Michael Francis Mission: Cherry on Top

Hey everybody! It's been a looooong week here in good ol Garden Grove, but it's been awesome. Transfer calls were Sat night. The assistants called us up and said, "Alright elders so here are the transfers. You will be--"..... Nothing. We tried calling back but it went straight to voice mail, and we later learned that their phone died. Good timing! When they finally called back, we learned that Elder Hansen is getting transferred... We only got to be together for one transfer, so we are both pretty bummed, but we trust that it is for the best! He is going to Orange where he will be in the Esplanade ward. I will be getting Elder Sirrine, who was just called as a Zone Leader! He was one of the district leaders in my zone when I was back in Orange, so I know him really well and we've been on exchanges a couple times in the past, so I'm really looking forward to the coming transfers we will hopefully have together haha. If I follow the pattern that I have been the past couple times then in 6 weeks I'll have another!

On Friday we got a text from a random number saying, "Hey Elders, it's Brother Gomez, I just moved to the ward from Utah! Are you free tonight to meet up and talk?" Seemed a little sketch, especially considering Garden Grove and some of the people we've met haha, but we decided to tell him we were free. "Great" he says, "you like frozen
yogurt? There's a place nearby called Cherry on Top. Let's meet there at 8:30." We are fans of frozen yogurt, so we agreed. It was pretty suspicious though, and for a minute we thought this guy might be trying to meet us at a strip club or something (which are all over the place down here), but we looked it up and Cherry On Top was
legitimately a frozen yogurt place. We get there and are sitting inside, and in walks.... Elder Wong!!! (I guess he goes by Westin now) he was my first zone leader and finished his mission about 6 months ago. He was in town going to a wedding and dropped in to surprise us and buy us frozen yogurt! Score! That was a highlight of the week.

The other highlight was yesterday, when Andrew and Mia Muirhead were baptized by Shawn, their dad. It took him a couple tries but he got it! Shawn just got the priesthood last week and he has come a really long ways to be able to do that. He has been changed through the atonement, and now their family is working towards going to the temple to be sealed forever! This gospel blesses families, and I'm so happy I got to play a role in the Muirhead's conversion. It was such a sweet experience, and the spirit was powerful at the service yesterday. With Elder Hansen leaving to a new area today, it was definitely the cherry on top of our one transfer together. I love being a missionary! Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Francis

Pic 1: Garden Grove Zone!