Elder John-Gregory Sierra

A BLACK EYE AND TRANSFERS

Elder Sierra's letter from last week

Dear Mom,

My transfer call was this.

"Elder Sierra you have been called to go back into Spanish work. Your new assignment is West Sacramento. Your new companion will be Elder Sempf and you will be serving in the Sacramento 7th ward."- President Lewis

Me - "Alright, cool."

Pres. - "That's all you have to say?"-Pres.

"Yep."

"No yelling, no defying, nothing?"

"Nope."

"Well, Elder I am impressed. And you may not want to get too comfortable being in West Sacramento either. We may have plans for you."

So, yeah, I am back in Spanish work and from what President is telling me, I will probably only stay there for, like, a transfer (two if I get lucky). I am driving and from what Zone leaders are tellin me, they think I'll go train next transfer, or something like that... but all is well. I have done quite a bit here in Folsom and am excited to go back into Spanish work. My Spanish has been getting a bit rusty. So, my Thanksgiving will be in a Spanish ward and district. I am looking forward to it, though. Everyone says Sac 7th is the best Spanish ward. And, I know who my companion is and he is pretty awesome, so it will be fun. 

Unfortunately, I don't have too much to write about other than the fact that I had a little sparring match with a random guy I met on the street the other day (I was close to Ranch Cordova area). These guys were amateur boxing and my companion and I were on splits (it always happens on splits) and these guys were antagonizing us to box with them quick. My zone leader was looking at me cuz he knew I was not one to shy away from a challenge and was like, "Remember, fight the good fight elder. Don't give in." So I was gonna ignore it, then he commented about Joseph Smith. That was it for me. I told him alright, I'll take you on. If you beat me, I'll give you my wallet and my name tag, if you lose, you listen to the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said, sure, and we can all kinda guess who won. So, we taught the restoration with a black eye that was oozing a bit (I did punch a little too hard in that little scuffle, but I thought he could handle it)) and he and his friend have a date for December. HAHAHAHA!!! Man, I love being a missionary. I love you Mom. Hope you ain't mad!

Elder Sierra "your wonderful, beautiful, angel son"

A follow-up to mom's concerned reply:

Mom,

Everything is fine. That was the first time in a LONG time that I have had an incident like that. And you know what, maybe that was or wasn't the best way to do it, but in the end, it is what I was impressed to do. I did not turn to him to beat him up because I was angry that he insulted Joseph Smith. I could've done that without putting on gloves and taking time to set up a deal with him. Honestly, it's the way the Spirit works through me (no lie). I felt prompted to go and box with him. It is the truth. Afterwards, I got him ice, sat him down, hugged him, shared the wonderful message of Christ, and he was crying. I told him how much I loved him and he replied, "How? You don't even know me!" Me: "Of course I do! You're my long lost brother that I just found. I loved you before I even started talking with you." I should've included that because I realize it probably does sound more like a conquest when I didn't include that.