Christmas Eve 2011

Music

Food

Friends

What could be better?

Mission Leadership Training December 2011

Mission Leadership includes Assistants, Zone Leaders, District Leaders and Sister Trainers.

Watts Towers

The missionaries all like to get their pictures taken in front of Watts Towers so President Baker took me to see them.   They aren't what I expected.  From missionary pictures I thought they were electrical towers but they are actually a 35 year art project done by one man.  The metal frames are covered with cement and then decorated with various types of mosaic -- seashells, tiles, broken bottles, rocks -- whatever he could find.  the artist climbed each layer as it was built and used no heavy machinery.

Monday's mail in the mission office

Arriving missionaries December 2011

Joining us are (seated) Elder Bergeson from Utah, Sister Muhlestein and Sister Chen (awaiting visas for Taiwan), Sister Bahr from Iowa, Elder Moscoso from Texas, (standing) Elder Lasukau from Utah, Elder Behnke from Minnesota, Elder Finnell from Utah, Elder Reeves from Utah, Elder Van Dyke from Georgia, Elder Dormuth from Canada, Elder Cressman from Utah, Elder Alsop from Utah, Elder Roberts from Oklahoma and Elder Ahn from Korea.

Trainers (front row): Elder Garrett (Roberts), Elder Ogden (Reeves), Sister Hudson (Chen), Sister Nibley (Bahr), Sister Green (Chen), Elder Pack (Alsop), Elder Nelson (Finnell), Elder Cooper (Van Dyke), (back row) Elders Ditton, Reichman, and Casper, Dudragne (Ahn), Harper (Cressman), Hernandez (Lasukau), Hsiao and Salzl (Bergeson),  Francisco (Moscoso),  Ursenbach (Dormuth), and  Carroll (Behnke)

Departing Missionaries December 2011

Megan Hanselman, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Sarah Villanueva, Jordan Haslem, Taylor Simmons, Taylor Jacobberger, Bennett Judd, Casey Shimata, Pride Oryang, Leland Stenquist, Landon Evans and Colin Farris have returned home.

Clean Apartment Awards December 2011

Clean Apartment Award Winners:  Elder Peters, Elder Junot, Elder Mitchell, Sister Flake, Elder Filliaga, Sister Thurston, Elder Gonzalez, and Elder Winterrose.  Winners:  Elders Junot and Peters.

Zone Leader Council December 2011

Seated:  Elders Taylor, Gilbert, Patten, Stenquist, Loli, Graves.  Standing:  Elders Fourr, Jahng, Hill, Wilson, Judd, Ferrin, Watkins, Cottrell, Molinaro, Carter, Jacobberger, Haslem, Matheson, and Hill.

Mission Home Progress November 2011

Turkey Bowl 2011 Day 3

Griffith Zone

Marina Zone

Westwood Zone

Turkey Bowl 2011 Day 2

Athens Zone

Lakewood Zone

Metro Zone

Zone Conference November 2011

Before we begin each conference, Sister Mayorga, our mission nurse, speaks to the missionaries.  This month she encouraged each missionary to get a flu shot.  The Center for Disease Control and Missionary Medical both support this objective.  Shots are easily available.  They cost $25 to $35 and are not covered by missionary health insurance.  Elder Olsen, our car czar, emphasized the importance of paying attention when driving and parking.

The theme of our Zone Conference was The Doctrine of Christ.  President Baker introduced the subject by telling The Parable of the Bicycle by Stephen Robinson and teaching about Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He emphasized that Christ is the light of the world.  He is the only source of peace in troubled times and his way is the only way back to our Father in Heaven.  This is the message we need to understand in our own lives and then share with others.

Sister Baker taught about Repentance and quoted Isaiah 1:18 to help the missionaries understand that there are no "pink people" in Heavenl Father's kingdom.  The Zone Leaders taught in breakout sessions how missionaries can prepare to receive the Holy Ghost through their planning.  The Assistants taught the missionaries how to improve the lines of communication between companions because contention drives away the Holy Ghost.

We asked all the missionaries to prepare a 3 minute talk on "What the Sacrament Means to Me" and we heard from five of them in each of our three sessions.  President Baker finished up by talking about Enduring to the End.  He presented this video and the missionaries discussed why the level of our effort determines our success.  President Baker challenged the missionaries to read the Book of Mormon between now and December 31, looking for references to the Doctrine of Christ.

Athens Zone

Central Zone

Griffith Zone

Lakewood Zone

Marina Zone

Metro Zone

Penninsula Zone

South Bay Zone

Westwood Zone

Senior Missionaries who were able to attend

New Zones

These maps show the geography of our 9 zones:

Turkey Bowl 2011 Day 1

Central Zone

Peninsula Zone

South Bay Zone

Zone Leader Council November 2011

With the addition of two more zones, we now have 18 zone leaders plus two assistants.  Seated:  Elders Haslem, Taylor, Gilbert, Fourr, Patten and Graves.  Standing:  Wilson, Hall, Molinaro, Judd, Loli, Jacobberger, Carter, Jahng, Stenquist, Watkins, Ferrin, Hill, Cottrell, and Matheson.

Arriving Missionaries October 2011

Our new missionaries from left: Elder Mitchell from Utah, Elder Peters from Missouri, Elder Brinton from Idaho, Elder Rosales from Texas, Elder Blackham from Utah, Sister Hensley from Texas, Elder Richards from Colorada, Sister Deskins from Ethiopia and Utah, Elder Moore from Utah, Elder Jensen from Utah, Elder Fryar-Ludwig from Utah, Elder Depew from Colorado, Elder Boyd from Missouri, Elder Hsiao from Utah.

Trainers: (front) Elder Maddox (Jensen and Depew), Elder Conlin (Boyd and Moore), Sister Johansen (Hensley), Sister Alcantara (Deskins), Elder Gonzalez (Mitchell), (back) Elders Alvarez (Fryar-Ludwig), Wald and Salzl (Hsaio), Coulson (Blackham), Junot (Peters), Koo (Rosales), Torres (Brinton), Shannon (Richards), Roundy (Fryer-Ludwig)

Departing Missionaries October 2011

Soungyoung Son, Jared Scrimsher, Lemanley Gishie, Joseph Szymanski, Sara Molina, Nicholas Western, Kathryn Clark, Sean Hadlock, Zachary Tritsch, Andrew Van Dam, Michael Bennet, Curtis Sanderson, and Aylmer Kenny have all returned home.

Clean Apartments October 2011

Elders Summers, Sithole, Moss, Reichman, Choi,  Watkins, Kasteler, Auna.  Winners: Elders Sithole and Summers.

Zone Leader Council October 2011

Elders Jahng, Conlin, Molinaro, Hall, Stenquist, Gilbert, Jones, Haslem, Wilson, Judd, Bennett, Jacobberger, Carter, Hill, Cottrell, Maddox

Women's Conference 2011

The Full Field Sisters joined President and Sister Baker for dinner at their condo before watching Women's Conference on TV.  From left:  Sisters Pinto, Johansen, Flake, Villanueva, Green, Thurston, Hudson, Fonokalafi, Molina, Nibley, Alcantara, Malani, Clark, Baker and Fitzgerald.  Some of these Sisters are Visitor Center Sisters who are currently serving in full field assignments.

Arriving Missionaries September 2011

New Missionaries: Elder Garrett from Ohio, Elder Ditton from Utah, Elder Winterrose from Washington, Elder Francisco from Brazil, Elder Concepcion from Dominican Republic, Elder Yeom from Korea, Elder Ramos from Utah, Elder Olsen from Utah, Sister Orellana from Mexico, Elder Taggart from Oregon, Sister Hara from Japan, Elder Penrod from Utah, Elder Reichman from Colorado, Elder Williams from Texas, Elder Jones from Virginia, Elder Auna from Washington, Elder Harper from Arizona and Elder Nightengale from Minnesota.

Trainers (seated): Elder Filiaga (Winterrose), Elder Orozco (Nightengale), Elder Fourr (Olsen), Sister Hanselman (Hara), Sister Cannon (Orellana), Elder Feitz (Penrod), Elder Serrano (Taggart), (standing): Elders Kasteler (Auna), Graves (Francisco), Matheson (Jones), Gishie (Harper), Torres (Williams), Hernandez (Ditton), Clements (Ramos), Watkins (Reichman), Grover (Garrett), Harper (Concepcion), and Takogawa (Yeom).