Jacob Dyer Missionary Blog: February 1, 2016

It's transfers next week, and I might be transferred, so send all stuff to:

Elder Jacob Dyer

5900 Grand Ave

Riverside, CA 92504

We had our Mission Leadership Council this past week so we were pretty busy. The highlight for us was a presentation we gave on extending commitments boldly with love. Elder Westenskow and I decided to use fortune cookies to help put our point across. We made fortunes, or "promised blessings" for 22 fortune cookies and replaced the fortunes with the promised blessings. Our activity was to invite people up and have them open their fortune cookie, and extend a commitment that would go with the promised blessing. It was a very memorable experience.

Sergio got baptized this week. It was amazing to witness. His younger sister and brother both got baptized almost a year to the day of his baptism on Sunday, so it was a long time coming. When they were baptized, the hot water heater was broken, so the water was cold. This time, we made sure to fill it with very warm water. When he got in he started shuddering and everyone thought we put cold water in. It was only later that we found out it was actually TOO hot. Who would have thought! The best moment was after when he expressed how amazing he felt coming out of the water.

On exchanges, we were street contacting people. We got referred to this woman's next door neighbor. I knocked, spoke for a moment, and she wasn't interested. She wasn't getting rid of me THAT easy though. I asked her about her kumquat tree in her yard, and she got a huge excited look on her face. "Do you like kumquats?!" I replied "Yes, they're my FAVORITE." She got even more excited and said how much she hated them, that her daughter had planted that tree. She proceeded to get a plastic bag, and said "please, pick ALL of them." Unfortunately, we were unable to get ALL of them. It seemed like we were picking so many, but it wasn't putting a dent on the amount of fruit on the tree! Finally I told the zone leader I was exchanging with, "count to 30 and we'll stop". It was like an endless supply of fruit!

We have been teaching a lot of families recently. It's amazing to see not just an individual, but a family change to become closer to God. I'm so grateful to be part of the process!

The culture of our mission has changed immensely since the time I came in. Everyone's so much more obedient, with a positive attitude and a willingness to work. It's fun to be a part of. Our mission is on fire.

Kumquats!