April 1st:
Guess
what? We're going to the zoo today. Not only are we going to the zoo, we are
going to a top 5 national Zoo. ZOO!
Easter was great yesterday. Church was
really good. Natalie was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday. She is a
full blown member now. It is awesome. Natalie's baptism on Saturday started our
superweek. Saturday was a baptism, yesterday was Easter, today is the zoo,
tomorrow and Wednesday we will be in Inde for Zone Leader Council, and then we
have GenCon this weekend. I feel like it is the last week of senior year all
over again. There is a ton going on. On Saturday for dinner we ate with a
member family and they invited their friend, Tom, over for dinner too. We were
able to teach him a really great lesson. He is sweet. He committed to being
baptized on the 27th of April. We are being ridiculously blessed right now. It
is great. Last week we did some overnight exchanges with some other
missionaries and I worked with an Elder Brown whom I really like. He is super
funny, we actually talked about zombie for a good amount of time. Before his
mission his hair was 18.5 inches long! When you ask him why he says, "I
really like metal music". So that was fun.
Poor BlueBirds. Why didn't the Giants sign Bri-Bri? What happened with Matt Cain? Did they ever get a better contract for him?
Yeah the people her are going crazy for the Shockers. Fun fact of the day: Shockers mean multiple shocks, or stocks, of wheat. Yep. They are a team of freakin' wheat. Stupid.
A member last night showed us a clip of the Louisville game when some kid shattered his leg. It was disgusting.
This week we are going to prank another set of missionaries. We have a key to their apartment and we are going to go in and get their bedsheets wet and throw them in the freezer. It is funny because their dryer doesn't work. Then next week, we will take all of their lightbulbs but one. We're not sure what we'll do to them after that.
The work is going really well. We had a baptism on Saturday and we still have 5 people on date. We are working really hard and talking to lots of people. The ward here is sweet. They love the missionaries so we have tons of support.
1. We
still aren't sure what we are doing for conference. It all depends on what our
investigators are doing.
2. We
are tracting a little bit. People here are fairly receptive but the best way to
find solid people is through the members here.
3.
Elder Taylor and I are both exercise freaks. He is going to play college
basketball in Canada after his 2 is up, so we are trying to stay in shape and
get stronger.
Debate
of the week: Why are people from Canada called Canadians? We aren't Americians.
They should be Canadans, right?
Okay, love you like lions love eating
free food at the zoo. Go Giants!
Love, Nick
April 8th:
Hey Fam,
My return date
will depend on my college. If I go out of state, I will probably come home
August 5th. If I have to go to Utah, then I'd just come home on the transfer,
August 23.
This past week
wasn't the best. I got ridiculously sick on Wednesday and was put on a 48-hour
clear/low sugar liquid diet for Friday and Saturday. It was bad. I had no
energy. I did lose about a 1/2 inch from my waist, so I have a flat tummy
for no-suit-coat season.
Independence was sweet as always. We talked a lot
about Christlike attributes. It was sweet. President Keyes is the man. The work
was pretty halted this week because of all of the craziness. We are still
teaching a guy named Tom. He is doing really well. We are also teaching a
lady name Sandy who is going to marry a member. She says that she
is really interested. That is really all that is going on.
1. I think that
the change in the council stuff is crazy. I
like our Meetings with the brethren and with the sisters, it will be different. Change is good.
2. I really
liked seeing the bears, the wolves, and of course, the
elephants. It was rainy and cold, so we were the only people there. It was
sweet because the animals were bored and would come out and see us
when we went by.
3. Sandy was able to watch both sessions on Sunday. She really liked Sis. Wixom's talk
about children. She says it makes the church a lot more interesting to her.
Okay family, have a great week.
Love you, Nick
April 15th:
I
emailed President Keyes today about my return date. I told him that I would
need to be back before the 23 or 24 of August, and that if there were any other
missionaries going home a bit early, to just throw on the flight with them. So
we'll see what he says next Monday.
I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself in
DC. I really liked it out there when we went a few years ago. I have been
thinking about trying to get out to the DC/MD/VA area after my first
year of schooling is done. I feel like that would be a good place for me. I
would love to work for InsideLacrosse, ESPN's affiliate lacrosse coverage.
Maybe that could be my game plan?
For now, I guess sign me up for the U. I'm
going to talk to some other missionaries and see if they would want to live
together. I'll keep you updated.
You asked about cicadas. I freaking despise
those things. They are very very very loud. They make this terrible screaching
sound about 24/7 in the summer. It is annoying because you can hardly teach
people outside in the summer because of the bugs. Ugh.
Anyways, this past week
was alright. We had an ice storm on Tuesday night. Literally everything was
covered in ice. It was cool looking. It cut some trees in half. It was interesting because on Tuesday we
were on tornado watch, and then Wednesday morning we woke up to ice. This place
is crazy.
We unfortunately were dropped by an investigator who was progressing
on Saturday. She got really caught up on how Joseph Smith received the
priesthood and she couldn't let it go. It was sad because she had a lot of
promise. We think she got confused and asked her pastor. That rascal.
On Sunday
night we had a really good fireside about the Life of Christ. The missionaries
put it on and it was sweet. I'll send you the script for Mother's Day.
We are
having a hard time getting people to come to church. Sometimes agency is just
so darn frustrating. These people have great weeks and then Sunday comes around
and they make poor choices. It's okay though.
Transfers are this week. I think
I will stay one more in Derby, but who really knows.
1. The Midwest has some bugs, that is for sure. We have an assortment of mosquitoes and other biting bugs. We have chiggers, which are the worst things ever. We have fireflies which are sweet. And we have those stupid cicadas.
2. I
think I will send my jacket and winter stuff back with my Mother's Day stuff.
3. The
best meal we had this week was Taco Salad. It was pretty tasty.
I am having a good time
being a missionary though. I kind of like the challenge of it. I told somebody
for the first time the other day that I have been out for 20 months. It it
weird. I almost have more months on my mission than years in my life. Now
everybody is like "wow, you go home soon right?" So I'm going to
start lying about my age. Maybe I can say something really generic like
"I've been out a minute" or "over a year". It was pretty cool looking. On
Thursday we went to the Goodwill to look for some service to do, and we had to
wait for somebody to come talk to us. While waiting we started to look at the
ties. I left that Goodwill serviceless and 3 ties richer. Welp, nothing else
too exciting is going on.
Have a great week.
Love you, Nick
April 22nd:
Okay
fam! Have a great week.
Love you, Nick
April 29:
I am still in Wichita. Same
ward, same comp. I'm happy about it.
So I asked President Keyes about my return
date, and it is pretty much up to me. I am thinking either the 10th or the 12th
of August. The 10th is a Saturday, and the 12th is a Monday. Any preferences?
After I know my return date, you CANNOT tell me how many days I have left,
okay?
Anyways, this past week was great. We had a correlation meeting with the
Stake President on Tuesday. He is a really great person. Then on Thursday we
had transfers. Because we are Zone Leaders we had to help out when the big bus
came. The ward that we are in got 2 Sister Missionaries as well. One is 19! It
is super weird. The 19 year old has only been out for 2 transfers and the other
Sister has been out 2 seconds. They both look like they are scared of their own
shadow.
We were able to get out and work this past week and we saw a lot of
success. We were able to find a family! I love teaching families. I hope things
pan out for them. Also, we are teaching this guy named Tom who is going to get
baptized on the 18th of May. He was able to come to church yesterday which was
awesome. All of the talks were on testimony and how to get one. It was perfect
for Tom. We also had another investigator come to church. It was great because
that has been a weak point for us recently and to have 2 people at church
yesterday was a total miracle.
Last night we had a fireside given by S. Michael
Wilcox, who was a director of Institute at BYU and now does educational tours
all over the world. He is also the Bishop's father. He talked about temples and
it was really sweet. He talked a lot about the symbolism within the temple and
how we can apply that to ourselves. It was a good end to the week. That is
really all that is happening with me. I'm doing well and working like a beast.
1. This spring has been the
craziest ever. We have had multiple days when the temperature will drop 30-40
degrees from the day before, and then two days later go back up to the 70s or
80s. It is really crazy. People haven't dared to plant anything yet because of
the forecasted freezes every week.
2. I'll be plenty excite4d about the draft next year, believe me.
3. We took some light bulbs
and hid them from one of the companionships. It was funny. We have some other
deeds in mind as well.
Love you, Nick
April 29:
I got some breaking news on Wednesday concerning my return.
President Keyes called and said that he is putting me in a group that is coming
home on either the 29th or the 30th (most likely the 30th) of JULY. I guess
there are a few missionaries coming home early and I told him that I was
flexible with the date. It is kinda soon, because it puts me at double digit days, but that's life. If we come home on the 30th, that means that I'll be able to go to the
temple with some other Elders and do some of the going away stuff. I also don't
really care who is at the airport and who is at my talk. Chelsea and Devon can choose which one they want to do.
So apart from that crazy news, life is good. Today has been hectic
because they are doing some mid-transfer changes and so we have to help out a
bit with that.
This past week was pretty good. We found some really great new
people to teach. We also taught Tom on Thursday night and had a really good
lesson. He is still progressing towards his date in May.
Yesterday in church we
had an RM give his homecoming talk. He went to Iceland, where there are 6
missionaries. His parents also spoke about the blessings that come from having
a missionary in the field. It was really sweet.
We are going to Independence
tomorrow for a Mission Leadership Council. It will be great as always. This
time it will be a little different though because of the new system of Mission
Leadership. There will be a few Sisters there. Hopefully it doesn't change too
much, because I have learned so much from the others..
I am sending a package home next week with some winter stuff and some
Mother's Day shenanigans. It is a big box. Welp, you know what time it is.
1. Usually the Ward Mission Leader or one of the Ward missionaries
teaches the Gospel Principles class.
2. Being in the Midwest, there are a lot of Christian people. A
lot of the people that we teach have a foundation of who Jesus Christ is and we
are able to build upon that belief.
3. I am a normal English missionary right now. I really miss being
in a Spanish area.
I still feel like I have a lot to do.
We get to talk soon!
love you, Nick
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