Week 53

Well, here it is! I hit my one year mark. Can you believe it? I can't. It's flown by. Without a doubt it has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my whole life. It's definitely the most important thing I've ever had to do. And the most rewarding. I've grown a lot, but I'm definitely not even close to where I want to be. In Preach My Gospel I read a super cool part that said (when referring to prayer and a prayer scale, but I decided that it applies to life) Where are you? Where do you want to be? What are you going to do to change? I decided that those three questions combined with prayer are pretty much the basis for any self evaluation on a Spiritual level. So I hope to be applying that daily.

I'm actually super sad I've been out this long. I can't really describe it. But I'm not like sad... It's just like sad that... I don't know how to describe it. But I love every moment of it. Even the moments that suck. It's all good! 

To celebrate, we went to the temple! It was amazing. Probably the best session I've ever been too. I can't really talk about it too much, but it can say that I had a great prayer. I'm still riding the Spiritual High. It's probably the best I've felt since I've been here in Woodland, and I hope to keep it up for a long time. I bought a journal at Deseret Book, and I'm using it as a study journal/ spiritual journal. For the things I learn and sacred experiences. I love it.

I just really can't describe how good I feel right now. Things might not be the greatest with my comp, but I'm super happy.

Elder Contla, in high school, took a sewing class called "Fiber Arts." So the other night while doing some serious tie trades, I picked a tie I wanted, but the back was messed up. He said "Don't worry, I'll just fiber arts it back together." It was super hilarious.

I have had some fantastic studies as well. Every day I am studying for language study the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes, but in addition to that, for Persona, Study every day I've been reading the New Testament in Spanish. It's super awesome. I haven't read the Mew Testament since I was 14, and I feel like it is really fulfilling. Some things that stuck out to me were in Matthew 22:17-21 where Jesus talks about rendering unto Cesar what is from Cesar.  Jesus says that we should render unto God what is of God. I have always thought this supported tithing, but there is more. What else is from God? We are. In the words of James E. Talmage, we are Spiritual Mintage. And because of that we need to consecrate ourselves.

There is also the parable of the wedding feast and the wedding garment. It made no sense, so I used Jesus the Christ as a study guide. That section is amazing. You guys should read it.

Well, I love you! I miss you. Thanks for all the love, support, and packages in the last year. I hope you have a great week!

Week 52

Dear Family,

I had no idea that the Olympics were on until the email last week. And then it didn't click until I actually saw them on TV. Kind of weird. Even with Facebook, we are still pretty out of the world.

Happy Valentine's day! And happy birthday Mom! This week was a really fun week, but I think the highlight of the week was Valentine's Day. We had a dance that we, the Elders, decorated. It All looked really good. Ok now I'm going to explain the difference between an American church party and a Spanish church party. American church parties are cool. There is food, there is entertainment, but the lights are on, and since in our ward everyone is old, everyone that is there sits down. However, Spanish parties are where it is at. There were nachos, soda, and snacks. Not only that, we had a DJ. The lights were off. EVERYONE was dancing, including our old lady investigator Alicia. They played Spanish music for the old people, and new music for the young people from the branch. Everyone from the branch came including a lot of our less actives. Which brings us to a really cool part. We contacted two guys from Honduras that were interested in the church and English Classes. We got their number, and told them we would call them. Well, at the dance Friday night, they show up with our less active from Honduras, Angel! Automatic fellow shipper. But, antihero bonus, they also lived with Fidel last year, and Fidel's new roommate was just baptized! So these guys should be sweet.

We also picked up two new investigators, Veronica and Juan. They're pretty young and we teach them in English, but they will go to the Spanish Branch. Veronica knows a less active member pretty well, and wait for it.... The last time the less active person gave a referral to the missionaries she got baptized! We have big hoped for these two as well.

Another cool thing that happened- Alicia was waiting for a ride from her nephew to church in Sunday, but he cancelled. She was just sitting outside enjoying the weather when Joel and his fiancée roll up (he has come with us to lessons before), and offers her a ride. So she came to church! In addition to Fidel and a 16 year old girl named Paola from our area.

So the week was good. We had a good district meeting, about the Book of Mormon, and my district meeting tomorrow is about prayer. Even though I don't have a lot of responsibility (my district is the STL, her comp, my comp, and the Zone Lords, I enjoy it!

The Diaz family sent Elder Wright and I nice yellow trump ties with their names and the date of heir baptism signed on the inside. Best family ever.

I think that's about it for the week. It's been a looooong week. I feel like I haven't even emailed in like 3 weeks it has been so long. Transfers are coming up, and I'm not going to lie, it is going to be nice to have a change. If President asks me to train again, I'm coming home. Not really though, I just want a hard working companion who speaks Spanish. Is that too much to ask for?

Food here is good. This Sunday we are going to be eating tamales with bananas instead of the corn husks. Nothing too special from the last week, but every Monday we eat with Marylyn, so I will let you know next week what it is. My best food area has been Napa. And as far as the mission goes, I've heard the best are Napa, Vallejo, and San Rafael. Woodland is pretty good. There is an helote stand next to a less actives house and they are like a dollar and he always buys them for us. Which means that usually the next day I am pooping a lot, but it's worth it. I always just want him to buy 2, have him say "surprise" and then I would say "GET THAT CORN OUT OF MY FACE" but that hasn't happened yet unfortunately. Hopefully I get the chance before I leave. 

But the work is true! I'm super glad I am out here. We are going to the temple on the 20th, which is my year mark. I can't even believe it. It's time to put in work and try my very hardest! I'm excited to see what this last year holds for me. It's been a good year. Some solid baptisms. I know for sure I was supposed to meet, like the Diaz family. Some companions I have truly loved like Elder Hansen, Lopez, and Wright. It's been super hard. I had to learn Spanish. But  I've seen God's hand in my life. I learned Spanish (better than most gringos in the mission, according to some. I think I've just mastered the art of conversation.) with the help of the gift of tongues, and I still have a lot I want to learn. I've had tons of rejections, some people bash with us, a lot of people yell Hail Satan from cars, and lots of other junk that happens, but it's all been worth it. I love my mission.

Love you guys! I miss you! Have a wonderful week! And happy birthday Mom!

Week 51

Ok so to start off this email, I'm going to drop two huge bombs. The first bomb- Elder H. is now engaged to Sister K. (a former sister missionary.). Now, this isn't incredibly new information. Even though he denied it repeatedly throughout our transfer together, I always told him he was going to marry her. In addition to that, about 7 weeks ago he emailed me telling me he had bought a ring. So it was more of a time bomb. Has that soaked in yet? Bomb two- Elder L. is now in a facebook relationship with a member from our branch here in Woodland. So pretty crazy, seeing people actually have lives after the mission. I miss Elder H. and Elder L. a ton.

We also had a miracle this week- Marcus, the man to whom we gave a Book of Mormon was baptized. We might not have had the part in teaching him, and he might not count as our baptism, but he was the Lord's baptism. It is good to know that I could be a tool in the Lord's hand. Everything worked out perfectly with him. He was super happy to be getting baptized. Yesterday at church he we saw him wearing a suit and he looked so happy. It was good to see.

Yesterday I had a little fright. When sacrament meeting was over I was just chatting with our less active Fidel who came, when I hear a voice say "Elder Foster, cómo estás?" It was President Alba. Luckily, he wasn't there to talk to me, but still a good scare nonetheless. Good thing- we had our less active at church! Fidel. He's super cool. He has a ton of Gospel Knowledge, and probably the favorite less active I've ever taught. 

I can't think of too many other things. We are just going door to door, walking all day long trying to find new people. We have found many potentials, and The Lord is blessing us with tons of referrals. So things are going well! Nothing new to report on the investigators we are teaching, but we have so many good people to start teaching. We just have to actually teach them. But things are looking up in our area.

I decided that branch councils are absolutely ridiculous. No matter where I go. There will always be contention, there will always be people that throw the meeting so off track that it's ridiculous. I hope that with all these missionaries future branch and ward councils will actually function like they should.

I am sending home part of a Jeffery R Holland talk. I usually try to study at least one talk from General Conference a week that helps me understand the doctrine that we teach. I like this part of the talk, because not naming religions, there are a lot of people that rely 100% on the Bible. But as members of the Church, we get revelation and inspiration from God. The scriptures convey to us His will and His love, but it's not the only way by which we can learn of Him. He speaks today. That is what the Restoration is really all about. Is that God speaks to man, and everyone can learn that for themselves. We don't ask people to believe us, or even to believe in the Book of Mormon, but we invite people to take in the information from us and from the Book of Mormon and then ask God. And if they do that, it works out.

It's raining like crazy here. It hasn't not rained in about 5 days. So I'm getting good usage out of my coat and my rain jacket. It's not super cold, but it's windy and so it makes it fun to contact. People that are inside feel bad and let us inside. We said a lot of prayers with a lot of families. We've got some solid potentials that have told us they are very interested, and so we can't wait to go visit them. Especially the lady that lost her kid, Delia. She told us the last time that it wasn't a good time, but we got her number and she told us to call her so we could set something up. We'll be calling her. 

Sorry I don't have any crazy stories this week or anything. Sometimes you get into the grind and some weeks are more boring than others. But I love you and miss you all! Have a great week.

Elder Foster

 

 

 

Week 50

This email is coming in a little bit late because we went to go give service to a Less Active named H. We were working on his car. He's in a nasty divorce situation, and pretty much he asked us to help him just to be able to talk to him. It was a good experience, he's an awesome guy. We do Family Home Evening with him and his 3 kids every Monday. He has a 10 year old who is the most mature 10 year old I've ever met. Elder Sabin last week said "I think he was foreordained to help his dad." I have no doubt that that is true. They're a great family. 

So here is some awesome news- the guy Marcos to whom we gave a Book of Mormon? He's going to get baptized this Saturday! So even though I might not have been able to teach or baptize him, someone that I gave a Book of Mormon to is now getting baptized. Some plan the seeds, others cosechar (I don't know the exact translation of this) but everyone is blessed. Hopefully this helps his roommate to continue progressing and to return to activity.

On the other hand- none of our investigators came to church today. Super lame. So pretty much everyone that we are teaching is getting put on the back burner in order to put the priority on new people that we are teaching. We found this really awesome lady that we contacted getting out fonder car with her two year old son. She was getting back from exercising and was really friendly. She told me she had just gotten out of the hospital the last week. I asked her what was up, she told me it was because she was pregnant. She had a stroller turned the other way so that I couldn't see what was in it. I asked if it was her baby, and she told me that her babied had died. So she was really really excited to see us and to have us share a message with her. She's super sweet. The cool thing is that before we talked to her this Spanish Seventh Day Adventist guy bashed with us for 20 minutes (well, I didn't bash with him. But I did tell him to get his facts straight and that the Solomon Spaulding argument was disproved in 1890's [also, don't look him up. You'll find a mess of anti, I'm sure]) and so if he hadn't talked to us for forever, we would have never contacted her.

We also picked up this family with this dude named Alfonso. He only has one arm. So lots of good things in the area.

Other good thing- I'm eating paella on Wednesday. With a Spaniard from the branch. 

For February, I have new goals. No more eating out, no more soda, only 2 tortillas with every meal. Because saben que I'm getting fat. So right now my goal is 135. Trying to get down 20 pounds. The only exception is a Baja Blast Mountain Dew Freeze for $1 during happy hour at Taco Bell on Fridays for weekly planning. That's my cheat day. Because YOLO. Also, healthy subway sandwiches because I have a ton of money to subway

So pretty much we're just knocking and contacting all the time. If we don't teach the lesson we have planned, we just contact or knock doors instead if trying to visit someone else. Because I'm sick of the people we teach not coming to church.

We had Zone a Conference. I learned awesome stuff. It was pretty much on the four cornerstones of the church. We learned how to present the first vision, and I tried it in a lesson. When I did it, the lady cried while I was saying it. It was awesome. We had a pre zone conference meeting for the ZL's and DL's where they taught us some new stuff to try for district meetings. It was cool.

I read a super cool talk by Tad Calister called Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. You guys should listen to it. It's super awesome. He kind of throws down, but not too hard. He spoke at the MTC while I was there and he did the CES Devotional a few weeks ago. My money is on him for next apostol. I'm also studying an Institute book called Principles of Leadership every night before I go to bed. A lot of good stuff in there. I wish I would have had more time to take institute classes before my mission.

So the work is good. Just trying to talk to 20 new people a day and get people to church. I love you guys a lot and I miss you! Not the bad kind of missing you guys where I just think about home all the time and I don't want to be here, but I do miss you guys. Have a wonderful week and be safe!

Elder Foster 

Week 49

To start off this letter, I'm gonna lay something on you guys - Elder Lopez is now Angel Moroni Lopez. He finished his mission!! And as we speak is now in Oklahoma. I can hardly believe it.

The Diaz family wrote me, and I got the letter on Tuesday. It was probably the most amazing letter that I have ever received. They told me about all of the blessings and miracles that they are seeing in their lives. Danny started to go to seminary in Cordelia, and because of that, he learned that a ton of people his age are Mormons too and he didn't even know since he's going to the Spanish branch. Brenda has a friend that is getting really into the church. Danny and Eduardo are passing the sacrament now as well. They are doing really well.
This part is good for the blog. Another cool miracle - remember the guy Marcos that I wrote about in the last email? Well I was at church waiting for Alicia, when he comes up to me and shakes my hand! Last week he went to the other church we have in Woodland, then the other missionaries called him (the missionaries to whom we gave his number) and he is just loving it all! He told me he's been reading the Book of Mormon and that he's going to get baptized! I can't even believe it.

In addition to that, California is in a serious drought. I guess up here it is always raining in the winter, but since I came to the mission last April, it has only rained 5 times, less than one time a transfer. Which is super bad, because that means no water for the grapes, no water for drinking, it could get pretty serious. So the First Presidency has asked that we pray for rain, and that on Fast Sunday we fast for rain. You don't have to participate, just a crazy story. The weather feels good now, but it won't starting in April or May. 

Alicia is killing me. She said she was going to come to a Baptism, so while we were waiting we called her, but it turns out that she had to watch her kids. So on the phone, she told us she was coming to church and had a ride. Buuuuuuut she didn't come. Which is SUPER LAME. So we'll see what's up soon. We have a lesson with her and Joel tomorrow.

Even though she didn't come to church, it was a funny day. I was with Elder Verdugo and Elder Contla, since Elder Sabin and Elder Fonseca got sick. In sacrament meeting, we had a confirmation for a 25 year old. I was blessing the sacrament, so I was on the stand while she was being confirmed. She has a 2 year old son who loves me a ton. So during the confirmation, while my eyes were closed, he hopped into my lap, which is against the rules. So I moved him next to me, and he was pretty quiet. Then, while I was blessing, he runs up to the stand, and starts eating he pieces of the bread off of the tray during the prayer. I had to stop for 3 seconds just to not laugh. And then, instead of staying for the rest of sacrament meeting, I went with a member to take the sacrament to the branch missionary. While I was gone, Elder Verdugo was asked to speak, and as he looked around the chapel, he realized I was gone. Since I hadn't told him (I told Elder Contla) where I was going, he got a little worried that I was missing, perhaps and I came in right as he finished. So an eventful day at church!

I guess that's it for this week. Other than some bad Taco Bell, all in all a good week. We are in a 5 man pad until Elder Verdugo peaces, and until then Elder Contla is sleeping on an air mattress. Elder Fonseca is sick, I'm so excited to be with him again.

That's my week! It was awesome, and I love my area. Spanish is good. The branch is wonderful. I also put myself in charge of the dinner calendar since the Hermanas didn't do it super well. District Leadering is going well. My district is fantastic, even though we're small. I love them and we have fun. Hermana Fernandez and I pretty much just talk in Spanish, because it's nice to have someone to talk with that is a native!!! I do miss native companions. 

love, Elder Foster

Week 48

One more transfer down! I'm moving onto my eighth transfer in the field! i can't believe it. 

So just a little info on what's happening with transfers- I'm staying in Woodland with Elder Sabin, still as a DL. Elder Alvarado is going to Vallejo, Elder Verdugo is staying here (for two weeks, then he goes home) with Elder Fonseca, and Elder Contla. In addition to that, the ZLs are changing from the Elders in our apartment to the elders in Davis. Which means- Exchanges in Davis! I'm very excited for that. The Hermanas in my district are staying the same. Also, Elder Wright is going to Santa Rosa as a District Leader! My son! He and I came out of our last transfer as way good friends. I'm so proud of him! 

 

This week... It was pretty crazy, I guess! We had two investigator families text us and tell us they weren't really ready to hear the lessons. One family I was ok with, but the other I'm way confused about. I need to text her back still and find out what's up, because they were solid. We'll see what happens. So pretty much our new plans are instead of putting backups for people to see, we will visit one person every hour, and then just pros walk or tract until the next hour if they are not there. 

 

One of our less actives is really frustrating us. His name is Fidel. He is always chasing after this other married member (also less active) who just leads him on. He needs to move on! But we saw them go into a taqueria, so we followed them in and then they bought us tacos. It was sweet. The Horchata there was just in buckets and you just scooped it out with a ladle. It was delicious. So even though he went there with the lame lady less active, we were happy.

 

The next day we had an appointment with this part member family. We went over to their house, and they weren't there. I was ticked. Then we went to a different investigators house and they weren't there. Then we went to a different less active's house, and he was not there. So, I'm pretty chapped by this point. I just wanted to go to the apartment and make some calls, because I thought it would be more productive. On the way there on our bikes, we passed Fidel's house. We decided to see if he was there. He was. We went in and started to talk to him. He told us that he though we had left 2 pros copies of the Book of Mormon in his house. That wasn't true, since I never carry English ones, but whatever, so we had them on the table. I felt prompted to say that Elder Sabin was going to share his favorite scripture, so I was like nah, but then I felt it again. So Elder Sabin starts opening up his scriptures, and lo and behold, Fidel's English speaking roommate walks out and says he felt like he should listen. Well, what do we have on the table, but 2 copies of the Book of Mormon in english! So we gave him one and pretty much taught him all about the Book of Mormon. It was sweet. The English  elders are going to start teaching him. It was sweet. So even though no one else was home, there was a reason! 

 

Ok so in addition to that, Hno Joel continues to say funny things. Yesterday it was "No uso el internet mucho. No importa en cual pagina este, siempro veo Find Singles in Your Area! Hijoles, ya encontre mi futura esposa, no voy a buscar mas singles in my area!" It was hilarious. I can't spell in spanish on the computer. Sorry! 

So that is what I have for you all today. It was a good week. I'm excited for a new transfer. I'm going to be putting in work!

Elder Foster