The Jack-o-lantern

Hi other people, 

This week was amazing, had a ton of fun!!

On Monday we went to Shenanigans which was great, we got to go to the VIP lounge for bowling and played the usual Laser Tag, Pool, and Arcade games as well. We learned that as a VIP guest you can get your arcade money card filled up an unlimited amount of times AND they still let you get prizes haha--good thing some members own this place :)

We went out with Brother Hobbs in the evening and got to teach this cool guy named Theodore! He was intrigued in our church, and the Book of Mormon, and Brother Hobbs gave the best explanation of the Book of Mormon I have ever heard.

Tuesday was crazy, we had interviews with President and District Council, and then went out with Jack from 4-9:30 pm haha-- it was so fun! We ate at Panda Express, and then drove up to Fate. We stopped by some people, and then Jack told us to knock some random doors so we did and found a potentially interested family! We also drove by someone who had a vintage Mustang and Jack said, "that's worth turning around" and turned around! So we went and talked to the guy working on it, and got to see the inside and the engine :)

We also ran into some girls from his school who he attempted to have us teach. Unfortunately they weren't interested but at least we tried. We also visited some people in Royse City, and taught a PMF which was really cool. They asked Jack to say the prayer, and it was one of the best he's given! He was also able to relate to the people we taught cause their family was resistant to the church and so was his family. The whole night we talked with Jack about a variety of subjects, and it felt like I was hanging out with friends at home because it was so much fun. After all of our visits Jack came out with us to Rowlett where we did a Baptismal interview for Miguel. So he also got to talk with Elder Dawe and Elder Jones. Probably one of the most fun nights I've had on my mission, and he's coming out with us again next week on Thursday from 2 pm until 9 pm :)

Wednesday we went on Exchanges with the Forney Elders, and I went down to Forney with Elder Nani. We did some service pulling books on a list at the Forney Terrell Library, which you would think would be fun, and it would be if it was normal books but instead each one was "County Public Records 1988-1989" or "Historcal Accounting Records" or "City Names Volume LII" or some such garbage haha--now I know just how dumb the (161.452234, 161.452235, etc.) numbering system is though! 

We ate some amazing tacos at a members house after, and ate some super good brownies too! We spent the night by having a few member lessons and visits which was cool to see! Last time I went to Forney it was just a bunch of inspired knocking which is one of the least effective things to do :)

Thursday we went to Terrell again and did some Janitorial Work at First Assembly of God church! It was super fun, we got to vacuum this giant auditorium, and go up in there attic to put stuff away as well! We exchanged back and in the evening went out with President Fisher which was great as usual. We had an awesome lesson with Tony, and President Fisher was able to answer all of Tony's concerns better than we could have. 

On Friday we exchanged with the Elders in Rowlett 3. Elder Dawe came with me to Heath, and we had a super fun time going out with Brother Bevan in his Hellcat! Elder Dawe is also super fun to talk to, there's never a dull moment with him. We had a surprise lesson with a "dry-member" (as he calls himself) and Brother Bevan and him are basically neighbors so they are going to meet up sometime for some golf or something! After that we went to In-n-out and talked with Jack. He was not doing too well (girl problems) so we talked to him and were able to cheer him up! It was a lot of fun, and we talked him into going out to Shreveport to see Elder Sauer, which he did! Apparently he went to church with them and went out with them which was super cool! (Elder Sauer please respond with how it went)

Saturday we did service, and then Elder Dawe and I ate some super good hot dogs and pizza. We also ran into Justin and Melissa from the YSA and she had a new addition to her finger which looked suspiciously like a ring...our fears were later confirmed when we went to dinner with them, he proposed on Wednesday and now we are losing our Executive Secretary and Relief Society President haha

We went out with Eric in the evening, and taught Angel which was fun. He tried to cancel on us last minute, but we ignored him and showed up anyway. He was smoking, so it was apparent why he hadn't wanted us to come :)

Sunday was super cool, I got to ordain Tony to the Aaronic Priesthood! Tony also brought his brother Robert with him to church, so we will start teaching him!

-Elder Nielson

Ho-dee Ho-dee Ho, Sir

Hi,

This was a great week, on Monday we had Zone Pday where we played Volleyball and pudding Pictionary, which was super fun, and in the evening went out with Harrison. We taught Tony, and revisited the Plan of Salvation! It went really well, he definitely needed that review. We also visited a girl named Madison, and he Dad said she's really interested and has been looking for her purpose now that she's out of High School. She works evenings so we will try and catch her during the day!

Tuesday we had District council and got lunch with Jack! We also went out with a new YSA who just moved his records named Ruben. He's super cool, he drove us around in his Mercedes, and we talked to a lot of people! He's one of the most optimistic people I've met, he just loves everything which is really refreshing. 

On Wednesday we went to the Rowlett District Council, and went on exchanges with Elder Jones and Elder Dawe. I was with Elder Jones here in Heath, so we got Boots Burgers on our way back from Rowlett. We were also able to study at In-n-out, and we got one of the employees numbers so we will hopefully be able to start teaching her soon! We went out with Matthew in the evening back to Rowlett, and visited a guy some inactive members. We had a great lesson with a YSA named Jasmine, and at the end of the lesson she said she wants to come back to church and asked if we could remind her! We also found another guy who's interested! Elder Jones is fun to hang out with, and so is Matthew. He told us crazy stories from his mission the whole night.

Thursday we exchanged back and then went out with Spencer. We were able to teach the Rickers which was cool, and then we went and taught the Colliers! The Thatchers also joined us for that lesson, and it went really well. We talked about the Sabbath Day and Importance of it. We unfortunately had to take them off date because they haven't been coming to church recently, and it's really hard to pin them down and figure out why they won't come because they always give weak excuses. The Thatchers are going to do some family history right after church with them sometime though so hopefully that will work!

We also taught Jack which was super fun, we read the story of Ammon with him. He's praying about getting a Patriarchal blessing as well.

Friday evening was super fun! We ate at the Smith's house and they are hilarious haha--She is from England and has a great accent, and to add to that there is never a serious moment with her. She told us she had Baked each new item of food that was presented to us only to have her husband shaking his head in dismayed resignation with each new fib. All the (not home cooked) food was actually REALLY good though! And it was fun seeing a Tenis Player (Elder Gamett) and a Pickle Ball Player (Sister Smith) point out to each other which was better! We also went out with Hermano Velazquez which was great! Nobody answered but we got some referrals from him!

Saturday was Jacks Birthday so I marked up a hardcover Book of Mormon with all my favorite scriptures and gave it to him. We went out with Gene in his 3-seater truck, and visited some people in Rowlett again! We talked with Gene about Guns, Explosives, his mission, and the Marines the whole night which was very enjoyable. An inactive YSA we stopped by had moved but his parents said he wasn't interested in coming back right now. They said he wanted friends though! So Gene said "what does he like to do?" And they said he loves shooting! Gene is at school for Gunsmithing and works at a gun manufacturer so he was the perfect person to be with us! He will be reaching out to our YSA friend to go shooting soon. We also taught Diego and Gene was the perfect person for him too! In fact Genes brother and Diego are best friends! 

Sunday was long and fun as usual, most notably though Jack drove us to Plano to go to a Fireside! It was super fun, we got to see a ton of other missionaries there as well as President Seitz!

-Elder Nielson

Unfinished title

Hi everyone, 

This was a crazy week! One of the busiest for sure:

Last Saturday we went to the temple with Jack and Victoria. It was super fun! We drove to Dallas with them, and Jack was able to baptize us!! We did his family names, and afterwards took some necessary pictures much to Jack and Victoria's brother's chagrin. Then we went up to Plano to talk with Elder Gamett's uncle and talked to the Plano Stake President and I also got to talk to Brother Hayes from Plano 10! We ate some super good Thai food, and I also got some Mango sticky rice which was super yummy! We went out with Brother Bevan in his Dodge Hellcat in the evening which was really fun as usual. We also got to help Alex and Mackenzie move a couch and eat In-n-out.

Sunday was awesome, I love attending 2 wards! Especially when the second one has "break the fast" potluck haha--it's cool talking to all the YSAs as well, we also got to help Victoria teach mission prep.

Monday was sadly not a pday because of Saturday, but we spent the whole morning working on the SPR which is always fun. Some companionships report on too much and go into unnecessary detail when answering report questions, and others simply say "yes" in answer to questions. So we basically rewrite and edit all the mistakes so that the Stake President doesn't have to look at the mess that some missionaries send in. We also went out with Richie and were able to have some cool member lessons!

Tuesday we had Zone Conference which was really fun! They talked a lot of simple truths and basics which was really good! We got to train on having effective correlation meetings, and for lunch they had a sandwich bar! Then we went on Exchanges with Greenville E, I went with Elder Cypers back to Heath while Elder Gamett went to Greenville with Elder Haws. We had a great night going out with Brother Cline, we talked to the Davis family and the Wallace family. Both members, and we were able to have some great lessons with them! Sister Wallace even had some surprise Italian food for us. After that we went and taught Jack about Patriarchal Blessings, and Victoria gave us 90 frozen burritos.

Elder Cypers is awesome, he's been out 18 months and he seems to be happy and knows his district really well! He's also super funny. Wednesday morning we woke up at 5:30 and went and worked out at the gym for an hour and a half because Elder Cypers wanted to utilize our huge gym the best he could for his single day here haha--we had a great comp study, he and I agree about a lot of things! It's always fun to talk with people who think before they speak! After lunch at In-n-out, we drove up to Greenville and it was thundering and lightninging and raining. The frontage road next to the freeway got completely flooded and there were some trucks halfway submerged. Don't even know how that happened "oh there's a lake, well let's just power through!" 

We exchanged back and then got caught in traffic for an hour and a half coming back because of accidents. We then drove down to Forney and exchanged with Elder Cooper and Elder Nani! Elder Cooper came up here with me, and we got to go out with Alex which was fun! We visited some people in Rowlett, and found someone named Chris who's interested in learning more. He had a date with his "lover" he said so he told us to come back later. Then we got Torchy's.

Thursday we did service testing electronics, and then exchanged back. Elder Gamett and I went out with Brother Graham, and visited a bunch of people the Elders Quorum President had told us to. We also talked to Sedrick, and Brother Graham and his talked about football for 20 minutes haha

We had our SPR meeting after that, and talked about the needs of the Stake. It was super fun! I love President Ash, he has a lot of good ideas and is really supportive. The Stake is working hard to teach the wards missionary work.

On Friday we helped some members move out of their apartment, and then Elder Gamett had a doctors appointment. It was fun sitting in the chair that my mom would usually take for my appointments and nod as if I am involved. Doctors are fun when it isn't me going in!

After that we went on Exchanges with the Rowlett 1 elders, I went with Elder Nicholes back to Heath. We had some amazing burritos from Chiloso for dinner, and then went out with Justin to Rowlett! We had a lesson with Brian Garcia which was fun, we gave him a blessing as well. Justin is so fun to talk to, which made it fun because Elder Nicholes is NOT a talker. He was very quiet most of our exchange. He would answer any questions but that was it. So it was socially exhausting haha--but he seemed to like the exchange hopefully!

Saturday we exchanged back, and we had dinner with the Barisof's! They had some super good tri-tip and we had an awesome lesson on Charity with Brother Barisof and his wife and son (Spencer). Brother Barisof isn't a member but he has a calling and is more active than many of the members haha--then we went out with Spencer and had a great night visiting people! We got a media referral from this giant mansion with two big gates, but miraculously one of them was open, and they actually seemed interested!!

Sunday was super good, I love church here, and got to give a talk in the Heath ward!

We had a fun night too, but I am out of time so thats it.

-Elder Nielson

Aha!

Dear everyone, I am writing on a Saturday because I decided I wanted to*,

This week was very interesting, 

On Monday we did our usual shopping and eating lunch and then we went and played some pickle ball at the church. Only problem was halfway through we got a call from the APs saying our zone needed to go inside and stay inside, because of oncoming freezing rain. So we drove home in the rain (still normal rain), and spent the rest of the day inside. In the evening we were going to go out with a member as usual but instead we just had to make a bunch of calls, drink hot cocoa, and work through Facebook.

The next morning it started raining and immediately freezing haha--it Quickly built up 2 inches of straight ice. So we had to stay inside again all day...and the next day...and some of the next day. It was fun and super cozy but it meant that nothing too interesting happened. Here's what we did in our time inside:

▪︎Tons of meetings

▪︎Tons of calls to check up on how everyone was holding up

▪︎Facebook work

▪︎Zoom Lessons

▪︎Calls

▪︎Studies

▪︎Sliding down the ice on our driveway

▪︎Drinking hot cocoa

▪︎and more

Thursday we finally got to go out in the afternoon, and we did District council and our Zone Call. It was sooo fun driving through the ice, also Heath is super pretty with white blanketing everything! 

We also had MLC, and went out with Brother Hobbs which was awesome! I wish I had time to put more detail but I don't

-Elder Nielson

*Actually it's because we're going with Jack to the temple today so we moved our pday