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Koriann,

To answer your question, Patrick was pretty much our very first investigator in Hesperia! It's funny because I thought he wasn't gonna last much longer, but it just goes to show people take time. I'm excited for him. I probably won't be able to attend the baptism, but that's alright, Alta Loma has work to be done!

I agree completely about Dad's statement. Mom's are so frantic, it's quite funny actually. I hear that one of the mom's posted a picture of Elder Boltz and I. That's the Alta Loma elders at their finest!

Alta Loma. Man, the work here is super cool. I have 4 significant things to share.

1) We've been teaching Martha Fitisemanu for 4.5 months now. She sang in the stake choir actually! But she's making insane progress! Missionaries have been working with her for quite some time actually, and last week when we were debating what to share, I could not stop being pulled back to Eternal Marriage. So when we presented the lesson, we'd gone on for about an hour. We had an appointment that night, but I just felt like we couldn't leave their house quite yet. We talked about temples, and basically, Martha Fitisemanu finally said that she will be ready for baptism by the Spring of 2015 (: I can't tell you how ecstatic I was about the whole thing!!!! She is so so great and I adore her so much and am happy that she recognizes this as something she needs to do considering she wants to get married in the temple.

2) We taught Gabby this week and we had a super solid lesson with her.

3) The Long's are a recent part member family we started teaching. His wife wants to be baptized because she's so drawn to the church through her husband. They're great people. And they have 2 dachshunds! One is so fat though haha! But we're pretty much starting from the beginning with them, because she has a very slim knowledge of Jesus Christ. What a great opportunity to basically start the roots of a relationship for her with Him! It's never too late that's for sure.

4) I've been learning Spanish for kicks and it actually got us a new investigator! Her name is Ida and she even invited us over for her Labor day party on Sunday! Who knew my Spanish could get us a new investigator ha! Part of me wants to be a spanish missionary, but we'll see.

So yeah, our week was awesome. It was Labor day weekend though, so Friday-Monday we didn't teach a single lesson! it was rough because not many people wanted to talk to us, nor were they around to talk, but that's alright, all that happened within 4 days ha, so I can't complain!

I loved your story about the dinosaurs, oh man. That sounds so much like Brighton. Man, that kid is too cute. Keep doing family home evening; it's even a commandment to do it! We're definitely gonna start that back up when I get back home.

Also, my Up Up was Martha's commitment to be baptized in the near future. That was absolutely surreal to me to see how much she has progressed within my time in Alta Loma. And my Down Down was that this weekend was a holiday weekend and it made it tough to be diligent. As the district leader, I keep in contact with 2 other companionships and pretty much offer to help in any way I can, stay updated with their investigators and give trainings every Tuesday. It's going well, I kinda like it! so yeah, things are great here. I love you and am always thrilled to hear from you. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Bennion