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!!!