Week 5

It was good to get your emails, although it sounds like mother nature is being too kind to the east coast with earthquakes and hurricanes. People in the ward told me that it turned out to not be too bad of a hurricane, how was it in Baltimore? It sounds like the weather is adding a little excitement to your week but besides from that it sounds like your keeping busy.

So since Wednesday, I had an exchange in Reedley and an elder came down with me and it was good, I just think these exchanges happen too often but it's only because my companion is the district leader so hopefully they slow down a little after this week. On Friday to Sunday we had a thing called special ops where the priests in the stake go with the missionaries and teach with us so that was fun, I had to do all the talking in Spanish so that was good even though he was kinda weird. I thought that was a good idea and that our stake should do that because it gives the priests an opportunity to see what missionary life is like. So Sunday was a disappointment, none of our investigators came to church and Gloria postponed her baptism to next Sunday cuz shes out of town so it was kind of a disappointing week but were finding a lot of people so this week should be better. Thats about all that happened from Wednesday to now but this week should be a good one. In a couple hours we have zone activity and were going to play dodgeball so that should be fun. And then we have a week free of meetings so we will be able to get a lot done this week. And then on Saturday we have transfer calls so I will find out if I'm staying here or leaving so I'm excited to see what happens. Our area right now is going to be split by the sounds of it because they are looking for an apartment in our area so we might lose half of our investigators if that happens but I will let you know next Monday. So I don't know if I have told you but my feet are all messed up and they have been hurting for like 3 weeks so I went to the doctor on Friday and found out I have some sort of fungus on my feet, he said its because I sweat and walk in it all day which makes sense but I got some cream so hopefully that fixes it because its nasty. Thats about all that happened last week and what is coming up this week, I'm so excited for transfer calls, whatever happens I'll be happy with.

Week 4

It was great to get your emails and read them since it's been a little longer than a week since my last p-day. So this was a pretty good week, my talk was good in English sacrament and then this past Sunday I talked in Spanish sacrament, not sure on some of what I said but they said it was good so I'm guessing it made sense. I guess I better get used to talking a lot on my mission so I should start saving my talks instead of throwing them away. I haven't been doing actual missionary stuff since we've had some meetings and all these exchanges. The trainer/trainee meeting was good and it was really good to see everyone from the MTC and find out where they are and how their doing in their areas. Some said they hardly get any dinners or team ups so that makes me appreciate the ward a lot more for helping out the missionary work even though its a small ward. I went out with an Elder this week from my district and that was a lot of fun, this is his second transfer so he's not much older than me but I felt a lot more comfortable with him and I was talking a lot more since he is new too. The next day I went on another exchange but this time with the zone leader and that was really good. He was a lot of fun and will make a really good trainer since he really involved me and helped me a lot with Spanish. So, Gloria is still planning on getting baptized this Sunday so I'm really excited for it and she passed the baptismal questions so I think were good to go. David won't move out or marry his girlfriend so that's on hold for now. That's pretty much what has happened in the past week. This week I have another exchange but this time I stay in Reedley so I'll be in charge so that will be fun. Next p-day is on Monday so that's only 5 days away till my next email.

Week 3

I'm glad you got that text from the member because I thought I wouldn't have any emails to read so thats good that you got that.

So this week was really good. It went by really quick probably because were working so hard, the whole day just flies by. So on Friday night we committed David to baptism, he's been investigating for about a year but he's finally committed so he's planning on getting baptized on September 3 but he's got to get married so we need to get on that. On Sunday night we also committed Gloria to baptism. She is in her 40's and is a caretaker for one of the older members in the ward so they referred us to her and we have only taught her twice but shes really excited to get baptized. She is from the Philippines and speaks pretty good English but we have to teach very simply because of her limited vocab but I'm excited because she is getting baptized on August 28 so we should have two baptisms before the transfer. It's awesome to finally see results from working so hard, the previous weeks no one was progressing so its nice to finally see our hard work pay off and were excited for our other investigators also. Zone conference was good, our car was so clean that we got 50 extra miles so thats an extra day of not riding bikes! But the actual conference was good, President gave a lot of good instruction. To sum it up he wants each companionship to baptize one person each month but starting on January 1 he wants the mission to get 2000 baptisms next year and the mission gets about 1000 a year so he's really planning on taking this to the next level. So it looks like were going to have to baptize 2 people a month next year so thats exciting. About the whole transfer thing, the next transfer is September 7 so were half way through this one but I think that I will be step trained by Elder Glowa next transfer and then stay in Reedley after he leaves so that would be awesome and I hope that happens. President also challenged us to read the entire Book of Mormon by Christmas eve so I guess I will start over and read it through by Christmas. Oh, also at zone conference the new missionaries share their testimonies so I had to do that but it went well and then on Sunday I had to give a talk but theirs only about 70-80 people at church so wasn't too nervous because their wasn't many people. None of the people in my zone are from the MTC so that kinda sucks but eventually I will be so I'm looking forward to that because I would be companions with any of them and be very happy. We have trainee/trainer meeting in Fresno on Friday where we all go and get instruction so I'll see everyone from the MTC so it will be cool to see how everyone is doing. And then on Monday to Wednesday I'm doing an exchange with the zone leaders so I'm going to be with one of the zone leaders in their area which is about an hour away so that will be cool to do that and then on Wednesday were going to temple so that is going to be our Pday next week. Sorry for the confusion, I thought it was this week but I got the weeks mixed up so you won't hear from me until next Wednesday. My companion is the district leader so he has to go and do an exchange with each companionship at least once each transfer so this week and next week he is going to their area and I stay here so that should be cool to kinda be in charge of what happens. Besides from all this, we've been working hard trying to find people to teach and get our investigators to progress. I'm liking it more and more as each week passes and I know that things will get better. Things are becoming more enjoyable as I keep myself busy and give myself more responsibility.

Week 2

So another week has passed and it has been a pretty quick week as we have been kept pretty busy. We have been doing a lot of teaching this week and we have quite a few investigators which is exciting. We have like 6 serious investigators right now that have the potential to be baptized but I can't tell if they will take the next step. I haven't done any tracking because we always have things to do, whether it be teaching or visiting less actives or part-members so that's good we always have something to do. We haven't ridden our bikes much this week which is good because its super hot out this week and humid. I have to do all the driving because my companion is Canadian so he doesn't have a license. We have done a lot of service this week, I think we have done like 7 hours of service so thats been good. So I give a talk this Sunday in church about Faith which should be alright because theirs only 80 people who come to sacrament and most of them are old so I shouldn't be too nervous. I guess in a small ward they need people to speak quite often so thats why they got me. We have zone conference this Thursday so we spent like 2 hours cleaning the car because it needs to be like perfect and if its not they take away miles which wouldn't be too good. So I'm looking forward to Zone Conference because President comes and gives us instruction which should be a good change of pace. I'm not quite sure what it is but will let you know next week. Oh, we have our quarterly temple trip on Wednesday so that is going to be our P-day so I won't email you until next Wednesday instead of this Monday. Thanks for the extra white shirts, I defiantly needed more short sleeve shirts and thanks for getting that clock, hopefully this one works better than the last one. I've realized that Pdays aren't too fun as most of the time is just doing chores like laundry and cleaning so hopefully I will find ways to do that quicker when I have a new companion because I think that we could be a lot more efficient than we are right now but it's not really my place to say anything yet as I have been out less than two weeks but their are defiantly things that I would do differently in all facets of what we do but right now I'm learning as much as I can about the things I do like and I don't like so that I can be more effective. We were doubled into this area so he didn't live there before and he's really clean so the apartment looks good now, I'll take a picture this week and send you a bunch of pictures when we email from the family history center. We have ac so thats nice when we get home. The sequios are only 30-45 minutes away so hopefully a member will take us out sometime this transfer because we can't take our car out there. I love this area, the members are so nice, and feed us at least one meal a day and we have a team up every night which is so good for a ward so small. I think that I will be transferred out of this area after this transfer which kinda sucks because I'm just starting to feel comfortable here and finding my way around but we will see in a few weeks. I want to be more involved and I'm slowly becoming more involved which is when I feel great but its times where hes doing everything and not involving me that I feel down.

Week 1 In the Field

So I'm officially in the mission field. I am in a town called Reedley which is like 30 minutes south of Fresno and I have quite a big area to cover, I cover the cities of Reedley, Dinuba, and orange cove. Their kinda ghetto in parts but other parts their nice so have a bit of both but its not a big city at all. They all have 20,000 or less people in each one but still quite a big area. The ward is awesome, we went by all the members this week just so I could meet everyone and they are all so nice and we get feed at least once a day despite the size of the ward. They get about 80 people to sacrament and 20 of those are Spanish so they all have headsets and listening to the translation so I wear a head set to listen to the talks in Spanish just so I can learn faster. Thats cool the bishop called, he's super nice and has had us over for two good meals already. So when I arrived on Thursday night to my apartment it was probably the dirtiest apartment I have ever seen, dust on everything, dishes out, never been vacuumed and was just a mess so we spent all today cleaning and it looks a lot better...it still is super ghetto but at least its clean and liveable now. So we have a car and we get 1130 miles a week to drive so we bike a little each day for a couple hours and its miserable on the bike, it is so hot and I am just covered in sweat and is so gross but I'm getting a sweet tan so it's worth it. We get yelled at a few times a day which is funny, they call us the "church people" and theirs usually a few cus words to accompany that phrase but for the most part people are nice. There are parts where it is little Mexico and its crazy because you wouldn't think we were in the U.S. cuz kids are running around naked and is just a lot different. I teach in both Spanish and English, its about 50 50 in my area so we get to teach in both but its hard to understand the Spanish people because they speak so fast but I'm improving. My companion is Elder Glowa, he is from Montreal, Quebec and goes home in 2 transfers so I might be his last companion if we are together for two transfers. He is a good companion and is slowly easing me in but he hasnt really helped me with my Spanish. We get along most of the time but he is not my first choice in companion but hes a good example because he follows all the rules and is teaching me a lot. He pretty makes up all the schedule so at night during planning I dont really do anything so I'm excited for when I am able to contribute to that. All in all hes a good companion and we work hard so thats the most important thing. Our mission is a little crazy with the rules, we can't wear any paisley ties. Thanks for the package with the food, it came to use because we had nothing to eat that first night so that helped a lot and I got all the packages so were good. I was kinda send pics but I'm at the library and it is taking forever to upload so I'll send them another week. So teaching has been going good and we have really good investigators that are super cool and hopefully there will be some baptisms soon, although no one has a date their are some on the horizon I think.Oh, the fruit here is amazing and all the members give us stuff so its awesome, and everyone has a garden here, it reminds me of the one we had in Trail and everything is so good. I know theres a bunch more stuff to tell but I can't think of it right now.