Busy

  

Well well well this week was something else. Literally only got to do proselytizing for 2 hours. Which has actually been pretty awful, it is pretty discouraging not being able to do the grind of missionary work believe it or not. We got committed to doing so much service with a member of our stake presidency and we got to help out with the pearl harbor survivors association. They had all the pearl harbor veterans gather together for the last time. It was actually a pretty cool experience. 

  We had a pretty cool experience this morning with a lady we have been teaching for a few weeks Joanne M, so Monday we had a drop lesson where we basically told her (well we had a good member friend tell her) that she was only getting older and that she needed to be baptized soon rather than later. So we invited her to pray that night when she would like to be baptized. Well, we called her this morning to ask her how her prayer went... and her first response to us was "I'm ready! I can't do it this week but I can next week." So we are pretty excited about her!  And we have been trying to get her to commit to a day for weeks now but she kept having all these excuses. But when she realized her self that it was something she wanted to do and prayed she put every excuse aside. 

We will hopefully have an exciting this week we have a good amount of exciting lessons set up so we will see. The Patane family is planning on being baptized at the end of October sometime so that is super exciting! And I got to go to the Temple With Gary T. today to do baptisms. It was such an amazing experience. I realized just by this one baptism many of his ancestors will also accept the fullness of the gospel. truly something I will never forget. Sadly didn't get any pictures...

Sorry for a brief email I will get better, another busy day

Love Elder Palmer

"Gods army"

God's Army

This week was busy and sadly not with lessons... we had to prepare two trainings for a zone meeting and stake packet meeting, then we had to facilitate 2 service projects that involved the city of la mesa that the stake presidency dedicated to us last minute!!!! Literally 2 days before and I got really sick Friday the day of the first service project and was sick Saturday too for the zone meeting and the service for the city. I almost died🤒 and everyone was asking me where to go and what to do while I had a designated bench that I lied down on... I just told people what to do while I kinda rested. 

I'm feeling better now though!!!

And on Sunday we had many people come to church! We had a man named Martin who is a returning member who we have been working with for 4 months and after a super spirit-led lesson we had on exchanges we asked Martin when the last time he took the sacrament was...10years "so not too long ago".

We were pretty bold with him invited him to break that streak this Sunday. Well, even the legendary bishop shwalger had given up on him...until he walked in!!!

Also had a man named Alan walks

into the church who said he had been meeting with missionaries in Texas and that he was wanting to meet! The ward did a fantastic job of fellowshipping and he was invited to a come follow me study the next day that he went to and to join another group to go to Balboa park! 

La Mesa is too Good 

Sorry, I'm am out of time got to run to a lesson.

Love Elder Palmer

"Gods Army"

Believing Christ

I forgot to hit send...

Another week that I don't really remember a lot of mostly because we have been very very blessed with lessons and appointments being kept very busy!

The Patane family is doing awesome. We had a really good lesson with them last Thursday on the plan of salvation. 

And one of the daughters when we were talking about baptisms for the dead...thought that we baptized their bodies literally. Which posed the question..."so how do you baptize people's ashes?" Guess we didn't explain that one sufficiently but we did get it figured out finally Haha. The best part was when Lorenzo (the father, member) 

Started teaching his family points of the plan of salvation and breaking it down to their understanding. The spirit was unmistakable as their father spoke of the greatest Plan, the Plan of Everlasting Happiness.

We also had a girl come up to us at church that had been previously taught by missionaries say that she was wanting to have the lessons again! her name is Coral she is 16 years old and she has been attending early morning seminary!!! Even has higher attendance than most the youth in the stake...that is actually true believe it or not. 

Even though this week has been busy has given me a lot of time to think. Especially about the last 13 months or so of my mission. And if there is one thing I have learned on my mission it is that God IS IN THE DETAILS, and each transfer, companion, and Day has and is shaping me into the Disciple of Jesus Christ that I am to become. I haven't scratched the surface of the man I'm am to be. I have been so so blessed I meet all these people that are going through these complex real-life problems like having a disease that causes kidney, heart, lung, and liver Failure, families torn apart by addiction and the lusts of the natural man, and finally the most widespread and heartbreaking... people who have spiritually died, they have no hope, they are beyond feeling, their lives are full of anger, pain and misery and can only be covered by temporal pleasures, they think they are happy (2 Nephi 27:11) As a 19-year-old boy I cannot solve any of that... but the most simple thing can. "Believing Christ" believing that when Christ says "come unto me all ye heavy laden and I will give you rest" that when you Do come he will give you rest. And "he will Wipe away every tear" Isaiah 25:8

Love Elder Palmer

Flawless and Struggle

Transfers!!! So the streak continues a new companion again...officially number ten and I have a year to go. It keeps things interesting but it is kinda difficult because I have to get to know a new person and learn how they act and teach so right when we starting getting into a grove... they get transferred.

My new companion is Elder Chelius he has been out for just over 6 months believe and is from Washington. Obviously, I know little to nothing about this guy but I do know he is very obedient which will be super nice!

I will say this if my dating game is as bad as my companion game when I get home I'm done for 😂

The Patane family is so awesome they still don't have a specific day they want to work towards but Salvation (momma patane) said that they are all 100% in and though they don't have a day they will. We might be meeting with them tonight again. 

Jodie was Baptized this last Saturday and God has a way of making things go so smooth. Baptisms are very stressful (at least in my experience) I have only ever had stuff go wrong like the drain unplugged during the program the water is freezing, the person being baptized is there but nobody else shows up until 10 mins after we were supposed to start, the programs aren't printing 5mins before it starts...etc. 

But Jodie's went flawless. Not one thing could have gone better, you could tell by the huge smile on her face when she came up out if the water and tears of true Joy. The Spirit burned very brightly at her baptism. And she chooses to be baptized even though her family is very against the church ...and she was once against the church to. 

Have been asked a lot lately by people about why this life is so hard well after I was coinciding with another missionary about it he shared this scripture which really struck my

Helaman 12:1-3 (specifically 3)

"And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, years with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him."

If life was a breezy and we didn't have to make hard choices or struggle... then nothing would bring us to our knees and we would forget God. But he loves us enough to chasten us to let us learn for ourselves, good and evil. 

Love Elder Palmer