1 November 2021

 The past little bit has been going well. I got to celebrate my birthday, my year mark, and Halloween over the past week! Lots of things happening... many of the teaching missionaries I have served around are being transferred around, so things are getting shaken up again. Mom and another ward member had an idea I could try for some service around the community, come spring, for people around the area. With my botanical interests, they directed me to growing tomatoes, onions, and other plants for small gifts to people, like canned salsa or fresh veggies. I was thrilled.

Another mission activity is coming up, and I was put on the planning committee. I hope it turns out well, and all the other members of the committee (though it wasn`t really my idea) were in favor of doing a laid-back game day. Board games, social games, and physical games were discussed.

So far that`s most of the new stuff!

11 October 2021

 This week has been going good, where I got to help with a cross country meet and gather with a couple other missionaries on Preparation Day. I also got to do my first shift at the Temple as an ordinance worker. The missionary gathering was fun, with just me and two other service missionaries hanging out on Pday. The first shift as an ordinance worker also went well, and some at the Temple still ask about Tom after he served. Just yesterday, I was informed that me and two other missionaries were being put in charge of putting together our next district activity. Not much else going on, but this time, I am remembering to put in a couple pictures. Here are some cats from the Humane Society, along with the herbs I tried to rescue from Second Helpings.

 

4 October 2021

 The past little bit has been going well. Most things at service assignments are good, and recently, I`ve been able to invite people to view General Conference. I hope it goes well with those people accepting. At one place, Second Helpings, there were several house herbs about to be thrown away, so I volunteered to rescue them. They were getting too big for the potting material they were in, and it didn`t look like anyone was going to claim them. Many of them were nearly dead, so I brought them home, got potting material, and did a bit of research on growing herbs. Though many of them still aren`t doing well, and some have gotten worse, others have perked up. I wasn`t too concerned with having empty pots for the ones that won`t make it, I heard that some herbs propagate very quickly, so there, hopefully, should be some new seeds to fill any pots that don`t make it.

General Conference was great, I really liked the talks about 1% increase each day and President Nelson`s introduction at the beginning. It was a very uplifting General Conference.

20 September 2021

 Not much different happening this week in my normal service, but we have had some fun family activities with Tom visiting. Also, there was a mission activity on Saturday where we gathered as a district and went through the Indiana war museum. It was interesting, and had a section where it featured exhibits going chronologically through the wars of the U.S., which I thought was neat. Tom came along for that one, too, and we ended it with a nice mission lasagna dinner. There are some things looking exciting up ahead, and looks like things are looking alright.

13 September 2021

 The past little bit has been going alright. I tried to get some little brothers involved with a service project with limited success. Tom also got leave from the navy recently, so we`re hanging out with him and doing some family activities. Recently, we visited an apple orchard and went through a corn maze (or blundered through it...) and spent the morning at the farm. Tom is willing to come along with some service projects, so I`m looking forward to that. One of the places I volunteer at is under quarantine for two weeks because someone got covid. Prayers would be appreciated!

Recently, the Temple has been closed, but is now reopening. Our district got to help with some reopening service and ended with an endowment session. We have a district activity coming up this week and I`m looking forward to it.

23 August 2021

 This past bit has been good, but earlier, I was coming down with some covid-like symptoms. I normally might not spend too much time at home, if not for the fact that I had also been around someone who came down with covid. Almost no organization wanted me around at that point. After seeing that I would have to quarantine for fourteen days or get a negative test, I took the test. It came back negative at the end of the week, so that was good. In the meantime, I`ve been trying some indexing and family history. Recently, I`ve gotten back into things and have been able to go back to my normal service. Things have been turning up for the better again.

2 August 2021

 I haven't been the fondest of cats before, but going to the Humane Society and seeing some of the kittens might have changed that a bit. I just got my first training there recently, and it looks like it might be nice. I think I have a slight allergy to cats, but the occassional contact likely won't hurt. Recently, I got to invit an RM to a service project, which I think went pretty well. Otherwise, things have mostly been going the same.

24 July 2021

 This past bit has been going well, following through with a lot of the service I have scheduled. I think it`s been nice to get to know better some of the people I get to serve with. Recently, after waiting for a long time, the Humane Society got back to me about a volunteer opportunity, and I got to attend an orientation meeting there. It looks like it might be good. In unrelated news, our dog, Nutmeg, recently got a very short haircut, and almost looks bald.

Well, that`s most of the exciting news. Things are looking good!

6 July 2021

 Been a little bit since I last sent these emails out, but things have been going well overall. Recently, I`ve been given an opportunity to serve in the Temple laundry. We didn`t have huge plans for the Fourth of July, but a member invited us over to their house. We drove down to Maryland to visit Tom a little bit back, and I think mom was rather glad to have someone to help her drive. This week, there is a mission activity where the service missionaries will have an opportunity to gather and serve together.

22 June 2021

 We had a trip to Arizona, and this week I got back into service assignments. Shortly after I got back, though, I had cold-like symptoms, and though I doubt it was covid, most organizations don`t want volunteers with those symptoms. I did indexing for a few days during that time. Last Sunday, I got to start working in my calling in the Primary. Things are looking good.

31 May 2021

 Not too much exciting going on, though I did get to take Nate and Matt down to Third Phase for some service. It was nice serving with them. School is out now, so things like this might happen every so often. It looks like different opportunities are opening up with Covid rules loosening and with the season changing.

24 May 2021

 This week has been mostly following through with normal service stuff. As a family, we got to go on a trip out to the farmer`s market, Thistlethwaite Falls, and Fountain Acres. It was a nice trip, we were sure to get some of the nice Amish treats and have a nice time at the Falls!

We also got a new Elder to the mission, and it`s been nice getting to know him. We got to serve together today. He seems cool.

Not too much else exciting happening. School for Nate and Matt is ending soon.

17 May 2021

 This week was mostly going through my normal schedule again, which was good. We also had a mission activity on Saturday where we met up at McCormick`s Creek State Park, the first in-person activity I got to participate in with the rest of the mission. We got to bring family, and went on a hike together. It was a really nice park, and we even got to go through a cave in it. We ate lunch together. I had spent part of the night baking to make enough cookies for everyone. It was nice to finally meet the mission in person and have a nice activity. We also got a new missionary in the Indianapolis service mission. He seems pretty cool, just transferred from proselytizing like I did.

10 May 2021

 We got a special guest move-in in the house this week. It`s been making sleeping arrangements interesting. Over Mother`s Day, we got to have a special breakfast for mom with a pizza dinner. Not too much else exciting happening with the mission. Mostly been following the service schedule. I did get to meet with some different people today when serving when some organizations volunteered, though. That was fun.

3 May 2021

 This week I`ve been following a similar schedule to previous weeks. I got to go to St. Vincent de Paul in different locations and Third Phase. On Friday and Saturday, I got to go on a trip with the family for Mom`s birthday. We went up to Holland, Michigan for the Tulip Festival. It was nice going there, we got to eat at fun restaurants, visit a windmill island, get a tour of a replica of a boat used in the War of 1812, and visit some shops. It was really nice, and we got to learn a bit about Dutch culture.

Not too much else exciting happening. Mostly following the schedule for service. Mom was the one taking most of the pictures, so I didn`t get any in this email.

26 April 2021

 Most of this week has had similar opportunities to other weeks, except last Friday I got to go to Second Helping for the first time. It is another place dedicated to feeding people by reducing food waste. The facilities and people were really nice. They had a volunteer week, and on my first day, I won a drawing for a prize.

Nothing else too exciting last week. Things still seem to be going well. This week, our mission area gets to lead a discussion about President Nelson`s talk about faith. That seems exciting!

19 April 2021

 This week, I got an interesting service opportunity. While serving at a nearby place, the head of the place wanted to get behind a locked door. I mentioned that Mathew had practiced some lockpicking. He wanted me to bring him, so I went and picked him up. For about an hour, we took turns trying to pick the lock. I can imagine that it looked kind of shady, two people taking turns trying to pick a lock. Eventually, it popped open. It is kind of funny in hindsight to think of how shady it looked.

The rest of the service around the area has been somewhat normal. Still good though!

We delivered some cookies, and heard that a very simple recipe we tried got very good reviews. It was so simple, we made it mostly because of the allergies, but they really liked it. It was just a cup of peanut butter, a cup of sugar, and an egg at 350 for 10 minutes.

Well, nothing else too exciting. How are things going around? I heard Sam graduated.

18 April 2021

 

13 April 2021

 This week has been good. The schedule is still being formed a bit. It looks like I have Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with things to do. Other opportunities are around that I can do service, just not scheduled things. This week, we decided to visit Richie Woods, a new shaved ice place (I can`t remember the name), and Connor Prairie as a family. The trips were nice, we got to take the dogs to Richie Woods and it looked like they had a blast. We visited Prairie Town and the Civil War area in Connor Prairie.

Matt also volunteered to come to a service activity one day, but I`m not sure he wants to do it again. The people there smoke, and it was not a good day to be working indoors. At the end of the shift, I was starting to feel a little sick.

It was Spring Break for Nate and Matt, so they were home a lot without much to do. When I was home, Nerf war challenges and such were common.

That`s most of what has been happening. Mom seems pretty glad that she has someone who likes to cook. It`s been good!

9 April 2021

 

5 April 2021

 This week was a little less exciting in the beginning. One place nearby is really loose with how you can volunteer. I can basically come whenever I want while it`s open, and with my schedule still being formed, has been a little more frequently this week. More opportunities are scheduled now, though, and I should be able to keep busy. I have looked into getting into some Family History in some spare time, but it keeps slipping my mind.

Easter and General Conference weekend were great. I liked the talks over the time. We upheld ward tradition of visiting Five Guys before the Priesthood session. We made some Easter sugar cookies and delivered many of them. We had a nice Easter dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, and rolls.

That`s most of the exciting news. How are things going around? Any cool Easter stories?

22 March 2021

 This week has been good. It`s been a little bit stressful, because my Mission President came over and talked to me about a service mission, and it looks like it`s happening. Tomorrow I should be transferred back home to be a service missionary.

The week hasn`t been too busy, but we did get to teach four lessons yesterday. One of them happened over Zoom, I think the family said they were feeling sick. A lot of the people we are teaching seem really open to the message. It`s been pretty nice teaching in this area.

The weather has been really nice through most of the week, I think we got into the 70s one day. We also got snow yesterday. It looks like it melted, but I think the weather around here can get kind of weird.

Me and my companion are celebrating my last full day with some Crumbl Cookies.

I`m not feeling one hundred percent certain about this transfer, but everyone else seems to think it will be good for me. I`m kind of looking forward to returning home, but this mission is a pretty nice mission. I think I`ve enjoyed meeting with some people and some of the mission experience.

15 March 2021

 This week has been okay. We have been doing a good amount of biking trying to talk with members from far parts of the area. Members have been really nice and have offered us some of food that we are now able to accept. We have some really nice, faithful families that we get to teach. There are some others that are really skeptical, but we are trying to work with them.

We got to celebrate Pi Day with a frozen pizza, lemon pie, and peanut butter pie.

One of the member families we have been meeting with has a lot of little puppies running around, so when we go, we have a bunch of puppies trying to get attention and, recently, biting my shoes.

We got to make some homemade bread last week that turned out pretty well.

Not too much else exciting happening. It`s good in Utah, though. A little bit back, we got snow again. We put some meetings over Zoom due to the dark conditions to bike in, with snow and traveling along a major road. It`s been warming up now, though.

 

 

8 March 2021

 

 This week I got into a bit of a bike accident. My compnion`s bike goes down hills a lot faster than mine, so I went too fast around a corner and lost traction. I slid out for a bit, coming out with some scrapes, the biggest one on my knee.

We recently got a referral for a family that seems like they will be really nice to teach. One of them is already reading the Book of Mormon and they seemed really open to hearing about it.

Some of the people we are teaching are a little more difficult to teach. Some of them have a lot of questions about the doctrine, and it can be really hard to answer them. I`m kind of wondering how much interest one of them actually has in joining the Church.

I`m kind of looking forward to this April General Conference. I think the world could use a good couple messages from the General Authorities.

We did get some nice news- we can start accepting food from members! We still can`t eat with members, but they can give us something quick on our way out or drop food off. The covid situation finally looks like its loosening up. We had a Zoom meeting with our Mission President where he explained that some of the rules are loosening up.

Me and my companion made these nice peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. We stopped by Crumbl last week and finished off those cookies, and these new ones remind me a little of the cookies, big and cakey. I think they turned out well.

Well, that`s most of the news for this week. How are things going at home, in Arizona, and the Navy?

 

 

1 March 2021

 This week it was kind of cold at the beginning of the week, but it warmed up. We got a little bit of snow yesterday, but it`s starting to get a bit warmer.

We`re trying to teach some really inquisitive people. They ask a lot of questions. One of them asks some strange deep doctrine questions. Some of the questions are kind of hard to answer because they really aren`t the kind of questions you would consider very much.

We got to head out to Crumbl Cookies again today.

The Work has been going fairly well. We have people to teach, and are still setting up lots of messages with members.

Not too much exciting has happened. We did get to meet with some people from Fishers, Indiana. That is kind of special because most people I meet with hardly know anything about Indiana, much less Fishers.

Not too much else exciting right now. Things are looking better, though!

 

 

22 February 2021

 

 This week has been fairly cold, but recently, it`s been warming up. At the beginning of the week, we were getting some snow, but now most of it has melted.

We got in contact with a family that has some kids who want to hear the Gospel. Some people we are teaching right now seem very skeptical and like asking a lot of questions. I think the Work has been picking up a little bit here. There are some really nice members that make me wish the "no eating with members" food restriction was lifted.

A family we visited that works with wood gave me and my companion each a Plan of Salvation puzzle teaching tool. It`s kind of neat and I might use it sometime.

We also got to cook a cake from some cake mix we had. It`s a pretty nice cake.

15 February 2021

 This week we got tranfers. I got transferred to another apartment. This one is much bigger, but the things we have to cook with are a little disappointing. No bread pans or muffin tins, and just things lacking a little more all around.

Around here, the Work seems to be a little slower. Maybe I`m just trying to get used to the different way things run around here.

Both me and my companion had leaks in our tires, so we had to go get those fixed. We left our area to go to a mall, which had a bike shop in it.

It was fairly warm, but we got snow again recently. Not too much. It`s not super cold, but not too comfortable.

We have several people we are teaching, but it is difficult to get appointments set up. I think some things around here just run differently.

8 February 2021

 

 This week has been good. Yesterday we got transfer calls, and I am heading to Lakeview in Orem. The area has been pretty good, but I heard that in Orem there is a lot more food available. Here we have to leave our area if we want to go shopping.

We got some snow, but it melted fairly quickly. It`s relatively warm now. We got permission to go outside our zone and got some more Crumbl Cookies. While outside our zone, we also got to visit a really nice bike shop, where I got some help with bike stuff. My companion also got a package from his

There was a house that had several duck decorations dotting the lawn. My companion wanted each of us get a picture of the other holding a duck.

For the Super Bowl, a lot of our meetings canceled. We didn`t do much that night. We did get to meet with some members, though. My companion was hoping to watch some of the Super Bowl at their houses.

We also got to make some nice banana chocolate chip muffins.

Hopefully transfers are good. This one has been pretty nice.

 

 

1 February 2021

 This week has been a little exciting. We have been sharing a lot of messages with members, and one of the people we were teaching got baptized! We are still trying to work with a couple people and their hangups about the Gospel, but it is looking good. While we were biking, we saw a deer by the side of the road, which ran across the street really close to us. It continued to run by us for a couple seconds. I wish I got pictures, but it happened really quickly and I was on a bike. Another time, we were biking, and my companion just directs my attention to some deer. It was a small group hanging out in the street.

Today we got permission to leave our area. We went to Kohl`s and got some clothes and to Crumbl Cookies.

My companion had his birthday this week. It was on Tuesday, and he turned twenty. We made some blueberry muffins that morning, which turned out pretty well.

We have also had a bit of crazy weather. We have had snow sprinkling down lightly for a couple days. It rained, then was followed up with more snow.

That`s most of what happened this week! Got some pictures of some of the stuff:

 

 

25 January 2021

 

 This week, the weather has been pretty nice, but on Friday, we got some rain, and the next day, it was snowing. We got a couple inches, and I think it`s been getting colder. It makes biking interesting. The roads are mostly clear, but sometimes we have to go off into the sidewalk, where sometimes footprints have frozen into the snow, making it really bumpy.

One of our investigators is from India, and he was interested to hear that I have a brother who served in India.

The snow makes the mountains look nice. My companion got to try german pancakes this morning. In the place we live, there is a pool just outside. Sometimes water gets on top of the pool cover and freezes, but recently it got kind of slushy. My companion seemed to like skipping snowballs off the surface of the slush.

 

 

18 January 2021

 This week has been good. We got in contact with some investigators that I hadn`t met before. We have been trying contacting in a new way that I haven`t tried before, which seems to be going pretty well. My companion likes to talk and communicate a lot more than I do. He says I need to do that more, so he started giving me a Reese`s Peanut Butter cup when he finds my communication acceptable.

During a bit of travel, we saw some cars that I couldn`t help but thinking that Sam needed a picture of them. Sorry Sam! We were in a bit of a rush so we didn`t get pictures. They looked nice, though.

The weather has been a bit warmer. We are still able to meet in people`s homes and give messages. We sometimes also use Zoom if our schedule is packed. In the morning, when it is cold, there is a pool in the backyard that has a cover over it. When water gets on it and freezes overnight, my companion likes to get the ice sheets and break them over his head.

Well, that`s most of what happened. Still lots of biking uphill, but I think I`m starting to get used to it more.

11 January 2021

 This week has been good. We have been sharing a lot of messages with members again. We have been trying to reach out to bishops and Ward Mission Leaders to help people. My trainer`s been pushing me hard. This week, we got a new message to share with members about the Book of Mormon. I like it.

We got to watch Brandon Sanderson`s Why I Believe devotional. It was pretty good. He talked about why he believes in the Church and a bit of how his writing ties into that.

It has been surprisingly warm this week. It`s been cooling down a bit more lately, but the weather has been surprisingly pleasant.

Not too much else has happened this week. Lots of biking up hills again. Things have been going well for the most part, sometimes difficult.

4 January 2021

 

 This week has been great! We did transfers this week. I wasn`t really thinking that my companion would be transferred because I was in the middle of training. But he got transferred, and my new companion is Elder Gabel. Things started off pretty easily because we both like cooking, so we got to make some really nice food this week. Today we made home made bread. The bread rose a little more than we expected.

We have been trying to get some work done and give messages to members. There is a little girl who just got on date! My companion is pretty nice. He has kind of been pushing me a bit in missionary work, especially in confidence and talking to others. My previous companion focused training more in the message itself, rather than focusing on delivery. Here are a couple pictures of some of the food we have gotten to cook.