Missionary Life

Oct. 20

Things are going pretty well. It's been a really tough area since we lost our car, and then training can be really exhausting as well, so I'm a bit worn down, but I still have that smile on my face. Elder Wheaton is a little discouraged right now I think because it isn't quite what he expected. After hearing all of those stories from the MTC he was ready to baptize the first person he saw, and now that we have two weeks without getting any new investigators or anything like that, he's a bit frustrated. We do have one baptismal date though, but that looks like it might have to be pushed back because Maria hasn't come to church still. She has a testimony, but she can't get work off.

Here's something crazy for you. Remember Cyd ? The crazy investigator from North Edwards that had the smoking problem, the drug problem, the problem with the law, and then finally got everything together so that she could get baptized? She passed away this week, just two months after being baptized. That was a big shocker. Elder Carter got a call from the Elders who are there now, and then he called me. President said he might give us permission to go up to the funeral if we can find a member to give us transportation. And then we would just leave our companions together in Santa Clarita. Hopefully we get to go see that. It's just crazy how fast this life is. I'm really greatfull though that Cyd got it together in the end. But hearing about that really made me understand that this life is a "probationary state," "a time for men to perform their labors," and to, "prepare to meet God."

Nov. 3

Well, first of all... Oregon is going back after me. I got an email from Coach Powell. It was weird hearing from him after I thought that we were all done with that. But he said he wouldn't mind talking to you guys, so I'm going to give him your phone number. So you might get a phone call from Coach Powell.

Well, the trip up to the desert was great! It was 4 hours of total driving and it was so awesome to be able to talk to Elder Carter about all the good times we had. The funeral service was good as well... it was great to see the ward again. Bishop Alius even invited us over for some burgers really quickly before heading back to the valley.

We have President Interviews this week, and I'm ready to have a change of scenery.... so we'll see what happens there.

We had a pretty good week here though. Maria is so close to baptism. She just can't come to church because she works on Sundays. She has almost finished the lessons, has no problems with any of the commandments, so all she has to do is go to church... We have another investigator named Jesus and we also found some families by knocking doors. Overall, it was a really good week. Crazy that it's been a year now since I left the MTC, 10 more months until I get to see everyone again.

Nov 10.
Things are fine here. I think the problems from Prop 8 are actually coming from Santa Monica by the temple and San Fransisco. We haven't had anything unusual happen here. Just the usual people yelling at us and stuff, but that happens anyway. I actually have a pretty cool story about prop 8 though. This is just one of the many new investigators we found this week (9 total, the most on my mission so far). We were knocking this HUGE apartment complex, and we were just finishing up. Elder Wheaton is always full of MTC / Ensign miracle stories, and he always says, "it's always the last door". So we got to the last door and I sarcastically said, "last door!" So we knocked it and this lady come to the door wearing a No on Prop 8 shirt. So that made the door contact a little awkward. So it wasn't too successful and we went walking off, and where just about to leave the complex when somebody else (another woman) yelled out the window and told us to come back. I was thinking, 'great, this is gonna be fun. She probably wants to bash with us about prop 8, and how we took away her rights." So we walked back to the door, she let us in, and she was already crying. So I was getting myself all prepared to back our churches beliefs, give her A Proclamation to the Family, and then she asked us to pray for her and her dad. Apparently her dad is really sick in Mexico and is really struggling right now with health. So after the prayer, we taught her the whole plan of salvation. She was really comforted by it. So then I offered her a copy of the book of Mormon and challenged her to read Alma 40 and she just ran to her room. So, Elder Wheaton and I looked at each other funny, and then she came back into the room, holding a copy of the book of Mormon that she already owned, that her sister in law who is LDS had given her. I opened it up and saw that her sister in law's testimony was already written in it. And then I found out that they lived in Oregon! But we have a return appointment with her this Friday... It's always the last door!

Nov. 17

We're safe here in the fires. It was really really crazy, but it seems like it is under control now. It's still burning a bit, but it missed us by a pretty good shot (about a mile and a half). The wind blew it away from us at an angle, so we were a little worried, but overall we thought it would miss us. But just like you said, it turned into a really good service oppurtunity. We were able to go and work at Sylmar high school, which is just across the street from us, because it was acting as the evacuation center. We were actually on the news and they interviewed me on two of the stations. One was Ch 34, the local Spanish station, the other was Ch2 which I think is CBS here... but I'm not too sure. The next day at church everyone was telling me they saw me on the news. President Goodrich was pleased with it, because not only did we help out a lot, we got a little good publicity. I was also able to give out a few copies of the Book of Mormon. People were asking for things that would comfort them. I was giving people Mormon 9, 3 NE 11, Alma 40-42... I didn't push it on them too hard because I wasn't there to prosylite, I was there to serve, but I gave them our number and stuff and told us if they wanted to learn more, or if they had questions, or if they just needed help with anything to give us a call soon and we will be there on the spot.

We also set a few baptismal dates this week with some investigators. Jesus is awesome! He has a goal to quit smoking by the end of the year and to get baptized Jan 11. He told us he would do whatever he had to do to prepare, and that whatever we told him to do he would do it. That is incredible faith, but it is proof that he has received an answer, so I'm excited to see how it goes. However, I won't be here for it because I got called to be a Zone Leader up in the Desert.

I'm going to Lancaster to serve with Elder McCleve. I'm really excited about it because he is a way experienced missionary. He only has 2 transfers left so I'll probalby be the one sending him home. He was in Palmdale right before I was, so he helped a lot in Julio's conversion. And we will only be living about 10 minutes away from Julio, so we can say hi from time to time, not to mention, we will both be able to go to the temple with him in two more months when him and his family go get sealed. So I'm really excited. The person who is replacing me is the person who I replaced when I came here. Elder Larson served in this area before so he'll be good for it. He knows the members already, and the area really well, which is good, because Elder Wheaton will probably need a little more guidance for a little while. The area is completely different than it was before. Every single investigator that he was working with before we are no longer teaching, so he'll have something new. He's excited about it though, so I don't have any worries about the work continuing.

Well, I hope you have a safe trip to St. George Mom. Enjoy the trip, and celebrate Grandpa's life and the Plan of Salvation. We are really so lucky to know all of these things that we know.