show details 3:49 PM (10 hours ago) |
Getting hot here in L.A.
1-18-11
Today I went on splits with Elder Bluth to his area in Compton/South Central/Watts. We are putting together a new ward list for South Gate because it is super out-dated. (my exact address is 4267 N. Carlin dr. Lynwood, CA - for dad) We are visiting everyone on the list and seeing if they actually live there or what their status in general is. So in Elder Bluth's area, that's what we did. None of the people we tried actually lived there. Progress atleast. We taught a lesson to a family on Hope. It went really well, they are getting baptized soon. We sang awkwardly on a lady's porch that is mad at the missionaries because they made her boyfriend move out so he could get baptized. She walked into the other room while we were singing- fun. Elder Bluth teaches a Book of Mormon class on tuesday nights so I went with him to that. It was a pretty good day of work.
1-19-11
Today we woke up and played basketball outside at the court by Elder Bluth's apartment. It was cold and I was sick. But it was fun. I went back to Lynwood after studies and we took off - there is a womens contact football league that practices at a park by our apartment. Neat right? Those ladies are ginormous. We again worked on finding everyone on the ward list with litte success. At one house we knocked on there was a sign that said 'beware of dog'.. with a long driveway. We couldnt see any dog though so we walked inside the gate. We got to another gate that again had another sign that read 'beware of dog'.. I still couldnt see one so I walked inside. I took a few steps and saw around the corner a huge pitbul, asleep in the sun. I looked at my companion and whispered "dog. go back!" He looked at me confused and then saw the dog. We tip-toe-ran as fast as we could out of there. We were both terrified but it was pretty funny. We woulda got 'torn ta pieces'. We met some really good people to go back and teach. I got another flat tire so we spent some time at the gas station fixing it. We taught a guy that we met on the street - he seemed really poor when we met him so when we followed the address to a super nice house, we were more than a little confused. Sure enough it was his house. An older latino man with a super nice house - in the middle of the ghetto. He wants us to teach him - he's a very humble guy and like I said, you'd never know he was loaded by the way he looks.
1-20-11
We did weekly planning today - it's always super long and you know I don't like it but it helps alot. I just wanted to be outside the whole time - it was super sunny and just felt like a spring day. We ate dinner with Lalo - he's doing really well as a recent convert along with his kids. We talked with an inactive member that we found on the ward list. He's really old and doesn't consider himself a member - he doesn't even remember much at all about the church. But he was really nice, sincere and wants us to teach him more. Hopefully we can help to get him back on the right track.
1-21-11
More trainings today - at about 4 o'clock I went on splits with Elder Billat in my area. We visited an investigator that we have - Krystal. She's 21 and is super interested in the church. She went to a wedding at the temple (obviously didnt go inside) and wanted to learn more about it. She recently joined a Christian church and is seriously confused. It was great to clear some things up for her. She wants us to teach her - she took notes and read and answers questions. I have high hopes for her. She even said that when she finds out that its true, she'll be baptized. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with Dennis - good thing he was alone and there weren't alot of distractions - he really liked it! Hopefully he comes to church! Ate at the Tortilleria tonight because our dinner appointment canceled - oh well I enjoy those tacos!
1-22-11
Correlation today - again started an hour late. Bummer to waste time! On the way home last night a link in my chain broke. Woo Hoo! So today we walked to get another one. Good thing they are cheap. We taught a new guy we recently looked into. Rico. He somehow knows a ton about the church.. Good no doubt. He committed to read and pray! Solid. We taught a guy named Jose that we recently gave a restoration pamphlet to. He had read it and wrote down notes in the back. We were really excited about that but once we started to teach him we soon found out that he wasn't interested, just likes to stay busy so he thought he'd do it. Bummer :/ We went to see Darin - hoping that we'd be able to sit down and teach him as we have yet to do that. We rode up and saw that he was having a birthday party outside with some friends. We ate some bbq and then left - he was just drinking the whole time and we could see that we weren't going to be able to teach him anything today. Double bummer! We were able to go with Sister Rodriguez, her daughter and nephew to the Visitors Center. They lost their husband/father/uncle about a year ago and have taken it pretty hard. It was such a great experience to be there with them. They, and myself were very touched by the things we felt and saw.
1-23-11
I always look forward to church on sundays. It's a way for me to just relax and learn. I never thought i'd say that - but it's true. Although none of our investigators showed up, I had reason to be happy. We met a lady named Joanna on a border street of our area. We sat outside with her for about an hour and taught her the plan of salvation - her first question before we taught was "What happens when we die"? Uhh... could you get anymore perfect to teach? I submit that you cannot. I gave her a Book Of Mormon with Jesse Law's testimony in the front of it. Sweet! We went to the Galeas' home - they asked me to bless their house because a bad spirit had been seen/felt. That was the first time i've done that and a really powerful experience!
1-24-11
We went to find more people for the ward list - we found a lady that wants us to teach her. Bonus! I gave her a Book of Mormon with Jessica Hansen's testimony in the front and she promised to read and pray. We went to teach Rico again - we were going to watch the Restoration DVD but his player ate the DVD. Dang. We taught him pretty well, he promised that he'd get baptized if he came to know it is true! Things are finally picking up! We taught Jesus, his wife and friend in his garage about the Restoration. They own a party supply business and are really fun people. My spanish is finally getting better now that I use it all the time. We ate with Lalo again - I had a Serrano pepper - burned me BAD. Also not fun releasing it into the ... wild. We talked to some homeless guys on street - we bought them some dinner at Tom's. That felt really good! We also met a member that is preparing for a mission and is willing to go on splits with us. Good day!
1-25-11
After studies we went to find people on the list... again. It was a beautiful day - 80 degrees and sunny. We almost got eaten by a couple of German Shepherds that miraculously didnt come to the front yard until we shut the gate and were on the outside. Scary. We taught Luis about the Book of Mormon - he consider's himself a drunk but wants to change. It was a good lesson! We ran into another lady that said to come back later - when we did, we started teaching her and introduced the Book of Mormon - she thought we were Catholic. Oh well, she said we could still teach her. I hope she can find out the truth for herself!
Well thats it! I love you all, have a good week!
Love,
Elder Cottrell
No comments:
Post a Comment