Visit to the LA Visitor's Center

Investigators at the Despedida.

Hey how’s it going my beloved family and friends!!  Well Christmas is practically here and it looks like I am going to be spending my last Christmas here in HB! Whoo, pretty stoked about that. I have been preparing myself and our apartment is all decked out with lights and the small little tree so don’t be jealous now :) It has been freezing here however! And yesssss.... I know you got destroyed with snow today; however it has been raining a good amount here.  But, it is good to hear from you all again.

At LA Temple with Elder P.

This past week was a fantastic week for us for many reasons, but the main one is that we had A** go to the LA Visitor’s Center! On Thursday night we left HB at about 5 and got to the temple at about 6:30 due to traffic.  As we left her house, we noticed that the member we had driving us showed up in a huge 35 foot RV that barely fit down the narrow streets. Ha-ha All of us, and her little kids loaded up into the huge RV and took the challenge of the 1.5 hour LA traffic.  It was awesome!  We about died like two times, but in the end, we made it there.  We had the Sister missionaries give us the tour and help teach her about the Church. She loved all the lights and Christmas decorations and we are looking forward to her
getting baptized the first week of January!  Please, please keep her and her daughters in your prayers.

At the LA Visitor's Center.

She was also able to go with us to the departing fireside last night and she thought it was super cool to see literally hundreds of missionaries in one sitting. Ha-ha.

As for the rest of the work, we have six investigators with baptism dates and A**, J**,  X** and A** are the most likely people to get baptized in the upcoming weeks. We dropped P** on Thursday sadly. She didn’t show up to the temple tour and it was just a big giant mess.  So maybe it’s just not her time, but I have tried for the past two months to get her to progress and she never has. The Lord always provides a way, and it was provided last night by our temple trip with A** and by finding more new people to teach.  As I look back over the length of my mission, I am so happy for all the hard work and great and wonderful people I have been able to meet, teach, and love.

Thanks again mom and dad for the Christmas package!! I am really grateful and excited to give out the little gifts to kids and I already passed out the Nativity books to the elderly ladies…so it was a big success! Tomorrow night I am looking forward to reading the Christmas story in Luke 2 and then giving the Nativity gifts you gave me to Akari and her family!  I feel it is the right decision and I know they will love them.

This past week I have been thinking a lot about the Christmas season and as to how selfish and

A Christmas package from home--yay!

spoiled I always have been and just mankind in general for always wanting and getting and never truly living or loving. As I took the word CHRISTMAS, I thought of how we never really focus on the CHRIST part only the MAS part which means “more” in Spanish.  We are always wanting more as human beings and are never really happy.  If we decide what truly is important and start focusing on the CHRIST rather than the MAS, I can promise a huge change in your spirits this Christmas season.

Well that’s about it for me here this week.  Oh I almost forgot, as we were heading home from LA on Thursday I got called to be a district leader here in HB... so yeah that's how I'm going to end the mission.  I'm pretty excited, but also was shocked at the same time.

Transfers--saying goodbye.

Thanks again for all you do! Love you all and be safe in all that snow!!

Love Elder Woffinden