General Conference, Transfers and Stolen Bikes
Monday: So……..my bike got stolen. Story time!
We were going over to a members house to watch the Facebook training
videos and we were just going to sit outside of their house to use
their wifi. Then we remembered that they have security cameras that
set alarms off inside the house to let them know that people are in
their driveway or yard. We were going to go to the side of the house
behind their gate like we usually do but since it was super dark out
we didn’t want to scare them. So we were going to leave our bikes in
front of the gate and knock on their door and tell them they were
there and then grab our bikes and go to the side of the house behind
the gate. They said they we could just watch the videos inside but
first wanted to talk to us about some members. So we completely forgot
about our bikes. We went in and within 30 seconds we heard the
security alarm go off. We all froze and Sister Godfrey looked out the
door and saw someone. We went out and my bike was gone. It was really
dark but I saw his silhouette as he rode off. I almost started running
but then realized elder Kerby probably wouldn’t want to. Brother
Godfrey called the cops and then had me talk to the cops and he went
to chase the guy down. When I was done talking to the cops, I couldn’t
go anywhere because they said to stay there. For some reason I felt
super calm and not worried at all. So, we watched the videos on
Facebook and talked about how we can be better as a companionship. It
was a really good conversation and we resolved some things to make our
companionship better. Eventually brother Godfrey got back and he
couldn’t find the guy but said the cops were still looking. Elder
Kerby and i kept talking as brother Godfrey went though the security
cameras and found where it caught the guy in camera. He had a hat and
a backpack on but we couldn’t tell much else. It caught him taking the
bike though. Probably a homeless guy. There’s a lot here. So we ate
some ice cream and eventually a cop finally showed up and asked what
had happened. Then he told me he had my bike and looked at the camera
recordings and gave me my bike and asked for ID and got some info.
Nothing was stolen from my bike thankfully. It was a little dirty
because when the cop found him he ditched my bike and ran. They
haven’t found him as far as I know right now. Bunk got it back. So I’m
happy. Prayers work. The cop found the guys hat and backpack so they
are looking into it. I don’t care really, I got my bike back. No harm
done. So that was fun. Afterwards elder Kerby and I were saying we
should have yelled “Swiper no swiping!” That would have fixed
everything.
Tuesday: Not much happened today. We had a ton of lessons set up and
most cancelled. We did some service. We watched more training videos
and had great conversations. The coolest thing was after dinner we
went to a ward missionary’s house and just talked with him about how
we can affect people better. How we can improve our dealings with
investigators and members and show them that we care. He wasn’t
flowery about it. He was to the point and I loved it. He told us what
we do wrong and how to fix it a very smart man. I soaked it all in.
Coolest conversation in a long long time. There’s so much I need to
change.
Wednesday: We had to go to Rocklin this morning for something for
Elder Kerby. We crashed a district meeting. I got to see elder Goodman
from Yuba City and that was nice. And I got to see a Sister Andersen
as I passed her in the hallway. I haven’t seen her since my first
area. It was cool to see those two. It was a fun adventure altogether.
This afternoon we had a lesson with ****. *****’s friend. I’ve
mentioned him before in past emails. We sat outside Starbucks and we
focused on getting to know him and what he believes. We didn’t have
much time but we answered some questions he had. He had some hard
questions that were very direct. The way he asked them was very cool,
focusing on what we personally believe on touchy subjects like
evolution and homosexuality. He’s very smart. We will see him again in
next week.
Thursday: Great day, we had service, meetings and cancelled lessons. We had members come to those lessons and neither happened. But
one of the members was super awesome and took everything the extra
mile and did things we can’t do because we are missionaries and he is
a member and he fulfilled his part. I’m super tired and need sleep so
I’m going to bed.
Friday: Mostly daily planning today. But we had another great lesson
with the *****s. We had the Bishop and his son come, who is their
age. They should be coming to mutual. And maybe church, next week. I’m
writing this in Saturday because I totally forgot.
Saturday: General Conference was amazing. It’s the conference that I’ve gotten the most out of. We watched it at the Baldridge’s. So awesome and I learned so much from all the amazing talks. I will probably send my
notes in it just for fun. Right now I feel horrible because we just
got a call from President Ward saying Elder Kerby will train. Which
means I’m leaving. And I don’t want to leave. So I’m not happy right
now.
Sunday: Ok. Wow. I have quite a bit to catch up on. So, first, General
Conference. Now that I am done mourning, I can talk more about it. I
have never been much of a note taker but I made myself do it this
time. I’ll send the notes to you. Remember, I haven’t gone through the notes yet but I’ll do it anyways. But it was amazing. As
Sister Wall put it “All the talks were written just for me so they
couldn’t have been written for you”. So true. That’s how I feel. But
somehow they were that way for everyone that listened intently. I have
so much I want to say about it. This talks were amazing! I can’t
stress that enough. I have never gotten so much out of Conference and
that’s because I was listening intently and prepared. To sum up, the
themes of Conference were: Support your leaders, trust God, joy is a
choice and read the talk about the Book of Mormon from last conference
by President Monson’s. That talk was quoted by over 5 people. It’s
important. And even cooler, I have watched that talk and been showing
it to people lately. That was so cool to see how I was prepared. We
watched it all at the Baldridge’s and they are amazing. I love them so
much and will miss them a lot. But I could go on and on and on about
how amazing this conference was but I have to do some things. Next
subject.
Transfers.
I’m going to be going to Gridley. It’s just north of Yuba
City. There will be another Elder Jones in the district. We got a ton
of missionaries from different countries that have been demolished by
the hurricanes and he is one of them. So that’s cool. I’m going to be
with Elder Niederhouser (I think I butchered the spelling). I replaced
him here in Auburn. I feel very good about it. There is supposed to be a lot of work in Gridley. It’s the first stake organized in California. Lost and lots
of members. A super small town. It’s going to be great. We have a
house, but I heard it’s been trashed by missionaries. I’ll get a car.
That’s fun. I think it’ll be like Yuba City but in a smaller town. It
pretty much is. So I’m excited. I’m super sad that I am leaving though.
I said goodbye to the Walls and the Baldridges. We watched Conference
at the Baldridge’s and it took me over two hours to make myself tell
them that I was leaving. I love them so much. I was dreading telling
them. And dreading leaving them. Sister Baldridge and Abby are coming
to say goodbye to me tonight. That’s going to be really hard. Abby
reminds me of a quiet Hadley. I’m so sad. But I trust God that he
knows what he is doing.
Luva!
The KKJones Family 