The work goes forward in Goleta......

Week of December 15^th, 2019

My week was pretty good as usual. We taught some lessons, found some new people, and all the usual stuff that happens. There aren't really any stand out things that happened either. We did have a couple ward Christmas events so those are always fun though. We also had two people at church with us. Andrew (the 12 yr old) and a newish older lady Marisue. Please keep both of them in your prayers. We are working hard to help them continue to progress!

Question:  What new thing have you learned about being a leader this month?

Answer:  One pretty cool thing I've been trying to do more of is instruct less and ask more. So when people have a problem to ask them more questions and help them come up with a solution on their own. It's super cool. Most of the time people already know the answer but just need a little direction on finding it.

Question:  Best story of the week?

Answer:  We were at the church helping the relief society set up for the Christmas party one night. And they had to hang some stuff up higher than the ladder would reach and they didn’t know what to do. So I suggested they just put the ladder on one of the tables and a couple of them laughed at me but then they ended up doing it and it worked super good. Hahahahahaha. No one got hurt in the process either so that was a plus. Women are so funny sometimes. They just need a dumb teenager who doesn't think too much to come up with a solution just questionable enough to work. So that was a pretty good one.

Sunset in Goleta, CA

Missionary in our Zone

Another missionary in our Zone

Week of December 9^th, 2019

Question:  As you know I always love a fun story.  Share a good story with me.

Answer: Alrighty I got a couple for you. So I'll start with the follow up from question 3. After the member dinner yesterday another member to us to a catholic mass. It was the first time I have been to a church that isn't ours. It was very interesting and eye opening. Helped grow my testimony that we are the true church too. Hahaha. But It was interesting to see what they do when they go to church. 

Then this is crazy. We were walking down the street and there is a guy sitting on a bench waiting for a bus. So we go up and talk with him and he was kinda off. He told us his name and immediately I recognized it cause the sisters sent us a referral with the same name a week early and told us the guy was a little weird. So we asked if he knew missionaries, and he told us the sisters came by before. So we connected the dots. Then we asked if we could visit him sometime and he said he felt more comfortable with the girls. So we told him we could visit him and share the same message but the girls probably wouldn't be able to and he said he wasn’t interested. Hahaha. So we called the sisters who sent him to us and told them and they said he was creepy and that they didn’t feel comfortable with him so they sent him to us. So we told them to stay away from people like him. It was crazy! The timing of us meeting him too cause we had tried by his house a few times and never caught him but then he was on a bench on our path. Missionary work is something else let me tell ya. Just gotta love it! 

Question:  Tell me about Goleta.  

Answer:  Goleta is it's own place but right above Santa Barbra. No one really knows Goleta so we just say its Santa Barbra. We are right on the coast and see the ocean just about every day which is the best. The ward here has about 120 active members. They fill the chapel every week. It recently got half of another ward that was dissolved so they are doing good right now. The fire I sent you a pic of was right on the mountain above us. It was super close. They got it contained pretty quick and didn’t lose any houses so it wasn’t too bad of one. Second fire I've been near now.

Playing basketball with members and my zone

Enjoying a Dew with the Zone