From March 5

Hey Guys!

 

I am alive! This week was...to put it simply...nutso. But, that was foreseen and we tackled the very best we could and that is all we can do, right? Thank you for all of your prayers and support, it was much appreciated and I can feel it there is no doubt of that.

 

We had our monthly staff meting with President and all of the Senior couples this morning and President said that this transfer was by far the most difficult one he has ever had to face in his almost 2 years as a Mission President. That is saying something considering that one of the transfers was the one where we went from 7 zones to 9 zones. I honestly do not know how we made it through it looking back. There had to have been angels around us and President helping us to finish because as of the morning of Tuesday, the day transfers gets released to all of the Zone Leaders to take and announce to their Zones, we were still working on the board and President was still doing interviews and figuring stuff out. It was down to the wire, but I will use the word "adventure" for this week as well.

 

So, read my recap of the week and buckle up haha Be sure to catch what I learned about fasting on the March 4th entry.

 

 

February 27, 2012

We knew today would be anything but a day for personal preparation…I guess it still counts, we prepared the mission for the coming week which is just as valid, I would say. So today from 10:15 in the morning to 10:25 at night we worked on the transfer board with President, and then once we finally got it all figured out, we made a list of all the Trainers and District Leaders and Zone Leaders and called them and set up interviews with President and then got started on the actual logistical and paperwork side of it all. We just got way behind because last week when we normally would have worked on it, we were dealing with all sorts of shenanigans from some missionaries and didn’t have time to do what needed to be done.

The perks of the day were both centered around food…as often times perks are haha. For lunch President got us a big Costco pizza to eat in his office so we could keep working without being interrupted and because at the beginning he asked us if we had eaten, we said no and then said that we would forgo lunch to make progress on the board…it was a pity pizza but a delicious pity pizza none the less :) The second perk was that the senior couples are awesome! They once again, snagged us dinner from some party that the seniors were having and left it on our desk in our office. God bless those senior couples. Elder M. and I were sure that Peanut M&Ms would be our balanced meal that substituted for dinner. They have saved our lives on multiple occasions.

February 28, 2012

The day before a Transfer day is always 3 things…Hectic, stressful, and so fun. Hectic and stressful for several reasons, but mainly because you are working against the clock the entire time, trying to finish everything in time for the approaching chaos. Those sheets I described yesterday get distributed to each of the Zone Leaders who come up to the office to drop off departing missionaries. So we got all that stuff finished and the papers distributed and that in and of itself is always an interesting experience.

There are some Zone Leaders who are very humble and just grateful to be holding this typed paper in their hands that has all of the information they need so they don’t have to figure anything out, and then there are the complainers. The Zone Leaders who see who is coming into their zones and complain about what the deal is and why we did what we did and how they don’t agree and what they would have done differently.

It is interesting to be able to see such a perspective. I think when I was a Zone Leader, I was just so concerned about what was going on in my zone that it didn’t really matter what was on the sheet because I knew that my saying anything would not change anything. I didn’t even pay attention to how the other Zone Leaders reacted, and now I can see that a lot of them are more worried about what is going on in other zones than what is happening on their own. I am not saying one is better than the other, but it is much appreciated when they are just grateful for a lot of the changes rather than complaining about a lot of them.

It is like our work of art that we have spent weeks trying to get just right and then if the critics come in, it kinda takes the wind out of your sails. I think that is just a fact of life though. We have to realize that everything that there is takes work and some sort of planning, and we must be open minded and humble enough to realize that just because someone chooses to do it differently for whatever reason than we would do it ourselves doesn’t make it wrong or any less valid…it just makes it…different.

The reason that the day before transfers is fun is one because you always have something to do, some challenge to tackle and some mountain to climb that is a race against the clock which puts the pressure on, and it forces you to deliver at nothing less than the best you can give or you fail…and if transfers fail, the mission fails AND, because when there is a sweet group of departing missionaries going home, we get to talk with them and be with them for a good portion of the day while they are waiting for interviews and getting their stuff to the patron apartments and stuff. This group going home is an all star team if I ever saw one. These Elders and Sister are powerhouses that have shaped me and the way I work because of their good examples and positive influences. They will be missed.

February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day! Remember when I talked about the different modes that I get in up here? Well today of all days I was in transfer mode. It is like a mental checklist that is buried deep inside the confines of your mind that only comes out every 6 weeks on transfer day. It is amazing how the Spirit can remind you of things to do and say in the very moment that you need not just in a teaching situation, but in a remember all that needs to be done setting as well. So, I think this transfer day more than the other 4, I was able to recognize the hand of the Lord and His working by the Spirit. There is absolutely no way I could have made it through the day without Him.

After we got all of the new missionaries oriented and assigned to temporary companions, we rushed over to the Family History Library to train all of the new District Leaders of which there are 11! That is about 45% of all of the District Leaders in the mission, and then after them, we trained all of the new Zone Leaders which was 8! 8!! That is by far the largest group of Zone Leaders we have had to train all at once. There are only nine zones so it felt like a mini ZLC and was good to be able to have them all there so we could make sure to get across what we wanted to and didn't have to do any re-communicating by phone.

The trainings for the Zone and District Leaders are a lot more effective now than when I was trained. They used to just read through the binder, but Elder H. and I started the role play idea and it works wonders. We put the missionaries in different situations that they will be faced with and see how they do, then evaluate, then re-practice until they do it the best they can. We role play situations like obedience correction, failed baptismal interviews, PPIs, interviews with struggling elders, etc. SO much more effective than our previous pattern!

March 1, 2012

New missionary training day number two! So instead of telling you what we did, I will just refer you to one of the previous transfer days in this journal because they all turn out about the same. Today was different though in the sense that we had 14 new missionaries to place instead of the usual 8 or 9...so that affects a lot of different things like scheduling and timing.

The night consisted of us delivering bikes and suitcases all over the mission, but quite a few in Hollywood and downtown. It is a good thing Elder M. and I can joke around with each other and laugh and take lightly things that go wrong that are just out of our control because if he was an uptight kinda guy in the slightest, we would be doomed and done for and it would have been a lot less enjoyable.

March 2, 2012

Today we caught up on all of our paperwork now that transfers has settled down. Yes, that is all I have to say about today...except we had the funniest experience at CVS while we were waiting for pictures to print for the transfer board and for all the new missionaries and their trainers. We were deciding what to do to treat ourselves for surviving two of the most trying weeks in the office in my experience up there, and then we both turned around and saw the ice cream aisle...this was a dilemma. There were about a hundred different flavors, and all different prices, and some were more healthy than others and it was really a problem trying to decide which ice cream we would get. Our decision?? Rocky road half gallon for $3.88 on sale...the best of all worlds and totally worth it. There are not words to describe the satisfaction that comes from eating rocky road ice cream by the spoonful straight out of the container after a long hard week of stress and headaches. I recommend it to all who read this haha.

March 3, 2012

Oh boy! What to say about today? Well, the Rocky Road came in clutch once again right when we needed it…great buy, I stand by my original decision. So today we…caught up in the office. I must say it doesn’t do it justice when I just type that we updated the maps and transfer board. Those two seemingly simple tasks take an eternity to do, especially when I am doing it by myself because Elder M. is working on the phone card on a different computer.

Just the board by itself is quite the undertaking. Each transfer card needs to be checked, turned the correct direction, have their new area and companion name, and their new assignment, and their driving updated whether they are approved or not, and we make new transfer cards for the missionaries that just came in…and we do that for 192 cards. On the backs we write all the info and the transfer date so at a glance you can see who they have worked with, where they have worked, and what assignments they have had in order to place them in the future. Then, we sort through old area names and wards that need to go in the little squares on the board along with car vin numbers and language spoken as well as lead companionships in each ward.

The work is never done, but in all honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know it may sound like complaining when I write out all the stuff that is involved, but I really just want to remember how much fun it really was to do these things. I am learning so much and have really found peace with the knowledge that we are all called to labor in different parts of the vineyard, and I am willing and ready to serve in whichever part the Lord needs me. Whether I be counting paperclips or tracting or baptizing every Sunday, if it moves the work along and unites me in purpose with the Godhead then I am all right with it. I think I am getting more and more patient with myself and with things that I can do nothing about. I also think I am becoming more and more like a little child (in part because my cutting and coloring skills are really starting to take shape haha ).

March 4, 2012

D. is such a humble guy. He has been to jail, been homeless, and somehow Heavenly Father put the Gospel into his life and he is just a great example of living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its entirety and simplicity and nothing else. I'm glad he could be with us today.

 

Tonight we had to help the Sisters out with an appointment that they had scheduled with a member referral before transfers ...I say we helped them out, but it really didn't feel like it since our service amounted to driving to a mansion in the Pacific Palisades and having homemade pizza and lasagna and garlic bread then teaching a member referral in a members home...what a chore right?

 

Well, I am exhausted from one of the busiest and craziest weeks of my entire life. I couldn't have gotten through it without the help of the Lord, and I know that I will need His help moving forward as I continue to shift my focus 180 degrees from time to time. I love this work and I love seeing what the Lord has planned for me next.

 

Just wanted to share something that I learned yesterday as I was fasting. I was fasting for an answer to something that I really wanted to know. Not just know, but do as well...I wanted to know what to do. I fasted all day, thinking long and hard about the topic, praying, pondering, and I don't know what kind of answer I was waiting for, but nothing was coming through...I mean nothing. Kind of discouraged by the end of my fast that I hadn't received an answer and I had to break it because we had a dinner appointment, but the topic would not leave my mind...I couldn't figure out why I had not received an answer. Then, last night as I got onto my knees and prayed to my Father in Heaven aloud (it is so much more effective to do in your personal prayers and if you don't pray personally aloud, I invite you to do so) the answer came and I was hit with a wall of revelation.

 

It hit me like a ton of bricks and what I was to do was totally clear and peace flooded my heart and I knew without a doubt what I needed to do. I guess what I learned from this experience is that the Lord's time most of the time is not the ideal timing we would wish for. How easy would it be to skip a few meals, pray and be assured that an answer to what ever you were wondering would come and be exactly what we wanted to hear. Instead, the Lord waited to see if I would be faithful and continue in patience awaiting my answer and it really reminded me of Elder Bednar's talk about praying always.

 

Our morning prayers and our evening prayers are not isolated incidents that can be viewed in a vacuum, rather they build on and are a continuation of each other...just like any conversation with anyone. Fasting played right into that and my nighttime prayer was a continuation of my fast because although I had already broken it, the spirit of the fast lived on in my heart until what was desired was received. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and how He is mindful of me and my needs.

 

 

I love you guys so much, have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Molinaro