Tears for Tetuanui and Tummie Troubles

Well Elder Tetuanui will be transferred out of this area in a few hours and I will receive a new companion. Elder T was an awesome companion and trainer. He was always happy, always smiling and just someone absolutely everyone loved. He was a great example and I am truly going to miss him. We have no idea where he will be transferred to until later today and I have no idea who my new companion will be. However, I did receive a call from the Assistants to the President on Saturday night and found out that I will be the Senior Companion. This will be interesting. I'm still a very new missionary. I am actually still not greenie busted and just got done with the training and now I will be a Senior Companion. It is a little humbling but I know as long as I have the faith I will accomplish all that I need to. On top of this we picked up 7 new investigators this week! It is soo soo amazing! We are teaching 2 families and a few other individuals and now it is up to me and my new companion to make sure all these precious souls gain a testimony and come unto Christ. Its a huge mantle when you think of it and I only pray that I am prepared well enough. 



Oh to my parents I have to ask. Do you know the Mochizuki's? According to them they lived downtown Farmington about the same time we did.

I had the most humbling experience on Sunday. About half-way through my 8 hours of church my stomach started to feel like a sponge being wrung out. As the class got longer and longer it got worse and worse. By the end of church I was undeniably sick. We had people to see however, because Elder T was being transferred and we needed to get him places to say his goodbyes. While we ran around It only became worse and I became very dizzy and nauseous. We got to dinner at 5 and we got into the house and it really began to get bad. The lovely family had made at my request Tortellini with Steak Sausage mixed in and home made bread. I tried to act normal and composed for as long as I could but on my 3rd trip to the restroom the father could tell that I was not ok. I came out of the restroom to the family counseling with elder T  with hushed voices if they should just make me some Chicken Soup instead. I quietly had entered the room behind the father so I just said that I would love that if they wouldn't mind and then took a seat to keep from passing out. This is when it got the worst as I sat there and the family cheerfully tried to make my soup from scratch the pain became enough that I began to cry a little. That was a little humiliating. Well they made me the delicious soup and upon taking one bite I couldn't take anymore. I was just too sick. Well The sickness lasted about 24 hours and now I am alright. I ran for 30 minutes this morning and have since ate a few full meals so It was just a stomach flu but boy do I never want to get sick like that on a mission again. Being sick when you don't have a home or a place to go to to rest is the absolute worst. Thank goodness I had good members to help me out that night and a caring companion that was prepared enough to handle it well. 

Well we have had the opportunity to teach the M family which is a part member family whom has grown to have a strong relationship with us. We taught the first lesson and they were extra receptive to it. There are just so many miracles around that family that I can't believe the changes that have occurred. We still have a great deal of work to do yes but I just have such great hopes for the family and just Love them to pieces. 

Well we have a busy day today with transfer meetings but I love you all very much. I am so excited to be a missionary I just love love love all these people and It means the world to me that the work keeps progressing. I didn't ever think I'd fall into it this deep this fast but I just don't care about anything else it seems like as much as I do that these people understand our message and are changed by the atonement of Jesus Christ and his love through the message we share. 

Peace! 

P.S. Does anyone know what scripture is on my missionary plaque? I remember someone asking me what I wanted but I was too stressed to  pick so I wondered if someone had picked for me or if it was just sadly blank?

Santa is a Polynesian

The last 3 months I feel like there is an experience I have with the Polynesian cultures around every corner. I mean my companion is from Tahiti. The ward mission leader in the Morgan Hill Ward, Brother Almodova is from Hawaii, My first Zone Leader was from New Zealand. They are just everywhere! I haven't really taken the time to explain who the character Brother Almodova is yet and would like to take the time to do so now. So as I said Brother Almodova is a Hawaiian. He is the most missionary minded member the church as EVER seen I can assure you. He works as the head of security at a high end casino a few miles from my area and he is just not afraid to do anything. At the casino he will hear someone spread a rumor about Mormons and will walk over and just correct them right there on the spot, answer all their questions and make sure they understand the correct idea of what the church really is. It is awesome. Everytime we eat at their house we also get extremely authentic Hawaiian food like "Laulau" which is pork cooked in taro and tea leaf. They keep thinking I won't like what they make but I always end up loving it. Bro. Almodova also has a real thing with me where every time we leave his house he will just laugh at me when I say by parting goodbye and kick me out his door. We still can't figure out why he does this. He's just a character. 

Well we had a very interesting and exciting week again. Just so much is happening now and things are really looking up. Tell Beau that his fasting worked cause we are surely finding people to teach! Do you remember the story of the man who was having a seizure and we helped out his wife and in result were an answer to a sincere prayer in a time of need? Well we got the family to begin the lessons with us on Wednesday! They have in the past pushed against the church every time the church pushed in the slightest that they should investigate and because of that miracle we have gained a relationship with the family and we will be teaching the wife and the 3 kids all the discussions. They've been trying to come to church but the devil is just working on them so hard. They end up all getting the flu one week or pink eye the other. This Sunday they all showed up and they looked so good and so happy and Elder T and I couldn't be happier. While I was blessing the sacrament however we noticed that there was something happening with the family as the prayer was half-way through. The husband had another seizure in church. We got a paramedic out of the congregation to check his breathing and all half-way through the sacrament and someone to watch their kids and we had them of course go home. We hope they will not become frustrated and they will continue to try. We surely won't give up on them. 

We picked up another investigator this week. It is the daughter of  a less active who unexpectedly appeared in church a few weeks ago. We went over and she has a lot of doctrinal concerns and just feels so overwhelmed by what she doesn't know that she doesn't come to church. Well we are now working with her to reactivate her and teaching her 10 year old daughter in hopes of having her baptized in the coming months. 


Well I would love to say much more but I have run out of time. You all have a very Merry Christmas and be filled with loving kindness to all around you. 

--Elder Gemperline