Week 95: In which Roxana sounds savage, my name sounds weird, and a party sounds great!

Moving...

(written 19 Mar 2018)

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a fantastic week. We spent Tuesday packing and Wednesday moving to a new apartment. Thursday was Zone Conference, and Friday was Weekly Planning. It was awful; we lost so much time to work! Roxana is doing extremely well, and while moving took away some time we would normally have for missionary work, we have still been able to find some more potential investigators and help the investigators we already have. Even with the moving, it's been alright. Roxana came to the Book of Mormon class as well as church! 

She said something savage at the Book of Mormon class. When someone pointed out that her little boy wandered off, she just said "Esta bien; si se pierde, hare otro." That means "It's okay; if he gets lost, I'll make another." Savage! The more we teach Roxana, the more we realize she is absolutely hilarious! We're so excited to continue teaching her and help her to continue progressing. She wants to get her own job so she can provide for herself without relying on her boyfriend, Eladio. She committed to live the Law of Chastity, and we're really excited for her.

It's been a good week.

Love you all!

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

Hi Ben!  Does your first name sound weird to you after nearly 2 years of being called Elder Adams? - Yes. Very.

When did you move? How did it go? - We started moving on Tuesday and more or less finished on Wednesday. It went well, but sucked up all our time for missionary work and exhausted us. It went well, it was just absolutely horrifically awful to actually do. I have decided I now hate moving.

Why the move? - The Vintage Apartments, where we were living, were really expensive for the Mission to keep paying rent for. The lease was about to end, and there were a few other apartments available, so they went for it.

Are you still living with the two English-speaking elders? - We are, yes.

Have you gotten your flight plans for coming home in May? - No. They won't give them to me yet, because they don't want to distract me. They'll give me a few weeks before I actually leave.

What are you looking forward to in your mission now? - I'm looking forward to doing missionary work. I'm pretty hopeful Roxana will be baptized before I'm done, but it all depends on how quickly she can resolve the boyfriend situation. Other than that, she's about as converted as most members in the Branch here.

What was the most memorable thing about the last zone conference? - It was mostly geared towards preparing to receive smartphones, but there was a training on doing exercises to take good care of our backs. That was certainly unique/memorable!

Should we invite people over to the house sometime after you get home or just invite people to come and hear your homecoming talk? - Parties? I like parties. Let's have a party!

How are your investigators? - They are doing really well! Roxana is doing especially well.

Is it warm there yet? - It's getting there, yeah.

Photos

(taken at zone conference)

Week 94: In which Jose replaces Jessica, we play cards, and I hide my big news

Another Week Rolls By...
(written 12 Mar 2018)

Hello, everyone! It has been a really good week, filled with both good and bad. First of all, I have some crazy news!... or I could wait to tell you later somewhere in the middle of this email. Mwhahahahahaha.

To start off with, Roxana is doing great! We taught both Roxana and Eladio (her boyfriend) a few times this week. We taught them about the Law of Chastity, and on exchanges, Elder Kopp and Elder Johnson (one of the Zone Leaders) taught them about Eternal Families. Roxana and Eladio both came to the Book of Mormon study class this Friday (sadly, it was the ONE TIME we had a ton to do and didn't stay long enough to see them there). Eladio went to California at the beginning of the weekend, and Roxana came to church with her son, Andres.

We have been having a good time in the Vintage together. I don't know if you already knew, but we live with 2 English-speaking missionaries. We've all been really busy lately packing and things, because we're going to be moving! Haha! I was sneaky and stuck it in the middle of the paragraph! Now you can't just easily skim over the letter and find out what the news was. It's really sad to leave the Vintage. It's especially sad because the Vintage is extremely nice, with a lot of amenities. The new apartment is on Crest St. and is called the Crestview apartments. It's going to be a definite downgrade, though. The appliances are really old, and we don't have a laundry machine accessible. It's alright, though, because we've been learning about the different laundromat options, and we have some amazing members for our new neighbors! It's pretty exciting. I'm now going to write a little bit so you can't just look at the end of this paragraph and learn too much. I want to be sure everything is/was a surprise.

Sadly, we had to drop Jessica as an investigator. We've been working really hard with her for a really long time, but when we went by, she told us "I don't want to search for the truth right now. Maybe later, but I'm busy and don't want to right now." We tried to help her, but she refused and started being really stubborn and pushing back, almost arguing with us. So, we just decided to let her go. It's really sad, but it's what she needs right now.

However, the story does not end there. We were tracting last night, and after only a few doors, a man named Jose opened the door and invited us directly in! Apparently, he moved from Mexico very recently, only a few months ago. He told us he likes talking with missionaries from various faiths, but had never talked with Mormon missionaries before. We shared with him about the Book of Mormon, then the message of the Restoration. He was captivated by the idea that we actually have a book that can be used as a proof or test of what we share with the world. He loved the idea! When we finished talking, he told us "I suppose I can just read this book, pray about if it's true, and find out about the rest!" He asked us to come by Wednesday night.

We were later heading somewhere else when, all of a sudden, we realized that not 1 day after dropping Jessica, we had been greatly blessed with an amazing new investigator. This was heightened greatly by the astounding realization that the return appointment on Wednesday we had set with him was at the time we had planned originally to visit Jessica. I am always impressed with how God blesses us so quickly. As soon as our schedule was free enough, He led us to one of His other children.

Love,

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

What notable things happened this week? - We had to let go of Jessica as an investigator.  Roxana is doing well, though, and we've found a ton of really amazing new people to work with!

What’s the best thing that happened to you this week? - I'm honestly not entirely sure. 

Grandma Linda wants to know how happy you are on a scale from 1-10, 10 being best. - I always find it strange to rate anything at a 10, because I feel like things can always get better. However, with that in mind, I'd say about an 8.5 or 9.

What are you doing for fun on P-days? - Elder Kopp and I like playing card games a lot, and we also do sports, prepare for the week, and occasionally other things as they come up.

Do you need anything? - Not really, no. I can't think of anything.

Photos

A photo tour of Ben's new apartment:

 

 

 

 

Week 93: In which we make best friends, I resolve to be early, and I rank my areas

Another week...
(written 5 Mar 2018)

Dear Everyone,

This has been a really good week! Not a lot has been happening, except for some general changes in how efficient we've been. It has been a good week, with a record number of new investigators since I got here! We were really excited about that! We've started teaching a few more people. 3 of them are young women; we also have now met their mom and have a return appointment for tonight! Their mom is Edith, and their names are Adriana, Joana, and Liliana. It was actually kind of funny; a day after we met them and talked with them for the first time, we were walking not far from where they live, and they were walking on a nearby street. They saw us, and yelled out "hey, our best friends!" And came over to say hi. We taught about prayer. Now, when we right them down in our plans or talk about how to help their family, we just refer to them as "Best Friends". As it turns out, Edith, their mom, has an aunt who is a member of the church! Edith has even gone to our meetings before.

We also have a few other new investigators as well: one is the father of a family who goes to one of the many Christian (probably referring to evangelical) churches in the area. We also talked to two guys about our age, Carlos and Fransisco. They seem really nice, and we're excited to teach all of them.

Roxana is still doing really well. We've now broached the Law of Chastity with her boyfriend, Eladio, and her. They took it pretty well, actually! It might take them some time to figure it out, though. We're planning on teaching it fully in the coming week. Jessica doesn't have the Gospel as a really high priority, though, right now, so that's a bit of a challenge.

We're really happy for all of the new opportunities coming our way. Love you all!

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

Hola mi querido hijo! - Hola, mi querida madre!

So, questions for you!: - Fire away.

How was your week? - It was good! We've found a lot of new people to work with, and continue to make progress with Roxana and her boyfriend, Eladio. However, Jessica took a turn for the worse. Especially with finals right around the corner, actually trying to learn about God is not really a priority for her right now.

What are you and your new companion doing for fun? - We talk, mostly. We also enjoy card games together and just sort of nerding out. It's fun :-)

Has your exercise routine changed with every companion? What is it now? - It changes, yes. With Elder Shoemaker, I lifted weights quite often. However, he took them with him. Now I do sit-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, and things like that.

What are your biggest goals for finishing your mission strong? - I want to be 5 minutes early to everything, including personal schedule items. That also pretty much covers the rest. I just want to be the best I can, help others as much as I can in the time that I have left, and bless my companion(s).

Anything funny to share? - I'm honestly not sure. There's not really anything specific I can think of.

What are you looking forward to in the next few weeks/month? - I'm looking forward to getting smartphones in about 1.5 months. I'm also looking forward to just working and doing all I can to improve.

Looking back, what has been your favorite area in your mission? - I've got 3, and I can't decide. Probably Othello, then Moses Lake and Toppenish come to be close seconds. I loved Wenatchee and The Dalles, but missionary work-wise, they were harder compared to the  aforementioned "favorites". However, I wouldn't trade my time in those areas for anything.

Anything else I should ask? - I'm not sure.

I love you and hope you'll be able to look back on the coming week as one of the best ever. - I do, too!

 

Week 92: In which Roxana returns, Jessica progresses, and I dispense wisdom

A Very Busy Week...
Written 26 Feb 2018

Hello, everyone! It has been a very... interesting... week. In some ways, a lot of things happened. In other ways, not a lot at all happened. Let's start with the more difficult part...

At the very beginning of the week, I decided it would be a good idea to try to get my medication. I handed in the prescription on Monday, and then opted to come pick it up the next day. Tuesday, I went back to Wal Mart to pick up my prescription, but it wasn't ready. They needed permission from my doctor to substitute the name brand for the generic, which is all they carry. We then came back the next day to get it, and they told me that they couldn't actually substitute it because it was just different enough that they needed the doctor to write up a new prescription, so I went in on Thursday for a doctor appointment, went to Wal Mart later that day to drop off the new prescription, picked up one of them Friday and got the other prescription in, and finished off on Saturday by picking up the remaining medication.

Tuesday we had a District Meeting, and we had interviews on Friday. During District Meeting, we talked about the Book of Mormon and how it can strengthen our faith.

Still, despite the craziness, it has been a good week, especially towards the end! Not only did we find Roxana again, but she came to church, and the situation with her boyfriend might be resolving itself a lot sooner than we were thinking; she told her boyfriend that she would leave him if he didn't want to get serious about listening to us, going to church, and being baptized! She even said "It's not going to work if you keep being half-hearted about the missionaries and their message, because I'm going to be serious, and I'm going to get baptized." That made us pretty happy, as you can imagine.

Jessica is also doing really well! She has determined to start coming regularly to church, so we're really excited to work with her on that. We've also been teaching her more, and she has been making really good, steady, progress.

Also, a few weeks ago, a local high councilor here in Moses Lake came and spoke in the branch. He mentioned in his talk that he joined the church in Littleton, MA, which made me audibly gasp/exclaim during the middle of his talk. What made it more interesting is that I was translating.

He also happened to serve in the Lowell Branch a long, long, time ago. He worked with you, Dad, while you were the Branch President. His name is Bro. Dennis Draleau. He remembers you. 

Anyway, thought that was interesting.

Love you all!

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom

Tell us about your week! - It was decent. I will pretty much tell you everything [above].

How was your birthday? - It was awesome! I love everything, thank you so much!

What did you talk to President Lewis about? - I mainly talked with him about the area and the district. It was great! 

What have you done to get to know your companion? Are you finding ways to have fun? - Elder Kopp and I talk a lot, and we get along really well. He's like a mix between Elder West and me. We have so much fun, doing just about everything! We played some card games today already, and we're looking forward to a fun rest of the day. 

What do you hope to remember about the past week? - We found Roxana again, and she came to church! Also, Jessica has continued to do better and better!

Anything funny? - Well, I'm going to have an android smartphone!... for the last 2 weeks of my mission! Yay! Haha.

Love you to the moon and back and... - Igualmente!

Pictures

Sis. Lewis asked each missionary for their advice to new missionaries.
Elder Adams:  Study Preach My Gospel and the Book of Mormon as faithfully as you can.  Simply do what God asks and know He will make it all work out in the end.  ALWAYS, ALWAYS follow the promptings; don’t second-guess yourself and God.