Elder Jon Daniel: 3-3-14

Heeeeeeyyyyyyy!!

The Smedley's actually got to go to the Gilbert Temple open house with the rest of the youth form our ward, but they didn’t go to the dedication. I remember this time last year when I drove Grandma Gwen back to Arizona, I was driving down the freeway they built behind Greenfield Lakes and I could see the angel Moroni peeking over the cement wall and I had no clue they were even building a temple there, it was under construction then and now it’s dedicated. Gilbert is growing like a weed, it’s crazy. We've got to go back there to see it one day.
This week has been really good. We have received about 6 inches of rain which is about half of what southern California receives in a year and we got it in only 3 days. I can’t believe how much I miss the rain in Bama. I’ve missed the difference in temperature and variety in the weather. What is really cool about all the rain though is the entire Murrieta Stake fasted last month for rain because we were in one of the worst droughts they've ever had, and we got as much rain as we needed and then some more. There were some areas where on the street where water would pool up and trucks would ride through em' and send water flying everywhere, and we were scared some punk was going to take the opportunity to completely drench two Mormons walking down the street, haha. So we waited for the red lights and then ran past those areas.
We picked up a new investigator this week. His name is Tayven, he's 9 years old and is very interested and excited about the gospel. He's very athletic, inquisitive, and always has a smile on his face. His mother is less active and has been through a lot. Our bishop went over to their house and asked if they would like to hear the lessons, his mom wasn't very interested, but Tayven wanted to take the lessons. We taught him the Restoration at sister Baak's house on Wednesday and will be meeting with him once every week. We found out last night that Tayven has cancer. I had no idea, and it breaks my heart, how could something so terrible like that plague someone so young, so innocent, and so full of life and has so much to live for? Us teaching him the lessons has become incredibly more imperative to me. He needs the gospel more than ever in his life. It will help him through his darkest hours and lift his burdens when he feels like he can no longer bare them.
We also got to go to the San Diego Temple last Friday. I can’t wait to go back. I wish I could stay there forever. It is absolutely breathtaking. It’s the closest to heaven you can get. We were able to ride down with Brother Boaz. He is a musical composer and voice coach and we listened to his album he's working on while we drove down, we also got some free voice and public speaking lessons, haha. After the temple we went to go see his twin sister who is recovering from just got done with chemo therapy and still has some radiation she has to go through. We had a nice lesson on faith with her. Brother Boaz is the only member of his extended family, so that was pretty neat to be a part of that.
We helped Brother Young move to Santa Clarita. He's moving up there to be closer to his boys. We’re going to miss him, he has been awesome assisting us with the work and just always being there for us when we needed him. He was the one who helped us orchestrate Bhrezia's baptism. He's got a heart of gold that is hard to find in people.
So we found out that we have been doing 50% of the wards home teaching by going by members as backups to our plans that fall through.. I guess that's a good and bad thing, haha. We're super home teachers!
So transfer calls are this Saturday, I'm pretty sure I will be leaving Murrieta, but who knows, I'll let y’all know how it goes.

I love you all,

Stay true, stay strong, and look out for each other while I'm away, alright?

-Elder Daniel