Friday, November 13, 2009

Nov 9 - Galveston

This week we have been doing some damage control. By damage control I mean trying to get out of our slump. We have had a couple of new ideas. Well, a new idea. It has been really hard to get referrals from members, so we thought of a plan to help our district get referrals. It's nothing new, but I think it's going to work. We made member area books and went through the ward list and found all the members in our area. And now we are visiting one member a day and teaching them different preach my gospel principles and taking a picture of the family to put in the area book so when a new elder comes into the area they can know who the family is and what we have been working on with them so the member and missionary relationship stays and it doesn't leave once the elder they like leaves. Also we are extending small commitments to them like praying for opportunities to bear their testimonies and such. Elder Roberts and I feel really good about this and I have a feeling that it's going to work.

I also went on exchanges with the zone leaders again, and this time I took them around Galveston. We worked all day and by the time we got home that night the zone leader laid down on the bed and said he was exhausted; so that was another good thing :) hahaha. Those car elders need to ride their bikes more.

Elder Roberts and I are also in charge of the zone activity this transfer and it's going to be awesome. We made the ultimate relay race. It starts off with four companionships having a chest with a padlock over it. They will receive a first clue for the key to open the padlock that says "In this pie your next clue lies." They will have to find a capsule in their cream pie. The capsule then contains another clue that says to "Go to the freezer and take a cube, you will know what to do take it to stage three." They will find a Rubik's cube in the freezer (almost all the elders know how to do a Rubik's cube). Stage 3: They go into a room and it's covered with colored dots and on the back of four dots there are four different bike lock combos. So, they get the combo and go to stage 4. Stage 4: the bikes are locked up and the tires is out and deflated. So they have to change the tire and ride the bike to stage 5. Stage 5: they go into the gym and have to make a basket from a mark on the floor. In stage 6, they go to another room and there are four boxes covered in tape and seran wrap stuff and they have to open the box. In the box, there is stuff for stage 7. Stage 7: they take the marshmellows in the box and put them in their mouth and have to tell the person in stage 7 that is blindfolded that the clue is in front of them in the jello. The blindfolded person has to use their face to get the clue out of the jello, which leads them to the paper that has scriptures and the number of word for example John 4:6 13th word so they have to write down the 13th word. It then spells "Find the key, it's in room 3." So, the go to room 3 and there are hundreds of balloons in there, and in the balloons are keys so they have to pop the balloons and get the key for their padlock. The key unlocks a chest full of prizes and stuff. Then after this awesome relay race is a barbeque. So it's going to be awesome!

The missionary work is good. I don't really know what to say. This week was rough. We have no dates, but we have found 6 new investigators. We have been working hard and knocking a lot of doors. Also riding our bikes around and talking to the people on the streets. I got my first complement that my Spanish is good from a guy that was cooking a barbeque and gave us some food. He was really nice but sadly wasn't interested. The biggest challenge is waking up on time. Both of us struggle with that but we have been getting good at it :) I had no problem with this at the MTC, but I guess after riding bikes all day you get pretty tired.

I really like reading my scriptures for an hour everyday and I always learn something new. I hope I can keep that habit up when I get home. And also waking up. I realized how much of the day I waste when I sleep in and how I dont miss out on much when I go to bed at 10 because all the stupid things happen at night time anyway. Well, I hope everyone feels better that is sick and I miss you all!!!

-Elder Johnson


Here are some pictures from the Zone activity








No comments: