Washoe Valley/Foothill Week 2 (Mission Week 5)

 Hey everyone!!

Just want to let all you know that the replies I get back from yall really is helping me get through this adjusting to missionary life stage I'm going through. Thanks a lot.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers. Especially my own. I know every child will say this but I truly have the best mom. I am so grateful for everything she has done for me. I am also thankful for all the mother figures I have had in the Nac ward. Yall have made an impact on my life and I truly love all of you. Mother's Day on the mission is hard. You go to church and the whole theme is about being with family and mothers. As a missionary you kind of feel lonely in that because your mom and family is not with you at the moment. It makes you think of home. That's about the only extreme wave of homesickness I got this week.

This week was better than last week. The homesickness has slowly gone down and the week picked up speed a little bit.  I still have a long way to go but I know that if I put my trust in Christ then I will get to the point that I want to be at. That is such a good principle to live by. If you aren't haven't fun in the moment and it is hard but you know you are doing the right thing, Christ will be by your side and help you become a better you than you ever thought you could be.

We had a few good contacts this week. We talked with a member, Brother Shults, about his mission and we got some advice from him that we decided to implement. He said be bold and the people who are ready will accept what you are saying. It gave me some more confidence.

Friend 1

We weren't knocking for her but we ended up only talking to her. We ended up discussing 9 principles of different lessons with her naturally in our conversation. She had said that as a Catholic you can't take Communion (sacrament) if you haven't gone through a long process to be worthy to take it. You have to cross your arms when it's offered to you. She said she took it twice but felt extremely guilty because she hasn't gone through the process. I decided to be bold and tell her how I felt about that. I told her that in our church, everyone is worthy of the sacrament. Everyone partakes of it if wanted. Little kids all the way up to old men. I promised her that if she came to church and partook of the sacrament then she would feel no guilt and will feel peace. The Spirit was strong on this contact.

Friend 2

We were riding around the park on our bikes and decided to go talk with her. She was babysitting a young boy named Felix. What is funny is that while my companion was talking to Emily, I was watching Felix and playing around with him on the playground so she could focus on what my comp had to say haha She was super nice and friendly. We asked if we could talk about religion sometime and she said sure. She also asked who we were so we told her about us.

Friend 3

We stopped by his house and it was my first time meeting him. He had taken a homeless woman in and is helping her find a job. We mentioned that the church has programs like self reliance stuff that can help people find jobs. He practically invited himself to church. He asked what time does church start and we were like ummm 9am!! On Sunday he tried riding his bike to the church but he couldn't find it. He called the bishops office when he got home and just by coincidence we were in the office with the young men. He said that he went home and had already changed because he couldn't find it and it started to snow :(

He will come next week though!!

One fun thing that I did this week was drive all the way down a mountain on a dirt road. It was kinda sketch but not to the point where I thought I was gonna die haha. There were a couple of cars that were absolutely crushed down the ravines and hills. Must've slipped of the path years ago. Glad it wasn't my companion and I. We drive a 2021 Toyota Tacoma so we had a good vehicle for the task haha

I leave yall of with a spiritual thought. My favorite chapter of the Book of Mormon at the moment is Alma 26. I love Verse 16. Go read it and come back haha. I love how it is about how we cannot rejoice in the Lord enough. There is never a point that we should feel like we should stop rejoicing in the Lord's name. We will praise God forever.

Well I love all of yall and can't wait to tell you all more experiences. I'll be sending blessings your way and I truly appreciate all of the prayers and thoughts that are coming my way!

Elder Proctor

Pic 4 and Video: The path we took to get down the mountain. There is a highway down but we saw a path and went down haha

Pic 3: One of our members have a cat breeding business so they have a cat farm in there basement. We did service for them, ate, and played with cats

Pic 2: We went to a members home and I totally forgot that I had my crocs on instead of my regular shoes. I felt so stupid haha

Pic 1: The Reno Nevada temple. I did a session with my zone there and and I love the temple. It is definitely one of the smallest temples but it is still a House of the Lord.