Hi! Hope you're doing well! Many things to say!
We had lessons with 4 different inactive families this week! Let's even say 4.5, cause we had a positive contact with another and set up a lesson with them. But, alas, on the nonmember friends side, 2 important lessons with people we want to start teaching fell through, so we've had a bit of tragedy in the mix.
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| Someone wasn't home for our lesson, so we took a selfie with their smoker in retaliation. |
We were making visits to people who had been previously taught when we met Gilbert. He was in a pretty rough situation and as that became more apparent in our conversation, we happened to turn to the topic of the missionaries who had taught him before. It turned out that he had made a really deep connection with one of them, and Elder Rhodes actually knows the missionary he was talking about! His first name is Talmage and he's home now. Gilbert really wanted to get back in touch with him, so we got his number and later sent it to Talmage, who told us he's actually been trying to get in touch with Gilbert for some time now, but didn't have his new number. That evening, we suddenly got a call from Gilbert. Talmage had called him, and he was absolutely overjoyed! He said their conversation gave him some much needed relief. Sadly, Gilbert was one of our lessons that fell through, but we're still in touch and we hope to meet with him soon. We're grateful he could have that tender mercy.
A part member family we've been working with had a trip this weekend, so they couldn't make it to church. We were a little put out, but we understood. HOWEVER, later that Sunday, they texted us some photos of them on the grounds of the Sacramento temple. It was a small thing, but we found ourselves brimming with pride at where they were choosing to spend their time, despite not being able to make it to a sacrament meeting. It just made us happy.
We and the Sisters all got to give talks on Sunday! It was a missionary-featured sacrament meeting. The Sisters were assigned to speak on the past week's Come Follow Me lesson and Elder Rhodes and I were given the more broad assignment of delivering a message centered on Christ. It went very well! The missionaries of Imperial Beach did a fine job, not to pat us on the back too much.
Sister Ward focused her message on the story of the good Samaritan (she kicked things off on the perfect note by starting her talk with an "Aloha!" which the congregation reciprocated 😆), Sister Snow focused hers on forgiveness and related it to little children, I focused mine on receiving spiritual confirmations (I'm happy with how it turned out! I'll include a link to it at the end if you're curious), and Elder Rhodes expounded on D&C 76:22 and bore a beautiful, powerful, commanding testimony of Jesus Christ. I might add that Elder Rhodes competed on a debate team in high school and is masterful at impromptu speeches, so when his turn came, he walked up to the podium without so much as a notecard in his hand and delivered flowing words, not looking away from the congregation once.
My birthday was on Monday! We gathered for Zone Council that morning, and Elder Rhodes broke the news to everyone, so I got to witness a room full of missionaries singing the Primary birthday song. The bishop's family had us over for part of the evening and let me pick what they were going to make for dinner and dessert. I chose fettuccine alfredo and cheesecake, and they absolutely blew me away. Elder Rhodes also made me peanut butter bars! My weaknesses were being targeted left right and center. I suppose that's a sign of a good birthday.
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| Birthday cheesecake! |
In one of our lessons this week, we decided to show the Bible video depicting when Jesus is scourged and crucified. A somber, powerful Spirit filled the room as we watched. Christ's suffering is central to what we discuss in the gospel, but it can sometimes be easy to generalize what He went through without fully processing what we're talking about. Yet, with the technology and skill available to us in video production today, we are able to see a depiction of what that suffering truly meant...
To feel a whip repeatedly cut into your back, to have a crown of thorns pushed into the top of your head, to be paraded through the streets bearing the very cross you're about to be lifted up on, to have nails driven through your palms, wrists, and feet, and then to hang from those points in a torturously painful position as your body slowly shuts down--it's almost unbearable to even watch, and yet it's somehow transfixing. Why? Because the force of Christ's resolve rested in the love He had for those around Him. From the hymn O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown, we sing, "The very foes who slay Thee have access to Thy grace."
Seeing that depiction of Christ's death initially makes me want to call upon all the pity and sorrow in the Heavens and the Earth and give it to Him. I think, "If I were standing before Him and for even a moment considered what He went through, I would burst into tears and embrace Him, crying at the very thought of the pain He felt." And yet, when I think of the motivation behind His pain, the pity grows into something more. It becomes praise. I realize that my tears before Him would not be shed in sorrow. They would be shed in inexpressible gratitude.
That depiction, already too much to bear thinking about, only covers a portion of Christ's atonement. When you bring His suffering in Gethsemane into the picture, it becomes utterly unfathomable. We ended the lesson by reading in D&C 122 about the sheer extent at which Christ can use our trials to strengthen us. Because He descended below us all, our afflictions, no matter how great and unjust, can be made to benefit us in the end. Read the second half of verse 7 to see just how far He takes this idea. The extent of Christ's suffering characterizes the reach of His atonement.
(Needless to say, that was one of the most intense lessons I've ever helped teach.)
Today was a temple p-day for our zone. This was my second time seeing the recently modified presentation of the endowment, and what stood out to me most was my gratitude for how clearly it presents the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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| The South Bay district at the temple! |
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| Elder Rhodes and I at the temple! |
Also, we found out this week that the San Diego temple is going to be closing at the end of July, and that the work being done on it is extensive enough that it's going to be rededicated. Depending on how long that takes, I probably won't be able to attend again for the remainder of my mission once it closes. That's a little heartwrenching for me, but I'm so glad I'm able to attend once per transfer till then. Temples radiate a singular sort of peace.
God be with you,
Elder Tolman
Here is that talk: https://docs.google.com/
Pictures:
Flowerz x 2:
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| Late picture from Zone Conference last week. |
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