God's Impeccable Timing

 This is for sure God's work. Which I already knew, but now I know even more. 

The Old Testament is going very hard. In Numbers 8, God asks Moses to sacrifice the Levites. And I'm like "oh no, he's gonna burn them" but nope, really he just wanted them to live a consecrated life and sacrifice about 25 years of their life to full-time service in the tabernacle. Pretty cool stuff. So basically service in the church acts as a sacrifice and actually helps us to repent- because that's what sacrifice helps accomplish. 

We had a mega BBQ for all the Deaf People in Northern California and invited the entire state to come and eat hamburgers with us

There were about 25 people.

But it was great to sign with everybody and watch everybody else sign. I think I'm almost basically fluent. Cuz I caught like- all of it. 

Well then we had a potluck immediately following the BBQ and we actually had 2 friends show up so that was amazing.

Sunday evening we had a zoom meeting with the mission presidents and ASL missionaries of our mission and the San Diego Mission. We went into it like "oh, cool we can help each other" 

But it kinda turned into a "here, we'll just help you" . It was a little upsetting and very unproductive. But it's still really cool that we are now (kinda) friends with other ASL missionaries.

Well then we went to the church on Monday morning and as we pulled up we saw a beautiful Indian couple trying all the doors to our church building. We went up to talk to them and basically it's her birthday and she wants to pray in a church- that's like all she wants. So, joyfully, we unlock the doors and let them loose. They loved it! She went into the chapel and started praying. We talked to the guy. He's not necessarily Christian but he likes Jesus. We taught them the restoration and then got phone numbers and they are excited to come to church this Sunday.

Just kidding, they're excited to watch General Conference and then go to church next week lol.

A little background, before we left, Elder Johnson had to use the bathroom and Elder Howes was doing the dishes. So we left a little later than I wanted to- but if we were any later or earlier we would have missed them.

Well then- we were working on some ASL things when ANOTHER Indian peaks his head in the door and says "when is the sermon starting?" 

And we all looked at eachother like "how did my brother get in?"

Then we looked at eachother again like "how long has he been there"

Then we all looked at eachother again like "what did we do to deserve these blessings"

Needles to say, we taught him the restoration. I spoke with him in Hindi for a bit, but he told us he's gonna read the Book of Mormon and start coming to church too. So that's epic.

Well then we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I went to their area and got a new bench Max it's 175.

Then we ate an entire box of pasta, according to the panel on the side that was 800 calories each.

 

Then we gave the sacrament to a sister in their ward who's been stuck in her bed for like 12 weeks cuz they dropped her after the amgenogram. 

Well then we head to the car and see a woman taking kids outta the car seats and I go over and talk to her. She kinda waved us away and we were about to keep walking but then I recognized a kind of sound in her voice and I just knew she was Deaf. I handed my books to Elder Vest and just started signing. She was shocked and just so excited! I told her about our all ASL church and we got her VP number! 

What an absolute insane miracle. So many variables combined together to make this happen and it's almost scary to think about how easily we could have missed her. If Elder Vest hadn't've gone pee, if I hadn't have taken a little longer with my pasta, if a few lights were green instead of red…. But God is in control and everything was exactly right on her side and on our side so that our paths crossed. 

How incredible is that? 

I know God's plan is perfect and he wants all of us to succeed. I love being a small piece in the success and joy of others. 

Keep the fire burning! (Leviticus 6:13)

Mmmm seeds.

 

My 2 trainees finally were able to film their ASL testimonies and oh boy, what a powerful and important experience in the life of a ASL Missionary. For the rest of their life they'll look back and watch how their signing was and recognize all the insane improvement that has happened in just 2 years.

It was strange going through this process as an Elder Elder instead of a baby Elder this time. It's actually strange every time we do anything because I recognize "hey, you need to be the leader here" when in the past I had no clue at all what was going on and just watched my trainers, Elder Rigby and Elder White. But now….I'm in their place? I just have 4 elders instead.

Let me tell you. 5 Elders is something crazy. The apartment is always so clean because there's 5 of us to do all the work! Just kidding, that's not true at all. . It's a mess and I have to laugh about it or I'll cry. There's just this smell. It's on everything. 

Dinners are crazy…a lot of people stopped signing up to feed us because they feel like they have to feed all 5 lol. It's great. Whenever we do anything together, I can see the aura of intimidation around us. And it's like "Brother, you have no need to be scared, they're all still in their first few transfers lol"

But they're amazing. I was worried I'd have a "favorite" but that hasn't happened. Even if I try- they're all my best friends. They're all completely different people and are good at different things and need help with different things. Which I should have expected lol. Makes sense right? I kinda thought after 1 week following me around they'd all be good and ready to train a new missionary themselves! 

It actually took 3 weeks. That sentence was a joke.

Anyways, I've been on a run and working out every day.

Then we had ASL Crazy Travel Day! We drove out of the mission to a city called "Mountain House" there's a service missionary there who has become Deaf! So we're teaching him ASL. That was great and reminiscent of my first bit as an ASL missionary. Every time he made mistakes I remember making I felt so validated lol. Then we drove to Pleasanton and somehow met a random Deaf Person walking into the place where we were supposed to meet the Deaf chick we were there for! Amazing. She said we can video call and teach her on Sunday! 

So much ASL in 1 day, also a lot of driving…. Driving stresses me out quite a bit. I was praying that whole time. But hey! It was great. I did almost weigh the car on the scales though but was able to speed out of there in time. Also even if the speed limit on the canyon roads is 50, don't take the corners at that speed.

I also stopped at my church house in Pleasanton on Paseo Santa Cruz, all my days as a trainee came back to me. It was a year ago this week that I had started my second transfer!

The following day the other 2 elders had exchanges so we had a zone leader with us, Elder Vest. And lemme tell you- brother is huge. His bench Max is 260- just for some perspective- my max is 150- and I'm insanely ripped. But this man is sitting at 260.

He told me to just drink ½ a gallon of milk every day. . .

That evening we stopped by one of our many recent converts' homes, Christie. Right when we were about to turn around and return to the car, a very sad and pale Christe opened the door and basically just started crying. She's been going through…ALOT. She also expressed we had knocked at her door the exact moment she needed us. As I reflected on why we were there I actually didn't really know. We had finished weekly planning and were headed home to eat dinner and it just kinda…happened. We didn't even talk about it as a companionship before-I just drove over there.  

So that's a crazy miracle and loads of evidence that missionary work is truly led by God. I'm glad that God trusts me and my companions enough to send us to help his children. 

Later we taught an Indian man named Rishi. Brother is hilarious. He has never heard the gospel before but every time we said anything he would mutter "correct." And he would say things like "wow, I've never heard that before. That makes sense" 

We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ ( Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Endure to the End) and brother is like holding his hand out and saying each one and he's like "what's the fourth one again?" "The Gift of the Holy Ghost" then he's like "correct" 

We also ready Alma 7:11-12 and he looked at verse 12 for a while and was like "wow, that's all one sentence" and I was like "correct"

It was actually a really good lesson, but this man is so funny. Then his wife came out and was like "Do you want an Indian treat?" Excitedly, we said yes! My companions like treats and I like Indians! So we were all excited. Well- she came back from the kitchen with sus bags of seeds stuck together….it wasn't… very good.

Then we had a pure ASL day. I just worked on a bunch of different videos and brainstormed as hard as I could but all I could get was like 1 cloud. So we're gonna start posting more frequently. Hopefully it helps. 

I learned something pretty hard this week and the best way to summarize it is: I can't control how other people react to what I say, but I can control what I say- and what I say has an impact on how people react and feel. 

Basic, right? Well then, why do people hurt other people's feelings? 

I really want to be kinder. Sometimes I'm upset or angry about something and when that happens I get stuck in a bad thought cycle and everything just looks darker and worse than it really is. When I'm stuck like this, I tend to say things without thinking about it too much and I end up making jokes I shouldn't or say things that hurt people's feelings. I always regret it afterwards. Lately when I am upset I've started trying to consciously recognize it "Hey, elder, you're upset right now. Let's not throw anything, ok?" In theory, it should work but I haven't figured out how to fully apply it yet. Maybe next week I'll have it all figured out.

The words we say really matter and we can all step up and become better examples of peacemakers. 

Love you!

Keep the fire burning! (Leviticus 6:13)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

🔥Keep The Fire Burning 🔥

 We started the week with a silly little exchange between the 5 of us. It was silly because we were still all 5 together for most of the day anyways. But it was still good to work with the elders I don't normally work with.

We are basically just a companionship of 5 and it's comical.

Our Bishop's lemon tree fell over because the lemons were too big. So we took 5 of the lemons and washed them off and they are truly hilarious. We throw them around and keep them in the car hoping they'll spread a lemon smell. 

I started going on runs fr fr. I want the habit so bad. I've noticed I feel alot better all day when I go for runs that really push me. 

We got in contact with a member nobody knows, our good friend Sister Bavesi. She used to go to a Fijian branch somewhere far away then got sick and just never got back to church.

We shared Jacob 5:21-22 with her about trees in bad spots of ground and how God puts them there and nourishes them. She kinda freaked out and kept saying we "confirmed everything" for her. She took a picture of us so she can always remember and gave us a loaf of Banana bread! 

Also got back in touch with my brothers Aaron and James. Turns out they've just been too busy. James talked to me for an hour about how to propose when the time comes. He said not to do it at McDonalds and to make sure I ask her father out of respect first. Don't know if anybody needed to hear that, but…

Anyways.

Then our dear friend Christe was baptized and I was dead because I was interpreting it for our Deaf friend, Raymond, who also wants to be baptized. So when it was time for me to witness I was super confused when everybody was raising their hands and whispering and screaming at me (which I was trying to interpret for Raymond) finally I figured out our brother Ty didn't have his hand to the square. So I reached in and tapped him, "Ty, you gadda hold your arm up" 

We had a good laugh and he explained he was just practicing which I fully believe. 

Then we taught a indian family. We thought it was one man but he repeated his name and it was something entirely different--which means a total stranger just let us in his home and teach him and his family the restoration. I used my Hindi powers and that helped a lot. 

On Sunday Christe was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost! We also got a ward missionary called! His name is Jared Platero and we actually have his high school graduation announcement up on our fridge- from a long time ago! 

He's getting ready to serve his mission. So we took him out with us that evening and taught a few people. Some of my favorite Indians asked me to just do the whole lesson in Hindi and I totally can't but they were convinced I could. So I tried but…ended up asking if she thought the book of Mormon was delicious. She smiled and said yes! And then patted me on the back and said your Hindi is very good.

I almost cried.

A random Indian family gave us some mango nectar.

Some indian guy told us he lost his phone and we helped him find it- in his hand. Brother was…not low

In my study of the Old Testament I've been trying really hard to get everything out of each verse. I don't want to miss any of the things you can learn so that I dont ever have to read it again. I know that's not realistic but it's helping me to learn. 

This week I've been burning through Leviticus (no pun intended) (it's all about burnt offerings) (ok, maybe a little intended)

One verse that stood out more than any others was Leviticus 6:13

"13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out."

Consider everything "fire" represents- the Holy Ghost, motivation, passion, power, sometimes it even represents God's guidance in our lives.

Here- in the Altar- the fire is what's Burning the sacrifices and ultimately accomplishing repentance and ordinances for the children of Israel. So we can add ordinances, covenants, and repentance to that list.

And God commanded us to never let the fire go out! Don't ever let any of these things stop!

I love this because it prompts action! How do you keep a fire going? You have to feed it! The more you feed it- the bigger and hotter and brighter it becomes! 

One sister missionary in my district, Sister Niu, goes home real soon. After I shared this with her she applied it to herself and going home and how she can't ever let the fire of her mission stop burning. I love that idea. 

So- my 5 words for this week WERE "don't let the fire out" but that's less of something to do and more of something not to do so I changed it to "keep the fire burning" that's WAY better. 

So, everybody, keep the fire burning!

Love you all! Send me your 5 words from something you've learned!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DYM8hzqfMfgxUFWZ7

Stressed and blessed

The ASL missionaries in the San Jose California Mission (9/6/2023)

Elders Howes, Johnson, Searle, Owens, & Porter

 

Thursday morning was a rush. We woke up early after going to bed mega late the night before. I was full of stress cuz we had to be at zone conference at 7:30, we were having vehicle inspections and sti had bird poop all over the car, I was going to be Interpreting for Elder Porter, and we were running outta time. After we left I also realized u had forgotten to shave.

So we pulled up at the closest open car wash, a self-service of course and just blasted everything with the ridiculous hoses. And then I drove 7 over the entire way. Which, Elder Johnson told me later, was terrifying. 

And of course, despite all my stress and anxieties, we were the first ones there and everything was fine. Interpreting was a piece of cake, we got a "good job" on our inspection, everything was great! 

President Larson is amazing. He was training us on the updated standards and turned it into a revelatory, faith building experience. 

We had another lesson with Christie, just ran through all the commandments and how the church works. She already knew all of it. And she's ready to be baptized this Saturday fs fs.

We went to In & Out and all the sudden a bunch of middle schoolers walked in. And then they all started moving their hands….it was the entire Deaf Middle school…with a bunch of the teachers too!

So we left the members that brought us there and just started introducing ourselves to everybody. 

Miracles.

Later we knocked on a random member's door whose name I didn't recognize- found out its cuz brother works on Sundays but he really wants to come to church. We offered him a blessing and he hesitantly said yes. Elder Johnson gave him such a specific and exact blessing I know the words he said were the exact things our friend needed. He also told us so- so then I knew it twice as well.

Miracles!

Saturday evening we had a meeting with a member of the ASL branch presidency- super exciting and also frustrating. Cuz we are starting a whole lot of new approaches to the work and we have so many ideas for how we want to do things and we're getting real support.

But also there's just this feeling of condescension that I cannot stand. We found out they have all been counseling about what the missionaries should do- without talking to us. . . ?

It was all great ideas and for sure things we will apply but it really bothered me that we were not involved in any of the choices or anything and they only talked to us after they had already made the plan. 

I recognize im 19 and barely understand ASL (but still I would like to be involved in choices regarding me)

Anyways!

I'm excited for the next chapter of ASL work. We have a branch missionary now, we're gonna go help newer members write their own talks for sacrament meeting, we're gonna visit every member and help them set goals and do a whole lot more sm work! Should be good.

We ate at the sikh temple. It was as close as food can be to 'bad' without actually being 'bad.' Still a super cool experience and I'm really happy I got to go.

Tuesday I was on a (somewhat needed) exchange with Zone Leader Elder Smalley, a pure legend. It was actually amazing to not be in charge for one day. He also knows everything about martial arts and self defense and he told me the 2nd best thing for self defense is a flash light, one of the obnoxious 2000 lumen ones (That's an exaggeration but it's pretty high up there) 

He also taught me alot about helping people learn for themselves from the source and not giving them our opinions or interpretations. 

Then this morning we were able to go to the temple. It was wonderful to be in the house of the Lord. I love the power that comes from taking part in ordinances. Recently our mission has had this cool thing where we take 5 words from meetings or lessons and make it something we can remember and use to apply the lessons we learned. I tried to do this with the temple:

"Consecration brings connection with God"

So this will be my theme for the week.

It's actually very effective and really helps me get a lot more out of my meetings.

So go ahead and do it. Try it with sacrament meeting talks or come follow me studies and then send it to me. I wanna see what you come up with.

Also pray for 1 of my companions to develop a testimony of obedience. Please. And if you have any tips on how we can lovingly encourage him to leave his nets behind and be a fisher of man instead lemme know. 

#blessed #blessedevenmoreforobidience

Love you all fr fr