Week 55 in LA--Welcome to Chatsworth.... Wait is that a horse? 😲

Hello everyone!! 

This week has been super fun so... yeah you know the drill. (Hopefully)

**I (mom) asked him about the title since there was no other mention of horses?! He told me that he forgot to type it but that there are horses everywhere in his new area.**

Monday we went to the Alameda Swap meet and had some really good tortas! Then I packed up all my stuff and got ready for transfers. 

Tuesday I drove up here to meet my new companion Elder Jung. He is a really cool guy from South Korea, Seoul area. He took me around and introduced me to some of the members and then we had some good dinner (we actually get fed every night in this area!!) 

Wednesday we woke up, worked out and then we did studies. Then I had to go to ZLC which is Zone Leadership Council, and we talked about helping the zone and to help the missionaries better. We then worked and visited some people and then had a dinner with a member of the Korean Branch. I was eating with my chopsticks and the old man gave me a fork and said "Just in case you need it", I decided I had to show him that I can use chopsticks so I used them the rest of the time for dinner, and when we finished he said, "You are actually really good with chopsticks" So I felt pretty cool walking out of there. hahaha 😂

On Thursday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Nielson of the Seventy (He also heads the missionary board). We learned a lot about teaching repentance with him and I asked a question and he showed some of the new videos the church is working on. We then came back and had a good rest of the day. 

Friday we had my first District Council as a District Leader,  we talked about repentance and what we liked from Zone Conference, we then set up a district breakfast for (today) Monday. We then visited people the rest of the day. 

Saturday we worked a lot. We went to Burbank to find Koreans, and we had a good lunch provided by my good friends Olivia and Julie who drove all the way up to the valley to see me (which was cool by the way) and then we visited some more people and we had a lesson with the wards RC Mike. 

Sunday we went to church and there are a lot of older people in the ward, there wasn't that many youth. We also went to the branch and there were only 18 people there. Sad, but the branch fed us a really good lunch. We then went to Porter Ranch for dinner with a supper nice older couple. 

Have a great week!!

Elder Cox 

This is his email to me (mom):

Hey,

This week has gone very well. I came up here to Chatsworth (Which is actually still in the City Limits of LA) which is pretty crazy. The ward I am in is very small and a lot of elderly people. Like there are 3 or 4 actual families with kids, and the Korean Branch is very small like sacrament meeting only had 18 people in it. But after church they fed us lunch (Which apparently happens every sunday except fast sunday.) We are working really hard to find people to teach because there isnt many people here we are working with. We have been driving around a lot this week and I  am really tired but that is all apart of missionary work! That is all I got! 

Love ya 

Elder Cox

And this is the email we received from his mission president, President Haynie:

Brother and Sister Cox,

Elder Zachary Matthew Cox has been called to be a District Leader in California Los Angeles Mission.  This assignment has come to him because he has exhibited high qualities of leadership, demonstrated his obedience, and gained the trust of his fellow missionaries.  In this leadership position, he will be an example of conduct, appearance, and performance to his fellow missionaries.

As a District Leader Elder Zachary Matthew Cox will supervise the activities of between 4 to 8 Missionaries in his district.  His responsibilities will include demonstrating and teaching missionary skills and attributes to each member of his district.  One of his most important responsibilities will be to interview candidates for baptism to determine their worthiness for this most significant ordinance.

Sister Haynie joins me in extending to you our sincere appreciation for your fine son.  We realize that your example, training and love have contributed in large measure to his success as a missionary.

Sincerely yours,

Robert M. Haynie
President
California Los Angeles Mission

Pictures:

My District eating French toast 

A big boy 😲

How hot the valley is 

Elder Jung and I 

Week 54 in LA--나는 이동을 했다 😲😲

I don't think most will know what the title is saying so I will translate it. It says I got transferred! Which is true, after 4 long transfers I am leaving the Wilshire Ward, to become a district leader in the north of our mission. I will be in the Chatsworth Ward and San Fernando 4th branch, the branch is in Korean so It looks like I'm a Korean missionary now! 

Another cool thing that happened this week is Olivia got baptized! 😄😄😄 She is so awesome! The baptism went really well and there were a lot of people there to support her. That family is literally apart of my family now. Kyle the dad is now my Cali dad and Olivia is like my little sister/bff hahaha and Julie has always been such a mom. So I will miss them greatly. 

District Leader seems like its going to be fun I'll keep everyone posted on it. Have a great week! 

I am going to include his email to me (mom) as well. It contains some of the same information but I pressed for some things 😂😂 he didn't include.

Hey Mom! I am doing great! So we had transfer calls last night and I am leaving the Wilshire Ward. I am going to the valley to the Chatsworth ward and San Fernando 4th branch. It's kinda crazy because the San Fernando 4th branch is a Korean Branch so I guess I'm a Korean missionary now hahaha!  I am super sad to leave the Kelleher's they are legit my family now and I love them so much. But I have bigger and better things to do. Also I am a district leader now as well. That's cool that life is well. And yeah. **I asked him his new companions name and what he knew about him**

My companion will be Elder Jung and he is from Korea, that's all I know.

Pictures

 

Week 53 in LA--Hey

Hey Everyone this is going to be a quick email because this p day was insane. 

So on Monday we went suit shopping I got a suit and yeah. 

Tuesday we proselyted and then went on exchanges with our zone leaders. 

Wednesday I stayed in the area and we worked hard. 

Thursday Elder Guo and I went to English Class and we had District Council. 

Friday we weekly planned and had a great member dinner. 

Saturday we had a crazy good ward mission party and we also set up another companionships baptism, saw our mission president and had a VC tour with Olivia and her family. 

Sunday Elder Guo  and I gave talks and we had an awesome lesson with Julie, Olivia and Kyle. They are like my second family and I love em all. Olivia also passed her baptismal interview so that is happening on Saturday!

Today we ran around crazy and had some fun. 

Have a great week. 

Elder Cox

Video's sent to me (mom) by Brother Alba (I know you're not supposed to take video in the chapel but I'm not going to lie--it was AMAZING to hear his voice and his testimony.)

Week 52 in LA--Suit Shopping

Zach has been shopping for a new suit. With it being Labor Day, there were some good sales so he spent the majority of his day trying to find the best deal on a suit. He sent me a very small email and promised pictures (that didn't happen) but I think he ran out of time. I will share what he said to me and thankfully, 2 amazing people in the ward he is serving in sent me pictures. ~~Jillene

This week went well. We had another great lesson with Julie Olivia and Kyle, who are practically like my second family at this point. They are super nice and kind. I didn't get a suit yet but hopefully today I'm looking around. Besides that I don't think I need anything else. I'll send some pictures today as well. 

Picture/video cred: Matthew Alba

Picture cred: Julie Kelleher

The new suit (it was the best deal he could find at $240.00--why you gotta be so expensive California?! 😂😂)