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

Another flat? Really?

Hello everyone! I don't have alot of time so i'll summarize the week-

1-27-11

Today we had traingings till 3 - they went pretty well. Just a whole lot of repitition - must be important or something! We stayed after for a bit so that Elder Watkins and some other missionaries could practice a musical number - i'm still not feeling the best so I chose not to participate. At about 4 we went to Subway and then headed for home. We taught Sister Recinos about fasting and she committed to do it - although she really doesnt want to. I got another flat tire a couple miles away from home so we started to walk. I was in a bad mood and was just thinking why that happened to me - we were almost home when a man ran across the street towards us. He asked us if we would pray with him - for his family. He prayed and then told us how amazing we are as missionaries - that we can never give up because we are this worlds' only hope. It really touched me and helped my mood to change. Amazing how God works.

1-28-11

Weekly planning today - fun! Not! They are working on our roof and we couldn't even hear ourselves think for the 3 hours. We changed my flat tire afterwards - we ate dinner with Sister Cruz and taught the Plan of Salvation - we tried contacting a referral that wasn't home but had a really good Restoration lesson with the Arana's. That was about the day - lots of sitting!

1-29-11
Today after studies the Sisters picked us up to take us to Santa Monica. We met with the mission to hear Elder Clayton talk to us all. From 1 to 4 we were able to ask questions to him and hear how we can ultimately become the best missionaries possible - it was a really cool experience. We were an hour late to our appointment with Jennifer and Dennis - we ate dinner there - I feel so bad sometimes. They are so incrediblly poor - can't even afford napkins. But they do absolutely everything they can to help the servants of the Lord. That really helps me to be humble. We taught brother Valladares the plan of salvation and then walked home in our suits about 4 miles. We didnt have time to get our bikes after the meeting - that's alright. We were able to talk to a lot of people on the way back!

1-30-11

Church - Dennis came! (Elder Mitillo - who trained me - went home today. Can you believe that??) After church we went to teach Dennis and Jennifer - we had been planning to teach their neighbor but she wasnt home. We didn't have a plan of what to teach them so we thought we'd just talk about baptism and prayer. Dennis is about 40 yrs old and is kind of immature - his two kids and girlfriend are recent converts but he is Catholic and doesnt want to change. We convinced him to pray - we all knelt down and in his prayer - he promised God that he would be baptized. When we were done, I stayed on my knees - shocked. He looked at us and said "When can I get baptized"? Feb. 20th - I can't believe it!!!! Most amazing turn around I have ever seen. I'm so excited! I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Cottrell

Lookin for the members, and finding pooches too!

Reply

Samuel Cottrell  to me

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

Hey everyone, it is so dang hot here in L.A.. I can't believe it is 'winter'...

Hey everyone, it is so dang hot here in L.A.. I can't believe it is 'winter'...

 

1-11-10 Tuesday
Today I woke up feeling kind of sick - had a cough and was congested a little. After studies our district leader came to go on splits. Elder Weir came to my area and Elder Watkins went to Elder Bluth's. Real quick - last night while we were riding our bikes home, 2 ladies stopped us in their car and said "hey!! Do you two know where you are?? It's not safe to be out here! Go home!" We just laughed and waved at them. I probably won't take you through this city much when we come back to visit, but as a missionary I don't feel threatened at all. Anyway, Elder Weir and I went to see some people, most of which weren't home. I was, however, able to teach a kid that taught me some tricks on my bike. That was fun. We taught Jackie and Carla in the park by our house, Jackie is still thinkin about a mission - Carla, still needs a testimony! We ate dinner with Lalo and his family. Afterwards we found out that Jave got put in jail for the night... He got pulled over for a brake light but doesn't have a liscence because he ... well... isn't a resident of the U.S.. I keep tellin him not to drive! Hope he learns his lesson..

1-12-10

Today I woke up pretty sick. I had a bad migraine and cough. Elder Watkins came back from splits and I knocked out on my bed for a few hours, hoping to feel better. I woke up still not feeling very good but we went out anyway. We talked to a new investigator, Paul, he is a cool guy - family is really important to him. We talked to some people in the park. It was dark but there were a ton of people there. This park is huuuuge. It has a pool, golf course, soccer fields, basketball courts, trails... pretty much anything. It's kind of random here in all of the hustle in the city. We went to talk to that couple we met with last week when we knocked on their door. They fed me some quesadilla's, beans and rice - solid. We taught them the restoration... .and then they basically dropped us. I was really really bummed. They want us to come back and visit them, but they said that they aren't really interested. I hope something changes!

1-13-10

I woke up feeling a little better today. After studies we planned till 3. We met a bunch of new people today.. While we were riding my chain fell off. I was really grateful I bought a tool kit earlier in the week so that I could fix it! We spent a few minutes tightening my chain and getting dirty. We met a lady at the apartment complex where Jennifer and Dennis live. Apparently she has been taught before by the missionaries. She's awesome! She is super busy with work but wants to find time for church and be baptized eventually. Great! We ate with Jennifer - she bought me some Vicks (vapo-"wub" as mom would say), gave me a pair of socks to wear to bed and some other medicine - she's so nice. I'm glad people care about us out here! Tonight I really started to feel bad - coughing way hard and nausiated. Jave got out of jail... way to go. I hope he learned his lesson.

1-14-10

Still sick with a bad cough. We had trainings until 3 today and then we went to see Anthony - a new investigator. He wasn't home. Bummmmmer. We spent some time with an inactive member - Yolanda. She seems really nice, I hope we can help to get her active once more. On our way to an appointment some guys stopped us on the street. They were in their garage drinking. It was crazy, they had transformed their garage into an entire BAR complete with hanging t.v.'s and a pool table. But then their house was super small. Nice to see where some people's priorities are. Anyway, they just wanted to know what we were up to . They were really nice and impressed with our Spanish so they gave us water. Solid. I ate ONE seed out of a TINY chile on this ladies porch and about died. It was in my mouth for seriously probably 2 seconds and I had to spit it out. It was stinkin' hot! We are growing a chile plant in our apartment. Neat huh? We taught English to Sister Rodriguez tonight and brought a member that is getting ready for his misison. It was a really good lesson! We visited the Arana's and taught them and their friend Ashely - Ashely might be a new investigator!

1-15-10

Today we had correlation at 12- it was supposed to be at 10:30..., Awesome waste of an hour sitting outside the church in the blazing sun. I cannot believe how hot it is here. It's like summer. We just completelly skipped winter. It's been 80 degrees the last few days! We ate lunch with the Galeas' and then visited Darin afterwards - our new investigator. He was sick and didnt have alot of time. We taught Corrina - a girl we 'looked' into a few days ago. We taught her the first lesson and then she told us that she's not interested. Hope we atleast planted a solid seed. We got into a 'quarrel' with a black lady we also looked into. She wasn't a very happy camper. I wont go into details but we left while she was yelling, we were both steaming. Luckily, 30 seconds after, we met an old Latino man that wants us to come by again. He's super interested. I'm really excited about that. That made us feel alot better. We had a super awkard experience where we went to see a lady that i've only met a couple of times. She invited us in... and then left. They were having some sort of family party in memory of their grandpa/dad that had recently died. There were probably 20 people there - none of them were members. They fed us... we ate... awkwardly. And then they asked us to pray.. It was just super super awkward. That's all I can say about it. We taught Jave and his brother and sister about patience. It was a super good lesson - I hope they come to church tomorrow!

1-16-10

I woke up at 3 this morning with stomach pains. Not good. I got out of bed and took one of the pills the Dr. gave me to relax it. I woke up at 6:30 still in pain and so I slept until church. I decided I would go and see how I felt there. I got a blessing from some of the missionaries and felt alot better. But still had my cough. After church we rode in the stinkin' hot sun to Paul's - he wasn't home. We tried visiting some former investigators that weren't home - every single one of our appointments fell through today. I think that was a first. We did alot of work though - alot of 'looking'. We talked to Jackie and Carla , visited a refferal, and saw sister Romero. Sister Romero is super poor and super humble. She wanted to feed us. The only thing she had was some eggs and some ham. We sat in the yard (super nice night) and ate. She is super kind to the missionaries - it made me really appreciate what I have. We taught Jennifer how to teach as she will be coming with us to teach her neighbor tomorrow. We did a role - play that went pretty well.

That was my week! I'm starting to feel better and starting to get tan again! Bonus! I love you all, and hope everything is well, i'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Cottrell

Transfer pictures 2011

Elder Moran, Mitillo and I- "our family"

 Being spoon fed by Jave

 Getting a hair cut

Super hot chilli's, didn't dare do it~

Snow- just kidding- cotton

Soaking wet

Wringing out my clothes

Saying goodbye to my original district in the MtC   - Elder Gustin

Elder Simon

Elder Lovelace

Elder Jackson

Elder Dahle

Elder Richins

Elder Bluth

Rainbow after a huge storm

The Griswalds

Elder Hodell, Me and Santa at a Christmas Devotional

Cleaning out the font

Looking in the mirror above the font

Program

Elder Ferrin and Me with the Recinos

Me, Milsa, & Victoria Recinos

New remote helicopters 

dumb dogs

Sampson st.

Manudo

Fence that I ran into-

Me and Denito

Camero and my bike, they were made for each other!

Pants, chains, tires, oh my!

Samuel Cottrell  to me

show details 2:20 PM (1 hour ago)

Hey everyone, i've found out that prayer really works. Look into it. ;)

Tuesday 1-4-10

Today I learned that my companion has a weird fettish for ... maps. ? Anyway, we rode our bikes all over our area today and talked to probably a billion people. We stopped to talk to a black guy that was in his truck on his lunch break, reading the bible. He was kind enough to teach us 'the truth'. I've changed the missionary jargon - everyone say's "let's go finding" when talking about tracting. I've got a good number of missionaries now saying "lets go look". Thought you'd be proud to see my leadership skills in that area. After being rejected by one door in an apartment complex we went to knock on the one next to it, when the man we had just talked to said, "hey, ... the people that live there are black. Just so you know." I was laughing when the African American man opened the door. He wasn't interested. We ate lunch at Tom's - my new favorite squeeze in the area. Today was really really pretty - the sun was finally out and the sky was clear from the rain that helped wash out all of the pollution for maybe 10 hours until it went back to normal. I got a new front tire today - it RIPPED as I was riding home. That was neat.

1-5-10

Still working very hard. Never a dull second in our day. We found a member that is actually working as a volunteer in LDS employment services. But he was smoking when we rolled up. His wife is inactive, and i'm pretty sure he is too - he just say's he's going to another ward at the moment. He said he went on a mission to Spain many years ago - he really reminds me of Franco from Carson. He said he wants to take us to dinner on Saturday to an Italian restaurant because he 'never eats anything but seafood' and 'hasn't drank any water in 20 years'... ? Anyway, I hope he takes us out! We ate dinner at Lalo's. I love the beans, rice and tortillas that are with every meal we eat here. I'm going to have to introduce that more to the family when I get home. My Spanish is pretty rough - but i'm continuing to learn. It's been good to study every morning and apply what I learned throughout the day.

1-6-10

Today we weekly planned till 3. We had a bunch of appointments and were really excited about them - none were home. So we had the great opportunity to 'look' around some neighborhoods for some new people! Almost everyone that we talked to, actually listened. A couple even let us into their home, gave us food and water and read with us in The Book of Mormon. It was so cool, we have steep hopes for that family. 3 others that we talked to tonight want us to come back and teach them more. We made a goal for the week to talk to atleast 10 new people a day about the Gospel. That was fun to try and out-do each other. We ended up with about 20. We taught the Arana's about faith - Jackie texted us later and said that she wants to go on a mission! That would be a miracle for that family no doubt! They're one of my favorites in this area hands down.

1-7-10

Last night I shot a confetti popper at Elder Watkins while he was cooking. It was weird because his voice changed in a split second from low to really high once I did it. ? It's been fun to scare my companions like I always did at home. I love going to be laughing. Today we had MORE trainings with the zone. The same ones that i've talked about in previous letters. They're from 10 30 to 3 every friday for the transfer. Luckily today's went by pretty fast. It's just a big review really - I can't complain though, the spirit is there. We went and looked around Jennifer and Dennis' apartment. From door contacts in 1 hour we taught 2 lessons and got 3 new investigators. (we had a goal of 7 new investigators for the week, and ended up with 14) We taught Brian (jennifer's kid) about the importance of seminary - they were our dinner appointment but forgot about it. We went to visit the Recinos' - she must have known we were hungry. She fed us really good food, I was super grateful for that. Her 3 yr old son drank bubble bath while we were there... So that was fun. On my way home we were at a stop sign and Jave's dad pulled up next to me. I asked him if he wanted to race... I peddled maybe 3 times and then my chain snapped. He won.

1-8-10

Today I woke up not feeling too well. At 12, when we went to leave, I realized that my chain was still broken. So we walked to the shop from our house - a couple miles away - and got it fixed. For the next couple of hours no one that we went to see were home - we went to see Gabriel and make sure that he was still ok to take us to dinner tonight. He's a funny guy. We visited a refferal that we recently received - Darin. He was really nice and really talkative. He's about 45, latino, just had his first 'communion' last week, and really outgoing. He was nice enough to give us some fruit and water - he want's us to come back and teach him and his family. I could see them in white for sure! We rode our bikes to the corner of Tweedy and Otis to meet Gabriel at an Italian restraurant for dinner. I didn't know if he'd show up or not but sure enough he was there. It was a hole-in-the-wall kind of place but really really good. I ended up eating pizza. A whole one. Gabriel is going to 'transfer back to our ward'... We went back to the Arana's tonight, we taught Jackie, Carla, their friend Ashley, and Brother Arana about repentance. It was such a good lesson -  I hope they come to church tomorrow! On our way home my pants got ripped in my chain. I realized that this happened on the exact stretch of road where I have had 2 flat tires, and a broken chain. I'm cursed.

1-9-10

Church day - nice. My companion plays the hymns in all of the meetings - you'd think there would be someone in the ward that could play.. nope. Church was good, Jackie came - no one else though. I am really starting to see a change and a new desire in her. It's awesome to witness. After church I made a hot dog. And ate it. We taught this family that we 'looked' into the other night. We taught them the restoration - we'd teach in spanish for her and english for her kids. It ... went... terrible. They weren't responsive, my spanish and mind was locked, I didn't feel very well. I just wanted to get out of there. I really hope that they felt something though, I don't know what was going on. We talked with Tony - a former investigator. He's getting surgery tomorrow on his shoulder so we wont be able to see him again for a minute. He's really nice though and seems super interested. We ate dinner with the Morales family. We taught the kids about the wise man and the foolish man. It was a really good lesson - their kids are smarrrrt. We talked with Maria, who lives in the same complex as Jennifer and Dennis - she's so so cool. She works about 60 hours a week though and can't get sunday's off. I know that if there is some way she can get to church, she would be baptized. She knows it's true... I pray that something changes at her work so she can come. We went to see a former investigator - a boyfriend answered the door - turns out he's training to be a pastor. That was a fun conversation. He just kept trying to prove us wrong. I was boiling. All of the sudden while he was saying something about our church I just said kind of loudly "can we please clear some stuff up for you!?" He looked at me kind of shocked and said yes. I taught him the first lesson - he kept trying to butt in but I just kept talking. I testified that what we were teaching was the truth and the only truth. I said 'amen. thank you for your time' and left. I was really proud of myself for not getting too upset. It was a hard situation. Oh well, I hope he finds out the truth someday before the world ends in 2012!! ;) jk.

 

Well that was my week, I love you all! Talk to you soon!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone, I wish you the best!

 

Tuesday 12/28/10

Today after email we had a lunch appointment with the Arana's - the family that let me use their computer to Skype. We had KFC and answered a few of the many questions that Jackie had for us. They've been inactive for a long time but have been so nice to my companion an I. They committed to come to church this next Sunday. Tonight we got our transfer call and found out that Elder Ferrin will be leaving to Huntington Park just down the road and i'll be companions with Elder Watkins - an Elder that came out with me on the same day - I never knew him though because I wasn't in his district in the MTC. I've heard he's a really hard worker. Guess we'll see - hopefully I know the area well enough by now to get us around.

Wednesday-

Elder Ferrin left and Elder Watkins came - it's always super awkward when you get a new companion for the first week. We took his stuff into the apartment and then headed out on our bikes in the rain. We went and ate lunch with Sister Rivas, she's always very nice to us and makes sure we're well taken care of. We did some tracting around the Recinos' home and met a couple of really nice ladies. They both really felt the spirit, - one of them said she thought she was looking at Angels on her porch - what a good compliment eh? ;) We talked to Sister Recinos about the confirmation for her and her daughter this coming sunday. She's very excited. We visited Jave for a minute - I don't think he likes my new companion much, he's a more relaxed guy & my companion is super up tight. We ate with the Penas tonight and then wandered around the city, looking for houses of members/investigators - guess I didn't learn the area very well after all. Good thing we have a map.

Thursday-

We went out and tracted around Sister Rivas' house at about 11. We met a girl with a Halo attatched to her. It was nuts - she was really humble though and wants to learn more. We're going back there on monday, i'm really excited! We ate lunch and then went to see Brennette - her mom and little sister are members but she hasn't been baptized yet. We're really trying to get her to take the lessons again, she's really nice to us- just not interested. We had a lesson with Dennis and Jennifer tonight - Dennis isn't really progressing. I don't feel that he's really 'ready' for more.. we'll see. We tried about 10 people after them - none of which were at home. While we were riding home I looked down at my bike chain and the word came into my head "Cadena"... I thought, "what does that mean?" I asked Elder Watkins if he knew the translation of Cadena or if it's even a real word. He didn't know so when I got home I looked it up in the dictionary - sure enough 'Cadena' means 'Chain' in Spanish. That was awesome! The gift of tongues is legitimate afterall ha.

Friday-

After the District Meeting today the Sister that Sister Philipy is training, straight out of Provo, UT, wanted to eat somewhere 'not American'... So we took her to a little Mexican restraunt near by. Hope she got what she was looking for ;) we'll see how much longer she craves Mexican food for. We visited another inactive family today - the Galeas' from Honduras. They're very nice - they've been sealed in the temple and say they want to come back to church. We ate dinner with the Penas again, they always treat us very nice - i'm really close with one of the kids - Allen - he's about to put his papers in and go on a mission! After that we went home - we had to be in at 6 due to the Holiday. Between 10 and 1 there were gun shots every 5 minutes - I guess they can't afford fireworks and guns are the alternative.

Saturday-

We had a New Years devotional with half of the mission at the Carson building. - I really miss it over there , i'm going to ask to finish my mission there. President Baker told us that we had 751 baptisms this year and beat our goal of 500. We set another goal for 2011 - 850 baptisms. I'm pretty confident we can do it. President Baker told us that we will no longer report tracting hours in this mission and that he wants us to tell EVERYONE about Mormon.org. Should be pretty fun. We got dropped off at our apartment afterwards and I realized that our phone fell out of my pocket and was in their car.. That was a trick to get back. We ate Menudo at Jave's place for dinner - I don't reccommend it. Then we went back to our apartment by 6 o'clock again for the Holiday.

Sunday-

We got to church late because the Sisters had a family follow us there- we got to the building just in time to help with the confirmations of Sister Recinos and Victoria. It was awesome! After church it started to rain again - we finally got a ward list in order to find the members in our area better. We went out on our bikes and tried to visit a bunch of people - none of which were home - again. It's really frustrating when that happens, you've got a long ways to ride your bike, and it's raining hard. Oh well. We visited the Recinos - we didn't have a dinner appointment and somehow they knew and fed us a great meal. I'm super grateful for times like those. We taught them the Plan of Salvation - the new member lessons. Still raining hard we went to a former investigator's house. A guy answered the door with a BYU beanie on - turns out he was just leaving to get on the plane to go back to provo. He's in the accounting program there but isn't a member of the church - all of his friends are though and he's even been to Conference in SLC - crazy. He'll be baptized soon i'm sure. We met a guy near a member's home - I gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to read and pray - he seemed very interested. I'm excited to go back and teach him more. We taught the Galeas family again and made goals for the new year. It was great! They're a very cool family. On the way to our next apointment I managed to run into a fence that was blended in with the grass (it was dark) - it bent my handlebar and I went over the top - pretty much impaled myself on the top of the fence. I just hopped down and laughed - it was really weird - it honestly came out of no where ha. Then on our way home, in the rain, my back tire popped - I carried my bike about 3 blocks and stepped in a big puddle, soaking my leg up to my calf. If I was anywhere else, doing any other kind of work, I would have been super mad and frustrated. It was great to be able to just laugh it off though. I know God blessed me in that moment.

 

Well that was my week, I love you all - i'll talk to you next week! Be safe. Keep reading, keep praying, keep the faith.

Love,

Elder Cottrell