Week 35

...For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places...And then shall many be offended...But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved...And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world...   ...And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion...

Last Monday ended on a good note. Despite some slow process of elimination within our area, we had a lesson with a family in our ward, they're getting active again and their son just received the Aaronic Priesthood. We read and talked about the Book of Mormon and helped them set a goal to center their family on the important things. Tuesday was good, we had interviews with the president. Talked to him about stuff in the area or whatever, had a training by the zone leaders and practiced teaching simply. Our zone now has 4 training companionships, which is crazy. A lot of greenies, but I still feel new to the whole missionary thing. Weird to think it's been 8 months. Already? It can't be! We spent the rest of that night tracting and trying to find new people, it was a nice day, just good to be outside. Had another member lesson, great way to practice the skills we learned that morning. The next day we had family history time, so we got to the stake center and researched some, I'm probably going to start indexing soon, I've read back on so many family lines, I gotta change it up. We went tracting again that night, and the first guy on the street was sitting on his porch. We talked to him about his beliefs and he mentioned his family recently stopped attending their old church. We testified of living truth and prophets and invited him to church, and he accepted! ...Until we received information, later on, that church is indefinitely canceled. Ironically, that night seemed to have a lot of success inviting other people to the church we don't actually attend anymore. We'll just have to bring him a Come, Follow Me manual so we can show him how to have church at home! The night continued, had a few interesting encounters with some "wise and learned". Lots of strong opinions out here, definitely not what I expected from Modesto CA. At least they found religion! We had another member lesson, they gave us cookies, so that was nice. Had another exchange! Elder Houston and I booling in the Spanish area like a boss. We watched some old 80s church videos during our dinner time, and they were ridiculously funny. I recommend one called "The Phone Call" on churchofjesuschrist.org, the lack of resolve combined with capricious dialogue choices left me questioning my ability to enjoy the internet. We tried to teach some friends of theirs in the absolute hood. Wild dogs, white people yellin at each other, civil workers, it was legit. Got home a little late from exchanging back, but it was a fun day. Friday was fun, lessons with friends, we were advised by the mission president to build a temporary food storage, so we went apocalypse shopping at our Winco, so many people buying toilet paper instead of food. Shaking my head. I'm getting tired of writing, so to summarize, we tracted a lot, taught here and there, and didn't go to church on Sunday like everyone else. I will share one story. Saturday morning, during our studies, we got a knock on our door, so we opened it and outside was a family of four. It was an interesting predicament, they were there with the aim of inviting us to attend their congregation, and let me tell ya, it was weird being on the receiving end. If I could paint a picture, imagine two Mormon boys knocking on some family's door with the intent to convert, but the roles were switched. It was bizarre. The poor family took one look at us in the tie and badge, they were so confused. And so was I! So I took the invitation and thanked them, and realizing I didn't have a church to invite them to this weekend, I gave them a pass-along card. Very outre.

Apparently it's the end of the world because some Chinese guy got a cold from a bat or something, so I hope you all remember to say your prayers and count your blessings. Imagine your religion being a cheap offshoot of what you think Jesus might have taught. Glad it's not me! I heard a new Grouplove album came out, so please enjoy that for me. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters that this disease may pass. We thank thee, O God, for a Prophet. We really need the guidance in these latter-days. Church is true y'all, remember to find that out for yourself. 

...Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome...

Elder Gneiting

No pics this week, sorry

Week 34

Dear hooligans,

Elder Greene and I started off our second transfer together with a bang!  Plenty of goals set to improve our skills and abilities, and measurements made to motivate us to increase and accelerate the gathering of Israel.  What a privilege it is to be an hireling of the harvest.  This week we decided we needed to contact everyone in Modesto that had any contact with the church.  So we made a list of names to take in certain areas in town and went a-biking.  Monday night was crazy, so many people didn't want to answer there door, I can't imagine why, and en route to another street we ran into Alan, the atheist pool master, and his wife, who took us to get chinese food.  Victory Royale.  The next day we again hit the streets of the Central Valley, one sunny hour at a time, speaking to homeowners about previous inhabitants of this land northward.  We ran into a member we hadn't met before, he is a drummer but recently had a shoulder surgery and was out of commission.  Told us about his kids and some of the paths they've taken in life.  One of his sons is a professional singer for some huge concert band that performs for business expos and conferences, especially for News Channels and cable companies, all over the United States.  That was pretty cool.  Had some interesting encounters with people disaffected from the church, and then taught one of our friends, Jose, about Tithing, who told us he wanted to start paying Tithing today, I almost baptized him right there in the apartment complex, but I figured he needs to understand a few more steps first.  Wednesday, we went out, determined to get in the homes of some less active members.  We did, and had interesting conversations, especially one man, who was baptized a few years ago but has since come out and struggles to maintain a testimony while also balancing his personal beliefs and reflection on the philosophies of the world.  One aspect of the Restoration, however, remains true to him.  Joseph Smith and his first vision.  Probably because it is true, but also, in his words, the search for truth that young Joseph took by inquiring if the Lord is one that we should all take.  Amen!  The next day we attempted to make appointments out of the many doors we knocked, to minimal success.  However, we taught our friend Nick again and asked him to take a step of faith and really ask God if what we have taught him is true, and if he's ready to align himself with the church.  He said he would, and we anticipate his answer this week.  Friday morning, Alan asked if we could help him in his yard.  I was stoked, it was a nice day, and when we showed up, he said he was going to make us breakfast but got lazy, so we went to Perko's instead.  Heck yeah!  Then we helped him remove most of the plants in his back garden by means of shovel, pitchfork, and grit.  It was a good hour of labor, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.  We went to teach our friend Jose again, and committed him to get married.  And to be baptized!  He said yes to both!  And called his wife into the room so he could tell her the things he's learned and so far understands.  She was cool with it.  We showed our friend Gabriel a video on the Restoration, and he invited us over for dinner the next day.  It wasn't a busy Saturday, we had to push some of our planning onto that day so we didn't get to knock so many doors. Gabriel took us to Costco for pizza and churros.  So good.  Church was great, Sunday we visited with some members, a few less active families we have been visiting came to church so that was epic.  We went out with the ward mission leader, met with some friends, he and his wife fed us spaghetti, and knocked a couple more doors before heading home.  On our way back, just before curfew, Alan asked us to come eat pie that he had baked.  It was bomb, he also asked us to eat some Frattata or something.  He said it was Italian and I said it was good.  It's been a good week, I ate a lot of food, but don't worry (Dad) I still make sure to run.  Besides, this is the second week in a row that we've biked, I'm doing alright.  The church is so true guys.  I've thought a lot about the Book of Mormon and the light it brings into our lives when we choose to open its cover and glide over the pages for just a moment in our day.  I wish we had a day to study from dawn until dusk, but there's work to do, for the salvation of other souls, not mine.  I'll get there, just gotta keep pushing, living the commandments, being converted to the Lord through obedience and faith.  Jesus Christ is at the head, he is in control.  He watches over the work.  Hope you're all doing well, staying healthy, and trying new foods.

Loce and prayers, 

Elder Gneiting

Week 33

Dear Team Gneiting,

The week went as the week goes. Monday night we had dinner late. I've mentioned before the grill we have in our backyard, I use it to cook daily if I can, and my grillin' skills have increased significantly. We prepped chicken breast to eat throughout the week, and ate some that night as well. Tuesday was our final district council of the transfer, crazy another one is gone, we talked about the covenant path and how to get our members more involved. We taught our friend Nick, we talked about the temple, covenants, and our member friend invited him to visit the Oakland temple with him that Saturday, and he accepted! Wednesday morning we went to the family history center again to do some research, but some friends of other missionaries showed up and we helped them upload some photos and find records of their ancestors. We visited with a member in our ward who converted over a decade ago. She had stepped away from religion after some conflict she had, and spent time researching other churches in an attempt to find one that rang true. A few weeks into her search, after taking an interest in the book of Mormon, 3 missionaries showed up at her door, and she was baptized soon after. It was quite the story! Later that day we met with a recent convert, a young man named Brayden, got to know him better and we taught him a little about the Book of Mormon to review. He hasn't been to church in a while so we coordinated with some members of the young men's to help get him out. The next day we had an exchange with the zone leaders, I was put back into Spanish work. I love going out with the Spanish elders, knocking doors and being bold, the best part is it can't go wrong for me, most of the people we meet can't understand me, but I'm positive enough they'll hear out my companion. It was good to go around and teach and find, and the next day we studied and prepared to swap back. Last minute, we got a call to unload some lady's moving truck and we spent a couple hours doing that with the other Elders in our zone. It was tough fitting it into her storage unit but service is always worth it. When I got back into my area, Elder Greene and I went out knocking, and we ran into this guy who, after a brief introduction, asked us to sit down and we taught him about the Restoration. We gave him a book of Mormon and he agreed to read it and have us come back to teach more. Honestly, I don't know how much of it he understood, but teaching makes me stoked. We taught our friend Tristan and he accepted a date to be baptized! Its also the date his mother was baptized almost 17 years ago! And they were at church! So that was sick. I'm excited for him, and our bishop has been helping to bring them back. I really enjoy teaching him, we had a big white board this week and drew the gospel of Jesus Christ on it. He took a picture, and we invited him to pray about what he learned for deeper understanding and a witness of its truth. On our way to our next appointment, some dude on a hood bike was yellin across the street at us, and I tried to talk but there was traffic and it was dark so we couldn't stick around. Anyway we're bombin down this street and this same guy comes screamin across lanes of traffic, he's an African American gentleman in his 50s, and he's like "Yo I was trynna holler at y'all but y'all were moving too fast, I'm old but I still ride out here. Anyway here's some KFC from my mom and here's a bag of my clothes, tell her I'll be home tonight". So that was lit, the Lord works in mysterious ways. We visited a younger couple in the ward, and talked to them about their missions and the Restoration, it was cool. Saturday was good, we got ready for some appointments which sadly, fell through. We cut down some trees with a member in our ward with hand saws, that was dope, then we had an early dinner at Perko's again with our favorite Elders, my latest companion who's now in the Modesto YSA, and helped them prepare for a baptism. At which, we gave an interlude and encouraged all the attendees to read the book of Mormon. We taught our friend Robert again, read from the book of Mormon, and set a time to do a church tour with him. He works most Sundays so its hard to get him to church, but we're working with him. We're waiting for the Lord's timing. Sunday was great. We had 5 investigators at church, and one of them stood up to bear his testimony. A pleasant surprise! We spoke with him afterward as well, and set times to meet with friends during the week. It was a busy day, but we managed to arrange some time to get out and knock doors before we had dinner and got to our last appointments. It's been a great week. God is willing to help us when we give all we've got. I haven't done that. I might be giving a lot, but I haven't really learned what it means to put it all on the table. Sometimes it's hard. However, I know God will bless us with the strength to resist temptation and the Spirit will guide us to what we need to sacrifice to receive the full blessings he has in store for us. "Partial obedience brings partial blessings". Let us remember the promises we've made, that covenants are two ways. Anyway, life is so good, just because I choose to believe that it is. Choose to have a good week y'all.

Love,

Elder Gneiting