He's home!

Estoy Contento

Hey family!  I only have a few minutes to write.  I love you all!  This [mission] was and will continue to be the best decision I ever made in my life.  I know Heavenly Father is proud of me and I am grateful that I can continue to serve him after I return home.  Life is a mission for all of us.  The next adventure awaits!  See you soon!

Last Preparation Day!

I am a bit boggled right now. I will try to remain calm and controlled for the last e-mail I write home. WOW. Two years was like two months. OK. Down to the nitty gritty!

We had many miracles this last week. One of them was when M. had work off on Wednesday and we were able to teach him the last of the commandments before baptism! He and V. were interviewed that night and passed! V. was basically jumping up and down, she was so excited. I was also able to interview P., who is the husband of a member we moved from Centinela (my last area) to this ward. It was crazy to see the difference the gospel has made in his life thus far! The Church and gospel are true!  All three of them were baptized at 1:00 yesterday. It was an amazing turnout from the ward, too. People were standing in the back!

C. is progressing nicely and came to church yesterday. She will be baptized on the 18th. She went to the baptism on Sunday, too!

My birthday was great! Thank you all for wishing me a good one! I got the card and love it! And thank you Aunt Sharon for the cake!

I know I was sent here (and am still here) for a reason. I know that you are also in the place Heavenly Father wants you to be. In D+C 138:56 we learn that we have been preparing since the pre-mortal existence to preach the gospel. It does not say, "only full-time missionaries have been preparing". It is talking about every member of the Church, and it applies for our whole life. We are all missionaries. As President Tyler always said, "Life is a mission". I have served here for two years and am almost ready to be transferred home, to continue serving for the rest of my life. I love you! I know we can change and be forgiven. We receive so much joy when we obey, and only through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can we be saved with our families for eternity! I love you forever!

Pluggin' the Holes

Hey ya’ll! This last week was another great week! M. worked the whole week so we were not able to teach him, but V. and Ma. are progressing nicely. V. should be baptized on the 11th! :) Ma. probably won't until sometime later in August. I don't know if I will be here, but hopefully.

We helped the Elders Quorum President make some home teaching assignments the other day and we could feel his excitement growing for the work. We then had the BEST ward coordination meeting of the mission! It was incredible! When it was time for the prayer, all the missionaries automatically knelt down and the auxiliary leaders joined us. I hope that we can keep them that awesome!

The ward youth were having a dunk contest with their leaders after YM/YW the other night, and it was fun to watch. They challenged me, too, so I threw down a few times. ;)

So, weird story. Friday night I had a dream that C. came back from Mexico. Saturday morning I called to follow up with her friend and found out that C. actually did get home this week! It was super cool!

On Sunday we had six people at church, all progressing towards baptism. V. is on for the 11th, C. for the 18th, and the others will hopefully go down this week or next. Wow. Still lots of work to do! :D Well, I need to run. I love you! Stay safe this week and I will keep you up to date with everything that happens! Remember to smile more this week. I will, too.

Elder Jamoncito

July was CRAZY!!!

Hey everyone! We had our Noche de Hogar last Monday night and it went very well. They watched 17 Miracles while we gave out popcorn and drinks. Everyone cried and the Spirit was very strong. I really want to watch it now. The O. and D. families came. They actually carpooled there. :) C. came, too. It was a very successful event.

C. is very smart. We taught her several times last week. We came back and followed up on the Plan of Salvation pamphlet that we left with her and she remembered 90% of it, so we focused on the Spirit World. She left for Mexico this week, to renew her visa. Hopefully she will be back soon. We have been praying she will not get stuck down there. :)

The O. family is progressing nicely. We will need to move the dad's date because he will be out of town for work this week, but they love the gospel. The daughter M. wants to get baptized really bad. We set a date with the D. family, too. We went to the Visitors Center on Wednesday and it was way cool. Most of their preguntas (questions) were answered on the tour. They came to church again yesterday, too.

Yesterday was a great day at church. We trained our ward council with the broadcast and built them up. Everyone left very excited. We all knelt to pray at the beginning and ended with hugs all around (except the hermanas). Basically we pumped them up and showed them the potential that we see in the ward. :D

It was a miracle week again. The Lord is blessing us. I am excited to keep working and "know that He is God." I hope you all are recording the blessings and miracles you are seeing in your life, too. I love you!

Most Miraculous Week!

This week was INSANELY AWESOME! We have five new investigators who are excited to be baptized and they are from three different families! The O. family came to the church to have a lesson since we got a ride there without our bikes and were stranded. V. and M. were a referral from the ward that we called Saturday night and they came to church the next morning. C. didn't come, though, which was sad.

Both of our new families came to K.'s baptism Sunday night. One investigating family gave the other family a ride! They are coming to the Noche de Hogar tonight, too! I was so grateful all day at church. We tried to organize everything and make sure they have friends, and we also helped the ward with the program for the baptism. The members were amazing and talked to them throughout the day.

M. was also baptized yesterday in my former area and I was so grateful to make it there. Brother V. baptized him and I could hardly believe I was seeing it happen! He has talked about possibly serving a mission, too. Elder Ro. says it is all my fault because I always pray for people to teach and help. My focus since the broadcast has been to help members and less actives with a slight focus on baptism. President Weidman always says, "Salvation is more than just baptism." Now we are blessed with so many people to help progress that I crash every night when I finally get in bed. It is weird to think how fast it has gone! I still have some good weeks in me and I am loving it! I will send a few pictures to y’all. Thanks for your fasting and prayers. They made this a miraculous week!

July Flyin' By

Santa Mapache! Este semana termino bien rapido y no se que voy hacer! We had many miracles this week. It was amazing! We have been working with a lot of less active members, trying to rescue them from inactivity. We met with the Obispo yesterday, and every Thursday night from now on we will go on member exchanges to visit 20 families a week. I hope it works! We are excited for this opportunity and I know the members are, as well.

On Friday we went out teaching with a returned missionary named K.; he drove us around because we don't have a car anymore. We visited a few people and then he had to leave. We had not brought our bikes, but for some reason I wasn't worried. I knew that it would all work out somehow. A youth gave us a ride to our appointment at the park, but she did not show up afterward to take us to our next lesson, so we walked to a part-member family's home. We talked to the girlfriend of one of the sons, and it turned out that she wants to learn more and come to church. One of the other sons drove us to our investigator's house for our next lesson. They hit it off splendidly! It was all a huge miracle to me. It went so well that we decided to do it the next day, too! (I have made a personal goal to "go out with a member a day to teach away".)

Friday was great, too! While we were waiting for Hermano I. to come and pick us up to go teaching, we received a phone call from a nonmember who's relative wants to learn about the gospel. We went to visit her that day with Hermano I. and it was AWESOME! Her name is C. and she came to church yesterday! She doesn't have a job, so hopefully we can teach her three times this week. I hope you are all safe and working hard! Love you!

Elder Blackham

P.S. Yes Dad, we wear our helmets while biking. I really enjoy it, but sometimes it is hard to visit everyone we would like to because we can't get around as fast. There are benefits to both (car and bikes), so we cannot complain. I don't expect to get the car back any time soon; the Tongan elders' area is our entire stake, so they really need it. I always joked about finishing on a bike just to get back into shape. I am leaving it up to the Lord.

Onward, ever onward!

TRANSFERS!  Both Elder Ro. and I are staying in Century, so I will "die" here and he probably will, too. [Editor's note: I hate that terminology!  I'm knocking on wood.]

A less-active family that moved from Hermosa Liahona Ward to Century Second Ward came to FHE, the 4th of July breakfast and church last week! We never got them to go in Hermosa Liahona, but they are coming now.  Woot, woot!

We have been "running into" people that we couldn't find, and have faith that this is the Lord guiding us to them for His purposes. The A. family is an example of this. We know they need the gospel and we know that we can help them reach it. It is pretty exciting! :D

J. just received his mission call to serve in the San Fernando mission! It was especially cool because we were able to encourage him right up until the time he sent his papers in. :) He is super excited. I already told him that he can have my bike since he goes straight to the field.

Speaking of bikes, this transfer they are taking away our car and giving it to the Tongan Elders. Maybe the Lord is telling me that I need to get in shape...;) I think it will help me to work harder and be more dedicated.

We went to a baptism for some Elders in my district, and I ran into a woman named J. who was baptized in the Long Beach mission a few weeks previously. She lives in Compton. I asked her if she knows Elder N. Parker. Turns out that Elder Parker taught her before he was transferred!! Crazy small world! I took a picture with her and e-mailed it to him.

Last crazy bit of news was the Departing Missionary Fireside. It was very strange to know that mine will be in six weeks time. Ugh. I saw many friendly faces including the B.'s. I also had a huge surprise that completely made my month! The Baldwin Hills Elders brought Mi. as their investigator!! He was the one we taught everything to and he was ready to be baptized, but then he disappeared off the face of the earth. He is getting baptized on the 21st!! I prayed he would somehow come back, but I never thought it would be while I was still here. Such a cool experience. I love that young man. I love you!! Take it easy! (I won't.) Smile!

How you be?

Well, President Baker is now home and President Weidman is our new Mission President. It was a sad day, but I am excited to get to know President Weidman, too.

A member family invited us to go to see their sealing and we received permission from President Weidman. It was way cool. I did sealings with Mitch before the mission, and comparing then to now was very cool. I am a bit more excited about my own future sealing now than I was then. :D

E. came to church with her little sister on Sunday. We tried to fellowship her hard last year, but this time it miraculously worked! She made several new friends in the YSA class and I hope she starts to come more regularly now. :)

I finished the Ensign yesterday and am looking forward to my lesson plans and D&C. There is just too much to get done and learn! Agh!

We played a little soccer with a part-member family and their cousins. It was pretty fun; I was the goalie, and three little kids were talking to me and helping me, too. Elder Ro. was working the offense...:) We got pretty dusty. If you took away the rest of the world, you could have convinced me that we were in Mexico or South America.

I hope you all enjoyed the worldwide missionary broadcast, because I LOVED it! We are working very hard to incorporate the things we learned from it into our zone goal for this month. Everyone is excited and we are beginning to show it to all the members we visit. I want you to know that the miracles you saw in that broadcast can be yours, too! We need to increase our faith so that we can see (more abundantly) the miracles God gives us. I love you!

Would you believe . . . a mean little kid with a pea shooter?

 First of all, we went to the Temple this morning. Woo! The best way to start a day ever! This last week was full of baptismal interviews role plays with members, and biking. We let the sisters use our car because theirs was in the shop and they do not have bikes. Elder Ro.'s pedal fell off so we ended up walking the last half of yesterday. I loved being on a bike again and felt so free. My booty is a bit sore though. He he he.

Sunday we had a cool experience. President asked Elder Ri. and me to go teach a deacons’ quorum in Malibu and it was just like old times. :D Then there were several baptisms following the worldwide broadcast, so basically it was the most bomb day EVER! I am more excited to work with members now, and bring the work to pass in our area!

We were stopped on the street by a woman named E. the other day. She wants to learn more, but lives outside the mission so we are sending her to Arcadia...:) We found 34 new investigators yesterday through members and are excited. We visited a less active member who wants us to teach his son-in-law. We hope this is just the beginning!:) I love you all!!! I hope you are well. Keep working hard and don't forget that I love you. He loves you, too. Take it easy!

Put that thing back where it came from or so help me . . .

Heyo Familia! Today we are going to the "Callejones" (Alley) for Elder Ri. and Elder Ro.’s birthdays. Hopefully it all goes well. Did you have a good Dia del Padre? Let me know how it went.

We set a date with J. on splits last Tuesday, but she is a little less focused than we first thought. It was probably the most incredible Plan of Salvation lesson I have been a part of, though! M.'s parents still won't let her be baptized, but we haven't given up yet.

With the new zone goal, Elder Ro. and I have been sending out fun voicemails every few days, to motivate everyone. We did a reinactment of the super suit dialogue from Incredibles. It was fun.

I had a fat moment the other night. We had this chair that was falling apart, but we had both been sitting on it, anyway. Well, I was sitting on it when it decided to "give up the ghost" and kick the bucket. We had a good laugh after I massaged my ankle a bit. :D

Saturday was a rough day. We visited SO many people and not one of them was home!!!! We were both trying to be upbeat and then we went to the sisters’ baptism in our district. That was very calming. Our dinner appointment was with a returning member and they surprised us with a birthday cake for Elder Ro. We were both extremely thankful for a great end to a less-than-ideal day. :)

Yesterday was awesome! We took Juan (who is preparing for a mission) with us to a few lessons and found some new people. One house had three dogs out in the yard, but we went in the gate, anyway. A woman came out, warning us with a raised voice that we were going to let the dogs out. Well, one did get out, but Elder Ro. grabbed him before he could get far. The woman’s name is Y. She must have wondered what caused three young men to go in her gate with three dogs outside. Well, we went in because it is IMPORTANT! :D She accepted a Book of Mormon and we are going by on Saturday to see if she read.

That night we tried to contact a referral, but knocked on the "wrong" door. We were welcomed in by a HUGE family celebrating Fathers Day! We sat down and taught the Restoration to the mom and her son (plus visiting family). Turns out that her mom is a member in Tijuana and she is letting us back on Wednesday! The last few evenings have been awesome. I learned that we are often rewarded at the end of the day for working our best. It made all the hard times absolutely worth it!

I hope all is well and that you had a great Dia del Padre! This city of lost angels is just fine. Please be safe and don't forget to invite your co-workers and friends to learn more about the blessings we have received through the gospel! Les quiero mucho!

Greetings from Radiator Springs

Buenas tardes todos mis queridos! We updated our Mobile Area Book and gave all the places names from Pixar movies (we are a lot more organized now). We are finding and teaching lots of part-member families through less active members. Our district has 20 baptismal dates! It is pretty crazy.

We took Mo. to the visitors’ center with her parents and they seem more solid about letting her be baptized now. I hope they follow through with it this week. :) Yesterday we had a member bring two nonmember relatives to church. She says she wants to be more active. She used to go to a different ward, but wants to be obedient and go where she lives. :) Yay! They fed us that day and we sang hymns with the husband, too. All of it seemed to just fall into place. Love it when that happens.

Well, I love you all and hope you keep smiling. Whatever you do, try to do it well and enjoy it. This new Ensign has a lot of great messages about families and marriage, so I think we could all benefit from looking into that. Talk to you next week. Have a fantabulous Fathers Day!!!

Please let this be a normal fieldtrip!

Well, we found out that C. [former investigator] from the Centinela area is actually already a member!?! So crazy! I was able to call Elder H. and let him know that. It was fun to hear him answer the phone and to hear his surprise at finding it was me. Sad news next. Maria, the 75-year-old woman who was going to be baptized, passed away on Thursday morning. :( We were sad that she was not able to be baptized here on earth, but I know she will have the eternal record for fastest conversion in the spirit world. :)

We had a fantastic week and now have five people scheduled for baptism. Mo. and Ch. will be baptized the 16th, and Al. will hopefully follow on the 23rd. Ar. and Di. are set for the 30th, but we have only had one lesson with them. Our district has 17 dates and our zone has 31!! We are really excited for the new zone goal we made, too. It is called Glory Days and is an Incredible/super hero theme. We are Frozone :). We hope to have an awesome month and summer!:)

I was able to see Jo. and Iv. this week [recent converts]. It was sad to see them less active, but I tried to remind them of how they used to feel when they were active. I pray for them and hope the sisters can help them return by inviting the Spirit a lot.

We sadly saw first hand this week the destruction that alcohol addiction brings. I want to ask you all to never, ever drink alcohol.  It will destroy your life.  On a happier note, we know the joy and happiness that can fill that void. I am really grateful to be here, feeling the Spirit work through me. I read Elder Nelson's talk from Conference and I suggest you go back and read it. It was awesome! Please be safe and take care of that RM sister of mine. I love you all!

Nacho-o-o-o-o!

Well this week was awesome! Transfers are tomorrow and I am staying here with Elder R.  For P-day today we are going to “the alley” in the fashion district with a few missionaries.  That’s like a big swap meet, basically.  I am going to look for a luchador mask like the one from Nacho Libre. Then I’ll probably print a few pictures and write letters.  Something unexpected will pop up as well – we can always count on that. :)

We have not been finding too many people lately, but we keep trying. Our area is full of less-active members; my goal is to visit them all and ask them for referrals. We have a red area in our district (which means we can't be in there after 7:00 p.m.), so sometimes that limits us. We had a great lesson with Ma. and Ar. this week, which was cool. We are also teaching a couple of young kids who will hopefully be baptized next month. They are Mo. and Ch. Another investigator, Maria, is still in the hospital, but hopefully she can come back to church and be baptized as well. Now that it is a new transfer, Elder R. and I want to kill it and go CraZY!

I also want to give a shout out to Sister Julia Bham! That went by fast! Keep working hard. Brigham Young said, "There is neither man nor woman in this church who is not on a mission." What is your mission? Find it and work at it! Take care!

Zut alors! I have meesed one!

Hey everyone! I love you! Sorry I have zero time today, but this week was good. I cannot believe how fast it flew. Elder Quentin Cook was AMAZING!!! He helped me to connect some things in the D+C about how Christ is personally preparing the hearts of the people in our area, and opening them for us!! He encouraged us and taught us with great power. It was great to see some old faces, too, especially Elder H. (previous companion).

Elder R. (MTC companion) gave me some pictures from the MTC and it was really fun to look through some. I may send one to you all, just to look back a bit. :D I got to go on splits with Elder K. the other day (whose sister was companions with my sister in Ohio). It was oober weird! I remember that day almost a year ago when he got his call. People said we would be companions -- well, we were for a day!

President Baker had a fireside at the VC which we attended with C., one of our investigators. It was awesome. He talked about how he used to get discouraged when he thought about "his" list of things to do; now “his” list is “His” list. I need to apply this to myself and remember that it is His list, not mine. A. and R. were there with Elders H. (previous companion) and R. I also got to see several missionaries from Hermosa Liahona and 4th ward. A girl I taught on splits got baptized on Saturday, too. I was sad I was not still in Hermosa Liahona for that.

Well, sorry I need to run. I love you bunches!!! Oh wait! Chris O. sent me an e-mail just now. He was called to serve in the Loaog Philipines mission!?! So CrAzy! He is going to be companions with Elder W. (my cousin), I just know it! :)

Happy Dia de Madre!

We had a ward Noche de Hogar last Monday night and it was fun to see the old ward again. Walking into the building brought back a lot of memories :D We set a few baptismal dates last week, too! One is a woman named M., and the other is named A. Neither came to church yesterday, though, so we need to re-set their dates. Dang.

We had our zone conference on Thursday and it was all about change and repentance. I learned a lot and have been thinking about certain things I can put on the altar of sacrifice as a missionary.

We had a ward Dia de Madre activity on Saturday. Since I was here for it last year, too, I had deja vu so bad -- it was a bit surreal! I got to see lots of old friends, which was fun. :) The M. family just finished temple prep class, so hopefully they will be able to be sealed soon! So cool! I was able to see the S. family, too. They live in the Centinela area, but come with their family to activities here sometimes. :)

Last night we found out that Elder Quintin L. Cook is coming this Saturday to visit our mission, and we are having a surprise devotional with him. Woot! Super cool!

Well, sorry it is a bit short. I loved talking to you yesterday and loved seeing you! I think I was a bit quiet just because I was amazed that I was actually seeing you.... :D I LOVE YOU!

Good-bye to Centinela!

Well, as of this morning I am no longer in the Hermosa Liahona Ward, or in Centinela, or with Elder H. or in South Bay zone. I have been emergency transferred to take the place of an Elder who went home with appendicitis. I am in the Century Area in a car, and am back in the Inglewood 2nd ward!?!?! SO weird. Elder Ri. [Zach's companion in the MTC] and Elder K. [whose sister was Julia's companion for several months in Ohio] are now my zone leaders. I am their district leader and the new Fox Hills sisters are in my district, too. President called last night to let us know about the change. Elder H. and I were not expecting it at all, so it sort of shook us up a bit. I had the feeling that I should bear my testimony at church, so I did; I’m really glad now!  It was kind of a farewell. My new companion is  Elder Ro., who was in my zone in the MTC and came out at the same time I did.

 Here is an update on Centinela before the Spirit “called me away”:

I had exchanges with Elder B. and had a blast! I enjoyed studying Spanish even more than usual this week, and hope to continue now with my native companion. I learned a TON about the Atonement that I never knew before.  I also found out this week that we could skype for mothers day, which made me excited. I did not realize that Julia comes home so soon....santa mapache!

A. and R. are so awesome. I love them. They are going to get baptized – I can feel it. I will try to send a picture. 

After President called last night we made a few good-bye visits before planning, then got the area info all ready for Elder R. (Elder H.’s new companion), and then I packed. This morning the zone leaders moved me to the mission home and we got our car. Now I am here! I love you all! Hope your week is awesome!  God’s work is unstoppable and I love it!

But I ordered Shrimp Scampi!

Well, this last week was a busy one here. We found seven new investigators and gave out eight Books of Mormon (in three languages) and we are scrambling to follow up with all of them and teach them. That second lesson (Plan of Salvation) is always a crucial one that makes or breaks their progress. We have taught one man named V. twice already. He is very intelligent and let us come in even when he was ocupado (busy). We only had 20 minutes with him, but we'll take it!:D  I will let you know how that goes next week.

J.'s dad is not allowing him to be baptized, so we had to drop his date. We will still go over once or twice a week and see if we can involve his family more. I hope he can come to church this next week so he can receive more good feelings about the gospel being restored. :)

D. had a light bulb moment when we were re-teaching the Restoration. He all of a sudden said, " O! Por esto la iglesia necesitaba ser restaurado o re-establacido otra vez!" Basically "wow, that is why the church needed to be restored again". It was awesome. These are the moments that missions are made of. :D

Elder H. finished his 12-week training last week, so he is ready to be the next assistant ;). It is very odd to be done with that, and moving forward in other areas.

We met a Vietnamese family named the T. family. They had never heard of Jesus, which seemed odd to me. We tried to get another appointment, but the older family members are Buddhist and would rather we don't come back. We did get the chance to leave them a Vietnamese Book of Mormon, though. I think one of the daughters will read it, and another might, too. The mom loved us, even though she couldn't speak English. It had to have been the Spirit; he definitely speaks Vietnamese. :)

We had an amazing finding experience this week. We tried a potential we had never met before, but came to the wrong complex. As we walked up to the complex, so did a young woman named B. She asked if we wanted to get in, but we told her we had the wrong address (or did we?) We changed course, found the address and no one answered. The whole time I was thinking we needed to get into that first complex. We walked back out into the street, and a boy was walking that way on his way home from school. I knew he had to be going to that complex, so we followed him. He went inside, but the door closed and we were too far behind him to catch it. That was when the mail woman came up from behind us and let us in. That being the third miracle in a row, we went inside. I had no idea where we were supposed to go, but asked a family if we could help them carry their water jugs when they filled them up. They said they already had help. We stood there for probably 20 seconds and looked around. Then a thought hit me that maybe the family we asked to help was pointing us where we needed to go, so we tried their next door neighbor. We knocked, no response. This was when the same young woman (B.) came around the corner walking her dog. She lived in the apartment we had just knocked! We had an awesome lesson and she asked a lot of questions. We gave her a Book of Mormon and are going back tomorrow with a member, hopefully. She speaks English so we will have to give her to the zone leaders, but it was an amazing experience! It was all by the Spirit and we both pondered it for the rest of the day. It was a good day.

We had an earthquake the other day while we were on our bikes, which I actually did not feel. We were riding along when a couple of little kids yelled to us that an earthquake was coming, and to go home and be safe. It was pretty cute. We rode on, unaware that they knew what they were talking about and that an earthquake had actually already happened. Yeah, we had no idea. :)

We had the Mormon Helping Hands activity on Saturday and we cleaned out the storm drain by the Goodyear Blimp. It was pretty cool. We also taught R. again. We found him two weeks ago, but he did not show to his return appointment. We found him at home on Saturday and discovered that he is in 1 Nefi 11!!! Wow!! We will now try harder to nurture his reading desire.

We have made contact several times with a man named F. who is very generous, and we will be trying to do service for him this week, possible today. I will let you know. He gave me some basketball shoes and he is always trying to feed us. More to come in the future.:D 

I love you all! I think about you and pray for you, too. Keep working hard in everything and keep a good attitude. It makes all the difference in the world!

Morning at la playa

Howdie do everyone! We had a very good morning at the beach today and I got to see a lot of friendly faces :) I finally got to say high to Elder J. from Orem High. He is in the Korean Program! There are four Orem High guys here in LA right now. I also found out that Rachel F. from my freshman ward at BYU is here now in Spanish. Craziness!

This last week was awesome! We found several new investigators. One man has a crazy dog that is chained into the ground and jumps at us when we go by. I will try to take a video the next time we go.:) A’s wife was hit very hard by the Spirit when we gave her a blessing last week. She was talking about it for days.

We have literally been finding up a storm. We hit our BOM goal of six and had six new investigators. I love talking to people on the street or in their yard. We met one man named R. who was so intrigued that he wanted a Book of Mormon to read right away. One woman named P. had a BOM, but never read it because she assumed it was the same as the Bible. We taught her a bit and then gave her another BOM; she said she wanted to read a page a day! ALL of these people seem prepared, but we will see if they are ready now, or need a bit more time with the Spirit. We gave a Vietnamese Book of Mormon out the other day, too, to the lady whose door we helped fix a week or so ago. We wish- listed one and when it came, we took it to her! We also got to help S. paint his house on Saturday!

So, I was really enlightened in our Gospel Principles class on Sunday. I realized that I should have a lot more confidence in the things I do. I have the Priesthood of God and that gives me power to do hard things. With God on my side, I can do anything!:D  Elder H. also helps me see things differently; he analyzes things in ways I have never thought of before.

It was truly an awesome week. To cap it off, I was able to play a lot of sand volleyball today at the beach! We had too much fun. The time flew by and no one wanted to leave. It is weird to me that I am beginning to be the old fogie of the bunch. I don't recognize or know most of the missionaries anymore, and there are a TON of sisters here now. A lot of people asked me about my release date. Well, I figured the day would come. Now I need to find joy in my current position :). I love missionary work and want to live it for the rest of my life! I hope you are all safe and having a good week. Keep up your hard work and don't forget to smile!!! I love you!D

Remaining sentinel in Centinela

We are staying in Centinela! This means that Elder H. broke the pattern of my companions. I had never had a companion for longer than two transfers until now.

With our new zone goal, we have been finding lots of people these past two weeks. We are really excited and feel that there is some reason why we are both still here. Someone needs US. Now we just need to find them :D I feel like we are close to finding someone who really needs and wants what the gospel has to offer. We tract as often as we can and look for potentials. I have come to realize that we have no time to waste. We need to keep looking, even when we find people who have potential. Those who are ready will begin to progress and we will work with what we are blessed with.  We have begun to teach A.'s wife now, which is super cool. I hope someday soon to have the whole family for lessons.

We learned how to say hello in Vietnamese last week and I was able to use it once. The two woman looked surprised and began to speak excitedly to me. Sadly, I just smiled and nodded and they told me I was tall. Still, it was a funny experience. We also were able to get a Vietnamese BOM to give to a woman we did service for a while back. We got new phones last week, too! It is so weird to have a touch phone and better texting. I cannot imagine missionary work without cell phones and texting. That is a technology that Heavenly Father gave to us for a reason!

Between conference sessions last weekend, we helped set up a birthday party for C. and M.'s daughter A.  I also saw Kristen B. in the choir at conference!

A few girls from my freshman ward have received their calls to L.A., so that could be fun. We get nine more Spanish-speaking sisters tomorrow. Craziness! 

I wanted to ask all of you, what are you doing to catch the wave of missionary work? Keep moving forward, keep smiling, love those around you, bear testimony, look up often and express your feelings to those you love. Don't worry about the things you cannot control and take the challenges when they come. I am astonished at the difference I have seen in my attitude these last few weeks. Be optimistic and always see the positive. Those of you who are sharing the plan of happiness with friends, smile or they won't believe you! I love you much!

Conference heaven!

I LOVED conference this week! Santa Mapache! It was a bit scary that I wanted to take so many notes. I hope you all received a ton of inspiration and ACT on what you learned! :D

It was a crazy week! I am sorry it is such a short e-mail. I love you! Take care! Next week I will get all the things we missed.

They put two great tastes in one lollypop

Todo esta bien con la obra misional! We had an awesome lesson with J. last week. He is the 11-year-old. He is the only person we are teaching that has been excited about the Book of Mormon. He read Alma 17 and got super excited. He LOVED Ammon! We began teaching the Restoration but ran out of time, so we will be finishing it this week and inviting him to be baptized! Hope all goes well. We will keep you as up to date as possible.

We had an awesome lesson with A., too. He told us what he learned in his reading and then applied it to his life! He basically taught us, which we felt would get him more involved. It worked pretty well. We discussed it and then tried to hit the home run even farther with the Spirit. Sadly, he did not come to church this week. Sacrament attendance was pretty sparse in general, though. I guess Easter is a good day to stay home? Not! Go out and help people like the Savior did! :D

We taught a referral named Be. who really wants to read the Book of Mormon and learn about the Plan of Salvation. We will be seeing her tonight.

We had a church tour with Br. and her younger brother. She really enjoyed it. We had a priest-aged young man come with us so we could actually do the tour in the afternoon. She did not come to church either, sadly.  Her family always goes out on Sundays and we think she doesn’t want to come to church alone. We need to talk to the parents and get them involved. We want to involve them all!  A visitor's center trip is in the plans for this next week. It is spring break and Br. does not have school, so this is a great time to "convert" on the play if I may.

We had a good lesson with C. & M., too. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with a focus on how we are blessed by baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. They saw a TV special on the LDS church and really liked it. We have another lesson with them on Wednesday.

Interestingly enough, whenever we drop by to see C. & M. and they happen to be gone, their neighbors come home and talk to us for a bit. Their names are D. & V. and they are from Argentina. They are very nice. This last week we had a good conversation with them and cleared up some doubts they had about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We hit it off very well. We took it as a sign that maybe they are there for a reason when the others are not. :D I love  the Spirit!

We had a good lesson with a family that a member brought to dinner last night. They said the missionaries could come see them, and the wife says she is going to read the Book of Mormon! They live outside our area so we won’t get to teach them, but someone will!:)

I have learned a little sign language from the ASL elders who give us rides. It came in "handy" yesterday when we talked to a woman who signs. I am also picking up some skills on the rubix cube :) I have been re-reading all of the conference talks and I am so pumped for this next weekend! Santa Mapache -- I cannot wait! Invite everyone you know to watch conference, because most people’s minds are blown when they realize that they can see and hear and follow a prophet today. They can also see how worldwide the Church is. I love you! Stay safe and make sure to do the little things. They are usually the things that matter most!

P.S. The scorpion in the sucker is real. It was a gift from a Texan sister who went home a few transfers ago. It tasted like crickets...which taste funny. :) The G. family is going to conference this weekend in Salt Lake and offered to take some things home for me, so I may take them up on it.

What are you serving at table one?

Hey everybody! It was an awesome week this last week! Our planning and goal-setting have transformed! We get so much more done and accomplish our goals, too!

Lots went on this week and it went very fast. We taught two lessons to 11-year-old J. He has already read the intro to the Book of Mormon and 1 Nephi 1. :) We left him the story of Ammon to read because he loves scripture stories. He is so smart! He was finishing our sentences and showing his understanding with questions like, "So when we obey we are blessed in the land, but cursed when we don't? Dang that stinks for Laman and Lemuel..." We have another lesson with him tomorrow. 

We have done more tracting lately, and trying our hand more often at street contacting, which I have been pretty poor at in the past.

I started re-reading through the Ensign again and the spirit of conference is BACK! Boom baby! I love it! I am going through all my notes and studying my favorites. :D I am SO excited for conference!!!! I am going to be the most ready ever. I am preparing to be edified to the MAX!:)

We had a member come with us to teach B., and we set a baptismal date with her for the 28th of April! She did not come to church, though, which is a bummer. We are not sure what did not click. She may not have the best support from her parents, although they seem gung ho when we are there.

We had a good visit with A. the other night. We talked to his wife a lot; she is not a member. He later told us that she wanted to buy a dress for their daughter for Easter and he replied, "Awesome! Does that mean we can go to church?" It was hilarious! I love him!

D. came to sacrament meeting! He liked church okay, but afterward we introduced him to a lot of the members, several of which are from Peru, too. That’s when he seemed to get more excited. The ward mission leader is Peruvian and they hit it off right away -- instant friends. They left the building with their arms around each other! Bishop even talked soccer with him for a few minutes :)

Later that day we talked to a couple from Argentina. They are really cool. We found several potentials, too, but I will tell you more about them as they progress. I love you! Be safe and don't forget to smile, even when things are hard!:D

He's singing his own theme song?

Well, for those of you who have been wondering, we have several 18-year-old missionaries here in Los Angeles now! We have three in our zone. Crazy times!

Yes, Elder H. and I are still running in the morning. (It got a lot harder to wake up after daylight savings!) Elder H. never gets tired, it seems -- he has great stamina and endurance. He pushes me. Hopefully this will help me not get too chubby. ;)
       
I cannot remember if I mentioned the symbolism I found with the prison walls falling down in Alma 14 (which I read this morning in my Spanish Book of Mormon). Prayer helps us to break down walls and be free of sin and sorrow. :)

It was kind of a tough week because most of our appointments cancelled on us. The last three days especially. We took the opportunity to find new people. We have a few return appointments for the coming week, but I will report as they progress farther. :D

An experience that made me smile was when this little girl stood staring at me as I walked past her in a restaurant. I couldn't help but smile and say hi. She looked as if she got all she ever wanted on Christmas. :D It was pretty funny.

Elder H. and I have made a lot of progress on our teaching skills. We had a very enlightening companionship study the other day where we discussed how our testimonies can bring the Spirit and power to our words. We decided we need to bear testimony more often to our investigators so they can know our words are true. We then applied it during our lesson last night with D., the referral. We had an awesome lesson about the Restoration and I began to bear testimony of how I know the Book of Mormon is true. I began to cry, which does not happen often. I was filled with the Spirit and the Spanish seemed to be flowing flawlessly from my mouth. It was not like me! I recognized it as the blessing it was. Being an instrument and feeling the Spirit work through you is one of the greatest joys I have felt while being out here. In this lesson, D. committed to be baptized on the 28th of April! We now need to do all we can to make sure he is ready. He feels so familiar, like family. I pray and hope he continues to work to receive a testimony of his own.

We met a young man named K. who had been kicked out of his girl friend's apartment. We helped him carry his bags most of the way to his destination on the other end of the area. He told us he was about to give up and stop when we came up behind him to help. He thanked us so many times and told us that no one had ever done anything like that before in his life. He said he would never forget it, and neither will we. We hope one day down the road he will remember us and look into what we believe. :)

At church yesterday we had a very unsuccessful turnout, or so we thought at first. We rode around all morning, trying to get people to come to church, but no one was home. Then while we were in sacrament meeting, I looked around. To my surprise I saw A.!!! He is a member we have been working with for the last transfer. He came to sacrament!!!! I had been feeling a bit sad, but my attitude changed immediately when I saw him. I told Elder H. and we both sat there, amazed. It did not end there, either! Five minutes later, J. ran in.  G. came to church, too! As I took these three miracles into account, I felt really good. I was so grateful to Heavenly Father that they came. I could feel how happy and thankful He was, too. The Spirit helped me to feel his love. No investigators at church, but three less active members came! It was a fantastic day!:D

Today we have a zone p-day and I really want to play basketball.  I have not played a real game since December first – just shot around a bit.

I love you all and hope you do all you can to invite the spirit more fully into your lives. "Take it easy!"

No Buzz! I AM your father!

Elder H. and I both stayed put for transfers, but we lost half of our area to the new Hermosa Beach area (sisters). This means that D. is no longer in our area!!! Nooo! We had a few good lessons with her so we are sad to not be able to go back. We “handed her off” to the sisters on Monday and will hope for the best. Maybe the sisters are what she needs right now to progress. We'll see how it goes and I will keep you posted.  I also found out that there are sisters in Fox Hills now! Woah, weird! Lots of crazy changes in the mission. The Baldwin Hills zone leaders are both training and living four elders to one apartment!? So crazy!

We had a tour of the church with I. and his son last Wednesday, and they both came to church on Sunday!!!! He really liked it and is praying to know if he should be baptized on March 31st :). We have another lesson with him tomorrow!

C. and M. have opened up a little bit more, but not too much.  They are not progressing yet. Actually, his aunt told him that he was baptized into the Church when he was eight. What? We will find out soon.

We contacted a referral named D. from Peru and he has some potential. He committed to come to church this Sunday and hopefully he will come. :D

I love you all! I hope you are doing great! El fuerzo los acompane!

Mustache March!

So, first of all, Elder H. and I are both staying in Centinela. Second, I looked up Centinela in my Spanish dictionary when I read the word in the BOM. It means sentry or guard. :) We are the watch in this area, after all!

We have lots to do with the transfers. New areas have been opened, people need bikes and the zone leaders are both training new missionaries, too! There are also nine new ZLS who are being trained. Crazy times!

We have a new investigator named D. and her son H. They are awesome! We invited them to be baptized, but they say they are not ready yet. We did our best and they still want to meet with us, so that is good. This last transfer has been a deja vu transfer for me. It seems like everyone I meet is SO familiar. I really think I met D. and H. before coming here. I was praying the other night for them, and I could see them in white. I was also given the names of two women to fellowship her. More to come this week. We are meeting again tomorrow! :D

Something interesting I learned from Elder Holland's talk about the Atonement is that everyone here on earth already acted upon their faith in the premortal world and overcame Satan's plan. If they did it once, why not again!:) As we share and they listen, these things echo in their hearts and mind. They are remembering their own testimony as it rings true. That is why it seems so familiar to them. I love the apostles. They rock!

Temple service was great! I was able to work on the Birds of Paradise again! Woot! This time there were lots of us so it was more enjoyable.

This week was very busy and it went by fast. We won the clean house award/runner up! We don't know which because we had a meeting during the award lunch :( We have been focusing on members and they help a lot! Our new zone goal is all about them, too. Whenever we have a member present at a lesson, we take pictures with our mustaches. That is part of the game (Mustache March)... :) Well, I love you a lot and hope this week was a great one. If not, you can make it so!  Cuidate!

P.S. Tomorrow, 34 new missionaries arrive in L.A. Nine are full field sisters speaking Spanish! Our area is being changed and some sisters are coming to Hermosa Liahona! Now there will be five companionships in the ward!

March is upon us?!!

Santa MAPACHE! I cannot believe I have been in Centinela for a whole month! So weird. I also cannot believe it is almost March!  37 missionaries will hit Los Angeles next Wednesday!

So I was looking over Elder Bednar's “Becoming a Missionary” talk from 2005 and it gave me a lot of peace. I had been a bit worried about going home, but his talk helped me realize that I will always be a missionary. Elder Bednar discussed how missionary work is a priesthood obligation, not a part-time thing, and that will help me stay focused. That big transfer (going home) will eventually come but I don’t have to worry about it.

We had an awesome lesson with S. on Friday night! He feels more peace now. He came to church and stayed for the baptism of a family, too!

We met a lot of Vietnamese people last week and I wished I could speak their language. We found a referral for the Chinese elders; she wanted a Book of Mormon in Chinese which was super cool. We also found five new investigators and I feel really good about all of them. I could visualize them all in white, preparing to go to the temple. I believe I am beginning to see people as the brothers and sisters they are.

One new investigator is named L.; her grandparents are members. She invited us in but she was alone, so we set another appointment. She really liked the idea of the Atonement healing her life, and sounded interested in the Book of Mormon as well. A man named M. was a referral from a 9-year-old girl in his apartment complex. At first he was not too interested, but warmed up after a while and now we are going back to watch “Finding Faith in Christ” with him :) We met I. last night, and he told us he will be waiting outside his house on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. to go to church with us. I was happy to see his conviction. He is taking off work to give back to the Lord, he says.

We also met C. and M., who are former investigators. They were discussing the Pope and how their faith has wavered since he announced his resignation. We were able to clear up a lot of false ideas they had about the Church, and they seemed excited to learn more after that.  M. asked us how she can study the Book of Mormon.  Their schedules are busy, but Sundays are good and we will stop by to say “hi” before then.

This work is incredible. I love it! This last week we have been working hard on listening and discerning people’s needs, and it has brought a lot of success! I will report on all our investigators next week. :) Temple service on Friday this week! Woo hoo! Preparation day next week is on a Tuesday due to transfers! Love you!

P.S. We cut our hair today (see the attached picture).

In like Flynn

I love you all! Did you have a great week? Time is still flying by. I am loving being on bike, although my autoverk is getting sore. I like being out and about. The weather has warmed up a tad, so I don't need a jacket at night very often. I love it!

We found out that in July, President and Sister Weidman will replace President and Sister Baker... so weird! What will life be like without the Bakers! Santa mapache!

We found a girl named B. who may have some potential. Every time we have gone over though, she was not there and we ended up teaching whatever family member was home. We want to teach all of the A. family together, but we'll see how that goes. Lately my focus has been on listening and using the promptings from the Spirit to relate whatever our investigators say to the gospel. Mormon.org cards are AWESOME and help us to teach truth.

My new district here is great! We are all really close. We hope we don't get split up this upcoming transfer, but our ward may get a new companionship – possibly sisters. There are nine Spanish-speaking sisters coming in, and 27 English elders! That is insane! 

We taught S. about temples and also went to the visitors’ center with him and the G. family for the musical fireside last night! We didn't get to invite him to be baptized. A concern came up and we covered that instead, but he is still in the works!

The other night we tracted into a man who was watching an Errol Flynn movie, and I was able to use my classic movie knowledge to break the ice with him. Thanks Mom!

At stake conference, Elder Marcus B. Nash came and it was so incredible! I took notes, which I have never really done at stake conference before. :D

Make sure you are praying everyday, having FHE and reading the scriptures! I promise it will help us all! I love you!  Take care! It was a great week! Sorry it was a short one! I love you!!!!

Baptism news!

Buenos dias Familia!!! This last week was nutso! It went by so fast! Things are picking up here. We have appointments AND we got the Mobile Area Book in order so we are more organized in our work. It is Harry Potter themed and it is so fun to use in context. We live just outside the Womping Willow in the shrieking shack! Ha ha ha! We go to Azkaban all the time and we never go to the Forbidden Forest. The chamber of secrets is also a hard area to work in :D. We love it! We are pretty nerdy! We have a lesson set up with S, who was being taught before we got here. We are aiming to set a baptismal date with him tomorrow even though it will be the first lesson we have with him. He seems pretty cool.

The members here are great! One of them, Hermano S, has signed up to feed us for the third week in a row. I really love them already. Our ward mission leader, Hermano R, is really good. Yesterday he tailored the Gospel Principles lesson to two investigators, and now the whole family will be baptized on the 24th! Crazy! We received a note from a girl for Valentines Day at church yesterday, and if made me feel so good. It said, “Thank you for being good examples in my ward.”

Elder Bednar has a great talk entitled “Becoming a Missionary” that I really enjoyed last week; I also enjoyed Elder Tad R. Callister’s awesome talk about integrity in this month's Ensign. I highly recommend it!

 We helped tear out a wall at a member’s home, to re-convert the room back into a garage! It was so fun! We did so much service this last week. It's the most I've done in one week since being in L.A.

After being in an English area, I feel like my gospel foundation is more solid, and the Spanish is the new test. I am really grateful that I could learn how to be a better missionary during my time in English. I’m more confident about talking to people – now my Spanish just needs to improve!

The highlight of the week: While we were tearing out the wall, I got a phone call from Elder H. about A (the investigator we were teaching together in Baldwin Hills). I went to his baptism yesterday!!!!! We were nearly late due to traffic, so I didn't get a picture with him, but it was awesome!!! Brother H. (the member who accompanied us to all of A's lessons) baptized him and it was so cool! It was a really great service. I will try to get a picture from Elder H. somehow.

I love you all! The gospel does enable us to change and be happier! It does change lives! It has changed all of ours, so who do you know that needs that change in their life? Ask the missionaries, they can help you! ;) Have a fantastic week! Welcome back to Utah, Davisons!

We are family!

We played volleyball last Tuesday for our zone activity (my last in West Wood zone). We are also going to be playing today in South Bay zone, so fun day today! I am on a bike now, I cannot remember if I mentioned that before. It is really different, but my area is not too big so it is very bike-able. After 1.5 years in a car, I feel a little out of place.  My new companion is Elder H. He is from Kamiah, Idaho and is brand spanking new. Kamiah is a very small town (only like a thousand people live there) so LA is really different for him, but he is doing well. It is fun because he asks me a lot of the same questions that I asked when I was a noob. It is also very weird because it was a year ago that Elder D. came in. It must be a good time of the year to train. ;)

I am sort of going through withdrawals from my old area (which is normal, I guess). I miss Westwood zone and funny enough, I miss being a zone leader. I never thought I would say that, but I do. Everything is so different now. I think I could say almost every aspect of my mission life did a 180. I'm back in Spanish, flush training, on a bike, a normal missionary and in a new ward! Wow! I am learning to love it, though. It has been a slow start since neither of us has been here before. Now that we are beginning to know members and some former investigators, it is picking up. After six months in English, my Spanish took a bit of a hit, but in a week or two I should be back to normal.

I saw a few Inglewood 2nd ward members on Saturday, which was fun. This area is directly south of Fox Hills, with a bit more going east. Rosecrans was my south border in Inglewood, and now it is my northern border here. So funny! Three of my four areas touch boundaries! :D Elder M. also served here.

 Elder C. was in this area right before me; he is a ZL in a Spanish area by the temple now. They dropped most of their investigators right before they left and not too much was going on, but we have met some former investigators and some awesome members! I don't know what I would do without them. I appreciate them tons more now that we have no clue who anyone is.

We had two big service projects yesterday and I am beginning to love the zone. Time to make this zone/area the best that I have ever had! I love you all! Be safe!

Good-bye Baldwin Hills

Well, it has been an awesome four transfers (casi seis meses) in Baldwin Hills. I was notified that I am being transferred tomorrow! Yikes! Santa Mapache! I will be back in a Spanish ward training a new missionary! Wohooo! Time to brush up on my Spanish! I will find out my companion on Thursday. On to the 4th area I suppose. I am very excited! Since we are flushing out both missionaries (both companions are being transferred out), everyday will be an adventure starting from ground zero with everybody. I am a bit sad, too. I LOVE Westwood zone! I don't know if it was because I was involved with all the members or what, but I will honestly miss being a zone leader.

It was a crazy, hectic week with everything going on! I loved having Elder M. with us. We sang several songs on  Elder H’s voice recorder and laughed a lot everyday. We gave three blessings in one day and none were planned the night before. We used a lot of miles. We had an AWESOME lesson with A. again on Sunday evening. Brother H. came again. I am sure A. will be baptized, but I will not be here. I hope I can come back for it.

I need to go pack and we have a zone activity in less than an hour. I apologize it is a short one! I love you all! Les extrano mucho!

I need to borrow your sweats!

Well, it was a pretty hectic few days! Transfers are a week away and life seems like it is about to get rocked! Things will be changed up big time in the mission. We found out that we will be in trio for the next week because an Elder is going home a week before transfers.

So, down to the nitty gritty. We had a great lesson with A. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ using a tea bag. At the end of the lesson, you light the tea bag on fire (HG) and it rises to the heavens (Endure). He loved it and so did his grandma. Yesterday we set up a lesson with a member they trust and went over. The Spirit was there and it was an AWESOME lesson! Brother H. was great! A. really respects him and listened intently to his words. We want to do it again next week.

S. went to the visitors center twice with us this week. The first time he had to leave early because his dad was called in to work. We had the second visit last night!:D He LOVED it! The sisters (two of the sisters in our zone) smashed it! It was really good. He wants to go back by himself to think and explore. We have another lesson with him on Wednesday.

We had a Philippine dinner at the B. home. I thought of Elder Wood. We ate adobo, biko, and sarang hi lumpia! It was all quite good! I will be writing Elder Wood about it as soon as I can. Sorry it is a bit short this week! Life is crazy good!!! I was excited to hear about the young Elders and Sisters beginning to flood the MTC! Woot! You can't stop the work of the Lord!  Love you!

We are ready to go pro!

Hey Everyone!

For those of you who think we are basking in amazing weather, you need to know that it has been freezing here! When I say freezing, it is not as cold as Utah or Ohio, but 38 degrees in California is kinda cold – especially when you are tracting in it. We had fun with it, but we are praying it is an unusual spell.  The members who live behind us loaned us their space heater for the bedroom and I wear my nice coat basically every day. When it warms up, I will probably send some winter stuff home.

I had a lot of crazy things happen this week so I hope this letter is coherent. We finally met with Mi. He got some time off on Sunday, but went to a different church to "see what fits him". We then proceeded to remind him about his answer and how he felt last month. I have been praying that he will remember and see the right path.

The V. family wants to come back to church. We want to help get them there, including having their two boys come on splits with us.

We had a service project where we bagged wigs for cancer patients. It was really fun and I was able to catch up with an Elder on how Fox Hills was doing when he was there. I have asked the current elders about the M. family and I hope they go to the temple soon!

Our lesson with S. went well! He began to cry when we talked about the spirit world. The Atonement allowing all to have the chance to be forgiven really touched him. Sadly, he didn't come to church. We still have an appointment to go to the visitors center with him on Wednesday, though.

Elder H. and I are getting lots of experience training our zone in the fundamentals of missionary work. 

We had another miracle. We talked to E.!!!! Hopefully we can try again and help her come to Christ and be baptized!  We also contacted D. again, and she received us just like old times! Hopefully we can see her again on Thursday. We have been trying to help a young Atheist man, and the other day he prayed! For him that is a HUGE step!

I also had posole with pig feet the other day. I literally held the foot and ate what little meat there was, right off the foot. It was kinda weird. Running is good. I am trying to work up to a longer time, but my running companions are not as eager. I still love it, though.

I will end on an awesome note. I think I mentioned that we had a contest a few weeks ago, to see who could give out the most BOMs. This Friday we didn't beat it, but one companionship gave out 17 in ONE day!!!! That is CRAZY! It was super cool! We felt good with having given 2. Ha ha! Well, we are about to head to the Hollywood sign since not very many people in our zone have gone. I love you!!!!!

P.S. I am one of the oldest in the zone, which is scary. I have been in the zone the longest and my companion is the only one who has been in the mission longer.... Yikes! Time flies!

LA's gonna have a bobsled team!

We had an awesome New Years. I awoke promptly at 12:00 am, thanks to the rockets and other loud noises!

At a recent zone activity we presented our new zone goal: NEWB Runnings!!! "You want to kiss my lucky egg?" It was the most fun zone goal presentation I have ever done! It is a bobsled race and we were a few of the characters from Cool Runnings. We used a table rack from the cultural hall as our bobsled and we synchronized our turns and crash. We had a blast coming up with it and we hope that everyone else enjoyed it. 

At the New Years devotional we were able to share our testimonies about the Book of Mormon. We were also notified that we will be receiving 35 new missionaries in March! So exciting! Congrats to sister Julia Bham for training! That would be amazing to train some of the new 18-year-old missionaries;)

We began “Fundamentals of Missionary Work,” which means we get to train our zone twice a week and improve our skills, too! Woot! After our first training, we had an awesome experience with a new investigator. One day when we went to a dinner appointment with the P. family, they told us about Brother P's son (who used to be separated from them), who has decided he wants a change. His dad challenged him to read the Book of Mormon, and we had a lesson with him! He is excited and very willing. We invited him to be baptized on Jan. 27th and he accepted! He then asked us to come teach him again the next day because "he doesn't have any time to waste"! The family came to church together for the first time since September! The dad is so happy and so is the son! This is one of those miracles where a family can be restored through the gospel! Yeah! Boom baby! I love it!

We have been searching for a family of five to teach. We finished a prayer before going into a lesson and when we looked up, we saw a father and his three kids. I talked to him in Spanish and  asked if he wanted to build a relationship with Jesus Christ. He responded that this is exactly what he was trying to do. He accepted a Book of Mormon and we gave his information to the Spanish Elders. So they may now be teaching a family of five!!!:D

Yesterday was the loudest my stomach has been in a fast and testimony meeting. It was mostly attributed to the fact that we had a taco-eating contest at a member’s house on Saturday night. Elder B. and I were seeing who could eat the most. I ate 18 tacos!?!  I think I could have eaten more, but by then I was pretty ashamed of my gluttony. I will not be doing that again! My competitive side came into play when I was told I would lose. I knew I could win and I was too confident in that fact. Thankfully we can repent and ask for forgiveness.:)

My companion, Elder H., has been out for 14 transfers; he goes home in May. We are doing well. We are becoming more effective and more organized by the day. I hope you had an awesome New Years and that everyone was safe. I took a sneak peek at your email and saw that Sister Shurtleff  passed away. I am sad. She was an incredible woman! I am grateful that she is home now, though. I will pray for them, but especially for Elder Shurtleff. Hope your life is as crazy awesome as it has been in the past. I love you!!!