Not being able to watch the summer Olympics is killing me! We do ask about what goes on every time someone mentions it. I remember the funnest thing to watch was beach volleyball! I am really missing it right now. Anyway, back to the work! The city part of Eufaula is about the same size as Centerville, but when you get just outside, it spreads way out. It's just like Chipley when it comes to the people. Half and half, the more part of the black people live in the poorer side, and then there are sections of rural housing next to the lake that contains the more wealthy people. There are some BIG houses there too. Most of our work is done outside the city though. We have to drive long ways to get to appointments. Outside the city, usually the more country folk are. You see some trailers that are real poor looking, but everyone manages to own a boat! I haven't met one person that doesn't like to fish. We went fishing once with our bishop, then we found that we weren't allowed to fish anymore, apparently some guy got his arm bit off by an alligator down here, so President doesn't want that to happen to us! Don't worry, I'm in no danger, a member taught me how to fight if the alligator has a hold of my arm! Grab his tongue and jab his eyes with my thumb! If he goes underwater, push my arm further down his throat so he breathes in water. I got it down! haha

It is very humid....I've gotten used to it, but it isn't fun! They have some pretty nice storms down here, we had to drive through a rough one recently. We had a dinner appointment at Donnie Sims' home, which is far north-west, and as we were driving we saw this huge cloud towering over us. You could see the blanket of rain that was pouring out from under it. We knew that we were going straight through it. There was lightning all around, and rain super thick. The wind was making the trees sway side to side, and we had to go slow and watch for falling limbs. We saw cars pulled off to the side, with a cop car joining them, and the front of one had a big dent. A little later down the road we saw what caused it, a big limb was moved to the side, and we guessed that's what stopped them. The scariest part was when the lightning bolt hit less that one hundred yards away. It reminded me of Twister! I mentioned it to Elder Lane and it scared him even more. Luckily no tornado!

The work has continued to progress here, and we were able to set a baptismal date with one of our investigators! We have been working with him for a little more than a week, and he is already done with half of the Book of Mormon! It hasn't been a month yet, so we haven't heard back from that lady.

Everything is going well, and I am now designated driver, so I'll be driving around the truck! Also Donnie Sims, who we had dinner at, is a nationally ranked archer. He went all over on hunts, and has a big trophy room full of cool animals, kind of like the Ward's home! I was wondering if the Griffiths friend who lives across from the church knows who he is. He is super tall, and very funny and bold. We took him on some lessons with us and he told them what's up!

I got the card, and I'll talk with y'all next week! LOVE YOU!!

I'm going to send the pictures soon. I still haven't gotten the letter from Chipley, but my last companion procrastinates super bad on sending letters. He most likely hasn't sent his Easter letters yet. Thanks for the picts! I was a little disappointed at the Stripling Warriors. I thought that it was going to be the single adults dressed for war, and greased to look more buff. I guess that would've taken much more work. It probably would've been cooler if I was there to see it. Was Ashton even in it? Looking at the Bear Lake picture... Casey is getting tall! He needs to eat more, get some meat on dem bones! Y'all should come down here, he'll gain it fast!

Man, Ashton is getting even closer to a good career! Did y'all say when he was planning on going to Michigan? Or Minnesota? Or wherever? I wonder what his tests look like, probably like that little airplane game where he can't let two airplanes on the same strip at the same time.

Well, we just barely got through our Power Week as a mission. It went super well! Eufaula used to be pretty slow, until we really pushed ourselves. We now have four new investigators, and we were able to contact many less actives. Our president made us push our goals as high as we could go. We are planning on continuing to improve on what we've done. The Tallahassee Zone had 145 new investigators! That is real impressive. They worked hard, hopefully they didn't make up any numbers.... But this past week was real impressive, and we have some cool stories. We were tracting, and we weren't having any luck, we even ran into a Methodist preacher....but we pushed on, and the next house, we knocked on the glass door, which we could see inside to a bare wall, and a girl our age walked into sight. She saw us and immediately turned and left. We thought that they weren't going to answer until her mother came and she wasn't small... She gave us this look like "what do you want?" Elder Lane addressed us, with a few slip ups, and she said, "I'm of a different denomination, but thanks." I pressed on saying that our message was based on Jesus Christ and his Atonement, and we know that it will help her and her family. She then asked, "Do y'all believe in the King James Version?" We said "yes ma'am". She said, "Come on in." I was STOKED! We looked at each other and we had the biggest grins! We walked in and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. She accepted a B of M, and told us she'll read it in a month. She also told us as we were leaving that she knew we were different, not because of our clothes, but because of our presence. There was something different that she saw in us. She then said that she knew we had the spirit, but not in those exact words. I've only heard stories of missionaries this has happened to, I would have never thought it would've happened to me. I'm just thankful that the Lord blessed us, and I know he continually watches over us. I know that if I continue to work hard, he will continue to provide opportunities!

I love you guys and I'll be looking forward to next week!

July 16, 2012

That parade sounds like it's going to be sweet! (Cade, Ashton, and Jameson marching as Stripling Warriors in the Handcart Days Parade in Bountiful) Get some good pictures! And make sure you teach them well, Mom! :) I am way jealous that they are doing that when I'm gone. Hopefully they'll do one when I get back. We are having a parade today for all the athletes that came from Eufaula that helped their teams win championships. There are two college athletes and one pro football player. Miss Alabama is going to be there too, I believe. We heard that there was going to be a party at the mansion we volunteered at, it was going to host all the queens and Miss Alabama also. We were told that by Miss Barbour County Junior, aka. Caitlin. They never told us a day to have us come serve! haha, it was fun talking to them about it. I found it was yesterday, we drove past it and saw all of them outside getting pictures taken. I couldn't tell which one was Miss Alabama because they all had sashes and crowns! I am going to keep the card so I can get more good pictures on it. I haven't taken a picture of the double wide... (Pinewood derby car)

This next week is Power Week! We are pushing ourselves to see how well we can work, and to see how high we can reach. Our whole mission is doing it. It is going to be a very spiritual and hard week. God is going to be receiving tons of prayers from our side of the country this week!

Cool mission story. This past week we had trade-offs. Elder Lane went to Marianna and Elder Benning came here. It was a decent day, but after it was over, Elder Benning couldn't find his scriptures! We looked everywhere for them. We called everyone who we saw when he last had them, and visited one family's house twice. We had a YSA drive around that day and we called him several times and he told us on the phone that they weren't in his house or in his car, we even cleaned his car out that morning before transfers. It was a mess... When we transferred back, he was a little down, because we didn't find them. Bro Jeffrey gave him his set of scriptures to use, until he found them, which we thought that they'd eventually turn up. Anyway, a couple days later, we got a call from the guy driving us around the day he lost them. He said that the morning before transfers his brother took his car to work and found his scriptures on top of the car, so he took them in his own room and left them there. Elder Benning's scriptures survived a 3 mile drive from our apartment to his house, going 50-65 miles an hour. There is no way that his scriptures could survive that whole trip. But God had them stick to the car so we could get them back! He was so excited when we told him, he said it's definitely going in his journal!

My time is running out, I'll talk with y'all next week!

That's sounds like fun! We didn't hear about a parade or anything, but we did have a good 'ol barbecue at a member's house. He smoked some wild hog, and had more good food. He usually has homemade fireworks, but his wife specifically told him, NO homemade fireworks, so he didn't. This guy is hilarious! But all is well, I am safe, and not in danger. I know what you are thinking, and I won't do anything stupid, and I'm always safe! :) We had s'mores in his front yard, and tried to watch the neighbor's fireworks, but there were too many trees.

Looks like y'all had a blast! I see that Ashton is taking good care of my Oakleys! :) I don't recognize anybody in that picture! I think I see Amanda? I'm not sure I remember her name right, Gracee's sister. Anyway, who is Jameson and Ashton both sitting next to? And Coree must be baking! She has the right idea though, best way to avoid sunburns is hiding from the sun! Dad also has a sweet hat! It looks like y'all managed to squeeze in there just fine. (Referring to a picture I sent.)

That's pretty impressive that Jameson's working so hard, he is definitely saving up! Or he is blowing it off on cool shoes and fancy shirts :). jk, Thanks for the mail, I didn't know about some of those guys leaving on missions. They have some good stories. It makes me want to work harder. We received a chain mail that I wrote in and sent to Cody in Virginia. Work is going a little better, we are focusing on the less actives. We had many good lessons, and good interactions this week. I was a little nervous a few days ago when we were trying to contact some LA's. Elder Lane said that he remembered one of these people really doesn't like us coming over, and he wasn't sure which one. So I was preparing to get a negative response from every house, when it turned out that we met one lady who was really glad to see us. The rest didn't answer, but the work goes on! Yesterday though we had a really good lesson with a LA, he usually didn't stay for lessons, but he did this time and we were prompted to share about God and how he helps us. We got to talking beforehand, and his dad and his uncle, who are twins, played for Alabama way back when. His uncle was in the pros for a while, playing for the Browns and the Chargers. His name is Terry Owens. I don't know if you know him or not. What was interesting was at first it was tense, finding things to talk about was a little hard. When we finished the lesson, he was a lot more friendly, and he even walked us out to the car. We knew that this was a huge step, and hopefully we will be able to go back and share more lessons!

I'm really starting to love the ward here. There are tons of fun members. We spent a long while looking at a member's Pinewood derby cars he made in his past years as a scout master. He wasn't a member then. He has the funniest cars! My favorite was the double wide. He made a two lane car that looked like a double wide trailer. His theory, that the time it took to get to the bottom, divided by half because of the two lanes, would beat all the cars! But it didn't, it was super slow! I need to get a picture of it still, it was hilarious! This ward is definitely growing on me! Hopefully the area is growing on me too! If you know what I mean! Well, I'll talk to y'all next time and share more things that happened. I am writing all the stories in my journal so y'all don't have to worry about missing all of them! They'll be a lot better in person also! :)

Love ya LOTS!

CI> (yum)

Hey y'all, no I haven't received the letters yet. I'm trying to keep in contact with Chipley so I know when they get them, but I don't know if they'll let me know. It's a hassle contacting other zones, you have to get permission from many leaders. Our mail comes at 3, so I wouldn't know until later. Thanks for sending me things though! I did get Jackie's letter, right before I left Chipley. I waited to send her a letter until I got here. So I didn't have the same problem with her. Everything else is going good though!

The weather is super HOT! The President sent us all a text and told us to stay indoors, and to bike short distances. The worst part was the humidity! Saturday wasn't too humid, but Sunday was like walking into a wall of hot mist. It was terrible. We also visited a couple who didn't have air conditioning, and we stayed there for forty minutes, they had fans going, but that wasn't enough. I got accustomed to it, and when we went back outside, we realized that it was the same temperature as inside! I felt bad for them. He said that he was born in that house, and his family got power when he was ten, that's when they got their first fan! I'm guessing that means they are used to it....

Sounds like everything is same 'ol same 'ol. Jameson having girls fight over him, Ashton secretly dating people, and Casey being bored, haha. That's going to be way exciting though, I loved the fourth of July parade. I don't know what's going on down here. I will find out soon though! I heard of an awesome tradition that the townsfolk do around here at New Year's Eve. They soak some sort of ball in a liquid over a period of a few months, light it on fire, and throw it around. It won't burn you unless you hold it longer than a few seconds. Sounds dangerous and fun! haha, they have been doing it for years now, and nothing bad has happened yet, or nothing I've been told about. I love the people in this ward. They may be old, but they are hilarious! The Leroys, the couple who have no air conditioning, are super funny. Bro Leroy was in some war as a paratrooper, and he was talking about everyone owning a gun. He then said, in fact I forgot this was in my pocket, and he pulls out a small pistol. It was hilarious!

I haven't seen a rugby game in so long! Most people don't know what rugby is, but some have seen what it looks like. I'm glad that USA beat Japan, Japan isn't that good, but neither is our team. I hope they are better this year. But what is the junior league?

Sounds like everything is going great, and I guess I have to tell a mission story now.... haha jk.

Well.... we do mostly rescue work here, visiting less actives and getting them to come back to church. We were visiting a family and we went down a dirt road and we thought we could keep going, but there was a no trespassing sign. It was a thin road, and because it was a hot day, I didn't want to get out and back up the truck. I trusted my companion as he made a three point turn and then pulled into a driveway not too far. After visiting the family, we got back in the car, but Elder Lane was outside looking at the car. He opened the door and said our tire's leaking. So it turned out that we ran over something and our tire had a hole. The only time I don't follow mission rules, and we get a flat tire. I testify that God has a sense of humor! Anyway we spent an hour looking for the hidden tools, finding how to get the spare out, and changing the flat. God did protect us from the rain, as soon as we finished it started to rain. We got the tire changed, and all is well now.

The work is picking up, and I know many more people in the ward. I also heard from Javi, he's in Atlanta Georgia mission, and he's right above ours. He's in an area where missionaries baptized tons of people, but didn't keep track, so he has to work with a list of 760 less actives! He says it's hard work, but he loves it!

I hope I get those letters soon so I can send the card. I love y'all, and I hope to have better stories next time! :)

For Ashton: we do service for the mother of the manager of the rams, she has offered us twice super nice apartments on the beach for a couple of weekends! Temptation!