Visit from Dawson's Bishop in Salinas

Dawson's Bishop from his Salinas branch, came through Utah on his way back for attending General Conference. He stopped by with his wife to visit us and pick up a package. I had fun baking bread and cookies and packing some homemade strawberry jam per his request to send. I also stocked up on some of the basics for he and his companion. Bishop Davidson said that Elder Flake is a great, humble, and obedient missionary. I gave Sister Davidson a hug when they left and asked her to deliver it to him from me!

October 3, 2011 Post General Conference

Yea spiritual feast week! It was a great temple experience. Bishop Davidson took the 4 of us elders up the 2 hour drive to Oakland. It was a beautiful clear day, and up on top of the hill where the Temple is you could see the whole bay area. It was a great session, i learned a lot, and then I had cool experiences in both the Celestial Room and the chapel with the Book of Mormon. Both times, I just flipped open the book and the passages of Ether 12 and Moroni 7 were both perfect for me. Just like many stated this conference -God speaks to us through his written word.

Speaking of conference- it was awesome! Lot's about missionary work! Especially in Priesthood session. I love the first presidency. On Saturday- I'm sure we all felt God's love for us during President Uchdorf's talk. During all of President Eyring's addresses, I just find myself writing a ton of self-inspection questions. I don't know how he does it, but he's good.

Then President Monson, ha ha, he's a goofball! 'Hello!' and then his joke about him going to dedicate the new Wyoming temple, cause 'there's good fishing there!' He then fulfilled his role as a prophet calling the whole world to repentance. God's standards don't change! The commandments are not mere suggestions! Good stuff... I'm excited to re-read all of the talks in the coming months. Great Conference...

So what else happened this week? Gloria is still in Mexico as far as we know. She hasn't been answering the phone lately so we're kind of worried about that. I also went up to San Jose on Friday for the leadership meeting. President Watkins is an inspiring individual. He makes us all want to be better. He also gave us a look into his hobbies from back home and showed us some pictures of his Indy race car. He did an analogy using the car (using math-he always uses math :) and he told us that the car actually performs better the faster it goes. It is more likely to spin out going around a corner at 90mph than 120mph. He didn't believe that when his coach told him, but when he put it to the test, he found it to be true. He likened that to us- how we are scared to go faster, or work harder, cause we don't know if we can, or what will happen if we do. But if we take the chance to raise the bar, we will find that with God's help, we will be made capable of doing even more than we thought possible. Pretty cool.

Also this week, we had a good lesson with Juan Chavez. It's a little different teaching him than the majority of the people I've taught here in Salinas. We teach him in English, he has a nice apartment (he actually lives in the same complex as us), and he doesn't work in the fields. He has desires to change and come closer to Christ, so it's a pleasure to teach him. Que mas...

A member took us to In-n-Out between sessions Saturday and told us he would pay for our burger, but only if we ordered the 4X4 (4 meat patties). So we took the challenge. It was gooooood. I felt kind of grossed out at myself though after eating that burger, a full order of fries, and a shake. But it was worth it :)

Today we are planning to go to the bay with a less active couple. Martin and Hortencia. They're cool. Well say hi and thanks to Bishop Davidson and his wife for me please! Thanks in advance for the package! I really can't think of anything that I need... Maybe some home made strawberry jam :) Transfers are next week. I'll find out if I'm really going to finish my mission here in Salinas! It would be 7 transfers! It's a good place to be though, so esta bien :)

Well I love you all muchisimo!

Elder Flake

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

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

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

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

August 29, 2011 Email

Hey Dad!

Good to hear from you :) Ya, I've only been in 3 areas and Salinas might be my last one. Elder Mote is getting transferred up to San Jose so I will be getting a new companion tomorrow and holding down the fort here in Salinas. I only have 3 transfers left! Crazy... I'm glad to hear you are staying busy with work up in the cool mountains. I was blessed to spend this summer in the coolest area of the whole mission. It maybe broke 80 a couple of times here. Pretty nice, eh? 60's to 70's all day long :)

I look forward to doing some good, physical work with you when I return. Ha ha, ya, nursery would be fun - as long as I don't have to change poopy diapers. What's new... Last P-day we went to the beach and threw a ball and ran around on the sand. It was a good time and it felt amazing to have sand between my toes. We also came acrossed a Seal just chillin on the beach. Took some pics of him. The biggest blessing of the week was finding a family of 4 to teach. The Martinez family. We taught them a quick restoration and my new companion and I will be going back to teach them this week. They're a nice family. Pray that they understand the importance of our message! I look forward to working with a new companion who maybe will bring some fresh ideas of how we can find more people to teach. Well Dad, I love you lots. Thank you for your prayers,

Your son, Elder Flake

Hey Steve! Take it easy!

I'm confident you passed your big test. Have you taught Alexa how to throw a spiral yet? Ha ha, I bet playing with her just gets funner and funner as she gets bigger and bigger. So what did you mean by no NBA season? They can't not have an NBA season can they? That sounds like herecy to me. Well I hope you have a nice break from school. I'm going to be getting a new companion here tomorrow, so that should be exciting. I've been with the same elder (Elder Mote) since March! So it will be nice to have a change there. Well Steve, thank you for your prayers. I pray that all is well with you and your little family. Love Dawson

Hi mom! I promise I will send a note and my picture card this week. I'm sorry I haven't got around to that. I will repent. I'm glad to hear that Lindz and Carlton survived the Hurricane. Crazy stuff. So i will finally be getting a new companion. I learned a lot from Elder Mote, but this area needs a change of pace, and hopefully whoever my new companion is can help me take things to another level. Ha ha, i thought i told you about the Tuberculosis thing. My bad. So like 2 months ago, we picked up a new investigator who was on medication to recover from Tb. Armando Arreola. He turned out to not be interested, but the mission office, upon hearing that we were teaching a man with Tb, wanted us to get tested, just in case. Elder Mote and I both came out negative ( we DO NOT have Tb :) So that is that story. Well I best be off, but you will get mail from me soon. Thank you so much for everything Mom. I'm pretty sure you're the best Mom ever. Love ya tons, Elder Flake

Hey bro! That's a funny story of you having to run home from your morning bike ride ;) I have never had to replace a tube my entire 4 months here on a bike :) Ha ha, Elder Dimond, one of the other missionaries serving here, has had to replace his tube like 8 or 9 times! Poor guy. 17:36, not bad bro. Don't let that little Sophmore punk beat you! Ha ha, jk just do your best bro :) Who's the top dog on the X country team these days?

So bro, who are your teachers? What do you do for lunch? I look forward to going on lots of bike rides + rock climbing with you next year. Well love ya tons! Keep reading your scriptures! I just started the Book of Mormon again for like the fourth or fifth time on my mission. It's a good book! I highly recommend it :) Do a good turn daily - Love Elder Flake