however I have especial reason to appreciate it.  My prayers go out to my family and relatives after the passing of my great-uncle Kay, whose funeral I was unable to attend.  Though I was sad to hear the news, I was quickened at the thought of his new state of peace and rest.  I may miss him now, but our heavenly Father is watching over all his children, and has prepared a place for the righteous who have passed on, to await the day of the resurrection where we as families will be reunited.  Rest in peace, Kay Gneiting. 

Last Monday ended, after a brief member visit, with a blessing from our bishop on my companion, Elder Greene, in preparation for his work in this area.  He and I have been grinding hard to increase the work here in Modesto.  Tuesday morning we had interviews with our mission President and a training provided by his assistants.  It was nice to talk to President and review information in our area, and set appropriate goals going forward this transfer.  Afterwards, we had a lesson with one of our friends, knocked on plenty of doors, and closed with a part member family lesson.  The next morning, my companion was having a hard time breathing, so we called the mission nurse, checked his throat, and found out he had strep.  We took him to an urgent care and got him medicated.  Not a lot of work got done, I was able to go out and teach a friend of ours, (a brief lesson on commandments), with another missionary, who afterward skyped into a baptism of a friend in his old area.  It was cool.  Thursday, we taught a lesson in the morning of a Christian man who's been looking for answers to questions he has concerning Christ after his ministry in Jerusalem.  We showed him the book of Mormon last time, but this day we discussed the introduction, explained again the return of the prophets, and read in 3 Nephi of Jesus' appearance in the Americas.  It was a cool lesson, and we answered the question our friend had.  We taught another lesson with our friend Gabriel who is slowly moving closer to baptism, and then went knocking to find former friends.  On one occasion, we knocked on a door of a man who said he was a member, but hadn't been active for many years.  We gave him our number and address for the church, and he gave us water and granola bars.  A good trade.  We contacted some friends and visited with a member of our bishopric, a convert of over a decade, to hear more about his story and visit his family.  Friday was all over the place, after some weekly planning, we visited our friend Alan, introduced the new elder, played some pool, and got some food.  They have 2 orange trees, and it's the season right now, and they gave us a bag full of these pumpkin sized oranges, they're absolutely massive.  We knocked some doors and had a lesson with our young friend Tristan, he's moving along well, read almost the entire book of Mormon stories before our second appointment, and he remembered everything we discussed from 2 weeks ago.  It was a great lesson.  The Bishop delivered to us a bag full of cookies, and then we went out to eat with a member family, they're Polynesian, and we went to Onos Hawaiian Barbcue, which is this awesome restaurant that serves tons of meat and rice and macaroni salad.  I ate so much, and we talked to the member father about his mission in Utah.  He had some crazy stories, but he especially appreciated all the food they got every day.  Saturday morning, our zone had breakfast with the stake Presidency to discuss goals for this transfer, they made us Chocolate chip pancakes and then we counciled as a zone to set goals for ourselves.  It was motivating to see us come together and seek the will of the Lord.  Elder Greene and I left to help an older couple move apartments, their daughter is a member but they are not, so it was great to help, and she also insisted on taking us out to lunch.  We met with our ward mission leader, visited some friends, and our Elders Quorum President took us out that evening for Mexican food.  Sunday went as usual, we visited friends and members, trying hard to avoid the super bowl, we taught a few lessons, were fed by our ward mission leader, played some more pool with Alan, and taught our recent convert Carl about some commandments.  It was a busy weekend, and I think I gained 20 pounds in the span of a few days.  I'm not complaining.  I love you all.  The Plan of Salvation is real, it brings us joy now and later.  Families can be together forever.  Jesus Christ lives, this is his church and kingdom on earth. 

Until next time, 

Elder Gneiting