Look Out Below, Here Comes a Couch!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Yes, I went back to that place without gloves and without a mask (see previous posts). Luckily, that house is definitely closed and it is in the hands of the bank as far as I know and care. 

I have yet to receive any letters (snail mail), so I guess I can expect some letters some time soon. That really does sound great. It sounds like missionary work is going well back in Lemoore. I am glad to hear that the missionaries are having fun with Dad. I am sure that brings up a lot of the old days back with Scouting. And oh yeah, there is a Facebook page for the Virginia Richmond Mission. I got an email about that a while back on a Friday and it totally spaced my mind. Elder Medsker is the housing coordinator here. He does an excellent job and is hilarious.

So, the way things went last week is that I emailed on Tuesday. Not much happened on Tuesday that is of note. We tracted some more and found a 14 year old kid. He had a great understanding and had an excellent prayer. We stopped by later on in the week and his family is moving. His family is okay with him meeting the missionaries as well. They are open. My companion was not too happy about the news of them moving, but we are so happy for those missionaries who will get to teach him.

On Wednesday, more tracting in the early morning, but then we helped somebody move. I did not to get to know the member that well for the six weeks I have been here. He is a really nice person. We had trouble with a couch, because of how they built the townhouse that he lived in. So, what ended up happening is that we got the couch outside onto the balcony, hung the couch over the balcony, and had the other two missionaries catch the couch to set it down. Miraculously, it worked. Also, that night, we ended up going early to an investigator's house, the chemo investigator. Good thing, because he likes to talk. He tries to apply it to himself and make it understandable. I followed what he was saying and it was good to see how much he does understand. But, it took us an hour and a half to discuss the Holy Ghost. Next step, prayer. Then, after him, we saw another investigator who we found through snow shoveling. It was great, mostly, because we quickly went over the Restoration. The bad part was that we could not discuss the Book of Mormon, prayer, and the Holy Ghost. Plus, due to a lack of time, we could not invite. We had a return missionary, who we are glad that came out with us, but we could not control. Luckily, we have another appointment to help straighten it all out and the people seemed interested in it all.

Thursday, we did some more tracting. We saw a less active who has been returning to church on his own. He has made several goals to return to church and go to the temple. Well, he has been returning to church and he went to the temple for baptisms. He plans on going for his endowment hopefully in March, but he has to take the temple preparation course. There is some help for him and we are helping him along the way. We saw another less active that day, but I do not remember much about it. Friday, we planned and had our correlation meeting. 

Saturday, we dropped by some less active members, especially one that we had been hoping to be working with some more. That one, she has been extremely busy and extremely tired. So we did more tracting and found another investigator. He seemed somewhat interested and we again briefly went over the Restoration (the last three main parts). And we invited. My companion made sure of it. Then, we had another investigator to go see. Well, I failed to mention last week that we technically got a new investigator, because we met with him twice before and then finally he set a return appointment. This time it did not work out, because he did not answer the door. His wife, who is a bit slower in mental capacity, asked us to come back next Saturday, so she could go to Wal-Mart. Rather than push the issue, I felt we should go try a less active. We did, we got food out of it, plus she said that she was coming back to church tomorrow. I was so happy, because we had no idea what to do for her. However, she did not attend yesterday. Back to square one. Later on that night, my companion popped his tire and we were far from home. Luckily, the Russian family took us home and we came home to realize that his tube had two big holes and lots of tiny holes. I am glad that it was not my bike since he hates to have to walk when my bike has had to be repaired.

Speaking of bikes, my bike is doing okay. It works and I am fine. Although, we tried to see some potentials and I missed my turn. So, I decided to do a U-Turn as I had done many times, even on sand and even on downward sloping hills. Not that day. Nope. Bike was not having it at all. It slipped right from under me and I think I slid, maybe a centimeter. Knee was a bit scraped. Nothing new. You think pants would survive such a careless slip. No. I have a small hole that is beyond my expertise to fix. I saw that.  I was like, "Oh no, it would have a hole!" And speaking of clothes, the new shirt fits. That is fine. I figure I should mention it so that you do not have to worry about whether it was the right size.

Sunday, not much happened besides church and eating and oh, meetings. While I and one of the other elders were in the meeting for ward council, the other biked in our area and tracted. My companion used one of their bikes and managed to get a flat tire. Luckily, that elder had a spare tube. We tracted from 7:45 at night to 8:45. Not too many people were happy with us, and his dad will suggest some other things to do instead) but at least we stayed productive. We really did not have anything else to do.

Doing some more work in other areas of life. Hate to be a bother, but I was wondering if it be possible if you could please find some back stretches for me. My back muscles have been tight, which murders my back. Other than that, I am totally healthy and happy and need not worry. I just need to stretch it out and it will be fine. I am really not in much pain. Happy and healthy. Not just saying cause 10 to 1, you will call the mission office, but it is true. 

Well, I am doing well. Sounds like life is good.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

All About Helping People Change

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Well, there are rules with the good news of going to the temple.( For interested individuals, a rabbi tours the inside of a Mormon temple: http://www.jewishaz.com/community/what-i-learned-from-visiting-the-new-mormon-temple/article_fab9f51c-82db-11e3-b97b-001a4bcf6878.html ) 


 The rules:
"Missionaries are able to attend the temple under the following circumstances:

1- The endowment or sealing of a new or returning member when the missionary had a substantial role in the conversion. Only one companionship may attend, if invited by the member.
2- An end-of-mission visit with the mission president and his wife.

Missionaries who qualify above must also meet these standards:

1- Be able to depart and return on the same day and be back serving in their area by 6:00 p.m. No more than two hours one-way travel time is recommended.
2- Travel with a member and not use a mission vehicle.
3- Attend on their preparation day or switch their preparation day to accommodate the temple schedule.
4- Receive advance approval from the mission president."


So, it is a bit difficult, but at least some day I will go. Some day. But, still, despite the rules, I am excited. 

The drought is bad (in California). That does not sound good at all. The weather seems, to put it  metaphorically, bipolar. In the same way, Virginia is like that. One week it is warm, or at least the humidity makes it feel warm. Then, it goes cold by the next week. Take for example, this week it was warm. Last week, we had some days that were a bit chilly. Now, it is going way cold into the single digits with snow. It should snow by 11 this morning. I am waiting.

And yes, I am using the gears( read his previous letter home below). It still takes a while for me to get up the hills. I am exercising. Yeah, it will take me a while. But, it is going a bit quicker. I still am learning the area. It is quite simple. I have it nearly down. 

With this ward (congregation), we have an excellent ward mission leader, who wants us to communicate more effectively with the congregation as well as with him. I am trying to help out.  I am trying to be on top of things. Some things I cannot worry about; there are things I can do. 


Everyone (two sets of male missionaries) in the same house belongs to the same congregation. No sister missionaries in this congregation. All are biking, which I do not mind. There are pros and cons to both a car or a bike. One thing I do not have to worry about is miles which are restricted on cars, thankfully.

This week was a bit slow in the sense of work. I am working hard and I am knocking on doors a lot. I have seen people who are mildly interested, atheists, those who think I do not know anything, and those who like to point out their NO SOLICITORS sign. Yes, people are very much interesting. I do my best to change my approach at each door and to testify always. As I once put it, I like F.A.T door approaches: "Make your approaches FLOW, ADAPT to the situation, and TESTIFY always." It works for me and I try to look around me to enlighten myself about what this person might be like or if it is a family or whatever. Hey, what I am doing is planting a seed. It is what it is. 

The members here are very nice. I try to help them out, hopefully they will realize our efforts and what we are doing. It feels as though it is a political game sometimes, trying to demonstrate that we are doing work with or without their help. 

Oh, and yesterday, I sent letters of the same kind to family. (Some I am still working on.) Well, actually, I just put some in the mailbox and forgot that it was a federal holiday. So, some time, you will receive a letter.

I hope this week goes well. Things will be worked out. Always be obedient.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. I have been locking the door and turning off the lights, much to the dismay and frustration of my companion. But, yes the Following! On Christmas, with the Hairs (the place where I was able to communicate with you), after my communication calls, Sister Hair brought up "The Following" and how Brother Hair got into it somewhat. I was a bit excited, because it has a good story-line as you know. She could see my emotions and said, "Wow, I have never seen you so excited." Then, a person who is a potential told of us when he moved here to Woodbridge that the Lorraina Bobbitt incident (if that is how spell her name) had just occurred. After hearing that and away from the potential investigator, I turned around to my companion and said, "Wow, there is so much history here!" And I told him about Lorraina Bobbitt and others that I know were around here. To which, he replied, "I do not know how you find it fascinating."

Yes, I know I am abnormal in that sense.  What honestly interests me is the question of why. What is the motivation. Then, there is the question of justice. Please understand that , because I am not crazy at all (we, as his parents do). I just like good revealing stories and criminal justice.

And I am always excited for the missionary work.

(Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a sense of humor. Even the person we call the prophet or president of our church shares his humor so the following is an inside joke for my LDS readers playing on "the army of Helaman):