Week 17- Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone! I first want to apologize for not sending letters out last week. It was super hectic and I lost all my stamps.... Sorry again. That being said it's been a fun week here and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

To start off on last P-day we had a district secret santa. It was the day before transfers so we figured we'd do some final district bonding. I sent home a picture of it last week and you can see it was pretty darn ridiculous. We all ran to a 99 cent store just around the corner and said we all had $3 before tax to spend on one another. So they all basically were gag-gifts but it was super fun. I got some rocking stockings and ear muffs from Elder Foster.

The next day was amazing. We had to loan some other Elders our car for a training so we drove on over there and they had an extra guitar laying around. I asked them if I could have it and they said they just recently got the other two from members so I could have this one! I even got a chance to play it in church which I'll tell you about later. It's got a hole in it that we taped over and the strings are ancient but I love it none the less and enjoy being able to play some music again. It's a black full-body acoustic and it sounds as good as ever. 

Later that day we went to check by some people we had lost contact with since last transfer (before me and Elder Froisland got there) and wouldn't you know it they were actually home! It's a family by the last name of Corbin and they are so great! The family is made up of 3 grown kids that live there and the father and mother around age 50, and the eldest daughter had just had a baby on Thanksgiving. They let us in and we had a great hour and a half sit down with them. They asked us all about ours

elves and taught a brief lesson about the Book of Mormon. We're really excited for them because we were told they all had baptismal dates at one point. 

The next night was FHE, and a special one at that. The senior missionaries in our ward had a copy of a church movie called The Testaments. If you haven't seen it I would really recommend getting around to it. It is a very corny church production about a father and son living in the Americas in the time of Christ's coming. At first it seems very l dumb and corny but it has a power spirit to it. I'm not sure what exactly does it but half the people in the room had tears in their eyes as it ended and the spirit was nigh on tangible. It was really a great night.

Not only did we see the movie that night but I also got to know Elder Jaques (pronounced: Jakes) and Waite (pronounced: wait). They are a couple of good elders that have been out about as long as I have. Elder Waite was actually on the same plane as me and Elder Jaques has been out about 5 months. As we were all getting to know one another Sister Kuzmich (the bishop's wife) came up and asked us to go rehearse a song for the ward Christmas program, Little Drummer Boy. She asked to to play on guitar and we jumped right into it. It was okay for sight reading and we had fun practicing. 

Thursday we had weekly planning again but we did a something special to help with the ward Christmas party. We made what we call "The Tree of Life". It's a rice crispy treat Christmas tree that contains about 12,000 calories. Yes I did the math, don't hate. Anyway it was awesome and it added about an hour to our studies. Along with that we played Santa for some other missionaries and dropped of mail a day early because there was so much of it. That was fun, it was nice to spread a little holiday cheer.

That night we met with some recent converts, the Whites. The family consists of a single mother and her two daughters, one of which is still unbaptized. We got there to have dinner with them as was on our dinner calendar but she had totally forgot! We told her it was no big deal and that we would share a message anyway but she insisted and sent her daughters to go pick up some Church's chicken. We all ate and had a great time and after we taught the unbaptized daughter The Restoration. It went well enough but she was very distracted. We feel she's being a bit pressured by her family but I think that's a good thing. She wouldn't commit to a baptismal date but hopefully we'll get her soon enough. 

We had our mission Christmas devotional the next day. It was so great and many missionaries had singing or reading assignments that really made the whole deal special. It was super spiritual and we had lunch after with about 160 missionaries where I learned that Nina was getting baptized Sunday! I was so pumped to learn that and if you are reading this right now Nina I wanna say congratulations for you and your boys!

Anyway we got back around 4 to our apartment and did language study and then we took off to meet with some people. As we were meeting with one man by the bus stop we saw we were right next to Sister Barios' home, one of my mission mommas. We went by to use the bathroom and she called us in and had us make her dinner. It was super funny and we made some real Mexican tacos and I made some Guac. We chowed down and it was really good actually. While we were there a woman dropped of some charity goods for Sis Barios and she said to come over for Christmas eve to have a big dinner. She wanted us to share in her good fortune. She was very happy for all of this especially because she's been having a hard time financially and was feeling a bit forsaken. God works miracles though and we saw one that night.

The next night was the ward Christmas party. We got there around 6 and we were combined with the Spanish ward which was interesting. I have picked up a little here and there and with a background of Portuguese we could somewhat communicate. It was super fun and we served all the people at their tables as they filtered it. It was so packed it was standing room only! And that was before the talent show and Santa. Some people really did it up and it was hilarious. I'll explain more in the pics. Overall it was a great night.

The next day was the ward Christmas program and we sang Little Drummer Boy as a district and I was on the guitar as previously mentioned. We did a kind of Josh Grobin sounding beat and it was really good. Tons of compliments after and it was so fun! I really hope to do it again sometime. 

Finally we got a call from AP Pollard and told there was another emergency transfer! I wasn't moving this time but we are now in a trio covering two areas! How crazy is that?! My second comp is Elder Alls. A black short man from Florida who came out with Elder Froisland actually. He's really fun and has a super powerful testimony. We are so pumped to be working together now and this transfer is gonna be all the more epic for it. 

That's all for this week, I hope you are all doing well and hope you all have a merry Christmas! Ficam Doce

-Um no exercito de Deus

Elder Teela

Week 16

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well and stuff. Thanks for everying I got this week! Everyone sent we great stuff but espceailly thank you for the giagantic signed paper from my family and friends, and for the tie from my favorite irish peoples.

So Tuesday was temple day for our zone! We drove up there and did a session at 11:30 will almost all missionaries which was pretty great. I also ran into Brother Hales from Redando there so it was great to see him again. It was a super spiritual day and I loved it. We got home from that and had a couple lessons but nothing super remarkable really happend that day.

The next day we were told to get our oil changed. We figured it would only take about 30 mins so we zipped on by right after studies to get it done. Little did we know it would take 2 hours.... It took em' forever to actually get the car in there so we waited around for a while before it even started and then we found out one of the tires was run down pretty bad. So we ened up wondering around the store for a while and then going across the street to browse around. We didn't buy anything so don't trip (look how street I'm getting.... LA changes you man). That was fun and we just hung around for a while and talked to a nice lady at Pep Boys.

We had dinner with  Sister Rogers and she made us 7-seafood soup. I'll send a picture of it so you all can see just how crazy this stuff is. I can't believe I actually ate it.... I usually hate sea food but I was starving and who am I to turn down some food someone has made for me? Ain't nobody got time fo' dat! Anyway we eat lots of crazy stuff around here (Like the aforementioned chicken heart). We call it "soul food". I figure it's called that cause it is as good for your soul as much as it tries your taste buds. It really wasn't even that bad honestly. 

The next day we spent running around all over the place trying to get people to FHE (really a lesson and an activity with sugary goodies afterward for adults at the church) that night. We got a ton of people there actually, but before that we got a call from one of our investigators named Maria. She had a loaf of pumpkin bread with our names on it! She got it overnight from Florida and had them send an extra loaf for us. Aren't people just the best? We feasted upon it heartily and loved it.

At FHE we watched "Joy to the World" a church movie about Christ's birth that is really good desipte it's ages starting to show. The spirit was super strong and we opened up a disscussion for the peopel there so we could bear testimonies. That quickly took a dive south though when a little girl asked "Where does get his power?". We tried to head off the question because mostly investigators are there and we try to avoid deep douctrine for them but the damage was done. One of the senior missionaries took it and ran. We ended that disscution fast and just got on with the activity. We all were cracking up about it later and no real damage was done, people were just a bit blown away. 

The next day we finnaly had another discussion with Louie. He's was super great as always and made us some quesadillas (no idea how to spell that). We talked about tons of stuff with him and reset his baptismal date for Feb. 23rd. He's a really great man and we hope he gets baptized soon!

Friday was pretty great. I got all those awesome gifts that you guys sent and I love them all. After district meeting we took off for zone lunch (only once a transfer now) at Shakey's. We were hanging out and having a great time when I got a call about my visa.... Turns out I needed to sign some stuff to get my FBI report realsed (cause we all know I'm such a bad kid) and Sister Bidolph said it means it'll be here soon, so I'm pretty pumped. They called my mom and asked her for my SSID while I was just sitting there super awkward-like. I bet she got a bit of a shock there. They got my sister (Kenz I think) and she was probably pretty suprised there. So that's the visa update, we also picked up my (borrowed) bike while we were there. 

That Saturday was the craziest day we've ever had on the mission. We took the bikes cause we're short on miles and flew around on them all day. It started when we went to go contact this less-active brother. There was this little parakeet that was hanging out and when we put our bikes up he flew over to our cross bars and just hung out with us. We named him "Estaban" . As we started talking to the the man there Estaban took of and landed on the groudn about 2 feet behind me, and then was promply snatched by a cat. We were all like, "What the heck?" It was pretty unexpected and the man said that was actually his girlfriend's pet. That was crazy.

After that we were biking around after dinner and Elder Froisland yelled from behind me to stop and turn around. I freaked out a bit and checked on him but he was fine. He was pointing to a fence with a ton of dogs barking at us. I swear, this lady had about 6 dogs. I was like, "So what? The stupid things bark at us all the time". But as I looked through the night I saw what he was excited about. There was a dog preched, yes perched, on top of the fence posts. It wasn't a smal dog either, this was a fully grown german shepard. We were just like "What the devil!!?" We couldn't believe it! We tried to take a picture he he hopped on down and took off. Silly poochy.

We met a great family that night as well, we call em' the E's because all of their names start with a long "ee" sound. They are so prepared and we hope to start teaching them this week!

Church was fun becuase Bishop got up and really preached this week. He got up and basically gave a sermon on "trial are blessings people". He used Job as an example and did a great job. He sure needed to too. The people around here are usually really dependant on the church. It's not their fault it's just that it's more poor area. 

He said something I really liked in the talk though. He siad "Without vision, men perish". I really like that idea. I try to keep my vision squared but we could all do a little better at that couldn't we? In Matthew 6:22 it says "If they eye be single, you shall be filled with light". It's easier to do it on a mission I know but I hope that afterward I will be able to keep that focus on God and everything that is really important. I hope that you can all do the same as well because I know that it brings blessings like you could not believe. I love you all and hope to find you all well. Ficam doce

-Um no exerctio de Deus

Elder Teela

Week 15

Oi meus amigos! 

This week was pretty good overall I think and I have a couple tender mercies to tell you all about! But let's start from last Tuesday.

We did splits (again) to start the day. This time with Elder Spencer, Elder Foster's companion. We immediately headed off to lunch at a member's home which was awesome. We had some eggs, hot dogs and spicy cascades (probably butchered that). It was a bit of a strange combination but who am I to turn down free food? We chatted awhile and had a good time but then the sister got serious really fast. She told us she was having some forgiveness issues and wanted us to help, and so began miracle #1. I said a quick prayer for guidance and flipped open my scriptures and opened it to a highlighted section in my scriptures, but as I read through it I thought it was the wrong one and quickly started leafing through the pages. Frustrated after a few minuets I finally went to my study journal to find the scripture, only to find it was the one I had flipped open to! I felt a bit stupid for denying that little bit of revelation and read the scripture to the sister. She still had some issues but we gave her some more scriptures to read and she was happy to have some stuff to do. 

The rest of the day went pretty remarkably but me and Elder Foster had a good time. He's a really good missionary and a cool guy. We get along great and did some good work that day.  

The next day we un-split and took off to a new missionary orientation. President Weidman and Sister Weidman were there of course and we did a lot of break out sessions about teaching and contacting. It was a great day full of inspired teaching and I learned so much more than I could ever write in this email. I also saw Elder Olgilve, Elder Kinney and Sister Jamieson there which was fun. Elder Kinney said he just got an email saying his visa cleared but they were still working on the background check but at least he knows he's taking off soon!

Later that night we went to FHE (family home evening) at the ward building. We call it FHE but it's really just a youth night for older people and investigators I guess. We played some pictionary and had a great time with that. My favorite thing that happened was that one of our ward missionaries and one of our senior missionaries went against each other. They were both well advanced in years and both said they could hardly see what they were drawing so it was a pretty hysterical match up. It took forever for us to guess what in the world they were drawing but we all eventually got it. After all the fun and games we had way more cake than we healthy for us and took off for home. 

The next day we got a call from Elders Martin and Murray. Their car needed a bit of work and so we had to drive them up to the mission office to drop it off. That took most of our morning and them we had to get them to a training so we drove them all the way there only to find we had about an hour and a half to kill. We went to a nearby Red Robin's for lunch and all ate way too much fries and hamburger-y goodness. Elder Froisland was a bit disappointed by the fries at first so he said "This is it?". Sadly for him when the waitress came out next she pilled up the fries and his pride wouldn't let him stop till he had eaten them all. The poor guy almost died I swear.

Later that day we came back to their apartment to help Elder Martin fix up his bike and while we were there we deiced to look around the apartment and see what goodies we could find. It's been a missionary apartment forever so Elders had been stashing stuff in there forever. Elder Froisland was digging through the closet and found a long coat. Like the deep black Terminator type ones. It's super huge on him but it's getting cold out and I was wearing mine a lot so he held on to it. So Pretty much wherever we go now we look like we're from the mob :).

The next day was Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) so we pick those two up again and took off to get to the church early. About 3/4 of the way there we were told by the ZL's to go get another missionary pair about 10 miles away. We dropped Elder Murray and Martin off and went to go get Elders Luna and Martinez, the Elders 10 miles away. We had to do this because usually there are 5 cars in the zone but for one reason or another we had somehow gotten all the way down to 2! We got them and were only about 10 mins late which wasn't too bad. The AP's showed up about 20 mins later and everyone started flipping out because it was rumored our mission had just been approved for iPads and the whole deal. But they weren't there for that, they were just stopping by to check in on the ZTM just like they do every once in a while.

After that we dropped off Elder Luna and Martiez and turned right back around to pick up Elder Martin and Murray. Little did we know we were spending the rest of the day with them. Elder Murray had a doctor's appointment to get his feet looked at later that day. That took till about 4 and after that when we went home they had locked their keys into their house! We looked for an unlocked window or something but there was no way in short of breaking something. We called management but there was no spare so we called the AP's and they said to go get the spare.... from the mission office. We drove all the way up there again and ended up with about half an hour to kill so we walked into the Visitor Center and found our old friend Sister Thompson. We said hi and started talking. She told us about this super cool idea that she was doing in her planner. She said everyday she would write a little miracle or something that she was thankful for. I remembered a quote I really liked from General Conference "A person who is grateful is rich in contentment" (Elder Bednar). That to me was a little miracle in it of itself and I'm taking her little challenge on. We drove back made sure that they could get back into their apartment and ended the night there. 

The next day we went to a baptism for one of Elder Froisland's old investigators, Ivan. It was a great service and even President Wiedman was there. We confirmed him there as well and the spirit was just awesome. 

We headed out with that spirit to an appointment with two teenage boys Yovani and Gerado. We started a bit rough on the lesson but in the end the spirit was super powerful and we set a baptismal date for Jan. 5th! They seem like super solid boys and I hope they can follow through on their commitment. They both do some martial arts so we had plenty to talk about.

Sunday morning we got a special treat. We were able to attend a training meeting with our area 70! He was a great man and once again I wish I could write all that I learned in this email but it is just too much! Just make sure you always have a referral for your local missionaries, okay? 

We had our regular Sunday and then took off for dinner with Sister Barrios and some Spanish Elders. She's a Mexican sister and we were having fish tacos, so there was no shortage of food. We chowed down like a wolf pack and it was all amazing! I swear, I had a bit more bump on my stomach than usual when we walked out and we had a great night. I even made a new friend in their iguana, Scales (he was named by a 5-year-old). It was especially fun cause he freaked out Sister Barrios. Her husband really had some fun with that.

That's it for my week, I hope you can all take a little something from it and that you enjoy these emails. May God bless you all! Ficam doce!

-Um no exercito de Deus

Elder Teela