Email: March 12, 2018 - Downtown LA, Car Crash, Temple Day, Dinner with an Actress
My goodness this week was insane, so much stuff happened. You’re going to want to read this email.
Monday: I had another pretty boring P-day. We don’t have a car, and everyone already had plans so I just chill with Elder Hepner all day while my companion goes down to Santa Monica with Elder Hepner's companion to go workout. It’s cool though because the guy they work out with is the same personal trainer that gets celebrities into shape for their movie roles. For example, Robert Downey Jr. is one of them.
We had dinner with the Thomas family (who are a young couple) at the USC Institute building. They were very kind. Brother Thomas actually helped produce YouTube videos for his work which is pretty cool. ("There's nothing good on YouTube" quick inside joke for Rebecca.)
While we were having dinner, we got on to the topic of gangs because we talked about what happened on 57th street. The Thomas's thought this was so funny, and they mentioned how there is this thing on google that shows all the gangs in LA and their territory. So, it was pretty cool to look at this map and see all of these different gangs. There are a lot of gangs in my area alone so that’s fun. Curious as to what gang 57th street is a part of, I looked it up. It's not what I expected. Let’s just say it’s the west side 54th C (rather than the B if you know what I mean) so I guess we are in good hands? We also found out our apartment complex is in the black pee stone gang territory.
Tuesday: I went on exchanges with Elder Harrison up into the Adams 1 area and since Elder Harrison doesn’t have driving privileges I got to drive. Reminder, Adams 1 has downtown LA in the area. We decided to visit some people and grab some food. So yeah, people be aware, downtown is literally a nightmare. My stress levels were at 1000%, no parking, lots of traffic, one-way streets that are 5 lanes wide & construction. I was ready to park the car, get out and just walk away. After that life changing drive, we decided to go to a ramen place for lunch to relieve our stress.
We were seated at window seats facing the street. We have some awesome food and as we are eating I look up and see a car go through an intersection going north right as another car drives by heading west. The car heading west clips the car going north. So, the lady in the car going west freaks out and slams on the gas and panic swerves into the oncoming lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming, but the corner of her car hits a tree and the car flips/rolls and lands back on its tires. Elder Harrison and I just sit there in awe with what just happened. 911 was already called so we couldn't do much. Eventually the fire department and police show up. They put the older lady on a spine board and in a c-collar and get her on the way to the hospital. Elder Harrison and I were witnesses on the police report, so we told what we saw.
After that fiasco our car was getting blocked by a van, so we couldn’t leave so we went into a boba place in the same plaza and waited it out. We finally got to leave, and we went and worked in the area some more. We ended up in downtown again to visit a member and I got to relive that nightmare. But at the end of the day we are safe, and the car is fine so we have nothing to complain about.
Wednesday: Today we had temple day and interviews as well. It’s always so good to enter the temple and to be able to feel the spirit so strongly and to get a break from the world. Cool thing that happened was we ran into some Elders from the Arcadia mission who took an investigator to the temple. The Elder was Matt Stone. I’m not sure how many of you know him, but I know some of you do. It was so cool to run into and to catch up a bit. We took a picture, but it's on his device. Another cool thing, Joshua Gardner (he went to Springville High School, for those who know him as well) is also in the LA mission with me.
We had dinner with Elder and Sister Kunz (senior missionaries who are also in the Adams ward) It was nice to eat with them and also catch up on how the work is going. The thing about Elder Kunz is that he is a very hard-working person and he doesn't like obstacles or people stopping him, so he will work right through it.
Thursday: We had district meeting and we had President Galorath (first counselor in the mission presidency) come and give us a training on working with members. It was super good, and we are applying it in all of the dinners we have with members. Afterwards, we came back and had a pretty slow day. We had dinner with the East family today. They are a super awesome family and their daughter Chloe East, who is the actress (I mentioned her in a previous email). She is 17, and was on Disney, but now she is on ABC's Kevin (Probably) Saves the World) This family is absolutely amazing. Their other son fell away and because of that they are doing everything they can to keep Chloe active. The parents are converts of about 20 years. Their son is on a mission in Japan. Their home is in a high-rise and it had an awesome view from the roof. So, I think I have done it all. I have eaten on the beach, a high-rise, the ghetto and now all I need to do is eat in a cave and I will be good.
Friday: We had weekly planning. Again, nothing interesting. I did get the entire rundown of the Naruto shows and I mean the ENTIRE rundown by Elder Patrick and Elder Harrison.
Saturday: Just the same old missionary work but it started raining again here in LA and I didn't have my umbrella with me. The thing is, I like walking in rain, but I just hate the part where everything gets wet. I got soaked pretty much and I was dripping from the face by the time we finally got to the church. At the end of the day we added it up and we walked at total of 6 miles in the rain.
Monday: I had another pretty boring P-day. We don’t have a car, and everyone already had plans so I just chill with Elder Hepner all day while my companion goes down to Santa Monica with Elder Hepner's companion to go workout. It’s cool though because the guy they work out with is the same personal trainer that gets celebrities into shape for their movie roles. For example, Robert Downey Jr. is one of them.
We had dinner with the Thomas family (who are a young couple) at the USC Institute building. They were very kind. Brother Thomas actually helped produce YouTube videos for his work which is pretty cool. ("There's nothing good on YouTube" quick inside joke for Rebecca.)
While we were having dinner, we got on to the topic of gangs because we talked about what happened on 57th street. The Thomas's thought this was so funny, and they mentioned how there is this thing on google that shows all the gangs in LA and their territory. So, it was pretty cool to look at this map and see all of these different gangs. There are a lot of gangs in my area alone so that’s fun. Curious as to what gang 57th street is a part of, I looked it up. It's not what I expected. Let’s just say it’s the west side 54th C (rather than the B if you know what I mean) so I guess we are in good hands? We also found out our apartment complex is in the black pee stone gang territory.
Tuesday: I went on exchanges with Elder Harrison up into the Adams 1 area and since Elder Harrison doesn’t have driving privileges I got to drive. Reminder, Adams 1 has downtown LA in the area. We decided to visit some people and grab some food. So yeah, people be aware, downtown is literally a nightmare. My stress levels were at 1000%, no parking, lots of traffic, one-way streets that are 5 lanes wide & construction. I was ready to park the car, get out and just walk away. After that life changing drive, we decided to go to a ramen place for lunch to relieve our stress.
We were seated at window seats facing the street. We have some awesome food and as we are eating I look up and see a car go through an intersection going north right as another car drives by heading west. The car heading west clips the car going north. So, the lady in the car going west freaks out and slams on the gas and panic swerves into the oncoming lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming, but the corner of her car hits a tree and the car flips/rolls and lands back on its tires. Elder Harrison and I just sit there in awe with what just happened. 911 was already called so we couldn't do much. Eventually the fire department and police show up. They put the older lady on a spine board and in a c-collar and get her on the way to the hospital. Elder Harrison and I were witnesses on the police report, so we told what we saw.
After that fiasco our car was getting blocked by a van, so we couldn’t leave so we went into a boba place in the same plaza and waited it out. We finally got to leave, and we went and worked in the area some more. We ended up in downtown again to visit a member and I got to relive that nightmare. But at the end of the day we are safe, and the car is fine so we have nothing to complain about.
Wednesday: Today we had temple day and interviews as well. It’s always so good to enter the temple and to be able to feel the spirit so strongly and to get a break from the world. Cool thing that happened was we ran into some Elders from the Arcadia mission who took an investigator to the temple. The Elder was Matt Stone. I’m not sure how many of you know him, but I know some of you do. It was so cool to run into and to catch up a bit. We took a picture, but it's on his device. Another cool thing, Joshua Gardner (he went to Springville High School, for those who know him as well) is also in the LA mission with me.
We had dinner with Elder and Sister Kunz (senior missionaries who are also in the Adams ward) It was nice to eat with them and also catch up on how the work is going. The thing about Elder Kunz is that he is a very hard-working person and he doesn't like obstacles or people stopping him, so he will work right through it.
Thursday: We had district meeting and we had President Galorath (first counselor in the mission presidency) come and give us a training on working with members. It was super good, and we are applying it in all of the dinners we have with members. Afterwards, we came back and had a pretty slow day. We had dinner with the East family today. They are a super awesome family and their daughter Chloe East, who is the actress (I mentioned her in a previous email). She is 17, and was on Disney, but now she is on ABC's Kevin (Probably) Saves the World) This family is absolutely amazing. Their other son fell away and because of that they are doing everything they can to keep Chloe active. The parents are converts of about 20 years. Their son is on a mission in Japan. Their home is in a high-rise and it had an awesome view from the roof. So, I think I have done it all. I have eaten on the beach, a high-rise, the ghetto and now all I need to do is eat in a cave and I will be good.
Friday: We had weekly planning. Again, nothing interesting. I did get the entire rundown of the Naruto shows and I mean the ENTIRE rundown by Elder Patrick and Elder Harrison.
Saturday: Just the same old missionary work but it started raining again here in LA and I didn't have my umbrella with me. The thing is, I like walking in rain, but I just hate the part where everything gets wet. I got soaked pretty much and I was dripping from the face by the time we finally got to the church. At the end of the day we added it up and we walked at total of 6 miles in the rain.
Sunday: Since it was daylight savings this Sunday, everyone
in our apartment woke up an hour late. We also had Ward Council that morning. So, we announced in Ward
Council that David's baptism is in a week and almost right away bishop starts bringing
up a bunch of concerns that he has 1 WEEK before the baptism. He has known that
this baptism has been scheduled for 3 or so weeks now and he is just now
bringing them up. So he brings up all these concerns that he has and the 6 of
us missionaries that are in there (Adams 1, 2 and the Kunz) offer him a whole
bunch of solutions but he doesn’t take any of them. So, we asked of he would
like the baptism pushed back and he says "No I’m not trying to stop this
baptism, I just want my concerns addressed" which are "what has he
been doing the past 4 years? Is he off parole? I think he is manipulating
us" and as he is saying all this we keep trying to explain to him that all
of this has been dealt with. David has met with the mission president and had 50-minute
interview with him and President Haynie has cleared him for baptism.
So yeah it was a pretty stressful Sunday.
Monday (today): We went to the alley which is a bunch of
clothing shops together in downtown LA and I bought some clothes for some of
the family (sorry Mom, Dad and Jessica. None of these clothes really fit your
style. I tried though. But there are a lot of weed shirts and I didn’t think
you would appreciate those either.) So, I got some gifts for Rebecca, Cory and
Deanna and I also got myself a Straight Out of Compton hoodie. I felt entitled
since I served in there a few times. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to mail
it this week, so I will ship it next week
Elder Kyle Barton
I totally forgot this absolutely amazing miracle that happened. Adam’s is weird, as they have sacrament meeting in the 3rd hour. As we were heading to 2nd hour we were introduced to a man named Calvin. For context. 2nd hour is also held in the chapel. Elders and High Priests are always combined because neither of the groups have enough people to have separate classes. So anyway, we are introduced to Calvin and we talk to him for a bit and set a return appointment for Wednesday. We were getting his phone number and the meeting began to start so we stepped into the foyer to talk some more.
Let me tell you Heavenly Father absolutely blessed us. As we were talking and about to head in Calvin said, "You know I've been studying you all for a while and I've already made my decision.... I want to be baptized...." Man, the biggest smile came across my face and I almost started jumping up and down. Only downside though is he actually lives in Lynwood and the Orizaba ward boundaries and not our area. Same team though.
I totally forgot this absolutely amazing miracle that happened. Adam’s is weird, as they have sacrament meeting in the 3rd hour. As we were heading to 2nd hour we were introduced to a man named Calvin. For context. 2nd hour is also held in the chapel. Elders and High Priests are always combined because neither of the groups have enough people to have separate classes. So anyway, we are introduced to Calvin and we talk to him for a bit and set a return appointment for Wednesday. We were getting his phone number and the meeting began to start so we stepped into the foyer to talk some more.
Let me tell you Heavenly Father absolutely blessed us. As we were talking and about to head in Calvin said, "You know I've been studying you all for a while and I've already made my decision.... I want to be baptized...." Man, the biggest smile came across my face and I almost started jumping up and down. Only downside though is he actually lives in Lynwood and the Orizaba ward boundaries and not our area. Same team though.
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| Pictures from the high-rise |
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Blurry picture of Elder Patrick and I
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The Adams elders with Brother East
(Elder Harrison is the one right next to me and Elder Taylor
is on the right of him)
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The Adams elders with Chloe East
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