Monday, September 26, 2011

September 26, 2011 Temple Trip and Conference

Hola familia :)
I'm glad that you had a nice trip. Great job Lindsey and Carlton on your missionary work! I hope your friends continue coming to church! 3 to 6 weeks til Lindsey has her baby!?! Crazy!

So this past week Satan threw another curveball at poor Gloria. Her Mom, who she hasn't seen in years, just had a heart attack and slipped into acoma. So Gloria, upon hearing the news, jumped in her car and headed down to Mexico to see her. Satan really doesn't want her to get baptized, because every time she gets close, something like this happens. Please continue to keep Gloria, as well as Denis and Kain in your prayers. Denis and Kain are being watched by a cousin until Gloria gets back. We're not sure when that will be...

On a happier note- tomorrow is our bi-annual temple trip! The Bishop will take the 4 of us Spaniards up to Oakland tomorrow in time for the 12:00 session. Then it's confrence! So it's going to be a great week, regardless of the fact that we are hurting for investigators right now. Hopefully the Lord will answer our prayers this week and we will find some of the elect who are bound to be out there.

Also this week, we had a fun ward volleyball activity that we (the missionaries) put together. Some investigators of the other elders as well as some less actives that we have been working with came out, so it was a success. Everyone had a good time. Well that's about it for me. Thank you for the prayers. I know that we will all be blessed to hear from God's chosen leaders this weekend! So don't miss it! And invite a friend!
Love Elder Flake

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

September 12, 2011 Visit to Monterey, CA




Hello family :)
We just got back from Monterey. It was a good time. As a Zone, we went to the aquarium and then after Elder Gile and I + one of the Salinas English companionships explored Monterey a little bit. It is a beautiful place - very fancy. Those pictures of Elder Empey were very humbling. It sounds like he is having the experience of a lifetime down there in Bolivia though. Good to hear that. We are indeed very blessed to be living here in the U.S. My companion has 2 brothers over seas in the armed forces so hats off to them and all those who help protect our country.

So Elder Gile and I are working hard and having a blast. We were meant for eachother ;) He is a very entertaining, positive Elder. Yes, we are still doing the English class every Thursday night. The last 2 days we passed out about 100 flyers trying to get a few more students. We have a few regulars who are now investigator of the other Spanish Companionship, so it's starting to pay off. We had a great first lesson teaching a young man in the parking lot outside of his apartment the other day. His name is Cristhien and he accepted a baptismal date : ) Please pray for him- to have desires to continue on learning and to follow Christ. Looks like Andrew had a fun prom : )Well I hope you have a great trip to Canada. We have to visit Monterey some future day. God's creations are so beautiful! Well I got to run. You are in my prayers.
Love Elder Flake

Saturday, September 10, 2011

September 10, Letter and Pictures



Salvador's baptism!


Elder Flake and Elder Gile
!Hola Familia!

Sorry I'm so bad at writing! I got a new comp! Elder Gile from Kansas! He's awesome! We are going to have to work super hard, but we will have success! I just have to have the attitude that I'm going to finish my mission here in Salinas--which actually is quite probable. It's kind of nice to be with a fellow gringo again. He wakes up with me at 6:25 to go play B-ball or tennis. (We invested money into buying rackets @ Goodwill)
Our apartment complex has a tennis court and the complex across the way has a b-ball court. :)

We taught a good Restoration lesson to a daughter/mother combo tonight. They should be solid. I have to carry the heavier end of the teaching load being as my comp only has 7 months out. His Spanish is pretty good though-better than I was at 7 months out. Elder Gile is fun. We sing together as we hake around or when we're in the car. He might be goofier than me! We are both dedicated to being strictly obedient and working hard so we should see success.

I hope things are good back home. I hope you don't feel like I've forgotten about you (because of the lack of letters) It's just there is always so much to do out here! I pray for you every night! I hope you enjoy the pics!

Love Elder Flake

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

September 9, 2011 New Companion!

Hi Mom :)

Today I'm sending you my pic card with a short letter. So this will be brief. I got a new companion! A gringo named Elder Gile. He's awesome. I'm very excited for this transfer. We are going to work hard, have a little fun on the way, be very obedient and have success. Elder Gile is a very determined missionary, 7 months out from Topeka Kansas. Well sorry this is so short. I hope all is well back home. Thank you for your prayers.

Love Elder Flake

Hey Bro!

So you did the sunrise Timp run, huh? Pretty cool. I'm putting that on my bucket list. You down for doing it again next summer? :) That's cool that the X country team is doing so well. Jake Powell is a prodigy. Good lick staying on Varsity! My new companion,Elder Gile, is a lot of fun. He also still has some greenie fire so we are going to do some serious work out here. Ha ha, Elder Gile got a nice welcome to Salinas - he got 4 flat tires with in his first 3 days all on the same street! Plus he wrecked his bike! Terrible luck. He's buying thorn proof tires now, so that should help stop that problem. I've never got a flat :) Well bro, thanks for the e-mail. Make it a great week!

Love your bro Elder Flake