Week 52 (Welcome to the Jungle)

Hehe, hello, hello! If I remember correctly, the title of my blog was Live...From Tempe. or something like that. Hehe, well now it is! Hehe. Things are good here. I had my first Sunday in the Branch. Saying branch here is a little strange because it is almost the size of the ward that I served in in Queen Creek. Because the branch covers the whole city of Tempe, we have two companionships that cover the branch. Elder Jubitz, and the missionary he is training, are covering the West side while Elder Shiffler and I cover the east. Our area includes ASU campus and the Mission Home. And actually, we park our car every day in the church parking lot right next to the mission home to then ride our bikes up north. There are lots of really different types of people here. I think if I weren't a missionary, I'd be afraid sometimes. Hehe. This area was just white-washed last transfer so things are still fresh and there is all the room in the world for improvement. With so many members we are really going to take advantage of using the members to help us in the work. There will be a lot of patience required for this tedious process but it is exciting being able to just dig in and go for it. I kind of like the challenges because it reminds me of the story of the mouse in a bucket of cream. I like watching it turn into butter. Work and obedience is the key and I am excited to see what happens. Elder Shiffler and I get along pretty well. He has a really good heart and wants really badly to see some success, so we will see what we can reap this transfer. It is so good to hear from my friends and how they are doing on their missions. It is interesting to see the differences in what their work is like compared to mine. This Saturday is Halloween. That means that we can't go near Mill Ave and ASU Campus. Haha. We also are given the rule to get off the streets by 6 o'clock. We have to either be in the Temple or in the Chapel. We had wanted to go to the Temple but our Branch is having a party and our Branch President expressed a desire to have us there to meet potential investigators. So, there we shall be. But ya, This week we hope to pick up some solid new investigators. I say solid because contrary to Maricopa, you can get new investigators almost every day and talk to spanish people almost all day. So, there is a lot of filtering to do so that we don't get caught up with people who are not ready. I am excited to be working here. It is nice being in the busy city. I hope everything goes well for each of you and that you have a Happy Halloween! Send pics of what you dress as! I'll send you mine! haha!

-Elder LaPorte =)

Week 51 (Feels Like You've Been, Asleep For Days...FormAt)

Well, hello, hello! haHa, I am so used to writing "Round 1, 2, 3..etc." but this time, ROUND 1, Tempe, AZ! Hehe, I was called to serve in the Arizona Tempe Mission and now I am here in the heart of it. I cover one half of Tempe going from North to SOuth. I work on the East side. Our area includes yours truly, ASU, and thousands of other people. I have a way cooler car which by that I just mean that it is newer. That just makes it that much cooler. I am used to working in very rural areas, especially working in Maricopa, so it will be an interesting change of pace here in the city. We have one branch that we work with and we share the work with another companionship. They take the other half of Tempe. We live in a nice little, clean apartment which is pretty cool. My companion, Elder Shiffler, is from Portland Oregon. He is really nice. This is his second transfer out in the field and so he brings a lot of excitement and hope. From what I have gathered so far, there is a lot of work to be done here, so I am looking forward to the challenge.
Today at transfers, one of the people that got baptized back in Queen Creek, Gustavo, was there. He brought the missionaries from Queen Creek. Elder Weller and I were standing outside talking when we saw him off in the distance by his car. Elder Weller and I ran so fast with such excitement and joy. It was so nice to see him and to be able to have us 3 together for a moment. I know that one day he will be blessed to take his wife to the Temple when she gets baptized.
Time is short and I must be off, but I hope you all know how much this experience means to me and how much I want it to be worth every moment. I mess up. We all do. But we can change and make it better. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior for that. I love all of you. Take care and thanks so much for looking after me.

-Elder LaPorte =)

Week 50 (You Have My Attention...Copeland)

Hey! Wow, the last week of transfer number 4 here in Maricopa. Going into this week there are a lot of mixed feelings. First of all, I'm not sure what is going to happen. Although odds show that I am out, I'm not sure that I feel like I will be going. When I talked with President Craig, I could not really get a feel for it either. It will be bitter-sweet either way. If I stay, bitter because I am leaving all of these people who have become so dear to me, but sweet because I will be tasting something new. If I stay, it is the opposite. Sweet, because I am staying with such dear friends but bitter because I am still left to wait to explore something new. Hehe, and when I say bitter, I do not really mean, "bitter." It is just for the sake of the phrase. I think Elder Bradshaw will do a great job if I go. There will be a lot happening in the Maricopa Branch that we cover in the next few weeks. We should be getting a few more new members from the english wards to join us and strengthen the ward. Right now, we are still kind of just waiting for some things to work out for Paloma so that she can be baptized. We also have a really excited gentleman named Ignacio. He loves to read and fill his thoughts with the things we leave him. It makes it lots of fun to teach him. Stay or go, I look to the coming week with hope. A new week, a new transfer a new chance to try and be better. Do not ever let your short-comings and failures get you down. That is where Satan wants you. The most important part is what you do when you fall down. Spiritual Resiliance comes through the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. His sacrifice gives me the hope that I can better myself each day and try again. I know what He did is real and that there is power in it. I know God loves us. I know we are here on earth because we chose to do what is right and listen to God's will. He loves us and will never leave us without help and a way. Until next week take care and keep being better! Thanks for everything!

-Elder LaPorte =)

Week 49 (Don't Let It Go...=w=)

Hey there!
Happy Conference weekend! Wow, what a great experience. It is such a joy to be able to see the blessings of living prophets who help us know what we need to do to please God. It is such a testimony to me of their truthfulness as I go with a question and it is answered. A talk that I really appreciated came right from the get-go. It was Elder Scott talking on the Saturday morning session. I loved his step by step instructions to know us how to better receive personal revelation and recognize it as such. I also thought that the Korean guy's story of the Boys of the Lord was pretty cool. I hope that is how he said it. Anyways, it was all just great. We tried to get as many investigators as possible to come, and we were able to see a few. That was nice. One lady that we found last week was a referral from a missionary in Phoenix. She lives on the Gila River Reservation just north. Because she's on the res, it is hard to find solid addresses so she couldn't really tell us where to meet her. We planned on a gas station and then had the Senior Couple that works on the res, Elder & Sister Ferre, come and take us to the meeting point. We were waiting for what felt like a little while when finally, Maria came up to us. Almost at the same time a worker came up to us to ask if we had been distributing anything like pamphlets. Haha, luckily we weren't. There must be rules for that on the Reservation. Anyways, she is really pretty neat. I just don't know how we will be able to help her get to church. We'll find a way though. I think she watched conference on the internet in the house of her daughter in Phoenix. It is weird to think that there is only 2 weeks left; just 1 1/2 weeks till transfer calls. I have been trying lately to help Elder Bradshaw learn the area better. Here in Arizona they have Fall break to add to the other breaks that students normally get. Anyways, things are good here. I hope to have a good meeting with Pres. Santos tonight about the Branch. Life gets difficult sometimes but we can always rejoice because there are others going through the same things that we are, only without the knowledge and comfort that we have. This gospel is such a blessing. Share it!! Hehe, byE!

-Elder LaPorte =)