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Monday, May 25, 2015

Mission Letter Week 97 - 25 May 2015

Well. Today has been fun. We had an appointment this morning to set another appointment with a really cool guy, C, for a week from Tuesday....oi....and then two potentials dropped us just now, whom we were going to visit at 1pm...oh well. Not prepared. We'll find people who are.

Elder Bruce A. Carlson was amazing! The main things I learned is that we need to be persistent. Plan with specifics so the Lord has something to work with and that there ARE things that we can do perfectly...like the morning schedule and the like. We are not perfect, but we can do SOME things perfectly!

Well, for one thing that we have been doing is WORKING TILL MY FEET FALL OFF!!! Geez, I haven’t worked this hard EVER on my mission before. It's like 'greenie fire' all over again!!! We have been walking everywhere and just talking with EVERYONE! We walk up to people in situations that even a really socially inept person would realize is awkward and to be avoided...but...we don't cur. AXE ME IF I CUR! ‘CAUSE I DON'T CUR!! It has been awesome. We haven’t found a new investigator yet but there is some serious potential and the members are starting to set some more serious goals as families now. :D And the rest of the District has found 10 new investigators!! We are all focused on finding like crazy and teaching everyone who will listen and is prepared! It's a blast...

I will be keeping all my purple and sentimental ties...the rest are trading ties...which I have just picked up along the way and used for trading. :P But I will be keeping a good number of ties! I'm gonna have a big collection by the time I get home…I hope!

For those top 3 things that you asked about (“What are the top 3 things that you’d say have inspired you and helped you along the way to become the best missionary you could possibly be?”), the most important thing is to have a CONVERSION TO THE SAVIOR, HIS ATONEMENT, AND HIS GOSPEL. Second is COMPANION UNITY, without which, the Spirit is not present and I "Shall not teach." (D&C 42:14 - “And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.”) And lastly is WALK OUT THE DOOR. Go to work until you collapse at 930pm after daily planning and don't have the energy to stand! Push hard and follow the Spirit!

#DieHard
#SleepLater
#SleepWhenWeReDead
#SickleNotTrowel
#YOSO (you only serve once)
#GetSheaves
#TwelveThrity38 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those are all hashtags we have made together! The Assistants made the #GetSheaves and the idea spread. TwelveThrity38 is from Elder Carlson...sort of....He talked about the moment (in Alma 8:14-21) when Alma returned to the city of Ammonihah and found Amulek, because he (Alma) didn’t hesitate and followed the council of God (via an angel) and "returned speedily", and Elder Carlson said Alma found Amulek at 12:30 and 38 secs, to make an arbitrary time up, and it stuck. We can't be doing just whatever, we need to have good inspired plans and let the Lord guide and even intervene when necessary!

We have been seeing some amazing changes in the missionaries here and it is AWESOME!!

Right now we are teaching no one...but that will change. >:D

Funniest teaching moment?…….IDK...I'm pulling a blank right now haha. I'll think about it! (see letter dated 1 June 2015 for the funniest moment).

President Wilson is AMAZING. He has helped me to stay focused and persistent. I count him as good friend at this point and I love him dearly. I have come to gain a testimony of his calling and his fulfillment of it. He is truly an inspired man and anyone that says otherwise is missing something...

I have loved getting to know the people I have been able to teach. It has been a massively life changing experience. I love the people.....but as just a location in-and-of itself (geographically), I actually dislike Bakersfield. Palmdale is pretty great though. :D

I have driven on the musical highway actually! :D

Snow Ward is pretty awesome. I love the H's and the B's a ton. The H's are the WML and family. The B's are a homeschooling family from Texas! :D Naturally, I must love them. hahaha!

I just got the snail mail...actually on Saturday, but haven’t had time to read it yet...too busy working. Sorry. XD Love you guys! Gotta bounce now have an appointment at 1m. LOVE YOUUUUUU!

~ Elder 9



Elder Nine learned he's not the tallest when he met his new companion.
Now, they both have learned that neither is the tallest, after meeting this ex-Pittsburgh Steeler football player who happens to be the son-in-law to the people they were eating dinner with that night. 
heehee.



Monday, May 18, 2015

Mission Letter Week 96 - 18 May 2015

Hey all!

This week has been okay...been struggling with finding people to teach...all our friends we've met haven't been available this last week or two...but supposedly they will be this week. :D So we hope and pray for the best!

Emily, 


That is actually a really funny story about you and Daddy going to the church that night. XD I shared that story with my fellow missionary friends here and they all laughed and said that is totally a Nine thing to do! :D

Don't worry about going to dances yet...it's okay...you can just wait till you're like 17 or something....no worries. :D



Mama,

My shoulder is doing great now and I'm back to exercising again...no weights now though, just "high intensity interval training" now...that's all. :P Today for lunch I had half a cucumber and an apple........

Thanks for the email!!

HOLY THUNDER STORM BATMAN!!! I was just talking to somebody the other day about Texas thunder storms and they didn't really believe me...this is glorious :DDDDDD I love rain… I miss moisture. So much. SUCH.

This week was alright... I pretty much filled you in already. Our one investigator, M, just dropped us...so we are hoping to start to teach N and C, a couple of sisters, D and her kids, and E and his family...but we aren't sure how they will take it yet...we will see. :)


Braky,

Not helping with the trunky comments there bro........................... ;P

Glad to hear the projects are going well though...probably slower without me there. ;)

Awesome to see some missionary work going on too. I had a chance to interview a lady that Elder Horan and Elder Page taught over in Meadows Ward for her baptism and I was wondering how in the world they had chanced upon someone so solid and prepared for the gospel.... Then we found out she had member friends...BOOM.

Members are the front line of missionary work in these last days. We just do the paper work. Keep it up!

Love you guys lots! Talk to you later!


~ Elder 9




Elder Nine & Elder Whitehead along with another young man were blessed to be able to help serve a family in the area that was moving out of their home.









Monday, May 11, 2015

Mission Letter Week 95 - 11 May 2015

Hello!

Yes, things are as well as they seem. :)

Tall bottoms and do XL tops not 2XL. :D

For going back to Cali, I am thinking about wanting to go back by myself, but I'm not sure yet...

Shoulder still sucks, hahaha… but it’s feeling better.

I am definitely feeling a new energy for working and it feels great! :D



Brak,

wut u sai iz tru. it s d lst strch b4 d nd...or as Gandalf says: The deep breath, before the plunge... :D


Gonna keep it short because we said everything yesterday (in our Mother's Day Face Time). :P

Love you guys!

BAI!



~ Elder 9

Some photos that were sent to us by wonderful, wonderful people in Bakersfield! We LOVE when we get surprised like this!




 Look, Ma! My head only comes to his shoulder!



The three "Bakesfield Bodyguards" - haha! ;)



Sunday, May 10, 2015

Happy Mother's Day!

It was indeed a very happy Mother's Day when I get to spend the day with my family, and Face Time with my missionary!  Here are some photos from the Face Time. Not the best quality picture, but that's ok. We got talk in REAL TIME!

You'll notice his right arm (our left) is leaning on a chair- that is because he tore his rotator cuff while lifting weights. It was not a serious tear so it is able to heal on its own (thank heavens!)









Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Mission Letter Week 94 - 04 May 2015

Hey all!

Sorry this will be so short, I just wanted to email and say I love you all, the church is still truer than true, and that I'll be writing snail mail today … the computers at the church we email at got shut down for a while so we have almost no time at all!

SKYYYPPPEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! We will be skyping at the M’s home in our ward (H’s are out of town then, haha) and it’ll be at 3 or 4 pm depending on who goes first. :P That’s our time, so 5 or 6 pm for you guys!

Elder Whitehead is cool kid!  He's a good guy and a hard worker. We've been having fun 'cruising around town'.  And door-knocking is awesome. XD  First thing I thought (when I saw how tall he was) was "No...that's not real.........." Hahaha! It was funny. XD Best thing about him is his happy attitude. :D Always smiling!

District Leader stuff is....... Lots of extra stuff to do and keep track of now. Hahaha. But it's fun too. Definitely good for keeping me focused if nothing else! What I like most about it is I love being able to serve in yet another way. I get to help my district members and work with them even more now. What I like least is just having to keep track of a bunch of stuff...but I'll get used to that. Eventually.

Not a whole lot of "C" (hahaha that’s funny :P) because our District is pretty stinkin’ awesome! :D Elder Ray and Howe are in it and they are awesome. So it’s been great. Elder Johnson and Haroldsen are cool cats, too, and Sisters Dodson and Shaw might be some of my favorite Sisters in the mission so far, along with Sister Tidwell, Sister Melton (may she rest in peace [aka: she’s gone home now]) and a few others!

‘Kay gotta run now...again sorry it is so short, I got as far as I could...BYE! I'll write that letter!

~ Elder 9

Elder Nine with his Zone Leader
 

Elder Nine was made a District Leader & this is his new companion, Elder Whitehead