Thanksgiving & All

Monday Preparation Day this week for Elder Nathan Reynolds due to a mission tour  -

Thursday: Thanksgiving was awesome! I ate way too much mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and pie! We went over to the Griffeths house and they are the best! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! It was my preparation day so I didn't do much else! 

Friday: I got to be on bikes!! I went on an exchange with Elder Foreman who is such a great missionary! I got to practice a little bit of my Spanish with him and we were able to get a lot done, and had a lot of fun! Hopefully the Spanish ward will grow because of the couple people we found!!!

Saturday: I had a fun service (just yardwork) and the lady gave us a Thanksgiving sandwich which I have never heard of or had until Saturday, but it was pretty good! We had a combined companionship study with some Elders, then an awesome lesson with Angel and running some errands for other missionaries. 

Sunday: Such an awesome Sunday! In the family ward the talks were all around principles of the gospel they are grateful for and they were awesome! Then the YSA ward talks were all about enduring to the end and it was all really good! Our friend Angel came to church for the first time in a while, hopefully he will be able to come more consistently!! 

Well that's my week, I hope you have a great week and a half, thats when I'll be emailing next!!! Love you all!!!! 

Pics: 

1. Talking to the fam!!! 

2. Elder Foreman 

3. Beautiful sunset

4. Thanksgiving 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 I hope you all will have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Here's a quick rundown of my week!!

Wednesday: I got to play mini golf last week for a district activity which is always a good time, as well as a nice hike! Institute was really good, we studied "Let God Prevail" by President Nelson!!

Thursday: I went boothing at Ventura College, met really nice people and handed out a few pamphlets!! Then visited some struggling members and I really enjoyed talking with them and hearing their stories!!

Friday: Exchange with Elder Webb!! Our new friend Chris is awesome and hopefully we'll be able to meet with him more! We tracted the funniest apartment complex, had a good laugh about a couple of the interactions. I had a great time learning from Elder Webb and working with him!

Saturday: Our friend Angel expressed some of his concerns with us which is super helpful and we can't wait to strengthen him!! We attended a baptism of a previous members which was super cool and our friends enjoyed it!! We had a great lesson with Dani and her friend and got some delicious enchiladas from her dad!

Sunday: Church was awesome! YSA linger longer had some good waffles, we met Anthony who had a flier on his door for church so he decided to come!! Then we watched the young adult devotional with our friend George who is awesome and the devotional was amazing!!!

Monday: District council was awesome! It was all about meeting our friends where they are at and helping them progress! Then I got to go on an exchange with Elder Loosle in Ojai! It is so pretty out there and we did some fun service!

Tuesday: We walked a ton which was super fun and we got to talk to a lot of nice people!! We started teaching our friend Jackson who is pretty cool and will hopefully continue to progress! We had a good service and enjoyed a visit with the Belisles!!!

Wednesday: Did some service in the morning, went to Oxnard to get some medicine for my comp and got packages!!!(Thanks mom and Aunt Cristy). We had an awesome visit with our friend Amanda who is so sweet!! Then had an awesome lesson with our friend George!!!

"True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will." I'm grateful for Jesus Christ who makes all things better no matter my circumstance, and that as I turn to him I can see the blessings that I have in my life!!

Happy Thanksgiving for the 3rd time, have a great day, I love you all!!!!

Pics:

Mural, Hike, Walk by the beach, Baptism, The cross, Elder Loosle, Elder Webb

Exchange and Fun Days!

It has been another amazing week, I hope yours was just as good if not better than mine!!!!!

Wednesday: Got the essentials done and then we went to a park and had a little picnic as a district before we played some ultimate Frisbee! Wednesday nights are institute nights and it is such a good class. Our friend Isaiah came for the first time loved it, participated, and wants to come again!!!

Thursday: We had the opportunity to have interviews with President Rodriguez and I enjoyed that! We were able to have a thanksimony meeting lol. We just all had the opportunity to stand and say what we are grateful for. Its crazy how my perspective of everything is different and I am grateful for completely different things than I was a year and a half ago. We were able to have a lesson with our friend Gerardo and his daughter Catalina! We also met with our friend Angel who had some concerns but hopefully we were able to help him, but pray that he has his concerns resolved!

Friday: We met with Gerardo and Catalina again at the park and just introduced the Book of Mormon and he seemed open to reading and learning more about it! We had an awesome lesson with our friend Dani and she was fascinated by the whole Plan of Salvation! Then we were walking an apartment complex and met Diana, who Elder Brian met first, but hadn't been able to contact her, and so we were able to pray with her and reconnect with her!!!

Saturday: We had an awesome visit with Jack Anderson who is a returning member and is the sweetest old man!! Then we had a visit with a recent convert Miguel who is a stud and loving church and other activities!! We had more awesome lessons with Angel and Isaiah who brought his brother to learn as well!!

Sunday: Our ward had a great primary program, I always love when the kids sing Gethsemane(my favorite song). I love the testimonies of the children in the church, they are so sweet and so pure! We had a great visit with a recent convert Chris who loves learning and is enjoying church! We also met with our friend Dolores who is so sweet and loved the idea of prophets!! Then we had the opportunity to hear the testimonies from the new missionaries which is always a great experience!!!

Monday: District council was focused on charity and love. We talked a lot about how we can show more charity to our friends as well as missionaries around us! Then we met with Isaiah again and we were able to invite him to pray about being baptized on Dec 2!!! He said he is going to pray about it, so please keep him in your prayers.

Tuesday: Exchange day!! I was with Elder Geisler on bikes in his area and it was so fun! I had a hard time keeping up, but enjoyed talking with people that we normally pass in a car. We met one of their returning members named Andrea who was so sweet and wants to have them over for dinner again! I loved being with Elder Geisler and enjoyed learning from him!

"You can pray to know His will, and with the honest desire to do whatever He asks you to do, you will receive an answer". I love this quote by Elder Eyring. Prayer is so powerful and God truly does answer our prayers! Keep praying with faith and expect the miracle to come!!!

Pics:

1. Elder Geisler

2. "Biking"

3. Pretty sunset

Crazy Week!

Heyyoooo!! I Hope you all had an awesome week, I sure did!!

Thursday: I was with Elder Richardson all day and we had a lot of fun!! We were able to go to a country club in Thousand Oaks. A member works there so he let us hit balls on the driving range for free, then he also gave us free lunch which was really nice of him! It was fun being with that district for the last time, just laughing and having a good time!! We were able to go to sportsnight one last time, and that is always really fun!!

Friday: Transfer day was crazy. I woke up early, got to the meet up spot at 6:15am and saw some familiar faces. It is always really fun to talk with fellow missionaries! Then I made my way to Oxnard and met up with my awesome companion Elder Brian!!! We were stuck at that meet up spot for a while waiting for our car, so we got to know each other, called some of our friends. Then we we got to see the new missionaries and they are so full of energy and excitement, it is amazing!! We were finally able to make it out and go shopping, then we stopped by a couple of our friends!

Saturday: We had the opportunity to help out the Red Cross at a bike race they were putting on and I was able to see someone from Newbury(an old area) and it was fun to catch up with her. After that service we had to help a companionship run some errands. Then we had an awesome lesson with our friend Angel, who we put on date for Oct. 25th, hopefully he is able to hold to that date! 

Sunday: I got to know the ward decently well. They are all amazing people, and have amazing testimonies. I loved hearing all of their experiences and learning from them!! After church we had a really good surprise lesson with our friend Richard! He is super humble and willing to learn, I can't wait to continue to teach him! Then I had the pleasure of meeting Susana an amazing recent convert and Davy who is a returning member! 

Monday: District council was amazing! We talked about the importance to responding promptly to our friends and having a good friendship with them. We had a great dinner with Sister Shafer who is the sweetest lady, who invited her neighbor to join us and we had to yell the whole time because he doesn't hear well... 

Tuesday: We had the privilege to attend a meeting with President Rodriguez and I learned a lot from him. He talked about how we can best find joy in this work and the amazing opportunity that we have to help other find joy! He also talked about the importance of loving and supporting our companions and the best ways to uplift and strengthen them!! After that meeting I found someone on Facebook to start teaching and we set up a couple visits! 

I loved this week, not a whole lot got done because we had to help out other missionaries, but this week is going to be a good one!! 

I love this quote from Preach My Gospel:

“Having the guidance of the Holy Ghost in your life requires spiritual work. This work includes fervent prayer and consistent scripture study. It also includes keeping your covenants and God’s commandments. … It includes worthily partaking of the sacrament each week.”

It's amazing that if we want the spirit to be with us more, all we have to do is study the scriptures and pray! It won't be easy to make time for these things, but they are worth it!! 

Pics: 

1. The district

2. Elder Brian 

3. Elder Richardson

4. Jesus Christ

5. Cool Picture

Last Week in Moorpark

What is up everyone, I hope you all had an awesome week, because I certainly did!!! 

Wednesday: I got to play football again and that was really fun! Then me and Elder Cosentino were the "Celebrity" judges of a pumpkin carving competition. Then we made a ton of phone calls to try and get in contact with people that we have taught in the past and were not super successful... We also had Gary's baptismal interview and he will hopefully be getting baptized on Nov. 18th!!!

Thursday: We had an amazing lesson with our friend Jesus. He hasn't had a lot of religion in his life, but he has been prepared by God and the day we knocked on his door was the day God knew we needed to be on his doorstep. Then we had a great turnout at our sports night where everyone had a good time!!! 

Friday: Had a great morning full of service. First we got to help our friend Joe with some yard work which was really fun! Then we went and helped package a bunch of food for a local pantry! Then we celebrated an Elders 2 year mark(Shoutout Elder Merrill). Then we were able to have a great lesson with our recent converts Bryton and Brizieda, who are amazing!!! We finished off the night with dinner at the Akina's house. We had a really good conversation about recognizing and remembering how much Jesus Christ loves us all!! 

Saturday: Exchange day!! I was with Elder Thatcher and our day was full of service. We helped a family in the ward move a huge grand piano which took way longer that it needed to, and was super tough to do. Then we stopped by a couple of friends in his area, then we had the ward halloween party. We had 2 friends come, and they got to know him really well!! 

Sunday: We were expecting our friend Fernando to come to church, but he let us down... But we were able to see Gary who is excited for his baptism! All the talks were focused on uplifting those around us and pointing them all to Jesus Christ! We were able to have lunch with the Kavana family who are amazing!! Then my companion gave his testimony on the departing testimony zoom which was a little sad... 

Monday: District Council was amazing!! We talked about the importance of the Spirit as we teach our friends, and the best ways to continue to have the Spirit in our missionary work! Then we were able to have another lesson with our friend Jesus who is so awesome and wants to come to church this week!!! 

Tuesday: Halloween!!!! I spent the first half of the day in Oxnard so that my companion and 2 others could have their departing interviews with our mission president, and I was able to see a couple of past companions for the last time... Once we got back we were able to swing by a couple of our friends and just check in with them. Then we had to be in by 6 o'clock, so the rest of the night was Facebook and counting numbers for a meeting on Sunday. 

Wednesday: Last day of the mission for my companion. So he packed for most of the day, we went and said goodbye to a couple of members, stopped by a couple of our friends, then I had to take him to the mission home. I was able to be with Elder Richardson for the day and we had a good rest of the night together!!! 

I love this quote by Elder Puala last general conference: 

"When we humbly share our testimony of the Lord through our words and actions, the Holy Ghost confirms to those with real intent, open hearts, and willing minds that Jesus is indeed the Christ" 

I love how sharing our testimonies is really anytime we do something Christ would, and we are able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them!!!! 

I am getting transferred up to Ventura, which will be a really fun time, I am excited to be with Elder Brian!!! 

Pics: 

1. Sunset

2. Sunrise

3. Last goodbye 

4. Also goodbye