My Third Area - July 7, 2014

Hey Everyone!

I guess the big news of this week is that I am now in a new area! I
will now be serving in Azusa - East, which is part of the Covina East
Zone, the same zone that I began my mission in. I was actually quite
upset when I got the call to leave because I did not want to leave El
Molino. The members and investigators that I worked with were such
wonderful people that I had such a hard time accepting the fact that
it is time for me to head off to another place where The Lord needs
me.

Tuesday, July 1st, 2014:

Elder Barnes and I spent a few extra minutes after studies helping him
figure out the daily routine and set a schedule for him that will
allow him to accomplish his goals during the "breaks" that we have at
the beginning of the day and at the end of the day when we finish
daily planning. It is always hard to find time to do anything extra as
a missionary, so we have to plan out everything to ensure that we will
be able to accomplish everything that we are seeking to accomplish.
The Luquins invited us over for lunch, and it ended up turning into an
hour-long service project after lunch, too. It was pretty exhausting,
but it was really fun to be able to help them out. At the end of our
day, Antonio and Angie came with us to teach Erika and Hector about
the Ten Commandments. We are really trying to help them realize the
importance of marriage, so we focused the Ten Commandments toward
their decision to be married so that they will be following the
commandment to live a chaste life and also be able to then follow the
commandment to be baptized. It was a wonderful lesson, and Hector and
Erika have both been reading. The best part was finally being able to
see the twinkle in the eyes of both Hector and Erika. The Gospel truly
does change the countenance.

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014:

Today was pretty slow during the dead hours of the day. It is always a
little difficult to find people during the tough hours of the day, but
we can show The Lord that we are willing to work during the tough
times so that we can be prepared to teach the people that The Lord
places in our path during the hours of the day when more people are
available. Elder Barnes and I have been really trying to stay totally
focused on missionary work when we are out and about talking, which
has helped us teach better in unity. During the evening, we found a
really prepared potential investigator named Frankie. He only speaks a
little bit of Spanish, so we will have to refer him over to the
English Elders. The most exciting thing, however, was that Frankie
brought up the conversation of baptism and that he wants to be
baptized without us even mentioning a single thing about what we do as
missionaries. Those small miracles, such as finding the prepared
people like Frankie, are much more noticeable when we are really
focusing our minds on the work of The Lord and forgetting ourselves in
the service.

Thursday, July 3rd, 2014:

We had our monthly zone meeting today, which felt a little weird with
transfers around the corner. It's always strange setting zone goals
when everyone knows that half of the zone will be experiencing
changes, but we have to go on as normal, assuming that we won't be
leaving. The meeting focused on keeping our missionary purpose always
in mind so that we can achieve our goal of baptizing monthly. Our
mission has doubled the baptisms - and we are working on tripling them
- since Brother Donaldson came to our mission to introduce our new
method of teaching back in January. When we got back to the apartment,
Elder Barnes and I focused our attention on "The First Twelve Weeks,"
which is the training program that the Church uses to help
missionaries adjust to the flow of work in the mission field. We are
right on pace to help Elder Barnes finish his training at the end of
the week, and I want to make sure that he has all the tools that he
needs to be an effective instrument in the Lord's hands. Our three
appointments during the evening all canceled, including the
appointment that our branch president, President Muriel, was going to
assist us with, so we went out to eat with him and celebrate Elder
Barnes' birthday. He turned 19 today, so we went to grab a teriyaki
bowl to go and then grab some ice cream. President Muriel is such a
nice guy, and he really makes sure that we, as missionaries, are taken
care of very well. I love how much all of the members of the El Molino
Branch are willing and ready to give of themselves and serve others;
it is truly inspiring.

Friday, July 4th, 2014:

I am so blessed to live in the best country in all of the world! Being
a missionary helps me see how much others would sacrifice just to have
the hope of a better life ahead. It was very touching to see how
patriotic everyone was today, and I think that all of the immigrants
here are much more patriotic than those who have enjoyed these
privileged freedoms for multiple generations. On days like today, my
thoughts turn to my father and those who are currently in the service,
or who have served in the armed forces. Their selfless sacrifices make
our happiness possible. During the day today, Elder Barnes and I did
weekly planning in our apartment that was up to 95 degrees inside
without air conditioning and with only a poor-quality fan. I had never
realized how much I took air conditioning for granted! We had a great
weekly planning session together, and we both gave each other a lot of
positive feedback to go forward. We both were guessing that one of us
would be getting transferred, so we tried to treat our companionship
inventory like the last one we would have. For dinner, we made an
authentic American meal (one of the only ones that I have had on my
entire mission) to celebrate the 4th of July: we made hot dogs, baked
beans, and we even bought helotes (a Mexican snack that is essentially
corn on the cob with crema, butter, cheese and chile) to have
something resembling corn on the cob. I have really found myself
enjoying the little things in life much more. We stopped by the
Monzons for a few minutes to set up a service project for tomorrow and
then went to the Varelas for their 4th of July party. They had a lot
of fireworks and food, so it was really fun to enjoy the last hour of
the evening with them. I love watching fireworks and appreciating the
joy that comes with living in this blessed land.

Saturday, July 5th, 2014:

During the morning, we went over to the Monzons to help them prepare
their deck to be painted. We spent about two hours moving and cleaning
to get the deck all prepared to be painted. It was some physically
exhausting work, and we moved a lot of heavy furniture that had been
outside for a fair amount of time. It already looks much better, and I
am sure the finished deck will look significantly better. During the
afternoon, we went down to the corner of our area in Alhambra to try
contacting a couple of referrals and former investigators. Even though
we weren't able to have a lesson with anyone, we set up three or four
return appointments for the coming week. There is a ton of momentum in
the area right now, and it is really exciting to see how well the area
has been picking up over the past couple of weeks. I think we have the
potential for many new investigators in the next week or two. We went
to eat with the Caceres for dinner. Hermano Caceres is doing really
well, but we cannot quite get him to commit to coming to church. Their
family is so wonderful, and I want to see Hermano Caceres return to
church with his wife and family. He has such a strong testimony that I
really hope he decides to return to church in the near future. Hermano
Monzon then had everyone meet at the church for correlation meeting.
We had to rush from correlation meeting to an appointment with two new
investigators named Israel and Maria. They are really nice, but I'm
not sure how much they actually internalized from what we taught. I
see potential there, but they may progress a little bit slower than
other investigators that we are teaching. We then stopped by Silvia
Recinos quickly to check in on her and her son, Jose. They are both
doing really well, but the ID card still hasn't gotten here from El
Salvador. She is really optimistic that it will get here on Monday or
Tuesday, at which point we would be able to set a date for her wedding
and then her baptism. To conclude the evening, I got the call from
Elder Hoover, one of the Spanish assistants, that I will be getting
transferred to Azusa - East. I was really disappointed to get a call
because I don't want to leave this little branch. I have loved working
here with the investigators and members; they are such wonderful
people. I am sure that Azusa will have some great adventures ahead,
but El Molino will always hold a special place in my heart.

Sunday, July 6th, 2014:

It was really sad to have to go up and bear my testimony during
Sacrament Meeting and say that I will be leaving. I have grown so
close to this branch that it is such a sad feeling to realize that my
time to depart has arrived. I spent a lot of time talking to the
members for one last time and taking a lot of pictures with the people
who have been such an integral part of my life for the past four
months. The time here has gone way too quickly, and it is even scarier
to think that I will have been out on my mission for a full calendar
in one month from today. During the afternoon, I went by a couple of
members in our area to say my final goodbyes and wish them well. Elder
Barnes and I then went to the apartment to let me pack my stuff before
we went to the despedida. After a missionary finishes training, the
companionship can go to the despedida. This particular despedida was a
little more personal for me because Elder Porter, my second companion,
was leaving, and Elder Mostert, one of the former assistants to the
president, was also departing. I had a really good relationship with
both of them, so it is really sad to see them go. The despedida was
wonderful, and there was an amazing musical number by a few Elders
from the mission. The despedida was also the first time that I was
able to meet our new mission president, Presidente Villanueva. I
prefer talking to him in Spanish because I really like his Oaxacan
accent, and I like hearing what he really has to say. There is
definitely a language barrier with the English, so talking in Spanish
works very well for both of us. He is an extremely humble man who is
ready to work. I can see similarities between he and President
Becerra, but I can also see some differences in their personalities,
too. I am really excited to begin working for him!

Today has been a really bitter-sweet day: I was really sad leaving El
Molino, but I am also excited to begin my service in Azusa. My new
companion is Elder Wandry, who is from Denver, Colorado, and he is
really laid back. It will be a good transfer, and we are going to get
along really well. I don't have a ton of time today, but I appreciate
all of your love and support! I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley