Constantly Changing February 29,2016

It always interesting going into emails because you have an idea of what to talk about for the week then your mind goes blank about the whole past week. So we'll see how this goes. 

This week was pretty good with lots of funny moments. One of the first being at FHE at the YSA ward. We had an egg toss and Elder Burke and I got pretty far until I accidentally through the egg to high and it hit the gym ceiling. It cracks and burst everywhere. The clean up took a while but it was totally worth it. Our YSA investigator is doing really well right now. His date got moved to the 19th of March. Our other investigator in Quartz Hill went out of town for a few weeks so his as well moved to the 19th. Aside from those progressing we saw a lot of success. We were able to find a lot of new investigators. Its amazing the different walks of life we take. We met this one lady from Haiti. She is so cool. A very humble woman. We went on exchanges with these elders in our zone. I went with Elder Fernandes. He was my last companion. He is super cool. It brought back the good ole days of when we were companions. 

Its a great time to be a missionary. The work is moving forward so fast. Its amazing how the gathering of Israel is taking place. This work really does change others and yourself.  

Sorry for this being really lame next week will be better. 

Have a great week.

-Elder Loertscher

​

Our recent convert bought some snakes so we got to play with them. 

We had to move out of our apartment so they could renovate it. So we are staying with some other missionaries. Heres what we decided to do at about 11 at night haha. We made a little putt putt course. 

New Transfer February 22,2016

Man this week flew by. Week one of a new transfer always does. So these next few transfers are going to be a little weird. This transfer is a 7 week transfer, the next is a 6 week, then a 5 week, and then my last one is a 7 week. They are all jumbled up because they had to add on an extra week because they changed English missionaries to 3 weeks MTC time. 

But for this transfer (week) so far it has been pretty good. I cant express over email how fun it is to cover two wards. One of which being the YSA ward. We get to see so much success in both wards. Well talk about the family ward first. 

QUARTZ HILL- 

We are teaching a few people right now. We met someone this week whose name is Jackie Robinson. I wish it was the real guy but ill settle for what we got. The family is pretty prepared and open for change. We hope that as we follow up this next week they will be able to come to church. We had to move our investigators date back again because we couldn't teach him everything in time. Then for the next two weeks he is out of town so we are moving it to the 19th of March.

YSA- Our two investigators that just recently got baptized are getting the Aaronic priesthood this next week. This is the first time I have been able to stay in an area long enough to witness our investigators get the priesthood. So this is pretty exciting. Our one investigator is still good for the 5th. He has such good fellow shipping. He comes to all of the activities. He is super cool. 

This week we went and did service at this place called the painted turtle. Its this camp place where kids in California and out of state come to have a week or two of fun. They have so many things to do. For the service we went and made beds in all the cabins they stay in. It was actually a ton of fun. After we asked what other cool things they had there. They have the original Lakers basketball practice court. So we got to take some sweet pictures with that. ( i can officially say i made a 3 pointer on the Lakers basketball court )

Life as a missionary is so great. I like the saying "another day in paradise" because it so true. We are living in such a way where its impossible to not find joy in this work. 

I hope you all have a great week.

-Elder Loertscher

​here is my new companion Elder Burke

MTC Sisters I Came Out With Go Home 2/15/2016

Tomorrow the sister missionaries that came out with me go home. I cant believe that is has already been 18 months. It is crazy how fast time flies. I only have 4 transfers left. On the topic of transfers I am staying. My companion Elder Boy is going to North Bakersfield. My new companion is Elder Burke. He came out with me. We served in the Ana Verde ward together for 6 months.(not as companions) (he was companions with elder Fernandes who was my last companion). I'm super excited. It will be a good transfer. Before I get ahead of myself and this upcoming transfer. This past transfer was great with Elder Boy we had 3 baptisms together. He is a great missionary

This past weekend our investigator Rafael got baptized :)  

We had stake conference this past weekend and he sang in the choir. Best recent convert ever. He is such a cool dude.  

On another talk we saw some amazing miracles this week. 

We were in this lesson with another one of our YSA investigators. A little on his past. He was dating a member and has been to youth conferences and things of that nature. He was actually there to see his girl friend get set apart as a missionary. When he was there witnessing the setting apart he said he felt the spirit. He described what he felt and it was definitely the spirit. The importance of that will play a factor in a minute. We were having a hard time answering his concerns. He did have some doubts. We just went asking the right questions. It was a little frustrating honestly to not see him agree. So as we were teaching I prayed that Elder Boy and I and our member could be filled with the spirit to be able to ask the right questions and that the spirit would be able to touch his heart so he will be able to know it is true without a doubt. After closing the prayer I felt inspired to ask a question. He answered. After he answered he explained to us that as we asked that question he felt the spirit "like at the setting apart". He finally accepted that he knows this is true. He cannot deny it. He is on tract to be baptized. It is amazing how the spirit is really the factor in someones conversion process. I love the scripture in doctrine and covenants which in this case took a very literal meaning. 

D&C 42:14 

14 And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.

I love the tender mercies that come from the Lord in missionary work. 

I love being a missionary. That was one of the many miracles we saw this week. I don't have time to write them all but it was a great week. I hope you all enjoy your day off today and have a great week.

-Elder Loertscher

​haha oh Lancaster. Gotta love a mission in the desert.

Recipe For Revelation February 8,2016

Dang this week FLEW by. We had so many meetings this week. On Monday we met with the stake representative over missionary work and gave him our zone totals for the month of January for our meeting with President Wilson and President Crawley on Thursday. On Tuesday we were able to go out and have a productive day. We were able to find an awesome investigator. He is so willing to find out if these things are true. So hopefully as we continue to meet with him he can progress. Wednesday we drove down to Tehachapi for Mission Leadership Council. Those are always some of my favorite meetings. We really get to council and figure out how as a mission leadership we can help the work move forward. Wednesday night we had to plan for ZTM which was on Friday. Friday we had ZTM which also went well.  Our missionaries in our zone are slowly getting the vision. Were on the right track.

 This week we taught a bunch of lessons. It was super funny. One of the lessons we had this week we decided to have inside (we normally meet with him outside) because it was pretty cold outside. We went and sat down on the couch and immediately I could see my breath. We were puzzled because it was 10x colder inside than it was outside. We also found this new guy who has had a pretty big track record with the church. He has been to several youth conferences, church services, and other church related activities. We got a call from the Institute front desk lady saying that this guy referred himself to take the lessons. He has heard some of the missionary lessons in the past but he told us he really wants to take them serious this time. So we went and met with him and he is definitely prepared for baptism. Were super excited to be able to work with him.

Its a lot of fun serving in two wards. Except were just super busy on Sunday spending 6 hours at church. But hey I'm not complaining especially on days like yesterday where we have "break the fast" in the YSA. Also yesterday at ysa we had a lesson about how we can receive revelation for ourselves. They baked brownies and along the way were comparing things like butter to prayer or coco mix to coming to church etc. It was a lot of fun.

Update baptism wise. Our investigator is getting baptized this Saturday :)

-Elder Loertscher

The bishop of the YSA ward served his mission in Australia. While there he killed a kangaroo and skinned it.

This was at a dinner this week with some members.

hope you all have a great week.

What Lack I Yet February 1,2016

Well our investigator got baptized :) 

It was another great week in great Lancaster California. Our zone had a record high week. We found 44 new investigators. We have not had that high of a week in a while. We have 8 companionship's. So some did there part others are still working on it. We ourselves had a record high week. We found 15 new investigators. A lot who seem to have really good potential. Our baptism that was supposed to be happening next weekend is getting pushed back to February 13 and the one that was scheduled for the 13th is getting pushed back to probably the 27th. But they are both still on track due to teaching though we needed to move them. In YSA ward we spoke. I gave a talk on the Gospel Of Jesus Christ. Elder Boy spoke on the blessings of obedience. Both were really good talks. No one was at YSA though. There were maybe 30 people. Everyone was gone because someone from Quartz Hill got home from her mission. We didn't make it back to the home ward in time so we were not able to hear her speak but we heard it was really good as well. 

We went on exchanges this week and had the best time. As we were driving this slug bug in front of us hit a tumbleweed and it got stuck on her car. As we got to the light the elder I was with got out grabbed it and threw it on the side of the road. Well tumbleweed have needles all in them so we had to sit there for like 5 minutes picking them all out. it was hilarious. 

Sorry were short on time. But it was a great week and so many funny things happened.  

Have a great week everyone. 

-Elder Loertscher