Week 52

Hello again! So we just raced back from downtown LA where we went to Plazita Olvera, the sisters we went with insisted we stop for food and bleeeehhhh it took so long so I have like no time to write cuz the family history center is about to close. But! This week was goooooooooooood! Juanita got baptized yesterday and it turned out great! We found a new family that we are excited about, the mom is a less active ad has 5 kids that arent members... we will see what develops, thinking we might have to pass them off to english elders though... gaaa the down side of state side work! haha. Weird to think there are only 2 weeks left of the transfer- it has just flown by. I think me and Kunz are gunna switch spots and I will head to Azusa and greenie break... but we will see, Ill keep ou posted! Sorry its so short!!!!

Week 51

So heres the news with the doctor... so I tested positive for a second time for lupus antibodies, if you dont know what lupus is you can look it up haha. Its still not 100% that I have it but he kind of explained that my body hasnt decided what course its going to take yet so I am still undiagnosed. There is something pretty wrong though because he went on to explain that in my blood results that my ANA (which is a count of my antibodies, which is basically my immune system)- that it is supposed to be under 40 and mine was 1280 , yikes! So my body is like preparing itself for something, didnt really understand everything, maybe you could ask Russ Hales to explain it better for me because my doctor is too smart for his own good and cant explain things simply. So yeah, thats that! No worries though, time will tell as always!

This week we had zone conference and it was fun, they over air condition it cuz all the elders have to wear their jackets so I was freezing. This was a great week! I sent you my presidents letter so hopefully you enjoy that. We have zone activity playing soccer at the park today- should be fun!

Heres some random photossss!!!!! We randomly found a sidewalk that just ended and for some reason we thought it was pretty funny, then we did our version of the first vision, then I decided to dye a bunch of stuff pink haha... yikes.

Presidents Letter:
President Pike,
This was a great week! This highlight of the week was yesterday when checking formers we ended up finding an awesome new family, the wife is a less active and the husband is not a member, we taught them 1st lesson right there as they said they wouldnt be free until the following weekend to take tour. The spirit was strong and she bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and in her closing prayer she said, "se que es el tiempo a cercarnos a ti Padre." It was powerful and the husband was nodding throughout the whole lesson- just awesome! We have done a lottttt of knocking this week and have some promising potentials that we are excited about for this coming week. Also we reviewed the baptismal questions with Juanita and she is very excited to be baptized this coming Sunday! Hooray! Also yesterday I was able to teach Relief society and the topic was 'la obra misonal'... President it went so well! We talked about how they as members can be missionaries and at the end I handed out little colored papers where everyone wrote their name and the name of someone they are currently working with or should start to work with, we got about 20 names and we are excited to follow up with those members to help them share the gospel!
In my studies I have been focusing on chapter 9 and reading the first lesson from chapter three. I am trying to be more creative as we are doing a lot of knocking so we want to keep it fresh and exciting by keeping it a little more varied. I was very grateful for my notes from Zone conference and the different things that I thought of that we can apply.
My companion is doing great. Sister Cruz is very well adjusted and slowly talking more. Although her Spanish speaking is a struggle she is pretty ahead of the game with her comprehension. She is always asking how she can help more, what else she can do, I like the help and appreciate her desire to serve.
Thanks for everything! Hermana Christian.

Week 50

Blog for 5-9-11haha

How are you!? Long time no talk! Hope you like the random fotossss. Sooo not too much has happened since 20 hours ago haha. It was so nice to be able to talk to you guys, got a little teary eyed but luckily I was able to hold myself together! Glad that you are all doing so awesome, thats so cool that I got to say hi to gran and grandad! Hope you guys have a great few weeks with them around!
I'll let you know how the doctors goes today- lupus or no lupus... dun dun dunnn. Either way its whatevers. I gotta go. love you guys.

Testimony:
The church is true, the book is blue. The end.
just kidding, here it is for real...
I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father that is so aware of each of his children. I am grateful that our Savior Jesus Christ atoned for our sins so that we can repent to be worthy to go back to our Father's presence. Through obedience and faith we are able to better ourselves and become more and more like the Savior and live happier lives. Service and a consecrated life are what bring true happiness, and as we overcome distractions we can feel that much closer to our Father in heaven. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith after so many years of spiritual darkness. The Book of Mormon is the convincing evidence of that restoration. I know that it is another testament of Jesus Christ, and have seen how it has increased my faith and touched the lives of the many different people I have been privileged to meet. The church is true and God's plan is perfect and we are so privileged to be members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints.

Week 49

So this week has been LOCOOOO. So much going on. So Sunday till Tuesday I spent with Hermana Kunz who I now love and respect so much, seriously an angel. We had a good time together in her area, Azusa. Tuesday my companion arrived in the afternoon, and she is.........Hermana Cruz. She is from Salt Lake City, UT and is Latina but doesn't really speak Spanish. She has like a cool retro style, is super laid back and sooo nice and I love her!!!!!!!! Wednesday we spent the whole day in new missionary orientation which was cool because we got subway for lunch.. haha ok thats not the only reason, it was cool because President expressed how much trust he had in the trainers and it made me feel good. Friday we got to go to the LA mission and we heard from Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Clayton- it was really cool, it was held in this really cool old church that had stained glass windows- it was one of our first church buildings apparently. That night we went to the ward sports night where we played some volleyball. Saturday was Mormon helping hands and we cleaned up a park- it didnt really seem to look too much different afterwards to me, but everyone else said it looked "sooo much better" haha, I raked like a mad woman and my abs and back are suffering because of it. The elders were like going around picking up weeds and I was attacking the ground with the rake haha, wussies. Yesterday we had zero investigators to church and I am excited to finddddd like crazy this week to have new investigators. Melanies house burnt down this week so we cant teach her till they find a house back in our area- vandalism apparently, realllly tragic, they lost literally everything, good thing for insurance! The elders are joking that we are a bad omen as the people we teach get their stuff stolen and their houses burnt down, and it became even more real when yesterday Juanita mentioned that she might get deported. I am feeling awesome about this new transfer, so happy with my new comp and happy to really go to work this last transfer here in Covina (but you never know, the members are saying that maybe I will just end up serving here!?).!!


Presidents Letter:
President Pike,
This week was awesome! I am so very happy about this transfer and the chance I have to be with Hermana Cruz! We spent the majority of the time this week outside of our area with new missionary things, L. Tom Perry devotional, and our stake's Mormon helping hands activity. I have never had a week fly by so quickly, it was so awesome and I am exhausted! haha, I love it. We were not able to teach many lessons and we decided to drop various people that we were holding onto that werent progressing, therefore this week's focus, more than ever, will be on finding new investigators. This past week we were able to teach some really awesome less active and recent convert lessons, Karla has committed to paying her tithing and is really happy and solid in her decision to come back to church. We were assigned a specific less active family (Rios) that we are going to begin to teach that were a referral from the ward and they seem ready to come back. That is very exciting as they have little kids that are almost baptism age. This week we had two awesome lessons with our progressing investigator Juanita who is really getting the vision of the Book of Mormon. How cool was it that we were able to have that visit from Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Clayton- it was so great, if we could make that a more regular thing that would be awesome! In my studies I have really been focusing on finding and how to find new investigators. In church this Sunday our stake made an announcement that the members are to let us in their homes to discuss their progress in sharing the gospel, when they made an announcement a light went off in my head that said, "we need to take advantage of this" so I made a list of all the active members that I thought would be good to visit and we have made a goal to really visit members and focus more efforts that way. I will tell you how it goes. We havent had a ward mission leader for about 3 months now and that is really starting to get a little old. Its not that we were working so well with one prior, but we deff feel an element of disconnectedness from the ward. Hopefully they call someone soon.
Companion's Progress:
Sister Cruz is the best! She is very attentive in lessons and really trying to share her feelings, the language barrier gets in the way, but she is really a fantastic missionary and I was so impressed with her attention to names and stories regarding all the different people in our area. She is a hard worker and is very excited about being a missionary. She understands the language relatively well and we are going to work hard to get her talking more in lessons and taking the lead more in contacting and feeling more confident in general regarding Spanish.
Thanks for everything

Week 48

Hellllllllllllllllllllo. Happy Easter ! So transfer calls came anddddddddddd............. I am here in Covina for transfer #9 and I am training, yay! I was 99% sure that was going to happen but its nice now that its solid. So its been crazy and this week is going to be even more loca. So today I am with Sister Kunz as she is also training and her comp also left. We are having a good time. Last week I had another intercambio with Sister Kimball and we had a blast, like the day just FLEW by and we figured out that we are basically the same person, I reallllly like her. Saw all the sisters at the office this morning because its a good central meeting point- and thats where I went to drop off Sister Clawson, I am excited for her, she has mixed feelings about going home but less that she will miss the mission and more because she is nervous about what happens next- which is an understandable fear. Pretty sure I will be so excited to see my loved ones that I will have no hesitations! haha, who knows though. So pday with Kunz today and am with her till tomorrow at 2:30 when I get my new comp then Wednesday from 9-3 is new missionary orientation then Friday we get to leave the mission to meet with LA mission to see L. Tom Perry speak, ITS GUNNA BE AWESOME. I am really excited about that, one because it will be a spiritual kick in the pants (or skirt given my current circumstances) and two because it will be cool to leave the mission! Then Saturday we are doing Mormon helping hands which should be really fun- nothing like cleaning up ppl's trash in a park with bright yellow vests on haha. I am really excited to train- I thought I would be nervous but Im really not. I deff need to step up my game a little but Ive got it under control. We are gunna do workkkkk and baptize- love it.

Claudia got robbed that same week she paid tithing and since then has really gone cold. It is very sad as she paid her tithing and that same week she got everything stolen from her car- gps, ipod, $300, wallet etc... not really what I had in mind when I promised that she would protected and blessed... urrr hah, but life happens, satan really works against people when they are doing good. Sad about that. Juanita just cant get to church gaaaaaaaaaaa. Feeling ready for new investigators. Melanie is my fav investigator, she is smart, 16 and her questions are the best. She is pretty outraged that women cant have the priesthood haha but she is really cool. Little worried that she spends more time picking out her outfits for church than she does reading her book of mormon haha, but its all good. We need new investigators- my trainee is about to find out what it means to knock doors and talk to everyone hahaha.

Today I am going to get my blood taken to run it again for lupus to see if the results vary... Ill keep you posted.

Love and miss you guys. HUGS AND KISSES. give referals to the missionaries- if you cant think of anyone then you need to go make friends!!!!! Love Laura.

Week 47

Hellllloooo,
Just got back from the temple... I just love it there. It was great. The Santa Monica temple is really cool because you are changing rooms the whole time- soooo pretty, the temple is my favorite placeee in the world!!!!!

This week we spent a bunch of time trying to fix our brakes on our car. Ended up at the office and Elder Hansen (senior missionary) and I ended up taking off the front two tires, checking the brake pads and the ridges in the rotors- he taught me how to check/change the air filter... all sorts of fun things haha, I felt hardcore naturally. Didnt end up finding the solution- went to pep boys, said we had wharped rotors- which was causing the crazy squeaky grinding noise... got the car back and 2 days later it was making a different mysterious noise- took it back to pep boys, they called us 2 hours later said they drove it and didnt hear anything- picked it up- still making crazy noises baaaaaa haha. Ive always wanted a car but now I am starting to think they are more hassle than I realized. Maybe Ill hold off on that purchase and buy a sweet bicycle.

This weekend is going to pass by so fast- today is pday, tomorrow we have intercambios- sister kimball is coming here with me to covina again- should be fun she is a good hardworking missionary. Saturday is transfer calls- dun dun dunnnnnn the moment of truth! Im nervous even though Im pretty sure I know what will happen. Ill be very excited to train if president doesnt change his mind at the last minute. Who knows!? Sunday Ill be with other sisters from 5-9 cuz my comp has her farewell thing in Arcadia that they do for all the departing missionaries then Monday will depend on whether or not I train as to what happens. If I do then the trainees get here on Tuesday so I would spend the day with other sisters and if I dont then it will be off to wherever I get called. Wow- Im ready for a change haha. Sister Clawson and I are getting along really well.

Week 46

Just sent some random photos- realized most of them were of me by myself haha, I promise I have friends, I suppose I am just super vain and dont like to share the spotlight! haha. Life here is locaaaa, everything is going good. Claudia Cardona paid her tithing this week, she got a check she wasnt expecting and we had just taught tithing and she thought it would be a good way to show her gratitude to God for the unexpected surprise- she is very very cool. Their family are our only progressing investigators right now and it is such a task to get through a lesson with them. Juanita is flaking, superrr not cool, she has canceled multiple appointments so we dont know whats going on with her despite our efforts to see her and get her back on track. We gave a tour to this old guy this week, we thought he was golden because he went to check out the temple but was so mad when they didnt let him go in so he wanted to meet with missionaries to find out how he could enter... found out he is a photographer and wanted to see inside to take pics.. not that he was actually interested in the religion. This week we were able to have a really fun FHE with Karla and her kids and her brother's kids and it was super fun, its so awesome that Karla is being so strong wanting to come back to church and she is setting a good example for her brother who, although he hasnt come to church yet, is slowly coming around.
I am playing soccer in the mornings, haha ok not really playing soccer since really its just me running up and down the parking lot with a soccer ball but I have changed my eating habits and exercising hardcore, you should see the fridge- everything is green! Im on a serious health obsession right now and I am really liking it- hopefully it sticks! I will weigh 115 by the time I come home, thats the goal. This morning was especially awesome cuz 2 Mexican guys came and juggled the ball with me and it made me feel super legit and Latina for those 5 minutes haha. My Spanish is coming along I suppose, my vocab has expanded significantly so its really cool. The members always say to the missionaries if they want to speak Spanish better they need to eat more spicy food... haha just so you know Sam- that is a myth!!!! I am so excited for you as you go to the temple this week. Pray before you go. How are you feeling as your mission date slowly gets closer? Youll be awesome, I have no doubts.
Everything here is good, I am feeling a lot more positive this week, there will always be moments of frustration in life but its how you deal with it that counts- I guess venting to you guys about my companion issues is not really the best way to live according to that little nugget of wisdom, but hey, we are only human haha. Sister Clawson and I had a good week, I gave myself an attitude check and all is now is ship shape. President wrote me an email today that was really nice, telling me to help my companion finish strong etc. It was cool, he knows what all his missionaries are like I have noticed.
This morning a member took us to a really awesome bakery called Portos Bakery... oh my goodness, it was the bomb, it was in Glendale and I am stuffffffed and it was delicious, Ill take you guys one day.

p.s. next week p-day is Wednesday because that day we are going to the temple- hoooooray! So dont expect an email on Monday! hugs and kisses

Week 45

This week was fabulous. We moved, that was a big event so we lost a lot of time but it is sooooo nice to be in our new apartment, I am still getting used to it. I loveeee it, they did everything new and its so nice not to live with a member. Did I mention that we are Cesar and Elia's neighbors (former investigators), even though we are no longer teaching them- they are my very favorite people and last night they called us at 9 and said to stop by their door before ending the day because they had bought us burgers and fries haha, they love us and we love them. Elia took us to swap meet today, which was fun but I controlled myself and didnt buy anything- yay! So the new apartment is awesome, I was gunna email pix but I forgot to charge my camera and it is dead- next week!

Another highlight of this week- GENERAL CONFERENCE! Oh my goodness I just loved it!!!! So many awesome talks, I loved them talking about the importance of women and wives haha of course, I also loved the emphasis on the fact that our trials are for our good and the importance of the Atonement. I loved the tree analogy where the gardener chops the tree because I feel like that accurately summarizes my mission- I am the tree and Heavenly Father is just chopping me down haha- but its for my good so Im happy about it. We had 5 investigators come to conference- lower than our goal but they all lovedddd it.

Juanitas boss didnt give her Sundays off but said that every second or third Sunday she could leave early so not really sure what we are going to do about that since she is super ready to get baptized and just has that standing in her way. The Cardonas are progressing slowly but surely. We need new investigators!!!

Let me quickly express my love and gratitude for my wonderful family, I know that these things are not coincidence and that Heavenly Father put us 6 together for a reason (sometimes that reason may seem harder to see than others haha). I have been so blessed for being a part of the Christian family, I would not trade it for anything. I love this gospel, I am so happy to know that we can be together forever, the church is so true, the spirit witnesses that to me on a daily basis, it is just one of the reasons I am so glad that I decided to serve a mission. Dont forget the basics- daily prayer and scripture study are so emphasized because they are that important- what a difference it makes- I would know.

Week 44

Hey hey hey!!!
Mom thanks for forwarding Ethan and Lukes emails- they look like they are doing really well which is so awesome. The mission helps you grow up soooo Im happy for anyone that makes the right decision to get their butt on a mission. Its changed me so much, that is for sure, Im still cool tho, I think haha.
Eveything here is going good, today I have a doctors appointment, I am going to be asking for stronger medicine- the Plaquinil (sp?) is good and has helped but I am still pretty sore a lot of the time so I hope that it will all work out well. This past week we were able to teach some really awesome lessons, Hermano Luevano and I had a serious heart to heart last night and I was just asking him the most direct inspired questions and at the end I was like, "Hermano you need to come back to church" and he was like, "I know" and he just sat there thinking, it was cool, he has been through the temple and everything but the church burnt him out with callings etc.. I just dont know how you can receive so much spiritual truth and turn away from it, all the less actives I see know that their lives would be better with the gospel but the obstacles (and dont get me wrong- a lot of them have very big obstacles) keep them from making the changes that would make their quality of life so much better. It is frustrating to know what is best for someone and them not do it... freaking agency! haha.
Juanita was supposed to come to get baptized this coming Sunday but she didnt come to church.. so tragic. Yesterday we had Marcos Castillo's baptism which was a great success! He is Andrea's son (she was my first baptism back last year). The work is coming along, the Cardona family are progressing well but slowly because they talk soo stinkin much. We will be talking abut faith then Alfredo pulls up a random funny youtube video in his ipod touch...haha its funny but annoying, but they are awesome and will get baptized pronto.
Sorry I dont have more time, we need to head to Glendale to the doctors then we are going to that cool mall 'Americana' and meeting up with Hermana Herrera and Hermana Ence there... Should be fun, love you guys!!!! XOXOXOXO. Laura.

Week 43

Life here is good, same ol same ol in Covina haha. So this is transfer #8 here and President told me I would be here next transfer to train so that is pretty loco. We are moving apartments next week because the lady we share the apartment with needs to downsize so we took matters into our own hands and are moving into a cute little studio in the hub of where we spend most of our time in our area so we are super stoked. It was a dumpppp but they are renovating it and we will be moving in sometime between the 25th and the 30th- so thats prettttty exciting! My first move! The work is coming along great, Juanita was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Sunday but she didnt get to come to church yesterday because of work so we will need to push it back (they need to come at least 3 times before they can be baptized- and obviously be taught all the lessons) so we are busy with her, she is solid and will deff be getting baptized here real quick. The Cardona family are still solid but not progressing quickly with the lessons as they are TALKERS and sooo hard to control... one minute we are talking about faith and the next he is showing us random ghost videos of of youtube on his ipod touch haha, deff need to figure out how to control the lessons a little more. We are working a lot with Karla, the less active and she is sooo awesome and her brother is a less active who served a mission and everything (he has a super crazy story) and he wants to come back to church and I just LOVE them so much. It is amazing to have been left here so long, these people are such a part of my life, I feel like a piece of my heart will always be here in Covina. I am veryyyyyy excited to train, Im gunna work her into the ground haha.
We got some insider info from up the chain that Elder Tom Perry will be visiting here in the end of April and that we will be joining the West LA mission to have a huge conference- that is gunna be sooooo legit. And conference coming up- wow its like Christmas! Minus the sweet phone call home haha. Mothers Day will be here before you know it though so its all good. Then Ill be home- weird how time passes. Some days are slowww and others go by so quickly but now looking back so far- its gone by fast.

Anyways, it is gross and rainy here. We have a zone activity that we are about to head off to- volleyball yay! Should be a good week.

Week 42

On Monday we had a really good time at the Huntington library with the Luenanos - it was full of history and the gardens were really pretty. There was a famous painting in there called "The Blue Boy" and I remembered having read about it in school so I felt so smart to actually recognize a painting haha. the weird things that bring me joy! Monday night we had a fun family home evening. Anyway the the week was busy but not super progressive but it was good. Friday night we had a ward movie night where we watched the Joseph Smith DVD and it turned out pretty good - you know I love popcorn so I was happy to sit and eat and watch a movie - deff a luxury. Saturday was transfer calls and we were with the elders eating pizza awaiting the calls - and sister clawson and I are together again for another transfer here in covina haha and I was informed by the president that next transfer I will be left in the area to train - sooo basically my mission will be Covina. So that will be 9 transfers here - wow! I love it. We are going to be moving into a cool new apartment next week so that will be my first move in the mission! haha crazy! Sunday 2 really cool investigators came to church for the 1st time. Juanita is our most golden investigator right now - she is sooo cool and she loved church. Bishop was shocked to find out that I didnt get transferred haha.

Sorry the letter is short - rather uneventful week but Im feeling good and am happy to stay in Covina.

Week 41

Tuesday we did a surprise goodbye party for our ex ward mission leader Hermano Palasuelos where we ended up eating lots of yummy food and playing an intense game of Signs – we are addicted. Thursday we had a tour with a lady named Juanita and she asked if she could be baptized before we even invited her – she is super golden – she is the mom of one of the youth who is a member, she said his good example has really touched her – a good example goes a long way! Friday we had an awesome lesson with recent convert Alexi, she amazes me – just so solid, this Sunday her formerly less active husband bore his testimony and got a calling so my heart was just filled with happiness to see such progress in both of them. Wow. Later that night we had a movie night with Blanca and the girls. We brought so much junk food – ice cream, cookies, brownies and popcorn and we watched the new Joseph Smith movie with them – they didn't know we were so persecuted back then and the girls kept saying "What the heck, what was their problem, just let them be Mormons" and "oh my gosh, now why are they taking Joseph Smith to Jail!!??" haha I love it.
On Friday we also got our key stuck in the car and after a 10 minute battle we called the elders to come help and Elder Weenig on his first try got it out and they went on to tell us "its because we're men" (While flexing their muscles of course) haha - pretty classic, I feel like we brought dishonor upon our gender! Haha . Saturday night we had a big dinner at the Remirezs house and Elder Kidd came with his family! It was weird to see him not in missionary clothes – I told him his facial hair looked stupid! Haha he and I were good friends so that was fun to see him. Sunday I taught the class in Relief Society, it was on the Restoration and the spirit was really strong and I really liked teaching it. I stood up and said " since I've been here so long they've assigned me to teach RS" haha.. I love this ward/area – transfers are quickly approaching, transfer calls are Saturday night – if I stay next transfer that means I'll be here for 2 more transfers cause Clawson goes home at the end of next transfers – so it’s a mystery. I'll be happy with literally whatever happens. I'm realizing President doesn’t have a lot of options due to drivers, seniors– so maybe he'll leave all of us. Regardless we need to move, Gloria, the lady we live with, needs to move so we are going to get relocated so we are on the hunt for a new place to live – kind of exciting, I'll keep you posted. The Cardona family were our only investigators to church – they missed sacrament though so I was all depressed that no one came. The work is coming along great, I'm working hard and can see the blessings and the happiness it is bringing to my life. Today we are going with the Luevanos to a place called "Huntington Library" (maybe google it) which is supposed to be really cool – big old mansion with a bunch of history and really cool gardens. It opens at 12 – so we are planning on passing all of pday there. We get to go to the temple next transfers so I am excited for that. Overall life is great and I am loving being a missionary.

Week 40

Pday came very quickly this week, it was packed and very successful so it was awesomeee! On Monday we had a fun P-day with the zone activity where we played ultimate dodge ball again – I was a little bit more aggressive this time around so it was more fun because I actually was able to get 2 people out! Haha, that night we had a FHE with all the missionaries in our district with RS Presidents family which was so much fun because we played signs and they all loved it, I need to teach you guys to play when we all re-united, I learnt it at school.

This week we started teaching a new wonderful family, the Cardonas – they are Golden! We need to fix a few small thing like drinking beer and the big maria statue in the entrance of their hallway, but other than that we are really excited to be teaching them. This week we were able to give 3 investigators tours and have 6 new investigators, Heavenly Father is answering some very earnest prayers and blessing us with new people and success. Its been amazing we had 7 investigators to church on Sunday – its been great.

Friday I felt terrible and pretty much slept the whole day, I have had a super nasty sore throat and my voice has been very masculine this week because of it. Friday night though of course I had enough strength to go to the ward sports activity, which was a really fun activity expect the ward canceled it without telling the missionaries so it was just us and a bunch of investigators and no members... haha still fun but that wasn’t really the point, but oh well. Saturday we had a mini missionary with us and she was really cool, hermana lopex (18 years old) and she is actually going to BYU-I in the winter. On Sunday I taught the lesson in gospel principles class and it was a great success apparently. I was pretty nervous because I was so sick and while I was giving the lesson I felt really hot and dizzy, after the class we actually went straight home because I needed to lie down. I am feeling a lot better today – I slept pretty much all afternoon also but today I am feeling like the worst is deff over – just the flu apparently a lot of missionaries are suffering from right now. Also our ward mission leader got released because he is moving, funny to say that I will have been in this area long enough to be on my 4th ward mission leader haha. Maybe I am scaring them away!!?? haha.
Today so far has been a really fun pday, we went and met up with the elders for panda express for lunch and we were all really depressed because they didn't renew our money on our blue cards (they either do it the last or first day of the month. We all have a good time together, I am sad that Elder Escoto is going home, he is from El Salvador but he speaks perfect English even though he has never lived in the states - its really impressive. After panda we went to swap meet with Alejandra where I brought a shirt for $5 that had a Nordstorms tag on it for $36....love a good bargain! Then tonight is the goodbye party for Elder Escoto (good bye party/FHE) at the Ramirez's house so that will be cool.

Week 39

This week has literally flown by! Monday we went to swap meet where my companion was really excited about how cheap everything was and bought a bunch of clothes. When I have money Im gunna come back and go on a serious shopping spree! After that we met up with the elders in our district (whom I love to death - we all get along so well and its been so much fun to be able to have a fun district for like the first time ever!) We went and ate and it was fun to get to know them better. After that we went to Alejandra’s house where she did acrylic nails on me - she randomly decided she wanted to learn so I was victim #2, haha. They turned out ok but I ended up ripping them off later in the week because I hate having nails - they get in the way of everything. On Tuesday my companion did the most ridiculous thing I have ever witnessed in my life. I was filling up the car with gas as she was checking the air pressure in the tires and she was checking the back left tire as the gas was filling and for some reason she decided she wanted to go under the gas pump while the car was being filled....needless to say - she did not fit and pulled the gas pump out as she went and it poured gas all over her. Hahahahaha. I was just watching this whole thing thinking, "what a ridiculous idea". So I was laughing about this pretty much the whole day.
Thursday was district meeting then afterwards we stayed at the church to decorate for our plan of salvation activity we had that night. It took us 3 hours and we got it looking pretty good and it turned out to be a great success. Last time we did the activity only 4 people came so they decided to re-do it and we put a lot more effort into it and 42 people came and we got 22 referrals. It was a great success and lots of fun so we were really happy with that. Saturday we had a tour with this lady named Guillerma who seemed normal when we contacted her but we soon found out that she indeed had a few screws missing. She talked the whole time abut the most random stuff then at the end of the terrible lesson she offered the prayer and said one relatively normal thing and then we all stood up but she stayed on her knees and started praying to Maria (the virgin Mary) and we were just looking at her like, "Oh dear: haha, maybe you had to be there it was pretty classic. Everyone has an obsession with the virgin Mary and guadalupe...its hard because it is very engrained in them from their Mexican culture. That night we had a lesson with Alexi and Oscar and they are so solid, even if I had no other success on my mission I would be happy to know that I played a role in them being brought to the gospel. That night I was saying how I am going to be here when they get sealed, they are just so awesome and I don’t know if I already told you but she bore her testimony in sacrament and it was so cool and I was just bauling, thats my new cool habit - cry - all the time - but happy tears so don’t worry!! Sister Clawson and I are getting on really well. I am happy and things are coming along, we are struggling to find new investigators but we just need to work harder I guess :)
Today should be a fun day, we have a zone activity at 2 and we will be playing ultimate dodgeball again - I happen to be super terrible at it but it should still be fun. Alright well I better go, the p-day adventures must begin (don’t be fooled, nothing too cool is happening today, haha

Week 38

I am so happy to report that things are going so much better – which I am very pleased about.  Sister Clawson and I get along really well – she has a good heart and a nice person. The work is going well, my assignment from president was to "rebuild the area".... our poor ward has had so much missionary drama these past few transfers.  Elder Franisco got sent home this past week, he only had 2 months left. He was one of my best friends.  So there are two sets of elders on our district and both are white-washing, so I am the only person that was in this area before this transfer.  Its cool because I kind of feel like I know everything so probably I will get transferred next transfer to humble me, haha. Sister Clawsons prediction is that we will stay together another transfer then I will train here in Covina here in April (that’s when 3 Spanish sisters arrive – I am still the last Spanish sister to enter the mission – crazy).  Time will tell.
Zone conference way good by the way, I wore a cardigan from Sister Clawson's closet haha, it was a success.  That is cool that Luke is already in Africa, I mean, Elder Fagg!  I am sure it really is so hot there, Im happy for the moderate climate here in cali!  Sam will appreciate it too!
This weekend we had the valentine's day ward activity which was fun, Edgar and Edgar came (haha junior and senior!) who are still our only investigators but we are working hard to find more people to teach.  This week we did quite a bit of knocking and we found some promising potentials and multiple less active families and made return appointments .  Karla is the coolest less active that we are teaching, she is 23 with 2 kids and she has such a desire to fix her life and have her kids grow up in the gospel.  Every time we teach her it is such a spiritual boost because she just soaks it all up.  I really love this gospel, I am grateful for the experiences I have had thus far in my mission but if nothing else – I am so grateful that I am learning so much about the gospel and myself and that my testimony has had the change to grow so much in such a short period of time.  Everyone should serve a mission, it’s the worst and best of times haha., but in the end its all character building. I love the people we meet.  Im so glad to here in Covina still – this area is the best, I love it.  I am excited for the next chapter in my mission as I feel like it has become a lot more enjoyable and I can now lose myself in the work a lot more, whereas before I was more in a state of survival.... hah, not cool. 
So we have some fun events lined up for today – we are going to a swap meet (the open air ghetto Latino mall haha) because my companion has never been so Hermana Seanee is taking us, then we are eating with our district at king taco.

Week 37

Here it is t-shirt weather, its perfect missionary weather in California because it is so moderate.
As far as life here, all is AWESOWE! My life got so much easier over night.  Sister Clawson is a breath of fresh air.  I am so happy to be with her and here in Covina for my 7th transfer!  They are all so used to me here in the ward, sometimes I feel like I have like permanently moved here! Haha.  I figured out that news travels fast in the mission, everyone knew about our emergency transfer like the next day – really weird how the gossip gets around!  I don’t care I just think its funny.  We are teaching Edgar and his son again, they are former investigators from way back when I first got here.  Last night I pretty much had a revelation that we need to drop everyone (except Edgar) and start from the ground up.  I am over our non progressing investigators and I feel confident that if we make more room for finding the Lord will put new people in our path.  Overall I really love finding people because people really open to you and tell you their life story and its so interesting to me how we are all so different yet all here together in this world.  So cool.  I have been reflecting a lot on how glad I am to be here in this mission – I really know that this is where I am supposed to be.  After everything I just feel grateful for the lessons learned  and the testimony building experiences that I've had since arriving at the MTC.  That’s why I am so happy that Sam will be joining the missionary work soon!  Also this week was Stephanie and Ryans wedding which we had helped out with – it was a great success and everything turned out sooo pretty.  Not sure who ended up winning the super bowl yesterday – knocking was no fun though because everyone was like, "we are watching the game don’t bother us!" haha.  Yesterday we also knocked a house that had cauldron outside, like a ligeit caldron, we see all sorts of weird stuff, I love it.  This week we have zone conference on Thursday so I am excited about that.  Hmm.  What to wear!? Haha.  I have sooo many clothes that various people have handed down to me my wardrobe is staying pretty fresh!  Overall everything is going really well here.  Today we have a zone activity where we are playing dodge ball.  Oh and mom pot luck to missionaries turned out to be pizza and spaghetti haha, nothing too fancy that’s for sure!  We are gunna get pizza again today.  Oh funny story – this week I put pizza in the microwave still in the delivery box and it lit on fire and basically now none of our district trust me in the kitchen hahaha. Ive also had multiple laundry accidents. So even though I am trying to be more domestic – I am struggling. Maybe I am more cut out for the workforce haha, nahhh

Week 36

OK so heres the good stuff.... I am still in Covina!  Transfer #7 here!  My new companion is named Sister Clawson from Utah.  She is a breath of fresh air after the past few months.  Today she took me out for my birthday.
So I had my doctors appointment this week and he confirmed that I do indeed have rheumatoid arthritis so that was kind of tragic news.  He also said that he thinks we need to keep an eye out for symptoms of  lupus as it showed up in my blood but said not to worry because as of yet I am lacking a lot of the symptoms –so yeah.  So I am taking a drug that is helping and everything is good so no need to worry. 
We were fortunate enough to find a literally goldennnnn investigator and his son, Fernando and Danny and they are super cool. Danny came to church in a suit and everything (only down side is that he smelled like weed.... oh silly Californians), but they are awesome.  Fernando got baptized this Sunday so it was really awesome that he finalllly got baptized!  I gave a talk and it turned out to be a great success..... funny cuz the font was soooo little so we were worried that he was going to hit his head! But luckily he went down just fine – no collision! Sunday night Sister Clawson and I had an awesome lesson with Karla, a less active who is coming back to church and the spirit was so strong that we totally lost track of time and when we got in the car we realized it was 9.45 and that our district leader had called us like a zillion times for numbers (cuz we report them Sunday nights).  Karla is so awesome though and it was an emotional lesson for me because I've been so stressed and then to feel the spirit so strong – I was crying like a little girl.  I love missionary work and I am going to work super hard and be the best missionary ever for the time I have left  - which weirdly enough is only 8 months, wow. I am so happy because our new district is the bomb.  The new Elders are legit so we are gunna have a great transfer, we were all at email this morning and we were talking about how excited we were. 

Week 35

So in the year 2010 our mission had 557 baptisms! woot wooooot- I got to be a part of 12 of those so I feel pretty cool. This week I had exchanges with Sister Kimball- she was soooo cool and we had such a great time together. I am keeping my fingers crossed that somehow transfers leave me here in Covina with her- but of course because I say that- its not gunna happen. On Friday we had interviews with President which were good- he and Sister Pike came to our apartments to do it so it was kind of different.
We had a really cool tour with this guy name Fernando and he committed to baptism- super cool and the spirit was really strong. Edgar is a guy that I was teaching when I first got her with Hermana Kang and he randomly called this week and came to church on Sunday so we are hoping that we can pick him up again. On Sunday we had a meeting with the bishop where we went over the ward missionary plan- he is a really cool guy and that they were all making fun of me because this is the longest a missionary has ever stayed in this ward so they made me say the closing prayer since they said it was my last chance haha.
Today we have a zone activity where we are doing like a pot luck thing- we are doing it as a good bye party for one of the elders (our zone leader Elder Waller) who goes home next week.
I turn the big 22 this week- holllllla! I am super old huh!? We have transfer calls on my birthday so I am stoked about the whole day. We have also been invited to celebrate with like a zillion different people so I'm sure it'll be awesome. Sergios said hes gunna buy me an ice cream cake- hopefully he delivers haha.
Well everything is good here... I best be off to p-day adventures

Week 34

Hey guys, so I had some awesome reading to do while I was waiting for my companion at the doctors. Actually I didnt really get to read them all there because I started talking to this elderly who are originally from Scotland and we got talking about the Isle of Mann as the lady spent all of her summers there growing up- so it was cool, we discussed Douglas beach, the laxey wheel and the fairy bridge, a those are all the landmarks that came to my mind on the spot haha, small world.

I heard that the Ravens lost to the Steelers- funny story actually, I was picking up pizza and there was a guy with a Steelers jersey and I said, "did the Steelers or the Ravens win?"... turns out he was deaf so I pointed at his jersey and did a thumbs up then a thumbs down then shrugged my shoulders so he knew it was a question.. he responded by pointing at his jersey and doing a victory dance haha... tragic for the Ravens.

Whats been going on this week? First, I tried to make banana bread for the first time- turns out that splenda and sugar are not the same thing! haha who knew!? So that was an ultimate fail haha, better luck next time. The other night I got a call from one of my favorite people, Elder Quintero singing me happy birthday- he was embarrassed to find out that he was off by about 2 weeks haha. He was in my district a few transfers ago and now serving elsewhere so it made me feel special regardless. Yesterday we had Stake conference so that was fun, Covina is the stake building so it was cool to see so many people there. There was a baptism after and as always I am the designated music conductor haha, it makes me laugh that they still haven’t noticed that I do it totally wrong haha. Our mission is all involved with the new mormon.org campaign- the church has a goal for getting 100,000 profiles made by the end of this year so you guys should go on there and do that. We get to go in the mornings to spend time to play around and familiarize ourselves with the website so thats fun, We have cool new pass along cards too- are they doing that in Baltimore? I found out that the next Spanish sisters coming in will be when we have transfers in April (I am still the last to come)- there are 3 Spanish sisters coming then so that will be cool. I am not sure what President is gunna do with me when we have transfers since I am senior yet the youngest- maybe Ill go back to junior haha, that would be funny/tragic but I really don’t mind whatever happens. We have interviews in our apartments this week with President and Sister pike- in my presidents letter I wrote and said that I was excited for interviews but that it will be the first time this transfer Ill be making my bed haha, I am always putting stupid stuff in my emails just to keep him on edge haha. Not sure if he loves it- he is very serious haha, but it makes me laugh so its worth it. Yep thats about everything going on with me I guess. I love and miss you guys, hope you have a great week!!! hugs and kisses. Laura.

Week 33

Something I was thinking about this Sunday was how cool it is that I've been able to stay in his area for so long and see the converts I was able to teach progress. Lorenzo is in charge of all the attendance sheets for Sunday school and he is such a simple humble guy so its cute to see him organizing the sheets for each class and putting them on the clip boards- he takes his responsibility so seriously, he literally melts my heart. Ernesto is 2nd councilor in the young mens. Those 2 are getting the Melchizedek priesthood this coming Sunday as we are going to be having stake conference! Blanca and her girls are awesome and Alexi and Oscar are set on getting married in the temple and I promised them I will be there for that- road trip after the mission! Its been a real blessing for me to get to know these people and see them better themselves by accepting the gospel. I love it.

Oh scary story. Manuela Silva is a lady I love very much, shes got a few screws lose but shes so nice. She recently kicked her crazy abusive boyfriend out of her apartment, he threatened to kill her etc. Yesterday we were at her house and he came and was pounding on the door, we told her not to answer but he kept knocking so she finally opened the door and went and talked to him outside while we were looking at the window all worried. Everything worked out ok, she came back in the house after a yelling match then locked the door, it took a while but he finally left. It made me grateful for always having such a stable home life. The more she tells us about her life the more grateful I am that I was born into a loving home and given so many opportunities and blessings. A lot of people dont have that- its sad to hear some of the things these people go through but its deff a good learning experience.

Overall the mission is super duper tough haha, for me personally I feel like it has deff pushed me to my limits and some days I very seriously just want to steal the car, drive to the airport and fly home haha, but its great- it feels good to be where you know you are supposed to be.