Monday, August 31, 2015

Week 29 - New Investigators, Missionary Work and Upcoming Transfers

Dear Mom and Family,

This week here in Temecula was a little better! We picked up 2 new investigators! :D We brought Hermano Zapot to a lesson with Judy and it turns out that he actually knows her! Her and her family used to live right next to them! He tells us that he wants to bring his wife over there and invite them to church and become better friends with them to help them come closer to baptism. Again, the Zapots are an awesome family!

We also taught this guy named Jared. He's about 14 and he speaks no English whatsoever, which was different haha normally all the teenagers speak English, but this guy doesn't. But he seems very interested and wants to come to church! So we're praying for success with him :)

Yesterday at church we had our combined lesson in the 3rd hour on Member Missionary Work, and our Ward Mission Leader taught the lesson. It was really a great lesson! He reminded us all of our duties as members of the church to share the gospel, and helped the members to think of how to strengthen their desire to share the gospel. It was a great lesson! And he and our Branch President want us to go the homes of the members and basically share this message with them again, but shorter and from us.

The Branch is also starting a 28 day fast. It's where members will sign up on a calendar to fast for 1 day, and then the next another member or family will fast, and it just continues down the line so that it's a continuous fast for 28 days. They've done this in the past before, and it worked really well for increasing missionary work. :)

On Monday, I used some of my birthday money and bought a super cool Batman watch and T-shirt!




Also, next Monday is labor day, so next week our P-Day will be on Tuesday instead.

Please continue to write and email when you can! I love hearing from you all!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss

PS Transfer calls are this Saturday!! I'm most likely staying and Elder Ellsworth is most likely leaving, but we'll see what happens! Several weeks ago I had a feeling that I'm gonna train this transfer. Again, we'll see what happens haha

Monday, August 24, 2015

Week 28 - Exchanges, a Tie, and Noche de Espanidad

Dear Mom and family,

I did finally get the Experiments Upon the Word book last week! :) I love it! Thanks a bunch!

Still not a bunch is happening right now, but we're having a activity called "Noche de Espanidad" next month which a pretty big event here for the 2 spanish branches in the area! Apparently September is the month when lots of central and south american countries got their freedom and independence, so the branches here celebrate it with an awesome event! And from what I've been told, people have started investigating the church and have been baptised from these events in past years! So we're trying to help the members with this as best we can! :)

We're getting fed pretty much every night! So you don't have to worry about me starving or anything haha, and I still have a lot of food in the apartment :)

I've been told that it's supposed to get pretty hot this week again, so we'll see what happens haha

I'm trying to start reading the Missionary Gospel Library in Spanish to help me out in my spanish, and it's going well :)

I was on exchanges this past week and I got to meet this awesome family called the Profitts! the husband knew spanish because he works for Border Patrol, and so we talked a small bit in spanish. And their son, who's probably 14-15, had the most awesome socks on! His socks had the famous picture of Moroni praying  and getting ready to bury the plates on the front and back of them. I was a bit jealous of them haha He asked me if they were approved for missionary wear. I said "I sure hope so!" but i also told him that he could at least wear them on P-Day, and when exercising.

I'm sorry there's not very much to say right now, hopefully in the future soon!

Please continue to write and email when you can! I love hearing from you!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss

This is the tie that Wanda got me:


Monday, August 17, 2015

Week 27 - Hot, Slow Week

My Dear Family,

How is life back home? This past weekend was unbelievable hot!!! to quote Bill Cosby: "it was 104 degrees....in the shade.... not a snowball in sight." hahaha But honestly it was true! we would get in our car after it was parked in the shade, and it would say it was over 100 outside. so ridiculous!! Not very much happened this week. We contacted a referral who actually turned out to be a Less-Active member who hasn't been to church since he was 9. He expressed great interest in coming back to church, so we're helping him as best we can to get to church :)

On Tuesday, We had a Zone Training Meeting, and during the break we had, they brought out a birthday surprise for me and another Sister missionary, (because her birthday was last Sunday) and we both really like batman, so they brought out a homemade strawberry cake with chocolate frosting on it except for the middle which was shaped like the batman logo from the new movies. It was super awesome!! I wish I had a picture! but it tasted good! haha

The members are very nice here and help us out when they can, because they know that the weather is awful! 

We don't have any investigators right now, but we're praying and searching as much as we can.

I wish there was more to tell, but honestly, not much is happening.

Please continue to write and email when you can, I love hearing from you all! 

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss/PieDeNubes


O yeah, last monday we went to a place called the Root Beer company, and it has so many different kinds of sodas!! I bought a couple that I'm attaching to this email. One is called Stalinade, and the other is called "Seal ya Later", they tasted pretty good! I also bought Butterbeer like from Harry Potter! That was super good stuff! :D



(E-mail to Buddy)

I love your meme with the hulk/boromir thing! that was funny!


[e-mail to Mary]

Dear Mary,

Thank you so much for the video! I loved it! :D It was a super awesome birthday with the Zapot family!! They are my favorite family to eat with! I feel like they're like us, but hispanic haha

This week we found someone who was actually less active since he was 9, and we're helping him come back to church! :)

This week I've been doing a lot of reading out of "Our Search For Happiness", and it's a pretty good read so far! He explains a lot about priesthood authority, and the restoration, and a lot of things that we believe in. If we can find anyone to teach, maybe I'll be able to share some of the things that he talks about :)

Please continue to write and email when you can! I love to hear from you!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss

PS Could you send me a genealogy fan chart of our family?

Monday, August 10, 2015

Week 26 - A VERY Happy Birthday!

Dear Mom and Family,

There's nothing terribly new here in Temecula, still very hot, and not a lot of hispanics to teach. We're trying though! We found a few recently, and hopefully we're teaching them soon! :)

I have to give a discussion tomorrow at Zone Training Meeting about Christlike Communication, and I'm struggling hardcore to put it together! I'm trying as best I can, and hoping for the best tomorrow! :)

The greatest part of my week was probably my birthday packages, I LOVED my birthday presents!! I took a lot of lot pictures! I really hope you like them!



 You will not believe...actually, you probably would believe, how so very happy and excited I was to see that you had found my mini quad!!! :D Clearly my face says everything haha

[The quad had been missing for over a year.]



YOU FOUND THE ONE I WANTED!! :D [His electronic Spanish-English pocket translator.] that was the exact one! I use ALL the time now! I used to carry around a tiny note book and write down words I heard that I didn't know, and then look them up later with the simple spanish-english dictionary I had from the MTC, but now I can do it on the GO! :D And have awesome exercises to learn them!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!

See next email for more pictures

With much love,

Elder Patrick PieDeNubes




SO MANY BOXES!! I was so surprised! :)


I LOVE the crown!! I wore it that whole evening! And will wear it again on wednesday haha Thanks Katie!


I was touched by your testimonies in the copies of the Book of Mormon. You're wanting me to give these to people right? Even the DVDs? I totally will, if that's what you're wanting me to do! :)



I opened the box with the Earthquake detection kit, and at first, I was puzzled, but then I died laughing! I love that thing!! Going on my wall at my desk! XD



Ummm....I found this pen in the box....did you mean to send this to me?

[No. But, now he has an extra!]



I love this tie!! I wore it Saturday! Thank you Mary!



Thank you so much for the Chess set Buddy! I love it! I play a lot with Elder Ellsworth now! The score: E. Ellsworth: 4    and E. Wockenfuss..........0 hahaha I will beat him one day!!


I'm wearing your tie today, Katie! It makes me think of Elsa too! I love it! :D my FROZEN tie!! 


Megan sent me a neon zipper pouch as a planner case. I had asked her to send me something I could use as a case to protect my planner from rain and sweat, so she sent me this! :) I also sprayed rain-protective stuff on it haha


Megan sent me a nice cool tie! Sunday's tie :)

 

CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!! (that Megan sent me haha)


 Megan's mom also sent me a package with lots of treats and a tie! (I'll include the pic next week)

And she [Megan] sent me Avengers Sunblock. BEST. THING. EVER. :D



And I love the avengers shirt!! :D Totally awesome!!

I hope these pictures make up for my lack of talking in this email, because I don't have very much time left. If I had thought ahead, I probably would've filmed a video of me opening my packages. But I at least got these pictures :) For CHristmas, I'll film a video AND take pictures! :D

I love you all so much! Thank you for the wonderful birthday!! It definitely made my week! :D I was so so very happy with all of it!! I'm a very easy person to please haha :)

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss

Monday, August 3, 2015

Week 25 - Elder "Pie de Nubes"

My Dear Family,

Yes indeed, I have been transferred to Temecula! Elder Emerick and I just switched spots where we got trained! haha And I think it's super cool that Elder Ellsworth is my companion now! Because when I first showed up in the mission, he was the Elder that taught me all the Spanish that I know now! :D So I already know him pretty well, and we are, of course, getting along very well! :)

Temecula is very HOT!! But I love the branch here! and the Members! They are very nice, and welcoming. and they can actually say "Wockenfuss" fairly okay! haha :) But my nickname here is "Pie de Nubes" (in english: Cloud Foot). They asked what Wockenfuss means in German, so I told them about Cloud Foot, and it makes sense to them. So I am Elder Pie de Nubes here haha

Right now, the work is tiny bit slow here, but I'm hoping that it'll pick up soon! The Branch did a fast for missionary work yesterday, so I'm sure it'll pick up soon! :) I'm also gonna try a training here that I was given in Escondido called "My List of Friends" to help members think of and find people that they can share the gospel with. I know it's worked in Escondido, so there's no reason it won't work here :)

I personally think that there's a reason for all things, mom. Maybe the Lord had you [go through that trial], or maybe it was teach you something about the Savior, or maybe some other reason. But I believe, one way or the other, He had you do it for a reason. Don't question if the revelation you receive is from God or not. The only reason to question something is if it is not in harmony with gospel teachings or God's Nature. If it is of virtue, loving, of good report, or praiseworthy, it is from God. I've been worried in the past if something that felt I should say or do is from God, or if it's just my own thoughts. but I remember from Elder Bednar when someone asked him pretty much that same question, and he told the person that if it is something that is good, then it doesn't matter, because everything that is good comes from God. You've probably heard that one before, but reminders are always good to have. :)

I love you so much! please continue to write and email when you can! I love hearing from you!

With much love,

Elder Patrick Wockenfuss