5/25/2015 P-Day #29

5/25/2015

Hola familia!!! Como estas!? I have been doing really great!

Thanks Noel for the birthday package! And thanks Alison for the letter! Also, thanks so much Sister Ward for bringing a package down to Riverside! It was too bad that I didn't get to say hi! 

Well this week has gone really well! Even though it's been hard, I've been super happy!

To start off, Elder Justice goes back home to Virginia in one week! I think he's ready to go home. Which is good! But it's kind of sad, because he's starting to give up on the work. He's not really motivated anymore. So there have been times when he just doesn't want to go out and proselyte. At first, I was really angry/annoyed with him. But now I have decided that no matter what my companion does, I will be as obedient as I can! That's helped me a lot!

We started teaching our Bishop's son, Eric, this week. He's a member, but has had a really rocky past. His wife joined the church after they were married and is really active! He is going through rehab right now, but wants to be sealed to his family. So we are going through the lessons with him and it is an amazing experience! He is very humble, and even though he fell away from the church, he never lost his faith. He's even shared the gospel with people as he's gone in and out of prison! I'll keep you updated as we continue teaching him!

We had a Multi-Zone Conference this past week. We combined with a zone from the Jurupa stake (not my old zone :( ) and had really good trainings! We were there from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm! It was a long day! One thing that was really stressed was how important members are in missionary work. The conception most members (including missionaries) have about missionary work, is that it's only for missionaries. THAT'S FALSE! Missionaries are there to help the members with their missionary efforts. Not the other way around. It makes sense to me, because I don't stay in an area very long. The members of the ward will be there for new members/investigators even after missionaries leave! 

We also had apartment inspections this week! There is a senior couple in charge of the housing in the mission, so they inspect apartments once a transfer. We passed! I'd like to take a moment to thank my mom and grandmother for teaching me how to be a clean-freak. If it weren't for your efforts, we most likely would not have passed! Haha but that also means that when a general authority comes in June, he will want to inspect our apartment because it got a good rating :P 

We picked up a new investigator this week! His name is Hijinio! (pronounced hen-yo). He's awesome! He's in his 50s and is super humble and willing to learn. We taught the Restoration, and the Spirit was so strong! He committed to read the Book of Mormon and to be baptized when he comes to know that it's true! It was an amazing experience! 

Well I've got to go now! Thanks for all the love and prayers! I really appreciate it!

Love you all!

Elder Warren 

5/18/2015 P-Day #28

**I just want to say THANK YOU!! to everyone who supports Cole...he always says the other missionaries get a little jealous of all the letters and packages he get!  We are truly grateful.**

5/18/2015

Well, first I need to say thanks to lots of people! Thanks Omie and Papa, Kam and Brandy, the Leathermans, and Alison and Madelyn for the birthday presents! They rocked! I'm pretty sure the apartment managers are getting a little tired of me walking in and asking to pick up another package! Haha! Now when I walk in, they don't even have to ask me which apartment number I live in! It's pretty funny!

Well, anyways... this week has been super good! 

We went on exchanges with the zone leaders this week! I stayed in the Lasselle ward with Elder Catchatoorian! We had a ton of fun! He's super funny! I love Elder Justice, but he is SUPER quiet! Haha it was good to have a day with someone that it's not a huge effort to hold a conversation with! It was supposed to be super cold and rainy all day, so we set up members to give us rides. And then it ended up being sunny and really nice outside! Haha but we got a lot of lessons that day!

We also had stake conference this weekend! There were a lot of really good talks! The bishop of the Samoan ward spoke about how we act in holy places, especially our homes. He shared the story of when Moses saw the burning bush, the Lord told him to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. He challenged us to always leave our "shoes" outside when we enter a holy place, where it be our homes, a church building, a temple, etc... Don't bring in the cares of the world to a place where the spirit is.

On Sunday, we had dinner with a family whose daughter just got back from the Utah Ogden Mission, and she invited her nonmember friend to dinner with us! It was super cool! She was very interested in learning about the church, but at least they invited her to learn! 

So you asked how we would respond to an investigator who feels like they've been doing all the right things (reading, praying, going to church..), but hasn't got an answer. There are a lot of ways to respond. I may talk about real intent. Are they scared of the answer being "yes"? I really like using Moroni 10:3-5. Moroni gives us a pattern on how to ask God the questions of our souls. First, we need to do something about it. Read, pray, attend church, meet with the missionaries, etc.. It's not enough to merely ask. Second, we have to ask God with a sincere heart. Why are we asking the question? Because we're supposed to? Or maybe because someone wants us to? We need to ask out of a desire to know for ourselves. Also when we ask, we need to have real intent. Regardless of what the answer may be, we must be ready to act upon it as soon as the answer comes. If I'm asking if the Book of Mormon is true, but have absolutely no intentions of being baptized, then why will God answer my prayer? If I'm asking God if this is the right church for me, but don't plan on being active, then I shouldn't expect God to answer me. We also must have faith in Christ when we ask. We need to believe that it is possible for God to answer our prayers. Sometimes people do all those things and still don't recognize their answer. I didn't say that they don't receive an answer, just that it's hard to recognize it sometimes. I even have a hard time recognizing answers to my own prayers! I really love the advice that our Heavenly Father gives to Oliver Cowdery in D&C 6:23- "Did not I speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?". So many people want a huge display of God's power as their answer. But that's not always the case. Like the story of Naaman. He wanted Elisha to give him some grand task in order to be healed, and was offended when it was something as simple as bathing seven times in the river. Sometimes we will receive those simple answers. Calm, peaceful, positive feelings. That's how the Holy Ghost works!

Thanks again for all the birthday cards, presents, letters, etc.. It was a great first mission birthday!

I love you all and miss you lots!

Love,

Elder Warren

 Birthday Festivities - We forgot the hats!

 There are humming birds everywhere in SoCal

Adventures or Exchanges with Elder Catchatoorian.

5/11/2015 P-Day #27 and Birthday #1...Elder Warren is 19

5/11/2015

Thanks everybody for the birthday wishes!!! 

Also, thanks Mom and Grandma for the packages! And thanks Cami, Danielle, and Omie and Papa for the letters!

Well I don't have much to email about today, since I shared everything on Skype yesterday!!!! Haha but I'll just talk about today!

Oh! So after we skyped, we went to the Jensen's for dinner and they made some yummy chicken taco stuff for dinner! And they had cake for dessert! It was all really good!

So I woke up this morning and got all ready for the day. Elder Justice took "P-Day nap" at 6:30 in the morning! Haha then our ride to go shopping and such said they weren't coming until 1 or 2, so I opened my presents, studied some Spanish, played Bananagrams, and then cleaned the apartment! I'm not sure what Elder Justice was doing... Haha and then we came to the library to email! 

We have dinner with our bishop tonight and his family is super cool! It should be a lot of fun!

So not much else has happened today.. Maybe we'll try and do something fun to celebrate the day of my birth later!!

I love you all and miss you all a lot! Sorry this was so short!

Te quiero mucho!!

Elder Warren

 Cole Bbq'd Bruschetta Chicken at their apartment.

This cute couple in their 80s was baptized on 5/10/2015.  They had 60 family members come to support that have been waiting for them to be baptized.

Happy Birthday Elder Warren.  A new shirt, some punching balloons and a rousing solitary game of banangrams.

5/4/2015 P-Day #26

5/4/2015

Time is flying by so fast! I'm already halfway through this transfer!!! It's so crazy! 

Thanks Hna. Leatherman, Danielle, and Alison for the letters! 

It's almost Mother's Day!!! Only six more days until we can Skype! We set it up with the Tatum family in our ward to Skype at their house. We will do it right after church at 3:00 CALIFORNIA time. Which means it will be 4:00 UTAH time! I can't wait! I remember thinking at Christmas that Mother's Day was forever away!! But now it's here!

Well this has been an interesting week! It was REALLY hot a couple of days! In the high-90s!! UUUGGH! I guess I'd better start getting used to it! I have to drink a lot of water, though! It's annoying to carry it all around, though.. Maybe I'll invest in a CamelBak sometime soon!

We're still trying to work with Omar. We found out that he has autism this past week so that kind of changes how we're going to approach teaching him. He hasn't seemed really interested lately and is kind of avoiding us. Hopefully he starts opening back up! He was doing so well, and he's falling away again.

We started teaching an awesome family! It's the Morales-Cortes family. Bro Morales is a member and he served a mission in Houston, Texas. He hasn't gone to church for years now and is wanting to come back. Cynthia is his second wife and she has three kids: Maggie, Antonio, and another daughter who we haven't met yet. They're so awesome! They just showed up at church a month or so ago and wanted to meet with us and learn more about the church! We finally got in last Thursday and taught the Restoration. Cynthia had a lot of awesome questions and really understood the concept of the Restoration! She and her son want to get baptized, too!! They came to church on Sunday and stayed for all the classes and they loved it! Bro Morales has been a huge help. He still knows a lot about the church and missionary work, so he will be there to answer their questions if we aren't! The only downside is that they are super busy and can only meet with us once a week :( oh well! I can't really complain when the Lord has blessed us with such awesome investigators!

I guess that's all the exciting stuff that happened this week... I've got to save some stuff when we Skype on Sunday! Which will be happening at 3:00 CALIFORNIA time and 4:00 UTAH time!!!! One more time:

3:00 CALIFORNIA time

4:00 UTAH time

I can't wait to see you on Sunday! May the Fourth be with you!

Love all y'all and miss you tons!

Elder Warren