Brazil Bound soon!

So I am loving every second of my mission thus far and the idea of going to Brazil has only fanned the flames within me and made me want to go a thousand miles an hour this week! Not much by way of successes but none the less I am stoked to be a missionary! I am with Elder Gamino now cause another missionary went home and so another elder needed a companion so they broke our trio up... kinda depressing but we still see each other often! It is killing me to think I will have to leave this branch behind!!

I love these members sooo much! Today we had the chance to go to the Temple. What a great blessing for me. It did a lot of good in calming my nerves!

Transfer calls are going to happen on Saturday so I am assuming President will let me know these next few days about the visa because for some reason he wont tell me.. probably cause he wants to avoid me getting "trunkie" even though I have known for like a month... oh well alls well that ends well! Love Yall!!

Gryffindor

Lake Kaweah!!

Put your shoulder to the wheel!

 

The field is white, all ready to harvest!

Bom Semana!

Haha man before I start into the week let me just say that this tri-companionship is the funniest thing ever.. I have never laughed sooo hard! The best part is the work that we are getting done! I could not ask for a better way to leave Fresno than how things are playing out right now! I am almost emotional thinking about leaving this place. I told my Branch President yesterday about My Visa and how I will be departing for Brazil soon. So he decides that at the end of Sacrament meeting to have me come up and give my testimony. Of course I am used to it by now, but for some reason when i got up to the pulpit I was nearly overcome with emotions which was super hard for me... No one else knows about the visa so I had to stay strong and not give away the sadness i felt! didnt want people thinking i was some softy for no reason;) But honestly I am going to miss this place sooo much! I will never forget the memories i made while here! So many stories, especially one of the greatest miracles I have ever seen that I will tell you about when i call at the airport! So many special and lasting moments that make missions soooooo worth it. The best line I heard this week came from an 18 year old thinking about serving a mission who said "Seeing the way you three act and enjoy your missions really makes me want to go!" and honestly its sooo true. If it isn't fun you are doing it wrong!! I Love you all!!

Tri-Companionship

Haha so this week has been a fun one for sure. We had a lot of finding opportunities and found a pretty cool guy named Giovanni. He says he is a rapper so Elder Sims automatically loves him. Speaking of Elder Sims- I love him! He is awesome. He is kinda prideful but it is in a funny way. He had a record deal before his mission he says with Sony music. He says he worked on the show "Victorious" on Nickelodeon (I'm sure Cassidy knows what that is) He is very funny as well and loves basketball which is nice. He is small so it is fun. So an explanation on the subject line- A missionary in a ward in our district went home, so his companion is now with us for the next 4 weeks until the end of the transfer. Crazy part of it was that they were going to move to Modesto (the most northern part of the mission) and just have them be together because there is someone up there who is companion-less in a tri-companionship so they tried to move me up there but funny enough, I am the only one who can drive in our companionship so I got to stay! My members would have been so mad if I had just straight up left without saying anything! Plus I would have been ticked! We had the chance of confirming "A" on Sunday! Soooo awesome!! Like I said This was one of those awesome mission moments I will always remember. This week should be a great one!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Also i totally forgot a funny thing that happened!! We almost got eaten by a dog!! a stinkin pitbull!! Crazy fun story that i will tell when i get home... ;) LOVE YALL

 

 

 My new companion in the tri-companionship is 5'3". He's a fun-size candy bar.

What a Week!

So before I address the rather insane news I opened up to when I logged on (his visa was approved/arrived and he will soon be on his way to Brazil!), I will start with addressing the week! I LOVE my new companion! He is hysterical! He is from south carolina! He is a musical genius! He plays every instrument except like 3. He is an awesome singer and loves basketball. He is only 5'7 so he envies my height so we have some fun together. Plus we got out of the corrola and we are now driving a Chevy Colorado! Sweetness! Not much this week as far as new investigators. We are teaching the same people and are really praying they will have a change of heart! Most are prepared for baptism they are just holding themselves back! 

NOW for the rather crazy news dad informed me of... If that is true- i will have a coronary..... I am already hyperventilating... My mission president will call me soon and probably let me know of the news if it is really to good to be true! If it is true I will embrace this experience with complete trust that that is where I am supposed to be! I will continue to prepare myself in all aspects in preparation! I love you all soooo much!!

I'm a Visalian!!

So transfer calls have come once again and I got exactly what I hoped for! I will be staying in Visalia for a 5th Transfer! I will be getting a new companion. Elder Vonk is going up to Merced to be a district leader and my new companion will be Elder Simms! Woah This will be fun! haha I have no idea what to expect! It will be super fun and I am soo excited to have this new chance! Haha i will be in a YSA for another transfer... i might be in a YSA for my whole mission if i dont go down to Brazil:) 

​I love Street contacting. Met this rapper named Destro!

So as of last week I have now found out that my entire MTC district has made it to brazil! Haha i am the lone survivor in the States! Craziness!! 

​We will all come back here and eat after my return... this place is heaven on earth.....!!!

Fellow missionaries

We had one of the best weeks thus far on my mission. Last week on Wednesday we taught 8 lessons in one day! So awesome! It was a good run with Elder Vonk but I am ecstatic about this new transfer. 

​The DVD president Gelwix signed for me! haha watch the movie and you will recognize the quote;)

Elder Simms is going to be a breath of Fresh air;) We are still teaching the normal people but we added a new investigator named "C" who has huge gages but is sweet!! He came to church yesterday! having a blast out here! Got the letters you sent and got the package as well!! Thank you for everything!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

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!!