Week 47- July 7, 2014- Pomona

Dear everyone,

First things first, president Villanueva came in! He is super awesome and very Mexican. He doesn't speak English very well, but he is ready to work and get it done. He said he wants to go on visits with all the

ZL companionships in this upcoming transfer. I'm pretty excited for what's to come with him as mission president.

This past week, we had an awesome miracle. Like I had said last week, we didn't have anyone at church, so it was a bit tough for us to see especially with the goal we had set of 12 baptisms. This week I was praying a lot that I would have the faith to achieve my part of the goal. 

A few days after Sunday elder Clark, one of the DLs that was in my previous zone, messed me on Facebook. He asked that I go by one of his recent converts that lives in my area. So, I decided to go over the next day since I had never met her. We met her and her 12 year old daughter, Desiree. It turned out that just the mom got baptized a few months ago, but not the daughter. So elder Williams and I talked to the daughter for a bit and it turned out that previously, she really didn't like what we shared and she was really set on her catholic ways. She said that when the missionaries came by to share something,

she would usually just go to her room and not want anything to do with what they had to say (yes, a 12 year old girl was saying this). But a few weeks ago she went to girls camp and she had an awesome spiritual experience. She felt the spirit very strongly and knows she needs to change now, and she wants to get baptized in the following weeks,

before July 30. It was an amazing miracle we saw, we are very excited to help her get to her goal of baptism!

My previous companion, elder Williams, went home this morning. My new companion is elder Mitchell Merrill. He came out at the same time Elder Fellows so he is about 3 months ahead of me, mission wise. It's

kinda funny, because they used to be home teaching companions at BYU.

We had zone meeting this past week as well. Since we didn't receive any instruction, we had to come up with our own lesson. We based it off of an article in the July 1985 Ensign called: 

"Spencer W. Kimball's vision of missionary work." I would sugges that all members

read it! One of my favorite lines from it is: "Others see things and

say why, but I dream things that never were and ask, why not?"

The Spencer Kimball added: "The problems of the world cannot possibly

be solved by skeptics and cynics whose horizons are limited by the

obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things and ask, why

not?"

I love these quotes and the reminder they give us on having faith. I

plan to continue to exercise more of that so that we can accomplish

our great goals here.

Chao! Love you all!

Week 46- June 30, 2014- Pomona

Dear everyone,

Well, I have to say, this was one of the worst weeks I've had on church attendance. Now, I'm not saying that I blame the World Cup Mexico soccer game that was on at the same time, BUT it may or may not have had something to do with it... There were quite a few members that didn't show up for that same reason... But it was good to see the strong members there.

Last week, I forgot to write about the Becerra's farewell, so I will this week. Both sister and president Becerra spoke. They focused a lot on something they called the "Ideal Growth Cycle." Which

consists of: being raised in a family with ideal principles, going out on your own and applying them, getting married, and raising children of your own and them repeat. So they focused a lot on marriage and how

we just need to get married and sealed. It was a bit interesting, especially since that's like the last thing on my mind right now. But I'm sure when the time comes, their advice will come back to me hahaha.

Tomorrow is President Villanueva's first day, and the day after we have a meeting with him with the rest of the zone leaders and sister trainers. We are pretty excited for what's to come!

This week, we set goals with the district leaders in our zone. The Pomona district leader set a whopping goal of 12. We all agreed on it, even though it's going to need all our faith and effort this month.

It's definitely not going to be easy, and we have already seen trials of our faith coming, so we really have to grip down and believe it is

going to happen.

This is my companions last week, so we're trying to make it count! I forgot what else I was going to say, so I will just leave it at that 

for the week, things are starting to pick up more and we are getting it going!

Love you!!

With the new mission president and his wife, Elder and sister Villanueva

Week 45- June 23, 2014 - Pomona, California

Dear home,

This week we had some pretty cool things happen. We started off with two exchanges back to back.

On the first one, I stayed with a missionary who is a few months younger than me. We had a pretty fun day. 

Something cool that happened was when we were looking for someone we had set up an appointment with. They lived in the back, but weren't there. We decided to knock on the front neighbors door and before we could really explain who we were, the lady let us right in and told us to teach her kid. So that's what we did! He turned out to be a pretty cool 17 year old guy who is going through a rough spot at the moment due to his brother being deported to Mexico. We also taught her cousin who was there and she was really cool. It's not every day that we get let into a house just like that and get to teach some cool people! We talked to the mom a different day, one on one, and she told us that she is really trying to help her son gain faith in God and be happy again. So it made a little more sense of why she let us in without hesitation. We are pretty excited to continue to help them, though.

The second exchange, I went to Azusa, which is right by Arcadia. It felt like I wasn't too far from home. I ate at Wendy's for the first time in a very long time! But anyways, we had a pretty good day. The missionary I was with has a bit of a dominating personality, but it was pretty fun and we found a lot in common. He came out with me and will be leaving with me as well.

We had something really cool happen later in the week as well. About a week and a half ago, we were walking from a recent converts house, and this little chubby kid came out of his house and waved at us saying

hi. We told him we would come back in a few days, but kinda forgot about it in those days. Again, we walked from the recent convert's house and the same kid came out, waving us down. We decided to go and talk to him a bit more this time. As we talked with him, his mom came out and talked with us as well. 

It turned out, that one of her good friends is an investigator in the same ward, but the area next to us. We set up an appointment to come by and teach her individually. We walked up for the appointment to initially tell them we were going to get a man (the recent convert down the street) and before we even got to the door, the little kid opened the door telling us to come in haha. So we ran over to Omar's house (recent convert) only to see him just woken up and not really wanting to go... After some pushing and pulling, he got dressed and came with us a bit hesitantly. 

But the lesson turned out awesome. Jeannette (the lady) shared her testimony of how she knows God is there for her and the spirit was super strong. She has a bit of a problem with the word of wisdom and I think she has suffered a lot from those addictions, but she has a lot of desire to change and be better. I think the best was, when she said that she got baptized in a Christian church, but didn't change. But now she wants to. The spirit was so awesome she started crying. 

After the lesson, Omar said he was glad he ended up coming with us, and he felt bad that he was being hesitant about it haha. It all pays off in. The end. Thanks for everything! I still haven't gotten the package, I will probably get it tomorrow when I go to the office.

Love you!,

Week 44- June 9, 2014 - Pomona California

New companion in Pomona, Elde Williams

Dear home,

We started this week with MLC with President Becerra. It was our last MLC that we will have with him. The meeting was awesome, the spirit was super strong. I feel intake every time I go to MLC I understand why I was called to my certain situation at this certain time. It's pretty amazing how that works. At the end, President and Sister Becerra each shared their testimonies and we all sang Arcadia United together (ask Bro. Palazzo what that is). President Becerra told us that President Villanueva is coming the 1st of July and less than 24 hours later the next day we have a meeting with him. I can only imagine what would be going through his mind haha. He has to make some huge changes in his life, but still has to keep working like nothing happened.

This week, we got to do a couple of exchanges. One that I really enjoyed was with one of our district leaders named Elder Marchan. Elder Marchan and I are going to be finishing our missions together so we are from the same generation. He is originally from Mexico but came from Houston, Texas. He shared his conversion story with me, which was pretty amazing, so I thought I would share it here too. Elder Marchan and his mom got baptized when he was 10 years old in Texas. But due to some really bad stuff happening with one of the stake leaders and their family, they went inactive. Fast forward 10 years and Elder Marchan is now living in Houston with his cousins and uncles who are all active members. He said he never went to church still and didn't really care much for it. He lived with them so he could work, which he had to get up for at 4 a.m. everyday. 

He went on saying that he slept on the couch in front of the TV, this TV had the del parson painting of Jesus Christ on top of it. The room in which he slept in had very squeaky floors, squeaky to the point that it would wake him up if he was asleep. So this one Saturday night, he stayed up way too late watching movies. He went to sleep just to wake up at 2 am and not be able to go back to sleep. He looked up at the Jesus Christ picture and he said it was smiling at him. He was kind of freaked out haha because on top of that, there were 4 ensigns stacked on the table in front of him and this table was empty when he had gone to sleep. But the thing is, he didn't hear anyone walking on the wood floor so he said that only God could have put them there. So Elder Marchan told me that he decided to kneel down and pray for the first time in 10 years. 

In this prayer, he told God he will do whatever he sees on the ensign magazines for Him. So he finished his prayer and opened up the first magazine to a random page and it was all about missionary work. Marchan said he was like "yeah right, I'm not going on a mission!" So he opened up the next 3 and they all talked about missionary work and going on missions! Haha so in a few hours he called his boss telling him he couldn't work and his boss was actually right about to call him to tell him not to come to work. At this time, Marchan knew that he had to go back to church and get ready. 

He went to his closet and found a pair of church clothes he said he had never seen before and got ready for church and waited on his family to go out. He talked to his branch president about going on a mission and he responded by giving him a stack of books such as the bible, Book of Mormon, preach my gospel, etc.. It was pretty funny because he said that he didn't even know there was such thing as a Book of Mormon hahah. So for the next few months he studied and studied and studied and then turned his papers in and now he's here! I thought it was pretty amazing! I'll let you take the moral of the story how you want!

This past week was a bit better than last, we are starting to find more people and we had some more people progressing so things are starting to move forward. We bike a lot more here so I think I am starting to lose a little bit of weight hahaha. I'm still getting a little used to this side of the mission, but so far, it's been pretty cool! Te quiero mucho!

Clarissa's baptism in Arroyo

Week 43- June 2, 2014- Pomona California

At the Temple with Elder Fellows

Dear home,

To start off, this past weekend I got go back  to Arroyo for Clarissa's baptism. It was awesome, she asked that I baptize her, which was the first time I had in a while so that was awesome. It was

  great to see Vilma too. She looked like a completely different person. She was so happy and there was just something different in her face.

It was cool because afterwards, Vilma and Clarissa both got to share their testimonies. Overall, a great experience, they got the Holy Ghost this past Sunday as well, I feel like they have great things ahead of them.

This first week in Pomona was pretty good. We got a lot of work done. But it is definitely different than what was going on in Lincoln Heights. Especial since in ÉLAN we hit all our goals and the momentum is going up. But it is a little slower here. So we are focusing on helping everyone get the vision and start working towards it. But we have found some cool people so far, and elder Williams (my new companion) had a baptism here yesterday. So we are getting to work. I just feel like I have to start over now, so here we go.

I was in a bit of a culture shock when we first got to Pomona since it's a lot more spacious, deserty, and housy. It's still kinda ghetto though.

I don't have a ton of time today, but things are going well. Love you!

Transfer to Pomona

Last Conference with President Becerra

Week 42- May 26, 2014-Pomona California

Elder Perez, Vilma, Elder Fellows

Week 42- May 26, 2014- Pomona, CA

Dear home,

First off, this week I got transferred to Pomona. Pomona is on the complete opposite side of the mission. So far, it's pretty different. It's a lot flatter and more spacious. So I am enjoying the change a bit. But I am going to miss east LA, the smog, sirens, angry Chinese people yelling, and strong scent of marijuana at every corner.

Fortunately, I got to see Vilma get baptized this past Sunday! It was a bit of a stressful week leading up to it. A lot of doubts kept attacking her, but she still wanted to get baptized. She past her interview and it went well. After the interview, we went to the

temple. We thought it would be a good idea, but it turned out pretty shaky... The sisters that did the tour did not quite teach what we expected and needed and she ended up with even more doubts... So, as

you can imagine, we ended up pretty stressed. But, thankfully, church yesterday was awesome for her and she ended up getting baptized. It was awesome! 

Claire didn't get baptized this week, but it was mainly due to the lack of contact we had with her. But she should be getting baptized in these coming weeks.

This last week was pretty awesome. 

David, the member in our area, has been awesome lately. He brought us over to another one of his friends named Omar. Omar is super deep into drugs. We had a few lessons with him, and each time we started out he was in a pretty bad mood. So we had to show him a video or do something to warm him up. By the end of

the lessons he was pretty cool. But he is in Satans grasp for sure. Pretty scary to see. Hopefully Elder fellows will be able to help Omar and his family out.

It's crazy how fast time has been flying, I am really excited to get to learn from the other side of the mission. My new companion is Elder Williams. He is from Austin, Texas. He is going home this transfer.

Its crazy, he will be my fourth companion that I'll be with on their last transfer. After this transfer I will have more companions home than out on their mission haha. He was in my first district in east LA

so I know him a bit. He's kind of a geeky guy, but he's cool and hard working, so I am looking forward to getting it done on this side of the mission.

I love you all!!

Bautismo de Vilma

        

Week 41- May 21, 2014- Lincoln Hights, East L.A.

Dear Everyone,

 Not a ton happened this week, but the good news is we are going to be having a baptism this week! Vilma is super excited for baptism this upcoming week, her daughter is a bit iffy since we have not been able to teach her as consistently as we have Vilma. Her court stuff is getting resolved so she is a lot less stressed out and ready to jump in the water. So our focus right now is turning a bit to Clarissa to help her reach the date of the 25th of May.

Something pretty cool that happened on Sunday was that Jose, the one who got baptized a few weeks ago, got the priesthood! It's been awesome seeing him change so quickly. We can just see it in his face that he is someone completely different. He first came to church wearing an old sweater and some jeans and church shoes. This past week, he came in with some nice slacks and a nice button up shirt we gave him and that he took to the dry cleaners. He was pretty excited to get the priesthood too. But he was pretty tired and said I had contaminated him with his sleepiness haha. (There were sometimes I went over and it would be hot and I would almost fall asleep).

We also had zone conference this past week, which was great. Crazy to think that was our last zone conference with President Becerra. He is going to be having a farewell mission conference type of thing next month, and that will be the last time we see him and his wife. So for now, I am just trying to learn as much as I can from him before he leaves. Hopefully I get to go to the next MLC since we are having transfers this weekend, who knows what will happen.

Here are some ideas/thoughts that President sent us earlier today about the atonement that I wanted to share:

Dear Elders and Sisters:

This morning I woke up with the desire to understand the Atonement and Repentance in greater measure. Here are a few quotes that I came across that might be of benefit to you as you continue to work for the salvation of souls.

"Adam and Eve learned constantly from their often harsh experience. They knew how a troubled family feels. Think of Cain and Abel. Yet because of the Atonement, they could learn from their experience without being condemned by it."

"We need grace both to overcome sinful weeds and to grow divine flowers. We can do neither one fully by ourselves. But grace is not cheap. It is very expensive, even very dear. How much does this grace cost? . . . If we desire “all that [the] Father hath,” God asks all that we have."

"Our all by itself is still only almost enough—until it is finished by the all of Him who is the “finisher of our faith.” At that point, our imperfect but consecrated almost is enough."

"If I have any entitlement to the blessings of God, it has long since been settled in the court of small claims by His generous bestowals over a lifetime."

"The more I learn and experience, the more unselfish, stunning, and encompassing [Christ’s] Atonement becomes!"

"Jesus has already borne our griefs and sicknesses (see Alma 7:11–12). He knows them firsthand; thus His empathy is earned. . . . No wonder, of all the things for which we might praise Jesus when He comes again in majesty and power, we will praise Him for His “loving kindness” and His “goodness.”

"The divine gift of repentance is the key to happiness here and hereafter."

"Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain. Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better. Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation."

"This earth is not our home. We are away at school, trying to master the lessons of “the great plan of happiness” so we can return home and know what it means to be there. Over and over the Lord tells us why the plan is worth our sacrifice—and His. Eve called it “the joy of our redemption.” Jacob called it “that happiness which is prepared for the saints.” Of necessity, the plan is full of thorns and tears—His and ours. But because He and we are so totally in this together, our being “at one” with Him in overcoming all opposition will itself bring us “incomprehensible joy.”