December 21, 2008

Merry Christmas! There wasn't a whole lot that went on last week and the highlights I'll be telling the family about on Christmas. But I'll tell you some of the things that happened. Elder Bartlett and I have been getting along great! Like I said in my last letter, we have the same kind of sarcastic humor. Also, he served in KC3 area as well and took the color test. He is a white-blue like me. He is a lot more white though. 

We have been working on finding more people to teach because it's pretty slow right now. We do have a few awesome investigators. One is named Donald Jones. He's a way cool guy. He wants to turn his life around and come back to God. He was praying for help to God and then, lo, and behold, I felt we needed to tract his street and we found him! He let us right in. He's reading the Book of Mormon. Another is Amber. When we were planning the night before we decided we needed to go tracting but we didn't know where. So I pulled out a map of Marshall, closed my eyes and pointed. I pointed to a circle of Government housing. We went there and found amber and also a former investigator that Elder Bartlett had been teaching but lost track of. Amber wants to learn about God so she can teach her kids right. She also let us right in. And she's reading the Book of Mormon. Our investigator Fidel is still doing well! He's more than halfway through the Bible. He reads every day and thinks about what he reads all day. He has changed so much since we started teaching him! He truly is going through a mighty change of heart! The stake president here in Warrensburg hears about him every week through weekly reporting of the missionaries. He eventually wants to have a spanish branch for this area but needs leadership. He already feels Fidel could be the Branch President for that! That's how awesome Fidel is! He's just an amazing guy!

Thursday was Zone Conference in Liberty, MO. So we slept at the missionaries' apartment in Odessa Wednesday night. It was a lot warmer than last time because the heater was working. Haha! Zone conference was good! It's always a great spiritual booster! At zone conference I saw my friend Heather's ex-boyfriend Cooper that was called to this mission. He is in my stake back home. I took a picture with him and I'm going to send it to Heather. Haha!

After Zone conference I went on exchanges with Elder Rico again in Marshall. His english is getting a lot better. I helped him some more with some principles of the english language. With Elder Rico we went to the Thompson's house for dinner. Because it was raining so hard we had to stay there until it was time to be in our apartment. We had tons of fun though! We made paper airplanes, played murder in the dark, and clue! haha! They are such an awesome family! 

Well, it's about time I finish this letter. Tell my family I love them! 

December 15, 2008

I'm doing great! Transfers were last week so it has been pretty crazy! I'm still here in Marshall. Elder McEntire was shipped off to the Kaw River area which is in Kansas City, Kansas. It's pretty ghetto there. It will be a big change for him for sure! haha! But ya, we were both pretty bummed that we were splitting up! We were hoping to spend Christmas together here. We had a lot of success here together. But I'm okay with it. It's part of a missionary's life. I'll see him again I'm sure. 

My new companion is Elder Bartlett. It's unusual that Elder Bartlett is in this area because he just barely served here. 4 1/2 months ago Elder McEntire replaced him actually. Now he replaced his replacement. Haha. I guess he had some unfinished business here! Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about Elder Bartlett. He's from Chandlier, Arizona. He's the middle of 5 kids,  I believe. He has been out for 18 months. He was in my zone serving in Kansas City 3rd when I first came out on my mission. So he's not a complete stranger. I've served around him a little and heard lots about him. Elder Barltlett is a very... unique person. He's very strange. He has a monotone voice and is almost always wearing his trench coat outside of the apartment, even in the summer. And I've heard from many sources that he talks to his pencil in a high voice like it's his best friend. I haven't heard him do it yet, but I'm looking for it! Haha! Although Elder Bartlett is very strange, he's a pretty awesome and funny guy. We've gotten along great so far. We have the same type of humor which makes getting along easy. He has never had a girlfriend and he was going to college for something that has to do with computers. He's smart, too. So I guess he qualifies as a nerd, but that's ok! I'm pretty much a nerd as well. Anyway, I think he is pretty awesome.

I'll tell you a little more about my week and my adventures with transfers. Wednesday was just packing and visiting people so Elder Mc could say goodbye. Thursday was a pretty long day. It started with getting up at 4:30 in the morning so we could be in Sedalia by 5:30. Elder Mc and another missionary from our district left for Independence then. Elder Bartlett was coming from Arkansas, Kansas which is near the southern border of Kansas which is near the southern border of Kansas The bus from there was getting to Independence at about 5:00 PM. So I was with that other missionary's companion until another member took us to Independence at 3:30. We just did some work in Sedalia because I didn't want to waste miles going back to Marshall just  to drive back soon after. I was with Elder Mapa. He's half black half Tongan. He's pretty cool. We just did some contacting potential investigators and tracting. We actually found a new investigator for the Sedalia elders. Haha! 

When the member came to take us to Independence I saw that he only had a small 4-door car which had to pack 4 missionaries, their luggage and 2 bikes for the ride back from Independence. I saw a potential problem with the amount of space. Well, sure enough, when we got to Independence the two Elders we were picking up had a lot of luggage and we couldn't fit everything in the car. Actually, we barely fit anything at all! haha! All we could fit was one big suitcase, 2 bed rolls, and Elder Bartlett's scripture bag. The suitcase was the other missionary's. It was a very cramped ride back to Sedalia. It lasted an hour and a half. I was cramping all over the place. Elder Bartlett had to rough it with no toiletries or a change of clothes until Friday night at about 9:30 when the Assistants to the President drove the rest of his stuff out here. It was pretty funny. Especially since he is a germaphobe. Haha! All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Since then we've just been out and about teaching. It's pretty slow right now because we just had all those baptisms. We need to get our teaching pool back up again. Yesterday and today (Tuesday) it has been snowing a lot. Winter has begun. :( I hate cold! Well, that is about it for this week.

December 8, 2008

So Tuesday night we drove down to Warrensburg so we wouldn't have to drive so far in the morning for interviews. We stayed at the zone leader's apartment. The next day, Wednesday, was interviews with Pres. Van Komen. That went pretty well. Nothing too exciting. It went from 8:00 AM to 3 PM. Then after interviews we all got something to eat then met at the zone leader's apartment and recorded some funny videos! Haha! We all played instruments (fake ones) to a Christmas rock orchestra song. That was very funny! Haha! 

Well, we got back to Marshall just in time to make it to the branch Christmas party. Elder McEntire sure did party it up! Haha! They had a gingerbread man decorating contest. Elder Mc and I were going to do a missionary but someone else already had the idea. So we made a Dr. Funk gingerbread man! Haha! It was amazing! We won the contest and each got a Christmas mug with candy inside! Haha! Then they had performances. Elder Mc and I rounded up all the YM and YW to do the rock orchestra like we did with the Zone leaders. It was so funny! Elder Mc and I were on the guitars (brooms). I was climbing all over chairs and Elder Mc was running around in circles on the floor. I was just being my goofy self. I seem to have more success as a missionary as I act like myself. I'm sure it's because God called me not anyone else. I'm beginning to learn that. I just have to be myself. My best self, but still me. After the rock show we participated in a 12 days of Christmas song where I was very loud and animated! Haha! I think we helped the youth get out of their seemingly comatose state. Haha! After the party I heard a 14-year-old girl from the branch bragging about how well she does the worm so I challenged her to a showdown! Haha! I totally kicked trash! Haha!

Saturday was Eric's baptism! It went very well! There wasn't a whole lot of people there, but it still went well. I was the one who baptized him. He is really short! Haha! I had to bend over to do the baptism! Haha! Elder Mc gave a talk on baptism and I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. I talked about a time of decision in my life when I was about 15 or 16 where I decided that the church and the sacrament was important to me. Those things brought me happiness because of the gift of the Holy Ghost. I've decided that I need to use more personal experiences in my teaching. It's good to tell someone that I know something is true, but it's better to tell them how I know it is true. 

December 5, 2008

Well, last Tuesday I went on team-ups with Elder Rico again. We had a good time! Ha ha! I taught him the slang words we as Americans use and pointed out the incorrect pronunciation of words. For example: "watcha doin" instead of "what are you doing" or as commonly heard around here: "what're ya doin." I taught him the words "ya'll" and "gunna" and other words like that. It helped a lot of things click for him because he heard all of those but didn't understand them. I've noticed a lot of things like that in spanish. So we had a really good time.

Thanksgiving was really great! We went to Granny June's for a thanksgiving meal. Wow! She is an amazing cook! She made TONS of food and it was all good! Usually I'm not a big fan of ham, but she made the best ham I've ever had! She is the nicest lady! She should be a member! Later that night we went to the Martinez house for dinner. They made Babasos for dinner. They are like mexican sub sandwiches. They were pretty good. They also made homemade doughnuts which were amazing! MMM! . . .

Monday we had a Zone p-day in Warrensburg which took up pretty much the whole day. We just played basketball and dodgeball and ate scones on p-day. Then after p-day I went on an exchange with one of the Zone leaders, Elder Tuttle. President Van Komen's interviews were going to be on Wednesday in Warrensburg so to save miles we had an exchange until then. We had  a good time. He's a cool guy and a good missionary. We had an awesome lesson with an investigator, Fidel Medrano. I'm really excited about him! I think he'll get baptized sometime soon! We also got a new investigator, Donald Jones. He has recently been wanting to change his life around and has been praying for help. We were tracting his street and showed up on his porch! He let us right in and told us his story. He is now reading the book of mormon! We have high hopes for him! 

November 24, 2008

There wasn't a whole lot that went on this past week but I'll tell you about some of the more interesting points. Well, last P-day we went to the Thompson's house to help them some more with their house. That was fun! A lot of the time we were just messing around with the kids! Ha ha! They are a fun family! After we finished putting up some walls we ate dinner and had FHE with them. We had the spiritual thought. We taught them the principle of S.M.I.L.E. from the scriptures. 2 Nephi 9:39 at the end says "Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal"... SMILE! Haha! . . .

So lately the principles of Faith, Hope, and Charity have been sticking out to me from many different sources. I've been learning of the importance and connection between them. This past week I read Elder Uchtdorf's talk: The Infinite Power of Hope. It's such an amazing talk! It's definitely one of my favorites! I learned more fully what hope is and what role it plays in my life. More than a feeling or desire, hope is a trust, a state of mind. And many times we must choose that state of mind. "There may be times when we must courageously make a decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts this hope. Like Father Abraham we will 'Against hope believe in hope.'" As I read his talk I was so very grateful because I feel as though I have been greatly blessed with hope throughout my life.There are very few times, if ever, that I have been in the depths of despair and thought that there's no point in going on. I have always had the trust that I'd get through it and everything would be alright. Most of the times I've given up in life is because of lack of diligence, not because I didn't think it was possible. I have been able to help and comfort many people because of this hope. I believe I have this hope to strengthen God's children around me. I'm so grateful the Lord has blessed me with hope! . . .

Well, Tuesday was a very interesting night at the spanish class! Ha ha! Every so often they have an activity night and they were teaching everyone how to do the Cha Cha Slide. Anyway I know the dance so I helped out. Then they had each of the classes perform it for the other classes. There was about 50 people total. Then they decided that they were going to have a competition and the winner would get a $10 gift card to Wal-Mart. Well, my companion and I were both broke for the month so I really needed that $10 giftcard! Ha ha! We needed to buy food with it the next week! Ha ha!so each class (there were about 7) picked their best dancer. Then those ones picked who would compete against each other. Guess who was picked from my class? Yup... it was me! Haha! So at that point I was determined to win! I took off my jacket and rolled up my sleeves. It was on! Haha! I sure put on a show! When everyone voted it came down to me and another lady. So we danced again. Now I really had to impress the crowd! I heard the other lady's classmates telling her to throw in some Salsa dancing thinking that this Gringo doesn't know any latin dancing. So I threw in some moves I know and I also threw in the worm, handstands and a front hand spring! Ha ha! Well, I won the competition! Ha ha!

November 15, 2008

I love the Lord so very much! He has been so good to me this past week! I'm excited to tell you about my week because it has been so great! So I'll get right into it. On monday I played some dodgeball with my district. That was the first time in a while I played. I've kinda gotten a little out of shape in this area because I haven't been riding my bike. I got tired fast! Ha ha! I'm working on getting back in shape though! Tuesday night at the spanish class the teacher was sick so I filled in for her. They all think I'm amazing at spanish and I know everything, but that is so far from the truth! Ha ha! I still have a long way to go! I'm getting there... slowly. Ha ha!

Wednesday was a very special day! Jatinder was baptized! But I'll get to that in a second. Before that, earlier in the day she had a baptismal interview by our district leader. While he did that she let us hang out in one of their motels. I walked into the motel and on a table was a bible for guests to read and guess what was right next to it!? Yep, a Book of Mormon. She is so awesome! She already is putting BOM's in her motel rooms! They Rock! I had the honor to baptize Jatinder that night at her baptismal service. It went very well! After I baptized her, they closed the doors to the font and Jatinder went to change clothes. As I was standing on the step right by the font all alone joy filled my heart! At that moment I offered a prayer of gratitude for the blessings I have received! A little later in the service she asked to take a few unscheduled minutes away from the program. She went to the front and started bearing her testimony! She talked about how this moment she gets to start a new life and how much she loves the Savior! It was incredible! It made me so very happy! . . .

Zone conference was in Blue Springs near Kansas City. It was such an amazing conference! The spirit there was so strong! It was the spiritual boost I had been pleading and searching for! My prayers were answered and I received the extra strength and motivation I needed. . . . So ya, since the baptisms we had last saturday I've been feeling very great! Friday there was an open house for the newly renovated branch building. Lots of members were there to help out. Not many non members came. Just a half dozen or so. So it wasn't as successful as they would have wished but it was fun and there was homemade bread there! MM! Ha ha! It was a good night. 

The next day was Winter's baptism! Her mom and almost all of her brothers and sisters came to the baptism! It was good to see them there to support Winter. Elder McEntire baptized her. . . . On Sunday we had the two confirmations for Winter and Jatinder. I confirmed Winter and Elder McEntire confirmed Jatinder. It was such a great a joyous day! I love this area and the members here! I'm glad I've been able to stay for more than one transfer!

November 8, 2008

Today was such a great year mark present from the Lord! This is the first baptism I've had where I've started teaching someone and saw them get baptized. Nav and Navroop were baptized today. Also, this is the first baptism I've had that no huge obstacles came right before the baptism. The whole process with them has been golden! Also! We had one of our investigators (Fidel) show up at the baptism. He really liked it! I baptized Navroop (the 15-year-old) and Elder McEntire baptized Nav (the 9-year-old). It's such an amazing thing to go through the whole process with them.

After the baptism the branch president took us to subway. Then we went back to the church because later that day the Martinez family was going to have a birthday party at the church for Vanessa. She turned one-year-old. She is the daughter of Pico & Blanca. Pico is the son of Oscar and Mona Martinez. Sorry for that bible style geneology. I've been reading the old testament lately. Ha ha. Anyway, we went to help set up then we went back to their house to help get things and make this really good fruit drink! Oh! Mona also wanted payasos at the party. Payaso means clown. So... she volunteered us to be the clowns! Ha ha! So using make-up and moisturizing cream (don't ask. ha ha!) she painted our faces like payasos! Ha ha! That was pretty fun! Ha ha! It was a fun party! Afterward we cleaned up and went home and there were 2 things in the mailbox. 1 being your letter! And the other was the mission newsletter. And guess who got baptized!!! Lupita Rodriguez from Newton!!! That made me so extremely ecstatic! I knew she would get baptized! So ya! Today was such an amazing day for me! I am so full of Joy! I love being a missionary! . . .

Thursday night we had dinner with Shaun Harris' family. One of the dishes: Frog Legs! From the frogs we killed that Monday! I was a little bit nervous to eat them but I had to try it! and I did. They aren't bad at all! Tastes like Chicken! Ha ha! Would I eat them again? If they were there to eat, ya. But I probably wouldn't request them. It's mostly psychological. Ha ha! I definitely wouldn't cook them myself. They are known to jump out of the pan from the legs spasming! That would get to me! Ha ha! Friday was my year mark! I'm over halfway through! Woot! This last year will go by faster. I didn't do anything special that day. I went on Exchanges with Elder Rico. That wasn't bad. Nothing exciting though. Well, that's about it for my week.