5-13-13

Dear Family and Friends,

This is going to be a real quick email because I have got to go take care of a few things in the ward. Then we are going to try to go bowling if we have some extra time. We were going to try to head out to Golden Gate to take a few pictures, but it is so foggy out here that you could stand at the base of the bridge and probably not even see it haha! Hopefully while I am out here we will have a clear Monday so that we can travel around and get some cool pictures to send home. This is a really neat place to serve and we have already had some really interesting experiences. I love it though!

Well this week has been another crazy one! Elder Suing tried to go home mid week on us. He has been struggling a bit with his desire to serve. He is the first 18 year old missionary that has entered the field and so he has been struggling a bit. He said that he felt like he was forced to come out here by his bishop and parents and that it was never his choice to come and so he had already text president without us knowing and had told him that he had made a decision and was going home... He had already had an interview with president about how he was feeling and we thought that he was going to be fine. Out of no where one night though he text president and called it quits. He was on the phone the next day with his parents and they were not to happy to hear that he had made that decision. He talked to them and his bishop and his stake president that morning during our personal study. Since the day we picked him up, I could tell that there was something wrong. He opened up to us after he had already talked to president. We had been praying and praying for him for the past few days, and as he was on the phone with his family, I got a very strong feeling that I was NOT to let him go home. If he needs to find a desire then I will help him enjoy the work and we will make it so fun and spirit filled that he will never want to go home again. As I was thinking about how I would bring it up to him though I was super nervous. All of a sudden I started having a ton of scriptures and personal experiences come to mind that he needed to hear. I started writing down the thoughts that were coming, and as I finished up I had over a page of notes taken down. I have never had this type of revelation before and it honestly kinda scared me haha. He was making another call, and so I took the other phone that we have into the bathroom and called President. I told him that I had a feeling that we were not to allow him to go home. I asked for permission to share with him the things that I had written down, and that I really felt strongly about it. He gave me permission, but told me not to push him. He told me that Elder Suing had told him that I was someone that he felt comfortable talking to and president told me that he wanted to keep it that way!  I told him that I would be loving about it but that I needed to follow the impression. It was really neat to hear president tell me that he trusted me and to let him know how it went when we were at a place that I could step out of ear shot for a sec. Well as me and Elder Peralta talked to him I told him how I felt. I told him that if he went home, that it would be the biggest mistake of his life and that he would regret it for the rest of his life! He was a little closed minded about it until I started to share a few things out of the book Our Search for Happiness and a few scriptures. We started to see a light change in his eyes and he started to smile. We talked for over an hour and by the end of the conversation he was walking out of the room to call president to tell him that he was staying! It was such a powerful experience for me to be able to be such a tool in the hands of the lord. It's the first time on the mission that I actually feel like every word that came out of my mouth was exactly what the lord wanted me to say and that was an AMAZING experience. President apologized to me the other day about how I have been with all of these companions who have either not been nice to me, not been obedient, went home, struggled with wanting to be out, or just someone that wasn't working up to the speed that he should have been. I just kinda laughed and told him that I never thought of any of them in that way. ElderMakaya was the hardest comp that I've had, but even that only lasted for 6 out of our 18 weeks together! I have loved all of my companions and told him that he can put anyone he needs with me. I love being able to feel presidents love and the support that he has. He is an amazing man!

Well everyone this turned out longer then I had planned and I need to get going, I love you all! Happy mothers day to all of you amazing mothers out there! My mom and grandma, and Momma Herrera have been there for me through thick and thin and I love them so much! I am so blessed to have a family and support group that I do! Thanks so much for all of your love and your prayers. I love this gospel. I feel like my testimony is the same every week, but I hope that you can feel more and more spirit come from them each week! Brother Zufelt I wish that I could bear this in Tagalog for you, but English na long para caron! The book of Mormon has come to be such a blessing to me in my life. I love it more then I have loved anything in this entire world! It has blessed me and my companions more then we could ever have asked for! Joseph Smith truly is a prophet of God and he did so much even gave his life so that we can have what we have! I hope that we will all take advantage of this perfect gospel and that we will look for others to share it with!

Pictures: Saying goodbye to Brentwood after 9 months!

              1. Tyler

              2. Brother Moser & Sudweeks

              3. Colby
              4. Brother & Sister Sudweeks

              5. New companions: Elder Peralta and Elder Suing-Daly City, Ca