The original interview of Michael Angulo

Me: How do you feel about your preparation? 

Michael: I feel like I prepared good. I did. I did read all the Book of Mormon, but now I am rereading it. I am on first Nephi. My preparation... I have read the Preach my Gospel from I think chapter three to like page 150. 

Me: Nice 

Michael: I think I got all the basics down, and then hanging out with all the missionaries, and going out there and getting your feet wet. 

Me: Have you had any profound experience when you went out with the missionaries? 

Michael: Define Profound. 

Me: Something that inspire you or something that you know that you will apply on your mission. 

Michael: Just to you know teach at their pace at the other people that you are teaching the lessons to because you don’t want to hurry anyone. You want to take their time. You want to take your time, and just do everything based on their schedule. That is what I have learned and just to be really patient. I think is another key thing to do. Especially because I can be pretty impatient sometimes. I know that will be a key field that I am going to have to work to be patient with other people. What I learned from Elder Fultz is. You can to about an hour of study before you go out. an hour or two before you go out. I know that is required when you go on your mission, but I thought it was really helpful because I did it once with them. It helped me have better knowledge, so I can teach others of what I read. I know that I am going to do that every morning, when I am out there in the field. I will do it as much as possible. I mean I willl do as much reading as I can; plus, I am always the type of person that always wants to have the answer, when anyone asks a question. 

Me: Why do you feel reading a lot is important as a missionary? 

Michael: Because you get closer to Heavenly Father. and we’re struggles in life or question in life that you have can be answered in the scriptures. and especially when you are missionary you can be answering the questions for investigators who asked you that question that you did not know. and you just pray about it and then you find your answers in the scriptures because I know when I have found answers. It is mostly in the scriptures where I find them. and It is not out there in living. 

Me: So when you studied with the missionaries, did you learn how to study for investigators? 

Michael: Not really. 

Me: yeah its really hard 

Michael: yeah I guess you just start from the beginning. I think the restoration is the first lesson. You just kind of teach them the background a little bit about the church, and if they are interested they will call you again. if they are not interested. That is their fault. That is what I learned from being with the missionaries. I can’t remember if I read it in the Preach my Gospel, but I am pretty sure I have. I just forgot. I would just go off of what the investigator needs and answers too about their situation or troubles they are having in their life, if they want. 

Me: So are you nervous about anything afraid of anything? 

Michael: I am pretty nervous, but not during mission, but missing my family. I just want them not to feel sad that I am gone and just to be happy and just to you know live life how they normally would everyday and not change their schedule or anything. I just want the spirit to be here even though the priesthood is not in the house. I just want my family to be strong while I am gone because we got a pretty tight bond in the family and it would take something very dramatic to brake us apart, so the nerves would probably be from leave my family for the first time. That is want I am kind of nervous about. I don’t want to be cause I hear stories of missionaries going home early because they miss home and their home sick. I don’t want that to happen to me. 

Me: Elder Faiese is having a really hard time because he is really home sick right now. 

Michael: He is? Elder Fultz is going to do a good job, and make him feel like you know at home there. Its his second home. Thats the way I am going to think its just my second home. My home away from home. 

Me: yeah...So what have you learned about the people in Canada? 

Michael: I haven’t really learned much. 

Me: What have you learned about Canada? 

Michael: I have learned. I know it is cold, but I didn’t think it was that cold I looked up on line, and it was negative 49 degrees. haha I heard in my area Calgary is the biggest city in my mission town, and then the next biggest one is a population of five thousand. so that's like half the size of Capitola. What is there to learn about my area? 

Me: How big is Calgary? What is the population like? 

Michael: I heard it was about the size I have been told of San Jose, so almost a million people.  

Me: So there is probably going to be a lot of missionaries in Calgary. 

Michael: Yeah 

Me: and not that many in other areas at all. 

Michael: Yeah I just learn about the Calgary mission from reading different blogs about my mission. That missionaries say it is the best mission. that there is. haha I am sure every missionary says that about their field. 

Me: haha cool. Did you learn anything about the people in the blogs? 

Michael: Not really. They just had different usernames. I just read it. I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. 

Me: Did you learn anything from the blogs? 

Michael: I just learn that it goes back to being home sick. That they have a strong support group there. You are going to feel very welcome. 

Me: Cool that is good. 

Michael: Yeah about my mission president. I know that he served a mission in Oregon. He is from Utah, and the wife is from Los Angeles. I think they meet in Utah. Got married and he was called to be a mission president in Calgary, and a former mission president is our current prophet today. Thomas S Monson, which is very cool. 

Me: Was he the mission president of your mission? 

Michael: Yeah I don’t know how long ago. I should probably look it up. I am pretty sure that it is double digit years. 

me: yeah haha...So do you already have your email address for you mission? 

Michael: Yeah it is Michael.angulo@myldsmail.net. 

Me: They have it really simple. 

Michael: Yeah its on my facebook I posted my email address and my mission address. on my information on my profile on facebook... All this just feels surreal like back when I got my call it was sixty days it was July second sixty days to the day until I go to the MTC, and it just feels like it was yesterday. It was sixty days, back then I felt you know I felt good. I was just relieved I got my call. I just finally came. and now it like its just like the past three or four weeks my mind has totally been in a different place. It has been missionary mode missionary mode. I haven’t gone out and done anything fun with any members of the branch. I have been so focus on my mission that its just something that I take very serious and I don’t think its anything... you know joke around about and not work hard at just studying and working hard change peoples lives and they are going to need your knowledge need you as a person so I take it pretty serious. 

Me: How long did you focus on your mission? Just the past month? or just the whole time since you got your call. 

Michael: When I got my call it just was more like a relief. I didn’t really do any studying. not as serious as it was the past three or four weeks. I was maybe taking advantage of it and not studying and hanging out with friends, but the past three or four week I have been in that different mode like I said. 

Me: How do you feel your endowment has helped you? 

Michael: It has helped me tremendously. I got a strong feeling of the spirit because when I got out of the temple that day, and me and my mom were driving home. I just felt like the man. 

Me: I felt like I can do anything. Like I was telling people the next day in Elder’s quorum, I didn’t expect what happen. I was expecting totally different. I was expecting that it will last twenty thirty minutes. I did not expect it to last one and a half to two hours. The spiritual feeling that I had in there...It felt really cool. When I went into the Celestial room, I felt famous with a big huge chandelier nice couches nice floors. I felt like I was like Jay Z. 

Me: haha 

Michael: One thing that helped me was just the experience that I can teach you now missionaries that are coming up and want to serve in the mission field that I am serving in and Elder Fultz is said it is an incredible feeling in his influence and it has really been a key thing to me. and I am just going to us his influence to teach people too, but from my own knowledge. so teach up and coming missionaries about how strong your endowment session is and it is good to get endowed for your family and for your family that you want to create with your wife. It just spiritualness I don’t know like the closeness would be very important for the family and all starts with the priesthood and having that authority. 

Me: How do you feel about your testimony and how it has grown in the past while? 

Michael: When I first came to the church honestly speaking I had no idea what a testimony was, so on fast and testimony Sundays I would kind of be confused for the first couple months. and then I asked I think it was Miller. it was Miller or Sione what exactly is a testimony? and they just said oh its how you know the church is true. and ever since that getting experience it just going out with the missionaries and studying, studying Preach my Gospel, the Patriarchal blessing prayer continuing to pray, keeping the commandments. not sinning. I don’t know if I said but my patriarchal blessing and Being out with the missionary and seeing them in the field, seeing them work it makes it more realistic to how to you know be a good missionary and use the knowledge that I gained, when I was out there with the missionaries. it really has increased my testimony that much stronger. I mean I know the church is true. I lived with it, and I lived without it, so I know what influence it has. It has I mean Just picture yourself. Where would you be if you not in the church for about eleven or twelve years? What would your life be like? and then if you when you have that picture in your head, that is how my life was like. It was like that. You start sinning. start disobeying the commandments. You do thing that you know you regret and then you come to the church and then like I said pray, reading scriptures, taking the sacrament, elder’s quorum, sunday school It just makes everything better. Heavenly father is with you. and baptism is a big part. I was baptised when I was eight, but I wasn’t too strong into the church. I kind of found it boring at that age. 

Me: How have you seen you participation serving with the missionaries become better? 

Michael: I am able to get involved more with the investigators.

Me: Any experiences? 

Michael: You know Katie the new girl that got baptized into the Santa Cruz ward? I am pretty sure that you heard about her. I was getting pretty involved in the lessons before she was getting baptized. I know there is another dude way before that that was getting baptized I didn’t say anything because I did not know, and now I do. Just learning and praying and reading the scriptures and I kind of figured like asking questions about the church. If you don’t know it, it is not stupid. I’ve kind of always thought what if they make fun of me if I ask this question, and I would just learn that and It will increase your testimony with those questions. Just kind of insecure about asking a stupid question like what if they make fun of me.  

Me: How do you feel about how you taught Katie? 

Michael: I felt great I mean. It was Elder Fultz and Skeet I was with. Just going by the spirit, and having her feel it too. Even though the spirit is not with her. I know the light of Christ, but not the Holy Ghost. Just helping her feeling our influence with the spirit it will increase her testimony. It will make her feel like she wants to get baptized that much more, so the more the priesthood the stronger the spirit will be to fill the soul. 

Me: You did not feel awkward about your remarks? 

Michael: not at all 

Me: You know that you are teaching by the spirit when you do that. Often times missionaries are picky about the lessons, and it is good to feel confident about what you do. 

Michael: Katie is a cool girl. She is very outgoing. I am proud of her. I am proud of any one that wants to get baptised no matter what age, height, ethnicity. I know we are all God’s children. He wants us all to get baptised. He wants to live a good life and not do the things that Satan would want us to do. Katie has chosen that path to obey God’s commandments and have the Holy Ghost to help us through the good and the bad. I am pretty sure that she will be guided to plenty of good. She will know what is right from wrong. Its a good feeling, and I want to have that influence on people on my mission. I just want to have that influence on people on my mission. I want to show how important baptism is and how important it is to go to church, read the scriptures and yeah...My biggest worry, going back to a few questions, is the inactives that are baptized how am I going to get them to come back to church. The inactives I think are harder than those that are not members of the church because they don’t have the Holy Ghost. 

Me: The inactives? 

Michael: Yeah the stronger inactives that have been away for a while. 

Me: I wanted to ask another question...How was like to feel to have your knowledge grow about the gospel like from nothing to being ready to go on a mission?

Michael: I feel it is important. Iit changes the way you look at life, and it changes you as a person like being away from it for eleven to twelve years and seeing where I am at now. It has totally changed my look at life. It totally changed who I am, and I am so grateful for this church to be on this earth and I am so thankful that Joseph Smith restored the Gospel for us. and I know that he was the first prophet, and I know that Thomas Monson is our current prophet. He received revelation from Heavenly Father. What else. I think I forgot the question. Can you repeat that question? I think Iwas kind of babbling on. haha 

Me: How do you feel about learning the knowledge of the gospel from the beginning over the past year or so? 

Michael: I didn’t know anything about the Gospel in the beginning. I feel like that I know 25 to 30 percent of the Gospel, but that is better than nothing. I feel like... 

Me: You don’t feel like you know a lot? 

Michael: Yeah I was doing an interview with President Walch, and what he said gave me more motivation, and it made me feel more safe to know that me did not know much about the Book of Mormon before he went on his mission. He went to Korea. 

Me: Yeah you don’t know anything, but when you are on the mission you learn a lot, and you feel confident about your knowledge about the Gospel and everything. 

Michael: Yeah especially cause I only know a quarter of the Gospel, but I am hoping that it goes dramatically up on my mission. 

Me: Yeah you will. You feel confident about everything. Not everything but like a lot. I remember learning like all the prophecies that will come, and I was able to write a big essay of like all the prophecies that will come, and summarize that these. 

Michael: Right now I feel like I can teach the lessons in Preach my Gospel: the restoration, the plan of Salvation, the word of wisdom, the commandments, and the laws and ordinances. I feel I know so much about those. I don’t know much about the Book of Mormon. Like I said a quarter of it, which it is better than not having any knowledge. 

Me: Is there anything that you want to say to the Ocean Branch? 

Michael: I love you so much. Thanks for all your love and support. Its been a fun ride, and I am just taking a hiatus right now, a two year hiatus, and once I come back I will come back a new man. Hopefully I won’t look any different, but hopefully I will look more manly. I will come back for toned. and I will be able to grow a full beard because I am shaving so much. All the missionaries that are serving in the ocean branch. I hope you keep it growing because we need all the young adults to come and just keep the branch growing. We have had it has been a tremendous ride. There have been times where I secretly struggled, but you guys have secretly helped me without me saying it without me saying I was in a struggle. I have never been around a cooler group of young single adults in my life than you guys. I am very thankful for President Burgon for all their love. I don’t know how many children that you have but I feel like one of them because I feel like Brad has been there every step of the way for me to get my mission papers done and all the love and support there and Michael: one of their sons their child. I feel like the Ocean Branch baby. and now I am going out serving. 

Me: A little brother :) 

Michael:  I feel like you guys little brother. and I am going to serve the Ocean Branch probably on my mission. I will tell tremendous stories about you guys. 

Cade's Full-length Interview

Me: How was you life like before you considered investigating the Gospel? 

Cade: For me because I grow up in Utah and a lot of my family members are really active 

members in the church. They really had a big influence on me in my upbringing. I was around 

it my entire life. I have been around active members. My life was almost Gospel like before 

actually being baptised. before fully having the Gospel in my life. 

Me: Yeah Michael said he was similarly. When he can back to the church, he did not need to 

change that much. He needed to learn a lot when he was coming back to the church but he did 

not have to change his life too much 

Cade: I did not need to change my life at all pretty much besides studying the scriptures, going 

to church regularly, going to all the church activities  and stuff, schedule change, doing things 

to be more spiritually uplifted, be more involved in the church. For the most part my life before 

having the gospel was almost like I had the Gospel, but not actually having it. Does that make 

sense? 

Me: Yeah that makes sense, if your family is really into it, and most of your family was in it. The 

majority of the people in Utah are Mormon. 

Cade: All my friends you know, and I was never pushed to be baptized. I know when I was eight 

years old. I went into have an interview with my bishop. I had the interview. The missionaries 

would come visit me weekly. My parents got a divorce that what kind of put a hold on it; 

unfortunately, that was the way it was. After my parent got divorced, they went inactive; 

therefore, my baptism was put on hold. After that I was really down. I saw a change in both 

of my parents, not being active in the church, a change in their life. How they acted. Not in 

an extremely bad way not way off course, but the happiness that the Gospel brings. You can 

see that difference. I have seen that difference. Having the Gospel in my life, and not having it 

before I was baptized. 

Me: Can you describe that in anyway? 

Cade: Describe having the Gospel in my life as compared to not having it 

Me: yeah but also about your parents. 

Cade: The happiness level. their mannerisms. It was different. They just went about life 

differently. They did not have anything to look forward to. Its hard to explain to be honest. Its 

just a feeling. People that have the Gospel in their life you can see that. You can see when 

someone looses or when someone becomes less active. You can totally see a difference. Its 

crazy 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: Ten years later after that interview with my bishop. I am baptized. In those ten years, 

I always wanted to be baptized. After moving, we had to move because my mom could not 

afford the house, and my dad moved out.  I was living with my mom. My mom could not afford 

the house because she was a stay at home mom. We had to move, and we stayed at our 

grandparents in Murray. I always wanted to go to church and join the church. I always told my 

mom “hey mom we should go to church on Sunday.” She would be okay lets go. I would try and 

push her but we never went. I was not my mothers fault at all. I could have gone if IL wanted to. 

I don’t want to blame my mom, but that was how life was. 

Me: What sparked that idea? Didn’t you to go to Mormon.org and request the missionaries? 

Cade: Yeah thats what I did. I was in Utah over winter break. Moving out to Santa Cruz, It 

is really different here obviously. I could see a difference in the people that had the Gospel 

with my friends and family. I could see a difference there obviously. Just how they go about 

life compared to people here. Its just difference because I am not able to connect on a great 

level with people here in Santa Cruz that don’t have the Gospel, so I thought about the church 

because that is all that I grew up in. That is what I am use to. That is the path that I wanted 

for myself. I did not want to go down that road of smoking weed, drugs. Thats very common in 

Santa Cruz. 

Me: Yeah I kind of want to hang out with some people at school. I feel weird sometimes 

because in my biology lab class I saw another person casually ask another guy for a roll to 

smoke marijuana. I feel it would be hard to hang out with people at Cabrillo. I don’t know how to 

get into it. 

Cade: Its really hard. I was very fortunate and blessed to be friends with Jason. I can connect 

with him because our personalities are basically the same. It was really hard make friends and 

connect with people. I was thinking that I really need to go to church. On day I said okay, I am 

going to seek out the missionaries. I have been thinking about this for months before I did it. I 

was really thinking about baptism because that was on my mind for all those ten years. I just 

never did anything about it. I felt I was in the gospel, and I was living a good clean life. I was 

hanging out with the right people. Doing the right things. having the right influences in my life, 

having the influence of the Gospel. I talked with my parents about it, and got their impart on it. 

They were ecstatic about me, making my own decision, and actually going through with it. That 

is how a lot of my family are. I am grateful to know how happy they are in my decision to be 

baptized, so I just went on to mormon.org, and Elder Jamaias and Wulfenstein showed up at my 

door. Was in Wulfensteen or Wulfenstine? 

Me: Yeah Wulfensteen. I like Elder Wulfensteen. He is a good teacher. 

Cade: Both of those guys were exceptional. 

Me: How was investigating the Gospel? 

Cade: I always looked forward to them coming over. Teaching me something new 

Me: It was new? 

Cade: Well 

Me: You received it easily. 

Cade: I knew most of the stuff. It was kind of a refresher; also, it cleared up questions that I had 

because I had missionary discussions before from missionaries a couple times. I was familiar 

with it because I went to church with my friends. One of my really good buddies that I played 

basketball with, his dad was a bishop, so they would invite me to church every Sunday. I would 

go. I knew quite a bit. It was a refresher like said before. It answered questions that I had. I 

would write down question that I had from reading scriptures throughout the week and what not, 

and we met on a weekly basis, but the first time we met. I told them I wanted to be baptised. 

There was no question. I was familiar with the church. It did not spark me as a wild decision. 

Me: How did your friends invite you (to help you in missionary work, you) 

Cade: My friend who’s dad was a bishop 

Me: How did he invite you at first? 

Cade: I don’t know. I think that he straight up asked me. Will you come to church on Sunday? 

He straight up asked me. 

Me: That is what I was thinking. I think it is not too uncommon 

Cade: yeah 

Me: You can ask pretty straight forward, and they would not be offended. I don’t like being in a 

round about way. I like being straight forward. 

Cade: yeah 

Me: Like with another friend Ivette. I would straight up ask her. When can the missionaries 

come, and we can meet with her? At first in the friendship I did not talk to her much about the 

church. I had the missionaries at Utah call her, ask her if she would be interested, and willing to 

investigate the Gospel. I think that you can be straight forward with people. 

Cade: I would like to invite Jason to church. It seems like he is always a little stand offish. Its 

common. I hope I can get him to church one of these days. 

Me: How do you feel about having your testimony, growing? Like reading the Book of Mormon 

and stuff. 

Cade: I would say my testimony was a seed when I first took lesson from Jamaias and 

Wulfensteen; then, it spouted like a plant, and he flower bloomed when I was baptised. My 

testimony was there. It just continued to grow. How long has it been? 

Me: 7 months now 

Cade: 6 or 7 months it has continued to grow. Seven months since I have been baptised and 

active. 

Me: How would you describe it? to have your testimony grow. 

Cade: Through see other people come into the Gospel. Like Val for instance. It’s a good 

example of how I can share my testimony with her and help her understand that I know these 

things are true. The Church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. It helps me strength my 

testimony to see her, gaining a testimony because he is in those stages of gaining a testimony. 

Things like that strength my testimony. Hearing, the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, the apostles, 

and the seventy, that helps a lot because I went to General Conference the weekend after I was 

baptised.

Me: I know what you are describing. Its not like pin point anytime. just going to church line upon 

like precept upon precept. 

Cade: Not its like small. When I was baptised, my testimony was very strong and still is. It 

was like. I did not know as much as I know now, so it was kind of small. In a sense it was kind 

of unknowledgeable yet not unknowledgeable, but small amounts of knowledge. Now I have 

more knowledge, so my testimony is therefore stronger than it was before. Its from see, and 

witnessing things, and experiencing things like Val, seeing the prophets speak 

Me: How has baptism changed how you feel? 

Cade: Well I am almost twenty times happier. I am a lot more happy now because I know my 

purpose in life and stuff like that. I just have answers for things. Whereas before I was baptised 

I did not know the answers to those questions really. I knew the beliefs of the church and stuff, 

but I never really thought about it. Having the Gospel in my life has made me a lot more happier. 

Me: Have you been thinking about the interesting question? What have you done for yourself? 

   

Cade: What have I done for myself? 

Me: for your family or 

Cade: What have I done for myself? 

Me: What have you done for yourself in the Gospel? 

Cade: I don’t want to come off as selfish. I am definitely not a selfish person at all. When you 

ask, what have I done for myself? I help others. 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: It benefits me to help others. help others to the Gospel 

Me: I was thinking that you’ve gotten yourself in the Gospel. I wanted you to bare your testimony 

of all these things blessing that you have received for yourself. 

Cade: Okay 

Me: like I have gotten the Gift of the Holy Ghost for myself. It is a wierd question. I didn’t 

understand. I didn’t say it right. 

Cade: yeah I don’t know. Its kind of an interesting question because it is kind of a selfish 

question, so it is hard to think of it and an unselfish way to answer it. So well yeah I guess. 

Me: I did not expect it to be selfishly. You can say. It is also for your family because you are 

setting up your family in the future for receiving the Gospel, and working on yourself. 

Cade: Yeah yeah thats right. Being baptised and having the Gospel in my life has truly a 

blessing because it benefits my family way in the future. My wife and my kids, and also my 

family in the present, my birth dad and mother and sister because I will be able to help them 

come unto the Gospel or 

Me: are they not in the Gospel much 

Cade: No they are not. They are inactive. My parents are not active. My sister has not been 

baptised yet. I have two sisters. One has been baptised and married in the temple, but my 

younger sister she is like me. She is in the exact same situation. My parents got divorced. She 

is in the same boat as me or as I was. I am trying to help her have the blessing of the Gospel in 

her life. Teach her. Its a great blessing that I can help share with others. I am grateful to have 

the Holy Ghost. I know the truths of the Book of Mormon. I know that Joseph Smith was a true 

prophet. He restored the Book of Mormon and restored the Gospel. I know that Thomas S. 

Monson is a true prophet. I know that this church is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus 

Christ. Amen. 

Me: Another big thing that you have done for yourself. I think it is really big. You are temple 

worthy. That is a big thing that you have done for yourself. 

Yeah Huge. In my eyes it is a really big thing to be going into the temple because I have never 

done it. I will be my first time. I was really excited because I thought I was going to go to the 

temple in Utah, but then I looked thought my wallet. I was like frantically looking through my bag 

and stuff and I did not have my recommend, so I was unable to go with my friends wanted to go. 

I was really bummed out. Now with the temple trip coming up I am really looking forward to it. I 

will be my first temple trip at the Oakland temple. 

Me: Only like one more week 

Cade: Yeah are you going? 

Me: Yeah 

Cade: Yeah alright 

Me: I think Josh will be driving. We will have to figure that out. 

Cade: Cool Carpool with him. The twenty first right on a Friday. Okay Awesome. I will definitely 

be able to make that. 

Me: Now we kind of understand the question haha 

Cade: yeah yeah 

Me: It was a bad question haha 

Cade: It was a tough question for me to answer because I am so unselfish. Different people 

will taking it differently, but I turned it into an answer where it benefits others. More than myself. 

That question will be on my mind for a while, so I will think about it for a while. 

Me: You have done a lot of stuff for yourself and your family like Michael he has.