From trainee to trainer

Hello, This week was a bit interesting with the transfers and training meetings, but, as always, it was a good week serving the Lord. Tuesday was transfers, so Elder Schumann-Curtis and I got a ride to the mission office, listened to the testimonies of the missionaries that were going home, and then we both got our new temporary companions (since our trainees wouldn't arrive till Wednesday). Mine was Elder Wilson, so we were companions for the next 24ish hours. We spent the rest of the day down in Hollister (Elder Wilson's area), stopped by a few houses, and then drove back up to Bernal to sleep at my apartment. It was fun; the testimonies were pretty great, and we had a good time in Hollister. On Wednesday, we made some stopbys in the nearby neighborhoods before picking up our trainees, and the three people who opened their doors all said that even though they were busy at the moment, they were glad to see us, and they were open to us coming back at the same time on Saturday when they were more available. I thought that was pretty sweet since it meant my trainee could experience some lessons right away, so I was excited for Saturday. Then, we went back to the mission office to meet the new missionaries, and my trainee is Elder Duncan from Lehi, Utah. That night, we tried stopping by some houses, and one of them, Brett, told us that he was grateful for the blessing that Elder Schumann-Curtis and another Elder had given him, so that was cool for Elder Duncan to hear, and I was able to relay that message to Elder Schumann-Curtis too. Thanksgiving was a pretty fun first day in the mission for Elder Duncan haha. After our morning studies, we had Thanksgiving dinner (well, Thanksgiving lunch in this case haha) with Justin and Jaycci and their family. We had a great time, and I shared a little Thanksgiving message with them about gratitude. Then, we went over to the Ropers, one of the families in our ward. I talked with them about the Restoration and connected to how I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and for the Church He established as well as for His sacrifice for each and every one of us. It went well, and afterwards, they unexpectedly gave us a lot of Thanksgiving dessert haha. Then, right after we finished up with them, we went over to the Sanchez's to have yet another Thanksgiving dinner and play games with them. We had a ton of food that day haha, and I'm grateful Elder Duncan was able to have fun as he starts adjusting to missionary life. On Friday, we were at training meetings for nearly the whole day. First, me and the other trainers had their own "Train the Trainers" meeting, which was pretty good and insightful. After we had some lunch, all the trainers and trainees were together for an introduction to the mission and all that jazz. Once we got home, we went around various neighborhoods and said some prayers with people and had some dinner, nothing too crazy. Saturday was pretty interesting. For one, all the lessons that we had scheduled on Wednesday fell through, no one was home like they said they would be haha, so for the rest of the day, we went around going to as many houses as I could think of and....only two people answered their doors that whole day 😂. I also tried calling a lot of people, and only one person answered haha. It was pretty funny, and we stayed diligent. Out of the three people we could actually talk to, we said a prayer with two of them, and they said that they really needed it at that time, so I'm glad we could help them out at least. We also started planning out the upcoming week, and to make up for the lack of people we talked to, I took Elder Duncan to Baskin Robbins haha. On Sunday, none of the people we've invited to church showed up (in person or over Zoom), so....that was cool 😂. After chruch, we visited Justin and Jaycci, and we went over the organization of Christ's Church in the Bible, how it was lost over time, and how/why it was restored in our day, as well as answering any of Jaycci's questions, and we continued to testify of the Book of Mormon. Justin's still rock solid in his testimony though, so I'm grateful for that. After that, we made a lot of calls and went through the neighborhood near our apartment, and we stopped by Brett's house again. He invited us to give a blessing on the home with his two kids, and we simply taught them about the nature of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The Spirit was super strong, and it really left an impact on Brett and his daughter, so we'll make sure to stop by again. One of the lessons that Elder Schumann-Curtis and I would teach to various members of the ward revolved around Alma 26:22, which says, "Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed". What we liked about this scripture is how it outlines how we can receive personal revelation from God in our own lives, especially the point about repenting. Often, repentance has a negative connotation attached to it, but repentance is simply change and aligning our will with God's will. Throughout the scriptures, prophets, men who spoke on behalf of God, were continually repenting so that they can receive that revelation for themselves and for their people. When we seek personal revelation, we tend to emphasize faith and praying to God, but it's also important to realize that we can better receive that guidance and those answers as we repent---whether changing from bad to good or even from good to better to best. As we find those small or big things in each of our lives, I know we'll have a greater reception of promptings and knowledge from God, and He will continually guide us as we do so. I hope you all have a great week and continue to find the miracles in your day to day lives and find ways to come closer to God. Talk to you next week, Elder Enger