Tuesday, June 9, 2015

"Don't get in fiddling competitions with the Devil." "Yeah, he's much better than I am." - Elders Hawkes and Greer

iPads have arrived in the California San Diego Mission!
It's time for a selfie!
The Devil went down to Georgia....

Welcome to my weekly email, wherein....
- President Schmitt's 5-year-old son plays volleyball with us
- Elder Hawkes gets frustrated at a racist man
- We get fed a full meal by a potential and his family
- We lay down some mulch in a garden for a family
- Help Fawzi find a job.
- Wander a neighborhood and wind up teaching an author
- Go to a barbeque with Fawzi where he talks guns with some ward members
- Have my birthday! :D
- Have Zone Conference wherein we talk about the Book of Mormon
- Teach a man who needs new glasses
- Oh yeah, and something about iPads.

First off, on P-day we played volleyball with the missionaries in the
San Diego East Zone, including the APs. President Schmitt showed up
with his son, Clayton, who proceeded to play volleyball with the rest
of us. And he did a pretty good job! President gave us some Costco
pizza for dinner and then sent us all on our way.

On Wednesday we spent most of the day contacting people. We had a
potential whom we had met on the street and seemed interested, so we
went and got in the door with him. The son (I'd say probably in his
20's or 30's) didn't like us over. He proceeded to tell us we were
wrong, they know everything about Jesus, and we need to go preach to
Muslims. He then proceeded to tell us how he wished all Muslims were
dead because they're all evil and untrustworthy. I'll admit I lost my
cool a little bit, but we were able to get out the door pretty quickly
before anything escalated further. After that experience we went to
another potential's house. He wasn't home, but his family was and they
invited us in, telling us he would be home soon. While we waited, they
got out a tray of Middle Eastern food they had bought from the market
recently and invited us to eat. Feeling very awkward about it but
nevertheless doing as instructed, we sat down and had a decent-sized
dinner. He eventually came home, but said he had to leave for work in
a little bit so it would be best if we came by another day. At least
his family likes us!

On Thursday we went to a ward member's house and helped shovel some
mulch down on top of their plants so that more water is retained (San
Diego is in a really big drought right now!). After that, we met with
Fawzi to help him find a new job. A ward member, Bro. Oakes, was
gracious enough to let us come over to his house and do some job
searching.

On Friday we went on exchanges with Jamul. Elder Avery came and joined
Elder Greer and I in Arabic work for the day. We found a few Muslim
potentials that weren't too interested once they realized we were
Christian preachers. We also had a guy ask us our opinion on scalping.

Scalping is bad. Don't do it.

Turns out he was trying to mess with us a bit and wasn't too
interested. Regardless, what an odd thing to say.

On Saturday we decided to walk around in a neighborhood near the stake
center where we had never contacted people. We asked a lady if there
were any Arabic speakers in the area and she pointed us to a house. We
went and knocked on their door and they initially said, "We aren't
interested. We don't have time." They let us in anyway because
politeness. We got some water, chatted them up about gardening, living
in San Diego, and Arabic. Shortly thereafter, they sat down with us
and we were able to teach them the Restoration. Turns out they know
the Mormons and have been interested in what we believe. The husband
also wrote a book about Botnaia (باطنايا), a Christian city in
Northern Iraq. It's now sitting in my makeshift bookcase, collecting
dust.

On Sunday it was my 19th birthday! :D The APs took time to wish me a
happy birthday, the few ward members that knew wished me one as well,
and my companions couldn't stop saying that it was my birthday. The
Dreesen's (the members we're living with) had us for dinner, which was
nice. At the end of the night, President and Sister Schmitt called and
sang "Happy Birthday". It was a really good day. On a related note,
thank you all for the birthday wishes!

Yesterday we had Zone Conference. President Schmitt talked about how
we can further use the Book of Mormon in our proselyting efforts. We
also had a bit of a Q&A session about iPads and President
re-emphasized the fact that it's a tool, and nothing more. "The iPad
hasn't been set apart as a missionary. It doesn't have the Gift of the
Holy Ghost," he said.

After Zone Conference, we went and talked with a man about Section 8
complexes. We also shared the message of the Restoration with him and
his daughter. He couldn't see very well and told us he needs new
glasses, so we wound up reading most of the stuff for him. We also
taught Marvin, Morad, and Miller. Not much to report on that front,
though.

Lastly, a few things about the iPad:

- I can email every Tuesday from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. (PDT, of course).
If you email me during that time, chances are I will respond.
- We are currently in Phase 1 of iPad training, which means we do not
have the Area Book on it yet, nor are we allowed to use Facebook. The
Area Book app will be available in a few weeks and Facebook
proselyting will be available in about a month or two.
- Despite the fact that I am able to read emails every day, I will
continue to only respond on Tuesday as per President Schmitt's
instructions.

That's it for now, I think. Thank you all so much for your letters and
emails! I love getting mail! Take care!

-- Elder Hawkes



Sent from my iPad

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