Baptism, New Comp & Lots of Rain

This week has been the best week of my whole mission !

We have a family, yes a FAMILY with a date to be baptized !!
We have a husband and wife and a little 7 month baby with a date, well not the baby, the two parents :)

Elder Routledge, Hunt & Jones 

A non-member / less active family told us that there was someone interested, so we went by to see if they were. We spoke to Sister S who said her son-in-law might be. On Wednesday we went by to see if he really was...and well, he said 'yeah, I want to be baptized. How do I do that?' Well that blew us away so we told him he needed the lessons and he said okay and told us to come over on Friday. On Friday we went to teach him and his wife (who did not seem interested) and they both accepted a date for August 15 !!!
We're teaching the second lesson tomorrow (Tuesday). They are soo cool and very solid. President and Sister Felix came to our sacrament meeting and we had C and A (the couple wanting to get baptized) meet President so it was just soo cool. 

So I am not going to do days, but jump all over the week. 
Monday we went to dinner at the Groves' my last night with Sam (the 17 yr old) and Elder Gregory. We were all sitting there and Sister Groves looks over at us and said, 'you two have been the best Elders we have had in years'. That blew me away, it made me realize how highly people look at us. This whole time, and even now it does not seem like we do that much, it does not seem that bad at times, sometimes it sucks, but it was just cool to hear them tell us how important we are to them and it just cheered up my night :)

Elder Routledge, Morrell

Tuesday was transfer meeting and I got to meet my new companion. He seems very cool. I have been with him almost a week now and he is very cool. He hits his year in like a week. He is a little quiet, but he is pretty funny at times. We also had our district meeting this week and that was good, we got to get to know everyone. The two sisters are visa waiters going to different parts of Brazil. The one Sister actually just got her Visa and leaves in like 2 weeks after waiting 8 months or so. We also have a lot of cool goals set this transfer as well. We have goals to set a few more people with a date. Elder Comin is a power house, he is very Pro-working hard. 

We got a few member lists to get some extra help from a few very important members, so it is cool. President has been changing the mission as well, getting right strict on some rules. And he has been giving a lot of trust to us and has really gotten the ball rolling and told us a lot of the young missionaries are going to become Zone and District leaders. That is very weird as I was hoping to stay junior my whole mission. It is fun being junior companion. I don't have to worry about driving and crashing. Well, dad did teach me how to drive, so if i crash, it's on him ;)

Oh, tell dad I got Popeye's this week (Larry's favourite American restaurant). It was very good, I got spicey chicken tenders. Yea spicy, I'm starting to love spicy food. 


Oh hey guess what ? It poured for the last 2 days, like rained hard, hard and the streets got flooded. THEY TOLD ME IT NEVER RAINED HERE!!! WHAT THE HECK!!! But hey, it was fun. We went pros (proselyting) in the rain and got soaked but it was very cool to just work in the rain. ** In case you hadn't heard, California has been having a drought and this rain was VERY welcomed ** 

Well mom, I love you so much. Dad, Shel, Scott, you all take care. I miss you soo much and love you. Talk to you all soon. 

Elder Routledge and his District

Transfers, Ronald Regan Library and 6 more weeks of Breakfast !!

We got our transfer calls and I am staying in Simi Valley but Elder Gregory is going to Santa Barbara as a Zone Leader. My new companion is Elder Coman who was Elder Gregory's MTC companion, I heard he is very cool. 

Monday was cool. We had breakfast at the Morris'. I get to have breakfast for 6 more weeks !! Oh hey, I got an email from Sister Anderson (Sister he met in the MTC). She is doing good, back to Monday, oh, Tracey wrote me as well and that was very cool to hear from her and hear how Brando's doing. 

Okay, so we went to the Ronald Regan library again and that was very cool. There was a football tribute in there with all the Super Bowl tickets from like 1980 to 2010. It was sooo cool ! That night we went to a less active family for dinner and had a nice pasta dinner, then a campfire with smores. They were soooo good so today was a good day. 

Tuesday we went to the dog place and helped them pack and move some stuff to a new place. We had lunch at a member's house and did some more service on the tree in their backyard. That night we had our Book of Mormon class and it got pretty intense, but it was good. 

Wednesday was good. We did some stuff on Mormon.org and then had a power hour with the Jones' family. We ran into another hardcore basher, who was pointing out all the flaws in our church. Elder Gregory, Sam (the young boy) and I were testifying and proving him wrong, but it came to the point where we ended up saying, "You believe what you want, but take this book of Mormon, read it and call us". We left right after that as it was getting a little heated, so we are just waiting to hear him call us and say "Baptize me" ;-)

Later that night, we went and talked to the Bishop and saw how he was doing. He is doing good, he was a little ill but good. He is still pushing on (The Bishop is fighting Cancer). 

After meeting with the Bishop we had a member feed us KFC hahaha. It was so great. The joys of being an Elder, KFC for dinner haha. We were walking on our way home at 8:30pm and we saw a bad crash. We did not see the actual crash but we saw them cut the guy out, it was intense. 

Thursday was our zone meeting and that was very cool. We put into place the rules Elder Grow told us about when he came 2 weeks ago. He was the Area Seventy. President (Felix) came up with new rules about the beach. We can not go on the sand dock or even the board walk at all or we're done. It was kinda a rule before but he really stressed it and we have had a lot of let up in some rules and an increase in others. 

The missionary work is changing very fast, for the good of course, but we NEED results. People keep telling us and I keep hearing the end is coming and we, as missionaries, need to bring people unto the Lord's fold NOW. It is crazy, but very cool. 
The other cool thing we did on Thursday was we pushed a couch out a 2 storey window HA. We had a recent convert who was getting a new couch and the old one would not go down the stairs, so there was a 2 storey deck and well, there it went. It was the more fun service we have done :)

Friday we did a massive 4 hour service project. We moved the dog place from one location to another and at the end of the day, I was ready to die. We were moving 200 pound dog cages and a lot of other heavy things upstairs to their new place. It was killer, but soo cool to see the joy they felt. 
The one lady (a non-member) thanked the Lord for us and the free, no complaining service we did. It was soo cool to see the joy in their hearts for the help we did. And yea, it was heavy stuff but it was not a dent in our lives. It was simple to us 9 missionaries but to them, it meant the world. And it was cool because we got to see a bunch of just born puppies they were taking care of. 
Oh...so this is going to sound crazy, but there is a dog there I want, so if you know anyone in the Cali area heading to Okotoks and would like to pick up this free dog for me, send them on by ;-) :-) !!! 
The rest of the day, we did our weekly planning and had subway for lunch on the dog place. They bought all of us $10 subway cards (9 of us missionaries !)

Made by Elder Routledge 

Saturday was saying Goodbyes for Elder Gregory. And get this, Elder Gregory had a comp (companion) who went home early for knee surgery. He came back to visit us and that was the guy who sent you those pictures on Sunday. He was very cool, came back to show his parents around the mission. 

Sunday was church and more goodbyes. 

Well mom, dad, Shel and Scott, I love you all. have trust in the Lord and remember, in a year and a half we are all getting sealed, so Scott JOIN hehe. 
I love you all. Keep being awesome and just find ways to make things work. 

Future President Routledge ? lol 

Canada Day, July 4th and Answers

** Editor's Note - In the previous blog post, "A Big hike, double dinners and a new companion" I mistakenly labeled some of the photos as Elder Gregory. Those photos are actually of Elder Chatterton. My apologies for the error ** 

Happy Canada Day !

Hey Mom, how are you doing ? So this week was pretty normal. I am going to answer all your questions then I'll give you the highlights of the week. 
First the pictures of Stampede made me super homesick but thanks. 
July 4th was slow as everyone was at parties and no one really wanted to talk, but it was cool. We had to be by 7 because of all the parties but I kept busy from 7pm on. My two comps slept, so I finished 'True To the Faith' and read almost halfway through the 'Pearl of Great Price'. In 2 hours you would be surprised how much you can read :) It was fun. I did not see any fireworks but I heard them. 
** I told Elder Routledge that I have a goal to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days. This was his response ** 
90 DAYS OH YOU COULD TOTALLY DO IT. I HAVE FAITH IN YOU!!! (With that kind of faith, how can I NOT finish it in 90 days lol). Okay, so here is a good way to do it. We study for an hour in the morning but you can read 3, 4 maybe more throughout the day, that way it's not all bunched up and you get bored. Read 2 in the morning, 2 mid day, 2 at night. 

One of the other Elders in the photos is Elder Chatterton. He is my other Canadian friend from Lethbridge. Mexican food is not that spicy, but all Mexican food has some kick to it. 
(When asked what planning days were for) Fridays we plan for the people we are going to see that week and what we are going to teach them, and what things we can get them to commit to do that will help them get to baptism. It is really just making sure we keep busy through the week. 

Elder Peterson

Elder Peterson (the 17 year old boy) asked to do a mini mission to get him ready for his real mission in a year. It just trains him and will show him what it is really like, and then he can decide if he really wants to do it. He is the test trial for this mission. If it all goes well, they will start doing them again. Our mission used to do them, but was stopped because some missionaries could not be trusted. President will open it up again if Elder Peterson gives a good report. He is doing very well and learning lots, so it is really cool to see. 

We haven't seen that guy again (that was Mormon bashing us last week). We have texted him to see if he read the Book of Mormon yet but he hadn't but said he would. 

Simi Valley District

So a crazy story about him. Well he bothered me a lot and I was starting to get bad thoughts. I prayed for the knowledge and truth of this gospel at the opening of my studies on Tuesday and well, I read that the Holy Ghost does not always testify truth with strong powerful feelings. Sometimes it is just peace and that hit me hard. As I continued to study I kept seeing stuff like, "You're a servant of the Lord" and my blessing said my testimony will help convert people. Well when I stood up, I just felt peace come over my whole body and I read that He (The Holy Ghost) revels truth through peace and to me that was the Holy Ghost saying, "DON'T THINK BAD THOUGHTS. THIS IS TRUE!!' That was very cool. 

Transfers are July 14th and I think Elder Gregory and I are done. Staying with the same Elder for 3 transfers is very rare. I'll have to see and will know by next week's email. 

**I also asked if we should be counting weeks or months (they are actually different). This was his answer to that ** 

Okay, so I don't even care ha-ha. You have fun with all that back home as long as you don't make me home sick by counting days. I am fine, you do what you want back there haha. 

Elder Gregory 

Oh, in your last email you asked if you should keep writing "Find Joy in the Journey". You should. I look forward to that every week. And these emaisl you send me make the other Elders jealous because they are so long. So keep up the long emails. I love it short or long. I love hearing from you so don't worry even if they are not all 3000 words hehe :)

I will not lie. The fireworks and bbq made me soo homesick. But it was okay because I know I'll live 60 more years after my mission and they will still be there when I get back :)

**When asking if he had heard of the passing of President Boyd K. Packer**

So President tells us about the news and it just killed me to hear another apostle had passed. It broke my heart and I just wanted to lie in bed. I have no idea why it hit me so hard, but it did. 

No Ipads!!! They keep saying we'll get them, but we probably will not for awhile yet. 

Another cool thing that happened was Elder Lopez and Elder Hidalgo, my last roommates came back to do a baptism and it was soo cool to see them again. It was soo cool to see one of the Spanish Elders investigators get baptized. Sooo awesome. 

Well, mom, dad, Shel and Scotty. I love you and miss you all. I'll talk to you soon. Love you soo much and keep making me proud. I love you all soo much :)

Simi Valley District

A big hike, double dinners and a new Companion

Hey, how is it going ? So this week was pretty good. I finished the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time and that was sweet, but now I'm going to start all over :)

View of Simi Valley 

Monday was fun. We had a big hike. Many of the photos I sent are of the hike and some parts of it were climbing. It was sooo fun. The view of Simi was so great and we just had a blast up there. It sure was a big challenge for me, I was a little tired at the end of the day. It was very cool !

Elder Gregory in the middle 

Tuesday was really good. We went and walked dogs and that was cool. It is always fun doing service there. Then we went and had lunch with some of the other Elders and well...that was just lunch (love that he gives me play by play of his days ;-). The one Elder is making me a purple toque, so that's awesome. After lunch we went and helped a member. This time we dug a hole for a tree to be planted. After that we went to Manny's house for dinner and he had an authentic Mexican taco dinner. It was sooo good. They are Hispanic, so they make real Mexican food...soooo good. We ended the night off with our Book of Mormon class and that was really fun. 

Wednesday I was on an exchange with Elder Harper. The really, only exciting that that happened today was we went to do service for this couple who live in the middle of nowhere on a big farm in the middle of the Cali dusty back desert area. They all had guns on them and in their houses, but it wasn't as scary as you think. They were all active members. It was fun as we moved some stuff around and cleaned up an old shed, so it was cool. 

Elder Routledge and Elder Chatterton...in a tree?

Thursday was our district meeting and that was good. There was a very good talk on pride THAT HAS OPENED MY EYES AND HAS GIVEN ME SOME NEW WAYS TO BE A STRONGER ELDER. Oops, I didn't realize that was all caps..ahh...just go with it ha-ha (love this kid!). Well it was a good meeting.

The hill they hiked up 

After the meeting we had to go to the dog place to help them out last minute and help move some heavy cages, so we did that. Then we went and say Manny and had a cool lesson on service. 
After we had dinner at the Cambers and then went and had dinner at Blonca's house. She just fed us and well, you don't deny food...so we ate twice (This boy just doesn't stop eating !!). 

Another view of Simi Valley

Then we met with a recent convert who has the most amazing conversion story I have every heard. I'll try to get it on paper so I can send it. She gave a talk in church on Sunday and it blew me away. Her story is so powerful.

Friday we had our weekly planning and then went back to the drywall house and cleaned up the dust to prepare for painting. That was about it today. 

Saturday we picked up our new Elder. He was set apart as a missionary but he is 17 and just doing a mini mission to prepare him for his real mission. He is a totally normal 17 year old Priest missionary. He is very cool. A lot like Nick and Austyn back home. Very smart and big into video games and all the stuff they are, so we click pretty well. Jared I love you, my brother and I sent you out a letter, random I know, but yeah :). 
Then we took Elder around and met some of the members of the ward. It was pretty cool. I'm very excited to work with him. 

Elder Routledge, Peterson, Gregory

Elder Chatterton

Sunday was our Sabbath day and it was really good. We just tried people all day but last night Sam, our new missionary (he is 17 so we don't call him Elder, we just call him Sam) got a taste of a real Mormon hater. We were on our way home and "hi" to this guy and he asked if we were Mormons. Then he went off about how we are all going to hell and Joseph Smith was a wicked man and all of this, but we just kept bearing testimony and backing up what we said with scriptures and even got him to take a book of Mormon and he promised he would read it and tell us what he thinks. We all have faith the Spirit with testify of it's truth to him.  

Well mom, I have got to go. I love you all soo much back home. Keep doing great. PS I bought new shoes today for $30 because mine are falling apart. I also got my teeth cleaned today as well :-D
I love you all and talk to you soon. 

Not sure why he continues to send
me pictures...of SPIDERS!!!...Yuck !