Letter 91 Transferring to Sunland

Hey Everyone!

Ok so a ton happened this week. First, we got dropped by Valerie and Chloe unfortunately so that was a huge bummer. Same day too but it’s ok, seed planted and I think they will come around later. 

Second, Elder Bentley and a couple other past missionaries came and visited the mission and so we got to talk for a little bit. Elder Bentley was like one of my favorite missionaries to hang out with and we were together for like a year of the mission so that was super fun, I can’t believe he got home almost 6 months ago now. 

Third, we got our transfer calls. What in the world. So I thought I was gonna finish my mission here but I guess I was wrong. I’m really sad to leave this ward because I’ve loved this area so much, but I am excited to go to my new area which is surprisingly not Glendale. I will be going to Sunland and taking Elder Stucki’s place because he is going home. My new companion will be Elder Pate. I’m excited for it because Elder Hansen is going to be my zone leader in one of the Armenian areas with Elder Hathaway, one of my current zone leaders.

I can’t wait to go on exchanges with them in Glendale and also, they have the other Armenian Elders in an area as well so they have 2 Armenian areas again which is awesome. I’m super excited to see all the Armos again. Also, there are quite a few Armenians in Sunland and so I’m taking Elder Stucki’s spot to contact them and refer them down to the Armenian Elders which will be fun because I will get to use my language. 

Elder Boulette also got transferred. He is going to Alhambra and the Heritage ward is getting Sister missionaries. Yep we got Pinkwashed! It’s only a little bit shameful, haha, but I actually recommended they put Sisters here because this ward hasn’t had Sisters in like 20 years and there is a lot of potential. I think they will do a great job. Anyway, we don’t have transfers till tomorrow now so you can see a pic of my comp next week. I’m excited to finish strong in Sunland and can’t wait to start working there! Have a great week everyone!  

Dinner with the Walker family! 

 Elder Bentley -- back from the dead...

Our Zone

Letter 90 Rain!!

Hey Everyone!

This week it rained. A lot. California needed it but I didn’t need it. I remember when it rained a lot last year, running back and forth from the car between visits and referral contacting. I feel for all of the missionaries who biked during that time of year. When it rains pretty hard we usually walk and so on those days we don’t get a whole lot done because of how long it takes to get places and nobody is walking around in the rain either so we can’t street contact. However, in the middle of Saturday it started to pour. Luckily we just got where we need to be and so we parked our bikes and walked with our umbrellas the rest of the day. The ride back home though, that was an adventure. We don’t have rain guards on our bikes and so the water flicks up from the back tire and anyway, we just got wrecked, end of story. That was pretty much our adventure for the week. I’m glad to see the sky clear again.

Well we have still been doing tons of tracting and it’s actually going pretty good which is weird to me because normally tracting is like the least effective thing to do in my book, but not here clearly. We find lots of people to teach each week and they aren’t super solid but occasionally one of them is super awesome. For example, we met Chloe last week on exchanges with Elder Reimer. We shared a quick message and set up and appointment for next week and got her phone number. This is where most people flake is that return appointment, but we texted and reminded her and she was really excited to meet with us.

Chloe is 21 and so we will need to pass her off to the YSA sisters, but that was seriously one of the best lessons ever. She said her best friend is Mormon and so she was thinking about looking into it and then we talked to her and so she decided this was her chance. It was a great lesson and the spirit was really strong the whole time. She is so honest and truly questioning and has some pretty big and difficult concerns to deal with, but I think she has a lot of potential. She was even nervous about meeting with us again because she still felt like she wasn’t sure if this is the path she wanted to take, she was just kinda interested in checking it out. However, we think the Book of Mormon is what really made her decide that it would be ok to meet again. She isn’t sure about a lot of things right now, but I would very much rather teach someone as sincere as her and struggle through it than just baptize someone in a couple weeks who isn’t sincere at all. A lot of people in my first area would say they would be baptized but didn’t really care or didn’t really know, but Chloe is really wanting to search which makes her better than those others who just wanted to get baptized to say they did it.

Anyway, that was pretty much it for this week. Sorry this letter was kinda long! I know that the gospel is true and that we can find answers to our deepest questions and concerns by reading the Book of Mormon and I’m so grateful for that book. It has helped me through so many of my own struggles, trials, concerns, questions, you name it. It is always there when I need it and I’m so grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. I hope and pray that all of you will take the time to read just a little bit each day. Even just a little bit can make a huge difference. Have a great week everyone!

Letter 89 Tracting

We had a great week of finding! We weren’t able to meet with the Aguilera family this week because they were sick, but hopefully next week we will. We spent a lot of time tracting, walking, and doing all sorts of other finding activities and it was really good! We were able to find and talk to some pretty cool people and so we hope to meet
with them again. Walking isn’t as effective here which is unfortunate. I guess there just isn’t as many people outside as Glendale but that’s okay. 

Overall we have pretty much just been putting in a lot of tracting time searching for those prepared for the gospel. We found a really cool lady named Mary this week and she shows a lot of potential and so we are excited to teach her especially. That’s pretty much it for this week, I hope you are all having a great week as well!

Letter 88 Markerit's Baptism!!

Hey Everyone!

This week was another good one and things have been improving a lot! We are still having some trouble setting some baptismal dates, but we have been successful in finding a lot more people. A lot of them our flaky because they were found tracting, but it does feel good to get out and about. We have been working super hard to find and so we have been trying to knock a lot of doors.

Normally I hate tracting, but the people in this area are actually pretty nice. We did meet a new part member family in the ward named the Aguilera’s. Richard is less active but wants to come back and his fiancé Valerie is not a member. They have a little baby girl and I think that’s most of the reason why he wants to get back into the swing of things.

Last Thursday we taught the restoration to the family and Richard mostly understands it, but I think he really wants to get Valerie involved and we do too. The lesson went really well and Valerie said she will think about baptism when we left the commitment. They didn’t make it to church yesterday, but we still have some high hopes for their family. Things are going really well and I’m excited to keep working in this area! I hope you all have a great week!

Pics: Markerit was baptized! I worked with her in Glendale and she has an amazing story! I will post it here. She doesn’t speak a lick of English so it was super awesome teaching her with Elder Hansen and just proves the need for Armenian work.

(Told by Elder Hansen)

This is Markerit!

Markerit first met the missionaries over 3 years ago when they knocked on her door.  She let them in because her husband Andranik had had a dream involving the missionaries coming before he even knew who they were.  They were both taught for a couple months but due to health problems, unsupportive family, and cultural pressures they decided to stop meeting with the missionaries.

Elder Michael Stucki and I met Markerit in November at her house.  We learned that her husband had passed away about a year earlier.  She invited us back, and so with Elder Jase Jensen we began teaching her again.  From the beginning she soaked it all in like a sponge.  She understood everything we taught her and was preparing for baptism, her only challenge was coming to church.

In January Elder Colby Ebert and Elder Tate McAllister joined in teaching her.  She still had yet to come to church, and we were worried that she wouldn't be willing to keep that commitment.  Then just a few days later, she shared with us that she had received her answer.  She had a dream where her husband spoke with her from the other side of the veil, and told her that she needed to be baptized a member of this church.

Markerit hasn't missed a week of church since this experience.  She was baptized last Sunday and confirmed today.  She is an inspiring example of following the will of the Lord, and seeking for truth.  She calls us almost every day with questions about her scripture study and is excited to have the ordinance of baptism be performed for her husband in the temple.

Letter 87 Miracles

Hey Everyone!

This week I had some really cool experiences. We found a lot of new investigators and hope to keep finding more to stock up our teaching pool. One miracle from this week was while I was on exchanges in my area with Elder Reimer. We were tracting some apartments and I thought it was gonna be great. Well tons of people ended up not even being home and only like 3 people answered. However, the very last door we knocked on was a girl named Kelsey who was younger, maybe in her 20s. She was really open to learning from us and said she had been searching to find God and to know how to pray and develop a relationship with him.

It was so cool and we said that she was doing exactly what she needed to by praying for guidance and truth. We taught pieces of the restoration and set up a return appointment to teach the whole thing and the Book of Mormon. I think when she reads the Book of Mormon and prays she will find the answers that she has been searching for. We also came across a new part member family in our ward and they are so cool. The husband isn’t active but wants to come back and get his wife involved as well so we are super excited to teach them. That was pretty much it for this week, have a great week everyone!

Pics: 1 week left of the sugar challenge! Here is how it has been going for us so far!

Letter 86 Referrals

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I still don’t have any pictures this week. I actually have a few, but they are just pictures of Elder Boulette eating desserts and drinking soda because the sugar fast was too much. Well, it was worth a try. I’m still going pretty strong though, as long as I have my Little Caesars and In-N-Out. 

This week we dropped a lot of people but that’s okay. We are still trying to work with a couple of them but it’s been pretty hard. However, we did get a super awesome referral this week and we think she will be really interested so that’s super exciting! We have an appointment for this Tuesday. We also had a less active family that we are working with come to church yesterday so that was really exciting! That’s pretty much everything from this week! I hope you all have a great week! 

Letter 85 Staying in Heritage

Hey Everyone!

I don’t have a ton of time to write this week but we got our transfer calls and we are staying together. I was a little nervous, but I’m glad to be staying in heritage. This week it’s been the same old, just trying to find new people and keep in contact with the people we have.

We did service for a lady who was a referral from the family history center and she seems pretty interested. She is super awesome and she used to be a Quaker so that’s pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve ever taught a Quaker before so it will be exciting. Other than that our week has been pretty normal! I know that Jesus Christ lives and wish you all the best! Have a great week!

Letter 84 Is This Utah?

Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty much normal! You know one thing I noticed is that in this area there isn’t really that much crazy stuff happening which is funny because we are right by Pomona. Now that would be a fun area to work in but La Verne is super nice and we have had no problems with our bikes getting stolen so far which is great. People are super nice to us here and every time we go out to lunch someone pays for our food. We only go out to lunch because other people have given us gift cards but we can never spend them because everyone is paying for our food. I seriously feel like I’m in Utah it’s so weird.

Anyway, yesterday we had a wonderful regional conference broadcast for church which was really nice. Elder Christofferson and Elder Kearon gave wonderful talks. The Chengs weren’t able to make it unfortunately, but hopefully next week. We picked up a couple new investigators that seem to have a lot of potential though and we are really excited to teach them! One of them is a boy named Markus and he is really cool. He was a referral from some member friends and we taught him at their house.

The only problem is we can’t meet with him for another three weeks so that’s too bad. It’s tough to meet with people here, Everyone is so busy. That’s pretty much it for this week though! The members in this ward are super awesome and so we have the opportunity to have a lot more spiritual lessons and teach the restoration in its fullness which is really nice. I love it here so much and am so grateful for my mission experiences thus far and can’t wait to continue making more!

Have a great week everyone!