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
Off to the MTC
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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 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
Monday, October 11, 2010
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
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
Monday, October 4, 2010
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
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
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