Half way done already...

Man this transfer is flying by.  I feel like I just got here!  This last week was really good though!  Let's see... We had several good lessons with Bobby, who is our new investigator of this week and he is on date to be baptized April 5!! Hopefully it will happen!  Sadly, we haven't been able to see Ransom for a while and he's definitely not gonna make his April 5 date.  But hopefully we can meet with him this week and figure out what all is going on.  We weren't able to meet with Sabrina this week either which is sad but she was busy like all week.  We have an appointment with her tomorrow though so that'll be good! 

We did a lot of service this last week.  We met a guy named Eulices and he was cutting down his big tree so we spent a couple of nights helping him dig out the roots and the big stump.  I will send a pic. 

Earlier today we also went on a hike!  Which was really fun!  I'll send some pics of that too!

This is the view from the top of the mountain.  It was really smoggy today!

This is Elder Bird.  One of my roomies.  He's hilarious!

This is Elder Raff, Elder Bird, Elder Serfilippo and Douglas, the member who drove us up the mountain.

 Good job Sade!! On the student council app and the missionary experience too!!  You'll have to tell me more about it.  Since you didn't before and now I only know what mom told me haha. 

I am so stoked for general conference!!!!  It's gonna be awesome!!  It's crazy that this is my 2nd time watching it while on my mission.  I will only get 2 more times after this.  Sad day. 

That's awesome about all the missionaries getting ready to go out back in PG!! Good for them!! 

Well I love you all!! Have an amazing week!!!

Love, Elder Wise

It's already week 3...

Time is flying by soooooo fast!!  It's so crazy.  It feels like I just barely got here to Colton.  Let's see, what all happened last week.  Well obviously the big news is the mission conference was last week!  It was super awesome!!  Elder Anderson is super cool.  And super funny! He just kept cracking jokes and stuff.  He taught us about the Atonement.  Which was super amazing!!  One of the interesting things he said was when he was talking about receiving answers to questions and stuff and he said "If you want more answers, spend more time on your knees."  Which is so true!  We have to pray always.  He also told a cool story.  When he was a newish member of the 70 he went in and was going over some stuff with President Faust and he had a lot of questions and problems going on with his assignment, and he asked Pres Faust for the answer and Pres Faust leaned back in his chair and thought for a sec, then said "Have you prayed all night long like Enos?"  And Elder Anderson was like "No..." and Pres Faust said "Once you do that, you will have your answer." I was like whoa.  That's a whole lot of praying.  It's true though!!  God will always answer our prayers if we put in the effort that is required. 

 We taught Ransom again last week and we set a baptism date with him for April 5!  Sadly, he didn't come to church with us this last sunday though, so to be baptized by the 5, he is going to have to come every sunday between now and then.  So please pray for him!! He is awesome!!  We also found out for sure that he is super loaded.   As in he has millions in the bank.  He get's three, $250,000 checks a year because of his turkey ranch in Arizona.  And he just put's it in the bank.  He's such a cool guy! 

Let's see, what else?  Oh we got a new investigator this last week.  Her name is Sabrina.  And her husband is named Jose.  He's not really interested right now but I think as he sees the change in Sabrina he will want to start learning too.   They have a 1 year old son named Sol.  He's super cute.  I guess some missionaries talked to Sabrina like 6 or 7 months ago, set up a return appointment, and then never showed up.  And she was really bummed about it cause she's been looking for a church and she's really open to learning new things and stuff.  We taught her the Restoration a little bit in our first meeting.  We have only met with her the one time but we are going back this week. 

And that's really all that happened last week I think.  Nothing too exciting.  Which is weird considering where I am serving.  But it's cool.  Haha

 Well, missionary work is great!! I love it!! And I love you all! Thanks for all your support and prayers!!

Love Elder Wise

I won't be eating much steak anymore...

Hello from Colton!!! It's a whole different world down here than I'm used to.  Goodbye Ferrari's and Lamborghinis, hello El Camino's and PT Cruisers.  Yuck.  That's a long fall. 

Anyways, Colton is still pretty great!  It's a bike area sadly.  No more car for me!  Man, my butt is sore.  Haha So this week was spent mostly getting to know people.  I am now serving in the Bloomington Ward.  There are 6 Elders serving in this ward.  Because of that, the ward is split into three areas.  Which is really dumb.  I hate it.  I only really get to know 1/3 of the ward.  The only good thing is that we still eat dinners with members outside of our area, so I get to meet other people when that happens.  So at least that.  One of the coolest people I've met this week is a guy named Ransom Buff.  He's one of our investigators.  He's a boss!!  He was a sniper in the military for like 30 years, a POW in Nam, and now owns a really big turkey ranch in Arizona, but lives in a tiny rundown house here in Colton.  The reason being that he stays to take care of his grandson.  Who's parents are druggies and just pretty much useless.  So Ransom is really cool! 

Also, I was offered a pretty good deal for my bike this week.  100 bucks in cash and some weed!  Needless to say I passed.  I think that might've  been the very first time I'd every really been offered drugs though.  So that was a fun experience.  Haha

There are a lot of Hispanic people here.  Most of them speak English though.  So that's good! But there are also a bunch of Spanish missionaries around here too.  And they are pretty successful sounds like.  I guess our zone leaders taught 58 lessons last week alone.  That's a TON if you were wondering.  :)  So yes, this area is a missionaries dream come true haha.  Most people around here aren't very wealthy.  Hence, the lack of steak.  I would imagine that this city could probably be a really successful city, if it's residents would stop wasting their money on drugs.  I guess that's why we are here.  To teach them the right way!!  Yay!!  It's really great.  There are a lot of really good people here though.  I already love it here.  I miss the desert though.  haha

My new companion is pretty cool too.  He is from Lehi.  So not too far away! He is big into cross country running and basketball and stuff.  Luckily, he doesn't make me run with him in the mornings haha.  Cause I don't think I could do it.  I can barely walk.  Haha.  He's a super nice guy though.  Like over the top nice.  Which is great!  You can really easily tell that he has a super strong testimony of the gospel, and that he loves to serve.  It's great!  We are gonna get a lot of work done around here. 

Daylight savings just about killed me too.  I was so dang exhausted yesterday.  oh Man.  That's about it for the week though, those were the highlights haha.  Oh actually I just remembered.  Don't ask why I almost forgot cause this is huge.  This Saturday we are having another mission conference.  You want to know why?  Because an Apostle and a Seventy and an Area Seventy are all coming!!  I can't remember who the Seventy is but the Apostle is Elder Anderson.  It's gonna be so sweet!! And he want's to shake all the missionaries hands.  So be jealous haha :) I can't wait! 

Holy moly sade!  That's a lot of stuff to be sick with.  Get better please!

Lucie, I am going to write you a letter today!  So watch for it in the mail! :)

Well, that's all I got to report.  Love you all!!  I'm sure I'll have some crazy stories to tell next week.  Love you!!

-Elder Wise

Colton!

 

My companion and I looking fly!

I can't even believe this.  Every time the area starts to actually get going, they ship me off to a new area.  Yup, you guessed it.  I am being transferred to Colton.  Which is about an hour or so north west of here.  I'm sure it'll be great!  I'm super sad to leave this place though.  There are so many cool people!!  My list of favorite people is sooooo long!  I don't think I'll be able to say goodbye to everyone :(  Luckily though, I should be able to come back down here for some baptisms when they happen!  That'll be great!  This last week we picked up some Golden Investigators.  Literally golden.  They've been looking for a religion and they want it to be LDS because their friends are LDS.  So literally we just have to teach them everything then dunk'em.  It's great!

Let's see, oh yeah we went to the temple last week.  The new video is awesome!  The Redlands temple is beautiful!!  Really small though haha.  But that was a really cool experience. 

And this last week has been rainy.  Weird.  It's cool though.  The mountains that surround us are all snow-capped and really pretty!  And it's still 85 degrees down in the valley!   It's great!

We met some really cool people yesterday.  They just moved into a really really nice house which apparently is a downgrade.  I mean, they went from a 5 car garage to a 2 car garage.  It's really inconvenient cause now they can't store their 4 trucks (one of which is a raptor!), 6 Harleys, dirt bikes, 4-wheelers, jet-skis, and all of their other toys.  They are really great haha!!  Super nice people.  They fed us last night. 

Also, on Saturday night we had a ward party which was really great!  It was a potluck game night type deal.  Everyone brought games and just kinda chilled.  It was super fun!

Minute to Win It Marshmallow

And I won!

 And I'm so glad that Bro Willinsky could get a hold of you!!  He's a really cool guy.  I'm gonna miss him. 

Well, That's all I got.  Missionary work is so fun!! This church is true! 

Saying good-bye to the Carlson's at In-n-Out Burger

Love you all,

Elder Wise :)