Library in Koreatown

Hello dear family and friends! I am sitting in a library in Koreatown right now. It is interesting. I'm looking at a sign that says "Meeting Room", then it says something in Korean, then it says the same thing in Spanish. Where am I again?

I enjoyed the package mom! The candy is good! Guess what I did with the circus peanuts? The same thing grandpa taught me to do with them. I usually grab one when I pick out my socks in the morning.

Oh, before I get too excited with my e-mail, I need some information from dad. I need our current bishop's information--phone number, address, name, etc. The mission home needs that information for some reason. Probably so they can tattle on me to my home bishop.

I really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa's e-mail. It was very helpful and grandpa is still funny as ever. I enjoyed Cory's e-mail too. Very....edifying?....maybe not.

So mom was right. I've had to say that a million times. But I am getting a lot of opportunities to use my music out here! It's really fun! I got to practice the piano yesterday, and it felt really good. I am part of a special musical number next sunday for the President's Fireside. My companion, another Elder, two Sisters, and I are singing a nice song for it.

It is tuesday right now. We didn't get to e-mail on p-day because it was Memorial Day and the Libraries were closed. Yesterday we went to downtown L.A. and I bought a soccer ball. So I'm going to juggle in the mornings instead of play b-ball, because I'm really bad at b-ball.

SO I HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD NEWS!!!!! Elder Hopoate and I had a baptism on Sunday!!!!! He is from Guatamala. He hardly speaks English, which is hard because I really want to communicate freely with him. I found him a few weeks ago at Barrio Sexto (Sixth Ward). He had been attending church with his friend, and he wanted to be baptized before we even met him! It was just a matter of teaching him the lessons. He passed his interview, and we baptized him. You should have seen his face after he came out of the water! I had the opportunity to baptize him. His friend's dad was going to do it, but something happened, and he had me do it. I found out earlier in the day that I would be baptizing him, so I spent all day at church trying to memorize the words in Spanish! I was so nervous I would mess up. I ended up messing up the first time, so I restarted and it worked! Spanish came out of my mouth! We went on a temple tour later that day, and he watched the Joseph Smith movie at the mission home, and he looked happy when he left the movie. He was definitely prepared for the Gospel! And the family who had been bringing him to church has another friend who they brought to the baptism, and we will be teaching him this week!!!!! The work is moving forward!!!!!

Emily, that story about Cristy Hughes is way awesome! It's so good to hear that she was baptized! I was so happy when I read your letter. And thank you to Ronda for her letter and everything too! It's so good to hear from family!!!!!!

So I've mentioned a little bit about the changes that will be taking place in this mission. We are switching from bilingual to straight Spanish and straight English next transfer! I am crossing my fingers that I will stay Spanish, but if not, that is OK too. Wherever I go I will work my hardest! Also, we will be getting a new mission president within the next 2 months. They will be tearing down the mission home too. That is really sad. It is an awesome place! Also, I will be "killing" my companion next transfer if we are still together. Meaning that he is going home next transfer.

The weather is really nice here.

I went to a baptism last week. It was probably the best baptism I've ever been to. For the spiritual thought after the baptism they had people bear testimony in different languages. Some of the testimonies were from former missionaries, and some were from our current missionaries. We heard testimonies in Korean, Portuguese, German, Tongan, Russian, and Greek. It was neat to feel the Spirit come from languages we don't even understand. The language of the Spirit is there for everybody to feel.

I will be sending home some pictures eventually. I won't say when, because I don't want to set myself up for failure.

Still haven't heard from my dear sister Alesha. Ella es viviendo? Is she living?

Entonces, eso es bastante. Yo no pienso que tengo mas para ustedes. Yo se que La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias es verdadera. Y por medio Jose Smith, tenemos la plenitud del Evangelio. Estoy agradecido por mi familia, y por este oportunidad servir como un representante de Jesucristo. Con fe, todas cosas son posible hacer, si es la voluntad de Dios. Familias son eterna. Yo digo estas cosas en el Nombre de Jesucristo. Amen.

Siempre tengan sonrisas! No tienen razones estar triste, porque tienen la verdad!

Cuidense! Te Amo!

Con Amor,

Elder WAt