Second Baptism

I love doughnuts, and found a tasty place to get them. I am told this shop was in a movie.

This is Gema, my 2nd baptism. She is from Mexico and is a very humble, kind person.

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!!! Things are going SUPER FANTASTIC out here in Los Angeles. It has been a fairly cool summer. It doesn't get too hot, and the evenings are perfect--every day! It was really good to hear from Alesha in her e-mail. It sounds like things are going really well in Spanish Fork. I'm excited to hear her Dominican Republic stories, that sounds like lots of fun.

This past Sunday was the best Sunday we've had so far! We had 7 or 8 investigators at church!!!!!! It was really awesome to see them there! One of the requirements for baptism is to go to church at least 3 times, so they are making good progress. Richard and Araceli are getting married on the 15th of this month! Then we will wait until October for Richard's baptism because we have some things to work out, but he is doing SOOOO well! 2 of our investigators finally came who we have been trying for 2 or 3 weeks to get them there, so it was really good to see them. We were in a lesson yesterday with a family who is investigating the church, and we found out that the mom and dad aren't married yet......that seems to happen a lot. So we are going to try to work with them and get them married so they can get baptized. But they have a daughter, Aixa, who will be able to be baptized. We committed them to pray to know the truth, so we'll se how they are doing when we go back! I'm really starting to love my area. The people here are awesome! There are so many cultures in our boundaries! In the southern part we have a lot of black people, then in the middle there is a mixture of blacks, Latinos, and one or two white people, then everywhere else is full of Latinos. There are a lot of people from El Salvador, Mexico, Hondurous, and Guatemala in our area. It is fun to learn about the different cultures in their countries. And the black people are super nice and way cool to the missionaries! They are really funny people too. We certainly see a lot of crazy things happen hahaha, remind me to tell you the stories in the back of my journal when I come home hahaha! Oh yeah, and today we had Temple P-Day! I love when we get to go to the temple! We are so blessed in this mission to be able to go to the temple every other transfer (every 3 months). The L.A. temple is really really really really pretty on the inside, but the smog is so bad outside that you can't see very far into the distance haha. We ate at a pizza place near the temple in Santa Monica and I met a man from Isreal who speaks Hebrew! It is amazing all the different kinds of people here! It is interesting to drive down the different streets and see so many different languages on signs and stores! So since we went to the temple today we didn't have p-day on Monday, so this e-mail is a little late.

I bought a little gadget today that I'm hoping can put pictures on the computer from my camera card.

Thanks for setting up a blog thing for me! That is really neat! I wish I could see it, but our computer access is pretty limited (e-mail and lds.org), but now that I can send pictures I'll try to keep them flowing. I really liked Alesha's pictures! Especially the cannibal one haha! Oh and Grandma and Grandpa Watkins sent me an awesome package of goodies and grandma's blackberry jam! I LOVE JAM! As soon as I buy some more bread it will all be gone! I'm sorry to hear that mom is sick. She will get better soon though. I really like the scripture in D&C 20:39 which says "For it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter, they could not know the sweet." If we were never sick or in pain, we could never know what it is like to be healthy and happy! What a cool concept!!!!!! I hope everybody else is doing well and is happy. I pray and hope the best for you!

I'm starting to love the people here. They are so nice! Elder Hopoate and Elder Cruz talk about home all the time, but I'm pretty content staying here for another year and a half! I definitely miss home, but I wouldn't go home early unless it were a commandment from Church Headquarters! The work is too sweet, and the time is too short. Thank you so much for all your prayers. I'm very grateful for family and friends and for the help of the Lord in this work. I know this gospel is true, and I know the Spirit can be very powerful in our lives.

love you all very much, Cuidense!!!!!

Love, Elder Watkins