So we had a pretty good week...until the weekend haha!
Monday was transfer day! We had an interesting experience at Walmart... We OYM'd a guy in the store and then as we got to our car, he came up to us and asked us if we could give him a ride home because his roommates ditched him. For those who don't know, we can't give rides to people, not even investigators. We tell him this and he just blows up on us and started saying all this crap about how a true Christian would give him a ride home as he walked away. Nice guy right? We got to the church and emailed before heading into Sutherlin. We had dinner with a super awesome family! They are kinda sorta a part member family so we were able to teach a lesson using the #ASaviorIsBorn video. They have 7 kids so it made for an interesting lesson! We came back and I tried to get my Area book synced up but I wasn't put in the area yet so we came back and I spent some time unpacking.
Tuesday morning started off pretty well! We were just about to do companionship study when we got a phone call from a Utah number. It was a guy whose great aunt or something like that volunteers with us at the soup kitchen. He told us that she knew the Book of Mormon was true but was afraid to change. Hopefully we can start teaching her this week. We spent a good chunk of time going through the Area book and contacting some former investigators. We didn't have much luck but we did it until our lesson with Ronnie. He is a returning less active who is still learning the gospel. We talked about praying for strength and answered some questions that he had from reading Preach My Gospel. After dinner we contacted some investigators that hadn't been seen in awhile before sitting down with the new Bishop. He is super missionary minded and I'm super stoked to be able to work with him. We also talked with the new ward mission leader and he is fired up as well. It was pretty exciting to heard about some of things this ward has planned as far as missionary work goes!
Wednesday we did a lot of service work. We went to the local food pantry to help load up food for the people coming through. We had a fun conversation about the Word of Wisdom with some of the volunteers there. They were arguing about how it's about the caffeine but we cleared up that misconception. We got into our normal clothes and helped out Nephi (yes, that is his actual name) with some blackberry bushes. We got dressed back into our normal proselyting clothes and we drove out to Oakland to go do some finding. We talked to a recent convert and her non-member kids and shared the Christmas video with them and then we talked with a member before coming back into Sutherlin. Other than that, we just organized our area and tried to contact as many people as we could.
Thursday morning we did weekly planning before going back out to Oakland to visit a couple of formers. We got a lesson set up with someone who apparently used to be a member but then got their name removed because she didn't like the church very much I guess! So that will be an interesting lesson. We spent some time finding before going and seeing a semi-less active family out in the boonies. We talked about forgiveness and gave one of the daughters a blessing all the while eating pizza and me sweating up a storm! It was SO HOT yet Elder Fleming just sat there in his jacket all nice and cool. North Dakotans man!
Friday morning we left Sutherlin to go to district meeting. It was a pretty decent first district meeting. I only have one other companionship in my district so I had to make due. We focused on the Book of Mormon and how we can use it more effectively in our teaching. We grabbed lunch in Roseburg before coming back out to Sutherlin to do some missionary work. Nephi picked us up for a lesson with two less active sisters. We had an interesting conversation with them. One of them felt like part of the Book of Mormon was pointless because of all the war chapters and we spent a good chunk of our time trying to help her find ways to study the scriptures. We once again spent a good chunk out of our day finding people and we were able to talk to a former named Dana who knew a lot of members in the ward and said that we could come back. We also went to a part member family and they said that we could come back in the morning the next day! It was a pretty solid night.
Saturday had its ups and downs. I didn't feel too good all morning but we managed to pick up a new investigator in the morning! Nick is rooming at the part members home and we shared the Christmas message with him and he accepted the invitation to learn more about Jesus Christ! Hopefully we can start teaching the actual family who lives in the home haha! We tracted for a little while after lunch and we ran into a less active who had NO idea he was a member. He even told us he didn't belong to a church even though we had his membership records. We didn't have too much luck tracting so we talked to a couple of members and figured out that we can't go door to door in one of the largest suburbs in our area... That sucked. After dinner, we tried to see Raja, an investigator that hasn't been taught in awhile, but he wasn't home. This whole time, my stomach was feeling super queasy and it got to the point where I told Elder Fleming that I couldn't handle being out and about so we went home early. I'm glad we did because I ended up blowing chunks....twice. So much fun. First time I have been sick on the mission! It was a good run haha!
Sunday I woke up feeling like my back was used for a punching bag! I was feeling better though, thanks in part to a blessing that Elder Felming gave me Saturday night. I was able to sit through ward council, choir, and church! I felt super drained though so we didn't get too much done before dinner. Dinner was super fun! We watched part of the Christmas devotional and had dinner before taking part of their giant White Elephant! We had 31 people doing it! I got stuck with Poptarts and Elder Fleming got some IBC Root Beer. It was a jolly good time! We came back to Sutherlin and updated our area book before calling it a night.
Well, that's my week! It was a pretty good first week in Sutherlin and it is only going to pick up from here! I know that the Church is true and that Jesus Christ lives! There is no doubt! #ASaviorIsBorn
Love ya!
Elder Tonini
Oregon Eugene Mission
"Days Never to Be Forgotten"
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