June 22, 1988
Trudy was released from the hospital on Wednesday, June 15. We stopped by her place on Thursday and showed her a video, Nephi and the Brass Plates.
In the afternoon I went on a bike ride with Elder Tango up to Marina. Our purpose was to check on a contact but they were not at home. Suddenly I started to feel a little bit sick, I was looking it too, or so Tango said. We stopped by to see some members who live in the same trailer park as the contact we tried to visit. They gave me an apple and that really hit the spot.
We started back to Seaside and somewhere on the bike path between the two towns and west of Fort Ord and the freeway, my new bike, which I have hardly ridden, suffered a mechanical failure. One of the pedal struts came loose and I could no longer peddle. The trail we were on is full of little hills which complicated our return home. Tango towed me along the flats and down the hills, but I had to walk up the hills. Naturally, it took us quite some time to get home.
In the evening I went on team-ups with Tango and stake missionaries from the Marina ward – which, by the way, is called the Seaside Ward, while the Seaside ward which Elder Spandau and I cover is called the Carmel Ward. First we had a scripture study class with a new member, then we went on to Fort Ord to give a member presentation. Fun day!
We went on to Fort Ord twice on Friday. First Spandau and I went to check on a referral, who was not at home. In the evening we went on team ups with a stake missionary who is in the Army and assigned to Fort Ord -- which greatly simplified getting on the base. We went to a barracks to see an investigator but he was off base as part of a funeral detail.
On Saturday, we drove over to Salinas for interviews with President Douglas. I was up first and I talked about Trudy and the improvement here over Palo Alto. On the way back to Seaside we hopped over to Carmel Valley and stopped at the Talbot tie factory outlet store. I bought two ties for about two bucks. They are what might be called “B-unit” ties. Originally worth as much as $80.00, a tiny flaw reduced them to a buck apiece. In the evening we visited a member and then checked on a referral that was not at home.
On Sunday, Elder Tango and I filled the font at the stake center for two different baptisms. First the elders from Salinas, followed by the sister missionaries in our district. During the second ceremony, while the participants changed after the baptism itself, the sisters showed a new video called Together Forever. Wow, what a great video!
On Monday, Spandau gave me the opportunity to plan our work for the day. I picked out three streets to tract in the morning, and we got a call back. In the evening we had a dinner appointment out in Carmel Valley. We showed our hosts the video Together Forever after dinner.
We taught Trudy the third and fourth discussions on Tuesday morning. It went very well and all systems are go for her baptism on the twenty-six. This truly is a spectator sport. It is the spirit that converts and it is awesome to be here to see it happen. How did I get so lucky? We have another appointment scheduled for Thursday to teach Trudy the fifth and sixth discussions. Her interview is scheduled for Saturday.
The transfer calls went out while we were back at the flat having lunch. Spandau is being transferred to Belmont-San Mateo up in the San Francisco zone. My new companion will be Elder Friend who will be the senior companion. We took the rest of the day off so Spandau could pack and get ready.
Early this morning we drove up to Salinas to meet the transfer van. The van's first stop in always in Salinas where it picks up a small U-Haul trailer for the luggage. Late in the afternoon, the van returns to Salinas and drops of the trailer before making its last stop in Watsonville, if necessary. So, we had to wait all day for the van to come back with Elder Friend. We hung around with Elder Juliett, who has been called to be a trainer and a district leader. Wow, from junior comp to DL in one transfer, that's impressive, but not really surprising.
Anyway, we played some basketball and did some other stuff while waiting for the transfer van's afternoon stop. When Elder Friend finally arrived, we drove back down to Seaside to get him settled in. He seems like a cool guy, and we have already found a common interest -- airplanes.
Tomorrow we will be teaching Trudy the fifth and sixth discussions and she will have her baptismal interview with Elder Tango on Saturday.
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June 29, 1988
We taught Trudy the fifth and sixth discussions on Thursday and set up a baptism interview for Saturday. In the afternoon, we were at K-Mart for a few hours to get a new battery for the car. We had to make a few calls to the mission office to get the purchase approved.
Friday morning, we tracted a few streets. We had a half hour teach with a man we tracted into. He had some interesting ideas, but seemed teachable. In the afternoon, I took Elder Friend around to meet some members. In the evening we went on team-ups with a stake missionary and went on to Fort Ord. We were going to teach an investigator the fifth discussion, but he was not at his barracks. We ended up giving a short presentation on the Book of Mormon to the soldiers on CQ duty.
On Saturday morning, we started tracting Noche Buena Avenue. This street runs north and south, the length of Seaside, and it is also just a block east of our apartment complex. We can get a lot of tracting in without putting any miles on the car, brilliant! Anyway, we got a few call backs which look promising. In the afternoon we did a service project, moving some stuff out of a member's home. Trudy had her interview at 4:00, and it went well. After that, Elder Friend and I cleaned the font at the stake center.
In the evening, we stopped by to see Trudy and go over the baptism program with her. Trudy has asked me to do the honors, though I was her third choice. The first two were the elders that found her before my arrival here in Seaside, but they could not get permission to come down for the baptism.
We attended our church meetings on Sunday morning, and then had our correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. We started filling the font at 2:30. We were filling buckets with hot water from the kitchen and dumping them in the font, because the water heater for the font has died, but we eventually ran out of hot water, so we had to finish filling the font with cold water.
The service started at 4:30, after we took pictures in front of the stake center of Trudy and I in our baptismal whites. After the talk on baptism, I led Trudy into the water, which was ice cold! Trudy let out a shriek, and everybody laughed. Then I baptized her -- okay, I had to do it twice because her leg came up the first time. Trudy was having some trouble catching her breath because she was very cold. We had to calm her down before we could continue. After we changed clothes, Elder Friend did the confirmation.
This was supposed to be a happy occasion, but I was feeling a little ambivalent, because it appears that Trudy's conversion happened before I got here. Also, because of my last companion watching TV at a members home, I didn't feel worthy of this blessing. It did not help matters that I had to baptize her twice and, even worse, that I dropped her both times!
We continued tracting Noche Buena Ave. on Monday, and did most of the street in 4 1/2 hours. We got some call backs and set up four appointments for Tuesday. We also got in one door and taught a first discussion. The lady we taught was sincere, open, and teachable. She wanted to read the Book of Mormon and agreed with most of the things we talked about. I think we can baptize her.
The thing is, we almost missed out on teaching her. First, there was a no soliciting sign on her house, and we typically skip such homes. Next, there was no answer when we knocked on the door, and after about a minute we started off toward the next house. I lagged behind to close the gate to the yard, and that's when this lady answered the door.
I looked at Friend and saw that he was stepping onto the curb across the street. I signaled the person at the door to wait and then tried to get Friend’s attention. Friend was by now realizing that I was not catching up, he turned around, saw me and then saw the person at the door. He turned around and came back and we went up to the doorstep. I gave the approach and this lady let us in.
As we sat down in her living room, this lady mentioned that her back was giving her trouble. Friend talked to her about priesthood blessings and we ended up giving her one. Then we taught her the first discussion. Her name is Elizabeth and, as I said, I think we can baptize her.
On Tuesday, we went to the four appointments we set up on Monday, and got dogged by all of them! There is nothing like getting excited for a possible teaching appointment only to get stood up by the contact.
Today we went out to the tide pools in Pacific Grove with Elder Tango and his companion and the sister missionaries. Later we drove down to the beach in Carmel by the Sea. In the mail today I got a letter from Geoff, in which he basically ripped me a new one because of my negative attitude. He specifically told me that I am not unique because of my challenges, but because of other reasons.
I think I can see what he means. My companion has been having some money issues this week, Elder Tango is often frustrated by his companion, who himself has some health issues and other things that he is dealing with. I am determined to keep this new perspective. My faith will survive the challenges and trials ahead and I will put my past behind me. No longer will I be intimidated by others; no longer will I let my discouragements get the best of me.
I should be grateful to have been involved in the baptism of Trudy. It is the spirit that converts, not us, so what does it matter if her conversion happened before I got here? For whatever reason, it was decided that she should be taught the discussions a second time, and I was here for that. Heck, think of Friend who showed up in time for the last two discussions and the baptism itself. He does not appear to be bothered by the fact that he did not get here sooner.
Life is Good!
