Hello from Wild, Wild Westwood!

Since Halloween is coming up, we got all suited up in our mustaches after coordination meeting. I will attache a picture. I thought of the German guy from Stalag 17 and the one from Get Smart.

The biggest news of the week was our Visitors Center trip with A. and D. (her mom). It was AWESOME!!! When we arrived to pick them up they didn't answer the door at first. As we were getting back into the car to leave, A. opened the window and told us not to go so, you know, we decided we should probably stay. :D They absolutely loved the VC! Even after the sister missionaries finished helping us, they wanted to explore a bit more. The next day, we went over and followed up with them. A. had been thinking about it all night. She had a dream that the Christus was moving and talking to her. D. has already decided that she wants to get baptized on her birthday in November!

Last Monday we had a zone activity at the Westwood building; we played soccer and this other game that was a mix between rugby, ultimate frisbee and quidditch.  We had a blast and I was incredibly sore the next 3 or 4 days. It hurt SO good!

I cannot remember if I told you about E., but she read the pamphlet we left and had questions! We also left a Book of Mormon and she promised to read it (part of it) before Tuesday! We have been really excited and have been FLOODING Los Angeles with the Book of Mormon! Some Elders in our zone even got 2 referrals from people who read an ad in the play bill for the Book of Mormon Musical. We also get asked about Mitt Romney almost every day, too.

We started teaching a 19-year-old named M. He has a lot of questions. He read all of the pre-book stuff in the BOM. He kept asking us, "What more can you tell me?" I wanted to hit him with everything, but I knew he would probably explode! He offered the closing prayer and after he finished, he was moved by the Spirit. All he could say was "That was a trip". He described his mind expanding and being filled with light!

We taught a member with the help of our powerhouse, Elder Holland. It was an awesome lesson. I got the heeby jeebies! We taught a woman named H. yesterday and I started crying as my companion shared the story of the First Vision. I love those confirmations from the Spirit. It was a packed week, full of the Spirit!

El tiempo vuela!

Time has flown, yet again!!!! I cannot believe how fast it goes! There has been a lot of hubbub about the debates last week. We arrived at the house of a member and the debate was on. That was the first time I had ever heard Mitt Romney's voice. Weird! Anywho. If he wins, that will be crazy. Elder Kim is convinced that it will prove that the Second Coming is here. We joke around about it quite a bit.

We taught A. about the Book of Mormon on Wednesday and she has read a little of it. We also plan on going to the Visitor’s Center with her this week if we can.

We have been contacting a lot of potentials, and I gave names from the Hobbit to all of our color-coded area divisions. Lately we have been destroying Mirkwood ("The Jungle"). 

The other night we met a man who led us to his house. When we got there, he turned to us and pulled out a knife (the suspense!!!!!) and I was thinking "oh shoot!". Then he turned back toward the house and used the knife to break in because he’d forgotten his key.  Lots of super crazy feelings and adrenaline! I am grateful he was not as he appeared right then.

A woman we met swore to me that Utah is all Mormons. I calmly told her that I am from there and that 40% of the population is not Mormon, but she thought I was lying. I even told her that some of the cities have a higher percentage of non-Mormons than that. Good times. I get a lot of bologna, coming from Utah, but it's true. I'm a Mormon, are you? 

If you remember D., he mostly dropped us, but he did it amazingly. He had heard some anti stuff and asked us about it. I strongly testified to him about the Word of Wisdom freeing us and how liberating it really is. After a few minutes, he was content. He asked for some time to read and pray. I pray he does! He is an awesome guy!

Our zone has set a lot more dates this past week! We have 12 in our district! It is so cool. Several should go down the first week of November and are really solid! That makes me happy. Our job is to help the zone be better teachers and work hard, so we all accomplish our purpose together!!!!

We had our stake conference yesterday and it was awesome!!! I loved it! President Bragg drove his point of unity in the stake with the new changes. I was able to see many friendly faces since the 3rd, 4th and 6th (Spanish-speaking) wards are now in our stake. I saw D. and J. again, which was great.  They went to the English session.  The stake has a lot more energy and excitement now. As of next Sunday, we will have 3 wards in our building and all speak a different language -- Korean, Spanish and English. Cool huh?

Well, time is up! I want to thank you for all your prayers and fasting. It really helps me push through the hard times. I love you all!!

Epic Endeavors

Hey Everyone!!! How have you all been? It cooled down nice here for a few days, but looks like it could heat back up. I have a lot of unrelated news so bear with me as I put it all down here...:D We talked to a man named K., whose cousins live next door. We may go back this week to try and teach both families. They were really kind and seemed like they were already members. We'll see how it goes!

We had zone conference last week and it was all focused on the Book of Mormon. Elder K. and I did a training on the Prophet Ether and his diligent example. We made several new goals on how we are going to utilize the BOM in our missionary work. We each carry a copy with us as we proselyte and have a goal to give out 3 each week. We also want to use the stories to relate to investigators and to help them apply it to themselves! The last part is reading it cover to cover by the new year. Are you in??? I began on Thursday and am on track so far. You will need to read about 7 pages per day to finish by the end of the year. I also wanted to remind you about a mormon.org profile. It is so simple and a great way to share your testimony. I hope you have seen the new pass along cards. I try to send one home every letter now. :D

Last Thursday, we got two calls for blessings at the UCLA Medical Center and Cedar Sinai hospitals. We loved it! We will be going later on this evening, too. So many people are in need of the physical and spiritual strength that we have.

One of the brand new sisters in our district began telling me about one of her MTC branch presidency members who writes songs, and gave some of his music to her (she is a music major).  It was Randy E.!  I then told her that I had been his home teacher.  Now I am trying to get some of his music. She tells me it is pretty good! Adriane, I immediately thought of you singing his song "I don't care". :)

The shuttle Endeavor went right through the center of our area, which was fun! Tons of roads were blocked. We didn't get to see it because we were working, though. Some other missionaries and members got pictures. We may go see it at the expo park just down the road. If you watched it on TV, we were in the background teaching an investigator on MLK Blvd. It was way worth it because this person committed to be baptized! More later! I was also able to see D. [who we baptized several months ago] while I was on splits in the downtown area (which now has part of Silver Lake in it). It was crazy! Her sister in Mexico that she referred through us is now baptized!!! I was about blown away by the Spirit when she told me. That is what a mission is all about!

A. committed to be baptized on the 11th of November! We still have a ways to go, but she will get there. We also met with J. recently. He committed to be baptized on the same date!! He is nine. We are so blessed to be teaching them and we are really excited! Well, my fingers hurt and I need to send some pictures before my time expires. I love you!!!!! Stay safe!

I'm an Oldy Moldy Missionary!

What a weekend!!!! Did y'all eat Swedish pancakes? I sure did! Can't let that one go. So the minute President Monson began talking about the missionary age, I knew it was about to  change. The thing I did not expect was the sisters' age at 19!!?! That is crazy. I bet every young man and woman of those ages are now frantically trying to fill out their papers. I would! I want to know how soon they will be getting out here? The MTC has been making preparations for more missionaries, and now we have them. This coming year will have a huge impact on the world. SO COOL!!!!  I had too many favorites, but I loved how bold every one of the talks were. I loved President Uctdorf's talk, Elder Oaks' and Elder Holland's. I loved the focus on families and becoming who God wants us to be. I cannot wait until I can read the Ensign and get it all over again!!! Woo hooo!!!!

We received a referral from Bishop H. the other day and we got to contact S. She came to church once and liked it so we hope to continue teaching her. We have met several people but they have a bad habit of dropping out of existence when we go back again. We work hard and that is all that matters, so we hope that we see the fruit soon.:) We have started a push on involving the youth in our ward to come out with us to the lessons we teach. I remember how big a difference it made when I went out with Elder Fafai and Johnson. It helped me make my final decision to serve a mission. It is even more important now that they can serve right out of high school! SO exciting!

Well, I am almost out of time, but we had a cool experience last night. We had a dinner appointment at a member's house, but there was no adult male there when we arrived.  [Mission rules stipulate that an adult of the same gender as the missionaries must be present in a home before the missionaries can enter.] We want to be obedient so we told her we couldn't come in. It was a bit awkward, but she ended up inviting her non-member neighbor over and we got to teach him a short lesson about the Book of Mormon. They also got to talk and get to know each other better (no one here knows their neighbors very well). It was cool to see this immediate blessing from an act of obedience.

Well I love you!! Don't forget what you learned in conference, okay? I hope and pray you will all have a greater desire and ability to share the gospel in your respective missions. Have you made your mormon.org profiles yet? If you look hard enough you may find me! ;)

New Companion!

Well, this last transfer was a bit crazy! My new companion is Elder K. He is from Rexburg, Idaho but was born in Korea. Wow, I sure have had a lot of Idahoan companions. :D We are both really excited to "tear it up!"  We have already worked a ton and are looking forward to seeing a baptism soon! No new people yet, but they are being prepared! With the new changes in the stakes, the mission has also changed around. Half of our zone was taken to create the new Coliseum Zone and we received part of the Griffith Zone. The area boundaries changed in some places and now part of my old area in Silver Lake will be meeting in the same building as us. The 3rd ward is in our zone now, so I will be in my old area on splits next week!?! Isn't that crazy?

I finally made my German chocolate cake for my birthday!! You may ask which German I used...;) We ate it the night before transfers at a member’s house for dinner. It was "soo good!" Thanks so much!

We have been revolutionizing the Mobile Area Book and Area Book by searching all the potential investigators and former investigators. We can feel the excitement building, which is super cool!

A member gave us a pizza and brownies the other day, and another member gave us a lasagna. Our fridge is pretty full. I hope that is a sign that the members are beginning to trust us! Yay! We even got a referral from our bishop! Woo hoo!

Our new zone goal is based of the Adams family and we will be presenting that in 40 minutes. I will be the one who always shouts "BISMARK!" It should be pretty silly, so I will try to get a video of it!

There is a member in our ward who wants to write Michael B. because her kids are in Uruguay. Mom and Dad, could you check where he is right now? I will look back through the missionary missives too. We sent the referral, but I guess they want to say hey!

I was able to give a Spanish blessing ayer and it was super cool. I was a bit rusty, but grateful to brush up. I hope you are excited for conference. I cannot wait! I want to say Feliz Cumpleanos to Dad this week! He is almost 30, so give him some spankings from me and a big hug! (Mom, you can do the honors ;) I hope you have a great week!