January 7, 2013

HOLA!!!!!

 

I AM GETTING TRANSFERED!!!!! Man our area was finally starting to get some solid investigators and now I am leaving! I dont know where I am going yet, but I will find out tomorrow. I guess you will have to wait 1 more week until you find out where I am going haha. Wait just send the package to the office and I will get it faster.

 

I didn't really do anything for my 6 months, but I did have a really good day. We picked up 4 new investigators (a family) and kind of got through to our less actives. Overall we had a really good week. We went over our goals on everything except church attendance (as usual). It is crazy how I am leaving though. I can't believe that it has been 4 months here in Reseda and 6 months overall. Time has just flown by so fast! Don't worry I am still working hard no matter where I am. It's funny though because my companion will be training and he will be training somebody named Elder Garcia. The other brown kid (Moreno) is the new district leader haha. He doesn't want to be because he doesn't want to besuper strict to the rules haha.

 

It stinks that the week was bad. Everybody out here is getting sick too. My companion got sick but thankfully I haven't. Especially since he doesn't know how to cover his mouth. Pero ya me voy!!! haha But it sounds like Dinner was funny. There was a member who made a "Moreno" joke too. An investigator walked in and said his name was something Moreno. The member looked at him and said "Yo soy Moreno tambien, pero no de apellido" man when he said that I died in class haha. I tell ya these Mexicans! what? haha. Sacrament sounded interesting haha. Ours was good. The guy who reminds me of John/Lucy gets up every Sunday and he always makes us laugh.

 

 Well I think that is it for this week Mom. LOVE YOU!!! and take care of everybody

 

Elder Ruelas

December 31, 2012

Hey Mom!

Well this week was super good. Still nobody getting baptized but I have never felt so happy like this week. One of my goals was just to be a good example to the youth since I grew up with a ton of JOKES as missionaries. Well yesterday this guy who is my age told us that now he is thinking a lot about going on a mission. Before I got here he would never even go with the missionaries. This other kid who always comes out with us, straight up told us that he loves coming out with us and thanked us for being a good example to him. This family where the husband is a member and the wife is an investigator wanted us to tell their daughter the best parts about being a missionary. They don't ask the sister missionaries haha.... Then Sunday we had my first investigators come to church!!!! They didn't stay for Sacrament meeting,  but I was just happy that they came!!! It felt good haha. Plus the hermanas had their baptism and everything went well. Otherwise that was all for this week.

Looks like Molly was having a good time at Christmas haha. Don't worry I am fine here.

What gifts are you talking about? I got the sweatshirt and the sweats but if there was something else then no. Sorry but nothing happened this week. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Ruelas

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I like Isabels Santa outfit haha

December 17, 2012

Hey Mom!!!

Yes I got the Shutterfly picture book. I loved it!. I love the faces Isabel makes. When she is holding her toy and when Bryan is holding her. 

Ya Christmas will be pretty weird. We have dinner on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but on Christmas day we still have to work. Weird but we were challenged to do it. We are probably going to call in the morning but I don't know what time. Christmas Eve is a P-Day so we aren't working haha. Either way I don't want to be stuck in the appartment with my companion for any longer than I have to. I got 3 more weeks with the guy and I hope one of us is leaving. 

Don't worry I am fine. Just like I told you before my mission I have the best body guard on my side. Plus anyway the World is going to end on the 21st haha. I just saw something for the first time today about that.

Well this week was really long. This was by far the longest week I have had on my mission, but we did get a lot of lessons in. I believe we got 12 lessons in this week which is by far the most I have taught in one week. One of them I was really upset about afterwards though. It was my turn to start talking and I choked. And it was about my favorite subject, the Atonement. I love teaching about the Atonement and I had no clue what to say. I made sure to study more about the Atonement the next day because I do not want that to happen again. Other than that my week was good but a boring week. Oh ya I had like the 24 hour flu yesterday or something. I had never felt so bad before, but I feel perfectly fine right now.

No I didn't get any shopping done. It turned into a backpack hunt for my companion. He took the entire time and then returned it today because he wasn't happy with it. Today though, this other Elder and I are making him go to the sneaker stores with us but otherwise we probably aren't going to go anywhere. I still want to go to the swap meet but it is really far away. 

I just remembered something crazy that happened this week. We had to take an Elder to the hospital like at midnight on Saturday night. He had really bad stomach pains and was throwing up really bad. It was a crazy experience. Don't worry though, I am fine.

Love you mom!!!!! I'll call you in like a week haha!

Elder Ruelas

December 10, 2012

Whats up Mama

Yes I have been out for 23 weeks. I had to double check. I still can't believe it! That is good that ya'll are staying home and cooking. That is all I get and I love it. Every once and a while we will go out to eat. We have this Barbecue place that we like to go to and we went last Monday. Otherwise we only go to In&Out when we don't have a dinner and we don't want to cook at night.

Ya I would like my winter coat. I don't know what is going to happen this next transfer. I could leave the valley and go to the desert or just stay here. ANYTHING could happen haha. Inside joke. Ya I'll take gift cards. I honestly don't know to where though. Like I said, we don't go out to eat and we don't go shopping much. I guess a finish line gift card........haha.....what? If you could though, can I get like one sweatshirt and a pair of sweats.

That is funny about Maxine. I could picture her saying that too! That is good that Lucy is helping out Angelica and Bryan. Tell her to say Frijoles and sofa for me haha. Tell her I will be back when she can say those 2 words right.

I like that scripture you told me about. I found one that I really like as well. I don't know it off the top of my head but it is in 1st Nephi and it is where they talk about the Condesencion of God. It is in Nephi's vision about the life of Christ. I really had to study that scripture out. The way I see it, the chapter isn't about Christ. It is about God. I'll let you figure it out lol.

I did get your Christmas Card. I like the little add in about Isabel.

Well Mom this week was great. Honestly though I dont have a lot of time to tell you about it though. This is the 1st day we have to go shopping at the mall and we have about an hour.

I love you Mom,

Elder Ruelas

P.S. I dont miss you either. Take care of the family mom and have a good week of work. Also I guess I am starting to get some white hairs!!!! Crazy huh. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 4, 2012

Hola Mama!

Wow that is scary about everything that happened at Procter & Gamble.

This week was a pretty good week. Except for that I had THE worst case of Diarrhea ever. I couldn't go out that day because I was going every 20-30 minutes. Ha ha just what you want to hear. Well I am staying with my companion Elder Hudson. Lets just say, pray that I can have patience. We worked hard though. We taught the most lessons since I have been here. On Sunday they told us that if the church attendance keeps on dropping like it has been, there won't be a Reseda 4th ward. It stinks because I really love my ward. This testimony meeting was great. It was awesome to hear such strong testimonies from Latinos. I was trying to fight back tears the entire hour because it got to me that bad. Elder Hudson and I aren't about to let the ward collapse though. We are working a lot with our less actives and especially the youth. We took this guy, Freddie, with us to a lesson and it was amazing from what I heard. Freddie hasn't been to church in a while. We also took his mom, who is an amazing member by the way, to a lesson with us and she connected really well with the investigator. When she bore her testimony I was in awe. It was just a really good atmosphere.

Ya right like I'm not going to buy shoes. What else am I going to get. I get ties at the 99 cent store or thrift stores now. My shirts and pants are still good. Anyways I can't skype. We can, but there aren't a lot of people who have skype in my ward. I don't even think that they have internet. Plus we can only call 1 time unless our parents are divorced. And the calls have to be 30-40 minutes. That will probably be the rule that I break. And I will probably call on Christmas day just because there won't be much to do that day. Christmas Eve is our P-Day and we have dinner at a members house.

Ya I wouldn't send me clothes unless it is ties, pants, White shirts, garments, or shoes; Ha ha. Other than that at night, service, or sports are when I wear t-shirts and shorts. It is a rule that we are supposed to be in our church clothes everyday. As far as I know I am the same size. We don't have a scale. But get this, yesterday we had Elder Don R. Clark from the 70 come and talk to us. He wanted to shake everybody's hand and when it was my turn, I say my name and where I am from. He says nice to meet you and then taps my stomach and says looks like you get fed well all in Spanish. I was speechless. At first I was mad but then I laughed about it because he said to an Elder in my District infront of everybody. So ya I don't know if I have gained or lost weight. I mean I hope I have lost weight, Ha ha.

Ya I walked into one of my favorite families house and they have their Christmas decorations up and I started to miss home. We shared a good Christmas message with them though so it was all good. Shoot I hope I get stuff from the members. That would be awesome. Tell Sister Hulen and Bishop Clove I am sorry I haven't written them a letter back yet. I have been super busy on P-Days. We have very little time and it doesn't help that in the mornings we are doing our studies now. Its a rule so we are following it. I did learn a ton from my studies this morning. I got more out of the 1st 2 chapters of Nefi that I have ever before. But ya I'm not sure If I will even get a letter out for Dad and Angelica today because we still have to go and get stuff done.

Love you and good luck at work this week. Take care of the family and tell everybody I love them. And tell Dad he still needs to tell me how he goes about talking to people for as long as he does. I run out of things to say to people on the streets. If I already know them I can talk for days, but a new person is what I am struggling with. Anyways again I love you mom!!!

Elder Ruelas

I dont miss you either

November 26, 2012

Hey Mom!

 

It is good to hear that you had a good time in Texas. When you said that you and dad went to eat at the  Marriotte I got a little jealous haha. Well this week was pretty fun. Monday nothing really happened and the same with Tueday but Wednesday was a fun day. We helped this lady move A LOT of stuff into a truck to take to the swap meet. It is all good though because every Monday she gives us food, and a lot of it. After that we had a lesson with this guy that we found knocking. He is a cool guy that is pretty religious. We were walking there though when this lady (Black) says to us, "Hey are you guys going to the strip club."  My companion says "no" we are going to the opposite. And of couse my first thought is don't say that! She is going to turn it around on us and be like OH you guys are going to the chip and dales. Anyway, she tried telling us that missionaries tried to go over to her mom's house . She said that they couldn't convert the missionaries though. DUH!!! Your church isn't true! We just kept walking. 

We get to our appointment and it is going well. This week it was my job to ask people to be baptized, so I asked him and he said ya. He didn't get the whole Priesthood thing though so we had to explain that to him. We also had to explain that even after he gets baptized, he still has to come to church. I had no clue what to say to the guy. I don't think that we explained it very well, but luckily we have a return appointment for tomorrow. I have thought a lot about what to say to him and I finally figured it out. It's annoying that I can't think of the things to say to them in the moment. That happened to me again after that because we went and taught these 2 guys who are 15 and 17. We asked them to be baptized and again I had no clue what to say to them. Luckily my companions were there and talked to them. They didn't commit, but I felt better about them than with the other guy. 

Oh yea I also got dragged into the Choir, so I will be singing. And also on Tuesday, I finished the Book of Mormon!!!! I read it for 12 weeks and read it cover to cover. Before I never read the Testimonies but that is included. Now I am reading the New Testament. Thanksgiving was fun. We didn't get much done but we did what we needed to. We found this lady who's husband died less than a year ago and it was her first holiday season without him, so we decided to make her cookies and take them over to her. She wasn't there but we are going to see tonight if she got them or not because we left them in front of her door. The thing that stinks is that she speaks English so we can't teach her. The good thing is that we are going over tonight to introduce her to the English sisters and she also has a roomate who speaks Spanish that we are going to try to teach again tonight. Back to Thursday, we planned for this week then went to dinner. Man, Hermana Garcia can cook!!! She also loaded up my plate with food but nobody elses so I ate more than everyone else. She cooked Turkey but Mexican style, Jamon, Sphaghetti, Salsa. IT was good! The other Elders made Cheese cake  and some bread thing and I made cookies. Her family was impressed. It was kind of wierd because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving so the guys were watching soccer, the girls were in their room, and the Hermana sat with us. It was nice that she ate with us though, because she never does. Her older son came over with his friends and they were drunk, but they were scared of us or Hermana Garcia. Nobody messes with her haha. But I have never heard Guey used so much. "Hey guey!" "Que guey?" "Ven pa qua guey" "Porque guey?" "No mas guey" "Ok guey." I gave up listening to them after that. It was fun though. Finally everybody started to eat and everybody was impressed with the desserts we brought. 

Friday I was Zone Leader for the day. One of them got called to be Assistant to the President so they took him to the temple with all the missionaries that are leaving. Saturday was a service day. We helped the Hermano put sod down and that took a lot longer than expected. We helped him from 9 to 3:30 P.M. Lets just say that my whole body is sore. It is all good though because that guy knows how to cook and he cooked us breakfast and lunch. Sunday was a crazy day. We go to church and during sacrament meeting I get a txt from the other Elders saying that this Elder from another area is there. He has 3 days left on his mission and his parents are helping him break the rules. He has a phone and is hugging all of these girls and I am thinking to myself "WOW" this guy is suppose to be this great missionary who has had a ton of baptisms and is suppose to be a good example to the new missionaries. Then the sister missionaries had a baptism which was really nice so that made up for what happened at church.

I found out that I am staying here with one of my companions and the other one is leaving. We still have no clue who is the new district leader. We should be getting a call sometime today.

Well that was my week. It was good to hear that you made it back home safely and that you had a good time in Texas. Eventhough it sounds like a pretty crazy time. Love you mom and take care!

 

Elder Ruelas

November 19, 2012

Hey Mom!

Not gonna lie, I wish I was in Texas with you guys.

I would Love letters from everybody. It would be sweet to hear how everybody in Texas is doing. It is good to hear that Gabriels son is talking. (How is his daughter? IDK if that is a touchy subject or not.) So you didn't find anything for me then? Dang, with my comps we never get to go shopping on P-Day. Everything is rushed because they don't know how to hurry and not waste time. Oh well. I just want to go to the swap meet and I will be happy. They are telling me that it is huge and in-doors. Just like in Chicago.

They sound like good missionaries if they actually helped out my Tio. I have heard of some really lazy missionaries here. Lets just say that if I get them as comps, I'm gonna push them. Tell Paulina to send me some money since she won Lotteria haha. She owes me for being nice to her last year lol. Yes I have dinner on Thanksgiving. It is Hermana Garcia. We just call her Hermanita. We might even get 2 dinners depending on what time we have it with Hermanita. Our recent convert wants us over. Hermanita always makes the best food and stuffs our faces so IDK if I will have room for 2 dinners.

Ya I heard Breaking Dawn pt. 2 was good. There is another missionary here who likes it and it just so happenes to be the other Brown guy in our district haha. That will be the 1st movie we watch together when I get back.

Man this week was really good. We are starting to find some better potentials to teach. We shared the Book of Mormon with this kid. At first we were talking to his cousin to see if his Brother-in-Law was there (he is never there). Then the kid (Eric) started to ask us what we do. Of course we explain, and keeps on asking more questions. So we keep on answering. We start to tell him about the Book of Mormon and I could see that he is getting more and more interested. So I mention my favorite point to bring up. It is the fact that the Book of Mormon is a record of my heritage, along with anyone else who is from Latin America. Eric is getting more and more impressed and asks what kind of stuff is in it, so we tell him "Stories about wars, God, and so on." He thought about it for a quick second and actually said that he would like to read that book. I get super excited and just give him the book like it was my first time (it was my first time haha). It was really cool. The best thing that happened though was when we went back to that same place on Friday. Eric wasn't there but we taught his cousin Dandy and Alexis. It was a really good lesson, but I shared my testimony of the 1st vision and The Book of Mormon and I could just feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. I don't know why it was any different from any other time, but I could feel the Holy Ghost testifying to me that it is true. The thing that stunk though was that they and their mom didn't accept the invitation to be baptized. Oh well, I came out feeling good about the lesson because I knew that the Holy Ghost was there.

Well mom there isn't much else to say. Love you and have fun in Texas. Eat a lot for me. Yes I got dads beef Jerky. I haven't gotten your letter yet, but I will probably get it today.

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Ruelas

November 5, 2012

Whats up!!!!

Well this past week was another slow week. My companions both got sick so we stayed home to let them rest. I just want to get over these nerves that I have! But I guess I just have to wait. We did try to go out, but when we did nobody was home or nobody wanted to listen. When we had appointments, they cancelled. We are trying our best though. We are working on being exactly obedient. You know me and exact obedience haha. Well we are working towards it though. We read the mission manual every day for Companion Study and we found that even on P-day we have to study. Neither of us were happy but we did it. We are hoping though that we can get good solid people to teach that will follow through with commitments. I'm getting tired of having people give us these lame answers for why they couldn't do something. Dont worry I am being patient and humble though. I am just making this a learning experience and you know that I am laughing the entire time. Sorry I can't say that there were any crazy stories this week just because of everybody being sick. Honestly I just read the scriptures and this book called "Jesus The Christ." That is a really good book. That book really gets you thinking, plus it makes sense. Plus there are scripture references to back everything up. In the Book of Mormon I am already in 3 Nephi 9. I can't believe that I have been reading it so fast but I am happy because I am learning so much. Now all I have to do is copy my notes into my spanish scriptures haha.

 

I really liked the pictures. Especially the one of Isabel in her lion costume. Ya Halloween went like this for me. At 6, came home and we had to clean. We cleaned for about 2 hours then I worked out. then I went to bed. Pretty lame halloween but I can't complain. It was the first work out that I have gotten in who knows how long. We get 30 minutes to excersise in the morning and I have no time to do anything. After actually waking up, saying my prayers, and going to the bathroom, then actually waking up I have no time. I get what I can but it does nothing. That is funny how random people have heard Isabel's story! I think I am just going to send everybodies birthday present in one package. I am still waiting for yours and to get dad's done. So who knows how long that will take. I got Sister Hulens letter. I was cracking up the entire time because I kept on thinking that she wrote it to the wrong person. I couldn't read it at one point and I gave it to this other Elder who knows how to read cursive and he thought it was a young girl writing me. Ya it was funny overall but tell her thanks for the letter. Tell Angelica that I did write her back. IDK what she is talking about not getting a letter.

 

Are the Spanish Elders all new? That is awesome about Mario. Hopefully that goes well. Who is Sonya and Mr. Polman though? Anyways tell Alta CONGRAT!!! I stopped reading after JJ and was wondering why you were holding my cousin lol. I would like Brother Thraps address so I can write him and let him know how I am doing.

 

I don't think that I have said it yet but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also tell Josie I said HAPPY BIRTHDAY too.

 

I dont miss you either but I LOVE YOU!!!! I cant believe that I am already 4 month into the mission, but I will be back before you know it mom.

 

Elder Ruelas

 

PS I forgot to tell you that the lady who we baptized, her and her husband comitted to going to the temple to get married on November 9th of next year! I am super excited for them because I will get to come back and go see it happen. Plus your birthday will be on the Friday right before their wedding!

1st 2 pictures are of Pancho and Panchita. I'm gonna send them to Isabel. The 3rd picture is of my eye. We got bored on halloween night so we thought to take a picture of my eye. It looks pretty sweet!

 

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you about what happened today. We were washing laundry and this drunk guy came up to us and asked us if we were missionaries. Of course we said yes. He was homeless and an alcoholic, but after a while I could tell that he just wanted somebody to talk to. It was wierd though because I didn't say a single word to him for the first couple of minutes and he turns to me, stops, and says you remind me of Peter (the apostle). The entire conversation was him talking to us about how he was at war and he says that to me. I had no clue what to say. My companions gave him a Book of Mormon while I was getting my clothes and I guess he started to cry. We were about to drive away but he stopped us and asked us to sign it so he could show his daughter (he is divorced by the way) and tell her that we are the ones who gave him the book. This was all in Spanish but he was a really nice guy. It just goes to show how our Heavenly Father will send us to people who need us.

October 29, 2012

Hey mom!

It was good to hear about your week. Only 2 of the tv shows caught my attention and you know what 2 they were lol. But that is good to hear that Nate is back. Has he told any crazy stories yet?

The other night one of the Elders and I were talking about Gabriel Iglesias and laughing at all the jokes. Typical, it was the Mexican and the Ecuadorian that were laughing! Man that was a good ten minutes. I didnt even hear Gabriel Iglesias and I was still tearing up from laughing so hard! I'm not going to lie though, I am jealous that you got to go see him live. Just throwing it out there.

 We had stake conference on Sunday too. It was really good. We found out that my Bishop here got released and is now the 2nd councelor in the stake presidency. We also had Elder Whiting of the 70 and Elder Rhein come and speak. Everybody gave amazing talks. It was really nice to see a whole stake of spanish speakers. I hope the Spanish elders are pushing themselves in Iowa so there can at least be a Spanish branch.

Honestly, this past week was really hard. I was getting really mad because the investigators we have didn't want to be taught and we couldn't find anybody to teach. We pushed ourselves really hard and it felt like we weren't getting anywhere. I was getting down on myself thinking how the heck am I going to teach anybody here. Even though we have a big area, there aren't a lot of Spanish speakers. Plus the neighborhoods are mainly white, so even if we get in to teach them, we won't get to keep on teaching them. It was hard for all of us though. The 3 of us had a hard time. I got upset 1 day, then Elder Hudson got upset another, and then Elder Fullmer got upset a different day. Then we realized that we just need to suck it up! lol We were called to be here for a reason so that means that there is somebody we have to find. Maybe we found them or maybe we didn't, but all I know is that we worked hard this week. We knocked, talked to people on the street, offered service. We tried member referals but nobody was giving any. Plus nobody talks to their neighbors here. It is really wierd. We will talk to somebody at their door, they aren't interested so we ask if they know anybody around where they live that would and they say that they don't know their neighbors. It is insane. Yesterday we took this kid out who is our age. Freddie Ossorio is one of the coolest members out here. This Sunday was the 1st Sunday he had been to church in 2 months. I'm not sure if he is a strong member or not, but we talk to him on a weekly basis. His family feeds us every Monday. But we are working to get him excited and wanting to serve a mission. He has a brother on a mission and a sister who is about to come home from hers. We also went by this family that was considered in-active but aren't really. They were honestly busy for 2 or 3 weeks because each one of them got called into work. Idk what they do but they were there for stake conference. Their little son was hilarious. He is about 10 and he is the only boy in the family, so he liked having the missionaries over. My companions and I also got this member mad. She wasn't at church last Sunday because she was really sick and we didn't call her. But here is the thing, she lives in the other Elders area. We know her so she will be over it  and is just kind of joking around. We should have called her, but it also should have been the other Elders to go over. Other than that nothing much happened. We are just working hard to get new people to teach. We found some people that are potential investigators, but we just have to wait and see. Hopefully those people will be around this week and are willing to accept the Gospel. I have seen how it has really blessed peoples lives out here and I want that for every person I meet. I have met an alcholic who gave it all up and a family who was completly lost in life do a complete 180. It is honestly an amazing experience to see people change for the better because of the Gospel. Even though this past week was hard, I love doing this.

I love you mom!

Elder Ruelas

P.S. No im not buying a new coat. I might have to though if I ever get transfered to the Desert. It is really cold up there. Maybe you could send me my black nike jacket if I get transfered there. Otherwise everything is good here.

October 22

Hey Mom!

 

It is good to hear that everything is going good in Iowa! Sucks though about your job. I am starting to feel like I am getting the hang of it here. I feel like I am a lot more comfortable and not so nervous about talking to people. My companions really help me out, which makes me more comfortable to ask questions. I will be in this same area for at least 5 more weeks. Transfers happened on Thursday and the 2 new Elders that came to the Bike area (my old area) are really cool. Elder Shour and Jossie. From what I hear they are really good workers.

 

Make sure to tell Mason I said Happy Birthday. Aunt Gloria too. Tell dad that I won't be able to get him a present for a while. Today we didn't have much time to go shopping because we went to go play soccer today and that really messed up the day. Plus with the missionaries living 2 miles away, driving to pick them up takes a while. Tell him I said Happy Birthday too! I'll write him today if I can. Plus if you know of any places that could engrave on a hard cover book let me know. There is a place here that could do it but it is out of our area and is a pretty good 45 min drive.

We watch the district a lot here. We watch it to get ideas on how we can teach. Spanish and English work are a lot different though. There is no doubt about it, we take what we think might work and try it out for the day. Here it has been a little hard to get new investigators. They probably think we are immigration. From watching the district though we figured something out. The baptisms were the people who were referred by members except for 1. So we are working a lot with members so they trust us to give us addresses.

Speaking of investigators. Friday was starting out as a really good day. We went to district meeting and then went to this Hermana's house for lunch. We call her Hermanita and she knows how to cook really well. She is without a doubt one of my favorite people I have met here so far, I really like everybody. Anyways, after that we go to our best investigators house she has her interview for baptism and PASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll talk about her later. After that we went to this kids house to try to teach him. We know that he is an Athiest, but he tells us that he is willing to work to see if God exists. This is our 3rd time teaching him. We are in the lesson and he basically tells us that God doesn't exist because there are contradictions in the Bible. He thinks that the Bible was created by man so that they could control people and he wants proof to prove that it is a book of God. I want to tell him to read the Book of Mormon because that is proof that you can hold in your hands. Then my companion shares his testimony that he knows God exists and this kid is like "I believe you believe in God." Oh man!! Dont worry I did not say a single thing in that lesson, but my companion said again "WE KNOW that God exists." He shut up after that and we ended with a prayer. We even explained to him that the Bible has been translated many times and that the Book of Mormon clarifies things. We know that he was even looking things up online to try to stump us. Anyways after we left, this little kid comes up to the fence and saw that we were with a church and says "I'm Satan! Hail Satan." I just kept my mouth shut and kept walking because I know I would have gotten sent home for saying some words to that kid. lol. Don't worry it is common to hear Hail Satan and 666 and all this dumb stuff. I have heard it a lot of times and nothing ever happens, lol. But after that happened we went to this Part member/ Less active family to try to teach the kids who aren't members. Again the girl says "I believe in science. I want proof." That night I was upset! I'm over it though. I look back and laugh for how I was feeling.

 

Back to the baptism. It is this lady who's records were lost. She is from Honduras and is here (legally) and her husband got baptized about 4 months ago. I absolutely love that family. Hugo and Suyapa Arce. They have a daughter named Bridgett and a son named Blake. Hugo also has a son who is 17 from another marriage named Jonathan. All of them are Strong members, except Jonathan. We are really working with Jonathan to get baptized just because it would be great to see his dad baptize him. Jonathan kind of fights it but we aren't about to let him win, lol. Anyways Suyapa is awesome. She kept on forgetting that she "wasn't" a member at church so she would sign up to come out with the missionaries to teach. Technically she can't because she is really a member.

 

Yes I got the box. Thank you and thank you for the pictures. My scrapbook that I brought with me has turned into nothing but pictures of Isabel. I talk about her any chance I get! I even talked about her when I gave a chasity lesson in Gospel Principles. And yes that was my first time giving the Chasity lesson. Overall it was a really good lesson though.

 

That is probably it though for this week. Nothing too big happened this week except for the baptism. Anyways I love you mom and it is always good to hear from you. Keep taking care of the family and tell dad I said Happy Birthday. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Elder Ruelas

October 8, 2012

 We actually have the district DVD's. It is a reference  for when we don't know what to do. That is awesome about my Tio Humberto! I wish he had come to speak to us when I was in High School. We just had lame speakers haha. Honestly this week has been super lame. One of my companions got really sick and was throwing up all day. We ended up staying home for 2 days to help him recover. One of our really good investigators has been MIA! It is really annoying. That got to me this week because these people aren't keeping commitments and they don't show up for appointments. Since we cover such a large area, it kills our time when we have to drive so far.
 Ya that was insane about the age drops! My other Elders brother told him that in his freshman ward at BYU, all the girls are now talking to their bishops. Personally I don't get why parents would be mad about it. I know I wasn't ready to go when I was 18 but it is really great. I could really see the mission grow. The entire confrence was awesome though. I watched every single session and I thought it was awesome. I really liked Elder Hollands talk, well I was pretty much a fan of all of them. I am going to write you a letter though to tell you more.
Honestly like I said mom this week has been really slow but we plan on going hard this week. Nothing much happened except for conference. I am still in a car. Transfers are coming up in a week so one of the other 2 Elders might be moving. Yes I get to shop on P-day. Today I actually bought a pair of shoes with my debit card. I was tempted to get another and say it was my Christmas present haha. I am still waiting to go to the swap meet though. I want to find everybody some Cali shirts. I got dad a BOM and I want to get his name engraved on it. I'm not sure if I will be able to get it done though. But to be honest I have no clue about what to get him. Sorry about not sending pictures. I honestly haven't taken that much. Oh and also just incase anybody has told you that they have sent me letters, There is a chance that I havent gotten them.... The mail man decided to start putting the mail in between the adds and we throw them away. The last letter I got was from Angelica around the 20th. I never did get the pictures of Isabel in the Jordans. I got the letters from Relief Society. Tell everybody I said thank you. IDK if I will send letters back though because there were no addresses. Also tell Tia Ana thanks for her letter. Oh yeah we do have a baptism coming up this Sunday!!!! I will send pictures of that. It is a part member family. The dad and the daughter are members and we are teaching the mom and the son. The son is tricky. He is 18 and is probably not that interested but last night we talked with his dad and he said that his son read!!!! Keeping commitments is a good sign!!!!!

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

Elder Ruelas

October 1, 2012

Haha I love the pictures. Sorry I don't have a lot of time. We had to help the sister missionaries move into a new apartment all morning and had a ton of stuff to do afterwards. So there is only 30 minutes till the library closes and I HAVE to write my President. Everything is great. I bought a helmet from target and light was from a local bike shop. I get $145 a month and yes they did give me a debit card. I have no problems budgeting.
I am still with these 2 elders. Most likely till the end of the Transfer which stinks because it is really fun. We get along really well, but the president told me that he doesn't like trios. We do get a lot of work done. We are finding and teaching people really well. Our best investigator has been acting really wierd lately though. She has had to cancel 2 of the last 3 appointments and hasn't been going to church.
Speaking of church, this past sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting since next week is General conference. It was really good. This lady who is not a member, but her husband is, got up and was talking and from what she said it sounds like she is getting closer to having the desire to get baptized. They had a son who was born premature and there wasn't really a good chance he would live past a month. Well it has been 3 months since he was born and it looks like she is seeing the hand of God in her life. We had the first false address given to us this past week. It might work out for the best because even  though it was in the richer part of town, the guy who answered the door speaks Spanish and told us we can come back. I also heard one of the saddest things since I have been here. We knocked on this door and this girl opened the door. She had a kid and she had a ring on her finger. So we started to ask her if she would want to live with her family forever. Most people say yes but she said no. I wanted to smack this girl and take away her free agency. Well I have to write my president mom. Sorry this was short, but nothing really happened this past week. Plus you know I would write you more. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I got the package. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
ELDER RUELAS

September 17, 2012

Mom,
Everything made it here safely. I have already finished 2 of the 3 packs of beef jerkey. Everybody loved it. Honestly mom, the area that I am in right now you have no reason to worry. Everybody is really friendly and if they don't want to talk, they just don't talk. You walk by people who have tattoos and I say "hi" with my AMAZING smile, and they just smile and say "hi" back. I have never once felt like I was in danger. Even on Sunday when it was Dia de Independencia, never felt scared. Plus there wasn't really anybody out on the street, but it was a nice day. It is SUPER hot here. Last week there was 2 days that it was over 100 degrees out. One of the days there was no breeze and when there was, it hurt. The air itself was just hot! Its all good though. My companion just asked this lady who is an investigator but doesn't really seem interested, for some water. She had no problem with that at all. Even offered to give us 2 bottles. What is really nice is that my area is really God loving. They see Jesucristo on our name tags and they aren't worried and are willing to talk to us.
     I can't wait to see my room when your OCD gets upstairs. Just dont throw out my sneakers. I would be devistated lol. I bet Angelica can't wait to get out and start excercising again. Does she have a stroller? I can see her running with Isabel.
     I hope everything goes well for Sister Rees. I would like to go see Adrian's football game. I know he would like to have more support from back home. 
We scheduled 2 baptisms this week. One is the 30th and the other is the 14th of next month. The first is named Reina. What is awesome is that she has 2 really young kids who are of age to be baptized. Her daughter seems really interested but her son is REALLY hyper. Do you have any tips on how to teach kids like that? That would be really helpful. Anything we say he just gets really distracted.
The other lady was somebody who my companion thought was just listening to us with no interest, but ended up telling us that she knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that she  knows that she should be baptized. The only downfall is that she is scared to change her life. We are gonna try to keep working with her but it is hard because she is the type of person who does things spur of the moment pretty much and is never home. Otherwise our week was pretty busy. I mean it was good, but we just didn't have much time to do anything. We had a lot of meetings as a district which took up a lot of time. Saturday was a fun day though. It was a Stake activity called Dia de Espanidad. People from a ton of different cultures set up booths and taught about their cultures...Plus the food that they had at each station was really really good. Others shared there bit of independance days from other countries in September as well as Mexico's.
Of course people want to see Isabel. I want to see her. That is awesome about the shoes you got Isabel for me. Thank you for that. Speaking of Shoes...I think that every person that I get to baptize, you should let me get a pair of sneakers. IDK just saying lol jk.That would be me doing it for the wrong reasons. I hope my Tio Gabriel is ok. How did it happen? So did Tommy's mom give you some her money? LOL
     And I would have to say that the dream that you had is pretty wierd if you ask me. Funny, but wierd. So I take it Spencer did write you back? He wasnt wierded out that you wrote him?
     Everything is good here. At the moment I don't need anything. Again thank you for your care package and tell dad thank you for his too. Love you!!! And take care of the family!

Elder Ruelas

P.S. Thanks for the pictures. Isabel's faces alone were hilarious though. The one with Emmalena was priceless. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oh yeah I forgot my cable to send more pictures. Sorry!

September 10, 2012

WHATS UP!!!!!!!!!!!  Ya I'll be expecting letters. That is awesome to hear about the Segura family. From what it sounds like, they will be a good family in the ward. That is funny about the Earthquake. We didnt feel a single thing. The only thing I feel here is the heat. IT IS HOT! It isnt like the humidity is bad. It is just HOT! My companion Elder Cabeza and I bike to our area and by the time I get there I got a good sweat going lol. Just to let you know, I did have to buy a bike so I put it on the Credit Card. There wasnt anybody selling theirs that was just leaving so when I finally got to my area they took me to the store and I bought one. Then the helmet and the lights I put on my debit card. They have a law out here that people on bikes have to have front and back lights. But yeah I am great and I love it out here other than the heat. The people are really nice, I was not expecting that just from how everybody was talking about Cali. When they look at you on the street we say hi and if not , then you dont say anything. And everybody says hi with a smile right back. I am still getting used to having people literally staring at me. When I walked into the Library literally 10 people just stared as we walked by. Normally I would say something to them but I have to learn to keep my cool. Like I said, my companions name is Elder Cabeza. He is originally from Chile but moved to the states when he was about 10. Not gonna lie, he is hard to get along with. I couldn't think of any other way to put it. We dont fight but its more like we don't really talk. I try to make small talk but he just ends it and I am like ughhhh?????? He is a good trainer though. When it comes to working, he goes to work which I really like. Pretty much we had an amazing week. Thursday night we went over to a members house for dinner. Hermano Yangly is a new convert with one daughter (dont worry I'm not flirting), a son who is autistic and a new born son who was born 4 months early. IDK how he and his wife are doing it. Especially since his wife isn't a member. She is taking the lessons, but I guess she hardly shows up to church. He is a strong member though. They are Peruvian.
On Friday, I taught my first lesson and it went really well. We were going to comitt her to baptism on Sunday but she didn't show up to church and we couldn't get a hold of her.
Saturday was my fist time working on door contacts. The first door we knock, this guy named Levi is from Mexico City. I didn't think he would be interested because he had some crazy tattoes but the more we talked the more he seemed interested. We set up a return appointment the next day on Sunday but he got called into work. After that though, it was really funny. It was my first time taking the lead in the door approach. I say hi, hows it going and then I freeze and I am speachless. It was really funny but the guy was at least nice about it. We go to the 3rd door and this Philipino lady opens the door and it was the best experience. She lets us in and pretty much without us even saying a word she tells us that she loves mormons and she wants to be one. She was hard to understand because she is recovering from a stroke. I'm guessing she had an experience while this was happening because she told us that she was catholic but she wants to change religions. CRAZY! The thing that sucks about that though is that since she doesnt speak spanish, we cant teach her. That night we had dinner with the Sanchez Family and they are awesome. They are Columbian and they cooked some good food. It was just chicken sausage beans and rice but the sauce that they put on the chicken sausage and beans was good! Hermano Sanchez really knows how to play the guitar. I was just in awe.
Yesterday, Sunday, was really good. Church is a lot different. It is Priesthood first, Sunday School, then Sacrament. Sacrament was really good though. It was funny too because when we were singing the hymns, everybody was off key. Plus when the other Elder was playing the intro, some guy in the ward started singing which had everybody else following him. The talks were really good. They were all in Spanish and I could understand them. This lady in the ward gave one of the best talks I have heard in my life. She focused it on the youth, talking about how they need to realize sooner than later what this church and the gospel can do in everybody's life. She talked about faith  and ya it was really good. I didn't have to give my testimony. Neither did the other new Elder in the ward. There are 3 sets of missionaries- 1 is sisters and the other 2 are Elders. We get along well with the other set of Elders. Elder Fulmore has been out for almost a year and Elder Hudson has been out for about 8 months. Yes pretty much every night we are being fed. Every night since I have been here we have gotten fed. Sunday we went to another new converts house and she made us enchiladas. She had a friend over who has been listening to the missionaries and we were trying to figure out why she went MIA. She said that she was scared. She has recieved a testimony that it was true, but she says that she is scared to change her life. What makes it even harder is that she knows that she needs to get baptized as well. I was completly speechless during that lesson but luckly my companion was going somewhere with it. We set a baptismal date for the 14th of October so hopefully we can figure something else out. Our next options after the dinner fell through. A good "being at the right place at the right moment" worked out for us. We went by this family but they weren't home and when we came down the steps this guy came and talked to us. Asked us what church we were from and I looked down and he had our pass along card in his hand. He said that he had been trying to call the number because he wanted a Book of Mormon but couldn't figure it out. We gave it to him and set up a return appointment! I didnt get a package. We live about 1 hour away from Santa Clarita so we dont get anything that gets sent there till friday. I should get it either tomorrow, Thursday or Friday. We have a lot of meetings.

Love you mom! tell everybody hi! and that I am good here.

Elder Ruelas

P.S. I decided to keep the letters. I didnt send anything home.