Life in Compton is Sweet!

Sunny California!

Hey what’s up!! I’m glad to hear you all had a good week!! Mine was pretty good and stressful at the same time, but that’s mission life. This week we did a lot of fun activities such as parties and group get togethers which really helped lower stress levels and helped me relax. We went out to Bake n Broil for Elder J’s birthday on Monday and it was fantastic! The food is amazing there, but very pricey...  Elder B** at the end decided to get this brownie cookie ice cream sundae that was really good! Minus the fact that about a minute after I took a huge bite, I realized there were nuts in it as my tongue and throat started to go numb! It was super scary because the waitress took like an hour to get our bill and I was slowly just dying at the table.  We were able to rush back to our apartment to get meds, as I am clearly alive to tell the story, ha-ha but a close call.  

On Tuesday, we had our specialized training with all the LB missionaries.  I was able to see Elder H**, Elder W** and Elder P** again.  They are probably my best friends here in the mission.. It was great!! I was so happy to see them and to catch up on old times of the mish.

This week we have found 9 new investigators! Pretty sweet!!   We have been teaching a ton more this week, and I have seen my Spanish improve a ton.   No one is coming to church... it sucks! I don’t understand why they promise us they will come, but never show up.  I do not know what to change?   

On Thursday, we took a member out with us to go to a couple of our lessons. Sadly, all fell through, but I was determined to find someone to teach while we had the member with us so I said a silent prayer just asking for anybody to talk to.   Surely enough, the first door we knocked on turned out to be a guy and his mom who have been less active for a very long time and had wanted to come to church, but didn’t know where it was located.   Their Spanish ward got changed to an English ward a while back so they stopped going.   They aren’t new investigators but we did teach a lesson and they said they were going to come to our ward, so that was sweet!

Life here in Compton is pretty sweet! I love it here! It’s hard and some of the people are insane, but it’s just a thrill living here. The area hasn’t been too successful for a really long time and we have seen that from our work, but I am confident with the end of the transfer coming up next week that our next transfer will be better! We are teaching more and finding more every day and our contacts are still just the wildest experiences ever.  Ha-ha   You would not believe the questions people ask us and what they believe "Mormons" are or do in life.  It’s crazy!  Since today is Labor Day, I do not have a whole lot of time to email since all of the LB Elders have to come to one church to email because the libraries are closed.  So I apologize that my email is short. But thanks again for everything and I hope you all have a great and safe week!  I’m praying for you all daily, and I am so grateful for the love and support.

Hasta luego!

Elder Woffinden

No time for pictures this week!

Positive Attitude Brings Success

Elder B's new hair cut.  Probably a good idea not to cut it yourself! 

Hey everyone! How was everybody’s week??  Mine was a lot better than last week that’s for sure! This week we did a lot of work in the old area book by going by formers or potentials that were recorded in hopes that we could find people to teach. We came to realize that a lot of them don’t live at the address that was given or they had recently moved.   We did find a couple of people this week that are showing good signs of wanting to learn more! We are teaching a guy named B**and his mom L** and currently they are our most solid investigators.  B** is very skeptical of God and doesn’t really believe that He exists or answers people’s prayers. He is very willing to talk and listen to us, but he doesn’t believe that prayer really works.  So this week we prepared some really good lessons on how prayer blesses our lives and how through faith in God and His son, we can be blessed even more.  We had some great talks and we both testified and shared some personal stories about prayer that I could tell really opened his mind to wanting to give it a try.  Well, that’s what he did and his prayers have been awesome! He even taught his little sister about prayer and how to pray which was really awesome to hear!  He hasn’t said if he has gotten an answer to any of his prayers yet, but he does tell us he feels peace and comfort when he prays so that’s always good to hear from an investigator.  It’s going to be hard teaching him and a lot of the other teen kids we have been teaching because of school starting. 

Typical Compton street

C** is another kid we have been teaching and that we had set a baptismal date for on Sept.14^th, but we haven’t found him or been able to get a hold of him for about 10 days now so I hope he didn’t get “anti-ed” or fall off the face of the earth.  He is a real solid kid! Hopefully we hear from him soon or we are going to have to drop him which is never an enjoyable task to do, but is necessary at times.

Elder B** and I are doing better together this week, we have been working hard and have been trying our best to have lessons with members present!   This past week has been full of dropped appointments and a whole lot of street contacting which is where we always find the strangest of people.  haha.   We were frustrated because we had not found anyone new to teach or who wanted to talk to us.   One night at like 8:30 pm we stopped and talked to this lady for 20 minutes when all of a sudden the family we had tried to visit a little earlier came home and we were able to stop them, talk to them and pick up 4 new investigators! Sweet!   You never know when you will find people to teach it just happens sometimes at random!

  

My favorite new butter.  YUM!

This week we have been trying to work on being more positive and point out some of the good things that we do throughout our day during each hour. It’s been hard to remember to do at times, but I can tell that when we focus on the positive things and not the negative, our work goes by a whole lot smoother and our attitudes shape up.   Let’s be honest, we all know I could use that! haha   The week went by pretty quickly and I can’t believe it’s Monday already! We are going out to a place called Bake N Broil in downtown Long Beach today for an Elder’s b-day lunch so I’m excited for that!   

We are hoping to have great success this week and are going to continue our efforts in staying positive even when all the pressure and stress is on the line. We have an additional training tomorrow at the mission office, and I am excited to be able to see "ZL" H** tomorrow!  I know it will be great to see and talk to him and I’m sure it will help lift and brighten my attitude as well.  It’s amazing to hear about all the love, prayers and support you all have shown for me over the course of my mission, words truly can’t describe my gratitude towards you all. Thanks for everything you do and I hope you all have a great and safe week!

Hasta Luego entonces!

E. Woffinden

Street Contacting this Week

(This is Jason's email from last week.  We were out of town and couldn't post it.)   No pictures this week.

Hey!! How’s it going!? Another week down crazy how time flies by so quickly but slowly too. Well this week was one of those slower ones, but it was pretty good. Elder B** and I are still having a very hard time finding people to teach here we had two investigators A** and N** drop us this past week so we were left with not a whole lot to stand on.  On Tuesday, we found a new guy to teach named C** and he has a baptismal date for the 14th of September!! So pray and let’s hope that he comes to church and continues to listen to the lessons. He is a 19 year old kid we met while going by some formers in our area book and he is a solid guy! Super humble and was nice for wanting to talk to us when clearly his family made it clear that they didn’t want anything to do with it.  We are excited to work with him and hope we are able to help him in any way possible towards setting his life towards God and the Savior.

Compton has been good!   I love the area here!  It’s exactly how I imagined it.   Tuesday I was able to get into some of the more rough parts of town when I was on exchanges. While we were trying to contact people in the streets, we had 2 cops pull us over off our bikes to "talk" to us. They were demanding, “Why are you here?? Do you guys know where you are at?" ha ha We were all yeah.. in Compton?  They just stared at us and said, "Guys.. people get shot all the time here please be careful and go home early.”  Then they left.. it was super funny!  But it’s true there have been a couple of times while being out here where I knew we had to get out of an area due to certain circumstances that were starting to happen.   But it’s all good and I love the ghetto.

So, a couple of weeks ago we found a girl named A** while we were contacting on the street. She was English speaking so we had to pass her off to the YSA ward elders here in the area.   We found out a couple of days ago that she has a baptismal date also coming up! So that’s sweet even though it’s not with us.  We still can see how passing off and giving referrals still helps the work move along. We haven’t been doing a whole lot of teaching and have mostly just been trying to find people this whole week so it’s been a super slow one, but I had some good exchanges with some elders this week in their areas.

On Saturday, we had a big BBQ with an investigator and the food was awesome! Everything was going great until his neighbor decided to come over hammered to go for a swim in the pool. His neighbor was beyond drunk and came and started causing all kinds of crazy things.  She was calling us out for our faith and asking us to read her something out of the Book of John.    She was saying how our Mormon book doesn’t even have the Book of John.   I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy her making a fool out of herself.   haha   But anyways we left and left her a card with our number asking her to call us in the morning. haha.

It was good being on exchanges, but now I’m back and need to go to work.   I am hoping for a good week! Just like I hope you all have a great week too! I appreciate all your love and prayers for all the missionaries… it means a lot. I hope you all have a great week and stay safe! Thanks for everything.

Love, Elder Woffinden

Oh, our ward since we have so many LA members is now turning into a branch starting next week so that’s a big change!

Week Two in Compton

Jamba Juice Run after District Mtg.

Hey what’s up everyone!! How is it going?? Sounds like you all had a pretty good week! I know it’s crazy for me to think that Jared and Tanner are home!! WOW their missions flew by so fast for me!! I am so glad for the example they both set for me by going on a mission.  It truly helped me out in so many ways!  I am sure they were a 100 times better as a missionary than I am, but I just want to say thanks and welcome home to them!

Compton

Okay, week two in Compton! It was a little better than last.  Elder B** and I have been having great success on bringing out the members of the ward to lessons. It’s been really good to build relationships with the members and our investigators. We are still struggling with our area considering we are white washing and we have no real solid leads.  We are still not confident in what we do every day, but we are doing our best!   Getting to know the members as much as possible will make the work 10 times easier for us as they become involved.  

Greatest "church" wall

So this past week we have had a ton of bike issues.  I had another two flats on my bike and then another one on another Elder’s bike (I was using his bike because my tires were flat and I didn’t have time to fix them.)  On Wednesday, we were teaching a recent convert named M** at her trailer park home about how to use “Preach My Gospel” to help her in her studies.  We showed her how she can apply this knowledge of the gospel in her life. The lesson went great and we were just about to head out to our bikes to go to dinner.  We noticed our bikes looked different than how we had left them locked up.  It turns out that we got all four of our tires stolen. It’s very frustrating and we now have to buy new tires sometime this week which blows!  There are just a ton of crazy people here and lots of theft.  

This week we also had to do two exchanges with other missionaries.  Since I have only ever been companions with DLs, I go on them constantly!  On Friday, I was with Elder P** who is a greenie from NC.  He is an English speaking Elder and he came with me to my area.  This was pretty hard for me because I truly got the feel for what it would be like to be a trainer!  I was now reliable for all the Spanish that was spoken and for teaching all the lessons which was a huge transition for me.  Usually, I am the guy who just sits back smiles during the lessons. Ha ha.  Now the spotlight was all on me. Thankfully the day actually turned out really well and we had a lot of success! I honestly feel like it helped my Spanish out tremendously because I was forced to use all my attention and focus on what was being said and apply what I know to help them.  We taught a couple people and the lessons were great!   Elder P** didn’t say anything because he doesn’t speak any Spanish, but I am sure he got a feel of what it is like to teach in a different language… it’s tough!   He is a solid kid and will be a great missionary! 

Throwin up the deuces

Yesterday Elder B** had a baptism in Cerritos that he was invited to so that’s where we spent our afternoon.  It was a nice break to go to a baptism! After, we went and had dinner where they served pig noses and some other weird looking thing all blended into a soup... ha-ha   Yeah it was different!  They also served us water with tad pole eggs in it! ha-ha way weird!  I can’t remember the name of it, but it was just like drinking a slimy, gushy green & black smoothie.  New food adventures!!  We got some good referrals from them.   

To end our night, we taught a girl named J** who is a single mom with two kids. She has been looking for a church to take her kids to so they don’t get involved in the gang life of Compton.   The lesson was awesome and I can tell the she will be one of our interested and progressing investigators very soon!  We just shared with her a couple of scriptures from the B of M and bore testimony of the truth.  I could see it really hit home to her which is great!   That’s about it for this week! I hope you all have a great week and stay safe and have fun!  I am so grateful for you all and for all the time and love you show me.  You all are awesome!! Thanks again!

Love,

Elder Woffinden

LA - West Side

I Am in Compton

Y and JC and their children

Hey family how’s it going!!   Well I am here in Compton and it’s insane.  I love the fact I am here because I have always loved the image of Compton from all the gangster rap music I listened to back home etc. And believe me, the city lives up to its name! It is very ghetto here and there is trash, graffiti, homeless people everywhere!!  We are white washing which means we don’t know a soul here. It is a new area that opened up so we have to create our own area book from other Elders and just from street contacting.  I have already gotten two flat tires in four days.  The streets here are filled with thorns and broken glass which is a problem for our old missionary bikes.

We have found a couple of people who might show some potential in becoming investigators, but we won’t know until tonight when we go by to see how they are doing.   Church was interesting yesterday.  We have a ward roster of about 700+ people, but only like 100 are active.  The people have been very nice and receptive, and they are willing to do their very best at coming out and helping the missionaries teach the gospel.  We had about six member-present lessons in four days which is crazy!  I never had that in Whittier, Elder B** is a very good Elder at getting people to come out to lessons and to share their testimonies with their neighbors. There is a lot I can learn from Elder B**.   He has the best Spanish among the white boys and is probably the most obedient person I have ever met.

S and her mom, A

 We have met some super humble people here and they are very willing to let us talk to them in the streets! We taught a guy and his family in their broken down RV which is right underneath the I-91 overpass. These people have nothing at all, their house is a wreck and yet they are still willing to let us come in and talk to them.  Crazy!

It is very humbling to me how blessed most of us truly are and how we need to realize that there are people in this world that really don’t have anything.  Yet, they all seem to have the answer to the key of life.  That happiness doesn’t come by material possessions, it comes by the relationships we make and the help we give to others. That is one thing I have learned out here on my mission that I am very grateful for.  

Ja and Hermano C

Jason, T and his brother E

Well I hope you all had a great week!!  Make sure to let me know how you all are doing and send me photos! Thanks again, you are all the best!

Hasta Luego

E. Woffinden

Elder H and I doing our "bike" thing!

I'm Being Transferred to Compton!

Love this family.  I am going to miss them!

HEY WHATS UP! How’s it going!? How was everybody’s week? I didn’t even realize that the 24th of July was this past week, ha. I totally forgot! But, I am glad to hear that it was a great week for you all. Well, transfers are here and... I am getting transferred to the Long Beach 16th Ward and my new companion will be Elder B. I will move tomorrow. I’m nor sure at what time, but I’m sure it’s going to be crazy, ha. I honestly don’t want to be transferred; I really like it up here in Whittier. The people are awesome and I have made some really great friendships here. I have had a lot of great and crazy experiences up here in the "Black Hole," haha. I am excited to get to be in Long Beach, but it’s always awkward the first week of a new transfer, especially when my new comp and I are going in with no experience in the area at all. We won’t know anybody and will probably spend the majority of our time knocking and contacting in the streets which can be very tiring and gets old fast, ha.

My good buddy, Bob.

This past week was pretty good! The past 2 days seemed like 2 years though since I found out I was getting transferred on Friday. So I was just going around and saying goodbye to all our investigators and member friends. C came to church yesterday with his girl friend,ha! Forty-five minutes late, but hey, they at least showed up! He really enjoyed church and the members were very friendly to him and were talking to him for quite some time, so hopefully some friendships were made there. We have been doing very well though. We have been teaching the A family which is our miracle-find family, and they are awesome!  I’m pretty sad to leave them! Elder H is becoming a trainer so he will have a brand new greenie from Mexico tomorrow, ha, so good luck to him! I wish I could stay to teach them, but I guess it’s time for me to move on. The family is super humble and I can tell they are going to be awesome in the church later on in life! They already have testimonies that our message is true and they can feel a difference in their lives when they are talking about the church and gospel. I really hope that they get baptized because they would be awesome!

Eating My "Goodbye" Dessert.

We also have been teaching J and Y, a family with 5 boys all under the ages of 7, ha, so their house is always a nightmare! We are always having to battle the noise of crying babies and fans and Mariachi music by the neighbors, haha. It’s always an experience every time we teach them. We have recently just taught the Restoration and, of course, they have doubts like all people do. But, it’s good that they have questions because that means that they have been listening and are not just agreeing to everything we say and blowing off our questions, etc. So we are teaching them tonight; my last lesson here in Whittier! It’s gonna be good!

Yesterday we were going by member’s homes saying goodbye and taking pictures all night, but at like 6 PM we decided to go by a guy’s house we haven’t talked to in quite some time. When we got there we were shocked to see him sitting outside with 5 other people just chattin’ it up in the front yard, ha. So we ended up teaching him and his family and picked up 3 new investigators—which was our goal for this week. Up until then, we hadn’t found anybody, so it was crazy that we met our goal on Sunday night, haha. After we went to the C’s and B’s homes—they are my two favorite families in the ward. I just wanted to say goodbye and take some pics with them. When we arrived we saw they had bought me a cake and threw me a little party, haha, it was sweet! The cake had walnuts though... so I had to cut my piece in half and throw away the walnut part so that I didn’t die, haha. But, it was great! I really am going to miss them all! They are all such loving people and it’s always a great time when we go over to their homes.

Goodbye Dessert.

My camera has been having issues all week and actually stopped working! The lens wont pop out to allow me to take a picture. I have never dropped it or anything. It just decided not to work, but thankfully I had Elder H to take photos for me to send to you guys back home! I’m not sure how or when I am going to get that fixed, but I definitely need to so.  If you have any ideas let me know.

Well, that about sums up my week. It was a good week, but I am leaving now so I’m definitely curious to see how Long Beach will be, ha. Long Beach is the ghetto part of the mission and I think Compton and Paramont is my next area, haha, so I’m stoked if it is! But thanks for all you do and I appreciate all the love and letters! Mom I’m glad you got my package! I’m glad you liked it! But, until next week— hasta luego!

Love,

Elder Woffinden

Successful Week

Hey what’s up!! How did everyone’s week go?? Mine was pretty good… can’t complain! Sounds like a lot of great stuff is going on back home and you all sound like you’re doing well!

For me, this week was a long one, but it was a pretty successful one which I am pleased with. On Monday, we received a text from SLC headquarters and it was a referral of a family that attended the temple and loved it, and wanted to learn more!  What’s awesome about this is that Elder H** and I have specifically been praying for a family to teach and have been having no success whatsoever.   So this was a huge answer to our prayers!  So cool!!  We have been teaching them and it’s amazing to see how prepared they really are. They are so happy with us coming over and their 9 year old grandson is always asking to be the one to say the closing prayer at the end of the lesson.  It’s pretty sweet to have a blessing such as this one.

"C" and us 'reppin' the West side!

We also have been teaching C** a lot more this week and he hasn’t had a drop of alcohol for about two weeks now!  He looks so much better and we can honestly see a change in his countenance and he is just more positive now. He is having a problem with coming to church though.  He has promised for three Sundays in a row that he would come to church, and he fails to show.  It really is hard because he can’t truly progress unless he comes to church, but hopefully this week he will!


We have been doing awesome with the member present lessons! The ward is starting to become more and more active in the missionary work, and we are seeing the success from it.

Hermano "N" - super cool guy!

So this week we found out that one of our investigators, R** was involved in a "drive by" with a gang this week. We honestly spend 50 percent of our time each week on this street.  We are always seeing sketchy and crazy stuff going on, but haven’t had any problems with gangs.  I guess the gangs just respect us because we are spreading the "word" and they don’t want to mock God… so to say.  It’s still super crazy to think that I am in these neighborhoods all day long.  R** wasn’t hurt thankfully!  There are cars with bullet holes everywhere here so I guess we should have seen the warning signs!  Oh well, we don’t care.. ha we just go and do our thing.  

Baking soda water!  Yum!

So our apartment this week decided to give us "baking soda" water literally from the tap. The water here in CA is terrible! I will send a pic of what is still looks like, it’s nasty!! Transfers are next week and I really hope I don’t get transferred because I really want to keep teaching the people we are working with. I am also starting to get a better feel for the area now so I hope I don’t leave. Elder H** and I are doing good together, too and we really know how to have a good time even when the days are rough. The true test of faith is learning to put a smile on even in the worst of situations or times. There, that’s my word of advice for you all.  

So like three weeks ago we were called to give a blessing to a woman who said she was trying to quit smoking. We arrived and started talking and getting to know her.  We then asked her who she would like to offer the blessing. She picked me (of course) haha   I was pretty nervous because I have only given a handful of them in my life, and each time I get super anxious and nervous. But anyways, I gave her a blessing and was prompted to tell her that she would quit smoking by her date she had set…the 13th of July.   She has stopped!!  A couple of days prior to her “quit day” we went by and she said that whenever she got the urge to smoke she felt grossed out and said that she could literally taste every single chemical and bad thing in them and it made her sick.  She also noticed that she can now taste her food better!! So another miracle from God… pretty cool!  

Well, I hope you all have a great week!! Thanks for all you do and have done for me!!  Sorry this email is short, but I hope you all have a great week!!

Hasta Luego!!

Elder Woffinden