Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
Okay. Here's what ya gotta know about our area. The Halloween decorations here are INSANE. So huge and over-the-top and spooky. I absolutely love it. It's spooky time, folks.
This was my first week that I have been sick on the mission! Wow I can't say I loved that. But I recovered more quickly than I think I ever have from being sick, or at least ore quickly than I have in a long time, so that was definitely a blessing from the Lord.
We're in the Los Angeles zone, which is one of the two zones in the mission that the visitors' center sisters work in. Sister Birch and I are the only companionship of sisters in the zone that don't work at the visitors' center. District councils are, in the rest of the mission, always on Wednesday at 10:30. Because of the visitors' center sisters' crazy schedule, though, we never know when district council is going to be until that week. This transfer I have yet to have a district council on Wednesday at 10:30.
One fine Los Angeles evening Sister Birch and I had the privilege of listening to President Cordon's general conference talk ("The Language of the Gospel", go check it out) while driving on the freeway through the city and it was actually super relaxing. We love him so much. It was super weird because usually when we listen to general conference takls, the voices of the speakers sound unfamiliar, like someone you've heard but don't know, but when we listen to President's talk the voice sounds so familiar, not only like someone we know but like someone who is a very good friend. That's so crazy! It was wild because a lot of the things he said in the talk he had been saying to us in person just a week before. I can't wait for President's next conference talk, but I'm also happy to have him with me in person for the next eleven months!
A member in our ward, Julie, invited us to have an impromptu lunch with her in the kitchen after church (it was actually so cute and fun) because she had a lot of leftover food from her daughter-in-law's baby shower--who was actually a member of the Reseda ward that I love so much! She was asking us where we were from. When I said Las Vegas, she said jokingly, "Oh, so your parents drove you here." And I said, "No really, I didn't go to the MTC, my parents actually drove me here." Haha, just another day in the life of a two-transfer missionary!
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day Sister Birch and I were both feeling pretty unwell, but luckily we live across the street from a Domino's so we just got pizza (thanks for the lunch money Grandma Lori!) and chilled out. I also have obtained some face masks on the mission so I did indeed have a spa day with myself and it was an absolute party.
Before district council we had a meeting as a zone where we discussed how we can help more people attend sacrament meeting. As a zone, we were going to send in a text every time we invited someone to sacrament meeting, because the more people we invite, the more people will come! We set a goal to invite 104 people, and we ended up inviting 110! It was great because it made us really conscious of inviting ALL of our friends to sacrament meeting, which really showed them that we cared that they came. At district council I made my world-famous brownies which were of course a big hit among the district. We also talked about the power behind learning and studying the lessons, and good examples we could use to teach the Restoration lesson.
We had exchanges! Sister Birch went to Westwood 2nd with Sister Slater and I stayed in Wilshire 2 with Sister Pearson! Sister Pearson and I not only came into the mission together, but we also were in the same ward in college! So it was super fun for us to be together and talk about all the things we are going to do together when we go back to Cedar City. For Sister Pearson, it was like a vacation because she has only ever stayed in the temple patron apartments! Let me tell ya Sister Pearson knows how to work. She taught me a lot, especially about finding. She's also one of the most caring people I've ever met and I am so happy to call her a friend.
FRIENDS:
Joh is so awesome! He says he notices a big difference in his life when he prays and he's always been interested in getting close to God and going to church. We taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the gospel. He understood both super well!
We taught Destiny about the ten commandments and the Restoration. She has such a strong desire to do good, and she made some goals to help her get stronger in the gospel. What a great thing to do! She remembered a lot about the Restoration from when she had met with missionaries before.
We talked about baptism with Gustavo and Rossanna. Gustavo said he wants to be baptized, so we started talking about what we need to do in order to get to that point. They are seeking after righteousness and it is great!
We talked about prayer and scripture study with Abulla. Brother Hutchins came and was so helpful! He explained a lot of things to Abulla. Abulla studies the scriptures super hard and was wanting to learn how to pray better, which is great, but he is already praying super sincerely which is really all that matters! Thanks to a bold invitation from Brother Hutchins, Abulla came with his whole family to church this week! We were all so happy to see them.
We had a lesson with Elvira and Johnny, a couple that had requested a Bible and were interested in coming back to church. They wanted the Bible because they wanted one that was untainted by the opinions of men. Sweet, we're all about that too! We're excited to study with them again.
We had a lesson with William W. Let me tell ya that guy has studied the Book of Mormon a ton! It is amazing how much he understands about it already.
We met with the Lewis family, both of whom work closely with the youth of the ward, so we could talk more about what we can do to help with the youth. They are so awesome, and I'm so excited to work more with the youth!
Sister Child and Sister Zegarra went with us to lunch with the Di Niro family. Wow let me tell ya we love them. In the middle of lunch they said they would like to have us over for lunch every Sunday. Wow that is so sweet! Brother Di Niro said when he was on his mission so many members would be so kind to them and always feed them, and they always asked what they could do to repay such kindness. The members replied, when you're able, just pay it forward. Help the missionaries as we have helped you. So now he is able, so they're helping us! So he of course said when it is our turn we have to pay it forward as well. Let me tell ya, I fully plan on doing that!
I have seen an insane amount of miracles here. What a blessing to be performing the work of angels in the City of Angels.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day
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