2/23/2015 P-Day #16

Hola!

First off, I would like to complain about our country's postal service. I got a Valentines package two days ago, and am still waiting for letters from a few people... Ugh!

But anyways.. Thanks mom for the tie, conference talks, and letter! Thanks Grandma Clark, Danielle, and Omie and Papa for you letters, too! I love hearing from all of you!

This week has been pretty good! I was feeling sick so we called our mission president's wife to let her know we were going to go home a little bit earlier so I could rest and she told us that I was going to stay in and rest for the next two days... That was frustrating because all I wanted to do was go out and work, but I also needed to rest and get better. So I napped, updated our area book, read the book of Alma, and practiced the piano. It wasn't a complete waste of time, but I would have rather been outside teaching people! I'm feeling better now so that's not a problem anymore!

Alfredo was baptized on Saturday! Elder Taylor was supposed to baptize him, but he tore his ACL a few weeks ago and wasn't able to. That meant that I got to baptize Alfredo! It was an amazing spiritual experience! It was cool to be able to look back and see how Alfredo had changed. Not that he was bad before, but he's a better person now. That's what the gospel does! It makes bad men good, and it makes good men better! We went over to his house on Sunday for dinner and all of his extended family was over there for a party. They had some movie playing in the background that definitely was not appropriate for anyone to be watching, especially missionaries! Elder Bangerter asked Alfredo if he thought it would be alright if we turned on the Joseph Smith movie and Alfredo was super excited to do it! It was amazing to see him and his other family members who were just baptized, sit down and explain what was happening to those in his family that weren't members of the church! We talked to a lot of his family about what we believe and hopefully they will start to have a desire to learn more! We left a couple Book of Mormons (Books of Mormon? Haha) with them!

So you asked me what I thought about Trek and if being around the actual pioneer sites made it more meaningful.. Well I, personally, loved Trek! It gave me a greater appreciation for our ancestors and the early members of the Church. One thing I didn't like was how they made it seem like the pioneers were miserable all the time. I felt like the fact that it was hard isn't as important as thinking about the faith that the early saints had. It would have taken a lot to leave everything behind and walk thousands of miles, pulling all your belongings behind you. I learned a lot during Trek and it was a good opportunity to get to know the youth in our ward better. I don't know if doing it on the same trail as the pioneers made it more meaningful. I think what matters is the purpose of going on Trek. Ask bishop and the ward council why they want the youth to go on Trek and see if they have to be on the same trail as the pioneers to accomplish that goal. I remembered a talk President Monson gave, "Ponder the  Path of Thy Feet", and he talks about a lady that went to Jerusalem and walked where the Savior walked, saw a mountain that He saw, etc... He then says that it's not as important to walk where the Savior did as it was to walk AS He did. I think the same principle applies here.

Thanks everyone for all your help and support! It means a lot to me to know that y'all love and care about me! I love you all and pray for you every day! Hopefully you will all remember to walk as the Savior did! 

Love,

Elder Warren

2/16/2015 P-Day #15

2/16/2015

Hola Familia!

Happy Presidents Day! The library was closed today so I'm sending this from the Family History center at our church building!

Thanks Mom for the vitamins and Grandma for the Valentines day package! Also thanks Omie and Papa and Grandma Clark for the letters!

This week has been really good and really hard all at the same time! It's been a bit of a roller-coaster. I've felt like I've been doing everything on my own. Elder Bangerter hasn't showed any motivation or effort to participate in the work. It seemed like he was using the fact that I'm a new missionary and need to learn how to "be in charge" as an excuse to not have to participate. That's been really hard because I've been trying to do a job meant for two people and I have to drag the second person along with me. I decided to just grin and bear it and push through. I've done pretty well the past three weeks up until this last weekend. Everything had been building up and I was getting super stressed. Apparently the way my body copes with stress is by getting sick. So on top of the stress, anxiety, exhaustion, I've been sick. Anyways, this past weekend I was just angry and Elder Bangerter and it started to show. He noticed and our zone leaders noticed. Yesterday, Elder Child pulled me aside during church and asked me what was going on and I told him what was happening. It felt so good to be able to talk with someone and just share everything that I was going through. He told me that he was going to talk to his companion about it and see what they think I should do. He also said to just keep pushing through and smile through it all. Later on Sunday, Elder Bangerter went with a member to go to a baptism down in Corona and I just stayed with the ZLs. They told me just to ask Elder Bangerter for help and tell him that I'm struggling and need support from him. So last night I sat down with Elder Bangerter and talked to him about it. Which was also hard for me because as some of you know, I'm not a big fan of confrontation and conversations like this! But it went really well so hopefully now Elder Bangerter will help out some and find a sense of motivation and get back into the work!

Alfredo's baptism is on Saturday!!! I'm super excited! We've been planning everything out and it's been awesome to see all the support from the ward! Alfredo has already thrown himself into the ward family and has a lot of friends! I'll make sure and take lots of  pictures at the baptism so don't worry!

This week I've had to talk to A LOT of people in Spanish! I swear that everybody that shows interest in the gospel speaks Spanish and we have to give them to the missionaries who actually speak Spanish! Haha it's frustrating but it's pushing me to learn how to speak Spanish! 

I haven't been feeling well so I took some Nyquil last night so this morning I had the worst Nyquil hangover ever! Which sucked because today was our crossfit activity! I really wanted to participate but decided that sitting it out and resting a little was probably the wisest course of action! I sat with Elder Taylor and watched everybody else! Elder Taylor couldn't participate because he tore his ACL the other day dunking a basketball. He's probably going to have to go home early so he can get surgery. It was super sad! He's bummed but all he really cares about right now is fixing the problem so he's not in pain anymore.

Tonight we're going over to a recent convert's house to teach them how to hold a Family Home Evening! They have a nonmember relative living with them who has been coming to church for a couple months now but just doesn't want to make a change and get baptized! Elder Bangerter and I felt really strongly that his family members are going to be the ones that help him change his life around! We're bringing their home teacher and his family over with us tonight and we're going to have a lesson, play a game, and have a treat (Grandma's sugar cookies!!)! It's going to be a lot of fun and I hope that we can help this family out!

Well thanks again for all the letters, packages, prayers, and love! I love you all and miss you lots!

Te quiero!!

Elder Warren 

2/9/2015 P-Day #14

2/9/2015

Hola Familia!

It's weird how hot it is here! It's February and it's 86 degrees outside! (Yes, Momma.. I'm drinking plenty of water!!!) Not normal! But it sounds like it's pretty warm in Utah too!

Thanks for the Valentines day package! It was a lot of fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the puns on them! Also thanks Myra, Tenley, and Danielle for the letters!

Besides it being hot, this week has been super awesome! Elder Bangerter and I worked really hard all week long! We didn't see a lot of success but I know that we worked our hardest, so that's good!

I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon once each transfer on my mission, which is once every six weeks. This transfer I kind of slacked off in the beginning and then it was really hard to get going again. But as I made the effort every day for about a week, it got easier and easier! I've learned a lot from the Book of  Mormon and I know that it can bless the lives of anyone that diligently studies from it and then applies the teachings in their lives! It's one thing to just read a chapter a day, and it's another thing to apply a chapter a day! The Book of Mormon was written for us, so we should take advantage of it!

Alfredo's mom, Maria, was baptized this last Saturday! It was such an amazing experience! The baptism, talks, hymns, prayers, were in Spanish so I didn't understand a lot of it... but the Spirit was so strong there. We went over on Sunday night to meet with Alfredo and Maria was there. There was something different about her this time, though. She seemed to glow. I know that sounds cheesy but I can't think of any other way to describe it. She was just so happy that she was glowing! It was a powerful witness to me that the gospel can change our lives! The spirit works on us little by little, slowly improving us.

I'm really grateful that I'm companions with Elder Bangerter. While I was with Elder Taylor, I didn't see a lot of growth or improvement in myself like I saw at the MTC. But Elder Bangerter has helped me improve and become a better person! We also have a lot of fun together!

I've been trying to improve my Spanish recently... Since I never took Spanish in high school and my companion doesn't speak any, this has been very difficult! But I've slowly been picking up more and more! 

Sorry this email is kind of short, but not very much has happened last week... Hopefully this coming week is more eventful so I can have more stuff to email about!

I love you all so much! Te quiero mucho!

Elder Warren

2/2/2015 P-Day #13

Hola Familia!

So this has been an interesting week! I got a new companion and I got to take over the area! 

Thanks for sending the bike lights! They've been super helpful and they work great!

Elder Bangerter is from Houston, Texas! He's been out on his mission for 18 months now. It's been kind of weird adjusting to a new companion. I just got so used to Elder Taylor and how things worked with him, that changing companions was kind of a shock! I love Elder Bangerter but he's just different than Elder Taylor. I think the biggest difference that I've noticed is that Elder Bangerter is just always with me. When I was with Elder Taylor, we'd do our studies in different rooms, at night time we'd kind of do our own thing, and we didn't have a problem just sitting around in silence. Elder Bangerter is a very very social person. He's always talking! Which is good but sometimes it's a little draining to keep a conversation going from 7:00 in the morning to10:30 at night! Haha but he's a lot of fun! He's kind of weird, but that's okay! It keeps life interesting! It's been a little hard because Elder Bangerter's last two companions were pretty lazy/disobedient so I think he just got into the habit of being a little lazy. But it's actually helped me because it's forcing me to step up and take control! I'm really excited to be Elder Bangerter's companion! It's going to be a good transfer!

I'm sure I've mentioned this before... but missionary work is exhausting!! I'm always tired!!! Waking up in the mornings is always really hard! It was easy at first, but now it takes so much effort to drag myself out of bed! I'm really grateful for all the hard work! And biking keeps us in pretty good shape! President Mullen is doing a Cross-Fit activity of February 16 and it's going to be brutal! 

Alfredo is going to be baptized on February 15!!! I'm so super excited! Elder Taylor will come back to baptize him and then I'll get to do the confirmation the next week in church! His sister lives in the ward that borders ours. They're all going to be baptized that day! His mom is going to be baptized this Saturday into the Spanish ward and she wants me to say the closing prayer! That whole family is just perfect!

We met with Veronica the other night and brought a team up, Brother Madderra, with us. Usually when we meet with Veronica, she's too distracted to sit down and have an actual lesson with us. But that night we taught her the Plan of Salvation and answered some of her questions. She said that everything we teach her just clicks and it all makes sense. It's just like one light-bulb after another going off in her head. Brother Madderra was really helpful in answering some of her questions! Which was good because we had been trying so hard to think of a good fellowship from the ward for Veronica and now we found one! She talked about how everyone at church is happy. She can tell when people are being fake but she said that every single person in our church is genuinely happy and she wants to be able to feel like that too. It made me think of the scripture, Mosiah 2:41. It talks about how those who keep the commandment are happy because they are blessed temporally and spiritually. Also because we know who we are. We are children of our Heavenly Father. We are able to return and live with Him. I really love that scripture because it's so true! When we keep the commandments, our Heavenly Father WILL bless us. He loves us. And as we keep the commandments, life gets easier and easier. It gets easier to choose the right thing.

I'm grateful for all of your letters, emails, prayers, etc..! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warren   

1/26/2015 P-Day #12

Hola!!!

This has been a crazy crazy week! This was my first actual transfer! So that was a little stressful! But I'll talk more about that later!

First I want to say thanks to Noel and Maddy for the letters! I was a total slacker last Monday and I still don't have stamps so I will write you all back this week for sure! I've got a stack of letters I need to write! Whoops!

So now to transfers.. Elder Taylor's leaving me! He's going down to be in Riverside as a Zone Leader! It's sad but I'm sure I'll see him again! My new companion is Elder Bangerter! I've never met him so today will be my first day with him! He's going to get a ride with a member from his old ward up here and I'll meet him around 2:00. I think he's from Texas but I'm not sure... So I'll have more details next week on him! I'm really excited!

This week was really good! Alfredo is super excited to get baptized in February with his sister and her family! His mom's getting baptized in February too! The gospel is spreading through that family like crazy! 

This week was also another exciting trip down to Hemet to get a new prescription! Last Monday, we went to Target and I dropped my prescription off before we went shopping.  But the doctor had put January 2014 instead of 2015. So on Wednesday, we had to drive down to Hemet to pick up a new prescription! I had called the doctor's office to make sure I didn't need an appointment and they told me I could just come and stop in. But when we got to the doctor's office at 11:00 on Wednesday, we found out that the doctor wouldn't be in until 3:00! So we went and got lunch and couldn't decide if we wanted to spend four more hours down in Hemet.. We went back after lunch to make sure the doctor would be coming in at 3:00 and found out that they were on their lunch break until 2:00! So we eventually got the prescription signed and it all worked out but it was just super super crazy! 

I dropped my first investigator this week! Ignacio hasn't been keeping any commitments even though he keeps promising us that he's going to start changing and going stuff. So we went by on Thursday night and told him that we've taught him everything he needs to know and now it's up to him to start doing everything we taught him. We told him that we weren't going to come by for a couple weeks and we hoped that we'd see him in church on Sunday. It was kind of sad but hopefully this will be the push that he needs to see how he needs to start acting.

So this week I was reading in Mosiah where King Benjamin is talking to all the people. One verse really stood out to me in chapter 2. He mentions how he is really old and sick and he was literally trembling from the effort it took to stand and talk to them. But he then says how God has commanded him to speak to the people and God is supporting him in his efforts. God didn't take away his weaknesses. He didn't make it so King Benjamin didn't feel tired and weak, but He supported him in his efforts. I think that was super cool! God gives us hard times for a reason and He gives them to us because He loves us!

I love all of you and pray for you all every day! 

Love,

Elder Warren 

1/19/2015 P-Day #11

Hola!!

I'm sorry if you sent me a letter in the past week and a half and I haven't responded yet! I ran out of stamps and we couldn't go to the post office last Monday but hopefully we can get some today! 

Thanks Mom and Omie and Papa for the letters! I'll write back as soon as I get some stamps! 

This week was really cool! On Tuesday we got to go to the Redlands Temple with our zone and the zone from Corona! Sister Budica drove all four of us over to Redlands and went through with us because there are almost no women in missionary temple trips! I'm super excited that I get to go to the temple every three months! It's such an amazing spiritual experience. I wish we could go more, but I'm super glad we get to go at all. It sounds like the Redlands Mission doesn't get to go as often as we do! After we're done at the temple, it's tradition to go to Cafe Rio afterwards! It felt like home! I really really missed Cafe Rio... haha! That night our dinner was about eight miles away from our house and we didn't have a ride because the other elders don't have a car and the family couldn't come pick us up. So we had to bike eight miles as hard as we could in the wind right after we ate Cafe Rio! It was miserable! I couldn't eat any food when we got there I was so exhausted/full! Elder Taylor and I had to stop at a park and lie down for like ten minutes after dinner cause we were about to puke!

On Thursday we had our interviews with President Mullen. I spent about fifteen minutes talking with him. He asked me about the ward I'm in, my investigators, he shared a little lesson on charity and how we can develop it, and then asked me if I had any questions. He wants us to work on a different Christlike attribute each transfer. The pattern he gave us on how we can do that was super simple: First, pick a Christlike attribute that you want to work on. Second, study it in the scriptures, what latter-day prophets have said about it, etc.., and write down what you learned. Third, evaluate your life and see how you can implement whatever you learned in your study. Fourth, pray and ask Heavenly Father for strength and guidance as you work on improving the attribute. Ask for opportunities where you can use the attribute! So I'm going to pray and find an attribute to work on next transfer!

Speaking of transfers... They're next week! We get called on Saturday (January 24) and that's when we find out what's going down. So if anyone sends me any mail this week, make sure it gets sent to the mission office and not to my house! There's a chance that I might get transferred and moved out of the area so I may not be living in Mira Loma next week! I'll probably stay in the area because Elder Taylor has been here for so long. He got here in September! I'm a little worried because I don't want another companion! I'll let you know what happens next Monday!

So after we talked with Bishop about Alfredo we tried to go and tell him the good news but he was in Los Angeles ALL WEEK!!! Nobody knew when he was coming back and he doesn't have a phone or a car... We were worried that he was out looking for work and was going to move out there! But on Friday we finally got ahold of him and told him that he could get baptized onJanuary 31. He was so excited! But that night he went back to LA with his "ex"-wife and they might be trying to work things out...? So he missed church on Sunday and we're going to have to push back his baptism date again... He's honestly so solid and has a testimony that I guess this was Heavenly Father just telling us that the 31st wasn't the right day for his baptism.

We went on exchanges again this week! I was with Elder Henderson over in Eastvale this time. I had gone with Elder Henderson on my first exchange but that was the time we had to drive all the way down to Hemet for a doctor's appointment. So it was cool to be able to actually work with him! We went over that morning to the McCammon's to help them move some huge Christmas decorations. I think I'm turning into a California boy because I was so cold that morning even though it was 65 degrees!! I thought it would take me longer to adjust but I guess not! That night, we went with the McCammons to teach the Medina family. Naomi Medina is actually Alfredo's sister!!! Isn't that crazy!? It was so cool! Two of their kids are super into everything they've been taught and it was a really spiritual lesson. The dad, Blas, doesn't speak English so Sister McCammon and Naomi translated for us! 

On Sunday, we went over to Alfredo's house to see if he was home yet. He wasn't there but his sister who was baptized a few months ago, Sylvia, was over there with all of her kids. She asked us to give two of her daughters blessings because they've been really sick lately. It was really cool because there were some non members there so they got to experience that and we taught them about it! We went back that night to give Alfredo's mom, Maria, a blessing. She doesn't speak English but the spirit was so strong there! Sylvia translated a little bit after we were done and Maria was so grateful! She is seriously one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met! I'm going to be really sad if I get moved out of the area!

I love how that just by small and simple things, we can see HUGE changes in our lives and the lives of those around us. If Elder Taylor and I hadn't stopped to talk to Alfredo that one day, Naomi and her family may not have ever talked to missionaries and Alfredo's mom wouldn't have started meeting with missionaries either! Also if his other sister, Sylvia, hadn't been baptized Alfredo may not have wanted to meet with us! It's so so cool how God prepares people to receive the gospel months before they even talk to missionaries! I have a really strong testimony that Heavenly Father watches over ALL of his children and loves each and every single one of us! He's in every little detail of our lives and all He wants is for us to be able to return to Him.

Well I hope everything is going well with all of you! I love all of you so much!

Te quiero mucho!

Elder Warren

 At the Redlands Temple 

 After eating Cafe Rio, biking 8 miles, KFC for dinner...on the verge of puking!

 New Year's Day

1/12/2015 P-Day #10

Hola Family!

First I want to say thank you to Danielle, Omie and Papa, and Grandma for the letters! And thank you Grandma for the calendar! 

It sounds like you guys have had a pretty crazy week! Not very much happened here, but we had some success this week!

We finally met with our investigator Mark again! He works three different jobs so he's been busy 16-21 hours a day! So we haven't been able to teach him or talk to him for a long time. He's been meeting with missionaries for a long time and hasn't been making any progress so we wanted to talk to him about asking God if this is true and then recognizing the answer that will come. When we sat down, he started talking about how he doesn't feel like he has any faith right now and how there's something pulling him away from the Church. It was a weird lesson because he just wasn't making a lot of sense. We'd ask him if he knows if the Book of Mormon is true and he said "Well it's definitely good". So he knows it's helped him in his life but he just wouldn't put in any effort and his faith is dormant right now. So we brought everything back down to the basics and told him that all he needs to worry about right now is whether or not the Book of Mormon is true. All he needs to do is continue reading it and ask God with a sincere heart, having real intent, and with faith that God can answer his prayer. He was kind of surprised at how simple it was. So hopefully we'll see some improvement in him!

I can't remember if I talked about Alfredo meeting with the Bishop last week... but our bishop told us Alfredo can't be baptized for six months to a year until he works out all of his family drama. Elder Taylor and I thought it was kind of dumb because he's living all the commandments but we didn't want to argue with our bishop. Alfredo's been making so much progress! In the past two weeks he's already read 1 Nephi and is into 2 Nephi now! We felt like he was ready to be baptized and that God was going to bless him in his family struggles if he started making steps towards baptism. So we were at church yesterday and President Mullen called us. He told us to talk to the bishop and tactfully tell him that Alfredo is worthy to be baptized and shouldn't have to wait. So last night we went over to Bishop M.s house and talked to him about Alfredo. I guess what happened was bishop misunderstood what Alfredo told him so he was concerned about him living the Law of Chastity. But he told us that if Alfredo is ready to be baptized that we shouldn't wait and he will support us! So we're going to put Alfredo on date for January 31! Hopefully I won't be transferred before then, but I'm just super glad he's going to get baptized soon!

I had another exchange on Saturday! I went out to Eastvale with Elder Schlueter who came into the mission one transfer after me! So there were two greenies in one area! It was crazy! We had a lot of fun though. Eastvale is super nice and new, but the streets are SO confusing! There will only be one or two entrances to a neighborhood and then not all of the streets are connected so we have to make major detours just to get through a single neighborhood! We got lost so many times it's not even funny! Well it actually was kind of funny but you know what I mean! Thankfully I brought my GPS and that saved us many many times! I actually missed all the dirt trails, horses, and dogs! 

Elder Taylor and I have put a ton of effort into finding new investigators this past week and all of our hard work finally paid off! We went and visited a guy that missionaries had talked to earlier this year named Joe. He's 19, has a job, owns his own house, and is going into the military in eight months! I don't know many other 19 year olds that have their lives in that much order! He really wants to start going to a Church and he wants to strengthen his relationship with God. We taught him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and he soaked it all up! He said he'd read and pray to see if it's true. We're going back to teach him later this week and we're going to bring a kid in our ward who just got home from his mission because he'd be a really good fellowship for Joe!

So the missionaries on cars only have a certain allotment of miles for a month. Our zone leaders went over on their miles in December so the mission office took away their keys for a week to make up for those miles. It's dumb because we rely on them for rides to all of our meetings, dinners, P-Day stuff, etc... So this week we're going to be without a reliable ride everywhere! And the zone leaders will have to bike and their area is way bigger than ours! Haha I think it's kind of funny!

Well I don't have much else to say... I miss you all and hope everything is going well with you!

Love,

Elder Warren