The mission continues to be both a delight and a challenge.

The mission continues to be both a delight and a challenge. I know the Lord puts us in uncomfortable situations (in a good way) for our benefit and he's proved that to me a lot these past 2 weeks! My new companion and I get a chance to do a lot more finding. It's pretty self explanatory that in a Tongan ward we look for Tongans to teach, but because all Tongans know each other (especially in the high desert since there isn't a huge amount of them), a lot of our work is looking for people in other missionaries' areas and passing them off to the correct work if they do show interest in meeting with missionaries. The work in our ward has slowed down since our investigators all were baptized, so I have a handful of stories where the Lord has really given me no other option than to put faith in the Savior and do things that are hard. Each time something great has resulted though, which is so nuts to see happen. In the ward we get fed a lot and I was having the worst stomach pains but I didn't want to stop working, so I prayed to feel better so I can keep working and it was as though instantly I felt better and motivated to work. That night, all our plans went wacky and it was 8:00 and we had no idea what to do, so we prayed and told the Lord we were going to knock on 5 doors and call it good. Victorville is kinda sketchy that late, so people don't tend to answer their doors, but the 5th and last door we knocked on led us to a couple that the Lord knew we were determined to find. They were a young couple who said they were conveniently searching for a new church to go to (: It was really cool! Miracles are everywhere, you just have to show the lord your faith. And when you think about it: what does faith look like? It looks like action! so I was very excited that the Lord blessed us with that opportunity (:

We've had a lot of meetings recently that has occupied our time because our mission is struggling in finding new people to teach so we've spent a bit of time in Rancho so not too many crazy things have happened, but regardless the chance to serve is more than I could ask for. I know that there are tough moments out here, but I know that I'm closest to the Lord now than I ever will be and that's so comforting to me to know. I would say something that the mission has taught me is that through Christ, we can do hard things, because he did the hardest of them all. What an incredible man he is. We met someone at the laundromat today who left the church and right now he is so incredibly bitter toward God and he said that Christ wasn't anything more than a good man, and I can tell you right now that if Christ was an average person, never would his name have carried over from generation to generation. His name would've dissolved in a matter of years, but because he accomplished the unthinkable, the unimaginable, time itself revolves around our Redeemer. I know that Christ is the reason why we live and that the God who loves us more than anything was willing to give him to us. The most alarming thing to me is that God sent His Son to people who don't even love Him or His Son. His love is unfathomable and never beyond our reach; even to those who deny his divinity.

I love the Lord's work and I love the people in California. I'm so lucky that Tongans have an operating ward that they worship in because I am just so fortunate to know them and call them my eternal friends. I know that my patriarchal blessings refers to them when it's in that context in my blessing. It would be uncalled for and unnecessary to ask for anything more from the Lord because of so fully He has blessed me in His work. I am blessed abundantly as I press on in the work of the Lord. I know He understands the sacrifices we make in order for us to qualify for eternal life and one day, we will we be back in His embrace and His gospel and His Son are the road paved to that glorious victory. I love you all dearly and pray for your well-being and protection each and every day. Take care! (: