Monday, August 26, 2013

We are like little children July 8, 2013

So i cant remember anything that happened this week, only a few things. Directly to the good stuff! (sorry about grammar, i am in a hurry!)

I went on a few exchanges, and i went with Elder A one day. He's an awesome missionary. but long story short, we got to go teach this older man, M. It was really intense. When we first walked in he was upset because i guess last time he wanted someone older to talk to. he said we "are like little children" to him and he thought we couldn't relate to him.
he also said we didn't speak good enough Spanish. which is true for me lol.
but i guess he was dying soon. like, within the week. He had a really bad stomach problem, where he had like 4 holes in his stomach. he also got bit by a spider, and his ands and legs were VERY swollen. he looked sick, and he was often crying when he was talking to us. he really needed comfort, but thought we couldn't give it to him because we were young and couldn't speak well. he was so scared of dying, he thought it wasn't fair and didn't know what to do. he was worried about what would happen to his family. he said if he could wait out the week he might be ok because he was going to Mexico, because he couldn't afford surgery here.
It was really sad. I wasn't sure what was being said for about half of it but i could tell he was being sincere. at one part he grabbed my companion by the hands, shaking and crying and was saying "talk to me! tell me something, just talk to me!" I wanted to help him. but he was right, i had no idea how he was feeling. I've never been in that situation before, what could i tell him? :/ but even though i might not understand the Spanish language, i can understand the spirit. so I shared with him my favorite scripture, D&C 121:7-9. If you don't know what that is, I really hope you'll open it up and mark it and remember it.. We also gave him a blessing and tried our best. I hope he turns out alright.

That's the main story. We also got some really useful information about the G family while I was on exchanges with Elder E. Good stuff!

Also, we got out new mission president, President W. He's awesome, he changed the mission a lot but its so good. Everything is going well here :)

I hope everything is going well with you. I miss you all :)

-Elder James!

Bakin' in Bakersfield July 1, 2013

Hey everyone, good news :) So I'm feeling much better. No more sickness.

We also have still been working with S. He's wanting to change, but is still using meth. :|

Other than that, this week wasn't that eventful. I bought three new ties today and some cool sunglasses too :)

I hope you are all doing well. Don't go too crazy during the 4th of July :) in this mission we go back home at 7 because I guess a lot of drunk and crazy people that go out at night and mess with the missionaries. Haha fun stuff

Oh, maybe it was this week or the last one, but our AC went out. It is fixed now but it was super hot trying to sleep that night. But it was fun, until we ran out of Otter Pops and died.

Bow wow

-Elder James, bakin' in Bakersfield :) I'm going to be super tan when I get back

The Demon Slayer June 22, 2013

Hey hey everybody, how are you? how's everything been?

everything has been ok over here in Bakersfield. Nothing really new has happened :(
We didn't get any new people to teach and nobody has really made solid progress. But all is well, no reasons to be sad!

Some interesting stuff has happened since last week though, not entirely relating to missionary work though! checky checky

S bought some super cool swords! He showed them to me and I got to mess with them for a little bit. He had 3 katanas and a cutlass! He walked around with a katana on his back for a day, which I guess is legal here in California! I'm hoping to get some pictures with those swords.

He also gave us these ice cream cone art thingies! they are hard to explain but its like a paper ice cream cone with this funny face on it, its pretty sweet!
He also gave me a rock. lol but I liked it, its called his gratitude rock. its cool :)

I am also learning some Japanese! ain't dat somethin? haven't really met a Japanese person here yet but hey. heyyy. it'll be useful when I return ;)

Oh! fun story! We were on exchanges and I was with Elder R, aaaand we locked the keys inside the apartment at night :| oops. Some other elders went into ape rage mode, but everything was fine really. we just slept over at the other elder's house, ha, there were 6 of us there that night! it was pretty fun. but, I had to wear the same exact outfit two days in a row. which is gross because we sweat a lot here when its over 100 degrees, its not too hot but it was just nasty wearing the same things twice. same tie too. plus, the next day was Sunday!
I didn't even have breakfast, had nothing to brush my teeth with either! I borrowed another elders suit for the day and it was too big so I looked like a deacon, poppin my collar, poppin poppin my deacons collar like a noob >:(
but its all good, we didn't have to teach the class that day so elder k and I went into the kitchen at the church and I ate a bag of pistachio nuts :}
Nobody we've been teaching came to church though! Bah! Y U NO COME TO CHURCH PEOPLE? tis a blessing to come.

well I gotta get rollin on my bici bici! kirito. today we will fight lvl 10 J-dubs.

ha! such a good time >:) I love you all, es verdad!
-Elder James
they call me demon slayer lol, HAAA!

Bakersfield, California! Here I come! June 17, 2013

I have no time but I have something to say! It's not that important but. Ya.

I will be transferred to the BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORIA mission this Tuesday. I will no longer be serving in the Ventura mission. The mission is being split, and I just happen to be on the Bakersfield side, so that's where I'll be spending the rest of my two years. That's all :)

Other good news,
J and I are getting married on the 21st of this month! yay
L O came to church! and he LIKED IT! yay
My tires haven't popped in a while! yay

I hope you all hada great Fathers day too!
Love, Elder James

The Red Truck June 10, 2013

Hey everyone, so this is what happened week 5 of the great California Ventura Mission
So this is going to be out of order, I'm just going to say what I remembered because I forgot my journal. Waaa sorry.
Saturday I think, we were riding our bikes home and I saw some red truck stop after they pulled into some neighborhood, and a young woman jumped out. She was crying and shouting something, and then I say some other guy get out and then the truck drove off. Then the girl was saying some stuff and right before I got out of view, I saw him hit her right in the face, hard too! I slammed on my breaks and got over their as fast as I could. The guy ran off and the girl took off somewhere else, but Elder P and I rode around for 10 minutes looking for her. We eventually found her alone sitting on the side walk. She told us what happened, I guess they were together for 3 years and had some relationship problems. She was ok after being hit, but I felt really awkward and wasn't too sure of what to do. But it was just a different experience, and I'm just glad we were there so she could have someone to talk to. She was 18 and the other guy was probably around 20.
We also were able to help paint some stair railings at J and I house. It was fun. I tried not to get any paint on me but that didn't work out so well. I still have paint on my legs.
Also, we were just cruising in El Rio and than Elder P tire popped. I FOUND A CORRELATION THAT I THINK YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW FROM THIS EVENT!!! So. Every week that either Elder P and I haven't received mail, one of our tires have popped. Yes, correlation now certainly means causation! So every week that we don't get any mail, that means on of our tires are going to pop! Somebody send us mail please >:}
That's about it. We decided not to drop L O because we had one lesson where we spiritually roundhouse kicked him in the face. We talked a lot about him and his life, about how he needs to change and find new friends, because the way he is going with his life right now, he is going to end up either dead or in jail within the next 5-10 years. The thing is, he knows that! He knows his friends are all going to end up like that. But it's hard to get out of gangs. He really opened up to us and said he felt like there's no hope for him. We are trying our best to help him though. Pray for him, ok? We worry about him.
Well, I hope you all are doing well. I miss you very much. I will be on next week!
-Love, Elder Santiagoooooo go go we ran out of Hot Pockets at the apartments :|

Time is going by so fast! Slow down! June 3, 2013



 
Hey everyone, I'm not even sure what week this is. Sorry, time is going by so fast!

This week was good. I was sick all week! It was awesome. But i was still able to go out and teach, i just had to stay in for one night.
On to the important stuff. We decided to drop an investigator, L O, the one in gangs. He hasn't been keeping any of his commitments and hasn't made any progress, so we will try him again in a few weeks or so.
We got a referral from the Hermanas though, for a young couple I and J. I is a member and J isn't. He is 19 and I'm not sure how old j is but they have a child and need to get married. J seems very willing and understanding of what we teach her, its great! i will keep you updated with them! later today (i think) we are going to help them paint inside their house. i hope i don't mess that up :|
I also got to go on exchanges with Elder B. It was fun, and interesting. Ya, no cool stories of that day though, ha :)
Is anyone getting my pictures????!! I've been trying to send some! I got a picture with Santa, and with these ghetto romper cars and some at these birthday parties for dinner and some at the temple! Why aren't they working? >:(
you wanna know what's pretty funny? I was biking to an appointment with Elder P, and then my bike thought it would be a good idea if the tire just popped while i was half way through the street. Yep. Pop pop. So i had to walk my bike back to the apartment and it was embarrassing. this is the second time my tires have popped. what the heck Kirito, why cant you function like a normal bike..

oh, so we've been having this problem with ants. they are everywhere!!! they were all over our food in the kitchen! but we slew the beasts victoriously. but then they came back a week later into our bathroom! and into my closet! i went to throw on some pants, and there was a spider on them! and ants! I decided to just stand around in my garments for a while because i wasn't feeling so comfortable anymore. But then eventually we got going, and we were teaching this guy in his front door. and we stood there for seriously like two hours, ALL in Spanish so i only said about three things, and I noticed something on Elder P shoulder. a big fat ant. ha, so i slapped it. and then a few minutes later i looked back, and he was just covered. they were crawling on his neck, into his backpack, on his scriptures, everywhere! and i didn't want to be disrespectful to the person we were talking to so i didn't stamp them all off. ha, sorry Sorry Elder P. sacrifices must be made.

well that's about it. It's been great talking to everyone! sorry for the bad grammar and spelling, short on time
but i love and miss you all! :)
-Elder Santiagoooo