Dear Family,
Life is good in Gilroy. The garlic harvest is in full swing. We see truck after truck full of the “stinking rose” make its way through town to packaging plants where they are prepared to be shipped across the country. It’s hard to believe that in just three days the populations of this small city will more than triple. We are set to cook on Saturday at the festival. The weather is set to be perfect, upper 80’s to low 90’s. It should be a good opportunity to meet and talk to lots of people. The entire 101 shuts down with traffic on festival weekend.
It has been a bit of a transition having sisters in the branch. The Morgan Hill zone now has seven sisters. We are very grateful to have the added help in the branch. Our work has been a little interesting. The summer months usually are. Our investigators are trying to work as much as possible while jobs are a bit more abundant in the fields. This has made it really tough for them to get to church. Luckily, we have been reactivating a fair amount of less active members.
We continue to focus on working with the ward councils across the zone. It has been an interesting experience to see how each ward brings their flavor and spirit to missionary work. No unit is ever the same.
This Friday will be the first zone leader council with President Watkins. We are expected to receive some new key indicators to help us strengthen current weak points within the mission, contacting and baptismal invitations.
When I arrived to the mission we had a culture of extending the baptismal invitation in every lesson. We are working to bring back this culture. Somehow, we have slowly lost this culture. It is essential. The majority of the investigators that I have seen enter the waters of baptism accepted the invitation in the first lesson. The Lord really has prepared his children to receive his gospel. Sometimes we let our personal fears get in the way of helping them receive it. We have to have faith that there are always people who are ready to receive us if we will do what is necessary to find them. As members realize this, we see more and more success.
One last thought. I want to warn you all that I will not be “trunky” (trunky – adj. a state of looking forward to finishing the mission a.s.a.p. only to be disappointed because you want to go back upon your release). I miss you all very much, but I love being a missionary. I look back on the tough times and know that they are well worth it. I have seen so many blessings over the last few months. I hope you have seen the blessings too. I am constantly grateful that I don’t have to worry about the situation back home. Not all missionaries are that fortunate. As I begin to hear from my friends who have already completed their missions I think about how I want to spend the last few months. My plan is to come home completely and utterly exhausted (expect me to fall into a small sleep coma).
Love,
Elder Badger
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
I am grateful I am staying
Dear Family,
I have fantastic news. I’M STAYING!!!! I am really glad. Elder Smoot and I will be together for a third transfer. We already have some baptisms lined up and are excited to see the success continue. There are a few changes to our work. The area has been split again. We have relinquished the north area to sisters. We are a little bummed because we lose some of our recent converts, but glad that we will have some help with the heavy load of work we have had for the last few weeks. There will be some adjusting as we put the ward mission process into action for two sets of missionaries, but we are flexible. It will save our miles quite a bit.
We are still experiencing the blessings from President Watkins visit to the Gavilan Branch last week. It was his visit that likely caused the area to be split. At a recent training meeting, President Watkins told all the elders present to call us if they need to understand how to work effectively with a ward council. Apparently, this is in response to a conversation President Watkins shared with President DeSalmones. President DeSalmones had attributed a large portion of the changes in ward council to our recent efforts. We feel like we have done nothing; the branch is so awesome the changes seemed natural.
I am also glad that I am still a zone leader in the Morgan Hill Zone. This means that I am blessed to learn from President Watkins in Zone Leader council meetings and leadership training meetings. The zone leader council seems to be one of the most candid places to interact and learn from president. At these meetings, we discuss the meat and potatoes of the San Jose Mission. With President Jackson, these meeting usually involved Sister Jackson telling the assistants to take the microphone away from President because he was using it to sing instead of teach.
I hope you had a good weekend with all of the Badger family in town. With the results of the transfer, It looks like my chance of finishing my mission in the San Jose South stake and having Alli’s ward within my boundaries is very high. It is the most likely place for me, as a zone leader, to end my mission.
Love,
Elder Badger
I have fantastic news. I’M STAYING!!!! I am really glad. Elder Smoot and I will be together for a third transfer. We already have some baptisms lined up and are excited to see the success continue. There are a few changes to our work. The area has been split again. We have relinquished the north area to sisters. We are a little bummed because we lose some of our recent converts, but glad that we will have some help with the heavy load of work we have had for the last few weeks. There will be some adjusting as we put the ward mission process into action for two sets of missionaries, but we are flexible. It will save our miles quite a bit.
We are still experiencing the blessings from President Watkins visit to the Gavilan Branch last week. It was his visit that likely caused the area to be split. At a recent training meeting, President Watkins told all the elders present to call us if they need to understand how to work effectively with a ward council. Apparently, this is in response to a conversation President Watkins shared with President DeSalmones. President DeSalmones had attributed a large portion of the changes in ward council to our recent efforts. We feel like we have done nothing; the branch is so awesome the changes seemed natural.
I am also glad that I am still a zone leader in the Morgan Hill Zone. This means that I am blessed to learn from President Watkins in Zone Leader council meetings and leadership training meetings. The zone leader council seems to be one of the most candid places to interact and learn from president. At these meetings, we discuss the meat and potatoes of the San Jose Mission. With President Jackson, these meeting usually involved Sister Jackson telling the assistants to take the microphone away from President because he was using it to sing instead of teach.
I hope you had a good weekend with all of the Badger family in town. With the results of the transfer, It looks like my chance of finishing my mission in the San Jose South stake and having Alli’s ward within my boundaries is very high. It is the most likely place for me, as a zone leader, to end my mission.
Love,
Elder Badger
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Life in Eden
Dear Family,
Once again, it has been an almost perfect week. I am sure that you are getting tired of hearing about my practically perfect life as a missionary. I had my interview with President Watkins and we both agreed that things are perfect. At times this scares me because it means that any change would be for the worse. I hope that isn’t the case.
This last weekend we were blessed to witness the baptism of Simon Orduna. It was one of the best baptisms since arriving in Gilroy. Until Thursday night, we weren’t sure if it was going to happen. As we sat down in the lesson, we thought that the baptism was off. Throughout the lesson we focused on inviting the Spirit. We taught about faith by using the story of Peter walking on water. We used a little bit of Oobleck to demonstrate the principle (cornstarch and water). It was actually really fun. I love how creative we are able to make our lessons. As the principle became clearer to Anaberta (Simon’s mother), she asked us if we could do the baptism on Friday at 8 instead of 7. Her answer shocked us so much that we had to ask, “Do what Friday at 8?” With about twenty-four hours of confirmation Simon was baptized Friday at 8. It was a very spiritual baptism. Everybody involved in the fellowship process participated in the program. Brother Arriola performed the baptism for his nephew. The Spirit especially impacted his mother who is even more anxious to put things in her life in order so she can be baptized.
The only kink in the whole week was the fact that Simon got sick between his baptism and his confirmation. Fortunately, he stuck it out and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and a blessing of health at church on Sunday. He is the pioneer in his family. We hope that the rest of the family will soon follow.
Another reason we were grateful for an awesome week was the visit we received from President Watkins. The assigned speakers in Sacrament meeting were President Watkins, Elders Smoot, and I. It was a very missionary oriented meeting. Before Sacrament meeting, President Watkins joined us in our branch council meeting. It was one of the best branch council meetings of my mission. A lot of our recent efforts have really been paying off. At the end of the meeting, President Watkins made his first comment of the day. He talked about how awesome the meeting was. It was centered entirely on people. Most ward councils have the tendency to get distracted with programs and events, but our meeting was people oriented. This gives us lots of work for the entire week. All in all, I think President Watkins was thoroughly impressed by the Gavilan branch.
Love,
Elder Badger
Once again, it has been an almost perfect week. I am sure that you are getting tired of hearing about my practically perfect life as a missionary. I had my interview with President Watkins and we both agreed that things are perfect. At times this scares me because it means that any change would be for the worse. I hope that isn’t the case.
This last weekend we were blessed to witness the baptism of Simon Orduna. It was one of the best baptisms since arriving in Gilroy. Until Thursday night, we weren’t sure if it was going to happen. As we sat down in the lesson, we thought that the baptism was off. Throughout the lesson we focused on inviting the Spirit. We taught about faith by using the story of Peter walking on water. We used a little bit of Oobleck to demonstrate the principle (cornstarch and water). It was actually really fun. I love how creative we are able to make our lessons. As the principle became clearer to Anaberta (Simon’s mother), she asked us if we could do the baptism on Friday at 8 instead of 7. Her answer shocked us so much that we had to ask, “Do what Friday at 8?” With about twenty-four hours of confirmation Simon was baptized Friday at 8. It was a very spiritual baptism. Everybody involved in the fellowship process participated in the program. Brother Arriola performed the baptism for his nephew. The Spirit especially impacted his mother who is even more anxious to put things in her life in order so she can be baptized.
The only kink in the whole week was the fact that Simon got sick between his baptism and his confirmation. Fortunately, he stuck it out and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost and a blessing of health at church on Sunday. He is the pioneer in his family. We hope that the rest of the family will soon follow.
Another reason we were grateful for an awesome week was the visit we received from President Watkins. The assigned speakers in Sacrament meeting were President Watkins, Elders Smoot, and I. It was a very missionary oriented meeting. Before Sacrament meeting, President Watkins joined us in our branch council meeting. It was one of the best branch council meetings of my mission. A lot of our recent efforts have really been paying off. At the end of the meeting, President Watkins made his first comment of the day. He talked about how awesome the meeting was. It was centered entirely on people. Most ward councils have the tendency to get distracted with programs and events, but our meeting was people oriented. This gives us lots of work for the entire week. All in all, I think President Watkins was thoroughly impressed by the Gavilan branch.
Love,
Elder Badger
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Meeting President Watkins
Dear Family,
Once again, it has been a very busy week. Fourth of July has made the work a little challenging this last week, since half of the branch decided to go camping. We pushed through and made it our alive. Gilroy is one of the only cities in the area that allows people to buy fireworks. As such, driving the streets on the Fourth of July was a little like driving through a war zone. It was really smoky.
Last Thursday, we met President Watkins for the first time. He has hit the ground running. The mission didn't skip a beat. Obviously, it is an adjustment from President Jackson. It was amazing to see the different in teaching styles. President Watkins teaches very conceptually and likes to draw lots of things on the board. It reminds me a lot of some of my favorite college professors. It left me with a lot of notes to review. I liked it.
Next week, President Watkins will be speaking in the Gavilan Branch and attending our branch council. Elder Smoot and I will be sharing our testimonies along with some recent converts and returning members we have baptized or reactivated. It should be the sacrament of our dreams. We are very glad that we have already established a strong presence in ward council.
This last week, we received a referral from a member in San Jose. It is for a family. We still have a lot to teach them, but it looks very encouraging. We desperately want to baptize a family. It is really what the branch needs.
Attached I have included some of the pictures from Maria's baptism. I hope you enjoy.
Love,
Elder Badger
Once again, it has been a very busy week. Fourth of July has made the work a little challenging this last week, since half of the branch decided to go camping. We pushed through and made it our alive. Gilroy is one of the only cities in the area that allows people to buy fireworks. As such, driving the streets on the Fourth of July was a little like driving through a war zone. It was really smoky.
Last Thursday, we met President Watkins for the first time. He has hit the ground running. The mission didn't skip a beat. Obviously, it is an adjustment from President Jackson. It was amazing to see the different in teaching styles. President Watkins teaches very conceptually and likes to draw lots of things on the board. It reminds me a lot of some of my favorite college professors. It left me with a lot of notes to review. I liked it.
Next week, President Watkins will be speaking in the Gavilan Branch and attending our branch council. Elder Smoot and I will be sharing our testimonies along with some recent converts and returning members we have baptized or reactivated. It should be the sacrament of our dreams. We are very glad that we have already established a strong presence in ward council.
This last week, we received a referral from a member in San Jose. It is for a family. We still have a lot to teach them, but it looks very encouraging. We desperately want to baptize a family. It is really what the branch needs.
Attached I have included some of the pictures from Maria's baptism. I hope you enjoy.
Love,
Elder Badger
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