June 16, 2014

I am very short on time today unfortunately, so this is going to be short.

Monday night we had Family home evening with the Cyperts which as usual was fun.

Tuesday we went over to Sister Armstrong's home and did service for her in the morning by cleaning up her back yard and trimming back some bushes. Later that night we had a good lesson with Georgina at the church.

Wednesday morning we went over to Sister Schiffauer's home and did more yard work and service for her which was a lot of fun as it always is. Later that afternoon we had a lesson with Georgina at the church and then one with Jose Gonzales and his whole family which was pretty cool - he has a nine-year old son and when we came over he pulled out his Book of Mormon and asked which page we were on haha.

Thursday we had District meeting and then weekly planning which went well and then we went down to the mission office so Elder Hansen could talk with the mission nurse about his sleep apnea and found out that he is going to get tested for it which they never do in the mission - so that is pretty cool they are doing it for him. In the evening we went and ate dinner and then went to a big ward activity where everyone played volleyball and basketball which was pretty cool. Elder Hansen and myself were refs which was fun. 

Random note that is weird - over the past year or so I have really come to love the youth in the wards I have served in which is weird because before my mission I didn't like kids much. But I really really love the youth now it's pretty weird.

Anyways Friday we took another Elder who is in the zone to physical therapy and then later that night we had a cool lesson with Georgina about Temple work and Family History that she really liked and wants to work towards.

Saturday was a busy day in the morning we visited with a less active member named Danny Rios and then went to the Baptism of Emiliano (who I mentioned a couple weeks ago). Elder Hansen gave the talk on Baptism and he asked me to Baptize him and give the talk on the Holy Ghost so that was a pretty cool experience to have. He is a really smart guy and progressed quicker then anyone I have seen before - pretty crazy. Saturday we had Stake Conference and it went really well. Elder Hansen gave a talk at it and did an awesome job. He talked about making a family mission plan - it was pretty awesome. Then at the end of the night sadness happened. We got transfer facts and both Elder Hansen and myself are being transferred out and they are bringing in two new Elders. We got a call from one of the Assistants to the mission President, Elder Gallagher my old companion, and he told us it wasn't because of anything we did but there were some other circumstantial things that came up that required us both to leave which is pretty lame. Elder Hansen is going back to Long Beach and I am going to Cerritos 1st ward with Elder Hermansen who I have served around. He is really quiet but a really nice guy. I then got a call from the 1st counselor in the mission presidency, President Devereaux, who told me that I am going to have to regain the trust of the members in the Cerritos 1st ward and rebuild some burnt bridges because. The Elder they are shipping out, that I am replacing, offended most of the members - including the Bishop and the Ward Mission Leader - so even though I am leaving Passons ward it is cool to see that the Mission President trusts me with a ward who is mad at the missionaries.

Sunday we went to Stake Conference again and then the rest of the day we ran around and said good-bye to people which was sad.

This morning we went and said goodbye to Georgina and, for the first time my whole mission, I cried like a baby. I have teared up a lot on my mission but I straight cried when I had to say bye to her. It was weird my heart has definitely gotten a lot bigger out here.

Here is my new address please send me hand written letters this week to this address. I might need it to get a library card so I can email next week! 

18622 Arline #D Artesia CA 90701