Week 70- December 15, 2014 - El Molino 2- Pasadena

Dear Home,

Transfers came and went this past weekend and Elder Lane and I are

staying together. The only difference now is that I got called to be

the new district leader. The Lord does not want to give me a break

haha. The last district leader got called to train so I think they

wanted to make it a bit easier on him so here I am. It'll be

interesting to be a district leader since I have always had to work with

them a lot, but never got to be one. It's crazy to think I only have 5

transfers left now (about 7 and a half months). But that's still a lot

of time haha.

This week was pretty good. I seem to always end up really tired at the

end of each week. Nothing too crazy happened. We still haven't been

able to get a hold of Francisco, and on top of that he didn't go to

church, so we will be keeping an eye out for him. Mateo is doing

really well, he wasn't able to go to church last Sunday because he was

pretty far away and his car broke down, but he still fasted on Fast

Sunday! He was able to make it to church this past Sunday which was

good. We might need to move his date, but either way he is still doing

well. Lately we've been focusing on finding more elect people. Which

has been going well, but still have some more work to do.

This morning we did our studies with G.. G. is a 23 recent

convert who got baptized in April in the area next to us (still in our

branch). He had to get permission from the first presidency in order

to get baptized due to some things he had done in the past. Now he

really wants to serve a mission, but once again he has to wait for

first presidency permission. I didn't know him before, but he has made

a lot of changes in his life to be where he's at now. It was really

cool to do studies with him this morning and see him take notes on all

the things he was learning. We even did a role play with him and I

teaching elder Lane. I learned a lot from being with him and seeing

his desires to be better. I hope to continue that kind of desire and

willingness as I keep going through my mission and service after. 

Love

you all!

Elder Lane in the back

Week 69- December 8, 2014 - El Molino2 (Pasadena)

Dear home,

This week was pretty good.

We had zone conference this past week. It was good! One of the

counsellors in the Mission presidency shared a message and had Elder

Crawford and I go up and talk about our experience with Luis.

President Nielsen (the counsellor) mentioned something from Luis's

baptismal interview that we didn't know before. It turns out, that

when we would go to teach Sara, his mom, he would always hide in his

room. But, it actually turns out that he was always listening to what

we were teaching her. I thought that was pretty cool, I guess you

never really know what effects some actions you do somewhere else can

have in others. Even when you didn't even intend it to affect them.

Luis, mom Sara, sisters and Elders visiting the Temple grounds

This week we had some pretty good lessons. We taught an investigator

named Luis Enrique. He is in his 20's and moved here from Honduras

almost a year ago. He's been investigating for a while, he was

actually found because he was flirting with the English sister

missionaries haha. He has quite a character. He's been wanting to get

baptized, but work and such seem to always get in the way. We were

able to set a date with him which he took a lot more seriously. And he

came to church this week and the one before (he's come a lot in the

past as well). So that was cool.

We went on exchanges this week as well, I went with elder Wandry to El

Sereno - part of east LA. It was pretty fun! Maybe too much fun haha.

This week, we had been trying to get a hold of Francisco, but we could

never find him or he would never answer his phone. We thought he had

blocked our number or something. But lo and behold, he showed up to

church on his own, again! He's had a ton of work and on top of that

he's had to take care of his sick mom. Working life is crazy here!

This is the last week of the transfer, so we will be getting calls

this week. We will see what happens haha. I am glad I am where I am,

regardless of what trials I may have. Love you!!

Week 68- December 1, 2014 - El Molino 2

Dear Home,

Happy Thanksgiving! I feel like the days go by long but the weeks go

by way fast. It's weird.

We were able to have thanksgiving dinner at our branch President's

house as a district. It was pretty nice. American style dinner!

This week was good, we were pretty busy. We have been teaching a man

named Mateo who they had been teaching in this area before. He is a

really good guy, about 70 years old. He's rally sensitive to the

spirit and right now, the only one who is interested in changing in

his family and he has a date for later in December. He's doing pretty

well! Alcohol and coffee are what have been holding him back, but he

has been doing well on progressively cutting down. He calls me Luis

Perez for some reason haha. Even though I tell him what my name is

haha. 

We also got to teach Francisco, the guy from El Salvador who

came to church on his own. We had a really good lesson with him in

which the spirit was present. On top of that, he is a great guy. But

it is a bit hard to get a hold of him and his mom is pretty sick so he

wasn't able to go to church this week.

Lately, the English elders gave us a referral of a homeless guy who

said he wanted to change. I have to say, it is tough hearing what

those people go through. They come to a completely foreign country and

get swallowed up by the world. At that point, it gets really hard for

them to come out on top and be able to just live. It definitely helped

me realize how good I really have it.

I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday, too! I talked

about charity and how it should be displayed as a follower of Christ.

I thought it was good haha.

Things have been going better. I am trying to focus on not comparing

myself to others or thinking too far ahead. It is sometimes hard to

focus on the good things I have going on. The plan of salvation is a

good reminder of why I am here and why I go through trials in my life.

I am trying to understand that more and more each day. Love you all!

Thanksgiving dinner at our Branch President's house

Week 67- November 24, 2014 - El Molino 2 (Pasadena)

Dear home,

I am starting to do better, this week. I have really been trying to

apply what Elder Sitati talked to us about, and I feel like it has

been helping a lot. I have been resorting to a lot of prayer and

communication with our Heavenly Father.

Last Pday, Tuesday, was kinda crazy. My bike had been popping all the

tubes I put in, even though I had supposedly gotten it fixed a while

ago. We were heading to our first appointment right after a member had

helped us replace a tire that had just popped when all of a sudden,

pop! There went the tube. We hopped on the train and went to the bike

store. It was about 6:35 at this point. There was no one that was able

to fix the bike at the store... The sales manager told us we could go

to another store a few blocks away to get it fixed and he would give

me the money I paid for there when I went back another time. At this

point it was about 6:40, so we start running down to the other bike

store! We just got there in time, 5 minutes before it closed. They

fixed it pretty quickly and right away we started towards our

appointment. 

We were visiting a less active couple and the husband

answered the door once we got there. It was pretty crazy how we made

it, despite all the things stopping us. The member said something that

really struck a chord with me. He said: God gives us challenges to see

how we are going to react. To see if we are going to remember Him, or

not. In these times, I am doing my best to remember Him in all that I

do.

This past week, we also had Zone Conference. It felt kinda weird not

having to teach it, but it was nice not having to worry about it haha.

Elder Ramos, mijo, taught an awesome meeting. We talked about our

companion ships and how we can have the spirit with us more. At the

end, he shared how him and I were together as really young

missionaries, but were able to have a lot of success due to our unity.

I did not know he did this before, but he talked about how there would

be some days where he would shine my shoes while I was in the shower

or not around. I felt kinda bad because I honestly do not recall

noticing. But, at the same time, it felt great to know that he

cared/cares about me that way.

This week was kind of slow. We had worked hard on getting people to

get to church, but none of the people we worked with ended up coming.

Instead, this guy we had never talked to showed up to church. He used

to be investigating the church in El Salvador a long time ago, but now

lives in our area. He said someone from El Salvador referred him to

the branch, so he came! He commented that he wants to start coming

back and learning more and getting closer to the gospel. That was

cool! Our hard work was not in vain.

I love you all!

With my new companion, Elder Lane

Week 66- November 17, 2014 - El Molino 2

Dear home,

Well, for starters, I have been biking a lot here in this area and I

have started to lose a little weight. Just in case anyone was

wondering how I was doing on that haha. It has definitely been a

different experience compared to the other areas I have been in. I am

still getting a little used to it, but it has been good to be able to

learn from it.

I am emailing on Tuesday because yesterday we had a mission conference

with Elder Joseph W. Sitati of the first quorum of the 70. I was here

a little over a year ago when he came last time so I can say I got to

see him twice on my mission. It was a pretty short conference, but I

feel like it was what I needed to hear. He talked about how we are

children of God, created in His image for a divine purpose. We are here

to do good. 

I think what struck me a lot was how he defined success.

He talked about how it doesn't matter if no one receives us or we

don't teach anyone, the way we should look at ourselves each night is

if we did our best that day. If we did our best, then we had a

successful day, regardless of what the outward outcome was. He went on

to talk about teaching with the spirit and working together with our

companions in order to better help others.

I am glad Elder Sitati decided to talk on the subject of what

"success" is. I feel like I have been very hard on myself concerning

that subject. I forget that all Heavenly Father is asking of me is my

best. He doesn't care what the "statistical" outcome is. What He

expects is that I just do my best and try to become what He wants me

to become. 

This week, I am going to be praying a lot more fervently to

be able to see myself as God sees me and to be happy with this short,

sacred time. Love you!

With the district! Sharing a tub of ice cream at an old fashioned drug store

Some minor bike trouble!

Week 65- November 10, 2014- El Molino 1

Dear home,

So this weekend was transfers and I got transferred back to the East

LA side of the mission. I am now in a branch called El Molino, which

covers Pasadena and a few other surrounding cities. I am in a district

of 6 missionaries, my companion and I cover the central part of the

branch, which is pretty white. VERY different than anywhere else I

have served. The size of my area is like the size of Russia and all my

other areas have been like El Salvador or Guatemala in comparison to

this haha. Although it has a reputation for being a bit tougher of an

area, I am really excited to be here. I had 2 dying wishes which were:

1. Be in El Molino 2. Train again, but a white guy, this time. And

what do you know! I got both! I am finishing the second half of

training Elder Lane.

Leaving Pomona was a mixture of emotions for sure. But at the end of

it, I am happy with how I left it and how it's going to progress. Luis

left really well and now he is starting to have desires to get married

with his daughter's mom and make things work. So things went well and I

got to see myself progress a lot too. Onward and upward now haha.

Love you!

Saying goodbye to friends in Pomona

Week 64- November 3, 2014- Pomona

Dear home,

This is the last week of the transfer. And definitely my last week in

Pomona. I know I will get transferred, I just have no idea where to

haha!

This week went by super fast. Nothing super eventful happened. 

Luis is doing pretty well. He realizes he can achieve

a lot more so he is setting his sights on better things.

But other than that, that's the week.  Love you!

Having dinner with members!!

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