Hello Everyone,
What a week we had. So many things happened or didn't happen like we had thought or planned. This week has been filled with so many things I'm not sure where to start.
Tuesday we had a lesson with the Cooper family. Sis Cooper has been coming out of inactivity. We taught a short object lesson to them, then let them do the rest of the talking. They knew all of the answers to the questions we had and they loved having us there. Sis Cooper mentioned to her boy Carter about getting baptized! Because of the divorce between her and Bro Cooper, the kids have been left out of church activity. They go when they are with their dad, but that's it. It's been three years since the breakup started and it has only been recently that Sis Cooper has been going to church. Her son Carter is turning twelve soon and Evan is nine. Both are ready and willing, but its just been a matter of time for their mom to say yes. She told us that in these last couple of she has been thinking about her kids. Bro Cooper always seems so sure, even when he doesn't have the kids with him. She said that he feels this way because he knows that he will see them again. Sis Cooper came to this realization that if she wants to be with her kids forever she needs to start doing the things that will qualify her for the blessing. Like going to church and such. Its been great to watch their progress.
Wednesday was alright. We had just about every lesson fall through, but we had some good moments. We saw the Burnhams. A less active family that refuses to come to church. We got the young men, young women conference challenge for the weekend.
Thursday I got a Jew's Harp from another missionary. Look it up, it is such a redneck instrument.
Friday we did service in Destin at a resort. A member owned a condo on the top floor of this building. It is right on the beach and is beautiful.
Saturday and Sunday were probably the best days. We had planned out our General Conference weekend so that we could watch each session in someone's home:
First session was with Brother Howell. He is just amazing.
Second session was with the Chabots and Jay Akoi. We watched it on the internet with them and Jay brought pizza. I told him that Matt eats a lot, so he brought eight boxes of pizza. There were only seven of us. We watched the session with them and helped Seth fill out his Conference Challenge.
Priesthood was amazing. We took Seth and Matt with us to the Priesthood session. The young men did and activity before hand and we were there with them. We watched priesthood and every time they said something about missionaries or marriage, Seth would poke me and say that he's talking to me. I had to remind him that I'm still on a mission and can't get married yet. I think all in all they enjoyed it.
Forth session was at the church. We were trying to meet Nina Cox there. A investigator from a part member family, but she never showed. We still enjoyed conference. I got to sit next to the Wendle boys. They are about seven and six years old.
Fifth session was the longest. The Grigg family invited us over to eat dinner and watch the session. We got to there house at 2:30 to find no one there. We got a call a few minutes later from Bro Grigg. He said that he was in Destin and would be there soon. They had just gotten a new bid on a job and he was working. Sis Grigg was with her two daughters at their Cheer leading something. We waited for them and Sis Grigg got home before Bro Grigg. We couldn't go inside, so we waited outside on their patio. It took a lot longer than we thought. An hour and a half longer than we thought. Bro Grigg finally got home and we ate while we watched the conference. I didn't miss anything because they had recorded it.
It was a great weekend. I love General Conference and I'm sad that this is my last one on a mission. However, I've been told that when I go home the members from the ward in Niceville can get me tickets to the next General Conference. ;) yay!
Its been a long week with lots of ups and downs. I'm glad I got to here from the priesthood brethren. I loved President Uchtdorf Priesthood talk, both of President Monsons, and of course Elder Scott's. There were others I enjoyed too, but mostly those ones. I wonder why?
Love Elder Call
Elder Call
Off to the MTC
Monday, April 4, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Spring time - feeling good
Hey Everyone,
I'm feeling great and grateful to be in Florida. Its warm.
We have had a great and interesting week. We have met a few interesting people and a few amazing people. One time when we were tracting we knocked on a door and a guy yelled from inside, "come in." We went in. He was sitting on his couch drinking a beer and watching TV. As we walked in he didn't say anything, then he noticed what we were wearing and recognized who we were. There was nothing left for him to say, but he said it anyway. "Oh Sh**. You got the wrong house." hahaha. It was so funny!
I've got a scary story for you. This morning i was doing my early exercises when Elder North came running up the stairs saying that he saw a giant spider. I went down with him to investigate. There it was on our couch. It looked so weird you could mistake it for a scorpion if you get it at the right angle. It was brown and hairy. Not your usual house spiders. Elder North got his big basketball shoe and smashed him. Now there is a dead spider on the kitchen floor. Neither of was want to pick it up in case it comes back to life. We both were a little creeped out. Mostly because this is the first spider to infiltrate the apartment while I've been in Florida and we have the nicest apartment. There are no real holes for them to come in. I went back up stairs to finish my workout. When I was done I went downstairs to eat breakfast. Still scared I poked my head around the corner. And guess what I saw... ANOTHER SPIDER! But this one was 3x bigger and in the middle of the Kitchen!! Where do they come from? Not just one spider, but two. This time I decided not to kill it. Instead I captured it. We have this make shift cage that we made for when we catch lizards. We didn't have a lizard in it, so I put the spider in it. Mostly because I wanted to show it to the Ft Walton Missionaries. No one believes a fish story, so I had to catch it. And catch it I did!! After showing them I released him into the wild again. Now that we are e-mailing I looked it up. The spider is a brown Recluse. They are poisonous and the venom causes damage to the skin and tissue. Or in other words, the skin and tissue die. AND IT WAS IN OUR HOUSE!!! I have had the heebie jeebies all morning. ew...
Back to missionary things. Sister Peart has been working with her friend for a long time. Well this week is our wards fast Sunday. Among other things, like a member in the Hospital and another whose husband is not a member, we had a fast for Sister Peart's friend, CK. What was really cool was he showed up for church, said he's ready to start taking the lessons, we had a lesson with him and the Peart's that night, and he is planning on watching a little bit of General Conference. He is amazing. He also has so many friends in the church. He is a nurse and works with about 5 or 6 doctors from our ward. O'Brian, Rulwics, Bronson, Honeycutt, and Riley. All are doctors for the Air Force and all are members of the church. Really active members of the church. He will have a great support system, until they all leave. We are losing about half of our ward in the summer. All of the mentioned doctors are leaving and others like Brother O'Malley are leaving too. Brother O'Malley is super cool. He flies F-35's, knows John Bytheway personally and is moving to Las Vegas (or whatever base is there). I will get to see him again too. However, the ward is going to change dramatically. The Primary just got reorganized this week.
I love serving in this ward. I feel so attached to them. Its like my home. The youth are so great. The youth leaders are better and everyone wants to be involved. Teaching the Chabots has been difficult. Seth and Matt are really stubborn. But that's what you get when you have such an awesome ward. You get the difficult cases. The ones that take extra time, extra love and extra work. All of it goes towards a common goal and all of it is worth it. What adds to the coolness is most of the members own really nice homes and have mentioned that I could come back and stay with them. When I say nice homes I mean waterfront properties with their own dock! Its not on the coast, but its in the big bay. Dolphins constantly are swimming past them. This week we were with the Johnson's who live on a little Bayou. They have a modest home. Its only the two of them though, so it looks like a huge house. He gave us the tour. They have an indoor pool. Well kind of. Its a screened off pool. No bugs, just a nice breeze. He took us up to the attic, or Dog House as he calls it. The place where he goes when he is in trouble. Its a little room that's fully finished, has a big tv and has a closet that is filled with model airplanes. I mean filled. He has about 300 model airplanes. He hasn't built any of them yet. They are all still in their boxes. He has WWI planes, WWII planes, planes from the Gulf War and planes that are still in action. He also has a model of the Battleship Missouri. The one where Japan surrendered on. It was the coolest Dog House I've ever seen!!
Anyway, Florida is beautiful. I sent Shannon her present today. She'll get it sometime this week.
Hope everyone is doing well and having fun.
Love Elder Call
I'm feeling great and grateful to be in Florida. Its warm.
We have had a great and interesting week. We have met a few interesting people and a few amazing people. One time when we were tracting we knocked on a door and a guy yelled from inside, "come in." We went in. He was sitting on his couch drinking a beer and watching TV. As we walked in he didn't say anything, then he noticed what we were wearing and recognized who we were. There was nothing left for him to say, but he said it anyway. "Oh Sh**. You got the wrong house." hahaha. It was so funny!
I've got a scary story for you. This morning i was doing my early exercises when Elder North came running up the stairs saying that he saw a giant spider. I went down with him to investigate. There it was on our couch. It looked so weird you could mistake it for a scorpion if you get it at the right angle. It was brown and hairy. Not your usual house spiders. Elder North got his big basketball shoe and smashed him. Now there is a dead spider on the kitchen floor. Neither of was want to pick it up in case it comes back to life. We both were a little creeped out. Mostly because this is the first spider to infiltrate the apartment while I've been in Florida and we have the nicest apartment. There are no real holes for them to come in. I went back up stairs to finish my workout. When I was done I went downstairs to eat breakfast. Still scared I poked my head around the corner. And guess what I saw... ANOTHER SPIDER! But this one was 3x bigger and in the middle of the Kitchen!! Where do they come from? Not just one spider, but two. This time I decided not to kill it. Instead I captured it. We have this make shift cage that we made for when we catch lizards. We didn't have a lizard in it, so I put the spider in it. Mostly because I wanted to show it to the Ft Walton Missionaries. No one believes a fish story, so I had to catch it. And catch it I did!! After showing them I released him into the wild again. Now that we are e-mailing I looked it up. The spider is a brown Recluse. They are poisonous and the venom causes damage to the skin and tissue. Or in other words, the skin and tissue die. AND IT WAS IN OUR HOUSE!!! I have had the heebie jeebies all morning. ew...
Back to missionary things. Sister Peart has been working with her friend for a long time. Well this week is our wards fast Sunday. Among other things, like a member in the Hospital and another whose husband is not a member, we had a fast for Sister Peart's friend, CK. What was really cool was he showed up for church, said he's ready to start taking the lessons, we had a lesson with him and the Peart's that night, and he is planning on watching a little bit of General Conference. He is amazing. He also has so many friends in the church. He is a nurse and works with about 5 or 6 doctors from our ward. O'Brian, Rulwics, Bronson, Honeycutt, and Riley. All are doctors for the Air Force and all are members of the church. Really active members of the church. He will have a great support system, until they all leave. We are losing about half of our ward in the summer. All of the mentioned doctors are leaving and others like Brother O'Malley are leaving too. Brother O'Malley is super cool. He flies F-35's, knows John Bytheway personally and is moving to Las Vegas (or whatever base is there). I will get to see him again too. However, the ward is going to change dramatically. The Primary just got reorganized this week.
I love serving in this ward. I feel so attached to them. Its like my home. The youth are so great. The youth leaders are better and everyone wants to be involved. Teaching the Chabots has been difficult. Seth and Matt are really stubborn. But that's what you get when you have such an awesome ward. You get the difficult cases. The ones that take extra time, extra love and extra work. All of it goes towards a common goal and all of it is worth it. What adds to the coolness is most of the members own really nice homes and have mentioned that I could come back and stay with them. When I say nice homes I mean waterfront properties with their own dock! Its not on the coast, but its in the big bay. Dolphins constantly are swimming past them. This week we were with the Johnson's who live on a little Bayou. They have a modest home. Its only the two of them though, so it looks like a huge house. He gave us the tour. They have an indoor pool. Well kind of. Its a screened off pool. No bugs, just a nice breeze. He took us up to the attic, or Dog House as he calls it. The place where he goes when he is in trouble. Its a little room that's fully finished, has a big tv and has a closet that is filled with model airplanes. I mean filled. He has about 300 model airplanes. He hasn't built any of them yet. They are all still in their boxes. He has WWI planes, WWII planes, planes from the Gulf War and planes that are still in action. He also has a model of the Battleship Missouri. The one where Japan surrendered on. It was the coolest Dog House I've ever seen!!
Anyway, Florida is beautiful. I sent Shannon her present today. She'll get it sometime this week.
Hope everyone is doing well and having fun.
Love Elder Call
Monday, March 21, 2011
Hello From Niceville.
Hey Everyone,
I'm really glad that Shannon got some use out of my letters. It's always great to hear that it means something to someone else. OH! BTW: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANNON!! You are old! Just not as old as me. You now get to go to all of the dances! I'm sure that will be exciting for you. You will be able to show off all of you dance moves on the dance floor. Keep practicing and you can teach me some when I get back. I'm going to need it.
Niceville is great. Its ben 70 degree's all week and that's what it looks like its going to be for the next week. Elder North and I have spent a lot of time walking around lately. Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar left the van with us without any miles. Just enough to get here and there. We now have to crunch for miles, but that's ok because we walk almost everywhere. We decided to go tracting right on the water. There are a lot of water front homes in Niceville and we needed to find some people. We didn't find to many, but while we were walking by the water I saw a really cool looking shell. I picked it up because I wanted to send it to Shannon. As I was holding it a little creature came out to say hi. It was a Hermit Crab!! He had a beautiful shell, but we were out in the neighborhoods tracting. We kept him for a little bit, but decided it would be better to release him. We left him in a park next to the water.
Elder North and I have been doing a lot of service. That was our day on Saturday. Service. We began by helping sister Fleck put up her new Flat Screen TV. Tami, her daughter was there to help to. They wanted the new TV up because Baseball season is coming quickly and they want to watch the Braves. - Next was the Cook's. Brother Cook made these two giant doors for his barn and needed help putting them on. He gave us the address and we drove out to his new place that they are fixing up. It is a beach house. There back yard goes right out to the bay. The bay is really shallow in some parts. There was a Volleyball net set up in the water about 30 yards out, and the sand bar kept going. They bought the house cheep as a fixer-upper. They were planning in moving in, but Sister Cook is pregnant with their forth child. It would be really cramped for them. However, if they still have the house in the summer, I could always go back and visit. :) We helped Brother Cook lift the doors and attach the hinges. They were massive doors and looked really good. Brother Cook used extra wood from their wood floors. It had a really nice finish. - Seth called us that morning and asked if we could walk Matt to his Birthday Party. Sister Chabot has been really sick lately. Severe Bronchitis, is what the doctors told her. She has been in bed for the last week. We went over and took the boys with us. We took Matt the his birthday party and Seth and Zack to the park. We were with them until they were tired and wanted to go back home. We stayed their until Matt and Alisha came home. - While we were at the Cahbots, we got a call from President Peirce's wife. Sister Phillips was moving and needed some help. Sister Phillips is very interesting. Her and Brother Phillips have been going at each others necks for a while and now they have decided to get in a divorce. It was a very interesting situation. Brother Phillips wanted us to help him move and Sister Phillips said she was going to call the cops on him and us. Haha. We got her stuff moved into a storage unit. Sister Billings, her next door neighbor, was very grateful for our help. So grateful that she cooked us dinner and let us watch some of the BYU basketball game. Jackson looked great and I saw his dad on TV. - It was a long day of service for us, but we were blessed in the end. While at the Chabots we told them we were going to get a ride for them to come to church since their mom was sick. Well, after dinner we called but no one answered. Elder North and I decided to go visit them before we went home. When we got there, their grandparents were already there. Not only were they there, they were planning on coming up and taking their grand kids to church the next day. YAY!! Seth and Matt are getting close again. I can feel it.
I hope you all are enjoying this time of you life right now. I sure am enjoying mine. I get BYU updates all the time from the members in the ward. ;) The work is great and the gospel is true.
Love Elder Call
I'm really glad that Shannon got some use out of my letters. It's always great to hear that it means something to someone else. OH! BTW: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANNON!! You are old! Just not as old as me. You now get to go to all of the dances! I'm sure that will be exciting for you. You will be able to show off all of you dance moves on the dance floor. Keep practicing and you can teach me some when I get back. I'm going to need it.
Niceville is great. Its ben 70 degree's all week and that's what it looks like its going to be for the next week. Elder North and I have spent a lot of time walking around lately. Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar left the van with us without any miles. Just enough to get here and there. We now have to crunch for miles, but that's ok because we walk almost everywhere. We decided to go tracting right on the water. There are a lot of water front homes in Niceville and we needed to find some people. We didn't find to many, but while we were walking by the water I saw a really cool looking shell. I picked it up because I wanted to send it to Shannon. As I was holding it a little creature came out to say hi. It was a Hermit Crab!! He had a beautiful shell, but we were out in the neighborhoods tracting. We kept him for a little bit, but decided it would be better to release him. We left him in a park next to the water.
Elder North and I have been doing a lot of service. That was our day on Saturday. Service. We began by helping sister Fleck put up her new Flat Screen TV. Tami, her daughter was there to help to. They wanted the new TV up because Baseball season is coming quickly and they want to watch the Braves. - Next was the Cook's. Brother Cook made these two giant doors for his barn and needed help putting them on. He gave us the address and we drove out to his new place that they are fixing up. It is a beach house. There back yard goes right out to the bay. The bay is really shallow in some parts. There was a Volleyball net set up in the water about 30 yards out, and the sand bar kept going. They bought the house cheep as a fixer-upper. They were planning in moving in, but Sister Cook is pregnant with their forth child. It would be really cramped for them. However, if they still have the house in the summer, I could always go back and visit. :) We helped Brother Cook lift the doors and attach the hinges. They were massive doors and looked really good. Brother Cook used extra wood from their wood floors. It had a really nice finish. - Seth called us that morning and asked if we could walk Matt to his Birthday Party. Sister Chabot has been really sick lately. Severe Bronchitis, is what the doctors told her. She has been in bed for the last week. We went over and took the boys with us. We took Matt the his birthday party and Seth and Zack to the park. We were with them until they were tired and wanted to go back home. We stayed their until Matt and Alisha came home. - While we were at the Cahbots, we got a call from President Peirce's wife. Sister Phillips was moving and needed some help. Sister Phillips is very interesting. Her and Brother Phillips have been going at each others necks for a while and now they have decided to get in a divorce. It was a very interesting situation. Brother Phillips wanted us to help him move and Sister Phillips said she was going to call the cops on him and us. Haha. We got her stuff moved into a storage unit. Sister Billings, her next door neighbor, was very grateful for our help. So grateful that she cooked us dinner and let us watch some of the BYU basketball game. Jackson looked great and I saw his dad on TV. - It was a long day of service for us, but we were blessed in the end. While at the Chabots we told them we were going to get a ride for them to come to church since their mom was sick. Well, after dinner we called but no one answered. Elder North and I decided to go visit them before we went home. When we got there, their grandparents were already there. Not only were they there, they were planning on coming up and taking their grand kids to church the next day. YAY!! Seth and Matt are getting close again. I can feel it.
I hope you all are enjoying this time of you life right now. I sure am enjoying mine. I get BYU updates all the time from the members in the ward. ;) The work is great and the gospel is true.
Love Elder Call
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Signs of Spring
Hey Mom and everyone else. ;)
I'm really glad that Clark is doing so well. Just reading about your one week experience at the U has brought back so many wonderful memories. I loved being there and being apart of something so cool. Bishop Clements is amazing and the young single adults in that ward are off the charts. There were so many others who worked just as hard, if not harder than I did to bring others back to the safety of the Gospel. Me and Clark just clicked, and that's sometimes all it takes.
As for BYU. There is a member here in Florida who reminds me a lot of Grandpa Call. Brother Conger only has one kid, but he is at BYU and Brother Conger himself is from BYU. He continues to watch sports and follow the team, although not as avidly as Grandpa. He let us know the score of the game and many members who are also BYU alumi have been telling us about Jimmer and how he is off the charts. I have also been getting reports about how bad Utah is right now. haha. funny.
This last week has been hard. We have had many appointments fall through and it seems with Seth and Matt Chabot we have hit a brick wall. Matt says were forcing him and Seth wants a tattoo. Ugh. However we have big plans for them this week. We are taking Brother O'Maley with us on Tuesday and Brother Bronson on Thursday. Both are Air Force, the one being a F-35 Pilot and the other a doctor. Both are apart of the young mens and have been huge influences on the Chabot family. We are going to try and get them a couple of steps closer to baptism. Bro Bronson is really excited for the lesson because they have just purchased a replica of the Liahona. We are going to try and use that to teach an object lesson. FUN!
Spring time is coming. There have already been signs. Cars are being covered by a green layer of pollen. And I mean covered. Think of a light snow in Utah, that is green. And it doesn't melt. For the last three days my sinus' have been shot. I feel like I've been banging my forehead on the wall in the same spot for the last three days. Its only my forehead, just above the nose. Painful I tell you. However, I've been taking my medicine, and medicine on top of my medicine and a lot of orange juice as well. Just to try and keep up. I'm doing better today and have been doing a lot better over all this winter. It's been great. I have only been sick a few times, unlike last winter when I was sick from Thanksgiving to April. It's been good here.
Tomorrow is going to be exciting. We are having a multi-zone conference in Pensecola. There we will be taught by Elder Alan F Packer of the seventy. We are very excited to listen to him, and because President promised us all red ties. ;) I'll tell you how it goes.
Love Elder Call
I'm really glad that Clark is doing so well. Just reading about your one week experience at the U has brought back so many wonderful memories. I loved being there and being apart of something so cool. Bishop Clements is amazing and the young single adults in that ward are off the charts. There were so many others who worked just as hard, if not harder than I did to bring others back to the safety of the Gospel. Me and Clark just clicked, and that's sometimes all it takes.
As for BYU. There is a member here in Florida who reminds me a lot of Grandpa Call. Brother Conger only has one kid, but he is at BYU and Brother Conger himself is from BYU. He continues to watch sports and follow the team, although not as avidly as Grandpa. He let us know the score of the game and many members who are also BYU alumi have been telling us about Jimmer and how he is off the charts. I have also been getting reports about how bad Utah is right now. haha. funny.
This last week has been hard. We have had many appointments fall through and it seems with Seth and Matt Chabot we have hit a brick wall. Matt says were forcing him and Seth wants a tattoo. Ugh. However we have big plans for them this week. We are taking Brother O'Maley with us on Tuesday and Brother Bronson on Thursday. Both are Air Force, the one being a F-35 Pilot and the other a doctor. Both are apart of the young mens and have been huge influences on the Chabot family. We are going to try and get them a couple of steps closer to baptism. Bro Bronson is really excited for the lesson because they have just purchased a replica of the Liahona. We are going to try and use that to teach an object lesson. FUN!
Spring time is coming. There have already been signs. Cars are being covered by a green layer of pollen. And I mean covered. Think of a light snow in Utah, that is green. And it doesn't melt. For the last three days my sinus' have been shot. I feel like I've been banging my forehead on the wall in the same spot for the last three days. Its only my forehead, just above the nose. Painful I tell you. However, I've been taking my medicine, and medicine on top of my medicine and a lot of orange juice as well. Just to try and keep up. I'm doing better today and have been doing a lot better over all this winter. It's been great. I have only been sick a few times, unlike last winter when I was sick from Thanksgiving to April. It's been good here.
Tomorrow is going to be exciting. We are having a multi-zone conference in Pensecola. There we will be taught by Elder Alan F Packer of the seventy. We are very excited to listen to him, and because President promised us all red ties. ;) I'll tell you how it goes.
Love Elder Call
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Surprise!!
Hey everyone,
I know you weren't expecting an e-mail today, neither was I. However here we are at the college e-mailing our families. President is really inconsistent with Holidays. I'm sure that because his schedule is just as crazy as ours he doesn't really notice them as much as he did then. All of the days are rolled up into one big one. The world just keeps revolving and changing and we just keep trucking along not really knowing or caring about what's going on around us. Its a pretty cool feeling to have and I'm sad that it won't last long.
There have been a lot of changes in our area. We just got Elder Mudaliar and we now have two companionships. Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar. Elder North and me. They have the east half and we have the west. Both areas have their advantages, mine is I don't have to drive a van. haha. ;) Its great! We ride our bikes everywhere, walk and just enjoy not having the responsibility of a car. Elder Bell is now the designated driver and I can do whatever I want to in the back. It is a blast!!
With the new area our teaching pool has been hacked in half. We have been trying to find more people to teach and praying that the ones that Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar are teaching keep progressing. Like Kenneth. I mentioned him last week, but it seems to be worse. We went to teach him on Monday and he didn't want anything to do with us. After talking to him for a while we once again were on good terms and he was ready for baptism, but he got worse over the week. When Elder Bell went to go pick him up for church he said he wasn't going. This will be the second obvious person who has been touched by the spirit and then chooses not to follow it. I know that they have their agency and that I should and do respect it, but its hard. I just want to tell him everything and allow him to see with his spiritual eyes. If he could just see what is waiting for him he wouldn't question anything, but jump right in. The same thing happens to me all the time. I don't know what's on the other side. A lot of times a trial comes in my life that just looks like a giant mountain. We see the beautiful valleys with flowing streams and the constant waterfalls, but the Lord tells us to go up the mountain. Straight up! It looks impossible and at times we may feel like we have come to the face of cliff. With nowhere to go, but up. Through it all we learn faith, diligence and a whole lot of patience. However, like Kenneth, if we don't start on the path we will never reach the top, we will never find out what it is that we are missing. Nobody could tell us about, nor could they give us a picture, because it would mean nothing to us. To truly feel the joy, we need to be where the Lord wants us, on top of the mountain. (BTW; its really hard to give a mountain analogy when you haven't seen mountains for almost 2 years)
This week is looking promising. I don't have to drive the van. I get to ride my bike in beautiful 70 degree weather. The Chabots are doing very well and close to baptism. Elder North and I are a great companionship. Its Megan's birthday and I have something to send her, sorry its late. What a week it'll be!!!
Love Elder Call
I know you weren't expecting an e-mail today, neither was I. However here we are at the college e-mailing our families. President is really inconsistent with Holidays. I'm sure that because his schedule is just as crazy as ours he doesn't really notice them as much as he did then. All of the days are rolled up into one big one. The world just keeps revolving and changing and we just keep trucking along not really knowing or caring about what's going on around us. Its a pretty cool feeling to have and I'm sad that it won't last long.
There have been a lot of changes in our area. We just got Elder Mudaliar and we now have two companionships. Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar. Elder North and me. They have the east half and we have the west. Both areas have their advantages, mine is I don't have to drive a van. haha. ;) Its great! We ride our bikes everywhere, walk and just enjoy not having the responsibility of a car. Elder Bell is now the designated driver and I can do whatever I want to in the back. It is a blast!!
With the new area our teaching pool has been hacked in half. We have been trying to find more people to teach and praying that the ones that Elder Bell and Elder Mudaliar are teaching keep progressing. Like Kenneth. I mentioned him last week, but it seems to be worse. We went to teach him on Monday and he didn't want anything to do with us. After talking to him for a while we once again were on good terms and he was ready for baptism, but he got worse over the week. When Elder Bell went to go pick him up for church he said he wasn't going. This will be the second obvious person who has been touched by the spirit and then chooses not to follow it. I know that they have their agency and that I should and do respect it, but its hard. I just want to tell him everything and allow him to see with his spiritual eyes. If he could just see what is waiting for him he wouldn't question anything, but jump right in. The same thing happens to me all the time. I don't know what's on the other side. A lot of times a trial comes in my life that just looks like a giant mountain. We see the beautiful valleys with flowing streams and the constant waterfalls, but the Lord tells us to go up the mountain. Straight up! It looks impossible and at times we may feel like we have come to the face of cliff. With nowhere to go, but up. Through it all we learn faith, diligence and a whole lot of patience. However, like Kenneth, if we don't start on the path we will never reach the top, we will never find out what it is that we are missing. Nobody could tell us about, nor could they give us a picture, because it would mean nothing to us. To truly feel the joy, we need to be where the Lord wants us, on top of the mountain. (BTW; its really hard to give a mountain analogy when you haven't seen mountains for almost 2 years)
This week is looking promising. I don't have to drive the van. I get to ride my bike in beautiful 70 degree weather. The Chabots are doing very well and close to baptism. Elder North and I are a great companionship. Its Megan's birthday and I have something to send her, sorry its late. What a week it'll be!!!
Love Elder Call
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Late Letter
Hi,
Sorry about last weeks letter and this weeks letter. It seems that it had trouble sending last weeks and we've been super busy here this week. We had another big P-Day down in Destin with the Panama City Zone. This time we took Seth with us. He loved it. He doesn't have anyone to hang out with him. He doesn't go to school, play sports, or really have any friends. We talked to his grandfather today and he said that Seth really looks up to us as 'role models'. I don't know if its best to be taking after me, but I guess I turned out ok. We took him with us first to a park, but we got kicked out because it was a private park, so we went to the beach. The same place we went last time. It was a blast!! Seth played football with us and on the way home we shot marshmallows at the others missionaries cars. We got a couple into their windows.
I know I forgot to mention, but I got grandma's package with the med's. Yum. Thank you.
Zack Chabot is officially a member. Elder Bell dunked him and his grandfather gave him the Holy Ghost. It was great for everyone involved! There were a lot of members and his Primary Class was there too! So much support!! Now half of the Chabot family are now members. We are working on getting them ready, before March 5. Yeah that's my b-day, but thats not whats important. We found out that the ward is going to have a Ward Temple Trip that day. If Seth can get baptized he can go to the Temple with Alisha and Kelsey! They will be able to go inside this time too. That is our goal for them.
We met a new guy last week. His name is Kenneth. Every time we go over there he feels the spirit and knows that it is true, however, anytime something good in your life comes, something bad has to match it. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was very personal to him because he had just recently lost his wife and son. He is now living alone with what he calls his 'girl friend'. A little Dog about the size of my foot. We taught about temples and preparing him to live with his family forever. He was prepared and ready for it. Two days later we went back and brought Bro Howell with us. Kenneth was in his back yard working on his Garden. We went to say hi to him and the first thing he asked us was, "Are you guys Jehovah Witnesses?" We spent some time explaining that we were not and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After the lesson we asked if he would be baptized? He said yes. Elder Bell asked if he would be baptized on March 5. (There's that day again) Again he said yet. We asked if he would come to church with us? You get the picture right? He said he would be waiting outside at 8:30. I went with Bro Cooper to go pick him up and sure enough, we pulled up at 8:30 and there Kenneth was ready to go to chruch. It was very nice. We gave him a tour of the chruch building showing him everything and introducing him to everyone. He loved it. All he could say was, 'I feel God's presence.'
We went back today. Again Kenneth was out back working in his garden when we came. When we came up to talk to him something was different about his countance. He asked this time if we were mormons. We said yes. He said 'I don't think I can be with you anymore.' Not again, was all I was thinking. Karren Barrett said the same thing to us. After feeling the spirit, she deceided to walk away from it. We talked to Kenneth for a while and answered his questions. He had been talking to his Sister-in-law and she had told him some things about us that put doubts in his mind. After talking to him the doubts went away and he felt good again. (BTW: a squirrel fell out of a tree while we were teaching. really funny) He said that there was a lot of opposition coming and that his family wouldn't like him joining. We talked to him about it and he agreed that it was the right thing to do. To get baptized and on the path to be with his wife again. Kenneth is a perfect example of the quick responses that Satan has on someone who is about to make a big change based on what they felt from the spirit. Kenneth is not a bad person, he just sits around and does nothing, and that is his problem. The Lord's gospel and teachings require work. Lots and lots of work. There is no retiring from it. There is no rest. Just work and more work. I love it.
That has been my week. It seems like everything is moving quickly. Kristen reminded me that 4 months is all I have left. As we played football I realized how old I was to the other missionaries. The end is very near.
My Birthday is coming quick, that must mean that Megan's is quicker!! 16!!! For your birthday Megan, I'm going to buy everyone else bike helmet's!! haha. JK. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!! LOVE YA'S!!
Love Elder Call
Sorry about last weeks letter and this weeks letter. It seems that it had trouble sending last weeks and we've been super busy here this week. We had another big P-Day down in Destin with the Panama City Zone. This time we took Seth with us. He loved it. He doesn't have anyone to hang out with him. He doesn't go to school, play sports, or really have any friends. We talked to his grandfather today and he said that Seth really looks up to us as 'role models'. I don't know if its best to be taking after me, but I guess I turned out ok. We took him with us first to a park, but we got kicked out because it was a private park, so we went to the beach. The same place we went last time. It was a blast!! Seth played football with us and on the way home we shot marshmallows at the others missionaries cars. We got a couple into their windows.
I know I forgot to mention, but I got grandma's package with the med's. Yum. Thank you.
Zack Chabot is officially a member. Elder Bell dunked him and his grandfather gave him the Holy Ghost. It was great for everyone involved! There were a lot of members and his Primary Class was there too! So much support!! Now half of the Chabot family are now members. We are working on getting them ready, before March 5. Yeah that's my b-day, but thats not whats important. We found out that the ward is going to have a Ward Temple Trip that day. If Seth can get baptized he can go to the Temple with Alisha and Kelsey! They will be able to go inside this time too. That is our goal for them.
We met a new guy last week. His name is Kenneth. Every time we go over there he feels the spirit and knows that it is true, however, anytime something good in your life comes, something bad has to match it. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was very personal to him because he had just recently lost his wife and son. He is now living alone with what he calls his 'girl friend'. A little Dog about the size of my foot. We taught about temples and preparing him to live with his family forever. He was prepared and ready for it. Two days later we went back and brought Bro Howell with us. Kenneth was in his back yard working on his Garden. We went to say hi to him and the first thing he asked us was, "Are you guys Jehovah Witnesses?" We spent some time explaining that we were not and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After the lesson we asked if he would be baptized? He said yes. Elder Bell asked if he would be baptized on March 5. (There's that day again) Again he said yet. We asked if he would come to church with us? You get the picture right? He said he would be waiting outside at 8:30. I went with Bro Cooper to go pick him up and sure enough, we pulled up at 8:30 and there Kenneth was ready to go to chruch. It was very nice. We gave him a tour of the chruch building showing him everything and introducing him to everyone. He loved it. All he could say was, 'I feel God's presence.'
We went back today. Again Kenneth was out back working in his garden when we came. When we came up to talk to him something was different about his countance. He asked this time if we were mormons. We said yes. He said 'I don't think I can be with you anymore.' Not again, was all I was thinking. Karren Barrett said the same thing to us. After feeling the spirit, she deceided to walk away from it. We talked to Kenneth for a while and answered his questions. He had been talking to his Sister-in-law and she had told him some things about us that put doubts in his mind. After talking to him the doubts went away and he felt good again. (BTW: a squirrel fell out of a tree while we were teaching. really funny) He said that there was a lot of opposition coming and that his family wouldn't like him joining. We talked to him about it and he agreed that it was the right thing to do. To get baptized and on the path to be with his wife again. Kenneth is a perfect example of the quick responses that Satan has on someone who is about to make a big change based on what they felt from the spirit. Kenneth is not a bad person, he just sits around and does nothing, and that is his problem. The Lord's gospel and teachings require work. Lots and lots of work. There is no retiring from it. There is no rest. Just work and more work. I love it.
That has been my week. It seems like everything is moving quickly. Kristen reminded me that 4 months is all I have left. As we played football I realized how old I was to the other missionaries. The end is very near.
My Birthday is coming quick, that must mean that Megan's is quicker!! 16!!! For your birthday Megan, I'm going to buy everyone else bike helmet's!! haha. JK. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!! LOVE YA'S!!
Love Elder Call
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Baptism!!!!
Hello Everyone,
I am super tired from last week, yet I was very happy with everything that went on. Alisha Cain and Kelsey Mol were both baptized this week. Today Elder Bell and I found out that we are training together. This will be my fourth boy and the second one to cause an awkward loop in our Mission Family History. Only in the south right?
This week started out with Zone Conference. It was fantastic and I loved being with so many outstanding missionaries. We discussed many topics, but the one President Jensen hit hard was Church and Sacrament meeting. Why we get them there and how we can work hard to get them there. We read many scriptures together and discussed how best to go about it. It was a fantastic meeting and a great way to start the week.
After Zone Conference we were going to bring Elder Sawyer to do the Baptisimal interview for us, but we had some issues because Elder Chidester wanted to come down to the South part of our Zone on the same day. After some long talks we were told to go pick up Elder Chidester a couple of times. We drove to Ft Walton five times in four days. That really killed our miles and our chance to go out and work effectively, but we still got it done. Wednesday night we had the baptismal interview. Both Alisha and Kelsey were to meet us at the church to pick out their white dresses and have their interview. Alisha showed up, but Kelsey didn't. She was in the Hospital with a nasty allergy to something. We had Alisha pick out her clothes and have her interview, but we didn't know when we were going to get Kelsey in. After we talked with Sis Chabot, she agreed to take Kelsey down to Ft Walton to meet Elder Sawyer at the church to do the interview for us, because we didn't have the miles to go get him. Both interviews went well, but man was that stressful.
We filled out all the information for the baptismal records. However, Bishop has been gone for a while helping one of his children move, and we need his signature for the record before we can send it to the mission office. I think we are just going to get Bro Miller (1st Councilor) to sign it for us.
Sunday came and we were super excited for the Chabots. Until they texted us right before church saying that they weren't coming because Matt had a nasty fever. Man! If any thing could go wrong this week, it did. We had to talk to Sis Manwaring to go pick them up for us. She went and picked up Kelsey and Alisha, but the boys didn't want to come. While we were at church we got to talk to many people and send our dinner calendar around during 5th sunday. (Lots of people sign up on 5th Sunday) After church there was a pot-luck. We stayed and ate and talked with everyone. Alisha and Kelsey stayed too, but another thing decided to jump in the way. Alisha was on her phone and the table and Kelsey asked her to put it away. Alisha got mad and stormed off. I had to go find her. Oh goodie. An angry teenager!
She went on to explain how she hates it when Kelsey does that. How Kelsey did it at the Temple too. How she does it all the time. Etc, etc, etc. The thing is, every time Alisha gets close to the spirit or close to doing something that she is supposed to. Something that will make her happy. She gets put out by something that doesn't matter. I'm sure Kelsey has said similar things before, but because Alisha is so close to something good, Satan just magifies it to the point where its all Alisha can see. He did this to her when we got close to baptism the first time. He did it when they went on the temple trip with the young women. He did it the afternoon before Alisha got baptized. He is so annoying.
Sunday came and Elder Bell and I were preparing for the baptism. I was so nervous. Two reasons. One, they both asked me to be the one to baptize them. Don't want to mess that one up right? Second, because of what happened earlier that very day I was worried that they would bail out on me and not show up. It was very nerve racking. I was soon calmed when they showed up. It was a fantastic service with everyone willing to help out. Sis Hendricks and Sis Walker gave talks. Sis Manwaring sang a song that she wrote (it only took her a week to write it). Alisha's grandfather was their to confirm both of them members of the church. It was great, and they did get baptized.
My crazy week ended with Mason Hendricks' spilling Root Beer all over my suit. We were at the Hendricks for the after Baptism party. Just picture in your mind what happened. . . enough said.
That has been my week. I am still very tired. Elder Bell and I will be getting our boy on Wednesday and Zack Chabot wants to get baptized next Thursday. About ten days from now. Yay!!
Love Elder Call
I am super tired from last week, yet I was very happy with everything that went on. Alisha Cain and Kelsey Mol were both baptized this week. Today Elder Bell and I found out that we are training together. This will be my fourth boy and the second one to cause an awkward loop in our Mission Family History. Only in the south right?
This week started out with Zone Conference. It was fantastic and I loved being with so many outstanding missionaries. We discussed many topics, but the one President Jensen hit hard was Church and Sacrament meeting. Why we get them there and how we can work hard to get them there. We read many scriptures together and discussed how best to go about it. It was a fantastic meeting and a great way to start the week.
After Zone Conference we were going to bring Elder Sawyer to do the Baptisimal interview for us, but we had some issues because Elder Chidester wanted to come down to the South part of our Zone on the same day. After some long talks we were told to go pick up Elder Chidester a couple of times. We drove to Ft Walton five times in four days. That really killed our miles and our chance to go out and work effectively, but we still got it done. Wednesday night we had the baptismal interview. Both Alisha and Kelsey were to meet us at the church to pick out their white dresses and have their interview. Alisha showed up, but Kelsey didn't. She was in the Hospital with a nasty allergy to something. We had Alisha pick out her clothes and have her interview, but we didn't know when we were going to get Kelsey in. After we talked with Sis Chabot, she agreed to take Kelsey down to Ft Walton to meet Elder Sawyer at the church to do the interview for us, because we didn't have the miles to go get him. Both interviews went well, but man was that stressful.
We filled out all the information for the baptismal records. However, Bishop has been gone for a while helping one of his children move, and we need his signature for the record before we can send it to the mission office. I think we are just going to get Bro Miller (1st Councilor) to sign it for us.
Sunday came and we were super excited for the Chabots. Until they texted us right before church saying that they weren't coming because Matt had a nasty fever. Man! If any thing could go wrong this week, it did. We had to talk to Sis Manwaring to go pick them up for us. She went and picked up Kelsey and Alisha, but the boys didn't want to come. While we were at church we got to talk to many people and send our dinner calendar around during 5th sunday. (Lots of people sign up on 5th Sunday) After church there was a pot-luck. We stayed and ate and talked with everyone. Alisha and Kelsey stayed too, but another thing decided to jump in the way. Alisha was on her phone and the table and Kelsey asked her to put it away. Alisha got mad and stormed off. I had to go find her. Oh goodie. An angry teenager!
She went on to explain how she hates it when Kelsey does that. How Kelsey did it at the Temple too. How she does it all the time. Etc, etc, etc. The thing is, every time Alisha gets close to the spirit or close to doing something that she is supposed to. Something that will make her happy. She gets put out by something that doesn't matter. I'm sure Kelsey has said similar things before, but because Alisha is so close to something good, Satan just magifies it to the point where its all Alisha can see. He did this to her when we got close to baptism the first time. He did it when they went on the temple trip with the young women. He did it the afternoon before Alisha got baptized. He is so annoying.
Sunday came and Elder Bell and I were preparing for the baptism. I was so nervous. Two reasons. One, they both asked me to be the one to baptize them. Don't want to mess that one up right? Second, because of what happened earlier that very day I was worried that they would bail out on me and not show up. It was very nerve racking. I was soon calmed when they showed up. It was a fantastic service with everyone willing to help out. Sis Hendricks and Sis Walker gave talks. Sis Manwaring sang a song that she wrote (it only took her a week to write it). Alisha's grandfather was their to confirm both of them members of the church. It was great, and they did get baptized.
My crazy week ended with Mason Hendricks' spilling Root Beer all over my suit. We were at the Hendricks for the after Baptism party. Just picture in your mind what happened. . . enough said.
That has been my week. I am still very tired. Elder Bell and I will be getting our boy on Wednesday and Zack Chabot wants to get baptized next Thursday. About ten days from now. Yay!!
Love Elder Call
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