Chapter 22: When Things Just Align

Ok, first things first, I have a story from last week that I didn't get the chance to share. We were teaching an object lesson to a younger family where we had each of them go retrieve an object they've lost before and tell everyone the story of how they found it. I call this type of activity a show & tell lesson, and I find it's a great way to help families share more about themselves and relate their experiences with the principles we're teaching. It was actually that very family that gave us the idea, cause we once had dinner with them, and as we got to know their kids, each of them in turn ran off and got something of theirs to show us (a watercolor painting, a story they wrote, a lego Frozen castle, etc.). We just spent the whole time thinking "This is fantastic!" and later used their enthusiasm as inspiration. So, the theme of this lesson was "recovering what was lost," and we invited them to think about how the joy and relief they felt when they found their possession is the same feeling God has when we repent. We followed that up with a readthrough of the story of the Prodigal Son, focusing especially on the father's joy, and we ended with a discussion on what it means to repent. It all went very well, and we loved hearing their stories. Everyone except their dad chose stuffed animals as their object, which was adorable, and the story their mom shared was just too good not to relay to you.

She absolutely loved The Lion King back when it first came out. Right around that time, her older brother was heading out on his mission, and as a parting gift, he bought her stuffed animals of Simba and Nala. She adored them. At night, she would fall asleep with one in each arm, and whenever she especially missed her brother, they were what she would cling to. However, a day came when she went to play with them and got Nala as usual, but Simba was nowhere to be found. She searched and searched, but in vain. It was as though he had just vanished. She was devastated. So, she decided to turn to someone who knows where every stuffed animal in the world is. She knelt down in prayer, asking God for help finding the other half of her brother's lost gift. Some time later, she and her sister were tossing Nala back and forth when one of their tosses went wide, flying across the room to land in an obscure spot. When they went to retrieve her, they found she had fallen on another small object on the floor. It was Simba! Nala rested right on top of him. Not only had the prayer been answered, but it happened in a way that perfectly matched a scene from the movie. "Pinned ya again!"

This made me reflect on the testimony-building wonder of seeing your prayers answered as a child--having those first few experiences where you think "Wait, prayer works for me too?" They lay crucial foundations for us, but they also show who God really is. Think about it. The innocent requests of little children, trivial as some may seem, are answered by the powers of heaven. Within the grand scheme of His eternal plan, working toward the salvation of billions upon billions, God made way for a young girl to find her lost stuffed animal. It goes to show a tender truth. He is not only our God in Heaven. He is our Father in Heaven. Can I say that with any more affection and reverence? Not just God, but Father.

While I'm at it, there's also an insight from a couple weeks ago that I meant to share but didn't get to. We were having dinner with our ward mission leader (who is awesome, by the way!) and he shared an outlook on the miracle of Jesus transforming water to wine that I had never heard before. We find multiple examples of faith in this story. Mary's faith that Jesus could provide more wine; Jesus's faith as he performed the miracle; the servants' faith in obeying Jesus's instructions. Brother Millard drew particular attention to those servants, specifically to their faith right as they served the wine. Jesus had instructed them to fetch water with pots that people normally used to wash themselves, and they were about to offer the contents to the governor of the feast. John even pointed out their awareness of what they were serving. "When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom". How would he react to this questionable refreshment? Brother Millard talked about how their nerve-wracking act of faith is just like missionary work. It is having the courage to step forward and boldly declare what Christ has asked you to, even when you don't fully understand it all. As missionaries (set apart or not), we don't always know what impact the gospel will have in others' lives. We promise blessings to those we teach, but we don't often see how those promises are fulfilled. Some of us even struggle with our own testimonies as we press forward, simply doing the best we can. It's just as scary as it is joyful. Just as uncertain as it is crystal clear. But that doesn't make it contradictory. It simply means we're being stretched in the faith we exercise. And after the servants' faith, how was the wine received? It was esteemed better than the wine they had served before. Christ offers the best gifts through those with the faith to give them.

Alright, now I'll finally actually get into this week. 😆

It's been a rainy one. Sounds like more so than usual for San Diego. At the same time, each time it starts to storm, it won't commit. One morning we were driving over to the church, and on the way it started coming down pretty hard, but by the time we arrived, it had stopped completely. It wasn't so much rain as it was God kicking over a bucket of water. A member later told us that of all the times for her to go on a morning walk that day, it was right then. It's like the sky was singling her out and playing a practical joke on her.

We had a mini zone conference on Friday to hear from Elder Slaughter, an area seventy. We packed almost the entire mission into that chapel. 7 out of 8 zones. Imperial Valley was the odd one out, being the farthest away, and they were definitely teased. Lovingly, though. And they still got to join via Zoom. Lots of great wisdom from that conference, but the highlight for me was a discussion on the spirit that our testimonies can invite when we keep them concise. It's subtle, but church lingo can sometimes weigh down a simple message. "I want to bear my testimony that these things are true, and I know that Jesus Christ lives." vs. "These things are true. Jesus Christ lives." Can you feel the difference?

Mini zone conference. "Mini" only really applies cause we were just there to hear from Elder Slaughter for a couple hours. We'll be having our usual longer zone conference this upcoming week.

Also on Friday, we were visiting a man named Stanley who was referred to us, and as we walked to his condo, we settled on visiting a nearby member afterward. Seconds after deciding on that, we saw that very member getting her mail, and we invited her to join us on our visit. She agreed! Stanley answered and we had a friendly conversation, enormously helped by having his neighbor there with us. Afterward we headed over to her house and had a wonderful lesson on the light Christ provides.

We went on exchanges with our zone leaders on Saturday. I stayed in Rancho Peñasquitos with Elder Barker, and we had a pretty good day. We taught two more lessons than we originally planned, and they were great opportunities to work on applying what we learned in zone conference. It was also raining pretty hard through most of the day, and we were worried we would have to just make phone calls in the late afternoon instead of doing the tracting we had planned, but we decided at least visit a previously taught friend in the same apartment complex we hoped to spend time in, and as we walked away from her door, the clouds parted and the rain stopped!

Tolman & Barker in the rain

A family in our ward had dinner planned with us, but they were also planning dinner with their next door neighbor, and our schedules all happened to align, so they decided to do both at once. Thus, their neighbor joined us for our lesson that evening! She was Muslim herself, but she contributed so much to our discussion about seeing God's hand in our lives, and we shared a message about the personal nature of Christ's atonement. We then discovered that she needed help with her yard, so we got to set up a time to see her again and help out with that!

We were driving through a neighborhood on our way to visit someone when Elder Meilstrup spotted a giant moving trailer and an open garage filled with stuff, clearly about to be loaded. Naturally, we made a U-turn, walked up to the overflowing garage, and asked the guy hidden among the piles of stuff if he needed help. There we met Lewis, who we learned was a videographer moving out of state. The garage was mostly filled with massive lighting and audio equipment. He had asked a few people for help moving, but none of them were available, so we found him trying to do it all on his own. We had a half hour before our next lesson to help him out, and then we scheduled a time to return with another pair of Elders the following day. As we worked during that first impromptu opportunity, a couple rolled down their window as they drove by and asked "Do you always wear white shirts and ties when you move?"

Helping Lewis (the second day)

I wish I got a picture of the whole garage,
cause it was a jungle of equipment.

Here's something for my family of Trekkies. We were having dinner with our ward clerk and his family when the topic of our conversation somehow turned to Star Trek. That's the second fan I've found in the ward! From that conversation I learned he was involved in a stage re-creation of an old radio play, for which he performed with Armin Shimerman (Quark) and a few members of the Voyager cast. It was fun hearing his wife talk about how excited he got at that opportunity.

We finished off the week by going on exchanges with our neighboring Elders in Black Mountain. I went to their area with Elder Rogers. It was a pretty weird day for an exchange because we had district council, and we had that second service opportunity with Lewis, and we needed to give the Rancho Bernardo Elders a ride toward the end of the day, but we still had a good time. Elder Rogers taught me a little bit of ASL, and we went around tracking down uncontacted members. Just before the end of the exchange, a ward member invited us in, and during the long conversation that followed, he told us a story from his mission in France. Someone once angrily told him and his companion "I am going to throw you off this balcony." It was a tiny Frenchman, and his companion was 6'3". 😆

Thanks for reading to the end! I wish you all a pleasant week.

God be with you,

Elder Tolman