Life Experience

Another good week but considerably slower with transfers. Not much to report on what has happened this week. Other than we got to pick up some Hong Kong Elders from the airport that have been reassigned here permanently. They have a very unique first 4 months of their missions. But we took a picture with haze masks to help let humour relive their discouragement. 

Been thinking a lot about what it means to teach by the Spirit. And in conversations with institute teachers, bishops,and other missionaries, the main thing I have learned is that when you go to teach a lesson or give a talk. Your preparation began the day you were born, not the two hours you put into it before the lesson. You can draw on and use your life Experience to teach by the Spirit. God allows us to go through experiences so we can learn but more importantly so you can inspire and connect with others. 

Elder Palmer

Small and simple things

Another busy week. We hiked Iron Mountain this week with some members from our YSA and it was the most fun hike I have done in San Diego!!! It is in a really good spot and if I'm not mistaken it is the highest peak in the county. (Which isn't that high haha) but you can see all of San Diego with a 360° view, I did make a mistake about 5 minutes in by sprinting with Elder Rausch 100m to a sign just for fun but then I felt so sick after for the next 3 miles. Little gospel lesson to be learned "it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength." Mosiah 4:27 This week I gained a perfect knowledge of what that means...

Also, Sunday was Grandpa Keith's Birthday and the intermediate hymn we sang in Sacrament meeting was Families can be together forever... I love how God works by small and simple things because he knew that it would mean a lot to me. And I had a wonderful experience as I remembered all my Joyful Memories of a Man that helped Raise me.

He chose to serve a mission after a member of his Bishopric knocked on his door calling them both on missions and that moment where he could have said no he said yes. The choice that Keith made that day has and will continue to bless generations of his Children. 

(Think I got the story right)

We also were contacting some people this week and I asked a man if he had one piece of advice what would it be? He thought for a moment then he said one of the most simple yet profound answers.

"People remember what you Do, not what you said"

I invite you to consider what are you doing to truly bare one another's burdens. And promise that as you do you will be able to stand blameless before God the Last day as you gave as He gave. 

Love Elder Palmer 

Sunshine, Rainbows and Lollipops Everywhere!

Okay okay, we had a fun week. With transfer coming up we have been very busy and one thing I have recently been learning is how to be a scapegoat, or in other words how to take the blame for others. This was a weird week I learned that need somebody to blame for everything. For example, the Mission President makes some hard decisions and the people it effect are very upset with who? Us 😂   then Missionaries make some dumb choices who is the mission President upset with??? Us😂 

It has been a very good learning experience and I have learned that you can only worry about what you can control... YOURSELF. And it is actually a very humbling experience to take the fault for others. 

We went and played soccer with some YSA on the SDSU campus and we saw a bunch of guys playing and invited them to play with us, little did we know they were practicing for the state Cup... they could have told us before we started playing. It was a lot of fun though. 

We also had Elder Whiting of the Seventy come to regional YSA sacrament meeting. It was so amazing. I got to ask him a couple of questions after. And his overarching message was that you must Deliberately choose what you are going to become. Going with the flow will not allow you to progress into the eternal Being God intends you to become. 

"Average is the enemy of Excellence, and Average commitment will prevent you from Enduring to the End" -Elder Pearson 

Be abnormal... def: "Much Greater than the Normal"

We are a peculiar people. And we each need to deliberately choose to Follow Jesus Christ. 

Love Elder Palmer

OH I also.go to go on Exchanges with he ASL Elders in the mission and it was so fun!!! I got to say the closing prayer in ASL in 4 lessons and it was a very moving experience. The Elders that have this Assignment have a very special assignment because deaf people are so humble and very ...talkative/expressive when you start trying to communicate with them.  They have a TV, laptop, and wifi router that has been approved so they can teach lessons through video calls.

Birthday dinner - Tuna melt

Awe 20 I ended a decade of my life and began a new one by having a tuna melt for dinner🐟😂 

It literally felt just like any other day except believe it or not I usually eat better on other days Haha. 

We had a good week this week full of zone Conferences! They went very very well, the mission unanimously stated that this was the most inspiring zone Conference of their mission. Which was a treat because Elder Rausch and I were tasked with going through the new Handbook for Missionaries (basically new standards and rules) it went very well though. We were asked a ton of what-if questions that could have gone on all day but we quoted Joseph Smith "I teach correct Principles and they govern themselves" we also then twisted it, to what missionary do you want to become? We had the entire mission write down their answers and asked some to share (if the spirit prompted them). The Spirit was so strong as each missionary set their own high expeditions. Many missionaries came up to us and texted us thanking us for this new "revival in the mission." 

We noticed the blessing yesterday as we looked at the baptismal calendar we have a baptism every day for the month of February!!!

Couple tender mercies

As we are about to start zone conference the Senior sister training leaders pulled us aside asking for a blessing as one of them was feeling really sick with a migraine. We quickly gave her a blessing of healing and then went into the conference. After Zone Conference, the sister came up to us and said: "just so you know I felt instantly better the moment you said amen." She was able to give her training that went super well! 

Next is after a zone conference we were too far from home to get dinner and we had some work in the area we wanted to get done so we took a 20 min nap on the side of the road since we were so tired then we started visiting people. And we were so so hungry at about 7 we meet this lady and have a good conversation with her then she turns and runs inside and comes out with two chocolate protein bars! 

Elder Rausch and I could not hide out excitement Haha but those bars carried us through the rest of the night! 

Look for the hand of the lord in your life and you see his whole arm made manifest

Love Elder Palmer