October 13, 2014

Hola Familia/Amigos,

     Well, I want to start off, by letting everyone know how proud I am of my good friend Elder Braden Banning. He is back in the field, and going strong! What a blessing that is to the people of the San Jose, California Mission to have such a great Elder back! Miss you brother! Work hard, and play hard!

     Things here in the Rio Vista area are absolutely amazing! I truly do like this area, however I don't always feel accepted by the members quite yet. It’s kind of weird because this area hasn't had Elders for something like 3 or 4 years. Then 6 weeks ago they put Elder Olmos and Elder Bischoff in the area, and then 6 weeks later they brought me into the area, so I kind of feel like I'm third wheeling it. But that’s o.k.  I know it takes time to build relationships and that’s what being in a new area is all about. I am focused on trying to get this area to its full potential more than anything.

     On the other hand, some of the members just love me. Being from Idaho, hard working, and very blunt and open with them, they think I’m super funny. They are the same way, so I kind of feel like I am at home with that as well. There is a member named Bo Torres, who acts just like Dad. He is super funny, and never serious about anything. Ha Ha We get along great!

     Rio Vista is super sick! The work here is progressing a lot. This past week we were able to pick up 6 new investigators, in which 3 were Spanish speaking, and the other 3 are part member families here in the branch! We are super excited because the part member families, seem like they are all ready to move forward, but the missionaries in the past had just a fear that they had already been tried, or that they just weren't ready! However we had no fear and have met them all, and are beginning to teach them all as well!

    In fact yesterday at church we had a family come who hadn't been to church for about 2 years. They live in a tiny town called Collinsville, that actually just recently burnt down the day of 4th of July. They lost their home, but are doing pretty well recovering from it, and are back on there feet surprising well! We met him, John, at the church one night when he had an interview with the new branch President, and were able to set up an appointment and now are teaching his girlfriend who lives with him as well. They have 2 children and have lived together for 16 years. They said there is not a reason on why they are not married they just haven't gotten around to it. I think it will be pretty simple. They are amazing!

     The Branch Presidency was just changed a month ago, so they are still trying to figure things out, and we are trying to help them to the best of our ability. They are changing a lot of things in the Branch, because a lot of families are moving out due to the fact they work on the Air Force Base here in Fairfield!

     Overall things are going really well here in Rio Vista. I am truly trying to work on changing and bettering myself! We had a wonderful Zone Conference this past Friday, where a lot of great things were talked about. President Alba, talked a lot about the importance of our mission, and how we all need the full 2 years to change, however we have to be willing to accept his atonement to truly change. Just like our investigators or members that haven't been active can truly only change through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

     This past weekend was huge in Rio Vista! People came all the way from San Francisco! It’s a huge event that has quite the attraction for people! The Bass Durby Festival! It’s a huge carnival thing, as well as a Bass Fishing competition where whoever catches the biggest bass wins a nice sized fishing boat! It was super fun! It kind of reminded me a lot of the Eastern Idaho Fair, however it was a little bit smaller in size, and not as many redneck things going on such as Tractor Pulls etc! It was still a lot of fun to be able to contact many people, and hand out a lot of pass along cards of Jesus Christ!

    So a lot of people have been asking a lot of questions about my companions! How it is being in a Trio! ha ha. So I guess all I have to say is that it’s a lot of fun. We all have very different but similar personalities so we are always having a good time! Elder Bischoff is from Ely, Nevada. He was serving in the Ukraine for about a year and a half of his mission, but with all the warfare, and such going on there they closed down his mission, and reassigned him to our mission! He has a lot of interesting stories, which are super cool! He also speaks pretty good Russian.

Elder Olmos was born in Mexico City, but has been living in Bakersfield, California his entire life. He speaks Spanish about the same level as I do, which is super cool! He has a better vocabulary than me, however I know the rules and such, and can write better than him. ha ha

Things are going great here! Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes, and all the support! I love you all, and miss you all tons!

Love,

Elder Albertson

 Welcome to the little city of Collinsville.

 Working in the Nursery

 as a missionary is definitely my style! 

Free Snacks!

 Mormon.Org Signs we made 

and posted around town for the 

Bass Durby!

Hot dog, pea, and corn soup! 

Yuck!(love the Spidy cup though)

October 6, 2014

Hola Familia/Amigos

Well this has been a great week. I am loving my time here in Rio
Vista. It's crazy how much it reminds me of Blackfoot and Snake River!
Kind of like how the city is on one side of the river, but there are
little communities on the other side of the river as well! Pretty
much the exact same here in Rio Vista, however the river is a lot
wider. It's a good mile wide.

Last Monday was a super fun day. We were able to get all our emailing
and packing done super early, that way we could still play sports. We
had a lot of fun, going out to Benicia and being able to play some
Lava Tag! It's a lot of fun, because the jungle gym at the park is
pretty good size, and there is a ton of different ways to get places.
It was kind of sad to think that it was still my last day in Vallejo
though!

That night, Elder Akhmetov and I finished my time off in
Vallejo strong! Ending a Monday night with 1 Less Active Lesson, 2
Member Presents, and another lesson. In total we had 4 lessons! Which
is killer for a Monday, considering you only have like 3 hours of
proselyting.

Tuesday was transfers! It was a lot of fun. Elder Ashton, Elder Payne
and I were able to set up breakfast with a Brother Garnet Hyde on our
way to Santa Rosa for transfers! It was super fun, he cooked us
biscuits and gravy, and we were able to talk about the missionary work that is going on there in Sonoma! He said that it has slowed down a lot, and that he doesn't know if there will ever be a better group of missionaries or if there ever has been than us who were there! 

Transfers were great. I dropped my bike off to get tuned up in Sonoma on my way to the transfer meeting, however I was going to pick it up on my way back to Rio Vista but it wasn't done! So it is currently in Sonoma with my boy Elder Teisina. He promised me that he would take good care of it! 

Then my time in  Rio Vista began! We call ourselves the Trio-N-Rio! More than anything we don't live in Rio Vista, we are living in the Rio de Janiero! It super sick! The people are all very nice, however they seem to have all spoken with missionaries. So we gotta show them all something special that way they are going to be able to let us in, and bring to them something that they do not have at this time in there life, and something that they need! 

General Conference was great! It truly was refreshing to be able to start over new, this past week, let everything that has happened in the past and let it go! Than it was super nice, to listen to the words of our Prophets, and be able to learn and grow from it all! 

Elder Bischoff and Elder Olmos, have been great! I talked with them about everything and they have been super helpful, when it comes to working hard.  It has been great here in Rio Vista. We all get along really well, and I was able to come in with a lot of ideas, and they didn’t get upset at me at all! I love riding in the back seat as well! It is super relaxing!

Thank you all so much for you support, and prayers! I love you all, and will continue to serve my savior Jesus Christ! 

Love, 

Elder Albertson

PS: Kamryn and Abe I will especially keep you in my Prayers! I Love you! Remember The Lord has a plan for all of us! 

PS: For Birthday gift ideas, all I have is maybe some brown shoes, size 12, and a matching belt! Other than that I don't have much more. If you send any ties, please make them skinny ties, as well as, if there is any food that has been sent, please send healthy food! I would not enjoy junk food! 

Well this past Friday, I couldn't pass up the deal I found on a new

grey suit, that I have been wanting for a long time. I found a J.

Ferrar for 85 dollars!

September 29, 2014

Hola Familia/Amigos 

     So as many of you know, last week I received a new companion as my other companion Elder Alcivar is taking a small break from missionary work! However, I miss Elder Alcivar a lot! He was literally my brother. Luckily my new companion Elder Akhmetov has been great! He is learning the area really well! Today will be my last day with him, because tomorrow is transfers and we will both be headed to Santa Rosa early in the morning! However, I know we will serve together again! He is super chill! Elder Akhmetov is also going to be a trainer! Ha ha He will do great as a trainer as well! They are also getting a car, so that will be really good for this area!! 

     Well I don't really have much to say about this past week! It has been my last week here in Vallejo! Everyone is doing super well! We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday! La Familia Ramos was able to make it, and they absolutely loved it! They are already telling members that they will be getting baptized on the 25th of October! I am super excited for that! Also I hope I will be able to come back for the Baptism because my new area is super close! If not though I am pretty sure that I will be able to Skype in for that baptism! Which will be super cool as well! 

     It has been super hard to have to say goodbye to so many great people! It surprises me so much how fast you can gain a relationship with all these wonderful members that you serve throughout your mission! It’s incredible! I truly am going to miss so many of them, and am definitely going to have to come back to visit them all as well! 

     This Area here in Vallejo has treated me very well! However, on Friday we were able to receive what we call transfer doctrine, which is where we find out where we are going! I am headed to a small little city, called Rio Vista! I will be serving the people there, and loving them as well! I am very excited. It was super hard for me at first to accept why I was going to what a lot of missionaries call the Island! Because it is out in the middle of nowhere! However, as I prayed and asked fervently, so that I could understand why! I have a great feeling of peace now about my calling! 

Rio Vista is going to be a little bit of a different situation! It is a very small english branch, where there used to be a Spanish companionship, as well as an English one! However, now that the missionary work has slowed down out there, or something happened, they decided to close both the Elders area and put sisters! I believe it was because some of the Elders were a bit disobedient! The Sisters that were there, we not really teaching anyone accept for people on Facebook! So overall the area is struggling! However that doesn't really bother me, because I am going to work very hard, and get that area back to where it should be! I will be in what they call a Zebra, which means there is a companion who speaks Spanish and English! This way we can teach in both languages! However, my goal is to get that area back to the point where we can have an English companionship, and a Spanish one as well! I am very excited about this new calling that I have! 

That's about all I have for you this week! I love you all so much! Thank for your support and for all the prayers on my behalf.

Love you all!
LOVE, 

Elder Albertson 

PS: Also Here is my New address for Rio Vista! 

Elder Albertson

301 S. 4th St. Apt. C

Rio Vista, CA 94571