After Party...

Hello Everyone,

This week was great. I think between Christmas eve, and the day after Christmas Elder Bell and I had 6 Christmas Dinners!!! I am so over Turkey for the next 6 months. We started out going to the Pearce's for Christmas Eve Dinner. We got to play games and talk to lots of people. We ended with the Nativity. Sis Pearce asked me to be the narrator. So I put on my best voice and made sure everyone could hear me. We sang songs in between each set of scriptures. All of the kids were dressed up in their costumes for the Nativity. Just like we do at Grandma's. (Or try to do, we had a few wandering shepherds) It was a lovely performance by all. Christmas morning began with Elder Bell and me opening presents. After we were done, we left for the Hendricks home. Sis Hendricks is the one who emailed you guys. They have three kids and all of their toys. We went and flew helicopters, rode a rip-stick, played with air-planes and many other toys. Sis Hendricks made us breakfast too. It was delicious. We left around 12 and went home to have our personal study. At 1 was the Maldonado's. They are Hispanic, but speak English, and we ate pulled Brisket, Mexican rice, and a few other dishes. When dinner was finished we played Phase 10 with them. Sis Maldonado kept getting angry at Bro Maldonado, he kept skipping her. We finished up there and took off for the Cook's. We had a Christmas ham with potatoes and green been casserole. There three kids were a hoot. We went with the Cook's to the Grigg's home. With both families there were 8 kids, well 10 if you include us, over at there home. We watched a few of their home videos and played some games. Then it was time to call home. What a fabulous conversation I had with my family. I love and adore them so much.

Yesterday was church. The Chabots didn't make it, but Nina Cox did. She was unable to make it last week because she was sick, but she came this week and said we could come back again this week. Yay! After church we went to the Kelly's home. The Kelly's have two boys just older than me. Oh man are they a pair!! One is married and both served missions. They just pick on each other, pick on their mom, and anyone else who makes a stupid comment. Haha. It was very funny. We ate a whole bunch of food and then just listened to them talk and tell stories. True stories are far better than any jokes. That's for sure. Mostly because after the Kelly's home, we went to the O'Brian's. They fed us their Christmas dinner. ( I don't remember why they did it on Sunday, but they did) While we were eating a few of the O'Brian boys want to tell jokes. Once you hear a 10 year old's first joke, you know how the rest of them are going to be, but it was fun either way. After we finished up dinner number 6, we read scriptures with the O'Brians. They were going to do their family Scripture study and we hadn't done our Comp study yet. We stayed and read a few chapters in Alma. It's so cool to see their young minds as they read from the scriptures. They always ask the right questions to get the most profound answers. Or just to confuse their mom. Either way it was good.

My Christmas was fantastic and one that I'll remember for a while, a long while. Christmas's on the mission are always ones to remember.

I love you guys so much. Thanks for your support.

Elder Call

Christmas time

Hey Everyone,

I can't believe that Tim is coimg home so soon. I seems like yesterday we were at his house taking pictures of everyone and having a blast. I remember going to the TCU - Utah game with him. What a trip that was!! Tim is the first one back. Erik will be there in no time, and six weeks later it'll be Erik, Tazz, T and me. Time is flying fast.

This Christmas season is a lot harder than last Christmas. I think it's because I'm so close to going home. Last Christmas I was close to when I came out and I didn't have a problem with it, but now it's hard. I just want to sit down in a warm blanket and watch the Polar Express. (sigh) I guess I should just keep working. We met with Karren Barrett this week. We took her over to the Legge's home to have a lesson. Brother and Sister Legge were kind enough to let us use their home. We taught Karren about the Plan of Salvation and everything that it implied. The Blessings, the Commitments, everything. After we asked her what she thought about being Baptized. She said she has nothing against it, she just needs to know for herself. She keeps telling us that it'll be hard because she is a New York'er. Haha. We told her it was possible and She agreed. After the lesson we were going out to our van and Karren came up to us. She asked us not to be mad with her, but that she has something to ask of us. How could we be mad at her, we would do anything she asks us!? Right!? Well...she asked us if she could take a break from church and the lessons. She doesn't want us to come over until after the Holidays. I had to bite my tongue. I wanted to say, "NO! We won't leave you." However, I'm way to nice and I said, "Of course." This is the second Christmas that Karren has had without her husband. He died about a year ago and it's still hard for her. Especially around the Holidays. So we haven't seen Karren since Wednesday. We didn't see her at church either, but we are going to try and keep tabs on her. She said we could. She also told us not to give up on her. That she loves what we are teaching and wants so much to believe that its true, she just needs a little bit of time around the Holidays. I hope she reads the Book of Mormon.

The Chabots are doing great! Kind of. They are ready for baptism. Well everyone except for Seth, but I'm sure he'll be ready soon. We are only waiting on one thing, Sister Chabot to give us a day. We talked to her last week about giving us a day for their Baptism and she said that she will think of a day. Well its been a week and a half and she hasn't given us one yet! She keeps saying that she is waiting for her mother to get back to her with a day, but there may be something else, we don't know yet. We went over to the Chabots home last night to give them a little lesson and a treat. We are going to be busy for the first part of this week and we wanted to see them. We showed up a little bit late because we had to give a blessing earlier, so we just gave them the treat. ;) TIM-TAM-SLAM's!! Yum. I'm sure some of you know what that is, but for those of you who do not know yet here are some basic steps:
1: Go to Target and buy 2 packages of Tim-Tams. (One for you and one for Elder Call)
2: If you don't already have hot chocolate, get some while you are getting the Tim-Tam's for your family, friends and Elder Call.
3: Make hot chocolate as directed with its packaging.
4: Open package of Tim-Tam's and grab one cookie for yourself, you can share later.
5: Bite one corner off, turn the cookie over and bite the opposite corner. You have now created the straw for your hot chocolate.
6: Dip on corner into the hot chocolate, making sure that the entire corner (one that you bit off) is in the yummy liquid.
7: Begin sucking like you would a straw and continue until you feel the hot chocolate coming through the cookie.
8: Hopefully you have read these directions before trying it out, because as you start to suck the hot chocolate through the Tim-Tam the hot chocolate begins to melt the Tim-Tam. After the hot chocolate begins to enter your mouth you slurp up the Tim-Tam. The hot chocolate should have melted the Tim-Tam and you will end up with a mouth full of Glorious Chocolate!
Hint: If these directions are too much for you too bad. The only way you will ever get that much chocolate into your system quicker is through an IV. I promise.

Any ways, that was our wonderful experience with the Chabot family. They loved it. Then they tried to get me to try it with a Twinkie. Maybe my skills weren't that good, but it failed miserably. Only Tim-Tam's (and possibly some similar cookie) will work as well. It was fun. I talked to Sister Chabot about a date last night, she still doesn't know. I don't think that she realizes that she is holding them back from the greatest blessing on the earth. The Holy Ghost. We'll try to help her see.

We took some more beach pictures last P-Day. It was awesome. The sun set at 4:30, so we went to the beach and had fun. I will send you a package with a few other things as well. I need to finish it up today. Tomorrow is going to be awesome. We are having a Mission Wide Christmas Party! My first ever. President Summerhays didn't do that. It will be fun to see all the other missionaries from the Mission that I miss.

I think that's all for this week. If I remember I'll send it to you soon. OH!!! I'm on Mormon.org!! You can create you're own profile and our mission president encouraged us to. It's not like facebook, but its pretty cool.

Love ya'll,
Elder Call

Man the time flies........

Hello Everyone,

Another week is gone. Man the time flys. On Friday I celebrated my 18th month mark!! That means only 6 to go. It also means that Tim is pretty much home already. Wow. Time flys when you're having fun right? Niceville is doing great and we just got into the spirit of Christmas (We had to wait until after Thanksgiving).

This week Elder Bell and I put up our Christmas tree. It is a lot bigger than the one I had last year. (2 feet) This one is 6 feet, but we have no lights or ornaments. But that is ok, because we spend most of our time in other homes and they do have a Christmas tree. With lots of lights and crazy ornaments too. We also had a parade in Niceville for Christmas. That was a first for me. Usually its too cold during December, but here in Florida we had a big parade. That night they did the Tree Lighting for the City. We weren't able to go to that, but we heard all about it. Last night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was great. President Uchtdorf, President Eyring and President Monson all spoke to us. All of them talked about having a Christ centered Christmas and how each of us can focus on him by focusing on others. President Eyring shared with us that we all like to give Food to those who do not have it or who are in need of it, then he went on to describe how the greatest gift we can give anybody is the 'Bread of Life'. Christ. We can give Christ to someone's life. I liked that one, mostly because that's all I do. It makes me feel good that I'm doing what I'm supposed to.

Our investigators are doing well. We talked to Sister Chabot about providing a date for her Children to get baptized. They are all preparing well and ready for it, we just need Sister Chabot's permission and a few more lessons. We are hoping to set a date with them this Tuesday. They didn't come to church yesterday because Sister Chabot was sick. Lame.

Karren Barrett is also doing really well. We were able to teach her again on Wednesday. We brought Brother Howell with us. Brother Howell is an older member, but his testimony is like a rock. He lost his wife about a year ago and has no other desires than to return to be with her. Its killing him being apart from her. This makes him perfect for the lesson with Karren. Karren lost her husband about a year ago and was very upset about his loss. She blames many things, but we think the gospel will help her see the true light. She came to church with us yesterday, but could only stay for the first two hours. She wasn't comfortable staying for Relief Society, mostly because Sister Walker wasn't there. She had been Karren's buddy last week, but because Sister Walker was sick yesterday, she wasn't able to be there for Karren. And Karren didn't feel comfortable with anyone else yet. We kind of have to pull her leg, gently of course, to come with us to church. She's not completely comfortable yet, but we are working on that.

It seems like sickness has taken its toll in Niceville. There have been cancellation after cancellation. Its hard to teach when everyone is sick. I, however, have not been sick yet. :) It may have something to do with my random crave for Orange Juice lately. I think I've had 3 gallons in the last 2 weeks. Yum!

Any ways, the mission is awesome. Those who say otherwise just haven't lost themselves in the greatest work on the Earth yet. The spirit will come to them soon though. It comes to everyone in their own way and in their own time. We just have to be happy, ready and willing to take those people in when they are ready. Not judgingly, but rejoicingly. Grateful that they are once again back in our presence. Yay!!

Love Elder Call

Crazy Thanksgiving!!

Hello Everyone,

What a crazy Thanksgiving. We spent most of our time at the Chabots home for Thanksgiving. It was long, however we have found a bright little ray of sunshine this week. Karen Barrett.

Thanksgiving morning was great. We went to the park to play football with the ward and others. Elder Bell and I had invited some non-members to come too. There were 9 non-members including the Chabot kids. It was a tough game though. I had my shoes, which I bought my first summer in Tallahassee, and they were not up to par. In fact I don't think there was any traction on them at all. I was sliding around like crazy. It wouldn't have mattered, except for Chase Manwaring was the quarter back for the other team. So I was trying really hard to sack him. I was close multiple times. Then they changed quarter backs and Chase was on the front line. More trash talk was thrown so I had to show him up. I don't think either of us won. The ground was not good for support, but we still had a lot of fun.

We went home and changed after football and got ready to go to the Chabots. We got there at 2, met the grandparents, ate at 3, played games at 5 and didn't leave until 9. It was a long thanksgiving. I think that is how its going to be when I'm a parent. I'll explain why. When we first got there we were introduced to the grandparents. That only lasted for 2 minutes because Zack had my hand and was leading me towards the living room. There Zack wanted to play 'I spy'. While playing with Zack, Seth wanted me to watch him play his game. Matt felt like he wanted to be included so he started to play too. I was juggling their desires for attention. Sometimes I would drop one and they would pick it up and hand it back to me. 'Elder Call, Elder Call!' It was crazy. That was all before dinner too.

Dinner was great and Sister Chabot did a fantastic job in cooking. She had a huge turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, peas, rolls, sweet potato rolls, apple and cranberry, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and lots of pie. It was fantastic. Sister Chabot's parents, Brother and Sister Cain, were so cool. Brother Cain was so funny. He would pick on Allisha so much. She would make a comment and he would make a smartalic remark right back, even if she wasn't talking to her. Some of the sayings were so funny that Seth had to leave the table because he was laughing so hard. Then the kids would start to relay stories of their grandparents. Well, just about Brother Cain. Him and his brother were twins and got into a lot of trouble. After he did something his father would yell, 'Pork and Bill!' Apparently Brother Cain's nickname was Pork. haha.

After dinner we began to play games. Seth wanted to play Halo, but I'm terrible at Halo (and we aren't supposed to play video games). Instead we played Clue, Life, Spades, Skibo, Chess and Egyptian-Rat-Screw. It was less stressful, until they all wanted to play different games. At one point I was on a team with Elder Bell in Spades, while playing and teaching Zack how to play chess, and trying to have a conversation with Seth. All at once. I don't think I am able to split that many directions. It was hard, and again if I dropped the ball in giving them attention, they would pick it up and hand it back to me. Fun, but very tough. I was exhausted by the end of the night.

The Chabots are doing great. We are really pushing for Baptism with them. They are so close and all they need is some good support from their mom or grandparents. They're so close!!!

We also found a lady. Karen Barrett is her name. Last week we tracted into her. Well, kind of. We were walking down the street and she was working in her yard. We asked if we could help. We love giving service and finding ways to teach. She turned us down, before we could say anything. Sad. We went on our way to the street we were planning on tracting. There we found no one. On our way back to our car, excuse me, Van, we saw her again. This time she called out that we were too late to help her. We took a look at her yard, which still had a lot of work to be done, and told her that we would come back to help her. She didn't believe us, but she was willing to talk to us. We talked to her for a half hour. Nothing of our conversation included the Gospel or anything related to it. All we did was listen, say a few words here and there, and wait for her to open up. She did open up and agreed to have us come back to help her.

We went back on Tuesday, after meeting her on Saturday, to help serve her. She needed her shed moved. Don't worry, this shed is not like the two surrounding our home, nor is it like grandpa's. We moved her little shed in about ten minutes. We went to the front of her yard and asked if we could help her. She was so confused. No one has ever wanted to help before. So we helped her. Then she started to ask us questions. By the end of our service we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said we could come back on Friday. We did and we brought Brother Manwaring with us. We needed him because she wanted us to work inside. It was great. We helped her move her counter tops and put in the new ones. After we taught her more about the Book of Mormon and invited her to come to church. SHE CAME!!! It's been a while since someone came to church. Someone who we invited actually came to church. It was great. The members loved her and I think she really liked the members. I almost had to stay for Relief Society, because she was uncomfortable. That would have been a disaster. Luckily Sis Walker, a ward missionary, was there and willing to help us. It was great. We are going back to Karen's home on Wednesday to serve her and teach her. I'm excited. I really think that Karen is Prepared.

Serving a mission is so cool. Everyone who has a chance to serve should serve one. You learn so many things. I love it.
I love you all.
Elder Call

Newbie

Hey ya'll

This week has been a good one. Elder Bell is my new companion. He is from Ogden and went to Utah State before he came out. He is a greenie for sure. Its fun though. I try not to pick on him too much, but sometimes its just fun. :) I promise I don't do anything too bad or over the top. Not like what some of the members do or suggest. Haha. Last night we went to teach the girl. Her name is Erika. We were going to teach her about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. Because she is single we needed to get a member to go with us. So we got Jay Akoi. He is a ward missionary and in EOD school. We went to the lesson and taught a really good lesson. I began the lesson and then transitioned for Elder Bell. He took over and just started talking about, well, stuff. He was trying so hard to teach what they taught in the MTC, but it wasn't going well for him. Needless to say, it was his first time. I remember my first time, so I'm not to worried about Elder Bell. He'll get it all soon. However, Jay made a ridiculous comment when we were done teaching. We were walking back to the church and he turned to Elder Bell and said, "Are you new?" "Yes," said Elder Bell. "Oh," says Jay, "I was wondering why you weren't talking Elder. For a while I was thinking, 'Is this new Elder retarded?' But now I know that you're just new." . . . Yeah, I didn't know what to say after Jay said that. You might as well rip out the new Elders heart and throw it to the ground. Oh, crazy members.
The Chabots are doing really well. They all came to church again and this time they brought Mike with them. Mike came with us to Gospel Principles and Elders Quorum. Brother Manwaring was teaching Elders quorum and when he found out that there was an investigator in class, he changed his whole lesson. Well not really, he just changed his focus towards Mike. And it was amazing. Mike was ready and listening to everything. It was great. Mike has been talking about going on a mission. He keeps taking inventory of himself and what it would take to go on a mission. So on Tuesday when we go over to their house we are going to talk about repentance and on Thursday we are going to talk about Baptism. It's been a while since we brought up baptism. Last time each kid said no. So we are hoping that these next couple of lessons will go well.
I feel right now like I am at the mercy of the Lord. Not a bad place to be right? I feel as if I have no control over anything except for when I read the Book of Mormon each morning. Its a weird feeling, but I've realized the dependency I have upon prayer and the Lord. It is quite exhilarating to want to see something happen, but not know how its going to happen, and then watching it unfold before your eyes perfectly the way the Lord wanted it and the way that you had hopped for. It hasn't happened to many times in my life, mostly because I'm to head strong and stiff necked, but I hope it will happen more and more as the next 7 months come to a close on my mission. Scary thought.
I love you all so much. Thank you for the amazing examples you are and for those who have written letters to me. Each one means a lot, even if it was from last year. I read them all the time and they have just as much meaning now as they did then. Thank you.
Elder Call

strange things......

Hey Ya'll,

Well we just got some really interesting news. Elder Merkley and Elder Nestor are both leaving me. I am staying in Niceville, but I'll be training a newb. I'm no longer Zone Leader either. That means I may get the chance to ditch the Van!! It'll be a big change. There are a bunch of other Zone Leaders who will be training too. I guess President needs a good generation raised up in the mission. Or something like that.

Its been real good in Niceville. Elder Merkley found out that he was leaving earlier last week. So he has had sometime to say goodbye to everyone. We went to a few people's homes and let them know. the Coopers, the Chabots, the Manwarings, the Youngs, and others. Now with Elder Nestor going too, we may need to visit more people.

Ok, I was thinking of what I should write about. Something that will help ya'll spiritually. Yeah, I think I found it. This sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. Ya'll know because it was the same for you. However, I bet that ours was drastically different. I mean like 30 min over different. The Bishop got up and conducted the meeting. When it was time for him to bear his testimony he bore a short one, but he also invited one sister to bare her testimony. She had been ill and was recovering, the fact that she was at church was a miracle. She bore a beautiful testimony. Then the party started and it started. The next women who got up had a missionary out on a mission. (the only one from the ward) I'm sure she meant well, but I don't know what her testimony was. She brought a few letters that her son had written to her. Then, over the pulpit, read them for about 10-15 minutes. I know that you mothers love to show us to everyone, but I hope you don't do that mom. In fact, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't. You would have given a beautiful testimony. However, this lady just read and read. Then came the Bishop's daughter in law. She went on a 20 min story, it was so long that I don't even remember what she was saying. Something about a blade being hit by a hammer and going into someones finger. The next person was a two small brothers. Cute, right? Well, twenty minutes of who knows what wasn't cute. They were deffinately brave for going up, and their choice of words was well beyond their age, but I don't remember what their testimony was about. Jay, a ward missionary, was next. He told a story about how he ran a marathon and was beat by a fairly large man. There were two more people behind Jay. At this point there was no time left, Elder Nestor had convinced a member to go bear her testimony with him, after a while they came back because there was not enough time. The other two finished their testimonies (if they even gave one) and then sat down. The bishop got up, and I was expecting him to say, 'we'll only sing one verse,' instead he said, 'Will Elder Nestor and Sis Peart come back up and give their testimonies?' Now I love our bishop, but I remember when I was young and a High Council member took too much time during sacrament. I remember how irritated mom was because of the lost time, and the loss of the children's attention. I could just imagine the pain on the mothers faces as Bishop said those words. It was already 15 past the hour, and two more people had been asked to talk. They both gave short testimonies.

Moral of the story. When bearing testimony, BEAR TESTIMONY. Lengthy stories are not for church. Neither are Joe Somebody's adventures around the block. I know that experinces change us, but its the holy ghost that gives us the testimony. Not the experience. Testify of what you know, what you feel, what you believe. Shate with us what you learned from the scriptures what you learned from the spirit. Give a testimony that will touch those listening. Too many times we are trying to impress people with things that will not impress them. When giving a testimony, where ever you are. Bear a short one, but one that you know to be true. Every Apostle bears testimony at the end. Their testimony is much, much shorter than their stories, but its also more powerful. They know that Jesus Christ lives and thats what they share.

That's what I learned this week. I was really grateful to talk to Clark. I'm sorry I kept it short and that you didn't get to hear it, but I know that it meant it a lot to Clark and to me.

I love you all and I'm glad for my mother who knew.
Love Elder Call

College Kids Listen!!

Hey everyone,

This e-mail is coming in late this week, because we spent the morning playing PCB in football. We drove out to the border of our Zone to duke it out with our neighbors across the border. It was a fun three hours on the beach. I saw elders that I hadn't seen in months there. Elder Chidester, Elder Zaugg, Elder Packard. They are all great guys and it was good to play some football with them. Others, like Elder Bawden, Elder Nestor and Elder Johnson built a big sand castle. It was great. The beach provides so many activities for everyone. Except of course water activities. Oh well, only 7 more months. ;)

This week in Niceville was great. I don't remember what day was Halloween for everyone here. I heard Saturday, then I heard Sunday, but no one came to our house on either day. Weird. We had an awesome experience this week. I will try to explain it all to you, but I'm not the best at telling stories. Here it goes.

On Thursday we had our appointments cancel. Lame. So we decided to go play ultimate with the Cooper family. They are less active and we've been working with them. We drove over to the field and no one was there. We guessed that it meant we were supposed to go tracting. Because it was dark outside we decided to go to an apartment complex. They are usually awake. There was one close to our apartment. I was driving our sporty mini-van and we pulled into the parking lot. It was a weird design and somehow we ended up in the back of the complex. What was worse, was that we drove past a bunch of girls on our way there. It was a college apartment. There is a small community college in Niceville, and we were at their apartments. As we past the girls, memories of campus began to flood back. Not the best memories for a missionary. We all got out of the van and began to knock the doors. The first door was empty, but there were people outside just chillin'. We began to talk to them about how we are missionaries and all that good stuff. As we were talking to them the girls we past decided to come join us. If red flags weren't waving when we passed them, they were waving now. We began to talk to them being very careful with our words. Then one girl asked, 'Who is Jesus Christ?' We don't hear that to often in the south, so we were thinking it was a trap. As we stepped cautiously into the conversation we found out that her friend really didn't know. She said that one time in her life she believed, but now she didn't. We began to testify about Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. By the time we were done something amazing happened. The fear that we had about being caught some where we weren't supposed to be left and the spirit jumped right in. We were talking to about 15 people all at the same time. Some weren't really interested, but others were. The one girl who didn't believe in Jesus Christ still doesn't, sad I know, but she committed to read the Book of Mormon. We also talked with others, gave out 6 Book of Mormons and set up lessons to meet with some of them. One guy, Quinton had been on his own search and had found a nice church in Niceville. He was doing missionary work too. Talking to everyone. Quinton actually prepared the way for us to teach everyone else. One of his friends, Michelle is meeting us on Wednesday. After we were done talking with everyone we were in shock. That never happens when a group of people want to listen and are prepared for what we have to say. Let alone a group of college students. We were stunned as missionaries, but we still had an hour left.
We went back home to grab our coats (its getting colder, btw, Halloween looked so cold!). We went right back to the same apartment complex, but this time we went to the front. We began to knock on some of the doors. First was a guy named Ofeao, he said we could come back and teach him. Second guy was Jeff, he also said we could come back. The third door was the second miracle of that night. We knocked and heard a loud, 'Come In!'. We opened the door and there were 6 guys watching the Florida State Football game. We told them our purpose and guess what. They let us come in, turned off the TV and allowed us to begin teaching. We spent the next 45 min teaching those boys about Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was so cool to watch them listen to us with intent. As we got to know them they asked if we had met Quinton yet. How cool!? Quinton had prepared another group for us to teach. We gave each boy a Book of Mormon and they said that next Saturday we could come back. We gave out over a dozen copies of the Book of Mormon in 2 hours to college students. Haha. It was so cool to be a part of it. Elder Merkley, Elder Nestor and I were in such shock that we didn't know what to do. Except to get down on our knees and pray. It was amazing. Elder Merkley wants to go back to campus. I think I'll just stay on this campus.
Niceville is so awesome. They had a huge ward service day on Saturday. Fixing up the church yard. It was great to be working with so many members to beautify the building they use. Then on Sunday I gave a talk. It was only five minutes long, because the ward missionary before me took 25 minutes in her talk. But that's ok, its the way it should be.
I love being a missionary.
Thanks for the package. I got grandma's too. I'll send the other card to you soon.
Love ya's

Happy in Niceville

Hello Everyone,

There have been some big changes this last week here in Niceville.
Forrest Peart got baptized, The Chabot girls are really struggling,
Zone Conference was Friday and we have a third Elder in our
Companionship.

Friday seems like the best day to start. Since that was Zone
Conference. We introduced the Standard of Greatness to our Zone. First
we listened to a talk given by Elder Holland during the Mission
President seminar's. I don't think I'll ever hear it again, because
they aren't widely published. However I got to hear it twice in the
last two weeks. It really set the tone for our Zone as he talked about
the last moments of Joseph Smith's life. Then we each signed a new
banner. Did you ever get the remember this banner from President
Summerhays? Well we have another banner to hang. Another title of
Liberty. We also got a few other things to help remind us. President
and Sister Jensen are School Teachers, so they love objects. We got a
rock, a chisel and a picture of the Christus. We are to shape our own
rock selves into what Christ wants us to be. Pretty cool, but I found
a lame rock, so I'm on the hunt to find a new one. Its really really
hard to find a rock in Florida. All there is is sand. Lots and lots of
sand. We dug a hole for someone while doing service. There was no
dirt, it was sand. I'm still looking for a rock.
At the end of Zone Conference I talked with Elder Faalogo. He was one
of my old companions and an AP. He said that I look a lot happier than
when I was in Tallahassee. I would have to agree with him 100%. I just
feel a lot better here than Tallahassee. I still love the people
there, but it just didn't make me happy like I do now. I think it
could be a combination of things; General Conference, Elder Pearson,
The Beach, New Area, New Missionaries, Etc. There are so many things
that helped make it better, I just don't know what was the defining
moment. But I am definitely happier here.
Forrest got baptized on Sunday. It was a super long day. We had PEC at
7:30, then we had to stay at the church until 4 for the baptism and
didn't leave until 5:30. Church was great, but staying there for that
long wasn't. By the end of the day we were all tired and grumpy. Well
at least I was. Sad for being a baptism day. However the baptism
itself was awesome. Sis Peart is single and raising two boys; Aaron
and Forrest. Its been difficult, but she shared her testimony with us
during the baptism and how grateful she was that we were a part of her
and her boys life. Its so cool to see the true side of people when
they get a chance to share their testimony. We knew how important this
was to her, and Forrest knew it too. We confirmed him right after so
that he wouldn't have to wait to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We are going to try to keep in touch with them. Its going to be great
to see the change of the Spirit in their home.
The Chabots are having their ups and downs. Seth is doing great. I
don't know how, but the rubics cube has done wonders. We had a lesson
on Christ last Tuesday. We laid out 7 pictures of Christ life and
asked them to put them in order. When we were done we went over each
picture again. By the end Seth was teaching everyone else, including
his older sister and mom. It was so cool. Matt and Zack are doing
great. They were both in the Primary program yesterday. Both had parts
too. Zack talked about Joseph Smith and Matt talked about Christ. They
are doing great. Allie and Kelsey are struggling though. Its weird,
because they were the ones who were doing so good in the beginning. I
guess last week in church they heard some comments from the young
women that didn't sit well with them. Allie said she wasn't coming
back. She was at church yesterday, but only because her mom made her.
She really needs some support from the other girls in the ward, but
the girls themselves are struggling. The older girls in the ward are
not making smart choices and leading by bad example. The Bishop is
really concerned for the youth of his ward. In our prayer he prayed to
give the Beehives strength to be the examples for their older sisters.
So needless to say, the young women are struggling, which makes it
hard for us to teach and help Allie and Kelsey. I think that the new
Personal Progress on LDS.org is awesome, I'm going to check it out.
Does Megan or Shannon have one? That would be cool to show Allie and
Kelsey their picture. Same with any of the cousins or girls in the
ward or stake. Right now they just need some good examples. Even if it
comes through the internet. Just let me know.
Last, but not least, of all this week. We got a new companion. Elder
Nestor. He is from Pocatello, Idaho and is supposed to go to Brazil.
Because of his Visa though, he is stuck with us. What a bummer right?
His second day here we went to Destin and his third day was Zone
Conference. That should be enough to last him for a while, right?
Elder Nestor is supper prepared for a newb. He knows so much about the
gospel. He has read the standard works twice, that I know of. I can't
say the same, nor can a lot of other people. He is a stellar companion
and makes it easy for us to teach him.

Its been great in Niceville. I'm still hoping to get the cards soon so
I can send you some pictures of Destin. Its really pretty.
Thanks, Love you
Elder Call

Elder Call's photos

The Elders re-moving and repairing a roof!

Braden getting rid of the junk that came tumbling down!

Goofing off at a district conference.

Buddies! - "Ties that Bind" Tie!

Another Week...

Hello Family and Friends,

Another week has gone by. Tim just let me know that he has only 7 more weeks. Yeah, missions go by fast. We have had a great week in Niceville. Tuesday was ZLC, followed by a trade-off with Elder Buticofer in Crestview 2nd, and to finish off we had 6 people at church and set a BCD with a boy named Forest Peart. Its been a pretty good week.

On Tuesday we met with President Jensen and Sister Jensen, with all of the other Zone Leaders. However, this time I didn't have to drive for 3 hours to get there. Only a half an hour. Quite a difference if you ask me. President Jensen and the Ap's announced our new mission statement, 'Our Standard of Greatness'. It was awesome, because President Jensen talked to us Zone Leaders about how to incorporate 'Our Standard of Greatness'. He told us that we were the leaders, that this is our mission, and as missionaries our people. President wanted to let us know, but also every missionary in our mission. We have the power and authority to receive revelation for our investigators, just like Dad receives revelation for us in the home. President Jensen then talked about being creative in Uniting our zones. Funny how it all works out when you have the Spirit. Elder Merkley and I had already started to work with our Zone in being creative. We have our own flag with the signatures of all the missionaries. We also took a picture and gave it to President and Sister Jensen. They loved it and have asked us to bring it to Zone Conference. It seems that making the flag was the right thing to do.

As for our area, its doing alright. We are flourishing in some areas and struggling in others. Finding is really a hard one, but we are working on finding ways to find. Teaching has been great. The Chabot family is really moving along. We have been over there at least once every day to keep in contact and help them out. We teach them twice a week in between each visit too. All of it has really moved them along. Seth, the oldest son, has made the biggest changes. He hated us coming over and teaching, he wasn't reading the Book of Mormon and didn't want to go to church at all. It was tough, but we found a way to break him in. A 'Rubik cube'. Cool huh. Every day we have been going over and Elder Merkley has been showing him the different steps to solve the cube. Every time we show up Seth has been ready for us, and has opened up in other ways too. He trusts us. He knows that if we tell him we'll help him with the Rubik cube, it sets us up to be honest. Because when you do show up he knows we're telling the truth and that we're not lying. Somehow it has transferred over into our teaching. When we talk its not just a bunch of stuff that Seth's not interested in. He listen's, makes comments, and asks really good questions. He is still as stubborn as can be, but we are making a lot of progress with Seth. The other boys, Matt and Zack, are awesome. Zack's birthday was this weekend. He got a lot of Lego's for his birthday, so guess what I did with Zack. ;) Matt just started scouts, so guess what I do with Matt. Allie and Kelsey (Allie's friend) just keep making fun of me, but I'm used to it. I've been a missionary for too long not to be used to it. All of this is just working out perfectly. We went over the first half of the Baptismal interview questions with them. They answered very honestly, which made it easy for us, because we know exactly what to teach now. The Chabot family is awesome and they will be baptized soon.

We set a BCD with Forest Peart. He is a 9-year-old boy with a crazy mom. We went over last Monday night to teach him. Every question we asked him he would just shrug and wait for his mom to answer for him or until she got mad at him. It was a really awkward lesson and we felt bad for Forest. His mom is really pushing for this, and he just doesn't want to be pushed. Yesterday we taught him after church, he asked his mom to leave! So we just taught Forest, his brother Aaron and their friend Riley. We gave them a puzzle without the box to show that Christ's church was destroyed and how hard it was to put it back together without the big picture. It was an amazing lesson. Forest gave us answer's. If he didn't know it we would teach him and he would pick it up really really quickly. No pressure at all from his mom and Forest was golden. He is getting baptized next Sunday. Yipee!!

This week has been great. I did get my package and it came at the perfect time. I'm still waiting for my cards, I had to buy a new one, because I realized I sent both home. Anyway, the new card is ready to be sent home. It has pictures of the beach!!

I forgot to send my letter to ties that bind, but I'm sure you can find something good, right? haha, just sent my list or something.

Chase and Ashley Manwaring are a lot of fun. We go over there every Friday night. Chase and Clark have so many similar traits.
Love Ya'll
Elder Call

Another great day!!!

Hello Everyone,

I'm so glad that everyone loved my letter home. It was kind of creative and I wasn't even able to tell you all the great things going on here in Niceville and in the Mission. Its been so awesome to serve here. I fear that I'm going to wake up and in another area one morning. That's going to be a rough day.

I'm really happy right now because I just saw the beach. Well, to more direct, we had a zone activity on the beach. Almost our entire zone came. We met at Ft Walton Stake Center, then we all hopped in a couple of cars and headed down to Destin. We spent all morning down in Destin playing football and grilling on the beach. We went on Friday to go pick out a beach. Elder Merkley had to go anyway because of his Chiropractor appointment. So we took the Destin Elders with us to go find a nice place. That we did. All of the missionaries played football, we even had a couple members too and a few investigators. Ft Walton 1st had a couple there who just got baptized on Saturday and they brought their friends who are also investigators in Ft Walton. Elder Merkley and I took Brother Booth with us. He is an inactive member who is working on coming back. We invited him to come with us last week and he accepted our offer. Brother Booth is a Nurse in the Air Force and had today off. He is one awesome man. He has a family of his own, wife, 11 year-old boy and 6 year-old boy, they are all active, but he is working on coming back. He actually talked about getting some G's back too!! Cool stuff.

Tomorrow is ZLC. This time however I only have to drive for 30 minutes to get to ZLC. Unlike the 3 hours when I was in Tallahassee. Its going to be nice tomorrow to get a workout and study in before ZLC. Anyways, we are implementing 'Our Standard of Greatness'. Its a new idea to help the missionaries build and hold on to something. It gives us purpose and an identity as a mission. President Summerhays had 'Remember This...', but with President Jensen its 'Our Standard of Greatness'. To help prepare our Zone, Elder Merkley and I had been talking together for a couple of weeks. I have had a couple re-occurring ideas, and decided to implement them.

Here are a couple of clues for you:
#1-On Friday, after we went to the Chiropractor and checked out the Beaches, we went to look for supplies.
#2-We went to Michaels and got a couple of lettering sheets, then we went to HomeDepot to get an eight-foot-pole and a painters tarp.

Can you figure it out yet?

#3-We spent Saturday night at a Part-Member/Investigator home to use their iron and their sewing machine.
#4-We put on wording and cut the painters tarp into a Rectangular shape.

#5-We made a big loop on the left side of the rectangle in order to side our eight-foot-pole through.
#6-That night we took a screw and pinned the rectangle to our eight-foot-pole.

By now I'm sure this is a great image in all of your minds.

#7-This morning we revealed it to our zone and had each one of them sign it.
#8-We had Elder Tidwell hold it while we all took a picture next to it.

Its a FLAG. Yay!! Yeah, Elder Merkley and I made our own 'Title of Liberty', but instead its 'Our Standard of Greatness'. We have commitments from all the members in our Zone to follow 'Our Standard of Greatness' and every P-Day activity we do as a zone, our flag will be flying to help remind us of who we are and why we're here. It was really cool to get the support from our Zone, and tomorrow we will share our Idea with President. I think he should know too.

Now on to our missionary work and the people we are teaching. The Chabot (Sha-boy, yeah I know) family is the ones who helped us out on our flag. Sister Chabot is a member, but her four kids are not. Allie is 17, Seth is 14, Matt is 11 and Zack is 9. Elder Bond and Elder Merkley tracted into them and I've been lucky to teach them as well. Its really interesting. When we were there on Saturday it felt a lot like home. The two older teenagers were playing their music really loud, the mother was ready to go to bed and the two younger boys could care less. They were just happy we were there to give them some attention. Aww, memories from home. Allie has been reading the book of Mormon. A lot actually, she even has her friend Kelsey read with her. Allie has seen a difference in her life since she began to read. School is better, life at home is better, she broke up with her boyfriend but still is happy. She can't explain it, even her Psychologist can't explain it. He/She said that they've never been so happy!! Haha, the Book of Mormon is true! As for the other boys though, none of them are reading. Seth refuses too actually. However, they all did come to church. We are going to be teaching them on Tuesday. Its going to be fun.

We have a few other people we are teaching. The Smiths are awesome. He is a firefighter, she is a stay at home mom with a 2-month old. We taught them in their home yesterday and had a great lesson. The Smiths have all these questions. Most of which come from the Plan of Salvation. Its so hard to be on the other side and see that they don't get it. I know what happens to us when we die. If we die early it is very sad, but its not the end. The Smiths have no knowledge of that, and its so hard to help them see. I know that as they read from the Book of Mormon, all of their questions will be answered. All of them.

I love you all and hope that its not too cold yet. It was about 78 on the beach. ;)

Elder Call

Top 10 Reasons to love Niceville......

Hey Ya'll

Its been a crazy week this week, but a good one nonetheless. I am here in Niceville. It truly is the best place. I will give you the top 10 reasons why.

#10 - We have the nicest apartment in the Mission. Well, maybe not the mission, but it's a hundred times better than any other apartment I've been in. Its just Elder Merkley and I and we have two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a giant kitchen and living room, we have a washer and a dryer, no neighbors and only a mile away from the church. Pretty nice. Its also a hundred times cleaner than ours in Tally. We tried to clean the Tally apartment so many times, but it just wouldn't work. I feel already in the last couple of days that I can breathe easier. Its a great feeling to breathe.

#9 - Elder Merkley. I know he isn't really part of the area, but he is an awesome companion. He is my grandfather. He trained Elder Krieser, who trained me. So far its been nothing but greatness with him.

#8 - A giant church building ready to grow. I know I came from a stake center, but there was also two other wards there with us. Here is a chapel, about the size of the regular chapels in Utah, with only one ward. No crowds, and you have all of the resources to yourself. We can do something and not worry about another ward getting in the way or us getting in the way of them.

#7 - Niceville High School. Niceville is very similar to Tallahassee. As in, when their team is playing football, everyone is at the game. I found out this last Friday. Niceville played Pace. Elder Merkley and I went and sat with a member and his less active son. We also saw and talked with other members. I noticed something rather amusing at the game. There were more students on the Football team, in the band, or one of the Flaggettes (haha, they really call it that) than there were in the student section. However, the stadium was full. And I mean stadium. Lone Peak has stands, Niceville has a stadium. They get really into it.

#6 - Hahahahahahahahahahahahah. Ok ok. So i worked from 9-7 then decided I should probably work from 1-6. So technically this is the last on the list. I almost forgot. . . I AM DRIVING ANOTHER MINIVAN!!! Hahahahaha. There are only two areas, TWO, in the whole mission that have minivans. I have now served in both of them. Elder Newin said that I'm either destined to drive a minivan when I have my own family, or, I will never drive a minivan again in my life. We'll see what happens. Right now I really hate minivans, but maybe its just our Dodge Caravan. We are supposed to get new cars sometime soon. I think I'll talk to Sis Harbor about getting us some Surburbans, or Jeeps. ;)

#5 -General Conference. Again, this doesn't just come with the territory, but I think that this is pushing me in the right direction. With the Combination of Elder Pearson in September and General Conference this weekend. I have learned so much about myself and who I am. Even this morning I felt it during my study of the Book of Mormon. I felt it as I read the talk that Jenny gave me about Joseph Smith. I am working on finding out who I was 'before' I came to this earth. So far I have found that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ charged to follow him all the days of my life. That includes the next life as well. I have found a few others, but won't share them with you now. Just letting you know that I will be trying to find myself in Niceville. BTW, my favorite was Elder Nelson's and Elder Uchtdorf's. We got to stand as missionaries when Elder Nelson spoke and I love the thought of 'slowing down' by Elder Uchtdorf. Just to think, all of that time trying to create a pen, when a pencil would work. Good stuff.

#4 -Ft Walton Zone. I loved the Tallahassee Zone so much, but I feel I will love the Ft Walton Zone just as much. There are only fourteen Elders in our Zone, plus two Spanish in Ft Walton Beach. Thats only 16 Elders. There were 22 Missionaries in Tallahassee alone. I think I will get to know these guys a lot better.

#3 - Military Ward. I really am convinced that the best wards in my mission are either Military or young single adult. The older generation from the south don't know how to work and love like the young people or the people from out west. The older generation is 'comfortable' with where they're at and don't want to change. Its tough when missionaries get changed a lot and when your ward goes through cycles every summer because of students. However, they don't care. Here in Niceville is an Air Force ward. There are a few other branches here too, but mostly Air Force. And there are a bunch of them who are Doctors in the Air Force. Our ward mission leader is a surgeon. I remember when I thought about joining the military in Ozark. We'll see how Niceville goes. :)

#2 - Destin. One of the best beaches in the world is only a half hour away from us. We went there on Friday, and we will continue to go there on Friday because Elder Merkley has a chiropractor appointment every week. There are also Elders on Destin. The sisters got moved out and they put Elders there. That means a trade-off on Destin!! yeah!

#1 - The Manwaring's. I have only really met them twice, but we are planning on going over to their home soon. I just can't get over the fact that they are here while I am here. Its just too cool to put into words.

That's been my half of a week. I really need that package. So the sooner you send it the better. Thanks :D I will take lots of pictures for you. We are trying to plan a Zone Activity on the beach soon.

Love Elder Call

New Transfer!!!

Hello Ya'll
Its that time again. Six weeks is up and another transfer is down in the books. This time I'm getting bounced, but I'm going to the coolest place in the Mission. Niceville, FL. (BTW; my new address is 724 N Palm Blvd, Niceville, FL 32578.) There are too reasons why this is the best place. One is its another military base. Eglin Airforce Base is there. I believe the Blue Angels fly a lot over there. I get to serve with military once again. I'm so excited. The second reason why Niceville is the coolest, is Clark's brother lives in Niceville. That means when Clark gets his call I'll be listening!!! Haha. Tender mercies, tender mercies. I'm so stoked.
I talked a little last week about the changes in my own life that are going to be made. They will still happen and its the perfect time to get a new area and take off with what I know. I am really sad that I'm leaving Tallahassee. I feel at home here and leaving is so hard. We were at the Martin's last night saying goodbye. I thought I was going to cry. I've been here for so long and to leave some of these people is going to be hard. I've worked so hard with some of them. Some have progressed, others haven't moved and others went backwards. But I was trying with my heart the whole time. I'm glad President Campbell sent you an E-mail. He is one of the finest men in the World. He has the biggest heart. When we have to do trade off's with other companionships and he can't meet with me, I get to hear all about it the next week. He loves the missionaries and I love President Campbell. I will get to see him and Sis Simmons on last time on Tuesday. It's going to be hard to leave them.
I don't know what else to say for this week. We have had 4 or 5 lessons fall through. The longer I'm out the more I realize how much I crave teaching. When we have no one to teach it really wears on me. Not because I don't feel productive, but there is no feeling in the world like the one you have when you receive revelation for someone else during a lesson. Or feel the pure love of God that he has for his child sitting right next to you. I'm sure it happens to those of you who are parents. I crave it so bad! Hopefully that will continue in the near future.
I really don't know what to say. I'm glad you got your package and unless you sent it already, you should probably wait and send it to the Niceville address. I got a wonderful letter from the Craig branch. I also got Weston's baptism announcement! Actually, I got it a while ago, but forgot to tell you. Its great to hear how all of you guys are doing. It gives me strength to hear your own life events. No matter how small. Its really weird how that happens, but hearing about someone else's success is really invigorating for me. I love it when I get letters from you guys. Thanks.
I'm really sorry its short, but I am really excited for Niceville. I'm sad to leave Tallahassee, but its time to go.
I love you all,
Elder Call

FSU - BYU

Hey everyone,

Sorry that I didn't write last week. It's been a crazy week. Last Monday we had a Zone Conference were Elder Pearson came and spoke to us (i'll write about that in a minute), but because Monday is our P-day, I didn't get a chance to write. Also because of the BYU FSU game, President Jensen told us that we would be taking our p-day for that week on Saturday. So today is my second p-day for the weekend. Its really weird.
I didn't get to see anyone from our stake. I did however meet with Autumn Nelson (I think her mom runs Shannon's Dance class) and Buck Mendenhall and his wife. Autumn is a cougarette and travels with the team. The Mendenhall's are team parents (well kind of) and were following their two boys on the team. I met a lot of people from other parts of Florida. Most of the people there not from our stake were from Florida. Orlando, Tampa, Pensecola, Miami, Gainesville and Jacksonville. Some were from Utah, those were the dedicated fans. The Fireside was on Friday night and was great. Two members from the team spoke, one of which was a Tallahassee boy. He grew up here and played for Lincoln High, then went on a mission before he went to BYU. I don't remember the other boys name, but he served in Tennessee. The last speaker was Bronco Mendenhall. He was great, talking about how its just a game and how there are more important things. He trough out a couple of statistics so we would know what he's doing is working. Stats like; "BYU has had more 10 win seasons in a row than any other time in BYU history." Then he talked about the type of conduct he expects and the level at which the players must perform on and off the field. He told us about the Air Force game and how he knew the fans were looking at the score, but he was more concerned with the type of language that was on the field by the BYU players. Bronco has definitely changed the BYU football program for the better. Did you know he didn't serve a mission? Yet, he encourages all of the players to go on a mission. Pretty cool.
The BYU tail gate was Saturday afternoon. Elder Shumway and I took tickets for the food line and talked to everyone who walked by. A lot of people were surprised to see us there. It helped out that the guy who runs the tail gate has a son serving in our mission. That's how we got the invite. But members were still surprised that we were there in our shirt and ties saying hi to people. Some asked if we were going to the game and when we told them, they were really surprised. To be honest, when I first found out I was surprised.
The BYU FSU game was great. We sat where ever we wanted. Our tickets were in one section and we found a nice place a couple of seats down where no one was sitting. So we just sat there the whole game. We saw a bunch of members there at the game. Some of them were wearing BYU shirts, others were wearing FSU shirts. I think my favorite was Ben Pope's shirt. "Go Lamanites"
It was a crazy weekend and I feel like I'm recovering from it. I was so tired and ready to go home afterwards. I slept good that night.
Ok, now on to missionary things. :) Elder Pearson came to our mission last Monday. It was amazing. He is not an apostle and he told us that a couple of times. Elder Pearson holds no keys, none at all. However, because he was on assignment, given to him from President Packer, he had full access to the keys that he needed. It was incredible. We got there at 8 and had a meeting with him, just the Zone Leaders. Then the District Leaders had their meeting with him. We took a zone picture after that. We all were in the chapel. First we listened to President and Sister Jensen, then Sis Pearson. Then Elder Pearson got up. He spoke to us the rest of the day. All except for a 45 min lunch and a few talks prepared by us missionaries, Elder Pearson spoke for 5 hours. He did it in no general order. He knew what he was supposed to get us to learn, he knew what we were struggling on as missionaries (that's why he met with the Zone and District leaders) and he spoke by the spirit. Going in no general order, it felt like we went right through Preach My Gospel. He spoke about our identity. He mentioned a scripture that I had forgotten about. 3 Ne 5:13. It is Nephi declaring that he is a Disciple of Christ. I don't know if I ever told you, but I bore my testimony about that very same thing in a sacrament meeting in the Singles Ward and I used the very same scripture. He talked about why we do what missionaries are supposed to do. You could come up with all the excuses in the world, but the one that fits the best is, "I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ". That is the reason behind my purpose. I find, teach, baptize and retain because I'm a Disciple. I read from the Book of Mormon every day because I'm a Disciple. I wake up every morning and go to bed every night because I am a disciple. Every thing I do, I do because I'm a disciple. It was the perfect rebuke that I needed to hear.
It is so fascinating to me. How quickly we forget who we are, what we have learned. and why we do things. I told President Summerhays before he left that I felt that way. I felt as if I was caught in the 'dulldrums' of my mission. Others refer to this as the 'Black Hole' in the mission. I was definitely feeling that way and I could not get out of it. When the Mission President changed I had nothing to hold on to. President Jensen is a great guy, but he doesn't know me like President Summerhays did. When Elder Pearson came to teach us, it felt as if President Summerhays was in the room reminding me of why I was there. As I made that connection, so many other thoughts came back. As if it unlocked something that I didn't know was locked. Memories and knowledge have been coming back every day. I decorate my planner each transfer. Its only fitting that I put a picture of all my friends from Tim's farewell on it. The ties that bind is something that I had forgotten about. I know I write something and receive a big packet each month, but I forgot what it felt like to be with my friends. Those and other feelings have all come back in the last week. I am so grateful that Elder Pearson came to teach me and I'm working on remembering what I forgot. Its been great and I know the next 9 months are going to be amazing.

I love you all and I keep praying for you.
Elder Call

BYU-FSU

Hey Ya'll,

Ok. BYU is playing FSU on September 18. BYU is doing a fireside on September 17 @ 7:00. It will be at the Stake Center in Tallahassee. 312 Stadium Dr. is the address. The church is right next to the stadium, hence Stadium Dr. Members can park their cars at the church for free for the game, but don't spread that around too much. They charge 20.00 per car during home game days. If they have to fill it up with members who don't have to pay anything then the youth, singles ward and other activities can't happen for their Stake. That's how they raise money for their events.
Second thing. BYU is also having an Alumni tailgate party at the Civic Center in Tallahassee. Its $15 per person. That includes food and a bunch of games. For those people who have not been to Florida for a game, tailgating is huge. Everyone in Utah just shows up right before game time. These guys get their at 7:00am and stay until late in the night. Because BYU is an early game, they shouldn't be out too long. The other tailgate parties include a lot of Beer, college kids, older people who act like college kids and of course a grill. BYU won't have any alcohol, but they will have food and games.
Third. President Jensen has allowed us to go to the game. So some may see me there, at the football game. Bro and Sis Martin have gotten us some tickets. It was their house that we re-roofed. Sis Martin is the one who called home. :) We really like them. If you see any missionaries on TV. I know them. They are in my mission.
If you have any other questions you will have one more week to ask them, then its game time!! Bro Martin is providing an FSU tie.

This week has been great. Yesterday was supposed to be our Preparation day. It was the opposite. Ward members needed help moving, investigators were free to have lessons, and all the libraries were closed in Tallahassee. That's why I'm e-mailing today.

Yesterday was one of the greatest days in a while. We had a lesson with Wallace Brown. Elder Faalogo and I had tracted into him a while ago and began to teach him. Wallace knew and worked with Bro Poole in our ward, so we took him to a lesson with us. We also have been taking Keith with us. He is 16 and loves to teach. Last week I told you that it was Stake Conference. Wallace was their and Sis Walker spoke as one of the speakers. She used to be a die hard Catholic, but found the truth and couldn't deny it. Wallace really liked her testimony and felt something as he was listening. This Sunday Wallace came to church and we took him with us to the High Priest group. They ended up breaking into their groups. Redeeming the Dead, Missionary, and one other. We were in the missionary group and we brought Wallace with us. Bro Jones was there and just started talking with Wallace. It was like they had known each other for ever. We were supposed to be talking about missionary work and how we could help the High Priest, but instead we just had our own lesson in class. Bro Jones bore testimony about, well everything. He was 20 when he found the truth and has stuck with it ever since. Wallace really liked that. We went to Wallace's house yesterday with Keith. We talked to him about Temples and why we have them. Afterward we asked if he knew the Book of Mormon was true. He said yes. Then we asked him if he knew Joseph Smith was a true Prophet. He said yes again. We asked him what he thought about baptism by the proper authority. He said yes, but there was one problem. He is on the Deacon board at his church. That means that he has to do everything there. I mean everything. We works hard so the Preacher doesn't have to do it. Its like if dad, just the way he is, had to do the deacons job, teachers job, priest job, Sunday school, primary, sacrament and fast offerings and anything else I missed. All because no one else would do it or help. Wallace does it all and has been there for 25 years. He feels like he would be abandoning them by leaving. He knows our church is true and he wants to be a part of it, but he feels so much responsibility has been placed on him at his other church that he would be abandoning them. I told Wallace that I loved him and that we would be here for him as he prays for strength to make a decision. At the end of the lesson we all said a prayer. Elder Thurston, Me, Keith and Wallace. Wallace said the most heartfelt prayer I've ever heard. Asking for strength, knowing that this church is true because of how he feels, but then letting the Lord know how he feels about leaving his other church. It was like he was having a conversation with God. It was incredible. Wallace knows its true and will be getting baptized soon.

That's really all that happened this week. We have a few appointments that we hope to be having with less actives and part member families in the ward. We also just got 4 new ward missionaries to help us out.

I love you all and I'm grateful you are all at home supporting me.
Love Elder Call

Roofed a House....

Hello Everyone,

It was a fantastic week. We taught a lot, found a lot, got to rip apart a roof and then build a new one, and Alan Espinoza got the Melchizedek Priesthood. It was great.

Tuesday we drove to Crestview for ZLC. We didn't have any problems on the way or coming back. Good thing because you probably remember me telling you about how we didn't get the van fixed. It was a good day. I got to see my father and grandfather (mission family) at ZLC. I also got to talk to Elder Bond and Elder Merkley. They told me that they had the pleasure of meeting Bro Manwearing!!! Clarks brother is in Niceville and when he went out to see them the missionaries were there. They said you're doing fine and looking good Clark! President Jensen mentioned in our meeting about Elder Pearson coming to our mission. He will be here Sept 12, just before the BYU game. We will be going over a lot of things while we're there. We just got a huge list from President about what were supposed to prepare for.

Elder Thurston and I had a really good week finding people and teaching them. We were out working on Wednesday trying to find some potentials and new investigators. We were walking when a girl called out to us. She asked us if we were teaching Bible lessons. We were, kind of, and she invited us over to her home. It was a couple of blocks away, so we talked with her. She was in social services with a focus on Christianity. She things that only through God can you overcome certain things. I think she's on to something. We talked with her and when we got to her home we pulled out our Book of Mormon's. She got excited and said, "I'll go get mine." She had taken it from a Hotel, but she didn't know much about it. We talked with her for a while and set up another time to come back. She called us later in the week asking to reschedule, but she should be coming to church next week. It was a great lesson and we will bring the FSU sisters with us to the next lesson. While walking to our car from her apartment we ran into another girl, Kristen. She asked us if we go to church next to FSU and what time they started. We told her that it was us and we took her info down. Again, we gave her to the Sister missionaries. Two investigators for the Sisters, oh well, schools back in.

Friday was the ward's annual Southern Spread. "A Potluck on Steroids," as Bro Barabash would say. There were so many new faces there. We have a big hand full of newly weds moving into our ward. Its really weird when the girls are younger than the missionaries, but married with a kid. Its also very weird when you're the missionary serving and teaching them on campus, then they come to your family ward, because they got married. Its weird being a missionary here. Anyway, the southern spread was good and we met with a few new families who were less active. Bro Nathan has invited us to his home. He is the only member in his family, so we're excited to be working with him.

Saturday was long. We went to the Martin's for service. Sis Martin was the one who called home asking for my favorite meal. We ripped apart Bro Martin's roof and re-roofed it. We started at 7:00am. There were 8 missionaries. South, FSU, Spanish and us. We started to rip the roof apart. There was so much mold and rotted wood. We were surprised that the roof held our weight. Well almost. Elder Smith kind of fell through, and Elder Newin did fall through. We had to replace three of the existing beams and rip out all of the add-on's. It was a big project. Elder Smith and I decided to go work on the floor to clean it up a bit. There was so much stuff that had water damage. We through all of it out of the door. It was a nasty job, we found a rat skeleton. We continued to work and put up the new ribs for the roof. I took a lot of pictures. It looks really good. Elder Thurston and I had to leave early to go to a lesson, so I didn't get to see the end where they put all of the plywood down. Next week we're going to put on the metal roofing. More pictures!

Sunday was my favorite day. Our van key died. Not the van, just the key. We have one of those fancy electric ones, but it broke and our van wouldn't accept it. So we called Sister Harber and she gave us a brand new one! It feels like I just got a new car. It feels so good. :) Sunday was our Stake Conference. Since we didn't have to be there until 2 we went to see Sister Simmons and Glen. I'm not sure what to do with them. Sis Simmons really really wants Glen to get baptized and become a member. Glen wants to move to Gaddsen County and work with the Episcopal Church doing Evangelist stuff. I don't know who's going to bend. I really think that Glen should come to church, but at the place he's living he can't and he still has his ankle bracelet on. Its a tough situation, but we like Sis Simmons. Something good will come as long as she stays close to the Gospel. Guess what!! Next week is Fast and Testimony meeting. That means a testimony from Sis Simmons. Maybe I should bear mine too. Just to match it. :)

After our lesson we went to Stake conference. I've been to both Stake conferences in Tallahassee while I've been here. That was most than some! I felt at home being there. I knew almost everyone there and they knew me. I don't know what I'm going to do when I leave Tallahassee. During Stake conference they announced those who would be receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. Three were from the Singles ward. Alan Espinoza was one of them. It was so cool to be there and watch Alan take the next step. Elder Perkins and I watched as Jared Anderson gave him the Priesthood. After we were talking and realized something. This time last year, at Stake Conference we met Jared and Alan. It was our first meeting and we gave him a Book of Mormon, a month later Alan was baptized and now, yesterday, he received the Melchizedek Priesthood one year later. And Elder Perkins and I were there with him for all of it. Alan is a true friend and will be forever. He is by far one of the greatest people I've ever met. He has the biggest heart, and the desire to serve. I love Alan so much.

That's it for my life on the Mission. I think its so cool that we can transition quickly from one priesthood leader to the next. It was a little rough for me in the beginning with President Jensen, but he has really taken the reins and is ready to go. Me too.

I love you all,
Elder Call

Transfers Again!!

Hey Everyone,

Sounds like a party for Grandpa. haha. Hopefully it will sink in soon that he no longer has to do anything. Just what he wants. We just lost a senior couple in our mission. They had to go home early due to family complications. Tell Grandpa there is a vacancy up in Thomasville Georgia that needs to be filled. ;)

I got the package. Thank you. The medicine came right on time and the picture couldn't be any better. I was

sad that I couldn't go to the San Diego Temple. The Pictures were beautiful. Kristen, I thought you said you were cutting your hair? Any ways, it sucks that there is no Temple in our mission. Waiting two years is hard. It will be such a relief to go back and relearn everything again. Did you know that there are pineapple flavored popsicles in the package you sent me? They are very tasty.

Its transfer week again. I'm staying in Tallahassee for another transfer. My companion is leaving though. He is going to Tallahassee 3rd ward. My new companion is Elder Thurston. We were in the same MTC district. He is coming from Troy, AL. That means I get to train yet another one about the area. It does however make the transfer go by so much faster. These last six weeks was a blurr. Its going by so fast. I can't believe that school is starting soon. Everyone is moving back in to Tallahassee and I'm here yet again for the population growth. This transfer is going to be exciting though. BYU will be here this transfer, but that same weekend a member from the Seventy will be here. I'm not sure which one, but I'm pretty sure that its going to be awesome.

This week has been crazy. We have done so much driving I'm sick of the 'Man Van' and of course, Sis Simmons has blessed us with another story.

It seems like this week was the week for everyone to get sick. We spent all of Thursday and Friday morning driving the campus missionaries to their Doctors appointments, then we sat and waited for each of them to finish. Repercussions for when ya'll had to sit and wait on me? Maybe. Any ways, it was a long time to wait for each Missionary. I got through the Gospel of John during those days.

Sis Simmons has had some drama these last couple of days. Well, a lot of drama. Last Saturday was her birthday. We went and had a great time as you remember. Well we got a call the next day saying that her and Glen had broken up, she was no longer getting married and she through her ring across the field. Great, there goes our investigator! Sunday she didn't come to church, but we got a call that night saying that Terry will be studying with us on Tuesday. Terry? Yeah, he was the previous boyfriend who got sent to jail about 8 weeks ago. So Tuesday came and we went to Sis Simmons house and met with Terry and her. It wasn't too bad, we talked about what jail was like and what he thought about the Book of Mormon. We had tried to visit Terry while he was in Jail, but it takes six weeks to go through the process. Instead we left a Book of Mormon hoping that he would read. He did and he attended a bible study at the Jail while he was there. It was a good lesson and we committed him to come to church. Sis Simmons committed him to a little more. She committed him to baptism and into getting married on November 15th. Wow.

We were expecting Terry to come to church on Sunday, but things changed around on Friday. I got a call from Sis Simmons. She told me about how Terry did something wrong, he got kicked out of Sis Simmons home, and that Glen was back in her life. It was a lot of information to handle for me. In less than a week Sis Simmons has had two marriage dates with two different men. She flipped faster than Brother Beyer flipped the hamburgers last night. BTW, we went to a 1-year-olds birthday party yesterday, Brother Beyer was the chef. Sunday came and Terry wasn't there, but Sis Simmons was. She had a big Baptist hat on with feathers and ruffles and stuff. It was a grand event to see her there. Tomorrow we will be expecting Glen at Sis Simmons. Its going to be a rough road with Elder Faalogo leaving. Glen doesn't accept our message as easily without him.

I have some pictures to send to you, and something else. Elder Faalogo and I went to a play at the Moon. John Madden is a member in our ward who has a handicap

. We love him to death and he invited us to come. His band and him were opening for the show and He wanted us there really bad. So we went to support him. John was wearing a Tux and did great. At the play's intermission we went to go be with him. He showed us around and showed us some earrings that he made. They were huge! He used wire and beads to make some red earrings that are about 8 inches long. There was a lady there that had a son in the play. She came and bought Johns earrings. (I would have, but she beat me to it) As she was in line she made a funny comment. "I'm going to frame these, so they don't get ruined." haha. She knows how to be nice without putting any pressure on herself to wear them. John kept showing us around and we saw some shirts for his band. Of course I had to buy one. I'm wearing it right now. We are going to meet with John later today, so I have to represent. :)

Its been a fun week and I'm learning so much. I have so much more to learn and do. I feel really immature when I realize how far I need to go. Its great.

I love you all very much. School is starting soon. Have fun. ;)

Elder Call

Wild Week

Hey Everyone,

This week has been crazy. Most of the stories comes from Sis Simmons. So much to tell, so little time. JK ;)

I went on a trade-off with Elder Wardle this week. He has only been in the field for 3 weeks. Naturally he had a lot of questions. We went to their District meeting on campus, then we took off for Sis Simmons. Glen was there and we had a great discussion with them. Afterwards we watch the Restoration. We thought that it would give Glen a perspective on the beginnings of the church. Well, it did the opposite. Glen didn't like the movie because of all the white people. "Why can't there be any black people?" He would ask. Since Elder Faalogo was gone, nothing we could say would help the issue, because we are white. He also told us that he doesn't like to watch any videos about Jesus Christ because they are all Jews. "Why can't they throw in a Chinese person or someone?" It was really sad, because Glen is such a smart guy, but he couldn't get over the fact that there were no blacks in the movie. It was really sad.

We took off to go see the Hoods, who are doing great, then went back an hour later to eat dinner at Sis Simmons. I can now say that I have had true southern food. No more of this spaghetti and pizza and other Mormon foods. We had mac'n'cheese, collard greens, baked beans, chicken and corn bread. My plate was full of stuff as Sis Simmons handed it to me. Wow. The mac'n'cheese was alright. The collard greens were more sour than a pickle in lemon juice. The baked beans had something in it that I couldn't recognize. I think the chicken was undercooked. Last of all, the corn bread. It was actually the best corn bread I've ever tasted! I'm serious! It was delicious and I would not mind eating that again. However it was a night that I wouldn't mind not re-living again.

The next day Elder Wardle and I went to the Ronald McDonald house for service, then we drove out to President Campbell's house for more service. We gave Sis Campbell some cookies to thank her for driving Sis Simmons to church each week. After shoveling some bark for President Campbell we went to see Rachel Crowley. Do you guys remember Rachel? She was the first baptism I was able to participate in. She lives just around the block from President Campbell, so we went by to say hi. She is doing great. She has had a rough year, but is doing and looking much better. Elder Wardle and I then went to find and teach a few people. We were planning on trading back that night at the church to play ultimate Frisbee with the singles ward. We got there and only Marcus Jones was there. (BTW: Marcus' brother is the guy on the New Spice commercial that BYU put out. The one about going to the Library. Haha, very funny)

Thursday and Friday went by fast. On Friday we helped a family move. We got a call from Crestview saying that a family needed help. They weren't members, but they had family who was. So we accepted the call to help them. We showed up at their apartment to find that it was two college girls and their mother. Oh goodie (said/written very sarcastically). We had to move all of their stuff into a truck, then come back 4 hours later to move it from the truck into their new apartment. We invited them to come to the BYU Fireside on the 17th of Sept. They said they might come with their cousin, who is a big BYU fan. As we were leaving one of the girls mentioned that Sorority Week was coming soon. I remember last years, and I can't believe that I'll be here for another one.

Saturday, the best day of the week. First we helped Bro Bingham move out of his house in Tallahassee to his new home in Quincy. Well before we knew it we were past Quincy and in Greensboro at his In-Laws house 45 min away from Tallahassee. Yeah, long morning. Afternoon came fast though, mostly in anticipation for Sis Simmons birthday party. She turned 50 years old on Saturday! Hooray! We had a nice little testimony meeting. Everyone was given a chance to share. Then we ate. Yes, that meant that Tuesday was repeating itself. I was eating at Sis Simmons yet again. I did get a chance to talk with Sis Williams, Sis Simmons mother. She said that she would like to meet with us and that she hasn't been able to put the Book of Mormon down. Reading until 2 and 3 in the morning. I love the Book of Mormon, but I don't think I've ever loved it that much. We are going to keep in close contact with Sis Simmons and her mother, Sis Williams.

Well that was my week. I got a letter from Grandpa Call saying that they are selling the California Beach House. Sad, but I know that won't stop us from going to California, right?

I love you all and I pray that the summer will end soon. School is starting soon, transfers are next week, and BYU is on their way to Florida.

Love Elder Call

New Photos of Elder Call

Carnival came to town - Investigator John Madden


Sword play with investigator John Madden



Finding a Gator at Wakalla.




Volunteering at the Special Olympics


Kevin Ketcham's Baptism



Hiking in Wakalla looking for Gators....

It's August...

Hey Ya'll,

I can't believe that its August already. This is the last August I will have on the mission. I'm done with June and July too, yipee!! I didn't know that President Jensen called, but I will let him know that his message was greatly appreciated. I'm glad that people think I'm doing a good job, especially if its President.
Tallahassee is hotter than ever. Its reached 104 multiple times this last week. It makes getting out and talking to people dificult. Standing in their doorway, with sweat dripping off my face is not exactly the way we want to present ourselves to the people. However, we keep working and the sweat keeps dripping. Its been abnormally dry lately. That makes the heat rise because there is no rain to cool it off. Its like we're caught between a rock and a hard place though. Without the rain it gets supper hot cause there's nothing to cool it off. With the rain the humidity shoots right up making it hard to breathe and easy to sweat. Either way it sucks. We've been drinking so much fluids. I've never seen so many empty Gatorade bottles since I was home (no one can beat our house in Gatorade bottles). Its been a good week with the heat anyway.

We weren't able to get Angel to church this week. That means her baptismal date is going to be pushed back until later in August. Sis Simmons joined us for church though. During the week she told us that she wasn't going to be able to make it. We met with them on Thursday and Sis Simmons said that she has some important business that she needed to take care of on Sunday. We told her that we would miss her, we told her that Angel needs to come if she wants to get baptized, we told her that Sis Campbell would come pick her up. None of these helped the issue. "I'll miss you too, I want to be there," was all she would say. So we played the trump card. Any idea what that would be? Probably not, since none of you know Sis Simmons, but the trump card is 'Fast and Testimony Meeting'. Sis Simmons LOVES to bear her testimony. We told her that because its the first of the month its Testimony meeting on Sunday and that we would love to hear her testimony. Well that won her heart faster than she could say "Hallelujah, praise Jesus!" Sis Simmons called us the next day saying that she was going to be at church, "God willing," of course. Well Sis Simmons did show up to church. Angel couldn't make it, but Sis Simmons was there in all white ready to bear her testimony. Before Brother Thomas finished announcing that the meeting was open to everyone to share, Sis Simmons was half way up the stand. She got up and bore an awesome testimony. One only Sis Simmons could share. And as always, the phrase, "I've been off of Crack and Cocaine for 11 years," did come up. We love Sis Simmons to death. I don't know if I shared with you, but the other week she shared with us how she stabbed a guy ten times for laying hands on her. Yeesh, I'm not doing that blessing.

Zone Conference was great. As I predicted, President Jensen learned so much from the previous zone conferences and was ready to go. President Campbell, from the Stake Presidency, was there and shared with us the goals for the Stake and how we can help the Ward Leaders and members. It was great and we've been trying to implement them into our ward. So far so good. President Jensen taught us about the authority and who is in charge of missionary work; Stake Presidents and Bishops. President Campbell confirmed that when he got up and spoke to us. Sis Jensen taught us too. She was a first grade teacher before, so we had little handouts, a few game type activities and then an object lesson. It wasn't bad, but I felt like a first grader. Zone Conference overall was great. Afterward we were talking one with another. BYU is coming soon. On the 17th, or 16th, BYU is doing a fireside at the stake center and a tailgate party on Game day. Elder Brinkerhoff's dad is in charge of the Fireside and tailgate party, he said that we as missionaries may get the chance to feed and serve everyone during the tailgate. Either way, its going to be awesome and I'm going to request to stay in Tallahassee, for sure!!

I love you all and I"m so grateful for the support that you give me. For all the things I've learned from you and continue to learn from you. Thank you.
Love Elder Call

Ties that Bind:
Hey Brother's!!

Transfers; again!

Hello Everyone,
Another week has gone by, another transfer is done, and Kristen is now 19!! Congrats!!
Elder Tew goes home on Wednesday. My new companion is Elder Faalogo (Fa-a-long-o). He is Polynesian and from Utah. When I was on TCC he was on FAMU for a little bit. He is a great Elder who can dance, jump and work hard. He wants to play volleyball for BYU. That should give you a little taste of how high he can jump. Its been a tough transfer working with Elder Tew. He has been ready to go home since I got here in Tallahassee. He has kind of given up on the working. He says he's now in "Overtime Work". Haha, but I'm going to miss him anyway. He goes home to Reno, Nevada.
This week was filled with crazy events. One included a video of me, in first person shooter mode, with a can of silly string (thanks to Shannon), attacking the other Elders in the Apartment. By the way, that silly string smelled so bad!! It was rancid. I'll send you the video and other pictures soon, but I haven't gotten the second memory card. Do you guys still have it?
The other moment that made this week epic, was Sister Simmons. This woman is out of control, but we love her to death. We met with her on Tuesday. Angel was there and we talked about faith and action. It was a great lesson. Afterwards Sis Simmons invited us to her Testimony meeting on Saturday night. How could we pass up that opportunity. The occasion - Sis Simmons has been off of drugs for 11 years, and I think she's been a member for 11 years too. Anyways, we made sure we were there. Saturday came, we played basketball in the park, helped brother Ohlen move into his new apartment and made our way over to Sis Simmons. Everyone was there. Her daughters, her mother, her ex-sister-in-law and her ex-mother-in-law, her boyfriend Glen and his friend, Sis Simmons best friend Rosey and her husband, and a few others I didn't know. The place was packed. Bro Glen led the fine service. It was a Baptist event if I've ever seen one. Clapping, praising, yelling, shouting, repeating "Thank you Lord Jesus" and "Praise you Lord Jesus" all the time. It was intense. Then, to our lovely surprise, Bro Glen asked the four of us missionaries to take a turn to speak about Sis Simmons. I was asked to go first and had no idea what to say. So I pulled the missionary card, and testified about the Book of Mormon. Told everyone there that it was the reason Sis Simmons was there today. Then I ran out of things to say and sat down. Elder Tew got up and shared something similar. He got a little bit more into the Baptist moment. Elder Shummway was next. Elder Chidester was last. Now, you won't really get the same effect because you don't know Elder Chidester, but he really got into the moment and was clappin' and shoutin' and other things. He could start his own church if he wanted to, he was that good. :) Bro Glen got up once more. He told us about how he had been in jail for 20 years, just got out a couple months ago, found God while in their, and wanted to change his life around. (Don't worry mom, he didn't look like an ex-con, just a poor business man)Sounded pretty sincere to us. Then he did the most crazy thing of all. He proposed to Sis Simmons right there on the spot. . . . . . . . . uh . . . yeah, we had know idea what to do. There is some good in that proposal though, Sis Simmons made a commitment not to have any man living with her, unless they were married. So Glen needs to get married to Sis Simmons before she'll let him move in. Go Sis Simmons!!
After the Wonderful service, we handed out several copies of the Book of Mormon. We even got Glen to commit to come to church, but Sis Simmons called us Sunday morning to tell us she wasn't going to make it. Oh, well. We now have a good size teaching pool, all because of Sis Simmons. Who Knew!?!
This week has been great. I feel so happy. Reading about the fathers and sons is awesome. I see so much of what I was, what I should have been, what I shouldn't have been, what Dad is, what I want to be as a father. Its awesome and really easy to relate to the members and investigators. I love it. The Book of Mormon really has a power that will change behavior. If you're feeling down, read the Book of Mormon. Its the best prescribed medicine that the Lord can give you. Truly!!
I love you all. You probably won't get this until you're done with Trek. Good luck and have a fun time!!
Love Elder Call