August 6, 2018

Fam, 

Gander 
[gan-dur] 
1. [N] resident, or native of Michigan (Michi - Gander) 
2. [V] to continuous talking aimlessly without purpose or destination
3. Mature male goose 

Juan, the guy from last week who had the lesson on authority, is a Gander through and through. To teach him you really have to take control of the situation. Our lesson this past Tuesday was another story. His wife, Esperanza, was able to join us. The lesson went really well, like surprisingly well. Esperanza is super cool. PMG says that people progress in the gospel best as families and Tuesday really demonstrated why. Esperanza was really receptive but more importantly by her presence kept Juan calmed and less prone to interupt. Esperanza only speaks Spanish which also helped. Juan's language skills are not as developed in Spanish which greatly mitigated his tendencies to gander and dominate lessons.  Esperanza's presence allowed us to more effectively share a good lesson. 

This week was pretty tough when it comes to talking with people. For some reason it felt like no one was outside or home even. Monday we had appointments during our entire proselytizing time but Tuesday and Wednesday were more open. Those two days I think we talked with a total of three or four people.

Though the week was less productive, we've been really focusing on building the priesthood in the branch. For the last month or two we've prayed a lot to be lead to men who can hold the priesthood. It's been pretty miraculous. Just recently we posted a free Book of Mormon on the Facebook market place and had to turn off comments due to just a bunch of anti. Feeling like we had learned our lesson for posting stuff like that on the local Hispanic Garage sale we turned off comments. A few hours later we received a private message from someone asking when and where our church meets. While conversing with them it turned out he was a member who just moved here who had lost contact with the church and had been looking for the Latter-day Saints in Grand Rapids. No effort wasted: the unintended consequence was meeting a guy who had been looking for the church. 

We have also been able to get our recent converts to come with us as we visit with the people we teach. Teodoro has been doing super well. The gospel has really latched on to him. We talked with his neighbors on the way to one lesson. In the lesson he did fantastically and on the way back he invited the people we saw walking back to the car to meet with us and come to church. He really enjoys missionary work and is keen to continue to come out with us. 

Here is a list of a few talks I've listened this week that I particularly liked. Losing interest in listening to all the talks by speaker I've moved to the topic of priesthood. Here are a few I've enjoyed, in no particular order, also there are a few added not about the priesthood. 



The Power of the Priesthood in the Boy, April 2013 - Elder Tad R. Callister  Listen or Read

God’s Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon, October 2017 - Tad R. Callister  Listen or Read

See Others as They May Become, October 2012 - President Thomas S. Monson  Listen or Read

The Powers of Heaven, April 2012 - Elder David A. Bednar
Listen or Read

What Lack I Yet? October 2015 - Elder Larry R. Lawrence
Listen or Read

Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament, October 2008 - Elder Dallin H. Oaks 
Listen or Read

Like a watered garden, October 2001 - Elder Jeffery R. Holland (side note: though the word holy appears many times in the scriptures, what it refers to  basically falls within a few sections; sacrifices, specifically tithing as well as animal sacrifices under the mosaic law; commandments, specifically the Sabbath day but also a few others; things pertaining to the temple, such as ceremonial clothing, altars, etc; and God. Tithing is secretly one of the coolest commandments) Listen or Read