Hot September!

Hows it goin? Thanks for your letter, it's always so good to hear from you. Sounds like you've had a fun week with Cami and the kids. I hear you're headed to Michigan soon too maybe? I haven't had any appoinments to see about my stomach but I go back to the Dr. on thursday for my finger. It feels alot better so hopefully I wont have to wear this thing for a whole 3 to 5 weeks longer. How was the relief society conference? I haven't heard anything about it other than the Prophet spoke and did really well.... Saw Sinbad again eh? I'm sure you and dad have even MORE of his material memorized and just sit there in the car on your long drives and repeat it to each other and laugh... good times. I'll be watching conference at the stake center. It's technically my 2nd conference in my mission but you're right, the first one in the field. I hit 7 months the other day - crazy crazy. P day is still on mondays but all of the libraries are closed so they gave us permission to mail on tuesdays. I'm sure our pday will change sooner or later but for now expect emails on tuesdays.

Wednesday-

We had interviews with President Baker. He's got a lot of missionaries to visit with so he kept them to about 5 minutes each. We didn't talk about a whole lot, just how my area is and how me and my companion are doing. He's a really good guy for sure. We had lunch at Sister Greens' and had beef stew with pineapple cake - both a first for me on my mission thus far but reminded me of home for sure. Then we went to dinner with Sister Hurst to the Carson buffett. She lives in an 'old folks home' so she called a taxi to come get us from there. I thought that was interesting. We visited Theo later on and then Franco. Both of them are going through some hard times so i'm sure we'll be over there more this week.

Thursday-

We found a nice farmers market down the road from our apartment and had some lunch there. There was a couple selling different kinds of peanuts - and they were white - so we thought we'd see what they were up to here in Wilmington... selling peanuts. Turns out they had a couple of missionaries about 3 years ago helping them set up their tent and prepare for the business day once a week. SO we've got a new apointment on thursday afternoon's. They aren't members but they were very friendly and open to us - plus they gave us each a free bag of peanuts. Nice. We had dinner at a members' house - one of my favorite. I don't think i've mentioned them before though? The fuilefau's. Anyway, it's always nice to see them - they've always been close with the missionaries. We're trying to get Elder Hirshberg in shape - he weighs a good 250 lbs but has already lost 30 in the last 6 months or so. So we're running 2.6 miles every day - he wants to surprise his mom when he gets off the plane in april - so that's keeping all that food I eat off of my muscle ha.

Friday-

District meeting today. The weather was really really hot - we went to In N Out for lunch and couldn't even stand to sit outside. We met with Tony - a guy that came up to us on the street to ask us what we're all about. He's more curious about different religions than anything else but I have some high hopes for him.

Saturday-

We had the district come over to our area to do a 'blitz' in hopes of finding people that are interested that speak ENGLISH. Tough luck - we got 3 names. Better than nothing though so I can't complain. We actually ran into a girl that seems really interested in the church. We went back to see her today but she had just got her wisdom teeth out so we couldn't talk much. The weather was even hotter than the day before. Everyone is sayin that it's time for an earthquake. It hasn't been this hot all summer long and now that its fall it is blazin.

Sunday-

Guess who came to church... drunk... Theo. Not so cool. Church is at 9 a.m. . what in the world was he doin drinking that early? Why was he drinking at all? Anyway I was pretty upset with him but didn't tell him off. He was being kind of loud in sacrament and I had to keep telling him to be quiet.. Theo Theo.. If you have any advice let me know. When we got home from church a big accident happened outside our window so I watched that unfold while we ate lunch. Interesting. We went to the Bishops' for dinner and taste-tested his wife's brownies. They are really feeding us well out here so don't ever think i'm not getting fed ha. We visited the Hannemanns and talked with them for a while about the ward. Layne isn't our ward mission leader anymore - kinda bummed about that but they need him in the young mens.

Monday-

Didn't do a whole lot - Went to President Chen's again. The one with the huge huge house. We bowled there and played some ping pong. We 'chilled' at Elder Hodell's apartment and tried to stay out of the heat. We had F.H.E with the Lopez's, you know how much I love going over there. I gave the lesson on the atonement. I can't tell you how grateful I am to even be able to teach that as you know that I couldn't when I was in the mtc. I used an object lesson with some rusty pennies and a nail - I won't explain the whole thing but the rust from the pennies comes on to the nail. I'm sure you can figure out how I related that to the atonement.

Today we rode to a members' house to give a blessing, then we walked. A lot. It's not AS hot today so we're taking advantage of it and trying to see as many people as we can. I love you and hope you have a good week!

Love,

Elder Cottrell

Broken finger! Sept. 21, 2010

Hey hows it goin? 

Wednesday-

We walked over to sister Green's house - i'm sure i've mentioned her before- oldest and only white lady in Wilmington and has been feeding the missionaries for the last 20 years. We always love going over there, sharing a message and listening to the stories she has for us about other missionaries, her family or the history of the city. I called every member that lives in Wilmington to try and get some kind of help - maybe a referral, a visit or anything. Only 2 of the 20 answered and they were busy. Bummer. The Samoan kid 'guppy' that cut my hair real nice a few months back cut my hair again so I look like his samoan buddies. Nice. Later he invited us to a bbq at one of his friends' churches. It was just a bunch of highschool kids so it was a good chance to clear up anything they might have heard about the church - and it was free food. Good day.

Thursday-

One of Elder Hirshbergs converts called him to ask us if we'd help him move a lady out of his house up in palos verdes. We got permission and he came to pick us up. We helped him for a couple hours and then he took us out to lunch - score. While we were walking I found a pair of Dockers on the sidewalk.. tags on and everything, just my size. They weren't dirty either.. curious right? I decided that if I washed them they'd be ok. I'm pretty happy about scoring a free pair of pants. We ate dinner at the Hannemanns - they're way sweet, i'm pretty sure i've mentioned them as well.

Friday-

District meeting - fun fun. We went to visit 3 referalls that we got from headquarters and none of them were home - bummer. We had dinner and correlation with our new ward mission leader. He just got off his mission about a year ago so he should be on top of things. We did a whole lot of walking today. It may not look like we're having much success but I know the Lord is looking out for us.

Saturday-

Walked about 5 miles to a members' house and talked with them about obeying the commandments. They have a 5 year old son that had just gotten in trouble for not cleaning his room so it was perfect ha. We tried to visit another member that we thought was close to this other house but ended up getting really really lost and far from home. We finally got back around our neck of the woods and just visited a family close by for a few minutes.

Sunday-

I talked in church on keeping covenants (I sent the talk home to you today so look for it), I thought it went pretty well but I realized I was going to have much more time to speak than they told me so I added to my talk while I was on the stand. Turned out a.o.k. We ate lunch at the apartment and then did some studying. We didn't have dinner so we went tracting. I had a few people ask me about what we were up to and was able to place a Book of Mormon. (Thank you for sending me all of those, they'll be a big help and i'll be sure to update you on who I give them to)

Monday-

p-day... We went to play football with some of the zone down by the docs. I've been wanting to play for a while really bad so I was pretty excited. After about a half hour I threw an interception- I grabbed the kid's shirt, aiming for his flags... It felt like I jammed my left ring finger a little bit but I'd still be able to play... until I looked down at it. I couldn't move it and it was bent really weird at my knuckle. All I said was 'oh dang, I broke my finger' ... it didn't hurt very bad, I was just really shocked. Elder Hodell took me to the hospital and we couldnt see a doctor for 2 hours so we just waited. I finally got in and took some xrays - they looked crazy - I took some pictures so you'll know what I mean. They gave me some shots and numbed my finger up, we filmed the doctor resetting my finger (snapping the bone back into place) -it was reallllly gross, it hurt and I almost passed out. Anyway I have to wear a little brace for the next 6 to 8 weeks. He said however that I am very lucky - that in almost every injury he's seen like this the patient had to get surgery. Luckily some of my tendon is still intact and he doesnt think i'll need surgery - that it'll just grow back. I'll go see him again on the 30th so hopefully it's still good. It's super stiff and swollen but i'm just grateful I didnt have to get the surgery. Crazy huh? We rode our bikes to the Romo's and they fed us 'real mexican food'... like I haven't had that yet.. ? Anyway it was really good but hard on my stomach since I had been pretty stressed all day and hadn't been able to eat. We had FHE and then called it a night. Fun times on the mission. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Love, Elder Cottrell

Sept. 13,2010 and new photos!

Hello,
This last week has been a challenging one. New area, no teaching pool, no english speakers = alot of tracting.
Tuesday-
Started to really get to know the area better. Elder Hirshberg and I did a whole lot of walking since my front tire had a leak. We looked for people to teach that spoke english EVERYWHERE. In ghetto little stores, parks, street corners, apartment complex's and restaurants. We were fortunate enough to find 3 people on a street reffered to us as english speaking. None of them had alot of time but they said we could come back. I really hope something comes of it.
Wednesday-
Got me a new bike tire and went over to good 'ol sister Greens' house. She's been having the missionaries over for lunch for almost 20 years every tuesday or wednesday. Now that we're in her area, that should be fun. I've mentioned her before - a couple months ago we'd go pick plums there. We made a huge loop from Wilmington blvd, up PCH to banning park to look for people there. A samoan lady pulled over just as we were getting to the park and gave us each a couple of water bottles. Im always so grateful for people helping us out. While we were walking, I had my head down and was talking to Elder Hirshberg - I almost peed my pants when a HUGE dog stuck it's head over a fence and barked at me. Seriously almost fell over. The mexican man that was sitting on his porch and watching all of this had a good laugh. We visited a couple of inactives (tried to visit) but none of them were home. It's rough going but atleast it was overcast. First time it's even sprkinkled since I got here in April.
Thursday-
Zone leaders came over at 9 to do companionship study with Elder Hirshberg and I. We studied in Preach My Gospel about teaching people and not lessons. I've mentioned this before but they've really changed the way that we teach since dad went on his mission. It's all by the spirit. Then we got my new tire on my bike because somehow I managed to pop a new one I had put on the day before and went on a nice ride to the bishops house. Everyone that we eat with lives pretty far out of our area so we've got to get a good head start. We talked with him about people he knows we could visit in our area and ate some food. He's been bishop for almost a year now and is getting adjusted. I always like saying "my dad was a bishop"
Friday-
Another tracting day. We tracted from 12 to about 5. We got a whole lot of refferals to give to the SPANISH speaking elders but only 2 for us to actually teach. 2 is better than none so i'll take it. We've run into alot of interesting people knocking doors. It's pretty fun. They're actually thinking about getting rid of tracting in my mission. Can you believe that? They want us to focus more on member work and getting refferals.. We'll see what happens. We went to the church for dinner. It was Elder Faase's homecoming party. He just got home from Guatamala. He is a Samoan and was really really big before his mission I guess but lost a whole ton of weight while he was out. It didn't make me as home sick as I thought it would. I was more focused on how good the food was I suppose. I only had a minute to talk to him - didn't give me much advice - just said he missed the mish.
Saturday-
There is a fair going on down our street and so we decided to go do some tracting there. We actually met a few people that have some potential! We were only there for about a half hour but people were coming up to us and asking who we were, etc. It was a great opportunity to share the Gospel and let people know what 'us Mormons' are all about. Today was my 200 day mark. Crusin right along. Another tracting day... ran into someone that told me BYU lost. . to airforce.. first time since 2003. My heart broke... I was pretty disgusted ha. Good thing i'm on my mission and don't need to worry about that jazz.
Sunday-
Went to church.. I'm only in the carson ward now but the samoan ward and the carson ward meet at the same time. The building out here is stinkin huge. Two chapels, two levels, just huge. Anwyay, since this Elder that just got home is a Samoan, the whole samoan ward was at his homecoming and there was really almost no one in the samoan ward, it was pretty funny. We met with the bishop and talked with him more about who we can visit and he gave us a couple of names. We went to the Saunders' for dinner and I felt my stomach start to hurt how it sometimes does when i'm getting my death sickness. I ate really quick and then hopped in my bike - immediately finding out that I was gonna be sick. We rode home and I jumped on the scale - knowing that I would be losing alot of weight in the coming hours. I was terribly sick from 6 pm to 6 am.. getting no sleep thanks to this sickness. Mom i'm kind of scared about what this is. No one can diagnose me and it's the worst pain in the world. Should I go to the doctor? I've talked to the mission doctor a few times and he just says to wait it out. I don't think he knows just how miserable it is.. I never had this before I was 18 - why do I get it so often now? Any advice would be really appreciated - it's death.
Monday-
I weighed myself to find I lost 5 lbs in the night and then finally got a couple hours of sleep. Fun. We went to the mall so that Elder Hirshberg could buy a couple of suits - I took it really easy to make sure I wouldn't get sick again. At 6 o'clock we had dinner with sister Meyers - meatloaf and costco potatoes. I wanted to eat a lot but I really couldnt fit hardly anything in my stomach. Everytime this happens I get so weak for a couple of days following. We finally got in touch with Rick - a less active in Wilmington. His wife has been in the hospital - we really hope we can help him and his family out. It's a part member family and we have an appointment with them later on.
Today -
If I had all of the money in the world, i'd bring it here to help all of the homeless. They break my heart. I always carry a snack in my backpack to give to them but I just wish I could do more. We were eating at Subway and I for some reason got a footlong... not thinking obviously that my stomach wouldn't hold it after being sick. I ate half of it just as a deaf homeless lady walked in. I don't understand sign but my companion does a little bit. She left without me knowing what was said. He said she was looking for food. I ran out of Subway but wasnt able to find her. I packed up the other half of my sandwich anyway and we left for the library. I prayed that I'd run into her or someone that I could give it to. Oddly enough, I found her and was able to give it to her. She, in sign language, said thank you with a smile. I'm so glad I have opportunities like those to help other people in this world. I know this Gospel is the truth and i'm doing what the Lord would have me do. I love you all,
Elder Cottrell

Sam's 3rd CD

Customize your own photo album

Please Pray for us all!

On Foot....IN Wilmington.....

Hello mother and everyone,
Did I already tell you that I got transferred? Well, kinda. My old
area just got split because it was way too big. We were over south
carson and wilmington and now i'm just over wilmington. Elder sung
stayed in the old apartment and I moved to a different one in
wilmington. Elder Hirshberg is my companion, he's been out for about
17 months and is from Holliday UT. He's a really funny guy. So we're
over 'little mexico' english speaking. It's considered a new area and
we're the first elders to open it up. Hard stuff to find people
speaking our language out here. We move by bike and foot - hard not to
have a car anymore but i'll get used to it.

Monday - went to Macaroni Grill with the Lopez's for Gerardo's
birthday. I don't know if I told you but i'm pretty close with that
family - my home away from home. Later that night back at their home I
was asked to give a blessing to Kazandra who will be starting up
school again here shortly. I was brought back to the memory of Dad
giving us all blessings before school started and then how he'd always
give you one as well so I explained that to Ampelia and gave her one.
It was such a good experience.. Not very describable.

Tuesday- Elder Sung and I went to visit Daniel in Scottsdale.. good
old scottsdale. Something always interesting happens when we're in
there. This time, as we were leaving Daniels place, 4 sherriffs came
speeding around the corner and jumped the speed bumps. The all went to
different spots on the street but surrounded a couple of houses. We,
being the curious kids that we are, went over to check it out and I
snuck a picture of a guy getting arrested - nice. There was a huge
drug bust. Guess it's not too uncommon there because they were
throwing 'brotha's' in the cop cars like candy in a basket. We were
walking back to the car and saw a middle aged latino poke his head
around the corner of a house and say 'oh nooo they are coming again!'
and then sort of scurried off with a limp to tell his buddies. We
turned around to see more cops coming our way. That was a good laugh.
I wish people would just NOT do drugs or illegal things. That'd be
nice.

Wednesday-
Went to my new apartment and got cleaning. It was a big mess for sure
but after a few hours we made it look alright. We went to Costco and
bought some groceries for the week , made some goals and planned out
the week. Elder Hirshberg and I have alot in common - all except for
one thing. He's a U of U fan... lame. We'll work through our
differences im sure. It was nice to hear that both byu and utah won
their season openers.

Thursday-
We ate lunch at the Hannemans and worked out a new plan to attack
wilmington and smoke out all of the inactive english speakers in the
area. We're doing our best. We went to visit Theo one last time and
had him tune up my bike - in return we bought him an ice cream from
Fosters Freeze down the road. I really hope Elder Sung keeps on him
about Church and quitting all his bad habits. Elder Hirshberg and I
have a balcony that looks over the street - we play guitar after
planning at night and 'howl at the moon' - it's real nice.

Friday-
I got up from saying my prayers and turned around only to see Elder
Hirshberg wearing a sombrero, a mexican shirt and holding a baseball
bat - standing behind me. He's a morning person - as you know, i'm
not. We'll see how that goes. I got a good laugh out of that random
act though. We did alot of tracting that day and turned out with some
luck. 2 new investigators i'm pretty excited about. Hopefully they
pull through.

Saturday-
We watched "Together Forever" with the Nickel family and talked about
being united with one another. We did some more tracting without as
much luck as we had the day before. We went over to the Lopez's and
cut their grass again with a weed wacker. That's a tough job if you
haven't done it before. Kazandra made us some super good chile relleno
while we were working - I was real happy about that as you know how
much I like food. You'll definitely have to meet this family after my
mission - they mean alot to me.

Sunday -
We had a family show up at church, it was way good to see them there.
All of the testimonies were just what they needed to hear. Elder Sung
is teaching that family now so I hope they keep on it. We went with
Ampelia, Kazandra and Gerardo to the new visitors center at the
temple. It was way way good. There is so much to do there and so many
things to help people that don't know about the church to understand
what it's really about. You should do some research on it, its
amazing. We had dinner with the romos later and had tamales that were
way good, they're such a cool family.
Monday-
I'm out of time so I'll tell you next week. Love you!
Elder cottrell

Sam and Pres. & Sister Baker