Aug 20, 2008
It sounds like it has been a great week. That lady that called you was here and she told me that she was going to call you. They served a mission in Ghana Africa, where grandpa and grandma Tucker served, they were really nice people. It sounds like Elder Smith's Mom is going to call you this week sometime. She wants to know you or something. Alec Fulmer got his mission call, and you will never guess where he is going! haha Charleston West Virginia, I can't believe it. That will make 5 of us Rexburg kids here in this mission. So that will be great! 4 elders and 1 sister. It's a small world. Especially when you are from Rexburg. But everything is going great here. Justine's baptism went awesome last weekend, she was so happy and it was great! This weekend we have another baptism and I am going to baptize her. So that will be great. You will probably hear about a lot of baptisms this transfer. We have set a goal to get at least 5, hopefully more, we are going to be working really hard, but now that I have a companion that knows a little bit about what he is doing, we are going to be rolling, our goal is to lead the mission in baptisms, tough goal but we can do it. I have been learning a ton and things are great. Thanks for getting that book for me, that will be great. I might end up giving that one to Justine cause she wants the Doctrine and Covenants but she just can't afford it right now, so I will probably give her that one. Our ward isn't too willing to spend anymore money than they have too, I have been trying to get them to order some of those triple combinations. Everyone hated my old companion come to find out, its kind of sad, every house that we go to, we find out that he got on their nerves all the time and that's why some of them were giving us a really hard time and not working with us that well. But now that we have two missionaries in this ward that no one can dislike, we will be stylin! haha at least I hope they don't dislike us. Sounds like Rexburg is just booming as usual it will be weird to see it when I get home. Time is flying out here, it won't be long and I will be on that plane but as for now, we have work to do!! Hope you are all awesome and it is good hearing from everyone!
Thanks for everything! Elder Walker
Aug 27, 2008
First off dad, I want you to know that last Saturday I tasted the hottest hot sauce that is on this side of the Mississippi river and the second hottest in the United states! HOLY CRAP IT WAS HOT!! It's a missionary tradition here in Elkins and we had a district meeting here so that was pretty much initiation day. I was sick and was hesitant about trying it, but I did and needless to say by the time I had chugged a half gallon of milk to try to stop the burning (which by the way didn't help) I didn't feel much better after haha in fact, I think it might have made me feel a little worse. But I am still alive along with the other missionaries that tried it. But overall it was HOTT!! If we ever make it here into this town after I get home, you will all have to be sure to try it.
This transfer is going so much better, Elder Smith is awesome and we have managed to actually get some quality work done here and it has been great. It has been an awesome week here, I have learned a lot and time is flying. We have just been teaching a whole bunch of people and trying to get them committed to baptism. We are teaching a blind guy right now and he is awesome. He wants to be baptized but he doesn't think coffee is bad and says that God told him it was okay for him to drink it, haha he is an interesting guy but we are working with him. His name is Frank. We also have a lady named Kathy who loves us missionaries and she keeps having us over so we can give her the history of our church, she is a huge history buff, haha now that we have talked to her about the history of the church she thinks that it could actually be true!, (what a coincidence huh?) and then of course we have Jack Chandler as his wife and daughter who are really interested and have been awesome investigators. Then we have a 9 year old girl that can't wait to be baptised, her mom is just really anti-Mormon so we have been working with her to see what we can do. Hopefully, her mom will come around and we will be able to baptise both of them. In fact, remember the guy that we were teaching that died? It's his granddaughter. We have quite a few more people that we are teaching but those are our strongest people that we are teaching. Its great!
I can't believe how fast summer has gone, the leaves are already starting to change here. I am personally glad summer is almost over here, it has been so dang hot and humid, I have been praying for it to cool down. It is still 80 degrees or higher everyday, but the humidity seems to be dropping so that is the best part about it. The package was great mom, thanks alot! The brownies got a little smashed but they still tasted awesome! I froze most of the cookies and I eat a couple everyday. I really have to watch what I eat out here, cause I seem to go on sprees of eating too much. I gained 5 lbs in the MTC and now that I have been out here I have lost 5 so I am staying pretty even right at 195 lbs. So I am doing good. I'm not starving myself that is for sure. When you send my next package can you send me some of that gel that I like, one of the missionaries that is in a town right next to mine saw it and freaked out, cause he has been looking all over for it. haha his mom sends him the wrong stuff every time so she doesn't know what it is. So he wanted me to ask you if you would send it to him.
The Baptism went really well. I was sick and felt like I was going to puke all day. But I made it and it turned out really well. We had 4 missionaries here for support and everything seemed to work out really well. Everything is going Awesome here and the work is moving forward~! faster than ever and the same with time.... its going ridiculously fast. Love you all and hope you are all doing great! Elder Walker
Sept 3, 2008
It sounds like everything is going great at home and it is starting to cool off... here it is still scorching hot and so very, very humid... Yesterday it was 95 degrees. It was not fun at all. I will survive though. It is supposed to cool down here in a couple weeks so hopefully that will happen. But other than the heat everything is going really well. We have taught a lot of people this week and got a lot done. Today we have interviews with pres Thornock in Clarksburg, so that will be nice. The only bad thing is that we have to drive 75 miles to get there. So we are going to spend 150 miles of our 1300 that we get a month. The missionaries that live about half way between Elkins and Clarksburg normally drive us there and that is only like 30 miles to their house, but their car is broken down so we have to pick them up and then drive the whole way... bummer I know but its okay. Before I forget Brantley wants some Gel, I gave him your email, maybe you got an email from him today I don't know, I cant remember his address but I am sure the one on the blog is right. haha he is addicted to it. And something I could use is an oil vial and some oil. I have looked in all the deseret magazines and distrabution magazines that we have access to but I cant find one in there. I'm sure you could find one in Rexburg haha so if you could do that I would appreciate it.
The Chandler family is coming along awesomely! We took the bishop to their house yesterday and their family really liked him and the bishop let them actually know that he cared about them and that he was there for them so that was really, really good. Taking members to investigators houses is a huge help, because people can see that there are people that live pretty much right next door to them that are members and that they are half normal. We don't have horns and we only have one wife. People have some pretty radical ideas out here that is for sure. Some people that we talk to would actually join our church just because of polygamy... but since it has been abolished, they don't want to join, (weird people I know), the sad part is the people that say that are normally married to their first cousin, and they probably just want to marry 3 or 4 more of their cousins that just haven't had the opportunity to be married. haha you would be surprised how many people actually have married their cousins out here. I thought it was just a joke, but they really do. I think West Virginia is the only state that it is legal.
My name has already gotten around the mission as Tucker jr. (his cousin) (don't worry it's not a bad thing haha) when I go tracting I don't let people push us around and just say, 'I have my church, I am not interested.' Most missionaries just say alright have a good day (which is lame) but I push the point and ask them all kinds of questions, sometimes it makes them mad because they find out that I know more about their church than they do. Its great! Most missionaries hate tracting and say it is pretty much a waste of time. But I have proven that wrong and it is an awesome way to find people to teach. You just have to be bold, know your scriptures, and make sure the person you are talking to knows that you know what you are talking about (be confident). Arguing really is pointless, and we did get into a couple arguments this last week, but sometimes you just can't help it, sometimes with some people. haha don't worry, I am being careful and haven't hurt any one's feelings. So we are doing good. I love the Scriptures and everyday that I study them I find that the gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely true, many say there are flaws, but there isn't, its perfect; The people are not but the Gospel itself is perfect. I have learned so much being out here and my testimony has enlarged dramatically. Tomorrow is my 3 month mark already. Crazy huh? I just can't blink my eyes anymore, I miss too much stuff that is going on, its unbelievable. It sounds like Alec Fullmer is coming out to the same mission that I am in right now. I think he will get here in December, that will be #5 from Rexburg that are in the mission right now. There is a whole lot of us.
One more thing, (Elder Smith is still typing so I will write a little more), the blind guy that we are teaching and had a baptismal date doesn't want to be baptised any more. He can't get over the fact that drinking coffee is against the Word of Wisdom. We are going to try to talk to him when we get home tonight, and hopefully we can help him understand the importance of it.. but we will just have to see. He is awesome, he is 75 years old, blind (one hundred percent blind, can't even see shadows) and he walks at least 10 miles a day, many times down the side of the main road. It's amazing how people's senses work when they have a disability like that. So yeah that is pretty much what is going on here in Elkins right now. Nothing to exciting and we are all still alive so that is good!
I love this work and the work here is going awesome. I love you all and hope everything is going great! Elder Adam Walker
Monday, September 22, 2008
Elder Brantley Shattuck:
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Elder Shattuck - his mother is so proud!!!
Baptism - Elder Shattuck, Rodney, Kristi, Jamie, & Jessica Yanick
Sept 3, 2008
I got your package yesterday, it was really funny though because the mailman put the package down in the driveway and sister Wolfe(we live with her) back up and completely ran right over it.... we were downstairs eating dinner and she came walking down the stairs and was holding this pancake box and told me that I had a package....she was so worried that something was going to be broke and that I was going to be mad/sad....her face was very funny, nevertheless the only thing that broke was one bottle of ibuprofen and one of those hand sanitizer things. It was very funny though, thank you for the package. I haven't had a chance to read the newspaper clippings yet, but thank you for them as well. Life is going really well though, my comp is still a little annoying, he says one thing but then never really follows through with it, but he works hard and I shouldn't murmur. I think I was raised to just have like 1,000,000 pet peeves. Hopefully by the time this whole mission thing is up I will have at least some patience with people....hopefully:) the work is picking up we have found a couple of really solid people that are actually going to be meeting with us. We met with Ross last night, he was raised Roman Catholic but has fallen away due to his questions not being answered, he is way awesome though and another lady named Stephanie we meet with on Friday. She is a single mother so hopefully I will be able to connect with her, she has already been to church before, like when she was in high school or something. She really wants to go up to the visitor's center so we will see how that goes. Being Zone Leader is getting better, I am starting to feel comfortable and understand exactly what it is expected of me. This next Monday Elder Garn(one of the 70 I think) is coming to speak to the mission. that will be exciting I suppose but maybe not, I don't know.... the mission is sending out like 2 text messages a day reminding us to part our hair, shine our shoes, press our shirts, wash out suits, plan lessons to teach if called on and a whole lot of other blankety blank. Too much politics in the mission, that's for sure, don't think I will be heading towards that career anytime in this life. Anyways, that is my life. Hope you are having a great time. Love you all, take care. Elder Shattuck
Sept 17, 2008
I am staying in Brambleton with Elder Lieppman, no changes so that is always good. I hate being moved from areas. Yanicks' got baptised last Friday and I got to go to it. Guess what, I even sang at the service! I will send pictures and write a letter hopefully. nothing else to exciting is going on. The weather is awesome right now, leaves are starting to change and I am not sweating anymore. I like it right now, it is perfect weather. The people I live with are going to be making a trip to Sugar City pretty soon so I might send some stuff home with them and have them drop it off. Why do you want to know what my release date is so bad......do you realize how far away that is? Although something that is pretty cool about that is my MTC companion's family just moved to Rexburg so that means if we both fly home that I will have started my mission with him and will fly home to end my mission with him. That will be pretty sweet. Preach my Gospel describes patience not as just a virtue but a Heavenly Virtue, I can't wait till I am living with you again and can just quote scriptures and quotes from the prophets just to irritate you, man that will be a blast.... I bet you can't wait. oh man you should read Ephesians 6:14-17, it will tell you all about the double edge sword. It is actually the sword of spirit......look it up. Love you, Elder Shattuck
Elder Matt Hansen:
Sept 22, 2008
Mom: Hey how are you doing, how is everything there in Rexburg? That's cool that you did a 5k run I bet that was pretty fun. Is there anything else going on there? Are you home now, how long were you in Boise? Well I hope all is well.
It has been a decent week I guess. I don't have much to say though because I have been here for so long and nothing is really new. We did have our zone conference this week though and so we were with President and Sister Taylor. I always love being with them and they always teach us so much. Zone conferences are always good for the work, we always learn a lot as missionaries. Other than that nothing really out of the ordinary happened this week. We have been very busy still and have been moving around a lot. It is starting to get hotter so that's not good, ha I sweat a lot but there is not much I can do. There is so much work here to do. Its just so frustrating because we work all week and then you look back on it and see how much there is yet to do. It is definitely overwhelming at times but I hope things continue to work out. Yesterday we were fortunate enough to have baptized two people. One was a 23 year old girl that used to be a Muslim and the other was a 15 year old boy. They look like they are both going to be strong members so that will be good. You always feel good when your converts stay strong but when you see them fall away there is nothing worse, I hate it. We just do what we can though. Anyways, that's about all that's going on here in Dar. I hope the work will continue to move forward and I know that it will. Well, I hope you have a great week and I hope all is well. Thanks for the e-mail and for everything mom, I love you. Take care and have a good week. Elder Hansen
Mom: Hey how are you doing, how is everything there in Rexburg? That's cool that you did a 5k run I bet that was pretty fun. Is there anything else going on there? Are you home now, how long were you in Boise? Well I hope all is well.
It has been a decent week I guess. I don't have much to say though because I have been here for so long and nothing is really new. We did have our zone conference this week though and so we were with President and Sister Taylor. I always love being with them and they always teach us so much. Zone conferences are always good for the work, we always learn a lot as missionaries. Other than that nothing really out of the ordinary happened this week. We have been very busy still and have been moving around a lot. It is starting to get hotter so that's not good, ha I sweat a lot but there is not much I can do. There is so much work here to do. Its just so frustrating because we work all week and then you look back on it and see how much there is yet to do. It is definitely overwhelming at times but I hope things continue to work out. Yesterday we were fortunate enough to have baptized two people. One was a 23 year old girl that used to be a Muslim and the other was a 15 year old boy. They look like they are both going to be strong members so that will be good. You always feel good when your converts stay strong but when you see them fall away there is nothing worse, I hate it. We just do what we can though. Anyways, that's about all that's going on here in Dar. I hope the work will continue to move forward and I know that it will. Well, I hope you have a great week and I hope all is well. Thanks for the e-mail and for everything mom, I love you. Take care and have a good week. Elder Hansen
Elder Scott Snell:
Sept 1, 2008
I have some great news. I got a new companion and he can speak Korean better then me:-) I have never been so happy in my life. Last transfer was rough but I have a feeling this one is going to be a lot better. His name is Elder Snyder and he is about 6'4; 200 lbs, yeah, we are a pretty big companionship. He is from Boise but he grew up in California. I am really excited for this transfer cause I also have a greenie coming to live in my house which is always fun.
So I always love when I get to hear about Sunday dinner at Grandmas over an email. Cause while you guys are eating the works and enjoying it I am stuck with rice and pb and j;-) can we say yummy! I order a lot of pizza, sometimes I just cant take the food anymore but some of it is not too bad but the fact that I am a poor missionary and the good stuff costs money means I eat a lot of rice and pb and j. Now since I received my package I now have mac and cheese. Thank you mom for sending that and I got my I-pod - thanks Riley, I have already listened to a couple of the talks. I have one thing to say to you: Sex is like an Apple my friend, you would put one on there. She is clear around the world, I don't think that I will be biting that "Apple" anytime soon. I had quite the little experience this last week. I was talking to people on the street and I started to talk to this guy who was really nice. I found out soon that he was a pastor of a catholic church in Seoul. I ended up talking to him for about 25 minutes about our beliefs and the Book of Mormon. He told me he had a pretty open mind so I said, here take this Book and you can read it and pray to know it is true. He took the book and told me he was just going to throw it away and that he will go to heaven but he wont see me there. Talk about an open mind eh. I've got to jet, I love you all and miss you, don't worry, this next transfer will be better.
Elder Snell
Sept 7, 2008
Well another week is down and can I tell you how nice it is to be a junior again and not have to have all of the pressure on you to figure out what people are saying to you. It was really nice to have a senior who actually was the senior by his actions and not by his title. My new comp Elder Snyder is a good elder. I really like him, we get along great and we both like superman. It is really good, the first week is always a little slow cause they have to learn the area and the investigators. It is going to be good I think. So all the new greenies came in this last week I was standing in the midst of missionaries when someone says hey Elder Snell aren't you from Madison? I said yeah and he told me he was from Blackfoot. As soon as he said that I recognized him. He was the little Asian point guard when we were younger, like our freshman year. It was cool to see him. It's crazy that I can be clear on the other side of the world and still run into people I know. So not too much happened this week other then my new comp and two new elders came into the house I live in. It's really nice to have people around that I enjoy talking to. It sounds like everything is going good and everyone is in the sports as usual. Hey next week is Thanksgiving in Korea so I am not positive but I might not e-mail on Monday next week but maybe. I love you all and miss you. Elder Snell
Sept 14, 2008
It sounds like you guys had a good week. It is crazy to think about everything that has happened in this short amount of time. My comp today opened his email to find out his mom is getting married and moving to Washington. How crazy is that. The more crazy thing is that his parents were still married when he left home. Talk about a rough time. I think I will go buy him some ice cream and make him some western family mac and cheese. Today we had a meeting and this sister was up giving a talk and she is Korean, well she was speaking about a million miles an hour cause she was nervous and I had a really hard time following her. I thought I did pretty good. But then our mission president's wife gets up who is American and she starts speaking a million miles an hour in English and I had the same problem following what she was saying. Oh man I guess I always said i was excited to forget English when i was little. I guess i am getting my wish, I just thought it would only be a couple of words though. I will probably have to study up before I come home so that I don't look like to big of a loser.
This week was also pretty uneventful for me. We had the three day Thanksgiving here. Yeah, they don't serve turkey on theirs, talk about a bummer. But we did have a full p-day from 9-9 yesterday. We played football at the beach and got permission to watch Narnia. It was weird sitting still for that long, I have not done it in a while. It was good though. I love you all and miss you.
Elder Snell
Sept 21, 2008
Hey fam,
Dad i am sorry that you are sick. If it makes you fell any better so is my companion Elder Snyder. We stayed home the last three days he went to the bathroom about twenty times a day but he wasn't throwing up, poor kid. I got to play mom a lot this last week i took him to the hospital i bought him a lot of water to drink. Since my companion was sick we didn't do much this week except play a lot of board games and study. But I did go on splits to meet one of my investigators who is doing really good. It's the investigator that I read 2 Nephi 31 with and it was really spiritual. Well I met with her and she told me she knows the Book of Mormon is true. It went really good. Since my comp is feeling a lot better this week we will have some good lessons I am thinking. Other then that, I didn't do much this week. I am in shape but my shape is beginning to look more like a circle. I am working on starting those sit ups.
Korea is amazing. I'm learning to love it more and more everyday. The language is really starting to click which is scary because that probably means it will not be to long before I am the senior which means I will have a lot more on my plate. Some days I still feel like a greeny but its all really good. I love you all and miss you a lot. Remember the church is true and that's why I am here.
Love Elder Snell
I have some great news. I got a new companion and he can speak Korean better then me:-) I have never been so happy in my life. Last transfer was rough but I have a feeling this one is going to be a lot better. His name is Elder Snyder and he is about 6'4; 200 lbs, yeah, we are a pretty big companionship. He is from Boise but he grew up in California. I am really excited for this transfer cause I also have a greenie coming to live in my house which is always fun.
So I always love when I get to hear about Sunday dinner at Grandmas over an email. Cause while you guys are eating the works and enjoying it I am stuck with rice and pb and j;-) can we say yummy! I order a lot of pizza, sometimes I just cant take the food anymore but some of it is not too bad but the fact that I am a poor missionary and the good stuff costs money means I eat a lot of rice and pb and j. Now since I received my package I now have mac and cheese. Thank you mom for sending that and I got my I-pod - thanks Riley, I have already listened to a couple of the talks. I have one thing to say to you: Sex is like an Apple my friend, you would put one on there. She is clear around the world, I don't think that I will be biting that "Apple" anytime soon. I had quite the little experience this last week. I was talking to people on the street and I started to talk to this guy who was really nice. I found out soon that he was a pastor of a catholic church in Seoul. I ended up talking to him for about 25 minutes about our beliefs and the Book of Mormon. He told me he had a pretty open mind so I said, here take this Book and you can read it and pray to know it is true. He took the book and told me he was just going to throw it away and that he will go to heaven but he wont see me there. Talk about an open mind eh. I've got to jet, I love you all and miss you, don't worry, this next transfer will be better.
Elder Snell
Sept 7, 2008
Well another week is down and can I tell you how nice it is to be a junior again and not have to have all of the pressure on you to figure out what people are saying to you. It was really nice to have a senior who actually was the senior by his actions and not by his title. My new comp Elder Snyder is a good elder. I really like him, we get along great and we both like superman. It is really good, the first week is always a little slow cause they have to learn the area and the investigators. It is going to be good I think. So all the new greenies came in this last week I was standing in the midst of missionaries when someone says hey Elder Snell aren't you from Madison? I said yeah and he told me he was from Blackfoot. As soon as he said that I recognized him. He was the little Asian point guard when we were younger, like our freshman year. It was cool to see him. It's crazy that I can be clear on the other side of the world and still run into people I know. So not too much happened this week other then my new comp and two new elders came into the house I live in. It's really nice to have people around that I enjoy talking to. It sounds like everything is going good and everyone is in the sports as usual. Hey next week is Thanksgiving in Korea so I am not positive but I might not e-mail on Monday next week but maybe. I love you all and miss you. Elder Snell
Sept 14, 2008
It sounds like you guys had a good week. It is crazy to think about everything that has happened in this short amount of time. My comp today opened his email to find out his mom is getting married and moving to Washington. How crazy is that. The more crazy thing is that his parents were still married when he left home. Talk about a rough time. I think I will go buy him some ice cream and make him some western family mac and cheese. Today we had a meeting and this sister was up giving a talk and she is Korean, well she was speaking about a million miles an hour cause she was nervous and I had a really hard time following her. I thought I did pretty good. But then our mission president's wife gets up who is American and she starts speaking a million miles an hour in English and I had the same problem following what she was saying. Oh man I guess I always said i was excited to forget English when i was little. I guess i am getting my wish, I just thought it would only be a couple of words though. I will probably have to study up before I come home so that I don't look like to big of a loser.
This week was also pretty uneventful for me. We had the three day Thanksgiving here. Yeah, they don't serve turkey on theirs, talk about a bummer. But we did have a full p-day from 9-9 yesterday. We played football at the beach and got permission to watch Narnia. It was weird sitting still for that long, I have not done it in a while. It was good though. I love you all and miss you.
Elder Snell
Sept 21, 2008
Hey fam,
Dad i am sorry that you are sick. If it makes you fell any better so is my companion Elder Snyder. We stayed home the last three days he went to the bathroom about twenty times a day but he wasn't throwing up, poor kid. I got to play mom a lot this last week i took him to the hospital i bought him a lot of water to drink. Since my companion was sick we didn't do much this week except play a lot of board games and study. But I did go on splits to meet one of my investigators who is doing really good. It's the investigator that I read 2 Nephi 31 with and it was really spiritual. Well I met with her and she told me she knows the Book of Mormon is true. It went really good. Since my comp is feeling a lot better this week we will have some good lessons I am thinking. Other then that, I didn't do much this week. I am in shape but my shape is beginning to look more like a circle. I am working on starting those sit ups.
Korea is amazing. I'm learning to love it more and more everyday. The language is really starting to click which is scary because that probably means it will not be to long before I am the senior which means I will have a lot more on my plate. Some days I still feel like a greeny but its all really good. I love you all and miss you a lot. Remember the church is true and that's why I am here.
Love Elder Snell
Elder Cameron Summers:
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Dear Everyone!
This last week I think marks my biggest "break through" with the language so far. On Tuesday, we were just practicing in class teaching the 2nd lesson about the Plan of Salvation in Samoan. My companion and I were teaching a sister, in my classes learning Samoa, and our teacher. A question came up from our teacher about having joy. My companion and I kind of looked at each other to see who would answer the question and decided I would answer the question. It was hard to talk outside of the lessons because most of our practice and vocabulary has been from the lessons. So I was really surprised when I was able to clearly speak and address the question. I was very pleased with myself. The teacher after class even complimented me with my progress. So that is always good.
Nothing else exciting going on here so I'm going to go. Thanks for your love and support! I appreciate it. Until next time, as my Australian companion says, "AV A GUD 1" (Have a Good One!)
Love,
Elder Summers
(Elder Summers address has been updated to the right of this page)
Elder Andrew Pena:
Sept 15, 2008
Two Saturdays ago we went and picked grapes with the church and while we were there President Gonzalez called me and told me I was going to be training. On Thursday we had transfers and the new missionaries came in and it was a great experience. My new comp is from Rock Springs, Wyoming and he is awesome. Other than that I can't remember really what happened the last two weeks. I didn't even get time to write in my journal. Yesterday for church Elder Hammond (my new comp) was able to bear his testimony on the spot for his first Sunday here. He was nervous and I got to bear mine after, the counselor asked us to do it because two youth speakers came to church not knowing they were giving talks!:) Last week was pretty much the same not much happened. We taught a lot of the same people and had dinner at members houses then when my new comp came in all of the sudden I have been too busy to even get a good nights rest! He came in on Thursday and we got back at 8:30 so we went and bought some things for him and dropped off some reading material for a lady then came in and planned for Friday and there were two missionaries that were supposed to bring his luggage from Fresno to Visalia and they didn't show up until midnight so it was hectic his first night. Then we woke up at 6:30 (like every other day) :) and we had weekly planning which was kinda rough, but it went good! Then we went out and tracted and found a lady that asked so many questions and I think we will go back by and teach her again. Saturday we ran into another guy that "thought he knew a bit about our church" but once we said "Joseph Smith didn't write the book" and that it is actually ancient records of the people here in the America's he was like HUH? and started asking questions and talked to him for a good twenty minutes explaining the story of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and committed him to pray about it. He said he would and we told him we were going to come by this next week and drop off the restoration video! So it is exciting. My new companion's first two days here have been awesome and the work has already been picking up. My old companion, E. Eden is still in my district and my last comp. before that (E. Sarager) is now a zone leader! It is so cool! We went over to a family last night and they had relatives over from Hawaii and they are related to Elder Kaka. I don't know if anyone remembers him but he is from Hawaii and was in my district in the MTC and I roomed with him. Anyway, we ran into his cousins last night that were visiting a relative in our ward! His cousins name is " JoJo Napeahi " and JoJo served his mission in the Philippines COOL! So he asked if I knew anyone named Reagan Buck!!! I told him he used to be the quarter back for our high school and JoJo freaked out! It's a small world! Wow it truly is, I think especially when you're on a mission! Kinda weird! Everyone sounds like they are doing great. I love you all. Everyone emailed me this week which is great!:) Love you all, thank you for all you do.... and remember to "Choose the right." I hit 5 months tomorrow??? and 6 in a month!!! My goodness I wish it was back in time where we could serve missions for like 11 years!:) Man that would be great..... 25 years of experience packed into 2......True!:) Keep in touch everyone and send me stuff !! Whatever you would like to send me and if I don't need it or can't use it I'll send it back!:) If you send ties make sure they are conservative and not flashy!! No shapes or anything! Take care and I'll hear from you all next week!! Elder Peña
Two Saturdays ago we went and picked grapes with the church and while we were there President Gonzalez called me and told me I was going to be training. On Thursday we had transfers and the new missionaries came in and it was a great experience. My new comp is from Rock Springs, Wyoming and he is awesome. Other than that I can't remember really what happened the last two weeks. I didn't even get time to write in my journal. Yesterday for church Elder Hammond (my new comp) was able to bear his testimony on the spot for his first Sunday here. He was nervous and I got to bear mine after, the counselor asked us to do it because two youth speakers came to church not knowing they were giving talks!:) Last week was pretty much the same not much happened. We taught a lot of the same people and had dinner at members houses then when my new comp came in all of the sudden I have been too busy to even get a good nights rest! He came in on Thursday and we got back at 8:30 so we went and bought some things for him and dropped off some reading material for a lady then came in and planned for Friday and there were two missionaries that were supposed to bring his luggage from Fresno to Visalia and they didn't show up until midnight so it was hectic his first night. Then we woke up at 6:30 (like every other day) :) and we had weekly planning which was kinda rough, but it went good! Then we went out and tracted and found a lady that asked so many questions and I think we will go back by and teach her again. Saturday we ran into another guy that "thought he knew a bit about our church" but once we said "Joseph Smith didn't write the book" and that it is actually ancient records of the people here in the America's he was like HUH? and started asking questions and talked to him for a good twenty minutes explaining the story of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and committed him to pray about it. He said he would and we told him we were going to come by this next week and drop off the restoration video! So it is exciting. My new companion's first two days here have been awesome and the work has already been picking up. My old companion, E. Eden is still in my district and my last comp. before that (E. Sarager) is now a zone leader! It is so cool! We went over to a family last night and they had relatives over from Hawaii and they are related to Elder Kaka. I don't know if anyone remembers him but he is from Hawaii and was in my district in the MTC and I roomed with him. Anyway, we ran into his cousins last night that were visiting a relative in our ward! His cousins name is " JoJo Napeahi " and JoJo served his mission in the Philippines COOL! So he asked if I knew anyone named Reagan Buck!!! I told him he used to be the quarter back for our high school and JoJo freaked out! It's a small world! Wow it truly is, I think especially when you're on a mission! Kinda weird! Everyone sounds like they are doing great. I love you all. Everyone emailed me this week which is great!:) Love you all, thank you for all you do.... and remember to "Choose the right." I hit 5 months tomorrow??? and 6 in a month!!! My goodness I wish it was back in time where we could serve missions for like 11 years!:) Man that would be great..... 25 years of experience packed into 2......True!:) Keep in touch everyone and send me stuff !! Whatever you would like to send me and if I don't need it or can't use it I'll send it back!:) If you send ties make sure they are conservative and not flashy!! No shapes or anything! Take care and I'll hear from you all next week!! Elder Peña
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