One Year & Fun Times!

Heyyo,it was such an awesome week, I learned so much and had so much fun!!

Tuesday: 4th of July was great! Had a BBQ with one district and then hung out and played some basketball with the other district! After those activities I got to talk to my family, while my companion was fishing, which was awesome!! Then there was Facebook challenge from 6-8 to see how many people we could introduce the gospel to!! Then the mission held a zoom about the 4th of July from 8-9. President Rodriguez talked about how God prepared this country for the restored gospel and what a blessing it is! Then I stepped just outside my apartment and saw some fireworks...

Wednesday: I got to go to my first MLC (Mission Leadership Council) where all the zone leaders got together with President and Sister Rodriguez and talked about how the mission can improve. The main focus was finding the one. The one person in each area that is ready to receive the restored gospel, the one person that God has prepared for us to teach! A bonus to MLC was I got to see my MTC companion (shout out to Elder Jackson)!!

Thursday: Started the day off with some service, then cleaned our apartment for inspections, then we went on a half day exchange. I got to be with Elder Swallow on bikes for the day and it was so fun!!! We met a lady named Shal who believed in a God, but that's about it, and it was cool to help her realize that God is a loving Father who wants us all to know He’s there. And how He let's us know in our own personal ways!

Then we met Nelia who we promised would find a lot of peace in reading the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the power that it truly holds!

Friday: I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Hill who came to the mission at the same time as me! It was fun to catch up and work together! Had a lot of rejection, but we stayed positive through it all and met some really nice people!

Saturday: Walk Day!! Such a fun day, walked all over our area, not a whole lot of people were out, but we met nice people, just weren't up for a visit. It felt like missionary work though and it was a great day!

Sunday: Sacrament was awesome with the main message of seeing others the way Christ sees them! Then we went to a Apostolic Christian church, very different, but had a grand old time!

Monday: Full day of meetings, First we had a baptismal interview in Thousand Oaks, then we had District Council, then we had personal study, companionship study, weekly planning, and that was over 3/4 of the day. Then we went tracting and found 4 people!

Tuesday: Exchange with the Thousand Oaks Elders and it was way fun! Me and Elder Crockett were in Thousand Oaks! We helped out with Foodshare(feeding those in need), then had a great member dinner with the Doerflers and got to see some amazing swords!

It was a really fun week, got to experience a lot, found some success, and seeing the Lord's hand in my life everyday! I love this quote in the new Preach My Gospel,

"Faith is a principle of power. As you exercise faith in Jesus Christ, you will be blessed with His power suited to your circumstance. You will be able to experience miracles according to the Lord’s will" I have felt and seen the power of faith, and the amazing things that happen when we act!!

Love and miss you all! Shout out to my Sister who's engaged!!!!!!!!!!

Pics:

1. Picnic

2. Fishing

3. MLC friends that have been out a year!

4. Package from home!!

5. Elder Swallow

6. Sunset

7. Elder Crockett and cool swords!