Elder Huffaker
Thursday, June 27, 2013
April 29, 2013 -- Starting Week 6
Wow, so the transfer is almost over! It's pretty crazy. So along the lines of missionary work in our area, this week was pretty lacking, and I'll explain why (get ready).
So everyone can understand, I am the District Leader for my District. What that means is that I pretty much look over the other missionaries. Also, I am the one who gives baptismal interviews for baptismal candidates who have been prepared for baptism. If the person has done something really wrong (like an abortion, or murder, etc.) they need to be interviewed by the mission president. Those are usually pretty rare cases.
Anyway, there are 2 companionships of sisters in my district which make up the rest of my district other than me and my companion. So they both had baptismal dates for the 28th of April. As such, these people needed have an interview with me to make sure they are ready for baptism (kinda scary to think that I am the one to make sure of that, and I have the say as to whether or not they're baptized!). So where I'm going with this, is one of the interviews was scheduled on Friday. That's the same day as District meeting. So we are with our district from 11 to 12:30. The interview is scheduled for 3:30. We live far enough away from where we do district meeting (which is where we were going to do the interview) that we'd be able to make it back in time for lunch and then like 10 minutes of work in our area and turn around and come back. If you didn't know, we are limited on miles, so the back and forth would be a waste. So after all this, 3:30 rolls around and the baptismal candidate's brother had broken his leg and so they were all at the hospital.
So we rescheduled the interview for Saturday. And that's when the other interview is. So the other interview was schedule for 4:30, so we rescheduled the one that fell through for 6:30. The one for 4:30 was at a different ward building even farther from the one where we have district meeting. So we had to do a lot of travel. Now interviews usually last from 20-30 minutes. So the gap was a bit frustrating as well, as we wouldn't even be able to make it back to our area before needing to come back. The only problem was that the other sisters couldn't get a hold of their investigator, and she didn't come to the interview. We waited as long as we could, but she didn't show up. So then we go to the other interview, and find out that the investigator had moved to south LA a few days ago, and needed to travel up to where we are to have his interview. Well, he showed up at 8:30. Not his fault, he had a long way to go. But because of that, he will have to be baptized in the area he lives in. SO, both baptisms didn't happen :(. That was what took up most of our time.
As for other exciting things, I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but there was this crazy guy who showed up to the Saturday Afternoon session of Conference. He rambled on some crazy nonsense, but then we got away from him and thought it was over. Then, a couple weeks ago he showed up to the library and gets on a computer. We evasively avoided contact with him. Anyway, so Sunday morning we had meetings with the Ward Council, and there was almost nobody there. So the ward clerk showed up a bit late, and had to make copies of the program. The copy machine was just outside the room of our meeting. And who shows up but "god" (that's what the bishop has nicknamed him because he calls himself "The Creator") The bishop has experienced talking to him too. So the Clerk is out there and just walks away from him and we can hear him almost yelling "YOU ARE WALKING AWAY FROM YOUR CREATOR! ONLY THE TREE OF LIFE WILL ENTER INTO MY KINGDOM!" And a bunch of other nonsense, that's just what I can remember. This guy is literally crazy. I guess he moved in to one of the houses nearby, and the Bishop said if he comes back, we'll have to ask him to leave. That's California I guess.
Anyway, that's really the only big things that have happened lately. Hope all is well at home!
--Elder Huffaker
Thursday, June 20, 2013
April 22, 2013
Hey all! Well this week was a bit hectic, a lot of things not missionary work happened.
So to start out, one of the sisters in my district ended up getting sick. The Zone Leaders were near by and so they stopped by and gave her a blessing. Well, a few days later, she was still sick, and had to go to the ER because she was extremely low on body fluids. So we made some calls and tried to figure out what we could do, but in the end we couldn't do anything. That was Thursday night.
Friday, Elder Ehninger had an appointment with the doctor at 8:45. It was a bit of a trip, but we were able to get there on time. When we get there, we find out that the appointment was for 10:40, and our mission medical lady was going to have him switch with another set of missionaries whose appointment was at 8:45. She kind of mumbled what she was planning on doing, and it was a bit confusing, but we ended up having to wait until his actual appointment.
Also, note that District Meeting is at 11. So if his appointment is at 10:40, and we are a ways away from the building where we hold district meeting, we are not going to be on time for that meeting. Also with one of the sisters home sick from the ER, her companionship would also not be attending. By the way there's 3 companionships in my District, ours included.
So we had the other companionship just go to the other district's District Meeting. Fun, right? So after all this, let's top it off by having our car mess up again. So we took it in to Pep Boys on a Saturday, and they told us they couldn't get it fixed that day. So we were told by our car coordinator that it would have to be taken to the dealership on Monday (today).
So Sunday we had to do a bit of biking to our appointments, not much, but we still needed to get there. Anyway, so now we are here at the library closest to the Dealership (which was 10 miles away from our apartment) and we had to walk here, about 3 miles away from the dealership. Then we get a call (yes, during e-mailing) telling us that the car is done, which is cool, but we are not close to the dealership, and we were told that it could be done in 4-6 hours. Anyway, that's what's been taking the majority of our time this week. Other than that, we had Stake conference, which was pretty cool and I was able to meet up with a bunch of the members from the North Hollywood ward -- the ward I was in the last time I was in the valley.
Well, that is pretty much our week.
-- Elder Huffaker
So to start out, one of the sisters in my district ended up getting sick. The Zone Leaders were near by and so they stopped by and gave her a blessing. Well, a few days later, she was still sick, and had to go to the ER because she was extremely low on body fluids. So we made some calls and tried to figure out what we could do, but in the end we couldn't do anything. That was Thursday night.
Friday, Elder Ehninger had an appointment with the doctor at 8:45. It was a bit of a trip, but we were able to get there on time. When we get there, we find out that the appointment was for 10:40, and our mission medical lady was going to have him switch with another set of missionaries whose appointment was at 8:45. She kind of mumbled what she was planning on doing, and it was a bit confusing, but we ended up having to wait until his actual appointment.
Also, note that District Meeting is at 11. So if his appointment is at 10:40, and we are a ways away from the building where we hold district meeting, we are not going to be on time for that meeting. Also with one of the sisters home sick from the ER, her companionship would also not be attending. By the way there's 3 companionships in my District, ours included.
So we had the other companionship just go to the other district's District Meeting. Fun, right? So after all this, let's top it off by having our car mess up again. So we took it in to Pep Boys on a Saturday, and they told us they couldn't get it fixed that day. So we were told by our car coordinator that it would have to be taken to the dealership on Monday (today).
So Sunday we had to do a bit of biking to our appointments, not much, but we still needed to get there. Anyway, so now we are here at the library closest to the Dealership (which was 10 miles away from our apartment) and we had to walk here, about 3 miles away from the dealership. Then we get a call (yes, during e-mailing) telling us that the car is done, which is cool, but we are not close to the dealership, and we were told that it could be done in 4-6 hours. Anyway, that's what's been taking the majority of our time this week. Other than that, we had Stake conference, which was pretty cool and I was able to meet up with a bunch of the members from the North Hollywood ward -- the ward I was in the last time I was in the valley.
Well, that is pretty much our week.
-- Elder Huffaker
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
April 15, 2013 -- Halfway Through the Transfer
Hi Everyone! So I'm not sure it I wrote about this already, but just in case I'll say it again.
So where I am will be part of the San Fernando Mission after it splits. North of here is Santa Clarita (where I was when I was in CC1, Mint Canyon, and Solemint) will also be part of the San Fernando Mission. But everything north of that will be part of the Bakersfield Mission. There is a good chance that this will be my last area, but that will be pretty certain next transfer, as I have 2 transfers left after this one, and transferring someone for their last transfer is not a good idea.
Anyway, this week was an okay week. We didn't have a whole bunch of member dinners, but that's probably because of General Conference (which was awesome by the way). We also had Zone conference on Tuesday from 9 to 5, but we had car inspections at 8 so we had to be there at 8. It was also out of our zone and we had to pick up some of the elders who are in a bike area that are in the more southern parts of our area. We had to leave at about 7 to be there on time. Lot's of travelling.
So before General Conference, on Friday, we had ZTM, which is like District Meeting, only the Zone leaders do it, and it lasts about an hour and a half longer. So Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday we had a bunch of meetings and conference. It was a bit crazy.
Also for this week, we did exchanges with our zone leaders. I went with one of them to their area. It was a good exchange. Other than that, we got a referral for this guy who just got out of a minimum security prison. He is super amazing. He has already read the Book of Mormon and has a testimony of it and the church. Unfortunately, he is on probation and he needs to wait until that's over to be baptized. So for now all we have to do is just keep him involved in church and whatnot.
Also one of the things we are planning on doing is working with the ward leaders in trying to get the less active members back into activity. It's something Elder Ehninger and I felt inspired to do during weekly planning. The ward here needs a little help. It probably has the lowest attendance in a ward that I've had so far. We hope to help change that. Anyway, that was our week. Hope all is well!
--Elder Huffaker
So where I am will be part of the San Fernando Mission after it splits. North of here is Santa Clarita (where I was when I was in CC1, Mint Canyon, and Solemint) will also be part of the San Fernando Mission. But everything north of that will be part of the Bakersfield Mission. There is a good chance that this will be my last area, but that will be pretty certain next transfer, as I have 2 transfers left after this one, and transferring someone for their last transfer is not a good idea.
Anyway, this week was an okay week. We didn't have a whole bunch of member dinners, but that's probably because of General Conference (which was awesome by the way). We also had Zone conference on Tuesday from 9 to 5, but we had car inspections at 8 so we had to be there at 8. It was also out of our zone and we had to pick up some of the elders who are in a bike area that are in the more southern parts of our area. We had to leave at about 7 to be there on time. Lot's of travelling.
So before General Conference, on Friday, we had ZTM, which is like District Meeting, only the Zone leaders do it, and it lasts about an hour and a half longer. So Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday we had a bunch of meetings and conference. It was a bit crazy.
Also for this week, we did exchanges with our zone leaders. I went with one of them to their area. It was a good exchange. Other than that, we got a referral for this guy who just got out of a minimum security prison. He is super amazing. He has already read the Book of Mormon and has a testimony of it and the church. Unfortunately, he is on probation and he needs to wait until that's over to be baptized. So for now all we have to do is just keep him involved in church and whatnot.
Also one of the things we are planning on doing is working with the ward leaders in trying to get the less active members back into activity. It's something Elder Ehninger and I felt inspired to do during weekly planning. The ward here needs a little help. It probably has the lowest attendance in a ward that I've had so far. We hope to help change that. Anyway, that was our week. Hope all is well!
--Elder Huffaker
April 8, 2013 -- Another Week in Sylmar
This week was a pretty good week. Elder Ehninger and I have been working on a few things.
First was our faith in finding. We talked about how we have faith when we are in the apartment, that we can go and find people to teach. But we talked about how our faith is significantly lower when we are actually out finding. So we have been trying to increase our faith.
We started by relying on the spirit to take us where we needed to go. We decided where we felt it was, and then set out. All along the path we were walking on people were avoiding us before we even got to talk to them. We still felt like we were there for a reason. So we kept going. We got to a point we recognised and remembered that there was a potential nearby. I felt inspired to go knock on the door. Unfortunately there was no one home. Elder Ehninger then felt inspired to knock on a few doors on that street as we had not yet done that. We eventually were lead to a guy who had just recently parked on the street. We talked with him for about 40 minutes and invited him to come to conference. He agreed and he gave us his contact information. It was a faith building moment for the both of us.
General conference was also really great. Unfortunately only one of our investigators came, but she now has a bunch of questions we hope to answer for her. That's all I can really remember about our week. Hope all is well at home!
--Elder Huffaker
First was our faith in finding. We talked about how we have faith when we are in the apartment, that we can go and find people to teach. But we talked about how our faith is significantly lower when we are actually out finding. So we have been trying to increase our faith.
We started by relying on the spirit to take us where we needed to go. We decided where we felt it was, and then set out. All along the path we were walking on people were avoiding us before we even got to talk to them. We still felt like we were there for a reason. So we kept going. We got to a point we recognised and remembered that there was a potential nearby. I felt inspired to go knock on the door. Unfortunately there was no one home. Elder Ehninger then felt inspired to knock on a few doors on that street as we had not yet done that. We eventually were lead to a guy who had just recently parked on the street. We talked with him for about 40 minutes and invited him to come to conference. He agreed and he gave us his contact information. It was a faith building moment for the both of us.
General conference was also really great. Unfortunately only one of our investigators came, but she now has a bunch of questions we hope to answer for her. That's all I can really remember about our week. Hope all is well at home!
--Elder Huffaker
April 1, 2013 New Area
First off, my companion has been out 2 transfers so far, so about 3 months. Yeah that's how long my last companion was out when I got him, and the companion before that. He was born in Eagle Idaho, raised in Oregon, and lives in South Jordan Utah. His name is Elder Ehninger. He says to say vinegar only with an "e" instead of "vi".
Second, yes I'm still a District Leader, and in fact, we have 2 other companionships for this district, and they are both sisters. So I'm in charge of my companion, and 4 sisters. We are in a car area, and usually the car is a Toyota Corolla, but here we have a Chevy Malibu. They aren't as good as the Corollas. Their gas mileage is lower, turning radius sucks, and we've had problems twice already since Tuesday, so that's something considering that I've been here for almost a week. We had the temperature gage stop working and the AC went out on us. We were told to take it in to pep boys and they tested it for 2 ours and said nothing was wrong with it. Then we were making phone calls last night, and the battery on the car died. We had to get it jumped this morning. Finally got it jumped by about 11:50, and we were there at about 10:30 trying to get a hold of people. Well we finally got it taken care of.
Also I'm in Sylmar, which is the same zone I came from when I left from North Hollywood. I left NoHo and went to Mint Canyon and then Solemint and those are both in the same zone, and so I'm back in my last zone. My address is 13140 Dronfield Ave. Apt #111 Sylmar CA 91342.
Just so you know, I have 2 transfers after this. There is a good chance that this will be my last area but no confirms. In other news, since being here we had a member feed just once. It was Easter dinner, and it was a good dinner. The ward is a bit small, and there aren't a whole lotta youth. The biggest difference is that there are people walking around here. In Solemint, everyone is pretty much in their cars driving. So we have gotten to talk to a lot of people. My companion doesn't like to drive, so I'm driving and I'm still trying to get familiar with the area.
Also I'm still trying to get all the investigators figured out. We have a decent amount here and hopefully we will be able to keep it going and even increase the work here. I guess the one thing that is really annoying here is that we have almost no cell service in our apartment. We can get and send texts, but calls almost never happen. Sometimes we get a stroke of luck and we have roaming service, but that's super rare. We do live really close to the church building so that's great. I can't think of anything else at this time so if you have questions feel free to ask!
--Elder Huffaker
Second, yes I'm still a District Leader, and in fact, we have 2 other companionships for this district, and they are both sisters. So I'm in charge of my companion, and 4 sisters. We are in a car area, and usually the car is a Toyota Corolla, but here we have a Chevy Malibu. They aren't as good as the Corollas. Their gas mileage is lower, turning radius sucks, and we've had problems twice already since Tuesday, so that's something considering that I've been here for almost a week. We had the temperature gage stop working and the AC went out on us. We were told to take it in to pep boys and they tested it for 2 ours and said nothing was wrong with it. Then we were making phone calls last night, and the battery on the car died. We had to get it jumped this morning. Finally got it jumped by about 11:50, and we were there at about 10:30 trying to get a hold of people. Well we finally got it taken care of.
Also I'm in Sylmar, which is the same zone I came from when I left from North Hollywood. I left NoHo and went to Mint Canyon and then Solemint and those are both in the same zone, and so I'm back in my last zone. My address is 13140 Dronfield Ave. Apt #111 Sylmar CA 91342.
Just so you know, I have 2 transfers after this. There is a good chance that this will be my last area but no confirms. In other news, since being here we had a member feed just once. It was Easter dinner, and it was a good dinner. The ward is a bit small, and there aren't a whole lotta youth. The biggest difference is that there are people walking around here. In Solemint, everyone is pretty much in their cars driving. So we have gotten to talk to a lot of people. My companion doesn't like to drive, so I'm driving and I'm still trying to get familiar with the area.
Also I'm still trying to get all the investigators figured out. We have a decent amount here and hopefully we will be able to keep it going and even increase the work here. I guess the one thing that is really annoying here is that we have almost no cell service in our apartment. We can get and send texts, but calls almost never happen. Sometimes we get a stroke of luck and we have roaming service, but that's super rare. We do live really close to the church building so that's great. I can't think of anything else at this time so if you have questions feel free to ask!
--Elder Huffaker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)