Week 32 and 33 - April 29, 2024

 Hey, everyone!  I hope everyone is doing well!  I've been ok!  As of today (4/24/24), we will be having a baptism.  As long as others are happy, that's all that matters!  My new area is called Greenfield.  Every single person down here is from Mexico; I'm really hoping I'll be able to improve my Spanish down here.  I'm still struggling to get it down. I'm definitely frustrated about the whole thing, but I'm trying my best every single day though and that's all I can ask of myself.  My companion is an interesting guy!  He's super nice though!  He'll be able to help me with my Spanish though since he's from Mexico.  Anyways, here is how my week went: 

I'm still trying to learn this area and the people living down here!  I met my companion at the M.O, moved my stuff to our car, said goodbye to Elder Johnson (I loved serving with him) and then drove down to Greenfield.  Not to my surprise, the apartment was an absolute mess when I got there.  We spent the whole day cleaning up the apartment and organizing everything.  I'm a huge believer in being clean and organized. Being able to take care of yourself and your surroundings is so important and not enough missionaries do that.  Also, this apartment has a garage with a bench, a dip machine, and a variety of other equipment!  I'll also be adding the bench, weights, and treadmill I have coming.  Having this is such a huge blessing and will help me out a lot! 

The week was pretty crazy!  We have a lot of progressing friends down here.  The whole week we spent teaching a friend that Elder Candia and his past companion had been teaching off and on named Elizabeth.  She had been referred by a past convert named Lily B.  Right as I got here, she became really interested and wanted to be baptized.  For the whole week, we taught her all that she needed to learn and reviewed some of things that she had been taught in the past.  I met a couple of the other friends that Elder Candia and his past companion had been teaching.  Their names are Natalia, Freddy, Cesar, and Brian (the funniest little kids I've ever met.  We pass by them every single day, play soccer, and then teach them!), Santiago, etc.  We taught them and shared messages with them throughout the week.  We're going to help them progress!

We also did some finding this week.  We went street contacting, park contacting, and visited some referrals that we had received.  We met a man smoking weed who asked us if we wanted any haha.  He also asked some pretty interesting questions that aren't appropriate for this email... 

I'll get back to track on formatting my emails the way they usually are.  I've been terrible on getting my emails out on time.  All in all, I've really liked Greenfield so far.  There are good people down here that we are teaching and finding, the apartment is great, we have a car, and my companion is cool. I'm so grateful for all my blessings and the things that I've been blessed with in my life.  Each day, I look for ways I've been blessed.  It helps me through the hard times!  I'm so extremely blessed for the family I've been given.  They mean everything to me, and I miss them so much.  I'm comforted knowing that I'll be able to see them again one day and that through Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation, we can live together with our loved ones forever for time and all eternity:  what a blessing! 

Also, I know many aren't able to access my photo album so here are some photos from my past couple weeks! I'll also be better at adding photos every week.  Elder Copeland

Week 31 - April 18, 2024

 Hi!  This is going to be a very short email!  I'm getting transferred today!  After three transfers in Watsonville, I'm getting transferred to an area called Greenfield.  My new companion's first language is Spanish:  It's definitely going to be tough, but I'm going to really try and get my Spanish down this transfer.  

I'm so grateful for the time I spent in Watsonville.  I learned so much down here and met so many amazing people.  The Ward was incredible down here!  I'm so happy we were able to baptize and confirm Terresa as well!  Her family is amazing! Elder Johnson and his new companion are going to get his kids baptized next!  I'm excited to see how the friends I have been teaching down here progress as well!  Hopefully if any baptisms happen, I'll be able to come down.  I'll have a more detailed email next week!  Thanks for all the support.  I'm so grateful for my friends and family.  I'm so incredibly blessed!  Also, shout out to Elder Copeland (Jaxon) for finishing up his mission!  He did an amazing job in Brazil! 

Week 30 - April 14, 2023

Late Email!  Most of the week, we helped our friend Teresa progress towards her baptism and taught her the rest of the things she needed to know!  This is going to be a bit of a shorter email since it's coming out so late.  My emails are already super long as they are though haha! 

WEDNESDAY (4/3/24):  We went to the Oakland Temple and did baptisms for the dead.  I was asked by one of the temple workers if I'd be willing to record the names at the font and confirm each name.  I had never done it before, so it was a pretty cool experience.  I was also able to help confirm afterwards.  Going to the temple always takes up our whole P-Day due to the drive and traffic; I always love going to the temple!

THURSDAY (4/4/24):  I went on exchanges with Elder Morris.  I was able to go over to their area for the day.  I taught and helped some of their friends/members they were currently teaching.  It was a really fun day with Elder Morris!  We ended the night by going to the Pajaro Dunes, the beach right next to us, to get some pictures.  It was pouring pretty hard, and the winds were out of control; In fact, the winds were so strong that my umbrella broke!  All in all, it was a good exchange, and I learned a lot.

FRIDAY (4/5/24):  Back in my area!  We stopped by Nora for a second.  She didn't read the part we left her with in the Book of Mormon, so we told her we'd come another day when she had.  She was down!  After, we tried visiting a referral we had received.  We tried talking to her, but she told us how she didn't want to become a "Mormon."  We were confused on why she sent a referral, but we just laughed it off.  After, we had a good lesson with Terresa and Lucio.  We taught them about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and read from the Book of Mormon.  They really enjoyed it and were retaining what I was saying to them. 

SATURDAY (4/6/24):  We watched the morning session of Conference w' the Daleys, the afternoon session of Conference w' our Zone, and the Evening Session of Conference w' Orlando.  Conference was amazing!  I had never taken so many notes before in my life!  One of my favorite talks of the day was Elder Bowen's talk titled: "Miracles, Angel's and Priesthood Power."  His story about his patriarchal blessing and how it tied into him being put into a prison cell while on his mission, the importance of the Priesthood, and how we can still experience miracles in our lives today really caught my eye.  I learned something new from every single talk! 

SUNDAY (4/7/24):  Conference was amazing once again!  We watched the morning session together as a district and the afternoon session with the Durans.  Every single talk given was amazing once again!  The talk that stuck out to me the most that day was Mathias Held's talk titled, "Opposition in All Things."  Choosing how we use our agency is so important! Without the hard and difficult times, we'd never be able to appreciate and enjoy the good things in our lives.  Jesus Christ is the only person that will ever know what we are truly going through!  This was definitely the most attentive I have ever been during a conference before!  Being able to hear and listen to our Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities is such a blessing!  We can learn so much from them and the Spirit if we're willing to listen and put in the work.

MONDAY (4/8/24):  We stopped by Teresa, but she wasn't home.  Lucio (her husband) told us she was shopping and told us to come back a little later.  We tried seeing if our friend Marvivel was home, but her mother wouldn't let us speak with her.  She's a pretty hardcore Catholic and began telling us how we don't follow the commandments, how we don't believe in the Bible, and how we are of "Satan."  We bore our testimonies on the Book of Mormon and us being follows of Jesus Christ and the scriptures and left it at that.  After, we went to an apartment complex and knocked some doors up. We found a really cool lady named Xochild.  We talked about the Atonement w' her and read some verses from the Book of Mormon.  We explained to her what the Book of Mormon was and left her 3 Nephi 11 to read.  She found it really interesting how Jesus Christ visited those outside of Jerusalem after his death and resurrection.  We ended the night by having a really good lesson w' Terresa.  We taught her about prophets again and Joseph Smith's role in the restoration.  We invited her to be baptized this Saturday and she said yes! 

TUESDAY (4/9/24):  We stopped by Norah's house and had a pretty solid with her.  She has difficulty reading small font, so we helped her download the Book of Mormon app.  She told us she really enjoyed the chapter that we had left her with and that she could feel the Spirit while reading it.  We explained to her how every single person in our church has the opportunity to speak and share their testimonies during sacrament meeting.  We finished the lesson by reading 2 Nephi 26:33 and talked about how all are alike unto God (one of my favorite scriptures).  We also talked about how for us to receive the truth through the Holy Ghost, we have to have faith and act upon that faith by reading the scriptures and praying about it.  We did some contacting and then had Soccer Night!  Elder Copeland

Week 29 - April 7, 2024

Another Week down!  I definitely had my ups and downs this week.  My Spanish has definitely been the most frustrating part of my week.  I guess it's something that might take me a little longer to pick up than others, which is something I've come to accept.  I've always been able to learn things pretty easily, but this isn't one of them.  I'm definitely praying and trying to learn as much as I can every single day.  I definitely need to start pushing myself outside of my comfort zone a little more and start speaking it more often.  I already have a hard enough time as it is speaking to others in English so adding Spanish to the mix makes it nearly impossible 🤣. I'll be fine though:  I just have to keep working hard at it.  My mission experience would definitely be more enjoyable if I was able to speak Spanish.  I'm the only one who can change that though through hard work, diligence, pray, faith, etc.  Other than that things are going ok.  My companion and I still get along well, I love my Area/District/Zone and the ward down here is amazing.  I'm very excited for General Conference next week!  It'll be interesting to hear what they have to say this time around!

WEDNESDAY (3/27/24):  Pretty chill P-day today.  Me and my companion were pretty slumped today so we rested, went shopping, and talked with our families.  One of the members in our ward is going through some pretty serious health problems at the moment.  I was able to give him a blessing as he prepares for his upcoming surgery.  Giving blessings are always such spiritual and uplifting experiences.

THURSDAY (3/28/24):  We had to clean our car before Zone Conference the following day.  Cars get graded on cleanliness and overall appearance at each Zone Conference.  So me and my companion spent a good chunk of the day getting our car really clean.  After, we had a pretty long lesson with our friend David again.  David frustrates me because I want nothing more than to start seeing him succeed and begin feeling better (both spiritually and emotionally), yet he isn't willing to do any of the invitations or things we ask of him to help him progress. He won't change his sleep schedule, he won't read the scriptures, he won't listen to General Conference, he won't come to church, he won't look for hobbies, he won't go to school or get a job, etc.  I know I'm sounding pretty harsh, but I genuinely want the best for him.  It frustrates me to see him living the way he is living at the moment.  I'm definitely going to continue loving and working with him.  We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and talked about it with him.  We talked about the Atonement and how we can apply it to our lives.  After the lesson, we didn't have much success.  Lessons canceled on us and we didn't have any success with our contacts. 

FRIDAY (3/29/24):  We had a really good Zone Conference this morning.  We had individual breakout rooms for each point on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I actually learned a lot and took some pretty good notes.  After, President Larsen gave a really spiritual devotion on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and ways we can celebrate and remember him as we celebrate the Easter Season.  It made me realize and appreciate the Atonement even more than I already had.  After Zone Conference, we came back to our apartment, weekly planned and then had our lesson with Lucio and Teresa.  Teresa is working towards baptism which is awesome!  We just need to explain and teach her a couple things here and there and then she should be good to go!  We finished the lesson by bearing our testimonies on the Book of Mormon, which went over really well with her!  We were also able to talk with their kids for a minute, which went well.  We had some contacts go through, but we were able to talk and visit with some inactive members.

SATURDAY (3/30/24):  We began the day by helping the ward hide Easter eggs around the building.  We were supposed to have the egg hunt outside, but it had rained the night before. Everyone still had a great time!  After, we had a lesson with our friends Lázaro and Reina.  It was extremely difficult to teach them since they knew very little Spanish.  They solely speak Mixteco with one another. I now understand how it feels when people try and speak with me haha.  We tried our best to teach them about the Book of Mormon but it was pretty hard for them to understand.  Also, they asked us if we had any money for them so we had to explain to them that we were only here to serve and teach.  After, Elder Johnson had to give Jose Ponce a baptismal interview.  Jose Ponce is a friend the other Elders had and have been teaching for a while. Unfortunately, they had lost contact with him for a while due to his telephone number changing. One day while on exchanges, me and Elder Butikofer felt inspired to take a different path home.  To our surprise, we found Jose walking around by himself. We talked with him for a bit and got his new telephone number.  A couple weeks later, he's getting interviewed for his baptism today.  While I never got the opportunity to teach him, I was able to reactivate him which I'm really happy about!  Jose is such a great guy!  After his interview, we tried visiting and inviting as many as we could to church.  We talked with a friend Marcos, taught Sister Jones about the Plan of Salvation and the Kingdoms of Glory, and Ramiro about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

SUNDAY (3/31/24):  Easter Sunday!  None of our friends pulled up to church today which was pretty discouraging.  All is well though, we still had a good amount of people in attendance today!  After Sacrament, we had the baptism for Jose Ponce.  I gave a talk in Spanish about baptism, the covenants that we make at baptism, and the promised blessings that come from doing so.  After giving Jose the gift of the Holy Ghost, we went to the Salden's house to celebrate Easter.  They're a funny family.  We smashed hard boiled eggs with them, ate dinner, opened our baskets they made for us, etc.  After, we had night service.  We ran out of bread so we used tortillas instead haha.  After the Sacrament, we all sat in a circle talking about the Atonement and the importance of it and how we can apply it in our lives.

MONDAY (4/1/24):  A bit of a slower day today.  We taught Norah about praying and receiving revelation through the Holy Ghost and the need of Priesthood Power.  Since she had been baptized into a church before this, we had to go into depth about how and why authority is necessary.  We shared the story of Jesus Christ being baptized by John the Baptist and other accounts of Jesus Christ and his Apostles giving the Gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of Hands.  She understood what we were teaching her, but was skeptical.  We testified at the end that the best way for her to receive an answer to what we're teaching her was by reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it.  Christopher practically has dropped us at this point, which is pretty sad.  We stopped by his house and left him a card saying that we'd always be here for him if he regained interest.  We had some contacts fall through, but we were able to have a lesson with Salamon and his family.  We read Mosiah 18 and talked about baptism with him and his family.  They've been taught for almost two years now.  Our goal is to try and finally help them progress.

TUESDAY (4/2/24):  We taught Lucio and his wife Teresa about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Teresa has a strong desire to get baptized, she just wants a couple things cleared up.  We gave her a baptismal bookmark and have been helping her check off each box.  After, we didn't have much success either. We had some lessons fall through and our contacts weren't home.  Luckily, we had a really great lesson with Orlando.  We read Mosiah chapters 2 and 3 with him and discussed it with one another.  He opened up to us and discussed some personal matters that he's going through. We helped him overcome some of the things he was saying.  He told us that after reading the scriptures with us and discussing them, he realized and felt the urge/need to start going back to church and progress toward getting endowed.  It was a fire lesson! After, we got to take a tour of the Duran's Cooler where they store and distribute their strawberries:  It is a massive building! I've also never felt so cold in my life.  Elder Copeland

Week 27 and 28 - March 28, 2024

Hey, everyone!  I forgot to email again last week.  I hit my six-month mark which was pretty cool.  Besides that, nothing too crazy happened anyways; just the usual.  In all honesty, it's been a pretty discouraging transfer.  I still don't have Spanish down, I haven't had much success, and haven't had a single baptism yet.  I don't feel like I'm a good teacher, I'm homesick, and overall feel like I could be doing more with my life.  I'm doing fine though; I don't want this to turn into a pity me type of scenario haha.  I guess I'm just getting my feelings out 🤣.  I truly am blessed and have been given so much in my life.  I'm constantly trying to find and look for things in my life that I've been given or have blessed with.  Serving others helps as well! The mission has already taught me so much:  Too much for me to write in an email.  While every day is extremely difficult, I keep pushing forward through Faith, Prayer, Diligence, etc. 

WEDNESDAY (3/20/24):  We went to the Henry Calvil Redwoods and saw some pretty amazing trees.  We took this path on top of one of the railroad tracks and saw some pretty amazing views.  The trees are absolutely ginormous; I'm excited to come back one day and take my family with me.  We ended the day by going FHC and filling out March Madness brackets and playing basketball with the Zone.

THURSDAY (3/21/24):  We taught our friend Norah and her daughter about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and went into depth on each point.  They told us they had been baptized into another church and enjoyed the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we had left them with.  We told them we'd explain to them the Restoration and Priesthood the next time we meet. Right before we were going to leave, her daughter had questions about the Book of Mormon, so we gave her a quick rundown on it.  Surprisingly, Christopher asked to meet with us at the church, so we went and did that.  We talked about some of the concerns he had and explained each one.  It was a pretty long lesson.  Essentially, we told him we could try and disprove and prove each point he could bring up but that at the end of the day, he'd have to read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of it for himself.  There's only so much we can do with him at this point.  We left him two chapters in the Book of Mormon, so hopefully he reads them.

FRIDAY (3/22/24):  We had a really good lesson with Isiah. Isiah is a convert to the church and enjoys meeting with missionaries.  He hasn't been to church in years, however. Right as we began our lesson, he brought up wanting to start dating again.  He had questions about the YSA Ward, so we gave him the YSA Ward's information.  Also, I helped him download Mutual, which my companion found pretty funny. After, we taught him about the covenant path and explained to him how he could further progress.  We talked out some of the problems he was going through.  We really testified of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ really is amazing when you truly sit down and think about it. Isiah is such a good guy.  We're definitely going to help him progress!

After, we talked to Lucio and his family for a bit.  Lucio, a recent convert, lives in our area but the other Elders had been teaching him and his family since our area had been on bikes for so long:  Too far away to bike to.  We got passed along on his information, so we're gonna try and help the rest of his family progress.  After, we were finally able to meet with Salvador again.  We had a causal conversation with him for a bit and then had a solid lesson.  He told us that he had finally submitted his papers to court to hopefully get some legal fees dropped.  He told us when they do (hopefully 🤞), he plans on getting married and then baptized.  Salvador will get there eventually!  It's just a waiting game at this point.  We also talked about the Atonement with him.

SATURDAY (3/23/24):  We had a huge service project that took up most of the day.  Another set of members in our ward were moving and they needed help moving; it was quite the project.  We had to haul kayaks up a hill to their storage container, we had help throw away old buckets/wood/junk into a dumpster, we dug a trench on their hill, and helped re-pipe their irrigation system, and we collected old metal to be recycled.  It was also raining for a good part of the day.  Overall, it was a good time.  Our clothes were extremely muddy, so we had to wash them afterwards.  We ended the night by attending a baptism for two of the Duran kids that were being baptized. 

SUNDAY (3/24/24):  We had Ward Conference today, so the Ward and the Spanish Group got together for Sacrament.  It was weird to see such a large congregation.  Bishop Duran and President Hackwell both gave great talks.  We did some contacting and then had dinner with President Duran and the Hastings.  Elder Pepper rode their zip line and almost broke the thing haha.  We went to Night Church to see if anyone was coming, but no one showed up.  We ended the night by finally having a lesson with a friend Mario who had referred himself. We taught him the first half of The Plan of Salvation.  We taught him using pictures and analogies which helped him to understand it better.  We taught and explained to him the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it ties into the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He has a pretty negative/receptive view of God which is something we need to help him on. 

MONDAY (3/25/24):  We had District Council which was good. We also ate with the Welches which is always a good time.  I could listen to him talk about church related doctrine, theology, etc. for hours.  He has incredibly smart insights.  For the rest of the day, literally nothing happened.  We tried contacting people, but no one answered.  It also didn't help that we had a lesson canceled on us.  It was one of the most dead days of my mission.  Some days are just like that.

TUESDAY (3/26/24):  We met with Nora again today and she was going through a hard time.  She told us her daughter may potentially have cancer; she's only 20 as well.  She kept asking us to keep her and her family in our prayers, which we're definitely going to do.  We explained to her the Plan of Salvation and the Priesthood.  We explained to her the Priesthood and how we are able to perform blessings.  We offered to give her daughter a blessing and she told us she'd let us know.  She seemed receptive to the idea.  The problem was that she hadn't told her daughter.  We're hoping she doesn't have cancer, but we'll have to wait and see.  We're going to try helping and visiting with them a lot!  We talked with Felipe for a second and shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon with him.  He's always been pretty receptive to our message but today he wasnt haha.  He read a random scripture from Psalms with us and tried to explain to us how the Book of Mormon wasn't scripture.  We taught him how the Bible and the Book of Mormon are different yet teach similar themes.  We also showed him how both books are formatted the same.  We'll see where we go with him.  

Right as we were about to contact someone, we got a text from Orlando asking us come over.  We went over to his house and had a great lesson.  We talked about his plans for the upcoming month, fishing, his work, etc.  After we began to talk a little about why life can be so difficult and some of the ways we can overcome it.  We all shared our thoughts with one another.  While talking, I randomly shared the analogy of how diamonds are formed under pressure and how that relates back to our lives.  I also shared 1 Nephi 3:7 and how we are able to accomplish anything that comes our way through God and the Lord.  Right after, he showed me a text he sent to one of his friends of him explaining the diamond analogy and sharing the same exact scripture verse that I had just barely shared with him.  Coincidence or not, I thought that was pretty cool!  Orlando is such a good guy!  We're going to watch conference with him as well!  Elder Copeland

*Anyone can join my Google album photos if they want to!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PKaFuMoGrkCDSSKG8

Weeks 25 and 26 - March 25, 2024

Hi, everyone!  Sorry for not emailing last week!  It was a pretty typical week.  We had some good lessons, and I was able to give Salvador a blessing which was pretty cool!  We had transfers last week and things got crazy!  To my surprise, me and Elder Johnson found out that we we're staying together and that we'd be getting a car.  I like Watsonville a lot so I'm glad I'm staying here another transfer with Elder Johnson.  We're keeping the bikes as well, so it'll be nice to have both!  My Spanish vocabulary is improving immensely.  I'm getting a lot better at understanding what I'm reading and what people are saying.  I'm still struggling to speak it though which is frustrating.  I already have a hard enough time talking in English without mumbling half of my words; adding Spanish pronunciation/vocabulary on top of that it makes it really difficult.  I'm definitely taking it day by day.  Hopefully I continue to improve!

WEDNESDAY (3/6/24):  We went to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and walked around it for a bit.  The best part was seeing the dozens of seals sitting below the pier.  It was raining while we were there, but it wasn't too bad.  After, we went to the Stake Center to sign transfer journals and play some basketball.  I ended the night by talking with my family.

THURSDAY (3/7/24):  We had to drive up with the Zone Leaders to pick up our car at the Mission Office.  It was fun seeing Elder Empey and other missionaries I have served around with.  We helped a companionship of Elders move their stuff to their new apartment.   After returning back to Watsonville, we didn't have much time due to the drive there and back.  We tried visiting some inactive members' houses and most weren't home.  Those who were home told us that the people living there had moved.  We tried teaching them, but they wanted nothing to do with us.  While heading back to the car, some guy got pretty confrontational with us and kept asking us if we were Mormons.  We kept telling him we were LDS, but he wasn't having it haha.  We got out of there quick.

FRIDAY (3/8/24):  We got a referral from a man named Andy. We tried knocking his door, but he wasn't home.  After, we had a really good lesson with an inactive member named Isiah.  We had been trying to set something up with him for a while, but it always fell through.  Luckily through, we were finally able to have a lesson with him.  Isiah is such a cool guy.  He gave us free Body Armors, sparkling water, and colognes (which I am currently using).  He explained to us his job as a nighttime security guard, his baptism, covenants and the importance of going to church.  He had questions about the Kingdoms of Glory, so we clarified that as well.  Elder Johnson was pretty sick, so we spent the rest of the day in the apartment.  I basically just cleaned, studied, and prepped some things that needed to be done. 

SATURDAY (3/9/24):  We had a lesson with a referral we had received named Nora.  We taught her about the importance of becoming a "saint" through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and read the story of King Benjamin with her.  We also taught her a little bit about the Atonement and read Alma 7 with her.  In addition to this, her daughter came out and we taught her about church and the reason we partake of the sacrament every week.  We left her with a Book of Mormon, and she seems genuinely interested.  However, the husband of Nora and the father of their daughter was absolutely crazy.  He started getting in our faces about baptism and how we weren't Christians and so forth.  He spoke in the fastest Spanish I had ever heard.  We were gonna pull out some scriptures to prove him wrong, but we understood that would just cause even more problems.  In the end, we just bore our testimonies how contention always drives the Spirit away and he became way nicer afterwards.  This took up a lot of the day unfortunately. We ended the night by having a lesson with our friend Marcos and encouraged him to read the chapter from the Book of Mormon we left him.

SUNDAY (3/10/24):  I was so sick today.  My throat had never hurt so bad in my life. I'm pretty sure my companion got me sick, but it's all right haha.  We stayed home the whole day.  I slept most of the day.  It was difficult though because main street was having a car show and everyone was revving their cars ups, playing music, and honking. 

MONDAY (3/11/24):  Today was my birthday.  It was a pretty normal day.  We had district council and talked about the importance of making covenants.  While making lunch, I got confetti bombed by Elder Pepper and Elder Morris which was pretty funny.  I also had to clean dog waste off my shoe which wasn't very fun.  We did some contacting and then had a lesson with another referral we had received named Marivel. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We ended the night by sitting around the fire at our apartment's terrace with the other Elders in our district.

  

TUESDAY(3/12/24):  We got bashed again by some guy claiming the Bible was the "only word of God."  We got a little fed up, so we explained to him why he was wrong and how we know the Book of Mormon is true.  The more and more I've been on my mission, the more I realize just how important it is to read the Book of Mormon.  People would understand us so much more if they just took the time to read from it.  We had another lesson with our friend Nora.  She was telling us how her husband (the one who yelled at us a couple days ago) had been saying that we weren't Christians and that we married multiple wives.  We explained to her the truth and testified on the importance of discerning truth from error from the Spirit. We ended the night with soccer!  Elder Copeland