Congratulations Laci & Daniel!

Congratulations Laci and Daniel!

 

Tuesday 2-22-11

Today was our walking day for the week - I think we'll do this every tuesday now. We met with Joanna and had a great lesson with her. She believes that the Book of Mormon could be true and wants to receive an answer if it is or not. We talked with Ricardo for a little while- he was out working on his car. He doesn't feel happy, doensn't have peace and wants to change, but isnt' willing to. He's entirely addicted to alcohol. I'm not a very good counselor with this kind of stuff but I know what miracles prayer can bring forth. We had a lesson with two new investigators - Norma and Jose from El Salvador. They've been here for just about 4 months and are just trying to make it. It was a really great lesson on the Restoration - I feel like they're going to get baptized soon.

 

2-23-11

After planning today we went and talked with Patrice - she said that when she comes to know that everything is true, she will change her life and be baptized. Bonus. We talked to one of the drunk guys from the other day - Sergio. While we were talking to him, at different times, his mom and his sister came out and begged us to help him, saying that he is in love with his alcohol and nothing else. Sad. He wants to change - we'll see how much. We ate at Tom's for dinner and then on our way to a members', Elder Watkins felt like we shold go see Dennis and Jennifer. We went over there to find all of them super sick. We were able to bless all of them - Jennifer felt completely better by the end of the lesson - her faith honestly amazes me. Dennis is backing off alot - it's sad to see him break such a big promise with his family and God. When we left, we saw a rat trying to escape the complex. (sorry mom but I gotta tell this) Elder Watkins cornered is with his bike and messed around with it.. It started running towards me so I just kicked it... super hard. It flew 10 feet and hit the metal gate and started making a bunch of noises. I was laughing and then felt pretty bad. It ran towards me again and I just let it pass me.. Hopefully someone in there likes rats!

 

2-24-11

My official year mark.. Can't believe it. We had Zone Conference in Palos Verdes with Peninsula zone. It was so stinkin long. 7 am to almost 5. Meetings aren't my favorite. It was a really good conference though - really focused on obedience. Afterwards we ate dinner at a members' house and then did some fishing. Long day.

 

2-25-11

It started to rain in the morning and was really cold. We did some fishing to start off the day and then talked with Sergio - his spanish is SUPER hard to understand. He just mumbles - honestly does not open his mouth. STOP DRINKING. Jeez. We ate dinner with the Ramirez family - they are in a part of our new area - they're a really great family. We taught about tithing and they all committed to pay. We went to Ricardo's afterwards. After we prayed, the first thing he says is "so derron williams now plays for the nets".. that was an awesome way to distract me from the super important lesson we were about to have. I tried as best as I could to get it out of my mind. We had a good lesson with him about the BOM. We visited Lalo and Jave tonight - both are struggling.

 

2-26-11

After correllation today we road in the freezing weather to Hermano Valladares' house. He's really old and I think has alzheimers. He's a good guy though and we really want him to get back to church. His wife is super Catholic and loves to decorate the home with the Virgin. :) don't get me started on the Virgin. We ate with Sister Romero - they are so stinkin poor. She does all she can for the church - I really admire that. We met with Norma and Jose again - they committed to be baptized on Mar. 13! Sweet!!! Pray for them. Then we went to a Chinese restaurant with a member - Panda House - the owner was chinese but spoke spanish as well - the menu was in chinese and spanish... I think i'm in mexico.

 

2-27-11

CHURCH day. I love church. Never thought I would but I really look forward to it every week. We talked with Sergio and his Catholic friends about the Saints. That was fun - oh man i'm out of time. It was a really good day - I love you all - Have a good week!

Love, Elder Cottrell

Feb 21, 2011

Hey everyone, hope your week was as good as mine-
2-15-11 Tuesday
Today we walked - the weather was good and we were sick of biking. We
went to Rafaela's first and taught her on her porch. She says she
wants to feel the church is true super bad but just hasn't received
and answer to her prayers yet. All she could think about was her
nephew that had ran away a couple days earlier and she hadn't seen him
yet. We prayed that he would come home. We ate at our favorite
tortilleria and then went to see patrice - we talked to her for a
minute and then to a crossing guard by the school. Right when we got
done talking to her we saw Jesus - Rafaela's grandson - walk by. We
stopped him and told him that his grandma was really missing him and
that he needed to go home. He said he was going home right then. He
thanked us for telling him and started running in the direction of his
house. That was definitely an answer to our prayer earlier. Walking
was nice - we talked to a grip of people. We talked to 2 drunk guys in
the east side of our area. I was talking to one while Elder Watkins
talked to the other. The one I was talking to kept turning around and
.. peeing. He said it was because of 'the dang beer'. I said, 'well
stop drinking and you won't have to go so much'. Kind of funny. He
kept putting his hand on my head - trying to explain some bible story
about Enoch. I kept hitting it off. I took a shower tonight. I felt
pretty good about the conversation - even though he was drunk. I was
able to testify of the power of prayer - he and his buddy want us to
come back - but when they are sober. On the walk home we ran into a
guy that came here from Mexico recently for a job - it fell through
and he's now living in a park in Compton. He was in jail in UTAH a
couple years ago and went to church there - he promised to come to
church here. I hope he does.
2-16-11
Transfer day - My companion and I are staying. It was cloudy and rainy
today - fun. We went to the Galeas' after lunch and talked with them.
They're tough to read. They're a great family but just don't keep
committments. We taught Patrice for a little while - I wish we could
get her to church. We went to Dennis and Jennifers for dinner - Jayden
turned 1 today so we had some cake and ice cream. Then there was the
fight.. Jennifer unleashed on Dennis about not keeping committments,
etc. It was bad. We couldn't get alot of words in. We just told them
to stay calm so that the spirit could be with us. It was a really
frustrating night. We taught Julio - a member that hasn't been to
church since '89. He's addicted to alcohol and has diabetes - he wants
to quit and we want to help him. I hope we can.
2-17-11
After weekly planning we went out in the cold and fished for 2 hours
with no luck. It was frustrating. We went to Lalo's and found out he's
been smoking. That man really needs a fire under him to get him going.
We've been praying every day for help with him. He has two younger
kids and really needs to be a better example to them. We talked with
Jave and I flooded his bathroom because his sink doesn't drain. Nice.
We went to a dinner appointment forever away - her husband wasn't
there so we stood on the porch and waited a half hour - finally she
just went and got her neighbor so we could go inside - it's a hard
rule to keep but we are trying to keep 'em all.
2-18-11
After District meeting today Elder Watkins was feeling sick so we went
back to the apartment and I picked up Jesus The Christ again. I'm
about halfway through and have been studying it every morning for the
last few weeks - it's such and amazing book. At about 9 o'clock
tonight I started getting stomach pains. I sat in the shower for about
an hour and then threw up. I had diarhea and was vommitting the entire
night. Fun. We decided it was from the dinner the night before - some
kind of stomach flu. We were both running in and out of the bathroom.
It will be funny to look back on probably - but not so much right now.
2-19-11
I got dressed for correllation this morning and then decided I
couldn't go. After not sleeping at all I finally got some sleep - at
about 1 we went to the Galeas - it was raining pretty hard. We were
able to help put up a tarp to cover some things and help set up a
home-gym. It was a perfect service opportunity and a good way to stay
out of the rain. We had an emotional lesson with Julio and then taught
Dennis again. It was a pretty good night.
2-20-11
out of time!
it was a good sunday though - I love you all and hope you have a good week!
Love,
Elder Cottrell

- Show quoted text -

Happy V Day 2-11

I thought the weather changed a lot in Utah.. ? I didn't know that they filmed The Day After Tomorrow here in L.A. with no special effects needed...

2-8-11 Tuesday

The weather was perfect today - but our appointments weren't. Most of the one's we had planned to go to fell through - but somehow we managed to teach a grip of lessons AND have time to get a Respaldo. Bonus. We read in 3 Ne. 11 with the Galeas - they really liked that. We taught Anthony that lives in the same place as them - he's been gone for quite a while. He committed to re-read and pray about The Book Of Mormon. We had dinner with Sister Cruz - rice, beans, chicken & tortillas - I have this meal atleast once a day. I'm turning into a corn tortilla. The lesson kind of blew up in my face. I taught the lesson with the outline of The Family... A Proclamation.. etc. She just cried the whole time and said how bad of a mother and wife she had been because she devorced her husband and her kids live in Mexico. Awesome. We just comforted her and told her to pray... :/ oops. Elder Watkins was also in her bathroom with the runs and there wasn't any toilet paper. BUMMER. Gotta be prepared...

2-9-11

Today we taught a girl we "fished' into on her porch (I don't find OR look anymore.. I fish. You'd really be proud of my new lingo i'm sure) She responded to the Restoration lesson very well and promised to read the pamphlet and pray about it that night. We did a lot of fishing today - did find a couple of good people that want us to come back. We talked with an inactive member that got baptized 6 months ago... yup. In her respnse to the question "why were you baptized?" she said, "because it's good". She doesn't know why she was baptized and continues to go to the Catholic church. Some missionaries really frustrate me that baptize people like her that aren't ready. It really causes a lot of problems. Oh well she said she'd come to church this sunday... so we'll see. AND her neighbor let me pick a few oranges and grapefruits off of his tree - they were what you'd call 'ripe'. Nice. We taught Dennis the Plan of Salvation - he's really changed a lot. I'm really excited for him to be baptized next week. We ate at Panda Express with a member of the church and then went to teach a couple that we 'hooked' yesterday while fishing. They were really interested - it was a lesson that was going super well - too well. In fact, just before the end, the wife said "I want to learn, but i'm Catholic. And nothing is going to change me. ever." Dang it all. Hopefully THE SPIRIT and THE TRUTH change her. 

2-10-11

We taught Esther again today through her 'ghetto door' that is on every house out here. She was kind of busy but watched the Joseph Smith movie with her family and believes it all. She's white and we'll probably have to turn her over to the english elders. The one white person we run into is actually interested.. good thing I suppose. Just wish I could teach her. We weekly planned. We went to see a refferal that the sisters gave us. She's super old and speaks no english. She is pretty much already to be baptized.. Such great news. She is coming to church this sunday and already believes everything to be true. We had a lot of appointments fall through afterwards so we went to the park and went 'trolling'. We found a couple of really good people that we'll go teach tomorrow. A member took us to a restaurant that i'm going to take ya'll to next year. You'll like it no doubt. It's a heck of a lot better than dads' "Villa Lobos" ;)

2-11-11

After studies today we went to see Ricardo. He had been drinking but wanted us to come in. He just kept talking about Jerry Sloan and that he had just resigned.. Awesome way to make me lose focus.. (p.s. WHAT HAPPENED?) We finally got concentrated on the Gospel. We bore testimonies of The Book Of Mormon and gave him a copy. His girlfriend and he have been to church once and are coming again this week. He admits he really wants to change his life - that's the first step. I have high hopes for him. We taught the referal again (old lady - Rafaela) - she has a bag that comes out of her side to catch her.. waste. It's distracting. We had a really good lesson with her on her porch. She's super enthusiastic about the gospel and wants it for her kids as well. We all know what happens when mom or grandma want something... they get it. A very good thing in this situation. We visited our old friend Alejandro that was baptized about a year ago and has cancer. Everytime i've seen him, he's been up and moving around. Not this time. His close friends and family were gathered around his bed. He was hooked up to machines and breathing very slowly. He wasn't expected to make it through the night. We gave him a blessing and talked with the family. They had some questions about where he was going and even how the funeral service should go. It was rough.. Afterwards we rode over to Jennifers' for Elder Watkins birthday (today was his b day) - we ate dinner and talked for a while. Dennis wasn't there so it wasn't super effective. Bummer. Good to eat cake again though.

2-12-11

Correllation was canceled again - Surprise! Our first 3 appointments fell through. We ate lunch with the Galeas' and had an awesome lesson on repentance. We taught patrice on her porch with 7 cat's around us. Nasty. She is really looking for something greater in this life. She is 'lost' and needs to be found. We are doing our best and letting the Spirit teach her. My stomach started acting up so I decided to ride home real quick and take a pill. We went to Ihop with a member and then it really started to hurt. Our next appointment fell through so we went home. I just sat in the shower for a couple of hours. Didnt get alot of sleep. Today it was about 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Crazy weather here..

2-13-11

Still wasn't feeling too well. My time is running out on the computer but we had 5 investigators at church! So great. We went to the Visitors Center with some Less Active members and they loved it! Didn't get a lot of sleep again but i'm feeling better.

 

I love you all and hope you had a great Valentines Day... happy valentines day. I dunno what else to say about it. ha

Elder Cottrell

Chorizo, what?

2-1-11 Tuesday

Good to have January gone and a new month here. Today we started off by trying to contact a referral that wasn't home. We ran into a girl that claimed she had been baptized into the church many years ago along with her sisters. She didn't know her address and didn't have a phone so we gave her our number and prayed she would call us. We taught the Galeas' about Lehi's dream and applied it to the interpritation. We had a really good lesson with someone we recently contacted - Corrina. She's 18, single and has a 2 year old. We taught her on her porch outside - she was really interested. I gave her a B.OM. with "Kim"s testimony in the front of it. For lunch we tried to make some Mexican Sausage - it is called Chorizo and is made from cow cheek, fat, tongue, and glands. We did something wrong and it basically just melted on the pan. We later found out that you have to mix eggs with it to soak up the grease. Yum. We talked to a former investigator - Luis. He told us about his friend that is in jail for 20 yrs. He went to visit him recently - it makes me sick to think about his wife and kids at home. I'm so grateful for the Gospel and knowing that everyone has the chance to change.

2-2-11

Did some more looking around - we talked to a lady named Esther that I gave a B.O.M. to last week. She is really interested and says that she believes what we teach her. We stand on her porch and talk to her through a 'ghetto door' - metal with holes in them - every house here has one. It was a pretty warm day - I got a Respaldo (sort of mexican snow cone) from a guy on the street- it definitely hit the spot) We ate dinner with Jennifer and Dennis - Dennis committed to live the word of wisdom. We talked with Ricardo - a new investigator - he was drunk so we told him we'd come back another day. We taught an inactive member about the B.O.M. - she admits she's just lazy. Bummer. We ate dinner again at El Tapatio with a member getting ready for his mission. I kicked my companions butt in a push-up contest as well. That was nice.

2-3-11

We vistited with Esther again today - she is going to get baptized some day soon i'm sure of it. It was a great lesson. For lunch I made some good Mexican food - you'd all be proud. We did weekly planning and then left to teach a new investigator. It was hot outside, and I was super tired - but I kept goin. We used a DVD to teach the plan of salvation to the Arana's. It went really well - then we talked with Jave - he's still having alot of struggles.

2-4-11

Today we had our Distrcit Meeting - it went pretty well. I'm so sick of meetings. But they do help in the long run I imagine. Our best appointment for the week canceled on us. We were really bummed about that. We taught Ricardo and he asked about Geneology - he got really excited when we told him how big the program is in the church - looks like we'll go to the Visitors Center next week and help him out with it. We were almost to Lalo's house when my chain broke. What in the world?? We taught him and then Dennis came to pick us up with his truck. We went to his place and taught him Chastity - funnnn. Tonight I woke up at 1 a.m. to Elder Watkins sitting indian style on his bed, reciting the missionary purpose in his sleep. I asked him what he was doing and he woke up - he had no idea what was going on. We are working so hard that we talk about it in our sleep. Litterally.

2-5-11

Correllation was canceled - surpise! We walked my bike to the shop and I bought a new chain - $30. Better not break. Every single plan we had for today fell through. So we did alot of looking around. A LOT. Our dinner appointment wasn't at home with his wife so we couldn't eat in the house - she gave us tacos and we took them to the park and ate them there - the park is super nice. It reminded me of home a little bit. We watched Finding Faith In Christ with Jave and his sister - we wanted it to be really special but they just talked the whole time. Fail. Bro. Vailladares gave us some pears off of his tree today and we ate them while we talked. That was.. pleasant.

2-6-11

Today we woke up to a cloud around us. It was really really foggy. Ricardo and his G.F. came to church today and LOVED it. I was super excited for them - it'll be awesome to talk to them more about it this week. We had dinner with some members - it was really good. Then we walked around and did some looking. EVERYONE was watching or listening to the super bowl. It made me miss home and I felt like a nuisance to those we talked to. BBQ, football, family - that was a tough one. Luckily we went to the departing missionary fireside early so Elder Watkins could practice the piano - he played for some leaving missionaries. It was a great night - I saw some members I haven't seen in a long time from Carson that are very very dear to my heart.

 

That's it! Hope you enjoyed it. I love you all, have a good week!

Elder Cottrell