Drive By Shooting

My dearest family,

So today we had transfers. I really thought that I was going to be staying in Anaheim with sister Longoria but she got transfered out.

Sister Minert is my new companion  and she came out the same time as hermana Longoria. Eric did you ever meet her in the MTC? Sister Henrie got her visa on Wednesday and is on her way to Spain right now. 

This week was great and super busy. Our area just grew a lot because the borders changed and I guess we have many of the Elders investigators now. We have been teaching the _______ family and they are doing really well. The dad really wants his whole family to listen to us and always has them come in when we come over. We have been very blessed to be able to teach a lot of families recently. 

This week we had zone meeting which was so good!  The assistants basically just talked about how we can help the missionaries and this mission. They also focused a lot on teaching families and working with the members in the ward. I am excited for this transfer and for the exchanges that I will get to go on with the sisters. We didn't have any new Spanish sisters come in this transfer but there were a bunch of English ones. It is so cool that so many sisters are coming out now! 

Well this week we had a ward activity that the missionaries were in charge of. The Elders did the lesson and we did the activity. We couldn't think of anything to do and didn't have much time at all and somehow we decided to play balloon volleyball with the families. I was worried that it wouldn't turn out, but they ended up loving it. It was sooo funny to watch! We had about 10 balloons and all of the members were really getting into it. I wish I got it on video because it was so funny!! 

Last night we went to a street that most of our investigators live on, and I guess right before we got there, someone drove by and was shooting at the apartments. There were a bunch of kids and teens outside, but luckily I don't think anyone ended up getting hurt. There were police everywhere and everyone told us to get out of there because they thought the guys might come back. As we were driving away we heard some more shots which was scary but I really hope everyone was OK  That's the street that all the interesting crazy stuff happens on... too bad we are teaching so many people there...haha! But no worries we are safe!  I love being here and know that this is the Lords work. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and am so grateful for the Atonement in my life. Thanks for everything, love you all! :)

That is soooo amazing to hear that Kelsey is going on a mission!!!!! I can't stop smiling because I am so happy for her. It is such a life changing experience and she is absolutely going to love it! She will make an amazing missionary too. I can't wait to hear where she is going!! :) Also, Christina and Erica Marley are going too!! That is so awesome!!!! That's pretty cool that Christy and her husband are moving into our ward. They are going to love Bend! :) Mom, fast tract sounds good. I think that would be smart to do. I bet I could get a little job there too and work before I go. Also that's funny that you got Just Dance. We are totally doing that together when I get home. :) You are going to be my companion and I am going to follow you everywhere. I hope that's OK with you. :) Sister Poulson is staying with us tonight and she leaves the mission to go home tomorrow morning. Sister Breitenstein is here on more transfer and she is companions with a 65 year old lady this transfer who only speaks Spanish  Cool huh? They didn't want to close the area because there are so many sisters coming next transfer so they just had her come in for a little bit. Well, that's about all the news this week! Love you! :)

Missing Santa Ana

Merry Christmas!!!! It has been such a great week here in Anaheim!

Yesterday I even got to go back to my ward in Santa Ana because Elizabeth got baptized. It was so amazing to see everyone and be able to be there for her baptism. She has made a lot of changes in her life and has a very strong testimony. I have a picture but I can't send it yet. I would always borrow my companions camera cord before, but now I will have to get on of those soon. 

Anyway, it was SO awesome to be back in my first ward. That ward means so much to me! Church in the Anaheim ward was good too but all throughout relief society they just kept talking about how great and united the Santa Ana 10th ward is, and how they wanted to be more like that. Yeah... I got lucky being in that ward for so long. We had a zone conference this weekend and it was a little different then usual. President surprised us a little.

Just imagine a room full of elders with a huge screen in front and all of the sudden the movie Tangled comes on. Haha! It was so funny and so much fun! We had lunch after that, and then had more of a spiritual meeting. It was great! 

Things here in Anaheim are going well. We had a less active member and we were teaching his 12 and 14 year old kids. They wanted to get baptized and were doing so well. The dad has been coming back to church and really wants the gospel for his kids. Well they didn't show up to church yesterday and so we called them after.

The mom answered and told us not to come back to their house. She said that she wants her kids to come to her church and she doesn't want to hear from us again. We haven't been able to talk to the dad but he lost his job and doesnt have anything to support his kids and so they are with the mom right now. It was really sad and we are really praying for them right now. 

Well, we had a lot of success finding people last week and we made a lot of appointments to come back so I am looking forward to working here. My companions are the greatest.

Mom, to answer your question. No I am not training both of them. Hermana Longoria was behind one week on her training and so we finished it up this week so she is done now, and Hermana Henrie has been here for one transfer and so she has another transfer left of training, so for the rest of this transfer we will be finishing hers up. There is a chance that she will leave to Spain before we finish though. 

Let see what else happened this week... Oh! We were tracting and knocked on a house and a lady opened the door holding a huge butcher knife and with a super creepy voice she said, "What do you want!" She yelled at us and told us to leave so we did. It was an interesting experience. 

Tonight we are planning on going caroling with our district and bringing cookies to people.Mom, I do have Uncle Harold's address and maybe we can carol to him tonight. There are actually a lot of investigators we are planning to go by, so I don't know if we will have time, but that would be awesome!  

Also we might play soccer today. I think I convinced people here that soccer is fun so hopefully we will actually get to play. That is one thing I loved about my old zone, that they always played soccer. Anyway, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be out here serving a mission especially during this Christmas time. It is definitely a different experience than being home, but it's a good one. :) Merry Christmas everyone! I love you all so so much!! 

Heavenly Father Puts the Words in My Mouth

Hello family!

First of all, Eric that's awesome that you have been playing soccer. We still play almost every p day. Isn't it the best! Also Hermana Longoria is my last companions new companion. She is training her. There is a very good chance that I will be companions with her. That's awesome that you know her. I haven't met Elder Brooks yet but I will keep my eye out. Sounds like you've been having a lot of fun in Guatemala! :) Keep up the good work bro.

This week we found a man named Jorge. He accepted a baptism date for November 4th! He invited us right in when we knocked on his door and said he felt different when we were there. The lessons that we have had with him have been very powerful. 

I know that the gift of tongues is real, and I have seen that a lot this week. Sometimes I think I can't explain something or say it right in Spanish, but when I start speaking, Heavenly Father puts the words in my mouth and I am able to explain. I am grateful for his help with the language because there is no way I would be able to teach without it. Sometimes it is still hard to speak outside of gospel topics, but the Gospel is why I'm here so it's all good. :) 

This Sunday our two most promising investigators from last transfer came to church. I was so happy to see them there, but when I told them that they don't live in our area anymore, and that the others missionaries were going to teach them she started to tear up and asked if we could still come see and teach her. It was so hard to explain that we have to stay in our area and I don't know if she completely understood why, but I introduced her to the other sisters and after that she seemed okay about the change. We are going to see how it goes. I love them and really miss teaching them! I am enjoying this half of the area though. :) 

Mom, you asked about the food. We eat with the members almost every day for dinner, and usually just have sandwiches for lunch. I don't have a favorite food because it's all really good but it is all so fattening! And they fill our plate with so much food! I always sneak some of my food to the other missionaries to help me finish. That is awesome to hear that Alexa and Brook are both thinking about missions! And Jerricha's going to absolutely love it! :) The weather down here has been nice still but cool at night. Yes, I still use my heated blanket every night. It's the best! :)  

You wanted to hear more about the embarrassing moments.. there are too many. Haha... a lot of them are hard to explain, you just had to be there. Anyway thanks for everything. Love you all!