From Braedon

hey everyone,

so, its been an eventful week. thursday-saturday were full of prep for the easter fireside/finding activities we had lined up for different areas throughout the zone. then sunday was busy with church, meetings, helping out with a ward baptism, then the activity. we had hno reyes come to church, along with esperanza, martin, and jaime. so it went pretty well. there were a good number of members missing, but it was made up with less actives that have their catholic tradition of going to church on easter haha. seriously, we had like 20 less actives come haha. the activity went pretty well too, besides some technical difficulties with the sound system. monday morning the car was in getting fixed and we didnt have any appointments set up, so we got to it and just went around finding with whatever we could. potentials, formers, street contacting, the whole shabang for hours. although it was the straight up work work work style of finding, it worked out and we found two new families. lots of work, little results, but we found two new homes that were into and plus we can try to start finding using them as the source. yesterday we woke up bright and early, made the 2 hour drive and went to the temple. it had been a long time since ive done a session, it was really nice to get back. after that, we got to go off to the meeting with elder perry and elder clayton. there were a tooon of missionaries there. it was super cool though. my head was pounding and my knee was angry at me (...my knee acted up a little bit starting last thursday. it swelled up a bit, but its ok, i saw the mission doctor, he stuck me with a needle and sucked out some fluid, and im back to normal. hahah), but regardless of the fact that my body was completely dead feeling, it was a great meeting. general authorities are super funny and youre laughing, then next thing you know theyre laying down a powerful sermon and youre trying not to cry haha. it was great though. elder clayton spoke about finding, obedience, and hard work. classic missionary talk. then elder perry spoke about working with the members. its funny, cause during his talk he definitely spoke with a ton of power and such, but it was while we were singing a simple hymn that i really felt the Spirit confirm yet again his divine calling. it was a great evening there. then after that i had my doctors visit, drove back home, and showed up for the last hour of institute. they threw a surprise party for me with cake and pizza and balloons and all. it was super nice of them and the perfect way to top off a long but great day. well, last week i talked about how well jesus reyes is doing. well, we invited him to be baptized and guess what? hes already a member! hahah. turns out he was baptized when he was 8 by some missionaries in mexicali. hahaha. that explains why he had such a good vibe about him haha. however, his family isnt part of the church, so tonight well be teaching his kids and going from there. great family. others doing so so. celia in san diego for her sisters surgery she just had. martin doing well but his mujer doesnt want to get married to him. mugre mujer. haha. things are going alright. dad, ill keep my eye out and let you know what plans i whip up. i havent gotten the bday package yet, they dont leave it unless im there to sign for it and as missionaries were never there and then ups doesnt show up at the time they say they will haha. but itll get here, dont worry about it. thanks a lot for the bday emails though. i did get a bday envelope from virginia, aubrey, kinny and adam though. that rocked haha. i got a good laugh out of that. thanks again big time, i really am spoiled to have the people i do around me. best family and friends ever. brolin, if you cut free another ipad, remember that im your favorite brother hahah jk. avery...stop growing. if you grow any taller you wont be able to use the scooter while im using the subaru ;) heheh. jk bro, wellfigure it out so we can both use it. ashton...everyone is super excited about your mission call, including me. ill try to bring back any good stuff that you can use. youll be getting a good amount of ties haha. britt, sorry to hear youre sick again. but at least you got to have some fun in the sun in cayman before it hit, right? mom, i got the card dad sent of you. bahama mama huh? sounds like a new nick name to me haha. christine is getting married?!! tell her congrats. i wish i could be there, but ill just barely miss it i think. lov eyou all. be good.

elder roney

From Moroni

Dear Family

Happy Birthday Dad I hope that you had a great birthday. I am doing well but this past week we did not get a lot done because Thursday until Sunday was holidays and with everyone traveling and partying we did not have a lot of people to teach but this week should be better. We don't have a lot of investigators that are progressing well so I think this week we will focus on finding new investigators. I would like to give my talk sooner rather than later and I don't think I will take a lot of time I don't think I will take more 10 minutes I think it will be really short. Is there a topic I speak on or do I just talk about the mission? My card has money but I am not able to get money from the ATM machine but I can use my card to pay for things so I don't think I will have any problems. But I not worried about souvenirs for me but what I could get for everyone else. I hope that everyone has a good week and until next week

Love Elder Boren

From Braedon

so, big news for the week is this. the mission is getting another 2 stakes added onto it starting may 2nd. so, there are a bunch of changes taking place around the mission. we had something like 58 units before, and theyre adding on 23 more. but were not gaining any missionaries. so it looks like theyll be taking two companionships out of the imperial valley...leaving us with 4 companionships in the zone hahah. tiniest zone ever. i had districts bigger than that back in san diego. anyways, im not going anywhere and im nearly done, so it doesnt matter to much to me, but its exciting news for everyone else. also, elder perry is coming down next tuesday to talk with the carlsbad and san diego missions. exciting stuff. i had my last interview yesterday (thats why i didnt email yesterday, we switched prep day around because of interviews with president). congrats again on your mission call ashton, thats super sweet. start doing all you can now to prep for it, that way you can show up and just tear it up for 2 years right off the bat. brolin and avery, happy bday again. today i sent off a package with some stuff in it for you guys. its just a stuffed animal for both of you, and then the luchador mask is for everyone to enjoy hahah. britt, im sorry to hear about the break in with your car. hopefully they find the rest of the stuff soon. as for this past week of work, its been a battle but its moving along ok. we taught the reyes family again and they were down for church on sunday, but saturday evening there was some sort of 'emergency' and they took off to arizona. even though it was horrible timing, it sounds like it was pretty legit and not just an excuse cause the mom apparently was able to cross and go to yuma too. the reyes dad and grandpa have health issues, so im guessing it was for something like that. pray for them. celia continues to be good and open, but buffed us on sunday (she told us saturday that shed be at church for an hour before she took off to san diego to see her sick sister). bummer. the laborins are doing well. ivan ate up everything we taught him about prophets. the guy had super solid questions that led him perfectly from one doctrine to another. we havent been able to see any of the new families yet, but we did have a good experience while trying to see them. we called up a 19 year kid named salvador that isnt super into the church and asked him to come out with us. he said sure so that he could 'get his time done with the missionaries' hahah. even though we got buffed 3 times that evening (it was bad, out of the 20ish appointments we had fri-sun, we only were able to teach like 4...ouch), he had a really good experience. by the end of the night, we told us about his recent girlfriend and how he wanted to start inviting her to activities and church and such. shes supposed to be coming to mutual tonight, and then to YSA on sunday. woot salvador. sabrina and lydya continue to do well. their two sisters in san diego have their baptisms planned for may 1st. yes. this sunday we planned out an easter activity and so were inviting everyone and their grandpa to go to that. well see how it rolls out, i think it should bring out a good number of people. tons of people are out of town because its a spring break and plus almost every mexican goes to san felipe for easter weekend. regardless, were expecting to pwn. well, im going to head out so i can figure out stuff for school. love you all

elder roney

From Moroni

Dear Family

How are things going? Sounds like things are going well and that´s great that you were able to be there for Jordan´s farewell and that everything is going well. I hope that you guys can have a good time in Arizona. How long will you stay? And who all went? But I am doing well this week we worked hard but some of the people we are working with did not make it to church so we don't have any one progressing or who are close to being baptized but we did have an old couple who went I think that they felt good also gladir, the young man who was baptized last week, brought one of his friends to church which is good it sounds like he last a lot of his friends because he was baptized but we will pass by his friends house the end of this week. I think that the rainy season ended so it should not rain any more not until September. I am not able to take money out of my card the machine says that its not permitted but I don't know what I can buy as souvenirs for everyone I think maybe in the airport they might have some things but where I am serving its not much of a place where people visit so they don't have a lot of places for souvenirs so I don't know what I would be able to buy for everyone. A while back I bought a soccer jersey of Brasil for myself but I don't know what I could buy for everyone else.

I hope that everyone has a good visit in Arizona and a safe trip back and until next week

Love Elder Boren

From Braedon

well, so the news came in and ill be spending my last transfer...in Calexico! hahah. yup, 10 transfers/14 months in the same area. same exact bed, desk, chair, roudy neighbor kids upstairs, everything hahah. i was shocked. still kinda am hahah. but its ok, i guess im supposed to be here, and so ill run with it. president has been leaving people in areas for a long long time. their is an entire district in santee that hasnt been changed in 10 months. elder pearson, an elder here in el centro, has been here since july. there are quite a few people like that. president must have gotten burned out of doing transfers and just decided to do the least moving as possible hahah jk. theres a reason behind it all, its just funny because a year ago, this was unheard of. 5 transfers was considered really long. oh well, it is was it is. and it looks like this last transfer is going to start kinda rough, but weve got some good potential to boost it back up again. all the people we were working with before kinda crashed into a brick wall and burned. k, it isnt that bad, but yeah, everyone threw on the breaks. the cruz family is so stressed by their financial issues that they put us on pause (and they wont accept help from us...theyre determined to do it solo. aggravating). celia is just impossible to get a hold of because shes always going to visit either her sick daughter or friend in san diego. martin got hired back on at work so thats causing issues, but he says he'll make sure easter sunday is open so he can come to church again. the laborin family is going through some legal situation so is super hard to get time to see too. thats kinda how its going with most everyone. however, like always, God rescues us from the less than ideal situation weve created. we just met 4 new awesome famililies in the rich part of town. then we had another 2 new people come to english classes that were starting to work with. so weve got potential. sabrina and lidia got confirmed and everything continues to go well. theyre rocking it. both their sisters in san diego are meeting with the missionaries and this last week both sisters told the missionaries that, after going to conference here and seeing the baptism, they know that what theyre being taught is true. woot. it looks like well get a new bishop this weekend at ward conference. thatll be interesting. brother medina rocks though. we went out to work with him on saturday and hes super solid. that guy really needs to stay here, hes could help make some awesome improvements around here. hes determined to get a spanish branch up in el centro and has us working with the el centro elders on people that he thinks could help make it happen. such a stud. im glad youre all enjoyin life on your trip. one day ill break free from the desert and escape to some sort of beach too hahah. as for ashtons call, make sure i get that call before he opens it! anyways, the gym is finally open after months of repair, so im going to go play some ball. and hey, i have an idea for a birthday gift if i didnt already tell you. whitening strips. hahah. besides that, dont worry about it, those things are expensive. love you all!

elder roney

From Braedon!

this week was uber ken aeslehc, if you know what i mean. hahah. sabrina and lidia got baptized! woot! we had the service between the two sunday sessions of conference. it went really well for the most part (and i say most part because the water ended up being ridiculously hot...like worse than a jacuzi haha. i was already in the font but sabrina wouldnt get in because it was so hot, so some other elders brought in a bunch of ice from the kitchen and we dumped it in to help cool it off a little bit. the elders from el centro, who filled it, said they usually dont get much hot water so just turned on the 'hot' handle and let it fill up all the way like that haha. next time ill fill it myself haha). anyways, it was great. we had a big turnout and sabrina and lidia were bawling right before they went in to get baptized (either they felt the Spirit or our musical number right before was horrible hahah). their sisters came to watch it, but the dad ended up not being able to come. that was a bummer. but regardless, it was awesome.

to make the weekend even better, we had a good number of people come to conference, especially for it being up in el centro. the reyes dad came and brought his daughter, martin oregel came, juan and esperanza made it, then the benitez gang showed up too. the cruz family and celia were thinking of coming, but then the member they know decided she wasnt going to go because she had a lot to do so they backed out too. chispas! oh well, it was still fantastic. everyone that went had a great time and we had a lot of members helping us out with the people that came, so it turned out rad. brother medina, a member that was up in bonita 3rd ward when i was there, moved down to the valley and is in our ward now, and hes all over missionary work. hes coming with us to work every friday and saturday, is determined to get home teaching up and running here, and asked the bishop to assign him to teach temple prep class. the guy is a machine. he definitely reps good old bonita 3rd ward.

i know you all thought that transfers were this week, but theyre not til next week. so, no transfer news for you. i have no idea whats going to happen to me, and i dont really have a preference anymore. i already know this area so well that i may as well stay here to wrap it all up, but if i get sent to a new area than im sure theyll be a good reason for it. whatever happens, happens, im not really worried about it. regardless, ill let you know next tuesday whats up. and yeah, just send stuff to the mission office. well be going up there once each week for the next 4 weeks for different things anyways, so ill get it regardless.

as for ashtons mission call. if you can, ask president if you can just call me. i feel like thatd be easiest. president has our phone number and all that. if i dont answer, wait like 10 minutes for me, i may be in a super awesome lesson or something. but yeah, im excited to see where that boy goes! im going to guess that hes going to alberta, canada ;) or if its in the states, then he'll go to texas.

well, i know this is a shorter email without too many updates on each individual, but im just not feeling it this week haha. dont worry, my 'not feeling it' with writing isnt at all connected with my feelings of love and appreciation for you all, youre all the best ;) and hey, i saw that you sent a package to the apartment but i havent been there to get it yet. ill see if i can snag it today. whatever it is, thanks haha. and adam, i promise you a letter this week. i found some international stamps that im just going to use on your letter. sorry bro, know that i love ya man. anyways, you rock family. im impressed with all the stuff i hear about what youre doing and i really am super grateful to have the bunch of you. youre all legit...too legit to quit!

love,

elder roney

From Braedon

hey everyone,

big news first. sabrina talked to her dad and hes down with her getting baptized! woot! she called us sunday evening to tell us. i was freaking out haha. its going to be perfect because this coming weekend her two sisters from san diego will be down in the valley, her brother from mexicali will be up on this side of the border, and well can have the baptismal service between conference sessions up in el centro (where her mom lives). so there should be tons of people to see and support her and lidia with the baptism, both the members thatll be at conference, and the whole family (like 12 of them haha) should be there too! woot! that family rocks. i had to get the big news out first, but ill continue on with why that family rocks haha. this past friday we did a family night with the rosales (members) and invited sabrina and lidia. well, her sister sharon (one of her sisters that lives in san diego) came down that same night and so sabrina and lidia brought sharon along too. then the following day sabrina took sharon to a hike with the YSA. then on sunday sabrina and lidia brought sharon to church too. she loved it. sharon will be back down this weekend and already told us shell see us at conference. woot. lidiana, another sister from san diego that we met a few weeks ago, is working with elder little and burnell in my old area in bonita and is getting baptized in 3 weeks too. shell be down this weekend too. uber. and to top it off, the dad said we could do a family night with his whole family this weekend as well. the benitez family is legit. so yeah, thats been making elder mata and me all sorts of stoked hahah.

more good news. the cruz family (minus the dad and son...son was sick, dad was working) came to church on sunday! and they enjoyed it a lot, even though they didnt understand everything (the gospel principles class was about the scriptures, and the teacher was in a hurry to finish on time so rushed through doctrine and covenants and the pearl of great price a little, leaving the cruz family bewildered hahah...dont worry, we clarified it all yesterday). they said there was only one thing they wish was different....that the whole family wouldve been there! hahah so theyre determined to make sure that everyone in the family makes it for conference this weeked. woot! weve got it set up to have lots of contact with them too. church on sunday, institute on tuesdays, activities on wednesday, and thursday were doing a movie ("the restoration") night at the church with their family, and then sunday at general conference. they probably wont make it for the saturday stuff (they all work at the swap meet on saturday), but if they can all go on sunday i wont be too upset haha.

celia geraldo went to church too. she too felt a little thrown off by the doctrine and covanants and pearl of great price stuff, but i dont think itll destroy her interest or scare her away. shes in san diego for a few days seeing a friend in the hospital, but shell be back in time for general conference too. shes been asking questions about baptism, so its on her mind. well probably re-invite her after conference and after she hopefully watchs the baptism on sunday. shes living with a super missionary member, shes bound to get it and get more into it.

victor manzanares finally started his stop smoking/drinking alcohol/coffee program! but when he started he did it with determination. hermano felix went with us to get him excited about it and to help explain the program (he overcame some addictions like 6 years ago with the missionaries). it was perfect. hes doing well so far, despite the fact that everyone else in his house smokes/drinks hahah. but weve the whole 8 days of the program planned out with things for him to do/places to go so that hes out of the bad atmosphere (once again, most of it is church stuff haha. you gotta get as much of that good stuff in with english/stop smoking programs, its gold). well be seeing him each day and calling him a bunch too. once hes got this kicked, i think he'll be ready to move along. when we taught him before he always said that would be his barrier before baptism because it was a part of repentance. very true. and its also true that after this week that barrier will be gone hahah. so once this monday hits, if all continues to go well, well have a mini celebration with him and start helping him take the next steps.

ivan and miguel laborin went to the activities on wednesday and loved it. miguel is having some issues with his wife that he just recently married, so hes down with talking with us so that he can try to fix that whole situation. now that weve got miguel, weve got the whole familys trust. theyre reading and praying now, and now that theyre coming to activities on wednesday well be able to see them 3 times a week instead of the slow paced 2 times we had before. they went to mexicali this weekend, but theyre excited to go back to the activities and said they wanted to come the following weekend to church. lets hope that it happens eh.

we started teaching the reyes family (they came to our english class last week). theyre pretty legit. its the grandparents, their son (jesus) and daughter (maria), and then two grandkids (both are jesus's kids). the grandparents are kinda old but still got their mind pretty sharp. and even though the grandma says shes never talked with mormons before, she sure knows a whole ton about us (and its true stuff, none of that anti mormon false baloney). this weekend they went to san felipe or something like that, but they said theyd love to join us for church this coming weekend. the kids went to english class last night and theyve both got their prayers down already and feel super comfy with it (we pray before and after each english class. we basically slip in as much church stuff as we can with english classes, its the bomb hahah). the only problem is that the mom of the two kids lives in mexicali and cant cross, so sometimes they spend weekends down there with her and sometimes up here with the grandparents. thats alright though, im sure the missionaries in mexicali wont mind stopping by their house down there.

our english classes, by the way, are rocking. last night we had yet another new couple come. they live in mexicali, but i got their information so that the missionaries down there can make contact with them. then just this morning we had somebody from the mexican embassy here in calexico call us. theyre doing a fair thing and want us to put up a booth to 'recruit' people for english classes. we were more than happy to say yes. so good stuff there. thank you trevon for giving me the drive/inspiration to start up the classes again.

well, thats about it. but hey, congrats to laura on going to the temple on friday. i really wish i couldve been there, but im glad that you were able to go :) and hey, did ashton get his mission papers in yet? im dying to know about that. brolin, let me know what happens with your top 10 essay. thats super exciting. if you get the $5000, remember that im your favorite brother eh ;) mom, about my birthday, i dont really need anything. ive got lots of ties. and theyre not too shabby. some are actually quite legit. but yeah, im sure that ive got more than enough nice ones for when i go home. thanks though. my birthday gift can be making sure that the scooter is up and running for when i get home hahah. oh, and also it can be healthy snacks, if you decide to send any haha. besides that, nothing. i mean itll just be more stuff that ill have to try to make fit in my luggage and such in a month. a family picture and a card will be perfect.

love you all tons. i will talk to yall again next week.

elder roney