Monday, May 12, 2014

The Oakland Temple and Adam and Eve


Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I hope everyone's Mother's Day was as good as mine! It was so great to Skype home to my family! It feels like time has just flown by since I've left, I don't feel like I've been gone for as long as I have been.

Well, my birthday felt like a normal day. I had to keep reminding myself that it was my birthday! It was a pretty uneventful P-day and all we did was shop and walk around the mall. It was our "no fun" p-day. We went to the temple this week and the mission rule is that you can't use the P-day before going to the temple for recreational purposes. So no basketball or anything like that. We ended up just walking around the mall all day. That was kind of dreadful. We spent 45 mins in a hat store.... Who needs to look at hat's for 45 mins!? But I was overruled by my companion and the other two Elders we were shopping with. C'est la vie.

Elder Kimball and I went to the bible study again and we started talking to these three guys that were there, named Chancy, Nick and Harry, and I got into a conversation with them. We started talking to them about Adam and Eve, and their role, and our life on Earth. They think that Adam and Eve could've stayed in the garden forever and we could've been there in paradise forever. But that's not true! We're here to learn and gain experiences! There was no learning or experiences in the Garden of Eden. Plus it's also important to recognize that they couldn't have had kids there, so if they stayed there then we wouldn't be here! We got into a discussion about that and we threw some scriptures at each other. It'd be nice if they believed in the Book of Mormon, then it be so much easier to teach them! I showed them Isaiah 29 and told them it's talking about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, but of course they have a different interpretation of it. We set up a time to come by their house and talk with them some more, so that will be interesting.

Well we had a great lesson with one of our newer investigators, M**** Z******. He is so golden. He reads what we give him, and remembers it for the next time we come back and talk about it. We've been reading the Book of Mormon with him, (which is another thing he's been reading on his own time,) and he really likes it. He makes comments about it, things that stand out to him in it. For example, he commented on how Nephi, being the younger brother, had to stand up to his older brothers and keep them in line and how hard that must've been for him to do. So I was happy to see that not only does he love reading the the Book of Mormon, but he also defends it when he talks to his mom about it. He tells her that we do believe in the bible, how they complement each other, and how much easier the Book of Mormon is to understand. We then invited him to be baptized and without hesitation he gave us a firm yes. We plan on setting a date with him next time we visit with him. Needless to say, I'm pretty psyched!!

Like I said earlier, we went to the Oakland Temple and it was PACKED. There were three different missions and five zones from our mission there. I have no idea how we managed to fit. A lot of them weren't supposed to be there - either they were late for their actual appointment or they were early. I can proudly say that we were there at the time we were suppose to be there. We were legitimate! I took a lot more pictures on my camera so I'll send those home later. I always love going to the temple. Luckily I have three temples that my mission goes to!

Well, I love my Mom, I love my family and I love my friends. I appreciate all of the support you have given me while I've been on my mission.


Love, Elder Hayden Ellis

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