This week has been interesting. So first off, we had someone buy all of our groceries last P-day. That might not seem like a lot, but it was amazing. Then, we went to a Goodwill, and I found four modest cute skirts for four bucks each. I was pretty happy. Sister Hopkins and I really bonded over that.
Tuesday was jam packed with appointments. Our less active members are really keeping the commitments we are leaving with them. Tuesday was the day that we found out that we live in the meth using capital of the world. Apparently they make all the meth in Lucerne, and they all use it in the desert. Not to mention spending time in a gang neighborhood. (I will explain that one more later.)
Thursday we were supposed to have our first investigator lesson with an investigator that I found, but they weren't home. I didn't let that get me down because as we were walking, we were prompted to go up a different street that we don't normally turn on. As soon as we did there was a gentleman out in his yard, which is just dirt, watering it. It was a little strange, but we still said hi. And we started a conversation with him. He knew that we were missionaries, and he wants to take the lessons!!!! So we made an appointment for tomorrow.
Then, as we were walking to our appointment, there was an older man standing in his door way. So I said hi to him and then he started talking to us. We had to walk across the street to hear him. He is from Armenia (I kept thinking about Mary the entire time I was talking to him. :) ) Well he asked us if there were any good not divorced girls in our church. We told him maybe, if he came he could see. Then he asked us if we were married, we told him no. Then he asked us how old we are, we told him. Then he asked for our names and numbers, and that we needed to come back very soon - that he wanted to find good girls to marry his sons. Then he offered us some tea. We told him no, Sister Hopkins made an appointment with him, and we walked away. Not even five minutes later he called to make sure we were coming back on Wednesday. We definitely thought that we had just agreed to marry his sons, so we might be engaged right now. lol It was hilarious.
Friday, Sister Hopkins was sick, and I wasn't feel too good either. So we ended up staying home, and Sister Hopkins just slept all day. I read almost all of Alma.
Saturday was the first two sessions of General Conference. The first session we went to the church building to watch. It was a great session. I think that my favorite talk from that session was the one by Neil L. Anderson. I think that it is important to watch for those spiritual whirlwinds. It is sometimes hard to stand up for what you believe, but I have learned on my mission how much more people will respect you for standing up for your beliefs and sharing what you know to be true. The Saturday afternoon session was spent with one of the less active members. She is the sweetest. She bought us Subway sandwiches and ice cream to watch conference with her. She even fell asleep watching it. But I think that my favorite talk from that session was by W. Craig Zwick - communication is key in every relationship in our lives. If we don't listen to our investigators, we won't have that understanding of their needs. If we don't try to see things from their perspective, then we won't ever be able to help them come unto Christ.
After Conference we went out to contact a lot of different people. Then we have the most interesting dinner ever!!!!
So the man that told us about the meth, his mother is the excommunicated member we are teaching. She had called us Friday night to tell us to come over for dinner. So we go over at 6:00, and then we were going to have a lesson with her and her son. Well we get there right at 6:00. She was asleep, and dinner was not cooked. So the son decided that he is going to cook for us. He is 21. So he starts cooking the dinner, and as he is cooking he is telling us his entire life story. He is definitely still a drug dealer. He made several calls the entire time he was cooking that sounded like drug deals. Then he kept looking out the window and being very jumpy like there was going to be a drive by or something. He then proceeds to tell us about how he is a member of the skin heads. And all the other gangs that are in the high desert. He was telling us all of the girls he has been with, and much more. Finally it is 8:00 and the dinner is almost done. His mother is still not up, when we hear someone screaming outside like a maniac. The son runs outside, and we can hear something going down. Then the son and a random guy come back into the house. The guy has no shoes on and is twitching. He was the guy screaming. We just assumed that he knew the son. We found out later that it was a complete stranger. Finally the dinner is done. He made homemade fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes, and gravy. It was literally the best fried chicken I have ever eaten. The gravy was homemade as well and was delicious. I honestly don't understand how he can be such a good cook, when he has told us all the crazy things he does in his life. He then walks us out to our car and proceeds to walk down the street when he had a large bag with him. Definitely saw a drug deal go down.
Sunday, we went over to a recent converts house where she made us breakfast. We watched Conference, and then she made us lunch and we played a game. My favorite talk was definitely David A. Bednar's. He is my favorite. I loved the analogy he made about having that heavy load, and having Christ be yoked to you to have help. Afterwards, we went to a less active member's house to watch the last session. She is my favorite lady ever. She made us beef stew and biscuits. She hasn't gone to church since she was 20 and she is 63 now. She somehow still knows the Articles of Faith and the sacrament prayer, and almost all the songs, and she was quoting them along with the speakers. L. Tom Perry was my favorite speaker. My favorite quote from him was, "There are very few one size fits all solutions."
What was everyone's favorite talks? Did you all hear a talk that you needed to hear? Were all your questions answered? I know that I wrote down five questions and all of the talks had some sort of answer for each of them.
Well today we finally got moved into our new apartment. So my new address is 13520 Third Ave Andalusia 1003 Victorville, CA 92395 if anyone wants to write me. Well I love all of you so much. I love being on a mission, and love meeting new people. I hope everyone has a good week.
Love,
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