Happy 4th of July!!

Another week flown by! Holy cow this transfer has been a complete blur it feels like! Looking back it is hard to even remember what happened this week! In fact nothing really to grand happened. So I will just tell you about our 4th of July Celebration! So mission policy is that you have to have your car parked or bikes locked up at home by 6:00 pm. The only way you could be out is by having a member drive you for the night. So it being the 4th of July no missionary wants to be inside all night. So us and another set of Elders went with a member to The city Firework show at the Mineral King bowl (the local high school stadium). It was really fun they had a band that played covers of alot of classics from the 70's 80's and 90's and even some current stuff. Not the best quality but I'm not complaining;) The firework show started at like 9:00 and went for like 40 minutes while good ole 4th of July music was playing! Personal favorite was "I'm Proud to be an American!!" kinda mad they didnt play courtesy of the red white and blue though! Awesome night! hope everyone enjoyed their 4th's! Kinda glad I was hear in the states to feel the Patriotism;) I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Tem um Bom Semana! Have a good week!

Our new president is fantastic. I absolutely love him and sister Clark! They are going to be great! Haha "J" was not baptized this Saturday unfortunately! We are hoping for the beginning of August! Good thing we have the spirit to read our investigators cause if i didnt i would be a lost cause.

 

Haha yeah looking at pics of the family always brings peace to my heart. So you got sappy looking at them? :) You know its funny you say that word "bold", because before my mission I did not believe myself to be a very bold person. In some regards even still i dont see myself as bold, but when teaching I have found myself to fit that description. I feel as though that is the way the spirit directs me is to be bold and assuring. I am grateful every day to have that gift.

Another Week Down!

Holy cow another week has come and gone!! It is scary how fast time is starting to fly! Not too bad of a week! We found a new investigator named Jennifer whose sister is being taught by another set of Elders. She came to church yesterday and we hope to hold a baptism for her this Saturday so she can be baptized with her sister! I have really enjoyed my time here in the California Fresno Mission. President Gelwix is officially home right now! President Clark is now here and we will have our Meet the Mission President tomorrow! I'm pretty excited! It'll be weird if I have to leave after getting to know him. Haha so everyone here is talking about the world cup and how Brazil almost lost.. Dang... Every time someone mentions Brazil I always get a little nervous because if I go it will be completely new to me. Ohhh well it would be sweet if it happens. I hit my 9 month mark this past week and dang it is sad every time a milestone hits cause that is one day less of being a missionary.

I am loving my time here though! I look forward to this upcoming transfer. I got to see my Trainer for the first time since I left my first area like 6 months ago! It was really fun to see him again. We had a training up in Fresno given by Greg Mckeown. It was pretty good! All about "essentialism: how to decide what is needed and what isn't". I am looking forward to the week ahead!! Should be awesome! Love you all!!

Dang! Another fast week!

Holy cow me and Elder Vonk keep laughing at how fast these weeks are passing by. You know I laugh at how different me and Elder Vonk are. We like the complete opposite things. He likes Cars,  he is super quiet, and likes this card game called magic. I like sports, and definitely being bold with people. Bold but not overbearing, so don't anyone worry. But you know what? I thank Heavenly Father every day for this chance to serve with him because he is teaching me sooo much. I have learned so many valuable life lessons and have really shaped myself into a much better missionary with his help!

Transfers come July 15th and they are coming soooo fast! Craziest thing is that President Gelwix ends his Mission Next Monday!!! He has a week left! We had our last zone conference with him and i bought a forever strong dvd and had him sign it for me with one of my favorite quotes from the movie;)

You will have to wait and see;) Plus you all should watch it again cause it is such an awesome movie! I have been getting stressed this past week and not really sure exactly why... I am thinking it is because we havent baptized since being with Elder Vonk. We are still working with a few that are ready they are just holding themselves back. Rather frustrating. Pray for "B-girl" and "A-boy" please! I had the opportunity to speak again in Sacrament meeting yesterday on "Spiritual Whirlwinds". The same topic spoken on by Neil L Anderson this Conference. It was really good I felt like. Helaman 5:12 describes the perfect way to combat spiritual whirlwinds! President Clark will arrive here on Monday, like i said, and we will get to meet with him individually on July 5th from what I hear. Should be awesome. The Visa thing is still a popular subject for members to quiz me on and will continue to be until i get my visa i think haha. Oh well I still keep up with with a lot of the missionaries I knew in the MTC who were going to Brazil. Good for them! Glad to hear everyone had a good week!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Whoa, this week flew by!!!

Dang as I sit here typing this I honestly feel like I blinked and realized a week passed! Soo stinkin quick! Not too bad of a week this week! Still pretty frustrating that we havent had a baptism in like a month and a half... I know that is that long but We have like three investigators that are soooooo close... Hopefully by the end of June. Sorry I havent been including to many stories from the mission. I have been keeping a detailed journal, (haven't missed a day yet!!) So i have a lot of stories to share for my return.

There have been sooooo many memories made out here. I think one of my favorite things about the mission are the people you meet. Missionaries, members, and nonmembers. I have made soo many great relationships! The question "Have you heard any news on Brazil yet?" from everyone hasnt gotten old... (sarcasm!) But I am loving every second of the work here in Cali even if it is 100+ daily:)

I have grown much greater in my love for my companion (insert Courtney's note: this was a concern and his #1 prayer as of last week's e-mail) and am really seeing a greater connection between the both of us.

So glad to hear girls camp went well!! I pray for everyone daily! Something i forgot to include last week was that we had stake conference and we had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come. Elder Acosta. He said and I quote "If you aren't praying at least 5 times a day, you arent coming unto Christ." I was like DANG! he said it kinda humorously but their is still a great message to that. We have such a wonderful blessing with the opportunity to pray. A literal communication with our Heavenly father! use it!! LOVE YOU ALL!! I love Visalia soo much! I hope to finish my fresno mission here before brazil hopefully:) we get our new mission president here in about two weeks! Soo excited!!! LOVE YOU!!!!

Also funny story is that i have made a deal with an investigator that i wont eat Taco bell (my favorite) if she wont drink her alcohol (her favorite);) It has been rough not eating it for like a month and a half but she hasnt drank any alcohol either!

 

 

Hello All!

OLA!! fun week this week. Lots of funny memories made. Too many little stories, so you will have to wait till I get home to hear them;) I haven't talked about my studies in awhile so this week I have really been studying Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. I have learned a great deal on Humility and Patience, two areas that I have always struggled in.

Sweet license plate: California Fresno Mission

Patience is something I am definitely growing in, but am continuing to be humbled ever so often. This past week we were dropped by an investigator that we had been teaching for a few weeks. His dad got rather upset at us for teaching the Law of Chastity... He didnt like us saying it was bad to have sexual relations before marriage, so he basically dropped us for "R" (our investigator) by kicking us out of the house. Kinda frustrating.

P day photo shoot

Also I have been struggling with loving others, including my companion. We are doing great work together, I just haven't had the love that I really want to have for him. I am really studying Chapter 6 in order to better myself and find more love for others. I am excited for the coming weeks. We have 3 Investigators right now preparing for baptism. "B-girl", "A-boy", and "C-boy". They are all awesome and we are looking forward to getting them into the waters of baptism this month! I know I have said this a bunch but I love this area soooo much!!

The members here are seriously such good friends of mine already. I am soo happy that I have had the chance to serve here for these past 4 months! Everything is going great here. I bought myself two new short sleeve shirts in preparation for this summer coming up... It is going to be soooooo stinkin hot.... Should be good though! Maybe I will shed a few pounds;) Hows everyone's missionary efforts going?! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Check out that temperature

Staying in Visalia!

So I am staying in visalia for another 6 weeks with Elder Vonk! Should be Fun! We are teaching like 6 people and all of them are doing pretty well. They all have their different concerns and issues but they are all awesome!! we are going to keep working with them and hopefully we will have some baptisms this week! We got to go to a baseball game this week!! Haha our stake president bought our entire zone tickets to the local 1A baseball team called the Visalia Rawhide. we lost but it was stinkin fun!!! ill send some picutres!! So i found out that 3 missionaries got their visas this transfer and are heading out tonight!! maybe one day it will come:) Love you all!!! 

Oi Familia!

Well I understand more about the Visa issues and I will work on preparing another one. I will do everything I can to have my Visa come in. As you know my mission here in Fresno is a "Temporary Re-assignment" meaning my call is still to Brazil. I will do everything that I need to do in order to obtain a Visa and if it doesnt come then I will know I did everything in my power and it was in the Lord's Hands. So I will get the FBI stuff figured out this week. Stay tuned on that.  (Insert Courtney's note: Dallas had received in early May 2013, and, being the on-the-ball person that he is, he took care of his FBI clearance/fingerprinting/background check immediately so he could include it with his Visa application. Who would have thought that it would take more than a year from the time he got his FBI clearance to get his Visa processed by the Brazilian consulate? Poor kid. Keep him in your prayers, he obviously really desires to serve in Brazil, since that's where he was called by the Prophet. Yet, he is pouring his heart into the work in CA, and still studying Portuguese an hour daily.)

As for this week! Great Week! We had a ton of success this week! We had 6 member presents (that means 6 members of their ward were present for a lesson) this week and found 7 new investigators! It was kinda crazy because at the beginning of the week we didnt have a whole lot of people to teach and we were getting rather frustrated.. But we kept working and have really been focusing on ATM's, (I don't know what that stands for) which is awesome because by Friday we had found 4 new investigators through members! It truly was an awesome week and one that gets me excited for future weeks! I am growing in love for this area! The members here are sooo awesome! I am grateful everyday for the opportunity I have to be serving here in California. I have learned sooo much from serving here and am soo proud to be a missionary! Yesterday marked the 8 month mark... 1/3 of my mission is gone.. So sad!! Just more incentive to work harder;) I love you all and am grateful for all you do for me! Tem um bom Semana!!

​Another Visa waiter who i have gotten close with. he has been out over 9 months! brazil is crazy for not wanting these two handsome elders;) Estou Brincando!! (I am Joking)

​ Heaven on Earth.. It is the best place ever..

ELDER Ave!! I told you i would find it!!

A member has the outhouse from Shrek!! how cool is that!! it works and everything!!

Mormons and Dodgeball.