November 28, 2011
haha I feel the same way sometimes mom...the same way!
Haha I don’t even know what to say...I only have 2 more emails left..it’s crazy!
Thanksgiving was good. We woke up and exercised like normal and then we made cookies for all the families we were eating with that day. Then at 11 a.m., I went and did a baptismal interview and then went and took care of an elder that was sick with food poisoning (the worst day ever to have food poisoning). At 3 we went up to Pres Lopez’s house and ate with him. It was half American and half Puerto Rican food (that is where he is from). It was way nice. After that we went to the house of the 1st counselor in the BP house to eat with him and all his family. Then, we went and picked up food from another family’s house and then we went home and died haha. It was a fun day. Definitely a great way to go out, I guess you could say haha.
I had my 2nd ever temple recommend interview yesterday with Pres Clayton. It was way cool and very spiritual. Also, yesterday was my last zone conference. I got the opportunity to teach for 45 minutes and I decided to teach about what it means to be a representative of Jesus Christ. President Clayton said, in the interview, that it was great and he then told me I would be a great leader in the kingdom. Then he paused, and said he had other questions he really wanted to ask me at that time, but he would wait till my departure interview. I asked him about how we should do the pick up on the 20th and what we are going to do is meet at our stake center (because I want yall to see a super nice church building that isn’t in Utah haha) at 8 and then he said to continue to be a missionary with dad as my comp. But he said we were free to roam around the mission and sight see and see people. GET EXCITED!!!
So yeah...that’s about it! Thanks for everything that you do!!!! I LOVE YOU! AND I’LL SEE YOU IN 3 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!
Ross
November 21, 2011
Wow...so much has happened this week, it’s hard to put it all in words.
Like I said, this has been one crazy week. A lot of stuff has happened. I’ll start with last Thursday.
Experience #1) So last week. I got a call from a missionary that works at the YSA wards at SDSU telling me that they had been invited to do a presentation in a World Religions class at SDSU. I told him congrats and to have fun with that. (Teaching about the church in front of 200 college students) He started laughing and told me they had an appt during the presentation as well and so they needed to go on exchanges with us to do both To make a long story short, last Thursday (11/17) me and another missionary gave a 1 and half hour presentation on the church in front of over 200 college students in an auditorium. It was crazy! How many missionaries get to do that. I mean you hear stories about it all the time, but you never actually think it will happen. But it did. We made a slide show presentation (I attached it to the email so you can look at it). It was awesome. The slide show lasted about 45 minutes and the other 45 minutes we left open for questions. And it actually took the entire class. It was so cool! The questions ranged from what is the process to go on a mission to is the church racist against black people to what happens after we die. And everything in between. A senior missionary came with us and he told us that we did a great job! We brought a box of BoMs with us as well and invited people to learn more. We gave away almost the entire box of BoMs. 20-30 people took one which is pretty cool! It was an awesome experience!
Awesome Experience #2) I had a baptism at the MCRD on Sunday! My first one since being back. It was pretty awesome! Just like the times before, the recruit came up to me and asked how he could be a member of the church. It was cool. I’ve been praying a lot for a baptism there. Not just for me, but to help the recruits there and God blessed me with it. It was awesome! He was so excited afterwards. I confirmed him a member and then his friend (who has been a member for a month) ordained him a priest and he is passing the sacrament on Sunday. AWESOME!
Awesome Experience #3) Just happened today. It was actually in an email Pres Clayton sent me (usually the mission president doesn't email his missionaries out of no where). This is what it said, "Elder Little,. Thanks for your continued good work. I'd like to challenge you to put up your best key indicator weeks ever, these last few weeks! Deal? Last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter! With love, President Clayton". I sent this back to him. "Sounds good to me President! Thanks for talking my language! Let’s do it!" That just got me super pumped. To know the Pres Clayton is watching out for me and wanted to email me, means a lot. So, these next few weeks WILL be my best key indicator weeks of my mission.
As you can see, things are going well. I will definitely be praying all this week for Grandpa Little. In fact, something we started in our zone is we (me and my comp) send out a text to a DL and he gets the names of the people that his missionaries want the zone to pray for. Investigators, LAs, members or family. And then we forward those names to the zone. So, not only will Grandpa Little have me praying for him, he will also have 30 other missionaries praying for him as well. He'll be in good hands.
Well, I only have 4 more weeks to be a missionary. It hit me yesterday that I only have 3 more Mondays and after today, 3 more Tuesdays. That just seems crazy! I have 28 days to changes as many lives as I can. Yesterday during my personal study, I set goals for the future. Obviously my goal it to be exalted, but I made goals that will get me to that point. I'll email them to yall next week. Thanks for everything!!!! LOVE YALL!!!!
Ross
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Letters from lately...
November 15, 2011
I’m good!
1. I have no idea what I am going to do for Thanksgiving. I figure some members will have us for dinner and the entire day with be full of dinner appts....not really looking forward to that
2. I'm hanging in there. Things are going good. I definitely feel the prayers, that’s for sure. Everyday, like I said, brings more thoughts of home, but the Lord is helping block those thoughts and stay focused. December is already looking like a way busy month, so I don’t even think I will have time to think about home once we get past Thanksgiving.
This week was awesome. Pure awesomeness at the MCRD. I met a kid that wants to get baptized, so I taught him and he is getting baptized next week. Also, I taught another kid and he is getting baptized next week, but up at the 2nd phase of training in Northern California. AND, I taught this other kid who set the date to be baptized in 3 weeks! Pure miracles and blessings! God really poured out some awesome blessings on me last Sunday!
We also have another man being baptized this next Sunday in the branch. He is way prepared and excited as well! BTW, did you see/hear about the Spanish fireside broadcast last Sunday. It was pretty good. Our investigator loved it! It was pretty cool for the church to do that, pure Spanish. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Sorry that my emails are getting shorter and shorter. The closer I get to seeing yall in person the more I just save to tell you face to face. Crazy! It still hasn’t really set in, but I’m sure it will after Thanksgiving. I love yall! LOVE YALL!!!
Ross
November 8, 2011
6 more....
1. Transfers are this week....and I am staying in Logan. This next week I will be looking for burial plots because I am dying here! Pres Lopez will be happy, he told me that he didn't want me to leave. My comp is staying with me too. (Aren’t transfers this week—are you going or staying?)
2. Members heard that I’m going home so all of them are feeding me. Members that I don’t even know are feeding me haha. (Do you have many dinner appointments?)
Well this week was good. Things have kind of slowed down a little bit in our area because we have focused a lot on the zone/stake lately. We have been working a lot with our stake pres to get the Ward Councils in our stake functioning. That’s been the main focus. Without the WC's help, missionary work is really difficult. So we have been focusing on that. Our stake pres really trusts us. I have built a super great relationship with him. We have the kind of relationship where I can just tell him how it is and he accepts it and changes it. He really loves missionary work and knows that the missionaries are better trained on the WC than the ward leaders are. It’s been really good. We are being invited to all the WCs in the stake and, along with a member of the mission presidency and the stake presidency, are training the wards on how the WC should function. Since we have started that, the work has sky rocketed. We have 26 people with a baptismal date in the stake and we just recently hit 100 baptisms for the year. The stake is being blessed.
November 1, 2011
Hi Mom
Good week...yes, 7 weeks to go. Haha.
1. Yeah he cooks oatmeal for me for breakfast every morning and sometimes he makes other stuff. He made me crepes one morning and I wasn’t sure what to do with them haha...I’ve never had crepes before. (Is your companion still cooking for you?)
2. My talk was good. I would send it to you, but I got up there and gave a different talk than I planned on and I only remember a few things that I said. (How did your talk go on Sunday?)
Sounds like yall had fun for Halloween haha. We had to be in our apartments at 5:30 so we went a grabbed some pizza and chilled the rest of the night in the apartment. I left something in the car that I needed, but I was going to leave it out there till the morning, but then I felt like we should go out there, so we did. Turns out that some drunk guy was trying to break into our car and he and his friends ran off when I turned on the lights...spiritual impressions are awesome. We also talked to a drunk chollo who was "tagging" (spray painting) the wall. He was ticked because someone wrote "hoe" over his tag haha I just laughed and said, "dude, that’s messed up." So yeah, that was our Halloween.
Like I said, my talk was good. I had planned on talking about how as members we need to help everybody else and share the gospel. But when I was sitting thinking about my talk, I felt that I needed to talk about my mission and how I loved it and the things I sacrificed to come out here (football, school, job opportunities) and that led me to talk about some rough times that I have had out here and how I have overcome them. It told them that when we pass through hard times and we feel we can’t move forward anymore we need to ask ourselves the questions, "Where are our hearts?" Are our hearts focused on our problems or are our heart focused on all the blessings and miracles God has given us. I told them to quit thinking about how hard their lives are and how difficult it is from them to live here. I told them they needed to focus on how awesome it is and how special they are to be members of the church. God loved them so much that he gave them the opportunity to listen to his servants and become members of the church. I told them that if they are focused on their problems, they won’t progress. But if they focus on the miracles and help those around them, they will progress and become like God. After the talk, a bunch of people thanked me for it and my Recent Convert (Ignacio) told me that is what he needed at that time. So I felt good after. Once again, spiritual impression are awesome.
So that was basically my week. We are working hard to have a baptism this weekend. We aren’t sure if it will happen, but we are working for one. A couple extra prayers would be nice. Thanks for everything. Every day is a little harder to focus, because every less day brings more thoughts about home. But don’t worry, I’ve been praying a lot for help and I’m receiving it. Everything will be alright. I LOVE YOU!!!!!
Ross
October 25, 2011
Pretty good week.
1. We don’t have weekly service projects. We had the Mormon helping hands in April but that is like the only legit service project we do. Other than that, we help members out every now and then and do some other stuff but nothing really planned every week.
2. Our week was really good. We had 2 confirmations and a awesome day at the MCRD
So yeah my week was really good. I can’t remember if I told yall but we had interviews with Pres Clayton a couple of weeks ago. My interview was awesome. We just talked about what I needed to do with my time left and I told him how I was doing. He got a little teary eyed and told me that he wasn't looking forward to December 20th. That made me feel good. I just told him that I would do everything I could over the next 2 months to leave the mission, my zone and my area better than it was before I got here. It was a great talk/interview.
MCRD story of the week: So on Saturday night, in my prayers, I prayed that I would have success the following day. So on Sunday, I got to the MCRD and was talking to some missionaries outside the door to the room we have church in, when this group of recruits come waking in. I start to talk to them and found out that 2 of them weren't members of the church. So they sat down, and I followed them in and started talking about where they were from, why the wanted to be a Marine, etc. I asked them what brought them to church with us and they both said they were looking for a church to go here and looking for faith. So I told them we could talk after and they agreed. During that time, one of the members of the Branch Presidency there (there are 9 counselors haha) came and gave them Books of Mormon and they read during sacrament meeting. After the meeting, we went to the back of the room (its like a huge college classroom) and started talking. During the talk, 2 other recruits came and sat in. One was a lifelong member that was going to serve a mission after and the other was a recent convert. We started talking about everything and the 2 non members were just eating it up. They talked about how they didn’t want to rule anything out yet and they decided that they needed to start with our church because of the examples of the other member recruits. We talked about the organization of the church and I taught a little bit about the restoration. Then we got on the subject of baptism and started talking about the need to be baptized and how God wants all his children to live with him and that why we do baptisms for the dead, and that led us into what happens after this life. Usually, I don’t like to talk about so many different topics in one lesson, but for some reason I felt like we needed to give like a brief overview on everything. At the end of it, they both said, "sir, you are presenting a very, very VERY convincing argument and we feel that this is true." So I gave them 2 Nephi 31 to read this week. I felt like they needed to discover baptism on their own for some reason. I had a lot of different promptings in this lesson, that I don’t usually have. It was cool. They both said they would be back next week and they would love to talk again. I’m excited! This is why I love the MCRD!!!
Other than that the week was pretty good. I'm speaking on the 30th in church. Pres Lopez said I could pick my topic. I think I’m going to talk about where our hearts are focused. Are our hearts focused on all the problems we face or are they focused on building the kingdom of God and helping people who have worse problems than us? As Elder Holland said, I might have to singe their eyebrows a little...but in a loving way haha
I LOVE YOU!!!!
Ross
I’m good!
1. I have no idea what I am going to do for Thanksgiving. I figure some members will have us for dinner and the entire day with be full of dinner appts....not really looking forward to that
2. I'm hanging in there. Things are going good. I definitely feel the prayers, that’s for sure. Everyday, like I said, brings more thoughts of home, but the Lord is helping block those thoughts and stay focused. December is already looking like a way busy month, so I don’t even think I will have time to think about home once we get past Thanksgiving.
This week was awesome. Pure awesomeness at the MCRD. I met a kid that wants to get baptized, so I taught him and he is getting baptized next week. Also, I taught another kid and he is getting baptized next week, but up at the 2nd phase of training in Northern California. AND, I taught this other kid who set the date to be baptized in 3 weeks! Pure miracles and blessings! God really poured out some awesome blessings on me last Sunday!
We also have another man being baptized this next Sunday in the branch. He is way prepared and excited as well! BTW, did you see/hear about the Spanish fireside broadcast last Sunday. It was pretty good. Our investigator loved it! It was pretty cool for the church to do that, pure Spanish. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Sorry that my emails are getting shorter and shorter. The closer I get to seeing yall in person the more I just save to tell you face to face. Crazy! It still hasn’t really set in, but I’m sure it will after Thanksgiving. I love yall! LOVE YALL!!!
Ross
November 8, 2011
6 more....
1. Transfers are this week....and I am staying in Logan. This next week I will be looking for burial plots because I am dying here! Pres Lopez will be happy, he told me that he didn't want me to leave. My comp is staying with me too. (Aren’t transfers this week—are you going or staying?)
2. Members heard that I’m going home so all of them are feeding me. Members that I don’t even know are feeding me haha. (Do you have many dinner appointments?)
Well this week was good. Things have kind of slowed down a little bit in our area because we have focused a lot on the zone/stake lately. We have been working a lot with our stake pres to get the Ward Councils in our stake functioning. That’s been the main focus. Without the WC's help, missionary work is really difficult. So we have been focusing on that. Our stake pres really trusts us. I have built a super great relationship with him. We have the kind of relationship where I can just tell him how it is and he accepts it and changes it. He really loves missionary work and knows that the missionaries are better trained on the WC than the ward leaders are. It’s been really good. We are being invited to all the WCs in the stake and, along with a member of the mission presidency and the stake presidency, are training the wards on how the WC should function. Since we have started that, the work has sky rocketed. We have 26 people with a baptismal date in the stake and we just recently hit 100 baptisms for the year. The stake is being blessed.
November 1, 2011
Hi Mom
Good week...yes, 7 weeks to go. Haha.
1. Yeah he cooks oatmeal for me for breakfast every morning and sometimes he makes other stuff. He made me crepes one morning and I wasn’t sure what to do with them haha...I’ve never had crepes before. (Is your companion still cooking for you?)
2. My talk was good. I would send it to you, but I got up there and gave a different talk than I planned on and I only remember a few things that I said. (How did your talk go on Sunday?)
Sounds like yall had fun for Halloween haha. We had to be in our apartments at 5:30 so we went a grabbed some pizza and chilled the rest of the night in the apartment. I left something in the car that I needed, but I was going to leave it out there till the morning, but then I felt like we should go out there, so we did. Turns out that some drunk guy was trying to break into our car and he and his friends ran off when I turned on the lights...spiritual impressions are awesome. We also talked to a drunk chollo who was "tagging" (spray painting) the wall. He was ticked because someone wrote "hoe" over his tag haha I just laughed and said, "dude, that’s messed up." So yeah, that was our Halloween.
Like I said, my talk was good. I had planned on talking about how as members we need to help everybody else and share the gospel. But when I was sitting thinking about my talk, I felt that I needed to talk about my mission and how I loved it and the things I sacrificed to come out here (football, school, job opportunities) and that led me to talk about some rough times that I have had out here and how I have overcome them. It told them that when we pass through hard times and we feel we can’t move forward anymore we need to ask ourselves the questions, "Where are our hearts?" Are our hearts focused on our problems or are our heart focused on all the blessings and miracles God has given us. I told them to quit thinking about how hard their lives are and how difficult it is from them to live here. I told them they needed to focus on how awesome it is and how special they are to be members of the church. God loved them so much that he gave them the opportunity to listen to his servants and become members of the church. I told them that if they are focused on their problems, they won’t progress. But if they focus on the miracles and help those around them, they will progress and become like God. After the talk, a bunch of people thanked me for it and my Recent Convert (Ignacio) told me that is what he needed at that time. So I felt good after. Once again, spiritual impression are awesome.
So that was basically my week. We are working hard to have a baptism this weekend. We aren’t sure if it will happen, but we are working for one. A couple extra prayers would be nice. Thanks for everything. Every day is a little harder to focus, because every less day brings more thoughts about home. But don’t worry, I’ve been praying a lot for help and I’m receiving it. Everything will be alright. I LOVE YOU!!!!!
Ross
October 25, 2011
Pretty good week.
1. We don’t have weekly service projects. We had the Mormon helping hands in April but that is like the only legit service project we do. Other than that, we help members out every now and then and do some other stuff but nothing really planned every week.
2. Our week was really good. We had 2 confirmations and a awesome day at the MCRD
So yeah my week was really good. I can’t remember if I told yall but we had interviews with Pres Clayton a couple of weeks ago. My interview was awesome. We just talked about what I needed to do with my time left and I told him how I was doing. He got a little teary eyed and told me that he wasn't looking forward to December 20th. That made me feel good. I just told him that I would do everything I could over the next 2 months to leave the mission, my zone and my area better than it was before I got here. It was a great talk/interview.
MCRD story of the week: So on Saturday night, in my prayers, I prayed that I would have success the following day. So on Sunday, I got to the MCRD and was talking to some missionaries outside the door to the room we have church in, when this group of recruits come waking in. I start to talk to them and found out that 2 of them weren't members of the church. So they sat down, and I followed them in and started talking about where they were from, why the wanted to be a Marine, etc. I asked them what brought them to church with us and they both said they were looking for a church to go here and looking for faith. So I told them we could talk after and they agreed. During that time, one of the members of the Branch Presidency there (there are 9 counselors haha) came and gave them Books of Mormon and they read during sacrament meeting. After the meeting, we went to the back of the room (its like a huge college classroom) and started talking. During the talk, 2 other recruits came and sat in. One was a lifelong member that was going to serve a mission after and the other was a recent convert. We started talking about everything and the 2 non members were just eating it up. They talked about how they didn’t want to rule anything out yet and they decided that they needed to start with our church because of the examples of the other member recruits. We talked about the organization of the church and I taught a little bit about the restoration. Then we got on the subject of baptism and started talking about the need to be baptized and how God wants all his children to live with him and that why we do baptisms for the dead, and that led us into what happens after this life. Usually, I don’t like to talk about so many different topics in one lesson, but for some reason I felt like we needed to give like a brief overview on everything. At the end of it, they both said, "sir, you are presenting a very, very VERY convincing argument and we feel that this is true." So I gave them 2 Nephi 31 to read this week. I felt like they needed to discover baptism on their own for some reason. I had a lot of different promptings in this lesson, that I don’t usually have. It was cool. They both said they would be back next week and they would love to talk again. I’m excited! This is why I love the MCRD!!!
Other than that the week was pretty good. I'm speaking on the 30th in church. Pres Lopez said I could pick my topic. I think I’m going to talk about where our hearts are focused. Are our hearts focused on all the problems we face or are they focused on building the kingdom of God and helping people who have worse problems than us? As Elder Holland said, I might have to singe their eyebrows a little...but in a loving way haha
I LOVE YOU!!!!
Ross
Saturday, October 22, 2011
October Letters
October 18, 2011
Well I don’t have a lot of time today because my best friend in the mission, Elder Vaughn, is leaving tomorrow so we are going to get lunch and then we have sports with our zone. So it might be a little fast haha. GO RANGERS!!!!! I found out the next day when I got a text from a member haha. I was pretty excited. It turns out that one of my friends out here is a huge cardinals fan so we already made our bet. Loser has to be the winner lunch haha. The way my rangers are playing ill put all my money on them!
We had a good week this week. We had 2 baptisms! It was great, but it was definitely my most crazy. The lady who got baptized has an autistic son. And right before we started the service, he had a break down. He started screaming and throwing things and nothing seemed to work. He yelled that he wanted to wear a baptismal suit so we gave him one but that didn’t work either. So I called an audible and told our WML and the 2 being baptized that we were just going to say a prayer and then do the baptisms and see what happens after. So we did and he finally calmed down so we went ahead and finished the service as planned. My RC, Ignacio, (he got baptized about 2 months ago) baptized the lady!!! It was awesome and he did a great job! It was definitely crazy! haha other than that we had a great week! We should have 2 baptisms at the end of the month. I have a goal to baptize at least one person each month till the end. So far, so good.
A bunch of people want to meet yall! A bunch of members in my past wards and branches found out that I am going home soon and they are all calling me and asking me how I am doing. I tell them that yall are coming to get me and they all want to meet yall! hhaha I know that our time is limited, so ill make the necessary cuts haha but we will definitely see people in Bonita and here in Logan Heights.
GO RANGERS!!!!
October 11, 2011
I had a cool day at the MCRD. I was walking around looking around for someone to teach and I felt prompted to talk to a recruit that I saw. So I went and talked to him and asked how he was doing and he opened up the fire hose on me haha..But it was great and I answered a lot of questions that he had and he is now praying to know if this is God's church so when he gets his answer he'll be baptized.
I guess ill give yall a little insight of what is going on right now inside me. I don’t really like to share it, because I don’t want any pity, but yall are family. This past week, I was in meetings everyday. And, everything finally caught up with me. I am exhausted. I’ve never been more tired than I am right now. I come into the apartment at night and after we plan, I pass out till the next morning. The other day, I was thinking and wondering why I was so tired, and I realized something. When Joseph Smith was working hard to build the church and establish it, he was exhausted. When missionaries first went to England to spread the Gospel, they were exhausted. Anyone who works to build the kingdom and change peoples lives is exhausted. I realized that I am now, more than any other time of my mission, preoccupied about the salvation of other people. Members, non members, missionaries. Everyone. I finally realized how important my calling is. God puts a lot of pressure on his missionaries. I’ve felt the pressure this week, but I’ve turned that pressure into something that fuels the fire. Its been great. But for these last 10 weeks I have a lot to do.
I LOVE YALL!!!!
Ross
October 4, 2011
Hey....General Conference was awesome!
1. My top 5 talks were: 1) Elder Holland (I literally felt scared when he started haha) 2)Pres Eyring--PH Preparation 3) Elder Waddel's on missionary work and continuing to serve 4) Brother Richardson on Teaching by the Spirit and 5) Pres Uchtdorf's talk on God loving us...and I also really like Pres Monson's on "Sometimes standing alone"
2. My new comp's name is Elder Young and he is from West Jordan Utah. We click pretty well. He is a cool guy and way humble. He loves to cook so he said he will cook for me everyday till I go home haha. Which probably will happen, because more than likely he is my last companion.....that is crazy to think haha
This week was really good. We saw tons of miracles and I will just tell a few and some other things that I learned this past week.
Miracle #1: Our first day together, we went and bought groceries and when we were packing up the car, a lady came running over to us and asked us if we were Christians. I was like yeah! and then she asked us to come with her to the hospital to visit her aunt. So we went and met her aunt (she spoke Spanish) and we offered to give her a blessing, so we did. After the blessing, she started crying and told us she could feel God in the room and knew that He sent us. Crazy!
Miracle #2: On Sunday, we took a newly ordained elder out with us to work. He went out with the missionaries a couple months before I got here and they tried to visit this inactive lady but she wasn’t home. For some reason, when that happened he felt that he should write down the address. So he did. Fast forward to now. We got buffed and I asked him if he had anyone he wanted to go see and he gave us the address. We went to the address and there was this guy in front painting and I didn’t know his name or the other lady's name so I just said, "Buenas Noches senor" and I scared him haha. But he welcomed us in and then we met the lady and she recognized us. The first thing she said was, "OOOO Dios les mando aqui" (OOOO God sent yall here). Turns out she has been battling diabetes pretty hard and couldn’t see very well and lost a toe, so she couldn’t walk. So we gave her a blessing and the other guy there came running in and asked for one too. He told us that seconds before I called out to him he asked himself, "I haven’t seen those elders in a long time. " and then I called out to him hahahah he was freaked out a little bit.
It was a great week...and the MCRD and General Conference just added to it haha. It was great to be back at the MCRD. All my old friends (the branch leaders) were happy to have me back and things are going to great. It was way cool to be back and talking with the recruits. I met a RM recruit and he is going to bring some friends next week and introduce me to them....things are looking good.
Well, pray for me. A sense of urgency has set in now. I was sitting in an appt the other day and something just shot threw me and I realized I only have 11 weeks left. So its crunch time. I might be winning the game against Satan....but that isn’t enough. My Steve Spurrier mentality is clicking in (Dad will get that) and my plan is to run up the score. Its going to be a battle, it definitely wont be easy. But it will definitely be worth it in the end. Take care and I love yall and pray for yall daily. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
September 27, 2011
By this time, you are probably wondering what the new assignment is that I picked up. Well for the past few months, I have been pleading with the assistants to get me back at the MCRD for my last couple of transfers so I could spend the last few months of my mission there. They said that there was no way it could happen. My church starts at 9, and the MCRD starts at 830. So there is no way that I could serve there....so I thought. But the assistants texted me yesterday and told me to call them after I opened the transfer letter. I opened it, found out I was staying, and then called them. They asked me if I was happy with the news (staying in my area) and I obviously said yes. Then, they told me that the other missionaries in the branch need to get to know my investigators really well....I was like, "what? why?" and he told me because starting this Sunday, I will be missing the first 2 hours of church (PH and Sunday school) to serve at the MCRD!!!!!!! I almost dropped the phone!!!! No offense, but I was more happier with this than I was when I found out I would be home for Christmas! I freaked out and told the Assistants how much I loved them. The senior missionaries in the office came running into the hallway asking me if I was ok haha...I was like, "yeah! I’ve never been better!!!!!" I'm so excited!!!! Ahhhhhh, my prayers have been answered!!!!!!!!!!
Well....that’s about all that happened this week. Oh, so last week, I made goals for the last 3 months of my mission. After which, I prayed and told God this is what I wanted to do/happen and I pleaded with him for me to be humble enough to receive counsel from Him over the next 3 months. Wow! I've been counseled a ton already and its only been a week. This past week has been Christ like attributes and I’ve learned so much already. Its crazy. I'm just trying to stay humble and plead with the Lord to keep teaching me. I've also started to realize why I am where I am. I'm learning a ton in my area and I’m learning a lot from our branch president. He is a wise, wise man.
Well that’s about it for this week! I’m still so excited I’m shaking! haha. And yes Mom, I remembered your birthday! since its on Thursday ill just say it now.... Happy Birthday!!!!! I thought of the perfect birthday gift and I’m still trying to find it. So it might take a while to get it to you but you will get it!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
(I received the birthday gift about a week later and you will never guess what it is…the DVD “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. I love it !!My son, always surprises me!!!)
Well I don’t have a lot of time today because my best friend in the mission, Elder Vaughn, is leaving tomorrow so we are going to get lunch and then we have sports with our zone. So it might be a little fast haha. GO RANGERS!!!!! I found out the next day when I got a text from a member haha. I was pretty excited. It turns out that one of my friends out here is a huge cardinals fan so we already made our bet. Loser has to be the winner lunch haha. The way my rangers are playing ill put all my money on them!
We had a good week this week. We had 2 baptisms! It was great, but it was definitely my most crazy. The lady who got baptized has an autistic son. And right before we started the service, he had a break down. He started screaming and throwing things and nothing seemed to work. He yelled that he wanted to wear a baptismal suit so we gave him one but that didn’t work either. So I called an audible and told our WML and the 2 being baptized that we were just going to say a prayer and then do the baptisms and see what happens after. So we did and he finally calmed down so we went ahead and finished the service as planned. My RC, Ignacio, (he got baptized about 2 months ago) baptized the lady!!! It was awesome and he did a great job! It was definitely crazy! haha other than that we had a great week! We should have 2 baptisms at the end of the month. I have a goal to baptize at least one person each month till the end. So far, so good.
A bunch of people want to meet yall! A bunch of members in my past wards and branches found out that I am going home soon and they are all calling me and asking me how I am doing. I tell them that yall are coming to get me and they all want to meet yall! hhaha I know that our time is limited, so ill make the necessary cuts haha but we will definitely see people in Bonita and here in Logan Heights.
GO RANGERS!!!!
October 11, 2011
I had a cool day at the MCRD. I was walking around looking around for someone to teach and I felt prompted to talk to a recruit that I saw. So I went and talked to him and asked how he was doing and he opened up the fire hose on me haha..But it was great and I answered a lot of questions that he had and he is now praying to know if this is God's church so when he gets his answer he'll be baptized.
I guess ill give yall a little insight of what is going on right now inside me. I don’t really like to share it, because I don’t want any pity, but yall are family. This past week, I was in meetings everyday. And, everything finally caught up with me. I am exhausted. I’ve never been more tired than I am right now. I come into the apartment at night and after we plan, I pass out till the next morning. The other day, I was thinking and wondering why I was so tired, and I realized something. When Joseph Smith was working hard to build the church and establish it, he was exhausted. When missionaries first went to England to spread the Gospel, they were exhausted. Anyone who works to build the kingdom and change peoples lives is exhausted. I realized that I am now, more than any other time of my mission, preoccupied about the salvation of other people. Members, non members, missionaries. Everyone. I finally realized how important my calling is. God puts a lot of pressure on his missionaries. I’ve felt the pressure this week, but I’ve turned that pressure into something that fuels the fire. Its been great. But for these last 10 weeks I have a lot to do.
I LOVE YALL!!!!
Ross
October 4, 2011
Hey....General Conference was awesome!
1. My top 5 talks were: 1) Elder Holland (I literally felt scared when he started haha) 2)Pres Eyring--PH Preparation 3) Elder Waddel's on missionary work and continuing to serve 4) Brother Richardson on Teaching by the Spirit and 5) Pres Uchtdorf's talk on God loving us...and I also really like Pres Monson's on "Sometimes standing alone"
2. My new comp's name is Elder Young and he is from West Jordan Utah. We click pretty well. He is a cool guy and way humble. He loves to cook so he said he will cook for me everyday till I go home haha. Which probably will happen, because more than likely he is my last companion.....that is crazy to think haha
This week was really good. We saw tons of miracles and I will just tell a few and some other things that I learned this past week.
Miracle #1: Our first day together, we went and bought groceries and when we were packing up the car, a lady came running over to us and asked us if we were Christians. I was like yeah! and then she asked us to come with her to the hospital to visit her aunt. So we went and met her aunt (she spoke Spanish) and we offered to give her a blessing, so we did. After the blessing, she started crying and told us she could feel God in the room and knew that He sent us. Crazy!
Miracle #2: On Sunday, we took a newly ordained elder out with us to work. He went out with the missionaries a couple months before I got here and they tried to visit this inactive lady but she wasn’t home. For some reason, when that happened he felt that he should write down the address. So he did. Fast forward to now. We got buffed and I asked him if he had anyone he wanted to go see and he gave us the address. We went to the address and there was this guy in front painting and I didn’t know his name or the other lady's name so I just said, "Buenas Noches senor" and I scared him haha. But he welcomed us in and then we met the lady and she recognized us. The first thing she said was, "OOOO Dios les mando aqui" (OOOO God sent yall here). Turns out she has been battling diabetes pretty hard and couldn’t see very well and lost a toe, so she couldn’t walk. So we gave her a blessing and the other guy there came running in and asked for one too. He told us that seconds before I called out to him he asked himself, "I haven’t seen those elders in a long time. " and then I called out to him hahahah he was freaked out a little bit.
It was a great week...and the MCRD and General Conference just added to it haha. It was great to be back at the MCRD. All my old friends (the branch leaders) were happy to have me back and things are going to great. It was way cool to be back and talking with the recruits. I met a RM recruit and he is going to bring some friends next week and introduce me to them....things are looking good.
Well, pray for me. A sense of urgency has set in now. I was sitting in an appt the other day and something just shot threw me and I realized I only have 11 weeks left. So its crunch time. I might be winning the game against Satan....but that isn’t enough. My Steve Spurrier mentality is clicking in (Dad will get that) and my plan is to run up the score. Its going to be a battle, it definitely wont be easy. But it will definitely be worth it in the end. Take care and I love yall and pray for yall daily. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
September 27, 2011
By this time, you are probably wondering what the new assignment is that I picked up. Well for the past few months, I have been pleading with the assistants to get me back at the MCRD for my last couple of transfers so I could spend the last few months of my mission there. They said that there was no way it could happen. My church starts at 9, and the MCRD starts at 830. So there is no way that I could serve there....so I thought. But the assistants texted me yesterday and told me to call them after I opened the transfer letter. I opened it, found out I was staying, and then called them. They asked me if I was happy with the news (staying in my area) and I obviously said yes. Then, they told me that the other missionaries in the branch need to get to know my investigators really well....I was like, "what? why?" and he told me because starting this Sunday, I will be missing the first 2 hours of church (PH and Sunday school) to serve at the MCRD!!!!!!! I almost dropped the phone!!!! No offense, but I was more happier with this than I was when I found out I would be home for Christmas! I freaked out and told the Assistants how much I loved them. The senior missionaries in the office came running into the hallway asking me if I was ok haha...I was like, "yeah! I’ve never been better!!!!!" I'm so excited!!!! Ahhhhhh, my prayers have been answered!!!!!!!!!!
Well....that’s about all that happened this week. Oh, so last week, I made goals for the last 3 months of my mission. After which, I prayed and told God this is what I wanted to do/happen and I pleaded with him for me to be humble enough to receive counsel from Him over the next 3 months. Wow! I've been counseled a ton already and its only been a week. This past week has been Christ like attributes and I’ve learned so much already. Its crazy. I'm just trying to stay humble and plead with the Lord to keep teaching me. I've also started to realize why I am where I am. I'm learning a ton in my area and I’m learning a lot from our branch president. He is a wise, wise man.
Well that’s about it for this week! I’m still so excited I’m shaking! haha. And yes Mom, I remembered your birthday! since its on Thursday ill just say it now.... Happy Birthday!!!!! I thought of the perfect birthday gift and I’m still trying to find it. So it might take a while to get it to you but you will get it!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
(I received the birthday gift about a week later and you will never guess what it is…the DVD “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. I love it !!My son, always surprises me!!!)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
September Letters
September 20, 2011
Two Sundays ago (9/11) one of the members of the stake presidency asked me if I could help with the translation for stake conference. Usually, I would think about it but I had the prompting just to say yes without thinking. The next week I kind of forgot that I was going to translate until Saturday. So, like I always do, I started cramming. I was on Spanish overload. I was studying anything in Spanish that I could get my hands on. But during all this, the thought was in the back of my mind, "Why did you say yes so
fast?” So Saturday night came around and when I said my personal prayers I pleaded with the Lord to help me the next day and keep me calm and help me to convey the spirit of the message to the Spanish people listening. I felt an overwhelming since of happiness after I prayed and when I got into bed I just knew everything was going to be ok. Then Sunday morning, I started freaking out again and was studying like crazy and right before we left to conference, I asked some elders for a blessing. So we went to conference and we were there for the last part of the English session. I got to hear the stake president's talk and it was about the life Joseph Smith and he was using some words that I had no idea how to translate. After it was over, I went to talk with the member of the stake presidency who asked me to translate and I asked him who I would be translating for and he smiled and told me, the stake president. I was floored. I thought that there was no way I could translate for him. So the meeting started and I was scared the entire time. During the talk before the stake president's I began to pray and before I even started, I heard a voice in my head saying, "Don’t worry Ross, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. I told you that I would help you, just have confidence." I was like"uh..ok!" So needless to say, I got up and only messed up once in the translation. I was pretty amazed, not in myself, but in the Lord. Afterwards, one of the members of the Spanish Branch came up to me and told me how good I did and he said that while I was translating he felt proud that I was doing it and that I was his missionary. It was an awesome experience that I’ll always remember.
But back to my first question, "Why did I say yes so fast without doubting?" I realized later Sunday afternoon, in a lesson we were having, that the reason that I agreed without thinking was because my Spanish needed to improve. I had kind of become relaxed with my Spanish and not studying it that much. But I learned numerous new words and other things while studying and my Spanish is improving again..pretty cool.
Well that’s about it...hahah pretty crazy week! Thanks for everything! I LOVE YALL!!!!
September 13, 2011
So yeah...I SURVIVED THE SAN DIEGO BLACKOUT OF 2011! Me and my comp left our apartment and the lights where still working. Our fans were all running and everything was good. We got in our car and when we got to the street light, it started blinking. Then we started visiting people, and everyone was saying they had lost power. The we started getting texts from other missionaries saying power was down everywhere...all the way to New Mexico. Some people in our area thought it was the end of the world and that everyone was going to burn hahaha. Pres Clayton sent all the missionaries home early and so we chilled in our apartment basically the entire night. People in our area were going a little crazy, we heard police sirens all night. The little Mexican market by our house was robbed and the police had to come and guard it...that was pretty crazy! the power ended up coming back on at like 130 or so for us. We went to sleep at like 1030 or so...it was pretty hot.
So this week...we had a pretty cool experience with one of our investigators. We talked to her and used to visit her like 2 months ago, but for one reason or another we lost contact. But for the past month or so, I’ve been thinking a lot about her and feeling like we needed to visit her. So we went and saw her last Friday and had a pretty good talk. Then we stopped by yesterday and she told us that she had been praying for help with her family and asking God if He was there and when she was done praying, we knocked on the door (last Friday). She started crying and bore a strong testimony that God does answer prayers and how she knows now that he really does exist and loves her. It was another testimony builder for me to know that God works through us and that even though I had been thinking about her for awhile, God told when I needed to talk to her. It was kind of like him telling me that he was preparing her and that he would let me know when the time was right, and he did....pretty cool.
So yeah, that was basically my week. The lesson I realized this week, was that if we take a step back and allow God to help us in our struggles, we will be able to overcome them a lot easier and we will see the blessings in our struggles. Not that I am struggling with anything major or anything like that, but I’m a missionary, the past 2 years have been a struggle. When I just think about my problems and try to handle them myself, I don’t really learn. But if I ask God to help me understand the lessons to be learned in my problems and challenges, I see the lessons and I see the blessings and understand why I need to go through those trials.
Well I hope everyone is doing good. Tell everybody hi for me and spread the word....ROOS LITTLE IS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
September 6, 2011
We had a good week. Another baptism!!!!haha We went over to our recent convert's house to talk to the mom about how things were going and she said that her boyfriend had left and she wanted to be baptized, but she didn’t know when because she was going through a lot. I told her to talk to our branch pres. and he would help her know what to do. The next night we got a call from Pte Lopez telling us that she was getting baptized on Saturday and that he knew we could handle the rest hahah so yeah, we had another baptism on Saturday and then we had 4 confirmations on Sunday. Overall, pretty good week!
The lesson I remembered this week was that sometimes as members of the church we grow comfortable with the amount of faith that we have. I kind of fell back into the trap of doing the work my way again this past week, but I’m starting to come out of it and put it back into the Lord's hands. That is definitely hard, because he asks a lot. I've been absolutely exhausted some nights and on the way home when I get a prompting to go see someone. It is the Lord's way of saying, "What are you going to do? take the easy way and go home, or take that one little step more and keep going?" It is definitely hard to keep going, but somehow I make it through. When we push ourselves to the edge and then go a little further, the blessings will come and we will be rewarded for our efforts.
Two Sundays ago (9/11) one of the members of the stake presidency asked me if I could help with the translation for stake conference. Usually, I would think about it but I had the prompting just to say yes without thinking. The next week I kind of forgot that I was going to translate until Saturday. So, like I always do, I started cramming. I was on Spanish overload. I was studying anything in Spanish that I could get my hands on. But during all this, the thought was in the back of my mind, "Why did you say yes so
fast?” So Saturday night came around and when I said my personal prayers I pleaded with the Lord to help me the next day and keep me calm and help me to convey the spirit of the message to the Spanish people listening. I felt an overwhelming since of happiness after I prayed and when I got into bed I just knew everything was going to be ok. Then Sunday morning, I started freaking out again and was studying like crazy and right before we left to conference, I asked some elders for a blessing. So we went to conference and we were there for the last part of the English session. I got to hear the stake president's talk and it was about the life Joseph Smith and he was using some words that I had no idea how to translate. After it was over, I went to talk with the member of the stake presidency who asked me to translate and I asked him who I would be translating for and he smiled and told me, the stake president. I was floored. I thought that there was no way I could translate for him. So the meeting started and I was scared the entire time. During the talk before the stake president's I began to pray and before I even started, I heard a voice in my head saying, "Don’t worry Ross, I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. I told you that I would help you, just have confidence." I was like"uh..ok!" So needless to say, I got up and only messed up once in the translation. I was pretty amazed, not in myself, but in the Lord. Afterwards, one of the members of the Spanish Branch came up to me and told me how good I did and he said that while I was translating he felt proud that I was doing it and that I was his missionary. It was an awesome experience that I’ll always remember.
But back to my first question, "Why did I say yes so fast without doubting?" I realized later Sunday afternoon, in a lesson we were having, that the reason that I agreed without thinking was because my Spanish needed to improve. I had kind of become relaxed with my Spanish and not studying it that much. But I learned numerous new words and other things while studying and my Spanish is improving again..pretty cool.
Well that’s about it...hahah pretty crazy week! Thanks for everything! I LOVE YALL!!!!
September 13, 2011
So yeah...I SURVIVED THE SAN DIEGO BLACKOUT OF 2011! Me and my comp left our apartment and the lights where still working. Our fans were all running and everything was good. We got in our car and when we got to the street light, it started blinking. Then we started visiting people, and everyone was saying they had lost power. The we started getting texts from other missionaries saying power was down everywhere...all the way to New Mexico. Some people in our area thought it was the end of the world and that everyone was going to burn hahaha. Pres Clayton sent all the missionaries home early and so we chilled in our apartment basically the entire night. People in our area were going a little crazy, we heard police sirens all night. The little Mexican market by our house was robbed and the police had to come and guard it...that was pretty crazy! the power ended up coming back on at like 130 or so for us. We went to sleep at like 1030 or so...it was pretty hot.
So this week...we had a pretty cool experience with one of our investigators. We talked to her and used to visit her like 2 months ago, but for one reason or another we lost contact. But for the past month or so, I’ve been thinking a lot about her and feeling like we needed to visit her. So we went and saw her last Friday and had a pretty good talk. Then we stopped by yesterday and she told us that she had been praying for help with her family and asking God if He was there and when she was done praying, we knocked on the door (last Friday). She started crying and bore a strong testimony that God does answer prayers and how she knows now that he really does exist and loves her. It was another testimony builder for me to know that God works through us and that even though I had been thinking about her for awhile, God told when I needed to talk to her. It was kind of like him telling me that he was preparing her and that he would let me know when the time was right, and he did....pretty cool.
So yeah, that was basically my week. The lesson I realized this week, was that if we take a step back and allow God to help us in our struggles, we will be able to overcome them a lot easier and we will see the blessings in our struggles. Not that I am struggling with anything major or anything like that, but I’m a missionary, the past 2 years have been a struggle. When I just think about my problems and try to handle them myself, I don’t really learn. But if I ask God to help me understand the lessons to be learned in my problems and challenges, I see the lessons and I see the blessings and understand why I need to go through those trials.
Well I hope everyone is doing good. Tell everybody hi for me and spread the word....ROOS LITTLE IS COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
September 6, 2011
We had a good week. Another baptism!!!!haha We went over to our recent convert's house to talk to the mom about how things were going and she said that her boyfriend had left and she wanted to be baptized, but she didn’t know when because she was going through a lot. I told her to talk to our branch pres. and he would help her know what to do. The next night we got a call from Pte Lopez telling us that she was getting baptized on Saturday and that he knew we could handle the rest hahah so yeah, we had another baptism on Saturday and then we had 4 confirmations on Sunday. Overall, pretty good week!
The lesson I remembered this week was that sometimes as members of the church we grow comfortable with the amount of faith that we have. I kind of fell back into the trap of doing the work my way again this past week, but I’m starting to come out of it and put it back into the Lord's hands. That is definitely hard, because he asks a lot. I've been absolutely exhausted some nights and on the way home when I get a prompting to go see someone. It is the Lord's way of saying, "What are you going to do? take the easy way and go home, or take that one little step more and keep going?" It is definitely hard to keep going, but somehow I make it through. When we push ourselves to the edge and then go a little further, the blessings will come and we will be rewarded for our efforts.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Welcome Home...
Hello Everyone,
Ross sent us the following email this past week:
Elder Little,
It is with a tinge of sadness that I tell you that your release date has been officially changed to Dec. 20. I know it's the best thing for you, but we will certainly miss you. Now, get back to work!! :)
Pres. Clayton
We look forward to welcoming Ross home and are very happy that he will be home for Christmas. We appreciate your prayers and support in Ross’ behalf and wanted you to share in our excitement. We have encouraged Ross to stay focused and to “keep his head down and his feet moving” over the next three months—a phrase coined by Ross’ high school football coach, Coach Byrd.
We love you all!
Martha & Gordon
Ross sent us the following email this past week:
Elder Little,
It is with a tinge of sadness that I tell you that your release date has been officially changed to Dec. 20. I know it's the best thing for you, but we will certainly miss you. Now, get back to work!! :)
Pres. Clayton
We look forward to welcoming Ross home and are very happy that he will be home for Christmas. We appreciate your prayers and support in Ross’ behalf and wanted you to share in our excitement. We have encouraged Ross to stay focused and to “keep his head down and his feet moving” over the next three months—a phrase coined by Ross’ high school football coach, Coach Byrd.
We love you all!
Martha & Gordon
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
August Letters...
August 9, 2011
I'm feeling a lot better. (Ross was hospitalized this week with food poisoning.) I still don't know what caused it. I've given up trying to know. It was kind of like that time when we came back from Mexico when I was sick, but more intense.
Well this week was great. We had two surprise baptisms hahah. Do you remember Maricela? Me and Elder Guennete baptized her back in November? Her son turned 9 last Monday and we went and talked to Maricela and her son, Edward. We met with them on Saturday and we asked Eddie when he wanted to be baptized and he said, "ASAP. Tomorrow!" The other was the daughter of Maricela's friend, who is also a member. She had a date for this past weekend, but she was gettin cold feet but then she decided to do it haha it was pretty cool.
Also, things are really picking up in our area. We found a lot of good people, and the next few months are going to be really successful if we work hard and follow God.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go one exchanges with the elders that work at the SD Institute. It brought back some good times haha. What they do over there is just be at the Institute all day and talk with everybody who walks in. Its pretty cool. Kids from school walk in that need help, or just random people walk in. And then last night we went to the FHE.,....they play softball.....and all I could do was watch.....it killed me!!! haha but it was a lot of fun.
Right now, I think I’m in the time of my mission where I feel the most grind. I just feel worn out. I realized the other day that I’ve been doing this for over 18 months now and if you think about it, that’s a long time. Its taught me a lot, but its been hard. I've been getting the urge to complain a lot lately but I know I can’t complain. So if you could just pray for extra hard this week..it would be great, especially with the news of my friend from high school dying. He wasn't like a great friend or anything, but I always kind of admired him in HS. He was in my 5th and 6th grade homeroom class and we had a lot of classes together in high school. Its tough. Thanks for everything!!
Ross
August 22, 2011
Things are going good. Sorry my emails have been so short lately. Nothing has really changed. We went to the temple last week, that was fun. Then on Thursday the Recent Converts in the branch went to do baptism and they called us to go and do the confirmations but it turns out they didn't need us, so Pres. Lopez, our Branch President, took my companionship and the other companionship of elders out to dinner and we talked about the branch. With our 2 baptisms this next weekend, we will have reached the branch's yearly baptismal goal of 35. So we have to set some new goals and start working on some plans to reach those. Oh, something that you will like to hear. In the branch, we don't have a piano player, so after 3 months of singing acapella, I told the branch music lady that I would learn how to play the piano again and start playing for the branch. So last Sunday was my first Sunday to play. It went well. Only a few mistakes, but I haven't played for any group of people since I played in PH when I was like 14. So hopefully by the time I get home, I'll be able to play everything hahah.
Thanks for everything. I guess its crunch time! 4 month to go....the time has gone by fast and these next 4 months are going to fly! I LOVE YALL!!!!!!
Ross
August 30, 2011
What are your living conditions like—is it an apartment or house?
Right now, we live in a little house. It’s got one bedroom, one bathroom, a living room and a small kitchen. But, our lease is up and the senior missionary in charge of housing told us we could look for a new one. We found a nice one with a few of downtown and the ocean....and we are getting it! Missionaries in the future will love me for getting this apartment. It’s how I will leave my legacy on the mission haha
Is poverty or gang activity the most prevalent in your area?
Probably equal. We see a lot of things everyday. A LOT. In downtown, there is a lot of homeless people that just set up their little tents on the sidewalk. Around our apartment, there is probably more gangs than anything else. But they all like us, they don’t mess with Jesus.
Not too much to report on this week. It seems like the longer I'm out on a mission, the less I have to say. hahaha. Sorry! I'm just keeping my head down right now haha We had another baptism this past weekend. Ignacio Garcia. He is a stud. He called the mission office because he wanted to talk to missionaries. He didn't have a problem with anything. He drank coffee everyday for the past 20 years, and he just dropped the habit like that. It took him 1 day to stop. And he hasn't touched it since. It just goes to say that Heavenly Father prepares His children. It is comforting to me to know that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to let me have these experiences and teach his children. It's way cool. I've been thinking a lot about all the spiritual experiences I’ve had over the past 19 months. I've been blessed a ton and I'm starting to see and put into practice all the lessons I've learned. The most important lesson I've learned is humility. In order to have success, you have to be humble enough to let the Lord teach you until he knows you are ready to do what he wants you to do. It's kind of like the brother of Jared. He trained the brother of Jared and then allowed him to figure some things out on his own and then was blessed for his efforts. Humility is key. It is something that I have learned by serving around our branch president, Pte Lopez. He is one of the most humble men I have ever met. He loves everyone he talks to and is willing to do anything to help anyone. In Branch council on Sunday, he trained the branch leadership on how to be a good leader. I threw out that in order to be a good leader, you have to humble. Then for the rest of the training, he talked about humility and told the branch leaders that in order to a good leader, you have to be a good follower. So true. Well that’s it for this week. Things really haven't changed. I figure that the rest of my emails will be me sharing a little bit about my week, and sharing different lessons that I’ve learned. Well that’s all I’ve got for this week. I LOVE YOU!!!! Ross
I'm feeling a lot better. (Ross was hospitalized this week with food poisoning.) I still don't know what caused it. I've given up trying to know. It was kind of like that time when we came back from Mexico when I was sick, but more intense.
Well this week was great. We had two surprise baptisms hahah. Do you remember Maricela? Me and Elder Guennete baptized her back in November? Her son turned 9 last Monday and we went and talked to Maricela and her son, Edward. We met with them on Saturday and we asked Eddie when he wanted to be baptized and he said, "ASAP. Tomorrow!" The other was the daughter of Maricela's friend, who is also a member. She had a date for this past weekend, but she was gettin cold feet but then she decided to do it haha it was pretty cool.
Also, things are really picking up in our area. We found a lot of good people, and the next few months are going to be really successful if we work hard and follow God.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go one exchanges with the elders that work at the SD Institute. It brought back some good times haha. What they do over there is just be at the Institute all day and talk with everybody who walks in. Its pretty cool. Kids from school walk in that need help, or just random people walk in. And then last night we went to the FHE.,....they play softball.....and all I could do was watch.....it killed me!!! haha but it was a lot of fun.
Right now, I think I’m in the time of my mission where I feel the most grind. I just feel worn out. I realized the other day that I’ve been doing this for over 18 months now and if you think about it, that’s a long time. Its taught me a lot, but its been hard. I've been getting the urge to complain a lot lately but I know I can’t complain. So if you could just pray for extra hard this week..it would be great, especially with the news of my friend from high school dying. He wasn't like a great friend or anything, but I always kind of admired him in HS. He was in my 5th and 6th grade homeroom class and we had a lot of classes together in high school. Its tough. Thanks for everything!!
Ross
August 22, 2011
Things are going good. Sorry my emails have been so short lately. Nothing has really changed. We went to the temple last week, that was fun. Then on Thursday the Recent Converts in the branch went to do baptism and they called us to go and do the confirmations but it turns out they didn't need us, so Pres. Lopez, our Branch President, took my companionship and the other companionship of elders out to dinner and we talked about the branch. With our 2 baptisms this next weekend, we will have reached the branch's yearly baptismal goal of 35. So we have to set some new goals and start working on some plans to reach those. Oh, something that you will like to hear. In the branch, we don't have a piano player, so after 3 months of singing acapella, I told the branch music lady that I would learn how to play the piano again and start playing for the branch. So last Sunday was my first Sunday to play. It went well. Only a few mistakes, but I haven't played for any group of people since I played in PH when I was like 14. So hopefully by the time I get home, I'll be able to play everything hahah.
Thanks for everything. I guess its crunch time! 4 month to go....the time has gone by fast and these next 4 months are going to fly! I LOVE YALL!!!!!!
Ross
August 30, 2011
What are your living conditions like—is it an apartment or house?
Right now, we live in a little house. It’s got one bedroom, one bathroom, a living room and a small kitchen. But, our lease is up and the senior missionary in charge of housing told us we could look for a new one. We found a nice one with a few of downtown and the ocean....and we are getting it! Missionaries in the future will love me for getting this apartment. It’s how I will leave my legacy on the mission haha
Is poverty or gang activity the most prevalent in your area?
Probably equal. We see a lot of things everyday. A LOT. In downtown, there is a lot of homeless people that just set up their little tents on the sidewalk. Around our apartment, there is probably more gangs than anything else. But they all like us, they don’t mess with Jesus.
Not too much to report on this week. It seems like the longer I'm out on a mission, the less I have to say. hahaha. Sorry! I'm just keeping my head down right now haha We had another baptism this past weekend. Ignacio Garcia. He is a stud. He called the mission office because he wanted to talk to missionaries. He didn't have a problem with anything. He drank coffee everyday for the past 20 years, and he just dropped the habit like that. It took him 1 day to stop. And he hasn't touched it since. It just goes to say that Heavenly Father prepares His children. It is comforting to me to know that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to let me have these experiences and teach his children. It's way cool. I've been thinking a lot about all the spiritual experiences I’ve had over the past 19 months. I've been blessed a ton and I'm starting to see and put into practice all the lessons I've learned. The most important lesson I've learned is humility. In order to have success, you have to be humble enough to let the Lord teach you until he knows you are ready to do what he wants you to do. It's kind of like the brother of Jared. He trained the brother of Jared and then allowed him to figure some things out on his own and then was blessed for his efforts. Humility is key. It is something that I have learned by serving around our branch president, Pte Lopez. He is one of the most humble men I have ever met. He loves everyone he talks to and is willing to do anything to help anyone. In Branch council on Sunday, he trained the branch leadership on how to be a good leader. I threw out that in order to be a good leader, you have to humble. Then for the rest of the training, he talked about humility and told the branch leaders that in order to a good leader, you have to be a good follower. So true. Well that’s it for this week. Things really haven't changed. I figure that the rest of my emails will be me sharing a little bit about my week, and sharing different lessons that I’ve learned. Well that’s all I’ve got for this week. I LOVE YOU!!!! Ross
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Pictures
Ross sent a few pictures this week. Some investigators that he has been working with finally decided to get married and he was a witness at their wedding and helped baptize them. He's written about them to us before so he sent pictures. I didn't want to post the pictures of the family without their permission so I cropped them down to just Ross so you can at least see him!! If Ross says it's okay I'll post the real pictures later.
Signing as a witness to the wedding. :)
Signing as a witness to the wedding. :)
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