Samoan to English in 2 Weeks?

Monday, 15th of July 2013

The fire from last week was still burning, it was burning for over a week! It was the biggest fire the valley has ever seen, it was the #1 priority fire in America and 10% of all the hot shots (elite firefighters) in the nation were fighting that fire. Apparently nothing else is going to grow on the mountain for years now, the fire has done so much damage.

Sam enjoyed his week last week as the work is starting to pick up again. On Wednesday he got to go on exchanges with Elder Tusa, he is from Western Samoa and spoke no English. He went to the MTC for only 2 weeks to learn English and he has only been out in the field for 2 weeks! They had 3 hours of study together, the language barrier made it a challenge for them both. Sam was very impressed with how well he is going for only learning English for 4 weeks, he isn't afraid of going up and trying to talk to people even though he is just starting to learn the language!! Elder Tusa was so grateful to have the opportunity to work with Sam. He will make a great missionary if he continues to put in the effort to learn the language.

Last night they had a 'cool experience' (in the words of Sam) There is a less active lady whose husband isn't a member, it turns out that yesterday the ward mission leader, Doug Coburn, had visited them and her husband is now interested in taking lessons with Sam and his companion. They visited them last night and they are a great family, they even have a small black pug! He asked a lot of questions and even wrote some more questions down for next time so they can discuss them more. Its always a good sign when people ask a lot of questions and sincerely want to understand what it is they teach. Their recent convert, Sean Thomason, wants to go with them to the next lesson!

They have taught 11 lessons this week bringing it up to 18 in total. They are behind in numbers from last transfer but Elder Blanco says the work always slows down after a baptism. Sam is still loving it over there and he is still getting along well with Elder Blanco! 

Mystery Man and Fire!

Monday, 8th of July 2013

Last week has been slow for Sam since he just had the baptism of Sean and Amy, also it was the 4th of July weekend so there wasn't been a lot of people for him to teach. He only had 7 lessons. Sam and his companion have been doing more tracting that usual, but not too much more, they knocked 87 doors, 59 weren't in, 16 weren't interested, 8 were other religions and they got 4 returns appointments. One of the appointments fell through so it wasn't too fruitful. There is a reason the Apostles keep saying there is a better way of doing missionary work than tracting!

Sam had a really good experience last night, he was riding home and they got to the junctions at Tropical and Clayton, they can either take Tropical all the way to the apartment , or El Campo Grande, they decided to take El Campo Grande and took a short cut through the church car park. There was somebody parked there but it was 8:45pm. He  called out to Sam and Elder Blanco and they went over to speak with him. He asked when the church was open and they explained that it would be open on Sunday from 9am. He told them that he needed to get something off his chest. It turned out that on the 4th of July, he got drunk and went to a casino and blew his wages ($1500) Then after, a friend offered him some sort of drug which had a bad effect on him. He said he hasn't done anything like that in 5 years and that his family is more important to him than any of the stuff he did. He didn't know what to tell his wife, so they told him to be honest with her and not to lie about anything. He told them how he has met with missionaries before and it kept him out of trouble, so they talked to him for a while and left him with a prayer, a pamphlet on repentance and a Mormon.org card with their number on it. He really regretted what he had done and he was wanting to change. Sam is hoping he can meet with them again and start getting his life sorted out.

There is a huge fire on the mountains at the moment, it has been burning for nearly a week, it was started by lightning. There are 3 separate fires and with the wind it has been at 0% containment - in other words, the firefighters have no control over it! The amount of smoke in the air is amazing, Sam really didn't think a fire could push out so much smoke, he thought it was a cloud for a while until he saw the flames at the night time. Sam thinks its amazing because he would never get anything like this back home. He had his first proper storm yesterday morning, there was lightning, thunder and it rained for about 5 minutes, then it was over. The storms over there don't last very long but the roads flood really quickly!

Sam got his new best time for the Rubiks cube today, 19 seconds! He thinks it will be a while before he will beat that time though!

He also got a lot of food from a place called WinCo today because its so cheap. For $22 he got 2 cans of pringles, 80 tortillas, 2.5lbs of cereal, 1.5lbs of m&ms, 2.5lbs of fruit punch mix and 2 tins of baked beans. They have been eating a lot of tortillas lately as Elder Blanco converted Sam to them!

One of the less active families that they have been teaching gave them both camelbaks, they are so handy as its much easier to use while walking around. It hit 120°F over there, that's just below 50°C! Sam thinks he is adjusting to the heat as he is dealing with it a lot better. He now considers 100°F cool now.

Prayer & Prison

Monday, 1st of July 2013

This week Sam had another great week, Sean and Amy Thomason were baptised and confirmed, Sam did the confirmation for Amy. He was a bit nervous before the confirmation, but while he was doing it he felt fine. The Spirit was really strong at the baptism, after church yesterday Sean thanked him and Elder Blanco for knocking on their door. They are going to work with Sean so that he can get the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood as he is ready! Sam finds it amazing how fast they have both progressed, you couldn't tell that they were just baptised as it seems like they have been members for years! 

They had an interesting experience the other day, they were walking in the street and there was someone talking on their phone, as they were walking towards their bikes, he walked up to Sam and Elder Blanco and asked them what religion they were, they told him LDS, he said that he was supposed to go to prison that day for 2 years, but he prayed and somehow he got let off. He wanted to meet with them but unfortunately haven't been able to get back in contact with him. Sam loves how there are all kinds of people in Las Vegas, he thinks its great!

Sam and his family rescued a cat from the RSPCA 2 months before he left for his mission. Hunter, one of the boys who Sam is teaching, his cat had kittens so Sam was excited to see them. You can see how small they really are!

 

 

So far Elder Blanco and Sam have taught 13 lessons this week which brings them up to 64 total this transfer, that is more lessons than last! They have set a goal of 1000 doors this transfer, they don't normally do too much tracting so they are going to try and do it more and see if they get any results. They are staying together for another transfer which means Sam will probably hit his 6 months mark in this area. They finally met the NEW Mission President, Brother Ahlander, who is a really funny person who should make a great president! For P-Day they are staying in the apartment, grilling burgers and playing monopoly as it is transfer day there are no one activities.

 

Sam saw more bees as they had built a hive into the roof of the church, he was talking to the person who was removing them who said that they sometimes get Africanised bees there, but he has never seen them. He showed him his shirt where the bees were trying to sting him, he said the ones in the church were pretty tame, definitely not killer bees which Sam was very pleased to hear!

 

A New Direction

Wednesday, 24th of June

This week Sam found out the good news that his sister is expecting a baby! He was so excited and happy. He said when he comes home there will be a 1 year old that he has never met before! He made a joke that runs in the family - he wanted to know if it was a boy or girl so he knows if he will be an aunt or an uncle!

This week has been a great week for Sam, Sean and Amy had their baptismal interviews, all went well and Amy wants him to confirm her. He has never done a confirmation before so he is a little bit nervous.

Another investigator Linda is doing well, she is coming out to church every week and her husband comes quite often too. The only problem they are having is that they can rarely meet with them during the week, they either don't have time or they aren't at home.

Elder Blanco and Sam have got a new investigator called Latonia, she lost her 17 year old son 2 years ago, and it's coming up to his birthday so she's having a hard time. They taught her the plan of salvation which seemed to comfort her, and they had another appointment set up, but she wasn't at home. They have taught 11 lessons this week, 4 investigators and 3 less actives attended sacrament meeting. So far they have taught 51 lessons, it looks like they might be able to beat the number of lessons taught last transfer. This week the mission presidents switch. They will have a 'meet the president meeting' on Friday, then their first interviews with the new president next week.

Elder Harper and Sam had a disagreement about tracting, Elder Harper said it was 'the bread and butter of missionary work', but Sam said it wasn't an effective use of time and that they could focus their efforts elsewhere. There was a special missionary broadcast and they were telling the missionaries that they are going to start using computers now instead of tracting, they will use Facebook and other websites to spread the gospel. Instead of going out to knock on doors, they will use stake centres and use the computers. The whole broadcast was pretty much saying that they shouldn't spend time knocking on doors as times have changed. Everyone uses computers, smart phones and ipads, so missionary work has to change as well. Sam doesn't know exactly how its going to work, but its an exciting change ahead which he is looking forward to.

A couple of nights ago, the missionaries made pancakes. Sam added two types of syrup and a ton of condensed milk to pour over the top of the pancakes. He said it was really nice but felt sick immediately after eating them. 

Sam has realised he needs to take more photos as he saw someone doing sky writing in a plane but he didnt have his camera on him so he missed the opportunity! A photo he did take at home was his a challenge photo, he managed to fit 21 grapes in his mouth! 

The Ways of Finding People

Monday, 10th & 17th of June



Sam went on exchanges on Wednesday with another missionary, Elder Chapman. They get on really well together. They taught Shawn & Amy and Sam extended a baptismal commitment to them for June 29th which they happily accepted and they are really excited about being baptised! They are great people and they are progressing really fast. He helped them paint on Saturday and Amy bought them foot long subs for lunch! Sam loved the time he spent and it also kept him out the heat since its starting to hit 110-115°F. He enjoys being outside but only for a few minutes, then it starts to get uncomfortable so he is trying to schedule as many teaching appointments as he can!
Sam has been playing chess a lot lately and he finally beat Elder Harper who is really good and has a lot of experience playing chess. He also bought a Russian Book of Mormon which he is studying, he is in Las Vegas for 2 years so he might as well try and pick up another language while he is out there!

In 16 days Sam will have hit his 3 month mark and then in only 2 transfers time he will be at his 6 months mark! He feels like time is going really quickly over there and he is still enjoying it, even though its really hot!

They have found a new potential investigator in a really unlikely way! On exchanges Elder Blanco gave some rappers a pass along card, they threw it on the ground after he left, but someone else saw the card on the floor, picked it up and called them! She needed some inspiration so she wants them to visit her. Hopefully something will come of it!

For the first time since Sam has been over in Vegas he bought some fruit! It cost him $5 for some grapes so he probably wont be doing that again. For lunch he normally has a bagel with pepper-jack cheese, or a poached egg and chicken noodles. They have a lot of food in the apartment since the members feed them a lot.

With all the heat recently, the worst situation happened in the apartment.... the Air Conditioning broke so it got to nearly 90°F in the apartment! Sam was quick thinking and decided to freeze a bottle of water, wrapped it in a towel and used it as a 'cold water bottle' while he slept.

Same Routine, Different Day

 Monday, 3rd June 2013

 

 

If you know Sam you will know he loves weather. Since he was younger he was obsessed with hurricanes and tornadoes. Finally he saw something similar, a couple of dust devils! He loved them but he said it will probably be the closest thing he'll get to seeing a tornado!

 

The transfer for the new Mission President is soon, his 3 years service is nearly up. Elder Black and his wife will be leaving and replaced with Elder Ahlander and his wife from Provo Utah. Since Sam doesn't really get to see the Mission President much, an interview every 2 transfers (12 weeks), Sam has already had his last interview before he will be released.

 

Even though Sam has the sort of the same routine, every single day is different! The mission is definitely not boring or repetitive! He went on exchanges with the Zone Leader on Friday, they were teaching a lesson and their daughter asked them if they could perform an exorcism? They explained that they don't do those and its more of a Hollywood thing. A few minutes later a Catholic Priest walks in and starts sprinkling holy water around the place and saying a prayer, at the same time that they are trying to teach a lesson!

The investigators he has been teaching are doing well but he is worried about one of his investigators since he hasn't been meeting with them for the last couple of weeks. He went to Texas to get married and he seems to have lost interest, so Sam is hoping to spark something in him again since he was progressing really well.

 

They are up to 22 lessons so far this transfer, this time last transfer they had 20 lessons, so they are slightly ahead :)

 

It's 102°F today and it's going to be above 100 all week, peaking at 108°F on Saturday. Should give Sam a chance to adjust more!

 

There's a quote in Preach My Gospel which says when performance is measured, performance improves. The thing Sam has learned so far is that planning makes a huge difference, he needs to set long, mid and short-term goals, he plans each day how he is going to achieve his goals and he makes sure he keeps track of how he is doing, it helps him keep going! 

Below is a photo of the park where Sam goes tracting.

This is a photo of one of the streets where they also go tracting.

 

Las Vegas Temple

Wednesday, 29th May 2013

This week you will probably notice is it a Wednesday and not  a Monday! This is because it was Memorial Day on Monday so the libraries were closed. 

Sam went to the Las Vegas Temple today for an endowment session, he said it was a great experience and that the temple is beautiful!

 

 

Yesterday he found a bird on the road outside of his apartment, he was on his way to a lesson so he put the bird in some bushes where it was shaded, when he came back the bird was still alive, so he took it in and give it some water and tried to feed it, but when he woke up it was dead.

So far Sam has taught 14 lessons, he is wanting to get more than 60 lessons this transfer! One of the missionaries in his apartment got a new companion, they seem to be getting along really well, they are laughing and talking all the time, before now Sam had never heard Elder Harper talk to his companion!

 

Since Elder Blanco has been made District Leader, Sam will be going on exchanges a lot more often, so he will get the opportunity to serve with a lot more missionaries. There are two missionaries they both get on especially well with, Elder Golden & Elder Reel, yesterday they nearly flooded Elder Harper & Elder John's bathroom, which Sam thought was pretty funny!

 

Sam is starting to appreciate the atonement a lot more now, he has been learning more about it and he doesn't think anyone will ever fully comprehend what Jesus did for us. 

Weather Forecast = 40°C on Sunday!