Week # 6

Ponderize scripture of the week is Moroni 10:32.

11-2-15
"I'm going to be just like you, yeah. I'm going to be just like you,
dad" preparation day was fun today. We got everything we needed to
like laundry and shopping early so we could get haircuts from Jay. He
does it for free for the missionaries and took us on a tour of Corona
park. He knows so much history and all about it with the world fairs
being there and just cool facts about it. He says he will take any
missionary on a tour of Manhattan too after their mission and they
come back. We are doing that family when we come back. He is an
excellent tour guide and had images to show what it used to look like.
Famous movies from this park are Men in Black and Iron Man 2. So after
our preparation day, we went to visit a less active and arrived to
yelling. We get the less active and his girlfriend to come outside to
talk about it and find out they had an argument. We try to help any
way we could but we aren't relationship counselors. So we thought it
went decent for what we had to work with. They said they would try to
work it out and work on their relationship. That was my day and now I
am super tired. I don't even know why.
11-3-15
"We've come a long way, from where we began. Oh, I'll tell you all
about it when I see you again." It was a long day today. We fasted as
a district to help us find people to teach through the members and
came up with a plan during district meeting today. Then we got called
to go give a priesthood blessing to a nonmember. That was my first
blessing in the mission field. Then Jay got us Chick-fil-a for dinner
all the way from Manhattan. He biked it over here for us and he says
he is converted to it faster than he is converted the being a Mormon:)
he's so funny. Then we went contacting on the street for 3 hours. It
was so long but I gave out all my hand out cards and fliers for free
English classes. Finally, last night I had a dream. It started with me
being at home, got sent home from the mission early, but I wanted to
go back. But I couldn't because I was engaged...
11-4-15
"We got to sink the Bismark cause it's making such a fuss. We got to
sink the Bismark cause the world depends on us." Not much happened
today. We had trainer/trainee meeting at the mission office so I got
to see some missionaries from the MTC I knew and I got to Elder Hunt
again (my MTC companion). He is serving in Riverside which is the end
tip of Long Island. So that went from 12-5 and we came home and ate
dinner then went to drop off the packages at the church that we
brought with us for the other elders and sisters in our zone. We
didn't have time to go street contacting before out appointment so we
made some phone calls to members to set up appointments to stop by and
share a quick message. Then we went to our appointment with a less
active at 8 but right as soon as we got there, he texted us and said
he was still at school. So we walked back and made more calls as it
takes 30 min to walk back. Yeah, not a really exciting day but I made
cases holders for a Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we hand out. The
Book of Mormon one is a goldfish theme and the pamphlets is fruit
loops themed.
11-5-15
"When the lights go down in the city. And the sun shines on the bay.
Oh, I want to be there in my city. Oh-oh." Exciting day today and
scary as well. So we did companion study today and I thought is was
the best one we have done because we applied the principle we learned
yesterday. We actually put forth the effort and set goals and
expectations for the day and created different ways to accomplish
them. Goal setting and planning are some of the most important parts
of missionary work. Then we went to weekly planning at the church and
we continued with it. We planned what we wanted to teach our
investigators and what to say to our referrals. We set our weekly
goals and understood what it will take to reach those goals. That took
3 hours. Afterwards we visited a referral and took him a Book of
Mormon. He is atheist but said he wanted to meet tomorrow. He first
offered to buy us a beer and then realized we are Mormons and that we
are still underage. For dinner today, we made sweet and sour chicken
and rice. Pretty good considering how China is outside our apartment
with real sweet and sour chicken. Then we went to visit another
referral in Whitestone and he answered the door but he is busy so he
said to call anytime tomorrow to schedule an appointment. Sweet. Then
we went knocking around his house and knocked on a door and the
gentleman invited us in. The funny part was that he invited us in not
because he wanted to hear from us, but to give us practice on people
who can prove the church is wrong. He knows everything about our
church, he's read the Book of Mormon. But he bases his beliefs on
proof, which is knowledge. He proves how the Book of Mormon is wrong
with DNA testing, no animals can come to the Americas after the flood,
etc. so he was a downer but super friendly to let us practice on him
as well. Then when we went back and got off the bus on Main Street,
there was a crime scene, 5 feet from where we were going to contact
today. There was a tarp covering something, probably a body, and
police everywhere. We didn't stop to see it, we kept walking on past
everyone but that is scary how close it was to the library. Always
follow the prompting of the spirit, they may save you in the end.
11-6-15
"It's Friday, Friday. Got to get down on Friday. Sitting in the front
seat. Kicking in the back seat." Such an annoying song but it is
Friday! So to start off, I found out the details from last night's
crazy scene by the library. Some lady got hit by a bus and split her
skull. So glad I wasn't there to see it. Anyways, today we had a full
day planned but that plan got thrown away basically. So morning
studies and lunch, but then we got asked to give a blessing to a girl
attending queens college. We met at the church and found out she is on
a national exchange from UVU to queens college. I actually gave the
blessing this time. Afterwards we went contacting and then to visit an
investigator we have been trying to meet with for 2 weeks. But she
wasn't home and didn't answer her phone so no lesson. We then went to
visit a member at Pizza Hut because she always asks when we will come
visit. But she wasn't working. We go back to the apartment for dinner
then go to the church to meet with the Korean sisters who have an
investigator to hand off to us. But he cancelled too. Cool story is
that one of the sisters knows a friend of mine living in California.
Then we went to visit the guy we gave the Book of Mormon to last
night. He had a friend with him and just had a QnA session really. He
isn't interested I. The church except for educational purposes. So
that made us really late to correlation and then came home. So we had
a full day which went nothing according to our plan last night.
11-7-15
"There's an old man sittin next to me, making love to his tonic and
gin." Fun field day today. We went to the church at 9 am to open it
for a piano class. The member that teaches it bought us breakfast, so
nice. So we did companion study and 12 week there and went to Hunan
Kitchen for lunch. Favorite restaurant her for lunch because it is $5
for a lot of food and is good quality. I'm taking you, family, there
when we come back. Then we went to visit a Russian potential
investigator with Russian pamphlets and a Book of Mormon but he didn't
answer so we left them on the door step. Then we went knocking up in
Whitestone, at the very top next to a bridge. There are big houses up
there and people answer their doors and speak English. So much better.
Came back and visited a potential investigator who has been gone for a
bit, traveling to India. Nice guy but all he wants to do is learn more
about all religions. Then we visited the member again at Pizza Hut and
she was there this time. She is doing well and bought us dinner. Then
we went to visit a less active we have been working with and is doing
better. He has been having fights with his girlfriend but are working
it out little by little. Tried to visit our one investigator but she
is still out of town for the next 2 days. Then we visited another less
active who came to church last week but he canceled on us because he
was still in New Jersey. Fun day which we had a lot going on with not
a lot of success but still a pretty solid day.
11-8-15
"The good guys come dressed in black, remember that. Just in case we
ever come face to face and make contact." Today was nice and busy. We
had ward council for the first time ever since I've been here. We were
able to discuss our investigators and less actives to plan out ways to
help them more. No investigators right now so only less actives and
potentials. Then we went to all 3 hours of church today but no one
showed up for gospel principles class, which the missionaries teach.
Our turn was today but no one came so we are saving it for next week.
Then we had 2 dinner appointments tonight. I'm so stuffed. But a
pretty good day today getting to know the members and gain their trust
as they are the key to missionary work. Also, I finished the Book of
Mormon today. I started the night I got set apart as a missionary and
finished November 8, 2015. I don't know what I'll study tomorrow for
my scripture study.

Pretty cool week over all. I'm pretty sure you want to read the dream
so I took the liberty of typing it up for you. Background, I typed it
up the day I had the dream. Here it is:

This dream is insane. I thought about it all day today. It starts off
I was at home. Standing, and my family was on the couch but they
wouldn't make eye contact with me. I asked what was wrong but they
ignored me. I kept asking to the point where I was yelling at them and
kept asking why they were doing this to me. They they showed me an
invitation. A wedding invitation. My wedding invitation. They asked
what it was and that is the same question I asked them. I looked
closely at it and saw the girl but did not recognize her. My family
kept asking all these questions about the girl in it, whom I have
never met or seen, and was frustrated with me. I thought about it for
a while but realized I couldn't remember the last 6 days. Total
amnesia of it and no idea how I even got home. So my family tells me
what happened. I was on my mission when I met this girl. Things
weren't appropriate with us and she kept following the missionaries.
So I got transferred and she followed. I got caught up in all this and
started to see her more and more, totally ignoring the fact I was a
missionary. Then things got bad and we got engaged. That's when I got
sent home and here we are. And it all happened in 6 days cause I
didn't recognize her. So then the scene changes to a dinner setting
with the extended family. All of us eating dinner and someone asked
why I was home early. Mom told the story, but I got mad and frustrated
at her for telling it in such a way it was my fault. I got mad real
fast and I was shouting again. Scene changes again. This time I was
asking for all my stuff back to seek out answers to why this was
happening to me. The photo of me in the wedding invitation looked so
fake and photoshopped I was mad they didn't think it was photoshopped.
So I got my car, phone, iPad, and computer back and set out to find
answers. All I wanted in the dream was to go back to the mission
field. I wanted to go back to the way it was before. Not this madness.
I didn't want to marry anyone and I wanted to go back and serve. The
final scene I can remember is sitting in a room. Filled with paintings
of equations and letters and they somehow made sense to me why this
was happening. I finally felt at peace and woke up then. This felt
like such a real dream to me. I couldn't stop thinking about it all
day today and distracted me a ton during my studies trying to figure
out what it means.

I debated even sending it so have fun with it. I've had other crazy
dreams here, and they have started to be missionary dreams more and
more. Anyways, we had a sister in our district go home due to medical
reasons. She is fine but just needs to be regulated with medicine. Has
to do that at home. She has served for 10.5 months so she has served
an honorable mission and doesn't have to return to the field if she
doesn't want to. I made a holding case for the Book of Mormons we had
out and a case for the pamphlets made out of Goldfish and FruitLoops
boxes. Next project is to make a holder for our pass along cards. Ooh,
and I got to start using the AreaBook app yesterday since it is now
week 5 in the transfer. I had to learn the hard way before I could use
the iPad. The app is basically every tool a missionary has in an app.
Planning, goals, members info, calendar, etc. Super helpful now that I
can use it:)

Love you all and miss you but I am home now. I pray for all of you.
Have a fantastic week and I'll see you in the next email. Bu-bye!!!!!

-Elder Heaton