Week 9

Thanks for all the emails this week. So this week has flown by. On Tuesday we had specialized training all day which was about ATM, which is Awake the Members and how to get to know members better and getting referrals, I think that it's going to work pretty well so it was a good meeting it just went too long as usual. It sounds like Laura might of got the same kind of training. So this week, nothing exciting really happened. We are struggling to find people that will even hear us out so thats tough. We have a few solid investigators that we are teaching but none have baptismal dates so we need to really work on that. We got a referral this week, her name is Josefina, she's in her 60's, and we met with her on Saturday and she is so nice but she's had a rough life. She was raped by her father when she was a child and no one believed her, not even her own mother, and her mother hated her, and she never got married because of what she went through as a child. There was a bunch of other stuff too but it was really depressing but she is the sweetest lady and she came to church on Sunday and I know she is going to get baptized soon. She loved church and the people so thats really exciting. We also had Steven at church on Sunday and he wasn't a big fan, he is used to loud music and jumping around and our church is defiantly not like that so I'm not sure whats going to happen with him. Diego didn't come to church again but were going to keep working with him because he will be such a great member when he's eventually baptized, he just needs to come to church. We have a few other people were working with so were doing a lot of teaching but we had a lot of appointments this week fall through which is a little depressing but hopefully this week is better. I just read my letter from President Gelwix and he was telling me how hot my area is, so hopefully that means that I get to stay another transfer! This upcoming week I have an exchange and I get to stay in Reedley and a missionary I really like is coming here so I'm excited for that. The trip to the vineyard to roll the grapes got postponed so were going to that tomorrow night if we can get an investigator to go. I can't think of much else happening this week besides General Conference which is going to be awesome. I didn't realize that Laura is home in two weeks! Thats an exciting time although from her letters it sounds like she has mixed feelings and shes going to be weird. Glad to hear that you got the photos, will send more soon, its easier to mail them than to upload them because the internet is so slow.

Week 8

So Gloria got baptized yesterday!!! It was an awesome experience and will never forget it. So we did all the normal baptismal service stuff and then when it came time for the baptism I had no clue what I was doing because I expected the card with what to say to be there but it wasn't so I was trying to remember how it goes but that wasn't the real issue. The first attempt was tough, I knew what to say but Gloria was a stiff board and her elbow came up and she forgot to plug her nose so she came out of the water choking so had to wait like a minute or so to wait for her to stop choking to do it again, it was defiantly not how I imagined my first baptism going but can only go uphill from here. The second time went better and she got baptized so its all good, defiantly will never forget that baptism. The other people were working with right now is Diego who is awesome and said he's going to be baptized he just needs to come to church before he commits on any date so hopefully that is soon. We started working with someone called Steven who lives in our apartment complex, I went with him on Tuesday to play basketball at the church and he really enjoyed that so now he has people that he knows. He asks a lot of questions and is really interested in the gospel, he has a solid foundation and good morals so he's easy to work with. We taught him the Plan of Salvation last night and he really appreciated the lesson, he kept thanking us for the "new insight" so I think its all starting to make sense to him now. We have a few other investigators that were really working with who also can get baptized soon so this area is doing really well despite how hard it is. Also this week, Elder Malo was gone for two days at some leadership training so two elders came to Reedley and we had so much fun and got a lot done which is the best combo. The seventy postponed his tour of the mission until October so didn't have that last week. This week I'm going on an exchange with the Zone Leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. We have specialized training all day Tuesday so that should be fun. On Saturday I'm going back to the vineyard because we have to roll up the grapes that we picked a little while ago. That's about it for this week, time is really starting to fly and am enjoying myself more and more each week as I get used to mission life and have a good companion.
Elder Christian

Week 7

Thanks for all the emails this week, I've never gotten so many emails! So Elder Malo has joined me in Reedley, he is awesome, he is originally from Mexico City but now lives in California so he's not too far away from home. He has been out for 8 months, he joined the church three years ago so it's cool to have a recent convert as a companion. He is super nice and I am so glad that I have him as a companion because we are having so much fun and having more success than last transfer. He is also helping me a lot more with my Spanish which I really appreciate. This past week has been good. We had transfers on Wednesday and bishop took us out to lunch at the Chinese buffet. On Saturday we went to church grape vineyard an hour away where we picked grapes which will become raisins, it was a new experience but not that exciting...I feel bad for all the field workers who do that all day every day, thats got to be tough. After grapes we went to In n Out, we walked in and a guy gave us a twenty dollar bill so we got free lunch and some extra money. This week we've been treated really well, five members took us out to eat which I don't mind at all. So Glorias baptism is this Sunday and she asked me to baptize her so I'm excited for that, a little nervous because I've never done it before but it will be cool. We are also working with a 13 year old girl who is going to be baptized on the 25 so hopefully that all works out. We are also working with Diego who is my favorite investigator, he loves the missionaries and said that he is going to be baptized, he just doesn't know when so hopefully that its soon. This upcoming week we have a seventy coming to visit and on Sunday its Glorias baptism so this should be a good week.. Thanks for the update on the ravens, all the members let me know last night that the ravens won so I was really happy, especially because it was against the Steelers and we crushed them.

So it sounds like life is going to get a little more crazy now that your bishop. As soon as you were getting in a good routine and things were getting relaxed, they called you as bishop. It sounds like that is going to keep you busy for the next 5 or so years. Thats cool that Alan Cheung is in the bishopric, he will do really good. How big is the ward now? Church is keeping you busy so I guess the quote is true, "The gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable" That's crazy that in less than a month that Laura is going to be home. The weather here isn't as crazy as your having over there, its sunny all day every day but it sounds like your having a lot of rain.

Week 6

So we got transfer calls on Saturday night...and I'm staying in Reedley but I'm getting a new companion, his name is Elder Malo and I don't know much about him but he's been out for about a year and he's Mexican so that should help with my Spanish a lot. So I'm happy that I get to stay here in Reedley because I'm used to everybody here and how to get places but I'll be making all the plans because he doesn't know anything about this area but it will be fun. Transfers are on Wednesday so next pday I will let you know how he is. I'm a little surprised that I was kept here because they normally keep the older missionaries in the same spot and move the younger ones around but I'm happy right here. So this week was kinda like the other weeks and everything blends in but the area is really progressing and our teaching pool is getting a lot bigger so we always have something to do. Friday I went on an exchange and that was fun, I really got along with the other elder, he was pretty new to the mission too and I think that's why we got along, all the older missionaries are just in the routine and boring, I hope I don't get like that. Saturday was transfer calls and the district I'm in is getting a lot of new faces but none that I know. Today we went to the swap meet which is a ghetto Mexican flea market kinda thing, and that was fun, September is going to be a really good month, I think there is going to be quite a few baptisms this month which is really exciting. So right now I'm doing about 50/50 Spanish and English teaching and we teach about 25 lessons a week so we never tract. We still are getting fed pretty much every night and have a team up but Elder Malo and I am going to take it to the next level!! It's still hot and in the 100's every day, hasn't rained yet but it never rains from like may to October so I shouldn't expect any for a while. I have the nastiest watch tan, I'll have to take a picture and send it to you next week because its sweet. My feet are getting better now that I have the cream but they still burn and itch. That's about all that happened this week, I met my new companion on Wednesday so I'm excited. The hardest thing about the mission is giving up football and sports and not being able to watch movies but they will all be there when I get back, it's just every time we walk into members houses they are watching football and my heart sinks a little because I miss it so much, it sounds lame but its the truth.

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.