Jacob! Jacob and more Jacob!

Fernando, Jorge,  Julian, Jose,  Thomas and Ben Sinie

Missionary joke

The Sanie Family

The Santos family

English Elders

The Morgan Family Dad is Branch Mission leader. He went to Columbia on his mission.

Michael, Blanca and Dulce

May 18, 2015

Hola Familia,

Como les va? Same old same old. It’s nothing but white people here in Temecula! Sure there are Latinos but it's like an Easter egg hunt, and even when you find an egg, a lot of the times there's no candy inside. One Elder said it’s like finding hay in the needle stack. It is definitely hard to find new people but we're working hard.

We have 3 investigators that should be getting baptized here in the next couple of weeks! We're really excited. We also helped confirm Erik Zapot who was baptized last Wednesday, to receive the Holy Ghost. It was really cool, you could definitely feel the spirit there and it was a really cool experience to help confirm someone. He was a child of record baptism so in terms of numbers for the mission it doesn't count because he's 8 and both of his Parents were members. Still we helped them get back to church and become active again, so that's the important thing.  I'm super grateful to have the investigators that we do have.

A lot of times missionaries have a hard time finding solid people to teach. Anyways we are doing great up here and the members love us.  Me and my new companion Elder Ellsworth are getting along great and we work really good together. I hope that everyone back home is trying to do their part to help the missionaries. They work hard and it's discouraging at times when you don't get too many new investigators or investigators at all. Just keep doing your best and the Savior will make up the rest.

I know that the church is true! Read the Book of Mormon and find out for yourself if it’s true! Missionary work is so rewarding. When you get to see the blessings that people see in their lives it’s incredible.

A family that we contacted is getting baptized this Weekend, they were English but we contacted them and referred them to English Elders who now have them on date to be baptized this weekend. They told the missionaries that their lives have been changed dramatically just from talking to a bunch of 20 year old kids about their Savior, Jesus Christ. There are blessings from living the Gospel and especially in sharing it as well. I hope that you guys have a great week and pueden seguir adelante!

Elder Emerick

Just another week

Hola Familia!

Yesterday was so wierd. It's wierd to talk to your family through a computer. I hope you all had a good mother's day! This week was a pretty slow week for us. I have a new companion, Elder Ellsworth from Georgia. He's cool and I just need to help him get to know the area. He's been out for a little over a year. We had some pretty cool lessons with a few investigators this past week. We shared a comfort scripture with Ashley who was feeling nervous about reading the Book of Mormon, but after that she was balling. She said that she felt muy bien and didn't know why she was crying. I was so grateful to have the spirit testifying to her that it was true. She's super Elect and she is progressing spiritually so much. When I get home everyone better know how to make Carne Asada, I don't know how I'll live without it. Look up recipes online and try it out, it's literally my favorite Mexican/Latin dish ever. California burritos are really good too. The Sanie family were at church again. They are off and running again in the gospel, its only a matter of time until Bijan is baptized. I'm telling you, if you don't know if the church is true. ASK! I'm seeing so many people blessed just from a simple testimony from the Holy Ghost. The Gospel Blesses lives! We all have pruebas in life but after our trial of faith is when we receive the fruits of our labors. I hope you all are doing good back home. Seriously when I get back we're going to have a contest and I'll see who has mastered Carne Asada like a true Mexican. It will take a while to get good at it, so start practicing! Haha Temecula is so cool, but it's so white.(not enough Spanish people) I can't wait to see what Escondido is like, they say its a spanish missionaries dream! We're all good here, working the best we can. It's hard, but so worth it. Entonces ya vamos! Siga adelante! Have a great week!

Elder Emerick

There should be tons of pictures.

No hernia

Hola Famila!

Por que piensan que estoy enfermo? No sabeis que soy un missionero?! Missioneros estan enfermos nunca! (Because you guys think I have a hernia?! Don't you know that I'm a missionary? Don't you know that missionaries don't get sick?!) But seriously no I don't have a hernia. I talked with a RN and she said it was just some intestinal distress from EATING TOO MUCH TOO QUICK. Haha I knew it wasn't a hernia. Anyways this week was the last week that I am with my trainer. He's getting transferred but I'm staying in Temecula for at least 6 more weeks! YAY!!! We said goodbye to some members and they were all sad to see Elder Martin leave but they have faith in whoever is called to serve the Lord. I'm a little bit nervous but I know that the Lord will guide us. So, this Sunday we had 5 investigators at church! That's the most I've had on my mission so far! It was also fast and testimony meeting so the spirit was super strong. One family, the Sanie, came back for the first time in over 10 years. She is from Chile so speaks it natively. He is from Iran and came to America, met her and then was converted in the 90's. They both have strong testimonies of the Gospel and I was super honored to help them get back to church and re-find their testimonies. We're teaching their 11 yr old son and he is probably going to get baptized soon. Speaking of which we are having a baptism this week! This Wednesday is the baptism of Erik Zapot, both his parents are members but have been inactive for 3 years. She's been coming for the past 3 weeks but he finally got his Sundays off from work and was there this past Sunday. I'm going to give a talk on the Holy Ghost, so that will be fun! He just turned 8 but it still was great to help them get back to church so that he could get baptized. Also Dulce one of our interpreters  (She's been having lessons since Jan) is getting baptized on 6 June. I feel like she is learning more and being more sure of herself and this baptism every time I see her. We're going through commandments with her and she's doing really good! We found 5 new investigators this week! One was an antiguo (Old investigator that missionaries stopped teaching for a while because he didn't want to progress) and he was at church too. On Saturday night we stopped by a reference from a recent convert who told us about his relatives that live down the street. The husband is really interested. We said that we had to leave and he said, "Awe man! It was starting to get interesting!" Haha 
Did I tell you that Ana Sanie bore her testimony in the meeting? It was great and she really helped her family and herself to feel the Spirit. The spirit is the most important part in helping people change and convert themselves. Because we don't do the changing or converting, its the Holy Ghost. Transfer meeting is tomorrow and I'm getting a new companion. Also for this Sunday I'm not sure about where or when yet. I think it will probably be around 5 ish your time because It will be after church. As long as you guys are in your house and waiting for the phone or computer at 4 or later there won't be a problem. Well that's about all for now, wish me luck as I take over the area!

Tenga un buen dia!

Elder Emerick