Hello family!
I hope you've all had a great week.
We've had a good week here. I don't remember a lot of what happened because I don't have my planner here with me today. But what was cool is I was able to keep my going home a secret until Sunday at church, and even then, a lot people thought I was just getting transferred. That was very helpful to keep me focused on my work until the end. I only have a couple more hours in this area, then I'll be on the "final 24 hours" of my mission that I don't have an area or zone to think about.
We did have a good lesson with Claire. She has come a long way in the past few weeks. She is growing in faith and is really enjoying the church. She got up to bear her testimony in church yesterday and said things to the effect of "being here has realized that I can be religious and still have a cool life!...in the past month, you have shattered all the previous notions I had about Mormons (everyone laughed at that).... I feel that the things you guys do and that I'm starting to do is the right thing. It feels right to me..." It was awesome! She's come to so many activites and is hanging out with lots of different members during the week. I'm sure she'll be baptized in a month or two.
We also picked up another YSA investigator, Grisella, yesterday that actually lives in our area. She is very ready for the gospel and will be easy to teach. She has been taught by the Las Flores ward elders for a bit, until we had a "pass-off" lesson with all 4 of us yesterday.
Shari [edit] came to church again yesterday. She's made lots of progress in her life. She and Oscar, her husband, have come closer together too, as a result of the Spirit that Shari is feeling stronger in her life. Oscar is making small steps to the church as well. He is not a member. One of his co-workers in the Anaheim Police Dept is getting baptized this Saturday in the Las Flores ward. We're very excited!
I can't remember much else... Oh, the Chambers had to put one of their dogs down yesterday. We think she had a stroke or something recently and has been getting progressively more lethargic and removed the past week, and we knew something bad was up. Brother Chambers and I carried her out to the car to go to the vet, where they put her down. We were all sad. But Sister Chambers said Shelby (the dog) was very peaceful and could tell she was ready to go. So, it wasn't very painful.
What else... I can't remember much more from the week. Oh, my district sang happy birthday to me last week and got me a birthday present--an Angels pennant, and an Albert Pujols Angels bag. That was pretty cool!
That's about it. I'm in my last few hours in Mission Viejo, which is a weird feeling. It's crazy to think it's already been almost 6 months since I got here. We'll go to Vista for the transfer meeting, then I'll go to the mission home tonight with the other departing missionaries. In the morning we'll go to the San Diego temple, the Mormon Battalion visitors center, then to the airport. It's weird to think that I've reached this point. I am very sad to leave my mission. I'm made many, many friends and many memories. I am also ready to come home. I feel comfortable with the effort I've put into my mission. I've laid it all out on the table and given everything I have. I haven't been perfect by any means, but I gave what I could. I still have a day to go!
I hope you all have a great day!
See some of y'all tomorrow
Love
Elder Jonathan La Follette
CCM