Hello!
Sounds like you've been super busy and putting some miles on the car - nice. Sorry about your hot tub mishap... and thank you for the awkward introduction to your letter. Just kidding - I really liked it and will study 2 Samuel now. Glad to hear about the peas and happy that I could help out - i'm a really good planter I guess. This last week has been pretty fun and full of great teaching and learning experiences. Before I forget - Mom - I need you to somehow obtain a copy of my driving record and send it to the mission home. They said you can get one from the DMV - good luck getting into there :/ On Tuesday of this last week we had the opportunity to give service to a good friend of mine that is in the spanish ward. She's a single mom with 3 kids ages 19 16 and 13. They're a really great family but have had some struggles for sure - (she's who gave me the mexican candy I sent you - coconut treat thing) - her lawn mower broke. Soooo we tried to fix it. We took it all apart and really couldnt figure out what was wrong. We found a shop not too far away and took it in. They said the problems were very extensive and that she'd be better off just buying a new more. I'm sure it had to be hard for her to hear. She works full time and has to take care of 3 teenagers. We told her not to worry about it - we'd find a way to manage her yard until she can buy a new one. We hunted for days trying to find someone with a mower - (everyone here has mexicans manage their lawn - it's only like 10 bucks every two weeks). We finally found that the bishop of one of the wards had one. So he met us over at the sisters house and we started to mow. We got the whole front yard done and moved to the back. I dont know if you could call it grass - mostly just weeds - but we worked hard at it until the mower quit. We couldn't get it started again and he had to take it back to his house. We found an electric weed wacker in the sisters garage and thought we'd try that. So the whole back yard and side of her house, we weed-wacked instead of mowed. It was a long job but really worth it to see the look on her face when she got home from work. She bought us tortas from a little taco stand and then had us fix her computer - it was great! My favorite way to do this work hands down. We went back to sister Green's house on wednesday to help her pick more plums. She fell again recently and couldnt come outside with us. That tree is exploding with plums! They're really really good too so we'd fill a couple bags and then eat a couple plums - it was awesome! Then we went to the Tepper's home and helped them move around furniture for some friends that will be staying with them for a while - I can't say it enough - giving service is the most rewarding feeling for me. Thursday we had our last Zone/District meeting with president and sister Blackburn - they leave for home on tuesday. That'll be crazy to get a new president! I still haven't heard almost anything about them. I did a musical number with two other elders - it went really well. We learned about callings and how they are given - it's really amazing to see how much inspiration one has in his or her calling. It was a really good meeting and they'll be missed for sure. After the meeting we went over to a less-active member in the Samoan ward's house. She has 4 daughters - all of which she wants to be baptized. They've been coming to church and we never knew they weren't already baptized. We taught them the first and second lessons and committed them all to baptism for July 11th! That was so cool. They're all so excited. We went for a drive around our whole area later that night - across the vincent thomas bridge and the long beach bridge. Pretty cool sight for sure. Oh before I forget - I read in the paper that there were an estimated 70 - 100 k people at that Laker parade. So when I say there were alot of people, there were A TON. The next day, elder correa and I (we were on splits) went back to teach the samoan kids. We watched The Restoration DVD and taught them about that for about an hour. Those kids are all under 12 but are so so smart. I asked them if they think church is boring and they all said 'NO no! Church is so fun! We sing songs and learn about Jesus!" - I wish I had that attitude when I was their age. It's great to see that atleast some of the younger generation will be a strength to the church in the future. A lot of the kids around here don't have or show much respect for their parents or for anyone. I'm so blessed to have been raised with a good family and into the Church. I'm blessed that I didnt have to see what its like to not be in the church and go through the trial of finding the truth - the truth was given to me through my family, the scriptures, and the Lord - which i've had my whole life. Saturday we ate with a filipino. I've never really had that kind of food before and it was the most interesting kind that i've had so far on my mission. I say interesting but really mean not-good. It was a kind of chop-suey that had meat in it. Looked and tasted somewhat like cat food. Now i've never had cat food but ... now I might have a pretty good idea of what it'd taste like if I had it. I can't complain though - I ate every bit of it and didn't get sick. After that appointment we went over to Brother Cuppetts house - he recently had open heart surgery and we wanted to check up on him. We shared with him a message about gratitude and read in Mosiah 4:8-30 and 2:41. He started crying and said it was exactly what he needed to hear. He then asked me to bless his house - i've never done that before but it was a truly inspired blessing. One of the greatest times i've felt the spirit. Ever.
Yesterday after church we went to a less active members house to teach them. They have 5 weiner dogs. Little ones. Everytime we knock on the door you can hear them kind of freaking out on the other side. The girl that answered the door picked up the dogs and tried to settle them down before we came in. When she thought they were calm enough, she set them down - when immediately 2 of them ran straight for Elder Mitillo. -Now let me just say that we've met with this family and played with these dogs many times. They've never ever come off as harmful. But this day was different. One of them jumped up and bit his knee - he let off a little scream when another one came from behind him and bit him just above his calf. It latched on and wouldn't let go. Elder Mitillo was screaming and shaking his leg, trying to get this dog off of him - the dog with flying through the air with its head still attached to his leg. Finally the dog let go. I was litterally crying- from laughing so hard. It was the most i've laughed on my mission so far. Holy smokes I cannot even put into words how funny it was to see these little dogs attack my companion while I stood back and observed. Turns out the dog broke the skin a little but he'll be ok. It made my day and brightened my mood. It was realllllly hard to keep a straight face through the lesson with the Grovers after that.
Today we went to Costco and stocked up on the goods with the Zone Leaders. Then we went to The Roadium - a swap meet here in Torrance. I love swap meets as you know. It's really fun to barter with the vendors, etc. Well that brings us to right now. I'm loving my mission and am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve. Remember to be grateful for the things that you have and to not be envious of others. It is important to understand that The Lord could take away everything that we have. But He doesnt. He's blessed us so much. We should always show gratitude to Him and to others for the things we have been given. I love you all so much and enjoy reading and learning of your experiences. I didn't get the stuff anyone sent this last week (mom and laci) but i'm sure I'll get it this week. I pray for you all every day and hope you are having success in all things. Thank you so much for your love and support.
Love, Elder Cottrell
