[Mason] Amados hermanos mios

Ok everyone to start of this email I want to say that I have learned a lot this week and what i have learned is really changing my mindset on everything. I can't explain what has happened but I sure can testify to anyone and everyone right now that this Church is true and contains the True Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth.

So this week has been slow like the previous week due to the snow and weather again but miracles have happened, be it in the work we are doing or in my own life.  On Thursday, we set a goal to get out of this "RUTT" we are in by getting a new investigator.  We didn't know what we were going to do, but we wanted one.  We had some media referrals that we had yet to go and visit, but out here people just want us to come to literally slam the door in our face...it's so annoying. But we were like let's just visit these. One of them stood out because we had two copies of the referral, because it was sent two different times...and we were like ok, let's go there first. So we did, and we get to the building and its one of those where you press the button and they have to physically buzz you in...And as everyone knows, these rarely work. So we buzz it and we wait and wait and wait and then right before we leave, we hear a buzz and the door was unlocked. Woot woot! so we were surprised by this, but we went upstairs...and we knocked on the door. and we introduce ourselves...and her reply goes as follows...."Finally you guys are here, Alan Osmond told me you guys were going to come soon", and this Alan Osmond is Donny's older brother....so now we have a new investigator and her name is Ann Marie Underwood. it's so awesome, but we learned that media referrals should not be taken lightly because they work.  That is my big miracle of the week.

Funny story of the week: So in the Polynesian culture, there is this drink called KAVA and it is a root. When it is mixed into the drink, it looks like mud, literally mud, and it tastes like mud too. So we partook of this KAVA drink at brother Ka'afi's house, a less-active Tongan member, and his friends and it was like a party.  It supposedly makes your tongue go numb. although it didn't make mine go numb at all, when everyone in there including trujillo had numb tongues...darn it. so we, yesterday, took the sacrament to another member, who is active, but cant leave his house because of medical purposes. and he is Samoan and his wife is Hawaiian, and so we asked them if they have ever had KAVA...and lo and behold they told us that it is like the poor man's alcohol in the Polynesian culture and only guys drink and its bad stuff. For that culture, it is only supposed to be drunk for ceremonial purposes if you are a member. it is against the W.O.W. if used otherwise and so we unknowingly broke it...ooops. hahahahaha

So I have realized that I have gained weight because Trujillo likes to cook for me and he gets mad at me when I don't let him cook so everything is uncontrolled portions because he naturally gives me more to eat...I have decided to not eat anymore....jk. but water and meat and fruit is good for me now.

To turn toward the spiritual side of things, I want to talk about trials in our lives. we all have mountains to climb in all aspects of our lives.  We go through so many things each day that affect us so much more than we can realize. Think of our lives as a ball of clay. When we are born we are a perfect ball...and when we turn 8 years old that ball start to form into something. now, every experience and trial in our lives mold us and bump us and scrape us and squish us and do all manner of things to us, good or bad, but by the end of our lives this ball of clay is shaped like a person. Now we can be hit and hit and hit and our clay can be really ugly formed and as we give in to these bad things, we let other things damage us. our ball of clay becomes nothing like the person we need and want to become.  but the atonement of Jesus Christ can fix us. as we repent and show faith in our redeemer, our clay can be molded into that person we should be. no matter what happens in life our clay can be "fixed" because we have a Savior who loves us so much and a Father in heaven who loves so much. Now we must always be ready for trials and embrace them because trials can mold us into that person we need to be as well. trials are opportunities in disguise to become better people. There are always blessings that come from trials, and it can be hard to see them but we must do our best to see them. I have an investigator that asked us why bad things happen to good people? and Also asked myself the question of why do good things happen to good people? the answer to these questions are related as i thought about the answer to these q's. Now I have realized that good people in order to stay good and show their love for people and others and to stay on the path of righteousness, they must undergo something that proves their faith and maybe self-worth too. people must be tried to test their loyalty and also so that they know how bad things can get so they know to stay away from it. good things only come from trials...as long as we seek those good things when we are amidst these trials. Good things happen to bad people because these bad people are still children of God. these people are given a chance be better people and this helps those people to realize that they have potential to be good people and when they return to their "bad ways" they remember and they do all that they can to get back to that. I firmly believe that people can become better than they already are. Good and bad things happen to everyone and they make us who we are. we should always seek to be better versions of ourselves and not worry about what happens to everyone else. We can't change what happens to them or us but what we can do is do those things that help us become better versions of our selves. i was told recently that it is ok to "Righteously judge", but it is not our duty to judge anybody, in anything. We are to do our best in everything and we will be those people God wants us to be. Granted we are to care for our brothers and sisters, but we need not judge not compare ourselves with them.  I don't know if this makes sense but i know that all things happen for a reason and that reason is to bless us

I love everyone and am grateful for my Mission. i am doing good with everything and don't worry about me.  All i need is a rugby ball, some aveeno lotion, and my pillow(jk about the pillow).

All is well

Love,

Elder Mason Scott

Be Better not bitter

[Weston] Anaheim Weekly 2/17/14

Hey Friends!

Wassssssup? This week was crazy! Oh my Gosh! Wow! This week we learned a lot about finding people to teach. Personally I learned about building my own testimony. The 3 key points that I learned this week for a lasting conversion and to continue to learn are as follows : 1. Read the Book of Mormon, 2. Pray, and 3. Go to church. These three things are what I have learned about for the past 19 years of my life. Huh, can I take a hint maybe? They are so important to having a lasting conversion. Do all you can and then after will God and Jesus Christ make up the rest. :) I love this Gospel!

Monday - We had transfers which were crazy! Oh man! That was such a long day! Whew!

Tuesday - Normal day, except for the fact that I did emails because we did not have time on P-day to do them. That was ridiculous! :) We had so much to do! But we got some good studies done, and taught one lesson on Facebook. That was fun! We also taught one of our investigators named A..... That was the first time Elder Etchart and I taught together. Interesting, we are pretty good together. It was pretty good!

Wednesday - We did our studies and used Facebook to try to confirm an appointment that we had originally. That was interesting, but we got pizza for dinner! Oh man, that was good. I have not had pizza for so long, almost 14 weeks. Whew! That was awesome!

Thursday - We had out District meeting, in which Elder Etchart and I were asked to demonstrate a finding situation like a street contact in front of President Bowen. That was fun..... Oh man, we did okay, our Spanish is still coming along, needs a lot more work though! That was fun, then we had subway for lunch, though it wasn't (Fresh!) that good.

Friday - We got our I-pads. That is right. I said it. We had a 4 hKour meeting that morning, and then had studies to do , and weekly planning. Basically we are removing all paper from the mission. Our planners and area books are now the I-pads. The I-pads are locked down too. They are under this App. called AirWatch, and it is a big brother app. It is a one-strike policy, so yeah pretty scary. But basically we have 3 weeks to put all of our area book information into the I-pads, and we can no longer use planners. It is all I-pad. It is so hard! It takes forever to plan, might I tell you. Wow! It is hard to use the Ipads, because especially in my area, I have the 2nd most dangerous area in the mission. There are literally shots fired almost every night. I do not want to carry an Ipad with me on the streets. But that is what they are asking of us. I miss physical copies of the scriptures too. I can not find anything any more..... :) But yeah, I have an I-pad, I feel cool now..... :)

Saturday - We had our ward coordination meeting, and then had language study with Doctor Swenson, he is awesome, we learned a ton! We also pretty much used the Ipads all day to get used to them. There was a wedding that we went to ! That was cool!  And that is pretty much it! I also got a nap in during lunch! YES!

Sunday - Ward council at 7am, so I got up at 5:30am. That was fun. Church started at 9am, and it was awesome, I understood a ton! I am getting a lot better at Spanish! Yes! I am loving it here! Church was just awesome, even though we get into a pickle a lot about what is doctrine and what is opinion, because a lot of people have their own ideas.

This week rocked! Every once in a while we will hit a bump on the road. It doesn't matter, get over the bump and keep going! We will always be able to keep going with the help from our Savior Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father. "Just keep swimming."

I love my mission. I am doing my best our here, and now especially with the responsibility of using I-pads, I am going to work and try even harder. Thank you for all of your support. I am sorry that my email was so short this week. My bad!  Next week will be extra long! :) Thanks for everything!

Your favorite missionary,

Elder Weston Scott

[Mason] Amados hermanos y hermanas mios

Ok everybody, the east coast wins for the snow this last week between where we all are. michigan clearly wins with the 10+ feet they got. but here we seriously were dumped on. its almost like the clouds decided to fall to the earth, because we were hammered. I have a pic of a few days ago when it was still snowing. but we seriously got like 2 feet in chicopee and in other parts there is like 3 or 4 its insane. But due to the snow and temperatures we pretty much had a P-WEEK because we were inside most of the week. it sucked so much especially because i was tapped inside the Ludlow Elders' apartment, and man these guys are gross.  I'm talkin like a mens lockerroom 24/7.  I wore the most clothes, and that was shorts and a tshirt...man, I'm not looking forward to a four elder apartment.

So Wednesday after emailing we played this boss game in our gym.  It can be compared to wheel-chair basketball, because we took rolly chairs and played basketball on them.  It was so much fun. we then headed out and had an appointment with a member. 

Thursday and Friday were snowdays, so we didnt do anything.  I read in the book of mormon, for our challenge, and i caught up. I read like 40 something pages in like 2 hours...it was insane...because its in Spanish.  I have set a goal to learn Spanish with all of my heart because I am stuck in a groove of not being able to because of this and that.  Anyways these days can be compared to "heck" because I tell you now, that these guys are sick. 

Saturday...snow stopped the night before and so we went out to help move the Halls in my ward. and man was it good work and fun, because they were so organized and it was great. while moving, we had to drive to the new house which is about a mile away. I  get out of the car when we arrive, and I back up my companion into a nice parking spot and as I'm doing so, I totally slipped. there was a sheet of black ice everywhere, and I literally flew up and onto my back...it hurt so bad...man I didnt want to get up, and the best part was that there were two deacons who saw it and they through snow balls at me while I was down...boy did I get them back...White wash baby...only a light one though because I'm still the  "cool elder" in the ward. then we had district meeting and met the new sister that is in our district. we then had to go with the ludlow elders and move a couch...a massive one...and we had to move it down a icy flight of stairs...it was sketchy. we then took it too one of the ludlows investigators who was baptized this last sunday, and then we helped them teach a lesson on the commandments and had the baptismal interview. we then headed home to do our studies that we weren't able to do earlier. 

Sunday, o ayer, fue iglesia. [or yesterday, was church] and man was it a great day. the church building's heat was out...and so it was the same temp as outside...brrr=). we then proceeded to teach sunday school to the youth and then elders quorum..on familys and strengthening the family...boy was it weird. but it was fun. we then went and made visits with Brother P.... who is puerto rican. he is so cool and fun. we then went to bishops house and had dinner to wrap up the day. 

Now we are here. Monday. P-day. and so I'm doing great. i ordered a pack of harminicas from amazon for the different keys, because you cant play sharps or flats. and i can play hymns and pretty much any song now. and actually the other week, i forgot to tell yo all, that for Zone meeting, the s]zone leaders asked Trujillo and I and sister Scott in amherst to do a musical number...and I was on the harmonica...we played I am a child of god, and it was great. im getting pretty good at it, but my harmonica is a cheepo one and so it doesnt sound to good. if you find any send them to me...I would appreciate it..

So as i have been reading the book of Mormon in Spanish, many things have been standing out to me. 1. is whenever they speak of the God and his word, such as "the word of God" i learned that that has many meanings, but it seems to have a hidden meaning or one that people don't focus on. now when people say this is the Word of God, talking about the BOM or bible, yes its it is the word of God, as in it is his word given through ancient Prophets and what not. but also it is the word of God as in it is, especially the old testament and most of the BOM, about Christ and prophecies of Christ, and when I say Word of God, i mean it is words or scripture pertaining to God or Jesus Christ who was to come for the first time, and now when we talk about the Word of God, it can be put into terms of "this scripture is about our savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven and about the coming of our savior again."...sorry just  something that popped into my head while studying. also 2. is that they say that "surely as the Lord liveth,  this will happen or this is happening or this is real or whaever it will be" and it made me think that that In the scriptures it testifies in many different ways. the Lord does live, and so everything that follows is true and it makes me smile at the scriptures even more now. 

Anyways I hope everyone is doing well.

con amor a todos [with love to all]

Elder Mason Scott

Be Better not btter

[Mason] Amados Hermanos Mios

How is everything back in the west?, because I certainly hope its not too cold. I have plenty of it over here, and so I'm willing to share,if you want some. like, I'm  not kidding at all.  It's so cold here all the time, but its certainly a blessing to have a car. (but only a blessing of warmth, because I'm not walking at all...if you catch my drift). anyways, transfers are now this week, and they were supposed to be tomorrow, but we have a massive storm coming in, so it has been changed to tonight. however, I'm staying, and so is my companion, so it doesn't affect us to much.  So, yeah life is pretty great over here on my end...so don't worry about a thing. and by the way, that Saratov missionary kidnapping video is intense sounding, and quite freaky, honestly, because there are a ton of Russians over here in my area, and its pretty weird yo.

So...tragic news this week...well not tragic but sad for us...is that Da.......  has told us he doesn't want to meet anymore...it stinks and he was progressing so well, and he was so great and even reading the BOM, but now he is done with us, and it really stinks.

But its all good, we planted a seed in him, and if that's all we can do for now then we did a pretty great job. but to move on, Shuqi has kind of been in a stagnant pool of water, because her husband, B.... (a Member) is literally on his death bed...which really stinks. and it is hard to see again, especially because 3 months ago, the guy was super strong in the head and what not, but he has declined drastically in the past 10 days. but we and Elder Yu( the chinese elder) are doing our best to comfort her and teach her the plan of salvation. Our other investigator, J..... , is a veteran, who has severe PTSD...and its quite scary to meet with him. he is always cursing, but he is cool.  He doesn't believe in God, because he cant see him...and so its hard to get the point across, and the spirit is there but not super strong because he isn't focused and has a really hard heart and head.  but we are doing our best with him, he has a lot of anger and it is really scary.

We have plans to go out and contact some of our media referrals and what not and so we are not down on our luck, because we have so much to do already. there is not enough time in the day.

Anyways, our weeks are generally the same, but this past Sunday was super special...does anyone know Elaine Dalton...aka the general young women's president of the church, well her daughter came and spoke to our stake in a fireside Sunday night, and it was great and to top it off, we went over to the whites home, where she was actually staying this last weekend. we had dinner, and talked it up...it was so crazy. she guessed where i am from, right down to the city...it was weird. she is like a prophetess...jk...but she was fun to talk to, and now i can say "I Know People." because I do.

anyways great job on the Mini-mtc, it sounds like it was great. im happy to hear that it was successful, i sure wish i could have helped out and been there, but i currently have another assignment i need to complete before I can go home and do that.

For the missionarys purpose and D&C 4, its hard to learn all at once...unless you have been given power from on high to do many great and wonderful things, because I memorized that sucker in 30 minutes or so in the bathroom at our apartment the second day in the field with Romero because i had to recite it later that day for district meeting...God works in mysterious ways yo....but I'm happy to hear that all those boys had fun..

Snow shoes...WDC...why is it that the stuff that the young men do all of a sudden becomes cool when you age out.

Spiritual wisdom this week comes in the form of a parable.

So a certain man had two sons...nope wrong story.

So picture this, Satan is running a store ok. so at this store, there are many harmful objects and tools here that satan has used on people around the world, and he is selling them to his minions. and so he has some old rusted tools, and some new shiny tools, but they are all used in the bringing down of man. now, a minion walks into the store, and starts to look around, and sees a bunch of these different tools. and the store manager, aka satan, says "can i help you good sir?" and the minion responds, "well, im trying t find something cheep but not too cheep, that is pretty new still. do you have anything that fits into this?' and satan replies "oh yes, we have a few but, this one is my favorite"...he holds up this shiny tool, that has a few scrathes on it and worn slightly, and the minion says "what is that", satan responds "this, this is lies, it works well if you use it right, and its only $30", the minion decides to take it.

  a few minutes later, another minion walks in and and picks up this new tool, that is super shiny, and asks "what is this and how much?" and satan responds, saying "that, well that is addiction, and its $150, but its pretty expensive because it works really great, and it helps you take a person down slowly but surely."  the minion says "awesome, ill take it" and so he payed satan and went on his way.

    after about 20 minutes passed, another minion walks in and, looking for something cheep,  went over to the old section where the old and rusted up tools were stored. he picked up this big one and asked the store manager how much it would cost. Satan replied "oh that, that is $5000," and the minion was startled a the price and asked "why so much, this tool is so old and rusted, it surely cant be that expensive!, what is this thing?" and satan replied "O yes, that tool is $5000, the reason behind that is because it is one of my absolute best tools here. it can take several people down in a matter of seconds if you use it right."  the minion says " what is it then?" and satan responds with his head high saying "discouragement, it is discouragement." the minion says " ok, i will take it, it sounds great, thank you so much."

Discouragement is one of satans greatest tools because it keeps us from progressing. when something goes wrong, or somebody leaves, or whatever it may be, we cant let that affect our progression in this life. because if we do, satan can get his hands on us. We can be slowed down by satans other tools, but through discouragement, he stops us and it is hard to keep going. Remember, that our Savior Jesus Christ suffered all manner of pains and afflictions for us, and this includes what ever causes us to be discouraged.

This means that we have a Brother and a Father that know perfectly what we have gone through, are going through, and what we will go through. they have their arms reaching out to us always, and so remember that. Satan wants us to stop because all of his other tools can take us down when we are stopped. Jesus Christ and our father in heaven know we can get through whatever we are going though, so "just keep swimming" and you will be ok.

(I hope this makes sense) but if we get discouraged we become weak and vulnerable so keep your head up and progress.

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well back where ever you are and I love you all

Elder Mason Scott

-Be Better, not bitter

[Weston] Anaheim Weekly - February 11, 2013

Hey!

This week was awesome! Well, okay mostly awesome! We got quite a lot of stuff done this week! I learned quite a lot about myself this week. It was good.

Monday - We had P-day, and were late pretty much to everything we had planned, the usual though. We got to play basketball so that was a highlight. I love basketball, and volleyball too, oh and do not forget football, and soccer, and every other sport that we are able to pretty much play here.  Vincent took another ball directly to the face and got another mild concussion. I got to drive for another couple of days though! So that rocked! We used Facebook, then went and taught D.... our 9-year old investigator.  It was good, he is finally starting to pay attention. Yes!!!!

Tuesday - Lets see.....(I forgot my old planner so I cannot remember everything. My bad....) We did our studies in the morning, and got out the door at about 1pm. Then taught some peep's here. We used Facebook, then went to the church to meet A.... and sit and teach him there. It was mutual. I still go to mutual even on the mission. That is what's up.  Mutual is so important for everyone, that is where investigators, non-members, or even members will establish a relationship with other people, and then have a stronger root in the Gospel because of it. I believe and know that mutual is one of the reasons that A... is progressing so much! Everyone, Go to Mutual!!!!! :) Okay Bueno. Yo Dije mi paz. We taught A... the about repentance, and went over the baptismal questions with him. He is so ready.

Wednesday - We had a district meeting early in morning, and so had to travel around and rally the troops. Well really only the other Elders in our district because we still had the Corolla (man, what a nice car...).  It was a good meeting, it was funny because Elder Vincent was so worried that President Bowen was going to come and sit in during the meeting, and guess what..... HE DID. It was awesome, he was so nervous.... Partly too because of his concussion.  Sister Wade, one of the office sisters, was out of town, and so I could weigh myself in.  We are doing a sort of biggest loser here. I am winning so far, I have lost 9.5 big ones. Boom, I had put on more than that though....... Still, I am the ganador [winner]  right now. I can not quite remember what else we did, except for use Facebook and do our studies as well. Wednesday night we taught the Preach My Gospel class for the members, and specifically taught about talking to everyone. From chapter 11 in PMG I believe, the last blue section..... The members where good about practicing, all two of them that showed up. Fun...... But, I was told that my Spanish is bad from one of the members that was there. How awesome right? What a confidence booster! :) Eh, I shrugged it off, it truly is hard learning a language.

Thursday - Well, we did our studies, I think, and used Facebook, we also used Facebook for an hour. Thursday night was leadership calls for the transfers, and Vincent stayed as a district leader, and the other elders in our district, Arevalo and Richards were called as district leaders, and then another sister was moved to be a sister trainer leader also. There was so much movement in the Spanish program.  It was crazy, we had a lot of people go home this transfer. Good news, I am not training. Dodged that bullet....... for now..... That was pretty much the day. Wait! We also taught A... about the Restoration again. Well reviewed it, he knew it for the most part.

Friday - Normal Friday, we studied early and then started weekly planning. That took a while because Elder Vincent was not focused. He was thinking about all kinds of things, mainly trying to think how transfers were going to be. We taught A... again, and it was a great lesson, we watched a general conference talk with A... from President Monson, and he was so into it. It was on obedience from this past Aprils general conference. It was powerful. A... knows that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God.

Saturday - We had our coordination meeting at 9am which was basically just a ward council meeting, the bishop pretty much is changing a lot of random stuff. No big deal. But his wife said something incredible, she was talking about how missionaries are" Primarily responsible for the before baptism teaching, introducing the doctrine, and as members, our job is the after and forever.  Our jobs as members is to provide a that social conversion and a continuation of teaching and building up that foundation of the Gospel for the converts." It truly is the responsibility of the members, to provide that support, and sense of welcome to all. After the meeting, we had a language study with Hermano Sw.....  for an hour or so then used Facebook. During lunch I took an hour nap, which was awesome.... Yeah I needed that, then we studied and later went and ate with a member whose name escapes my brain.  At 10:20ish we received our phone call about transfers.  Wow. There were so many changes in the Spanish program. Elder Vincent was leaving, and I was staying.  That is what I focused on, and yeah, pretty exciting.  Every companionship in our district got a new companion. Crazy. I have been in our ward now the longest than anyone else in my district. I am the one who knows the members now, hard stuff now haha, lots more Spanish is coming my way!

Sunday - There was meeting at 7am so I got up at 5:30am for that. Church started at 9am and A... showed up for church which was awesome, he has come about 8 or 9 times now, which is amazing! We went back to the apartment and studied a little bit, while Vincent packed. We pretty much just visited members all day long, and visited other investigators to say good bye for Vincent.  B.... one of our recent converts was so sad! She was on the verge of crying! It was hard for Vincent to leave but, B.... asked for a blessing because he legs have been bothering her again. It was an overall good day I guess?

Monday - Transfers. Holy cow. The whole chapel was packed. I gave the opening prayer and almost couldn't because I have not prayed in English in so long! I couldn't remember how to speak! Hay Carramba! It was a struggle! But the meeting was quite great. Some of my favorite elders here are leaving now, they are finishing their missions like tomorrow. They are "on their death beds now". It is hard for them, nobody wants to go home. Which will be true for everyone because this work that we are involved in is so powerful, true, and the only important thing we will ever be able to do at this time in our lives. We ended up having another van, but a new one, so that is cool beans. We might be getting a new apartment because of the cockroaches. They are everywhere. Ay! We had a lot of stuff to do with the cars, and then getting suitcases transferred, and then bikes and so on and so forth, so we did not have time to email. But it was an overall good day.

I am excited for these next six weeks. I got a fresh companion that does not know that much more Spanish than myself, so we are going to learn a lot I am pretty sure. Exciting! Something that I learned this week was about the Plan of Salvation. In the Preach my Gospel section about the Plan of Salvation, there is a little road map if you will. It says at the bottom "The atonement of Jesus Christ makes the Plan of Salvation possible." So true. We are nothing and can be nothing, and would never be anything unless we had the Atonement. The Atonement is what makes everything possible. I know that it is true, and that it works. Rely on the Atonement, rely on our advocate (D&C 45:3-5). Remember that Obedience is also a choice. We must choose with our agency to be obedient. I love this Gospel, and am grateful for all of your support! Thanks!

Your favorite missionary in CALI,

Elder Weston Scott

P.S. There are some pictures attached. Cool beans.

[Weston] Anaheim Mission Weekly February 3rd, 2014

Hey all!

This week was pretty amazing! Well sort of, there was quite a lot that happened. Not to  much teaching went on, but yeah overall good week. I found some awesome scriptures this week, and I go to be the senior companion. Week 11 in training is when the greenie takes over. It went pretty well. Everyone says that I am going to be training this next transfer, uh please, no. Not ready for that if you all know what I mean. Anywho, the language is coming along pretty well. This is the day by day report:

Monday - We had p-day and didn't get to do a whole lot. We played Basketball and volleyball (on man, I am super good at it now haha, I wish you could see my serves now!) Anyways, it was good. Elder Vincent is prone to getting concussions. Remember how everyone would always tell me or Elder Scott (Mason) to be careful when playing sports, well the tides have changed. Elder Vincent got a concussion playing Volleyball. He hit his head pretty hard. But good news happened because of that. We taught D.... that night, our 9 year old investigator, about the Plan of Salvation.

Tuesday - Well, because of Elder Vincent's unfortunate volleyball accident, I was made designated driver until he was better. I got to drive the swat Van (dodge caravan) for the day. Boo yah. It was fun. It is a piece of junk though I will tell you. It is the oldest car in the mission. But we had lunch with Hermano M..... , who made us carne asada, again. He is a butcher, and he gets great meat! It is so good! But I got to stop eating so much! I have actually lost 9 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Only 40 more to go............I will be honest, I have gotten a little carried away with the excellent food I get here. Lets see.... We taught B.... , our 75 year old recent convert about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was great, she is so awesome! She is just like another Grandma, except, she speaks Spanish faster than anyone that I have ever met in my life! We also got to teach A.... , about how he can improve his relationship with his family so that he can get permission to be baptized. We talked about forgiveness with him, and how he can apply it in his own life. It was a good day.

Wednesday - Well, the Van the previous night, kind of well, started smoking. Something wrong with the engine again. Super thick nice smelling white smoke was being exhaled by the van. Yummy! So I was still driving, and I picked up everyone for the District meeting, and after the meeting, we got a brand spanking new 2014 Toyota Corolla. These things are sick! It is a V-4 with an Eco-boost, but they are so incredibly fast. Guess who got to drive? Me. It had 4 miles on it when I turned it on. Oh yeah. Mmmmmmm. It was so nice. We only taught one lesson the rest of the night, everything fell through, but we taught E...... , a less active member who is 13 years old. He is uncle is in the bishopric in another ward. He was so open, and new so much. We talked about the Restoration, and he was so great! It was awesome. Elder Arevalo's bike seat was stolen as well. Rough.

Thursday - Elder Arevalo is super good with computers and technical stuff. He and 9 other missionaries from our mission were chosen as technicians to start the Ipads in the mission. Elder Arevalo now has an Ipad mini, and the things that we can do now, oh man, it is going to be so hard, but so much more effective. This is going to be crazy. I should have my own here within the next few weeks. But, President Bowen told us personally that we would get to take these Ipads home after the mission, but the Brethren have decided that it will cost to much for this to be possible. So, I do not get to keep the Ipad after the mission. Dang, but oh well. So anyways, Elder Arevalo had a meeting for the training on them, and so we were in a trio for the morning, and for the afternoon. It was fun. We got free lunch from the office, so that was nice. We then went to orange county to get a new bike seat for Elder Arevalo. That took forever. I still got to drive the new car though. So fun. We taught one lesson at the door, of a new investigator, whose name escaped my brain. But it was a good day. This week was hard to get a lot of teaching in.

Friday - We did studies, but Elder Vincent somehow plugged our toilet and so, I almost died all morning. Most of you that read this know, I pee a lot. Not my fault. That is just the cold hard facts. I can not help it. But, that was awful. I didn't go to the bathroom for close to 7 hours. Long time. We did our studies, and weekly planning. It was good. We taught A... that night. We read in 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Chapter 3, about Nephi, and how he was obedient. It was great! A... loved it, because I realized that it related perfectly to his life. Right after our lesson with him, we had some dinner (sopes) it was awesome! They were so good. But Elder Richards had to leave and go to a funeral, so I got dropped off, and rode his bike with Arevalo. Two minutes into it, by shoe folded over on itself, and my food slipped off the pedal for a ....well.... gruesome attack on my groin area. If you catch my drift. I was stuck going about 15 mile an hours on my bike, being racked with my feet dragging on the ground. To say the least, I was "racked with eternal torment" it felt like. Oh man , that hurt so bad. Still does, I got a nice bruise up and down my legs. Awesome! Good day!

Saturday - I was still driving, and we had our missionary coordination meeting at 9:00 am then language study with Hermano S....... at 10:30am. He is awesome. I learned how to use "vos". Which is pretty much tu form of talking, but cooler! And a lot harder! I also got to work on commands. We taught one lesson to B.... , and taught her about the Book of Mormon. She cant read, but she listens to the CD's every day. She rocks! We ate dinner at Red Robin with D.... , who is a recent Convert from the sisters in our district. He is so awesome. Such a good friend, he is only 21.. He rocks!

Sunday - Ward council at 7:00am, and so I got up at 5:30am because we live so far away. We were late, Vincent gets ready like a girl (no offense to the women that read this) but he took over an hour to get ready. Absolutely Ridiculous. But I drove again. So that was nice.  Church was good, well it was okay. Some members give me a hard time because I have the car, and the sisters don't. They don't seem to understand, that it is not up to us who has the car, but the Mission president, and that they crashed their car. So yeah, a little annoying, but it is bearable. We taught D.... again, about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I also found the story in the Bible where the donkey speaks out loud to his master. Numbers chapter 22 starting around verse 22. Pretty cool. :) Oh and crazy story, we went to visit this part member family, and this woman that lives there is schizophrenic. She tried to give her daughter, daughter's friend, and niece to Elder Vincent and I. She was literally trying to get us to leave with her daughter. It was incredibly strange, scary, and well, unnerving. Ahhh! We are not going back there. Ever. The sisters can go over there....

Sorrry, kind of a small letter this week. This week was good. We did not get a ton of time to do actual missionary work, but we did the best that we could with the time that we had allotted. It was interesting. Things here in Santa Ana are going pretty well. I could not ask for a better place to serve my mission. Transfers will be next week! Exciting. Well I love you all, and am grateful for all that you do! Keep up the good work! I still like letters!

2500 North Bristol Street

Santa Ana, California 92706-1409

Write me!

Your favorite missionary in Cali!

Elder Weston Scott

[Mason] Buenos dias amada familia mia

How goes life back in the old Colorado? life here on the East coast is pretty darn exciting...kind of. well this past week was pretty slow in terms of missionary work. quite a few of our appointments were cancelled, we had interviews this week, and la reunion de estaca [Stake Conference], which was great, but none of our investigators or less actives showed up, even for the non member/ new member meeting. it stunk, but all we can do is try a little harder. we taught our investigator, D.....  , and he is invested into truly finding out if this is true, and its great, he is very receptive to what we are saying. he is ACUTALLY READING THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!! and he is so straight forward with us..he says "guys,I  don't want to be wasting your time, but i want to learn more, and I want to see if its true before I do anything"....Mind Blown....its so fun working with him. R..... is doing OK, he has been off and on with contact with us but we are sure he is doing ok.

Interviews...such an interesting day...we had to be at the Amherst chapel by 2 on Friday, where we had a long training given by the Assistants to the President, and then we were supposed to have the interviews during the training...and be out by 530 or earlier...not the case at all. we didn't leave until 620 and we were late to our dinner appointment, and then late to our lesson with D.... . But its ok. during the interviews, he asked about Elder Romero, and so we privately discussed what happened during that transfer, and it was slightly nerve racking. but then he gave me time to ask him anything I wanted...but I  had nothing to ask. he then shared Alma 38:10-13, where Alma is counseling his son, Shiblon, and this made me laugh, because the night before we had a very serious Companionship inventory, and I laid out all the Crap that was going on, and now we are fine.  The counsel given to Shiblon was kind of along the same lines as what i needed to hear and what i started to do. anyways, interviews are not really interviews, they are Q&A sessions with the President.

The Scary event of this week is definitely scary, and hard not to think about...but we received a call from a sister whose father is in our ward, but is currently in a retirement home, about to go. and she said that he told her "Call the missionaries as soon as you can and tell them as urgently as you can that Satan just jumped on his horse and is coming for them. they need to prepare for this, he is coming for them"...and she relayed this to us, and it made us kind of trip in our though process, and it was actually me who heard it first because I wasn't on speaker, and so I had her say aloud to speaker, and we were actually with our zone at the interviews when we received this call...it was so freaky. but we are trying to brush it off, but coming from this brother, though he is slightly delusional, it was still unnerving.

Anyways, this week we have quite a few appointments which will be great, we are really trying to fill our planners with appointments, and what not, because we had a week where we were exhausted from the work we did, and we had so many lessons and appointments, but its really slowed down, and granted, I'm still tired every day from the work, its not like it was.

Spiritual thought of the week comes from what I really took in from stake conference, and it is actually what president Packard said in his talk that really intrigued me.  and he said that for missionary work with members, and also for missionaries, we need to begin asking the question "Heavenly Father, what would thou have me do right now to help one of thy children come closer to thee and thy son Jesus Christ?" and this really made me think about what do we need to be doing. We can make plans by ourselves of how we can help do missionary work, but we need to make sure that first, we ask our Father in Heaven what he wants us to do, because it is HIS WILL, not ours, we are merely tools to help bring his children to him, and if we let ourselves get in the way of that by not being willing to do what he wants us to do. We simply need to ask this question, and let the "Mysteries of God" unfold though us to our friends and neighbors. the Gospel is a gift, and I'm pretty sure that all people in the world like to receive gifts, and nothing beats the Best gift that anyone could receive, so share it. To change form the question now, God gave us and still gives us gifts in our lives not only to bless us, but also to bless those around us. Think about this, if everyone(Members) who ever gave a present to anyone realized how easy that was...giving a gift....and realized that the Gospel if a gift as well, and it will help people out more than anything else, then i thing that people would share it so much more. But people get scared, and they feel that sharing the Gospel is just Hard work. we need to understand that sharing the Gospel in gift in and of itself, and as we give it we also receive it. As we share the Gospel each day with our friends and neighbors, we also receive a stronger witness of the truthfulness of the gospel. now i know this message is a little all over the place, but to put it in short words, Missionary work is not a burden but a blessing, and that to begin our duties, we must ask our Father in Heaven what to do. Asking Questions in prayers allows us to receive revelation that will help us in our lives. pida con un corazon sincero, con verdadera intencion [ask with a sincere heart with real intent],  we will receive the knowledge of what we are to do. we have to desire the knowledge of what we should do, and then also have a desire to act on that. we cant simply receive a witness of the spirit testifying to us to that the gospel is true and just say "oh that is a nice feeling I like it" and then not get baptized or whatever it may be. We must ACT on those impressions and sign, because they will lead us to serving our fellowmen and serving God!

Sorry the EMail is kind of empty in terms of my week, but I didn't feel like that is something that was too important this week.

Dad, for Priests Quorum, make plans with the priests to go out with the missionaries, because it is blessing to see the work, and also it will help them increase in their desires to serve.

Thanks for the wonderful package btw, the shirts fit nice, and they rock, thanks for the FOOD, but im kind of trying not to eat that stuff, like I just finished off the Christmas goodies you sent me.  But its still great. Thanks for buying me the thermals  and um tell Karen thank you please. Tell Drew I'm proud of him, and I sent him a card. oh, and T-TEXT [Transfer text] is next Saturday...I may be getting transferred, and I feel that way as well. but, Pday will be Wednesday next week so just a heads up.

Con Mucho AMOR

ELDER MASON SCOTT...

be better not bitter