March 11, 2012

Well my greenie has arrived. My first "son" in the mission field. His name is Elder P., from Stockton California.  He is a pretty nice kid, kinda quiet and shy.  He is a fluent spanish speaker, having been born in Peru, which is a really good thing. Me and him are going to practice spanish a lot, so I'm pretty excited about that. But we seem to get along pretty good.

This week was really boring however. Elder P. wasn't able to attend the MTC in Provo, so they threw him a little mini-MTC in the mission office. It was probably something really important for Elder P., but I was board to tears haha. But it was good. I was pretty happy when it ended haha. But it had to be done.

Our new area is really good, I'll let you know how the people are when we meet them. Unfortunately, for having to attend the MTC, we weren't to make too many contacts or even get to know our area. I have yet to see the area in the sunlight haha. The weird part about the new area as far as I have seen so far, is the trek that we have to make just to get there. We live a little bit outside of the area, in Tustin, so to even get our area in the first place, we have to cross the bridge the goes over the 55 highway. In fact, the voyage to the area is longer than our area itself. But its all good.

The ward seems pretty nice. Absolutely swarmed with missionaries. There are 7 of us in the ward, so it gets pretty crazy. The mission gave us a nice mini van to make room for us to pile in for church. So all the members got a pretty good laugh of all of us slammed in the van for church haha. But all in all, the new place seems pretty good.

   Who will you miss most from your former area?

Um, probably this lady named Nallely Garcia. She is 26, single and has 2 kids. Elder Z. baptized her right before I came to the field. She was super nice and always took care of us right nice.

How is Santa Ana 11 Central?

Its alright. Its really different. The people are all so different.

How far is it from your other area?

Not very far at all. Its just like the next ward over. Our area is from 4th street to Warner and from Grand to Main in Santa Ana. So its pretty small. But its a new area, so we don't know anyone there yet.

How is your new apartment and what is the name of the complex?  I want to look for it on my google maps.

We live outside of our area in Tustin. We have to ride across the highway to get to our area. We live in a place called Nogal Feliz. Its on the corner of Walnut and McFadden.

How is your new ward?

Pretty good. Really small. Probably only about 50 members were in church on Sunday.

Did you enjoy spending time with the other Elders while you waited for your companion?

I suppose. Those two guys are really strange. The one from Spain is a really straight laced guy and the guy from Sandy is kind of a arrogant jock-type. He lives right across the street from Greg Miller, so he is absolutely loaded.

Name of new companion?  Where from?  He speaks both English and Spanish?

Elder P. He is from Northern California, by Stockton. He was born in Peru, so he speaks them both.

How was your first week together?

Pretty boring. Elder P. doesn't have American citizenship, so he wasn't allowed to cross state borders and go the the MTC, so they held a mini MTC here for him this week. So we had to spend all day, everyday this week at the mission office to get him trained.

Any contacts this week?

Didn't have a chance.

3 good things about the week?

Ugh, this week was so boring, I couldn't think of anything.

March 5, 2012

So I am finally out of my first area! I'm a little sad, but a little not at the same time. They sent me to Santa Ana 11 Central as a trainer! So I'm going to be helping a new guy out in a whitewash, area opening situation. Its really exciting. I haven't met my greenie yet, he comes in tomorrow. I'm sure we'll get along great. President Bowen told me that he was going to speak both English and Spanish, so I don't have to worry about teaching him either of the two, which makes me especially excited. But it is a lot a of pressure. We had a couple meetings this last week in preparation for the new guys, and President Bowen said that a trainer is the most important position in the mission. Which is moderately stressful. But he also said that he has complete trust in me and that the Lord does as well, which is always good to hear. So I'm pretty excited. Still on bike, though, which isn't too fun, but all well. But I don't have a whole lot more as far as details go. The comp isn't here, the mission is still putting together my apartment (brand new!) so I haven't been in it yet, and I haven't been in my new area yet. So tomorrow is going to be quite interesting haha. Can't wait.

Tell me about your new companion and area.

I haven't met him yet. I haven't even really been in my area either. He comes in tomorrow and I'm picking him up at 5. Right now I'm spending the day with the Elders in my new district, and tomorrow I'm going out with another companionship as a trio.

3 good things about the week?

My head is kind of spining right now. They are taking me to a brand new place so I'm trying to get a feel of everything.

   Did you get a chance to say goodbye and express your love to some of the special people in Santa Ana?

I did. I got up in sacrament meeting, said thank you and goodbye. After church, I took a bunch of pictures and even signed a couple autographs haha.

   Tell me a little about the money you have been spending.  I am not upset, just wondering.  Is your bike   
ok?

Yes, I just had to replace a tire and buy a lock.

Did you leave Elder S.with good feelings?  You expressed some frustrations in the letter I received in the mail on Friday?

Yes of course. He is a good dude, but he just a 'holier than thou' attitude. I told him some of the things I liked to do with my friends before the mish and he just absolutely condemned almost all of it. So it was really confusing and upsetting. But the letter you sent me helped out a lot. Its just weird. A lot the missionaries here act like they never have never done any wrong. Its frustrating that I can't really relate to anyone here. They are all so different than my friends. I don't think I would hang out with any of these guys in anyother situation. 

Can I share some of your concerns with Grandpa?  He has always been very helpful to both of us in the past. 

Please.