Monday, June 11, 2012

It's A Small World, Sometimes!

On a mission it's rare to bump into someone you know from home. Brock had a wonderful encounter with his long time bishop who happened to be vacationing in Lincoln City.

Brock with his boyhood bishop Ted Hill and wife Becky on a deck overlooking the coast.  It was a random meeting!
Sunday we had meetings and church, and holy cow after sacrament I stand up and am walking around talking to people, I look over and I see my old bishop sitting there with his wife! :) It was awesome! Bishop Hill and his wife, Becky! :) I was so stoked so i just grabbed him and they were as shocked as I was! It was awesome to talk with them, and set up a time later in the day to go have dessert!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Life On The 101!

This is Brock and Elder Hatton with the Hansen family on Memorial Day 2012.  Jackie Hansen, the mom, took this
shot with the caption:  "Memorial Day keeping the kids in line at the Hansen's."  (Thanks, Jackie!) 
It's been busy, kind of overcast but today has been pretty warm and great!:)
Tuesday we had a lesson with the Davenports.  They're doing well.  They are still sad about their cat dying, but they are doing much better.  We went over there and had a great lesson on the Plan of  Salvation and answered their questions.  They have been going through some family struggles and so it was just great to sit there and talk with them and help them out in anyway we can. The bishop was awesome,  just being there to help them and letting them know that he was there if they needed anything!  Then we had a lesson with Bailey.  She is doing really well and getting stoked for her baptism on the 22nd of June. Crazy how fast things are coming up!  We read with her and answered a few of her questions.  Later we had a lesson with  Roberto! He is a Spanish investigator. Haha! Elder Hatton and I both were Spanish missionaries for only six weeks but it's fun teaching him. We had an awesome lesson with him and read 3  Nephi 11 and had a good discussion.  We invited him to be baptized on the 22nd and he said, "I have been waiting for you to ask!"   He is really an awesome humble guy. He is a chef at a restaurant here in town, and is looking for a new job because his boss is very racist against him and is just very rude! I don't understand how you could even be rude to this guy, he is just so humble and nice! The lesson went really well and he is just such an amazing person.  That night we had a lesson with the Koceas again. We taught them about the Gospel of Christ.  They really liked the lesson and the wife Corrine is trying to get work off so that she can be baptized along with the kids!  We have really gotten close with them. So... they have the same dog that's on "Anchorman" and we call it Baxter! Everytime we go there this dog just goes crazy hyper on us, and just wines and wines because it is so excited to see us. It's so funny! I will have to record it tomorrow when we go over there! Haha!
Wednesday we walked the 101 to talk to people. Most of them were tourists but it was alright! We did some service for the Grovers and helped them put their garden in.  They have a huge garden, with all sorts of stuff, so that was fun! :) We had dinner with the Kartchiners, an older,  super cute couple. They were pretty funny! they built their house and they have this huge swing.  Biggest swing I have ever seen.  You go like 30 feet in the air! It's legit! :)
Thursday we went over to Jorges, the gun expert, and had a great lesson with him and his wife.  We read with them and answered some of their questions then Jorge took us down and showed us some of the big guns he has, including a .50 caliber machine gun. Then we had a lesson with George and Alisha. They are going through a really rough time right now.  They have a lot of medical bills and George has a pump in his head along with a titanium plate from a flash bang gernade that went off in his hand when he was in the military. But he is a really awesome guy.  We also collected toys from other families in the ward and gave them to their kids because they're really tight on money and don't have a lot!  They are doing really great and enjoying church! Alisha is getting baptized on June 22nd, so they are pretty stoked! :)
Friday we had some great lessons! We had another lesson with Sierra and her kids.  It was awesome, we're just helping her with what we can.  I can only imagine being a single parent raising kids! But she does a great job. The kids really love the lessons and they bring us cookies!  

Saturday we had a lesson with Greg who is getting baptized on the 16th of June! He is doing really well and has been taught everything and is stoked for his date. He knows that it's what he needs and wants to do. He has been though a lot of heart break with things in his family! He is an awesome guy and has come a long way, use to be an alcoholic and and a big smoker.  He has been clean for about 3 years now! He knows the church is going to be something that will keep his feet planted, so I am happy for him that he has found what's working for him! :)
Sunday we had church. There were 400 plus people there.  It was pretty packed with everyone in town!
Today we BBQ'd on the beach and have just been chilling out enjoying the sun!
Well love ya! Hope all is well and be safe!
Love, Brock! :)