Week 88 - May 9, 2025

 Hello, Everybody!  I hope everyone has had a good week!  This was a bit of a slower week unfortunately; the area is kinda slowing down, but we are still trying our best!  It is really hard to find in this area since it is pretty small and since there aren't many Latinos who live down here!  We are only trying to make people who are genuinely interested in learning about the gospel dots so that we don't overflood our Preach My Gospel!   We are really trying to spend our time with those who are genuinely interested in learning more so that we aren't wasting their time and they're not wasting ours!  We are continuing to visit our progressing friends, and we are trying our best to get them to come to church!  We are continuing to visit Perla and Mitchell, Javier and Veronica, the Lepe Martinez family (they let us come over whenever we want), and a couple of our other progressing friends!  We are continuing to help them understand the Restored Gospel and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation blesses our lives! 

I've been able to improve my Spanish so I'm able to help them understand the message more clearly!  We had a really good lesson with a lady named Marta, who has been taught by the missionaries for a while, about the Plan of Salvation and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the restoration allows us to find peace and joy in trials and difficult times in our lives!  She and her daughter go through some pretty serious health problems, and she has lost a grandson in a car accident!  We were able to help her feel the Spirit and understand the importance of Jesus Christ and his Atonement more!   

On Thursday as well, we talked with our friend Diana and explained to her the Atonement of Jesus Christ!  We had her read Mosiah 3:5-12 to better understand the Atonement and then we explained to her how the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to be resurrected and follow his doctrine!  She has a lot of potential to progress; she just can't meet very much since she just had a kid!  We also were able to help Dora print out a couple papers for her job application in San Jose!  She's still trying to apply for the funeral home job up there!  We showed BYU pathway as well so that she's able to potentially learn how to use computers better!  Dora is AMAZING and such a blessing to me and Elder Isaacson!  We are going to get her baptized!  

We ended Thursday night by having Game Night with our District!  The Relief Society was having an activity that night, so we weren't able to use the gym!  The English Sisters' recent convert was able to come!  We were able to introduce ourselves to him and I got to know him better!  I shared my testimony and what I have learned and grown as a missionary and why keeping and making sacred covenants is so important!  The Sisters are trying to get him the priesthood, so we explained to him the priesthood from a male's perspective! He was a cool guy!  He also brought his family with him, so we were able to play with them!  

On Friday, we had another good lesson with Diego!  We talked about the Priesthood with him in Depth and explained to him the difference between Priesthood Authority, Offices, and the Keys of the Priesthood!  He had some confusion on whether or not other people can be prophets or not, so we explained to him President Nelson is the only authorized person on the earth to be the prophet since he has Priesthood Keys!  We shared with him a really good talk by Elder Oaks that explained the Priesthood extremely well!  Diego is super solid!  We planned an interview for him to have With President Starkweather so that he can get ordained to the Priesthood and then receive a Recommend to go to the temple with him! After Diego, we went and got some tacos with the Sister Missionaries!  Sister Lui is from Tonga and Sister Ota is from Hawaii, so we talked to them about island life and how awesome it is haha!  The English Sisters who cover Sister Hollister are super sweet and we've been able to help them out a lot!  They struggle being out here, so me and Elder Isaacson have been able to minister them and understand they are not the only ones haha!

 After knocking for a while and no one being home, we went and talked to Javier and one of his buddies!  Javier was pretty occupied with his sheep, but we talked with his buddy about the Church and our beliefs!  He wasn't very interested, but we had a good discussion regardless!  Even though there have been hundreds of contacts throughout my mission where I've talked to somewhere and they weren't interested, I hope I've been able to help them understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ better and maybe plant a seed in them for missions later down the line!  Even sharing a Book of Mormon with someone or telling them that God loves them and has a perfect plan for them (regardless if they are interested or not) is a success and blesses their lives, even if they may not realize it quite yet! After talking with Javier's friend, we went and contacted a couple more people!  The Lepe Martinez boys were adding a Bass to their car, so we went and said hi to them!  We ended the night trying to find some more people, but we weren't too successful sadly haha! 

On Saturday, we had ANOTHER slow day!  For the first half of the day we had nothing happen even though we were trying! Daniel ghosted us and never showed up for our lesson!  His phone isn't working either, so we haven't been able to stay in contact with him either!  Since we can't stay in contact with him, we are probably going to have to sadly drop him and hope he comes back to us!  Luckily, we had a really good lesson with Juan and Dora in the chapel!  We were able to explain to them the Kingdoms of Glory and how we obtain the Celestial Temple!  We read 2 Nephi 31 with them and explained to them how following the Gospel of Jesus Christ and making covenants is the way one enters into the Celestial Kingdom!  We went over the importance of the covenant of baptism, being sanctified by the Spirit, and how the Priesthood allows us to make and keep these covenants!  We bore our testimonies on the blessings that we have received and those we receive when we are baptized and confirmed members of the church!  Hermano Montuy was at the church for the Mothers' Day activity so he was able to join us and share his testimony and how the mission has converted his family and how he has a blessed as covenant keeping Disciple of Jesus Christ; he shared a couple other stories of missionary work as well and how important missionary work is!  The Spirit was pretty strong, and Juan and Dora could definitely feel it!  Dora said she still wants to learn and understand more but she said that she is thinking and praying about being baptized on May 25th!  Juan is still a little skeptical and said he will continue to think about it!  We are going to continue working with them! Please pray for them!  They are so prepared, and they would be such amazing members of the church! 

After teaching Juan and Dora, we helped the Branch set up the Mothers' Day activity and we served the mothers of the ward and the branches!  Juan and Dora were able to stay for the activity and talk to the members of the Branch!  After the Mothers' Day activity, we ended the night by visiting Perla and Mitchell and doing our best to invite them to church!  Sunday was an ok day:  Juan, Dora, and Erika were all able to come to church!  We tried inviting more people but none of them showed up sadly; Diego made it up for it though!  Since it was a fast and testimony meeting, he was able to go up and share a fire testimony on why he chose to be baptized and how it had already blessed his life!  Diego also bore his testimony on the Gospel and how grateful he was for me and Elder Isaacson; it was definitely one of my favorite moments on the mission!  He was also able to give the closing prayer! 

After the service, we went and did the Sacrament for Brother Olsen and Hermana Martinez of the branch down here; while bringing the Sacrament over for Hermana Martinez, she let us know how frustrated she was with the Sister Missionaries haha!  Apparently, they had been knocking her door and trying to call her and set up a Love, Share, and Invite with her!  Sister Martinez works a lot, is pretty old, and has a disabled daughter, so she's not able to come to church or visit other people; she is also very introverted and does not enjoy being around other people; she told us how frustrated she was the Sister Missionaries (she had called them and sent them text beforehand) and how she wishes they'd just leave her alone haha; me and Elder Isaacson were there just letting her vent!  Luckily, she was able to cool down, but she definitely made her point to us haha, so I don't think the Sister Missionaries will be going over there anytime soon. 

After doing the Sacrament, we had Missionary Correlation meeting where we talked about our progressing friends and their progress!  We were also able to set up a meeting for Diego to meet with President Starkweather so that he could receive the Priesthood and get his temple recommend!  For the rest of the day, we visited some members of the Branch, and we went over to the Nordstroms for a Love, Share, and invite!   We also were able to walk around Main Street while there was a party going on!  For some reason, there was a Mariachi band playing so we were able to go walk around and see everyone else dancing, drinking, and having a good time 🤣; we had some guys try and offer us beer because they saw that we were missionaries (they were just joking around with us).  We were also able to go out to the broccoli fields and get some pictures of the sun setting!  

On Monday, we began the day by having District Council!  We shared our favorite scriptures (mine being the entirety of Alma 42) and how we can make an impact out here as missionaries! After the District Council and lunch, we went and found a couple of really nice people!  We talked to a lady named Maria, who had been taught by missionaries before in the past and set up a time to visit her the following day!  We also talked to her son, Ishmael!  Afterwards, we went and contacted a couple more people before planning to teach Laura Gladys; well, we were supposed to teach her, but she never showed up; we ended the day by contacting. 

On Tuesday, we began the day by having a really good lesson with Erika!  After catching up with her for a while, we talked about the Covenant of Baptism, and we went through the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her!  We explained to her the importance of making covenants and following the Gospel of Jesus Christ to obtain the Celestial Kingdom!  We bore our testimonies on how Covenants have changed our lives and how choosing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ leads to long term and eternal happiness and success!  We invited him to be baptized on June 1st, and she said she'll pray about it!  I have really high hopes for her, and I truly believe that she can get there!  We are going to continue to nurture her by visiting her often and making sure we stay on top of our daily contact! (please pray for her as well) 

After Erika, we went and visited a couple more people!  We had a really good lesson with Diana!  We sat outside of her house, and we were able to explain to her the nature of the Godhead, what prophets are, and why they are important, and how Jesus Christ established his church and performed his Atonement!  We had her read the Book of Mormon for the first time in her life (she really liked it and learned a lot).  She had questions about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, so we are going to go over that with her the next time we visit her! 

Afterwards, we went and visited Claudia and her kids!  We brought them some candy and a Jump Rope that my Grandma Patrice had sent me (shoutout to her)!  After playing with the kids and visiting a couple more people, we were able to go and help teach English Class!  At the start of every English Class, there's always a spiritual thought to begin with!  We were talking about the Plan of Salvation and what happens to us after we die!  One of the ladies there began talking about how one of their family members had recently passed away; before us saying anything, Dora (she has begun to start coming to learn English, too) started to explain to her the Plan of Salvation and the knowledge she has received from studying with the missionaries!  She is seriously so solid and NEEDS to get baptized so badly!  The English class went really well as well!           Elder Copeland

Week 87 - May 5, 2025

 For P-Day, we went over to Monterey to have a Tri-Zone P-day with the Monterey and Santa Cruz Zone!  They wanted to play volleyball before the transfer ended.  Before going up to the chapel, me and Elder Isaacson went up to Lovers Point!  It was a pretty view right next to the coast: we were able to climb up the rocks and stuff!  Afterwards, we went up to the Seaside Chapel to play some volleyball!  It was fun being able to catch up with some of the missionaries I had served with before! 

After finishing up in Seaside, we headed back over to Hollister to call our families and finish up the day!  We went shopping and tried visiting a couple of our friends; we had some success!  After, Arturo let us know that his talk with Juan and Dora went well!  Apparently, he had invited Juan and Dora over to have dinner, and he talked to them about the church! He bore his testimony on his conversion and how the church has changed his life!  He also explained to them the importance of praying and acting upon your faith!  He really helped them out!  It was pretty cool that he was able to teach a lesson without us even being there!

Thursday was pretty slow!  We began the day by finding a migration camp near Hollister!  Not many people were home, but we were able to teach a nice, but not interested, man named Moises about the Book of Mormon and the Atonement of Jesus Christ!  After trying to visit a couple more people, Elder Isaacson had to go do an interview for one of the friends that the English Elders had been teaching!  She didn't know much, but Elder Isaacson passed her since she had the desire to continue learning and growing in the church!  After the interview and daily contact, we had a post-baptism lesson with Diego!  We read Helaman 14 with him and explained to him the life and mortal ministry of Jesus Christ and his Atonement; we re-explained to him the fall of Adam and Eve and the importance of Jesus Christ, repentance, and the resurrection. We talked with Diego for a while about a bunch of random things that he was going through with his work and family haha, but it was a good conversation!  Diego is awesome and he is progressing nicely!  After teaching Diego, we went and found a couple more people!  We ended the night by having sports night and playing volleyball! 

Friday was another pretty slow day; we began the day by trying to find a couple more people, but none of them were interested sadly.  We walked around for a while knocking doors, but nothing came from it haha; today was a super slow day, unfortunately.  We were able to talk with Perla about the Sacrament and why we go to church every single Sunday.  We also briefly went over covenants and the reasons we need to make and keep covenants with God!  We also explained how the Priesthood allows us to make these covenants through the ordinances of the Gospel.  After Perla, we went over to the Lepe Martinez family and talked with them for a while about their lives and their work; after, we showed them a video of the Kingdoms of Glory and how the Gospel/Doctrine of Jesus Christ allows us to enter into the Celestial Kingdom.  We are still trying to help her understand the importance of the covenant of baptism, but we are taking it slowly with them. Martha has a lot of potential to progress, but we are going to take it slowly and not teach her all at once!

On Saturday, we began the day by participating in a Large Service project!  One of the members of the branch named Tom Olsen, who sadly has dementia, had a large tree growing over his house!  It was getting in the way of his power lines, so it had to be cut down before it interfered with his electricity, Wifi, etc.  President Starkweather's father has a commercial painting company, so he was able to bring a lift to cut the tree; President Starkweather's dad was going to town on that tree haha: he had a long chain saw so he was able to cut down the tree pretty easily; It took a couple hours for him to cut down the tree since it was so large!  We were able to help him pull down and carry the branches that fell from the tree haha!  After cutting down the tree to the stump, we cut up the branches to smaller pieces so that they could be loaded up into Hermano Montuy's truck easily!  After helping clean and organize the branches from the tree (it was a lot of work, but we were able to get it done), we headed back to the apartment to shower and get ready for the day!  

Afterwards, we had a long but productive lesson with Daniel! We explained to him the Doctrine of Christ and read 2 Nephi 31 with him!  He understands the importance of faith, repentance, and baptism pretty well!  He's just not entirely convinced that it's necessary to be baptized in our church!  We explained to him the importance of Priesthood authority and the Restoration!  We did explain to him the importance of receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and being sanctified by the Spirit!  Afterwards, Diego was able to come and help us explain the Sacrament to Daniel!  We read 3 Nephi 18 with him to help him further understand the Sacrament!  We also taught him about the importance of making and keeping covenants and how the Sacrament allows us to renew those covenants! Diego bore his testimony on his baptism, and we invited him to come to church the following day!  Daniel is kinda losing interest sadly; we might have to drop him soon and hope he can come back to the gospel one day!  We'll see though. 

After teaching Daniel, we went and tried to contact a couple people but none of them were home!   We ended the night by visiting the Lepe Martinez family and talking about what living in Mexico is like!  It's a different lifestyle over there!  He told us that México is cheaper but lacks work; he also told us how people in México are more family oriented (which is true) and how neighbors are more willing to spend time with one another!  He also explained to us how they buy their groceries in small batches every day while we buy ours in large batches every once in a while!   It was cool getting a different perspective on what living in a foreign country is like! 

On Sunday we began the day by having Branch Council!  It began at 7:30 in the morning so we got up bright and early! We talked about the needs of the branch and counseled with one another!  We had an ok Sunday; Juan and Dora were able to come!  We tried getting more people to church but none of them were able to come 😔; Diego had to take his sister up to Freemont, so he wasn't able to come.  After church, we went and did the Sacrament for Tom Olsen and his son Willie!  After taking the sacrament, Willie asked us why we chose to serve missions!  It kinda caught me off guard but it had me thinking because of how long I had been a missionary for!  I explained how I didn't really want to come on a mission, but I knew it was something I should do!  I also explained to him the pressure one gets from needing to serve a mission, especially in the church, and how I didn't want to let anyone down!  I also included how I wanted to come out here and gain a testimony for myself!  After being a missionary for almost 20 months, I can confidently say that a mission has definitely been worth it! The mission DEFINITELY has not been the best time of my life but the best THING for my life!  I've been able to meet so many amazing people and I have had so many amazing experiences!  I've experienced things that have changed my life forever and the mission has allowed me to not only gain a testimony, but so many other things that I would have not gained without it (such as gratitude and how blessed I am)!  It truly has been a miserable but an amazing and humbling experience at the same time! 

After finishing the Sacrament, we went back to the apartment to prepare for the day!  We went and contacted a couple people before heading up to the Larsons for our dinner!  Me and Elder Isaacson were stressing the whole time haha!  We had no idea why he wanted to have dinner with us!  While driving up, we saw a Kingdom Hall and put a Book of Mormon by it 🤣!   After stressing the whole ride up to San Jose, it was finally time to eat with the Larsons!  When we got there, the Larsons were finishing up transfer news!  The APs were there as well so we talked to them for a second!  While they were finishing up the transfer roster, we helped prepare the food!  Me and Elder Isaacson were stressed the whole time because we had no idea what was about to happen.  After they finished, we had our dinner and it actually went really well!  We talked about our missionary experiences and what we have learned! We also talked about the mission and how it was going, the new missionaries coming in, what President Larson did before becoming a mission president (he was a programmer who created websites where kids could learn English for free), what they like to do in their free time, our families and a bunch of other things!  After talking with them for a while, President Larson explained why they had invited us over!  He told us that after meeting with Elder Bednar, he felt inspired to invite us over to let us know how much not only he and Sister Larson love us, but that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us as well!  He basically wanted to let us know how loved we were and how important we were out here as missionaries and as sons as Gods!  For some reason, President Larson felt that we weren't feeling loved out here for some reason (which we weren't feeling at all) but it was super nice of them regardless! 

Afterwards, Sister Larson asked us if President Larson could give us blessings!  So, this was the first blessing I had gotten since being set apart as a missionary!  It was a really good blessing, and I definitely heard and felt the things that I needed to hear and feel!  Elder Isaacson also got a blessing as well! Before leaving, President Larson let us know that we would be staying together for one more transfer!  Me and Elder Isaacson were pumped to hear that!  We ended the day by heading back to Hollister and ending there!  

Monday was supposed to be our P-day, but since me and Elder Isaacson were staying together, we decided to work today so that we wouldn't have to do a 10-day work week!  We began the day by finding and trying to contact a couple of people!  After finishing daily contact, we went and visited a friend of Arturos named Chris!  The night before, Arturo sent a text to the branch group chat asking if anyone in the branch could check on him!  Chris is a 72-year-old man who experiences pretty serious diabetes; because of that, he's practically bound to his house.  He's a pretty bad hoarder and his house is in pretty rough shape!  Arturo has been able to go over and help cut his grass for him!  Well, me and Elder Isaacson felt inspired to go over and introduce ourselves to him!  Chris was a super nice guy!  We were able to talk to him outside of his house for a while about his life, how he knows Arturo, his background with religion, and a bunch of other random things!  We were able to explain to him the church and the Restoration, but he wasn't too interested in the church in all honesty; he really just needed someone to listen and talk to him for a while; Chris is always by himself, and he never has anyone to talk to him!  I'm glad we were able to help him out! We may not have been able to teach him a lot, but we were able to help him out in another way; by being his friend and giving him someone to talk to! 

Missionary work is a lot more than teaching and preaching the gospel 24/7!  A lot of times, you have to meet people where they are and nurture them in any way!  After our long conversation with Chris, Elder Isaacson needed a haircut so we went to the church so that Sister Nosack could give him a haircut!  While he was getting a haircut, I just called and texted a bunch of people!  After, we visited our friend Irma and explained to her the Restoration!  We invited her to read the pamphlet and study more about the story of Joseph Smith! After Irma, we went and had dinner with Hermana Kratzer, Laura Gladys, and her family!  Sister Kratzer brought one of the English friends, who lives in a RV home, named Terry over for dinner as well.  Terry has been investigating the church but HE refuses to read in the Book of Mormon or get baptized 🤣; he says he'll listen to them and that he loves coming to our church because we have a certain "glow" to us but that be already knows everything he needs to know and that there isn't anything more he needs to learn; I kinda tried explaining to him to the Priesthood and the importance of the Book of Mormon, but he wasn't really buying it 🤣; he was a pretty interesting guy but he was super nice! 

Afterwards, we taught Laura Gladys about the Restoration (once again).  We showed her President Nelson's message on the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus and what we have received and what we have been blessed with because of the Restoration!  We also went over the story of Joseph Smith with her and explained to her the importance of the Priesthood! She's been reading the Book of Mormon which is good!  She still claims that she needs to learn more though!  We'll keep visiting her with Hermana Kratzer!  We ended the night by ministering to the missionaries in our District!

On Tuesday, we began the day by teaching Erika!  She didn't have much time since she had to go check and see if her car had gotten fixed.  Apparently, her car had broken down so that's why she hadn't been able to come to church the past couple of weeks!  We went over the Restoration with her and helped her better understand the story of Joseph Smith!  We also emphasized the importance of the Priesthood power and how and why it had to be restored!  She didn't have much time, so we invited her to read the pamphlet that we had given her; after a couple more contacts, we took a "nap" during Spanish study since we were pretty tired!  After that and daily contact, we went and knocked on some doors!  We talked to a nice guy named Ramiro!  He lived in front of Javier and Veronica's home! (They weren't home sadly).  He had talked with missionaries before in the past, but we went over the Book of Mormon with him again and we explained how it powerfully testifies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ!  I shared my testimony on the Plan of Salvation and how it allows us to grow, progress, and learn!  He wasn't interested in meeting again, but we shared church information with him!  It was a good contact for me regardless of the outcome!  Afterwards, we went and tried to visit a couple people, but they were all busy 😪.  We talked to a man named Fabian Lamaestro!  He's been taught by missionaries for a while now but had been dropped since he had been so busy!  He's from Argentina but he can speak both English and Spanish!  His wife is from Argentina, as well!  They were both pretty sick, but we planned another time to pass by! 

Afterwards, we talked to some nice Oaxacan men named Marcelino and Villancio!  We taught them about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation and how our families can live together forever!  We set up return dates with them!  We ended the night by teaching English Class!  I really love helping teach English Classes!  I look forward to it every week!                     Elder Copeland

Week 86- March 26, 2025

 For P-day, we didn't do much; kind of a boring P-day tbh; we just went to the church and played some basketball!  I was able to catch up on my emails and stuff!  After going shopping, we tried visiting a couple people but none of them were home 😔. Luckily, Edmon was home, and we were able to talk with him!  We made sure he was ready for his baptism the upcoming Sunday and read from the scriptures!  On Thursday, we weekly planned and visited a couple people!  On Friday, we had to do a mentoring session for Elder Rushforth!  Afterwards, we went and found a couple people! We ended the night by playing soccer with the ward!  I'm terrible at soccer, but it's always fun to spend time with the ward!

On Saturday, we taught Alexandra!  We talked about the Plan of Salvation and the importance of the Doctrine of Christ!  We bore our testimonies on the importance of baptism and how covenants bless us!  We invited her to come to the baptism of Edmon and she said she would!  After finding a couple more people, we visited Edmon to make sure he was ready for his baptism the following day!  He was ready to go and was excited for his baptism!  On Sunday, we had Stake Conference!  We went up to a chapel 45 minutes away from where we lived!  We didn't end up inviting our friends to church due to the travel haha!  Wesley Thompson (my first trainer in the Mission) was at the Stake Conference!  It was pretty crazy to see him again!  It made me realize how long I had actually been out here! 

After Stake conference, we headed back to our chapel to plan out the baptism for Edmon!  We printed out the pamphlets, set up the room, and invited our friends and ward members to come!  We ended up having a really great baptismal service! Sister Trochez gave a really good talk about the covenant of baptism!  Afterwards, Elder Rushforth was able to baptize Edmon!  It was his first time baptizing someone!  He actually did a really good job, and it went incredibly smooth!  It was super satisfying seeing Edmon finally getting baptized!  It took a while to get him there, but it was worth it!  It's still crazy to think we found him by calling him and inviting to church! 

After his baptism, we had a testimony meeting while Elder Rushforth and Edmon were changing!  We heard some awesome testimonies but the one that stuck out to me the most was Gabino's!  He bore his testimony on how me and Elder Perschon changed his life and how he was able to find the gospel through us!  It was one of the most special moments of my mission!  It really made me realize that I have accomplished more out here than I often give myself credit for!  I'm so proud of Gabino and how dedicated he is to the church and the gospel!  After the testimony meeting, Andy was able to confirm Edmon and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost!  During the service, Alexandra and her kids came!  They acted a little crazy, but they were able to go outside during the confirmation!  Alexandra really enjoyed the service and let us know that she was ready to be baptized the following week!  It was a great service and I'm so proud of Edmon and his desire to be baptized and confirmed! 

Afterwards, we cleaned up the chapel and went to Night Church!  On Monday, we had Zone Council!  We talked about the importance of teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ simply! After my final DC as a District leader!  After District Council, we decided on doing Weekly Planning, too!  We ended the night by visiting and teaching some of our friends and going to Noche de Hogar with Gabino!  

Tuesday was my birthday!  I am officially 21 years old! That means I get to go to Vegas now haha (just joking).  My birthday was nothing special; we taught some friends of ours and had a really good lesson with Alexandra!  We went over any last questions or concerns she had for her baptism the upcoming Sunday; she was feeling a lot better about it this time!  We read from Moroni 7:27-31 and talked about how we can have and receive miracles in our lives as long as we have faith in the Lord and keep the commandments!  After a couple more contacts, we ended by having ward council with Hermano Perez and then having a birthday dinner at Chick-Fil-A with a bunch of the members in the ward!  They threw a surprise party for me and even decorated the Chick-fil-A!  Andy, Mario, the Sister Missionaries, Jared (the son of Hermano Perez: He's hilarious) Juventino, Angel, and a couple of friends of the Sisters' came and celebrated with us!  It was super sweet of them, and I had a really good time!  They even brought me a cake and sang Happy Birthday to me!  It was a good time!  A lot of other people were able to shout me out for my birthday!  I'm so thankful and so blessed with my family and friends and those who God has blessed me with in this life!            Elder Copeland