EARTHQUAKE? WHAT EARTHQUAKE?
Letter from August 26, 2014

Hey Mom,
We never noticed any seismic movement in our area. Either we were asleep or not paying attention, something of the sort. From what we heard none of the missionaries got hurt so I think the mission is fine. Speaking of the mission, I received my call to stay in Stockton and Elder Williams and I are still together. In short, we are happy. Our work is still exploding. We have many people that we are teaching, the Bernal Family and the Arevalo Family are progressing well, and so is Brian. Hopefully, things will go smoothly in September so they can get baptized. They are all on dates. Stockton is still great, although lately we have been getting a lot of people trying to mess with us, and Elder Williams and I mess with them back. One gal was just glaring at us while we were walking by and shouted, "Y'all look like ******* Mormons!" To which I respond, "We are freaking Mormons, whatchu gonna do?" And Elder Williams adds, "Seriously, who else dresses like us in the middle of the summer!?"
Stuff like that really lol. We like a little opposition here and there, it keeps us motivated.

Hermana Mendez, one of the members that we see a lot, sent those pics to you of me and my district. I thought that it had been a while since you received anything from me that I should do that now. And yeah JP's baptism was a very happy time. Obviously I expressed to the point of breaking backs haha. It was hard to contain high levels of happiness. 

So I did hear about the Ice Bucket Challenge, I actually have an interesting surprise for you and the family later concerning that. You should be receiving a video sooner or later about that. It'll explain it better. And thank you for giving me updates on the world. It's crazy how everybody is getting married. It wasn't that long ago when Elder Eichelberger left his mission. He got to work fast haha. Anyway, love you Mom. I'll talk to you later. 

Elder Sierra

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE

Letter from Sept 1, 2014

Hey Mom,

I am still loving Stockton and this P-Day is going good so far. A couple of elders brought two pairs of boxing gloves so we decided to box in the gym. It was a lot of fun (because I won). So, things are good here. We are gonna go check out a burger joint later on. Well, Dad was talking to me about his car crash in Uruguay. I was, like, seriously? And by Elders?? Man, one of the sisters in our zone rear-ended somebody as well. I'm pretty sure the Elders that hit Dad are AP's because they don't use cars for proselyting down there. Hope Dad's back gets better. The man still owes me a match when I get back. And as far as my back is concerned, it's not getting in the way of anything so I assume it's okay. I have another appointment in about two weeks with the chiro, so we will find out later. 

 

Did you send me that package yet? Just wanna make sure it's on the way. I have been hearing rumors that President may want me to go emergency transfer to shotgun train another area. I hope that doesn't happen because I don't wanna leave Stockton nor leave Elder Williams. We have gotten so dang close and I love my zone. A lot of my good friends are here....

 

So did you all do the challenge yet? haha This one is not for ALS; it is for Cystic Fibrosis. It is a completely different challenge. There is a newborn kid in the Leatherberry family that has that disease and it's terrible for the family. We are trying to spread this around big time to help them out because the costs for medicine are insane and they can't afford it. So, we are trying everything we can to get the word out. We are trying to spread this within the mission as well. I called out President Jardine, but I have yet to send him the video. I am sure he will see it soon enough lol. So, for this one, there is no limit. You call out everyone you can and we don't use a bucket (I ain't no SISSY) we go BIG or go HOME! SO please do your best to get the ward in or whoever you can think of to get in on this. 

I love you, Mom. Enjoy your Labor Day. That is all I got to talk about right now. 

Elder Sierra

HOW GREAT SHALL BE YOUR JOY

Letter from Aug 18, 2014

Hey Mom,

The chiropractor gave me some news that wasn't the best. Apparently, something is off in my spine, so I have an appointment with him in about a month to figure it all out. I will be meeting with him until the end of the mission so I can go home with a back that is 100%! Dang! So, Dad is heading down to Uruguay huh? Neat.

 

JP's baptism was nothing short of AWESOME! The Spirit was there and I couldn't get enough of it. They asked me to go up there and share my testimony and I was just fighting to not be overcome with emotion. The Zavala family don't live in our area, but they invite us over for lunch and what not, all the time. I love hanging with them and we are going to meet at a local Mexican joint for lunch this Wednesday. JP and I are real close and seeing him go into the water (which was FREEZING COLD and draining so they had to do it fast) was awesome. It was a tender moment sharing my testimony. In the past month, 2 of the Zavala's cousins have been baptized. It's just miraculous seeing their family get closer and strengthened throughout their journey. Afterwards, they ordered pizza and we went over to their place for dinner. It was a LOT of fun. We were all just shooting the breeze, sharing bilingual jokes (Dad's joke was the favorite) and had a contest on which missionary could eat the most pizza. I got 2nd place (7 slices), Elder Ruiz ,a previous companion, ate 10 (the guy is a bottomless PIT)! 

I love you all so much and there is not much more to talk about. I'm sure next week I will have something big to talk about. I love you mom and miss you too.

Elder Sierra 

 

At JP's baptism

 

 

 

WHEN CAN MY FAMILY AND I GET BAPTIZED?  BEST QUESTION EVER


Letter from Aug. 11,  2014

Man Alive Mom, 

You all have been very busy. Ironically enough, so have I. J.P.'s baptism was moved to Wednesday and we are all SUPER excited because his Dad and other family are driving down to see it happen and, we have been picking up investigators left and right. Also, we have been hearing rumors again that we would be getting IPads, but I, having been out for a very long time, have learned never to trust rumors in the mission, EVER! They are always the opposite of what will happen, unless it comes from zone leaders or Assistants, or the Mission President (usually those ones are true). 

 

So, we are back on the same problem as usual which is church, but we have been teaching pretty bodly on that concept. Hopefully, the message comes clearer now. Anyway, my entire district is very jealous that you went to Mary Poppins and didn't invite them and they are all from Utah so they are telling me stories about the theater you went to and I'm, like, "Cool. I will check it out because I still don't know [anything] about Utah!" Anyhow, tell Aunt Kathy and Amariah that I do say hi, as well as a shout out to the whole family telling them all I love them. And if you do go back to Miami then let me know soon, so I can give you a list of people you must say hi to for me... 

 

We have been doing awesome with the Bernal family. They have been coming to church and are soaking everything in so well, especially Brother Bernal. He has been on fire. The guy gets out of the hospital and is already trying to get back to work and asked us, "when can my family and I get baptized?" There are not much better questions than that one. Elder Williams and I are grateful daily for the success that we have been seeing throughout the transfer and it has been passing by fast. Only two more weeks left then I will be down to only 4 left!!!! Pretty freaky right?! Tomorrow we have zone conference and it's gonna be awesome because 1.) I get to go back to one of my old areas, Manteca and 2.) I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow- finally- so I can get my back checked up, which apparently is a little jacked up (don't worry Mom the damage is completely repairable). That's all the update I have to give right now so I will follow-up with more next week (which I am sure I will have much to talk about). I love you Mom!

Elder Sierra

MIRACLES AND A BAUSS LESSON

So Mom,

First things first, tell Dad that he needs to act like a mature adult. He can't be spraying people with water everywhere haha. Especially, WITHOUT ME!!! Man that sounds like fun. I would say I wish I could've been there, but we have been doing such awesome work here in Stockton. We have a teaching pool of about 17, 7 of them have a date for baptism for August and September and we have a baptism this Saturday. It's not exactly mine, but the Sisters asked me to talk to one of their investigators, JP. He and I are pretty tight so they thought maybe I could connect with him better. So, gladly I made an appointment with him (last Sunday) and we had a little pep-talk. I didn't want to pressure him because he already had enough of that from his family who are members. I just wanted to go over what was holding him back. At first, he told me he didn't really know what was holding him back. He went on about how he knows this is a good thing and that getting baptized is something that we wants to do, but there is still that doubt that he had. Then I gave him a questionnaire, basically, and went down the list on what he had doubts about. We arrived fairly quickly on that he just didn't know if Joesph Smith was a true prophet (I thought to myself, "That seems to be the silver bullet to everything nowadays!!). I then received inspiration to look up Alma 32:21, explaining to him how faith is believing in things that are not seen, which are true. Faith is a lot like the wind. We can feel it and see things it affects around us, but we can't see it. This is the way our Father in Heaven works with us. I went further in that chapter how his faith is comparable to a seed. I expounded on how you have already allowed the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to be planted within you, and you also know that it is a good seed. You are at the same stage as I am. I also do not "know" that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet. I wasn't there in 1820 on the morning of that first vision. I wasn't there to witness such a divine vision. That's knowledge. I have not received that blessing, yet. I however, have been steadily and surely strengthening my faith and it is slowly, but surely becoming, and what I deem to be, knowledge. It takes great patience, not to mention iron diligence. But through time that plantling of faith will take root and spring forth into Everlasting life. I gotta say Mom, there is nothing better than seeing the lights all click in the eyes of someone that you're teaching, especially when the Spirit descends so softly. I had to stop the lesson to tell him, "Hey JP, do you feel that?" "...yeah I do." "That's the Spirit. It's testifying to you right now, that this is true." Next question was, now the Lord doesn't desire you to know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet, only to believe he is. Then came the invite, "Do you believe that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet?" "........(10 minutes of silence).....Yes..yes I do." "At this point the only one stopping you from being baptized is yourself. With that said, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by immersion by someone holding the proper priesthood authority?" "Yes! (It feels SO GOOD to hear that)" "Will you be baptized this Saturday?" "Yes!" "I want you to promise yourself now and forever that you will always 'Doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith'. Will you do that?" "Yes, I will." "Awesome. Well we got 6 days to prepare. Let's get this shindig started!!!"

It was a pretty BAUSS! Lesson. I called the sisters and said, "Hey Sisters, got you both a baptism for Saturday! No need to thank me, I know I am awesome haha!" I'm kidding. I was just acting on inspiration at precisely the right time the Lord wanted me to. I am very happy right now. We have a very supportive ward (which I heard was not that great) and they have been coming with us non-stop on lessons with our investigators and we have gotten to know the families here so well. We are fed almost every night here and they treat me and my companion like their kids. Stockton, ironically enough, is paradise for missionary work right now, at least for our area haha. A lot of the other areas are not doing so well. Humility is something we try to remember. Also, that our success comes from the Lord. At times, it is hard to be humble, though. Anyway, things are great, my companion is my new best friend and it is just great to see so many miracles every day. Mom, these next 6 months are going to be full of success and they will go by quickly. I love you so much. 

Elder Sierra

WILL I SEE MY FAMILY AFTER THIS LIFE?

Letter from July 28, 2014

Hey Mom,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope you had a great day. What did you guys do? Tell me all about it. 

Stockton isn't that bad. Some stuff comes up once in a while, but really it's no big deal. Elder Williams and I are fine and they usually don't try to start anything with missionaries. One time, one guy did and before I could mouth off, Elder Williams beat me to the punch saying, "Okay man, look at us and look at yourself. Look at what we represent and now look at what you represent. Who do you think's got more people?" The guy backs off. We just keep walking to our appointment and Elder Williams tells me, "That's what I thought!" Haha. The guy is a riot. He has a very big heart. It's impossible to hate the guy because he never stops smiling, like EVER! He is always positive and it's great and all, but like when someone is, like, constantly happy, I feel like it can get annoying. He is like always singing, humming, or whistling SOMETHING! That's all that gets me. Other than that, he is awesome. We get along just great. What's funny is that his first name is Stockton and he has, like, a perfect British accent, so we make fun of him by calling him the "Prince of Stockton". I thought it suits him haha. 

 

So anyways, work is going wonderfully well. We had two families at church yesterday and we now have a total of 11 people on date for baptism for the month of August. We are very excited. We have been finding people out of the woodwork. What's funny is that most of our teaching pool found us! We don't do anything as far as finding. They are either referred to us or they call us or whatever. It's awesome. We are both pretty Darn happy missionaries. Nothing makes you feel better than when you are just working, working, working. Nothing more, nothing less. Love my area a lot. The ward here is struggling a bit and we may have to start doing reactivation work, but it's all good here. Elder Williams and I teach very well together. I like to expound on the scriptures and teach it simply to make it apply to who we are teaching, and Elder Williams is just a powerhouse. He just testifies to EVERYTHING! He is like a cute little kid. He just innocently knows that what he has been taught is true and it's awesome to see. 

So, Ralynne is getting married, Michael is getting married, Tevin is getting married, Marshal is married, and Everyone is having a freakin baby!! I'm already becoming an "old guy" in the mission and this is seriously not helping. Well, life goes on... 

 

 So, awesome experience I gotta share. We were at a ward activity (celebrating Pioneer Day) and it was a lot of fun. We had a lot of people there. Then, all of a sudden, my Bishop calls me over and says, "Hey Elder Sierra there is a member from out of town that wants you to come see him right away to help give a blessing to his brother who is at the hospital. Can you go with him?" All is said was, "When and where?" We left immediately to go and meet up with a guy named Miguel Bernal. We met his wife and family briefly and we headed out to go with him and his sister-in-law to the hospital. His cunada (sister-in-law), Hermana Bernal, and her husband are not members, but she wants to be. She was talking with me and asking me a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation and I still remember her one question that still hits me: "Vere mi familia despues de este vida?" (Will I see my family after this life?) Le dije, "Si, y vas vivir con ellos para siempre." (I said, "Yes, you are going to live with them forever.) Todavia recuerdo las lagrimas en sus ojos. (I still remember the tears in her eyes.) We arrived at the hospital and we met Fernando Bernal, who starts pouring out his feelings. He never wanted anything to do with religion, but obviously it took a lot of trials to recognize God in his life. We taught just a little on the Plan of Salvation and we left him a blessing. It was an awesome feeling being in there, feeling the strong Spirit in there. Everyone's eyes were very moist. The family came to church the next day and we are very excited to teach them. Well, that is most of everything that has been happening. Not too much more to share. I love you mom and happy birthday (belated). 

Elder Sierra

 

NEWS FROM STOCKTON

Letter from July 21, 2014

Hey Mom!

I can't tell you how grateful I am for you. The cake was FREAKIN AWESOME!! It's like a plethora of choclatey goodness in my mouth haha. Thank you very much for the cake. My new companion, my roommates and I enjoyed it. And they are grateful for the Mimi's Cafe gift card you sent lol. I will probably plan a day to take them there soon. 

Anyway, Stockton is pretty GHETTO! I have literally the worst area. Apparently that's why it was closed off haha. There was a bank robbery about a 3 days ago close to where we were proselyting. They had 3 hostages and killed one of them. It was very sad. Things are pretty crazy here. I will tell you some of the stuff that has happened in another email. We picked up 4 with a date Brian, Joshua, Junior, and their Mother Maria. They are GOLDEN!! Awesome and humble people. My companion and I couldn't believe what luck we have been having. We have a pool of 10 investigators so far in less than a week. So yeah, we are feeling pretty awesome. 

Ricky is doing good. He called me the other day and told me that he will be coming down to visit me in August around the 1st. He got a job as an electrician and is doing very well now. He is also taking some classes on the side. He is very happy. I have not heard about Christian in a long time so I don't know yet. I will try to see what's up. I am happy to see that all is well or at least happy in Utah. I can't believe how big Benjamin is and the guy is getting a little toned haha. Well, I also think it's a good idea to go with the Lindseys to Hawaii. That would be fun. And I wouldn't miss the opportunity to hang with those guys. I will be back in mid-Feb so I'm sure there will be enough time for you guys to prep for when I get back. I can't believe how much time has passed. And by the end of this transfer I will have served in the mission for 18 months. There has been so much that has happened here. It's been great. Mom, I love you and I have had a nice 21st B-Day.

Elder Sierra   

A TRANSFER AND A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT

Letter from July 15, 2014

Dear Mom,

Well, it's that time again for me. After about 3 months in East Sacramento, President Jardine believes that I must go and serve in a different part of the vineyard. This particular transfer call was interesting. If you are simply being transferred to another area, then you receive your call from the zone leaders. However, if you are going to be training, going DL, or ZL then you receive your call from either the APs or the Mission President. Well, I was returning home from a late dinner with a member with two other missionaries and then my phone buzzed. I looked at it to see that it was Elder Russel (one of the Ap's and one of my closest friend in the mission). I give the phone to Elder Martinez thinking that they were going to make him a leader, but to my dismay lol it was passed back to me with a little jab from Martinez saying, "It's for you buddy haha". So I get on the phone and Elder Russell tells me that I am going to be shotgunning (meaning that my companion and I would both be very brand new to the area) Downtown Stockton, which is the most dangerous place to be serving in right now in the mission. So, I wasn't being made a leader or anything like that, so my first question was, "Why are you calling me if I am just being shotgunned into a new area?" He then replies, "This is actually a special assignment that President Jardine is issuing to you and Elder Williams. We have been praying and thinking about what we can do to jumpstart the work down there and President Jardine and I both thought of you. We also thought Elder Williams would be the perfect companion for you for this assignment. President Jardine wants you to know that he thinks that you can start getting work going down there. The area has been dead for a very long time but we know that you can do it, man. I don't know any other missionary that I could trust to send down there." I'm like, "Alright. Well, I accept the calling. Hey, Elder Williams is a DL, so am I gonna be going junior again?" "Nope. For the first time in a VERY long time, you will both be a co-senior companionship. There will be no seniority between you two. You are to work as a perfect companionship as equal partners. We know that this is the way it's got to be." In short, I was pretty overwhelmed at all the pressure that was being thrown at me. No one likes that area and they expect me to get things up and running. I, for one, am nervous, but I know that I can do it. Elder Williams is also worried, but is excited to work with me and I am also. 

Well, my birthday is in 5 days. Don't know what I am going to do since there is not much I can do. Probably gonna go get a cake or something and since I will have 3 other elders in my apartment with me, we can play some card games or something. Anyways I don't have too much time to talk since i gotta get going soon, but I love you Mom. I will talk to you soon.

Elder Sierra