RECENT PICTURES FROM THE SACRAMENTO MISSION

My whole zone on our hike.

 

Some of my district elders. My companion, Elder Osorio, is with the dog, Elder Bancroft is wearing the cowboy hat and Elder Yi is the Korean Elder. the member is Brother Swarbrick. He is awesome and takes care of me for ya! lol

Glorious Miracle! We got steak!!

THINGS ARE GREAT HERE IN THE HILLS OF GOLD!
Letter from Nov. 18, 2014

Dear Mom,

I am staying here in the hills (SO HAPPY) and I keep my current companion (even HAPPIER). Yeah, Osorio and I are stoked. We wanted to stay another transfer together so we could continue to see the work progress. We have added 2 new families, the Perez family and the Garduno family. They are all open to receiving the gospel and we are very excited that we finally have an actual TEACHING POOL!! On top of all that, the stake president (great guy) has granted us permission to go and work with all the ward mission leaders in the entire stake so that we can try to find more (Spanish) work and coordinate with them accordingly. President Jardine has mentioned to us many times on how much he appreciates our desire to get things rolling. He understands that work here is very difficult, but that we have been pressing forward and trying to be creative in coming up with ways to make the work here effective. We have had to work very closely with the wards, individually, as well as on a stake level. It's pretty funny. We meet more with the stake president than the zone leaders do, haha. I gotta say this has been one of my greatest challenges yet, but Elder Osorio and I just love it here. We love the work here, the members, the people we are blessed to teach, and we wouldn't trade it for anything else. Things are great here in the Hills of Gold. 

How is everything going for Thanksgiving and Christmas preparation? I hope that you guys aren't stacked with a long list of stuff again. Please don't kill yourselves by over volunteering again! Well, anyhow, I have been asked to sing for a multi-faith event on Dec. 5th. It's an event that is titled, "Keeping Christ in Christmas". I will be singing "O Holy Night" and also "I Wonder as I Wander". I am humbled to have been asked to sing. The Stake President had asked me to sing, so it will be a great experience. That is all that is happening as of right now. I will keep you posted if anything new comes up. Love you all!

Elder Sierra

A MIRACLE AND LA FAMILIA VILLANUEVA. LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE PICKING UP IN EL DORADO

Letter from 11/10/14

Hey Mom,

Sorry that I am responding to you so late. Our zone just got back from an AWESOME hike in the mountains along a beautiful lake. We had a lot of fun. 

So, this week we did have a miracle. We got a referral from President Weston (Stake prez) and it went wonderfully. We have just added a family of 5 and we are very excited. They are the Garcia family and they have been very open to the gospel, especially the father, Juan. He has a very solemn and profound love for his family and he has had the opportunity to visit the temple in Salt Lake and the one here in Sacramento. He actually likes the missionaries and respects what we teach. In fact, after we gave the lesson he came up to us, gave us his number, then told us that Thursday and Saturday nights are the best way to go. I love it when they give us a schedule to come back haha. He is very humble and we are very excited. 

So now, we are working with him and also with a part-member family, la familia Villanueva. The wife is not a member and has been a little hesitant on being baptized simply because she is afraid of what her parents would think. Well, as luck would have it, her parents now live with them and we have actually begun the discussions with them......and they LOVE IT hahaha. So freakin' hilarious. I looked at Hermana Villanueva y le dije que, "No tienes ninguna excusa ahora." ( I told her that "you don't have any excuse now) So we are gonna see where that goes. It's not pitch perfect here in El Dorado, but things are getting better little by little and President called me and my companion and commented on the fact that things were looking like they were getting better. It's nice to hear support from your President. So anyway, things here are on the rise. 

I am happy that Benjamin and you have been having a fun time with genealogy work. I need to get on that when I return home. Right now, my work is for the living, not the dead, but once my mission here is completed I will get into the habit of doing that. That is pretty cool that we are related to Danish Kings. Well, mom, I don't have too much to talk about today, other than the fact that Osorio and I ARE SO HAPPY with the package you sent me. It is the best. We love the cd's. Thank you so much.

Elder Sierra