Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Unu Uka Wu Ezi Okulu!
Hey sorry for the late email this week - we went to the temple today!!!! (so this week's email is going to be short sorry!!) The San Diego Temple is so beautiful inside and out! Kinda weird but at the beginning of our session an alarm went off and we got evacuated because a fire sensor went off or something haha. I was really confused!
This past week we meet with a former investigator named Chimezie. He is from Africa and an amazing man. He is constantly thinking about others and how to help them. He told us that when he becomes friends with someone he calls them his brother or sister so he calls us his brothers. It's kinda cool. He taught me how to say "this church is true" in Igbo. That's the language he speaks.
It's starting to cool off a little here.
Friday we had zone conference and it was amazing!!!! I learned a lot and we got to watch "Meet the Mormons"! It was an awesome movie and I encourage you to go see it and encourage people you know to go see it. Elder Nielsen was way excited because this is the first movie he has gotten to watch in the last year an half haha!!!
Last night we had our last appointment fall through; which always stinks because then you have to think of something to do on the spot. As we were about to drive away I see this U-haul and I ask Elder Nielsen if we should help them. So we do and afterwards one of the girls that was also helping almost starts crying and said that she has never seen anyone thats been affiliated with a church be so willing to help people on the spot. After we talked a little bit more I got a prompting to ask them if they would like us to bless their home. Elder Nielsen looked at me really weird because that's not usually what we say but they got really excited and said yes, I would love that!!! So later in the week we are going to stop by and hopefully share a message with them!!!
Me and Elder Nielsen are getting pumped for General Conference this weekend!!!
Love you all and hope you are doing well!!!!!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
This past week we meet with a former investigator named Chimezie. He is from Africa and an amazing man. He is constantly thinking about others and how to help them. He told us that when he becomes friends with someone he calls them his brother or sister so he calls us his brothers. It's kinda cool. He taught me how to say "this church is true" in Igbo. That's the language he speaks.
Friday we had zone conference and it was amazing!!!! I learned a lot and we got to watch "Meet the Mormons"! It was an awesome movie and I encourage you to go see it and encourage people you know to go see it. Elder Nielsen was way excited because this is the first movie he has gotten to watch in the last year an half haha!!!
Last night we had our last appointment fall through; which always stinks because then you have to think of something to do on the spot. As we were about to drive away I see this U-haul and I ask Elder Nielsen if we should help them. So we do and afterwards one of the girls that was also helping almost starts crying and said that she has never seen anyone thats been affiliated with a church be so willing to help people on the spot. After we talked a little bit more I got a prompting to ask them if they would like us to bless their home. Elder Nielsen looked at me really weird because that's not usually what we say but they got really excited and said yes, I would love that!!! So later in the week we are going to stop by and hopefully share a message with them!!!
Me and Elder Nielsen are getting pumped for General Conference this weekend!!!
Love you all and hope you are doing well!!!!!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
"Labor Without Ceasing"
So today is my 2 month mark. It's hard to believe that 2 months ago I was in Colorado getting ready for my mission and now I'm on it!!!! But I have loved these past two months! And I love being in San Diego!!!!
This week has been going great! Last P-Day after E-mails it rained pretty hard for like an hour which is pretty unusual I guess. Elder Nielsen said it's rained like 4 times on his entire mission!!! The rain and wind actually knocked over a bunch of trees and palm leaves and stuff it was pretty crazy. We had to give another set of missionaries a ride to their next appointment because the tops of palm trees were falling on cars and stuff!
In District meeting this past week a sister missionary challenged us to do a positive day. Me and Elder Nielsen did ours on Monday. It was pretty hard but definitely made the day better.
Kinda sad but Richard dropped us this past week so we won't be baptizing him but he said he is going to find the missionaries when he moves to Florida. But our other baptism, Dunia, is scheduled for October 11 and is still going strong!!!!
I don't have a cool food story this week, haha. No abnormally hot peppers or big burritos. But we did get a bunch of free stuff from Einstein Bagels. One cool thing about my area is that we get free frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon which is pretty nice on those hot days!!!!
This Friday we have Zone Conference!! Im pretty excited. Elder Nielsen said its like 6 hours long though!! But we get to watch a movie apparently (Meet the Mormons) and get taught so I'm way excited!!
This past week me and Elder Nielsen have been focusing on what makes us happy in this gospel. We have been sharing a message with members and asking them to share something with us that makes them happy. Sunday night we had an amazing experience with this when we went over to Sister Anderson's who is a single lady in the ward. She invited a counselor from the bishopric and his wife. It just so happened that they were all converts and they were able to share their conversion stories and tell us what makes them happy about this gospel. The spirit was so strong.
We then shared a scripture in Alma 36:24 which is the scripture right after he is visted by an angel and it says:
"24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."
Then we challenged them to remember those things that bring them "exceeding joy" and do as Alma the younger did and labor without ceasing to bring them that joy.
I know this Church is true and im so thankful for the opportunity I get to serve in San Diego for the next 22 months!!!!
Well I love you all and pray for you constantly!!!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Damp & Windy
Some unusual rainy weather in San Diego brought down some trees.
This fence is at Elder LaRochelle's apartment.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Some Like It Hot!
So this past week has been HOT!!!!!!! Me and Elder Nielsen have been sleeping in our living room to be close to our AC unit.
Other than it being really hot, I had a pretty good week. I went on exchanges again. This time I was back with my MTC companion Elder Salmond. It was my first time going to another area. Elder Salmond is in 4th ward and it's a walking area. It was 104 degrees outside and I got a little burnt, haha, but we had a good day. Got to work on my street contacting some since I'm used to driving to my appointments.
On Thursday we went to a members house with Dunia. We were going to review previous lessons with her but her uncle just died so we were able to help her and give her a blessing. At dinner they had a side with cactus in it. First bite I took I ate a pepper and I guess its called "the Chinese fire pepper". It was probably the hottest thing I have ever eaten. After I ate it I tried to stay cool but ended up freaking out a little haha. Everyone thought it was funny except me because I couldn't taste anything. I drank like half of their gallon of milk! Afterwards the members apologized and said they should have warned me, haha, but it was really good.
Church in San Diego is weird, some of the guys wear ties and some don't. Some wear flip flops and some wear beads. This Sunday was weird because we got a list from the Relief Society to visit some less actives in the ward and they spelled Elder Nielsen's name wrong and they just put "other elder" on my list haha.
I'm pretty sure our Bishop thinks I'm like straight out of France or something haha. At ward council he asked me to say the prayer and right before I said it he was like "in English please" haha. I was like OK I think I can do that haha. After the prayer he said "in case you didn't know, Elder LaRochelle is French" Haha. Kinda weird. But overall the members are way cool and love to help us out.
I finished my first transfer! 16 more to go haha. Im just kidding. Being a missionary is amazing. I love sharing this message and making people happy! I'm not getting transferred, though. I'm staying with Elder Nielsen in 1st ward!
General Conference is in a few weeks and Elder Nielsen is getting super excited for my first General Conference as a missionary. We are going over to a member's house to watch it. This member actually works with nuclear weapons. It's way cool!!
Anyways, I love you all and I'll keep praying for you guys!!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Other than it being really hot, I had a pretty good week. I went on exchanges again. This time I was back with my MTC companion Elder Salmond. It was my first time going to another area. Elder Salmond is in 4th ward and it's a walking area. It was 104 degrees outside and I got a little burnt, haha, but we had a good day. Got to work on my street contacting some since I'm used to driving to my appointments.
On Thursday we went to a members house with Dunia. We were going to review previous lessons with her but her uncle just died so we were able to help her and give her a blessing. At dinner they had a side with cactus in it. First bite I took I ate a pepper and I guess its called "the Chinese fire pepper". It was probably the hottest thing I have ever eaten. After I ate it I tried to stay cool but ended up freaking out a little haha. Everyone thought it was funny except me because I couldn't taste anything. I drank like half of their gallon of milk! Afterwards the members apologized and said they should have warned me, haha, but it was really good.
Church in San Diego is weird, some of the guys wear ties and some don't. Some wear flip flops and some wear beads. This Sunday was weird because we got a list from the Relief Society to visit some less actives in the ward and they spelled Elder Nielsen's name wrong and they just put "other elder" on my list haha.
I'm pretty sure our Bishop thinks I'm like straight out of France or something haha. At ward council he asked me to say the prayer and right before I said it he was like "in English please" haha. I was like OK I think I can do that haha. After the prayer he said "in case you didn't know, Elder LaRochelle is French" Haha. Kinda weird. But overall the members are way cool and love to help us out.
I finished my first transfer! 16 more to go haha. Im just kidding. Being a missionary is amazing. I love sharing this message and making people happy! I'm not getting transferred, though. I'm staying with Elder Nielsen in 1st ward!
General Conference is in a few weeks and Elder Nielsen is getting super excited for my first General Conference as a missionary. We are going over to a member's house to watch it. This member actually works with nuclear weapons. It's way cool!!
Anyways, I love you all and I'll keep praying for you guys!!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Chris & Chris
This week has been pretty cool. San Diego is still awesome. I don't think I will ever get sick of this weather haha.
Last Thursday me and Elder Nielsen had an amazing experience with Chris (our investigator - not talking in third person haha). He is waiting for First Presidency permission to get baptized and has been waiting for almost a year now. He has a really cool story about how he discovered the church in jail. So we meet with him every week but this week we thought we would just share some Mormon messages with him. We shared a couple with him, "The Savior Wants To Forgive" and "Abide With Me". He was tearing up at the end but he thinks he has to be this tough guy so he changed the topic, but I could feel the spirit so strong in that room and I'm so thankful for the atonement and for our loving Heavenly Father.
Sunday was a really good day. Richard finally made it to church and Elder Nielsen said I did an awesome job introducing him to people and explaining things to him. He had a really good experience and wants to come back but only wants to come every other week for right now :/ .
Yesterday was amazing! we had Zone meeting and my Zone Leaders, Elder New and Elder Cuckow, taught us. The spirit was so strong, and I love what they taught us, they both have amazing testimonies.
Later that day we were street contacting - thats when we just walk around and try and talk to people on the streets. We don't tract houses anymore. The first lady we talked to, Carmen, was pulling some weeds in her garden so we decided to help her. After we finished, she started crying and thanked us so much for helping her and how unusual that is nowadays. She opened up to us very quickly and started talking about her family, especially her kids, and how she is worried about the choices that they are making. I was able to bear my testimony to her and it made her cry even more. Then we said a prayer and gave her the Spanish missionaries info. It sounds like she really wants to learn more!
Me and Elder Nielsen have been talking a lot about families and how lucky we were to grow up with loving parents and amazing siblings. In the first lesson we teach our investigators, we teach them about how the gospel blesses families. I know how true that is and how vital it is to keep families together FOREVER!
Well, I miss you all and love you all and hope you're doing amazing. I pray for you all daily!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Last Thursday me and Elder Nielsen had an amazing experience with Chris (our investigator - not talking in third person haha). He is waiting for First Presidency permission to get baptized and has been waiting for almost a year now. He has a really cool story about how he discovered the church in jail. So we meet with him every week but this week we thought we would just share some Mormon messages with him. We shared a couple with him, "The Savior Wants To Forgive" and "Abide With Me". He was tearing up at the end but he thinks he has to be this tough guy so he changed the topic, but I could feel the spirit so strong in that room and I'm so thankful for the atonement and for our loving Heavenly Father.
Sunday was a really good day. Richard finally made it to church and Elder Nielsen said I did an awesome job introducing him to people and explaining things to him. He had a really good experience and wants to come back but only wants to come every other week for right now :/ .
Yesterday was amazing! we had Zone meeting and my Zone Leaders, Elder New and Elder Cuckow, taught us. The spirit was so strong, and I love what they taught us, they both have amazing testimonies.
Later that day we were street contacting - thats when we just walk around and try and talk to people on the streets. We don't tract houses anymore. The first lady we talked to, Carmen, was pulling some weeds in her garden so we decided to help her. After we finished, she started crying and thanked us so much for helping her and how unusual that is nowadays. She opened up to us very quickly and started talking about her family, especially her kids, and how she is worried about the choices that they are making. I was able to bear my testimony to her and it made her cry even more. Then we said a prayer and gave her the Spanish missionaries info. It sounds like she really wants to learn more!
Me and Elder Nielsen have been talking a lot about families and how lucky we were to grow up with loving parents and amazing siblings. In the first lesson we teach our investigators, we teach them about how the gospel blesses families. I know how true that is and how vital it is to keep families together FOREVER!
Well, I miss you all and love you all and hope you're doing amazing. I pray for you all daily!
Love,
Elder LaRochelle
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Weird Meat
I had the chance to go on 2 exchanges this week. At first I was a little nervous because I had to take over my area but it turned out to be awesome!!
On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Cuckow. He is from Canada and is also my Zone Leader and he's pretty cool. He is an awesome missionary and gave me a lot of advice,
We started the day off a little rough. We got locked out of our apartment for the first hour and half of the day haha. It was kind of stressful but it gave us some time to street contact while we waited for someone to come unlock the door. He gave me some awesome tips on how to better street contact.
Yesterday was awesome. I went on Exchanges with Elder Petersen. He is from Idaho and is training my MTC companion Elder Salmond.
We started off the day by going on a run and we got stopped by a blind security officer at the park named Artie. We started talking to him and he told us he knows a member in our ward. He also told us that he listens to the Book of Mormon everyday!!! He is awesome!
After that we had district meeting which involved role playing which I'm not too fond of but it definitely helps "get the ugly out" as my MTC teacher would say haha. Me and Elder Petersen get along really well though. He is pretty crazy but an awesome teacher and he is really good about leaving a message with everyone we meet even it's just a scripture.
Elder Petersen definitely taught me to just always smile. People are more likely to want to talk to you if they can see you're happy.
I ate some really weird food this week. Saturday we went to this burger place called Crazee Burger and they serve really weird meat. We have been there a few times and I have tried ostrich, kangaroo, and alligator. It's all been pretty good.
Yesterday we went to a burrito place in San Diego and they have these burritos called California Burrito. It's just carne asada, fries, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce, but they are so good. This burrito place also has burritos that are like 2 feet long. They are HUGE and soooo good.
My companion told me the first week I was here that Sundays are the most stressful days. My first Sunday was pretty chill so I started to doubt him a little but the past couple Sundays have been super stressful haha making sure our investigators have rides and everything, There is a possibility that we can get called on to speak like every week, haha, but it's OK. I prepared a talk so I can relax a little haha.
Well I'm loving California! The people are awesome! My companion and the rest of the people in my district are awesome! I'm going to talk to president and see if I can stay longer than 2 years haha. Just kidding but I love it out here!
Miss and love you all and hope you're all having an awesome week! I know this Church is true!!!!!!!
Elder LaRochelle
On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Cuckow. He is from Canada and is also my Zone Leader and he's pretty cool. He is an awesome missionary and gave me a lot of advice,
We started the day off a little rough. We got locked out of our apartment for the first hour and half of the day haha. It was kind of stressful but it gave us some time to street contact while we waited for someone to come unlock the door. He gave me some awesome tips on how to better street contact.
Yesterday was awesome. I went on Exchanges with Elder Petersen. He is from Idaho and is training my MTC companion Elder Salmond.
We started off the day by going on a run and we got stopped by a blind security officer at the park named Artie. We started talking to him and he told us he knows a member in our ward. He also told us that he listens to the Book of Mormon everyday!!! He is awesome!
After that we had district meeting which involved role playing which I'm not too fond of but it definitely helps "get the ugly out" as my MTC teacher would say haha. Me and Elder Petersen get along really well though. He is pretty crazy but an awesome teacher and he is really good about leaving a message with everyone we meet even it's just a scripture.
Elder Petersen definitely taught me to just always smile. People are more likely to want to talk to you if they can see you're happy.
I ate some really weird food this week. Saturday we went to this burger place called Crazee Burger and they serve really weird meat. We have been there a few times and I have tried ostrich, kangaroo, and alligator. It's all been pretty good.
Yesterday we went to a burrito place in San Diego and they have these burritos called California Burrito. It's just carne asada, fries, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce, but they are so good. This burrito place also has burritos that are like 2 feet long. They are HUGE and soooo good.
My companion told me the first week I was here that Sundays are the most stressful days. My first Sunday was pretty chill so I started to doubt him a little but the past couple Sundays have been super stressful haha making sure our investigators have rides and everything, There is a possibility that we can get called on to speak like every week, haha, but it's OK. I prepared a talk so I can relax a little haha.
Well I'm loving California! The people are awesome! My companion and the rest of the people in my district are awesome! I'm going to talk to president and see if I can stay longer than 2 years haha. Just kidding but I love it out here!
Miss and love you all and hope you're all having an awesome week! I know this Church is true!!!!!!!
Elder LaRochelle
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