Email: Live in LA - December 4, 2017

LONG EMAIL ALERT

Welcome everyone! I am here in LA and man, life down here is a little crazy. I hope I got everyone on the email list so, sorry if I missed anyone. And shout out to district 45b for making my email list twice as long. So I'll try my best keep everything organized.

Sunday: So, for those from the MTC, this is going to be a quick recap. Sunday started out as a normal day in the MTC, but it wasn't long until everyone realized something was a bit off, and it took me a little while to realize, but it was our last day as a full district and that mood really took over. Everyone kept their moods up for the most part, but it was definitely a somber day. And after the Sunday night movie, it hit me that this was my last time I would be seeing the sisters. Now most of you know I’m not a very emotional person on the outside, but I'm not going to lie, my eyes started to water a bit. It seemed as if the walk back to the dorm just wasn't the same.

Monday: So, to start things off Monday was a very sad day. It was my last day with my absolutely amazing MTC district. The first ones to go were Elder Amartey and Elder McIntosh. They left at 4 in the morning, but Elder Terry and I made sure we got up to say goodbye to them. We got the Elders from next door and we had one last group prayer in the hallway and sent the Elders on their way, and let me tell you they are going to be absolutely amazing missionaries out in DC. I wanted to go out and see the sisters, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to leave the dorm

Two hours later, Elder Terry and I woke up again and it hit me again, the district is splitting up. Elder Terry and I got ready for the day again and packed our things and soon enough it's nine o'clock and we had to get down to the travel office. Shout out to Elder Day for taking one of my bags down for me. So Elder Terry and our travel group had to wait for an hour for the bus to pick us up. Now I don't know what it was like for the rest of the district to get to the airport, but the bus took us to the Frontrunner station in Provo. So, there was a lot of stress making sure everyone was able to get their luggage on and off the trains as we were transferring. Everyone made it to the airport and got through baggage ok except Elder Terry, who was 8 pounds over the weight limit, so I had to help him repack. Jumping ahead we got picked up by President Haynie and he took all of us new missionaries to a buffet. I got to talk to some of the new sisters and they are pretty cool. We then went to the mission office which also has the visitor center and family history center as a part of it. We took a tour and then we were assigned new companions for the night. Bye, bye Elder Terry.

Tuesday: We woke up and went over to the mission home where President Haynie made us breakfast and we had orientation. Fun fact, our mission has two nurses that facilitate any medical needs (also we are apparently one the most well-resourced missions in the world) then they moved us to the church behind the temple where we had lunch and met our new companions. 

My trainer is Elder Styer. He is pretty cool, and he sings to himself a lot. Kind of like Elder McIntosh. Elder Styer also eats SUPER healthy so he makes some interesting things. So, for my first area I'm actually double covering. I'm working the Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach areas (which are both about a mile away from the beach). The thing is, this area has been having a rough time. The active members are really strong, and they give referrals fairly often, but nothing has been leading anywhere and it really bothers Elder Styer. The morale in the area is super low and I can feel it affecting me, it sucks. Also, we are a driving area.

Thursday: We have potential investigator named Cambri whom we were going to give a priesthood blessing to because she hasn’t been feeling well. She told her mom about it and she forbid us from coming over and her husband is pretty hard atheist. She also discovered some anti-Mormon literature, so she thinks some of the symbols on our temples praise Satan. But she will still like it if we pray for her, so we will. I also met Peter. He is an RM of a few years now that went inactive. He recently got into a motorcycle accident that could have been a lot worse than it was which kind of caused him to be reactivated. We plan on talking to him about his mission experiences and how they affected him. We also tried to meet with some recent converts, but as we were pulling up to their street, we noticed it was blocked off by police. Not only was it that street, but it was eight streets connected to it. We asked the police what was going on and if we could get through. Turns out they had a suspect on the loose, so we decided it was best to cancel

Friday: I met the Shukowskys which is the family that texted my family. (We are teaching the ten-year-old son who has high functioning autism). His name is Ryan and he is amazing. We had him say the opening prayer for the lesson and he asked Heavenly Father to please let me have a good mission. He has a hard time saying my name, so he just calls me Elder B. We taught him the plan of salvation and he REALLY wants to go to the celestial kingdom. They also have a dog named Brownie that is really, really active.

Saturday: So, for Saturday we decided to catch up on Light the World campaign, so we gave some brownies to some less active families, but nothing really came of it. Day two was based around water. So Elder Styer and I bought some water bottles and taped some pass along cards to them and went down to the Manhattan Beach pier and handed them out. I noticed a guy with a Coke and Cheetos walk by onto the pier and figured he didn't want it. A while later, I noticed to him walking back, so I figured I would give it a try. I asked him if he would like a water and he just studied my name tag for a bit and looked up at me and said "Mormon?" With a smile on my face I said, "Yes sir". He then proceeded to onslaught me with bunch of science questions saying how science proves God isn't real, that I'm wasting my time here, that my family won't be with me in the afterlife and that God's love is messed up, because he doesn't offer "perfect paradise", that me being born a Mormon was an accident and that science can set me free. It really caught me off guard, but I feel I held my ground well. He gave me a bunch of books to read and I don't even remember a single one. It really upset me and threw me off for the rest of the day. But I should expect it more. It is California after all. 

Sunday: Sunday was super nice, it was cool to meet some of the members of both wards. Eight hours of church was really weird though. So, in the Manhattan beach ward there is a sister named Jamie Frandsun who used to work for Tracy Maylett. It's weird, a lot of people in both wards have connections back to Mapleton. Also, one of the members packed Elder Styer and I some dinner and gave us a Christmas tree, which we are giving away. But we have plastic poster of a Christmas tree so if you want, feel free to send some decorations. 

Which leads up to today. P-day is super nice. I was able to hang out with the other elders around the zone and we went to Cafe Rio. As we were getting in line, we noticed a man in Army fatigues staring at us, but we didn't think much of it. As we got our food, and were getting ready to pay, the cashier told us that all of our meals had already been paid for. I don't know if that man was a member or not, but he has some big-time blessings coming his way.

I hope everything at home is going well. I pray for MTC district, friends and family every day.

I love you all! Take it easy and be sure to love each other!

Elder B

PS I hear sirens all the time out here.