Picture overload, and some words of wisdom thrown in!

We did baptize Vasti yesterday, finally. She took so long because she had a cast, then a boot, and she was feeling self conscious about it, but we finally got her. And there is the step-mom and her three daughters still in the home that aren't baptized. It's the honey hole of Woodcrest. Haha. Photos to come. Hughes is going to email them to me. But the work is going still. We're trying to get Alex to get baptized this weekend, but he might have to wait until August. I will probably be transferred on August 11, since I've been in Woodcrest for almost 6 months. It'll be a good change of pace. There is a high possibility that I might train. There is a big incoming and people need to train. In our mission, if you've been trained, you can train. It isn't exactly about how much time you've been out. It'll be fun. Scary, but fun.

Also, on the 1st of January the church is sending out 36,000 iPads to different missions and ours is on the list. But it's like buying a bike for your mission, you have to pay. It's $400, so if y'all could start saving up to help me pay for it by January, that'd be a great help for missionary work, if not, don't worry about it. But tell Jared to start saving up for it, because it's a possibility now.

F'real. I almost pull my friggin hair out when someone quotes Revelation 20:22 that says no one should add to that book. Everyone out here thinks it means that bible as a whole, but it really means that specific book. WHEN JOHN WROTE THAT FREAKING BOOK, HE DIDN'T KNOW YOU TARDS WERE GOING TO PUT IT AT THE END OF THE BIBLE. THE 1ST BOOK OF JOHN WAS WRITTEN AFTER THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THUS MAKING JOHN'S ORIGINAL EPISTLE ADDING TO THE BIBLE. READ YOUR HISTORY OR I'M GOING TO GO UPSIDE YOUR HEAD! And Moses said essentially the same thing in Deuteronomy 4:2. So does that negate the whole rest of the Bible? NO, YOU RETARDS. FASFSDFKSDLSDHL! Kill me. If I can convince 1 born-again Christian to reconsider their life and the bible, I'll consider my mission a success.

Love you guys, Cali is fun, missions are hard, but worth it.

Cody.

We ended up at a ward member’s party and played minute to win it games for dinner.

And the Bagely's fed us freaking steak and salmon one night. #RichPeople

Elder Franson bought a Batman piñata for his birthday. I introduce Elder Batman. I miss him. 

 Batman and I going to Sleep!

 Batman In the Shower!

Batman Going Potty.

Batman Studding the Scriptures!

Batman Is better than Super man!!

Batman and I Arresting Elder Higashi!

 Batman Giving us a Training in District meeting!

Let the Games Begin!!!!

P.S. I also found a broken bong checking the mail this morning. #CaliLyfe 

Hey, this week has been okay. Taught lessons, some of our people were out of town. But overall it was good. Alex is progressing more and more. William dropped us, again. Haha. He said that he was just going to try fighting Satan on his own, and he knew what he was doing. Whatevs. He knows where to find us. He's a good guy. How's life been at home? It's good here in Cali. It might actually rain today or tomorrow, It hasn't rained since like February when I got here. I wish it would just do it and get it over with. It's making it humid, and that sucks. I got a hair cut today. I think I want to be a barber when I get home, becaUSE NO ONE IN FREAKING UTAH KNOW HOW TO DO A FREAKING FADE AND IT PISSES ME OFF. Okay. I'm back. But my hair looks freaking tight. I'll send some pictures. We had a church open house yesterday that we've been promoting for about 3 weeks, and only two people showed up, and those were the neighboring ward's investigators. Bummer. We didn't get that much support from our ward, but we're working with them to get them more missionary minded and get that ball rolling. 
Anyways, how's everyone doing? Judy isn't on date. We're going to start from scratch with her, because she took the lessons over 6 months ago, and doesn't remember some of the basics. Hopefully it'll click this time. She doesn't really understand why this church is different than other churches. Shellee is...Shellee. She's going to get baptized...eventually. We're helping her get there. She just has to do it. She's been investigating the church since like 2011. We had a couple of potentials that we're going to try to contact. We placed 9 Books of Mormon this week though, and we had a goal of 8. So that's good. We picked up an 11 year old investigator named Iyss. She's in foster care with a family in the ward, and they're working on gaining guardianship and then she can get baptized. Then Vasti is getting baptized on Sunday finally. We're going to try and get her younger sister Corrina this month as well. They're super, super busy. 
It's good that Kylee is eating more. Maybe she's just growing. It's good that the boys are doing well, too. Any news on Gunnison? Have Tyler and Allison chose a name yet?Someone cut Gavin's hair so that he doesn't look like a goober. #Geesh. I'm going to learn to cut hair just so that my kids and nephews look fly as eff. #LineUpLadies

Hughes and I.

Me holding a photo with my favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald quote. "I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." You should make that my profile picture on Facebook. 

Me and Hughes getting the car washed before Zone Conference. 

Me and William

Me and Alex

That's Chris Vega. He's a super cool team up we have. He just got done with his mission about 6 months ago in Canada. That's Kade and Lowen Stubbs in the background. They're thugs.

Then there's Elise and Sister Stubbs.

Then Elise trying to "sneak up" on me.

That's Frost, Henderson, Me, and Hughes. We're the Woodcrest Elders. Frost is from American Samoa, Henderson is from Centerville, Utah, and Hughes is from Gilbert, Arizona.

That's blood from another kid in the ward. We were playing soccer with the youth one night and he bled on me... #AIDS

That's Elder Allen. He works out every morning by pumping iron. He's a stud. #SwollPatrol #InsulinDependent

Just thought you'd be interested in how effing fly my hair is. Thanks, I know. 

Me, Hughes, Corrina, and Vasti

Cali view from an Albertsons Parking Lot

Shellee and I.

Shellee, Hughes and I. She's an eterna-gator

That little girl's name is Elise Stubbs. I love that family so much. They're always looking out for us and feed us when a dinner falls through. She's the cutest baby ever. She broke her collar bone on Father's day after we had dinner with their family. She calls us "mish-aries". I'm her fav. Haha. 

As you can Tell, Cody is in picture overload.. he is such a good looking Kid, I love and miss him to pieces.  

Keep on, keepin on!

I'm sorry to hear about Richard. I do remember him and seeing him around church and Valley Mental. He was a really good guy, I loved his comments he would make in Sunday School. He seemed to have a very good understanding of the Gospel. Send my condolences to the family and tell them I'll be praying for them, and try to be a big support to Amy and his kids.
It's good that Kylee is doing better. Sister Wilde (the family we live with) has to get that surgery every two years. She has a lot of health issues. She said to get one of those Netti pot thingys. It's a spray type thing. Sister Wilde has Sampter's Triad. And like type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. She hasn't smelled anything in 15 years. She said when they pulled the packing out of her sinus', it was like the guy was a magician. Hahah. It just kept coming and coming. She's dope, though. When their homeshare closes out after this transfer, I will have lived with them about 6 months. That's crazy. 1/4 of my mission with them. I love that family and all the people in the Woodcrest Ward. I've gotten to pretty much know everyone on a really comfortable level.

We have a larger incoming next transfer, so I might train. That sounds fun and scary at the same time. Haha. President Mullen is such a baller. I love that man already. He thug hugs us. (Hans shake into a hug with 3 taps on the back). I'm going to see if I can get him to pound it after. He's like in his late 60's, and kind of reminds me of Grandma and Grandpa Greenburg. His wife is really cool too. This week has been a bit crazy since it was the 4th. From what I've gathered, everyone just kind of chilled out on the 4th. Just a few people were lighting off fireworks. In Riverside County they're illegal. But we were talking to some people in a Stater Bros. parking lot  in a not so good area of Riverside and someone lit off a super loud Arial firework and I thought someone was getting shot at, Haha. #FunTimes #ImOkayMom.. Working wise it was a little hard because of the 4th, but we did okay. We're going to try and place 8 Books of Mormon this next week. We placed 4 this last week, which isn't bad. We're really focusing on good, quality OYMs. (Open Your Mouth). We met with William again, and put him on date for the 13th, but we haven't seen him again and he missed church. Alex (his Uncle grows weed, and the people around his house think we're feds. #DruggyArea) is kind of on date for the 27th, but we're going to try and make it more solid. Vasti is still solid for the 20th, and we're going to try and get Corrina's mom to approve her to get baptized that day, as well. We're picking up a new investigator tonight named Isis. She's living in foster care with a family in our ward, but the family doesn't have guardianship, but they think Isis' mom will be okay with it. It's just one of those legal things that Satan loves to dig his claws into. We'll get it figured out.

But all is good in Riverside. This place is pretty sweet. I love Cali. It's starting to get hot here. Did you get Sister Michaelson's pic from the 4th? #Murica. I saw that photo you sent her of Andy. If you end up in Gunnison, you end up there. Hit up Snow College for reception work somewhere. Maybe the Institute by the college as well. They're expanding, I think. Just go with Snow and around Snow. I feel like there would be some jobs there. Maybe. I dunno. Think about it pray about it. The Lord approves more than he assigns. (D&C 8:2-4). I'm stoked to see the new baby as well. Maybe I'll be the first to have a girl in the family, but you're going to have to wait until I'm like 30 because marriage and the future freaks me out. #Single4Lyfe.

But seriously, this is important about receiving revaluation that people don't know about. The Lord approves more than he assigns. Instead of asking "Heavenly Father, do you want me to move to Gunnison?" Where is the free agency? Ask, "Heavenly Father, I am thinking about moving to Gunnison. Please tell me if I am wrong." Because then you are acting upon your own agency and including him. Where is the faith if you just come to him and say, "What do you  want me to do?" We learn that in Ether where the Brother of Jared (dats me!) has to light their ships but can't use windows (Those would break, ya dummy!), or fire (tard). So he makes clear stone and says, "Now, Lord, don't be mad at me for being a dumb human, but I know that you are all powerful and can light these stones, and I have the faith that you can. Would you?" and BAM! The Lord does it.
Just have  the faith that you will receive an answer, and be prepared to act on the revelation received. Moroni taught us that in Moroni 10:3-5 when he told us the way we can learn if the Book of Mormon is true. Search it out (D&C 8), pray about it (Moroni 10:3-5), bring it to the Lord, and do it (Ether).

Love,
Cody

Suppy!

Suppy.
That...looks...painful, Ky. You're killing it, girl. Stay strong and keep praying. (Ether 12.27) The Lord, Heavenly Father, and I love you. You're great. You're going to be able to breathe a ton better. It sucks now, but in the long run you're going to love it. Is Jared and Elder yet? If he is, get him and Mikey to bless her. Make sure to use the oil because it's for health. If Jared isn't yet, have some one from the ward come and assist. It will help immensely. 

The Lord is so good. We picked up a kid named Alex just a little while ago and he's progressing well. We found out that his Uncle is growing weed. A lot of weed. Haha. Like, 200 plants. It's all 100% legal here in California if you have the right license, but on a Federal level it's still illegal. Alex doesn't smoke or drink, do drugs, or drink tea or coffee. He's preparing to head into the military. He's really cool. We brought him to church yesterday and he liked it a lot, despite that fact that everything went wrong. Since it was a 5th Sunday, the Bishop taught all the adults in 3rd hour, and the topic was gay marriage. Holy crap. It was suppose to focus on the doctrine concerning the subject, but what really happened was that it turned into a political rally, which is unacceptable for church. Love for all people as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father took a back seat to political views and bigotry. We had to do a lot of damage control with some of our recent converts. It was a rough day, but it turned out well. #SatanSucksTellEveryone. Vasti got moved from June 22nd, to the 29th...then to July 20th. That was a hard call to make because we wanted her to get baptized as soon as possible. But she's going to wait to get her boot off, and in the mean time we can work with Corrina's mother to see if she'll approve her to get baptized too. I would push off 1 baptism for a month to gain 2. I guess the world is exploding over the World Cup. Not going to lie, I'm starting to get interested in Soccer more. Haha. I got Wendy's package. I can't remember if I told you that. It's good that you guys are going down for the 4th. We're having dinner with the Marquette's and I'm super stoked on it. I love that family so much. We have to be in by 7:30, though. Lotta of drunk people. Haha. Cali is fun. It's good that Riley was being good, and Gavin is having fun. It's good that Andrew is doing well, also. Tell Jared to finish paying off his Mini so I can drive it when I get home. Haha. #MiniSwag. How are Tyler and Allison doing? When do I get another nephew?
The work is bumping, the church is awesome. Missions are #MostDope.
Love you guys,
Cody

Week 5 transfer 3

Last Zone Conference with President and Sister Smart

Hey,
This week as been pretty great. We had transfer calls on Saturday night and I'm staying in Woodcrest for 7 more weeks. When that's done it will be 6 months in my Greenie area, and I'm staying with Hughes for that time too. We had Vasti scheduled for baptism yesterday, but she fell off date that Friday before because she felt like she didn't know enough. We've been teaching her since the middle of April. Haha. We don't have anymore to teach her. Haha. She's been moved to be baptized this coming Sunday. She said she didn't understand a lot about how church worked. She'll get baptized, though. No biggie. The plus side to staying in the Riverside Zone is I get to see Allen die. That's going to be sweet. Haha. We picked up a new investigator named Alex. He's really cool, but he might be YSA, we'll get it all figured out. He's joining the military soon.

So the pageant was good? That's good that everyone had a good time. The best part is I imagine that Les wasn't even really aware of what he was doing. He was just being Les. Haha. Yeah, I wrote Grandma and I got her letter on Thursday. That's the day that we had our last Multi-Zone with President and Sister Smart before they go home. We get President Mullen on the 30th. That Multi-zone was sooooo good. They gave us "10 Secrets to Living a Happy Life."
Here they are:

1) Commit to living a Christ Centered Life
The First and Great Commandment: Love God
The Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30)
Gratitude (Alma 37:37)
Christlike Attributes (PMG pg. 126)
Dating Tip: Run as fast as you can toward God, and if someone keeps up, introduce yourself
Find an Eternal Companion who is committed and trustworthy
The Family: A Proclamation to the World

2) Be Obedient - it is as easy today as it was when Moses told the Isrealites to look at the brass serpent and live (Numbers 21:6-9). This was very simple; too simple for some (See Alma 37:46). We need to look to the Savior and live. Today the simpleness of the way includes:
Reading Scripture (daily)
Pondering / Meditating (daily)
Praying (daily)
Go to Church (Weekly)
Attend the Temple as often as your circumstances allow

3) Attitude: Choose to be Happy
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” John 13: 17
“But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi.” Alma 50:23
Don’t worry, be happy scriptures: D&C 100:15, D&C 98:3, D&C 121:7, D&C 122:7, John 14:27, John 16:23
Keep a good sense of humor… (Trust Fall)

4) Be Flexible and Adaptable

5) Work Hard
“Sir, I am a true laborer. I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good…” (William Shakespeare)

6) Have a Purpose: define a Vision, Goals, and Plans for your life. "Dominate Chapter 8"

7) Take Care of Your Physical Body
Eat right
Exercise
Wash your hands
Get the right amount of sleep

8) Control Your Thoughts
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
"If you think you’re beaten, you are …" (Poem)
Recognize a bad thought and push it out
String Activity - the mind is a very powerful tool
Don't Get Too Caught Up in What Other People Think

9) Have a Forgiving Heart
It has been said, “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.”
"Be quick to admit wrong, even when you are not." (President Uchtdorf)

10) Serve Others
Model your life after the Savior

It was such a spiritual privilege to have them as leadership. They're really great people. I'll miss them, but I'm excited for President Mullen and his wife to get here. 

Hopefully Kylee gets her surgery in soon so she doesn't have to wait around. Yeah, I sent home some stuff to de-junk so that I'm not carrying around a lot of stuff. The albums I just picked up and sent home, and the missionary packets I don't need, but keep them safe. Keep it all safe. 

I did get that package from Wendy and Jerald. It's great to have new music. Haha.

Thanks, 

Love and miss you all
Cody

Transfer 3 week 4

Hey,
This week has been good, but slow. Kind of hard depression wise, but oh well. That's the downside to baptizing your investigators; you have to go find new ones. Haha. So Kylee is pretty much getting an overhaul? Haha. It's going to suck at first, but it's for the best. Just get it all out of the way while she's still covered. You did tell me about it.

I'm sorry to hear that relatives are passing away. But what great joy we can feel knowing what happens after we pass. The Plan of Salvation is real, it's also the plan of happiness. While we're mourning the passing of loved ones, we're mourning not being able to see them for a long time. We will see them again, though. The Lord and our Heavenly Father wouldn't put so much emphasis on families, then make it so that we couldn't ever see them again.
Also, new rule: Anything that I may have said before my mission, just go ahead and throw that out the window. Not relevant anymore. Haha.
Jared just shared a good experience with me about his Bishop. I don't know if he's shared it with you as well, so I won't say too much. But I will say that the Lord is going to call him to labor soon. I feel like he's going to go South America. I don't know why, but I feel like he's going to go foreign. You're right about having to get everything figured out.
Very cool about the Manti pageant.  Ben and his YM will be down there for the pageant some weekend as well. They're crashing on Grandma's front lawn. Haha.

Life in the mission is going to get a little interesting. We get a new mission president on July 1st. It's going to be hard to see President Smart go, but I'm excited for President Mullen and the changes that will happen. We're baptizing Vasti Gutierrez this coming Sunday, and I might stay in Woodcrest for this next 7 week transfer. We'll see this Saturday. I have mixed feelings about being transferred. I kind of don't want to be transferred because I love the ward, and this is Elder Allen's last transfer and I want to serve around him when he dies. He's such a good guy, I love that kid. But on the other hand I feel like my time is coming to an end in Woodcrest. We'll see where the Lord puts me.

Cali Life

Love and miss you guys,
Cody