This is Ross with Heather...she and Ross were in the same student ward in College Station and were both sent to the San Diego mission..crazy!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Pictures!!
Happy early Thanksgiving! What a special surprise to open up my email and find that Ross had sent some pictures this week. He never does that! Enjoy :)
This is Ross with Heather...she and Ross were in the same student ward in College Station and were both sent to the San Diego mission..crazy!
This is Ross with Heather...she and Ross were in the same student ward in College Station and were both sent to the San Diego mission..crazy! 
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Letter from November 16, 2010
November 16, 2010
hahaha i think the last time all those teams won on the same day was when i was a little kid. Im glad the Ags are doing good, all the new missionaries that come in see me and ask if i went to school before the mission and i tell them A&M, then the next question always is "Are you going to play football there?" i just smile and say, "we'll see" hahaha
1. haha Im sure you are both wondering what was in that letter hahaha. IDK, I was studying one morning and i just had the impression to write Pres. Packard and tell him about my story with Marc MAndel and how everything is going out here. Thats basically it. If you read it you would just be reading the same story, but i did throw my testimony in at the end. Nothing to special, I still dont know why I wrote it, just followiing an impression. I have come to realize on my mission that if the Lord speaks, it is usually a pretty good idea to do it. haha
2.I know nothing about the Christmas Gathering. Just that it is on like the 23rd or 22nd and that all the missionaries (in SD, not in the desert) get together at one of the churches and ahve a big christmas "party". We watch a christmas church movie and then they hand out gifts and president gives everyone an orange and some socks hahaha. I am trying to get president to show "ELF" but i dont think he will show a will ferrel movie, its worth a shot. And yes mom, in my last letter i did ask about skype...i got no reply, there is your answer hahaha
3. "Zone-Leading" is pretty fun. we have to do a lot of extra work, but the Lord has definitely blessed us in our area. Another lesson that I have learned is that when you serve others, the Lord will serve you. That is the case in our area right now. Last week we didnt have time to teach a lot of lessons, but we still had a baptism, 2 with a date, and 3 at church. Still a good week and yes, you read right, we did get a baptism! haha. We have a meeting with president like twice a month and he calls regularly. He like to talk with us, our zone is doing the best right ow in the mission. But, i would love to be a regualr missionary again, i didnt get to do that for a while haha
Well my marine story of the week....it was a pretty good week. The Protestant prayer leader taht i taught last week is doing really well. Last week, he told me that he wasnt interested in getting baptized but just wanted to learn. This week i taught him a little abot joesph smith and authority and how there is only one church taht has it all. And I INVITED him to follow the example of jesus christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authoriry of God. He said that he would, but not untilhe gets his answer taht this is the ONLY true church. He will get it this week. His best friend in bootcamp is a stud member. returned missinoary, so he knows what he is doing. I think he will get baptized soon, very soon. The other marine is doing ok. He seemed to cool off a little bit, but im going to talk with the missionarys up north at "phase 2" and get them to talk with him and keep the fire burning. I also found 2 more recruits that are interested. One of them saw one the the recruits in his compnay, that is a member, praying by himself one night and felt like he needed to join him. It was a pretty cool story. the lord works on these guys big time. they have spiritual experience after spiritual experience it is great.
In my area the story of the week is.....I am teaching my first interested cholo. yes, a legit thug from a legit gang. His name is Edgar and he is the son of a member. he came to the mobat yesterday with us and he loved it. He has a lot to change, but he knows everything is true. He wants us to help him change his life. But yes, i am now teaching my first cholo that is actually interested haha.
Well that is about all for this week. Oh, before i forget. Because the San Diego mission is the best mission in the world and the 1st presidency and the 12 love us the most, 3 weeks ago, the California San Diego mission became the 1st mission in the world to have.............TEXTING ON THEIR PHONES!!!!! hahahahaha yep, missionaries can now text. I love my missio so much. It is a lot more fun to text in spanish ahahahah
Thanks for all of your prayers and i will be praying extra hard on thursday, all day. And like dad told me, "no news is good news." I dont want to get any news haha LOVE YALL
Ross
hahaha i think the last time all those teams won on the same day was when i was a little kid. Im glad the Ags are doing good, all the new missionaries that come in see me and ask if i went to school before the mission and i tell them A&M, then the next question always is "Are you going to play football there?" i just smile and say, "we'll see" hahaha
1. haha Im sure you are both wondering what was in that letter hahaha. IDK, I was studying one morning and i just had the impression to write Pres. Packard and tell him about my story with Marc MAndel and how everything is going out here. Thats basically it. If you read it you would just be reading the same story, but i did throw my testimony in at the end. Nothing to special, I still dont know why I wrote it, just followiing an impression. I have come to realize on my mission that if the Lord speaks, it is usually a pretty good idea to do it. haha
2.I know nothing about the Christmas Gathering. Just that it is on like the 23rd or 22nd and that all the missionaries (in SD, not in the desert) get together at one of the churches and ahve a big christmas "party". We watch a christmas church movie and then they hand out gifts and president gives everyone an orange and some socks hahaha. I am trying to get president to show "ELF" but i dont think he will show a will ferrel movie, its worth a shot. And yes mom, in my last letter i did ask about skype...i got no reply, there is your answer hahaha
3. "Zone-Leading" is pretty fun. we have to do a lot of extra work, but the Lord has definitely blessed us in our area. Another lesson that I have learned is that when you serve others, the Lord will serve you. That is the case in our area right now. Last week we didnt have time to teach a lot of lessons, but we still had a baptism, 2 with a date, and 3 at church. Still a good week and yes, you read right, we did get a baptism! haha. We have a meeting with president like twice a month and he calls regularly. He like to talk with us, our zone is doing the best right ow in the mission. But, i would love to be a regualr missionary again, i didnt get to do that for a while haha
Well my marine story of the week....it was a pretty good week. The Protestant prayer leader taht i taught last week is doing really well. Last week, he told me that he wasnt interested in getting baptized but just wanted to learn. This week i taught him a little abot joesph smith and authority and how there is only one church taht has it all. And I INVITED him to follow the example of jesus christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authoriry of God. He said that he would, but not untilhe gets his answer taht this is the ONLY true church. He will get it this week. His best friend in bootcamp is a stud member. returned missinoary, so he knows what he is doing. I think he will get baptized soon, very soon. The other marine is doing ok. He seemed to cool off a little bit, but im going to talk with the missionarys up north at "phase 2" and get them to talk with him and keep the fire burning. I also found 2 more recruits that are interested. One of them saw one the the recruits in his compnay, that is a member, praying by himself one night and felt like he needed to join him. It was a pretty cool story. the lord works on these guys big time. they have spiritual experience after spiritual experience it is great.
In my area the story of the week is.....I am teaching my first interested cholo. yes, a legit thug from a legit gang. His name is Edgar and he is the son of a member. he came to the mobat yesterday with us and he loved it. He has a lot to change, but he knows everything is true. He wants us to help him change his life. But yes, i am now teaching my first cholo that is actually interested haha.
Well that is about all for this week. Oh, before i forget. Because the San Diego mission is the best mission in the world and the 1st presidency and the 12 love us the most, 3 weeks ago, the California San Diego mission became the 1st mission in the world to have.............TEXTING ON THEIR PHONES!!!!! hahahahaha yep, missionaries can now text. I love my missio so much. It is a lot more fun to text in spanish ahahahah
Thanks for all of your prayers and i will be praying extra hard on thursday, all day. And like dad told me, "no news is good news." I dont want to get any news haha LOVE YALL
Ross
Letter from November 9, 2010
November 9, 2010
haha well this week was a little tough, but it ended up pretty good. Preguntas
1. haha sorry mom, i have been so busy lately that i havent even had time to think about christmas. I dont even have time to think about the next day. But i promise you that i will get to it this week, hopefully.
2.My plans for thanksgiving. Well since there isnt a spanish ward in the stake, i will explain things to you. Everyone in the Bonita 3rd ward is a convert, so everyone loves having the missionaries over. This translates to my situation of having 6 dinner appts on thanskgiving day. One with an investigator, one with the Munoz family (the coolest guy ever), one with the rosas family (they already are counting down the days till i can come back off my mission and stay with them) one with our bishop, one with a counselor in the bishopric, and one with our EQP (he is a stud..dad, if you knew him, you would wish all EQPs were like him). So thats what i will be doing on thanksgiving.
3.The baptisms did not happen. They just werent ready. we had appts with them and yeah, we could ahve pushed them and forced to be baptized. But there is a big difference in "dragging" someone to be baptized and "drawing" someone to be baptized. But they will go down this month for sure.
The marine is doing great. He knows everything is true, he knows what he needs to do, he is just a little nervous about what his family thinks. I explained to him that it is really importnat to have input from you family and told him that i never made a desicion without asking my family. But, when it comes down to it, no one can make the desicion for you. Only you can make it. But, because our Heavenly Father loves us and is rooting for us, he can help guide to the right path. He talked a little more about he doesnt want to disappoint me or his parents so he isnt sure. Right then i knew i hadnt taught him clearly enough. I explained to him that he needs to do this for himself. Not for me or his parents. So he said he would pray and he knew that God would guide him and help make the desicion. While teaching him, the thought came to me, but i didnt say it because i think it was the Lord teaching me. But the thought came to me that this marine needs to choose which parents he is going to disappoint. His earthly parents, or his Heavenly parents. It changed my teaching alittle bit while i was teaching him and i think he really understood at the end. But...
THIS WEEK AT THE MCRD:
I found a new investigator. But I have to explain something before. At marine boot camp, the marines are given the last 10 minutes of the day to meet together and pray with peole in the barracks. There are 3 "pray circiles". There is a catholic, a protestant, and a newly established mormon pray cirlce. Each pray circle has a prayer leader that gives a little spiritual thought and then they pray. So this week, i added a new investigaotr there. he went to church up north in his 2nd phase there, and he was interested. We were talking about prayer and idk why but i asked if there was a mormon prayer circle in his barracks. he said yeah and that his best friend invited him to pray in the circle. Turns out that this kid is a protestant prayer leader but left his circle to pray with the LDS. he said it just felt right and was something he had to do. BOOM! The spirit works on everyone..thats all i have to say.
I started reading this book about letting Christ help inour lives. In the book it said that the best way to overcome feelings of inadequacy and guilt or anything is to serve. I realized, A lot of times in the church, we loook at a calling as a "have to" not a "get to". That is how i had been looking at my mission the past couple weeks. I "had to" get up and go work. i "had to" do this. But after while i was praying, i asked for forgiveness for my bad attitude and spiritually slapped myself in the face, and asked for help to change my attitude. The next day i went about serving. i made my comps bed, i cleaned up the apartment a little, i served investigators and i helped members. It just felt good. That was what was missing, that Spirit of Service. Now i feel better and everything is going great. we had a great lesson with an investigator and she is progressing big time now. We have a baptism coming up on sunday and i have that "fire" agian.
THANKS FOR ALL OF YOU PRAYERS FOR ME AND FOR THOSE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BAPTIZED. YEAH, THEY DIDNT GET BAPTIZED, BUT THEY WILL SOON. THE LORD HAS A PLAN FOR THEM AND IT JUST WANST THE RIGHT TIME. THEY NEED TO SOMETHING MORE AND WE WILL FIND OUT WHAT IT IS, TEACH IT AND THEN BAPTIZE THE SIN OUT THEM. hahahah
I LOVE YALL
ross
haha well this week was a little tough, but it ended up pretty good. Preguntas
1. haha sorry mom, i have been so busy lately that i havent even had time to think about christmas. I dont even have time to think about the next day. But i promise you that i will get to it this week, hopefully.
2.My plans for thanksgiving. Well since there isnt a spanish ward in the stake, i will explain things to you. Everyone in the Bonita 3rd ward is a convert, so everyone loves having the missionaries over. This translates to my situation of having 6 dinner appts on thanskgiving day. One with an investigator, one with the Munoz family (the coolest guy ever), one with the rosas family (they already are counting down the days till i can come back off my mission and stay with them) one with our bishop, one with a counselor in the bishopric, and one with our EQP (he is a stud..dad, if you knew him, you would wish all EQPs were like him). So thats what i will be doing on thanksgiving.
3.The baptisms did not happen. They just werent ready. we had appts with them and yeah, we could ahve pushed them and forced to be baptized. But there is a big difference in "dragging" someone to be baptized and "drawing" someone to be baptized. But they will go down this month for sure.
The marine is doing great. He knows everything is true, he knows what he needs to do, he is just a little nervous about what his family thinks. I explained to him that it is really importnat to have input from you family and told him that i never made a desicion without asking my family. But, when it comes down to it, no one can make the desicion for you. Only you can make it. But, because our Heavenly Father loves us and is rooting for us, he can help guide to the right path. He talked a little more about he doesnt want to disappoint me or his parents so he isnt sure. Right then i knew i hadnt taught him clearly enough. I explained to him that he needs to do this for himself. Not for me or his parents. So he said he would pray and he knew that God would guide him and help make the desicion. While teaching him, the thought came to me, but i didnt say it because i think it was the Lord teaching me. But the thought came to me that this marine needs to choose which parents he is going to disappoint. His earthly parents, or his Heavenly parents. It changed my teaching alittle bit while i was teaching him and i think he really understood at the end. But...
THIS WEEK AT THE MCRD:
I found a new investigator. But I have to explain something before. At marine boot camp, the marines are given the last 10 minutes of the day to meet together and pray with peole in the barracks. There are 3 "pray circiles". There is a catholic, a protestant, and a newly established mormon pray cirlce. Each pray circle has a prayer leader that gives a little spiritual thought and then they pray. So this week, i added a new investigaotr there. he went to church up north in his 2nd phase there, and he was interested. We were talking about prayer and idk why but i asked if there was a mormon prayer circle in his barracks. he said yeah and that his best friend invited him to pray in the circle. Turns out that this kid is a protestant prayer leader but left his circle to pray with the LDS. he said it just felt right and was something he had to do. BOOM! The spirit works on everyone..thats all i have to say.
I started reading this book about letting Christ help inour lives. In the book it said that the best way to overcome feelings of inadequacy and guilt or anything is to serve. I realized, A lot of times in the church, we loook at a calling as a "have to" not a "get to". That is how i had been looking at my mission the past couple weeks. I "had to" get up and go work. i "had to" do this. But after while i was praying, i asked for forgiveness for my bad attitude and spiritually slapped myself in the face, and asked for help to change my attitude. The next day i went about serving. i made my comps bed, i cleaned up the apartment a little, i served investigators and i helped members. It just felt good. That was what was missing, that Spirit of Service. Now i feel better and everything is going great. we had a great lesson with an investigator and she is progressing big time now. We have a baptism coming up on sunday and i have that "fire" agian.
THANKS FOR ALL OF YOU PRAYERS FOR ME AND FOR THOSE WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BAPTIZED. YEAH, THEY DIDNT GET BAPTIZED, BUT THEY WILL SOON. THE LORD HAS A PLAN FOR THEM AND IT JUST WANST THE RIGHT TIME. THEY NEED TO SOMETHING MORE AND WE WILL FIND OUT WHAT IT IS, TEACH IT AND THEN BAPTIZE THE SIN OUT THEM. hahahah
I LOVE YALL
ross
Letter from November 2, 2010
November 2, 2010
Well...this week wasnt AS good as last week, but this week has some potential for sure. Questions:
I just got a whole bunch of candy for Halloween. We had to be inside at 630 because things get a little crazy around here during halloween week. So it was pretty boring. No kids knocked on the door so we watched church movies around our portable dvd player that we have in the apartment and i went to bed early. 1st major holiday in the mission= dud hahaha
Well i knew the rangers would dissappoint me. But actually it makes me happy because they will probably win it when i am home haha.
I dont know why but i have been way out of it this week. I have been really tired and just seem to be going through the motions, it has been tough. But i am making it.
Story of the week: Early thursday morning around 1230, we get a call. I am way out of it and i got pretty ticked when i saw that it was some missionaries calling us. I thought they ahd done something bad and were calling me to bail them out of jail or something. But turn out they were evacuated from their apartment because of a shootout. Yeah, thats right, a shootout. Right next door to their apartment. We are talking like 20 feet away from where they were. They were praying and they started hearing shots and police yelling, "Officer down! Officer Down! I repeat officer down!" A police officer had charged the door of where this guy was and the guy shot him in the face. The elders were looking out their window and saw the police caring him down the stairs. Then about an hour later, the police beat on the elders door and escorted them out and down the stairs and around the corner. So we picked them up and they slept at our apartment. It was pretty crazy! The officer died at the hospital later and i dont know what happened to the guy who shot him. Probably going to die soon.
Well, MCRD story time. I am now teaching another miracle marine. He told me his sotry. A couple years ago he was in a boating accident where he was knocked unconcious. While out of it, he said he saw his grandpa and he told him taht he needed to find god. A few weeks later, he meets this girl and goes to church with her. Our church. He reads in the principles of the Gospel book that god loves everyone and it is up to us to choose to follow him. A few weeks later, he enters the MCRD and he prays and asks if he should continue to go to our church. He said that his Grandpa told hiim yes he should. It is the one to follow. Pretty crazy story. he said that he doesnt want to get baptized here because he wont see me or anyone else here again. I said that i couldnt tell him who was at my baptism, 12 years ago, but i could tell exactly how i felt. Then i told him Marc Mandel's story about the power and strength he felt about baptism. I went through Mosiah 18 with him. In that chapter, alma tells the people at the waters of mormon the attributes of a follower of christ. I read it and it is exactly the attributes of a marine. So i explained that to him and he said he would ask God what he wants him to do. Im pretty sure he will get baptized either this week or next week. It was pretty spiritual experience!
Well that is about all for this week. If everything works out the way it should and Satan doesnt mess anything up, we should have 4 baptisms on Sunday. I have the faith and i have the wokr, but it would be nice to have yalls prayers as well. Thanks for everything yall do! LOVE YALL SOOO MUCH
Ross
Well...this week wasnt AS good as last week, but this week has some potential for sure. Questions:
I just got a whole bunch of candy for Halloween. We had to be inside at 630 because things get a little crazy around here during halloween week. So it was pretty boring. No kids knocked on the door so we watched church movies around our portable dvd player that we have in the apartment and i went to bed early. 1st major holiday in the mission= dud hahaha
Well i knew the rangers would dissappoint me. But actually it makes me happy because they will probably win it when i am home haha.
I dont know why but i have been way out of it this week. I have been really tired and just seem to be going through the motions, it has been tough. But i am making it.
Story of the week: Early thursday morning around 1230, we get a call. I am way out of it and i got pretty ticked when i saw that it was some missionaries calling us. I thought they ahd done something bad and were calling me to bail them out of jail or something. But turn out they were evacuated from their apartment because of a shootout. Yeah, thats right, a shootout. Right next door to their apartment. We are talking like 20 feet away from where they were. They were praying and they started hearing shots and police yelling, "Officer down! Officer Down! I repeat officer down!" A police officer had charged the door of where this guy was and the guy shot him in the face. The elders were looking out their window and saw the police caring him down the stairs. Then about an hour later, the police beat on the elders door and escorted them out and down the stairs and around the corner. So we picked them up and they slept at our apartment. It was pretty crazy! The officer died at the hospital later and i dont know what happened to the guy who shot him. Probably going to die soon.
Well, MCRD story time. I am now teaching another miracle marine. He told me his sotry. A couple years ago he was in a boating accident where he was knocked unconcious. While out of it, he said he saw his grandpa and he told him taht he needed to find god. A few weeks later, he meets this girl and goes to church with her. Our church. He reads in the principles of the Gospel book that god loves everyone and it is up to us to choose to follow him. A few weeks later, he enters the MCRD and he prays and asks if he should continue to go to our church. He said that his Grandpa told hiim yes he should. It is the one to follow. Pretty crazy story. he said that he doesnt want to get baptized here because he wont see me or anyone else here again. I said that i couldnt tell him who was at my baptism, 12 years ago, but i could tell exactly how i felt. Then i told him Marc Mandel's story about the power and strength he felt about baptism. I went through Mosiah 18 with him. In that chapter, alma tells the people at the waters of mormon the attributes of a follower of christ. I read it and it is exactly the attributes of a marine. So i explained that to him and he said he would ask God what he wants him to do. Im pretty sure he will get baptized either this week or next week. It was pretty spiritual experience!
Well that is about all for this week. If everything works out the way it should and Satan doesnt mess anything up, we should have 4 baptisms on Sunday. I have the faith and i have the wokr, but it would be nice to have yalls prayers as well. Thanks for everything yall do! LOVE YALL SOOO MUCH
Ross
Friday, October 29, 2010
Letter from October 26, 2010
haha you probably thought that i didnt know the rangers were in the series...but us missionaries have ways to find out things....its called...teaching our investigators at work hahaha...we taught this one guy and he sat us down at a table right in front of a 42" tv showing the phillies/giants game..of course, me being the sports fan, asked him who he wanted to win the series..y el me dijo, "pues, tu sabes. Tejas va a ganarlo." I almost jumped out of my chari and started running around. My prayers have been answered. 20 years of praying and it finally pays off. hahahahaha. From what I hear, Texas is not the same team. They actually score runs off of small things and not bombs. Im sure the giants have good pithcing with tim lincecum, but with cliff lee and the solid line up of solid hitters we have...i pick the rangers in 6...yeah, i still got it hahaha
Questions:
Haha i honestly shed some tears when i opened my package today. After 20 years of waiting, MY rangers are in the WS. I have been ture since the rusty greer and juan gonzalez years, through the rafeal palimero Todd Zeile years through the buck showalter seasons and now into what i am calling, "Nolan Ryan saves us again" years hahahah. I almost wore my jersey over my shirt and tie and i am taking a pic with every thing on tonight. Just know that when i work out in the morning, i wear my rangers hat backwards. hahaha
First off tell Coach byrd and schlecta hi and nancy too when you see them. haha i saw your question, "did anything happen at the MCRD" welll.....Lets just say something happened that not very many 20 year old guys get to do. At the MCRD when i walked in I talked with Marc Mandel and we were talking about the MP and him receiveing it soon. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a member of the Stake Presidency walk in and i got the impression, today is the day. So i told marc to hold on and went and talked with the Military relations missionary (you know how military people are..i would of gone right to the top, but the military likes their chain of command). He told me the branch president was pretty packed. i walked back to marc and once again i had the impression, "today is the day." So i went back and told the military relations missionary about it and we talked with the BP and he interviewed marc and then the Stake pres. interviewed him. I didn't know if he passed the interviews or not until he was sustained in PH meeting. Then one of the branch presidecny members came up to me and said, "Elder Little, Mandel wants you to ordain him. Make it happen." i was blown away. I never though in my mission that i would get to give someone the MP. So i ordained marc and we talked afteward. he said that he felt clean and felt this really good feeling inside during the blessing. i told him that it was Heavenly Father telling him that He was proud of him and that he was doing the right thing. IT HONESTLY WAS THE MOST POWERFUL SPIRITUAL EXPERINCE OF MY LIFE. So now, i get to make a PH line of authority for marc. how cool is that? Other tahn that, not a whole lot happened this week. I have been feeling pretty trunky this week. Satan has been working me over with the Rangers and all the diffferent sports that are going on right now. Im not going to lie, it is way tough. More tough thatn i thoug it was going to be. But i am making it, just pray for me...i definately need those to focus more.
Transfers are today. Me and Elder Guenette are staying together. Which makes me happy, he will be my first comp to stay for more than 1. and we have 5 baptisms planned for november!!! Well thats about all. Oh, president tells us alot of 1st presidency and quroum of the 12 stories. I have a lot about pres. hinckley and him. He told the other day that he has been in meetings where pres. hinckley prophesized of things that are happening right now. Pretty cool!
Thanks for everything!! I LOVE YALL!!
ross
Questions:
Haha i honestly shed some tears when i opened my package today. After 20 years of waiting, MY rangers are in the WS. I have been ture since the rusty greer and juan gonzalez years, through the rafeal palimero Todd Zeile years through the buck showalter seasons and now into what i am calling, "Nolan Ryan saves us again" years hahahah. I almost wore my jersey over my shirt and tie and i am taking a pic with every thing on tonight. Just know that when i work out in the morning, i wear my rangers hat backwards. hahaha
First off tell Coach byrd and schlecta hi and nancy too when you see them. haha i saw your question, "did anything happen at the MCRD" welll.....Lets just say something happened that not very many 20 year old guys get to do. At the MCRD when i walked in I talked with Marc Mandel and we were talking about the MP and him receiveing it soon. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a member of the Stake Presidency walk in and i got the impression, today is the day. So i told marc to hold on and went and talked with the Military relations missionary (you know how military people are..i would of gone right to the top, but the military likes their chain of command). He told me the branch president was pretty packed. i walked back to marc and once again i had the impression, "today is the day." So i went back and told the military relations missionary about it and we talked with the BP and he interviewed marc and then the Stake pres. interviewed him. I didn't know if he passed the interviews or not until he was sustained in PH meeting. Then one of the branch presidecny members came up to me and said, "Elder Little, Mandel wants you to ordain him. Make it happen." i was blown away. I never though in my mission that i would get to give someone the MP. So i ordained marc and we talked afteward. he said that he felt clean and felt this really good feeling inside during the blessing. i told him that it was Heavenly Father telling him that He was proud of him and that he was doing the right thing. IT HONESTLY WAS THE MOST POWERFUL SPIRITUAL EXPERINCE OF MY LIFE. So now, i get to make a PH line of authority for marc. how cool is that? Other tahn that, not a whole lot happened this week. I have been feeling pretty trunky this week. Satan has been working me over with the Rangers and all the diffferent sports that are going on right now. Im not going to lie, it is way tough. More tough thatn i thoug it was going to be. But i am making it, just pray for me...i definately need those to focus more.
Transfers are today. Me and Elder Guenette are staying together. Which makes me happy, he will be my first comp to stay for more than 1. and we have 5 baptisms planned for november!!! Well thats about all. Oh, president tells us alot of 1st presidency and quroum of the 12 stories. I have a lot about pres. hinckley and him. He told the other day that he has been in meetings where pres. hinckley prophesized of things that are happening right now. Pretty cool!
Thanks for everything!! I LOVE YALL!!
ross
Letter from October 19, 2010
Well I hear that my rangers are tearing it up...is there any chance they could actually win the title this year? If so, I need to write pres. and get permission to watch one of the games. I think he will understand, what do yall think?
1. Well, where do I start with the MCRD. I have no idea. The MCRD is where marine recruits go for their boot camp. They are here for a total of 3 months. the first month is here in San Diego at the MCRD, then they go for a month to Camp Pendelton in NOrthern California, and then come back for a month at the MCRD where they finish and becom marines. Now, what is my job there? The church has an LDS branch on the base. The MCRD branch. We have services every sunday from 730-11. We meet in a big college classroom, kind of like a lecture hall i guess. We have sacrament meeting, and priesthood and we just started having a new-member class for those recruits we just baptized. From 730-830, we as missionaries go around and talk with recruits. We have a list of all the recruits there and we look at the list and i know that it might sound cliche, but the Spirit tells us who to go talk to and we go and talk with them about life, and relate it to the gospel. We dont proselyte, thats not allowed. We just ask if they are interested in learning more if they say no, thats fine, if they say yes, well thats even better. The branch is led my a branch president, and his 9 counselors. he has 9 counselors because this "branch" has on average 250 marines there each sunday (50 of them being nonmembers). Sacrament meeting starts at 830 and goes till 945. After that there is priesthood or the new-member class. Also, the missionaries teach "investigators" during that time as well. There is no LDS chaplain in charge, but one of the chaplains at the top of the marines is LDS, so we are loved by everyone. (Well almost, but i will get to that later). We baptize them in a tub. It is a little physical therapy pool a little bigger than yalls bathtub at home, but ofcourse deeper. It is pretty sweet. All in all, the MCRD is definitiely where the Lord wants me to be right now. I hope that clears everything up.
(His next answer is in response to my mom telling him about some missionary training DVDs they had watched that took place in Ross's mission)
2. Wow mom and dad, how did yall get a copy of those? They are supposed to be pretty hard to get, but i guess you dont have all of them. There is a "movie" part as well. It is made up of 3 episodes, where it actually is realityTV. And yes, all of those names sound familiar. And i know all but one. I met Elder Bott when he was back here visiting and talked with him for awhile. Elder Murray was the AP when i came in and i talked with and worked with im at Gladys Knight. I spent the day with Elder Moreno last transfer on exchanges (he was an AP) and we became pretty close. We always sat next to each other at training meetings over the past few transfers. He is at home now at BYU, we email back and forth every now and then. Elder Christiansen is one of the APs now. He is a way funny guy and i go on exchanges and work with him at the MCRD and in ZL council. He is pretty cool. Elder Hepworth is a ZL as well, so i have gotten to know him. Sister Voyles and sister Zalivar were in my zone in IB. They are both pretty cool. And i never got to meet Elder Tuituu, he left before i got here and is getting married soon. Elder Bott, murray, tuituu, moreno and sis. zalivar are all home now. I have gotten to meet just a few of the families in the video. The asain guy, Brother Rodriguez and his family. He is still investigating the church, but now is being taught by a missioary in his natvie language, tagalog. Jynx is still being taught by elder christensen. German, the big huge guy, just recently baptized his mom, so that was pretty cool. I have been in all the chapels were they are. In the video, you probably havent seen it since it is in the "movie", they show the branch (which just recently became a ward!!!!) in IB. Those are my people, my branch in that one. All in all, are mission is pretty much the greatest in the world because of Pres. Donaldson. The reason we were chosen was because pres.donaldson was chosen before his mission. His job before the mission was to instruct the 1st presidency and the 12. yeah, he taught them. He was the director over teaching in the church. Something all the missionaries say about him is, "Pres. is so cool, President Eyring wanted to share a sandwich with him." which is ture, they really did share a sandwaich together, more than once. When he talked with Pres. Monson about being a mission president, Pres. Monson told him, "Lee, you are the best teacher in the church, we need you in San Diego. and your calling won't stop there." Its coming from the prophet, so it has to be true.
Anyways, i dont have too muchh to write this week. We just had another surprise baptism. Oriel, the brother of Erwin, decided he wanted to be baptized so we baptized him on sunday! It was pretty cool, both want to receive the PH now. Marc Mandel, my 1st RC athe MCRD, is going to receive the Melchizadeck PH in 2 weeks. he is already talking about going to the temple and everything. So he is still solid and progressing. We have a couple of baptisms coming up at the end of the month (halloween baptisms!!!!) and then a few planned out for early november. Right now, we are focusing on finding more people to baptize and keep the work moving up, without any down points.
Well that is about all i ahve for now. Oh yeah, I told you that almost everybody liked ius at the MCRd. This guy came and started getting mad at us for having our picnic for the marines that graduate. He is some crazy old colonel who thinks he still has power. Well lets jsut say he was "taken care of" At the marine graduation, General Bailey, the commanding general of the MCRD and the marines, came up to the military relations senior couple and asked if everything was going ok for the LDS. They said yeah its ok. he told them, "I heard there is someone that I need to take care off. let me tell you this, if someone messes with my best friends, they mess with me. " and then walked off. So it is pretty coolthat we have the commanding genereal of the marines on our side. Take that Satan!!
I love everybody. Tell everyone i said hey!!
LOve
Ross
1. Well, where do I start with the MCRD. I have no idea. The MCRD is where marine recruits go for their boot camp. They are here for a total of 3 months. the first month is here in San Diego at the MCRD, then they go for a month to Camp Pendelton in NOrthern California, and then come back for a month at the MCRD where they finish and becom marines. Now, what is my job there? The church has an LDS branch on the base. The MCRD branch. We have services every sunday from 730-11. We meet in a big college classroom, kind of like a lecture hall i guess. We have sacrament meeting, and priesthood and we just started having a new-member class for those recruits we just baptized. From 730-830, we as missionaries go around and talk with recruits. We have a list of all the recruits there and we look at the list and i know that it might sound cliche, but the Spirit tells us who to go talk to and we go and talk with them about life, and relate it to the gospel. We dont proselyte, thats not allowed. We just ask if they are interested in learning more if they say no, thats fine, if they say yes, well thats even better. The branch is led my a branch president, and his 9 counselors. he has 9 counselors because this "branch" has on average 250 marines there each sunday (50 of them being nonmembers). Sacrament meeting starts at 830 and goes till 945. After that there is priesthood or the new-member class. Also, the missionaries teach "investigators" during that time as well. There is no LDS chaplain in charge, but one of the chaplains at the top of the marines is LDS, so we are loved by everyone. (Well almost, but i will get to that later). We baptize them in a tub. It is a little physical therapy pool a little bigger than yalls bathtub at home, but ofcourse deeper. It is pretty sweet. All in all, the MCRD is definitiely where the Lord wants me to be right now. I hope that clears everything up.
(His next answer is in response to my mom telling him about some missionary training DVDs they had watched that took place in Ross's mission)
2. Wow mom and dad, how did yall get a copy of those? They are supposed to be pretty hard to get, but i guess you dont have all of them. There is a "movie" part as well. It is made up of 3 episodes, where it actually is realityTV. And yes, all of those names sound familiar. And i know all but one. I met Elder Bott when he was back here visiting and talked with him for awhile. Elder Murray was the AP when i came in and i talked with and worked with im at Gladys Knight. I spent the day with Elder Moreno last transfer on exchanges (he was an AP) and we became pretty close. We always sat next to each other at training meetings over the past few transfers. He is at home now at BYU, we email back and forth every now and then. Elder Christiansen is one of the APs now. He is a way funny guy and i go on exchanges and work with him at the MCRD and in ZL council. He is pretty cool. Elder Hepworth is a ZL as well, so i have gotten to know him. Sister Voyles and sister Zalivar were in my zone in IB. They are both pretty cool. And i never got to meet Elder Tuituu, he left before i got here and is getting married soon. Elder Bott, murray, tuituu, moreno and sis. zalivar are all home now. I have gotten to meet just a few of the families in the video. The asain guy, Brother Rodriguez and his family. He is still investigating the church, but now is being taught by a missioary in his natvie language, tagalog. Jynx is still being taught by elder christensen. German, the big huge guy, just recently baptized his mom, so that was pretty cool. I have been in all the chapels were they are. In the video, you probably havent seen it since it is in the "movie", they show the branch (which just recently became a ward!!!!) in IB. Those are my people, my branch in that one. All in all, are mission is pretty much the greatest in the world because of Pres. Donaldson. The reason we were chosen was because pres.donaldson was chosen before his mission. His job before the mission was to instruct the 1st presidency and the 12. yeah, he taught them. He was the director over teaching in the church. Something all the missionaries say about him is, "Pres. is so cool, President Eyring wanted to share a sandwich with him." which is ture, they really did share a sandwaich together, more than once. When he talked with Pres. Monson about being a mission president, Pres. Monson told him, "Lee, you are the best teacher in the church, we need you in San Diego. and your calling won't stop there." Its coming from the prophet, so it has to be true.
Anyways, i dont have too muchh to write this week. We just had another surprise baptism. Oriel, the brother of Erwin, decided he wanted to be baptized so we baptized him on sunday! It was pretty cool, both want to receive the PH now. Marc Mandel, my 1st RC athe MCRD, is going to receive the Melchizadeck PH in 2 weeks. he is already talking about going to the temple and everything. So he is still solid and progressing. We have a couple of baptisms coming up at the end of the month (halloween baptisms!!!!) and then a few planned out for early november. Right now, we are focusing on finding more people to baptize and keep the work moving up, without any down points.
Well that is about all i ahve for now. Oh yeah, I told you that almost everybody liked ius at the MCRd. This guy came and started getting mad at us for having our picnic for the marines that graduate. He is some crazy old colonel who thinks he still has power. Well lets jsut say he was "taken care of" At the marine graduation, General Bailey, the commanding general of the MCRD and the marines, came up to the military relations senior couple and asked if everything was going ok for the LDS. They said yeah its ok. he told them, "I heard there is someone that I need to take care off. let me tell you this, if someone messes with my best friends, they mess with me. " and then walked off. So it is pretty coolthat we have the commanding genereal of the marines on our side. Take that Satan!!
I love everybody. Tell everyone i said hey!!
LOve
Ross
Monday, October 18, 2010
Letter from October 12, 2010
Well it sounds like your week was pretty eventful...i bet i can top yours hahaha...you
>have no idea....
1. The next transfers are in 2 weeks...im pretty sure i am safe. My zone right
>now is leading the mission in baptisms per week, so i think that we will stay together
>agin for this next one. Which is fine by me.
2. We have some missionaries that here for a while waiting on visas so me and
>elder guenette had to pick up one that is with us for a while. Then we went and
>shopped and went and played football in chula Vista and now i am here. writing..barely
>awake..im sooo tired.
Well i bet you are wondering how my week could top you week. Buckle you seat
>belts and in the words of T.O. "get your popcorn ready!" My week was
>boring until Saturday, but that is when the fun began!
On Saturday, we went over to Erwin's house about getting him baptized on
>Sunday, and also talk to his brother oriel. Early in the week, on monday, Oriel
>told us he wasnt interested in religion right now. So we focused on Erwin, but
>in every lesson with Erwin that week, Oriel wouild tag along and pay attention.
>The Spirit was working inside of him. We went to the MOBAT on Friday (Thats the
>pic i just sent) and went over on saturday to talk abouut baptism. Erwin said that
>he was not ready, but something told me and Elder Guenette that he was. So we read
>in 3 Nephi 27 and somehow he got a picture of Jesus and started looking at it.
>Elder Guenette asked him "what is Jesus doing in this picture?' "eriwn
>looked and said, "telling us to follow him". I said, "thats right.
>All we have to do is take his outstretched hand and he will take us to the presence
>of our heavenly father. So Erwin, will you take Christ's hand and be baptized
>tmw?" He looked at me and shook his head and said, "Yeah!" It was
>seriously the most spiritual packed lesson i have ever been too. And then, i asked
>Oriel the same question, he didnt say anything. For about 2 minutes we waited.
>Then i asked, "Bro, what is scaring you?" No idea why i asked that but
>i did. He said that he wanted to know more but wants to be baptized soon. So he
>is going to be baptized on sunday, hopefully. So Erwin was baptized on Sunday!
>Then, we had a spanish mission fireside w/pres. and sis donaldson and a bunch of
>members. REcent Converts spoke and as they got up to speak, i realized that i played
>a part in everyone of their conversions. The first one was a RC her in Sweetwater.
>The next was a girl that i found and taught in IB and got baptized after i left,
>and the last was someone i taught a few times in City Heigts. Never had i felt
>so loved. I realized that i had played a part in their salvation. Lets just say
>it was a good feeling.
But i almost forgot something...and you already know it has to do with the MCRD.
>Saturday Night and sunday morning, in my prayers, i asked that i would have a miracle
>at the MCRD. So that morning i was looking for someone to teach and i was looking
>at a list of names with another elder and we botha had a really good feeling about
>1 name: "Daemion Marcuz". So i sat around talking until i saw him. I
>overheard (ok i was stalking) a conversatino he had and someone asked him. "hey
>man did you get baptized up north?" and i swear he said yes. so i was not
>going to talk to him, but i decided it would still be a good idea and i followed
>the feeling. So i went and talked with him and siad, "hey man i heard you
>got baptized up north?" He looked up and said, "naw i was actually hoping
>i could get baptized today." After i picked my jaw off the floor i said, "yeah,
>come with me and we can get you taken care of." THE LORD HEARS AND ANSWERS
>OUR PRAYERS. HE BLESSES US WHEN WE SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP ONE OF HIS CHILDREN
>PROGRESS TOWARDS THEIR SALVATION! Words can not explain the Sunday i had....lets
>just say, it was the best since my baptism. O wait i almost forgot, Marc mandel
>(i baptized him a month ago) came up to me and he talked with the branch pres up
>north and he wants to get the melchizadeck priesthood asap. i talked with the military
>relations missionary, he is going to get the MP in 3 weeks. I FREAKIN LOVE THIS
>CHURCH!!!!!
yeah, thats all i got...I LOVE YALL!!
ross
******************************
(In response to Hillary telling Ross he had another new niece...)
WOW!!!! SHE COULDNT WAIT. SHE IS JUST AS IMPATIENT AS HER MOTHER hahahaha now that i am hundreds of miles away and you cant call me...i can really trash talk with you hahahahahah
Naw but really. FELICIDADES! That is way cool.. I now have 2 coolest nieces ever and i havent even talked to them yet. I am expecting them to be able to say my name is 2 months. hahaha everything is going great here. i had 2 baptisms this past weekend, and hopefully have 3 over the next 2 weeks. The work is really booming and we know that it is because the Lord, not us. Love yall and tell lizzie i especially love her
Ross
>have no idea....
1. The next transfers are in 2 weeks...im pretty sure i am safe. My zone right
>now is leading the mission in baptisms per week, so i think that we will stay together
>agin for this next one. Which is fine by me.
2. We have some missionaries that here for a while waiting on visas so me and
>elder guenette had to pick up one that is with us for a while. Then we went and
>shopped and went and played football in chula Vista and now i am here. writing..barely
>awake..im sooo tired.
Well i bet you are wondering how my week could top you week. Buckle you seat
>belts and in the words of T.O. "get your popcorn ready!" My week was
>boring until Saturday, but that is when the fun began!
On Saturday, we went over to Erwin's house about getting him baptized on
>Sunday, and also talk to his brother oriel. Early in the week, on monday, Oriel
>told us he wasnt interested in religion right now. So we focused on Erwin, but
>in every lesson with Erwin that week, Oriel wouild tag along and pay attention.
>The Spirit was working inside of him. We went to the MOBAT on Friday (Thats the
>pic i just sent) and went over on saturday to talk abouut baptism. Erwin said that
>he was not ready, but something told me and Elder Guenette that he was. So we read
>in 3 Nephi 27 and somehow he got a picture of Jesus and started looking at it.
>Elder Guenette asked him "what is Jesus doing in this picture?' "eriwn
>looked and said, "telling us to follow him". I said, "thats right.
>All we have to do is take his outstretched hand and he will take us to the presence
>of our heavenly father. So Erwin, will you take Christ's hand and be baptized
>tmw?" He looked at me and shook his head and said, "Yeah!" It was
>seriously the most spiritual packed lesson i have ever been too. And then, i asked
>Oriel the same question, he didnt say anything. For about 2 minutes we waited.
>Then i asked, "Bro, what is scaring you?" No idea why i asked that but
>i did. He said that he wanted to know more but wants to be baptized soon. So he
>is going to be baptized on sunday, hopefully. So Erwin was baptized on Sunday!
>Then, we had a spanish mission fireside w/pres. and sis donaldson and a bunch of
>members. REcent Converts spoke and as they got up to speak, i realized that i played
>a part in everyone of their conversions. The first one was a RC her in Sweetwater.
>The next was a girl that i found and taught in IB and got baptized after i left,
>and the last was someone i taught a few times in City Heigts. Never had i felt
>so loved. I realized that i had played a part in their salvation. Lets just say
>it was a good feeling.
But i almost forgot something...and you already know it has to do with the MCRD.
>Saturday Night and sunday morning, in my prayers, i asked that i would have a miracle
>at the MCRD. So that morning i was looking for someone to teach and i was looking
>at a list of names with another elder and we botha had a really good feeling about
>1 name: "Daemion Marcuz". So i sat around talking until i saw him. I
>overheard (ok i was stalking) a conversatino he had and someone asked him. "hey
>man did you get baptized up north?" and i swear he said yes. so i was not
>going to talk to him, but i decided it would still be a good idea and i followed
>the feeling. So i went and talked with him and siad, "hey man i heard you
>got baptized up north?" He looked up and said, "naw i was actually hoping
>i could get baptized today." After i picked my jaw off the floor i said, "yeah,
>come with me and we can get you taken care of." THE LORD HEARS AND ANSWERS
>OUR PRAYERS. HE BLESSES US WHEN WE SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP ONE OF HIS CHILDREN
>PROGRESS TOWARDS THEIR SALVATION! Words can not explain the Sunday i had....lets
>just say, it was the best since my baptism. O wait i almost forgot, Marc mandel
>(i baptized him a month ago) came up to me and he talked with the branch pres up
>north and he wants to get the melchizadeck priesthood asap. i talked with the military
>relations missionary, he is going to get the MP in 3 weeks. I FREAKIN LOVE THIS
>CHURCH!!!!!
yeah, thats all i got...I LOVE YALL!!
ross
******************************
(In response to Hillary telling Ross he had another new niece...)
WOW!!!! SHE COULDNT WAIT. SHE IS JUST AS IMPATIENT AS HER MOTHER hahahaha now that i am hundreds of miles away and you cant call me...i can really trash talk with you hahahahahah
Naw but really. FELICIDADES! That is way cool.. I now have 2 coolest nieces ever and i havent even talked to them yet. I am expecting them to be able to say my name is 2 months. hahaha everything is going great here. i had 2 baptisms this past weekend, and hopefully have 3 over the next 2 weeks. The work is really booming and we know that it is because the Lord, not us. Love yall and tell lizzie i especially love her
Ross
Letter from October 5, 2010
1. President goes home in july of 2011...so i will have a new president for the last 6 months. I am not really looking forward to it because me and President have a special bond going and it will be tough to end it with someone else, but that is like 9 months away so i still have a while.
2. My spanish is ok. I can speak and understand everything that people say. Im getting to the point where i dont have to pay attention in church and can still understand hahaha but i always pay attention anyways. haha
Well let me first start out by saying that General Conference as a missionary is a little bit different. Instead of sitting down listening to the choir sing before it starts, I was on the side of the highway. One of the investigators we had going was following us and his tire blew out. So we had to stop and fix it and he still wanted to go after so we went and we missed the opening and elder hollands talk, but Conference was still great. Especially the PH session. Sorry mom, but you missed out. I can honestly say it was probably the best PH session i have ever been too. As a missionary, instead of listening just to listen, you listen for things that will help you grow as a missionary and for things that will help your investigators. That is why I liked it. I havent finished my "top 10" because there are so many good ones to choose from, but i want to talk about 2 special ones that i really liked. The first was D. Todd Christofferson on saturday morning. Consecrating Lives and what it means to truly have your life consecrated to the Lord. Purety, work, respect, Integirty (i am missing one i think). These qualitites are what make up a great missionary. They need to have a pure life and always keep the commandments. They need to work smart, but also like there is no tmw. They need to have respect for their body and appearance. our bodies are houses for our Spirits, like the temple. Meaning, we should be as clean as the temple. And last integrity. I really liked his defintion of integrity. Many people think that they arent accountable to the Lord, but people who know and are accountable to the Lord have integirty. Also, I really liked larry Lawrances talk. While listening, it finally hit me why yall always waited up for me when i was in high school. I always wondered, "why do they feel like they have to wait up for me? Can't i just come in and wake them up when i get home?" During the talk my question was answered. I stayed out of a lot of trouble that i could have gotten into, thanks to yall. I always kneww that when i got home at night, someone was going to be sitting in the chair and was going to ask how my night was. NONE of my other friends mom did this and look where they are and where i am. I am not putting myself on a pedestal or anything, but it is true. i am doing a lot better things with my life than people back in high school. All because of yall. I almost got a little emotinoal when i finally received my answer. It all made sense, so...THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR WAITING UP AT NIGHT. I know that when I am a dad, i will do the same thing. You sacrificed temporary "coolness" for eternal happiness. That is how i look at it.
Well thats about all that i have this week. Thanks for the christmas note. Now i am more christmas trunky than ever hahaha. Thanks for all that yall do and I love yall so much. Tell everyone that i love them and pray for everyone. (not by name, i would be on my knees for a while) hahahahah I LOVE YALL
2. My spanish is ok. I can speak and understand everything that people say. Im getting to the point where i dont have to pay attention in church and can still understand hahaha but i always pay attention anyways. haha
Well let me first start out by saying that General Conference as a missionary is a little bit different. Instead of sitting down listening to the choir sing before it starts, I was on the side of the highway. One of the investigators we had going was following us and his tire blew out. So we had to stop and fix it and he still wanted to go after so we went and we missed the opening and elder hollands talk, but Conference was still great. Especially the PH session. Sorry mom, but you missed out. I can honestly say it was probably the best PH session i have ever been too. As a missionary, instead of listening just to listen, you listen for things that will help you grow as a missionary and for things that will help your investigators. That is why I liked it. I havent finished my "top 10" because there are so many good ones to choose from, but i want to talk about 2 special ones that i really liked. The first was D. Todd Christofferson on saturday morning. Consecrating Lives and what it means to truly have your life consecrated to the Lord. Purety, work, respect, Integirty (i am missing one i think). These qualitites are what make up a great missionary. They need to have a pure life and always keep the commandments. They need to work smart, but also like there is no tmw. They need to have respect for their body and appearance. our bodies are houses for our Spirits, like the temple. Meaning, we should be as clean as the temple. And last integrity. I really liked his defintion of integrity. Many people think that they arent accountable to the Lord, but people who know and are accountable to the Lord have integirty. Also, I really liked larry Lawrances talk. While listening, it finally hit me why yall always waited up for me when i was in high school. I always wondered, "why do they feel like they have to wait up for me? Can't i just come in and wake them up when i get home?" During the talk my question was answered. I stayed out of a lot of trouble that i could have gotten into, thanks to yall. I always kneww that when i got home at night, someone was going to be sitting in the chair and was going to ask how my night was. NONE of my other friends mom did this and look where they are and where i am. I am not putting myself on a pedestal or anything, but it is true. i am doing a lot better things with my life than people back in high school. All because of yall. I almost got a little emotinoal when i finally received my answer. It all made sense, so...THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR WAITING UP AT NIGHT. I know that when I am a dad, i will do the same thing. You sacrificed temporary "coolness" for eternal happiness. That is how i look at it.
Well thats about all that i have this week. Thanks for the christmas note. Now i am more christmas trunky than ever hahaha. Thanks for all that yall do and I love yall so much. Tell everyone that i love them and pray for everyone. (not by name, i would be on my knees for a while) hahahahah I LOVE YALL
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Christmas...
It's hard to believe our thoughts are already turning toward Christmas!!! But we received a letter from Ross's mission president recently regarding Christmas presents. He reminded families to send appropriate gifts (especially when it comes to books and music) and that they need to arrive in the San Diego mission home by December 17th. This is when they are having their Christmas celebration and will be the last chance to collect their mail/gifts before Christmas day. Just FYI!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Letter from September 28, 2010
Letter from Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Well...I wasn't really expecting an email from yall today. I thought that I became old news and that my shrine over the fireplace would turn to a Chloe shrine..but I guess ya'll still remember me hahaha
1. I rode a bike about 3 weeks ago. But now, I am just "ridin dirty" around SD haha (that's how you say it here)
2. We have a McDonalds, Jack in the Box is next door, In and Out, and Subway. We usually go to a lot of taco shops, those are the best.
Well it makes me glad to know that no one forgot about me this week with Chloe and Brooke's big day haha. I thought that I was going to be old news, but I guess my family really does love me hahahah. This week has been what I have called the "miracle week". I can already see the smiles on yalls faces, this one is going to be good.
Besides the fact that it is a miracle that me and my comp get along really well, everything else has been miracle after miracle it seems like this week. Not too much happened last week until Sunday. On Sunday, I went to the MCRD and the recruit Gibson came up to me and told me (with a big smile on his face) "you ready to baptize me?" I laughed and we went and did it. Another Elder had a baptism too so it was a dual-baptism which made it even more special. Then, for the first time in a while, me and Elder Guennete had someone at church and she is way excited. Then, yesterday was what we are calling the "MIRACLE DAY" (its a new holiday). Yesterday, we went to one of our investigators house just planning to do a quick lesson before him and his brothers went to work. The family is recently baptized except for 2 of the sons, Oriel (16) and Erwin (14). Oreil didnt want to talk with us (he is not that interested) but Erwin wanted too and so we went down to his patio and talked. We did an object lesson about putting the things of God first in our lives. Elder Guennete bore his testimony and he said something that made me think, he said, "God blesses us when we do the things he wants us to do first." Then the question came to me and I said this, "Erwin, what does God want you to do first in your life?" He looked at me and said, "be baptized." I smiled and said yeah, he does. It was amzaing. 3 weeks ago Erwin did not want to be baptized. But, he told us he had been thinking about it and now he is excited and is getting baptized on the 10th. Also, we got 2 more people with dates for Oct 17. It was one amazing day!
Well everything is going really good here. I just love my mission right now. Everything is just clicking and it seems like I am not even doing anything to deserve this. Its just all the hard work and pereserverance that occurred last transfer is paying off this transfer. When we are happy, we work harder and better. But, yesterday, it was way hot in the 90s all day. So I was draggin a little bit (you know how I work better in the cold hahah) but after that appt with Erwin, it got a lot better!
I love everybody and can't wait to talk with yall in 3 months. It'll be some good converstations. I love yall and cant wait to hear from yall agin. Thanks for everything that yall do!
Love
Ross
Well...I wasn't really expecting an email from yall today. I thought that I became old news and that my shrine over the fireplace would turn to a Chloe shrine..but I guess ya'll still remember me hahaha
1. I rode a bike about 3 weeks ago. But now, I am just "ridin dirty" around SD haha (that's how you say it here)
2. We have a McDonalds, Jack in the Box is next door, In and Out, and Subway. We usually go to a lot of taco shops, those are the best.
Well it makes me glad to know that no one forgot about me this week with Chloe and Brooke's big day haha. I thought that I was going to be old news, but I guess my family really does love me hahahah. This week has been what I have called the "miracle week". I can already see the smiles on yalls faces, this one is going to be good.
Besides the fact that it is a miracle that me and my comp get along really well, everything else has been miracle after miracle it seems like this week. Not too much happened last week until Sunday. On Sunday, I went to the MCRD and the recruit Gibson came up to me and told me (with a big smile on his face) "you ready to baptize me?" I laughed and we went and did it. Another Elder had a baptism too so it was a dual-baptism which made it even more special. Then, for the first time in a while, me and Elder Guennete had someone at church and she is way excited. Then, yesterday was what we are calling the "MIRACLE DAY" (its a new holiday). Yesterday, we went to one of our investigators house just planning to do a quick lesson before him and his brothers went to work. The family is recently baptized except for 2 of the sons, Oriel (16) and Erwin (14). Oreil didnt want to talk with us (he is not that interested) but Erwin wanted too and so we went down to his patio and talked. We did an object lesson about putting the things of God first in our lives. Elder Guennete bore his testimony and he said something that made me think, he said, "God blesses us when we do the things he wants us to do first." Then the question came to me and I said this, "Erwin, what does God want you to do first in your life?" He looked at me and said, "be baptized." I smiled and said yeah, he does. It was amzaing. 3 weeks ago Erwin did not want to be baptized. But, he told us he had been thinking about it and now he is excited and is getting baptized on the 10th. Also, we got 2 more people with dates for Oct 17. It was one amazing day!
Well everything is going really good here. I just love my mission right now. Everything is just clicking and it seems like I am not even doing anything to deserve this. Its just all the hard work and pereserverance that occurred last transfer is paying off this transfer. When we are happy, we work harder and better. But, yesterday, it was way hot in the 90s all day. So I was draggin a little bit (you know how I work better in the cold hahah) but after that appt with Erwin, it got a lot better!
I love everybody and can't wait to talk with yall in 3 months. It'll be some good converstations. I love yall and cant wait to hear from yall agin. Thanks for everything that yall do!
Love
Ross
Letter from September 21, 2010
Letter from Tuesday, September 21, 2010
(This is when Ross found out he had officially become an Uncle!)
DANG!!! I'm Uncle Ross...I was going to give your number too someone too today, I am glad I didn't.
1. Well it feels the same I guess...since I dont get to hold her. Maybe when I see pictures it will be different hahah I hope everything is going good with her and Brooke and Ryan now
2. My new comp is Elder Guennette (Gun-net) from Quebec Canada. He is a way cool guy! He speaks french, english and Spanish. He laughs at my jokes and he cracks me up too...and we are really working well together.
Well, I am an uncle. That's pretty cool. It sounds like everything went smoothly which is way good. Everything here is going great. The day me and Elder Guennette got put together was awesome. He has been known for being really strict and I wasn't too excited when president read our names together, but it has been way fun lately. We laugh and we work hard and we mess around doing it haha he is just a crazy frenchie. Everything seems to be going better. Last week our zone only had 6 people with baptismal dates which is pathetic. So we decided to have a meeting with the DLs. I just flat out asked them, "why do we only have 6 people with a date" It finally came down to having more faith. By the end of the week, we tripled our people with dates to 17, had 2 baptims on sunday and 7 lined up for this week. Things turned around and we are focusing on "keeping our head down and our feet moving." Just like pushing the truck and the sled in football. Thats what I say now,"Great job on the baptism elder (or sister), now just keep your head down and your feet moving and keep tearin it up". Everyone laughs and we are getting along really well.
Well I had another great experience at the the MCRD again this week. I don't know what it is with me and marines, I guess I just get along with people my age. This time his name is Andrew Gibson. He was given to me by another elder and the elder told me to get him baptized asap. I went and talked and before sacrament meeting I told him to read 2 Nephi 31 (baptism and the Doc of Christ). I came back after sacrament meeting and we talked. I asked him if he read it and he did. I asked how he felt about it, he said "those 3 words are just ringing in my head, FOLLOW THOU ME. (v 10). I asked him what he thought that meant. He told me that I needed to follow Christ. So I said, "Gibson, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized next Sunday?" He looked at me and then at verse 10 again and back at me and said, "yeah...I need to be. Let's do it" I almost jumped out my chair, but I stopped and composed myself and said, "Alright, let's get it done." We shared a moment that very few people ever get to share. A moment, like it says in D&C 50:12 or 20 (IDK)..when both of you rejoiced together and were edified by what was happening. I gave him a bro hug and I left, he started to cry so I sat back down. He told me that he was struggling so much and wanted to quit. I told him that he isn't alone and after next week, he would have spiritual strength, mental strength and physical strength. He cried a little bit more, gave me a bro hug and I left again. Never, never, have I felt that way or the way I feel as I tell you the story...
Everything is going great! I love my mission again! I am glad to hear popa is doing better..tell him I said, "portate bien" (I can't think of the english phrase but it means something like act good". Well I promise I will get that letter in the mail this week. I love you so much!
Ross
(This is when Ross found out he had officially become an Uncle!)
DANG!!! I'm Uncle Ross...I was going to give your number too someone too today, I am glad I didn't.
1. Well it feels the same I guess...since I dont get to hold her. Maybe when I see pictures it will be different hahah I hope everything is going good with her and Brooke and Ryan now
2. My new comp is Elder Guennette (Gun-net) from Quebec Canada. He is a way cool guy! He speaks french, english and Spanish. He laughs at my jokes and he cracks me up too...and we are really working well together.
Well, I am an uncle. That's pretty cool. It sounds like everything went smoothly which is way good. Everything here is going great. The day me and Elder Guennette got put together was awesome. He has been known for being really strict and I wasn't too excited when president read our names together, but it has been way fun lately. We laugh and we work hard and we mess around doing it haha he is just a crazy frenchie. Everything seems to be going better. Last week our zone only had 6 people with baptismal dates which is pathetic. So we decided to have a meeting with the DLs. I just flat out asked them, "why do we only have 6 people with a date" It finally came down to having more faith. By the end of the week, we tripled our people with dates to 17, had 2 baptims on sunday and 7 lined up for this week. Things turned around and we are focusing on "keeping our head down and our feet moving." Just like pushing the truck and the sled in football. Thats what I say now,"Great job on the baptism elder (or sister), now just keep your head down and your feet moving and keep tearin it up". Everyone laughs and we are getting along really well.
Well I had another great experience at the the MCRD again this week. I don't know what it is with me and marines, I guess I just get along with people my age. This time his name is Andrew Gibson. He was given to me by another elder and the elder told me to get him baptized asap. I went and talked and before sacrament meeting I told him to read 2 Nephi 31 (baptism and the Doc of Christ). I came back after sacrament meeting and we talked. I asked him if he read it and he did. I asked how he felt about it, he said "those 3 words are just ringing in my head, FOLLOW THOU ME. (v 10). I asked him what he thought that meant. He told me that I needed to follow Christ. So I said, "Gibson, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized next Sunday?" He looked at me and then at verse 10 again and back at me and said, "yeah...I need to be. Let's do it" I almost jumped out my chair, but I stopped and composed myself and said, "Alright, let's get it done." We shared a moment that very few people ever get to share. A moment, like it says in D&C 50:12 or 20 (IDK)..when both of you rejoiced together and were edified by what was happening. I gave him a bro hug and I left, he started to cry so I sat back down. He told me that he was struggling so much and wanted to quit. I told him that he isn't alone and after next week, he would have spiritual strength, mental strength and physical strength. He cried a little bit more, gave me a bro hug and I left again. Never, never, have I felt that way or the way I feel as I tell you the story...
Everything is going great! I love my mission again! I am glad to hear popa is doing better..tell him I said, "portate bien" (I can't think of the english phrase but it means something like act good". Well I promise I will get that letter in the mail this week. I love you so much!
Ross
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Letter from August 31, 2010
Letter from Tuesday, August 31, 2010
1. Well my area is directly east of San Diego. The earthquake happened at night and Elder Mendoza woke up and freaked a little bit. I just kept sleeping. I woke up for a second because I thought I hit my alarm clock off, but it was the shaking that knocked it off.
2. I am back to 1 o'clock church. They do the wierd stuff here. Sacrament meeting is last. Also, I work at the MCRD (Marine Corps Recruiting Depot) in the mornings from 730-11. I will tell you more about that later in the letter but just know, it is the most spiritually intense situation I have ever been in.
3. We have dinner appointments but not many. Elder mendoza doesnt like them because they take too much time. I kind of like it that way..I'm gaining weight, but without appointments, I don't eat as much.
Well I just can't keep it in any longer. I had another baptism this week. This is probably the most special one because it is mine. No I am not being prideful or anything like that, but I solo taught this guy, so it means more to me. It was just me and the Spirit.
You are probably wondering what that is all about. At the MCRD there is an LDS branch where we work and go to church on Sundays. There are a lot of members who are in the marine boot camp, and they love to bring their non-member platoon members. These guys are amazing. Really, when it comes down to it, the recruits are looking for something to hold on to, some solace, a break from a man yelling in their face every minute of every day breaking them down. So as missionaries, that's what we give them. Now I want to tell you about this special recruit, Marc Mandel.
I met Marc my second week at the MCRD. Right away I knew he was special. He came up to me and asked if he could talk to me. We sat down and he told he wanted to get baptized and wanted me to help him do that. So I was like, "Well Marc, I can definitely help you do that." We talked more and it turns out that Marc is married to a member and he grew up in St George. He knows pretty much everything about the church. So we set a date to be baptized the following week. The recruits go up north cali to do training, but they have a branch up there to so he was going to be baptized there. I went the next week not expecting to see Marc, but I was walking aroung looking for someone to talk to when I saw him sitting down reading his Book of Mormon. I went and said, "Marc, what are you doing here bro?" He told me that his DI(Drill instructor) didn't see him pass part of his physical test, so he got dropped and had to stay another week. He told me that it was the hardest thing he ever has gone through. He couldn't even talk to his wife when he called and told her he had to stay another week because he was in tears. This guy really loves his family and wants to get back to them, but because he didn't pass his test, he has to stay another week. He said he felt like going home. So I was sitting there listening and then asked, "So why didn't you Marc, what turned things around?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I did like you told me. I prayed." Mom and dad, this kid prayed for a straight hour and he said," I just opened up my heart and told everything to the Lord. I just pleaded with him to help me. And the next day when I woke up, everything made sense. I knew everything was true. I wasn't mad or sad, I was determined. Determined to do everything I could to get back to my wife." When he was telling me this, I almost started crying. So I talked to him about getting baptized before church, and he said he wanted to wait for his friend to do it up north next week, because he had already passed his test and everything was good to go. So I talked with him some more after church, gave him a hug and told him I would see him in 3 weeks. So this past Sunday(8/29) we went to the MCRD like usual. When I got out of the car, another elder came running up to me and said, "Mandel is here! He wants to get baptized right now!" I ran inside and found him. He had the biggest smile on his face. I asked him again, "What the heck Mandel, what are you doing here." He got an ear infection so he got dropped again. He said after that happened he was sitting, taking the last fire watch on top of one of the buildings and he was praying and told God, "God, if that spotlight out in the distance that is spinning around stops on me, I will get baptized tommorrow and do everything you want me to do." He said he looked up and saw it spinning and then it stopped. It stopped right on him and then he knew, he had to get baptized. So we got it done that day. He was baptized, confirmed and recieved the preisthood all in one day.
Mom and Dad, this story is evidence of just how much the church is true. These marines are the most humble people I have ever met. They just are looking for something to hold on to and the Lord gives them the gospel for comfort. I will always have a bond with Mandel and he told me he wants to hang out once we BOTH get done with our missions. He wants to go on a couples mission with his wife when he is older.
I love yall so much and I can hear your prayers every day. They truly mean a lot to me and they leep me going. Thanks for everything that you do. I sent a package to dad the other day with some stuff, I hope he got it. Thanks for everything and I LOVE YALL!!
Ross
1. Well my area is directly east of San Diego. The earthquake happened at night and Elder Mendoza woke up and freaked a little bit. I just kept sleeping. I woke up for a second because I thought I hit my alarm clock off, but it was the shaking that knocked it off.
2. I am back to 1 o'clock church. They do the wierd stuff here. Sacrament meeting is last. Also, I work at the MCRD (Marine Corps Recruiting Depot) in the mornings from 730-11. I will tell you more about that later in the letter but just know, it is the most spiritually intense situation I have ever been in.
3. We have dinner appointments but not many. Elder mendoza doesnt like them because they take too much time. I kind of like it that way..I'm gaining weight, but without appointments, I don't eat as much.
Well I just can't keep it in any longer. I had another baptism this week. This is probably the most special one because it is mine. No I am not being prideful or anything like that, but I solo taught this guy, so it means more to me. It was just me and the Spirit.
You are probably wondering what that is all about. At the MCRD there is an LDS branch where we work and go to church on Sundays. There are a lot of members who are in the marine boot camp, and they love to bring their non-member platoon members. These guys are amazing. Really, when it comes down to it, the recruits are looking for something to hold on to, some solace, a break from a man yelling in their face every minute of every day breaking them down. So as missionaries, that's what we give them. Now I want to tell you about this special recruit, Marc Mandel.
I met Marc my second week at the MCRD. Right away I knew he was special. He came up to me and asked if he could talk to me. We sat down and he told he wanted to get baptized and wanted me to help him do that. So I was like, "Well Marc, I can definitely help you do that." We talked more and it turns out that Marc is married to a member and he grew up in St George. He knows pretty much everything about the church. So we set a date to be baptized the following week. The recruits go up north cali to do training, but they have a branch up there to so he was going to be baptized there. I went the next week not expecting to see Marc, but I was walking aroung looking for someone to talk to when I saw him sitting down reading his Book of Mormon. I went and said, "Marc, what are you doing here bro?" He told me that his DI(Drill instructor) didn't see him pass part of his physical test, so he got dropped and had to stay another week. He told me that it was the hardest thing he ever has gone through. He couldn't even talk to his wife when he called and told her he had to stay another week because he was in tears. This guy really loves his family and wants to get back to them, but because he didn't pass his test, he has to stay another week. He said he felt like going home. So I was sitting there listening and then asked, "So why didn't you Marc, what turned things around?" He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "I did like you told me. I prayed." Mom and dad, this kid prayed for a straight hour and he said," I just opened up my heart and told everything to the Lord. I just pleaded with him to help me. And the next day when I woke up, everything made sense. I knew everything was true. I wasn't mad or sad, I was determined. Determined to do everything I could to get back to my wife." When he was telling me this, I almost started crying. So I talked to him about getting baptized before church, and he said he wanted to wait for his friend to do it up north next week, because he had already passed his test and everything was good to go. So I talked with him some more after church, gave him a hug and told him I would see him in 3 weeks. So this past Sunday(8/29) we went to the MCRD like usual. When I got out of the car, another elder came running up to me and said, "Mandel is here! He wants to get baptized right now!" I ran inside and found him. He had the biggest smile on his face. I asked him again, "What the heck Mandel, what are you doing here." He got an ear infection so he got dropped again. He said after that happened he was sitting, taking the last fire watch on top of one of the buildings and he was praying and told God, "God, if that spotlight out in the distance that is spinning around stops on me, I will get baptized tommorrow and do everything you want me to do." He said he looked up and saw it spinning and then it stopped. It stopped right on him and then he knew, he had to get baptized. So we got it done that day. He was baptized, confirmed and recieved the preisthood all in one day.
Mom and Dad, this story is evidence of just how much the church is true. These marines are the most humble people I have ever met. They just are looking for something to hold on to and the Lord gives them the gospel for comfort. I will always have a bond with Mandel and he told me he wants to hang out once we BOTH get done with our missions. He wants to go on a couples mission with his wife when he is older.
I love yall so much and I can hear your prayers every day. They truly mean a lot to me and they leep me going. Thanks for everything that you do. I sent a package to dad the other day with some stuff, I hope he got it. Thanks for everything and I LOVE YALL!!
Ross
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
8/17/2010
Letter from Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Lets get to the questions...
1. There are 28 missionaries total in my zone. And I am in a different zone than before..and there are 8 zones in the mission haha
2. Well, the weight loss is slowing down....I am in a car. Great, now I have to eat healthy haha
Well my first full week as a zone leader is complete...and I am exhausted. But in a good way. We have had a really good week. We had 2 baptisms on Sunday. And in the intermediate part, I went up there and spoke for about 15 minutes on baptism (In spanish) It was pretty nerve raking but it was cool. We have been doing really well and I have been doing great too.
We taught a man yesterday who was a former investigator. We were in there and me and Elder Mendoza both felt the spirit envelope us. We bore testimony and I remember saying, "Felix...we aren't here to convince you of anything. God sent us here to help you. He cares about you and wants you to find what you say is missing. God knows what's missing in your life." Then it was silent for literally 3 minutes. I wanted to break the silence, but everytime I tried to open my mouth the spirit told me not too. It was probably the most spiritually intense lesson I have ever been in.
Well that is everything I have for now. Thank you so much for everything. I love you!!
Ross
Lets get to the questions...
1. There are 28 missionaries total in my zone. And I am in a different zone than before..and there are 8 zones in the mission haha
2. Well, the weight loss is slowing down....I am in a car. Great, now I have to eat healthy haha
Well my first full week as a zone leader is complete...and I am exhausted. But in a good way. We have had a really good week. We had 2 baptisms on Sunday. And in the intermediate part, I went up there and spoke for about 15 minutes on baptism (In spanish) It was pretty nerve raking but it was cool. We have been doing really well and I have been doing great too.
We taught a man yesterday who was a former investigator. We were in there and me and Elder Mendoza both felt the spirit envelope us. We bore testimony and I remember saying, "Felix...we aren't here to convince you of anything. God sent us here to help you. He cares about you and wants you to find what you say is missing. God knows what's missing in your life." Then it was silent for literally 3 minutes. I wanted to break the silence, but everytime I tried to open my mouth the spirit told me not too. It was probably the most spiritually intense lesson I have ever been in.
Well that is everything I have for now. Thank you so much for everything. I love you!!
Ross
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Playing catch up....
I haven't been posting Ross's emails from the past few weeks for various reasons, but decided I better play catch up real quick! On July 27th Ross hit the sixth month mark...only 18 more months to go! Ross continues to love his mission and the people with whom he works. He celebrated the six month mark with what he calls...
An ESPN Top 10 Most Memorable Moments in the First 6 Months:
10. My first teaching experience in the MTC
9. Leaving the MTC for the Field
8. Elder Nelson getting transferred
7. Being Elder Nelson's companion
6. Arriving in San Diego
5. Leaving mom and dad at the MTC
4. First baptism
3. Training
2. Getting to be District Leader at my 3rd transfer
1. Being closer to the Lord than ever before
(He wrote this list as well as the below message in his Tuesday, July 27th email)
Everything this week has been pretty good. I rolled my ankle in basketball today, but you know me, I'll be alright. We have 2 baptisms coming up this week either on Sunday or Tuesday. They accepted the date for Tuesday but we are going to move them up for Sunday.
This week we had President interviews. In mine he asked me how I was doing physically. I said, "Well president, I am pretty good. But my mom is a little worried about me." He said, "Why is that?" "well i have lost 30 lbs and she says that it is unhealthy." Then he threw me a curve ball....HE FIST POUNDED ME!!! and told me, "Elder Little don't slow down in anything. Weight, missionary work or anything. You have great things ahead of you and you can not slow down. I've got plans for you." That is the 3rd time he has said that...I am beginning to believe him.
Other than that the week was pretty chill. Sorry this is a short email, but I don't really have a lot to say. President has been calling me a lot lately. We have a bunch of new sister missionaries coming in to work at the MOBAT (Mormon Batallion) and he is going to put a set in my district. We have to rearrange the boundaries in one the missionaries that are already there so we can put them in. He says that I am just as important in this as he is. And this also means I will now have 10 missionaries in my district. But, as of right now, my district has 12 people with baptismal dates and we had 10 people at church last Sunday so we are doing really well.
Well thanks for everything!!! It really does mean a lot the things you send me, and I promise I will get a hand written letter in the mail some time. (I'm pretty sure this has yet to happen!! My poor parents!~Hillary))
(This is from his Tuesday, August 3rd email)
Transfers are tomorrow and I am not very happy about it... yes, I am getting transfered again. I don't know what this plan is that president has for me, but it sure is weird and I can't really understand it. The worst part of it is, is that there are 5 open spots in the desert...where it is currently 117*. So it is looking like I am heading out there, or a bunch of missionaries are saying that I could be going to be a ZL in Sweetwater in Elder Nelson's old area or I could be a ZL in the desierto. And to top it off, 2 of my best friends left to go home today. Elder Nelson and Elder Hanks. They reached the end and they are home right now with their families. It is a tough day today, and I don't have a lot to talk about.
Well, this week has been pretty slow. Our area is just inching along right now and the week before transfers is always the hardest. We, or I guess I should say Elder Avalos, has 2 baptisms coming up on Sunday and a few more later this month. It will be tough, because it seems like just when an area starts to get good, I get moved and pick up another area. It is crazy. But, just like Coach Byrd, President Donaldson sees something in me and I know that he has the keys and recieve the revelations to take care of me and put me where the Lord wants me to be. I just have to put my trust in the Lord again and hope everythings turns out for the best. It usually does, but sometimes it takes a while to figure it out haha. But, dont feel like that I am depressed or mad or angry or on the verge of going AWOL. I will be ok, its just when transfers come around when I feel safe, I'm not, when I feel not safe, I am safe. CRAZY!! I just remebered I have to pack again. Dang, I hate transfers. But, it's alright the Lord has a plan for me and if that plan has me going to the desert to taste a little bit of what h*** feels like, then so be it.
Speaking of Satan, he has been working big time on me. Like you said mom, I do have to give a lot of girls the "get thee hence satan" look, and sometimes not even that is enough. My area is right next to SDSU (San Diego State University) so there are college girls galore. Let's just say that it is like A&M in the summer time, except everything the girls wear are tighter and 6 inches shorter. And mexican girls love white boys. The funny part is that when we walk by they speak spanish about us and think we cant understand and then I hear what they say and usually turn around and say, "gracias! soy guapo, ya se" which translates too, "thanks, I'm cute, I know" hahaha they get embarrased and walk off. But, Satan puts these "beautiful daughters of God" in my path as temptation. So me and Elder Avalos have been singing a lot of hymns lately hahaha. I know I know, sounds corny, but it's the only thing that works.
Well, that's about it, so I guess I'll just close. Thanks for everything you do and be looking forward to next p day when you can find out where I am and what I am doing. Thanks for everything mom and Dad!!! les amo muchimsmo!
(And finally, this is from today's email, Tuesday, August 10th)
Well where I am.... I am now in Logan Heights...just a few miles down the road from City Heights. Mom, I wouldn't google this place, it's worse than City Heights. Oh, and now I am a Zone Leader. Yep, Elder Nelson left and I took his place as Zone Leader in the Sweetwater zone.
At the end of every transfer, president sends out a letter to the zone leaders on Tuesday and they call the people leaving. Then, Wednesday at 10 we have a transfer meeting where president announces who is going where and who their companion is. That's basically how they do it in most places.
Well yeah, I am a Zone Leader now. 2 transfers as a junior companion, 1 as a trainer/district leader, and now a Zone Leader. The theme for my mission as of right now is, "Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies." Wow..when president called my name, he looked at me and said, "well Elder Little how long have you been out?" I said, "just hit 6 months." He laughed, "Well, I just keep throwing things at you." Then he told me I would be the ZL in Sweetwater with Elder Mendoza. It's crazy. I guess you could say I am following my "father's" footsteps...Elder Nelson was here for 2 transfers before he went home.
Well all I can say, is just like dad said, I am out of the preseason and into the regular season. I am finally starting to understand how to follow the spirit in working.
Well that is all for today. My companion is from Houston!!! Baytown, TX. We are the youngest ZLs in the mission. He has been out 8 months and me almost 7. It is great, I will write more in a letter!!!! Thanks for everything mom and dad!
Ross
An ESPN Top 10 Most Memorable Moments in the First 6 Months:
10. My first teaching experience in the MTC
9. Leaving the MTC for the Field
8. Elder Nelson getting transferred
7. Being Elder Nelson's companion
6. Arriving in San Diego
5. Leaving mom and dad at the MTC
4. First baptism
3. Training
2. Getting to be District Leader at my 3rd transfer
1. Being closer to the Lord than ever before
(He wrote this list as well as the below message in his Tuesday, July 27th email)
Everything this week has been pretty good. I rolled my ankle in basketball today, but you know me, I'll be alright. We have 2 baptisms coming up this week either on Sunday or Tuesday. They accepted the date for Tuesday but we are going to move them up for Sunday.
This week we had President interviews. In mine he asked me how I was doing physically. I said, "Well president, I am pretty good. But my mom is a little worried about me." He said, "Why is that?" "well i have lost 30 lbs and she says that it is unhealthy." Then he threw me a curve ball....HE FIST POUNDED ME!!! and told me, "Elder Little don't slow down in anything. Weight, missionary work or anything. You have great things ahead of you and you can not slow down. I've got plans for you." That is the 3rd time he has said that...I am beginning to believe him.
Other than that the week was pretty chill. Sorry this is a short email, but I don't really have a lot to say. President has been calling me a lot lately. We have a bunch of new sister missionaries coming in to work at the MOBAT (Mormon Batallion) and he is going to put a set in my district. We have to rearrange the boundaries in one the missionaries that are already there so we can put them in. He says that I am just as important in this as he is. And this also means I will now have 10 missionaries in my district. But, as of right now, my district has 12 people with baptismal dates and we had 10 people at church last Sunday so we are doing really well.
Well thanks for everything!!! It really does mean a lot the things you send me, and I promise I will get a hand written letter in the mail some time. (I'm pretty sure this has yet to happen!! My poor parents!~Hillary))
(This is from his Tuesday, August 3rd email)
Transfers are tomorrow and I am not very happy about it... yes, I am getting transfered again. I don't know what this plan is that president has for me, but it sure is weird and I can't really understand it. The worst part of it is, is that there are 5 open spots in the desert...where it is currently 117*. So it is looking like I am heading out there, or a bunch of missionaries are saying that I could be going to be a ZL in Sweetwater in Elder Nelson's old area or I could be a ZL in the desierto. And to top it off, 2 of my best friends left to go home today. Elder Nelson and Elder Hanks. They reached the end and they are home right now with their families. It is a tough day today, and I don't have a lot to talk about.
Well, this week has been pretty slow. Our area is just inching along right now and the week before transfers is always the hardest. We, or I guess I should say Elder Avalos, has 2 baptisms coming up on Sunday and a few more later this month. It will be tough, because it seems like just when an area starts to get good, I get moved and pick up another area. It is crazy. But, just like Coach Byrd, President Donaldson sees something in me and I know that he has the keys and recieve the revelations to take care of me and put me where the Lord wants me to be. I just have to put my trust in the Lord again and hope everythings turns out for the best. It usually does, but sometimes it takes a while to figure it out haha. But, dont feel like that I am depressed or mad or angry or on the verge of going AWOL. I will be ok, its just when transfers come around when I feel safe, I'm not, when I feel not safe, I am safe. CRAZY!! I just remebered I have to pack again. Dang, I hate transfers. But, it's alright the Lord has a plan for me and if that plan has me going to the desert to taste a little bit of what h*** feels like, then so be it.
Speaking of Satan, he has been working big time on me. Like you said mom, I do have to give a lot of girls the "get thee hence satan" look, and sometimes not even that is enough. My area is right next to SDSU (San Diego State University) so there are college girls galore. Let's just say that it is like A&M in the summer time, except everything the girls wear are tighter and 6 inches shorter. And mexican girls love white boys. The funny part is that when we walk by they speak spanish about us and think we cant understand and then I hear what they say and usually turn around and say, "gracias! soy guapo, ya se" which translates too, "thanks, I'm cute, I know" hahaha they get embarrased and walk off. But, Satan puts these "beautiful daughters of God" in my path as temptation. So me and Elder Avalos have been singing a lot of hymns lately hahaha. I know I know, sounds corny, but it's the only thing that works.
Well, that's about it, so I guess I'll just close. Thanks for everything you do and be looking forward to next p day when you can find out where I am and what I am doing. Thanks for everything mom and Dad!!! les amo muchimsmo!
(And finally, this is from today's email, Tuesday, August 10th)
Well where I am.... I am now in Logan Heights...just a few miles down the road from City Heights. Mom, I wouldn't google this place, it's worse than City Heights. Oh, and now I am a Zone Leader. Yep, Elder Nelson left and I took his place as Zone Leader in the Sweetwater zone.
At the end of every transfer, president sends out a letter to the zone leaders on Tuesday and they call the people leaving. Then, Wednesday at 10 we have a transfer meeting where president announces who is going where and who their companion is. That's basically how they do it in most places.
Well yeah, I am a Zone Leader now. 2 transfers as a junior companion, 1 as a trainer/district leader, and now a Zone Leader. The theme for my mission as of right now is, "Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies." Wow..when president called my name, he looked at me and said, "well Elder Little how long have you been out?" I said, "just hit 6 months." He laughed, "Well, I just keep throwing things at you." Then he told me I would be the ZL in Sweetwater with Elder Mendoza. It's crazy. I guess you could say I am following my "father's" footsteps...Elder Nelson was here for 2 transfers before he went home.
Well all I can say, is just like dad said, I am out of the preseason and into the regular season. I am finally starting to understand how to follow the spirit in working.
Well that is all for today. My companion is from Houston!!! Baytown, TX. We are the youngest ZLs in the mission. He has been out 8 months and me almost 7. It is great, I will write more in a letter!!!! Thanks for everything mom and dad!
Ross
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Pictures! Finally...
If you've been keeping up with Ross's letters on here you may have picked up on his weight loss comments. Yesterday, July 27th was Ross's 6 month mark (18 more months to go, but who's counting really, right?!). In the past 6 months, Ross has lost 30 pounds. It's crazy because all through high school, as a football player, losing weight was not by any means a priority. And it's not a priority now that he's on his mission either. Ross has either been riding his bike or walking everywhere, add that to being pretty sick for a week and voila....there goes 30 pounds. Anyways, we've been bugging him to send us a picture of his new self. So here we go:
So way to go Ross! :)
So way to go Ross! :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Letter from July 6, 2010
July 6, 2010
Well this week has been crazy, so lets get started:
1. City Heights is pretty rough, but fertile. There aren't any restrictions, but if it is one thing that I know, Cholos don't mess with people that have Jesus Christ written on their chests. We go every where and talk to everyone.
2. We really didn't do anything to observe july 4th. We just went in early. We went to eat at a members house after church and then worked for a while and then came home. No one was home, and if they were they were drinking, so we called it quits for safety haha
3. I upgraded apartments. Our apartment now is really nice. We live in the same complex as 3 other sets of elders, 1 set of sisters, and 2 sets of senior missionaries. And you know they put the senior missionaries in the nice apartments so yeah its nice. We are about 5 minutes (walking) from the church.
Well to the week, I sent you a letter this week that described some of my week and some of the problems, and i put in my memory card of imperial beach, but after i sent it, i realized I didn't take any pictures after like week 3 which is when i started losing weight, so ill take some more and send some.
Well, i was sick this week. And we are talking sick sick. I had a stomache virus from tuesday to saturday. It was terrible. All the nasty things mixed with no sleep, no eating, and a missionary (me) who doesn't want to sit at home all day = a bad combination. Yeah, thats right. I went out and worked. I would sleep/rest till like 2 every day and then go work till 6. Come home and sleep till 7 and then go out an work till i couldnt go any further. It was bad. Never have I wanted to come home so bad and never have I wanted to die so much either. At one point, I told Elder Avalos to push me in front of a car that was coming and just relieve me of the pain i was feeling. But not to worry, I am better now! I am eating again (more than i would like, but i need to cathc up, i lost another 5lbs last week alone) and im am slowly getting my energy back to normal. We talked to some more sweet people and we have 2 baptisms lined up for the 25th. and possibly 2 more if we can get 2 investigators progressing again.
Elder Avalos is doing well. We got mail already this week. I got 1 letter from Mimi and Popa (I picked up my golf clubs on thursday. She wanted me to get them out of the way!!) and Elder Avalos got a package and 2 letters from his mom and friend. I was happy for him, it was great. He is doing really well. He is a pretty big guy and he told me this week that he tore his ACL before the mission and he tore it again after the surgery and it has been bothering him, but he doesn't want to tell president because he will make him sit in the office for a while (who does that sound like ?!?) So i just take it easy with him and not push him harder than he can go. He is really quite, so i sat him down and told him that this week, we were going to work together to help him feel more comfortable talking. We practiced during companionship study and by the end of the week, he taught most of 1 lesson by himself. it was really good, i couldnt stop him. All of the other missionaries are really loving and help him feel welcome.
Well that is really all this week.
Love Yall
Elder Little
Well this week has been crazy, so lets get started:
1. City Heights is pretty rough, but fertile. There aren't any restrictions, but if it is one thing that I know, Cholos don't mess with people that have Jesus Christ written on their chests. We go every where and talk to everyone.
2. We really didn't do anything to observe july 4th. We just went in early. We went to eat at a members house after church and then worked for a while and then came home. No one was home, and if they were they were drinking, so we called it quits for safety haha
3. I upgraded apartments. Our apartment now is really nice. We live in the same complex as 3 other sets of elders, 1 set of sisters, and 2 sets of senior missionaries. And you know they put the senior missionaries in the nice apartments so yeah its nice. We are about 5 minutes (walking) from the church.
Well to the week, I sent you a letter this week that described some of my week and some of the problems, and i put in my memory card of imperial beach, but after i sent it, i realized I didn't take any pictures after like week 3 which is when i started losing weight, so ill take some more and send some.
Well, i was sick this week. And we are talking sick sick. I had a stomache virus from tuesday to saturday. It was terrible. All the nasty things mixed with no sleep, no eating, and a missionary (me) who doesn't want to sit at home all day = a bad combination. Yeah, thats right. I went out and worked. I would sleep/rest till like 2 every day and then go work till 6. Come home and sleep till 7 and then go out an work till i couldnt go any further. It was bad. Never have I wanted to come home so bad and never have I wanted to die so much either. At one point, I told Elder Avalos to push me in front of a car that was coming and just relieve me of the pain i was feeling. But not to worry, I am better now! I am eating again (more than i would like, but i need to cathc up, i lost another 5lbs last week alone) and im am slowly getting my energy back to normal. We talked to some more sweet people and we have 2 baptisms lined up for the 25th. and possibly 2 more if we can get 2 investigators progressing again.
Elder Avalos is doing well. We got mail already this week. I got 1 letter from Mimi and Popa (I picked up my golf clubs on thursday. She wanted me to get them out of the way!!) and Elder Avalos got a package and 2 letters from his mom and friend. I was happy for him, it was great. He is doing really well. He is a pretty big guy and he told me this week that he tore his ACL before the mission and he tore it again after the surgery and it has been bothering him, but he doesn't want to tell president because he will make him sit in the office for a while (who does that sound like ?!?) So i just take it easy with him and not push him harder than he can go. He is really quite, so i sat him down and told him that this week, we were going to work together to help him feel more comfortable talking. We practiced during companionship study and by the end of the week, he taught most of 1 lesson by himself. it was really good, i couldnt stop him. All of the other missionaries are really loving and help him feel welcome.
Well that is really all this week.
Love Yall
Elder Little
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Letter from June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Where in the World is Elder Little...not in Imperial Beach.
Well you probably are wondering by now where I am if Im not in IB...
Well..On the day of transfers, me and Elder Gunnell went to our training meeting and President asked me how it was packing..of course I said, "IDK..ask Elder Gunnell, he packed." President looked at his transfer list and then at me and smiled and said, "somebody messed up...you are leaving and Elder Gunell is staying." After the shock wore off, we started the meeting and he asked the question, "how many of you are district leaders. Everyone raised their hands but me, and then president looked at me again and said "Elder Little, raise your hand." So yes, your son, who is in his 3rd transfer, only 5 months into the mission..is white-wash training and is the District Leader of a ward in San Diego, barrio 20. My proselyting area is City Heights, so yall can look that up again. It is definately not IB...its a pretty rough place. A lot of cholos and mexicans..which are quickly becoming my favorite people in the world hahah.
I really like it though. I have heard nothing but good things about this ward and I am surrounded by great missionaries. After the transfer meeting I talked with President Donaldson and asked for a blessing..in the blessing he said that although the other missinoaries in my district have more experience, you are more prepared to lead the district and have success. We he said that I remembered what my patriarchal blessing said about me coming to this world fully prepared to carry out my mission here on earth and at times I dont feel like I am, but the Lord has blessed me with so many miracles I can't even begin to name them. On our second day, we got a call from Sister Smith (the one who went to A&M) and she said that she had a referral for me. I took it down and she said the lady wants to get baptized! After I got off the phone, I got down on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for the miracle we had just recieved. I truly am gaining a testimony of the power of the Lord and how he wants us to have success. When people flip us off, cuss at us, its not a test of the Lord to see if we will keep going, it is Satan trying to get us to stop. But the Lord picks us up when we fall, sometimes when we go knock doors or when we are riding on the street, I literally feel like a third person is there and let me tell you, there is no greater feeling in the world than to know that there truly is a third person riding with us, talking with us, teaching with us, and finding with us. The holy ghost is everywhere and if we pray for his guidance and for his love, we will feel it in times of need.
Well, now more about my son. His name is Elder Avalos and he is very humble. He is from New Jersey and comes from a rough up bringing. He was born in Compton and then his mom and dad went to New Jersey. His mom is from Guatemala and dad from Honduras. He speaks spanish, but english was his first language. He has a lot of personal challenges, but with all of these challenges, he made it out here on a mission and was the 1st in his family to do so. I have only known him for a few days, but I love him so much already. He is a big guy and he has a hard time on his bike with me (btw, i am at 25 lbs lost) but I always go back and push him along. I am always encouaraging him and he is always willing to do what I say and do it with a smile. He is truly, I think, my favorite companion. I could not have asked for a better one. He loves everyone and he is just awesome. But, he doesnt get a lot of support. He doesn't recieve a lot of mail. So mom, could you send him some mail, maybe a package or a letter every now and then. I really think that would make his day. And I know that you would be more than willing to help. As I write this, I am almost crying. I feel now that the spirit is testifying to me that we are supposed to be together at this time and in this place. He is going to learn from me, but I am going to learn how to be a better person from him. he is always encouraging me when an appointment falls through and always talking about having faith. He is amazing...alright mom and dad, stop crying now.
Well that is about all for this week. Thank you for everything! I truly felt your prayers this week, thank your for them and remember, if you send him something, you will get a letter back from your newest grandson haha
Thanks mom and dad for everything, I hope you feel my love as much as I feel yours.
Con much amor
Elder Little
p.s. we were buying grocerys and they came and asked if they could call our moms, i was the first to say yes!
This is in response to my mom's story she emailed to Ross...."So, as I'm leaving church Sunday, I check my phone and see that I have a voicemail. I listen to it and it is this sweet lady Pam, from Utah, telling me that she was vacationing in California and was in a Wal Mart in Chula Vista and ran into an Elder Little (my heart beats double time and tears flow at this point). She proceeded to tell me that she had a wonderful conversation with you and that you look good and are having success, recently had six baptisms, and shared that it was so fun to visit with you for a few minutes! OMG!!! Talk about a Tender Mercy from the Lord. To know that a stranger had seen and talked to my son and was so thoughtful to call and share that with me. Really, though we aren't strangers in the gospel are we--we are all brothers and sisters of an eternal family. Heavenly Father can't be everywhere so he often blesses us through the hands of another person. I was the recipient of this wonderful blessing. I called her back later in the day and got! her voicemail and expressed my heartfelt gratitude to her. I think she surely is or has been the mother of a missionary. Tell me about how this all transpired--was it your P Day or were you dressed in your missionary attire and they recognized you as missionaries????"
Where in the World is Elder Little...not in Imperial Beach.
Well you probably are wondering by now where I am if Im not in IB...
Well..On the day of transfers, me and Elder Gunnell went to our training meeting and President asked me how it was packing..of course I said, "IDK..ask Elder Gunnell, he packed." President looked at his transfer list and then at me and smiled and said, "somebody messed up...you are leaving and Elder Gunell is staying." After the shock wore off, we started the meeting and he asked the question, "how many of you are district leaders. Everyone raised their hands but me, and then president looked at me again and said "Elder Little, raise your hand." So yes, your son, who is in his 3rd transfer, only 5 months into the mission..is white-wash training and is the District Leader of a ward in San Diego, barrio 20. My proselyting area is City Heights, so yall can look that up again. It is definately not IB...its a pretty rough place. A lot of cholos and mexicans..which are quickly becoming my favorite people in the world hahah.
I really like it though. I have heard nothing but good things about this ward and I am surrounded by great missionaries. After the transfer meeting I talked with President Donaldson and asked for a blessing..in the blessing he said that although the other missinoaries in my district have more experience, you are more prepared to lead the district and have success. We he said that I remembered what my patriarchal blessing said about me coming to this world fully prepared to carry out my mission here on earth and at times I dont feel like I am, but the Lord has blessed me with so many miracles I can't even begin to name them. On our second day, we got a call from Sister Smith (the one who went to A&M) and she said that she had a referral for me. I took it down and she said the lady wants to get baptized! After I got off the phone, I got down on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for the miracle we had just recieved. I truly am gaining a testimony of the power of the Lord and how he wants us to have success. When people flip us off, cuss at us, its not a test of the Lord to see if we will keep going, it is Satan trying to get us to stop. But the Lord picks us up when we fall, sometimes when we go knock doors or when we are riding on the street, I literally feel like a third person is there and let me tell you, there is no greater feeling in the world than to know that there truly is a third person riding with us, talking with us, teaching with us, and finding with us. The holy ghost is everywhere and if we pray for his guidance and for his love, we will feel it in times of need.
Well, now more about my son. His name is Elder Avalos and he is very humble. He is from New Jersey and comes from a rough up bringing. He was born in Compton and then his mom and dad went to New Jersey. His mom is from Guatemala and dad from Honduras. He speaks spanish, but english was his first language. He has a lot of personal challenges, but with all of these challenges, he made it out here on a mission and was the 1st in his family to do so. I have only known him for a few days, but I love him so much already. He is a big guy and he has a hard time on his bike with me (btw, i am at 25 lbs lost) but I always go back and push him along. I am always encouaraging him and he is always willing to do what I say and do it with a smile. He is truly, I think, my favorite companion. I could not have asked for a better one. He loves everyone and he is just awesome. But, he doesnt get a lot of support. He doesn't recieve a lot of mail. So mom, could you send him some mail, maybe a package or a letter every now and then. I really think that would make his day. And I know that you would be more than willing to help. As I write this, I am almost crying. I feel now that the spirit is testifying to me that we are supposed to be together at this time and in this place. He is going to learn from me, but I am going to learn how to be a better person from him. he is always encouraging me when an appointment falls through and always talking about having faith. He is amazing...alright mom and dad, stop crying now.
Well that is about all for this week. Thank you for everything! I truly felt your prayers this week, thank your for them and remember, if you send him something, you will get a letter back from your newest grandson haha
Thanks mom and dad for everything, I hope you feel my love as much as I feel yours.
Con much amor
Elder Little
p.s. we were buying grocerys and they came and asked if they could call our moms, i was the first to say yes!
This is in response to my mom's story she emailed to Ross...."So, as I'm leaving church Sunday, I check my phone and see that I have a voicemail. I listen to it and it is this sweet lady Pam, from Utah, telling me that she was vacationing in California and was in a Wal Mart in Chula Vista and ran into an Elder Little (my heart beats double time and tears flow at this point). She proceeded to tell me that she had a wonderful conversation with you and that you look good and are having success, recently had six baptisms, and shared that it was so fun to visit with you for a few minutes! OMG!!! Talk about a Tender Mercy from the Lord. To know that a stranger had seen and talked to my son and was so thoughtful to call and share that with me. Really, though we aren't strangers in the gospel are we--we are all brothers and sisters of an eternal family. Heavenly Father can't be everywhere so he often blesses us through the hands of another person. I was the recipient of this wonderful blessing. I called her back later in the day and got! her voicemail and expressed my heartfelt gratitude to her. I think she surely is or has been the mother of a missionary. Tell me about how this all transpired--was it your P Day or were you dressed in your missionary attire and they recognized you as missionaries????"
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Letter from June 22, 2010
Letter from Elder Little, 6/22/10
Yes another earthquake. Me and Elder Gunnell had just finished planning, he was in the bathroom and I was lifting. I felt the bench start to shake and then heard the walls shaking. I threw down the weight and Elder Gunnell was just in the bathroom yelling, "are you serious?" It wasn't too bad but one of the elders in our apartment complex freaked out and was almost crying. The one on easter was worse.
We got the call from the ZLs this morning, Elder Gunnell is leaving and I am staying, which will mean another transfer in the branch. Also, it means that I, YOUR YOUNGEST CHILD, WILL BE HAVING THE FIRST CHILD IN THE FAMILY. YEP, I AM TRAINING THIS TRANSFER. hahahah it is crazy! I am full of all kinds of emotion..excited/nervous/stoked/scared hahah all wrapped into one. But the thought hit me right after we got the call that the Lord doesn't give us anything that we can't handle. it is going to be tough, but I think this transfer I have been prepared for it. Its going to be a good transfer!
Well...this week was pretty good. Our baptism that we have lined up works all the time and we are stuggling to find her. But we are going to keep trying, and we will be successful.
If I could pick a scriptue to describe this week, it would be, "faith without works is dead." This week my faith has been tried alot. ON Sunday, I taught Gospel Principles in Spanish. It was over the Holy Ghost. It went pretty good, but i had to have faith that the Lord would help me and he definitely did. the class participated and I think it went pretty well. And yesterday, i gave a blessing...in spanish. No idea what i was doing. Elder Gunnell helped me through the fist part but when i got to the blessing, the words just came to me. It was truly the mopst spiritual experience i have had on my mission. MY faith was tested this week, but when faith is tested and exercised, faith is grown.
For your lesson mom, you could use the good samaritan story...or you could use the story when the pharisees brought the adultress to christ and he said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." I really like that one. To me, it shows how important it is not to judge others. Everyone has stuggles in life and everyone messes up. But no one should judge others for their sturggles when inside, they are stuggling just as much. I really like the principle of "Judge not, lest ye be not judge" it makes a lot of sense. everyone has challenges in life, but the Savior and His Gospel can help everyone, not matter how big it is.
Well that is about all that happened this week. I have been trying to see if i need anything around the apartment and noticed that i dont have a framed pic of the family, and i thought that might be nice to have. Also, i could always take some ties if anyone wants to give me some.
Thanks for all that yall do for me! It really does me alot...im sorry that i cant write and thank everyone, but i truly am grateful for the family that i do have. Tell everyone hi for me. I love yall!
con much amor
Elder Little
Yes another earthquake. Me and Elder Gunnell had just finished planning, he was in the bathroom and I was lifting. I felt the bench start to shake and then heard the walls shaking. I threw down the weight and Elder Gunnell was just in the bathroom yelling, "are you serious?" It wasn't too bad but one of the elders in our apartment complex freaked out and was almost crying. The one on easter was worse.
We got the call from the ZLs this morning, Elder Gunnell is leaving and I am staying, which will mean another transfer in the branch. Also, it means that I, YOUR YOUNGEST CHILD, WILL BE HAVING THE FIRST CHILD IN THE FAMILY. YEP, I AM TRAINING THIS TRANSFER. hahahah it is crazy! I am full of all kinds of emotion..excited/nervous/stoked/scared hahah all wrapped into one. But the thought hit me right after we got the call that the Lord doesn't give us anything that we can't handle. it is going to be tough, but I think this transfer I have been prepared for it. Its going to be a good transfer!
Well...this week was pretty good. Our baptism that we have lined up works all the time and we are stuggling to find her. But we are going to keep trying, and we will be successful.
If I could pick a scriptue to describe this week, it would be, "faith without works is dead." This week my faith has been tried alot. ON Sunday, I taught Gospel Principles in Spanish. It was over the Holy Ghost. It went pretty good, but i had to have faith that the Lord would help me and he definitely did. the class participated and I think it went pretty well. And yesterday, i gave a blessing...in spanish. No idea what i was doing. Elder Gunnell helped me through the fist part but when i got to the blessing, the words just came to me. It was truly the mopst spiritual experience i have had on my mission. MY faith was tested this week, but when faith is tested and exercised, faith is grown.
For your lesson mom, you could use the good samaritan story...or you could use the story when the pharisees brought the adultress to christ and he said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." I really like that one. To me, it shows how important it is not to judge others. Everyone has stuggles in life and everyone messes up. But no one should judge others for their sturggles when inside, they are stuggling just as much. I really like the principle of "Judge not, lest ye be not judge" it makes a lot of sense. everyone has challenges in life, but the Savior and His Gospel can help everyone, not matter how big it is.
Well that is about all that happened this week. I have been trying to see if i need anything around the apartment and noticed that i dont have a framed pic of the family, and i thought that might be nice to have. Also, i could always take some ties if anyone wants to give me some.
Thanks for all that yall do for me! It really does me alot...im sorry that i cant write and thank everyone, but i truly am grateful for the family that i do have. Tell everyone hi for me. I love yall!
con much amor
Elder Little
Monday, June 21, 2010
Letter from 6/15/10
Letter from Elder Little, June 15, 2010
que aunda familia? (Sorry, thats my slang spanish haha)
Lets get to those questions:
1. My health is good, I continue to lose weight, and now I can slip out of almost all my pants without un buttoning them haha...I just want to keep going though haha..My comps health this week hasnt been too good, but i will get to that later.
2. Well my interview with pres. donaldson was...interesting, very interesting.....but i will tell you more about that in the email haha (love the suspense)
Alright the week. This week was not very good at all. Tuesday night, Elder Gunnell got really sick. The flu...so we had to take it easy all week. The good thing was that Elder Hanks and Naylor's license expired, so we had the car all week, so we still got to go see people and I drove all around and stuff. The World Cup is killing us, everyone plans their schedule around the games, so our mornings aren't very eventful. The whole city shut down for the Mexico game...there was no one anywhere when we first started out. Everyone went to Tijuana to watch the game..craziness. So yeah, this week was not very good, we didnt have anyone at church, but all things consisdered with the sickness and everything, it was ok. Then Sunday, Elder hanks and Naylor had 3 baptisms so president came down and attended. As we were going back to the chapel after the ordinances were performed, Me, Elder Gunnell and president were walking back and President asked to speak with me alone for a minute. i was like, "what the heck did I do? I dont remember doing anything wrong? Am I getting ET(Emergency transfered)" So we go outside and he says,"Elder Little, I have been thinking about you a lot lately. And i have an idea that I want to run by you." So i said, "ok, lets here it. haha" and he said, "we have a lot of spanish speaking missionaries coming in this transfer and next transfer that our native speakers. And so i want people to train them that now how we do things here in San Diego, because how we do things here is a lot different than thy do them in the MTC. So, do you think that you would be able to be the leader of an area and train a new missionary if he already knew how to speak spanish?" I was floored..and I think he could tell because he said, "I have the upmost confidence in you, Elder Little. you are one of the best missionaries we have seen in awhile. And this is the beginning of some big plans that I have for you Elder Little." So of course I said that I could do it. I told him, "Well President, it was tough at the beginning of the transfer leading the area because I relied on Elder Nelson too much. But the more that I relied on the Lord, the more I learned. I learned a lot President. So, if that is what you want and what the Lord wants, then that i what I will do." he smiled and said, " you can do it Elder LIttle. I dont know if it will be this transfer or next, but dont get comfortable." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!!! 3 transfers in and i might already be training. That is crazy. But I know that it is nothing that I can not handle without the help of the Lord.
I have realized that if you do something by yourself and you do it for yourself, ten the Lord's hand will not be in it and you won't succeed. That is why some missionaries have problems I think. They come out here to recieve the glory of baptizing people and going home and being praised, but they struggle because nothing you do out here is for yourself, it is for the Lord.
So yeah, it looks like I might have the first grandchild in the family hahaha little missionary joke, you probably didn't get it haha
Well,,that it really it. Oh, yeah we have some good investigators right now. Wee had a couple of good experiences with them, but we are tryiing to find more. Luz is good, we had dinner with her and her family last night, they want to go to the temple soon, so we are working to reactivate her brother, he really likes us and we got him to church for the first time in a while. So keep him in your prayers..thanks for everything!
I love yall and love the prayers and mail i get. Elder Hochkiss talked to me today when we picked up the new car. He said, "Elder Little, you are the kind of person that I hated in the navy. Every week, you get 10 things in the mail hahahah" I love it so keep them coming!! Thanks for everything and que tengan buen dia!
Con muchisimo amor
Ross
que aunda familia? (Sorry, thats my slang spanish haha)
Lets get to those questions:
1. My health is good, I continue to lose weight, and now I can slip out of almost all my pants without un buttoning them haha...I just want to keep going though haha..My comps health this week hasnt been too good, but i will get to that later.
2. Well my interview with pres. donaldson was...interesting, very interesting.....but i will tell you more about that in the email haha (love the suspense)
Alright the week. This week was not very good at all. Tuesday night, Elder Gunnell got really sick. The flu...so we had to take it easy all week. The good thing was that Elder Hanks and Naylor's license expired, so we had the car all week, so we still got to go see people and I drove all around and stuff. The World Cup is killing us, everyone plans their schedule around the games, so our mornings aren't very eventful. The whole city shut down for the Mexico game...there was no one anywhere when we first started out. Everyone went to Tijuana to watch the game..craziness. So yeah, this week was not very good, we didnt have anyone at church, but all things consisdered with the sickness and everything, it was ok. Then Sunday, Elder hanks and Naylor had 3 baptisms so president came down and attended. As we were going back to the chapel after the ordinances were performed, Me, Elder Gunnell and president were walking back and President asked to speak with me alone for a minute. i was like, "what the heck did I do? I dont remember doing anything wrong? Am I getting ET(Emergency transfered)" So we go outside and he says,"Elder Little, I have been thinking about you a lot lately. And i have an idea that I want to run by you." So i said, "ok, lets here it. haha" and he said, "we have a lot of spanish speaking missionaries coming in this transfer and next transfer that our native speakers. And so i want people to train them that now how we do things here in San Diego, because how we do things here is a lot different than thy do them in the MTC. So, do you think that you would be able to be the leader of an area and train a new missionary if he already knew how to speak spanish?" I was floored..and I think he could tell because he said, "I have the upmost confidence in you, Elder Little. you are one of the best missionaries we have seen in awhile. And this is the beginning of some big plans that I have for you Elder Little." So of course I said that I could do it. I told him, "Well President, it was tough at the beginning of the transfer leading the area because I relied on Elder Nelson too much. But the more that I relied on the Lord, the more I learned. I learned a lot President. So, if that is what you want and what the Lord wants, then that i what I will do." he smiled and said, " you can do it Elder LIttle. I dont know if it will be this transfer or next, but dont get comfortable." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!!! 3 transfers in and i might already be training. That is crazy. But I know that it is nothing that I can not handle without the help of the Lord.
I have realized that if you do something by yourself and you do it for yourself, ten the Lord's hand will not be in it and you won't succeed. That is why some missionaries have problems I think. They come out here to recieve the glory of baptizing people and going home and being praised, but they struggle because nothing you do out here is for yourself, it is for the Lord.
So yeah, it looks like I might have the first grandchild in the family hahaha little missionary joke, you probably didn't get it haha
Well,,that it really it. Oh, yeah we have some good investigators right now. Wee had a couple of good experiences with them, but we are tryiing to find more. Luz is good, we had dinner with her and her family last night, they want to go to the temple soon, so we are working to reactivate her brother, he really likes us and we got him to church for the first time in a while. So keep him in your prayers..thanks for everything!
I love yall and love the prayers and mail i get. Elder Hochkiss talked to me today when we picked up the new car. He said, "Elder Little, you are the kind of person that I hated in the navy. Every week, you get 10 things in the mail hahahah" I love it so keep them coming!! Thanks for everything and que tengan buen dia!
Con muchisimo amor
Ross
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Letter from June 1, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Well lets start with some of those famous questions.
1) Yes I did. I got some money and a giftcard from Thomas and Kelly and then some money and a magnet from Marty and Janna and Alex. It was awesome! I haven't picked up mail yet this week.
2) haha well it turns out that I had more fun here at a Memorial Day then back home hahaha. We had a bar BQ in the park, or I guess in spanish its called a "carne asada". We had some members come and we cooked carne asada tacos and a bunch of other stuff, it was way fun.
3) We have president interviews once a transfer. I think mine will be next week probably.
Alright, this week was pretty good. Jesus changed his mind again and doesn't want to get baptized anymore. After we walked out of the cita, i wasn't that upset. I remembered what you and dad said that he had the power to choose for himself and that all i could do was help him. I felt like I did everything I could do to help him and I think thats why I wasn't upset.
This week was MTE (Missionary Training Exchanges). It's one of the pilot programs here we are doing for the qoroum of the 12 and the missionary department. It was 3 days of training in the morning with President Donaldson and then we went out and practiced. My comp went on exchanges with Elder Hanks and Naylor and I went with another english missionary. That was weird! The training was on how to become more united and how allow the missionary purpose to burn within our hearts. Some things I took away from it were:
-Baptism is the key to every gift we get from God. Before we recieve the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, we have to be baptized. Before we recieve the GIFT of making convenios (sorry idk how to spell it in english anymore) in the temple, we have to be baptized. Baptism is the gate to eternal life.
-As missionaries, we are also special witnesses of Jesus Christ. Elder Holland tolds us (a week before I got to the mission) that we are apostles (with a small "a") and we have more power in our pinky than other ministers have in their body(just like Elder Holland). But something that really took me away and the spirit testified of the truthfulness to me was that, as a missionary, I have the ability to unleash the power of the Godhead on my investigators. Pretty big responsibility huh?
Being with a english only comp this week was weird. I figured out that it is a lot easier to say things in english but it is also a lot easier to go deep in english. The guy i was with started talking about "pre-existence ordinances" that had to be performed. I was like, "but the important thing is that you know that you have a purpose in this life and that if you follow the commandments and do what God wants you to do, you will be able to feel his love and be able to take part in His gospel." wow, that kid. But it was also scary/fun that i was teaching in spanish by myself for most of the week. The kid i was with didnt speak any spanish so i was OMO. It was fun and i think i learned a lot of spanish and how importnat it is to take seriously the promise Pres. Hinckley gave missionaries when he said, "The a missionary gets on his knees every morning, and pleads with the Lord to loosen his tongue and speak through him, he will find more enthusiasm for the work and know of the love that His Father in Heaven has for him." Pretty powerful.
Well that is really all that happened this week. Today we went and played tennis and then went to play golf and now we are emailing and then we are going to play laser tag with some other elders haha. busy day
Well i love yall sooo much and i thank you for helping me get where i am and yes mom, I am about my father's business.
Love
your son
Well lets start with some of those famous questions.
1) Yes I did. I got some money and a giftcard from Thomas and Kelly and then some money and a magnet from Marty and Janna and Alex. It was awesome! I haven't picked up mail yet this week.
2) haha well it turns out that I had more fun here at a Memorial Day then back home hahaha. We had a bar BQ in the park, or I guess in spanish its called a "carne asada". We had some members come and we cooked carne asada tacos and a bunch of other stuff, it was way fun.
3) We have president interviews once a transfer. I think mine will be next week probably.
Alright, this week was pretty good. Jesus changed his mind again and doesn't want to get baptized anymore. After we walked out of the cita, i wasn't that upset. I remembered what you and dad said that he had the power to choose for himself and that all i could do was help him. I felt like I did everything I could do to help him and I think thats why I wasn't upset.
This week was MTE (Missionary Training Exchanges). It's one of the pilot programs here we are doing for the qoroum of the 12 and the missionary department. It was 3 days of training in the morning with President Donaldson and then we went out and practiced. My comp went on exchanges with Elder Hanks and Naylor and I went with another english missionary. That was weird! The training was on how to become more united and how allow the missionary purpose to burn within our hearts. Some things I took away from it were:
-Baptism is the key to every gift we get from God. Before we recieve the GIFT of the Holy Ghost, we have to be baptized. Before we recieve the GIFT of making convenios (sorry idk how to spell it in english anymore) in the temple, we have to be baptized. Baptism is the gate to eternal life.
-As missionaries, we are also special witnesses of Jesus Christ. Elder Holland tolds us (a week before I got to the mission) that we are apostles (with a small "a") and we have more power in our pinky than other ministers have in their body(just like Elder Holland). But something that really took me away and the spirit testified of the truthfulness to me was that, as a missionary, I have the ability to unleash the power of the Godhead on my investigators. Pretty big responsibility huh?
Being with a english only comp this week was weird. I figured out that it is a lot easier to say things in english but it is also a lot easier to go deep in english. The guy i was with started talking about "pre-existence ordinances" that had to be performed. I was like, "but the important thing is that you know that you have a purpose in this life and that if you follow the commandments and do what God wants you to do, you will be able to feel his love and be able to take part in His gospel." wow, that kid. But it was also scary/fun that i was teaching in spanish by myself for most of the week. The kid i was with didnt speak any spanish so i was OMO. It was fun and i think i learned a lot of spanish and how importnat it is to take seriously the promise Pres. Hinckley gave missionaries when he said, "The a missionary gets on his knees every morning, and pleads with the Lord to loosen his tongue and speak through him, he will find more enthusiasm for the work and know of the love that His Father in Heaven has for him." Pretty powerful.
Well that is really all that happened this week. Today we went and played tennis and then went to play golf and now we are emailing and then we are going to play laser tag with some other elders haha. busy day
Well i love yall sooo much and i thank you for helping me get where i am and yes mom, I am about my father's business.
Love
your son
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Letter from Ross - 5/25/2010
Hey all~
Ross had to endure his first set of transfers the week of May 17th. His companion/trainer was taken from their area to another one. It was really hard on both of them because they had gotten close and Elder Nelson had really taken care of getting Ross adjusted to his mission plus they were having a great deal of success and worked well as a team. They begged the President to change his mind but he was firm in saying Elder Nelson was needed elsewhere. Ross's new companion is Elder Gunnell and we haven't learned much about him yet, other than Ross does like him and they get along well. For the first few days Ross had to act as senior companion and make all the decisions for the pair because Elder Gunnell didn't know the area or people. This was hard on Ross and he had a tough week. However, thanks to lots of prayers from family and friends plus kind words of encouragement exchanged between Ross and our dad, he realized how blessed he is and felt the love of our Savior. It was a humbling experience for him to learn that his mission won't be perfect and successful 100% of the time, as much as he would love for that to be the case! Here is his latest letter from this Tuesday, May 25th. The first few paragraphs are answers to my mom's questions in her letter to him. Also, he wrote a letter to my parents this week and let them know he had baptized a lady...he'll tell about that in his letter too, her name is Luz.
May 25, 2010
1. (What Ross got for his birthday...) I got my blanket, t shirt, box of awesomeness from yall and the cds. From Hillary, I got some more cds, giftcards to McDonalds and Subway and money. From mimi and popa I got money. From grandma I got giftcards, candy and money. And I actually got Brooke's package on Friday, the ZLs forgot to get it out and she gave me a shirt, giftcards and I guess the cologne came from yall.
2. My favorite gift definately was the cards from everyone. I liked the cards a lot and it was nice to get them. Espciallly from the one from you and dad. But, my favorite gift was the Gladys Knight and SUV cd (sidenote...this was from ME! YES!! So proud to be the favorite gift!! Of course, he did ask for it....so I can't take all the credit! ~Hillary). It plays loud and proud whenver i am in the apartment.
3. I got to celebrate my b day and it was great. I explain more later.
Well...this week was definately better than last week. I actually feel my spanish getting better. Like Jake said, I can understand what people are saying better, now I just have to come up with a response hahah. Me and my comp, Elder Gunnell, have been getting along. He's different then Nelson, but he is still pretty cool. Me and Nelson call each other probably 3 times a week. Some really good news!! The man that I thought I lost to baptism...We went and talked to him the other day and talked it over with him and he is interested again! He said he is just scared to change his life and is scared he will go back to his old life after he changes. We told him that no one is perfect and then showed the "mormon message" of Elder Holland's talk on the atonement and he really enjoyed that. We left him with Mosiah 18 and are going back on Thursday. Keep him in you prayers. His name is Jesus Alberto Jr.
I guess you want to know about the baptism haha. Luz is a girl that has been going to church for her entire life almost. Her family is all members and we though she was too, until we noticed she was never confirmed after she was baptized, 5 years ago haha (Spanish Branches hahaha) So we had to quuickly run through things with her and then got her interviewed, baptized and she was confirmed on Sunday. Haha it was awesome.
My birthday was so good. It started out like any other day. While I was in the shower, Elder Nelson and a couple of other missionaries called to wish me happy birthday so that was nice. Then we went and ate pancakes at some english missionaries apartment and then went out and worked. Then, for lunch, a family in the ward, the Albertos (Jesus's dad) took me and my comp to a chinese buffet down by the border. It wasn't very good but it was truly the thought that counted. This man would literally give the shirt off his back if it would help the missionaries. Then we went to a church party and went and worked some more and then we went to the Mormon Battalion with some investigators. And then Elder Hanks and Elder Naylor threw a surprise b day party for me at a members house. They made us french toast. I really felt loved! It was one of the best birthdays ever.
Not too much is happening right now. We are working hard and hope to have a baptism on the 6, 13, and 20. I hope everything is going great for yall! I hope to hear from yall soon!
Love
Elder Little
Ross had to endure his first set of transfers the week of May 17th. His companion/trainer was taken from their area to another one. It was really hard on both of them because they had gotten close and Elder Nelson had really taken care of getting Ross adjusted to his mission plus they were having a great deal of success and worked well as a team. They begged the President to change his mind but he was firm in saying Elder Nelson was needed elsewhere. Ross's new companion is Elder Gunnell and we haven't learned much about him yet, other than Ross does like him and they get along well. For the first few days Ross had to act as senior companion and make all the decisions for the pair because Elder Gunnell didn't know the area or people. This was hard on Ross and he had a tough week. However, thanks to lots of prayers from family and friends plus kind words of encouragement exchanged between Ross and our dad, he realized how blessed he is and felt the love of our Savior. It was a humbling experience for him to learn that his mission won't be perfect and successful 100% of the time, as much as he would love for that to be the case! Here is his latest letter from this Tuesday, May 25th. The first few paragraphs are answers to my mom's questions in her letter to him. Also, he wrote a letter to my parents this week and let them know he had baptized a lady...he'll tell about that in his letter too, her name is Luz.
May 25, 2010
1. (What Ross got for his birthday...) I got my blanket, t shirt, box of awesomeness from yall and the cds. From Hillary, I got some more cds, giftcards to McDonalds and Subway and money. From mimi and popa I got money. From grandma I got giftcards, candy and money. And I actually got Brooke's package on Friday, the ZLs forgot to get it out and she gave me a shirt, giftcards and I guess the cologne came from yall.
2. My favorite gift definately was the cards from everyone. I liked the cards a lot and it was nice to get them. Espciallly from the one from you and dad. But, my favorite gift was the Gladys Knight and SUV cd (sidenote...this was from ME! YES!! So proud to be the favorite gift!! Of course, he did ask for it....so I can't take all the credit! ~Hillary). It plays loud and proud whenver i am in the apartment.
3. I got to celebrate my b day and it was great. I explain more later.
Well...this week was definately better than last week. I actually feel my spanish getting better. Like Jake said, I can understand what people are saying better, now I just have to come up with a response hahah. Me and my comp, Elder Gunnell, have been getting along. He's different then Nelson, but he is still pretty cool. Me and Nelson call each other probably 3 times a week. Some really good news!! The man that I thought I lost to baptism...We went and talked to him the other day and talked it over with him and he is interested again! He said he is just scared to change his life and is scared he will go back to his old life after he changes. We told him that no one is perfect and then showed the "mormon message" of Elder Holland's talk on the atonement and he really enjoyed that. We left him with Mosiah 18 and are going back on Thursday. Keep him in you prayers. His name is Jesus Alberto Jr.
I guess you want to know about the baptism haha. Luz is a girl that has been going to church for her entire life almost. Her family is all members and we though she was too, until we noticed she was never confirmed after she was baptized, 5 years ago haha (Spanish Branches hahaha) So we had to quuickly run through things with her and then got her interviewed, baptized and she was confirmed on Sunday. Haha it was awesome.
My birthday was so good. It started out like any other day. While I was in the shower, Elder Nelson and a couple of other missionaries called to wish me happy birthday so that was nice. Then we went and ate pancakes at some english missionaries apartment and then went out and worked. Then, for lunch, a family in the ward, the Albertos (Jesus's dad) took me and my comp to a chinese buffet down by the border. It wasn't very good but it was truly the thought that counted. This man would literally give the shirt off his back if it would help the missionaries. Then we went to a church party and went and worked some more and then we went to the Mormon Battalion with some investigators. And then Elder Hanks and Elder Naylor threw a surprise b day party for me at a members house. They made us french toast. I really felt loved! It was one of the best birthdays ever.
Not too much is happening right now. We are working hard and hope to have a baptism on the 6, 13, and 20. I hope everything is going great for yall! I hope to hear from yall soon!
Love
Elder Little
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Birthday!!!
Hey family and friends!!
Ross's birthday is coming up!! May 22nd Ross will turn the big 2-0. No longer a teenager, woohoo!! If you would like to send him something, even just a card, I know he would love it. If you want to send a little something, here are some ideas from him...
Well my bday is coming up so i guess yall want a list of things i want well....here it is
-A new set of towels (Bath and hand)
-Money for basketball shoes (we play every morning for exercise and every pday, and my feet kill in these other ones)
-Money, in general
-Gift cards to food places (we have a Carls Jr, subway, your basic restraunts)
-Maybe an electrice razor
-And anything else anyone wants to send me (Missionary stuff)
We talked to Ross on the phone on Sunday for Mother's Day and he sounds GREAT! He sounded so happy and upbeat and had the best stories and experiences to share with us. We asked a million questions and he gave us a million answers. My dad, being the note taker he is, took notes on the conversation...once I get those I'll post them here so you can read more about what's going on with Elder Little in Imperial Beach, CA. He did say to tell everyone hi, that he loves you and appreciates your prayers and letters. He apologizes for not being able to write everyone back promptly but he loves to hear from you and will try to write back as he is able.
That's it for now!
~Hillary
Ross's birthday is coming up!! May 22nd Ross will turn the big 2-0. No longer a teenager, woohoo!! If you would like to send him something, even just a card, I know he would love it. If you want to send a little something, here are some ideas from him...
Well my bday is coming up so i guess yall want a list of things i want well....here it is
-A new set of towels (Bath and hand)
-Money for basketball shoes (we play every morning for exercise and every pday, and my feet kill in these other ones)
-Money, in general
-Gift cards to food places (we have a Carls Jr, subway, your basic restraunts)
-Maybe an electrice razor
-And anything else anyone wants to send me (Missionary stuff)
We talked to Ross on the phone on Sunday for Mother's Day and he sounds GREAT! He sounded so happy and upbeat and had the best stories and experiences to share with us. We asked a million questions and he gave us a million answers. My dad, being the note taker he is, took notes on the conversation...once I get those I'll post them here so you can read more about what's going on with Elder Little in Imperial Beach, CA. He did say to tell everyone hi, that he loves you and appreciates your prayers and letters. He apologizes for not being able to write everyone back promptly but he loves to hear from you and will try to write back as he is able.
That's it for now!
~Hillary
Letter from May 4, 2010
May 4, 2010
Well...lets get to those important questions:
1. Well, my mission president has a rule that we call on fathers day and not mothers day. Sorry mom, I know its bad, but hey, don't Dad's need some credit too.
2. Well, I was just kidding about that. Sorry Dad, yall get no credit. We actually call on our birthdays, so it will be a couple more weeks before I call you.
3. Well, I was just kidding about that too. What we actually get to do here, or what Elder Nelson says we do is call on saturday and talk for like 10 mintues to set up a time for the next day for us to call. That way, nothing can come up and you will know exactly when I will call. So i will get to talk to you on saturday as well. It will probably be in the night time. Hopefully not too late for yall.
Well lets start out with the coolest thing on my mission so far. The Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices Fireside. This was easily the coolest fireside that I've been to in my life. The place was rocking. It was full all the way to the back of the gym and it was full on the stage. A few years ago, Gladys attended Pres. Hinckley's birthday and she was sitting next to him. He said to her, "I heard you don't like our music." "she said to him, "i love it, its just kind of boring haha" So pres. Hinkcley told her to spice it up. So she created this Choir and they tour the country. It reminded me of some of the churches we watch on tv. They were clapping and singing gospel songs. There was a band with guitars and everything. But the music was so spiritual and she bore ther testimony and "preached" to the crowd and everyone loved it. And, yes mom. I did get to meet her. Well kind of. I was an usher at the door she exited from at the end of the fireside, and she waved and smiled at me and told me, "the ball is in your court now. Go work" I almost fell down hahah. Then after the show, me and Elder Nelson were walking in front of her bus and she waved to us again. Once again, i almost fell down. It was way tight. If you could, you could find and buy a Saints Unified Voices CD for me. Thay would be way awesome if you could.
So ill update you on our new best investigator. His name is Juan Carlos, and he is the one who wants to baptize his son. Well his wife is really interested. We went over last monday (not yesterday) and they were waiting on us and had pan dulce for us and hot chocolate. we had a great lesson. Then, last night, we told them we were going to watch a movie with them and they bought me and Elder Nelson pizza and drinks. They are so cool. They asked questions and wanted to know more. They are just so cool. I really appreciate all that the Lord does for me. Wehave been getting kind of down lately, me especially. We havent been having any success with our investigators. We have lessons but they wont do anything. We didnt have any at Gladys Knight or at church the next day. All day monday nobody was home, until one family answered and we set up an appt with them and then this appt with Juan Carlos y su familia. It was great!!
Well..i guess thats about it, so i guess ill call it here. Thanks for everything, especially the prayers (I feel them and thank Heavenly Father for them everyday)
Les amo mucho
Elder Little
Well...lets get to those important questions:
1. Well, my mission president has a rule that we call on fathers day and not mothers day. Sorry mom, I know its bad, but hey, don't Dad's need some credit too.
2. Well, I was just kidding about that. Sorry Dad, yall get no credit. We actually call on our birthdays, so it will be a couple more weeks before I call you.
3. Well, I was just kidding about that too. What we actually get to do here, or what Elder Nelson says we do is call on saturday and talk for like 10 mintues to set up a time for the next day for us to call. That way, nothing can come up and you will know exactly when I will call. So i will get to talk to you on saturday as well. It will probably be in the night time. Hopefully not too late for yall.
Well lets start out with the coolest thing on my mission so far. The Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices Fireside. This was easily the coolest fireside that I've been to in my life. The place was rocking. It was full all the way to the back of the gym and it was full on the stage. A few years ago, Gladys attended Pres. Hinckley's birthday and she was sitting next to him. He said to her, "I heard you don't like our music." "she said to him, "i love it, its just kind of boring haha" So pres. Hinkcley told her to spice it up. So she created this Choir and they tour the country. It reminded me of some of the churches we watch on tv. They were clapping and singing gospel songs. There was a band with guitars and everything. But the music was so spiritual and she bore ther testimony and "preached" to the crowd and everyone loved it. And, yes mom. I did get to meet her. Well kind of. I was an usher at the door she exited from at the end of the fireside, and she waved and smiled at me and told me, "the ball is in your court now. Go work" I almost fell down hahah. Then after the show, me and Elder Nelson were walking in front of her bus and she waved to us again. Once again, i almost fell down. It was way tight. If you could, you could find and buy a Saints Unified Voices CD for me. Thay would be way awesome if you could.
So ill update you on our new best investigator. His name is Juan Carlos, and he is the one who wants to baptize his son. Well his wife is really interested. We went over last monday (not yesterday) and they were waiting on us and had pan dulce for us and hot chocolate. we had a great lesson. Then, last night, we told them we were going to watch a movie with them and they bought me and Elder Nelson pizza and drinks. They are so cool. They asked questions and wanted to know more. They are just so cool. I really appreciate all that the Lord does for me. Wehave been getting kind of down lately, me especially. We havent been having any success with our investigators. We have lessons but they wont do anything. We didnt have any at Gladys Knight or at church the next day. All day monday nobody was home, until one family answered and we set up an appt with them and then this appt with Juan Carlos y su familia. It was great!!
Well..i guess thats about it, so i guess ill call it here. Thanks for everything, especially the prayers (I feel them and thank Heavenly Father for them everyday)
Les amo mucho
Elder Little
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010 Letter
Monday, April 26, 2010
Thanks for the update mom. Actually, I kind of lost track of when my anniversay was, so 3 months is here tommorrow, wow. Well lets get to the questions:
1. We live in an apartment complex and me and Elder Nelson are best friends with the manager. He gave us a microwave the other day and he said someone would come fix our toilet for free later today. It's not the best apartment, but it's a block from the church and it's right in the middle of our area. So it's ok I guess. I took some pictures but I still have to take more of IB and the ocean.
2. I'm not to sure when I get to call on Mothers Day. If I am still with Elder Nelson, next Wednesday is transfers (but we both have had the feeling we aren't going), we will either call in the morning or after church. He said that he likes to talk to his family for like an hour and asked if that was cool with me, I laughed and said yeah, I guess hahaha
3. I am getting all of yalls packages. All the other missionaries in my zone get jealous and they are always asking if it's my birthday ahahah. But keep sending them, I love it. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much they and yalls letters mean to me. If you want, you could send some food giftcards or maybe some chips or stuff. We don't have a lot of food, but I'll talk about that later.
Well, let's get this party started. Let's start with our investigators. Carlos is....no mas. He hasn't answered our calls and isn't returning them, so we have him classified as a "boat jumper". Me and Elder Nelson have started this new thing. We have our regular teaching pool, we put our progressing investigators on the "Baptismal Boat" and then if they cool off and aren't interested, they are classified as "boat jumpers". The regular people that are in our teaching pool are "pool chillers"...we have pictures and everything hahaha. But yeah, I was sad to see Carlos go but we have about 4 families and 3 individuals that are really great. President is happy with our work here. In my interview, I told him in the last 2 weeks we had added 19 new investigators, and that me and Elder Nelson could both feel that we were right on the verge of success. We are so close I can smell it.
This upcoming weekend is the Gladys Knight Fireside/concert. We have about 20 people going, which is a lot for Mexicans who have never heard of Gladys Knight. Me and Elder Nelson are going Friday night with our investigators and then President asked us to be "assisting missionaries" (Ushers) for both sessions on Saturday. So this weekend is going to be a Gladys Knight extraveganza for us. We are pretty excited to do it. We might even have a chance to meet her, which would be way cool.
We got a call from President the other day, and he said that P days will be moving to Tuesday, starting next week. So my new P day is on TUESDAY. STARTING NEXT WEEK. THIS IS IMPORTANT, I DONT WANT YALL TO FREAK OUT WHEN I DONT MAIL ON MONDAY hahahah
I am making a lot of friends out here on the misison. Of course, me and Nelson are really good friends and we get a long great. In some ways he reminds me of Alex, but he definitely does not replace him. There are 2 other missionaries in our district, Elder Hanks and Elder Naylor and they are way cool too. All 4 of us usually spend our P days together and we have a lot of fun togther.
Well I guess thats it, I have about 26 minutes left, so if you get this in the next 20 minutes you can write back. I'll be here. Thanks for everything you do.
Mucho Amor
Elder Little
Thanks for the update mom. Actually, I kind of lost track of when my anniversay was, so 3 months is here tommorrow, wow. Well lets get to the questions:
1. We live in an apartment complex and me and Elder Nelson are best friends with the manager. He gave us a microwave the other day and he said someone would come fix our toilet for free later today. It's not the best apartment, but it's a block from the church and it's right in the middle of our area. So it's ok I guess. I took some pictures but I still have to take more of IB and the ocean.
2. I'm not to sure when I get to call on Mothers Day. If I am still with Elder Nelson, next Wednesday is transfers (but we both have had the feeling we aren't going), we will either call in the morning or after church. He said that he likes to talk to his family for like an hour and asked if that was cool with me, I laughed and said yeah, I guess hahaha
3. I am getting all of yalls packages. All the other missionaries in my zone get jealous and they are always asking if it's my birthday ahahah. But keep sending them, I love it. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much they and yalls letters mean to me. If you want, you could send some food giftcards or maybe some chips or stuff. We don't have a lot of food, but I'll talk about that later.
Well, let's get this party started. Let's start with our investigators. Carlos is....no mas. He hasn't answered our calls and isn't returning them, so we have him classified as a "boat jumper". Me and Elder Nelson have started this new thing. We have our regular teaching pool, we put our progressing investigators on the "Baptismal Boat" and then if they cool off and aren't interested, they are classified as "boat jumpers". The regular people that are in our teaching pool are "pool chillers"...we have pictures and everything hahaha. But yeah, I was sad to see Carlos go but we have about 4 families and 3 individuals that are really great. President is happy with our work here. In my interview, I told him in the last 2 weeks we had added 19 new investigators, and that me and Elder Nelson could both feel that we were right on the verge of success. We are so close I can smell it.
This upcoming weekend is the Gladys Knight Fireside/concert. We have about 20 people going, which is a lot for Mexicans who have never heard of Gladys Knight. Me and Elder Nelson are going Friday night with our investigators and then President asked us to be "assisting missionaries" (Ushers) for both sessions on Saturday. So this weekend is going to be a Gladys Knight extraveganza for us. We are pretty excited to do it. We might even have a chance to meet her, which would be way cool.
We got a call from President the other day, and he said that P days will be moving to Tuesday, starting next week. So my new P day is on TUESDAY. STARTING NEXT WEEK. THIS IS IMPORTANT, I DONT WANT YALL TO FREAK OUT WHEN I DONT MAIL ON MONDAY hahahah
I am making a lot of friends out here on the misison. Of course, me and Nelson are really good friends and we get a long great. In some ways he reminds me of Alex, but he definitely does not replace him. There are 2 other missionaries in our district, Elder Hanks and Elder Naylor and they are way cool too. All 4 of us usually spend our P days together and we have a lot of fun togther.
Well I guess thats it, I have about 26 minutes left, so if you get this in the next 20 minutes you can write back. I'll be here. Thanks for everything you do.
Mucho Amor
Elder Little
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Hey Family.
Well lets start with some questions:
1) We get our mail from the zone leaders. They pick it up at the mission office and then they bring it to a meeting place wherever they choose.
2) We get dinner appts, just not very many. We have a standing dinner appt with a family every Sunday, but other than that we take it how we can get it. We eat a lot at home. Turkey sandwiches, mac and cheese, and last night I had a can of corn hahah. Since we are new we are still trying to get to know the members but we will start getting more appt soon.
3) Church starts at 1. I like it because I get a full study time before ward coordination. Then I am at church from 10-430, then we go work for an hour, go eat, and then go back out and work till 9 or so. I'm getting better on the bike, no more wrecks (I just knocked on wood) and I've actually lost like 10 pounds so far riding around. We usually ride between 5-10 miles a day, its good exercise.
Well lets go to the week now. Let's start with Carlos. Carlos is doing pretty well. We had an appt with him at Carl's Jr. on Tuesday and that went really well. We talked about the importance of hearing God's word and talked to him about church. We asked him if he wanted to come on a church tour and he said that he would love to. We left, and he called like an hour later and said that he had found the church and that he was excited to go inside. We were stoked, because he went to find the church meant he really wanted to go. We took him on the church tour the next day, Wednesday, and he really liked it. We explained the sacrament to him and he asked about the wine and we told him we used water. He said, "It doesn't matter what you use I guess, what really matters is the symbolism of it and the importance." WOW. Then we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that this is a gift from his Heavenly Father and that it could answer any questions that he has. He said that he would read it. We are a little discouraged, because he didn't come to church (he went to LA to see his mom) and he hasn't been answering his phone, but we will keep trying.
Yesterday at church was great. We had talked to a lot of new people this week (we picked up 12 new investigators this week) but we didn't ask any of them to come to church. We weren't expecting anyone to come, but it turns out that we had 3 people walk off the street. One came with his mom and his mom said that he wants to get baptized so he can baptize his son. ( SCORE) and then another one came with his wife. His wife is a member and he hadn't come in 2 years before yesterday, we went and talked to him last night and he said that he would love for us to come by again.
One more thing. This week, me and Elder Nelson decided that we wanted to spice contacting up a little bit. We decided that it would be a good idea to do a Book of Mormon drop. So, I went to the upstairs apartment and Nelson stayed downstairs. He was going to knock on the door and when he said, "Tengo un regalo de Dios para usted" I was going to drop the L de M down to him like it was coming from God. Everything was in place, and I was about to drop it, but the door I was standing in front of (the upstairs apartment) opened. I turned around and they were looking at me. All I said was, "hey how are yall today?" Turns out, the guy I talked to was baptized a long time ago and that his wife was catholic, but they didn't go a lot. He wants his kids in the church and we have an appt to talk to him and his wife on Wednesday night. And, by the way, we did the BOM drop for real and it worked. We have an appt with them tonight hahaha.
This is all the good stuff that I am telling you, but we do have our struggles. Every weekend, most of our investigators go to Tijuana for the weekend and that makes it tough to work. Also, we are still trying to get members to work with us, but they won't. We are at a loss as to what to do. Dad, if you have any suggestions, send them our way. The work is tough out here, it's not all success, but, every time we leave our apartment, we pray the Lord will help us find those people who are prepared and willing to listen to our message and we do find those people. It's all about praying. I say at least 5 prayers everyday before we leave our apartment at 1130 and then throughout the day, I'm praying all day. The Lord has blessed me so much with safety. The other day I was riding at it was raining. I was cold and just wanted to give up and to top it off, We were about to hit the biggest hill in IB to climb. So I said a prayer and just asked Heavenly Father to help me get home and give me the strength to get up this hill. All of the sudden, I could hear your voice mom. Like at football games and pep rallys. "Go Ross! You can do it!" that's all I could hear. So I put my head down, and away I went. I soon passed my comp who was way ahead of me and before I knew it I was home. I thank the Lord everyday for the help he gives me and I can definitely see his hand in all things.
My Spanish is coming along well. I'm starting to understand the gist of converstations. And our ward mission leader, he is from TJ, told E. Nelson that he was impressed with my spanish. He said it in spanish to him right in front of me so when I laughed, he knew I understood him.
Well everything is going great here. We are just trying to get that first baptism to really get the area going. If yall could send me the address to the Duke Athletic Office that would be great. Nelson sent coach K a letter and he got a reply back with a signed picture. So I am going to try. I am going to tell him that im a missionary for my churcha and that i got a lot of my work ethic from reading his book. Its worth a shot. I hope everyone is doing good. Tell them that i am fine, and ill try to write some today and this week
les amo
Elder Little
Well lets start with some questions:
1) We get our mail from the zone leaders. They pick it up at the mission office and then they bring it to a meeting place wherever they choose.
2) We get dinner appts, just not very many. We have a standing dinner appt with a family every Sunday, but other than that we take it how we can get it. We eat a lot at home. Turkey sandwiches, mac and cheese, and last night I had a can of corn hahah. Since we are new we are still trying to get to know the members but we will start getting more appt soon.
3) Church starts at 1. I like it because I get a full study time before ward coordination. Then I am at church from 10-430, then we go work for an hour, go eat, and then go back out and work till 9 or so. I'm getting better on the bike, no more wrecks (I just knocked on wood) and I've actually lost like 10 pounds so far riding around. We usually ride between 5-10 miles a day, its good exercise.
Well lets go to the week now. Let's start with Carlos. Carlos is doing pretty well. We had an appt with him at Carl's Jr. on Tuesday and that went really well. We talked about the importance of hearing God's word and talked to him about church. We asked him if he wanted to come on a church tour and he said that he would love to. We left, and he called like an hour later and said that he had found the church and that he was excited to go inside. We were stoked, because he went to find the church meant he really wanted to go. We took him on the church tour the next day, Wednesday, and he really liked it. We explained the sacrament to him and he asked about the wine and we told him we used water. He said, "It doesn't matter what you use I guess, what really matters is the symbolism of it and the importance." WOW. Then we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him that this is a gift from his Heavenly Father and that it could answer any questions that he has. He said that he would read it. We are a little discouraged, because he didn't come to church (he went to LA to see his mom) and he hasn't been answering his phone, but we will keep trying.
Yesterday at church was great. We had talked to a lot of new people this week (we picked up 12 new investigators this week) but we didn't ask any of them to come to church. We weren't expecting anyone to come, but it turns out that we had 3 people walk off the street. One came with his mom and his mom said that he wants to get baptized so he can baptize his son. ( SCORE) and then another one came with his wife. His wife is a member and he hadn't come in 2 years before yesterday, we went and talked to him last night and he said that he would love for us to come by again.
One more thing. This week, me and Elder Nelson decided that we wanted to spice contacting up a little bit. We decided that it would be a good idea to do a Book of Mormon drop. So, I went to the upstairs apartment and Nelson stayed downstairs. He was going to knock on the door and when he said, "Tengo un regalo de Dios para usted" I was going to drop the L de M down to him like it was coming from God. Everything was in place, and I was about to drop it, but the door I was standing in front of (the upstairs apartment) opened. I turned around and they were looking at me. All I said was, "hey how are yall today?" Turns out, the guy I talked to was baptized a long time ago and that his wife was catholic, but they didn't go a lot. He wants his kids in the church and we have an appt to talk to him and his wife on Wednesday night. And, by the way, we did the BOM drop for real and it worked. We have an appt with them tonight hahaha.
This is all the good stuff that I am telling you, but we do have our struggles. Every weekend, most of our investigators go to Tijuana for the weekend and that makes it tough to work. Also, we are still trying to get members to work with us, but they won't. We are at a loss as to what to do. Dad, if you have any suggestions, send them our way. The work is tough out here, it's not all success, but, every time we leave our apartment, we pray the Lord will help us find those people who are prepared and willing to listen to our message and we do find those people. It's all about praying. I say at least 5 prayers everyday before we leave our apartment at 1130 and then throughout the day, I'm praying all day. The Lord has blessed me so much with safety. The other day I was riding at it was raining. I was cold and just wanted to give up and to top it off, We were about to hit the biggest hill in IB to climb. So I said a prayer and just asked Heavenly Father to help me get home and give me the strength to get up this hill. All of the sudden, I could hear your voice mom. Like at football games and pep rallys. "Go Ross! You can do it!" that's all I could hear. So I put my head down, and away I went. I soon passed my comp who was way ahead of me and before I knew it I was home. I thank the Lord everyday for the help he gives me and I can definitely see his hand in all things.
My Spanish is coming along well. I'm starting to understand the gist of converstations. And our ward mission leader, he is from TJ, told E. Nelson that he was impressed with my spanish. He said it in spanish to him right in front of me so when I laughed, he knew I understood him.
Well everything is going great here. We are just trying to get that first baptism to really get the area going. If yall could send me the address to the Duke Athletic Office that would be great. Nelson sent coach K a letter and he got a reply back with a signed picture. So I am going to try. I am going to tell him that im a missionary for my churcha and that i got a lot of my work ethic from reading his book. Its worth a shot. I hope everyone is doing good. Tell them that i am fine, and ill try to write some today and this week
les amo
Elder Little
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