Sam in the CLAM

Sunday, July 1, 2012

AND right back to CA

We went to San Diego for Dad's work conference 3 days after the welcome home, so here are some photos from that since we went up to LA and visited the mission as well.

Dad's awards

Now let's visit LA and introduce everyone to mom and dad......

Saturday, June 30, 2012

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

11-22-11

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