Hello!
Sounds like you all had a lot of fun in Flaming Gorge!
Things are going good over here in Long Beach. Last week Elder Colón and I went to 4 Zone Leader Training meetings with all the zone leaders in the mission, the Assistants and President Bubert. The Church has put out a bunch of new material for all of the missions worldwide to start focusing on. They're trying to hammer a bunch of stuff into our heads from Preach My Gospel such as the Doctrine of Christ, the role of the Spirit in conversion, seeking personal revelation from prayer, the Book of Mormon, and church attendance-- and a bunch of other stuff. Each meeting was about 6 hours long. It was like an amazing mini MTC experience. It was fun getting to hear from President Bubert so many times. I feel like I've already had 6 Zone Conferences with him. I pretty much have. So even though my time working with him will be short I already feel very familiar with him and how he does things.
Elder Colón and I are working with a couple people in Compton that are preparing for baptism. I almost forgot how big of an issue co-habitation is with the spanish-speaking community. Everybody's living with their novios and novias. So we're trying to help some people become esposos and esposas. Did you know that "esposa", the spanish word for wife, also means handcuff? (same with husband.) So that gives you somewhat of an idea about how some people view marriage here. So we're helping a couple people learn how to live the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom so they can get baptized.
I'm going to get fat again. I've had a lot of rice, orchata, carne asada, jamaica, tortillas-- all that good mexican food. So good!
Hey, next time you go to the temple I challenge you to study King Benjamin's address in Mosiah chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5. Over one hundred elements of the temple can be found in those scriptures. At the very beginning of Mosiah chapter 2 the verses direct your attention to the temple. Everyone's gathered around the temple to listen to King Benjamin, with their families and their tents pointed toward the temple. So what the Book of Mormon's trying to do is say "Hey! Now start thinking about the temple!"
Well, I hope things are going well up there. I'm glad to hear Mom's leg is getting better. Sorry you can't run the half-marathon. Good luck Dad! And I hope you had a happy 12th birthday Hannah!
I'm planning on shipping my bike home. I don't have a car so I'll definitely need that. The office has some sort of a system set up-- I think it'll cost me about $50 to ship home. Right now my bike's still in the Assistants' apartment and it will probably stay there until I call the office to figure out how to ship it home. And yes, September 7th's the day. See you then!
Love,
Elder Lewis
Oh, a couple more things I was supposed to tell you. (Mom's questions)
My apartment is fine-- no cockroaches. We're in car and we get 1250 miles a month as Zone Leaders. And Elder Colón is an awesome Elder. His Puerto Rican accent is a lot of fun.
I have to go now-- there's other elders waiting to use this computer.
Cuídense!
Love,
Tyler
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
July 27th, 2010 (Email)
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
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
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
