Be Happy!

So, this week has been a really good week and the Lord is blessing this area and Sister Dalley and I a lot after the trial of our faith. Last week I didn't have much to write because not much was going on, but this week is different. Last Monday we taught this lady named Roxanne the Restoration. She has truly been prepared by the Lord. When she was younger she would go to the LDS church with a friend and just loved although her grandfather told her she had to stop going because he was hard core southern baptist. She was so excited for us to come back and loved everything that we taught. She was really open and wanted to come to church and bring her son too!! She has a lot of faith in the Lord even despite all of her medical problems. She is a great example to me and to all she meets. I am so happy we found her. We are hoping to meet with her again tonight and hoping she has kept her commitments. She really opened up and told us a lot about her life. She has had an incredibly hard life, but she has come out on top.

Um... We had Zone Conference on Tuesday which was a spiritual high as usual. President Woods talked a lot about learning by faith. President Woods truly is an inspired man.

All week Sister Dalley has been sick so that has been a rough time, but she is in good spirits and continues to do missionary work without complaint or fault. We did a lot of tracting this week and met a lot of cool people. Of course some people didn't keep their appointments, but we were able to teach a lot of people on the door step and to get a lot of return appointments for today. We are excited about that.

The highlight though was the baptism though on Saturday!!!! Alan Nichols was baptized and it was such a great success. His story a bit, since I don't know how much I have actually told you. His wife was a member for life but she has fallen away and come back many many times in her life. Her and Alan married about 3 years ago and he didn't want anything to do mormons because his parents were anti. Anyway... over the years by the example of certain members of the church he found something different about this church. He has looked in almost every church for the truth, but he said he was never able to find, there was always something missing, but he found it in the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. FIGURE THAT!!! He has completely changed and they have seen many blessings in their lives. They are expecting a baby here in about a few days. It is a miracle baby because she wasn't suppose to ever have children. What a blessing this family is. The service itself was amazing and so emotional. I cried like a baby the entire time because the spirit was so strong and I was just so happy for all of them. What a beautiful family they all are.

Those were the highlights of the week. I am doing well oh and with my new haircut and the humidity here my hair is actually curly. Who would have thought. I like it though and I have bangs. I look very different.

So, I want to say something to everyone that gets this e-mail. I know there is a lot of things going on in this world that are negative and can bring us down. Life is hard, but please don't let that get you down. Cling to our savior and everything that he has to offer. A lot of the e-mails and letters I have gotten recently are sad and I know you are all going through some rough times, but think of all the blessings we have now. Think of the gospel and the temple and the priesthood. Think of your families and just being alive today. I love you all so much and I hate seeing you all going through this rough patch in your life, but please smile. There is so much to be grateful for especially with the restored gospel. If you are feeling depressed go serve or make a list of all the blessing you receive everyday. I think it will surprise you the many tender mercies that you have in each day. I pray for you all everyday and I love you all so much and I love the support and everything you have given me. If it wasn't for you all I wouldn't be here today and I wouldn't be the person that I am today. You are all amazing people and never forget it. We all have trials, but try to think what can I learn from this and not focus and why me. I want each of you to send me a blessing in your life this week that next time that you write me. It is hard, it is hard out here as a missionary too, but hold the faith and have hope in the future and what the Savior and his Atonement can do for you. I mean goodness the Savior loves us. If nothing else focus on that. Love you all.

Lame Week

This week was a really lame week. I can't even begin to explain how frustrating it was and just exhausting. Well, first off the state capitol was pretty cool. We went there and couldn't go to the top of the 27th floor, but there are stairs with all 50 states on them and when they became states. Also, we went to a museum about LA and the culture and everything. As missionaries we are allotted a certain amount of miles a month and going to Baton Rouge ate up our miles so we did a lot of walking this week, which wasn't bad except um... it rained a lot. We got soaking wet and had to change a lot. Oh and then Sister Dalley got sick so that was so fun for her.

Um... It was more of a lame week because all of the appointments we had fell through. On Tuesday we had an appointment with Lacey who said we were an answer to her prayers and we went over there and her and her mom went in the back of the house and hid. Then we went another day this week and her mom said she was in the shower which was a lie since we saw her behind the door. AH!!! I just wanted to be blunt and be like HELLO you can just tell us you are not interested or whatever. I get so sick of people not being upfront with you and being honest. People don't realize it makes it easier on both of us but just telling us the truth. Not just in missionary work, but in real life. GRRR!!! I just wanted to hit some people this week.

Basically, after Alan gets baptized we have no investigators really. We tract and get appointments but no one is ever home. We thought we were cursed this week or something. Sister Dalley said it was all my fault, well jokingly because I am working on the christ like attribute of Faith this transfer and he is definitely trying my faith, but we are standing strong and immovable and we keep moving forward. It was a bit of a disappointing week, but we keep on going and loving the Lord.

We did teach this one lady who was really sweet, however she refused to read the book of mormon because the Lord hasn't directed her in that way yet. It was so weird because she kept telling us only through the Holy Ghost can you know truth and you need to study and pray well that is all we were asking her to do and she wouldn't do it. AH!!! Again a hardhearted person. This is a hard mission and a very interesting one as well. People in the south are crazy!!! I love them but they are so CRAZY and like the Lamanites, in a way since they think they know all they need to know about christ or the church is you in your heart and so I don't need no religion. I get that one a lot to. It is amazing the excuses people come up with, they just don't understand and don't know the blessings that would come. Well, I love the people down here they just can be frustrating at times.

Halloween was a bit boring. No one was home and we were on lockdown from 6pm on. It kind of stunk but was nice. Sister Dalley was sick so she slept and I just read and wrote letters and went to bed early. It was a very boring night but due to day light savings I got to get an extra hour of sleep.

Exciting Week

So, this week was a really good week, well most of it. The majority of the week was like any other week, tracting, and people not keeping their appointments, but we had some cool things happen this week. We tracted into a girl names Laci. We taught her a restoration and at first I thought she wasn't interested at all, but at the end of the lesson she told us that her family and her boyfirends family had been going though a lot and how they decided that they needed to go back to church. Well, they were praying for guidance and for a church to attend and then a week later we showed up at her door. It seems really promising. Oh and then we are teaching her again tonight about the plan of salvation. She didn't come to church, but he are hoping if we can teach her boyfriend to that they will start coming together. It was a really cool experience to be able to have her tell us we were an answer to her prayers. I have never experienced that and it felt awesome.

Our ward had a BBQ this weekend and we tried to get a lot of investigators and stuff to come, but not many came. Oh well. It was a lot of fun, good food, and we were able to get to know some of the members of the ward a bit better. Oh and this weekend I realized how the Gonzlaes ward is pretty much made up of family members. Everyone is somehow related in this ward. I am not kidding, cousins, second cousins etc.. Down here in the south they don't say oh this in my second cousin they are all just cousins and are really close to one another. It is so different down here. But I am loving it. You just have to be very careful what you say about anyone because they will find out and quickly.

Oh and this week we had a weird guy... well, let me explain. Pedro has been fighting the church for years and talking to missionaries for years even down in Mexico. Well, we taught him a first and then he wouldn't agree with us on really anything and just kept talking in circles. He was really frustrating, but at least we cleared up him thinking that the Book of Mormon is about how to be a mormon and about Joseph Smith. Anyway... then he gave us flowers and kept asking us to go out to eat with him. I think he is just really lonely because he is going through a separation right now. Then it was cool though because he came to the BBQ and to church. Although he always complains to us that we leave him by himself and the doesn't like to talk to other people. He is a real baby sometimes. Anyway.. then he called us yesterday and told us to bring him lunch. YEA right. He is a very strange man. But he is just so frustrating. GRR!!!

Oh an Sunday was the primary program. I forgot how much I miss having that in church. I haven't seen one for over 4 years and it was a real treat. The children are so cute and I love them. There was this little 4 year old names Annabelle who took over the show. She sang so loud for a few lines and then would breath and it would be quiet and then she would sing again. Everyone was talking about her and she is just adorable. I love the ward that I am serving in. They truly are a joy and I love this area.

Oh and funny story about Alan. We were already to commit him last night because we taught him again last night, but the bishop did it for us. On Sunday the Zone leaders asked us if Alan was getting baptized on Nov. 7th and we said no. Apparently the bishop talked to Alan about it and then Alan asked our ward mission leader if he would baptize him and the elders over heard and then we heard. We were like the 4th person to find out, but it is going to happen. I am so excited for him. His wife still hasn't had her baby yet. She is really pregnant and is having contractions and stuff, but still no baby. She is just dying to have Eli come soon. They are a cute couple and the lesson went really well last night. They have one more lesson that they need and then he is all ready for baptism. He has truly been prepared by the Lord. It is an amazing thing to see.

Oh and Lisa and the six children are doing wonderful. We are teaching her daughter Tabitha who is going to be turning 8 next month. Luther the oldest son got the priesthood the other day and it is so amazing. I love going over to their house because they are all so sweet and loving. I am excited to be here for another transfer.

I hope we can continue to find people to teach. Our teaching pool is still pretty small. Not due to lack of effort on our part or on the wards. We just have to be patient and wait to find those that have been prepared to hear the gospel.

Hard to believe a week from today I would have been gone 5 months. Time sure does fly by when you are busy. Some days I will admit though are slow. Oh and today we are going to the state capitol as a zone which should be really fun.

Oct. 19th.-Sorry its late!

So, this week not much really happened out of the ordinary. Last monday we went to the church and played volleyball most of the afternoon and that was a lot of fun and then we went over to Kim and Alan the plan of salvation. I think it went really well, but he has some concerns about failing after he is baptized, like sinning again, which is silly because we all sin, but that is a concern and I think he thinks he has to be perfect in everything. We are going to teach him about grace today and the gospel of jesus christ. I hope we can help him out. He wants to be baptized and we are going to give him a specific date today the 31st.

Um... we did a lot of tracting around the area and I am driving a but to get to know the area. It is crazy though I hadn't driven in over 4 months and it felt so weird especially since I didn't know where I was going at all. But it was nice to be behind the wheel again. We taught a man named Bently who was a media referral for a Bible. He is from Jamaica and is raising 4 children by himself. He works off shore 4 weeks and then is home one week. But he surprised us and came to church and said that is was really inspiring. Although he leaves today to go off shore and it is really sad. I hope he calls us in 4 weeks when he gets back.

We also taught a member referral named Nicole who is raising 3 children and is having a lot of problems with her husband not working and not even looking for work. She is talking about separating from him here soon. She seemed to really like the lesson but didn't come to church. Um... it was interesting because she told me that her calling was to be a prophet and I really didn't know how to respond to that. LOL Um... it was an interesting lesson. We are going back on Saturday so hopefully we can help her out a bit more.

The weather this week has been a lot cooler in the 60s. My blood is getting cold I think. I never thought I would be cold in the 60's.

Oh last night is when all the action happened this week. So I bought I new skirt about a week ago and it is kind of slick material so I wear a slip under it. Well, we were at a less actives house and I put my bag down and then all of the sudden i felt something around my ankles. My skirt had fallen off and Sister Dalley started cuttin up (laughing hard). It was really funny so I quickly pulled my skirt back up and just laughed. Luckily it was only us 2 in the room at the time. Then I hurt my hand pretty bad on a bowl while we were there so I have a big blister on my pointer and thumb area. Should I pop it or leave it be? It is an ugly looking thing. Um...yea but nothing really exciting this week. Tommy Jones got the Aaronic Preisthood though and can pass the sacrament next week so that is really exciting.

Baptisms!!!

So, this week was a bit crazy with the baptism and everything. Um... it was really cool because last Monday I got to do my first sight seeing here in LA. All of us missionaries went to the Homas Plantation and went into the gardens and in the house. It was a really laid back atmosphere. There weren't any ropes or things blocking off the antique furniture. In fact, the home itself is lived in by the owner. We were allowed to sit on this furniture that is like 100 plus years old. There was a Steinback piano which was made before 1910 somewhere in London I think, and only 50 pianos were made like this. I got to play it. It was so cool. Oh and there was an original Godin painting and an original Tiffany lamp this is worth millions. Craziness. It was beautiful though and we were able to touch things. Our tour guide was very unconventional and it was pretty cool. She also said that the civil war was more about money than it was about slavery. In fact, she was saying most of the slave owners down here in the south were blacks themselves. There is written history of it. But it isn't in our history books because who wins the war writes the history. Anyway.. also after the house was fixed up and renovated a little bit to get the house more well known, the owner had his two dogs get married. LOL There was thousands of people there and the dogs were on CNN. There are pictures of his dogs all over the house. It was pretty funny. It was a lot of fun to be able to go sight seeing a bit and just to have a great time with the other missionaries.

Um... the rest of the week was pretty dole. We did the normal go tracting and trying to teach people. It was frustrating. On Tuesday, there was no one home all day long. When we went tracting and also when we tried to go visit members. We had appointments this week, but no one kept them, and we weren't able to teach a single missionary lesson. It was a bit disappointing, but we weren't kept down. We kept doing what was required and asked of us. Um... there was one day, actually Tuesday when we were driving down the road and there was an old black man in a wheel chair missing a foot and was about to fall into a big ditch. Instead of having drains here in LA they have ditches. On this road they happen to be pretty steep and deep and also it was fall of water from the weekends rain and storms. Well, he was about half way in and then he had put his brakes on so he didn't go in, but he didn't have the strength in order to get out himself. Sister Dalley and I pulled over and helped him out.

This experience was a bit amusing at the time, but as I thought about it, how many of us are on edge just about ready to fall into a ditch. We are stuck not wanting to go in, but not knowing how to get out. And we need help. So many people we meet I think are on that verge of falling in, but don't know who to look for for help and guidance. They know they need help out, but don't know where to look. Or there are others who like sitting on the edge, but what they don't understand is eventually that mud is going to degrade and you will fall in eventually, slowly, but surely. I hope we can all be like the old man who didn't want to go in there and asked for help. We all need help to get out whether it is from people around us or the Savior himself. I have learned from reading a lot and listening to a lot of talks and stuff on my mission that the best way to get a doctrine a cross is to have a comparison. Just like Jesus Christ, teach in parables so that people can understand. I am trying to do that each day, but it is hard sometimes to come up with analogies. Sister Dalley is really good at it and I am learning a lot from her.

So, Saturday was the big day for the baptism and it was amazing. We were a bit worried though because we through everything together the night before with our ward mission leader and craziness it was. The six people who were getting baptized were late and then the font almost overflowed and just Lisa almost didn't want to be baptized anymore. ALL CRAZINESS!!! But in the end it turned out to be an amazing baptismal service and Lisa and the children were so cute and just glowing inside. Lisa teared up because she said that she felt her husband there and that he was pleased. On Sunday they were confirmed and then after church we went over with them to the grave site to see her husband since it was the year anniversary. It was interesting because all the lessons at church were about redeeming the dead and that really I think comforted Lisa. She is such a strong woman and a great example to me. The ward is amazing here and I am sure will help her raise her children right. She is definitely not raising them by herself. She is a blessed person. I hope I will be able to be there the day that she goes through the temple with her children to be sealed for time and all eternity. What a beautiful day that would be. The temple is an amazing blessing that we have to help redeem the dead and to be that little bit closer to our savior in heaven.

Oh and then last night we had a funny situation. We left our apartment after dinner to go out for the rest of the night when we didn't get to far down the road when Pedro wanted us to pull over and talk to him. He always bothers the missionaries and tries to convert them. LOL He is a silly man and doesn't really know who he is dealing with. We talked to him for like an hour about Salvation and being saved. The entire time he kept changing the subject, contradicting himself, and just going around in circles. It was quite the conversation. Anyway... we were about ready to leave because we had spent to much time talking to him already and our car wouldn't start. Well, we had left the lights on so are battery died. We called Brother Mann who is a convert and is awesome. Anyway, he came out to give us a jump and then he talked to Pedro about coming to church etc... So, we didn't want to risk our car dying again, but we needed at least 3 more contacts so we started driving around to find people out on the streets or at gas stations. We saw a guy walking so we pulled over to give him a card he accepted it and then didn't let me explain what it was for so he told us to pull over, we did and he asked where we were from and what the card was for. I think he thought we were prostitutes, but then he found out we were church people and then booked it. LOL It was quite funny.

That was about my week. It seems every time there is a baptism the rest of the week is not so great. But we are going to continue to work hard this week. Oh and we had interviews with President this week and received some good instruction about talking to everyone.

Missionary Life & Pictures

This week has been pretty normal when it comes to missionary work. We taught the Young Women of the ward about being member missionaries and that was a lot of fun to be able to interact with the youth. They are the future and they have a strong influence on those around them. They were a joy to teach and I hope when I come home that I am lucky enough to work in young womens at some point in time.

We taught a man named Alan. His wife Kim is a member, but has been inactive most of her life. They are expecting a baby here in about 6 weeks and when she found out she was pregnant they knew they needed to change their lives and wanted to raise their son in the gospel. It was Alan that wanted to investigate the church and got her coming back to church. We taught him the restoration and he had a lot of great questions and it was a powerful lesson. They are such a great couple and are so excited for their new son Eli. All they want is for him to have a good life and not to have to deal with all the things that they had to go through in their lives. What a great desire and they are doing it the right way. He wants to be baptized, but still wants to learn a lot more before he feels ready. Kim just glows with joy about her baby. It is interesting how being around her makes me want to have kids. I seem to get really emotional every time I am around here and see the baby move or hear how she talks about her new son. Babies truly are gifts from God and are blessings in our lives.

We are still teaching Emanuel and he still isn't doing the things we ask him to do and so he isn't getting an answer. It is interesting how being on a mission really makes me distrust people's word. All the time people tell us oh yea I will be there and do this and that, but they don't. It is very frustrating and tiring sometimes. I feel like a babysitter at times. We went and woke Emanuel up and made him food and he said he would be at the church in 15 minutes he just needed to get dressed. He NEVER showed up. AHHHH!!! I am so sick of things like that. He really isn't progressing. But one time when we went to go teach him this week his neighbor asked what we believed and wanted us to come teach him. Although he also asked about plural wives and said he would marry us in a heart beat. I don't know why we get proposed to so many times. We definitely are not cute in our missionary clothes. But anyway... we went back to teach him and we didn't get very far since he is a very scientific person. Wants science to prove things. I don't know if he was just trying to get under our skin or what, but we are going back next weekend.

Oh LISA JONES and her children. They are so cute and fun to teach. They are still getting baptized this Saturday and are really excited for it. Lisa came to conference and just loved it. Their faith and testimony is growing each and every day. I love that family so much. The dad passes away a year ago the day they are getting baptized. That just breaks my heart. I can't imagine raising 6 children all on my own, but she is doing a great job and has a lot of help. We are going to spend most of our week getting the baptism together and making sure everything goes well with that.

The ward here is so amazing and I am blessed to be here in Gonzales and have the companion I do. I am learning a lot from her and we get along well. It poured rain here yesterday and there was some flooding. Oh and this morning we discovered that we have mice in our apartment, but I don't know where they live. We are going to buy some stuff to kill them today. GROSS!!! They have been nibbling on our food. All is well here. The ward treats us well and looks after us.

I am doing much better each week and I am actually enjoying missionary work now most days. LOL I have now been out 4 months. It is hard to believe that I have already been out that long. Time sure does fly by when you are busy doing the lords work.

The Jones family is an amazing family. I am so exicted for them. They are such a joy to teach and are wonderful amazing people. It is sad though since her husband passed away, but they are right on schedule to be baptized on October 10th. So please pray that it come to pass.

We are also teaching a man named Emmaunel. He is really cool. He is truly seeking truth and really wants to know if what we are teaching him is true or not. He says he is praying, but isn't getting an answer. It is really hard for me to not to know how to help him see the answer he is getting or to help him get an answer. I am really trying hard to come up with something. Only the Lord truly knows what he needs. Another problem is his work schedule just changed and he is working nights everday all. It is so frustrating. Anyway... he is so great to teach and has a lot of good questions. I just do not know how to help him understand how to recognize his answer and also abour authority.

That seems to be a very common problem down here is helping people understand authority. I understand and I try to explain, but they just don't get it. I don't have to worry about helping people understand God down here they just have to learn authority and the whole speaking of tounges thing. A lot of relgions believe it is necessary to speak in tongues to recieve the holy ghost, but to them speaking in tongues is just gibberish. When they become full of the holy ghost they will stand up and start just going off in some language no one knows and then they fall on the groud and start having like a seziure kind of thing. I havn't witnessed it and I hope I never do because it seems really scary. They get caught up in adrenaline and it really isn't the spirit. Everyone down here thinks that is how you get the spirit. It is hard to tell them otherwise. It is a very different atmosphere down here especially with all the different religions. It seems LA is like a relgious melting pot.

It was really cool also this week we went to visit a less active member Kim and her husband is a non-member and she told us that he wants to start taking the lessons and they are trying to get their life back on track. They have a baby coming in about 6 weeks and they are just so cute together. They have been coming to church and all the activities.

Um... Gonzales ward is amazing. A lot more normal by our standards and a lot of people are really willing to help the missionaries out.

I have chosen to really focus on a chirstlike attribute this transfer and I have chosen charity. It is funny because zone conference and women's conference was all about charity. It is something that is crucial in life and especially as a missionary in order to want to share the gospel with everyone. I have really been striving to have that and I can see a difference in how I am treating people as well as my attitude even in just the last 2 weeks.

The Atonement is a real thing. The power is real and we all can grab unto it and apply it in our own lives. It is because Jesus loves us that we can be healed. It talks about in Mosiah when Alma the older and his people were in bondage how the lord lightened their burdens and they were able to be cheerful and submit to the will of the Lord.

I am loving it out here and I am learning a lot.