Week 17 - Biking, Biking, and More Biking

*Clears throat*....Bueno,

So first off I will keep this e-mail pretty short because literally nothing happened this week.

First! Elder Lewis (My new companion) and I were double transferred into la área de paraíso 1. So basically Tuesday we met up at transfers and everyone had a good time and we moved stuff around from car to car and got our necessary materials and went on our way. We arrived at our new apartment and looked around at everything and unpacked. Once all that was done we sat down at the table and had a moment where we realized that yeah...we knew nothing...

GREAT THING THOUGH OUR AREA BOOKS DIDN'T UPDATE UNTIL THURSDAY! TWO DAYS LATER! ESTABAMOS TAN FELIZ!

That's sarcasm by the way

Luckily the previous Elders left us a nice letter about our investigators and a few other important things. So we used some of this to get a tiny idea of how to work. The good thing is that our area here is about twice the size of my area in Montebello. The bad thing is that we have a lot less miles for the month here than in Montebello.

Guess who started biking...

In 120+ degree weather...

I hate biking.

We pretty much tracted the entire week and tried to get to know whatever investigators we could. We have some really good solid investigators though. We have Hector who is this big, loveable, Cuban guy. It is fun teaching him because we can't understand a thing he says. So we always pray for the gift of interpretation before we start. He has a baptismal date and loves to learn about the gospel. Hector is a cool guy.

We have a really lit apartment though which is awesome. It has a really cool bike rack in it that goes from the floor to the ceiling. Also it doesn't have bed bugs crawling around everywhere which is a nice change from my apartment in Montebello.

That ladies and gentlemen was week one of this transfer (which is actually a seven transfer). It was an alright week. Let's see what happens this week!

Elder Lawson

P.s. here are some pictures that I got with one of my favorite families and the bishops family from Montebello last week before Elder Martinez and I got transfered

 

Week 16 - Hiking, Transfers, and EDC

SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK!

First of all last Lunes, our entire district went hiking with a couple in our ward up a giant mountain behind the temple. The name is Frenchman's Mountain and it is pretty dang huge. There were eight of us total who started the climb/hike and eventually groups broke off because they were tired, so in the end only four of us made it up to the top.  It was so super cool up there. You could see all of the Las Vegas Valley and out to Henderson and even Boulder City. We took tons of pictures too. Definitely worth all the cuts and sunburns that I got on myself.

Tuesday we had the most lit district council ever. The Elders from Charleston Blvd. gave a training about missionary work that was based off of a motivational video about Steph Curry. It was so good.

Thursday our favorite family that Elder Diaz and I are teaching, the Murrillo's, took us out to dinner. We talked to them more about missionary work and what it is like and about the Book of Mormon. They are such a cool family and are so interested in learning all they can about the church!

Friday we had a Father's Day fiesta at the church. Before that we went to the Murrillo's house to invite them, but sadly the father had work that night. Like usual they had some more questions from the night before and they asked about what it was like for our parents while we are gone. We both said we didn't know, but I said they should message my parents on Facebook and find out if they wanted too. We left to the fiesta and had a super good time. We were taking the other missionaries back to their car and we received a text from the Murrillos. It read something like this, "So my mom just recieved news that Abby is in the hospital about to have her baby!". I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU HOW PUMPED I WAS TO HEAR THIS. NOT ONLY WERE INVESTIGATORS TALKING TO MY FAMILY, BUT THEY TOLD ME I AM AN UNCLE AGAIN!!!! For anyone who doesn't know up until this past weekend I have been an expectant uncle for nine months! No más! So that was freaking amazing to hear! Like what a way to end a night.

Then Saturday we had Transfer Doctrine. *Drum Rollllllll* I am leaving Montebello! I'm going to a ward over by The Luxor (Giant pyramid thing in Vegas) called Paraíso! I'll be with Elder Lewis for this next transfer or possibly two. We are being double transferred, which means that the two Elders there right now are both leaving and two new Elders (Us) are being put in. We won't know anything or anyone!! I'm so pumped!

Sunday we had church and I said goodbye to all my favorite people in the ward here and got pictures with them. It's been a sick 11 weeks here in Montebello, I don't want to leave our investigators, but it's the life of a missionaries.

Also fun fact, EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) was this weekend and EDC is the biggest Electric Music Festival at the beginning of the summer each year and it happens in Vegas. It's been on my bucket list of things to go do for a while now. The great part is that it happened three miles from our house. The sad part is that I'm a missionary so sadly I can't go to it...

So all this weekend whenever we returned to our house that night we saw hundreds of tour busses with "Official EDC shuttle bus" written on the front. We have also seen lots of people in their rave outfits, which means a tank top and shorts for guys with random neon bandanas and paint and such, and for the girls a mix of neon paint and almost nothing on.

We have seen some very "interesting" people this weekend...

But next week I will be in a new area with a new companion and most probably a new mission president!

Until then,
Elder Lawson

Pictures:
1. Our entire district about halfway up the mountain
2. The three missionaries who reached the top (Brother Montez took the picture)
3. Something we found while tracting

Week 15 - Upset Converts, Another Temple Tour, and Tracting

Ayee what's good gente,

So this week was sorta decent. We had to drop a ton of baptismal dates because the people weren't ready and we had to figure out how to make our door approach work a ton better, but hey we got that done!

Tuesday we had a nice lesson with Judith. She is our recent convert, who was baptized two weeks ago. She explained to us how she had been really unhappy recently with church because no one had given her a calling and she wanted to help with something. I'm very happy that she was not unhappy about something else.

Wednesday we had this lesson with a kid named Jose. He is fifteen and just likes to play soccer. We brought Alondra with us. She just got her mission call to Mexico, so we figured it would be a good experience for her. Jose really liked our message...or maybe he just liked Alondra? Either way we got another appointment with him!

Thursday we played soccer with Jose and his cousin Jorge. They walked to the church and a ton of people showed up. Jose liked that a ton!

Friday we had a temple tour with the Murrillo family! We have been teaching them for a super long time now and it was amazing! We sat in the garden in the middle of the temple for almost an hour while they asked tons of questions. They really really like how different we are from generic churches and how everything works. Sadly they won't accept a baptismal date because they want to know more before they accept one. We just have to be diligent with them.

Saturday we had service at 6:00AM with an English companionship in our district. That was pretty terrible having to get up so early, but hey we were blessed later that day with six new investigator! Two of them are sooo solid and it's awesome. We had a really good time tracting that day.

Sunday we literally went to church and then tracted all day. That got boring towards the end of the day.

It's been pretty sweet here. We've been dealing with some marital problems between two of our investigators, so that kinda set them back a bit, but we are persevering! Also transfers are this week so I'll find out if I leave or not. Sadly I'm most likely up to leave Montebello. It's all good though. Estas cosas pasan.

I'll let you know next week!
Elder Lawson

P.s. Oh yeah the photos are kinda trash this week, but here is one of all the guys in our Zone from last week!

From dad: This is the mountain Elder Lawson is hiking today (Frenchman Mountain).

Week 14 - Bugs, Carrot Juice, and a hint of Lord of the Rings

Hola Hermanos y Hermanas,

So I don't know if I wrote about this or not, but about my 3rd day in the mission field Elder Hodge and I helped a member wrap up a couch because it was infested with bed bugs. To make a long story short, Elder Diaz and I finally figured out what the red marks on our bodies were!

So yeah Tuesday and Wednesday we spent all day cleaning our house to get rid of the bed bugs that we dragged back almost 2 months ago. Now I won't go into how disgusting it was or how bad, but we might have had 8 Elders at our apartment cleaning with us. We got literally no missionary work done those 2 days, but hey cleanliness is next to godliness!

And Mom don't worry I'm fine and all is well. The bed bugs are all gone......most of them.

We just have to vacuum and spray our apartment down with some poison everyday before we leave! The adventures of a missionary are awesome!

Thursday was our last Zone Conference with President Snow. That was pretty sad.

Friday! We went to the Las Vegas West Mission! So like Frodo we went into the west! Elder Diaz had a doctors appointment there. We met some missionaries from the West Mission. They seemed super cool. Not as cool as regular Vegas missionaries though ;)

We also got free donuts at Krispy Kreme!

Saturday and we had a baptism! One of the English Elders was there and he gave his testimony in English and Elder Diaz translated for him. It was so legit!

Also some guy gave us carrot juice and it was the nastiest thing I have ever had to do on my mission. He sat there and made sure we drank all of it before  I then accidentally spilt some on my favorite tie. That was just a bit of something more to add to the disappointment of having to drink carrot juice.

And that was pretty much our week. Bed bugs, carrot juice, and going into the west!

See you guys next week!
Elder Lawson

Also the picture is of the giant baseball we found last Monday while looking for people in a park.

Week 13 - Baptisms, Interventions, and Scorpions

¿Qué pasó?

Tenemos dos bautismos esta semana pasada!

So yeah our investigators, Judith and Alexandra were baptized this past week! Elder Hodge and I found Judith while knocking doors my third week here and I baptized her on Saturday! Alexandra is 8 years old and she lives with her aunt who is a member. It was super awesome and everyone had a great time!

Tuesday and Wednesday we had exchanges, so I was with Elder Martinez for a bit and we had a lesson with a member about how she needs to baptize her kid because all her other kids are  and she is putting it off for no reason. The bishop even told us to sit her down and pretty much have an intervention with her. So that's what we did and now she really isn't to happy with us, but hey it's her choice to postpone the salvation of her kid.

Thursday we had service with a member and prosd (proselyted) for a bit. Nothing super exciting happened Thursday

Friday we went to the mission office and the mission home! They told us on our first day that we wouldn't be back  to the mission home until our last day in the mission field for our "Last Supper", which is the final meal we will have in the mission, but being the person I am, I totally went back before the end of these two years. So you know #SavageElderLawson

We then had service at the bishops house and tore down drywall and patched some holes. Also! I ate a lollipop this week that had a scorpion inside it. It was so nasty, but hey I ate a scorpion!

Saturday we had our baptisms! Tons of people came and I was super nervous to baptize Judith, but everything worked out perfectly! And I didn't fall in with her or anything super embarrassing like that. Looking at you dad.

Sunday the ward had another baptism and a girl opened her mission call afterwards and dang the memories were intense. She is going to a visitor center mission in Mexico City at the temple, so it was super cool! All of us missionaries were super pumped and reminiscing super hardcore.

Then today a guy in Wal-Mart walked up to us and tried to speak in tongues to us. That was awkward for everyone involved. Especially because no one had any idea what he was doing.

This week was pretty fuego all-around.

Hasta proxima semana!
Elder Lawson

Pictures:
1. We had four total baptisms on Saturday!
2. Also Elder Hodge showed up from Kingman, AZ.
3. Alexandra and ya boy. Also if you look closely at my arm you can see the effect of trying to skate after not skateboarding for a year.

 

Week 12 - Seventies, Judith, And A New Companion

Fun Fact Everybody!

So today is May 22nd, which means I have officially been out for 3 months as of today!

So yeah that's pretty cool.

This week has been legit. First off guess who has two baptisms this Saturday! But first we start with Tuesday...

So Tuesday morning we go to the chapel on Viking St. and all the missionaries are there. So I say bye to Hodge and all of them leave in a van to go out-of-valley and I meet Elder Diaz my new companion. He is from Idaho, but also knows Spanish because he was born in Mexico. We went home and he unpacked and we went on our way to teach and preach and work as missionaries do.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty slow with just tracting all day, except for lessons every now and then, but Friday!

Friday we helped the Bishop's wife clean up some stuff around their house in preparation for one of the Seventy, who came this week and stayed in their house for Stake Conference and a special meeting with the Montebello Ward! It was Elder Cordon who came and he spoke in General Conference this past April.

Afterwards we went to Judith's house to have a lesson with her. We have been teaching her for about a month and we set up a time for her baptismal interview and she was super excited for that.

Saturday we had a baptismal interview for another investigator! Her name is Alexandra and she is 8 years old. Her Great-aunt is a member and she lives with her. So we taught her everything in like a week and a half and now she is getting baptized Saturday as well!

And yeah that was week 12...

Until next week!
Elder Lawson

Pictures:
1. We found the actual street of Montebello!
2. What did you say my father smelled of?
3. The thermostat of our car the other day!

 

Week 11 #2 - Transfers, Scammers, and Mother's Day

Ayee what's good!

So fun fact! Last week was actually week 10 and not week 11. Clearly public school did not teach me how to count properly, but oh well. So welcome to week 11 #2!

So Tuesday right? We are tracting and this house down the street is absolutely bumping it (playing music really loud). Of course we decide to go see what's up. I knew it was going to be insane when we walked up and a guy runs out to us and immediately gives both of us a hug and asks us if we were blazing it...

I had the wonderful opportunity to explain that as missionaries we in fact were not into smoking "that good stuff" and were there to talk about Jesus. He was very excited by this and started a 20 minute rant about being saved, smoking a blunt on the daily, the illuminati and a few other conspiracy theories. We ended up leaving after telling him we would be back on Thursday to hear more and to further be enlightened. We didn't go back.

Wednesday was even more interesting when halfway through our lesson with Guadalupe, these two 23 year-old looking guys in reflector vests came and stole her away saying that they were from the county. After realizing midway through our conversation with them that they were scammers, we then did everything to interrupt the ensuing meeting they tried to have with Guadalupe. They left after 5 minutes, but only after trying to undermine us first and talk to us like we were 6. It was nice.

Thursday we had a meeting with the mission president and all the trainers and trainees who came out of the MTC with me. It was just for some trainings and to see how we liked everything. Afterwards we got In-n-Out, so I was pretty excited about that.

Friday was normal missionary work.

But Saturday! We found out about transfers for tomorrow! Elder Hodge is going out-of-valley to Kingman, AZ. to his first English ward and I am staying in Montebello East and getting Elder Diaz as my companion. He is from Mexico, so I'm hoping to hardcore improve the Spanish this transfer.

Later we had a drunk guy angrily yell at Elder Hodge, "I AM JESUS CHRIST!". That was pretty lit. Also his friend had just gotten out of 10 years of prison for killing someone, so that was nice.

Later we had a ward fiesta and one of our investigators came with us!

And yesterday was Mother's Day! Which means I got to talk to my family! That was probably one of the best hours of my life because my family is pretty freaking cool, so it's pretty great to meet with them for a bit. Especially after not seeing them. Also I saw my dog! She is pretty cool as well.

Also I learned that my high school graduation was on Saturday night! I am officially a high school graduate! I'll get a picture of me holding my diploma for everyone in about 21 months, so definitely be listo for that

Until la proxima semana!
Elder Lawson

P.s. The pictures are of Elder Hodge and I eating our corn and Mexican snow cone from the Elote guys on the streets and then a picture from the meeting on Thursday