Mike's Mission - May 2007

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFF66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03c006e0dkfegl.gif"> <div>                          <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Michael's Mission Page</FONT>      <IMG SRC="04e55390.gif" border=0 width="85" height="57" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>                     California Santa Rosa Mission  June 2006 - June 2008    |   <A HREF="http://www.theHaslams.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theHaslams.com"><U>theHaslams.com</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#009933" TEXT="#080000" background="03dbec00ddwnzy.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission Front Page"><U><B>Front Page</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="latest_news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission Latest News"><U><B>Latest News</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="photo_album.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission Photo Album"><U><B>Photo Album</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="companions.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission Companions"><U><B>Companions</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>=====================</B></div> <div> <A HREF="may_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission May 2008"><U><B>May 2008</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="april_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission April 2008"><U><B>April 2008</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="march_w008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission March 2008"><U><B>March 2008</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="february_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission February 2008"><U><B>February 2008</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="january_2008.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission January 2008"><U><B>January 2008</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="december_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission December 2007"><U><B>December 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="november_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission November 2007"><U><B>November 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="october_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission October 2007"><U><B>October 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="september_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission September 2007"><U><B>September 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="august_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission August 2007"><U><B>August 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="july_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission July 2007"><U><B>July 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="june_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mike_Mission June 2007"><U><B>June 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="may_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission May 2007"><U><B>May 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="april_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission April 2007"><U><B>April 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="march_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission March 2007"><U><B>March 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="february_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes mission February 2007"><U><B>February 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="january_2007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission January 2007"><U><B>January 2007</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="december_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission December 2006"><U><B>December 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="november_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission November 2006"><U><B>November 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="october_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission October 2006"><U><B>October 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="september_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission September 2006"><U><B>September 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="august_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michaels Mission August 2006"><U><B>August 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="july_2006.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission July 2006"><U><B>July 2006</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="arrival.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arrival in Santa Rosa"><U><B>Arrival in Santa Rosa</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="mtc.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikes Mission MTC"><U><B>Departure & the Missionary Training Center</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>=====================</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.mission.net/california/santa/rosa/index.php" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mission.net/california/santa/"><U><B>California Santa Rosa Mission Alumni Site</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>May 2007</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>May 28, 2007 - "New Transfer" - </B></FONT>Yet another transfer time has arrived. In all missions in the United States and Canada transfers occur every 6-weeks like clockwork.  It is time for Elder Davis to return home to Colorado.  Michael wrote, <I>"Elder Davis is a good missionary, it is sad to see him go, but he has fulfilled his mission." </I> He will spend 4 hours in the Salt Lake Airport on Wednesday waiting for a flight to Colorado Springs.  Michael's new companion is Elder Price from his own group. They will be Zone Leaders together on their hump day June 7, 2007. Michael says, <I>"He is an awesome guy and a good missionary.  I'm excited to serve with him but a little concerned on running the zone.  I know that God will help me do it but I'm still young and Elder Price is of course young as well.  We haven't even hit our year mark yet!  In the zone we have 2 new missionaries to be trained, 2 sister companionships and a total of 18 missionaries including us.  It's a big zone and we will definitely need to work hard to keep everyone happy.  Hopefully we won't have as many companionship problems this transfer" </I>[the next 6-weeks].</div> <bR> <div> <I>As for the work in Winters we had probably the worst statistical week that I have ever had.  We taught no lessons to investigators and found no new investigators.  We still have some really good potentials though and some appointments this week.  We're still hopeful that we will baptize someone this transfer.  We need to have more faith though.  I'm sure we'll be able to do it.  There's probably 5 or 6 really good potential investigators that we could baptize.  As for the family that came last week, we didn't get to meet with them... since we don't have their contact information."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>"I have a great opportunity to learn this week at what we call a Zone Leader Council.  All the ZLs get together to talk and discuss how to improve the mission.  It happens only once every other transfer so I'm really excited for it."  </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>May 21, 2007 - "There Can be Miracles when you Believe" - </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >The miracle Michael is referring to is a family that attended the Winter's Ward after Elders Haslam and Davis visited the mother at her work in response to a member referral. Michael described this event:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>A whole family came to church! That almost never happens! A couple of weeks ago we're talking with a semi-less active couple about the gospel and of course we asked the question "Who do you know who might be interested in the gospel?" The wife told us that she has a friend at her work that used to go to our church as a kid and wants to get back into it. (We no idea if she's a member or not). She also said that her family would be cool about coming as well We didn't have a home address or phone number for her so we had to go see her at work. Doing that was awkward! We went in and asked for her 2 weeks ago, but she not there. So we left our contact info for her. Then a week after that, we go back. She was there and said that she would like to come out and would give us a call if she had any questions. So basically wouldn't give us any indication as to what she was thinking. So we go back to the member and report and she says "I'll talk to her". So yesterday, they came to church! They even stayed for Gospel Principles class in Sunday School! We taught the Word of Wisdom. How was that for a rough introduction to the church? The father is a recovering AA member. He has been clean for 12 years and totally agrees with the law. They were probably overwhelmed by all the members that went up to talk to them but that's better than being ignored!</I></div> <bR> <div> Michael explained that he did not have an appointment to visit with them since they still are not sure where the family lives.</div> <bR> <div> During his interview with President Stoddard during the week, the President told him that he was going to close Winters and leave the ward without any missionaries. The President of the Woodland stake told President Stoddard that all Winters needed was some of the mission's best missionaries. So he assigned Elder Haslam along with Elder Davis who had just finished serving as an assistant to President Stoddard. Further the president told Michael that he was going to leave missionaries in Winters through the mid-July transfer and then determine with Michael if the missionaries should stay or go.</div> <bR> <div> Michael reported that two members of the family he found in Clearlake were baptized last Saturday. Another member was not ready and another one got cold feet before entering the font.</div> <bR> <div> Elder Haslam reported that Elder Davis was working hard right up to his last week.  He said he'd tried to help keep him from thinking of home too much.</div> <bR> <div> His letter concluded with:</div> <bR> <div> <I>We taught a school band teacher this week who grew up in Palmyra New York! She's not a member and investigated a while ago. We basically started by answering her questions which she loved because before the prior missionaries just told her "We'll get to that later". I think she'll be perfect example of the blessings of changing to "Preach My Gospel". </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>May 14, 2007 - "Everything Else" - </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Michael wrote, "Sorry the phone call was short. 2 NE 33:15 - I must obey. Amen. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Speaking of his visit to the Davis district he wrote, "We went to the Davis/Dixon District Council on Tuesday. It was nice that I didn't have to plan it. It went pretty well. I then stayed in Davis and went on exchanges with Elder Gage. It was a good exchange but we really didn't get to talk to very many people. The city kind of dies during the day. It's a big city though. There are a lot of atheists in the city. Too many educated people that have ruled out God because they think they know better. It is like one of the most educated cities in the country I'm told. Also it's one of the largest biking cities in the country. They have bike paths everywhere. They have so many that you can buy a Davis bike map to find where they all are. They have a big bike bridge over I-80".</div> <bR> <div> Speaking of the work in Winters Michael wrote, "..... it was pretty rough. We didn't find any new investigators. We've only found 4 this whole time and pretty much all of them have been dropped. Our only hope was an 84 year old lady that has been reading about the church for 50 years. She seems satisfied not knowing for sure what the truth is. She just can't accept Joseph Smith even though she believes in the Book of Mormon. Also in Esparto was the member with a 9-year-old daughter that we met a couple weeks ago by a miracle. She still doesn't want to put the effort in to come out to church. She'd rather just keep doing what she's doing. And her daughter often goes with her father on the weekends. So our other possibility is out. We still have the hope and faith that we can find someone but we're going to need to try some new ideas. We developed several and are going to put them into practice in the upcoming weeks."</div> <bR> <div> Sunday we were invited into an "Assembly of God Church".  What a strange experience that was.  Michael reported: "  It was so bad. They didn't even have a prayer to start. They read a few verses, sang and clapped to loud obnoxious music that had a drummer, guitarist, and keyboard player. It was so bad. I was just amazed at how irreverent it was. Then they did some activities like it was a talent show. They had a couple soloists, then a presentation by the young kids wishing their mother's a happy mother's day. Then they did a lip sink drama with some song where a kid goes wayward and they want him to come back. He does at the end and gives them a hug. I don't know the details, it was in Spanish. Then to top it off they played Suck and Blow. If you don't know what that is. It's a game where they had some pieces of wax paper that one person sucks on to keep it from falling and the husband would come over and suck on it to transfer it to a basket. They brought 4 couples up and had a contest to see who could transfer the most. IT was ridiculous. I couldn't believe how much of a mockery it had to be to God. I was so appalled that we walked out and I felt so empty I couldn't do missionary work. I felt like I needed to repent. What kind of a church would do such a thing. "Wo unto those that call evil good and good evil"!!!</div> <bR> <div> Michael concluded, "I love my mission and I'll keep working hard. I do find time to write in my journal, just not as much as before. I keep it updated though."</div> <bR> <div> <B>May 13, 2007 - "Phone Call #2" -</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > In his "Mother's Day" call Michael reported that missionary work in Winters is "tough".  He said, "In this small town 50% of the people speak Spanish and many in the other 50% have no interest in exploring a new religion.  Elder Davis and I have 0 (zero) investigators right now". He told us that he bike needs some repairs, but that he's holding off getting them until they are absolutely necessary.  He indicated that he'd been gone so long he did not know what to talk about to members of the family.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>May 07, 2007 - "Eleven Months" - </B></FONT>Michael wrote, "The visit to the Sacramento Temple was <B>AMAZING</B>! It was so great to go to the temple again. It's been so long. I don't ever want it to take me that long again to get back to the temple but I'm going to have to. I won't get to the temple again for another full year! But the Sacramento Temple is <B>AWESOME</B>! It is small for my taste. We went to the baptistry first, all in white and heard the temple president Winkel talk to us for a little bit on the beauty of what we do in the temple and encouraged us to get our converts here. He spoke in October Conference on "the Temple is about Families". It was good to hear him for about 10 minutes or so. The session was full, they only have 56 seats and they added 14 more chairs in the aisles to make it fit better. This temple I believe only has one ordinance room but you move in the middle to another room before going into the Celestial Room. The first two rooms have beautiful murals painted on them and the celestial room is gorgeous. </div> <bR> <div> The other big event for the week was zone conference. Michael explained, "Thursday was Zone Conference in Vacaville, the place of my birth. It was great to be back there. So far it is my favorite city in the mission and my companion's as well.  Elder Davis has served in a lot of places and served as AP all over the mission. I got to see the bishop's wife and some other relief society sisters who made lunch for us. It was cool. The bishop's wife asked me to date her daughter when I go home. That was an awkward situation. I didn't know what to say. I just said that I'd be at the U and her daughter would be at the Y. Anyway I dodged it pretty good. I gave a talk during zone conference! The AP's (my Dad Elder Bennett) called me the night before and asked me to speak. I talked just for about 7 minutes on "Hard Smart Tracting" President Stoddard said I did really well for a tough topic".</div> <bR> <div> The most exciting news of the week is "In my last area [Middletown] there is a family of 5 committed for baptism, and I was there when we found them. We talked to one of the older daughters in the park and got her home address. We taught them a first discussion with Elder Twiggs and "my boy" Elder Strobel the week before I left. They went back and taught them more and they've been to church ever since. Also I know that Valerie Ward's sister was baptized in England!  She was my first baptism in Vacaville.  O the joy that is felt when you are made an instrument in the hands of GOD!!! Always look for that joy no matter what it is. Look to serve God."</div> <bR> <div> Describing the work of a Zone Leader Michael said, "Being a zone leader is starting to become natural. Our Zone has 3 baptized with 5 committed and a goal of 9 so we only need one more! We're doing great and the zone is improving. It still has its problems from time to time. For example one companion ran away for a little bit on Friday, or just little acts of disobedience that get on your nerves but we're managing."</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>