6 More Weeks in Ceres/7 People at Church

Hello Mommy! So, I didn't get tranferred. It'll be 6 months in Ceres, I guess. Not only that, but Elder Astel didn't leave either, so it's exactly the same again. I was super sad when I heard that, but we'll make the best of it. This is going to be the best transfer so far. Bertha rescheduled because her daughter Anabella was doing a driving test the next day, and Bertha was driving with her so she could get some practice. They did rescheduled with us though and Anabella passed her drivers test.

Brianna was at work when we came over, so we'll try by another time, I guess. Charnell canceled. Joseph canceled so we dropped him. But we still stop by occasionally and try to see him if we can. We dropped Marie as well. Wesley we're dropping for the time being. Maybe we'll try back after he's recovered from surgery. Sarah and Keith did come to church this week and they are doing awesome on the stop smoking program. Some of the steps are not being followed to a 'T', but it's understandable with their living circumstances. I think they're doing super well and I'm excited to celebrate their 7 days of sobriety with them on Wednesday. We did meet with Carol again, with no real lesson plan other than to follow up on her reading and discuss why she wasn't coming to church. Crazy thing, she finally read that week and told us all about what she'd learned. She talked about how much she loves brother Wetenkamp and how her granddaughter had ran over and given him a hug the other week. Also reminisced on the time she sang the Mickey Mouse song with Brother Gain. Then she said the missionaries were like her brothers and said she would definitely be at church next week to hear us talk. AND SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! She talked to tons of members and said our church was a smaller church and she liked it that way. She isn't a fan of the big mega christian churches, but liked our church and said she plans to come next week. Mary canceled again, so if we don't meet with her this week, we'll probably drop her. It makes me sad because she was genuinely curious and I love answering questions 😆 We dropped Marquita, she seems to want to meet and then decide not to the day of. We're still trying to get her new address though, so we can have the missionaries in her area stop by. She tends to be more responsive to a knock at the door than a text or phone call. Nora, Marquita's mom, is one of the Modesto Elders' most progressing friends. They're not in our zone, so we don't really keep in contact with them, unfortunately. I haven't gotten a new TIWI since our car was broken into, so I can't drive for the time being. Elder Astel hasn't gotten his new card yet, so I'm still paying for everything. But, he's used cash a couple times to help out, and we're having the mission transfer some of his funds to my card. Miracle: So this week church was absolutely amazing. We got 7 people who don't usually come to church, come to church. Elder Astel and I were speaking, so that helped, but we had 4 nonmembers, Sarah, Carol, Nawatha, and Liam at church, and 3 less active members, sis Brewer, sis Ensign, and bro Keith Bowles. It was Carol's first time going to church, and it was sis Brewer's first time going in person. She was a convert from over a year ago, and had only joined zoom a couple times last year which allowed her to be baptized in her pool without ever seeing the church building. So, this was her first time at church, and she's been a member for over a year, crazy! Challenge: I was really hoping for a change this transfer. Change in a companion or area, not because I don't like my companion or area, but I feel like those fresh starts are nice and things move faster. So, I was initially a little disappointed there. Good News: The ward is really working on how they can improve in their missionary efforts which will be a huge help for us. We've been given lists of inactive members to go visit that will hopefully lead to a lot of miracles and new faces at church:) Love you! Elder Jaxon Wardle