Still Searching

Hey!

Oh my goodness! That is an amazingly cute puppy. I miss my puppy and all our dogs so much!!!!!!

This morning we played ultimate Frisbee and it was awesome. It was painful because the field we played on was painful but it was a lot of fun! The field had the rubber turf and that happened so yeah, my arm got pretty beat up.

Our area is full of houses like that these. These are the normal houses here and the people are not super nice all the time but it’s okay.

This week was pretty fun my new companion Elder Victorino is awesome and we have started off really well together and we are working really hard together and it is really fun. We don’t have anyone one to teach YET but we will find someone to teach there is always people everywhere who are ready for the gospel and we will find them. But this week we did a lot of seeking with faith so that was fun and talked to a lot of people who were nice but not interested but we just need to have the faith to find someone to teach and help because we know that the gospel can bless their lives so much!

This week we got to go a volunteer thank you event for Feeding America, which is food bank we do service for every week, and that was really fun!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

A new position of leadership

Hey mom!

That’s awesome! I’m excited for Dad and Selly to be working together! It’s kinda funny to think of them being the presidency of the Elders Quorum and my grandpa too. I did get the shoes. Thank you!!! I wore them on a hike up Mt. Rubidoux.

Life is good! I got a new companion his name is Elder Victorino he’s pretty cool. I don’t really know that much about my new companion. We just met about an hour ago. Yes, Elder Brown went home. Also, I am now a district leader which I’m kinda not excited about cause now I have to give training and help missionaries and I’m not really sure how to do this mission thing. But I have to help others now it should be fun. I have to give a training every Tuesday to my district so I teach a lesson to them about ways to improve your work as a missionary. I don’t feel ready cause all the missionaries in my district have been out longer than me and I have only been out 6 months, so yeah, I don’t feel ready but I am excited to do the work the Lord has set for me. Other than that not much going on.

I’m sending some pictures. The sunset is next to our apartment. The one is with a Chinese missionary who I am pretty good friends with. He is a visa waiter for Taiwan and he's cool. He's Elder Johnson.

But life is good, doing the Lord’s work.

Love you all!!!

Just Another Week

Hey!

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes and birthday stuff! It is all amazing! I love you thanks!

Here are some pictures!!! Okay so these are kinda random. But the last one is me and my friend, Elder Hunt and the one is a welt from the Nerf war this morning and then a picture at multi zone conference and then the rest are at Mt. Rubioux, which is the same mountain I have sent pictures of before, haha!

This week was pretty good. We had a multi zone conference, that’s what I did for my birthday and it was good. I get really tired at those conferences because they last all day long but it was very good. We talked a lot about the Atonement and how we need to use it more and more every day. It was really good to hear from our leaders. And we also talked about technology a lot which is not surprising at all because we still don’t know really how to use it to its full potential, but we are still learning.

Other than that not much happened. We talked to some people on the street that might be interested in hearing from us, so that’s exciting! I really hope we get in with them cause I want to teach more people. Something I think is pretty amazing is that I hit my six month mark this week! Mission time is weird. I was told once that if you look forward it will take forever but if you look back at what you have done it will be the best thing ever. So, I’m trying to look at what I have done so far.

I’m doing all right, I’m just really, really tired lately. Not sure why, but I have been. I have not been sleeping the greatest in the world and getting up at 6:30 every morning is hard but the work must go on. There’s a lot on my mind all the time and that’s hard. I just need to stay focused.

The other fun thing is that we did a Nerf war today using pvc pipe from Home Depot. It was a lot of fun!

That’s so exciting about Brittney going to the temple. Tell her that I am super excited for her and I wish I could be there.

I love you all!

It's birthday week

Hey mom and everyone!

Thank you for your email, it was amazing! It’s weird I’m going to have my birthday on my mission. It’s weird to think about! Missions are weird things haaha. I am continuing to adjust to the stupid smartphone. We have a multi zone conference this week and we will talk more about smartphones and how to use them so that should be fun. We have a multi zone conference every transfer. We only have to travel about 30 minutes. I don’t thing that is bad at all considering how far it is to get to anywhere from the place where I grew up but, well, for the people here that’s a long way. My only real worry at this point is that Elder Brown goes home on April 24th and it will be hard to see him go.

This week has been all right. I just want more conference!!! I love conference, it’s such a spiritual high!! Something that I have changed in my life after listening to conference and that was kinda an answer to one of my questions I had going into conference came from the talk given by Elder Larry Y. Wilson. I know I talked about it last week but that talk changed me, and the way I pray. It makes me have a better mindset when I pray and makes me act on the things the Lord gives to us to do. We need to ask what we can do to change the problem and not just expect Heavenly father to just take it away from us. So that is changing me. Like when we pray for our area instead of just praying for people to teach we now pray for guidance on what we can do to make us more effective cause we need to do the work that Heavenly Father gives to us. Something else I did this week was I studied 1 Nephi 8 about Lehi’s vision and how through all that’s happening in life we need to cling to the rod of iron and hold fast and not let go ever. We need the scriptures daily and every moment we can. I started telling myself that instead of saying, “I have to read the scriptures”, I try to think, ”I get to read the scriptures” and it has made me have a greater love for the scriptures!

The pictures are just some random stuff. The one with the sisters was when we were at the service day at the care center for an Easter party. One of the truck of my dreams, we saw it while trying to talk to people on the street. One of me and Elder Hunt, who is one of my good friends here when we found broken sunglasses at the service day and one is just a bunch of missionaries.

I love you all!!!

Easter photos and stuff

Here are some pictures!!!

'So these pictures are at an old folks home we do service at. They had a lady dressed as the Easter bunny and they had a little horse and I figured I would never see that again so I took a picture haha. And the Easter with a bunch of goofy elders is the other picture.' 'Wow, that sounds like a rough week. I’m so sorry all that happened I wish I could be there and help. Wow, dang, I am going to miss Ferdie a lot. That’s so sad. I am sorry about the tough stuff at work. I don’t understand why things like that happen. Well, I guess I do, it’s part of the plan and we have our agency to choose what we do and that drives me crazy but it’s all part of the plan. I miss the craziness that is ATEC. HAHA!! But I have trust and faith in the Lord and I know through him all things are made good.

General Conference was amazing! It was weird not being home and lying on the floor building Legos but it was cool to see it on my mission. The talk I liked best was the first one given on Sunday I think. I don’t remember who but it was the one about the soldier and how he prayed on the ship not for God to take away the problem but how he could help with problem. That really inspired me! Sustaining a new prophet was so amazing I don’t remember doing it for President Monson, but doing that was very spiritual.

We do have meals almost every night. We just couldn’t go watch conference at a member’s home unless there is an investigator there. That’s why we went to the church, cause we have no investigators.

The week was all right, nothing new happened. Just still walking around getting yelled at and doors closed in our face and trying to stay focused when it feels like Satan is using everything he has against you. But like it was said in conference, we are to "turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones". It is cool that I found the guy that used to be the Bezzant’s bishop when they lived here. Small world.

I got the photos that I requested from Bok Tower. Those were very cool. I want to go to that place again so bad, it’s so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also got your photo. I love your hair!!!! Just so you know, I can get emails through out the week, I just can’t reply except on Monday. The one thing I have learned more than anything in the world while being out here is dang I love my family and no one can take my family from me and my family won’t ever leave me. I love you guys I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!! Please don’t ever forget how much I love you family!