2 Months until a phone call!

Blaine informed me this past Sunday that it is 2 months until we get to talk to Elder Ruby again!!  I'm so excited!  The 5 months between Christmas and Mother's Day go by much faster than the 7 months between Mother's Day and Christmas.  Go figure:)

Elder Ruby hasn't said much in his letters lately.  They have been very short and he apologized for not writing us this past week.  I know he is busy and doing well.  That is what matters.  He did tell us that a girl they have been working with, named Patience, has set a date for baptism.  That's exciting!  This past Monday they had a Zone Activity.  All the missionaries in his zone were getting together to carve pumpkins.  That sounds like fun.  He will send us pictures.  

Here is his testimony from this past letter:

The words of the prophets have sunk and are continuing to sink deep into my heart. I am coming to more fully accept Christ into my life. I do my best to do as Elder McConkie suggests and accept the scriptures as the mind and will of God. My studies have focused greatly on the doctrines of grace, mercy, justice, and love. My testimony in the reality of Christ and a loving, just, merciful, gracious God has grown; and my awe, gratitude, and wonder in the Atonement of Christ are expanding.

I'm sorry this is so short and not very informative.  We will try again next week:)

October 2015 Zone Conference

 
 In a different area than Hyrum, the church building the mission president usually uses for interviews was being fumagated.  This is what it looks like in California.  Wow!

"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. 

Staying in SLO and Ponderize!

Yep, who knew? Elder King will be leaving to follow-up train and be a district leader.  My new companion is Elder Haines. I don't know much about him. I know what he looks like, but that is about it.  I look forward working with him and the Lord this next transfer.

After hearing Elder Devin G. Durrant, 1st Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, speak about a new concept (at least it was new to me), we decided to do this as a family.  He suggested we "Ponderize" the scriptures.  It is a combination of pondering (80%) and memorizing (20%).  The idea is to post a scripture every week and think about its words and key phrases several times during the week.  Here is a link to Elder Durrant's talk from Sunday afternoon.  He explains it the best:) We are ponderizing Moses 6:60.  

I am so happy that you are Ponderizing! I am too. My scripture is 3 Nephi 27:19 "And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end."

I have to tell you about something embarrassing that happened to me this morning. I was driving our truck. (I told you that we drive a truck right? Yeah, it's a red Nissan Frontier. It's as close to driving a truck back home as I can get.) We parked at the church to email. I glanced down and out of my window to check my parking job, however, I had my finger on the window switch and was simultaneously rolling up the window. Yes, you can probably guess what happened next. Elder King laughed as he watched preoccupied Elder Ruby roll the window into his tooth and jerk back in surprise. :)

This week we focused on our less actives and recent converts.  Many of the recent converts are freshman and are having difficulty adjusting to life as a Mormon and in college and away from home for the first time.  We are doing our best to help them make Christ and the Book of Mormon their foundation.  We invited everyone to watch conference, but no one showed up.  We have a lot of work to do up here.  

I gained a testimony of the Prophet and Apostles this past conference and the Christlike love that they emulate. For some reason, I was overwhelmed as I watched the remaining nine Apostles greet/hug the three new.  I feel like this was a witness to me of the validity of their calling and an example of how I should treat others. This was an experience with conference that I will remember. Also, I came to conference with questions and President Uchtdorf (the very first speaker) blew my questions out of the water! It was awesome.

Miracle from using the Book of Mormon: After a doorstep Restoration lesson with a room mate of a less active member, we challenged her to read the Book of Mormon every day. She didn't want to take it and said she didn't have time because she was busy studying. We then challenged her to take the Book of Mormon and open the Book of Mormon with a question in her heart just before she studied for her classes and then read for her answer.  We tried this tactic with her. Her question was "why are people bad?" She flipped open to Mosiah 3:19! After explaining the verse, we again extended the invitation. She took the Book of Mormon.

Here are the last pictures of Elder Ruby and Elder King.  Elder King made party hats for the two of them to celebrate their "one year" mark in the mission.

We had a flyer placed on our door that described the fines for drinking, DUI, disturbing the peace, and other fines associated with parties.  We had this answer. . .

Joy of the Gospel

I'm sorry I haven't update the blog for over a week.  Elder Ruby's letters have been brief.  He is so busy and writes what and when he can on Monday's, but the time just goes by so fast.  He did share a story about a recent convert to the church:

One of the greatest successes as a missionary has been teaching and watching a recent convert named Olivia, come back to full activity in the church and be super excited and active.  Three months ago, she was just a normal 22 year old and she was looking for happiness in worldly things.  As we taught her the lessons again, we began to see her desires change.  She started asking questions like "Why is the Atonement important?" and "How do you repent?"  This turn began when we had her share her conversion story with Mark (a recent convert).  Sharing her testimony helped her see that she really did believe.  Later, a member, Emma, who just lost her brother, befriended Olivia and took her to the Los Angeles Temple.  From that moment on,  Olivia has set her sights on the temple.  She came to church and has been coming for weeks now!  She, too, noticed a change within herself.  She said that she tries to be nice to people even when it's hard.  She has no desire to watch gossipy/crude shows and she is fascinated with forgiveness and charity.  Olivia now spends hours looking up talks and reading the scriptures!  She is so happy.  She has a temple recommend now and is going to General Conference!  I am so happy for her.  There is just as much joy in watching Olivia come back into the fold of God as there is in bringing someone to the waters of baptism!

This past week we had a Zone Activity down in SLO.  Brother Abbott, the institute director was teaching a class called the Foundations of the Restoration.  He is a phenomenal teacher.  This class focused on the doctrines of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ.  So, the zone came to the class and then we had a birthday party for a sister in the zone who has never had a birthday celebration.  We (Elder King and I) made her a big Funfetti cookie on a cookie sheet.  Then we frosted it with chocolate and wrote in white frosting her name and the church, so it was like a missionary tag!  She loved it.  Then we played sports.  Elder King and I had to leave for dinner in Los Osos.  The member we ate dinner with made bacon wrapped burgers stuffed with pepper jack or cheddar cheese! Yum!!

One Year!

This month marks Elder Ruby's one year in the mission field (Sept 10, 2014).  I can't believe a year has gone by!  At times it has been fast and other times not so much.  I still find myself shedding a tear here and there as I miss him so very much.  I love getting his emails and hand written letters every week.  The pictures help too.  I love it when someone asks how he is doing.  Although I don't always have a lot to tell that person, it makes me feel good that he is thought of and missed by others.  If you are reading the blog, you know he is doing really well and loving what he is learning and loving all of his teaching opportunities.  He loves to serve and help other people, which is 100% of what he is doing, both temporally and spiritually.

I look forward to start counting down the months, weeks and eventually the days until he comes home.  But I also know that he has a lot of work to do in the next year.  He wonders if he has time to do and learn all that is required of him in that short amount of time.  Bless his heart!

I want to share my testimony of our Heavenly Father's work.   I leave this blog for Hyrum's testimony, but mine is no different than his. (I did get his permission to share my testimony)  I know that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets that lived in the Americas who kept records of the dealings of their people and looked forward to the coming of the Savior.  It was translated by the gift and power of God by a young man, Joseph Smith, with little formal education.  I feast on its pages every day and continually discover teachings that apply to my life.  If I would read any other novel over 15 times, I would likely know the story inside and out and could probably quote most of it.  The Book of Mormon is different.  Although I know the stories quite well, I continually learn and grow from its teachings and never tire of reading it.  There is no other book like it!  For those of you who have never read it, please don't be afraid to ask me about it.  I would love to tell you about the people of the Book of Mormon!

I am also so grateful for the Plan of Salvation that Hyrum so often refers to in his letters.  It is our Heavenly Father's plan for His children to be able to return to live with Him.  We are His spirit sons and daughters and He loves us so very much - just as you love your children with all your hearts and want to see them live happy, joyful lives.  The family is central to His plan and He has made it possible for parents and children to be sealed together forever, not just until "death due you part".  Death is not the end and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all people will have their spirits and bodies reunited.  It is part of His plan because He loves us.  I love talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ because it makes me so happy.  I am grateful for God's standards that give me guidance in raising my children in this immoral world.  They have confidence in His commandments and are blessed for living in accordance with His teachings.

I hope you will continue to follow Elder Ruby during his last year of his mission.  I will continue to do my best to keep you informed through the blog.  I will definitely forward any comments to him that you leave.  

One Year Mark!

Yep, this letter marks my year mark. Elder Ruby entered the MTC on September 10, 2014.

On Tuesday we had MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) in Oxnard.  Before MLC we had a breakfast at the mission home.  They made us super good waffle treat things (Eggo waffle, carmel, Eggo waffle, dulce de leche, peaches, strawberries, whipped cream) Yum!  That morning was crazy though.  We had a lot to do and we actually had to drive one of Santa Barbara's cars to the meeting so that it could get some work done on it.  Needless to say, we planned on getting up at 4:50am so that everything would run smoothly and we could get to Ventura on time.  We woke up that morning to our usual 6:17am alarm! No shower, no prayer even :( (first time in a long time that I hadn't prayed before I left the apartment or home).  We ended up making it to the breakfast right on time.  Traffic was pretty good.  I realized later that day that something was off.  Then I remembered that I forgot to pray formally.  I had some silent prayers on the way down but nothing formal.  At that moment I repented and prayed.  The day/meeting went much better after that point.  Elder King and I led a discussion on teaching the Plan of Salvation simply.  One big thing that we emphasized was teaching the doctrines found in Preach My Gospel instead of telling the story of the Plan of Salvation.  I thought it went really well.

After MLC we had exchanges with the Assistants.  I stayed in Ventura with Elder Young.  I really needed that.  We were led by the spirit to be at the right place at the right time to help a less-active lady from one of the the Ventura family wards move.  We had no idea she lived there and had we not been there, the ward/missionaries wouldn't not have been able to contact her at her new address.  She was throwing away a bunch of Mormon books.  I grabbed 2 copies of "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder" which I will be keeping in my luggage or sending home.  I forgot them in Ventura, so I will get them in a couple of weeks at Zone Conference!  I know Mom really likes that book.  I do.  It is one of my favorite books!  

This week has been really good.  We have a couple of new investigators:  Phillip, who likes comic books, video games and FRIENDS.  His mother was a member of the church.  She died a month ago.  Phillip has a slight mental disability because of an accident when he was young.  He is really searching for something (the gospel) in his life.  We gave him the Children's Book of Mormon.   (We told him that it was the comic book version of the Book of Mormon) and he was already almost 100 pages into the Children's BOM when we saw him again on Sunday!  Also, a guy named Justin walked up to us on Sunday after sacrament meeting and told us he is just checking the church out.  He stayed the full 3 hours.  He told us afterwards that he used to go to the Calvary SLO, but he feels there is something missing in his life.  He said he is almost thirty and he still feels "off" or he feels like life is short and he needs to put God as a priority.  Also a friend of his recently passed away and he wants to know what happens after this life.  Justin is someone we would call. . . PREPARED!  We also learned of an investigator moving to SLO from Fresno on Wednesday.  She sounds super solid.

All in all, things are pretty good!

As for my 1st year reflection . . . I have learned so much this last year.  Like I mentioned in my first call home, the first thing I learned was how much I don't know.  I thought I knew the scriptures.  I thought I understood the Atonement.  I thought I knew how to repent.  I thought I knew how to listen to the spirit.  I thought I knew how to help people with their problems.  Well, I did know how, but I relearned those things and it humbled me.

I've run out of time to write you, but there will be more next week.  I love you all.  May the spirit be with you.

The number of missionaries now serving in the California Ventura Mission:

27 English Sisters and 26 Spanish Sisters

81 English Elders and 17 Spanish Elders

Total of 151 Missionaries

More Wyoming Missionaries and Gum Wall

I know of at least four missionaries from Wyoming in the mission (including me). Two of them are new missionaries in my Zone! Elder Crook from Lyman and Elder Gilpin from Evanston. The other Wyo missionary is Elder Degraw (however you spell it) from Evanston too. Pretty cool.

The area is picking up. A man named Justin came to church to "check it out!" He has many friends that he recently found who are members of the church, a friend recently passed away, and Justin is feeling like he is missing something in in his life! Does he sound prepared or what? This week when Elder King and I have just taken the time to street contact with the intent of helping people move and then teach them, we have been led by the Spirit to those who have been receptive to the gospel. I also got condemned to hell twice, but that is just part of being a missionary. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, last p-day, we (the District) went to the Gum Wall. It's in the middle of downtown between two buildings. It was gross! Once I got a few feet in, the gum smelled horrible.  People had written letters with the gum up high, or stuck pennies or wrappers into their piece of gum.  I accidentally stepped on a piece and it stuck to the bottom of my foot.  The wall was interesting, but one visit is enough for me. :)

I am coming to feel more each day whose work this really is. The more that I put my trust in God and humbly accept my role, the more miracles I see. I find that God leads us to people and places that we need to be for the blessing of His children. Some of the more powerful prayers that I have had involve the words " I know that this is Thy work" and then I ask how may I help instead of "give me" or "bless me." After humbling experiences, God shows us a miracle like people coming to church that we've never met, or seeing people at the gas station that we had met once before and remembering their name, or putting us in the right place at the right time to help serve someone in need. I know that God knows us.  He knows everyone.  I know that he loves us all and is working so hard for the salvation of His children.