Week 14 - December 20, 2023

Another Week down!  For transfers, I got transferred to a town near Santa Clara!  It's such a cool little town!  Our apartment is right on Mainstreet which is pretty fun!  My new companion was supposed to be Elder John until we found out that the AP's had messed up the transfer boards.  So, instead I got put with Elder Empey:  he's cool!  We think and act a lot alike, which is always good in a companionship.  We got put on bikes which is fun during the day, but absolutely miserable at night.  Watsonville isn't the safest place, and it's rainy season down here.  Basically, this transfer we're going to bike in the dark and rain... it's OK though:  it's good for me.

 

WEDNESDAY (12/13/23):  Today was our P-day!  We went to lunch with a recent convert and got sushi.  The sushi was surprisingly really good!  

After, we headed to our church to do transfer journals with our whole Zone.  Transfer Journal signing is when missionaries who are leaving the zone get together and write in each other's journal.  It was a good time! After, we headed to our English class.  I had to say goodbye to Gerado, Arturo, and Bishop!  I'm definitely planning on coming back here though when I can speak better Spanish!

THURSDAY (12/14/23):  Today was transfer day!  We woke up around 5, packed our stuff and went to the church to get picked up.  I had to say goodbye to Elder Thompson and Elder Hammet.  They taught me so much and we worked super hard together.  We helped a lot of inactive members return to church and even put two people on baptismal date!  I'll always remember our transfer!  My new Zone Leaders picked me and Elder Empey up and we headed to Watsonville.  There are miles of strawberry fields, apple trees, berry fields, etc. down here.  I never truly realized how important/big agriculture is down here in California.  After I unpacked my stuff and went shopping, we ended the night by having our weekly correlation meeting.  Our mission ward leader, brother Meyer, is such a cool guy!

FRIDAY (12/15/23):  We woke up early and played basketball with the Zone.  My new zone is awesome!  We have a pretty small zone, 10 people, and it's all Elders.  

After basketball, we went back to the apartment and did our studies.  For comp. study, we're reading through the books of Moses together which I'm pretty excited about.  The Old Testament is pretty wild!  After, we went over to meet Bishop Welch and his son, Mitch.  Mitchell is special needs but is such a nice guy.  He works at McDonald's a couple times a week, so we were able to say hi to him at work.  Bishop Welch is such an incredible guy.  We chatted with them for a while until our lesson with a man name David Hernandez.  He's building this pretty crazy shed right now since his last one got destroyed in the floods that happened a while ago.  We talked about the Atonement and Repentance and read D&C 58:11-12 with him.  David has been meeting with missionaries for a while now, but just hasn't committed to taking that next step.  We really want him to progress and we're definitely making him one of our focal points.  After our member meal, we biked around trying to contact some people but had no success until we met this lady named Fidencia Cruz.  We read a little bit of 3 Nephi 11 with her.  She really enjoyed it!  In fact, she gave us her business card without us even asking for her phone number, which was pretty exciting!

SATURDAY (12/16/23):  After our studies, we met up with David again.  He was out working on his shed again.  We had a pretty long talk with David again.  Across the street from his house were around 4 police cars, a firetruck, and an ambulance.  We were trying to figure out what was happening, but it was pretty hectic.  

After listening to him tell us stories about his neighborhood drama, we were finally able to begin our lesson with him.  We shared with him Moroni 8:26 and talked about the importance of the Holy Ghost.  In addition to that, we read Ether 12:27 with him and talked about how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can "lift" us up during difficult times.  I practically led the lesson, and it was probably the best lesson I've given on my whole mission so far.  After, we had dinner with Daniel.  Daniel is such an amazing guy.  He is a recent convert who turned his life around after meeting missionaries.  He took us to get pizza!

SUNDAY (12/17/23):  David didn't show up to church, which was disappointing, but it was alright.  We had 12 friends come to church as a district.  We cover both the Spanish and English wards.  After, we visited with the Meyers, and I got know them a little better.  He served his mission here in San Jose and moved down here to date and then eventually marry a recent convert he helped teach.  He's only 28, too!  After, we had dinner with Bishop Welch and his family.  Bishop Welch's family was there, and his brother was talking about the craziest things.  He was talking about how lazers caused the fires in Maui, how we shouldn't eat food that has "natural flavors" labelled on it, how our government is run by Satanists, etc.  We just sat not saying anything!  It was pretty entertaining though!  We ended the night by going to night church and helping out some recent converts.

MONDAY (12/18/23):  Today sucked so bad!  Like easily the worst day on my mission.  It was raining the whole day, and we weren't able to have a single lesson.  Today is definitely a day I'm going to try and forget! 

TUESDAY (12/19/23):  Thankfully, today was a lot better.  We played basketball again with the Zone in the morning.  After our studies, we had another long and good lesson with David. Bishop came to our lesson and bore the most powerful testimony ever.  We talked about finding truth through the Holy Ghost, having faith through action, the importance of a living prophet, and the importance of attending church and partaking of the Sacrament.  We invited him to church again on Sunday. Pray for David to come to church!  After, we had a lesson with a recent convert named Orlando.  He has been dealing with some health issues and has been going through a hard time. We read Mosiah 3 with him and gave him a blessing.  Bishop gave an incredible blessing!  To end the night, we set up a lesson with an investigator named Mike.

*Sorry if my emails are so long haha!  I try and use them as another journal for me! 

-Elder Copeland 

Week 13 - December 18, 2023

Sorry for the late e-mail!  We had transfers this week and things got pretty hectic.  I hope everyone is doing well especially with Christmas coming up!  The mission is still hard, but when will it never not be!  Here's my week!

WEDNESDAY (12/6/23):  Our whole district went mini golfing! This was one of the coolest mini-golf courses I have ever seen!  In addition to that, it's owned by a member, so missionaries are able to get in free!  After mini golfing, we ended the day by getting our groceries and teaching our English Class.

THURSDAY (12/7/23):  Our morning devotional was given by outbound missionaries!  They all shared their testimonies; each one of their testimonies was so powerful.  One Sister missionary said something that really stuck out to me.  She said, "Jesus Christ's work is not easy since we're not Jesus, but it's so worth it."   After our devotional, we biked over to Marialena's house to have a lesson with her.  Sadly, she wasn't home.  We did, however, find some people and gave them mini lessons about the Book of Mormon.  In addition to that, we were able to pray for our friend, Aturo, who was stressed out about his new job opportunity.  After our weekly planning session, we gave blessings to some Sister missionaries who were struggling.  After, we had a huge miracle!  Irvin texted us and wanted to meet us at the church. Irvin was the man who had been on baptismal date but had dropped us.  He told us he still believed in God and wanted to be baptized after he returns from Mexico!  Hopefully, he is still able to progress!

FRIDAY (12/8/23):  We had a lesson with Esmeralda Lopez and taught her about faith and the Holy Ghost.  We read Moroni 7:24-26 with her and invited her to pray and read the scriptures daily.  After, we met a man named Benjamin Martinez and talked to him about God, Jesus Christ, and Faith. He was baptized into another church, so he wasn't really interested.  Regardless, he was pretty cool!  After, we biked 35 minutes to pick up our car since it was finally fixed.  We ended the night by having sports night and playing soccer with the ward.

SATURDAY (12/9/23):  We started the day by doing exchanges with Elder Kirkland, who is one of my favorite missionaries in the whole mission, and it went well!  We met a lady named Maria Martinez while she was cleaning her car.  I offered a pretty good prayer in Spanish with her and her family and they really enjoyed it!  Afterwards, she had told us that she had met with missionaries in the past and that they had multiple Books of Mormon in their house.  We set up a return date with them!  Our lesson with Anderson and his family fell through again which was pretty disappointing.  We then had dinner with the Shanchezes!  Seriously some of the nicest people I have ever met!  Sister Sanchez's dad, Jim, has Alzheimer's and was going on and on about Ukraine and other political matters which was hilarious.  We just sat there and took it all in!   

We ended the night by visiting a lady named Lilian and teaching her about the Tree of Life in 1 Nephi 8.

SUNDAY (12/10/23):  We taught Young Men's class today and read, "Behold the Man" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf with them.  We explained to them about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and invited them to each write down their own testimony in the front of a Book of Mormon we gave them.  After church, we had Julian's baptism which went awesome!  Esmeralda Lopez was there, and she loved it!  We had a lesson with her about baptism and invited her to be baptized on January 14th:  She said yes!  Such an awesome lesson we had with her! 

MONDAY (12/11/23):  We had exchanges today with Elder Astle.  In district council, we talked about how to prepare someone for baptism:  Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the End.  After Elder Mina Domingos district council, we had a lesson with a man named Camilo and taught him about the Book of Mormon and how it's similar yet different than the Bible.  Later on in the day, we met a lady named Marta Huerta at her doorstep.  We shared with her one of the church's Christmas videos and she began to tear up.  We read 3 Nephi 11:11-12 with her.  To end the night, we had another lesson with Esmeralda Lopez.

TUESDAY (12/12/23):  We didn't have much success today sadly.  A lot of lessons fell through, and we weren't able to contact many people.  We had an hour-long conversation with a lady named Blanca about church and so forth.  We taught her about the Restoration, but she didn't seem too interested. After dinner with Sister Cortez, we had SMCM with our Stake President.  I found out where I would be transferred as well.  I got assigned to the Santa Cruz Zone serving in an area called Watsonville!  It's gonna be a lot of fun! 

Overall, it was a good transfer!  We were able to get three inactive members back to church and put two of our friends on baptismal date!  I know the Elders in Yerba Buena are gonna keep it up!  I'm excited to serve in Watsonville and grow even more as a missionary! 

Love, Elder Copeland

Week 12 - December 11, 2023

Hello, everyone!  I hope everyone has had a great week. In all honesty, this was the hardest week of my mission, without a doubt.  Nothing went our way this week.  My companion crashed our car, we lost our house keys, my phone got stolen by a homeless man, my companions have been sick, and we got put on bikes in an area that is way too big for bikes.  That's not to say there haven't been successes though. Transfers are in a week, so I should be getting transferred here pretty soon.

WEDNESDAY (11/29/23):  Today was our P-day.  I got a haircut at a barbershop that is owned by a member.  Me and my barber talked about sports, my mission, and his time he served in the military.  While talking about my mission, he said, "The things you have to do on your mission sound exactly how it was while serving in the Army," which I thought was pretty funny because it's so true.  After getting my haircut, we got to play volleyball and basketball with multiple zones, which was really fun.  

I got to talk to my family, my friend Jake, and my cousin Jaxon, as well.  We ended the night by having our weekly English class.  At the end, I was able to share a spiritual thought about baptism and repentance.

THURSDAY (11/30/23):  We started the morning by teaching a man names Alejandro Prado.  He is a Columbian man, and Columbian Spanish is really difficult to understand.  I couldn't really tell what we were teaching him, sadly.  We had district council afterwards and we talked about the importance of filling out our PMG app, which we have been so much better about. 

After our comp study, we had weekly planning and my mentoring session (which is my least favorite part of the week). Our lesson with Cristina Lopez didn't happen, but we ended up teaching a man named Cleto.  We talked with Cleto about baptism and how we follow in the footsteps of Jesus when we are baptized.  He said he believed in God and Jesus but not in baptism, which made me pretty frustrated, in all honesty.  We finished the night by teaching a man named Tony Florez.  We read 3 Nephi 9:14-16 with him.

FRIDAY (12/1/23):  Since my companions are Zone Leaders, I was able to attend MLC with them again.  A couple of days ago, my companion had the bright idea of driving over the median, which damaged the pipes underneath our car.  So, we had to turn our car in for it to be fixed.  Since it's considered an accident, we have to wait for the insurance to respond and our Sr. Missionaries aren't pushing the agenda too hard on trying to get our car back, so we're on bikes.  

After MLC, I had my interview with President Larson.  He told me I got put with Zone Leaders as he felt that I would be a leader early on in my mission, which made me pretty nervous but excited.  We had some lessons, participated in sports night, and ended the night by having our weekly correlation meeting with Alejo.  During the meeting, we realized that we had left the keys in our car, which was in the shop.  So, we had to get a ride to the Mission Office and then get dropped off by Brother and Sister Meldrum.  We ended up getting home at 11.

SATURDAY (12/2/23):  We started the morning by trying to contact and teach some people but had no success.  We came back to the house and did some language and companionship study.  We read 2 Nephi 2 with Anderson and his family and clarified what true joy actually felt like and why we experience trials and hardships as humans.  They really like me for some reason, always calling me Tom Brady.  Also, they say I look like one of the Jehovah Witnesses that stop by in their area, which was pretty funny.  We invited them to come to church! After, my companions were pretty hungry, so they went to McDonald's!  

I wasn't hungry so I decided to instead use the bathroom.  While my companions were ordering food, a homeless man next to us stole my phone while we weren't noticing.  I was so frustrated, to say the least.  We ended the night by having a lesson with Nelson and reteaching him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration.

SUNDAY (12/3/23):  So many people came to church today! Diego and his wife, Nelson, Gerado, Marialena, Milvian, and a bunch of new people from the Sisters and us.  We had around 80 people in Sacrament meeting!  After church, we met a man named Manuel Machuca.  He was cool; he told us that he had met with missionaries before and already had a Book of Mormon; because Anderson and his Family missed church,  we went over and taught them about prophets and the scriptures.  We met a really cool man named Osama Khan while leaving the apartments.  He had just recently moved from Dubai and was working for a financial company.  He was so excited when I told him my dad visits Dubai all the time. After dinner with Sister Borgress, we had to go to the Mission Office to pick up my new phone.  The Meldrums were kind enough to call my family, since we're not allowed, and help me set up my new phone since I had forgotten my password...

MONDAY (12/4/23):  After our Zone and District Councils, where we talked about faith, goal setting, meeting new people, setting our key indicator goals, etc., we went over to Marialena's house and gave her a blessing since she hadn't been feeling great.  I was able to anoint the oil on her for my first time in Spanish.  After some contacting, we had to bike to the Mission Office for my companion's interviews.  It was about an hour bike ride on the highway; not to mention it was pitch-black outside.  Definitely an experience I won't forget.  We ended the night afterwards by teaching Oscar Ruiz and his family about baptism and shared 2 Nephi: 14-18 with them.

TUESDAY(12/5/23):  We had exchanges with a Tagolag Elder named Elder Cauilan.  We were able to meet and teach a lot of new people today.  After calling up some members/doing some member work, we taught Cristina Lopez again.  She's really close to baptism, she just struggles with severe depression/anxiety and currently has throat cancer.  She always is happy when we come over!  We read in Mosiah 18 with her, which talks about baptism and the waters of Mormon. We biked almost 20 miles today!

Love, Elder Copeland

Week 11 - November 29, 2023

Happy late Thanksgiving!  Not being home for Thanksgiving, honestly, was not fun: not fun at all.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and being away from my family and friends was tough.  Other than that, it was a pretty solid week.  We met and taught a bunch of new people.  Our companionship is still doing pretty good.  I'm definitely ready to get out of being in a trio in all honesty.  I'll definitely be able to learn and become a better missionary faster.  Transfers are only two weeks away!  

Spanish is still tough, as usual.  I'm getting better at speaking and teaching, especially saying a prayer or bearing my testimony, but I still have a long way to go.  It really does feel like Mexico down here.  The weather in San Jose is so nice!  It gets a little cold, but nothing too crazy, one way or the other.  I miss the Utah snow though!  Being away from home has made me even more grateful for everything I've been given in my life, especially my amazing parents, family, and friends.

WEDNESDAY (11/22/23):  Today was our P-day.  After working out and doing my laundry, we drove up to the temple with Elder Mina Dominga and Elder Kirkland. The Oakland temple is incredible!  It has a rooftop garden, which has an amazing view of San Francisco, Oakland, and the Bay.  It's definitely one my favorite temples.  It's a lot smaller in person, however.  After our P-day ended, we had dinner with Sister Cortez. She has a son named Kevin who has been struggling spiritually.  She opened up to us about her conversion and her experience she had with missionaries.  Kevin is extremely shy, but we got him to open up a little.  To end the night, we had English class with the Hermanas.

 

THURSDAY (11/23/23):  Today was my first Thanksgiving Day out in the mission field.  I had zero motivation to do missionary work today.  Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday and I missed everything I had back at home:  football, family dinner, shopping, setting up and decorating the Christmas tree, etc.  I tried my best not to think about it though.  To start the day, we gathered as a district to have a testimony meeting.  While contacting, we met two new people, Estrada and Bardales, and shared what we were all grateful for.  After, we met up with Alfredo, Anderson, and their whole family.  They invited us in, and we talked with them for a bit.  We found out their mother sadly has cancer and is currently going through chemotherapy.  We were able to give her a blessing which was pretty cool!  We had Thanksgiving dinner with Hermana Burgess.  She had prepared a whole dinner for us by herself.  She's such an amazing lady, and I'm so grateful for her willingness to have had us over for dinner.  We shared Alma 26:36 with her to end the night.

 

FRIDAY (11/24/23):  We had exchanges with Elder Kirkland, one of the Tagalog-speaking elders, Elder Kirkland was so sick!  We met some new people and did a lot of door-to-door contacting.  We didn't do as much today as we were busy filling and updating our PMG app.  To end the night, we had sports night and played some basketball.

SATURDAY (11/25/23):   We started the day by teaching Diego again.  He's progressing really well!  We taught him about the two Great Commandments, the importance of Repentance and what the Atonement was.  After, we were able to attend the temple again! We went with recent converts, Isidro and his daughter, and some ward members:  Alejo and Arturo.  We did baptisms for the dead, which is my favorite part of the temple.  While at the temple, we saw a lot of people taking pictures for their 15th birthday parties called a quinceañera, which is a huge celebration Latinos have for when a girl turns 15.  The boys dress in fancy suits and the girls wear extravagant dresses.  We all got a good laugh out of it because everyone does their pictures at the temple.  Also, while we were leaving, we saw some ladies celebrating a wedding, or something like that, and were holding wine bottles in front of the temple haha! 

 

After the temple, we had a lesson with Yon and his family.  We taught them about prophets, the Book of Mormon and invited them to read 1 Nephi 8. 

SUNDAY (11/26/23):  Diego and his wife came to church today, which was awesome!  Gerado and Nelson pulled up as well.  We confirmed Angel today as well; it was a really good service!  After church, we had a lesson with Angel and taught him about the priesthood as he prepares to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.  We taught Alejo and his family the importance of scripture study and studying together as a family.  We said hi to Luz Marina and then taught Anderson and Alfredo's family again.  We taught them about the Fall of Adam and Eve, since they had many questions about it; we invited them to read 2 Nephi 25. We had a couple other lessons and then ended the night by doing AP exchanges with Elder Salazar.  They have a full-on bar and bench in their apartment, which I'm extremely jealous about!

MONDAY (11/27/23):  For those who don't know what AP's are, Assistants to the President.  They're basically the best and most important missionaries in the mission field.  In all honesty, I was definitely a little intimidated; but Elder Salazar is such an incredible missionary.  We started the day by setting up our church's Christmas Creche (basically a fancy word for a Nativity Set). 

 

After helping set up, we met with a recent convert named Mariaele.  She had been struggling financially and had been afraid to talk to bishop due to her being prideful and not wanting help. She eventually did, as bishop would go knock on her door at least once a week.  She eventually stopped ignoring him and opened up to us and him.  She's such a nice lady and we had the opportunity to teach her again.  We met a man named Adan after.  He was leaving to attend a seminary trip for his local congregation in DC.  He had a friend who had served a mission and attended BYU.  We shared with him the First Vision, the importance of the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and what the restored gospel was.  After, we taught some people on the street and even played soccer with some random kids.  We ended the night by going to ARP with Gerado and Angel (a different Angel). 

TUESDAY (11/28/23):  We had President Interviews the whole day.  Since my companions are Zone Leaders, we had to go last.  However, President ran out of time, so we had to reschedule for Friday.  We ended up not doing much today since interviews took up so much time.  We taught another lady named Esmeralda at her doorstop and tried talking to some people.  We didn't have much success teaching and talking to people today as interviews took up a large chunk of time.

Love, Elder Copeland