Hello everyone!
The work seems to be both picking up!- mostly because of the 40 day ward fast that is just coming to an end. At the same time however, with transfers coming up on July 21 (everyone, including the Zone Leaders, have told us that there is a 99.99% that one of us will be leaving) and going on splits twice this month to my District Leaders Spanish area in Culver City/Marina Del Ray, it has been a struggle now more than every, especially for Elder Bigler I think, to not get frustrated with the nature of this area. All areas are different but while this one might not be very physically demanding, it does try your creativity/intellect, focus, personal dedication and diligence, patience, work ethic and testimony a little more than others... But do not worry Mom! We are both very happy/cheerful still, from past experiences I know that it is much more fun and just better to be happy. I can speak for myself, and it would probably be the same for Elder Bigler, it would take more than this for me to fold and be unhappy. It is very powerful to think of it as me folding rather than someone or something making me unhappy- I really loved hearing about that psychologist that I forgot's theory on "the Last Human Freedom" (essentially the eternal and God given gift of agency) Not to end this paragraph on an unhappy note but speaking of agency- that is one of the things that we tend to get frustrated over the most...haha
In response to an email from Mom-
It sounds like everything is A ok at home! Does Michael sound like I did in the MTC or like I do now? I am finally getting over my anxiety about whether or not I am changing as much as I would like to be and trying to ignore myself/thoughts and just work. It is hard for me to focus though as you know but I think that I am doing pretty well especially considering the area I am in right now. A member brought up at a dinner lesson recently how bad complacency is and I know that of all of my "Achilles heels" in the gospel I don't think that is it, I always have at least a little anxiety over the amount of stuff I think I need to improve on. I'm happy though so don't worry!
Elder Bigler and I have been focusing a lot of our efforts for the past couple of transfers and especially now on the Beck family. Alan Beck is an investigator who has been going to church with his wife and now two year old daughter for the past five actively. He has recently taken a huge turn towards baptism. He does not like committing to dates- it has always been a struggle with all the missionaries, including us, but with a lot of help and preparation on the Lord's part the time is finally approaching for him to get baptized. We recently made a calendar, detailing everything that he would need to do to be ready for baptism on July 17th, so that he could be sealed to his family on July 23, 2011 (their anniversary date). We told him that we are starting from square one and treating him as if he were a brand new investigator, which he thought was a great idea. We had an amazing lesson with Bishop Bolander of the Pacific Palisades ward and Brother Beck said that after much prayer and discussion his wife and him decided that he would definitely get baptized. The only problem with the date of July 17th is that his step-father is going to have a very intense surgery on Friday and he also wants a lot of his wife's (all members) family to fly in for the baptism. We are praying and talking with him about him getting baptized as soon as humanly possible and so we will see how this all works out!
We also recently picked up an former investigator, named Renate Hecht, that had previously shown little interest in taking the discussions. We have had some amazing lessons with her and she is showing, albeit slow, progress. She has expressed that she thinks that the Catholic church (her family is all from Austria and so she comes from a very devout Catholic background) is not the one true church on the earth. She said that she is currently searching for the truth! She has grown up around the church through friends, colleagues etc. She said that she would be baptized into the LDS Church but it was only a matter of time- to figure out how to minimize the pain that it would cause her family and to be 100% for sure of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Church. We are very excited about her! The only problem is that she is progressing VERY slowly because of those two setbacks and the fact that she is so busy that we can only meet with her one or two times a week.
We have been working with many less active and part-member families/people, three of whom came to church once and we are still trying to work with them to make that more consistent. Two of them suffer from fairly severe bi-polar disorder and one from depression so that is proving to be somewhat of a hindrance, but they are making progress!
My studies are going quite well! I am trying to read the entire Old Testament by the end of the summer because I have never read it cover to cover before. It is very interesting and I love how it strengthens my testimony of the restored church. I love studying about the Lord's chosen people from ancient history and thinking about that in light of today. Right now I am reading in Judges. Some scriptures I have liked in the past week have been Judges 6:14-17 when an angel appears to Gideon and calls him to deliver Israel. The Lord really calls us in our weakness and qualifies us for the work- sort of the other way around in the business, sports etc world. I also loved Deuteronomy 2:7; 4; 29: 3-4...
We also recently picked up an former investigator, named Renate Hecht, that had previously shown little interest in taking the discussions. We have had some amazing lessons with her and she is showing, albeit slow, progress. She has expressed that she thinks that the Catholic church (her family is all from Austria and so she comes from a very devout Catholic background) is not the one true church on the earth. She said that she is currently searching for the truth! She has grown up around the church through friends, colleagues etc. She said that she would be baptized into the LDS Church but it was only a matter of time- to figure out how to minimize the pain that it would cause her family and to be 100% for sure of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Church. We are very excited about her! The only problem is that she is progressing VERY slowly because of those two setbacks and the fact that she is so busy that we can only meet with her one or two times a week.
We have been working with many less active and part-member families/people, three of whom came to church once and we are still trying to work with them to make that more consistent. Two of them suffer from fairly severe bi-polar disorder and one from depression so that is proving to be somewhat of a hindrance, but they are making progress!
My studies are going quite well! I am trying to read the entire Old Testament by the end of the summer because I have never read it cover to cover before. It is very interesting and I love how it strengthens my testimony of the restored church. I love studying about the Lord's chosen people from ancient history and thinking about that in light of today. Right now I am reading in Judges. Some scriptures I have liked in the past week have been Judges 6:14-17 when an angel appears to Gideon and calls him to deliver Israel. The Lord really calls us in our weakness and qualifies us for the work- sort of the other way around in the business, sports etc world. I also loved Deuteronomy 2:7; 4; 29: 3-4...
ps I would like everyone to know that just because I am exceedingly slow at getting back to you doesn't mean your letters are not very appreciated! (In other words thank you so much!)
