Dear Family,
Well, it has only been a few days since my last Email, but I am so happy I get to talk to all of you again! Your time in Colorado sounds like it is a blast. You guys just can't hold still haha, but then again that is how we travel right?
I am loving my mission more than ever right now. Elder K. and I are really getting along well, having a lot of fun together and working hard even with his time coming down to the wire. It's crazy that he only has two weeks left…which means that the next transfer is in two weeks! I swear, transfers go by like hours right now -- way too fast! I can't believe I have been here in Los Angeles for a year on Thursday!
This week was good, with the temple of course, but then on Thursday we had a few really good lessons, one of which was with Hma. P. (the lady we were teaching fairly regularly until she stopped progressing). She is the one who had two brothers who served missions, then they each passed away shortly after. We were gonna have the lesson at the church because it’s a way better environment for her to feel the Spirit than the house she is living in, but we ended up teaching in a house of a member who we are using to fellowship her. She is big into the plan of salvation, and we explained to her that it is good to learn about the plan, but it means nothing if she isn’t willing to act on what we are teaching her.
I love using the teaching model of asking inspired questions, listening and discerning then teaching doctrine. The Spirit just puts stuff to say in your head and it's like I receive revelation and connect the dots as I speak and piece it together for her. It's kind of hard to explain but it is a really cool feeling. Well, the Spirit and I were really thinking hard and then the thought came to me of how I would feel if I had passed away and was waiting in spirit world and my sister, who I loved more than anything else, had not decided to follow the truth yet. How I would feel? What I would do? I brought up this point to her and helped her see that missionaries have been constantly placed in her path for a reason. I asked her what she thought Heavenly Father and her deceased brothers were trying to tell her. It was really powerful and, without us even saying anything, she said that she would be at church next week and keep reading in the Book of Mormon. She seemed pretty sincere, so I guess we will see.
Friday I went on exchanges with an Elder named Elder S. in his area…the city of Watts. It was pretty cool/crazy knocking doors in the projects and being in a place with so many of God's children who are confused and lost. Even though that describes the world in a nutshell, Watts and south central Los Angeles has an especially high concentration haha. Elder S. is a funny Elder who really wants to work hard, but he stresses himself out sometimes…OK, a lot of the time, but it was good to be with him to be able to learn from him and try to calm him down and help him see that everything would be OK.
We ended up finding people to teach for most of the day, but with the right mentality, tracting and street contacting can be really fun. Kinda like everyone who walks past you is a puzzle and you have about 45 seconds to put at least a few pieces together before the "puzzle" tells you to get lost or that they are not interested.
Saturday was a great day, mostly because Elder K. told me what happened in his lesson with Hmo. U. while we were on exchanges. They said they followed up on him praying about being baptized on the 24th of July, and he said that when he prayed he was kneeling there and the biggest happy feeling he had ever felt came over him and he was just kneeling there, smiling. They taught him about the Spirit and he got it and accepted baptism on the 24th…this Sunday!!! I was so happy! They said that right when he accepted to be baptized he felt like there was a warm blanket wrapped all over him. I thought that was an awesome way to describe the Spirit.
Then, Saturday afternoon we offered to help our investigator named Hma. Z. wash dishes…and she had a mountain of them sitting in her sink. She cooks for a living, but isn’t the greatest at cleaning so we washed up and cleaned her kitchen and she thought it was just the greatest thing. She was laughing and screaming and inviting her family and neighbors over to watch these two white boys in ties wash dishes and do work even her own husband and sons aren’t willing to help with. It felt good to give service.
That night we had a missionary night at the church where we taught a class to the members who came about how they can help us do missionary work by befriending investigators, offering a ride, bearing testimony, etc., and it went really well. The Bishop shared this cool story about how his family came to know the gospel because one of his mom's friends invited their family to a family home evening with the missionaries there, and look how much he has progressed.
Sunday morning at 7 we had stake report meeting. A few of the high counselors, the stake president and Elder K. and I are becoming pretty good friends. I really like them because they know how to joke and laugh. The stake president loves Star Wars…in fact his kid's names are Anikin and Leah, not even kidding! He is a great guy and really works hard. It is cool to be involved in a lot of the behind-the-scenes type meetings to really see how the church is run and how it works. . . . Hmo. U. came to church for all three hours for the first time in three years! And a few other members brought friends to church, keeping their commitment that we left with them earlier in the week.
This week I learned about praying for ourselves. Lots of times people think they are selfish if they pray for themselves, but Heavenly Father already knows what we need, right? So when we don’t ask for His help to achieve it, it is like telling Him that we think we can do it alone. It takes humility to pray for yourself!
I love you guys so much and am so happy and so glad to be serving the Lord.
Peace be the Journey!
Love,
Elder Molinaro
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