ELDER MATTHEW LEBARON - 5/15 - Mother's Day

Hey friends and family! this week is going to be a little short, but I had an awesome week!

We did a lot of finding, we did some tracting, but over all we were able to pick up 5 investigators which is pretty good! the problem is just trying to retain those people, it seems that we drop as much people as much we pick up, the last person that had a lot of potential we had to drop, sometimes its hard to see when people just won't accept the gospel, because they let life, or excuses get in the way. But I am still loving this area, and there is so much to look forward to, and to accomplish. The Filipino people are awesome! I love the Glendale 8th ward!

This week I had some really awesome scripture studies, and I wanted to share a little bit of one with you guys! so I was reading in 2nd Nephi chapter 28 today it pretty much talks about the way the world will be in the Latter days, and how the people will be confused, pretty much describing the affects of the apostasy, and how people will continually reject God and fill their hearts with pride. Nephi wrecks everyone in the last part of the chapter, leaving no way to misunderstand what will happen to those that reject the book of Mormon or God. something that I thought was really cool, after pretty much warning everyone about what would happen for the chapter he ends it with verse 32 which says

Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.

and it really hit me. I have read this scripture so many times in my life and it never hit me like it did today. God will lenghten his arm unto them from day to day, but they will deny him, but he will be merciful. I sat there for a little time, just thinking about all the times in my life when I reject Christ, or I rejected God, not in the same sense of rejecting the gospel, but how many times I let my pride get the best of me thinking that I understood things better than my leaders or parents, or how many times I rejected the blessings that God would give me because I wasn't willing to put in the work to receive them, but regardless of all of that if i repent and look to God, he will help me every time. even when we give up on God he never gives up on us, no matter how selfish, prideful, or apathetic we are, God will always be there when we are ready to repent. I am so grateful for the atonment and for the opportunity I have each day to do better than I did yesterday. I love this Church. I love the Lord, and I love my mission. thanks for all the support that I get from all of you, sorry for not responding to a couple emails, I will get to you guys next week, it was kind of a crazy pday.

Much Love

--

Elder LeBaron

SISTER SARAH JOHNSON - 5/15 - Hello everybody! :)

This week was the best! And I got to talk to my family yesterday, and that always lifts my spirits. Heavenly Father puts us in families so we can be happy, and he definitely chose the right one for me. :} 

But I'll tell you all about my week anyways, because there was some good stuff that happened! 

Monday we went on a hike as a zone! We went up to Kamiak Butte, and it was beautiful, and we got some really good pictures. I attached some of the pictures :). Sorry the zone pic is kind of dark.... don't know what happened there... :/ 

Tuesday we had a couple of miracles! One was that while we had interviews with President Dymock (which are always fantastic, and in which President hinted that I'm most likely leaving Moscow this coming transfer) we were talking to Sister Dymock. And we were about to call and cancel and appointment with Jim, because our fellowship for him couldn't make it (and we need a woman to go see him with). But then Sister Dymock asked if she could come with us and be the member fellowship! So we called him and just changed the time, and had the coolest lesson with Sister Dymock at Jim's home. We taught him all about the Book of Mormon, so we could finally get him started on reading it, and he really listened to Sister Dymock when she spoke. When the lesson started, he was feeling pretty groggy from a sleeping pill he'd taken the night before, but then at the end of the lesson he said "You guys, I feel so much better now........ and I know why." haha he knows the Book of Mormon works.... he just won't read it. We'll get there. 

Then! The second really cool thing on Tuesday was when we were at dinner with Bishop Walker and his cute family. We had originally planned to have dinner on Wednesday with them, but last minute, Sister Walker asked if we could squeeze in on Tuesday (even though their schedule was pretty busy) because something came up for Wednesday. We got there a tiny bit late from a stake meeting with President Dymock, so our dinner hour started a little after 6. And then just towards the end of the dinner, in the middle of a fantastic story Sister Walker was telling, there's a knock on the door. Bishop went to get it, and in walks Jake, our investigator from forever ago. He was absolutely in tears and wanted to talk. If we had been on time to the dinner, we would have missed him. If we hadn't been there Tuesday night, we'd have missed him. He'd hit a sort of rock bottom that day, and had come over ready to change. After about an hour of talking him through some things, we asked Jake if there was anything we could do for him. He asked "Is there anyway we can start meeting again", and we said absolutely! When? And he said "Tomorrow?". AH! We are so excited to see how it goes. Heavenly Father really does watch out for all of us, and He's going to help Jake out of the hole he dug. I'm excited to see all the miracles that follow. :) 

The lesson with Jake went ok the next day, but we'll see if he's made any real changes the next time we meet up with him... 

Then we went on Exchanges! And I had a fabulous exchange with Sister Cheney. I love that sister, she's such a hard worker. And we got to help out at this clothing sorting place with the Pullman district. It was pretty funny being there, we had a good time :). Wish I had a picture.... sometimes you just forget when you're having fun. 

Thursday night we had dinner with Molly :) and she was so sweet! It was her son's 2nd birthday, and we had pizza with them. It was really cute and comfortable. And her 14 year old daughter actually came out and talked to us for a while, which was a new thing. I like her, she's someone I could be friends with I think.... 

Friday we had district meeting and the horse farm again :) Good times! Didn't get any pictures from those either.... but it was good. We also got to meeting with Isabeau, and we made s'mores with her after the lesson. I love doing weird random things, and that was one of them haha. 

SATURDAY WAS MY 10 MONTH MARK! Yay! :) Sister Mitchell and I celebrated by getting the "best burger in town" (according to the elders). We went to Humble Burger, and it was pretty good! Sister Mitchell is kind of a burger connoisseur, and she thought it needed more mayo or a tomato, but I liked it just fine. Happy 10 months to me! 

And Sunday I got to Skype my cute family :) and I'm so happy to hear they're all doing so well. That night we got to go and see Dawn, our elderly friend :). She loves us so much, but she doesn't quite understand that we're aiming to baptize her, I think.... She wants to understand the Book of Mormon so much though! And she had a friend who basically bashed us to her, and she got so mad at him, because she said it wasn't very Christian of him to say those things about us, because we're nice girls who have solid faith. It's so great to hear her testimony of us.... we're going to turn it into a testimony of the Gospel someday I hope! She said she's determined to find out the truth, if it's one God (the trinity) or 3 (the Godhead), and I think that's where she'll start progressing - when she figures it out. She's so fantastic, I'm going to write her after I leave :).  

Anyways, that was about it! Today is Elder Kosmicki's last pday, so we're taking a "death picture" for him. He said the theme is "death by marshmallow dodgeball", so every companionship bought a giant bag of giant marshmallows. I'm excited to see the results. Stay tuned ;). 

I love you all! Keep on keeping on! :)

Sister Johnson 

oh! Also in addition to the hike pics, 

there's a pic of me and my Humble Burger,

 and a picture of the model Snape Sister Cheney made out of play dough and an egg. we call him Snegg. He's fantastic. Enjoy! :) 

ELDER MATTHEW LEBARON - 5/8 - Bashing, crow catching, and tract meets

Hello again friends and family! 

We did a lot of work this week! We visited so many people, it's hard to keep track of everything that we did. We don't really have anyone that we are working with as of right now,  it we are still picking up investigators and working hard. The days seem to go by quickly, which is weird to me considering we don't have any solid people. The Filipino ward is a really weird place and in a lot of aspects it seems like a branch, there are a lot of interesting little things that happen here that I haven't really seen in a regular English ward. There isn't a whole lot of structure and it seems like a lot of the members say some pretty wild things about doctrine, it's honestly so much fun. I love the ward here, the people are so loving, and caring, all they do is feed us. I've never felt like so many people cared about me in any other ward. The Filipino people are very welcoming and caring. 

Well Elder Ela keeps surprising me, he not only can catch lizards, bees, spiders, and any other creepy crawly thing you can think about, he can also catch birds, this little Filipino boy is quick. I'm not sure what they do in the Philippines but he caught a crow! What the heck haha. What a guy. I'll attach a picture below.

                                         

When we were tracting out a neighborhood, we passed by this school, it didn't look like much... but there was a track meet going on. After closer inspection we realized that this was a college meet, and that BYU was there! It was so weird. The strangest thing to me is how the BYU students present themselves and act, after being on a mission for a little while,and living in different states. I saw it for the first time. I could really see the difference between the people in the audience as we walked by and I could just tell the ones that were Mormon, especially the participants on the field looked different (other than the big Y on their uniforms) so weird to see all these members in a place like Southern California, or Babylon as we like to call it. 

This week we were teaching a lesson to a part member family, all the kids have been coming to church for years, they seem like their members, the mom is an active member and so is their grandma. The only reason they aren't already baptized is because their father is against the church and is apart of his own religion. No one has really met the father because he works so much, but when we went to teach our lesson he was home, and man was it crazy. Apparently he use to be the priest, clergy, or minister to his church, so he was ready for us. As we started to teach the restoration he just went off on all these different scriptures trying to contend with us. Now I've had a lot of people try and bash with me in the past year, but this was different, I had never been in someone's home while they were just attacking us, a little scary because it seemed like there was no way out of the situation. I try very hard not to bash with people because it takes the spirit away, but our member started arguing back... oh man it was so weird, and kind of hilarious. 

It just amazes me how people don't see the plain evidence in the Bible. Everything that is taught in this church is reaffirmed in and through the Bible, and the Book of Mormon only adds on to the plain and simple truths of the gospel. I have really reflected on how much I have learned the (almost) past year, and realized just how much I have learned, and how much I understand about the scriptures and the doctrines of Christ, that I wouldn't have other wise. My mission has thus far improved my love for the savior and his Atonement, increased my knowledge of his words, and has given me a desire to serve and love God for the rest of my life. I could not imagine trying to raise a family without the experiences and knowledge that my mission has brought, and I'm only (almost) halfway there. I am so excited to see what more I can become, and see the path that God wants me to take in my life more clearly. Serving a mission is incredible.

I was reading in the Old Testament this week and I wanted to share a scripture that I found this is in Deuteronomy 31: 

6 ​Be strong and of a good ​​​courage​, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the ​​​​​Lord​​​ thy God, he ​it is​ that doth go with thee; he will not ​​​fail​ thee, nor ​​​forsake​ thee.

​​​​​7 ​​¶ ​And Moses called unto ​​​Joshua​, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the ​​Lord​​ hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

​​​​​8 ​And the ​​Lord​​, he ​it is​ that doth go before thee; he will be ​​​with thee​, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

I know that even if our destination in this life may not be a physical one like the Israelites, the Lord will guide us along each day, he will not forsake us, he loves and cares for us so much, and his promises are the same today. Keep pushing keep going forward, for the Lord is with you, and he will guide us to the beautiful pastures of eternal life. Don't lose faith and everything will work out, I know that to be true. Until next week, 

Elder LeBaron

614 west foothill blvd, Arcadia, California, 91006

SISTER SARAH JOHNSON - 05/08 - Hello again! :) It's been a really fantastic week! We did a lot of things....

Monday was our designated "no play, all cleaning" pday.... it was less than fun, and I literally spent 5 hours on the kitchen alone. But hey, at least it smells like lemons in there now, and the walls have probably never been so white. At least we got to go out for Mexican food with the Johnson's from Potlatch. They're super cool, and they just went to the temple this weekend to be sealed :}. We just love them. They invited us to come, but we weren't "their" missionaries (president said the policy is only the missionaries that were there for the teaching and baptizing can go :/). But we felt really cool to at least be invited :). 

Tuesday I went to MLC, and that was cool. We discussed a lot of different things, and were given some instruction for when Elder Holland would come. It's fun to go to Spokane for a bit, but I was really excited to get back home to chill with Sis Mitchell, because she's the best. 

Wednesday was whatever.... until we had dinner with the Gomez family, and they're the cutest :). We love them. And then we got to have a lesson with Dawn! And we actually had a lesson with her! We decided to cut the restoration lesson into all it's little pieces, because she usually talks for so long about her family and her life (which is all very interesting... but it's hard to fit the Gospel into it). So we just taught about what Heavenly Father is like and His love for us, and then left her Jacob 4 to read (about prophets) so we could talk about it when we came back. And IT WORKED! We went back last night to talk to her, and she had all these questions about it, and wanted us to go through it with her. And then we assigned her to read Joseph Smith's history, because she was a little confused about how he fit in, and where he was in the Book of Mormon... So we're getting there! Slowly but surely :). We just love that lady. 

Thursday we were able to go to a lesson with Ezra and we decided to just teach him about who God is and his relationship to us, but all through the scriptures. He really seemed to appreciate us citing our sources ;p. Haha but the lesson went so well! He really liked it, and he came to church yesterday and sat by us :) it was awesome! He's going away for the summer, though, to Vegas.... that leaves us with exactly 0 YSA investigators starting this coming Friday.... yaaaaaay.... 

Friday we worked on the horse farm. There's this one babyish horse that has absolutely no manners, and the lady who sent us to brush the horses told us to just push him away because he needs to learn not to just walk all over us. So this horse (which is like a year old, almost full grown) tries to eat my sweater, and I whacked him on the nose because I didn't appreciate it. And then he went straight for Sister Mitchell and tried to eat her. Haha she was mad at me for making him mad, but then we just went and hid in the barn from him so it all worked out. Also! Friday there was this crazy power outage all over Moscow.... for 4 hours. It's like everybody lost their minds. We stayed off the roads as much as we could. It was scary. Then we went to a dark luau on Cinco de Mayo. It was a fabulous way to mix weird cultural traditions. 

SATURDAY WE GOT TO SEE ELDER HOLLAND AHHHH! It was incredible. It changed my life. I wish I could tell you more, but I really don't know how to. He shook every one of our hands and said he "interviewed" us. And his handshake was perfect, like getting a hug, and his eyes were so intense it was great. And his talk to us was amazing, and included some serious pulpit pounding, and a threat to throttle us with his knee on our chest if we ever go less active on him. Haha it was so good you guys, so good. But my favorite part, was that at the very end of all of his inspirational chastisement, he blew us a kiss, and softly told us to "work hard", and then walked out. That man is an apostle for the Lord, and I felt it, and I'm a believer. 

Church was good.... Sunday was good, same old same old. :) 

Gotta go hiking now! I love you all!! 

Sister Johnson

 Pictures! 

I saw Sister McFaul at the Elder Holland Meeting :) she's so great. 

Sister Mitchell and I :) 

Us on Sunday with one of our YSA members (Audrey :) ) who's going to Ghana next semester. I'm so jealous. 

 Also the "Hippie Harry" sister Mitchell painted for me. He's fantastic.