Feb 22, 2021

 

Here is the latest update from Westin's mission adventure in Modesto.  We appreciate his humor, the ability to laugh and find joy and purpose in the seemingly mundane as he continues to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  ;) 

An epistle to the nations:

Good week.  Found a new guy.  Had an interesting conversation in the street with a man and his friends, they go by Peter, Peanut (he doesn't like his government name), and KK.  Peter was telling us about evolution, and how when you're way up in the air and can see everything, and then he lost his train of thought.  I expounded the scriptures to the gentlemen while Elder Strobel discussed cultural taboos within the church to KK.  I really thought we were getting somewhere when I began talking about Joseph Smith, but KK has seen a documentary and asked about "the crystals" (?) and "face hat" (!?) and then a lady across the street invited all of us to have some tacos.  She was the mother of 2 recent converts, she's not a member, and her kids are kinda less active.  It was her daughters 19th birthday, but we didn't get a chance to say hello.  So we discussed more theology with Peanut and gave him the book of Mormon and the YSA Elder's phone number.  Elder Strobel and I then proceeded to speak as much Spanish as we knew over the sound of Tyga and Kodak Black.  Elder Strobel asked for green sauce, thinking I was mad to choose the red.  Turns out the green sauce was hotter (duh).  We did a lot of service this week, a member in the Spanish ward asked all the missionaries to come out to Empire to throw their junk over their back fence.  Empire is in the ghetto.  It's ok, because the next day, we threw the junk again, but this time into a trailer dump thingy a friend had driven over.  I didn't understand what was going on for most the time, I just carried and threw stuff until someone said otherwise.  Our district leader threw a tire over the fence, but it caught one of the boards and snapped it, we thought it was hilarious.  The members, not so much.  But it was ok, because the DL doesn't know enough Spanish to apologize. We went to Lula's after, it's this awesome burger place I haven't been to since last time I served here, I got a blue cheese burger with bacon and cheese and all sorts of stuff.  It was awesome!  Pictures are included.

Keep the Faith! 

Elder Gneiting 

Feb. 8, 2021

 

It's groundhog day. 

Just kidding. I'm not in the loop as far as local news goes, but I'm guessing the 6 more weeks of winter stuff doesn't apply in California. Did you hear? We might be allowed to go back to church in the coming weeks! Apparently it's unconstitutional to bar people from attending church. Best to stay healthy though! Been an eventful week. My new companion is Elder Strobel from Idaho Falls. I finally have a companion taller than me! He showed up just at the right time, too. We had plenty of lessons this week. Had a chance to do some service, laying pavers down in a members backyard. Been getting lots of food, had pizza the last couple nights. Saturday, our friend Shadman was baptized. I have some pictures from that. He's awesome, his wife and kids came. He's doing really well. Otherwise, not a lot to report. Hope you guys have a good week. 

Elder Gneiting

Feb 1, 2021

 Hey guys, 

Sorry it's been so long. The days just recently caught up to me. I've been in quarantine for 2 weeks, per President's orders, in preparation for transfers. Tomorrow is the day, I'll receive another companion. I'm staying in Modesto, which is great, because I have a friend being baptized on Saturday, and another we hope to baptize the following week. I got lots of stuff I want to do here before I leave, and I thank God he kept me around. I also baptized a friend in the Spanish ward, I had taught him a year ago. He's super cool, we usually go over to visit him every once in a while because we're homies. His name is Gabriel, I have the pics from the baptism below. Life is good. Elder Shapiro did our best to stay busy during our lock down, we managed to teach a lot of lessons over video call, and we found people by calling old friends and phone numbers. I'm excited to get back outside and visit in people's homes, I haven't biked for a while so I'm sure I've lost a bit of the endurance I was building up over the last couple transfers. We picked up some baseball equipment from members during the quarantine and we played a few mornings, it was awesome to go out and smash some pitches at a nearby park. One morning we did service for some members, because we were allowed to do outside service with masks on, we just helped a member clean out his gutter. It took probably ten minutes, and then they brought out a small table with sandwich stuff and I made this bomb hoagie, lots of meat and mustard and jalapeños and stuff. My former companion, Elder Wayment, is moving into my district this upcoming transfer, and that's got me excited. I'm sad to see some other Elders I like go, but now I have the house back to myself and my companion again. It's the small things! A couple Sundays ago I gave a talk in church. I felt good giving it, I talked about the Spirit, and the nature of disciples of Christ. I'm okay not being perfect, for now. Sometimes I feel like, at this point in my mission, maybe I should be more changed. Maybe I should have learned more. Maybe I should be in leadership, or had so many baptisms, but I've let go of that. This is a small chapter in my journey's volume. What's important to me is the impact I made in the communities I served in, and my ability to feel and follow the Spirit. During my talk, members we visit and teach took a picture of their young sons listening. It was cool. They don't pay that close attention when we go over, but they recognized us and for church. Not bad.  

Take care guys, 

Elder Gneiting