Almost July???

Santa Vaca! I cannot believe the time has gone so fast! Elder C. and I have already been here for almost 6 weeks now! It is almost Gregory's birthday, too! Not to mention the Fourth of July! Sorry that I didn't get to email on Monday; the library closed early for some reason, and they kicked us out before we could finish!  Luckily we got permission to write today.  Elder C. loves beans and eggs, by the way. He thought they sounded gross until I actually made them. Now he has stocked up on ranch-style beans and eggs!:D

Our neighbors above us had a baby and we got to know them a bit. The husband asked us for a Book of Mormon so he can read it, which was a surprise, although we had hoped they would come along one day. The kids always say hi to us and the parents are really friendly. They were amazed to find that we speak Spanish (or at least try). Other contacts: we met a girl reading on the street who said she wanted to come to church. A teen named L. read the first 2 chapters of the Book of Mormon after our introductory lesson last week!

We got lost trying to find a member's house and found ourselves on this hill with lots of expensive homes. We drove up to the top out of curiosity and found this HUGE house! It is called the Paramour, we think, and there was an event going on. We don't know who owns it, but the bodyguard/bouncer was pretty cool and said I could put a pass-along card in the mailbox! When we shook hands, though, I felt like he was going to crush my body!

Although L.A. is crazy and very worldly, we see good things every day. We saw a dad holding hands with his three small kids while walking down the street, and it was really cute (pardon the word). I had to stop him and talk to him. He may not attend church or let us come to his house, but a seed was planted in what appeared to be fertile soil.

We had a Zone Conference/Mission Tour with Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy last week. It was a really cool conference. Elder C. and I got one of the clean car awards, which was nice, and I also got to talk with Elder Ri. and Ro. from the MTC! I think the most important thing I learned was that we really do have an immense influence on the people we teach.

D. and J. (who were recently baptized) were able to go to the Temple on Thursday and do baptisms for the dead! D. even submitted names and was baptized for several of her ancestors from Mexico! Super cool! There is nothing as rewarding as seeing recent converts go to the Temple!

I loved Sister Dalton and President Monson’s talks in the YW session! If you haven't read them or reread them, I highly suggest it! I especially liked how Sister Dalton said that a "shiny" countenance does not rely on makeup or fashion. It comes from our personal purity. It made me think of all my sisters and especially Mom, who were always the best example of that. Thanks to you, I have a pretty darn good start on what I want to look for in a wife. I love you all and hope you smile lots today! Keep your chin up and never forget who we can become!!!

A Smashing Father's Day to You!

Olo Familia! I hope you all had a smashing Fathers Day yesterday!!! It seems like just yesterday that I wrote, and I won't have too many updates to give, but there is always something going on out here.:D

After attending the temple last Wednesday, we played soccer and then ate lunch at a Subway on Sunset. I was wearing my LA Galaxy jersey with my name on it when I ordered. I was all sweaty and tired (yummy) and the guy who took my order honestly asked me if I played for the Galaxy! It was awesome! Made me smile.:) I heard about R's mission call to the Philippines! That is SO crazy! What language/dialect will he be speaking?? Yay for missionaries being llamado al servir!

We found a new “game”: proselyting while in the car..he he he. We were stopped at a red light and thought it would be fun to hand out pass along cards through the window. I have always wanted to do it, but never actually thought about DOING it. It is really fun! It sure makes tracting doors look easy, though! We always have some cards in the car now, so we can give them out if we so feel inclined. Don't worry, we never do it unless stopped at a red. It rarely works out perfectly, but it makes for some fun experiences.

I recently finished the conference Ensign and I loved it!!! I especially liked Elder Vincent O. Halleck's talk about vision. He stressed how important it is to see ourselves (and others) as the Lord sees us and our potential. Christ saw so much in the fisherman who saw little in themselves at first. It is something I have always considered important. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of us, as long as we and our Heavenly Father think well of us. Looking over the entire conference, I realized that the family was a central theme. I think about 85 percent of the talks were focused on improving and enhancing our families! We have some work to do...;)

The other day we had several cool things happen to us. One return appointment seems promising; he seems to have been prepared through another church. Another man stopped us in his motorized wheelchair to ask if we were Mormons the same day. Later that night, while attempting to contact a referral, we were delayed by talking to an English-speaking woman and were afraid that we had lost our chance to find her (the referral).  As we were pulling out, a woman pulled up and asked, "Who were you looking for in that complex?" We told her the name. I knew before she answered that it was her. It had to be her. We had a brief lesson on the curb before retiring to our apartment by the 9:30 lesson curfew. She was a member referral; she became interested in the Gospel after her dog died. The member told her that her dog was in heaven and asked her to talk with us...so you never know how things might work out. We have been back once since then and will return again tomorrow night to finish el Plan de Salvacion!

The Gospel is the BOMB!

The temple was AWESOME and I thought of every single one of you in the celestial room. Isn't this gospel the BOMB!?!? 

I feel like it has been forever since I e-mailed last week. We have had lots of really cool things happen to us here. I recently called Elder W. to ask him to zone-mail me some things that I left in Fox Hills, to find that they have 5 baptismal dates set for people that I taught!!! I hope I can go back to see the baptisms! P. and her friend M. are both getting baptized, as well as two of their kids and a guy that Elder D. and I found named J.! Super cool! It is such an amazing feeling to know that the seed I first planted has taken root and is growing away! That made my day when I found out!:D Now to this area....here goes the overload.

We drove by Paramount Studios the other day, and our zone leaders saw Kobe Bryant!  Weird!

The other morning I was thinking about how impossible it would have been to make up the Book of Mormon.  Try to imagine yourself doing it... it is 531 or so pages, written in Reformed Egyptian, has incredible detail about an ancient civilization, has no contradictions to the Bible, relates to everyone who reads it, and was translated in like 60 days! Not to mention that a bajillion  (yes, bajillion) people will try and critique it, so it has to withstand everything. When I tried to imagine myself doing this, I realized that no man could. The only answer is that it was brought about through the power of God!

Our investigator O. has a baptismal date set, but we are unsure if she will make it because she’s in the hospital. We hope to get back to her soon.

Elder C. almost started his tie on fire while trying to burn the fuzzies off with a lighter...:D That was a classic moment! My favorite moment of the week happened after an appointment fell through. We were walking in the hard, desensitized streets of L.A. when a large, raised SUV passed us. A very big, tough-looking man was inside jamming out to Little Mermaid (“Under the Sea”) with the windows open wide! It was hilarious!  I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Yet again, another hug and boost from my Heavenly Father.:)

We were walking by a house and we decided to knock it. Before long, we had 5 or 6 young kids crowded around us, all raising their hands, eager to ask and answer questions about Jesus. It was an incredible experience! After a little while, the father came out and asked us to leave very impolitely. The spirit of the visit changed so abruptly it was sad. Even though an older daughter protested that we were talking about God, he said that he "didn't care". We did manage to give them a few pamphlets with our name and number on them before we left. One day in the future they will remember us and the experience they had, and then they will be baptized!

Our new game plan consists of praying over a list of former investigators that we compiled last week. We then plan 4 or 5 names into our schedule for the next day. So far we have found very few of the formers, but we keep finding new people in the area where the formers used to live! :D It is awesome! In the next week, we have 6 return appointments through this method! I also want to pray over a map to decide what streets to tract, and then the actual doors, too!  Elder C. and I both feel that something great is coming. We are more focused and devoted, so we are ready to have people progressing! I can't wait to teach the 6 people we found. At least one of them is going to progress and be baptized, if not more!:D I hope to report back with great news next Monday! I love you! How is your mission going? Life is a mission; we all need to serve well and share the gospel with all! I love you more-a!

It's getting hot, hot, hot!

Well, it is kinda hot here, which means we should probably get cracking on our AC with the manager, huh?:) One thing I have noticed since being near downtown and Hollywood is that there are TONS of different nationalities here! We have tracted into Cambodians, Armenians, Romanians, Koreans, and many more. We have Tagalog Books of Mormon in the apartment just in case we run in to someone who speaks it. It is so CRAZY! I don't think I'm in Inglewood anymore, Toto..;)

J. accepted our invitation to be baptized and chose to be baptized on Sunday!!! So, last night we had a baptism! Both Elder C. and I screamed like little kids once we got back to the car, we were so excited! The lesson went super well. We talked about agency and how it related to the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity and tithing. She was super excited! Last night after the baptism, J. and her mom hugged for about one minute straight and just cried. They were both so spiritually uplifted and filled. The next step is the temple. D., the mother, really wants to do baptisms for her ancestors and they already have an interview set up and a date to go to the temple!!! Woot! I love watching the Gospel in action!

We served a family on Saturday by preparing a garden plot and then mixing in some fragrant compost . . . yummy! The best part was how happy the non-member father was about it. He is from Ecuador and he’s a big soccer fan. It was funny because he really opened up when I started talking about some of the things I learned from the years I played. We got very dirty, tired and sweaty, which was fun! I haven't done that in quite a while!

L. is going back to Chile for two weeks, but she absolutely lit up when we asked her about the Book of Mormon! She said she was intrigued and was excited to talk to us more about it when she gets back. We were both a bit surprised by how she reacted. Her entire countenance changed! We slipped in the fact that she could read the Book of Mormon while on the plane over, and she seemed to like the idea. Maybe when she gets back she will be ready to progress like a champ!

I did splits with the Sunset elders, and I was with Elder D. in their area! It was so crazy! I had deja vu so many times! I almost felt like we were back in Fox Hills together. It was also pretty weird to be riding bikes around and passing places like Nickelodean and other famous places. P.S. Dad, I have been running in the mornings with Elder C! I also did some lunges which made my autoverk very sore ;) Well family! I love you! It sounded like you had a fun weekend visiting and working in the yard! I am excited to hear about transfers from Julia. Mike, how high was the chain you hurdled? I bet you can jump higher than I can right now :D ILoveYouMora!!!;)

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