What’s happening everyone! Hope you all have had a crazy, fun week because I did! I’ll get into more details later, so let’s get started !
Monday: Woke up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. to head down to the Catalina express dock to catch the boat out to Catalina island! We have 2 missionaries out there on the island and one Zone leader (Me) and the district leader get to go out to the Island for exchanges. “Holy Crap!” it was such a fun day.
We met up with Elder Watson (who is from AF) and Elder Teran! We had a fun Pday going to shops, playing mini golf, and we got a VIP tour of the Casino on the island! Look it up if you don’t know about Catalina Island. It is legit a hallmark movie setting but tropical edition. It’s nuts. Because the island is so small, EVERYONE knows the Elders. It’s so funny cause the people love them! So, all day people were saying “Hello” to us and wishing us a good day! That night we found 4 new people to teach. It was crazy. Island work is going nuts. I took lots of pictures and made a lil video too! It’s in the Google photos at the bottom!
Tuesday: We spent another day on the Island but this time it was full proselyting! It was a lot of fun doing weekly planning on the scenic route and just over-looking the ocean The view is incredible.
I spent the day with Elder Watson who is a dawg. I knew his older bro from high school and it was good to get to know him. We had a golf cart for the day so we were whipping that thing around, which was a lot of fun!
There is a legendary member on the island by the name of Chuck, and he is a BEAST! Bro is like the only active member out there and he took us out to dinner which was a lot of fun! We had a very spiritual lesson with a guy named Jamie that we had found the night before. We taught the restoration and I had never felt the spirit so strong in a lesson tbh. I felt the need to teach him that the priesthood keys to seal on earth are here to seal him and his young family. As bearing testimony I could feel tears fill my eyes and Jaime said, “I don’t know how to describe this feeling other than the chills” It was amazing and I hope the Elders continue to teach him!
Wednesday: Our boat was supposed to leave at 7:50 am but we walked outside and the WIND WAS BLOWINGGG! The waves were massive and we then knew that they were not gonna send boats out that morning. We waited and waited as we did studies and the morning things and ended up hoping on the 4:00pm boat. So we were kinda stranded on Catalina Island a little longer than expected. haha! We got back late, and let me tell you, the boat rides were my favorite parts of the experience. We had a chill night of teaching some lessons and it was good!
Thursday: I was able to exchange with the goat Elder Forsgren! I love this Elda. He is so funny. We stayed in my area and did a Red Cross service in the morning time and then had some lunch at this “free place” for missionaries! We had some good lessons with Hasii, Juan, and a member meal with the Zunigas! It was a super fun day. We had some awesome conversations and I learned a lot from this Elder!! It was a super fun day.Iykyk.
Friday: As you all may know there are some insane fires going on in Socal. Don’t worry, I’m all good. haha. We got a text from President saying we needed to wear masks due to all of the ash floating around Long Beach and whatnot, so that sucked.
On our way to a lesson with Jessica, we got an alert on our phones saying that we needed to evacuate ASAP! We kinda brushed it off but the Zone was freaking out haha. We then got another alert saying that it was a mistake, which was kinda funny. But, in all seriousness we are totally good here in Long Beach. The air isn’t ideal, but its already clearing up down here so we are all good!!
We had some solid lessons and we found an awesome family!! We visited a referal and met her family and shared a message! They were so nice and it felt amazing to teach them on their doorstep! Ended the night with Angels. Cmon Now!
Saturday: Yo pretty mild day. We had an awesome lunch with Bishop who is a freaking goat and has a great family. They have a little 3 year old named MoiMoi after his dad, and he is a chiller I love that kid. We had some goated Sushi and Ramen at this place and I really liked it. We got to go to a baptism for some eldas in the zone and Juan came, which was super fun. We did some visiting the rest of the night and we stopped by our friend Christian who is in a part member family. He is lowkey so ready for baptism but just can’t commit to it at all. We had a good chat and the spirit was strong for sure.
Sunday: Really good day! We had a huge turn out at church with 6 friends and 6 recent converts! This ward is going crazy! We had a family of 3 pull up named Margarita and her 2 kids Carlos and Adriana. They are awesome and we hope they decide to stay here with us. We had some good visits and a great dinner with the Manuma family again. They are easily one of my favorite members here in the ward and I am starting to get really close with them which is awesome. We had some calls to do at the end of the night and one of them was named Jametta. She sounds like this old black lady who is a beast haha. We taught her about the BOM and how its important and she was digging it over the phone. Going back tomorrow to share more!
This Last Week’s Excitement
This last week was a crazy week with everything going on. Catalina was an amazing experience and I am so glad I was able to go because it lowkey. It felt like a vacation!!! There are no complaints here! This week I have been learning lots about the restoration of the church and how that all came to be. Its amazing to know that God has always put his trust in imperfect people who just simple have the desire to improve, learn, and work. Its been a great week learning that although I am not perfect and far from it, that he still trusts me due to my desire.
I love you all!! Bye!!
Elder Lando
pics
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NHrV4D2UezMB4PMq8
