OCT_1_18_MOM_PITT_From your mother who loves you
Hey there Mother!!
Today is going to be a SUPER fun day. Elder Toomer and I are going to go tour Heinz Field at noon, and I could not be more excited!! :) Usually on P-Days we just sit around in the apartment all day, but we're actually going to be doing something! I probably won't send this email until after the tour is over, at around 1:30, so I'll be sure to send you all of the pictures and highlights of the tour. It only cost 8 bucks, so not too bad at all!
I feel as though there is a lot of less active work to do in EVERY ward, not just the Oleander Ward. You're right, a big part of what I do is contacting less Actives and trying to help them return to the fold. Unfortunately, I haven't had a whole lot of success with that on my mission. Ive worked with several dozen less Actives, but very few have come back to church. Probably only Brother McDermott, now that I think about it. But despite the low success rates, I know that it is absolutely a worthy cause. General Authorities are always talking in conference about the less active who comes back to church after 30 years of faithful home teachers. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
Yeah, I got the BYU news from the security guard who works in our building. Not really the news I wanted to hear, but unfortunately, the news I was expecting. BYU's offense seems to be its primary weakness, and I knew Washington's offense was absolute dynamite. It seems as though BYU's schedule gets a little bit more manageable from here on out. I'd say that 3-2 in the first five games is actually not bad given the circumstances. Like you said, hopefully they can figure it out against Utah State this week!
Your comments about Miss Eitelman are kind of disconcerting. I remember her really well, and am sad to hear that she's going through some rough times. I've talked with several people on my mission who feel that God has deserted them, and that their lives are past the point of no return. It must be pretty difficult to hear her say all this negative stuff when you know in your heart that she is a beloved daughter of God and that things WILL get better. I think that just being a sounding board for her is extremely beneficial, but also, now seems like a good opportunity to bear testimony of the truths that you know and cherish. I know you've tried dozens of times to share the gospel with her, and even invited her to church activities. But I think it's your duty as a baptized member of Christ's church to share what you know with her!
Sorry to get all preachy and missionary-y on you. I'm just a very missionary minded person right now because, well... I'm a missionary. Hope the situation works out well.
This has actually been a really good week for me and Elder Toomer. We were definitely privy to some miracles, which are always awesome to witness. Probably the most relevant one is the fact that we acquired a really cool investigator named Rose Romelus. She's from Haiti and speaks primarily French and Creole. Her English on the other hand.... not so good. She can say some pretty basic things, but nothing too complicated. Apparently she talked to missionaries 28 years ago in Haiti, and really liked what she heard. We took a brother from our ward who speaks French, and he helped to translate for us during the lesson. It's definitely a tender mercy from God that he's in the ward, otherwise we would have absolutely no hopes of teaching her.
Anyways, she's super awesome. Apparently shes even tried to come to our church on her own, but has never been able to find it. We told her that we could come and pick her up and ride the bus with her, and that's EXACTLY what we did. She came to church and enjoyed it a lot! At least, that's what she told us. She looked super confused the whole time, since she doesn't even understand the language. But I guess the Spirit is a real thing, and you can feel it whether you understand the language or not!
Elder Toomer and I have made it a major priority this transfer to try and find a family to teach. That includes talking to families on the street, knocking on doors that have minivans and toys out front, etc. We haven't run into that much luck. Except this last week, I was on exchanges with Elder Goulding in my area, and we were tracting a particular street. On the VERY first door, we knocked into a young woman who had several children standing around her. I gave her my little schpeel, told her who we were, and she responded by saying, "Of course you can share a message with us! We love Jesus in this house!" So we share more with her. As it turns out, her and her husband have had 4 kids together, and adopted 4 kids from Africa or something. She said that she wants us to come bCk to teach her husband and her whole family! So hopefully that works out!
We had another interesting experience with an investigator a couple of days ago. I knocked on this guy, Ken's, door a few weeks ago, and were finally able to sit down with him and share our message. However, as soon as we walked into his house, he immediately said, "I read your Pamphlet, and I don't believe any of it. It's all wrong." That should have been my first hint that it wasn't going to be the best teaching appointment. Basically, for the next 45 minutes, it was him arguing why oir church was wrong and how our doctrine was flawed. For every single one of his arguments, I was able to pull out a scripture in the Bible or Book of Mormon that proved otherwise. For example, he said he heard that Mormons hated black people, so I showed him the scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about how God loves all his children, bond or free, male or female, BLACK or WHITE. Then he said God and Jesus were the same person, so I pulled out the vision of Stephen in the New Testament. Then he said Joseph Smith could not have seen God, because no one's seen God. Then I brought up a scripture about how Moses talked to the Lord face to face. By the end, I was just ready to ask him for referrals. But he did agree to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it's true.
I don't think he'll receive an answer. If I've learned anything on my mission, it's that if you don't have a sincere heart, and seek with Real intent, you won't find out its true. But I did what I could. By the end of the lesson, Elder Toomer was just looking at me with his mouth wide open. I bet he didn't know his trainer could whip out scriptures like that. Not that it's a good thing. But yeah.
Just got back from the tour of Heinz Field. Hands down one of the best P-Days ever. I mean, the day I went to Kenny wood was definitely the best, but this one was pretty high up there. Heinz Field was awesome! It made me feel super nostalgic! I miss Lavell Edward's Stadium SO much. This field was pretty dope, but I still prefer Lavell Edwards Stadium, tho. We got to go inside the Steeler's Locker room and see Ben Roethlisberger's locker, go on the field itself, see the press box (where I'll be someday), and even see the Super Bowl trophies. Probably the best part was being in the Pitt Locker room. They had an awesome Logo in the center of the floor that looks so classy. Obviously, it wasnt the same as being in the BYU locker room, but it was still pretty awesome. All in all, an awesome experience.
Anyways, that's all I've got for you this week. Hopefully you like the pictures! Have a great week!
Elder Jake Gonzales
Today is going to be a SUPER fun day. Elder Toomer and I are going to go tour Heinz Field at noon, and I could not be more excited!! :) Usually on P-Days we just sit around in the apartment all day, but we're actually going to be doing something! I probably won't send this email until after the tour is over, at around 1:30, so I'll be sure to send you all of the pictures and highlights of the tour. It only cost 8 bucks, so not too bad at all!
I feel as though there is a lot of less active work to do in EVERY ward, not just the Oleander Ward. You're right, a big part of what I do is contacting less Actives and trying to help them return to the fold. Unfortunately, I haven't had a whole lot of success with that on my mission. Ive worked with several dozen less Actives, but very few have come back to church. Probably only Brother McDermott, now that I think about it. But despite the low success rates, I know that it is absolutely a worthy cause. General Authorities are always talking in conference about the less active who comes back to church after 30 years of faithful home teachers. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
Yeah, I got the BYU news from the security guard who works in our building. Not really the news I wanted to hear, but unfortunately, the news I was expecting. BYU's offense seems to be its primary weakness, and I knew Washington's offense was absolute dynamite. It seems as though BYU's schedule gets a little bit more manageable from here on out. I'd say that 3-2 in the first five games is actually not bad given the circumstances. Like you said, hopefully they can figure it out against Utah State this week!
Your comments about Miss Eitelman are kind of disconcerting. I remember her really well, and am sad to hear that she's going through some rough times. I've talked with several people on my mission who feel that God has deserted them, and that their lives are past the point of no return. It must be pretty difficult to hear her say all this negative stuff when you know in your heart that she is a beloved daughter of God and that things WILL get better. I think that just being a sounding board for her is extremely beneficial, but also, now seems like a good opportunity to bear testimony of the truths that you know and cherish. I know you've tried dozens of times to share the gospel with her, and even invited her to church activities. But I think it's your duty as a baptized member of Christ's church to share what you know with her!
Sorry to get all preachy and missionary-y on you. I'm just a very missionary minded person right now because, well... I'm a missionary. Hope the situation works out well.
This has actually been a really good week for me and Elder Toomer. We were definitely privy to some miracles, which are always awesome to witness. Probably the most relevant one is the fact that we acquired a really cool investigator named Rose Romelus. She's from Haiti and speaks primarily French and Creole. Her English on the other hand.... not so good. She can say some pretty basic things, but nothing too complicated. Apparently she talked to missionaries 28 years ago in Haiti, and really liked what she heard. We took a brother from our ward who speaks French, and he helped to translate for us during the lesson. It's definitely a tender mercy from God that he's in the ward, otherwise we would have absolutely no hopes of teaching her.
Anyways, she's super awesome. Apparently shes even tried to come to our church on her own, but has never been able to find it. We told her that we could come and pick her up and ride the bus with her, and that's EXACTLY what we did. She came to church and enjoyed it a lot! At least, that's what she told us. She looked super confused the whole time, since she doesn't even understand the language. But I guess the Spirit is a real thing, and you can feel it whether you understand the language or not!
Elder Toomer and I have made it a major priority this transfer to try and find a family to teach. That includes talking to families on the street, knocking on doors that have minivans and toys out front, etc. We haven't run into that much luck. Except this last week, I was on exchanges with Elder Goulding in my area, and we were tracting a particular street. On the VERY first door, we knocked into a young woman who had several children standing around her. I gave her my little schpeel, told her who we were, and she responded by saying, "Of course you can share a message with us! We love Jesus in this house!" So we share more with her. As it turns out, her and her husband have had 4 kids together, and adopted 4 kids from Africa or something. She said that she wants us to come bCk to teach her husband and her whole family! So hopefully that works out!
We had another interesting experience with an investigator a couple of days ago. I knocked on this guy, Ken's, door a few weeks ago, and were finally able to sit down with him and share our message. However, as soon as we walked into his house, he immediately said, "I read your Pamphlet, and I don't believe any of it. It's all wrong." That should have been my first hint that it wasn't going to be the best teaching appointment. Basically, for the next 45 minutes, it was him arguing why oir church was wrong and how our doctrine was flawed. For every single one of his arguments, I was able to pull out a scripture in the Bible or Book of Mormon that proved otherwise. For example, he said he heard that Mormons hated black people, so I showed him the scripture in the Book of Mormon that talks about how God loves all his children, bond or free, male or female, BLACK or WHITE. Then he said God and Jesus were the same person, so I pulled out the vision of Stephen in the New Testament. Then he said Joseph Smith could not have seen God, because no one's seen God. Then I brought up a scripture about how Moses talked to the Lord face to face. By the end, I was just ready to ask him for referrals. But he did agree to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it's true.
I don't think he'll receive an answer. If I've learned anything on my mission, it's that if you don't have a sincere heart, and seek with Real intent, you won't find out its true. But I did what I could. By the end of the lesson, Elder Toomer was just looking at me with his mouth wide open. I bet he didn't know his trainer could whip out scriptures like that. Not that it's a good thing. But yeah.
Just got back from the tour of Heinz Field. Hands down one of the best P-Days ever. I mean, the day I went to Kenny wood was definitely the best, but this one was pretty high up there. Heinz Field was awesome! It made me feel super nostalgic! I miss Lavell Edward's Stadium SO much. This field was pretty dope, but I still prefer Lavell Edwards Stadium, tho. We got to go inside the Steeler's Locker room and see Ben Roethlisberger's locker, go on the field itself, see the press box (where I'll be someday), and even see the Super Bowl trophies. Probably the best part was being in the Pitt Locker room. They had an awesome Logo in the center of the floor that looks so classy. Obviously, it wasnt the same as being in the BYU locker room, but it was still pretty awesome. All in all, an awesome experience.
Anyways, that's all I've got for you this week. Hopefully you like the pictures! Have a great week!
Elder Jake Gonzales
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