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| Original Elder Swan, Elder Slik, Sam, the son Elder Swan |
So... the
one picture I do have is the coat from this talk.
Pretty
cool huh? I look so fat. This is why I hate pictures. The reason my tag is on
my tie is... so you could see it with the coat on... sigh....
Those are
the Swans.
General Conference
was soooo good.
Saturday
session was all about missionary work and I loved it. It’s a very special time
to be a missionary. I'm quite blessed with a great area, companion, and family supporting
me.
So much
happens in a week and it's so hard to talk about all the things that go
on.
Here's
the skinny (not me)
Life is
good. I'm working hard and happy about it.
I feel
like I should give my usual random rant but I don't have too much to rant
about.
This talk
is bomb. That's my GC highlight.
So the
week!
MONDAY!
We did our p-day thing. Not too much to report on that front. Monday night was
pretty good. We started out trying to have a lesson with someone but he wasn't
there, his family told us to come back later so we left. As we left we talked
to a super nice woman who invited us to come back the next day. We went to Toni’s
after that to talk about baptism. It was an interesting lesson. We talked a lot
about the difference between commitments and covenants, the need for authority
and so forth. She was having a rough day and was not listening to us. She was
as Elder Slik says "actin' a foo'." It was like she had forgotten
everything we taught her and it was pretty disheartening. Her situation is a
tough one. She is very poor and her two sons are living with her. Idary is
taking the lessons with her. He has CP but is still pretty high functioning.
Her other son is pretty anti. She struggles a lot because her older son is
having a really hard time and is not at all trying to overcome his addictions
but is stealing her money and food and stuff. He yells at her and is mean and
she is afraid of him. She loves him but it’s hard for her because of the way he
is acting. She expressed to us in another lesson how she wants there to be the
same spirit in her home that there is in the chapel and in the Tobler's home
but every time the son comes in he brings in a spirit of darkness, contention
and confusion. It's a pretty sad situation. She's scared and sad with the whole
situation. But we love Toni. She's pretty real and always says the funniest
stuff. After the lesson we were kinda upset but went back to the lesson we had
planned on having earlier. The man and his family were moving some stuff into
the house and it was a perfect opportunity to jump in and help out. They were all
pretty thankful for that. So we sat down with this guy and talked about his
family and his struggles and about Christ. It was impressed upon me the
importance of doing the right thing for the right reason. We can (this went
right along with GC) do the right thing because we want the blessings that
always follow or we can do the right thing because we want to serve the Savior
and doing what's right makes us happy. The difference is subtle but the effect
is big. This guy was pretty interesting. He (like almost everyone we are
teaching) is African American and speaks using almost more slang words than
others. When we set up a return appointment he said, "Aigh we finna chop
it up this Friday." He also wants to learn a lot about the seven deadly
sins. I hope things will pan out like they did with Arjelia. He also knows the
bible pretty well. A long time ago missionaries used to go to his house but
they couldn't answer his questions so they focused on his girlfriend and he
kinda disconnected himself from the lessons. Later in the night we went to see
Severina. She is like incredible. She has strong faith.
TUESDAY!
Great day. We took out a priest for a big portion of the day and it was a great
time. We taught a few lessons which was really good. In the morning we visited
a lot of the members and I got to know them a little better. We got like a tour
of one guys house that was absolutely insane. It was up the hill in FH and he
had like a giant waterfall diving ... thing. Like a giant waterfall that you
could jump off into his pool made by the same people that made the one in the Bellagio
or something like that. He's the grandfather of some baseball star. I can't remember his name right now. Cool,
cool house. We taught Toni which went a little better than the night before.
She was still upset and struggling and even a little defensive. Not that we were
on the offensive in any way, I dunno. She was stressed. After the lesson she
left to go to California to work out some family business she was super apprehensive.
She said like 56 times how much she hates Cali. It’s an interesting world out
there. Without the gospel to ground us, life can really do a number on our
happiness. We taught Stephanie a little and prayed with her, she was really
grateful. She is a really sweet, sweet lady who just wants to be a good mother
to her children. Her devotion was inspiring. She also was cooking gumbo and it
smelled so good I almost wanted to ask for a taste, but I didn't. Dinner was
cool because it was with a stake young women’s president that reminded me of
you mom. Then we went to Fernanda's (A's) baptism! THAT was cool. I love the
A's so much and I was super happy to be back and watch that special
moment. Fernanda is a really special girl with a strong spirit.
That whole
family is just so gold. Ricardo is a little scared so he'll be getting baptized
in a few weeks but he said a great prayer at the end of the service. It was
great also to see so many members from Desert Bloom that I grew to love so
much. I really loved my time down there and grew to love so many people. I got
to see Martha and the Murrays, Elder Ledezma and the Taylors, Sister Herrera
and the Padilla family. I really love that branch, part because of the people
and part because I grew so much. Las Vegas is my Holyland. Pics of the baptism
next week.
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| Fernanda's baptism |
WEDNESDAY!
Today was kinda weird. A great day, but going to Mission Leadership Council [MLC]
was a humbling experience. I'd be lying to say that it didn't scare me a lot to
be there with so many missionaries I look up to. It'd also be a lie to say that
I wasn't worried about going all week. But I went and I loved it. It was 3.5
hours of discussion and training and council and the Spirit, what a blessing. I
learned a lot and saw a lot of ways I need to improve. I got there and saw that
I really didn't have too much to be afraid of, but it was one of those
experiences that makes you really commit to do wayyy better. A ton of our
lessons and appointments cancelled. But the coolest part of the proselytizing
was that night when we had a member visit with a nonmember present. She didn't
want to leave because she was "afraid to miss something!" Kinda cool.
We set up an appointment with her for this upcoming Tuesday so I'm pretty
stoked about that. This woman? She's like pure gold and took the lessons a long
time ago. She has been to Temple Square and loved it. She would have gotten
baptized, but back when she was taking the lessons her husband told her she
couldn't. Things have changed a little now and I hope that the outcome will be
different.
I gotta speed
up.
THURSDAY!
So idk if this got explained in the past, but after MLC the zone leaders give a
big training meeting to each zone, usually it happens on Friday, but the APs
called us on Wednesday night and told us that we needed to do it Thursday
morning. So Elder Slik and I had to stay up late preparing and get up early as
well to prepare this meeting. I was super tired, but Elder Slik is really good
at preparing and giving trainings and such so we did a good job in preparing a
powerful meeting. Elder Slik? He's good, a great speaker and an inspiring
trainer. So that meeting took up a big part of the day. It was loosely themed
about going the extra mile and more tightly themed about the Atonement. It was
good. We had to cancel a few appointments which was unfortunate but ... we're
happily obedient. I'd never had to do anything like that but it was exciting to
prepare it with such time constraints and give it on such short notice. I
trained on the importance of inviting others to be baptized in the first
lesson. Toni came back from California and she was much calmer so the lesson
went well. Not too much else to report.
FRIDAY!
We served a less active guy out of the blue while he was working on his palm
trees. DANG! Those things are suuuuper sharp. It's kinda crazy, but we visited
a lot of members and stuff.
SATURDAY!
General Conference was sooo good. We watched a session at the church and a
session at the Tobler's house with Toni. After the 1st and 2nd sessions we went
to a member's home. We were talking about the talks about missionary work and
he expressed to us his desires to do better in sharing the gospel and then he
told us that he needs to be better about tithing too. It was cool to see the
power of General Conference help him to change. How good was Bednar's talk???
But anyway, as we talked with him he really committed to sharing the gospel
with his friends. The Spirit was super strong as we invited his family to join
him. Priesthood session was great too. No burritos, or shwarmas, or burgers, but
it was still good.
SUNDAY!
GC was good. We had a good follow up lesson with Toni. Slowly but surely she is
grasping these things. Idary really wants to be baptized. They don't have a
specific date yet but soon. Probs in the next 2 weeks. We'll see. That night we
had a bomb night of visiting the members and extending challenges for them to
share the gospel and invite their friends to meet with the missionaries. It
went really well. Better than most times. It’s hard to turn down the invitation
of the prophet and the apostles.
That's
the message of GC - repent and gain power through the Atonement and share and
bless others. And stand strong.
LA OBRA
MISIONAL!
Sorry
that I never have too much time.
I love
you all so much!
Sam
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