July 7th, 2025 - 97th Email - Bike Problems

 Wazzuuuuuup

This email is for the week of june 30th to july 6th

Its getting hot out here babey it was like 102 last thursday and yet we still out here on bike

Once again our reporting was dooky on monday night so I have no idea what we did but we had food with members during pday so that was fun

We met up with the family of a recent convert on tuesday and they said they were interested in getting baptized! Unfortunately havent been able to get in good contact with them since lol but the recent convert is active at church so we could probs talk to her there

English class was completely taught by the missionaries (usually theres a couple members that do it here in rialto which is weird but those members are both on vacation so we had to do it last week and this week too) and it was pretty fun ngl reminded me of the good ol days of teaching english class twice a week for 6 transfers in a row

We also had dinner up in grand terrace which was up a mountain and in order to get back (we got a ride up) we had to bike all the way down and we went pretty fast but the roads were lowkey windy and we had to go like this back way offroad and under a bridge (that one was actually a designated bike lane which was interesting) and it literally took us a half hour to get to the church and we were sweating like crazy but we got there

Then after english class we left to go like

Work

And then my tire was flat (of course) and we filled it up and we kept going for a little bit cuz our next contact was super close and then after the contact we just went back to the church and my tire went flat again and my handlebars turned sideways and my bike fell over and i landed on my back on the ground so that sucks (elder ploeger fell off his bike too the day before so we had to get even)

A lady driving by asked if i was okay so i just wanted to show appreciation for the random lady

Wednesday we actually reported good on what we did so we got in contact with a referral over whatsapp

Oh wait

Actually this happened on tuesday where we got the referral it was really funny because the lady is from el salvador and the missionaries who met her in el salvador called us and if turns out one of them was elder ploegers friend from back home so they had a funng conversation

So anyway

We get in contact with dis lady Ana and she souper cool lowkey and she came to church it was funny cuz i told her we would wait outside for her and i totally forgot  but its ok cuz she gows straight to the missionaries asked "does anyone speak spanish" and there i was casually like "i do"

Also had a sweet lesson with a friend where we talked about charity and she said it touched her heart to try to have charity in her home and it was cool

Uhhhh

Oh yeah

So tuesday night we went to walmart to go buy a new tire for my bike and bro lemme tell ya it took forever they got random junk stuck behind locked glass doors because of people stealin it and unfortunately for me the tire was one of them and i had to call a worker to get it and he had to walk it over to a register closer by for vehicle repair stuff and it was just easier to go there but it turns out the people in front of me wanted a new car battery which for some reason meant the guy had to leave for like ten minutes while i stood there tryna buy a new bike tire and eventually i got it but then wednesday we went to fix it and we were already at the church cuz we get a ride from the guys we live with but we couldnt get the tire on the bike because 1. The tire was too big and 2. We had the wrong pump so we decided to give up and luckily we had a third bike lying around home but that bike is dooky so we didnt really use it the problem was mostly the brake system not working right but i used it for like 2 days it got us by

Oh wait also wednesday i exchanged with our housemates too i forgot but it wasnt until after all the bike stuff and it was a fun exchange and we went and played volleyball at their ward activity so that was fun

Thursday was zone conference and it was really good actually there were things that pres and sister oligschlaeger said that really spoke to me and i saw lots of good friends there (its cool i know everyone now) i couldntve asked for a better last zone conference too bad i wont see any more from the new mission president but i gave my final testimony and it was really cool! I also played piano which was fun

I got another flat tire that night but luckily did not need to replace the tire just pumped it up on the extra bike but it meant we had to bike to the church building cuz we left the pump there and so we werent able to do very much that day

Friday i got a new bike and i was very happy elder godfrey and elder allen came over from redlands and gave us a new bike for me and it is a lot better way lighter than the other one i dont have to max leg press every time i pedal anymore and my brakes function properly too so cant complain and we got through the weekend with no more bike problems

Also! Hope you guys had a great independence day, we had to be inside at 6 pm that evening to avoid firework parties and stuff, but we did still enjoy our evening playing some board games and stuff and we were able to watch some fireworks from the comfort of our apartment so that was fun and we chatted with the neighbors too lol

Also that day we had to get picked up to go to our dinner because we couldnt bike there (freeway and bridges and junk) so we got some other random missionaries to come with us and on the way there we drove through an area known for having wild donkeys (they call em "burros" which is really funny) and one of the other missionaries tried to lure one over  it came over to the car window and then just walked off so i guess he dont like us

Met a guy named jabron on saturday so that was cool

Rest of the day was mostly inviting everyone to church and stuff

Oh yeah i had a friend from my last ward that was gonna get baptized and i was gonna go but they canceled last second and i was really sad because im still in the same zone so i can go to his baptism if he does get baptized so pray that Joel will get baptized so i can go before i finish my mission

Good week overall worked as hard as we could in the heat and with all the bike issues

Alright until next time bye bye

(3 weeks left)

Pictures!

-chillin

-zone conference lol, me and elder mejia (we were comps in borrego springs)

-wild burro

-ai backgrounds be like