Week 8: Camarillo

I would like to tell you about some of our friends. We have truly incredible friends. 

Abraham. He first met Chase Bethers in Santa Maria, a city about 100 miles north of Oxnard, where he lives now. He struggled with alcohol, and he needed help. He wasn't quite ready to quit in Santa Maria, but when he saw Chase here in Oxnard, he knew that he could have the support he needed to make a change. He gets up every morning at 4:00 to cut celery (strawberries in the spring). Some days he works until 6:30 PM. But then, he meets with Chase and Elder Larsen and often us, too, and they read with him, pray with him, and he says that their focus on Jesus Christ has helped him develop a new mindset and he has been going without alcohol for a few weeks now. (picture with blue shirt)

Abraham dropped out of school in Honduras at 3rd grade, so he doesn't write. But he wanted to give all 33 men on his crew a copy of the Book of Mormon, so he dictated his testimony to the missionaries and to us, and we wrote down everything he wanted to say. In all, 33 books!  The next day, Chase and Elder Larsen helped him give them to his crew. 

Augustin. He showed up at our church tonight and told Chase and Elder Larsen that he has walked by the church several times when no one was there and thought that if only someone were there, he could find help for his alcohol problem. So we met with him, and Abraham told him how happy he was to have Jesus Christ in his life. Augustin is going to come to the church every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to meet with Chase and Elder Larsen, and often we will be there, too, to read and pray together and to help him find a new way of living. (no picture)

Everardo. He loves everything about coming to church. His wife and his children tell him not to come, but he loves it here, and he is patient with them. He gets up at 5:00 to maintain the grounds on a golf course 5 or 6 days a week. Such a strong man. (picture with white shirt and tie)

Felipe and Alejandro. They are 20-year-olds and we give them rides to meetings sometimes. They work long hours in a calamari factory. Alejandro offers to pay us for gas, which is incredibly generous, as they live in an apartment with 15 or 20 people. Last Friday, he left his phone in our car and we didn't notice it. We drove for about 30 minutes when it started ringing, and we finally found a way to return it to him. He was completely patient with us. (picture with two young men and me)

Rogelio. I love meeting with Rogelio because he speaks Spanish very clearly and he has a big, beautiful smile. I understand him well. He has read a lot of the Bible. He loves coming to church, and he is hoping to find an American wife. He is the only friend who I am taller than, and sometimes when we are with him, we think of Mary and the blessing (although it is not easy) of getting the shots to help with growth. (picture in white shirt and vest)

Gilberto. He was baptized three weeks ago after learning about the church for several months. He wanted to commit himself completely when he was baptized. He said that he chose this church, and he was "all in." His enthusiasm and his strength are obvious. He runs his own electric repair business. He pushes himself to learn English. His drive and courage are very impressive. 

We meet with these loving and humble men in our evening hours, and we love this part of our mission. Each one of them brings a joy and kinship to our meetings. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to love people who are so different (and yet not really so different at all) from us. They have so much to teach us. They feel so much gratitude for the things that really matter. I feel really blessed to be someone who loves and encourages them to be their best selves. I am grateful for their great examples of hard work, of working for a better life, and of being willing to do hard things. That's one of the reasons that I truly, deeply love this mission. I hope that you can feel how much you are loved by us and by Jesus Christ, too. Before our mission, with all the daily routine of life, I almost forgot what a precious gift that love is.