Sierra Vista

"Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!"
-3 Nephi 9:2

Normally in the scriptures when someone writes down a word multiple times, it means you should pay attention. Repentance is a key part of our existence, Satan knows this. When we choose not to repent but continue to live in our sinful state, Satan laughs and rejoices. Do you want to make Satan happy? No! So stick it to him and change, is what we tell investigators.

My new area is awesome!!! I absolutely love it here! Sierra Vista is a little bit like "banishment" here.  The area is far south of Tucson, closer to the Mexican boarder and it is totally different than Oro Valley.  There is a lot of poverty and drugs and "tweakers," but the people here are humble... what more can you ask for a missionary?

My new companion is Elder Downey and he is a stud!  He is still a 'greeny' and this is the only area he has served.  He has been in Sierra Vista for about five months so far. We are fearless with making new contacts as there are so many people to talk to. We cover multiple apartment complexes near where we live, and unfortunately there is a lot of drugs and sketchy people. But everyone has been pretty nice to us and they are used to seeing the missionaries. What a change this is from the middle /upper class area of Oro Valley....and I am not upset at all.

We helped a non-member move from her apartment complex to another building last week.  While we were helping her she told us that a few nights ago she was sitting on her porch drinking iced tea (remember she is not a member... YET 😊) and she watched someone get shot right in front of her! I guess this is why she is moving.  Of course drugs run through this area constantly because we are so close to the Mexican border.

There are a lot of kids in the apartments out here and they enjoy talking to us. Basically all of the kids here love the missionaries. Many of them are living with their single Moms with split homes with no idea who their Dad is. Monogamy is not much of a thing in Sierra Vista. We've been talking to some of the young kids and some of the girls even came to church on Sunday! They came alone, so they sat with us during Sacrament meeting, and wanted to play with my tablet and take pictures (see below). They're so funny!

I'll send a few pictures of the kids and area; it will give you a good idea of the kind of life it is out here. Oh, and I'm in a bike area again too, so I'll be enjoying the exercise.

Until next week!
Love, Elder West

Kids during Sacrament Meeting