Smashing Toast, Gromit!

Well, things have picked up a bit :) We didn't have many dinners at first, but now we have about 4 a week, which is nice. My first dinner in the ward was with the S. family. Sister S. is from Uruguay and Brother S. speaks Spanish, too. The C. & R.s were there and they both served Spanish missions, so we were all speaking Spanish and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!! Elder A. has been picking up some Spanish, too. I like to think that my "teaching" helps him. He is very smart and studied a bit of Latin. He could easily pick it up!

We found a small family that may progress, but we need to teach them a second time. They both said they would read the Book of Mormon, and the wife expressed interest in coming to church. We will see this next week. Note: we need to get closer appointments so we can progress faster!

We had a referral that turned out being Spanish and we introduced the Book of Mormon! It felt so good to have an almost 100% Spanish lesson again!:) It was really hard to tell her that the "Spanish missionaries" would be coming by next time. It about killed me!

A car stalled in front of a crazy busy intersection, and Elder Allred and I pushed it across by ourselves. I would like to know what the people were thinking and saying as we did it. It was really fun. I also happened to be on the phone at the time we decided to hop out :). Love service!!!

We met a less-active family and they straight-up told us that they didn't want us trying to persuade them to come back, but that they would let us in for a drink or to talk (but not gospel). They are all from Mexico but speak perfect English. The wife is not a member and looked pretty ticked-off when we showed up. She opened up tons when I began to speak Spanish with her, though. Before we left, they committed to call us so we could help them do some kind of service soon. I am really stoked and could not stop thinking about them. It was not a coincidence that we found them. There is something incredibly special about them.

Yesterday after leaving church I was reading a talk that brother Boswell (an MVP incredible man) gave us. We were discussing some updates on the ward list when I got an interesting buzz from head to toe, like I was being scanned by a spiritual price gun. I literally stopped talking and focused on the feeling for a minute. I had been talking about a member, Sister O., at the time. I knew it had been a prompting and I told my companero that we needed to see her today. We eventually got by and had an amazing lesson! She told us, "I signed up for the missionaries last week for dinner, was that you guys?" We were not aware and had not planned on being fed that night. We were able to uplift her and experience her strong testimony. She had a brain aneurism about 2 years ago and became a member shortly thereafter. She told us that she was grateful for the anerism because she had been a workaholic and would've worked herself to death if she had not been forced to slow down. It was powerful to hear her explain the blessings of this experience. My companion also strengthened her with an awesome scripture chain about the Embrace of the Atonement (I will write it next week ;)! We were both blown away by the Spirit!

We met the M. family, who moved into the ward a few months ago.  I was telling them I was form Orem, and Brother M. said “I'm from there, too!” He saw my name tag and asked "Are you related to Adriane and Lauren?" I was shocked! All I could say was "Are you serious!" SO I met A.M. and he is doing awesome! He served in Carlsbad speaking Mandarin. There you have it! Love you all dearly!! I have to run. My hour is up!!!! Lots of love from Los Angeles!

No longer un joven!

I got transferred again. Now I am 20 minutes south of my last area, Silver lake. We also share our southern border with Fox Hills! I am between my two favorite places here! I love my district and I love my new companion Elder A! Elder A is from Rigby, Idaho and he reminds me of Ryne a lot! He laughs like him and has a very similar personality. He is really intelligent and we have already had a hard time keeping our faces straight. We have laughed quite a bit!

I am also a zone leader now, along with Elder Davidson and Elder Richards.  I don’t get to speak Spanish as much anymore :(  I still carry my Spanish Book of Mormon with me, which is probably a form of denial.  I will continue to study Spanish as much as I can.  Our new district is awesome. 

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes and packages! I am going to get even more chubby! Happy birthday Sister Julia B!! You are one year older and wiser too!

We had a service activity on Saturday at the Fame church on Adams Blvd. Three zones came to help distribute shoes to those who cannot afford them. It was an amazing experience and I loved seeing the kids’ eyes light up when they saw the shoes. Good times!

Lastly, our next door neighbors are the Jefferson Park elders, and Elder O went to Orem High. We were in Central Zone together when I was in Inglewood. We have a fun time. Stay safe all of you! Don't ever forget that I love you, but also that  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you perfectly. Go to them for all your needs!

"I've got it, tooooo!" [Muppet Treasure Island]

Well, the last few days were pretty hot. Hotter than blazes, actually.  P. is progressing very nicely, but she has not yet come to church! We go by on Sundays and she is not there. This week with be a test to see if we have to drop her. We did teach an awesome lesson last Monday night with her daughter M. and then on Saturday with her daughter K. We have talked to many of the family members, just somehow we haven't taught them all together.

We had temple service on Thursday and worked on our hands, knees, and bums for almost the entire seven hours. We got to trim the bushes in front while it was 87 degrees. Booh yeah! Next time you see a picture of the LA Temple and you see the beautiful bushes in front, yeah, that was us.:D

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and cards! I will bake all the mixes that I received, even with the danger that I will eat half of them myself! It was a great birthday, just in a very different way that I cannot explain. We had dinner that night with the B family; Ja. made me a birthday cake and flan with her friend Jo. Elder D also wanted to buy me some Baskin Robins ice cream, so we indulged a bit. To make the day complete, I fulfilled one of my goals!!!! I handed out a mormon.org card out the window while stopped at a red light. It couldn't have been more perfect! As soon as they received it and I explained briefly, the light turned green, I went forward and they turned. That was a smooth job. It had to be destined, since I already had the card ready in the glove box.:)

We started teaching a man named F who is very sweet and likes us a lot. He is very sensitive to the Spirit and knows our message is "special." More to come later, since we can only meet with him on Saturdays.

Elder Cressman left us a referral from when he was here; we tried the address and met L. and her mom.  They also referred a friend who attends church with us.

Transfers are Wednesday again and we'll hope to stay put. If not, we are here to do the will of Him who sent us, so we should probably do it. ;)

Heating up in L.A.!

Here is the story about change.  J. is the husband of R.; he used to throw away the notes and pamphlets we left for her.  Now he has gone 180 degrees.  He wants to quit drinking and lets us come by once or twice a week!  Cool, huh!

A young man in our ward just received his mission call to Ohio Columbus, speaking Spanish, so HEADS up to Sister B.! 

P. reads every single thing we leave for her and is learning in leaps and bounds.  When we followed up on the Word of Wisdom, she knew it all.  I began to explain that it was revelation given to Joseph Smith, and she added, "In 1833."  Now I will remember that fact forever!

The computer is about to kick me off.  Love you all!  Sorry it is so short!

Hijoles Frijoles!

Another excellent week and the success is building! Our mission has had the best 3 weeks it has had in a very long time!

We played volleyball with the youth the other night, which was a blast! I haven't played in For.Ev.er! It was a great ice breaker with all the youth, too!

Splits with Elder D. and R. was a blast! We played Star Wars trivia after planning (no board game involved, just our bwains!) and I loved it! We gave each other our hardest questions and realized just how nerdy we are! Elder D. has some great ones. Once again, thanks to Chris O. and the knowledge I gleaned from him!:)

It was J.'s birthday and we made a cake that took a lot of orchestration, as our oven is broken. Luckily our awesome neighbors, who are reading the Book of Mormon, let us use theirs for 30 minutes.

S. and her two daughters came to church, which makes two weeks in a row! We hadn't even got to the baptismal commitment somehow and that is the goal for this week. We are really looking forward to it!

We found many investigators outside our area this week, and sent them as referrals to Elders M. and W.  downtown. One we found yesterday, at church, and we called them up right away. They went over and he accepted a baptismal date! We are super excited for them even though it is not in our area or ward!

I also found out this week that my companion, Elder M., has a killer Smeagol/Gollum impersonation! It is crazy funny!!!

Well, the computer is about to kick me off, but I want to let you know that the Spirit changes hearts and minds. Sometimes the change comes faster than others, but it does indeed come. I will tell you next week the story relating to this. I love you!!!! Stay safe. Don't keep this Gospel a secret. "Scream it to the world!"