Family

This week was a fairly decent week. We were able to set a baptismal date for this coming Saturday! We are pretty stoked about that. We are not quite sure if the lady, Terry, is really aware that it's happening this week. When we talked about it yesterday at church she didn't seem to be. That is something we will be covering in our next lesson.

Yesterday, we were able to attend a baptism in the Spanish Branch. Once again didn't understand much of it. But I did enjoy it. Then after that, there was a 'farewell' party type thing for a girl leaving on her mission in a couple of weeks. It was a lot of fun. And there was a ton of food. It was great. She is going to be a great missionary.

This past week at our weekly Zone and District meeting, during district meeting, we talked a little bit about families. It made me think my family. Obviously. But I'd like to say what I thought of:

I am incredibly grateful to have the family that I have. One thing that is usually mentioned in the scriptures is '... the brother of...' Now, I remember a time when if someone referred to me as either 'Jordan's brother' or 'Adri's brother' or 'Derek's brother,' I would be kinda upset for the fact that nobody knew me as me. But I thought about that a bit, and I am grateful to be known as someones brother. It means that I fave a family. That there is someone there for me all the time. Someone to turn to when things get hard. Some people my think that my family is kind of crazy. And I would definitely not be the one to disagree. I would actually be the first one to agree with that. But that's one of the reasons I love them so much and wouldn't trade them for anything.

Love you guys!

Zone Conference

This week was a fairly busy week I suppose. We had quite a few lessons. And they were all pretty good. We also had zone Conferance this past Friday. That was an all day thing because it was in Bonita Springs which is about 2 hours or more away. We had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. No fun. Then we drove about 100 miles to Port Charolotte where the mission van and truck picked us up and drove us the rest of the way to save on our miles. Both were packed full and we still had to take one car. But Zone Conferance was pretty good. There were a lot of missionaries that I didn't know there. Because it was with the most southern zone and the language zone as well. But it was fun. We didn't get back from that until about 6 or so. So our day was pretty much gone. Then that night we had scheduled a lesson but it fell through. We were exhausted so we went to bed early.

The next day we had a booth at the flea market. We do this every Saturday. And it is always quite interesting. We get to talk to a lot of people. And meet a lot of interesting people too. We were all still pretty tired from the previous day, but we held through. We were able to set up some times with people. Hopefully they will work out.

Yesterday we had a couple of people come to church. One was a guy named Kerly and his family. The missionaries here have been teaching him for about 2 weeks. But this was the first time I met him. We are going to be teaching him again tonight.

The other person was Nico. He is 19 and just moved from D.C. He is living with an old lady in our ward. I'm not sure the connection between them, but that doesn't really matter right now. We were able to give him a tour and first lesson before church started. He said that he enjoyed it and that he would be coming back next week. We are going to be teaching him sometime this week.

Also, we ate at a members house yesterday before a lesson. And they made us a lot of really good food. And we ate quite a bit of it. Then we went to the lesson. Where they just happened to make us a lot of food as well. When we walked in and I smelled the food, my stomach was like, 'Are you kidding me?' But we ate what we could. The food there was also really good. After eating we had a sort of Q and A desscussion. It went really well. Then we set up 2 more lessons with the family for this week. I think that things are going to go really well here. After the lesson, they told us that they had cake and ice cream. By then we were ready to explode because of the amount of food already in us. We were able to eat a little though. It was good.

I think that is all for now. Keep me updated on what's going on back there. :)

Transfers!

Hello again!

It is now transfer time once again! The thing I was expecting, and also quite a few other people, didn't happen. I was expecting to be going back to Apollo Beach for this upcoming transfer. But that is not happening. I was a bit disappointed by this. But it's ok. I am going to be serving in the Bradenton area with Elder Knudson, my MTC comp. So I am pretty excited. I am kinda sad to be leaving Sarasota. I wish I could've stayed longer. But maybe I'll get the cance to go back. I hoping for it. But we'll see what happens.

With yesterday being memorial day, our ward had a big party. We went to a park and had a bbq. It was a lot of fun. When we first got there, there weren't a whole lot of people there. But within about 30-40 minutes, there were quite a bit of people there. We played volleyball in the sand pits there most of the time. It was a blast. We had to leave early to go to a zone p-day. But we would've stayed all day if we could've but the zone would've been pretty upset.

For our zone p-day, we played dodgeball most of the time. And made hamburgers and hot dogs and such. It was a ton of fun. The Sisters were being quite vicious at dodgeball, which made things really interesting. But we had a lot of fun.

Ok. So this entry is pretty short. Well, that's ok. :)

Mothers Day!

So, yesterday was Mothers Day. And a few of the people that read this I was able to talk to. So.... Yeah. But I'll still write something for those of you that I didn't get to talk to.

This past week has been a fairly normal week. We did a lot of tracting. And even at 10 a.m. it is really hot. Usually around 85 degrees. And add a very high amount of humidity to that and you have yourself a natural sauna! One of the best things to knock doors in! But we still do it. And try not to complain, (key word being try.)

This past Saturday we baptized an 18 year old girl named Lucy. We have been working with her and her family for a few weeks now. She is a very shy girl and was extremely nervous about it. But she knew that it was the right thing to do. It was a really cool experience.

Then, yesterday, we were able to confirm her. Her mom was able to attend Sacrament Meeting to see, but then had to leave for work. What a great Mothers Day gift! We are going to continue to work with the rest of her family.

After church a family invited us and Lucy, her younger brother Bernardo, a recent convert named David and some other youth in the ward over to their house to do stuff. It was really fun. And it was great for Lucy and her brother. Lucy is getting to be a lot more comfortable around the ward and Bernardo is making a lot of new friends. After a while they decided that they wanted to get in the pool. And as missionaries, we can't do that. So we just sat there and talked with the parents and such. But it was a lot of fun.

And, as I kind of mentioned before, with it being Mothers Day, I was able to call my family! It was great. Only one more phone call for me out here in the mission field! Next Mothers Day I will be home! My sister had a really big surprise for me yesterday. She invited somebody out to my house to talk to. I was talking to her when the phone went wierd, then I call back and someone answered. At first I didn't recognize the voice. But then, after a bit, I realized that it was Cydne! It was awesome!

And now, I finally have the Attack of Chimpy Video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We had a lot of fun that day. As you can probably tell.

Crazy Emergency Transfer!

Ok, so last week was a pretty nutso week. Let me explain. Here's what would have been of last weeks post.

This week was going fairly normally. I 'celebrated' my 1 year mard by burning a shirt and a tie. I was going to do it at the Spanish Elder's apartment where there is a fire pit, but we ended up not going over there. So I did it in my grill! So now there is a nice pile of ash. And if you look close enough, you can still see part of the design that was on the tie. :) It was pretty fun. Then after the burning, Elder Pattie and I walked a good 2-3 miles to the Publix to get some drinks and candy to 'celebrate.' Then we took our recliners that a ward member gave us and put the on the 'deck' as we call it now. But it is also known as the roof outside our upstairs window. We just sat the for a while talking and watching traffic go by. And we still are not quite sure if people can see us or not. Oh well!

On Saturday we got a call from President Colton. He informed us that because there are 2 missionaries going home on that Monday, that we were going to be emergencied transfered. So I am now in the Sarasota area with Elder Wire. I'm still in the same zone. And we think that at the end of this transfer I will be going back to Apollo Beach. But we'll see. And Elder Pattie is now in Tampa. So we spent all of Saturday packing and a bit Sunday night.

Then in church, they released the bishopric and put in a new one. So it was like smacking the Apollo Beach ward in the face. No missionaries for 4 weeks and a new bishopric! The new bishopric came at a total surprise to everybody. Apparently the old bishop, Bishop Reynolds, is going to be moving to Washington pretty soon and didn't tell anybody. He announced it yesterday during his testimony. Elder Pattie and I spent a few hours over at there house yesterday. His son and grandchildren were there again. They are such an awesome family. I will definitely miss them. I got to play Yahtzee with the 2 little girls. They were trying to cheat. But I wouldn't allow it. Haha. We had a lot of fun.

Then we were at another members house and her husband is a private pilot. And he has a lot of extra jackets, so she gave each of us one! They are awesome. But we won't be able to wear them much because apparently it's illegal or something. I'm not sure exactly what she said about that. Haha. But they are awesome.

So that's what happened last week. Pretty crazy. Never a dull moment in the FTM!

It's been another fairly crazy week. Wire's last companion didn't tell anyone that he was leaving. So nobody in the ward new. So everytime we saw members, they would ask if we were on exchanges. It was pretty interesting.

And for the first time on my mission, I missed church yesterday. Elder Wire has been pretty sick the past few days and yesterday, we called the High Priest group leader to give us a ride and he told us to just stay home, and then he called Sister Colton and she said the same thing. So we just stayed home all day yesterday. So most of the ward still doesn't know about the change and that I am now here. It's fun.

But we had a family that we are teaching at church yesteday. They have a baptismal date for this Saturday. We are really excited about that. We are going to be teaching them a lot more this week to get rid of any concerns they might have.

Also this past week we had interviews with our mission president. I asked him what he was planning on doing with the Apollo Beach Ward at the end of the transfer. He said that there is a pretty good chance that I will be going back there. So I am excited about that. I really like that area and ward.

And that is what is going on in the wonderfull world of Florida. Pretty nuts. But that's what makes things fun. Sometimes. :)

Easter!

Ok, so last week was yet another annoying time at the library. And today isn't turning out to be a whole lot better. Last week my camera was dead so I couldn't put up anything with that. And this week the video I want to put on isn't working right. So I'm sorry. But here is was would have been last week.

April 13, 2009

So this week was another fairly uneventful one. Last week we spent all of p-day down in Bradenton with the zone. We had a blast. We played softball and volleyball and made hamburgers and hot dogs. As I had in my last post, we did a prank on the Sisters. Well, they just happened to bring the monkey, Chimpy, to p-day. An unfortunate event happened with Chimpy. He was killed. One of the zone leaders grabbed a knife while we were playing with him and stabbed him. It was a very sad time. But Chimpy came back. With a vengeance!

The attack!

Unfortunately the video is not working currently. It is the best part. Hopefully it will start to work soon.

Then with Easter this weekend, our ward had a cook out and Easter egg hunt. We played a little football with some of the ward members. It was extremely hot and we were in our vests. Not the smartest. But it was fun. Then the primary kids sang a song.

Then they were off. The only problem with egg hunts out here, is all the ants in the grass. Pretty much all of the eggs had some ants in them. It was interesting. But everyone is fine. It was a lot of fun.

Then yesterday, the Bishopric all gave talks on the Atonement. And in between the primary kids and the choir sang a song. It was cool. The talks were really cool and the Spirit was there so strong. I loved it. They focused a lot on Elder Hollands conference talk. I really enjoyed it.

Now, with transfers, Elder Pattie and I are staying together for yet another transfer. We are both pretty excited. At the end of this transfer he will have been here for 9 months. So we're pretty sure this next transfer will be his last. But we will work hard and have fun while it lasts.

And that was last week's post. Now on to this week.

So, things are going. We just got done with the first week of the new transfer. And we're not sure what is going to happen. The 2 kids we were teaching are still on the list. We're not sure what is happening with that family anymore. Other then the fact that they are moving to Wyoming this June. They aren't sure if they are going to be able to adopt the kids anymore. We have an appointment to teach them tomorrow. And that's about all that we can do.

Tomorrow is also our Zone Conference. So tomorrow is going to be a long day. With that, we also have the lesson that night, a meeting before the lesson with our ward mission leader, and then a member is taking us out to eat before that. So it's a pretty packed day. But we're getting food in the process, so we won't complain. And those days are usually better.

The 'new' zone is pretty good. Elder Knudson, one of my MTC comps is my district leader. It's pretty cool. Our district is rad. There are only 2 companionship's, but we all get along great. So it's fun.

This week, a very neat thing is happening, I will be hitting my year mark! Pretty sweet, eh? Yeah, I thought so. But that means on with the traditions! In the Florida Tampa Mission, every 6 months, we burn something. At 6 months it's a tie, at 12 it's a shirt, at 18 its pants, and at 24 its a suit. Some people will just burn the item itself and some people will actually add each item as they go. I am still debating between the 2. I do have some ties that I wouldn't mind burning with a shirt, but at the same time, I am trying to collect as many ties as I can. Oh well. I would ask for input, but I probably won't get the chance to read it unless you put it up today. But I guess you can say it anyway.

April Fools, Conference!

Ok. So I didn't post anything last week. I had something going and then we had to leave quite abruptly. So, here is what I had:


Happy Birthday to me. Yesterday was my 20th birthday. When really it was not. It was actually the 20th anniversary of my Birthday. I have not been born 20 times. That would just be no fun. I did have some fun, though. I had birthday horns and balloons and some 'just add water and microwave' cake. It was amazing, by the way. So yeah. It was fun.


We had our interviews with our mission president this past week. Elder Pattie and I requested to stay together for a 3rd transfer. And President Colton said that there is a good chance that it will happen. We are working really well together. And the members are trusting the missionaries again. Which is nice.


This weekend is General Conference and I am really excited. But I wonder where the time went since the last one. It seems like it wasn't that long ago. It's amazing how fast time goes out here.

And that is what was of last weeks post. Not much. But like I said, we had to leave very quickly.


Now on to this week. This past week has been an interesting one. As you know, this past Wednesday was April 1st, more commonly known as April Fools Day. So we thought we would have some fun. On Tuesday, the Spanish Elders in the area found a dead pig on the side of the road and for some reason took it back to their apartment. Then we got the idea to put it in the Sisters apartment. :) Now, some of you may find this cruel and mean, but we found it to be quite hilarious. Even our Zone Leaders were in on this one. The Sisters had done something to them earlier in the transfer. The plan was to take the pig to the Zone Leaders apartment and leave it on there deck until after our meetings. That went really well. During the meeting, Elder Pattie and I were able to get the key to the Sisters' apartment. So everything was going well. Then, while we were on the way back to get the pig, we get a call saying that one of the Sisters had just got a blessing of comfort. So we decided to abort the pig plan.

Then we decided, instead, to go to a party store and buy a ton of streamers and such to trash their house with. We ended up getting a few more things as we searched the store. We got a giant blow up monkey that we named, Chimpy, and a wig and pink boa to put on the monkey. Along with the streamers of course. And also a wall sticker type thing of Belle from "Beauty and the Beast." When we were done the apartment looked quite nice.

Here is what we did. Quite neat huh?

Well, that is not the whole story. When we left, we left the key in the apartment and left it unlocked so they could get back in. But, a few minutes later, the one of the workers there, came by and locked it. Then the Sisters called us and were mad the we stole there key. We felt extremely bad. And it wasn't until midnight that they were able to get in after the Zone Leaders called a locksmith. The Sisters then found the irony about the whole thing. It was a great April Fools Prank that lasted pretty much all of April 1st! It was awesome. But now we are kind of scared for our lives. We are going to be spending p-day with the zone. Hopefully we will still be alive at the end of the day.

Conference this weekend was awesome. One of my favorite talks was definitely Elder Perry's talk on member missionary work. That is truly the best way to do things. In this area, the members have started to realize this more and more. I am loving the ward we are working with and their excitement for the work. It's great. I can't wait for the conference edition of the Ensign to come out to read the talks and study them.

Yesterday, after conference, Elder Pattie and I got home and opened our freezer and found it to be a lot different then we left it.

It was quite an adventure to clean it up and quite wet as well. But it's all good now. We think that there is a leak somewhere involving the ice maker. So we turned it off and so far it's fine. We're kind of scared to turn it back on though. We don't to mess with that again.

And now, it started to rain really hard again outside. But it will shortly end I'm sure. As do most of Florida's rain storms. Actually, I now look outside, and it doesn't seem to be raining anymore. Crazy. But that's how it goes.