Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 1:40 PM
New Transfer and President!
So its a new transfer and I am staying with Elder Martin! This transfer will be 7 weeks long because the last one was only 5. President Castro will be leaving Thursday and we will have President Felix. Here is a summery of this last week.
Tuesday
We had a very good lesson with Bro Nolan. We shared Elder Anderson's talk from conference called "The Whirlwinds of Life". He asked us a lot of questions that he had, and he is faithful that God will take care of him even though he has very little work and income. We had dinner with the Herr family, they are from Elder Martin's last area in Simi Valley and we met them at the park. They brought cake and presents for him since his birthday was Wednesday and we had a good time.
Wednesday
We did service with a member from 1st ward to help out Sister White. We mixed lots of cement and poured it, then placed cinder blocks on top to make a wall. For Elder Martin's B-day, the 1st ward Elders took us out for lunch. Later we had a short lesson with Debbie who we met last week. We talked about what she read in the POS pamplet. Then we saw Deborist and talked to her about what she learned in church.
Thursday
We had zone conference with President! It was only 2 hours because he had to do them all day, but it was great! He and his wife spoke to us, then his kids, Samuel and Hannah, bore their testimonies. We all got pictures with them at the end, that was the last time I saw him before he leaves. Later we saw Bro Santini, we gave him an Ensign with a time line for the Book Of Mormon and he said he will start reading. We finished our day with a visit to the Goyeneches. Their 3 yr old boy, John, broke his leg the other day at sky high, a trampoline park! Thankfully he doesn't need surgery and now has a cast.
Friday
We went to the library to do Mormon.org and on the way there we always pass a Presbyterian church that has a van parked out front that looks exactly like the mystery machine from Scooby-doo. The only difference is its called the "Ministry Machine" I got a picture of it as we drove by!
Saturday
As we left our apartment we saw that our neighbors were moving so we helped them load up their moving truck. After we finished, we met them at their new apartment with the 1st ward Elders, and helped unload. Afterwards, they gave us all really good sub sandwiches and thanked us. We stopped by the Logans and shared some scripture with them and we also saw Bro Brodbeck. For dinner, we went to a ward Luau and saw Bro Limberg and the Goyeneches there. Their little girl, Lila, went down the waterslide into the deep end of the pool and she can't swim. Thankfully, someone was watching and jumped after her in all his clothes!
Sunday
Bro Logan and Deborist came to sacrament meeting. Later we were able to visit Deborist and talk about what she learned while at church.
Love,
Elder Stout
Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 1:23 PM
So we had a good week here is a quick summary of how it went.
Tuesday
We had 4 lessons planned that all ended up falling through! Bro Nickols called us and wanted us to come visit him so we did. We also stopped by Debrist who was having a stressful day so we said a prayer with her to help her be calm. We had dinner with the Gonzales family. They decorated their dinning room table with Los Angeles Laker stuff! they gave us name tags that said "Elder Martin #1 Laker fan!!" and "Elder Stout #2 Laker fan!!" They also had jackets on the back of our seats, place mats, silver wear holders, purple napkins and ribbons hanging from the fan! They had a sign in the middle of the table that read "Just say no to Utah Jazz" we had a lot of fun with them.
Wednesday
We met an older lady named Debbie who called us as we were walking by. She told us she has several LDS friends that have taken her to temple square and the tabernacle to see choir performances. She at one time has talked with missionaries but it has been a while, we will see her next week.
Thursday
We met with Brother Sherman a Less Active (LA) who is a very nice guy. We talked to him about conference talks. We also saw Brother Nolan who is still looking for work but is getting enough income to make payments. He payed his tithing first thing with his last check and says he trusts God will prepare a way for him to get a job!
Friday
We saw Brother Brodbeck and had a great lesson with him. Later when we were walking to "The Habit" for dinner, Brother Moffat pulled over and gave us a ride there. When we got there he payed for our dinner and had to leave. While we were eating, a couple sat next to us and talked with us. After a while we realized they were not members because they asked us how long missionaries are out for and if they get to choose where they go. When we were about to leave the wife returned to her table and gave us a $20 gift card that she just bought for us! We thanked them before we left. We walked by our church building and a member called us over. He asked us, "Have you had dinner yet?" We said yes and he said, "Well you have to have some food anyway!" He took us to the gym where a graduation party was going on and told us to start eating. They gave us this amazing Samoan fruit drink that tasted like watermelon and put us in line for food! So we got a little food and stayed there for a while with a member family from Oxnard.
Saturday
We stopped by Deborist to see how she was doing and she was doing yard work. So we did some service for her to help her out. Elder Martin managed to break two broom handles while sweeping with a push broom! We saw Richard Perry and talked for a while with him. We had dinner at home and Elder Martin taught me how to solve a Rubix cube which is pretty cool. We later went to see the Goyeneche's. Juan was on his way home from work when we showed up so we stayed outside and played a bit with the younger kids. Elder Martin got on a tiny tricycle and tried to ride it around but he was far to big for it! When Juan got home we had a good lesson with them.
Sunday
So after church the ward had a huge pie social for everyone. The members kept telling us to eat more so we both totaled out at 3 slices each! They wanted us to take leftovers home but I didn't want to look at another piece of pie! Elder Martin and I both got to make calls to our Dads for fathers day and that was great. We had a good fathers day dinner with the Maddux family, they gave us very good smoked tri-tip! Which is like steak and people here always eat it. I also discovered I can still tie a knot in a cherry stem!
Love,
Elder Stout
Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 3:03 PM
This awesome week!
Tuesday
We were able to meet with Dan and help him to get in the habit of reading every day and praying. He is trying hard to start doing what's right and put God first in his life. We also had a gospel discussion with the Goyeneche's that night and help answer question that they had.
Wednsday
We were able to see Bob and help him understand the Book Of Mormon better. He is reading through 3 Nephi right now and says he kinda understands, but the language is difficult for him. We also saw Bro/Sis Gonzales and gave them encouragement to keep their commitments.
Thursday
We had a really good district meeting that helped me personally a lot. We had a set lesson with Bro Santini and we were able to get to know him a lot better and learn how he first joined the church. We talked about the importance of reading the scriptures and praying every day.
Friday
Well during our weekly planning session Elder Martin upgraded his "missionary motivator" which was first just a Saran Wrap tube stuffed with paper and taped up. Well he broke it in half, used dental floss to connect the two pieces and made it into num-chucks! They didn't work that well, so he taped them back together, took the tube of a paper towel roll and attached it to the end of the stick. Making it into the "missionary motivator sword!" For companionship inventory when we got to "resolve conflicts" we had a war. He used his sword and I used scripture markers as throwing knives! He hid behind walls, ninja rolled from place to place and would attack! Haha!! So that's how we resolved our conflict and got our energy out after a long morning of planning!
Saturday
Exchanges with Elder Pace. That morning we met this guy named Guy, who was the son of a potential. We gave him a Book Of Mormon and set up a time to come see him and his mom. Not long after that we ran into an anti-Mormon Christian who basically told us we were a dis-service to the community by spreading lies and and walked away. Well, there is opposition in all things, and Satan is working hard so we must be doing something good! We also saw Richard, Angelina and contacted a referal after that. We also had a good lesson with Brother Brodbeck, who is wanting to come to church soon. We gave him encouragement that God would help him do all things that are good and always holds up his end of the promise, if we are willing to do our part. We also had dinner with the Goyeneche's and had a good discussion with them about how Satan is trying to hold them back from baptism. They have had a lot of trials block them from it but they are still determined to work through them.
Sunday
Elder Martin, our ward mission leader, Bro Tui and I gave talks in sacrament about missionary work and how members can present the gospel to their friends. I later met the Orleannas, who are a part member family, and we had a good lesson with them. Later that night, as we were walking home, some guy on a bike rode through the street laughing hysterically! He was so loud that we could hear him from a block or two away! I figured he's on something and he definitely should not be riding around a busy neighborhood!
Love,
Elder Stout
Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 12:20 PM
This Week
Here is a summary of the week.
Tuesday
We saw a less active named Kent, in the past he has always pushed away any possibility of coming to church. But he told us that he wants to come with us to church soon and not to let him chicken out! We also had a lesson with Todd, another less active. We taught him about tithing and supported him in his decision to stop drinking. We later had dinner with Carl who is also less active and got to know him a lot better.
Wednesday
We went to visit Sister Madsen who is LA and probably the coolest older lady I have met! We had dinner with the Gonzales family who is LA and awesome to be around! We helped them to set goals to live the Word of Wisdom.
Thursday
We had an awesome district meeting and afterwards went to get Shave-it with the 1st ward elders. My companion had 7 punch cards all filled out! He was really nice, he gave us each one to get us a free shaved ice. We later went to visit Richard Perry who has been investigating for several years. We talked to him about how to have real intent to act on answers to prayer so that he can have an answer. We also got to know Mike a little bit who has also been investigating for several years.
Friday
We went to visit the Logan family who is LA and helped them with their garage sale.
Saturday
We were walking the neighborhood when we met a lady named Amy. She asked us for a Book Of Mormon and told us that she used to be a member but that her husband was against her going to church. But now he is out of the picture so she wants to come back! We also went to visit other less active members.
Sunday
We went to visit the Goyeneche family and they are doing great! Juan is going to go to LA to get his paperwork from Argentina soon so that he can get married and them Baptized! We had a great lesson with them, they know a lot about the gospel so we discussed it and answered questions that they had.
Love,
Elder Stout
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