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

Carlsbad YSA Week 2 - General Authority Visit and Getting Towed...

Crazy week last week. Feels like it went on forever and a lot happened.

Last Sunday we met Nathaniel. He is a marine from Mesa, Arizona. His mom converted to the LDS church over the last few years and loves the Mormon culture. He met with the elders before us but they didn't really teach him. He came to a lot of the activities this last week but not sure if he has a faith in Christ.

Tuesday we met with this less active recent convert from South Carolina named Christopher Timmons. He's a cool guy!. He moved here like 4 months ago and hasn't been to church since being here. He is about to get kicked out of his house and is looking for a place to stay. He came to church and met with Bishop and hopefully all goes well with him.

Wednesday we had to watch this broadcast for the general authority visit on Friday, so we met up with the Oceanside 3 elders and watched it together. After we went to Mira Costa college and set up a booth to meet people. There was this guy that came over and was "healing" people. He basically just came over and prayed over and over again for the people we were talking to until the person got annoyed and said, "Oh! Yep. All better. Good job." That night we went to a members for dinner and we got to check out their chickens. It was fun!

Thursday we went and met people on Camp Pendleton. That evening we set up a booth at the Sunset Market. It's a little street fair they have every Thursday. This crazy lady came over and was yelling at us and telling Elder Richards and I how it is our fault women don't have rights. And also that we needed to vote for Hilary... She got arrested about 20 minutes later. It was yet another testimony to me why the word of wisdom (specifically the part about drugs and alcohol) is important.

Friday... We woke up to run.... And our car was gone.... We got towed... from our own complex... The elders before us didn't give us the parking pass and when we met the manager of the complex and asked if we needed to know anything she forgot to tell us about the pass. They lady in the front office was trying to get her boss to cover the charge, but they couldn't. It's going to be super expensive.

But besides that, we got to have a meeting with a general authority, Elder De Hoyos. It was really good! He spoke mostly spanish and I don't speak spanish, but our President did his best to translate. It was good though.

The highlight of my week was Edson Range. This week I got to teach. I was assigned 1 investigator, Recruit Stoll. He is a cool kid from Wisconsin. He went to church a few times at MCRD and prayed and knows the church is true. I taught him the Plan of Salvation and he is shooting to be baptized on September 11.

I also picked up Recruit Holmes. He has visited at MCRD for 3 weeks and they never taught him. By talking to him I found out he wasn't a member and asked him if he'd want to hear the lessons. He's from South Jordan and grew up around mormons. I taught the restoration and he said he would pray and read. As of now, he wants to wait to be baptized so his family can be there.

I also taught Recruit Diaz. He first said he didn't want to hear the lessons, but changed his mind later. He is from Compton. He comes with a Pentecostal and Evangelical background. He already prays and has a strong faith in Christ. He had a few concerns that were resolved and he accepted the whole Restoration... Except baptism... Because he's already baptized in another church. So he said he would pray about it.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Kapp  

Carlsbad YSA Week 1 - Giving blessings to recruits

Hey guys! It's been a crazy week this last week. Probably one of the craziest of the mission thus far. I am in Carlsbad YSA with Elder Richards. We are both new in the area and it is tough. We don't know hardly anything about the area or the members, so we are just trying to figure things out. We have been super busy though!

Right when we got here we started setting up lessons and teaching. We taught Delshawn for the first time on Tuesday. He was taught by the elders before us. He is a cool guy, but extremely quiet. He is 19 and was a foster kid in Utah. We taught him again on Thursday. We have been really pushing baptism and trying to get him to see why it is important. We had a lesson last night and we dropped him. He wasn't willing to make changes so we went our separate ways. We hope the best for him.

We also picked up Tom yesterday. He is a PI the last elders had, but we taught him for the first time last night. He is super solid and is shooting to get baptized on September 10. That will be exciting! He is super open and just absorbed the information.

We taught Nathaniel last night as well. He grew up in Mesa, Arizona and is a marine out here. He is 19 years old and his mom was converted over the last few years. His fiance is a less active Mormon as well. We taught him about how the gospel blesses families and eternal families. We will be meeting with him again this next week.

The highlight of my week was going on Edson Range. That was the most humbling experience I've had. We go 7:00 am Sunday morning and meet in this room for church. I walked in to see a room of young, shaved, and exhausted recruits writing letters to their families. They were incredible. Many of them were inactive before coming, but felt the need for church. They are so humble. Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone to teach yesterday, but I got to talk to a lot of the recruits and they said they would bring their friends next week. The recruits are only here for 4 weeks, so we have to work fast :)

The most incredible part was right at the end. Missionaries taught in the hallway, we talked, and they wrote letters the first hour. The next hour was sacrament, and the last was priesthood and teaching again. After the last hour, Elder Gull and I went to the bathroom. When we came back into the room we saw 2 sets of missionaries and 1 set of recruits giving other recruits blessings. The spirit was so strong. These guys have nothing. They are beaten down and even the ones who aren't members have faith to be healed and helped by priesthood authority. It wasn't long after being in there that recruits asked me to give them blessings. I can't wait to go back next Sunday.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Erik Kapp 

--

Elder Erik Kapp

California Carlsbad Mission

451 West Bobier Drive

Vista, CA 92083-1906

Goodbye Torrey Pines YSA...

Hey guys,

So I got transfer calls on Saturday and, to my surprise, I am being transferred... I am super sad to leave this ward. It has been such a great experience and I have loved it. I will be heading to Carlsbad YSA with Elder Richards. We will be "White Washing" the area (meaning we are both new there) which will be good! I am super excited! We are going to be living in Oceanside, which is a place I have been before so that will be good!

Anyways, this last week was really good. We picked up another investigator on Thursday, Huamin. He was a pass off from the Olivenhain elders. The lesson went really well! We talked about the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it and will get baptized if he comes to know it is true. Super cool! We didn't get a chance to teach our other investigators!!! AHHH!!! It's so frustrating. They have so much potential and you know they will be blessed by the message... They are just too busy... Elder George will get them dunked when I leave!

It was really sad to say goodbye to my ward. I love the people here in Torrey Pines. They have been so great to me. I can't wait to come back and see them again! Except some better not be in the YSA anymore... They should be "graduated" to the family ward by then.

I learned a bit about forgiveness this last week. I was studying it a lot this last week for no real reason. It's just such a cool concept! Without forgiveness there would be no grace or mercy. I love President Hinckley's talk about Forgiveness. Sometimes it is hard to give forgiveness. Justice and fairness are what we deserve. Nobody deserves mercy or forgiveness. That's what makes it such a great thing. I made the decision that forgiveness is one of the best gifts we can give someone. I know as a missionary you have to be a forgiving person. I have learned that when we don't forgive we put a weight on our shoulders and a weight on those who have wronged us. No matter what is done or how bad it hurt we need to forgive them. 

I love you all so much! I am so grateful I have the opportunity to be a missionary. I love sharing the gospel. It is such a great blessing. Have a good week.

Elder Erik Kapp

                                                         Jared Larsen and Chase Jensen

                                                                   Gabriel Figuero 

                                                                       Toolson's

                                                          Dallin Large and Eric Sawyer

                                                                Brother and Sister Smith

                                                                         Daniel Cross

Torrey Pines YSA Week 18 - Estamos enseñando a tres personas acerca de Jesús

Hey people! How's it going? (Not that I actually expect you to reply. But just know I am interested in your well being.) 

I am still sick... It's the worst because it makes it hard to work, but I am slowly getting better... But, I am pleased to declare... We have not one, but THREE new investigators. Those of you who have or are serving foreign, I am happy you had 10 baptisms in a week, but I am SUPER HAPPY about my three investigators. Let's not compare. 

We taught Mark on Monday. We taught the restoration with his dad. I don't know how willing he is to convert, but we will see. They are pretty strong Christians in their own faith and are really only just wanting to know what Mormons think about certain things...

Then we taught Makk on Tuesday. (Makk, not mark). That lesson was INCREDIBLE! He was so fun to teach. He is this super laid back African-American 19 year old who was super receptive and funny. It was a blast and we should teach him again this week. Just to give you an idea, we taught him in front of his house. As we were teaching this group of teenagers were walking by across the street and Makk says, "Hold up... Check it out... It's the squaaad... Maybe we should go get the squad and have them come hear some of this good stuff!"  They didn't want to hear...

Wednesday I got to go on an exchange with Elder Wilde! It was a blast! I MISS HIM! We had a lot of fun!

Then on Friday we were so busy we had to push weekly planning to Saturday! We taught Bryan on Friday! He is friends with a recent convert that just came to our ward. Elder George ran into them while on exchanges in the Del Mar ward. We taught him in the chapel and he said he really felt the spirit and said if he comes to know the Book of Mormon is true he will be baptized! (that's what I'm talking about)

Saturday was the farewell party for our ward. Half of our ward is heading to college this next month so we said goodbye... That was super depressing.. But then on Sunday we found out we are also saying goodbye to our bishopric! They were released and we got a new bishop! Bishop Romney is one of the best men I have ever met and I am very excited for Bishop Cornwell. He is also just amazing! 

I had a strong confirmation at institute this last Thursday that Heavenly Father truly does love us and accepts us. I was feeling pretty down and kind of worthless as a missionary, but then during institute the spirit really came to me confirming that Heavenly Father does accept and is proud of what I have done thus far.

I love you!

Elder Erik Kapp 

                                                              The District

                                          Last picture with Bishop and Sister Romney