Week 20

Hello family! I hope all is well wherever you are! I think I am settled in here in Huntington Beach. We got transfer call Saturday night and nothing changed because we already did. My district Leader from Long Beach, Elder Salmon is being transferred here and will be my DL again. I am excited! I was sad to leave those elders. That is the only change in my district this transfer. This week has been a little interesting. We have been keeping busy but poor Sister Hoover still isn't feeling well. She coughs and coughs until I think she is going to die at night. She has codeine but she can only take it at night and it takes a while to kick in. I keep telling her that she needs to rest but she is a little stubborn. She rested a little on Saturday after the Bautista's told her she looked awful. We went to the Christmas party that night at the ward. It was fun. They had an activity where everyone went around the church with a candle and knocked on the different Inns only to find that there was no room. After we all returned they shared the story of Mary and Joseph. I really enjoyed. The little boy Noah that we were going around with was getting frustrated. It was pretty cute. Sunday we went to church. It felt like I hadn't been there in forever. We went to the Bautista's before to see if we could get any of their family to come but no one was there. I went to my first Spanish ward. I understood most of it. The gospel vocab is pretty good for me so it is easy to understand. The elders had a confirmation and the spirit was very strong. Osvaldo and Cesar Bautista(recent converts) blessed and passed the sacrament. It was great to see them participate. We then went to the Beach ward for our meetings. Bishop Johnson had me get up in PEC and bear my testimony. Afterwards he had me stand in Sacrament meeting to be recognized by the ward. After church we went the Bishop's house for their annual open house. I felt like I was at home expect it wasn't. The bishop and his family are so great. If I had been thinking I would have had him stop by and say hello last weekend. He drove to Rexburg to pick up his daughter from school and they spent the night in Bountiful. So close to home. I'm sure he would have done it too. We then had a dinner appointment. The only reason I am telling you is because of the main course. We walk in the door and they say, "I hope burgers are alright." My heart sunk. I told them I couldn't eat it. I'm sure I could have justified since it was homemade but I didn't do it. I couldn't. She made me a salad. I wasn't that hungry cause we ate at the Bishops. Sister Hoover had been praying for a hamburger for days I guess. Man I felt bad but I couldn't do it. I have worked to hard. Then Sister Hoover started to have a reaction or something. I'm not sure what happened. Brother Okuchi is a chiropractor and he realigned her neck and then she almost threw up. I had to support her as we walked to the car. I drove us to the Bautista's. Normally we would have gone home but we wanted to see Cleo and we told them we would be there. Cleo works in LA Monday through Saturday. She comes home Saturday night and leaves Sunday night. We chatted with her and her family for awhile. It was good to see them. We then came home and I told Sister Hoover that she needed to rest. She proceeded to do so and slept until 11 o'clock the next morning. I got up and studied the scriptures for 3 hours by myself. It was great! I love having extra study time. I am almost done with the Book of Mormon again. I just love it! It truly is an amazing book. After Sister Hoover rested all day we went to 3 different Family Home Evenings. It is really fun to just go from house to house. The first one was Monica and Gretchen. They have 2 little boys, Noah and Jayden. They just received custody of both of them and are trying to get custody of Monica's other 2 kids. She has a crazy life and I don't know the whole thing myself. She is a recent convert. She is truly amazing. We had dinner there and helped them decorate the tree. It looks beautiful! Also Noah got to call Santa Claus which was pretty cool. Then we had FHE with the Chase's. It was kind of weird to go home for an appointment but it was really good. Sister Chase talked about the different symbols of Christmas. It was a great lesson. It is so easy to get caught up in shopping that we forget the real meaning of Christmas. It reminded me of why I am here. Without Jesus Christ I would be home with my family. But with Jesus Christ I have the sacred opportunity to share his life with Long Beach. Because of Jesus Christ I can live with my family forever. Because Jesus Christ I can have peace in this life knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and keeps all of his promises. Because of Jesus Christ gave his life, we have life and the promise that we will one day perfect and with our families. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. I am grateful that I can bring this message of great joy and see how it changes their lives. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life and I will never be the same person I was before my mission. We also wrote letters to Jesus Christ. We wrote what we want to give him for Christmas this year. Sister Chase is going to send it to me next Christmas. I think this is a good tradition. We then went to the Bautista's. Osvaldo gave the lesson on the Book of Mormon. He did a great job. He had me expound. I don't know why he always picks on me but it gives me practice. Well the gospel is true. I know it with all my heart. I hope all is well for you and that we can all remember Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. I love you!