Week 19 - January 28, 2024

 I'm writing this email very late!  I'm definitely going to be better on getting my emails out on time!  Overall, I'm doing pretty good!  This email might be a little shorter than usual!  I'll make sure to make more time for them as I have been!

WEDNESDAY (1/17/24):  Super fun P-day.  We hiked the Redwoods and played some basketball at the church afterwards! The Redwoods are absolutely gorgeous.  It blows my mind how massive some of those trees really are.  It's always nice to be able to talk with my family as well!

THURSDAY (1/18/24):  It was pouring the whole day which made it really difficult to get any work done.  We went shopping and visited a couple members in our ward.  Biking is great until it starts raining.  It hinders who and where we can go. 

FRIDAY (1/19/24):  I got my hair cut during our lunch break.  I learned my lesson:  Don't go to a Mexican barber while you're still trying to learn.  My hair turned out nothing like I wanted it to.  It turned out good though!  I love short hair and how easy it is to take care off.  

We did some contacting today and went over to Orlando's house to try and have another lesson with him.  As we were doing so, he called us telling us he wasn't feeling good which was a bummer in all honesty.

SATURDAY (1/20/24):  We woke up early and played basketball with the Zone at the Stake Center.  It was fun but a little frustrating at the same time.  Our Stake Center has extremely low ceilings which makes it almost impossible to shoot.  After, we had a service project with the Zone picking apples for a friend the other Elders had met.  It was pouring rain, but it was such a good time!  After helping him, he invited us into his house to have a prayer with him.  He told us that he was a Baptist and a Freemason.  I know a little about Freemasonry, but he was very secretive about it when I asked him.  He was such a nice guy!  In fact, he gave us money to go buy groceries for lunch which was incredibly nice of him!  After lunch, we did some work and then headed back to one of the Elder's apartments to bless the house.  They had been experiencing some things and needed for the house to be blessed.  It was my first time ever doing it, which was cool! 

SUNDAY (1/21/24):  We had 18 new people come to our Sacrament meetings, English and Spanish this week, which was amazing!  It was the most we had ever gotten!  Orlando wasn't able to make it today since he wasn't feeling too well still.  President Varney, one of the counselors for President Larson, came and spoke in both Sacrament meetings and did an incredible job.  He served a mission in Brazil but has been learning Spanish here while on this mission.  We stayed longer to try and hear one of the Elders in the Zone sing, but he wasn't able to because the ward he was in announced a whole new bishopric.  To end the night, we had dinner with the Hastings.  Cole pulled up and we talked with him for a bit.  We taught the Hastings about why baptism and making covenants are so important!  Elder Butikofer was definitely directly pointing the lesson towards Cole with specifically calling him out which was funny.  Cole needed to hear it though.  We sadly found out though that Cole is actually moving to Arizona in a couple weeks.  He told us he wanted to try and go to the YSA wards down there, which was great to hear.  In all honesty, we hope he finds a girl in the ward that will help get him on the covenant path because he'd definitely get baptized if a girl he was dating asked him too 🤣.

MONDAY (1/22/24):  It poured again today!  Just our luck.  I've honestly just gotten used to biking in the rain at this point.  After our District Council and reading some of Preach My Gospel together, we did some street contacting.  We tried visiting Sister Schwalenberg to see if she was home, but she didn't answer.  We assumed she was asleep.  We went over to the Welches tonight again and it's always such a good time. The Welches are literally some of the nicest people I've ever met.  We had a discussion about the Tree of Life with them, Seminary, why electric cars are going to fail 🤣, etc.  We 

ended the night by starting exchanges with Elder Butikofer.

TUESDAY (1/23/24):  Really good day today with Elder Butikofer!  We were able to meet Sister Schwalenberg!  We had actually accidentally knocked the wrong house the day before.  She was so happy to see us that she began to cry. She told us a little more about the traumatic experiences she had to go through with the floods and health issues she has been having.  We shared Alma 7 and 2 Nephi 2 with her and explained to her that the Savior knew better than anyone else on what she was going through.  She found that really comforting.  She really opened up to us afterwards and began explaining to us stories of her baptism and growing up in the church.  Right as we were about to the leave, she came out with a large set of scriptures for us to look at.  We read the First Vision together and then left her JST History to read from.  After, we had a really good lesson with Salvador.  We taught him the whole gospel of Jesus Christ and he really enjoyed it.  He really wants to get baptized.  There are just a couple of things that he needs to work on before he can get there.  We had a lesson with Orlando about the Tree of Life in Chapter 8, played soccer with the ward, and then got transfer news!  We found out Elder Empey would be leaving, and that Elder Johnson would be coming here!  Love, Elder Copeland

Week 18 - January 21, 2024

How's everyone doing!  I'm doing well!  The work is still pretty slow here in Watsonville, but we are still able to teach and meet people!  Some days are definitely more fulfilling than others though.  I'm learning so much from Elder Empey!  We study a lot of Church History and Doctrinal Topics together which is really enjoyable.  Me and him get along really well!  I think we'll most likely stay together next transfer.  I'm starting to get more used to being a missionary.  The mission is still hard, but that's how it's supposed to be.  I'm practicing my Spanish constantly, but I need to start speaking more.  I've never been the most outgoing guy, but I'll get there!

WEDNESDAY (1/10/24):  Another pretty chill P-day.  We cleaned up our apartment, did our laundry, and went to the church to play basketball and soccer.  Overall, nothing too crazy happened today.

THURSDAY (1/11/24):  We did some more contacting today and then had a lesson with Cole and his Family.  Cole is originally from Wisconsin but moved to Watsonville to stay with his aunt and uncle's family while he works on roofing.  We acted out the story of Nephi slaying Laban when commanded to do so and the importance of having faith and following the commandments.  Sister and Brother Hasting have young kids, so we tried to make the lesson interactive.  Cole never puts in the effort to read from the Book of Mormon without us there, so we taught him the story!  We want to try and have more lessons with Cole, but he lives almost 45 minutes away from us on bikes in the middle of nowhere.  He loves coming to church but has no desire to read or progress without us there. Hopefully we can figure something out!

FRIDAY (1/12/24):  We had Zone Conference today and it went pretty well!  We talked about who/what we want to become on our missions, the two great commandments (we talk about this one a lot), how loving and serving those we teach brings true happiness, how to make a contact meaningful, the importance of diligence and patience, and topics of the Restoration.  It was a lot, but we definitely learned a lot.  After Zone Conference, I started to not feel very well.  I ended up sleeping most of the day and resting.

SATURDAY (1/13/24):  I woke up today feeling a lot better!  We did some contacting, wrote our talks for Sacrament meeting, and then had a really good lesson with Orlando!  We talked about some of the things we learned in Zone Conference the day before (the two great commandments) and then read the "Peacemakers Needed" by President Nelson.  This is definitely one of my favorite talks in all of General Conference.  It's so applicable to each and every single one of us.  Not only was Jesus our Savior and Redeemer, but he was the ultimate example of how we should strive to be like.  He represented and showed character traits that all of us need to apply in our lives.  (Love and Charity, Kindness, Humility, Service, Faith, Virtue/Integrity; having the knowledge to be able to discern wrong from right and the willingness to hold yourself to high moral standards, diligence and the importance of working hard, etc.)  After, we talked a little more with Orlando about the temple and preparing him to receive his temple recommend.  Orlando is seriously so cool!

SUNDAY (1/14/24):  A lot of people came to church today! Orlando came to church today!  Everyone was super happy to see him.  I gave a talk in our Spanish sacrament meeting, and it went pretty good, until I bore my testimony.  For some reason while bearing my testimony I said, "Yo se que José Smith es nuestro Salvador," which translates to, "I know that Joseph Smith is our Savior."   I was so embarrassed I started laughing at the pulpit in front of the whole congregation.  It was alright though because everyone understood what I meant! After church, we went and tried contacting some referrals we had received.  One of the ladies that had referred herself told us that she didn't want to have a lesson, which was a little disappointing.  After dinner with the Welch's, we helped Elder Butikofer and Elder Pepper teach Gloria.  Gloria is one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet!  We taught Gloria that true discipleship of Jesus Christ starts when we choose to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.  We explained to her what the Gift of the Holy Ghost is and how she can always have that feeling with her, even when the Elders are gone.  We all shared our testimonies and left!  We had a quick street contact before ending the night and taught him about the restoration. 

MONDAY (1/15/24):  After district council, we had a mini exchange with the Zone Leaders.  Me and Elder Butikofer went parking lot contacting for a couple hours and handed out Books of Mormon and set up return dates.  We got yelled at by one guy saying we were being brainwashed by our silver plates and that we couldn't be saved.  We weren't gonna put in effort to talk to him, so we just ignored him.  Also, another guy start getting after us for our church being quote on quote "racist."  I didn't bash with him, but I shared 2 Nephi 26:33 and basically explained to him how all are alike unto God.  He seemed to have a change of heart afterwards about our Church, which was good.  To end the night, we tried visiting our recent convert Cristian, but we found out that he had moved to Los Angeles without telling any of us.  While biking home, we had a guy come up to us and ask us if we believed in Joseph Smith and the "12 plates."  We tried teaching him, but he was pretty drunk. 

TUESDAY (1/16/24):  Today was a bit of a slower day.  We tried visiting more inactive members, but we weren't able to get any responses.  However, one of our friends we have been trying to get in contact with for a while named Salvador finally was home!  We talked with for a while and set up a return date!  He seems really cool and I'm excited to have a lesson with him.  We ended the night with Soccer Night, and it went well.  We had some friends come which is always good.  I'm convinced I'll never be able to get soccer down though haha; it's so ridiculously hard!  It's still fun regardless.  Love, Elder Copeland

Week 17 - January 12, 2024

Sorry for the late Email!  I'm doing pretty good!  I'll go more into depth on how I'm doing next week! 

WEDNESDAY (1/3/24):  Pretty good P-day.  I worked out, took a nap, played some beach volleyball with the Zone and then talked with Elder Marx and Elder Jensen for a bit.  I also caught up on my journal!

THURSDAY (1/4/23):  Today was a good day!  We tried contacting a referral we received but she wasn't home.  Her dad got upset at us and told us they were Catholic.  She was definitely interested but later dropped us due to her dad, which was disappointing.  I also got yelled at by a couple homeless people, but it was nothing crazy.  It's so sad to see what drugs, alcohol, etc., have done to these people.  Addictions will ruin your life if you let them overtake you.  I pray that these people can get the help they need.  After, we went door to door contacting and met Ana and Antonio.  They were super nice, and we said a prayer with them.  We invited them to church as well.  After, while trying to meet up with Jessica (one of our referrals), we met a lady named Antonia.  She lived in the same exact house Jessica lives in.  She told us how she attended church regularly twice a week and how she had a strong belief in Jesus Christ and God.  We read Mosiah 4:9 with her and talked about how God is all knowing and that he is our Heavenly Father.  After, we had probably the best lesson I've had on my whole mission with Orlando.  A member in our ward named Brother Batistich came with us and brought the Spirit so profoundly.  We talked about Orlando's baptism, his journey with the missionaries, trials he has had to overcome, the importance of renewing our covenants during the Sacrament, and how the gospel blesses our lives.  Orlando opened up to us on how he felt like that he wouldn't be welcomed back/wanted back for being gone for so long. Brother Batistich opened up Luke 15 and started reading about the Prodigal Son.  Orlando really appreciated it and was brought to tears.  We all bore our testimonies to end the lesson.  This was such an awesome lesson! 

FRIDAY (1/5/24):  We were able to get lunch with Mitch today, which was fun!  Me and Elder Empey were studying the King Follet Sermon today trying to understand it better.  For those who haven't read it, it was a speech given by Joseph Smith at the funeral of a friend of his, named King Follet, months before his own martyr.  I would try and explain it on this email if I could, but I don't think I'd be able to.  It's pretty deep doctrine. After contacting for most of the day and inviting people to church, we had a dinner with a member who knows a lot of doctrine.  We talked with him for a while, and he helped explain some things!

SATURDAY (1/6/24):  We went to the baptism of two kids in our ward that are a part of a recent convert's family.  Everyone did such a great job preparing talks that were clear enough for the kids to understand (different ways we feel the Holy Ghost in our lives and the promised blessings that we receive when we make baptismal covenants).  After studying, we were able to have a lesson with David.  We talked with David for a while about the importance of family relationships, the two great commandments (loving God and others), why serving and helping others can bring us happiness, and the importance of repentance and change.  David is a super solid guy and both me and Elder Empey really like him; he's just doesn't seem that interested in coming to church or progressing any further. We're going to try and have another lesson with him and see if he actually wants to progress or not.  We're really trying to get him to come to church and read from the Book of Mormon.

SUNDAY (1/7/24):  Bishop Welch got released today which was pretty surprising for everyone.  Brother Duran (Mickey) got called as the Bishop with Brother Daley and Brother Batistich as his counselors.  Everyone was super sad to see Bishop Welch get released (because he's literally the greatest guy on the planet haha), but he'll get a new calling eventually.  Mickey, Bishop Duran, is equally as amazing and is going to be such a great bishop.  The members in Watsonville are so awesome! We had lunch with Bishop Welch and then visited President and Sister Duran (Mickey's parents).  To end the night, we attended night church and watched some Church History videos.

MONDAY (1/8/24):  Another pretty good day!  We had Zone Council today with our zone.  Me and Elder Empey gave a training on the importance of the power and authority of our calling.  We talked about how important it is for us as missionaries to present ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ through the way we dress, the way we act, and the things we say.  For many people, their first impression of our church is when they meet with, see, or talk with the missionaries.  We also talked about how important it is to stay disciplined throughout your mission and to put aside any distractions that may be hindering the work.  As missionaries, we always need to be spiritually minded and "clean" through our thoughts and actions.  As missionaries, we can't have successful contacts or lessons if we're not teaching with the Spirit.  After eating burritos and watching some old church videos (Johny Lingo and Uncle Ben) with Mitch and the Welches at the church, we had another really good lesson with Orlando.  We watched the first vision on his laptop, read the Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, talked about ways we have changed our own lives through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, Christlike attributes (Love, Service, Charity, Humility) and the importance of gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon for yourself.  Me and Elder Empey love Orlando so much haha.  He's definitely one of the "boys."  He has a strong testimony and loves the church but struggles to come at times due to him not having a car and his health issues.  Orlando has had a difficult life, yet he continues to press forward with a smile on his face.  It's super admirable! 

TUESDAY (1/9/24):  Today was a slower day.  We went around contacting some people but didn't have much success.  Our list of members that we thought were inactive, but had actually just moved, is up to 18 at the moment.  So many members are moving out of California!  To end the night, we played soccer with the Durans and some of our friends.  Love, Elder Copeland

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Week 16 - January 5, 2024

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a great week!  I'm doing pretty well!  Watsonville is definitely a slower area, but I love it so much down here!  The ward down here is small, but the members that attend are so awesome!  I finished reading the Book of Mormon from front to cover, and it's so undeniably true!  My Spanish is progressing slowly but surely.  I definitely get overwhelmed on how long I'm going to be a missionary.  I'm definitely having to take things day by day, little by little.  I know it isn't true, but it really does feel like this is what I'll be doing for the rest of my life haha!  We are still working with inactive members mostly and trying to get them back to church!  Me and Elder Empey get along super well and work great together.  Hopefully me and him get to stay in Watsonville together again for another transfer!

WEDNESDAY (12/27/23):  For our P-day today, we went to the temple and did endowments.  Watsonville is around two hours away from Oakland, so most of our day was spent driving.  The Oakland Temple is so gorgeous!  There are always visitors there either visiting the roof garden or going to the Visitor Center which is awesome!  After the temple, we ended the day by playing basketball at the church and talking to our families.

THURSDAY (12/28/23):  Today was a slow day.  Due to the temple taking up so much time the day before, we had to quickly go shopping and get our haircuts.  Me and the barber talked a while about my mission, the church, sports, etc.  He said that one of his college professors had served a mission, so he knew a little bit about who and what we were!  I kinda explained to him what a prophet was and how each missionary is assigned their mission call.  After, we began to work on visiting some more inactive members but not a single person was home.

FRIDAY (12/29/23):  We contacted a referral named Jessica Tolentino.  She didn't have a lot time and seemed to have some pretty severe social anxiety.  I quickly shared how the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to change and become newer and better persons.  We left her with a Book of Mormon and invited her to Church.  While leaving her house, we met a man named Ramiro.  He had been previously taught by Elder Empey and his past companion.  He said his family had tested positive for Covid and told us to stop by next week.  After, we were able to finally contact an inactive member.  Her name was Sister Franklin, and she was so incredibly nice.  She is 83 and still has a strong testimony of the Church and of Jesus Christ; she just struggles with some health problems.  We said a prayer with her, and she left us with some oatmeal cookies and bread.  After, we had another lesson with Orlando and talked to him about how to use, "Come, Follow Me," read the Testimony of the Three Witnesses and gave him a mini-Temple Prep. lesson as he is interested in getting endowed soon.  He has such a strong testimony, but he deals with some social anxiety which prevents him from coming to church.  We had to end the night early as we had to bike home in pouring rain.

SATURDAY (12/30/23):  A slower day today again.  We went contacting again and didn't have much success.  We had dinner and a lesson with Cole again.  We talked about his roofing business he is working for, stories about him and his nieces and nephews that he's living with currently, his plan to open a business in New Mexico after moving out of California, etc.  We talked to him a little about President Nelson and the importance of a living Prophet. 

SUNDAY (12/31/23):  Since it was New Years Eve, not many people showed up to Church.  We only had 44 people in English Sacrament and 22 in Spanish.  The Zone Leaders gave good talks about Faith and Repentance in the Spanish meeting while Bishop Welch gave an incredible talk in our English Meeting.  Bishop totally understands why so many members are moving out of California, but I can tell it's hard for him to see the ward shrink so much.  Before Covid, 100-120 people would attend each week.  Due to Covid, the politics of California, and just how expensive it is to live here, so many people (especially the members) are moving.  That's why we are working so heavily with those Inactive Members that are still living here in Watsonville.  We ended the night by visiting the Daleys and having dinner with Bishop Welch.  We had early curfew due to New Years.  Me and my companion went to bed at 9:00 to catch up on our sleep!

MONDAY (1/1/24):  New Years Day!  Officially the start of my Blackout Year (which is so crazy to think about).  We went again contacting some inactive members again but didn't find much success.  We said a quick pray with a young kid and then headed off the visit a lady named Gloria, and to our surprise she was home!  She is an inactive member who stopped attending church quite a while ago.  She is older and deals with back issues and is partially deaf.  We talked with her for a while and said a prayer with her to close the discussion.  She seems grateful for our time as she gave us her phone number and told us if we were ever hungry that she would feed us.  We are totally going to try setting up a dinner with her so that we can teach her and invite her back to church.  I also tried to help a lady in her 90's pick up some fruit that she dropped but couldn't understand what we were saying haha!  We ended the night by stopping by the home of Sister Salen and wishing her happy birthday!

TUESDAY (1/2/24):  We had interviews today with President Larsen.  San Jose is about an hour and a half away from Watsonville, so a big chunk of the day was spent driving again. My interview with President went well again!  We talked about how we are trying to build up the ward right now, how my studies were going, and some new ways on how to approach new people/inactive members that me and my companion are going to apply.  He also said he's preparing me to be a leader soon (being a ZL or DL means absolutely nothing in my opinion:  I could care less about being a leader, in all honesty, but I just do as I'm told haha).  I absolutely hate the mentality some people have that being in leadership automatically means you're a better missionary because it absolutely doesn't.  I also had a lesson with Sister Larsen which went well!  We talked about what I had been learning in my personal studies and how I had been adjusting to missionary life. Afterwards, we had a meeting with President Larsen and talked about the two great commandments!  After returning back to Watsonville, we ended the night by having dinner with Mickey and playing soccer for sports night.  Mickey knows my sister-in-law, Jessica's brother (Elder Lance) as he had served in Watsonville while he was on his mission.  What a small world!

Thanks for all the support and love from everyone!  I'm so grateful for all you guys, especially my family.  They are the most amazing people and I'm so blessed that they are in my life.  I'll talk again next week!  Elder Copeland 

Week 15 - December 30, 2023

 Merry late Christmas!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  I'm starting to really enjoy biking for the most part! The dream scenario would be if we could have a car and bikes!  Regardless, biking is pretty fun when it isn't raining or pitch-black outside.  I love Watsonville so much!  Living right on main street is so fun!  There are barbershops, stores, thrift shops, etc. that we live right next door to.  Elder Empey, my companion, is awesome!  We got along really well, and both enjoy learning from one another.  The only downside to Watsonville is that there aren't nearly as many Latinos down here, so I'm not able to speak as much Spanish.  I still get an hour of practice in though every day!

WEDNESDAY (12/20/23):  Our apartment was filthy from the missionaries who lived in our apartment beforehand, so we spent a lot of our p-day cleaning it up.  There was a disgusting amount of dirt and dust on the windows, floor, cabinets and molding.  After, we went to the church and played basketball with the zone.  We also got dinner with Daniel again!  He's such an amazing convert!  He has really changed his life around through the gospel!  He's one of the most positive people I've ever met.

THURSDAY (12/21/23):  After our daily morning routine, me and my companion felt inspired to do some service.  For some reason, we both felt inspired to make sugar cookies and hand them out to our friends/members in the ward.  We went to the store really quick to grab groceries with Elder Marx and Elder Jensen!  We ran out of time, however, because our dinner/lesson with our friend Cole came up earlier than expected.  We get along with Cole very well; he's such a fun guy!  Cole lives with his aunt and uncle, who are members of the church, while he is out here working on roofing.  Cole loves learning about our church's doctrine/history and comes to church every week; he just isn't fully committed to the idea of being baptized.  It doesn't help either that his mother is pretty "anti-mormon" and doesn't want him being baptized while living in California.  He, also, told us he finds it incredibly weird how everyone in our church gets married so young, which we laughed about.  While in our lesson, he told us that he had seen videos of our temple ceremonies on social media.  We explained to him as much as we could about why we wear and do the things in the temple without breaking our covenants. We read parts of Exodus with him and explained to him how our temples are very similar to the tabernacle of the Old Testament.  In addition to this, we clarified any questions he had about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  For some reason, Cole definitely seems more interested in learning from the Bible than the Book of Mormon, which is cool with us. 

FRIDAY (12/22/23):  Today was a slower day.  One of our main focuses this transfer is cleaning up the Area Book (PMG app) and helping inactive members return to church.  So many members have moved out of California that we don't even know about.  Today alone, there were about four houses that our app told us were addresses of inactive members' houses; however, when we went to their houses, the people living there told us they didn't know who we were looking for.  We're definitely working on figuring out who has actually moved or not so we know who to visit.  The only semi-successful contact we had today was saying a prayer with a man.  We met him while knocking on what was supposed to be a member's house.  He told us that whoever we were looking for didn't live there anymore.  We offered a quick prayer with him to which he accepted.  He seemed to really appreciate our prayer as he gave us bananas, apples, and water afterward.  He rejected the Book of Mormon so quickly though when we tried to give him one.  We ended the night by making some cookies and handing them out to David, Orlando, and other friends and members of the ward.

SATURDAY (12/23/23):  This transfer, we had an extra Zone Conference for Christmas.  At the Zone Conference, we decorated gingerbread houses, listened to devotionals and music, ate food, had a talent show, and had a testimony meeting.  President and Sister Larsen also taught us how to sing Silent Night using sign language.  They're completely fluent in sign language as all three of their kids are deaf.  After our Zone Conference, we went Christmas caroling with Brother and Sister Meyer.  Brother Meyer is a 25-year-old who served his mission here in Watsonville.  He met his wife while serving down here.  He is one of the funniest people I've ever met.  We were constantly laughing at whatever he said or did.  We went Christmas caroling to some inactive members in our ward while also leaving them with cookies.  They were all super appreciative of us and enjoyed our company.  One couple in particular was especially happy to see us.  I didn't catch their names, but they were telling us how they had had a difficult year.  The wife had to relearn how to walk again due to having four strokes.  In addition to this, everything in their house was destroyed due to the floods that hit Watsonville around a year ago.  Thankfully, they received the help and donations of many around them in which they were so incredibly grateful for.  It was a really cool experience to see them open up to us and give thanks to not only to those who have helped them, but to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as well!

SUNDAY (12/24/23):  My first Christmas Eve on the mission! We started off by going to church.  Both the English ward and Spanish branch combined for Sacrament meeting since it was Christmas Eve; there were actually a lot of people in Sacrament today!  Sadly, David didn't show up (again) which we were pretty bummed about.  We still had a good number of friends come though!  After, we went with Elder Butikofer and Elder Pepper to help teach one or their friends named Gloria. We listened to Christmas music, watched the Christ Child, and read through Mathew 2 with her.  The Zone Leaders are teaching her, and she seems to be progressing really well!  In addition to this, we helped her with service she was doing for the community by helping give food and toys to families in need.  After dinner with a member in our ward, we had a Christmas Devotional with the whole Mission over Zoom!  We all listed different names given to Jesus throughout the scriptures and set goals that we wanted to complete by next Christmas!

MONDAY (12/25/23):  We woke up and drove over to Bishop's house.  Bishop Welch invited us over to spend Christmas day at their house which was so fun!  We opened our presents and stockings Sister Welch made for us, ate breakfast, had a nerf gun war, shot their crossbow, and played games!  They also fed us dinner.  It was seriously so nice of them, and I'm so thankful for them making our Christmas enjoyable while we are away from home!

TUESDAY (12/26/23):  Elder Empey had been throwing up the night before and was pretty sick, so we stayed home the whole day.  Luckily, I felt great.  I tried to stay productive today by studying, working out, cleaning up, doing my laundry, and talking with the Zone Leaders. 

While being a missionary and working with inactive members, it made me realize how extremely easy it should be for members to attend Church every week and partake of the Sacrament.  I get pretty frustrated when members who have been baptized stop coming to church.  With everything that we have been given, the bare minimum God asks of us each week is to attend church for an hour or two and yet some people don't.  It makes me frustrated, too, since that's how I used to be time to time when I was high school.  Partaking of the Sacrament every week is so incredibly important!  It's how we renew our covenants with God.  I'm so incredibly grateful for my family and friends!  Also, shout out to my sister, Jenna, who announced her pregnancy!

Love, Elder Copeland