Hola From Scottsdale!

Hey Family!

Well, Scottsdale is a pretty different kind of place. It is a lot different than Mesa in just about every way. Mesa was pretty average housing to lower qulaity housing. Scottsdale is upper class housing with low income housing dispersed throughout the area. As Spanish Elders, we generally are out walking up and down these lower income streets as that is where the Hispanics are. This area is definitely going to be a lot tougher, but at the same time I already love it.

Thursday night we taught a man named Victor Carillo. He is huge, has a deep voice, and a pony tail with lots of tattoos. I would have never approached him to talk to him. Truth be told however, he is 100% a prepared soul. We went over and he asked me kindly if he could tell me about a dream he had recently had. I of course said, "Si." In his dream he saw Jesus Christ standing in a stream. Christ signaled to him and said, "Come to me and be baptized in the Church of the Latter-day Saints". That is what he said, verbatum. Yeah. We taught him the plan of salvation and he understands it so well. He understands the purpose of life. He knows he needs to get baptized and he said he will get baptized in this Church. He just wants more time to learn. Even in one of the toughest areas of the mission, God has prepared people. Our job is just to help him realize that he is ready. He is reading, praying, and striving to gain a testimony. That right there is a recipe for success.

Another AWESOME investigator we have is Paola. She is 15 and is best friends with a recent convert, Cintia. She wants to get baptized so badly. She has a testimony already and a desire to share the gospel with others. Her biggest obstacle is the fact that he mother is Pentecostal (inactive...) and does not want to give her permission to be baptized. We taught her out of the Ensign from January on recieving answers to prayers. It was an incredible lesson and I felt the Savoir's love for this girl the entire time. We challenged her to pray for the courage, and the spirit, to be able to touch the heart of her mother when asking for her permission. She told us yesterday that she is praying and doing all she can to muster up the faith and courage to ask again. We are praying for her, too.

I totally forgot to tell you about my new companion, Elder Jonathan Scherbel. He is from Star Valley, Wyoming and is one heck of an awesome missionary. He and I clicked from the start and things have just gone great. He loves teaching and he has a great knowledge of the Gospel. He knows the scriptures and the members love him. We get along great and we teach well together. I am looking way forward to this transfer.

We live with another companionship in out apartments. They serve in the Arcadia Ward, the rich people. Their names are Elder Harper (from Blackfoot, Idaho) and Elder Nuku (from Tonga). I love both of them as well. Elder Harper and I both have a lot of the same aspirations and interests. We talk a lot and he is helping me keep my english up to par. They are having rediculously great amounts of success considering the demographic that they work with. They have an Iranian man getting baptized in a week or two. He is the CTO of Caterpillar Construction....yeah.

The branch is great, but it is so strange going from a ward of 300 plus people to a branch of 45. There are a lot less members to work with and a lot more with higher-stress living situations. There are more less actives and fewer recent converts, due to the difficulty of the area we live in. However, the Branch is strong. I love it. Our branch President was mission president in Sao Paolo, Brazil about 5 years ago. He loves missionary work, he is kind. Our big struggle is that our ward mission leader does not exactaly know what his calling entails. He will not schedule regular meetings with us and I hear that has been the case for some time. We are going to read Chapter 13 of Preach My Gospel with him. In the words of Elder Scherbel, It is hard to tell someone to do something, without telling them to do something.

My area is gigantic. I cover 85% of Scottsdale and I am having a tough time memorizing all of the streets. A lot of them are the same names and such as my first area in Phoenix. I haven't ventured out to drive yet because we are running low on miles this month. We just have to make it through today.

I was way sad to leave Mesa, but I know my investigators and converts there will be well taken care of. A great Elder took my place and I am sure they are loving it there still. It ultimately comes down to the fact that I know President Ellsworth is called of God and I know the Lord wants me here for a reason. I am growing to love these people so quickly. It really feels like this area was meant for me. I am happy here, even though we teach less, bike never, and walk more. I am going to do all I can to help this area to grow.

Speaking of haircuts, I got one this morning. I did it myself and it is looking fine. It is waaaayyyy short. The heat is supposed to start coming back this week. Laundry is fine. I never really have to iron anything. I take most stuff to the dry cleaners. I am living well and I am healthy.

Oh, and a member of the Arcadia ward is paying for us to go to the Zoo today, and he wants to take us to golf the Phoneician (spelling?) next week. It is 6 star course I guess. I can't golf....yup.

The money in Scottsdale just amazed me. I see ferraris, lamborghinis, rolls-royces, mercedes, porches, etc. all day every day. There are actually lawns at the houses and the city is incredibly clean. I just cannot believe it.

I never got to cast out demons. They called and cancelled because Miguel had to go back to Mexico on an emergency errand. So, I got no crazy, spooky experiences.

This week has been good and I am glad you are all doing well. Just be sure to go to the mountain sometime. I really miss the snow! I love you all and I pray for you! I have to go for now, but just remember that I love you and I always will!

Con amor,

Elder Jonathan Alma Pearson

Posted By Maddy