Aug. 23, 2010

Hellooooo how's it goin? You wrote 3 talks eh? Not really that surprised, way to go! I want to write a letter to "other elder" and tell him to get a clue. Think that'd be appropriate? I cannot believe Kyle gets home tomorrow, that's so crazy - I bet he'll be sad, I heard he has really really been into the mission. That email address is Rachel Povey's - she was over at the house the day before I left and is getting ready for her mission - just said she wanted to get my weekly letters - I have no time to write during the week. Or you could just forward her the address to your blog that you have for me.. that'd probably work. Thanks for sending letters to sister Dakay. I really wish I had time to email her. I send stinkin long emails to you though so I cannot dang it. Oh well it's good to hear she's doing well.

Alrighty then,

Tuesday -

We began the training that will change the missions world-wide. We started everyday from 8:00 and went to 3:30 for 4 days at the Carson Chapel. To sum up everything we learned - rely on the spirit in your teaching. Basically it. Ask more questions and LISTEN. You know that I really don't like meetings too much but they were really good. After training on tuesday we went and saw Richard and Chere and watched... Legacy.. yup you guessed it. He's super obsessed with that movie. There were a lot of distractions ... his 2 year old wanting to jump on the tramp and throwing things, people coming in and out, the dog tinklin on the floor - it was pretty amazing. BUT he dis still feel the spirit and committed to come to church. Oh before I forget, last weekend was the ward campout - friday to saturday - well on sunday only half of the ward showed up to church. Guess why? The other half was still on the campout. Including the elders quorum advisor and the ward mission leader. I was amazed and the Bishop was steeming to say the least. I thought you'd get a kick out of that - that was for the other ward i'm in - not the samoan one.

Wednesday-

I did not baptize anyone. I did not convert anyone. But I felt and taught by the spirit. I fulfilled my purpose as a servant of the Lord. After training a member surprised us with groceries - that was such a cool deal - I couldn't have been happier with it being the end of the month and being low on dough. She also made us cocoa rice (stinkin good - white rice mixed with... cocoa.) We went to teach a part member family. The man went to Italy for 8 years to school to become a catholic priest but his wife and kids are all members. He didnt end up finishing school and came home early - I don't know the whole story. When we went inside he wasn't too interested in talking to us so he went to the other room and got his wife. He went around the corner into the kitchen while we talked to her and her kids. I don't remember exactlly what we brought up but it caught his attention. He poked his head around the corner and joined in the conversation. As we continued to talk he came into the room and sat down. We were able to address a lot of his concerns about the church. He actually knows it to be true but is afraid of what his parents would do if he joined. We were amazed at how much he opened up to us - he ended up coming to church on sunday and wants to meet with us regularly. Nice. I also made Franco sign in my planner that he'd come to church this next sunday. Double nice.

Thursday -

After training Elder Sung and I visited a family very similar to the one I mentioned above. The husband blames things on his health instead of his parents though. The missionaries have been working with him for a long time now and he's just been off and on about what he wants to do. We read with him in the Book of Mormon. One of his concerns with his health was his memory - he can't remember the stuff he reads and learns - so we told him to take notes. We're hoping that works. He's a really good guy, just needs a little push by the spirit. The guy I gave a blessing to in the hospital last week walked out the doors on thursday. Can you believe that? I couldn't believe it when I got the phone call. He wasn't supposed to make it another week but ended up walking out instead. Amazing how the Priesthood works.

Friday-

After training we went to dinner with Joseph's parents (the tanuvasa's). They're very very nice and interested in what we're up to. After that we went to Theo's and gave him some things for his birthday. A watermellon, some soda, a razor and some cake. He was really excited but kind of sick so we didnt stay long. I committed our filipino friend Felix to be baptized... but.... he doesnt seem to understand. I'd ask him to be baptized and he'd say 'yes but I don't see why I need to be - i've already been baptized twice' then we'd explain the apostasy, and restoration. Well we went through this about 3 times before I finally just said "so will you be baptized by someone holding the proper authority of God?' and when he said 'yes', I cut him off before he could say 'but' and ended with a prayer. I'm sure we'll have to address that again soon.

Saturday-

We went to a members' house in the carson ward for dinner - they had a little dog that was sniffing Elder Sung. When the little girl (maybe 3 years old) saw that, she said "oh, he only sniffs things that are stinky". That made me laugh pretty good. We had a crazy experience where I felt like we needed to go to our ward mission leaders' house. We got there and there was an animal control car parked out front. We asked the guy what was going on and all of his dogs were outside. 2 little ones and a big german shepherd that isn't right in the head. No one was home and they wouldnt answer their phone. Sooo we ended up spending an hour in the dark rounding up these dogs, trying not to get bitten. We got them in the house and shut the door - everything turned out ok.

Sunday -

Went to church - an inactive family that we've been visiting for a good while finally came to church today for the first time in years. The Bishop of the ward said that he's never seen them there before. That was realllllllly good. We visited Theo and I told him that there is a good chance I might be getting transferred next wednesday - he thanked me and gave me a big hug and said what he said before "i've seen a lot of missionaries over the years and you were the only one that I could connect with. You're the only one that ever got through to me. You better come back" That made my day. The rest of the day was spent taking sacrament to a couple of families and having FHE and the Lopez's. Good week.

I have 7 minutes left on the computer and you're the only one i've emailed. Sheesh. I'm really sorry I wasn't able to reply to anyone elses emails (sara, cami, laci, dad) but i'll try to type and read faster next week. I really appreciate all of you peoples' letters and support. 6 months tomorrow - nuts. I love you all so so much.

Love you,

Elder Cottrell

Aug. 3, 2010 - Run Sung Run!

Hey! So the libraries are starting to close on mondays now in L.A. county. They might have to change my p-day but for now i'll probably be writing on tuesdays. Pretty good chance it will still be on monday though because there are a few libraries in my area that will be open. Hope you had a happy birthday! Laci's is comin up soon, that should be fun. Thank you for your great letter and everything, I look forward to it all week! You have been so busy with young womens, doesn't sound like much has changed there! You and dad have always dedicated all of your time to serving others; it's been such a good thing for me to work towards being throughout my life. You'll have to send me a picture of the new front steps and all of your new toys. Way to go with the ring and stuff from Tiffany's - sounds pretty fancy. Allllllright lets begin,

Wednesday after I emailed you we went downtown to the famous hot dog place "Pinks". There was such a big line but it was exactly how it was shown on tv - really cool and good food. We did a baptismal interview for one of the sisters' baptisms that was on saturday later that night and the interview-ee passed and is now in the singles ward.

Thursday we did some weekly planning (not my favorite part of the week or day but good none-the-less) and then hopped on our bikes. We were given 900 miles to drive in the month of June and somehow managed to drive 1500. We're blaming pep-boys. Anyway for the month of July they gave us only 500 to compensate for the mile overage in June. So by about July 25th, we were out of miles. The only other option- bike or walk. Which I don't mind too much, I love being outside as you know and you meet so many more people on the sidewalk. We rode over to Wilmington to where we thought our dinner apointment was at. I knocked on the door and a Mexican man answered. We were supposed to be eating with Samoans so I was confused of course. He was so polite and talkative though so we just talked with him for a while. He just moved here from Mexico about 3 weeks ago and has been working day and night since so it was a miracle we caught him at all. I was able to use my small spanish skills to tell him who we were and what we were doing. He was very interested and we set up a return apointment for the spanish elders. I thought that was pretty neat. The Samoan family that we were supposed to eat with, did in fact USED to live in that house but conviniently moved without telling anyone. We finished up with the Ifopo family later that night and set up their baptismal interview for tonight - it's going to be huge. The wife and sister were baptized when they were 18 back in Samoa but haven't gone to church out here. So we sent in for their records to headquarters in Salt Lake. The sisters records came back. But the wife's did NOT. So she will be re-baptized. She couldn't be more excited and neither could her husband. Now it's 4 baptisms instead of 3!

Friday we rode our bikes to the other side of Carson to the Boyer family. Their lives are dominated primarily by softball. 4 girls all under the age of 15 and they all play competitively. They travel all over the place and often on Sundays. They wanted to watch a movie so we pulled out a few DVD's that we had and let them choose. We watched Joy to the World in the middle of summer. It went way better than I thought it would. I never realized how great of a teacher that simple DVD is. It calmed all of the girls down and we were able to teach them the importance of coming to church and partaking of the sacrament. I was able to relate to them alot with the sports of baseball and softball. I explained how the coach of their team is like Heavenly Father and the assistant coach is like our Prophet. We know that they are there for us and want us to succeed. As we follow their advice, we overcome trials and become closer to the goal- eternal life.

Saturday we visited Theo to see how he was doing and remind him about church. While in his garage, all of the sudden he looked at us and said 'Watch this!" he ran to a closet and pulled out this old pellet gun and ran to the end of the garage with it, pointing into the street. I looked to see what he was pointing at - it was a crow. The bird flew away before he shot but I laughing pretty hard just because it was so random. We went to Erica's baptismand talked with Franco some more.

Sunday - big day. Theo came to church again. I was so stinkin excited to see him there. A lady that we have been teaching here and there - Eden Dial from the Philipines also came! She was baptized in the philipines, went through the temple and then got married and moved out here. Her husband is catholic and wont let her go to church. She hasnt been for 7 years. She has 3 young kids and she wants nothing more than for them to be able go to church. We worked it out (her choice) where she was able to get a ride from one of the members and come to church with her kids while her husband was at work. She was more excited to come that anyone i've ever seen. She loved coming and we are still thinking of a way to convince her husband to let her come every week. Elder Sung and I were put on the spot to teach Gospel Principles on Eternal Marriage. That was interesting. Then we took some of the food that the members gave us over to Theo and ate with him in his garage.

Monday- Went to point fermin lighthouse in San Pedro and took a tour of it as a zone and then played soccer down by the marina. Stocked up for the month at Costco and then went to dinner with sister Silva at a brazillian place. We had FHE with the lopez's and Elder Sung gave the message. Then sister Lopez gave me a haircut and we headed for home. I jumped in the shower to wash my hair.. while I was in there I heard a bunch of running around and cupboards shutting inthe apartment. When I got out, Elder Sung was on the couch with a look of relief on his face. He told me that as soon as I got in the shower, he reallllly had to go #2. He was looking for something to go in but couldnt find anything. He ended up calling the zone leaders to ask for permission to leave the apartment to go. He sprinted to our landlords apartment and knocked on the door saying "I reallllly need to use the restroom", Vic looked at him and said 'Huh?' getting the hint they started to walk to where one was. Vic - an older man- said 'would you like me to speed up?' Elder sung said yes and they sprinted to where it was. I guess Elder Sung just barely made it. Well that's my funny story for the week. I laughed ... well, still am laughing.

I love you all, thank you for the support and love.

Elder Cottrell

July 28,2010

Heyyyyyy,

Sorry I'm emailing on wednesday, we had our temple p-day today so we just worked on monday. We have one of those every 2 transfers so hold your horses if I don't mail right away in the future. I got your package, thank you verrrrry much for the giftcard, brace, popcorn, NUTTER BUTTERS (way suprised you remember that I love those), etc. That was a pretty awesome thing to get. Elder Garrett knows Elder Astin that you saw in St. G. He was pretty excited to hear that but I get Elder Astin is already home so you must have seen him just before he left. Boston sounds way fun, i'd love to go there someday. Dad did you hold any leadership positions on your mission? I don't think you've ever told me. Well regardless if you did or not, you were a leader for sure with the calling of an Elder.

Alllllllright so we'll go with last Tuesday...

I found out that Elder Mitillo would be getting transfered to Hunnington Park/Watts to be a district leader again over there and that I would receive a new companion that had been the district leader in Westchester. So Elder Mitillo and I made some rounds to some of our favorite families and investigators to say goodbye, they all had lots of stuff to give to us - the samoans and other people out here are so polite and would do anything for the missionaries. We ate with the Zone Leaders a last time and got Elder Mitillo packed up.

Wednesday Elder Mitillo left and Elder Sung came. He is Korean but is from Australia and has lived there for his whole life. How odd is that? I did NOT expect to hear that kind of accent come out of his mouth when he spoke to me. Anyway we bought him some food and then started walking. We walked from 1:00 to about 6:00. We got to know each other better and were able to visit alot of people. We eventually had to get the car because some of the other Elders in the district locked their keys in their car so we had the priveledge of driving to the mission home to get the spare key. Being the district leaders companion comes with alot of the same responsibilites that he has I suppose.

Thursday- we planned for next week for about 3 hours, our dinner fell through so I cooked myself some grits and eggs, we walked to where the Ifopo's live and finished the lessons. They're such a great family. They're having a ton of family come out for their baptism on August 8th. I'm really excited for that - it'll be a great chance to teach to those that aren't members as well as those that are.

Friday - We had a district meeting and met everyone that is new in the zone. One of the sisters that was in my mtc district (sister clark) is now in my district out here - so that's pretty cool I guess. We received our new zone goal - having 2 member present lessons, 2 baptismal dates and 2 progressing investigators throughout the entire transfer. So far, we're in the lead as a companionship. We visited a filipino man that we tracted into the day before and taught him about the Restoration. He had met with the missionaries a long time ago and believes everything about the church, just doesn't feel he should get baptized yet. BUT he also told us that from the moment he saw us walking up to him on the sidewalk, he knew we were sent from God and that he should stop smoking and drinking. So he hadn't done either since the time we met him and he isn't planning on doing it again. That was pretty neat to hear. We visited Franco again and he gave me a card to send to you - hope you got it. I made it pretty funny I think.

Saturday- We had no miles left on our car, so we walked. Elder Sung's bike was still in his old area and was waiting for it to get to him soooo we couldn't bike. I still ride my cruiser around - i'll try to save it for you. Can you believe i've been out over 5 months? I can't. Anyway we had lunch with some investigators - lisa and her brother Joseph. They took us to the Carson Buffett - it was a really good chance to get to know them better and just talk to them. Joseph actually served a mission but is considered 'less-active' now and Lisa is sort of investigating the Church. After that we went to the Crestridge building in Palos Verdes to help with the stake pioneer day activity. I was in charge of basketball and keeping track of the score in the different competitions. We were there for a good 5 hours. It was a good time for sure. President Baker asked our whole zone to go help out with it incase non-members were present. President Baker and I think alot alike. He's made a big emphasis on doing service and getting close with the members to receive referrals. He knows that we must gain their trust before they give us much information about their close friends or family who aren't members. Non of the missionaries (excluding the A.P.'s) see the president much. That's how it was with President Blackburn as well. We live at the bottom of the mission and never really have time to just go visit him or anything like that - you've asked alot of questions about him... but really, I don't know much about him. He's a busy man! As well as myself! So i'm sorry for that bit...We went to see Theo afterwards. He was in the garage, smoking, still wet from a shower. One good thing - he took a shower. He said that he needed to take one saturday so that he'd go to church sunday (something he's been telling us forever) One bad thing- he was smoking. I told him to put it out while we were there and he did. We talked to him for a good while and got him to pray. Only the second time he agreed to do it since i've been here. He cried at the start of his prayer and put his arms around me and said " I can't do this, I can't", I grabbed his face and looked him in the eye and said "yes, you can" he began again with tears and I really felt the spirit strong. He has a great heart but is just too influenced too much by his bad friends. Other missionaries and the family that lives in the house have called him "Elder Cottrell's project". Meaning basically "good luck" because no other missionary or member has ever been able to get him to change. I'll be honest, I was and still am determined to help him change his life around. I told him that I would be looking forward to seeing him at church the next day. He always says 'maybe... maybe' - this time I told him "there is no maybe Theo, tomorrows the day. I really don't want to leave church just to walk to your house and get you out of bed. You're out of excuses. I love you man but you have got to come tomorrow". He looked at me for a while, right in the eye and said "you know what? you're a pushy little bugger. But you know me and know that I need that push, I love you man" .

Sunday - Sewed button on Theos pants - $5

Gave him a tie and 2 shirts- $60

Gave him a pack of black socks- $15

Gave him water, sunflower seeds, and other food- $10

Getting him to come to church for the first time in 30 years? Priiiiiiceless

I can't even express how happy I was when I saw theo ride up to the church building as we greeted people before sacrament. He was on his best scwhinn bike, had his hair combed, wearing the pants I sewed and the shirt I gave him. He locked up his bike and walked inside. I yelled to him "Theo!", he turned around with a grin a waved and walked to the back bench inside the chapel. I sat right next to him and was sure to share my hymn book and scriptures with him. He had alcohol on his breath with way too much aftershave on but regardless - he was at church. Ironic enough, his brother and sister-in-law were speaking in sacrament. That was so good for him to hear their testimonies - I think it meant alot to him. I just prayed the entire meeting that he would feel the spirit and have the desire to become better. He only stayed for sacrament but I could have cried for how happy I was that he came. We're getting the job done with the Lord, slowly but surely He is changing his heart. Later that night we were riding home from an apointment that fell through when a man came running out of a bar to the sidewalk saying "Elders! Elders!", we pulled over to find out that his truck was broken and was getting towed. He was a member of the church but hasn't been in a really really long time. He was with some friends outside of the bar - as we walked up to them he said to them "I'm not ashamed of these men, they preach the truth. I am going to pray with them that the repair for my truck won't be too costly. You may bow your heads if you want, but don't judge us". Elder Sung and I were shocked to say the least. We've never really participated in blessing an... object. He prayed, we told him to get to church and told him what he's missing out on. He admitted to a heavy drinking problem but wants to come back. We've got another person to teach!

Monday- We biked. The whole day. It was smokin hot outside. I'm looking more and more like the people I teach (sunnnnny). We taught a homeless man in the park that made it all the way out here from New York. He had alot to tell us. We actually first met him on Sunday where he wandered into the church building. He went to two sacrament meetings and was really interested. We met him in the park and taught him about the Restoration and had him pray right then and there for an answer. I gave him a pare of some sweat pants that I dont use and a thing of crackers. He sleeps by the railroad tracks and doesn't know anyone. It breaks my heart to see people like this. I just want to help them. I've soon found out that the best thing I can really do for them right now is pray and tell them about the Gospel.

Tuesday- I'm out of time on the computer so i'll make it quick - we helped a family move that is headed to hawaii - one of my favorites - the moeai's- i sent a picture of them. I'll miss them for sure. We taught the Ifopo's again and had them ask us any questions or concerns they had before they get baptized. They're so great at following up on any commitments and talking about how they've progressed since we' taught them last. I'm so excited for their baptism.

Thank you again for all you are doing. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for all you do for me. You're great examples to me and i'm so grateful to be your grandson.