Week 25

So it's here! 6 months ago I was set apart as a missionary. It doesn't even seem that long!

So we'll start of with the bad news. Maria De Jesus didn't get baptized, but it was because she's been in the hospital all week for a kidney infection. She just barely got out, and she will be getting baptized the last saturday of this transfer. We visited her 3 times in the hospital, and let me say how much I hate hospitals. I hate the way they smell, I hate the rooms, I  hate how everyone has needles in their arms and how there's always just a feeling that for some reason, it's a bout to be a 28 Days Later situation. But other than that, she's great.

Also, remmeber the story about that temple worker? Well, he is the brother of our Branch Mission Leader's wife, and they are the siblings to three other people. One was mission president in Hondouras, but I don't know anything else about him. Their other brother is Carlos H. Amado, of the First Quorom of the 70!!!!!!! So that's super sick. Now imagine this 70, and then picture a guy that's the exact opposite. That's their other brother. We went to go visit his son, who is a less active, and encoutered this man. I'm pretty sure he's preparting the way for the Antichrist to come. So this is a super spiritual family, and then the one black sheep.

This was a miracle that we saw yesterday, this is from my letter to President Alba: "WE did see a miracle last night though. We were going to drop our investigator Hector, because he hadn't been progressing, wasn't willing to read, come to church, or stop drinking. He had never once prayed with us, or on his own, making up many excuses. When we knocked on his door, he opened it up with a big smile, his Book of Mormon and Bible. He had changed! He read the first 17 chapters of first Nefi, and when we were talking about it, he told us he felt like he should pray. He prayed right there on his porch, and told us when he was done how great he felt. We can see the atonement working in his life, so wewill continue teaching him!!!"

We do need prayers to find more people though. Ascool as our investigators are, we need more to teach, and after tracting at least every day for an hour this last week, we didn't find anyone. Prayers would be great!

That's it for this week! I hope you all are well! You're in my prayers!!!

Elder Foster

Week 24

Do you remember that episode of Even Stevens where Louis is in love with that attractive cheerleading coach? He decides to become a mascot to impress here, but one day he goes into her office and she's shaving her unibrow and it just throws him off and he can't think about anything elder but the unibrow, but he still becomes a great mascot? I feel like that's kind of like missionary work.

Anyway, the baptism never happened. There was a youth dance, and wouldn't you know it, Satan tempted more pepole toget married and now there's a wedding this coming saturday!!!! We are going to see if we can do thebaptism in the Rio Vista River here. Beause it's ridiculous! I should probably repent for being frustrated. But she passed the interview, and she's good. So we'll see what happend with her.

I don't know what happened to our cholo Ortega! I feel like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. It's not just like he's not answering the door, his phone is off and the lights are never on in his house, and I never hear his roosters crow. I have no idea where he is! But we'll find him.

We are teaching the dad of a member here. He's 87 and a Paisano. He's pretty hard to teach because all he likes to do is talk about his life in Mexico, which is pretty much talking about all the fights he got into in Elementary school and it's just weird but he's really cool. We really want him to get baptized.

We're teaching a giant group of middle aged women on a certain street. 3 of them aged 30-40. I feel like most people I end up teaching are women, I don't really know why, it just happens. When Elder Hansen came to Napa, all of our investigators were women. I have no idea why! Here it's like 3/4 are women. They are just more receptive, or maybe they're not out working when we tract before lunch. Either way, that street was super awesome. Half were Mexican Testigos de Jehova, but the half that weren't Testigos were really receptive. So hopefully in a year that street will be 50/50!!! We'll see.

We're kind of running out of places to find Fairfield isn't necesarily a Spanish Hot Spot (for saying that, I'll get sent to Fort Bragg), we have to really search for places. A lot of the people in the branch are older and not willing to do missionary work, but we'll break them into it.

This week was a little slower. A lot of finding, contacting, and tracting. We did 3 family home evenings, so that was fun!

Pray that we'll find some solid families!!!

Love you and miss you!

Elder Foster

Week 23?

Somewhere I messed up on my numbers, but here is the really week 23!

Transfer information first- The Tolenas Spanish Branch is staying the exact same! The Hermanas and us are both staying the exact same, which is super awesome. I'm so stoked.

About the baptism- We couldn't have it. Some people decided it would be a good idea to get married and have the reception on a night in order to stop the eternal progression of our investigator! Who would do such a thing? And then Satan continued his work by creating a youth dance this coming Saturday! So we're are seriously thinking of going 31 AD style and taking her to a river to be baptized. It would be easier than having to reserve the silly stake center!

On the bright side, we taught 20 lessons this week! I don't mean to be a number crucher, but it feels really good!

We found a really cool lady this last week as well. We just dropped a bunch of investigators, so our teaching pool was pretty low, and we had pretty much exhausted our formers and decided to tract for an hour. We found a lady that had met with the missionaries a little before (no teaching record though) and she was sweet! Her name is Candy (I didn't know that was a Spanish name, but we'll take it!). We taught her the Restoration, and she believes a lot of it. She's a Bible Junkie and has a hard time accepting the Book of Mormon, but she doesn't feel like there's anything bad in it. Her story is crazy though, she just feels the need to accept Christ and to center her home on him. She told us her daughter, who is 15, moved out and is living with her boyfriend. That's pretty crazy stuff, but she's so awesome and I'm sure she'll be baptized.

I also went on English exchanges this week which was fun. We put our bikes in the back of a member's home, because the neighborhood is pretty bad and he lets them do that. His son had just gotten back from BYUI and was waiting for his call (He got it the next day, Independence Missouri speaking Spanish!). We went and did work, and before we left we were visitng him for a little. His less-active daughter who is 17 came out and asked if we were about to leave, and I told her "Yeah I think we are, unless you need anything?" And she said "yeah, could I just talk to you guys for a little?" Needless to say we accepted and she told us to give her 5 minutes and so after that we went upstairs with her and her brother and we taught her. It was so cool! Such a miracle for their area. She is also super into Operation Ivy and Rancid, so hopefully I get to visit with her again on exchanges!

I think that's about it for this week. The Spanish is good for the most part, I was used to Michoacan Spanish is Napa, and people here in Fairfield are from all over, so sometimes it's been hard to understand, but for the most part it's not really a problem anymore. Right now it's vocabulary that I need more than anything else.

A guy that works in the temple shared his testimony yesterday about prophets. He is temple security, and told us he escorted Thomas S Monson into the visitor center. A little girl, 9 years old and a convert, asked our member if she could shake Thomas S Monson's hand. He said he would check, and we he told President Monson, He straightened up, fixed his tie and jacket, and said with a grin "This is the best part of my job!" He proceeded to visit with the girl, and after a few moments she asked him if he would sign her Book of Mormon. He told her no, and she looked sad. He then clarified, this is paraphrasing of course and translated from the Spanish testimony "I'm not a celebrity, and my signature will not increase the value of this book. But I will give you something even more valuable than any signature on the face of the Earth" He then bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon, kissed her on the forehead, and prayed. It was the coolest! I felt like I was there while he was describing this event. Imagine hearing Thomas S. Monson pray.

That's it for this week! Love you all!

Elder Foster

Week 23

So we'll try and keep this a little short!

As far as cool things that have happened this week... I learned how to make Tortillas with Manseca. They're pretty good. I also decided that the reason why I'm losing weight here even though I'm in a car and not bike is because I don't eat as many tortillas as I was eating in Napa. I ate a lot of tortillas in Napa. But, according to a member here, tortillas are how you find a wife. Let me explain, we were at dinner and I was telling her how much I loved the tamales. and she proceeded to say

"When you get home, you need to find a Mexican wife."

I replied, "I know! It's in the plans sister!"

"But she can't be lazy. There are some that are lazy."

"What do you mean, lazy?"

"Well, if you want to marry her and find out, just tell her this 'Make me tortillas, make me tamales, and then you can marry me!'"

I almost spit out what I was drinking because I was laughing so hard after that. The bad thing is she was being serious. Hermana Witt told me "No! Elder Foster, don't ever say that!" Needless to say, it was funny. And I don't ever plan on saying that.

I was on exchanges with Elder Albert, our Zone Leader from Guam. He is exactly 5 feet tall. We were knocking on doors, and aPit Bull bit him in the face. It was bad, but he just punched the dog, it was pretty funny. He was ok. I guess in Guam he got bit a lot, and he just found that punching dogs helped.

This is from Elder Hansen (Josh?) " There's no wife yet... There are some Potentials though... Some of them wont leave me alone haha... But really...."

The work is going good! We get transfer doctrine this week, hopefully Elder Lopez stays!

I've been reading in the Book of Mormon in Spanish where Ammon is teaching King Lamoni. It's so cool. King Lamoni pretty much tells him "Yeah, take my really, really, really attractive Lamanite daughter for your wife!!" And Ammon is all like "No, vos, I'm just here to serve you." And then Ammon proceeds to just slice off arms and bring the Spirit in hardcore while he teaches. It's pretty cool. The Book of Mormon is true!

Elder Foster

Week 22

Here I am in week 22, it was full of miracles and I'm loving it here!

To start off, our cholo investigator called us a day when we didn't have dinner, told us he made a carne asada, and to come eat with him. I'm about 98% sure on the way we got transported to Mexico while driving over there. We ate carne asada, there were stray dogs rnning around and we were giving them the bones, and then we heard a rooster crow. He then led us to the backyard, where he is raising chickens. Not normal chickens, mind you, Mexican chickens. And with these Mexican chickens, we see two large, separate cages. He is breeding Cock-Fighting gallos. Two of them now. He doesn't fight them, he sells them, but we're talking like 10 pound roosters, long feathers, huge talons. It was crazy. I'll put in some pictures. On Saturday we had Carnitas with him, which is like where they throw the whole pig into the pot, stomach skin, and all. The skin was good, but he made me try the stomach, and so I was throwing up quite a bit Saturday Nioght. It was not sanitary. I will also send a picture of that.

Maria de Jesus is also super excited to get baptized. She and the Cholo both came to church.

But that's not all! In church, I had the opportunity to give a 20 minute talk on missionary work. 20 minutes in Spanish. I pulled about 15, but it was good. People laughed when they were supposed to, and lots of people told me after that they liked it.

On Friday we ate lunch with a less active named Rafaela. We got along really well, and then she brought her neice and a friend to Sacrament meeting!

That's still not all. A different less active brought her sister, her brother in law and all their kids to Sacrament meeting. All in all, we had 68 people in Sacrament, 13 more than last week, and 20 more than my first week. The Lord is hastening his work. Our Branch President stopped us after and told us "Hey Elders, slow down! I can't keep up with the work you're doing!" I don't mean to sound prideful, but it was really good to hear that considering how slow it was when we got here. I love Fairfield! I miss Napa, but it's great.

And speaking of Napa, Lupe messaged me on Facebook and told me that she is now a Branch Missionary! I'm so stoked for her.

Ok, that's it for this week! Love you!

Elder Foster

Week 21

I have no time in the library right now! I have to start a Facebook page as a missionary and I have very little time!

Things are going really well here in Fairfield! We had an event for the branch, we called it the Jim West Concert. The branch had been having trouble getting people to go to activities before (Elder Lopez said no one came to the last one, and the one before only had two families), so we were a little nervous about the concert. But it turned out fantastic! We had about 35-40 people show up. A non-member family, lots of less actives, and quite a few members! We were really excited with how well it turned out. Everyone had a great time, and we are going to return and talk to some people from the non member family! All in all, I'd say it was a success. We're going to start working on a mission plan for the branch. Not one that people will hang on their fridge and forget about, but one that will get them excited to start working with us more!

We've been teaching Maria De Jesus, and she's doing great. The hard part is that her sister, Anita, is less active and doesn't obey all of the commandments. She's not a great example for Maria De Jesus, and so Maria De Jesus is having to be an example to Anita. The roles are reversed, but hopefully we'll be able to reactivate Anita and baptize Maria De Jesus. 

With our less active Cesar, we are starting to work with the teachers quorom in the Fairfield 1st ward. We're going to start having kids be at lessons with us, and they'll invite him to activities and church through texting and Facebook. I think he'll start coming again.

Next week Hermana Billet and I are giving talks on our missions. I'm going to talk about how I've seen success while working with members, and encourage them all to work with us more. We shouldn't be separate. They should help us as we help them. I'm sure we'll get to that point

.

I also went on a Hmong exchange this week. There's a Hmong branch here (if you don't know what that is, think Clint Eastwood, Gran Turino). We ate a Hmong barbequ for lunch, which was fantastic! Like American, but better. And for dinner a member took us to eat Pho and Boba! It was awesome.

Everything is still great! I don't want to be a Facebook missionary, but I guess that the First Presidency has a plan and I better follow it!

Love,

Elder Foster

You can put this in my weekly letter as well "Everything is going great with Elder Lopez. I really love working with him. We have a great friendship and we work hard. He lifts me up when I need it and I lift him up when he needs it. We're pushing each other to work hard and to be the best that we can be. I know I'm here with him for a reason. We're doing good work in Fairfield with the help of the Lord."

 

I'll respond a little bit more in detail to the questions you asked-

Mission President is great. We had zone conference this last week (I'll send pictures next week and he's doing great. I pretty much copied my letter to him in my weekly email this week, but I'll write more about it and spiritual experiences in my next letter (where I'm at in the Libro de Mormon personally, what I lioke about it, all that jazz!)

But There are only four elders in our district. It's pretty lame. Elder Lopez is our District leader. It's not like Napa, with 11 of us in a District. Our zone is good, it covers here, Rio Vista, and Cordelia. The Sisters in our branch our great, but Sister Witt is a little up tight and does not get along with Elder Lopez. I pretty much am the one talking to her. That's a bummer, but they're both babies about it. We'll have a branch comp inventory.

I hope I answered everything!

I'll write more next week.

Week 20

Another beautiful week here in Fairfield!

So I guess I'll start off with what everyone was asking me about, the fourth of July! We did possibly the best service project ever in the morning. We were barricade guards for the parade! So all we had to do was make sure cars didn't plow down the barricades, and by that, our service project was essentially watch the parade. It was so much fun! A member from a ward here started talking to us over there and she told us she had something for us. She said "I'm not really supposed to do this, so..." and she proceeded to shove $20 in my shirt pocket and then ran. Booked it! In red white and blue heels. It was crazy! She really wasn't supposed to do that. But I know she'll receive blessings, and Elder Lopez and I got pizza! It was great. And since we live close to downtown, we got to see the fireworks after we finished planning! It was a good fourth!

We set two more baptismal dates, one with the sister of a less active. She came to church and brought her sister as well! We also had 5 other less actives in Sacrament Meeting, and 3 bore their testimonies and pretty much stated that they are going to start coming back to church! It was crazy.

This is from my email to President Alba "I've been praying to get the help that we need from the members. I feel like we really need them. Right now we only have about 2 or 3 members that are coming out with us (we're working on bringing Johnathon, a member preparing for his mission!) and it's just ben hard for us to teach member presents. I recieved an answer to my prayers! A new couple moved into the branch. She served in this mission, and her husband is from here. While we were eating with them, they asked us what they could do to help us out. I was shocked! It was so great to get that question asked! She said they're prepared to give rides to church, attend lessons, visit investigators outside of our lesson. It was wonderful, they are a miracle here! We'll be using them for sure."

Sorry if that was lazy, but I didn't want to have to type it up again!

Things are good! There's a sign here downtown that sayd "Fairfield, The Seat of Solano County" and it's probably because Fairfield is stinky. But it's ok because the Hispanic people are really great!

We have Zone Conference this Wednesday, so that should be fun!

Hope everything is going well!

Love you all!

Elder Mufosta