Chapter 15: Spreadsheets

It's been the start of my second transfer in Rancho Peñasquitos, but it almost feels like a whole new area since we've been going around introducing Elder Meilstrup to everyone (and in some cases reintroducing me). To add to that, this is my first transfer as the designated driver, which has given me much better awareness of where everything is. We've been scheduling member lessons like crazy, we're working with the ward council a lot more, and we've had a new focus on quickly visiting each of our iffy nonmember friends and either pinning a lesson time down or just dropping them. As a result, sadly, we've let Susan, Shawn, and Grace go, but it's been good to focus more on where we're needed.

Elder Meilstrup has been a fine addition to this area. He has a special knack for working with members, and that's really complimented what my previous companions have taught me. What's more, he's alleviated one of the concerns I've had about running an area. For me, planning visits has always felt a little haphazard, with a lot of picking out random people and digging through their timeline to roughly gauge their needs, unsure of who is flying under our radar. But Elder Meilstrup has introduced a solution through a language I can actually speak: spreadsheets! We've been reconciling our own records with the ward directory and laying out every household with notes about their needs, activity status, and how recently they've been visited. In addition to making things way more organized, this has helped us start to work more closely with the Ward Council, which has been well appreciated on both sides.

Welp, that’s how the work has generally been going. I once again find myself short on email-writing time, so I'll lean on a couple of the photos to serve some of the entertainment value. There are definitely stories I'd love to write out if I could. Many of them come from Friday when we went on exchanges with the assistants to the president. I got to go with Elder Mickel again, which was such a positive experience. We taught several lessons in La Mesa, encountered an unequivocal miracle when we ran into the Farsi speaking Elders and then an interested Farsi speaking family who just """happened""" to be at a park a few streets over, and had numerous meaningful discussions about the gospel and our journeys as missionaries. I admire our fine AP's humility and his earnest dedication to this work. A quick quote for ya: we taught a friend named Otis the Plan of Salvation and afterward he expressed how much relief his new testimony was bringing him, from feeling better about work to sleeping better at night. We asked about his work and he told us he was a lineman. One of the situations he sometimes faces is repairing electrical lines in storms. A member we brought along for the lesson commented, "Water and electricity are a dangerous combination." To which Otis replied without hesitation, "They ain't got nothing on Christ."

Another quick story: one night, Elder Meilstrup and I were discussing how badly we needed to meet with the bishop as we entered the clerk's office to do some work on the computer. We finished up there, and as we stepped out, I reached for my keys (car, office, apartment) to discover an empty pocket. We turned back to the mercilessly locked door behind us. I had left the keys inside. Rookie mistake! After a lot of PG-rated expressions of exasperation, I determined that between the clerk and the bishop, I was closer with the latter, so I pulled out my phone and made the call of shame. Bugging the bishop to come out to the church past 8 PM was definitely the last thing I wanted to do, but our hands were tied. He picked up, I told him our situation, and he asked "So you're at the church? Is that you I hear right outside my office?" The door beside us opened and out stepped the bishop! He was already there to save the day. What's more, we got to touch base with him there and set up a visit for that weekend. Two birds with one stone (even though one of those birds was of my own clumsy making).

And a fancy tidbit: one of the members and I did Relatives Around Me on the FamilySearch app and discovered that we're 3rd cousins once removed! And the following night another member came up to me and revealed that she's decended from Judson Tolman, my ancestor. I love that we have access to information like that. Just think how many cousins bump into one another as strangers each day.

I'll end off with a thought that occured during exchanges. The degrees of glory God has prepared for his children are compared to the sun, the moon, and the stars. Think about how all three are beautiful. Consider first the wonder of the stars in their multitude. Then the moon, the texture of its face and the changing of its phases. And lastly the sun, which shines so brightly we only ever gaze at it in its diminished state--maybe during sunrise and sunset. At noon when it's at its brightest, we can't bear looking into it, though we see its light all around us. If we marvel at the beauty of the stars and moon, imagine how much more we'd marvel at the sun if we could endure looking into it with the naked eye. This helps me understand what it means to dwell in God's presence, and why we need to be changed from our current state in order to have joy with Him. We can appreciate light no matter what state we're in, and His light reaches wherever it is accepted. But to really know the beauty of brightness beyond measure? That takes transformation.

The gospel of Jesus Christ provides just that.

God be with you,

Elder Tolman

Photos:
Companionship study at the park
Exchanges with the APs
Me with Elder Mickel on exchanges
Elder Meilstrup teaching the Bishop’s boys the elegant Eldridge Knot, which he wears proudly each day.
We all showed up to church with Eldridge Knots the next day.

A 3D-printed "Rocktipus" given to Elder Meilstrup by a member in one of his previous areas. It just chills on our dash, staring random objects and people down.