Mission Letter Week 15 - 28 October 2013

Dear Family:

B. IS NOW A MEMBER!! WOOP! He also got the Priesthood yesterday AND a home teaching route!! :D He lives in the LLA Ward though so we won't see him very often. :( Transfers ARE tomorrow, but we were called Saturday so now we know what is happening.........duhn duhn DUUUHHHNNN!!! So Elder N is going ZONE LEADER!!!!! WOOO!!! He was District Leader this last transfer so he got “promoted”. Hahaha! I am STAYING!! :D AND.......I am training a brand new missionary!!! Wut iz dis. It must be an inspired decision and someone else better know what's going on 'cuz I have NO clue! :O  I'm pretty excited though! :)

We will be dropping J. by Wednesday or Thursday if we cannot make any progress with him. He's too much of a mooch and boozer to work with. He needs a counselor. BADLY.  But it is sad to see that he doesn't have any desire to change. We will try to stay in touch with him and if he turns around then great... but till then, we need to focus on the people that are ready NOW. Speaking of now, R. is getting (being ordained to) the Priesthood soon, has already begun his family history work and is DYING to get their temple work done! He is waaayyy too cool. We need a hundred R's and B's. They are just awesome. And we are allowed and ENCOURAGED to stay in touch, so I'll still hear from B. occasionally! And of course, I see R. 2-3 times a week.

G.! G. is cool. I don't remember if I have talked about her yet or not but we met her a couple weeks ago and set a baptismal date right away! She is a black lady from Belize and speaks English, Spanish, and Korean, in that order….Daaannngggg! And the dog speaks Spanish....yep. So we have been teaching her and she is still on track to get baptized by November 23!! Which is totally awesomesauce! And Her granddaughter has been reading the Book of Mormon to her a bunch...we may start teaching her too if she would stop running away every time we show up.  .__.   It's like they think I'm gonna bite or something, sheesh.

There is also C., and her elderly mother, A..  C.'s sister’s kids...so her nieces and nephews, are members we found out! And her father, whom we gave a Priesthood blessing to, has recently passed away, so we have been helping them whenever and however we can as well as teaching them when the moments allow. They'll be baptized. I know it. It's just going to take time. They are willing, they just have to take the right steps. And they are, slowly.

As for A., we had to drop her because she kept avoiding us...? I don't even know. So we had to stop going by. Sad face.

That's pretty much all the people that are progressing so far. We are still contacting people like crazy.

I'm glad you guys liked the gifts!! :D I was talking to Elder A about good places to shop and he had found a cute antique store with AWESOME stuff in it!! I might go back there for myself sometime! :D But I am glad that you like them. :)

Sorry for the plumbing problems!

And yes! I love getting updates about other missionaries! It's good and APPROVED reading material! Keep ‘em coming!!

Why do my baptismal pants not fit? BURGERS. DABURGERS. Hahahaha! But really now...I'm just too fat. ;D Would you prefer that I send them back or just donate them?? Put that answer in the letter you send snail mail. :) I like those letters by the way, they make me super happy!

My shoes are EPIC. I could not ask for better ones, the other missionary was just trying to get rid of some shoes so he just gave them to me! FREE SHOES!

Emily, I am so excited for you to be going into Young Women's and having that experience in your life! :)  It's gonna be awesome, and you are gonna be awesome!! I love hearing from you every week, so don't miss a week! ;)

Braaky, I have actually thought a little about where I'd live after the mission (don't worry, I am focused on the work and I'm not "trunky"!) And I may very well stay in the same ward. It's really one of the best places, now that I have seen other wards and places. I may check out others as well but it's looking likely that I'll stay local. ;) Okay, back to work.

GO CARDINALS!!!!!! back to work again...

J IS DATING K!??!?!?! WUUUTTTTT!!!! back to work....

Ds ARE GRANDPARENTS!!!!!????!!?!?!?!?!?

D GOT HIS CALL?!?!?!?!?

BAAACKKK TOOO WWWOOORRRKKK! :)

But for really reals, I have to go soon. I will send some pics in an email after this :)

~ Elder Nine

My costume! :D I thought it was clever, if last minute. We didn't have time for anything else. Haha!

R and I as we go into the Family History Center at the Stake Center! So there he is!!

The haircut I gave to Elder N with the cutters we borrowed from Elder A. :D NICE!!!

Us goofing around mid-haircut! :D

Emily inspired us, so we carved some pumpkins!! :D  Mine is on the right, and N's is on the left.

Mission Letter Week 14 - 21 October 2013

Hey guys! :)

Everything is going super awesome!! SO first of all, B has been officially referred over to the Ward that he lives in. He was going to move over into our boundaries but plans changed, sooo that was super sad. But he is getting baptized and confirmed THIS WEEKEND!!! :D And he is so totally gonna make it, not even an issue. He's already been interviewed and everything so it is SET! We called him and his wife last night to see how the new Ward was and just make sure they made the switch okay and he was SO COOL ABOUT IT! He's not even a member yet and he's talking about how he wants to do his part to roll up his sleeves, get to work and help strengthen the Ward!! WUT!! He is SO COOL! :D So even though he can't be going to our Ward on a regular basis, and however sad that may be, we are so insanely happy for the choices he made and the life he is now living. :) Elder N and I cried last night, just about when we were talking to him (B) and he was saying how happy he was that we had been the ones to teach him and most importantly, how happy he was that he has made this choice. He has already felt how very right it is for him and he loves it. And we love him. SO MUCH. I had no idea you could love another person SO MUCH when they're not even related to you. We were just so happy last night and all day today. :)

So that's the news on B. :) I believe I sent you pics of him and his wife with us and the S's right? HOLY COW the S's are so cool. I think I already talked about them but they are worth repeating about. :) Sister S is Brazilian and makes my favorite food out of all the people in the whole Ward. :D SO GOOD!! And Brother S is just a way chill guy and they are both such a huge help in teaching people, befriending them and making them feel like part of a family. AWESOMESAUCE.

R is doing very well still too and should be getting the Priesthood either this or next Sunday! And he is also starting Family History work and temple work! WHAT A STUD!! He's so completely cool. :) I'll get a pic with him this week and send it next P-day! OH and fun fact about R: he spent a few years in the Navy around '94 or something like that...so I thought that was worth mentioning - haha.

To answer some of the questions, being with a companion 24/7 for everything, within sight and sound besides for the bathroom and special interviews...really isn't all that weird, haha. I don't know if I just got used to it really fast or just hung out with the guys back home too much but it just seemed normal right off the bat. I think starting off being comps with Elder C really helped too. We had an instant connection that cannot be broken. Ever. Yep, lots of love right there. Maybe a bit bromantic. haha!

I got the letter on the 19th so about three days...not too shabby! (Mom asked how long it took to receive letters)

I haven't been able to talk to the Zone Leaders about Skyping yet but I will try to find out in the next week or two.

By the way, I don't think the white baptismal pants are gonna work out after all...what should we do about that?

I DID GET A COAT! I LOVE BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY!!!! :)  I got like, a Perry Ellis or something that is apparently worth a lot and a Polo sweater for under $100!! Wadduuupp. Oh, and the jacket, the Perry Ellis one, came with a super soft scarf. :) Lots of happy.

Transfer meeting is a week from tomorrow but I will most likely be staying and training a new missionary.… “no big deeeaalll”. YIKES! And Elder N will most likely be going ZONE LORD....Sorry I meant Zone Leader. :P He'll do great too I'm sure. President has been calling less and less experienced missionaries to have leadership positions because we quite simply don't have the time these days to be taking it easy. They make you grow up fast here if you haven't already. It will be a good thing for everyone though I think.

(In reference to the Halloween costume on Bob that he won “Scariest Costume Ever” award at our Ward Fall Festival) Daddy, only you could pull off a scary Pooh Bear! ;) And I think BD was very right about what he said! Haha! But I love the costume and Emily did an AWESOME job on the ears!

Emi, it sounds like you had a ton of fun with the party then, and all the dressing up!! We are going to a party this Saturday and I'm going as..... a missionaryyy!! OOO super scary!! Hahaha! Just kidding...but we hope to be able to dress up a little bit at least. That'd be fun!

'SCUSE ME!!! My sister is not old enough to be doing this "growing up" nonsense (and going into the Young Women’s program at Church for 12-18 year olds)!! NO MAM! Nuh-Uh!! That is so crazy cool awesome Emily!! BEEHIVE TIME WOOP! (Beehives is the nick-name for the 12-13 yr. Olds) That is uber exciting for you! :)

And it sounds like you are really enjoying SCONT and MCO Choir and all your other awesome things! I'm glad it's going good for you there!

I love the pictures guys. :) I'll send some too in just a bit. I BROUGHT MY CAMERA THIS TIME!! Brother M is super awesome here at the Family History Center and texted me to remind me this time LOL! I'll put in a pic of him too. :P

Well, the work here has been picking up and we are finding lots of people to teach who really care about what we have to say and who are ready to make commitments with their Heavenly Father, so we will be seeing some good progress soon! I'm gonna end here now and start sending pics! :)

~ Elder 9
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is my beautiful self :D Selfie!

Here is Elder N during a long day of weekly planning. :D

A letter we pinned on our wall that a little girl, Camille, in our Ward, gave us after we went over and cleaned up their back yard. Her mom is recently divorced and has been really busy so we helped her with some things that she couldn't do, like the yard and such. :) Lots of good service!

Some shoes another missionary gave me. :D

This is Brother M who comes in EVERY Monday with the missionaries to help them out and keep an eye on them for emails at the Stake Center. :) He is COOOLLL! We all love him a ton!

L-R: Elders N, M, A. Elders M and A are in the LV Ward. :)  This is N sitting on my bike and not being able to touch the ground.... He's a little short. :D

This is me wearing the watch Papa gave me. :D  If you can get that to him somehow, that'd be cool. :P

This is my old injury. :D  it's all gone now but this is what it used to look like. :)

That's all for now.

Till next week!

Elder 9

Mission Letter Week 13 - 14 October 2013

B SET HIS BAPTISMAL DATE FOR "xxxx" !!!! WOOHOO!!!!
BUT... Sad news is, he lives in the LLA Ward boundaries so we have to refer him over there and get him in that ward. We would have done it sooner but we, he and J included, thought they were going to move into our ward boundaries until about two or three days ago :P BUT! He's totally on track and is WAY converted and knows that he is doing the right thing :))) We are SOOO Happy!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEW! Got that off my chest. Been wanting to tell you guys that since the day he set the date!!

Sister L , you are awesome. Quite simply the best. :) I love you so much and I thank you for helping me and my family, and showing the love I know you have! I'm sad I never made it to your baptism, I really wish I had. But life is life and we take it as it comes. Keep being your awesome self and going strong! Love you!

We went over to the C's again and had some SUH-WEET Carna Asata ("Carne Asada") ...if I spelled that right...IT WAS SO GOOD! and we have started a new "dinner lesson" with all our members and they were the first ones we shared it with. It's our Title of Liberty Message....It's like, totally legit and all that. >:)

Orli is HUGE!!! :D SO CUTE!!!!!

Okay, I'm sorry but I have to skip over the rest now, and to reply to the letter I got this week:

 I LOVED the pics of Elder R...I might write him a short one after this... :) and the platform 9 3/4 was AWESOME!! And the picture of Brother R. was HILARIOUS!

Elder S is in our District!! His comp is Elder F, who is in his last transfer. And I know Elder O, he used to be in our Zone, last transfer, but he got transferred out. He's pretty hilarious. He made a little goofy dance and we all do it and call it the O. hahaha!

That's so insanely cool of you guys as far as the suit goes!! Don't worry about getting a bunch of money in fast, I still have to find a suit and get it sized and then pay, so no biggy! I bought a sweater today though because its SUPER COLD!! Just an affordable gray v-neck from Target. IT IS SO SOFT. And for the shirts, I'm totally fine with what I have so no worries. And the Van Heusen from the distribution center will actually be just fine too. Once I washed and dried it, it fit very nicely! Sooo, if I could get one more, just sometime in the future for when I get my new suit that'd be swell, so I don't have to wear the same shirt with both suits...that'd be nasty...bleh.

Sister S is going to Guatemala!! WOOP! Tell her congrats for me and to pretend I gave her a big hug!! :D That is so awesome!!! She's going to be an amazing missionary and invite EVERYONE to get baptized. :)

Elder R  TOO!!! Too cray cray. Too cray. I met J while doing swing for Jubilee along with all my other Jubilee friends from Allen. I think he moved away though...But still, he's gonna be awesome too, over in Brazil.

And A coming home makes me feel reeeaaalllyyy weird...that means I'm really not all that far off my self. NOOOOOO!!!!

OH OH OH!!! Elder N and I both know K...Sister M, I mean...and the Es, K and B, we know the S's, S  and his family, and a bunch of other homeschooling families!! We wrote a letter to Sister M in the same envelope...that'll be fun for her to open. haha! So, yeah, crazy stuff over here on the west side of the tracks.

This week has been picking up a little bit and we contacted a lot more people. J is still where he's been the whole time. We are going to be giving him an ultimatum pretty soon and either he makes progress, or we'll have to drop him...we really want him to progress though, cause we HATE dropping people. No fun. BUT! On the plus side of things, we found G, an amazing woman!! She is elderly and from the British Colonies in Central America! How cool is THAT? Pretty stinking cool. We set a baptismal date with her right away and taught her the restoration and have met with her one other time to just see how she is doing. She's super solid and loves it when we stop by. Her son, G, takes care of her and her niece is there often as well so we are hoping to involve them as well very soon. WOOP! They are really really nice people, and a lot of fun to talk to.

I didn't know you could pray every 15 min in a day, but we do, quite literally, everyday. Seriously, FIFTEEN MINUTES. And in between we are still praying silently ALL the time!! And then BOOM. Miracle. just like that. I love my job.

Okay that's all I got this time. I'll be sending a package home very soon, in the next day or two...hopefully today. So happy birthday to the girls! >:)

Love you guys!!

Elder Nine

P.S. If you just happened to send Nutella I would NOT complain...Just sayin'.... :) BYE!

Could you find out what Elder R's email is and put it in my contacts for next week?? THANKS!!!!! :)

~ Elder Nine

Hey guys! Here are some pics of Elder N and me with B, his wife J and the S's. :D B and J are the younger couple. Sister S is Brazilian and makes AWESOME Latin food! >:) WOOOOPP!!! We are in the S's home and just finished dinner and teaching B. :)

 

Mission Letter Week 12 - 07 October 2013

Soooo I realized something. Emily's initials are E9......Now mine are the same, for “Elder 9. >:)  So it’s E9 squared!

As far as the texting language, it's totally fine. I do want to get better about it so no worries at all. I'm just sometimes in a small rush to get everything out and so it gets a bit sloppy. Oh well!

Emi, that is awesome that you taught yourself to play a song! I like doing self-taught although it can help if you have someone helping you along too...but yeah, that's greatness! Keep it up!

As far as my reasons for eating healthier and what Brother M. told me, he basically clarified that the Word of Wisdom includes anything harmful...and had me think about it, putting all my desires and cravings aside. That following P-day I bought lettuce and watermelon for my main food source, haha! It actually feels really good too and I have way more energy now! It's like Meshack, “RadioShack” and “To-bed-we-go”...... Now that's funny right there. So the reason why is because I'm trying to take better care of my temple. And I have some work to do...

I like the swapping SD cards idea. *Jack Black voice from Nacho Libre*: Is goood. Is really goood.

FAMILY PICTURE!!!! People bein’ jelly of my family. YUH. You guys look so good!! And yes, daddy looks goofy...but that's normal. :P

B LOVED General Conference (I'm saying GC now cause that took way too many tries to spell) and we are meeting on Wednesday night to talk to him and possibly set a DATE!!!! WOOO!!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!

We are also teaching J....who is always super drunk .__. but last time we taught him we committed him to live the Word of Wisdom and took all his alcohol from him...with his permission of course. I felt like a total sinner with it all in my bag until we dumped it. Yeesh. The bottles themselves are possessed of evil spirits, no lie. You feel SO BAD. Even though you are dumping it and by doing so, helping someone... so hopefully he will not go and buy more.... ‘cuz if he does we'll have to take that too. oi.

R...We need a lot more R's...like a whole ward of them. Whoa. That would be REALLY weird...never mind about that. But he's doing super well, and his family has been really nice about it all and we talk to them all the time...potential? YUS. So we may be able to work with them through R and his pure awesomeness! No pics again cause I didn't bring my camera... MUH B. But you'll get some soon enough when we swap cards! Although I'll still send pics over email, if I can remember to bring the silly thing.

Transfers are 3 weeks from tomorrow. A transfer is every 6 weeks, soooo yeah. And I'll keep you posted if and when I am transferred.
When Elder N realized that we both knew M, now Sister M and the family, we about lost it...no, we lost it. The S.  Elders that live at the C's with us were looking at us and Elder P was like "that's cute." haha! So that was an awesome moment!!!

And YES he was homeschooled!! So we are fellow homeschooled Texans!! HOW. COOL. ARE. WE. Pretty cool, I'm tellin’ you.

As far as GC goes.....MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK! Every other talk was about it, for reals! Also I noticed a lot of focus on the sacred role of womanhood and the important role of a Priesthood holder. WOW. They were not shy this time. We need to really make sure we show respect for those things. And members just need to freaking talk to people!!!! DO IT!!!! And that's what I mostly got out of it...

Daddy, my favorite quote? I don't remember which Gen Authority said it, but I took a note of it in my notebook, and he quoted what is now another favorite scripture of mine. Fear not, Only Believe. (Luke 8:50 - “But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she will be made whole.”)

SOOO. This week has been super slow too. LAME. We had to drop a lot of our investigators because they were just not progressing AT ALL and had no desire to. And so we are pretty much teaching B and J twice a week...........and knocking doors. BUM. However we are trying to get the members involved by inviting them to invite their friends to do family history work. >:)  We are working with the Ward Council on it and are hoping to see results in the coming weeks. Other than that, not much has really happened. I know. LAME.

As for the shirts, I will look around for some good deals, but honestly, what I'm going to need more, is a cold weather coat, and very possibly another suit. I totally understand about the money, don't stress over it at all. The reason I would need another suit is, since we are state-side, we can go to a lot more training meetings and such, so I am wearing a suit 2-4 times a week, all day long and it's kinda hard to do that with one suit....sorry if that's a tough one :/ I wish I wasn't pulling more funds from you guys. Let me know what you think I should and can do.

I also wish I had more to talk about, this week has just been really slow. I love you guys! Take care. Godspeed.

- Elder Nine

(Note: Just in case anyone is thinking Elder 9 only has one suit to wear, you’re right! ;)  However, he has plenty of slacks and shirts too. But they aren’t actual “suits”, which is what he needs for training and other “meetings”.  Looks like he’ll soon have at least 1 more suit!) ;)

Mission Letter Week 11 - 30 September 2013

HELLO ALL!!! :D  So, hi.

MAMA!!!! I'm sorry I didn't send anything for your birthday!!!  I have been a tad BROKE since I'm not used to budgeting with so little money... but I know what I'm doing now, so I'll get something and send it out ASAP. :D And it will be good, and loverly, and amazing, and more loverly. :D ‘Cuz, yeah. So I'm super duper sorry for not getting anything to you yet... and as lovely as you'll be about and saying "Oh don't worry about it -" NO. I WILL WORRY. AND I WILL DELIVER! BOOM BABY!

And we move on...

Daddy, I see you are still practicing the whole "Don't camp on Mama's birthday" thing. ;) Make sure you plan that out next time. Yes, I'm telling you what to do. And I love you. :D I am glad that it worked out though and that you have the opportunity to share your pure awesomeness and attractiveness with all the other leaders...with no charge. ;) You are an amazing teacher, both of you are, and I love you both a ton, and I am so glad that I was smart enough to pick you two.

BTW, I'll start picking out my beating stick now so I'll have the perfect one to get ‘em with....... (in reference to keeping the boys off little sister Emily when she gets to be dating age.)

EMILY!! Nice haircut!! Superbly cute :) I like the look! I'm also glad you found the key to the guitar case. :D I believe that I loosened the strings all the way so if you need help tuning it, talk to DC , or maybe Mama and Daddy can, and they can tune it up. :) Hope you have fun with it. :) And how's the violin coming along?!?!?! I gotta keep it short for all the writing I have to do. :P LOVE YOU!!

Dearest, dearest mother dear. :) I love you way too much. But I think you might have me beat...at least you know where I'm coming from. And because of that love... you are now going to forgive me for forgetting to bring my camera with me to the computer. :D <3

And moving on again! The money thing is totally fine. Haha! Don't even worry about it. I try not to use it unless I really need to anyways... also, I bought a brown belt at Walmart to match some nice shoes that a missionary gave me. That was only $12. THANK YOU though for the money that you guys sacrifice for me... I only now realize how much food I freaking eat! Hahaha...but I've been eating a ton of salads and healthy stuff lately...and it has been working OUT for me.

The Family Values Meeting thingy was way cool, but our Bishop gave us a ride and said we needed to leave right after so we didn't get a chance to talk to any non-members there so it felt like we wasted and hour and a half. :(

K IS GOING TO JAPAN on his mission?!!! I totally called that like a year ago! He's gonna be great over there and baptize a million people!!

GENERAL CONFERENCE !!! :D Time for some good ol' edification baby!! WOOP! Elder Norton and I are SO EXCITED!!! And it's SICK (that means GREAT) that Priesthood Session is being done live now. :D But DADDY! Go to the Stake Center. DO IT. Don't sit at home. Our Bishop reminded us that one of the biggest things about Priesthood is SHOWING UP. ;) But you are a smart man and have taught me that all my life so you probably already knew that. ;) Plus the fellowshipping is a good thing too!

Honestly for shirts right now I’m doing OK. I'll be totally honest, the one that I want right now, is the Joseph Aboud shirt that I got from men’s Wearhouse...is that OK?? There is a Men’s Wearhouse close enough for me to go to if you are OK with that...let me know through DearElder. :D

As for the gift cards, I think I might actually pass now...I've talked with a Brother in our ward and I have taken a very different look on the Word of Wisdom as of late so I'll just be buying my own food from Walmart and then maybe the occasional stop once in a little while when we all go to eat somewhere...thanks though!!

I love obedience so much! :) That's really all I have to say about that haha. Just be obedient. If there is a tiny doubt in your mind about something, DON'T EVEN DO IT. That simple. Once we make the dedication and commitment to our Lord and God, it ceases to be a temptation altogether. Just like that Ezra Taft Benson quote you shared with me (“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”) ...I never knew how important that little thing on our fridge was!! It was right there...but I take comfort in that, because it is IN MY HOME. The fact that it is there means something; and I love it. :)

MUSIC...so yeah. I made some really bad calls at that time. I didn't think it was too bad...but Brother C always has a burn-pile going on his property soooo... that was a fun evening activity! I now only have music that is uplifting, in the spirit of my sacred calling and directs my thoughts and feelings to Christ...and if you wanted to send more of that kind of stuff, that'd be swell. :D It's okay if it's upbeat and happy, because the calm stuff is sometimes...........sleepyish.....and that's bad in the morning. lol! Just nothing that is "distracting in it's tempo, beat, loudness, or intensity"...that’s an approximate quote. :P

LC MY BOY, DOIN' WORK!  Hahaha! That's awesome to hear about him getting civilly married! :) Glad things are going well there!

Answer-The-Questions Time... :)

The bike is more than OK. haha! I had to buy a new stem for it, just to raise the handle bars, that’s why I spent 60 bucks plus labor and a quick tune up; so that was actually an awesome deal. lol. And I’m almost all healed so that happened quick. :)

R GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!  Elder N did the baptism and I did the confirmation. :D We didn't get a picture in the whites, but I'll get a pic to you asap from that event. :)

And as for B, he is SO CLOSE!!! He has overcome all of his concerns, has had his spiritual experience and I think that General Conference will be the last straw! :D So that's super exciting!!!!! We can't seem to get in contact any of our other investigators, so that’s been a bit rough. We are working on reaching out to them though. :)

OK so bashing...my favorite one so far. Here it is: We were just knocking doors on this one street in the middle of a neighborhood, and we knock on another door...we wait...then right as we ring the door bell the garage door opens and this grumpy, hairy, tubby guy in his "beefy Hanes" (to use an Olan Rodgers reference) and started yelling at us telling us we made him forget to get dressed and thanks for waking him up and got after us for letting our dogs poop on his lawn and all that good jazz....... I almost busted out laughing right there! So I just waited till I had gone two steps away until I started laughing... I’m sure he loved that!! But as we walked away, we saw that he had taken all the dog poop and lined it up on the side walk... The guy was messed up! It was SO FUNNY!!!!!!! I was on exchanges with Elder D, our newest Zone Leader at the time. :D

We had transfers two weeks ago BTW. Elder N and I are still in R.V. though. :) Those Texans stick together! OH! IDK if I told you this but N is from HOUSTON!!! :D And we both know SM.!!! WUDDUP?!!!!! So, yeah. Sister P lost Sisters T and M in the last transfer but we have Sister A with her now.  Elder F got transferred and A has M now. M is a newbie.  But a way-good guy and a lot of fun. :) Since Elder "X" left, Elder J got transferred and the S. Ward has four Elders now not just two.P  and G in area 1, and F and S in area 2. S is a big Samoan boy and it is FUN playing basketball and singing with a ukulele with him!! He has a great singing voice!

I have so many things to talk about but I can't remember them all!!! GAAH!!!!!

The open house was good but we didn't get as many referrals as we had hoped...though we have quite a few more than before. :D So we will be working closely with the members to follow up with their friends. :)

That's a good pic of Emily! :D And an awesome haircut! Tell Tiffany “HI BACK!”

This week has been slower than normal so there's not much else to talk about. I'm sorry I forgot my camera!! I like sending pics almost as much as you like to see them! :) It's easier to explain things as well, haha. I'll get them next week though. :D

I love you guys!! Godspeed! (my new favorite word to use :) )

Elder Nine

Mission Letter Week 10 - 23 September 2013

EMILY!!!!

THE KEY FOR THE GUITAR CASE IS TAPED TO THE BACK OF THE GUITAR CASE. :D So you can play it now, and you can have all those knives....... Except for maybe the Winchester one if that’s one of them... I can't remember if I packed that or not. The lantern lights for your bedroom sound like they are really pretty. :) I wish I had nice lights! hahaha. Sorry my reply is so short.  Wish I could go longer.

BRAAAK! (aka: Dear Daddy,)
You can keep the tops.  I didn’t like the way they fit me. Glad they work for you.  I’m good on everything for now...... although I may need 2 more shirts...we shall see. Gotta keep it short for the details. :) Love you!

MAMA,
I love you! :) I did get your letter before Monday...I got it on the 20th I believe.

Everyone now...

I’m pretty sure I already replied about the Stake Conference thing that happened. That was crazy to the extreme! But ours over here was way nicer.  It was the Sunday before last and all the missionaries in the Stake got up to recite The Standard of Truth in the middle of President C's talk! :D Totally AWESOME.

I need a ton more stamps! I can just buy them here, but I need more than 50 cents in my account, as that is something I have to use the home card for...why DO I only have 50 cents by the way? I was sure I had more... Sorry it seems like I'm spending a lot of money from home by the way. There have been a lot of things going on. Like needing to get an adjustable stem for my bike because, as it turns out, the handle bars are a bit low for me... plus a quick tune and some labor cost it was about $66. We found a really nice bike shop with good service here so I am happy. Also, speaking of the bike, I took a spill last Tuesday.  It was hilariously dumb. I’m OK, the bike is OK (though that’s why I had a tune up, so I made sure it was OK,) but I totally ruined my light gray slacks. :( That was the worst of it. I am healing from some sweet looking abrasions. hahaha! I'll attach a couple pics. :P

So far this journal I have is OK for now (not full yet)...I'll let you know if I need another one, but I'll probably just buy one out here. :)

I feel dumb... there are a number of things it would seem that I didn’t pack up before I left. Yes I’d like to keep the Lindsey Stirling shirt. lol!

T IS GOING TO RENO FOR HIS MISSION?!!  That's actually hilarious, I think! Hahaha! Good to hear though! :D Tell him congrats for me and someone hug the guy for me, for pete's sake. :)

I am good for towels and sheets but thank you for asking. :D

No health problems except for not being able to stay on my silly bike. But I don't think that one is “helpable”. Haha!

As for recipes, I'd love some!! Sooo, yeah totally send those please.......with Nutella! :D

Enro shirts. :D 3 would be epic. THANK YOU!!!! or 2.....or even 1 would be awesome.  If you can and if it isn’t too much hassle try to make as "normal" fitting around the middle as possible because the ones I have are a bit baggy and it’s kind of inconvenient. (I’m good with them but if we can help it in the future that’d be swell.) :D

Gift cards?!?! WOOOOHHOOOOOOO!!!!! So Carl's Jr....and.....Tom's if you can find any.....and Primos....... So yeah. :D Sweet!!!

That was an awesome note at the end that Emily wrote on the board. :D I love you guys!

Okay my turn. So this week I am going to focus on what I have learned as the week itself has been rather........slow. Except for the "Sabbath Day Open House" that brought over 30 non-members to church! :D More details on that later as we see more results in the future.

Alrighty. OBEDIENCE IS EVERYTHING. Those three words, in that order will lead you right. EXACT OBEDIENCE. By living those two words, we will live happily with our Heavenly Father.

D&C 132:12 - “I am the Lord they God; and I give unto you this commandment - that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord.”
God, Christ, and their Word, is Law

Moroni 10:32-33 - “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. / And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of this blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.”
We are saved by grace and we are perfected and sanctified in Christ

D&C 88:34 - “And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.”  We are perfected and sanctified by law.

As we see in these scriptures, Christ is Law, we are sanctified through Christ and saved by grace....Christ embodies grace and so He IS grace. We also see that we are sanctified by Law...or rather obedience TO the Law. If you are adding all this together yet, you see now that through Obedience to the Law, which is God and His Son, we are saved by their grace.....it sounds simple over email but it is so much deeper than what it seems...study those scriptures and add them together. Take these simple truths and add them together...then take Moses 6:5-7...read it now before continuing.

( “And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. Now this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also.”)

The word “Priesthood” in there is the first time it appears in the Pearl of Great Price scripture. If you pay close attention you see that LANGUAGE IS PRIESTHOOD. Priesthood is essentially the language of Adam. It says it was undefiled. What that means is they were OBEDIENT and were so aligned with the will of God and Christ that their Word was the same as the Word of God and so there was power in their words. That's why Priesthood is used by SPEAKING or OBEYING. (And that is why we “lose” the Priesthood, it’s power,  if we are ever unrepentant and/or defiling the Priesthood in any way by using it unrighteously.) Blessings are an example of a speaking-use of Priesthood and an example of just obeying is when Moses was commanded to part the Red Sea by putting his staff in the water.....it is by OBEDIENCE that there is power in the Priesthood. Yes, you still have to receive the Priesthood, giving you the AUTHORITY to use that Priesthood, but it is through our Obedience that gives us that POWER of the Priesthood. My. Mind. Was. BLOWN. And it is so much deeper than all this makes it sound. I wish I could share it in person....GAH! Read those scriptures over again and study them. Find out for yourselves. OBEDIENCE IS EVERYTHING. It is literally EVERYTHING. Like, you just don't even get it!!!!! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! OBEEYYYYY.  Exact obedience WILL bring miracles. I promise you all that.

I PROMISE YOU BY THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF GOD THAT AS YOU ARE EXACTLY OBEDIENT, YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WILL BLESS YOU AND BRING MIRACLES INTO YOUR LIFE.

I am more serious now than ever before in my life. EVER. And that is a very serious promise. Be exactly obedient. And not just in the things you know of. Look for more things to obedient about. And those things you think you are obedient about, double and triple check to make sure. If there is even the TINIEST doubt in your mind about something you are doing in relation to Obedience, CHANGE NOW. Don't wait. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES to be obedient, so you can receive those blessings, miracles, and power!!!! DO IT.

I love you guys, the above is my testimony. I am out of time so sadly no pictures. :( Next week I'll make sure to send some though!

Lots of LOVE,

Elder Nine

Misson Letter Week 9 - 16 September 2013

Braky Brak! (translation: Dear Dad)

Sooo, first off, I sadly cannot send any pics of me "doing missionary work" as it is VERY strongly discouraged to take pictures while in "proz" (proselyting clothes) and actually doing the work, so most of my pics will be on P-day...and a few maybe throughout the week that are not while we are finding or something.

It's awesome to hear about Lawry's project though and that it's going well. :D I REALLY miss that chainsaw!  But, I may have an opportunity to do some service with a chainsaw out here at one point.....we shall see. :)

Brak, Love you, love the work, and having a GREAT time out here.
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Emily, HOW'S THE VIOLIN!?!?!?!?!? Send pictures! :D  I know you'll do well with it if you just stick to it. :) And it would be WAY COOL if you could play Lindsey songs! And even add your own style to them! Let me know how you're doing with that as time goes by. :)

I'd forgotten that President C had sent that pic (of the turtle).  It's a desert tortoise. :D And he LOVES lettuce! Hahaha! And he's heavy too!! And pretty fast, considering.

I love "How To Train Your Dragon"! :D I miss watching movies with you and spending time with you. Even though we bumped heads a bit, it was always fun and happy. :))

And it's good to hear you are learning how to take good care of your violin. :D It's SUPER  important to take care of your instrument, and as you do, it'll take care of you. ;)

That's way funny about the hair dye! Those are fun to play with. :)

CONVERSE! WOOP! Best shoes ever! :D

Hahaha! I DID forget to box up my guitar up didn’t I!!? Well, after you practice the violin you play around with the guitar too if you want! But make sure you work hard on the violin first, it helps to have priorities and work hard on one and focus on it. Then when you are good at it you can move to the next one. :))

LOVE YOU EMI!!!
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Marmy,

OK I’ll wait to hear from you about when and where to write Dunkan :) Thank you.

I LOVE the C's SO MUCH! :D They are easily my favorite family....... don't spread that too much, I'm not supposed to play favorites.  But there are a lot of good families here. :) That's funny about JKs comment btw (TURTLE!!!!!) Hahaha! And I don't remember what tie I was wearing but I've gotten a few from a younger almost-married guy in my ward, R (happens to be B's best friend.) And they are way nice. :)

NOT THE Cs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :(
I'm glad they’re happy to be moving where they are going but I will miss them VERY much.  I will keep them in my payers and especially Bro. C for his job.

Dinner with the W family! :D That sounds like a good time! I've been emailing a little with J and it sounds like he's doing alright. I really do pray for him a lot that he can feel this is the right thing to do with his life...I think he does, too.

That's awesome to hear about J and J and the newest addition. :D I have a cute new cousin!

You might kill me here......but I didn’t try the shirt on again. :D
I honestly cannot remember my thought from 3 weeks ago “Faith. Hope. Charity. Humility.”  Again, super busy. I'll add that to my to-do list as well though.

As far as eating out goes, only on P-days, like when I went to an Inn (yes that was me...... I thought I used the church card though.... I was supposed to..... oops! ) And when members take us out so it's pretty limited.

The bike is a beauty!! Don't feel sorry for anything, I AM keeping up with the maintenance as it clearly needs to be tightened for now and taken good care of. I LOVE IT. As for the tune up, I just had a little trouble with lining the front wheel up so the disc breaks stop squeaking and the back break was just a tad loose. No biggy and all good now. I did buy a bit of chain lube with my home card (I think the home card) and all's well now. :)

My first Companion ever, and my very, very dear brother, Elder "X" (if you share this please remove his name) has gone home. :'(  He had some things he has had to fix back home and has made the hard but right choice of going home to fix it and come back when he is ready. I have come to love him with all my heart and soul and I was so sad to see him leave but at the same time so happy to see him begin the great healing process. It is so worth it to get it done BEFORE finishing the mission. And so important.

I move on.

I would love it if you guys could do something for me. Read two specific articles in this month's Ensign. The first is the one that Elder X read and that helped him make his decision to go home and clean up. It is called "THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD".  It is by Elder Holland. The MAN. I love the message of repentance that it shares. It is so important that we do what we can on this earth to repent of all our sins as much as possible, and we must do it through the Atonement, as that is the one and only way to truly do it.

The other article is called "HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT" (by Brad Wilcox).  I love the lesson in that one as well. To help you see what role it has played in my life in just the last couple days I'll share an experience I had:

Elder N and I are walking down the street to our next appointment at around 2pm-ish and he (the guy we were going to see) was standing in the driveway. We talked on the driveway a little before going in and before we went in, two gentlemen stopped by. They were either born again Christians or "L. Baptists"...not sure which and it doesn't really matter. They asked us if we were "the Mormons" and we said yes, we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first guy asks "Do you believe in the Bible?" and we say, "Yes, we believe it is the word of God as well as the Book of Mormon." So he says OK and starts talking about a scripture in the Bible where it talks about how we are saved by the Grace of God and Christ only, not by our works. Now, up to this point I didn't really know much about the topic, I'll admit, but I had read the article just a day before and had felt I needed to study it out rather extensively. So I did. It paid off. So I say "You're right. It is only by the Grace of our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ and the ENABLING power of His Atonement that we are saved." So he takes a step back. He expected and wanted a Bible bash. These and many other people seem to believe that the members of the LDS church think that we save ourselves through our own good works, and that that is one reason why serve our missions. How wrong can a person be, right? So I go on. " We are saved through Grace and Christ's Atonement...but Christ has asked of us to show our love and faith by following His example. By repenting, making and keeping covenants such as baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, Enduring to the end. These simple, basic, fundamental principles and ordinances of His gospel are what He asks of us. He does not ask us to save ourselves or to repay the debt He payed. That would negate the entire Atonement and his whole Gospel. He asks that we live His gospel, enrich our lives through these simple things, and love each other." He couldn't stand the Power of the Spirit that so VERY present there. His buddies face went from "Yeah yeah, bash him, bash him, BIBLE BASH BIBLE BASH!!!!" to "Wow dude. Way to go. Now you look like an idiot." They both just looked dumbly at Elder N and me, then just walked away....BOMBSAUCE. Not boasting of myself of course, but rather just as Ammon says "I boast in the Lord, not of myself". So righteous boasting right???.....Ehhhh......Whatever. It felt really good though. I love teaching by the Spirit...because it's really a "Sit back and enjoy the fireworks!" type of thing. There's so little that we have to do when the Spirit is involved.

I know that the Spirit is the great teacher of simple truths. I know that the Book of Mormon and the bible are both the word of God. I know that Joseph was a Prophet called of God and that really did restore the Church under the Lord's direction. He also translated the Book of Mormon through the Power of the Lord. I know that this is Heavenly Father's plan for our happiness. I know that the two most important works on this earth are parenting and missionary work, and in that order. I love my God and my Savior. I love this work. I love you guys. And...

I love sending pictures... :)

254 is L.V. Elders A and F,  N and me, Sister P and Sister T and Sister M is taking the picture. :P They are the Q. H. Sisters and WAY cool...BTW Elder N is our new District Leader...that means I have the BEST job ever. Because I don't have the responsibilities but I get to go on all the exchanges. teehee!!!

252 is a pic of the Sisters. :P Left to right are Sisters T, M, and P

217 look what we found on P-day while driving around in L. V.'s area!  Little ruins!!! SICK!

219 naturally this is what follows...  :)

224 Elder A trying to be sassy ;)

227 Elder N also trying to be sassy...not as successfully though ;)

234 Victory stance!!!!!

248 a random metal moose..  :D

 All of those are from last P-day. :D

Lots of fun. Since the L.V. Elders' truck is getting swapped out soon, we had permission to go "off-roading" on some light trails. Super light, but super fun. :)

THE END