Week 57-- If you want to be everyone's favorite missionary...

Hello again! Sssoooo it's been a good week I guess. The heat broke at least so pretty much the weather is staying in the "still sweating a bit" zone, not the "I might just drown" area, so that is good. We've had a bit of a slow week but we are still doing our best. It's hard here in  the rougher parts of town, no one has phones! And if they do it's because they buy one for a month, don't pay the bill and then they get a new one the next month.  

So we've been on exchanges a lot the past week and I actually ended up in the "crazy" area. It's where the zone leaders work and they live 8 miles outside of their area because it's not really safe for them to live in it. So I got to go there with one of them for a day. We got there and things almost immediately started to get weird. I wasn't even there for 30 mins and we had a homeless man telling us we needed to give him a dollar for food. The Elder I was with kept just responding "I've got a Book of Mormon for ya" and he kept saying "Well I need a dolla." That went on for, I swear, at least a full minuet until we finally relented and went to Taco bell and got him some stuff. When we went in he said "You go in, I gotch'yo' back, I'm (insert swearing about just how "bad" he was)". After we got him his food he hugged us (didn't smell so great) started crying and said he had our backs if anything went down. It was a strange/funny/amazing experience I won't soon forget. 

Um, we had interviews with Pres. Weidman Friday and that was great. I'm not sure if he'll want to do an exit one with me but I assumed it'd be the last one I will have with him. It was really good and I sure learned a lot from him. I wish he could come with me almost but I'm sure I'll come to love Pres. Wright just as well. If he's still mission pres down there.... He could have finished by now I guess. 

We also had some exchanges with an Elder here that is from Brazil and that was fun! He speaks a different accent then I learned so it was a bit hard to understand hims sometimes but we sure packed in a lot for those 24 hours. Also I didn't eat for 10 hours and at 9 O'clock at night I finished a whole pizza (a large one, not a personal one) and 1/6 a cake..... never try that at home. I've felt SO nasty the past few days. Just for bragging rights though it was pretty worth it :). 

Saturday we had our branch picnic and that was a blast. I made a new record of 4 pies and there were none left so I was pretty happy. Everyone wants me to make more now, haha. I tell you what, if you want to be everyone's favorite missionary, learn to make pie! We did a watermelon eating contest too and that was fun. I'll have to get the pictures from my companion to send you all, it's pretty great. And we got a free watermelon out of it too :).

So to be all spiritual I think the best thing to talk about is trying to keep the spirit. I don't know really much more to say than it is the single most important thing we can do as members of the church. It well make you better in almost any imaginable way. Write down when you have an spiritual experience is Henry B Eyring's advice. Even if that is all that is in your journal. You'll find yourself having more and feeling them stronger. I've recently just started doing it and I can tell you it's true! 

Well, that's all for this week! Have a good one! 

-Um no exercito de Deus 

Elder Teela 

Week 56-God is great

Well, here's to another week come and gone. I have just a month left here state side so I'm gonna be making the most of it. We've had some pretty cool experiences this week.

So I guess the first notable thing I guess was last week. I didn't really explain what happened too well I think. Me and Elder Shamo had to go get a car we had dropped off to get repairs done. The problem was is that we got the place wrong. Elder Shamo said "Oh, we'll be back in 20 mins or so." So I got some pies going in the oven and we then proceeded to get super lost. After about 55 mins of driving around I started freaking out just a little. I figured I could burn the place down if we left em' in there too long, or at least get the fire alarm to go off and have a nice hefty fine from the fire trucks that showed up. That and my pretty little pies would be dead. Luckily we called the mission home and got our manager's phone number and they shut off the oven, because we were still driving around 3 hours later. That would have been quite a last impression to leave just before heading to Brazil, right? It was a little bit stressful to say in the least. 

Well, another cool thing was that me and Elder MacDonald are in the same zone! For those who don't know me and Elder MacDonald are from the same home ward! We only met with 4 week for me left so we didn't know each other too well but it is still super cool! We both showed up to Zone Training Meeting and had a good spiritual boost there. And we had stake conference together the next day. 

So I don't have much more time to type this all out so I'll have to keep the rest with me till after the mission but I have an important question to answer. Someone has asked what one of my favorite experiences has been on my mission so far. I'd say one of the best has just recently happened actually yesterday. I was feeling a bit down and we had just finished lunch with some members but I was still pretty hungry. We sent in our weekly numbers which were pretty awful honestly and I started getting into a bit of pity party. 

I felt impressed to go drop by some people that had a strong baptismal date but had recently cut us off. They said they needed some time to think, and as a missionary those words are never good. I grumbled to myself a bit and tried to push it away but the thought came back, so we went and got in the car and started driving there. When we got there we actually saw that their car was in parked out front, so I felt my heart lift a little, but sunk right back down, thinking they would just tell us off in person. 

When we knocked on the door we were answered by someone I didn't know but they soon came into the front room with big smiles on their faces.  As we sat down and started talking the wife told us that she had really felt like she wanted God out of her life for a while while we weren't talking. She then went on to explain one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have ever heard of in my life. It was incredible, they told us they would be the first ones to church every week! They are now going to be baptized for on the 28th for sure! They completely cut us off, we prayed for a miracle and it happened all within 4 days! We came out of that lesson on fire, feeling on top of the world. God is great :). 

Well, that's all for this week. I've got to get back to work. Hope you all have a good one! 

-Um no exercito de Deus 

Elder Teela 

Week 55-- I was wrong

Well, I was wrong. I've never been more happy to be wrong really. I guess you all already know because my mom kinda already spilled the beans but I wanna say it anyway. MY VISA CAME THROUGH! It was the craziest thing. I just got a call Wednesday from President Weidman and I didn't really think anything of it and then.... bam, that man goes and drops that bomb on me right after transfers. I should be heading out around Oct. 15th or so, near the end of this transfer. I'm not too sure really whether to be sad, happy, excited or frustrated. Like I said, I was never meant to have a normal mission I guess. I love it here in California but I really still want to go to Brazil... It's all a bit of a mess, but I've made up my mind and I'm just gonna go for it and see what happens. In the end, there are blessings either way. I've learned a lot here and I am grateful for everything the people, the missionaries and Pres. Weidman has taught me. 

Enough about that though, we're still having fun here in the US. Well I'm in the "ghetto" area now called the Inglewood Knolls. It's really not that bad, I don't see why people are always freaking out about this place. I know it used to be worse and there are "don't go there" areas here too but I like it pretty good here. We still get plenty of dinners and for once I've come into an area that is alive and well! We've got plenty of work to do and the missionaries here before me have done a good job. We've got a few baptismal prospects that seem really ready and we're doing well. 

"Da branch" is a very cool place. Sunday was different from just about any other ward or branch I've ever been to. It was a lot of missionaries first of all. You've got 3 sets of us youngin's and 5 or 6 older couples that work in various areas but all come to church there. It's about 1/6 missionaries there then. The classes were good and all but nobody was actually there really until sacrament meeting, and then we got all the big-wigs in the area to show up. The stake president came over, a former stake president, a high counselor and even Pres. Weidman made it there. It was a very small, full stand. It was a testimony meeting too, and all of them got up and spoke, which was really powerful. 

I don't have much time but I'll leave you with this. Make sure you listen to the spirit when it talks to you. I didn't listen the first time I gave my answer to stay here. I only listened about half way really but looking back I see that I was not really listening and let my own logic and reason take place of the Lord's wisdom, and I made the wrong choice. I wanted to please people around me and didn't really give the answer I wanted, or the Lord apparently. I always thought I knew a bit about following the spirit but I guess I wasn't as good about it as I thought. Never logic or reason once you have an answer, just do it. I got lucky and God has shown me I took the wrong path and is letting me fix it, which isn't always the case. 

Well, hope you all have a good week! 

-Um no exercito de Deus

Elder Teela 

Week 54-- This one will have to be short

Sorry, but this one will have to be short. We're emailing at the family history center so we need to be short, so Imma give you all some highlights. 

1. Emily got baptized! WOOO! It was a great service and she was confirmed yesterday too and it was all awesome! 

2. I'm getting transferred to the ghetto! It's a place called Watts if you wanna know. It has this branch known as "The Branch" but is really called the Southwest LA branch. Apparently it's pretty much insane, so I should fit right in. I'll have to give you more details next week. I'll be with Elder Shamo

3. Tons of cool food this week! 

4. Um, some Korean Elders knocked by during one of our lessons this week. The look on their faces was pretty priceless when I opened the door :) 

5. Spiritual thought? Fear no man! I'm going to the ghetto but I'm sure the Lord will protect us. Everyone who talks about these areas seems to love them, so I sure I will too and I'll come out just fine :)

Sorry I had to be so short, but we need to get going. I hope I can write a bit more next week. Have a good one! 

-Un en el exercito de Dios

Elder Teela