Elder Pérez' Mission: Week 17-December 2, 2013-East L.A.

Maria, Elder Ramos, Lydia, Elder Perez

Dear Everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving, first off! We had a great Thanksgiving! We got to play soccer in the morning against Belvedere 1, my old ward. We won 5-4 and I scored a goal, so it was pretty fun! We had two dinners that evening so you can imagine how stuffed we were. So stuffed that the next day all I ate was a little bit of pizza and I was still full. The next day we had 5 meals! I literally was about to explode!

This Sunday, we are having our first baptism. We are pretty excited/nervous for it to come. Lydia is progressing pretty well and continuing to feel the Spirit, so it's pretty cool. She'll be having an interview from President Becerra this weekend, so we will see how it goes. I am hoping that next week I will be sending you a picture of a lady in white!:)

This past week was fast Sunday, which I always love. Seriously like half the congregation goes up to speak haha. I'm sure you already know how expressive latinos are. But it was pretty nice!

Oh, almost forgot. So we went by Oscar and Rosa's house, and finally someone was there! Rosa's older brother came out and said that Rosa is actually doing really well and is alive haha. So I was very relieved to hear that. We are hoping to be able to go by her in the upcoming weeks. That lady is a tough lady! Much respect to her!

Something that stood out to me this week was how people call us "angels sent by God." When I first heard that I thought that that was just the classic Latino talk being all exaggerated and such. But the more I have been able to be a missionary, the more I see that we really are some sort of angels sent here. We have been called and set apart to be just that. Then I got to thinking, we don't all have to be wearing a white shirt and tie and a fancy name badge to be called an angel. Like you were saying about what Bishop Johnson shared, we can all have that "angelic" impact on others with simple gestures such as he suggested. I think a lot of people hear missionary work and think about some great journey that involves 8,000 people getting baptized at the end of it. Which would be pretty cool, but it is not what we are asked to do as members. The impact we leave on people, whether they are interested in the gospel or not, is missionary work in and

of itself. So, to back up what Bishop Johnson was saying, those gestures really do matter and can be "angelic" actions in it of themselves. In short, just because missionaries are "angels sent from God," doesn't mean that everyday members can't have the same impact as we do.

I can't believe I am about to hit 4 months since leaving home this week! :o

I love you all! Hope you all have a great week!