Driving And A Little Miracle

Well, back down to just a companionship. It was very quiet for the first few days, and our apartment feels a lot bigger without having three people there. It's a bit refreshing though because now we don't have to worry about the logistics of managing two areas, and both areas will be able to get the focus that they deserve.

Wednesday (day after transfers) we were in the car a lot. First we had our zone introduction meeting in the morning, which was really good, the mission is emphasizing refocusing on our purpose this transfer, so that's what the meeting was really focused on. After the meeting we (Elder Groesbeck, Elder Johnsrud, Elder Waite [Elder Johnsrud's new companion] and myself) went to lunch and went shopping since Elder Waite barely got here. At this point we were going to drop them off before going to Vista to see Elder Smith (our senior missionary vehicle guy) but then we ran out of time, so we all went to Vista and let Elder Smith look at our car so he could see the damage, and he told us to take it to the auto body shop the mission uses to get an estimate, so we did that. And then! We needed to go to the library to go take online surveys the Church Missionary Department sent us. And then!!! We ended up needed to drop the other Elders off at dinner after getting our groceries from their apartment. Then we drove to our apartment and went to dinner. It was great.

That night though we had something really cool happen. We were walking back towards home to go in for the evening when this guy came up to us in the parking lot we were walking through. If you have ever heard of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) it is a trail that goes from the Mexico border, up the west coast, all the way to the Canada border. Well, on this trail, there are people called "trail angels" that will help out the hikers. This guy calls himself a "missionary trail angel" and to make a long story short, ended up getting us some California burritos and horchata from a restaurant in the parking lot called Senor Panchos, more commonly referred to as "The Taco Train." It was pretty awesome and super amazing of that person to do that. And he does something similar whenever he sees missionaries! The coolest thing. He isn't a member! He just does it because he has friends who are LDS and really respects them and us missionaries, and because he is just a great person!

Other than that this week was pretty quiet. We are just trying to do a lot of member work and helping our ward to get more excited about doing missionary work. So it's something that will take a bit of time, but like a train it will start off slowly but when it picks up it will be unstoppable!

Spiritual thought for the week!

I studied the first part of 3 Nephi this week, and in chapter 9 when the Savior talks while the land is covered in darkness, there is a verse that I really liked, verse 14 says, "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." This really is how the Savior is. He is not sitting, waiting to kick us all out of heaven because we didn't measure up. He is waiting for us to turn to Him so He can heal us, can change our hearts, can make us better. He loves all of us. I have learned this so much on my mission as I have felt the love that Jesus Christ has for those I serve. It is marvelous.

Love,

Elder Wixom