8/19/2024

HELLO FRIENDS!!!!!!!

So I made it to San Diego safe and sound guys, don’t worry… I may or may not have slept in 20 extra minutes on the day we were going to SD but I made it. That’s all that matters.

And if you’re questioning the title, yes I have a birthday twin. MY COMP!!! We’re born on the same day but one year apart. CRAZY!! Literally can’t get over it. Anyways. Love Sister Heaton. She’s amazing. Absolute best trainer out there!

Mission life is like. lowkey craazzyyy. But I have been having an absolute BLAST. Everyday is so so busy. We’ve had so many contacts. And one issue is that both of us are new to the area. so we dk much abt the area. That’s fun. An adventure to figure out who knows what.

I’m in Magnolia, aka El Cajon, aka somewhere in Zone 7. Geographically I have no idea where I am. But I’m loving it.

MTC OVERVIEW
They told me the food was gourmet. That was NOT. gourmet. but. it was edible. So it was fine. AND THE COKE WAS DIET AND CAFFEINE FREE. Caffeine is not against the word of wisdom. So what. the. heck.
Last day of MTC we had a devotional and guess who spoke. David A. Bednar. Willdddd. It was so so good. He talked abt the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Pretty cool stuff.
Overall the MTC was pretty lit 🤟. Had a lot of fun with the district and made some pretty cool friends 😎. And yes we did play a lot of foos! And I beat everyone. Except Elder Moulton. so. boo that but I beat everyone else. It was a lot of fun!

CALI OVERVIEW
PALM TREES 🌴. There are so many palm trees. I.Love.It. They’re my new favorite thing. There are also lots of lizards.
Gas Is like $4.56. That’s like almost 5 bucks. Almost FIVE. WHOLE. DOLLARS. 🤯 absolutely insane bonkers.
Cali burritos are fiiirrreeeeee 🔥. They’re literally so so yummy. Had it on the first day here and they were delish. 10/10 recommend. 🌯
There’s also always a homeless person yelling everywhere you go. gotta love it. There’s a lot of homeless here. like. a lot. But that’s ok. As long as we mind our own business it’s all good. 👍
Saw a furry. And two cyber trucks 🤢. Nasty. one of them was bright blue too. Anyways next topic.
Some guys were listening to Fetty wap on Thursday. So that was lit 🔥. And Cali drivers are crazy. insane drivers.

MISSIONARY OVERVIEW
It’s oh so much fun. I am LOVING it. We have done a lot of knocking (which is my least favorite thing to do . But this is for God and not me. so we deal). Most of the time no one answers. but we have gotten a few answers and invited them to church or to pray. We’ve also done a lot of contacting. Which I’m also not a fan of just bc we call people and I don’t like calling. But we deal. It’s actually not that bad. But we did have a lady yell at us over the phone because we called her twice. so that was fun 😬.
Sister Heaton and I got some good Mexican food at Sombrero Mexican. Bussing. So good. Gave Tacos Rapidos vibes. So so yummy.
Anyways, there’s a lot of different cultures. very diverse area. It’s actually so cool. There’s 9 different languages in the CSDM (California San Diego Mission). So that’s also really cool. It’s been so much fun.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK
We visited a 100 yr old lady. She was so so sweet and she had such a strong spirit. Like. SO. Strong. I imagine that she’s like Abuela (my great Grandma) if she spoke English. We also had to yell at her bc she’s hard of hearing. She also has dementia. But her advice was to “enjoy your life”. So do a Lilian Downs says and enjoy your life.
We also have someone on date for baptism. Ha. Literally second day here, very first lesson, put someone on date. Don’t think it’s gonna happen, but we have faith. Her names Monique. She’s a sweetheart and talks a lot. But I’m pretty sure she’s moving. So we will see.
We have taught a couple 8 year olds. One of the is James. He’s so sweet and really into his drone. He’s on the spectrum. But he’s fun. We will probably stop teaching him bc the Lakeside Sisters are gonna teach him. His dad Lives in Lakeside and that’s where he goes to church. We also taught the Hilldibrands. Niaya is 8 and had literally the deepest questions I’ve ever heard. I was like, brutha, how are you coming up with these questions. But I think we had good answers. She’s also on the spectrum and she’s a sweetheart. She gave us nicknames. Mine is Miss Nice, and Sister Heaton’s is Cutie.
There’s also a mom, Liliana. And she has 12 yr old daughter, Adamaris, with disabilities. So basically everyone one here is special needs in some way shape or form. Which is kind of lit, ngl. But Liliana has a strong testimony, and she only got baptized like a month ago I think. I’m excited to see her continue to progress.
There was another lady whose name is Maria. She walked an hour to the church Sunday so the Elders could give her a blessing. She is so faithful and doesn’t even know it. Elder Ure gave a pretty amazing blessing and the spirit was so strong. She shed a couple tears bc some things he said really impacted her. So that was really cool.
On Saturday a lady called us asking if she could go to church. We found her a ride and she went to church! Her name is Kim. So hopefully we’ll see more of her.
Overall I’m having so much fun. Life in Cali is a blast, and life on the mission is even more fun. We did a hike this morning with our district, which was so so fun. My district is pretty lit. This transfer is going to be so so much fun and we’re gonna have so so much work to do. I think that’s about all. Hope everyone’s had a wonderful week! Miss and love you all! 🩵