Week 84

El Segundo / W3 (week 5)

Monday was kinda a weird day. We were cleaning and I noticed that we didn't have any paper towels so we really couldn't do a deep clean like I wanted to do. We did our laundry and only had to buy a handful of items from the grocery store because we have a bounty of food in our fridge. We picked up some elders that are in a bike area and we had lunch with them at our apartment so that they could share in the joy of the bounty. We played some games with them and then headed to the church gym to play some sports. We played soccer and my companion kept falling and hurting himself, it was really bad. Another companionship showed up and we played with them. It was pretty fun but it got old fast. We left there to drop the elders back off at their place and to rush to a members house for my haircut. Basically the member just shaved all my hair off... It is super short, but I like it. We then went to go and visit this less active member named T S. He is super cool and a total classic Tongan. We are starting to visit him and he is starting to change his life to come back to activity in the church. He told us about his wife and her family. They are Methodist's and they (her parents) are the people in Inglewood that have the most anti Mormon stuff, so this might get interesting in a bit here. Well, he decided that he is forever going to attend the Mormon church and he told her that he is going to go to that church, and if she doesn't want to go, then they need to get a divorce. Well, in the Tongan culture, if your husband isn't there with you at church, people start talking. So she ended up coming to our church... (Woo woo!) He told us just how crazy that actually was and how everyone in the RS was taking pictures with her. We were actually told from the RS that she (D is her name) really liked RS because they talked about the For Strength of Youth pamphlet and how to raise kids in the gospel. So we set up that we are going to stop by every Monday at 8 to visit with T and his family.

Tuesday we tried to stop by and see J M to see if he really has desires to change and actually know if the things we share are true, but he didn't answer his door when we came by. We had a nice scripture reading with the S family and it was a fun time. They are doing really well, and I hope that the husband keeps going spiritually, because he is awesome. We were able to meet with A and J S and they are super fun. A was telling me her story about how everything kinda happened. Basically they went to go visit family down in Mexico City and her dads side of the family are all active members. They somehow got their bishop to sign that A could go to EFY down there (she was only 12 at this time) because they really wanted her to go. She says that she got away with it because she looks older, but I don't believe that. Anywho she really liked it and her and J also went to an open house for a temple somewhere, I don't know where, maybe it was the re- dedication of a temple down there or something, but they went to it and loved it! Long story short they were baptized and now both are very happy about everything and want to eventually serve missions! We had some Tongans take us to Five Guys (my first time!!!!!!) and so that was fun, quite the experience let me tell ya. We then went out on splits with the El Segundo ward and that was fun. I went to go and see Brother B the cool guy who took us to go and get the Greek food last week and his family has gone through a lot this last week. He had a nephew pass away and the grandmother of his wife also passed away. We talked and got to know him a little bit more, I was with Brother M who is single, and over 30 years old. It was so funny because I was showing them how all the missionary info is on an app and I forgot that they served their missions over 10 years ago... Wow. Anywho, we got back to the church to switch and Brother P went out with us to go and visit this lady named B. She is super crazy. She does extreme sports, lives alone with her husky wolf dog, and is part Latina,  Micronesian, Native American, Hawaiian, crazy huh? Long story short her parents are Mormon and she herself chooses the Mormon faith, she just isn't baptized yet. SO hopefully we will be able to make progress with her and help her realize just a part of her potential:) 

Wednesday was a pretty intense day. So it was J's birthday and so obviously we went to McDonalds for lunch and got a kids meal. I don't know about your local McDonalds but ours is doing some fun Justice League stuff and my companion and I both got Batman masks which is super cool. We took some funny pictures with them on too:) we did that and we also cleaned a little bit because I keep getting a lot of bug bites and so we have tried to find flea traps because the senior missionary who takes care of housing told us to get flea traps and to check a couple stores, but the stores don't have flea traps, and we aren't even sure if they are fleas because we set off a flea bomb and we still have gotten bit since then. We also set up a visitor center trip for R hoping that this time it wouldn't fall through. We went to go and visit with K and W, but K wasn't home from work yet and W was knocked out. Our WML for the Tongan ward lives at that house so we talked to him for a bit and W eventually woke up. We shared a quick message with the both of them before we had to go and meet with R and M to head to the VC. As we drove to the VC we talked and laughed and had as much of a good time as someone can have while driving in the heat in LA traffic. We got to the VC and started off with a prayer. It was really cool because M is a RC and she was taken to the VC as an investigator and had a really spiritual experience in the room with the Cristus. She told us that the missionaries invited her to pray about her baptismal date to know if that is when she should be baptized and she told us how she heard her answer. M is a tough cookie, but she was emotional during the visit. I think R also liked the visit too. There were some cool videos that the Sisters put on so that helped out a lot. At the end of the visit, the sisters invited R to say a closing prayer, and that if we could say a kneeling prayer too. Well, he cramped up! It was kinda funny and so he sat on the ground and was starting to prayer and his leg cramped up again... But he prayed and his prayer was really nice. Afterwards M was showing R a couple pictures that she likes in the VC and that was really cool to see. We drove back and talked about the trip and it was good. We had to leave immediately because we were late for a dinner with the J family (yes they are Tongan). We got there and talked to the family for a little bit and they had KFC for us (we have been eating KFC a lot lately) and so we talked with them, got to know them a little bit more, even answered an institute question that one of the sons had, it was good. Junior had just come back from football practice and so he was there in time for the spiritual thought that we shared with them. It was pretty cool. They have a son who plays football at UCLA and so they are UCLA fans, and BYU fans, but when UCLA played, they were really happy of the result. Later on, K (the ward missionary/aunt of M/the lady who helps us with everything in w3 basically) told us how much R loved the temple and how he wants to go back there soon. She then told us basically to invite him to be baptized as soon as possible ahahhaha, oh we will:) it was a good night.

Thursday we went to go and find flea traps. Elder B or the senior missionary who helps keep the housing approved and awesome for missionaries told us to specifically go and get some flea traps to find out if we really do have fleas. Well we went to target, Walmart, pets mart, all these places that he told us to go to, but nobody had them. I think we are going to keep looking because I keep getting bit. Long story short we also wasted a lot of miles in the car. We then came back to the apartment to do some weekly planning and to clean up the apartment a little bit. We threw out a lot of bad food, it was gross, and all we were left with was some good ole KFC. We were trying to set up exchanges with our WMLs in the two wards, but it just didn't work out unfortunately. We did go and have dinner with K. She had M go and buy some food because the food that K was making wouldn't be ready by the time that we had to leave to our next appointment. R was there and we started to talk with him. He really liked the temple. We asked him about his experience and we also asked him about the question that he took to the temple. He told us that the question he had was about converting to Mormonism (that's how he phrases it). He told us that when he was in front of the Cristus statue that he really prayed and then he felt a powerful warm feeling in his heart (this is when missionaries are wanting to leap out of their chairs you know!) and that when we were listening to a video from Thomas S. Monson that he felt hands on his head just comforting him while looking at the pictures of all the apostles (still wanting to freak out, but you can't just DO that as a missionary). We had prayed during weekly planning for a day to invite him to be baptized and we extended the invitation for the 23rd of October, and he said yes. R is awesome. We then went to go and visit A and J S who are the 2 recent converts in the El Segundo ward. Their home teacher is the former Stake President, President A, who now works in the deacons quorum. We set up to be able to go with him to visit with them and go over the NMLs with them. It was such a cool experience because he is a former stake president, a recent one at that, and he is just awesome. The lesson was super cool and A and J remember a lot and are doing good. J still hasn't gone to go and do temple baptisms yet, but President A let him know that if there was any issues with finding names or anything, to let him know. We then asked President A if he would be a let to go with us to go and visit one more family, the V family. He said yes and we headed over to them. It was a really good experience. Back in the day Brother V was the home teacher for President A and so he told them it was about time that he paid them back. It was a really cool lesson. We read in the scriptures and shared what we thought about the chapter. The entire time the spirit was felt. I was praying that we could leave the lesson at a high spiritual point and I kept looking at my companion to see if he got it too. President A was talking and then he said "could we end with a prayer, I have some stuff to do" and that answered my prayer. It was so awesome because he said it abruptly, but it was at the spiritual high which was the perfect time to end the lesson. It was super awesome. I think I figured out where the fleas were coming from, my blanket and pajama pants! I put them on and immediately I wanted to start scratching, even more with the blanket. So I threw the blanket off, changed into shorts, grabbed a different blanket... And no scratching, no new bites in the morning either!!!

Friday was a really short day for some reason. We had district meeting and it was kinda fun. I got the package that y'all sent me from Dear Elder, THANK YOU!!! I think I might just finish it before you get this letter :p. Anywho after that we went to go grab some pizza rev because we have a bunch of gift cards to go there. We then tried to go and visit a member family to get to know members in the ward a little more, but the mom wasn't there and the dad and daughter were a little hesitant to let us in. So we ended up having a nice conversation at their door for about 30 minutes and we were all laughing and having a good time, so I think that still counts. We then went to go and visit M. He has a drinking problem and he also feels ashamed because he use to be "the golden boy" at church. He feels supported by the ward because everyone always emails him and asking him when he is coming back to church. We made plans with him to come to the priesthood session of conference next week, so we will see what happens. We taught him about the Atonement and about Grace and it was a good lesson. His girlfriend is not a member and I guess they talk pretty openly about religion, except that she criticizes his. We told him that he could start inviting her to church functions and to conferences and that would be good for her, so we will see what happens. It was kinda weird cause the family that we were going to eat with canceled on us! That is 2 times this week that the Tongan ward hasn't been up to par... Which is like SUPER bad for Tongans but normal for anyone else hahahaha. Anywho we had some leftovers which were good. We also stopped by a circle K so I took a picture of that. 

Saturday was a crazy day. We started out with reading in the Book of Mormon with C and she is doing awesome. We then went to go and read and talk with K and W. It was really funny because I had told K about putting jam on grilled cheese (you know, how WE do) and she said "what?" So I had to explain to her and she told me that it sounded super good (mind you she is also pregnant so it just makes this all more intense right?) and so because I have this handy dandy jam, we told them that if they make grilled cheese, that we would bring the jam :) . So they tried it, and so did my companion and they liked it! I think it's just because of how good Mom's homemade jam really is AND K wants your Facebook mom, so that she could maybe get some jam, she was asking if you sold it. Not gonna lie, you could totally start a business here, just with the Tongans here in this ward... It could be some nice monies comin in. But enough of that. There was this white old guy neighbor who came to just grab some food and he was being really racist and prejudice towards all the Tongans. They were talking crap about him in Tongan and I wanted to say something, but I held back and so did my companion. We read in the scriptures and had a spiritual thought and then we went to go and give some service for a former investigator in the El Segundo area who needed help taking down her swing set. Thankfully some members helped us out by loaning us a bag of tools (kind of like dad tools) and so taking the swing set down was super easy and quick but boy, were those screws rusty! It was actually fun to work with our hands and to use tools, it just helped me realize just how important tools are for everything (spiritual ears here). We then went to go to.........

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... A FOOTBALL GAAAAAAAAAMMMEEE! 

Yes, we did go to a football game.

Yes, President Haynie told us we could go.

Yes, we were told only for an hour and that's how long we were there for.

There reason why: our investigator Junior J plays for the junior college El Camino and has been asking us forever to come and watch a home game, so we got permission to go!

Yes, nobody else has done this in this mission for a SUPER long time.

Yes, El Camino lost

Yes it was super productive cause 3 of our investigators and a bunch of less actives were at the game so we hung out with them and took some pictures, but not too much ;) 

SOOOO basically that was legit and I loved it.

We then went to go and have dinner with Kiola and it was super fun cause Robert and Michelle were there.

Sunday we woke up a little late because our phone was charging in another room, silly us. We went to ward council and then sacrament. We were able to have the normal people show up to church, and the S gave talks which were really good, I love the S family, they are so cool. We then went to the Tongan ward and R CAME!!! It was awesome. Junior also came to church so that was really fun, we were able to teach Junior about the Restoration during one of the hours because he asked us to teach him during one of the hours. We invited him to be baptized on a date and he said that he would pray about it and let us know, so fingers crossed!! It was a little rough at the end of day, but we got through it. We ate dinner with the S and Sister S made really good food. Basically they are an awesome family with the cutest kids. We then went to go and visit some people, but they weren't home. We then went to go and visit with Will and Kirsty, but they weren't home, so we ended up talking to our WML and his family for a little bit. 

Well, next week is transfers! Try and guess what is going to happen!!

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 83 - Bread and Jam

El Segundo / W3 (week 4)

Monday was pday and we did the basic stuff. It is a rule now that to go and visit cool places on pday you have to be close to them, which sucks because I am in the middle of the mission and all the cool stuff is up north or down south. We hung out with a couple missionaries and played sports and I am getting sick of it super quick. I feel so old because all these youngsters (remember 60% of the mission is younger than 6 months old) don't know what to do so all of us oldsters have to basically babysit and it just gets so tiresome. We had a member take us out dinner which was really nice they took us to Number One which is a Chinese buffet. That was K L who is just the nicest old Tongan lady who has a fire for missionary work. We then went to go and give the wife of our WML in El Segundo a blessing because she is pregnant and has problems with her teeth right now, and she hates going to the dentist. We went over and Bro J gave her a blessing and she seemed so sad, it was rough. We then decided to go and visit the V family and talk with them for a little bit. 

Tuesday we went to go and see J M and it is so true that you have to keep visiting with people weekly or else the spirit will cease to strive with them. A lot has been going on in his life and don't get me wrong, he's still friendly and nice, it's just that his interest level is down. He kept saying stuff about "his church" or "the church he goes to" and acted like he actually believes in it, which he has told us that he doesn't. The church is a Lutheran church and his wife and son attend it, but he can't. It is really sad when he is one of the people that are reading the Book of Mormon the most out of everyone that we visit and his desire to accept the truth is not there. It is really sad because he knows and understands the importance of temples and eternal families, but he misses the mark! We then went by Sister N who is just one of the most adorable old ladies. She will call us up and ask us to do something that takes like 5 minutes, but for her it would take a really long time. We moved bags of salt for her and she gave us cookies, so it was a nice trade off. She lives 2 doors down from the P and so I dropped off the eggo box with them. I am so glad you got the box!!!! Did you like the fact that it was an eggo box? We then went to go and see D Y just to stop by and see how his family is doing. We talked with him for a little bit, trying to set up an appointment, but he told us just to call him another day or to text him. We then went to go and read in the Book of Mormon with L S. Her husband and her are returning back to activity right now and they are really cool. She is such a chill person that it is so nice. We read with her because her husband was right about to go to work. It is so apparent to me now the differences in the homes where the gospel is taught and lived to where it is not. The V family are members, but the gospel is not taught there. There is a big difference in that home and the, call it what you want, aura... Mood... Feeling... The Spirit. In the S home, they are living the gospel and coming to church and you can just feel a difference. We then went to go and see W and K. K has been super sick because she is pregnant and her blood count is super low, so we gave her a blessing that she would feel better. We taught W about the word of wisdom because he has some serious problems with it. We talked about it and he told us that "it makes sense" and so we committed him to live the word of wisdom and that if he ever felt the urge to smoke or whatever, that he could call us and that we would be right there for him. He told us that he would and it was pretty cool, but we will see what happens. We stopped by to visit with R and M and to see how they are doing. M has a lot of health problems so there are a lot of times that they have a lot of doctor appointment that they have to go to. We talked with R and it was good. We talked about the normal missionary stuff like baptism and R seemed pretty good and solid on some stuff there.

Wednesday we were so excited to go to the VC with R, but for some reason he just isn't meant to go there yet. We called to set up an appointment, but that fell through because he forgot that they had a doctor appointment... Ugh. It was a long day that not a lot of cool stories happened. We tried to go and visit some people, but it just didn't work out. The people in El Segundo are really nice and polite, but the moment you start talking to them about religion, it is this taboo that just never goes right. In the El Segundo ward there are a lot of cool people. One, because this ward is the epitome of a Mormon ward with lots of families, young couples, teens, stake people in the ward, people who have been mission presidents, and we even have old people that were the people that did the fund raising to buy the bricks for the church building, pretty cool. One of those cool members is Brother B. He is a younger guy who served his mission in Washingotn. He is super tall and loves hockey. He took us to this Greek restaurant to try out some gyros which were bomb! Basically it was a tortilla with tomatoes and onion and lamb (lamb tastes like steak and jerky together) so that was super good. We then stopped by to visit with the V family and to teach them about the importance of attending church and partaking of the sacrament. It was a good lesson, but brother V just has some problem that we don't know what it is yet about going to church. We basically told him, but in a loving way of course, that if he wants to improve his relationship with his savior, then he needs to go and partake of the sacrament. Again, we said that in a much better way and with a lot more love.

Thursday was a pretty interesting day. We had a lot of stuff planned and it looked like it was going to be a good day. We started out by visiting with J M. He is the Lutheran dude who reads the Book of Mormon. Well, when we knocked on his door he had just woken up, so maybe he was just a little cranky to see us. We also wanted to go inside his home (which hadn't been done before) and so I think that threw him off a bit. We talked inside but he was running late to get to work so basically he just kindly kicked us out, but we will be back for him later:) . We then went to go and read in the Book of Mormon with this one member named C. She is crazy awesome. She has schizophrenia, goes to the temple, and just loves the gospel. She was listening to the last conference session when we walked up to her door. She always is the one in charge of the lessons by saying "can we start with a prayer?" It's pretty funny. We just read with her and it's nice. She also gave us Pizza Rev cards (it's a pizza place here in town) and she has been giving the missionaries these gift cards every week for a while now, so we have a good amount haha. We went back to have our weekly planning and oh did the poop hit the fan this week. My companion and I had a disagreement and it was intense. In the end it all worked out... Mostly. We talked about some things and it's really rough right now in the companionship. The B family invited us over to eat and they are a very fun young couple! They have two kids, and the kids just have the most picture perfect faces and poses. We ate some apricot chicken with rice and green beans, then had brownies for dessert (so white it was awesome). They are one of those families that you hope you stay in contact with them, especially cause they are young. They might be a couple years older than Charlie and Emily, but they are solid. We then ended the night with ward correlation at the WML house. During that time we texted R to see if he could go to the VC with us on Friday, and he said yes. We called the VC and they told us that we better not cancel on them, well about 3 minutes after the call R texted and told us that his fiancé/ the RC has a lot of doctor appointments tomorrow because she has diabetes and is pregnant, so we might not be able to go... Great. It was really frustrating. It is so funny because right now it seems like EVERYONE is pregnant, WML wife, K who is the wife of an investigator, M who is the fiancé of R, a mom in the Tongan ward who is neighbors with M, just everyone! 

Friday we had district meeting and it is really hard for me to go to meetings here. Sometimes I feel like the conversations are a little bit immature between some missionaries, but I guess I just feel that way because I still feel young and new and that I have a lot to learn, so then when I hear other missionaries talking like that I'm just super annoyed. Well we got a call from K asking if we could go and give a blessing to a newborn baby after district meeting. After DM we grabbed a bite to eat at this real cool pizza place that you make a custom pizza, changed out of our suits, and went up to the hospital. Now if you remember right, the last time that I went to the hospital on the mission was to give a blessing to a guy that was pronounced brain dead before we got there. Needless to say I don't really like hospitals and I always have mixed emotions when I go there. So this hospital is really confusing and the entrance was in the middle of the property... Dumb! We went up and we met up with K (she is the grandma) and M (the mom). At this point we thought that we were giving a blessing to the mom, but we weren't too sure because K said something about the baby, but for some reason we thought we were giving a blessing to M. Anywho, here I am, freaking out because we are right about to go and give a blessing to a newborn that is in an incubator and I feel a little uneasy about it. We called President Haynie to see if we can give the baby a blessing and if there is anything special that we have to do. Well President Haynie just told us to be careful and to makes sure that the oil goes directly from the container to the baby's head. So we gave the blessing to M, D H S. When we were giving the blessing I could just feel his tiny little hands trying to grab my arm and it was so adorable! We finished the blessing and M was like "I am all good now, all my nerves are gone". The baby was sick, so that is why she wanted us to give it a blessing. It was having low sugar counts and so that's why we went. We got out of there and there was some stupid traffic on the way back, so we listened to some approved missionary music and sung our little hearts out in the middle of LA traffic. We ate dinner with the A family in El Segundo. He is the Elders Quorum president and she is a nonmember. She is one of those "eternigators" so it's really hard when you are new in an area and you have never met an eternigators, but you can't do anything sly or sneaky because this is the elders quorum president and a family with 3 kids here, so it was a very delicate situation that I was stressing out about what we should teach. Because usually at dinner appointments we don't teach a full on lesson to a family, and this was a dinner appointment. Well, the spirit took it away I guess. We started chatting with the family during dinner. Sis A is Vietnamese and so guess what she made for us to eat? That's right, Mexican food. It was basically a make it yourself Taco Bell. I was laughing on the inside. We talked with the family and the conversation was really good. I brought the family album book that I have (you know, the one that only has a max of like 10 pictures... But I'm not bitter...) and K loved it! She was like "wow! You are the FIRST missionary to bring this and show it to us!" So hopefully I got an in because of that. We talked about families and how the gospel has blessed all of our families and how parents are really important in raising their kids in the gospel. R had been texting with us and so we stopped over to see him for a bit to answer some of the questions that he had about the Book of Mormon. He asked about the different plates that it talks about in the beginning of the Book of Mormon because it is all confusing, so we explained it to him. He also talked about converting to Mormonism... So that was kinda funny and cool. In his prayer he actually prayed for help on converting to Mormonism.

Saturday we were invited to attend a birthday party for a kid in the Tongan ward that turned 1 year old. Let me tell you, they went crazy for this party. It was held at the stake center pavilion so we were able to attend and we were invited to it for a lunch.  It was sponge bob themed and so everything was something to do with bikini bottom or something. There was A LOT of food, and a lot of our investigators and less actives that we are teaching showed up! They show up more to the activities than they do to church! We decided that it was time for us to leave and so a member gave us this huge tray and told us to go and fill it with food to take home. We also saw W on our way out from the party and he was getting out of a truck with a cigarette in his mouth. Red handed. He about fell over when he saw us and it was kinda sad to see that he didn't tell us when he was going to smoke or anything, it was just a little frustrating I guess. This is a picture of all the food they gave us, sorry about all the pictures being small, I just take the pictures with the iPad so that's probably why they aren't the best. We got back to the apartment and decided to go and visit some people, but for some reason people just weren't home!! 

Sunday was pretty crazy. We had ward council in the El Segundo ward at 7:30 in the morning and we talked about the progress of the missionary work in the ward. K and F, the two eternigators, showed up to church and I got to know a couple more members. The 2 recent converts in the ward also showed up to church so that was really nice. We had to leave right after sacrament meeting because we had ward council in the W3 ward at 10:00 so we drove over there and then sat in that meeting. It is really hard for me to be in meetings that are only in tongan because I want to say something or try to understand, but I just can't so I have to sit there and be quiet. There were a lot of people that showed up to church at the W3 ward though! It was pretty cool to see a lot of people show up. We met with one of the investigators named J during church because he asked us to and we talked about him being baptized one day and our purpose as missionaries. We invited him to pray specifically about a date to be baptized and he liked that idea. He also asked if we could pray for a date for him as well, so that was awesome that he asked us. We had a lunch with a member because the member that was going to feed us dinner forgot (which is gonna be drama in the Tongan ward just wait and see). We told the member not to worry because we have a lot of food back in our apartment, but by the time we got to out car to leave, there was a member inviting us over to eat... Crazy. So.... Funny story. We were back at the apartment having our dinner hour when we get a call from Brother P. Elder O was on the phone and he just turns to me and says "your parents sent some bread and jam (I literally FREAK OUT and I am just rating my hands up and saying 'yeeeeessss!' At this point) with Brother P and they have it, when could we go buy to pick it up" so we picked it up in like 30 minutes from that when our dinner hour was over. Sister P gave me the bag and I opened it right then and there and you can only imagine the face that Sister P had when I am just happy for bread and jam ahahhaha. We ended the night off with visiting with M who is a recent convert. She is going through a lot of trials right now and she kinda told us what is going on with her family, R's family and everything. She opened up a lot to us and it was a good time to get to know her a little more and to just share a message about trials with her. 

Thank you so much for the bread and jam... That definitely was so awesome.

Hope y'all have a good week! Get ready for conference!!!!!

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 82

Questions:

The reason why now the first Tuesday of each month is our pday because there are a lot of holidays that fall on Mondays, and there are some places here in LA that are fun to go and visit, and all of them are closed on Mondays, or they are free admission on Tuesdays. So it's the Haynie's way of changing things up a bit. I don't know if any of the places here in LA interest me right now as a missionary because it just feels a little weird. Because of the iPad's we update and download all the new additions to the church apps, so ya, halfway through this week I found out that my ward is the Placid Rose ward and I about died of a heart attack! Yikes y'all! 

Ok, let me explain something:

I am called to serve people in Spanish, BUT mission presidents can assign you to a non- Spanish area. I am in an ENGLISH area right now. So we teach English people. We also cover a Tongan ward so that means anyone who is Tongan, or married to a Tongan we go and baptize;) just cause that's how it works in the Tongan ward.

El Segundo / W3 (week 3)

Tuesday was our pday, which was really weird. I have been getting a lot of flea bites, or bug bites, and I have no idea why. We have been trying to figure out what type of bug it is that is biting me, cause I have about over 30 bug bites just on my legs, but we aren't sure that they are fleas. We thought that it might be flea bites because there was a stray dog around our apartment that was loose for a long time so we don't know if that have anything to do with it. We found out that a lot of our neighbors actually wanted to try to catch the dog because some people think that it was cute or something:) it almost looks like the shaggy dog so I think maybe that has something to do with it. We had to do a lot of chores with cleaning and getting ready for zone conference this week. We had to dry clean our suits (the dry cleaner sucked, didn't even do a good job and ruined a tie ugh...) anywho, while we were doing our laundry we accidentally locked our keys inside the church, because the laundromat is right by the church so we went there to chill while the laundry was going. So we had to play some phone tag with the members to see who had the keys to the church because our keys to the car and to the church were locked inside (we saw them on the floor). We went to Ross to get some socks for Elder O because his socks have a bunch of holes in them (mine don't, I'm pretty sure they are going to endure to the end of my mission). We then went to go to the church to go play some ball with some elders and it was not a good day for me. I tried to block my companion in ultimate and I tried to spin around him, but he is a lot bigger than I can spin around someone so I feel on my butt, and it hurt for about 3-4 days so that hurt. We then had dinner at a buffet from the Tongans (here we go) and it was just crazy how everything happened. Tongans are not the most obedient members when it comes to missionary work. It was really sad because they made an awkward situation with my companion involving a member skyeping my companions family and because my comps family doesn't know rules to the WHB rules, they were just talking to him like it was nothing. We talked about it afterward and he told me how awkward it was and how it was so funny and ironic how his parents were telling him to be obedient while they were skyeping... What can you do. We then ended the night off with a lesson with W. W has a lot of problems. Because of some stuff that has happened in his life and choices that he has made, he, as of right now, cannot be baptized until 2019 or something like that. He has WOW problems but he really wants to change. It was a nerve wracking visit because the next day he was told that he was going into a program that would help him get over the WOW problem, but he would stay there and that he couldn't see his family or anything like that. His wife, K, is a strong member. They have a little daughter who is about 8 months old and one that's on the way. We talked about the repentance process and trusting in the Lord and asked W to say the closing prayer for us. His prayer was so powerful and sweet, it was childlike. The whole family was in tears and afterwards W just left because he didn't want to be seen crying in front of all of us. So that was good I guess haha.

Wednesday started out crazy. We were cleaning the apartment and takin go it the trash when we saw our neighbors all around this hole to their house. Back story: our apartment building and our neighbors all have a mascot, it's this run away dog that looks like the shaggy dog (the one that has probably been giving me the fleas). So everyone has been wanting to catch it so that way it can get some medical attention and some people actually want to adopt it. We were taking out the garbage when we saw them putting a baby guard (the wall thing) around the hole and directly out of the hole would be a cage and to the side was a dog kennel. There was about 6 people there. They asked us if we had anything flat and heavy that they could use to help catch the dog, so we brought out 3 dry erase boards to help them. This guy came, I think it was a neighborhood friend who wanted to help catch the dog. And he went underneath the house, because that's where the hole went to, to get the dog out. Well the dog came out and it went straight into the cage like nothing (I got it on my camera) and so then the guy was trying to put a rope around its neck, like a leash, but what was gross was that the dog was literally getting the crap scared out of him. The dude tried moving the dog from the cage to the kennel, but it didn't work and the dog was jerking like a crocodile and biting the rope that was around his neck, I'm surprised that the dude didn't get bit. Well they eventually got the dog in the kennel and everyone was happy... Just a matter of time till we see if it really was what gave me fleas. I went on an exchange with my DL Elder P. He is from Kentucky and this is his last transfer. He is an English elder also covering a Tongan ward (the C2 ward) and an English ward. It was pretty fun because he is covering my first area in the mission, just in English. I saw sister J, the first lady I ever ate with on the mission and the people that we skyped with my first Mother's Day on the mission, and at first she didn't recognize me, but when she did she was pretty happy. I figured that would probably happen just because I wasn't in that area too long. It was really fun to go on the exchange, even though it was a really rough day of just walking and talking to people on the street. It was really rude to hear a white old man on a bike say a very crude word to Elder P, I about wanted to exercise the doctrine of the laying on of hands with that man and make him sing "Jesus said love everyone"... Ugh. We ate at a Chinese restaurant that a member paid for us. The only problem with the food was that it did not settle too well with me. We went on splits with a member in the English ward named Brother R. He wanted to go and visit this less active friend and home teaching person of his named R. He said that he was going to be "rough" with him and so we figured it was a good cop/bad cop type thing. We decided to show a Mormon message about our potential here on earth and it went really good. Brother R was, in my opinion, fulfilling in every sense of the word, being bold. He grew up with R and now he is his home teacher and so he ripped him pretty good, not too hard though. R was touched that we came over to see him and it just showed to me how important home teaching really is. Brother R at one point said "I want to see you at church, it helps me, and I love seeing you there pal. Not only did I come to see you because your my home teaching assignment, but your mine. You are my assignment. You are my friend and I want to see you back". It was just a huge moment of love from a friend, not mincing words, but being bold with love. We got a call at the end of the night from our companions who told me that with the lesson that they had with R, he told them that he would love to go and see the VC tomorrow. When they asked him about getting baptized and how he felt he said "I'm ready".... (This is the part when a missionary faints because of exceeding joy swelling in the heart). They also talked about getting the marriage license because he needs to be civilly wed to be baptized, and he said yes to that too!!!!! Wooooo!!! 

Thursday was a crazy day. We switched back from exchanges and we were originally planning to go to the VC with R. We were going to visit a random Irish lady as well. It started out though going to Home Depot and getting flea repellant stuff because we think that it was fleas that were biting me. Well the Irish lady had a lot of questions and I think we answered them pretty well. We then went to go see R because I guess there were some family stuff that was going on so they didn't want to go to the VC. We ended up teaching a good lesson to R and planned to go this upcoming week to the VC instead. We talked about temples and the WOW, it was a pretty scattered lesson, but it all went rather smooth, so that was good. We had a member buy us in n out and afterwards we had correlation with Brother J. I forgot to write this day Thursday night, so that's why it might be a little more boring than the others.

Friday we had zone conference so we had to wake up early in the morning to go and clean off our windows. For zone conference they inspect your car to make sure that it is clean and that everything is going good.  Anywho there were 2 members of the 70 at zone conference Elder Cook (and his wife) and Elder Cordon (and his wife). It was such a change to how zone conferences are run and how they are... Like completely. Normally wee brake out into trainings and learn how to do missionary situational stuff, but this was just pure talking about conversion and how to help investigators become converts. President Haynie is really pushing that the people that we baptize are converted. Zone conference normally lasts from 9-2 I'm pretty sure, and this one went from 9-4... We all were so tired. Just imagine sitting in a chapel that long only with about a 40 minute break for lunch. Well, I got to see some old companions and they are doing really well. I saw Elder B and oh how much I miss him! He is still doing good and we talked for a bit. Elder S also sang for zone conference because he has an amazing voice, so that was cool. He is also doing well. Afterwards we had a packed day. We tried to go and visit some potentials and everything, but nobody was home. We talked to this guy outside his house and his name was D. We chatted for a bit and I think his first impression was a good one, so hopefully maybe in the future missionaries will be able to teach him. We also stopped by the house of this guy named S, he wasn't there, but his roommate M (these guys are all a bit older) was there. M is Irish to the core and he is a little older, so he needs to take things at a slower pace. I don't know how the conversation went this way, I think we were talking about age or something, when I mentioned the movie The Quiet Man... Oh how his eyes lit up! He was like "you know that show?!!!" And he went off on all the parts that he likes about it. I should've mentioned Darby O Gill and the Little people or something like that, goodness. It was really funny because I don't remember much about those movies, but hey, I think it made his day so that's what counts. Dad, there you go, the old movies actually did something, even though I don't remember them at all. We had a member pay for us to go to Hometown buffet, but they didn't stay to eat with us (this is how Tongan wards do it here in LA) and so we ate at a buffet again in the same week. We then had a lesson with W and K and that was really good too. We watched a Mormon message and talked about it and they liked it a lot, tears, again... Everything. W is definitely progressing:)

Saturday in the morning we were getting ready to go to the VC and so we showed up at W and K and when we showed up at their house, they were not feeling up to go to the VC. We were a little sad, but we figured since we were already there and they were too, that we could watch Meet the Mormons with them because they had never seen it before. W is definitely not your regular guy, but he is awesome. The ENTIRE time the movie was going on, he was watching intently... It was perfect. Both K and W were crying and I'm sitting here like "man they are very emotional", but you wouldn't say that to a pregnant Tongan and her husband that has been in the streets his whole life. We had a little testimony meeting at the end of the lesson and that was really cool. We went back to the apartment to have lunch, because it was about that time of the day. We don't need to buy food at all just because of how much food the Tongan members give us, it is really sad and awesome at the same time. We went to go and see a less active member named M who is struggling real bad. He grew up Mormon his whole life, but then when he went to college he fell off the boat. He now has very humble circumstances and feels almost unworthy to go back to church. He wants us to help reactivate him and he really is a nice guy. We had a lesson with him and he enjoyed it a lot. He invited us to his bday party on Monday and told us that we just might be the missionaries to reactivate him... Sweet! We had a member from the Tongan ward buy us food from The Habit which is a burger joint, have y'all ever tried it? It is pretty good. We then went to go and see M S, but she was sleeping so that didn't happen

Sunday was Stake Conference for the Inglewood Stake and that was interesting. We get there early so that way we could save seats for our investigators and before Stake Conference there was a special meeting for the Spanish wards with Elder Cordon before it started, so all the good seats were taken by the Latinos.. Ya, the Tongans weren't too happy about that. Anywho, we tried to save seats for our investigators, but none of them really came. R didn't come because M, his fiancé, had to go to the ER the night before and is really sick, so I guess that that's ok;) Stake Conference was good, I saw a lot of people that I recognized from wards that I have served in before and so that was nice to see them. After that we swung by W and K because we rescheduled to go to the VC with them on Sunday, but we were worried because they didn't show up to conference. They said that they still wanted to go to the VC so we waited for them to get ready and then we left. It was an awesome visit! We watched Meet the Mormons 2 and all the family was crying during it, ya that's right! We brought the whole family of K and they all cried.. Bam! We then went and walked around the temple and took some pictures with them. We got back to the apartment in time to change and then go to our dinner appointment with the P, a super Mormon family. I mean they have a BYU den of just BYU paraphernalia and fan lore so that is just cool. They also said that they are heading down to Utah this week to watch the BYU - UCLA game and that I could give them the package and that they could give it to y'all! After the dinner we went to go and see J J. He is the boyfriend of a member and he plays football at El Camino college. He was pushed a little too much by missionaries in the past so we are trying to work at his speed. He has said that he wants to get baptized, so that's good. 

Have a fun week! 

Love,

Elder Roberts