Proselyting in Pleasanton‏

Hey Y’all!!!

So for most of you- I just talked with you on the phone last night so there really isn’t anything to report on that is new or exciting! Ha ha But I can say that it was SO great to talk to the fam last night- those phone calls always give me such a boost!!! I love y’all so much and your support is such a blessing- y’all rock!! Ha ha speaking of y’all, I guess you enjoyed hearing me say that a lot last night. Now you know, I don’t just write it, I say it too! Ha ha ALL the time!! But anyway so I am trying to think of something to tell y’all. This will prolly be a pretty random email! Ja ja (ha ha in espanol)

Well first off I guess there really isn’t too much to say as far as the work goes, there are a few exciting prospects, but no one worth mentioning yet. We are just doing our best to work hard and not die in the heat!!! It is wicked hot here!!!! Last week it got in the hundreds, which I am used to in Arizona but I am not used to the humidity- that part just kills!!!! It is so miserable to be hot and sweaty. But we are being very good little planners and try to visit members and Less Actives or potentials during the hottest parts of the day. Then we do our street contacting and knocking at night. It has been working out pretty well. The days go by so fast on the mish but here in Pleasanton when I look back on the day it always seems like we got so much accomplished so that is so great!

Well the race for baptisims is on- our mission has a goal of 100 baptisims every month and this month is May which is the month of MIRACLES!! We are praying that we are actually going to hit our goal this month!! For the past 2 years I believe the mish has had the goal of 100 people baptized every month and we have never hit it! Last May they got 97 which is the closest we have ever come!! I think we might actually do it this time, I am a little worried about my comp and I’s part- we are supposed to be contributing 2 baptisms to the one hundred and right now it doesn’t look like that is gonna happen but luckily We Believe In Miracles!!! We are gonna keep work’n and pray’n for those 2 baptisms!!!

So I don’t have too much to tell you so I thought I would describe Pleasanton a bit more for ya. Well first off the city of Pleasanton has about 8,000 people and then the surrounding cities are smaller. Pleasanton is kinda the middle of the country- it is the “town” if you will. Ha ha People talk all the time about going into town and that really just means going into the heart of Pleasanton to the wal-mart or the post office! Lol But ya we have a few restaurants, there is a Chili's and Little Caesar's and then a few local places. We have a Wal-Mart and a dollar tree and a Beals. That is about it though. The town itself consists of some pretty old houses, most of which are run down, the more country part of it has some much nicer ranch type houses and what not then you also have your trialer parks, so there is a decent amount of variety in socio economic status. The nice thing I have noticed so far here is that people in the country don’t seem to look down on each other so much, there isn’t any “oh well I have five horses and you only have a pony” so that is cool. There are lots of cows and horses!! Oh and guess what there are long horns too!! I had never seen a longhorn in any of my other areas but here they are everywhere and they are cool! So the ward here is pretty funny, lots of personality. Most folks have been in Pleasanton all their lives. Our ward mission leader is from ahh crap I can’t remember which state, but somewhere in the US and he went on his mish to the TSAM and served down here, met a girl in the Pleasanton ward and then after his mission came back and married her! Ha ha Ya so our ward is full of a bunch of characters. No one is super motivated to do missionary work and the ones that are already have like 5 callings. SO it is rough, it is one of the challenges that I will have to work with here in Pleasanton but it’s all good, we will get this ward into missionary work for sure!

So I told y’all about my area, now I will tell ya a little bit about life as a missionary. Well let’s take a typical Wednesday for instance. (Mondays aren’t typical cause they are P-days, and Tuesdays aren’t typical cause they are Diestrict Meetings) So on a typical Wednesday I get up at 6:30, fight very very hard with myself to not push the snooze button, and get up and put on my tennis shoes. I throw on my hat and we pray then head out the door to go exercise. We are very fortunate to live across the street from the church and so we can take the 30 sec walk to the cultural hall and play b-ball every morning!! Tender Mercy for me!!!!!! I shoot hoops and practice my 3 pointers while Sister Larrosa stretches and does sit-ups and stuff. Then she might shoot with me a little bit or play a game of pig and then we go back home. I get in the shower and then get dressed and do my hair and make- up. While I am doing that Sister Larrosa is doing her personal study. Then after an hour we switch. I do personal study while she gets ready. I love personal study time!! I read a chapter form the BoM and then a chapter from the new testament and then I read an article or two from the ensign. Then at 9 o clock it is time for companion study. We sing a hymn together and then pray. Then we state the TSAM purpose statement (same type of idea as like reciting the yw theme) and then we read two pages from the missionary white handbook (our rule book) and then we tell eachother about what we learned in our personal study. Then we make lesson plans for the lessons we are going to teach for the day. If we have left over time we will do an activity from preach my gospel or read an ensign article together. Then at 10 o clock it is time for language study! I study Spanish and Sister Larrosa studies English. Then at 11 o clock we typically have lunch. Lunch can be whenever we want but I like having it at 11 so that way we can leave the apartment and be gone all day. For lunch I will make some mac and cheese or ramen or a sandwich and use the remainder of my time to read in the ensign or write in my journal or play the guitar. Then at 12 it is time to go out and work!!! Each day is a little different it just depends on what lessons we have planned, but usually the day consists of at least a few of the following: at least one hour of knocking doors, contacting random people on the street, visiting less active members, visiting active members, looking up potential investigators (people previous missionaries had talked to that sounded at least somewhat interested in the gospel), looking up former investigators (people who had been taught by the missionaries before but were dropped for some reason or another) and then of course teaching lessons. Then in the evening if we are lucky we have dinner with a member and if not then we go back to the apartment and eat. Then at 9 o clock we have to be back in the apartment and start planning for the next day. Then we have companion prayer, take district call and get ready for bed! That is it- that is the day in the life of a missionary!!! Pretty cool, huh? Ha ha :)

Alright well, I am gonna sign off now and I will talk to y’all next week! I hope everyone is doing great and I would love to hear from you soon!!! :)

SMILING ALL THE WHILE
Hermana Kleisler