Week 3 of My Mission

I'm sorry that I didn't have much time to email.  We email at the library and have to make hour reservations.  I read through all your emails and only had a few minutes to write you and President Felix.  Also, I can only write letters on Mondays.  Weird, right?  Oh well.

President Felix is really nice and so is his wife.  He puts a lot of thought into companionships and other decisions.  He is all about obedience! Which is great.  We have a great mission of obedient missionaries.  Our motto is "In the Great California Ventura Mission we are:

1. Preach My Gospel Missionaries
2. We baptize
3. We obey with exactness
4. We seek to be trusted more than loved
5. We teach with power and authority".  

I love this motto.

My companion is about 5'10", 200 lbs and blonde hair.  President Felix told me last Tuesday (when I first got assigned Elder Skyler Peterson) that we would be dynamic.  President knew our differences and has faith that we will be "unstoppable" :).  We do have some things in common.  We both like things tidy.  We both like to have heart-to-hearts.  We can cook, we use the same deodorant, we know the doctrine, we love the people, we like to exercise, we are obedient to the mission rules.

We get fed about as much, maybe a little more, than the Elders in Buffalo do.  I was surprised.  I thought we would get fed more.  There are not very many people who come to church.  Probably 100 members or less at Sacrament meeting.  God is taking care of us though.  Our first night we didn't have dinner planned.  As we were walking to the store, one of the members was eating dinner and invited us in to eat with them.  They had made extra...hmm.  We ate well and they had the best grapes I have ever eaten before!!!  Yum.  Then they gave us a ride to where we needed to go.

We have a really big area!  We probably get 20 or more miles a day on our bikes.  There are some pretty big hills too.  I feel safe though.  Normally the neighborhoods we go to would feel a little uncomfortable, and the traffic is just close, but I have never been afraid or nervous.  I feel protected.  Thank you for your prayers.  The people have lots of problems, mental, financial, social, you name it, but the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement can solve all those problems!