Mar Vista: Transfer 9: Week 2‏ / Jan. 10, 2011

Hey family.
 
Well, this week was kind of rough. I'm pushing through it though. We are just working and trying so hard to get people around here excited about doing missionary work, and it takes a lot of energy and faith. I'm kind of exhausted, but I'll be alright.
 
I think that right now I'm in a challenge period where Heavenly Father is testing my faith and trying to push me so that I will grow. He is definitely teaching me how to be patient, and humble. This area is very different from my spanish areas, but I still came in with all of the faith and hope in the world, and I'm just realizing that it is more of a challenge than I expected. We work and try so hard without getting any sort of result; not yet at least. It is like going to a different mission. It makes me appreciate a lot more what missions are like in Europe or other parts of the world. Los Angeles really is like Babylon, and the worldliness, obsession with fashion, money, and sleazy movies affects everyone, even the members of the church if they're not careful. There are so many things that people spend so much time working to buy that are so worthless. It is not making them happy, so why are they doing it?!
 
Well, on the bright side, we have been seeing a lot of little miracle as we have tried to talk with everyone that we meet. We met a really nice older couple named Marge and Norm that let right in their house and said that we can stop by whenever we are in the neighborhood, because his brother is mormon. Norm is a Catholic principle, but he was interested as we talked to him a little bit about the restoration. It is always really neat to see the way that people treat us differently when they have a mormon as a close friend and example for them in their lives. Norm has a Book of Mormon, and we invited him to look at the mormon.org website, so we are going to stop by again and follow up with them.
 
We have also still been seeing a lot of miracles in the Visitors' Center. They showed us some statistics of our work here and how it is affecting referrals throughout the mission, and they are seeing some incredible results. It really is an incredible missionary resource, and I get the chance to meet amazing people every day that come in wanting to talk to us, so I really can't complain. I have been trying to pick up some Korean, Japanese, Tongan, and Samoan. Oh, and I even had a chance to put some of my German to practice. A couple came in from Austria, and the wife spoke some spanish but mostly German, and the husband only spoke German. Some other sisters had shown them through the center and given them copies of the Book of Mormon, but I had a chance to show them a scripture that I liked in the Book of Mormon and attempt to read it them in German. I think that they felt my sincerity in my love for the Book of Mormon, and I hope that they read it.
 
Well, Have a great Week family!
 
Hermana Dansie