Foiled in the Final Furlong

Well, I was transferred from Fox Hills. Now I am near Hollywood with Elder C.! I was really sad to leave Inglewood, but I knew I had to be transferred one day. Tuesday night before transfers, we had a lesson with M., who came to church with P. that one Sunday. We had an INCREDIBLE lesson with her and her kids about the Restoration. We only had time to teach the first half -- they loved it! M. wants her son J. (age 17) to serve a mission! They are such a happy family and seem super ready to be baptized! Hopefully I will be able to go back when they do. They actually live right behind a house I tried several times, but never knew there were more houses behind it. When we went back, I felt like I was in a South American jungle :D There are so many things I wish I could remain there for, but I'll be back soon if it is meant to be.

Elder Scott M. is in this zone, along with Elder D. (in my district:) and Elder Parker C. just left the zone. It is a cool zone and I am really excited! Elder C. is so funny! He is 6-3ish so people run from us in the streets;) Being so close to Hollywood and downtown LA is weird! It is a lot hotter over here, too, especially since our AC is broken (working on it). Since being here, we've taught one man named A. who has some potential. He agreed with a lot of things we taught. A woman named D. was baptized last Sunday and we are hopefully setting a baptismal date with her daughter J. tonight after dinner!

Funny story from tracting: one lady got mad at us because we came in her yard. She said "Didn't you see the sign?" The sign read "Beware of Dog" (not "No trespassing") and there was this tiny dog sitting there. We went behind her house to knock those doors and when we came back out, she had locked the gate to her driveway. We think she was planning on sicking the dog on us, even though it was easily punt-able!

Sorry it is a short one today...I am a bit frazzled with the transfer y es probable que mi mente va a esplotar!
The last side note is for Dad. In one week here, I have met two people from Chile and I proudly shared that you served there! What years was it again? I said around 1980, but I wasn't positive. One of them is named L. and she accepted a Book of Mormon. The other is a member of our ward and he recently immigrated from there, I believe. Sorry that this is brief! Sorry to say, Sister B . . .you might be next on the President's transfer board....:) Love you all! I hope to report many exciting stories with you soon!

 "There are times when we have to step into the darkness in faith, confident that God will place solid ground beneath our feet once we do."  --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Crazy bomb week!

Hey family! This last week was a crazy miracle! I began the week with two powerhouse talks by Elder Holland and President Eyring! While reading President Eyring's talk, a member’s face popped into my head and the words "they need this" seemed to echo in my mind...so I shared it with them and it seemed to help.

Look for those who are seeking truth. The truth-seekers like Joseph Smith are those who have been prepared and are ready to receive the gospel!!!

Last week at Food-For-Less, this lady said to me "How are you today handsome?" I responded "good" and asked how she was. She said "I am doing great baby boy!" I didn't quite know how to respond so I smiled and said "see you later!" Awesome experiences happen here every day!

We had an awesome lesson with H., after which we sat in silence looking up scrips to help him kick coffee. He has gotten down to one cup a day, and today he is trying none! He told us that the 2nd cup tasted really gross when he tried it and hasn't done 2 again!!! The lessons and goals have really helped him! I know the Spirit is working a change in his heart!

President brought up an interesting point in MLT on Tuesday. When Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph, they were the first missionary companionship of this dispensation!!!!! Cool huh? We are really continuing the work that they began in 1820!

We attempted to go to the visitors center with S, C and J, but S could not come. Instead, their Aunt G came and she loved it! We are now going to begin teaching her, hopefully.  Then I will have taught every single person in C's family! Yeah weird!

We destroyed one area on Saturday stopping by everyone's house we could. We went by a member that I had never met to find they had moved, but were still on the ward list. On the bright side, the man living there asked us to come back and read the Book of Mormon with him this week!!

We received a member referral for P on Thursday, and met with her and the member the next day. We had a church tour and the Spirit was so strong! P said "I will see you on Sunday at 1:00!" (but in Spanish)  On Sunday she came and brought her friend M! They both live in our area and there were 8 of them including their kids!!! Crazy! I loved watching this miracle unfold. When we walked in with P and her group, immediately the ward saw us and converged to introduce themselves. In 5 seconds, all the kids were being led to their respective classes! The ward worked perfectly! (It probably helped that we had called ahead to let them know the one family was coming.) I almost cried at the beauty of how it played out. I love this ward and hope I don't leave. The odds are against me, but we'll see where the wild card lands. Well, sorry it was so rapido, but the last preparation day of the transfer can be the most hectic! I love you all and pray for you, too! Keep me posted on any new adventures you encounter as well!

P.S. What are you doing to progress the work on the home front? I have almost finished a mormon.org profile and invite you all to do the same! Some miracles have happened from sharing testimonies. Just look at the Book of  Mormon! Love you!

Members rock!

Well it was an awesome day yesterday and I loved being able to chat with some of you on the phone! I know Sister Bham loved it, too!

We gave a member girl named E. a Book of Mormon the other night and challenged her to write her testimony in it and share it with a friend. We did a practice with her so she could get out most of the jitters and do it. We got a text the next morning from her. She already had given it to her friend and it went really well! She loved it and is already planning on serving a mission -- so, there you go! Awesome experience!

We also taught the younger sister of a recent convert for the first time last Wednesday and that was interesting. If her sister had not been there, it might have gone south, but members save the day as usual! We also were notified through text that the sister actually opened the Book of Mormon at the mall later that day. Even though we gave her a lot to think about, the Spirit has begun working with her and we hope she starts to sky rocket!

We have really begun to see a lot of opportunities arise as we serve and work with members, so I agree with President Hinckley. Missionary work is not simply tracting. There is a better way....through the members!!! One really cool thing that happened had to do with our weekly ward coordination meeting. We invited Hermana R. (counselor in the relief society) to come to the meeting after discussing the power of member missionaries. We also let her know that two new converts needed visiting teachers . She immediately went to work on the VTs and she also showed up to the meeting on Wednesday, ready to go! She helped out so much! We also mentioned that it would be nice if these two new converts had callings, and after the meeting she took us aside to tell us something. There were two openings in the relief society that they needed to fill, and she and the president had been praying to know who to call but had been getting a stupor of thought. After coordination meeting she knew exactly whose names to submit to the bishop!

Well, that is about it! I love you all and will write you next week! Transfers are coming up next Wednesday so who knows! Will I stay another transfer (which will make 9 months in this area) or leave? I don't know but someone much more important does and He's in charge! He knows best!:) Love you!  XxooxoxoxXOO! Big hug, little hug, little kiss, big kiss....;)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy month of MAY!!!! I hope you all celebrated Star Wars day with me....May the 4th be with you!!!;) Cinco de Mayo also came and went, but I didn’t go to any crazy parties. The most important holiday however is MOTHERS DAY!!! I am so excited to call home! I cannot believe it has been 5 months since Christmas already.

So the other day in search of a member we didn't know, we came across a Seventh-Day Adventist woman who tried to tell me that Mormons don't believe in the Second Coming. I took the opportunity to (lovingly) set the record straight! It was a very nice conversation. She was actually living in the house of the member that we were looking for; he evidently passed away about a year ago but was still on the ward list (dang). We might go back one day when we are in the area. I was inspired from our conversation to study up a bit more on the Sabbath day, since they observe the Sabbath on Saturday (like the Jews). Christians changed their Sabbath observance after Christ was resurrected on a Sunday, and I really like it that way.

We found a typewriter in our closet and tried it out!!! It actually works!!! Hopefully I can type a bit of my snail mail letter home.

We were able to teach I.'s friend C., and we have another appointment with her on Saturday. One of our new focuses is inviting people to be baptized in the first lesson! We need to teach another first lesson sometime, in order to improve.:)

Our new zone goal is called battleship and every district is battling against each others’ ships! I am really excited. The different focuses (Member Present Lesson, part member family etc.) have goals and our ships will sink unless we match each other.

Sorry this is not a longer email, but we will hopefully be able to speak voice to voice in a few days! I love you all!!! Take it easy!