Week #15

Hey Mis!

It was great Skyping you guys on Christmas! Glad to see you're all doing well. That was definitely by far the highlight of my week. It was a rough week aside from Christmas. No one wanted to meet with us this week, and no one really wanted to talk to us either haha. Most of our investigators were out of town, so no one came to church really. 

On Christmas we hung out with the Foremasters, where we played Risk and ping pong, and other stuff. Then we had dinner with the Voganns. Brother Vogann LOVES guns. He plays a game that wherever you stand in his house you're always within ten feet of a gun, and you have to find it. He's an interesting guy haha, but he's really cool. Christmas Eve we had dinner with the Foremasters, and it was HUGE. We had a good time there, but the rest of the week was rough. Although, we met a girl named Shay. We had stopped by her house before, but we stopped by again on Saturday just for the heck of it. She actually answered and invited us in! She had some friends in town, and they're LDS! Their names are Candace and Brian. They talked to us a lot about how they've been trying to get Shay to join the church for a while haha. Candace was born in the church, but after she married Brian, Brian joined the church. She said she can probably get Shay to join too hahaha. Also, apparently Candace is on the US Track Team, and Brian played defensive tackle for the Buccaneers and Cowboys, and is working out with the 49ers and Falcons right now. You couldn't even tell cuz they barely mentioned it! They're awesome, they were telling us how they just got sealed in the temple a year ago too. We're going to visit Shay sometime this week, I'm excited! It was frustrating trying to find people, but hopefully after the holiday season things will get better. 

Elder Balajadia is really quiet, so it's tough cuz I have to take the initiative most of the time in street contacts. I don't really know how to help get him going. He's been out longer, so idk it's just tough. We'll work it out though. How's break been? 

Love you Mis!

Trev

P.S. Pictures in a separate email.

Trevor with his zone (Sent 12/28/15)

Trevor with his zone (Sent 12/28/15)

Trevor with Elder Balajadia (Sent 12/28/15)

Week #14

Hey Dad!

Sorry Saturday was rough for you. I thought about you guys a lot that day. At least Moxie's sounded like it went well for you guys, I'm glad. I heard Bronco was headed out, oh well. I don't think he ever beat Utah, did he? Haha. I attached some stuff in a separate email for my anniversary gift to you.

My week was awesome! First off, I met Elder Balajadia. He's really cool! He's from the Phillipines. Even though me and Wightman butted heads a bit, it was still tough to say goodbye when he got shipped off to Needles. But Balajadia is really cool! He's really quiet, but he's such a spiritual guy, and a powerful teacher. One of the ZLs knows him really well, and he said that he starts off quiet/shy, but he opens up in a week or so. He's awesome though. Most of our investigators are busy till the end of the holidays, so we tried to find a lot more people, and we had a ton of miracles. We met a guy on the street named Chris, who told us about a near-death experience he had that made him believe in God. He was shot nine times (once in his head) while he was outside his house in the street. He said he had a crazy dream, where God asked him what he was doing, because his time wasn't done yet. He was in a coma for like two weeks, but then woke up, and walked and talked fine. It was crazy. We have an appointment to teach him after the holidays.

We also met a part-member family! It's funny because when we knocked on the door, a 20-something year old girl opened the door, and Balajadia got really nervous and stuttered! Hahaha it was really funny. Her name was Ivy, and she's a member of the YSA ward here, but she's the only member in her family. She gave us a TON of snacks. It was awesome haha, and she was super nice too. We're going to see them either this week before Christmas or next.

MIRACLE OF THE WEEK. We received a referral from the West mission for Chereyl and Manish. We tried to contact them throughout the week, but we never met them. We met their daughter, Mishawn, and set up a time to come back Sunday at 4. Then on Sunday after church, Balajadia and I were eating lunch at our apartment when we got a phone call from Brother Drysdale, the executive secretary. He told us that there was someone at the church who wanted to meet us. We quickly biked over, and it was Manish! He wasn't sure which ward he was supposed to go to, so he asked around and found out which one, and which missionaries he's supposed to talk to. We talked to him a little bit, and then we confirmed 4pm. He had a friend that was baptized that day, and that really peaked his interest in the church. When we went to his house with Bro. Jones, we met his family. They are SO prepared. They said they want a good foundation for their kids, and that they wanted to bring their family closer together. They also said that they felt like something was missing at the other churches that they went to, and wanted to figure out what it was. I'M SO EXCITED!!! We're going back to visit them Tuesday morning, it's gonna be awesome!

So we also had two baptisms this week, Martha and Tawnee, and I got to perform Martha's! I also got to confirm them both on Sunday. It was my first time with either of them, so it was really nerve racking, but amazing at the same time. I felt the Spirit so strongly.

So that was my week! I hope you have a great week. As for Christmas, there's nothing in particular I really want. And I placed an order for an extra name tag, and they said it'll take about two weeks for it to come in. So you'll prolly get it in three. I'm sorry I haven't gotten a picture yet, but I hope to this week. As for Skyping, we'll prolly have to do later in the day, because Balajadia's family is wayyy ahead in the time zones in the Phillipines. Would 2pm my time or 5pm your time work?

Love you Dad!

Trevor

Here's your anniversary present! We had two baptisms on Saturday haha.

Tawnee had a friend, Jacob Horlacher, baptize her (Sent 12/21/15)

Martha had me baptize her, and her boyfriend Jay was there too.

They're both awesome! (Sent 12/21/15)

Week #13

Dear Misa,

A lot of stuff went down this week, but first, let me answer your questions:

1. Did your Mission President only talk to you, or did he interview your companion as well about the situation?

Nope, just me. I don't know why he didn't talk to Wightman, but I'm not worried about it. It ended up being a big blessing talking to him, which I'll explain later in this email.

2. When are your next transfers?

Transfers are this Tuesday, and the next one isn't until February 3rd. Elder Wightman is getting transferred to Needles, California. I'm staying in North, Sierra Ranch ward. This past transfer was difficult, but it was a good experience. We're different people definitely, but the biggest thing was that we sort of had different styles and tendencies in the way we worked. One thing that I liked is that he ALWAYS wanted to work hard. He knew his purpose. But I didn't always agree with how he did it. He liked to play a lot of stuff by ear, while I wanted to plan ahead. Maybe I was a little too up-tight with him. He just wasn't the most organized, and now I see why Mom and Dad harped on me growing up to be organized haha. But honestly, he has a good heart. That's what matters. I don't hate him, he's a good guy. I learned a lot working with him. My new comp will be Elder Balajadia (Ba-la-ha-jzuh). He's from the Phillipines. I've never met him, but from what I heard, he's a good guy and a good missionary.

Wednesday we did a service project at Three Square. We made 1,500 lunches for under-privileged kids in the Las Vegas area. It was a blast! Miss Universe showed up on her tour or whatever. She showed up, talked to some people, did absolutely nothing, took pictures, and left. It was pretty random and funny hahaha. One of the ZLs got a picture with her haha. On Thursday, we met Noah and Ara. Noah is a ten year old who we threw a football with in the street. We told him about the Christmas video, and he invited us to visit him and his mom. They LOVED it. We gave them a Book of Mormon, and they're really eager to learn more. We're excited! Friday was the Christmas Conference. It was fun. There were a lot of awesome trainings, and then there were some skits and talents that people did. It was pretty funny. Probably my favorite was an elder read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", but he did it while doing impressions of people, from celebrities to presidents to general authorities, to even other missionaries haha. Saturday was the ward Christmas party. It was really fun! We had a couple investigators go, and they enjoyed themselves. We got to know a lot of the members too since the boundaries were switched up. Church was awesome! Martha and Tawnee both came. They both had their baptismal interviews that night too, and they both passed! Tawnee is going to be baptized Saturday at 10am, while Martha will be Saturday at 3pm. We're stoked! Wightman is getting transferred to Needles, California on Tuesday, so he won't be able to go to the baptisms.

So that was my week! I'll send you pictures and stuff in a separate email. Things have overall gotten better with Wightman and I. We still prank each other. Like I walked out of our bedroom under our Nerf hoop, and he dunked on me. I'll definitely study PMG Chp. 8 this week. I actually studied two more attributes this week, and I plan on continuing to do that throughout my mission to help me continue to retain them.

Sounds like you had a lot of fun this week on your dates! I'm glad you had a good experience at church too. I've never realized how much of a boost church can be. Like back in Binghamton I didn't really utilize it as a boost, just a way for me to socialize with people. But it can really be a HUGE boost! That's still crazy to me that Kendal is getting married. Is Josh married yet? What's Marshall doing? What about the rest of the old crew, any news with them?

I hope you have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Trevor with his zone at ZTC (sent 12/14/15)

Getting festive with Elder Wightman (sent 12/14/15)

Christmas Conference (sent 12/14/15)

Week #12

Hey Mis!

So none of those friend requests are people from Vegas. I didn't see any to accept either. The package was awesome! The ZLs are bringing the mail later, so hopefully I'll have it then. I'm glad you had a good time in NY. As for Christmas, I can't really think of anything else. I'm not too picky, things haven't changed hahaha. Those sound like good gifts for Dad! As for Asia, get her a job! Haha just kidding. Just buy her BYU stuff, try to sway her hahaha. I would do that if I was back in Rexburg. That's crazy that Kendal is getting married. Isn't Josh already married too??? Tell Marshall to wait to get married until I get back. You too haha. This was easily the toughest week of the mission. Elder Wightman and I butted heads a TON. One argument was so bad that I honestly just sat on my bed for like an hour, not saying a word to him. He called President Snow, and so I met with President the next day. I have been missing Mom a lot lately, especially because she loved the holidays so much, and so it's been really difficult recently. He talked to me about it and gave me a blessing. As we were discussing, he gave me some great advice. He talked about the Brother of Jared, and how he asked the Lord for help. The Lord asked him what he wanted him to do, and the Brother of Jared initially didn't know. As you know, he made the sixteen stones and asked the Lord to touch them. He told me that sometimes we go through very difficult things, and we ask the Lord for help. But we have to 1) be willing to work through it and do our part, and 2) be more specific when we ask for help. He invited me to ask Him to help me utilize the Atonement more, that I may be able to access the enabling power to help me through this tough time and to continue the work. He also told me to go to the temple at some point this week and spend some time in the celestial room. I'm planning on going tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it.

This week was also full of disappointment. It started off great. I got to do an exchange with Elder Aitchison! That was a ton of fun, and it was also our most productive day of the week. While we were biking, we saw an older guy and a woman moving furniture into a UHaul. We stopped and offered help, and the guy said "would you still want to help even if I told you we won't concert?" We all laughed about it, and me and Aitch helped. We moved a lot of dressers and bed frames, the fridge, a few TVs, and we broke down their swing set in the backyard and packed it away. We were probably there for an hour. We got to know the people too. Their names were Papa Joe and Renée. They were really nice, and Papa Joe even called us "his angels". He said that us showing up was no accident, and we carried a certain spirit about us that he couldn't figure out. Well duh! Later in the week we met with Szilvia, the Hungarian lady who gave us treats when we knocked on her door. We taught her about the Book of Mormon, and her husband Mark sat in on the lesson. Mark opened up a TON. Before he married Szilvia, he was married, but his wife died of cancer. He said that that took a huge roll on him, but he met some missionaries, and they really helped him out. He said that he's really eager to learn more. We're excited! A bunch of people cancelled on us this week, so that was really tough. We attended a baptism with a couple investigators. Martha was able to go, as well as Anthony. Anthony is scheduled to be baptized on the 12th, and Martha the 19th. However, when we met Anthony outside before the baptism, he had a cigarette in his mouth. It seems like he had been lying to us, so we've got some more work to do. Besides that, Martha and Anthony both really enjoyed the baptism. Hopefully that'll motivate Anthony to give up smoking.

So I also met someone who knows Aunt Sherrie. I forgot his first name, but his last name is Fontano....? I think. He said he knew Sherrie when they were YSA, and that she emailed or texted him when she found out I was in North Las Vegas, where he lived. Why do people out here know me??? So that's my week. I hope you have a good coming week! How are all your boys? Pull through finals! You got this!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Trevor with Elder Aitchison (Sent 12/7/15)

Sent 12/7/15

Sent 12/7/15

Sent 12/7/15

Week #11

Hey Mis!

I picked up my package on Tuesday! Thank you SO MUCH! I'm still eating all of that stuff. I'm actually eating some of those veggies as I type this haha. That's cool you came home for Thanksgiving! I see it was interesting.... But hey, nothing can be done now. I guess we're just gonna roll with it.

Sounds like your time in NY has been good though. That's cool that you guys saw dad's cousin from France! If I remember correctly, I think dad told me he's an actuarian or statistician. Pretty cool stuff. Thanksgiving was tough for me, we had a few people yell at us and swear at us when we knocked on their door. Plus I really missed you guys, and Mom too. It was weird not playing football in the morning and chilling with you guys for the whole rest of the day. But hey, one down, one to go!

My week was really good! We met a couple guys named Demarlo and Guy. We talked to them for a little bit, but they didn't want to talk to us, so we challenged them to two-on-two basketball. If we won we got to teach them. We won. Thursday night basketball back home continues to have been a blessing in the mission field haha. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation, and they had TONS of questions. It was pretty cool. Then yesterday, we followed up with them in the afternoon. They told us they were no longer interested. We asked them why, and Demarlo said that his cousin is a pastor and said that there was no proof of the Plan of Salvation in the Bible. We tried to explain it more to them, when out of nowhere this guy came cruising by on a mo-ped. "It's the Mormons!" he said. Then he pointed at us and turned to Demarlo and Guy and said "Listen to these guys! They're telling the truth!" He then told us that last week he was in an accident on his mo-Ped, and he could barely walk because he messed up his back. He said that other missionaries gave him a blessing. "Six days later," he said, "here I am!" He stood up and started dancing. Then he said goodbye and drove off. Then Demarlo and Guy asked a TON of other questions, so we set up another time to meet with them. It was awesome!

We also met the Baldivias family. We actually met them last week, but didn't get to meet until yesterday. They are so cool! There are two parents, five kids, and a grandmother that live with them. We taught about the Plan of Salvation, and they had TONS of questions too. Their oldest son, Alex, is studying with 7th day Christians or whatever they're called, and so he's very quick when it comes to the bible. The cool part was at some point of the lesson, each one of the Baldivias said they've always wondered which church was true. They're in dire need of the Restoration, so we're really excited to teach them that next time! They're SO nice and loving, they already seem like members of the Church haha. We're really excited, we've got some good people to teach.

We also got three investigators to church! That's the most we've had since I've been here. Anthony sat with us, and he's going to be baptized either this Saturday or next. Martha was there, and is supposed to be baptized December 19th. Then Velia came with her member husband, and she's been progressing very well lately. It's been great!

Thanksgiving for me was good, even though I missed you guys a lot. We ate with the Stowells, who are a really cool family that recently moved in. Then the next day we got special permission to eat with the Hendersons. She fed us mac & cheese, stuffing, shepherds pie, greens, yams, duck, chitlins, peach cobbler, meat pie, and sweet potato pie. It was all really good, except for the chitlins. They were nasty. I didn't even know what they were until Saturday. Apparently they're pig guts. Never eating that again!

So at least on Thanksgiving you didn't eat pig guts. Could've been worse! Haha. Me and my comp just watched the Christmas video. It's pretty sweet! As for what I want.... I'm cool. Maybe more music? Maybe some more mission-appropriate Mat Kearney? Or Owl City? Whatever works. People keep trying to steal my CDs here now haha. I'm doing an exchange with my MTC companion tomorrow, the tall British guy. I'm stoked! Anyways, I hope you have a good week! I love you and miss you!

Love you Mis!
Trev

Trevor's Zone Leaders (Sent 11/30/15)

Sent 11/30/15

Week #10

Hey Mis!

No worries, glad you made it safely! My week was tough, but it was good. TONS of reschedules and disappointments. But Heavenly Father is still going to help us out if we do what we need to do and keep the faith. The first part of this week sort of sucked. My bike got run over by a car. I wasn't on it, I had just parked it. Someone ran over it, and the front wheel frame was bent, the front brakes were detached, and there was something near the chain that got bent. The ZLs have a member who used to fix bikes for the missionaries as a calling, and apparently he still likes to do it, so they're picking it up today. My bike was still rideable, it was just the chain kept clicking, and the tire kept rubbing up against the farm. The rubbing almost makes a "quack" sound haha. A member laughed at me when we showed up to his house at dinner, and then said I could borrow his bike until it gets fixed. The work continues! Haha.

Church yesterday was pretty awesome. We talked with Martha at church. She has two teenagers, Stefan and Natalie. They have to go to their dad's on the weekends, but we've been trying to get them to go to mutual. They've gone three weeks in a row, and Martha said she's seen a change in Stefan, and actually started to break down. He had been really rude and rebellious to her, but recently he's been opening up to her a lot more. She said that whatever we teach tough is working, and so she wants in. She's already been scheduled to be baptized December 19th (that's a cool day, right?), but now I think she'll be even more motivated and progress faster than she had been in the past. I'm so excited for them! We also introduced Bro. Jackson, a Young Men's leader, to Xavier, one of the kids we met playing basketball. They got along GREAT. Xavier is 15, and Bro. Jackson is over the Teachers Quorum, so it's perfect haha. Xavier wants to read the Book of Mormon, and we're excited!

Sorry I don't have any pictures this week, we were crazy busy, and we haven't really had anything that was super picture worthy.

Do you know Kerry Faughnan? I met him on Sunday. He said the sister missionaries in his ward said that there was a missionary from upstate NY, and so he wanted to meet me. Turns out we're from the same city. I don't remember him much, but he seems pretty nice. He said he's been trying to get his sister to come back to church, but it's been tough. Hopefully her missionaries will help her out!

So that was my week. Also, some members said they found me on Facebook. Let me know who added me. I hope you guys enjoy Thanksgiving! Love and miss you guys!

Trev :D

P.S. I can't remember, did you say you dropped off a Thanksgiving package at my apartment? If so, where?

Week #9

Hey Mis! It was cool to see you guys Friday! Glad you enjoyed yourselves in Vegas. Sounds like you're having a good time in Utah too. My week was crazy. With the new ward boundaries, we've been very busy transferring all the records from the part we lost to other missionaries, and receiving the records from other missionaries for the records we gained. The area that we took had a baptism scheduled this Saturday, so we had to finish teaching her the lessons and plan the baptism, which was crazy. Last night, we knocked on a door at 8:59. A lady opened the door. She was a self-referral from to church headquarters. Her name is Szilvia, and she's from Hungary. She's reallllllllly interested in the church. We set up an appointment for later this week, and she gave us some Hungarian food! It was sort of like cake, and it was DELICIOUS. That's why you always work up until 9 pm haha. We also proselyted by playing some basketball this week. Elder Wightman and I played one on one against a kid named Xavier. I attached some videos below. Believe it or not, I won.  Wightman recorded a bad part haha. I also got to meet a realllllly cool member this week, Brother Fuller. He grew up in the Bronx, 10 minutes from Yankee Stadium. He has an accent and everything. He was a pitcher, and got drafted out of high school. He made it all the way to triple-A ball. He's a convert too. Crazy right?? He's so cool, I think we're having dinner with him and his wife at some point this week.  That was my week! You know what happened Friday, so I won't need to tell you about it haha. We still have like half of the gift card left haha. Anyways, I hope things keep going well! Btw, Kacie Pierce and Sean Sasser were in the same MTC district!, crazy right??

Love you Mis!
P.S. Pictures and videos are attached to a separate email.

Sent 11/16/15

Sent 11/16/15

Sent 11/16/15

Sent 11/16/15

Week #8

 Misa,

First, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!! How long did it take to put that stuff together?!?! I really appreciate it, thank you so much! And thanks for the CDs too! I attached some pictures that we took with some of the stuff you sent. We have a cowboy hat and a sword in our apartment, so it made an interesting costume haha. Sounds like a busy week! Hopefully you'll be able to figure out your laptop soon. I'm glad to hear you're still doing TRC! I remember our TRC guy tried to act like a non member, but he had a G-line hahaha. I'm glad you got to have some fun babysitting Skye too, cute picture! This has been the most stressful week of the mission, maybe even life. Haha. As of right now, Elder Wightman and I are both staying for another transfer. I'll explain more about that below. We started off great, we got to teach Tyrese, the basketball kid, more about the Book of Mormon. We also taught Richard about the Word of Wisdom, and he committed to follow it. He said that since he's Mexican, he drinks and smokes all the time haha. But he said he's going to stop, so that's good! We also taught Quinn, a ghetto lady from Alabama, about the Restoration. She soaked it up well. Then we taught Bobby, the football player, about the Plan of Salvation. We also taught Adrian and his kids the Plan of Salvation, and Adrian and his daughter Vanessa committed to be baptized on January 9th! His son, Justin, is still unsure, but we want to keep working with him. We had some good lessons!

We also got a bunch of investigators to mutual! We're teaching a lady named Martha, and her two kids, Stephan and Natalie. Stephan and Natalie can't come to church because they go with their dad on the weekends, so we've been trying to get them to go to mutual. This week they came! And Natalie brought a friend too! And, Adrian's daughter Vanessa came too! Also with a friend! Justin couldn't go because he was sick. The YM and YW president were surprised, but were really excited. 

Then everything hit the fan. Richard's mom doesn't want him to be baptized yet, so we pushed his date back. Then, Adrian got in an argument with his sister who he lives with, and they got kicked out of her house, and so they are temporarily not in our area now. After that, Tyrese said his mom won't let him go to church, and she won't tell him why. He did say he can still meet with us though. And then, to top it all off...... the stake is changing the ward boundaries. There were 13 units in the stake, and they are dissolving two so it's only 11 now. All units except for two are affected. We lost the western-most third of our area, but we picked up more area in the eastern part. We lost some investigators and some really cool members.

:( We lost Richard, his buddy Davy, Bobby, and Quinn. I'm so mad! We also lost the Leaver Family, the Leaver grandparents (both Leavers had us over for dinner all the time), the Fischers (the spaghetti on the table people), the (Hardmans who are pretty awesome), the Knowles (who have 2 priests that come teaching with us), and the Hendersons. It's really sad, but we're going to get to meet a lot more people. So this all happened, and our mission president didn't even know. So we might have some emergency transfers haha. As of right now though, I am staying in my area with Elder Wightman. We'll see how things go. For now we are trying to organize all the records and stuff so that we can transfer them to whoever is receiving them. It's frustrating because the elders before didn't really organize the records or update them, so we JUST finished playing catch-up, and now we have to re-organize them. Craziness. So that's my life! I hope everything settles down for you, but at least you're doing a lot of stuff! Any word on teaching opportunities in the MTC?

Love you Mis!
Trev

P.S. I'm sending pictures in a separate email

Sent 11/9/15

Sent 11/9/15

Fun with a Halloween package (sent 11/9/15)

Fun with a Halloween package (sent 11/9/15)

Fun with a Halloween package (sent 11/9/15)

Sent 11/9/15

Sent 11/9/15

Week #7

Hello all! I had a busy week. It started off great, but then went south pretty quick. Monday and Tuesday were awesome. Monday night we taught a guy named Bobby. He's HUGE. He played outside linebacker at Utah State. But he is suuuuper nice. One of the nicest people I've met here so far. We taught him about the Restoration, and he really enjoyed it. On Tuesday, we met Kenny. Kenny is from Sri Lanka, and he's verrrrrrry nice. As we were teaching, he offered us cake. We politely declined, but he got up and gave some to us anyways haha. After we finished, he asked "want more?" We said no, but he gave us more. Then he asked the same thing. We said no. He still gave us more cake. Finally we left a little bit on our plate to show him we were done. It was pretty funny, he gave us like half of his cake. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and invited him to read it, which he accepted. We also met a guy named Carlton. He had talked to us before, but then we came back and taught him some more. He's a really good guy. He's moving to Alaska soon, so we're going to have to refer him to missionaries up there. We also taught Daniel, who is a band teacher at one of the middle schools. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and he really enjoyed it. We're going to teach him again soon. Tuesday night we had dinner at the Hendersons'. We had a food challenge. She fed us sandwiches the size of my head. Four meats, various vegetables and sauces, and even coleslaw. It was delicious. I attached a video of me eating it at the bottom. Wednesday was awesome. We taught a kid named Tyrese. He's on the JV basketball team at one of the high schools here. A few days ago, Elder Wightman and I played basketball with kids in the street. The next day we rode by, and Tyrese was there. He and his buddy challenged us because he heard we played basketball with his friends. So we did. We won. Shout out to Thursday night basketball at the Binghamton Ward! Then he wanted a rematch, so we told him we have to teach him if we do. We played again and he got revenge. But then we taught him on Wednesday! We taught the Restoration and he loved it. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon. His appointment ended at 5pm, and when we got home around 9pm, he texted us and asked us why the Lamanites were cursed with dark skin, and he also wanted to know if he was cursed because he was black hahahahahaha. HE READ UP TO 2 NEPHI 5!!! In one day! Craziness. We explained it to him and he understood haha. We teach him tonight. The rest of the week was really disappointing. Lots of people had to reschedule, or they would lie to us and say they were interested, and then we would come back and they would say no. Plus, we only had one investigator at church. Hopefully we'll see more next week!
Love you guys!

Sent 11/2/15

Sent 11/2/15

Sent 11/2/15

Sent 11/2/15

Week #6

Hey Mis!

I'm glad you had a good week! That's a fun trip too. I'm glad you got to go to the temple and visit some places where Dad and Mom had been. Wish I could've gone! How's school going? I read your other email about your old convert. That's really cool! I've heard you really don't see the effects of your mission until afterwards. As for the CD, those all sound good! We actually heard some Mat Kearney on the Christian radio. I can't remember what one it was, but if you think any of his songs are Christian-themed, send those haha. Maybe some Lindsey Sterling too. Anything else that you can think of, put on there. Thank you so much! My week has been good. Tough, but good. Most of our investigators have been flaky, but we had a great opportunity to do lots of service with members. Recently we worked at the Scout expo, but this week we also helped people move and helped a younger couple put together a crib. It seems like missionaries in the past didn't really connect well with the ward, but now it seems that the ward is warming up to Elder Wightman and I. Which is big, because members play a big part in missionary work as you know. We had dinner with the Fischer family last night, where we had spaghetti-on-the-table. No plates, no utensils, no napkins. I attached some pictures and videos at the bottom. Their tradition is to do that with all the missionaries, and
then after dinner, we're supposed to rip open our poncho-garbage bags like Hulk Hogan and yell. It was fun. We got to meet with Adrian and his kids. Adrian is a really cool guy, and he's been seeking truth for a long time. He and his daughter committed to be baptized! His son still has questions, so we're holding off on a date until his son commits. We're excited though. Our first couple weeks were rough, but I can see how the Lord is blessing us as we continue His work through faith. Those Christ-like qualities that you suggested I study have helped a bunch. It's been awesome. I hope you're
doing well with school and work!

Love you Mis!
Trev

Trevor and Elder Wightman eating spaghetti on the table at the Fischer family (sent 10/26/15)

Trevor ripping open the garbage bag (sent 10/26/15)

Week #5

Hey Mis!

My week has been pretty good. We had 10 scheduled appointments for the week, and NINE cancelled. That was tough, but the Lord definitely blessed us, because within this week we met a 16 year old kid named Richard, and we taught him two lessons, and he committed to baptism on November 21! I'm really excited for him. We still have to get parental permission (he committed yesterday), but things are looking great for him. We also were able to have eight new investigators that we met on the street this week, so we definitely have been blessed.

Crazy small world moment coming up. Ready?

Elder Wightman and I worked at the Scout expo this weekend serving lunch. There we met a guy named George Warner. He's our bishop's dad. When he found out I was from NY, he asked me a bunch of questions. Do you remember Joe Liberati? He's a less active in the Binghamton Ward. When I went teaching with the missionaries, he was one of the people we visited frequently. Joe used to live in Milwaukee, where he met the missionaries and another guy. That other guy ended up being the one baptizing him. That was George Warner. 45 years later, I meet him. Weird, right? I sent dad his contact info in an effort for him to reconnect with Joe.

 

To answer your questions:

1. Did you have any success with talking to everyone on the streets this week after reading that talk? Yep! Richard was actually sitting on his roof chilling out. We hesitated to talk to him because it's sort of awkward talking to someone who's sitting on a roof. But we did anyways! And look what happened!

2. How does the whole internet access/iPad rules work? Like can you use facebook? I can actually read emails whenever I want, I just can't reply until P-Day. In our apartment complex, there's a fitness center with wifi, so I just read emails and study while I do the stationary bike or something like that. We aren't authorized to use Facebook yet. There's rumors floating around that in about a year they will authorize that. I can download apps, but only ones approved by the church. I can only download apps through a filtered app store that they use. iPads have been great though to play videos and pull up other church things in lessons, that's probably the nicest thing they assist in.

3. How long are your transfers? Transfers are every six weeks. Wednesday marks the halfway point!

4. Who did you meet with this week? Richard was the only set lesson that we had, but we had another "spot lesson" with him, and another one with a couple named Steve and Tavasha. They're really cool, we taught them the Restoration. With Richard, we taught the Plan of Salvation, and then the Gospel.

5. Would you like me to pray for anyone you are working with? I can't think of anyone in particular, but prayers for safety don't hurt!

6. How was your meeting with Adrian? The last lesson we taught him was the Restoration, but he was one that cancelled for this week. We're rescheduling with him for this week. He received the Restoration really well though!

7. What are you studying in your personal study? I took your advice, and I've been studying the Christlike attributes. Today I studied hope. Not only have these helped me become better, but they've helped me recognize and develop these qualities in others. Richard and Adrian have grown the most from what I've seen, it's been awesome.

How are things going with you? How's your semester? How's the MTC? I hope you're doing well! If there's anything you want or need from Las Vegas, let me know haha. How's the CD coming? The Disney music they have here is getting old hahaha.

Love you Mis!

Trev

 

I don't have enough time for the family email because we're leaving now, so just forward the stuff to everyone!
 

Oh by the way, there was a fire at our church building. One of the Scouts left a burner on and put a cooler on the stove. We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon cleaning up after the fire and then helping with the Scout expo. It was pretty crazy, the kitchen is completely destroyed.

 

I also forgot, can you email me a picture of our family so I can use it for my wallpaper? Thanks!

Trevor's zone at zone conference (sent 10/19/15)

Trevor with Elder Wightman at the temple (sent 10/19/15)

Trevor with his district (sent 10/19/15)

Trevor with his district (sent 10/19/15)

Trevor in his element (Five Guys) on preparation day (sent 10/19/15)

Week #4

The mission has been awesome so far! I was on an exchange with Elder Simpson earlier this week. He's really cool. He's from North Carolina, a fellow east-coaster. Anyways, when we were riding around on bikes, we came across a Brazilian lady who asked us for help. She told us that she was running away because her husband thinks she's crazy and is really mean to her. She asked us to call her son on her phone to prove she isn't crazy. As soon as she found out Elder Simpson spoke Spanish, she went on a rant in Spanish. When we called her son, he said she was crazy. Then we talked to her husband who had already called the police on her. Every time she saw her husband she got crazier, so we split them up. I calmed down the husband while Elder Simpson tried to calm down the Brazilian lady. We basically got to play peacemaker for a half hour until the police arrived. Fun times.

A couple days later, Elder Wightman and I were riding our bikes in a neighborhood. We saw some kids throwing a football around. So, we stopped and threw it around with them for like 10-15 minutes in front of their house, then we left. A couple days after that, we went to contact a referral, Adrian. When we got to the address, it turned out to be the same house we played football at! The kids that we played football with were Adrian's nephews! So we got to know them really well and we get to teach them on Tuesday! I'm super excited!

 

For Zone Lunch, we stopped at Five Guys. Made me think of my old job! I love and miss you all, I hope you're doing well!

Elder Trevor Morreall

My address is:
675 E Azure Ave
Apt #2033
North Las Vegas, NV 89081

Week #3

I'm pinched on time, so I just copied the letter for the blog:

Things are going well here in the Sierra Ranch Ward. Elder Wightman has already taught me a lot about the importance of setting goals, and pursuing them. He's also taught me the importance of street contacting, and pursuing the desire to help others come unto Christ. We've been able to have many street contacts, and have been able to connect well with those we come in contact with. In particular, on Saturday we met a woman named Cheryl while we were biking. Cheryl moved in with her son and daughter-in-law from California, where she was homeless and unemployed. Recently she has been able to quit using drugs and drinking alcohol, because she has a desire to be better. She explained that when she moved in, she prayed to find a "good church to go to". Three days later, she met us. We taught her on Sunday about the Restoration. She was very excited about it, and wanted to know more. We gave her a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and invited her to read them and to pray to know if they were true. We're scheduled to meet with her tomorrow at 3 pm, where we will teach her about repentance and baptism.

Biking has been an interesting challenge, but I feel that we have been handling it well, and it helps us be able to come in contact with more people. We've also been able to visit the Waites, a part-member family. We taught of the importance of faith to Velia Waite, a non-member, and are trying to help her come closer to Christ by inviting her to church. We hope to see her Sunday. I'm excited for this opportunity to serve, and am excited to be able to learn with Elder Wightman.

Elder Trevor Morreall

That was my letter to the President. To answer your questions:

1. My first day was very busy! My trainer got lost while driving, so we drove right by the strip, and into the West mission. Oops.

2. My trainer is Elder Wightman (White-min). He's from Rexburg, and he's been out a grand total of six weeks. We're learning together haha. He's really cool though.

3. I am in the Sierra Ranch Ward, which is in the North Las Vegas Stake. I don't know my exact address yet, but yeah haha. It's SUPER GHETTO, it reminds me of Binghamton haha. Like there are nice parts, like Binghamton, but there's a lot of sketchy areas. And yes, it is a biking area.

4. My first week was busy! We got lost again on Thursday and went into the other mission. BUT, we've been doing a lot of street contacting. There hasn't really been much success in our area recently, so we're trying to start fresh. We've had some cool experiences from it though, like the story I mentioned above. There were also some crazy stuff too. Like these two black teenagers wearing cut off sweatpants followed us around pointing their fingers, saying "you stole our religion", "y'all don't believe in Jesus", and "f*** outta here". And then there was also a chihuahua that chased us down the street barking at us. We also met three drunk black dudes, named Larry, Willy, and Vernon, that talked to us for ten minutes about everything from Donald Trump, Obama, Jehovah's witnesses, jazz music, Mohammed, taxes, beer, and Jesus. It was awesome. We gave them some pass along cards. We also had a neighbor tell us to stop by his apartment so he could "pick our brain". He obviously wanted to Bible Bash, so we stuck a pass along card in his door frame after he went to bed haha. 

5. President and Sister Snow are awesome! They're both really nice and outgoing. They're also a little more lax, which I think helps a lot since the culture here is also very relaxed. I don't really know a whole lot else about them though.

6. We visited the Waites. Brother Waite is a member. He's a returned missionary, and he has a firm belief in the church. He doesn't go to church much because his wife, Velia, isn't a member and doesn't feel comfortable going. They have a 14 month old, Brayden, and theyre a super cute family. We're trying to help Velia feel the Spirit more so she can feel comfortable, but they are suuuuuper busy. Brother Waite is an optometrist, and Velia is a veterinarian (sp?), so they're schedules are crazy. It's been super fun though. I met the bishop and his family, the Warners. He has EIGHT KIDS. AND he runs his own business. AND he's a high school volleyball coach. AND he's the bishop. It's crazy. He's suuuuper laid back though, it's awesome. We also met the Leavers. The grandparents are really laid back. Brother Leaver is in the bishopric. He reminds me of Brother Talley, minus the mustache, and he's bald. Their son lives around the corner from them. He has a wife and three kids, as well as the other two grandparents living there. They're both really fun families. They both have said that if no one signs up to feed us, we can come over any night.

So yeah! That's what's been going on. That's cool that you and Cheryl had that experience, I've definitely felt mom's presence here. That's awesome that dad is going to Utah and that he's handing off the car! Is it the Honda or Subaru?

My favorite part of conference was Elder Holland's talk Saturday afternoon. I've actually been sick since Monday at the MTC, but his talk helped me think a lot about Mom and what she went through. If she was able to accomplish what she did while she was battling, then I can stick it out here in the field while I'm facing a much more minor sickness.

 I'm fine with the USB converter by the way, I don't need it. But thanks!

I love and miss you!

 Trevor :D

 

Hey dad! That's a bummer the Yanks only got a wild card, but hopefully we'll see a miracle haha. I hope you have fun down there though! As for the iPod, I don't know, those were the only two passcodes I remember using. I haven't found out my exact address yet, but you can still send me stuff through the mission office. And the mission has been exactly that, a roller coaster. I got sick the day that I wrote you, and have not felt well ever since. It's been challenging, but it's been a great experience. I am in the Sierra Ranch Ward, which is in the North Las Vegas stake. It's a biking area, and so the bike you got has worked great! Thank you. As for the iPad, I don't receive it for two weeks, because I need to do some specific training. My trainer is Elder Wightman, from Rexburg. He's really cool. He's only had six weeks of experience, so it has been and will continue to be a learning experience. It has been fun though. I loved General Conference this weekend, particularly Elder Holland's talk Saturday afternoon. It made me think of mom and all she went through, and it's helped motivate me. If mom was able to accomplish what she did while battling, I can fight through this much more minor sickness and continue to do missionary work. I'm going to send Misa a copy of my email to the mission president, and will do the same for you. I also have some pictures I'll send, and one is particularly for you. I hope and pray that you and Asia are doing well, and I was grateful for the opportunity that we had to speak before I boarded my plane. Thank you for everything, and for providing the opportunity for me to serve. I'll send a name tag home as soon as I can.

I love you!

Elder Trevor Morreall

Trevor and Elder Aitchison on TRAX at 4:30 am - sent 10/5/15

Trevor's impression of Dad's mission - sent 10/5/15

Trevor and and Elder Wightman (his trainer) - sent 10/5/15

Dinner at the Bishop's House (Pictures from Bishop 10/4/15)