October 28, 2012

Little progress so far on the Garcia family. The dad works everyday, so he doesn't have time to go get the marriage license. Not even 30 minutes haha. They close at 4 and he works until 6. So we are trying to think of a solution for that as well. The kids are awesome. Their ages are 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 18.  The 5 year old little boy, Arturo is the funniest kid in the entire world. I love him to death. He thinks we are just the greatest. Every time we knock on the door, he always says "what took you so long?!?!" haha.

Thanks for the pillow. I am now swimming in pillows haha. Elder Smith gave he his pillow before he left, a nice big memoryfoam guy, probably an $80 pillow haha. Both are huge improvements from the nasty, filthy pillow I found when I first got to the mission.

Um, I think I'd like to apply to Utah State, Utah, and maybe Weber St. Not so sure about Weber St. But the other two for sure.

October 21, 2012

Thanks for the quote Christopher. Again another solid week. I think
Elder J and I have acquired enough knowledge during this whole
Garcia family debacle to be able to pass the BAR exam and serve as
Orange County marriage lawyers. Its ridiculous how easy it is to get
married in this country. After trying to concoct a bunch of plans to
get Hermano Garcia some form of photo ID, he finally decides to let us
know that he still has his driver's license from Mexico, complete with
all the necessary info; photo, name, date of birth, etc. Still valid
too. For some reason he didn't think that it would be accepted at the
register's office, and he is too lazy to go find out for himself, so
Elder J and I drove all the way up to Fullerton just to ask them
regarding the matter. And the verdict: A-OK! So all the pieces are in
place. We told them the good news and they were totally pumped. They
are such a great family. Probably one of my favorite families that I
have met on my mission. The kids are so funny. They remind me of the
cousins haha. I love just playing around and joking around with them,
much like I do with my blood kin. I'm so glad we are in a position to
help them be an eternal family. Hopefully everything works out and we
can get them married by the end of the month. As you probably were
aware back home. It was UEA weekend for at least half of the state (or
so I was told by a visiting family we talked to just outside
Disneyland). So the place was crawling with Mormons. It was fun to see
all the Utah license plates. I was rolling down my window, holding my
tag out for all the world to see, just repping that LDS stuff. Pretty
fun. The Jazz were also in town on Monday to play the Lakers at the
Pond. I really wanted to go, but P-Day ended at 6 and tip off was at
7. Rats. Can't wait to see the Notes tear it up when I get home.
Speaking of which, I'm going to need a sports update.
Well that's it for this week. Love you guys so dearly! Nos vemos en nueve meses

3 good things about the week?
1. Figured out that the Garcia family already has all the
documentation necessary to take out a marriage license.
2. Saw a bunch of Mormons in and around D-Land for UEA (where were the Facer's?)
3. Got the so-called best pillow in the world in the mail.


Something funny that happened?
I purchased a Cuban sandwich for district at this sweet little market
place kinda by the ballpark. It was so big! Haha it was seriously the
size of my cabeza. It had every kind of meat imaginable in it. It fed
me for the next 4 days, so it was a very economical purchase.

Any luck getting ID for the Garcia-Lopez parents?
Turns out the dad already had a Mexican drivers license, but for some
reason he thought that they wouldn't accept it at the register's
office, so Elder J and I drove all the way up to Fullerton to ask
them concerning the matter and they said it was totally cool. So they
are all set. Which is really cool.

Is Miguel still going to get baptized soon?  No. He kept getting drunk
throughout the week and totally fell off the map.
Did you make contact again with Lizbeth? Yep we sure did. She is so
golden. She even is starting to ask us when she can be baptized and
expressed a desire to be baptized ASAP
Any other investigators or interesting lessons taught this week? Not really.


Life with Elder J? Its alright. He is pretty easy to get along with.
How exactly do you say his last name?  Jan-E


Did you enjoy the temple?  Did you do an endowment session or initiatories?
Endowment.

October 14, 2012

Well I think we have a couple of big miracles in the works here. I
should probably explain the antecedents first. We are working/teaching
this one family in our ward, the Garcia-Lopez's. They are super cool
and super dysfunctional. The kids are all members and are all pretty
solid. The parents however, are not married and subsequently have not
been baptized either. Evidently they have been listening to
missionaries for 4 years, ever since the kids got baptized. Throughout
the whole time, the missionaries have been working with the family to
find a way for the mom and dad to get married and baptized. The
problem is that neither one of the parents are "legal"  nor have super
reliable documentation, so its kind of a sticky situation. However
Elder J and I have been pulling out all the stops to try and help
them out. We heard that a lot of people around here sign up for the
free English class at Santa Ana College just to get the student ID

just for the purpose of having some good solid photo ID to use to do
things just like taking out marriage licenses and what not. So Elder
Janne and I have been making trips all over the place to the college
and various branches to try to figure out just how wide this loophole
really is. Seems like it could work, so we're going to try to get this
thing going. But if all else fails, we might take him to go get a
Costco card, and use that as his photo ID haha. But either way, I have
a really good feeling about this and I think we are super close to
really seeing a big miracle in the lives of this family. Stay posted
for more. Love you guys!

3 good things about the week?

1. Miguel came to church. Evidently, according to Elder J, that is like a super big miracle because he had never been to church before this last Sunday and he has been meeting with missionaries for like 4 months, with little progress. But then this last week, something happened and he whipped himself in shape and is now a serious baptismal candidate for this weekend. Stay posted for further updates.

2. Feeling oh so much better.

3. Didn't have to pay to do laundry at some greasy filthy laundromat. So nice.

Something funny that happened?

Oh I can't really think of anything in particular. Its so frustrating. My humor is wasted with Elder J. He probably just isn't used to me quite yet. He hasn't picked up on my zaniness nor my wit. Don't worry, I'll get him to crack.

Life with Elder J?
I thought he was from Kansas, but you said he sold cars in Utah. Explain.

You are correct. He is from Kansas, but he moved to Utah to go UVU.  It didn't work out for some reason, so he stayed and sold cars at Miller Chevy in Provo. Something like that.

Investigators?
Are Miguel and Lizbeth still planning baptism dates?

Miguel yes, but Lizbeth took a trip up to San Francisco, so we didn't get a chance to see her this week. But she is still golden as far as we know.

We actually have another family who nay be getting baptized really soon. The Garcia-Lopez family. The kids are all members, but due to legal complications the parents haven't been able to get married therein making them ineligible for baptism. Evidently they can't get married because the dad doesn't have any ID. However we found a sweet little scheme to get him some photo ID. We are going to take him down to Santa Ana College and get him enrolled in an free English class. They should give him a photo student ID, which can be used to take out a marriage license. Its ridiculous how easy it is to get married in this country. We are really excited about this little loophole we found because evidently they have been looking for a way to get married since the kids got baptized 4 years ago. So this is like a pretty big miracle in the works right now. We are going to the college today to do some more investigation.

You mentioned money last week.  Do you need some extra?

Um, a little bit. My Spanish scriptures kinda fell apart, so I need to get some new ones at Deseret Book. There may be some other necessary purchases as well, but I can't say any off the top of my head right now.

Did it get cold down there this past week?

a little bit. i had to go long sleeve one day, I think.

How's the new ward? They seem alright. Its really really big. The bishop is cool. Like the bishop in Garden Grove he is Chicano, so he speaks English and gets American humor, so I think a made really good impression at dinner the other day.
Are they feeding you? Yes indeed.
How long has Elder J been in the area?  This is his second transfer here. 

October 7, 2012

Sorry couldn't think. This week was not too exciting. Driving around
is so weird and foreign to me. It feels like a completely different
mission. I can't believe it. We just drive around all day, chewing
sunflower seeds and listening to MoTab and we end up teaching twice as
many people as we do on bike, even though it feels like we do half the
work. Crazy. My companion Elder J is alright. He is a big hick boy
from Kansas, but he is very articulate and smart. He was a car dealer
back in Utah, so he really knows how to lay on the "charm" you might
call it. It's kinda funny. This week was consumed by a lot of
conference stuff. How about that announcement? That was something huh?
I feel like that was a savvy move by the church. I think it was kinda
hard for some kids to kinda have that limbo year between high school
and the mission. Now I think it will be a lot easier for a lot of kids
to be ready to go. Also I think you'll see a lot of other positive
effects all the way down the board. Good call Church.
So there really wasn't anything too interesting this week. Just a lot
of driving and thinking and chilling. My back still hurts so I think
I'm going to go to the doctor sometime soon. And that's about it for
this week. Another week in the book.

September 2, 2012

YES just scored a 15 minute extension on the library computer sweet! I
hope I can use it well. Anyways, it is now Tuesday, and I am emailing.
As you can probably guess, the library was closed yesterday on account
of Labor Day, the most fictional holiday of all time. I don't
understand it. Anyways, last night was crazy. I had a big time Holy
Ghost protection moment. Last night, I was totally knocked out, just
sleeping away, when all of the sudden my eyes just popped open and I
had the strangest impression to walk into the kitchen. I did and I
walked in to see that Elder Walker had left the oven on at 350 and it
was still going hard at 2:30 AM. So I shut that thing off real fast. I
don't know if its super dangerous to leave the oven on all night, but
I know that its probably not a good thing, so I was glad that I had
that weird impression. Kind of an interesting experience at the least.
 Well this last week was pretty OK. We slogged our way to 20 lessons
on the week. I don't know how, because we were constantly feeling
super tired and hot. We are going to try a new strategy. Instead of
riding all over the town and getting sweaty, tired and disgusting, we
are just going to put all our eggs in our progressing investigator's
basket. Juan is the man. He is so funny. He is super old and is always
interrupting our lessons just to tell us a story about the time he got
ran over by a bus or something like that ha ha so weird. But he
understands everything and really wants to give us a fair look. He
came to church with us on Sunday and he was just the absolute star of
our Sunday school class. He was telling stories, cracking jokes,
standing up, providing visual aids with the use of hand motions, the
works. It was a riot. He really enjoyed himself (obviously) and I
think he might just get baptized in a couple of weeks. Maybe even this
week, who knows? That would be crazy. I hope it all works out. But
anyways, time is almost up. That's pretty much it for me this week. I
love you all have a great week!

> It looked like you had another bike repair.  What happened?
> I put a little more money in your account.
> I popped my tire while we were out and about. We actually had to leave
> the mission and walk the bike down to the nearest bike shop. The labor
> itself was 10 bones and then I bought some other stuff for preventive
> measures.
>
> You mentioned doing your laundry at a member's house.  Who lets you
> use their washing machine?
> The Garcia family. They are super cool, and we have dinner at their
> house at least once a week. Super nice.
>
>
> Are they feeding you more often?
> Yes, we actually got a full schedule this week.
> What do you eat when you are at home?
> Lots of bread type items, like PBnJ, grilled cheese, bagels with
> spread, hot pockets, stuff like that.
>
>
>
> 3 good things about the week?
> 1. Juan came to church this week.
> 2. Switched my bike to full fix, risky business.
> 3. Taught a bunch of lessons.
>
>
> Something funny that happened?
> Just a bunch of little things. Nothing I can put my finger on.
>
>
> Developments with Carlos, Juan, or the lady(What is her name?)?
> Any other contacts?
> Juan came to church on Sunday. He was the star of our Sunday school
> class ha ha. It was great.
>
>
> Do you know that I don't read Spanish?
> I don't know what the lady said to you and haven't seen Scott to help
> me translate.
> Ever heard of google translate. the device used by junior high Spanish
> students worldwide.
>
>
> What exactly do you do at a temple tour?
> Just take the people around the grounds and explain the temp. a little bit.
>
>
> What is the Mexican Mormon colony?
> Colonia Juarez. Look it up Broski.
>
>
> How was the weather this week?
> really steamy.
>
>
> Do the people at McDonald's know your name? not yet.
> What do you usually get to drink?
> Dr. Pepper or Hi-C
>
>
> How's Elder Walker?  He is good. I think.
> What did he think about us trying to meet his parents?
> He thought it was cool. He seemed kind of indifferent, but I think
> that's just his personality.
>
>
> Any Labor Day plans?
> Not emailing, that's about it.
>

August 27, 2012

Wow being on bike is so not fun haha. I think we are two of the most
> frequent McDonalds $1 beverages customers in the entire world haha.
> This week, at the beginning was a little slow and very tedious.
> Transfers were on Monday and they pulled the sisters out of our ward
> and threw in a training companionship, Elder Aguilar and his greenie
> Elder Vincent. So Monday we had to go to transfers to pick up Elder
> Aguilar and all his crap, sit through the transfer day rah rah pep
> talk and move all of Elder Aguilar's stuff into his new apartment. It
> was not the most exciting p-day of all time to say the least. However,
> we did go bowling at Tustin Lanes afterwards for dollarmania. And I
> had a great game, a zone best 218. It was awesome. Elder Walker is a
> good little bowler as well, so we were just putting on a show in our
> shirt and tie (Lance Storm lightning bolt tie for me, needless to
> say). Elder Aguilar spent the night in our apartment, and on tuesday
> we went to go pick up Elder Vincent. He is an alright kid, super
> hyper. Doesn't speak a word of understandable Spanish haha, but he
> loves to practice. Its really funny haha. Kinda like Elder Calhoun
> from The Best Two Years. But anyways, the rest of the week was full of
> sweaty necklines and trips to McDucks to cool off. We didn't have a
> lot of success during the week, just a lot of miles put on our bikes.
> But then on the weekend we had a really interesting series of events.
> We were riding down Harbor when as we were flying past a
> semi-transient car dealership, the owner flags us down and tells to
> come get a hot dog off their barbeque. Who could resist right? So we
> stopped and started to talk and turns out that this dude grew up right
> next to the Colonia Juarez in Mexico, so he knows all about the
> Church. His name is Carlos. We invite him to the our temple tour in a
> couple of week, he is thrilled. We teach him and the two kids working
> the grill. Get return appointments. Justice. Then another old Mexican
> dude pulls up for a hotdog and Carlos starts to do a missionary
> contact on our behalf. Crazy. The old guy his name is Juan. He seems
> pretty excited and invites us back to see him the next day, which is
> Sunday. So after church, we go to see Juan and this is where it gets
> pretty interesting. We go and teach him a pretty solid lesson, then as
> we are finishing up, this lady walks in the room and says "oiga elder,
> deme su tarjeta ya ando con prisa" Wait hold up. I ask "como sabia que
> yo era elder" because people don't usually refer to us by our correct
> title so naturally. She responds "porque soy miembro. Hace 2 anos que
> no estoy activa. Cuando vivia en Chicago daba a comer a los elders
> todo el tiempo" Woah no way. What a weird chain of events. By the time
> we left, the lady was super interesting in listening to us, coming
> back to church and having us teach her kids. Crazy huh? No doubt we
> were right where we were supposed to be. Pretty neat.

>> 3 good things about the week?
>> 1. Bowled a 218 last monday after email. SCORE!
>> 2. Made some ridiculous contacts this weekend. So cool. I'll tell you
>> more later.
>> 3. Got rid of the sisters. Now we have another companionship of elders
>> in the ward. Elder Aguilar from Mexico/Arizona, and Elder Vicent the
>> greenie from Brigham City.
>>
>> Something funny that happened?
>> Elder Walker took a tumble on his bike this morning on our way to a
>> member's house to do laundry. He went down, and I followed up with an
>> amazing Anchorman reference "wow that was a terrific little spill
>> there!" and he just cracked up. It was funny.
>>
>> Any luck pawning your extra typewriter and bike on some other poor Elder?
>> I did manage to sell the typewriter for 40 to Elder Curtin. He was
>> thrilled. The bike has a few interested customers. I think I'll just
>> sell it for $100 just to get rid of it.
>>
>> Investigators?
>> Juan-I'll tell you more about him in my letter.
>> Yesenia-Done. Not interested anymore. Not sure why. Oh well.
>> Carlos-From the mexican mormon colony in chichihua. Never got
>> baptized. Super interested. We'll see what happens.
>> bout it.
>>
>> What does President Bowen usually talk to you about in your
>> interviews?  You said he does the talking and you listen.
>> A lot of stuff. He mostly wants to make sure that I am ready to come
>> home in a year. He has told me multiple times that "we really are here
>> to get ready to go home" so its kinda interesting.
>>
>> Why did you think that you and Elder Walker might get separated and
>> that you would be a trainer again?  Are you happy you two are still
>> working together?
>> Oh of course. I just thought it was a possibly. He has been here his
>> entire mission.
>>
>> There have been several news shows on TV lately about Mormons because
>> of Mitt Romney and the convention being this week.  Have you had any
>> curious people because of that?
>> I haven't heard anything about that this week. But I have heard
>> plently about Bro. Romney.
>>
>> Was the weather any better for you last week?  It looks like it is
>> going to be warm for you the next few days.  Make sure you stay
>> hydrated!!!!
>> Oh yes it stinks so bad haha. Thank goodness for McDonalds' dollar
>> beverages
>> haha

July 1, 2012

SORRY I HAD TO WRITE A REALLY LONG LETTER TO PRESIDENT, SO I DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH TO WRITE YOU GUYS. SO SORRY. So this week was pretty good. Its starting to get a little steamy over here. It feels really hot. This week was a little wacky. We had a lot of dumb bike problems. Bike problems make me so mad, they are just horrible wastes of time. We had a really funny experience. We were riding along, and then we noticed that Elder Prieto had a huge chunk of metal stuck in his bike tire. I was frustrated because we were stuck in our area, far from our apartment, and not a bike shop in sight. So we locked up the bikes and walked from one end of our area to the other, so that the other Elders could pick us up for reinforcements. We got to the other side and we're standing there waiting when Elder Prieto asks me "Where was that picture taken and why were there so many potties in one place?I believe that was on Oak Street and Chestnut in my area. I have no idea. I don't understand a lot of the things people do around here.  You never did answer my question about the medical copay from last week.  Was that for your back or something else?  Oh that was just for my third and final hep. shot. 3 good things about the week? 1. Our ward had a baptism on Saturday, some girl from Columbia was visiting her aunt who is a member and lives in Irvine. Her aunt took her to church every week for the last month and she just decided to get baptized before she left. Its amazing, some Elders just have baptisms fall out of the sky for no reason ha ha. But its all good. Something funny? Me and Elder Prieto got really into the the toys you sent me. We both got the Bilbo on the spindle after hours of practice and we just freaked out ha ha.  Also the woman who moved away out the blue last week, well we found her! Ha ha it was so funny. She was shocked when we showed up at her door after doing some detective work. She thought she could escape! Contacts?  (Name and + comment) Ada- She is a member, got  baptized like 10 years ago in Mexico, but moved to the US 5 years later and hasn't been in a church since. We just found her knocking doors. So we're going to help her come back to church. Have you turned into a little gang banger while you have lived in California?  First, a picture of you at your service project holding your hand like a gun and then sporting a gun tie tack.  I have always been a gang banger. Are transfers next week? Yes. I'm out of here. I think I'm going to Garden Grove. How's life with Elder Prieto?  You sent a picture of him with a cake.  Was it his birthday recently? It's alright. Sometimes I don't do as good a job as should as the senior comp, but he is cool and we actually have a lot in common. It was his birthday actually. Did you get the Williamsburg toys I sent?  Did it remind you of the garage sales last year?  :)  I did. They are awesome. We are going bowling today as well, so Lance Storm is really going to be going at it with his new tie. Anything you need?  I need cartridges for my typewriter. I couldn't find them at Staples. I'll send pictures. Also I need to get better at typewriting in general. I am typing so slow today. Its almost time to go and I have barely written anything to you. Its so frustrating. I'm making so many mistakes. Ugh. I feel bad for not writing too much. I hope you know that I love you.

June 24, 2012

So this week was pretty fun. It was Temple week, which is always fun. This time our whole zone went to the temp together, so the session was almost exclusively Elders. It was pretty fun. So that was Wednesday. Thurdsday, I had mini interview with President Bowen. Evidentally Salt Lake put the foot down, and said no more chiropractor appointment for Elder Facer. So I just have to deal with my horrible horrible spinal decay for the rest of my mission. Great. It already bugs the crap out of me. I've been sleeping on the couch for the last month already. Maybe, I can use this illness of mine as a source of pity, so that I can get a car next transfer. So it might not be too bad.

Well once again no one came to church. Oh well. There is absolutely nothing we can do to help the people come to church other than what we are already doing. So I'm not upset about it. But it is a little frustrating haha. But I was exposed to really weird cultural thing in church on Sunday. I noticed that one of the member was wearing a really cool tie-clip of like a nice shotgun or something. Super funny. I really wanted to know where he got it so I could go get one myself. So I went up to him, and asked him where he got it. He then asked me if I liked it, to which I responded, "me encanta!". He then proceded to take it off his own tie and put in on mine. I was floored. He just gave it to me. I then learned that it is just spanish culture. If someone tells you that they like something that you are wearing, you just take it off and give it to them. So crazy. I'm definitely going to take advantage of this knowledge in the future haha.

Congratulations on teaching 21 lessons and 11 new investigators in one week!!!  Any developments from any of those people? (Name and + comment)

Unfortunately, nothing really has come out of it yet. I swear me and Elder Prieto have the worst luck in the whole mission. An example. On Thursday, we went to visit of the those people. Our lesson was at 7, but we found ourselves in their neighborhood around 5, so we just stopped by their house to confirm the lesson at 7. The woman told us that she was still planning on it and was excited to have us over. So we left and came back at 7 only to find that the woman had left and there was a moving crew taking all their furniture out of their apartment. Evidentally within a span of 2 hours, this family had decided to just up and move. It was so weird haha. This is such a transiant population here in this area haha.

3 good things about the week?

1. Went to the temple on Wednesday.

2. Had a sweet little mini interview with Pres. Bowen on Thursday. He gave me hints regarding the next transfer. I'm am going to be moving on. Probably to Garden Grove, I think.

3. Taught a bunch of lessons.

Something funny that happened?

The people just moving out of nowhere was pretty funny. I was literally just shocked haha. We've tried going back to find the family, but the house is just deserted, and none of their neighbors knows what happened.

Did you buy shoes at Macy's?

I did, I'll send a picture.

How's your back?

Kinda stiff. But I have to just deal with it. Pres. said that Salt Lake put the foot down and said that I can't go to see good old Dr. Francis anymore. So now its whater.

Did you get a big stack of postcards?  Your package this week should make you smile. 

Not yet. I'm excited.

I haven't seen a friend newsletter this month.  Do you know why?

No idea. I sent my entry last week. 

June 17, 2012

 Hey mommy I love you. Things are cool. We had a super good week. We had a nice Zone Conference, where our zone leaders encouraged us to do more little lessons with people in the street, so we started doing that and the work just exploded. We taught a ton of people. We had 21 lessons in the week. I bet we were the teaching leaders in the whole mission. Me and Elder Prieto are pretty much like the Lebron James and the Dwayne Wade of our mission. Speaking of such, how is the NBA Finals going. Dad forgot about me I guess. He didn't write me this week. Thats so cool you are so a fun trip. I wish I was on a fun trip sometimes. It feels like we see the same stuff everyday haha. A little change would be nice. I'm thinking I'm going to get transferred in a couple of weeks, so my wish might just come true. Everything is so good. I like the ward, I'm feeling better about everything, its all good. I love you mommy. I'll try to write a week summary tonight on my typewriter.  The Washington DC temple is super nice. It looks like a castle. Keep an eye out for a sister missionary there named Hermana Shannon. She was in the other district that came in with mine in the MTC. She is stinking cute and everyone was crushing on her big time haha.

That would sweet if you saw her at the visitor's center over there.  She is really dark and super tiny. Can't miss her haha. Love you mommy. Just had a much better week. Love you. Talk you to you later! Send pictures of your trip!

3 good things about the week?

1. We taught 21 lessons this week! The most of my entire mission!

2. Good zone conference this week on Tuesday.

3. Went bowling. I didn't do too hot, but it was nice to back on the lanes.

Something funny that happened?

Ok so on Saturday, our ward was doing a car wash to help send the yound women to their encampment or whatever, and so we were there helping out and sending our car through the cycle. We had our car parked and we were just standing around talking, and then boom! out of no where this woman just plows into the back of our van. It was so weird. Just so surreal to watch someone smash into your own car. She didn't do much damage, just scratched the paint more than anything, but I imagine that it will be the priciest car wash of her life haha.

I am glad that you had a nice birthday.  Please tell the Flores thank you from your mother for taking care of my boy.  What does she do at Disneyland?

Actually its the Hermano Flores who works there. I think he does the food or something at one of the restaurants in the park.

Did you like your blanket that we made?  Sammy made Tyrel one for graduation.  His colors are maroon and black.

I do like it. Very Clemson Tigery. I was super glad that I could get rid of that old stinky, flithy one that I found in the Villa del Sol apartment.

Remind me about Elder Groesbeck.  Where is he from?

Houston Texas.

Have you treated other Elders to snow cones? Did you ever decide to buy shoes?

Oh yes. Elder Prieto was sick yesterday, so I made him a Get Well Snowcone which consists of shaved ice with a Day-Quil flavor topping. I'm going to go for the shoes today I think. And the book.

Investigators? Kevin? Cesar? Others? (name and + comments)

We dropped all our weak investigators and went big this week. We learned a new method, using short lessons in the street and we found 11 new investigators. Pretty sweet. One of them, is this woman named Orealina, something like that, and she had acutally had some contact with the church previously, in fact she had been reading the Book of Mormon in her car while she waited for her kids to get out of school for the last 7 years. So it was pretty incredible that we found her.

How did Lance Storm do when he went bowling last week?

He didn't meet his own expectations, but he's not letting it get him down.

June 10, 2012

So this week was pretty sweet. Birthday week! Yeah Sweet! Its weird to think that I am now 20 years old.  It was a fun week though. Birthday day, started with present opening and the subsequent snow cone mania that followed. So sweet. I have now converted from a fitness maniac to a snow cone maniac! So much better. In the evening I had great birthday party at the Flores' house. They are an old couple in the ward and they are super funny. Hermano Flores works at Disneyland, so that could be a potentically sweet hook up in the future. But anyways, they threw me a super nice party with a nice chocolate cakes and some big juicy ribs. Super good. It was a great birthday dinner for sure. The rest of the week just kinda flew by. We are really hurting for people to teach, so we are trying some different stuff. On Thursday, we decided we would spend the day riding the bus and trying to talk to people and get some addresses. And it did not work at all haha. Oh well, at least we are trying to do some different things. Thats the important I guess. The rest of the week was pretty much the same, just a lot of knocking doors and talking to people. Pretty boring for the most part. Eventually it will all work out. Today I am really excited because we are going bowling! Yes! Elder Lance Storm bout to hit the lanes so hard. I'm feeling a 200 game at least today. I'm excited to impress the whole zone with my bowling proeffency (spell check please). I really wish I had a lightning bolt tie (hint hint anyone?). So all in all, sweet week. 3 good things about the week? 1. Had a sweet exchange with my good friend Elder Groesbeck. 2. Opened my sweet presents. Me and Elder Prieto had a great time making waffles today. 3. The Flores family made me a sweet birthday dinner complete with some delicious ribs! Sweet! Something funny that happened? See pictures. Kevin and Cesar?  Any other investigators?  (Name and + comments) I didn't get a chance to see them this week. We had a bad week as far as lessons go, so we don't really have too much to go on. But things should start to pick up soon. You said you had 5 long emails last week?  Who from? Dad, Grandpa, You, President Bowen, Sammy. Did you buy any shoes?  Have you become exercise maniacs? I did not yet. No, we are now snow cone maniacs. Exercise maniism is so last week. We liked the pictures.  Where did you get the wrestling masks?  Who took the picture? We got them at this store in our area. I just put the camera on auto picture taker. How's the typewriter?  HINT, HINT! A little dusty I suppose. How was your birthday?  Did you like your presents?  How was your party? It was nice. The presents were so funny. We've made like a million snow cones already. So fun. The party as nice as well. Check out the pictures. Did you mail the box? Nope.

May 14, 2012

Well this was a nice week. Something I forgot to mention from last week; we went bowling at lovely Tustin Lanes as a district and I really wowwed the crowd with a big 177. My perfect form and great ball spin really won the whole district over. But anyways that was last week. This week started on a tragic note. My back had been hurting me a lot over the last few weeks so I decided to make my virgin trip to the chiropractor. The chiropractor is a stake President in Irvine or something, so he's used to seeing whiney missionaries in his office. Well they took X-rays on Monday and brought me back on Tuesday with the diagnosis. And I have something called Stage 1 Spinal Decay. I have no idea what that means really. Basically, my neck doesn't curve enough and my lower back curves way too much, so I think I'll have to go to chiropractors a lot in my new adult life to get it straightened out. I have a theory that once they fix me up, I'll be 4 inches taller. Can't wait! But right now, it is a little painful. I'll going back today to get another ajustment.
As far as the work goes, its pretty slow right now. I went to a Leadership Meeting on Tuesday, where President Bowen basically told to drop all our weak investigators to focus on getting some real good baptisms. Which leaves us with a very small teaching pool. So right now it's pretty much knocking all day everyday. Pretty boring. But we'll find "los de oro" in no time. Maybe.
3 good things about the week?
1. Got to talk to you punks.
2. Got a nice spinal ajustment on Monday. I'm going back today at 6.
3. Met some pretty funny people this week. A lot of whack-o's.
Something funny that happened?
Well we were going to visit some old investigators. And we stopped and parked our bikes in front of this one house and all of the sudden this big crazy Chicano-Cholo guy runs out of the house, grabs Elder Prieto's bike and takes off running. I was shocked. And then after running off a few feet, he turns arounds, laughs, and says "HAHA I'm just xx with you! Come on in white boy, lets talk about God." It was super weird haha. He had a real potty mouth. I learned about 7 new Spanish swear words in that lesson.
Investigators? (name and +)
That dude's name was Mario. He didn't invite us back.
And that's it.
You mentioned Cinco de Mayo in last week's letter and the friend newsletter.  What did you do to celebrate?
Nothing really. There was just a big party over there on 4th street and main. It was pretty crazy.
Do you have another appointment for your back?
Yes, today at 6.
Any idea what kind of item you want for your bed to help with your back?
I have no idea. I'll ask Dr./Pres. Francis today.
Do you need me to send you a couple of new memory cards?
Um sure. That'd be sweet.
Grandpa asked me if you try to reactivate people in the ward?
Every once and a while. Pres. Bowen actually discussed this in our Leadership meeting on Tuesday. He wants us to focus on baptisms first and let the home teachers do the reactivating.

May 29, 2012

Oh I found a really good book at Barnes and Nobles if anyone was thinking of something to get me for my birthday. Its called 2001 Spanish-English idioms by Barrons. It has a yellow cover. It looks a lot like the verb book you got me. I think it would help me out a lot. Or maybe I should just get it myself? I don't know. Anyways, I love you! Have a good one!

Well yesterday was transfer day. Sweet! For some crazy reason, I didn't move or receive a leadership call (imagine that right?), so I am staying right where I am with Elder Prieto. Which is alright. I don't really care either way. Elder Prieto is an alright guy, so I'm cool with it. But almost our entire district got switched up. Elder Smith, Elder Tidwell, and Elder Estrada are all moving on, and Elder Martinez, Elder Huesca, and Elder Smith and moving in. It was kinda sad to see such a big change. This last district has been the best one yet in the mission. But thats just how it goes in the mish, I guess.

Well anyways, those guys spent their whole morning and early afternoon at the good old transfer day pep talk at the mission office and then moving their stuff here and there, so me and Elder Prieto decided to take a trip down to the WestPlace Mall on the other side of town. It was pretty fun. We took the bus, which was surprisingly really excited. I hadn't been on a bus in the longest time, so even our little 15 ride seemed like such an adventure. Pretty sad, huh? haha. But it was fun at the mall, just walked around like a couple of bums. A lot of people gave us some weird looks. A few members came up to us to say hi. They got really excited, kinda like how a little kid gets fired up with he sees his school teacher at the grocery store. The same kind of thing haha. But it was pretty fun to just walk around and see the sights.

There were a lot of changes this transfer. A lot of people went home today. Including good old Elder Zamora. Its weird to think I'll probably never see that kid again when I saw him just about everyday on my mission. He told me that I would have always have a place to stay in Ciudad Juarez, if my mom would let me go, which I doubt haha. But its crazy that he's gone. I'll miss that little chango-boy.

Hey I told President Bowen that I didnt really get a chance to send a good email home, so he let me get on today to send a good one. Love you.

Hey sorry, they are being silly and are starting to kick us out. I love you! I'll try to write a report on my typewriter tonight, so you can have a nice letter instead of this lame short boy. Guy over my sholder. Got to go! Love you!

How's your back?

It actually kinda feels a little worse. Doc. XX is a complete quack.

3 good things about the week?

1. Went to a fun fair in Madison Park to contact.

2. There were a couple of baptisms in our ward yesterday.

3. Me and Elder P enjoyed a fun day at the MainPlace Mall today while everyone else was at transfers. We took the bus.

Something funny that happened?

I think it is transfer week.  What ended up happening?

Me and Elder P are staying. Just about everyone else moved.

New companionships:

G and B

Facer & P

M & H

I'm so not excited. Elder XX  is the most obnoxious elder in the mission. Ugh.

Any last minute birthday requests? 

Um, maybe some cash so I can go get a pair of running shoes. And some whey protein. Me and Elder P are going to become exercise manaics.

Why were you so pressured for time last week?

Cuz the people who run this history center always make up get off the computers.

What did Elder P think about the guy asking if you were a couple?  Have you ever had a time when someone you are talking to has made you feel really uncomfortable or unsafe?

I was actually with Elder S when that occurred. I'm not sure if I said that wrong. Not really. For the most part people are pretty respectful. We acutally had members pick up the tab on our lunch on two different occasions this last week.

Kevin's baptism still set for June 9th?

Yep, but his grandma is always sick, so he hasn't gone to church for a while. And she doesn't think that is ready to be baptized. So it might be a no.

May 21, 2012

Sorry mom I got really presured on time this week. Just know that I love you. Ok? Ok. Everything is good. I'm going to try to think of a good birthday gift today, and I will send a type-written letter to you. I love you dude! So long!

How's your back?  Did you ask about something to make your bed more comfortable?  I need to get your birthday stuff in the mail next Saturday so you will for sure have it in time for your 20th birthday.  How exactly did that happen?  You were just a little fella a couple of days ago.  I remember you being the troll in your kindergarten program just like it was yesterday. 

I have no idea. I think this Dr. guy could be a total quack. He is treating Elder S as well and he is getting worse. We have this theory that he is just giving us his "missionary treatment" which consists of a back cracking and a kick in the pants on the way out the door.

Any ideas, wants, or needs for your birthday?  Is there a Chili's or some restaurant that I could treat you to on your birthday?  I would offer Applebee's, but Sam says we can't go there until the day you come home. 

Haha I don't recall having seen an Applebee's nor a Chili's yet on my mission. I can't really think of any needs. I have no idea what I want for my birthday. I'm starting to have doubts about the bed pad as well. I can never decide. Maybe just nothing will be alright.

Is your birthday the week of the next transfer?

Nope, The following week.

3 good things about the week?

1. Exchanges with Elder S and Elder G  Super fun. It was nice to have some white guy humor back in my life for a couple of days.

2. Got the scoop on transfers. I'll keep it a secret until next week.

3. Found a laundromat that charges half price of the one we had been previously using. So I was pretty excited about that.

Something funny that happened this week?  Hopefully, you won't have another story about Elder P's bike.  Is his bike more desirable to thieves than yours? 

I suppose so. Well something funny, me and Elder S went on exchanges. We were knocking doors in his complex and he met this crazy dude who invited us in to talk. He was white, just so you know. But anyways we got to talking and he mentioned something about his female roommate. I asked him if he was his girlfriend and he responded "No, just because two people live together, doesn't mean that they're a thing. Are you two a couple?" I said no, and he said "Oh too bad, that would be really sexy if you were. You are both a couple of very good looking guys" And I just blurted out laughing. He wasn't gay, he was just giving us crap. It was really funny the way he said it.

What does find "los de oro" mean? 

The ones of gold.

Will you be emailing on Memorial Day or will I have to wait an extra day or two to hear from you?

I have no idea. I haven't heard anything about that yet.  

Do the members in your ward ever refer their friends?

No they don't really trust us. We're kinda having a feud with the ward. Our ward mission leader is kinda cutting our knees out a little bit with the rest of the ward. I don't really understand it, but its alright.

Investigators?  (Name and + comment, please)

Kevin-Baptism date for the 9 of June.

Daniel-Lazy. Going to be dropped.

There's a few others, but none are really major players quite yet.

April 30, 2012

Well it seems like this last week was relatively tame. Not too much happened. We realized that none of our investigators were progressing so now we're still going hard, knocking doors, trying to find the humans. Not too much success, but I'll keep you informed if anything sweet happens. I guess the big event of the week was the Mormon Helping Hands service project on Thursday. I don't know if you've ever seen one of those, but its really a sight. The whole stake gathered at Santiago Park to help clean up the river/drainage device thing. They threw an embarrassing yellow bib on each of us and sent us off to work. It was pretty fun. The whole stake went to help, so all the missionaries in the Spanish program were there as well. It was a real ball haha. Its not very often that all the mishes get to see each other. And a lot of the older guys are going home at the end of the transfer, so it was nice to see them all again.

Other than that, all is well. Can't complain really.

How are things progressing with Daniel's baptism date for May 6th?
Eric always mentions in his letters that people have to attend church 3 times before their baptism. Is that the rule in every mission?  Daniel's comments about just needing a towel and a change of clothes to get baptized was amusing.  What did they decide to do about getting married?  Isn't he the one that wanted you to teach him English? 

We actually didn't get a chance to see them this week, so they won't be getting baptized for a while. Yes they should go to church at least twice, I believe.

I am glad you had a chance to spend a bit of time at the mall.  How far is it from your apartment?
I will have to search for it on my google maps. 

Pretty far. We had to hitch a ride with a member.

What exactly does it mean to be a district leader and why do you think that is going to happen next transfer?

District leader is esecially the leader of the mission in each ward. A lot of missionaries are going home next transfer, so I think that I'll get the call up.

How are things going with Kevin?  You mentioned that he is super shy.  Does he feel comfortable around you?  Did you say he does or doesn't speak any Spanish?  Did you mean English?

He does not speak Spanish.

3 good things about the week?

1. Did a big service project with the whole stake at Santiago Park in Santa Ana. It was our Mormon Helping Hands thing.

2. Can't think of anything bad.

3. Um, can't think of anything else.

April 22, 2012

Well this week went fairly well. Good way to start off the transfer. I think a lot of things really improved for us here. We taught a pretty good number of people. Given, they didn't all ask us to come back, but still, its a start. We think we might have a couple baptisms this week, if we're lucky. Our one invstigator, Daniel has a baptsm date for the 6th of May, but first he and his "girlfriend" of more than 20 years have to get married haha. That is a very common occurance around here. Some people have grandchildren even though they aren't married to their partner. Its kinda weird, but I think that its just part of the culture. So we've got to find a solution for that, real quick. Hopefully, it all pans out good in the end.

The Spanish took a major spike upward this week. I found myself talking about stuff that is way beyond the missionary vocab. I explained to this one family, why the U.S. doesn't care about soccer, and whey we will never be a competitor on the international level, and they looked at me like I was a sports analysis expert. It was pretty awesome haha. I'm still not very satisfied with where I am, so I'm going to keep working my butt off.

So all in all, it was a good week.

3 good things about the week?

1. On Monday, during transfers, me and Elder Prieto went to the mall in Tustin and walked around for a few hours. It was pretty sweet. I bought a new dodgers hat. I think I mentioned that in my letter last week.

2. Taught a part of the lesson at District Meeting on Wednesday. That was pretty fun. I think I'm going to be called as a district leader next transfer, so that was cool.

3. The new district seems to be fun.  

mething funny that happened this week?

Well we commited Daniel to be baptized this week. It was really funny. When I asked "Will you prepare youself to be baptized on the 6th of may?" He answered,"Of course, all you need is a towel and a change of clothes right?" haha it was hard not to laugh.

The other thing, we found this guy named Pablo on the street. He was just chilling there sipping on a 40, doing his thing. We started talking and he just kept bashing on people who drink alcohol and what not. After a while, we got up to leave and I asked him if I could throw away his drink for him and he esencially responded by saying "Get the hell out of here, this cost me 2.50!" haha it was pretty funny.

Investigators?  (remember name and positive comment)

Kevin-12 years old. super nice kid. doesn't speak a word of spanish. lives with his grandma, who has been inactive for more than 10 years. They both are starting to go back to church. but he is super shy and quiet and doesn't say more than a couple words when we try to teach him. poor kid. he gets super scared of all the people at church and has to leave right after sacrament meeting every week.

How are things going with Daniel and Martin?

Daniel-Pretty ok.

Martin-Wife asked us to not come back.

Did you make any contacts knocking on all of the doors at the large, noisy apartment complex?

a few, nothing too exciting.

Did you melt this weekend with your very warm temperatures?  We are warm now, too.  In fact, Dad turned on the air conditioning.  ARRG!  Too early and too expensive.

luckily we have AC too. but it was really hot in the streets. we always stop at the dollar store for gatorade throughout the day.

Did Elder Zamora go home?

nope, he stayed.

Yesterday when I was home alone, I found your apartment on google maps and walked down McFadden, crossed the freeway.  I saw the Subway, der Weinerschnitzel, and Stater Bros (is there an AutoZone in the parking lot?).  Is that how you get to your area? 

yep you called it dude.

Do you mind sharing your goals with me?

well just one of them is to help me with spanish. right before bed and right after i wake up, I read a chapter of the book of mormon while holding a pencil in my mouth. it helps a little bit with the accent.

April 15, 2012

Another transfer down. I'm not doing a good job keeping track. I think
it was the 5th one right? It was pretty good, a little rough, but not too bad. This last was somewhat humorous. Elder Prieto fell victim to a bicycle seat theif and had to ride around standing up the pedals most of the day in order to avoid a painful rear end injury. It was kinda funny. Luckily, the theif decided that my bike didn't look quite as comfortable, so I was spared the loss. We are trying like crazy to
meet new people but its really hard. We found this really huge, really loud apartment complex on 2nd street and we are going to try to knock every door there. In fact it was in front of that very complex that the seat was stolen. I think thats enough about bike seats. Anyways its a new transfer. New planner. New district. Black slate. Anything
can happen and thats pretty cool.

3 good things about the week?
1. Interview with President Bowen. Not my best interview, but it was
pretty good.
2. Set good goals for myself.
3. Found a really cool Dodgers hat at Dick's for 8 bucks today. I was pretty pumped on that.

 Something funny that happened?
 Some stole Elder Prieto's bike seat while we went knocking. Haha we
 locked the bikes to a stop sign outside of an apartment complex and
 went to knock doors. When we came back an hour later, his seat was
 gone haha. He had to ride standing up the rest of the day until the
 mantainance Elders came and brought us an old one they had found in
 storage.
 Is your cold better?
Still a little snotty

Investigators? Daniel-Old guy who lives in this tiny house next to this really loud
recycling center. He told me that my Spanish was perfect and he was
really excited about that. But now he wants me to teach him English instead of the gospel.
Martin-pretty cool dude. has a really huge parrot that lives in his
garage. parrots are actually quite disgusting. it was pooping
everywhere.

I saw some crazy rain in Southern California on the news the other
day.  Did you get a lot of rain this week?  We had some pretty good on thursday i think.

I have a few Walmart gift cards.  Would you be able to use them if I
sent them to you?
I haven't seen a Walmart in the ward boundaries yet, so i'd hold off.
I think there are a few in anaheim, so when i go there send them down.

Anything else you need?
cant think of anything right now.


What did you think about the missionary peeps we made?
they were nice. the ap's came over to study with us on tuesday, and i
gave them a few and they went nuts.