Hospital Run and BBQ's

Hello friends and family! This week was a pretty good one! Let me know how yours was!!!

Monday we had a salsa class. A member of the stake has an amazing recipe that he showed us how to make! Shoutout brother Creek! Then we went out knocking and met and cool people, but they weren't too interested in us going back...

Tuesday we had district council! We talked about the importance of teaching to the needs of the people and not just robotically teaching lessons! Then we got a call from our friend who told us he was at an urgent care and that he needed a ride to the hospital. They wouldn't take him by ambulance, so we called 6 members and none were available. So we drove with him to Thousand Oaks, sat at the hospital for forever, just for the doctor to refer him to a different doctor, and tell us he can wait to have surgery. The nurse at the urgent care totally over exaggerated the whole situation... But we finished off the day with a great visit with the Giffords, fun member family and our weekly Book of Mormon study!

Wednesday was not nearly as memorable, but it was an awesome exchange. I was with Elder Pope in his area and we had a lot of fun! We both started out missions at the same time so it was cool to see how we've both grown as missionaries! We had a good dinner, saw some success while knocking, and enjoyed working together!!

Thursday we had interviews with President Rodriguez!! We made waffles, and did some other fun activities! Talking with President Rodriguez is always great!! He really just asked me if I was still motivated to work and if me and Elder Hobbs and I are getting a long. Don't worry the answer to both of those is yes! Our training was on the importance of teaching and testifying of Joseph Smith. That night we had a BBQ with some recent converts and their families which was awesome!

Friday we stopped by Erney he was super sweet. We taught him a little, but he's busy with medical stuff so we'll see if we can meet with him again. Then we had a mentoring meeting to help Elder Hobbs adjust to mission life and me continue to become a better missionary! Then we met Gustavo who is super cool. And even left a note on the door when he wasn't there for our return appointment. Then we had an awesome lesson with our friend Kari who's coming to the Book of Mormon class! And an awesome dinner with the Grant's who were super fun to talk to!!

Saturday I was with Elder Riley on an exchange in my area and we had a lot of fun! We met a family that traveled from New York to see this one preacher. While we were at the park we saw a family that he is teaching and talked with them and they should've went to church!! Then we went to a memorial day BBQ with some ward members. Then got to work! We met Julio who's super sweet and wants his family go grow closer to God, and Rudy that said he'd be at church, but wasn't... Then finished off the day by talking with Charlotte and Maria who were both visiting their grandson. And man could they talk!

Sunday was great! Enjoyed our church meetings and saw a missionary give their farewell. It was fun to look back and remember when I gave mine and how far I've come! Then while at the park for comp study 4 kids from a local church walked up and just started questioning us about our beliefs and that went on for a while. Then we finally got time to weekly plan before going to dinner at the Guidos house. Then Sean a recent convert had bought "Death peanuts" which is a hot food challenge that he wanted us to try so we did and it was hot! But only for about 20 minutes after eating it, so that was fun!  Then ended up finishing off the night with the departing testimony zoom!!

"“Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy.”

- President Russel M. Nelson

It's comforting to remember we are never forgotten, alone, or too far gone. God's out reaching hand is always available to us. All we need to do is turn towards him and he will deliver us from whatever we may be going through!

Pics:

1. Salsa

2. Elder Hobbs and French toast

3. Elder Pope

4. Church

5. BBQ

Heart Candy and President Bragg

What's up everyone, hope you all had an amazing week!!! Here's mine for ya!

Monday our district hiked up to a cross here in Simi Valley and that was pretty fun! Then we had dinner with the Pulsiphers who are amazing! We got to answer some questions about missions, the daughter of the family is going to the Philadelphia Pennsylvania mission.

Tuesday district council was great! We talked about the importance of testifying to our friends when we first contact them and the impact that the spirit can have on them. We also talked about out commission to teach the restored gospel and the importance of our message! I was also on an exchange with Elder Brian(awesome past companion) in his area. We had a fun service, a really good lesson with their friend about Prophets, and then had a great baked potato bar at their Bishops house!

Wednesday we had more service helping a friend of some other elders move. Then we had a good lesson with our friend Alex and emphasized the importance of modern day prophets. Then we met with Sophia who is sick(pray for her). Her and her son really want to come to church! Then we met with Irma who is super busy, but we caught her at a good time and were able to testify of the importance of prayer and scripture study while going through a tough time.

Thursday we had 3 lessons fall through which was really sad, but we started teaching a lady named Alyssa. She was stand off ish at first, then found out we are "Mormon", or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And she opened up and started asking a bunch of questions and is super interested in finding out why there's so many churches!

Friday we had a Mission tour!!!!! We got to hear from President Mark Bragg who is the area president. And he is amazing! I had the opportunity to conduct the meeting(still not sure why they asked me), but it was fun to sit on the stand and be right next to President Bragg. Funniest moment of the whole thing is while President Bragg is speaking his wife leans over to me "Quieres"(you want some in Spanish) *Holds open a handful of cinnamon candy hearts* It was awesome to see how normal genral authorities and their wives are! He taught a lot about what makes a successful missionary, the importance unity in a companionship and emphasized how the Holy Ghost is our senior companion! Learned many more things and feel uplifted and motivated to be better!!!

Saturday was walk day! Which means we park our cars and simply walk. We ended up at our favorite apartment complex and started teaching 2 new people for the Spanish Elders which was cool! Then we went to our favorite duck park and met Ruben, who asked why there's so many churches and we have a call with him tonight that will hopefully happen!!! We had a great dinner with the Wight family, then met Kari who another missionary had been teaching over Facebook and told us to give her a Book of Mormon. We did just that and she is so excited to learn about it and it trying to find a new church to go to!!!

Sunday was great! Sacrament meeting was good, we have a great gospel principles class as well!! Then we went to ward council, weekly planned for a while, had dinner at the Carpenters, then finished off the night with a great lesson with Sophia and her son Sawyer who really want to come to church!!!

Hope you all have an amazing week! Love you lots!!!!

"Believing and heeding the word of God will draw us closer to Him. President Russell M. Nelson has promised, “If you will study His words, your ability to be more like Him will increase.”

- Elder Rasband

This week study the words of Jesus Christ and recognize how it helps you become more like the Savior! I've been blessed to see that change happen in the last 22 months that I have been serving the Lord and studying His words everyday!!!

Pics:

1. President and Sister Bragg

2-3. Exchanges with Elder Brian

4. The Simi Cross

Exchanges, Craziness, Good-times!

Hope you all had an amazing week and celebrated all of the amazing mothers out there! Here's how my week went!!

Monday we went to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum! It was sweet! Got to learn a lot about who Ronald Reagan was and see him almost be assassinated and a bunch of other fun things! Then that night we were invited to a BBQ by a member of our ward.

Tuesday we had district council and we focused on the importance of daily planning and allowing God to see what our plan A looks like, so he then can really show us His plan A and lead us to the places and people He knows need us. Then we did service for a guy named Steve and that was pretty good! We had an awesome lesson with our friend Cori and really helped her understand the restoration of the gospel and how important that it was and is! Then we had our Book of Mormon class that went well. We got a suicidal text from someone we've been helping and its a long story so email me if you want all of it. But some other missionaries talked him down, we got there, and chatted with him, then the cops showed up, they chatted with him, they took him to the hospital and he got the help he needed!!

Wednesday we went to check on our friend from above, but he was already transfered to a mental health hospital, so we went about our day. We had a visit with a returning member that was really good, a great lesson with our friend Micheal, we also met our friend Vinny who has 3 sweet sons who love the church videos!!!

Thursday I was on an exchange with Elder Cutler. We were able to meet with our friend Jennifer who just needs to see the reason why we go to church. We stopped by a lady named Maxine who is 91, just lost her husband of 71 years, and is the sweetest lady ever!! Then we met our friend Ozzy who we should be meeting with tomorrow! Then we had a cool conversation and should be meeting with our friend Israel again soon!

Friday we did a little bit of yard work in the morning for a lady who just called us and is trying to surprise a good friend of hers that is out of town, so we cleaned up his yard. We had a lot of finding, that wasn't very fruitful. But we had an amazing dinner with the Clevelands(amazing tri-tip)! Then we finished off the night with stop by's.

Saturday I was on an exchange with Elder Slobodian on bikes which was super fun! We had a crazy moving service that morning. We took a bunch of stuff out of a house and moved it into a storage shed. Then we went and biked to all of their friends, had a good dinner with one of their members!

Sunday I got to call my mom and talk with her after church! That was awesome, I am grateful for my mom and the amazing mother that she is!! After calling her, me and Elder Hobbs went to the park, talked to some of the lonely people that weren't celebrating mothers day, then had our weekly planning session, then had a great dinner at the Guidos home!!!

"Loving the Lord is often measured in small daily deeds, footsteps on the covenant path: for young people, using social media to build up rather than tear down; leaving the party, movie, or activity where standards might be challenged; showing reverence for things sacred."

- Gary E. Stevenson

It's amazing and comforting to me that we don't have to always be showing our love to God in grand acts of faith, but as we do small and simple things, and follow his commandments, he sees the love that we all have for Him!!

There’s my week, here are some pictures from all the fun:

1. Ronald Reagan

2. Elder Cutler

3- 4. Ronald Reagan Library

5. Matthew 23:37(yes those are ducks)

6. Service

7. Elder Slobodian

8. Sky

Exchanges and Excitement

Heyooo! Hope you all had an amazing week! Let's jump in to how mine was.

Monday we went bowling as a district and that was really fun! Talked to my family and got to play a little bit of pickleball as well! We met our friend Rudy who seems pretty cool so hopefully we'll be able to continue to meet with him! 

Tuesday was great! We had district council and focused on thr importance of teaching with the spirit and helping our friends recognize when they feel the Spirit. We had a good phone call with our friend Sophia and then got to go to the Book of Mormon class and studied Ether 12 and talked a lot about faith! 

Wednesday I was on an exchange with Elder Richardson. We had a couple lessons cancel, but made the most of it and met with our friend Cori who works a lot, but she had a sincere desire to make it to church and learn more! We met Jose who started not religious and then the spirit worked on him enough and he said he was going to go to church! 

Thursday we had a good mission zoom about how to make personal and companionship study meaningful. Then we had a really good phone call lesson with our friend Chad who just moved to Simi and is looking for a church. He was supposed to come, but didn't make it... Then we helped our friend Crystal move. That was a crazy experience because of all the stuff they had and they lost the key to the Uhaul and a lot of other things, but we made it work! 

Friday I was on an exchange with Elder deJong! We had a good lesson with Alice who will hopefully be able to progress more and continue to learn! Went finding for a lot of the day, and knocked at least 10 doors in a row that didn't answer... Pretty crazy if you ask me. But we were able to have a good dinner with the Hambleys and introduce ourselves to their neighbors who seem to be pretty open to the gospel!! 

Saturday Sean a recent convert took us to breakfast at Junkyard Cafe. Then we got to help out at the Simi Valley street fair and be "Security" for 2 hours, a lot of people and a lot of booths, but it was really fun! Then we had a good phone call with Jose about church and he said he was going to be able to make it! 

Sunday was pretty good! We had weekly planning which took up a lot of the day. While we were at the park planning these 2 girls came up to us selling girl scout cookies, so we bought some, then they performed "Naughty" from Matilda for us. Shout out to Aby and Madi for the free performance. Then we had a nice dinner with the Moberly family. Then went and had a lesson at the Guidos home and taught their foreign exchange students! 

"I promise you, as you hold on to the iron rod, you will walk hand in hand with Jesus Christ. He will be guiding you, and He will be teaching you. By His hand, you will be able to bring down every Goliath that appears in your life." - Andrea Muñoz

I love that as we stay on the right path, we can overcome anything that stands in our way. I have seen the blessings of following Jesus Christ in my life and invite you to recognize those blessings more this upcoming week!

There's my week, hope yours was a great one! 

Pics: 

1. Bowling 

2. Elder Richardson 

3. Elder deJong 

4-6. Junkyard Cafe 

7. May the 4th be with you