6 October 2014
Overview: So I've decided to just share with some of the major points
that I learned from all the talks during conference. I seriously think
this was one of the best conferences. They are either getting better
or I am getting more into them. But I'd love to hear some of what you
have learned from this weekend!
Some of what I learned from Conference:
-Perfect love casteth out all fear.
-Do good without being recognized.
-Do your part AND IT WILL COME.
-Love all people, be good listeners and show sincerity.
-Kindness is power, especially in a family setting.
-Teach our children the POWER, not routine of prayer.
-I may not be my brothers keeper but I AM MY BROTHERS BROTHER.
-Be a righteous example. Concerning will teach. Strengthen the Home.
Provide opportunities to participate in ordinances. Value of work. Set
example of faithful gospel service. It is our most important calling.
[Brother & son] are the callings in which we are never released. Never
be too busy and caught up in life when an opportunity to teach of a
true principle.
-Show me, counts more than tell me. Trust a priesthood holder and
it'll change his life. Trust does more than we know.
-Revelation does not come easy
-1)prayer - CHOOSE to converse with God. 2) study the word of God and
living prophets - read, study and PONDER, Feasting upon the word of
God is more important than SLEEP WORK AND SCHOOLWORK. 4) go to the
temple! SEEK HIM BETTER. These must be HABITS.
-Be better, kinder and more thoughtful. Show our respect.
Monday:
Pday: studies, unpacked Elder Adamson, drove to GCC for
emailing/lunch. Shopped. Went to church. CAN NOW PLAY SPORTS! Went to
the office for the departing missionary FHE.
Departing missionary FHE: got there a bit early and finished emailing.
The others were finishing up watching 'Meet the Mormons'. Helped load
up stuff. Got dropped off at the mission home with Elders Dodge and
Kinghorn (not going home but finally got his visa after 11 months to
Brazil). Had a spiritual thought given by Sister Villanueva about
gifts we have received on our missions. Elder Christensen's parents
were there who were mission presidents and his dad is now director of
operations at the MTC (he gave me a card after talking to him about
wanting to work with him at the MTC and said to give him a call and
he'd put in a good word for me) they gave some advice for returning
missionaries (stay active!). Then we had some amazing dinner made by
Sister Villanueva. It was some of the best flank steak I've had ever.
While we ate we went around and talked about experiences we have had
during our missions. Then we had desert and talked some more until the
families housing those missionaries came to get them. I waiting for my
companions to pick me up while talking to one of Presidents sons. They
came and President gave them some ice cream. Then drove home!
Driving home from the Villanueva's there was a biker who flew past us
going 100+ with a cop tailing him. They went out of sight a few
seconds passed and we saw smoke coming from around the bend and
everyone was slowing down and people pulling off to the side and we
drove past slowly and saw half of this bike in the middle of the road
and no person to be seen.
Tuesday:
Studies
GCC booth - elder Adamson at the piano getting people's numbers and
playing a song according to their number. Some guy asked if I was
high. Elder Adamson asked for some girls info and she said that she
had a boyfriend...
Lunch at GCC - frosts told us probs not to invite more people because
of budget - buzzkill
Dropped off zls at pad - did studies, Tavo falling asleep so we took a
walk and studied.
Knocked w. Thompson - a lot of no's. Got kicked out of a big complex.
Got kissed on the cheek by an old lady who was impressed by my
Armenian.
Tavo driving - ran red light, stuck in intersection, getting honked at
for things his fault and he getting mad at them.
Maria called and asked if we would give her dad a blessing - drove up
there talked to silva and she said the doctors were over there so we
couldn't right then. Asked her what she thought of church and she
tried to establish that she already had a church. Asked her if ah had
any questions and she said she did but we could talk about it some
other time.
Picked up zls and Armos for dinner at in n out. Ran into the sisters
there and met the new sister from North Carolina. Got call from Encino
elders who wanted us to go give a blessing to someone down here in
glendale. Stopped by McDonald's for ice cream on way to church for
visits.
Visits with leadership: went with Bradley to give the blessing to Mike
who might have been homeless Mike. Wasn't home. Stopped by Bella's.
Saw Emanoel but Bella wasn't home. Taught Aylin and Zhorants.
Lesson with Aylin and Zhorants: they had guests over but let us in
regardless. Zhorants came over and started to talk to Bradley about
work and such. Their guests left and we shared a scripture with them
from Mosiah 18 how the people didn't receive a greater joy and faith
in Christ until after they DID something/made a covenant with God.
Also invited them to watch conference and they said they would.
Wednesday:
GCC Booth - started out just Elder Tavoian and I... Not many people
there. Zls show up due to PCC being closed. Elder Adamson and I go
over to the piano again in the plaza of campus and someone was already
playing it. Elder Adamson starts talking to the guy about how long he
had played and then the guy asks Adamson to play something and then
tells him to throw down a beat. So sure enough Elder Adamson whips up
this amazing tune on the fly and this guy starts flowing (freestyle
rapping) and it was tight! There were some Armenians girls sitting
nearby and I started talking to them about the music and they noticed
my tag and asked if I could speak it and after I said yes and spoke
with them for a bit they were seriously speechless and asked me to sit
down and explain more and whatnot. So I obliged and they were
seriously so amazed it was awesome. One of them called another friend
on the phone and tell her to come over and hear me talk. So we went
back and forth between talking about the freestyle rap going in the
background as people are just crowding around to hear, these girls
were filming me and having me talk to their friends and having me show
them that I could write in Armenian too. It was awesome. The song
finished after a while and we all started clapping and we talked to
them a while longer, had them add us on Facebook and tag us in the
video they made and then headed out for lunch at the institute. One of
the most successful days on campus for sure!
Finished language study at the pad
Lesson with Elin & Hermine: We had a really good lesson with them.
Elin has really opened up to us and Hermine was still just shimmering
from her baptism. We followed up on their thoughts on the baptism and
we were all very happy that her husband and son came. She said they
arent necissarily opposed to her baptism but just they themselves
joining another church. Hratch explained that they will eventually
come around especially when they see the difference in Hermine. Elin
said she noticed a difference in her mom since Sunday. She said she
just felt and looked clean. We said a prayer and reviewed with Elin
The gospel of Jesus Christ. She remembered all of the principles and
what they meant. We briefly had to reexplain enduring to the end. She
is progressing and remembering rather well. We then talked the 10
Commandments, keeping the Sabbath day holy and the law of chastity. We
taught her using our finger motions. We reviewed it a few times and
Hermine seemed to enjoy it as well. We also followed up with her
praying and reading. She had read some and they have been praying
together. Elin said the closing prayer with the help of Hermine. It
was so adorable. They are just so awesome, so much love for them!
Hratch gave a porcelain angel doll after the lesson which was super
nice of him. I think he enjoys being in the lessons because he doesn't
get to teach his grandkids the gospel because his daughter is against
it. So it's good for us all to teach them! We even gave Hermine the
Armenian copy of the Children's Book of Mormon which she was thankful
for.
Dinner with zone leaders at Panda - Elder Adamson showed us his new
bicycle basket which is a plastic crate zip tied to his bike with a
big poster on it that says 'mormon.ord'. It was hilarious. For dinner
Elder Tavoian had four servings... It's a good thing we biked today.
Knocked W. Milford - guy told me to go fly way, met nice atheist guy
who doesn't want kids and feels he is completely peaceful with his way
of life being married and playing video games in the free time.
Lesson with Mike: so background on this Mike. We got a call from the
Encino elders yesterday telling us that a former who is Armenian
partly just moved here to glendale...well just went from being
homeless to a smart apartment on the west side of town. We had been
told he had been very depressed and needed a blessing. Tried by
yesterday, wasn't home. So we tried by again tonight and he was there
and let us in. He just sat down on his bed and started crying. Telling
us he was going through a hard time. Some of his stuff had been thrown
away from his previous temporary residence, he felt like he was not
good luck and bad things happen to others when he is around them and
he was contemplating just giving into Satan and forsaking his faith in
God. We sat down on the floor with him and began to teach him our
purpose. He listened intently as we told him of the real power of the
adversary trying to keep him from the path of God and that he was the
master of all lies. We told him that it would be hard to get back into
the right path and feel of the peace he does at church. He said he
would do anything to keep that in his life. So we told him we'd pray
and cast abut any bad spirits that were in his life or in his
apartment. Which we did and there was a big difference in the spirit.
To add to that we showed 'Because of Him' which he liked and we taught
him that it was all because of Jesus Christ that we can overcome our
trials and learn from them. The after setting the expectation of
meeting with him as often as possible we gave him a blessing. By the
end of our visit not only had the spirit changed and was very strong
but his countenance had changed and he could physically feel the
difference. It was a very, very good blessing given by Elder Tavoian
and Mike even said those were powerful words. He thanked us and we
left. We are looking forward to meeting with him again. It was a
testimony to me of the power of the priesthood which we hold that was
able to improve this mans life. This is the power we want all to have
in their lives! I think the most exciting thing about the lesson was
that afterwards Elder Tavoian felt how powerful the blessing was that
he had given and he was pumped about it and was truly happy and
excited to do missionary work! It was cool to see his testimony and
faith grow from the spirit and his priesthood.
We rode our bikes to Andranik & Margarit to find out what they had
said on the phone to Elder Tavoian Monday night when I was away. We
pulled up and the called out through the screen that they had guests
and Margarit from the background said "I thought we told them we
wouldn't be able to accept visits anymore" I explained that he didn't
understand the phone call and so she explained again that they
wouldn't change their minds and come to a different church and they
wouldn't need us to visit anymore. They thanked us for the time we had
spent with them but said they weren't going to change. We bore
testimony of the Church and invited them to continue to pray and ask
God why it was we met them because it wasn't coincidence. They still
love us but just not looking to change at this time.
Rode down to see if Ragned was home but it was only Rima. She told us
that they hadn't seen us in a while due to her sister from Canada
living with them for the past few months and just left yesterday. She
told us that before I leave we needed to visit so we told them to have
her kids call us when they want a visit.
Rode down to Rostome's. Wasn't home. Left a note on the door again.
Stopped by Jons to get quarters for laundry.
Thursday:
District Meeting - talked about our missionary purpose. I compared it
to two stories in the Book of Mormon. One where the Lamanites were
fighting for their families and had half as many warriors but still
overcame the Nephites who were wicked at that time; and the other was
when the Nephites along with the stripling Warriors were fighting for
their freedom, families and their GOD. With the comparison I pointed
out that a strong motivation can produced a desired result but if that
desired result is to be lasting it needs to be a motivation centered
on God and Jesus Christ.
Lunch at Taco Bell - saw again the lady who is the narrator for 'Meet
the Mormons', is a comedian and may be the new AFV host. One of her
coworkers who is also a member paid for our lunch!
Language study with the other Elders
Visited Minas Sarkissian - about to leave, said not to believe bible,
didn't even want to take a picture with me :(
Knocking Spazier - knocked one building and almost every apartment
said we could come back another time and share a message.
Got a call from Elders Parkin and Pope saying there was a member there
at the church who wanted to move his records to our group. So we go
over there to the church and meet his man named Sam. Has been a member
for a little over a year. Has lived in Glendale for a month. Owned a
restaurant in Santa Monica but just sold it three months ago. Works
for goober. Has one son who lives with him his name is Elvan? he is 24
years old and has learned about the church, he has read the book of
Mormon but he hasn't decided to be baptized. He has gone into the
temple to do baptisms when he was a member for eight months. He looks
forward to doing his father's work in the temple. He has a very very
strong testimony of Jesus Christ and of this church and how it is true
and started tearing up when telling us in the chapel how he knows this
is the church God wants him to be in. He is a chef and is a master at
making Persian food. He went through LDS job center and found a
culinary school that he will be starting in November that will last 10
weeks. He wants to open a international food restaurant. He wants us
to help him with his English so he will be able to better speak and
testimony meeting and share all of the points that he has to share. He
said he wanted to come to church last Sunday but was given the wrong
address. He will talk to Bishop on Sunday and ask him about the ward
and if he should stay. He said if the bishop wants him to stay then he
will stay. So basically he is going to be leadership in our group.
Visited some potentials in Burbank
Lesson with Hayrapet & Arekgas: They let us in and were very nice to
us. They asked us what we has missionaries did and we told them that
we teach people about Jesus Christ and specifically more about our
basic beliefs and our church. They had never heard of the Mormon
church where of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And
they told us that we needed to teach to younger people who weren't
mature and had been raised in such a faithful way to God and Jesus
Christ. Hayrapet related it to them being a wise big tree that
wouldn't be moved in a different way. We went along with the analogy
and told them that we help people bring forth more fruit and give
shade to others. We said an opening prayer and Hayrapet started crying
and told us that he was very sensitive to the spirit. We taught him
and his wife about the first two pages in the restoration pamphlet.
When we asked them what they saw in the first picture they told us
they saw the lamb being humble and clean. They told us that we all
needed to be clean and we expounded and said that we teach people how
to do so. We left the pamphlet with them and told them to read it and
that we would come back next week. They seem to really enjoy our visit
and the spirit that we brought.
Dinner with Bradley
Tried to visit Hambarsoom with the other Elders - not home
Lesson with Michael & Mark Matanyan in Van Nuys: We had a really good
visit and lesson with them about baptism. We asked how Mark felt now
that he had been baptized and if he had felt a difference. He was
pretty shy the whole time and didn't say very much. But he told us
that he felt good and felt to clean. We showed them the baptism of
Jesus Christ video by John the Baptist and then read from second Nephi
31. We taught them why Jesus Christ was baptized and why when he
needed to be baptized as well. We then drew out a diagram which
explained that before baptism we exercise faith, repent and then
baptism is the gate to entering into the path of eternal life. Aram
said that next week we could come over again and they would make us
some barbecue and we could have another lesson.
Friday:
Had to go up to GCC to teach a lesson with the zls to Maria who is
someone that I originally talked to up at GCC! She had to work though
so she wasn't able to make it.
Back to the pad to finish studies
Lunch with the zls at Chipotle
English lesson with Sam at the Church - his whole purpose with wanting
to learn English is to serve in the Church. He said that the rest of
his life he is dedicating/consecrating all of his efforts to God and
this church. He said his old life is gone and this is all he needs
now.
Weekly planning
Lesson with Mary G. Online: She messaged me on Facebook to promote her
novel that she is trying to kickstart. I explained to her that I was a
missionary and wouldn't be able to go onto the site that she was
promoting. We started talking about my missionary service, where I was
serving and how I enjoyed the service. I started asking her if she had
learned very much about what we as missionaries do or ever been to
church. She had heard some since she has grown up in Utah and she has
even gone to a few church services and received a copy of the Book of
Mormon. She told me that she was raised Lutheran but is now agnostic
and feels that religion is man-made and used to control people and
usually for one persons gain. I taught her that in our view we have
the church to come together in unity and participate in ordinances to
bring us closer to God, feel His spirit and be more like Him. She
agreed to meet again and here why I believe this to be true.
Dinner/lesson with Mike and Bridget w/the other Armenian Elders - they
ordered the new pretzel pizza from little Ceasars which instead of
tomato sauce has pretzel cheese in it. We were over there for a while
unfortunately. I FED A SQUIRREL. And we talked to them about watching
conference and then Bridget told us that she had gone to a pet psychic
for pinkie (her dog).
Tried by Mike - his door was open but no one was answering. Stopped by
Dalar and Devin's place and the lights were on but once we started
calling them from the front door they turned off the lights. We walked
out to the curb afterwards and saw they turned the lights back on and
were peering at us through their window.
Finished planning at the other Elder's pad.
Saturday:
Morning session of General Conference at the Central Building:
Tried to go see Ashot - he had called the other Elders and set up an
appointment with them but he wasn't answering the door at his home.
Went back to the church and did some language study
Afternoon Session of conference:
Dinner at Los Gringos Locos
Priesthood session @ Stake center:
Lesson with Mike: so the other Elders drop us off at Mikes tonight and
we walk up and he is in there with another guy (found out it was his
dad) and they are arguing and Mike is getting frustrated setting up
this tv. His dad left as we were coming in and Mike explained to us
that he wasn't in a good place and whatnot saying he was having a lot
of hard times and pains. So we explained to him that the gospel of
Jesus Christ can help him regardless of what difficulties or pains we
have in life. He said he had read some of the pamphlet we left with
him. We quickly reviewed it and told him that through his example of
following Christ he can have a positive effect on others around him
including his family. He wanted to know how so we showed him the Daily
Bread video and he liked it. We taught the rest of the restoration to
him and he was blown away at the first vision that God the Father
would appear to Joseph Smith agreeing that if that was all true that
it is the most important message we have to learn about. He read the
first vision and said that his favorite part was "this is my beloved
son". We told him that we can come to know these things through the
Book of Mormon and to pray about it. At this point the zone leaders
actually show up and end the lesson with him saying the closing prayer
that was really sincere and heart felt and he said he felt really good
afterwards. We committed him to keep doing those daily things to give
his spirit nourishment.
Sunday:
Morning session of conference in Armenian with group @ Wilson building
- found out that it isn't so hard to understand Armenian conference
after all if you pay attention and try! Had a good group turn up -
Anoush, Arousiak, Rita, Hratch & Armen, Kristina, Jerry and Sam came!
And there was a nice set up of breakfast that was provided by Brother
Turley.
Cleaned up and waited for the other Elders to get back from visiting
Armen Avakian which took forever for some reason...
Afternoon session of conference @ central building - I honestly was
sad when President Eyring said that it was the conclusion of the
sessions.
Went with Armen Avakian and his friend Burt (who was quite the
interesting fellow and is rather anti-mormon and gives a lot of
material to Armen) to forest lawn to go pray at his dad's gravesite.
It was funny because Armen had Burt say a prayer and he kept
mentioning and asking that we would all find truth and not listen to
the liars... Rather humorous.
Studied at church - I feel like all my questions were answered
completely how they needed to be. To the point it is humorous. Who
knew that God could help me understand an answer to the question of
'what minor should I choose: Chinese or economics'!
Went back to the other Elder's pad and had some dinner/leftovers from
Big Birtha the night previous.
Tried to go visit some people: Couldn't bike because Elder Tavoian
didn't have his bike helmet, Souren Aghakhanyan and his family said to
come back tomorrow, Zhorants was home but studying for a test he was
taking for his citizenship tomorrow morning and said he didn't even
have time for us to come pray with him nor did he watch conference.
Tried to go by Anthony's but the apartment he used to live in with his
grandma is completely empty... Not sure where they moved.
Finished putting in lessons/found out Elder Miller is engaged after
being home for a little over 3 weeks.
Elder Tanner DeBry
No comments:
Post a Comment