Room 309

WELL HOWDY FOLKS 

Boy oh boy do I have the update for you all. 

So first things first, I GOT TRANSFERRED AGAIN.  This is my 6th area, 6th companion, and 6th apartment in 6 straight transfers.  I actually really like it, it's nice to mix it up more frequently because sometimes life can get pretty monotonous in quarantine.  I am staying in Anaheim, but now I'm in the Rio Vista Spanish Ward!  I was so happy to be in a Spanish ward again.  My companion is Elder Mortimer and he's from Florida.  He's been in an English area for the past 6 months, so he's pretty stoked to be back too. We already get along really well and have a lot of similar ideas on how to do missionary work.  I'm excited for this transfer, we're going to make miracles happen! 

Something else exciting, we are living in a hotel!  Because of all the reassigned missionaries coming in, there aren't any more open apartments and they don't want to open a ton of new ones just to have them for a few months, so we get to be the hotel guinea pigs!  It's actually pretty nice, we both have a queen bed, we have a couch, and we never have to clean.  The only downside is the tiny kitchen with limited utensils, but that isn't a huge deal because the members here love giving food to the missionaries. 

We left the Anaheim 4th Ward in a pretty good place for the Sisters that are coming in.  We found a man named Apollo this past week who is just so solid.  He used to be completely atheist but recently came to know Jesus Christ and now has a desire to become closer to Him.  He was so excited about the Book of Mormon and about prophets, it was awesome.  I was kind of sad that I wasn't going to get to stay there to keep teaching him, but thankfully I'm still close by. 

My hearing has stayed pretty much the same, it fluctuates up and down.  I really appreciate all the prayers, I have felt their support and sustainment. 

Something I have been thinking about recently has been miracles.  There is a scripture from the Book of Mormon that I really like and I think it's a really good reminder, especially during times of trial. It's in 2 Nephi 27:23 and it says, "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith."  I love how clear this verse is, there's no way to be confused.  I love how God immediately describes himself as a God of miracles.  I love how He emphasizes that those miracles only come through our faith.  These simple truths really help us remember that through our faith and our works, God will work miracles among us.  It's as simple as that. 

I hope all of you are doing well, please write! 

Oh also fun fact, I can see Disneyland from our apartment, we're like 2 minutes away. 

Okay, bye.

Elder Spangler 

1. Joe's Italian Ice, it's free for missionaries. 

2. My family coat of arms (ask me about it!)

3. Our hotelment

*two thumbs up*

HEYO IT'S ELDER SPANGLER 

Jeepers, the time sure goes by quick, I feel like I just wrote last week's email.  I'm sure all other missionaries can agree, the time goes by slowly in the moment, but in hindsight it flies.

This week was pretty typical, except when it wasn't.  We're trying to find ways to mix it up a little bit but we can only be so creative.  We're still loving life, it's a good time. 

Something that Elder Wagley and I have in common is our love of good, authentic, spicy salsa.  Elder Wagley had a Mexican companion early on his mission and I'm from Texas so I guess we can say I ate a lot of tex-mex, so we both know what good salsa is like.  This week we went out and bought a ton of ingredients and Mason jars and we made and canned 4 jars of green salsa.  We only have 1 and a half left.  It's good stuff and we put it on literally everything. 

Something else we chowed down on this week were donuts.  A member we know really well had a neighbor drop off 2 huge boxes of quality, specialty donuts, but the members didn't want them.  They called us up and asked if we wanted them, so we boogied over to their house, picked them up, and then drove to the chapel and parked and ate like 10 donuts each.  So delicious.  Also lots of regrets afterward, but the stomach aches didn't last too long.  I could also go into the 5 batches of chocolate chip cookies we made, but maybe I'll save that story for another time.

I promise that we don't spend all our time in the kitchen, we actually do way more missionary work than kitchen work.  We're still on the member meeting grind, just trying to get to know as many people as we can and share messages with them.  This ward has a lot of really great families, it's been super fun to get to know a lot of them these past weeks.  We shared a message about prayer with one family, and as we were ending their 7 year old daughter asked if she could share an experience she had had with prayer.  She fold us how she lost her favorite blanket and was so sad, so she prayed to find it.  She said that as she was praying, she felt like Heavenly Father wanted her to find something else to make her happy, so she looked at a picture of Jesus and sang 3 primary songs. She then said she would sing songs anytime she wanted her blanket and it would always make her happy, and then a few days later, her mom found her blanket for her.  I loved hearing her share that story and seeing the testimony of prayer that she had already developed, it helped me remember the power of prayer. 

We met with Tony again this week, that member who is wanting to come back to church to give his son a better life. We are hoping to get in touch with his girlfriend so we can teach them together, but her work schedule is pretty busy. They have a lot of solid potential, we're excited to be working with them. 

My hearing has slightly improved. I'm going to go in for another hearing test this week and see if there are any other treatments the doctor would recommend.  I was also able to receive a priesthood blessing yesterday, so I have faith that that will help. 

Well, that's about it for this week.  If you have any questions, comments, concerns, clarifications, jokes, stories, childhood traumas, or anything else, feel free to shoot me an email!  I love hearing from anyone and everyone. 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler 

Hot Ear Drums

HELLO TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY 

This week was what I'd call a pretty normal week for a quarantined missionary, but it was still a great week! 

It has been so hot this past week, I pretty much turn into a popsicle in the hands of a 4 year old anytime I step outside.  Okay, it's not that bad, but it's still pretty hot.  Thankfully we have working AC so Elder Wagley and I keep that thing pumping at 60°, it's wonderful. 

A not super good news update; I have sudden hearing loss in my left ear.  Now that's a lot worse than it sounds, it's just that my sense of hearing isn't as good in that ear.  It takes a somewhat louder sound for me to register it.  It's nothing too drastic, it's just kind of obnoxious and a little uncomfortable.  I went to the doctor a few days ago and he prescribed me some steroids to fix it up, so hopefully they help.  I'm not normally one to ask this, but I'd really appreciate your prayers that my hearing can return to normal! 

We were able to meet with a good amount of members this week, it's been fun.  We were invited to dinner by the Nugroho family and they're awesome.  Brother Nugroho is from Indonesia and was also in a band a few years back, so he has all kinds of instruments in his house; drums, guitars, ukuleles, piano, keyboard, flutes, violins, etc.  He knows how to play them all, it's so cool.  He taught Elder Wagley and I how to play a basic beat on the drums so we're basically like Rodrick Heffley now.  It was a lot of fun, drums are a cool instrument. 

We had another member lesson with a Sister who had a massive stroke a few years back and is now really dependent on her kids to take care of her.  We called her to see if there was anything we could do to help her out, and she said since her stroke, she hadn't been able to read the Book of Mormon without straining her eyesight a lot because the letters are so small.  We brought her a large print Book of Mormon and shared a verse with her and she was crying and was so grateful to be able to read that book again without it being painful or difficult. 

Our best lesson this week was with a less active member named Tony.  He is about to have a son and that's caused him to really reflect on life and the example he will set for his son, so he is really set on coming back to church.  We talked about the Plan of Salvation, God's plan for us, and it was a really powerful lesson.  We could see that he really wants to change and that he has so much love for his unborn son and just wants the best for him. It reminded me a little bit of God's love for us, he just wants the best for each and every one of us and is going to do all he can to help us be on that right path. 

Welp, that's all for this week!  Read the Book of Mormon sometime soon, it'll change your life! 

So sorry, I didn't take any pictures this week. There's not much to photograph when we're in our apartment almost 24/7.

Love and miss you all, 

Elder Spangler

America

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TWO DAYS AGO WOO!

I hope everyone had a great independence day, COVID style.  We were invited to a BBQ with some members but had to be home at six so we didn't get to enjoy all the fourth of July fun, but it was still a great time.  We also didn't really see any fireworks because our house is a bottom floor apartment and here in California you apparently can't have fireworks over 20 ft, so we just got to hear a lot of them instead. 

We got to meet President and Sister Platt!  Man, they're so fun.  They're actually from Texarkana, Texas, so I was overjoyed to have some fellow Texans here with me.  It was so fun to get to meet them, they looked exactly how I felt when I first got to the mission and met my President, so it's pretty funny to be on the other side of things.  But I already love them, I'm excited to learn from them.

So last week, I mentioned that we were teaching a guy named Moses.  This week we were able to meet with him and teach him about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ,  and we invited him to be baptized!  He said when he is ready, he will definitely get baptized, so we're really excited about that! Please keep him in your prayers! 

We had a cool miracle this past week.  I was with a different missionary in their area, and he was feeling a little disheartened because they weren't finding anyone to teach.  We decided to just call a bunch of people to set up some lessons, and the fourth call in, a man answered us.  We asked if there was a good time to do a video call or meet in person, and he said, "I have time right now."  We were stoked haha.  We talked to him a bit and he told us he had recently lost 2 close family members in a car accident and he was seriously injured, and that he had been struggling with that for a while.  We were able to share a brief message of hope with him and introduced the plan that God has for us and he was so grateful, it was an awesome miracle.  I haven't heard what has happened with him since, but if I hear anything I'll keep you all updated! 

We have a member here named Brother Douglas and he's just so awesome.  We go over to his house every week and we talk about all of his neighbors that he is sharing the gospel with and what he had done the past week to introduce them to the church, it's the coolest.  He said, "there are always opportunities to share the gospel, and most of the time they're staring you right in the face, you just have to look out for them!"  He's the best haha. 

Well, that's about it this week, I hope everyone has a fantastic week and that you all do 20 pushups if you say something mean to someone. 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler