Good aftermornoonevening! Wanna hear something that I've already gone off about numerous times before and that really should go without saying at this point? Time is weird! I couldn't tell ya whether we're halfway through the transfer at this point or whether it's about to end. But, in fact, it's just begun! We're only a week in, whatever that means. I'm really enjoying biking thus far! It takes a lot longer, obviously, and fumbling around with bike locks every time we stop isn't the greatest, and our pants are constantly being decked out with a trendy tire mark pattern, but despite all that, it's a real treat. Something about it just makes travel time more meaningful, and waving to people as we nyoom by has a real charm to it. It's also just been a while since I've ridden a bike, so the first day was very exciting for me. I have to constantly fight my 11-year-old "No hands!" impulse, and sometimes I'm successful.
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| This message on the side of a church we were passing made us happy. |
This week had a few exciting highlights, foremost of which was that I stitched together a new word for the sake of describing myself! I'm such a fumblemouth! Now that we have that out of the way I'll share a few of the real highlights. 😛
We had a couple lessons with Myron! He's a friend who has been taught every once in a while for the past year or so, and we were continually trying to have a lesson with him all of last transfer with no success (we finally got a lesson set up at one point but he didn't show up). This past week, we decided to give him one more shot before moving him to the backburner on our areabook. We set up a lesson for Thursday, and...he showed! We retaught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he had some genuine questions about waiting on the Lord that we helped him resolve. Elder Rhodes said that was the most engaged he's ever seen him. We set up a follow-up lesson for the next day, and he made it to that one too. With some potential momentum building, we had plans to meet every Monday and Friday. Monday arrived, and... he unfortunately cancelled on us. BUT, later that day, we were at a park making calls, and as we left, we ran into him walking his dog! AAAhahahaHAA! Gotcha! We had a friendly conversation, and though the context made it a bit of a funky dynamic, we're just glad we at least had an in-person contact with him that day. We're hopeful for the future, in any case! He just about put himself on date to be baptized in that first lesson (we put the brakes on that 😆). Much of his progress is going to be oriented around helping him keep commitments.
We also had a small miracle in the ward. We made a group in our areabook for all the unknown member records we have so we can crack down on verifying their addresses and activity status more easily. After calling several of them, we came across a sister who told us her son was in desperate need of a lesson from us. We heard a bit about the challenges her family was facing and set up an appointment with them. It was a timely call. After the fact though, we realized something. That particular record wasn't actually supposed to be in the group by the criteria we were using to add records to it! By our standards it was an accident, but by higher standards it was completely intended.
This next story is of a sacred nature, so I'll keep it brief, but a few different members have been calling us from outside the mission about their friends in Imperial Beach who need service, a Book of Mormon, or lessons. One such call came from Sister Riches, who told us about a family friend she was extremely worried about. On top of her concern for him though, she told us about a deeply spiritual experience she had that gave her the impression that his family on the other side of the veil urgently wanted to be united for eternity. What was more, this matched what his father said before his passing. Sister Riches has been prayerfully pondering on how best to support him, and is sending us a note she'd like us to deliver to him in person with the intention of opening the door to teaching him in the future. We've felt a distinct spirit about this special task and all of Sister Riches' efforts, and we're currently waiting for her note to arrive.
Partway through the week we locked our bikes at the pier to talk to some people there and then we decided to just walk to some of the nearby visits we planned to make. They were a little farther than we originally judged, so after 10 minutes or so of walking to the first one we discovered an apartment complex with a locked front gate that we had no way of getting into. Not an uncommon occurrence, but certainly not ideal with the extra time we were using. On the way back we went to the next dot on our map, an address that was so kind as to not exist. Silly people, wiping themselves from the fabric of reality. We walked farther North on the map for another visit, and guess what? Locked apartment complex. How about East? Did East have anything different to offer? Nope. The main front door was more locked than Gilderoy's heart. Or Davy Jones's, for that matter. And now I'm forgetting whether it was three or four apartment complexes, but rest assured, it was enough to be outrageous. By the second time, we began singing from Hamilton, "Alexander, I came all this way!" The silver lining? Near the end of our visits we talked with a couple on the street that just got out of their car after a long road trip and we shared a scripture with them and got their number!
Sunday was of course Mother's Day. As a result, we didn't have Ward Council that morning, so while we did graphic design work I got to watch my mom on Music and the Spoken Word! Perfect for the occasion. I'm so grateful for my mother's kindness, love, virtue, and talent. She has always been a central figure in the success and joy of my family, and I always brim with pride at the chance to talk about her. I love you mom!
Our new missionary in Imperial Beach is Hermana Archunde. She's been temporarily reassigned to San Diego, waiting to go to Lima, Peru (same mission my trainer Elder McLean was originally assigned to!). We've been excited about welcoming her here, and there have been a lot of sarcastic episodes of British accents among our two companionships, so if that's not a sign of missionary unity, I don't know what is. Amid seeing her get introduced to the ward and area, what we've been most excited for is seeing her attend the Wisdom Club for the first time (ward FHE held every Monday among the elderly members). The insights and humor therein are simply golden. And speaking of insights, a member named June gave the lesson that evening, and she shared something that blew my mind!
Various times, cunning people approached Christ and posed questions to Him in an attempt to find a contradiction in His words or accuse Him of blasphemy. On one such occasion, the Pharisees and Herodians asked Him whether it was lawful to pay taxes, in an attempt to trap Him between loyalty to government and loyalty to God. He made quick work of them, but the words He chose say more than what was in the matter at hand. He had someone fetch Him a coin and asked,
"Whose is this image and superscription?"
"Caesar's." They replied.
His response: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s."
And they marvelled at Him. (Mark 12:13-17)
I'm marvelling at Him too! His words harken back to Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The coins were made in Caesar's image, and thus were to be rendered back to him. But the people possessing the coins? They were made in God's image, and are to be rendered back to Him. How telling, that the equivalent of God's currency, the thing that He ascribes value to as we do our precious metals, is us. We have an inherent value to God, but another prophet takes this further,
"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
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I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?"
In one sense, God has already marked what is His. But nonetheless, He gives us the opportunity to mark our own faces, just as the face of a coin is engraved, rendering ourselves unto Him according to our love.
God be with you,
Elder Tolman
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| Garages that exemplify San Diego. These people have a vacation for work and then pull into a vacation when they get home! |
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