"Food Fast"

Elder Ruby is enjoying his new companion, Elder Haines.

So, for the first week of the transfer we couldn't accept any food from members, nor could we go restaurants! Apparently, we needed to be more grateful for and feel less entitled to all the help that the members give us. That meant that we had to plan, prepare, and budget the meals for the week. The members thought it was hilarious and they would make comments about us not being able to eat with them. I really enjoyed the "food fast". I found that having to plan, prepare, and budget for our weekly meals together unified our companionship.  Elder Haines and I have really enjoyed making meals together. We even sacrificed some of our food by feeding the District leaders the night that they were coming home from a training in Oxnard earlier this week. This unified the leadership in the zone as we talked and served each other.

I have learned that God answers prayers through the scriptures. Yesterday evening we didn't know who to visit or what to do. Elder Haines had me flip open the Book of Mormon in the dark, point, and read. I read from 2 Nephi 32:8-9 about the words of Christ and the Spirit telling us all things what we should do. Then Nephi exhorts us to pray. We had prayed several times earlier with little success, but we chose to pray again. After a fervent prayer, Elder Haines thought to call an investigator, Cassie, who was also struggling with prayer. We were able to teach her on the phone and discern more of her concerns.

Elder Ruby and Elder Haines

Elder Campbell, Elder Ruby and Elder Campbell's new companion at transfers.