MyEgyptian friend from the old folks home
My Russian friend from the old folks home.
The needy.
The homeless like music too.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Photos Dec. 12, 2011
Happy Birthday Elder Cottrell
Tuesday 12-13-11
Today we went to Santa Monica College to try our new finding idea - we set up our table and put some material on it. We were able to talk to a ton of kids - it was a really good success I think! I talkted to one kid that said he was in a rehab home - he was going down the wrong path and was just trying to figure out what God wants for him. His parents are buddhist - he felt that if the Christian religion was true, that it wouldn't be just for his parents to be sent to hell - he was super happy to hear about the plan of salvation. We will have a hard time contacting him because he is in the home and can't have visitors - but I know that one day he will get baptized. We helped brother Ramos install a washer - that was fun to learn about. We ate with some members from the singles ward. - they put a giant '2' candle in my ice cream for my birthday tomorrow. Bonus.
12-14-11
Today we did some service down by the beach for the old folks - always a rewarding experience. Some of the sisters made me a cake for my birthday - that was really nice of them. They all gave me a card signed by all of the visitors center sisters. They're pretty awesome. We went to Baby Blues bbq for my birthday lunch. It was really good - but still nothing beats Holy Smoke from Layton... We met Abel at the V.C. and he took us for some frozen yogurt. - We watched Mr. Krugers Christmas with Hua at the V.C. - he kind of liked it. We ate with some members in the spanish ward - they took us to a Thai place to eat and then to get more frozen yogurt. It was a long day of eating. I got some awesome things from home - Grandma and Grandpa sent me some things including a famous red velvet cake - holy smokes that was awesome to get. Mom and dad sent me some great stuff to last me the last couple months of my mission - i've got a great family. 22 years old ...
12-15-11
The day after your birthday is always kind of depressing - you've got a whole year before your next one. Good thing we celebrate Jesus's birthday alot sooner than that. We went to the Santa Monica Institute for finals week and ate lunch - then we did some weekly planning. We tried to see a referral that lives at 100 California Ave - right on the beach. She wasn't home but there was a rainstorm so we took a few pictures of the sunset by the ocean - it was pretty cool. We spent the next hour in traffic on Santa Monica blvd - trying to head east. Pretty impossible around 5 pm. We drove 2 miles in an hour and got to our dinner - then we taught Hua at the church. It was an awesome lesson. We helped him realize his testimony of the B.O.M - which in turn gives him a testimony of God - it was awesome. He was super excited. He said that he would pray about being baptized - that's such a big step with him.
12-16-11
District meeting day - I went on splits with Elder Hall in my area. We went to the district meetings and they both went well. We have so much mail for the zone - we have 0 space in our car for anything. We ate with a member in the singles ward - we made breakfast - it was pretty good. We taught Israel at the V.C. - we watched the restoration. He's sort of struggling.
12-17-11
Today was fun - we went to the hospital to give Austin another blessing. He is getting ANOTHER heart surgery. He's really having a hard time. We went into the hospital room - he was on the bed with a ton of tubes and things going inside of him. I was fine for a couple minutes, then sat down because I got light headed.. then passed out. That was sweet. I woke up to nurses yelling in my face and asking me what my name was, if I had medical issues and yelling at doctors to take me to the ER. All I could say was 'no, don't, i'm fine' - I am such a girl. I sat there for a few minutes to catch my breath - we gave the blessing and then left. I got super sick about an hour later and had to go back to the apartment and rest - I had a huge headache and just felt super nausiated. Bummer. We went to the La Cienega christmas party for a while and ate dinner there - that was fun. Then we went to dinner with a member in the singles ward - he got off his mission 2 years ago but still has a ton of fire - he spilt everything he knows about missionary work in about an hour - it was way funny and pretty useful.
12-18-11
Church today - another day of meetings. We weren't able to take the sacrament because of all the meetings we had. We had the stake report meeting with Pres. Vansweeden, the stake pres., pres. baker and ourselves. It's a stressful one. I spent the last week getting a ton of information from the missionaries in the zone - got there and found out that it was basically useless. There was some mis-communication and we didnt' get the right form for the meeting - I was super frustrated with the A.P.'s because we didnt have the information we were supposed to - oh well, nothing we can do. They seemed to understand. I did everything I could. Hua WROTE a rendition of Jingle Bells in a day and played it in sacrament - it was amazing. That guy is a genius. We went to the hospital again to give Austin the sacrament - we were able to take it there. It worked out perfectly. And I didnt faint.
I love you all and will talk to you this Sunday! Merry Christmas!
Elder Cottrell
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Christmas is coming!
11-29-11 Tuesday
Today we had our zone leader council down in torrance - we talked about a new Standard of Excellence for 2012. We discussed certain goals we would like to achieve personally and as a mission. We decided a baptismal goal as well for the year of 2012. It was a pretty good meeting over-all - but i'm sure we need to really pray about the standards and goals we have set before we put them in stone. We taught Hua at the visitors center tonight - he hates testimony meeting, so we talked to him about that. We watched Elder Hollands testimony about the B.O.M he gave in conference a while ago - it is so powerful. After explaining what it is, Hua gained a new appreciation for testimony and said he will stay for the meeting now every fast sunday. I interviewed one of the sisters investigators for baptism this coming saturday. There were some things that I didn't feel very good about and asked for a second interview. She passed and will be baptized. She really has an amazing story - she is from the phillipines and is what you call 'golden' when it comes to investigator status. She has a great testimony.
11-30-11
Service today went great - I took Gwynn around - she was just happy to be outside. We ate lunch near venice beach afterwards and had a good time getting yelled at by some people over there - I guess we kind of asked for it... going into their territory 'n all. Oh well - good experience. We planned for some trainings that we found out we will be doing on thursday and friday and then ate with the Ramos's. I'm gonna have to invite them back to Utah for sure - they are awesome.
12-1-11
We trained the westwood zone today on 'listen, discern and teach' - they seemed to enjoy it and I felt the spirit - so i'll give that a 'bonus'. We weekly planned for an hour and then taught Hector and his mother the first couple steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He really wants to get baptized but he wants to wait for his wife to do it as well - we haven't even been able to meet her yet because she works all during the day. He is confident that she will accept it though. Elder Matheson burnt his mouth on some soup we ate monday... like really really bad. The top of his mouth is charred... the skin is peeling and its super nasty. He doesnt have any taste buds or something so he didnt recognize how hot it was when we were eating it.. he's in some pain. We had a good lesson with Hua and helped him to realize that he HAS FELT THE SPIRIT. It was awesome! He still is not convinced completely though.. He's getting there.
12-2-11
We taught fundamentals again today for 3 hours. I think it went a little better than yesterday - it was our zone and another one. We ate with the Gonzalez family and Pres. Baker called for some advice on what to do for transfers next week with some of the missionaries in the zone. We taught Marianna, her mom and her dad. We watched the Restoration - they didnt have the remote for their dvd player so we had to watch it in english - but they retold the story to us in spanish pretty well. They liked it and said they would watch it again - we want to get them to the V.C. while the lights are up. They have alot of potential.
12-3-11
Saturdays are so stinkin long some times - we never seem to have many appointments. We ate breakfast with some members - that was rare but really fun. Then we got asked to go give a blessing at the UCLA medical center - there is a boy there from Utah that has had over 10 surgeries on his heart since he was born - he's 16. I got kind of light-headed and had to sit down.. I hate that I can't handle that stuff. Anyway, this is supposed to be his last surgery until he is well over 50. He was asleep but we talked with his parents for a while - they are from spanish fork and were really kind. I could tell that they have a great spirit in their family. He is a wrestling coach and had heard of Johnson - his last name is Span. We went to Gabrielle's baptism today - it went great. She is happy as can be. We helped bro and sister ramos make a cake and shoveled some more mulch for them. They really are the happiest couple in the world - I asked brother ramos what the key is to his happy marriage as I was shoveling manure.. He shared some really great insight and advice that i'll hold close to me as I go throughout life.
12-4-11
Church started off early again today - Hector and Brian came - they loved it ! Hector enrolled Brian in scouts and he has already been twice. They are doing great and the ward is really helping and making them feel comfortable. Hua came to church as well and even bore his testimony in elders quorum - I was not expecting that. It was so awesome. He told us later that he really enjoyed it and he felt something 'different' as he did it. He took us to the departing missionary fireside later on - there are a couple of my good friends going home this transfer and I was able to see some people i've really come to love over the past time in my mission - from different area's of my mission. It was good, but hard at the same time. The zone did really well this week as far as numbers are concerned - we are hoping for alot of success during the holiday's!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Keep reading, keep praying, keep the faith
Love, Elder Cottrell
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thanksgiving Week 2011
11-22-11 Tuesday
Today we had mission-leadership-training - we sat for 6 hours with the leaders of the mission and got a long talk about how we really aren't doing enough. It was super rough. Everyone left the meeting feeling pretty down.. Oh well - sometimes it's hard to face the music - but you still gotta face it. That took up most of the day - we visited a less-active member that is kind of losing it upstairs - bless his heart. Rough day today.. i'm grateful for prayer.
11-23-11
Today we went to the civic center in santa monica to help with a service - well, to set up a service. We moved some things for a huge celebration tomorrow to help out the needy and homeless. There will be about 4,000 people there trying to get clothes, dental exams, food and other medical help. We had a good lesson with Hua - we talked about the Atonement of Jesus Christ - he didn't understand a few things, but we felt like we cleared them up pretty well. He said he gained a much bigger appreciation for Him and all He did for us. I'm grateful for Him.
11-24-11
Today we went to the civic center again to help with the 'celebration'. There were a ton of volunteers there - too many infact. They asked a small group of us to go into the clothing section and 'mess things up to create jobs for other volunteers...' seriously. I knocked over a pile of pants and then picked it back up because I felt too bad for messing it up. They put Elder Ewing and I in charge of training volunteers - so ten minutes after the hour, every hour, we'd get a group of about 50 volunteers and yell our guts out over the noise to get them trained - it was pretty fun. We were incharge of the servers and waiters - there was alot of really grateful people there - it was an awesome experience. We ate with a family in the spanish ward - I was sceptical at first but then learned that it was so so stinkin good. We had all of the same food that we eat at home on thanksgiving - it was really way good. I wish I would have bought a turkey. We even contributed with an ugly jello mold that we made yesterday. No one ate it - oh well. I'm grateful for thanksgiving
11-25-11
We had good district meetings today - I didn't have to train on anything but I learned a whole lot from the other trainings. We had them themed to setting baptismal dates and sorting through our teaching pools to find those really ready to be taught and baptized. We helped a family move some mulch into their backyard - it was way fun to do some yard work for a minute. They are probably my favorite family in the area - they're the one's with the super happy marriage. They're gonna need to come to my wedding in Utah when that day comes. I'm grateful for hard work.
11-26-11
We taught Hector the plan of salvation - he loved it. He and his son Brian are doing great. I'm excited for them to get baptized soon. We taught Marianna, her dad and boyfriend about the Restoration - they grasped it all really well. - she made us a CD of her singing spanish songs. I don't understand them super well, but she is pretty good ha. We visited a less-active member and got super down... He brought us into his kitchen and showed us that he has nothing to give his kids, he is having troubles with his wife and lost his job. It was so so sad.. I wish I could do something for them so bad. We just prayed and prayed..
I'm grateful for the gospel.
11-27-11
We had our stake meeting today with Pres. Baker - it went pretty well. They are doing everything different now - on a new system - so we basically just looked over numbers and learned the new way. Glad to have that meeting done. The wards were super small today - everyone is gone for the holiday. I think when the time comes to go to just 3 hours of church, i'll think it's short. 7 am to 5 30 pm is just too long. But I'm grateful for it.
That was the week - today we played kickball and presented the new zone goal to the zone - we will wash the car and do some shopping at the dollar store. Exciting I know.
I love you all
Elder Cottrell
Monday, November 21, 2011
Torchin' Tommy: Week 3.
11-15-11 Tuesday
Sometimes I really really don't want to write in my journal - but I know that i'll be glad I did. Whenever I don't feel like it, I think of dad's counsel before I left... "write in your journal EVERY DAY.. " Guess i'll just keep doing it. We met with Aphrodite at the church and taught the plan of salvation - she got really excited when she learned that we believe in more than just heaven and hell - I really hope she will be baptized on Dec. 4th. - she's promised to work hard to meet that goal. We decided to do some fishing afterwards - we got rejected really unusually hard like 10 times in a row.. it was weird. But I thought back to every time things like that have happened before and realized that it's just the storm before the sunshine... about the 12th door we knocked on let us in - Rudolpho. We talked with him about the plan of salvation - he's a really good guy - fed us and everything. I'm so glad that when I have tough times I can recognize that it's usually a test from God to see if i'll keep working hard to get the blessing that He has for me. Things didn't run so smoothly the next lesson... We taught John the word of wisdom - he hated it. Bummer. BUT we DID teach Hua the law of chastity.. and he loved it. Really it was sort of odd. He asked us 'do you have anything else like this that you can teach me??' - nope... we saved that lesson for the very last. Darn it. Oh well, atleast we know he's going to keep all committments.
11-16-11
We had a good service today with the old folks. I helped push Erna around... she's a really funny lady. We met with the district leaders and talked about a zone goal for december - it was less than effective. Bummer. Hector said that he loved church and that we was going to buy church clothes for his son brian so that they could keep coming - bonus. We taught a couple less-active families - they both committed to come to church this sunday. I hope they do - they need the blessings no doubt.
11-17-11
Did I ever mention that I wake up early to go run every morning? I hate the mornings... and I don't like running that much.. it's not a good combination. But it's good for me. We watched Together Forever with Hector - he really liked it and wants to show it to his family. His mom is in town from Guatemala and is strick catholic - I don't think she likes us a ton. The guy is like 50 though - he can decide for himself i'm pretty sure. We met and taught a lady from india that nods her head from side - to -side instead of up and down.. it's different. She's really really nice and said she wants us to come back. Bonus. Hua invited us over to eat again tonight - we made some 'dim-sum' and some other chinese dishes - it was way good. Then we found out that he made some of the stuff with wine after we ate it... gettin tipsy on my mission... whoops. We're pretty sure it cooked out though. He's doing so so well - he had some more questions about the law of chastity - he really thinks it's the best thing since canned tuna.. no lie. Good for him.
11-18-11
Frustrating morning with appointments canceled. Oh well, we had some good district meetings. I trained on using members in the conversion of investigators - I used a candle to roast a marshmallow and made an analogy that marshmallows aren't any good unless they are heated.. you have to melt them to put them in rice crispy treats, roast them to make a smore, etc.. I said that investigators are no good unless they have a good member to help them out. It was pretty funny I think. We had a meeting with the bishop in the spanish ward - we shared with him our 'vision' for the ward and got his thoughts on how to work with him most effectively.
11-19-11
We went to a baptism this morning - Sheldon. After he got baptized, we all went into the chapel and watched he and his girlfriend get married. That's a pretty big day i'd say... get baptized then get married.. it was a really small wedding and just a few of the kids from the institute came, but they looked happy. Brenda Rodriguez was with the sisters.. she was on her mini-mission. I baptized her and her mother back in July - it was awesome to once again see that the work I did in the past, actually did something for someone. Does that make sense? I'm really glad she is still active - that's what I meant to say. We ate at a Lebanese restaurant with a member in the singles ward - it gave me a headache but was pretty good.
11-20-11
Well we had 4 investigators at church today - hector, brian, aphrodite and hua - it was ultimate - we torched our tommy... we won the competition for the 3rd week in a row. The zone needs to step it up! Nah they're doing great - we are just unstoppable or something. Anyway, it was a good day of church. I really got alot out of the lessons that were taught.
I'm so so grateful for all of my family, friends and loved ones. So many times I have realized that without all of them, I would be nothing - or atleast I would HAVE nothing. I really am so blessed. Sometimes it's hard to see that with the hard work that we do.. But even to have clothes on our backs and somewhere to sleep is SUCH an amazing blessing in itself. I'm so grateful that I have this gospel in my life - and that i'm actually doing something with it. I love you all and hope you have a great thanksgiving!
Love, Elder Cottrell
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Pictures 2011
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| Bugle fingers |
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| MTV headquarters |
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| Huge ugly spider |
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| Attached to car. gross |
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| Leah Lunt, from K-town came to visit the VC and I was there! |
Pictures 10-19
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| Kazandra, Mama Ampelia, & I @ fireside |
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| Denito w/ balls, (southgate) |
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| Fancy |
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| when I accidentally cut my ear... |
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| wilhemilmina! Agency I worked for before my mission in SLC |
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| coolest van in the city |
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| Collin (Bob) after baptism |
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| Beahos family from Southgate |
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| Allison's baptism |
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| E. Maddox, Allison and I |
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