Oakland temple

Greetings, My week was awesome; we focused a lot on Justin/Jacie like last week. Tuesday was District Council/Taco Tuesday, and later, we had some dinner with their family and helped Justin pick up some furniture in his truck. We also answered his questions about the temple and continued to talk about the nature of God and His plan for us. He's a pretty deep thinker, so we love being able to talk and answer his questions. On Wednesday, we had dinner again with Justin/Jacie, and she told us about some of the negative feedback she had received as she was telling her family what she had learned from our messages. We addressed her concerns and testified of the truthfulness of both the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then we decided to read 3 Nephi 11 when Jesus Christ appears to the Nephites. The Spirit was super strong as we read that chapter; my companion let me read the whole thing, and I could actually feel the Spirit working through me and using me as an instrument to teach them. It was a great time. Thursday was mostly weekly planning and trying to talk to people on the streets after some appointments fell through, but we did teach a couple guys about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how he truly suffered for not only our sins but also all of our trials/afflictions so that He can truly understand us perfectly. They loved hearing what we had to say, so we'll probably me stopping by again sometime soon. Friday was another exchange, so I was up in Gilroy with another Elder who loves to talk to other people as much as I do haha. He's a really good teacher though. It went well; we actually talked to a few people on the streets, and we were even able to set up a return appointment with someone new despite not having our more extroverted companions to help us out lol. Right before we ended the exchange, we had one more lesson with a couple about faith/the Atonement of Jesus Christ and we gave them each a blessing of comfort, which was a really special experience for all of us. Saturday was easily the best day of the week since we got to visit the temple with Justin/Jacie and their family. The temple is in Oakland, which is outside our mission, so we had to get approval from our mission president, and I'm super grateful I had this opportunity to go. The temple grounds were beautiful; it has a roof garden, and you can overlook all these nearby cities. After touring the grounds, we then went in the visitor's center and watched a video about how families are central to God's plan and temples as a whole. The Sisters who gave us the tour asked us what we liked about the video/temples in general, and after a few seconds, Jacie simply said "Everything." It was awesome; the kids loved it, the parents were telling us that they could feel the Spirit, and Justin kept telling us how excited he is to eventually go through the temple haha. We then got lunch/dinner with them and later talked to them about the temple and what they liked. It was just a really cool day, I'm glad we could all have that experience. Sunday was our most anxious day, which I'm recognizing will probably be like that for the rest of my mission since we're worried about getting people to church haha. Justin's family came to church for the first time, so Elder Schumann-Curtis and I were hoping everything would go well for them, and it did...for the most part lol. Sacrament was good, it's just different than what Jacie is used to, and the speakers had good talks. In second hour, there will a couple complications. I won't go into too much detail, but there were just a couple issues when it came to one or two people not being the most Christ-like at church in the classes that Jacie and her oldest son were at. It's unfortunate that happened for their first time at church, but it is what it is; just always remember to be a representative of Jesus Christ wherever you go because you never know who will be watching your example. Everything else was great though. The two younger kids had a great time in Primary, Justin liked second hour too, and the rest of the ward was super helpful and welcoming. They're excited for General Conference, Justin is pumped for church/baptism, and I think Jacie is willing to go again. Unfortunately, Justin works pretty late everyday this week, so the baptismal date is still up in the air, but they are for sure getting baptized, Justin especially can't wait. After church, we had a couple meetings, biked around, stopped by a couple houses, and had dinner with a member family, so Sunday was good and busy like normal haha. For this week's spiritual thought, I wanted to focus a little bit on 1 Nephi 1:20. Even after everyone around him is trying to kill his dad and persecute his family, Nephi states, "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." I love that despite his afflictions, Nephi is able to recognize and appreciate the good in his life and can reflect on how the Lord was guiding him and his family at this moment of his life (e.g. saving them from the destruction of Jerusalem). It's a good reminder that there are "tender mercies" all around us if we have the faith to look for and recognize them, and as we discover these "tender mercies", we will receive strength and become "mighty" in our times of trial. I hope everything is going well, and if it isn't, remember to look for the tender mercies of the Lord, they are always there. See you next time, Elder Enger