Everyone:
Well, as you've probably guessed from the subject line, I've been transferred East in the mission to a little area called Watts. If you don't know what Watts is, it's known for being the starting place of some of the race riots in LA, I believe. Suffice it to say that it's a little bit different from Westchester. However, oddly enough, I don't really feel at all afraid to be here--I enjoy it, actually. The demographics of our area are about half Latinos and half African-Americans, so I've been having more opprotunity to practice my Spanish. Anyways, on to the week report:
Monday afternoon of last week was pretty standard. Tuesday we did some tracting and such, and in the evening we got our transfer calls and I packed up to head to Watts. On Wednesday, I came over here to Watts, after having a bit of difficulty getting Elder Escobedo's companion to our apartment so that he wouldn't be alone, and I met my new companion, Elder Allred. Elder Allred is from South Dakota, from a town of about 24,000, so his hometown isn't too much different from Madison. Sort of. Anyways, Wednesday evening we went out and I met some of the less-active families we're working on bringing to church.
On Thursday we did some service for one of the less-actives in our area, taught a family called the Williams family who we got as a referral on Wednesday, planned, visited a member who's in a convalescent (spelling?) hospital named Norman, had dinner with one of the members of the South Gate 2nd Ward (the Spanish-speaking ward for our area--the other ward we work with is the Southwest LA Branch), and tried to have correlation with the South Gate 2nd Ward only to find that it had been cancelled without our notification.
On Friday we tracted for a while--an experience that's a little bit different in Watts than in Westchester, due to the much larger number of dogs, fences, and locks here, as well as the demographic differences--and then I got to meet Sherri Thompson, our top investigator. Sherri is one of those people that you only get once on your mission because she's been so prepared. She's getting baptized next week. After meeting her, we visited another less-active family.
On Saturday, we met with Sherri again, tracted a bit, contacted a referral, had a meeting with the South Gate Ward, and then had Sherri's baptismal interview.
On Sunday, I attended the Southwest LA Branch with our district leader's companion while our district leader attended the South Gate 2nd Ward with Elder Allred. The Southwest LA Branch actually has four companionships working in its area, and South Gate 2nd has eight, so we actually see other missionaries quite a bit on Sundays. After church, we went around and invited some of the less-active families in our area to a baptism one of the other companionships that attends the South Gate 2nd Ward was having, and then went to the baptism. Afterwards we visited another less-active hermana.
Today has been a fairly standard Preparation Day. We had Zone Dodgeball, washed our car, and bought some dish soap and other such things.
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:
Monday, July 30, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Samuel's Mission e-mail July 23, 2007
Everyone:
Well, transfers are this Wednesday, so I might be somewhere else in LA the next time I write. Anyways, starting with Wednesday last week, we tracted a bunch, and then we went and taught Vicky for the first time in a while. She was happy to see us back, but she left not long after church started yesterday, so we still have a lot of work to do with her.
On Thursday, we had our normal planning time, and then we went with one of the Singles' Branch members to help him with his home teaching, since he was home teaching a family where only one member is active. Everyone else found and excuse to leave pretty quickly, though, so we ended up just home teaching her.
On Friday we did some service at the LAX Food Pantry, which gives food to needy people, and then we went to the Liahona High School Reunion for our meal appointment for the day. It was very interesting--the Liahona High School is a church-run school in Tonga, but a lot of Tongans who attended it aren't members, so we did have some opprotunities to talk with some people. Then we met with Rito (he got back from his trip to Chicago last week) and taught him at Ian Salas's home. Then we contacted a referral and set up a time to arrange a teaching appointment.
On Saturday we had our weekly missionary meeting, tracted some, and met with Carmen Franco. Sunday was a pretty normal Sunday, in that we had our normal meetings and a good dinner with ward members.
Today we played some football for our zone activity. I also received a package from home, which I was happy to see.
Elder Samuel Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
Well, transfers are this Wednesday, so I might be somewhere else in LA the next time I write. Anyways, starting with Wednesday last week, we tracted a bunch, and then we went and taught Vicky for the first time in a while. She was happy to see us back, but she left not long after church started yesterday, so we still have a lot of work to do with her.
On Thursday, we had our normal planning time, and then we went with one of the Singles' Branch members to help him with his home teaching, since he was home teaching a family where only one member is active. Everyone else found and excuse to leave pretty quickly, though, so we ended up just home teaching her.
On Friday we did some service at the LAX Food Pantry, which gives food to needy people, and then we went to the Liahona High School Reunion for our meal appointment for the day. It was very interesting--the Liahona High School is a church-run school in Tonga, but a lot of Tongans who attended it aren't members, so we did have some opprotunities to talk with some people. Then we met with Rito (he got back from his trip to Chicago last week) and taught him at Ian Salas's home. Then we contacted a referral and set up a time to arrange a teaching appointment.
On Saturday we had our weekly missionary meeting, tracted some, and met with Carmen Franco. Sunday was a pretty normal Sunday, in that we had our normal meetings and a good dinner with ward members.
Today we played some football for our zone activity. I also received a package from home, which I was happy to see.
Elder Samuel Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Mariana's new bedroom
This is a picture of Mariana's new bedroom. After Sammy left for his mission, she inherited his room. It took us a while to clean it out and re-paint the walls, but now it is done and as you can see, Mariana is happy with it.
Newel
Sammy's Mission E-mail July 17, 2007
Everyone:
This e-mail is on Tuesday rather than Monday, for reasons I'll explain shortly.
Tuesday of last week, we did a whole lot of tracting (4 1/2 straight hours) and had dinner with Ernesto Escareno and his girlfriend. Ernesto is a less active member, and his girlfriend Michelle is not a member, so we answered a lot of her questions while we were eating and hope to continue teaching her this week.
Wednesday last week, we tracted some more, had dinner with some members, and met with the bishop to discuss some possible less-active and part-member families in the ward to contact.
On Thursday, we had our planning time as usual, tracted, had dinner and correlation meeting with Ian Salas, our Singles' Branch Mission Leader, and saw the new shirt-decorating equipment he bought for the t-shirt company he and some of the other branch members are running.
On Friday, we had District Meeting, and then Elder Escobedo started feeling ill so we went back to our apartment and he rested until he stopped feeling ill.
On Saturday, we tracted for a little while, and then we had the great privilege of going to the Los Angeles Temple Dedication Commemoration program. We went up to the Solemn Assembly Room on the third floor of the temple and listened to some of the temple presidency and other people speak, and then attended an endowment session. Then in the evening a member sent us out to eat and we met a member family that had the same last name as Elder Escobedo.
On Sunday we had our usual Sunday meetings, and Vicky, who is the caretaker for an older couple in our ward and who we had been teaching, actually came to church for all three hours! This had been the one thing she really had trouble doing before, so we're hopeful that she may be ready for baptism in a few more weeks now.
Yesterday, we had apartment deep cleaning--we were told to spend the entire day making our apartment as clean as it has been since it was built. I'm not sure we quite managed that, but it is very clean now, which is nice. Because we cleaned all yesterday, today (Tuesday) is our Preparation Day for the week.
Elder Samuel Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
This e-mail is on Tuesday rather than Monday, for reasons I'll explain shortly.
Tuesday of last week, we did a whole lot of tracting (4 1/2 straight hours) and had dinner with Ernesto Escareno and his girlfriend. Ernesto is a less active member, and his girlfriend Michelle is not a member, so we answered a lot of her questions while we were eating and hope to continue teaching her this week.
Wednesday last week, we tracted some more, had dinner with some members, and met with the bishop to discuss some possible less-active and part-member families in the ward to contact.
On Thursday, we had our planning time as usual, tracted, had dinner and correlation meeting with Ian Salas, our Singles' Branch Mission Leader, and saw the new shirt-decorating equipment he bought for the t-shirt company he and some of the other branch members are running.
On Friday, we had District Meeting, and then Elder Escobedo started feeling ill so we went back to our apartment and he rested until he stopped feeling ill.
On Saturday, we tracted for a little while, and then we had the great privilege of going to the Los Angeles Temple Dedication Commemoration program. We went up to the Solemn Assembly Room on the third floor of the temple and listened to some of the temple presidency and other people speak, and then attended an endowment session. Then in the evening a member sent us out to eat and we met a member family that had the same last name as Elder Escobedo.
On Sunday we had our usual Sunday meetings, and Vicky, who is the caretaker for an older couple in our ward and who we had been teaching, actually came to church for all three hours! This had been the one thing she really had trouble doing before, so we're hopeful that she may be ready for baptism in a few more weeks now.
Yesterday, we had apartment deep cleaning--we were told to spend the entire day making our apartment as clean as it has been since it was built. I'm not sure we quite managed that, but it is very clean now, which is nice. Because we cleaned all yesterday, today (Tuesday) is our Preparation Day for the week.
Elder Samuel Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sammy's Mission Mail July 9, 2007
Everyone:
Well, this was kind of an interesting week, since we had the Fourth of July. On Tuesday, we tracted a lot, and while we taught some lessons and talked with some interesting people, we still don't seem to have found much of anyone new to teach.
On Wednesday, the Fourth of July, we ended up being invited to a barbecue with the Singles' Branch, ad barbecue with the Aguilar family, and dinner with the Singles' Branch President and his family.
On Thursday, we had our normal weekly planning, and did some tracting. Friday we had Zone Meeting, and had some short interviews with our new mission president, President Blackburn, and talked about how we can improve the mission. Then we went over and spent some time with a less active named Marrietta. She hasn't been to church for a really long time, but she had been praying for help the day before--she's going through cancer treatment--and then we felt like we should call her, and she ended up asking us to come over and give her a blessing on Friday. We had a good long talk and lesson and gave her a blessing, and she was really excited about coming back to church and having us come over regularly, but then she didn't show up at church yesterday, so we'll have to see how she is on our return appointment this week.
On Saturday I had splits with our District Leader, Elder Stapleton, down in Hawthorne. We did a good bit of tracting and I got to practice my Spanish a lot more than I do here, and then we spent a lot of time in the evening at a baptismal interview that he was doing for some investigators of another companionship in our district.
On Sunday, we had our normal day of meetings, and then we visited Carmen Franco, who hadn't been at church (apparently she slept through her alarm) and encouraged her, and then stopped by briefly with the Aguilar family. We finally were able to talk for a little with Hermano Aguilar alone about why he isn't coming to church, so hopefully we'll finally start making some progress with him.
Today we went to a Science museam for our Zone Activity, did laundry, and washed our car. We're still going to do some grocery shopping and such today, and then talk some more with Hermano Aguilar.
Elder Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
Well, this was kind of an interesting week, since we had the Fourth of July. On Tuesday, we tracted a lot, and while we taught some lessons and talked with some interesting people, we still don't seem to have found much of anyone new to teach.
On Wednesday, the Fourth of July, we ended up being invited to a barbecue with the Singles' Branch, ad barbecue with the Aguilar family, and dinner with the Singles' Branch President and his family.
On Thursday, we had our normal weekly planning, and did some tracting. Friday we had Zone Meeting, and had some short interviews with our new mission president, President Blackburn, and talked about how we can improve the mission. Then we went over and spent some time with a less active named Marrietta. She hasn't been to church for a really long time, but she had been praying for help the day before--she's going through cancer treatment--and then we felt like we should call her, and she ended up asking us to come over and give her a blessing on Friday. We had a good long talk and lesson and gave her a blessing, and she was really excited about coming back to church and having us come over regularly, but then she didn't show up at church yesterday, so we'll have to see how she is on our return appointment this week.
On Saturday I had splits with our District Leader, Elder Stapleton, down in Hawthorne. We did a good bit of tracting and I got to practice my Spanish a lot more than I do here, and then we spent a lot of time in the evening at a baptismal interview that he was doing for some investigators of another companionship in our district.
On Sunday, we had our normal day of meetings, and then we visited Carmen Franco, who hadn't been at church (apparently she slept through her alarm) and encouraged her, and then stopped by briefly with the Aguilar family. We finally were able to talk for a little with Hermano Aguilar alone about why he isn't coming to church, so hopefully we'll finally start making some progress with him.
Today we went to a Science museam for our Zone Activity, did laundry, and washed our car. We're still going to do some grocery shopping and such today, and then talk some more with Hermano Aguilar.
Elder Stephens
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever. --D&C 122:9
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Texas trip
Family,
Ruth and I spent the last two weeks in Texas with LaDawn and Denisa' family. This was an unusual trip in that it rained every day that we were in Texas. This was the first time we have visited Texas when the temperature in Cache Valley was hotter than in Texas. Kausha and Melena both turned 8 in June and were baptized on 1 July. John baptized them and they asked me to confirm them.
We also attended a presentation for the 4th of July in which the whole Dalley Family were involved. We went to Fort Worth one day and visited the museum where they had a special diolay of the Star Wars materials. I took Kjirstina and James to a rifle range for their combined birthday where they both did pretty well and I think they enjoyed themselves.
It rained so much that we were unable to take Denisa' kayak out because of the flooding.
On our return to Utah were detoured to visit Flint and to see Cally and Jed's new baby, Harvy. They are in the process of adopting him.
This is my first try on the Blog so will see how it works. I took over 100 picture on our Texas visit so if you would like more let me know and I will send a disk.
Dad
Sunday, July 8, 2007
St. Louis Trip
The 5th grade trip to St. Louis was awesome! The first place we visited was called The City Museum. It wasn't much like a museum, it was more like a giant indoor play place. It had huge slides, a cave to explore, an aquarium, and tons of climbing opportunities. After that adventure we went to the St. Louis arch. We went up in 5 person elevator cars. They were cramped and noisy. The last thing we did on the first day of the two day trip was eat dinner on a cruise boat on the Mississippi river.
The next day we went to the St. Louis Zoo. It was a wonderful zoo. Last we went to the Magic House Museum.
Mariana
Creative spelling corrected by Newel
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