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

From February 6

Dear Family,

For the first time, the idea of training in front of 80 people without using a microphone does not terrify me. Pre-mission? Absolutely. A month ago? Yep! Still, but now I can do it with confidence and poise and take my time. Elder M. and I had a good talk about what makes us nervous in front of a big group, and we looked at all of the trainings of President B. and even the talks of the general authorities and how calm, cool and collected they seem to be while talking to the masses. It is because they know their message is true…so is mine, right? I had trouble with pausing during trainings because I just assumed people would think that I didn’t know what I was trying to say. I caught myself thinking that a couple of times and realized how dumb it was. Pausing is what makes the really profound statements stand out. Every time I hear President pause, I know that whatever he says next will be profound.



The mini-mission is always fun to be a part of. We don’t get to have one of young men come with us, but it is fun to see them all and see how nervous and excited they look. This time it was my turn to give a talk on obedience and I had to mention the white handbook and cell phones and iPods. I prepared during personal study this morning, but as I sat there on the stand, something just didn’t feel right. So, I offered a silent prayer and decided to abandon what I had prepared and just get up and talk with no notes, no papers, no nothing. It was great…scary at first, but great. I ended up talking about something I learned from mom and something I learned from dad. From mom it was "a friend is someone that makes you your best self."…the white rule book is our best friend because it helps us to become our best selves. My dad taught me through baseball how to be able to pick his whistle out of a crowd and follow its instruction. I then related that to the Holy Ghost and how our Father in Heaven whistles to us sometimes and we must be ready to heed the instructions. I mentioned that when I went to play baseball, I left things in the dugout like my phone and iPod and they should do the same. It was a great experience for me, not because my talk was great, but because it built my testimony of the importance of preparation…I prepared and then the Holy Ghost gave it to me in the moment that which I should say. Just another chance to grow :)



Santa Monica is still there…We hadn’t been there in so long that I was starting to wonder if it really existed anymore, but I am pleased to report that it is still there and has not sunk into the ocean…yet. Today was just a great day. The weather in Santa Monica cannot be beat…It was 70 and sunny with a slight breeze and for the first part of the day we were right on ocean by the overlook of the beach. Talk about beautiful. We had a lesson with a woman from the ward who is on the 5-5-5 plan and it went really well. Her name is Sister J., and we aren’t totally sure, but judging by some of the responses she gave us, we think she is on the semi- active side. It was the first real lesson that Elder M. and I were able to teach really and it was fantastic. Now the location was another story.



We couldn’t find a male to come with us, so we had the lesson on a bench at this overlook of Santa Monica beach. The problem is that it was hot and right next to a running path. Can you say spandex!? Ah, the entire town is crawling with women in barely any clothing and the stuff they do have on is spandex on top of spandex on top of spandex. It is a nightmare. So sad that Heavenly Father's children choose to dress so immodestly. So while we are teaching about the restoration of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Satan ran by on multiple occasions. What a great way to practice staying focused and self-control haha.

The members of this ward are so loving and non-judgmental and caring and it is a real example to me. Today after church we had the usual outstanding correlation meeting and then we had an appointment with Mr. H., a guy who was a referral from the bishop of a guy that came to church looking for help. Well, he might be getting more help than he bargained for, but he needs it whether he knows it or not. He told us his story which is quite tragic to say the least. He worked in the music industry with a lot of big names and then his wife got cancer and they had no health insurance and had to sell their home in order to pay the medical bills to keep her alive. She died and then they were left with nothing. He and his daughter were driving their car…pretty much the only thing they had, and they crashed because his heart failed and they went off a 100 foot ravine. She was in critical condition and he screwed up his knee pretty bad but he refused to be treated because they said he might lose his daughter…She lived, but his knee is permanently jacked and she went to college and to help pay, he sold everything and was homeless for 2 months and now he has a tiny apartment but came to the bishop for help. Talk about a roller coaster of a life. He just sees it as part of life, but that is quite the story don’t you think?

 

Anyway, we met and talked with him about life and what he wants and he said that he doesn’t have a lot of time right now but he has a lot of questions and wants to "know why and how there is a light around us and in our eyes and smile." I think he is really good. He is a son of God who needs the gospel and we are going to give it to him.

 

The largest miracle on my mission that I have seen is the hand of the Lord working changes in me to become more the priesthood holder and son that He needs me to be. These past 20 months have been such a blessing to me. The church has a great system of sending the youth through the spiritual boot camp that the mission is.

 

I have learned so many lessons on my mission, but one that comes to mind is lifting where I stand and being willing to stand wherever the Lord asks me to stand. That means whether He wants me to be an assistant or whether I have been called to work landscape at the temple, I will lift the best I can from wherever I am. I try to be the best assistant I can be, or the best grounds keeper I can be and, to the Lord, both efforts are equal. We must all be humble enough to accept the fact that we cannot lift from where someone else is standing, only from where our two feet are planted. With the Help of the Lord, we can lift more than we could ever lift alone because with Christ we enter into a perfect companionship. It's like in the movie "Remember the Titans" when Julius says that he is not perfect, but the team is perfect and he wants to keep it that way. It is up to us to invite the Savior into our lives in such a way that our companionship with Him can be perfect. It is about having both feet into the gospel, doing it half-heartedly won't cut it...all or nothing.

 

Love you guys! Thanks for putting up with me for 21 years now! Crazy I am that old, huh? :)

 

Love,

Elder Molinaro

From January 30

Dear Family,

 

Where to start!? This week went really well, really busy but really well...I think really busy is just the norm now. I can't remember what it feels like not to be stressed and have a million things to do. This next week is going to be Zone Conferences tomorrow through Thursday and then Friday is a mini-mission for the Downey Stake that we haven't even begun to prepare for. Like I said, a million things to do, but I am loving every second of it.

 

In some ways it seems like an eternity since I last Emailed all of you and in some ways it feels like just yesterday. I can't really describe the way that time works as a missionary, but it is odd to say the least.

 

Monday was our final day to catch up from transfers making sure that the board was updated and everything was current for the senior couples so that they could do their work. When transfers hit like the bomb that it is, it is our job to make sure that everyone gets stuff that is up to date so that their work day isn't brought to a screeching halt until they have what they need. It kind of skews the large priority list that we have been juggling because lists and updates end up taking priority over something of a lot more value just because it is vital if the seniors are going to be able to function.

 

To answer your question about senior missionaries, a lot of our work is inter-related. We help them with a lot of things and they help us with a lot of things. Part of the pattern switch that I described last week had to do with shifting a lot of tasks that we had been doing to the senior couples so that we could do more proselyting...or at least that was the hope. Lately it has been working out more and more, they just have a lot of questions on the processes of things which is fine and expected when any kind of transition like that is made.

 

I am so grateful for them and all that they do for us and the other missionaries. They are the behind-the- scenes workers that get little acknowledgement, but the work could not go forward without them. Elder O. especially is such a good guy, and such a good example to me and to all of us. Sometimes when he can tell we are getting really stressed, he pulls root beer out of I don't know where and says "Elders you need to sit down and have a beer." We then all three just stop and sit and take a few minutes to enjoy a root beer and breathe. He is the coolest. He always tells us stories from his ranch in Utah and gives us life advice on stuff to do with our boys and stuff not to do and what his dad did. Great guy. Elder W. is just funny...There is not time to Email all that I would like to about that man so I will leave it at that, but he is a funny guy. We mess with him quite a bit, but he throws it right back, all in good fun.

 

So Monday we finished getting updated and prepping for ZLC, and then Tuesday we actually had ZLC and it went pretty well. We rolled out the training that the Zone Leaders will be giving at Zone Conference and reviewed some stuff from pervious ZLCs. The focus of Zone Conference is mostly reinforcing what we have been working on, namely lesson plans and the mobile area book. It will be good, I hope.

 

As far as the rest of the week, it has been quite the blur. Days run together, and I don't stop thinking about all I have to do and get done. Even when I go to sleep at night I am thinking about it and dream about office work and training and trying to keep our area afloat and all that jazz. Is that what they mean when they say lose yourself in the work? I don't even feel like I have a self anymore, it is just whatever I need to do next.

 

We have had a little more time to work in the area and spent a good portion of it contacting members of the ward which has been really good. The work in Santa Monica will be different than any work I have done thus far. It will be a lot of referral work and working with the members which is good on the one hand, and bad on the other. In my Spanish areas I would be able to control how many people I would find and teach because I could go knocking and street contacting and find legit people, here it seems almost out of our hands.

 

Tracting is not effective in beach communities so we are completely at the mercy of the desire of the members to share the gospel with their friends. It is good though, because like I said last week the ward is way solid. Bishop is so awesome and all about missionary work and very good even though he has only been bishop for about 4 months, and Brother W. is the best ward mission leader I have ever seen. We sat down at correlation yesterday after church and I felt like I was in one of the District DVDs about how everything is supposed to work. He had a chart with the 555 listed out, the recent converts and their statuses, and people we should try to reactivate as well as part member families that have a lot of potential. He is so great, I really look up to him, too.

 

My mission has really given me a lot of people to look up to. A lot of people that Heavenly Father has placed in my path to help me grow and learn as much as I possibly can while I am here, and for that I am so grateful. We have some really terrific members in our ward. I am glad to be where I am.

 

Something that I have learned this week is the importance at taking things a little at a time. Line upon line, precept upon precept. That is what our Zone Conference training is about, actually...well kinda...I will have to give you the lowdown on that next week. Joseph Smith didn't get the sealing power in the Sacred Grove...not even when he got the Aaronic priesthood; rather it came gradually bit by bit until he was ready to receive the greatest power God had to give.

 

May all of us strive to be patient with the Lord and patient with ourselves as we wait for the greatest blessings to come. Each day is to prepare us for the next and each day is a chance to grow and be better than the day before.

 

I love you guys!

 

Love

Elder Molinaro

From January 23

Oh, boy! Am I glad for the chance to Email, finally. This morning we had some crazy stuff to deal with -- emergency transfers and car logistics and fixing the TMR entry process, and sheesh! Nothing like working on your day off haha. Not complaining though, glad to let the Lord pull me in all different directions and allow me to see how much I can do with His help.

 

I have found that life is like a violin in several ways. First, life is like the strings on a violin. They make their best sounds and chords when the strings are stretched to the limit...that is where miracles happen. Always makes me think of that talk by President Eyring when he talks about President Hinckley and how he had grown accustomed to pushing himself past his physical limits when he was reviewing a document at the end of a long, hard day. Missionary life, and life in general, is sweetest when I am being stretched and tried and pushed beyond what I think my limit may be.

 

Second, life is like a violin in that sometimes one of our strings breaks and we are forced to improvise while still making the sweet music that can come if we put our mind to it and don't ever give up. Great musicians will compose on the fly, if need be, after a broken string and no one will ever know. To be the great musicians of the strings that compose our lives we must: one improvise, and two do it with a smile on our faces. God knows our string has broken...in fact, often times He broke it, but the real test of our talent as a musician is the ability to take that broken string and carry on in spite of it...Just food for thought to start off my Email today.

 

What a week! It was actually one of the best weeks of my mission because it was the busiest days of my mission/life hands down. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we worked from waking up at 5 am to 10:40 at night with about 20 minutes for each meal...Nothing like an 18 hour work day on 5 hours of sleep! They were honestly the greatest days though because I got to see what I am capable of...Now I am not saying that I did a terrific job at everything I did during those 18 hours, but just on paper I never would have thought I could do that! I would have laughed and said you were crazy if you would have told me that I would work for 18 hours straight on little sleep, but we did it and it felt great. At the time it was absolutely exhausting, but looking back we can see how much the Lord helped us to accomplish everything we needed to do.

 

It was really weird dropping Elder H. off at the airport (he finished his mission), but Elder M. and I are doing great together. He is such a good companion, and we have been working hard to fix a lot of the patterns left by our predecessors that were creeping into office life. We have everything much more organized and efficient, and we are constantly doing something, never taking a break or stopping to just sit...We are talking diligent to the max...We have seen a large number of blessings as a result and have been able to spend a lot more time actually proselyting, which was the main goal. We want to be able to just go into Santa Monica and tear it up and find and teach and baptize like never before.

 

The area is amazing. It has had sisters in it for the last 3 years so Elders are a switch for the area. Just good to get new blood in there, I think. We are now in the Santa Monica First Ward, and our ward building is the second church building constructed in California and is only a few blocks from the beach. We met with our new ward mission leader on Thursday night and talked with him about the vision for the ward and what we can do to help lift it and stuff and he is the best ward mission leader I have had to date on my mission. He is so cool. His name is Brother W. and he is in his late 20's. He's way excited about missionary work, way excited to just help us in any way possible, and perhaps the greatest part is, he understands that we have been called as full time teachers and that it is the ward's job to be finding investigators for us. He is quarterbacking all of that effort and we text him nightly to update him on how things are progressing; he is the man.

 

Speaking of the man, there are actually two...Bishop M. is awesome, too. We met with he and Brother W. yesterday. Bishop M. is a young guy with young kids and definitely knows what he is doing, even though he is a fairly new bishop. He said the ward will take care of reactivation and retention and he wants us to baptize. That is like music to a missionary's ears! He is willing to help with whatever we need and is excited for missionary work in 2012. He said that 2012 is a great year for missionary work and to talk about the Church because it is so easy right now, which is so true.

 

It is a time to be out and vocal about the gospel because it is now that the Lord has given us to use the media, and the election, and Broadway and tons of stuff to our advantage, so we gotta do it! He has a great ward mission plan and we will be working more with him as the work progresses. We have met a few members from the ward and they are excited to have Elders and it just seems like everything is going our way right now. We are being very blessed.

 

Transfer day, like I said, was busy juggling between logistics and getting everyone where they needed to be and coordinating cars and rides and training, and new missionary orientation. Pretty much Wednesday morning we pushed the "go" button that we had been prepping for a week and there were no phone calls so that was good news. Crazy that we think up what everyone will do and then they just do it...It doesn't make sense to a lot of them, but as long as it makes sense in our minds (those who have been staring at maps and the transfer board for hours) then it goes well. Kinda like us and our lives. Sometimes we do not understand why something is happening or why we are asked to do something because we are in a forest and only a few feet from a tree right in front of us. It is important to remember that Heavenly Father created the forest and can see the whole thing and is guiding us where He needs us to be.

 

Had a great personal study this morning about the Plan of Salvation. I realized today that yes, God has one big plan of salvation for all of us combined, but at the same time, He has a plan of salvation for each of us individually. Each event that occurs in our lives is part of this plan of salvation He has made for each of us. Therefore, when we are prompted to talk with someone about the gospel, we are being led by the Spirit to do something that God has planned in that person's individual plan of salvation.

 

Don't make Heavenly Father use His backup plans because you, who are His primary plan, fail to act on a prompting. We must live in such a way that the Lord can trust us to do what we are prompted to do -- the first time He prompts us to do it.

 

This week we also had the opportunity to make what is called the "Mobile Area Book" which contains all the ward information and has our area broken down into more manageable sections to help with planning and make us more effective as we concentrate in one area rather than traveling all over creation trying to do something effective. I have attached a few of the pages if you wanna take a look...It was fun to come up with and we name every area something different. We named them after Book of Mormon Prophets!

 

Another perk of being in the office that we recently discovered is that in Microsoft Publisher you can put pass along cards through the printer and have names, numbers, church meeting times, locations and a mini map on there... It looks pretty cool, actually. We are just trying to use all of our resources and work our fingers to the bone and the Lord is blessing us so much for it.

 

I love you guys a ton and I am so grateful to have served the Lord for 20 months and can't wait to see what else He has in store for me!

 

Love,

Elder Molinaro