24 May 2026
VOLUME 14 – NUMBER 645
Gloria and Hermana Rigtrup in Hemet
Gloria
This week I got transferred to Hemet, and my new comp is Hermana Rigtrup. And guess who's on bike? Yup, I'm on bike this transfer. To be honest, I was not excited, but after biking I really do enjoy it. I'm still so sore, but my legs are gonna get so shredded after this transfer!
It's really been a great opportunity to be on bike because we get to talk with everyone and have many first contacts. It's also really hot, and I'm getting really tan. I'm gonna look unrecognizable!
Our ward has four different companionships, so eight missionaries in one ward. There's a lot of work to do down here in Hemet. Our roommates are the Spanish hermanas, Page and Navarro. They're very nice, but we're still trying to get to know them.
Gloria with Hermana Garcia
We are doing a lot of knocking, and I got my first door slam this week! The people here are kind of rough, and we also get some people who try to convince us to join their religion. One time this lady was like, "I don't wanna be a Mormon. I want you guys to join my church." We've also had a lot of people say, "Can we pray for you instead?"
Being on bike, there have been so many times where I almost fell, and a few days ago, I actually did fall as I was trying to turn. I hit a mailbox and fell down, but it was really funny because my companion was like, "Wow, you got yourself up really fast!"
We've also been trying to visit a lot of our inactive members. We have one inactive member that lives in a nursing home. It was so nice, because I miss working at my old job, and it just brought so many memories. She was so sweet. We read in the Book of Mormon and talked a lot about prayer.
Hermanas Hill and Rigtrup on bikes
Last week we also had zone breakfast. It was so fun because we had Hemet North and South zones, so it was a pretty big missionary reunion for the Hemet area.
We do lots of knocking, and we have a lot of first contacts. We always stop to talk to everyone on the streets. We also made two really good friends, and they both came to church! One of them brought their two kids, and the kids really loved it.
We also met this really cool couple on Sunday. As we were knocking the street, Sister Rigtrup saw a house that looked Spanish, so we knocked at the door. They're going through a lot right now with family stuff, but they really wanted to hear a prayer, so we said a prayer.
Then, as we were about to leave, we talked to them about family history. The cool thing is that the lady has the last name Orozco, like I do, and our families are from the same area in Mexico. So I'm going to do some family history to see if we are related in some way.
Gloria with friends
The past week was a little sick, but I'm doing so much better now. I've had so many headaches and lots of dizziness and nausea, so we did a lot of phone work, and that was successful. We did lots of gray dots calls (contacting past contacts) and made some friends out of it.
Down here in Hemet, we've had two fires, so for a few days, we've had really smoky skies. It got to a point where the air was so thick that it was kind of hard to breathe, but after a few days, the sky started clearing up again.
We had so many blessings so far. I've been trying to be more obedient and locked in, and I've gotten so much more peace and happiness. Here is a talk I invite you to listen to or read, and let me know what you learned: “Adorned with the Virtue of Temperance.”
Family loading the trailer
Kai
The past few weeks have been pretty hard for me. We’ve been moving lots of stuff from our house, so there’s been lots of manual and physical labor. It’s also been really sad emptying out our house.
I’m really gonna miss this home so much. To be honest, I don’t want to move at all. Everyone else seems excited about it, but it isn’t that way for me.
Troy
We have been moving a bunch of stuff from our house to the new Himalaya house, and we've been throwing away a bunch of stuff. We have been doing a bunch of trailer loads at a time.
It was also Isaac's birthday, and we went swimming at Aunt Amy's, which was fun because our other family members were there, which was super fun.
Isaac’s birthday party at Nelson’s house
Veidi
This week was our last Sunday in the Oquirrh Point 2nd Ward. It was sad. Bishop Pettit asked Mom and Dad to bear their testimonies in sacrament meeting. Dad also taught our stake mission prep class, and we went to that. It was a really good lesson.
These past weeks, we have done so many loads over to the new house—Dad said was 10 trailer loads! It was a lot of work.
For Isaac's birthday, he had a swimming party at the Nelson’s house. It was fun. We played Revenge in the pool, and I won the first time playing Revenge against all the boys.
Veidi driving
Quinn
It was our last Sunday in our old ward that we grew up in, and it was hard to say goodbye. But my teacher was leaving for St. George too, so we were both moving. It was the last time I got to be in that ward.
We said our goodbyes. Dad and Mom went into a meeting before church, and Dad was release from his calling as stake clerk. The bishop also asked Mom and Dad to bear their testimonies. Later, after church, we let all the dogs out and ate lunch.
Isaac’s birthday party at Nelson’s house
Ashton
Yarima started inviting some of us to a weekly trivia night over in Pleasant Grove, and I have loved it! It has been so fun. I never thought I would be into something like that, but it is hilarious with all of us trying to figure out these answers.
Honestly, I've learned some interesting things going to these trivia nights. There's this one team called Powell Power that apparently always wins, so being the competitive person that I am, I have no greater desire than to beat them one of these times!
Sophie
Monte
Lately, we have been teaching a lot of youth. They're really cool, and they all have the desire to be baptized, but we run into the problem of whether or not their parents will allow them. Through a whole lot of miracles, we were able to help them understand why, and now we have some youth that have permission from their parents!
Now our only problem is helping them learn the things they need to learn because their attention span is like 0.5 seconds, and they're off in another world. We've been slowly making progress with videos and activities, and we'll get there eventually. Let's just say missionary work isn't a walk in the park. But I love it so much.
We've been having trouble finding adults to teach, because here there are a whole lot of Catholics, and their family traditions are very important. We're going to keep pushing forward and keep talking to everyone because there is always someone waiting who is ready to be baptized. We just need to find them.
Elders Hill and Contreras visiting woman
Last week was also a bit of an emotional roller coaster. On the 12th of May, I officially entered my final year on the mission (I started my mission on May 26, 2025, and I’ll be going home May 12, 2027). Honestly, there are a lot of mixed feelings. I love my mission so much, and the fact that I only have a year left before I have to leave it all behind is really hard for me.
Now the conflicting side of those feelings is that I only have a year before I can see the family again and hug Mom and Dad again. I'm sort of torn in two right now.
All I know for sure is that I'm going to do everything possible to have the best final year of my mission ever. And that means exact obedience and hard work. Those are the only ways that a missionary truly can enjoy their mission.
Monte and Elder Contreras
This week we had our multi-zone conference! This one was a little different because last month we baptized 107 people, and President Witt wanted to celebrate just a little bit. We still did all of the regular practices and listened to the messages from the assistants, and President and Hermana Witt.
After the messages, we played a few games and then ate. I also got to meet up with a lot of my previous companions, including Elder Larson (my trainer), Elder Allred and Elder Poulsen (elders that I trained), my first companion Elder Lemon, and Elder "Vaquero" Larson. It was so good seeing them all again. They are 100% my friends and are more like brothers to me.
The theme for this Multi-Zone was "This is the way" (que The Mandalorian music). In the scriptures, they use this phrase more than once. That's because Jesus Christ is the only way back to live with our loving Heavenly Father. For the Star Wars series called The Mandalorian, "This is the way" is his motto. It's a reminder for him of obedience and dedication.
Monte with old companions
For us, this phrase can mean the same and so much more. To be obedient and dedicate our lives to Christ means that we can have a hope and joy unlike anything else in this world. So yes, in terms of the gospel... This is the way!
After multi-zone, I stayed in Cancún. The next morning we went to immigration to renew my green card! It was cool because Elder Lemon and Hermana Pratt from the CCM were there as well. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was at the same place with Elder Larson as we both got our visas taken care of. Now I'm legal to live here in Mexico for another year! After that, I got on the six-hour bus ride back to José María Morelos.
It's safe to say that everything is going well for me here on the mission. I say it a lot, but I love every second of it. It is 100% worth it through the easy times, but especially through the hard times. Those are the times that I'm most grateful for because they have helped me grow so much. I am not the same person that I was a year ago, and I'll still probably change a bit more.
Living room in the Pulte model home
Dad / Arkin
In the past two weeks, after deciding to not build with Pulte Homes, we went and looked at two additional houses, and came close to putting an offer on one of them, a rambler with a beautiful half-acre back yard. However, we finally decided that if we are going to end up in Eagle Mountain, we probably need to search for a full-acre property, so that we can be fully legal.
Mom and I spoke in sacrament meeting in our ward today, so we feel like we should make this our last Sunday in the Oquirrh Point 2nd Ward, a ward that we have been members of since it’s founding over 25 years ago. Almost 20 years in this house, and nearly 27 years in this neighborhood, and it’s all coming to an end. I was also released today as stake clerk after five and a half years in that calling.
Eating lunch on trailer run to new house
On a humorous note, Isaac was upset at me for giving up my set of church keys—he wanted me to keep them so they could continue to go over to the church to play crazyball. I realized that this is the first time in 25 years that I have not had a set of church keys in my possession!
The idea of leaving this ward and neighborhood is numbing to me. I don’t know that I am as sad as Kai and Troy, but I feel like I’m in a dream, and I do feel melancholy at times as I ponder all the memories.
We will likely make the official jump to the Himalaya House next week. We have most of the small stuff that can be moved transferred over, and we’ll need to rent a U-Haul truck to get the big stuff before we can spend our first night in the new house. And then, we will continue to watch for the right opportunity in Eagle Mountain.
Children training dogs