Monday, February 24, 2014

Leaving Simi.....So Sad!

Hola! (:

BIG NEWS! I have been assigned to be a Zone Leader (: Crazy. I didn't see that coming, but at the same time I did? I don't know... it's crazy! I will be transferred to Camarillo/Oxnard. Such a surprise! I'm excited though (: Moving onto new things. I'm super sad to be moving though..... I love Simi Valley! The ward here is amazing. So yeah, as a ZL I will be covering the English YSA ward that covers Camarillo and Oxnard. Crazy! So there is the big news (: Elder Gray is going like 5 miles away to Thousand Oaks. he is sad to leave too! Saying good bye to this place is gonna be terrible!!!!! 
I played a special musical number in Sacrament meeting yesterday. It went really well! I played my arrangement of "Lord I would Follow Thee" and Elder Cheadle sang it. It was really good. My first musical number! So that was exciting (: 

What else happened.... Let's see.... well one of the Elders in our district had to go home due to knee problems (he crashed on his bike pretty hard core..) so his companion came with us for this week until transfers. His name is Elder Toa! He is Samoan and we had a lot of fun (: He and Elder Gray came out together. It was kind of a hectic week, cause we had to pack him up, and move him into our apartment for the week... so It was kinda crazy. But it was fun, like I said (: 

We went by and saw Ian a couple times. We just read out of the Book of Mormon to him, like before. he really understands it! It surprises me every time how he picks it up the first time we read it to him. 

Oh! We finally got to meet Jim, a less active's fiance. They are struggling a lot right now financially. Kimi, the less active, has been wanting to come back to church for a couple months now, but the devil has been working sooooo hard on her to not come to church. So many crazy things happen in her life right before the weekend. But she has a son that is leaving on a mission and his farewell was yesterday, and they both went to that and Jim loved it! He said he is totally going next week (: YEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!! I am sad that we are leaving them.... But he will start progressing. And Kimi has the cutest 2 year old daughter! Oh she's so cute! I will miss them lots. 

I think I am most sad about leaving Alana and her family. I will miss them soooooooo much! We've gotten really close to them and we love them so much. I told Sis. Hartkop to send me a FB message with her and Alana's numbers in it so I can text them right when I get home (: haha. So she might do that soon. It's hard to say good bye, but I am willing to submit to the Lord's will. He knows exactly what is best for me at this point in my life and I am not even willing to doubt that. So I guess for now I will just trust in him (: 

Rumor has it that some crazy change is happening this week in the mission.... So I'll keep you updated on that if it is true next week (: ha. 

Pres. Castro gave me a call last night to call me to be a ZL and we got to talk for a little bit. He asked me how my mission was going, and I said amazing! I love my mission. It has helped me grow so much. I know that I was sent to Cali for a specific purpose, and I wouldn't trade my experiences here for anything. Although, looking back, I wish I could have learned another language (; I know that my mission is what it is supposed to be. I love this Gospel and I love my Savior. Thank you so much for your prayers and support I love you and miss you so much! Have a wonderful week (: 

Love,
Elder Teeples (:

Monday, February 17, 2014

Alana Got Baptised! BEST DAY EVERRRRRR!

Hola! :D

Alright... first things first. Alana's baptism went sooooooooo great! Such a miracle (: Easily one of the happiest days of my mission. I loved it so much! I sent a couple pics in a separate email. She was glowing (: It was such a good service. She had a ton of her family and friends there and it went so good. A lot of people were there too. I got to be one of the witnesses when she got baptized (: and Elder Gray confirmed her and I got to stand in. It was such a great experience! Thank you for all your prayers (: It couldn't have happened with out all your help. So thank you so much! It has just been amazing seeing her progression in the Gospel. Truly a blessing (: 

I am doing very well! Thank you soooooooooooo much for the Valentines package (: It was so great. But yeah... Presidents day. I don't think I've ever realized just how many random Monday holidays there were til I started caring about the mail! It doesn't come on holidays like this..... but I guess everybody is off of school so I guess that makes them happy (: the suit pants for my grey suit are falling apart... so I'm gonna have a ward member fix them (: the ward is so good to us. They take care of us really well! 
But yeah other than that not too much happened this week. I feel bad in a way. I feel like I could have worked a lot harder this past week since Heavenly Father was blessing us with Alana being baptized... but I guess it is just something to learn from. I am going to work harder this week. 

Thank you so much for all your love and support! I love and miss you so much (: You are in my prayers! I hope all is going well at home! Have a wonderful week! 

Love,
Elder Teeples (:

Alana got baptized yesterday (: BEST DAY EVERRRRRR!

Oh... and just in case you were wondering, the little girl in the first picture is her family friends little daughter named "Heaven" She is Paul Rodriguez's kid. (Paul Rodriguez is a professional skateboarder (: )

oh... my comps bed ate him this morning (:

Monday, February 10, 2014

Botched email....doh!

Hello (: 

Okay........... So I had a whole email typed out.... then I pressed something weird on the keyboard, and it erased my whole email! It went back to the previous page and I lost it all.... so I am sorry but this will just be a summary of what it was about! 

Alana is set for baptism this Sunday at 5 pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! First baptism! wooooo! I'm so stoked and so happy for her (: Her mother and the ward have been waiting for this day for a long time now! She is so ready and so solid (: Thank you for all your prayers! We are going to work with her to see who she wants to give talks, etc. 

The Mission Leadership Conference was amazing! 4 stake presidents were there along with the area 70, Elder Garnes. it was soooo good! I felt the spirit so very strongly throughout the whole thing! I know that this work and this Gospel is true! I guess this best thing I learned from it was to smile more (: It is the easiest way to bring the spirit and drive temptation away. It shows a quiet dignity. 

Elder ----- is doing good. I feel like I have figured out why he seems to be some what "hard hearted" some times... Basically, he is holding a grudge against someone he got into a car accident with in 2012. I feel like he would understand the Atonement more if he found it in his heart to forgive this person. I don't have time to go into it more, but I continue to pray for him that he may soften his heart and let the Savior's love flow through him. I'm sure he will forgive the kid sooner or later, and I guess it is all in the Lord's time. 

Yeah, sorry I would write more but I have negative 14 minutes! I love and miss you so much! (: I will be sending a letter home for everybody! Have a great week! 

Love,
Elder Teeples (: 

This is Elder Whited and I! he's from Texas and finishes his mission in a couple weeks... our transfers are at the end of Feb. I'm gonna miss this guy! 

So this is Elder Cheadle and I... this is what we do in our free time before bed (: 


This puppy fell asleep right on my lap.... I might have shed a tear from it's cuteness (':


Monday, February 3, 2014

Alana is getting baptized on the 16th!!!

Hola (:

I am doing well! Very well! Yes, I got the package (: thank you so much! the music is amazing! I love it!!! and the jerky was really good (: If there is any more send some! I think it is soooo good! It keeps me awake during study time ;)  I get to go to a Mission Leadership Conference tomorrow with the whole missions leadership. 4 Stake Presidents will be speaking along with Prs. Castro so I am excited (: 

That's good to hear about Jaxon. He has been in my prayers! You [mom] are in my prayers school-wise as well. Hopefully it get's a little bit easier for you! My knee is doing better. The inflammation has gone down. It still aches pretty bad when leaving it in any position for a really long time. But it's alright (: It's getting better (: Thank you for the prayers! 

We had a good testimony meeting yesterday too. It's kinda funny, out here in Cali a lot of people give "travel logs" rather than testimonies... so Elder Gray and I classify each testimony but what they say. There were a few testimonies, but there were also a lot of "cry-imonies" and "thanks-imonies".... I have yet to see a "sing-imony" but I'll be looking forward to that (: 

This week we were able to see Alana this week. She said that she likes the 16th for her baptismal date!!! :D Her brother tried to see if she wanted to do it that next Saturday instead, but she said she feels better about the 16th (: we are so stoked! Please keep her in your prayers! We have been texting her scriptures every night and it has been going well. She says she understands the scriptures better when we send them to her and explain them (: 

We saw Jack this week as well. He is still going through a struggle of testimony. Please keep him in your prayers too. He needs it. We talked to him about scripture reading yesterday and being diligent with that and prayer. He said we motivated him a little bit to make sure he reads and prays every night, so that is good (: 

I went on an exchange with Elder Cheadle this week. He is awesome! He was my district leader while I was in Santa Maria and in Solvang, then he got transferred into my district, now i'm his DL (: So we got to go on an exchange and it was way fun! He is from Minnesota. Such a stud (: I went to his area and we were able to help somebody finish up moving. It always feels good to do a good deed! 

Thanks so much for all that you do and all your prayers! I now have more behind me than I do in front of me on my mission, and I feel like time is going to start picking up really fast. It is amazing just how much the Atonement has carried me this past year. I couldn't have gotten through this year without it. I'm so grateful for my mission! My testimony of the Atonement has grown so much. Before my mission I knew what the Atonement was, but I didn't really understand it and how it applied to me, because I don't feel like I have had very trying challenges in my life. I love my mission so much! I love and miss you all! Thanks again (: Have a great week!

Elder Teeples (: