Hey Family,
So things have been going good. I'm not going to lie, it was a hard change, leaving San Francisco. I really miss it. Elder Kesler stayed there, and I should be going back this weekend for Zoe and Maddie's baptisms. So I am grateful for that. It is crazy being back here in the zone that I started my mission in. It has also been quite the culture shock - I don't know why... I guess I just got used to the city, and now I'm in an area again with houses that have yards, and a lot of white people! Also the members here feed us dinner like crazy! (just like my old areas). It is taking time to adjust to all of it. Sometimes change is hard, but it is good.
So my new area is the Clayton Valley 1st ward, and the Walnut Creek 3rd ward (the singles ward). We live in Concord, and the family ward boundary covers a small chunk of the city of Concord. So most the time we are in Concord, but we go to the neighboring cities as well, because the singles ward covers the whole Zone. It is weird to think that there is a very good chance that this could be my last area. My new companion is Elder Wickel, from Nephi, Utah. He is a great missionary. We get along great so far, so it should be a good transfer. We are teaching some pretty amazing people. We are teaching an older guy (in his 60's) named Bill Scott. He is a funny old man. The first lesson I had with him, he called me Elder 'Chef", then last night we dropped by his apartment to see how he was doing, and when we left he said, "Good night Elder Baker!" Hes fun. He has a baptism date for this weekend Nov. 14th. So I'll have Zoe and Maddie's baptisms on the 13th and Bills on the 14th. It will be an exciting week. We are also teaching another older lady in the family ward, named Lavon Starick. She is a very sweet old lady that has seen a lot of death in her life. Her sister and her brother in law where murdered with a hatchet last April, her nephew was diagnosed with cancer recently and was only given a short time to live, and she is taking care of her aging mother, who is about to go anytime. Then she lost her husband 3 years ago, and feels very lonely. She has been through a lot! We took her to the Visitors Center this weekend, and she loved it. She said that she felt "calm". We looked at the temple exhibit where it talked about baptisms for the dead, and she said, "So my husband could get baptized too?" She learned a lot and soaked it all in.
We are also teaching some cool people in the singles ward. There is a college in the area - Diablo Valley College (DVC), and that is where we find most of our investigators for the singles ward. There is an institute building there, where we do a lot of our teaching. A lot of the students at DVC are Asian, so we are teaching a girl named Jina from Korea, and a guy named Anson from China. Oh, I forgot to mention, in the family ward, we are teaching a family from India! They are Hindu, but are very interested in learning about Christ. Elder Wickel said that it is sometimes a struggle to teach them, because they believe that, all religions are true, and that all roads lead to God. I had my first lesson with them last night, and they are a wonderful family that has a lot of potential. The Bay Area is so diverse!
So things are going good. I'm just in the adjusting period I guess. Another big difference is that I have roommates! On the Penninsula no one has roommates, but here in the East Bay there is usually always 4 missionaries to an apartment. And we have awesome roommates - Elder Williams and his companion! It is crazy to be living with Elder Williams! We've had a lot to talk about the past couple days, because he served in the Marsh Creek ward as well. Hes doing good.
Well family I'm so grateful for the Gospel, and for the joy and purpose that it brings! I love you all, and I'm grateful to have the best family in the world!
-Elder Cook
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