Buenas dias!
Denny-Ray Billy-Shaw Stelly (At least I'm pretty sure that's his name) was granted permission from the First Presidency to be baptized. Bro. Stelly's pretty excited about that. He should be. But here's the deal- HE HASN'T BEEN COMING TO CHURCH. We keep commiting him and re-commiting him but he just keeps NOT showing up to church on Sunday. [okay this keyboard's junk. the "w" key keeps sticking and the keyboard tray keeps breaking. oh well- ADD moment over] We visited his family last night and they knew they were in trouble. We don't even have to say anything or even look disappointed. They knew exactly what we were thinking right when we said hello. Anyways, they said they'll come to church next Sunday, and despite their past record with their promises of coming to church all I can do is EXPECT them to be there again.
Dixie's divorce is final now! Yay! She has her name back and everything. She got a deal from the judge and now it's all old news. I have no idea how any of that stuff works though so that's all I can tell you. Now we've just gotta wait for David and Dixie to get married and then we can baptize them. Hopefully they'll get married soon because I'm at risk to be transferred March 10th. In fact it's pretty likely that I will be. I'd like to stay because a lot of baptisms are probably going to happen here next transfer and I'd like to see the fruits of my labor through but at the same time I wouldn't mind starting a new adventure.
Amalia Ramos was confirmed on Sunday. We wanted Omar to confirm her but he got nervous and asked me to do it at the last minute. So I did. In English though because I'd rather not do my first Spanish blessing in front of the entire Buena Park Ward. Might as well have though, because right as we placed our hands on Amalia's head she started sobbing violently so I had trouble knowing what to say anyways. She was crying for two reasons- 1. Because she was feeling something inside of her that she had a lot of trouble explaining but whatever it was it made her really happy and 2. because she was sad that her husband didn't come. So the overall feeling of being way happy and way sad kind of made her hysterical. Elder Bliss and I didn't really know what to do so we just had to sit back and watch as she walked up to the podium and cried and explained her feelings to the entire ward. It was pretty cool though.
Still haven't been able to contact Sam Sakely. :( So I don't know what's going on with her. I hope everything's okay.
Elder Rodriguez called me a couple nights ago to check out how things are going. Here was our conversation: "Was Sam baptized?" "No." "What?" "And she's gone less-active." "What?!" "And Jason Patterson moved." "WHAT!?" Yeah. Jason Patterson moved. That was random. We stopped by his house I think Sunday and it was empty and his brother answered the door and said he'd moved to Tumekula on Saturday. That was pretty out of the blue. We knew he was kind of house-hunting but we didn't know he was that serious. We'd just visited him about a week ago. But now he's gone and I gave his information to the Mission Office so I guess some other Elders will visit him in Tumekula wherever the heck that is.
So I kind of have my bearings about where I am now. Disneyland's only about 15 minutes away from here. I kind of saw it yesterday; at least I saw its general area and some of the big buildings that are near it. We have a big chunk of Anaheim in our area and we were in that part yesterday crossing a pretty high bridge and I may or may not have seen Disneyland but I definitely saw where people say it is.
Yeah I like some of the Cheese Church music it's true. Still not into the B98.7 stuff but I've found stuff that I like. Yeah Mom please send me some tunes that'd be awesome! Jenny Philips, folk-country church music, that all sounds great.
The acne medicine has worked miracles and I'm still bleaching my teeth and that's amazing too. Still haven't found a dry-cleaning place in Buena Park but we're going to look into it again today. None listed in the phone book. It'll happen I promise. I'm not sure if my waistline has really grown much or if the washer just shrunk those pants. They said machine-wash cold so that's what I did but apparently the problem may be that they shrunk. I'll see what the people can do about it.
The mission had 21 baptisms this week. TWENTY ONE. That's the most that the mission's had in over two years. Milagros estan pasando en el campo de buena park. Verdad.
Yeah we visited Dara Walker's ex-brother-in-law and he was pretty nice. He's a 70- not a Seventy but the old priesthood office between Elder and High Priest 70- so he needs to get his act together. We'll visit him weekly and invite him to church every time and we'll probably bring up repentance and what it really is and how it really works and hopefully he'll start living up to the standard he already knows is true. The best thing for him to do would be to meet with Bishop Redding.
All's still buena in Buena Park! Have a great week fam!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
February 17th, 2009 (Letter)
Hey Fam!
These note card things are cool. This pen's hardcore too. Sorry, when I don't have lines my handwriting starts looking similar to that of a retarded monkey. But we'll all deal.
So Dara Walker just gave us a referral. Her ex-brother-in-law lives in our area. He's gone less...well, inactive and to make matters worse it looks like he's a Seventy. At least that's what our records say. I just barely received her letter so we haven't contacted him yet but were gonna. We just knocked the street he lives on a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if we met him...Wasn't a very receptive street so I hope not. We're gonna get to that tonight!
Have I told you about Roy yet? He's almost seven feet tall and really big. Not fat. Just huge. He's a giant. Well, he's taking the lessons from us now. He's really nice and he's already prayed about the Book of Mormon and such so that's great. He hasn't received an answer yet but we'll see what happens.thanks for the Valentines Day cards and letters and stuff! I loved the one from Rosie. Cute. (tee hee)
So Food4Less sells this cool soda called Senorial Sangria and its like non-alcoholic wine soda or something. they actually sold it at the MTC. It's really cheep.
Guess what Mom - I've bleached my teeth for 3 days straight now! Yay Me! That special toothpaste the bleach stuff comes with is where it's at.
I've got a cool quote for ya. This is from a bookmark Sis. Sexton made for us back in November.
"Few men on earth, either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness... The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all it's peoples will have been influenced and governed by it... There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?" - elder Bruce R. McConkie.
I love that quote.
Thanks for the Super dog by the way. Did I send you the picture of me wearing my new Zelda shirt and Buena Park coyotes hat? Don't remember if I did. Anyway, got a new Zelda pajama shirt for $7.50 and Wally-World. cool-cool beans.
Ever heard of Jessie Clark funk? More good Mormon music for ya. I'm listening to her right now. Elder Esterholdt gave me his CD player and speakers when he left. Good guy. He is living somewhere in or near Ogden right now. You should look him up! That would be fun! He was my first zone Leader.
Hope you had fun in St. George!
I Love You!
Con amor,
Elder Tyler Lewis
These note card things are cool. This pen's hardcore too. Sorry, when I don't have lines my handwriting starts looking similar to that of a retarded monkey. But we'll all deal.
So Dara Walker just gave us a referral. Her ex-brother-in-law lives in our area. He's gone less...well, inactive and to make matters worse it looks like he's a Seventy. At least that's what our records say. I just barely received her letter so we haven't contacted him yet but were gonna. We just knocked the street he lives on a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if we met him...Wasn't a very receptive street so I hope not. We're gonna get to that tonight!
Have I told you about Roy yet? He's almost seven feet tall and really big. Not fat. Just huge. He's a giant. Well, he's taking the lessons from us now. He's really nice and he's already prayed about the Book of Mormon and such so that's great. He hasn't received an answer yet but we'll see what happens.thanks for the Valentines Day cards and letters and stuff! I loved the one from Rosie. Cute. (tee hee)
So Food4Less sells this cool soda called Senorial Sangria and its like non-alcoholic wine soda or something. they actually sold it at the MTC. It's really cheep.
Guess what Mom - I've bleached my teeth for 3 days straight now! Yay Me! That special toothpaste the bleach stuff comes with is where it's at.
I've got a cool quote for ya. This is from a bookmark Sis. Sexton made for us back in November.
"Few men on earth, either in or out of the Church, have caught the vision of what the Book of Mormon is all about. Few are they among men who know the part it has played and will yet play in preparing the way for the coming of Him of whom it is a new witness... The Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all it's peoples will have been influenced and governed by it... There is no greater issue ever to confront mankind in modern times than this: Is the Book of Mormon the mind and will and voice of God to all men?" - elder Bruce R. McConkie.
I love that quote.
Thanks for the Super dog by the way. Did I send you the picture of me wearing my new Zelda shirt and Buena Park coyotes hat? Don't remember if I did. Anyway, got a new Zelda pajama shirt for $7.50 and Wally-World. cool-cool beans.
Ever heard of Jessie Clark funk? More good Mormon music for ya. I'm listening to her right now. Elder Esterholdt gave me his CD player and speakers when he left. Good guy. He is living somewhere in or near Ogden right now. You should look him up! That would be fun! He was my first zone Leader.
Hope you had fun in St. George!
I Love You!
Con amor,
Elder Tyler Lewis
February 10th, 2009 (Valentines Day Card)
Dear Mom, Dad and Hannah,
Happy Valentines Day! You're all going to St. George so I'm not sure when you'll get this card, but anyway, have a great weekend if you haven't left yet and I hope you had fun if you're back. valentines Day should be the first baptism between Elder Bliss and I. I hope everything goes well.
So I'll tell you some stuff. A couple of days ago elder Bliss and I went and visited two people from Nigeria named victor and Comfort. victor let us inside declaring "You've come to declare the word! You disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ!" He was pretty excited. He sat us down and we prayed. Then he started by asking us a question. He asked "Which baptism is the most important - by water or by the spirit?" We told him that was a GREAT question and I read john 3:5 and told him "According to Jesus both are absolutely essential." He said he liked how I answered his question and then we started teaching the first lesson. When we got to the part about prophets he exclaimed "Prophet?! Prophet like Moses? Do we have somebody like that today?" Yeah, we loved Victors questions. He read the heading of 3 Nephi 11 and one of his first questions had to do with something mentioned there about "Christs a-tun-uh-ment, What is atun-uh-ment?" So we explained the Atonement to him. It was a fun 45 min lesson. I love the Nigerian accent.
There is a man in our ward named Bro. Murdoch and let me tell ya- Bro. Murdoch is the hardest of the hardcore. He is this 80 something year old man that loves old fold and country music - Grandpa Lewis type of music. He always plays "I'm So Lonesome I could Cry" on his old acoustic guitar whenever we visit him. He's amazing at the harmonica. He playes hymns on his harmonica in the chapel before sacrament starts. He married his brothers wife's twin sister! Sis. Murdoch passed some time ago and I think he really misses her. so we have several reasons why we visit. Bro. Murdoch - he's lonely, he feeds us, he lets me play his guitar, he has this tradition of having missionaries sign this ancient hymn book he's kept since the 70's, and he's just all around awesome.
The bishop had us talk to David and Dixie about R-rated movies and stuff like that. apparently Delilah, their six year old told the bishop she'd seen "Saw V" that's frightening. They have a ton of movies. I think this will be harder for them than the Word of wisdom. They cringed when we brought it up. I'm sure glad I took my stand on the matter before I had to teach about it. Just wish I would have done it sooner. Oh well.
Alrighty, I will translate this card for you: "Have an incredible day, because Valentines Day was made for people that are sweet like you!"
Oh, como cute.
I Love You!
Nos vemos!
Love, Elder Tyler Lewis
Happy Valentines Day! You're all going to St. George so I'm not sure when you'll get this card, but anyway, have a great weekend if you haven't left yet and I hope you had fun if you're back. valentines Day should be the first baptism between Elder Bliss and I. I hope everything goes well.
So I'll tell you some stuff. A couple of days ago elder Bliss and I went and visited two people from Nigeria named victor and Comfort. victor let us inside declaring "You've come to declare the word! You disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ!" He was pretty excited. He sat us down and we prayed. Then he started by asking us a question. He asked "Which baptism is the most important - by water or by the spirit?" We told him that was a GREAT question and I read john 3:5 and told him "According to Jesus both are absolutely essential." He said he liked how I answered his question and then we started teaching the first lesson. When we got to the part about prophets he exclaimed "Prophet?! Prophet like Moses? Do we have somebody like that today?" Yeah, we loved Victors questions. He read the heading of 3 Nephi 11 and one of his first questions had to do with something mentioned there about "Christs a-tun-uh-ment, What is atun-uh-ment?" So we explained the Atonement to him. It was a fun 45 min lesson. I love the Nigerian accent.
There is a man in our ward named Bro. Murdoch and let me tell ya- Bro. Murdoch is the hardest of the hardcore. He is this 80 something year old man that loves old fold and country music - Grandpa Lewis type of music. He always plays "I'm So Lonesome I could Cry" on his old acoustic guitar whenever we visit him. He's amazing at the harmonica. He playes hymns on his harmonica in the chapel before sacrament starts. He married his brothers wife's twin sister! Sis. Murdoch passed some time ago and I think he really misses her. so we have several reasons why we visit. Bro. Murdoch - he's lonely, he feeds us, he lets me play his guitar, he has this tradition of having missionaries sign this ancient hymn book he's kept since the 70's, and he's just all around awesome.
The bishop had us talk to David and Dixie about R-rated movies and stuff like that. apparently Delilah, their six year old told the bishop she'd seen "Saw V" that's frightening. They have a ton of movies. I think this will be harder for them than the Word of wisdom. They cringed when we brought it up. I'm sure glad I took my stand on the matter before I had to teach about it. Just wish I would have done it sooner. Oh well.
Alrighty, I will translate this card for you: "Have an incredible day, because Valentines Day was made for people that are sweet like you!"
Oh, como cute.
I Love You!
Nos vemos!
Love, Elder Tyler Lewis
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
February 17th, 2009 (Email)
Hey thanks for the Valentine's package! Got it yesterday. That medicine works miracles. The abomination on my face is already dying. That Sesame St. shirt is awesome. I'll lounge in those jeans today. I've only had to wear jeans twice out here so far. Those cards are a great idea. Thanks for all that stationary! I'll be set for quite some time.
Amalia Ramos was baptized by her son David on Valentine's Day! It was such a great baptism! Amalia was pretty nervous but excited. I tried to tell her in Spanish that I was excited by saying "Estoy exitoso" but that was the wrong word. "Estoy exitoso" means "I am successful." "Estoy animado" means "I am excited." Amalia got a kick out of that. The new ward mission leader, Bro. McCay, and the new ward missionary, Sis. McCay, came to the baptism. It was their first one as the new ward mission leaders. David baptized his mom in Spanish like so: "Amalia Ramos, habiendo sido comisionado por Jesucristo, yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo. Amen." After David baptized his mom they hugged in the font. They were so happy they were crying. No wonder Satan worked so hard to keep David from being baptized. The power out, the opposition from his parents, the opposition from his friends and all the temptations I'm sure he had thrown at him; it was all to keep these miracles from happening. And it all started because of Omar Santillan. Omar is David's friend who gave him the Book of Mormon pass-along card. Omar was given permission to partake of the sacrament and use his priesthood again a couple weeks ago. He gave a talk, bore his testimony and stood as a witness at the baptism. He took a step of faith back in October and now David, Heliodoro, and Amalia are baptized and Omar has come along with them through the steps of repentance. And there was opposition in all things.
Speaking of opposition I have some bad news. Sam didn't come to church this Sunday. We called her to set up an appointment and she didn't answer. The phone rang a few minutes later and I answered. Sam, who was obviously in tears, sobbed that her mother and her had had an argument Sunday morning and her mom opposes the baptism and her going to church and as of now the baptism this Saturday is cancelled. I calmly told her that it's alright and asked her if we could meet again with her this week. She calmed down a little and said yes and we're waiting to hear back from her. I feel bad that she's being faced with all this opposition. But after seeing what happened with David Ramos and his family I'm confidant that Sam Sakely needs to take a brave step of faith. So does Jason Patterson. And so do we. I prayed about Sam and Elder Bliss and I fasted for her yesterday and we both received an answer that we need to give Sam a priesthood blessing. We talked to Bishop Redding and he said he's going to talk to her too. It's a tough situation. But I'm sure that there are blessings in store for Sam that she just can't see yet.
Kerry. Don't worry about her. She's not being baptized now. She's a Samoan woman that decided to be baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist church last Saturday. I'm a little resentful about that and so is her sister-in-law. In fact her sister-in-law kicked her out, which I think is a little extreme, but that's none of my business. Her sister-in-law is Gaiuli and she's way cool. She loves to feed us and she goes with Robbie Reed to work out several times a week. She's a member and she's trying real hard to commit her family to join the Church. Her husband, Setu, is an Adventist and he doesn't want to change. But her friend Laurna is continuing to meet with us and she said she wants to be baptized. Samoans have the best names. Ikahihifo, Siatenu'u, Gaiuli, etc. It's really hard to give them blessings though because I always mess up the names really bad. I blessed Gaiuli's daughter once and I have no idea what her name is now. Last week Elder Bliss and I blessed the Ikahihifo grandma and I had to ask them about five times what that name was. Again, don't remember even slightly.
I hope you had fun in St. George. Hannah, don't be sad. These next 18 or so months are going to fly by and before you know it I'll be back and I'll be weird but then after that I'll be Tyler again. Enjoy the time you have as the only child! I had nine years of it.
Hope you had a happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for the box full of awesome! Nos vemos and que tengan un buen dia!
Con amor,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Amalia Ramos was baptized by her son David on Valentine's Day! It was such a great baptism! Amalia was pretty nervous but excited. I tried to tell her in Spanish that I was excited by saying "Estoy exitoso" but that was the wrong word. "Estoy exitoso" means "I am successful." "Estoy animado" means "I am excited." Amalia got a kick out of that. The new ward mission leader, Bro. McCay, and the new ward missionary, Sis. McCay, came to the baptism. It was their first one as the new ward mission leaders. David baptized his mom in Spanish like so: "Amalia Ramos, habiendo sido comisionado por Jesucristo, yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo. Amen." After David baptized his mom they hugged in the font. They were so happy they were crying. No wonder Satan worked so hard to keep David from being baptized. The power out, the opposition from his parents, the opposition from his friends and all the temptations I'm sure he had thrown at him; it was all to keep these miracles from happening. And it all started because of Omar Santillan. Omar is David's friend who gave him the Book of Mormon pass-along card. Omar was given permission to partake of the sacrament and use his priesthood again a couple weeks ago. He gave a talk, bore his testimony and stood as a witness at the baptism. He took a step of faith back in October and now David, Heliodoro, and Amalia are baptized and Omar has come along with them through the steps of repentance. And there was opposition in all things.
Speaking of opposition I have some bad news. Sam didn't come to church this Sunday. We called her to set up an appointment and she didn't answer. The phone rang a few minutes later and I answered. Sam, who was obviously in tears, sobbed that her mother and her had had an argument Sunday morning and her mom opposes the baptism and her going to church and as of now the baptism this Saturday is cancelled. I calmly told her that it's alright and asked her if we could meet again with her this week. She calmed down a little and said yes and we're waiting to hear back from her. I feel bad that she's being faced with all this opposition. But after seeing what happened with David Ramos and his family I'm confidant that Sam Sakely needs to take a brave step of faith. So does Jason Patterson. And so do we. I prayed about Sam and Elder Bliss and I fasted for her yesterday and we both received an answer that we need to give Sam a priesthood blessing. We talked to Bishop Redding and he said he's going to talk to her too. It's a tough situation. But I'm sure that there are blessings in store for Sam that she just can't see yet.
Kerry. Don't worry about her. She's not being baptized now. She's a Samoan woman that decided to be baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist church last Saturday. I'm a little resentful about that and so is her sister-in-law. In fact her sister-in-law kicked her out, which I think is a little extreme, but that's none of my business. Her sister-in-law is Gaiuli and she's way cool. She loves to feed us and she goes with Robbie Reed to work out several times a week. She's a member and she's trying real hard to commit her family to join the Church. Her husband, Setu, is an Adventist and he doesn't want to change. But her friend Laurna is continuing to meet with us and she said she wants to be baptized. Samoans have the best names. Ikahihifo, Siatenu'u, Gaiuli, etc. It's really hard to give them blessings though because I always mess up the names really bad. I blessed Gaiuli's daughter once and I have no idea what her name is now. Last week Elder Bliss and I blessed the Ikahihifo grandma and I had to ask them about five times what that name was. Again, don't remember even slightly.
I hope you had fun in St. George. Hannah, don't be sad. These next 18 or so months are going to fly by and before you know it I'll be back and I'll be weird but then after that I'll be Tyler again. Enjoy the time you have as the only child! I had nine years of it.
Hope you had a happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for the box full of awesome! Nos vemos and que tengan un buen dia!
Con amor,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
February 10th, 2009 (Email)
Hello again!
Oh Grammy's. Robert Plant and Ms. Krauss eh? Was that last year? Interesting. That's good Hannah likes Coldplay. I most definitely approve. Especially their new CD. Jason Patterson hooked Elder Bliss and I up with some music- the Reflections of Christ album, the God's Army soundtrack and some Michael Webb. The Reflections of Christ album is amazing. I highly suggest that and the Joseph Smith Nashville Tribute.
Zone Conference was GREAT! In my interview President Sexton had me share one of my personal studies with him so I shared the one where I read Helaman ch. 14 and learned more about the ressurrection, repentance and "the second death." I always thought that the second death was just spiritual death as opposed to physical, but during that study I learned that the second death is a second spiritual death. Through Adam's transgresson we are all cut off from the presence of God both physically and spiritually. So when we were born we were spiritually dead, being cut off from God's presence. In this life we're supposed to repent and live the gospel of Jesus Christ so that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can avoid being cut off spiritually and physically (and permanently) a second time. Samuel the Lamanite explains in brief the importance of the resurrection. In 2Nephi chapter 9 we are told that "in our bodies we shall see God." In order to be in the presence of God AGAIN we need to first off have perfect bodies. We could be in God's presence in the Pre-Mortal Life as spirits because the transgression of Adam hadn't happened yet. Since it happened a redemption needed to take place, and that redemption happened through Christ so that we could avoid the second death. The teachings of Samuel the Lamanite is one of my most favorite parts of the Book of Mormon. All of the book of Helaman is pretty amazing in fact. I didn't ask President Sexton any doctrinal questions because I needed to ask him about our investigator Kerry who wants to be baptized but needs to see the Pres. Sexton first because she's on probation. That interview may happen this week.
I bought some new slacks last week because my waistline outgrew my blue slacks. I'm not sure how much is on that debit card. I'd better check. The slacks just cost like $22 though so I think I'm good. I need to dryclean my suits this week though because one of them smells funny and the other one has some white junk on it.
I was a little down last week because we weren't finding many new investigators. We worked really hard and knocked a bunch and put in our effort and prayed a lot. Yesterday we went on splits and I was with Elder McKinney. I decided we'd better go tract these apartments on California street. The blessings were poured on us yesterday. We found SEVEN investigators! We exceeded our goal for the week in under an hour. You will be found worthy for God's blessings if you are diligent and say lots of sincere prayers and maintain a strong desire for something to be accomplished.
During zone conference President Sexton explained the difference between having goals and having desires. We must not only set goals towards baptism; we need to have a strong DESIRE to baptize. We need to be thinking about baptism, praying for baptisms, dreaming about the work, etc. President Sexton also demonstrated teaching the Plan of Salvation in 15 minutes. Then he started a deeper doctrinal discussion about the Plan of Salvation. That was fun. Pres. Sexton started with the pre-earth life talking about intelligences and Heavenly Mother and then he talked about the Fall of Adam and how the Tree of Life is Jesus Christ Himself and so on. It was great. He also started talking about how gender is an eternal factor of identity. Speaking to us Elders he said "You are men. You have always been men. You will always be men. No matter what the world says about it you will always be men." It says something like that in the Family Proclamation. Then one of the Elders asked him the question that I know must have popped into all of our minds- the gay question. And Pres. Sexton gave the best answer I've ever heard in regards to same-gender attraction. He told us of an old Indian parable he was once told, where this Indian dreamed about two wolves. These two wolves were fighting to the death. The Indian wasn't sure which one would win so he asked and a voice told him - "THE ONE THAT YOU FEED." President Sexton said "It's true that from a very young age there are some that have an inclination toward homosexuality. But then again, at a very young age there are some that have an inclination toward being a liar. As a bishop and a stake president I've interviewed many brothers and sisters struggling with same-gender attraction. ALL OF THEM have told me that at one point early on they made a choice and did something to feed that desire."
So yeah. On my second companion and third transfer. Elder Bliss is a good Elder but sometimes he needs to be reminded that we can't be idle. And we can't go overtime on the dinner appointments. I have to take the initiative a lot. And since I know the area and the people better right now I do most of the planning. I'm like the Senior Junior Companion. Esta todo bien though. Buena Park's still "the place to be" as all the signs say.
Well Amalia Ramos should be bapized on Valentine's day! Prayers needed! I love you and have a happy Valentine's day! Thanks for the box full of pictures and candy and thanks Hannah for the cool book of drawings! I'll write you today! Have fun in St. George!
Nos vemos
Elder Tyler Lewis
Oh Grammy's. Robert Plant and Ms. Krauss eh? Was that last year? Interesting. That's good Hannah likes Coldplay. I most definitely approve. Especially their new CD. Jason Patterson hooked Elder Bliss and I up with some music- the Reflections of Christ album, the God's Army soundtrack and some Michael Webb. The Reflections of Christ album is amazing. I highly suggest that and the Joseph Smith Nashville Tribute.
Zone Conference was GREAT! In my interview President Sexton had me share one of my personal studies with him so I shared the one where I read Helaman ch. 14 and learned more about the ressurrection, repentance and "the second death." I always thought that the second death was just spiritual death as opposed to physical, but during that study I learned that the second death is a second spiritual death. Through Adam's transgresson we are all cut off from the presence of God both physically and spiritually. So when we were born we were spiritually dead, being cut off from God's presence. In this life we're supposed to repent and live the gospel of Jesus Christ so that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can avoid being cut off spiritually and physically (and permanently) a second time. Samuel the Lamanite explains in brief the importance of the resurrection. In 2Nephi chapter 9 we are told that "in our bodies we shall see God." In order to be in the presence of God AGAIN we need to first off have perfect bodies. We could be in God's presence in the Pre-Mortal Life as spirits because the transgression of Adam hadn't happened yet. Since it happened a redemption needed to take place, and that redemption happened through Christ so that we could avoid the second death. The teachings of Samuel the Lamanite is one of my most favorite parts of the Book of Mormon. All of the book of Helaman is pretty amazing in fact. I didn't ask President Sexton any doctrinal questions because I needed to ask him about our investigator Kerry who wants to be baptized but needs to see the Pres. Sexton first because she's on probation. That interview may happen this week.
I bought some new slacks last week because my waistline outgrew my blue slacks. I'm not sure how much is on that debit card. I'd better check. The slacks just cost like $22 though so I think I'm good. I need to dryclean my suits this week though because one of them smells funny and the other one has some white junk on it.
I was a little down last week because we weren't finding many new investigators. We worked really hard and knocked a bunch and put in our effort and prayed a lot. Yesterday we went on splits and I was with Elder McKinney. I decided we'd better go tract these apartments on California street. The blessings were poured on us yesterday. We found SEVEN investigators! We exceeded our goal for the week in under an hour. You will be found worthy for God's blessings if you are diligent and say lots of sincere prayers and maintain a strong desire for something to be accomplished.
During zone conference President Sexton explained the difference between having goals and having desires. We must not only set goals towards baptism; we need to have a strong DESIRE to baptize. We need to be thinking about baptism, praying for baptisms, dreaming about the work, etc. President Sexton also demonstrated teaching the Plan of Salvation in 15 minutes. Then he started a deeper doctrinal discussion about the Plan of Salvation. That was fun. Pres. Sexton started with the pre-earth life talking about intelligences and Heavenly Mother and then he talked about the Fall of Adam and how the Tree of Life is Jesus Christ Himself and so on. It was great. He also started talking about how gender is an eternal factor of identity. Speaking to us Elders he said "You are men. You have always been men. You will always be men. No matter what the world says about it you will always be men." It says something like that in the Family Proclamation. Then one of the Elders asked him the question that I know must have popped into all of our minds- the gay question. And Pres. Sexton gave the best answer I've ever heard in regards to same-gender attraction. He told us of an old Indian parable he was once told, where this Indian dreamed about two wolves. These two wolves were fighting to the death. The Indian wasn't sure which one would win so he asked and a voice told him - "THE ONE THAT YOU FEED." President Sexton said "It's true that from a very young age there are some that have an inclination toward homosexuality. But then again, at a very young age there are some that have an inclination toward being a liar. As a bishop and a stake president I've interviewed many brothers and sisters struggling with same-gender attraction. ALL OF THEM have told me that at one point early on they made a choice and did something to feed that desire."
So yeah. On my second companion and third transfer. Elder Bliss is a good Elder but sometimes he needs to be reminded that we can't be idle. And we can't go overtime on the dinner appointments. I have to take the initiative a lot. And since I know the area and the people better right now I do most of the planning. I'm like the Senior Junior Companion. Esta todo bien though. Buena Park's still "the place to be" as all the signs say.
Well Amalia Ramos should be bapized on Valentine's day! Prayers needed! I love you and have a happy Valentine's day! Thanks for the box full of pictures and candy and thanks Hannah for the cool book of drawings! I'll write you today! Have fun in St. George!
Nos vemos
Elder Tyler Lewis
