Our Jewish Grandma

Well, I don't know how the weeks keep going by so fast. Also, how is it MAY vaca santa!!

So those people we found the other week through Facebook are like super dope, way chill, mega lit. They're super fun to visit. The husband is named Bill; he's a former higher-up in Jimmy John's. He's spent a lot of hours with Jimmy. He helped get the company started, and he can make a sandwich in 20 seconds. Also, his sandwiches are super good. He also loves to talk, and he grew up as an Orthodox Jew. No longer a Jew, but he grew up Jewish. He's also a gringo, born and raised in Texas (personality is the same as Brett Iverson, my old coworker; only a few will understand). Anyway, now that you've got the background, let us go to the lesson this week. This couple is super cool; his wife worked for MTV when it was cool. Anyway, we go to their house, and we'd been fasting for like 12 hours already (since breakfast). We walk in, and there's this huge thing of chicken and a mega pot of cooked carrots (like the boiled ones; my family knows how much I like cooked carrots. Throwback to when I puked on my grandma's floor because my dad was shoving nasty cooked carrots in my mouth and making me eat them). I was like, "Oh no, THE ULTIMATE BEAST. CHICKEN AND COOKED CARROTS." My comp and I already had made the executive decision (you know, with the spirit and the situation). We have to make this man love us. He loves cooking and loves when we eat his food. I'm not gonna lie, the Texas barbecue he gave us was good!!! So we are in the car with me and my companion. We're just pre-lesson counseling. We decided, yeah, we've gone 2 meals like we're supposed to, so if he gives us a meal, we have to eat it because it makes him so happy. We already sacrificed, God knows, like the guy with the withered hand. So we already did 2 meals. If there's a meal, we will be so accepting. If not, we keep our fast. We walk in, I'm like, "Oh no, NOT COOKED CARROT. NOT CHICKEN. OH DEAR, the ultimate beast." I never thought I'd face this, my two least favorite foods (oh, and tuna, tuna sucks, ew). So we sit down, and I'm like, "Oh great, well, good thing I got Ziplocks in my bag!!!" Anyways, we start talking, and Bill is like a super coffee fan. I don't know how he already knows about the coffee, but it's alright, I ain't scared. Anyway, he really has some religion issues because he was raised Jewish but now isn't believing in God, not really Jesus because, you know, he was Jewish. Thinks he was a prophet and not our savior, but that's okay. Anyways, we were sitting at the island of his kitchen table, and he's cooking the carrots and baking cookies. He's like, "Do you guys want water because I know I can't offer you coffee?" Me and my comp were really conflicted because we were fasting, but we think that food is for us, but then also our pre-game plan, so we were sitting there looking at each other awkwardly deciding what to do, and Bill goes, "Oh, I forgot you can't drink water after 7." We both burst out laughing because he's just teasing us, and it was so funny the way he said it. We were like, "Yeah, we can have water. Thanks, Bill." And so then this man gives me a La Croix, smh... Anyways, we keep talking, and it was super good! Then he gives the carrots and the chicken to his dogs. LET'S GOOOOOOO! That's what I'm saying, cooked carrots and chicken are dog food. I ain't ever eating them. No, but then we're off the hook, and he pulls the cookies out of the oven, and he's like, "You are coming every Saturday night because I need to cook for you. I'm now your Jewish grandma." So now we're his godchildren. We were teaching them some of the plan of salvation, and Bill says, "So I've heard a lot about this second coming of Jesus Christ. How are we supposed to know it's him if there are all these false Christs?" Then we said, "Well, the scriptures say every tongue shall bow and every knee confess. I mean, it's pretty obvious to us, at least when a man is coming out of heaven in a red robe, who will it be?" Then he hits us with "Tony Stark." We both burst out laughing again. This guy is so awesome. We have a good relationship with him, and he just teases us but learns too. It's so funny. Time goes on, and we're kinda doing a lesson about their questions. Something super cool is that I felt like they taught me more about Jesus as we were teaching them about Jesus and our church because Jesus was a Jew. So I felt like I learned a lot about Jesus this week! I saw the replica they have of the Ark of the Covenant, also the Torah and the Quran. It was cool. I never realized how much our church just makes sense. It's so cool to teach about Christ to someone who isn't Christian. I never realized how much He meant to me until these lessons. It's so cool to just teach from the beginning about our Savior and then while we're testifying of Him and they're talking about Jews, and it just feels like it makes you really appreciate the truth of the Restoration. Our church is so unique. It was super cool to see how similar we are to Jews and Muslims in things, but so different how Christian we are, also just restored to the truth. It's really cool when you see the whole picture and where it went wrong down the line. Just crazy to see how awesome everything in religion is. I've become a nerd about religion. It's so interesting. Anyways, it was fun to teach him about Jesus while I was also reading the New Testament. And in zone conference this week, we did a Passover meal. Feels really cool to be so focused on Jesus.

I wanted to talk about something really mind-blowing to me, and that's the fact that it has been 1 year since I went through the temple for my endowment (in 2 days). I just want to shout out the temple so much. I have never felt more peace nor happiness in my life than I did inside the temple. The temple is a holy place. As we were talking about the Ark of the Covenant and the temple with our Jewish grandma Bill and his wife Marilu, and as we were talking, I realized how big of a blessing it is to have a temple, still to make covenants with God! I am so glad I have chosen to go on a mission and go to the temple and be baptized with authority. I can't describe the blessings because I don't really know how to explain the amount of joy and happiness I have, but JUST GO ON A MISSION. GO TO THE TEMPLE. THE ANSWER IS YES.