RIO VISTA 4EVER

HOLA EVERYONE

We are coming up on December and I could not be more excited because I LOVE CHRISTMAS, especially as a missionary.  I hope you're all as stoked as I am. 

This week was pretty sweet, even though we were stuck in the house all week.  Haha we finally got out of quarantine last Sunday and then on Monday we came in direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID so now we're in a 2 week quarantine.  One week down, one more to go.  We actually had a really good week though, despite being on house arrest. 

So first, we got transfer news.  I am staying in Rio Vista with Elder Baird and Elder Sebresos.  This is my first transfer here in Anaheim where nothing is changing for me.  Rio Vista is also now the area where I have been the longest, 4 transfers, we'll see if I can make it 5.  I love this ward and my companionship so I am really happy to be staying. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Elder Baird's mom knew we were in quarantine so she Doordashed a full Thanksgiving meal from Marie Callender's.  I made some homemade rolls (thanks for the recipe, Alan) and Elder Sebresos made some pies and we chowed down.  I then got to talk to my family and it was a beautiful day. 

Okay we had a MIRACLE that was honestly so amazing, it still blows my mind.  Early this week we got a referral from Facebook of a woman named Teresa who wanted to learn more about the Bible.  We set up a lesson with her over Zoom for a few days later and were stoked.  30 minutes before the lesson, we got a call from a random number and this man said, "Hi my name is Arturo, Teresa told me about your class that you have tonight, can I join?"  We said, CLARO QUE SI AMIGO so we got them both on the call and talked to them about prophets and man they're both so awesome.  We invited them to watch President Nelson's video on gratitude, which they did, and to come to church.  I was asked to speak on Sunday so I decided to speak on repentance.  Teresa and Arturo were both on the Zoom call and it made me SO HAPPY to see them there.  Teresa was holding up her phone the whole time and we were so confused, like was she recording us?  Well we had a wonderful sacrament meeting and after we texted them both and Teresa said, "that was a beautiful talk on repentance, I video called my family on Mexico and they all watched it too.  Do you think you could call them and teach then too?"  SO COOL, we were so happy.  She sent us their info and we're going to call them later.  I just love the way God works, it's incredible. 

I've listened to a lot of BYU Devotionals and talks this past week and I've found some really good info, learning is cool.  I've also realized just how much I have learned on my mission because Elder Sebresos will ask a lot of questions and I'll be able to respond with a really thorough answer and it kind of surprises me haha.  But yeah, the mission really is such a period of growth. 

A quote from one of those BYU Devotionals really stood out to me this week. It says, "God does not contradict Himself.  He did not create man, and then, as an afterthought, impose upon him a set of arbitrary, irritating, restrictive rules.  He made man free–and then gave him the commandments to keep him free."  All of the commandments we have are in place to keep us safe, to keep us free.  Sometimes we can get a little annoyed by them, but God is all knowing and all loving and knowing that helps us remember why we have commandments.  So keep the commandments :)

That's all folks!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler

Actitud de Gratitud

HOLA to all of the coolest people out there 

Elder Spangler back here again ready to fill you in on the exciting life of a California Anaheim missionary!

First off, isn't President Nelson just the coolest, most wise person ever?  I loved hearing him talk last Friday and the counsel he gave us.  He told us that the antidote for everything going on right now is to be grateful, and when he said that I had to pause and think for a second.  At first it didn't make all the sense in the world but then I realized the truth of what he said.  If we focus on the bad, all we will remember is the bad.  If we focus on the good, all we remember is the good.  So, if you're not already doing it, I invite you to have an attitude of gratitude for the rest of the year.  You'll be surprised at the difference it makes. 

Update on our friends.  We've honestly had trouble getting in touch with all of them, which is a major bummer. We set up lessons but then they're always rescheduled or cancelled, but I know there's a purpose in it. We'll get them soon. 

We did have a pretty cool miracle this past week though.  We went and stopped by a woman named Glenda who saw an ad on Facebook and wanted to learn more.  We showed up and she let us in and we were able to teach her about the Restoration!  She said she was so impressed that three 19-20 year olds were out preaching and that she felt really good while listening to our message.  Please keep her in your prayers.  If you want other names to keep in your prayers, you can always add Bryant, Yusmila, Erick, Antonio, Joanna, Emersonn, and Hortencia.  Those are all the people we're teaching haha and they could really use extra prayers.

We visited the Mayan family again and they gave us so much food.  I ate 4 slices of pizza, some chicken wings, cinnamon sticks, a slice of pumpkin pie, and an ice cream sandwich.  The best part was that I didn't even ask for any of it, the hermana just came and put it on our plates. 

I also ate 20 eggs this week. 

This past week I've had the words of a hymn in my mind.  It's hymn number 260, "Who's on the Lord's Side?"  The line that's been in my head is, "Who's on the Lord's side, who?  Now is the time to show."  I love that it says "NOW is the time to SHOW."  Our devotion to God is something we should always display and be open about.  That's something I want to do better this week. 

Hope you all have a great week and that you keep an attitude of gratitude!  Love and miss you all! 

Elder Spangler

When Will my Life Begin?

HEYO I'M BACK

It's been quite the week, definitely not what I expected but we've learned a lot. 

So first, I am in legit quarantine.  We went on exchanges and Elder Sebresos was with another companionship and they ate dinner with someone who tested positive for COVID 2 days later, so our mission doctor put us on lockdown for one week.  It's been 2 days and I am not enjoying it haha.  It's harder to do video lessons now because people would just rather have us in person, so we've been doing a lot of studying and role plays.  It's honestly not that bad, I just really miss teaching people.  That's the best thing about being a missionary so it's a bummer not to be able to do it. 

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Willis!  It was really fun to be back with him, he's a swell amigo. We taught the Peñas and they're doing great.  We taught Alam about the priesthood and then talked to the kids, Desteny and Agustin, about scripture study and prayer.  I love that family. 

We got to teach Yusmila again and it was a wonderful lesson.  We taught her the plan of salvation and then invited her to be baptized.  She had lots of great questions and they all tied in perfectly into the Restoration so we're going to teach that next time we meet with her.  It was a cool lesson because the last 3 times we've taught her she was crying and super sad because of the trials she's having, but this time she was laughing and smiling and just seemed happier.  The gospel of Jesus Christ really is the antidote for everything, it's amazing. 

We had one of my all time favorite member lessons the other day.  We visited this older couple, they're both 80+, and it was so much fun.  They fed us all foot longs from Subway and when we finished the Hermana asked if we wanted hot chocolate, which we politely declined because we were all really full. She then said, "Well I'm gonna make it for you anyway." It was actually really good hot chocolate.  We then went and sat down with her and her husband and shared a message.  We were sitting there and my companion was talking about faith and how it needs to be coupled with works, and out of nowhere the hermano looks up with a smile, points at me for like 5 seconds, then completely cut my companion off and said, "Who painted the Mona Lisa?" I said that it was Leonardo Da Vinci and he said, "Nope, it was Michelangelo."  He said it with such certainty that I honestly started to doubt myself for a second.  We eventually agreed that it was Da Vinci and then got back on track and finished the lesson.  Those were just 2 of the splendid anecdotes from that lesson. 

I spent a lot of my study time this week focused on the Plan of Salvation, specifically the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I read a quote that talks about Jesus Christ coming to earth and it helped me understand a lot better just how magnificent his sacrifice was.  It says, "Condescension means a voluntary descent from rank or dignity.  Elder Gerald N. Lund commented on how well this word describes the coming of the Savior into mortality: “Here was Jesus—a member of the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old Testament—now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless, completely dependent on His mother and earthly father.  That He should not come to the finest of earthly palaces and be … showered with jewels but should come to a lowly stable is astonishing.  Little wonder that the angel should say to Nephi, ‘Behold the condescension of God!’”

Jesus Christ left a position of supreme power and majesty for us.  He did it so that we can go back and live with our Father in Heaven once again.  I love Jesus Christ, He's the best. 

I hope all of you have an exhilarating week and that you look for Christ in all that you do.  Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler

Que Triste

HOLA MY FRIENDS AND FAMILIA

Jeepers, this past week zoomed right by.  We almost had a really busy week, we had 20+ lessons set up, but only 7 of them actually happened.  Que triste.  That was kind of a bummer but it's all good, at least we are learning how to use all of our time wisely.  All I know is that teaching is the funnest part of being a missionary and I really love it a lot. 

We had some pretty grande miracles this week that made up for the failed lessons.  We are teaching a young kid named Bryant and he's so cool.  He's actually named after Kobe so that makes him even cooler.  We went over the other day and taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted the invitation to be baptized on November 28th!  We're really excited for him, he's gonna be ready. 

We unfortunately were not able to meet with Yusmila or Antonio this week, but we are going to this upcoming week for sure.

We had a lesson with that Guatemalan hermana, the one that fed us a lot of beans a few weeks back.  This time she gave us soup, pizza, and pineapple cucumber juice.  It was quite the meal and I actually really enjoyed it. 

The weather has been in the low 50's, high 40's and I'm cold. I haven't been in anything under 60° for a good while and I'm feeling the effects.  Good thing I have lots of sweaters, except my companions tell me I look like a middle aged dad when I wear them.  Little do they know that's actually a compliment. 

We taught a lesson on faith the other day and Elder Baird did a little object lesson that I liked.  We talked about the importance of coupling faith and works, then he invited one of the kids we were teaching to move a water bottle on the table using only their faith.  They obviously couldn't do it, so then he told them to use faith AND works, and they moved it.  This resonated with me because a lot of times I have had all the faith in the world and have prayed mightily over different things, but then I didn't do anything to make those things happen.  I had all the faith with zero works.  However, whenever I've had both, that's when miracles have happened. 

Well, another email has come to a close.  So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler 

- I got a black eye

- Argentine Empenadas 

- Chips and Dip by Elder Baird

GO DODGERS

WHAT'S UP MY FRIENDS

This week started out very slowly with a lot of lessons falling through, and not gonna lie they had us in the first half, but then we came back swinging and finished the week off with a slam dunk and an exclamation point. 

Highlight of the week was hearing that the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series and that they are the greatest baseball team in the world.  Okay that's not really the highlight but I was very enthused when I heard the news. 

Halloween was pretty tranquil.  We had to be home at 6 so I made some rico chocolate chip cookies and we ate a bunch of junk food.  Then Sister Platt did this big Zoom activity with the whole mission and our Zone came out victorious.  We finished off the night by tucking in early, it was some much needed rest. 

We had Zone Conference and Elder Baird and I got to do 3 trainings and it turned out spectacular. 

When Elder Baird first got here he pointed at everything like Spiderman, as in he shoots webs at everything.  Elder Sebresos and I started doing it and then the rest of the zone started doing it and now a bunch of the mission is doing it so we are basically legendary trend setters.

Okay so we had some MIRACULOUS MIRACLES on Saturday and Sunday.  We found a person in our records named Yusmila, so we decided to call her and set up a lesson.  We ended up just teaching her over the phone and SANTA VACA she is so prepared.  She's going through some really difficult trials right now and feels completely alone.  As we were teaching her I went to go offer some words of encouragement but then different words came out of my mouth.  I instead said, "You have 2 options here. You can be angry at God and push him away, or you can rely on Him completely."  She said that as much as she wanted to be mad at God, she knew that she needed to grow closer to Him.  We invited her to come to church and she came, and man, it was the most perfect meeting for what she was struggling with.  All of the testimonies tied in perfectly and she said after that she felt a lot better.  We're really excited to keep teaching her. 

We also met a friend named Antonio and he's so cool.  We taught him the restoration and then talked about baptism and he said, "bueno pues, voy a echarle ganas para que me bautizo."  Which basically means, "I'm gonna try really hard to get baptized."  The Lord really is preparing people at this time for us. 

A quick scripture that I liked from this week.  It's in Mormon 2:14 and it says, "And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives."  This verse is talking about a group of people who had rejected Christ and were in the midst of many wars and destruction.  Instead of relying on Christ and His power, they cursed Him for the situation that they were in.  To me, this sounds like a terrible way to live — wishing to die but struggling every day in battle. It's a life without purpose. The best way to find purpose in this life is to apply the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow Him. 

Welp, that's a wrap.  Hope you all have a wonderful week and that you can trust in God in all things. 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Spangler