Week 80 - transferred again!

So this email is just going to confuse you a bit, so let me clear things up so the letter makes a little more sense.

I got a transfer call last Sunday to leave to go be with Elder H (that's how you spell it) in Huntington Park Zone in HP2.  Monday came and I packed up everything. 

Tuesday morning I get a text from Elder H telling me that there was a change in transfers and we are going to be in a trio with Elder M because his trainee didn't come (miscarriage as we call it). Kinda like me in the past, so I went to my new area which is a car area, covering HP2 and HP3 (HP2 use to be a ZL area). Elder H is from Chicago and has only been out 1 transfer, I was his finishing trainer Elder M is in the same group that goes home with Elder D next transfer. He is from Cape Verde and speaks Portuguese, but he grew up in Boston and his family moved while on his mission to Provo. I then get a call WEDNESDAY night from the APs telling me that there is "going to be a change in our companionship" and that I am leaving to go to El Segundo and Westchester 3rd area with Elder Olive... But it is an English area. We double cover an English ward (lots of white people), and the Westchester 3rd Ward is a TONGAN ward. We switched on Thursday morning. Elder Olive is Tongan and from SLC.

Makes sense??

HP??? H- NO!!

Monday we went to go and get a haircut so that way I could look fresh for my new area. We had to wait outside the barbershop because the lady hadn't arrived in enough time to open the shop. She opened up and she cut Elder D's hair first. He talked to her a lot about who we are and the church that we represent, he has changed so much. She cut my hair and she was just a little off on the sides... But that ok I guess. We then went to go and do laundry at a laundromat because Elder D wanted to wash all of his clothes and his sheets for the new transfer. We had some problems with a washing machine that didn't want to accept our quarters so we had to go and get this guy from Guatemala who was a manager, but he wasn't the manager at that exact time so he went to go and get a Korean that was the manager at that time just so the guy could open up the washing machine. It was funny cause the Guatemalan was speaking in English and I'm here like "bro, I got this" but it all worked out so that is good. We then went to go and hang out with Elder P and Elder S because everyone else was doing something. It was looking like it was going to be an uneventful pday because at our church building all sports are banned because of what happened to Elder D. So we met up with them and when we got to the church, Elder P looked super white. He told us that his aunt, uncle, and some cousins that he is super close with just stopped by the church. He saw them as he was pulling up to the church and they took a picture, but he decided to just drive by and go to the closest car wash. He told us how much he wanted to just go out and say hi, but he knew that would be bad. He then said that they had been emailing him and asking to see if they could take him out for a lunch while they are here in LA. He kept telling them over emails that it is against missionary rules to do that. Why don't people understand this sort of thing? Goodness. Anywho, to get away from that scene, we went to go eat Subway and Yogurtland. It was good and we had a nice time just chatting it up with them. We didn't have any plans after that so we went and took pictures of the church building because it is super cool, and then we went back to our apartment so that I could pack a little bit. We biked to the Cerezo's house and had dinner with them and visited with them also. They are so cool. They told us that they have already started the classes so that they can go be sealed in the temple this year... !!! We were so happy. We took pictures and told them to invite us when they go get sealed.

Tuesday morning I woke up pretty early so that way I could be ready for Hermano S to come pick me up at 7:00 in the morning to take me to my new area. I get a text from Elder H saying that their was a change in the transfer and that Elder M (another elder) who was suppose to be training in an area right by us, didn't have his companion show up cause the mission miscalculated the number of Spanish missionaries. So that meant that we would be in a trio! My first trio!! I got there and I started to unpack and they started their studies so I was like... Wow, they are super serious and hardcore here, which was such a tender mercy from the Lord. We went to go buy groceries and I bought the normal stuff. I bought some cleaning stuff cause that apartment is super dirty, so I cleaned it up a bit by organizing the kitchen and cleaning it out. We started out contacting some potentials and talking to people on the street. We actually found this former investigator named C who is a wife of a less active member. We did a little get to know you questions and set expectations with her. It was really weird to be in a trio because teaching is so different!! It all worked out ok though anyways. We also found this part member family of a mom and her 2 kids that are 10 and 11 years old who aren't baptized. We showed them a quick video and set up a return appointment with them to have a FHE so that was really good. The son was super sarcastic and it was funny how much he was joking with the missionaries :) it was cool because then we had a baptismal interview for one of the investigators in that area. Her name is A and she is super nice. I met her only when filling out the information for the TMR and she passed her interview! It was so cool. We then had the bishop come and meet her because he was there at the church and so it was really easy for him to just go and say hi. Elder R, a Spanish missionary who is just amazing, was the one that gave the interview and when we saw each other we gave each other this huge hug cause he is just so awesome. We finished off the night having a nice dinner with the A family. They are the ward missionaries and they are just super awesome, I enjoyed having dinner with them.

Wednesday was a crazy day as well. We started out the working day having a lunch with some members. The son is named M and he is a "hugger" as we say as missionaries. They made us mole which is like my favorite thing as a missionary. Mole is the super sweet and spicy sauce/soup thing. It was so good. I guess I like mole because it is a little spicy, but the right mole won't be too spicy for my stomach. It was really good because they made the flauta south of the blue tortilla style wraps, so that was really good. We then went to go and visit this older couple. They were really sweet, but they seemed very adamant that they would be staying in their religion. We told them of the simple invitation that we want to give them which is to read in the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and find out for yourself. We set up a return appointment with them too. We stopped by to see some family, but the parents weren't home, just the kids. It was so sad cause they live in a very run down house and humble circumstances. They also have a lot of cats. One of the cats got caught in the middle of their neighbors yard which had a bunch of dogs and all we hear is "THEY ARE KILLING IT!!" We ran to look and i. kid. you. not. Those dogs ripped apart that poor cat.... It was scarring almost. Well they buried it with a shovel and that was just kinda gross, sad, all in one. We had shared a message before that all happened and had already made plans to come back by to visit with them. We ate dinner with this one family that I guess everyone just loves when they get to the area. The mom is very chismosa which is really bad. I also have had a companion that has a huge crush on the daughter, but I don't understand why because nobody in their family likes him.. Sad huh? The dinner was good, it was pulled pork... That was so good. We then swung by to go and visit A to see how she was doing and to tell her that we were going to make the baptismal program with her. Well, it is a good thing that we stopped by because her family works for Amway which is the devil in my opinion. The mom was telling her daughter that they had a very important seminar to go to on Sunday (remember, day of baptism) and that all of them had a ticket to go. We told A that her baptism is very important and that her family could attend her confirmation. After that we went to go and visit this really cool guy, but he wasn't home. At the end of the night we get a call that I AM GOING TO BE TRANSFERRED!! I got transferred to the El Segundo ward and the Westchester 3rd Ward. That means that I am now in an English area covering an English and Tongan ward.

Thursday we had to wake up early so that we could switch at the mission office early in the morning. My new companion, Elder O, was waiting there and it was nice to see him. We cleaned the car up at the mission office cause it was a little dirty. We talked about what was happening and how crazy everything is, but it's all good. I got to the new apartment and it is such a mess. It is such a nice apartment though, it even has a dishwasher! So we had this RC ask us if we wanted to meet with him. His name is J and he is Jew by blood. He says that the hardest part with becoming a member is the fact that his family gave him a lot of opposition by becoming a member, and right now he feels like he is an outsider looking in. He was really nice and even bought us ties! He also bought me some cool flip flops, so that was really nice. We then picked up dinner from a Tongan family and it was basically Hawaiian BBQ, so that was really good. I met the WML and his wife and they are a nice family. Sister J, the wife, is from Romania and she speaks 5 languages... She is super nice. We then went to go and visit this LA family and they are Latinos! It was pretty cool because I was able to tell some Mormon jokes in Spanish that they really liked. It was cool, I'll give you more updates on them with time.

Friday we started the day off with DM. It was alright, SO MANY ENGLISH missionaries, it is ridiculous. I went on an exchange with my ZL Elder O, who was in the same group of the missionary that I was suppose to train. It was a good exchange, a lot of stuff happened. We started off with lunch at Wendy's which was really good. During that time we got a call from the RC.  That we were going to eat dinner with and she asked us if we wanted to go out to eat... So we asked her if we could go to Costco and have some pizza. We went to go and visit a potential named C and it was a really good lesson. During the part when we were sharing the part of the Restoration, she totally felt the spirit. It was really sad though because she said that she wasn't too sure if she would read in the Book of Mormon. We then went to go and visit this LA family. The husband is cool, but the wife has a lot of mental problems. She FREAKS out when you try to call her Hermana, she always gives this scary look and then says "my name is S". It was an interesting lesson that's for sure. We then met up with the RC named C and we ate at Costco, it was real yummy. We took out a RC named R with us and he is super legit. He has only been a member for 10 months and he is already the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum. We also had a little lesson with an investigator who is struggling and R helped out with the lesson a lot. He shared a scripture in the Book of Mormon and it really helped the investigator. We finished off the night visiting a less active member and that was good too. We got back to the apartment and there was this cool puzzle thing that Elder U had on his desk and I wanted to take it apart and I also wanted to then put it back together. So that didn't work, cause I'm not the best at puzzles. 

Saturday we went running in the morning. I actually timed myself on the mile and I want to get a little faster by running in the morning :) we will see what happens. we switched back from exchanges and that was good. We got back to the apartment and I ate some leftover food for lunch. We went out for the day and started to contact a bunch of people. It is so different to talk to people in English while contacting. By that I mean to contact in a an area that doesn't have a lot of Latinos in it. The only Latinos in this area are the gardeners or the home repair people. We meet very few Latinos. We contacted a couple potential investigators and set up times next week to stop by for when they are going to be available, so hopefully that all works out. We kept contacting and while we were doing that we talked with this guy named G. He is a very intellectual man, but only believes that you can only find a truth through facts. It was really hard because he basically told us that he has studied the bible and everything... Blah blah blah. We went to go and visit a less active who is schizophrenic and that was interesting, but it was nice at the same time because she listened very intently to what we were teaching and she wasn't having any problems at that time. We ate dinner at a Tongan house and they gave us KFC. We were able to teach a part member family and the guy is named R. R is super nice and sweet. We are going to visit him this following week, and I will let you know what happens with that. 

Sunday was pretty fun, lots happened, but I am running out of time to email.

The picture is from the Hs, they are really cool. Sister H is from GB and that is where (former) Bishop H served his mission. He actually confirmed her brother a member! 

Sorry the letter is short, I will try to do better next week!!

Love,

Elder Roberts