Two Companions for Two Days - December 29, 2014

Hey Everyone!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas on Thursday and that
everyone was as stuffed as we were here in the mission! It is always a
blessing to be able to spend Christmas in the homes of those we work
with so closely. Being a missionary truly helps me see just how much
of a family we all are here on the Earth. We are able to break down
cultural barriers and be united as we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ
to the best of our abilities. Christmas is the happiest time of the
year because it is the closest that each and every person on the Earth
gets to living the way that the Savior would want us to live.

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I went up to Tujunga again to study with the
Tujunga Elders. Things have been getting resolved up there, albeit
rather slowly. Being a zone leader has helped me see how serving
others as we work with them is the biggest demonstration of our love
and desire to help them grow. Leadership as a missionary has also
helped me see how every leader's motives are always aimed at helping
the individual missionary grow and learn; everything that is done is
intended to elevate and lift other missionaries to a higher plane.
Elder Crosgrove and I later went to the mission office to pick up
supplies. It was crazy to see how many Christmas packages there were.
It is very humbling to see how much our families and friends think
about us and support us while we are away from home serving the Lord.
When Elder Crosgrove and I got back to our area, we went to talk to
Wendi Martinez at the park for a few minutes. She is working on
getting a new place to live, so we are trying to help her keep the
Gospel as her top priority. After eating dinner, Hermano Chavez, Elder
Crosgrove and I all went to a church tour with an investigator named
Jorge Perez. Hermano Chavez led the tour, and it was great to see how
involved a few other members at the building got. Jorge felt very
welcomed and became very interested in learning more about our church.
To end the evening, we began exchanges with Elder Carnahan and Elder
Van Wagenen.

Wednesday, December 24th, 2014:

It was difficult doing exchanges on Christmas Eve, but it gave a
really good impression of how Elder Carnahan works when the work
becomes difficult. Most people aren't really interested in talking to
us on Christmas Eve and Christmas, so we were able to focus a lot on
contacting and working with the members. The day itself didn't really
feel very much like Christmas Eve, just because it was a regular work
day for us. Elder Carnahan and I spent a good chunk of the day talking
about various doctrine and learning from one another. He was really
interested in reading the list of talks that I have compiled, and I
believe that it helped him become even more motivated to put even more
effort into his studies. I have personally found that Elder Holland is
correct: the hours of 8-10 AM dictate how our day, our week, our
month, our year, our mission and our life will go. What happens during
the hours of 8-10 AM dictate our success as missionaries and our
success as people. At the end of the evening, we met up with the rest
of the district to sing Christmas carols to Tonya Snowden. She has
muscular dystrophy and always appreciates us coming to sing to her. It
was a very spiritual experience, and I always feel so happy going to
visit her.

Thursday, December 25th, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I began our morning by opening up all of the gifts
and cards that we received before we began our studies in the morning.
It was one of the more fun "workouts" that I have done on my mission
so far. It made me very happy and humbled to see how many people were
thinking about us during this Christmas season. We then went to Elder
Carnahan's district meeting with the Arroyo district. We alternate
between districts every week as zone leaders so that we are able to
see how all of the different districts are doing. He taught about
finding through former investigators and about always have the faith
to be able to get into the door. For being relatively new as a leader
in the mission, Elder Carnahan is doing very well as a district
leader. It was fun to spend a few minutes taking pictures with
everyone from the Fletcher and Arroyo districts after district
meeting. Christmas just makes me so happy as a missionary to be able
to serve the Lord and serve with all of my friends here in the
mission. Elder Crosgrove and I wanted to do something nice for all of
our investigators, so we made homemade doughnuts. It was a really easy
and quick way to prepare a nice gift for our investigators, recent
converts and less-active members that we went to visit during the day.
It proved to be a good idea because the doughnuts turned out to be
pretty tasty. Elder Crosgrove and I went to Carolina Garcia's house to
eat a light meal and wish them a very Merry Christmas. They really
enjoyed our company and were happy that we stopped by. They all
committed to coming to church again this Sunday. Elder Crosgrove and I
later went to visit Lorena Garcia and her family, who are all
returning less-active members. They fed us a delicious meal of
Salvadorean tamales and rice and beans (called casamiento). We then
called our families from their massive television, which made for a
really neat way to talk to our families. With Christ at the center,
the time spent with the family is the absolute best part about
Christmas. God sent His Son so that we could be with our families
forever; that is truly the "good news" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Friday, December 26th, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I went to deliver some supplies for a booth for
Elder Perez and the El Molino district before beginning our weekly
planning session. I find that Elder Crosgrove and I are extremely open
with each other and that we get along wonderfully as a companionship.
I love serving with him, and we are both able to learn a ton from one
another, especially because the areas and experiences that we have
both had on our missions are extremely different. I also really
appreciate the fact that he is the first companion that has been out
longer on his mission than I have in nearly a year of being with
different companions, so I am able to see how a lot of his experiences
have helped him become the excellent missionary that he is today.
Right after weekly planning ended, we received an unexpected phone
call from the assistants, informing us that we would be in a trio for
the weekend. Elder Ramirez would be coming to stay with us for two
full days in a trio. The assistants then came to drop him off right
before dinner. I was really excited to hear that he would be joining
us for a couple of days because he is a fantastic missionary with a
ton of energy to work hard and talk to everyone that he sees. We were
all really diligent about contacting during the evening and set up a
few appointments with several street contacts. All three of us went to
teach the Rojas family during the evening. They were found a few weeks
back and are a very prepared family of eight people. We reviewed the
Restoration lesson and then focused on the blessings that come about
from family prayer. The Spirit was very strong and helped everyone be
edified from the lesson. The unexpected trio seems to have been
divinely planned.

Saturday, December 27th, 2014:

We had an extremely busy day today, which began after we finished our
personal studies. All three of us went with Jorge Perez to read with
him in the Book of Mormon. We read in 2 Nephi 9 and helped him see how
the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and Christ's atoning sacrifice.
It was a powerful lesson, and Jorge committed to coming to church
tomorrow. After the lesson, we all stayed at the church to have our
correlation meeting with Hermano Ojeda. Elder Crosgrove, Elder Ramirez
and I then all drove over to El Molino to pick up Elder Perez for a
district leader meeting. We all met to be able to discuss what we need
to improve and focus on during the upcoming zone meeting in less than
two weeks so that we can help the East Los Angeles North Zone
progress. We focused more on the progress of the missionaries than the
goals, and it is really becoming apparent to me how important it is to
really teach people and not lessons. I haven't once taught "The
Restoration" or "The Plan of Salvation" in a number of months; rather,
I have been focusing on applying the doctrines that we all know and
study often to the specific needs of specific people going through
specific trials that can be overcome through specific doctrines. The
end goal is the same, but the path to reach the goal is different for
every single person; that is why God made all of us different. Joel
Cortez came with us to do splits during the evening so that we could
get double the amount of work done. Elder Crosgrove went with Joel to
teach the Vargas family, and I went with Elder Ramirez to go contact
some less-actives and street contact along the way. We talked to a
number of different people, and we found one person who seemed
extremely interested when we talked to him. His name was Jose, and he
was the person placed in our path that we were supposed to find. We
had prayed to find at least one person while walking between the two
houses that we were supposed to talk to, and Jose was the exact person
that the Lord placed in our path.

Sunday, December 28th, 2014:

Church was awesome today, and we were able to get all three members of
the Vargas family, in addition to Jorge Perez to church. We had the
potential of getting eight investigators to church, but four showed up
who had never been to church before. During Priesthood, Hermano Avila
gave an amazing lesson that focused on finding the "hidden gold" in
the Old Testament. He used the symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant to
show how everything testifies of Christ's Atonement. Here is the note
that I made from his lesson that shows how the symbolism relates to
the Atonement: "The acacia wood used on the Ark of the Covenant is a
type of wood which has roots that grow towards the water; this wood is
symbolic of us as people. The acacia wood was coated in gold, which
was symbolic of Christ; Christ covers us, helping us become "at one"
by providing us with the living waters. The lid on top of the Ark
represents God and holds the mercy seat. The Ark was sprinkled with
blood, showing us that none of us can receive of the Father's infinite
and everlasting mercy, unless we are purified and cleansed through
Christ's atoning blood. The bar on the side of the Ark is symbolic of
the resurrection, preparing us for the judgment bar of God. The
Israelites placed a cup of manna and a cup of olives on the bar of the
Ark, symbolizing the body and blood of Christ that would be
sacrificed." Truly, the Atonement is at the center of everything that
we do. During the day, we tried to contact a lot of different
potential investigators and former investigators, but we were really
lacking the zeal and excitement that we needed. We finally concluded
that our lack of excitement was coming from the fact that the
excessive sugar that we have been eating over the last few days has
really been messing with our system. It showed me how important it is
to maintain a healthy diet every single day so that we are able to be
examples of the happiness that comes about as a result of living the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today has been a nice, relaxing P-Day, at long last. I feel like the
two weeks that I have been in Arroyo have lasted about two months
because of how busy we have been and how much we have been running
around. We dropped off Elder Ramirez in Tujunga in the morning, and we
have been able to sit back and relax today for P-Day. I am normally a
person that cannot sit still and have to be doing something all of the
time, but it has been great to be able to sit back and not have to
worry about being stressed with things to do. I am optimistic that the
upcoming week will be filled with success and that Elder Crosgrove and
I will be able to continue seeing miracles here! I hope that everyone
has a wonderful week and has a very Happy New Year!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley

A New Area With the Opportunity to Share the Spirit of Christmas - December 22, 2014

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday season and is all ready
for Christmas in just three days from now! Last week was transfers,
and I actually got transferred again! I was only in Belvedere 2 for
five weeks, but Elder Alcaraz got the call to train, meaning that I
was going to be leaving again. I am now with Elder Crosgrove as a zone
leader in the Arroyo Ward, and we are having a great time together.
Elder Alcaraz, my previous companion, was actually trained by Elder
Crosgrove in Belvedere 2 - West, so both of us served there before
coming up to Arroyo - South to be companions. It has been a hectic
week with a lot happening, and I love working here.

Tuesday, December 16th, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I had an awesome day of studies this morning, and
it really demonstrates just how well we are working together. He went
over the area with me so that I will feel a little more comfortable
with who we are teaching and a little more comfortable with my
responsibilities as a zone leader. We then went with a member named
Mario Cortez to go teach a progressing investigator named Lizeth
(Wendi is her nickname) Martinez. We reviewed the baptismal interview
questions with her by using the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet to
make reviewing the questions less like an interview and more like a
spiritually-uplifting experience. The lesson went very well, and I
believe that Wendi is ready for her baptism in just a couple of weeks.
Martio Cortez then came with us to go teach a new investigator named
Ricardo Martinez. Elder Crosgrove and I contacted him at the grocery
store yesterday, and he seemed very interested. We shared the "He is
the Gift" video with him and talked about our purpose as missionaries.
He was very receptive, and I look forward to working with him more and
more. During the evening, Elder Crosgrove and I ate dinner with the
Giron family. They all committed to give out a copy of the Book of
Mormon before Christmas time. At the end of the night, Joel Cortes
came out with us as we went to go visit an investigator named Gabriel
Navarro. We ended up dropping Gabriel Navarro, which will give us more
time to find more prepared investigators.

Wednesday, December 17th, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I went to do studies with Elder Ramirez and Elder
Israel in Tujunga in the morning. We had a great study session with
them before leaving to go pick up a mattress from the Hermanas in the
Fletcher Ward and a bike from the Hermanas in the El Molino Branch. We
then went over to the mission office to pick up supplies and get our
original car back. We had been driving around a mission mini-van while
our car was in the shop getting some maintenance work done, so we were
able to exchange back our car after picking up supplies for the zone
at the mission office. It was really neat going to the mission office
and seeing all of the other zone leaders and office staff. Elder
Crosgrove and I went to go eat dinner with Omar Lopez and his mother
during the evening. They made us some delicious pupusas, and then we
shared the "He is the Gift" video with them. We taught the Vargas
family later in the evening about the Book of Mormon. It was an
extremely powerful lesson in which Elder Crosgrove and I both bore
powerful testimony of the role of the Book of Mormon in our conversion
to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. To conclude the evening, the
whole Arroyo district went to go sing to a lady named Tonya who has
muscular dystrophy. We sang Christmas carols to brighten up her
evening, and it was one of the most fun service opportunities that I
have had my entire mission.

Thursday, December 18th, 2014:

Elder Crosgrove and I began our day by going to deliver supplies to
the Fletcher and Arroyo districts. We then went to attend Elder
Perez's district meeting in El Molino. I am so used to serving under
him that it was weird having him teach me with reversed roles. He
taught about how to begin the teaching process and focused on the
importance of getting to know the investigator and then applying the
details that we learn about their life to the Ten Points of How to
Begin Teaching. I love working with Elder Perez, and I know that he
will be a fantastic district leader. He was a zone leader for seven
transfers, and this is his very first time ever being a district
leader. Elder Crosgrove and I began our day of work by going to teach
Wendi Martinez about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was an awesome
lesson filled with great analogies. Elder Crosgrove related baptism to
a contract that we sign to gain access to Christ's atoning sacrifice.
We later stopped by Ricardo Martinez again to review the Restoration
with him. He was a little confused about the true nature of God, given
the fact that he has spent the past several years attending various
Christian churches that have different views of the nature of God. We
invited him to pray about his doubt so that he can come to know that
God has a body of flesh and bones, just like we do. A member named
Rosie who works at the local laundry mat took Elder Crosgrove and I
out to eat at a Mexican restaurant during the evening. She has such a
big heart and is always looking to help us out in whatever way that
she can. I love how charitable and loving the members are; missionary
work can only be successful when members and missionaries come
together. Elder Crosgrove and I next went to visit the Vargas family
again to read with Guadalupe and her father. It was a very spiritual
lesson, and they committed to reading the Book of Mormon every single
day to find out if it is true. The Book of Mormon is the key to
everything that we do. To conclude our day, we talked to Jose Mendez
about preparing to go do baptisms for the dead at the temple.

Friday, December 19th, 2014:

For the third time on my mission so far, I have been in the district
that was assigned to clean the mission office. Our whole district met
up at the mission office at about noon to clean for about two hours.
It was fun to have the opportunity to get to know everyone a little
bit better as we all cleaned. I think that I only knew about half of
our district and zone at the beginning of the transfer, so I am still
in the process of getting to know the Fletcher, Arroyo and El Molino
districts. As we were finishing up cleaning, Elder Crosgrove and I
discovered that we were missing a part on our car; we had to go back
to the shop to get it fixed. We then went straight to correlation
meeting with our ward mission leader, Hermano Ojeda. He seems really
active and willing to help us, and I look forward to working with him
more and more. During the evening, the Arroyo Ward had the annual
Christmas dinner. Elder Crosgrove went with Hermano Ojeda to pick up
Norma and Guadalupe Vargas while I stayed at the church with Elder
Carnahan and Elder Van Wagenen to meet some of the members. I am
trying to go out of my way to talk to as many people as possible,
which includes talking to all of the members of the ward that I can.
It was a great party that was filled with singing and a live nativity.
I look forward to serving the members of the Arroyo Ward more and
more.

Saturday, December 20th, 2014:

We arranged all of the rides to go to the Elwood Building in Glendora,
which is where I served at in Azusa and is just two blocks away from
where my recent convert, Irene Gonzalez, lives at. It brought back a
lot of memories as we drove to Glendora. The mission party was a great
opportunity to be able to see everyone that I have served around. I
love mission conferences because I am able to hear about how all of my
old areas are doing; it sounds like all of my previous wards and
companions are doing well and progressing, which makes me really happy
to hear. We were instructed by Presidente and Hermana Villanueva.
After they concluded with their message, there was a mission-wide
testimony meeting. It was a really spiritual meeting in which a few
missionaries shared some very personal and powerful experiences.
Testimony is the trunk on the tree of conversion; we cannot be truly
converted if we do not continually work on fortifying our own
testimony, and our conversion will wither and die if we do not
constantly nourish our testimony through bearing it. President Nelson
of the mission presidency purchased lunch for everyone, which ended up
being ham and steak. It was so nice and humbling to see other people
go so far out of their way to make sure that we, as missionaries, were
looked after so well. After lunch ended, every zone sang a Christmas
song as part of the Christmas nativity program in the mission. Elder
Crosgrove and I led our zone as we sang "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem"
in Spanish. To conclude the Christmas party, they brought out a couple
of pinatas for everyone to hit and break open. It was a ton of fun and
provided a great bonding time for the mission. The activity was very
much like a Latino Christmas, which showed us some of the traditions
that the Villanuevas have brought with them here to California. During
the evening, we shared the "He is the Gift" video with Carolina
Garcia. She committed to come to church tomorrow so that she can
continue helping her faith in Christ grow.

Sunday, December 21st, 2014:

It is always interesting to go to church for the first time in an area
because it is always a great indication of how the missionary work is
doing and how the ward as a whole is progressing. The Arroyo Ward
seemed a little smaller than I was expecting; however, the members
were very friendly and inviting. It also appears that the ward is much
more organized and has a much better core structure of members to run
it than Belvedere 2 did. Out of the five or six people that Elder
Crosgrove and I were hoping would come to church, three investigators
ended up attending, which was wonderful to see. After church ended,
Elder Crosgrove and I went back to our apartment to do weekly
planning. Cleaning the mission office prevented us from having the
necessary time to do our weekly planning. We were very effective about
planning to establish a vision for each of our investigators and how
we can carry out our plans to bring about the vision that we have for
each investigator. Elder Crosgrove and I work really well together,
and I look forward to the success that should come in the upcoming
week. We went to eat dinner with a recent convert named Israel. We ate
pupusas with him and talked to him about his daily reading in the
scriptures. Elder Crosgrove and I later went to visit the Vargas
family and began talking with them about going to the Los Angeles
Temple Visitors' Center. They seemed really excited and interested in
going to see it. We concluded the week by stopping by the Jurado
family's home. They live in the Arroyo Ward boundaries, but they are
members of the Fletcher Ward. They fed us tacos dorados, which were
delicious. Latino people love feeding us, and they have some of the
most delicious food there is! Elder Crosgrove and I finished our
evening by talking to all of the district leaders in the zone. It
sounds like everyone is doing surprisingly well for the first week of
the transfer.

It has been very exciting and hectic at the same time. I am really
enjoying the opportunity to serve here in Lincoln Heights with Elder
Crosgrove. We have a lot of promising things happening in our area at
the moment, and we are seeing numerous miracles as we serve together.
I look forward to seeing even more Christmas miracles and being able
to talk with my family in just three days from now. I hope everyone
remembers the true meaning of Christmas and places Christ at the
center of everything that they do during this Christmas season. I hope
everyone has a very merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley

Raining in California - December 8, 2014

Hey Everyone!

For the first time since I got to California, it rained nonstop for
three days in a row. The best part was that we saw as much spiritual
success as there was physical rainfall; this week was extremely busy
and yielded a lot of results. I am definitely seeing everything pick
up here in the Belvedere 2 Ward, and it is exciting to be a part of. I
hope everyone had a wonderful week and is getting ready for Christmas
in just a couple of weeks.

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014:

Today was our second mission conference with Presidente Villanueva,
and I learned a ton today. It seems like Presidente Villanueva is
beginning to settle in to his role as mission president, which is
exciting to see. We heard messages from both President Nelson and
President Yen, who are the two counselors in the mission presidency.
Hermana Villanueva then shared an example of how growing pine trees
that are used as Christmas trees is a similar process to our finding,
teaching and baptizing process as missionaries. It was an awesome
analogy that I took pictures of from her chalkboard drawings. We then
listened to the zone leaders, who talked about the importance of
attitude and hope in missionary work. In times past, the assistants
always taught, but Presidente Villanueva is changing the whole outline
of zone conferences. We were then taught by Presidente Villanueva, who
emphasized the importance of family history work when working with
less-active members. He has a huge vision of how working with
less-active members helps us fulfill our missionary purpose, and the
family history work is the key to reactivation efforts. I need to
begin doing mine immediately. Elder Alcaraz and I were then able to
visit a couple of investigators who we haven't seen in a little while.
We first taught Domingo Morales about the true meaning of Christmas
and having faith in Jesus Christ by using the "He is the Gift" video.
It was a very spiritual lesson. That video is now on the front page of
YouTube (so I hear) and is expected to have about 220 million views.
We also taught Ernesto Martinez. Elder Alcaraz bore very powerful
testimony of the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That
is the fundamental message of all time: Christ suffered, died and then
rose again so that we might be clean and free from the bondage of sin;
everything that we do as missionaries is predicated on that one
crowning event.

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014:

For the third day in a row, it rained the entire day without ceasing.
We were fortunate to have a steady downpour of both rain and success,
however. It was the first time that I had a full day to work here in
my own area in quite a while, and it felt great to be able to get back
to work. Elder Alcaraz and I began our day by visiting an investigator
named Arturo Fierro. He is chronically ill, and we are trying to help
him turn to Christ to get past his depression. He is a wonderful
gentleman with great desires to find happiness in life. We shared the
"He is the Gift" video with him and talked about the healing power
that comes from the "good tidings of great joy." Elder Alcaraz and I
then went to teach Maria Manriquez. We finished going through the
baptismal interview questions with her. Maria is totally prepared and
even admitted that she knows everything that she needs to know before
she is baptized. I honestly have no idea what is holding her back from
entering the waters of baptism and enjoying the companionship of the
Holy Ghost. Elder Alcaraz and I went to go eat with the Mata family.
On the way there, it looked like a flood running down the street of
the hill that we were walking up. A car passed and splashed water all
over Elder Alcaraz and I as it tried passing another car. It felt like
Splash Mountain from Disneyland, and Elder Alcaraz and I had a good
laugh afterwards, despite the fact that we were soaked through from
head to toe. We shared the "He is the Gift" video with the Mata family
and talked about how they can share their testimonies during this time
of the year. That video really invites the Spirit, and I anticipate a
lot of success coming as a result of that short video about the true
meaning of Christmas. Elder Alcaraz and I finished our day by going
with Hermano Lizarraga to visit Hermana Rojo. He talked excessively,
making it difficult for Elder Alcaraz and I to keep the structure of
the lesson. More important than what the investigator hears from us or
from the members is the feeling that they receive; and even more
important than the feeling that they receive from the Spirit that they
feel is the action that the feeling invokes because true change must
come from within.

Thursday, December 4th, 2014:

Elder Alcaraz and I work extremely well together, so much so that
Presidente Villanueva even mentioned to us privately at zone
conference he really likes how well our companionship works. He is
probably my favorite companion that I have had during my entire
mission, and it is because we are each so driven by our purpose and
desire to help others feel the Spirit and accept the Gospel in their
lives. It was great to have another full day to work together, and
better yet was the fact that the rain ceased today. We worked really
hard in the morning and early afternoon to contact. We were able to
later contact a less-active member named Oscar Escobar. He hasn't been
to church in quite some time; however, he instantly realized that he
needs to come back to church after we showed him the "He is the Gift"
video. He felt the Spirit and told us that he will begin talking to
his wife to begin attending church again. Elder Alcaraz and I then
went to eat with Hermana Martinez. David Martinez, Hermana Martinez's
son, will be leaving on his mission to Argentina on December 16th, so
we have been spending a lot of time helping him prepare to serve the
Lord. We also shared the "He is the Gift" video with their family. We
all went down to the church later to teach the Preach My Gospel class.
Everyone in the class commented on how well Elder Alcaraz and I teach
together because each and every member in that room was able to feel
the Spirit testify to them about the truthfulness of the Restoration.
I love teaching with Elder Alcaraz. Daniel Martinez then came with us
after the Preach My Gospel class to teach Ernesto Martinez again. We
began introducing the Book of Mormon and all bore powerful witness of
the truthfulness of the pages that it contains. The Book of Mormon
will change lives.

Friday, December 5th, 2014:

For the first time in a couple of weeks, Elder Alcaraz and I were able
to meet with Jose Antonio Escobar, who we believe has the most
potential out of any of the investigators that we are teaching to
become a great member of the Church. He told us some great news: he
now has a new job and will be able to come to church, at least to
Sacrament Meeting, on Sundays! We were thrilled and look forward to
being able to work with him more. He understands the doctrine
extremely well, and that understanding propels him to act in
accordance to the doctrine. We then went to the church to meet up with
Elder Coca Frias and Elder Turner. Each companionship did weekly
planning before we began exchanges. Elder Coca Frias came with me to
our area, and Elder Alcaraz went with Elder Turner to Belvedere 2 -
South. Elder Coca and I began working by going to teach Art Fierro
again. He really likes to talk, which makes it difficult to keep the
lesson from going off-topic. We taught about the Plan of Salvation,
and Art began to open up about how the Holy Ghost testified to him
that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.
It was a really exciting moment. We had a few appointments that
canceled before we finished our evening by visiting Alberto
Rivadeneyra. Elder Coca and I went in and planned to teach the Book of
Mormon; however, Alberto began talking a lot, preventing us from
sharing more than a single verse. I need to do better about cutting
people off and helping them understand that the message that we have
to share is the most important message that they will ever hear in the
entire course of their lives. This message affects our personal
salvation.

Saturday, December 6th:

It was interesting to have a day where I was completely in charge of
the area. Every single one of the four previous exchanges that I have
done this transfer resulted in me leaving my area; this was the first
out of five exchanges that I was able to stay in my own area to work.
Elder Coca and I began the day by going to visit a less-active lady
named Erika Ruiz. We shared the "He is the Gift" video with her and
her three granddaughters. We talked about how we can build our faith
in Christ as we pray to him. Elder Coca and I taught everyone there
how to pray, and a ten year-old girl named Ashley said an amazing
prayer at the end of the lesson. It is wonderful to see how our
teaching can make such a monumental difference in the lives of those
that we teach. We then taught a couple of new investigators named
sonia and Francisco. They are a brother and sister who are very
involved in the youth ministry at the Catholic Church, which means
they will make wonderful members when they receive the answer from God
that they should accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shared
the "He is the Gift" video with both of them and began talking about
the importance of service. Elder Coca and I then finished our exchange
together by teaching Jaime Quezada about the Gospel and emphasizing
the role of the Sacrament in the repentance process. Elder Coca and I
then met up with Elder Alcaraz and Elder Turner to finish the
exchange. Elder Coca is progressing very well, and I was able to learn
a lot about street contacting from him. He will be a fantastic
missionary as he continues to work to apply what he learns each and
every day because he is very sharp and observant. The only appointment
that Elder Alcaraz and I had together during the evening was with the
Becerril family. Once again, we shared the "He is the Gift" video and
invited each of them to think of someone that they can share both the
video and their testimony with during the next week. People are more
receptive to a message about the Savior during this Christmas season.

Sunday, December 7th, 2014:

Church was really good today because we had the chance to listen to
Fast and Testimony Meeting. My mission has shown me how bearing
testimony of a principle is he act of faith required to actually gain
the testimony itself. A testimony is a statement of belief, and we are
able to obtain a conviction of the truth through the power of the
Spirit as we declare our testimony, benefiting both the listener and
the person bearing testimony. After church ended, we had a great ward
council meeting. There was a lot discussed, and missionary work seemed
to be at the forefront of almost every matter of business that was
discussed. Missionary work is the fundamental for long-term growth
within a ward, and the Belvedere 2 Ward is beginning to implement a
plan that can be used to hasten the missionary work here. We are
working closely with our ward mission leader, Obispo Mata to help the
ward progress. During the day, we went to visit a few potential
investigators and set up a few return appointments before we returned
to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. I loved Elder
Christofferson's talk about the condescension of Christ and how we
must condescend to also overcome the world. Christmas is truly the
best time to remember our relationship to the Savior. During the
evening, Elder Alcaraz and I went to share the "He is the Gift" video
with the Catillo family. It was my first time meeting them, and they
are very friendly. We also visited the Robles family for just the
second time since I arrived and shared the same video with them.
Working with the members is the key to finding the prepared
investigators. We can work all day long and find investigators who
aren't really that interested, but the members have been here longer
and are able to touch the hearts of the people in a different way than
we are as missionaries. When we come together to perform the work of
salvation as one unified team, that is when we begin to see the
miracles.

Today, we met up as a district to make gingerbread houses. It was a
lot of fun and was a great opportunity to get to know everyone a
little bit better. Everyone is beginning to get into that festive
mood, and it is making me excited for the happiest day of the year. I
hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley

Too Much Turkey - December 1, 2014

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and had too much turkey, like we
did here! We ended up with three dinners, even though it was nearly
four (one of them ended up canceling the day of). I love Latino food,
but I felt like I was going to explode after eating so much food! The
week has been full of exchanges, and we have a lot more activities
ahead during the coming week, including zone conference tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014:

When we woke up during the morning, Elder Alcaraz was feeling like he
had the flu again. Fortunately, after resting for a couple of hours,
he was able to regain his strength so that we could go out and work
again. It seems like Satan has been using any tactic he can to prevent
us from establishing a good rhythm to working in our area. While Elder
Alcaraz was sleeping, however, I was able to finish the Book of Mormon
in Spanish for the second time on my mission. It was the fifth time
reading it total on my mission, and I am constantly amazed with how
much I learn every time that I read it. I started it again in Spanish,
and I am hoping to finish it again in about a month or two from now.
We first went to visit Jaime Quezada, who is a less-active. We invited
him to the soccer game with the ward on Thanksgiving Day, and he
seemed really excited to come. Jaime is a HUGE Seattle Seahawks fan,
so we have a great relationship with him. Elder Alcaraz and I later
went to eat lunch with Hermana Bernal and her mother. They fed us a
delicious meal, and we then shared D&C 4 with them to emphasize the
qualifications for missionary work. Faith, hope, charity and love are
the requisites for engaging in the work of the Lord, and everything
else is secondary to those four principles of the Gospel, which line
up with the first four principles of the Gospel (faith, repentance,
baptism and the Holy Ghost). Elder Alcaraz and I then stopped by
Marlene Manriquez to talk about what will happen at the tour at the
Temple Visitors' Center. She seems really excited to go, but she is
still a little uncertain about taking the step into the waters of
baptism. At the temple, we are able to feel the Spirit testify to us
about the importance and truthfulness of baptism by proper Priesthood
authority. She prayed and asked God at the end of the lesson if she
should be baptized, so she shows true desire to act. Elder Alcaraz and
I then met up with Elder Marchan and Elder Van Wagenen to do an
exchange; I went with Elder Van Wagenen to Belevedere 2 - East, and
Elder Marchan came with Elder Alcaraz to Belevedere 2 - West.

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014:

Elder Van Wagenen is a quiet person, but he is very friendly. We
discovered that we are both huge football fans, which was able to
break the ice. I also found out that he played high school football in
Eagle, Idaho, which is where Tanner Mangum is from. He and Tanner
Mangum played together all throughout high school. For those who don't
know who Tanner is: Tanner Mangum was the top quarterback in the
entire country coming out of high school, and he is currently serving
in Argentina -- I was able to meet him in the MTC. Elder Van Wagenen
was telling me that Tanner Mangum already has NFL ability, so look out
for him in the coming years at BYU and in the NFL. Our first
appointment of the day was with an investigator named Fidel. He was
very frustrating to teach because he basically disregarded everything
we said, or it went in one ear and out of the other. We testified
boldly of the power of the Book of Mormon, and he committed to read
it, however. Elder Van Wagenen and I then went to visit the Garcia de
Alma family. The Hermano is one of the most intelligent members that I
have ever met, but the wife is a devote Catholic. Hermano Garcia de
Alma honestly knows as much as most temple presidents, so it was
interesting to talk to him about teaching the Gospel in simple and
plain terms for those who aren't as well-versed. During the evening,
we went to the home of the Becerra family. I was able to perform my
very first baptismal interview for Inez Becerra. She was still trying
to decide if she wanted to be baptized on Sunday, but I gave her the
interview, per Elder Marchan's request. As I asked her the questions,
she came to realize that she was much more prepared than she had
realized. She Wanted to be baptized this Sunday and showed that she
has been repenting and living the Gospel. It was a very spiritual
experience, and she is all ready to be baptized this Sunday. We then
finished the exchanges.

Thursday, November 27th, 2014:

The Belvedere 2 Ward teamed up with the Boyle Heights Ward to play a
soccer game in the morning (Turkey Bowl -- Latino-style) against the
Belvedere 1 Ward. Both Jaime Quezada and Hermano Escobar, an
investigator that we recently started teaching, came to watch, so it
was an effective missionary activity for us. There was a huge turnout
overall, and they even had referees for the game. Our team prevailed
3-1 at the end of the game. Playing soccer made me reminisce of my
days in Azusa. After soccer, our whole district went over to the
church for district meeting. The assistants were coming to sit in, so
I was a little more nervous than usual to teach. District meeting
focused on the Doctrine of Christ -- The Missionary Purpose, and I
emphasized the importance of working with less-active members to
fulfill our missionary purpose. I don't know if it was as powerful as
I was hoping that it could be, but the assistants expressed to me
their gratitude for how much they learned from the meeting. After
district meeting, we began eating ore than we could handle. The Verde
family invited everyone from the district to come eat, and everyone,
except the Hermanas, was able to come. It was a fun visit with the
district. Elder Alcaraz then had another dinner appointment with the
Rojo family. I had trouble trying to break the ice with the family
just because they were more quiet as people than I am used to, but
they were very nice. Both of our first two dinners were delicious, but
our best dinner was our final dinner with the Escobar family. We
finished the day by eating with them, at which point we were already
bloated. We ate turkey or chicken at all three dinners. I had way more
to eat than I could have ever hoped for. Each one of the three dinners
was a full feast, and Latinos get offended if you don't take a second
plate, meaning that it was nearly the equivalent of six large standard
meals. Elder Alcaraz and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, and it
made us very thankful for the love that our members show us.

Friday, November 28th, 2014:

We had our monthly apartment inspection by Obispo Angulo during the
morning, so Elder Alcaraz and I spent a little time cleaning and
making the apartment look spotless. It always amazes me at just how
dirty missionaries can let the apartment become over time. I prefer
living in a clean and tidy space, which, according to President
Becerra, allows for personal revelation to be received. He always
said, "How can you expect to receive personal revelation if your desk
[and house] isn't clean?" Elder Alcaraz and I then commenced with
weekly planning. After weekly planning, the zone leaders wanted to
begin exchanges with us. I went to Belvedere 1 - North with Elder
Cobb, and Elder Gallegos came to Belvedere 2 - West to be with Elder
Alcaraz. Elder Cobb and I focused a lot on contacting different
people. He is very good at getting return appointments with new people
that we talk to. We were able to set up four or five different
appointments with street contacts, door contacts and former
investigators. During the evening, an Hermano from the Belvedere 1
Ward named Hermano Barrales came to help us teach an investigator
couple named Jorge and Aida about the Restoration. Jorge understood
everything extremely well and even accepted a baptismal date for
January 11th! Aida was very attached to her Catholic traditions,
however, and wasn't as open to the idea of switching beliefs right
away. She did, however, want us to continue coming back so that she
can continue to learn. Just like in the parable of the laborers in the
vineyard, there are investigators that don't need to work as much time
(or investigate as long, in this case) to receive the same recompense
(baptism) as others who have to labor (investigate) for longer periods
of time to qualify for the reward (baptism). Today was the first
exchange with Elder Cobb since I was in third transfer in Chino
shortly after Christmas; it was incredible to see how much we have
both grown since then.

Saturday, November 29th, 2014:

Elder Cobb is really easy-going, and spending the day with him was
really fun. We are both good friends, and we are both very focused on
the work. A number of our appointments canceled, which happens
frequently. Elder Cobb and I knocked on a few doors of former
investigators and their neighbors; we were able to find a few
interested people who invited us back during the coming week. Before
we had to exchange back, we taught a young kid named Ricardo about the
Ten Commandments and the Word of Wisdom. His records were lost from
his baptism, so he has to be re-baptized now. The family fed us carne
asada and was very appreciative of our help. We then went to exchange
back. The biggest thing that I learned from Elder Cobb during our
exchange was obedience to the small details; he is a consecrated
missionary, without question. Elder Alcaraz and I were invited to eat
dinner with the Carbajal family; Obispo Jimenez and his wife from the
Los Robles Singles' Ward came to join us for dinner. It was a
wonderful visit, and I really enjoyed getting to know all of them
better. Obispo Jimenez served his mission in Detroit and is very
familiar with the University of Michigan. We shared the new Christmas
video that the Church made that is entitled "He is the Gift." The
video is the Church's Christmas initiative to promote the true meaning
of Christmas, and the video will be on the homepage of YouTube,
beginning on December 7th. I would encourage each and every one of you
to watch and share it, if you haven't yet done so. The Spirit was very
powerful, and I believe that each person in that room will now have
the desire to share the true meaning of Christmas. We concluded the
evening by going to Maria Manriquez's house. Maria was quite sleepy,
but all of her kids were interested in learning. We taught five of
them at the same time; I taught four of them about the Restoration,
and Elder Alcaraz taught the fifth about how he can come to know that
God is there and that God loves him. Every single one of the five
teenagers was interested in learning more. Teaching for understanding
is one of the biggest keys to missionary work.

Sunday, November 30th, 2014:

Church was really powerful today because a group of Los Robles members
came to sing during Sacrament Meeting. They sang the 2014 youth song,
"Come Unto Christ," and incorporated the violin, the guitar, the piano
and the ukulele. It brought the Spirit into the room very powerfully.
Elder Alcaraz and I did really well about setting up appointments with
members for the week after church ended. We are making a concerted
effort to get to know all of our members better, and we plan to begin
working with them to help hasten the work here in our individual area.
Jaime Quezada didn't come to church today, like he had promised us
that he would, so we went to visit him after church. He fed us caldo
de res, and we shared the "He is the Gift" video with him and his
wife. Jaime said that he wants to come to church next week with both
his wife and his son. I believe that we can begin to help him gain the
vision of working on receiving the Melchizadek Priesthood in the
future. Elder Alcaraz and I later went to visit Pedro and Ester Gomez.
We gave them a "Finding Faith in Christ" DVD a little while back, and
we sat down to watch the video with them. They loved it and wanted us
to come back to continue teaching them. Elder Alcaraz and I concluded
the day by teaching the Rivadeneyra family about the Book of Mormon.
He talks incessantly, making it difficult to keep any kind of
structured lesson going. One unusual thing about today was that it
rained a lot. I can probably count on two hands how many times it has
actually rained in California since getting here last August, and this
was only the second time it has bucketed this much. California really
needs the rain, though.

Today, our whole district spent the day at the mercadito. We all
bought gorditas and had a wonderful time relaxing and strolling
through the little shops. I bought a little last supper painting to
make our apartment more like the typical Latino home. I always enjoy
going to the mercadito because everyone there speaks Spanish and sells
authentic Latino foods and crafts. It was a great way to relax for the
day and spend some quality time together as a district. Tomorrow, we
have zone conference with President Villanueva, so I am very excited
to be fed spiritually. I hope everyone has a wonderful week and is
continuing to remember the true meaning of Christmas during this
holiday season!

Love,
Elder Gabriel Valley