D-moin D-moin D-moin

I'm now in Des Moines!!!!!

I'm going to miss Marshalltown, I love everyone there.

Now I'm in the big city!!!!!!!! My new companion is Elder Rocha, he was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in the Bronx. He, like another companion of mine, has been jumped! #bucketlist

He was baptized 2 years ago, his mom was listening to the missionaries and he'd always hide in the other room and then he decided to listen to them. He is so amazing!! He just came out on his mission so he's updating me on the cool music and he is on fire!! We make a great team. The church is true and don't hide from the missionaries!

Oh and also we got a new car this week #cityperks It only had 3 miles when we drove it out of the dealership.

If you want to send me stuff my address is:

8515 Douglas Ave Ste 19

Urbandale IA 50322

Iowa Corn and Nauvoo Temple

This week we took some corn pictures in Iowa.

We also went to Nauvoo, Illinois. So much church history is there and it was so amazing to go to the temple, and see the Nauvoo Pageant!!!! It was the first time I went to Nauvoo on my mission, and we drove past the shoe store of George Christian Riser, my 4th great grandpa. In his journal, he said after he heard the Prophet Joseph Smith speak, "I then made up my mind that Mormonism was the truth and I would be baptized" What an awesome guy!! And he was my great great great great grandpa, and I went to the place where he lived for a while!!

Iowa

This week my companion and I walked into a mexican party with people we'd never met before. They fed us, and my companion ate 2 huge jalapenos in one bite and gained some mad street cred.

Also, an 11-year-old told me "You are good at everything... except gymnastics"

So this week I had a lesson with a 90-year-old that's going to be baptized next week, and asked him some questions to gauge how much he had been taught and his commitment level. I asked him if he would be willing to keep the sabbath day holy, which includes going to church and try to set sundays apart as special from other days. He said "I try to keep every day holy. God created the 7th day, but he also created the other six." Words of wisdom. He also kept repeating how this is the biggest decision he's ever made in his life. I love him he's so great!!

We met our new mission president and his wife, they're amazing!!!! I went to the bathroom before the meeting and there I found the new mission president before anyone else had met him haha so I met him first. He said "wow what a place to meet your new mission president". He said D&C 81:5 is what we do as missionaries, and the gospel is how we do it. SO COOL. "Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees."

Also, a friend downloaded pokemon go which is an app where you capture pokemon in real life!!! We went finding for people to teach as we were finding pokemon around the neighborhood haha so funny. 

the pictures of us finding pokemon:

and looks like a pidgy that a car got to before we did.

Happy fourth

This week we swept out a baptismal font that had spiders and beetles in it haha I wish the problem was having to clean out algae and small water creatures because it's just full all the time but hey

Saw my 2nd cousins again this week in Ankeny, pretty cool.

Found out Orange Leaf no longer has scales, just a flat rate cup so that was an invitation to pile pomegranate and brownie batter froyo as high as humanly possible, if it fits it ships.

Learned the difference between a class A and class C RV, and that mosquito-repelling bracelets do nothing.

Met some awesome people this week, one that had a PhD, one that had a stormtrooper in his window, and one that's debating divorce that we were able to be instruments of the Lord to help her in that hard time.

Funny Story: We brought over two frozen pizzas to someone's house that we're chill with that was baptized about a year ago. We set the oven to preheat. After a couple minutes we smelled something rank and realized there was stuff in the oven lol, So we cleaned the oven out that was filled with miscellaneous expensive-looking kitchenware, and then stuck the pizzas in. He said we ruined three thousand dollars of cooking equipment, still not sure if he's kidding or not. But yeah I learned two lessons, always check before you preheat an oven, and it's always easier to just buy little caesars. Then while eating, 9-year-old angelita says to me "no wonder you're so big, that's your third piece!"  Needless to say it was a rough night. And unbeknownst to Angelita it was my fourth piece.

Spiritual Story: In a lesson with this awesome man who is working towards baptism, and he tells us of a personal story of him getting pulled over for a DUI and then deciding after that he will ONLY drink water the rest of his life. He realized the things that were keeping him from happiness and cut them off from his life. It reminds me of a people in the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. Alma 23:7 "For they became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren." Fighting isn't always bad, especially if defending country or family or religious freedom. But they realized it was keeping them from God and wanted no part of it. Let's choose something in our life that we could do without, and cut it out so we can be closer to God!

Love y'all, the church is true and God is reaching out to you.

Crepe

This week I saw my first crepe-maker, you just like sit it on a plate of batter and it sticks to it and makes a crepe, genius.

I had a water gun fight, saw someone off on their mission to Riverside California, saw someone watching captain america civil war, played a baby grand in an art gallery, played leap frog, and found some awesome buddhists to teach.

Also we have these black boxes in our car called tiwis that tell us to slow down or put on our seat belt or whatever. It hasn't turned on for a few days and I thought it was a huge blessing haha, but then we got a call saying that we unplugged it and i might lose driving privileges. Yeah we'll have to figure out what happened lol.

the church is true, watch this cool kid bible video  https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/childrens-bible-videos/the-widows-mite

Happy Fathers Day!

This week I found out someone I knew was called to the Scotland Ireland Mission, Mandarin-speaking. Pretty sure that's the coolest mission call I've ever heard of, except Iowa of course.

This week I kicked a little kid's purple ball into a tree and popped it. Also a little hispanic kid I knew threw the cutest/most annoying temper tantrum, just shouting CHOCOLATAYY over and over. Someone give that kid some chocolatay. Also we acted out the good samaritan story with some kids and they loved it. 

In church, this one man was supposed to speak and his wife gets up instead and shares how she asked her husband what he wanted for Father's Day, and he said "I'd rather not speak in church" haha. Best father's day present ever. She gave an amazing talk though so it works out.

We had some new friends come to church, I think I talked about them in last week's email. They said "This is my church". Well after church yesterday, we asked them if they would like to be baptized on august 6th and they said "of course I want to be a member of my church" what awesome faith. Love those guys. Well everyone have an awesome week, the church is true. Be converted to Jesus Christ, a conversion facilitated by the church.

Here is the good samaritan video that the church put out, pretty sweet.

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/parable-of-the-good-samaritan?lang=eng

How could Batman be Born if he had no Parents? #potholes

This week I saw a cat on a leash and I ripped my pants picking up a piece of chalk for a kid.

I ate some undercooked chicken, had some amazing panes rellenos from El Salvador, literally means stuffed bread, basically a turkey sandwich. And shoutout to sister steinback and Jerry for taking us to Wendy's. Jerry said the only reason he buys food for us is because "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." So as Jerry explains it, he bought Jesus a 4 for 4 this week. Also served as an insult calling me the least of my brethren. pretty witty line I thought.

This week there were some awesome 17-year-olds from different parts of Iowa that accompanied us for a few days, the stake calls it "mini-missions". I knew one of them from one of my past areas, Ben, and met another named Andrew they are both super cool!!

With Ben, we visited a 97-year-old in a nursing home with dimentia. We sang him the hymn "How Firm a Foundation" after which he uttered the only coherent phrase I've ever heard him say "I love that song".

Then again with Ben, we prayed to know where to knock, and the first door we knocked on we met someone whose cousin just passed away and found a lot of comfort in our message. 

Then with Andrew, after a lot of disappointing encounters, we knocked on a door and this man with a broken heart before God and broken english says "This is my church. This is my church." With one of the biggest 1,000 watt smiles I have ever seen he ushered us in. He loved going to church in Des Moines but couldn't find it when he moved to Marshalltown, and he and his family want to get baptized. What a spiritual experience. I love you guys have an awesome week. Listen to the Spirit.