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.

Just another week in Florida.

This week was another slow one for us. Yesterday was a pretty good day though. There was a baptism of an 8 year old. The family is one of the coolest families I've met out here.

Side note: It just started to rain really super hard outside. Cool. But it will probably be over in about 15-20 minutes. That's usually how these rainstorms work. But they can be fun while they last.

Back. The baptism was really cool. They have a 17 or 18 year old that doesn't come to church very often that came to the baptism. I only hope that he may have gotten something out of it.

Then after church we went to another members, the Mullins, house for lunch. It was probably the most fun lunch that I've ever had. We talked about everything from Cache Valley cheese to Obama to slaughtering animals to elphants sitting on people. It was quite interesting. But we had a blast. We of course left on a good note with a nice thought on prayer.

Then we went to the MacQuarry's house. They are the family that had the baptism. We had some more food. Just small sandwiches and such. But it was really fun to visit with them. Brother MacQuarry has a Yamaha V-star. Really pretty bike. He showed it to us and I just drooled a bit. But I'm ok now.

We also found out that Brother Brightly, a member of the Bishopric here, is now able to adopt 2 of his foster kids and they both want to be baptized before they move out to Wyoming in June. It was really exciting news for them. We are going to begin teaching them on Tuesday. We are really excited about that.

Now, about today. We were planning on going to play some sand volleyball today and some basketball as well, but we woke up to it being very wet outside and kind of sprinkling. So now we are not quite sure as to what we are going to do. But it is no longer pouring outside. Like I said earlier, it only lasted about 25 minutes. So maybe it will dry up enough that we might be able to at least play some basketball. We'll see.

As some of you may know, today is my 11 month mark!! It is crazy to think that I have been out here for that long already. Time is really flying by out here. It's nuts. But I am loving it.

And as maybe a few more of you may know, my birthday is this upcoming Sunday! I am going to be 20! Wierd! No longer a teenager! That's right, mother, you only have one more of those left. It's crazy. But it must happen I guess.

I think that is all that I have to update on for this week. I hope all is well for everyone back there.

Oh. And you all should check this amazing new photographer. The website is http://www.adripaigephotography.wordpress.com/. And be sure to consider using her for any upcoming events you may have that requires a photographer. She is amazing!

'Mountain' Biking in Florida

Hello again from hot and humid Florida. It seems to be that time of year again. When it gets even hotter and more humid. The past few months have been fairly nice, for Florida that is. I could've used a few feet of snow. But what can you do? I'm not really enjoying the humidity, but I know that I only have one more summer here. So I think I'll survive. At least try to. :)

Every Thursday we have exchanges with the Elders and High Priests. Elder Pattie and the Elders president, Brother Coates, went to visit a recent convert of the Spanish Branch that will be moving over to the ward and his wife. The wife is not a member and we plan on teaching her. Elder Pattie said that it went really well. Bro. Coates can speak very good spanish so he spoke a lot. They both speak english but the husband is still learning it. But they went over the Plan of Salvation with them and Pattie said that the spirit was there very strongly and she was crying.

I went with the High Priest Group leader, Bro. Thompson. We went to a less-actives house. He lives out in the middle of nowhere. As we were driving, we are passing all these old rundown homes that are not very nice, then we see his mailbox... He has an elctronic gate with a calling system and a large brick wall surrounding his house and tons of property. We call in and the hired help/ maid answered and said, "Mr. Gaskill is not in right now. He should be home around 9." His hosue was about 100 yards back from the road and it was huge! It looked like one of those plantation homes. Giant! We were pretty dissappointed that we didn't get to go inside. But Elder Pattie and I plan on going back sometime. The Bishop said that he is a really nice guy.

We then went to visit another less-active that was on the way back to the chruch. They live on a ranch and are very much ranchers. Accent and everything. So I got along with them quite well. They were a really nice family. They told us pretty much their whole life story, (we get that a lot as missionaries.) But it was a really good visit.

Today, being P-Day, we decided to have some fun. We went to the Alafia State Park Bike Trails. We have been there a few time and it is always a ton of fun. There is this one trail that we really like called Rollercoaster. We usually hit it at least twice each time we go. In about the middle of the trail there is a nice jump that we always hit and go back around and hit again and again and again. It is a lot of fun.

This is a video of me doing the jump. This time I started from on top of a hill and had a lot more speed then usuall. So it was exciting. You'll notice that I hit the jump just fine and land it nicely too. Then the fun part happens. Apparently my front brakes work a lot better then I gave them credit for. They thought they should teach me a lesson for doubting them. It was fun.

This is part of the bike trails with commentary by Elder Pattie. I found it quite interesting. But it is a lot of fun.

This is me with a trutle that we found on the trails on our way out. Sorry that it's sideways, but I didn't have enough time to rotate it. So have fun looking funny while turning your heads. :P

And that is all that I've got for this week. I would love to hear how everybody out there is doing. Keep me updated.