Hiiiii!!!

Were having our pday today because we were supposed to do a service activity on Saturday and the training for it was on Monday. It was to help people get citizenship, but now were not even doing it because the brethren said there were too many legal complexities.

I'm still very sad about Alessandro. He hasn't been coming to church anymore. We teach upwards of twelve other people on his street and it's so tempting to go over there and talk to him but we really can't.

Ismael sounds very nice. And I wholeheartedly approve of pink dining rooms. That will make everything taste so delicious!!!!

Yeah probably not the best thing to have in the bishops office.... I think a sign that says: "So you've made a mistake? Stop feeling so special about it. Join the club." Would be more appropriate.

I eat with people every single darn day. Meals usually take two hours or more even though it's only supposed to be an hour because they feed us sooo much. And they all talk a lot. Sometimes I eat with two people in a day. The rest of the time I wobble around trying to teach people feeling soooo full. My other meals are very small. But the food is super good!! So there's that.

 

And it's really hot here. And really windy. Going outside hurts.

Hola!

 

We ended up passing Alesandro. We didn't feel comfortable going over there anymore and Denise said us teaching her husband looked bad to the neighbors. We were teaching the Gomezs and the Elders were teaching Abe on the porch. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I could feel the Spirit strongly and I could tell that they loved him. I felt that we needed to pass Alesandro. So far it hasn't gone well at all but whatcha gonna do. I know The Lord has a plan for him.

It was like finding all the ingredients to make a very complicated chocolate cake. Mixing them laboriously together. And then right when the cake is ready to be put into the oven, you realize your oven doesn't work. Then you're like," oh I know! We can ask the nice neighbors if we can use their oven." You go next door. "Hey, we made this delicious cake but our oven doesn't work. Could you bake it for us? We'll even let you eat it." They're all like,"yeah! We don't have any cakes right now! We would love to." But then a week later you go over and the unmade cake is still on the counter..... Who leaves unmade cakes on the counter!!!???

We had a conference with our mission and the Irvine mission and Elder Andersen came to speak to us. He was so nice, and young, and funny! It was very enjoyable and I would have been fine if he had talked to us the whole day. He is so smart and spiritual! We got to meet at the church across from the temple.

Have a nice week!!!!
Sent from Tommy the iPad

Guess what!!! I'm in a telenovela!! I told dad the details but I guess I can put them in this email too.

Alesandro wants to be baptized so badly, but his wife is growing more and more opposed to us. We've only been able to teach her once. She says that we are bringing more problems than peace and she does not want us teaching him in her home. Their relationship is very strained because he doesn't have a job right now, and she is struggling to make ends meet. She also feels like she does all the work at home. She is bitter that he takes the time to let us teach him when he should be doing other stuff. He didn't come to church yesterday because she said if he left the house to church, she wouldn't let him back  in.

Part of me wants to say never mind! You can join the church in a couple years after you guys have sorted everything out. Forget I said anything. But he's too far in. Leaving him would be like leaving a newborn baby alone to fend for itself. He wants to be baptized. He wants to be a part of this church. And he said he will leave her before he stops following God. He has found so much new peace from reading the Book of Mormon daily and praying. Maybe this is exactly what he needs in this very stressful part of his life. And honestly it's nice that we can teach him whenever we want because he's not ever busy.

I hate that were part of the reason they're arguing. But at the same time, I know we're right. And the truth really will help them, no matter what she thinks. Yesterday we went by with a member couple. Denise, the wife, wasn't there. It was amazing because Hermano Ramirez told his conversion story. He said he had been sold from the start, just like Alesandro. But his wife wasn't baptized till two years later. Then his wife shared how grateful she was that her husband was persistent in seeking the truth even when she thought he was crazy. Now their whole family is Mormon and their son is on a mission and she is so grateful for her "crazy" husband.

That's so cool that you have a baby!! I wish I was there!!

I liked everything a lot except for that teal shirt. I'm not really sure why though. It's just sooo.... I don't know. I will give it to someone else. Yes, everything fit I just wish I was skinnier so that things would look better on me. You should buy me more skirts like that black one! I'm so bored with my clothes that I've taken to wearing my companions and she super tiny so this is not a good idea.

I don't have any plans for Easter. Talk about Jesus??? Just a thought.

Happy birthday to Charles!!!!!! I can't believe you're paying him to make dinner. That ridiculous.

Love you mom!!!!!
Sent from Tommy the iPad

Hola mom!!

Did you watch general conference?? It was amazing!!

They were showing it in the Greenville building in English in one chapel and Spanish in the other so a lot of the missionaries had their investigators go to that chapel. We dropped them off and then went to the English side with the other young people. Best group to watch general conference with ever! We are very easily entertained, and whenever anyone said anything cool we would all look at each other with awed expressions and say, "did you hear that?? That was crazy!!" Then afterwards we all air dropped our notes to each other. People got some pretty interesting revelation!

Alesandro went to the first session alone. When we asked him if he liked it he said it was amazing! And then he started listing off all the people he was going to bring to the next one. He says the prophet seems like a very considerate person and he's glad he has his help. Awwww so cute.

Because the chapel was too far away from our areas we got permission from pres to eat lunch in Santa Ana. So we went out to eat and on Sunday we had a picnic. It was so fun to be able to hang out with people again! We didn't have to stay with our district so we were with the people we get along with! What an interesting concept! It was so nice to see people I haven't seen in a long time. One of the things I miss most from real life is people choosing to spend time with me. It's just not the same when people are assigned to be around you. I've felt really lonely lately so it was a good reminder that I actually have made a lot of real friends here. It just doesn't usually feel like it because when they leave my zone I'm not allowed to talk to them. Lame.

My birthday was awesome! I've never gotten so many sincere birthday wishes before! My mom (Morley) came to the last session on Sunday. It was so good to see her! And then in the middle of that session Farny came and sat next to me and said happy birthday!!!! He's an elder that left here in February. I think you met him on skype? He's the Farnsworth that you said I'm not related to. But I still think we might be because he reminds me of family. Anyways, were very close because he was super depressed and I helped him a lot. It was so good to see him as well!! Best birthday present ever. I kept thinking, if I'm this happy to see this random kid, I wonder what it would be like to see my family! When he came in and sat next to me, im pretty sure I looked like I had just won a game show. Haha.

Then we had an impromptu party at Gomez complete with Farny.

I felt so loved during conference. Partly because of the beautiful messages that were bing shared and because I was surrounded by happy righteous people I love. I thought Heavenly Father was trying to make me less needy by separating me from the people I want to be with, so feeling this outpouring of love from all sides was an unexpected blessing.

Probably one of my favorite birthdays ever. Thanks for everything in the package! I wore the black and white skirt on my birthday. Hope you had a wonderful my birthday/conference weekend as well! Hahah I liked your Facebook post. I was so adorable!

That was max that sent that to dad hahaha.

Are you getting paid to watch that baby??

Where is the love?? Where is the love?? Where is the love, the love, the love???

Love youuuu!!!!!