Happy Easter everyone! Great week here in Cali! It was Elder Hackman and I's first week together and it was full of miracles! As always. We had an awesome experience on Monday night when a member from the ward just called us up and said he had a referral for us! So the next morning we called the referral, his name is David, and he asks, "are you free right now?" Uhhhhh yeah! So we met him at a restaurant and taught him the restoration! Halfway through the lesson, he stops us and says, "wait, so what do I have to do to be baptized?"......uhhhhh Is this a joke or something?!?! Where's Ashton Kutcher?? Turns out he was serious! So we put David on date for April 30, and set an appointment for the next day! Since then, he has come to church and has read all of 1 Nephi! People are so prepared! We've also had such amazing success as we have decided to open our mouths with everyone. I know that the Lord is willing to work with us as we have the courage to open our mouth. The Lord has blessed us so much! And I'm so grateful for all of the miracles that the Lord has given us. I'm out of time, so I hope that you all have a fantastic week! Here's a picture of our Easter dinner at the Sanchez'! You're welcome.
Hey everybody!! It's been a fantastic week here in Cali! We've been able to spend a lot of time finding people to teach, and it has been extremely productive! It's been amazing to see that as we have the courage to open our mouths with everyone we see, the Lord places those who are prepared to receive His gospel in our path. That truth was very evident on an exchange I was able to go on with Elder Famme, one of the District Leaders in our zone. We set finding goals at the beginning of the day, and made plans as to how we were going to achieve them. Once we were out of the apartment, we talked to everybody we saw. The more people we talked to, the more people were placed in our path throughout the day! Several times people approached us and asked us about the church! It was so neat to see that the Lord allowed us to reach all of the finding goals that we set. I also had the chance to go on an exchange with Elder Masoe, one of the other district leaders in our zone. We were able to do a lot of service, some of which was at a local rest home. I loved getting to work with and help the residents. There is something so Christlike and submissive and childlike about the elderly, and I feel happy when I am with them and in their company serving them. We, as a mission, had the great privilege of being visited by Elder Hamula of the Seventy and received a training from him! Man, that was so awesome. He talked about being more converted to the Lord, and how we can better qualify and use the enabling power of the atonement, or the grace of Christ, to become more like Him. That is super summarized haha and was only a portion of the 2 hour training, plus the 2 hour Mission Leadership Council I got to go to, but to sum it up, it was awesome. Yesterday the church released the new Easter initiative #Hallelujah and we got to see it early! It is sooo awesome and the church has created a website for people to visit and learn more! I'm gonna attach the link so that anyone who hasn't seen it yet can see it, and anyone who hasn't shared it can share it! I love you all, have a great week!
Hey everybody! It was been an incredible week here in So Cal! Our zone had five baptisms this weekend! Four of those came from Ruby and her family, who were baptized on Saturday and were confirmed just yesterday. For those of you who don't know, Elder Johnson and I tracted into Ruby about 5 or 6 weeks ago. She is YSA age, so we gave her a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment. When we came back, she asked, "Is it okay if my whole family sits in?" Uhhhhh yes!! So we taught her whole family the Restoration and they accepted it fully! Then we passed them over to the family ward elders so that they could all progress together! Ruby, her mother Vanessa, and her two sisters, Evelyn and Alicia, were all baptized! It was such an amazing experience! We were so happy for them and for the family ward that they have been going to. There was so much fellowship, and the transition from the hands of the missionaries to the gentle hands of their loving family ward was so smooth. There were over 60 people at the baptism from both the family and YSA ward. Ruby has been coming to both wards the past few weeks, and has made a lot of friends in both. She is incredible! The best part was as she got up and bore her testimony after her baptism: "I can honestly say that I have never been so happy in my entire life! As we have accepted the gospel, our family gets along better, there is peace in our home, and I am happy from the moment I wake up to the minute I fall asleep at night. I will forever be grateful for this gospel and for this church. I am just so happy!" There is no greater joy that comes to us, than that which comes by living the gospel of Jesus Christ! I believe that with all of my heart! In other news, Andrew, our recent convert of two weeks now, was ordained a priest yesterday and was given the priesthood! He also announced that he is going to be serving a mission a year from now, and has begun to prepare already by studying preach my gospel. He is coming out on splits with us this Thursday! The gospel of Jesus Christ is true! It brings lasting peace and joy into our lives hat nothing else can. I know that the fullness of the gospel is in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Jesus Christ Himself is at the head of our church and this is His work! I thank God every day for this precious opportunity to serve Him, and to feel of His love. I see His hand in my life, and all of these experiences are ones that are sacred to me and are ones that I will cherish forever. I love this beautiful gospel! I love Christ and I follow Him! I love the plan that our Father in Heaven provided for all of us to return to Him, and I love being a missionary!
Its been an awesome week here in the Orange Hills YSA ward! We have been doing a lot of finding lately, particularly at local colleges and parks where YSAs tend to hang out more often. We have put an emphasis on using family history lately, and although I had some reservations, because what college kid wants to know more about genealogy, it has proved to be very very successful! We got probably between 15 and 20 students that gave us their contact info and said they would like to know more! The spirit of Elijah is real! It truly does turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and I have seen the fulfillment of that prophecy in our work this past week. One of the coolest experiences came as I was talking to this group of college girls about family history. They were showing little interest, but as we were talking this guy approaches me, totally interrupts what the girls were saying haha, and asks, "Are you talking about family history? Can you help me with mine?" I tried to reteach all of them, but the girls lost interest and walked away, so I was able to talk with this guy, his name is Aaron. I learned that he was blessed in the church as a baby! His family fell into inactivity soon after, but he has always wanted to know more about the church. We talked a bit about his family history, and how there is a family history center nearby, and he says, "Can I go to one of those church buildings to buy my own Book of Mormon? I really want to read one and learn more about it." ..... Whaaaaaaaa?!?!? Is this even real life??? We gave him a Book of Mormon without hesitation, and then he asked for our number so that he could set a time to meet with us and learn more! He lives in the Sisters' area so they will get to continue teaching him! The church is true people!! There are those who are searching for it! We just have to find them. I got to go on exchanges twice this week, once with Elder Sparto, and once with Elder Luu. They were both awesome and I loved the opportunity to learn from them and to help them with their personal goals and desires. This week there was also a rare opportunity for us, as a first edition Book of Mormon was being donated to Chapman University. L Whitney Clayton, of the presidency of the seventy, was there to talk about the Book of Mormon and how it came to be. Not only did we get to meet elder Clayton, but we got to touch the Book of Mormon, turn the pages and read the words! Of the 5000 copies that Joseph Smith ordered and were completed in 1830, it is supposed that only 200-300 still remain. And this was one of them! Super cool experience, that I'm sure I will remember forever, almost as cool as the one we had Aaron. Thanks so much everyone for all of your love and support!
