Week 29- Feb. 24, 2014- Lincoln Hights, East L.A. - Arroyo Ward

Dear everyone,

   

I don't think I have ever finished a week so tired as I did this week. I ended each day just completely pooped. But it was a great week! 

   We had an exchange this week with the Fletcher (Glendale) district leader, Elder F. I got to go to his area with him. Elder F. is this tall, blonde, blue eyed guy from Alabama. He came out about 3 months before me and had a bit of a similar situation as myself, he was made district leader right after he finished getting trained. He actually swims for the BYU swim team too. Super great missionary. So we made a plan to go by some of the prospective elders in his area. 

The first person we got to was not there, but his son who had never heard of us was, so he let us in. He was a 19 year old guy who seemed to be pretty receptive and was full of great questions. But we showed him a picture of a lady praying about the Book of Mormon and here things took a turn. He started questioning us and trying to make us trip on our beliefs. But elder F. and I stayed super firm and bold. I think he saw we weren't going to budge and he actually offered us a position at his church (Christian) to be a paid pastor. Which we turned down. I am going to spare the rest of the details, but in short, he didn't receive the message as well as we thought, and ended up not phasing us at all. 

Although the lesson didn't turn out quite how we would have liked, Elder F. and I talked about it and we knew we came out with solidified testimonies of what we know to be true. It felt pretty cool.

  

As for our investigators, there is some cool stuff happening. We should be having a baptism this weekend of a member who lost her records (yay Spanish work). But she actually was inactive, so it works out. Her recent convert husband Sergio, will be baptizing her. They are a young couple in their lower 20s. It's going to be very cool. 

The week after, March 9th, Jesus R. is getting baptized. He is the 87 year old man I was telling you about. We had a lesson with him in which we talked about repentance, specifically for him to help him get rid of some less than appropriate magazines he had. Right when we mentioned it, he said he has already thrown those "porquerías" away and wants to change his life for the better. I was very impressed by this man who has such a desire to change at such a late stage in his life. It really is never too late to change! And now he won't stop talking about how excited he is to get baptized hahah. 

There was one other investigator I wanted to highlight that reminded me a lot of my dad. His name is Martin G. and is 19 years old. We met him on the street a while ago and I actually asked if he could come to church with us the next day and give us a ride, and he was going to! But he had a bit of an emergency. We lost a bit of contact until a few nights ago when we went and visited him. His parents are very catholic, but he knows it is false. He understood everything so well and even started talking about the plan of salvation without even knowing it! So awesome! But unfortunately, his parents recently told him to stop talking to us, so we will see what goes on there. His parents are very devout Catholics....

Life has been going pretty well here. Although I'm always exhausted, I am also always happy. Elder B. is on his last week right now. It feels very strange to see how fast this has been going, so I am doing my best to enjoy this while I can. Love you all!!

-Elder Perez 

Sent from my iPad

Something really interesting president Becerra told us is that he hastening of the work of salvation doesn't just start with us as missionaries, but we learn to be those members that are needed in this great time

Elder Perez y don Jesus

Week 28- Feb.17, 2014-Lincoln Hights- East L.A.- Arroyo Ward

Dear everyone, 

 So, where do I begin this week... This past week was the iPad rollout, so everyone in your mission has an iPad now. A general authority came down the first day to see how we do and all that. He made a really interesting comment that hit us. He said that God not only gave the revelation to give us these iPads to be more efficient missionaries, but to help us change more. 

Now that sounds kinda weird at first, how can having an iPad help us change more by the time we get home? He told us to think of how we used to use devices back home, just for useless stuff and browsing limitlessly. But now that we have these restrictions on these iPads we are free. We know how to better use "wordly" devices for good. So when we go back home, it won't be such a big shock on how we use electronics AND we will know how to use it for good. So it's pretty cool how there is more than meets the eye with these new iPads.

  

Recently we have been praying a lot for potential priesthood holders still, and I have found that God has a pretty good sense of humor. Not too long ago we found two households full of women... The good thing is that they are prepared, the not so good thing is that we still need men hahah. But we are still working on that and hopeful for the future. 

We have found some really prepared people recently. The Lord is truly hastening his work. A member family from El Salvador, invited us to dinner with their neighbor this past Friday. And that neighbor, 22 year old Leslie, came to church! Now what's the big deal about her coming to church? That happens all the time, right? Well Leslie is a young mom and that Sunday morning she didn't get back home from work until 4 in the morning.... Pretty impressive! And she is already having great spiritual experiences, she told us about how she prayed in hopes that her boyfriend would change and help her (he walked out) and an hour later she got a text from him saying how he realized that he's being dumb and wants to change. Yay! 

We went out on splits, I went with a member and Elders B. and C. stayed together and they found a super awesome lady on the street who said she has been reading the Book of Mormon since she was 17! ( she is now about 50) and every time she has seen us she said her heart pounds hard calling out to her to talk to us. Apparently she is pretty high up in the ranks of the Catholic Church, but she said she feels like this is where God wants her. AND she's married, so it looks like the husband could be a great potential priesthood holder. So we will see what happens there. 

 Time has been flying by so fast I can barely keep up. It's crazy. But I love it! Anyone who is on the fence about going on mission needs to jump over and do it. I love you all!

week 27- February 10, 2014- Lincoln Hights-East L.A.

Dear everyone who reads my epistles,

   

First off, M. and R. got baptized this weekend!! Yay! It was an awesome baptism! At the end, R. (11) shared his feelings after he got baptized. I think he described it perfectly when he said "I felt like I was in Jesus' arms and he was taking care of me." He bore a super awesome testimony. His mom didn't because she said she would have cried too much, but it was still cool. 

  

This week was pretty hectic due to meetings and such we had. I am still amazed at how much goes into missionary work! We had a meeting with our stake president,  his councilors, President Becerra, and the East LA south zone missionaries. It was very cool. The Stake President  is such a good man. He is so humble, but has such an awesome vision and drive to move missionary work ahead in the stake. President Becerra told us he is the best Stake President in the mission. And I can tell that they have a good relationship because they go and visit people together and take on East LA hahah. So I am looking forward to being able to work this closely with them more often. 

 I also got to teach my first zone meeting this week... :o. Something I still can't wrap my mind around is how I am supposed to help all these missionaries who have been out way longer than me, are older than me, more experienced, and probably have a better grasp of what they are doing than I do. But nonetheless, I felt like it went pretty well. I was really nervous and anxious beforehand so I prayed a lot that I could simply just be a tool and say whatever God wanted them to hear. The whole time I was up teaching and such, I felt the Spirit, so I felt a lot more comfortable. As I went on a trio exchange later that day with a companionship in my district, I asked them how they thought it went. Elder C., a trainee with a very bubbly personality said (specifically about when I bore my testimony at the end) "I don't really remember what you said, I just remember how I felt." I think that is the best way I would put it as well. I don't quite exactly remember all I said (I have notes so don't worry) but I remember exactly how I felt. So I am looking forward to the next time I get to teach a zone meeting.

   

This week has been pretty cool with finding new investigators. Elder B. talks to just about everyone and I've started doing that a lot more consistently so we find a lot more. On exchanges, Elder C. found this really old guy. So the next day he went and taught him (we split up to go and teach more people). He didn't even formally invite him to church or to read or anything, but as a member was taking us to church, we see this little old guy walking with the sister missionaries to church... This little old guy was Jesus Rodriguez!! (that's the guys name) Jesus is an awesome little old guy. He is 87 years old and got on the bus on his own and would have gotten lost if it weren't for the sister misssionaries getting on the same bus he got on. And on top of that, he already started reading the Book of Mormon. During church he was taking notes and everything! Such a cool guy. The only setback is that we think he is out hunting for a wife as well and has a few chastity problems... But we will figure that out hahaha!

So far, all is well in Arroyo. I am loving the opportunities I get to serve! Love you all, thank you for all the support you give me!

Week 26-February 4, 2014 - Lincoln Hights, East L.A.

Dear everyone,

 So far so good in Arroyo! We (Elder Blanchard, Elder Christensen, and myself) are still in a zone leader trio. They are both from Utah, just in case anyone was wondering. 

Having this calling has made me realize how much goes into missionary work than I had ever imagined. We've had meetings with the stake presidency, we have a bunch this week, making calls, etc.. It's given me an appreciation of all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on in the missionary world. One oft he people we work with often is Hermano C., the stake mission leader. He is a guy from Nicaragua who served a mission in Maryland, Vietnamese speaking. How crazy, right? He is so ambitious to get missionary work done, I love being around him. That drive is contagious. He was telling us about some crazy dreams and visions he's had. I've come to realize that Latinos tend to have prophetic dreams and such. I guess it's just how God works with these kind of people. So I am looking forward to see what I can learn from working with the stake.

This weekend we are to be having a 2 baptisms. M. C with her 11 year old son, R. He is a super polite and smart kid. She is progressing super well! Last night we were having a lesson with her, and next thing you know we hear a knock on the door.... The second that knock was heard, everyone in the room knew exactly who it was... In came the machista ex husband. Things got very tense. He seemed like he was missing his drugs. I wanted to leave so badly when he came in, but elder Christensen was trying to show a video on our new fancy iPads, but it wouldn't load. I started smiling and machista man got mad at me and started trying to argue with me. So that was our cue to leave. And we actually received a death threat from him.... We are really hoping and praying that the family is ok. R. sent us a text off of his moms phone apologizing and saying that he is going to try and get his dad to read the Book of Mormon, so that was pretty cool! 

Other than them, we are finding a lot of awesome prepared people. The week after we are planning to have a baptism of this younger lady who lost her records so she has to get rebaptized. How convenient! But she was inactive for a point, so this is really helping her get back. Very cool stuff!

I can't believe I am going to be hitting 6 months this week... I feel like just yesterday I left on the plane. I have learned a lot these past 6 months and I only plan to continue learning. Something that I love about working with the people here is that they really have a fire and a passion for this gospel. Their example is helping me obtain that fire of my own as well. I know the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ.

January 20, 2014-Letter from Elder Perez to his brother Jakob, explaining in sports term, the inner workings of a mission

 So here in the mission every six weeks we have what we call transfers. This is when the missionary has the opportunity to get called and change areas, companions, leadership positions, etc.. 

Sometimes I look at the mission as a big sports league and our president is the manager. He'll put the shooters with the rebounders, the dunkers with the passers, and the defenders with the good offensive players (analogy). But sometimes he will put two passers together or two big time dunkers together so they can have a bit of a harder time and learn. 

Recently I got a transfer call and I am leaving Boyle Heights and going to Lincoln Heights, Arroyo ward. And I have been called to be a zone leader. If you don't know what that is, ask papi. But Going back to the analogy, I have pretty much been put with two veterans, one being a hall of famer and one a prety experienced guy (I am in a trio). So it's gonna be cool. We get calls on Saturday night, and the whole mission anxiously waiting around their phones like it's draft day. Getting these calls literally feels like getting another mission call. It's cool how it works out haha.

Week 25- January 27, 2014- Lincoln Hights, East L.A.

Hello everyone,

  Sorry I didn't write yesterday, we were helping some people in the zone move from house to house, so here we are emailing now. This past week was interesting. Some really cool things happened, and also some really dumb things happened. First, the cool things! 

So we had another sweet temple trip with this lady named M. C. She is virtually a single mom with two really sharp kids, R. (11) and J. (7). The reason she is single is because her husband was a bit of a problematic person who decided to take the wrong path. None of us had ever met him though. Until that night at the temple trip! He decided to join along and he was very impressed, felt the spirit, and received a "reality check" and realized he had to change. So we set an appointment with him for a later date. 

Another cool thing: Long story short, this really humble couple straight from Jalisco basically invited themselves to be baptized and are going strong. 

Last Cool thing: So we were walking around on Friday and then all of a sudden we stopped and Elder Blanchard asked if we could say a prayer, so of course we did. Elder Blanchard prayed specificlly that we could find a family ready to receive us. Later on, we knocked on a door and the neighbor opened up! The neighbor is a maid at one of our investigators' house, super humble lady who has a husband and a kid. Sounds like a family to me... So we are going by her seperately now. Awesome!

Dumb things: So a newer missionary in our district managed to have one of his investigators fall in love with him so they passed them off to us. But now they don't want to get baptized... So that has been cool...

Dumb thing 2: So T., M's husband guy, received a text from us confirming the appointment we had. Then he responded a bit negatively and was all machista and didn't let us go over... So that was  that.

But all in all, it's been a good time here in Lincoln Heights, I am learning a lot! I can't imagine what I could teach others haha, but I guess we will find out! Love you all!!