WOW!!!! This is nothing like I expected!!! Los Angeles is pretty crazy!!!! It has been the most crazy few days of my life!!!! We left small-town Salt Lake City Wednesday morning and landed in the biggest stretch of CITY I have ever seen in my life!!!!!!! THIS PLACE IS HUGE!!!! haha So we got off the plane and our mission president, President Blackburn, and his wife were waiting for us. They took us over to a chapel, and assigned us to go tracting for a couple hours with temporary companions. haha one of my first doors I knocked on, the guy said "who is it?" and I said "we're missionaries" and he said "GO AWAY" hahaha! And I saw a Rolls Royce in that area we were tracting haha it was sooo nice! Then we went back to the mission home and we had an orientation, and we had driving tests and later we got assigned to our trainers!!!! Mine is way awesome!!! He is actually the Elder I went tracting with. His name is Elder Hopoate, and he's from Tonga. He is a former Assistant to the President, and I hear he is a really good missionary!!!! So that night we went to our apartment. We have a cool area. We are flushing our area, which means we are both new to the area, so we are working to get to know the ward members and find investigators to teach. We went out that night and street contacted, and we found a lady and taught her a lot of the First Lesson on the sidewalk, and now she has a baptismal date!!!!!! And we are going tonight to teach her for the third time!!!! We didn't have power in our apartment for two or three nights so we had to use candles and a flashlight to see haha! But now we have power so it's all good.
This area is pretty crazy! We have a super small area, and we are on bikes. I went and bought a used bike for $90, and it is in pretty good shape, and it is orange, so that means it is cool. I am definitely a minority in my area. I don't see white people very often. It is like I have been sent to a land where all the Latinos in the whole world have gathered with black people and Koreans hahaha! Part of Korea town is in my area!!!! There are actually Korean speaking missionaries in Los Angeles because there are so many Koreans. They even have a Korean Ward in one of our buildings. We cover two wards: one is English speaking and the other is Spanish speaking! Most of the people we talk to only speak a little English and mostly Spanish. It is amazing. There are so many people who have lived here for 10 years and they barely speak English. Because the Latino population is so big, they don't need to speak English. And the Latino people are sooooo nice!!! Wow, they are way more kind than white people!! They are really respectful and they actually listen to us haha!
I got a letter from Elder Tyler Larsen!!!! Wooo!!!! It is soooo good to hear from him!!!!
It is Preparation Day, and we come to the library every week to write e-mails home. We receive letters on Fridays. Oh yeah, I need to know the contact information for Brother Feltch because he is the new Bishop of our home ward, and the office needs to know that. And also, if you write letters, be sure to address them with my full name, first and last. And feel free to e-mail me too, I'm not allowed to e-mail anybody except immediate family thought. But anyone can e-mail me if that is easier.
I like the humidity. It's not very much, but it is pretty nice. It is soooo cool to see palm trees all over the place too, and orange trees, and lemon trees hahaha it is really weird for somebody who has lived in the mountains his whole life!!!! But the pollution is NASTY!!! It is a clear day today, with no clouds, but when I look at the tall buildings downtown, they are hazy because the smog is so bad haha. And I can see the HOLLYWOOD sign from my area! It is pretty cool. But I heard they are tearing it down so they can build houses there. That is the last thing Los Angeles needs, more houses. I can't believe how many people live here!!!! It is crazy!!!! But there are sooo many people to teach, and so many people that need the gospel. The missionary force is really strong here. We have almost 200 missionaries in the third smallest mission in the world!!! But there are about 5 million people to teach the gospel to!!!! We will work hard to bring people to the waters of baptism.
I hope everybody is doing well back in the village, or city of Vernal haha. From now on I will refer to Vernal as The Village, because it is tiny. haha I love Vernal, so I can say that. I hope school is going well for everybody, and that soccer is going well for Lindsey, and that Emily is fighting off the villains of UHS, and that Alesha is working hard, and that Andrew is saving lives. I am grateful to have the best family in the entire world!!! I love you all sooo much!!!! I am so grateful to be part of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times!!!! This is the best time to live!!! We are sooooooo blessed to be part of this "great and marvelous work", or "una obra maravillosa"! I will keep you all in my prayers, and I hope you all stay close to the Lord, and I will do likewise!!!! Good luck with all you do!!!! This work is moving forward, and nothing in the entire world can stop it. The Lord simply won't permit it. Keep working hard!!!! And always be happy! I have noticed that being happy is just a matter of changing your mind when you are in a bad mood. It is hard to do, but it makes life soo much more enjoyable. As Elder Tyler Larsen would say it "Keep Smiling"!!!! I love you all soooooooo much!!!!!!!!!! Para Siempre Dios este con vos. Nos vemos mi famia!!
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