Riley #63 - Inglewood, CA - Three Pigs, Simplicity/Calmness/Sincerity

Hey Everyone,

     Yes, I got the box Friday. Thanks for the goodies and camera, as well as the letters and blog from Mollie and Michele.

     You will be happy to know that I am carrying my camera with me now, but I am still getting used to remembering to use it. I also forgot to bring something to move the pictures onto the computer, so you will have to wait for more next week.

     This week we had a lot of exchanges. Elder Kpainay is District leader, so he had 3 exchanges this week, each time with me going to the other area. So I only spent about half the week in the area this week, but I was able to see some other areas. One was directly south of our area, which covers Inglewood and part of a city called Hawthorne. The other area I went to was on the border of two cities called Compton and Watts. Their areas weren't a lot different than ours, but it is always a positive experience to spend a day with another missionary and see another area.


 
      Sunday, there was a baby blessing in our ward. It was a Tongan family, so they had relatives from Utah come out and a big dinner afterwards. There was a lot of food and cake, by far the largest celebration I've seen for a baby blessing. However, even it was outstripped by a missionary farewell in the Tongan ward that also happened yesterday.

     There were tons of tables out for that and even more food, including 3 roasted pigs. One of the Tongan missionaries told me that he was going to turn vegetarian when he returned home.

With Mission President and Sister Weidman

     We also had an investigator at church yesterday. She really enjoyed the experience. She's been to a lot of other churches and had been deterred from organized religion due to negative experiences. However, she has loved coming here.

     She loves the simplicity and calmness of it, contrasting with the glamorous services of some other churches she's been to.

     She also liked the sincerity. She loved how those who bore their testimonies really expressed what they felt, it didn't feel rote or without feeling. The feeling of sincerity she felt she hadn't felt at other churches; the sincerity that comes from making the teachings a part of your life.

     She said the same thing about General Conference. It was much more calm than what she was used to and she loved the expressions of emotions, which she feels is rare to see especially from men. It felt more like people sharing precious experiences with you and not so much someone preaching at you.