Update from So. Cal

hey everybody!

Things are still pluggin along as usual but a few interesting things happened this week so here is the latest update.

We are still working with the Maravilla family, the son has been in jail for a while but is now out again. he is really humbled by the experience and is excited about the gospel and what it is doing to help him. They will be moving to a better part of the city (they are in South Central right now and they're moving to Hawthorne, a much better area) and that will help get him out if his situation there. He has been in trouble mainly because he has been conscripted into a local gang, against his will. but now he is stuck and cant get out again... we are solving that by getting him as far away from SoCen as possible.

I found out its about a 95% chance that I will be a trainer of a new missionary. Elder Johnson and Ikeda, two of the four ASL elders here, are going home in 3 weeks which will leave the entire branch to me and Elder Balaich, who goes home 6 weeks later...

Which means that 9 months from now ill be the only one left... A new missionary is coming in the day that Elder Balaich leaves so I will almost certainly be training him, barring unforeseen circumstances.

We picked up a new investigator in Rodrigo. Well, he's not a new investigator, just that the other elders passed him to us in anticipation for the IMPENDING DOOM that is the combining of the areas (BTW, if my letters seem a but more frustrated after August 19, you know why. combining two busy areas into one led by a man who has NO IDEA what he's doing while trying to make his greenie THINK he knows what hes doing, quite frankly scares the crap out of me... but i digress...)

Where was I? Oh right, Rodrigo...

He is the new husband of one of our recently reacivated members. They have been living together for years, but when the other elders started teaching him, he agreed to marry her so they can live the law of chastity. Sounds like a great guy right? sounds like a baptism is around the corner right?

WRRRRRONNNNNNG!!!!

For some reason, even though he lives all the commandments and I've gotten him to bear his testimony about everything necessary to be baptized, he wont commit to it. he says, "I don't have a testimony yet" or "I'm not sure i believe everything" (usually he says the latter immediately after he tells us that he knows its true....)

One of our investigators, Carla, has accepted a baptismal date for Sept 6th! Keep her in your prayers that she will follow through and enter the waters of baptism!

I was assigned to interpret at a Statewide Young Single Adults (YSA) conference this past Saturday. Funny thing though is that one of the members, who was also assigned to help interpret, Sue, believe that missionaries should not be interpreting for fear of repetitive stress. So, we ended up just sitting there as she would not allow us to interpret. lol

We are still working with other people and preparing for the impending merging of the two areas.

CONGRATS TO ZACK on applying to go on a mission himself! Now you have the opportunity to not get any sleep at night thinking about all the places the Lord is going to send you and having nightmares somewhere along the lines of, "WHAT THE CRAP DID I JUST DO!!???!!!??!??!?!?"

Don't worry. That will go away as soon as the call arrives.

Well the nightmares wont, but at least you'll get sleep...

until the week you leave, then you'll be a basket case....

until the MTC when the nightmares come back...

until the field when you'll be too tired at night to care.

Welcome to the mission!

Dont worry its not half as bad as it sounds. I'm just making fun :)


Love you all and keep doing great wherever you are!

Elder Tritsch