13 September 2021
Hey there everyone! This week has been insanely busy, so you’re going to get a day-by-day report.
As I mentioned last week, on Monday, we did a zone p-day. We played field games, egg tossing, and capture the flag. It was super cool to get to know the people in my zone.
Tuesday was zone conference! My companions and I had to get up at 5:00am so we could all get ready for the day and be in Grand Island, Nebraska, by 8:00am. GI is about an hour west of Lincoln, so we got to see the sun behind us rise over all the corn. Zone Conference was pretty awesome. We talked a lot about being an obedience missionary so that we could hear the promptings of the Spirit more. We also had a guy from Salt Lake come and talk to us. I forget his name, but he’s in charge of all the cars that the Church provides for missionaries. (he wasn't anyone big, he was just some guy who worked for the Church) That was kinda cool. I met a lot of people at zone conference, and it was pretty cool to get out of Lincoln and get a change of scenery for a few hours.
On Wednesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and spent the day working in their area. Elder Eich and I went with Elder Waite (from Bunkerville, Nevada). We called a LOT of people. I’m not sure about the exact amount of people we called, but its probably around 150. From that 150, only about 30 answered, and only about 10 wanted anything to do with us. The highlight of that day was teaching a lesson in SPANISH to a woman named Connie. Elder Waite and I taught her the Restoration. Connie was so patient with my terrible Spanish. I haven’t used it hardly at all since leaving the MTC, so it took me a minute to remember all the things I needed to say. But the Spirit was so strong as we spoke about Jesus Christ and his restored gospel. We left Connie with a Libro de Mormon and she said she would read it. It was pretty awesome.
On Thursday, we went to Nebraska City because the sisters there had a friend on date for baptism and Elder Smith conducted her baptismal interview. Nebraska City is about 50 minutes east of Lincoln, so once again, we drove past cornfield after cornfield. Once we got to Neb City, we grabbed dinner at a taco truck. These were some dang good tacos. On our way home from Neb City, we knocked some doors of some people in the far corners of our area. We were out until it was pitch dark and I said to my companions, “Is it weird that I kinda miss light pollution?” Haha.
Friday was a pretty typical day. Nothing too crazy happened. We spent most of the day in the apartment, mostly just calling people or doing Facebook shenanigans. We met with our friend Justina that night to make sure she didn’t have any questions about how baptism and confirmation worked.
On Saturday morning, Justina was baptized! It was so exciting! There were so many people from the ward who were there to support her. She was baptized by her friend Reese Schmickrath. She bore a beautiful testimony about how the gospel has changed her life, just in the short month that she has been learning.
Sunday was good ole church. I confirmed Justina a member of the Church and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. That was a really cool experience for me. I was so nervous, and maybe the blessing I gave was not perfect, but what’s important is that I got all the words right that I needed to for that ordinance to be done correctly, and Justina is now a member of the Church! It was so great! After church, was Nebraska City’s baptism, so we had to get that all set up and went to that.
This week was a pretty awesome week! I appreciate all the emails I get. I do read each of them, I just can’t respond during the week and sometimes I forget to respond on P-day. I love you all!
Until next week,
Elder Aldrich
Fotos:
1. Holmes Lake District
2. Taco 'bout an epic picture
3. Justina's baptism
