It’s been a really busy week

So. People love us.

That's like the root of anything I could say/ it's borderline weird. Both of our wards think we are the greatest things since the Book of Mormon. Members are always asking us what they can do to help or what they can get for us. I'm always taken back by the love and generosity. People who we haven't even directly served tell us how great we are and both of us just walk away like.... what? I can't describe the experience. It's nice to feel so loved. I don't think I've ever felt this way before in my whole life, loved definitely, but not like in such a general or personal sense. I hope I don't sound whiney or anything. Moving on.

Life is good. This week was awesome, especially good. So, so much has happened andddd regrettably my journal keeping slacked, hard this week. It's crazy how tired we always are when we get home, planning, area book and then bed. I feel like this has been one of the best weeks of my mission, I just can't remember why hahaha.

MONDAY! The big event was teaching Robert. He's such a good guy. I really like him a lot. So we went over and the Mag's bought us dinner - Thai food. I love Thai food and it'd been the longest time since I had had it. Delish, but, to the more important - we taught Robert the Plan of Salvation. It went really well. I've gotten way better at teaching it as my mission has gone on. As well my understanding of it has increased dramatically. I really enjoyed it. The lessons are pretty low key. It's us and Brother and Sister Magdaluyo and we sit in their living room and discuss. The Spirit is always very strong. I realize that, that is the way the lessons are supposed to go in the comfort of the member's homes. It makes a big difference. Robert does have some health issues which makes it hard him to be real active. He's really seeking for answers. I like the guy a lot. Brother Mag also has a lot of really cool mission stories that he shares.

TUESDAY! We had district meeting which was really good. Then we ate with Severina. Whenever I talk to her I am always so humbled. She is such a talented woman with such a love for God. I want to be more like her. Then we had a lesson with Patrick, the guy who showed up to church last week. It went pretty well. We talked about the Book of Mormon and shared with him the message of the Restoration. When we were giving an overview we said something like "the church Jesus Christ established was lost after he was killed, but now it has been restored through a living prophet." He said, “Woah, woah, woah wait. That's a lot to think about. Can you say that again?” So we talked about that for a while. He's going through a lot but he definitely wants to learn more and feel more of the spirit that he felt at church. Then we went to Gloria's house to teach her and Kimberly. It went really well. We talked about the Restoration and baptism. Both felt the Spirit very strongly. Gloria is a very humble woman. She's a breast cancer survivor too. When we talked about baptism Kimberly was asking if she could get baptized again. That was cool. I dunno. Both of them don't really have super strong Christian backgrounds but they are very open to learning more. Then we saw Stephanie. Man. That woman is going through hell. I'll try to briefly explain the situation. She has no job. She's really, really sick. Her son lost his job. He's sick and he has pink eye on top of that. He also has a warrant out for his arrest because of traffic tickets. Because of that, when his crazy baby momma came to steal his son (who she's not even allowed to have custody over) he couldn't deny her because she called the cops. It's crazy. And more bad is happening too. That's just the surface. But Stephanie, she's great. As missionaries we always talk about the importance of reading the scriptures and praying and we promise (as do the prophets and scriptures) a host of blessings. Stephanie is a great example of that. Her life is like falling down around her shoulders but she reads and prays everyday and she is just so happy, big huge smile and so much faith. You like being around her because she is so lively. And she tells us it's because she's reading the Book of Mormon. She's in Ether.... It's awesome. She really just loves the Book of Mormon, me too. It's brought her so much happiness in this hard time in her life. And Sister Justice has as well. She is the perfect example of member fellowship. We brought her to a lesson, and Sister Justice invited Stephanie into her life and family. She takes her places (like for example this week to the temple. Stephanie lovvved it soooo much.) and she helps her with things. They are friends. Whether Stephanie gets baptized or not this month, S. Justice has changed her life forever. It's amazing to see. I want to be a Christ-like friend like Sister Justice. But in this lesson Stephanie called us her angels which made me feel really good. It's things like that remind of me of the instantaneous good that we can do as missionaries. Reading the scriptures makes us happy. That night we went to a meeting with the stake about the Christmas open house. I loved it. I just loved counseling and talking and taking notes on how we can improve for next time. It was a really cool experience and I'm so grateful to have had that privilege. I feel like that with the whole mission. So many cool things I've gotten to do and see and be a part of. What a blessing. 

WEDNESDAY! A tonnnn of our appointments fell through. That was tough. It's interesting how it happens like that. We visited some people in the morning, some new members of the ward. Then we sat in on one of Vicki's new member lessons with the Egan's. It was good. I love her and Sister Marx a lot. They are like a power team in my mind. We had a great lesson and then Sister Marx bought us lunch. Vicki is such a good woman. She just has such a strong spirit about her. She's always so happy too. I always want to surround myself with people who are happy and excited; life is happier and more exciting that way. We saw Toni later and she told us all about her baptism and how she felt clean for days after the ordinance. It was interesting to hear her testimony like that. Then we went to eat at the Iverson’s. They are the best. They've done a great job in welcoming us into their family and it feels good. Then we went to see Stephanie which went good too.

Okay I'm running out of time. I’m just going to hit some experiences sorry.

We taught Johnathon and Fabiola, a couple who we had the blessing of contacting a while ago. We felt prompted to go there when we hadn't originally planned to and we knocked right in the middle of a huge argument they were having about the future of their family. We came in and taught the Restoration and the Spirit was really strong. Both of them felt it. When we were sharing the BOM with them, Fabiola said, "I have to read it" and she asked to keep my picture of the first vision that I showed them. That was my last one... but I was happy to give it to them. Then Johnathon said his first prayer ever and it was really, really sincere. He was just humbly pleading with God for the things he needed.

On Thursday I was on exchanges in Montebello West again! I love it the most. There are so many people and so many prepared families. I want to serve in that area again before the end of my mission. I still have two years to go so chances are high.... but it was a really good day. We talked with a lot of people and saw a lot of investigators. It was the birthday of the virgin of Guadalupe or something like that so there were tons of parties in the streets which was pretty crazy. I learned a lot about communication on the exchange that I went on. The elders in the area are doing very, very well in their indicators, but they aren't happy. And we know it's completely because they aren’t communicating. They don’t talk to each other about their feelings. They hold in their anger and frustration and then get even more mad at each other because they continue to do the things that the other doesn’t like! It's sad. I've been blessed to communicate fairly well with all of my companions but my skills have grown a lot in my time in the mission and especially with Elder Slik. Transparency is important. We don't always agree, but we always get along. We are different people, so we think differently but we don't let it get between us. We talk and that solves everything. Unity, it goes a long way.

Friday we had a lesson with Norma that went really well. Norma is our referral from Gladys Knight. She's not progressing very quickly, but she is really, really cool. She wants to learn, but she's not sure yet if she's committed to act on the knowledge. During the lesson she was asking lots of good questions like, "How do I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet?" and other things like that. I like having lessons with her a lot because she is thinking and that makes us think more. They are a little more scattered than other lessons because she is alllll over the place. Anyway. She's cool. She's only 26  too which is weird to think about sometimes because she's so young. Oh man. Then we had the sickest experience with Gloria. One of her granddaughters was visiting and got delayed. She said that she knew that she was going to not be able to leave because Gloria told her we were coming. She's being going through a inner spiritual battle recently. We taught our lesson about the BoM and then we were reading a part of Alma 7 and she was really feeling the Spirit. When she had to go she asked us to take down her information and she told us, "I'm taking this with me" referring to the Book of Mormon. That was cool. Powerful experiences all over the place this week. Friday night we also had a great lesson with Stephanie in which we mostly focused on Andre. He's an amazing man but as he's said before he said again, “I'm not ready to stop running from God yet.” He will soon though. He's opened up a ton.

Saturday! We had our stake president’s breakfast which went well. Then for the afternoon we delivered Christmas cards to the ward members. It made me feel good. A lot of people told us how much they liked them which made me feel good. I love these two wards so much. Such incredible people that I’ve gotten so close with. That afternoon we had a lesson with Susana. It was good, but tough because she believes in God but has never really felt him in her life before. So that's our new focus with her, helping her to feel and then recognize the Spirit. Then that night Brother Cotner took us to Outback Steakhouse. Man. I've never eaten like that before in my life. Sooo much food. Sooo good.

Sunday was pretty bomb too. Patrick walked to church. He told me after sacrament meeting that he had to leave because it was his daughter's birthday but he wanted to make sure he came but that he'd be there all of next weeks. Man I was floored by that. Tyrone invites the guy to church to help him feel better and he feels the Spirit so strong that he commits to coming back every week. The Spirit. Stephanie loved our gospel principles lesson on exaltation and Gloria just loved church so much. :) Man I love it when our investigators are happy. It makes me happy. Then we took the sacrament after FH to a family that can’t come to church because of the husband’s back problems. We had another powerful experience there. In our short message she told us that for the first time she understood the point of church, religion, and everything. That was cool to talk to her about. Then we had dinner with the Martinez family. Man. They are the coolest. There are like seven or so families that are all just neck and neck for greatest families I've ever met and they are one of them. Just incredible people. I love them a ton. Then we visited a part member family and that went super well. Return apt and dinner for next week. Things are happening here in central. I love it. Elder Slik is like my hero. I'll be grateful forever for the things he's taught me and the great example he's been. 

Life, my brothers and sisters, is good.

I love you all so much!

Merry Christmas

Sam

PS. To the ward, thanks for writing me all the cards, I loved them!

Walkin’ in a winter wonderland

It's pretty cold here in Vegas.

Yeah, yeah I know that other places it’s like below 0 and such but I think I've acclimated to the temperature here. It's odd. Forty degrees feels like my nose is going to fall off. Everyone gives me a hard time because I’m from Michigan where it gets 'really cold' but I still am freezing up here. But it's all good. With my gloves and sweater and stuff I’m all set. 

I must say, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, minus the snow. Lights and decorations are going up and people are talking about it. Finals are coming up and the stores are getting busier. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

I have a lot to be thankful for. I couldn't possibly list all the blessings I’ve received but they are many. 

To name a few though! 

I’m grateful for the Savior. This morning I was overwhelmed as I read from the New Testament of the breadth of the Atonement. Christ truly felt my paper cuts and he felt the pain of losing a loved one. And everyone's everything in between. He suffered and he can help us. It's hard to express what that means without sounding redundant. But when he said he descended below all things he meant it. And he can carry us when we don't think we can anymore. He loves us a lot. So I'm thankful to my big brother for that one.

I'm grateful to be serving him. There is so much joy in the work. I've seen miracles as people's hearts have changed. Mine has. We get to watch as people grab the rod and are able to pull themselves up onto stable ground. For all the work I do for others, I’m the one who benefits the most. I'm grateful for the Restoration. What a glorious time to be alive, when the priesthood is on the earth and we have a prophet who guides and warns us. We don't have to live in darkness. There are answers to the questions we have. I'm grateful for inner peace. 

I feel like as missionaries we don't do very much. Like don't get me wrong, we bust our butts to find and help the 'one soul' (see D&C 18:15). But we do what we can but everyone loves us so much. More than we ever deserve. I'm grateful for that. So many people have really taken us in as their own. Really cared for us and loved us.

I'm grateful to all you troopers reading this right now. :)

Anyway. That's all a long way to say that life is good and that I’m happy. I wish the world was as happy all the time as they are at Christmastime. What if we were always friendly and serviceable and gift giving and family oriented? 

It's been a good week. Lots happened. Spark notes attached free of charge.

MONDAY! Remember how when I was in the MTC I talked a lot about how the days felt like weeks and the weeks felt like days? It's kinda the opposite and kinda not. Last Monday feels like a year ago. I did a double take when reading my journal entry. But the days go so fast. I think it just feels like so long ago because so much has gone on this week. I remember before I left people telling me not to worry because "it'll go by fast." Curse them all. Time flies far too fast. But anyway. The highlight was going to the Magdaluyo's home to teach a lesson to Robert, our newest, solid investigator. We've found others but they aren't "low hanging fruit" as Brother Mag describes him. Anyway. Robert is a half Japaneese man about the same age as Dad. He doesn't come from a strong Christian background but he has a lot of faith and he has grown up with members of the church for practically his whole life. We met him on Thanksgiving. He's a really bright guy, quiet, funny and humble. We sat around in the Mag's living room and discussed the Restoration. He openly told us at the frontend of the lesson that he thinks the Book of Mormon is true and that he has a testimony of prayer. That's what we love to hear. We taught the doctrine and he understood. When we were talking about prophets he said that it only makes sense that we would have another prophet. I wish everyone thought like that. A lot of our time is spent with people explaining that principle. God has always called prophets to guide his church. We aren't saying that Joseph Smith was anything more than that, a prophet. He was a modern day Jeremiah, or Noah, or Moses. He just is part of the grand pattern of God's plan for his children. But so we taught Robert and it was a great lesson. Brother and Sister Magdaluyo were great, just humble, happy people, living good lives and being good examples. I love that family. Robert has a lot of real intent and he understands the role of the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost in coming to know the truth of what we shared with him. His prayer really touched my heart. It was simple and sincere: really asking God to let him know that what he heard was true. :)

TUESDAY! He had a great day. We did some errands for the Zone in the morning and then in the afternoon we visited members and referrals. The first place we visited was pretty interesting. It is a great, great family who is only less active because they have no fellowship/ their home teachers aren't doing their assignments. Nice people still with a testimony, it is just collecting dust. True, they should be coming on their own, but with a little help they could grow a lot. With them, the littlest bit could go such a long way. That's true for a lot of people. But they were really nice. They liked video games a lot. Since Elder Slik and I cared about these people we were able to talk with (mostly just listen to their stories and then about their video games) them and pray with them and really lift their spirits in such a simple way. It was pretty funny though - they were talking to us about all these video games and stuff and the woman loads up Zelda on the new Wii and hands it to me and is like "see its super fun, try it out!" It wasn't really a temptation to play and it was easy put it down but it was kinda funny. Now that I'm writing this I sound super video game trunky. I'm not. But it was funny to just feel how different things are now that I'm a missionary. Ugh. I sound dumb. Anyway. Then we followed up on this referral and the girl was so happy that we went by. She invited us in right then. She was like a 20 year old college girl so we had to decline and set up another appointment. It was cool though. It was the referral that I think I talked about last week. The member was super tense in giving it to us. But the girl, after we left, texted the member and was sooo excited. It was funny. Twenty minutes after leaving, our member texted us saying, "You two are the best!" That made us feel really good and it strengthened my testimony of member missionary work. It was hard but everyone was happy. So anyway. We visited Sister Rosser, who I think is the coolest. She's so smart and just so real. She also loves helping. She gets on our case when we don't let her serve us. I want to have an attitude more like that for the rest of my life. We saw Tyrone for a bit. Then we had a weird experience where we visited an old couple in the ward that I visited with Elder Taetakua a year ago. I have weird dejavu a lot here. We had a really good visit with Toni when she told us all about her time in the hospital and her experiences with getting a blessing. She was really stressed because of her son. She told us all these problems he's been causing. Dang. It was nuts. God gives us commandments for a reason. Then that night we went out with Chris Marx to go see a new part member family. We had a great lesson. The wife got very emotional as she told us how she wants to come back to church because she wants her daughters to be raised with Christ as the center of their lives and so they don’t have to go through all of the hard things that she had to go through. Her daughters were crying too. I don't like it when girls cry. But it was really a good lesson. And a good experience for Chris to see how much this means to others and to help him recognize what a blessing it has been in his life. We had a great lesson with Stephanie too. It’s funny. We don't even bring up baptism but she talks about it because she's always praying and reading the BoM. She told us that she's "ginna surrender," referring to baptism. She says that she knows that the Lord wants her to get baptized but she's just being stubborn. It was pretty funny. Stephanie is such a great woman. But she's going through such a hard time. I wish we could do more but I’m grateful to the members of the church who do so much to serve those around me.

WEDNESDAY! We had Mission Leadership Council. It was really good. It was largely focused on the scriptures which I liked. How we could use them more often and more powerfully in our lessons. Those were the two trainings we received. Then we had a cool time to counsel with the other leaders about what to do to help our zones. I like counseling. It's a powerful experience. We had most of our appointments fall through but we had good backups to still get things done and be effective. MLC is awesome. I'd talk more about it but there's no time.

THURSDAY We drove a missionary down to Henderson for his doctor appointment. It was weird being back in my old area. It's almost like I never left even though it’s been like three months already. We had a great lesson with Norma. She's the one whose brother committed suicide and she referred herself after Gladys Knight. She cancelled the last lesson but this one was powerful again. We brought Rigdon who knew her brother and Sister Faught who is like super mom. Both were able to connect better to Norma than we ever could. She shared with us how the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and things she was reading on lds.org and what people were telling her about our beliefs were helping her to feel at peace. She had a lot of questions so it was hard to explain properly that the peace she was feeling was the Spirit telling her it was true. It's difficult. She has real intent but she has so many questions is hard to present the doctrine effectively so she will make commitments. She's really a special and prepared investigator but we have to set the expectations. Not that we will talk and be teachers but that full understanding will come with time. Teaching effectively is hard work but it makes a big difference. Anyway.  Then we saw the clan. It's hard to go there because they just aren’t doing anything to change their situation. Even Rigdon recognized that it's draining. Just because we give them all we have spiritually and they are content to sit and do nothing all day. After that we took a lot of time to plan for our ZTM. It’s very different team training than doing a solo thing like for a district meeting. Then we had another lesson with Robert that night. We talked about the Book of Mormon and he told us that he prayed and felt peace from God. Boom. Simple experiences like that are so powerful. Those are the foundation of testimony. See D&C 6: 22-23. After he shared that with us, we invited him to be baptized and he committed to do so! Wahoo! It's always the most exciting to invite new people because they either commit or we quickly discover their concerns and know where to go from there. 

FRIDAY! We had our ZTM which went really well. Not perfectly according to plan, but things went well. We went to see Toni and we talked to her about baptism and it was good. You could just tell how excited she was. She told us that Satan made her sick last week and he tried to do it again this week but she wasn’t letting him! She's funny and we love her a lot. We had some other good lessons. We went to both our ward's Christmas parties. They were verrrrry different. It's interesting to see that kind of juxtaposition in two wards that are kitty corner to each other. Both were good times to mingle with the members. Oh and we also got a picture with Santa!

Slik, Santa, and Sam

SATURDAY! Wow. Today was a crazy day. I was severely humbled this morning. Not in the ways that I usually am either. A member of our FH ward, Brother Cotner, called President Neider and got permission to take Elder Slik and me to the mall to buy us new suits and shoes. Both of ours were really beat up from use. It was one of the nicest things I've ever had done for me. I don't think I've had a new suit before and I've never had any shoes that nice. It was crazy. Then we went to the chapel to fill the font and set up the room. We had two back to back baptisms and the room was packed for both of them, like 80 people. It was awesome! I've never seen a crowd like that before. We were pretty happy.

Toni and Idary's baptism

Toni and Idary and then Bailey. Bailey was a kid I met a year ago with the zone leaders. When Idary got baptized he inhaled a bunch of water and that freaked him out. Also when he did he kicked a foot out of the water. So that was a little bit of a new experience. He ran up onto the women’s side and we couldn't even get him to cross over the water to get onto the men’s side. He was totally immersed so bishop said it was okay but Idary said real loud, “I'm never getting baptized again.” It was cute. After he was dry and changed he was all smiles though. Then we ate with the Jewitt’s. I love them. Such a cool family. Sister Jewitt told us some of her theories about education and schools. She said that because of the ways schools are going more and more children are not understanding or liking math. She says that math is truth. There are no theories or hypotheses. It's about solving and proving with facts. She said that because kids aren’t learning math they aren’t learning to understand truths, and absolutes. So it makes facts less valuable in children’s minds. It's hard to explain but she explained it well. I’ll try one more time. Math is absolute facts. It doesn’t change. Schools are having problems. Kids don't like math. They don't learn it. Because they don't learn math, they don't believe in absolutes and question truth. Ugh. Google it. Then after that we did a blessing on a woman’s home. A while ago we set up an appt with a woman for Friday but we totally spaced it. We didn’t think it was big deal bc she didn't seem too interested.  Saturday morning she called us and asked why we didn't come by! We were super taken aback bc that's never happened to either of us. So that night we went by and prayed with her and her family. It was cool. Then we met with Susana, that referral we contacted on Tuesday. She's pretty cool. She asked us a ton of questions about missionary life and she accepted the invitation to take the lessons. We’ll see how it goes!

SUNDAY! Church was good. We coordinated. We watched the devotional. Tyrone invited a friend to church and Sunday night we had a good lesson with him. He was super interested and he said that now he knows we don’t worship aliens. He only knew us by the title “Mormons” and he "had no idea what a 'Mormon' was." He was cool and shared his life story with us. He said he really felt the difference at church and he wanted to have that peace in his life. It was cool.

Life's good.

Sorry that I kinda tapered off at the end.

No time.

I love you all so much!

Sam

PS. Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm pretty tired today.

Well hello!

The most important thing that happened this week is that Toni didn't get baptized - more on that a little later. She'll be getting baptized this week though. 

It's been a great week. I'm really, really tired but I feel good and happy. I almost feel good because I'm so tired if that makes sense. I'm trying my best and therefore I feel good. Not everything goes according to plan though. But I've slowly but surely come to better understand how to not get upset when things go awry that I don't have control over. I can't do anything about it so there is no sense in stressing about it, seems simple but the small things make the biggest difference.

So I guess I'll just move on to talking about the week!

MONDAY! Pday stuff, you know how it is. That evening we got to three pack with Elder Fagerston because Elder Montgomery was doing all the get ready to go home things. So we went and saw Tyrone and read some of the Book of Mormon with him. I like Tyrone a lot. He's such a good guy. And you're never sure what he's going to say. He's smart and watches a lot of history and discovery channel so he is always dropping some random factoid doctrine. Then we went to Toni's and helped prepare her for her baptism. It was good. I like Elder Fagerston a lot. He's a really good guy. But the really exciting stuff happens when at 9 o’clock we get a call from President. It's Elder Montgomery saying that he needed to be picked up at the mission home that night. So Mike dropped us off and we drove down there that night. We got to the mission home and that was really weird. I saw Elder Fischer and Sister Burrup and Sister Despain. EF and SD were in my first district and so that was pretty saddening to see them go. But so we did't get Elder Montgomery until like 9:45pm. So then we drove all the way back and those elders live pretty far from us so we didn't get home until 10:45. It was nuts. I know it's not that bad I shouldn't complain but I was absolutely exhausted when we got home. 

TUESDAY! They are all great days. Today was transfer day and so we sent off Elder Lilo, Elder Montgomery, Elder Reed, and Sister DeSpain. We got Elder Borden (who was in my district in Warm Springs) Elder Janke (who is a stud and Elder Gunnell's last companion) Sister Fernandez (who served in my district last year at this time) Elder Moore (Elder Slik's MTC companion's trainee) and Elder Andersen (who came out the same transfer as me). We helped out and drove missionaries around and then just as we got done someone called us telling that they left their scriptures and so we had to drive all the way back. When we got back to the mission office, some sisters were struggling with their luggage so we helped them and drove their bikes to their new apartment. Then we saw a Mexican family (daughter and dad) moving out so we helped them. While talking, it turned out that it was a part-member family and the daughter wanted her dad to join the church but he wasn't interested. She was really grateful for the help and the good example we showed to her dad. Then we were heading to a lesson in our apartment complex and we ran into a newlywed couple moving in and we jumped in and helped out. It was interesting to talk with them. They had jobs and vehicles and goals which most people that we talk with in the apartments don’t have. Our lesson flaked but we saw Jazmine which was good. She was really depressed and saying a lot of really horrible things. She was telling us that she was hungry and mad and because of that she was never going to go to her GED class again. It made no sense to me. She ran out of food stamps because she spent them frivolously and then she was mad at everyone else around her and because she was mad she was going to give up on her life and shoot herself in the foot for the rest of her life. GED classes are free till the end of the year and then after that they will be pretty expensive and so this is like her only chance. People need love and mentoring. Jazmine is a perfect example. Smart, and capable person but she had gotten into a situation that she can't bring herself out of. Others can't do it for her of course but if no one was supporting her she wouldn't have a chance. Sigh. Goals and guidance are so important in success. I could rage about that family's situation all day, so many problems that shouldn't have happened and shouldn't have to continue. Too often people underestimate their own power in helping themselves and others. After Jazmine we went to the Marx's house to talk with Vicki about her baptism. There was a marked difference in the happiness between the two. Vicki was taking strides and confronting her challenges and making changes. Man, it makes me so happy to talk to Vicki to see how happy she is. She is a very special woman. The lesson we had with her was incredible. She shared some of her spiritual experiences from her baptism and we were almost all crying. I'll briefly tell y’all about them. First was she and Brother Marx were practicing the ordinance. He was going over the prayer with her and asked her to say her full name and as she did she slipped up and said her maiden name. She said that right then she felt the Spirit really strongly and she could feel that her parents were right there with her. Vicki is a very smart, but quiet person; when she told us that she said "I know my parents were there with me." She said it was such power and conviction. A little bit of fire too. I love Vicki. She's cool. Anyway, second was that as she stepped down into the font she said that it felt like it was full. Like there were tons of unseen people packed in there. It was like all her ancestors waiting for her to be baptized to do the work for them. Then the third was when she was actually baptized. Vicki is afraid of water. She didn't tell anyone before her baptism because she wanted to just do it without making a big deal of it. But so when she got dunked under the water she said it felt like a warm blanket being wrapped around her. She said that she wanted to stay there forever because it felt so comfortable. She was sad when she had to come up. It was a powerful experience to hear her describe the feelings of making that covenant with God. She was a prepared soul. Then we went to see Dante. We read from the Book of Mormon with him. He hasn't smoked since last Saturday which is awesome. It's a huge deal for him too. He is quite strong willed. Another prepared person to receive the gospel, I just hope that we can support him enough that he can continue to change his situation and living conditions. Later we went to teach Stephanie and we had a really good lesson with her. We didn't even bring baptism up but she said that she's been thinking on it. She says that she keeps going back and forth. But we had a sweet experience with her. She shared with us that she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet. She has a strong testimony of that. I know that the Spirit has borne witness of that as she's read and prayed. But near the end of the lesson Stephanie broke down in tears about how hard things have gotten and how she needs blessings from God to help her. She's going through a rough time :/. it was great to have Sister Justice with us because she could really comfort Stephanie in a way that we couldn't. She gave her a big hug and let her cry on her shoulder. It was hard to see someone so strong as Stephanie cry like that. I'm glad to know that Elder Slik and I have been sharing something with her that has brought her strength and happiness. We went to Toni’s after and went over the baptismal interview questions. I was pretty surprised at how well she knew the answers. She's pretty funny too. Sometimes I don't get her humor but when she's playing around she's pretty funny. Toni has a strong desire to be baptized. She also opened up and shared with us a lot of her struggles with God and religion. She has gotten dealt some pretty bad hands earlier in her life which was sad to hear about. I'm so grateful for the life I've had. I've been so blessed. Abundantly. 

WEDNESDAY! DM was bomb. I really liked it. Elder Janke is a really good teacher. He is very composed and confident and he commands attention. It's cool. Pretty much everything cancelled on us on Wednesday which was tough. A lot of the lessons that cancelled were ones that I was sure were going to go through and be good. But we got over it. We visited Grandma and she shared with us the pain of beginning the first holiday season without her husband. I can't imagine how hard life would be without the gospel. Knowing that families can be together forever, and having God's promise of that, is such a source of comfort. We saw Stephanie and we talked a lot with her about how she's in the middle of getting baptized and going back to her Baptist church. She has a testimony but she really likes Baptist churches still. So we are doing everything we can to help her keep feeling the Spirit. We had dinner with the Iverson family, man are they the best. They are a functional family that love each other and love the Lord.

THANKSGIVING! Well it was Thanksgiving. I didn't eat nearly as much as I did last year, which was good if any of you remember how much I ate last year. We had DM in the morning. Then we had Toni's baptismal interview and she passed with flying colors. Then we went to Brother DeLeon's house to eat a feast. We had a pretty normal food except there was some random Filipino noodle dish on the table. I like Brother DeLeon. He's a good guy, quiet but with a big heart and real talent for cooking. Then after that we went to the Magdaluyo's house for dinner number two.

Sam and Elder Slik - Thanksgiving 2013 - meal #2

Thanksgiving at the Magdaluyo's

They are awesome. I really love that family and how devoted they are to the gospel. Sister Mag is so loving and funny and Brother Mag is a goofball but he really can be serious about the important things. They really make us feel like part of their family, which means a lot during Thanksgiving time. People like them have really made a big difference on me, on the kind of person that I want to be and the attitude I want to have towards life - a more Christ-like one. Then we had to go make a pit stop at the church to make room for the final dinner and there was a homeless dude chilling outside! It was pretty sad to see so we grabbed all the leftovers we had accumulated and gave them to him. He was pretty happy, which made me happy. I wish we could have done more for him though. There we were laughing and warm and enjoying time with friends and there was this guy cold and hungry. I'm thankful that we got to serve him that night. After helping a brother out, we went to the Bank's house, Rigdon's family (who comes out with us every Tuesday.) We had a great time there too. I was pretty stuffed but the food was good so I packed more in. I'm thankful to all of you, those who love and support me. I'm thankful for the Savior and for his sacrifice and his example. I'm grateful for the scriptures. I'm grateful for the chance I have to serve others.

FRIDAY! We spent the morning preparing for Toni's baptism and making the program and such and doing some of our weekly planning. We had a good lesson with Dante. He finished reading the entire Book of Mormon Stories book. He loved it and understands pretty well. It's not the BoM but his plan is to go back and read all the stories that are referenced. For a drop out he reads and comprehends really well. You'd never know he hasn't been to school in years. That was good. I really like Dante. He has a special spirit about him. I think it’s just his eagerness to learn and grow. That night we went by to see Toni but she was asleep on the couch because she didn't feel good so we didn't go in. So we went to see Stephanie with Sister Thayer. We had a great lesson. Stephanie was a little distracted because her family was in town but it went well. Sister Thayer shared her conversion story and some of her experiences and Stephanie connected really well to it. When we got out we checked our voicemail and we had one from Toni that said "Oh help, please help, SOMEBODY HELP!" It was super scary. We drove over there as fast as we could and we knocked on the door and then Idary opened the door behind us and said that his mom had a heart attack and was in the hospital. We arranged for Idary to get picked up and a blessing to be given to Toni. She had high blood pressure and chest and stomach pains and couldn't walk. So we cancelled the baptism and she didn't get released from the hospital till Sunday afternoon. That was crazy.

SATURDAY! With the change of plans and the fact that no one had really invited people to the stake Christmas open house, Elder Slik and I spent most of the day tracting. We handed out about 500. We covered an entire city block's worth of houses. It was fun, but super ineffective. After we finished we visited the Gammons. Dang. Sister Gammon and her kids Blake and Taylor are the coolest. Blake served in Australia and Taylor will be leaving in March. I think they are another one of those super awesome families. 

SUNDAY! Fast and Testimony meeting was good. Idary bore his testimony again which was cool. It was powerful in both wards. After that we spent the rest of the day preparing for the open house which went really well. Lots of people showed up but we didn't get very many referrals. It was our stake's first year doing it so hopefully next year we can fine tune things to make it a more fruitful activity. It was really a great showing of creativity and hard work from most of the stake.

Christmas Open House 

I loved being a part of the planning and set up and stuff. I really like doing that kind of stuff. It gets my blood pumping. I love doing the stuff and Elder Slik is so good at it. He is a natural leader and he really understands how to get things done. Most of the referrals we got were because of Elder Slik's good planning and ideas. He's incredible. It's a blessing to work with him and learn from his great example.

That's pretty much the week.

I loved it.

Life is good.

I'm so grateful for everything

I love you all so much.

Sam