Un misionero escuchando 😵‍💫

Day: offically the last cool one of the year 

Pushup Count: 85

Buenos días mi gente! Nos pasamos una muy buena semana aki en Bakes! It was pretty average, but we seemed to attract a lot of strange people (Bakersfield moment) , so we had some fun. Highlights:

- Last pday we went to goodwill, chickfila, and tilly's

- I emptied the closet in our extra bedroom 

- I turned 20 

- We went to Wasco for combined district counsel, but ended up being 20 minutes late because we had to deal with an emergency transfer 

- I went on an exchange with Elder Young. He's from the midwest and he likes hard rock so we got along pretty well. He taught me a lot about asking better questions to get people talking. We also taught Ally the last principles she needs to know before her baptism this Sunday 

- One of our members started trash talking a guy we were trying to contact about his soccer jersey and it got pretty heated  But al fin they ended up becoming homies and now they play on the same soccer team 

- We talked about Elder Oaks and miracles at institute. Then my companions convinced each other to each a bunch of cookies (I may have participated in the convincing )

- We got Subway 

- I went back to my old area in Palmdale on exchanges with Elder Van Dyk  It was so fun. I got to speak a ton of Spanish and see one of my favorite members

- We got panda  

- I went on exchanges with Elder Coletti and we taught some awesome lessons together. Then I learned about lifting weights from him and Rigel after our lesson with Alan 

- On Saturday morning I had my last interview with President Burton  I had Sister Burton join and got them both tearing up  It was super strange to be talking about college and work and dating with them, but I guess everyone's time comes at some point 

- We ate pizza with Bishop Beaty and his wife  I stuffed myself and then they brought out giant pieces of strawberry pie and I wasn't allowed to say no... 

- A dude came up to us and started by telling us that we're racist (which happens about once a week ), so I got a little defensive, but then we realized that he was just a little crazy when he started talking about divine math, God playing GTA, smoking a blunt of the Holy Spirit, crip walking cause he's part of Adam's gang, and playing celestial soccer with us in the cosmos... Among other things  That was a fun language study

- We had dinner with the Urmstons :)

- We talked to an inactive member who's been pretty standoffish in the past, but then I asked him if he liked metal music and now we're best friends 

- I finally killed the black widow living in our trash can

- We stopped by a random member that we'd never met and turns out she moved but he parents are still there and her dad had some crazy takes. I don't even know how to explain the lecture he gave us but it was beyond strange  great way to end our Sunday

I'm soooo trunky. Just kidding :) I'm very excited to come home though. It's slowly getting harder and harder to lock in, but I'm really looking forward to what we have coming up these next few weeks . The work is engaging and moving forward!

Spiritual Thought:

Okay Elder Hanson, get ready, immaboutta make you so proud. This week I read Helaman 3:28 which says this:

"Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God."

That got me thinking "hmm, so faith opens the gate huh?", and then one thing lead to another and I came up with a model called, wait for it, the Doctrine Door (see attached foto).

It's essentially this: There's a wall that separates us from Christ and the celestial kingdom. That wall has a door in it. Before we believe in Christ we can't see him on the other side at all. Faith in Jesus Christ opens the door so that we can see him in the distance on the other side. Some people stop here, content with just seeing Christ on the other side. But that's not much of a relationship now is it? That's where the other steps of the doctrine of Christ come in. Repentance is where we take serious action, leaving behind the room were currently in and stepping into the doorway. We find ourselves a little bit closer to Christ. Then we're baptized and we step into the room with Christ. We close the door behind us and leave neutral ground forever (ft. President Nelson). Turning back now would mean crashing back through the door and being held  accountable for that damage. The rest is simple, follow the Holy Ghost and repeat this process through as many doors as it takes (ehem, sacrament) until we get to Christ. 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos!