No Way a Papaya Won!

Hi everyone, I am again writing to the 5 of you who read this :)

Monday was good, Elder Gamett had to pack and deal with a bunch of stuff, and then we went and played Pickleball with our District, and an inactive YSA named Zoe! It was pretty fun. And in the evening we went and said goodbye to people for Elder Gamett, Richie drove us around. We also "taught" (actually just talked and said goodbye), and Jack may have tossed his dog into the pool. (Slightly sad, but not enough to not laugh and document it)

Tuesday Jack drove us to transfers! Once we got there Jack, Elder Sauer, Elder Dawe, and I all talked about various things for about 3 straight hours haha--After that I met up with Elder Bjazevich and we drove back. After getting some really good Mexican food, we settled in and went shopping. In the evening we went out with Brother Cline, and visited a guy named Todd. Todd's super cool, he used to work on oil rigs, and also was a fireman. Brother Cline and he also used to be serious bicyclists, and so they talked for almost an hour! It was super cool that they got along so well, and Todd seems really interested in learning more about what we believe!

Wednesday we went out with Spencer, and drove up to Caddo Mills. We visited some country trailers out there, and one person we visited was a less-active YSA named April. She wasn't home, but her mom was, and her 39-yr-old special needs Brother. We tried to share a message but it was impossible with him making inappropriate jokes, and straying from topic to topic endlessly with no purpose. We finally gave up and got out of there. We stopped to get gas at one point, and there was a car show happening! So we talked to some cool car owners there, and took a few pictures.

On Thursday we did service at Helping Hands, and for Ruth as well. We went out with Jack, and after eating at Five Guys, we went down to McLendon-Chisholm and Terrell. We talked to Brother Stewart and got to see his '89 Porsch 964! It was super cool. We also talked to some very interesting people in Terrell, and even though none of them were interested it was fun to interact with them haha--one guy thought he was SUCH a jokester, and told us his name was Jason and then said, "just joking it's George." We were rolling on the floor laughing. We also talked to a lady who couldn't hear and so the encounter was just Elder Bjazevich saying something, and the lady replying with "What??" Jack sadly was not able to grab a cat this time. Next time he has to find two I guess...

Friday we had mission conference, and then went out with Feki in the evening. We were able to teach Diego, and also went down to Forney! We met a lady from Africa that only knows French, and from what we could gather from her animated manner, she's ready to get baptized!!!!

Feki is super fun to hang out with, it feels like we're just talking to a friend.

Saturday we helped keep time for the ward Spring 1k and 5k, helped make cotton candy, did service at the Thrift store, and helped a guy build a playground. In the evening we went out with Brother Thatcher, and after getting us Braums we headed to Heath. I had felt like we should visit this inactive guy who probably didn't even live there when we had planned, even though it was a bit out of the way. So we headed there first, and on the way Brother Thatcher mentioned that he's been thinking of seeing the Gomez family sometime. We realized they were in the same neighborhood we were heading to, so we decided we might as well visit them while we were there! When we pulled up, not only were the Gomezs there, but so was there daughter who we talked to with Brother Thatcher a few weeks ago with. She had said back then that she wanted to get all of us together, and then it had never happened. Brother Thatcher is good friends with all of them, so we had a great conversation together! After we shared a message which they said was just what they had needed, the daughter asked us to give her parents blessings since they had been struggling with health AND family issues. Elder Bjazevich was able to give blessings in Spanish to all 3 of them, and even though we never got to the other guy we had planned to visit, this was obviously they reason we had needed to head there!

Sunday was fun, the 2nd hour in the YSA was all about dating haha--it was a very strange lesson to have as a missionary.

-Abe

Off to Hugo Oklahoma

Hi everyone,

This was a very crazy week!!

We went to Shenanigans on pday, and then went out with my favorite ward missionary (and the only ward missionary) in his lifted Jeep! It was super fun, he's one of the funniest people. We talked to some members, and also taught Robert the law of Tithing. We asked him if he would keep it and he said, "yeah that sounds cool!"

Tuesday we went to the Chavez's house to help plant some trees and spread some dirt. Jack came too (not cause we asked him to come but because he likes doing yard work and service haha). We dugs some holes in the thick clay, and helped fill them with better dirt and trees. Halfway through the service the APs exchanged with us, and Elder Esplin stayed here in Heath with me and Jack. For dinner after service we had the most amazing Carne Asada, with pineapple juice and salad and pico. It was SO good, Jack was very glad he had come. We then went out with Jack in the evening, and had a great lesson with the David family, and they brought their nonmember friend Hayden! It was awesome, we taught them the Plan of Salvation and Jack gave him a Book of Mormon. We also got Shakes at sonic and visited some other people with Jack.

Wednesday we exchanged back early in the day, and then went back from Allen and parked our car for park-your-car day. Unfortunately my leg hurt really bad, and so we couldn't bike and just had to walk (and even that was very painful). Luckily we went out with Luke in the afternoon so I didn't have to walk too much, and then we went out with Ruben in the evening! He brought his Mercedes with infinity windows and he kept them down while we drove down the freeway. It was super fun, very exhilarating. We had a lesson with Robert afterwards on Zoom and unfortunately we have to push his baptism back a week or two because he still feels unsure about the Book of Mormon. Ruben was awesome though and pointed out the spirit as we read with him!

On Thursday we did service at Helping Hands and unfortunately some Mario Kart came through which we had no choice but to test, as well as a lot of wii remotes. So we meticulously tested and priced each one, despite it being a bit of a chore...

Then we went and did some service for Ruth, and helped her weed her garden. Jack came and helped too, and afterwards we went out with him. We had some pretty good Indian food (and LOTS of Mango Lassi) that Jack got us for dinner! Then we drove out to Quinlan, and met a cool guy named Cesar, and were able to give him a Book of Mormon. We also did some more reading in the Book of Mormon with Robert in Ether.

Friday we realized that what we thought was a sunburn Elder Gamett had was getting much much worse and that it was actually poison ivy! Apparently there was some at the Chavez's and since it takes a couple days to start showing up we didn't know. Its ALL over his face really bad, and his arms and hands too. We got some medicine but he was still out of it a lot of the day. We went out with Spencer in the evening, and had a good lesson with Tony, and some people in Forney! 

Saturday his poison ivy was even worse, and his face was all swollen. It hurt so bad that we decided to stay inside for the day so he could sleep, luckily I don't have any poison ivy somehow haha--We went out in the evening with Brother McCormick and he took one look at Elder Gamett and said, let's get you a steroid. So he called some of the many doctors in the ward, and Brother Berg had a shot so we showed up and he gave Elder Gamett a shot, no paperwork or wait or anything. So I guess it pays to have doctors for friends! We also had some good visits with Brother McCormick and his son who's preparing for a mission.

Sunday was a lot of church and sleep for Elder Gamett in between. Also Jack and I passed the sacrament which was fun!! So cool to pass with him.

Also we got transfer news and refer to the title! Because Elder Gamett is off to Hugo, Oklahoma to train a new missionary, and I'm staying here and getting a new comp, Elder Bjazevich! I'm so glad I'm staying 

-Abe

Bean Sprout

Hey Everyone,

This will be a shorter one because there are fewer days then usual to report on. Thus week was incredibly packed though so I will start by illustrating that fact:

Monday wasn't pday so we had District Council and then exchanged with Rowlett 2.

Tuesday we exchanged back, and went to the Rowlett District Council. Then we went out with Jack that evening.

Wednesday we went to the temple.

Thursday we had the Greenville District Council, and then exchanged with Rowlett 1.

Friday we exchanged back early and then went to MLC.

Saturday we caught up on everything we were getting behind on.

Sunday was Easter, So our week was super busy!

Thursday was fun, I went to Rowlett 1 with Elder Odette. We went out with a member in their ward, and found a cool lady who put in a request to meet! She is going through a ton of hardships right now including her 28-year-old daughter passing away, and the Plan of Salvation answers all her questions! We also had a meeting with the RT1 Bishop, and it went super well! Elder Odette is cool, he has an attitude of "I'm here to change the area" which is prideful, but he's doing good things. Also got to play some chess with him!

Friday we had MLC, and there was a big focus on making Fasting more meaningful, and being genuine. We went to the Smith's house for dinner, and had some super good pizza that they cooked in a thing that cooks it in 30 seconds! We went out with Harrison and had a great lesson with Robert as well. 

On Saturday we did service at Helping Hands, got a bunch of meetings and planning done, and went our with Brother Ed Thatcher! He was the city manager for Heath for 15 years, and the mayor too at some point, so he knows literally everyone and everything in Heath! We would be driving down a road and he'd point to a random guy and say, "That's Jerry," and point between houses and say, "we ran the main sewer line through there" etc. It was super fun, he talked the whole night, and then gave us two referrals at the end of the night!

Sunday was Easter and we had a lot if fun going to church! Both sacrament meetings were pretty good, and Robert and Tony came to the YSA! (Robert's 4th time at church :)) We ate dinner at the Bevans, and helped them hide hundreds and hundreds of Easter Eggs for their family afterwards! We went out with Jovanni in the evening and visited a young family who some sisters in the west mission told us about. They let us in and apparently he's an inactive member and his wife and two kids are non-members! We set up a time to help build a playground, and then taught them a little lesson! They had gone to our church near Dallas for the first time that day, and had just been talking about missionaries, then we showed up!! And we got to take pictures in their Porsch too which was fun!

-Abe

Tem Ari Zona

Hi everyone,

Today I don't have much time at all so just a few highlights:

▪︎ We went out with Jack a couple times and chased many a cat. He took us to a special sushi place and we got lots of interesting rolls, including some very weird quail eggs.

▪︎ I got to go on 3 exchanges with Elder Cooper, Elder Campbell, and Elder Dawe. One of the exchanges came up by surprise due to interesting circumstances which I will not detail here...

▪︎ We went out with President Fisher and got to teach Robert the Word of Wisdom, and then later taught him the Law of Chastity too! It went super well, he's already living these laws haha

▪︎ Conference was super good we watched with the Smiths, Arnesens, Hobbs, and then on Saturday morning and afternoon we watched with the YSA! We had a good breakfast to go along with that, and had a giant plate of endless bacon.

▪︎ Watching Conference with the Smith's was amazing, we watched in their mini home theater, and had Soda and popcorn throughout.

▪︎ The Bevans fed us homemade JDawgs! And we found a new super cool family.

▪︎ We taught a lesson to Robert at a dark playground in Greenville with Jack.

▪︎ We played a game called Nuns on the Run.

There's just a few highlights, pictures will be attached 

-Abe