From March 14

Life is grand! The temple this morning was awesome. I am loving my mission so much and cannot really describe the joy that I feel serving the Lord. It is like every tiny bit of joy is magnified and just fills me up.

 

Here's the week:

 

 

March 5, 2012

 

Good Preparation Day. We got done all of the normal stuff, and actually didn’t have to wash our car because this morning after soccer we went to the garage to help some Sisters get new chairs for their apartment, and when we got back, a group of other Sisters had washed our car. It was in desperate need because last week we didn’t exactly have a preparation day due to transfers…so that was a huge blessing. God bless the Sister Missionaries…they even gave us an air freshener because they said that our car smelled weird even though Elder M. and I tried to explain that the car smells like "man" and not everything has to smell like some sort of flower to still smell nice…they didn’t buy it haha.

Musings: How did Christ love everyone, even those difficult to love. How did He do that? He loved everyone despite their annoying habits and their lack of kindness. He didn’t just love them in spite of those things either, it is like He was able to love them, not even seeing those weaknesses and only seeing their strengths. What a good example…the BEST example.

March 6, 2012

Today was ZLC. President's piece was terrific. It was about the Atonement again. Some of the points that he made that I thought were especially interesting were that Christ went into Satan’s realm and attacked him on the offense and did not merely sit there and let the Atonement happen to Him…He attacked. Often times we let life come to us instead of us charging and attacking life and the problems that come our way. The only way to get stronger is to face something head on, not merely endure it.

Some other things that the Spirit told me while we were listening was that the opportunity to serve God is the opportunity to become like Him…through nothing else can we attain all of the Godly attributes one day needed to be considered in the same category as Heavenly Father. Success comes from gaining charity as a motivator for all we do without thought or expectation of reward or recognition and without complaining.Good stuff, right?

March 7, 2012

The real highlight of today was a talk we had with Senior missionary Elder O. That man is one of the best men I know, I love him to death. After a long day of knocking a lot of doors without too much to show for it, we sat and talked with him about his ranch and farm back in Utah and what he likes to do and how life is on a ranch.It sounds awesome. I think I liked the sound of it for a few reasons. One, because I have never really experienced anything like that and a real day of hard manual labor and it something I have longed for recently, and the other is because here in Los Angeles everything is so concrete and there is so little green that it made me remember that there are places like that! Places without sirens and sidewalks. Places that are left exactly the way God created them and intended them to be. I think post-mission I will do a lot more with nature and appreciating it and such. It is kinda like how I have been on a fruit and veggie kick lately because for the first ¾ of my mission the only things I was ever given to eat that were green were salsa and serrano peppers haha.

March 8, 2012

Today helped in the way of manual labor. It happens twice a year and it was our turn for temple service. Who knew I could enjoy pulling weeds, raking leaves, and diving into dumpsters full of prickly palm fronds? I wouldn’t have guessed it, but it was so fun to play in the dirt and help make the Lord's house even more beautiful than it already is. That took up the majority of the day, but this afternoon we taught Sister J. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and did it at the Visitor’s center and the temple steps…There are 5 temple steps and there are 5 steps of the Gospel…convenient right?

March 10, 2012

Today was one of those days that tested our will power and our endurance. We ended up knocking a lot of doors without a lot to show for it. We knocked and walked and knocked and walked some more, and we tried visiting a few 5-5-5 people who weren’t home and then we were walking to try and visit some members to save miles and gas so we walked for a good 20 minutes and then asked someone to make sure we were gin the right way cuz sometimes the roads and directions can get kinda confusing and he gave us directions that sent us in the opposite direction than the one we wanted to go in. And to make matters worse, it was not too far from the beach and in Santa Monica and the closer you are to the ocean, the less effective the street contacts are. Everyone is so preoccupied with getting to the spot where they can sit and do nothing that they walk right by what really matters.

We had dinner with Sister G. tonight and she is just the greatest. She was asking us about our day and we told her that we knocked a lot of doors with little success and she gave us her pep talk about not getting discouraged and how on the days that it is hardest to keep going, when we do keep going, that is when we, but more importantly our families, receive the biggest and most rewarding blessings.

She talked about how Los Angeles is a wicked city and how our generation was sent to the earth at this time because we could battle the wickedness and the darkness that the Adversary brings to it, and we in particular were sent to one of the most wicked places in the world at a time when the world is more wicked than it has ever been because only we can combat such darkness and evil at this time. She is a great motivator.

It is not about laying down when times are tough…can you imagine if I never even swung the bat in the bottom of the 9^th with the bases loaded? The game is on the line and choosing not to swing at all means I won't get a hit even before the first pitch is thrown. I am going to not only swing, but I refuse to strike out. These last two and a half months of my mission I am more experienced and skilled at talking with people about the gospel than at any other time in my entire life and mission and I will use those skills that I have honed for the last 21 months to make these last few the very best and the hardest I have ever worked in my entire life. I cannot afford to sit down or lose focus. I am sure that as the Savior faced His final few days before the Atonement was completed were no cake walk and if I am to represent Him officially for the next little while then I must go through a tiny fraction of what He did. It is not supposed to be easy, but it is worth it. Pay the price and earn the prize…I will not slow down.

March 11, 2012

I kind of have a lot to write about today because, spiritually I learned quite a bit. Today our lesson in Priesthood meeting was about perfect love casting out all fear. It was based on a talk by Elder Perry and there were three main points. Be bold in your declaration of the Christ. Be a righteous example. Go out of your way to bring up the church. Can you believe that!? It was straight up revelation and an answer to my prayers about how to improve. It really pumped me up and I realized something as the teacher was explaining the importance of each of the points.

All too often people think that they can pick one of those and work on it and call it good. They think: "I don’t think I need to go out of my way to bring up the church if I am being such a righteous example because people will see my example and know what I believe"…false. These three focuses are essential…all of them. If you don’t speak up about why you are being a righteous example or what drives you to live in such a way then no one will know for sure and it is rare that they will ask, but it is common that they will wonder.

Think about if the Savior had chosen to be a righteous example and nothing else. Yes, His life would have been a great one, but had it been quietly lived, it would not have affected nearly as many people. If He passively lived life and never declared His divinity or organized a church with the priesthood or anything His mortal Ministry would have been about as far reaching as those lucky enough to see Him do his thing. In order to fulfill His messianic mission to its fullest, it was required of the Savior to master all three of those points. So, too, it is with us as missionaries and even as normal church members.

It is not enough to just live life hoping someone will notice that we are following Christ. We must boldly declare what we know and that will lead us directly lead us to the church and lead others to the truth.We can humbly exclaim “watch how I am living, this is why I am living this way, and you can see the same results if you apply these teachings of Christ of whom I testify and know lives.” All three build on one another.

Something else I came to realize today is that the Atonement is personal. Yes, we have all heard that the Atonement of Jesus Christ includes us. He died for your sins and my sins…but rarely do we think of it in the light of "what if I was the only one to choose agency and God’s plan? If 99.99999% of Heavenly Father’s children chose the wrong plan, and I chose agency and to come to earth and be tested, an Atonement would still need to be made, and more importantly an Atonement would still BE made. If I was the only one that needed saving from sin, Christ still would have come to earth to die for my sins and my mistakes to get me back to my Father in Heaven. If I was the only one! He would have died…just for me if that is how it played out."

A lot of the time we hear and think about the Atonement as so all encompassing and widespread that we are merely included in it rather than we are the reason individually for it. He loves me. Individually and personally. He loves you the same way.

We ended up doing quite a bit of tracting and talking with people on the street and it turned out to be one of those things where the Lord is testing your drive and stamina and how many you are willing to knock before something happens not at all in the way you would expect it to. So we knocked a good 3 blocks, both sides of the street with minimal luck when we decide to go to a members apartment complex a few houses down and try and get in. So we walked there and couldn't get in because they weren’t home and the gate to the complex was locked.

So, we both turned around ready to head back to the car and try somewhere else and we see this lady walking up the sidewalk a few yards from us and she stopped and looked at us and we looked at her and she said “Are you Jesus people?” If ever there was a description that was short and sweet and still accurate to describe us, "Jesus people" has got to be up there as one of the very best. We said we were and asked her if she was a "Jesus Person" and she talked about how she was raised agnostic, but then she chose Judaism and has recently accepted Jesus Christ and is looking for truth. FINALLY!

Her name is S. and she is one of the most genuine people I have met in a long time. She told us that she wants to follow God and Christ and wants truth and is very in tune with the Spirit based on some past stories she recounted and said that if God wants her to be a Mormon and the Book of Mormon is true, she’s got nothing against it. So, we gave her a Book of Mormon and she is gonna read it and pray and just wants the truth.What a perfect book for finding truth right!? The Lord was testing our patience and then sent someone right to our feet.

March 12, 2012

Today went really well. We had a lesson with Sister S. who is on the 5-5-5 and taught her about the first half of the Plan of Salvation. She is really going through a tough time. We talked about how this life is a time of struggle and hardship and that it is all for our benefit and that God loves her even when times are tough. He gives her tough times because he knows she can not only handle it but grow and improve as a result.

 

It was a powerful lesson and she wasn’t the only one teary-eyed. Brother T. came with us, too, so we could go in. The day before he informed us that he had been praying to find more ways to serve and he let us know that if we ever need him during the day and we let him know the day before, he can take his lunch break to come teaching with us…So the very next day we took him up on his offer. What an example. If that man is not going to heaven we are all in trouble! Not only was he desiring to know of the Lord what more he could do to serve, but he acted on his prompting to make that time available to us to use him to help us teach, and then when instantly called upon, he followed through and sacrificed time, one of the hardest things to sacrifice, to serve the Lord.

 

 

So that is it for now. I love you Guys! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Elder Molinaro

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

From February 28

Hi Guys! Here was my crazy week!

February 20, 2012
Tonight we had a good lesson with a woman named N. A. I decided that teaching in English is great. I am glad I served in Spanish cuz it really helped me focus on the basics, but when I teach in English I am so much more literate and can say just what I want to say. I can use analogies and intonation. You don’t even think about how different it is in another language and you can take it for granted sometimes.

Just like our lesson yesterday, our lesson tonight really helped me to see how much my understanding of gospel principles has increased. The mission is awesome. It is like I take a little break (consumed by office work) and then when I am back in the swing of teaching it comes back stronger than before and stronger than ever. I am grateful.



February 21, 2012

Today was one of the best days I have had in a long time. I think for a while at the office I have felt swamped and overwhelmed and up to my ears in things to do and responsibilities. But, today felt different. Yes, I am still swamped and up to my ears and have an overwhelming work load to handle, but I felt totally in control of it today.

We have all of the exchange reports read and internalized (those are the reports that get filled out for every missionary in the mission after their District or Zone Leader goes on exchanges with them…just kinda tells us how they are doing and progressing, if there are any major issues with any of them etc.). I used to dread having to turn them in when I was a ZL in Metro, but I have really gained a love for reading them…all 110 of them haha. Thank goodness Elder M. takes the other 90ish. I couldn’t keep all 200 straight. You might ask why/how could I enjoy reading 100+ pages of evaluations. I guess it is because I have grown to love each and every one of these missionaries. I legitimately care about them and how they are doing and how they are progressing in their personal journeys to become more like the Savior. It is weird to think though…21 months ago if you would have told me that I would care for 200 missionaries, peers my own age…I woulda told you that I could maybe get along with most of them, but love them? That would have been a whole different story.

But, I have learned that to love someone means to serve them. To watch how they progress and commend them for it then try and help them to reach their full potential as a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven. Sometimes they don’t do what you wish they would, but every time that happens I remind myself that these are God’s elect, His chosen servants. These are people who, like me, have covenanted in the Holy Temple of God which is the most important thing there is to do in this life. If that is on the path they are on, then deep down they have good intentions and mean to do what is right. They are learning and growing (all of us are) step by step until our steps bring us all to the same judgement bar of God where we will be asked how well we looked out for each other on the journey.


I love being a missionary so much. I have learned a ton and I know that this is the best two years for my life, hands down.

Today we had a lesson with a woman on the 5-5-5 named Sister Z. S. She is a recent convert of about 2 years and has been coming to church on and off lately. We took Elder O. and went over there and taught her one of the most powerful restoration lessons that I have taught on my mission. The Spirit was there from word one and she was soaking it all in like a sponge. It was incredible to watch her countenance change from the time we arrived to when we left. When we got there, she seemed kinda down and overwhelmed, but after we taught straight up doctrine and let her know that God will always be her support, she was beaming from ear to ear and couldn’t say "thank you" enough for helping her move some furniture into her house after the lesson. Pretty cool to watch the Spirit work by such simple means.

After that we came back to the office and got to take a little looksie at the transfer board. Wow…it is a mess. I have never seen it so messy. So many people moved around, so many notes in the empty columns, so many question marks and scribbles and arrows…Needless to say, the storm is brewing and this one proves to be cuh-razy.

I do know though that I will be up here for at least one more. I am excited. We have some good stuff going in the area and I love my companion and I am just getting the hang of feeling like I know what to do. I am excited to tackle all the craziness that comes my way and see how much I can learn and grow from it.



February 22, 2012

Obedience makes life and the mission so much easier. Elder M. and I talked about it for a long time tonight. He is such a good companion. We have some really good talks about all kinds of things. Just looking back on life, I have had so many experiences where God has saved me from bad things happening -- whether physically or spiritually damaging. He has always looked out for me, and often times through other people acting and not even knowing the profound saving impact that they have on me and others. It is amazing…when God’s children follow His plan, the consequences affect others, but in a positive way.

Consequences and their ripple effect extend so far beyond our individual selves. It is a good thing I have the Gospel…I dunno what I would do without it.



February 23, 2012

We can’t afford to have moments of weakness. There is no room for defects in the armor of God. The adversary is real and he wants us to fail so badly that he will do whatever it takes to get us to fall.

I can’t imagine how wonderful it must have been to learn the Plan of Salvation at the feet of our Father in Heaven. Everyone in the pre-existence wanted to stay in the presence of God, but those who chose Satan’s plan did not want to have to rely on someone else to be able to make it back…they lacked humility. How many people today are unwilling to accept service and help from others in times of need? The idea of getting help and relying on each other is an idea that is central to God’s Plan because we can’t do it alone, right?



February 24, 2012

After going to District meetings, we got back to the mission office about 6 p.m. and worked on the board…finally…for the rest of the night. Finally got started! It went really well, too. We were able to nail down a huge chunk of the English and Korean sides of it and President broke out the peanut M&Ms faster than normal. We worked on it until about 10:25 after which he said we were going to let it sit and he was going to ponder it over until tomorrow. We came into our office at 10:30 to find that the Senior Missionaries had taken pity on us and brought us some plates of food from one of the activities in the Family history Library. God bless those senior couples, we hadn’t eaten anything but peanut M&Ms in 8 hours…It was our manna from heaven :)
　
February 25, 2012

Finally getting into transfers…getting close to being done actually…well…kinda. We still have a few of those last pieces to place, you know the hard ones. What is important is what we did to serve the Lord today.

After that, President was at a baptism, so we were in charge of our mini-mission. Arcadia Mission sent some sisters over here to be mini missionaries with the Visitor’s Center Sisters for about 6 hours. Can you say "Sister Saturday"? So that was our task after our weekly companionship study, to corral about 15 young women and 30 sister missionaries into the large theatre, welcome them, give a little explanation of how things would go and then assign them each to a companionship of sisters.

One thing I have learned though is that everyone has a complaint of some kind. That is how they use their agency, but it is still up to me to decide how I will use mine and react to it. There were some of the mini missionaries who wanted to be with certain people or wanted specific assignments, but what better way to learn what the mission field is like than to realize that those things are not up to you!? Haha Anyway, it was a good experience for all and I think the Young Women had a good time and learned from it.



February 26, 2012


Great Sunday. Sacrament Meeting was once again centered around missionary work and a few converts spoke about how they found the gospel. Then in Gospel Principles we learned about the Atonement which is always an awesome lesson. I obviously have heard about the Atonement before, but Brother W. said something profound...I think it was profound, it coulda just been that he pulled out a box if thin mint Girl Scout cookies as he was saying it which makes anything more epic.

He said that life is a test, but it is not like some obstacle course that the Lord wants to see us complete before we reach the end and our prize is the Celestial Kingdom. Life is a time to learn and grow, and if we do it right, then we have changed and morphed enough by the end of it to be able to stand before God and be seen as someone who is as much like Him as a mortal can be and that is when the Atonement takes over and does the rest and we are allowed into God's Presence. I really liked that...not an obstacle course, something to transform us into more God-like beings.





So, that was my week! Pretty wild, huh!? I am loving my mission more than ever and enjoy learning at every chance I get. President B. is such a great man; he is teaching me so much. Well, right now we get to go figure out how all this transfer will work. There are 14 trainers, 10 new senior companions, 11 new District Leaders and 8 new Zone Leaders. That is a ton! They are coming up to the office tomorrow for all of their trainings and stuff. Maybe I will snag some of those M&Ms! Pray for me.


I love you guys

Love, Elder Molinaro

From February 20

Dear Family -- Hi and Love! Here's this week's journal (in part).

 

 

February 13, 2012

What a great Preparation Day! Any day where you get to play basketball for a solid 2 hours is a good day, that’s all I am saying. So, today I got a bunch of spill over packages from my birthday and some Valentine’s day presents from a few different family members and friends. I got enough candy and Yogurtland gift cards to feed my fat self for the rest of my mortal existence…not sure if Yogurtland gift cards are good in heaven…but I am sure that there are Yogurtlands there haha.

MLT tomorrow…Elder M. and I have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get everything ready because on Sunday we didn’t have time to prep really because we were working in our area. There is just not enough time In a day to finish everything…especially when we come into the office and President calls us in and asks us to do all this stuff with a DVD and cutting and burning it for the meeting we will be having the next day. Talk about a time crunch…but it is good. I'm glad to put some of my video broadcasting know-how to use.

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine’s Day!! So this morning we had our MLT and talked a lot about lifting and serving others and what we can do to make sure that each member of our Districts and Zones and missions as a result are being led and supported and prompted in the right direction. President talked a lot about how each of us was called in the pre-existence to help lift and move His work forward in each of our leadership positions. Pretty cool stuff.

February 15, 2012

Today was one of those days where we got a lot done, but then at the end of the day you are planning and nothing shows up in your planner as far as key indicators. Effective yes, but is it still effective if it doesn’t amount to numbers on a piece of paper? I say "yes!" After all, Heavenly Father isn’t counting how many of anything, rather He counts a "yes" or "no" for each individual person and whether or not they have sufficiently accepted and acted upon the Gospel.

In fact, I think that sometimes in the church we see that joining is some kind of milestone or benchmark. Don’t get me wrong, getting baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is essential to gaining Salvation, but it is not like a game of 21 in basketball where once you get to a certain point you can't get knocked back down to zero. There are a lot of really good people who have never heard of and never will hear of the Gospel in this life but will accept it whole heartedly in the life to come. On the flip side, there are members of the church that, even though they are baptized, are not as faithful to a gospel that they have a knowledge of. Just because they are baptized members does not mean that they cannot fall below the Celestial Kingdom. It is not a check list and then just a progression within that kingdom, it is about enduring to the end, and that is a more difficult task as a member of the church if anything, not something that is optional only if we want to gain the highest degree in the Celestial Kingdom.

　

February 17, 2012

Exchanges! Today was exchanges with Elder H. It was good to be able to shake some of the rust off of my Spanish and teach the people who I have grown to love so much. There is just something special about Latin people and the spirit that they carry with them that I really miss. We contacted a lot of good people and were handing stuff out in the streets like it was candy and it was a really cool area. There is like this pocket of Latins at the base of the Hollywood Hills and that is where we were. A lot of people from El Salvador and Central America and a lot of Armenians, actually.

So tonight we had this activity at the church where all of the members come with a friend and take them on a tour and help them understand some of the doctrines that we believe. Our job was to man the baptismal font room and explain all about baptism and why it is important. It was cool to be able to give like a 5 minute talk and synopsis of baptism and then testify and then send people on their way...It was pretty much our job to bring the Spirit and help them have more questions about baptism. Today was a great opportunity to feel what real missionary work feels like. I think that sometimes in the office we forget what it feels like to talk with people all day and invite them to change their lives for the better. Exchanges are definitely a must. Can't believe it is Friday already; this week is flying by!

February 18, 2012

Today I don't have too much to say. We knocked a lot of doors and got a lot of "No thank you"s...some less polite, but you get the gist. We had dinner with a family named the T.s and they are another of those awesome young couples who are down to help out however they can in missionary work and they are really nice. So nice to be in a ward where there are so many options to choose from as far as fellow shippers.

February 19, 2012

What an amazing day to be a servant of God. Today started out with an amazing personal study…I don’t know what made it so good, but I was really focused and the revelation was just flowing. Actually, I think I do know why it went so well. It seems like every time I start typing or writing in my study journal, the Lord sees that I am willing to record and remember the revelation I receive and He gives me more and more.

 

Church was awesome. I can’t believe that for the majority of my youth I used to sit through classes and sacrament meeting, getting little out of it. If you actually sit and listen and try to hear what God wants you to hear then the talks come alive and apply directly to yourself…also applicable to General Conference, which I have grown to love.

 

Speaking of General Conference, today in Elder's Quorum we listened to a talk by Hugh B Brown. Talk about passion. It was the talk where he is to prove the case of the Mormon church to a judge and he uses all these different arguments and quite honestly it just makes sense…It just makes so much sense, why can’t people just see it?…God loves his children. God called prophets to guide His children because He loved them. God is unchanging…so God still calls prophets…cuz He still loves us.

 

Hugh B. Brown just taught it so clearly and with so much conviction and confidence. I think half of the quorum fell asleep during a 25 minute talk by one of the older apostles, but I was sitting there on the edge of my seat and could not wait to get up and outta there to go share that message with someone. I seriously felt such a rush of excitement and energy and I was just so grateful to be in such a position right at this very moment in order to share the gospel with every person I talk to and see. It was awesome…it is awesome! I love my mission so much.

 

The Santa Monica First Ward works how a ward is supposed to work. Everyone is best friends with each other and everyone is way cool and way active and people get together and go surfing and play tennis and run and play basketball and do FHE groups and there are a lot of young couples with young kids and everyone has priorities straight and focuses on family and callings but still they are super smart and getting educated…It is just a great place to be.

 

That brings us to correlation…miracle meeting. Brother W. is so good at what he does. We have the 5-5-5 plan up and running and now are just trying to get all of the auxiliary leaders on board with it. The bishop is totally down to help with whatever he can, so I am fully confident that the rest of the ward will follow his lead. It has been tough not having too many people to teach with such a great ward to back us up, but I know that when the 5-5-5 is running smoothly baptisms will follow...no doubt in my mind.

 

We have a good number of ward missionaries who all have their specific assignments and all are trying to find people for us to teach. We have an awesome Gospel Principles teacher...Brother W. who is the friendliest guy I have ever met, and we have a bishop who is young and very driven to improve the ward and a lot of solid members like I have said before, we have team teachers multiple times a week who come out with us for a few hours and fellowship and help us teach...we got everything going for us and that is why this afternoon our lesson with a man named M. went so well.

 

The Lord really blessed us with this one. We had tried to contact him a bunch of times and were unsuccessful because it seemed like he was always leaving when we got there...so we figured he wasn't interested at all cuz he was blowing us off so we set one more time to meet with him and both agreed that it was his last shot. He let us right in and we taught him the restoration, really focusing on the baptism of Jesus Christ and we invited him to be baptized and he said "yes!" For the 18th of March!

 

It was truly a miracle and incredible to invite someone to be baptized after so long without having done so. It was like a huge weight that I guess I had put on myself being lifted off of my shoulders and we left the lesson on cloud 9. We taught with the Spirit and with unity and it was really my first real lesson with a real investigator that had potential in English. I think I surprised myself with how much my testimony has grown since I have been up here at the office. I haven't had a great chance to share it in depth with anyone in a while, but I was able to remind myself of things I do know to be true by boldly testifying to M. about these things.

 

It is crazy how much it has grown since the beginning of my mission and since beginning my service on temple hill. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has helped me to gain such a strong knowledge of the truthfulness of every aspect of the Gospel.

 

So, that was my week of ups and downs. LA is crazy haha Make it a great week :)

 

Love,

Elder Molinaro

From February 13

February 13, 2012

 

 

So, since you said you liked the journal entry thing, I am gonna keep it up! Enjoy

 

February 6, 2012

What an awesome Preparation day! Today I got to open some of my birthday cards from family and friends. The Lord has blessed me with so many people who love me and care about how I am doing. Why has He blessed me so much? Sometimes I don’t understand what I have done to deserve such a great support system. They are the best for sure.

Tonight we had the awesome assignment of moving more bunk beds! That delivery happened at like 11:15 at night…let’s just say that the bunk beds take forever to take apart, haul down 4 stories, drive 30 miles, haul up three stories and then assemble. Then we high tailed it back up to the mission office and unloaded all of the goods into the garage and finally fell into bed with no dinner about 12:00. It was so late I am writing this the day after. But, it was an adventure and I enjoyed every second.

Oh, haha! We pulled up to the gas station and were filling up and the bed of the truck was filled with beds and this homeless guy comes up and says "Hey, I need one of those." My thought: "You and me both, Pal!" haha We were so exhausted that everything started to be funny.

 

 

February 7, 2012

Today is my birthday. Twenty one years ago I left the presence of my Heavenly Father to begin my journey here on earth. He sent me to a wonderful family and has given me so much since then that often times I wonder why. What could I have possibly done in the pre-existence that would result in such an outpouring of blessings and privileges that I have experienced in this my mortal journey thus far? That question is probably something that I will never fully understand the answer to.

Today we worked in the office all day and didn’t make it to the area because of a few things. . . . (lots of missionary moves take place at this point). Today is my birthday, and my last on the mission, but I feel like I must have 21 years ago. I feel like the mission has made me a brand new person and with my newly gained perspective and consistently fortified testimony that I am ready to take on life and whatever it may throw at me. I don’t know how many years I have left in this earthly journey, but I do know where I am headed…back to where I started from….back to my Father.

　

February 8, 2012

Hooray for new missionary training! This morning we had new missionary training at the Artesia Building. . . . Then we knocked some doors on 16th and Michigan, over right next to the cemetery and it turned out pretty well…We found some good people who have a lot of potential. Our area has like pockets of great areas and pockets of beachy people who are carefree and have no sense of commitment or interest in anything that will alter the life of luxury they are already living.

 

(He was talking with a member and encouraging him to do a write-up for mormon.org) What a great way to get word out onmormon.org, right? It really is so helpful to have people in the ward with profiles because when you are teaching someone, you can just go online and be like "Hey, this is someone who we will introduce you to at church" and the investigator already feels more comfortable. Seriously, missionary work in English areas where everyone has the internet makes the work so much different…I feel like I am still trying to transition from being in Spanish. It is a hard transition and takes time…I haven’t eaten a legitimate taco in eons!

 

Got news tonight that tomorrow we have 6 visa waiters coming in…nothing like a last minute, miniature transfer day!

 

 

February 9, 2012

I think one of our main tasks in the office is to make things run smoothly and keep track of details so President doesn't have to. I am at the point where I just get in these different modes...I have a ZLC prep mode, MLT prep mode, Zone Conference mode, transfer day mode, etc. It is like a switch. So, today I was on transfer day mode thinking about logistics of luggage movement, lunch prep for everyone, interviews for President, comp assignments, all that fun stuff and just as I was about to shift back to post-transfer mode, (updating all the boards and maps and programs with the new names and such) I got asked to go into emergency transfer mode! Oh we love emergency transfers haha.

 

As a result of some emergency transfers, we were driving through my old stomping grounds at 10:45 at night delivering mattresses and people's stuff in a 2010 Chevy Silverado. I must say that I never expected to be doing this on my mission...not in a million years. I wonder if Christ expected everything that happened in His Messianic mission. Did He foresee everything? Did He know what to expect? What a role model He is for me for everything -- including rolling with the punches.

 

 

February 10, 2012

Today was just a great day. It was one of those days where everything just goes right…well mostly. Friday so we went to District Meetings of course…Get this…we took the 405 to the 10 to the 110 to the 105 to the 710 to get there…we hit every major freeway in the mission to get to Downey, pretty insane that I have this mental map of Los Angeles and know how to get through traffic and the best time to use the freeway or to go city streets. I feel like Jim from the office…I have all this useless information stored in my brain…where missionaries live, which apartments have pools, where the bunk beds are located, who has air mattresses signed out etc…the list goes on, trust me.

 

District Meeting was a little shaky in one Zone today. It just seems like everyone is complacent…just counting the time until they can go home and they are so focused on things that are not important. Seems like everyone just wants to be cool and liked by everyone else. After lunch we went on exchanges with the Metro Zone Leaders and I got to go with none other than my very own "son" (the missionary Justin trained)! Yep, Elder C.! It was such a blast. Spanish was a little rusty out of the gate, the first lady I tried contacting my first sentence came out in a bi-lingual jumbled mess haha. It was so fun to be with Elder C. He is doing really well and is just a powerhouse.

 

We visited a ton of awesome people and it is so fun to be able to see the area that I grew to know and love flourishing. We ate dinner with O. H. and R., set up an appointment with U., saw the C. family, got to stop in and pray with the T. family, and of course we stopped by and saw Hma P. Man, do I miss that area. I have been blessed with amazing areas my whole mission. Great areas and great companions. Today was a day to reflect on how far I have come since I first arrived in Huntington Park almost a whole year ago. I feel like a completely different person and like I have learned so much. All of the members told me that I look way skinnier and I need to come back so they can feed me haha I guess that is what happens when you lay off the tortillas!

 

 

February 11, 2012

We split back this morning and have been working our fingers to the bone ever since. Had a meeting with President about what we will be doing for the upcoming MLT and we are pretty much spelling things out for everyone so there can be no room for confusion. Tonight I have been working on these year-end reports and they are kicking me…The problem is that there is a whole quarter of data missing so I am trying to reconstruct it backwards…like stats-style without having taken statistics…One more thing the mission has taught me: Microsoft Excel is your best friend and your worst enemy…Wish me luck.

 

February 12, 2012

Sacrament meeting was so good today. The topic was missionary work, and it was all about how members are so important in sharing the gospel. There were three recent converts who shared their conversion stories and how members were vital in helping them find their ways to the waters of baptism Then Brother W. spoke about how sharing the gospel is a responsibility and how simple things like praying and following promptings can result in great things.

 

We cannot let our pursuit for knowledge of the scriptures overpower and override our thirst for a stronger testimony. Gaining a testimony and retaining it requires a lot more work than gaining factual knowledge and retaining it. A testimony is something that is never finished and the second you stop adding to it, it is decreasing...there is no plateau...either you are progressing or regressing.

 

There is this one part of our area that seems to have a lot of promise, but tonight there were very few people interested. Even when we explain it clear as day and pose a question that leads them to say "yes" like "is gaining salvation something that is important to you?" "Not right now" is the response of choice...People are lazy, just wanna wait until it is convenient.

 

Well, there ya' go, that was my week...Ups and downs, but still great. So glad to be able to serve here at this point in time. I know I am here for a reason. President has already started working on transfers...definitely the earliest that I have ever seen him start. This next one is gonna be tricky because there are 4 Spanish Zone Leaders going home and he needs 8 Spanish trainers, as well. Not sure what that means for me...if I stay up (in the office) one more transfer or if I will go down (back into the field to teach full-time) for my last two. Can't believe I only have two transfers left. Kinda scary how stuff goes so fast; I should find out this week if I am being replaced in the office.

 

Hope all is well at the home place. Thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes and Valentine's stuff, made my whole week to feel so much love:)

 

Love you guys so much!

 

Love, Elder Molinaro