Time is going very fast, things are winding down and I am staying strong. Everything I am doing now seems like planting seeds then hopefully Elder Wilson will harvest in the next couple of months. Our bishop got wind that I am finishing so I have a speech next Sunday and he announced at a YSA cottage evening that in a couple of weeks I would be single - that was pretty funny. We have been hearing about Trump and Clinton for a while but just snippets from members. People on the street always ask me which one I would vote for but I always give the same answer, "I need more time to be able to research and make a good decision but on the outside both seem pretty rubbish." Hopefully everything went well with the bridal shower - just another marriage I am hearing about (haha). It seems like every email or week I get news from a member, a friend, or the family about someone else getting engaged. It is a pretty interesting time in life. I think it will be weird to have a inward look like you said Dad. I need to figure out how to plan for myself because for the past two years I have been planning for everyone else. For right now the plan is what you thought, go back to work at In-N-Out and finish the associates at SLCC for convenience. I am not too sure what it going to happen other than that. I have faith that I will be able to transition smoothly back into the world but not of the world. As far as dinner goes I think Hawaiian Haystacks would be nice (Jokes - please don't do that!) Maybe a taco bar with pickled onions and mexican ranch or Café Rio salads also with pickled onions and mexican ranch haha. I think I just want some good old homemade Mexican food. My mouth actually watered while I was writing this so I might just be hungry but I think I will probably go get a pie from the shops.
This week:
This week was pretty good. Things seem to be going really well. I love the ward and the work. We spent the week trying to see investigators having some struggles, doing some trade off with the elders, sussing out some stuff from President, and trying to motivate the zone. I had my last MLC and then we had a pretty good zone training. I feel like I have a good grip on things some days but I still get thrown couple of curveballs every week. This week was pretty good though.
We did have a cool experience with those kids that you saw on facebook. So the story goes we went over on Friday to light fireworks for Guy Fawkes day even though apparently it was Saturday that we were supposed to do it. Anyways while we were doing fireworks with the Mafi's all the neighborhood kids came around to watch. We started to talking to them about the gospel as we were giving them some sparklers to play with and then we were able to tell them to come back the next day to have a lesson on Saturday and that photo was with some of the kids that actually came back the next day. They were really curious about church. Some of them had been to church, I had met a couple of their parents already in earlier weeks. It was cool to see how close all these kids were to each other. They are now asking their parents if we can come over and have some real lessons. We are going to go over and see if we can meet all the parents as well of course and give some real explanations. It should go well hopefully (haha). The Mafi's are good about posting stuff.
The other experience that I really enjoyed this week was at the YSA cottage evening we had a short lesson, played some games and then it was time for the feed. I was sitting next to a girl who I found out was SDA [Seventh Day Adventist] and she was really cool. I asked her how she liked the program and she said it was good. Then she said "Can I ask you a question?" And I said "Is it personal?" We laughed for a second as she was like "No, no no it is about your church." I said "Oh, that was close. haha" then I explained that I would answer personal questions as well because I don't mind but then I got to tell her what we do as missionaries and how it was kind of my job to answer questions. We ended up having a really good discussion about some of her questions. Her original question was about if we believed that when people died were they still on earth so I explained about the Spirit World and how final judgement comes for everyone after Christ comes back so yes there are some spirits still here waiting for that day in a place called the Spirit World. She was amazed. I ended up getting to the premortal life, prophets, the Book of Mormon and even invited her to read and pray. She has been looking for a church for a long time and she has heaps of family in the church. (She is Tongan and anybody that is Tongan has heaps in the church pretty much.) I was pretty gutted when I found out she lived in the Hamilton Mission, I asked her if she would like the missionaries to come by and she told us she would talk to her uncle who is a Bishop of our church first. She was what I call a prepared person. Elder Wilson was watching us but he was caught up talking with some other YSA and couldn't really find out a way to jump in and help so he just let me go. It was a lot of fun. My favorite question she asked was "Why doesn't God still speak to people like he did with Moses ages ago?" God has definitely been preparing her and I was glad that I could confidently answer any question she had. It seemed like everyone was in their own world but all the members were still paying attention to the one-on-one lesson I was having with Ana. It was a great experience and just reaffirms the testimony I have every time I get to explain it to someone else.
Love You,
Elder Summers