Back in a Trio still in Ventura

What's up friends and family!! I had another great week, let me tell you about it!!!

Monday was the last preparation day of the transfer, crazy!!!! We went to President and Sister Rodriguez's house and learned how to make papusas, grilled some quesadillas, and had a fun time!!!! That night we had FHE and we played pickleball and that was also fun!

Tuesday we had an awesome last district council!! We talked about our favorite stories of Jesus Christ and how us as missionaries need to serve in the Saviors way! Then as we were pulling up to a friend's house our tire popped, it made the saddest noise... so we put the spare on and went to visit the Ramirez family. They are awesome! All 4 kids are reading the Book of Mormon and the mother has seen a big change in her family! Then we had a great visit with Ade, and her family!

Wednesday was pretty crazy. We went boothing at Ventura College and found 3 more people to teach, so that's exciting!!! Then we had to take our tire to get repaired... we thought it would be quick so we walked down to McDonalds. We were there for 3 hours... But in that amount of time we invited a lot of our friends to institute, and a few came!!! We also just walked around a lot becuase we were bored and couldn't get very far. After the car got fixed we headed to our friend Jeff and shared something quick with him. Then we zoomed over to our friend Alexis's house and she is great! We showed up and she told us we were eating and we didn't have any complaints lol. Food was great and we were able to answer a lot of questions that she had!!!

Thursday we found out transfer news!!! I am staying with Elder Webb and we got Elder Pickrell. So far we have been loving the work and we work well together!! After finding out the news, we went to work. We were supposed to help a guy move, but he ended up getting enough for rent, so we taught him about the Book of Mormon!! After him we had a great lesson with Angel!!!!

Friday was transfer day. So we met up with our new comp, I got to see some familiar faces and then we went to work!! We walked on Ventura Avenue and talked to some really nice people!! We had a great lesson with our friend Francisco, he showed us his process of making designs and putting them on shirts! Then we gave him a Book of Mormon and he is enjoying reading it!!!

Saturday was great! We got to attend a baptism in our zone and our friend Alexis came to it!!! She loved it and felt the spirit so strong! So after the baptism we had a mini lesson with her and she is excited to be baptized on Feb. 10th!!! After the baptism we went and had a lesson with our friend Marcell who is looking to change his life and is going to come to institute!!

Sunday was great, our family ward had a great speaker who talked about learning from past experiences and recognizing the ways God strengthened them and how He can strengthen us!! Then we went to the YSA ward and a recent convert got the priesthood which is always awesome to see!! We met DeAndre who is playing football at Ventura College, knows a member, amd wants to learn more!!! Then we had a visit with Davey and Susanna who are awesome!

"As we listen and act on spiritual promptings, the Holy Ghost magnifies our abilities and capacities to far exceed what we can do on our own. These precious spiritual gifts will help us in every aspect of our lives." - Gary E. Stevenson

I love how as we act on promptings God gives us more and magnifies the spiritual gifts that we already have! I hope you all see the gifts God has given you and you bless the lives of others as you use them!!!

Love you all have a great week!!!

Pics:

Activity at President's home, Ventura mission, Putting the spare on, Best sunrise ever

Another Great Week

Hello friends and family! I had another fantastic week, I hope you all did as well!!!

Monday was a great preparation day. We played a game called gatorball the we went bowling and I killed it! Then we had to go and drop Elder Norton off at his next apartment because if you read my last email he got emergency transfered. Then we went to the YSA activity and had a nerf war which was pretty fun. And since we were in Camarillo to do all that, we stopped by one of my favorite families(The Terry's).

Tuesday we had a great lesson with our friend Amanda that went well and she now understands faith! We had district council where we focused on teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and how to best help our friends understand it. Then we had a lesson with the Ramirez family, who are amazing! Their step dad Pablo only speaks Spanish, so we showed him the first vision in Spanish, then called in Hermanas to answer questions that he had. It was pretty cool to see him light up when watching it!

Wednesday we went boothing on Ventura College campus and met some really cool kids. 2 of them showed up to church and enjoyed it! Then we had a lesson with Alexis and Bishop Rodgers. He is awesome and helped her find answers to some of her questions! Then we had institute which was all about light. It was cool to be reminded of the coordination between Christ and light!

Thursday we had the opportunity to have interviews with President Rodriguez which is always nice. He gave me some advice on how to help our friends progress. It was great to learn from him and recognize the love he has for the work! Later that night we had a dinner with our friend Alexis and the Olson family in our ward. It was an awesome dinner and we shared a message the kids loved!

Friday I was on an exchange with Elder Hill. I got to go to his area and we had a really good day! We had a couple great lessons, helped one of their friends prepare for baptism, and had a great interaction with Carlos and brighten his day! We also taught a girl named Abby who is so sweet and really wants to grow her faith in Jesus Christ and she accepted a Book of Mormon!

Saturday we had an awesome lesson with our friend Angel and extended him another baptismal date, we have high hopes this one will go through! We also were able to set up quite a few return appointments with friends so that this next week will be filled!!!

Sunday was stake conference and it was great to hear a lot of messages focused on growing spiritually by attending the temple, focusing on daily prayer and scripture study, and keeping the covenants we have made! One quote that someone shared I loved is from Elder Neil L. Anderson, "We have been a church going people, we need to become a temple attending people". So attend the temple, grow closer to God and remember the covneants that we've all made with our Father in Heaven!

Love you all, have a great week!!!

Pics:

Alexis/Olson family, Bowling, Turtle

Elder Hill, Terry family

Our Trio’s Down To Two

Goodmorning friends and family! If you don't get that reference, don't worry I'll explain a little later in the email! But I hope you all had a fantastic week! Mine was pretty amazing!

Monday was a pretty good day! We went on a really pretty hike as a district which was fun! I got to talk to my family, which is always amazing!! Then that night we made some calls to our friends! Nothing too exciting.

Tuesday we had an awesome district council all about finding people to teach. Finding through social media, finding through members, and finding through our own efforts. I learned the importance of utilizing all 3. Most of my mission I have been dependent on just me and my companions efforts and haven't utilized the blessing of social media and members. After that we went boothing and met 3 really cool kids who are looking to grow closer to God in 2024! We had an awesome lesson with our friend Auggie about getting through tough times. Please PRAY FOR AUGGIE! He could really use it.

Wednesday we had a very crazy lesson with our friend Amanda and she has a desire to learn, but we really need to focus on one question at a time. She throws a lot at us and jumps from one subject to another. But she is awesome! Then we went to the cross again to weekly plan and taught a guy named Adrian about the restoration, but he lives in Thousand Oaks, so we'll be sending him their way. Then we went to institute and studied the hymns. Which is a little tough to explain to a friend we are inviting, but it was a great class.

Thursday was an awesome day! We had a lesson with our friend Alexis who is amazing. We taught the restoration and she loved it, we gave her a children's Book of Mormon for her kids and she sent us a video of them reading it that night and said that her oldest(9 years old) said this, "I totally believe this is true, it's from God and I know it's true, these stories are true and I want to read it all." I was blown away, but filled with joy that her and her family are recognizing the truth and seeing how they are growing closer together because of the Book of Mormon! Then we had a super long lesson our friend Jeff who is a talker and this time he really talked, but it wasnt too bad of a lesson.

Friday we had a great lesson with our friend Angel, still just trying to help him see that there's nothing but good reasons for being baptized. It was a powerful lesson, so hopefully he felt the spirit and knows what he needs to do. Davey and Susanna testified strong then took us to dinner afterwards. We also met Joe, a super cool guy who needed a prayer so we prayed with him and then we gave our spill and he said we could go back and talk another day! Then we got talking about transfers that are in a 2 weeks and one of my companions sang, "Our trios down to two" meaning at transfers, one of us will be leaving. Not too big of a deal until Sunday......

Saturday we had a great church tour with our friend Stephan, an awesome zoom visit with our friend Elizabeth, and met a bunch of nice people to teach over on what we call the Ave.

Sunday Alexis and her 2 kids were at church, they loved it and Alexis really enjoyed relief society. Our friend Angel showed up in a shirt and tie, which has never happened, but it was awesome to see! We had a great lesson with our recent convert Chris about the priesthood and he is excited to get it and bless and pass the sacrament! Then last night we got a call from the assistants saying that Elder Norton is being emergency transfered to Camarillo and me and Elder Webb are staying in Ventura... so "Our trios down to two" Elder Norton has been an amazing companion and he's gonna do great in Camarillo for at least the next 2 weeks! That quote is in a song from Lion King by the way, go look it up if you don't remember it 🙂

I love this quote by President Nelson in 2016, "Joy is a gift for the faithful. It is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ." As we are intentional in our following of Christ we find pure joy, a joy that we can't find anywhere else. It is amazing to be filled with that joy every single day, and recognize that joy in the friends we're teaching!!!

Love you all, have an amazing week!!!!

Pics:

1-2. Hike

3. Davey and Susanna

4. Sunset(pic credit E. Norton)

5. Boothing

6. I'll never be sick of this view

#missionarymomventuracalifornia

#CVMFamily

One Great Week Down

What is up friends and family!! I had an amazing week, let’s hope this email does it justice!!!!

Monday- Preparation day was good! We had a cookout as a district and it was really good! We had great food and great company. That night we stopped by our friend Kyle and taught him a little bit more about prayer and help him realize the importance of building a relationship with our Father in Heaven!

Tuesday: District Council was awesome! We talked a lot about teaching by the spirit and the importance of faith! It was cool to reflect on times that I have been led by the spirit as well as the times in my mission that I have had high faith and the impact that it has on the work of God!! Then we had an awesome visit with our friend Jeff and he really loved The Family Proclamation to the World and we had Brother Allen there who is amazing!! Then we met Auggie!! He is super humble and I am excited to see his faith grow! Unfortunately his family had a struggle this week, so please pray for them so they can come to church!!!!!

Wednesday: We had MLC which took up a lot of the day. We were supposed to get a new car for the Elders in our zone while we were down there, but the new car had a broken transmission, so it is in the shop still. We have shared the car with the Elders that are in our complex, so I have gotten to bike a couple times and it is a lot of fun!! We had an awesome lesson with the Ramirez family, who need lots of prayers, but are willing to read the Book of Mormon and said, "We have seen a change in our family since you started coming by" which is amazing to hear!!!!

Thursday: I met a famous boxer!!! We were walking over on Ventura Ave. and walked up to Victor Cruiz. As we were talking with him he brought up how he was a pro boxer and told us to look him up. We gave him a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet and hopefully will be meeting up with him and his buddy this week!! We met with Auggie again and talked about prayer and how that can bring his family peace!!

Friday: I got to be with an old companion for the day, Elder Clawson! We had a lesson with our friend Ann who is very interesting. The first day we met her she had a giant bottle of Fireball whiskey, and told some crazy stories, but it was fun! We also met with the Ramirez family again, they are amazing!!!

Saturday: Pretty normal day. But we had an awesome lesson with our friend Alexis. Her and her two kids(Kiko and Alexander) are amazing and spoiler alert, they came to church!!! After our lesson with them, we went and met our friend Gustavo who is pretty cool, but said he will be hard to get in contact with.

Sunday: We had a crazy day. Both the wards we cover start at the same time 15 minutes away from each other. So we welcomed our friends to the family ward, sped over to the YSA ward, sat through sacrament, sped over to the family ward to see Alexis before she left and she had already left... But it was a fun little adventure. Then we met a kid named Caleb who wanted us to knock on his friends doors, so we did. And we met Arturo, who took a pamphlet and said we could go back!!!

Mosaih 25:24 "And they were called the people of God. And the Lord did pour out his Spirit upon them, and they were blessed, and prospered in the land."

I have truly seen the spirit be poured out upon the people of Ventura and the people in our whole mission. It's been amazing to see the miracles God is showing me and those I'm serving around!!!!

Love you all, have an awesome week!!!

Pics: Elder Clawson, Love Sunsets, Sunset again, Comp. Study

Cheers to the New Year!

Hello friends and family!!! I hope you all had an amazing new years celebration, and a fantastic week!!

Monday was an awesome Christmas! I got to talk to my family and open some awesome presents and hang out with the district!!!! Then I went to the Nevilles for dinner and had a fun time with them! Such great food, with such great people!

Tuesday we had district council which is always fun! I got a lot of good insights on how to help some of our friends progress. Mainly just give them more personalized commitments and ask questions to allow them to teach themselves! We had an awesome lesson with our friend Angel and he is preparing for baptism which is exciting. Then we were able to meet Chad, who is super humble, and was excited to read the Book of Mormon!

Wednesday was awsome! I was on an exchange with Elder Riddle, and we had a handful of awesome lessons! Janarose is super open and has family in the church, Stephen met with missionaries a while ago, but is ready to learn now! We also made the mistake of knocking a wealthier area and that didn't work too well for us.

Thursday we had another awesome visit with Angel, we really focused on the power of the spirit and how we can rely on it to receive answers to our questions! Nothing else too exciting happened except walking around talking to people!

Friday we had another exchange and I was with Elder Randall. We had a really good day! We went to stop by a member, they weren't home, but we met Alexis who had just lost her dad earlier this year and we were able to share a message of peace with her! Then we had a really great lesson when our friend Jennifer and taught her all about the Plan God has for her!

Saturday I spent the day in Oxnard on an exchange with Elder Edwards!!!!! We taught one of their friends that was Baptized yesterday, and found 2 families for them to teach!!! I learned a lot about effective ways to teach and was reminded the power and spirit that a testimony can bring!

Sunday was great!!! All the talks were very uplifting and focused on keeping Jesus Christ in our minds as we set goals and make plans for the new year! I'm excited to set goals and improve this year! We were able to attend a baptism and our friend Isaiah loved it and is looking forward to working towards baptism! Then we got to have an awesome dinner with the Knudsen family and had a good time talking with them!!

Mormon 9:27

"O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him."

As we move into this new year, I invite you all to listen to the words of Jesus Christ, turn to Him and recognize the true peace and upliftment that Jesus Christ has to offer!!!

Pics:

1. Elder Edwards

2. Cool Mural

3. Elder Riddle

4. California views

5. Christmas

6. Awesome Christmas present

7. Elder Randall