December 9, 2013

 Great! I might just wear my huge trenchcoat, that way I won't have to pack it! I miss the snow and mountains, but I'll probably miss the beach as soon as I leave, haha. I'm excited to come back, but also sad because we have some people really progressing! And people we thought would take a while too, God truly is in charge of this work. Well update, we are in a tripanionship now because our DL was transferred early to be a ZL and we had to give him up to the AP's at night, it seemed secretive, so I took pictures! :) So now his companion is the new DL and is working with us! He is funny, and tells good stories. He is a jock, so he fits right in with us.

 Only three days left, time to clean, burn, and pack what is left! I will not burn any of the clothes while they are on me, I'm too close to be sent home early! :) I'm going to miss this ward... so these three days are going to be filled with pictures. Thanks for the updates for the past two years! We need to save all these emails in a file so they aren't lost in case they delete this in a couple months... But the church is true, the book is blue, the angel flew, and Joseph knew!

 See y'all soon! :D

December 2, 2013

I'm pretty sure I will be able to email next week, the email's length probably won't be that long... transfers are next wednesday, and so we should have a normal monday.
>  Things are going pretty normal here. I thought about my time here in Destin and Pine Forest, and even though we haven't had baptisms, I have found that doors were opened, and feet were put in them! We have room now to work with many people here, and who knows all the people who are going to be blessed with the Gospel because of those who welcomed us! We just helped move a part-member family and their son we talked with a while and he now feels comfortable with us, we talked to him about the gospel. He accepted to have the lessons. Another door opened! It may lead to his girlfriend taking them, and his sister. No good deed goes without a good consequence! I was going to say unpunished because it fit, but it didn't make sense...
>  I did hear about the field goal return from auburn! I'm glad y'all recorded it! I'm super excited to see it, there are a few 'bama fans here...:)
>  Our Thanksgiving went great! I had deep-fried turkey for the first time, and it was great! We also ate at a part-member's house and had fresh killed turkey, and fresh seasonings, it was also delicious! Funny thing, it is difficult to say which is better! :)
>  Do missionary's always talk with the high council when they get back? That is going to be awesome, my understanding about them has increased a lot. Who is on the high council? What missionaries are going to be coming back the same time? I don't remember who left around the same time.
>  Also, black friday....on a thursday?? We saw all the crazy people in the strip malls along 98, a wave of cars in the parking lot. One of our members said they went, and didn't buy anything! :) They went because their mom wanted to go get something, and this guy is in his 40's haha. He said there were guards around the I-pads, ridiculous...
>  That's all for the excitement here! Have any last questions for me, or things I should get before I get home?

November 25, 2013

Nov 25 at 10:25 AM

 It was fun being at the Smartt's. I didn't tell many people that my birthday was here, like you saw on the video, I still feel uncomfortable with lots of attention... but they are awesome! It takes an hour to get to their house from where we live. They are very resilient!  I did get the box, and I loved it! Those were the coolest gifts, I've told everyone about my Ender's Game T-shirt! I told Elder Miller more than 5 times... :) 

 That's weird that I'm coming home the 19th, so I have another week to stay, I wonder what they'll do with me. Probably a tri-panionship until the day comes.

 Not much is happening, besides thanksgiving. We are having a turkey bowl that morning, and we are inviting a lot of people, it should be super fun! Two visitors set it up, and it turns out they are from Humble Texas! One is a shorter white guy and the other an asian looking man, didn't catch their names, but what a coincidence!

 The next biggest thing for our ward in the christmas party the 7th, it's going to be good! The sisters want to perform with us in the talent show. So far we almost solidified what song we want to do... I love last second ideas! :\ haha. 

 Doors are opening for us, we have been able to have dinner and talk with a guy we've been trying to sit down with for a while. He wasn't ready for the lessons yet, but he agreed to sit in the lessons we teach his mom. Big step! We were also able to befriend an artist with a studio on one of the busiest parts of town, Harbor Walk. We talked to her and let her know we would love to help with whatever she needed in her shop, and she said she will call us to set up her christmas display. It is a great environment, and she is a good christian.

 Thanks for keeping me up with the fam! Love y'all! 3 weeks....again... :)

November 18, 2013

 

 I don't know anything about the flight info, but I did take care of the temple recommend! pres Smith said he'd mail it to me, that was like a month ago... I'll ask him about both. I'll have to figure out about sending my bike too, I don't know if we take care of it in the mission home, or if they expect us to do it ourselves before.

 I'm excited to see BYU's basketball team, and also all other sports! Especially Dad's basketball team, I think that's cool! We should make dad a coach hat! :) and a fancy, shmancy clipboard!

 Anyway our week went alright. I got hit on by a gay guy... yes it's true, I was weirded out, and a little flattered...JK! not serious. He was a street contact that we met on the beach last pday, and we got his number and gave him a BoM and tried to get a teaching appointment later in the week, but that's not what he was after. But being cordial and polite, and blatantly blunt said God delites in chastity, and I want to follow God, if you want to learn about his happiness give us a call, but until then please don't talk like that to us. We haven't heard back from him... :) 

 There is a lot of stuff planned for December! I'm excited. And I hear ya about the weird weather, yesterday we had overcast without rain the whole day, and since this morning it hasn't stopped raining... It's like a box of chocolate. you never know what you're gonna get! :] haha, we live pretty close to bubba gump's shrimp shack. 

 About the special musical number for the 15th...who's performing? /:)

New Pictures

November 11, 2013

 Y'all already heard about our branch becoming a ward? That was one of the most exciting things that has happened this week! We didn't know it would happen so soon, I was caught off guard. There were a lot of people there, and they didn't know about it either. A less-active family came, and one of our investigators, and also a lady who isn't a member, also affiliated with the less active family. We were way excited to see all that, and now it's going to be hard to call President Riley, Bishop Riley!

 We had a terrific week actually. We have a cool story of how we found a new investigator. So we were trying to have a lesson with this black guy who we met at Publix. We got an appointment, but it got cancelled the morning of. We happened to run into him again the 2nd time ever being in publix here, and set another time. This time we didn't call him in the morning and just went over with a member. We knocked on his door, and a lady and man we didn't recognize were there, and so we thought we had the wrong house, they were very surprised. They invited us in which surprised us. Turns out this guy lives with them, and he was asleep. But as we continued to talk with them it turned out we stayed for an hour! We found that this guy was a excommunicated member, and his wife isn't one. He went on a mission, and went to BYU, but wasn't living the right way. He actually came to church in January but hadn't been back. Elder Miller mainly talked with him, and the member and I talked with the wife. We talked about all sorts of religious topics, and thank goodness Bro Proulx knew his facts! It went super well, and I felt the Spirit prompt me with certain topics to bring up. The main message was Moroni's promise, and to take it straight to God. She has a very firm belief in the Holy Ghost, and not a crazy-bark-like-a-dog believer in the Holy Ghost. She was excited to hear the restoration, which she believes needed to happen, and gave us both their phone numbers without asking. We are going to see them tonight, and have dinner with them. The husband talked to Elder Miller about how he missed being a part of the Gospel, and how he wants to return. So everything was set up for us, and these people are prepared. It's funny how we found them through this other guy!

 We also had a powerful lesson with the less-active family who came to church, but just with their 3 daughters. The Spirit was strong, and you can tell their conviction and desire by how they look at you during it. There were many distractions, telephones going off, kids making noise, but there were a couple times where there was silence, and we bore our testimonies, including the member with us, and they took it in! It was a big step.

 Many things are happening, and all we can do is keep working and pray that God will grant us more of his mercy and grace to continue to keep these things going! 

 And I saw the picture you posted on Facebook, Sis Smartt showed me! :) haha

 Thanks Dad for representing me well! I wish I could've heard the talk.

 And last big thing, We pulled a 21 miler to drop off a book of mormoon stories and see a former investigator couple. It was worth the hour and 30 minutes of straight biking, we stopped at a members house to pick up the book and the look on her face that we biked there was priceless! total of 300 miles biked since the middle of last transfer, hoorah! :) Love y'all and talk to you next week! 4 weeks...

November 4, 2013

Halloween was pretty fun, the chili was really good! All I had to eat was the test cups, and that's it. We were more focused on who we should talk to and just having a good time also. There were more than 8 non-members there, the ones we invited didn't show though... But none-the-less they all had fun we heard! When we got in for the night, around 7:40, I just watched church Christmas movies, and Elder Miller practiced on his guitar. So pretty uneventful afterwards.

 Good news though! At church, a family that we've been trying to work with decided to show up! A mom and her 3 girls, it was awesome to see them. The youngest, who is 18, said she decided to go to go to church the day before and called her mom, and they were there! I tried to commit them to come for the next 4 Sundays afterwards, so we'll see what happens! :) Now we need to get the other 3 members of their family, plus our investigator who is also linked to them...

 We had a good week. Got a new investigator, but we haven't heard of major improvements just yet. And the Hispanic side of our branch decided to throw a fiesta tonight, and invited lots of members, plus another of our investigators. It was funny because it started as a dinner appointment with 2 families, but then more and more people were invited and it turned into this!

 We also have a new sister missionary, and guess what her name is?... Sister Grady! I did tell her about our Schnauzer, she just said, oh gosh... Coincidence? I think not! :) She's from Spokane, Washington.

 One more thing, we had a Family History booth in a Indian Pow-wow festival thing, and it went super well! I found many names for people who were looking, but also failed at some names. It's impossible to look up Indian heritage, because they didn't keep records! But luckily most of the people were white. I did take pictures, they are good!

 Keep strong! I'll do the same. 5 weeks

Clock Is Ticking!

 I'm staying here for my last transfer, yay! I love it here, now we need to pick up the work and get some solid investigators! we have many potentials and almost progressing investigators, but little things are keeping them back. A big one is work, many people are busy here!

 We had a cool experience on trade offs last tuesday. Elder Hawker from West Jordan Utah switched with Elder Miller for the day. It went real well, saw some people, beat 2 tall white guys in street ball, and got 2 new investigators! It was dark and so we didn't want to travel far, so we went to see some of the people in our complex. We knocked on the door that I thought was the right one and said to Hawker, what if this isn't her apartment? He said that we'll just say we were sent here to help you! The door opened and we didn't recognize the lady, nor her big doberman... it was a nice dog though! She thought we were her friend paul, and we weren't... She asked us if we would bring a load of stuff from her car up before we left, we agreed. Her car was filled with tubs and other stuff she needed moved in, so we moved it all. If only we said we were sent to help you...! We found out she was from West Jordan Utah also, another coincidence! We talked to her about what we do, and she said we could give the sisters her number! So it worked great!

 We are looking forward to halloween, we get to be judges of the chili cookoff, I'm excited! This week could very well turn out badly, with not many visits because of the holiday, but we'll pray and move along!

 I asked about tati and ashton because in your email last week you said you are going there to help them move home... but anything sounds good! I love hearing about the other missionaries! Nate is awesome, I wouldn't want to be in that predicament, it would feel gross and smell bad! But he will do very well! If it turns out anything like Carson, I wonder what he will look like when he gets back! :)

 Make sure y'all let me know what goes on with halloween! :)

 Love y'all and take care, till next week!

October 21, 2013

That sounds real fun! The biggest trip we took was 8 miles on our bike going east! It would've been much longer had we gotten to our destination, and had to have gone back, but a screw in my tire stopped that... :)

 This week wasn't the best of weeks, but we foresee this week going great! We have a return appointment tonight for dinner with a nonmember family interested in learning about the gospel. We had a great visit with them last week. It started with a nonchalant visit and when the time was right, asked them questions about their background and talked about what we offer, and now we are going back! I heard they own many boats, one is an optometrist and the other is a dentist. So they have plenty of money. haha. 

 The weather is continuing to cool down, and we don't have any hot days anymore. Things are looking up!

 Nothing much else exciting has happened. I learned that there is supposed to be a color run here in Destin sometime in November. I wonder if we could volunteer at it... :). And I did get the package, thank you! More than half the food is already gone, and the wrist band and head band are sweet! I also got a package of letters from the young women. There are many names that I didn't recognize, how many new move-ins have there been?

 It's weird to think that I only have 7 more emails! I don't know how much is going to be said in the last couple. 

 But I decided to wait to apply to college, and then have time to work on some scholarships and ldsbc takes applicants 10 days prior so that's good. I haven't found out much more info on how to send my bike home, but i will soon enough. And also, is Ashton and Tati going to be living with us next year?

 Love y'all and I laughed when you sent messages through sister Smartt, it made my day!

October 14, 2013

 I am sending the memory card today! So expect it later this week. You don't need to send it back...

 Cousin Jenna is getting married!? Finally! :) Jk haha. I think I said that about Ashton also, but I'm glad I'm going to be there for it! Maybe I'll actually get to meet him before their hitched! That is very exciting, and I'm way happy for her, and for us, it's good to have rich in-laws :)Jk! I'm also glad that Dad is alright. I bet he is making very good use of the time away from insanity. And how do you de-ice a plane? With an ice pick?

 Our week has gone good! Could have gone much better, but can't force anybody to be home or answer the phone! :) Good 'ol missionary work. I'm very glad we have members that are willing to take us around and see people. Bro Pehrson Hawkley took us around for 3 hours yesterday, and an hour and a half the day before. He is awesome.

 Our talks went real good yesterday. I prepared for a 14 minute talk, but only got 5 minutes to give it! It felt real good giving it, and the Spirit was guiding my words... Thank goodness for prayer! I had the feeling before the second speaker that I wasn't supposed to use my notes, have you ever got that feeling? You kinda think, Oh man... but thankfully it was only five minutes. We now have 2 potential investigators, and recieved 1 before the talks and also a nonmember decided to come back to this church after 20 years since he stopped taking the lessons. So yesterday went great, now we have to be sure to follow up and teach some lessons!

 Got a pretty good haircut last week, from myself...:) it doesn't look bad at all... plus Miller helped me a little. We used a set of clippers that almost didn't work!

 The weather is great here, how's it there? Any snow yet?

 Love y'all, and hope your week goes well!

October 7, 2013

We had a notice that we might have been evacuated, but the storm dissipated and there was no threat, just a day full of scattered rain fall. Conference was great, and I did get to see all 5 sessions. We had a member feed us breakfast and let us watch it there. We had to help them with their garage sale in return. This week we had a great lesson with an investigator, and now we have a baptism date scheduled! Elder Miller's first one, he is pretty excited. Here, it is hard to not get a member to come out with you for lessons. I love it! Everything is going fine out here, and things are still a little slow, but it is much busier than when we started!

Thanks for the information on the job and schooling, I talked to a member who is in that sort of stuff. He's not an agent, but works mainly with the information part of it, the name escaped me right now. I'm thinking of maybe taking online classes until I am able to get into school, and working. Do I have to apply to a school in order to do that? I know what classes I want to get into now, I'll email president and find out what I can do though. I don't feel like I need to immerse myself into schooling, but I do need to use the time I have and get some things done.

10 more weeks, it's going fast! For our mission to reach it's baptismal goal, our zone needs 30 baptisms, which divides it to 6 baptisms for our district, and we have one coming up in november now. We have plans to work with certain people, and know what people God wants us to prepare, now we need to get working! Our branch mission leader and us 4 missionaries depict at least 4 baptisms here in november, it is a good goal with names behind it! Definitely not a time to slip up!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement. Love y'all!

September 30, 2013

I will talk to sis smartt again about the video, not that it's great or anything...:) This week went good! For some reason no less-active members are letting us in, but we were able to teach 2 new investigators, we are excited about them. Funny story, we ate with two members at longhorn steak house, and they let us order what we wanted. I ordered a 10 oz. NY strip, my comp ordered a 20 oz. steak, it was pretty big. As we were all talking having a good time, my companion spits out his lemonade on the table. I look, thinking he just laughed it up out of his nose, and he stands up motioning to jay shaver, the member, that he had something in his throat. Miller turned and jay stood behind him and did the Heimlich. A huge piece of steak came out on the floor, and miller picked it up, and we continued to eat. It happened so fast, it was funny! We were laughing so hard about the experience, and it was jay's first time doing it, so he was making tons of jokes. It was the hardest I've laughed on my mission! There were many people staring, but we didn't care. I wish my camera wasn't dead when it happened... then after we biked home, and I was still laughing about it! What added to the humor is the seriousness of the situation, yet it happened nonchalantly!

Well, two weeks in and we've already made a name for ourselves! haha. Next week is General Conference, so stoked! We are giving a talk the week after, a little less stoked! And before we know it all the holidays will come up and it will be time to go! We have a goal set for two baptisms before I leave, we are going to accomplish it. I have one in mind, but we'll have to find the other, but I have a good feeling that there are two prepared for us. We'll see what the Lord has in store!

Love y'all lots!

Destin!!

So I have no clue if the picture is huge on your side...But I'm here! Took a little time. I do look goofy...anyway the other picture I attached is of kellie Mecham Rowberry, and Her husband bro rowberry!

Sorry I didn't send pictures, I didn't think I took a lot, but turns out I have! :) but I will think about sending it soon, or maybe keep it until I get back! :) Anyway things are going great here, I already love the ward, and Sister Smartt and her son TJ, have helped us out a ton already! She is the one who sent you the video of me performing... They bought groceries for us the first day, and they are always asking if we need anything, they are going to take us to get my bike fixed today also, they are awesome!

We had a talent show and the sisters twisted my arm, so I played what I was preparing for half mission conference, I needed it to, I was super nervous! There are so many people here that are familiar to me, and I know that this is where I'm supposed to be the rest of my mission. The Ward is way excited to have elders again, and so there are tons of people willing to help us out with the work and anything we need. We also heard that we might be getting a brand new car this week, so our area will have two cars!

Elder Lane told us that the sisters in Pine Forest didn't really showed if they liked the scavenger hunt or not... it was awesome though, I should've took pictures of the poems we wrote!

Lots of good things are happening here, we haven't been able to have any lessons, because my bike tire is giving me problems and it has been raining on and off. It's supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow, but it hasn't happened yet, although there are huge black clouds coming in fast outside my window...

The sauce and spice is for y'all. The flag was from a member's non-member husband, he says he gets free things all the time, so he just gave me it! I did want a confederate flag, but I still got some time left. :)

This week a seventy is coming to speak to us, and I think this is my last half mission conference. It's going to be good!

Our address is 4010 Dancing Cloud Court # 392, Destin Florida, 32541

Love y'all and have a good week! I'll still be praying for y'all and Grandpa and great grandma!

September 9, 2013

I heard about the game, and I was way excited to hear they won! When I heard they were playing texas I thought the same thing, "Oh, no..." But That is way sweet that we have a good team this year. Do I know the quarter back? I'm not sure if I remember who he is... But it's going to be exciting to see Paul Lasike play, he sounds really good! I always admire a good rugby player! Our ward mission leader loves LSU and football in general, so he keeps us updated.
 We have been doing a lot of service here in Pine Forest. Mainly has to do with trees... and spiders... We cleared a corner of Bishop's yard that was over grown with trees and it was fun, and tiring. There was a huge Caterpillar in a branch that we cut down, so we took pictures of it, it was cool! I need to send my card, plus some other stuff, hopefully I remember!
 We had a real cool lesson in elder's quorum. It started with talking about some of Lorenzo Snow's experience, and somehow ended up with us talking about traits that we all have that help others. It was neat, and it felt good to compliment others on what they do well and what gifts they received from God. It goes to show how we all have things about us that add to the surroundings, either church or everyday life, that are given to us for that purpose.
 One more week, and we are transferring to Destin, hopefully... You never know with the mission! Not that I wouldn't want to stay here. I love the members here, they are great people.
 I am going to pray hard for Grandpa, that is a tough surgery he is going through. Our ward mission leader in Eufaula was out for months because of a heart surgery. Of course he was in his upper eighties... Good 'ol Bro Grafton!
 Also something funny. We had Zone conference last week, and they asked all who were not going to be here for the next one to bear their testimony. I wasn't sure if I would be or not, so I asked. Pres Smith said it would be in three months. I am still here for 3 and a couple weeks so I didn't give it. But then a missionary told me that the next one is a couple days after my departure day... So I might not have that opportunity! :O haha. We'll see, I might have to do it on a conference call or something.
 But that's about it for the excitement here this past week. So I'll try to find some cool things to do, or experience while I'm still here! :) But until next week, Love Y'all!

September 16, 2013

Haha, Dad is funny... It sounds like Dwight is in charge around the house! Forcing Dad to stay outside... :)
 News about transfers...It doesn't say we are going anywhere! But it also says the sisters are coming in still, so we've found a hole in the mission! :D So our thoughts are we are just going to chill with the other companionship and do whatever we want...JK, We think that our info is already in Destin, and we weren't, so there's no need to put us transferring from Destin to Destin... So we are going to coordinate with our leaders and figure it out. We do know we have a place there, thank goodness! Now we just need to be in the place. :)
 We are planning something special for the sisters coming in... We are going to hide the essential things they need at members homes, and have a little scavenger hunt... :) It's a clever idea to help them got on their feet faster, and get to know the members that will help them the most. What are some of the Items? Area book, desks, shower curtain... :) we are going to take pictures for sure!
 It sounds like Jameson has a sweet job! He is being blessed for sure. I'll continue to pray for Grandpa, just think what could've happened if we didn't pray for him... I'm considering it a huge blessing.
 Well, I have a more solid plan for education, and school. I'm going to pursue the FBI career, and I heard BYU has many students that are hired on. I bet there are closer schools that work just as well too, so I'll do more research when I get home. I have 2 transfers left...Crazy! I heard the roads are getting lots better around there. It's going to be exciting to see all the changes! But still 3 months left, still a long time!
 So I can't remember the Draper's names, but do y'all know Rockland and Lanette Draper? I'm pretty sure y'all do, but I wasn't sure. We have a new investigator, and Rock changed his life, so he knows him pretty well, even though they haven't seen each other for years... His name is Steve Evers.

September 2, 2013

Some crazy coincidences have happened this week. You wouldn't believe who I ran into! I don't know how much y'all remember sugarland, but a member in our ward had her parents here visiting, and after church, I was talking to a guy and I told him I lived in sugarland. Her parents heard and walked over asking who lived in Sugarland. I told them it was me and they asked me lots of questions like what ward, and who I knew, where in sugarland I lived, and I couldn't tell them anything. But I used what memory I knew and was able to piece some of it together, and telling them y'all's name helped too. They were like, I remember Tony and Michele! Long blonde hair, moved to California? Well anyway their last name was Mecham, and they definitely remember you teaching seminary! Their daughter lives in our ward, she's 23, and married, we just looked at each other like, do I remember you in primary? It was weird and funny! The next time we go over to the Rowberry's, that's her last name, we are exchanging pictures!

 I changed my profession again. I thought about it again, and flying would be good, but I feel that being in the fbi would be good also, being a detective. I've changed my final decision to a split decision! :) I will further pray and ponder! 

 This are is still slow, ward mission plan is being made THIS sunday for sure, but who knows? I thought it was going to happen three weeks ago! Our ward is funny, has great people in it though, and we know they can do lots of good, we just got to find a way to get all their efforts together for missionary work!

 Who is emailing me? Well... Jameson, Dad, Sis watts (Callaway), Elder Danner, Meagan, Elder Lane, and sometimes others, so not too many people! And I am waiting to see if they are moving us soon, or waiting for two weeks. I still don't know....:) I'll hopefully find out soon!

 Last box? Peanut butter m&ms of course! If you could find a hymn book for a uke that would be sweet! I'm not sure about other things... Head band for basketball. :) I'm going to be sending some things home, I haven't got around to it yet, but it will come! What are some things y'all want? I know there are some things out here that you can't find in Utah.

 God Bless! :) Love y'all!

 Ps, I'm praying for Jameson!

August 26, 2013

Haha, I was wondering why I didn't get an email last week... :) I trusted that you didn't forget me! That marriage photo was hilarious! Dad blocked two people with his big body! :D haha. I can't wait to meet our in-laws, they seem fun!

 Well, I've finally decided to be a pilot, and have a solid backup minor to go with it, in case something falls through. Dad's Idea of Westminister is a good one. I remember hearing the name, but where exactly is it again?

 If I was nate, I'd be nervous too! I wonder how many languages he's gonna know when he gets back! Probably like 50! He's a tough kid, and knows how to make a situation humorous! It's a real talent and will help in many situations.

 Nothing real exciting has happened this week, except continuing wacky rain patterns! Pouring for thirty minutes, no rain for 40 and then back to pouring. It makes it really hard to bike... We were able to have a returning member at church yesterday, it was great! She is excited to make improvements. It's weird to work here knowing that we only have like 4 more weeks to do it, and maybe not even that...I got like 10 emails today, Yay! Now I have no time to write to all of them... consider yourself lucky to get one! :) JK, I always make sure I write y'all! We are emailing in pensacola state college, and it is packed! Now we have like 10x as many people looking at us weird! :) haha, I know what they are thinking, where are the aliens that are going to get plastered? :) jk, it's mainly just jealousy!

 We have a basketball night, and a volleyball night, and they are pretty fun! I'm decent at basketball, and my companion is super good at volleyball, so I found the reason why we are both here! :) There have been 2 investigators already from basketball night, we are hoping to get more and invite more people to it.

 That's about it, I'll have to find some better stories for y'all next week! LOVE Y"ALL!

August 18, 2013

All is well here! Everything is slowly improving, and we were able to get 2 new investigators last night! We group taught them, because the other pair of missionaries were with us. It went super well, and Elder Miller did a great job at the how to begin teaching points, he learned well! Things are still slow, but we have a firmer grasp on the area now. The ward had us also give talks Sunday. Mine went well, until halfway I noticed some heads down, so I knew I had to change it up a little, and so I freelanced the talk. It got their attention back, and so I went back to the end and finished it. It was only supposed to be a 10 minute talk, mine turned out to be like 20...:)
 Nothing too exciting happened. It rained for about two days straight. A tropical storm hit and drenched us, but it wasn't too bad of one. But nothing too new! Elder Miller is a good cook, and he plays the guitar well! Something else that's funny is that we report key indicators weekly, but since there wasn't supposed to be missionaries here, it isn't set up yet on the computer, so the mission office doesn't get our work... they are trying to fix it now, but I don't know if we are going to destin at the end of the month, or the end of the transfer, but we'll see!

Surprise!! - August 11, 2013

Now get this... I woke up transfer morning and took a shower. When I came out, my comp told me Elder Blanchard called and said that since Destin hadn't been open yet, that I'm going to Pine Forest for about a month! For a while I thought it was a big joke, seeing that he was going home the middle of this transfer, but we got to the meeting spot and he told me that they didn't have an apartment for us yet, and that they were going to do that, but in the mean time we are working in Pensacola! So now here we are, in the soon-to-be sister's new apartment opening a second companionship in Pine Forest! We see it as kind of a boot camp before we go to the beach! And I'm glad we did come here, because I have never opened before so I'm learning a lot from this practice session! Elder Lane, my old com padre, and Elder Simmons are the other two, and Elder Miller, from utah/texas is my trainee. He's 24, an old fart! :) He's a great guy, real nice!

 So far we mainly organized the apartment, and cleaned. We had one lesson! It was good, can't wait to get more people to teach! There are no progressing investigators that are being worked with, and the members aren't too gung ho about the work, so we are brain-storming ways to improve the area. But thank goodness next week the bish is getting back, and the ward mission plan is being put into effect. I wish it was this week though...

 This area is the total opposite of the beach. Many old people, lots of trees, but there are many more businesses than Callaway. I find that opening an area is a lot like being a entrepreneur, we make our own schedules, and have to work hard to be successful! The members aren't used to hard working obedient missionaries, so it will be hard. But with hard work and time will come fruits of our labor, so we'll see how this all will go! :)

August 5, 2013 -Reports are in!

So there are going to be some big changes over here! Nothing like Ipads yet, but they are still coming! :) But looks like I'm moving! So I'm going to be training...and I'm opening a new area i think... I'm going to destin! Awesome right? It's a branch, so I know I'm going to love working there, I like starting small. I'm not sure if I will be working with sisters again, but It's going to be crazy starting brand new, and training fully! I am way excited, but also nervous, as always, and I'm pretty sure there are many more things to take pictures of there! I'm definitely going to miss the people here, we have a baptism this saturday that I will miss... :, ( but he is prepared and I'm still counting it! :) it's the last of the investigator family, the dad's brother. He finally is ready!

 Once again it's going to feel strange moving, I hope I will get a companion that likes basketball! haha. This will be a stressful, yet exciting transfer! And just as our ward is on the up and up with missionary work, and a awesome new bishop, I get transferred! Lame right?

 Want to hear the story of the week? So we bike all the way across our area to contact a referral, it took us an hour of hard bike riding, we look for his apartment, and can't find it... we get a nearby member to help, still can't.... then the guy calls and says he wasn't even home, and he isn't interested... :( haha, lame.... but we got pizza from the member, so all was well!

 Actually I have a better one, Josh, the one who is getting baptised, had an appointment scheduled for saturday night. We got there and then he texted us, saying he was at work.... so we taught the guilford family. He came in about halfway during the lesson covered with black paint, looking dead tired. He told us he started work at 530 in the morning, and it was 8 o'clock then. Long time! He said that he could've finished tomorrow, but wanted to go to church, so he worked 8 more hours to get it done! That was awesome to hear! We had a short lesson, and he about fell asleep. The next day he couldn't make it because he got paint in his eyes, and they swelled the next morning...:( but it's all good! haha

 So that's a little of what happened! Many great things! But not as great as y'all! :D

July 29, 2013

Haha, I can just see you sitting in sacrament with the Ipad...:) I am SO looking forward to Bear Lake! But it will have to wait.. transfers is next week, so we'll see where I will be moving next, maybe not at all, who knows but God? :)

This week seemed to go by a lot faster. There were lot's of good things, not many investigator lessons, but work with Returning members is going great. We had one call us last night wanting to tell us how happy and excited he was about being back, and also about helping us do missionary work! We have him come to lessons with us, and he is a great fellowshipper! We are now teaching a wednesday night class for members, and it's going good so far. We take turns with the Sisters, and the Senior couple. Our week is this week, and we are talking about Christ's ministry, Broad right? It's going to be fun!

There are many differences to Pres Jensen, and Pres Smith, one similarity is they are both bald! :) But I really admire Pres Smith, even though he has changed many things now. But they are never bad changes! One big change is he is going to a lesson with each companionship, that will be interesting! :) He doesn't communicate with us like Pres Jensen did, so he seems more separated from us. As things move on, I know we will get to know much more about him. He does have good visions for the work here!

I am still loving my mission, and enjoying sweating everyday...that was a little sarcasm on latter.... But God is supporting us, and life is good! :) Love Y'all!

July 22, 2013

I really enjoy bike riding now too! I used to despise it before, but now that I don't get sore anymore, I find it fun. The worst part though is the sudden, out of the blue downpours... on a partly cloudy day, we talked to someone and he said there was a 100% chance of rain. I guess it meant everyone is going to run into it at some part of the day...

This past week we didn't have that many lessons, but Sunday was awesome! We had people come that haven't been there in years! Plus the usual people that we are working with. It was such a good feeling to know they are improving. Plus we had a Bishopric change, knowing the new bishop, the missionary work is going to increase fast! I am excited for the changes that are going to take place now. We have been waiting for this for a while, ever since I got here actually... Our investigator's baptism is coming close, but we are moving it back a week so he can learn more, and take all the lessons in. That does mean I'm going to miss it if I get transferred, which is most likely the possibility. But It's all good! He has the support, the desire, and God! What more does he need? :)

I have made my final decision...I am never setting foot in another Burger King again... Just letting y'all know... and also my mind has switched, I think I'm going to go back into piloting, a missionary convinced me to fly helicopter's for the swat, sounds pretty exciting, and pays good!

President Smith is really cool, I haven't figured out his personality yet, he is firm and yet when we are in interviews changes his approach. I really admire him. He is really buff too, I'm pretty sure he can bench a car... :)

Love y'all! Have an amazing week!

July 8, 2013

There has been so much rain.... 4th of July was rained out, but we weren't going to be doing much that day anyway! 14 inches in a day, can you believe it? We had many roads that were closed because they flooded, and one that wasn't closed, but cars were dying because water would get in the exhaust pipe and kill it! It almost happened to us, but we are good! Elders in another area thought that a flooded road was good to drive on until they found it was too deep, and the car filled with water and floated into a ditch, they had to climb out the windows and sit on the car, in the rain, until someone came to help them... They lost their privileges, and we get to see them wednesday! :) It's going to be a good time! haha. This week has been crazy, and pretty slow because we couldn't get around too much on bikes. We have a car share with the sisters. One day we thought we were good, but we ended getting stuck in a member's cake shop, which was pretty fun, she fed us cake! They were preparing for a wedding, and we heard the rain stopped enough for it to happen. They were pretty lucky!

 Our investigators are slowly progressing, except one who jumped back into the picture. We are going to start teaching him again, and this time he is ready and sincere. We were able to help him and another family get back on the right track by helping them get out of a crisis. The story is very  long, so I'll tell y'all when I get back. You will have to remind me! :)

 The sisters are working hard, they have tons of referrals! They are already the ward's favorite! A member told us that we should watch out, because one of the sisters is smart! haha, I'm loving it, it's funny to see. If it gets the ward missionary minded I'm all for it!

 The work with some of our Returning Members is going better, we had two we've been working with for a while come to church, it was awesome! One hasn't come for years.

 I miss the Tattons, the July parades, even though I was too lazy some years, Bear Lake for sure, and being in a dryer climate! I sweat each time I walk outside, I'm sure Jameson and Ashton had it worse though, that's probably how they got so skinny.... It is still hot as ever, but I'm prepared so I won't pass out and die...

 There wasn't anything big in Callaway, the big stuff happens in Panama City Beach, but there were some good fireworks in Panama City that were postponed... Callaway isn't a big city, Panama City is bigger, but is an older city. Nothing too exciting, but I enjoy being here!

 Love y'all and enjoy your week!

July 15, 2013

I didn't even recognize Jameson! He kind of looks like a creep with that mustache... :)

Those pictures are awesome though, that looks like it was fun! I will definitely pray for Coree and Jenna. It worked for Ashton, so I'm sure it will work for them! So Dad also told me about getting hit in the face by the ball, and that my 115 dollar pair of glasses saved his face.... it makes me wonder about what happened to them... :) haha. They are safety glasses, so they were meant for those situations. I can't wait for ward sports again! It is a blast.

 Well, what happened this week... we had a talk given in church about how we are going to use Ipads real soon, the stake president made it sound like they are already here! We also heard that it's in the normal newspaper that we have them now. I'm sure it was in there so people would attack us... oh well, we have legions of angels on our side. But we haven't heard about when we will get them, just that we eventually will, and I hope I will be able to buy one for cheap before I get back! So we'll see! 

 We are going good with our investigators, kind of, one has a baptism the 3rd of august, and he is super prepared. The others have either concerns, continuing to cancel appointments, or just plain going in circles because they feel like it... but we do have some good ones too!

 Recent experience that really helped me to desire to seek answers through the scriptures, and not just read them for pleasure. One investigator asked a really hard question that we couldn't answer. He told us that he is stuck on this one question, because if the answer is found, his whole perception of God will be changed. He prayed to find out if the things we are teaching are true, and that he will receive an answer if it is. It really made me question if we did something wrong by not knowing. As I thought about it though, I know it was meant for me, so I would become more serious about my studies. I am still studying hard to find it, and it will come, most likely something simple too, it seems that God just works like that...

 The weather is still strange. We were biking on a cloudy day, not expecting to get hit with rain, when lo and behold, a small dark cloud floated right over head, dropping a good amount of water on us. Enough to make us stop for cover under a tree. In a few minutes it was gone, and we continued to bike on not hitting rain again. Weird right?

 It seems that nothing will be normal when I get back... it's going to be crazy. I guess I won't really know how much is different until the car ride home! Now don't think I'm trunky, I'm still working hard.

 Love you and talk to you next week!

July 1, 2013

 You and me both! There is no way Dallin is old enough! haha. Quick question, has he grown any? :) I'm seriously curious... Yes I do remember TJ, he hits real hard, and he was the starting center when I practiced with him. That's cool that he gets back in a month! In the picture it looks like Dad has his arm around Tati, and on Ashton... haha. But those are cool picts. That would be awesome to visit, and help move. And you had to bring back the the blinking didn't you... I still remember it very well, just the blinking part. It was because of the image the light burns into your iris, it entertained me...:) and plus I was super nervous and shy! That's funny that y'all still have it.

 

 Well lots of great things happened this week, not really investigator wise, but self improvements, and area improvements. Sister missionaries have now arrived, and we have helped them somewhat to get them on their feet. They are good, and have done lots of organizing this past week. Sister Wells from Idaho, and Sister Treiber from Washington state. And now we are in a car share, so we are forced to bike half of the week. But I'm cool with biking, and physically working harder. It's more of the organization now, and scheduling that is the hard part...

 There was a combined meeting for the last two hours on Sunday. Bro Hale  from our ward talked, and gave a slideshow for an hour and fifteen minutes of it. It was an awesome talk about how we view ourselves, and who we really are. Our ward is funny, and there are some people who wanted to get their opinion in on some subjects, and also other random facts, but Bro Hale did really well at acknowledging them, and keeping on the lesson. But I have realized how important it is to remember how God views us, and not to be discouraged. He gave an example of Moses, and said he was in his lowest state, having killed a man, being accepted by neither egyptian nor israelite, and being a wanderer in the desert. It must've been hard, real hard. In Moses however, God states his importance and rises him far above that which he can reach himself. It really made me think of if I have told God what I am willing to do for him, instead of asking always of what God is willing to do for me. It hit hard... Well, all in all, I was empowered by the Spirit that whole day, and even when negative things happened, I felt great! I can't say I've found the main ingredient, but a mystery was unfolded, and my prayers were answered, now I've just got to write it in my journal, which I have had no time to write in at all! But this week went great. Past the 20 lesson mark for the week! 22, booya!

 Several people told me I'm at the trunky stage, or as one person called it, "sitting on the trunk!" Which I know the just of it, but it didn't make sense... but I definitely don't feel like it, just another 5 months really, weird!

 Love y'all!

June 24, 2013

Y'all had so much excitement I don't even know what to say! There is a lot more in Minnesota than I thought. The bishop in Lynn Haven lived in Minnesota for several years, bishop Young, I don't know his first name. He asked me what part of Minnesota Ashton lived in I had not the faintest idea... Elder Blake I'm not familiar with, but we have this missionary yearbook thing and so I'll look him up when I get back. And TJ, I remember faintly, was he older than me? Does he have a darker tan... If he is and does then I remember him! Eden is going on a mission? NO WAY! That is awesome, to mexico too! Now she can speak spanish like her Grandpa! :) She probably already can, I don't know...

 

 Well, the biggest thing that happened here had to have been a baptism that Lynn Haven sisters had. They asked us to come and set up most of the things for them, and it being their first baptism, I had to make call them several times to make sure they didn't forget to do anything. Most of it was planned a day before! Haha... The person who was baptized was living in our area, but the sisters worked with her because it was easier, so the baptism was in our area. I also interviewed the person, it is always interesting being the one in the interviewing position. She was super nervous, but all went well! She has come super far to get to this point. Someone even told her a year ago that she wouldn't ever be worthy to be baptized, harsh right? But she proved them wrong! And just as a southern black lady would say, the Spirit of the Lord was all up in that baptism! :)

 Our week had many ups and downs, again... we lost 1 investigator, and almost another, but we talked to him and it was a mis-understanding. But we also gained a very solid one, who lives right next to us! We are seeing him again soon, and he is coming to church this Sunday.

 We are going through another big change, besides the missionary broadcast, our district is being split in two. Apparently a district is supposed to have 6 at most, and ours had 11 including zl's and the senior couple, so they split it in half! Someone made the joke that we don't have District meetings, but zone meetings every week! haha. But now we have sisters in Callaway, they will be here Wednesday. And also my companion got bit by a dog, same dog as Elder Harrer! haha, he's alright though. We walked to the porch at night, to knock on the door. Elder Glick was in front. We walked up the steps and elder Glick said, good dog. I looked and could barely see, so I assumed it was their nice dog. Well when it stood up and I saw the gray color I knew. I grabbed his bag and pulled him away, and said to run! I turned and booked it, and I heard him say, the dog got me, and looked and saw him hopping with the dog on his leg. I ran around the car to help, and the dog started after me, so I ran again, and then we were out of it's reach. Luckily it had a leash on, even though it was a long leash... We checked for damage, and finding out there wasn't any, I laughed real hard! The wife came out, and we didn't tell her what happened, just scheduled another visit! :) I thought it was pretty funny! 

 I think there is going to be a lot more to email about next week, especially with this change. It's going to be weird letting Glick have the car keys... But that is pretty much it this week! Haven't taken many pictures lately, but I will sometime! 

 Love y'all and talk to you next week!

June 17, 2013

That sounds really nice! All we have is trees, and more trees, and the bay, which isn't too bad... I went on an exchange and we visited a family who lives on the bay on the west side of Lynn Haven, and they had the coolest view, plus it was dusk, so the sun was just setting. It was really nice! I wish I could be with you guys, but work still needs to be done! :)

 Our week has gone good. Some of the people who we've been working with have come to church, and it was awesome to see them there, and the convert family, just the mom and dad, went to the temple to do baptisms! He absolutely loved it! I love being able to see the improvement, and not just leave right after someone gets baptized!

 The fear of talking to people is near gone, some houses still look like they shouldn't be knocked on though.... I have really been working on charity, and you can't have charity if you want to talk to someone but you're afraid. That's the way I see it. We are still riding bikes, it's always good to come home with yellow imprints of wherever my backpack touches my body. I'm definitely throwing away my backpack when I get home!

 We are teaching this guy who found us in the library, Wil Adams. He's a writer, and he said he has books that have been published, and also some that won bestseller awards. I don't remember seeing any books by him. He is a really cool dude! He sure looks like a writer! His vocabulary is top notch too, I have to double take some of what he says sometimes! :) He really likes Orson Scott Card too, so we can relate!

 In a couple of weeks sisters will for sure be here! Their apartment is set up, and now we are just waiting till next monday to see who it is. It's going to be a lot of work the first couple of weeks.

 Continue to do well! I don't know what's going to happen when I get home, it seems like everything is changing so much that I will be all cur-bobbled! It's going to be an adventure!

 Love y'all! Take Care!

June 10, 2013

Jameson is moving up that chain pretty quick! Good for him. And you just gotta love Ikea, takes time, but works wonders! haha, I still remember how long it took to get the basement all finished, that was a long process...

 Everything is going well here! Work is work, and we didn't have but one investigator at church, one that we are working with I mean. But those that we are seeing have a desire to continue to learn more, and are keeping commitments, so I'm excited to see what will come from this week! 

 Thanks for the package, I love the M&Ms! It was very hard, but I did share. :) I've been off the hook for a couple of weeks, but now I have to prepare the lesson again for tomorrow's district meeting. I'm glad we have all good missionaries in our district! I still have high hopes for this district.

 Nothing too exciting has gone on this week. We have contacted many more less-active members that we haven't met, and the father of the recent convert family is going into service in the church head first. Our Elders quorum is now reorganizing their home teaching, so I really do hope that it will take off after they are done. 

 I am still loving the work, and I am not getting truncky. I'm just going to continue to think that whatever time I have left is still a lot of time! Which it still is for now, 6 months. I do not want to leave the mission wishing I didn't wast my last quarter. That would be rough.

 I love y'all lots, and continue to do well, and be safe on the trip! That's going to be fun!

New From The Suth - June 3, 2013

 Hey! 6 and a half months left, crazy! There is so much excitement going on over there! I miss swimming.... and Jared is pretty ripped... just saying... Does Ashton and Tati not have any furniture? That is pretty lame.

 Now that school is getting out soon, HOPEFULLY people will be easier to catch at home. I can't believe how hard it is for first, answer their phones, second, return our calls, and third, to actually find! We had three people disappear who we were working with, I don't know what, or how it happened. But all we can do is pray and continue on! Things continue to heat up, but we have miles again! Now we can sit in air conditioning...but work still has to be done.

 Hurricanes are on their way, and we now have to prepare emergency packs. Exciting right? :) But what's probably going to happen is that there is going to be another big hurricane that's going to hit Louisiana again, and miss us. That place is not well liked by nature...

 We have been doing well, probably one of the most frustrating things is not being able to write in my journal. When I get home, I usually have to make calls to the other companionships in our district, or to the Zone Leaders, and that takes up most of my time. But I still have high hopes, and things haven't been as stressful as they used to be. I just need to focus and make sure I'm doing all I can to help others! The father to our investigator family just received the Aaronic priesthood sunday, that was a cool experience! We also had to teach YW about the priesthood, and that was also a cool experience, a young lady came up to us with her friend and asked for a Book of Mormon, I didn't know she wasn't a member! It's funny how God puts people in our paths.

 We have had many lessons with Less-active members, who are now called "returning" in our mission. Most are nice people, just mislead.

 But that's a little of what is going on here. President Jensen had his last Zone Conference with us last week, and I made sure to take a picture with them both! They leave July 2, so one month. That is going to be a sad time, but we heard many great things about President Smith!

 Love Y'all lots and I'll talk to you next week!

May 27, 2013

 

 That is all awesome news! It is great to see the pictures and how much fun y'all had! Things are certainly changing! Well, I don't know what questions to ask, it seems y'all have covered everything that has happened. I do wonder where Cade got his sweet fedora! But I'm super happy for Ashton and Tati! It's still super weird that he is now married and is moving, and everything else that is happening to him.... I am just greatful that all is well, and there are no problems. One of my favorite feelings is the realization that all is well. Whenever something big happens and it all just fits in just right, you know that it isn't just chance. You may make lots of preparations, but there are too many things that we aren't in control of. But God makes a way, way before we ever decide anything. I do know that when we follow God's pattern of living, the things he sets up for us work lots better!

 This past week has been good, but weird... many strange things have happened, and we can't really figure out why. I bet I got you wondering what I mean... The people we visit, some of the lessons we have, and the places we go, it seems that God has us on a strange path. We have found many poeple, and have done lots of work this week. We are just about out of miles and so we are biking everywhere. To help you realize, I have lost 5 pounds last week! But we are working with lots of people, and things are improving! There may be some dull moments, but never a dull day! :) We have also been trying to visit many less-active members, who would've known there are so many!

 Well, the district meeting last week went really well. The Zone leaders were there and they said that it was one of the best ones they have been to in a long while, and that they learned a lot. All I remember about it is that my mouth was really dry! But I think you and Dad would be proud of me. I had a visual aid, the lesson was on learning by the Holy Ghost, and "unfolding" the mysteries of God. So I folded a piece of paper a couple of times and wrote on each fold what we can do to unfold it! :) That was definitely inspiration! haha. So anyway we have another centervillee in our district. Sister Stanfield, she is a year younger than me. She was in choir and I only remember seeing her at school, maybe you know her...

 Well, summer is still getting hotter, Elder Glick is still doing good, and he isn't related to the Glick in California. And I hope my legs continue to have strength to bike! :)

 Thanks for the photos, and the great emails, I'll talk to y'all next week!

PS, I would love a package of peanut m&ms :)

LOVE y'all!

May 20, 2013

 All is well here in Callaway! It is still stressful, but now it is a different stress. We have no good progressing investigators, and so we are contacting potential  investigators, and less active members that we have not met. It is going good so far.

 The heat is turning up, and I am getting a good tan as we bike more! I am being real careful not to get burned, and so I don't know if I will be able to get you that picture of the helmet strap on my face... :) Summer is finally here, and I will be using my chinese fan that I bought at the beginning of my mission more.

 Elder Glick is a good companion. He carries his own weight, which is great! He isn't used to big areas because he mostly served in Georgia, but he is doing real well. So far I really like having him as a companion!

 That would be hilarious if he did that, it's kinda like what Cody Neumeyer's family did with him. I had to stare long and hard at that picture to understand that it was another lady with a cardboard picture of him sticking out of her shirt. I thought it was funny! I hope everything continues to go well with the wedding plans. I did get the wedding invitation, and I thought it was a real good one!

 Make sure y'all take good family pictures at the wedding! I would love a picture of y'all through the mail to go in my little picture book at the apartment. And however y'all get me in there, it's going to be great! :)

 Thanks for the continual support, and I'm very blessed to have y'all behind me with everything I do. It is helping me out greatly!

 Love y'all and take luck, and care for it! :)

May 13, 2013

It was great to see y'all again! It seems y'all haven't changed a bit, except for Casey. I'm glad I had that opportunity! Here is all the big information on what's happening in the mission!

Well, President has made huge changes here! We have many new missionaries and there are many moves to Georgia. I am staying here and my new companion is Elder Glik, never met him, it's going to be interesting! I am our district's new District Leader.... I didn't see that coming. And every companionship, except the senior companions, have been changed! Well it's a good thing that God is willing to support us, because I'm going to need lots of it this transfer!

Even though there is lots more pressure, I still am looking forward to it. I know it's going to really help me improve, and I hope good things will continue to happen here.

Over the whole mission, we had 18 baptisms last week, and that doubled last weeks number. It hasn't happened in a long time. This is President Jensen's last transfer! He is going in July, and we are all going to miss him, and Sis Jensen! They made sure that they had all of our addresses correct, so they could keep in contact. That's a lot of people! In interviews I told him we lived close, but Delta is like 4 hours south, and I thought he was an hour north. But he's a lot closer to us than lots of other missionaries!

All is still good, our investigator pool just diminished to one because of the baptism saturday. We'll have to find the solid ones now from the mess of people in our area. I hoped we would get sisters, but next transfer. I can now prepare even better for them.

Love y'all still, and I'll talk to you next week!

May 6, 2013

Yep, only five transfers! I might only have one area left, who knows? Things are going really great here, and this saturday the family we are working with is going to be baptized! What's even cooler, the brother to the dad told us he wants to be baptized as well! So in total is 5 baptisms. We are way excited for it, the spirit is going to be super strong, and the best thing is, they are truly converted and won't leave.

I thank all y'all for the emails, I do love hearing about all your crazy stories, and the slanderous Dr Huffaker! :) just joking, the repentance process is for him too, but I do I still have the scar in my mouth because of him... haha.

It's good to know my prayers are being answered for y'all. everything is going real well! And those are some pretty sweet pictures that Jameson had! I liked all the other ones too!

I'm not sure what time we are contacting y'all sunday. My comp likes just talking on the phone, I'm going to try real hard to convince him to go to someone's house to skype! We will see though...

Love y'all and and take care, we will figure it out and I will let you know!

April 29, 2013

Not for sure if I'm leaving or not, my companion thinks he is going, so I might just stay and take over this area, who knows? I am looking forward to doing yard work for dad, believe it or not, we don't do much physical work, so i kind of miss it!

This week has been good! Our work continues to get progressively better, and the people we are working with are continually improving! We also got to do something real fun today. We went and toured Tyndall Air Force Base. We have a member who took us. He drove us around the base on a Polaris, and saw the training areas, and explained what each was for. We watched them blow up a runway in preparation for emergency runway repairing maneuvers. He showed us also the different bombs that they found in the east that the people made, and some of them you wouldn't even guess were bombs, those guys are real tricky! He also drove us around in his bulletproof Humvee, so it was all around an awesome experience!

Two weeks and it's transfers again, and those who are going to Georgia Macon are going to be transferred then, so we'll find out! We also learned that we are going to be having two sets of missionaries here, us and sisters! It's going to be real weird!.... They will come either this transfer or the next. There are many people who are excited for them.

All is well, can't wait for this next transfer! Can't wait for next week either, we are having our investigator family's baptism! It's going to be great.

Love you too!

The missionary! :)

ps. I bought a little uke! :)

April 22, 2013

I heard about the Boston explosions, which is crazy. I just thought about Jameson being at the marathons, but he knows to be careful. I didn't know about the fertilizer plant exploding, or that the guys were caught, that's knew information for me. Elder Harrer and I were just talking about how Satan is turning up the heat on the world, and how members need to step it up, or they will fall back into a bad routine. We are dealing with a lazy ward, and are trying to get them more active, and more engaged. Yesterday we had Elder Munns of the seventy speak at our ward about this exact thing, it helped a lot. We are also seeing some improvements. Things are picking up again, and I hope it continues to progress!

Not much happened with our investigators this week. Tracted a lot, and I wore sunscreen this time! I'm sorry but I didn't get a picture of the helmet strap on my face, but I still have the summer to get one!

We had an awesome experience last night. We got to go to a fireside with Marvin Goldstein, a famous piano player, and another famous singer who's name escapes me, Vanessa? But it was two hours long, and very uplifting. He is a funny guy! He was cracking jokes left and right, and it was real fun to be there. He talked about his conversion story from being a Jew to LDS. It took 4 years! He also told us he pushed a missionary into the pool, and he had his suit on! You can kind of see what kind of man this is, haha. He started playing the piano when he was 9, and 3 hours a day he practiced. He is now 60, so he is real good! There were several families from chipley there, and I got to catch up with them. It was really weird to see them. It was like seeing family.

We are still doing good though! President Jensen asked my thoughts on moving to Georgia Macon mission, and I told him wherever the Lord wants to send me I'll go! So who knows? I might be changing missions! I also learned that Javi is going to be absorbed in that mission, so that will be an interesting experience!

About Daniel, I think it's awesome that he is going with the Johnsons. They are a good family. It's going to help a lot having Daniel be around them, especially right after Gibson gets back.

I need to start running more if Jameson is going to recruit me for that...how many miles do they run again? Whew! :)

LOVE y'all and talk to you next week, I'm fixen to head out! :)

April 15, 2013

 Transfers were last week, and I'm still here! Next transfer is going to be the crazy one, we are getting over 23 new missionaries. There is probably going to be many changes.

 Yeah I agree last month went fast... and I only have 4 transfers left after this one, I could only have one area left! I think it's funny how I have never met Tati, yet she is such a big part of y'all's life now! Or OUR life now....:) I can't wait to meet her, another month and I will be able to see y'all. Can't wait!

 Work is good, many things are happening now. We have 98 BCDs, and we had 8 baptisms last week, including Muriah, who was baptized Thursday. That was an amazing experience! We had to scramble to get her program done. And luckily the Lord blessed us. We made a rough draft and was trying to find someone to make it look good on the computer, as so we tried to see a family who knows how to do that stuff. They weren't home, and after thinking, went to the library to do it ourselves. We got there and the mom was just leaving the library, and drove past us and said hi! We stopped her and talked and she volunteered to help! She did a great job too. The program ended up getting jammed in the copier... wasn't my fault. :) But we flattened it out and everything went fine, we also had her last lesson 15 minutes before we started. But the Spirit was there, and everyone was touched in the room. She bore her testimony after the baptism, and it was strong. It makes me happy to see somebody's life change and to know that they will stay strong.

 The weather is getting hotter now! We biked around 5 hours last saturday and I got burned, and Elder Harrer, being a darker shade, didn't... someone told me that rubbing on egg whites helps it heal faster right after the burn, and so I tried it. It felt like I had scales and it was like a thin cast on my arms, it was really weird. But I woke up the next day and my arms didn't hurt! Turns out they were right! I still had the helmet straps sun burnt into my face for all to see at church, but I took it as a sign of hard work! :)

 Nate is going to have a fun time in Africa! What language is he going to learn? Is Carson going to give him all his tips now?

 What is Ashton's date to move? And when will they visit after they leave? It is always good to prepare! Of course they will be back for my homecoming, right? I'm thinking too far ahead, I still have a third of my mission left! And you don't have to send me them, I find that I compare myself too much with them, so I think this would be best!

 

Still holding on the the truth!! :)

Love you lots also!!!!

 

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April 8, 2013

Did you forget to attach the picture? I didn't get one, but it's alright. :) I greatly enjoyed General Conference too. Lots of great talks and I took many notes. We have many more sisters now, lat transfer we only had like 5 new sisters, but this next transfer I think there are 24 coming in. That number, we've been told is going to stay constant for a while. Before they haven't had sisters in leadership positions, but they are now organizing a Zone Leader Conference where they are going to talk about implementing it. That is a big change.

I also love this gospel! I do not plan on wavering like many of the return missionaries. I put too much effort in becoming who I am to waste it all and destroy what I built up. I feel bad every time I think about that. I served with a missionary that was like that, was not fun.... I learned from it though. It seemed there was absolutely no progression on his part. But thank goodness God made a way for us to get work done.

This week went great! We didn't get that many lessons in, but we did get 3 solid new investigators. We have lots of people to teach now. We have a for sure baptism this Thursday. And we are weeks away from having another baptism ready for a family we've been working with.

We had a funny experience. We were trying to find this hidden baseball field to tract around it, but couldn't find it for a while. We asked a few people, and there was a particular person we talked to on the corner of an intersection. His name was Brother Andrews, he was a lead minister of another church. Sounds bad right? We didn't argue, only discussed. We would've walked away after the first 30 minutes after we found he wasn't interested, but we felt the Spirit, so we stayed. He talked to us about many things, and he was a good teacher. He helped be to listed better, and to think in tense situations. He was kind enough to stop and listen to our points and was very reasonable. After about 50 minutes of talking, a younger lady pulled up and got out. I only saw the head motion of my comp as he looked at her. The conversation stopped as my comp asked her what she needed. I looked and noticed her standing next to me. She said, "Y'all are the missionaries right? I've been less-active and my husband isn't a member and we would like y'all to visit us. I saw you and had to stop and ask." You could imagine the look of the minister's face. I got the information from her and got to know her a little more, and she is way cool. My companion continued to speak with bro Andrews. I really think, besides learning from Bro Andrews, that we were prompted to stay there just so she could see us and stop to invite us. We ended up staying and talking to him a bit more. It all went well, he really taught us to study diligently and connect bridges. We are now doing so, and it's helping he was right, probably not to the effect he wanted though... :)

Many good things are happening, and we are being blessed. Our mission has 85 baptisms scheduled now, and hopefully they all will be followed through with. The stone continues to roll.

I love y'all, good to hear from you as always. I didn't tell you this previously, but I "out grew" the new suit you bought me.... But happy news! I fit in it again!! :D Miracles just continue to happen! haha

I'll talk to you next week!

March 25, 2013

Oh, I thought I did. Well it's

4141 15th street apt #323

Panama City FL, 32401

Good thing things are good! That's weird that Dallon got his call. Every time I hear his name I think of little dallon passing the sacrament! I heard from Dad that gretchen was a little bummed about staying in the states, but to be called to independance is awesome! That is a cool mission, she could be the one to influence the building of the temple, who knows?!

Things are still going well, still working on our investigators, moved back their dates again, but they are progressing still! I absolutely love the work, and now I understand the workings of the spirit like never before! So all those things I heard from everybody is true, but it makes a huge difference experiencing it. A big change, I don't know if I told y'all, but we can now email friends, priesthood leaders, and recent converts. But don't throw out that information to just anybody, I still don't have enough time to email all! :) But the church is true, and God still loves all his children. I found a new appreciation for our savior's sacrifice, and now that easter is coming up, it's going to be strengthened even more!

Love all y'all lots, and I'm continually praying for you. Stay safe!

April 1, 2013

No way! Brother Adams died? He was my favorite... Brother Wilson too, he was always one that I remember seeing go to church in his wheelchair... The ward isn't going to be the same without them. I said the same thing when the Willard's moved.

Well, I'm glad that Cade had a good birthday. I know it's late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY CADE ! ! Sorry I didn't send anything. What was the "coolest hat" like?

I think the Brazilians are trying to marry off one of their daughters to americans, and that's why they brought two of their other daughters!... :) haha. By the way, there is a Brazilian in our ward. What is "hello, good to see you" in portuguese?

There is a lot of excitement going on over there. Over here there is a lot too! We now know our investigator is finally ready to be baptized! They are awesome, now we just need to wait two weeks, and strengthen them! The family we are working with, not so much, but they are still great people. Progress! We are helping a guy who has been away from the gospel for years, and he is helping us out so much. He is going to introduce us to some rugby players on Air Force's national rugby team! I don't exactly know when yet. I will also have y'all know that I lost five pounds, and now am at a constant 215!

This past transfer has really been hard, but definitely worth it. I have made a lot of improvements, and really feel the Spirit working through us.

Quick story, we helped a single mom with 3 kids move, and we needed a truck. We called people a couple days prior, but no success. But the day before, I pondered who could help us. I thought of a less-active man, who is usually gone. But I had the strongest feeling that he would be there that morning before we needed help. I didn't worry, and I knew I had a confirmation. Sure enough we drove to the house he was staying at, and as we drove down the street (he stayed in the last house on the street) we saw a shirtless man walk across, and I was thinking, NO WAY! He was there, and we talked to him, but his truck already had stuff in it... But we ended up getting a call 10 minutes prior from a member asking if we still needed a truck, so it turned out to be a miracle anyway! God watches out for us! She was an investigator at one point and she was super thankful for the help, she said we saved her many tears!

The Church is still true! And I can't wait to hear what's going to happen in General Conference, so exciting!

Love you lots! And I'll talk to you later!

Elder Smith

March 18, 2013

Yep, drags on at lightning speed! Only a couple of weeks until transfers hit and I have 5 more transfers left! But whose counting? :) I hope I get a wedding invitation, even though I can't come. You absolutely need to talk Ashton into dressing dwight in a tux and lead him down the isle with the ring! That would be awesome! haha. People are just shuffling out on missions aren't they? I have managed to avoid serving in areas with brand new missionaries. Not that I don't want to serve with them, it's just happens. It's weird to think that they look up to us, just as I looked up to the more experienced missionaries when I was green.

This week went pretty slow, but much improvement with investigators, don't ask me how... we had 7 gators at church, which was awesome. We taught a lesson yesterday to a man who doesn't have much of a religious background, he is a non practicing catholic. We had one lesson and learned that he didn't have that close of a relationship with God, so this last one we focused on just prayer and receiving answers. He was real appreciative of the information, and committed to kneel and pray everyday. He is progressing fast, and I love his honesty and character. When he says he'll do it, he does. We later learned that he is a manager over 150 people in a big business, and one of those people is actually in our ward! I always wondered why he acted a little peculiar... it was because he was respectful, and chose his words carefully. He is accustomed to talking with big important people, it's ironic that he isn't accustomed to talking with God... :)

Something cool that happened this week, we had a talent/road show last saturday. We invited lots of people, and actually a few showed up! It was real good, we had less-active members attend also, and it helped them get to know more people in the ward. Many people performed, and they were all fun to watch. The sisters from a neighboring area performed, Elder Harrer performed a song he wrote, which is amazing, people filmed him, I wouldn't be surprised if it was on youtube. I...set up the mike and chair for him! :)

Sprimg break is here, and I've already seen some guys dance on a wall outside Mcdonalds. We aren't even near the beach.... Some of these college kids... bless their hearts...

It's always good to hear from you, and hope planning goes well! Love y'all!