¡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