Elder Joseph Janson, California Santa Rosa Mission: 12/8/14 Wet, cold weather and biking for dinner ...

So family and friends,

How are you?? It's been the usual missionary week. Except I have like
some crazy stuff to tell you!

We had a week with a bunch of lessons planned, but a bunch fell
through. We ended up only having 12 lessons, with like 28 potential
lessons. Welcome to missionary life! But we found this family a while
back, Rob is the dad. They are born again Christian, and are totally
cool with us! They want us to come next Sunday for a lesson. We gave a
house blessing for them and they loved it a couple weeks ago. They are
the coolest family. That's what the mission goal has been, to find
families, and this seems like a great opportunity.

Another time, we were trying to see a potential investigator we didn't
know yet. I was kind of annoyed, considering we had just talked to a
guy for awhile that just wanted to argue, and it is such a waste of
time. I wanted to just do something mean haha especially when I was
talking and he buzzed me! Meaning he made a buzzing sound like I was
being tested or something. I had to hold back a little, and I just
stopped talking when he did that. I was like, this guy doesn't deserve
to hear us if he's gonna be dumb, and just want to argue with us.
Anyways, we went to a less actives to see if she was there, just out
of nowhere. I felt we should. They let us right in, and the members ex
husband talked to us for a long time about how his dad was a stake
president, etc. and he just didn't do those things. He had been in
jail for most of his life for some terrible things. We really
should've been scared to be in an apartment with this guy. But we
didn't feel any fear. It was as if the spirit was comforting us. We
barely said anything, and as he talked to us about his guilt, he
eventually was so emotional he just couldn't speak, and he wants us to
come back. Sometimes I'm amazed at the influence we have when we don't
do anything!

So this is kind of funny. We have a car in our area for at least this
transfer. Elder Reeder then realizes a week or two ago that the bishop
in a near Ward he knew from his Ward in Meridian, Idaho way back when
he was a kid. He calls them and is like, "hey! I knew you guys when I
was a little kid!" Haha so we went to dinner with them on Thursday. We
thought it would be fine because we had a car, and they were about 7
miles away. But then, our zone leader tells us that President is not
happy about people getting in wrecks, so the mission will "fast" from
cars on Thursday and Friday. Great. We're like, dang it!! So what do
we do? Do we cancel? Haha nope! We get our bikes an hour before dinner
on Thursday, and bike all the way to Rincon valley Ward, across Santa
Rosa. It turns out, that side of town is anything but flat. It was
mostly uphill all the way there! But we made it, and Sis Groesbeck,
the family elder reeder knows of course, never knows we biked there
until we left! Hahaha she wasn't too happy about that!

Because of having to bike, we got some serious rain, because here
during winter it does this weird thing where it rains and it's cold.
Good thing I bought some rain pants, because we were biking to the
church, when it just starts coming down. We pull over and look crazy
pulling on our rain pants! We get to the church, and thank the lord
for rain gear. Haha it was super fun.

On Saturday we had a lesson planned with Bee, a 17 year old
investigator from a part member family. She comes to the church where
the lesson was going to be at 11, and we had figured out the night
before about a baptism at the church at 11. What do we do? We're like,
"hey we're going to a baptism Bee!" Haha she was like.. Ok! Kind of
tricked her into going to a baptism, but she was fine with it haha.

So testimony meeting in church yesterday was one of those where I feel
like the spirit was surprisingly strong. You sometimes don't expect to
feel it so strong just at church, which is bad, but sometimes church
just feels like routine. But everyone who went up just shared a
simple, powerful testimony, that just was amazing and kept me awake :)
I'm glad to be in such a church where no matter where you are, and who
is there, they all have the same knowledge that you do. They all feel
the importance of the gospel to their families and them as
individuals.

I'm so glad for the gospel and what it can do for anyone who accepts
it. I know if we remember Christ in this season, we can feel the power
of his life flow into ours. That is what the church is doing with this
"He is the Gift" initiative. Share that with everyone! It can change
the world, and can change you.

I love all of you guys!

Elder Janson