East Coast meets West Coast-- California Los Angeles Mission: Bell Gardens for another transfer!!!

Hello once again!!!

Looks like you all had a very eventful week with back to school and weddings ;) Congrats to Carlos and Irene!!!! :D I was there in spirit ;)

It looked like it was a blast! And the children's looked sooo cute heading back to school! Good Luck!!!!! They are all getting so big! My Ryke is going to big boy school! SO CUTE!

Our week was also pretty eventful due to transfend all.....I am staying!!! WOOOO going on transfer #6 in the Bell Gardens ward and transfer #3 in this side of the area! I am excited! Unfortunately Sister Vincent is on her last transfer and she got moved to another ward...Santa Fe Springs but we're in the same zone! Nothing can separate us :) I am gonna miss her though. My new companion is Sister Smith!!!! She is actually a visitors center missionary going "full field" this transfer! She is from Sandy, Utah.....as well lolol and is so awesome! and so sweet! Haha we have seen some really amazing MILAGROS this week...it all starts with Sister Vincent and I. After Miguel (our RC who moved to Mexico) left Sis.Vincent felt prompted to go see a family that they had taught in the beginning of her mission the last time she was in the area that lived right on the other side where Miguel lived. So we went and they were super happy to see us! The parents are named Norma and Francisco Palma and they have a couple kids, a few who are older and have kids of their own. But they all live in this apartment, anyways I taught them with Sister Vincent and then we had transfers and Sister Smith came. So this week we came and visited them and we taught them the restoration. They were so prepared to hear it!! Sis Vincent mentioned that before, when they taught them last they weren't ready to commit and they wouldn't keep their commitments! But we invited them to be baptized on Sept. 25th and they said themselves that before they weren't ready to go to church and to search the truth but now they are. So we invited them to church and Sunday morning we went to wake them up at 8:30am. And normally, not gonna lie...more often than not people are still in their PJ's eating breakfast but we get there and they are all beautifully dressed and they were like "we were waiting for you!" and their whole family came to church and LOVED it!!! It was the coolest :) I have a really strong testimony of "dropping" investigators or "handing people over to the Lord" when they aren't commiting. Because I know that a lot of times, the Lord prepares them in the future. We are so excited to teach their family! We also were able to contact a referral this week, Veronica and her whole family are members except for her and they have been less active for many years but they are so ready to start coming back to church!

ALSO this week we had a STL meeting for all the new STL's and there are many more companionships now! Pres and Sis. Haynie want to have the ZL's and the STL's work more together to unify the mission. So on Friday, we did something a little different and we had a meeting and lunch at the mission home with smoothies and the whole shabang. Very different but really enjoyable!

On Sunday we were able to also take our investigator Juan and a couple members to a fireside that our assistant to the president was having, Elder Kawamitsu. He is actually in the new Meet the Mormons movie, so you guys should check it out! But his family are a pretty famous japanese music group and so Elder Kawamitsu sang and bore his testimony of the message of the Restoration. Juan, our investigator was very touched by the spirit felt through the music and he was able to receive revelation there. We are still working on getting him to be baptized but the fireside really helped him to hear Elder A's conversion story and relate it his own. We are excited for this coming week, we have MLC and we have found some new cool people we are going to be working with.

Don't forget the love God has for you!!! I have really been able to feel his love individually for his children with transfers and these cool miracles and one scripture I want to share with you guys is in 1 Peter 3:15, "but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give and answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you"

Sister Haynie has been shared it with us several times and I love it because being surrounded by so many sad/hurt/depressed people, they need to understand that there is hope in knowing that God loves them and that Christ is their Savior. I invite you to reach out to someone in need right now and let them know that! I love you guys! Have a wonderful week!!!!!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Abreu