Week 12 - Oildale

Hello everyone! This has been a big week! On Monday after emailing we went to play kickball, and it was fun.
On Tuesday we went to Melva, the lady who was getting baptized on Friday, and we went over what she would be doing and how the baptism would go down. Throughout the day we tried to get to other people but they were never home. We went by a recent convert, Victor, and he didn't answer the door. We then went to this lady who lives at the very top of our area, and takes about a half hour to get there, and she works at a gas station and has the greatest faith. She asked for a ton of Spanish and English book of Mormons to give to people who come by the gas station, and she invited one of her co-workers to hear our message. She is now an investigator, and I have high hopes for her.
On Wednesday we went to the Silva family, who got baptized three weeks ago, and it turns out that he was never taught the plan of salvation, so we had to teach him that. When we finished explaining everything, he pointed at our whiteboard and said "I don't like that." We were frightened, and we asked what he didn't like, and he said "death. Why do we have to die?" That was better than what I thought would happen.
On Thursday we moved out the elders of the apartment where there was a shooting and brought the stuff to a new apartment behind ours.
On Friday we had dinner with Monica and her siblings. It was really good. After that we went to Melva's baptism, which was super great and sweet. I gave the closing prayer, and someone told me that my Spanish was fantastic. I was pretty glad to hear that. April, the recent convert who has a child and a frightening boyfriend, came over and gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. It was really cool, and she was super nervous.
On Saturday we had dinner with the Hansen family (the ward mission leader).
On Sunday Melva was confirmed and afterwards she felt so overwhelmed and sick. She was so nervous and had to go home. I hope she's okay, and we're checking by on Wednesday. We tried all of our investigators, and they weren't home. We did get someone who is a Mormon, but her family is not, so we're coming by another day to teach them.
Today for Halloween we are not allowed to do any missionary work, and after six, we are not allowed outside our apartment. We have some talks that we were asked to study, and Elder Bednar is coming on November 12th. I am excited for this.
I am doing pretty well, trying to figure out how things go. There are some missionaries who just don't like me, but neither do a lot of people we see on the streets.
If you could pray for Melva, Juan and Jorge, and the Moncera family, that would be great. The language is going pretty well but I have a hard time actually using it. We have three people in our companionship, and we have two areas to work in. We've been going all over the place, but it's been great.
The weather has been good too, and it has rained about 4 times this week! The work is going well, and we are trying to find people. The ward is also doing really well, and I can see great things to come.
Our investigators have been lazy, so this week we're planning on waking them up. Sleep has been pretty good. We go to sleep between 10:30-11:00 and wake up at 6:30.
If you could keep praying for me, to be able to speak to people's hearts, and for my area, that would be great. Thanks for everything you do for me, and for the hopes you have for us. I am super grateful to be a missionary, and I am learning a lot through my trials. Thanks for the example that you guys set for me, and I love you. 

Oh, also someone stole the GPS out of our car this week.

Week 11 - Oildale

I am serving in the La Puente, Highland Manor, and Meadows wards.

This was a crazy week. I am doing fine altogether. Every once in a while I don't feel so well, but the Lord immediately provides large blessings from it. I would feel bad, and then the Lord gives us an awesome Lesson or other blessing like that.

I have been praying a lot to try to gain knowledge or understanding of how to do what I'm doing here, and how I can keep up with everyone else, and I got it. It's all in being as obedient as you are able.

We are teaching a few people. We are teaching someone who is getting baptized this Friday! She loves the gospel, and she is really old. She doesn't like when when we leave, because she says she can feel the difference! She loves everything we teach, and Elders Rocha and Jacobson taught her originally, and they would give her a chapter to read, and when they come back, she would have it full of notes and markings and questions! They first met her smoking outside her apartment.

Another set is a family that we knocked into. The father's cousin is a member, and is living with them to learn English at college. The wife of the husband has a large speech impediment, and the father is super great, except that he won't keep commitments. We almost got him to commit to baptism, and there was silence for a moment, and the sister just interrupted it with some question about something.

Juan is also an investigator that we have, and he is great during lessons, except that he won't keep commitments.

We also have Jorge, Juan's brother, and also another investigator who lives with his girlfriend and they have a one year old child. The girl does not like him, but he doesn't have a job and cries any time she threatens to kick him out. She became a member in August, and is super awesome. He though, is great whenever she is around, and then doesn't acknowledge us any other time. He's taking lessons to try to win her heart. It's super sad. His name is also Juan.

Then we have a lady who we taught with the sweet old ladies. Those are our investigators now.

By the way, we can order things from amazon here, not that I need anything, but it's cool. Something cool that happened this week was that I anointed someone's head with oil and later I gave a blessing to Wesley. I don't have time, but I love you, thanks for all you do for me, and I am so grateful for you guys!!!

Week 10 - Oildale

I am sleeping well, but my companion is not because it turns out that I developed snoring as loud as dad. He took a video of him trying to wake me up, and he can whistle like you. He did that many times, and nothing happened, and clapped, turned on the lights, and shook me, set alarms, and so forth many times in many days, and I haven't stopped snoring. However, I do wake up at 6:30 to my own alarm without a problem for what ever reason. The weather is very dry, and something interesting to know is that Bakersfield has the worst air in the US, and it smells like gas exhaust a lot. It rained last night, though, for the first time in forever.

We only ever cook spaghetti in our apartment. My companion is awesome, though, and is very chill.

Our ward is so awesome. The members help so much, and they continually have referrals for us. It is great. They really see the importance of missionary work, and the Hispanic families love us.

  
Something challenging that happened this week was walking around a very ghetto downtown area. No kidding, it was not very good, but that area is fun to tract in. 

  
Something successful this week was that we found a few more Hispanic investigators in white areas. It was great. 

  
Something random that happened this week was that our other Spanish companions had a shooting right outside their apartment. Elder Jacobson woke up and saw elder Rocha on the floor, and Rocha said, "Get down, they're shooting". Just after that bullet shot sounds came out, and he jumped off his bed. There was a shooting a small distance from their apartment that night. 

 
I have not yet been chased by a dog, hahaha.

  
I'm good right now, but the weather is cold in the mornings. For exercise, we try to go running. For fun on P-Day we play volleyball. It is tons of fun.

This week on Monday we visited Sonya and her family. They are great, especially the dad, Eddie, except that they're not reading.

On Tuesday we did Windows of heaven, and went to Kimberly, a recent convert who has severe anxiety. We had dinner with Brother Welsh, and we went to an arabic restaurant. It was really good. We then tracked Oildale.

On Wednesday we went to Brian, and he did not sound interested at all anymore, but he is 15. We went tracting, and went to Cris, Kimberley's brother. He has strong faith in God, but thinks he doesn't want to join any church.

On Thursday we went to Juan, but he wasn't home. We then tried Brian, who wasn't home, and we tried Sonya, who wasn't home, and Kimberley, who wasn't home, all this with a member following.

On Friday we had Zone Conference, where Elder Cook (of the 70) came. He was really cool, and he said that we should think of Christ as our senior companion, so we always ask for Him to be there when we do things. We went to Juan, and had dinner with Hermana Gomez. They are awesome, and they brought a nonmember friend with them, who at first was cold toward us, but opened up a ton. We're teaching her again. We taught Sonya and her family, and they are still not reading.

On Saturday we went to a small part of downtown and got a few referrals from people who knew of Hispanics in the area. We got one contacted as an investigator, and the other wasn't answering the door. We tried to find Chris, but he wasn't home, so we tracted.

On Sunday we had dinner with Bishop Butler at 3, and they are a great family. He has a lot of good ideas. We went to many places, and again found no one, and we finished my first 12 weeks study. Today we went to Elder Rocha and Jacobson's apartment, and they told the gunshot story. That was my fantastic week! I am learning here to trust the Lord and that He knows what he's doing. It is hard, and blind, but that is where the miracles are. That's why they are miracles.

 

  

Week 9 - Oildale

This week has been really great. We have a challenge that we have to read the book of Mormon in 64 days, the amount of time it took Joseph Smith to translate it! 

   On Monday we played volleyball. We went to a sweet family who always want to know if they can feed us. They feed us salad and tacos. On Tuesday we went to Jorge's house, and Juan, his brother answered. We taught him the first lesson, and he was interested, asking a ton of questions. When we'd give an answer, he would be so surprised and say "You guys know that? Cool." He didn't know the words atonement or repentance, or the apostles. He was Catholic, but I am still shocked to find how little of the gospel people know. He loves the word repentance though. We went by Brian again, and from his face he was like "Wow, these guys won't leave me alone!" We taught him the importance of reading the book of Mormon, and I told him that this wasn't just something that we say, but that he really needed to read the book, and that that was why we were out there, because we know the blessings. We went to Sonya's home, and she says that she has been keeping up on our commitments. On Wednesday we went referral hunting, and that night we made spaghetti for dinner. It was really good. We went back to that family who always asks if they can feed us. To be specific, they are two old Hispanic ladies who are super kind in a small apartment. They are so happy, and they are trying to get their friend nearby to take our lessons with them. They are awesome. We went to teach Sonya, but she wasn't there. Her husband came, and we taught him! He is accepting the lessons so well! We invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and he said in español, "I will read this." As in, the book! I am excited for him. On Thursday we went back to their home, and Sonya was sleeping, and her husband Felix works about 4 jobs. They are living with their cousin, who is a member, which is cool. We had a senior couple missionaries come and help, but Sonya didn't want to wake up. We brought a white board with the plan of salvation, and asked the member, Berinese, to teach it to the family. She didn't, we found, which was okay because I would like to help teach it. We went to Juan, but he was at a meeting, so we left a card inviting him to church. We had volleyball night, too, which was really fun! On Friday we had exchanges, and I went with Elder Jacobson, who is a legend. He was really cool. We tried a few referrals, who weren't home, and went to Juan's  house, and he cut us off saying he had to go to the mall, and we brought a member missionary by too, so we tracted a referral we found from a kid selling candy bars. We had dinner at Monica's house. That family is awesome. So, Monica and Kimberly are sisters, and Cris is their cousin, and they have another person who helps pay rent. We had pizza. Monica and Kimberly are members, and Cris is the guy who drinks a lot. We went to two less actives, and the first one wasn't home, so we left a card, and the other, we saw at the window so we knocked on the door, and they wouldn't answer, as though they weren't there. On Saturday we tried a few places to find people (converts and referrals). We then stopped by Juan, and the weirdest thing happened. Juan and Jorge are brothers, and their mom, we thought, was single. It was originally the mom, Luz, whom we taught, but she tried to act like it wasn't her. Anyway, we went there and this man came to the door. We asked for Juan and Jorge, and he said "They moved out." I doubt that, so we're going to try again this week. That night, we had dinner at the Worthins, who is such a cool family. Their 12 year-old daughter died while the mom was at girls camp, and one of the sons, now on a mission, was at scout camp. In that same year, their father got brain cancer and had to go through multiple strenuous surgeries. They are still extremely active in the ward, and very happy. We had pizza, and we went to a baptism, taught by Elders Rocha and Jacobson. He had permission to get baptized a week earlier, but he burned his leg in oil. His daughter also got married, and his wife was already a member. The Spirit was so strong there, and so many people came. His name is Rigoberto. On Sunday we tried super hard to do anything, but we went through our whole list of things to do, but none of it worked out. We did, however, go to a member's home, the Burdicks, who are so cool. Their son turned in his mission papers, and they have one autistic son. They are the happiest family though, and the mom is super funny. That was my fantastic week! I am loving this mission and all the support you guys give me. I love you, and I hope you all have a good week. 

If you ask God for miracles, He will give them! I know that. Ask super specific questions. There are missionaries who ask super specific questions, and it happens exactly as planned! 

So, everything is okay with the landlord now, and elder Ball did take care of it. It is not time yet, actually, but when I do, I can do it. Thank you, though! 403 real road ap. 50 Bakersfield, CA is my real address. Again, I love you all, and it looks like a ton is happening at home.

Week 8 - Oildale

Hello friends and family!

   This week has been awesome, and blessed by the Lord. On Tuesday for studies we listened to the conversion of a Catholic priest. It was amazing. We knocked a lot of doors. We tried to go to a Deleon family, a less active we've tried daily to get to, who wasn't there. We then went to Brian, our first investigator, but he wasn't home either. We did knock doors at someone who will become a new investigator later in the week! She is Sonya, and has the thickest Salvadorian accent ever. I couldn't understand her very well. We then went to a referral who is moving out of our area, so we sent the referral to other elders. We went to the Nixon family, and they are cool. They gave a few referrals that live out of our area, though, but they helped.

   On Wednesday we went tracting for a few hours, and  had dinner with Hermano Alvarez. He is awesome, and really nice. He reminds me of dad in his disposition and the way he holds conversations. That night, during prayers, Elder Chamberlain asked God for a miracle, because we need help. We weren't finding anyone. 

   On Thursday, we tried to call the Deleons, and when we did, Elder Chamberlain said "Hello this is Elder Chamberlain and Elder Sant", and they hung up! We went to mcdonald's where there was a guy whose wife's family was Mormon, and before he left, he gave a $100 bill to us. We called him back and said that we literally could not take it, and he didn't care. He just left, and said "do what you will with that". We played our weekly volleyball game that night, and it was great. Wesley, a ward missionary, is awesome, and he said some amazing things that answered my prayers. 

   On Friday we had a district meeting, and we visited the Lindley's who gave us referrals, and then went to a guy named Cris, who's an alcoholic with little time, but loves us. We went to Brian with Wesley, and taught him about the importance of reading the book of Mormon. He hasn't been progressing, and we're going to give him two more lessons without him progressing or we'll drop him. We went to Jorge, another investigator, but he wasn't home. 

   On Saturday we listened to a tape on the atonement, and it was amazing. We went to Sonya, and she had a cousin who was a recent convert, which was perfect because she's living with them. She cried because her own church was so bad, and she cut us off a lot. She is progressing, and she will watch general conference tomorrow. On Saturday we had general conference, and we were asked to prepare questions that you needed answered, and I couldn't think of any. Going in, I received answers to things I really needed, but didn't consider. After conference, we went to Jorge's house, and he wasn't there, but his brother Juan answered. We gave him the restoration lesson, and he asked a ton of questions. He knew so little, not even who Peter, James, and John were, or what repent meant, and he loved that word. He loved that it was to have no more desire to do evil and try not to anymore. I am still surprised at how much of the gospel knowledge we take for granted. We invited him to general conference for Sunday, and he sounded so excited to come, but on Sunday, he didn't come. 

   We're going to find out what happened there, because we were sure he was coming. On Sunday, we had general conference, and we had dinner at a doctor's home. He had four large dogs, and they were super cool. One of them was only 7 months old, and came to my thigh. We had an awesome time with them, and elder Rocha and Jacobson came too. It was fun, and that night we went to the bishop of another ward, who provided a lot of referrals, and that was great! The work has been growing here, and I'm excited to be here helping it do so. I love you guys!