Week 60

Weekly Letter:

Monday we really wanted to badly go and eat at Korean Barbecue. It's something that other missionaries have told me for a very long time is good and that I need to try it before I leave, kinda like a "right of passage" type thing. So basically that's all we did during the "Pday" time. Because at first we went to a place that was SUPER expensive and because the waitress didn't speak English, we had to slowly understand her and it was just awkward when we left because we don't have that kind of money (30$ per person). We ended up going to a place that is super good and I'll definitely take you all there after the mission. Basically it's 13$ for an all you can eat meat type stuff, super good. The only down side was because you cook it yourself, and we aren't very good cooks. It wasn't AS amazing as I would've liked, probably because we were all new at it. It took all day to do that because we ate for like 2 hours straight and then traffic in LA is just horrible. We did go and visit S, the 8 year old girl who is getting baptized and reviewed the baptismal interview questions with her. She is so shy it almost hurts. But she's awesome, she really wants to be baptized and she can't wait to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. When we went to pick up our laundry from the members who do it for us, and I almost got bit by their dog. Their dog is a pretty old, fat, girl dog and for some reason it doesn't like me. We were on our way out of the house/ yard and the dog, named Bree, charged straight for us, I pushed Elder S out of the way and tried to fall backwards through the gate, only running into Elder S and then Bree almost bit my butt! She didn't get a good enough grip and I slipped out. She was then going crazy against the fence, like growling and barking and everything. Elder S was oblivious this whole time and didn't even recognize what happened. He just thought that I shoved him and he didn't want to get mad at me.

Tuesday we decided to stop by and visit A and his family. The two kids were coming back from school and they let us in. Well, this family also has a dog. This dog is older, somewhat blind, but doesn't bite... So they said. Let's just say it wouldn't let us through the front door. It didn't charge at us like Bree, but it did not let us pass. Why don't dogs like me?? We talked with the A family (A's family) for a little bit and it was funny because they were making fun of their grandma who is super old and from Thailand. The mom, B, she is from Thailand as well and she is Buddhist. We are trying to slowly get the husband active so that she can start to feel the change in her life as well as see it in his. After we visited them we had the baptismal interview for A and S with the Zone Leaders. Elder C interviewed A and Elder M interviewed S. When they walked out I asked A if she passed and she said "no, you didn't teach me all the stuff" and then Elder C said "no she passed, she is now ready for her second interview" and my stomach just dropped. Elder S, who didn't know there are sometimes two interviews was looking at me all weird and even S, the fellowshipper and basically BFF of A who is a recent convert said "there aren't two interviews!" Elder C looked at me and I understood. We both played it off cool and were like "Yah, sometimes there are two for adults" which is true. S of course passed, so we were really excited. After everyone left Elder S was like "2 interviews?" And I explained to him that sometimes investigators may have answered "Yes" to question 4 in the baptismal interview and if they say yes, then they need to be interviewed by someone of the mission presidency. It's kinda like repenting on your own vs. going through the bishop. We texted President V who is one of the counsellors in the mission presidency and the only one who speaks Spanish. After that we went and visited S. We were also suppose to go and see M, but she didn't show up. S is super smart. We read in the Book of Mormon and her comprehension is spot on! She could explain the story perfectly (we were reading in 1 Nephi 3 and 4) and wow, it was amazing. She is planning on being baptized in June because that is when her father returns from working out of the state. Afterwards we went out to eat (we got into a really bad habit this week) and got some pizzas. To end the night we went and visited the C family and decided to invite them to be baptized. They accepted an invitation to be baptized on the 1st of May! They said that they are making plans to come to church every week and that they will plan for the baptism as well. It was a good way to end the night and we were very happy.

Wednesday we started out the day normal when we received a call from Elder B who is the mission Elder in charge of the apartments. He is an older guy serving with his wife and he called us. He told us that he was 15-20 from our apartment and that he needed to install something inside. Of course I am freaking out because our apartment isn't always as clean as other times, so I started to organize some stuff. He came to install and smoke detector and a CO detector. They are the same box looking thing and when he was installing it he asked for a screwdriver and I pulled out a little handy dandy pocket knife that we have with its tiny little screwdriver. He looks at me like "you serious?" But says "well, beggars can't be choosers" and started to put the thing in the wall. After that he invited us to go and eat with him at Subway. On our way we almost died because he is an old cowboy from Texas and doesn't know how to drive too well in LA, but we made it alive and well. We then went to go and see M G because she is really sick. She told us that she is getting better, but that they will get the results of the tests next week to see what she has. She told us a real cool story. She said that when she went into the hospital, the doctors that were taking care of her weren't exactly doing a super good job. She was then switched to a different doctor and she told us that she thought he was Mormon, so she asked him. This is how she describes the conversation:

M- "What religion are you?"

Doctor- "Well, I don't like to talk about it at the workplace because some people might get mad"

M- "Well, what are you?"

Doctor- "Promise you won't get mad?"

M- "I promise"

Doctor- "I'm Mormon"

M- "I'm Mormon too" (hold her hand out to shake his)

Doctor- "Well then, I guess we need to say a prayer before we go in then"

She then said that she knows that Heavenly Father put him in her path so that way she could feel comforted. So cute! 

We then stopped by to go and visit the F family to make their program with them. We figured out who was going to say the prayer, give the talks, everything. Then the most important question came... Who would they choose to baptize them? We asked A, "Who do you want to baptize you?" She replied "The person who can".... Meaning Elder S because I'm a toothpick ahahaha. S then asked if I could baptize her... Of course I will! After we planned the program, we went to the chapel to meet with L. She is progressing and reading and everything! We went over the Word of Wisdom with her and she doesn't have any problems! She told us that she used to drink coffee, but that she was so addicted to it and that it was hurting her stomach so she stopped. We explained more about the Word of Wisdom and basically she's like, that's a commandment? I would think that's common sense! Oh my goodness I love her, she is hilarious! Coordination was right after that and Elder D wasn't too excited about the baptism for A. He used to be in my area and when Elder J and him taught A, she didn't like Elder D because he was too pushy with her. It was really funny because after Coordination one of the branch presidency members was asking us how everything is going and we told him that there was going to be 2 baptisms this week, he was like "awesome Elders! (Pointing toward where L was sitting) Now when is she going to be baptized?" Almost in a way saying that she never will be. We told him that she also has a baptismal date for the 24th and his jaw dropped and we were all like #dropdamic #boom it was pretty funny.

Thursday was just crazy. I'm going to try and explain everything as simply as I can. President V, the only member of the Mission Presidency who speaks Spanish told us that he would not be able to give the interview to A because he was busy with work. He told us to talk to President W, the other counselor and someone who does not speak Spanish. President W told us that he would need a translator during the interview, but he could only give the interview on a certain day and time because he was also working. Then we texted President W. We told him what was going on and asked if he could give the interview, he said yes. We worked it out that Elder C and I would go on mini splits during the hours right before and after the interview so that way Elder C could be the translator for President W. Elder S went with Elder M. The mini exchange was kinda crazy. Two missionaries, from the same stake, both "seasoned" in the mission on a raining day... We saw miracles. Elder C is just an amazing missionary. We had doorstep lessons and street lessons and I'm just thinking "man! Talk about representing the stake!" Naw, just kidding. But it was really fun. We arrived at the chapel and neither President or A were there. We called A and she said that she was on her way and President called us and said that he was 10 minutes out. Everybody arrived and President W was introducing himself to S (friend of A) and because she speaks a little English, she was talking with him. When he turned to A, who doesn't speak English, she said "Hola" and he said "hola, cómo está?" Me and Elder C then went "oh snap!" Meaning that President knows some Spanish, but then President gave me a look like "don't ever do that again." I was like.. Yikes! But it all worked out. During the interview President left to go and get tissues.... And when they finished I ask A "¿Ya pasó?" Meaning if she passed and President then replied for her "sí pasó". He shook my hand a looked into my eyes and basically said "this was a good one". I wanted to cry! We all left and Elder C and I went to go meet up with the other Elders. They were taking a little while so we went to this place that we always wanted to go to called Elizabeth's Bakery. It was so good! Definitely going there again. We then were walking to our car when a random guy stopped us and it looked like he was wanting to bash with us. He started with a prayer and offered us pizza. He told us that his daughter is Mormon and he wants to "help her get out of it". He asked us questions that were meant to trick us, but man, it was so intense! He asked us "how is it that we go back to heaven?" And we said by the Atonement of Christ, or by the mercy of God. He then said "are we saved by grace" to which we said yes. He then said "so we don't need to do anything then?" To which we replied "but faith without works is dead" and he nodded like... These guys are good, they got it. He then asked us if he could trust us with his daughter in the church. The reply from Elder C "you can trust her with Jesus Christ, this is his church" BOOM! He thanked us and we walked back to our car... Man! That was so cool!

Friday we had District Meeting, but when we got there people were cleaning the carpet and all the rooms, so we called President and he said just to reschedule the meeting until Friday. Well we had a mini ZTM because this last week we did something as a mission that was called Miracle Week and everything just exploded in the mission. So everyone was sharing miracles about what happened, it was cool. It was still raining and so it was pretty miserable. We stopped by to go and see A and kinda have one last lesson before their baptism. She said she was nervous, but she said it with a smile, so that was good. Later that night we went to go and see the C family, but they had family in town so we decided to leave. The rest of the day was just a lot of walking in the rain, pretty boring.

Saturday was the District meeting and it rained, so there really wasn't much that happened because nobody is home when it rains. Brother L and his wife took us to a burger joint called The Habit and that was good.

Sunday was a crazy long, but awesome day. We started out with a meeting in the Samoan Ward at 7:00 am and I just basically sat there bored because they talk in Samoan the entire time so I don't understand anything. We then had sacrament meeting and that was good, but some of the testimonies were in Samoan, so I still didn't understand anything. A returned missionary who served in this mission came back and visited. He 'welcomed' us to the Ward, how nice was that? Anywho he then asked if either of us was able to learn the Samoan language yet. I kinda just looked at my tag, you know, the one that says:

Elder Roberts

La Iglesia De 

Jesucristo 

De Los Santos 

De Los Últimos Días 

And thought.. Uh no I don't know Samoan yet. Elder S just then gave him a look like "for real bro?" It was pretty funny. The Elder spent 15 months in this Ward, and he was an English elder, not Samoan. 

Church was good in the Branch, we had the BAPTISM! Elder S basically had to tackle A into the font. I baptized S and she was just all smiles the whole time.

Transfers are next week, I don't know a haka yet, yes I'm white and I did get a haircut

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 59

 Dear Awesome Family!

Conference was so cool, I love conference... Didn't even fall asleep this time, how could I? I wrote so many notes it's crazy.

Woot woot! 4 new temples!!! Brazil, Zimbabwe, Ecuador and PERU!!! 

Monday was a weird day. Because it is the end of the month, we have to make sure that we are not driving over our allotment of miles, so we just did what we normally do for Pdays instead of going somewhere cool. We got the car washed and the car washes here are crazy weird. I swear you might as well wash it by hand because it does not do the job right, and then sometimes the car washes don't work, and that's awkward. We played sports and went to Yogurtland, so that was fun. We had dinner with the P family. They had a lot of food waiting for us and it was so yummy! The dad, S is the ward clerk and he is so funny. We talked with them for a bit and helped them practice how to talk to their friends about the Gladys Knight musical presentation, so that was fun. 

Tuesday was just so incredibly sad. We had a goal as a zone to do some crazy stuff with MP lessons and Baptismal invitations, so Tuesday we just planned the day packed with stuff. We first had a lesson planned with L and Hermana P, but then Hermana P canceled, so then we just set up a lesson with L, but then she also canceled on us... Dang it. We then went and tracked for a while, trying to contact some referrals and visit members we don't know. Elder S then said "we should go and visit M G our homie" so we went to go and see her. She is the RC who is really old and came to church for the first time last week since I've been here. We knocked on her door and her husband answered the door. It was my first time meeting him and we asked if his wife was home. He then told us that she was in the hospital and has been there for the past 3 days. He started to cry and we shared a scripture to comfort him. He told us of his worries and it was a tender moment. We prayed with him and he told us that he was going to tell M that we stopped by. It was really sad. We then had a lesson scheduled with A and S, the two with a baptismal date. We then got a text from A saying that SHE couldn't make it either to the lesson... Shoot! We were then visiting potentials and we got a call from our branch president saying that a family in the branch needed our help. He told us that they had a family member who was in the hospital and that they wanted a blessing. So we went with him to the hospital, don't worry, it was in our area. We walk in and I just could not handle it... I can't stand hospitals anymore. We thought we were just going to go and visit and give a blessing, but when Presidente O started to ask for "trauma" I was like... Oh no, I ain't going to the ICU. Well we went. The man was involved in a terrible car accident and he looked badly scraped and everything. His family was crying and his wife just kept saying "we believe". She told us that right before we had arrived, they pronounced him dead. They had him hooked up to life support, or the ventilator, idk which, but out of the 3 numbers that it is suppose to have, 2 of the numbers were 0's. We gave him a blessing (yes, to a dead dude) and it was sad. His wife just kept crying and I didn't know what to do, and neither did Elder S. We left and Presidente O was asking us all these questions and I'm just thinking "can we please leave the hospital now??" I hate hospitals. We then went to visit some potentials and they weren't home either. Bishop M from the Samoan Ward, had signed up for dinner that day, so we were calling and leaving messages for him. It was getting late so we just decided to get dinner. When we went back to the chapel to eat (cause it's like smack dab in the middle of our area) one of the counsellors in the bishopric told us that today was the funeral for Bishop M's brother.... Oh my goodness. We felt horrible. How rude is that? We didn't even know that our bishop was at a funeral and here we are, trying to call him... Ugh. So that made the day even more sad. We decided to stop by the C family. Elder S kept saying that if they weren't there, that he was going to flip out when we got back to the apartment. Well, they were home. We invited the P family and we talked about FHE and General Conference. It was cool because after the family left, we stopped and talked with them for a bit and.... They missed us so that was a good way to end a very sad day.

Wednesday was a little better. We found a family that was investigating the church a while back, the M family. The dad is a good friend of our branch president, the mom is really nice, and the son is just awesome and he's 14 years old. We talked with them for a bit and the son is actually the one who basically set up the whole lesson. We called him and he told us a time then when we stopped by, he came out to greet us. They have all sorts of animals running around their yard and stuff. They have dogs, cats, bunnies, chickens, and roosters... And no this isn't a farm, it's a normal house in LA. One of the bunnies even has a scar from fighting with the cat because the cat tries to eat all the little bunnies. They also just barely had puppies and those puppies have green and blue eyes! Melt your heart right? We did a get to know you lesson and invited them to conference. I thin the key to the family will be to work through the son. We then tried a couple of potentials and they weren't home. We then  tried to stop by for M, but he was working, which was ok because the uncle he lives with is our WML and he was sick. We canceled coordination for that night, but Elder S and I still went to the church to go and have a lesson with L. She is keeping her commitments! She is reading, praying, everything. She told us of her concerns about being baptized, because she could literally be baptized anytime that she wants right now. We then finished off the day with dinner at the Ls. The always give us so much food! It was so good and man was I stuffed! That family is really nice.

Thursday we had weekly planning and we made some plans for our investigators with baptismal dates. We made the plans and then looked up some Mormon messages and videos to try and see what could help our investigators improve. We stopped by to see A and S, the mom and daughter couple, and to go over some commandments that they didn't know still. During the lesson, A brought up a lot of questions. She has a coworker who keeps telling her all this anti Mormon type stuff and she asked us "why would he tell me that if its not true?" I can't tell you how perfect her fellowshipper/ friend/ neighbor's response was: "because the devil doesn't want you to be baptized". It's true! It was so simple and I thought, when it comes down to it... Ya! She had a lot of questions, but a lot of them were resolved. After that we tried to go and see some part member families and potentials, but they weren't home. We received a call earlier in the day from Hermana R. She is the one who called Presidente O to have us give a blessing to the guy in the hospital. She called us because she wanted us to give a blessing to her daughter, the problem was that we couldn't enter into the house because she only has daughters. We called members of the branch to see if they could come with us to give a blessing. When we arrived I met the family, and they are pretty cool. The daughter was in the same car as the man we blessed on Tuesday, B. He is their brief in law and also cousin type deal... Don't ask, I'm still trying to figure it out. We gave her a blessing and that was a cool experience. It was just really sad because we have had to give a lot of blessings this week, which are all cool experiences, it's just really sad you know?

Friday we had ZTM and I also went on exchanges with Elder D. ZTM was pretty cool because there are only Elders in the zone, so it's a "bro-zone" and there are a lot of missionaries that I know from past areas and serving around them. After ZTM I went on an exchange with Elder D in his area. His is in a Ike area, and idk if I told you, but I am letting him use my bike because his bike broke and stuff. Well, he has treated Peggy very nicely. He put new brakes on her and oiled her chain and now she is an incredibly smooth ride, how do I know? Well I rode her that day and it was a complete difference. He even fixed all the brakes and everything! We stopped by one of their investigators and they had a neighbor washing their car. Well the investigator made us pupusas, giant ones if I can add, and we invited the neighbor to come and eat with us. He looks like he is 20 or 21 and he has more facial hair than I have hair in my head, and he is only 15. The investigator, S, and her daughter, M, also thought that I was a kid, to the point that M (age little kid) asked her mom "who is the cute boy sitting by the missionary?" Ok... I know I needed a haircut, but dang! After that awkward moment we talked to the neighbor. His name is E and we told him about a lot of stuff. He has been kicked out of school, for various reasons, and works at a car wash. He seemed interested in hearing about the restored gospel so that was definitely a tender mercy. We then visited a man named J. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in about 15 minutes and he accepted a baptismal date as well! It was super cool because it was so simple! After that we went to dinner (eating 2 times ugh) but it was on the complete other side of their area, so it took a long time to bike just because of all the stops and lights in the way. After dinner we only had time to bike back home. 

Saturday was General Conference and so that was really fun, especially cause basically we had 5 1/2 hours of church that day... So awesome. I can't really say what talk was my favorite, because all of the, were really good. After priesthood session we went back to go and visit M, one of the recent converts in the area. Saturday was the year anniversary of when Hermana and Hermano A's son passed away. He past away at home, and he had cancer. He had an bag just like Josh and the comparisons are sadly similar. She was feeling really down, and I didn't know what to do to comfort her. Everyone was dressed in black and the mood was definitely mournful. We read in the scriptures with M and his uncle and that was better. It was just really sad to see Hermana A that way, cause normally she is always smiling.

Sunday was conference and that was awesome! The C family came to the Sunday morning session and that was really cool. Elder F and I went on a little exchange and listened to that session in Spanish. I probably didn't get out as much as I would've in English, but I understood SO much more than last conference, I actually have a good chunk of notes. The C family said that they loved conference and how they focus so much in the family! Lilian also came to conference and she loved it!

We ended the day off with visiting M, M G, and the C family

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 58

Weekly Letter

Monday was a good day. We tried to set plans with some of the other elders in our zone, but that failed. So we ended up playing sports with Elder D and Elder F. They are the other elders in the district. We played basketball and soccer, and I was having a really off day. It was pretty funny though because at the end when Elder D and I were on the same team playing soccer, I had an open shot on goal. Elder S then dove on his side to try and block the shot with his back, but instead of kicking it, I held on to it. I tapped it around him then smacked it in. We were all amazed and laughing that Elder S dove and slid to block it, but it was funny that I just walked around him and smacked it in. We then had a FHE with a Samoan family. The husband is A (member) and his wife is B(non-member / Buddhist). Their two kids, a boy and a girl, are both baptized and incredibly active. The kids go to church but the dad doesn't. They are only 10 and 9!!! Their mom,  B, does support them because she knows that it makes them happy. What we are trying to do is to slowly get the dad active so that way the spirit is more in their home and Bambi's heart will slowly be softened. We read in The Book of Mormon with them and then they gave us ice cream. After we had originally a lesson with the C family, but they canceled on us.

Tuesday was just a crazy busy day for us. We started off with NMO 3 which is the training in which the new missionaries (Elder S) get their IPads and we have trainings for 3 hours. I went to it last transfer with Elder L and it was cool, so I knew what the trainings were about and other missionaries are starting to remember me and call on me more. It was funny cause the missionaries who are now the Zone Leaders are either friends from high school, or past companions, or missionaries whom I've served around, so it's really fun to see them. During NMO 3 you switch companions for the training, so I was with a missionary named Elder M from Japan. His companion is Elder C, the other DL who we share District Meeting with, so it was fun to be with him. It was really sad because the iPad wouldn't work with his missionary codes and stuff so they told him that they would get him another one later. I had to explain to him that because he is from Japan and not from USA or Canada, the iPad he will be using is a loaner iPad, not his, and that he would have to give it back at the end of his mission. We then went to go and visit A and S F, they are a mother and daughter duo. A, the mom, told us that she would prepare to be baptized on the 10th with her daughter. She also said that she told her brother, who is the only other member in the family that Stephanie was being baptized and that she wants it to be a surprise that she is being baptized (hey, whatever helps motivate her to keep going, and come on, it's adorable). We ate dinner at the L's and man, does Sister L cook! We walked in and the table was filled with food! I thought that her kids were going to come and eat, but no, she prepared for us and her husband. There were ribs, wings, chicken salad, rice, rolls, taro... Everything! I was so full, I only had 1 plate cause the food was so filling! Elder S ate a lot... Like a lot. It was even more crazy when she gave us leftovers and then gave us laundry detergent, mouth wash, and Mr. Good bars! Samoan members I tell ya, wow. We had a lesson scheduled with the C family and it's really sad because we haven't been able to meet with them as often as we would like, but we are not losing hope on them!

Wednesday was an ok day. We had a lot of lessons planned for the day, but when we called to confirm them, all of them canceled on us. We then decided to go and visit less actives and recent converts. We first read with M. He is the nephew of our WML and he moved to Arizona, but then moved back. We talked with him for a bit and read in the Book of Mormon with him. It was so nice, he gave us donuts, muffins, a bean burrito, just kept giving us food basically hahaha. We then decided to go and visit a recent convert that I have never met before. While trying to knock on her door, there were two entrances, the gate, and the car entrance. The gate was locked but it seemed like the car entrance was open. I started to pull on the gate for the entrance when WHHOOM! A HUGE pit bull came running straight at us and I quickly hurried to shut the gate. Yes it looked mean and Elder S was making fun of me saying that I almost got us killed. Well, we decided that we probably couldn't enter into the house, so we went to the neighbors house, which is a less active family. We met the daughter and she told us at her family has a business in Provo for selling Mexican candies and food down there, so that is why they haven't been coming to church. The mom made us help wrap some of the Mexican candy apples and that was fun. She told us that they weren't spicy (remember she is from Mexico) and after I explained everything, she still made me eat one hahaha. Yes, it was spicy, but it was also super sweet! We picked up our dinner from the church and ate it there. Look for a picture, I know, all of my pictures right now are just of food, but I accidentally left my camera in my last area and they still haven't gotten it back to me yet. We had coordination after and it was such a crazy event. One of the Hermanas wasn't feeling too well so right as we began talking to our WML our branch president walked in and said "Elders, a sister isn't feeling well and we need you to give her a blessing" within seconds the sister was in and we sat her down in a chair. One of the elders asked her for her name, but she was in so much pain that we just decided to give her a blessing by calling her Hermana and then her last name. During the prayer she started to calm down. 911 was called, and we and the other elders waited outside to flag down the ambulance. It was even more sad because people didn't know what was going on, so when the youth went outside, the hermana's daughter did too. When she saw her mom she started to cry hysterically. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do. But that's when the South Gate branch came in because they really know what it means to be a family. Two relief society sister took the daughter to the side and started to calm her down while everyone was making room for the medics. All in all we found out that she was having really bad acid in her stomach, but she felt pain in her heart and her left arm, so that's why everything was very serious because, you know, heart attack.. Stroke, ya. So that's what ended the night... Yay......

Thursday was a crazy day. Normally we have our weekly planning around 12-3 but because we had some set appointments, we decided to do it earlier around 10-1. Planning was so much easier because now Elder S has his IPad! We finished planning and then went to go get lunch. After that we visited with L and hermana P. L has been reading and praying! It was cool because hermana P told us more about herself and how she come to know about the church and eventually baptized. The crazy thing about it is that her name is S P, if she takes her husband's last name. That translates to holy shepherd in Spanish. So whenever she has friends or family visit the church and all of us call her and her husband the 'Pastors' they all think that they are the owners of the church. How Hermana P came to know the church is amazing. 

Friday I went on exchanges with Elder M, one of my ZLs. We had originally planned to go in exchanges with Elder F and Elder D so Elder S planned the day for him and Elder F. When the ZLs called though, they said that I was staying in my area with Elder M... So I had to use the plans that Elder S basically made cause I had him do the whole day because he was going to be doing them, right. I also had to give the training at DM and that was a little stressful, not because the other Elders would make fun of me (which they would because we are all chill) but because I really wanted it to be good. The exchange started and we didn't have any set appointments. We contacted for days, but saw so many miracles. We visited M G and visited with her for a while. We also found a family of 4 that we just started to talk to! It was really cool. Our dinner appointment told us to meet at the church (Samoan) and so we went there next. It was really awkward because I don't know any of the members and Elder M surely doesn't so when I saw a sister walking towards us with some food, I happily introduced myself, but then she told us that the food was inside and drove off. 

So I forgot to write the rest of the week... Just cause we have been busy with everything, but I'll do better next time:)

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 57

First week eating with the Samoans and it was full off food!!

Monday was Elder S's birthday, and I didn't get him anything:( I'm such a bad companion. We did go to a Chinese buffet with some other elders to celebrate and there we told the lady that it was his birthday, so they brought out a little cake with some strawberries made into flowers, I am SO sorry I didn't take a picture, I think we were just laughing too hard the whole time it was happening. We then went grocery shopping and I bought a pie for pie day. We then went to Yogurtland because that is a tradition I have as a missionary as you know, and then we went to go and play some sports. Elder S is really good at sports and it always sucks when we are on opposite teams cause he is so much bigger than me! We dominated in soccer though. It was us vs. two Latinos and we killed them 10-6! It was so funny cause they were getting really frustrated too. After that we picked up our dinner because the member lives clear outside of the area (the Samoan Ward members) and we took it back to the apartment to eat. Yes that is a picture of it with the meatballs, rice, fish and spinach, and strawberries. They also gave us the gatorades. We then went to visit the C family. I had texted them earlier letting them know that it was Elder S's birthday and to both of our surprise they bought him a tres leches cake! It was so sweet. 

Tuesday we started the day off with L. She is an investigator and very close friend to the P family who are members. They told us that she was interested in listening to the missionaries and so we sat down and got to know her a little bit. She has pure intent. She really wants to be baptized for her own purposes, but she says she needs to understand more. We told her that at any time, ask a question and we will try to answer it. She is super cool and funny, chill, relaxed, she's awesome. We then had a chance to go and visit S and her mom A. S is 8 and she wants to be baptized. We taught the Restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and didn't really pay attention to A (mistake on our part). Their neighbors are active members and really good fellow shippers. We saw N and had a lesson with her and her dad. She is scared that once she is baptized, she will sin. Her dad keeps saying that she isn't ready and he really isn't super supportive of the whole thing. We then had a little bit of time to go to the C family with our WML and read in the Book of Mormon. The mom, I, was the only one, but we read and she said that she had desires to read. Our WML bore an amazing testimony that he had about the Book of Mormon, so that was a good way to end the night.

Wednesday we had a lot of plans cancel, so we decide to go and contact some referrals and visit less active members in our area. We visited the A family. I have never seen them before at church, I don't know why they haven't come to church. We shared the Easter video and invited them to come to church on Sunday. We then went to go and see A and B (yes that is what his name is and what we call her). They are Samoan and she, B, is super Buddhist. There two kids have both been baptized and are really setting a good example for their parents. Their dad is less active and he has lost a little hope in his wife ever being baptized. He knows that he needs to be sealed to his family, but he loves his family. We told them about the Gladys Knight fireside and they seemed super interested. I think B will really like it, and hopefully as we start to go by, she will lighten up and start to feel the spirit work inside of her. We shared a video called "same jersey" and they liked it a lot. We then tried to stop by a referral and taught this nice old lady named E. She invited us back for Sunday. After that we had dinner at Hermana Peña's house and she made chilaquiles, which are super good. She put some meat with them and she made a salad, so that was good. We then had our coordination meeting at the church. Once that was done we cleaned out the car and made it look nice for zone conference.  

Thursday was Zone conference and we had to wake up at 5:00 just to get there on time. We actually arrived 5 minutes late to when we needed to be there because traffic is SO bad in LA in the mornings. At the zone conference a lot of things changed. In most missions in the US and Canada they have something in their cars called TIWi. TIWi is a device that makes sure the driver is not speeding, is buckled up, doesn't take turns too hard, goes over bumps, pot holes, all that stuff. If you do it says something like "slow down" and if you don't, it sends a message to the mission president. Any violation turns you to yellow. If you are yellow for 4 transfers than you lose all driving privileges. It's much more complicated than this, you could probably get more info, but let's just say I have Siri's robotic brother in my car and I am a very defensive driver now:) Zone conference was good, our car got a perfect 10 on being clean! Yes! We also took zone pictures so be sure to look for that. After that we went and saw A and S F. S is 8 about to turn 9 and neither of her parents, A and the dad, are members. Yes missionaries have taught them in the past. A is encouraging that S gets baptized, so we know that will happen. What we did though, is invite both of them to be baptized in the same day. In the past the missionaries pushed A too much and she didn't like that. So what we know is that if they both progress together, with the knowledge that A has and the desire that S has, they will both be baptized. It was an ok lesson, but hey, we got A thinking. After that we went to go and see N. We made her baptismal program with her and she really liked that. Afterwards her parent sowed up and we filled out her TMR or the thing that will eventually become her record of the church, pretty important. They gave us a Mc Chicken and that was that. We then had our dinner appointment with the R (Samoan) family. They are super cool. Their son just opened up his mission call and he is going to New York, New York English speaking... Woot woot! They have a big family and even more were over and you all know that I'm just a little nervous around lots of people that I don't know, so I sat there, eating my food. They gave us SOOOO much food. This picture is from all the food that we received TODAY. Talk about leftovers for weeks right? We told them about the Gladys Knight fireside and they seemed really interested. 

Friday was ridiculous. We started out good, but then it just went downhill from there. We were able to visit L. She is a single mother of 4 kids and she has been coming to church for a while. She is really interested in taking the lessons, but doesn't want to be forced into anything. She says that she enjoys talking with us and that she is learning a lot. She always talks about a "peace" that she feels when she talks with us or when she is at church (the Spirit in case you didn't know). She asks really good questions. She also told us that she wants her son to take the lessons too. We then went to go and contact some referrals. One of the referrals we contacted was a man named F. We knocked on his door and he let us in. He has two daughters and his wife who wasn't there. We talked with him a little bit, and showed him the Hallelujah Mormon message. He invited us back for next Wednesday. After that we had dinner with another Samoan family. They took us out to China buffet (the same one we went to on Monday ahaha) and they are super cool. The husband has Down syndrome and is hilarious, especially at the china buffet because he kept making fun of the waitresses and their Chinese. The mom is super cool. She served her mission speaking Navajo! She is upper funny as well. During dinner we received a text message from N's dad saying that they wouldn't be able to have the baptismal interview and that the baptism was canceled. !!!!!!!!!! We immediately went over to their house and started talking to N and she was saying that she no longer wanted to be baptized. She said she had talked to her dad and they said she isn't ready. The parents showed up and the dad was incredibly firm on the decision that she would not be baptized this week. He kept saying "she will be baptized in her own time" UGH!!! We then felt a little down and went to go and see the C family. V was the only one there and so we read with him in the Book of Mormon. 

Saturday we started out with a lesson with S and M. M has a baptismal date for the 16th of April and S is waiting for her dad to come back from working in Utah. They have already been taught the lessons, so we just go back over the lessons with them. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them to church. It was a good lesson because they are learning, we just need to meet with them more often so that the principles stick in their heads! After that we had our weekly planning because of the Zone Conference that was in Thursday. After that we were invited by a member to eat at... China buffet. Ugh, I'm kinda sick of that place now. She had to go to a fireside so she just paid for us and left... Awkward! We left there and went to visit N to have a "do or die" type moment to see if we were still going to teach her. The feeling that her and her parents gave us was a cold one, so we invited them to church and left it at that. We decided that if they came to church, then we would continue to visit them, but if they didn't, then we would stop and give them to the Lord. Elder S then had some stomach aches that were pretty bad and we think it was the food at China buffet that did it.

Sundays really do make or break the week as a missionary. We had Ward Council I'm the Samoan Ward at 7:00 in the morning, so that was fun to wake up to haha. The whole thing was in Samoan! So I'm just sitting here not understanding anything. We actually got a legit referral from the Ward council so we will see how that turns out. We then had sacrament meeting and M and S (the two 9 year old Samoans) didn't show up to church... It was so sad! Church was all in Samoan so it's really hard for me to focus. After that we talked with E. E just got his mission call to serve in the New York, New York North mission! He wanted to talk with us about Preach My Gospel and other stuff, he is so excited to serve a mission! We are going to try and set something up so that he can come out with us to our lessons, because a lot of the lessons we teach are actually in English. We then had to rush to the South Gate branch meetings. It was so sad, the C family did not show up. A was injured on Saturday during a soccer game and so they were at the doctors. L showed up to church though! She seems like she feels comfortable there. We were really depressed too because a RC in our area named M (who is just hilarious and an awesome guy) went to Arizona to find a job, but he behaved badly there and he moved back here. So now we have to get him worthy to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Right before he left we just helped him get the recommend! Sacrament meeting was about to start and N and her parents came to church! That was a tender mercy because I don't think they like us anymore. Church ended and we ate lunch with the 1st counselor in the Samoan Ward bishopric, brother L. They made us chicken, spaghetti, garlic bread, and a salad. We were so hungry because we didn't eat breakfast that we just kept eating like 3-4 plates of spaghetti haha. Then after she brought out panikekes (see picture). They are basically deep fried donut bites with sugar on top. We put butter and caramel syrup with them, so good!! We then went to go and see M G, the lady with a lot of health problems. We hadn't seen here for the whole week and she is having some serious health problems right now. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and that seemed to lift her mood. She really wants to get better so that she can go to the temple! We then stopped by to see M (cause they live right by each other). We sat down and talked with him about some stuff that he had questions. We planned some days during the week that we could visit with him and at the end he asked us for a blessing of comfort. It was a touching moment because you can see how Miguel really does want to have God in his life right now.

Love,

Elder Roberts