<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 33

Last Monday we went up the Ortega mountains again!

It was so beautiful!!!

I found this... looks familiar.
And... I also found the Incredi-Bus again. It is so funny how much it looks like it!
We went to a member's house on the hills of the Ortega mountains.
Here are their timid dogs, Boady and Bella
Here is their beautiful front yard!
Here is the view of the valley from their place. They told me a little bit about their setup with their septic tank and how they put it in as well as their well. It was really cool!
Here is Elder Hoag and I at a burger place for his lunch with Elder and Sister Skouson (they are one of the senior missionary couples that help out with the "My plan" which is when they have a discussion every week to help you adjust back to life at home)
This is Lizzy. She is the nicest dog on planet Earth!
I have seen a lot of road kill but I never thought I would see or even think about the fact that caulking guns can be completely flattened too!
More Nature pictures.



I need to get myself one of these to put on my front yard when I get back!
The four of us went to Cane's. Elder Guymon (on the right eating chicken) is on exchanges so he is with Élder Roundy who came on the same plane as me at the same time so we know each other a little bit.
.......Typical evening at the apartment.

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 31

Hello family! This week has been very eventful and good. We have had a lot of good stuff in our area and have a few people on date for baptism!!!
A member was given these grapefruit and they are ginormous!!!
I have mentioned before that one of the biggest things that struck me about California was the fact that succulent plants are not used as houseplants but... They are literally BUSHES! This one is probably about 10 feet tall.
If you look close enough there are indeed people parachuting.
I got to have a lesson with one of our members in a small orchard in her back yard! It was really calm and peaceful and a LOT cooler than in the sun. It is made up of only about 5 trees in a row and then the neighbors fence.
Dad would know what this machine is. He is a member in our ward and we are teaching his wife. He is the one that splices fiberoptic cables together and this is the machine that does it! I told him about what we do in northern Utah.
(This is for Devin) we need to make a gumball machine gun! Not too hard though because gumballs are hard.
We found this on the side of the road! This is going to be my new chair once we wash it off.
There's one fire (that one was only burning for a few hours.)
Then there is this one a few days later. (This one is out too but this happened on the day we went on exchanges so I was up in the northern apartments where the fire was right next to. By the end of the day it too was put out.

On exchanges with Élder Taggart. (He was one of the Spanish Élders in my first zone) this is his last transfer so only 22 more days in the mission along with my companion Elder Hoag.
This is me at a Spanish members house for dinner. (Elder Roundy is the only other Elder that came with me to the mission field. He is the one in the background.)
The scenic section…






Elders are always shocked to see that I am capable of exceeding 4000 pictures in just under 7 months.



<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 29

We got transfer news and both me and Elder Hoag are staying together for his last transfer. This transfer, we decided to change our area plan a little bit. Instead of focusing specifically on new people that could be interested we are specifically focusing on the members! Particularly those who are inactive. A surprising amount of those who went inactive didn’t understand or didn’t agree with the doctrine which a lot of them misunderstood or got into false doctrine and false information on the internet. After we explained the truth some if them have opened up! We both prayed to know what our area needs and the members are definitely what we were prompted to do! God has blessed us with many referrals and has placed many people in in our path while we have been shifting focusing towards the members!
Do you remember the bountiful harvest stands from home? I found someone who did something similar but instead of just food they have multiple items to choose from! I got a new plant from there!
My new plant. Unfortunately Oliver isn't doing so well.
This is a service project we got to help with. This is a members house and they are about to have a wedding reception and needed some help to finish their back yard. The bishop and some other men in that ward came. It was a lot of fun!
This is what I built with the member while the Sisters did the mulch and the Elders did the gravel.
I think it is so funny that people actually use this to beautify their landscape. We had to work so hard to get those tube weeds out of our yard!
Exhibit B...
This is a really cool house we visited on the hills leading up to the Ortega mountains!
This is what one of the members used to do!!!
This is a really cool idea for a porch bench!
We've got crane here!!!!
This person has got the right idea!!!
I broke my first shoelace!... I was told that you go through 2 or 3 of them before the mission ends.
Us by the lake.
This is Kyle!
I almost forgot!!! Someone on the hills of the Ortega mountains has an actual Zebra!!! Really cool!
Brother Lindquist used to work for the church and this is what he was given. Last week he said that I need to get a hymn book so I can write notes and markings to help me in parts that I struggle with (for organ practice). Today he brought me this one. He wanted to find a good home for it or something like that so he gave it to me!

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 28

Zone pictures!

This is my district (District B)
This is the other district (District A)
This is the service after the Zone huddle. We are helping a Persian lady move out. All of the other jobs were taken and there was a lot of people inside so I took it upon myself to be the label boy.
WE GOT RAIN!!! It was actually a flash flood!
This is what President and Sister Hendrickson gave to me for my birthday! It was so nice of them!!!
Us driving in the rain.

The rain

This is the Spanish elders' and the sisters' apartment complex. It is a very nice complex
On exchanges with Elder Hill. He started out as a service missionary around the time I came here and now this is his first month as full time proselytizing in Spanish. He also worked on submarines as a nuclear engineer. He is such an awesome Elder.
Our friend Robert is now on baptismal date. He has such a strong testimony!
Ortega mountainside

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 27

This week was a great week. Not really a ton of exciting stuff happened but it was a really pleasant and enjoyable week!
This is a really cool aspen tree painting. I think she said the frame was made of actual aspen wood.
This was so fun! I won the first round and then everyone else won the rest.
Wolves?... Dogs?... I think they HAVE to be both! I don't think there is any possible way that there isn't at least part wolf in them.

My plant with the tiny succulent.
On Zone-wide exchanges with Élder Thayer. Ortega mountain men!
Beautiful Sunset!
All of us eating at Taco Bell. Me and Elder Thayer got different dinner.
My first time going into a hospital with the exception of being born. We were teaching someone in the hospital.
"Ladybug finding!!!" The kids of someone we are teaching were going Ladybug finding. I honestly do know why I didn't think to do this as a kid and almost long to do that as a kid. I think it is the cutest idea ever!
Checking the oil.

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 26

This week has truly been a week of miracles! We have found so many prepared brothers and sisters that want to come closer to Jesus Christ and learn about His church! Last week we found quite a few and this week our area books have just been flooded! A few days into this week Elder Hoag had the idea for us to begin praying for God to overwhelm our area books and since then we have gotten two awesome referrals, we have found a few people that are really interested and some of our previous friends have been progressing on the path back to our Father in Heaven! This week just as my first week in this transfer has been probably the best week of my mission so far! I am really enjoying the work and it brings so much joy for me to see and help those people I have come to love so much, choose to come unto God and receive the same blessings that come with living the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We also gave one of our friends a Priesthood blessing to help her through a trial she was going through. The incredible thing is that after the blessing, she wasn’t in pain any more!!! I knew and had faith that it would work however I didn’t know it was God’s will for her to be healed that quickly! So she was now able to come to church, unfortunately there was a mix up, mostly on our part, so she wasn’t able to get a ride to church but she has that desire and so she will come next week. There is so many miracles, little and big, that would love to write about this week but if I were to, this email would be VERY long. However, I would like to include in this letter the names of those we are teaching.

Mercedes: She is a bilingual Hispanic lady, about early 40’s, who Elder Hoag found last transfer. She is so prepared. They found her from a referral for her mom who wasn’t interested but Mercedes was!

Ed: He is such an awsome man. He wasn’t interested at first but then he opened up and I love him so much. He sounds a lot like Skipper on Planes (the movie). That gives you a pretty good idea on his personality. He is also really smart in engineering and computers. He has over 14 different patents one of them being one of the first prototypes of a durable hardrive. He often demonstrated by chucking it across the room to show his boss.

Patricia: She is an older widow who is going through some health problems. She doesn’t seem too interested but she loves having us over and having a small discussion. She has told us about her life and the trials she has been going through.

Robert and Roger: They are both referrals we received the day of and the day after we started praying for our area books to be overwhelmed. The both don’t have a church to go to and want to learn about our church and Jesus Christ. Both of them are what you call the perfect or golden referral!

Mike: He is someone who has been taught for a while. He has such a big heart. I love all of our friends so much!

This is all I will share for now.

I know God’s hand is in everything and that this church is Jesus Christ’s true and original church that He established here on the earth, nearly two thousand years ago, by the first prophet of this modern day, Joseph Smith. I know that God loves us and that Jesus Christ does too! I know this is true and this is my testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Hoag and I weekly planning.
Lady bug
Found this on the side of the road!
Pizza casserole! A member made this for us. It was soooo GOOD!
This might be the dog breed that Mr. Beck had that I thought was "as big as a lion" not quite as big as a lion but still really big!
This is probably my favorite! It was so random... I found the Incredible's bus from the Incredibles movie!!! I literally looked at it and thought "hey that's the Incredible's bus!"
This is at a lesson with our friend Mike! I love him so much!
Did you know that there is such things as canned watermelon juice?!!! I didn't until Brother Ta'afua gave us some when we visited them! (I forgot to shake it first)
What my companion has found on his mission! He has found pennys from before 1960! I might start collecting coins off of the road...
I found this plant again. These are everywhere!
I missed some pictures from previous weeks.
Meet my buff companion! The way he is holding it makes him look like he's got big muscles.
Meet Duckaroo!!!
On our hike
At Taco bell after the hike

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 25

At the service for Brother and Sister Rogers

Feather

<% if (post.photos && post.photos.length){ %>
<% post.photos.forEach(function(photo, i){ %> <% }) %>
<% } %>

Week 24

Not a ton of pictures this week but here a some of them.
I LOVE THE CLOUDS!!! Don't tell any Californian I said that. It is so true!
Flower... (about 4-5 inches)
...more clouds
PIGEON!!!... there are lot of then around here.
Very old grandfather clock
Palm tree sunset

This week got really hot towards the weekend. It got up to 105… it wasn’t as bad as I thought 105 would be or what I remember it feeling like however it was still really, really… reallyreallyreally… Hot!

We had a lot of lessons this week. Overall it was a good week.
The lake.
Mountains
CACTUS!!!
Da Moons!... and some trees and a road and a...
Pine tree sunset
5 am sunrise here
Saw this the other day
Me and Elder Hoag driving to the Taft's for dinner
Sunset and a Mater sign
We helped the Rogers with their patio project and this is the sifter Brother Rogers designed. REALLY INGENIOUS!!!
Pretty rose bush. I never realized how much I like roses until I smelled one on the mission and now I'm definitely going to plant some rose bushes when I finish my mission!
I FOUND AMARANTH!!! this is got to be the most unusual thing I have found on the mission from back home.
More flowers (5-6 inches wide)