Week 90

South Gate Branch 2 - Week 5 - Dawn of the Dorman

Monday was a pretty interesting day. The other elders didnt have any extra miles to use for the day, so what we had decided to do, we couldn't do anymore. We just did our laundry and shopping, and got our flu shots. Because it was Halloween we had to be in our apartment by 6:00 and couldn't leave. So we ended up playing some sports with the other elders and Elder A and C who are really cool elders too. It ended up being 2 on 2 basketball with Elder A, C, L, and me, cause Elder B and Elder D didn't want to play basketball. It was really funny cause elder C can dunk and in his words "i have only ever played churchball"... but he is from Logan, Utah, so that means that he knows how we do in Utah with churchball. Anywho, we were on the same team and it was just sad. We then switched it to be me and Elder L (the smurfs here) vs. A and C, both are taller than 6 feet. So naturally i have to guard C and... ya it was just intense, but he didn't dunk on me so thats good. They then took us back to our apartment to be inside and i ended up cleaning a bit (my companion doesn't clean at all) and then i ate panda express while watching the church video about Thomas S. Monson called "On the Lords Errand"... it is SOOO GOOD! My companion then wanted to play chess and so we played. He kept telling me that "he is just messing around" right after i would capture his king... but whatevs. 

Tuesday we got permission to go and get haircuts because we didnt on Monday because of the lack of miles (it resets every month) and so we went to go get them because we had interviews this week, and I was needing a haircut. We did that and then came back to the apartment to finish up our studies and to get organized to head out for the day. Starting things off we went to S F's house. We talked about a lot of stuff and the main thing we were trying to ask him is whether or not the missionaries have tried to teach any members of his family yet. He seemed very defensive about his family and he explained to us that before S was a member, that he wasn't the best guy, so maybe it might be a little hard for them to believe in all "this" because of who he use to be. Its just a tough situation because when we talk to the members of his family, they are really nice and cool, but when we talk to S about them, he is very opposed to us teaching them. Idk, S is an amazing guy by all means, he loves the Gospel and really loves everything, so maybe its just a matter of time. We then had dinner with the A family and that was super good. She loves taking pictures of us and sending them to y'all. I took a selfie with her and this is what she looks like. Her husband is not a member, but they just love helping the missionaries out in any way that they can. They even give us groceries sometimes! They are such nice people and cook such good food! We then went to go and see Hermana F. She has a lot of problems that are a little stressful to think about. First off, she sometimes has to work on sundays, she doesn't have custody of her son and can only visit certain days, she has a coffee problem, she suffers from depression and schizophrenia, quite the handful there. It is also hard because she is starting to think back to her old catholic beliefs. She is asking us what we think of saints, the Virgin Mary, Dia de los difuntos, everything like that. Its really hard because we really want to meet with her on a regular basis, but her work schedule is just so far up in the air that it doesn't help out at all. PLUS she is already a convert of a year in the church and so everyone knows now that she can enter into the temple, but obviously that wouldn't be good cause right now cause she is a little shaky. We then had a lesson with the M family and E came out with us. It was a good lesson and we talked about confirmation and about the aaronic priesthood so that was good too. They are so good that they basically taught us about confirmation, or at least they explained almost word for word how PMG says it! They are really cool and we set up a time to go to the VC with them this Saturday and hopefully we will begin to teach their family members that came to their baptism!!

Wednesday we had a meeting for Elder D to finally get his Ipad. The meeting was pretty fun cause a lot of the missionaries that are training right now I have served around and we always have a good time when we are together. It was a good meeting and there were some fun trainings. Elder D's Ipad was not being nice and it didnt start up the way that it should and it was having a lot of problems, but I think it all worked out so thats good. We then came back from that and had lunch. We set out to go visit the Ts family (E, S, and the rest of the gang) but all that was there was E and P, her nephew. We followed up on what the missionaries had taught them the last time about the Plan of Salvation and they really didnt remember too much about it. We decided to go back over it with them. We drew it out on a piece of paper (cause ya know, you do it all the time in seminary and Sunday School) and we told them to look at it and ask us questions about the parts that they didn't remember or that they didnt understand. It was a really good lesson and they participated a lot in it, so that was really good. The only thing with them is that they DO NOT keep commitments! We have tried so many times to get them to say a prayer during the lesson and they just wont do it! We ended the lesson and then walked back to our apartment to grab our bikes to try and go and see R G. He is a recent convert and he has had bad health recently so it has been really hard to find him and met with him. We FINALLY found him and set up a time weekly to come by to read with him and to teach him. We also told him about the Wednesday classes that we give to people that come, and he seemed so excited! We told him that a member of the branch presidency could drive him (because they are just so cool like that) and he immediately called one of them and asked if he could get a ride. He got a ride. We then ended that lesson and went to go and have dinner with Hermana G. She is one of those ladies that is just so sweet, but that exaggerates a lot. She was saying that at the beginning of the branch, that there was only 8 members who started it (the branch split off from South Gate ward where i was at before, but they split about 4 years ago). She then retold us some stories that she said the last time, but we just kept eating and listening. We met one of her grandsons and he was really sad because his puppy got ran over by a car on Halloween, the grandson is about 30 years old, but hey, the puppy was only 11 months old. We then got picked up to go to the meeting on Wednesdays and when we got there there weren't as many people as we were expecting, but its ok. We taught R and S about ALL of the commandments. It was a good lesson and R understands the Atonement, or at least explained it, in such a clear and simple way that it was just amazing. 

Thursday we had interviews with the Haynies up at the mission office because they wanted us to get started on some Family History and look up cool stuff. We had to arrive an hour early to do it, but we ended up arriving about an hour and a half earlier cause we carpooled with Elder L and Elder B. I didnt realize how legit Family History is. I think i spent most of my time looking up stuff about Aunt Kitty. I didnt realize just how much work Aunt Sue has done for Aunt Kitty. I read a lot about her and it was pretty cool, not gonna lie. It was really funny because I went on Grampy's side of the family and tried to click as far back as I could, choosing which side and all when i hit a dead end, and it went all the way back to Joseph of Arimathea.... Now I dont know if thats right, just cause there were some names that didnt make sense on the line, BUT hey, I mean thats still cool right?? Interviews were good. Sister Haynie and I talked about school and being a trainer. She says that i should try to start in an earlier semester if i can, just cause it would be better. We left from interviews and traffic was SO horrible that i was able to take a 30 minute power nap and we still hadn't even really gotten on the freeway. Elder B was freaking out because the Cubs won the World Series (which is a big deal, but i mean, he doesn't even like Baseball). He was just going off and having Elder L, who doesn't watch baseball, Elder D who doesn't like sports, it was frustrating him that nobody was excited that the Cubs won. Sometimes he just bugs me, but its ok. We then got back at such a late time that the only thing we had left was dinner with the Os and that was really good. Elder D messed up on Spanish though, Hermana O asked if he liked the food and he said "no". The hermana and all of us said that he just didnt know what she asked him, but she still looked a little sad... sad day. 

Friday we went running in the morning because the Haynies told me to do it to help Elder D, so we went running. We live right by a hospital and a park so we ran along that. I put on all the sweats to go running, and oh mah goodness, Elder D about died. We barely went for a light jog and he was panting, little by little i guess. We then had ZTM and that was... different. The mission culture is changing so much and the way the missionaries act has changed so much that it is hard for me to get a handle on some of it. Especially cause the mission is so YOUNG right now. Young meaning that we have a lot of new missionaries. Elder D seems to listen to any other missionary besides me, which is frustrating sometimes. I did get the Fall package and yes, it was pretty epic. All the other Elders were like "you dont need anything! You are going home soon" so i just told them that i guess im not sharing with them then. I loved the ties that you sent, one still had Grandpa's smell on it... that was nice. I got a letter from Charlie and Emily and (talking to them) I think its funny how y'all put your comments about what the card says and tell me to laugh at certain parts, y'all are so funny. We then had almost ALL of our lessons cancel on us. We had this lady that seemed super solid tell us that we could come by, but then never was able to meet with us. The T family even canceled on us too, which is a first for them. We then went to go and have dinner with Hermana C and she is just a funny lady. We then went to visit with the Cs family and had a pretty intense lesson with them. We talked to them about their reading in the Book of Mormon and how they felt about baptism and everything. They were given a HUGE picture and frame of Jesus Christ in red by their friends and it is hanging on their wall for everyone to see... they are becoming members little by little hehehe. We then talked about a lot of stuff with them. We talked about what repentance is, what the atonement is, what praying with faith means, all that. It was a really good lesson and we are pretty sure that they understood it. We told them that we felt that they are not ready yet for baptism, and at the same time M also said that she didn't feel that she was ready for baptism either. We told them that the more we meet with them and the more they read in the Book of Mormon, the sooner they will be ready.

Saturday was just a weird day. We started the day running again, and Elder D struggled. We then went to go and paint the fence of our Branch President's house cause they asked us to. It went from about 8-11 that we did that. What i didnt know is that Elder D has never painted before. I am very grateful for all those times that we painted, whether for Dad's shows or for whatever, weddings... projects... anything. It was pretty fun cause we got to wear normal clothes and that felt weird, but so many more people talked to us while we were painting! It was pretty cool. Hermana O then treated us out to eat at a place called Toms. Toms and Tams are basically the same thing but Tams is more of a fast food place and Toms is more of a restaurant. The food was good, and cheap too, definitely within a missionary budget:) we then went back to have our studies and get ready to go to the VC with the M family. We were trying to find a member to take us to the VC but nobody could. We finally were able to talk to Hermana A who has a truck - van that fits 8 people, which is the exact number that we needed. We then went up with them and had a wonderful time. Sister W and her trainee gave the tour, but the Trainee is an english sister. Half the time Sister W asked me to explain the different parts about the tour because she is losing her Spanish from being in an english area for so long. It was a really good tour and the M family liked it a lot. When we got back to the apartment I felt super sick and woozy. We think its because i hadn't eaten lunch before we went to the VC, so we ate dinner and then finished out the night.

Sunday was just... a day. I dont know why but almost every day is just a rollercoaster. We got to church and did the usual wait and write up our emails, and then the classes started. For Gospel Principles we had about 12 people show up that we are teaching!!!! That was amazing! Thats the second week in a row:) R G came to church too! Remember the lady that I got mad and that she said her records dont exist? Well she came to church and we looked and she actually doesn't exist... so we will have to baptize her again. It was pretty cool actually because Elder D prayed in the morning that she would come to church, but we haven't seen her for over a week, so I didn't think anything was going to happen. We had the campos and the M family show up, plus all of the RC that are in our area, which is AMAZING!!! L is going to get the priesthood next week and the M family were confirmed. We are trying to get a bunch of the RC to go to the temple on November 15th because thats when the branch are all going together. It would be so cool to have 5 RC go for the first time!!! Exciting:))))) this week as the HP zone we have a goal of finding 72 new investigators, and Elder D and I have a goal of finding 5 new investigators. We wanted to get the members more involved and so we let the stake know (because there are 13 companionships in the stake which is the whole zone) and we also let the Branch members know too. We were also told to share our testimonies during testimony meeting. After the confirmation of the M family, and after the sacrament, it was testimony time. Lots of members went up and I kept looking back at Elder L for his cue of when we all were going to go up. I told Elder D that we were going to go bear our testimonies and he looked surprised beyond all belief. He started to panic and finally we all went up. My companion had a really hard time. I felt really bad for him because he shows to everyone how nervous he is. He bore his testimony in spanish and it was SOOO much better than Elder B (so proud, so proud), but thats when it got bad. The moment he ended, he ran from the pulpit and sat down and started to say "shoot, shoot, shoot, etc" over and over again, but in a whisper. I got up and then when I went back down he kept saying it. I didnt know what to do, it was really hard. One of the members bore a powerful testimony though. We told the branch about our goal and invited them to help us with the goal. One of the members said something like this: "I am always amazed at the missionaries. These young boys leave everything behind to go to a foreign place to find a lot of struggles. They have to face rejection and inner struggles and battles with the language. Who am I not to share the gospel when I speak my own language?" I loved it. I don't think Elder D heard it though. It was really awkward because he sat there for about 40 minutes after sacrament meeting ended without moving. Brother G came directly afterwards and tried to talk to him, but I'm not sure that it helped so much. We then had to find transfer rides and got those pretty quick. We got a ride home from Brother G, he is super nice. We then got back to the apartment and there was this super awkwardness... like real bad. We ended up having our dinner at the apartment and then went to go and visit with the M family because they needed to sign the paper that says that they are new members hey had some family over so we ended up watching Meet the Mormons with all of them and that was super fun.

Well, I will be able to respond all day today, so respond back if y'all have the time!! 

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 89

SouthGate Branch 2 - Week 4 - Dawn of the Dorman (BAPTISM)

Monday was a different day. We got our stuff done pretty early on in pday, because the other elders had to go to the mission office for an interview with President Haynie. They dropped us off at the church so that way Elder D could email his family. Elder L, S, D, and P all then came to the church so that way we could play sports with them, mainly just soccer. Well, from the beginning Elder D didnt want to play. I didnt think it would bug him too much, but i guess he just loathes soccer. We played and he was getting really frustrated with himself. It was really hard to see him struggle, especially cause all of us were having fun. So basically it was fun to play, but Elder D hated the entire day. We played some other games and my companion wasn't exactly the most enthusiastic about those games either. We then had to wait for the other elders to come and pick us up (because they had our keys to our apartment and to my bike lock) so we really couldn't do anything. We decided to walk to yogurtland and have that because Elder D had never tried it before. It was good, but it was still a little awkward because it was after soccer and i knew he was in a bad mood... it was a very awkward moment. They picked us up and the car ride was silent, so that didnt help the situation at all. We did go and see the M family to do almost a movie marathon this week, and it was good. Only I was there watching the movie with us, but he really liked the movie and talked about it afterward. 

Tuesday we were able to go and meet J at McDonalds again and get to know him a little more. He is definitely an interesting guy. He has a lot of problems with some stuff that mormons do, like baptisms for the dead and celebrating holidays, but thats just because he studied with another religion in the past. It was funny because the members of that religion were at McDonalds when we were teaching him and they were giving us dirty looks... oops! Anywho, it was really hard to try and explain why Mormons participate in holiday celebrations. J is definitely the guy who whenever he hears something new, he really really thinks about it, prays about it, and it takes him a good while before he is ok with it. He bought us breakfast at McDonalds too so that was really nice. We were able to ask some get to know you questions and he is just a funny guy. We then went to go and see S and oh my goodness. What i love about S is that he just loves to LEARN. As a convert of about 2 months, he has already read the Book of Mormon, the Gospel Principles book, and he is in D&C right now around section 50 or so. He has all this knowledge and he has a strong desire to be an example for his family. He is just an amazing guy. The only sad part is that he has a lot of health problems, so we have to make sure that he is doing ok. We then went over to the A's to have dinner and we made sopes. I took pictures so hopefully they look good. They tasted good so.... ya. It was really funny because the A's are always asking us if we need grocery type stuff, like eggs, milk, yogurt, all that kind of stuff. Well, lets just say that they are hooking us up with that type of stuff so i am loving shakes in the morning:) we tried to go and see M, but she flaked out on us, so we are deciding to leave her to the Lord and letting her become a little more prepared. We then saw L and talked to him about temple work and missionary work. He is super excited. He asked us what it would take for him to be baptized for his father, and for a friend of his that passed away when he was a little kid. We told him what he needed to do and he seemed happy. We then exchanged with the other elders, i went with Elder B and Elder L went to my area with Elder D.

Wednesday I was in my old area, the one that I was with Elder S in. It was really hard not to say sarcastic things to the "elder" that I was with because he was telling me "all about the area" and im just thinking... I already know, I already know. But I just stayed quiet. The day he had planned was just pure tracting... lovely. We knocked the same doors that Elder S and I knocked, but one actually answered! It was a former investigator and his family, the G family. They are super cool. We did the door approach and he just let us in. So cool. We started to do a little HTBT and got to know him a little bit more. Well, he has 3 kids and they all were really nice. We were wrapping up the lesson when his wife walked through the door! We said a prayer to leave and he told us that he had to cook for his family. I asked him what he was cooking and he told me a type of taco, he then told me that if we stayed around for about 10 minutes that he would give us some tacos! I looked at Elder B and im just thinking in my head (we have nothing planned, we are SO staying), which we did. The tacos were really good and we got to know the wife a little bit more, so that was really good. We then went to go and see S, one of my RC in the area. She was home along with her mom and siblings and Elder B had never met them before, so i just went in like i had never left and oh how the mom is so much nicer now that she isn't pregnant! She was actually smiling a laughing and making jokes and stuff! So funny. We then met up a sister at the church and she gave us dinner, and its just how i remembered it. Lots of meat, rice, type of salad, bottle of water... oh i was in heaven! That was good too. We then went to go and pick up the other elders to take them to the church for the baptismal interview and for the RC class that we teach every wednesday night. We picked them up and went and tried to determine who would give the class about the Plan of Salvation. Well, Elder D and i had given the past 2 classes and Elder L had to give the baptismal interviews, so somehow it worked out that Elder D and Elder B were the ones that gave the class (hehehe the newbies). The RC then asked about outer darkness and we had to explain that... that was fun for the two greenies. P and M need a second interview and so we were trying to figure all that out afterwards, and we now know why M only has 1 arm. Afterwards we were thinking of wether or not we needed to postpone the baptism and punch it back to give them more time, or to try and set up the second interview for the same week and rush everything. The whole night i was praying about it, not knowing what to do. I knew that they would benefit from a little more preparation to be baptized, but i wasn't sure what to do exactly.

Thursday i had a very intense personal study. I was just completely focused on P and M and what we needed to do to help them. I wrote down the pros and cons of them being baptized this week and if they were to have the baptism postponed. I was praying very hard that i would know what we should do for them, what would help THEM the most. I had an overwhelming feeling that they needed a little more preparation and that moving the date back would help them more. I wanted to talk to my companion about it and talk to President Haynie about it too. When we called President Haynie, he asked me a couple questions about what was going on and what needed to be done. I told him the situation and he told me to either leave it up to  P and M or to President Vincent, the guy who would give the second interview. The whole day we were worried about this because we were trying to talk to P and M but they weren't responding to the texts. For breakfast i ruined an egg... it was the panels fault! The side of the pan is like death or something! The moment anything touches the side it just starts smoking like its a smoke shop or something, so that was sad cause i had ruined a lovely egg.  We had weekly planning and we tried to set some stuff up for the upcoming week. It then started to rain! Well, sprinkle, but still, it was water from above. I decided that i want to ride death trap again because it is a cooler bike, not mine, its lighter, and so that is why i am riding it. We met with Hermana F and she is going through some rough testimony times right now. It is really hard to know what to teach her because we always meet her at a public spot that isn't very reverent and it is always hard to hear her speak, we need to find a different environment. We then had dinner with the Q family (we were suppose to go visit the M family afterward, but they canceled). The dinner was really good and we talked to the kids a little bit. We watched a church movie with them and that was really fun, the dad was so into it! We then biked home and decided to call P. He answered and him and i talked for a while. Before i could say anything, he asked if we could postpone the baptism for a little bit longer, i told him that it was completely fine to do that and a little more preparation would be good for them. It was an answer to my prayer and i know that Heavenly Father really does know who my investigators are and what they need.

Friday we had district meeting and that was good, some crazy announcements happened, but nothing that affects me really. The new missionaries starting next transfer are going to have Samsung tablets instead of Ipads, which is cool and all, but doesn't really affect me. One of the companionships of sisters in the district lost a bet of how many people we could talk to in a week and so they now have to pay the elders (not us) that won in yogurtland, haha, its funny cause the elders probably wont even want it. We took a district picture and it is really sad being the oldest missionary in the district... super sad. We got back to the apartment and i wasn't feeling to good with my stomach, so that didnt help at all that we had a terrible dinner at C J, i took a picture of it. It was nachos, but not the nachos that we thought we had ordered. The picture says it all, just how nasty it tasted. We had a lesson with A and that was interesting. We decided that we wanted to give him a copy of the book of mormon so that he could read it finally. We explained what the book of mormon was and read with him in the introduction. It was really interesting for a bit because he was trying to tell me that the Mayans and the Aztecs were some of the most peaceful and non violent civilizations ever, and to some extent that is true, but weren't they the people that sacrificed people to their gods or something like that? Anywho it got really off topic and we tried to get it back on a lot. He told us that he would come to church this sunday because he had work off, but he didnt come. We then went to go and see the Cs family, P and M. Lets just say we interrupted their Friday night, so that was a little awkward, the lesson was a set appointment mind you! We decided to go over prophets and the Book of Mormon with them. It was a good lesson and they had some questions about some stuff, so that was good that we were going over the points with them. The C family come over (we invited them, but they came late, but hey, it doesn't matter really) and we finished the lesson cause we had to go see the M family, but then the Cs stayed to just hang out and get to know the Cs family a little bit more, it was super awesome. We then stopped by the M family and everyone was home. We decided to read Alma 36 with them and talk about the Joy of the Gospel. It was a good lesson and it really pumped them up for their baptism on Sunday.

Saturday we had a pretty lame day compared to the other days. We didnt have any set appointments so we decided to walk around and talk to people. Some people are just crazy when it gets halloween time here, there were a lot of people that we just looked at them and thought... yikes. We tried to stop by R G, but he wasn't home, but later on Hermano M told us that he was able to get a hold of him and that he would be giving him a ride to church on Sunday, so that was really good. We were able to stop by Elizabeth's bakery, and Elder D fell in love. When we walked in he was just like "wow" and then we looked around and i told him about some of the food and what there was, and so he was happy and we got some ice cream and donuts, so that was good. He said he would give the place a solid 8.5 so that is pretty good i think. We then walked to try a couple more people but nobody was home. We then got picked up for the ward halloween party and let me tell you, i am ashamed of my own culture right now. So the Branch shares the building with the Downey 2nd ward, which is an english ward. So guess what the "food" was. Nachos and salad, thats it. Now i was going to laugh and take a picture if it was chili, but for real?? That was nothing!! Here we 4 missionaries are, super hungry and all we get are nachos... oh my goodness it was so sad. Then the drinks ran out, and all the food too. Send me back to the Tongans or Samoans please! As missionaries we just switched name tapes cause we cant wear any masks or hats or anything. The main reason why we were even there was to make the baptismal program and to make sure if any of our other investigators showed up to the party. Only the M family showed up, and they even decorated their trunk!! They are so ready to be members it is so awesome. L had brought her kids and her two youngest boys were dressed up like mario and luigi, which was just adorable. Some elders had some candy to hand out so we opened up the trunk and handed out a piece of candy with a pass along card to everyone, and they liked it!! It was just so sad compared to the trunk or treats that we have gone to... man i miss black light, cause that was just sad. I think the closest think was a light that was shining off and on, because nobody had any lights in their car so it was all dark and stuff nobody could see. When we were done for the day and already in our apartment, i asked Elder D if he wanted to do a workout with me. On the ipads we have this workout app and one of the moves that they do is something called "squat and box". Now basically all you are doing is slowly punching your arms and squatting at the same time. I said to Elder D "you ready?" Thinking that it was going to be a funny "improv" type fight but not really cause we would be far apart. Little did i know that all of a sudden he was acting like he was punching super fast and he was all like "i told you i use to box" and im just laughing my guts out because he does NOT look like someone who has ever punched anything. We finished the workout and he went to do his yoga to calm down, he does it every night, and he hates it when i am in the room while he does his yoga.

Sunday was just a day.... yupp. We got a ride to the church at 8 in the morning and sat there for 2 hours before church started. J came to church, but then he wasn't "feeling so good" so he left before the sacrament even started! Ugh, i think he just didnt like the building or branch, idk. Anywho, we had the M family there, just like always, and then the Cs came to church early!!! They were there for all the classes and that was super good. Their friend from the ward before came to help support him and M, but in the end he is the reason why they didn't attend the baptism at the end of church because "they were in town and we want to spend time with them".... oh my goodness. The M family baptism was pretty epic, not gonna lie. Branch members banded together to all have a part in the program, each auxiliary was present that needed to be there, all members of the branch presidency participated.... it was cool. All the missionaries who have taught the M family came back to support them, some even had to take public transportation to come, it was awesome! Everything went smoothly in the baptism, except that the water was cold, but it all went super good. The M family had like 10 family members there... we are totally going to start teaching them! The sister of M apparently knows like half the people in the ward (they are all Mexicans from the same city i guess) and so they were all talking. She then asked US for a copy of the Book of Mormon to read.... ugh YA!!! It was cool. Nothing else really happened after that during the day because it was rainy and nobody was outside and we had no set appointments, but hey! They got baptized!!!!

This week should be an interesting week too, we have interviews with President Haynie and its Halloween today, hope to get some pics next week of your Halloween ADVENTURES.

Love,

Elder Roberts

Week 88

SouthGate Branch 2 - Week 3 - Dawn of the Dorman

Monday was a really rough pday. We were going to be picked up from the other elders around 10 when we normally start everything, but then they said that they had to go and do something and that they were going to pick us up around 1... That's 3 hours of basically doing nothing because we didn't have any coins for our laundry here in the apartment complex, plus the dryer sucks. And we could go shopping because we are on bike, and that just wouldn't end too well with a greenie on bike... So we decided to wait it out. I wrote my weekly letter on the iPad and we cleaned up the apartment pretty good, it's not even that bad at all. They eventually picked us up at 2 and that's when everything started. It was a pretty boring pday because we had to do our chore type stuff and so we really didn't do much during the pday time. We had bought pizzas because nobody fed us that day, so we figured that we could buy a handful of the 89c pizzas and eat those. Well, my companion basically melted his pizza so he was in a bad mood, which did not help the day at all. We ended up visiting the M family with President O and we talked about temples and about how everyone met the missionaries and how they felt, it was a good lesson. We are really excited for this family.

Tuesday was temple day, and let me tell you, it was a temple DAY. Every 4 months or so as missionaries, we are allowed to go the temple here in LA. Normally when we went we only went into sessions that were early in the morning, and with like maybe 10 people max. This time was way different. About half the mission was just in one session and the session started at 10. We started out in the chapel in the temple and there a member of the temple presidency spoke to us about symbolism in the temple, it was really cool. President and Sister Haynie were also there. It was such an AMAZING experience to be in the temple with missionaries, and our mission president and his wife. You could truly feel the love that they have for the gospel and their leadership of us while we were there. They were also in the session, they were the couple, so that was really special. So in one session there was about 90 people or so... Ya, super big. They did remodeling in the LA temple! Some of us older missionaries were going through and we were like "oh that's different! Wow! Look at that!" It was super cool, that temple sure is pretty. I liked going at that time too, because there was some natural sunlight coming in, so it made it cool for me at least. The Haynie's greeted all of us as we entered the last part, so that was really nice, and they know my name (I mean who doesn't ;) jkjkjk). So that was cool. Our DL (and our ride home) asked us if we wanted to go and try this one place that is a Lebanese restaurant, so we were all do to go. I have now tried shawarma! It was a little weird, the plate in general, but you could totally get use to the flavor, and they served a lot of food, so that was really good! Definitely have to hit up that food place later on. Well, traffic sucks in LA so we got back to our area around 5 in the afternoon, ya talk about a nap that should've happened there.. Goodness. We then got on our bikes and headed to R. We asked her if she read, and she didn't, so we had to read with her. We then were able to have the opportunity to meet O. O is the lady that is also a member, but for whatever reasons she just doesn't want to meet with us right now and she always is trying to avoid us. She also has her eyebrows tattooed on her, but that's just for laughs and giggles. We then went to go eat dinner at the Cs house. Hermano C is a member of the branch presidency and Hermana C is the Gospel Principles teacher, and both are returned missionaries. They have been married for 18 years and they are just a very easy going couple, super fun, love to laugh and make jokes, understand doctrine super well, awesome right? So they made a nice dinner and I saw something green on my plate that the Hermano told me was a pepper, and that because I don't eat spicy to give it to him cause he likes them, so I did. WELL, my companion who still doesn't understand Spanish apparently ate his WHOLE because all of a sudden he hiccups! That is always a sign that you ate too much spice. Well, he was dying because he doesn't eat spicy at all, and it was a Serrano which are hotter than jalapeños, and his eyes were watering and it was just awful. I couldn't help laugh because I mean, he was gonna live and we were all just laughing, even Elder D. To make matters worse he was drinking a cucumber and lime drink, lime enhances spice, so basically he was keeping the spice from going down. Finally we got him some milk and a banana to calm him down and he downed those like he was about to die, oh fun times... Fun times... Ya. So that was pretty exciting and the Cs had a good laugh too. We talked to them for a little bit and they told us about some people that we could go and visit. They told us about 3 part member families that we could go and try to visit, so we were really excited about that. 

Wednesday morning was a little rough, just doing training stuff is starting wear on me. It is so hard to train! We started out the day just walking around and talking to people. Well, it was really hot so that wasn't fun at all. We talked to some people and that was nice, but nothing really happened, no return appointment or anything. We then decided to go and try to visit those part member families to see what's up with them. Well as we were trying to go knock on the door for the house, we passed by the dad! We talked to him for a bit, and told him about the ward activity that was happening on Saturday, which he seemed excited about. It was a good chat, just out in the sun so that was wearing on us. We then went to meet with the R family. They go to a different ward building because the building is closer to them and her husband has a lot of health problems. Well it was nice to talk to her and to see that her family, generally speaking, are active. She says that they go to the temple 1 time a month and you can totally see how that has blessed them. We talked with them for a bit and got to know them. We then decided to share a message about family history and invite them to start working on that. She seemed stoked that we decided to talk about that, even more that we told her about the family history center. We then asked her for a referral, or someone that she knows that we could start teaching. She told us about her neighbors and that maybe they might be interested. We told her that what could happen is that next week we could come and do a FHE on family history and that she could invite her neighbor to join, she liked that idea. We then had dinner with the A family and she made some bomb tacos.. The meat was amazing! It was really good and the whole time Hermana and Hermano A were just telling us that whenever we need anything, to let them know and they would bring it to us. They kept telling us that if we don't have something to eat, to let them know because they live right down the street and that they can always make something for us. We then walked back to the apartment to wait for Hermano M to come pick us up to go to the church for our weekly class with the RC. It was really good, this time Elder D was in charge of the class. He was so stressed out the whole time, it was good though. I was so tired at the end of the day though, goodness.

Thursday we decided to cook up the chicken that we had bought and to put it in a Tupperware container so that way the chicken didn't spoil. I showed my companion how to season chicken and how to cook it, you know, cause I am "so pro" not. Anywho I ended up eating tacos that Hermana Arce had given us as leftovers the night before because the tacos were really good. We had weekly planning at the church again and that was good. After weekly planning we biked to go and see S. S is like the coolest Recent Convert ever. It's really sad that we only have a limited amount of time to talk with him because he is just so cool. A lot of the time when we tell him that we have to leave he gets very sad and says "I bored you didn't I?" And we just tell him that no, but that our time for the day is up. He is such a studious person. He has read like everything... And he has only been baptized for 2 months. He is already in the Pearl of Great Price and he has finished the Gospel Principles book. He loves to read! He is also the type of guy that defends the truth, like I have no doubt that if he was at a grocery store and someone was talking bad about Mormons that he would pick a fight with them and demolish them with the scriptures... Not saying that's a good thing to do, but he would totally do it. He bore to us his testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it applies to us, it was really powerful. We then had to bike all the from the most south -western part of our area to the most northeastern part... It sucked. We did arrive a little late to the dinner appointment, but that's fine cause it was with the best family, the Q family! They are so cool and earlier in the week she asked us what we were craving and we told her pizza and ice cream, and so she got that :) oh how I love that family. They had a neighbor over named R and oh man does that guy have energy (he also drinks coffee too) and he was just speaking so fast (in both languages) that half the time you just nod and smile cause you just don't know what's going on. We had planned to show the movie Meet the Mormons with the Q family because it is just such a good movie to show families cause everyone likes some part of it. The Qs are also a part member family as well, the husband is not a member. We were able to talk with them for a little bit which was really good and awesome. We then biked down to see R for the FHE and I was ready to hear an earful from her. Well, she was actually super nice. She told us that her family hadn't shown up yet and that she was really sorry and asked if we could reschedule for another time. We told her that that would be just fine because we arrived late anyways. We then went to go bike to the McDonalds where we meet with Hermana F. She is really nice, but she is also very quiet, so it's hard to tell if she's sad or just tired. We had a good lesson with her and we read in the Book of Mormon which was good. We then went to go and have a Noche de Hogar with the M family and play charades with them. It was super fun. For the spiritual thought we went over the baptismal interview questions with them and A didn't remember some of the commandments, like word of wisdom etc. so we invited the parents to explain it to her and they did! It was such a cool example of parents teaching the gospel to their kids and the kids understanding it! It was really cool, all thumbs up for them! We then played charades and that was really fun, especially Elder D, just cause he isn't really the sporty type guy.

Friday we had our district meeting and let me tell you, some elders just get on your nerves, but I guess that's why the Lord has blessed me with Elder D because he's pretty good. The district meeting was really good and I feel super bad because Elder D has all these questions about stuff so that makes me think that I am a terrible trainer, ugh! Well, we had a lot more motivation to just go out and talk with everyone, which was an interesting experience of its own. We ended up talking with this one lady who is a member of a religion that practices the law of Moses and she gave us a hug which was like - invasion of privacy there - and so it kinda scarred Elder D a little bit. We met with M and she is slowly progressing, it is really rough with her. We then went to go and meet with L and talk with him a little bit. L is doing good, it's just that whenever something new is brought to him, he has to really search it out, pray, ask some questions, and then he is ok with it. It's just a longer process (which is completely OK), it's just a little tedious sometimes to have to answer all the questions because how we explain the principle answers his question... Anywho. Next was the Ts family. They are super cool too. It's a huge family and we are slowly meeting with everyone. This time we met with 2 of the nieces. We talked about what we do as missionaries and taught a little about the Restoration. Well, it was super cool cause E, the main one that talks to us. Told us that she has noticed a difference in religions. She told us that other religions don't make her "feel" the way that she feels when she talks to us, or when we talk to her. We then explained to her that the difference is the Spirit, because it testifies of truth. She really wants to keep learning so we are definitely going to be in this for the long run. We then had dinner with Hermana C like every Friday and she is just a funny lady. She tells us crazy stories that, sometimes I wonder... But she's a sweet lady. 

Saturday was quite the eventful day. We had a early morning lesson with P and M (I have been spelling her name wrong this whole time) and that was really good. We went over the baptismal interview questions with them and filled out the TMR with them, which is basically the membership record paper thing for a convert baptism. It was so cool because M was talking a lot and she is just super cool. They are such a nice couple and at the end when M said the prayer she asked that "everything will work out for their baptism on the 30th" boom. Right there is what counts, nothing like a prayer to seal the deal for a baptism! We then went back to the apartment to have our studies and then we had a lesson right afterward. The lesson fell through, but it was ok cause we just started to talk with everyone. We were walking and we decided to turn down a neighborhood street. We saw about 3 adults sitting outside, just enjoying the weather and everything. We asked them how they were doing and we started to talk with them. It was a nice conversation because we got to talk to all of them, introduce ourselves, laugh, joke, and they even invited us back for a lunch! That was super cool. Too bad I am going to be on exchanges with the " " elder when the lunch is, but it's ok. We kept talking to people and unfortunately 1 guy just had to come up to us and start bible bashing. I called him out for wanting to contend and he left and then told us to "go back to Utah!" So I kinda chuckled to myself thinking... Haha, oh don't you worry, I will 😜 . It was sad that Elder D had to been involved in a bash, we didn't bash at all though, so that was good, glad those days are over as a missionary. We then said a prayer so that way we didn't feel all moody before our hand over lesson with the STL (sister training leaders). They have an investigator with a baptismal date who - long story short - lives in our area and has decided that he wants to attend with us. We met him and he is awesome. Super intellectual and funny so hopefully we get along :) anywho after that we went back to the apartment and waited for the other elders to pick us up to go to the Feria Internacional. Basically it's a party where all the members bring food from their country and have a little talent show. It was good and the food was good too. Elder Ddoesn't like Horchata (what?!?!) anywho, that's besides the point. I think all of us, everyone in the family, could've choreographed those dance numbers so much better and helped the show run so much smoother.... So it was a little painful for me to watch. Long story short, I just watched a bunch of 10 year old interpretive dance with their hands and shaken their little hips to any song that their parents thought was "hip". (Slap face). Anywho we left after a bit and then went to go talk to more people in the street we talked to this one kid named K who was really nice and told us ALL of the crazy drug problems and gang violence on every street in our area... Thanks kid. We then told him a little do and he listened to us. It was pretty cool cause he had never heard about Mormons before or about the church, so this was his first impression... Yikes! It was cool though.

Sunday was crazy. We went to church at about 8 AM because that is when Presidente O picked us up and got us there by. We waited and I started to write my weekly letter to y'all while we waited for church to start at 10:20. Anywho. Church was good, the classes were good too. I was asked to give a talk about the Restoration and I was super nervous, but Elder L told me that I did really good so that made me feel good. We then had 3 baptismal interviews with I, M, and A M, who are all planning on getting baptized next Sunday. That took FOREVER! We were at the church till 5!!! It's ok though... Salvation is happening.... It's ok. Then Brother G picked us up to take us to the baptism of J J! He's the guy that Elder Olive and I taught and we went to his football game... Ya that guy! He got baptized and it was sick! Plus R and M from that area were married just hours before and they were also there, so I took pictures with them. R is being baptized on Tuesday, so I'm super excited for him, I won't be able to go back to it though, but it's ok. That basically took the whole day because we did a lot of driving there and there was food afterwards.

Crazy week, but next week is going to explode!

Love y'all, send picks from anything that is about Halloween!

Love,

Elder Roberts