Week 29

Okay so I remember a bunch of super sick stuff happened this week but I cant remember a lot of it. Hopefully it will come back to me as I type haha.

Monday was basic p-day I guess. We had dinner with Bishop Pauga, man he is so funny. He just hated on his kids for making salad and healthy food. When we shared our message about the 2000 stripling warriors being taught by their mothers to be strong in the gospel. Bishop then said he would blame his wife and all the mothers in the ward if any youth fell away. haha hes crazy.

Tuesday was our zone meeting. The Hurtadop house acted out the second chapter of Alma, I wish I had the video to send we went all out it was legit. We were able to see a Samoan less active that we had never met before. She beleive that she is literal flesh and blood of Heavenly Father (like JEsus Christ material) and that the bible took place in the high desert/apple valley area. sooo yea she cray.

Wednesday we saw brother Iloilo whom I had never met before. He doesnt come to church because everyone in his house is JW or 7th day Aventist and he doesnt want tension. Anyway this guy is freakin huge! He was a security guard at the Superbowl. We saw the Rosales' as well, we had challenged the kids to read a chapter a day last week and only one of them did it, so when their Samoan grandparents heard they tore them a new one it was hilarious.

Thursday we taught a lesson with our gator Shanae, she had a ton of questions that we answered and she defs felt the spirit. All-in-all it was super good. Other than that a few uneventful LA visits

Friday we did service at the Mau'u home, we helped them lay sod and plant some bushes. They are a super cool family. We also saw the Jacksons (Samoan), they are super funny, dang these Samoan kids are legit so crazy.

Saturday was furshur the highlight of the week. For 3 hours Bednar was teachin us the most legit stuff. It was super cool because he didnt just talk he had us asking questions and stuff. I'll be straight up, from General COnference and pics of him you would think he was super stern but this guy was crackin jokes right and left. I wish I could write everything he said it was so awesome. here is a word-for-word quote or two, "Hey idiot! you are turning off the flashlight!" while using the flashlight as a metaphor for the spirit and we dont read our scriptures. He also sat everyone down by talking about how people say they dont have time to go to church or read their scriptures, he said, "everyone has the same amount of time in each day." haha then he said #firstworldproblems (minus the hashtag)

He also said most sacrament meeting talks are super crumby and he doesnt like listening to them. Haha all in all it was one of the top moments on the mission. Then he straight up gave us a prophetic warning and prophecy. But he told us not even to bother trying to describe it over email so I guess you guys are out of luck!

Anyway, sunday was normal, but we had a ton of LA Samoans at church which was awesome! Also all the kids call testimony meeting "shoutout" meeting becuase everyone just thanks the ward for helping them.

But yea, thats my week. It was awesome. 

Hope you all had/have a good week!

Elder Ockey

Week 28

Whats up fam? so this email will be short because its only been since wednesday.

Thursday was your average day. we had service at a homeless shelter. sort of mopping floors and cleaning windows sort of thing. Man I miss the food bank in Ontario cuz we could take all sorts of stuff #missionarystruggles

anyway after that we were able to teach our Adelanto investigator Bruce about the book of mormon a little bit more which was cool, he needs something to get him really progressing though. Anyway then we headed over to AppleValley which is the other side of the desert because we go where we please. Haha but we had dinner over their with a Samoan family after trying a few potentials. Its honestly such a struggle trying to get Samoan gators because you cant really tract 'em. But then we tried by a fam in Victorville (another city in the desert) named the Savea's. They have 8 kids which is crazy. But when we showed up they were just starting a party so we tried to slip out after saying we would come back the next day, then they gave us a bunch of food haha. Gotta love them Samoans

Friday we helped someone in the Adelanto ward move some furniture around before we weekly planned. We were able to see Kay, who is an Adelanto gator. We took a priest aged young buck from the ward so we can get them member presents. But Kay seems super flaky, she told us that she prayed about the BofM and Boltz and I just looked at each other because they Spirit was telling us otherwise. Don't lie to us Kay! but yea she is looking all sort of stupid stuff up on the internet and claims that she takes it with a grain of salt but her actions proved otherwise. The worst part is Bishop wants us to focus on her a ton but it wont go anywhere. Anywayyyyyyyyy, then we had dinner with the Faamafoe's, this was their second time feeding us that week. Their excuse was that one time it was her, then the other time it was her brother that fed us. It was cool they, they are super awesome. Well we were able to stop by the Savea's but only the kids were home, we tried to teach them about the BofM and church but they would always get off on tangents. Two of the kids are polar opposites but the epitome of cute little poly kids, its awesome.

Saturday we took an Adelanto member out with us and taught a few lessons to investigators. Nothing noteworthy really happened. But we got a new gator which was nice.

Sunday was stake conference in Barstow, it poured rain the whole drive up. The conference was pretty good, the new stake president is hecka young though. they presiding authoritys called eveyone out for not going to the temple more often though haha. #gettold

But yea now that takes us to today. The Hurtado household was assigned to do a skit in between trainings for the entertainment of the zone tomorrow during zone-meeting so you have a video to hopefully look forward to next week. (if it will send through email)

Love ya! stay safe!

Elder Ockey

The Hurtado homies

Adelanto represent!

(left to right: Loveless, Boltz, Hurley, Ockey)

Week 27

Dang so this week was super crazy! I guess it was a week and a half because we went to the temple today so its also our p-day. So for those who don't know Elder Boltz and I cover the north section of the Adelanto ward (which is the sketchiest place in the mission) and the whole entire freakin desert for the Samoan ward. We can go anywhere its pretty tight. Anyway hopefully I can remember all the stuff that happened last week and this week.

Monday we had dinner with the Rosales', a Samoan/Mexican family. They are super funny and need to get active! Their son Edward is hilarious. Thats about all we did other than chill at our house. (we live in a house! its super legit Ill send pics on monday)

Tuesday we had d-meet and I gave a training on successful missionary work. it was more like a zone meeting because a lot of people were down the hill (in the valley) picking up greenies so it was all combined. We were able to see an investigator for the Adelanto ward named Bruce, we had a really good lesson with him about the plan of salvation. Then we stopped by a Samoan investigator named Sami, who we were trying to and found a ride for him to go to ARP because he smokes. Anyway we set up an appt to come back right before the meeting and when we came back he ended up not going because he was nervous, but his nephews and nice are freakin so crazy its hilarious. I dont even know what happened they just love to play around and attack missionaries. It was really funny. But then we went to visit a recent convert, Jr. Tupai, in the Samoan ward. His family are all members so we taught them all about service. Lets just say its gonna take me a long time before I get all these Samoan names down because there are so many of them haha.

Wednesday we saw our Adelanto investigator named Raymond who lives a van in the Stater Brothers parking lot. He thought that if you came to church more than 3 time you had to be baptized so we cleared that up haha. We had an actual lesson with Sami, we read 2 Nephi 31 with him and we really felt the spirit, it was legit. We got 2 new investigators in North Adelanto named Shanae and Candice, we taught them the restoration on their doorstep and it was super solid! they said it answered questions they have had for a while. But they have flaked on us since :(

We saw the Tuatoga's who are less-activeish and got to know them. Its so much fun meeting all these Samoan people its awesome!

Thursday... I'll just put it the way Elder Boltz said it, its either feast or famine out here. We kill it one day and the next we only see one person or so. Thursday was a famine day. 

Friday we were supposed to meet with our Samoan WML but he had to cancel so we weekly planned. Also we had to wait for the Peterson's (senior missionaries) come from down the hill to check what needed replacing in the house. Our A/C doesn't work so they gotta fix that stat! its super hot out here #desertprobs also I dint mention the before but our neighbour has a rooster that lives next to our window and cock-a-doodle-doos at 3 in the morning...... anyway we saw some more LA Samoan families which was awesome. They all either have a million children that love to play with you or they don't have children and they try to teach you Samoan. I swear I'll be fluent by the time I get home.

Saturday was legit! I guess I haven't mentioned that the first day of the month our dinner calendar fills up, sometimes doubling up. Saturday we had 3 meals set up for us #nobigdeal. Its honestly the best thing ever. But one of the BBQ's we went to was with a Samoan member who married a Tongan and lives in a house full of Tongans. Our ZL's are the desert Tongan elders and they came a little after we showed up and tried to get Peter to go to the Tongan ward but he shut them down haha.

Sunday is weird because we cover two wards but the Adelanto ward does everything backwards so they end at the same timeish. Suffice it to say the Samoan ward is my fav. But then we had dinner with the Mau'u fam (or one of them at least, there are about 5 in the ward) and ended up staying there for a while haha. #islanderprobs Oh dang and I also found out that someone from the Samoan ward is serving in my good friend Elder Olson's Jacksonville Florida Mission. He comes home in a few weeks though.

Monday we tried to do as much service as possible to make it seem like p-day and we ended up doing a lot of Hurtado service (Hurtado is the name of our house) we cleaned up our backyard because it was filthy. Then Elder Loveless and I (house/wardmates) went to try a referral because our comps were sick. This referral was in El Mirage which is about 30 minutes away and ended up being bogus. but we saw a lessactive on the way back so it was worth it.

Tuesday was D-meet again. We met with a lessactive from the Samoan ward but he isnt Samoan which was funny. We tried by a potential investigator, and their neighbour told us to never come back haha, so rude :(

We had dinner with another Mau'u family that night hehe.

All in all this week was awesome! I swaer my mouth hurts from smiling so much its so much fun. There were more than a few sketchy moments in north Adelanto at night but Ill save them for later for my mothers sake haha.

Love you all!

Elder Ockey

Oh shoot I forgot to say the Elder Bednar is coming to the mission #nobigdeal

I found out like a month ago from president Chase but he told me not to tell anyone so now you know. exciting

New Address

14581 Agave Way

Adelanto California

92301

I'm living in a house! apparently it isn't the nicest in the mission but its pretty sick. Only spent a few minutes and now we gotta do some chores and such.

This is a google map image of the house. (Damon)

Week 26

I hit 6 months this week! Crazy.

Also we got transfer calls this morning and we hafta be at the mission office at 10:30 but I am going to the desert! Adelanto/Samoan ward (apparently I will be in a house as well)! Man the poly wards are crazy I am super psyched. This week was cool as well. Hopefully I dont forget to much.

Monday.. shoot I packed my planner. THis is all off of memory so Ill probably miss a lot. We had our usual p-day activity. It is honestly so hot here. it was 30 something that day and we were outside. I am so scared for the summer.

Tuesday was your basic d-meet day. We taught Daisy one last time (elder Bentley is in the same area but the YSA isnt covered by him anymore) which was fun. It sort of feels like we are at home when we teach YSA's because we just start talking about random stuff haha.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the ZL's again. Elder Nielsen came over with me. We were able to teach a few less actives and gave a blessing to a member from Washington who was visiting non-member family and somehow got our number. She went a little to in-depth with her life story though....

THursday we did service for a family. we tore up their lawn, reminded me of last summer diggin up our planters in the backyard haha. WE taught Patrice again that day, its a struggle because she has a solid testimony and everything, she just struggles with WoW.

Friday was awesome! I only remember seeing two people. We saw Brother and Sister Bramer, who are less active. They have a tonne of birds in their backyard. The birds were talking and laughing at us it was super cool/weird honestly we would teach them and a bird would say "Bob! Bob Bramer!"or "helloo!"and I would just bust out laughing it was awesome. Anyway that night Daisy and Azhley and Eduardo took us out to this super sketchy taco place, we were the only white people. Its just a tent set up behind a warehouse hidden by a bunch of semi-trucks because its not technically legal haha. We had a bunch of fun saying goodbye and such. (we sort of figured I was leaving)

Saturday was sort of a chaffa (lazy) missionary day. We had lunch and dinner with more YSA's, we got the call for me to pack my bags at lunch but they don't tell us were we are going until Monday morning so we only knew I was leaving. We were able to re-establish contact with the Investigator family with a gazillion kids under 11 years old which was nice. We watched the full length restoration and I am pretty sure she cried (whoops)

SUnday was crazy, I told a bunch of people I was leaving and we visited some people who werent at church. We had a lesson with some LA Tongans then they took a picture of us and sent it to my moms cell phone (idk if she got it or not). It was hilarious though because we were trying to talk them into going to ysa FHE the next day and the dialogue went a little like this:

Elders: "There will be food there"

Tongans: "Im on a diet"

active sister: "there will be single women"

Tongans pause: "Im gay"

Haha it was freakin hilarious. we all burst out laughing. But yea that was the last lesson I taught in Ontario for now.

Have a good week!

Elder Ockey

Week 24

Whats up fam? so this week was pretty basic, back to the normal missionary schedule. 

Monday we played soccer and rugby as a zone. (none of the sister came so it was a little violent haha) But then we had fhe and such. Regular monday

Tuesday was pretty good. We didnt have a dinner scheduled that day but we were blessed because one of the LA's we saw gave us lunch which was sweet. We are kind of lacking on the investigator teaching pool but our LA pool is huge so we spend a lot of time working on them. In the world-wide missionary broadcast they general authorities were saying that the less-active members were the gold mine for investigators, we just need to know how to mine the gold. SO thats kind of what we are doing I suppose.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Reddish to his area. Sadly, most of our appointments fell through, but we were still able to teach one of their investigators who is 13 years old haha. He is a wild kid. We stopped by a family, right before exchanging back that night, who had about 15 cats in a one bedroom apartment. It smelt pretty bad. 

Thursday we were able to have a lesson with one of our most progressing investigators Patrice. She wont set a baptismal date until she has been coming to church for a whole year. Hopefully we can change that haha

Friday was your basic weekly planning day, not much happened.

Saturday was exchanges again. Elder Reese (E. Ludwigs comp) came to our area with me. Apparently in Ontario you can only do yard sales 4 time a year on certain weekends and this was one of those weekends so we just contacted at a bunch. Got a few golf clubs as well as a new investigator. 

Sunday was your basic church day, 7:00-4:30 for us. Gosh its a struggle staying awake. But anyway, the Negretes from the family ward (they also have a YSA son) invited us for dinner at 3, so we were a little late and only missed the first quarter of the superbowl haha. I know we are so apostate dont worry about me. We still got to see some lessactive tongans that night to bring back the spirit haha.

Thats a record number of "haha"s in a email for me I think. 

Have a great week! I love you guys!

Elder Ockey

Week 23

Dang I know I say this a lot but time on the mission goes by super fast. It seems like last week we were up in the desert switching comps but it was 3 weeks ago. wtheck. Anyway....

Monday was you basic p-day. We went to a park and played some rugby, touch of course, we aint breakin missionary rules here ;) 

Then we continued with the regular p-day schedule, since we are in YSA we have FHE at 7 so pretty much all day is chill haha.

Tuesday we didnt have district meeting because we have a zone conference last week so it made the day seem super long, but we got a lot done. We saw a less active that we havent seen in a few weeks and we think his girlfriend is living there... soooooo yea no good.

Wednesday was your average day, we did food bank and such in the morning. We saw a family who just found out that their father has acute leukemia which sucks but apparently he has a really high chance of surviving. The family is sort of on the edge of activity and the ward is really trying to help them out. As we were teaching their son (everyone else was at the hospital or asleep) their cat started nursing on E. Bentley's shirt super loudly it was hilarious. but anyway....

Thursday we didnt have any investigator appointments so we spent the whole day visiting less actives and were able to see a lot which was cool because people usually "aren't home."

Friday I don't even remember what happened, we saw a few people I suppose haha. Ever since E. Jennings left I haven't been as diligent in writing noteworthy things from each day so it makes the emails a little more boring... sorry

Saturday we had exchanges with the spanish elders. E. Glasgow came to our area with me. We start off every Saturday (usually) with a missionary coordination meeting, we meet with the ward mission leader and ward missionaries and talk about the work. Anyway we told them that E. Glasgow could only speak Spanish so they were all talking to him in spanish and translating for him. Then that night we had dinner with the ward mission leader and his family (who were all at the meeting) and E. Glasgow gave the message about the gift of tongues in spanish and bore his testimony in english. They all had this super surprised look on their faces until they realized what just happened haha. But apart from that prank we got some good work done I promise.

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Ockey

This is from exchanges with elder spaulding when we ate the really big sushi boat. he sent me the pics this week. its kinda blurry, the waitress who took the pic was buzzed haha. they were doing sake bombs