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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Mission Letter Week 101 - 22 June 2015

Okay guys this has to be short again, sorry!

Emily,

I got your letter! I loved reading about girls camp and all the stories you had to share. :) I agree, time has healed many things and I am excited to be able to enjoy our better relationship when I get home. :D We will haz many funz! Tell Sister Dixon hi for me and I love her! She is awesome...but not quite as awesome as you. :D
Gotta hurry on now! Love you bunches!

Mama,

HI HERBY LA! HI HERBY LA!!!!! :D That is awesome! Hahahaha!

Man, I wish I had some Good homemade BBQ out here....Cali folk only make tri tip and it is NOT as good!!

SARYN IS GOIN SOUTH!! WOOOO! Elder Boy and Oryang are from Alabama...Oryang is home now too! Oryang is from Tuskegee and Boy is from Decatur! That is so awesome. :D Tell her I said congrats! :) She is gonna be amazing!! Go KILL IT!!

Yes, the shirts fit okay...Sister Moon is going to try to tailor one and we will see how it turns out. :D With a fat neck like mine sport fit is still big. XD hahaha.

The hymns thing is going well and there is definitely a marked difference in our overall feelings and spirit. :) It is loverly! Nothing too crazy yet but I think it’s because the music thing is easy now so we are working on having perfect morning schedules now....talk about HARD! Hahaha.

And I know Sister Moon is the birdie in your ear about the shirts btw, haha! XD She is the best. :3

So the meeting is called District meeting and as District Leader I get to lead the meeting in most of the ways, with some delegation for things like talks and role plays...but for our "Council" I lead that and we talk about how we did the week before and what we want to focus on and do better on this next week, we set goals, make plans to achieve the goals and discuss other concerns or matters with our investigators or members...that's about it though. :) It is usually a pretty spiritual experience!

It's only about 102ºF here on average so it's not bad yet. :P

I actually do like the rolled sleeves look better, or long sleeves.......but I can't complain with new shirts, haha!

I think my waist is 42  and my inseam, I am fairly certain, is 32 but IDK for sure...and as for my waist, on top of working full time right away, I am going to be exercising a LOT...probably close to 2-3 hours a day if I can make the time in the mornings unlike I am able to do on a mission because everything is all scheduled out...so I will probably lose at least another couple waist sizes. I'll be doing a lot of cycling for sure. :P

IDK when I will ship my bike home...maybe next Monday if I can find a bike shop to get a box from first!

I got a couple waters at Rite Aid that day because Elder Whitehead and I were parched and didn’t have water with us. :P We BIG BOYS and we needz waterz! Haha!

Other than that we are doing dandy here! Love you!

Brakenstein,

Thank you, my friend, I appreciate the advice always and the love and guidance; yours and mama's advice and love and guidance is why I am here...so don't stop!

Great to hear about the job!! Man, God is really in the details. He doesn't mess around...Well, sometimes He does...but in appropriate ways. :P What does your new job entail?? Same stuff different company or something different?

Can't wait to hear! Love you guys! Godspeed, and have a good week.

~ Elder 9






Temple Trip!!





Monday, June 15, 2015

Mission Letter Week 100 - 15 June 2015

Hello!

Cool miracles story this week! I'll share that in a second...

Emily,

I can't wait to read about your time at girls camp! I hope it was amazing! :D Glad my email was a perk-up for ya, too!

Braky,

Happy Pappy Day! I wanna take a second and just say thank you once again for being incredible. You have always been a stalwart example to me as to what a true father and a true man should be. I have always looked up to that example to learn and admire, and soon enough I'll be using all those learned lessons. Many have already been put to use while on my mission and I have countless things to thank you for...I don't even have the time. But I think the number one thing I have learned that I have been able to put to use on my mission has been leading by example and encouraging with lots of love. Thank you for it all. :)

Mama, and famaree,

I like Monday night writing better too. :) It’s a routine now so might as well stick with it. haha.

I got the letter with the Blessings in it and WOW...that was a really cool experience. Thank you both for sharing that with me. :))) I figured out what a gleaner of lost souls is....that was really cool and I learned something from that...For the longest time I always thought, in a joking way, that my father was always in my classes in church and the like because I was a "problem child" (again, in a funny way, not a sad way haha)...but after reading that, I learned that the purpose of that was instead because there were specific people that he would be able to bless with his awesomeness...for example, J. He is now on a mission and finishing up like me, and will be eternally blessed for that service and has learned and grown in ways he would not have otherwise. L, whom he is currently befriending and strengthening as he can, other young men, other of the adults that he has worked with, and several other people, that I won't bother to name-drop right now. Truly, Bob Nine is a gleaner of lost souls, because he has lived worthy of the blessings of heaven promised him and lived true to the charge he was given...And he is my daddy. :)

Yes I did get the package...are you sure that you can afford the shirts?? I am about to come home and was going to pack light and I didn't want to burden anyone with more spending than is truly necessary...I don't want to put you guys out. Because when I get home I'll only need one long sleeve anyways hahaha...I can do without if you guys would like to use that money! They are very nice shirts and I really do appreciate it. I also don't have a great need for them...

The socks however, and the powder are probably the most glorious things that have happened to me in the last 6 months! XD hahaha! Thank you!

Also, about the mattress when I get home...I thought about it and if it is possible to do a long twin that might be a good idea....I talked with a member chiropractor and he recommended that strongly...just a thought. :)

NOT THE R's TOO!!! :((( The ward is gonna be very different when I get home... BLAH.

So that miracle I talked about....we have decided to give up all music (LDS or otherwise) except for hymns and talks.......ouch. It hurts so good. A day after we started that, and with prayer asking God to bless us with 2 or more families to find and baptize by the end of this transfer, we found a Filipino family to start teaching!! B is the dad and E is the daughter and we hope to begin teaching everyone else too!

Okay, on the bike/suit part.

That is about it so far this week :)


Love you guys!


~ Elder 9



P.S.
I thought THIS would be nice for Emily to see some nice things from Lindsey Stirling, in reply to one of her emails about that a little while back. :)

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Mission Letter Week 99 - 8 June 2015

Hello again!

I am staying with Elder Whitehead! I found my "killer"!:D (That’s what we call our last companion on our mission, then when I go home, we say I “died”.) We are really happy! :3

So this week was kinda...long and boring. Just a little dry....literally haha.

The story behind the tie pic is...well.....that's us pretty much. :D








I did not get the letter yet...any letters. :( Probably tomorrow.

What? What? I am getting a box? What? Why? YUS! :D Otaaayyyy - I like boxes! :DDDDDD

Thanks, and you are so right about that (“all in the Lord’s time”). More than I would care to account for haha...had a really good talk with Sister H this morning...a lot of "my parents told me so" kinda stuff and talking about C and how he has been....reminds me of me.....hopefully he gets out on a mission like I barely managed too. :D

J will probably be a YSA referral next time we meet him if we can't get the rest of the family involved. He is a cool kid and we will see him for the 2nd time this Saturday...he has been out of town.

I heard about Elder G and I am awed by his dedication. I only knew him around the first part of his mission and I misjudged him by a lot. I need to repent about it. He is a good kid and a good missionary. Sad to hear about his mother. :( I don't know what else to say about it because I don’t know him that well.

I am not going to transfer meeting tomorrow so I may not get to see Elder Howe after today, or Flint until after my mission. :(

And, a cool quote from Brother O, a member in our ward, after a message we shared with him and his wife: "Well, my compliments, Elders. You are the missionaries I would trust if I had a dear friend that wanted to take the lessons..." AHHHHH!!! It was great! :D

Kay, couple questions off the top of my head...feel free to reply SOON :)

Bike: do we want to use bike flight to ship it home for around $30-40? I just saw Elder Howe ship his. Using bikeflights it is dirt cheap.

What size is my bed going to be? Twin? Because I was wondering if I should keep my sheets or not. I’ll consider it. They are getting a little old but not falling apart…I may ship them home… I will decide later. :)

I would like to tailor my 2nd gray suit by the end of this transfer to make it fit REAL nice. :P IDK how much it will be but it might be a bit of money… less than $100 though. :D  Only one suit. The other suit will not be joining me on my return flight. :P It isn’t one you want to wear much more. :)

Love you guys, it's all true. The church, the gospel, the Book of Mormon. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Have a great week!  Gotta bounce! Love you bunches!

#DieHard #SleepLater #GetSheaves #YOSO #FinishersNeverFinish !!!!!!!!

~ Elder 9

Monday, June 1, 2015

Mission Letter Week 98 - 01 June 2015

Hullo!

First, funny story!

We were at a members home sharing a message and they were talking about their kids and made a joke about being done having kids. One of the sons, 8 yrs old, not knowing any better and wanting another sibling says, "Mom, can you make another baby right now??" HOLY AWKWARD! It was hilarious! XD We all died laughing!

Okay.

HOLY WHAT BATMAN! Emily you are going into Seminary!?!?!?!?! What the heck. STAHP GROWING AHP!





Mama,

Thank you for the reminder about my last transfer meeting ._________. MEH. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT ELDER FLINT!!!! Everyone I know is "DYING" right now. :'(


(Mom's Note: "Dying" is the word missionaries use to describe someone having completed their mission and leaving to go home now.)

This week was a good one. We found a new investigator, J, and he is doing great. Has tons of potential and return appointment. :D We are excited and want to see more of this going on! Our Stake Conference was great and we learned a lot about how Ward Councils are supposed to work in a spirit of unity, and have the same vision and purpose! And also how we need to be working as a team. Too many members see each responsibility or calling as totally separated from the others...not so. It is one big plan and we need to see that NOW. :D It was great!

I gotta run now. Sorry it is short again. Love you all very much!

Byeeeeee!

~ Elder 9





Many pictures were taken at the Zone Conference where Elder Bruce A Carlson spoke on being a consecrated missionary. Of all the photos, this is the ONLY one that Elder Nine & Elder Whitehead appeared in.
Of course it's a photo-bomb appearance! lol!

The blond missionary was Elder 9's 7th companion, Elder Parsons. :)