[Mason] The Series of Unfortunate Events.....

By far the most depressing week of the mission life guys....but hey....no body said it was easy...and guess what, I have decided to take Dori's advice "to Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming!"

 

 The Reasons behind this awful week I will be explaining in the paragraphs to come.

a) We only taught 5 lessons this week

b) Wednesday car issues

c) Thursday all together

d) I'm exhausted from the above reasons.

a) We only taught 5 lessons this week, and I'm talking all together, investigators and members....because everyone was cancelling on us.  We had a packed week of lessons and important time fillers and everything went down the drain.

b) OK so Wednesday, we had to get our brakes changed and an oil change...which took 4 freaking hours, when we were the first people there in the morning.  It was ridiculous. and we were nowhere near our area or around people to talk to. there was this guy in there that we talked to who was a good old JW, and we did kind of a Q&A session with him about their religion.  He couldn't answer us nor explain anything, and it was funny to me because these people have such a conviction of the truth made from nothing, It makes me grateful for the True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of which I am a Member.

c) We had the busiest  day planned that I have ever seen...every hour of the day we had something... I'm talking like 7 or 8 appointments with members and non-members a like and every single one of them cancelled with us by lunch time during our WEEKLY PLANNING SESSION. Then the most awful thing happened to us.  Elder Fish, the Mission Vehicle coordinator, called us and we had the longest most dreadful, heart wrenching, gnashing of teeth phone call ever, because they need our car to give to the Framingham Elders que chocaron su coche...or crashed/totaled their car.  He then told us that we were going to meet at 5 to swap cars and then for us to be taken back to our area, and so we had a dinner planned that we had scheduled after everything with a cool member, but then we had to cancel that.  So we cried on the inside for a while.  We then came to the realization that crap! we live 15 to 20 minutes by CAR outside of our area...and now we have to take the dang bus which will take us an hour or more...argghhh... I had to buy a Charlie pass, the monthly bus pass, with my own money because I didn't have enough on my mission funds..,.so I have to wait to be reimbursed now as well.  We went to lunch with Sister's Miller and Hansen after weekly planning to this place called Three Amigos again...which missionaries eat free at...and it is the best place to eat Mexican food at ever....and a member owns it, so we are blessed. its so good.  We then get a call from Elder Fish, saying that we will now exchange cars at 9pm tonight...so that we don't have to "cancel any of our appts"...even though our day went down the drain.

d) We take the bus everywhere now and we have chased it about 3 times now and I freaking love it.  We get to talk to people more so now and I know that heavenly father knows that this area needs more contacting to happen and that there are people that are ready to hear the gospel and they are on the bus and so we are doing just fine... I am definitely going to drop some libras.

Anyways, taking the bus is so fun, because we can just look back and laugh at ourselves...and come home at the end of the night and have countless stories and be completely exhausted and then...DO IT AGAIN!!!=) woot woot.

I bore my testimony on Sunday, because it was Fast and testimony meeting as well, even though most wards and branches here do them before conference, and I was given the gift of tongues I swear.... I said some things that I didn't know I knew how to say in Spanish...IT WAS COOL,  I mean its whatever though.  I'm still getting used to the different types of Spanish we have out here: Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, Salvadorian, Peruvian, my own, Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, and some more....but they are slightly all different, but I cant understand them all yet....but I'm getting there.  Everyone speaks slow except the first two I listed.

Life is so good out here...and I was just thinking about how much our Father in Heaven truly loves us the other day, and how much he Loves his Son Jesus Christ, to allow him to suffer for all of us, to be raised up on the cross, and then to be resurrected so that they could be with each other again.

Our Father in Heaven knew that it would be painful and knew that it would be hard, but he lets us struggle in life because it enables us to find power with in us and so that we can know that we can do hard things in life.  Our Father in Heaven lets us ride our bike with training wheels until we get it, and he will be there all the way until we figure it out. but when we do figure it out, when we figure out that everything that happens to us is out of the pure love that our Father in Heaven has for us, we are endowed with power from on high to keep us moving forward, to help us at all times.

When we acknowledge that Father in Heaven loves us enough to cut us down and hurt us just so that we can become stronger and tougher, we gain the power to trust. trust is helps us get through the hard times in life. if something bad happens, we don't get mad, curse God and never let it go, we accept it, and thank Him for His Help in changing me to be a better version of myself even though it hurts. there will always be help as long as we do what we must to make the best of whatever is happening.

"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that [trust] is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your [Trust]. Trust that our Father in Heaven knows whats best and you will always be better off!

(sorry if it doesnt make sense...my mind is going 100MPH right now due to the whole last week)

ok so love you all...friends and family

Elder Mason R. Scott

Strength without Courage equals Nothing
        &
Be better not bitter ALWAYS

[Weston] Anaheim Weekly April 7, 2014

Buenas Tardes!

Como andan? Hope all is well in Colorado! I hear more snow is still falling! I can only say that it is getting so incredibly hot for me, not as bad as Elder Lawson in Honduras though! I still have a car with A/C! Boom! This week was pretty good! I am not sure if I have mentioned this yet, but my current area has been struggling for over a year. No success, but even worse, is that there has not been too much trust between the members and the missionaries that occupied this area in the past. (Occupied, not worked, get it?) I went on exchanges this past week with my District Leader, Elder Pace, who is very young but it dong a great job. We talked a lot about what I can do with Elder Tanner to turn the area around. It is going to take some serious effort, which I am willing to put in, but it is possible. 

We already have 3 baptismal dates in this area as of right now, since I have arrived. We have another potential from a man named Alfredo. He has a family of 5, his wife and 3 small kids. His young son saw the movie Spider Man, and now thinks that he is Spider man. It is so funny. He is constantly trying to stick to the walls, and it is so awesome! I joined him one time for about 10 minutes. It was super duper fun! His name is Jordan. Alfredo has been very sick, he is what we would call nicely a work-a holic. That is to gently put it, because of all the strenuous labor he has been doing, and with not resting much, his body pretty much shut down. His blood pressure sky rocketed way over 200, and now is bed ridden. He has been very sad the past couple of weeks, and we stopped by yesterday actually, we had tried almost every day this week, but he seemed a lot different. He was enjoying his time with his family. Last transfer, his major doubt was the fact that he did not want an eternal family. Just to simply state it, we later found out this past week that it is because he was not exactly following the 10 commandments, ie. the one that deals with marriage. His wife and him have been taking classes, and counseling. Now he expressed his most sincere interest in the Eternal Family. It was so cool to see the change in him! He told us that he fully intends on reading the Book of Mormon with a true desire, and to sincerely pray. He wants to know the truth, and believes that Joseph Smith's experience makes sense logically and spiritually within him. I am so excited for this man. Alfredo has moved mountains in a matter of days, he will definitely be baptized this transfer. Yay! Elder Tanner and I have a baptismal goal of this 2 this transfer, we had 7 this past month in our zone, which is the zone's best! Woot Woot. 

This week was pretty good, I am about half way in the New Testament, which is awesome! I will definitely finish that this transfer. I restarted the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and now I am focusing on only studying in Spanish. I understand what I read and write about 90% of the time now so I will be able to do well in studying in Spanish now. 

We had a zone meeting that was very long, but we learned a lot about our studies, and how we need to regain our focus. With the new I-Pads, we have a lot more materials to study from, a lot more. Hello! General Conference talks from 1979 are on Gospel Library! How do I know? Well, we all lost our focus a small bit as a mission, so I possibly am included in that ..... However, we were reminded that Preach My Gospel is our tool, and is our resource. It has everything that we will ever need to study and learn and do as a missionary. It is our focus as missionaries. If anyone has seen the missionary training videos, and specifically the district 1, "this is a Preach my Gospel mission." Preach My Gospel is so amazing! With the I-Pads we can do some pretty sweet stuff with it now. We can use Gospel Library to categorize all of our notes, scriptures, you name it. Oh, I need a scripture that talks about Prophets? Oh well let me see, Bam. Prophets tag. Oh look, I have 10 different ones to use. It is really helpful, in that sense. I still do not very much like planning on them, but it is getting better!

Using Facebook is another tool that we have as missionaries now, only in 30 missions though. Facebook has been prepared for the use of missionaries. Think about it! Where else can I talk to thousands of people at one time, or have the opportunity to have thousands read my testimony as well? I can knock probably 15 doors in an hour and teach some people about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, where some people will see us coming, and close their door, or just not answer it. With Facebook, it is different, for an hour each and every day, we can send messages to people that live in our areas, by using the search people that live nearby feature, or simply post scriptures or quotes or our testimonies. When members share, comment, or like what I post, then their friends can do the same, so it is a continuous line in the water for people everywhere to have the opportunity to feel the Spirit of the Lord touch their lives. When we send out messages on Facebook, it is the same concept as knocking on a door, let them know who we are as missionaries, and also what we are there for, but with online messages, it is a continuous knock that will knock until it is read. Facebook is designed very well for mass contacting. It is awesome! That is why it is so important to share and comment and like the things missionaries post.

General Conference was awesome! It was really powerful this time, for me anyways because I actually focused the whole time! On the mission it is so much better! I have been studying a lot about the Restoration, and about how truly marvelous it is to know for myself that the true Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. With all the same authority and doctrine as there once was. My favorite part about conference would have to be when one of the speakers (I do not remember who it was) said that in all that Christ suffered for us, our lives and bodies are actually his now. We have a divine debt to live up to. We need to do all we can to follow Christ and live as he lived, it is not our choice, because in all honesty, our lives are not our own! I thought about that a lot, why am I truly out here on my mission? Well to do exactly what Christ my Savior would do!

I hope you all have a great week!

From your favorite missionary in CALI!

Elder Weston Scott

]Mason] Lynn is the place to be right now.

Ok, so I do not have to much to share this week, other than the fact that I love this place so much.  The work is super slow and hard but i feel like i am meant to be here right now.  I love our branch so much, and I have been welcomed so well. the people in our branch are so cool, especially our President, Presidente Fuentes, who had only been a member for 7 years, and five of those as the branch president. he is so cool, and I love him so much.

    This week we taught many of our investigators and it was pretty gun.  Monday night we had nothing planned, and the Revere 2nd elders needed a ride to a place, and so we gave them a ride, but on the way, we received a call from the sisters in our branch, and so we went to the church. we were asked to give a blessing and it was in Spanish.  Elder Tuckett annointed and I sealed the the annointing and gave the blessing....let me just say that I was so nervous because that was actually my first one in spanish, but I knew that My Heavenly Father would help me as long as I did what he asked of me, and so as we got there, we said a prayer, and I was actually the one giving it. and i knew that my spanish is still pretty rough, but I asked Heavenly Father in the prayer, to please bless us with the ability to speak with the Gift of tongues and to be guided by the Spirit in the blessing.  I felt an immense peace come over me in the prayer, and I ugh...started to um, ugh tear up...and I knew that my Father in Heaven was there and was going to help me. so we go inside, and I am still having a hard time understanding people, and so we were there for a like 15 min and then she finally was ready to receive the blessing.  They were decorating eggs or something. but i remembered I asked for help inthe blessing, I asked for help in exercising the Priesthood authority that I have been given to help God's children to progress in this life, and so Tuckett annointed and then I went ahead and sealed and blessed. and I knew that God helped me in that blessing, because I had things come to mind in Spanish, and i thought in spanish, and afterwards, she said, "I thought you dont speak Spanish"...I am so grateful for God's AHnd in every part of my life and for the opportunity I have to be a Priesthood bearer and to act in God's name to help his children.

After the blessing, we received a phone call to come and introduce religion in this teenagers life for this organization.  It was English.  So we go there the next day and talk to this kid, and his friend, Richie and Curtis...and richie is struggling with so many things, and its possible that he will go to jail soon, and he is only 15. The whole time, we were trying to introduce who we are and explain our purpose, and they are sitting there blowing watermelon flavored smoke at me and it was so annoying...i wanted to stand up and just tell them whats what, but I am better than that, because I know Christ wouldn't do that. We are meeting with them again this week as well.

Ok so some big news this week that I am so freakin happy about is I finally finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time, and yes I know it took forever...but it would  have been earlier, but when i got half way in december, the mission started the BOOK OF MORMON challenge to mark every reference to christ, and so I started over....but its all good now.  I'm going to restart and totally own it as well as D&C in Spanish and then after....Old and new testaments....and maybe Jesus the Christ in Spanish...but not quite sure about that one right now.  I am only studying in Spanish right now and i am determined to learn this language because that is What My Father in Heaven has asked me to do.

I loved all of conference, but I didnt get to watch the last session on sunday, because President fuentes asked us to go with him and grab a tire form his house and take it to braintree which is about 40 min from our building. I dont know why, but I absolutely feel a need to watch it right now, and I cant yet...but no worries. I love conference so much.

I dont have a favorite talk, but I will get back to you on that. No aunt Karen and uncle Brian didnt find me....not good if they were to do so....I really dont want to see anyone unless its Sam and Brie because they live here, or you guys in october of 2015...sorry.  Also thanks for the package...and the RUGBY BALL........I was so happy last week, and boy did it feel great to hold one of those...elder Mcjanet, here in this area, also played and so we were having the time of our lives.

Baptismal interviews are done by the district leader, unless it is the district leaders investigator, in which case, the Zone leaders do the interview.  Normally we go over the questions throughout the lessons we teach, just to make sure that they understand everything, and so we can get an idea of whether we need the interview done by a missionary or by president. generally if its soemthing with crime or abortion or soemthing pretty major, we can generally figure that out from what they tell us, and so its rare to have more than one interview...but it does happen....Grandpa will pass...I know it!

Anyways, I love the Gospel so much, I love Spanish so much and I love teaching people about the gospel of Jesus Christ and more importantly i love bearing witness that CHRIST LIVES and THROUGH HIM WE CAN RETURN TO OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

Con mucho amor

Elder Mason R Scott

Be Better, not bitter

[Weston] Anaheim Weekly - March 31, 2014

Sup my homies!

How we all doing this week? My week was pretty awesome! As you all know, if you are keeping up on the blog, I was transferred! I am now serving in the Santa Ana 10th Ward. It is so amazing! I got the opportunity to speak in Sacrament, it was supposed to be a testimony, but then Obispo Santos me pidio que [ bishop Santos asked me to make sure ] it lasts for over 5 minutes. So it became a talk! It was super fun! It was interesting this week because My Spanish the week before was not very good, I guess when confidence is broken down, it builds up stronger!  I have been much more fluent this week, it has been very fun! Elder Tanner my new companion and I are young in the mission field, so we are relying heavily on our Heavenly Father for the ability to speak! During the 3rd hour of church as well I got to teach the members. It was the 5th Sunday, and so it was our opportunity as missionaries to teach the members of the ward 12-and up on how to use Facebook and other social media as a tool for the Lord. It was essentially training. Basically it was only senior companions that spoke because we have 4 companionships of missionaries in our ward. But there was a twist, Elder Tanner does not like to talk to much, so I spoke instead and did the part of our training on how to make a post meaningful and something that will let others feel the Spirit. I showed them a Mormon message titled Earthy Fathers, Heavenly Father (close to that anyways) and walked them through the steps on how to share it on Facebook. It was fun! Now do not forget, it was all in Español! I absolutely love my new ward!

This week we basically white washed. Our area, so it turns out has not had a baptism in about 2 years, and they have not had any success with anything for along time. My assignment of a sort is to turn that around I guess! We have a district transfer goal of 12 baptisms! That is a huge number! We feel that we can get 2 for our area in 6 weeks. It is possible! :) This week went as follows....

Monday - P-day! Not..... Transfers day so we didn't do anything but transfer and email. Very fun day..... Not! Elder Prieto had a going home party that we all went to at the Bishop's house. He served in this ward for over half his entire mission. From junior companion to senior to trainer to district leader, and died as a zone leader. I miss him already...... he was awesome!

Tuesday - We had something happen, but I cannot remember too well.... Oh yeah! I cleaned our apartment for about 1.5 hours because it was nasty. The missionaries that had previously used it never liked to clean. Nasty! But it is very nice! There are so many college kids everywhere in our building because Chapman University in next to us. Very fun.... But we had a meeting with Bishop Santos at his house again, and this time we talked about the goals and what he expects from us. He is so incredible, I can not describe to you the Love he exemplifies in all he does. I love my new ward!

Wednesday - I had another doctors appointment for my feet, it was a check up from last week. The ingrown toenails should be fine now.... (lo que yo pienso es que todavia tengo una una mas que es encarnada. [ although I think that I still have one more ingrown ]  Fun stuff! I got some nice Liquid nitrogen poured on some of my toes as well. Can anybody say, "burn baby burn!". We taught a kid named Miguel as well. He is so cool, he wants to know about Jesus Christ, and believes all that we have taught him is true.

Thursday - We had some good studies, but also ate a district lunch at my favorite place ever! Taqueria De Anda. It rocks! Super authentic place, super delicious! :) We had a district meeting and more importantly our interviews with President Bowen. It was awesome! I am sad that President Bowen only has about 2 months left! We taught a man named Alfredo as well, he has been deathly sick, and has been suffering quite a lot. I shared with him Alma 38:5 and some other good scriptures, to let him know that God our Heavenly Father is aware of his situation, and will help through it. He was very nice!

Friday - We did some weekly planning and got some good studies down! Dinner was canceled on us, so we figured something out! I made some Horchata again. This time I did it differently and found out that as I was making it, that we did not have a pitcher or a strainer or anything. It turned out .... well.... not good. Again. One bad/good thing about the new area though, is that the missionaries that used to be in this area were disobedient, and so the members don't like to sign up to feed anyone from our area. We have dinner twice this week, as apposed to the normal every day but P-day. I have to cook now I guess........ :). Interesting......

Saturday - We had a service project! It was so fun! we got to play with dirt! I love dirt! It was super fun! The woman we were helping is nice, she is not a member, but needed help "excavating" her yard, we found a tree that had been buried, and now we have to deal with that! It was good though. We stopped by Miguel's house to teach him a bit, and he was not home, which was depressing! He is way ready! But all day we pretty much knocked doors, and we found only one new investigator. It was fun though! Hitting the Pavement is super fun. Like I said we are pretty much white washing our area, so we are needing to find a lot more people to teach!

Sunday - Let's see, Elder Curtis one of my zone leaders was sick, and so I stayed with him in the morning before church so that he could keep resting. At church I spoke, and then later trained the members on how to use Facebook. We ate dinner with the Silvas family, it was a barbecue. Yum. I had a lot of Cheeseburgers. I missed them..... :) It was fun!

I enjoyed this first week of the transfer. This new area is extremely hard, we only have a few streets to work off of, so it is hard, but I am doing my best. I know that the faith that I have and the testimony I have will be a strength to me. I know that Atonement is real, and that there is real power behind it. This week I read a lot from the New Testament, especially in Acts. It is incredible to see the miracles and blessings that come from obeying the commandments, and sharing our testimonies. I love you all, and am grateful for you! The future is as bright as your Faith! :)

From your Favorite Missionary in CALI!

Elder Weston Scott

[Mason] Amados Hermanos Mios

Lynn Lynn, The City of Sin, You don't come back the way you went in, You ask for water, they'll hand you Gin, if you're not bad, they wont let you in, its the damndest city I've ever lived in, Lynn Lynn, the City of Sin, you don't come back, the way you went in.

Buenos Dias mi familia y amigos, how are all of you. Have I got some news for all of you....I have now been given the the best area in the mission, not because the work is easy, or because there are so many people to teach, but because the work is so slow and small and I get to make it rise.  Lynn will become the greatest area ever, and hopefully a ward! it is nothing like Springfield out here, and the work is ALL in Spanish,....con muchos Puerto Ricuenos ya Dominicanos y mi espanol es muy mal, es como yo soy un nuevo missionero. [with many Puerto Ricans and Dominicans and my Spanish is very bad, its like I am a new misisonary! ]  but its all fun. My companion Elder Tuckett or Tuck, is so fun...we are like two freakin peas that came from the same freakin pod....its a good transfer....but we only have one problem...neither of us know Spanish!.

I have come to the conclusion that God really does answer prayers (I came to know that a long time ago)...because, I am not the District Leader (yay) and I'm not in the Branch presidency...yet...but I'm not.  I just get to focus on the work here and learn Spanish....which I'm going to have to do really fast.  The sisters in our ward don't know Spanish either...and I am pretty sure that I know the most Spanish in the Lynn branch for missionaries even though there is a sister that has been out for a year.  It is tough, but it is fun. Our branch mission leader, Hermano Paredes, is the coolest guy and most humble man on the planet, I kid you not, and I'm pretty sure and I am convinced that he is one of the 3 Nephites....jk.  Presidente fuentes, our Branch president is so cool, and he is so much fun to talk to.  I love this branch so much, pero no la conozco todavia [ but I don't yet know it  ] because I was in Springfield on Sunday for the baptism of Sister Underwood. however, I am getting to know the ward slowly.

In the past 4 of 5 days, my Spanish has improved so much and I think I've done more Spanish work in the past few days than I have my whole mission....which is so wacked.  I am in a four elder apartment now, and the other elders, Henrie and Spencer, are so fun...we go and play sports in the mornings to wake up or some of us go to the gym, but we are all active and I am guaranteed to drop a few pounds, and plus the members out here don't really feed the missionaries to much, so I don't have to worry about being stuffed, but just the opposite.

I have SALEM in my area...which is sweet because we were there antes de mi mision [ before my mission ]. and there is so much to see here in my area...it is so cool.  We have a few investigators that are pretty cool, especially one, Elpidio, who we are teaching, but isn't actually ours, because he is English,(our break from Spanish), but he lives to far from the Revere elders to walk to; but he is so cool, pero es dificil por El a dejar de fumar y guardar la ley de castidad...pero El esta progresando todavia, [ but it's hard for him to quit smoking and keep the law of chastity, but he continues to progress  ] so no worries. I am loving it here.

Something I came across in my thoughts this past week, is Baptism,...I wonder why?  But I was thinking about what it really means and more specifically the covenants we make. We covenant to keep the Commandments, take Christ's Name upon ourselves, and to always remember Him. (CTR) ok, so keep the commandments, ok so that one we know and it enables us to stay worthy at all times. what about take His name upon us? How? Why?  Well, I think we must be willing to submit to our Father's will.  This is different than what Christ Did, in terms of what our Father in Heaven wants us to do.  When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we commit to take upon ourselves trials, and afflictions, and all manner of things that Christ went through.  Sorry if you don understand. but when we covenant to be Christ's disciples, we commit to be like Christ.  This means bearing one another's burdens and suffering trials, the same ones he went through for us, so that we can become more like Him, to develop those traits and become who we need to become. When people become members of the Church, their trials do not stop there.  In Fact, people often hit bumpy roads right after baptism and all through out the rest of there lives, because we have all committed to become like Christ.  We cant ever do what Christ did, and I''m not trying to say that to become like Christ we have to suffer too, because I think that is sacrilegious, but we have to go through trials in our lives that turn us towards Christ and give us traits of Christ.  So taking upon ourselves the name of Christ or tomar sobre Si el nombre de Cristo is submitting to Our Father in Heaven and accepting all that happens to us and embracing it as Christ did and doing things that he would do, and seeking always to be as he was, and to act as witnesses of God at all times, in all places and in all things.  There are other parts to it, but this really touched me this last week. now always remember Him, I can put into four words....What Would Jesus Do.

So obviously Baptism was on my mind this last week, and I was able to travel to Springfield to baptize Sister Underwood, and it was interesting...she was so anxious and nervous and almost a little mad at Elder Trujillo and I because she had to wait so long, but she was happy as can be afterwards, especially after coming up out of the water.  I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to baptize her, to stand in the font and to declare the prayer and then to aid her into the water and back up again, and to help her begin her journey though the gate and to be on the strait and narrow path. She was so ready, and I know she will continue to progress. 

So My companion is the coolest guy ever, did is say that already? the guy teaches the gospel so well,and I am blessed to be serving with the guy.

Dear all whom it may concern: I am serving the best area and best mission ever. I just thought I would let you know.

[Mason] Amados Hermanos Mios....

      Wow, I am so nervous right now to go to my next area....and let me tell you why. First off, Lynn is considered to be one of the slowest areas in the mission, the Branch is small and is struggling, and Lynn is not a "safe place" as i have been told. [Editor's note:  Mason indicated that his report about it being "golden" last week was a flat out lie from his Zone Leaders ] Also, I will most likely be put as the District Leader, I am still learning Spanish, my new Companion [Elder Tucket] has been out only 2 transfers, so I am Greenie-breaking, and I'm going to be teaching him Spanish, oh and one super important thing I forgot to add in....The branch President prefers to have....wait for it.....a missionary, usually the senior companion, as his Second Counselor in the branch presidency.....but, I am so excited to do all of this because I get to serve the Lord. I can take it all, and nothing will bring my spirit down, because I Know that the "Lord is with [me] whithersoever [I] goest" and I am super excited to take on my next challenge. plus I am definitely going to learn Spanish now because there is no other option.

Ok so our investigator here in Springfield, Sister Ann Marie Underwood, was supposed to be baptized this past Saturday, but a member of the bishopric couldn't attend. So we pushed it back to this past Sunday, but Ann forgot that all of her family was coming to visit her and they were to go to a cemetery, so we decided to push it back a following week, because she wants it to be her Big day, and wants to do this by herself...and so we have been given the impression that she has not told any of her family yet. so we are trying to get her to invite family and tell them, and we have been stressing the importance of family to her.  So the Baptism is on the 30th now, and I will be gone...and she has asked me to baptize her.....however, the Springfield Ward is really great and they love me so much, as well as the Assistants to the President, and so I have been given permission to attend, as long as a member can drive us there...and the Maleko Family, one of my favorite families, has offered to drive 2 hours to pick me up and drive back, and then do it again to take us home. I love them so much. SO I will be able to attend the baptism and help Ann begin her Journey.  And I am happy to do so.

Our investigator Josh has cancelled 5 lessons in the past week and it is starting to get a little annoying because we have everything planned for the lesson and then he cancels like 30 min prior and we are stuck because we block off a chunk of time for the lesson because they always are long with him due to questions and what not. but he is progressing slowly. But I am not going to get to teach him anymore.

So the past few days I have been doing my best to keep up with the Book of Mormon mission challenge, and I can tell you this. If somebody seriously asks us Mormons if we believe in Christ, I am going to literally throw a Book of Mormon at them and read any page....because there is a reference of Christ on every page and I mean, come on, if you want to know Christ, read the Book of Mormon, because he is in there more than he is in the old testament. Literally, every page...and as I am reading in Spanish, I am learning the language and coming closer to Him as well. 

So this past week, I was given the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting because I am leaving. It never occurred to me before, but I can stand up for forever to bear my testimony, and I was only given 3 minutes and so I had to cut it short.  I loved the fact that I could go up and share my testimony about whatever i wanted, whatever aspect. I never realized how easy it is to speak to people when you don't have a paper in your face that you are reading.  Granted, I will most likely do that for talks still because everyone does that but sharing my testimony was fun, because I felt it came form my heart then and there.  I talked about how God doesn't call who is qualified, but He qualifies whom he calls, and it is so true, because I certainly was not ready, but God knew and knows what I needed to be able to do this, and he has let me get to this point. 

I am being transferred in about 7 hours and I am psyched. and I love you all

Con Amor a todas personas en el mundo

Elder Mason Scott

    Be Better, not bitter

Pictures

1. Me with Springfield, MA in the background

2.the Maleko Family, And Tracy, and Pume

3. The White Family
4. La Familia Rodriguez

[Weston] Anaheim Weekly March 24, 2014

Hello everyone!

This past week was awesome! Well mostly! I actually got transferred today! So I left my first ward, and now am in the Santa Ana 10th Spanish Ward. Exciting! My new companion is named Elder Tanner! He is from Colorado actually, and his cousins are the Rawlings! Awesome Right! He is so cool! I am so excited to get to work with him! He has only 12 more weeks on me, so we are still fresh with everything. We still got our fresh 'Greenie Fire'. I am so excited. I was a little sad that I left my first area, because I had to leave Alex, and leave a lot of people that I truly do love. Many of my investigators I love, and I sincerely hope that I will be able to return to the Santa Ana 5th Ward. I do not feel like I am done in that ward!

Apparently though my new ward is larger, and the leadership is much better. I am excited about that. The leadership in many Spanish wards are...well... could use some improvement, but I am excited for this opportunity to see what another ward is like. This past week was too interesting.

Monday - Pday of course, we played some awesome four square, and a ton of basketball, and I played some dodgeball. Super fun. Facebook is going pretty good, I think I am getting better at how I spend my time on it. It is not super easy, but I am starting to see the value behind this tool we now have access to.

Tuesday - We basically did our studies, but I had a follow up doctors appointment for my feet, which was good and bad. It turned out that I had six (yes 6) more ingrown toenails. That was nice and warming news. But all is well. I cut my own hair again, and it turned out pretty nice again. Getting pretty good at this self-hair-cutting business. Boom.

Wednesday - So I had another follow-up appointment from the day before, and Doctor Lords, a local English Bishop, cut out the six ridiculous problem causers that I had on my feet. Super fun, the numbing agents wore off within half an hour of the operation. Quite delicious the operation was. But I am walking around again. I got to wear two of those flat operation shoes, it was awesome because I had a district meeting right after the operation, and everyone at the mission office said that my shoes looked like 'Jesus' Sandals. Awesome, right?! We learned about using our I-pads this past week during lessons, and it was interesting because we learned about more effective ways of how to share videos or what not to capture the attention more of the investigators, and to keep the Spirit. It was cool! We also taught Danny, he is back with a Baptismal date, and we are excited because he promised us that he would start coming to finally. Him and his brother expressed a very real doubt this week, the fact that Danny and his brother feel uncomfortable going to church, because they go alone, without their parents, and feel that everyone is judging them. It is hard, but we talked a lot about trusting in our Heavenly Father and having Faith to do and comply with that which our Heavenly Father has commanded. It was a very good lesson, the Sprit was so strong :).

Thursday - We had a normal day with studies and what not. We had a good time knocking and trying our best to talk to people! Nobody seemed to be home, we stopped by 12 different people's homes in about a 2 hour time period, and nobody was home. We played our normal game called five alive, where if the person we try to see is not home, we knock five doors before leaving. It is fun. We found one new investigator, who seemed interested. Our zone has been trying our this new challenge we all decided on. We decided that we were going to try asking everyone to be baptized on the first contact or what not. It is fun, because it isn't really about setting a date or what not, just about finding the people that would act truly act on the chance that they got to hear the true Gospel. It has been working pretty well, from an opposite sort of stand point: we are finding all those that are not ready. It is still successful though!

Friday - Studies and weekly planning! That was super fun! But we also found out that Alex and his girl-friend that was a member broke up. Alex was rather upset, because he was just baptized and now he does not really have as much support that he had. But it will all be okay, because his Testimony is incredible! It is so powerful. He is starting to prepare to serve a mission. I think that he will actually be able to progress more now without her, she was holding him back, and now he is more free to make better decisions, and to fully dedicate himself to his life as a disciple of Christ. I love that Kid so much, and I will miss him a lot. I also got to help out a lot with an Eagle Project. William De Leon, a priest here in Santa Ana 5th turns 18 next Saturday, and needed some serious help, and so we went and spent 2 hours sanding PVC pipe for him and cutting and measuring them as well. He planned to make some portable soccer goals for an elementary school. It was a good project. We stopped by Alex's house on the way home that night, because we had bought a new tie for him, as a welcome to the 'club' kind of gift. We gave him some awesome stuff with it. It was so funny. I will send some pictures. I taught him how to tie it correctly as well. Boom! It was awesome.

Saturday - We had our normal Ward Coordination meeting, and talked a lot about our converts, and who really has the responsibility of retaining new converts. It was awesome because the ward missionary that normally bags on the missionaries was standing up for all of us. It was awesome! We had our normal language study with Hermano Swenson, and finished his take on the Subjunctive. So confusing. I need to take a break....... But we had an amazing dinner that afternoon, I ate 23 tacos. It is funny because I have been trying to work on self control, and once I ate the first taco, well, that went out the window. Eh, might as well enjoy the food while I can right?! :) Transfer calls were made as well/

Sunday - Church was awesome! We talked a lot about the Plan of Salvation, and the difference between immortality and eternal life, which was cool because there were several non-members there. During sacrament meeting, I had to excuse myself with Elder Etchart to use the restroom, I could not hold it any longer, and as I got up, the second counselor in the Bishopric jumped up out of his chair and called me up immediately to bear my testimony because I was leaving. It was very funny. We ate dinner with the Flores family, which was awesome because they are probably my favorite family in that ward. It was good to eat with them for my last time! I spent the rest of the day packing and visiting members and investigators. We went to a baptism, it was very nice!

Well that brings us to today! Wow! I forgot, but we made Horchata again this week, and it was boss. I love Hispanic foods. I am going to start collecting recipes soon!

This week I learned a great deal about prayer. It is interesting, the fact that we can pray at all times and in all places. I know that prayer is essential for me as a missionary, but also just as a son of my Heavenly Father. I know that He hears our prayers, and answers them. "Every Saint has a past, Every Sinner has a future." I love you all. Have a fantastic week! :)

Your favorite Missionary in CALI,

Elder Weston Scott

(Never Give Up, Never Look Back)

With Etchart

Companionship memento for Alex

Alex