Hello, New Transfer!

Okay so if you didn't know, which you should, we are in a new transfer, and I got a new companion. He's older in the mission and wanting to go home, but hopefully we will be able to work hard still. He is district leader, so there is an extra meeting once a week for them, and this coming week there is training for him, so I get to go with the other District Leader's companion.

This week for Thanksgiving, we are being fed by a member who likes to feed us a lot of food, and I probably won't eat lunch. In other news, Elder Mortensen, my new comp, got a hole in his bike tire, and we couldn't pump it up, so we left it at the house we were at, and walked home. We have yet to get his bike and fix it, and I'm not sure how soon that will happen because of the meetings all this week.

We met with one of our investigators who we haven't met with in a long time this week, and his only problem before getting baptized is that he is a social drinker. So he doesn't feel a need to quit because he isn't addicted. He decided to try not drinking for a month starting next week. Which means that he can't drink through Christmas. Hopefully we will be able to help him to quit.

It is starting to get a little cold at nights, like high 40's, (so you don't think I'm starting to feel cold at like 60). We ride with jackets in the evening, which is great for warmth, but when you sweat it gets in the jacket. Not much in news other than that, hope all is well at home!

Elder Huffaker

Transfers: Staying Put

Hello everybody! For starters this week, if you are not yet aware, transfers are today. I am staying here in Sherman Oaks, and Elder Morgan is leaving to Canyon Country 2nd. He is going to a ward where we think his dad's cousin is. I will be getting Elder Mortenson as a companion later today, and he will be district leader. I don't know him, but from what I'm told he and I will get along great!

As for news this week, nothing really happened at the beginning. We had a few cancels, and it was just a dead week. But at the end of the week, starting on Friday, we met up with a family we have been trying to get in with for a couple weeks now, and it turns out they are a part member family. And they are watching her niece and nephew, who are interested. We came in there and met with them, gave them some Books of Mormon, and the nephew just dove right in to it. More than I've seen anyone ever do that. Then the niece showed up for sacrament meeting so that was pretty cool. We then got in with another part member family, the mom and aunt are less active, and the aunt is coming back. We are teaching a 13 year old girl with Aspergers. Hopefully we will be able to get in, because it has been hard to recently.

On Saturday, we went and saw our investigator who is paralyzed, and we are still trying to get him to see that there's more to life and there really is something after this life. Then on Sunday we went and saw one of our investigators who has a 23 year old son who lives with them and is a member. The mom has been sitting in and listening, and now we got one of the daughters to sit in too. It's a big family so hopefully we will be able to get them all! Slowly but surely though, and it's pretty well inevitable for them to not get in on the lessons.

So this coming week I will have to help get my next companion familiar with the area. Hopefully I have it enough, but we do have a big map at our pad, and a small one we take with us.

Hope all is going well at home, I have not moved so WRITE ME LETTERS! It's always nice to get them. My address is 13503 Erwin st Van Nuys California, 91401 That's a lot of stuff going on there, and not much is going on here.

Also, I'm really sorry, but I finally got the baptism picture sorta. The family picture is the one. The two kids in front are the ones that got baptized. I also am sending pictures of our Zone before everyone is leaving.

Elder Huffaker

Celebrating Halloween with the District. They made a pinata, and then beat it to pieces:

The family & missionaries with the two baptized kids in the front:

Cameron's zone, just before transfers. Cameron is 4th from the left, with the green tie:

Alma 53:20

Hello to everybody! This last week, in the training, Elder Morgan has decided that I got to be senior companion. I got to choose where to go what to do, planning, lessons, the like. Not fun! but I guess it was a good enough experience. However it is now over. We are going back to the way it was.

Unfortunately, as fast as the week went by, we didn't do too much. It has been getting a little cold at night, and the other day, I finally saw my breath! We wear our jackets while riding, which isn't that great because I get all sweaty in it. It does keep me warm, especially on bike at night in the wind!

So, apparently our apartment we are living in is pretty bad on cleanliness. However Elder Morgan and I spent a ton of time cleaning it. It looks much better than it used to, but it still isn't clean enough. Guess we just have to work harder.

On Friday, we had interviews with president, which went fine, although he did talk to me about training soon. Oh no. He said he'd give me at least another transfer, so we'll see how that goes. Also, president e-mails a weekly newsletter sort thing, and in it, he included a scripture he said came to him while interviewing a missionary. That missionary was me. It was a little random, he just popped open his scriptures and said, "this scripture just came to me, I don't know what it says, but the reference just popped into my mind." Well he shared that scripture with ALL the missionaries in the mission, and I was sort of the cause of it. Rather interesting moment. This is what he said in his e-mail. The missionary was me that he was interviewing, although the scripture had nothing to do with what we were talking about.

"This past week as I was doing interviews, a powerful impression came to me to share a particular scripture with a missionary. The impression only told me the verse but not what the verse said. So I opened my Book of Mormon to that particular verse and shared the following with the missionary I was interviewing:

"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all; they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted." (Alma 53:20)

I guess that was really the only highlight of the week, the work continues and it's been a little more difficult getting in with people.

Darcie is taking drivers ed?!? Wow, now I'm scared. Hope it goes well, but I cant believe that's already happening, Alyssa's turning 17, and it's already November! So what's the cheesecake challenge? I don't remember or think you've told me about that.

So this week we went to an investigators house and watched the Finding Faith in Christ DVD, and were hoping he'd kind of react to that somehow. He still feels that there's nothing more to his life, and he's just hanging in there till he passes on. He is paralyzed from the waist down I think, and can't use his hands. He's actually living in assisted living or something; it's a little different. But there was no reaction from him as far as we can tell, we are not giving up though. The ward is doing great, we just got a new ward mission leader and two new ward missionaries. Hopefully they will all get into their parts and we will be able to work well together! Hope all is well at home!

Elder Huffaker