Elder Caina with Elder Passey

Elder Caina with Elder Passey

Monday, November 24, 2014

Hello Everyone!

    So quick update. Most of this week my companion and I have spent some time getting to know the area a little bit better for me and doing service. Our teaching pool and SUPER small for now and it has been hard to stay out for long due to the very cold weather here in Marksville. And we are suppose to have a freeze over tonight! ... anyway,

      During the middle of the week after p-day and meeting we had a good amount of service to do. My companion and I got to demolish a kitchen counter! and 2 days later worked on destroying a floor and level it up to put new flooring. I have been learning a good amount on house re-modeling ha. I have a few pictures of me destoying a few things. 

     We had a Zone meeting this past friday, where i introduced myself in spanish and everyone taught i didn't know english. Later on i gave a few comments in english and everyone was surprised that i could speak english.  In the meeting, it was a sorta lonely missionary feeling since i knew just about none of the missionaries there. It really is a whole new world here ha. But evetually i got to meet a few. And of course i sorta knew my district already too. But yea, kinda felt that out of place feeling haha.

     Yesterday, i gave a talk on the Power of Love. I was asked to take a LOT of time sooo... I think i took 25 minutes haha... But i thought it went very well.  I amm feeling way better about giving talks since now i can just go up with a few notes and talk comfortably instead of having my entire talk written down and reading from it. The benefits of a mission! ha

   It has been a fun week. And I look forward to having a great birthday week!

 I  have not yet been able to find any hispanics but,  We have been blessed with the opportunity to teach Miss Elena who Really thinks she wants to be a mormon! We met with her yesterday and we were able to find out what she needs and where we can start. She is an AWESOME lady and a golden investigator. Super excited to working with her. 

     Also as we were doing one of the service projects, we met Lewis. Who is super interested in hearing about the word. The hard part is that he is ALWAYS working,non-stop!... But during the service i was able to talk to him about different question he had. I talked to him about the Authority that we have in the church and explained it in the parable of the ice cream man and the police man who write you a ticket. He absolutely LOVED it! He said he was thinking about it a lot. And before we left he said, "you are a good teacher, you really got me thinking now." It was awesome! We are hoping to find time for him to sit down and sit with us at least once a week. He is a sweet guy who has really turned his life around.

    It has been a week of what may seem small but POWERFUL miracles. I am keeping my head up and enjoying the new culture. 

   hope you all had a great week!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Caiña

Monday, November 10, 2014

I have been sent to Marksville, Louisiana. My new companion is Elder Stevenson!
And we are in a SUPER small Branch with 2 other set of missionaries serving here as well, and that is Elder Garceau and Elder OLSEN! We are basically in a Quad companionship because it is just us 4 in this small branch living 3 miles away from each other. ha On an average day there is 25 people that attend church each sunday. I am definitely not in the big city anymore. It is a big change. I am the ONLY LONESOME Spanish Missionary on this side of the Mission and in our entire zone! I actually do not really know exactly where i am at haha. This is going to be a whole new adventure. I am still completely shocked to be on this side. But i am adjusting little by little. This is Deja Vu of last year, because last year i also got transferred right before my birthday which in on Nov. 20... And both times i did not see anything coming of what actually happened. But i am meant to be where i am at.

My new address is:

 224 W. Waddil
 Marksville, LA 71351

Please let me know how you all are doing! 

Love you all so much!

Sorry to keep it short, my hands are freezing!

Have a GREAT WEEK!!!

Much Love,
Elder Caiña

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

 Do you ever expect the unexpected? Are we ever ready for the unexpected. Sometimes we might think we are, but then something happens that just blows us out of the water! Makes us do what we did not plan for and the our whole views turns around. That has been my week, and it ended the same yesterday.

     Monday... Well Last Monday we had our preparation day. After e-mailing our families we went up to Metarie to play basketball. I forgot to bring my shows so I played basketball in Sandals instead. And lets just say, it didn't slow me down. Later on that day we had an appointment, which was canceled before our preparation day was even over. The reason being was because There was Tornando Warnings all over Louisiana and we were to quickly return home. Well we had a good hour drive home with traffic and there was not much of a storm anywhere. When we arrived home the storm of rain finally hit us. Thanks to Sis. Hickerson and her many Papa John points that she got us free pizza! She was soo awesome that she also gave the other missionaries in our district pizza who were stuck at home. It was a loong night at the apartment not being to do much.
Unexpected Event #1

Tuesday- I can't really remember what happened

Wednesday- We had an AWESOME Zone Conference with our mission President! My companion and I were asked to be Volunteers and there were really sweet instructions on Unity within one and the companion and then also being positive and building each other up. At the End President Hansen share a awesome instruction on Repentance. And It hit me super hard because of a friend who we are recently teaching. Ruben has been a great investigator and progressing a LOT. But recently we have come to find out and we thought him that he has been looking to learn in a more intellectual way instead of a spiritual way. We told him we could answer all his question, but they would be of no worth if he does not belief in the things in which we teach or if he does belief and he does not act he will not come to know of the truthfulness of the things which we share with him. So E. Passey and I decided that on Wednesday night we were going to let him know our purpose and re-evaluate what he was looking for. When President Hansen shared the Instruction on Repentance and shared scriptures with us, all that came to my mind was Ruben and our lesson. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite other to come unto Christ. And how do we come unto Christ? By repenting and changing, becoming more Christ-like. So it was perfect. On this Wednesday night, Elder Passey and I probably had our best lesson yet. It was powerful, to the point, and super spiritual! We could tell that Ruben understood and that he felt it. We let him know that we are not forcing him to do anything or to get baptized. But inviting him to come closer to our Savior in whom he strongly believes. Now as to what happens next it is up to him. If anything, that night I received a reminder of my purpose as a missionary. That we as missionaries are not just here to hand out information alone to just blow people's minds on what we know to be true. But our main purpose being to help others know of Christ and grow closer to him by allowing themselves to be changed for their benefit, by repenting and following the the commandments which he has given us. It definitely was a testimony builder for me! - So We had a lesson planned but it really changed into more detail when we received that inspiration. And It was completely unexpected! 
Unexpected Event # 2

Thursday- I forgot what happened during the day. BUT... we got to go to the MOVIE THEATER! 
So earlier in the week we were informed by our Mission President that we could no longer go to the movie theater as missionaries for this one occasion to watch the new MEET THE MORMONS Movie. And we had already set up a day to go with one of our friends who is investigating the church (REGGIE). So Elder Passey and I decided to ask personally to our Mission President if we could get permission. He said YES! And ONLY if we were NOT paying for ourselves. So we got invited and we got to go to the movie theaters on the mission! That was WEIRD... Not every day do you see missionaries at the theater. We as missionaries definitely felt out of place. We got starred at and talked about. We just completely felt weird. It was an interesting experience though. We enjoyed it though. Never did i think i would get permission on my mission to go to a theater. 
Unexpected Event # 3

Friday- Had good appointments. Talked Spanish all day. And it was a day where i cannot remember much of.

Saturday- Helped our Spanish Branch President. Did service all morning. Had pizza. Did our West Bank Tradition with the new missionaries of OOGA BOOGA. 

Sunday- Talk about ending the week on a GREAT NOTE! It started out being a regular sweet Sunday. Then I found out that English and SPanish were combined because of the primary program which was awesome. We missionaries got the opportunity to sing with the primary kids the song "I am a child of God" (in spanish). As i walked up I realized that in the back was somebody I knew. My sweet friend MCAT was sitting in the back. It hit me completely by surprise. I never thought that I would see anyone i knew out on my mission. And yea i was proven wrong. It was an awesome surprise though. My whole day was thrown off but it was great to see a familiar face! 
Unexpected Event #4

So yea it has been a mind blowing week! So I would say, expect the unexpected. But I do not think that is completely possible. So My words of wisdom for the week will be. Receive the unexpected with open arms and embrace it, learn from it, grow from it. Enjoy each and every moment. Life is too short to be down. 

Keep your head up! 

Hope you all have a great week!

Much Love,

Elder Caiña

Friday, September 26, 2014

So this week A lot happened but not that much happened at the same time. We were super busy, but i can not remember everything we did. And I did not take pictures of everything I did, like service. So This week I only have two Pictures. But A little bit about this week.... let see what i can remember....

   Well Wednesday night we visited one of our Less Active Families (who actually showed up to church this Sunday!). We were talking to them while they were preparing us dinner. And suddenly someone comes out of nowhere and her name was Jaqueline. It turns out that she had just moved in to the same house with her husband from Mexico. And so they are staying with our Less Active Family for a while. Armando called her and introduced her to us. And Elder Passey and I started talking to her. We both knew right away that it was a great missionary opportunity! Eventually we got her talking about church and how she was not yet in a church because she was usually just stuck inside her home most of the time. We then got a call from the Sisters who needed a ride and so we had 30 minutes. Food was not done and so we decided that we still need to have at LEAST a small lesson. We did not come planned for a non-member to be there. So we followed with teaching the first part of the Plan Of Salvation. She was VERY curious about the questions "where did we come from" What is our purpose" and "where are we going". She WANTED to know. Because of short time we left her with the Pamphlet to read over. But what was the MOST powerful part of that lesson was when Armando (less Active) bore his testimony to them! Elder Passey and I let him take over. And it was SUPER powerful! It was AWESOME! That was where we ended. Before we left her husband Carlos arrived home. And we talked to him for a bit. He said he had studied with missionaries in Tennessee and went to church. But his friend who gave him a ride passed away. And after that he never heard from the missionaries again. It was a blessing to have found them through members! That was a wonderful night and we will be going back this Wednesday!

     Friday we did service. we helped out Our Branch President moving things around his home. It was going to be his Wife's birthday on Saturday and his home is still not finished because he just recently moved in and the people are still working on his house while they are living there so it is crazy in there. So we helped him out. Basically just making room around the house so people could get in and see a nice home. We were glad that we were able to help him. The Fossati's have taken care of us every day specially this last week for me and my hurt back. And it was the least thing we could do for them. They are a blessing to the missionaries and to the Branch! 

     Saturday we did more service! We painted a few walls on the outside of a house. It was in the morning so it was not bad at all. It was a fun small project. And then we spent a good amount of the afternoon helping the other missionaries in our district with rides because we are the only ones in a car and the sisters are on foot and the others who are on bikes need a ride every now and then, specially when they miss a bus.But in the end I just really enjoy the opportunity to help those around me. 

    Sunday was super fun and super filling! Brother Ory, Brother Getcher, and Brother Newman all came down to the West Bank! I had visited them and served with them in the Covington Ward when I was up in my last area in Mandeville! It was Awesome to see them again! It brought back great memories. Brother Ory and Brother Getcher both came down to give talks in the Spanish Sacrament, they were both suppose to be in Spanish but Brother Ory decided to ask for a someone to translate for him. Think he did the right thing, his spanish sounded a little rusty. ha... But Both talks given were powerful and very good. It was a really good Sunday Service.

    Elder Passey and I accidentally have filled ourselves up with 4 dinner appointments without knowing last night!!! We were scared... Thankfully we were able to change one for Wednesday...  So in the end we only had 3. After the first one we could barely move!... So the 2 dinner we both didn't eat. Thankfully in was a meeting with our Ward leader so he understood. Then in like 2 hours we had enough room for our last meal. But at the same time we didnt... I do not know how we did it! We visited the McCue's! We ate soo much we had 2nd for some odd reason! It was Super good!!! We might have sinned by eating too much... ha We shared a short message on temples with them. Reggie is going to Temple Square for his first time this weekened! So we are hoping that opens the door for him to be more open about the gospel. He told us he knew he was not allowed in the temple because he is not a member. Elder Passey and I told him no...  He is absolutely allowed in the Temple, everyone is welcome, you just have to get baptized first. So we said "you are just not allowed in YET"... haha he just laughed. He knows we are trying to convert him haha. It was  a great night, and we were happy stuffed turkey's by the end of the day. 

    That concludes my week. With one full week left in the transfer! Wow, this one has flown by. Looks like my time in the West Bank might be up. But One never knows what can happen! 

   Hope you all have a great week! Have fun and make the BEST out of EVERY MOMENT! 

Much Love,

Elder Caiña

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Lets Gooooooooooooo!

     How's it going everyone? Hope everyone is taking it easy and enjoy each and every day we have been blessed with!I have had a very slow week. So i might not have much to say. But I have made really good goals for a better week this week. But still, I have found out that blessing still do come when even if you at least have good desires and good intentions in your heart. Even though we still mess up, and maybe even just be stupid.
     First a bit about how I am doing. Well I used to have a hard time waking up on time. It was even harder to get up and work out. For the longest time I have been trying to work on that. And It all changed last week. 2 saturdays ago I receive motivation! ha I have woken up on time every single day since then and got my work out in everyday without fail! Last Saturday I ran and added a ab work out after. And I did the same today. Sunday is the day of rest so we do not work out on those days. But yea I have been doing GREAT in that catagory. I was at 168, I have gone back down to 160 pretty quickly. And I am eating super well! I have seriously cut back on Soda and Candy and trash food. Like, I am SHOCKED at myself that i am really doing this! haha But I do feel Awesome! ha yea besides that, Elder Passey and I did get lazy on the work for some reason. (this is what I mean about just being stupid) I do not know why. It was not very smart to put some missionaries to live next to each other. haha, Elder Passey and I have noticed that though and this week we have made a goal to spend less time around them so that we could get more work done. And we have a lot of people to visit so we will have our hands full this week. 
  
     So even with a slow week, we still had that desire to work. Even though it was not really that effective this week. I think we were blessed to see a miracle because of our desires and intentions. We did have a sweet miracle happen this week! So I have had Bro. Hickerson in my mind a lot over the past few weeks. He has been working off shore and wont be back till late october. But his wife lets us know how he is doing. So a little back ground, he does not believe in Jesus Christ. He does not believe he really did exist and that he isn't needed. He believed that we could go straight to Heavenly Father without  Jesus Christ. He knows all the lessons and everything. So teaching the main points would have been pointless. So Missionaries, can not remember if it was Elder Hale and I or other missionaries before that, but they told him to read the book Jesus the Christ. (Super Good Book). 2 weeks ago his wife told us what he said after reading a few chapters. He had said that the Book was "turning the myth into a man".That was awesome progression to hear. We were so happy! He had asked to speak with us because he had a few questions. So we asked President Hansen for Permission to use facebook because it was the best way he could communicate with us on land while he was off shore. President Hansen wouldn't let us. So we prayed hard for him! Yesterday after church we talked to Sis. Hickerson to see how he was doing. She had the biggest smile on her face. And she told us that after he had his question, he had just decided to re-read the first 2 chapters of Jesus the Christ to get a better understanding. (Note: he was only reading because his computer  had broken and stopped working. Other wise he would be watching movies on his computer instead of reading). And he said that everything just got cleared up for him! He sent his wife a message saying to her, "If I could, I would get baptized RIGHT NOW"!!!! Those were the Most AMAZING words I have heard!!!! We were ALL STOKED!!! I Literally could have jumped up and down, ran around and scream for joy... If we had not been in the church. So we continued to talk to her saying that now, all we have to do is wait 56 days till he comes back home. We are all so excited! She said she went on to tell him about her new calling as a Young Women's President, and his reply to her was "go read 1st Nephi 3:7 .... She was shocked how he had just quoted scripture to her. haha Bro. Hickerson is basically a Member already! I have been waiting for this moment for him to progress. I LOVE how heavenly Father works! He broke his computer, so that he could read, so that he could receive the answer he had been looking for his whole life. The Church is most OBVIOUSLY TRUE! Oh how I love the mission and the Tender Mercies of the Lord! 

     Those were the biggest points of my pants week. We also got invited to a birthday party where Elder Passey and I both beat up a Piñata. 
      
     We also went out with Many who is part an investigator and part member...? He has been baptized but not confirmed yet. So we do not know his whole reason why. It i really complicated. He know and has told us that he was just Baptized to early. But he has really come a long way! He is actually a gay. But after meeting with the missionaries and taking lessons. His desire to follow that path has left him. It has been amazing to see his progression. He is an awesome guy. He loves the church a ton! It is super cool because he know Drew Brees Personally and the Louisiana State District Attorney. We met her last Thursday. It was cool. 

     Yup that is about it. Hope you guys have a great week! We are heading to the French Market again today. Just to look around since our whole district is broke haha. But we will just make fun experiences in the "Big Easy".

Love The Missionary in the South,
~Elder Caiña

Sunday, August 10, 2014

looong week!

I am completely fine and healthy. But we did have some pretty crazy things happen last week! And now my companion and I have not bikes and no car. So we are walking all over the place.
     For a quick understanding of what happen with my bike and the Van, it all starts back on the first day of this transfer. Which was on July 9th. I'll try to make it short. That first day the Sister got hit in their car by an elderly lady. The side of the car was all pushed in so it got sent to the body shop to get fixed. So the sisters had to be on bikes. Sisters Don't have bikes since they are not required to bring one out of the mission. Because they get cars to keep them safe. Anyway, so they borrowed a mebers bike and I let them borrow my bike so they could get around. We had a Van so it was not problem. Couple of weeks later the Zone leaders come down and take the bikes to lunch. While the sisters rode their car. One of the Elders (Elder Carter) got hit by a car on his way there.Thankfully he is fine. The bike was not. The spoke was loose so we sent that to a member to get that fixed. So we then give them Elder Passey's Bike (my companion). couple of days later, one of the sisters calls us saying they kinda bent Elder Passey's rim. We thought it was fixable. When we finally see it, it was NOT slightly bent. It was bent like a pretzel. She had tried jumping a curve and did not make it. Thankfully she is completely fine. We do not know how but she was being watched over. We still do not know how she bent the rim so badly. The bike took all the damage. It was literally a miracle. So now we have 1 car down and 2 bikes. Thankfully the night before gave us a bike that they did not want because they never used it. So we gave that to the sisters. The NEXT day the same sister who hit the curve, on her way home she rode all the way with a FLAT tire. She didn't know it was flat. They realized it was flat the next day. While riding on the flat, she had curved the rim as well so now it was not completely straight. So that bike was unable to be used. Now with 3 bikes down. we had to give her one of the other Elders bike. So she took the worst bike that was still able to run. Next day we get a call from a set of Elder saying to go to their place. So we head over with the Van. And We had the 4TH BIKE DOWN. The same sister had gotten hit by a taxi on their morning bike to a members home! Poor sister could not catch a break. Thankfully again she was being watched over. She was not hurt or anything. The rim of my bike how ever had been bent the EXACT same way that Elder Passey's bike had been bent. It was seriously unbelievable what was going on this whole week. I didn't really care since the bike had lasted me so long and all i need is a new rim. It was okay since we had the Van to still get around... Or so we taught... As the sister head home to rest from their wild experiences, the Algiers Elders and my companion hop on the car to go to a service. Low and BEHOLD! The car did not want to start... Our week was not going any better... We got a random person to help us out and jump the car. It took 20 minutes to jump the car. In the end the guy turned the key some special way, that he got the car started. Went to Auto Zone right after wards and found out the the battery was completely fine. Called the Office missionaries, and they got the Van towed to the dealership to get it fixed because it still would not start. So in the end, NOW have managed to break down 4 bikes and 2 cars!... Only in the west bank. My companion and I are now in a walking area till we get a new rim for our bikes. The Sisters are now walking as well because they are both not taking another chance on bikes. In the end we are all happy and thankful that we are all still in one piece! Still going strong!


So that story was not short at all. But in the end that was basically our week. Helping other fellow missionaries till our Van broke down last Friday. Who knows when the Van will be back. We hear that the Sister's car is on their hopefully in the next week. Brother Walker has helped Elder Passey and I get new rims which we will receive on thursday. And then we will be back on bikes. Slowly but surely we will pick things up. 

Also we took a Ferry to Downtown this past monday, and saw the Aquarium for our Preparation Day. And we also visited the French Market.

The Sister who crashed Elder Passey's bike also gave him a batman watch to kinda pay back for it. He is enjoying the light pictures it has. But he is still working on staying awake during personal study. 

That is my week. Hope you all had as great of a week if not EVEN BETTER week than we did. Oh the life of a Missionary! ha

Love y'all!

Elder Caiña