Week 67 January 27,2020

Rhode Island Jamestown under the bridge

Rhode Island District Central Fall/Cliff

Happy Birthday to Elder Pulu

FHE at the Navy Base

FHE at the Navy Base

Yummy Lobster

 Once again it was a pretty fun P-day, with it being a Holiday the Library was closed so we didn’t do that this week. After we had lunch we went to the Chapel and I was able to call and talk to my Parents and my little Sister, that is always fun! A little bit later the Central Falls English and Spanish Elders came down because they wanted to look around Newport. (Elder Grimsman, Elder Foster, Elder Acker and Elder Barron). With them we ate lunch then made our way over to the Cliff walk in downtown Newport. It was pretty fun and I was small enough to hide in a couple of areas. We also saw a family from Egypt and they took some photos for us. After the walk we went back to the Chapel and Balled up (played basketball), it was pretty fun to have an actual game going on! (I was able to score some points)  After they left we still had some time left so I called home again and talked to the family. Our appointment for the night canceled so we had dinner and stopped by a couple less active members. With one, we had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and that was pretty cool to help him remember Gods Loving Plan for each of us!
     Tuesday we got up early and then made our way to the Chapel for an hour to play basketball/ workout. I'm not helping the best so I just really sat down for most of it. When we got back we got ready and had studies. After studies we made our way to the Salvation Army for our weekly service. It was a smaller week then most, so it went pretty quick. After we had to go get a new Navy Base pass for Elder Johnson, his expired. On the way we took the wrong turn and we went over the Pell bridge into Jamestown (not our area) we then eventually made it back. We first had to go home for his license and when we got home I made a lot of calls trying to see my options for getting my bottom retainer fixed. We will be getting it done Thursday. We also called to set up an appointment to get our car looked at and fixed tomorrow! We then after making those calls made our way to the Post Office. We then had our lesson with James and watched another Book if Mormon video with him. We then came home for dinner. We went to the Library to make a scripture study flyer for our Book of Mormon class. It went pretty well, this week was smaller but it was full of good insights. To end the night we met with Mike and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Baptism! He said he would be interested and we asked him to pray about the Book of Mormon and we will be helping him out on this amazing journey of his!
     Wednesday was a longer day, but it went well. We had our studies. After my personal studies I ended up passing out on the couch, I must have been pretty tired! When I woke up we had lunch and shortly after made our way up to South Kingstown (out of our area). We went to a Chevy Dealership and had our car inspected which took 2 hours and will need to come back for a part they ordered. While there we just sat around and waited and couldn't do too much. I was on the Gospel Library app for a little bit as well. While we were there they had Wi-Fi and free snacks. We then came home had a little later dinner at Chilies with Brother and Sister Jones.  Brother Jones loves Corny Jokes. Turns out so did our waitress, to say the least there were a lot of them said. After dinner we had a lesson with Jackie about Patriarchal Blessings. She just recently got hers so it was a nice little refresher for her. We went to visit Emilce a less active who wants to return soon. We talked with her about Temples and we want her to be able to talk to Bishop to see what she would need to do to go! It is super exciting she also has some family interested in learning more! We hope to start teaching them soon.
     Thursday right after we got up and ready we once again drove to South Kingstown because I had an appointment with an Orthodontist (Ferry Orthodontics) because my permanent retainer broke while I was flossing last Saturday night. After I filled out paperwork they got me back right away. It was a quick fix Dr. Ferry just recommended the wire back on my tooth. I was done within 15ish minutes.  We then drove back home to have our studies. I read Jacob 4-6, the allegory of the Olive Tree. Oh boy was it a long read but always really fun! After studies we went to the Library to work on our scripture study page we made and trying to get the final touches on it. After that we made our way to the Chapel for a lesson with Dante. With him we went over the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 5 steps to coming closer to Christ. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost,  and Enduring to the end. It all made sense to him and we also set up a baptismal date with him for next month!!! Little by little he will get there. We then came home for dinner and relaxed a bit then made our way to see Noel and Luara. With them we also went over the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was pretty cool and it was such a great lesson with them. Noel usually talks a lot and Luara is fairly quite. This time it was the opposite Noel sat back and listened, be had some great insights. Luara talked a lot and asked a lot of good questions as well! They both really want to know and learn together. We almost set a date for them to work towards but they want to talk about it together and make sure its something they can do at the same time! When we got back home we called Chris Pulu (my trainer) because it was his Birthday! Shout out to him and all his hard work he does and the example he set for me as a missionary! It was fun because Elder Johnson and I were his last 2 companions. He trained me for two transfers in Madison then went to Ashford CT with Elder Johnson.
     Friday morning we got ready ate breakfast and made our way to go pick up the Narragansett Elders for District Council. We waited for 10 minutes, it gave me time to clean up the car and throw some stuff away. We then made our way to the Warwick Chapel and we were actually on time! When we got there the training was done by the Sisters on "how to find people to teach". It went really well, it was more like a discussion but there were a lot of good ideas shared that we hope to improve the coming weeks! After District Council we made our way up to the Warwick Mall for Panda Express (Chinese New Years). It was fun to talk to the District a little longer and eat at Panda Express again. We then made our way back to the Elders apt to drop them off and come home. We had enough time to change out of our suits then head on over to see James. Brother Evan's was there to join us. We talked about Tithing and Fast Offerings. Why we do it and what it is used for, and the blessings that could come from it. After we came home for dinner and relaxed until we had to go to FHE at the Navy base. It’s typically a 10ish minute drive but there was an accident on a small street going in and we got backed up for 30ish minutes, it took a long time to get in. When we got in we had lots of fun, we played the game 7 wonders with a couple of the navy guys. I had lots of fun with it.
     Saturday was a late start for the day, we after getting ready had our studies. I read from Jacob 7 until Mosiah 3. It was really fun and it helped me gain a better understanding of those chapters. After that I read a chapter in the Bible and a couple YA weekly articles. After that I ended up passing out on the couch for a little bit. When I woke up we had lunch then did weekly planning. With us already talking about our friends through out the week it was a pretty short one. This one was probably the shortest one I have had on my mission, but it was still highly effective. After planning we dropped off our laundry at Brother Stableys home then went to the post office to send a couple packages home. We then went to the Library and did facebook Finding until we had to go to dinner. We then went to Atlantic Grille in Middletown and met up with the Horne Sisters Kayla and Alora. Alora is in the Navy and her sister came with her to hang out. They are both super cool and have a strong desire to share the Gospel. They said to get what ever so I decided to get a "Lobstah" to make my Dad jealous.(This is Larry and I am so jealous of eating Lobster…Yummy) After them we  met up with Lloyd and helped him with the come follow me for the week and came home for the night.
     Sunday after we got ready we made out way to Church and there was a lot of cars! With it being Ward Conference there ended up being a lot of visitors from the stake. We heard from Bishop Crocket and President Rehon (Stake President). When the Evans got there they invited James to sit with them. It was cool to see them take him under their wing. After Sacrament meeting Sister Evans talked to us about inviting us and James over for a dinner soon! In both  talks in Sacrament and Sunday School it was all focused on recognizing the Lords hand in our lives. After Church we came home had a quick lunch then made our way to Brother Stableys for a little FHE. When we got there we started out with a spiritual thought and he shared with us an article from a missionary awhile back from the Munich Germany Mission. It was an experience of a professor of theology at a Catholic School who was converted.  She used the expression of "my soul hungered and the truth will set you free". Later a couple of Elders in the mission got permission to have 2 hours to teach our beliefs to a class at a Catholic School where the men were learning to become priests. Somehow the former theology professor came and taught them with the missionaries.  A year earlier she was there teaching that same class something she didn't have full faith in.  But because she was converted she knew that what we have is a spiritual feast! ( I'm sorry I know it's not the best explanation) after that he had a friend end up coming over as well and he was a super cool guy. We played a fun Star Wars table top game until we had to go to dinner. After we finished a couple of rounds we made our way to dinner with the Vest family.  The two boys weren't really doing well so we didn't see much of them but with the parents we shared President Nelson's last talk to help prepare them for April 2020 General Conference. To end the night when we got home Elder Johnson did call ins with the District members.

                      Jonah 3:5
    "5 ¶ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them"

     For those of you who don't know, this is the story of Jonah and the Whale. Long story short God commanded Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to tell them all to repent. He was scared because it was a wicked city and he ran. He hopped on a boat and God made it storm so he got thrown overboard and got swallowed by a whale. While in this Whale he did a lot of repenting and asking for another chance to right his wrong. When the Whale spit him out he was close to Nineveh so he did what God had commanded him to do.  All right now, I love this part, after the city repented they all wore these sack cloths meaning that they were all equal to God. As are we, all of us are Equal in the Sight of God, and he loves each and every of us the same. We all come from different backgrounds and different cultures and situations but that will never change the fact that, you are loved by God. Just like the King and citizens of Nineveh, you can be forgiven and you are loved. We are all equal to Him in his eyes. As you may feel that all these people around you may be righteous and may be "the greatest of them" they are as equal to the sinners who would be considered  "the least of them" . I too am trying to see others as God does, we are all children of God and yes we are all Equal in his eyes. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.