Los 3 Chamacos

HELLO EVERYONE

What a wonderful week.  Life is gucci. 

Okay so first things first, my new companion.  Our trainee is named Elder Sebresos and he is a BEAST. He's a parkour master and will just throw out some crazy flips whenever we're just sitting there so that's pretty cool.  He's from Provo but his mom is Argentine so he already speaks super good Spanish, we just have to teach him how to speak Mexican now haha.  He's a great teacher and is so excited and happy to be here.  Meanwhile, Elder Baird keeps us all entertained and we are having a blast.  I've already cried from laughing like 4 different times in this past week. 

We met with a TON of members this week. They were surprised to see that we were now a trio and then they literally all called us "Los 3 Chamacos."  That's Mexican for "The 3 Little Dudes."  Mexican Spanish is funny. 

Desteny, the daughter of the Peña family, recently hasn't been able to come to church because of her job. We asked her last week if she was able to get work off and she said, "I'm quitting my job, I want to be able to come to church."  She was able to show up this Sunday and was confirmed!  We also have a member who is going to help her get another job where she won't have to work on Sunday.  I love seeing all the little miracles like that every day. 

I used a Pokemon analogy this week when we were teaching a 32 year old man. He loved it. 

We ate some interesting food this week.  I made a hamburger but used a cinnamon raisin bagel for the buns.  Elder Baird likes to eat his microwave chimichangas with ketchup and it makes me want to vomit.  We ate a lot of cereal and went through 4 gallons of milk in 5 days.  Thankfully, Elder Baird asked his dad to send us a Costco card so we are going to start eating real good. 

We had a little Halloween activity and I dressed up as Harry Potter.  All I had to do was draw a scar with some colored pencils and then use the wand and glasses that a member gave me.  Everyone loved it.  We also manned the ring toss station and it was quite the hit. 

We had a member lesson this week and he shared Isaiah 55:8-9 with us. I really liked what it says and we actually used it a few other times in some lessons that we taught.  It says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."  I love this reminder, especially during this funky time period.  God has a plan and a path for us, we just don't really see or understand it.  As long as we trust in Him and have faith, everything will turn out the way it's supposed to. 

Pues, that's all I got for this week.  The church is true. 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler

ZLT

Hello to ALL mis queridos amigos!

Well another week has come and gone out here in dusty, sunny Anaheim.  I really love it here, it's a wonderful place to be a missionary.  This week was pretty fantastic if I do say so myself, but I'll give some highlights and let you judge. 

MILAGRO TIME: I went to the audiologist this week and got my hearing tested and she said it was COMPLETELY BACK TO NORMAL.  I was shocked, I really had accepted that I just wouldn't hear as well for the rest of my life but the Lord blessed me big time.  I think He wanted me to learn how to accept His will and once I did, He blessed me. I just thought that was so awesome. 

We had an FHE with some members this week and we painted pumpkins. I tried to make a little smiley face but it turned out looking like Saw and the Joker mixed up their makeup.  It sure was spooky. 

TRANSFERS HAPPENED.  Elder Willis is leaving me and I am sad.  We had a lot of fun together and we grinded and worked really hard.  He was called to be Assistant to the President, he's going to do a spectacular job. Meanwhile, I am staying in Rio Vista. I'm so happy about it haha.  I will continue serving as a Zone Leader but we will also be training a brand new missionary.  So for your information, ZLT stands for Zone Leader Trainer and not Zebra, Lettuce, Tomato.  That would be an interesting sandwich though.  Anywho, my new companion, Elder Baird, is a beast.  He's reassigned from Torreón, México and we're already good friends.  He's also 6'5 and is going to teach me how to dunk. 

Some companionships in our zone had baptisms this week and they both asked me to play the piano.  It's pretty neat because now I don't get as nervous and I can play tranquilo.  Practice makes perfect, am I right?

I wanted to share some nifty scriptures Elder Baird shared with me this week. They're found in Romans chapter 8. They say, 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  ...For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There is absolutely nothing that can put us out of reach of Christ's love.  Don't forget that. 

I'm just gonna send a bunch of fotos cause I took a bunch this past week, so I hope you enjoy those. 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler

Beans

HELLO EVERYONE 

I learned my lesson last week because I started writing this email way too late, so this week I am here bright and early to make sure I get all the juicy details included. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:  Lily got baptized!  It was awesome, all her family was there and there were lots of people watching on Zoom and she just had a huge smile on her face the whole time.  She's so awesome, she's been one of my favorite people to teach honestly.  I also got to play the piano for the baptism which stresses me out BIG TIME, but thankfully it went well. 

On Sunday we were able to do the confirmations for the Peña Family and Lily they all went stupendously.  It made me so happy to be there at church with all of them.  There's nothing quite like seeing someone grow spiritually and getting to be a part of their progression.  I know I've said that many times, but it's just the best. 

We ate a lot of beans this week.  Elder Willis made some baked beans, we ate rice and beans like 4 days, and we ate dinner with a member from Guatemala and she made us beans and swore that Guatemala made the best beans out of all the countries.  They were pretty good beans.  I also got to talk about Ecuador beans with her and she actually knew what I was talking about.  Texas also makes pretty good beans.  I really just wanted to see how many times I could use the word "beans" in one paragraph, and I think I did a pretty good job.  I can't wait to read this paragraph again in 50 years. 

We met some new friends this week!  There's a 15 year old named Bryan and his mom, Roci.  They're awesome, they are just looking for the truth.  We talked to them about the restoration and they loved it. Bryan is also a Lakers fan, just like I am, so we were able to bond over that.  I was enthused to hear that the Lakers are the champions, it'll be great to watch the highlights in a year. 

Here's a quote from conference that I liked.  Elder Neil L. Andersen said, "You and I speak of Jesus Christ, but maybe we can do a little better.  If the world is going to speak less of Him, who is going to speak more of Him? We are!"  If we talk more about Christ, we will think more about Him and we will act more like Him.  That sounds like a beautiful consequence to me. 

Well, that's all I got for now.  I hope you have a spectacular week and that you talk more about Jesus Christ. 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler

The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

HEYO 

Well I unfortunately do not have very much time because we finally got permission to have activities as a zone, so several missionaries have been playing sports for the past few hours.  It's been so much fun, I've missed sports.  We played volleyball and I was tempted to bring back the Volleyball Chronicles of Elder Spangler but I didn't have any worthy plays.  Next time. 

OKAY GENERAL CONFERENCE.  Man, it was so good.  We watched 2 sessions with the Peñas and they loved it.  We also watched one with another man we're teaching, Erick, the one who is waiting to get divorced before he can get baptized.  He also really enjoyed it.  I loved all the messages and the themes of trusting in God.  One of my favorite talks was from Elder Godoy, when he talked about seeing angels in the people around us.  I have definitely met several angels on my mission, so many people who have blessed my life in so many ways. 

We had a little BBQ with Alam and he almost burned the house down.  He put way too much charcoal in the grill and it ignited the charcoal bag that was underneath and it almost ignited the whole back porch.  I saved the day with a big bowl of water. 

Well, I have to go, but I love being a missionary and I love California and I love the Lord. 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler