WEEK 44 - Robbed
Robbed of what exactly? Robbed of everything we could possibly imagine. We keep our equipment in our apartment, simply because there isn’t a better place to keep it all, and as we entered the place we’ve called home for the past four(ish) months, these were our exact thoughts. Everything was thrown all over the ground, our tables had been taken, our bunk beds as well, and we were on our knees. Only to realize that Elder Christiansen (a senior missionary) had told us he was going to come repossess our tables and bunk beds because we were the only people who lived in the apartment and didn’t need three extra beds and four extra tables.
I filmed like four ads this week and I wanted to kill myself. Never catch me making commercials or ads for anyone ever again, including the Church. Two of the ads were with members. One with my Abuelito Cubano who gifted me a personalized tie pin and another with a member in Katy who knew Barret and Ashley Schoenrock because they literally lived in Ashley’s home ward so that was crazy. Literally worked with Barret so much during my last two semesters at BYU. I filmed a training video for our missionaries and also some member testimonies yesterday. I had the opportunity to film one of the recent converts from my time in the Memorial ward, Keith. Keith bore his testimony about how he had become converted to the Gospel and as he did so, it was as if I were looking at a different man. I only had the opportunity to teach Keith for about three or four weeks but since then, I have seen his countenance change–beginning from the moment he was baptized, continuing every time I saw him in the halls during church, and leading up until this point where he was pouring out his soul to my camera. He now has Christ written upon his temple, his eyes inflamed with the light of truth and righteousness; I repeat, it was as if I were talking to a different man. He talked about his apprehension towards the church, but the consistent gravitational pull he felt towards the building and the people–something that he could never quite place. When he had once scrolled through Instagram and Facebook to spend his pastime, this began to change. Instead, he began scrolling through Gospel Library, slowly but surely becoming starved for the things of God. And now, his appetite has yet to be quenched, sustained through his diligent studies of Preach My Gospel, Joseph Smith History, and General Conference talks. Jesus Christ has changed this man. I was speechless throughout my interview with him. Even more so when I recalled one fateful Sunday where I sat next to Keith in second hour Elders Quorum and helped him to find the General Conference talk we were all studying by taking his phone and downloading the Gospel Library app. By the end of the interview I got up and hugged him. You never know who will accept the Gospel and what it will do to someone and you never know what actions, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will change someone’s life forever.
Elder Phan celebrated his twenty-third birthday this past week. We celebrated with him by getting phở and sitting in meetings for six hours. We also got word that the thing we have been planning for, fighting for, and praying for has gotten confirmed for this December. An idea that we’ve had cooking up, because of Elder Phan’s ambition, is happening. When it goes through, it will be one of the biggest events the stakes of Houston have ever seen. Now, we just have to organize and advertise it. Never would I have ever thought that I would be doing any of this on my mission, but it just feels so right and so me. Elder Phan keeps saying what we do is “deluxe missionary work” because half of our work is making more opportunities for our missionaries to find, teach, and baptize. So, I was always meant to be a deluxe missionary, I guess.
I went to Dave’s Hot Chicken and cried tears of joy.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM:
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WEEK 44:
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