Through the fire and flames

Sorry I missed last Monday I hope all is well. This week has been another busy week which I'm sure every single one after this will be as well so it's kind of a given.

This Wednesday we blitzed Orchard Park. Elder Beardall and I got to be with Elder Nelson which is always a great thing. Elder Nelson is a super great guy. We knocked doors out in the country all day. 

Thursday we installed an A/C in our apartment so it isn't so hot all the time. Other then that it was a normal day of finding 

Friday was a sorrowful day. One of our investigators who came to church last week, anti-ed us when we went over for a lesson. She said that the bible is the only word of God and that she was told by God to tell us this. I've never felt the spirit leave a room so fast. She wouldn't let us talk really so we just got up and left. Elder Stokes who is a really quiet person stood up and testified to her that the book of Mormon was true. She wanted us to come back again but we will see. She still hasn't reached out to us and we are waiting to reach out to her. 

Saturday, Maddy who was just baptized went to the temple alone. She is so awesome. On a side note we are out of miles for our vehicle so we ran two miles to the church to give her a recommend before she left. After that we walked all day. We walked 8 miles to a members graduation party because he invited a non member friend who he felt needs to meet the missionaries. We all got sunburned a little bit and then we had to walk home. We didn't make it home by 9... Our legs were a little sore the next day.

Yesterday was a normal Sunday of finding after we went to maddy's graduation party to meet her dad.

Anyways today we are having a zone p day with buffalo north and south zones so we will probably play a lot of volleyball or something.

Too busy for P-days

I'm sorry I didn't email yesterday we were taking one of our investigators to the sacred grove.

This week was pretty hectic and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down seeing as today we have three appointments during our P-day lol.

We started out our week having two elders come into our area for exchanges. Elder Stokes and I went with Elder Shaw and tracked all day. No one really talked to us. Meanwhile Elder Beardall was with Elder Judy were killing it. They found a bunch of people. The other Elders went back after dinner.

Wednesday we took Maddy to The sacred grove, the hill Cumorah, and the book of Mormon publication site. It was super cool and she had a great time. We also walked around the temple grounds with her and she got to meet one of the temple presidency. 

Maddie Showalter kindly drove us up there and on the way there and back we talked all about her mission. She got home from Chile last August I believe. The Showalters are all really awesome.

That night I got to go out with my favorite member Brother Daniels. He is from Pleasant Grove Utah but he moved here with his wife and three kids. He is a member of the bishopric. We went and tried to contact some less actives. No luck but we did meet a man named Justin whom we talked to for 20-25 mins and gave him a book of Mormon.

Thursday we had two district meetings because we were giving a training to another district in our zone. We had to drive a ton so not much else happened.

Beside I was asked to speak in church next week.

Friday was kind of a normal day. We went contacting and met a kid named Eddy who dresses up in a blue full body suit, wears a shirt that says free hugs, and goes around and gives people cards with compliments on them. He was only like 17-18 but he was really down to earth. He wanted to come tract with us haha.

We went to a ward game night because someone was bringing non members. I got to teach them all codenames. It was super fun. We then gave a church tour to one of the non members.

I got a call that night letting me know I was actually speaking THIS Sunday.

Saturday was actually our slowest day. We taught a woman named Janyne. she asked us about our church services before we could even invite her. She is awesome. I wrote my talk on the priesthood that night.

Janyne came to church with her daughter Celia. Zach, the kid who was baptized a month ago or so gave a talk. I had a great time giving my talk. I'm glad I got to speak on father's day. It was an amazing experience and I'm thankful I got the opportunity. Brother Showalter said it was the best missionary talk he has heard, but I don't think I beat Elder Beardalls from a few weeks ago. We then proceeded to get drenched in the rain the rest of the day which I liked.

Yesterday we took Kayla to the Sites as well. She is Maddy's friend who wants to get baptized next month. The Sacred Grove was killer again. We had Sister Tucker talk to us at the Hill Cumorah and it was super cool. She has almost the exact same story as Kayla with her parents and things. It really touched Kayla and we are glad we could take her there.

Anyways sorry my email is so long.

The second to last picture is Alvin Smith's gravestone.

Lights in the dark

This week was filled with events. 

We had stake correlation and because the zone leaders decided that they should go out to eat before it, they were 20 mins late to the meeting. I didn't get to exchange with someone so I attended stake correlation even though I'm not a zone leader.

The next day we had a lesson with Maddy who was getting baptized this Saturday and so we planned all that. We decided it would be a great idea if we sang again for the baptism... Elder Beardall had to give a talk at the baptism, in church, sing for the baptism, do a musical number for MLC, and baptize Maddy. It was a super stressful weekend for him. After our lesson i had to go on a exchange with Orchard Park because of MLC. It was a blast to be with Elder Nelson. 

When I finally got home with Elder Stokes and Elder Peters (he is one of the AP's) there were fireflies all over in the fields by our house so I went and got a jar

 Full of them. I really liked watching the lights flicker in the dark.

So now it was Saturday. Maddy's Baptism. We had made our own arrangement of the song Come though fount which we hadn't had anytime to practice. It turned out all right but we were basically just expecting to slaughter it. The baptism was amazing. Maddy's sister came and a few of her friends and they all felt the spirit really strongly. We gave them all a church tour after.

After the baptism we were on exchanges with the APs. I was with Elder Peters and Stokes. 

After our exchange we went tracting out in a newer neighborhood. It was a normal day until we started talking to Mindy. She reminded me a lot of my aunt Marcia but that's besides the point. As we were talking some little kid ran down the street behind us. A boy and a girl were chasing him. The girl was hysterical and so we asked what was wrong and she said that she left the kids she was babysitting to catch this kid. 

The kid, Andrew, has autism and is non verbal. We left all our stuff in Mindy's yard and chased him. Mindy pulled up in a car and grabbed him but he kept trying to get away from everyone until Beardall and I started talking to him and playing with him. We called the police and had them come down because we had no information about the kid. We didn't even have his name at this point. The police came and started trying to figure it out. The kid wouldn't hold still for anyone else but us so we had to ride in the police car.

Elder Stokes and I sat in the back and Elder Beardall sat up front with Andrew on his lap. The cops name was Shawn. He was really chill but he was so done with work that day lol. We finally found the kids home and gave him to the parents they seemed flustered but they hadn't even started looking for him yet. It has happened before apperantly. It is so strange that the parents wouldn't even care enough to call the police immediately.

Anyways we went back to the neighborhood we were in and Shawn dropped us off. Mindy was there where we caught Andrew holding our books of Mormon and pamphlets. Haha she is such an angel. 

It was an interesting weekend and I wish I could actually tell the story well but this will suffice. We caught fireflies again with Beardall when we got home that night.

Pazukis that me and Elder Nelson made for my Orchard Park experience. He is a stellar guy.

Sad serenades

So last P-day we got a USB from Elder Nelson because we had no music after Holmes left. His USB has some music on it that is clearly home made but it is very well recorded and I want to find out who made it. I will look into it. We have been working super hard as always. We tracted about 30 hours just this past weekend. I'm doing well but I don't have much to say this week.

My companions and I played three on three basketball with some kids because we had been knocking doors all day and we saw them playing so we went and gave them all books of Mormon. We got annihilated but we had fun lol. I need to practice basketball. I don't like being terrible at things.

We are working hard all the time so I don't have much time to think about what I want to share in my weekly email. I tried to get music on my USB but the computers at the library are really bad so now I'm just stuck with the sad songs of my head.

Maddie will get baptized this next Saturday which is so awesome to see. She is pumped for it. Not much else is happening.

Oh wait we went to the sacred Grove this Wednesday. I forgot sorry. For zone conference we went to the Smith farm. After zone conference we had a testimony meeting. A Japanese Elder got up even though he has only been out here for like 1 week. He barely knows english. It was a pretty great day. Can't believe I forgot.