Apr 9-30

Feliz Pascua! April 9

Happy Easter fambly!  

I sure loved hearing all of your easter thoughts from you all this week.  I really missed that yesterday.  It seems Easter isn't really celebrated so much here.  But I really enjoyed hearing all of your different thoughts about Easter, and remembering the real meaning of it.  

It's been a pretty good few days over here in Shady Oaks.  First of all, this sunday was super exciting, because it was the first sunday of this transfer that we have had investigators at church!  We had two come, Emerito and Maria Mendoza, and they seemed to enjoy it.  It was kind of an interesting easter sunday, because I'm not sure if they even mentioned it.  And it was fast and testimony meeting.  It was just not the Easter I was expecting.  And that got me down for a while yesterday.  I was fasting, I was hot, I was tired, nobody wanted to listen to us because they were all playing at the park with their families or having BBQ's, and that was really tough.  Because that was exactly what I wanted to be doing yesterday.  And I was pretty down about that.  And as I was kind of wallowing in my bath of self-pity, I realized it was kind of fitting that that was the kind of Easter I was having.  During this one time of my life when I get to represent Him, I'm grateful I understand a little bit more about how His Easter was.  I felt pretty alone yesterday, but Christ was completely alone at the end.  His friends, disciples, family, and finally His Heavenly Father all had to leave Him for that last moment.  So that He would know exactly how we feel when we do sin and can't feel God in our lives.  And I'm so grateful that I don't have to do this alone.  Even though many times I feel alone, I always have your support, and His support.  And I'm really grateful for that.  

I don't really have too much to say, there is not too much that has happened in these past few days.  I haven't been attacked by dogs or drunk guys!  Although one cool thing, me and Elder Reeves were tracting, and we met a street vendor who had been to the church in norcross!  That was really cool.  He probably went to the same building we used to go!  And our district had some pretty bad news.  The mom and kid that I interviewed last week, the dad came out saturday afternoon and said they couldn't get baptized.  That was pretty rough.  We were all really excited about that, and they were super super excited.  But I know it will all work out in the end.  Maybe they just need the dad to come too! 

Borsh-That game sounds awesome bud!  I really want to play it.  I bought a frisbee today, that was super exciting!  How is frisbee going for you still?  Are the tournaments coming up soon?  

Kt- I think me and Ellie talk very similar right now.  I've had a persistent cough ever since I came to this area, and I keep coughing when I talk.  I really, really enjoyed your Easter thoughts Katie.  About how we need to use the Atonement to forgive other people.  It reminds me a lot of the talk Elder Bednar gave this month in the Ensign, about the enabling power of the Atonement.  How many times, we just think we need the Atonement to overcome bad things.  But also, how we need it to continually become better.  It was a really awesome talk.  I can't wait to see some pictures of Ellie from Easter, and your idea of putting old toys in her easter basket is brilliant! 

p.s. if facebook seemed even more preachy than usual this weekend, it's because it was.  The church actually did a huge ad campaign for Easter on Facebook and Youtube this weekend.

Pops-ah man.  I haven't been in a good egg hunt in forever.  That egg hunt with everybody there sounds awesome, just like the ones we used to have!  I liked your Easter thoughts as well, they really helped me to think of my Easter with a better perspective.  

B- I couldn't agree with you more about the easter songs.  They are just not quite the same in spanish, and we didn't even sing them yesterday!  I really missed singing those.  They do just sound triumphant.  

A- Reading your letter sounded a lot like what I was thinking about lately!  Having that personal relationship with Christ.  Knowing that He suffered for you, individually.  That's something I've been really thinking a lot lately.  

M@-Front page!  you did it pal, you won!  That's so awesome.  I'm now going to tell everyone you're a really famous journalist, and then make them feel bad if they haven't heard of you.  

Mops- feliz cumpleanos!  That's how we say it down here in the calles (streets).  But Happy Birthday/Easter to the best mom in the whole world!  I realize that more and more every day here, that i really did get the best.  I realized, your birthday, and christ's birthday are really close!  We have our zone goal for this month, is called Happy Birthday!  Because all the district leaders have birthdays this month.  And because it's Christ's birthday.  And as part of that, we have this insert in our planner that say, "what will you give to Christ today?"  It's been really cool, and it's very thought provoking, thinking about what you can give to Christ every day.  But thanks momma, for all those years, and here's to another happy one!  I thought about you ( and everyone a lot this week), remembering reading the scriptures in the eggs every Easter.  I really love that tradition, I missed it a lot.  Also, I thought of you the other day, because I cut up a watermelon all by myself!  and I made a new recipe!  I spread peanut butter on a tortilla, put apples and honey on it, and fry it.  It's really good.  I thought you'd be proud of me.  But happy birthday, and I love you a whole lot!  

sorry I'm out of time!  I love you all, and have a great week!  We'll see where I write you form next week!  

Isn’t this a Kodak moment!...Get that bear out of here!              April 16

Hello Family!

Buenos dias!  Esta Semana ha sido una semana increible.  En domingo, o

sea, ayer, tuve la oportunidad de bautizar a E.!  Eso fue

incredible.  El fue muy feliz, y casi toda su familia vino para

apoyarle.  Me sentia bien privilegido que el queria que le bautizara.

Pero fue muy bien, y tambien tuvimos dos otros bautismos en nuestro

distrito!  La familia que casi se bautizaron la semana pasada, el

esposo dijo que si, se cambio la mente, y ellos pudieron bautizarse

esta semana!  de todos modos, una buena semana.

(Matt’s translation - Good day! This week has been an incredible week. On Sunday, or in other words, yesterday, I had the opportunity to baptize E. That was incredible. He was very happy, and almost all his family came to support him. I felt very privileged that he wanted me to baptise him. But it was great, and also we had two other baptisms in our district! The family that almost got baptized last week, the husband said that yes, he changed his mind, and they could get baptized this week. Anyway, a good week.)

Hi Familia!

It's been a really good week.  And I know you've been wondering....but

the results of the transfers this week are....the same!  Hardly

anything changed!  We had one elder and one sister change in our ward,

and our district got a little bigger, we now have 4 companionships of

elders and 1 of sisters.  But I'm still district leader here, and

Elder Reeves is my companion!  It's been good.  We had a pretty good

week.  We've got so much potential in this area, it's really crazy.

Our biggest problem has actually just been getting member involvement.

 This ward is just a little disorganized, and with 5 companionships in

the ward it just gets crazier.  But now with the whole ward in one

district, it should get easier.  But I can tell you, I had no idea

member missionary work was this important before I left.  But really,

one of the biggest indicators in someones strength and activity and

conversion to the church is how well the ward does at fellowshipping

them.  We have a lot of less active members as a testament to that,

sadly.  but it's been doing my heart good to hear about all the help

you've been giving the elders at home! I can assure you that they need

it!  I had my first District meeting with President Baker this week,

and that was scary.  I was so nervous.  But this week was really

awesome. It was kind of stressful, but I've been feeling actually a

lot better, and enjoying myself a lot more.  It's been really good.

And especially, (for those who didn't read the spanish above) Enrique

got baptized this week!  And I got to be the one to baptize him!  It

was so awesome.  He seemed really happy, I know this was a big moment

for him.  And he's been waiting for a while.  But he's been completely

clean since we met him!  It was really cool.  And it was so fun to see

all his family again too, and see people from my old ward.  It's been

really amazing to see how Heavenly Father has blessed me.  I know I

don't deserve a lot of the blessings I've seen, but it's been amazing

to see that Heavenly Father has magnified my efforts, even when I've

made a lot of mistakes.  But it's been a really good week, the two

investigators from last week, also got baptized this sunday!  It was a

really good sunday for the mission yesterday.  We had at least 4

baptisms.  But it's been a really good week, and me and Elder Reeves

are excited to keep going and working hard here!  We've got a lot to

do.

Borsh-You get to miss school all day for an orchestra thing?  That's

awesome.  Although you're not going to get any sympathy from me for

wearing your tux all day.  I have to wear nice clothes everyday!  Poor

Kola and Lily, I hope this week they get to be outside more!  Well

have a great week buddy, thanks for your awesome letter, and can't

wait to hear about your orchestra thing next week!

A- I'm so proud of you for reading Jesus the Christ Amy!  I'll read it

with you.  I started reading it again, I'm about halfway through.

It's such an amazing book. The more I read it, the more I realize

exactly how exceptional Jesus's life was.  The perfectness of it, if

nothing else, testify that He really was the Son of God.  I know

you'll love the book too, jsut keep plugging through!  And I

sympathize with you on the journal thing, it's been so hard for me on

my mission.  Also, you would appalled/proud about how much Easter

candy I've eaten.  I bought some things called peepsters, and they're

amazing.  And side note, my pants are getting tight.  I don't get it.

B- Well I'll be a shamed patoot, I love you mission advice!  Work

hard, have fun.  I've realized the truth of that recently.  Getting to

go back to my old area, I realized how much smarter I could have

worked, and how much more fun I could have had, but I didn't regret

the fun I'd had or the work I did.  Jeepers mister, you're smart!

M@- I had a Eureka moment this week during my studies.  Do you

remember the song, "El Shaddai"?  From that cheesy gospel cd?  And we

used to joke about how it meant something big.  Turns out it does.  I

learned it means, almighty god in hebrew!  I was so excited when I

found that.

Kt- squee!  Ellie looks super adorable!  And she looks like she loves

that easter basket!  And I was really sorry to hear that news about

your friend.  That's really hard.  I read a quote that I think you

would like about that, it says, when we seek to share the gospel out

of a genuine love and desire to help them, it starts to become

natural.  I would definitely encourage you to talk with your friend, I

can promise you that Heavenly Father will help you know to do and what

to say to help her!

Happy Birthday to me! April 23

Happy Birthday to me!  

o sea, feliz cumpleanos a mi!  Estoy bien animado para mi cumpleano!  Yo abri las paquetas hoy, pero no abri los regalos!  solo comi muchas dulces mientras cantaba a mi mismo.  Pero, fue muy bien.  hemos tenido una semana interesante, muchas cosas han pasado, pero tambien no fueron cosas muy grandes.  Entonces, tal vez esta carta no sea lo mas interesante. 

(Matt's translation…  Or in other words, happy birthday to me! I am very excited for my birthday! I opened the packages today, but I didn't open the gifts! I only ate a lot of candy while I sang to myself. But, it was very good. We've had an interesting week, a lot has happened, but then again they weren't big things. So, this might not be the most interesting letter.)

Hi familia!  It's so great to hear from you all this week!  And especially to get packages!  This is gonna be the coolest birthday ever!  I got a package that feels strangely like shoes, but I could be wrong.  I guess I'll find out on saturday!  Hopefully, on saturday I will be going up to the visitors center with E., one of our investigators here!  That would be an awesome birthday present.  He's doing well, he accepted the law of tithing this week, but then didn't end up coming to church yesterday, so we're not quite sure how he's doing.  But he's been doing really well on smoking, he's only doing about 5 a day now, and he used to be doing about a pack.  And our other most (originally typed moist) progressing investigator, M., was all set to come to church and the baptismal service yesterday, but then she ended up getting sick and couldn't come.  That was really sad.  But it's been a good week nonetheless.  Even though nobody came to church, I feel we worked harder than usual getting them there, and there wasn't much else we could do.  I feel like nothing really happened this week, although I did go on two exchanges this week.  And me and Elder Roberts, had one of the coolest lessons ever.  I found a new investigator with Elder Brinton, and then went back 3 days letter, and we just taught her for like 10 minutes, and then invited her to pray.  And she really didn't want to, but we kept trying to help her say it, and eventually she did.  And during her prayer, she just started crying, and it was one of the more heartfelt prayers I've ever heard.  That was probably one of the moments when I've most felt like I was doing my job, seeing her actually get closer to God through having her own spiritual experience through prayer.  It was really cool.  The other cool thing that happened was I got to do 2 more baptismal interviews!  And we had two more baptisms this sunday!  And we actually had tons of ward support, I think with these past few baptisms the ward has started to see a little more that we are all working really hard in the ward, and I'm really hopeful that we'll be able to get more ward support.  But it went really well, it's still really weird to have the kind of responsibility I have.  Baptismal interviews, filling out papers for their future membership records, making sure the baptismal service goes well, it's kind of weird.  And to think I used to hyperventilate about teaching in priests quorum for a sunday.  It's definitely an interesting shift.  But that's been my week, it's been a good one, and I love you all very much, and I can't wait to hear from you next week!  

Mops- I have important things to tell you!  So for the phone call on mothers day (three weeks away!), what time will work best for you and the family?  I have church from 9:30-12:30, but apart from that, my day should be pretty open.  I would probably personally say at night would work best for me, because I won't be good for much after the call.  But I'll talk to Elder Reeves as well, and find out what works next week!  Also, just a heads up, next week is beach p-day, and so my pday might be a little shorter.  I don't want a re-run from thanksgiving, when I missed the letter, but in case you don't hear from me, just know that's why!  Thanks so much for the package momma!  I started eating the candy, but I saved the gifts for saturday!  You're the best momma ever!  

Pops-ouch.  knee surgery.  Good thing I'm not there, I seem to have a habit of breaking relatives knees anyway.  Hopefully you'll be up and running in no time!  Have you still been playing old mens bball?  At least, before the knee thing.  Also, that's crazy that the house was in Jefferson park.  I would say there is a 75% chance I would recognize the house.  I'm glad to hear you're still watching the house remodeling shows, they are so strangely mesmerizing.  Also, I knocked a house the other day, and they were watching Deadliest Catch, and I thought of you!  

Kt- AH!  Squee!  I got your pictures today!  They were so adorable!  At least, when Ellie was in them.  The other ones had weird people wearing strange hats in them.  I took one of the photos of Ellie, and put her in my white handbook cover!  And now I'm going to brag on my niece all the way over here in L.A.!  She's gonna be a star.  But thanks so much Katie!  That's the one thing I don't have much of is pictures, and I loved looking through them this morning!  

m@ buenas!  I have had people say that to me all the time.  Matt, I love you and admire you so much more than I already did today.  I think I got a little taste of your mission.  I don't know what it was, something I ate, the flu, or something in the water, but I woke yesterday night with the worst diarrhea I have ever had in my life.  It was bad.  And it didn't stop.  It kept going all day.  It was ridiculous.  I'm still not quite better.  But, I admire you.  And I thought you'd appreciate it.  And now I'm just hoping it's better for my birthday.  That's so crazy that Jeff is probably getting his call this week!  I can't wait to hear where he's going.  

B- hey, remember when we surpreichmoed Mops so good last year?  That was so great.  You flying home just reminded me of me and you talking about how great a Denver-Provo flight would be, and now it's a reality!  That's crazy.  Time is really going fast.  This year started a little slow, but the time has really been flying by for me.  It's been good.  I hope your dance class isn't too stressful tomorrow!  

Amy and Josh-  dishonor on you, dishonor on your family, dishonor on your cow!

It’s the grand chawhees birthday! April 30

Hi familia!  

eso fue una semana muy interesante.  tuve algunos intercambios, reuniones, la actividad de las manos mormonas que ayudan, y tambien regalos!  fue una semana dificil, nuestros investigadores se disaparecieron.  No sabemos que paso.  No pudimos contactar a E. ni a M.a esta semana.  Y nadie vino para la iglesia ayer.  Pero, esta bien, tuvimos mucho entrenamiento acerca de como trabajar con los miembros, y yo se que vamos a tener mucho mas exito cuando trabajemos con los miembros mas.  

(Matt’s translation -Hi, family!

That was an interesting week. I had a few exchanges, meetings, the Mormon Helping Hands activity, and also gifts! It was a difficult week, our investigators disappeared.  We don't know what happened. We couldn't contact E. or M. this week. And nobody came to church yesterday. But, it's OK, we had a lot of training about how to work with members, and I know we're going to have a lot more success when we work with members more.)

Hi familia!  

I'm writing in english now.  First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for all the birthday wishes!  they were very much appreciated and loved.  I had a great birthday.  I actually got to go to the activity for mormon helping hands, so keep an eye out for pictures!  The lady running it said to look for Enterprise Park, compton, on lds.org and then later to look for it on world report.  that was really good, it felt great to just go and do service.  Oddly enough, nobody ever wants to let us help them.  We're always happy to help, but nobody ever lets us.  So it felt really good to actually just do manual labor.  So I really enjoyed that part of my birthday.  And then the rest of it....just kind of a normal day!  But it was good.  After me and Elder Reeves came back and planned, I made my little birthday cake and lit the candle, and sang happy birthday to myself, and it was great!  I got really excited.  Especially when I saw all the new ties and cds and shoes!  I'm wearing my new shoes, and a new tie, and I just listened to a new cd.  So they are very much loved and appreciated.  and don't worry, I opened the peanut butter m&m's yesterday, they should last me at least until tomorrow.  I took some pictures, so I'll send them next week.  I forgot my cord for the computer.  And mafew, don't worry, I got your package!  I can't wait to hang up that basketball hoop.  Brings me back to all those days playing nerf bball in the basement.  But I really had a great birthday, and thanks so much for helping it be so great!  It felt really weird, it didn't even feel like my birthday.  but it was really good.  And as for today, we had a great beach p-day!  Keep an eye on the CLAM blog the next couple days, and you should see some pictures of me!  Look for the snowbird shirt and piggly wiggly hat!  ( don't worry, I was representing the family on the beach).  But that was really fun, I played the best ultimate frisbee I've played in a long time.  And we played waterballon volleyball, and it was all around a great day.  As I write, I keep finding more sand in my hair and ears.  But it was worth it.  

As for the rest of this week, it's been an interesting week.  M. and E. kind of disappeared.  We weren't able to meet with either of them this week.  We're not sure if it's just this week, or if there are any larger problems.  We actually saw M., and she seems great.  She just has some poor health.  but as for E., we taught the law of tithing, and we're a little worried that he didn't like that.  but we'll see this week!  Our area has been struggling, but it's served as a testimony to me that i need to do better at working with the members of our ward.  We had a zone conference all about it this week, and I definitely learned a lot.  So if the missionaries ever come over for dinner, make sure you give them referrals!  I can promise you they need them.  And at least in our mission, they are 5 times more likely to get baptized if found through a member.  I feel like I haven't had anything very exciting or spiritual happen this week, but hopefully something will happen this next week!  I just hope you know how much I love all of you, and how much I know that the gospel is true.  and I really realized today, that it is the only thing that brings true happiness.  We all try and find substitutes sometimes, but in the end, serving in the gospel is the only way to really be happy.  And I know that's true.  I hope you all have had a great week, and i can't wait to hear from you next week!  (in May!  Where is time going?)

borsh-oh, I know you wrote me!  I was just giving you a hard time.  I'm glad to hear you and B got to play tons of frisbee when he was home.  And that you got to learn about ages in spanish!  how is spanish class going?  Will you write me some in spanish next week?  I'll try and understand, I'm still not very good at the whole spanish thing.  Also, how tall are you now?  I keep getting pictures, and you look bigger and bigger every time.  Heightwise. Have a good week buddy!  

Mops- Thank you so much mops!  I loved my presents.  I opened my package last week, and then saved the presents for saturday night.  but they made me very happy, and I could definitely feel the love with which they were sent!  I really like the magnet you sent me, I put it on my fridge.  I guess salvation is not a cheap experience.  I always want it to be, but I'm realizing every day, I don't think my mission will ever get easier for me.  I will just learn to enjoy the challenge more and not get so scared of it.  Thanks for all you do momma, and I love you so much!  

pops- I was feeling a little bit like you Pops this sunday, and I was realizing it's kind of weird to speak on sundays in wards that aren't your own.  this sunday, I had quite the sacrament meeting.  It was the most involved I've ever been in one.  I gave a talk, played piano, confirmed somebody, it was crazy.  And to think I almost fainted when I gave a talk when I was 14.  But I'm glad you made me talk anyway,  I'm just now starting to forgive you for that.  And speaking of things you did as bishop, what advice would you have for working with a ward?  What things did missionaries do that made you like them, and not like them?  because I know you had both during that time.  I hope your knee keeps healing, make sure you rest and eat plenty of Bluebell!  

Kt-I want to go to Yap after my mission.  It sounds like the place a noothgrush would live.  

m@-Thanks for the package brothero!  I loved the funnies as well.  I had one favorite, but I can't remember it right now.  But I loved them, and thanks for sending.  them to me!  

A-Oh man.  I loved that Limerick so much.  I had to draw something on the board for our gospel principles class yesterday, and everyone laughed at my drawing of Abraham.  Only you really understand my fine art.  Wax cow, for instance.  classic.  Also, very impressive list of things you ate this week!  I have mostly eaten a lot of candy people have sent me.  and beans.  Good combo right?  coincidentally, my stomach has been bothering me.  I don't get it.  I hope Oklahoma is not too boring for you!  One of the elders in my district is from Broken Arrow oklahoma, is that close at all?  

B-Whoa!  Future B! )all you need is beep beep...B.  future B.  I can't believe you might work with him.  Please shave your head for your meeting.  Also, you might stay at BYU?! that'd be awesome.  Also, did you ever meet any of skylars cousins?  One of the AP's right now, his name is Elder Muse, is the olsens cousin, and he said he met you!  isn't that craZY?

A month's worth of our Elder Ryan's adventures!

We will go quickly and quietly, with no rap music or flashdancing Mar. 12

And that about describes my week! It went by very quickly and quietly, without any rap music or flash-dancing, tiny bit of mexican karaoke was happening at our ward mission leaders house but that was about it. This week really has gone by very fast, and I don't feel too much has happened to write you about. One fun thing that happened, we got a mini missionary this weekend! His name was Brian, and he is a senior who lives around here, and he came and worked with me and Elder Reeves for a couple days here. And really fun fact, he lives in Summer and Andy's ward! That was a fun connection. There should be some pictures from the mini mission on the CLAM blog soon, and you can see my big ugly mug up there! It was really fun, and I hope we were able to show him the good things about being a missionary. We ended up tracting for about 6 hours with him, so I'm really hoping we didn't scare him off of a mission. We've been working hard this week, we haven't had tons of success, but we've got a lot of potential. We've found a lot of new investigators, and we just want to have lessons with a few of them this week! We also tried a couple new finding ideas, we tried to go to the hospital in our area and put our names down as clergy that people can talk to. It didn't work very well, we found out that hospitals don't really have a list like that. And it didn't help that we felt like we were in Gotham General. They had metal detectors to get in, security people everywhere, and I was half expecting to see Batman and the Joker in there. It's kind of a creepy hospital to be completely honest. We also tried a new finding idea called accidentally backing into people! I accidentally backed into a guy this week, I pulled out too far into the intersection, and there were cars coming, so I did an emergency back up, and did not see that another car had pulled up behind me. and we just tapped bumpers, so it was fine. But man did i feel stupid. And also, it's not a very effective finding idea. His swearing at us kind of drove the Spirit away. But it was interesting. We did have one really cool experience this week. When I got into the area, this one name on our ward list just kind of stuck out to me. So we went and we visited them this week. And turns out, the lady who lives there, hermana M. has been less active for a while cause she has cancer. And she said she'd been praying that somebody from the church would come and give her a blessing. And it was pretty amazing to realize that Heavenly Father used us to answer her prayer. That was really cool. But that's about all that has happened, it's been a pretty quiet week, still just trying to learn the area and my new responsibilities and everything. I get to do splits and baptismal interviews this week as well, so I'm pretty excited for that! We should have a great next week. But I love you all, thanks for your awesome letters, and I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

Mops- so bad/good news. They did find the stolen car. bad news. Everything in it was gone. So odds are, if anybody has sent me a letter in the past couple weeks, it has probably been stolen. The only letter I did get was from Aunt Laurie this week!

Pops-I'm glad you've had such a great weekend with the hairy girls! Me and Elder Reeves saw these dogs the other day, and they looked just like Kola! Well, they were black. But they were also the size of Shetland ponies. They were the biggest dogs I've ever seen. Their heads went up almost to my plaque. That is pretty amazing about Kathy Rawlins and her husband. That is a pretty amazing story. Thank you for your advice about being a leader. That's something I've been realizing. Just let people go where they are if they're in the right direction, and only lead when you need to. And the best thing about being a leader is just doing the right thing yourself.

Kt- haha, I love Esperanto! I remember reading about that and thinking it was the silliest/best idea ever. I am so excited to eat me some qdoba soon. I totally like it it. I even like beans! And spicy things! You won't even know me! Also, I will still love tubing! Funny story, Elder Reeves and a member were talking about shooting yesterday, as in hunting. And I thought they said tubing. I tried to enter the conversation, and it just didn't work. Turns out tubing and shooting are very different things. As i'm sure you know, since you succesfully tubed this weekend!

M@- Wow matt, taking the GRE and everything! That's crazy. You're almost like a grownup now. Pretty soon, you'll probably work in an office all day, have a big nose and start losing your hair. wait...But hopefully you'll always have time for Wii basketball. I really enjoyed your story about being humbled as a ZL, that is kind of how i've felt this week. Especially after tapping bumpers, man did I feel stupid. I didn't even have an excuse at all. It was just stupid. But luckily, Heavenly Father blessed me so only my pride was injured. Also, I had a great brentism this week. I said that we needed to "pray them to invite" as our commitment for our lesson. And Elder Reeves also said this week, that he was missing a "close of senseness". I didn't laugh at all

B-Dancesport! I remember thinking about going to that last year. That's crazy you were in it. Good luck with your research this week, and all your tests!

borsh-T-caps? Tahts the weirdest thing I've ever heard. What in the heck. That's too bad you'll have too take them junior year too. Why didn't you tell me you went cross country skiing? did you like it? I've always hated it, but recently, I've been feeling the desire to try it again and see if I still hate it. What did you think of it?

Amy-Ah! no time! I'm glad to hear you ate a lot this week! love you yam!

love you all!

Estoy molido Mar 19

Elder Reeves has this great calendar, that has a new spanish phrase every day. And this was the one yesterday, that really summed up what I'm feeling. I'm exhausted! It's been a really great week, but very exhausting in all sorts of ways. I'm very grateful to have p-day today. This week has been crazy. I almost did my first baptismal interview this week, and I went on 4 exchanges! The baptismal interview was very...interesting. I got to the church, and I started doing the interview, and then all the sudden I hear a knock on the door. And then a member of our missionary presidency came in, and he said, "I'll take it from here, Elder." Thinking about it now, that sounds like a scene from a cheesy movie. But turns out the baptismal candidate had something in his past that I'm sure not qualified to handle, and the missionaries who got him ready are still new, so they found out about that just a little bit before, and didn't know how you handled it. So, that was really interesting. It was not an experience I especially enjoyed, getting all hyped up for the interview and then the sudden let down. I was kind of useless for the rest of the night, and then I got home and I just had to break out my christmas cds to feel better. But other than that, the week was really great. I went on exchanges 4 times this week, so i was only with Elder Reeves in our area for three days this week. But in the process i was companions with a south african and a tongan! That was really interesting. I learned a lot about African culture, and tongan as well. (did you know they eat dogs in Tonga? They just run down the street and club them and take them home!) Unfortunately, on friday and saturday, i chose the two wettest and coldest days to leave my area and be on a bike. And in consequence, i discovered my backpack is not waterproof! So, I now have soggy scriptures. I might need to buy some new ones. That was a fun experience. I got home from my 3rd exchange, freezing cold and soaked, opened my backpack, and realized everything was ruined. I think I will always remember just sitting on the floor in my apartment, freezing cold, looking at my soggy scriptures, and just not enjoying myself at all. I don't think my desire to curl up in bed and drink hot chocolate and watch a movie has ever been stronger. But it was amazing, looking at it, how i could still see the hand of God in my life. Heavenly Father placed me here with Elder Reeves, who just happened to have an extra brand new set of spanish scriptures. And it was an amazing tender mercy, that I had a couple letters I wrote but hadn't sent, they got soggy, but were otherwise fine. It was amazing to see just the little things like that, that helped me know that God really knew exactly what was going on with me. And then I left and faced more cold and rain with elder Jones, and I ended up having one of the funnest and best days of my mission with him after that. We contacted a lot in the freezing cold, and had really awesome lessons and some good success. It was really cool. But that has been my week. I can't think of anything really really exciting that happened this week. but it was a good week. i feel I've grown a lot. And I just realize more and more every day, what it means to do my best. It means a lot more about what I'm putting into the work, and a lot less about how much work I'm doing. And I've also realized, sometimes doing my best means I just need to slow down, say a movie quote and laugh, so I can give my best later, instead of just being stressed and exhausted all the time. And I realize more than anything, how much Heavenly Father really does love us all. It's amazing to see it, in my life, and realizing how Heavenly Father uses the people around us to meet our little needs. Needs that aren't really important, but they are important to Him because they are important to us. I sure am grateful for the opportunity I have to be here, and especially for the support that you all give me. I know that this church is true, that the BOM is true, and especially that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us, and they want us to succeed.

Borsh!- How's frisbee going? Mops told me you had a game this week! Did you score anything? Does Mrs. Thrasher like you? I sure hope she does. And that pinewood derby sounds awesome. That balloon idea is amazing. I support that all the way. I can't wait to see the finished design. Also, how is spanish going? You should write me in spanish next week! I love you bud, have a great week, and I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Mops-I got your first package today! And also already ate the cadbury mini eggs....they were delicious! Also, I thought your comment was very interesting, about the critical thoughts. Because now I know where I get it from! It can be really easy to look around with a lot of negative thoughts in the wards here, sometimes the spanish wards are slightly dysfunctional. And I was looking around yesterday, and thinking the same thing. And I just realize again and again, how little it helps anything. But it can still be really hard to not do it! I've definitely noticed for me, thinking about my own beams helps me think a little more charitably. Thanks for your awesome letters mops, and I sure love you!

pops-Nick already came home? that's so crazy. I can't remember if Drew has already come home or not, or if he does soon. That's so great that he had an awesome mission, I wish I could have heard his talk. I've heard of that Outliers book, it sounds really interesting. I want to read it. That's a really interesting observation that the 10000 hours is almost exactly a mission!

Kt- I don't think I've ever laughed harder (lol-ing), while reading an email in a public place, than reading about your split poop soup. That is the best story I've ever heard. And I'm glad Todd was so supportive of your efforts, and didn't even laugh. What a good husband.

Amy-AH! Don't tell me that about Cary. I can't even handle that, and I'm not even married to him! I can't believe that. I will definitely be praying for him this week, and I'm sure he'll be fine. I can't even imagine him going through that! But it'll all be over by the end of this week right? i hope so. I sure love you Yam, and I'm sure he'll be fine!

also, p.s. Did you ever have an elder Gallardo at your house for dinner? I visited a family last night, and they said their son just got transferred out of serving in Del Rio.

M@- Me and Elder Reeves continue to have great speaking abilities. This week I said "chaw of lastity", which sounds like some hip new tobacco brand, not a commandment. And elder reeves was reading a scripture, and he said, let your bowls be full of charity. Which immediately made me want a small bowel of ice cream, if you know what I mean. Also, I love your dream lesson. I had an awesome dream this week about a bunch of missionaries taking a wedding planning class. It was really weird. I'm glad to hear Zelda has found it's place with you again.

b-oh brackets. I'm really sorry I'm not there to take the fall this year, I'm hoping i'll not know anything when I come back so the random luck can help me. Thanks for your spiritual thoughts, B, I really enjoyed them. I wanted to comment more, but I'm out fo time.

love you all!

I played church in the soccer today Mar 26

HI family!

It sure was good to hear from you all! I am so glad to hear everyone is doing so well. It's been a good week here in Shady Oaks! I've been to a lot of meetings, and been on 2 more exchanges, and it's been interesting. I haven't really spent very much time in my area with Elder Reeves. This week, I got to go to my first MLT! (which despite my initial thoughts, has nothing to do with Princess Bride or sandwiches). It's just a meeting where all the leaders in the mission get to come together and talk about the mission and everything. It was pretty fun. And then, I got to go on two more exchanges! That was pretty fun. I got to be companions with a Dominican and a Mexican! I love how diverse the mission is here. It's so cool. We have people from like 10 different countries just in my zone. It's still kind of weird to be the one doing the exchanges. It just makes me feel even more lost. I think I'm starting to forget who my real companion is. But it's really fun. I just feel like everyone is expecting something awesome when they go on exchanges with me, but then it just ends up being...me. But it's been interesting. Me and Elder Cisneros had a pretty cool experience. We were riding our bikes, about 8 o clock at night, and Elder Cisneros just said," hey, can we knock doors at night?" and then I said (this was really good), "yes". So he just had a feeling we should knock a door, so we did, and we ended up talking to this guy for about 10 minutes, and he said we could come back! That was cool. And then we were just walking down a little bit more with our bikes, and I was just thinking to myself, about why we're here. And then all the sudden, i just stopped walking. I still don't really know why. And right as I stopped, a mom and her kid came out of the house right next to us. And even though they thought we were police at first, they ended up being really nice and said we could come back as well! That was pretty cool. It's always amazing to see the Spirit working through us, even when we don't realize it. And then on wednesday, me and Elder Reeves were trying to contact a less active family. We'd tried a few times, but they have big dogs. But this wednesday, we got there, knocked on the gate a few times and....no dogs. Feeling very fortunate, we walk in, I open the second gate, and start to knock. I look around triumphantly, and see one of the dogs lying asleep about 10 feet from me. And then me and Elder Reeves hear this click clack of dog nails on the pavement. And the big bear dog just starts running towards us, and me and Elder Reeves just booked it out! He was in front of me, and starting trying to close the gate on me, but I made it anyway. It was so funny. And terrifying. But afterwards, I saw her neighbor across the street coming out of her house, so I decided to go try and talk to her. I had already stopped thinking about the less active family, but as I opened my mouth to talk to her, I suddenly felt an impression to ask her if she knew her neighbors. So i did, and she told us their names, and we went and yelled their names, and we finally got to meet them! It was so cool. And especially so to realize Heavenly Father helped us to do so. Also, another very funny story from last night. It rained really hard last night, and we were standing out in the rain, and I started talking to this black guy. He might have been on something, because he didn't make much sense. He kept closing his eyes and just standing in the rain as we were talking to him. we gave him a BOM card, and then at the end, he looked at the card, and then just started yelling. Just imagine David after the Dentist. He yelled just like him, and then looked at us, and said, I'm not ready. And tried to give us back the card. We made him keep it. It was so funny. But that's been my week, it's been pretty good. Me and Elder Reeves should have an even better week this week, we've actually got some solid new investigators now. But I love you family, and I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

P.S. I won't be writing again til April 4th, we have temple p-day next week!

Mops- Hi momma! So good news. I do have additions to my b-day list! I could actually use another pair of black shoes. I'm starting to scuff/stink my others up pretty good. I would love just another pair of Eccos like I already have. Also, could I ask a favor? I'd love to get letters from a few people, namely Ryan James and TJ. Do you happen to get their letters? And maybe send them on occasionally? Also, thank you so much for your letters momma. They always lift me up every week, I can't wait to read your letters. Thanks for all you do for me!

pops-That does indeed sound like a busy week. I hope it was a good one anyway though! I sure am excited for General conference here! I realize every day here, how incredible it is that we do have a prophet on the earth. And it makes me wish I'd paid more attention to past conferences. I've never appreciated them as much before. Are you still planning to watch it at home, or is the old tv not spiritual enough anymore? You might need a new one. Maybe 80 inches of spirituality this year. I love you pops, thanks for all you do!

A- Yay for Cary surviving! I'm so glad to hear that. And now you get vaycay for 2 weeks! That's so great. Didn't you say you were going to Mexico? You'll definitely have to tell me all about it when you get home! I'll hope to still hear from you, but if you're busy drinking daquiris or anything then that's alright, I understand. Also, don't tell me the Hunger games are awesome! They have posters for it at like every bus stop here, and I want to see it so bad!

Borsh- They came out with a new angry birds again? I can't even imagine what it will be like by the time I get home. They'll probably have the movie by then. Thanks for your letter bud, I love hearing about everything you're doing!

m@- ew. graduation. Work sounds gross right now. Graduation stuff does sound really busy. Where will you find time for Skysword? And nice job on the bball game. I think you'd be proud to know I'm channeling my inner latin and playing soccer every morning for exercise. I'm pretty terrible, but that's alright. We only play with one mexican, the rest are white, so I've got company. Have a great week mathewjewreichman!

Lauren- Thanks for the letter Lauren! That's so great that Matt rocked the GRE. I'm glad to hear everything is going so well. How's Jeff doing at BYU? Is he getting ready to put his papers in yet? You'll definitely have to tell me when he gets his call!

B- it does indeed sound like a good summer to be missing vacation. I picked a good time to leave. I heard they're getting snow in alabama this year, and then a lake at Snowbird next year. And then everything goes back to normal in 2013. Or so I've heard. Something to do with 2012 I'm sure. End of the world and everything. I can't wait to hear all about what actually ends up happening with your physics lab, and everything. Make sure you have time to keep growing your investigator pool! You only have so much time before you get transferred to your new area....

Kt-I love you!

I love you family! Have a great time watching General Conference this weekend, I know I sure will! I can't wait to talk to you all in a week and a half!

haypanhaypanhaypanhaypanhaypan hay pan!!! April 4

Good afternoon family!

Hearing you talk about all the mickey bars just made me think of all the street vendors around here. They have tons of mexican guys who drive around shouting "haypanhaypan hay pan" to try and get people to buy it. I can't do it justice in an email, but I wish you could hear it. And I bought my first ice cream from a mexican street vendor, it was great! So we were all eating ice cream together! and I didn't even know!

But wow. I had no idea that you all were going on a cruise! I don't know if we can count that as a surpreichmo or not. But it's been an interesting week. I love temple p-days, but it can be hard to make it all the way to wednesday without a p-day. We had some really awesome stuff happen this week. One of our investigators, his name is E., had dropped off the face of the earth for 3 weeks. We thought he dropped us. but then, last sunday, we had a lesson with him. He has some smoking and coffee problems, and those are really impeding him from baptism. But we came back about 3 days later, and he told us that right when he woke up on monday, he woke up and tried to drink his coffee, and he couldn't! It made him throw up. And I don't think he's drunk coffee since. It was amazing, Heavenly Father really does answer prayers. Me and Elder Reeves have also had some very awesome dog stories this week. We were walking out of a house with a super long driveway, and all the sudden, this dog comes out and just starts trying to bite elder Reeves feet. He didn't try anything else, just nipping at his shoes. And Elder Reeves did some really awesome athletics to try and get way from it. And i was very helpful, and I laughed. A lot. It was one of the funnier things I've seen. And then, we were trying to visit a less active family, (the same one from last week). I rapped the mailbox with my keys, and this big dog comes out of nowhere and almost eats my hand. Elder Reeves is standing there laughing at me, and then all of the sudden, an equally big dog just charges out of nowhere, right behind Elder Reeves. And then I scared him good, and I got to laugh again. And yesterday, we invited a member to an appointment with us. And our investigator wasn't there, so she started tracting with us. And there was just the random pit bull in the street that jumped on her! We felt pretty terrible about that. But luckily she laughed, so it was alright. Almost every house here in LA has at least 1 pit bull. It's crazy. And kind of scary. This week, nothing really big happened. Until General Conference! It was amazing! We ended up going to the Huntington Park West Stake center, which is my old area! And we got to watch it in english, which was awesome. And general conference was awesome. the talks, the spirit, everything. But what was even more amazing to me was just going to my old area. And everyone was excited to see me! That felt really good, seeing Elder Moore and some of the members, who were really just excited to see me. It felt really good. Sometimes that's not a reaction I get a lot. And then even more amazing, hearing about the stuff that's happening in my old area! M. is getting baptized sunday! And E. is getting baptized the next week, and he wants me to do it! That was really amazing. I got to see E., and he's still going strong, and he's been clean from drugs ever since we first met him. And even more amazing, M's husband has actually starting talking to the senior missionaries from my old ward! They've actually started talking about baptism! So he might get baptized soon too! And if that happened, him and M. and their kids can get sealed in a year! It was one of the happiest moments of my life, just hearing about all that. It was Heavenly Fathers way of telling me that He knew how much work I'd put in to that area, and he was letting me know I did a good job. It was amazing. And as for conference, It helped me realize something. Elder Wilson's talk on sunday afternoon, talking about leading in the priesthood. And one thing he said really stuck out to me, "Whenever you compel anyone to righteousness, you are acting unrighteously." And that was a big lesson for me. It can be easy to fall into that trap for me. It's been kind of hard for me to realize how to help people choose the right, especially being district leader, without compelling them to it. And that never feels good. That was a big lesson for me. I hope you all were able to listen to all of conference, it was all amazing. And if not, I would definitely encourage you all to watch it/read it again. they had some amazing talks. I could spend all this letter talking about my favorites. And one more thing, I did my first baptismal interview this week! I did it for a 10 year old kid, and right after we finished, he just went out and hugged his mom (who is getting baptized the same day) and jsut said, " I can't stop smiling!" It was so cool. That was also one of the happiest I've ever felt, watching him and his mom so excited for their baptism. But that was my week, I love you all, and thanks for all you do!

Borsh-Ah. I can't believe you got to go on the Disney Cruise. Lucky Duck. and speaking of birds, angry birds in real life? That's crazy. I can tell Angry Birds is getting bigger. I keep seeing people with angry birds shirts and everything. That game sounds pretty awesome. I'm glad you ate a lot for me on the cruise!

B- a 9 hour test?! That sounds like it should be in Dante's inferno. I can't e'en b'lee dat. I love how you got to mexico all by yourself. I had a brief mental image of you and a mexican taxista shouting at each other, him in spanish, you in czech. How did you communicate? But at least you made it. But I have to tell you B, I admire you more than ever before. Thinking about your mission, and how you just kept going, is inspiring. I got to see some of the results of my labors this weekend, but I realized you probably hardly ever saw that. So kudos to you. I don't know how you did it.

M@- You might as well just call me ronaldinho. I'm getting good at soccer. ok lie. We just play every morning inside the church, and i'm super terrible. I always fake myself out, lose the ball, and they score. but I'm slowly getting better. I wish I could have heard the kareoke. That sounds awesome.

Pops- last in the bracket again!? I can't believe that. Just wait til I come back, and then I will really....make everyone feel better by losing terribly. I am really excited for Easter. I like your insight, the more that I am out, the more I realize, it really all does depend on Christ. Everything we talk about just depends on our belief in him, and everything in the church is to better help us help the people around us, like Christ would do.

KT- Mickey bars for everyone! ah mickey bars! did Ellie eat any? I can imagine her loving them. I'm impressed you took Ellie on the cruise, it sounds scary to me to take a baby on the cruise. and congrats on your new jobs! Well, todds new job. And your new and improved, significantly reduced old job! That's so exciting.

A-Oh man. hearing you talk about eating all those things made me jealous. That's so many delicious things. And speaking of mickey, we met a less active family this week, and he works for Disneyland! And he offered us free tickets! but it's outside the mission. But he did give us free hats and a buzz lightyear toy! so that was exciting.

Mops-I can only say, thank you for not telling me about the trip. I think it would have made this week harder. It was a lot more fun hearing about it afterwards like this. Also, I wear size 10 shoes. And I lvoed my easter package! I opened it today. I couldn't wait til after easter, til monday. Thank you so much! I already ate all the jelly bellys. I love you a lot, and thanks for all you do for me! Happy early easter birthday!

You have saved our lives...we are eternally grateful Feb 27

Buenas tarders familia!

Esta semana ha sido una buena semana. Me siento muerto en mi cabeza ahorita, estoy un poco enfermo este dia. pero, esperosamente, yo voy a poder decirles lo que ha pasado esta semana. Me siento que muchas cosas hayan pasado, pero no me acuerdo muy bien ahorita. Esta semana, yo no he podido hablar. en espanol o ingles. creo que yo puedo escribir un poco mejor.

Hello family! It's so great to hear your voices today. Well, imagine them. Cause I can't actually hear them through the computer. But it sounds like everything is doing great, and I'm so glad to hear that!

This week has been a really good week, me and Elder Clark and Elder Moore have just been really having a blast. They're helping me to not be so serious all the time. Everybody here in the mission thinks I'm super serious, and it makes me sad. I just get stressed and then I stop being funny. Either that or i'm really not funny. We'll go with the first option. But we've really gotten along well here, I'm going to be sad for the transfer. Almost completely positively certainly, we will not be together next transfer. President said he wasn't going to leave the trios. And I have a feeling I'm leaving this area and ward. I have no idea where I'm going or what kind of companion I will have, but I have a feeling I'm leaving. Part of me is devastated, I love all the people here, and It's gonna be super hard to leave people like E., and S., and others. But on the other hand, I'm learned so much here, mostly made a lot of mistakes, and I want to go somewhere fresh and see if I can put everything I've learned into practice. But I will let you know next week where I will be! I don't think I will be getting transferred to colorado, not like Amy! Maybe my last transfer I will. Speaking of last transfers, Elder Watkins goes home tomorrow! My dad is going home! It was really weird, going to the departing missionary fireside last night and hearing him bear his testimony. I'm really sad, he's definitely made a big difference in how I've started my mission and how the rest of it will go. He's one of the goofiest guys I've ever met, but he's really awesome and a great missionary, and I'm really grateful I got trained by him. The departing missionary fireside is really cool, it can be kind of hard, but it really motivates you to work harder, so at the end you can stand up yourself and share what your mission has done for you.

As for success this week, just lots of little things. Nothing big. except there was one really cool thing, on tuesday we went and had our lesson with M., the lady who walked into church. And as we looked at her address, and then pulled up to her house, me and elder moore realized we'd both been to this house before. At the very first weekly planning session with elder moore, we prayed and put together a list of former investigators to go visit. And then, we tried to go visit them. And one of them, is E.'s step dad. We found E. because we were trying to contact his family. And one of the others, her name was M., and we tried many times to contact her but never found her. So we pulled up to the house, and Elder Moore realized that M.’s name sounded really familiar. We learned that they were the same person! It was pretty amazing, already seeing the fruits of some of our earlier labors from the transfer before. She started going to church about the time we tried to contact. That was probably the coolest thing. We also had a fun experience after the fireside last night, we spent about all day doing companionship study, and as we came back we had a little time so we did some street contacting. And in our studies, we practice and role play a lot. And when we contacted this guy, it was almost exactly the same as what we practiced earlier that day. It was pretty cool. That's just how our weeks have been the past couple weeks, just lots of little miracles that let us know Heavenly Father knows exactly what we're doing. And it's really helping me to learn to trust in Him. Just to trust that everything will work out. And I've been feeling a lot more peaceful and stable, mentally and emotionally and spiritually lately. Not really physically. I'm getting sick again I think. But that's alright. Everything happens for a reason. Well, that's been our week, and I can't wait to talk to you all next week and tell you where I'm at! Have a great week, I love you all!

Borsh- Shame on you, writing your letter in stake conference! Haha, I remember those days. Now people expect me to be paying attention in church, and play the piano! It's weird. That Nuggets game sounds awesome! I'm really jealous. Did you get anybodys autographs? How's your basketball playing going? I hope you're practicing good, so you can beat me when I get home. I play every day, so I'm still practicing too! Love you Bud!

Mops- can you believe I'm already on my fifth transfers and I've already been out for more than 7 months? It's really weird. I feel like a newbie still. And at the same time, I feel like I'm be home before I know it. It's really weird. And momma, you would not believe some of the things I eat. You all wouldn't even recognize me! I actually like mexican food now! And I eat chilies and beans all the time! I'm still not a fan of tomatoes or sour cream, but I eat them! Thanks for your great letter mops, and thank you very much for fasting for me. I felt it yesterday. I felt the spirit very strong yesterday, telling me that everything is going to be alright with this transfer. And Heavenly Father knows exactly where he wants me going. I had a really good day yesterday, and now I know I have you to thank for it! Thanks for all you do for me momma, and I sure love you!

Pops-I'm sorry you tweaked your knee pops! But one thing, it didn't hurt me a bit. I would ask if your face hurt, but I wouldn't be able to deliver the killer punchline til next week, and I feel that would kill the joke somewhat. I hope it feels better though pops! That's so crazy that Lindsey just got home. Missions go by so fast, and so slow at the same time. I'm glad she had a great mission, and that's really cool that they got to pick her up. I will always remember picking Brent up, that was the trip of a lifetime. And I hope all of you will one day come back and tour my mission with me. In an armor plated van maybe. It definitely won't have some of the scenic sights and countryside that Brent's had, but it'd still be fun!

Well, I'm out of time, but I love you all, and I can't wait to hear from you all next week, and tell you what's happened with me!

(and good luck on Amy's transfer to Colorado. And Brent, I would really love some ovocne knedliky. I will send you some papusas if you send me. ) Love you all!

Welcome to Shady Oaks Retirement Village March 5

Well, I just finished going to the bathroom for the 80th time today. In my new area!

As you all have very correctly inferred, I did get transferred. And man was it an interesting transfer. My new area is called Willowbrook, and despite it's name, it is actually not a retirement village! That's what I thought when I first heard it. So after p-day on monday, me and Elder Moore and Elder Clark were standing outside someone's house, getting ready to go home, and we got a call from the AP's, asking us to come in for interviews the next day! So we did, and first of all, Elder Moore is training this transfer! So I now have a grandson! I'm so proud of him. He's going to be a great trainer, and I'm really excited for him. And then I had an interview with President as well. Because in addition to being transferred, they have also asked me to be the district leader! ahhhh!!!!!! It's been quite the week. Trying to learn a new area, new responsibilities, new companion, new district, new zone, it's been crazy. But first of all, Willowbrook. My apartment is very fortunately, cockroach free, and it's actually a pretty nice apartment. The shower doesn't work very well, it's a little bit like standing under a rain gutter, but no cockroaches! I can't tell you how happy I am about that. And as for the area, welcome to South Central! My area is right in the middle of Watts and Compton, and one of the areas in my district is actually called South Central. We have a few projects in our area, and now I will be able to tell people that I have been to the projects. But another great thing, as district leader, I get a car! That's been kind of a nice change. I'm worried about getting fat, but it's been really nice to have a car these past few days. I only have a certain number of miles, so I will probably end up using my bike still, but it's still nice to have it for p-days. And another really awesome thing, we actually live out of our area, just a couple blocks away from some other elders. One of which is Elder Jones, from the MTC! He's in my district. It's been awesome to have him in my district, it's made my transition a lot easier, having him here. I consider that a tender mercy. Another interesting thing, my district is super young. There are 3 other companionships there, and we are all in the Southgate 2 ward, along with a pair of sisters, who for some reason aren't in our district. Me and Elder Jones are the oldest elders in our district! Oldest, as in we've been out the longest. It's been really weird. It's a lot of responsibility. It's really weird, realizing i'm pretty much responsible for the missionary work in the southgate 2 ward. It's a really weird feeling. And even weirder, I get to do baptismal interviews as well! So whenever anyone from my district is teaching someone, I am the one that decides whether or not they are ready for baptism! AH! I thought I was stressed before. But it's been really fun, and I've been learning a lot. And Heavenly Father has definitely been giving me what I need to fulfill my responsibilities here. I was sitting in church yesterday, and I just had an impression that I needed to set a good example for everyone in my district and the ward, and bear my testimony. So I did, and for probably the first time ever, I went up, and bore my testimony, and I didn't think at all about what I was going to say. And Heavenly Father really gave me the words I needed to say, and it was pretty amazing. Heavenly Father has given me a lot to let me know he's there, and watching. Our area here is doing alright, we've got one investigator getting closer to baptism, but ot much else going. But me and Elder Reeves found 5 new investigators in the 4 days I've been here, and I really have a lot of good hopes for this area. It's got a lot of good potential. My companion is pretty great. His name is Elder Reeves, which is kind of funny, I keep expecting him to be related to Cary. He's been out 2 transfers less than me, and he's doing great. We both have a tendency to take ourselves seriously, but that's something I want to work on. I am really grateful for all of your letters today, I was feeling kind of bad, because I feel everytime I start to feel more myself, I feel like I'm breaking a rule. And that makes me feel stressed. But almost all your letters today talked about having a positive attitude and being yourself, and I definitely think that was an answer from Heavenly Father, telling me that I'm on the right track, I just keep learning day by day how to be more positive and happy, but still work hard and be obedient. It's a really hard balance to find. But that's been my week, It's been really interesting adjusting to the new area and responsibilities, it was harder to leave my old area than I expected. The hardest part was leaving E. We went to the VC with him right after my interview, and I almost cried when I said goodbye to him. That was pretty hard, but I'm hoping to get a call this month inviting me to his baptism! It feels good to be in a new area, where people don't really know me, a chance to put the lessons I learned in my other ward into practice and be myself more. It's been good. Well, I love you all, and I can't wait to hear from you all next week! And the letters from the past couple weeks did actually stolen, but they think they found the car, so we'll see about that. But I love you all, thanks for your great letters, and I can't wait to write you again from Hidden Falls! I mean, Willowbrook. Bye!

I am going to to write a 5 page novel Feb. 20

Hola Familia!

me da mucho gusto para escribirles otra vez esta semana. Ustedes me escribieron muy buenas cartas esta semana, y me sentia muy contento leerlas. Esta semana ha sido muy extrana. mucho mas de lo mismo. Despues de nuestra limpieza, pensabamos que habia mucho espacio por nuevos investigadores. Esta semana ha sido un poco dificil, pero tenemos mucho potencial ahora. Me siento que vayamos a tener mucho exito esta proxima semana y especialmente este proximo cambio, aun que tal vez yo no vaya a estar aqui.

Hi family! This week has been really interesting. It's been another kind of interesting week. Each week we think the slump will get over, and then we sit down on sunday night and we're just thinking, dangit. No baptismal dates, no progressing investigators, what happened? But we've been working hard, and we've really got a ton of potential, its just going to be sifting through it. And whenever I get too down, I just have to think of E. He continues to be amazing. This week, he even volunteered to say the prayer in class, and he brought his mom to church! E. has already been taught everything, so we just focus on the BOM, and especially we've realized helping him help his family will keep him going strong. His niece and nephew have been coming to the activities, and they've even starting reading the BOM as well! They're really cool, i love him and his whole family so much, they are the kind of people I will always remember. We're having dinner with them for the first time this week, and we're really excited for that. Everytime we go over, they're cooking something. And friday, they gave us tacos de lengua! they were really good. We saw his sister in law pulling these giant cow tongues out of the pot, and we were kind of grossed out at first, but once they're chopped up, with some pico de gallo and hot sauce, they're amazing. But he continues to do really well, and he's already got almost 60 days clean. Hopefully just 30 more and he'll be ready for baptism! A. and L. are doing well, they feed us every week, and this week, they fed us so much! Two giant plates of meat and beans, followed by cookies, flan, and a bowl of fruit. It was crazy. I was the only one who finished it. I felt like dying afterward, but I felt proud of finishing it. We also have our investigator S., he's doing well, it's hard to teach him because his less active wife always whispers the answers in his ear. It's very hilarious and very frustrating. They actually live right behind the computer shop where we are writing right now! But I know I started this letter off kind of negatively. But man this week ended well. I was feeling pretty down sunday. It's been a tough few weeks, and the worst part is wondering if the lack of success is because of something you're doing wrong or if it's just a test of faith. I was thinking a lot about that, and I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me know that I was on the right track. And that day at church, this lady named M. walked up to us, told us she lived in our area, had been going to church for the past two months, and wanted to be baptized! It was amazing. We think she's been going to the other ward and that's why she hasn't talked to us before. It was amazing to get that new progressing investigator who will soon have a baptismal date, and it was even more amazing just realizing how much Heavenly Father loves me. He inspired her to talk to us that day so that I could have that answer to that prayer. It's very humbling, and makes me realize how much more grateful I should be for what I already have. Including a wonderful family like you! I keep our Christmas card in my backpack, and if the circumstances are right in the lesson I like to pull it out and talk about all of you. You really are all amazing, and I am so grateful for all of you. And it's what keeps me going here in the mission. I would definitely not be here without all of you. I just hope you know how much I love all of you, and how grateful I am for everything.

And for my spiritual thought for this week, I read something that caught my attention. In the second to last verse of Jacob, he says they mourned all the days of their lives. But earlier, Nephi, says they lived after the manner of happiness, earlier in 2nd nephi. I was thinking about that, and how Jacob and Nephi had a lot of similar circumstances. And I don't know all the circumstances, things probably did change, but it seemed to me that Nephi was just happy because he wanted to be. Even a prophet has to have a good attitude to be happy. And I realized so much of my happiness, here and always, depends on my attitude. But that's my soapbox for this week, it's been a good week, Me and elder Moore and Elder Clark have been having a great time. Can't wait to write you all next week!

Josh- How was dull rio? It sounds really fun, I've never been to a pilot graduation! How are Kola and Lily doing? I love you bud, have a great week. Try a somersault!

A- Amy you're going to get transferred the same day I am! Our transfers are on the 29th of this month as well! And I don't know why, I just have a feeling I'm leaving the ward. I can't believe I've already been here for almost 6 months, this transfer has been crazy fast! Although your transfer sounds a little more intense. Graduation sounds super fun, along with feeding tons of people! I feel for you. I made breakfast for Elder Moore and Elder clark yesterday. It was stressful. I made them breakfast papusas! With egg, bacon and cheese. They weren't very good. But they have tons of potential. When I get home, I will perfect them. But I love you, tell Cary congrats on his wings, and I'm so proud of him! I tell all the missionaries I meet how cool he is. I mean, a fur real pilot! But I sure love you Yam, good luck with everything!

B- Your week sounds super fun! I remember days like that. Maybe not quite like that. But still close. With the new training program, they have 2 hours comp study, and sometimes that's enough for me. But Enrique is still amazing. He really is, and he continues to love everything, he hasn't flagged at all. And he said ever since we gave him a blessing, he hasn't even been tempted to use drugs. it's pretty amazing. Well I hope that we both have more exciting weeks, and I love you B!

Kt- I really like what you said, That Heavenly Father is holding the 99 back so we can focus on the 1. There's so many people here, that's its really easy to always focus on new people and not focus on just the ones who need it most. Also, I can't even imagine todd as a softie. no way. When I see Ellie, I will not be a softie. We will be doing scripture study every day, and I will never even take her to the park, or buy her ice cream, or anything. Ellie sure sounds adorable, even if she was all cranky this week. I hope she feels better this week!

M@- I am indeed still in a trio, and unless Elder Clark gets his visa in this next week I still will be til the next transfer. But President Baker said they won't keep the trios for the next transfer. I've actually really liked it, it keeps it interesting. We laugh a lot more, it's harder to get down with three people. Your weekend and valentines day sounds great, all I did was interrupt other peoples romantic celebrations! that was fun. But I hope you have a great week, tell Lauren I say hi!

Mops- That speedway sounds super fun. You might have to take me there sometime! Thanks for your letter mops, I am unfortunately running out of time, but I sure love you!

Pops-That story about Kathy rawlins is amazing. It does my heart good hearing about you and mops helping the missionaries, because members make or break an area. I never realized how important having members were. I didn't even realize that we had a ward mission leader before I left. I hope everything continues to go well with her!

I love you all, have a great week!