November 28, 2011 - Final Letter

I'm sending a couple of Large Flat-Rate boxes home today. You can open them or leave them taped up; there's nothing perishable in them. The weather has taken a wintery turn this week. it's been in the high 30s - low 50s at night. Our vehicle coordinator returned our Malibu back to us, all fixed up.

I'm souvenir shopping today, thanks for the thoughts. I will probably only bring 3 or 4 of my short sleeve shirts back, they are pretty frayed on the edges. I'm also planning on leaving my pillow and bedding seeing as I still have some at home....right?

The weeks been alright. Yesterday the Bishop made fun of me in priesthood opening exercises because I only have a few days left. Other than that it was a pretty good service. Sacrament meeting was one of the best I've been to. A recent convert that was baptized in September gave a really superb talk on the Holy Ghost, he was pulling stuff out of the Scriptures, Gospel Principles manual, Bible dictionary...it was great.
Thanksgiving was nice. The Mission President gave us the day off because no one wants to be bugged by the missionaries on Thanksgiving. We spent the afternoon with the High Priest Group Leader and his family. It was a good dinner.

On a different note we had a member take us 30-35 miles to another missionaries apartment for exchanges, after we switched we went back outside and the member was gone. (It was raining by the way pretty hard compared to Utah- actually the hardest I've sen it rain here all year. I've never been stranded on my mission before, so we went back inside and called the assistants. Thankfully they were able to pick us up and take us back to Dayton. I guess we just had a miscommunication about needing a ride back.

Kameron and his wife are still interested, we just can't get them to come to church, mostly because he works until at least 1-2 in the morning, so it's hard for him to get up in the morning.
I'm not sure whether I'll be able to read email next Monday, just so you know.

I don't know if you've been making plans already, But I really would like it if it was just you guys at the airport. People can show up at the house that night after we've been home a while if they want. I don't know what the plan is for meeting with the Stake Pres. I can't believe I'm actually writing this. It makes me feel like I'm being trunky. Sorry if this email is really BLAH I'm kind of depressed right now.

I think I'm probably going to need to see an Ear Nose and throat doctor when I get back. My cough is creeping back, I'm taking really deep breaths, I'm unusually tired and I'm forever in a "mental cloud/haze" if that makes sense. Some days are worse than others.

Ok I need to go. I'm almost out of time. Love you. SEE you soon. Bye

November 21, 2011

I have decided to send my bike back using the method the mission office usually uses (Fedex ground I think).

I will probably send a package or two next Monday. I won't have time today because P-day ends at 2:00 today. The reason P-day ends at 2:00 today is because Thanksgiving is P-day all day for us, because no one wants to be bugged by the missionaries on Thanksgiving.
Hey, I am felling better, but I'm still not at 100%. One of our members thinks I have an embedded sinus infection. I don't know, I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'm not going to get all the way better until I get to Utah. I do feel like there is something more going on with me than just allergies and a cold.

Well the exciting news from this weekend is that the county lifted the burn limit for a few days. The whole county has smelled like campfire smoke during the weekend. It's been so dry, people have been waiting all spring/summer to burn stuff....so the burn piles are really big.

We set a baptism date this week for Dec. 17. His name is Leroy, he has been coming to church for a while now...just walked in one day(before I got here) My excitement about his being baptized is stifled because I won't be here.

We've been trying to meet everyone on the ward list, this past week we met with different people, including the Ward Mission Leader, Bishop, and Relief society Pres. to try and find out who's who on the ward list. We were told of 20-25 households/families, that are on the ward list and it's KNOWN that they don't live around here anymore.

Sorry this letter is so short. Write you soon, bye.

November 14, 2011

I'm going to miss the Christmas conference this year. I'm pretty bummed that I only get one.

The recent mission conference was pretty good (except misplacing my wallet of course). I found my wallet, it was in an obscure place in some other missionaries' car. I got it back today. I saw Tyler (Christensen) and talked to him as we were walking out of the building, I didn't get a picture though.

Would you please mail me the memory card I sent home a while ago (with pictures?). There's a video on it that another missionary wants a copy of and I will need the pictures for my scrap book page I will make for President Crawford when I leave. (Every missionary makes one, and president keeps a book of all the missionaries he's presided over.)

We were able to visit with Kameron this week. Both he and his wife accepted the commitment to be baptized, but we haven't set a date yet. He is more interested/excited than his wife is. He hasn't come to church yet, but hopefully that will happen this week.

I saw former Elder Serdar this week he and his parents were touring his mission. I think he sent a picture to dads phone. It was nice to see him.

Alright I need to go. Love you guys- bye!

November 7, 2011

Hey,

Well it's November....weird. This week has honestly not been the best. I've been sick since Tues. with a cough/sore throat/sinus congestion/TIRED. We taught a total of 6 lessons this week. My all time low, because I've been in bed so much trying to get better. I just picked up some antibiotics from Walgreen's this morning. Hopefully that will help. I haven't gotten around to calling anyone about the bike shipping info. I've just been blahh.

We learned that Elder Rasband of the presidency of the seventy is meeting with the 3 Houston missions this Friday. Maybe I'll see Tyler again.

On the good news, we met a Police Officer named Kameron this week (yes with a K) he pulled the missionaries in Kingwood over this past summer and asked for a Book of Mormon and for them to teach him a little. Somewhere in between then and now there was a miscommunication and the missionaries here in Dayton lost contact/forgot/weren't told about him. We knocked on his door on Wednesday and he came to the door with his copy of the Book of Mormon and said he'd already read 1st Nephi, it felt good and he's prayed about it and it felt good. He's also really educated, he knows that the Bible isn't perfect and that there could be additional scripture. If anyone is going to be baptized into this ward before I leave it's him.

A song for sacrament meeting, the only two that came to my mind were Come, thou fount of every blessing or Come, come ye saints. I know Come, come ye saints, is associated with the pioneers but I think a lot of the lyrics apply to missionary work also. If you want to pick something else you can I really don't care.

I also learned this week that of the 4 of us flying to SLC myself and another elder are flying to Phoenix and then to SLC. Well the other 2 Elders are flying to Minneapolis and then to SLC, and they're supposed to land 10 min before us,....weird.

Thanks for the Birthday cards!

Sorry, my head's been in a cloud for a few days now...I'm drawing a blank on what else happened this week.

We also found out that Pres. Crawford is starting to make changes (meetings and such) I'm glad I'm leaving right before he starts to do this. It's just not what I "grew up" with.

Thanks for the $$$ that should be enough, Bike included.

See you soon,
Love you guys

October 31, 2011

Hey,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Our ward had a Halloween party on Saturday night as well. It was mostly for the younger kids though. I am planning on buying a pumpkin today and carving it up since it's P-day and we don't really have anything to do. Yes, it feels like Halloween. It is finally nice out and it's cold at night.

Thanks for the birthday package. I figured there wouldn't be much, that's ok though. We have dinner at a part members house Wednesday night. He, Kenny has been taking the lessons for a while now. His wife and one of his daughters (moved out, married) are active members. Other than that, no special plans for my birthday right now.

Yes, I am planning on sending my bike home. The vehicle/bike coordinator says it will probably be $100, but the old housing coordinator, Bro House, (no joke) lives in our ward and says the old vehicle coordinator found a way (he thinks it's FedEx ground?) that's like $30-40. I'm going try to talk to him about that and find more info.

Hmm do I have a song I want sung at my homecoming?......I'll have to think about that, I'll let you know next week.

Yes, I plan on bring some stuff back, but I'll need more money on the debit card. I'm pretty sure I'm almost out again. By the way my debit card EXPIRES AT THE END OF NOVEMBER! I'm pretty sure that will be important with flying home, but I'm not sure what to do about it besides tell you.

So, I got my "trunky papers" in the mail Saturday, stuff about returning home: travel, financial, medical,etc. Apparently, I need to be tested for tuberculosis ASAP when I get back. The church has a medical form they want me to fill out and send to SLC. I'm thinking I will send a package or two home of stuff that I have accumulated on my mission that might weigh down my bags or just take up a lot of space.

Elder Judkins and I have a goal to have two baptisms in November....all I really want right now is to FTB - Find Teach Baptize before my mission ends.

I'm excited for the month to start over because we have been scrimping and saving miles for the last 2 weeks. We have about 45 left for today but we're still saving because other people have gone over on their miles and we are trying to help them out. It's kind of complicated but miles are transferable between missionaries.

oh yeah something else for Birthday or Christmas is I think it would be cool to go see the Motab Christmas concert, But that could just be because I'm a missionary and that desire will wear off after I get back.

Well I need to go,
Love you Guys bye!

October 25, 2011

Hey,

So, as you can probably guess, Elder Jensen was transferred yesterday. We had to be at the mission office by 6:00 AM ughh. That means a 4:00 AM wake up...zzzzzzz. Elder Jensen went BACK to Baytown which is really weird because that was the ward he served in before he was transferred to Dayton. So I had to wait around Kingwood, the mission office, until 1:45 ish for the transfer van to come back with my new companion, Elder Judkins. He's been out about 14 mo. He came out to Texas when Elder Sedar...I mean Eric became my companion. I am his third missionary to send home. Meaning he has already been 2 other missionaries last companion.

Oh about the chocolate, I don't think you understand how warm it still is down here. It's not crazy hot but the chocolate was all melted from sitting in a metal box in the sun all day. The mail man puts a key in our mail box that unlocks a bigger box if we have a package. So I threw them in the freezer. :-)

Yes our ward is doing a "Fall Festival" party this Saturday. I'm not sure what it's all about but it sounds like fun. I think I'm going to bye a pumpkin next Monday and carve it as a P-Day activity.

It's really weird that I'm in my last transfer... to know that I'm not going to be transferred anywhere else, and that I don't have to worry about getting a companion that's hard to get along with for a long time. I'm not talking about my new companion, he's cool.

My allergies have been pretty bad since I came to Dayton, I guess there is just stuff in this country air, but it's been worse the past few days. I think I might have caught a cold and a cough, but I'm on the upward slope. I felt terrible Sunday night and the 4:00 a.m. morning didn't help, but I'm getting better. Hopefully this snot doesn't turn to blood when I come back to cold dry air.

Right now Elder Judkins and I are making plans to try to meet everyone on the ward list. There are a lot of people we don't know and we have been struggling to find people to see. My goal is to baptize in the next 6 weeks!

Oh yeah, they shut down the Fred area :-{ I was sad to see that, but it needed to happen.

This last transfer with Elder Jensen, I learned the importance of preparation. The Lord will only supplement our effort, if we give our all. When Elder Holland came he talked a little about that. He talked about how much studying heart surgeons do before they are allowed to operate. There is more, but I am out of time.

I need to email President Crawford.

Love you hope you guys stay well,
Bye

October 17, 2011

Hey everyone,

Wow another week. One more till transfers. Well, I was in my first car accident ever this week. Don't worry it was just a fender-bender. Don't worry I wasn't driving. The cause of the accident: a lane change in front of a stoplight. The other car was a GMC 3500 Desil Denali. That was Friday morning, So right now we...well I'm driving a 2010 corolla until our vehicle coordinator has our car repaired.


Some one told us it was going to cool off this week. Yeah! :-))

We went to the temple last Tuesday. That was nice.

Yesterday I was thinking about how I'm about to start my last transfer and I had a very surreal experience. I couldn't comprehend myself doing anything besides being a missionary. The first 19 years of my life felt like I had watched a movie, and going home felt like a myth, like something that is talked about, that you see happen to others, but never happens to you....It was really weird.

In his letter Dad asked me if Dennis was baptized on the 24 of either August or September. I can't remember anymore, but yes he was. I believe there is a picture of him with Elders Vainuku and Hardy in the focal point.

Were we able to follow up with any of our media referrals from Gladys Knight? Yes and no. We gave one to a members friend who has come to church before. One to a part member couple, who we are kind of teaching, (It's along story), and a couple to some black ladies who are interested but they live forever a way and are super busy. It's been a few weeks since we've met with them.

It's weird that it is halfway through October already!

We are having to bike and mooch rides everywhere because we are already almost out of miles for the month. We've had a lot of extra trips this month, Temple, Zone Meeting, Zone P-Day, President interviews, members who live far away and probably transfers next week. We have 1,200 miles a month....we are at about 750mi right now.

Elder Jensen riding in Dayton, Texas

I'm out of time. Talk to you soon,
love you guys!

P.S. you didn't answer my question about Cameron saying I had to get up early the day after I got home and neither has he. Now I'm suspicious.

October 10, 2011

Hey,

Well, another week down. It rained yesterday for the first time in...really since tropical storm Lee. Every week we drive over lake Houston....I mean the golf course lake Houston. Every week the islands are bigger and there is more grass.. and its the only grass around that's green. They say that when the water level started dropping they found that the people with lake front(now beach front) homes had hooked up PVC pipe and had been stealing water to irrigate their gardens.....oops! The weather is nice right now, except mosquitoes, sometime it gets a little warm but not really. We get to go to the temple tomorrow, what a blessing.

Let's see what happened this week.......ughhhh why is it so hard for me to generate a long descriptive email for you guys? We've been trying to stay busy. President Crawford has come out with 25 scriptures he wants us to memorize and 100 scriptures he wants us to familiarize ourselves with. We have our Pres. interviews this Weds. (last one until my departing interview).

You asked if I will have to lose weight because the ward is feeding us? Right now I'm at a total gain of 8-12 lbs since I started my mission. I'm trying to keep it that way.

Whoa! Wait! since when were Nick and Sarah having a baby? I know you told me last week but I don't remember hearing anything about them before that. Oh also about 6 months ago you said the Allred's were thinking about moving to UT? I'm guessing that never happened.

Nothing new to report in the way of missionary work sadly. I don't think we were able to meet with any of our investigators/ or potentials this week. Although we did receive a referral for the H.P. group leaders coworker who supposedly stopped the missionaries in Atascocita and asked for a Book of Mormon. He may also have been meeting with other missionaries in Kingwood, since that is where he works, but he lives right by our ward mission leader.

Sorry, no pictures. I thought the library would be closed because it is Columbus day(some of the banks are closed today) so I didn't bring my card reader/camera, next week though I promise.

Oh you asked about my birthday..... The only thing I would ask for while I am still out would be some good ol home cookin. As for after I get back... I want to build a computer in the case that I bought before I left So if dad (since he knows what to look for) sees any good deals online on black Friday or (tech Tuesday? does that exists or am I making it up)? or any other good deals on computer parts I would appreciate those. Basically, when I get back I would ask for help in doing that, buying a laptop, maybe some movies that have come out, and school( mostly because I'm going to miss sales around black Friday, on the computer stuff).

Out of time, got to go!
love you!!

October 3, 2011

Hey,

How are you? Actually, I have not received a letter from Ethan yet, nor a package. I was really hoping Ethan's letter would come Saturday, but sadly no.

Wow, West Africa! I was not expecting that. I had guessed Europe. Do they wear pants in his mission? It sounds like it will be hard, but i think he's up to it. I wonder if he will be a Branch President on his mission. I'll bet the missionaries make up a significant part of the priesthood out there. 90's-100's all year ouch!! At least it's not 105 plus the humidity. The weather here has finally cooled off. It has been in the 70s since the first of October. I think we are through with the hot hot weather.

I did enjoy conference. I really liked the priesthood session as well as Pres. Eyrings talk on charity, Sunday morning. I also really like Elder Ballard's talk on the name of the church. I did not get to hear Elder Scott's talk though.. I guess he spoke first? We came to the church Saturday morning and no one had planned on setting up to watch conference. Then when the Bishop and ward Clerk showed up, they couldn't get a signal from SLC! They had to call SLC tech. to figure out what was going on. Turns out our satellite needed to be re calibrated for some reason. So we missed the first 20 min of the Sat. morning session.

Yes, the ward is feeding us. We are still trying to find new investigators. We may have found some, a couple of black ladies that were invited to go the the Gladys Knight concert by their member friend. They are very educated and knowledgeable about religion/bible (surprisingly). We've taught them the first lesson and have a return invitation for next Sunday.

I think I'm entering the last phase of my mission (knock on wood) at least a new stage. I will admit I am starting to get a little "trunky". I saw my name and others listed on a white board in Pres Crawford's office. The list was of missionaries going home in the next few months. That was a dose of reality.

I like Elder Jensen he's a hard worker. He will probably get transferred in a few weeks though, with how long he's been here and then when I have to leave.

Well I need to email Pres Crawford and Ethan,
Love you! Hope you making it with school and everything
Bye!

September 26, 2011

Hey everyone,

The Dayton area is REALLY dry because it hasn't rained, lakes and ponds are drying up left and right, but it's still more humid than Ut I think. Hotter too.

Yes, I am excited for conference! :-) I'm guessing we will watch it at the church but that could change.

So, I guess the church puts on this performance called Saints United Voices (SUV) Directed by Gladys Knight. Well They came to Houston this week. I guess it's a really big referral generator. We received 3 Referrals for nonmembers yesterday and apparently we are getting some more today from it. So that has been a big thing going on down here.

I got your letters, thank you!

Not a whole lot to report on the missionary side of things. We've really been struggling to find new investigators and too find more effective things to do than tract. Seems like that is the story of my mission, struggling to find new investigators. President says this is a baptizing mission, but I don't see myself as a baptizing missionary.

Our apt. is getting bug control"ed" today, we had to pull everything out of the cupboards and cover them.

Did I tell you we are going to the temple again on Oct. 11?

I'm sorry maybe its because I ran out of milk yesterday so I only had 4 pieces of toast for breakfast, but I can't think of anything to report on.

There is a Chiropractor in our ward. He's helping me fix my Planters fasciitis/tight calf's. I'll have to wait and see if it makes a difference.

I'm just brain dead right now, sorry.

So Ethan wants to learn a language huh... For me the culture shock of Texas, and just trying to learn the lessons was hard enough, I think if I had been sent foreign I would have come home at my own insistence in the first month. I had seriously under estimated how challenging it would be, but I think Ethan is of that kind of caliber that he would succeed in a foreign speaking mission. Not to mention letters/packages are better if your in the USA.

That's crazy that his call's in the mail. You might want to think about having him open it recorded on video.

I'm almost out of time. Love you!

September 19, 2011

Hey,

So, it's been another week. Elder Jensen and I are going to deep clean the apartment today....It needs it. The ward is awesome here, the work is a little slow though. I'm sad to say that "less than perfect" missionaries have been here recently. The work is also unique and different here than any of my other areas. Remember way back in the day when I had my call and you were researching my mission....Well, if you remember that, you'll remember that there was a "cleansing" a few months before I came out....we'll just say this area has a few scars from that event that we are still trying to heal.

Apparently this area has been pretty bad for meal appointments lately....we have a full week this week though....we may have mentioned the situation to the Stake President at a special meeting he had last Thursday with the missionaries to learn where the wards needed to improve in missionary work.

We've been on our bikes a lot this week in order to try to save miles. fortunately Tropical Storm Lee broke the heat.. it has still been getting hot, but not like it used to.

Man, that stinks about Ethan's call. Hopefully he will have it on the 28th.

We had a baptism this past week a man named Curtis. I met him once before he was baptized so I still don't know him that well.

I also went on exchanges with our District leader this past week. He's in a bike area. It was the first day of my mission where I didn't have a car.

Also, as far as I know, this past week one of my recent converts in Mid-County Lee Segura baptized his 8yr old daughter on Saturday. I was able to go back because we had a baptism here the same evening. (Curtis)

Apparently, we are going to the temple again in Oct.

I'm still trying to learn everyone here and meet all our potentials/investigators.

I need to go Love you!

Here is my new address.

704 E. Warring Dr. #240

Dayton, Tx.

77535

September 13, 2011

Hey,

What a week! Well, as you can probably guess by no email yesterday, I was transferred again (What!!!!!!!!!!!)

My new area is the Liberty Ward, but we live in Dayton. It's in the country. My new companion is Elder Jensen. He's been out for about 6 months, and he's from WA. I'm glad to be in the country again, but there were a few people I was sad to say good by to. Along with being transferred, I was released as District Leader.

Another unique thing happened this past week. Last Friday, the mission office called, wanting to know what airport I was going to be flying into! YIKES! Talk about a thorn in your side! In the course of transfers I stopped in the mission office and saw my flight plans! Apparently, I have a layover in Phoenix, AZ. and I'm flying in at about 7:20 PM!!! That's disappointing! I guess I'm not leaving Houston until 3:00PM because it's cheaper. Weird to think about this. I will have to get back to thinking about missionary work!

Got to run,
Love you,
Bye

September 5, 2011

Hey,

Things are pretty nice right now, it's about 85 degrees outside. We've got a big old "cold" front over us :-) if my amateur meteorology knowledge is right. Tropical Storm Lee was nice. It blew a lot of clouds in that cooled things off and it rained quite a bit on Saturday. It's just nice to be out of the stale heat. Tropical Storm Lee mixed things up nicely.

Yes, transfers are this week, and yes Elder Serdar goes home this week. I know he lives in the Sandy area. I don't know if I will get transferred or not. I have a feeling something is going to happen with our companionship, but I don't know. I'm thinking the fact I only have 2 transfers left President Crawford is going to do something.

We don't really have any new investigators. We committed an "eternal" investigator, Dennis, to baptism on 9/24/11. His wife is a member. Missionaries have been going over there for some time now. This transfer has just been a hard one. I think the lord is trying to strengthen my weaknesses. Nothing has really been bad about this transfer, it's just been playing against my weaknesses.

We do have a potential investigator named Cathy, who is a referral from her member friend. I think I mentioned her before. We are going to take her on a church tour on Thursday.

Well, yesterday I wasted $1.86 + tax. I bought a pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream...so why was it a waste? It had coffee in it. It wasn't coffee flavored, but it had coffee in it...that was disappointing.

Well I need to get going. Sorry it wasn't longer with more detail.

Love you guys

August 29, 2011

Elder Tyler Christensen and Elder Wesley Christensen

Hey,

Yeah I did have a better week this week. I received some answers to prayers about why we are struggling, and how we can improve. I also had the opportunity to see a lot of familiar faces this weekend. A lot of the members from Jasper and Fred were at stake conference so that was really nice. A "Tender mercy from the Lord". I saw Ty "Elder Johnson" from a distance, I saw a lot of Guy, I mean Bishop, in him this time, but I didn't talk to him. I did get to talk to Tyler for a few minutes after our meeting with Elder Holland before they strongly encouraged us to go back to our areas. At our meeting on Friday Elder Holland shook everyone's hand, that was cool. I recorded his talk on my voice recorder. It would be so hard to be a celebrity, even a Mormon celebrity. Everyone wanting to shake your hand, etc...I have more respect for the Apostles and First Presidency now. We had a good stake conference too. Pres. Crawford got up and told the stake that "yes, my eyebrows are real" "I was never involved with the Mafia" and said an Elder told him he thought he was a "government hit man" I was thinking to myself "good grief". We also had a good zone conference last Weds. I have one more left on my mission.

I get the feeling form Cameron's Emails that he is pretty excited for me to come home.

Well we're down to the end of Aug. maybe the heat will start to give a little here soon.

A Corn spider on someones front porch we came across while tracting.

I had my Temple Recommend renewed this week by Pres Crawford.

The work is still going pretty slow, but now I'm confident I know what we need to do to pick it back up!
Downtown Houston we had to drive past to get to the Missionary conference.

I need to go,
Love you Bye

August 22, 2011

Hey,

Sigh...another adventurous week...And another one to come. I think the climax of last week was getting food poisoning for the first time in my life, and throwing up for the first time on my mission. We are pretty sure it was the hamburgers we had for lunch on Friday. We ate at about 12:3 -45. I started to feel something around 4:00 Shortly thereafter I started my repentance process. 1. admitting I had done something wrong (eat the burger) 2. I was definitely feeling sorry for what I had done. We went home, I took a nap. At 6:45 I completed my repenting by making restitution (doing my best to make it as though I had never eaten the burger) and I will not be eating there again.... So that was fun...Not. Elder Vainuku got sick too but it took him longer to get sick and he never did puke. We are fine now though, don't worry.

Today marks the beginning of probably the most Intense week of my mission. Today is Zone P-day. Weds. is Zone Conference, Pres. Crawford has lengthened this one by 3 hrs!! We also found out this past week that Elder Holland will be speaking to the 3 Houston missions Friday evening (I'm going to try to get a picture with Tyler, I mean Elder Christensen) The reason Elder Holland is in Houston is because he is reorganizing a Stake Presidency. Well, that Stake Presidency is the Beaumont Presidency. So he will be speaking at our stake conference on Sunday which will be held in the Port Aurthur building. That's right, the church I go to each week. It's going to be a week never to be forgotten.

Elder Vainuku and I have been really struggling with finding new investigators. I think that's something I've struggled with my whole mission, but is really hitting hard now. I don't know that I ever really learned how to find...I learned how to tract, and contact, but I don't think I learned how to find. Yeah it's discouraging/frustrating, Am I the happiest I've ever been on my mission right now? No. Am I going through some stuff right now? Yes. Am I working what I judge to be my hardest/smartest, and am I going to get through it? YES! (It probably has something to do with there not being any 7-11/Slurpees down here. Can you believe that?!? no slurpees! And it's way hotter that Ut.<:-))

Is Robin a Freshman now? I was trying to figure that out the other night. If I remember right she is 14? If she's 14 she would be a Freshman this year. If that's true !!!!!!!! When did that happen!

My goal right now is to make it through the rest of August, it should cool down a little in September and should really cool down in late Sept. - Oct.

Well I need to go. Good luck adapting to the school routine.
Love you guys, Bye!

August 15, 2011

Hey,

It's been a long week...... Cameron just sent me a letter, he sure is trunky for me. Yeah Elder Vainuku and I are doing well. He hardly gets any mail, but that's not because he's so far away. He asked his family not to write him to help him stay focused on the work. Thanks for the Banana Bread by the way.

I'm still thinking Weber and I'm thinking an Information Systems Technologies (IST I think that's what it's called) degree.

I'm Tired......

It's hard to believe Ty only has 5 weeks left.

Hmmm...something special for Nate and Liz.... There isn't anything special that I can think of off the top of my head,besides maybe including a picture or two that I've taken, but I'll think about it. Maybe I could get them a gator head or something..... haha Nate and Liz....

You are farther along than I am in the Book of Mormon. I'm In Mosiah (19?) although it is easier for me to read everyday than you guys.

You're going to sign me up for pageant next year right?

We contacted a Referral this week from a a member in Houston. Her name is Cathy, she is very intelligent. She speaks English and Spanish, (She's white not mexican). She want's to come to church, and take a tour of the church, but she wants to do it in September.

Oh, we also found out that one of our investigators is a Pedophile. Soooo, yeah, President Crawford says that requires first presidency approval. We're not sure if he will ever even be allowed near the church because it might be a Child Safety Zone...So that happened this week....Exciting, but he says he feels the Book of Mormon is true.

Ok I need to go,
Love you guys, Bye

August 8, 2011

Hey there,

I hope you had a fun time at the Cousin Campout.

I can understand how Jacob feels. I was excited to be a senior, and finish school.....Good Times, but I am glad it's him not me.

I think I'm going to make sure I finish the Book of Mormon before I come home also. I'm in Mosiah. (Abinadi)

Elder Vainuku and I are having a great time. We're struggling to find people to see but we're working on it. Just this past week, we received a referral from Bishop. He had received a letter in the mail from a man named John, who had found the church in prison, but had recently been released. We stopped by and he want's to be baptized, but he can't come to church for another 3 mo. because he's under "intensive observation" I guess it's kind of like house arrest. Also, he was in prison for committing a Felony. So I'm pretty sure he can get baptized, but he'll definitely have to be interviewed by Pres. Crawford. (He didn't kill anyone, so far as we know)

We also received a referral from a Member of the church living in Sugarland, Tx. She said she's a convert, she grew up in this ward, and has a friend named Kathy, that she has been talking to her on facebook, that recently went through a divorce, has been reading the Book of Mormon, and wants to meet with us this Weds. So the Lord is blessing us!

Do we get fed? Yeah pretty good, we have a meal coordinator who passes the calendar around R.S. and also tries to fill in the blanks we probably get fed on average 5-6 nights a week. Occasionally, we'll get paid money for our appointments instead of a home cooked meal, (single sisters, family emergencies, ect.) I think I'm going to take that money and buy a new bike seat today, we're doing a fair amount of biking.

We did get a new car this week, well sort of. Our vehicle coordinator had us switch cars with our Zone Leaders because they use more miles than us and their car is also higher on miles. (the church tries to sell the cars at about 50,000 Mi.) So, we still have a 09 Chevy Malibu but now it has 49,000 Mi. instead of 26,000. Both cars have things that are broken on them, but I liked our old car better. We, still have the same amount of miles per month, 1,000.

Shoot, I forgot to shave this morning, I'll have to do it after we go shopping.

Ok, I need to go now
Love you guys.

Get Ethan's papers of asap, bye!

August 1, 2011

Hey,

Yes I'm still in Port Neches. Elder Shepherd got transferred though. He went to Buna. It's a small ward about 45 Mi. South of Jasper. My new companion's name is elder Vainuku (vy (like WHY but with a V) -nuke-ooh) he's Tongan. Not only Tongan, he went straight from Tonga to the MTC, so he's still learning English. So I'll have at least one companion who's not from Ut. I guess Pres. Crawford recently told him to have an hour of language study each morning....Wow, I never thought I would be studying English on my mission. He's been out the same amount of time as Elder Shepherd 7 1/2 mo.

Yes, I got the package, THANK YOU! We were having a rough day and it was exactly what I needed.

The Temple was great, as it always is. I did pray about school. I think I'm still leaning toward Weber because I'm already accepted, I know my way around, I can live at home, it's cheap (ish). But I'm still thinking about it.

Yes, It has probably rained more in the past 2 weeks than it has the rest of my mission.
and the mosquitoes are loving it. :-(

Wow! 20 mo. tomorrow! yikes!

So Ethan's Last Dr. appointment is on Friday? So maybe like 1 mo. until his call?

We're still trying to find new investigators. It seems like that's what I've been doing my whole mission is finding without a whole lot of success. I think I need to ask more inspired questions when we go tracting. We are trying to find investigators, in ways other than tracting also, part member families, Less/In-actives. We got a referral the other day that's in Anahuac (I think I spelled it right). It's on the other side of our area, like 50 mi. away...and there's no phone number! :-( We've got another referral in Winnie, that's like 30 mi. away. It's in the same direction at least. I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to get out there, because we defiantly don't have the miles.

ok well I need to get going

Love you guys Bye!

July 25, 2011

Hey there,

Sounds like your summer is as busy as ever. I'm glad you made it back safe.

Transfers are next week. No, I don't think I'll get transferred, but that's what I thought last time too....

Biking or car? it really all depends on miles. Right now we are ok, but we'll see how the last few days of the month look.

It has been raining a lot lately, which is good. We need the water, but now...Remember how Moses plagued Egypt with a swarm of locust? Mosquitoes up the Wazoo! Holy Cow!!! I've probably killed 30 mosquitoes in the last 2-3 days, and that's what I killed, not saw killed . It's all in the work though.

We get to go to the temple this Weds. that's should be a fun trip. I think I'm going to ponder where I should go to school while I'm there. I think just before pageant I ask you guy if you had any thoughts/recommendations about school since you've "been there, done that.", and also since you might know me a little better than "I" know myself. If you could send me your thoughts I would really appreciate it. :-) Also, if you'd send the memory card back out 'with pictures' I would appreciate that too.

We had Leadership Training this past week. Pres. Crawford sure isn't pres Mouldenhauer! That's ok though, it might also be that Pres. Crawford is brand new and Pres. Mouldenhauer was seasoned.

Right now our teaching pool is pretty empty. They've all been baptized. So we're having to "Prune" our area. By prune I mean stop seeing the same people that aren't coming closer to Christ and are just a way to fill up the day, and star finding new people. Yeah it's hard with how hot it is. But it was never easy for the savior so why should it be easy for us?

Yeah, I heard they had legalized more fireworks in Utah...figures that would happen while I'm on my mission. Oh well i'st not THAT important.

Ok, well I need to go. Stay safe, have fun, write you later,
Love you guys bye!

July 18, 2011

Hey,

We had our baptism this weekend. Lee was baptized (by his father in law) and confirmed. I'm pretty happy for him and his family, They have the temple as their next goal, and a great family friend/ home teacher that will take care of them, and make sure they stay on the straight and narrow.

On the note of baptism, the Beaumont Stake/Zone is really pumped up right now because last month 16 people were baptized, which broke the old 30 yr record of people baptized in a month by 4 and those 16 people represented 1/2...1/2 of the people baptized in the mission. To bad I wasn't here during that month:-( This morning our Zone Leaders told us that we're already at 9 baptisms for this month, so we're pretty pumped up!

I think you should just save the Pageant shirt. I already have more T-shirts than I need. I need to send 1-2 home. That's pretty cool that your going to be on a 75th Anniversary Hill Cumorah Pageant committee next year, and that we don't half to "hope" we'll get in next year. I just realized you're still driving as I type this, that's a LOOONNNGGG drive!

Yeah I like President Crawford, he's defiantly not Pres. Moldenhauer, but that's to be expected, and that's not bad either. It's hard to explain the difference between them, Pres. Moldenhauer had a kind of intensity about him. His big thing was "Obedience with Hard Work". It sounds like President Crawford's thing will be "Preach My Gospel".

Yeah I like Elder Shepherd, he's a hard worker and wants to be obedient. It's hard to believe we've already been together 4 weeks.

Today is our Zone P-day we're going bowling, well I'm not I can't afford it this has been a pretty hard month on my monthly missionary funds. It should still be fun though to talk with friends. The last time I went bowling I just got frustrated because I stunk.

OK, well I'm out of time have a safe trip.
Love you guys bye!