SHORT BUT SWEET

Hola Famila,

Yesterday was labor day and it was weird. Whenever a pday doesn't fall on a monday it feels different. But for dinner yesterday the family we ate with got us pizza, we had hamburgers on Sunday. One of our investigators Teresa came to church again as well. It seems like she's making great progress and hopefully will be baptized this transfer. We'll see!!! In other news, we're starting to put together and plan for this years Spanish Conference. It will be probably in my last transfer so it'll be a good way to end the mission. We've been doing good here, the weather is back to normal California 72 degrees every day. It makes walking around and being out and about very easy and not too much of a pain. It's strange that summers over already, the sun is going down earlier and it gets dark around 8ish. We found a young man on Friday and taught him the restoration, he says it made sense to him and we'll see where things go with him. Transfers are in 3 weeks so we'll see where I go to finish. I'd love to go back to Escondido but we'll see what happens. I can't think of much else to talk about but I hope you're all doing good. Well if you have any specific questions just ask! I hope you all have a great week! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

Elder De Hoyos and our Zone

UHMMM Ya...This

Hola Familia,

I hope you all have had a good week. This week Teresa came to church! It was good to see her there and hopefully have her progress quicker. She told us her main problem was that she didn't like wearing dresses or skirts. After we told her that it was fine if she didn't wear a dress she felt better about it. She told us she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and her testimony is being strengthened. The new Hermana from Boliva still hasn't arrived yet hopefully she'll come soon. Elder Hernandez and I are working well, he still is learning certain things but is making progress. This past Sunday I translated a talk from English into Spanish for the congregation that didn't understand English. It was definitley a cool experience. This upcoming week we're having President Benjamin de Hoyes come to our mission and have a Zone Conference with him. It'll be cool to receive instruction from an area 70. We gave a lot of blessings it seemed this past week. Have you ever gone to Burlington Coat Factory? They have crazy good prices on ties, suits, socks, and all kinds of stuff. At least at the one here in Vista, legit you can get designer ties for less than 5 bucks. It's nuts. Well not too much stuff to talk about this week, but I'll be sure to talk about the Zone Conference and all the stuff we learned. Well Have a good week! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

Busy again

Hola Familia,

So we're starting a new transfer this week.

Family Home Evening with Ang family

Family home evening with Ang family

Picture of Christ that someone gave HIM. They must know him well. He loves cats.

Baptism of Chrystal

Ocean Side

Ocean Side

Birthday Party for Elder Wockenfuss

Birthday Party for Elder Wockenfuss

This week we had a ton of stuff happen. Last night we found a new family to teach, their names are Anna and Techo Perez. They seemed very interested and we're really excited to start teaching them more. We'll see if they're willing to act on the message. So that's exciting! Also we had a Birthday Party for Elder Wockenfuss on Friday. It was good we all had sloppy joes, chips and soda. It was good to spend time with him and try to help him feel better since these past couple of weeks. Also an investigator that I taught in Oceanside invited me back to her baptism on Saturday. It was a great service and the spirit was really strong. She was so happy to finally be allowed to be baptized, and her Uncle performed the ordinance who just came back from his mission in Pittsburgh. Remember when I asked you about an Elder Garduno? That was him. She bore her testimony at the end and it was awesome. She talked about Girls camp and trek and all the people around her that helped her gain a testimony. That's honestly how things need to happen. If members will fellowship people investigating the church, share their testimonies with them, and help them to feel accepted into the Ward and Stake, then everything will fall into place. The Missionary work will flourish and everyone will get blessed like crazy. I'm pretty sure I'll have at least one more area in my mission. I hope to return to Escondido. We'll see though! We're getting a new Hermana from Bolivia in our District so that'll be interesting to see and experience. We'll really have to do pure spanish in our meetings now! Well that's about it for this week, but I'll be sure to tell you how everything goes down! Have a good week! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

Having fun at district meeting

"It is by Obedience that we gather light into our souls"

Hola Familia,

This week we had a baptism in our District. The Hermanas baptized a muchacho and it was a good service. We had one of our investigators come and also President Thomas came! Also Elder It was good!

 Elder Romney came with me in Vista. Ok time for some fun facts. 

Did you know, that Elder Romney grew up in Chihuahua Mexico?

Did you know that His Mother's cousin is..... TODD HEAP? Yep, THAT Todd Heap.

Did you know that he had a scholarship offer from Oregon?

Lots of cool things. He's a great guy and we had lots of fun. I say had because he decided to serve a mission first, and well not too many schools are willing to wait that long. He will be going to another D1 school though I'm not sure which though. He also told me that his uncle Todd always told him that one of his biggest regrets was not serving a mission. I just thought that was cool that everytime the Steelers played the Ravens, we'd see Elder Romney's uncle and say how much we hated playing them. Other than that we haven't had too much stuff happen. We're still teaching Teresa and are hoping that we'll be able to make a more solid baptismal date with her. Still we are looking for more people to teach. 

President Thomas shared this quote at Zone Conference on Thursday, it's from a Talk by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Obedience is the lifeblood of faith. It is by obedience that we gather light into our souls. 

But sometimes I think we misunderstand obedience. We may see obedience as an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. Or we may pound the metaphorical hammer of obedience against the iron anvil of the commandments in an effort to shape those we love, through constant heating and repeated battering into a holier heavenly matter.

No doubt about it, there are times when we need a stern call to repentance. Certainly, there are some who may be reached only in this manner.

But perhaps there is a different metaphor that can explain why we obey the commandments of God. Maybe obedience is not so much the process of bending, twisting, and pounding our souls into something we are not. Instead, it is the process by which we discover what we truly are made of."

When I heard this quote I thought about how sometimes when living in accordance with the commandments or church membership living in general can seem overbearing, a challenge, or simply too much in our lives. But this explains that when we are obedient and show Heavenly Father our love towards him to live worthily that we will be blessed and truly see why we live the gospel. It's not to make us into something we are not, but to show us what we are made of. 

Love you all!

Elder Emerick

Elder Wockenfuss!

For those of you who don't know. Elder Wockenfuss is an Elder from Toadsuck ARK. He and Jacob became very close friends as he and Jacob came to the Mexico MTC together and were companions. They were also companions together again just a month ago. They are very close. Elder Wockenfuss lost his mother to blood clots in the lungs just this past Friday.  His Father passed 10 years ago to Cancer. He has come home for the funeral and will go back to CA to finish his mission. This is what this letter is referring to. We forget that these are young men and women in the Prime of their life leaving behind everything for what they believe in. They put that belief into action by taking to the world what is most precious to them. Their testimony that the Savior lives. Elder Wockenfuss knows he will see his mother again, because of the atonement. We believe that the Atonement is a sacrafice that not only overcomes sin but overcomes death. She will be ressurected some day. Patrick will see, hug, and be with his Mother and Father again.

Hola Familia,

Yes I knew of what happened the morning of. He called me in the morning and told me. It was a complete blindside, he told me he didn't know what to do. He said President Thomas called him at 6:30 and asked if he could meet with him. So he ended up going to his apartment a few minutes later, excused his companion to the bedroom and then told him of what happened. He said that he was shocked first, he didn't know how to react. Then he just gave President Thomas a huge hug and cried in his shoulder for a couple minutes. President Thomas then asked him whether or not he wished to stay, and Elder Wockenfuss told him that he would. So he's staying to finish. Then after we finished the call I felt impressed to go visit him and just talk for a bit. So later that day we went to Carlsbad and visited him for a bit. I felt that he needed it more than just a phone call or a pat on the back. People and especially members forget that we're real people as well. We're not just these emotionless people that have complete courage to do what we do every single day. We get sad, angry, tired, and sometimes don't want to work. Sometimes we feel that it gets too hard or that nothing is happening. Sometimes and especially when bad things happen is when we need to slow down and just relax. To think about ourselves and how to work through problems. After the visit he told me that he really needed someone to just sit and visit him, talk for a bit and stuff. I don't know if it has fully hit him yet the gravity of the situation because he seemed calm and a little shaken up but not too much. I definitely know that Heavenly Father is helping him right now to be calm and comforted. Us and our Hermanas put together a little package for him quick with a card to give to him and he enjoyed it. So that was a pretty full day, I hope that you can help his family out in anyway that you can. I know that he has a good Bishop and Ward that are helping them in every way possible as well. Also this week we found a new investigator! Her name is Teresa Herrera and she is pretty solid! She was able to come to the Pioneer activity on Saturday and church on Sunday. Hopefully we can help her progress towards a baptismal date on the 13th of August. Also I interviewed one of the sister's investigators and he's getting baptized on Saturday. My comp is getting things pretty quickly, he can already speak some but he needs a lot of work with his reading and understanding completely of each situation. Vista is still good. Pretty hot some days and some days its fine. Yes we probably aren't getting as much exercise as we could with full time bikes but now that we have a bike rack evreythings good and no matter what the situation we'll be able to be home on time no matter when. I haven't changed too much how I do things, I'm pretty much just treating it like he's a normal missionary, just with the extra teaching him stuff. I haven't started my Plan and won't until I'm almost finished. I'm glad that you all are still doing nothing and saving your money for when I get back. jaja But the carne asada jsut depends on what kind of meat you use. Some members use a cheaper kind that they get at the sketchy market down the street but somehow whenever the cook it it's delicious. Also eating it with good rice and beans helps as well. Just ask around from actual hispanics or look up different recipes online. Well that's the report for this week, and now this... 

A frog walks into a bank and says, "I'd like to get a loan."  The banker says, "you can't get a loan, you're a frog!"  The frog says, "Please, I really need a loan."  The banker, Mrs Wack says, "Well I doubt you can get a loan, but what is your name."  The frog says, "My name is Kermit."  The banker says, "You are not Kermit the frog!"   The frog says, "No, not that Kermit.  I'm actually named after the real Kermit the Frog.  My father is Mick Jagger and he married a frog and they had me.  I'm Kermit Jagger."  The banker said, "Oh ok, well my name is Patty."  The banker then says, "Well, if you want a loan you need collateral. What collateral do you have?"  The frog says, "I have this little pink ceramic elephant."  The banker takes the elephant and looks it over.  She says, "What the heck is this?  It's a pink ceramic elephant.  What am I supposed to do with this?"  The frog says, "That's my collateral.  Please, may I have a loan."  The banker says, "Look, I guess I'll talk to my manager, but he's not going to give you a loan."  The banker goes to the manager and says, "I have a frog here who is looking to get a loan.  His name is Kermit Jagger.  His collateral is this pink ceramic elephant.  I don't even know what this pink ceramic elephant is.  What should we tell him."  The bank manager takes the ceramic elephant and looks it over.  He then says... wait for it....

"It's a knick knack Patty Wack, give the frog a loan!"

Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

He's a DAD......

Hola Familia,

So lots of new things to talk about! My new companions name is Elder Hernandez. He is from Maryland close to the D.C. area. His dad is from Michoacan Mexico and his Mom was born in Washington but her family is from Nuevo leon Mexico. He's the oldest of 3 brothers. He is pretty solid and has a good testimony of the gospel. Things are going good at first he wasn't sure how to act or be as a missionary but after I taught him to just be himself he started to calm down. It definitely takes patience to be teaching someone how to do things and how to be a missionary, especially with myself. I think I've been stressing a little trying to make sure everything is good and doing things right. But I've calmed down myself a little as well. We're doing a good job making sure we're doing the right things and working. He knows parts of the language and can speak and share his thoughts better than when I came into the mission because he has a little of a language background, but I'm way ahead of him in terms of grammer and correct speech. He has a good foundational  understanding of the language but he needs help, so I'm teaching him as if he doesn't know anything and starting from scratch. Yes we still call new missionaries greenies. It'll be a good couple of transfers he knows why he's here and is willing to do anything. YES. My prayers were completely answered with President Thomas. I love President Kendrick but I never really felt he did things specifically for the hispanic culture and it felt as if he was more focused in the white work. But President Thomas LOVES the Mexican people. Did I tell you his first sacrament meeting was with our ward? He and Sister Thomas both bore their testimonies as well! You can tell he hasn't been able to speak Spanish as much as he'd have liked to but it's very good. He's going to be an awesome mission president. When we went by and visited a couple of the members they just loved him. They said they felt so loved and are very happy that he'll be our Mission President. In my interview with him (It was all in Spanish) he just asked me about myself and who I am as a missionary and stuff like that. He said that he's looking forward to being able to work with everyone and is happy that he'll be able to serve amongst the Spanish speaking people of the mission. In the beginning it looked like Sister Thomas may have been a little overwhelmed by things but now she's getting used to it. Everyone goes through an adjustment period. So this week we went to get a bike for E. Hernandez and he bought a bike from a missionary that just left for $20. It needs few repairs but it's in VERY good shape for $20. He was so scared when we first starting riding them. He said he didn't ride a bike since he was 12 so it was definitely an interesting experience. First he started off super slow but then as we started going he sped up a bit. He said that he was praying super hard that no one would hit him or he would lose his balance or anything like that. Needless to say it was everything I was expecting in a classic new missionary. He talked to a couple of people by himself which was a good step, this week I'm going to see if he can start doing other things on his own, but of course I'll be right there to help him if he needs it. The first time he left a message on the phone he kind of freaked out and didn't know what to say but it'll come in time. It's weird, it's kind of the opposite when I started. First I learned how to understand, then read, then speak. He already knows how to speak some, understands a little, and reads none. So we'll see how we can improve his skills. Well I guess about that's it for this week! Have a good week!

Elder Emerick  

district??? Not sure