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

The Gospel makes us happy

We got to spend some time in our area this week and it paid off! We were led to several new investigators and had some awesome experiences. One of which I'll share:

We were walking through an apartment complex and started talking with this guy who was at his car. He was open and friendly, and asked us a question like, "So what is this all about?" We shared a brief summary of the restoration and that through it we can be with our families forever. "Now that is something I'm interested in!" He responded. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was so excited to read it! As he walked away with book in hand, he turned back and said, "I don't know why, but I'm just so happy right now! Thanks Elders!"

In plain and simple terms, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ just makes us happy! When we went back to follow up, he had read from the book and is excited to learn more. Through the gospel we can be truly happy, no matter our circumstances. 

This week is going to be extremely busy, we have MLC tomorrow, transfers to get ready for, GENERAL CONFERENCE, and Elder Wilson finishes his mission next week. We are sprinting to the finish! We are so excited though for General Conference and have been extending the invitation to everyone to come listen to a prophet's voice. I extend that same invitation to you! If you listen with the Spirit, you will receive a personal, prophetic epistle just for you. I love you all, have an incredible week!

-Elder Francis

Throwback to the MTC because we didn't take any pictures this week!

The parable of the empty well

Hey everybody! This week was ZONE CONFERENCES!! We got to give
training to all of the missionaries throughout the mission for three
days. It was exhausting, but was so wonderful. I love being able to
hear the testimonies and insights from all of the incredible
missionaries. There is such a powerful spirit when the Lord's servants
gather together.
 We gave our training on how to study and prepare to teach the
lessons. We used the analogy of READY (study and apply the doctrine),
AIM (organize what you teach into a lesson plan), FIRE (teach the
lesson), and ADJUST YOUR SIGHTS (evaluate your teaching). And I used
some hunting experiences from my youth (shoutout to my dad!)
To explain the importance of our studies, we shared a parable and
asked, "How does this relate to our studies of the gospel? Here is the
parable:
There was a man, who after a long, dry winter went to a well to draw
water for his garden. He lowered his bucket into the well and pulled
it up to find no water in it. The well had gone dry. Not knowing what
to do he knelt to ask his Father in Heaven to grant him water for his
garden. The impression came to him, "dig", so the man lowered himself
down into the dry well and began to dig. As he did so, he noticed the
dry ground was slowly replaced with wet soil, then mud. He continued
to dig until he was knee deep in water. He had tapped into the
underground reservoir which filled his well with pure water. He
returned to the top and thanked his Father in Heaven. He was able to
draw water from the well to nourish him and his garden for many days,
all the while praising God.
We each have been given our own little garden from the Lord! I invite
each of you to ponder how this parable can apply to your life and your
study of the gospel!
Also as part of Zone Conferences, the new Easter initiative was
announced! #PrinceofPeace!! The video is probably my favorite that the
church has ever made, and it the whole initiative uses my favorite
picture of the Savior. I'm so excited to share it with people. The
initiative begins and is open to the public on March 31st.
We have an awesome week planned where we will get to spend a lot of
time in our area, I can't wait! Have a fantastic week everyone!

-Elder Francis

This is the ACTUAL last door

We had an awesome awesome week last week here in sunny California! We put an investigator named Carlos on date this week! We invited him to be baptized and he said, "Yes, I will do it. But before I am baptized I need to learn and I need to change." What a humble response!! Learning and change for the better is exactly what the gospel brings!

I got to go on two exchanges this week, first with Elder Cabrera who is from Mexico, and then with Elder Salyer from Virginia. They were both great. Elder Salyer and I had a cool experience at the end of the night:

Because there are sooooo many people in Southern California, there are A TON of apartment complexes, and they are a common place to find people to teach. The apartment complex we were trying to visit someone in was very well locked up, so we couldn't get in. We decided to try the one next to it, which was totally open! We stood in the middle of the complex and looked around, trying to seek the spirit to decide which doors to knock with our last few minutes.

 After a couple seconds, the impression came, "stop wasting time and just start knocking."  So we did! And after a few doors, we met some people from several different races and religions, but no one with any interest in the gospel. It was time to head back, but we felt like there was still something in that complex that we hadn't gotten to yet. We decided on the last door. Knock knock knock......waiting..... aaaaaand no answer. Bummer! We started heading back, but there was the gentlest impression that there was something else. "Alright this is the actual last door." Knock knock knock. A young woman opened up! Immediately I felt impressed to testify of the importance and eternal nature of the family. We told her that the world was turning further and further away from the family, but our message strengthens and protects families from the evils of the world. 

"Wow!" She said, "I just had my first child a few weeks ago. I've been wanting to bring him to a church. Can we come to yours?" Uhh yeah you can!! We have a return appointment with Desiree and her family for this week! 

I'm so grateful for the Spirit, and for the incredible message that we do have. The Spirit is everything in this work. When we can be worthy vessels of the Spirit, so that He might work through us, we will see miracles. Like we did with Desiree.

I love you everyone! Have a great week!

-Elder Francis

We got to go to a temple grounds tour this week! Polaroid and iPhone versions!

Peter, John, and William

Well it's only been three days since my last Pday, but it's been an
awesome three days!
Friday night we had one of those lessons that every missionary dreams
of. We met a young former investigator named Debbie and she said we
could come back, so we did, and taught the Restoration to her, her
parents, and her two sisters! It was a powerful lesson and they all
showed a desire to be baptized! Because Debbie's parents are primarily
Spanish speaking, we had a hybrid lesson where we taught in English
and Spanish. I accidentally called Christ's apostles Pedro (Peter),
Juan (John), and Guillermo (William) instead of Santiago (James).
Whoops! They got confused, but accepted it nonetheless, figuring they
just didn't know that apostle.
We decided to pass them over to the Spanish program, where we feel
they will progress better, but it was such an awesome lesson.
This weekend we had Stake Conference! Elder Bruce E Ghent of the
Seventy attended and we got to hear him speak twice! One quote from
him that I loved was this: "If your faith, prayers, and the power of
the priesthood do not remove your afflictions, the power of the
Atonement will certainly give you the strength to endure them." There
are some trials in life we just have to bear. We may at times, like
the Savior, cry out, "remove this cup from me", but if the will and
plan of the Lord is otherwise, may we humbly submit to the will of the
Father, exemplified perfectly by Jesus Christ in the words,
"nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." As we do, the Savior
will be there with us to bear our burdens and to share our load, and
we will come off conquerors. Have a wonderful week everybody! I love
you!
-Elder Francis

2) shoutout to Sister Hawkins for providing our Marti Gras celebrations/dinner!
3) bird is the word
1) we hiked Blackstar Canyon today!

For without Him we can do nothing

Hello everyone, the past couple weeks have been super busy, and super good! A lot happened, most of which I'll just touch on.
We started a new transfer, which means we got to pick up new missionaries! We spent the day with 14 brand new missionaries. Elder Wilson and I say that is the best day of the transfer, because there is such a powerful spirit with all of the missionaries who just arrive to the field! They are so eager to work and full of faith, it's beautiful.
Along with all of the meetings that come at the beginning of each transfer, we also had Mission Leadership Council on Tuesday. Elder Wilson and I gave a training on the power and authority of our calling as missionaries. There were some incredible insights from the amazing Zone and Sister Training Leaders throughout the mission. They are also a powerful group of individuals that is continually sacrificing more to seek more power to do the Lord's will. I'm so grateful to be around them, and President and Sister Taggart. The most prominent comment came from John 15: "4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

As members of the church of Jesus Christ on the earth, we are "grafted into the true vine". Inasmuch as we make that graft complete through obedience to our covenants, we are nourished and strengthened by Christ Himself. When we cut ourselves off from that power through sins like laziness, disobedience, apathy, and pride, we wither away and bring forth no fruit. 

The highlight of my week was the opportunity we had this morning to attend the temple. What an incredible blessing. I know that God lives and that He is ever mindful of His children. I know that He provided a Savior to redeem mankind. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the gospel, and I have dedicated my life to sharing it.

I love you all!
-Elder Francis

1) MLC prep..

2) MLC!

3-5) Temple Trip!

You're in this for the long haul

Good morning everyone! We had a fantastic week last week and were able to go on three exchanges to finish off the transfer! We had some awesome finding experiences as well, two of which I will share below.

1) Elder Wilson and I approached this couple sitting on the sidewalk and started a conversation about the gospel (like we always do). The husband said, "I have a question that I've asked to a lot of different churches and I want to ask you. My question is this: What happened to the prophets and apostles in Christ's church?" ..... uhhhhh WELL LET US TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES IN CHRIST'S CHURCH!!!  While trying to restrain ourselves, we excitedly explained the message of the Restoration, and they were both super interested! They said they need to learn more and accepted the Book of Mormon gladly! They live in Compton, so we won't be able to teach them, but we basically just found the Compton missionaries two baptisms.

2) I was on an exchange in La Habra with my good friend Elder Mills, and we met this woman while knocking doors. She wasn't interested at first because we were "Mormon". We explained that Mormon is just a nickname and that we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. "Oh!" She said, "You're LDS?! I have cousins who are LDS! They are great!" We told her that through the restoration of the gospel we can be with our families forever. "Oh my goodness," she responded, "THIS is the missing piece of my life! I've been praying for weeks to know what God wants me to do, and this is my answer!! We need to meet again! You need to teach me!" We definitely weren't expecting that response, but I'm not complaining!

This week we also finalized transfers with the Taggarts, and transfers are today! Elder Wilson only has 6 more weeks in his mission, so I could've either been released today so that he could train a new assistant before he goes home, or I could stay and then train another assistant after he goes home. While we were planning, Sister Taggart looks at me and says, "Elder Francis, you're in this for the long haul!" And that was that, I'm staying here in Anaheim! We have an insane transfer lying ahead of us, and I know that the Lord will bless us as we put our trust in Him.

Yesterday I gave a talk in church and just want to close with a quote I used from Elder Holland, "In whatever country you live, however young or inadequate you feel, or however aged or limited you see yourself as being, I testify you are individually loved of God, you are central to the meaning of His work, and you are cherished and prayed for by the presiding officers of His Church. The personal value, the sacred splendor of every one of you, is the very reason there is a plan for salvation and exaltation."

I know that the gospel is true, and that you are the reason for the Plan of Salvation! I love you!

-Elder Francis

1) Someone sprayed a fire extinguisher in the parking garage... so I had to run through it.

2) The view of the sunrise from our apartment. I love our apartment

3) Christ in the CAM