Bell Lap round

Tuesday 1-17-12

Today we had our last meeting with Hua - that was kind of sad. He was pretty upset about it. We went to his apartment and just sat at his table for a few minutes. He said 'well, what are we going to talk about for the last time?' we paused for a minute and said 'well, what do you think?' he sat there for a long time and then said 'you want me to get baptized' and then smiled. We laughed and said 'yes'. He sat for a long time again, thinking of what to say. I said, 'Hua, why do you think we've been meeting you week after week, month after month? Honestly, why?' he sat for a moment and looked at me in the eyes and said 'because you care about me'. In that moment, I knew that I had done my job in teaching him the truth and being a good representative of Jesus Christ. He promised to let me know if he will be baptized next month by the end of January. He's so close..

 

1-18-12

Today at service I pushed around a guy in his wheel chair named Allen Daviau - he helped on some big movies like E.T. and Van Helsing. He was pretty fun to talk to while we walked. He weighed probably a ton though. We had a lesson with Hector - he's so kind and humble. He is just really nervous what his wife would think if he and his son were baptized. It's a hard situation to give counsel on.

 

1-19-12

We had a meeting with the district leaders today to discuss the zone goal for february. We are going to do an awesome thing with Gatorade. Gatorade has a 3 part system to their product - Prepare, Perform and Recover. We are taking these things and using them in missionary work. It'll be really cool once we're done. We did some weekly planning - I was sitting there thinking of my purpose as a missionary.. Thinking about times i've trusted in the Spirit completely and just did 'what I thought was right'. I came to the conclusion that I was a representative of Jesus Christ and that if I have enough faith, I can help to convert anyone. And I mean anyone. I put down my pencil and told my companion that we were going to find someone to teach in the next 5 minutes. He looked at me kind of funny and said 'o.k.'. I said, 'I promise, the first person we talk to WILL accept a return appointment and meet with us.' He kind of laughed and put on his jacket. We left the lights on and our planning material on the table - I told him that we'd be back in just a minute. We walked across the street and knocked on 5 doors un-answered. The 6th door I knocked on, opened up. A lady talked to me in a broken accent through her screen door. I stated who I was boldly, and said that I was there to help. She said she was busy - I stopped her and told her that we just wanted to help. She sat there looking at me for a moment and then finally told me that I could come back tomorrow at 7 o'clock. I was so excited I couldn't even stand it. As I passed my companion to walk down the stairs, I saw my companions jaw dropped - I laughed and said "I told you!" - he said 'there's a good journal entry' and then that his faith was just strengthened and was sad that he didn't fully trust me in the first place. It was an awesome experience that helped me to recognize who I really am and the calling that God has entrusted me with. I know that throughout my mission i've learned many important things. The two most important things I believe I have learned is 1. To serve selfslessly - God and His children. To be willing to give up absolutely anything to show your love for the people that you don't even know, and for God - who you only communicate with through prayer and the Spirit. "Greater love hath no man than he, who lay down his life for his friends.' You must trust in Him and your calling as a son or daughter in His one true church. 2. Be grateful for what you have. And share it. Everything. Dedicate absolutely everything you have to building up the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. It is the most difficult thing to do I believe. We become content with what we have and begin to want more. We want what we cannot have - or more like, we want what God has not included His plan for us at that particular time in our lives. It all comes back to trusting in Him and being able to be humble and teachable enough to let Him mold you into what He knows is best for you. I know these things to be true. To add in a 3rd one - learn from your mistakes. God let those things happen to you for a reason - and it's NOT to make you weak. Atleast not for very long. Make your weak things strong by turning yourself over to the Lord.

 

I have to go now - but the rest of the week went very well - lots of fishing and trainings. I love you all and will talk to you soon!

Love, Elder Sam Cottrell

1:09 pm

CHURCH TRAVEL CWT                          DATE 12JANUARY12

50 EAST NORTH TEMPLE ST                    AGENT VH/PH BOOKING REF 4ML6IM

SALT LAKE CITY UT 84150

TELEPHONE: 801 240-5111                    CANNON/TRICIA  217395-R

FAX      : 801-240-5115                    COTTRELL/SAMUEL LAY 153711-R

                                           COULSON/SHAUN DENNI 187115-R

  MISSIONARY TRAVEL                        MADDOX/SAMUEL LUKE  184696-R

  CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES MISSION           WATKINS/ROSS MATTHE 188597-R

 

SERVICE               DATE  FROM           TO             DEPART  ARRIVE

_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______

DELTA AIR LINES       29FEB LOS ANGELES CA SALT LAKE C UT 1015A   109P

DL 1414           WEDNESDAY LOS ANGELES IN SALT LAKE CITY

T ECONOMY                   TERMINAL 5     TERMINAL 2

           NON SMOKING                                    NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED  

My last 6 weeks!

Tuesday 1-10-12

 Today was a pretty long day - but a good one. We didn't have any meetings - unusual for a tuesday. We taught Noke the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then walked with him to Louisiana Fried Chicken - it was worth the walk. We talked to Hector for a minute - he really loves the church and wants to be baptized, but his wife is not on board. It's really unfortunate - she is just blocking everything that has to do with the church. We ate with the Guarneros and read Enos with them - we all learned quite a bit. We had a good lesson with a brother and a sister in the singles ward - we taught the Restoration as a 'refresher' for them. They really liked it and it was good practice for us.

1-11-12

We had our weekly service at the Fireside Convalescent hospital down by the beach - another hot date with Erna - she didn't sing to me this time though. I bought some almond butter though - im pretty content with the purchase. We posted up over at Santa Monica College for a couple of hours with our sign and table and talked to quite a few people. We ate with the Barrios family and taught them about the importance of the scriptures. We had a lesson with Andres's mom and then taught the Lopez's about repentance. It was a pretty good day. My studies in the mornings have been really great lately - i've been getting alot out of them each day.

1-12-12

Today we went over to the institute for lunch - abel made us some moracan food. It sat well. We went to see a less-active member that works at a farmers market by our apartment. She has a pupuseria and gave us some free one's! Bonus. We did some weekly planning and then took some of moms cookies to Cynthia for her birthday today - mom sent me a package just for fun - it was really great to get.

1-13-12

Friday the 13th - bad luck. We went to the district meetings today and learned how to teach the message of the restoration better - we are still working on a lot of new material for 2012. Our car isn't doing too well so we left it at the mission office and took a new one out while that one gets fixed. We ate a subway and then went to another district meeting. It gets dark so early out here - we get out of a full day of meetings and it's night time. I don't like it. We ate with the Barahona family - their aunt was there and isn't a member. We taught about following the commandments - she was super nice. She is a flight attendant and really encouraged me to be a pilot or atleast seriously consider it.

1-14-12

Today was a pretty fun day. We talked to Hector again - still struggling with his wife.. We ate with Dave from the singles ward - we talked alot about setting good goals. I looked at the long and short term goals I have written down and adjusted them a little bit. I'm trying to be more accountable for them to the Lord - I know that when God is on board with our goal, and we ask for His help in achieving it, He will help us.

1-15-12

We went to our ward mission leaders' house in the YSA ward to make a progress record and talk about the less-active's we are trying to help. We went to the ward mission meeting and then headed over to the La Cienega ward. None of our investigators made it today - it was sad for sure. We did however get a new ward mission leader- he's white and pretty fresh off his mission - that should be good. We went to church at the YSA ward - Hua is in Hawaii with his parents so he didn't come either. Transfers are this week and i'm afraid I might train - the Golden Globe awards are in my area at the Beverly Hilton - so we drove past a few times after church at about 6 o'clock to see what was going on. It was pretty cool - we tried to drive in with a bunch of cars, but security made us turn around - it would have made for a good story. Oh well. We ate dinner with Jason and then got to work on the numbers for the zone.

It was a good week - I am staying in this are for my last 6 weeks and am looking forward to it. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Cottrell

keep reading, keep praying, keep the faith

Jan 8, 2012

Thursday 1-5-12

Last night I organized all of the interviews for our zone that will happen tomorrow up at the West Wood building with Pres. Baker. Today we went early to the church to set up the rooms for he and his wife. Elder Matheson and myself went in first and talked to him about what's been going well in the zone lately and then he talked to me. He is such a great guy and truly called of God. I'm glad for the opportunity i've had to serve with him. He asked me about my reading in the Book Of Mormon and what I am doing to help the wards I am in to grow. He also asked me what my thoughts are about training for my last transfer.. I told him that I think it would be a great experience, but that I'm happy where I am at. We will see what happens. We interviewed each companionship for the rest of the day and asked them about the new zone goal and the new standards of excellence. It was a great chance to sit down with all of the missionaries here and find out how I can be a better example and a bigger help in getting this work at it's best. We gave a blessing to a lady in the UCLA hospital - she had a lung transplant and was all by herself from pasadena - she said that no members of her ward were able to come see her until this weekend. I had the priveledge of giving the administering the blessing and then we sat and held her hand for a while. It was sad, but she was so so grateful to have us there. We spent the remainder of the evening planning a big training that we have to do tomorrow in the district meetings.

1-6-12

Today we went to the district meetings and whipped out some new mission trainings - we are focusing on making detailed lesson plans of each lesson - as individuals and as companionships. President Baker came to our first meeting to observe. He said we did a great job and we got alot of good feedback from the zone. I was happy about that - it was a lot to cover in an hour. We ate lunch and went back to do it all over again to another district. It went better the first time. I went on splits with Elder Ewing - we ate with the Barahona's and then tried visiting some less-active members in my area. It was a good 'split'.

1-7-12

We met up with our companions at a members house in Elder Ewings' area - he made us some steaks for lunch - bonus. We taught the Barrios family and then made some cakes for some elders and sisters - there are 4 birthdays in the zone this weekend... yowza.

1-8-12

Today we went to church at La Cienega - Hector and Brian came 45 minutes into sacrament - I was really glad to see them there finally. They've missed a couple weeks. Hua told us that he was in yosimite with his parents and wouldnt' be able to make it - but he gave us some great news. His parents want to meet with us tomorrow - they are in town from China - they've been to the Oakland temple grounds, and the visitors center here - they loved it! We are so excited - we are going to bring 2 chinese elders to the lesson tomorrow to help us out. We taught Mariana, her boyfriend and her mom about the BOM - we read the first chapter and explained it. They really liked it! They are all Catholic, but Mariana is helping get them excited about learning about our church. Nice. We delivered some cakes tonight and had a party for a about 10 minutes before we had to go to bed. That was fun

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Cottrell

Happy New Year 2012!

Happy New Year everyone! Anti-climatic on the mission, but a new-year none the less!

12-28-11 Wednesday

I have had diarrhea since easters... not really, but for a long time anyway. I woke up with a head cold still. We went to do service with the old folks - i'll miss that when I leave here. We met with the district leaders and discussed January's zone goal. We are going to set A TON of baptismal dates. Thats the basic of the goal we are going to set. We are doing great in our area and in the zone over all - but the baptismal dates have dropped quite a bit in the last year. 'Leave the zone better than you found it' - i'm trying to do my best in fulfilling that wise counsel. We taught Mariana's dad - he's a great guy - says he believes in God and Jesus Christ - but also believes in reincarnation - we spent a good while clearing things up with him on the subject. We ate dinner with a member that lives by the beach - I 'accidentally' saw his rent check on the refrigerator... let's just say I don't plan of moving there anytime soon.

 

12-29-11

Today I went on splits with Elder Ratto - he's from Oregon and pretty new in the mission. We went to visit someone that he is teaching. He is older and has some sort of mental illness - I could not focus for the life of me. He rambled on for over an hour and I had just taken some cold medicine. It was the 2nd hardest time on my mission where I had to stay awake I had to litterally hold my eyelids open so that I wouldn't fall asleep. I don't believe this man was fully accountable so I kindly cut him off, gave him a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon and then we left. Austin's dad called and said that they would be leaving to primary childrens tomorrow to finish all of the work that needs to be done closer to family. So we went over to the hospital to say goodbye. We brought them some cookies and took some pictures. They want to come to my homecoming so I gave them the church address and the house phone number - he helped to start Sub Zero ice cream and said he would cater at the homecoming! That'd be cool. They are a really great family. We ate with brother martinez and then watched The Restoration with Mariana - she loved it. I think she is finally understanding what we do and why we do it.

 

12-30-11

We started off with some service down near the beach. A mother and her daughter from Jamaica were moving down the street and got in contact with the missionaries to help them move. They don't know the church and i'm not even sure how they found us, but we were sure happy to help out and they were so so grateful for us. They aren't in my area but the sisters will begin teaching them now. They seemed great. We had our district meetings afterwards - they both went well. We have alot of new things happening in the mission with the coming year. My job is to make sure that all of the missionaries in my zone understand it all! It's not always easy - it takes alot of follow-up. We visited Jordon tonight and had a good lesson with him about truth and the Spirit. He's doing well and said he will come to church this sunday.

 

12-31-11

We went to the westwood building and had a conference with half of the mission. The new years standards of exellence was presented by President Baker. It's similar to last years, but with an obvious few specific changes. We have a goal to baptize 555 people in the new year. We did about 435 this last year. I'm pretty confident we can handle that number. We ate with some missionaries afterwards and then contacted a couple of referrals. My teaching is changing. I'm being much more bold I have noticed. I am following the spirit and trusting completely in it. I'm a lot less timid to say what is on my mind - believing and feeling that it is from the spirit. There have been a few moments where people and my companion have just looked at me like 'did you really just say that?' nothing too incredibly awkward... just not beating around the bush so much anymore. My time valuable and short. We played basketball with some Elders from 6 till 9 and then went to the apartment and went to bed.

 

1-1-12

Woke up still sick - went to church. Hua, Jordon and Jordon's friend all came to church. There weren't very many people there today though - everyone is out of town. We ate dinner with the Ramos' and watched 17 Miracles with them. I really am super grateful for the pioneers and all they did for us. It made me want to go back on Trek or just go push a handcart or something. Really I just prayed and thanked God for everything my ancestors did for me. I can't imagine all that they went through. I'm grateful that mom and dad are so into geneology and have figured out where we came from - i'm excited to do more of that when I get home.

 

1-2-12

We don't have p-day today . We are going to the temple on wednesday. We worked all day in the sun - it was about 80 degrees and super sunny. Really weird for january 2nd. It was also the Rose Bowl and I guess a holliday.. so it was pretty difficult to talk to many people. We did find a few people that said we can come back though - I was satisfied with that. We ate with the Sanchez family - a ton of food. We've been super busy and sick so I haven't been able to work out in a while - hopefully i'm gaining some weight finally.

 

1-3-12

Today we had our zone leader counsel down in Torrance. It was a long long meeting with a ton of new stuff introduced. I got sort of overwhelmed with everything we talked about. I guess I gotta realize that it'll be spread out throughout the year and not just these next couple of months. It's still alot to communicate and get going with the other missionaries though. It'll be good.

 

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Cottrell

A couple of photos of Elder Sammers

More photos

District meeting Dec. 2011

MTC w/ Hermana Dakay April 2009

Merry Christmas 2011

12-20-11 Tuesday

Today we had a mission leadership training down in torrance, it went alot better than the last one where we all just got chewed out. We learned about making some mobile area books and how we can communicate having more faith with those in our districts and zones. We went to Krispy Kreme afterwards - that was a bonus. I got a haircut yesterday that looks terrible so elder langi fixed it up - I gave him a present that mom sent to me to give to another elder - he was really really appreciative of that. My comp and I look like we are going into the army with our fresh new cuts. We taught marianna the plan of salvation - she loved it and wants to come to church. She's doing great - just scared to be alone in sacrament. We found a good fellowshipper for her. We visited a less active member - he went on a mission to Slavakia - he loves the gospel, but doesn't believe the Joseph Smith story. It was really hard to help him - but he has alot of desire to come back - he just wants to have more faith in the story before he does. We had a lesson with Hua - he is doing awesome. He seems to really understand baptism now and is not so afraid of it. He's thinking of a date!

12-21-11

We did our weekly service - there were alot of people at the farmers market because of the upcoming holiday - it was fun. I went on splits afterwards with Elder Ewing, one of the district leaders in my zone. He is from Morgan, UT - he's a really funny kid. We just did some fishing most of the day. It's great to teach elders on splits AND to learn from them and their methods.

12-22-11

We did some weekly planning today - we talked to Hector for a little while - he has some family in town from Guatemala and they were making Tamales - they let us sample some of the food. It was super good. We ate with Bro. Martinez at Tacomiendo - it was really good - i'm going to take the family there one day. We went to the Visitors Center and met Aphrodite there. We were so happy she showed up. We have planned that trip so many times and it's fallen through. Cory helped us out too - we watched some videos on God's plan for His family and learned more about service. It was great. Aphrodite loved the lights and the spirit she felt there.

12-23-11

District meeting day. I wanted to do something for the zone for Christmas but couldn't figure out what to do... I have a ton of stuff that i've collected over the past 22 months that I don't want to take home. So, I wrapped up 22 presents - just random stuff that I could find in the apartment (shirts, potting soil, ties, little games, old stockings, chruch dvd's, etc.). We put them in a huge luggage trunk that we found in our alley and then took them to the meetings. The sisters loved it - we trained on missionary moments in baptisms and everytime someone answered a question or commented, i'd throw them a present. It was really fun. We ate dinner with a guy in the singles ward - his girlfriend just broke up with him - he was super sad and asked for a blessing. Poor guy haha I hope that's never me.

12-24-11

Christmas Eve - still exciting even though i'm 22 and away from family. We went to the westwood building for the mission - wide christmas music devotional. It went well- afterwards we all talked and took pictures. We got all of our packages and mail and then took them to the apartment. We set up a service project to sing to the old folks - we sang christmas songs - they really enjoyed it. Erna sang along with us. There were alot of members that gave us gifts and fed us food today - it was so kind of them. We went to subway and I used a giftcard to carry on the family tradition of paying for someone elses meal annonymously. I asked the cashier what I could do - she said that everyday there are 2 homeless men that come in and get water - I said to please give the sandwhiches to them - I left her with a couple of pass along cards to give them as well. That was a good feeling - it's so nice to do service and to help someone in need - even if you don't see the outcome of the kind act. We made some peanut butter bars and cookies to deliver to some people that have helped us so much in the area - that also brought a great feeling. We ate with the Choto family - it was really really good. Turkey, mashed potatoes, great food that felt like home - they even gave us presents! They gave us both matching Nike hoodies - the people here are so nice and humble. I hope I can take what I am learning from them and apply it into my life forever. I opened my 'Christmas Eve' present from mom and dad - some fresh new pajamas. Bonus!

12-25-11

Today turned out to be super busy - I gave Hectors son, Brian my remote control helicopter for Christmas - he loved it - but they didnt' come to the one hour church service. Bummer. We went to church and took the sacrament - it was a great program today. We delivered some more cookies to members and then got a call that said Austin would be going in for another surgery and REALLY wanted to take the sacrament - he couldnt eat or drink anything though do to the circumstances - we read the prayers and he took it 'symbolically' - he is so skinny and pale from being in the hospital so long. I really really hope he gets better soon - he has been through so much. His family has been through it all lately. They are in our prayers. We ate with bro martinez and then talked to our families - everyone sounds so great. I feel pretty sick though and felt bad that I didnt sound way excited to talk to them. We ate with the Ramos's for dinner - they are so happy all of the time. It's always a great experience to go over there. We didn't have any more plans so we invited some elders over to play some table ping pong with the new set up that mom and dad sent - it was really fun!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year - I love you all and hope your week is great!

Love, Elder Cottrell

Happy Birthday Elder Cottrell-22!

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

Elder Cottrell is 4th in from the Right

Dec. 2011 All leaders Conference