Elder Gold's update for April 6, 2009

Thanks for the entertaining e-mails this week. It sounds like General Conference had a positive impact on everyone and I'm anxious for the Ensign to come out next month so that I can review the talks. It's interesting how much we look forward to General Conference as missionaries. It's like Christmas for us and it helps us out when we're tracting for sure because we can tell people they have the opportunity to listen to a prophet in a few days.

In response to Taylor's speculation about my weight, I started my mission weighing 215 lbs. and I now weigh 192 lbs. This weight feels good to me and I've noticed some benefits of being lighter when we play basketball (jumping higher, moving quicker, etc.). E. Gentry and I have an unofficial challenge between the two of us about who can eat the healthiest diet. We rarely eat fast food and dessert is almost completely un-appealing to me now. We had a piece of pie last night after eating dinner with a member family and I felt like a chunk afterwards!

I appreciate the family updates and getting to know how life is treating everyone. Taylor will probably see his number of shifts increase as he works there longer. The "newbies" tend to work 1-2 shifts per week until they're experience (6 months usually) and then the management will increase it to 2-4 per week. One nice part about being on a mission is not having to worry about a job to pay for things. I've began to think about what I want to do for money right after my mission ends and the thought of working at Finish Line again isn't too appealing, but it may be my only option. We'll see what happens.

Life in the City of Angels continues to press forward and my first transfer with E. Gentry as my companion will come to a close on 15 April. We've been working very well together and we were able to set a baptismal date with two of our investigators who come from the same family last week. We've been teaching this family (Winter family) since the beginning of January, but they've told us repeatedly that they just want to take things slow. We taught them the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" lesson last week and E. Gentry extended the baptismal commitment and they accepted. They're an awesome family! (Note: Father of the family is a member, but the wife and three kids are not.)

I forgot to comment about the "April Fool's" letter that I received two weeks ago that was mailed out of Draper, UT. The envelope said it was from an Internal Tax Service and the document inside said that the collection of shoes I was holding at Grandma Robie's house was being taxed because they were items where profit could be made. I read the document 3-4 times and I was convinced it was real. I asked other missionaries what I should do to clear everything up and they gave me a few ideas. I read the document again and at the very bottom of the letter underneath the signature it gave the e-mail address of the person who sent the piece of mail and it said: irs@aprilfools.com. I felt like an idiot...haha. I think Camie may have sent this, but whoever it was got me good!

As time on my mission moves along, I've noticed more and more of my inadequacies and areas where I can improve in my life. There are many aspects of missionary work where I feel inadequate and it's a definite process to develop the skills and talents that earn someone the label of a solid missionary. I've recognized that my missionary experience has helped me come to know how much I don't know and how I can learn from other people and situations. It's been a humbling experience for sure. We had a missionary who will be leaving for home next week share his testimony with all the other Zone Leaders at a Zone Leader Meeting last Tuesday and he commented about how inadequate he felt as a person and as a missionary. He was a great missionary and he'll be missed.

I've been reading from the "Teachings of David O. McKay" book during my personal study lately and here are a couple quotes I really like:

1.) "What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are and will largely determine what your acts will be."

2.) "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart." Take care and have a great week!

Elder Brycen Gold
P.S. Go North Carolina!!

Update from Elder Gold, March 30, 2009

L.A. has been treating me well over the past week. We had the baptism of Robert Abaliwano Bamulangeyo yesterday and I he asked me to baptize him. It was a mouthful for me to pronounce all the syllables of his name, but we figured it and everything went smoothly. He's a stud! He bore his testimony at church at the single's ward, which was the morning before he was even baptized or confirmed. I'll be sending some pictures home today and one of them will be of his baptism.

We had our "Beach P-Day" today, which is our one and only time throughout the year where each zone is allowed to go to the beach and have a good time. We couldn't touch the water at all, but it was to be so close to the ocean and it was peaceful too. The top of my head is completely fried and it hurts even while I'm just sitting here in the library. It's really red!

We played water balloon volleyball, regular volleyball, beach football, burried a couple missionaries with sand, took some pictures with Pres. and Sis. Blackburn, and had lunch to cap it all off. It was a fun time and I'll be sure to include a couple pictures in the envelope I'll be sending home later today.

E. Gentry and I are working strong together and I've learned a lot from him over the four weeks that we've been companions. He is very focused and he loves missionary work. It was an adjustment for me to be companions with him this transfer after being with E. Gregory last transfer, mainly because their work styles and personalities were different. It's been a good adjustment for me over the four weeks I've been with E. Gentry and we've seen success in Gardena.

Tell everyone at home that I say hello and have a great week! Elder Brycen Gold

Rascal Flatts Countdown

Update from Elder Gold

We had transfers last Wednesday and E. Gregory flew home to Sandy, UT. I got an e-mail from him today and I guess he's been on a couple dates and he's enjoyed hanging out and rehabilitating himself to normal life again. I miss being companions with him.
My new companion is E. Gentry. He's a solid missionary from Alpine, UT, but the two of us don't seem to "click." We get along just fine, but our styles of humor are different and the topics we enjoy discussing are different. We do have one topic in common - basketball - so we discuss that while we're tracting. We'll probably be together until 27 May, so we'll make things work.
I've been feeling really tired over the past week due to all the meetings we've been going to and the constant work that we do. The only time we really have to sit and relax is in the car while we're driving to a new destination. Daylight savings time on Sunday was rough too, but I'm feeling better today.
I gave a 10-12 minute talk on Sunday in the Gardena Ward (English) about missionary work and how members can help us with the work. We had a general authority - Elder Douglas Callister (Quorum of 70) - visit us last September and he said, "If you can't give a talk without notes, you don't know the material well enough." So, I decided to give it a shot and I used no notes. I think it went pretty well though.
Over the past couple days I've been thinking about some advice that I'd like to give to the family about feeding the missionaries. If missionaries come the house to eat, offer them water! They will gladly accept. Also, if they're full, don't urge them to eat more. I've been on the opposing end of these things recently and it's made me appreciate the control that I had over my diet before the mission. I love eating with the members, but I wish I could drink only water for dinner and eat as much as I want, then be done. Random advice, but yeah, see what happens.
I'm looking forward to hearing from you all again next Monday. Take care and thanks for everything!
Elder Brycen Gold

Latest News from Elder Gold

We had the opportunity to go tracting last Tuesday afternoon with one of the young men from our Spanish Ward and I thought it was kinda funny how E. Roldan and I were so intrigued by the current life events of this young man. We asked him questions for nearly three hours while we knocked doors and occasionally we swapped stories back and forth. I had the privilege to share my junior prom story involving Chelsea Tomlinson and all the chaos that surrounded that wonderful time of my high school career (sarcasm added). There were some good laughs in response to the story! We went out tracting with the Spanish Ward young man again on Thursday afternoon and while we were teaching a man on his front lawn, another man drove up next to us and asked which church we were from. I told him, then he started freaking-out and "cussing" at us about all sorts of things. He told us that he was "going to go home, get his gun, then come back and shoot us!" The man was nuts! We quickly wrapped-up our conversation on the front lawn and left the neighborhood to avoid any confrontation. It's interesting to see how up-tight and crazy some people become when they see us or when they hear which church we represent... We un-intentionally crashed a Compton "block party" on Saturday night when we attempted to contact a referral and we had some good discussions with six of the black guys there about various topics. One of my favorite topics was when we were comparing Tupac's legacy as a "prophet" of hip-hop culture to Pres. Monson as the prophet of the Church. We were able to connect the two pretty well, surprisingly. We took a few photos with these six guys and they were all really cool with us. They were big football fans, so that was another topic we discussed for a while. Some of the most memorable events and people I've met have come during my stay in Compton. I love it! I'm struggling to think of other exciting or noteworthy events that have happened over the past week...it was a pretty routine week for the most part. We have transfers on 21 Jan and we have little idea of what to expect. We'll have mission president interviews tomorrow for our zone and we'll likely have a better idea of what's going to happen. There will be three Zone Leaders and one AP going home on 21 Jan, so the mission will have a solid shake-up of leadership in the near future. We're working with a young man named Edward (age 17) who is the boyfriend of one of the young women in the Spanish Ward we cover. He's a good kid and it helps to have his girlfriend with us while we teach him. Hopefully we can set a flexible baptismal date with him on Tuesday if the timing feels right. Take care and I'll talk to you next week. Elder Brycen Gold

Hawaii 2008-A Trip of a Lifetime