Earthquake, Hurricane and Sunshine!

This week was another great one, full of awesome lessons, and fun times!!!

Wednesday: Started off by playing some Gatorball(Ultimate frisbee, but with a ball, the goal is to make it in the basketball hoop). That was way fun and my team won!!! That night we went crazy with calls and texts to people that have been interested, as well as stopping by a few as well and didn't have much success come out of that, but realized that many of them probably aren't interested. 

Thursday: As a mission we had a zoom about health and nutrition that went really well, and then we had an awesome lesson with our friend Sujey! She had realized in studying on her own that the need to show our faith by what we do is so important and it takes work to be a disciple of Jesus Christ! 

Friday: Super busy day, we had apartment inspecitons, then a lesson with our friends Gary and Diane. Gary has a solid testimony of the Book of Mormon, Diane is getting there and certainly has a desire to learn! Then we jumped to a visit with 2 recent converts Brighton and Brizeida. They are 10 and 11, and have the great testimonies of how much God loves them! Then from there we had a lesson with Erick and the Hermanas. That went well and he committed to live the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity so he can be baptized in a couple weeks! Then we visited the Hoffman family and they are amazing! 

Saturday: Started off with helping someone prepare for the storm, then got in contact with a kid named Caelen. He has friends on missions and wants to look into why they went on their missions. We were also able to get a hold of Anthony, who is super humble but tough to catch. 

SUNDAY: Such a crazy day. Hurricane Hillary touched down on the coast and it rained all day, and into Saturday. But around 2ish we were having lunch and there was an Earthquake!!!!!! Our whole apartment swayed a couple of times, and then just stopped. Made me and one of my companions stumble, and one almost fell out of his chair. Super crazy exerience, and I’m glad that no one I know of was harmed! Really the only highlight from Sunday. 

Monday: The sun returned and we had a great district council centered around seeking and relying on the Spirit in finding, teaching, and studying the gospel. Mostly emphasized finding and following the promptings that we receive. Then we had a great visit with the Zierenberg's. I am also very proud of my Facebook post, go check it out if you haven't seen it... 

Tuesday: We helped out the Zierenberg's by cleaning the outside of a camping trailer so that the wings could fold in. Then we headed to interviews. President and Sisiter Rodriguez really focused on Finding efforts and the need to talk to more people so that as a misison we can teach more people. I enjoyed my interview with President Rodriguez. He and Sister Rodriguez are amazing!! After interviews we had 2 really good contacts in the park and then did some social media work! 

I really love this scripture I came across this week in my personal studies: 

Helaman 6:10

"For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."

It's amazing the blessings that will and do come as we labour with love and serve those around us! 

I had an awesome week and am really looking forward to the lessons we have and the experiences that God has instore!! 

Pics: 

1. Lizard 

2. Lunch with Robert Walker(past missionary in this mission)

3. Hurricane

4. Love the rain

 

Transfers, Trio and Trying Spanish

Hello again friends and family! Another good week in the books! Hope you all had a great one as well!! 

Wednesday: As a district we were able to go to the Ronald Reagan Library. It is a really cool museum. We walked through the Auschwitz exhibit that they have there and it was pretty cool to learn about that part of history, but so sad to hear all that the people had to endure. While there we also saw Airforce One, which was way cool. I can now say I've walked in the same space as 5 US presidents! Then we had the opportunity to eat with the Seguine family, they are the sweetest!

Thursday: Transfer day!!! Woke up bright and early(5:15) so that we could get to the meet up spot in time. Sat there for a while and helped direct everyone that was leaving, then waited longer for those that came down from the north end of the mission. I got to talk with Elder Jackson, the best MTC companion ever, that was super fun. Then we finally made it back to our area. worked real hard, didn't find much success. 

Friday: Had the opportunity to sit in on 2 of the Hermanas lessons. Understood a little bit in the first lesson, which was super sweet! But the second lesson I was completely lost, but they said he is way ready for baptism! We had a great visit with our friend Petra, she's doing really well!

Saturday: Went boothing again, we met a nice lady named Roxanne, she really wanted us to "read the Bible and find the truth" Which is something me and both my companions have done. I have truly gained a testimony of the Bible more than I ever thought I could while being a missionary! Then we had an awesome lesson with Chris. He has a sweet RC plane, and has been reading the Book of Mormon and has seen a shift in his lifestyle since! The Book of Mormon contains such an amazing power!! 

Sunday: I attended a Grace Bible church that was pretty good. There were a lot of nice people! Then we went to our church service. The talks were on the importance of weekly sacrament attendance. It was a great reminder of why we attend church(to partake of the sacrament), and the blessing that we receive as we do so worthily! We sat in on another lesson with the Hermanas and they put Erick(someone me and my comps found boothing last week) on date for Sep. 10, so pray that he can continue to prepare for that amazing day!!! 

Monday: Had an amazing District Council about how as a district we can truly become like a family. Lovingly correct each other, willingly uplift each other, and strengthen each other in times of need! Then we went fishing for our comp study. Elder McKenzie caught 2 fish and let me reel in the second one. The study part of it actually went great and we all felt the spirit teach us something!! then we were able to meet with the Hiltons. They are a great family, and they have a beautiful orchard! 

Tuesday: We had a great visit with the Weymouth's. They are a sweet old couple that have such strong testimonies of the love God has for us all, and the strength He gives us when we turn to Him! Also we got to help out at foodshare again, and brighten peoples days!! 

I love this quote from Elder Eyring: 

"Hard as we knew the test would be, we felt joy because we had confidence that we could pass it. Our confidence came from knowing that Jesus Christ would come into the world as our Savior"

This life is not always easy, the mission isn't always easy, but we can find joy becuase of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made while He was on the earth! Hope you can continue to lean on Jesus Christ and find that lasting joy!!! 

Hope you all have a great week, I'll talk to you all next week! 

Pics: 

Airforce One, Ronald Reagan, The district, One of the fish, Ice bowl we created, Comp studies

Fun Transfer, Fun Lessons, Fun Times!

 Hello, friends and family! The last week of the transfer was a blast, hope you're ready to hear about it!

Wednesday: District activities were great! With one set of missionaries we went on the same hike to paradise falls so that they could all fish, and it was still really pretty and I enjoyed it. Then for the other activity we had a puzzle competition, unfortunately my team did not complete the puzzle the fastest... But it was still really fun! Then we stopped by a sweet lady named Sue, she has a pet tortoise that was awesome, we gave her a Plan of Salvation and she's down to learn more!

Thursday: Crazy day! We knocked into Liz, who didn't seem too fond of us at first, but the The Spirit worked on her. She took a Book of Mormon, and we set up a time to go back tonight, hopefully that goes really well! We also were able to download the gospel library on a recent converts phone, she loves it, and has listened to 20+ chapters since having it on her phone!

Friday: Busy day, felt weird because we were without Elder McKenzie for the day. But it was a great day all around. Had a good service to get me awake in the morning. Then an awesome lesson with our friend Gary. He loved learning about our premortal life and learning the truth that we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father! Then we had a great visit with one of our recent converts Brizeida, she is super sweet and has an amazing testimony for being so young! We also met Petra, who is very humble and looking for hope, so we are stopping by this week for an uplifting message!

Saturday: We had an amazing combined comp study with some other Elders, and had a great discussion about our potential to live with God again! Then we went boothing. I was a little skeptical at the idea, but it worked! We found Erick, who speaks Spanish, and we had a lesson with him and the Hermanas yesterday! Also gave out a couple of pamphlets to a kid that is friends with members, and we heard from other missionaries that the kid we gave them too is wanting to learn more!

Sunday: Our testimony meeting was really good! I stood up and testified of the Book of Mormon, the power that it contains, and the blessings that come when we follow its teachings! We were part of a stake meeting about missionary work that was informative!

Monday: Had a great district council about how God is our loving Heavenly Father, the blessing it is to know that, and the importance of teaching our friends. Then we did a lot of planning, and studies. Then we went park hopping, started teaching Fernando and got back in contact with a guy named Randy!

Tuesday: Had an awesome service handing out food. That evening we had our lesson with the Hermanas. The whole lesson was in Spanish, I understood bits and pieces, but from what they told us, he is very interested and will be baptized pretty soon! Then we met a kid named Esteban in the park, he is looking to grow closer to God, so we're going to help him with that!

We got transfer news today and I am staying in the trio with both of my companions for the next 6 weeks!!

Pics:

1. Hike

2. Tortoise

3. Puzzle

4. Dinner

5. Church

6. Knockin doors

Zone Conference and MLC

Wednesday: This was an awesome preparation day! Started off by going on a beautiful hike to Parsadise Falls, and had a great time, luckily beat the heat! Then we went lizard hunting, sounds a little strange, but it was really fun. As a district we caught right around 10!

Thursday: Helped our friend Joe out some more with yard work, beat the heat so it wasn't too bad! Then we were able to get a hold of some less active members, got in their home for a minute too cool off, but that's about all lol. Met some nice people at the park, but they weren't too interested in hearing about Jesus Christ... Met with the Kavanah family, big pickleball players, and invited us over in 2ish weeks to play some pickleball on a preparation day! Then we met with Bro Lundquist who has an amazing conversion story and a very strong testimony! Then met with the Schimmers, a super cute young family who's kids were in Fuller House as the babies about 4 years ago(Basically celebrities). 

Friday: ZONE CONFERENCE! Getting together with all the missionaries was way fun! We talked a lot about the power that the Book of Mormon has and the best way that we can utilize it! As well as why we need to not only rely on the Spirit, but also seek for it and recognize the promptings that it gives to us! We got back from that meeting just in time to have a lesson with Brighton and Brizeida! Two recent members of our church, and they have the sweetest testimonies! 

Saturday:Went on a little half day exchange, so in the mornings we got our studies done, fixed a bike tire, so that Elder Starkey could bike! Then we swapped for the day and went straight to a lesson with Sujey. One of our downstairs neighbors. She said she was just thinking about learning more about God again, then she got our text! I don't know about you, but that's no coincidence. She is very open and willing to learn, I can't wait to continue to teach her and learn from her as well! Biked for the rest of the night, tried to stop and talk to people and they would ingnore... But it was a really good time! 

Sunday: Not a whole lot happened... Had a great 5th Sunday lesson that we helped teach on Love, Share, and Invite that went pretty well! We knocked a lot of doors, but no one was wanting to open up. So we stopped by Brother Phillips, an awesome member of our ward with a strong testimony, loved hearing his stories! 

Monday: District Council was really awesome! We talked about the power and importance of covenants, starting with the baptismal one that we get to renew each week. Then we focused a lot on the Law of Consecration that we promise to give our all to God in whatever we may be doing! Then we planned for a lot of our friends and set up a couple visits. then we met Luis, gave him Book of Mormon, he seems really down to learn! Also ran into Amelio who wants to learn more about the Plan of Salvation!!! 

Tuesday: MLC was great, planned a lot for the mission. Had an awesome service, handing out food to those in need, seeing smiles on their faces, and the joy of receiving things was great!! 

Read this great quote this week: 

"The teachings of the living prophets and apostles provide an anchor of eternal truth in a world of shifting values. As we follow God’s prophets, the confusion and strife of the world will not overwhelm us" 

Prophets past and present can guide and direct us all, they have directed me, and I know they'll direct all of you in such a crazy world!!! 

Sorry this email is enormous, but it was just that good of a week 🙂 

Pics: 

Hike,Lizard hunting, Elder Starkey Birthday toast, Zone!! Day of MLC