Elder John-Gregory Sierra

STREET LEAGUE SOCCER- THE NEW WAY TO 'KNOCK DOORS'

Letter from Sept 15, 2014

Hey Mom,

Missionaries are heading out from all over. We have a few in our ward that are preparing to leave as well. They are part of my crew. Them and their families make up my Stockton crew. We are going to chill out with them tonight because today is El Grito de Mexico!! They invited us over so we and other elders in our ward are going to have a fiesta. I will take pics. It's the Zavala family. It's a family of like 7 guys so we mix quite well. They all come out with us for lessons and three of them are preparing for missions. We play soccer every Friday night with them. We sorta entered an unofficial street league, and we made a team, the missionaries and them haha. We call ourselves Stockton's Street Wings. You need to tell Benjamin, "Yeah I went there!" He will understand. We have been unstoppable and we use it to get loads of contacts and referrals. It has been very successful. We are leading the spanish mission with the number of lessons we have been having. Our average is 25 lessons a week. The games are every Friday and they are all around Stockton. So we just use our dinner hour and go make chaos. The work in Stockton is AWESOME, fun, and we are so high off the Spirit. The Zavala family have been the best fellowshippers for all of our lessons. And we all got nicknames that people call us cuz of the way we play soccer. 

The names are: 

Hermano ZAVALA (El General)- Captain of the team. He is 50 years old and still has the skills to pay the bills. He organizes the plays and how we work. When we follow it, all we do is WIN! 

Aaron (The Speed)- The guy is wicked fast. Sometimes when guys get past us and we think that the ball is long gone, Aaron blindsides them, steals the ball, and goes through players as if they're standing still. 

Refugio (The Phantom)- Ball control is his game! He will pass you easily. If you blink, he is already around you, using slick tricks and a style that is his own. The ball will literally leave after-images. Hence, "The Phantom".

Johnny (El Ladron)- He may be small, but he is cunning. Players that try to "juke" their way around him will keep running past him only to realize... the ball is gone!!  

JP (El Matador)- The guy can predict a play and, like a bull fighter, he goes for the kill. An awesome defender. 

Ricardo (The Juggernaut)- The guys just started learning the art of the sport, but his athleticism makes up for the lost time. Once he accelerates, you best brace yourself....the guy is UNSTOPPABLE!!

Javier (The Sniper)- The boy has got some serious pin-point accuracy. He sees, he shoots, he scores, then walks off like a BAUSS! He bends it like Beckham. 

Elder Sierra (The Killer)- In this league, fouls aren't called much. Therefore, I'm takin on all comers. I earned the nickname from my unique way of "juking" players by knocking them all down. I took out four in a row (including el portero), still made my goal, and those players are still getting up as I simply, brush my shoulders ;)

Elder Williams (Daddy Longlegs or "The Prince")- My companion's first name is Stockton and he acts all royal about it so that explains "The Prince", but the boy's got long legs and uses them to their full potential. When you think your past him all he has to do is stretch and it's his. Not to mention, he's the perfect guy to pass to for a header.  

Elder Hart (The Red Baron)- Elder Hart has red hair so we thought that was creative lol. He's got some speed on his side and at times he leaves a red streak as he sprints haha.

Elder Ruiz (The Rookie)- The brotha is Mexicano, but has never played much. However, he is the #1 unpredictable player. He can either make or break a play, but he's got beginner's luck on his side, so he usually comes through. 

We have been doing good so far. It's a local competition that people can just sign up and enter. We've won 6 games, so far and lost none. So we are now in the quarterfinals, since we just won the round of 16. We are gonna smash this tournament. We have been destroying all the teams we've come across. This next one's going on our kill list as well. Stockton's Street Wings are the new crew in town! 

 We invited President to see our final game because we know we are headin there lol. 

I Love my area haha and I just received word that I am here to stay. So, dodged a bullet on that one (Love President Jardine). I really wanted to finish my transfer here. We still have Brian Arevalo and Armando on date for September and October. We are hoping for the best. We have been teaching like crazy and have been finding a lot of people. So there is no shortage of work and it continues to grow. We are loving it a lot. There is nothing better than being busy and getting compliments from everyone that we are doing great work. I love Elder Williams. The guy is my brother. We are definitely gonna chill after the mish (mission). Not too much to report right now. Everything is going great and thanks for the package. I appreciate it a lot. I love you Mom.

Elder Sierra 

Follow up:

It's cool to see where the Lord sends us. He sends me to the "ghettoburgs" because he knows I will thrive and do well in them...

And yes I am EXTREMELY happy. Soccer is a huge success that we enjoy doing. President thought it was "unorthodox and clever". He says if he doesn't see a lot of referrals from it then we should stop, but its been working so we continue to do it. And we get fed after the games haha, so I sacrifice nothing!

Bernal is out of the hospital, but he is recuperating still. So it will take a while.