Conference, Baptisms and Differences

Dave was made senior companion in the last transfer to Pacoima. In order to sum up what's going on in his mission, I just grouped Dave's last 2 emails into a few main topics.

General Conference:
"The central message to me seemed to be that times are tough, but the Savior and the gospel will be our sources of strength, comfort, direction, and guidance."

Baptisms:
"Last night I went back to Burbank for the baptism of the 2 friends of Burgess. It was awesome to go back and see them and Burgess and how excited they all are for the church."

Easter:
"Happy Easter!! It was a great Easter Day and perfect weather yesterday. The other set of missionaries in the ward had 2 baptisms yesterday so it was a perfect way to celebrate Easter. Not quite a typical Easter though... no Easter egg hunts, no hidden baskets - but it was enjoyable."

Spanish skills:
"My Spanish continues to improve every day but still has a long way to go. I feel pretty comfortable now talking to people in lessons but it is still frustrating at times not being able to say what I want to say, or not being able to understand what the people are saying to me. I think it is difficult to be a powerful and effective teacher when I am so limited with what I can say, but I know I am improving every day and that I am receiving Heavenly help to be able to speak the language."

Differences between Burbank and Pacoima:
I have mentioned before that Pacoima is a completely different world than Burbank was, and here is a list of a few of the differences:

1. I think it is a rule in Pacoima that you must have an attack dog, regardless of whether you live in a house or in the projects. Pitt bulls, German Shepard's, and other gigantic dogs are the preferred guard dogs here, but little pooches that nip at your ankles or bite your pant legs at every step have also been effective on us. I have only been chased by one dog so far, but I am sure that number will increase shortly. With the big dogs, most people only have 3-4 ft fences and I swear the dogs could easily jump out if they really tried. It definitely makes you think twice before approaching the house.

2. Most of the Hispanics are out of work and have no money whatsoever. They live in little shacks, have no cars, but all of them still manage to have 70" flat screen plasma TVs.

3. Hispanics are the friendliest people. In Burbank, very rarely we could stop and talk to someone in the street and have them actually stop and listen. Here, they will talk to you for 30 minutes and not even know our name.

4. The list could go on and on, but I am about out of time.

Dave says he's doing well and improving his language skills, but still appreciates all the prayers on his behalf.

*Editor's note

I fixed the previous post and added captions, and Dave's new address is posted as well.