Older and Wiser

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoop whoop. I'm gonna send you a package here pretty soon with some things that you would like. That is sweet that Chels is in town. She loves her surprise visits.

That is cool to hear about the surprise party. way to go dad. What do old people do at a party? Get jiggy with it? Who came?

Freakin' niners. I knew that they would let on slip early, but now they won't lost for a while. That is sweet that the Gigantes are October bound. It's magic time again for them.

Here, the leaves haven't changed yet, but should be super colorful by like the 2-3 week in october.

Things here are going well. We got Bro. Hill with a baptismal date for Dec. 1. We should be getting his wife on date this week. They are doing really well. He came to church yesterday and brought one of his daughters. I think that he liked it. Mariana is doing well. She is still progressing so that is sweet. This past week we found a lot of new people to teach. 10 to be exact. We found a few part-member families to work with, so I hope that they go well. We are now teaching two scientologists. From what they say, I don't think that they believe in robots and aliens and whatnot. It sounds a lot like Buhdism, in the fact that it is more about perfecting the inner being.

 Oh, also big news, I will be training a new missionary this upcoming transfer. I don't know who, but I am excited. I hope I can leave a good impression on him. Elder Hanson is getting transferred to somewhere unknown at the moment, but he is really anxious because it is his first time getting transferred ever. When I left Kaw River, I was like "No, I can't be leaving, this is my place" but now, it's just kinda "meh". Welp, that is what is going on with me.

Man, that is crazy that Colton is already home. His mission seemed like it went super fast. 

 

1. Let's see, my favorite meal of the week was....I don't know. We had some good stuff this week. We had pizza, tacos, tortilla soup, rice and beans, lots of good stuff. We had some fun dinners this past week. It was a good one.

2. Craziest ice cream flavor would be the KC Classic: bacon ice cream with pieces of pork mixed with bbq sauce. you asked for craziest, not best tasting.

3. Dad on twitter? How 2012 of him. That is funny. Twitter is big from what I hear. I'll have to get caught up on that when I get back.

 

Okay my 25 year old momma (kissin' up). Have a great week and a greater birthday!!!!
Love you Fam!
Love, Nick

Homer Simpson Goes on a Mission (9/17/12)

Yay Niners!!! That is sweet. They are going to the Superbowl for sure. Man, that is a lot of stakes. Mmmmm steakkkkk...

The work is going well here. We have a lot to do and are staying super busy. I am really happy about that. This past week we taught like crazy. Still the Sunday afternoon during the Chiefs game was slow. I guess I just don't get it. It's just the Chiefs. They can always wait. The Niners, on the other hand, are a top priority. Whatever.

It's good to hear that you are enjoying your job. Are you still exercising a lot? As for voting this year, I don't think that I should because I would just be voting for a face and not for what they want to do. I don't know what's going on, and don't think that the vote would be in good order. unless you just want to vote for me, feel free.

Anyways, the work is sweet here We were working our tails off this past week to reach some goals that we set for ourselves and that made the week go by super fast. We have a big lesson with our investigators tomorrow. I hope that it goes well and hopefully set them with a baptismal date.

Billy asked me to give him the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday. It was a cool experience. He is doing really well. He got a job selling security systems and says that he knows how we feel sometimes because he goes door-to-door.

Mariana is still doing great. She should have a set date for October at some point.

Oh, also, we got word that this really cool thing is happening here in the Missouri Independence Mission. Gladys Knight and her choir, Saints Unified Voices, are coming to do a special "musical presentation" (we can't call it a concert for some reason). I guess she sings and bears her testimony and cool things like that. It should be sweet. She goes around to the missions and does this thing. Other than that, I am doing really well. There is a lot of work to do in this area and we are keeping super busy. Transfers are coming up next week and my comp has been here awhile so he may get shipped off somewhere. He says that he wants to only stay in the Independence area, so we always joke with him that he is getting exiled to Wichita.

Some business stuff: for the schools list (thanks for the package btw), it was UC Santa Barbara not Davis, Colorado State not CU, and what is the honors college at the U?  When you have time, can you get me the info for the Oregon app? And also, potentially look for some scholarships, if you have time.

Glad to hear that things at home are going swimmingly. How are the morning workouts with Edie going? Are you the star pupil? Does Todd still eat wings a lot? Mason said that he is working there now. How is that going?

1. Every once in a while we go to somewhere to eat. It usually just depends on how much money we have. We have been finding some good taco places here and a very good Vietnamese place as well.

2. For district meetings, I teach on whatever the district needs or is lacking at that point. A few weeks ago we were having trouble getting people to church, so I taught about Revelation Through Church Attendance. Things like that.

3. For prospective missionaries, I would tell them to become very familiar with Preach My Gospel and to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Those two things are key.

Okay, mi familia, have a great week.

Love, Nick

Aloha from the 'Zou (9/10/12)

Aloha from the 'Zou,

NNNIIIIIIIINNNNNEEERRRRRRRRSSSSS!

Man, that is sweet. Superbowl here we come. Man, that completely made my day. I wear a red tie on Sundays to support my boys. I guess it's working.

I was thinking about Daffy the other day. She is a funny dog. Lots of people here have mean dogs, like pit bulls and big mutts.

Billy's baptism was really great. We had some great speakers and it all went smoothly. President and Sister Keyes came to the baptism because Billy met with him at one point to talk for a little bit. It is nice to have them there.

The Riverview ward is going well. All of the speakers bailed on the bishop so my comp and I had to speak. We also had to set up the sacrament and I translated for a little bit before the regular translator got there. It was pretty hectic.

All in all, we had a good week. We were able to get a lot done.We found a new family to teach last week.  They're a young couple with a few kids. He really likes the church because nobody gets paid for their service. He has a hard time listening to preachers who drive nice cars and have their million dollar houses. The more that we talk with them, the more prepared they seem. I think that they will join the church, hopefully soon. I think that we can do a lot of good work with them. Mariana is doing really well. Still just waiting for her grandma to get here so that we can baptize her. The work here is booming.

There is not much new with me personally. Just kickin' it in the hood. Yesterday was really slow during the Chiefs game. Everybody here loves their Chiefs. I don't really understand why. I guess some just aren't lucky enough to be 49er fans.

  1. Yes, I wake up at 6:30 and go to bed at 10:30. I'm a good lil missionary, Mama. Don't you fret.

2. If last fall was any indication, we get great fall leaves here. Right now everything is still green, really green actually. The rain from Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac really helped the plants here. It is getting cooler now, so the leaves should be changing soon.

3. P-Days in the Independence Zone are fun. We wake up early and go to Independence to play frisbee in the mornings because not all of the sisters have the same pdays, so we let them have a little fun too. Then we get ready and study a little, email, eat lunch and shop, and then we either play basketball or just chill.

 

I'm glad to hear that work is going well. Are you going to have to travel at all for this job? If you ever go to North Carolina get some barbeque.

Welp, have a great week.

 Love you more than High Priests love not matching their pants and their jackets.

Love, Nick

.

What's New

Yep. My new job just means that I hold the missionaries accountable for what they do during the week and give little lessons once a week. I guess President Keyes thinks that I am able to do so.  I really hope he's right. The district that I'm over is pretty interesting; it is my comp and I, and 4 sets of sisters. That is just because the Visitors' Center is in my zone/stake, so there are a ton of sisters here.

Today is your first day of your new job so that is good. I had a dream the other night that Duke's lax coach was recruiting me and that I had to be in NC the next day for a visit to the campus but we couldn't find a car that worked to drive there (why we would drive to NC, I don't know), and then when we found a flight in was in a half hour, and I didn't have enough socks for the trip so I was searching like crazy for some socks. Then I woke up. Weird huh?

All is going well here. We had a pretty good week last week. Billy is getting baptized on Saturday and things are going smoothly. The ward here is really good at coming out with us and helping us teach. That has been a big blessing. It is nice to have members with us because they have different experiences than us with certain topics and also to build friendships among the investigators. Right now we have  just a few solid investigators other than Billy. One is Mariana. Her mom is a member, and we are just waiting for her grandma to come for us to baptize her. The other is Todd, he is a tough cookie. He has a ton of really deep, kind of unanswerable questions. We are working hard with him to just get a basic testimony of the church.

 Let's see, I think that is about it. I am doing well. It rained a ton this weekend because of Isaac, and now the humidity is here. It isn't too bad if you don't move a muscle. Well, that's all I got.

1.DL jobs: see above.

2. It just depends. There are a lot of unemployed people in this city. We are lucky to have people to teach during the day, in my last area it seemed like everyone worked during the day so it was really hard to be productive during the afternoon.

3. When we don't have anything set during the day, we usually try tracting, finding past investigators, contacting referrals, and visiting less active members.

Have a great week, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!  to Dad and Chels.

Love you, Nick

We Have s Spy!

Hey there,

Sister Bennett told us that she always calls our mommies after we eat there. She made some good stuff. The brownies were great.

 Yeah, the ward had to replace the Second Counselor in the Bishopric because he has cancer and needs to devote all of his time and energy to that. They just called a new 2nd counselor yesterday, so all is move forward. Please pray for the Chacon family.

 The area here is pretty fun. The work is going really well. We have one on date right now for the 8th of September. His name is Billy Reed and he is ready to make the plunge. We are working on re-vamping our list of investigators and working towards getting some solid investigators. That is what we have been up to this week. A lot of talking to people on the streets and such. Also, the mission has some "visa-waiters" and we had to have one tag a long for a few days before he went to Argentina. He's leaving today. My comp is doing pretty good. His mom is taking the discussions, so he's happy about that. He converted in 2009 and decided to come serve. Can't complain - life is good.

That is great that Aaron is going back out! That made me really happy to read.

It also rained here as well, which means that it has been super humid the past few days. I don't mind it too much.

So yeah not a ton going on right now. Just work, work, work.

Dang, Dad. That is too bad about the defense. At least it was only the preseason.Man, moving to the 1:00 church. That's tough. Guess what. I'll be home before it changes to 9:00. Crazy.

Yes, we do encounter some discussion from the born agains and baptists . But in the bible it says by grace are we saved through faith. Then in James it says that faith is by works. So in order to get grace, we have to have faith, and to have faith we have to act. So there.

 

Friday was a surreal day. Like it didn't hit me until I was writing in my journal that night. Like wow, I have been a missionary for an entire year. Where did the time go? I have heard that the second year is even faster than the first. That kinda freaks me out. By Christmas I'll be 2/3 done. That is scary. Man, I gotta stop thinking about it.

1. Elder Hanson has been here in Riverview for a while now. He is going on his 4th transfer here. He started his time here, so he is coming up on the 6 month mark pretty soon.

2. Our dinner calendar is full here. It is great. The ward has to feed us and a pair of sisters, but they get the job done.

3. Zone Conference was really good. We learned about the Book of Mormon, and that even as members, we should be praying about it daily. We talked a lot about converting ourselves first, and then helping others convert.

So yeah, that is all that I got. Oh yeah, as far as packages go, it is probably best just to send them to the mission office because we go by there at least 2x a week. Plus, our neighborhood is sketchy, so it is probably safer to do that anyways.

Welp, gotta fly, but have a good week. I love you.

Love, Nick

One Down, One To Go

Yep the 24th is my year mark. It is pretty crazy. I am excited to be on the last half of it all. While I am loving this experience, knowing that it won't last forever is kinda nice sometimes. Yeah, it honestly still feels like I'm new to the mission. I can remember my first day in the MTC like is was yesterday. It is crazy how fast time flies.

So I got switched to the Riverview ward in downtown KCMO. It is innercity here. The pizza guy doesn't deliver to where we live. Haha. It has a lot of the same aspects like Kaw River did. Lots of Spanish people and interpreting everywhere. My companion is Elder Hanson from Jamaica by way of LA. I like him so far. He's cool, mon. I am also in the Independence Stake, so I am near the mission offices and such quite a bit. It is really fun.It is pretty weird when you think about it, the way my mission has gone so far, this may be my 2nd to last area. that is weird.

Too bad that the Niners lost. but that is good that the D played well.

Yeah so the Glass of Milkduds things didn't work. That is okay. You don't really have to worry about any other treats. I got a cake from the Walkers on Wednesday during my last dinner in Platte Woods. Thank you for the birthday stuff. I gobbled the poptarts pretty freakin fast. I liked the football cards, but I didn't get a single 49er. A few Browns, no Niners.

I am pretty sad to leave that area, but also super pumped to be in Riverview. There is a ton of work to be done here. There are a lot of poorer people here, so they are very humble and willing to hear the message. I guess this area is pretty rough, because a few times we have been asked "What are you two nice, handsome, amazing young men doing out here on these streets?" (I may have exaggerated a little). So yeah, life is going great.

Man, this Friday is the day. 1 year in the mission. It has flown by. Now I'm on the down and down. Pretty wild. I'll be spending my yearrrgh(pirate) mark sitting in a chair at Zone Conference. Not too shabby. So yeah that is what is going on with me.

1. & 2. For transfers unless you are in like Topeka or Witchita, you go to Independence and meet up with everyone in a stake center parking lot. Then you wait around until you see your comp, and you go on your merry way. It's pretty simple, nothing too dramatic. If you are in one of those far away Kansas places, you get picked up on a bus that the mission rents out and it brings you to Independence.

3. I have some shoes that I may need to send home, that is about it.

New Address:

5624 E. 30th St.

Kansas City, MO 64128

Anyways, I hope that all is going well at home. Dad, congrats on the new job.

Okay my beloved family, thanks for the burfday fun! I love you more than mosquitoes love eating me alive.

Love, Nick

 

Changes

Hey,

So there has been a little cog in our plans, Elder Burden is going to train a new missionary, so I'm probably outta here. It was quite the shocker when we found out. Tomorrow night I'll know where I'm going. Crazy Crazy Crazy. Our little tripod is going fine. There was a lot to do last week, and it seemed like there wasn't enough time to do it all. It has been really fun with 3 people because we all get along really well, but I am excited to settle down a bit and not have to move back and forth every night. Yeah Elder Burden is getting a baby missionary, so I'm probably going to be leaving. I'm okay with that though, I think that a change of scenery will be good.

Anyways, that is sweet that the Niners won. How'd Randy Moss look? Remember when I used to love him as a Viking? Football season is the most wonderful time of the year. What's going on in the College Football world? Any interesting stuff? Any surprising preseason rankings? Is the SEC going to win another title?

Yep, I'm turning 20 this week. That's freakin weird. I will no longer be a teenager, and that is a weird thought. I sure as heck don't feel that old. I don't even feel 19 most of the time.

Anyways, things are going well here. The work is moving along pretty well. We are trying hard to find new people to teach and bring them this everlasting gospel. It's like if these people only knew what we were trying to give them, then they would be hunting us down and begging us to come by and help them. We weren't able to get in with Jorge this past week, but we should be seeing him tonight. We are trying to grow our teaching pool, but we just haven't had the time the past few weeks with all of the hustle and bustle that we've been living. A lot of the people the we are teaching now aren't keeping their commitments, and that is frustrating. We have also been working on going through the ward roster and finding those people who nobody knows. It has worked a little, and has some people with good potential on it. We did some of that in Kaw River, and that showed a lot of promise, so hopefully it works here.

1. It depends on the missionary for what they do on their birthday. I'll probably be packing and then see some of my faves like Blake and Evelyn.

2. Sometimes I imagine my homecoming talk and what I'll say. I'll somehow twist whatever topic I get into missionary stuff and then finish out by thoroughly rebuking all of the bums in the ward. Totally kidding.

3. When we have Spanish invetisgators he kinda just sits there. There's not much else he can do. It's cool though, we both are okay with it.

Other than that stuff, not much else happened. My brain has been racing since we got the call that Elder Bruden will be training. I want to know where I'm headed. That Glass of Milk place is pretty close, so we can go pick up whatever you got me. I'm sure it will be tasty. Anyways, all is well in funkytown.

Alright my favorite family and planet Earth, have a great week, I'll probably be emailing you from a whole new world next Monday!!!

Love you, Nick