for about a month, it was pretty cool, and the shade was nice. I'm not
exactly sure if they were clouds, or if it was just the crazy amounts
of smoke that has been coming from foothills that are north of my
area. The next day, when me and my companion came outside, our bikes
were covered in ash. I've never seen ash fall from the sky like it has
the last couple of days. Also, getting ash in your eyes is horrible,
it happened several times throughout the day as we rode our bikes down
the street.
I don't know who told me that the weather was going to be cool and
nice all year, because it has been hotter than Satans butt crack out
here. When we were riding our bikes by the bank 2 days ago, the
thermometer said it was 108 degrees, now that's messed up. I know what
you're thinking especially if anyone in Arizona is reading this, 108
really isn't that bad, but if you have to ride your bike around all
day, ooohhhh how the game changes, I remember when I used to think 120
was bad, as I sat in my house turning up the AC. My companion keeps
telling me that it's fine, and that we're fine, but this is the
opposite of fine my friend, but I would actually take the heat over my
bike breaking into a million pieces on the daily. It's actually been
kind of cool, knowing that yes, the heat is horrible, but I'm going to
be enjoying this weather soon enough, and all of you can take pictures
of your snow while I cruse around town riding on nothing but sunshine,
looking at the Pom trees and soaking in those Cali vibes. Apparently
it doesn't start cooling down here until November, the hottest month
is in September ? What how, I don't believe it, but i have a horrible
feeling that it's true.
The ward that I am currently in is a pretty good sized ward. It
reminds me of my ward in Utah, but sometimes I think that we are some
branch in Africa because of how much they rely on the missionaries.
Last week me and my companion taught gospel principals, elders quorum,
and my companion also spoke in sacrament meeting. Welcome to the Elder
Low and LeBaron show. Elder low kept complaining that he had to talk
and I didn't what a chump I thought, but surely as it always does, the
tables turned, and this week I was assigned to speak in church. I
pretty much forgot about my talk until the night before Sunday,
luckily I was able to revive one of my old talks that I left in my
scripture bag. When we arrived at church there was only one other
person assigned to talk, it was this old man that I have never seen
before, He had to have been at least 80 years old, at that moment, I
knew that I was going to be speaking for more than 15 minutes. I held
my breathe as the old man talked for 5 minutes and ended his talk...
"You got to be joking me right know" I thought, so I stood and looked
at the clock, the odds were not in my favor, I remembered elder low
complaining about 15 minutes. Some how, I don't know how, but I spoke
for 40 minutes ending perfectly on time for sacrament meeting to end.
I have been given a gift, to be able to talk for long amounts of time
without interruption, I sat and pondered the use of this gift, and yet
I could not find a good use for this outside of church talks. The
bishop stood and enthusiastically shook my hand. " you did it Elder
LeBaron, I'm not sure how but you did." What can I say I guess I'm
just a miracle worker, also I hope I don't have to talk again for this
transfer.
On Pioneer Day me and elder low had the opportunity to come and attend
a stake picnic and talk to some of investigators, it was kinda cool
seeing all the kids having fun, and all of the families that attended.
It reminded me of when I lived in Utah, and all of the crazy
celebrations that happen. We had to catch the bus, because it was so
far out of our area. We locked up our bikes and off we went. The
picnic was great, and everyone had fun. We had a member take us home
and off we went to our next appointment. After our appointment, I
realized that we had left our bikes on the other side of town. I don't
know how familiar you are with Southern California, but things tend to
go missing pretty quickly around here if you're not careful. There
wasn't anyway that we could get our bikes in time before curfew. At
our last lesson we ended up having to run home, I don't know how long
that run was, but all I know is that it was a little foggy. I don't
know if you know this, but I hate running... I hate it. Also, running
in proselyting clothes is not a good time. We ended up being late but
I know that God knows that we tired our best as I cried my way home.
I'm not sure if it was sweat or tears running down my face, but all I
do know is that i wanted to die, I have not ran that far in a long
time. When we got home I kept praying that our bikes wouldn't get
stolen, we called a member and he checked on them for us. He Called
back and said that he could pick us up so that we could get them, he
didn't think that they would last through the night. We got permission
from our zone leaders and they allowed to go out after curfew and pick
them up, we were able to get back before 10:30 and somehow our bikes
didn't get stolen after being out on the street for 6 hours. I have
learned that although bikes have many different gears, and speeds, I
have one, and that one speed is walking. I am so grateful for bikes,
so so grateful for bikes.
Yesterday we had a dinner appointment with a Korean woman named Julia
and her husband. We have tried for weeks to get a return appointment
with her, she is so sweet and cuts our hair for free, she is one of
the nicest Asian woman I have ever met. I don't know how but me and
elder low always find people that speak poor English, it's funny being
called to and English mission when most of the people you teach don't
even speak it all that well. At the dinner Julia made us authentic
Korean food, and it was amazing, and apparently it's super healthy,
there are some weird fish stuff that we ate, but other than that I
would definitely have that again. After dinner we taught her about God
and his purpose, some of the very basic fundamentals. The spirit was
so strong, something that I haven't felt for awhile. She ate up
everything that we were saying and smiled the whole lesson. At the
conclusion of our discussion, we asked her if she was comfortable
praying, she hesitantly offered a prayer in Korean, I don't know what
was said in that prayer but my heart was touched, and I knew that
everyone in the room was receiving a personal witness of prayer, and
the love that Heavenly Father has for us as individuals. Her husband
is a less active member, but through that lesson he has begun to trust
us more and has become more anxiously engaged in helping us prepare
Julia for baptism. The spirit works in incredible ways, I know that
this church is true. It blesses families, and it helps individuals
receive real answers from God. I hope everyone has had a good week,
follow your dreams, strive for excellence, and go pet a puppy.
Love, Elder LeBaron
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