[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

[Mason]: I am being transferred!

Dear all whom it may concern:

     I am being transferred to the Lynn Spanish ward, in the Cambridge North zone in the Cambridge stake.  Apparently this is the holy of holies for the Spanish areas or the goldmine of the Spanish areas....so I'm psyched....also if you haven't sent the package or other mail...do not because it will not make it to me for a while so ya have a great day

Con amor

Elder Mason Scott

**New Address**

12 Lowell St.

Revere, MA 02151-1429

[Weston]: Anaheim Weekly March 17, 2014

Hey Family and Friends!

How is everything going for all of you back home? The mission here in California is going super great! Having a great time out here! This week was pretty funny, we taught quite a few lessons, and even got to give a few blessings! My confidence was shaken a little bit this week by some members (telling my my Spanish sucked!) , apparently people forget I am still sort of new! Only got 5 months our here ya hear? Crazy, So close to 6 months! I have to figure out what to burn for that! Anyways, this is the week so far! Hope yours was great too! :)

Monday - So we had a standard P-day and got to play some needed basketball, we also took some funny pictures as a district, because we all have our own color of clothes. I was decked out in Blue, and my companion was in yellow, and out district leader was in green, with his really tall companion in red. The sisters were in like black and pink I think, ya no puedo recorder, disculpenme porfavor [ I can't remember, please excuse me ]. Anyways it was a pretty good day, we got our sinks fixed from the weekend prior, so our apartment did not smell as bad as normal! We have all officially determined that I am at the point in the mission where my Spanish is decent enough to communicate with the people, but still not very good, and at the same time, my English is incredibly bad now too. I cannot speak English or Spanish now. Fun. It is quite amusing. I cannot remember the meaning of words in English anymore.

Tuesday - We had a normal day. Teaching, and other stuff. Elder Etchart said, "We had a normal day". What ever that means! We taught Betty which was good, but she was mad at us because we had not visited her in about 6 days. Sorry, I could not walk and was on crutches my bad. But yeah we talked to her so that was fun. I am not able to remember what else we did, sorry.

Wednesday - We had district meeting today. It was supposed to be Presidents interviews, but they were cancelled 5 minutes after we showed up. It was so funny though because right after our meeting, Elder Maughan, the 6'7" Elder in my district is walking around the hall corner and flips out. His girl friend is a missionary in the Los Angeles mission, and she was down at our mission office for some reason, and it was so funny because they both freaked out, Elder Maughan tried to play it cool, but he has this sweat disorder (no joke) and he started pouring out of his hands and arms. It was awesome! He could not even talk! We got in the car, and he just goes, Guys look, my arm pits are yellow! It was funny! He had just the thickest sweat lines ever! He could not work for the rest of the day and wanted to faint it was so funny. Oh my!

Thursday - We went on exchanges, which was fun, because I stayed in car, even though the day before, Elder Richards and Maughan wrecked their bikes on these electrical poles. Their stories are so funny. But we taught a few lessons which pretty good, and we got a new investigator. But the address the guy gave us was fake, he sent us to an open house and we started talking to people there, so that was kind of cool! We talked to our President for a while, so that was awesome! Oh and we saw Betty, who preceded to tell me to my face, that my Spanish is absolutely awful. Confidence level non existent now. Sweet. She is hard to communicate with, I have never heard anyone speak Spanish faster than her. But what a nice complement right?

Friday - We had our normal studies, along with weekly planning, facebook, Mormon.org, and an our of fixing and imputing our area book. Then we had some empanadas for dinner. Boss! I love those things. I love food. Yes I would say I love it, especially the food I eat here. I will miss it when I am gone. Alex skipped out on his lesson, but he cut his hair super short, it was really long before. Bishop asked him to cut it so that he could bless the Sacrament. Sweet!

Saturday - We were supposed to have our Ward coordination meeting, but it was cancelled in the morning before we arrived, but we had language study with Hermano Sw... , and went over Subjunctive again. 5th week on it so far. I think I am starting to understand it, but I tell you, I am trying so hard to use it, but Hay Carray! It is super hard! But coming along! We tried to make some Horchata again, and guess what? Nailed it! It worked this time! Yes! Boom.

Sunday - We had a meeting at 7:00am so got up early again, then Elder Maughan and I during the meeting went on exchanges and went to wake up our investigators and less active members to invite them to church. None of ours came. But it was fun! "You say Hillshire, I say Farm! Hillshire. Farm. Go Meat!" We did that several times it was awesome. Our district rocks hard core! Alex is our new convert, and he blessed the Sacrament! It was so awesome! He looks so good and happy now and it really strengthens my testimony. He spoke in a new convert meeting that we had that night as well. President Bowen came, and needed a translator too. Elder Etchart and I were the chosen back-up translators for him, if another Bishop did not show up. Yikes! :) It would have been interesting!

Anyways, this week was pretty good. We currently have not baptismal dates, or any progressing investigators, so we are hitting the pavement hard these days. The good news is that being a missionary is so incredibly fun, because with the Black Tag, we are entitled to be weird and awkward when talking to people. Super fun to do! I think I am almost pro at it!.

I love you all and am so grateful for your support! I hope to hear from you all soon! Emails or letters work! If you don't have my address, my parents do! ;)

Your favorite Missionary in CALI,

Elder Weston Scott

[Mason] Buenos Dias Amados Hermanos Mios

     OK so nothing really interesting happened this week, except that we planned our investigator's Baptism and she asked me to baptize her, which is so awesome. We helped yesterday with the Primary's "Great to be 8" activity and it was fun.  We spoke about the importance and key principles of Baptism and we also were asked to demonstrated how to be baptized so I stood in the font area and each kid came down and "practiced" and we went through motion.  It was quite fun seeing all of these little kids who are the exact same age as my old class prepare to be dunked...its awesome.  Also this last week, I was able to get my suit fixed by a member, but it doesn't look too good, but I really don't care because I'm still going to wear it.  We actually have some new goals in our district to open our mouths more to people in our areas and so we decided to go tracting;  and in the Springfield, MA zone, tracting is unheard of, and this Saturday, we are tracting all day long....literally we have scheduled the whole day to do this...it is so fun.  This past Saturday, we went tracting, in the rain and it was fun...but the rain here on the east coast is freezing, especially this time of year.  Our Transfer text comes in this Saturday, and I believe I will be transferred, because everybody is saying that. and I'm getting lots of bets about me going to Boston east of providence or New Haven with Romero again.  But honestly I don't care where the Lord puts me because I will do what he asks of me.

     

     We are starting to study the Atonement in our mission and I'm so glad. one thing that I have learned that I never had thought about before is one aspect of the atonement. now Christ suffered for all of our sins, for our infirmities and afflictions and all manner of whatever we will go through in our lives. one thing that is a part of all of his suffering is being alone. Christ suffered loneliness and that is because none else could have gone through what he went through because there are people in this world who suffer from being alone. 1st Nephi 19:9 says "and the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it;and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and long suffering towards the children of man"

   Imagine how Christ felt, people thought of him as nothing, ok that happens in the world to other people, he was bullied and called names as people are, he was spat upon, his body was bruised beaten and torn for us.  He did all of this because he loves us so much that he never wants us to feel alone in what we go through. we should never feel alone in this world because Christ went through what we went through.  Christ was alone through the Atonement in order for us to never have to feel alone, and I am so grateful for him. But why do we feel alone sometimes even when we know that Christ is with us? the answer is because we let our faith "dwindle in unbelief" to the point where our faith in Christ is is stagnant and not increasing but in fact decreasing; and this is where Satan grabs a hold and he tries to pull us down to the depths of loneliness and misery.  If we continue through our trials and our times of despair, continually "feasting upon the words of Christ" and increasing our faith in He who has been where we have been, and walked where we have walked, we will be able to conquer our doubts.  Remember, that if we doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith, we will never feel alone. Christ is our Rock and last time I checked, when the wise man built his house upon the rock(CHRIST) his house stood still, where as the foolish man built it upon the sand, and we all know that his house washed...away.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ enables us to become free of all fear and doubt of being alone, and it also gives us power to overcome the natural man.  Remember, the wise man's house was built upon the Rock, who is Christ. this doesn't mean that his house wasn't hit by the same storm as the foolish man's house, because it was. by being built upon the Rock of our Redeemer, we can resist the storms of life and we will be there still, afterwards. Yo se que nuesto roca de nuestra salvacion es Cristo, y se que mediante El, no tenemos que sentir que estamos solos porque el ha sido a traves de toda cosa que iremos pasar por en nuestas vidas. [I know that our rock of our salvation is Christ, and I know that by Him, we do not have to feel that we are alone because He has been through all things that we will pass through in our lives] I am so grateful for our Savior and for his Atonement and the power that comes from it. 

So since it is transfer week next week, I will not get to email until Wednesday. also, I know I need to do my best now with what I have been given to work with and I will. and honestly no requests of anything except for the things I already wanted...that included my rugby jersey...the loose one with the tribal-looking-ness and a ball. and the other things I said earlier. all I really want right now is Work...so much that I cant possibly think about anything else but how I can help people because that's all I want to do and also learn Spanish. I had a dream that I had a chance to work with Elder Romero again in New Haven, Connecticut and I honestly would love to because I know what I have to do now with him. but anyways, I just want to help people...

Josh M.  has cancelled the last few lessons but still wants to meet, so nothing new with him. Sh...  we dropped and told the Chinese elders that she is under their jurisdiction now. also Sister Ann, as I mentioned, is getting baptized on Sunday. She had some things happen in her life that lined her up perfectly with meeting Alan Osmond, (Ddonny's older brother), and then she wanted to become a member.  Anyways, I know the Lord wants me to learn something here right now and so I'm going to do what I can.

Con Mucho Amor

Elder Mason Scott

Be Better, not bitter

Mason at the Yankee Candle Company Factory