Aug. 17th, 2010 (Email)

Good afternoon!

Last week was pretty good. We have a lot of investigators now, many of them with baptismal dates. I hope someone gets baptized. Sounds like a few of them aren't co-habitating. We're still teaching Alma and Antonio. They didn't go to church on Sunday but we had a really good visit with them a few days ago. We watched the Restoration DVD and then testified with all our hearts that they need to sincerely pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Our invitation to people sounds easy enough: read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it's the word of God. And then, when the Holy Ghost testifies that it is, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? Sound simple but it's amazing how many people don't actually give it a try. It's as though once we leave the house everything we just taught goes out the door with us. Often when we run into people on the street that say they have a copy of the Book of Mormon but they don't believe any of it I ask them if they've sincerely prayed to know if it's true. I've never had anyone like that ever honestly tell me they have. I am convinced that as soon as a person sincerely follows Moroni's promise all they can do after that is either accept the truth or choose to reject it. There's a reason why we've been counseled not to move on to the second lesson until those we teach have kept their commitments to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Alma and Antonio seem to be sincere enough. They pay attention.
We're also teaching a man named Guillermo who wants to be baptized on the 29th, another man named Armando who committed to be baptized that same day, and we were just referred to a man named Javier who already accepted an invitation from some other elders to be baptized September 4th. So we're being blessed with many people that seem to have been prepared.
I think my Spanish is healing from my 6 months in the office. Elder Colón is helping me out a lot. When I slow down and teach simply I speak a lot better. I don't struggle much when it comes to understanding people.
I had a really good study the other day about doing what is right even when everyone around you is doing otherwise. I was pondering about the youth in our area. A lot of these kids are raised in an environment where crime, immorality, and drugs are as common as anything else. There are a lot of streets in Compton and Paramount where people can only park on one side of the street so that the cops can have more room for drug trafficking. I've already heard two of the members of the stake presidency here talk about staying out of gangs. A 17-yr-old in Long Beach just got sentenced to 255 years in prison (yes, 255). I believe that there are many people here that are capable of rising above the norm here. A lot of the Samoan people that I've met in the church used to be gangsters. I knew an ex-crypt member that got sealed in the temple last year. Anyway, I was reading in the Book of Mormon and I came across Mosiah 17:2 which says: "And there was one among them whose name was Alma..." Alma was an immoral priest of Noah before he believed in the words of Abinidi. There's also the example of Abish (Alma 19:16-). She and her father were probably the only Lamanites in their community that were already converted to the Lord before Ammon came around. There's also Aminadab (Helaman 5:35-41). He's an example of an inactive member finally finding the courage to do what he already knew to be right. And there's Nicodemus (John 3:1 and see footnote a). He was stuck with the Pharisees but he had enough courage to visit Christ in secret, to stand up for Him in court, and to bring myrrh to His sepulchre after His death. All these people were examples of people standing up for righteousness in a community of wickedness.
Elder Colón and I went to a meeting with the stake president here with President Bubert and the Assistants. That was interesting. We just discussed the missionary work going on in the wards here in the Long Beach Stake.
For my birthday I was on exchanges with and elder named Elder Sutton. We tracted a lot and we found a family named la familia Lara and we taught them. Elder Colón got me a cupcake and he lit it and the elders sang Happy Birthday. Thaks for the card the cash and the license! You sniff farts too Hannah. Funny thing is that I really don't look a day over 16. Or at least that's what everyone says when I tell them how old I actually am.
Here in the Long Beach Zone I have to privilege to see many black people get baptized. The Long Beach 7th ward is definitely the most diverse english ward I've ever been to. As zone leaders we try to go to every baptism the elders in the zone have.
I have not inquired about my bike yet, but I am planning to take care of that before my next e-mail. Fear not, it shall get home.
Love you and don't get trunky!
Love,
Elder Tyler J. Lewis