Well here it is! My halfway mark! I can and cannot believe it. It really has gone by so fast!
This week was pretty good. We found some new investigators, and 2 less active members who's records were not in our ward for some reason. God's timing is perfect and by listening to the spirit we were able to find them at just the right moment. They both said, "usually we're not home at this time, it's lucky that you found us!" But we know it's not luck, it's part of God's plan. He watches out for each and every one of His children.
So we met our new mission president on Wednesday! President Kendrick is SO AWESOME! Every single missionary already loves him to death. He's funny, spiritual, loving, and has some great ideas for this mission. He also makes you feel so much better about yourself than you feel like you're worth. :) He's so great.
Here's a fun random fact that President Kendrick told us: the California Carlsbad Mission is the healthiest mission in the United States (and he thinks in the world, too, but he has to double check)! We have the fewest Dr. Calls and injuries, etc. Kind of cool, huh? No matter how much I hate running, I have to admit that it does have it's benefits. I did get my inhaler, thank you!
We hiked Palomar Mountain today as a district, and that was fun! It's not very big but it's really steep with loose dirt, so we ended up sliding/falling down half the mountain on the way back haha but it's okay, nobody got hurt. We got nice and dirty though :)
I get to go on exchanges this Thursday and Friday, and guess where I get to go? VISTA BABY!!! :D I get to spend 24 hours in Vista and I am STOKED! I'm hoping I get to see Dominick and Alfredo and a few other investigators and members. I am beyond excited. I'll let you know how it goes.
Adolfo is still doing awesome. He came to the big Family Home Evening that a few families in our ward hold each week. He already has so many friends and is more active than half our ward. We had a really strong testimony meeting after Hermana Moffitt and I shared the message. We taught a message about testimonies: what it is and how to strengthen it, etc. Elder Schweitzer of the 70 came to our mission awhile ago and shared with us the "7 Basics" of a testimony- what each person should know.
1. God is our loving Heavenly Father
2. Jesus Christ is His Son, and our Redeemer
3. God speaks to man through prophet
4. There is a prophet today
5. The Book of Mormon is evidence of prophets
6. The Priesthood is restored
7. Covenants and commandments enable eternal families.
If you have a testimony of these 7 things then you have a solid testimony and will be a solid follower of Jesus Christ and His teachings. If you feel like your testimony is lacking, it may be because you need to strengthen one of these points in your life. Food for thought.
Something cool that I have really come to appreciate as a missionary is how people confide in us. People tell us their life stories, their struggles, desires, fears, hopes, everything. Even without really knowing us. To me it shows hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ- they see our name tags and recognize us as someone who works for Christ, and hope that somehow we can help them, or that they can trust us. It's really neat.
Congratulations to Taylor for being ordained to an Elder! He's such a stud. Tell him hi for me! And congratulations to Gabe! Another missionary in the family! Woo hoo!!! :) He'll be awesome! Let me know how his farewell goes, I'm sure it will be awesome.
Thank you dad for sharing your journal entries with me, I look forward to them every week. They help me realize that this work is exactly that- work. And I need to appreciate every moment. Thank you also for taking the time to answer my question from last week, that helps a lot. Hopefully we'll be able to see Carmen soon and share some of it with her.
Well I love you all and miss you! I'm glad you had a nice 4th of July and that everyone enjoyed Torie's concert! I have no doubt that she was the best one there.
Don't forget to share the gospel with everyone!
Love,
Hermana Inman
