Stewardship Report
Elder Pablo Isaak Perez-Castroman
Served from August 6, 2013- July 21, 2015
California Arcadia Mission
In these past two years, I have been able to understand more of what
the Savior did for me and why. I have had the privilege to teach about
Him with the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The most valuable lesson I learned concerning the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, is the enabling power it has. Even though there may have been
times before my mission that I have been affected by this, I can not
think of a time when I recognized this before my mission. I have been
fortunate enough as a missionary, to have the trials needed for me to
gain a better understanding of The Lord's Atonement. The crosses I
have to bear are not for me to bear alone, thanks to the Atonement and
its enabling power, as I do my best do deny myself of all ungodliness.
The Atonement, to me, means that I can change and that I can receive
the divine help I need in order to make those changes.
I have learned and am continuing to learn on how I can rely on the
Lord when I am in and out of trials. This has helped me grow in my
understanding of the importance to live the gospel and always being
worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Relying on Him like this has
helped me grow in faith and a desire to know and live more of our
Heavenly Father's gospel.
An experience I had that I will never forget in which I followed the
Spirit was when I was in Lincoln Heights. My companion and I had been
having a tough time finding people who wanted to receive us and
progress. One evening, we stopped by to get tacos in a place in our
area. We felt that it would be a good opportunity to talk to some
people as well. As we were eating, we were able to contact a few
people and get some addresses and phone numbers. About a week later,
my companion and I were out making some visits with a member until we
got to the point where we just did not know who else to visit.
Although the day had winded down to 8:30, we still had a desire to at
least make one more visit. We finally decided to do what we should
have done earlier and say a prayer asking God where He wants us to go.
We both had a distinct prompting to stop by one of the men we had met
at the taco stand a few days ago. We did not remember his name, but we
remembered the address. After recognizing the promptings we received,
we raced down to his address and we were able to find him. With only
about 20 minutes left in the day, he let us in to teach him. The
spirit was very strong and he accepted a baptismal date for 3 weeks
later. Because of that prompting we followed, we were able to find,
teach, and baptize this man, Jose Mendez.
My mission has influenced my goals by helping me make them more
centered on the will of God. I honestly do not feel any more sure what
I want to do for a career - if anything, I feel less sure about what I
want to do in that sense. But I have come to realize that there are
things that I am sure about. I want to become the person The Lord
wants me to become. I want to be someone who is trusted because I have
His image on my countenance. The mission has helped me make a goal of
having an eternal family that will be worthy to enter the presence of
my Father in Heaven. These 2 years have helped me think with an
eternal perspective, which will help me along the rest of my journey
here on earth.
Feelings towards my heavenly father, my savior, and what his atonmnent
means to you
An experience where you followed the promptings of the spirt
My own personal growth and how I Have changed
goalsfor the future and how they have been influenced by my mission
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Elder Pablo Perez is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Arcadia, California. As part of his 2 year mission he will be serving in different areas around the city of Arcadia. The cities where he will be will be posted on the blog. This blog is made of the weekly letters he sends his family every Monday. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Friday, May 4, 2018
Week 101-July 20, 2015
Well, this is my last email as a missionary. The race has been ran and
the fight has been fought. Can't believe it. I'm tired. I'm happy. I
wouldn't have traded these past 2 years for anything. I know without a
doubt that I have been serving the Lord in a real cause. I'm thankful
for the influences I've been blessed with here in the California
Arcadia mission. I know God sent me here for me to grow into what He
wants me to be.
Please don't make invites, and I want to go to the temple ASAP. If I
can the night i get there, that would be best
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Stewardship Report
Elder Pablo Isaak Perez-Castroman
Served from August 6, 2015 - July 21, 2015
California Arcadia Mission
In these past two years, I have been able to understand more of what
the Savior did for me and why. I have had the privilege to teach about
Him with the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The most valuable lesson I learned concerning the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, is the enabling power it has. Even though there may have been
times before my mission that I have been affected by this, I can not
think of a time when I recognized this before my mission. I have been
fortunate enough as a missionary, to have the trials needed for me to
gain a better understanding of The Lord's Atonement. The crosses I
have to bear are not for me to bear alone, thanks to the Atonement and
its enabling power, as I do my best do deny myself of all ungodliness.
The Atonement, to me, means that I can change and that I can receive
the divine help I need in order to make those changes.
I have learned and am continuing to learn on how I can rely on the
Lord when I am in and out of trials. This has helped me grow in my
understanding of the importance to live the gospel and always being
worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Relying on Him like this has
helped me grow in faith and a desire to know and live more of our
Heavenly Father's gospel.
An experience I had that I will never forget in which I followed the
Spirit was when I was in Lincoln Heights. My companion and I had been
having a tough time finding people who wanted to receive us and
progress. One evening, we stopped by to get tacos in a place in our
area. We felt that it would be a good opportunity to talk to some
people as well. As we were eating, we were able to contact a few
people and get some addresses and phone numbers. About a week later,
my companion and I were out making some visits with a member until we
got to the point where we just did not know who else to visit.
Although the day had winded down to 8:30, we still had a desire to at
least make one more visit. We finally decided to do what we should
have done earlier and say a prayer asking God where He wants us to go.
We both had a distinct prompting to stop by one of the men we had met
at the taco stand a few days ago. We did not remember his name, but we
remembered the address. After recognizing the promptings we received,
we raced down to his address and we were able to find him. With only
about 20 minutes left in the day, he let us in to teach him. The
spirit was very strong and he accepted a baptismal date for 3 weeks
later. Because of that prompting we followed, we were able to find,
teach, and baptize this man, Jose Mendez.
My mission has influenced my goals by helping me make them more
centered on the will of God. I honestly do not feel any more sure what
I want to do for a career - if anything, I feel less sure about what I
want to do in that sense. But I have come to realize that there are
things that I am sure about. I want to become the person The Lord
wants me to become. I want to be someone who is trusted because I have
His image on my countenance. The mission has helped me make a goal of
having an eternal family that will be worthy to enter the presence of
my Father in Heaven. These 2 years have helped me think with an
eternal perspective, which will help me along the rest of my journey
here on earth.
Feelings towards my heavenly father, my savior, and what his atonmnent
means to you
An experience where you followed the promptings of the spirt
My own personal growth and how I Have changed
goalsfor the future and how they have been influenced by my mission
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
the fight has been fought. Can't believe it. I'm tired. I'm happy. I
wouldn't have traded these past 2 years for anything. I know without a
doubt that I have been serving the Lord in a real cause. I'm thankful
for the influences I've been blessed with here in the California
Arcadia mission. I know God sent me here for me to grow into what He
wants me to be.
Please don't make invites, and I want to go to the temple ASAP. If I
can the night i get there, that would be best
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Stewardship Report
Elder Pablo Isaak Perez-Castroman
Served from August 6, 2015 - July 21, 2015
California Arcadia Mission
In these past two years, I have been able to understand more of what
the Savior did for me and why. I have had the privilege to teach about
Him with the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The most valuable lesson I learned concerning the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, is the enabling power it has. Even though there may have been
times before my mission that I have been affected by this, I can not
think of a time when I recognized this before my mission. I have been
fortunate enough as a missionary, to have the trials needed for me to
gain a better understanding of The Lord's Atonement. The crosses I
have to bear are not for me to bear alone, thanks to the Atonement and
its enabling power, as I do my best do deny myself of all ungodliness.
The Atonement, to me, means that I can change and that I can receive
the divine help I need in order to make those changes.
I have learned and am continuing to learn on how I can rely on the
Lord when I am in and out of trials. This has helped me grow in my
understanding of the importance to live the gospel and always being
worthy of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Relying on Him like this has
helped me grow in faith and a desire to know and live more of our
Heavenly Father's gospel.
An experience I had that I will never forget in which I followed the
Spirit was when I was in Lincoln Heights. My companion and I had been
having a tough time finding people who wanted to receive us and
progress. One evening, we stopped by to get tacos in a place in our
area. We felt that it would be a good opportunity to talk to some
people as well. As we were eating, we were able to contact a few
people and get some addresses and phone numbers. About a week later,
my companion and I were out making some visits with a member until we
got to the point where we just did not know who else to visit.
Although the day had winded down to 8:30, we still had a desire to at
least make one more visit. We finally decided to do what we should
have done earlier and say a prayer asking God where He wants us to go.
We both had a distinct prompting to stop by one of the men we had met
at the taco stand a few days ago. We did not remember his name, but we
remembered the address. After recognizing the promptings we received,
we raced down to his address and we were able to find him. With only
about 20 minutes left in the day, he let us in to teach him. The
spirit was very strong and he accepted a baptismal date for 3 weeks
later. Because of that prompting we followed, we were able to find,
teach, and baptize this man, Jose Mendez.
My mission has influenced my goals by helping me make them more
centered on the will of God. I honestly do not feel any more sure what
I want to do for a career - if anything, I feel less sure about what I
want to do in that sense. But I have come to realize that there are
things that I am sure about. I want to become the person The Lord
wants me to become. I want to be someone who is trusted because I have
His image on my countenance. The mission has helped me make a goal of
having an eternal family that will be worthy to enter the presence of
my Father in Heaven. These 2 years have helped me think with an
eternal perspective, which will help me along the rest of my journey
here on earth.
Feelings towards my heavenly father, my savior, and what his atonmnent
means to you
An experience where you followed the promptings of the spirt
My own personal growth and how I Have changed
goalsfor the future and how they have been influenced by my mission
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Week 100-July 13, 2015
Well, this is my last email as a missionary. The race has been ran and
the fight has been fought. Can't believe it. I'm tired. I'm happy. I
wouldn't have traded these past 2 years for anything. I know without a
doubt that I have been serving the Lord in a real cause. I'm thankful
for the influences I've been blessed with here in the California
Arcadia mission. I know God sent me here for me to grow into what He
wants me to be.
Please don't make invites, and I want to go to the temple ASAP. If I
can the night i get there, that would be best
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Week 98-June 29, 2015
Honestly, I don't feel like writing anymore. But I'll give a few highlights:
• We are teaching a pretty cool lady that was a referral from one of
the recent converts in the area. She was studying with the 7th day
Adventists but she's been pretty interested in learning about what we
teach.
• la colombiana finally came to church. We lost a little bit of
contact with her but we were able to teach her again and she came to
church. The only problem is, she doesn't quite understand that we need
to meet a few times a week rather than every now and then. Even though
we explain it to her.
• we've been teaching a recent convert named Morena. Recently we've
been teaching her step daughter that stays with her during the week.
She's a really awesome 15 year old girl that just moved here from El
Salvador. She's been doing awesome on her commitments, but she can
never go to church because she has to go back to her biological moms
house on the weekends. But somehow, after teaching her about church
attendance, she came to church! And she went to the temple visitors
center on by her self as some of the ward members were doing baptisms
for the dead.
• we found this crazy white guy named Dana that we taught a few times.
He had been taught by the English missionaries a few years ago but was
in and out of trouble and just recently got out of jail last Friday.
He wants to be baptized in 3 weeks, but I'm not sure if his parole
stuff will interfere with that. But he's super receptive and he's been
eating up everything we've given him. He even went to church! We ended
up passing him off to the English sisters, though.
So that's about it. Love you all
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
• We are teaching a pretty cool lady that was a referral from one of
the recent converts in the area. She was studying with the 7th day
Adventists but she's been pretty interested in learning about what we
teach.
• la colombiana finally came to church. We lost a little bit of
contact with her but we were able to teach her again and she came to
church. The only problem is, she doesn't quite understand that we need
to meet a few times a week rather than every now and then. Even though
we explain it to her.
• we've been teaching a recent convert named Morena. Recently we've
been teaching her step daughter that stays with her during the week.
She's a really awesome 15 year old girl that just moved here from El
Salvador. She's been doing awesome on her commitments, but she can
never go to church because she has to go back to her biological moms
house on the weekends. But somehow, after teaching her about church
attendance, she came to church! And she went to the temple visitors
center on by her self as some of the ward members were doing baptisms
for the dead.
• we found this crazy white guy named Dana that we taught a few times.
He had been taught by the English missionaries a few years ago but was
in and out of trouble and just recently got out of jail last Friday.
He wants to be baptized in 3 weeks, but I'm not sure if his parole
stuff will interfere with that. But he's super receptive and he's been
eating up everything we've given him. He even went to church! We ended
up passing him off to the English sisters, though.
So that's about it. Love you all
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Monday, April 30, 2018
Week 97-July 22, 2015
They're the master chefs. The hermano made some amazing pastrami
sandwiches and he showed me how to make them. So I'll give them a try
when I get back
“If we are no better tomorrow than we are today, we are not very useful.”
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Week 93-May 25, 2015-Tujunga
Dear Home,
This week went by super fast. I don't really know what to write anymore...
We had zone conference, that went well. My last one in the mission.
This week we tried to get to know the area a little better so we
branched out to some parts where we usually don't go. It was alright.
It starts looking a lot like the San Fernando mission, all
desert-like. We were able to find a part member family-former who is
interested in coming back. There are so many part member families it
is a little overwhelming. We are still trying to find out who
(concerning less-active members) we still need to focus on, so we have
been visiting around here and there. The good thing is our ward
mission leader is really on top of it so he is a great help to us.
Eduardo is doing really well. It's been great to be able to visit him
and see him so receptive. He is a great man. He came to church and
really enjoyed it. He made some good friends and the ward is doing
really well in fellow shipping him and his son.
I'm pretty tired, so I don't really know what else to write. But
things are going well.
Love you!
This week went by super fast. I don't really know what to write anymore...
We had zone conference, that went well. My last one in the mission.
This week we tried to get to know the area a little better so we
branched out to some parts where we usually don't go. It was alright.
It starts looking a lot like the San Fernando mission, all
desert-like. We were able to find a part member family-former who is
interested in coming back. There are so many part member families it
is a little overwhelming. We are still trying to find out who
(concerning less-active members) we still need to focus on, so we have
been visiting around here and there. The good thing is our ward
mission leader is really on top of it so he is a great help to us.
Eduardo is doing really well. It's been great to be able to visit him
and see him so receptive. He is a great man. He came to church and
really enjoyed it. He made some good friends and the ward is doing
really well in fellow shipping him and his son.
I'm pretty tired, so I don't really know what else to write. But
things are going well.
Love you!
Week 92-May 18, 2015
Culinary Restoration!
Best crepes I've ever had. A less active member made us the best food
ever. He used to own a restaurant in downtown LA. He said he would
sell these crepes for like 7 bucks each and he gave us like 5! And
he'd just make them up as he went.
Dear home,
This week started off with an interesting turn. We started with
exchanges from Monday to Tuesday, so Elder Bailey, Saunders, and I
were in Tujunga. We were planning for the next day when all of a
sudden we get a call from the APs. They were calling to emergency
transfer Elder Clark. So, long story short, Elder Clark is not in our
companionship anymore. Which has been a bit interesting because we are
almost whitewashing now hahah. But it's not too bad since I only have
to focus on teaching one person Spanish instead of two.
Nevertheless, we had a great week with a lot of miracles. On our
exchange, we helped an Hermana from the ward paint some of her house.
She wanted us to stop by someone she had helped out a few times named
Eduardo. We called him and set up a time with him for a couple days
later. The lesson we had with him was awesome. He was so eager to
learn and listen to what we had to say. I have a lot of respect for
him because he has had a pretty hard life but diligently tries to be
closer to God. He had a wife that passed away about 8 years ago and an
8 year old son with disabilities and a 16 year old son in
rehabilitation center. I'm used to seeing the single moms having to
deal with stuff like this, but he's the first one I've seen in a
situation like his. We had another lesson with him on Saturday to
introduce the Book of Mormon with him. He liked it a lot. Turned out
he had a boss that was Mormon that would invite him to church, but he
would never go. We set a goal for baptism with him for late June and
invited him to church. And lo and behold he came! It was a great sight
to see him there with his son so eager to learn and enjoy his
experience there.
Then, we had a few lessons with a lady named Rocelia. She is the
sister of a returning less active who was visiting from Las Vegas. We
had a really spirit packed lesson on Saturday in which we had her pray
and invited her to be baptized and she accepted a date as well. She
came to church the next day, which was awesome. We went by later in
the day to set up an appointment with her and she was gone...:( her
daughter had come and picked her up to take her back to Las Vegas... I
hope that is not the last we see of her, though. But we'll see what
happens, there.
We also had Juanitas baptism this weekend. It went well and it was
great to see her be happy. She has a great spirit.
Things are going great. We're still trying to figure out the area, but
it's been great getting to kind of reset the area on our own.
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