10/28/2010 - Week 76

Temple trip this week.

I got the package and have been enjoying all the food

I am doing great here in Placentia 2nd ward! Elder Tuipulotu has been introducing me to all the cool members here. He is, also, teaching me the valuable skill of mouching off members. Dang, this ward is cool. We have a tiny part of our area where almost no one lives, except for a small neighborhood and a mobile home park, such a contrast from Irvine. I guess that is what you find near the Orange county line. Actually though, most of our area seems fairly wealthy. I guess, I just need to accept that wealth is just the norm, but still, everyone seems so wealthy.

My area is huge. It is the entire north-most east part of our mission. The city is a mix of Placentia, Fullerton, Yorba linda, Olinda and Brea. Our district is awesome. I have already gone on exchanges with Elder Scott on bike. It was just like old times! Yep, Elder Tuipulotu live across the street, back then, when we were both greenies. We are really close, and I am really happy. Things are just good. We have a car.

Our apartment is great. Our upstairs neighbor is a really cool guy from Egypt. I am driver in our area, and I am not going to let Elder Tuipulotu put diesel in our car this time. :). We are teaching a less-active couple who are in their 60's, and they are 9th degree black belts skilled with weapons. They are way cool. (yes Curtis, I just used- way, cool) We are, also, teaching a part member family the Davises. Brother Davis is great; he is pretty close to baptism. With Elder Tuipulotu it is easier to be a real person to our investigators, I like it.

We are going to do good things together. We already taught 8 less active lessons and 5 non-member lessons last week. I feel great!

10/18/2010 - Week 75

Christine got baptised and confirmed this weekend! She is so cool! We met her and the guy she met in the Ventura Singles ward this morning. She is really sad that I am leaving. I am going to miss this ward. There are so many really cool young families! Oh... Bishop performed the baptism, Elder Lee and I were witnesses.
Then, on Sunday, the 1st counciler confirmed her and gave her the Holy Ghost, and we got to stand in. The blessing I gave her last week has majorly worked. Faith is so powerful. She went to the hospital, again, the day before the baptism, and they decided that it wasn't Lupes(sp?). It is something else painful, but doesn't have life time side effects. She looked a lot better, today.
It was a crazy week, we had 4 days of district meetings. Our district leader repeated everthing he learned in last week's 4 days of meetings he went to. Also, I had two exchanges with the District leader and his companion in their area. It was a blast and took my mind off worrying about Christine's baptism :). Our district is so close! They called me last night and said they were missing me, and I haven't even left, yet, lol.
I am getting transfered to Placentia 2nd ward. My companion is Elder Tuipulotu, the crazy New Zealander, Poly from my first district. This next transfer is to be crazy in a fun sort of way, I think. Both Elder Scott and Elder Bickmore are in that district.

10/11/2010 - Week 74

The news: We had another week of 4 days of exchanges, for the crazy, leadership, MTC, training meeting, things. (I don't know if you remember that we had the same thing last transfer) I was with Elder Toland from 9-5 those 4 days. He is a new missionary from Utah. We had a blast. We did some great contacting together. He really looks up to me as an experianced missionary. We had one teaching opportunity this week, a family of 8 from South Africa. They just had a baby and just moved into the area. We got to serve them a little bit and to teach. They seemed partly receptive, but we will have a better idea after next lesson. Christine is doing good. I feel really blessed this week. I had the opportunity to give her a blessing of health (she contracted Lupes, I think that is what it is, this past week). The Spirit was very strong. She, also, surprised us by showing up to our ward this past Sunday. She was able to meet bishop, which was very good, especially because she is getting baptised this weekend. Things just worked out. somehow, they are just working out.
We are going to teach her tonight at our relief society presidents house, and I am really looking forward to it. She is well prepared for baptism.
Things are going well.

10-04-2010 - Week 73

Remember that time we taught at the high school with our bishop? Well, bishop invited the class to our youth Iron Chef activity, and 3 came! Elder Lee was one of the judges of the food because he is not as biased as I am (I have been here for a while). Well, all is good because the girls team won, the nonmember youth got invited to church by some good missionaries and they seemed to want to come, and those good missionaries got to eat lots of food.
We found someone new to teach this week! We knocked into a less active who was not on the ward list. Robert is so cool! He is a 47 year old, ballroom dancer guy. He hasn't been active for 15 years, but he served a mission in Germany. His testimony of the church is so strong. We just have to help him shift his desires from sinning to being righteous. I think he is kinda tired of it anyways.
Christine is doing well. We got her set up with a new baptismal date, and she attended all 4 sessions of conference. She knows a member who lives by her dad. She was able to go with him to a 1st councilers house to watch conference and be fellowshipped by the family and singles ward over there! Hope is shining bright for her. She even cooked us and our ward mission leader's family some dinner this week! She is so cool.
My patiences is really being stretched this transfer. The blessings for our inverstigators and ourselves our finally coming into reach.
At the Preisthood session of General Conference, I saw Bro Herrara. A great brother from Orange, who was recently reactivated. I stood in the circle to give the melcesidek priesthood and he is still being a faithfull priesthood holder!
This week had a lot of really high highs, but it did have its lows, but they are really boring and typical, so I won't bore you with them.