LA's Pretty Cool

Ahh, that is soo cool that the brother's went to a Boise state game! My companion says that he will hook you guys up with some Utes football tickets if you are up to it once he gets home after these two transfers.

Okay, to answer the questions first so I don't forget. - Yes we have a car, it is a 2009 corolla i think and it is tan. My comp does all the driving.  Yes traffic is crazy here. It's not very far to church. I don't know our address but we are near La Fayette and Third Street I think...  The buildings here are huge. Our church has a parking garage next to it. It's kinda cool. Oh and it is just west of USC, like one street over from the main campus. It's cool. All our meeting's are in Spanish and I speak a lot when we are with members. They feed us dinner most nights, sometimes we forget to get an appointment and have to make something. (Couldn't name what we cook, it's usually good, consists of ham and eggs and rice and there is always lots of it) We work out on the roof sometimes, our apt bld is 4 stories high and there's nobody up there ever. Our neighborhood is right between Korea town, Filipino town, and downtown if you want an idea, but we only ever see Latinos and tons of Koreans like crazy down here. It's just down here though, don't know why.

Okay, some cool stuff I saw this week. I saw the air force one helicopters flying into LA with like 3 Chinooks cause the president is in town or something. There was a huge bike race through down town on Sunday that was like the 4th stage or something of a huge California tour thingy. It was kinda cool but like everybody was late for church cause the freeway in downtown was the only way over and the road they used was closed for the race.

Anyways, if you haven't noticed we eat a lot as the two of us. Some of the things I didn't think I would run into while living alone is we never have enough food! It's like I buy a ton of food, like a dozen eggs, a bag of rice, lunch meat, big bags of tortilla chips, 2 loaves of bread and a 35 pack of water bottles and we are out of food in a week! And our area is so small that there is no chance of getting to the Costco, and Walmart is wayy out of our area too.. :/ I guess we will need to learn to invest in Top Ramen where we can find it cheap.

We still haven't found like any new investigators, but we are hard at work. We have one potential investigator, an elderly Spanish lady we met at a baptism.... She talks a lot so I am just so so..... so excited to teach her...  (She told us her life story for 2 hours on our first visit before we could really do anything.. )

I haven't gotten any mail for about 3 and a half weeks so I hope I get something this Thursday when they give it out.

Well, that's about all I have for today! Alrighty, I gotta go and try to find the people waiting to hear the gospel!

Love all of you and keep doing great!

Love, Elder Winterrose

PS I'm sending the pictures today on the back of the card. hope you like them!

Finally In LA! :)

Oh man! I can't believe AJ got his mission call!!!! That is soo sweet! Tell him congrats for me!

Well here's a brief rundown of what it is like here, I sent this letter to Elder Casper today, so I'll just tag it in.  (Elder Casper was supposed to go into the field with Elder Winterrose last Wednesday, but an injury forced him to stay back in the MTC.)

Elder Winterrose, top row, second on the left.

Elder Filiaga - Elder Winterrose's trainer.  First row, first on the left.

DUUUUUDE!!!! It's soo Sick here! So many nice cars here I'm having like sensory overload. Today just driving to the temple I saw a Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Maserati, and tons and tons of Mercedes, Range Rovers, and BMW's and like a billion nice Porsche's. It's sooo awesome. 

My comp is pretty much the coolest. He's Elder Filiaga, (Elder Garrett Sr's old comp.) And he's so chill. We saw Elder Gonzalez too and he is in my district. I'm in Downtown where it is super nice and super ghetto at the same time. Spanish is hard sometimes, but I'm getting the hang of it. 

Well, let us know what the verdict is man! Can't wait to see you here! Oh, PS - One baptism but I just went to it, I didn't really do anything... It was still pretty sick. and we also had stake conference with Elder Claudio Zivic of the 70 and it was cool to hear him talk in Spanish. 

 

So, yeah, its crazy here. Some other crazy things - I went to Target and got new bed sheets and there was this hot pink fuzzy blanket that was like $20 off so I had to get it and now my bed looks like a thirteen-year-old girl's. (It's actually pretty awesome.) We went to this place called Pinks and they have crazy hot dogs there.

Everybody wants to shake my hand at church. It's weird some times. Our church is like fenced in and it has a parking garage.

My apartment is nicer than most of the ones I have been to and it is still super super ghetto, ha ha. There are no speed limit signs downtown. At least if there are, they are impossible to spot. Evangelists sit on the corner and preach through megaphones. It's as funny as it sounds.

We went to this awesome place called the Graffiti Lab. It's a place where someone bought this giant piece of property and they charge people to tag it up and there are some really sick tags - like a 3 story picture of Michael Jackson - and other awesome ones.

When you can't find a parking spot, and you need to run into the apartment, you Ghetto park, or park next to the cars on the side of the road and put your hazard lights on. And hope nobody hits it, ha ha.

Anyways those were some of the things I learned. It's super crazy in this city and I am in the epicenter of this craziness. I think I will learn to love it here! Also my comp is super awesome and also is good at basketball and rugby I learned today.

well, I am truly blessed to be here and it is a great experience here and I love the members. I gotta peace out though so I will catch you all later!

Sorry if the message is short, I am kinda pushed for time. I will probably send pictures in next week's message when I have more because I have been too busy to really take any yet. Tell Britt I loved his letter and that I will write him back when I get the chance. J, hope all is going well in Idaho! I'll send you a letter soon too!

Love all of you back at home and off abroad!

Elder Channing Winterrose

Oh, and P.S. tell people to write me!

P.P.S. I got my bike from Ryan but I didn't get the helmet and one of the forearm pad's from the aero-bar is missing... and I don't know where to get one around here and I checked the box and all the packaging for it but it was nowhere to be found.  If you could call him and check to see if it is sitting around in his shop somewhere, that would be great!

Well, this week has been pretty good. The best part about it was that last Thursday.  After my email we found a game we play now, and it's called hallway soccer. We pretty much just start at the water fountain and then try to get it past two other guys and get it in our doorway at the end of the hall. It's a stroke of luck that we have the perfect room for that, 'cause nobody else can really play with their rooms on the side. Oh, and the fact that we found a tennis ball too.

I'm pretty sure I have like a ton of stuff going home. Over the weeks I've collected like 20 bottles of shampoo and I'm selling them for 50 cents a piece and making quite a bit of money. we are also going to give away all the other food we have collaborated. But besides that I need to send home the sheets, some shorts, some t-shirts, and maybe a few other things. (I still don't have the fitted bottom sheet so if you can just send it straight to California.) I also don't have that sd card and you never told me if you put that stuff on the computer yet...

Besides that we had a rare opportunity this week on Friday to give our old teacher, Sister A., a priesthood blessing because she was having a really hard time teaching her new class. They made her cry by telling her dumb things like they don't think that she should be going away from the curriculum and that she isn't teaching what they need to know, ie: to love and care for your investigator and to teach the investigator and not the lessons. Then the four of us went into her class and taught them about what it takes to be a successful missionary and that you don't have to know everything and speak the language perfectly to feel and have the spirit testify. Then we all bore our testimonies on how much she helped us and how we have changed and I think that made a huge difference in their attitude.

Oh, which reminds me! Hermana D. left so it's just us four boys now. I love it! and besides that it's just smooth sailing till Wednesday.  I leave for the airport at like 5:30 and we will probably be at the airport at around 7 to 8 and I will call you then. Now remember that is about 6 in the morning on Wednesday.

I also haven't received any letters for about 4 weeks now from anybody but J so if you see any of my friends tell them to shoot me an email.

I'm sending a few more of my journal entries this week but they might be a little boring. I think that Mo and Dain will enjoy them though.

I think that I will love Cali and the Spanish people. Can't wait to get there. It feels like this is the longest week in existence.  My ankle has been getting really swollen and sore after each gym when I play soccer and it kinda does this popping thing when I move it (hard to explain). So that's the reason I'm going to the doctor. Nothing really to worry about.


(Later that afternoon)

Well, I'm glad the family's doing good, it's so weird thinking of  Mo driving around places it's crazy!

Mo, remember car's aren't go carts.
Dain, go play outside.
Mom, keep feeling good, it's good for you.
Dad, you make me crack up.
Buster, go on a frickin diet you fat pig. I love you and you better not die before I get back or I'm gonna kill you.

Nope! didn't get Britt's letter yet! I've only been waiting forever though so I thought he might have forgot. Thanks for sending the sim card. We don't get dearelder Monday or Tuesday and we fly out on Wednesday morning. I got the return address stamp. There is evidence all over our room. Dang roommates. Haha. They decided everything had to have our address on it. :)

Thanks for checking with Ryan. Oh and by the way I may email you once or twice this week if I need to get a hold of you for anything so just check each day if you can. (They're a little nicer when you're getting ready to go.) I'll just send home one of the top sheets then and take the other with me and pick one up there.

Brogan, send me some pics of that shed if it ever got done. Love ya bro. keep it easy. :)

Love,

Elder Channing Winterrose

PS The answer to last week's message is: And I hope that your classes are very marvelous and that you don't have too much homework my buddy. But you need to remember that if you want to have success, your habits in your studies are the greatest part.

My Notes and Thoughts From Elder Holland's Talk

Hey Everybody!

 
Hey all you!  How's my family doing?  It's officially my 8th week and we get travel plans today!  I'm so excited!  It has been an awesome week and very eventful.  We hand an Apostle of the Lord come and visit us!  It was soo cool!  I even got to sing in the MTC Choir for him, and he said we did GREAT!

Hope you are all doing great.  Thanks for the picture.  It's my favorite and I really needed boxes so thanks for sending them.  

I hope you all continue to do great and enjoy school!


These are my notes and thoughts from the talk given on August 30, 2011 - Elder Jeffery R. Holland.

 
Okay, this is officially the coolest day in my life!  One of the twelve is here.  And we are singing for him!!  I don't know why, but I just about cried when he came in, the Spirit was so strong.  I feel kinda dumb, because I'm soooo excited to hear him talk!  It's like it's actually coming true!

Alma 7: 23 & 24 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works. and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

• This is the only one that will not go through apostasy. 
• We are the chosen dispensation.
• Almost all missionary work that will matter will be done in this dispensation.
• (Read Mormon 8)
• We (Missionaries) are the most prayed-for people on the face of the earth.

The most universially accepted icon in the world is the picture of two missionaries.  Everybody loves missionaries.  We do not have the right to comprise that image; to damage that image.

...a missionary who can come home and forget what he is doing here (in the field)...  Four hours ago someone gave their life for this church.  Don't come home and turn against this.  Don't pretend it didn't happen.  I want you to go into this forever.

What is the most important thing that Christ wants us to know?  That EVERYTHING he said was true.

You are going out to help people not suffer.  He suffered so we don't have to. 

3 best pieces of advice:

1. Go on a mission.
2. Marry as directly and as honestly as he could.
3. Get as much education as he could get.

People pay for your brains.  "I like people who know how to do things."

What is the greatest gift we can give to the Lord Jesus Christ?  Our Heart.  "...they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." 


Why does God love us?  There is not anything he wouldn't do for his children.  This is why God loves us; we are his children.


Welp, that was the best day in my entire life.  Probably because it was in a point of time in my life when I could be old enough to remember, as well as a point in time when I needed it most.  I know that God loves me.  I know that feeling that everybody has been talking about now.  I know that we are here, doing the Lord's work.  I don't think that, as a grown man, I would cry if it wasn't so powerful; so true. 


I am Important.  I am afraid of the future.  I am afraid of the past.  I know that if I work one day at a time and love the Lord and trust him then I won't have to think about the past or worry about my future.  


I've already gained so much by going on a mission.  I had NOTHING.  And now I have everything. 


I owe my future family everything God has given me.


Final thought:  I am not who I left behind.


Love you all,

Elder Channing Winterrose

Well, we have officially started our 8th week it has almost been 2 months.  First things first, thank you to all who have been supporting me. Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes. I have had a roller coaster time here at the MTC.   I promise, I can't go a full day without having a point where I'm feeling like I'm gonna die, and a point where I'm on top of the world. It is almost enough to give me whiplash. We also never have the same teacher the same two days in a row. Brother U. and Sister A. were our original teachers, but then we lost four from our district to the Peru MTC.  Then Brother U. left on vacation for 2 weeks and we had like a billion subs, and some days subs for those subs, so we never knew who it would be. A week after he left, we adopted another district of 5 elders because their teacher moved to a new class for a week, but then they left. So we had Bro U. for like a week, then they took our teachers, and now were in a class with another district until we leave.  And we keep getting subs cause they don't really know who our teachers are!!! We've kinda been the ugly stepchildren that nobody wants... Besides that it has been THE best week because of one thing...... Elder Jeffery R. Holland.

That's right, we finally got one!!!!! It was so sweet. Ahhh, I will have to send you my notes in a letter so be expecting them. I was having a pretty crummy day because Hermana ("Sister " if you haven't translated that yet) _____ was just being a rude dude and being bossy and bugging the crap outta me.  Then when we were practicing our choir song I noticed that they were doing like a ton of different security checks and I knew it. WE WERE GETTING AN APOSTLE. And it came true. it was such an awesome experience. You just gotta wait for the notes.

Welp I gotta say, Mo, you did it! Confreakingradulations! That is AWESOME. And I hope you don't get suspended :)  By the way, for some reason people think I look like Mclovin when I wear my glasses, but then again I think we're getting desperate because we haven't seen real TV in almost 2 months. Mo, Mrs. ___ is el diablo , stay away from her!  Get anybody else. Mr. ____ is okay but just remember, he WILL be strict and you WILL get in trouble for no apparent reason at least once. Just comes with the class. And you just gotta be prepared to roll with the punches 'cause at times he's like a nerd on a power trip. 

Y yo esperanzo que tus classes son muy marvillosa y que tu no teneriste demasiado tarea mi amigo. Pero necessitas que recordar que si quieres que tener exito, tus habitos en sus estudios son el mas grande parte.

Well, have fun translating that one, the answers will be in next week's issue next to the comics section.

Dain all I can say is video juegos rot your brain. Remember, you need to be as chill as you can be to get all the ladies. Don't let video games change your attitude. Continue to be loving and don't let yourself develop a short fuse. Being here at the MTC, I have seen what happens when Elders played too much at home on the x-box and it is ugly. They are always getting mad about dumb things and they are very confrontational.

Remember, there are bikes in the garage and a hoop in the driveway! I love ya and I expect you to be Jimmer status when I get back!

Okay, I may not be a physics major but I am pretty sure there is nooo chance that Dad could make it up a coconut tree on this planet. Sorry Dad, the laws of physics cannot be broken! ;) I'm sure I will find one on my p-day and take the challenge.

I told you I got some good letter writing skills, that only took 20 years!

Yes we have met Elder Blackhan (going to Los Angeles). He just got here like a week ago. We were expecting him because he's from Orem and our teacher, Brother U. played basketball with him at church and heard he was coming here. Brother U  also knew Tyson (Elder) Cantrell because he has a class at BYU with him, and he said hi for me!

Welp I gotta go to breakfast. Remember, I never got that Micro SD card so I need to know if you got it on the computer and I will probably need a new one. Also I do have the phone card so no worries.

Britton, I love you.  Keep on keeping on. Do the Lord's work - he is on your side.

Mom, Dad, I love you both, and you did a great job with me, don't worry.

Gotta go.

Love ya,

Elder Channing Winterrose

PS We should get travel plans tonight, so I am super excited.  I just mailed off the notes I took on Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk and you should get them Monday. It was sooooo amazing.

Also, my favorite picture by far is the one you sent me.  I don't know how he does it, but Buster has like one eye that is super surprised and the other one looks like he is the most bored dog in the entire world. Hahaha, it was perfect. :)

Well, I love ya still.