Oh that I were an Angel...



?, ?, ?, Elder Bills, Elder Ward, Elder Taufas

MOM?! Do you even think I care about a letter just from dad?! You better be dying or something!!! (Mom’s letter hadn’t arrived yet when Connor started writing). Nah just kidding dad I love your letters too. Except now I don’t have a whole lot to respond back to... haha. I wish my mission work was a lot more like 24 (this refers to an analogy Mike used in his letter to the show “24”)…you wanna know why? Because no matter what was going on, Jack Bauer always came out on top and fixed the problem.  Just recently, over the past two weeks, we have been losing our more serious investigators. I have no idea what happened, but we went from having 4 on date for baptism to a big fat 0. Stupid Satan!  It's alright though…we haven't lost any of them completely :) and even if we do, I just have to remember Alma 29:1-3. Oh that I were an angel... But that’s enough of the bad news! Let’s get down to the knitty gritty (Nacho Libre).

Elder Taufas

Monday (Pday) we played some sweet volleyball at the stake center after we emailed and stuff. I've been teaching a lot of the missionaries how to play and they have been progressing along great! I had a sick bounce into Elder Taufas face and he was standing right up against the net. He and I are good buddies still and he is even teaching me a song he made up on the piano about the scriptures being true. We had lunch at Panda Express and a lady came up and paid for us. We tried to fight her but she said, “you two are missionaries and one day my son will be a missionary too and I want him to be taken care of.” What a good mom! Oh, and I bought a stuffed green alligator that I named Barney. Now its not so lonely.

Tuesday, the highlight was we visited a widow in our ward who has been having a real tough time because of health issues and whatnot. She cried when we walked in which was surprising cuz normally she is a ROCK. We read scriptures with her for an hour or so and we saw her again on Sunday and she was doing a lot better. :) I love my new ward so much and everyone in it. Don’t worry, Gilbert third will always have a place in my heart. So, I had been having chest pains and finally this day I called the nurse. Turns out it was just indigestion or heart burn. Don’t worry…I’m feeling better. I should probably eat a little more healthy, huh?

Wednesday, we found a lot of people. Elder Bills and I are really good at doing that. We just stink at helping them progress. Other than that, nothing too special happened but I did get to plan Thursday without any help because of exchanges and stuff.

Thursday was awesome! Elder Top and I taught 4 lessons and met some really cool people and have a couple of return appointments. We ate lunch at Jack-in-the-Box and I saw a deaf lady! As Elder Top and I were leaving, I just signed Jesus loves you. She told me that Jesus loves me too with a big smile on her face. Then later in the day, Elder Bills came back and we visited Suzie. We had a real good lesson! We have been meeting with her a while and I call her Grandma Suzie. She believes the BOM is true and that Joseph Smith restored the church but she has some other crazy ideas we won’t get into right now. At the end of the lesson, I was grabbing my chest cuz it was hurting (this is actually when I called the nurse. I swear I’m okay though mom. Don’t worry) and this is where things got a little strange.:) We offered to have a closing prayer and she said she would give it for me. She usually has us hold hands in a circle, but instead she put one of her hands over my heart and Elder Bills held her elbow. Then after she gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek... Missouri is weird!

Friday. we have all our meetings. Our ward mission leader told us a cool story when he asked me how I feel about Missouri, which I love of course! This is just the short version.  These 2 guys moved from one state to another on two separate days. The first stopped at a gas station and talked to the cashier guy and asked about the town he was moving to. The cashier asked why and he said he hated the people where he used to live.  The cashier said, “Oh yeah, you will definitely hate the people there too”. Then the next day the other guy came in and talked to the cashier and asked about the town he was moving to. The cashier asked why he wanted to know and he said, “Well, I loved the people in my old town. They were really great. I’m just wondering how it will be over there.” Then the cashier said, “yeah, the people over there are awesome you will love them!” Speaking of love, this same day we met with a lady who had been excommunicated a long time ago and no longer has custody of her 4 kids. She really wants to change and get her life in order. Heavenly Father wants her back too and I felt that love He has for her or probably just a small part, but it was amazing.  I got to meet her kids. 1 boy has autism and is 12. He calls me sir all the time, gives me hugs, and takes me everywhere with him. Then she has 3 girls. They all have been abused by an ex-husband of hers. But anyways, the mom wants Elder Bills and I to teach her kids and have a good influence on them to show that not all grown men are complete trash. ( Sorry, I’m still flustered that a father could even do such things), but I love their family so much and I think her girls really like me too. :)

Saturday, Elder Bills and I live really close to the zone leaders so we hangout with them a lot getting lunch and whatnot. These guys are nuts though, they wake up at 5:30 and do super beast crazy workouts like nothing I’ve ever seen, and whatdya know Elder Bills and I have joined in! Right now I cannot move my arms. This is seriously the most sore I have ever been in my life. More good news…I have added another 5 pounds to the 15 I’ve already gained, so 20 pounds so far whoo! I’m running out of time, but mom I just got your email thank goodness! That’s a sweet picture! Hey, it turns out I can email missionary friends. Can you send me Robby and Karson’s email? WHOA ROBBYS story about getting hit by the car was nuts! And as for another package, the cd's and hats are really all I need, but feel free to throw in whatever…it’s always appreciated! I Love you family! Yes, mom pay my tithing on that check that came! Please! And, oh yeah, Sunday went good too! Dad, once again, I really do appreciate your letters. Mom, never doubt for one second that your kids don’t appreciate you!

Snow in Missouri

Elder Bills