Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 70

Hey! 
So the temperature is starting to get colder outside, on Saturday is at 27, and windy, so that was fun. :) This week was cold, but it was really good too, lots of work to do in Chickasha. Tuesday at the museum, fun as always, and so we got another box of stuff to sort through, and at the bottom of the bag, there was this little wooden box and all we would read from the label with out opening it was (a long name I can't remember) and Biological laboratory, so we open it naturally :) and there is a vial of stuff it it, and a syringe, so Pat, the director looks it up, to see if it was safe, all it was, was a vaccine for strep throat, so that's good. But the museum has found some interesting things as they go through stuff. Pat told us one time, they were opening up "empty" ammo canisters from WW2... well some weren't empty, so they had to call the bomb squad to take care of it, and while they were there, their radiation detectors went off, turns out the Uranium exhibit that they were assured was safe, wasn't so safe. So they had to close that one down, hahaha. I love museums! :) This week at the Museum we are helping with a big model train set! That should be fun. Chickasha lights are on! I got to see them last year and it's cool that I'm here now this time. :) We had stake conference this Sunday and that was really good, lots of good talks from everyone, even President and Sister Walkenhoarst spoke. This week is going to be fun, Thanksgiving! And we have district meeting in Pauls Valley on Friday, so I don't have to prepare a training this week! And there is going to be a new Christmas initiative called, A Savior is Born, can't wait for that! The weather today isn't that bad, its warming up till thanksgiving, then 40`s as high, and freezing rain.... so I'm trying to think of how to get into our area if the roads are iced over, so cars are grounded, and I really don't want to fall off my bike in the ice, and we live 3 miles away from our area, so should be interesting, I will let you know how it goes. :) So with Thanksgiving coming up, here are a few scriptures I am grateful for- 
Moroni 9:3-5

3rd Nephi 5:13

Alma 7:11-14

I could probably go on forever! I have so many because the Book of Mormon applies to everyone, no matter what they are going through or questions that they have, it is a blessing to all that will read it.

I am thankful for the wonderful opportunity I have to be on a mission, and share this message with people that will help them forever! :)

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 69

Hey! 
It was a pretty good week this week, on P-day we played football, it was fun, it was a long drive though, Or it seemed like it, Pauls Valley is about a hour away, so after p-day we had a meeting, and that was really good, made sure I took lots of notes. The next morning, I also had another meeting in Pauls Valley, so all of the zone leaders and their companions all had to stay the night at the zone leaders apartment, and they have a small apartment. There was about 12 or 14 of us in there! So it was a little crowded, haha! So the next morning we had meetings, then after that we finally got to go home, we were all so tired after that, it was funny. All we wanted to do is sleep, but we couldn't. Wednesday we did service at the animal shelter, fun as always. :) We had a busy week, got to see a lot of people and teach too! On Friday I went on exchanges with the zone leaders, so I got to go with Elder McGinnis to Pauls Valley again! It was cool to see their area, I have never been there before. We had a good time. and that night we got a call from one of their members asking us if we could fix their heater for their house. Elder McGinnis was telling me that they get calls like this all the time, whenever anyone has a problem in Pauls Valley, they call the missionaries, hahaha! So we went over there and looked at it, but nothing really happened so we told them to call someone that knows what they are doing :) On Sunday we got one of our investigators to church that we have been working with for a while now, and finally got them to come! They said they enjoyed it, so hopefully we will see them next week as well. Sunday was cold and raining, and of course it was our day to bike.... so that was fun, sort of, at least it wasn't raining hard, so we stayed warm and dry. We heard about Paris, everyone is talking about it, how sad! I love you and hope that you all had a great week! 

Everyone at the Zone Leaders Place

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 68

Hey!
This week has been pretty good, we have stayed pretty busy this week, on Tuesday for service at the museum it was really fun, someone donated this box full of stuff all about this guy who him and his brother traveled around doing circus acts, so we got to find out a lot about him, sorting through all that stuff (newspapers, mail, and other stuff). It sort of felt like National Treasure, there were some telegrams that we were reading, between him and some other person, and confused us. For example- "Everything is fine, I'm okay, meet me on Monday." So that was sort of strange, so we are going through more and he had a lot of pamphlets, papers, and mail from India ink, so we look at that more, and I recognize a symbol on one of them, and I'm like, oh.. he was a Mason, that's cool. Thought that was a cool thing that we learned and did on Tuesday. Wednesday we were going to do service at the animal shelter, but we got a huge storm in the morning, and we are driving in it! We couldn't see the road at all, the rain and wind was that bad, everything was just white. Luckily it didn't last all day, just the morning, so we were able to go out and work when the storm died down. On Saturday, we helped a member rebuild a shed. It was really fun, we still have a lot of work to do, but it is getting there. Lois is still doing great, we weren't able to meet with a lot of the people that we normally do this week, but we found a new investigator, and what's even better, him and his wife have 10 kids! It was really cool how we found them too. So it all started about 3 weeks ago. It was maybe around 7 at night, and we are riding around with our bikes, and we see this kid walking in the street by himself, and he is around 14 or so, and he sees us and of course thinks we are police (it happens all the time). Anyway, he comes over to us and tells us that he is lost, doesn't know how to get home, it's dark and doesn't know his address or any phone numbers, all he knows is his house is in the north side, and thinks he knows what street it is on, so yeah, lots of help. So we told him we would help him, we are pretty sure we know where he lives after talking with him more, with knowing the area. So we start our journey. And it really was, it took us about a hour to walk to his house, we found it thankfully. We gave him our number and now we started heading home, we had our bikes with us so it didn't take us that long to get back, but we get a call and it is his mom, telling us how thankful she was for finding and helping her son, her husband had been looking for him for quite a while now. So we talked with her for a little while more, and were telling her about what we do as missionaries. So that was a really cool thing that we were able to do that night. On Saturday, we went over there, and we were able to teach his dad! He already had a Book of Mormon, and his wife has relatives that are members in Oklahoma! It was awesome!  This p-day is zone p-day so we are all going up to Pauls Valley and playing flag football, should be a lot of fun. Love you!

This is my planner cover!

      

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 67

Hey! 
I'm tired...... we had to go to Seminole this morning for a doctors appointment for Elder Pearson. Seminole is a hour and a half away, and of course I have to drive..... so we get up this morning, and there is thick fog, of course there is. So I not only got to drive for a long time, but the fog was there the entire time. So what a lovely stressful trip that was, and we just got back. So yeah. But this week was pretty good. Service was fun at the museum, and since Elder Mcvey left, Elder Roundy went to transfers and Elder Williams is his new companion. On Wednesday, the Branch had a Fall Festival, and it was really fun! There was lots of games and food, and a  lot of people showed up! Including some non-members. Halloween was fun, we went to a members house, and we played games there. They had a game called lightening reactions, there are these things that you hold and there is a button on them, you wait till the light turns green and the last person to push the button got shocked, we all had fun with that game, hahaha. So I can't remember all this week, I blame the stress about driving, haha. But it has been a good week. 

Elder Mcvey and I

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 66

Hey! 
This week we had to wear our suit coats because it was below 60, so it is getting colder outside! On Thursday we had to ride in the rain, and we got soaked, hahaha, riding around in the rain reminds me of my first area. So that was fun, sort of, hahaha. So on Tuesday, we did service at the museum, but every other week I have a meeting over the phone during that time, so I had that this week, so I didn't get to do much this week. But the meeting was funny, so at the beginning of the transfer, the zone leaders broke their phone, it was old, and fell apart, so they got a new one, so during the meeting, we all hear them log out of the call, and so we don't know that to do, so we are trying to figure out that happened. It turns out the the zone leaders accidentally dropped their new phone in a cup of water,hahaha. They sort of got it working again, but we could barely hear them over the call. When all that was over I did get to do some service, what I did was help clean this old saddle that they had, we had some saddle leather cleaner and some rags and were scrubbing it, trying to clean it up. On Wednesday, we did service at the animal shelter; we had fun walking the dogs, and Elder Roundy found a piece of Elder Lyman's name tag in the grass, so we told him about that, and it turns out that he had the other half and never could find that last piece, so we mailed it to him, it is cool that even after all this time that we were able to find it. Lois is still doing great, and was telling us that she can't wait till she is able to go to the temple! Our investigators are doing well, we are having a fall festival at the church on Wednesday so we have been trying to invite as many people as we can to that, hopefully there should be a lot of people there. This week we went on exchanges, I went with Elder Roundy to his area and Elder Mcvey and Elder Pearson were together in this area, it was a good exchange, we were able to teach a few people and improve our areas. We had a good Sunday, we got to meet with Sam and Anthony again, they are progressing, every time we go there I always learn so much, they have some hard questions at times, so after, I always study it and am able to learn more. With transfers, me and Elder Pearson are staying together, and Elder Mcvey is going to OKC, and Elder Roundy's new companion is Elder Willams. This week was good, stressful at times, but the work here is still going forward. Love you! 

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 65

Hey!

The weather is starting to get a little colder! I love the cooler weather, the only thing that I'm not a fan of is when it gets below 60, we have to wear our suits. But this week has been pretty good. We had a good lesson with Tone, and next time he is going to teach us the restoration. We had a good time at the museum as usual :). We had a great lesson with Arthur, we have been meeting with him for a while, and in the beginning he said he would meet with us, but didn't want the lessons, now we are teaching him, and he is keeping commitments, and is doing great. I love the change we can see in people. Lois is still doing great! She is amazing, and she loves her calling in the branch. We are giving her the new member lessons now. On Friday, we were able to go to one of our investigator`s house, had a good lesson with them, they had lots of questions, so I have been busy studying for them so I can answer their questions next time.  This week we did a lot of service, on Saturday morning we had a service project to help one of our investigators remove trees, bushes, and vines from their front and back yard. It only took about 2 hours and it looked so much better, then after that we helped one of our recent converts move. We got a new investigator this week, he is taller then our mission president, he told us that his grandfather was 8 foot...... thats tall. We had a great lesson with him, we taught the restoration, and I think that was the best lesson that me and Elder Pearson have taught so together. It's funny now that it is getting colder, I am like, I remember this last year, wow that was a long time ago, hahaha! I love you, hope that you all have a great week!

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 64

Hey!

So this was a pretty good week, we had a fun zone p-day, we had it at a members house in Pauls Valley, they have a huge back yard, so we all made an obstacle course, it was really fun. It first started out with throwing a Frisbee into a net, then after that wheelbarrow across the field, then it went to a path that led through the forest, and they put string all over the path so you had to avoid the string, after that was a sprint to the next part, a three legged race, then a grape toss and we had to catch them in our mouths, then finally putting a bike together and racing it to the finish line, it was a really fun p-day! After that we had a meeting, and that went to the end of the day. The meting was mostly about how we can better work with members. On Tuesday, we did service at the museum, I think that volunteering at the museum is one of my favorite service things that I have done so far. Lois is still doing great! Wednesday we did service at the animal shelter, it is a lot of fun being able to work with the dogs. We have been doing more teaching this week, so that is nice, the work here is getting better. One of the members invited us to hear a guest speaker at the collage here, and it was really cool listening to him, it was about the effect we have on nature, it was interesting. In church on Sunday we had a lot of people there this week, I think it was around 90, so we are still slowly growing! The weather has been nice, but it was starting to warm back up a little, it is pretty windy today, so maybe that means that it will cool down. the scripture I am going to "poderize" for this week is 2nd Nephi 12:2 "And it shall come to pass in the last days when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the top of the mountains and shall be exalted about the hills and all nations shall flow unto it." Have a great week! Love you!

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 63

Hey!

This has been a good week, the weather has been really nice, and last night it was starting to get a little cold, so i am loving the weather. :) We are still doing service at the museum here, it is so much fun to do, that day in the morning I had a meeting over the phone with the other district leaders, and that took a long time, so I didn't get to do that much at the museum, but what I did is took old pictures and put them in protective sleeves. On Wednesday we had Zone Conference, we heard some really good training from President Walkenhorst and the AP's, so after the zone conference, we went to the mission office to pick up more supplies, and in the office they have a list of departing and arriving missionaries, and the sisters that came out with me from the Mexico MTC were on the list! So I was talking to one of the English sisters that came out with me and said, "hey guess who is going to have their name on that list next transfer?", so she ran over to the list, and was like no way! I haven't been out that long! It was really funny to watch. Everything is going well, we have been talking to a lot more people who say we could come back, the problem we are having now is meeting with them again, preparing for district meeting training have still been a little hard, but every week they seem like it gets better, so I am glad for that. Time is going by so fast, I can't believe it is already October, its crazy. The highlight of the week would have to be with one of the recent coverts that we are working with, she finally got her patriartical blessing! We have been working with her for a while, helping her overcome her fears of things in the church, the temple, and this! She was so excited, after she got home she called us right away and told us! :) She said it was so worth it. Lois is still going great too! :) She has a calling already, and it very eager to be able to serve in the church. General Conference was really good, it was sad not being able to see some of the familiar faces that we were all used to, but I enjoyed the talk Elder Bednar gave at the end about them. some of the main topics I got out of conference was to have a current temple recommend, always have the Holy Ghost to be with you, and follow the prophet. For today we are having a zone p-day, so the whole zone is going up to Pauls Valley and we are doing this big obstacle course that some member up there is setting up for us, should be lots of fun! and I will send you pictures off all that next week! :)

Chickasha, Oklahoma- Week 62

Hey! 
This week felt pretty long, we had Zone Conference on Wednesday and that took up almost all off the day, so that felt like that went on for a while. This week we have been tracting a lot, we haven't gotten any new investigators yet, but there was a few that said we could come back sometime next week. I'm still trying to get used to having more language study and now 12 week (training Elder Pearson) now in the schedule, but it is slowly getting better. We have been busy riding around. I put that odometer on my bike on Friday, and it says so far I have ridden 20 miles on the bike, that's a lot, I'm going to see how many we ride in a week.:) And of course the high light of the week! Lois's Baptism!!!! Her baptism was on Saturday! It was awesome, and lots of people showed up to support her, I was so happy that she was able to heal enough for baptism, this has been something she has wanted more than anything else since I first got here, and that was probably more than 3 months ago,:) on Friday the I went on exchanges with the zone leaders from Pauls Valley, that went well, we had a good time together and was able to learn a lot from them. There are two members of the branch who had knee replacements, so everyone in the branch was making the joke that there must have been a sale on knees lately:). And one of the people who got the replacement, came to church with his walker, so he and another member who was already using a walker were trying to race each other down the hall ways, it was really funny to watch, hahaha. We watched the eclipse last night, it was soo cool!!!!! There was a lot of people outside watching it happen. 

Baptism! :)