And then there were three...

This week was definitely a surprise. I am in a tripanionship now with Elder Baumert and Elder Moesser. Wow. Didn't see that one coming! I love this area so much but I think this will be my last transfer here. Sad day.

Spiritual: We had a lesson with a less active member and a really strong member, Sister Buckholtz. She is the stereotypical "Black lady from Oakland." Funny, bold and black. She shared her conversion story with us. It’s amazing the trials some people go through and still manage to keep their faith strong. She told us about being married to an abusive husband who left her without a thing in her apartment. She said she was sitting on the bare floor with just a few friends playing Skip Bo and trying not to worry. She had nothing left in her apartment and then this husband walked in. Raided the fridge and left just like that. She should have had every right to hate her then husband and mope around about feeling bad about herself but she didn’t. She was sitting on the floor and just thought to herself that the Lord would take care of her. She put her faith totally and completely in the Lord and then proceeded to press forward. She now has a wonderful apartment with lots of matching furniture and lots of food. It made me think of what faith really its. Faith is believing, without any hesitation or self-pity that somehow, sometime, something will work out because the Lord is the Lord and even though we can’t see Him, He lives. He Loves Us. He knows what will make us happy and He knows what sorrows weigh us down. Don’t lose faith in the Lord. If we are obedient to His specific commandments and have faith in Him, all will turn out well.

Funny: Story #2 of the Adventures of Rosco. For dinner we went to the same house with the "leeky" dog. They had gotten a new puppy in addition to Rosco and they had given it the name of Chewie. Short for Chewbacca. Rosco though was under the impression that “Chewie” was an action not just a name and so as soon as we entered Rosco ran for and succeeded in Chewing the Chewie. It was the theme of the night with kids holding the Chewie above their head while the large and seemingly unfazed golden retriever Rosco did all he could to get ahold of his new chew toy. I hope it all works out okay. Poor dog. haha

Where I am at: Transfers were crazy. There is not a single companionship in our zone that did not change in some regard. It’s insane! Every companionship got a transfer call. Except us! We just got a number three. Things are going well. The Ragoza family still has baptismal dates set for Feb. 8 and we are super excited for them! Our ward is so on fire and we love being here. Things are going really well. I love love love Pleasanton! I love you all so much. January is a little rough here. Everyone is grouchy because of the holidays but things are starting to shape up great. I love you all so much!