A LITTLE PLACE CALLED HOLLYWOOD

July 29, 2013

Hello Family,

First, thanks so much for the card and subway gift cards! My companion and I are stoked!!!

It sounds like y’all were quite the travelers this week with Maddie being in Idaho and everyone else in Virginia. I loved the pictures! Thanks for sending them. Man the trip sounds like it was so much fun! I'm bummed that I missed out. Especially on the kayaking part!! I've been gone for like what two months and I feel like James already looks older!!! When did that happen?!                       

I did a little bit of traveling myself this week to a little place called Hollywood. We had exchanges this week with two of the Sister Training Leaders. My companion stayed in Venice while I went to Hollywood with Sister Snyder. It was great. I fell in love with the ward instantly. In their ward they have a Preach My Gospel class once a week for anyone who wants to attend. So there were less actives, recent converts, investigators, members, and missionaries. It was so fun. I would love to serve there someday! 

Other things that happened...more bike riding, but the handle bars are fixed! I fixed them myself actually with the tool kit Dad ordered for me. Not going to lie, I was pretty proud of myself. Ha-ha. 

I'm sure you already know, but we painted this week. We went over to the Burrows and painted their daughter’s wall pink! It was great. I thought I had gotten away from the whole experience without getting any paint on myself and was about to be super impressed with myself, but of course not. I got some on my knees and my shoes. It wasn't too bad and I'm not worried about it. Sister Burrows posted the pictures on Facebook, and now everyone in the ward knows. People kept coming up to us at church and saying, "So I hear you paint..." Maybe we will have some more paint jobs in the near future? 

This past Sunday we also attended another baptism. The Elders taught the woman that was baptized, but we were asked to give the Missionary Moment during the time the people change after the baptism. For our Missionary Moment, we borrowed a clay pot from our Bishop. (He's the master when it comes to gardening.) We bought some chocolate pudding and knock-off Oreos. I filled the pot with the pudding and then covered it with cookie crumbs. Then we stuck a real plant that we picked off from the side of the road right in the middle. The end result was a very realistic looking potted plant. We presented our pot to everyone at the baptism. Everyone believed it was real plant. (We even had a few people tell us we needed to water it.) Then we asked for a volunteer. One brave little girl came to the front, and Sister Perry asked her to please eat some of our dirt. Everyone's face all of sudden changed to worry, concern, and no one could figure out where we were going with this. Without hesitation the girl took a bite and then smiled in delight. She said it tasted like chocolate. So then we asked if she would like to recommend this dirt to anyone else, which she did. All of a sudden we had a line of people willing to try our dirt.

 We compared our plant to the gospel and Lehi's dream. In his dream, Lehi tried the fruit and it filled his soul with immense joy. Afterwards, he wanted to share the fruit with his family. This is very similar to our own lives. We have had the opportunity to try the fruit (be a part of this gospel) and we know the great joy it brings into our lives. The next step would be to share that joy with those we love (friends and family.) At times the church just looks like a church; just like the dirt looks like plain, old fashion dirt. But its only after we've tried it, that we realize what we actually have. So I encourage y’all to read 1 Nephi 8 again and be like the little girl and recommend the dirt to others. Think of ways you can share the gospel with people. 

Dad, I printed out the email you sent me a few weeks ago and look at it often, so thanks again! Also, I gave the Spiritual Thought during district meeting this past Friday. I talked about you and how you celebrated with me when I got a 76% on my Chemistry 105 exam my first semester of BYU. Then we watched the Mormon Message Earthly Father, Heavenly Father. I linked it to how we have an earthly father that loves us and a Heavenly Father who loves us just as much.

Love you all!! Thanks for being so great and all your prayers. The Church is so true!  

Hermana Mik Pillar (aka El Pilar)