Dear Family,
This week has been one of total and complete change. It was very hard having to say goodbye to all the people I have grown to love in the beautiful city of Huntington Beach but I am praying that God has a purpose for bringing me back up to Whittier to finish my mission. I'm going to have to write fast because I am back at the library again and we only have an hour to be on the computer! So without further adieu!
Coming back up here to Whittier has given me the chance to see a lot of familiar faces that I wasn't expecting to see. Last time I was serving in this area I was in a ward called Rio Hondo and I had six months of getting to know people. This time I am serving in a ward called La Esperanza (which if translated means The Hope. Kinda cool I think!) and I have at the most 3 months to get to know all of these people. What's really cool though is that 5 or 6 families that I knew from Rio Hondo were actually in the boundaries for La Esperanza and since the last time I have been here they have all moved into the ward that they actually should be in and so going to church yesterday was fun seeing familiar people! I think my favorite part is the fact that the last time I was here my Spanish abilities were... lacking at best. This time around I feel a lot more confident with my abilities and it didn't take too long for people to notice that I actually have the hang of it now! It's interesting because the more you are familiar with a different language the more you are able to be yourself and show your personality so it feels like I have been able to open up a lot easier this time around too. (: The other good thing about this area is the companion that I have right now. His name is Elder Allowitz and he is from Texas. (When I first heard his name the first thing that came to my head was Auschwitz. Not really the best thing to be compared to but it's okay, his big heart more than makes up for his name.) He really is a cool guy and I can tell that he has a big capacity to love the people here in this area. We are working with a family right now called la familia Guzman and just from his example I have already grown to love this family. All that is holding them back from getting baptized is the fact that the parents aren't married and aren't positive whether they are ready to make that step right now. It's obvious though that since the missionaries have started coming by their family has been blessed tremendously just from the stories I have heard about them. They also have a young son with autism who is one of my favorite kids ever! Every time we go over there we get talking and he will stop us and say "wait! let's say a prayer." And then he will procede to give a prayer that goes something like this "Dear Heavenly Father, thanks for my family. Name of Jesus Christ..... AMEN!" Haha it is such a sincere prayer though and you can tell that it's from his heart! I would say right now that is the biggest focus we have in this area is just helping that family out. Besides that we have a few more investigators we are working with but it's apparent that we could definitely find more in this area. This area we have been exploring our area a lot and it does seem like it has a lot of potential so we just have to get out there and work it. Another discovery that I made that is making me super happy: WE HAVE MOUNTAINS IN OUR AREA!!! Haha well as much mountains as there are here in my mission but it is awesome because you get back in a little bit and it literally feels like you are somewhere that isn't the crowded cities of Southern California. I have a feeling we are going to be doing a lot of exploring over there, at least on preparation days. (:
I'm not gonna lie, I am seriously missing Huntington Beach like crazy. It's one of the hardest thigns I've had to do when I left there but I'm sure with time everything will work out how it is supposed to. I'm grateful for the chance the Lord is giving me to grow again. I love you all! I hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Stone
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