Paintball Boy and His

Hi everyone, good evening.

We had a week that just flew by, and it was crazy!

Monday we went to Shenanigans and had a blast as usual, and then in the evening we got to go out with Chase and Brother Hobbs again! We visited a guy named Rob, who opened the door, muttered "they're back" under his breath, and then just started repeating "go away, go away, go away..." while pulling out a gun and showing it to assert something or other I would assume. We promptly left, I think I was the only one who saw the gun though because everyone else had been sideways up the walk a bit and didn't have the right angle. 

Tuesday our personal study was interrupted with a knock on the door from Elder Cooper and Elder Morriss. Apparently someone in our complex needed some extra hands moving a couch, and the rest of our district was there but they needed us too. So we went and bit off more than we could chew because we also had a heavy washer and dryer we had to move down two flights of stairs with 3 different turns and very little space haha--but we did it. It took our district about 3 hours to help with the move because then we helped them unload too at a storage unit. The whole time they barked orders at us (it was an old mean lady and a moody 40 year old guy chewing tobacco), and were very rude considering they had a team of 8 helpers for free. Tsk tsk people are so ungrateful these days. 

After service we did District council and then exchanged. I went with Elder Cooper down to Forney. We had a great night and talked to 2 YSA people who didn't seem interested but then their interest grew the more we talked about the Book of Mormon, and found common beliefs! It was pretty cool, one of them is an aethiest who believes in a higher power, however that works. We taught them about the Restoration and gave them both copies of the Book of Mormon! Elder Cooper is super funny, and great to be around. There are some unique struggles in Forney for sure though.

 

On Wednesday we exchanged back and then went to Greenville's District Council. It was super good, Elder Layton is one of the best DLs in the mission. We got to share our testimonies, and then after district council we got Freddy's with the Greenville Elders. Then we had a surprise exchange with Greenville West, so I went back to Heath with Elder Castillon. We did some service for Ruth, and then got dinner with Alex Milstead at In-n-out. Our evening ride cancelled so we called Abe Smith and he came with us instead! We went out to Rowlett/Garland area, and talked to some cool people, found some new people we can teach!

Thursday we did service at the Thrift Store, it's always fun to hang out with Elijah who works there. We always end up testing interesting things haha--and a LOT of lamps. After we exchanged back we went out with Jack! We worked in the Heath ward, and then ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. In the evening we went up to commerce, and talked to some cool YSAs up there! We taught this girl named Rachel, and afterwards she informed us of a sticky cat situation she was dealing with. Apparently they have a tree house, which was going to be taken down the next day, but the problem was a cat had a bunch of kittens up there, and one of them couldn't get down. It was so scared that they were afraid of scaring it off, so she didn't know what to do... luckily we are professionals. So we went back, and Jack made the treacherous climb to the top of the tree, and the cat got as far as he could from Jack and started meowing in a scared fashion. The closer Jack got, the more the kitten retreated towards the edge. He was about to jump, so Elder Bjazevich and I quickly got a Towel, and created an emergency landing pad for the kitten in case he fell. Jack started to approach him more, and the kitten tried to climb the tree but instead just fell backwards out of the tree house right on to our towel. He boinged off of it, jumped on my shoulder, and then fled into the night. It was super fluffy. 

After this kind act, we made some more stops, and walked around an empty church in the darkness. We found a guy who said to come back tomorrow as we walked around! 

On Friday we had MLC, and they talked about a lot of different things. They talked about Joy and Enthusiasm which I approve of, but then they talked more about white fields and thr standard of excellence which I do NOT approve of as well haha--sometimes I feel like leaders don't really put themselves in the shoes of who they serve and instead they just think that everyone should see it as they see it. Also most missionaries see missionary work as more then baptisms, but you'd think that's all it is based on how many leaders talk about it. Sometimes I wonder if it would be a good idea to eliminate all current leaders and replace them with giant panda bears. We would probably see positive change on many fronts. 

We went out with Sam in the evening, and taught a couple of cool lessons! One of them was to a guy named Mario who only speaks Spanish, so Elder Bjazevich taught him and Sam and I just sat there. But luckily a semi-active member happened to be sitting there as well so we decided to teach him simultaneously to save time :)) (cause he only spoke English)

Saturday we had a YSA BBQ in the morning which was super good! We had a bunch of new people show up including some seniors who graduated. Played some cornhole, and ate some good hot dogs and Tri-tip. We also had our weird friend Beruke show up, which we tried to include and introduce to people in every possible way, but he's antisocial and wont talk so our efforts were in vain sadly. 

In the afternoon we did service at the Thrift store, and then helped a new member family who just moved in build a trampoline! 

In the evening we went out with Eric Arneson and worked the Heath ward. We went to a super fancy neighborhood to visit someone, and after we left, a teen boy came out of one of the neighboring fancy houses (very ugly house), saw us, and hopped in his car and followed us out of the neighborhood. Once we got on the main road he pulled alongside us and mouthed something about "whats up" and "cops." We were very confused and Eric mouthed something back and then we let him pull ahead. When we got to the light, we looked over and he was rummaging around. He pulled out what looked like a real gun at first but then we decided it must be a paintball gun. The light turned green and he started aiming it at our car. We drove off and he tried to drive side by side with us to get a clear shot but we slowed down and got behind him. He swerved over to try and shoot us with it so last second we turned into a neighborhood and then zoomed down street after street. We didn't see paintball boy again luckily, dont know what his deal was. Maybe mad we were stopped by one of our members in the same neighborhood as him? Or maybe bitter about his ugly house? Not sure haha

Also talked to Eric about the goings on behind the scenes in the branch such as the disintegration of Justin and Melissa's relationship...

Sunday we had Robert, Tony, and Troy come to church! Robert quit trucking for good, and his date is in 2 Saturdays! Super exciting. 

-Abe

Pomp and Circumstance

Good greetings, 

Monday was Zone Pday, so we all met up at the church and played games, and got to talk to lots of other missionaries which I always enjoy! Brother Sammons brought a big BBQ feast for our Zone which was super nice. We also dealt with a situation where a missionary pulled a vanishing act on us haha

In the evening we went out with Brother Hobbs and Chase, and went all over the Heath ward in the Jeep! We taught some member lessons, and got to talk to some people who were out and about as well. It was really fun, so much so that Chase (a priest) asked Brother Hobbs and us to do it again next Monday!

On Tuesday we finally got to catch up on a lot of the stuff we've been behind on. We also got some planning done for some of our upcoming meetings. We went out with Richie and has a blast with him! We taught Josh, then Beruke, and also met a guy at a Sonic whos interested in our message! We also got to teach Jerry, and after the night Richie was on a spiritual high he said!

Wednesday we had District council, and got burritos with the Forney Elders. We also had interviews, and Unfortunately President got about 2 hours behind schedule haha--which was not good because we were supposed to exchange with the APs. Finally we were able to have our interviews, and it was really good! Probably the best interview I've had with President Seitz! I wish he wasn't leaving soon. After interviews we went out to Rowlett and exchanged with the APs, and I went back to Heath with Elder King (the older...elder?). We went out with Ruben, and taught Tre in the afternoon. Tre seems to not remember information very well, but we had a great lesson on the simple truths of the Gospel! And Ruben was perfect at relating to him and asking good questions--better than us!

After that we went and got Sushi at a restaurant in Forney called Tokyo Harbor. It was excellent Sushi, Spencer got it for us! I think Elder King was uncomfortable sitting at dinner with 2 other guys his own age, I guess he's just used to everything being more formal. He also just laughed uncomfortably at any of their jokes, I enjoyed it all though!! He just needs to relax a bit. After dinner we made some more stops in Forney, and then visited an inactive YSA named Chandler Smith! Ruben happened to be childhood friends with him, so God must have played a hand in getting Ruben out with us. :) We talked about cars for a long time with Chandler which I always like doing. He has a black Firebird which he's modified in many ways!

Thursday we exchanged back and then got In-n-out with Abe Smith (the lesser but still decent Abe). We went out with Jack and visited some people with beautiful lakeside houses, and then had a super good dinner with Sister Wallace! She made us this super good chicken pasta that I'd never had, but it was sooo good. In the evening we went out to Quinlan, and then up to Greenville with Jack. We met a couple less active girls who said they really want to get back into church! As the night was coming to a close, we parked in the middle of the country at a small abandoned graveyard, and had a phone lesson with Robert haha--we read Alma 32 with him, and then as we were about to close the lesson Jack said, "so what have you been feeling about baptism?" And then basically put Robert on date for June 3rd!! Jack was very pleased with himself for that, and it was a good thing we had him cause we've been afraid to rush him after the last date we had fell through.

On Friday we went to the Rowlett District Council, and then we exchanged and I went back to Heath with Elder Jones! We did some service for Ruth, and then helped our district move a nonmember flight attendant! She was super nice, definitely YSA age, and unfortunately had to move cause her pilot husband up and left!

That night we went out with Eric Arneson to Garland, and met a guy named Demetric and a girl named Noah. Both were intoxicated bit I'm sure their genuine interest won't  change when they are sober! ;) They both said they needed church though, which is true! So we will see.

Saturday morning we went to the Thrift store, and tested a lot of cool contraptions. Elder Jones even ended up getting a film camera! We exchanged back, and went out with Brother Thatcher. We talked to a lady named Connie for an hour because she was on the city council at one point and so Brother Thatcher and her became instant buddy's. Everyone we talk to is best friends with him. He also pointed out a fire truck that he remembered purchasing.

Sunday at the YSA we had some cool people come! Attendance was over 60 people, and then Cesar, Simon (a member referral), Troy (who we only met once and then he just decided to come), Gia (his girlfriend who he brought), and Scott all came! 

-Abe

🥐

Why cant I think of what to start these with? 

We had a fun week though, every day we just had a blast.

Monday we ate at Torchy's with our district, and then played some spider ball and frisbee. We went out with Brother Bevan and Zach in the evening, and got to ride in Brother Bevan's Hellcat which was a brand new experience for both Elder Bjazevich and Zach haha--so they spent the whole night with big eyes. Especially when we tested out track mode. We had a good lesson with a recent convert family, and she has a referral for us to teach!! 

On Tuesday we went to Zone Conference and Jack came with us! He picked us up at 7:45, and then went to Zone Conference with us and stayed out until about 9:30 pm! Zone Conference was fun, got to see Elder Sauer which both Jack and I were very pleased about. We learned a lot about the reasons for why we have Key Indicators, and looked at some data to back it up. Unfortunately most people don't know how to analyze data, or account for all the variables, so their arguments didn't hold much sway for me. :) Don't get me wrong I understand the need for some of the Key Indicators, but there are a lot of other problems certain ones create too, and everyone seems to just think they are all so great haha--but yeah overall Zone Conference was good. Learned a lot about love and expectations and what God expects of us as well which was good. 

Elder Sauer gave his departing testimony and Jack and I agreed it was the best one we'd ever heard (it being the first Jack has ever heard)!

After Zone Conference we exchanged with the Greenville West Elders, and I went back to Heath with Elder Layton. Jack just stayed with us and we spent the afternoon in Garland talking to people. In the evening we had dinner with a PMF, and had some really good pizza. We also visited some referrals we had gotten from members, and then went down to Forney. 

The next day Elder Layton and I had an amazing comp study, we talked about so much! The best comp study I've had in a while. It's refreshing to talk with someone who agrees with me in almost every way haha

Then we drove up to Greenville and exchanged back, and went and I showed Elder Bjazevich how to type up the SPR! It was really fun, although there were a ton of atrocious errors in many of the reports we got from missionaries, probably even more then are in this letter! We went out with Joey Gauseman in the evening, and got to ride in his lifted truck! It's outfitted with all sorts of lights from the wheel-well lights to the flashing strobe lights on top. We went out to Garland, and ended the night with a super good lesson with Robert.

Thursday we did service, went out with Hermano Velazquez, and had an SPR meeting. So nothing extremely eventful happened, but it was still a great day! We met a guy named Korvin who was as high as a kite and probably not worth teaching but he seemed nice :)

Friday we did a bunch of weeding for Ruth and then went on exchanges with the Forney Elders. I went back to Heath with Elder Morriss, and he's a super cool guy! He is extremely talkative, so it was funny hearing about all of his shenanigans back home. We got to go out with Spencer in the evening, and taught several lessons! One of them was a lady named Celeste, and even though she was making dinner she said she needed a message right now. We also met a guy name Matthew in Rowlett who talked to us about Faith and miracles for about 40 minutes haha--he said he will come to church soon. 

On Saturday Jack took us to breakfast at Waffle House in the morning, and then we exchanged back. In the evening we went to Alejandra's grad party because she said she would have a nonmember there for us to teach!! It was super cool, his name is Umberto. We talked with him for a while and he's interested in coming to church! Also got to talk with a bunch of others there, and eat some good food! It was really fun. Talked to a girl named Penny too who's inactive but had lots of good advice about Study Abroad!

Sunday was good we had dinner with the Bergs, Forscutts, and Rojas! We also went out with Jovanni and met some people in Royse City who want to come back to church.

-Abe