Transfer mk2!!!

Hey Family and Friends!!!

This will probably be kinda short. Sorry :/ But this week was pretty crazy! A lot of ups and downs!

We had some members at lessons AND some investigators at church this week, which are both firsts for me! It was really cool! Two people we are teaching, Jesus (pronounce hey soos) and Maria, came after just two lessons! We also taught Evelyn some more this week, she is really solid. She is willing to listen and keeps her commitments. Except... She didn't go to church :P We'll figure out why this week though.

So spiritual thought of the week. I have seen SO many families here that only have one parent, or some of the siblings are off the deep end, or whatnot. Very rarely do I meet a "complete" family. But they love whatever family they have, unconditionally. So all of you with your wonderful families, appreciate them! Love them! According to Elder Uchtdorf, love is spelled T-I-M-E! Spend time with them!

That is all. Till next week

Elder Poulson

This is the tree at Healthhaven Hospice where they hung the blue butterflies 

they all wrote their loved ones names on.  Bryan wrote about it last week.   

When New Zealanders Come to Town

Hola familia y amigos!!! I hope ya'll are doing well!

This week was a little hectic, but pretty good! We had a Zone Conference this week because Elder Ardern of the Seventy came to visit the mission!!! So that was really cool :) Him and his wife had really strong accents from New Zealand (hence the title), so it was really easy to pay attention to them when they talked! ^-^ They gave us a lot of gems about missionary work, it was really cool!

We had an event Saturday for the Hospice Company we volunteer at, called HavenHealth. We generally help for two hours every Friday, doing office tasks like folding stuff and sealing envelopes and organizing binders. Anyways, they had an event on Saturday where they held a service for everyone who had lost a loved one during their hospice care. They had a cool little thing with some poetry reading and singing, and they had every family write the name of a loved one on little blue paper butterflies (that we made, by the way), and hang them on a little tree up front. Then they gave each family a life monarch butterfly in a box to release into the wild, to represent their loved one! It was really cool! I got to write my Grandpa's name on one of the butterflies, so that was really awesome!

So tomorrow is transfers, which this time are crazy!!! We are adding another companionship to my District, which is also going to be a training companionship. So Elders Jumonville and Urbina are going to split their area. And then Elders Jumonville and Urbina will be trio training somebody (which never happens). Then Elder Avilles is leaving, and another Elder is replacing him. For the little amount of that that made sense, it is crazy!

I learned a lot spiritually this week. It was kinda a rough one for me, but yesterday I fasted and prayed for help. Last night, I just felt... Good. It had no reason or cause. I just felt comforted. If that wasn't the Spirit, I don't know what is! So that was really inspiring to me. Never understimate the power of prayer and fasting :)

Yup. That is it. Until next week!

Elder Poulson

Life Isn't Easy: It's Worth It

If you so happen to have questions such as "How fashionable are the clothes of a 350 pound Samoan?", "How much does it cost for a locksmith to pick a lock?, or "Has anyone ever bothered to make exactly 9 cookies?", keep reading. If not... Well, keep reading anyways, you've probably got nothing better to do! ;)

Haha so yeah, it was a pretty crazy week. Not much teaching, a lot of unusual stuff, but it was good ^-^

So... Tuesday of last week, we were leaving our apartment, and as I pushed my bike out, I took a glance at my desk where my spare key sat. And I thought "meh, I don't really need that, Elder Quintana ALWAYS has his keys". Well about ten seconds later, I felt pretty stupid when Elder Quintana froze, turned to me, and asked if I had my spare key. Sooo... We locked ourselves out :P

So after calling the office, having on of the senior elders come over with the spare key to find that it was made incorrectly and didn't work, I was ready to climb around the corner, where our open window sat tantalizingly close to the balcony. But of course, it was "too dangerous", so we went to plan B: sleep over with some other Elders, find a locksmith in the morning. Sooo we ended up sleeping in Elder Avilles and Si'a's apartment.

Elder Si'a was gracious enough to lend us some extra clothes so that he could wash our proselyting clothes for the next day... Elder Si'a also happens to be a 350 pound Samoan Elder! XD Yeah, it was a sight to behold. His shirt went down to my knees ^-^ So that was fun!

The next day, we had a locksmith come, who took a look at it and said he could pick it... For $175... Before I could offer to climb in the window again, the senior Elder said yes (since he was paying for it with missionary funds) and in about 1 minute, we were in our apartment again! So yeah, that was a rip-off, and we felt really bad. Fun adventure though!

As for the cookies thing... Well, my mom sent me a BOMB package, and in it was almost all the ingredients to make cookies already mixed in plastic bags. So I made my comp cookies! They pan was really small though... So I only made nine. Long story short, I ate 2, he ate 7. When I told the other Elders this though, they didn't really care about anything except the fact that I made 9 cookies. "Who makes nine cookies?" So for the week, that has been kinda a running joke :)

Alright, some awesome spiritual experiences of the week:

-We were teaching a lesson to Ismael, and I decided to start testifying about prayer, which we had been trying to convince him to do since we met him. With my companion's help, I managed to teach him an entire mini-lesson on prayer! The Spirit was really strong, it felt great :) So that was a huge confidence booster for me.

-I got to the temple today!!! The LA temple is HUGENORMOUS!!!! Seriously, I thought Utah temples were big, but this one is giant! But I missed the temple and the Spirit of it a lot, so that was really wonderful for me.

-I went on exchanges twice this week, once with Elder Jumonville, my district leader, and one with Elder Urbina. That was really cool (and weird, cuz my whole time here I have been with Elder Quintana), and I learned a lot! Plus Elder Jumonville and I have similar backgounds, so it was easy to relate to him ^-^

-And last but not least, Conference!!!

Let us talk about that for a moment, shall we? It might just be because I am on a mission, but it seemed to me that there was a lot of talk about missionary work. I would highly advise that you don't de-emphasize those because you aren't on a mission. I am currently in an area where the members are really hard to work with... Without the members' help, missionary work almost doesn't happen. So I would encourage yall to offer to help your ward or stake missionaries, if you can. I know it is different in Utah, and it can be hard when you are busy. I doubt I would have listened when I was home if someone had told me to go work with missionaries. But without members, missionary work doesn't work. Just a thought ^-^

Also, my favorite talk was the one by President Nielson on joy! Don't forget to find joy in your lives, and more importantly, in your afflictions. Which is, of course, easier said than done, but through Christ, it is possible.

Umm... So yeah, that is about it. Thanks for reading! Sorry this week's was so long :P I'll email ya'll later ;)

Elder Poulson

Bryan in the Samoan Elder's clothes

Exchanges with the District Leader

Map of Bryan's Mission

He found another Elder POULSON

Surprise Text !!

It's the BEST when you get a text from a fellow missionary mom living in your son's mission. Especially when you've been waiting all day for an email and are wondering what's going on!!  I love this lady who also had a son serving a mission in Colorado.  I am so thankful she ran into my Elder!

"Met these handsome men at Panda Express. Your son wanted me to let you know they changed p-days this week because tomorrow is a temple day and he will write tomorrow."

Business (or rather, Service) as Usual

Hey ya'll, how's it going? I'm approaching a month in field, and I haven't gotten shot yet, so I would say I am doing pretty good ^-^

Umm, there aren't too many notable stories this week. Mostly just a lot of talking to strangers, a lot of visiting past investigators, etc. I found this week that usually when an Elder is trained, their trainer has already been in the area for at least one transfer, and knows all of the members and investigators in the area. But for whatever reason, our area was reopened the day I got here, so my companion knew as much as me about the investigators. So that is kinda weird. We have basically been building up from ground zero, but we are gaining momentum, so it is all good :)

We taught a couple new investigators this week. We met a 16 year old kid named Aaron who has a surprisingly strong testimony of prayer. He speaks English, which is nice, but I tried to lead in teaching yesterday and totally failed... So that was a bit depressing. It's okay though, hopefully the Spirit can make up for my mistakes until we teach him again.

We started teaching a woman named Griselda and her three kids this week. We just found her on the street and invited her to church, and to our surprise, she accepted! So that was exciting! She came to church last week, but not this week. It can be tricky to teach her, because she has little to no knowledge of any church, and her kids are really rowdy! But last time, I pretty much distracted her kids so Elder Quintana could teach, and that worked alright. She committed to baptism, so that is awesome!

That is about all I have for this week. I just will say that this work definitely has its' ups and downs, but it is all worth it in the end! My testimony of how this Gospel can help EVERY one of God's children is growing daily. The Gospel can help everyone, and that includes you: and if you have faith, it can help you in every aspect of your life.

Talk to... err, email ya'll later! Adios!

Elder Poulson

Surprise Picture!!!

Elder Bry surprised us and emailed us this picture later in the day.  He knew how much I wanted a picture of him and his companion, Elder Quintana, for our missionary board.  He's the BEST!!! 

Straight Outta the Factory

Hola Familia y Amigos! How are you all? I guess that is a hypothetical question, but I hope ya'll are doing great!

Alright so this week... 

Well, I'll talk a little about our investigators. We have been teaching Demasio and Petra, the cute couple with little kids that I mentioned last week. They took the first lesson, but we haven't been able to get ahold of them since. We'll keep trying though! Our other main investigator is this gruff old man named Ismael. He is currently having some struggles, so he isn't super receptive to our lessons, but we will keep trying with him too.

Other than that, we pretty much just visit houses of past investigators listed in the area book and try to talk to as many people as we can on the street. That last part is particularly hard for me, because while I love talking to people, it is way different when they are strangers, you are an awkward missionary, and there is a good 50% chance that you won't understand their response. But it is still kinda fun! I am learning that if I just boldly do what God has asked me to, essentially talking to everyone, he will make it all work out for good. That is essentially what having faith means, right: trusting God to make everything work out :)

Every time I tell a member that I am from Utah, they say "oh, de la fabrica?" which translates to "oh, from the factory?" Essentially they call Utah the missionary factory. Which is kinda funny, but it got old after the tenth person. One person said "wait really, a white missionary from Utah! I have never met one of those before!" Basically, Hispanics are ridiculously sarcastic. But esta bien, it is funny!

There are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses around here, which is... Fun. There was one guy that followed us on his bike for a couple minutes shouting about how Jesus said his skin turned brown in the sun, so we shouldn't be racist... Yeah. There is also a lot of mentally unstable people in this certain neighborhood. One guy spent ten minutes telling us about how if the member with us carried this little trinket he gave her and walked her kids by the ocean, they would have blue eyes XD Yeah that was a bit weird. We try to be courteous to everyone though.

The culture here is interesting. The people REALLY like to talk, although not necessarily about the Gospel. They will talk all day though. Also, it is generally accepted here that everyone will be fifteen minutes late to everything (not that I am complaining). So the missionaries don't really worry about being on time to stuff. Personally, I think we should be on time anyways, but I'm not driving, so I don't have much say in the matter... Plus I am not always ready on time, as I am sure you are all SO surprised to hear.

So Thursday night, we were trying to visit members but weren't having any luck. My companion really needed to use the bathroom, so I suggested we pray that someone would let us in. After we did that and walked around for five minutes, we went back to our bikes, and I felt like we should knock on a door right next to them. We did, and some Cambodian lady answered. Quick tangent: Long Beach has the biggest population of Cambodians in America. There are six Cai speaking Elders here. Anyways, this lady answered, and she spoke no English. But we looked inside, and to our surprise, two Cambodian Elders were already inside! :D So of course, they let us in, and my comp used the bathroom and we left. As awkward as interrupting their lesson was, it was still an answer to our prayer: someone let us in. So that was cool!

Yeah that is about all this week. Let me leave you with this thought: the Bible talks about how we may be the Children of Light! John 12:36 "While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." I thought that was a really cool phrase! Be worthy of that title!

K bye,

Elder Poulson

fyi: Bryan lost his camera cord and we had to ship him a replacement, so no pictures this week!  :(

From Humble Beginnings, the Greenie Emerges

Hey family and friends! I've got a lot to say this week, so here goes nothing.

When I left the CCM in Mexico, it was kinda like leaving home all over again. I didn't realize how close I had come to my roomates and district until I left them. It is okay though, I should see most of them at BYU after the mission ^-^ Anyways, when me and my two friends going to the same mission arrived at the airport, we found out that our original flight had been delayed. All of our flights got rescheduled, and despite the assurance from the guide we had that "everything will be fine", the mission home in Long Beach had no idea that our flights had changed. Luckily, my mom called them to make sure everything was good, and she told them. Even with that though, I was stuck at the airport for like an hour.

After I arrived at the mission home and went through some orientation, it was about 3:00, and they usually take new missionaries out contacting on the first day. One of the two missionaries that me and 2 greenies were stuck with decided that since he had never been to Compton, we should go there. So my first day on the mission, running on 45 minutes of sleep, I went contacting in Compton! XD It was actually pretty chill, although there was not really any hispanic people there.

My companion's name is Elder Quintana, he is a half Hispanic guy from Colorado. He speaks both English and Spanish fluently, so that is pretty helpful! He is essentially a professional beatboxer, although he is very humble about it, and he destroys the whole zone in basketball. He kinda reminds of Donkey from Shrek, partially because he does a perfect imitation of Donkey's voice, but he is just a joking guy! He is real good at teaching people, so I am glad to be his companion.

Anyways, I got settled in that morning to a new apartment they were opening in our area. The next morning, I had a nice humble morning. The shower head didn't work, so we used a bowl to shower. The stove and microwave were broken, so we had a nice healthy breakfast of nuts and some caramel popcorn my Grandparents sent (thank you!). Luckily, someone lent me a bike, so we at least got around. I am in an biking area in Long Beach, with a small border on the sea, stretching pretty far into the city. There is a place called Signal Hill right in the middle of my area, so that is fun to bike over!

I have already run in to two familiar people here! Elder Oniki, one of my AP's, went to SoJo middle and worked at Zupas with my brother, the other one did some honor band stuff with me. So that was kinda cool! I am excited to see Elder Horton next transfer, he should be coming in.

My mission president is a spiritual giant!!! He is a fairly young guy with 4 young kids, and he is just the sincerest guy! Very firm though, I wouldn't mess with him. Anyways, he is awesome!

We have taught a fair amount of lessons already! And by we, I mean Elder Quintana speaks in Spanish and I try to understand as much as I can :P I am learning though. We taught a lesson to the cutest couple the other day, they were visiting one of the recent converts in our area, and they had in total six little kids running around! They all, without prompting, took little sticky notes and wrote "I love God" on them and signed their names. It was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. We also taught this Hispanic Grandpa named Ismael. He wasn't very receptive to us at first, put we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he opened up to us. He has had cancer twice and might a third time, so we are praying for him.

Umm, yeah, that is about it for this week! I am exhausted, but happy to be here! I just want to learn the language as fast as I can! ^-^ 

Talk to ya'll later!

Elder Poulson

Goodbye CCM, Hello California! :D

Qué pasa familia y amigos!? I hope you are doing well. I am writing this during a half p-day they gave me this Monday. I assume that my p-day will be on Mondays from now on, because I AM HEADED TO THE FIELD!!! :D No really though, I am so stoked! I want to actually use the stuff I have been cooped up in a classroom for 6 weeks learning ^-^

Not too much happened this week. We went through in field orientation, where they talked a lot about all the stuff we are going to learn in the field, but for the most part it was just a normal week.

I said goodbye to Elder Myers yesterday, my brother who has been with me from the beginning... Yeah, I sobbed a bit, but it is all good! Two years will fly by when I am on God´s time (Which would be now) I also said goodbye to a couple of people in my district that left this morning... Which was also sad. Yeah, lots of sad, and more to come, but I am excited for the field!

The MTC President has only spoken like three times here, but his talks are really inspiring! He teaches doctrine, but most of his talks are just a bunch of personal experiences he has had with the gospel. Everything from praying for his wife who fell down the stairs to be healed and then leaving her home because he couldn´t miss work in Mexico to praying for the rain to stop so that his family could visit ruins they had traveled for days to see, he really is just a shining example of faith! It is so cool!!!

Anyways, I am running low on time, but I can´t wait to tell ya´ll about my first week in the field!

Until next time,

Elder Poulson

WORST HAIR CUT EVER!!!!!!

Before Picture

I TOLD YOU.....WORST HAIR CUT EVER!!!!!! 

So, if you're ever in Mexico....don't get your hair cut! 

ELDER CHRISTIAN PAUL & ELDER BRYAN POULSON

First Day of Kindergarten                                           First Month in the Mexico MTC 

South Jordan River Stake Missionaries at the CCM together!

Elder Sierra, Elder Poulson, Elder Paul & Elder Myers

Face Shots, Pillow Fights, Spiritual Slaps, and other CCM Violence XD

Right then! With that title to an email, I am just going to go ahead and start typing.

It was a really good week! Of course it had its ups and downs, which were a little more extreme than usual, but it is all good in the end, as usual ^-^

Umm alright, some highlights of the week:

-It took me about a week, but I got over my fear of being a goalie! So that is good. Anyways, I was playing goalie last Thursday, and Elder Clark, who is both the biggest and the nicest guy in the CCM decided to take a rocket at the goal. I could swear I stood there stoically, although my roommates assure me I cowered like a terrified child, as the ball bounced of my defender´s foot and drilled me right in the face! So that was... fun... But hey, I blocked the goal, so it was all worth it!!!

-New Latinos moved into our house, and they are insane!!! On day we walked into our house and they ambushed us from all sides with their pillows! Long story short, we gave diplomatic protection do one of the Latinos that wasn't Mexican, rallied the troops, and won the war! Viva America!!!

-Elder Myers was so kind as to let me know that our tags can be used as instruments. So I showed my District, and within five minutes, all of the Elders in our entire building were hysterically trying to use their tags to make sounds XD. I actually felt kinda bad, cuz our mission tags aren´t supposed to be toys, but it was really funny too!

-I got to play piano for a devotional!!! That was way fun :) Elder Alecc, who left last week, was about as much of a piano prodigy as Daniel Peterson, he would make up pro arrangements to hymns on the spot! But now that he is gone, I should be able to play a bit more :)

Alright, now for some spiritual stuff. One of our teachers, Hermana Zuñiga, talked to our district leader and his comp for like half an hour about how we all should be doing better... I thought it was a little over the top, but of course she was right, we can always be doing better. So my companions and I put a sign over our door that reads "awake my soul! No longer droop in sin, because of thy afflictions!" (2 Nephi 4) So we wake up our bodies, and then as we walk out, we hit the sign to remember to wake up our souls and re-kindle the desire in our hearts to bring people to true happiness!!! I love it :)

Also, I was in a devotional the other day and had a really profound thought I would like to share. The speaker mentioned how he had converted a girl who had periodic panic attacks as part of a medical condition. When I heard that, I realized something: we, as missionaries, aren´t the best. We are representatives of Christ, yes, but we have been given the privilege to know of the restored Gospel, and God is who gives us power to teach. These people we are teaching... Without the Gospel, they are still warriors, overcoming their personal afflictions with great courage! They are better than us. As missionaries, our job and opportunity is simply to break the chains of giants. And I am honored for that privilege.

So yeah, that is about it for this week! I´ll be about to be leaving for Long Beach the next time I email, so that will be crazy! 

Talk to ya'll then :)

Elder Poulson

Elder Poulson & Companion Elder Harrast

Soccer at the CCM

Have you been in class too long??? haha

Artsy Shot....Inside of a Rootbeer Bottle