Happiest Moment of My Life!

Mission Viejo 

It's been a pretty tough and yet rewarding week! To start off, my new comp is Elder Jones. He is from Iowa. He is super smart, loves the work, and loves Jimmy Johns....LOVES Jimmy Johns :) 

We are serving in the Mission Viejo Stake in the Mission Viejo 1st ward. It's really different from Laguna Beach! It's more of a quiet, suburban area with tons of families. It's pretty safe to say that I really really miss LB :( It was so tough to say goodbye to so many of the people and families that I have come to love so much, but i am happy to be here! 

On saturday there were two kids that we were really working with and fasting for back in Laguna that finally were allowed by their dad to get baptized! It was honestly one of the happiest moments in my life! There were about 60 people at the service plus one sister missionary that had been home about 1 1/2 months that drove nonstop from SLC to get to it. It was just an incredible experience. In the picture, the returned sister is the one kneeling down. 

So a bit about the area I am in: we are in a car-share area, meaning on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and part of Monday we are biking... ya it's tough but fun and it is getting me in shape. As part of the area we get up on Monday and Friday at 5:30am to play basketball with the high priests in the ward, then on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we are up at 5am to go do Crossfit... it nutz! I am hopefully going to come home super ripped, not dead hahah! 

There is a lot of work going on here. We have a lady who has a son that just joined the church and now she is taking the lessons. We have another lady that is interested and came to church with her friend the other day so we are going to start teaching her. Along with all that we are trying to get into a different members home everyday of the month for a standing monthly visit. We are teaching about 15-20 lessons a week, which is tons more than I was doing. 

I am running out of time on the computer so for my BDAY all I ask for is a gyro workout ball, and then you can surprise me with whatever you want :) I might write more in just a bit so stay tuned :)

Transferred.

Laguna Niguel - For the Last Week 

So we didn't have the baptism on Saturday :( It's all ok though. It was for a good reason. The kid's mother wasnt told about it till Wednesday so the dad decided that it would be better to make this a more planned and happy moment. The new date is set for the 29th. Also the Riches kids are probably going to be baptized this Saturday! We aren't sure what the dad said but the mom was acting like it's going to happen, so we will see!

Sad news. I am getting trasfered! (Weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth.) I also know who my new companion is going to be.  I will let you guys know where I am going to be next week. 

We had a pretty great week though. I basically just went around the last two days visiting families in the ward. The hardest part was calling Don and Gavin and telling them that I am not going to be in the ward when they get back from San Francisco :( I am pretty psyched to start over in a new area, though. There is so much stuff that I have learned that I can't wait to apply in my new area, so I am kinda pumped. 

We sang in sacrament meeting.... yes mom, I sang. It was me and Elder Watts and Swainston and Sister Fetui, Wimmer and Forbess. We sang "Nearer My God to Thee". All the elders sang tenor, which is super hard! I have never sang parts before but it sounded really really good! 

Sorry I don't have much this week, but I will defs have more for you next week. I love you all so much!

Feeling the Spirit

Laguna Niguel 

We were able to go through the temple on Friday and I went through for Harold William Critchlow. I was able to do his baptism and confirmation back in February and then I was able to do his initiatory and endowment on Friday. It felt so good to be the one that was able to do all the work for someone in my own family! It's so cool that you are getting so many people to be able to go and do their own family history and temple work. 

We have had a pretty solid week of work. We have a baptism for this Saturday so we have been going over there everyday for the last week to make sure they are still on track. We have been doing scripture study with that family and with the 2 kids that want to be baptized but their dad won't let them. It's been a way fun week. 

In one of those scripture studies we had the opportunity to have President Lutz, our 2nd counselor, come on teaching splits with us. We went to the Rich family (the unbaptized kids that want to be baptized really bad) and we were going to teach them about the Plan of Salvation out of the scriptures but as we got talking I felt prompted to teach about the coming of Christ to the Nephites; 3rd Nephi 11. As we got talking and we focused on the part where Christ has everyone come up to him personally and feel the prints in his hands and feet, and about how Christ wants us to know and feel for ourselves the testimony that comes from the Spirit... right in the middle of it the two kids just bore their testimony of the feelings of the Spirit that they were having and how they know that God and Jesus Christ know and love them! Then President Lutz challenged them to write a letter to their dad telling him what it means to them to be baptized! It was such a simple idea and they were so excited about it that we just sorta sat there and were just feeling the Spirit! I freaking love missionary work! I am pretty sure that they are going to be baptized on the 22nd. 

Then there was that one girl that we invited to be baptized last sunday..... ya well she sorta freaked out and doesn't want to be Mormon. It's sorta sad but we feel that it was the right thing to do and that this all might get her to think of the church in a different light -- not just a social thing -- but a place and way to grow closer to God. All in all, it's in God's hands now and we are just going to see how things turn out.

We have a pretty great week ahead of us also. More lessons and a desire to pump up member missionary work that we got from that "Missionary Next Door" talk. It's a talk that is about an hour long. I am sorta freaking out about transfers this week. I have no clue what's going to happen. Like, our whole mission is really young right now so, pertaining to leadership, anything can happen. Also so much is happening that I don't want to miss any of it! Oh the woes of mission life! 

Well I don't really have much more to talk about. I will try and get more pictures for you guys. I just haven't had the time to stop and take pictures! But I love you guys so much! Have a great week!

Fasting With a Purpose

Laguna Niguel 

It's been a pretty crazy cool week! I will just get down to the nitty gritty of it all. 

We have had about 6 people just completely ready to get baptized forever. There are 2 kids that love the church and their mom is a super awesome lady. She is probs my favorite person out here. But her 2 kids from a previous marriage can't get baptized cause their dad won't let them. Also, if you recall the Peridot family (same situation as the last family) they have a daughter that has just opened up and has loved coming to church and reading the BoM and coming to Young Womens and stuff. Also Don and Gavin. 

Anyway, so for all of these names we had a ward fast and a few others. We had the ward council come up with a date of when all these people could get baptized so we settled on August 22nd. We have just had an amazing experience. 

So randomly, a less active guy we have been working with forever brought his son (who isn't baptized) to church. He ended up going to the temple with another family to do a tour and they commited him to be baptized this Saturday! It is nuts! I have taught the kid a few times and he was going to get baptized some months ago but just stuff with the family stopped it. 

Then we talked to Don the other night and taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he loved it. We invited him to be baptized on August 22nd. He isn't going to be here for that day so we are going to teach him all the stuff and he is going to be baptized in September! 

Then, last night, we went over to the Peridots' and we invited Morgan to be baptized on August 22nd. Well she wasn't ready to answer right then but she is thinking about it. The cool story about that one is that we were super hesitant to invite her but as the night went on we just felt that it was the right thing to do. It was just a crazy week. We had about 6 nonmembers at church yesterday. 

I am sure none of that made sense, but the moral of the story is that as we showed the Lord that we were willing to do all we could to progress the work, He blessed us with opportunities to bless His sons and daughters. 

So much has been happening that I can't really keep it straight in my mind. So I am just going to answer your questions. There is no manual for District Meetings. They are just what ever I feel the district needs. Cool story: on my first lesson I was super unsure about my training and didn't believe it was very good, but we had a guy from another district come in to even out the sisters to elders ratio. In his own district he told them what an awesome miracle it was that he was able to come into my group and hear exactly what it was that he needed to hear. It just blew me away. I was certain when I started preparing that it was inspired but when it got down to it, I started to doubt. But the Lord knows what His children need and it's awesome to be a leader in the field cause He uses us to strengthen others. 

Our youth is my favorite thing in the world. They are so strong. Especially the Young Womens. They had 4 nonmember girls go to Girls Camp and they just bossed it up! They taught the girls about the gospel and the church and just made them feel like part of the group. Two of those girls are now interested in learning more. Not from us yet, but soon :) We are planning on joining in on the youth group activites and maybe host a few to help get involved in their groups. 

We listened to 2 talks this week that just kinda got my mind turning a bit more on why I am on a mission and how to help others want to do missionary work. The first talk was called "Conversion of a Catholic". It's only on Youtube, I think, but we got it on a CD. The other talk was called "The Missionary Next Door". This one was about how a girl's family was just the perfect example of member missionary work. I would love to hear about your insights into both talks.

I am super glad to hear that you guys had such an awesome summer! Mom sounds like she has only been home for like two days out of the whole thing. We have our temple day this week on Friday! It's like my favorite thing in the whole world. I will hopefully be able to do all the work for one of my own names. Doing family history work is kinda fun! 

Anyways, I love you all so much and your prayers are helping out so much! I am so glad I am out here. It is seriously the greatest experience. More than I ever could have imagined!

Fasting Brings Miracles

Laguna Niguel 

Hey! It's been an awesome week. I don't really remember what happened at the beginning of the week, so I will tell you about Sunday. We did a ward council fast for a bunch of the unbaptized youth in our ward. We also had a fast for some of the missionaries that are struggling. We saw a bunch of miracles yesterday. We had Don come to church for the first time and he loved it! He also said that just because of the Spirit that he felt and the service the people do just because they want to be better disciples of Christ makes him love the church so much! He also went over to his other daughter's house and other missionaries went over there and taught the Plan of Salvation. Don feels that his daughter dying was a way for him to be brought to the church, so the whole baptisms for the dead was huge! 

We also had an investigator come in to church for the first time just randomly at the end of 3rd hour. He said he felt something different. The sisters gave him a BoM and I shared my testimony with him. He said he saw me and Watts walking around the other day and just felt something different also, but he jokingly said that he is now going to try and avoid us at all costs. He is going to read the book this week and hopefully he will call the sisters back here soon.

We have seen several other pretty cool miracles come from that fast. They are hard to explain, but it has been crazy to see the power that comes from true fasting. It's probably the first time that I have actually fasted for a purpose. 

Sorry to hear that you're feeling sick, but that's so cool that the Bergers' are going to serve a mission! It feels like when I come home the ward won't even be there because the whole place will be serving missions. 

I am not sure if I told you but there was an elder in this ward that got home on Thursday of last week from the Florida Tallahassee mission and was comps with Corbin! Ya, he says that Corbin is the funniest, most talkative guy out there. He also said that he is the biggest work horse in the mission! It's crazy to hear how much people change on their mission. Does it sound like I have changed? Because I know I have, just want to know if you all notice it at all? 

So I have had a good time being District Leader. It just means that I have to study something and give a training on that. This last week I talked about the importance of inviting people to make commitments and how to teach towards committing. It was ok, but it's cool that I basically just get to teach others about the things I don't do very well and better improve my own stuff in the process. 

Anyways, I heard that I am getting another niece! hahaha this familiy has way too much estrogen in it! But I am so fetching stoked to have another niece! Have they come up with any names? 

I did get the package from Aunt Diane and Sara. Thank you so much! I have got to get running but know that I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Trip to the Beach

Laguna Niguel 

Ya so, being District Leader is just more responsibility than I really want, but hey it's all good. Our district is 4 companionships - 2 elders & 2 sisters. We have an, overall, pretty young zone, so in my District I am like the 3rd oldest in mission age. And in our Zone of like 28 I am like 10th oldest... ya its pretty green up in here!!!! 

I had an interview with President on Saturday which was way good. He basically just reassured me on his decision to call me to this position. It was a pretty enlightening experience. But along with District Meetings which are about 1 1/2 hrs long (UGHHHH!) I basically just check up on my district and offer assistance/go on exchanges and report our district's numbers to the Zone Leaders. 

The beach was incredible! It felt so weird to be the only people there not in a bathing suit. The memorial for Alyssa was interesting. There was a drum circle going that everyone participated in... a little weird. Also they had a paddle out so they went out with surf boards and they threw flowers in the ocean. It was just way cool the whole family just brought up how helpful the missionaries were and still are. Don and Gavin are doing good. We are going to meet with them this week and talk about the temple and how they can be connected to Alyssa. We haven't really had much stuff happening lately. Me and Watts are getting along well and stuff, so ya, it's all good!

Sorry we dont have much time to email. We have to run and help some people move right now, so sorry it's a short email. Love you all so much! 

Goodbye Elder Hancock

Laguna Niguel 

Dang mom! Those YPM's sound like they're a pretty jolly bunch! I could never do that....although it is only for 3 months so I might be able to handle that! But that's so cool that you got to go through the Nauvoo Temple. Was it really different in anyway or about the same? 

That's so crazy that Taylor is home! It seriously feels like he left like only a year ago. I bet Clarissa was super happy! 

We had transfer meeting on Tuesday night. It was way cool to have it be Elder Hancock's last trasfer meeting. Both me and Watts ended up staying in Laguna Beach At the end of this transfer, I will have been here for 7 1/2 months! That's pretty unheard of! Also in that meeting I got called to be a District Leader. Not too sure how I feel about that. It's cool that they trust me, but it's more responsibility. 

Anyway, we dropped Hancock off at the mission office at 7:30 in the morning on Wednesday. It was crazy just how fast he was gone and we were right back into our work. We had quite a bit of success this week. Don and Gavin are up in San Francisco till Saturday for the funeral for Alyssa. It's going to be down on the beach so we have to get permission to go down there, but we are most likely going to go. It's more of a memorial for her. We had to "drop" Rommel and Michael this week. It kinda sucks, but they just are too hard to meet with and not really progressing. We have had a few really good visits with a few people and a bunch of potentials that we are working with. 

We had a really cool experience the other day. We did a thing called a "window of heaven". It's where we pray to be inspired for a place and a time to be so we can see the hand of the Lord. Anyways, we showed up at a place called Top of the World and the first people we walked up to were a bunch of guys that just love Jesus. I was a bit skeptical, but they ended up just wanting to know what makes mormons tick. So we got to teach them the entire restoration and parts of the Plan of Salvation. We also talked about the connection between faith and works. It was cool! They ended up agreeing with us on so many things and they started to use bible verses to back up what WE were saying. They brought up a few points of conflict but we were able to explain stuff to them that they ended up agreeing with us. The only bad thing was that we were in such a hurry that we forgot to get their contact information. But it was still a way cool experience. 

We are doing really good out here. We have a few possible baptisms for the month of August... maybe one in July. We are having a great time doing the work. It's tough at times, but me and Elder Watts are really getting along great and I am learning a bunch as I go along. I had my first District Meeting that I was in charge of on Friday. It went pretty good. We got some goals figured out and got to know everyone. Then I talked about how we as missionaries are qualified for what we are doing cause the Lord qualifies those that He calls. I then asked everyone to come up with one Christlike attribute that they wanted to work on and then one that they feel they are naturally born with. It's easier to build on what we aren't good at when we recognize what we excel at.

Anyways I could keep rambling on for weeks so... I love you guys so much!