Hi, everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week! Sorry this email is coming out late! I had an email written up, but it got deleted right as I was about to write ðŸ˜. It was the most frustrating thing ever since I had written a long email/had taken a lot of time. Anyways, I guess I start from the beginning haha.
A funny story is while trying to visit a referral that we had received, we were able to receive his information and planned a time when we could meet up with him! While going to knock on his door, the person inside opened up and questioned who we were; he made us write down our names and numbers on a piece of paper as a way to quote on quote, "sign in." It turns out that the friend we had been talking to was in a schizophrenic household and the man that was questioning us was his health worker. He questioned us for a while, but he eventually let us teach the referral we had received. He was a super sweet and humble guy; he definitely wasn't there all the way, but we were able to help him understand the Godhead and the importance of prayer/how we pray! It was honestly a really cool experience being able to help him learn more about the Gospel!
During the final week me and Elder Astle had as well, we were able to help President Cable move a shed in his front yard, we helped a member from the English Ward move a huge pile of dirt into her backyard, and we were also able to help load and unload boxes from a storage unite to a member's house. She was the sweetest lady ever; she gave us hugs afterwards. (Some Elders got mad [because technically we aren't allowed to hug women], but I told them to use common sense and get over themselves haha.)
I was able to vote and the public library (they had some pretty funny anti-Mormon books there haha) for the election; I won't get political, but let's say I WAS MORE THAN PLEASED with the results 😀. Another really cool thing I was able to do was go up to the temple with Susana, the recent convert I helped baptize in Greenfield, go to the temple for the first time and do baptisms for the dead! She was definitely very nervous doing it (I don't blame her at all haha: I remember how nervous I was the first time going) but soon loved it after! It was really good to see her again and I was super happy that she was able to go to the temple! I hope she can continue to progress!
After the week had come to a close, it was the night of transfer news! While waiting for the transfers roster to drop, I get a call from President Larson saying that he had called me to be a District Leader in Las Colinas! As much as I hate leadership and being in charge, I accepted the call. As much as I was excited to serve, I was definitely a little sad to leave Livermore and the people behind. Elder Astle and Elder Johns were great companionship, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them! Also, the members of the Branch were amazing! President Cable was such an amazing Branch President; he was always willing to help us out with our friends and was always looking to help strengthen and support the Branch! The members were awesome as well! Hermana Patricia and her sons were so sweet, and they always loved having us over! We were able to help teach her and her twin sons, who were recently baptized, learn a little more! I also loved being able to the help Gilma (the recent convert the Elders had taught and baptize) continue to read in scriptures! She has such an amazing testimony, and I am so excited for her to continue to grow and progress along the covenant path! While I was only in Livermore for a short time, I thoroughly enjoyed my time. The area was gorgeous, and the people were so kind and willing to talk and listen to us. While we weren't able to find any progressing friends while I was there, I have faith that Elder Astle and his new company will do great things while I'm gone!
After packing up all of my stuff and heading down to the M.O, I met my new companion and headed to my new area! Elder Perschon is a super nice guy! He's only been in the mission for four months, so I've been able to help out with his training; it's been really good! I've been able to clean the area up quite a bit and we have a lot of really cool friends! There are so many people in this area that have so MUCH potential on progressing towards baptism!
Our friend Lucas (a really cool self-referral who we teach in his workshop: he's going to progress), Rodolfo (a man who has been taught almost everything and loved having us over but struggles getting to church, Jose A.G (an investigator that has been coming to church for a while but struggles with keeping commitments), Cirilo (kinda in the same boat as Jose A.G: struggles with faith a little but loves going to church, Cesar (a super funny/wholesome man who has been taught by missionaries for a while but can be hard to get in contact with at times) and a couple of other really cool friends! This is the strongest area and ward I've ever been in; they always have activities and events throughout the week!
Also, a member in the ward owns a Trader Joe's so whatever products they don't sell they donate to the church! After every single service, there are boxes and boxes of Trader Joe supplies you can take; it's pretty awesome! The ward is super super strong! We've also been able to find some really cool people while I have been here! We got a referral from a man named Rodolfo Santamaria who's really interested in learning more and changing! Also, a really cool experience happened! While talking to our bishop, he gave us a number of a member who had recently moved here from Mexico to work at a really amazing store! In this store, there are foods, snacks, and items from over 20 Latin American countries! It was cool to see some of the stuff my cousins and friends have had or are currently having on their missions.
Anyways, the lady working there (named Lorena Rica) moved over to San Jose from Mexico to work at this store [she knows the Boss]. One day while working, she felt inspired to ask our Bishop, who she didn't know at the time, if he was a member of the church! They were able to get to know each other and Bishop was able to get her info! He passed her info off to us and with that, we were able to meet her, introduce ourselves, and meet some of the friends she had for us to teach! We were able to meet her boss and get his contact info. Also, we were able to meet one of the costumers that shopped there regularly and get his info. He told us he was interested in learning more! She's such an amazing lady and has one of the strongest testimonies of the gospel I have ever seen!
Another cool experience that I had is while trying to contact a referral I had on exchanges, shout out to Elder Schriever, we weren't able to find him, but we were able to teach his little sister. She really wasn't that interested, but we got a return date regardless; when we came back the next time, we weren't able to find her, but we were able to find the original referral that we were looking for! His name was Rodolfo and he was so cool! He invited us into his house, and we were able to teach him about the Plan of Salvation and the purpose of life: he loved it! He even came to church the following week!
All in all, this area is super strong and there are so many amazing progressing people! I really hope and pray that I can help these people continue to progress towards making and keeping a covenant! I'm going to continue trying my best! As hard as the mission is, it definitely has helped me to become more converted myself, and I hope to be able to do that with the people of San Jose! Elder Copeland
