Elder Gold's Weekly Update - 7 Dec 2009‏

Dear Family:
The ending of the Texas vs. Nebraska game this past weekend sounded crazy! Jeremy was ranting in his e-mail about how upset he was at the Nebraska's inability to stay consistent and finish a game. The Alabama victory over Florida was a big surprise. I can't believe they're going to have Cincinnati try to compete with Florida in their bowl game. That's going to be a route - Florida winning by 20 points in my opinion.

This past week was filled with three zone training meetings that Elder Hopoate and I participated in and we still have two more zones to go. We do the same training at each of the zone meetings and we have seven zones, so on the 4th-7th time the training gets pretty routine. We train for 1 hour and 15 minutes with each zone, then Sister Blackburn, the District Leaders in the zone, and the Zone Leaders for the zone do some training. During this time period, Pres. Blackburn interviews each companionship in the zone and gets a feel for how they're doing.

We are teaching a new part-member family in our area now. We received their information and address from the referral center after they put their name in a database at one of the temples in Hawaii requesting missionaries to come and visit them. The wife of the family, Lindsay, is a member, but she's been less-active/inactive since she was in her mid-teens. She's 28 now and has a husband who's not a member and three kids (2 are not members). They're a good family. We taught them last week and the husband said some somewhat immature remarks while we were teaching. He's nearly 40, but he can act like a teenager sometimes. They didn't come to church yesterday, but they did come to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional that was shown at the church building we attend for our wards.

We spent 9.5 hours knocking doors last week in an effort to find new investigators who have a legitimate interest in progressing in their learning with the gospel. We've been very blessed finding new people to teach on one street in particular (National Blvd.) where we've found eight people who are interested in the gospel. One of the Spanish investigators that we have lives on that street, but he "flaked out" on us yesterday and didn't come to church after saying that he would. That seems to be a common trend with a lot of investigators, especially in this area. I'm not sure if there's a collective group that people "flake out" on more than the missionaries, unfortunately.

I went on splits with a Zone Leader serving near my old "stomping grounds" in the South Bay Zone on Saturday (Elder Jenne). It was a good time. I enjoyed working with an Elder who has a similar personality as me, and who has a similar teaching style as me. Elder Jenne loves sports, and actually played football at Snow College prior to his mission. He and his companion opened up a new area this transfer, so we spent a good amount of time finding people to teach.

We will start transfer meetings tomorrow with Pres. Blackburn, Elder Hopoate and I. Pres. Blackburn has said that he doesn't know what he's going to do with me yet for my last transfer, and the two main options look like they're going to be: 1.) Stay up at the mission home as an AP for a fifth transfer, or 2.) Be released from being an AP and go train a new missionary in the field. I'm trying to remain quiet with my comments or suggestions because I don't want to influence this decision too much. I'll just go where I'm supposed to go.

My mission is going well and I'm looking forward to entering into the home stretch. I'm starting to get some of the, "Hey, you're going home soon" from the members and I try to change the conversation to another topic. I don't want to cause Elder Welling to feel "trunky" since he's been out for 7 months and hearing talks of home can become distracting.

Thanks for the prayers and uplifting remarks. You are all appreciated. You are in my prayers as well. Have a great week!

Elder Brycen Gold

Weekly Update - 23 Nov 2009‏

Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone! This will be the last Thanksgiving holiday in the mission field for me and I'm sure it will be a lot like last year where I'm feeling like I'll be seeing my family at some point throughout the day, but then it never happens. Holidays in the mission field are strange and memorable at the same time. I'm sure I won't forget any of the Thanksgivings or Christmas' or New Year's Days that I spent as a missionary.

Maybe I'll go buy some huge headphones and a satellite antenna to see if I can tune-in to the birthday singing on Saturday night. Elder Welling and I are planning on hitting-up the Hustler Casino that night to celebrate. We got special permission from Pres. Blackburn to use 6-9pm as time to celebrate my 21st birthday, so we're going to capitalize on that three hour period for sure. Elder Welling said that he's really good at Texas Hold 'Em, so we'll see what he's got. All of that was a joke; we'll be working all day just like any other day. Maybe now that I'm 21 my voice will drop a couple octaves.

We were tracting last night and ran into a group of guys who were watching Sunday Night Football and they told me that the Broncos lost to the Chargers. I was pretty bummed. That's three in a row now, ouch. I was also told today that Kyle Orton is still trying to pull off the trucker mustache look; boy, he should shave that thing quick and save it for "mustache may" or something.

It's only been five days since we last heard from each other and we're still having a tough time finding new investigators in our area and helping our one solid investigator progress. We knocked doors for 11 hours last week, which is the highest amount in a one week period that we've done since I've been up at the mission home. Normally we knock about 5-7 hours on a good week. On most days we leave the office at 3-4pm and we try to make the most of that time by visiting investigators, but we don't really have any right now so tracting has become more of a priority for our time. We found 4-5 Spanish people who accepted a return appointment last week and we're hoping to get the Spanish work moving along.

Elder Hopoate, Elder Christensen (Housing and Finance Coordinator at the mission home), and I spent four hours on Friday afternoon searching for new apartments for missionaries to live in for next transfer. We found two that we should be able to sign contracts for in the near future. Elder Christensen checked out another one this morning and we should be getting the paperwork process rolling with that one too. We're sitting with three apartments that we feel good about right now and we need four total, so only one is left to find.

Being able to speak Spanish is a blessing when working with apartment managers and anyone in L.A. that wants to do business. There's a good amount of Spanish business owners or property managers that have struggling English, so being able to speak Spanish with them helps things move a lot quicker and smoother.

I went on splits with a Zone Leader (Elder Romrell) in the Lakewood Zone of the mission on Saturday and I'm glad to have gotten one day of splits done with early in the transfer. I'm supposed to go on splits with four separate Zone Leader companionships each transfer and then do a "zone tour" on top of that where we work with 3-4 separate companionships in 3-4 days. I consider it a relief when I'm able to stay in my area and work with Elder Welling. Elder Romrell and I spoke a lot of Spanish and taught a few lessons throughout the day. He's a solid missionary.

We ate dinner that night with a family who has a daughter preparing to be baptized on 17 Dec. She has a checkered history that involves drug and alcohol abuse, and she's currently facing misdemeanor charges for an incident involving her and a police officer. She's a great person - at least she seemed to be one when she's sober - and it's unfortunate to see people turning to drugs and alcohol as a source of happiness. Really, it is a dangerous way that people use to cope with tough circumstances.

Yesterday at church Elder Welling took a bath in the sacrament tray water. I had just finished giving Jason N. (recent convert) a chance to grab a cup of water and I swung the tray back to my right and it nailed Elder Welling's knee. We were in the single's ward so it was nice and quiet and the bang of the tray towards the knee was pretty loud. Once it hit his knee, water from multiple cups spilt onto his pant leg and onto the bench. That was a memorable experience.

This afternoon we met up with Kevin Prince (UCLA QB) on the UCLA campus. I called him last night to see if he'd be willing to show us around the football facilities again and hook us up with a chance to shake hands with Norm Chow (UCLA Offensive Coordinator). He agreed, and we spent 1-2:30pm checking out the UCLA film room, coaches offices, weight room, trophy room, press room, and the locker room. Kevin gave us each a pair of his game cleats, some wristbands, a game towel, and some packets of Muscle Milk (protein shake mix). We met up with Norm Chow for 5-10 minutes and he wrote some plays on a dry-erase board while he discussed them with Kevin. It was a good time. The P-Days I remember most have been the ones that I've spent at USC and UCLA checking out their football facilities.

Happy Thanksgiving, again! Thank you for the cards that have been sent and for the Happy Birthday notes. Enjoy the week and be sure to take some pictures for me. Take care.

Elder Brycen Gold

Weekly Update - 9 Nov 2009‏

Dear Family:

I hope everyone had a good week and that "no news is good news." I'm glad BYU was able to get back onto the winning road and beat Wyoming convincingly. TCU looks very impressive this year! All the way up to #4 in the country now, nice. The top three teams in the country are clear: 1. Florida, 2. Texas, 3. Alabama. The rest of the teams are just trying to get themselves onto the level of these three teams. Somebody needs to do something about Boise State and Cincinnati being in the top 6. They put up big numbers and look pretty solid playing against the "cellar dwellers" of Division 1 football (i.e. San Jose State, Louisiana Tech, Syracuse).

We had a baptism on Saturday (7 Nov) with Jason (age 18). He comes from a Jewish family that wasn't entirely supportive of his decision to be baptized, but they weren't too critical either. They seemed indifferent about the whole thing. Jason reminds me a lot of Napolean Dynamite. His mannerisms, trademark phrases, and tone of voice cause me to picture him parading around town with good ol" Kip Dynamite. We had a movie presentation at the mission home on Friday night and he showed up wearing a "zute suit" and a pair of striped, metallic palomino (light brown) dress shoes. I struggled not to grin and laugh.

Two other missionaries, Jason and I were having a conversation about this look that he was showcasing and he told us about where he bought his suit, shoes, socks, and everything else to complement the look he was going for. Shortly after finishing that conversation, Elder Welling showed-up after finishing a phone call and asked Jason, "Where did you get your suit?" Jason replied, "The same place I bought the shoes..." Classic response. He's Napoleon Dynamite - Part II.

It was nice to spend the whole week in my area with Elder Welling and not have to go on splits with Zone Leaders or other companionships in the mission. We knocked doors for a while this week and had some comical experiences while on the streets.

On Saturday, we were knocking doors in a heavily populated Jewish area and we were waiting for someone to answer the door at one house. She answered after 10-15 seconds and told us "right off the bat" that she was a different religion. She continued repeating the phrase, "different religion, different religion." Elder Welling was trying to recover control of the situation and simply asked, "You believe in Christ, right?" She responded, "Nope!" After she shut the door Elder Welling looked up at the top right hand corner of the door and saw that there was a masusa attached to the door frame. A masusa is a symbolic wooden fixture that Jewish people put on their doors to "keep them safe." Elder Welling felt pretty embarassed after seeing it up there. Good times.

That same afternoon we ran into two guys at separate times who claimed we were a cult and had all sorts of wild assumptions about what we believed. Most of what they thought we believed was false, so we corrected them, and tried to teach, but they didn't give us too much of an opportunity. They were both logical thinkers who were more concerned about the uncertainties of religion instead of the known doctrine.

Yesterday at church, Jason brought two of his good friends (Morgan and Chris). Chris came to his baptism on Saturday as well, so Jason is starting to catch the fire with doing missionary work. We have an appointment with Morgan and Chris tonight that we set up after church. They both said they had a good time and wanted to explore this faith. They've both been exposed to the Church through Jason's example and learning, and also to another mutual friend who's the Bishop's son. We'll see what happens.

I'm grateful for the chance to work in the single's ward up here instead of being limited to just the Westwood area. Over the past 2.5 months we've had four baptisms in the single's ward and one in the Westwood 2nd Ward (people who live in the Westwood area). The Westwood area is filled with Jewish people, wealthy people, atheists, logical enthusiasts, and a bunch of people who are happy with their lives and see no need to change.

Since we work in the single's ward we are able to work with anyone between the ages of 18-30 who is single and lives within the L.A. Stake boundaries. It's interesting to see how much more willing single people are when it comes to branching out and telling their friends about the gospel. They do a much better job with getting their friends in situations to meet church members and get acclimated with the church itself than most of the family wards do. Granted, the family wards are made up of families, so their hands are tied most of the time. We often run into the problem of being asked by ward leaders to attend events where non-members will be present, but when we are also there, the members don't introduce their friends to the missionaries. They wait for the Elders or the Sisters to do the "dirty work."

We have transfers this Wednesday (11 Nov) and Elder Gentry will be heading down to South Central to work in his new area for his final transfer. It will be strange to not be working around him anymore after spending five of the past six transfers as either his companion or "AP companion." Elder Hopoate is still getting used to the new surroundings and responsibilities, but he's coming along pretty well. I have a feeling I'll be shouldering a lot of the load this Wednesday with organization, getting people in the right places at the right times, and trying to stabilize the chaos. It should be a fun time.

Have a great week and thank you for all the prayers and support. The Church is true!

Elder Gold

Adam Lambert

Weekly Update - 2 Nov 2009‏

We are in November now, wow! It's pretty funny to be getting e-mails that mention my return home happening in three months, but then the sentence right after that comment is one telling me that they're not supposed to talk about that in the e-mail. It's happened with a few people today, which doesn't bother me. I understand that there's no point in giving up short of the finish line. I would feel guilty and I'm not sure how I would be able to look people in the eye and honestly tell them that I gave it my best for two years. The feeling that I want most is satisfaction, fatigue, purity, and an increased desire to follow God, all mixed together when I finish my mission. Giving up with three months to go would prevent that feeling from becoming a reality.

Taylor did write me last week, which ends the drought, and I'm glad to hear that he is doing well. He's a stud and I'm excited to see him, Jason and Tyson soon. I've missed joking around with them, playing practical jokes on each other, and heckling each other periodically.

We started our transfer meetings this past week and we've finished up the new assignments for the Elders. We will be starting the sisters tomorrow or Wednesday depending on Pres. Blackburn's schedule. I will be working with a new Assistant to the President (AP) starting next transfer (11 Nov) and his name is Elder Hopoate. He lived most of his life in Tonga and moved to Provo, UT shortly before finishing high school. He's about 6'0" 255 lbs. and a he's a really likeable guy. He's been serving for 1 year and 5 months (17 months total) and I'm looking forward to working with him. It will be a change to work with someone who's not Elder Gentry since the two of us have been around each other as companions or AP's for five of the last six transfers, but I have no doubts that Elder Hopoate and I will have a good time.

I will still be serving with Elder Welling next transfer, which I'm grateful for. We get along well and our humor styles are similar. I'm still trying to convince him that Michigan is better than Ohio State, but he's stubborn in adopting that mindset for himself. Working with a missionary who has been out for barely six months has helped me realize the difference in perspective with younger missionaries and older ones. He's still in the time frame where there is "no light at the end of the tunnel" and he's finding himself enthusiastically trudging along the path of missionary service. The missionaries who tend to struggle the most are the ones who are within the 6-12 month time frame (length of time serving their mission) and I'm not sure of the exact reason why that is, but that's consistently the case in this mission. Elder Welling has a good attitude about nearly everything, so I'm not concerned about him.

We celebrated Halloween night by arriving at the mission home at 6pm, eating dinner, then having a rivoting MP/AP meeting to further the transfer process for two hours. We planned for the next day from 9-9:30pm, then took some pictures of us dressed up...well, kinda. It was a very low-key evening. We were mistaken for being trick-or-treaters at a couple of doors while we were wrapping-up our proselyting time, which gave us a good laugh.

We participated in a temple service project last Friday from 7am - 1pm where we took out existing locker frames and brought in new ones for most of the time. It's amazing how neat and tidy the Church likes to keep the temples. The carpet that we tore up didn't really look like anything was wrong with it, but they still wanted it replaced. Towards the end of our work, one of the temple suprevisors for construction took eight of us up to the assembly hall on the third floor of the temple and then onto the roof. We could see just about any part of L.A. that we wanted. It was a great sight!

Thank you for the e-mails and for the continued support. I'm honored to have the family members that I do. Have a great week!

Elder Gold

Elder Gold's Weekly Update - 26 Oct 2009‏

Dear Family:

Taylor is still three pairs off of the pace to pass me up in the shoe collection category. His 33 pairs are a nice silver medal finisher, but 36 is the winning number. He'll probably pass that up by the time I get home, so I'll try to enjoy the race while I'm ahead. I'm going to have to take a look at the shoes he's been buying to see if they're the cheap clearance rack shoes that have all sorts of crazy designs and unique color schemes, or if they're legitimate-looking shoes. Hopefully he has good taste.

BYU vs. TCU...ouch! They've been outscored 70-14 in the past two seasons combined. BYU will continue having problems beating fast teams until they find some secondary players who can keep up with the horses running down the field on the opposing team.

Elder Gentry and I went on a "zone tour" this past week to the Peninsula Zone, which covers the southern-most part of the mission and gets up into the richer parts near the Pacific Ocean coast.



I worked with a companionship of Elders on Thursday and it was a rough day. Their apartment was filthy so we spent 40 minutes cleaning it before we left the apartment at noon and I felt like a baby-sitter asking two kids to clean-up their messes. The apartments looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in weeks and possibly months, and it was a real leap of faith to walk around bare foot. Throughout the day I felt like I was doing a lot of training and coaching. These Elders just didn't seem to understand how to work, nor did they grasp the concept of working hard. One of them has been out on his mission for 11 months and the other one for 9 months. Teachings skills and confidence while talking with people were absent. I made it out in one piece, and got through the first day.

On Friday I worked with two Elders in the city of San Pedro, which borders the shipping docks for the L.A. port. Most of the coastal cities in L.A. are considered to be rich areas, but San Pedro has a large urban population and feels more like the sketchier parts of Aurora (in Colorado). There are some more wealthy people as you get into the hills though. This day was much better than the previous day, and the Elders I worked with had a better grasp on what it meant to be a missionary. One of them was a recently called District Leader (Elder Gustin), who I left very impressed with, and his young companion (Elder Cruz) did a pretty good job too. They're apartment has a balcony on the second floor so they left the sliding glass door open all night and it felt great in the morning. I was able to sit out there and write in my journal in the morning for about 10 minutes while the other two Elders were getting ready. It was great.

On Saturday I worked in Harbor City, which is just north of San Pedro and shares most of the characteristics of San Pedro, but it's a bit nicer in quality. I worked with one of the Zone Leaders (Elder Furner) while Elder Gentry worked with the other Zone Leader (Elder Gardner) for the day. I had a good time knocking doors with an Elder who has a "pro-tracting" mindset because there seems to be a trend that has been going around the mission that advocates "checking" on less-actives and members instead of knocking doors or street contacting people. This new mindset generally is found with a few of the younger missionaries who still fear talking to people and prefer avoiding it if they can (to be frank). Saturdays on "zone tour" are usually our favorites because of the high caliber of missionaries we work with (Zone Leaders) and because it's fun to have four missionaries to chat with after planning and studies.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a baptism. We had been teaching him off and on for the past three months and he finally decided to reach the pinnacle of his progression in learning about the Church. He was happy and enjoyed the baptismal service. He's the most unique investigator that I've taught on my mission by far.

There was a baptism down in the Hermosa Liahona Ward (Spanish) from my old area in Gardena where one of the investigators that I had taught for 1.5 months decided to take the "leap of faith." We taught her twice per week for six weeks while I was in Gardena and other Elders had been teaching her since then, so it's been nearly four months of investigating the Church for her. She's a great person. Her husband is a member too, so everything is looking good for her future.

Happy Halloween to everyone this week! We have to be back in our apartments at 6pm that night so we'll probably end up doing something fun over here at the mission home in addition to writing some letters. Thanks for everything! Have a great week!

Elder Gold

Here are photos from Elder Gold's P-day to USC Stadium. Anyone who knows Elder Gold, knows he LOVES sports, especially football!

Elder Gold's Weekly Update - 19 Oct 2009

I saw that BYU beat San Diego State on Saturday. A few of the Westwood 2nd Ward members went down to San Diego for the game and gave us some of the recap info in between classes yesterday. There are two big-time fans in the ward who travel to Provo or other locations throughout the nation to watch the games on a consistent basis and they both said that the BYU secondary got torched against the speed of San Diego State. Hopefully they make some adjustments for when they play TCU next weekend.

Yesterday at church, Michael Raven (investigator) had his baptismal interview with Pres. Turley of the L.A. Mission Presidency to make sure he had fully repented of his "checkered" personal history and to see if he was ready to enter into the covenant of baptism. He passed the hour long interview, meaning he will be baptized next Sunday (Oct 25). We've been teaching him off-and-on for the past 2.5 months and we've had several roadblocks pop up that have caused his baptismal date to be postponed, but he's good to go now. He's kinda "quirky" and a bit on the feministic side, and he attaches to women much more than men, but he has a testimony and that's what really matters.

We had a member referral dropped into our laps last Sunday for Jason Norber and we taught him twice this past week, committing him to baptism for Nov 8. He comes from a Jewish family who hasn't showed too much resistance to his investigation of the Church and they've been surprisingly supportive of his decisions so far. He's 18 years old, graduated from high school in May of this year, and he's "searching for how to feel satisfied with life." His good friend is one of the bishop's sons and we'll be having an appointment with Jason and the bishop's family tonight.

On Friday and Saturday of last week I went on back-to-back splits with a couple Zone Leaders in their areas. Friday was spent in Los Feliz, which is 10-15 minutes northwest of downtown L.A. (without traffic), and Saturday was spent in part of South Central L.A. Both days were spent working with missionaries who are from South American - one from Chile, the other from Ecuador - so I had a chance to speak some Spanish to native speakers and also get some help on some vocab and small grammar questions that I had. It rained all day on Wednesday, but for the two days of splits it was toasty!

Whenever I spend some time in South Central I feel more gratitude for the opportunites I've been given in my life and for the strong family relationships I enjoy. Most of the people living in that part of L.A. come from broken families who struggle to teach high moral standards to their kids. That condition has been steadily moving down from generation to generation and now there's just a big cluster of people in a concentrated area who struggle to understand moral and ethical standards that are consistent with God's teachings. That type of environment causes people to feel complacent with their behavior, which usually results in high levels of vandalism, indecency, crime, children out of wedlock, gang involvement, immorality, and vanity. All of those characteristics are easily seen while spending a day in urban areas of L.A.

The Elder I was on splits with in South Central (Elder Mora) commented to me about how lazy a certain group of people seemed to be who lived in his area. He said that they have no disabilities, yet they still depend on the government to bail them out for their lack of proactivity and assertiveness to find jobs. He also said that this certain group of people struggles to understand most of what the missionaries try to teach them, which he attributes to the low level of education that many of them have. Proactivity is a huge talent and education is a blessing!

Life is moving along very well. Elder Gentry and I will be going on another "zone tour" this week from Wednesday night to Saturday night in the Peninsula Zone, which covers the southern part of the mission near the ocean and rich people in the hills. It should be a good time. We've got to buy some Halloween costumes later today to entertain ourselves on Oct 31, but I'm struggling to find the Buzz Lightyear costume that seems to be a popular choice among the youngsters (only kidding).

Take Care,
Elder Brycen Gold

Weekly Update - 5 Oct 2009‏

Dear Family:
General Conference was great! It went by quickly compared to years past. Maybe it's because I was completely attentive, taking notes, and anxious to be learning from the apostles and the prophet. I'm glad you were able to catch one of the sessions. Elder Holland's talk was very powerful. I also enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk about discipline. He had a great comment when talking about "wayward children" as he said that some parents feel like they need to let their kids choose which religion they want to be apart of, and that they don't want to inflict on their kids' agency to choose. He went on to say that they can't choose intelligently until the truth has been presented to them.

We watched the morning session of General Conference on Saturday with Pres. and Sis. Blackburn in their room here at the mission home and they cooked lunch for us afterwards (mexican casserole dish). It was nice to kick back and be instructed. We watched the remaining three general sessions and the priesthood session at the church building we attend on Sundays. The weekend went by fast.

We made it through "Transfer Day" last Wednesday after ushering out 10 missionaries and picking-up 23 new ones from the MTC. Most of my good friends from the mission have left now, but I still have a few left. Transfer day felt like a circus...we had the office staff asking us questions, the new missionaries asking us questions, the trainers asking us questions, and the list could continue. It was a solid time period for testing my patience. I hope I passed.

We will be having a baptism with Gabe Naylor this Saturday if the building is available. We will be having Stake Conference that same day and sometimes scheduling conflicts can arrise. He was married on 26 Sept and got back into town yesterday evening from his honeymoon. We're looking forward to seeing the climax of his investigation of the Church.

As I've talked with people in the wards we cover about their various different educational fields they were apart of, I have been wondering if it's better to have a job in a field that provides stability, or if it's better to have a job that you absolutely love. Ideally, you would want to have both, but if you had to choose one, which would it be?

Throughout my mission I've been compiling a list of things that I've learned while serving as a missionary. I've included things I've learned about myself, people in general, behavior patterns, life in general, etc. and I plan to send the list in my final e-mail in a few months. This past week I've learned that: 1. There's more than one right way to do things.There are too many missionaries that get caught up in thinking that there is only one correct way to do things. That mindset creates tension and irritation with those that are surrounded by that Elder/Sister. One person's style may be different that yours, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong. If their style violates rules, then obviously it would need to be changed.2. I need time for myself.I've learned that I need some time to be alone to think and focus on what I'm doing and what I can do to improve. Having some time alone helps me feel refreshed when I'm around others and when I talk to someone again. By not having some time alone, being around others and talking to them can become mundane.3. Missions help you discover your spiritual potential.There's a quote that goes around that says, "You can gauge the type of person you will be for the rest of your life by the type of missionary you are." I hope I've seen my spiritual potential and that I can live up to it.

The Church is true. I'm grateful for my membership in it. I'm grateful for the time that I've had to share my testimony with others and to use it as a tool in conversion. I view it as a privilege to serve a mission and to see other people change their lives. Time continues to wind down, but there's still time to teach others and let my testimony impact them in whatever way the Lord directs.

Have a great week!
Elder Brycen Gold

Elder Gold's Weekly Update - 7 Sept 2009‏

BYU took down the third ranked team in the nation! I was shocked when one of the singles ward members told us about it on Saturday night. A senior couple missionary on our office staff here in the mission home printed off an article and gave it to us to read as a special "gift." That article, combined with the article pasted to the bottom of Dad's e-mail, make it sound like BYU played a great game, but Oklahoma helped them by playing sloppy. It doesn't matter how the win happened; all that matters is the "W" in the score column. Great way to start the season!

Elder Gentry and I spent Tuesday - Saturday night last week near downtown Los Angeles on a "zone tour" that included splits with a total of seven separate companionships over the four day time period. We worked with a lot of young missionaries - training them throughout most of the day - and it was good to get a feel for how a good crop of the mission is doing overall.

For two nights I slept in apartments in downtown L.A. that were sandwiched in-between other large buildings and if I was asked two years ago to imagine myself doing that, I would have never guessed. It was a unique experience, but I enjoyed it. I felt good spending time out on the streets knocking doors, teaching, and getting to know other missionaries while working in several areas that were relatively foreign to me.

On Tuesday night I slept in an apartment near the 110 freeway (heavily used freeway) that felt like a sauna. I went to bed sweating and woke up sweating. The apartment was a studio-sized area that only had windows on one side so the incoming area was bottled-up, causing the humidity to rise. We worked in the area surrounding the apartment on Wednesday and it was refreshing to be around the large latino and black populations. One part of the city in which we worked has been given the nickname of "The Jungle" because of the structure of the city layout and the cultural trends that are popular over there. There were nothing but apartment complexes for 7-8 blocks going north and south, and east and west. I felt like we were in a maze while driving around sometimes because our surroundings looked similar no matter where we were.

On Thursday I worked in the city of Huntington Park, which is the most heavily latino-populated area in L.A. I worked with an Elder who's a stud, Elder Barfuss. He's 21 and didn't feel like he wanted to serve a mission until late last year (2008). He was seriously dating a girl, he had a solid job, and he was going to school full-time, but he still felt like something was missing in his life. He pulled a serious prank on his mom by telling her the day before he got his call letter that his girlfriend was pregnant. He showed her an ultra-sound (sp?) picture that came from his girlfriend's sister to add some spice to the event. Christmas day followed one day after he told his mom that information and his whole family was gathered around the tree. His mom said that Elder Barfuss had something to tell them. He stood up and gave his mom a wrapped-up picture frame and she started reading what was on the inside of it. The frame had Elder Barfuss' mission call letter and his mom couldn't say anything past the first 10-15 words since she was filled with tears. I can't beat that prank.

On Friday I worked in the southern part of downtown with an Elder (Elder Gardner) from Alabama who's a district leader in the zone. He's one of the three black (African American to be politically correct) Elders that we have in the mission and he has the loudest laugh, it kills me. He's a solid missionary who has been brought up various times in conversations regarding potential Zone Leader positions that will be opening up this upcoming transfer. We slept in an apartment on this crowded, dimly lit street in a back apartment/house structure. The day was a good one.

On Saturday I worked in the part of downtown L.A. that has all the huge skyscrapers and apartment complex buildings - poor and rich. There is no parking in the city that isn't monitored by a parking meter, so we had to park on a stretch of road called "Skid Row." This stretch of road covers 4-5 blocks going north to south and it's filled with homeless people, alcoholics, people on parole, drug addicts, crazy people, mentally unstable people and the list continues. We walked about 1/4 mile through the streets where these people were gathered and we passed about five "mission" housing stations that resembled the ones from the movie "Pursuit of Happyness." It was a sobering experience. I gained a greater gratitude for my blessings and opportunities by walking amongst these people than I've gained in awhile. Saturday wrapped-up the "zone tour" and we returned to the mission home that night.

We did have a baptism on Thursday with an investigator of 6-7 months named Jason Zivich. He had baptismal dates set periodically throughout that time period, but he couldn't quite clear a few obstacles with his testimony. We met with him on Tuesday evening and he told us he wanted to be baptized on Thursday. We thought he meant next Thursday, but he said, "No, this Thursday." He's a great guy. His girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancee is a member of the Church. Great miracle!

This is a longer e-mail, so I'm going to respond to some others. Have a great week and enjoy Labor Day!

Elder Brycen Gold

Weekly Update - 31 Aug 2009‏

Tomorrow August will be over and the month of September will get underway. This past month went by real quick, but I'm anxious for the upcoming month. There will be a lot of solid events coming up on the mission front and football season is about to kickoff. Even though we don't watch the games or get the updates from the internet, it's still a great time of the year. Keep me updated on the action.

Life sounds like it's going well. There was a good spirit in the e-mail as I read it. I laughed when I read that Taylor has a countdown or something like that for when I get home. I hope he's still anxious to see me when I actually walk off the plane. He's a stud.

Thanks for the Michigan article, I enjoyed reading it. Way to go on the 12 lbs. lost! That's impressive. Keep it up! With this kind of progression I won't recognize you when I get home.

We're still in the process of teaching and preparing a handful of investigators for baptism. We've ran into some dramatical issues (as mentioned in previous e-mails) that have caused baptismal dates to be postponed or done away with over the past weeks. One of our investigators, Gabe, is still going strong and he'll be baptized after he gets married. The wedding is scheduled for 26 Sept and he has set a baptismal date for 10 Oct. Hopefully that one goes through, especially since the other three baptismal dates we've had recently have not.

We got a phone call from one of our really solid investigators, Jason, this morning when he told us that he wanted to meet with us tomorrow evening. He has been going to church every week for the past 10-12 months with his girlfriend, who is a member, but he has been having some trouble overcoming a few doubts and questions in his mind relative to the gospel and some of the commandments. He's been taught all the lessons and he meets with the Bishop regularly, so when he's ready to go, we're ready to get him baptized.

The past 3-4 days have been toasty - 95 to 101 degrees for the highs. The fires around here don't help too much with the temperature influx and they may even be the primary reason for it. The fires are a good distance away from the mission boundaries and there have been no evacuation precautions issued for anyone within the Los Angeles valley. We played football this morning in the church parking lot for over an hour and it was hot! Good thing we have sunblock.

I went on splits with an Elder in South Central on Saturday and it was good to see some of the sights and hear some of the sounds from a familiar part of L.A. where I served close to about a year ago. We knocked doors for 3.5 hours, taught lots of spanish people, and slept in a humid apartment the night prior to the day's worth of work. It was a good day though. It felt good to get out of the office.

We have a "zone tour" this week from Tuesday night until Saturday night with a zone that covers the downtown L.A. area. We'll be speaking spanish everyday and we'll be near the big ol' apartment complexes near the large office buildings on a few days. I didn't sleep under my blankets for the full four night stretch during our last zone tour and I'm not anticipating the need to use them this week due to the recent weather trends. Elder Gentry and I will work with four separate companionships on four separate days and it should help us get a good look at how certain missionaries are progressing and teaching.

The mission marches forward and the reminders from other missionaries about having five months left are coming often. I wrote an article in the "CLAM Chatter" (L.A. Mission Newsletter) about perspective and how the beginning of the mission causes many of us to feel like the mission is a two year "black hole" with no end in sight. I fell into that mindset at times during my first 6-12 months, but the light has shown itself at the end of the tunnel. It's an interesting contrast of perspective when I talk with a new missionary and he tells me about how he's feeling, what he expects of the mission, and then I tell him how I'm feeling and what the mission really is. I often think to myself, "You're in for one heck of a ride. I hope you're ready."

The mission is great and I'm enjoying life. Thanks for the prayers, e-mails and letters. I have a lot of gratitude for those who are willing to not adopt the "out of sight, out of mind" mindset.

Have a great week! Quote for the Week: "When the time for action has come, the time for preparation has past." - Thomas S. Monson

Elder Brycen Gold

Elder Gold's update for Aug. 17th

This past week we experienced some more baptismal setbacks with another one of our baptismal candidates (Michael). He has a somewhat heated fued with one of the members of the singles ward he will be baptized into and the ward member has slandered him pretty bad in the past weeks. It's a long story that's too dramatic for guys in the mid-20's to be involved in. I felt like I was in high school again after church yesterday as we discussed our investigator's side of the problem in the parking lot.

I went on splits last Wednesday in a part of L.A. that I had never seen before in the city of Los Feliz. I went with one of the Zone Leaders who's from Chile and we spoke spanish for most of the day with the people we contacted. We taught a less-active member of the Church who claimed that he "lacked the discipline" to do anything that was expected of him (church, taking medication, changing diet, etc.). A lack of discipline in any aspect of a person's life will limit who they can become. This concept repeats itself daily with the people we meet.

I went on splits last Thursday with a member of the Elder's Quorum Presidency in our family ward (Westwood 2nd) for two hours in the evening to check on less-actives and part member families. He (Dean Thompson) graduated from Utah State, then got his MBA from BYU and now he's working for a large banking/investment firm here in L.A. (Barkley's). It was interesting to notice the parallels in interests that the two of us have and how his route in schooling reflects the route I plan to follow in many ways. Fun fact: He has a grandma who lives directly across the street from Grandma Gold's church in Sandy, UT. Her name is Wonda Thompson. I'm not sure if she goes to the same ward as Grandma Gold, but it's likely.

I've been reading a series of talks by General Authorities lately and before my mission I could not envision myself becoming so interested in reading the comments of church leaders. At the mission home we have the luxury of going to lds.org to print off talks and access General Conference addresses if we have time and I've taken full advantage of that opportunity.

I read one talk yesterday by Dallin H. Oaks that deals with the rate of our discipleship. He says, “Some people live the gospel with short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, followed by long periods of lapse or by performance that is intermittent and sputtering. What we need in living the gospel is the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime…This steadfast standard requires us to avoid extremes. Our performance should be the steady 100 percent of a committed servant, not the frenzied and occasional 120 percent of the fanatic…A fanatic is one who has lost sight of his goal but redoubled his efforts to get there.”

We have transfers this Wednesday and we will be opening up three new areas in the mission, which has caused the work load to increase for Elder Gentry and I. We've been coordinating new apartment move-ins, orientation meetings, training meetings, and all sorts of other things that will happen later this week. It's good to be busy. I enjoy the work and the responsibility. It keeps my mind occupied and focused on being a missionary.

Thanks for the e-mails and for the updates about the family.

Nate & Emryn sent me an e-mail with pictures of the pregnancy timeline and I'm looking forward to meeting the new cousins in a few months.

Have a great week! Elder Brycen Gold

Elder Gold's update for July 24th, 2009

This past week was pretty solid. We have two investigators with baptismal dates right now (Jad, Michael) and they both go to the single's ward that we cover. We should be able to set two more this week if everything works out. Both Jad and Michael will be baptized on the 16th of August. We do still need to find out if Michael has an apartment within the stake boundaries for the single's ward, but after that he'll be good to go.

We had zone conferences this past Wednesday and Thursday and Elder Gentry and I gave a 40-minute training about being missionaries that work with our heart and our minds. Keeping the mind consistently focused on the work is a challenge, especially here in L.A. At times everything can feel like it's becoming routine and it's easy to allow the mind to wonder. The billboards on the sides of all the roads, sports, stores, etc. make it a tempting place for the mind. As the AP's we go to all the zone conferences, which has some good benefits to it.

On Saturday we had a day that taught us the importance of mental toughness. We had four appointments scheduled for the day but all of them cancelled on us and we ended up tracting or traveling to potential investigators for most of the day.

We have been working with an Elder who is supposed to be in Argentina right now, but he lost his passport at some point during his travels to Buenos Aires, Argentina last week. He flew from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to Lima, Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then found out that his passport was missing. They sent him back to the U.S. by flying him to Santiago, Chile, then to Los Angeles. We'll be taking care of him until he gets all of his passport forms figured out.

Earlier this afternoon we went to the UCLA campus and met up with the starting quarterback for UCLA, Kevin Prince. He's a member of the single's ward that we cover and we're both pretty good friends with him. He'll be a redshirt freshman this year and he gave us a tour of the football facilities and offices for 1.5 hours. He introduced us to Norm Chow, the offensive coordinator for UCLA and former offensive coordinator for BYU and USC earlier in his career. We met one of the UCLA recruiting coordinators and I had a chance to ask him some questions about how he got to where he's at. Working for a college football team in almost any capacity would be sweet.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the sun. Keep sending the pictures when you can. I love you all and I'm grateful for all that you do.

Quote for the Week: "Just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives." - Dallin H. Oaks

Elder Brycen Gold

Elder Gold's update July 13, 2009

I was thinking of something to write that reflects something that I've learned recently and I've decided that I'd like to share about the huge testimony of timing that I've gained over the past few months. God knows what he wants to do with us and what he wants us to become. He will work with us on his timetable, not ours, but as we're patient He always follows through. We cannot force our will upon His. By relentlessly trying to force our will upon His we show that we have a low amount of faith. Timing tests our patience and faith simultaneously and adds to our knowledge of God's love after we see the results of relying upon God's timing and not our own.

The past week has been the busiest week of my mission. The AP training process ended last week on Tuesday when Elder Gathro officially turned the keys, phone and info over to me. He flew home to Jacksonville, FL on Wednesday morning and I've been adjusting and adapting to my new responsibilities for the past six days.

The busiest part of the busy week was transfers, which happened last Wednesday. We finished the transfer assignments about five days prior to transfer day, but we had to make car arrangements for new companionships, prepare training packets for new District Leaders and Zone Leaders, prepare a training segment that we presented to the L.A. Mission leadership on Saturday morning, and a lot of other things too. I've been told that on a normal transfer week that the AP's don't usually leave the office until 5-6pm on most days. That was true. We don't have a ton of time to work in our area throughout the week because of the office work we need to complete, but when we get out we make it worth it.

During the departure devotional last Tuesday for the departing missionaries who left last Wednesday, I was reminded that I'm very grateful to still have 6.5 months left on my mission. When I heard all the missionary's testimonies and thoughts about their mission I felt grateful for my opportunity to be here and serving the Lord in this part of His vineyard. Two years to serve seemed to be a long time once I started my mission, but it's been passing by quickly and it will be over before I know it. I love the mission!

This upcoming week Elder Gentry and I will be conducting a Zone Leader Council Meeting tomorrow at the mission home, then six separate meetings with individual zones throughout the mission to gather information about what is going well in the mission and what can improve. We'll have a busy week, but it will be a good one.

I picked up a freshly tailored suit from a tailor store this morning and it's nice to have a suit that fits me now. I felt like a little kid wearing his dad's suit when I had it before it was properly fitted. It fits nice and stug now and hopefully that will keep me motivated to maintain a consistent weight. Thanks for the support and prayers from each of you. The Church is true and Christ is real. God listens to our prayers and loves us each individually.

Take care and have a great week!

Elder Brycen Gold

Update from Elder Gold 6 July 2009‏

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Hopefully you are all having a good time "hamming-it-up" at Bear Lake. I'm anxious to get up there again in the upcoming years. Send me some pictures if you can and tell everyone I say hi. That news about Steve McNair dying was shocking! That's so random. Life can be taken away in an instant and we never know when it will happen. Michael Jackson dying two weeks ago and now this info about Steve McNair is tough to believe that it's real. Apparently a bunch of people will be having a parade near the Staples Center in downtown L.A. tomorrow to honor Michael Jackson and I actually drove up near his house in Beverly Hills this past week and there was caution tape surrounding the entrance with flowers everywhere. I'm now living up behind the L.A. Temple in Westwood. I've been working in the area of Beverly Hills for the past week, but that will end this Wednesday when I will open up a new area in West L.A. with my new companion, Elder Davis, who's from South Jordan, UT. He went to Bingham High School and graduated in 2008. Last Tuesday until now has felt like an informational roller-coaster as I've been trained and taught about some of my new responsibilities in the mission. Pres. Blackburn met with me last Sunday (28 June) and asked me to be his next Assistant to the President (AP). He asked me to be up at the mission home two days later to start the training period that has been happening for seven days now. Elder Gathro, one of the two current AP's, will be leaving for home this Wednesday and he's been "showing me the ropes" and helping me get settled in to all the new responsibilities. Right now we have three AP's in the mission home and that will continue until Elder Gathro leaves. Elder Gentry (my former companion) is the other AP and he's had one transfer of experience up here in the mission home and office, so we'll both be learning a lot from our own experiences next transfer (8 July - 19 Aug). There are so many meetings this week! On Wednesday we'll be dropping off all the departing missionaries at the LAX airport at 6:30am and then picking up all the new, arriving missionaries at 9:30am at LAX. We will be having a trainer's meeting that we will conduct and train at, followed by a "trainee's" meeting that we will be conducting as well. The next four days are packed with meetings, but it will be a good time. I've really enjoyed working closely with Pres. Blackburn since I've been up at the mission home. He lives here too with Sis. Blackburn. The AP's and Pres. participate in 3-4 meetings towards the end of each transfer where they make transfer decisions for all the missionaries in the mission. I had the opportunity to participate in two of those and it was very humbling. Pres. Blackburn is a great man and I look forward to learning from him and Sis. Blackburn as well. Real quick, our 4th of July celebration consisted of eating dinner with Pres. and Sis. Blackburn out on the courtyard area of the mission home. Pres. grilled some steaks and Sis. Blackburn made some dang good salad, jello, potatotes and a cake that was in the shape and design of an American flag. Besides Pres. and Sis. Blackburn, Elder Gentry, Elder Gathro, Elder Jenne (L.A. Mission referral secretary), Elder Davis (L.A. Mission computer specialist), and I were there to eat all the good food. Take care and have a great week! Let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you. Elder Brycen Gold

Update from Elder Gold, June 15, 2009

Vacation time is almost upon us, well you at least, and it sure sounds like it will be a welcomed time period. Be sure to take pictures and then to send them to me after the vacation is over.

I'm anxious to try out some of Taylor's workout routines when I get back home. That's one of the big things that I miss doing - working out. We only have 30 minutes in the morning and we can't go to weight-lifting gyms, so I'm stuck with a couple 20 lb. dumbells in the apartment that I can use and doing push-ups as well. I feel like I'm staying pretty "toned," but I kinda wish that I could do some bulking up as well.

I went on splits in Beverly Hills for the day on Saturday and I came away feeling very thankful that my parents taught me how to work hard. We participated in a table and chair moving project in the morning that took about 1.5 hours and towards the end of our un-loading we were asked to scrub the railing that surrounded an outdoor balcony of a huge house. The sister in the ward who asked us to do this for her had three of her kids sitting right there and it seemed like they usually had any sort of responsibilities deflected off of them and instead given to others. We did the scrubbing and took off. She was a nice lady, but man, the kids just seemed like they got whatever they wanted without having to do much for it. Thanks for teaching me how to work.

I had a cool experience while we were working in Beverly Hills when we went over to contact a less-active member of the ward up there who happens to be the wife of Larry King. We were inside of his house for 10-15 minutes and his kids showed us around the place and showed us pictures, books, etc. We talked with their house-sitters for most of the time we were there and then took off to knock some doors on their street. While we were walking down the street, we met Larry King. He kinda brushed us off and only spoke to us for maybe two minutes, but it was still a cool experience.

Most of the missionaries who serve up there have at least one opportunity to meet him I've heard. We worked for two hours in West Hollywood, which is a synonym for "gay capital of the world." While we attempted to contact a few former investigators, we had some time to knock some doors and try to find new people to teach. We knocked into two gay guys twice in one complex and it was an awkward experience. After we finished up knocking, we ran back to our car because we were late for our dinner appointment and we had a small group of "gay pride" guys yell some weird stuff to us.

Working in Beverly Hills helped me appreciate the opportunity to work in Gardena a little bit more. We have an investigator right now who has a baptismal date for 28 June (James Koenig), but we'll probably end up pushing the date back to 5 July to make sure that he's getting baptized because he has a testimony and not because his girlfriend is a member of the Church. He's a smart kid (age 23) and we found out yesterday that his boss was willing to give him every Sunday off so that he can come to church. We're hoping to meet with him two more times this week.

Life is busy and I'm loving being a missionary. I'm working on a study topic about adversity and another one about apathy, which are two things that seem fairly common in the Church and the world in general.

Quote for the Week: "We will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secondary as a pattern in our lives. When we put God's purposes first, He will give us miracles. Those apparent prison walls of 'not enough time' will begin to recede, even as you are called to do more." - Henry B. Eyring

Thanks for the e-mails, support and prayers. This is the Lord's work and I'm grateful for each of you and all your efforts to make sure I'm doing well.

Have a great week!

Elder Brycen Gold

My "Baby" is all fixed!

Oh, what a rough couple of weeks it has been. After wrecking my Jeep, I was in such stress. But thanks to a couple of great people in my life and good people to work with, she is all fixed up now and my life is back to normal. Thanks for your help, mom, pa, Mike, Eric and Bill!

Elder Gold's Weekly Update - 18 May 2009‏

L.A. and Denver are coming closer together in more than one way now with the Nuggets playing the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals this week, nice! We saw a couple neighbors in our apartment complex watching the Lakers vs. Rockets game yesterday and during church at the english ward someone showed me their cell phone with the final score reading: Lakers 89, Houston 70. I was hoping the Nugs would luck out and get to play Houston instead of the Lakers, but I'm just glad they have the opportunity to play for a trip to the NBA Finals. It must be a great time to be in Denver right now with all the excitement!

I'm feeling a mixture of feelings today: frustration, irritation and stagnation. We had a meeting with the L.A. Mission Presidency and the members of the Stake High Councils for the stakes that are inside of the L.A. Mission boundaries and following the meeting Pres. Blackburn pulled Elder Gentry and I into a room to talk with us. Pres. asked Elder Gentry to be the next "Assistant to the President" (AP) in order to replace another Elder who will be leaving to go home on 27 May. I was stoked for Elder Gentry and for the opportunities he will have, but I began feeling the before-mentioned feelings after I found out that I will be in the South Bay Zone for another transfer, which will be number 10 of my 11 transfers as a missionary. Most missionaries get a nice mixture of variety over the course of their missions as they are transferred from area to area and zone to zone, but I haven't been as fortunate.

I'm not feeling frustrated or irritated because Elder Gentry was given the opportunity to be AP instead of me. I really feel the way I do right now because it seems like I have a built-in handicap associated with my name, which would be the "ASL" label I carry. I feel like I've had restrictions or limits imposed on me as a missionary that have not resulted from actions on my part, but because I carry this label. The ASL missionaries have adopted the South Bay Zone as their zone to serve in when they're in the ASL program and I've always had a connection to that zone even after serving in the program itself. I want to at least have the chance to serve in a group of different cities, which would be a different zone. Maybe this frustration comes from me being too focused on myself and not enough on the people I serve or the area I serve in, so I'm doing my best to find a balance between being concerned for the enjoyment of my mission and then being satisfied with where Pres. Blackburn has asked me to serve. The balance is the tough part.

Anyway, now that my little rant is over, I'm doing well otherwise. We had four investigators come to church yesterday and the Winter Family is still doing very solid. We're excited for the big change that has come to the lives of their family. They were confirmed yesterday morning and Brandon (age 12) was given the priesthood later in the afternoon.

I will be training a new Zone Leader for the second time (Elder Gentry was the first one) next transfer and I still don't know who it will be, so I'll have to wait another couple of days. I will be working in a three-some of missionaries for the next week after I drop Elder Gentry off at the mission home tomorrow afternoon and that will have its "ups" and "downs."

I hope everyone is doing well and thank you for your prayers and your encouragement on my behalf. I appreciate it and I love all ya'll!

Take care,Elder Brycen Gold

Elder Gold's update for April 6, 2009

Thanks for the entertaining e-mails this week. It sounds like General Conference had a positive impact on everyone and I'm anxious for the Ensign to come out next month so that I can review the talks. It's interesting how much we look forward to General Conference as missionaries. It's like Christmas for us and it helps us out when we're tracting for sure because we can tell people they have the opportunity to listen to a prophet in a few days.

In response to Taylor's speculation about my weight, I started my mission weighing 215 lbs. and I now weigh 192 lbs. This weight feels good to me and I've noticed some benefits of being lighter when we play basketball (jumping higher, moving quicker, etc.). E. Gentry and I have an unofficial challenge between the two of us about who can eat the healthiest diet. We rarely eat fast food and dessert is almost completely un-appealing to me now. We had a piece of pie last night after eating dinner with a member family and I felt like a chunk afterwards!

I appreciate the family updates and getting to know how life is treating everyone. Taylor will probably see his number of shifts increase as he works there longer. The "newbies" tend to work 1-2 shifts per week until they're experience (6 months usually) and then the management will increase it to 2-4 per week. One nice part about being on a mission is not having to worry about a job to pay for things. I've began to think about what I want to do for money right after my mission ends and the thought of working at Finish Line again isn't too appealing, but it may be my only option. We'll see what happens.

Life in the City of Angels continues to press forward and my first transfer with E. Gentry as my companion will come to a close on 15 April. We've been working very well together and we were able to set a baptismal date with two of our investigators who come from the same family last week. We've been teaching this family (Winter family) since the beginning of January, but they've told us repeatedly that they just want to take things slow. We taught them the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" lesson last week and E. Gentry extended the baptismal commitment and they accepted. They're an awesome family! (Note: Father of the family is a member, but the wife and three kids are not.)

I forgot to comment about the "April Fool's" letter that I received two weeks ago that was mailed out of Draper, UT. The envelope said it was from an Internal Tax Service and the document inside said that the collection of shoes I was holding at Grandma Robie's house was being taxed because they were items where profit could be made. I read the document 3-4 times and I was convinced it was real. I asked other missionaries what I should do to clear everything up and they gave me a few ideas. I read the document again and at the very bottom of the letter underneath the signature it gave the e-mail address of the person who sent the piece of mail and it said: irs@aprilfools.com. I felt like an idiot...haha. I think Camie may have sent this, but whoever it was got me good!

As time on my mission moves along, I've noticed more and more of my inadequacies and areas where I can improve in my life. There are many aspects of missionary work where I feel inadequate and it's a definite process to develop the skills and talents that earn someone the label of a solid missionary. I've recognized that my missionary experience has helped me come to know how much I don't know and how I can learn from other people and situations. It's been a humbling experience for sure. We had a missionary who will be leaving for home next week share his testimony with all the other Zone Leaders at a Zone Leader Meeting last Tuesday and he commented about how inadequate he felt as a person and as a missionary. He was a great missionary and he'll be missed.

I've been reading from the "Teachings of David O. McKay" book during my personal study lately and here are a couple quotes I really like:

1.) "What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are and will largely determine what your acts will be."

2.) "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart." Take care and have a great week!

Elder Brycen Gold
P.S. Go North Carolina!!

Update from Elder Gold, March 30, 2009

L.A. has been treating me well over the past week. We had the baptism of Robert Abaliwano Bamulangeyo yesterday and I he asked me to baptize him. It was a mouthful for me to pronounce all the syllables of his name, but we figured it and everything went smoothly. He's a stud! He bore his testimony at church at the single's ward, which was the morning before he was even baptized or confirmed. I'll be sending some pictures home today and one of them will be of his baptism.

We had our "Beach P-Day" today, which is our one and only time throughout the year where each zone is allowed to go to the beach and have a good time. We couldn't touch the water at all, but it was to be so close to the ocean and it was peaceful too. The top of my head is completely fried and it hurts even while I'm just sitting here in the library. It's really red!

We played water balloon volleyball, regular volleyball, beach football, burried a couple missionaries with sand, took some pictures with Pres. and Sis. Blackburn, and had lunch to cap it all off. It was a fun time and I'll be sure to include a couple pictures in the envelope I'll be sending home later today.

E. Gentry and I are working strong together and I've learned a lot from him over the four weeks that we've been companions. He is very focused and he loves missionary work. It was an adjustment for me to be companions with him this transfer after being with E. Gregory last transfer, mainly because their work styles and personalities were different. It's been a good adjustment for me over the four weeks I've been with E. Gentry and we've seen success in Gardena.

Tell everyone at home that I say hello and have a great week! Elder Brycen Gold

Rascal Flatts Countdown

Update from Elder Gold

We had transfers last Wednesday and E. Gregory flew home to Sandy, UT. I got an e-mail from him today and I guess he's been on a couple dates and he's enjoyed hanging out and rehabilitating himself to normal life again. I miss being companions with him.
My new companion is E. Gentry. He's a solid missionary from Alpine, UT, but the two of us don't seem to "click." We get along just fine, but our styles of humor are different and the topics we enjoy discussing are different. We do have one topic in common - basketball - so we discuss that while we're tracting. We'll probably be together until 27 May, so we'll make things work.
I've been feeling really tired over the past week due to all the meetings we've been going to and the constant work that we do. The only time we really have to sit and relax is in the car while we're driving to a new destination. Daylight savings time on Sunday was rough too, but I'm feeling better today.
I gave a 10-12 minute talk on Sunday in the Gardena Ward (English) about missionary work and how members can help us with the work. We had a general authority - Elder Douglas Callister (Quorum of 70) - visit us last September and he said, "If you can't give a talk without notes, you don't know the material well enough." So, I decided to give it a shot and I used no notes. I think it went pretty well though.
Over the past couple days I've been thinking about some advice that I'd like to give to the family about feeding the missionaries. If missionaries come the house to eat, offer them water! They will gladly accept. Also, if they're full, don't urge them to eat more. I've been on the opposing end of these things recently and it's made me appreciate the control that I had over my diet before the mission. I love eating with the members, but I wish I could drink only water for dinner and eat as much as I want, then be done. Random advice, but yeah, see what happens.
I'm looking forward to hearing from you all again next Monday. Take care and thanks for everything!
Elder Brycen Gold

Latest News from Elder Gold

We had the opportunity to go tracting last Tuesday afternoon with one of the young men from our Spanish Ward and I thought it was kinda funny how E. Roldan and I were so intrigued by the current life events of this young man. We asked him questions for nearly three hours while we knocked doors and occasionally we swapped stories back and forth. I had the privilege to share my junior prom story involving Chelsea Tomlinson and all the chaos that surrounded that wonderful time of my high school career (sarcasm added). There were some good laughs in response to the story! We went out tracting with the Spanish Ward young man again on Thursday afternoon and while we were teaching a man on his front lawn, another man drove up next to us and asked which church we were from. I told him, then he started freaking-out and "cussing" at us about all sorts of things. He told us that he was "going to go home, get his gun, then come back and shoot us!" The man was nuts! We quickly wrapped-up our conversation on the front lawn and left the neighborhood to avoid any confrontation. It's interesting to see how up-tight and crazy some people become when they see us or when they hear which church we represent... We un-intentionally crashed a Compton "block party" on Saturday night when we attempted to contact a referral and we had some good discussions with six of the black guys there about various topics. One of my favorite topics was when we were comparing Tupac's legacy as a "prophet" of hip-hop culture to Pres. Monson as the prophet of the Church. We were able to connect the two pretty well, surprisingly. We took a few photos with these six guys and they were all really cool with us. They were big football fans, so that was another topic we discussed for a while. Some of the most memorable events and people I've met have come during my stay in Compton. I love it! I'm struggling to think of other exciting or noteworthy events that have happened over the past week...it was a pretty routine week for the most part. We have transfers on 21 Jan and we have little idea of what to expect. We'll have mission president interviews tomorrow for our zone and we'll likely have a better idea of what's going to happen. There will be three Zone Leaders and one AP going home on 21 Jan, so the mission will have a solid shake-up of leadership in the near future. We're working with a young man named Edward (age 17) who is the boyfriend of one of the young women in the Spanish Ward we cover. He's a good kid and it helps to have his girlfriend with us while we teach him. Hopefully we can set a flexible baptismal date with him on Tuesday if the timing feels right. Take care and I'll talk to you next week. Elder Brycen Gold

Hawaii 2008-A Trip of a Lifetime