20/20 2020 Vision

HELLO TO ALL

First off, thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes, I really appreciate it!  I had a fantastic birthday filled with eating unhealthily and then regretting it, following a normal missionary schedule, and eating more unhealthy foods. It was great. Some members invited us over for dinner to eat, so that was really nice of them. Crazy that I'm now 20 and will have to make big life decisions in these next 10 years. Can't wait for that, but that's in a long time, right now I'm a missionary. 

Some BIG news: We got a new Mission President today!  His name is President Platt and he's from Louisiana.  I am sad to see President and Sister Golden go, even though I was only here for a short time.  It'll be a fun learning experience with the Platt's as we all try to figure out what we're doing hahah. We're going to meet Pres. Platt tomorrow, so I'll update on that next week. 

We had our last training with President and Sister Golden this week and it was so good. They talked about how the Book of Mormon answers any question we could ever have and how we need to fall in love with that book. I can say that on my mission I have gained such a greater understanding and love for the Book of Mormon. If you've never read it or if it's been a while or if you just read it this morning, I'd invite all of you to read it, study it, ponder it. It will change your life.

We found a new person this week named Moses!  He's been taught before but didn't really have a great understanding of the purpose of the missionary lessons, so we set some really clear expectations with him. We're excited to see how it goes with him. 

We taught a Bolivian family this week and it was a full Spanglish lesson. There was one person there that didn't speak English, so Elder Wagley taught a principle in English and I'd translate it into Spanish. It was a lot of fun, we're trying to find more half Spanish families to do it with hahah.

Welp, that's all from me this week. Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler 

The Pillsbury Doughboys

HOWDY 

Man, the days are just packed. We were super busy this past week, it was amazing. Lots of not being in the apartment which really was a huge blessing, I loved it. 

We baked a lot this week. We're eating really healthy, but we have one cheat meal a week to just pig out. For this week's cheat meal, we made banana bread, pumpkin bread, and lemon bread. And we made 2 loaves of each. We thought we'd be able to eat at least half of each loaf, but we were sorely mistaken. We ate as much as we could, then didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day hahah. We ended up just dropping off all the leftovers to the other missionaries in the zone. We also made brownies and dropped them off to a lot of members and leaders in our ward for father's day, it was fun stuff and we got some more member trust built up. 

I got to speak lots of Spanish this week, it's so fun. Elder Wagley understands a little but not much, so I can say literally whatever I want about him and he'll have no idea. It's a fun way to joke with the members when I mention that. We visited a member family and the Dad is Mexican and the Mom is Filipino, but they communicate together in English, super cool family. 

Today we took a bike ride to get some good exercise and to get out of the house, and it was quite the adventure. We biked these pretty cool trails and were having a great time, but right when we hit the point when we had to turn around to go back, Elder Wagley got a flat tire. We were probably 11 miles from our apartment when it happened so we decided to go as far back as we could, then just have some Elders pick us up. We made it about 4 miles, then Elder Wagley just picked up his bike and started running haha. We got to the main road and went to a 7-11, then called some Elders. They had to drive to us, pick up our apartment key, drive to our house and get the bike rack, then come back. We realized when they got to where we were, we had forgotten the straps to hold the bike, so we had to take the wheels off and shove all the stuff into the trunk and back seats. It was uncomfortable. But overall a memorable adventure, and we biked 15 miles. Needless to say, it hurts to sit down. 

I read a great scripture this week that I think applies to all of us. There was a super long war going on and it finally had ended, and this verse talks about how the people reacted. It's in the Book of Mormon, in Alma 62:41. It says, "41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility." I think this quarantine is almost like a war, and it's been going on for a good while. We have the choice to get angry at God for letting all this happen, or we can be humble and accept that He knows best and just trust Him. It's all up to us to make that choice. 

Also, some people have asked, so here is my address. 

2500 N Bristol St

Santa Ana, CA 92706

United States

That's all I got this week! Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler

DISNEYLAND

Hello to all my dear friends and family! 

Sorry I didn't write yesterday, our preparation day got moved to today because of transfers.  Speaking of transfers.... 

I GOT TRANSFERRED.  I am now in the Anaheim Zone, serving in the Anaheim 4th Ward, an English ward!  My zone also has Disneyland in it, but we're not allowed to go as missionaries:( it's still cool to see it though.  I'm sad to not be in a Spanish ward, but there are so many Latinos in my area so I still get to speak Spanish all the time, so it's all good.  I'm serving with Elder Wagley, he's from Minnesota, and he's a really solid missionary and we get along great!  I have also been called to serve as Zone Leader again, so I'm terrified and excited about that. 

So this last week with Elder Phillips was awesome, we saw so many amazing miracles. 

First off, I forgot to mention last week but we're allowed to visit people in their homes now!  It has to be by invitation and they have to feel comfortable with it, but it's been so nice.  We were able to eat with members on the weekend and also visit a few other members. 

An hermana invited us to In-n-Out the other day and because the restrictions have lifted a little, we were able to eat inside the restaurant.  She was so thankful and started telling us how her landlord doesn't allow missionaries in her home, and she always just wanted to share a meal and message but never could. She said that little In-n-Out trip was God's way of telling her He was mindful of her. 

We found a family of 5!  They had been taught by missionaries in the past but they stopped visiting because there wasn't much progress.  We stopped by their house and the wife said her husband was asleep so we should just come back the next day.  We left, then the husband called us and we were able to go back and teach them about the Book of Mormon, it was a super solid lesson. 

A few weeks ago we left a commitment with a family to thank God for one time they saw His hand in their life during the day in their prayer before bed, and we talked with them again on Sunday. The wife said that she's been so thankful for it because now they end the day on a happy, spiritual note and it just makes going to bed so much more pleasant.  We told her how grateful we were that she had kept the commitment and she said, "we learned a long time ago to do what the missionaries tell us, because it doesn't come from them, it comes from God." I loved that. 

I hit 16 months this past week!  Time flies when you've served in three different missions, that's for sure. 

That's all I got this week, please write! 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler 

Ratatouille??

Hello everyone!

Man, during the course of the week it felt like an eternity, but looking back at it it actually went pretty quick. I don't know how to better describe my missionary quarantine experience. Like I said last week though, I'm learning and growing and it's a good time. 

I got a message on Tuesday from my last companion in Ecuador, Elder Chaparro, and he told me that Teresa and Anita of the Oña Chiquito family both have the Coronavirus. We decided to all do a fast that they would get better and when we called them the next day, Hermano Julio said that they were both showing signs of improvement and their bodies were responding to the treatment. It was an awesome experience, my testimony of fasting grew a lot through it. 

I also got to do a video call with los Niños Almache, the four little cousins I baptized in Ecuador. They told us that they are reading the Book of Mormon everyday and are learning the Primary songs together, it made me so happy to hear that. I'll attach the screenshots we took with them, they're gold. 

We found a guy named Saul this week! He had previously been taught by missionaries, so we called him up and taught him! It went really well, we got to know him, figured where he was at spiritually, and we invited him to be baptized! He was pretty apprehensive at the thought of it, just because he didn't feel ready to make such a big commitment right now, so we told him that it's just the goal and that we'll be here along the way to help him. Unfortunately we haven't got to meet with him again yet, but we're excited to see where he goes. 

I had a cool experience the other day during my personal study. I was reading in Alma 31 of the Book of Mormon and when I finished I thought, "sweet, I'll read 32 tomorrow, that's a good chapter." I then felt like I needed to read it, so I did and got some good stuff out of it. Later in the day, we were teaching Guisel and we asked her if she's been reading, and she said, "yeah, I opened to random place in the Book of Mormon the other day and read Alma 32." I was then able to answer some of her questions and provide some insight, but only because I had studied it that morning. I'm so glad I listened to that prompting because I was so close to brushing it off.  It was a good reminder for me to always listen to every prompting. 

We went to the church building the other day and saw 2 dead mice in the mouse traps. On a completely unrelated note, I cooked a lot this week.  I made cookies, muffins, arepas, steaks, chicken, and some other little goodies. It's a good way to pass the time. I also now get to use my super nifty apron that my sister, Ginger, customized for me. Check out her Instagram, @gingerdeesigns. 

That's all I got this week, love you all! Please write! 

Elder Spangler

Back to the Future

HOWDY FOLKS 

This week was pretty solid, just a typical quarantine missionary life week. I am gaining a lot of respect for the missionaries who are going on 3 months in their house, I'm only at 4 weeks and it's pretty difficult.  BUT, it's been a great learning experience, I'm getting a lot better at doing missionary work online, I'm learning patience, etc. I'm thriving. 

We started teaching a less active member named Guisel this week!  She hasn't been to church in a really long time but we reached out to her and she expressed a desire to strengthen her relationship with God.  She's been making progress, and we're hoping we can start teaching her boyfriend who isn't a member. 

We also did a video call with an awesome member family. They have 2 kids, a 7 year old girl and a 5 year old boy. I asked them what they like to do, and the boy said he liked to watch movies. I then asked what his favorite movie was and he paused and thought, then said, "Probably Back to the Future." I died laughing and then his sister said, "No pick one that doesn't have so many bad words!" He settled on "Cars" in the end, it was quite the funny experience. 

We sometimes go to the chapel to do video lessons or call people, just to get a change of scenery. This week we went and saw no less than 7 homeless people just camped out all over the church parking lot and sidewalks, it was pretty sad. It's like I'm back in Portland, it's sure a blast from the past. 

There have been some pretty wild protests and riots out here in Long Beach due to the racial tension that has erupted in America. Another blast to my past life in Ecuador when we were stuck inside for 2 weeks due to the national riots and problems. We're praying that it will all calm down soon, thankfully we're safe and haven't really seen anything, just heard from others. 

Our highlight of the week was our mission wide Zoom call with Kevin W. Pearson, who is our Area President. He just really opened up and gave us some really good insights, some things that I really needed to hear. Here are just a few things. 

- I was called to serve at THIS time for a reason, it's not just a coincidence. Heavenly Father has a plan for me in this place and in this time. 

- If we set a goal, we have to take MASSIVE ACTION, do whatever it takes to achieve it. We can't be halfhearted. 

- When we set goals, we should determine the obstacles that could come and then figure out how to overcome them. 

It was so awesome, I learned a lot. He also invited us to memorize 50-100 scriptures from the standard works. I've already got 7 down, it's been really rewarding. I recite them all from memory every day, in English and Spanish, to make sure I don't forget them. Overall a really uplifting meeting, I loved it. 

That's all I got this week!  Hope you all are well, say your prayers and stay safe! 

Elder Spangler