¡Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas everybody! We've had such a great week here in Anaheim
sharing the light of Christ's gospel during this Christmas season.
We've had a ton of success sharing the Christmas video and finding
people to teach. Everyone seems to be a little more willing to hear a
message about Christ's love for us.
We had the awesome chance to go on two exchanges this week with two
sets of Zone Leaders from Orange and Santa Ana. Funny story of the
week: On Saturday I was with Elder Cooper on exchanges, and we started
talking to a YSA aged girl walking down the street. She was super
interested in everything we had to say! We taught the whole
Restoration of the gospel and she accepted a copy of the Book of
Mormon! We asked for her number and address and she gladly gave them
to us! As she started walking away, she turned and said, "And hey, hit
me up when you wanna go out sometime" and winked at us...... So we
made like Joseph and, "got [us] out".
We had an awesome rest of the day though and got to meet a lot of
people. Anaheim is quite the melting pot. Last week alone we've met
people from Egypt, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Brazil, New Zealand, Tonga,
Samoa, Ecuador, El Salvador, Korea, The Philippines, Vietnam,
Thailand, Mexico(of course), and probably more. Hooray for culture!
I love this season so so much! And I've come to love it all the more
as a missionary, especially as I have pondered the wonder and glory of
Christ's birth, life, and Atonement. It is beautiful to me that the
Savior and Redeemer, the Creator of the World, was born in a humble
stable, some 2000 years ago, without wealth or splendor, to be our
example. He was born to end all goodbyes and to fix all mistakes. He
was born to overcome anguish, regret, depression, and fear. He was
born to provide a way for each of us to return to our heavenly home. I
know that Jesus Christ lives today. He is real. I am coming to know
Him more and more and I love Him with all of my heart! Merry Christmas
everyone! I love you all!

-Elder Francis
1) Merry Christmas from your favorite missionaries
2) Shout out to Joe Pratt. Thanks for the stocking!

Happy Holidays!

Hey everybody! I don't have a ton of time today, so my update will be
short. We had a great week this past week! We had Mission Leadership
Council and we got to attend Zone Trainings for the missionaries,
which was super awesome. There are just some incredible missionaries
in the mission, and it was so great to hear all of their insights and
comments and stories on the attributes of faith, hope, and charity.
We also had an exchange, and I was able to go back to my old area in
Garden Grove! We got to see some of the people that I worked with and
taught. It brought the sweetest memories of my time there. I love
Garden Grove.
We also found out that our most progressing investigator, Ana, is
moving to Mexico for the next 3 months. We've only taught her a few
times, but she said, "While I'm there, I am going to read the entire
Book of Mormon!" Hopefully the missionaries down in Mexico get in
contact with her so she can be baptized!
We've had some awesome finding experiences lately and have been led by
the spirit to people who needed to hear our message. I know that we
are on the Lord's errand and that this is His gospel! Have a great
week everyone!
Video:  1 year of Mission Leadership Councils

Burgers!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! We have had a great week in
Anaheim, especially as we've been able to use the Christmas
initiative, "Light the World"! Elder Wilson and I got to take
departing missionaries to the airport, and then pick up the brand new
ones! We also got to train the District and Zone Leaders throughout
the mission.
On Thursday the advent calendar that the church has prepared for the
month of December was kicked off with a Worldwide Day of Service! For
District Meetings each District Leader found a service activity for
all the missionaries in their district, and we all went and served! We
went to a middle eastern bakery and helped clean the kitchen. We even
got free lunch afterwards, bonus!
Elder Wilson and I were able to work with a lot of part member
families this week, and have high hopes for some of the nonmembers
that we got to teach. Part-member families are a golden source of
potential investigators because they have loved ones who have already
tasted the goodness of the gospel! It's an immediate support system!
Today for the birthday of my good friend Elder Dube, we went to "The
Catch" and ordered the "OMG" (oh my goodness) burger. 10 pounds of
meat!!! There were only 8 of us!! I can proudly say that I defeated my
1.25 pounds in like 10 minutes flat. So... much.... burger....
Tomorrow we get to train the Mission Leadership Council on faith and
hope! I've learned so much about these two Christlike attribute from
our opportunities to study and prepare for our training tomorrow. To
close, I'll share a quote on hope that I found and love:
"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the
shadow of our burden behind us... Hope sweetens the memory of
experiences well loved. It tempers our troubles to our growth and our
strength. It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones. It
lends promise to the future and purpose to the past. It turns
discouragement to determination."
I love you everybody!
- Elder Francis
1) best buds
2) elevator selfie with departing missionaries feat. Sister Taggart!
3) worldwide day of service
4) the omg burger

Give thanks and Light the World!

What a week!! It's been super eventful, but I'll try and keep the email short.
First off! The church came out with a new video for Christmas! It's
called Light the World! Not only that, but to help light the world,
the church has made an advent calendar for the 25 days of December
leading up to Christ, with a Christlike attribute to live each day!
The video and the calendar are all available on Mormon.org! Check it
out pleeeeeease!
We've had a ton of miracles this week! Elder Thornton and I had more
time to find people to teach, and find we did! We did our best to
follow the spirit in all of our finding, and it was neat to see how
the Lord led us to those who He needed us to see. For example, we were
led to a less active member who wants to be sealed in the temple to
her fiancé. Except.... her fiancé isn't a member! We can fix that! We
are going back to teach Claudia and her fiancé the first lesson later
this week.
Thursday was Thanksgiving!🦃 We got well taken care of. We had two
dinners and a service activity at the Honda Center in between them
both! We got to help at a huge event where thousands of homeless
people were fed a Thanksgiving dinner. It was awesome!
At the end of the week I was able to go back to my old area in Garden
Grove to attend the baptism of Elijah, Andrew, and Michael Finona, who
are three kids that Elder Sirrine (my last companion) and I found!
Their grandmother Julie, is raising them and three others, and I was
able to teach them all the first few lessons before I was transferred
out! It was so sweet to go back and witness their baptism.
To top off the week, Elder Thornton and I had transfer calls! We
called all of the Zone Leaders and told them where all the
missionaries would be getting transferred and who their new companions
would be. That was a little intimidating! These phone calls literally
change lives! It went well though, despite a few Zone Leaders getting
mad when we told them they would be getting transferred.😢
Transfers affected us too... Elder Thornton was is leaving for Santa
Ana, and I'm now with Elder Wilson, who was newly called as an
assistant! He's awesome and I'm super pumped to be serving with him
for the next few months. This week we get to go to the airport again
and pick up new missionaries, give some trainings, plan for MLC, and
who knows what else! Thanks for reading everybody, I love you!

-Elder Francis
1) Thanksgiving service
2) Finonas baptism
3) Transfer Calls!
4) Elder Wilson and I

Week 71

I'm not sure if this was actually week 71, I just couldn't think of a
subject for this week's email.
This week was awesome! On Tuesday we picked up 4 new missionaries from
the airport. 3 of them are in the Tongan program (which doubled the
size of the current program): Elders Jorgensen, Fifita, and
Hanohano-Hashimoto. Sister Haynes, the other incoming missionary, is
in the Samoan program. We greeted them with a big malo e'leleí and
talofa!
We then had Zone Conferences last week, so on Wed, Thurs and
Fri we went around the mission and got to give training to all of
the missionaries. It was pretty terrifying, I'll be honest, but we
prepared well and so did the missionaries, and each day there was a
powerful spirit as we gave our training on having the faith to find
and baptize.
Coincidentally, we get to put that training to the test this week! We
will have a lot of opportunities to go out finding this week, and I
know that we can be led to those who are prepared to receive the
gospel! We are hoping to catch a lot of families at home because of
the holidays.
Speaking of thanksgiving, I am so thankful for all of you! I'm
thankful for my mission, and all of the incredible experiences I've
had. I'm thankful for the knowledge that I have of the Plan of
Salvation. I'm thankful above all for the mercy and goodness of God.
He has blessed me in such abundance throughout my life. The blessings
that He has given to me are so precious and special. They are eternal
and life changing. In His love, He has provided a Savior, who I will
forever be thankful for. It has been the blessing of as lifetime to
come to know Him even more by using His atonement to change. Thank you
for reading everybody! I love you!

-Elder Francis
2500 N Bristol St
Santa Ana, CA 92706

Another week in paradise

What a great week! I got to go on two more exchanges with some awesome missionaries! First, with Elder Valenzuela from Guatemala City. I was with him in the Spanish program for the day. That was a smack in the face as to how little I know of the Spanish language! Everyone was talking so fast! I was, however, able to bear my testimony is Spanish, so it was a good day. Elder Valenzuela is awesome. I've attached a picture of us with a member we met at the bottom of the email. Then I got to go with Elder Haynie! We thankfully got to speak English all day. He's a great missionary, and a good friend of mine.

We began transfer planning with President and Sister Taggart this week. That was a really cool experience. I got to see how inspired the transfer process is, and see again the love that the Taggart's have for the missionaries. I love them. I also basically was told who my next companion will be, so that was weird

On Wednesday we only had about 45 minutes during the entire day to proselyte. We prayerfully decided on where to go and chose an apartment complex in the area. We walked through the front gate and heard, "oh hey Elders." ....The "pay attention, this person might have potential" bells were going off in my head because anytime someone calls us elders they are either a member or a former investigator. We turned and saw a young guy holding a baby getting his mail. As we talked with him, we learned that he is a member! "What ward do you go to?" We asked.

"Anaheim 3rd ward."

"Huh......", we've never seen his guy before, "that's our ward..." 

"Yeah... We don't always get to make it out."

Long story short, Bro Driggs (that's his name) invited us in! He and his wife are both return missionaries (how do two return missionaries go less active?!?) and we taught them the Restoration and invited them to church! We also scheduled a dinner appointment

The Driggs came to church on Sunday with their 6 month old baby! I'm grateful that the Lord blesses us as we seek out His will for the time that we do have. It's no coincidence that we ran into the Driggs as soon as we walked into the complex. I love being a missionary.

This upcoming week is Zone Conferences on wed, thu, and fri! Elder Thornton and I get to present a training on finding to the whole mission! We also get to go pick up new Tongan missionaries tomorrow from the airport! Another week in paradise! I love you all, thanks for all of your love and support!

-Elder Francis

1) had a lesson with the Storlands and their kids!

2) Elder Valenzuela!

3) Zone Conference planning got us like....

Don't base your testimony off of South Park

It's been another fantastic week here in sunny SoCal! We had a lot going on so I'll just dive right in! 🏼On Tuesday we had mission leadership council at the mission home. That was awesome! Some big changes were introduced, including the decision from the brethren that Zone Conferences will now be every 6 weeks instead of every 3 months. That means more teaching opportunities for us... The Taggart's trained on teaching repentance and baptizing converts, the worldwide focus for missionary work this year. Elder Thornton and I got to demonstrate teaching repentance to president and sister Taggart. I'll be honest, I was pretty nervous! Teaching the mission president and his wife in front of some of the missionaries that I look up to the very most was a little nerve racking! But the spirit brought peace to my mind and led the discussion. I learned so much from the comments of the diligent elders and sisters in mission leadership council. They are so great and are some of my best friends. 

Speaking of great missionaries, we got to go on two exchanges this week! I got to be with Elder Boyle and Elder Wilson. They are two incredible missionaries that I look up to a lot. Elder Wilson is in the Spanish program, and it was super cool to see how he has mastered the language throughout his 20 months as a missionary. It was a stark comparison from my one year of high school spanish back in senior year hahaha. "¡No hablo español!" is all I need! 

We got to attend two of the zone trainings this week as well. We also got to have a temple grounds walk! That is where missionaries bring investigators, recent converts, and less active members to the Newport Beach temple grounds for a short video and tour of the grounds. There is such a sweet spirit at the temple. It is one of my favorite places to be. I wish we could go more often. 

I went on splits with the bishop of the ward this week, bishop Hoover. We met a less active member and asked him why he doesn't come back to church. He responded, "well I just have a lot of questions about the church. I saw an episode of South Park and they brought up a lot of good points that I hadn't ever thought of before."..... this guy had been through the temple!! And he was basing his testimony on an episode of South Park! I'm sure there was more to it, because he was really an awesome guy and was super friendly to us and had no bad feelings towards the church. We invited him to find out for himself whether or not the church is true, to start reading the Book of Mormon again, and to come back to church. Moral of the story, don't base your beliefs on South Park. Please.

We also got to view the video that the church has created for this year's Christmas initiative! It's called, "Light the World"! It includes a beautiful little video and an awesome advent calendar with an activity every day that gives us an invitation to work on a specific Christlike attribute, and some ideas to help us do it. It will be released to the public on November 25, so I invite you all to check it out on social media or lds.org when it does!

Thanks for all of your love and support everybody! I hope you have a great week, and I love you!
1. Mission Leadership Council
2. Roasting Marshmallows on Halloween

THRILLER

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY today our Pday schedule is a little different, so if you get an email in the evening time don't be surprised. Elder Thornton and I made some awesome plans for the evening, including carving pumpkins, roasting marshmallows, and watching the Disneyland firework show (from the apartment of course...)! 

This has been an awesome week! We got to go on two exchanges with the Anaheim and Fullerton Zone Leaders. I got to go with two of my good friends, Elder Smith and Elder Durney. It was great to catch up with them and see how they are doing.

Alright so here's the thriller of the week! Wednesday night we got a call from the sister missionaries in the Stanford ward, my old ward. They were informing me that their investigator, Beth Koenig, was getting baptized on Saturday at 11! And then -get this- she asked ME to baptize her!!! I had met with Beth several times and gave her a blessing once when she was sick, so I was surprised and excited when she asked me to baptize her!

Come Saturday morning, we got a text from the Stanford sisters saying Beth's car was towed and the baptism was cancelled...... "this is Satan's doing!" I thought to myself. We decided to give Beth a call. We talked to her and long story short she decided to just push the baptism back to 2 o clock! So at 2, I was able to baptize Beth, and the next day she was confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Better luck next time, Satan.

This week will be a good one! We have MLC tomorrow and, Zone trainings to attend on Wednesday and Thursday, and exchanges on Friday and Saturday! There ain't no rest for the wicked! Have a great week everybody! I love you!

-Elder Francis
1. Joe's Ice with a Spanish District
2. Beth's baptism
3. Elder Durney and I on exchanges

Losing my life in His service

Well, I'm happy to report that I survived the busiest week of my life... barely... But it was an incredible one that included a mission tour from Elder Carl B Cook of the Seventy, and a baptism!

On Tuesday we dropped off the departing missionaries at the airport. We got to drive the big van (see attached pics). I said goodbye to a few of my good friends, who had successfully completed their mission. It was bittersweet. But then we immediately picked up the new ones!! In that particular batch there were 6 new sisters and 1 elder! President Taggart said, "Alright, sisters will be riding in the van, the elder can come with us." So 6 sister missionaries piled in our van hahaha and we drove them back to the mission home! That was different.... but it was awesome to spend the rest of the day with the new missionaries and feel their greenie fire!

Wednesday we had training to the district and zone leaders, which was intimidating at first, but went well. Later that night we met in a special meeting with President and Sister Taggart and Elder and Sister Cook, in preparation for the Zone Conferences on Thursday and Friday. That was such a neat experience!! The Cooks are amazing! Elder Cook just spoke in Conference a few weeks ago, so it was really neat to meet him in person. 

Thursday and Friday we got to attend both of the Zone Conferences! That was incredible. We just got to sit and be fed spiritually for like 6 hours, two days in a row! I loved it so much. I could talk for hours about the training we received, but all in all there was a big focus on becoming converted to the gospel ourselves, so that we can be more effective as missionaries. It was amazing.

 During the conference, a scripture was impressed upon my mind, and it has stuck with me since. Matthew 10:39 "For whosoever will find his life shall lose it; but whosever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." I desire to lose my life in the service of the Lord! I need to! It has become my goal and motivation!

Then Saturday we had a baptism! Amidst everything else we had to do, during the week we met with Brother and Sister Mills and finished up the lessons, had Sister Mills' baptismal interview, and prepared the program! Sister Mills got baptized on Saturday afternoon, and now they are working as a couple towards going to the temple! That was a sweet sweet experience.

On Sunday I went to my new ward for the first time! That was weird because nearly half of the members who attended were just visitors for Disneyland. That's what happens when you serve in Anaheim I guess... but it was really good. Sister Mills got confirmed and everything was happy dandy. 

We would come home every night, use every last ounce of energy we had to plan for the next day, and just collapse in exhaustion! But it was one of the best weeks of my entire mission! I learned so much and I am just so so happy! I love being a missionary!!! Thanks for reading everybody! I love you all!

-Elder Francis

1) elevator at the airport with departing missionaries!

2) party van with the new missionaries!

3)Sister Mills' Baptism!

4)The Cooks

5) I get to watch the beautiful sunrise from our apartment window every morning. We are on the 5th floor

THE RESULTS OF TRANSFERS ARE.....

I'm going home early!! 

Just kidding, I'm staying in California, at least for about 8 more months.. The actual results are just as terrifying though. I'm sad to say that I am leaving my beloved Garden Grove. I figured something was going to change, because I was getting too comfortable here hahaha. The past 6 months have been some of the best of my whole life! I have absolutely loved my time here, and have met some incredible people. I'll attach pictures at the bottom of some of the families that we became closest with.

I'm also leaving Elder Sirrine!. After three transfers together (just over 4 months) he has become one my closest friends. He gets to stay and he'll do great here!

Well, I guess I better say where I've been transferred to.... I've been assigned to the Anaheim 3rd ward on the North side, where I will serve as an Assistant to President Taggart. Assistants to the President travel around the mission giving trainings, help the mission president fulfill his responsibilities, and go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders and missionaries throughout the mission. My new companion is Elder Thornton, a missionary I really look up to. He is actually from the Spanish program, so it will be a really neat opportunity to serve with him.

Honestly, I'm pretty terrified about my new assignment! It comes with new responsibilities and assignments that I'm not used to! I haven't been able to sleep well since president called on Thursday night, and I think that is pretty common for the job. As I've turned to the Lord in study and prayer, He has filled me with hope, and I know that "whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies." He will lift me up and help me to become all that He needs me to be. I'm eager for the opportunity to work with President Taggart, to learn and to grow, to be humbled and corrected. The next few months of my mission will bring all of these things, and I trust that they will be for my eternal benefit.

So that's that! I also was able to go on two exchanges with Elder Mills, and Elders Nguyen and Poulsen (in the Vietnamese program). Elder Nguyen finishes his mission tomorrow! I got to go on the last exchange of his mission with him, and what a neat experience that was! It was amazing to see how much the Vietnamese people loved and revered him. He has been such a blessing to our zone, the Vietnamese program, their branch, and to me. I hope I can be like him at the end of my mission.

Alright, that's probably all that I have time for this week. Elder Carl B. Cook of the Seventy (he spoke in this last conference) is conducting a mission tour this week!! It'll be so neat to get to meet him! Thanks for reading, I love you all and have a great week!

-Elder Francis
1. The district
2.the Chavez family. Samantha (on left) was baptized in July.
3.The Hickens. Bishop Hicken has been sooooo awesome for us and the ward
4. the Prices, some of my favorite people ever!
5.me and my Koreans

Transfer of the temple!

It's temple trip day!!! Which also means Cafe Rio day! (We have a tradition of getting cafe rio for lunch on our way back from the temple) so needless to say, it's been a really really good day. This is the third time I've been able to go to the temple this transfer, so it's really just made the transfer all the better. I love the temple so much. 

This past week has been awesome! Why??🇰🇷 Koreans! 🇰🇷That's why! I got to go on two exchanges with Elders in the Korean program last week. I was able to go with both Elder Stumpf and Elder Jo in one, and then Elder Kahng in the other. I absolutely love the Koreans. Sometimes I wish I was one haha. They just make the whole room brighter with their fun attitudes and personalities. 

On my exchange with Elder Kahng, we got to go to the baptism of a friend of his from high school in the Orange Hills YSA ward! That's right! The last ward I served in!!! So I got to go and see a lot of my old friends from the YSA. It took me back to my time there and made me miss it. I loved my time there! But I also love it here in Garden Grove, and I'm so happy to be here.

But I might not be for long! This is the last week of the transfer! We will know on Saturday if I'm leaving the area, but I've been here for nearly 6 months, and Elder Sirrine and I have been together for 3 transfers, so odds are one of us is outta here! One can still hope though... Elder Sirrine is awesome. We've become even better friends than we were before we became companions.

The temple this morning was so wonderful. With conference on my mind, and the things I personally want to work on, the session today filled me with hope and gratitude and a witness of the inspired nature of the gospel and church. I am amazed at the pure simplicity of the ordinances of the gospel, and the incredible power that lies within those ordinances. They are filled with plainness and truth. There is power in simplifying our lives and focusing on the core principles of the gospel. There is power in simplicity. There is power in plainness. There is power in truth. 

I'll be sure to fill you all in on the results of transfers next week! Thanks for reading everybody! Have a great week!

-Elder Francis