Hello.
This week we were able to get some good work done in Lodi. I'm getting to know the area a little better. I can drive to the church without a GPS now, and we even found a shortcut! The Autostrada here is a toll road, so we have one of those Telepass things where you just stick it in your window and you can pass through without paying cash. Although lately ours has been a little fritzy. I think we might've gotten a ticket once. Usually when we drive through, the Telepass beeps and the light turns green. This one time though we drove through and the Telepass made a different sound. Then all of a sudden the light turned red and there was a big flash of light! So we'll have to keep an eye on the mail for the next few weeks... and get a new Telepass.
Our goal has been to get to know the members as much as possible and grow a good relationship with them. It's hard to do missionary work if you don't have a good relationship with the members in your ward. If you don't have a good relationship with the members, there's not much you can do as a missionary in my opinion. We are the only Elders in the ward, and there is also a pair of Sisters. It's a lot nicer to only have to divide things between the Sisters. In Navigli we had three companionships of Elders plus another pair of Sisters. That was a little ridiciulous! It's much easiser to split between only two companionships. Anyway, since we're the only companionship of Elders we don't have to worry about who are the favorites. :P These members are great. I've fallen in love already with the ones we've gotten to know. We want to stop by everyone's house and get to know them. We've visited four families so far, so we're only at about ten percent. Our ward is decent-sized. I'd say there are probably 50-60 that come every Sunday. I'll probably be blown away by the size of my home ward when I get home.
One issue we've run into is that most people in this ward don't actually live in Lodi. Ward boundaries are much more spread out here than they are in the States. The distance from one ward to another could be as much as an hour drive. For that reason, maintaining church attendance is much harder here. Public transportation is very helpful and convenient, but on Sundays it runs very little. It's easy to get from big city to big city, but to get from a suburb to a big city is difficult without a car. There are many members for whom it is very difficult to get to church. We were visiting one such member a few nights ago. We went to the house of his sister, who is also a member with the same problem. We had a really nice lesson. We actually set a return appointment for tomorrow to see her husband who is not a member. He would really like to learn about the Church, she says. Our issue now is getting them to church.
That lesson inspired us to come up with what seems to be our "theme." In the past couple visits with members we've been doing this. First we start off by asking what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We then read D&C 4:6, which lists some Christlike attributes. Missionaries recite this verse all the time. "Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence." We then go in a circle talking about which attribute we need to develop. The conclusion ends up being, "ALL OF THEM!" because none of us is perfect. Then we read 2 Nephi 32:3, "Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." In the words of Christ, we find the answer to ALL problems and the solution to ALL difficulties. That's quite an amazing promise. Too many people, including myself, look at the scriptures as containing only answers to spiritual dilemmas. They also contain real life solutions to real life problems. No matter what problem we're struggling with, we have the promise that we can open the scriptures and find an answer if we have an open mind and heart. Cool!
All my love as always! Love, Anziano Simcox
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