Busy Week in Long Beach East

Heading out to teach!

HEEY!! What’s up! How is everyone doing this week?? I hope well! It was good to hear from a lot of you this week and I love following up on the events that are occurring back home especially con mis hermanas embarasadas.  Ha-ha. But anyways, this past week was really good! It was full of all kinds of great events that happened so I am looking forward to trying to sum it all up into one e-mail.

To begin, I will start with the missionary work. So as of right now we currently have three solid investigators and each of them has a baptismal date set for the end of February. Sweet!  So with L**, I will just say that she is super awesome and so prepared! She actually reads and prays when we commit her to do so which is a big change from the investigators I have been used to teaching. This past week she was out of town so we only saw her once, but we had a really awesome Plan of Salvation lesson with her that really helped answer the big questions of why am I here, where did I come from and where am I going. She really enjoyed the lesson and the member we brought with us really helped add to the spirit that was there and to helping her feel more fellow shipped and not alone.  We have a set with her tonight so I am very excited to get her going again towards her B-date in a month or so!

Ja hangin' with Michael J statue

Okay so also this week something amazing happened to us on Friday! We had just gotten back from dinner and I was feeling really sick because I’m pretty sure I have ruined my stomach from all the Hispanic food and hot salsas and spices every day.  I get sick every time we eat, but anyways, I had the impression to text a member in the branch who has a friend named C** who they have been wanting us to teach. We hadn't been able to teach her and so I figured we never would, but I decided to text the member to ask if we could maybe meet with her some time in the future.  Within like 20 seconds after sending the message, she responded back with, "She’s here right now! Come teach her!"  I was shocked because to be honest our night plans looked pretty bad, but now I was on Cloud 9!!  I was so excited. We taught her at the member’s home and set a B-date for the end of February.   She came to Stake Conference yesterday and is excited to meet with us this upcoming week! Pretty sweet miracle!!

Also this week on an exchange, I taught English to a group of Cambodians.  I was the instructor to help them study for their citizenship test coming up, it was hilarious!  I had no clue what they were saying.  All I did was read the questions and waited for their memorized responses in English.  Ha-ha   They were very loving and said I was" funny" so it was a fun experience.

Elder S heading home!

I want to tell you about some more crazy experiences we had this week.  On Thursday night, I was on exchanges with elder T** in the Cambodian area. We were off to a pretty good night when as we were walking down a busy street.  We saw a lady sitting at the bus stop bench crying. After getting a closer look, I was overwhelmed with the smell of alcohol and knew she had been drinking a lot. So we decided to talk to her to see if we could help her. We tried to talk and even shared a scripture with her to help lighten her mood.  All of a sudden, she looks at us and says, "Okay you can do one of two things here, go buy me another beer or watch me kill myself by walking in front of the next oncoming car in the road"   -__-    That was my facial expression as we had just been put into a terrible situation.   We tried to call her bluff and then she got up and started walking across the street with oncoming traffic. So we freaked out and chased after her getting her across the street alive.   Long story short, we walked her to a bar and pretended to follow her inside but didn't. She had given us a card with her son’s name and phone number and a note saying, "I’m sorry!"  We called him told him where she was and then left. It was insane! I am so glad I didn't have to witness her getting hit by a car.

P-day - visiting the music store.

Well on a better note to end my email.  On Saturday, we were able to attend a conference where Elder Ronald A. Rasband spoke. It was fantastic! Probably one of the best ones I have attended. He gave a lot of great advice and came here because he felt like he needed to help the Long Beach mission out which was pretty cool! But that's a quick review of my week. We had a lot of good times and bad times, but it was overall a great week. Hope to hear from more of you next week!!

Thanks for all the love and support.

Con mucho carino,
Elder Woffinden.

Adjustment to Senior Companion

I am going to miss my companion, Elder Allred!

Hey!!! How’s it all going?? Thanks for the email! And I’m so jealous that you were able to head down to St. George to escape the weather back home.  Wait, it’s actually pretty nice weather here so I’m not too jealous!!  Ha-ha. What else is new back home?

My first week as a senior companion was a looooonnngg one for sure.  Ha-ha.  My new companion is Elder B**   He is a really cool kid from Rexburg, Idaho. He served about 4 months in Peru at the start of his mission, but then got sick and was sent here to finish his mission. He is a really quiet guy and doesn’t say a whole lot, but he is a good obedient hard worker.  This week was a crazy one having to drop off the Elders to the airport, and then realizing that I was now in charge of the area.  This means all the planning, teaching, contacting etc.  The area isn’t thriving like I would hope it would and we don’t have a whole lot of people to teach.  We are still in this "finding mode" for like the past month.

Our district - The serious side of a missionary

The crazy side of missionaries!

We do have L** however and she is doing really well!! We had two super spiritual and powerful lessons with her on the First Vision and Book of Mormon then we followed up with a Gospel of Jesucristo lesson. She has been reading in the B of M and truly believes that we were an answer to her prayers when we came knocking on her door for the first appointment. However, she still doesn’t feel ready for baptism and says she needs to work on some things and with her relationship with God.  We had a church tour scheduled with her on Friday with a member and we were going to set a new baptismal date with her after we showed her the font and chapel, etc.  At the last minute, she cancelled on us which was a huge let down...I had been looking forward to that for like 8 or 9 days.  Super frustrating.  That pretty much sums up what Elder B** and my week has been like.  A week full of cancelled appointments, people hiding and pretending to not see us or know us and a whole lot of walking around.  I mean a ton!

Another positive note, we did find one new investigator named M** while we were out knocking by some formers and potentials.  She was very receptive and was willing to have us come in and teach her right then and there. We started to teach a lesson, but the lesson soon turned into the world’s biggest Novela of all time. It is very difficult to teach in another language when they start talking about their own personal affairs and are giving detailed explanations of their lives etc.  We did get another appointment set up so hopefully that one is a little more organized.

Elder C- heading home!

I am going to miss these guys!

It’s been a very long and rough week for us both, and I am so glad that it’s over. All the stress of being a senior companion really slapped me in the face and our area needs a lot of work.  The Spanish needs to improve quickly, but I feel that with all the new changes I have been making and how much more I actually have to talk now in lessons, contacts etc, it will improve as time goes on.  It’s still good down here in sunny CA! The weather is awesome and the beach is fantastic :) We go every day! Ha ha (jk)  Well, that’s it for me this week!  It is a holiday and tons of missionaries are waiting for computers here at the stake center. Hope everyone has a great week! You’re all awesome! Love you!

Mucho Carino,

Elder Woffinden

I am staying in Ximeno - Long Beach

Greatest district of Elders!  Half are leaving to head home tomorrow.

What’s up family!!!! How’s everything going?? This week was great! Pretty hard, but a good one for sure. So to begin, I will say the transfer facts so as of now I am......... staying here in Ximeno Long Beach and I am now a Sr. Companion! Whoo!  My new companion is Elder B.  I don't know a whole lot about him other than the fact he served a couple months in Peru, but got sick and has been here in Cali for like 2 months.  So, that's what happened with me! My whole zone and district got completely changed up sadly! Three new greenies are coming here tomorrow from the Mexico MTC! So it’s gonna be crazy here.  Ha-ha. I am excited for this new start and change that's about to happen, but I am going to miss Elder A** a lot! He was an awesome companion and really knew how to work hard and love the people here.

So, this week was one full of trunkie missionaries all packing up getting ready to leave and not a whole lot of success teaching and finding.  However, we still had some :)  So with P** (the miracle find up on Signal Hill) Elder C** and I taught her on Tuesday while our companions were at the temple. It was a really good lesson, but she really didn’t' show a whole lot of interest.  In fact, I only recall her really talking to us like two or three times. Ha-ha   We would ask her questions and try our best to get her involved, but she really didn't know what to say.    Maybe she just needs a little warming up before she opens up to talking.

Just like mom makes at home!!  Yum 

Later on Tuesday night, we received a text from the zone leaders with a referral of a girl they had contacted earlier in the day while walking in the street.  They said we should go by and meet her, and that's exactly what we did.  Her name is L** she is 25 and has a little girl and she is a miracle find! When we got to the door she came out and was so happy to see us! She told us she has lived her whole life blaming God for her problems and for never being there for her in her hard times, and also that she was tired of blaming God.  A couple weeks ago she decided to try to get God back in her life. The missionaries contacted her and she knew that was an answer to her prayer, and that's why she was so happy to see us finally! We had a really good lesson with her and her answers and participation were perfect. She knew what we were talking about was true and she accepted a baptismal date for the 31st of January!  However, with being here in CA all houses and apartments have locks and so we didn't get a chance to visit her again.  Our last lesson fell through because we weren't able to get a hold of her to invite her to church.  So we are going to have to move her date to the week after since she wasn't able to attend church.  We have dropped a lot of people so we don’t have a lot of solid investigators to teach right now, but I guess that’s what we are going to do this next transfer is to find and Baptize!

The week flew by so fast and when it was finally Sunday, I couldn’t believe it! Elder A** gave a really good talk in church and we had our investigators, R** and A** come to that!  The drought of nobody at church has finally been broken! Whoo!

Down a few pounds!!

I’m a little worried now since all the older missionaries are now gone, it’s now up to Elder T** and I to be the top Ximeno branch dogs... This means doing all the dirty work (aka translating, speaking in church, etc.) ha-ha.  That’s probably going to happen, but it will be good for us. So Sunday night was the missionary despedida for all those Elders going home. Last night was a really hard night for me and also a really good night! It was hard because ALL of my friends have or are leaving tomorrow to return home. (Elder Pecht) you don’t count you left earlier. Everyone is now dead.  Halford, Allred, Campbell, Tucker, Williams, Schooff, Taylor, Robinson and many many more and it was hard because that’s the only generation of missionaries I know out here so I am back to square one of making friends again. Ha-ha.   Last night was also one of the best nights because I saw everybody from all my previous areas!!! I saw T** (my recent convert) and all the families of Whittier and Compton that I have grown to love so much. Also investigators like J** from Whittier and people I never thought I would see again.  Words cannot describe how happy I was to see all of them! Especially T**. He started to cry and was thanking Elders Beck, Halford and myself for bringing him the gospel and for how it has changed his life in many ways. He has been struggling up in Whittier, but last night really boosted him up. The mission is awesome!! I can’t even describe how good it makes you feel to see people again you have taught or have come to know and love.  It’s amazing!!  I can’t wait for my despedida, a year from now, so I can call them to come down and see them all again!

Well that about summed up my week. I’m doing really good and I am very nervous, but also excited for what’s to come in the future. Tomorrow is a new day so pray and wish me luck as a Sr. Comp! Ha-ha   I hope you all have a great week and stay safe!!  Love you all,

Con mucho carino,
Elder Woffinden

A New Year!

Decorating for the branch New Year's Eve party!

What’s up!!! Happy New Year everyone!! Wow 2015 is here!! I have already had the craziest year of years!! It’s only been 5 days.  Ha-ha.  Sorry my email today is going to be a little crazy so just bear with me here.  Today Elder C** and I did the Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Wing Challenge!!   This is 12 spicy wings in less than six minutes! It was incredibly difficult to do. I have been eating spicy foods for the past 11 months day after day, but this made my whole face go numb and I felt my nerves in my hands and feet start to tingle the whole time. Ha-ha. Both Elder C** and I did it in like 5 minutes and won our t- shirts and our pictures on the screen in the restaurant.  The best part of it was that the wings were free since we did it. WHOO!! So much fun.

How many missionaries can we get in one car?  Looks like trouble!!

Okay well to start off on Wednesday night, the 31st we spent our night at the church setting up decorations with globos (balloons) and streamers and all sorts of sweet decorations in the gym for the Branch’s New Year’s Eve party! It was freaking sweet! We spent 3 hours hanging everything and doing all the work while we had the HNA's in the branch just freaking out because it wasn't how they wanted it. Ha-ha Oh well, in the end it looked great! There was a pro DJ there, too and they danced all night… or so we were told because we weren't able to attend since it didn’t start until 9:30 pm... all work and no play!!... Ha-ha.  While we were blowing up balloons, I had one explode right in my eye and it was bad.  My blood vessels all broke and I couldn't see for like an hour after.  It was funny, but pretty painful!

Choir practice for our district!  We sang during the holidays to everyone. 

Okay well New Year’s Day comes along. We finished up with all our usual meetings and then headed out to work at around 4 pm. We had an appointment set at 4 with a guy named A** so we were pretty excited to get there and talk to him. Sadly, he wasn't home so we decided to go visit a potential that lives in the house behind his. We came to a gate that was about up to my waist, and I was in front of Elder A** so I opened the gate and we started to head over to his door. All of a sudden I saw in the corner of my eye a black and white figure walking towards me it wasn't running it was just walking slowly and that's when I realized it was a dog! Ugh... was all I could think of when it got to about my foot and without any growling barking or anything immediately jumped up and bit me right in the worst area possible to get bit!!! The dog went right for the knock- out punch with success!! I was in agony, but out of reaction I punched the dog square in the face and it made a little whimper noise and we started to head for the gate to escape! But the dog came right back and bit into my right hamstring and ripped my pants all down the back, by this time I am beyond furious so I took off my backpack and just swung it like a bat completely annihilating the dog into the ground and so we were able to escape. I was in pure pain and just lay on the lawn trying to get my breath. Blood started to stain my underwear and back of my leg which freaked me out so we had some missionaries come with a car and take us to the urgent care so I could be inspected for rabies and any other damage. Thankfully nothing severe, but I have some nasty bite marks and cuts which make walking very unpleasant, but I am alive and had my first dog attack!! Sweet ha.  So that's how I started my new year off.  Whoo!! In the urgent care!

A little "fake" snow for the holidays.

So for the work we have been doing, it’s been pretty tough. We don't have any investigators right now. We have just been teaching lessons here and there to potentials that clearly don't want anything to do with the gospel.  We have been trying our best to work on finding by contacting or going by our members to seek referrals because that's the best way to find people to teach, but have been having very little success. Crazy that Elder A** goes home in about a week!! I feel pretty bad because we don't have the most success in the world for him to go out with a bang, but we are doing our best and that's all that matters.

Temple Day.  Love these guys!

We did find a super sweet potential on Friday while we were contacting on Signal Hill (which we never do) since it’s super far away to walk or even bike to. But as we were walking the streets, I could see a woman walking with her three little kids, and I was impressed to go talk to her. I ignored the thought at first, but kept getting the impression to do it so we did. Turns out her name is P** and is super cool!  We had a really good contact with her and found out that she lives far away from us, but said she has all the time to listen to us but had to go at that moment. What ended up happening was we got her address and she said to come by anytime during the day!! Sweet! Maybe this could be the one who takes the steps necessary to be baptized! Who knows I hope so!  Also, we have been working very hard with the LA's in the ward and especially the T** family which have five boys.  We have been helping them read the B of M and try to start praying on their own, but man it is hard!  Video games, movies, music and all of the above just dominate their life which makes them not willing to do anything. We are being patient and are trying to help them as much as we can because in honesty they are solid guys they just need a little push.

Well, that's about all that happened this week for me! I wish I could say more about investigators or lessons we have been having, but honestly we just have been going through a really long dry spell and haven't been seeing the success like we would have hoped. But that doesn't mean to give up! The Lord has us go through trials so that we can gain experience and grow stronger for the trials we will have later on in life.  I'm doing okay so I don't want you to worry about me! The mission is good! I love it and I have learned so much.  I am happy I decided to go and have no regrets.  I hope you all have an amazing week! My thoughts and prayers go to you all back home!!

Nos Vemos!!

Love, Elder Woffinden

The branch mission leader was Mr Olympian
in 1990.  You know how Ja loves a good work-out!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from high above the LA valley

Hola!!

Como estan?? It’s been such a long time since we last talked! Ha-ha since Thursday... but man it was so good to talk and see you all! You all look great and I can’t believe how much the grandkids have changed in these past 10.5 months!! I forgot to thank you all for the amazing Christmas you gave me here in CA with all the gifts and dulces you sent me!! It was a huge blessing and really helped me to feel more and more at home even when I’m not. This first Christmas away was hard for me but it was also a very good one! I can’t image how I could have spent it differently rather than here. Yeah the gifts and sweets, etc. are great, but I have truly grown to love serving people and helping them to find the pure love of Christ which is service and charity!

Best Christmas Present 

I already told you a little bit on Skype about what our Christmas plans were like but I wanted to tell the story again. So, the 23rd 24th and 25th were our caroling days!! It was all full of singing to members, less actives, investigators or anybody in the streets who wanted to be sung too.  Ha-ha. We had such a great time doing it! We have been practicing a lot of the songs since before Halloween so that we would sound like a really good singing group or something. Ha-ha and it was well worth the practice! We really helped people to feel the spirit of the Lord in their homes by singing Christmas carols and we could see how it helped them appreciate all that they have in life!

Candy and the Christmas toothbrush!!

One particular family was the R** family who didn't have anything for Christmas.  They didn't have a tree, no gifts or anything. So we decided to go to her house on the 24th to sing and even better a couple of missionaries had a small tree with ornaments and lights and also a couple of stockings full of candy and other small prizes. We arrived at her house completely to her surprise, and her reaction to us bring these small little gifts was something I will remember for the rest of my life. It was pure joy! We could tell that as a single mother with two girls she was depressed that she couldn't give them a better Christmas.  One thing I have learned since being out here is that Christmas isn't about all the material items or the music etc, it’s about being with family and friends and realizing all that we do have rather than what we don't have. Well as we sang a couple songs to her she just started to cry and man I can’t describe how good it felt, but it was one of the top moments of my mission and maybe even my life. I have always been a selfish guy, but I have realized that there is so much more to life than our own passions, desires, and needs and that is focusing on others.

Well, that's how we spent our Christmas mostly! Other than singing we just played basketball and just hung out and played games as a zone at the church which was alright, but nothing too exciting.  It was a good holiday season for sure even despite all the hard times and unsuccessful times I have been having with the work at this time.  It all turned out great!

Kobe Bryant burger from MVP Restaurant!  Yes, he is still a fan!

We have a lot of work to do here and it’s very fitting that the year is coming to an end so we can start off fresh and work on our new personal goals for the upcoming year!

On Saturday, Elders T** and P** had a baptism that we went to and it was great!! I haven’t been to a baptism or seen one in over 3 months so it was nice.  The branch is doing good and it’s slowly progressing. It’s hard work out here especially having to ask members to do their home teaching!! We have soooo many less actives in the branch because they don't feel "loved" or welcome so it’s a tug-o-war trying to get the members to step up and get others to church. However it is moving along.

Well that's pretty much about it for me this week! Not a whole lot happened since Christmas, but hope all is well back home and everybody has a great week! Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Woffinden

Whose idea was it to wear this Santa hat?  Hmm. sounds like a mother thing!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Box Arrived!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Hey, what’s up family and friends? How’s everything going? What are everyone’s plans for Christmas? Thanks for the email today, I really enjoyed hearing from all of you. This month has been flying by for me! It’s already the December 22^nd, wow! A lot has happened here.

Nothing like Christmas Pringles and deodorant.

Ooops. Sorry mom, I forgot the Santa hat!

To start, Elder A and I had a pretty good and eventful week here in LB. I already told you about the visiting General Authority on Monday and Tuesday which was great!  As a district we have really found ways to have fun together! Half of my district goes home on January 13^th, so they are all pretty trunky and are really excited and nervous about going home, so we have been doing all sorts of fun things together for their "lasts" of everything. On P-day this past week we decided to invent a new game, haha. So we were at the church playing sports and decided to do something different for a change. A couple of missionaries had Nerf guns and a random flashlight for some reason, so we decided to play Zombie tag. haha! It was the funniest and most fun thing I have ever done! It was so crazy and was actually scary, haha. There were times when Elder C and I were the only humans left alive, everyone else was a zombie and we were hiding. It was a blast! Don’t worry, the chapel was off limits so we weren't too crazy, and we cleaned up so it was all good! But, we were trying to have some fun and blow off some steam because we’re all really stressed about our areas and investigators right now, so it was a good break for us. 

I love getting stuff from home.

This week we had a lot of good lessons and success! We actually also had a miracle story that happened on Saturday night. There is a family in our area that is super inactive, and honestly, the whole 4 months I have been here, I haven’t even seen them one time, except their son! They have ALWAYS ignored us. It wasn’t until we didn’t have anything to do Saturday night while we were walking that we received a call from the hermana saying, “I need you to come to my house right now!” We were stunned, but we visited the family and it turns out she wants to come back to church. She has really been having a hard time in life. Her husband decided to chase after his ex-girlfriend and just grabbed his things and left her and her kids, so sadly she is in a mess. But, we talked to her and helped the best we could and she even came to church! Whoo!!

Loving the 12 Days of Christmas!

Also this week we had a really crazy lesson with a girl named C on Friday. We were in the middle of a lesson on the Plan of Salvation when we heard a load thumping on the door. She got up to answer the door when all of a sudden; these cops came into the house looking for her roommate for some reason! I don't know why they were there, but the police stayed for like 40 minutes and so did we. haha. We just looked like fools sitting on the couch, not knowing whether we should leave or stay. Personally, I wanted to stay to see what happened, haha. Long story short, the lesson was a disaster, but hopefully we will get a second chance to teach her! 

Presents from the "Sisterhood." Scriptures are required to guess what it is.

As for investigators, Elder A and I have been doing a lot of thinking about the area and our investigators and we decided if nobody came to church last Sunday after doing all we could to get them there, we would just drop everyone and start fresh. AND.... that's exactly what happened. We went by everyone’s house Sunday morning, and even missed the second hour of church waiting at the bus stop for an investigator who never showed up, so sadly, we dropped them all and now we don't really have anything set to do anymore. However, this is good because we can now focus on finding! Since we don't have anyone, I'm positive God will see we are in need of people to teach and will provide us with success. 

This last Sunday at church all the missionaries sang "Noche de Luz" during Sacrament Meeting, and it was amazing! We have been working on it for like two months to make it "barbershop quartet" quality, haha. The members loved it! 

Elder C's going home. I'm going to miss this guy.

Well, that pretty much sums up my week. But, as for Christmas, I am so excited to see you all! I am going to Skype home sometime between 1:00-3:00 pm. I will call first to let you know to be ready. I hope it works and goes well. I can’t wait to hear and see you all!! Love you!! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Woffinden 

Christmas is Around the Corner!

Merry Christmas from the Mission

What’s up family!!! Hey wow I received the packages this past week they were awesome!! Thanks so much for all the hard work and time put into them! I love them. It was funny because some Elders were all like "man you get mail every week! Ha-ha so thank you!  But I’m glad you received my Christmas card! I still need to send out a lot because I don’t have addresses so I might send them home and then have you mail them. I made that at Walgreens! Super easy took like 5 min since that’s all the time I had, but I’m glad you liked it.  Tell Janell and the Berry family that they are in my prayers and the prayers of the LB missionaries.  Our love and prayers go out to them.

Also to Elder Pecht or "Bubba" now! Ha-ha I am sorry I couldn’t make it to your departure fireside on Sunday!  I did all that I could to get an investigator to come but it just didn’t happen. But I love ya and I am going to miss you here in LB!! It was amazing to serve with you here in the same zone! Until next year!!

Rain, rain go away!

Okay well another week down.  It is crazy how Christmas is next week I can’t believe it!  Ha-ha I will admit it is nice not having to worry about gifts or wrapping anything. It’s a good break. But receiving the package from y’all was awesome it has made every morning or night really fun and exciting looking through scriptures and guessing what it is.  Ha-ha.  This past week has been a really good one!! We had a lot of great things happen this week. I just pray I can remember them all or at least explain it well.  To start, it has been really cold here! I know not like back home, but I have turned into the biggest wuss out here being used to 80s all the time so the slightest cold wind or rain just rocks me and we have been getting pounded with rain this week. A couple nights ago we had what I thought was a hurricane outside at like 3 am it was coming down harder than I have ever experienced.  The palm trees were snapping and things were flying all over the place so we both decided to just stay up and study from 3 am -6:30 since we both couldn’t fall back asleep.

Here I am, in the rain pulling the sympathy card.

Working in the rain has turned into something I love to do!  It’s a ton of fun and I just like trying to pull the sympathy card on people to try to get new investigators! Sadly... doesn’t work!

As for our investigators, this week was a hard one. We had to drop V** on Friday night. We hadn’t seen him all week and so we decided that we needed to go see if he was home.  We walked to his house and sure enough his gate was locked like always, but two minutes later we see these two hammered drunk guys walking down the street towards us.  I was all "ugh that’s V**, I know it" and sure enough it was him.  There was beer all over him and three more beers in his hoodie so we stopped him and asked him what was going on. Long story short, and a small feud between his JW friend and we told him we couldn’t come by anymore and he agreed sadly. It was really hard for me because I really love his family! They are all so awesome!  Temptations and friends sometimes can change people to where they won’t take the steps necessary to change.  Hopefully, he will in the future.

Feeling the holiday spirit decorating a member's tree. 

Our own Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

D** is doing awesome! Of course she didn’t wake up for church last Sunday even when we were begging her mom to wake her up at the door.  So her baptism isn’t going to happen for Elder A** and I before the end of the year.  I am very disappointed, and we were really set on reaching this goal!  I guess it wasn’t my "lot" to get one this year. I know that numbers shouldn’t count, but it’s hard when we get attached to people and to the goals you set and pray for, and when you don’t achieve them it’s very hard to cope with. But we’re alright now just need to move on and keep working towards their progression! We have had some small little blessings this week with finding people to teach when we didn’t have a lot going on so I have a lot to be grateful for!

Our halls are decked!

Yesterday we had the privilege to have a member from the 70 come and speak to us along with President Tew! It was Elder David Baxter from SCOTLAND!!!! (I said that in my accent and I have gotten real good at) ha-ha. It was so good! First off he is hilarious! He was cracking jokes left and right and was just a really good speaker. We had the meeting go from 10-4 so it was really long but wow the spirit was indescribable! I have no doubt in my mind that President Ryan M. Tew will be either a 70 or an Apostle someday! Just watch and see! His testimony and knowledge of the Gospel and love for the Savior is out of this world! I love that man. But anyways it was awesome!

Well that sums up my week! Christmas is next week and I am so excited to see and talk to you all!! I hope you have a great holiday season and may God bless all of you and know that I am grateful for your love and support in my life!

Hasta Luego!!

Mucho Carino,

Elder Woffinden

Merry Christmas from, the Great Pumpkin (?)