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

A new President and a Temple Trip

Hola Familia,

So I'm training. It's going to be a new experience because I haven't had a companion so young because we haven't received many new spanish Elders since I've been on the mission. Or pretty much all the missionaries have been out like 2-4 months less than me. So it will be new to teach someone how to be a missionary. Also PRESIDENTE THOMAS HA LLEGADO!!!! He is soooooo cooool!!!!!! He came in on Friday and then he interviewed me personally on Saturday because I'm training. He did the interview in spanish too! He's such an awesome guy, he can laugh, have fun, and has a great testimony and understanding of the church and culture. He visited our ward for sacrament meeting for his first one in the mission and he AND HIS WIFE bore their testimonies in Spanish. He literally has been an answer to my prayers for guidance and leadership for us. We also got to go to the temple and it was good as always. It was a session that I hadn't seen before so it was interesting. Elder Wockenfuss is getting transferred and will be going to Carlsbad. There will only be 2 companionship's of spanish missionaries in the Vista Ward and the Oceanside Ward. So We'll cover half the stake which is super weird, we'll have a ton of work to do. Likewise with Elder Wockenfuss, they'll cover half of Carlsbad and Oceanside. Yesterday was the 4th of July and we had hamburgers and hot dogs! It's funny to see everyone dressed up like white guys. Backwards baseball hats, shirts with patriotic things on them, listening to Sweet Home Alabama and stuff like that. They understand the importance of it and are indeed very thankful as much as we are (If maybe not a little more) that we have a country that doesn't have as many problems as others. In Oaxaca Mexico right now there's a large disturbance and riots about education. Teachers are fighting for rights against the government and there is a huge uprising. Lots of people are being killed. We think that our government and nation is in a crisis, and in a sense it certainty is. BUT we are way better off than other places, for that we should be thankful! One member gave us homemade hamburgers with bacon and pineapple on it and it was SUPER GOOD. You should try that combination because it was surprisingly good.  It appears as if we will have success this transfer not only because of the area we're inheriting but also all the work we'll be able to do. I have no idea about Ipads. We won't know about any big mission changes or there won't be any till President Thomas gets accustomed to being a mission President. Poor Sister Thomas she seemed a little overwhelmed at the beginning because we were talking to her before I went in for the interview and she was talking about the full day and everything. They'll get used to it soon. jaja Well I'll get to sending some pictures. I hope you all have a good week!!

Elder Emerick

Add caption

Our District

The Reyes Family

The Marin Family

Mariano Family

Gomez Family

Elder Emerick and Elder Wackenfus at the San Diego Temple

BASTANTE CALOR!!!!!!!!!!

Hola Familia,

IT'S SOOOO HOOOOOTTT!!!!!!! It reminds me of when I was back in Temecula. It gets so hot early on in the day and by mid day you can't even do anything. Anyways thanks for the package, I actually got it Last Monday, what happens is that because I live right next to the mission office, on Monday or other times we stop by to drop things off or pick up more supplies if there's mail we just get it then. But thank you for thinking ahead to make sure that at least I would have gotten the package by today. I was very glad to receive something Our transfers are two weeks behind your missionaries transfers. So when the missionaries are getting transferred there, in 2 weeks we'll have had our transfer calls. Elder Wockenfuss will probably leave, we have a couple of new Spanish Elders coming in so hopefully I'll get to train one of them. But if not, that's alright too. Also I got the chance to speak at sacrament meeting too. I spoke on repentance and shared excerpts from Enos and a talk by Elder Dale G. Renlund. I think everyone enjoyed it and I received a few comments about it. It was weird because it was the first talk I had given since leaving home so it was definitely different, especially in another language. Other than that it was a pretty normal week. The new mission president is coming in a few weeks so we're pretty sure the mission is going to go through a few changes in the next couple of months. It's so strange to hear of people getting married, from people back home to missionaries I've served with. We also get to go to the temple on the 28th so that will be fun. We went to the hospital on Friday to give a less active member a blessing before his open heart surgery the next day. Hopefully he had a good operation. Well that's about everything for this week! I hope you have a good week! Les quiero!!

Elder Emerick

another week ja ja ja ja

Hola Famila,

This week we didn't do too many things that were interesting. We had dinner, tried to stop by people, repeat. The only things that were different was that we had agua de SANDILLA this week TWICE!! It had been a really long time since I had had it. Also THE PENGUINS ARE THE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Now John and James have to go and miss the Steelers win the Super Bowl. A member may or may not have known that I like the Penguins and told me when they won. He might have but I forgot. So I'm sorry I sent that picture of us eating eggs and a hot dog. My intention wasn't to scare you, or make you feel like I was suffering in anyway. We do get fed here very well. It's just sometimes we don't have dinners on Mondays because we need to get things done and we only have a certain amount of time. We actually had two VERY good dinners this week. One Hermana actually made us pupusas! It's a Salvadorian dish, it's very good. Also we had tostadas, a pollo y jamon meal, and lots of other things. PLEASE DON'T CALL THE BISHOP. JAJA WE'RE FINE!!! Also this member that may or may not have told me about the Penguins gave me a Captain America Civil War shirt. He's just the coolest. Also I had to 'cast out another demon'. This is the 3rd time on my mission. jaja So we pretty much got a call from a member that said she wanted us to come a give her place a blessing so that evil spirits would go away. I'm always super sceptical about stuff like that but we went over and I gave a prayer that the Spirit would be able to dwell in their place. As I finished the Spirit was apparent there and she felt better. Elder Wockenfuss then gave her a blessing of comfort. Hispanics are very superstitious. Also Elder Banana made us a Filipino chicken he called Chicken Adobo. It's super good and it happened like 6 months ago but I forgot to tell you. It has brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and black pepper. So you should try that. It's good. So John and James are getting their wisdom teeth pulled? When did that come up? They shouldn't worry too bad. Just tell them what I told you right after I got them out. I wu f-u-n yeah. Anyways usually I try not to spend more than $25 per week for all food. That's including groceries and eating out. Which I think is a pretty good budget but obviously sometimes I spend more than that. It's alright you learn these valuable things on a mission. And Elder Wockenfuss's Mom is sending him 3 giant boxes of food so that he won't go hungry for the rest of his mission no matter how much he spends. Well I hope you all have a great week! 

Elder Emerick     

May Letter's

May 9 ,2016 Hola Familia,

So first I'm going to attach the letter I wrote to President for you. Something crazy happened this week. Dear President Kendrick,

We were able to have an investigator come to church, but unfortunately he dropped us afterwards. But we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators named Alan this week. We found him because a lady peered out her window to see us having a lesson with our Less Active member and she asked us what we do. We told her our purpose as missionaries and she in turn asked us if we could teach her son. So 2 Fridays ago we began teaching her son Alan and we left a Book of Mormon with him to read and asked him to pray about it to see if it's true. Well we had another lesson this past Fri after a quick lesson with him on Tue and he told us that he'd been reading and that he's on Chapter 10. We were both suprised to hear that he had read 10 chapters already in just a week. I asked him if he could bring his book out so that we could read with him and he did. Although when he brought it out his book mark was in the middle of the book, and he opened to it. I was confused and asked him what exact page he was on and he said 231. It turns out he was on Chapter 10 of Alma. He told us that he hasn't  stopped reading since we gave him the book. As soon as he finishes school work he reads, he reads with his brothers too and parents. He told us that he loves it. He also prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and he said that he answered his prayer that he is. Honestly I've never taught anyone that has read so much in so little time and that has done everything that we've asked him. He is only 12. At first I had a hard time believing that he had read so much but as he was telling us all these wonderful things, the Spirit testified to us that everything he was telling us about was true. Sorry for such a long letter President but it was such a crazy experience that I'll keep with me for a long time. We'll try to work with his parents and the rest of the family to help him come to church and be baptized. It'll be different because the parents will have the say in whether he progresses or not, but we'll do our best. Thank you President for everything! See you on Tuesday at Zone Conference!

Elder Emerick

So yeah, an amazing investigator that has read half of the Book of Mormon in a week. 12 years old! Like I said in the e-mail it will be up to his parents whether he progresses or not towards baptism but we're going to work hard with them to let their son (And themselves if possible) to join the church. We took our car to PepBoys on Saturday and we stayed there for like 3 hours. One of the most boring times ever.  We went on exchanges twice this past week as well. Once with Spanish missionaries in Fallbrook and once with the Zl's where I stayed in Vista. Also we had an investigator come to church but during Priesthood he left and started walking home lol I don't think we'll be seeing him again. He's a little nuts. We may be teaching the rest of his family though! We'll see. My favorite part of the mission is having awesome experiences like the one I just shared and teaching people who want to know the truth i.e. The Elect people who Heavenly Father has prepared for us. Well I hope you all are having a good time enjoying the blessings you're getting! I'll tell you some music that you all can listen to, to know what the culture is like, Que Linda Morena by Area 305, La Luz by Juanes, Las Piedras Rodantes by El Tri, Vivir mi Vida by Mark Anthony are just a few of them. They're all great songs in general even if you don't understand the lyrics. haha Also this week we're going back to Escondido for a baptism that Elder Wockenfuss is going to perform! It's the son of a recent convert he taught, so I'll see the Nieto family and be sure to take some pictures! Anyways have a great week! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

May 16,2016

We were able to have an investigator come to church, but unfortunately he dropped us afterwards. But we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators named Alan this week. We found him because a lady peered out her window to see us having a lesson with our Less Active member and she asked us what we do. We told her our purpose as missionaries and she in turn asked us if we could teach her son. So 2 Fridays ago we began teaching her son Alan and we left a Book of Mormon with him to read and asked him to pray about it to see if it's true. Well we had another lesson this past Fri after a quick lesson with him on Tue and he told us that he'd been reading and that he's on Chapter 10. We were both suprised to hear that he had read 10 chapters already in just a week. I asked him if he could bring his book out so that we could read with him and he did. Although when he brought it out his book mark was in the middle of the book, and he opened to it. I was confused and asked him what exact page he was on and he said 231. It turns out he was on Chapter 10 of Alma. He told us that he hasn't  stopped reading since we gave him the book. As soon as he finishes school work he reads, he reads with his brothers too and parents. He told us that he loves it. He also prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and he said that he answered his prayer that he is. Honestly I've never taught anyone that has read so much in so little time and that has done everything that we've asked him. He is only 12. At first I had a hard time believing that he had read so much but as he was telling us all these wonderful things, the Spirit testified to us that everything he was telling us about was true. Sorry for such a long letter President but it was such a crazy experience that I'll keep with me for a long time. We'll try to work with his parents and the rest of the family to help him come to church and be baptized. It'll be different because the parents will have the say in whether he progresses or not, but we'll do our best. Thank you President for everything! See you on Tuesday at Zone Conference!

Elder Emerick

So yeah, an amazing investigator that has read half of the Book of Mormon in a week. 12 years old! Like I said in the e-mail it will be up to his parents whether he progresses or not towards baptism but we're going to work hard with them to let their son (And themselves if possible) to join the church. We took our car to PepBoys on Saturday and we stayed there for like 3 hours. One of the most boring times ever.  We went on exchanges twice this past week as well. Once with Spanish missionaries in Fallbrook and once with the Zl's where I stayed in Vista. Also we had an investigator come to church but during Priesthood he left and started walking home lol I don't think we'll be seeing him again. He's a little nuts. We may be teaching the rest of his family though! We'll see. My favorite part of the mission is having awesome experiences like the one I just shared and teaching people who want to know the truth i.e. The Elect people who Heavenly Father has prepared for us. Well I hope you all are having a good time enjoying the blessings you're getting! I'll tell you some music that you all can listen to, to know what the culture is like, Que Linda Morena by Area 305, La Luz by Juanes, Las Piedras Rodantes by El Tri, Vivir mi Vida by Mark Anthony are just a few of them. They're all great songs in general even if you don't understand the lyrics. haha Also this week we're going back to Escondido for a baptism that Elder Wockenfuss is going to perform! It's the son of a recent convert he taught, so I'll see the Nieto family and be sure to take some pictures! Anyways have a great week! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick

May 23,2016

Hola Famila,

So if you look up Glenn Thomas G&K Services, you'll see a picture of our new mission president in July. Also it's the end of the transfer and we're staying together for another 6 weeks! So did you listen to any of the songs I told you about in my last e-mail? What did you think? I love the culture. Anyways some updates on Alan, he finished Alma on Friday and was about to start Helaman. He hasn't been to church yet because neither of his parents could take him but we'll ask them if we can have a member stop by for him. We also went to Escondido for the baptism of Jonathon Castro. Elder Wockenfuss performed the Baptism, he forgot a couple of the words in spanish so I had to help him say the prayer, he was a little nervous. jaja Also the boy's toe kept popping out of the water so he had to do it a couple times. I was also able to see the Nietos again! It's so crazy, they've given prayers, talks, and he's actually blessed the Sacrament once! I gave them a tie to help them remember me, they were elated. They can't wait to meet you all next summer. I also gave them Mom's Facebook so if Gloria Nieto asks to be your friend you should accept it, even though you may not be able to communicate too well jaja it'll be good practice. So since we're staying together for 6 more weeks I won't be training this transfer but I might the next! We'll just have to wait and see! After this next transfer My group of Elders will be the OLDEST SPANISH ELDERS IN THE MISSION. And there's still 5 transfers left for me. That's so weird. President Kendrick is finished after this transfer he's not getting trunky though. jaja It's so cool that John is only .06 away from breaking the School record considering the person who holds the record was like 6ft 8 and had a ginormous stride. I hope you get the job! Mas dinero siempre esta bien! Para que no sea mucho trabajo poco dinero! My second companion Elder Ellsworth dies this Tuesday, I learned so much from him and we had a good time even though we had no car covering a whole stake in the middle of summer with no hispanic people to talk to. That's how you enjoy your mission! You have fun and do your best even when you have so many trials, weaknesses, and problems. We talked about being happy in this week's past Zone Conference and they told us that it's a scientific fact that we all can CHOOSE to be happy. And that when we're happy we help others to be. So in the words of Hno Vidal Sr. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (In a very difficult to understand Chilean Austalian old person accent) I also gave a talk in Zone Conference about Being happy in the work. I guess President must think that I always have a great attitude about everything. I didn't find out I was giving the talk until the Elder directing the meeting announced it so I was a little unprepared and may have let the lest of the congregation know by saying "Sigh! nooooo...." everybody laughed but President said afterwards that he liked my short talk. Well I'll send off some pictures now. Have a great week!

Elder Emerick

June 6,2010 Una semana mas

Hola Familia,

So this week work wise we've been trying to continue to find more people and get people progressing towards baptism. In a pretty well populated area of hispanic people the problem isn't getting new investigators and keeping them. The problem is getting them to actually do something and progress. Unlike Temecula whenever we would cling to any investigator that we could find. Now it's just the opposite, we filter through people all the time. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures of the service we did. I actually wasn't doing anything with the hammer I just posed with it and told someone to take a picture. You didn't really think I would use a tool or do manual labor now did you?JAJA But don't worry we had a good time chasing chickens and building up that coop. Ya sabia que Mama fue la unica persona que tenia un Facebook, por eso la dije a anadir las personas que les conte. Chale como que no me entienden? Jaja es broma. So that's cool that things are finally starting to chill down for you all. Things are heating up here big time. I don't know if you've checked the weather but it's freaking hot. Even though there's the little breeze from the ocean that's 20 min away, the sun is still blazing. Better than Temecula but still hot. We finally got money so we can live again. We were suffering for a while but now we have money and can support ourselves again. The members are always willing to feed us we just forget to ask sometimes. I'm going to get a haricut today. Pretty excited about that. As you can see I'm kind of struggling of thinking of things to write cause nothing to special happened. So the Penguins are in the Stanley Cup Finals? That's crazy! You should get a bunny trap, we've visited a member who had a squirrel trap and a squirrel got trapped in one when we saw it. It looked pretty scared. I don't know if it died but there's a ton of them out here so I think it's all good. You should get another cat. When we were at a lesson with a Part Member Less Active family the member who came with us told about the time he drove through mexico in a van with a bunch of stuff in it, with a California Licence plate. He had to pay off police officers with trail mix because about every hour they were stopping him to try to get something from him. He just kept telling them after awhile that he didn't have money but he could give him some trail mix if he wanted. And it worked!  The Police there and the entire country in general is pretty corrupt. I have come to an understanding of why Hispanics risk their lives to come here and why so many stay. The majority of the illegal citizens here do come here legally like an airport or a legal border cross but then just overstay their visa. They sacrifice so much to try to provide a better life for their families but then their dumb kids get into trouble and make a bad name for their family and culture. It's sad to hear of people saying that we should kick them all out or whatever because they are genuinely good people. Anyways I've just come to a greater understanding on the whole subject and everything. Besides if they'd deport them all, there wouldn't be any work for the Spanish missionaries to do! Jaja Well I'll get to sending some pictures! Que pasen una semana muy buena! Les quiero!

Elder Emerick