After helping Tony set up, we headed over to Greenfield to say hi to Bryan and Cesar! They totally remembered us, and they were so excited to see us again; they had grown a lot in the past eight or so months! They had bikes now, so they were riding them around and doing tricks with them! They have definitely gotten even crazier since I had been there! They were cussing up a storm! The church is a really good influence on them thankfully! Since their parents are always working, don't speak much English, and don't really give their kids much time, they're always on their phones and the internet, which is the reason they act and behave the way they do! I'm super grateful the missionaries are able to go and minister to them!
After saying hi to Bryan and Cesar, we went and said hi to Susana! She was doing good! She had just gotten her associate's degree and was now moving down to Santa Cruz to begin school down there! I hadn't seen Susana in almost eight months! The last time I saw her was when we went to the temple together! After talking and catching up with her, we went down to Soledad to say hi to Vicki and Johnny! Elder Isaacson and Johnny had grown a close relationship while he was serving down there so it was super cute to see them reunited again! Vicki is an absolute sweetheart as well! We talked with them for a while and caught up with them! After taking some pictures with them and Sergio, we headed back down to visit with Silvia! Silvia was doing really good, and she was so happy that I was able to come down! She's planning on coming down to Utah one day to go to a General Conference which would be awesome! After getting some ice cream for Bryan and Cesar and a drink for Susana (I wanted to show my appreciation and love for them), we headed back down to King City again to try some of Tony's food that he was cooking up at the Farmers market! I was super invested watching him the whole time; it was genuinely entertaining! He cooked up some fire trip tips, pasta, and pizza for us! He was also frying up some fries! I didn't try any since I was on a pretty serious cut by Elder Isaacson and the customers. He had loved them! I'm so happy for Tony and how far he has come! He's had a really hard, and still continues to have, a really hard life but he never gives up! I love the people down south so much and I'm so grateful I was able to serve down here for six months! The people and area down here will always have a special place in my heart! I'm glad I'll be able to stay in contact with them and connect with them after my mission! This was one of my favorite P-days of all time! And while driving home, Diego let us know that he wanted to baptize Daniel, since he had just recently received the Priesthood, and that he wanted to take us up to his ranch on Saturday before the baptism! Me and Elder Isaacson were stoked to hear this!
On Thursday, we began the day by waking up super early so that I'd be able to work out! Elder Isaacson had his outbound devotion so we had to go to the church pretty early so that he could set up for it! He gave a really good testimony on the importance of sacrifice and serving God's children and how important the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is to every single one of us! After, we planned the baptismal pamphlet for Daniel's baptism and then we had to go get the oil changed at the mechanic shop near town; while the car was getting worked on, we daily contacted our friends and we may or may not have looked into the drama going down between Elon Musk and Trump 🤣; after getting our car maintenance finished, we headed over to the church to go over his baptismal service with him and how he could spiritually prepare for it! I also felt inspired to read 3 Nephi 15 and 16 with him (which talks about the Lost Tribes of Israel and how the other fold of "sheep" were those in the ancient America's). We read it to help him better understand the relationship between the Book of Mormon and the Bible and how the two have crucial rules in testifying about the life, teachings, and ministry of Jesus Christ! He's really beginning to better understand the importance and the significance of the Book of Mormon and how it allows us to grow closer to the Savior and better understand him as our Savior and Redeemer! I'm super proud of Daniel and how far he has come! I'm so excited for his baptism on Saturday!
After teaching Daniel, we headed up to Gilroy so that Elder Isaacson could do a baptismal interview for two guys that Elder Astle and Elder Rushforth were teaching! They were two funny dudes from Mexico that had found the church through members of the branch! We're going to go to their baptism this Sunday and support them! After taking a picture with them and hanging out with Elder Astle and Elder Rushforth for a second, we ended the day by visiting with Juan and Dora at the chapel! We talked with them for a while and then we showed them spiritual resources that they could use to help them better feel the Spirit throughout the day! We went over the importance of reading the Book of Mormon every day and how videos allow us to better visualize and see the stories of the scriptures! We showed them the "For God So Loved the World" Bible video, which they really enjoyed! We ended the lesson by bearing our testimonies on the life of Jesus Christ and how crucial it is for us to follow his example! When we better apply what he has taught us in our lives and when we try to better understand him as Savior and his role in the Plan of Salvation, we'll have so much more peace and happiness in this life! I'm so grateful for the Savior and his role in the Plan of Salvation! Juan and Dora are, too, as well! We'll keep praying and working with Juan!
On Friday, we had to head up to Mission Home in San Jose since Elder Isaacson was going to RMTC! RMTC is essentially just a zone conference for the missionaries heading home! So in 6 weeks, I'll be able to go and experience it for myself! While he was at RMTC, I served with Elder Johns and Elder Pavon for the day in Elder Johns area! Me and Elder Johns have served with each and around each other for some time now so it was nice to catch up with him again! Elder Pavon is only in his first transfer; he's a super nice kid from Honduras who has only been in the states for seven weeks! He had pretty good English, but he definitely still preferred Spanish, so we spent the whole day talking with one another in Spanish haha: it was actually kind of fun! While serving together, we visited a couple of the recent converts in their area; we taught a nice kid who had just been recently baptized and his family about the Plan of Salvation! His mother, who's a member, was from the Dominican Republic! I've only talked to like two people from the Dominican Republic during my time as a missionary, so it was pretty cool to get to know her and her culture better! She loved how I had a friend (Elder Johnson) who was serving there; their Spanish is definitely a little different, but I really enjoyed it! She shared with us her conversion story and how she had been taught by the Sister missionaries in the Dominican Republic but was never too interested in learning until she got to the states; apparently some "handsome" missionaries came up to her, so she wanted to listen to them, and the rest is history! They were a super nice family, and we were even able to snag a picture with them!
After, we went and found and talked to a few people; we had some crazy guy come up to us and tell us that we don't need commandments anymore and that all we had to do was follow Jesus. He was going on and on about how Mormonism can't save anymore and how all we need is the Bible! He was kinda picking on Elder Pavon, since he was a foreigner and still struggles with the language barrier, so I stepped in and defended him; I was able to get the interaction haha. After, we went and visited a returning member in a part member family; this is where the day gets bad. So as I was going to sit down on the couch to show them a video, I pressed my hand way too hard on the top of my phone that was placed on the edge of my Book of Mormon; while doing so, I heard and felt a snap near my phone; I go to look at my phone and the whole thing was SHATTERED! I was definitely freaking out but we were still able to teach the lesson on the importance of coming to Church to better understand the Savior and who he is to us personally; luckily, we were only 20 minutes away from the Mission Office so we were able to go there and pick up a new phone for me since they have a bunch. I'm so grateful for Google and how I didn't lose any of my photos, emails, etc. that I had on the phone that I had broken.
After getting my new phone situated, we headed back to the Mission Home to pick up our companions and head back to our areas! While leaving San Jose, me and Elder Isaacson stopped by and said hi to Ivette (a recent convert that we know) and caught up with her and took some pictures with her! I've gotten a haircut from her before, and I've seen her a bunch of times at night church, so I know her pretty well! I've also made tortillas with her and her kids haha! She got Elder Isaacon a poncho from Mexico as his farewell gift which was super nice of her! We ended the day by driving back to Hollister!
We had a really good Saturday! After waking up and working out, we headed to the chapel to set up early for the baptism and prepare the talk I was going to give! We also had to go and print out the baptismal pamphlets! That took up the entire morning until lunch. After lunch, we headed to the chapel and waited for Diego to take us to his ranch so that he could show us his chickens! We were waiting for a while until he let us know that he had gotten stuck in traffic coming back from Salinas; instead, we just decided to drive ourselves up there! Diego and his family had a pretty dope ranch! It wasn't too big, but they had some milking cows, sheep, horses, a pony and of course the cocks (aka fighting chickens). I was able to get pictures with the horses, the cows, and I got to hold one of Diego's chickens!
While walking, one of the cows came up to me and started licking my jackets 🤣; luckily, I was wearing a jacket, but it still got pretty muddy! Diego showed us where he keeps his chickens and the difference between fighting ones and non-fighting ones; the ones used in cock fights are a lot more athletic, colorful, and lengthy! He had a couple which were pretty cool!
After hanging out at Diego's ranch, we headed back to Hollister with him to get ready for Daniel's baptism! His baptism went really well! I gave a talk on baptism and the importance of making and keeping covenants! If you think about it, without the ordinances and the Priesthood, making covenants with God would not be possible! Diego was also able to baptize Daniel! It was Diego's first time ever baptizing anyone! He did a great job, and he had a great experience doing it! Hermano Montuy and Hermano Carter gave great talks on the Holy Ghost and how receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to receive the light of Christ! A good amount of ward members were able to come and support Daniel! I'm so proud of not only Daniel, but Diego as well! They have come so far in such a short time! I still remember my first time seeing Daniel sitting in the chapel and introducing myself to him! I remember him telling me how had made too many mistakes in his life to change and how he wasn't worthy of God! It took almost 3 months of constantly teaching and helping him, but we were finally able to help him get baptized! He has grown to understand the gospel so well and I'm so glad I've been able to help him! Diego is another blessing as well! I still can't believe it started out as him coming up to us at a random Panda Express! Look at where he is now and what he is doing! The mission has definitely been a crazy experience! You often hear stories like this not as a missionary, but it doesn't really hit until you're actually the one on a mission going through experiences like this! It really has been a crazy experience!
We had a really good Sunday! We began the day early by going to Branch Council and discussing the needs of the branch and our friends! After, we were able to go help and prepare the sacrament! Diego, Daniel, Eddy, and Martha and Alfredo Lepe Jr were all able to come to church! We had Diego bless the sacrament for the first time and he did great! Diego is doing absolutely amazing! Daniel was also able to be confirmed and received the Holy Ghost; Hermano Montuy gave a great blessing! Daniel has changed so much in the past 12 weeks and I'm so proud of him! Elder Isaacson gave a great farewell talk as well! He talked about the importance of prayer, sacrifice, and his experiences as a missionary and the love he has gained for God and his children! I love Slade and I'm definitely going to miss him!
After church, we came back and got ready for the day! Elder Isaacson wanted to make a farewell post on his Facebook so we went to the church so he could make and publish his reel! Afterwards, we took Elder Isaacson to say goodbye to Maggie and Henry! Henry was pretty sad to see him go, but he's happy that I was staying! I'm definitely going to be busy hanging out with him for the next six weeks! After, we headed up to Morgan Hill to watch the baptism of Elder Rushforth and Elder Astle's friends! It was a really good service! The man who got baptized and confirmed was hugging his brother right after, and it was one of the most wholesome moments of my mission! It'd help me to better understand and see the joy that we are able to give and bring people as missionaries!
Afterwards, we drove around the backroads of Hollister and watched the Sunset! Elder Isaacson and I wanted to get one more drive in before the transfer roster! To end the night, I found out that my new companion would be Elder Fuller in a NEW area in Los Altos; I was pretty surprised and a little frustrated at the same since I'd be leaving an area I really like! I was so confident that I was staying; In this email alone I was talking about how I thought I was going to stay; I was able to have pretty good success while serving down here and I really wanted to help nurture and take care of my recent converts; I also felt that It was a pretty good area to "die' in and that I had more to give down here. Luckily, Sister Carlton and her new companion will take good care of them.
President Larson called us and explained to us why he had to shut down our area; I guess there aren't enough Spanish Elders coming and too many are heading home! He told us we did great work down here and that he had to close us since our area was the smallest. It makes sense why they had to close it and luckily, I'll still be able to stay in contact with everyone down here! It'll probably be good for me to get a change of scenes for the final six weeks of my mission! I was able to talk to Elder Fuller for a minute, and he seems like a good guy! I'm gonna go up there and help get their progressing friends baptized and confirmed! It'll be a good challenge for me! I really enjoyed my time down here, and I feel so blessed that I was given the opportunity to serve down here with Elder Isaacson! Elder Copeland
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