Hello!
Sorry I have such little time today! We just got our hair cuts and it looks pretty good :-) Elder Otuafi did it (My last companion's cousin!) We are also going to go back to finish up making our shirts today - since we can only do that on Monday - our Preparation day.
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| Elder Hong |
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| Firefox! |
This week was decent. We went on exchanges this week with the assistants since they are in our district. Elder Hong came over to the Cambodian branch with me and we spent a few hours trying to fix a laptop. Later we took a few wrong turn on the freeways haha at rush hour because the GPS wasn't clear haha. We taught Thorn. He just moved into his girlfriend's house 
. Which is bad as it means he can't get baptized until he either moves out or marries her. He did have a baptismal date, but we decided to drop it until next year. For now he is really enjoying church and is bringing his daughter and his girlfriend's daughter too which is great!
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| Map |
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| Prison |
We also taught a less active member named Max. He was working outside when he turned around and saw us, his face was full of disappointment. He did not want us to come over haha, but he let us in anyway and we watched a Mormon Message. It was really good but he wanted us not to come back. We were really bold with him which is really nice being a missionary to be bold.
We also went to San Francisco later in the week to visit a referral we received from the missionaries in Cambodia! He and his daughter were super nice - we talked to them for a little on the doorstep and then we asked if we could teach them. They let us in and we had a really good lesson. I love being able to be part of lessons to feel the spirit not only testify and teach investigators but also to us.
Our main reason to go was to to see if he really needed Cambodian elders or if English elders would be fine. We have decided that his English is good enough so the English elders on that side of the Bay will teach them, but we are sure that he will want to check out the Cambodian community on this side for a few weeks.
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| Tram in San Fran |
We also visited a few potentials there most of whom moved or were not there, but one young man was who we showed the same Mormon Message as we showed to Max. ("The Hope Of Gods light") What stuck out to me that time was that we are surrounded by darkness, but that God promises that he will illuminate the way for us no matter how long it takes. It was a nice drive and I took a lot of pictures -here are a few.  |
| Lombard Street (from Google Images) |
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| On Lombard Street (very crooked road) |
We also went on this one winding road which a lot of people were taking pictures of so- maybe it is a famous road? Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of the road it self but the view was nice. [Lombard Street]
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| Map |
We picked up our map this week from a member in another ward who printed it out for us. We decided to tape the whole thing - That is how missionaries laminate things :-) We stuck small round stickers on the map of where all the investigators, potential, active and less-active members live in different colours. It is a lot of work and we still have to do a few things which we will do this week such as adding names on the side. The main purpose of making this map is to help future missionaries get to know the area quicker and to be able to save a lot of time when they plan to visit people. Since missionaries plan a week ahead with every hour filled with things to do.
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| Temple from a different view |
We had a Zone training meeting where we went over how to plan and using good, better, best. There are many things we can do, but what would really be best?
Recently I have thought, about what happens on a mission. There are arguments, discussions, good times, hard times, just like life. All of which help us grow. Even when the last day of the mission comes, a missionary will still be learning, just like in life - we don't stop growing. A lot of the time we also learn the same thing over and over again. There is so much to learn! The things I am learning on my mission would take me a life time to learn - there is no substitute for it.
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| Zone Training |
A mission is a lot of fun but it has also been the hardest thing that I have ever done! I have learned that a mission is designed to make us stretch, it is designed to help us grow. God knows us. God knows our limits and He helps us. Life is like this. He knows our situations, He knows how we feel and He is there lifting us up, whether we know it or not.
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| At The Doctor's |
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| Bananas |
We go through things in life, but God has given us the strength to be able to bear those burdens. Many people, around us, and on the other side of the veil are helping us.
I know that this is Gods work. I know that all of us matter to God and I know that we we can be freed of our sins, if we but follow Him. - In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and hope you will have a great week!
Elder Kloosterboer
