Carlsbad YSA Week 6 - Transfers

Hey everyone!

So transfers are this week. Elder Richards is being transferred out and I will be getting Elder Hadfield! I am super excited for that! He's a good kid and I feel like we will work really well together. I also was made the district leader of my district so that will be a new adventure.

So this last week in a nutshell...

Monday we did go cart racing. Like, real fast go carts! It was a ton of fun! I now understand how some might consider NASCAR a sport because I was sore after!

Tuesday I went on exchanges with our zone leaders to Oceanside 3 with Elder Horton. It was a ton of fun! It rained all day that day and we were biking around. We went pretty hard! It was a blast.

Wednesday was another crazy day. I went on exchanges with the AP's. I went with Elder Ruhl. We went to a district meeting in Del Mar, went to Buffalo Wild Wings, and taught Steven. It was awesome! Then we had dinner at the McClellans, one of the senior couples. That was us, the AP's, and 2 senior missionaries. It was so much fun!

Thursday we had our district meeting. And we taught Steven and said goodbye to him and taught Nathaniel that night. Nathaniel is really progressing. Slowly, but surely. That night I got the call that I would be the District Leader.

Friday I went to a leadership meeting at the mission office and weekly planned.

Saturday we got the transfer calls.

Sunday I taught on Edson. We changed/set both of the guys I'm teaching to be baptized on October 9th! Recruit Oviat still is nervous to make the commitment, but I feel like Filener will be ready to go!

This morning we played some tennis, got hair cuts, and visited some of E. Richards old members! 

I just want all of you to know that I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares about each of us. I also know He answers our prayers. I really have been praying hard for help this last transfer and even though it was probably one of my hardest transfers I still feel happy and like I am the best Elder Kapp I have been thus far on my mission. I love this gospel. The more you put in the more you will get out. So if you feel like you're not getting enough out of the church, I encourage you to raise the bar. Read more. Pray deeper and longer. Study harder. I know Heavenly Father will always be there.

I love you!

Elder Kapp 

Carlsbad YSA Week 5 - New Investigators!

I have been very blessed this last week. It all started with last Tuesday. We set up a couple lessons and they all were just incredible.

First at 1:00 we met with Daniel. We talked to him in his complex. He is a marine and has a faith in God. When we went to teach him, his friend Dakota was there too. We taught both of them and picked them up as investigators. I don't know how willing they are to change and apply what we taught them, but it was still cool!

At 2:15 we met with Steven. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and set a day for him to be baptized on October 8th! The bummer is he is moving to Ohio this next week. The cool thing is he is moving to Stauney Hansen's ward! I am going to get to talk to her this next week so they know about him.

At 6:30 that night we had a lesson with a guy named Christian. He was a referral from Carlsbad sisters. When he showed up to the church for the lesson, we saw he brought his girlfriend. Turns out Eva, his girlfriend, has member cousins in the area! We picked them both up as investigators and set a date for them to be baptized on the 8th as well. Super good lesson!

That night we taught Nathaniel at 8:00. He is slowly, but surely progressing and building his faith in Christ.

4 New investigators in 24 hours!

Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Wockenfuss. That was a good time.

Thursday we had district meeting and taught Steven about the word of wisdom. He has a smoking problem, but he is working on it. And we taught Nathaniel again. We brought Brother and Sister Corless, the Missionary Relations senior couple in our mission, to the lesson. They were PERFECT! I love them so much.

We haven't been able to meet with Daniel and Dakota or Christian and Eva yet, but we are still hoping to see them.

At Edson I picked up 2 new investigators. Thomas Filener was invited by his "bunk mate" who is a member and has been talking about church the whole time at boot camp. It went really well! Shooting to get baptized in 2 weeks!

The other kid I got is Jacob Oviat. He is a solid guy. He has been taught before, but sees baptism as a big step and he doesn't want to rush. But he reads and prays and I still got 3 weeks with him!

Job Diaz didn't get baptized, but he will next Sunday at MCRD.

I love you all so much! I hope you have a good week!

Elder Kapp

                                                  Lamborghini we saw last week

                          This little kid was trying to carry all this stuff and he let me help him.

Carlsbad YSA Week 4 - Baptism at Boot Camp

This last week was very long! It seems like it went on forever, but not a whole lot happened.

On Tuesday we got to go to Legoland! That was a fun P-Day! We got in for free because some members work there. It's definitely a place for younger kids, but it was a lot of fun. I mean, if we weren't there we probably would have just shopped and played basketball. But we really enjoyed it!

Wednesday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was good. There were some changes to the mission that are pretty different. For example, we don't keep track of how many people we contact on the street anymore. I personally like it. In Preach My Gospel it says to talk to everyone. Some days everyone is 10 people. Other days it is 200 people. It all depends on what you're doing and who is in your path. The focus is all on finding and not reaching your goals.

Friday we had interviews with President. It was good. We also did some weekly planning. We were supposed to go to dinner and on splits with our Elders Quorum President, but he had to bail last minute. We were super bummed. But it ended up being a blessing. We ended up picking up a new investigator from it named Steven. We taught him the restoration, but he isn't getting back to us. Later that night we taught Nathaniel. He is starting to grow and progress. Slowly, but it is still progress.

Saturday was one of the longest days of my mission. We just walked around stopping by less actives all day. We picked up so many potential investigators... For other wards... It was just never ending. We keep picking up investigators, but they disappear after the first lesson. So on paper it looks like we are doing alright, but in reality we are really struggling to find people to teach.

Sunday was a blessing. At Edson Range I met with Recruit Diaz. He is my guy from Compton. I didn't get to teach him last week because of lack of time, but the first week I taught him he declined on the invitation to baptism. Yesterday I met with him and we were just talking about how he was doing, if he's been reading, and what he's thought about church the last few weeks. His reply was, "I've thought a lot about what you told me... And I was going to get baptized today, but it's pretty cold so I thought I would wait til next week." I was in shock. I honestly thought I misheard him. I was like, "Hold up! You want to get baptized?!" The spirit has worked on him and he got an answer to his prayer that baptism was right for him. Unfortunately he left to Phase 3 of boot camp yesterday at MCRD in San Diego, but he will be getting baptized there. And he will be coming back to Camp Pendleton in about 6 weeks for more training after boot camp.

It really doesn't matter where you serve or how high up the ladder of leadership you make it. I've learned that our purpose truly is to bring souls to Christ. There is no better feeling than being able to help people change and become better and happier. I am so excited for Job Diaz to make the change next week. HE IS SO READY! This gospel changes people. It is the living church of Christ on the earth. The promises we make at baptism are eternal. That Holy Ghost is with us til the end. We CANNOT give into temporal things. They aren't worth it. Heavenly Father wants to bless us. But we have to be obedient and ready for what He has to offer.

I love you all!

Elder Kapp

Have a great week!

Carlsbad YSA Week 3 - Exchanges and Passion Fruit for Days

Hey, really busy and interesting week last week! On Tuesday my companion went on exchanges with the Mission President, so I got to go chill with the zone leaders. That was probably one of the best and funnest days of my mission. It was a blast! Minus the fact that I have to bike. I am out of shape. Full time car is killing me and making me a fatty. We did lots of fun stuff on the exchange. We did a little mountain biking and went down this hill in between neighborhoods as a shortcut to avoid a big hill. But there were no alleys to the road. We ended up getting a lady to let us cut through her backyard and through her house to the road. On the way out the front door, Elder Gull contacted her and asked her if she would want hear the lessons. I was surprised she said yes. 

Later we found this passion fruit right by the sidewalk. It was huge, but all the fruit was up higher. Elder Gull got his bike helmet stuck in the tree while trying to knock them down. He had to climb up and get it and got us tons of passion fruit while he was up there. We got bags full. I had never tried passion fruit before, but it was super good! 

We ended up having 2 dinners that night back to back. The first one was funny! Their 2 sons were comparing the three of us missionaries and deciding who was their favorite. (Best tie, best shoes, whitest teeth, etc) and they came to the conclusion that Elder Kapp was the favorite! They ended up giving me a clip on tie before I left!

The next day I was on exchanges again in Spanish work... I was basically just there. But we saw some miracles. We followed promptings and picked them up 2 investigators and gave some blessings! But dinners and stop by's were awkward. No habla espanol...

Finally mid-week Elder Richards and I were together again. We didn't get to do anything crazy or teach anyone. Elder Richards has been sick and we spent half of Saturday in urgent care and in the apartment. We had dinner with and are now best friends with our Ward Mission Leader, Andrew. He's super chill. But we are just trying to find people to teach. We keep dropping our investigators which is hard, but that's the way it goes. 

Edson Range was good. We had 3 baptisms. I taught Nick Stoll again. We were pushing for him to be baptized next week. I sped taught him 2 and a half lessons and then just stopped and felt like he wasn't ready. So I kind of dropped him. I didn't have time to teach Recruit Diaz and my other guy didn't show up. So that was disappointing. 

Today for P-Day I am going to Lego Land. Pretty cool, eh? I didn't realize that we drive past it almost every day. Half of our ward works there so we are getting in for free.

That's my week! Love you!

Elder Kapp

                                                     Passion fruit for days

                                                      This is Oceanside

   
                                                    Elder de Hoyos Pictures!                                                               
                          

                                                   Richards and I by the ocean

                                   Deacon Mike, a homeless guy we became friends with.

Watching broadcast with the O3 Elders