And all these things shall be added unto you

Hello everyone! We've had such a fantastic week here in Anaheim! We
got to go on two exchanges and I got to go with some of my good
friends Elder Beddes and Elder Porter. One of my favorite things about
this assignment is being able to serve around such incredible
missionaries who love the Lord and know how to serve Him. We talked
with everyone we saw, and I saw a pretty awesome blessing as a result:
We saw a woman at her car and approached her. She tried to ignore us
and wasn't giving us much to work with. I Began asking about her
family, but she interrupted me, "What is your shoe size?" Honestly, I
wasn't expecting that. Confused, and a little stunned, I hesitantly
responded, "uhhh 10&1/2". "Perfect," she said, "Elder Francis, these
are for you." She proceeded to pull a brand new box of Adidas out of
her car and place them in my hands. I was kind of in shock, and tried
to refuse.  She was very persistent, and eventually I complied. I
mean, they were exactly size 10&1/2!
As it turns out, she wasn't interested in the gospel in the slightest,
but the scriptures were fulfilled which say, "Therefore take no
thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you."
Last night we found a young couple, Eric and Jasmine, who just moved
from New York, are about to have their first baby, and want to find a
new church. They received the Restoration with such humility and
sincerity, and the Spirit was powerful. They were so so grateful that
we came by, and are eager to learn more! The Lord has led us to some
truly prepared individuals that we are working with right now, and we
have several that will hopefully be baptized in the next month.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading everyone, I love you!
-Elder Francis

1) my new shoes
2) hike with the Santa Ana South Zone this morning

And He shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Happy Easter everybody! We had a fantastic Easter holiday sharing the
good news that Christ overcame sin and death and rose on the third
day. A special spirit attended our work this week and we saw many
miracles.
We had some awesome experiences this week with the investigators we
are working with. Our two most progressing investigators came to
church yesterday, and they both loved it. One of those is Michelle.
Michelle and her father have been living in motels for the past few
years. Her father has muscular dystrophy and is unable to walk, but
they both want to be baptized. This last week they were unable to pay
their rent and were homeless for a few days.
Eventually they were able to find a place to stay and we visited them.
They were sunburned and aching, and Michelle's dad had gotten sick
from being outside for so long. We read Mosiah chapter 3 with them. We
got to verses 7 and 8, and Michelle read, "And lo, he shall suffer
temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more
than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh
from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and
the abominations of his people.
And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of
heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and
his mother shall be called Mary."
 She finished that verse and began to cry. There was a reverence in
the room as the Spirit witnessed to each of us the pain and anguish
that Christ suffered in our behalf, pain and anguish that was fresh in
the mind of Michelle and her father. She bore a powerful testimony
that Christ suffered for her, and how badly she wanted to follow His
example by being baptized. In the closing prayer she plead with the
Lord and asked for the strength to be obedient. That was humbling for
me. When was the last time I prayed with such sincerity and fervor to
be able to be obedient to God's commandments? Michelle came to church
on Sunday as an expression and evidence of her desires, and I know
that as long as she is willing, the Lord will prepare a way for her
and her father to be baptized next month.
I know that God loves His children so much. I feel a portion of that
love and  it fills me with faith and with hope that each one of God's
children can return to Him. I have a hard time expressing how much I
love being a missionary, but I truly do. My mission has changed my
life forever! Jesus Christ lives. He rose on the third day with
healing in His wings and the power to bring all of us back to Him.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
-Elder Francis


1) We went on a hike last week!
2-3) Anaheim 3 ward missionaries at the ward Easter picnic

#PRINCEofPEACE <---Check it out!

What a fantastic week it has been! Elder Perez and I have been working
hard and have seen the fruits of our labors.
Tuesday morning we dropped off the departing missionaries at the
airport, including my last companion, Elder Wilson. It was
bittersweet. The only thing that made it better was the fact that we
got to walk down a flight of stairs and pick up 7 new missionaries! We
spent the rest of the afternoon with them, got to hear their
testimonies and feel of their spirit, and that picked us right back up
and we've been up ever since!
On Wednesday night we were visiting someone with a member of a
bishopric and met a man while on the way. He seemed interested and
said we could call him. On the way back, we saw him again and he asked
to if he could come to church! We told him we could meet before the
service and have a lesson, and he accepted. A member brought him this
morning, and we taught him the Restoration. It was the kind of lesson
that missionaries dream of. We sat in the church with him and the ward
mission leader and began our lesson, and the Spirit started working on
him. He began asking questions like, "Why are there so many different
sects?", and, "The scriptures teach to beware of false prophets, how
can we tell a false prophet from a true one?" We could hardly keep up!
By the time we got to the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph
Smith, the Spirit was powerful. One of us said the word baptism, and
he stopped us and said, "What does one need to do to be baptized?"
Long story short, Josh is on date for May 20. He stayed for sacrament
meeting and loved it. He has already read the reading assignment we
gave him and is eager to meet again. What a miraculous experience.
I love Elder Perez! He has such a cheerful countenance and attitude
that brings a great spirit to our work. We are striving to talk with
everyone and have had some very tender experiences sharing the Prince
of Peace video to people whom the Lord has led us to. We shared it
with several people this week who have lost loved ones recently, one
woman lost her husband last Sunday. I know that the greatest peace in
this life can only come through Jesus Christ. As we celebrate Easter
this week, I invite you all to ponder how you might receive greater
peace by following Jesus Christ. I love you all!
-Elder Francis

1-3) dropping off departing missionaries
4) you know your area is ghetto when...

Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along

What an incredible week!! We finished off the transfer with MLC, Zone
Trainings, the Prince of Peace initiative, and General Conference, or
in other words, I just felt the Spirit all week long! Transfers are
also today, and my new companion is Elder Perez Perez, a fantastic
missionary from the Spanish program who comes from Venezuela. He will
be an incredible assistant and I am so excited to work with him. He
was trained by my last companion Elder Wilson, who finishes his
mission tomorrow morning. We get to take him to the airport together!
Where do I begin?? General Conference was so amazing! I could talk for
days about insights I received and notes I took, but today I only want
to say that I know that Thomas S Monson is a prophet of God, and that
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's kingdom on
the Earth.
We had two investigators watch General Conference, and they both loved
it. After doing all that we could do to help them attend, conference
began and neither of them showed up, and we were disappointed. I
thought to myself, "What more can we do to help them come? What more
could we have done?" These are common thoughts of a missionary haha.
At that moment, however, a scripture came to mind, "let us cheerfully
do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with
the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to
be revealed." I received a witness of the Spirit that we had done all
that was in our power, so with a prayer I placed our investigators in
the hands of the Lord and felt great peace. In the hands of the Lord
is the best place for our investigators to be. By a miracle, both of
our investigators were able to attend conference! The arm of God was
indeed revealed this weekend, not only in the talks given at
conference, but in those who attended.
This upcoming transfer will be crazy and busy, and I am nervous about
training a new assistant and taking over the area again, but I know
that if Elder Perez and I can qualify for the Spirit, we can do
whatever the Lord needs us to do. I have faith in the scripture in D&C
78:18, "And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good
cheer, for I will lead you along." I truly know that the Lord will
lead us along. Have a great week everyone!

-Elder Francis
1)MLC
2-3)Santa Ana Central Zone Training
4)Saying goodbyes
5) Elder Perez Perez