On Wednesday we had a good district meeting and then at night we went to try to visit our investigator Steven, the one who randomly called us that one day. When we got there we saw shoes on the doorstep that looked like missionary shoes and when we knocked the Vietnamese elders from Anaheim were there. He had requested books in Vietnamese to send his family so they were there to drop them off and then they thought they were going to teach him too but he doesn't speak any Vietnamese so he decided he would stick with us teaching him. We had a really good lesson about the Plan of Salvation and he really liked all the parts of it. He still wants to get baptized but he doesn't respond to our texts and calls in a very timely manner so we still haven't been able to get him to church which is a bummer.
On Thursday Elder Gibb came to my area for exchanges. He is one of my favorite people to be around out here because he works hard and is an awesome teacher but he also knows how to have fun while doing what he needs to. In the morning we had a lesson with Touttou, it was about the same as usual, just answering lots of questions that he has about different things. After that we tried to visit some less active people from our ward list to see if they were still there. We tried to visit a man named Robbie but when we knocked on the door we heard people inside but they didn't answer so we left a card in the door and went on with our day. A couple of hours later we got a call from Robbie saying that he would like to meet up sometime and that he had been wanting to get in touch with missionaries but that he hadn't known how to do it. We were pretty excited because that was one of the only times in our entire missions that anybody has actually called us from a card. Later in the day we went up to Tustin, which happens to be outside the mission, so I could interview their Marshallese investigator for baptism (that's why we were allowed to leave the mission). After the interview we were driving home and joking around in the car while drinking Powerade and Gibb started laughing super hard which caused him to start choking on his drink. He spit it out the window and I kept laughing and then a couple of seconds later I realized that he was throwing up outside the window too. It took him a little to recover and breathe again but it was probably one of the funniest moments I have had in a while, and what made it even better was the fact that he was the driver so while trying not to die he also had to try not to crash the car. It might sound kind of gross but had you been there you would understand how funny it was.
On Friday Elder Gibb and I ended up together again for a little bit and we got to visit a less active man in my area named Jimmy Garcia. He is blind and has one leg so he is in a wheel chair. When he was originally found by missionaries he was in a wheelchair, which both legs, and was blind and as they taught him he began to see just a little bit and then after he was baptized he was able to walk out of the font and had his sight back completely. Shortly after he was baptized though he started to fall back into old habits and then he stepped off a curb the wrong way and broke his leg in a way that it had to be amputated and then he went blind again when he stopped going to church. He has a lot of faith and wants to do what's right, he has just been sick for a while. As we talked to him we learned that since going blind again he has developed "super powers" akin to that of the Marvel character "Daredevil" a blind attorney who has enhanced senses that allow him to fight crime and stuff. He told us that he can hear every thing that goes on on his block and down the street, that he can hear people's heartbeats, and that he can tell the difference in the way the air hits him when people move around him in such a way that he can tell what they are doing. Of course we had to test his powers out and see what he could do. He was able to tell us the various actions that we did and then even told us what his neighbors were doing. Apparently one time he save a woman' s life because he heard something down the street and called the cops to have them check it out. It was pretty cool to be able to meet a real life super hero.
On Saturday we had the chance to go to Emily's baptism, it was cool to see such a young person making such a big step in their life and to see her family there supporting her. After the baptism we went to help with a move for a nonmember lady, (thats why we left in our service clothes) and we did that until dinner time. The less active man, Robbie, from the other day took us out to dinner and we had the chance to get to know him better and to hear a little of his past. He is excited to meet with us more and re learn about the church so hopefully sometime soon he comes again. After dinner we went back to the move for the rest of the night. The lady we were helping was very grateful and ended up giving us $50 dollars for helping, we did try to reject it but she wouldn't let us. The six of us who were there decided to go get dessert of some sort with the money as a good way to finish out the day. We first went to a Yogurtland but after we got there none of us were really feeling that anymore so we went to the Target right next to it and we all just got different treats or drinks that we wanted. As we were leaving Elder Gibb saw a deal on Lunchables so he grabbed a few of them and then right before we checked out I saw some juice that I really liked and decided to grab that as well. After all six of us got what we wanted we were walking back to the car and a man came up to us. He seemed to be homeless or something like that and he attempted to ask us for help but had a very bad stutter. Before he even asked us anything Elder Gibb just started handing him his Lunchables and then I felt like I should give him the juice I got on the way out and then I also felt like I should give him the $20 that we had left over. He was so grateful that he started to tear up and tried to say thank you. As we walked away from him the first things that came to my mind were Matthew 25:34-40 and Hebrews 13:1-2. It was a pretty eye opening experience for me because I realized that I can have way more charity for those around me than I do, but I was extremely grateful that we were inspired to buy things that helped us to help that man out.
I'm so grateful for all of the things I have learned throughout my mission and for the person I have become through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity to share it with others. I know the people here are good and that I need to be with them.
Love
Elder Cheever
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