1 Entire Gigabyte

This was a super fun week!!

On Monday we had a Zone Turkey bowl and played football for 5 hours. It was super fun, but everyone was super sore afterwards and was limping around haha

In the evening we went out with Edward and did a bunch of stopbys. It was a blast, it's fun to be put with someone our own age because we think similarly. After our stopbys we went and taught a kid named Trevor, and he's awesome! He's a Norse pagan merged with a Christian so has some interesting beliefs haha--but he agreed with everything we said and realized just how unique we are compared to other Christians. He's excited to read the Book of Mormon, and kept saying how much it makes sense that the Bible has imperfections, He's always been taught that it's perfect.

Tuesday was fun, we had District council and afterwards we had interviews with President and Sister Seitz. They were running behind so we decided that we wanted to eat as lunch as a District but there was one problem. We only had one car, and we aren't allowed to drive the Sisters, so we came up with a brilliant plan. We let the Sisters drive it to Braums, while Elder Van Tassell and I ran on foot to it. Then we picked up the car and drove back and picked up the others! In theory it would have worked great, but then President and Sister Seitz got back on track and so we had to rush back so they had someone to interview haha--it was lots of fun.

Afterwards Elder Sartain and I went on exchanges in Plano 10 with Elder Layton, while Elder Galbraith and Elder Van Tassell went to Plano 7. 

It was a great evening, we went out with Brother Bagley and taught Patsy. She's awesome haha--she basically talked for an hour with us getting in the occasional scripture. She said there's a 98000% chance she will come to church! Which is pretty good odds if you ask me. 

We also may have recreated some light Saber battles when we got back perhaps.

Wednesday morning we got asked to come help the Litherland's with some service by surprise which was fun! Afterwards they took us to lunch at the Backyard and they had the best Brisket Queso I have ever had! Brother Litherland is super funny. In the evening we went out with Brother Adams and stopped by some inactive members. Afterwards we went and ate at Olive Garden with the Macklins which was awesome. We were able to give Sister Macklins nonmember Mom a lesson too which was great. It also started pouring and thundering which makes everything even more fun!

On Thursday since it was Thanksgiving we went and did a Turkey bowl at an elementary school field. It was rainy still, and super muddy so we just took off our shoes. By the time we were done we were very muddy but it was worth it! In the afternoon we went to the Boyd's for Thanksgiving which was fun cause they have 8 kids so it felt like home. We also went to Sister Sherman's for a Ukrainian Thanksgiving. Overall Thanksgiving was a great day!

Friday morning we went to Lornas and broke apart an old fence and stacked it. The Hermanas came too and we got a LOT done. It was really fun to break wood apart using hammers and crowbar! Very satisfying. It was also super overcast day so it was super nice. 

In the evening we went out with Brother Colton and had some great lessons with Audrey and Adrian! Adrian is one of my favorite people, he's super cool. He has us call whenever we get home to let him know we are safe haha

On Saturday in the morning we went out with Sister Harbison and stopped by a lot of the unknown Sisters in the ward. It was great, and we got Taco Bell for lunch. In the evening we went out with Brother George and taught Patsy by showing her the 3 Nephi 18 video. She said "yes" And "amen" over and over throughout the video haha--but she really liked it. 

Then we had a Facebook lesson with Sebastian and Brother George fell asleep and started snoring mid-lesson hahaha

Sunday was great, we had Prince and Patsy at church. It was Olivia Allred's homecoming talk so that was really good too. That afternoon we went over to the Letourneau's house for dinner and their house is soo nice!! We had some really good Spaghetti there, and they are super outgoing so it was a blast to eat with them.

In the evening we went out with Brother Hayes and taught Adrian and Aaron. In our lesson with Adrian he asked us each to share out experience of figuring out the Book of Mormon is true and the spirit was super strong!! He also loved Brother Hayes (as do we) and told him to come back with us to our lesson with Adrian today!

So much more happened but I don't have time so bye

-Elder Nielson

(No Subject)

Hi everyone! 

This was a great week as usual, here are some highlights

Monday was great, we played a lot of basketball, including Butter which was super fun because Elder Van Tassell and I kept beating the APs haha

We went out with Brother Rose in the evening, and stopped by a lot of people. We also went to Braums, and got super good Shakes and of course I got the bag of 5 burgers. 

On Tuesday we went to Zone Conference which was so fun!! Best Zone conference yet. Talked to lots of people, and learned a lot. We went out with Edward in the evening and taught Audrey to Tyler. Audrey often says "I'm so sorry can we reschedule for another night?" And the key is to say, "can we just share a quick scripture?" And then that turns into a whole lesson! 

And after that everyone wanted to go to Braums again so that's what we did haha

Wednesday Elder Galbraith and I went to Plano 7 on exchanges with Elder Van Tassell and Elder Sartain stayed in Plano 10 with Elder Layton. We had a great exchange, it was Elder Van Tassells birthday so of course I got him food, and we had a great comp study. In the evening we went out with a member in their ward and taught some member lessons which was fun. I always learn so much from the way Elder Van Tassell does things. Hopefully Elder Galbraith learned a lot too. It was fun sleeping with 7 total missionaries at the ZLs apartment, it means there's always something going on. Not sure how the other companionships are doing though, there seems likes there's some wasted time that we gotta fix. 

Thursday we went to Minnie's, Elder Van Tassell stayed in the car for a while talking. After we helped out at Minnie's we went to Sam's Club afterwards. We exchanged back after that and went out with Brother Howieson in the evening. I felt like we should stop by this recent convert that was not originally in our plans, so we did and had a great lesson with her and her son, who isn't a member! They seem really cool, she's from Nigeria and has a crazy conversion story, but has been inactive for months and wants to come back to church :) We ended with Kneeling prayer and the spirit was super strong.

On Friday we went out in the evening with Brother Allred and had a great time. We taught Sister Harbison, and stopped by some others too. We went to Braums and got some food also, Brother Allred is one of the best members here cause he always gets us food haha--and he's also really cool. 

On Saturday we went in the morning to help some members in the 4th ward, and they asked us move a wood rack, so we removed all the wood which took forever and then when we had moved the rack, they started arguing and then came back out and told us to move it back to where it was hahaha-- so we moved it back and reloaded it. So basically all we accomplished with 2 hours of work is making sure the wood doesn't lean as much haha--it was really fun though so fine with me.

In the afternoon we invited an immodest amount of people to church, many of which promised they'd come. As usual almost nobody kept their word haha--but we will keep trying. We didn't have a dinner appointment so we called the Bushes and asked if they wanted to feed us and they said yes! They took us to this amazing Sushi place and it was soooo good! Some of the best food I've had in a while. 

After that we moved from the Bushops car straight to Brother Updike's car and went and stopped by a lot of people. We also taught Brother Adam's and talked about how we could help the Bishopric. 

Sunday was good, Peggy came to church. We also did some filming for a Zone Rep video. In the evening we went out with Brother Mendenhall and taught Audrey! Unfortunately it takes several times telling her something before she remembers it, but it was an awesome lesson about faith and repentance. 

-Elder Nielson

The Great Eagle

Hoho, been a crazy week! Hope yall are doing well,

Monday morning we went to the ZLs apartment and were shocked to find that everyone therein had become the face of Christmas. Christmasopoly was in full swing, and the Christmas music was blasting. So now it's Christmas time I guess! After about 13 of us had gathered at the apartment we headed off to do our shopping, and then went to the Exchange building. Basically our whole zone showed up so there were easily over 30 missionaries there, so we had a lot of fun playing Volleyball and various other things. 

In the afternoon our new companion arrived, and Brother Rose took us home via Inn'n'out. That evening we went put with Brother Janzen, and were able to teach Audrey! We put her on date but we are not sure she remembers haha, so technically she isn't on date until she can remember that. Our new companion Elder Sartain is cool, it's kinda funny being in a trio but it's definitely a blast!

Tuesday distruct council went super well, and then I went on exchanges with Elder Hansen and I had my companions go with Elder Frenzel. As usual comp study was super fun, I really admire Elder Hansen's ability to learn, and he's an awesome missionary. In the evening we ate at Jimmy Johns and then went out with Brother Balley and had a great time! We couldn't find a member at a sketchy apartment complex so we kind of wandered aimlessly until we realized that the building numbers did not correlate with the apartment numbers even in the slightest haha--people who design apartment complexes are not all there I'm thoroughly convinced! If anyone on this list numbers apartments I'm sure your just as bad, I have yet to see a numbering system that is intuitive. 

After that we taught some lessons, we taught Lee who made fun of how young Elder Hansen looked the whole time haha--but the lesson was super good! We also taught Tyler who I found on Facebook over the phone, and that was fun also, even though it was interrupted in the middle of the first vision because he had to take care of something and then we had to use the bathroom haha

Wednesday morning Elder Hansen and I went and helped Lorna fill in some dirt around her foundation, and that was good. It's always interesting to talk with Lorna about her legal troubles with her maniac neighbor in Ohio! Afterwards we stopped at a gas station, and got some super good tacos!! Apparently gas station tacos are a big thing down here.

We exchanged back and had Hawaiian Brothers for dinner, and then went out with President Beech! We found a new person to teach named David and he kept interrupting our lesson to comment on his TV antenna hahaha--President Beech was awesome as usual, we ran into a guy in the hall, and President Beech basically told him his religion was wrong in the nicest and smiliest way I have ever seen, only President Beech can pull a feat like that off haha

Thursday we went to help at Minnie's Food Pantry, which was awesome. Afterwards we ate at Taco Bell, and then we got a text from our member for the evening that he was sick and couldn't come. So we quickly scrambled to find a replacement and by some miracle Brother Updike could join us.

So in the evening we went out with him, and found a new person to teach named Adrian! We had an amazing lesson with him, Brother Updike was the perfect member to have with us that night, he and Adrian related so well, we hardly even needed to teach! Adrian already knows the Book of Mormon is true, he just needs to read it on his own! After Adrian we had a lesson with Chip which was also great. Our original member definitely fell through for a reason.

Also we found out we would be Zone Reps again 

Friday it was freezing outside suddenly, and poured on us too. I don't think my companions liked it very much but they shall soon realize the upsides haha--in the afternoon we went and met with Bishop, and were able to get some inactive member referrals from him!

We had some amazing tacos for dinner, and then went out with Edward in the evening! It was really fun, he's 18 and preparing for a mission so it's fun to show him the mission life. 

On Saturday nothing too crazy happened besides it being freezing, we invited so many people to church and also had a ward cultural night which was good!

Sunday Audrey and Peggy came to church! It was awesome. In the evening we went out with Brother Crandall and taught a few lessons. We were able to teach Adrian again, and he even showed us his Gospel Rap haha--we will be teaching him again today.

-Elder Nielson

 

The 3rd Act

This was a great week, but a very crazy one!

Monday morning Elder Stanley left which was super sad, but that's okay he's going to the second best mission I guess (this being the first).

We went to Cheesecake Factory as a district which was fun. They took forever on our food, so we got to just talk as a district for like 2 hours haha

In the afternoon we went to the Exchange building and hung out with a log of missionaries, and then later picked up Elder King at the Stacy building. Then we headed back to the ZLs apartment, and the Bushop dropped off a Nacho bar which was super good!! Because it was Halloween we just hung out and did virtual work at the apartment. Later in the evening the ZLs brought back 6 of the greenies, so we now had 13 missionaries in one apartment haha--We had Elder Woodson pretent to be a friend learning about the Gospel, and had the greenies teach him. He bashed them for an hour, with support from the ZLs. They did a pretty good job handling it all things considered, but it was still hilarious to witness. 

Tuesday in the morning we did Ab Ripper X for exercise, gotta break the new missionaries in right haha--then we went to transfers. I got my new companion, Elder Galbraith! He's cool, he likes board games too. Then we spent the afternoon going back and forth between the Stacy Building, the mission office, and the ZLs apartment cause we kept forgetting to bring different things, or dropping them off at the wrong place haha

In the evening we went out with Brother Bagley and had a great time

Wednesday we got Elder Galbraith's new bike which was fun, I like bike shops a lot. We had District Council in the afternoon, and I can tell already this is going to be a great district! We are changing the way we plan and go about our days, so we will see how that goes.

In the evening we went out with Brother Howieson, and even though our lessons fell through we had a great time inviting everyone we saw to church!

On Thursday we went to Minnie's as usual, and had a great time. We ate at Sam's Club afterwards. In the evening we went and taught Jerry with Brother Johnson, and it was a great lesson!! We taught the Plan of Salvation which was super fun, and he loved every bit of it. Brother Johnson related so well with him, and Jerry seems to honestly want to know if the Book of Mormon is true! 

Friday we had mission conference which was amazing as usual, also it started pouring super hard. And there were all sorts of Tornado watches, and storm warnings, but we decided we might as well bike 30 minutes up to Lorna's for service anyway. Which was super fun, it only sprinkled whilw we were headed up there, and as soon as we got there it started POURING haha--complete with constant lightning and thunder. So it was nice to do some service in the clubhouse and listen to the rain. On our way home it stopped raining, and then when we got home started immediately pouring again. So we unfortunately were not able to be in it much. But it was fun to watch.

In the evening we went put with Brother Allred, and stopped by a bunch of people. Then I called someone I've been messaging on Facebook and we had a 30 minute lesson in the car with him!! Brother Allred was awesome and related with Tyler really well, couldn't have done it without him. Tyler said I had been an answer to his prayers many times when I reached out asking how he's doing. 

Saturday was fun, we found someone new to teach, and went to the Hoe-down in the evening. It was a stake event so around 17 other missionaries were there too which was great! We may or may not have done a bit of line dancing...

Talked to a lot of people also! Sadly our friend who was going to come had a surprise funeral (hate it when those randomly pop up), but we still had some less active members show up!

Sunday we went with the Stake President to an SPR meeting, and then had church afterwards. A lot of other crazy stuff happened, but basically we got a call from the APs and we are getting a third companion.....

-Elder Nielson