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Monday, March 23, 2015

Mission Letter Week 88 - 23 March 2015

Wow has this week been great! :D I am absolutely LOVING Snow Ward!

Sooooo here is the deal. I am in the SAME District. I moved next door and I still technically live in Meadows Ward boundaries, hahaha. And Elder Ripa was already in Snow Ward, we are teaching a few people but they are all out of town right now. BUT! Elder Ripa was in the MTC with me!!! When I got calls I was so pumped! We have been having a blast doing service like gardening and farming, contacting a LOT of less active families and singing Barbie songs............yep. Found out we both have younger sisters that watched those growing up and so started our missionary rendition of Princess And The Pauper and Fairytopia. XD I have video evidence of a little bit of that…. Dropbox!







Like I said, Lots of service this week and we have a lot of appointments set now...for a week from now ._. oi. But hey, at least they are set!

Braky, that is an awesome trek story! And great pictures too. Thanks for the story update. :)

I am loving my life these days, and it is awesome to be in Snow Ward. We are looking to get the members pumped by using the ward missionaries and then getting more ward missionaries and keep giving them assignments and going out with them. :D

I gotta get those pics up now and email president...peace out, love you guys!


~ Elder 9


P.S.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA This is from Elder Johnson (newer guy)

Where You Live Makes A Difference

You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man
who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel.

By Southern California standards, someone owning 100,000 rounds
is considered "mentally unstable."

In Michigan, he'd be called "The last white guy still living in Detroit.”

In Arizona, he'd be called "an avid gun collector."


In Arkansas, he'd be called "a novice gun collector."

In Utah, he'd be called "moderately well prepared,"
but they'd probably reserve judgment until they made sure
that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food."

In Kansas, he'd be "A guy down the road you would want to have for a friend."

In Montana, he'd be called "The neighborhood 'Go-To' guy."

In Idaho, he'd be called "a likely gubernatorial candidate."

In Georgia, he'd be called "an eligible bachelor."

In North Carolina, Virginia, W.Va., Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina he would be called "a deer hunting buddy."

And in Texas: he'd just be "Bubba, who's a little short on ammo."

Monday, March 16, 2015

Mission Letter Week 87 - 16 March 2015

I’m getting transferred to Snow Ward, right next door, with Elder Ripa, from my MTC District!!!!!!! I’M SO PUMPED!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (though it will be extra sad leaving this place/comps! It was great while it lasted!)


Emily,
Yes!!!! I got your letter and I LOVED IT!! I bragged about your drawing skillz to everybody there. :D Thank you for that! :) Love you too!



Mama,
I had a great party at the G's and it was a nice little break from the day to day stuff! :D I LOVE the soaps (they are F's soaps right?? :DDDDDDD), and the CDs are great too! :)

I took the banana pic JUST for you! XD I thought of that off handed, and HAD to do it. :)

YES! I had an EPIC birthday! As crazy as a missionary can get! XD

The bolsitas were awesome. :P Sister G didn’t know how to say the word so I told her. haha.

I got EVERYTHING you sent, and I loved it all! :) Thank you so much for all the effort you put into making these kinds of days special. That effort and love is what makes it so special and my best Bday gift is my first one: Getting you as parents. I was reflecting all this week on what you guys have done for me. From a Sunday School lesson about families this week, to teaching J about the responsibilities he has in a family, to just pondering about my life, I have come this week to be so insanely grateful for you both and the love you have shared with me, as well as all the wisdom and time you have given to me freely. I love you. And I can bear a solid testimony that family relationships are SO important in this life. Having love between each other is vital to our SALVATION. So if there is anyone out there that isn't getting along with a family member....START NOW, because it takes time to heal those wounds. I know it does. But I know even more so, that it is more than just the work, you must WANT IT. Love each other. Love yourself. Love the Lord. Amen.

We spent most of the weekend just going by people’s places to share a last message and say good bye and get pics (I'll include them next week, for time’s sake. SORRY!!) J is doing much better and is softening more and more to the idea of baptism so he can get sealed with his family. :D Hopefully he sticks to it! :) D is still smoking but also still meeting with the missionaries...if he doesn’t 'shape up' though, they may drop him later.

WOOO trek!! I like the pic. :D SEND MORE! I'll send a bunch next week too. :)

MEGAN IS HOME!!!! AND SO IS KENZIE!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!! I'm next practically! O.o  I don’t know of many people from home that are getting home before me now...if anyone.....




BRAK,

Hahahaha! ‘Aramaic’. XD I had to explain that to my companion from the snail-mail letter you sent. :P

Wow, I cannot wait to hear all the great stories from trek! :D I loved my trek experience. It is a good thing for the youth. It is VERY humbling! I'll wait anxiously for the letter!

I gotta go now guys, I still gotta pack! LOVE YOU!


Elder 9


Following: Photos sent this week by Sister G of Elder 9’s birthday celebration which took place 14 March 2015 in their back yard. It was a “Texas” theme and Elder/Sister Shelton and Elder/Sister Moon also attended. The G’s and the Moon’s both gifted him a tie. So nice of them! Then he had our birthday package to open. In the package we sent: 3 handmade soaps, 5 “bolsitas” (loot bags; one for each Elder and one for the G's son, who is 10), and 2 CD’s for Elder 9. In the bolsitas for each were: 1 FriXion erasable pen, 1 2x2 green sticky note pad, 2 packages of cookies, about 10 or 11 balls of Lindt chocolate truffles of different flavors, 1 plastic parachute man, 1 small palm-sized foam ball, 5 packages of different flavored “5” gum, 2 fake mustaches each, and a $5 bill for each missionary to have lunch on or get drinks with during the hot Bakersfield days. Sister G made the cake and bought the balloons. I sent the decor to be used and bought the paper plates/napkins/cups. The backyard smelled like orange blossoms! The G's really went all out and I am so thankful for their efforts in helping Elder 9 have a special moment.

















Also, I had asked that he have someone take some good pictures of him and his companion knocking at a door, where the name tag is visible as well as the Book of Mormon. Sister G’s daughter, a professional photographer, took the pictures, including the “Banana picture”. haha! (It's a family joke/story!) 




 And below - just having fun and being very silly!!



Monday, March 9, 2015

Mission Letter Week 86 - 09 March 2015

Email Subject Line: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! Time to go get drunk.........................


JUUSSSSSTTTTTTT KIDDING!

Though from the looks of that picture, looks like Daddy's got the same idea XD hahahahahahaha! I died when I saw that!! ....




...and I WANT THAT CHOCOLATE MILK!!! (Emily remembering her big brother by imitating what he did with the same brand of chocolate milk in Bakersfield a couple of weeks ago.)




Sorry this will be a little short. The Zone Leaders showed up late to open the church for emails. ._.

WOOOOO BDAY BOX!!! I totally didn't even think about getting a package until I read that in the letter on Saturday, hahaha. And no worries about the birthday card, I'm not gonna throw a fit over something like that. :P

I've been quoting that a lot lately, from Racing Stripes "Don't look back, leave it all on the track!" It's so true, it feels like a sprint right now. You can smell the finish line from right in front of you...the difference is, I'm not sure I wanna see it just yet...but I think and hope I will be ready when the time comes. But either way, it's time for full speed and then some. I am pretty sure that I will get transferred and wherever I go next, will be my last area most likely. Not for sure, but likely.

Our investigators, or rather, friends, are doing well, if sick. J is getting over a cold and is still being a little stubborn but we will most likely be showing him the baptismal font on Sunday because he asked what it was like. :D Good indicator, he's thinking about it!

S is especially sick as he has had drug abuse in his past, but he is pulling through just fine and we will meet with him later this week. We have taught him the first few lessons and it is going well. He still has a lot of questions and is till kinda mixing beliefs, but with study, prayer, and his diligent effort I think he'll be just fine. :)

D is meeting with us again, though still smoking a lot. We talked about all the anti-Mormon stuff he ran into, got rid of all the wrong notions he could possibly have and talked more about how is pride is his biggest road block. He's a great guy!

We are working with the B family now, recent converts who are less active and have troubles also with smoking. They are AWESOME and hilarious. :P I love the kids, they are greatness. And they are also very humble...except for the smoking part...it always boils down to pride. ALWAYS. (For all,of us!) But they are doing well, and are starting to come to church slowly again. We are excited to see them more. :)

President and I actually had time to talk a little bit when he came to visit our Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) this last Friday. He visits as many as he can, for training purposes for the Zone Leaders, and we just talked a bit about how the mission is doing, and how our area is. The mission as a whole, as well as our area, seems to be lacking similar things. Mainly member involvement (though there is still some involvement), and being bold when inviting investigators to make and keep commitments (primarily baptism.) So that is what we focused on in ZTM and pretty much what we talked about together, President and I. He's a great guy. We'll keep him I guess! XD

I gotta run now. Wish I could share more but time is up. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

~ Elder 9




The Elders got to help some local members pick their oranges from their loaded orange trees. They had such a fun time! So thankful for these sweet members who send us pictures!

















Looking for the rain in Bakersfield - something that eludes many!
 

Monday, March 2, 2015

Mission Letter Week 85 - 02 March 2015

Hello :)

Emily,

My thoughts about writing in my Journal: I LOVE writing in my Journal. Some times I forget to, but when I do write in it, it is awesome. Just like you said, you can write anything in it, and it helps get things off my mind and help me focus on what really matters. It is also a fantastic time to receive personal revelation on whatever you are writing about...or even what you are NOT writing about but what you are feeling when you are writing. That has helped me the most I think, when it comes to writing in my Journal. And I think it is splendiforous that you are starting that habit now :D (In Nacho Libre voice:) "Iz a gooooddd oneeee!"

I WISH WE HAD SNOW!!!!!! I haz jealous. But I loved your part in the letter :) Thank you for that!




Marmy,

I have not set a time yet for the Temple, and I don't know if we will because we got a lot of stuff to do. Going to the temple is almost a full day thing. Like 2/3 of a day, and that's a lot of work not done, though it would be relaxing!

T has been busy with the kids lately and we have been picking bad times to go by, but she continues to tell us to keep coming back. She just can't promise she will be ready when we come by, so it's good that she wants us to keep coming by. I think once we start to teach her she will make this a priority! We hope anyways.

S - We had a great couple lessons with this week, and he has a LOT of questions. Which is good, but he also likes to mix beliefs. Like putting Buddhist things in with what we are teaching. Yikes. Not BAD, but not fully true either. We are having fun with that. :)

D is still smoking and it's harder and harder to get in touch with him, but to be fair he isn't very tech savvy and has phone problems so we are trying to just stop by, but that man moves around! Sheesh!

School:

I have been putting some serious thought into this matter lately (yes, just on my free time,) and I have decided I want to study either Film or Photography. I had an interest in it before I left but didn't have the chance to expound on it much, so I want to now. In a far more serious way, haha. I don't know for sure what school, but from what I hear from people, apparently BYU Provo, UNT and UT Austin have really good either film or photography programs. I am thinking of doing film because it sounds like that would give me a good take on photography as well, but IDK because I haven't really been able to look it up. :/ If you wanted to do that a tiny bit that'd be cool. XD

So here's the deal about Utah. I would LOVE to room with Peterson, but I really want to go to a Texas University if at all possible. The only thing is, I would need to find a film program that would be as good or at least close to as good as BYU's, because from what I have heard they have a crazy good film studies program. But at the same time, it also depends greatly on the student. Those are my thoughts on that one. Preferably a TX University, if all else fails, BYU. So could you maybe check that out if you have some free time? I promise when I am home I will do my own research, hahaha....with maybe a little help from you. ;)

That's about all I got...for now. I would love to start school right away if possible, but I think I will have to work at least during my first semester time at home to save up. We'll see :)



Braky!

I can't wait to get behind the scenes on things/events like that. Trek, Philmont, Maybe a Jubilee sometime. XD I am very excited for life when I get home. I am patient and will work hard now and wait my turn, but I cannot help but to look forward to it! School, Career, Family, Callings, all that jazz. Very exciting! :)

Love you all a ton! Gotta bounce now. BYEEE!

~ Elder 9



PHOTO:
Goofy picture on exchanges in Snow Ward with the W family. :D They are awesome! I've met them several times and know them pretty well now haha...for being in a different ward…