Hello!
I've been transferred. Now I'm serving in the Long Beach 16th Ward as a Zone Leader with Elder Colón. Our area covers all of Compton and Paramount and part of North Long Beach. I'm so excited! Elder Colón is from Puerto Rico. We flew to the mission from the MTC together.
Last week was a great week. Elder Cluff and I had some really good experiences. First off, Richard Conrad got baptized on Sunday. On Sunday morning we went to escort him to his ride. He invited us into his apartment and told us that he wanted to show us something. He pulled out his giant Book of Mormon and turned to 2 Nephi chapter 31 and said, "This whole chapter is all about baptism. It's really good. I understand that when you're baptized you've got to behave yourself-- you've gotta keep your covenants." At that moment the Spirit bore witness to me that he was ready to make those covenants. He came to church and enjoyed it. His baptism was a spiritual experience. I baptized him and Elder Cluff helped him in and out of the water. Bro. Conrad's countenance changed after he was baptized. He seemed happy and excited. After the ordinance he turned to Elder Cluff and I and asked, "So am I a Mormon now?" We told him, "Almost! You're halfway there! Now you just have to receive the Holy Ghost."
Elder Cluff and I also had a good finding experience last week. One night while planning a couple weeks ago I received an impression that we needed to go visit Alex. I thought it was odd because we weren't teaching anyone by that name. So I opened the Area Book and found three people in the potentials section named Alex. Then we went to go contact them. One of them lived on 4th street in Seal Beach. We went and knocked on the door and someone came from the backyard. He was a 20-ish year old guy and he asked if we were Mormon missionaries. When we said yes he got excited and invited us into his home and offered us some water. He said his name was Jamie. We told him that we came to visit someone named Alex. He asked if we meant Alice, his mom. We said yes and then he went and got his mom. When she saw us she wasn't pleased and she kicked us out of her house. But Jamie still wanted to talk with us. He said that his mom was a Quaker, his dad was a Jew, and that most of his family were atheists. Jamie really wanted to hear what we had to say. We shared the message of the Restoration with him and he received it really well. The Spirit was there and Jamie gratefully accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. He said if he found out it was true he'd be baptized. But he also said that he was going to Hawaii for a couple weeks and so we'd have to wait until then to visit him again. So that was my first and last lesson with Jamie. I feel that he's been prepared for our message.
On Friday I went on exchanges on bike in the Long Beach 10th ward. I like being one bike. I've never served in a real bike area my entire mission. Weird.
Well, that's all I have time to tell you. I have a ton of stuff to do today and too little time to do it all. I'm going to miss the office and I'm thankful that I got to serve there as the Mission Secretary, but I'm also very excited to serve as a Zone Leader here in the Long Beach Zone.
Have a great week! I'm going to send Hannah a birthday card today so you might not get it before you go camping. And Mom I hope you start feeling better soon. I love you all!
Love
Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
July 20th, 2010 (Email)
Hello!
Well, Richard Conrad didn't get baptized on Saturday because he said he didn't feel well. So we've postponed his baptism to next Sunday. I hope he gets baptized then because I'm getting transferred a week from today. I already saw the transfer facts so unless it gets changed this week I already know where I'm going. I'll surprise you next week with that info. It's a spanish ward! :) And it includes some areas where I've already served...
I've studied a lot about the Book of Mormon lately. I read a great talk by Elder L. Tom Perry about the blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon. President Hinckley promised that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you've previously read it, there will come into your life 1. an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, 2. a greater resolve to be obedient to God's commandments, and 3. a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God. An additional blessing that Elder Perry identified had to do with Moroni 10:32-- that if you will consistently and prayerfully read the Book of Mormon and abide by its precepts you will eventually be perfected in Christ. A few days ago while knocking down in Seal Beach we came across a guy that questioned our belief in the Book of Mormon. He refused to see its purpose and merely cast it aside as an attempt to add on to an "insufficient" Bible. I mentioned to him that Brigham Young once pointed out that all the docrines of salvation taught in the Book of Mormon can also be found in the Bible, so really that's beyond the point. The Book of Mormon clearly has a different purpose than the Bible. Yes the Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of Christ clearly and plainly so as to avoid any misunderstanding, and yes the Book of Mormon establishes the truths taught in the Bible so as to lay down contention and avoid falsehood, but when it comes down to it the Book of Mormon is here to serve as tangible evidence of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Further, it is supposed to be used as a springboard for testimony and personal revelation. Yep, it's all about faith and all about the Spirit. There you go! That's it! No proof, no reliable archaelogical finds and no gold plates for you to handle. That's the idea! Theologians such as the one we happened upon object and always draw back to their dead sea scrolls and archaelogical evidence, but when it comes down to it none of that can truly convince a soul that Jesus Christ is the resurrected Lord and Savior of all mankind. That witness comes from the Holy Ghost. Eventually we're all backed up to the wall of faith. The Book of Mormon just happens to push us there faster. Sister Julie B. Beck said in the last General Conference that "the ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." So naturally that's also what the Book of Mormon aims at.
Did I ramble? Yep.
Well, not too much is happening with our investigators. We were focusing so much on getting Richard Conrad prepared for his baptism that we didn't have too much time to go knocking or any fun stuff like that. Richard Conrad did at least pass his baptismal interview last week so he's all set there.
President Bubert is doing interviews everywhere. He interviewed me yesterday and it was good. He told me that he wants me to expire before my temple recommend expires. He said that your temple recommend indicates that you're worthy to receive guidance from the Spirit. He shared his testimony with me. He's an inspired man. I felt impressed yesterday that he is who God wants to lead this mission now and that he'll do exactly as the Lord directs.
Elder Cluff and I have spent a lot of time in Leisure World. Yesterday we taught an old Alaskan fisherman and his 94-yr-old mom. We gave some priesthood blessings. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in that strange place. I've had the chance to visit some lonely people that really have needed us.
Here's one of my favorite scriptures. I was reading a talk by Elder Quentin Cook this morning called "Our Father's Plan-- Big Enough for All His Children" and it reminded me of a passage of scripture found in Helaman 3:27-30. "The gate of heaven is open unto all." More specifically, it is open unto "whosoever will." Agency is the key. Whoever really wants to be saved will be saved, because whoever really wants to be saved will come unto Christ and obey God's commandments according to His will.
Things are going well in the office. President Bubert is learning how things work here and Elder Lynn is as well. I'll miss the office. I've enjoyed working alongside my Mission Presidents, the Assistants, the Blakes, Elder Collier, Elder Cluff and the many missionaries I've got to serve. It's been a sacred experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
That's amazing that Grandpa Cox went skydiving. Maybe I'll go and do that with Mom someday. Glad to hear Grandpa Lewis is doing well. Thanks for helping me with my DL. I already have my flight itinerary so I'm getting on that plane either way. And I'm not trunky. I still have a lot of work to do here.
Have a fantabulistic week!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
Well, Richard Conrad didn't get baptized on Saturday because he said he didn't feel well. So we've postponed his baptism to next Sunday. I hope he gets baptized then because I'm getting transferred a week from today. I already saw the transfer facts so unless it gets changed this week I already know where I'm going. I'll surprise you next week with that info. It's a spanish ward! :) And it includes some areas where I've already served...
I've studied a lot about the Book of Mormon lately. I read a great talk by Elder L. Tom Perry about the blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon. President Hinckley promised that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you've previously read it, there will come into your life 1. an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, 2. a greater resolve to be obedient to God's commandments, and 3. a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God. An additional blessing that Elder Perry identified had to do with Moroni 10:32-- that if you will consistently and prayerfully read the Book of Mormon and abide by its precepts you will eventually be perfected in Christ. A few days ago while knocking down in Seal Beach we came across a guy that questioned our belief in the Book of Mormon. He refused to see its purpose and merely cast it aside as an attempt to add on to an "insufficient" Bible. I mentioned to him that Brigham Young once pointed out that all the docrines of salvation taught in the Book of Mormon can also be found in the Bible, so really that's beyond the point. The Book of Mormon clearly has a different purpose than the Bible. Yes the Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of Christ clearly and plainly so as to avoid any misunderstanding, and yes the Book of Mormon establishes the truths taught in the Bible so as to lay down contention and avoid falsehood, but when it comes down to it the Book of Mormon is here to serve as tangible evidence of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Further, it is supposed to be used as a springboard for testimony and personal revelation. Yep, it's all about faith and all about the Spirit. There you go! That's it! No proof, no reliable archaelogical finds and no gold plates for you to handle. That's the idea! Theologians such as the one we happened upon object and always draw back to their dead sea scrolls and archaelogical evidence, but when it comes down to it none of that can truly convince a soul that Jesus Christ is the resurrected Lord and Savior of all mankind. That witness comes from the Holy Ghost. Eventually we're all backed up to the wall of faith. The Book of Mormon just happens to push us there faster. Sister Julie B. Beck said in the last General Conference that "the ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." So naturally that's also what the Book of Mormon aims at.
Did I ramble? Yep.
Well, not too much is happening with our investigators. We were focusing so much on getting Richard Conrad prepared for his baptism that we didn't have too much time to go knocking or any fun stuff like that. Richard Conrad did at least pass his baptismal interview last week so he's all set there.
President Bubert is doing interviews everywhere. He interviewed me yesterday and it was good. He told me that he wants me to expire before my temple recommend expires. He said that your temple recommend indicates that you're worthy to receive guidance from the Spirit. He shared his testimony with me. He's an inspired man. I felt impressed yesterday that he is who God wants to lead this mission now and that he'll do exactly as the Lord directs.
Elder Cluff and I have spent a lot of time in Leisure World. Yesterday we taught an old Alaskan fisherman and his 94-yr-old mom. We gave some priesthood blessings. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to serve in that strange place. I've had the chance to visit some lonely people that really have needed us.
Here's one of my favorite scriptures. I was reading a talk by Elder Quentin Cook this morning called "Our Father's Plan-- Big Enough for All His Children" and it reminded me of a passage of scripture found in Helaman 3:27-30. "The gate of heaven is open unto all." More specifically, it is open unto "whosoever will." Agency is the key. Whoever really wants to be saved will be saved, because whoever really wants to be saved will come unto Christ and obey God's commandments according to His will.
Things are going well in the office. President Bubert is learning how things work here and Elder Lynn is as well. I'll miss the office. I've enjoyed working alongside my Mission Presidents, the Assistants, the Blakes, Elder Collier, Elder Cluff and the many missionaries I've got to serve. It's been a sacred experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
That's amazing that Grandpa Cox went skydiving. Maybe I'll go and do that with Mom someday. Glad to hear Grandpa Lewis is doing well. Thanks for helping me with my DL. I already have my flight itinerary so I'm getting on that plane either way. And I'm not trunky. I still have a lot of work to do here.
Have a fantabulistic week!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
July 13th, 2010 (Email)
Hello!
I hope Grandpa's doing alright. I'm planning on him still being here when I get back so tell him to stick around. The older brother of one of the elders here just got killed in a plane crash a couple of days ago. President Bubert visited him and said he's handling it well and that the elder intends to stay and finish his mission despite the loss.
On Friday I went on exchanges with my District Leader from Paraguay, Elder Zelaya. He started his mission in the Buena Park Ward so we talked about all the amazing people we served over there. He's the elder that gave my phone number to David and Dixie. He said they're still planning on going through the temple within the next couple months. Elder Zelaya and I had some good experiences while working together. On Friday we found two new investigators. One of them's named David. A couple of weeks ago while praying to know where to go find people I felt like Elder Cluff and I should go knock a street called Espanita. We did so and we met David. He told us that his wife is a member of the Church and that they'd just barely moved into the area. He didn't seem all that receptive at the time but we still felt like we should go back. So on Friday Elder Zelaya went and visited him again. He seemed happy enough to see us so we asked if we could come in and share a short message with him. He though for a second and then agreed. We had a really good discussion. We all felt the Spirit and we set up an appointment to go back tomorrow. This time his wife should be there too. We also found another investigator in Leisure World. He's the husband of an active member of our ward named Sister Fulghum. The Fulghums are both blind and have been all their lives-- they actually met in a school for the blind. Ironically enough Bro. Fulghum is more of a seeing-is-believing type of person when it comes to spiritual matters. They're going to feed us dinner tomorrow.
Richard Conrad is doing well I believe. He came to the Leisure World sacrament meeting on Sunday. Once a month our ward holds a sacrament service in one of the clubhouses in Leisure World for those that have a difficult time coming to the Atherton building. Old people are funny to work with sometimes. The lady that referred us to Bro. Conrad was supposed to provide a ride for him to come to our normal meeting on Sunday but she slept in or something. So after church we went by Richard to see if he wanted to go to the Leisure world meeting that afternoon and he said he'd like to. So we called up another Leisure World denizen to see if she could give him a ride and she agreed but said that she'd already offered him a ride and that he'd declined. So we asked Bro. Conrad if that was true and he said no. So the lady came and gave him a ride. Bro. Conrad left his walker in her car during the meeting and apparently half way through the service the lady left and drove off with his walker without even knowing. So we made some phone calls and in the end Bro. Conrad got his walker back and everyone was happy. We're planning on baptizing Bro. Conrad on Saturday.
Yesterday we had dinner with the Kovacs family. Bishop barbequed a massive 5-lb steak for us all to split between ourselves. I've never seen a steak that big before in my life. It was really rare too. Pretty good.
We taught a less-active lady in Leisure World named Jane Austin. And we keep trying to catch Paul Williams but he never seems to be home.
Things are going well in the office. I caught up again yesterday. I'm training my replacement. His name's Elder Lynn and he's currently serving in a Zone Leader threesome with Elder Collier and Elder Clegg. Elder Collier actually trained Elder Lynn. Well, Elder Lynn and Elder Cluff and I have been making copies of the new missionary training DVD. It's called The District 2. You see, while we were in the MTC we'd often watch the movie The District. It's like a missionary themed reality TV show. Out in the field we frequently watch segments of the The District on Thursdays during District Meeting. We love watching The District but elders like me have seen the same clips from it about a thousand times now. So here on my desk right now I have The District 2. That's like having a copy of the new Batman movie before it even hits theaters. We've heard about the development of this DVD over the past several months and all the elders have been waiting in subtle suspense for its dispensation. We've watched a lot of it here in the office (for quality assurance) ;)
President Bubert is getting into the flow of things. Yesterday he was talking about writing in our journals and he turned to me and said "You know who's the best at writing in his journal? Roger Lewis! You could ask that guy what he was doing on Sept. 7th of 2007 or any other given day and he could just flip back in one of his journals and tell you."
Well have a great week! I hope that Grandpa recovers and that Mom's leg gets better and that Hannah has a good time at girl's camp and that Tim's chemo therapy does what it's supposed to. I'll just keep doing what I do down here. It looks like the heat decided to really turn on yesterday. Well, ¡hasta ver!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
I hope Grandpa's doing alright. I'm planning on him still being here when I get back so tell him to stick around. The older brother of one of the elders here just got killed in a plane crash a couple of days ago. President Bubert visited him and said he's handling it well and that the elder intends to stay and finish his mission despite the loss.
On Friday I went on exchanges with my District Leader from Paraguay, Elder Zelaya. He started his mission in the Buena Park Ward so we talked about all the amazing people we served over there. He's the elder that gave my phone number to David and Dixie. He said they're still planning on going through the temple within the next couple months. Elder Zelaya and I had some good experiences while working together. On Friday we found two new investigators. One of them's named David. A couple of weeks ago while praying to know where to go find people I felt like Elder Cluff and I should go knock a street called Espanita. We did so and we met David. He told us that his wife is a member of the Church and that they'd just barely moved into the area. He didn't seem all that receptive at the time but we still felt like we should go back. So on Friday Elder Zelaya went and visited him again. He seemed happy enough to see us so we asked if we could come in and share a short message with him. He though for a second and then agreed. We had a really good discussion. We all felt the Spirit and we set up an appointment to go back tomorrow. This time his wife should be there too. We also found another investigator in Leisure World. He's the husband of an active member of our ward named Sister Fulghum. The Fulghums are both blind and have been all their lives-- they actually met in a school for the blind. Ironically enough Bro. Fulghum is more of a seeing-is-believing type of person when it comes to spiritual matters. They're going to feed us dinner tomorrow.
Richard Conrad is doing well I believe. He came to the Leisure World sacrament meeting on Sunday. Once a month our ward holds a sacrament service in one of the clubhouses in Leisure World for those that have a difficult time coming to the Atherton building. Old people are funny to work with sometimes. The lady that referred us to Bro. Conrad was supposed to provide a ride for him to come to our normal meeting on Sunday but she slept in or something. So after church we went by Richard to see if he wanted to go to the Leisure world meeting that afternoon and he said he'd like to. So we called up another Leisure World denizen to see if she could give him a ride and she agreed but said that she'd already offered him a ride and that he'd declined. So we asked Bro. Conrad if that was true and he said no. So the lady came and gave him a ride. Bro. Conrad left his walker in her car during the meeting and apparently half way through the service the lady left and drove off with his walker without even knowing. So we made some phone calls and in the end Bro. Conrad got his walker back and everyone was happy. We're planning on baptizing Bro. Conrad on Saturday.
Yesterday we had dinner with the Kovacs family. Bishop barbequed a massive 5-lb steak for us all to split between ourselves. I've never seen a steak that big before in my life. It was really rare too. Pretty good.
We taught a less-active lady in Leisure World named Jane Austin. And we keep trying to catch Paul Williams but he never seems to be home.
Things are going well in the office. I caught up again yesterday. I'm training my replacement. His name's Elder Lynn and he's currently serving in a Zone Leader threesome with Elder Collier and Elder Clegg. Elder Collier actually trained Elder Lynn. Well, Elder Lynn and Elder Cluff and I have been making copies of the new missionary training DVD. It's called The District 2. You see, while we were in the MTC we'd often watch the movie The District. It's like a missionary themed reality TV show. Out in the field we frequently watch segments of the The District on Thursdays during District Meeting. We love watching The District but elders like me have seen the same clips from it about a thousand times now. So here on my desk right now I have The District 2. That's like having a copy of the new Batman movie before it even hits theaters. We've heard about the development of this DVD over the past several months and all the elders have been waiting in subtle suspense for its dispensation. We've watched a lot of it here in the office (for quality assurance) ;)
President Bubert is getting into the flow of things. Yesterday he was talking about writing in our journals and he turned to me and said "You know who's the best at writing in his journal? Roger Lewis! You could ask that guy what he was doing on Sept. 7th of 2007 or any other given day and he could just flip back in one of his journals and tell you."
Well have a great week! I hope that Grandpa recovers and that Mom's leg gets better and that Hannah has a good time at girl's camp and that Tim's chemo therapy does what it's supposed to. I'll just keep doing what I do down here. It looks like the heat decided to really turn on yesterday. Well, ¡hasta ver!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July 6th, 2010 (Email)
Hello!
President Bubert is now my Mission President. The switch happened on Wednesday. It was pretty weird. I was in the office when it happened. President and Sister Sexton arrived with President and Sister Bubert and their two 14-yr-old kids at 12:00 noon. The Sextons' flight was scheduled for 12:30p.m. So they just came in, introduced us to the Buberts real quick, gave us hugs and left. It was really abrupt. President Sexton had time to show President Bubert how to work the sprinklers in the Mission Home, give him some directions around Long Beach, and simple things like that. They only had a few hours together. Then the mission just fell into President Bubert's hands. President Bubert's neat. He has a good sense of humor and he seems less stern than what I've been used to. President Sexton was lovingly stern and very General Authority-esque. It was hard to say goodbye. President Bubert's has more of a goofy side to him. Both my mission presidents are converts. President Sexton joined the Church when he was a young teenager and President Bubert joined the Church when he was about 20.
When the Buberts came into the office Sister Bubert shook my hand and said "Elder Lewis! You look like a Lewis." Then President Bubert shook my hand and said "Elder Lewis! I know your parents." Then Sister Bubert pointed me out to her daughter Mari and said "That elder is Jacque's cousin." Then she told me that Jacque was Mari's orthodontis's assistant. President Bubert had Elder Cluff and I go to the Mission Home for a few hours to set up his and his family's computers. So now he sees Elder Cluff and I as kind of his technical support buddies. On his first day here President Bubert called me and asked how to contact the mission's tech support. I told him I didn't know we had tech support. So I told him that Elder Cluff majored in computer engineering so we could fill-in as his tech support. It's been fun watching President Bubert figure things out here. We had our first Zone Conference with him yesterday and he told the whole zone "We're the Greenie-est ones here!" I realized yesterday that I'm the oldest one in my zone (in terms of how long I've been serving in the mission.) That bothers me. Well, President Bubert taught us during the conference about the tactics of the adversary and how he's going to keep trying to overpower our testimonies as it says in D&C 10:33. He told us that the devil wants us to just be "okay" missionaries-- to be mediocre. He's going to be a great President-- he still expects the best from us.
Richard Conrad's baptism may have to be postponed for a week. He didn't come to church on Sunday and we feel like he needs to be taught a little more to help comprehend better. He's 82 so we don't expect him to be a gospel scholar but we do expect him to have a basic understanding and a testimony. We visited him yesterday and he for sure still has the desire to be baptized. He's a very lonely man. There are so many lonesome people in Leisure World.
Last week we had dinner with a newlywed couple that just moved into our ward-- Bro. and Sis. Poe. They were married just a few weeks ago. Newlyweds are hilarious. They're so super-happy and peppy. Anyway, they live with Grandma Poe who lives in Naples. Grandma Poe isn't a member of the Church. She told us that she's actually related to Emma Smith. Grandma Poe's maiden name is Hale and her great-grandfather was Emma's brother. Grandma Poe has already read the Book of Mormon along with several other books about the Church because she sees it as family history. She's 90-yrs-old and admits that she's stubborn about joining the Church. She reminds me of Shirley (not the 90-yr-old part just the attitude.)
Our investigators are ridiculously old here.
That was the most lame 4th of July ever! I didn't see 1 firework! Not a single one! I heard plenty of them but somehow I didn't see any all day. The Atherton Ward had a flag raising ceremony right after sacrament though so that was cool. Long Beach and Seal Beach are super-lamesauce when it comes to explosives. Fireworks were prohibited in both cities. Lame lame lame.
Yesterday Bishop Kovacs told us that our new ward mission leader is Brother Harris. Bro. and Sis. Shane and Sally Harris are way cool. They're a young couple that used to be in a band called Love You Long Time (check them out!). They won the game show called Wipe Out a couple of months ago. And they have a great missionary spirit.
Well that's all I can think of. I got a letter from Raquel Piceno and her sister last week. They're way active still! That's always good to here. Raquel was the girl I baptized in Hawaiian Gardens.
Sorry to hear about Tim. I've prayed for him and his family. There's a reason for everything-- often beyond what we're supposed to understand right now. And sorry to hear about your leg Mom. That's awesome that you're all still gung-ho about running! I think Elder Harris and I are the only missionaries in this whole mission who love to run in the morning.
Have a splendid week!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
President Bubert is now my Mission President. The switch happened on Wednesday. It was pretty weird. I was in the office when it happened. President and Sister Sexton arrived with President and Sister Bubert and their two 14-yr-old kids at 12:00 noon. The Sextons' flight was scheduled for 12:30p.m. So they just came in, introduced us to the Buberts real quick, gave us hugs and left. It was really abrupt. President Sexton had time to show President Bubert how to work the sprinklers in the Mission Home, give him some directions around Long Beach, and simple things like that. They only had a few hours together. Then the mission just fell into President Bubert's hands. President Bubert's neat. He has a good sense of humor and he seems less stern than what I've been used to. President Sexton was lovingly stern and very General Authority-esque. It was hard to say goodbye. President Bubert's has more of a goofy side to him. Both my mission presidents are converts. President Sexton joined the Church when he was a young teenager and President Bubert joined the Church when he was about 20.
When the Buberts came into the office Sister Bubert shook my hand and said "Elder Lewis! You look like a Lewis." Then President Bubert shook my hand and said "Elder Lewis! I know your parents." Then Sister Bubert pointed me out to her daughter Mari and said "That elder is Jacque's cousin." Then she told me that Jacque was Mari's orthodontis's assistant. President Bubert had Elder Cluff and I go to the Mission Home for a few hours to set up his and his family's computers. So now he sees Elder Cluff and I as kind of his technical support buddies. On his first day here President Bubert called me and asked how to contact the mission's tech support. I told him I didn't know we had tech support. So I told him that Elder Cluff majored in computer engineering so we could fill-in as his tech support. It's been fun watching President Bubert figure things out here. We had our first Zone Conference with him yesterday and he told the whole zone "We're the Greenie-est ones here!" I realized yesterday that I'm the oldest one in my zone (in terms of how long I've been serving in the mission.) That bothers me. Well, President Bubert taught us during the conference about the tactics of the adversary and how he's going to keep trying to overpower our testimonies as it says in D&C 10:33. He told us that the devil wants us to just be "okay" missionaries-- to be mediocre. He's going to be a great President-- he still expects the best from us.
Richard Conrad's baptism may have to be postponed for a week. He didn't come to church on Sunday and we feel like he needs to be taught a little more to help comprehend better. He's 82 so we don't expect him to be a gospel scholar but we do expect him to have a basic understanding and a testimony. We visited him yesterday and he for sure still has the desire to be baptized. He's a very lonely man. There are so many lonesome people in Leisure World.
Last week we had dinner with a newlywed couple that just moved into our ward-- Bro. and Sis. Poe. They were married just a few weeks ago. Newlyweds are hilarious. They're so super-happy and peppy. Anyway, they live with Grandma Poe who lives in Naples. Grandma Poe isn't a member of the Church. She told us that she's actually related to Emma Smith. Grandma Poe's maiden name is Hale and her great-grandfather was Emma's brother. Grandma Poe has already read the Book of Mormon along with several other books about the Church because she sees it as family history. She's 90-yrs-old and admits that she's stubborn about joining the Church. She reminds me of Shirley (not the 90-yr-old part just the attitude.)
Our investigators are ridiculously old here.
That was the most lame 4th of July ever! I didn't see 1 firework! Not a single one! I heard plenty of them but somehow I didn't see any all day. The Atherton Ward had a flag raising ceremony right after sacrament though so that was cool. Long Beach and Seal Beach are super-lamesauce when it comes to explosives. Fireworks were prohibited in both cities. Lame lame lame.
Yesterday Bishop Kovacs told us that our new ward mission leader is Brother Harris. Bro. and Sis. Shane and Sally Harris are way cool. They're a young couple that used to be in a band called Love You Long Time (check them out!). They won the game show called Wipe Out a couple of months ago. And they have a great missionary spirit.
Well that's all I can think of. I got a letter from Raquel Piceno and her sister last week. They're way active still! That's always good to here. Raquel was the girl I baptized in Hawaiian Gardens.
Sorry to hear about Tim. I've prayed for him and his family. There's a reason for everything-- often beyond what we're supposed to understand right now. And sorry to hear about your leg Mom. That's awesome that you're all still gung-ho about running! I think Elder Harris and I are the only missionaries in this whole mission who love to run in the morning.
Have a splendid week!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
June 29th, 2010 (Email)
Hi!
President Bubert arrives to preside over the California Long Beach Mission tomorrow sometime in the morning. He'll have a couple hours to talk with President Sexton and that's it. We've been preparing the office for the change-- cleaning it and organizing it as needed. Elder Cluff and I went and washed a couple of the office vehicles yesterday.
Richard Conrad came to church on Sunday with his member friend from Leisure World. Brother Conrad is 82 years old. He came to church with his walker wearing a red SCU sweater and a matching baseball cap. We felt bad because he seems to have little to no bladder control so... well, he needs a caretaker. But he enjoyed church. Last week Brother Conrad said he needed a large print copy of the Book of Mormon because his eyesight's so bad. We didn't have one in the office and Sister Blake told us that church distribution has them on back order. We didn't know what to do but we knew that he needed to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon so we just started reading it to him. A couple hours after we read the first chapter of Nephi to him we felt that we should visit a less-active member named Bro. Newman. We stopped by and decided we'd read the Book of Mormon with him too. Bro. Newman went to another room to get his book and then he came out with a giant larg-print hardcover Triple Combo! We said "Hey we're looking for one of those for one of our investigators in Leisure World!" Bro. Newman responded "Really? You can give this one to him because I already have a Quad!" So before we knew it the Lord had led us to a large-print Book of Mormon for Bro. Conrad. Now he needs a magnifying glass...
Our other investigators seem to be put "on hold." Allen is getting some opposition from his Adventist wife and he said he'd like to talk with us again when he gets back from Australia. That will be in like August. And Diana didn't go to church so we're not sure what's going on with her. We want her to come to Richard Conrad's baptism so she'll feel a little more familiar and comfortable with how a baptismal service works. Bro. Conrad's still set to be baptized July 11th.
I finished my Book of Mormon 87-day-a-thon last week. It is pretty amazing how fast that book was translated. Reading it in that amount of time gave me a good macro understanding of the Book of Mormon. I decided yesterday while I was studying that I'm more of a micro learner when it comes to studying the scriptures. I tend to spend a lot of time dissecting individual verses of scripture. For example, yesterday I spent most of my personal study ponderin Alma 23:6. From that verse I learned that I need three things to be an effective missionary:
1. The spirit of revelation. I need to live worthy of and follow the Holy Ghost, who will tell me in my mind and in my heart what I should do. (D&C 8:2-3)
2. The spirit of prophecy. "The testimony of Jesus is teh spirit of prophecy." (Rev. 19:10)
3. Faith! Faith precedes miracles (Eth. 12:12, 29-20) and it's only the power of God that can work miracles in people for their conversion.
Yesterday during our companionship study Elder Cluff and I received some inspiration regarding something we're going to apply while tracting. We're going to ask people "If you could ask God just one question, what would you ask Him?" We decided that we'll receive several responses, among them being "I'm catholic," [door slams], "I'm not interested", etc. But among the responses we're looking for are these:
1. The person responds with a legitimate question for us to respond to using the Book of Mormon under the influence of the Spirit.
2. The person says "God already answers my questions! I pray to Him every day", to which we'll agree and then share with them what Joseph Smith asked God when he realized he had the opportunity-- "Which church should I join?" And then the Lord's response-- "None of them."
3. The person says something silly. Then we'll share with them what the scriptures teach may be the best question you could possible ask God: "WHAT SHALL I DO?" (Alma 22:15). And then we'll share the answer-- "Repent and be baptized!" (Acts 2: 37-39)
We'll see how it goes.
Well, the Long Beach Police Department just posted my bail and it says "The amount due is $212 plus a e-Public Access service fee of $10.00 will be added to this amount." Ouch.They're pretty ruthless here in California. I figured if a parking violation costs $47 then their traffic violations were bound to be pretty scary. Probably because they're in so much debt. Anyway, how much do I have in savings again? I don't think I have enough on my debit card to pay for that but I can use my savings. There's no America First banks here though so what should I do?
Sounds like things are busy for you up there in Utah. Remember, if you get stressed you have like a bajillion temples all around you! Love you!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
President Bubert arrives to preside over the California Long Beach Mission tomorrow sometime in the morning. He'll have a couple hours to talk with President Sexton and that's it. We've been preparing the office for the change-- cleaning it and organizing it as needed. Elder Cluff and I went and washed a couple of the office vehicles yesterday.
Richard Conrad came to church on Sunday with his member friend from Leisure World. Brother Conrad is 82 years old. He came to church with his walker wearing a red SCU sweater and a matching baseball cap. We felt bad because he seems to have little to no bladder control so... well, he needs a caretaker. But he enjoyed church. Last week Brother Conrad said he needed a large print copy of the Book of Mormon because his eyesight's so bad. We didn't have one in the office and Sister Blake told us that church distribution has them on back order. We didn't know what to do but we knew that he needed to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon so we just started reading it to him. A couple hours after we read the first chapter of Nephi to him we felt that we should visit a less-active member named Bro. Newman. We stopped by and decided we'd read the Book of Mormon with him too. Bro. Newman went to another room to get his book and then he came out with a giant larg-print hardcover Triple Combo! We said "Hey we're looking for one of those for one of our investigators in Leisure World!" Bro. Newman responded "Really? You can give this one to him because I already have a Quad!" So before we knew it the Lord had led us to a large-print Book of Mormon for Bro. Conrad. Now he needs a magnifying glass...
Our other investigators seem to be put "on hold." Allen is getting some opposition from his Adventist wife and he said he'd like to talk with us again when he gets back from Australia. That will be in like August. And Diana didn't go to church so we're not sure what's going on with her. We want her to come to Richard Conrad's baptism so she'll feel a little more familiar and comfortable with how a baptismal service works. Bro. Conrad's still set to be baptized July 11th.
I finished my Book of Mormon 87-day-a-thon last week. It is pretty amazing how fast that book was translated. Reading it in that amount of time gave me a good macro understanding of the Book of Mormon. I decided yesterday while I was studying that I'm more of a micro learner when it comes to studying the scriptures. I tend to spend a lot of time dissecting individual verses of scripture. For example, yesterday I spent most of my personal study ponderin Alma 23:6. From that verse I learned that I need three things to be an effective missionary:
1. The spirit of revelation. I need to live worthy of and follow the Holy Ghost, who will tell me in my mind and in my heart what I should do. (D&C 8:2-3)
2. The spirit of prophecy. "The testimony of Jesus is teh spirit of prophecy." (Rev. 19:10)
3. Faith! Faith precedes miracles (Eth. 12:12, 29-20) and it's only the power of God that can work miracles in people for their conversion.
Yesterday during our companionship study Elder Cluff and I received some inspiration regarding something we're going to apply while tracting. We're going to ask people "If you could ask God just one question, what would you ask Him?" We decided that we'll receive several responses, among them being "I'm catholic," [door slams], "I'm not interested", etc. But among the responses we're looking for are these:
1. The person responds with a legitimate question for us to respond to using the Book of Mormon under the influence of the Spirit.
2. The person says "God already answers my questions! I pray to Him every day", to which we'll agree and then share with them what Joseph Smith asked God when he realized he had the opportunity-- "Which church should I join?" And then the Lord's response-- "None of them."
3. The person says something silly. Then we'll share with them what the scriptures teach may be the best question you could possible ask God: "WHAT SHALL I DO?" (Alma 22:15). And then we'll share the answer-- "Repent and be baptized!" (Acts 2: 37-39)
We'll see how it goes.
Well, the Long Beach Police Department just posted my bail and it says "The amount due is $212 plus a e-Public Access service fee of $10.00 will be added to this amount." Ouch.They're pretty ruthless here in California. I figured if a parking violation costs $47 then their traffic violations were bound to be pretty scary. Probably because they're in so much debt. Anyway, how much do I have in savings again? I don't think I have enough on my debit card to pay for that but I can use my savings. There's no America First banks here though so what should I do?
Sounds like things are busy for you up there in Utah. Remember, if you get stressed you have like a bajillion temples all around you! Love you!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
June 22nd, 2010 (Email)
Good morning!
We had a pretty good week. We've been working hard and the Lord has been blessing us quite a bit. We now have many people to teach.
We had our last Zone Conference with President Sexton last week. That made me pretty depressed. He talked about the importance of having a sacred mission. He shared some statistics with us: out of every 12 male members of the Church that are blessed as babies only 10 get baptized, only 6 become deacons, only 4 become elders, only 2 serve missions and only 1 stays active after his mission. President explained that that's why he's emphasized obedience and sacred studies so much here. He doesn't want there to be any "missing chairs" for the California Long Beach Mission. He doesn't want any of us to fall away. He's done his best to help us have a sacred mission so that we'll stay faithful in Christ afterwards. Well, that's the plan. ;) Anyway President wanted to end where he began by reminding us that we have to BE something before we can DO something. As missionaries we need to be sanctified. We sanctify ourselves by being obedient and by obtaining the word through sacred studies every day.
On Sunday Allen came to church for the first time. It may have been an odd day for someone to get their first exposure to a Mormon sacrament service. Everything was themed around Father's Day and the primary kids all went up and sang their Father's Day songs and Allen just isn't a father so maybe he felt out of place. I hope not. I wish he'd have stayed for the Sunday school classes afterwards. We talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement so perhaps he would have been doctrinally edified had he stayed.
Also during church one of the elderly ladies from Leisure world gave us a referral. She gave us a note with the name and address of her next door neighbor written on it. She said his name's Richard Conrad and he's depressed and lonely and would like to take the missionary lessons and he even mentioned that he'd like to be baptized. So Sunday afternoon we went and visited him and taught him the message of the Restoration. Bro. Conrad is probably in his 80s and he does seem very lonely. He needs the Church. We invited him to be baptized July 11th and he committed! He'll need a large print Book of Mormon and he'll probably need someone to drive him to church. Yesterday we visited him again and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He seemed a little happier yesterday. He's probably thankful to have some company. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27.
Diana didn't come to church on Sunday. She's still doing about the same. She's turning into an eternal investigator. Our plan is to quickly finish up teaching her the commandments so that when we're done we can look at her and say "Well, that's it! We've taught you all the missionary lessons we teach people prior to their being baptized. Now what should we do?"
David and Dixie haven't called me yet. One of the missionaries that's been serving in Buena Park is now my district leader and he gave me a paper rabbit that Kazandra made me. She's their 8-yr-old that was baptized a few weeks ago I believe. Another elder named Elder Black is now serving in Buena Park told me that the Buena Park ward members still remember me as the elder that's allergic to chicken. Elder Black is my grandson as tradition puts it. I trained Elder Harris who trained Elder Black... We missionaries are a big happy family.
I haven't starting training Elder Lynn yet. I don't think I'll have to train him too much. I only got a couple days' worth of training and that was more than enough. And I don't know what Elder Rada's up to these days.
That's cool that you got to meet President Bubert and his familia. I'll meet him next Wednesday I suppose. That'll be different.
Have a great week! Hey have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? The posters and billboards have been everywhere down here since we're so close to Disneyland. Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
P.S. -- by the way I fear lest my traffic ticket may be heading your way. The officer that pulled me over just wrote down my Utah address. I've checked the lasuperiorcourt website several times now to see what my bail is but the slackers still haven't posted it yet. Their 21 days is up! So anyhoo if you get a scary letter in the mail from the Long Beach Police Department just let me know.
We had a pretty good week. We've been working hard and the Lord has been blessing us quite a bit. We now have many people to teach.
We had our last Zone Conference with President Sexton last week. That made me pretty depressed. He talked about the importance of having a sacred mission. He shared some statistics with us: out of every 12 male members of the Church that are blessed as babies only 10 get baptized, only 6 become deacons, only 4 become elders, only 2 serve missions and only 1 stays active after his mission. President explained that that's why he's emphasized obedience and sacred studies so much here. He doesn't want there to be any "missing chairs" for the California Long Beach Mission. He doesn't want any of us to fall away. He's done his best to help us have a sacred mission so that we'll stay faithful in Christ afterwards. Well, that's the plan. ;) Anyway President wanted to end where he began by reminding us that we have to BE something before we can DO something. As missionaries we need to be sanctified. We sanctify ourselves by being obedient and by obtaining the word through sacred studies every day.
On Sunday Allen came to church for the first time. It may have been an odd day for someone to get their first exposure to a Mormon sacrament service. Everything was themed around Father's Day and the primary kids all went up and sang their Father's Day songs and Allen just isn't a father so maybe he felt out of place. I hope not. I wish he'd have stayed for the Sunday school classes afterwards. We talked about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Atonement so perhaps he would have been doctrinally edified had he stayed.
Also during church one of the elderly ladies from Leisure world gave us a referral. She gave us a note with the name and address of her next door neighbor written on it. She said his name's Richard Conrad and he's depressed and lonely and would like to take the missionary lessons and he even mentioned that he'd like to be baptized. So Sunday afternoon we went and visited him and taught him the message of the Restoration. Bro. Conrad is probably in his 80s and he does seem very lonely. He needs the Church. We invited him to be baptized July 11th and he committed! He'll need a large print Book of Mormon and he'll probably need someone to drive him to church. Yesterday we visited him again and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He seemed a little happier yesterday. He's probably thankful to have some company. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27.
Diana didn't come to church on Sunday. She's still doing about the same. She's turning into an eternal investigator. Our plan is to quickly finish up teaching her the commandments so that when we're done we can look at her and say "Well, that's it! We've taught you all the missionary lessons we teach people prior to their being baptized. Now what should we do?"
David and Dixie haven't called me yet. One of the missionaries that's been serving in Buena Park is now my district leader and he gave me a paper rabbit that Kazandra made me. She's their 8-yr-old that was baptized a few weeks ago I believe. Another elder named Elder Black is now serving in Buena Park told me that the Buena Park ward members still remember me as the elder that's allergic to chicken. Elder Black is my grandson as tradition puts it. I trained Elder Harris who trained Elder Black... We missionaries are a big happy family.
I haven't starting training Elder Lynn yet. I don't think I'll have to train him too much. I only got a couple days' worth of training and that was more than enough. And I don't know what Elder Rada's up to these days.
That's cool that you got to meet President Bubert and his familia. I'll meet him next Wednesday I suppose. That'll be different.
Have a great week! Hey have you seen Toy Story 3 yet? The posters and billboards have been everywhere down here since we're so close to Disneyland. Hasta luego!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
P.S. -- by the way I fear lest my traffic ticket may be heading your way. The officer that pulled me over just wrote down my Utah address. I've checked the lasuperiorcourt website several times now to see what my bail is but the slackers still haven't posted it yet. Their 21 days is up! So anyhoo if you get a scary letter in the mail from the Long Beach Police Department just let me know.
June 15th, 2010 (Email)
Hello!
Brother and Sister Minus live up on the hill by In-N-Out Burgers. Their house is huge (they are rich.) Brother Minus was actually down here for the weekend so you wouldn't have seen him. I'm not sure what Sister Minus has been up to. They go all over the place.
That's cool that you're running into all these people from your mission Dad. I got a letter from Elder Jordan Call yesterday. Enclosed was a picture of Jordan in his missionary attire standing next to the man formerly known as Elder Rada, (currently known as Jaime, pronounced "High-may"), one of my favorite companions who served with me in Cerritos 1st Ward. Jordan was serving in Elder Rada's ward up there in Queens New York. I told Elder Rada that if he ever came across an Elder Call to say "¡Que Onda Guero!" for me. And he did just that. So Jordan wrote me a letter and said that made him happy. He's doing well up there in NY.
Elder Cluff and I had a great week. We've really been working diligently trying to find people to teach these past several weeks and we've received several blessings.
First let's talk about Allen. A couple months back while I was serving with Elder Collier I had an impression that we needed to go knock doors down around 1st Street in Seal Beach. We came across a trailer park there and we started knocking. We didn't have very much success. Later on Elder Cluff and I decided to finish knocking the little neighborhood. On the last side of the last street in that trailer park we knocked on the door of Allen. He was really friendly and seemed pleased to see us. He invited us to come back to his home to teach him and his wife. We attempted to visit him over the next couple weeks but he never let us in because we always caught him home alone and he really wanted us to teach his wife as well. Anyway, finally he gave in and let us teach him last week despite his wife not being home again. Allen is Australian and he considers himself to be a Christian-Buddhist. We taught him the message of the Restoration and answered some of his questions. Allen is really sincere-- he really wants to know if what we share is true. His wife is a less-active 7th Day Adventist and he's concerned for the welfare of her soul. That's why he wanted us to teach her too, but turns out she doesn't want to talk with us. Allen mentioned that he's never before been baptized. He told us that it bothers him that he hasn't been baptized yet and he knows that the Bible teaches that we all need to be baptized. I started extending the baptismal invite-- "So if you were to come to the knowledge that the Book of Mormon is true" and then he interrupted me and answered "Then I'd join your church!" We came by for another visit and we brought a member with us named Bro. Gravley and we taught Allen most of the Plan of Salvation. Many of Allen's beliefs are similar to our's. He even believes in a sort of pre-existence. Allen is planning on coming to church on Sunday. If everything goes right we'll have him be baptized either this month or at the beginning of July. He's going on a trip to Australia mid-July so we need to baptize him muy rapido.
Last week we also found a couple up here in Long Beach. We were led to knock a small cul-de-sac. A lady answered one of the doors with a smile on her face and she said "Elders! About time you knocked on my door! I've lived here for about a year now and the Elders have never knocked my door. This street gets neglected by you guys!" Her name's Denise and some members of her family are Mormons. Her husband is a Shaman, (yes, like an Indian medicine man or something like that.) His name is Mushroom. Yep. A few days later we came back and met Mushroom. He's quite an interesting fellow. He doesn't wear a shirt-- just shorts and sandals. He has a gray beard and a ponytail and a dark Indian-ish complexion. He fought in Vietnam and he said that he used to sell Deseret News as a kid. Elder Cluff and I don't think he's as ready or open to embrace the gospel as his wife is, but who knows?! A couple days ago we were passing by their neighborhood again and they saw us and came out to talk with us again. They both seem to like talking with us Elders a lot. Somewhere in our short conversation Mushroom told us a story about when he had a conversation with a mosquito that landed in his ear. He spoke with the mosquito's spirit and made a deal with it. He told the mosquito that he'd let it take some of his blood if the mosquito would go tell the other mosquitos not the bother him. I guess the mosquito accepted the bargain and followed through with its commitment. I love all the people I meet out here.
Diana's progressing the same. She came to church again with her kid. She still pretty much thinks that she needs to be perfect before she gets baptized. She's way more prepared than most of the people I've ever taught. She just needs more confidence! She's committed and she's prepared-- she has a testimony of the Restored Gospel-- she just needs to believe in herself. She can do it!
Transfers are today. Elder Cluff and I are moving. We have been living in an apartment in the Long Beach 10th Ward boundaries. We've lived on the same street as the Assistants, the Zone Leaders, and the Blakes and the same neighborhood and President and Sister Sexton. Now we're moving into our own ward boundaries. We're going to live right behind my favorite grocery store-- Trader Joe's! I'm happy about that. We're going to have 4 sister missionaries in our district now. And Elder Collier is being put in a trio with two other Zone Leaders. That's the first time I've ever heard of 3 Zone Leaders leading a zone. The reason for it is because on of the Zone Leaders is my replacement. His name is Elder Lynn. Elder Collier trained him. President wants Elder Lynn to have plenty of training time with me. So he'll replace me in 6 weeks. He'll spend several afternoons learning about Mission Secretary stuff.
Hey thanks for the package! Elder Cluff and I have listened to the Saturday's Warrior soundtrack a couple times now. Good stuff. That photage is really classy Dad. And gracias for the aftershave, T-shirt and toothpaste. My face, teeth and torso are all happy. On the same day I received your package I got a package from the Cordova family in Paramount. They sent me a card and a gift. In the card they told me how grateful they are for the Gospel. Alejandro said that he'll never forget that Sunday night Elder Beverley and I knocked on their door. They thanked me for bringing the Restored Gospel to their home. They said that their daughter Thania is going to institute now and that Alejandro and Beatriz are learning how to say prayers in English. It was the best letter a missionary could receive. The gift was a pen and a mechanical pencil-- a couple really nice ones too. They came in a box with my name on it. Both the pen and the mechanical pencil have "Elder Lewis" engraved on them. That was super nice. They must have remembered that when I left I said that I was going to go be a secretary.
Well, I'd say this is a pretty thorough e-mail. Hope you had fun and had a chance to relax in St. Jorge! Happy Dad's Day soon !
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
Brother and Sister Minus live up on the hill by In-N-Out Burgers. Their house is huge (they are rich.) Brother Minus was actually down here for the weekend so you wouldn't have seen him. I'm not sure what Sister Minus has been up to. They go all over the place.
That's cool that you're running into all these people from your mission Dad. I got a letter from Elder Jordan Call yesterday. Enclosed was a picture of Jordan in his missionary attire standing next to the man formerly known as Elder Rada, (currently known as Jaime, pronounced "High-may"), one of my favorite companions who served with me in Cerritos 1st Ward. Jordan was serving in Elder Rada's ward up there in Queens New York. I told Elder Rada that if he ever came across an Elder Call to say "¡Que Onda Guero!" for me. And he did just that. So Jordan wrote me a letter and said that made him happy. He's doing well up there in NY.
Elder Cluff and I had a great week. We've really been working diligently trying to find people to teach these past several weeks and we've received several blessings.
First let's talk about Allen. A couple months back while I was serving with Elder Collier I had an impression that we needed to go knock doors down around 1st Street in Seal Beach. We came across a trailer park there and we started knocking. We didn't have very much success. Later on Elder Cluff and I decided to finish knocking the little neighborhood. On the last side of the last street in that trailer park we knocked on the door of Allen. He was really friendly and seemed pleased to see us. He invited us to come back to his home to teach him and his wife. We attempted to visit him over the next couple weeks but he never let us in because we always caught him home alone and he really wanted us to teach his wife as well. Anyway, finally he gave in and let us teach him last week despite his wife not being home again. Allen is Australian and he considers himself to be a Christian-Buddhist. We taught him the message of the Restoration and answered some of his questions. Allen is really sincere-- he really wants to know if what we share is true. His wife is a less-active 7th Day Adventist and he's concerned for the welfare of her soul. That's why he wanted us to teach her too, but turns out she doesn't want to talk with us. Allen mentioned that he's never before been baptized. He told us that it bothers him that he hasn't been baptized yet and he knows that the Bible teaches that we all need to be baptized. I started extending the baptismal invite-- "So if you were to come to the knowledge that the Book of Mormon is true" and then he interrupted me and answered "Then I'd join your church!" We came by for another visit and we brought a member with us named Bro. Gravley and we taught Allen most of the Plan of Salvation. Many of Allen's beliefs are similar to our's. He even believes in a sort of pre-existence. Allen is planning on coming to church on Sunday. If everything goes right we'll have him be baptized either this month or at the beginning of July. He's going on a trip to Australia mid-July so we need to baptize him muy rapido.
Last week we also found a couple up here in Long Beach. We were led to knock a small cul-de-sac. A lady answered one of the doors with a smile on her face and she said "Elders! About time you knocked on my door! I've lived here for about a year now and the Elders have never knocked my door. This street gets neglected by you guys!" Her name's Denise and some members of her family are Mormons. Her husband is a Shaman, (yes, like an Indian medicine man or something like that.) His name is Mushroom. Yep. A few days later we came back and met Mushroom. He's quite an interesting fellow. He doesn't wear a shirt-- just shorts and sandals. He has a gray beard and a ponytail and a dark Indian-ish complexion. He fought in Vietnam and he said that he used to sell Deseret News as a kid. Elder Cluff and I don't think he's as ready or open to embrace the gospel as his wife is, but who knows?! A couple days ago we were passing by their neighborhood again and they saw us and came out to talk with us again. They both seem to like talking with us Elders a lot. Somewhere in our short conversation Mushroom told us a story about when he had a conversation with a mosquito that landed in his ear. He spoke with the mosquito's spirit and made a deal with it. He told the mosquito that he'd let it take some of his blood if the mosquito would go tell the other mosquitos not the bother him. I guess the mosquito accepted the bargain and followed through with its commitment. I love all the people I meet out here.
Diana's progressing the same. She came to church again with her kid. She still pretty much thinks that she needs to be perfect before she gets baptized. She's way more prepared than most of the people I've ever taught. She just needs more confidence! She's committed and she's prepared-- she has a testimony of the Restored Gospel-- she just needs to believe in herself. She can do it!
Transfers are today. Elder Cluff and I are moving. We have been living in an apartment in the Long Beach 10th Ward boundaries. We've lived on the same street as the Assistants, the Zone Leaders, and the Blakes and the same neighborhood and President and Sister Sexton. Now we're moving into our own ward boundaries. We're going to live right behind my favorite grocery store-- Trader Joe's! I'm happy about that. We're going to have 4 sister missionaries in our district now. And Elder Collier is being put in a trio with two other Zone Leaders. That's the first time I've ever heard of 3 Zone Leaders leading a zone. The reason for it is because on of the Zone Leaders is my replacement. His name is Elder Lynn. Elder Collier trained him. President wants Elder Lynn to have plenty of training time with me. So he'll replace me in 6 weeks. He'll spend several afternoons learning about Mission Secretary stuff.
Hey thanks for the package! Elder Cluff and I have listened to the Saturday's Warrior soundtrack a couple times now. Good stuff. That photage is really classy Dad. And gracias for the aftershave, T-shirt and toothpaste. My face, teeth and torso are all happy. On the same day I received your package I got a package from the Cordova family in Paramount. They sent me a card and a gift. In the card they told me how grateful they are for the Gospel. Alejandro said that he'll never forget that Sunday night Elder Beverley and I knocked on their door. They thanked me for bringing the Restored Gospel to their home. They said that their daughter Thania is going to institute now and that Alejandro and Beatriz are learning how to say prayers in English. It was the best letter a missionary could receive. The gift was a pen and a mechanical pencil-- a couple really nice ones too. They came in a box with my name on it. Both the pen and the mechanical pencil have "Elder Lewis" engraved on them. That was super nice. They must have remembered that when I left I said that I was going to go be a secretary.
Well, I'd say this is a pretty thorough e-mail. Hope you had fun and had a chance to relax in St. Jorge! Happy Dad's Day soon !
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis
