Wow....another great week in the Great California Ventura Mission. It has been a little bit of an adjustment coming down here to Ventura. It's a lot more humid than anywhere else I've served, and I always have the "clothes sticking to you" feeling, especially riding bikes. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but we share a ward and a car here, and it's been pretty good. We get the car on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sunday, and they get the car on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. We are together virually all day on Monday, so we share it that day. We have a really cool 2014 Toyota Corolla and I love the feel of it. Anyways...enough about the car ;)
I realized a pattern a few days ago and with where I've served. My first area was the Santa Susana 1st ward. My second area was the Atascadero 2nd ward. My third area was the Santa Maria 3rd ward, and my fourth area was the Ventura 4th ward. Just a cool pattern that I've noticed. :)
Ventura 4th Ward is the eastern side of town, and it's also the most "ghetto" part of town. We cover a little town called Saticoy, and it's full of interesting people. We love going out there, especially on bikes. Some of the people out there are rude and want nothing to do with us, and others are pretty humble and they love to talk with us, so it's always a mystery of what's going to happen. I love it! We walked around there yesterday for a good hour, and it was weird because everybody was inside and all the businesses were closed. It was kinda weird.
Also, this week we met President and Sister Felix for the first time. They are really cool people. They shared with us about their lives and how they met and all that stuff. Here's the cool part: On May 15th, President Felix went for an early morning bike ride (He LOVES cycling). When he was riding his bike, he noticed a sharp pain as he was breathing. He thought it was pretty weird, so he slowed down a bit do recuperate. He then started feeling a pressure in his shoulders, so he stopped and sat down. He didn't feel like he could go any longer, so he called Sister Felix and asked her to pick him up. They went to the InstaCare, but it was closed, so they went to the Emergency Room. Sister Felix asked if there was any Priesthood holders available to give him a blessing, but they said no. As we was sitting on the bed, he said, "I feel faint" and he collapsed on the bed. President Felix had a heart attack. It was a miracle that he was in the Emergency Room, as we was instantly treated and responded well. Sister Felix called her sons and they showed up ready in suits and ties to give the blessing. In the blessing, they told him that he would be OK, that he was going to be able to serve as the mission president, and that there would be no long-term effects. The doctor walked into the room shortly after and told the family that " he will be OK, and there will be no long-term effects"! I felt the spirit really strongly as he bore his testimony and told us that the Lord answers prayers, and that the reason that he was standing there was because of the Atonement. They are more relaxed than President and Sister Castro, and they are exactly what this mission needs.
The other elders met this lady and they gave them a bag of chili peppers, and who did they give them to? Yeah. Me. Let's just say they all took a video of me dying. I'll see if I can send the video home on a DVD with all the pictures I've taken later. But yeah...I don't do well with spicy stuff...
Well, I love you all. Thank you for everything you do. I know that this church is led by a prophet called from God. I'm thankful for my mission and all that I've learned. I'll talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Harper
P.S. The Cadena family is the family I'm with in the picture. They live in Santa Maria. He's a recent convert, and _____ is his wife. (I promised I wouldn't say her name. :) )
Also, there's a picture of fosilized dinosaur dung. A member here had it. A gold nugget too!
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