Un misionero en un quince

Day: 8

Pushup Count: 334

Buenos días a todos! Espero que todo les vaya bien! Well to be honest, I only had time to journal once this week, so we'll see how much I remember. Most of what I remember is just that it was really long and tiring, but some good stuff happened too 

- The sisters in my district made me a birthday cake and then some of the Elders and I played magic, so it was a good birthday 

- We had three lessons with our friend Paul. He's so eager to learn and prepare for his baptism, it's amazing! I'm learning so much from him 

- I went on exchanges with Elder Taylor in Bakersfield, and we talked a lot (maybe a little too much ) about movies and roller coasters 

- We met an inactive member who had some crazy experiences but physically cannot come back to church... Very sad  don't take your health for granted y'all 

- We had to get an oil change and new tires  so we went to Bakersfield and walked four miles, ate lunch, companion studied, and stopped for moment to admire golf clubs... all before the car was ready 

- I tried Mediterranean food for the first time—me gustó 

- Saw a dead snake while tracting... As well as like four or five shriveled up dead cats. It was a fun road 

- We got bashed and apparently the dude liked me a lot cause he said I get it but my companion doesn't 

- We went to the quinceañera for a girl in the ward We ate good food and I ran into some people from Payson that I went to school with. It's a small world when you're a member of the church from Utah 

Not a whole ton this week, but I'm doing good and I hope you are too. I love you all and let me know how things are going! 

Spiritual Thought:

Just a quick quote from Elder Kearon's talk from this last general conference:

"In other words, the Father’s plan is not about roadblocks. It never was; it never will be. Are there things we need to do, commandments to keep, aspects of our natures to change? Yes. But with His grace, those are within our reach, not beyond our grasp. 

This is the good news! I am unspeakably grateful for these simple truths. The Father’s design, His plan, His purpose, His intent, His wish, and His hope are all to heal you, all to give you peace, all to bring you, and those you love, home."

Anyways, the whole talk is a banger, so go give it a listen! 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos!

sorry but it's literally just the snake

Un misionero pachangando

Day: the one where I was born like 19 years ago

Pushup Count: 328

Buenos días a todos! Well, this week we saw two more dead frogs and my companion got peed on by a puppy. We also put one of our friends on date and went to an awesome party. It was pretty good :) Here's some highlights:

- This week Elder Isaac Morrison of the seventy visited our mission. We had a fireside with him and his wife over zoom on pday, so we were only out of the house for two hours. It was super weird 

- I finally had a zone conference where I didn't fall asleep  (you should be cheering too this is a big deal)

- Elder Morrison talked to us a lot about being better missionaries, getting more people to church, working with members, and most importantly, giving more people baptismal dates. Our mission has a tendency to take things slow, and he told us to pick up the pace 

- The day after zone conference we had a lesson with our friend Paul and he told us he wanted the peace of the holy ghost in his life all the time. So we extended a baptismal invite and he accepted with no hesitation  we're super excited, please be praying for him!

- We went down to a really poor part of our area and as we were walking down the street, we saw another dead frog... So obviously we took another picture

- Then a stray puppy ran up to us and my companion started petting him. The dog rolled over, and let's just say he got a little excited... and Elder Winkler was in the splash zone

- On Saturday we went down to east Bakersfield for fiesta latina, a multi-stake party for all the Spanish speaking members. Missionaries all got permission to go, so we served members food and I got to see some of my favorite people from my old area, as well as some good missionary friends :) We ate carne asada tacos and i drank way too much jamaica

- Yesterday we invited a member to a lesson with us, and he brought his whole family! It was super cool. If you ever get the chance to go with the missionaries, don't say no

- We saw another dead frog in someone's driveway

- It was late one night and we were at the park doing some Facebook work when a group of kids set off a bunch of fireworks in the park bathroom... Really loud 

We've been keeping super busy and things are starting to pick up a bit. Hopefully we keep this good momentum and keep finding, teaching, and (hopefully) baptizing. Love you all, let me know how you're doing!

Spiritual Thought:

I read this cool scripture a couple days ago so I thought I'd share it. Alma 38:9 says:

"And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."

Christ is everything! I'm so grateful for him and the strength he gives me every day to keep on going (especially as the temperature gets closer and closer to 100 degrees). If you're struggling with something right now, I invite you to think about this scripture and pray for Christ's help, cause he will help you. 

Los amo tanto! 

Élder Page

Fotos!

Un misionero con otra rana muerta

Day: one of the first hot ones 

Pushup Count: 322

Hey everyone! So yep, we saw another dead frog in the street this week. Besides that it was a week with a lot of ups and downs, but we're still kicking, and I'm really excited for what's to come! Some highlights:

- We had a fire district council where we roleplayed getting yelled at 

- I swear we're about to turn into chickens with how many wings we're eating 

- I went on exchanges to Wasco with Elder Gardner and met some cool people 

- Unfortunetly we had a tough experience on Thursday and had to drop a couple friends 

- But then we had an amazing lesson with another friend, where she said a prayer that left us all in tears 

- We had some sick tacos at a ward dinner

- It got over 90!  So far it's been a really cold year for Bakersfield but it's coming fast

- We knocked a dudes door and he gave us soda can planes that are honestly super cool

Either it was just an uneventful week or I forgot to journal (or both ), but it's a pretty short update today. I love you all, lemme know how things are going. Adiós! 

Spiritual Thought

Elder Isaac Morrison is coming to our mission this week! Check out his talk "We Can Do Hard Things through Him" from October 2022. It's really good :) 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos!

Un misionero medio

Day: the day after cinco de mayo 

Pushup Count: 316

Just another average week here in Shafter. I don't really have anything crazy to say so I'll just give y'all some highlights haha:

- Our dryer broke, whoo hoo  so my bedroom turned into a giant drying rack for a couple of days

- We continued our tradition of getting wings after district councils

- We had two awesome lessons with the same family. The mom told us that she never opens the door when people knock, but that something told her she needed to answer when we came by... milagros :) 

- We finally switched to what our mission calls "standard schedule" (should have done it a while ago ) which means our dinner time changed and it's taking some adjusting to

- We ended up getting a brand new dryer that is literally the nicest appliance I've had in my entire life

- Somewhere in this week I hit 10 months in the mission I think

- We spent a day as a trio with Elder Mitchell and it was super fun 

- We went on a little adventure trying to track down an inactive member - from his old house to a random street, and eventually to his house that ended up being locked so we couldn't even knock it. But we set up a bunch of lessons in the area so it was worth it

- Shafter had a cinco de mayo parade and fair thingy on Saturday so we went and handed out church invites while watching Mexican dancing and seeing a ton of cool cars

- We went by a friend's house to invite him to fhe and he was having a party, so he invited us in and we ate crazy good carne asade and watched boxing for a couple minutes. Super cool 

- We got sworn at by an old Mexican in a wheelchair which was honestly just really funny 

Yeah so nothing too wild this week. Worked hard, had some fun, and ended up having a good time. Let me know how average your week was 

Spiritual Thought:

Check out the talk, "A Mighty Change of Heart: 'I Have Nothing More to Give You'" by  Elder Eduardo Gavarret in the April 2022 general conference. It's really good :) 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos!