Well, considering the fact that I am emailing you today, it would be easy to figure out that yes p-day was in fact moved to Tuesday because of library closures due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The last week of the transfer is always completely crazy. There is always that feeling of “what is going to happen?” Both of the companions want to stay, both of the companions want to leave, who will stay?, who will go?
We started the week off right with a great weekly planning session which is still pretty easy because of the lack of progress on the part of our investigators. We’ve been able to get a hold of them more now that the new year has settled down, but now we can really check for intention levels.
Wednesday, we finally had our first coordination meeting since being here in Sherman Oaks. Our Ward Mission Leader has been busy and has had some health problems, so it was great to finally meet and start working on a new ward mission plan. We had dinner later in the evening with an awesome returning member family/recent convert and talked about the purpose of going on missions. Hopefully we didn’t scare the recent convert though, he’s only 13.
Thursday we had an awesome district meeting about the importance of bearing testimony frequently and never doubting. We then went on exchanges with our district leader, Elder Mahlum. It’s nice going on exchanges with him because he covers the other half of our ward so I don’t feel like I’m leaving anything behind, plus we all live in the same apartment. As you know, I also had some bike problems that needed fixing so we got those fixed. Just to let you know, I only paid for parts and fixed everything at home.
Friday, we finished our exchange before going on a KnockOut exchange with our zone leaders. I went with Elder Nielsen and we had a good time knocking in the hills. It was nice to talk to him about past mission experiences. The members of our ward are so great, we decided to visit a family who had been under the weather for a few weeks to see how they were doing and as it turns out they were feeling much better and invited us in for dinner!
Saturday was nerve-racking. It was the day of transfer calls. We were pretty calm, all things considered. We visited a less active member family and got to know them on a more personal level which was fun and then we visited as many people in our area to get our minds off of the looming transfer calls. After knockout we visited a member and gave them blessings as they are about to have their first child and were quite nervous. On the way there, I noticed that one of my pants was developing a tear in the back, a place where I shouldn’t have a tear so we went home to have dinner. We ate with the other companionship, pizza and soda to celebrate transfer calls.
Sunday was spent at church followed by Elder Smith saying around of goodbyes. I feel his pain. I’ve had three six-week shafts on my mission so I’m grateful that I didn’t get another one, but at the same time, I knew how he was feeling.
Monday, thankfully despite the fact that it wasn’t preparation day we were able to find out transfers. Elder Smith as you may have guess left, he went to TARZANA!!! I am staying and I get to be companions with his trainee, Elder Postelnicu. Later in the evening, we all had dinner with one of my recent converts, John Frederickson, it was so good to see him again. He moved from Van Nuys to Sherman Oaks.
This morning, we got transfers done and over with. So far, as I can tell, Elder Postelnicu is amazing!
Elder Blodgett
California San Fernando Mission
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Category: Uncategorized