Week #67

Hey Dad!

It was great to skype you and the family last night too! I really enjoyed it. And thank you for the $100!! Hatch forgot his wallet today, so I bought him shaving cream, so the charge was like $102. He's paying me back when we get home.

Sorry if I seemed a little off during the call. I was super excited to talk with you and the girls, I've just been really worried about the zone and everything. The zone has struggled lately, both with missionary work and obedience. I've just been frustrated cuz this zone has been pretty disobedient for a while, so now that someone is actually trying to fix it, they're being super resistant. And I've been trying to help Elder Hatch, but he's suuuuper forgetful. So I either have to remind him a bunch or do it myself. Our area is struggling to, our ward is kinda complacent with missionary work right now. They're kind of accustomed to having successful missionary work, so they've been expecting us to do it on our own because we're zone leaders. It's frustrating. I've definitely learned a lot, but it's been pretty taxing lately. So that's why I've felt a little overwhelmed lately, and haven't quite been myself. 

On the bright side, the sister training leaders in our zone have been awesome. They're the ones holding it together, they've been a big support. Other than that, this week will be pretty fun! We have three exchanges, and one of them is with the APs. I won't be with Wightman, but it'll still be fun! I hope you have a great week!

Love you Dad!

Trevor

Christmas Skype call 12/25/16

Week #66

Hey Mis!

Yeah Dad told me, that's really sad. I hope the Mandarino side is taking it well. And you're right, it must be amazing to have that reunion up there! I hope your finals went well, and I'm glad you made it home safe!

My week was pretty good. We had Christmas Conference with our zone, the North Las Vegas zone, and the Central Stake and Sunrise Stake zone. It was pretty fun, I got to see some old missionaries that I have served around, and I got to see Elder Wightman again! He's still an AP, and poor guy, he looked super tired there hahaha. We've been visiting Karen pretty much daily now. She's been doing awesome! She's down to three cigarettes a day, and she's still on track for January 14th! We're stoked. I did an exchange with Elder Branning. He's a good guy. He's got 4 months left, so he's pretty old, but he's really cool. He's from Houston, Texas. He's a big baseball guy, and so I got to talk a lot of baseball with him. His uncle is Wally Joyner, the former first baseman of the Angels, so that was pretty cool. We had some good visits with people too on the exchange, luckily nothing too crazy happened!

Crazy small world moment this week. We got a referral for a guy named Robert Ramos. He was going to be in town on vacation, and was looking for the local church. He was being taught by missionaries in New Mexico, but didn't want to miss church even though he was out of town. We called him and gave him the address and time. Sunday morning, he walks into church with three kids. We greet him and start talking with him. He told us more about how he had been meeting with some sister missionaries near Albuquerque, and he thought they were really cool. As he was talking, he mentioned "Sister Peterson and Sister Hay" and I was like I KNOW SISTER HAY!! And yeah, it turned out Alex Hay is one of the missionaries teaching him. It was pretty crazy. Robert was a really cool guy too, so it sounds like things are going well for him!! It's weird how small the world is haha.

That was pretty much my week! Have fun this week, and I'll see you Sunday!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #65

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a super fun week! Take it easy with all those dates lol. They sound really fun though! And that's exciting that you'll get to be home for Christmas!! I still have the gem screenshot of Dad from Christmas last year haha.

My week was busy! Again. Haha. We had two exchanges this week, and they were both pretty interesting. One was with Elder Ryder, and the other was with Elder Williams. Ryder is from Texas and Williams is from Utah. Nothing too crazy happened on either exchange, other than when I was with Williams, I had to take a missionary to the mission office, so I traded Elder Williams for that missionary for a few hours haha. Other than that, nothing too crazy. 

The Andersons fed us on Saturday! It was fun. We went to a place called Buffet @ Asia. I took a picture of the sign, for Asia haha. It was fun being able to spend time with them. And then on Sunday, the parents were called and set apart as ward missionaries!!! We're super pumped. They have already been helping out a lot. They took Karen Brimer, TJ's grandmother, to church because she doesn't have a car, and Karen is back on track for baptism Jan. 14!! Our area has been doing super well. On Wednesday was MLC, and I actually got to see Elder Aitchison!!! He's a zone leader now in Eldorado and Lake Mead, so he's on the southeastern part of Henderson all the way through Boulder City. He's been doing well!

Last Monday, Elder Hatch's grandparents sent him a small Christmas tree with some ornaments. So, on Tuesday night, we got into some PJs and decorated the Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music hahaha. It wasn't quite the same as back home, but it was something!

That was pretty much my week! I hope you do well on your finals! Have a great week!

Love ya Mis!

Trev

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Sent 12/12/16

Week #64

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a fun week!  My week was tougher than last haha. We had a super busy week. We had a lot of good lessons, which was awesome! The Andersons are still doing great, they actually drove some people that we're teaching to church! It was awesome! 

We also met a lady named Sang Keon. She's Korean. We showed her the Christmas video that the Church put out, and she really liked it. She said that she didn't really know what to believe, because she had seen a bunch of hypocrisy in different churches. We asked her if she had ever attended an LDS church, and she said she hadn't. We invited her on a church tour the next morning. She came, and she loved it! The member there, Bro. Yi, helped us out a lot too! The ward Christmas party was later that night, and she came to that too and loved it! She wasn't able to make it to church this week though, cuz her kid got sick. But she said she wants to go next week! And we're seeing her this week too which will be fun!

Other than that, we had a lot of things going on. Some missionaries didn't send their weekly report last night on time, so we went to their place at 10:40, and found out they had fallen asleep. So that was great, haha. Sorry this is a short letter, I don't have a ton of time today. But I hope you have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #63

Hey Mis!

Thanksgiving was good. We ate with the Stanley's, a cool member family. They invited the Andersons over too which was pretty cool. Sounds like a fun week with all the traveling! I hope you got to have a good time with the family. I love the pictures too!

We had a very busy week yet again. First off, we got transfer calls, and.......... I'm staying. And so is Hatch. It should be a fun transfer, our zone did really well this last transfer, so we're hoping to build off of it! Our zone is getting a trio now, so it's the largest zone in the mission. 16 companionships, 33 missionaries. 😳😳 It sounds like the new additions though will be good for the zone though, so I'm excited!

So, remember last week how we were going to get our car back Monday? Well, we didn't. We didn't get it back till this morning. After our vehicle coordinator saw the price tag that the Firestone had that took our car in, he had it transferred to a dealership that the mission has a deal with instead. Then, the dealership didn't get a chance to work on it supposedly because of the holiday, so it wasn't finished till Saturday night, so we picked it up this morning. In the meantime though, a couple of elders let us borrow their bikes, so we were semi-mobile haha. We had a meeting with the Sister Training Leaders across the zone during the week, so we biked to their chapel and back, which was 6 miles each way. Then another day, we had to give baptismal interviews, so we biked to downtown around Fremont street, which was also about 6 miles. It was a lot, but it was actually fun!

We also have an investigator named Dominic. He's totallllllly a hippie, he's got super long hair, a beard, he's super soft spoken, and he wears jeans with sandals, and a button down shirt that has the top three buttons open everyday. But he's super down to earth and receptive! We gave him a church tour with the elders quorum president, Bro. Yi, and he really felt the Spirit! He said it made him feel "groovy". Yes, he said groovy. I felt like I was in an episode of Scooby Doo, because he kept saying "groovy" and "far out!". Hahaha. It was awesome. And then Sunday, HE CAME TO CHURCH!!! It was super cool. He loved it, and he said he'll be back next week. We're pumped!

This morning was kind of a sad morning. After we picked up our car, we had to take an elder to the mission office, so they could take him to the airport. He's only been out three months, and it's pretty sad. It wasn't a disobedience issue, he just felt he didn't have the desire to be here, and that he wanted to go home. It was a major bummer, but we can only hope that he'll be able to come back out. His companion has been pretty stressed, but we're hoping he'll handle it well. On the bright side though, Lee Anderson received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained a priest today! It was pretty cool to see. He and his family have been doing great, they love everything about church! They are so awesome, we love them to death!

That was my week! I hope you have a great week.

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #62

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a busy week! That's awesome you got to see the Becks! It's crazy to me that Jake is home now haha. Sounds like a fun trip in Boston so far too! That's awesome!

My week has been busy, but good. Our car died this week! It overheated for the third time in three weeks on Thursday. The first time, it was low on coolant, so we filled it, and then a week later, it was empty again. We took it to the shop after the third time. When we showed up, the guy said it would be a quick 2 hour fix. We came back 2 hours later, and he then told us the leak was deep in the engine, and it would be an overnight job. So, we went back the next day. The guy said that he called our vehicle coordinator to get the payment approved, but that our coordinator was out of town for the weekend, and he wouldn't be back till Monday. -_- We called our coordinator, and sure enough, no answer on his phone. So we were carless for the weekend. Hopefully we'll get the car back today! Haha. We also had a ZTC this week with everyone in our zone. It was good to see everyone, and it was a really productive meeting! Our zone has improved a lot this transfer, and it's been fun to see the growth. The Andersons also got baptized this week!!! It was such a cool experience. Each member of the family wanted a different person to baptize them, so we almost ran out of jumpsuits hahaha. It was so awesome, the whole family was tearing up at the baptism. They're an awesome family!

I hope you have an awesome week! We're having dinner with a family in the ward named the Stanleys, and they invited the Andersons over too! So it should be fun! Happy Thanksgiving!

Love ya Mis!

Trev

"ZTC" (Sent 11/21/16) 

"Baptism!! Me, Hatch, Bro. Nielsen, Leeanne, Nadine, Leeahnie,  Lee, Leeah,  Bro. Fox, and Gonzalez" (Sent 11/21/16)

Week #61

Hey Mis!

Yeah, it's crazy Trump is prez. A lot of people have been talking about it here haha. THIS WAS THE BUSIEST AND MOST STRESSFUL WEEK OF MY MISSION. It started off awesome. I exchanged with Wightman, my trainer!! It was fun. It was cool too see how much the two of us had changed in the last year since we had been companions. Some things haven't changed though, which I'll send in a separate email haha. After our exchange, we had two more exchanges right in a row. The first after Wightman was tough. The missionary I was with had some stuff on his iPad that he shouldn't have had, so I had to talk with him about it, and turn it in to President Snow. Then, the elder was so nervous about meeting with President Snow that he threw up multiple times at our apartment. -_- So that was fun. The same night I took his iPad, we got a call from the office, letting us know that a new companionship was coming to our zone.... that night. So we got to coordinate a place for them to stay the night, and find the apartment where they would stay. It was crazy.

So, back to Thursday morning, the elder was throwing up a bunch, so we exchanged back, and then started our third exchange in a row with a greenies named Elder Hodge. That was actually a really fun exchange! We exchanged back, and then we got a call from some elders needing a baptismal interview at that very second haha. So we drove to give a last-minute interview. The rest of the weekend was crazy too, the second counselor in the bishopric asked us to speak for church on Saturday night. It was a crazy week! The Anderson family is doing awesome though! They're getting baptized

Saturday! Hatch and I are getting along too, so that's been at least fun!

Sorry it's a shorter email, I have almost no time this week. Have a great week!

Love ya Mis!

Trev

"Comp unity (courtesy of Walmart - $3 each)" (Sent 11/14/16)

"Wightman exchange" (Sent 11/14/16)

"I got him back" (Sent 11/14/16)

Week #60

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a busy week. That sounds like a lot of fun. Things are well with Elder Hatch and I, we get along pretty well, which is great! I had a pretty good week! I exchanged with Elder Pacheco this week. He sat next to me on the plane ride into Vegas, so I've gotten to know him pretty well. He's a good guy, and we had a fun exchange. I also got to go on exchange with Elder Pitcher. He's an awesome guy too! He works super hard too, which is awesome. We also had interviews this week with President Snow, it was the longest interview that I've had with him! We talked a lot about our zone, and the best way to help them. It was a good interview! He's actually really funny, he was cracking some jokes in the interview. It was cool seeing that side of him, cuz he's usually not like that. We had an awesome lesson with the Andersons, the family of 5 that we're teaching! A family in our ward, the Nielsens, invited them and us over for dinner, and it was really fun! We reviewed the Restoration with them, and they soaked it up! We love them so much!

That was pretty much my week. I don't have too much time, sorry it's a shorter one. I hope you have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

"Halloween Conference I saw my MTC boys" (Sent 11/7/16)

More pics from the baptism last week (Sent 11/7/16)

Week #59

Hey Mis! Sounds like a busy week. Haha, it scares me that real life decisions are coming up. I'm freaking out 😱 I'm glad you and your friends are doing well. We had a suuuuper busy week. First off, we had a mission tour on Wednesday! Elder Timothy J. Dyches came to our mission with his wife, he's from the second quorum of the seventy. He was really cool! He's super energetic, and his wife is awesome too. Sister Dyches is actually a convert, and she's from upstate NY! She grew up in Glens Falls. I got to talk with her a little bit about NY, it was really cool! Elder Dyches talked to us a lot about working effectively, and teaching repentance and baptizing converts. I got a lot out of it, and it reminded me of the purpose of missionary work. It was awesome. I also got to see Elder Rigby, Elder Wightman, and Elder Summers there as well. It was fun to see our "posterity line" haha. 

I got to go on a couple exchanges this week too. First I went on exchange with Elder Williams. He's a new district leader in our zone. He's from Brigham City, UT, and he's a good guy! We didn't get to do a ton of proselyting sadly, because we were called to take care of some stuff in the zone, as well as to help set up for the mission tour. I also did an exchange after mission tour with Elder Bissett. He's from Canada, and he's a funny guy. We had an awesome lesson with the Anderson family again, and they came to the ward activity too! The ward did a trunk-or-treat, and it was fun! We had a few more investigators go, that was cool too. 

Saturday was busy. We had a baptism for Nathaniel Cox at 1pm. When we were about to set up for the baptism, we got a call from some elders in our zone. One elder was doing squats, and dropped the bar on his back. They contacted the mission office, and they told him not to bike. These elders had appointments that morning that they needed to go to, so we did an emergency exchange, where Elder Hatch went with the other elder, and I took the hurt elder with me in the car. After we picked up the hurt elder, we realized that we hadn't gotten the chance to fill up the font yet, and the baptism was in an hour. We quickly sped over to the chapel where the font was. As we were driving, we got a phone call from Elder Gonzalez. He got transferred to North Las Vegas, but Nathaniel had asked Gonzalez to baptize him. Gonzalez had a ride from a member lined up, but he called us less than an hour before the baptism to tell us that his member cancelled, so he won't be able to attend. We then got to call Nathaniel and see who he wanted to baptize him. He said Elder Hatch. After we turned on the font, we ran back to our apartment to grab a towel and other stuff for Hatch. In the meantime, we also made copies for the program, set up chairs, and turned on the A/C. After we had done all that, Elder Hatch showed up. We quickly took pictures, while the Bishop, pianist, and everyone else showed up. When we sat down to start, it was exactly 1 o'clock. It was insane! The baptism was really spiritual to, it was a great day!

That was pretty much my week! I hope all is well, tell everyone I say hey!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Sent 10/31/16

Sent 10/31/16

Sent 10/31/16

Week #58

Hey Mis!

Thanks for the package! I got it today. We're definitely going to have fun on Halloween! Haha. It sounds like you had a fun week! That's a bummer BYU lost, but it sounded like a good game! Have fun on your dates this coming week! Don't get married lol.

My week was busy! I got my new companion, Elder Hatch, on Tuesday. He's from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but was born in LA, and lived in Utah and Connecticut as well. He's a good guy. He's been out a little less than 8 months, so he's super young! He's pretty easy going, and he's a good missionary. We had some good lessons this week. We met with a guy

named Nathaniel again. He's an awesome guy! He's getting baptized on the 29th, and we're stoked! Elder Rigby also told me that back in Parker, two people that I taught are getting baptized that day too, so I'm going to Skype-in again! It should be fun! We also met with the Anderson family, the two parents from LA with the three teenage daughters, and they finally came to church on Sunday!! Except their middle daughter. She was too afraid to go because she's really shy hahaha. But those who came loved it!!! We're working with them for them to get baptized Nov. 19th! 

We also had ZTC this week, and it was really cool! We have an awesome zone. There wasn't anything else that

was too exciting this week. Haha. That was my week! I hope you have a great week! Sorry it's a short email, there's not much exciting things going on. Good luck with your tests!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Sent 10/24/16

Week #57

Hey Mis!

The zone is doing good. There's a lot of changes this week, and our zone will have a new companionship this transfer! There will be 30 missionaries in the zone this coming transfer, it's crazy! Sorry about your week. That's lame. And I definitely appreciate the advice. The new STL coming in is really cool, I served around her in Green Valley, so things should be good! My comp is okay. He hasn't been my favorite comp, but he's not terrible. The area has been going well though!

We had a busy week! First off, we received transfer calls. Elder Gonzalez is leaving to North Las Vegas. My new companion will be Elder Hatch. I don't know much about him, but I know that he'll be a new zone leader. It'll be interesting! I've heard a lot of good things about Elder Hatch though, so it should be fun! There was also a baptism last week in Parker. Josh Grenwalt, someone in a part member family that Elder Rigby and I taught, got baptized Saturday! I got to FaceTime in, and it was really cool! We had a ward activity on Saturday. It was a pie competition, to see who could bake the best pie. It was a fun activity! AND, the Andersons came!!! They're a family that we're teaching, and they've been doing awesome!!! They're getting baptized Nov. 5, and we're stoked!! That was the only exciting part of the week haha. The rest was busy with meetings and boring stuff. Sorry this email is lame.

That was basically my week! I hope school and work gets better for you Mis. Have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

I FaceTimed in (Sent 10/17/16)

Week #56

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a fun weekend! It seems like Asia enjoyed herself out there. Hopefully she'll enjoy the UVU tour too! And BYU beat Michigan State? Awesome! I'm glad the family is doing well out there too. As for the package, send it to the mission office, which is at:

9270 S. Maryland Pkwy

Las Vegas, NV 89123

Thanks!

I had a busy week! We had a lot of meetings. We had one on Wednesday with other zones, the APs, the MSTLs (sister APs), and President and Sister Snow. It was suuuuper long, but it was productive. It really opened my eyes to see how to best help our zone. Plus, it was fun to see Wightman again! Haha. The next day, Thursday, was zone conference, so I saw Wightman again! Haha. But it was a good meeting! It was long, but still productive. President asked if us and the STLs could give a joint training, so we did, and it was actually pretty good! We trained about finding and addressing needs in contacting, and compared it to fire. Sometimes there's smoke that makes it difficult to find the fire (their needs), but when we find the fire, we apply water. But not just any water, the water of life! Jesus Christ and His Atonement! Haha. It was super dorky, but the zone really liked it. Zone conference overall was awesome!

I hardly spent any proselyting time in my area this week. We had those two long meetings, and then I went on two exchanges out of my area this week haha. After zone conference, I went with Elder Pacheco in his area. Elder Pacheco came out the same time I did, and he actually sat next to me on the plane ride to Las Vegas, so it was good to catch up with him and get to know him better! He's from Hawaii, and he lived on the big island. His area and district had been struggling a little, so we had some good talks and plans on how to fix it. It was a fun exchange! We got to bike too, which I was really happy about. I've only had one biking area on my mission, and I honestly miss it! The bike life is the best on the mission! I also did an exchange with Elder Avery in his area. His companion is the DL, and this is his first transfer on the mission. He's a cool guy. He's from Michigan, and he just graduated high school this year. He makes me feel old haha. It was a fun exchange. He bikes as well, so I got to bike two days in a row, and I loved it! He had a lot of questions, so it was fun being able to help him out. We were biking in an apartment complex, and we came across this guy walking slowly on the sidewalk. He was sort of wobbling side to side as he walked. As we approached him, he tripped on the sidewalk and stumbled a little bit. We started talking with him, and he was hung over out of his mind. We walked and talked with him, and he invited us to come by in about an hour. He said he had to run to the store. He got into his car, backed out, almost ran over the curb, and drove away. About an hour later, we came back to the complex, and his car wasn't there. We figured he prolly got pulled over or crashed with the way he was driving haha. If I had a nickel for every time I talked to a drunk person on the street, I'd be a rich man!

Church was awesome! A guy we had been teaching named Nathaniel came to church again this week! He's getting baptized Oct. 29th! He's awesome! So that was really cool. We had some other people that we have been teaching come to church, so that was awesome too! The work in our area has been going really well!

That was pretty much my week! I hope you have a great week, and I hope school and work continue to go well!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Mission Leadership Council (Sent 10/10/16)

Zone Conference (Sent 10/10/16)

Week #55

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a tough week! But it sounds like your weekend was good! Mission reunions sound so fun! As for Asia, I really enjoyed it when you did activities with your friends and included me. Like the BYU football game, movie nights, etc. just do whatever you usually do, but include her! It made me feel really comfortable with your friends and with the BYU life!

My week has been super busy. We had two exchanges. Elder Pope came to my area. He's only been out for a few weeks, so I got to sort of show him the ropes. He's a really cool guy! He's from Idaho, just outside of Rexburg. It was cool, because we were in an apartment complex, and I told him to knock on a random door I had chose. He hesitantly walked up to the door and knocked. A short, chubby guy in his 20s answered the door. "Hola", he said. Elder Pope's face lit up. Elder Pope is an assigned Spanish speaker, so he started talking to him in Spanish. The conversation lasted for about 5 minutes, and then the man nodded, smiled, and closed the door. Elder Pope turns to me. "That was AWESOME!!!!" he said. I asked him how it went. He said that it was great, and that he understood everything that the guy said. "How did you know he was  Spanish???" he asked. "I didn't." "Whoaaaa!!!" Pope said. "Was he interested?" I asked. "Not at all,  but I got to speak Spanish!!!" Pope said. He was so pumped, it was pretty funny hahaha. I also exchanged with Elder Brantley, from North Carolina. I went to his area on bike, and it was pretty cool!! He's a great missionary too. We have a lot of great young missionaries in our zone!

We had some fun lessons this week too. One of them was with the Anderson family. They're awesome!, she had been taught by missionaries 18 years ago, but never got baptized. Now she wants to, and so does the rest of her family!! They're really cool! We taught reviewed the Restoration to help catch up the dad and the rest of the kids up to speed, and it was awesome! The dad, Lee, was like "it all came together!! It makes sense!! It's about time a church made sense!! Haha it was pretty funny. 

And, of course, Conference was awesome! All the talks were great, but Elder Ballard's stuck out to me a lot. I liked when he asked those who leave the Church "where will you go?" It's so true. Where else are we going to find an endless amount of love and mercy, other than in the Lord's church? I love Elder Ballard. 

We also had some tough things to deal with this week too. Like in one companionship, a missionary found his companion's open notebook, and in it were hateful, nasty comments toward him. On the surface though, their companionship seemed to be find. Sooooooo we got to settle that one this week. There's been a lot of gossip and stuff floating around the YSA Ward about one missionary in that ward, so that missionary had been freaking out a lot, so we got to go calm that companionship down. It's been an interesting few weeks haha.

Have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #54

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a pretty fun date! Who's this dude, hmmmmmmm???? Haha. Sorry for the late email, we have meetings like the whole morning, it sucks.

My week was busy again. We had three exchanges this week. I first was with Elder Ryder in my area. He's one of the district leaders. It was a good exchange, it was pretty productive. We talked a lot about his stewardship and how to best help them. Then I went on exchange with Elder Alvarez. His companion is another one of the district leaders. He's a good guy. He's a little different, but he means well. He's from Ohio, so it was kinda cool working with another person from the east. 

Then, I went on exchange with Elder Green. He's one of the assistants, and he's a really cool guy! I learned a lot from him. We were in our area. And he talked to me a lot about leadership, and how to strengthen my zone. He's from Rexburg, ID, so I got to talk to him about BYU-I a little bit too. We had a funny dinner appointment. We ate dinner with two older sisters in the ward, and one of the sister's son. The table was against the wall on one of the long sides, and they had a chair at each short end, and a bench on the other long side. We asked where we should sit, and they invited us to sit wherever. One lady was sitting in a chair on the end, so Elder Green sat down on the piano bench. I was about to sit next to him, but then the other lady sat next to him. He was in between the two ladies. It was even funnier, because the bench was a piano bench, so it was super small. He was soooooo uncomfortable, it was pretty funny. I comfortably sat in the other chair at the end of the table, and smiled at Elder Green. He looked at me as if to say "I'm stuck!". Hahahaha it was pretty funny. 

We had some cool teaching appointments on the exchange though! Karen, TJ's grandma (TJ just got baptized), met with us that night. She had brought up the concern about her smoking for 40+ years, and how she really wanted to get baptized, but didn't think she could quit. We taught the Plan of Salvation again with them, and we focused a lot on the Atonement. It was SUPER spiritual. She realized she had received her answer, and that she can do it. Next time we visit her, we want to set up a plan to help her quit. She's super humble, so we're excited!

Elder Gonzalez and I had to handle a lot of disobedience again this week. It's frustrating, because it affects all aspects of the work. We've had a lot of meetings this week too. Elder Gonzalez and I have been struggling a little bit too. We haven't seen eye to eye lately, so it's been tough trying to work together. Hopefully we'll figure it out though, it's definitely a good learning experience!

Sorry the email is short, we still have errands to run and my time is limited. But I hope you're doing well!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #53

Hey Mis!

Holy cow! Sounds like a busy week. I'm glad you a had a good bday! How's the old crew doing? That's cool that you got to see Kendal, Joanna, and all them! How are they doing?

I had a BUSY week. We did a couple exchanges this week. I went with a district leader named Elder Pitcher. He's from Canada (eh?). It was cool, cuz I found out that when he was serving in Canada for a little bit waiting for his visa, he served in the same district as a friend of mine from BYU-I! Which was crazy. It was a fun exchange! I also did an exchange with Elder Loutzenhiser. He's a good guy from Idaho. We were biking home at night, when we saw a gray car pull to the side of the road, and a guy frantically jumped out and ran to the side of the car. As we pulled up on her bikes, he was freaking out, yelling and screaming. We asked what was going on, and he said he just got a flat tire driving his mom's car. We helped him move his car to a safer place, and we looked through his car to find the tools. He had a spare and a jack, but no socket wrench or crowbar. So, he called his brother. After about a half hour his brother came with a crowbar, only to find that it was too small. So, his brother went to Walmart to pick up a new one. After a little less than an hour, his brother came back, and we helped replace the tire. During the time that we were waiting for his brother, we started talking with him. His name was Rudy, and he was home visiting from college in Arizona. He played football at college, and came back just for the weekend. It was cool because as we were talking to him, he opened up a lot about his beliefs. He said that he had a lot of Mormon friends in high school, and that a lot of them were on missions. It was cool that he opened up so much! While we were waiting, we asked him how long ago the tire had blown out before we showed up. He said about five seconds. It was pretty awesome!! We waited with him the whole time he was waiting for his brother, and so we had a really good talk with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he drove off. It was cool to see how we were at the right place and the right time, and we definitely planted a seed!!

We also had two baptisms this week on Saturday! TJ, a 9 year old boy, was his first in his family to get baptized. His mom and grandma are going to be baptized in a few weeks, so that'll be super cool! A 13 year old boy named Ka'vontay also got baptized! He's a funny kid. His grandma got baptized a few months ago, and he finally decided to get baptized too! It was super cool.

The rest of the week was super busy. There was a BUNCH of disobedience this week that we had to resolve too, so that wasn't fun. It was overall a pretty productive week though!

That was my week! I hope things go well this week. Happy belated! We had two baptisms on your bday, so there ya go haha.

Love ya Mis!

Trev

Sent 9/19/16

Sent 9/19/16

Week #52

Hey Mis!

I'm sorry Friday was tough. I have days like that too sometimes. It's like some random day I start thinking about her a lot, and it gets to me. They happen, but what has helped me is trying to do what I can to make her proud. I know she cares a lot about us, so I try to think of what she would want, and it makes me feel a lot better. I know she's proud of us, and she's doing her own work on the other side as well. I hope things get better for you :) My week has been STRESSFUL!!! Definitely the most stressful of my mission. 

We had a bunch of meetings this week. We met with the Stake High Councilor over missionary work in both the Paradise and East stakes this week, as well as with the Stake President of the Paradise Stake, as well as the Sister Training Leaders multiple times, as well as our Zone Training Council. When we met with the stake leaders, they hounded on the zones for being obedient. I guess in the past missionaries in this zone were super disobedient, so it's going to be interesting trying to build stuff back up. There had been a BUNCH of transfers this round (of 28 missionaries in the zone, 15 are new this transfer, 7 have been here for six weeks or less), and so it's been hectic getting everything organized. We have an interesting group of missionaries in the zone as well. They have a lot of potential, but it's going to be interesting to see how they all mesh with each other.

As for my area, it's a pretty sweet area! The work here has been going strong for a while here. Plus, I'm right in the heart of the city. The Strip, the UNLV campus, and the airport are all in my area. They're all in my area, and they are all red zones haha. But is fun still seeing them as we go about. The ward here is small, but it's a good ward. The ward council has been on board for missionary work for a while now, so it should be fun. Each ward I've served in so far had been hurting in missionary work when I arrived, so it'll be interesting learning to keep the momentum going rather than trying to start from scratch. My companion is Elder Gonzalez. He's a good guy. He's from Florida, and he's been out 15 months. He's one of the few missionaries left from last transfer, so he's been pretty stressed trying to bring everything back together. It should be an interesting six weeks!

We have two baptisms this week, a nine year old named TJ and a 13 year old named Kavontay. TJ was found through an investigator, and Kavontay is from a part member family. They're both really cool kids! They were pretty much completely taught by the time I got here, but it'll be fun to watch a baptism! Haha. They were really the only two we had consecutively taught, we didn't have much proselyting opportunities because of meetings. It's pretty interesting, because now we're supposed to focus more on the companionships in the zone and their areas more than ours. It's an interesting perspective, it really shows you how to be selfless and charitable. Like there were some elders this week that needed us to pick them up and take them to the office to get bikes. It was right in the middle of the day, and we already had plans to visit some people. But, we decided to go. The whole thing took about 2 hours, but the missionaries we took really appreciated it, and I feel like they respect us even more! It was pretty cool.

That was pretty much my week. We had a TON of meetings, so I didn't get to proselyte much, but it was still an eventful week. I hope you have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Week #51

Hey Mis!

So a Coldplay concert definitely doesn't classify as a boring week haha. And yeah, I got to call Dad! I wasn't too thrilled about the reason why, but I wasn't going to turn down a free phone call home! I'm sorry I wasn't allowed to call you, I wish you were home for it! 

It was an interesting week! We got to see the Grenwalt family again! When I say we, I mean Elder Rigby. The last time we were at the Grenwalts, they asked what my favorite food was. I told them it was fettuccine alfredo. They were like "okay, we're making that for dinner next week!" I was super pumped. But, as luck would have it, we ended up organizing splits that day, and I went to the other appointment and missed out on it -_- But, they sent some home with Elder Rigby, so I still got to have some!! Haha. But Elder Rigby had a really cool lesson with them, and they talked about doing a baby blessing for their 18 month old, Kyler. So we did it on Sunday! It was awesome. It was pretty funny because when we were holding him during the blessing, he kept screaming and wailing the whole time, and right when the person giving the blessing said "amen", he stopped, and we handed him back to Josh haha. He was quiet the rest of sacrament hahaha.

We had a lesson with the Brinkerhoff/Morales family on Saturday. The kids that we were teaching, Jiovanny and Julysses, had been begging to be baptized for the longest time, so it's been fun teaching them! We received transfer calls that day, and when they found out I was leaving, they were super sad! And so was their dad, Cody Brinkerhoff haha. We said goodbye after the lesson, and Elder Rigby and I started to drive to our next appointment. Then we get a phone call from Cody Brinkerhoff. We answered, and he was like "Elders! We want to do the baptism tomorrow! We've waited too long!" We had taught them everything, but they had never gotten around to picking a specific date. We immediately contacted our ward mission leader and the zone leaders. Miraculously in less than 24 hours, we got the interview, organized the baptism, and invited the ward to come attend, and the outcome was AWESOME!! The building was PACKED with people, it was pretty sweet. And there was an awesome Spirit there too! Jiovanny and Julysses had a great time, and they were super happy to get baptized. I sort of felt like I was in a South American mission, with people getting baptized the next day haha. It was definitely stressful getting everything organized, but it was fun!

Elder Rigby and I also had a funny experience this week. Hunter De Leon, who is serving a mission soon, spent the evening going around with us. At the end of the night, we stopped at McDonalds to get some food. We pull up to the first window, and I hand Rigby a Restoration pamphlet. After we get our change, we gave the cashier the pamphlet, and we drove to the next window. As we're driving to the next window, I'm looking around the back seat, trying to find another Restoration pamphlet. "What's the hold up?" Rigby asked. "I can't find a Restoration pamphlet!" I said, "I only have Chastity left." Rigby and Hunter looked back at me with grins. "Can we???? Please?????" Rigby said. I looked at Rigby, then down at the Chastity pamphlet. "Pleaseeeeee????" So, I gave it to him. We got our food, and Rigby handed the worker the Chastity pamphlet. "Have a nice night!" Rigby said, and he drove away. We all died laughing. There are many ways we can share the gospel! Haha.

As you know, I'm getting transferred to Paradise/East. It'll be fun because I've never been on that side of Vegas, so it'll be interesting! My new companion will be Elder Gonzalez. I don't know him very well, but I heard he's a really good guy! So it should be fun. There was also a mid-12 week meeting in Vegas which was cool. It was fun to see everyone else who is training.

That was my week! I hope you have a fun week! Try to stay focused at work, even though you've got some distractions :P haha.

Love you Mis!

Trev

Mid 12-week (Sent 9/5/16)

Eloy De Leon Jr., Rigby, Kyler, Josh Grenwalt, and me after the baby blessing (Sent 9/5/16)

Rigby, Julysses, Jiovanny, and me (Sent 9/5/16)

Bro. Johnson- he came out teaching a lot! (Sent 9/5/16)

Week #50

Hey Mis!

Glad to hear you had a decent week. I'm glad you're settling into your job and apartment! That's cool you got to see your friends! I remember when I had friends, but now I'm a missionary haha. I'm glad you like your ward too! I'd actually hate that ward haha, but I'm glad you like it! My only student ward had about a 50/50 split, but the pre-mi to RM ratio was 2:64,738,875,261. It was just me and a kid from Georgia haha. Thanks for being willing to send me a package too! No rush for when it gets here.

I had a pretty good week! I did an exchange with Elder Demetropoulos, one of the elders in Blythe. He came up to Parker and worked in my area. It was an interesting exchange. He's sort of a goofball, but he does work really hard. We had a lesson with a guy named Marcus Tuchawena (too-shoo-way-na). He's a really good guy! He's in a band, he's pretty cool. We taught him about the BoM. His uncle just passed away and was a member of the Church, and his uncle always talked to him about it and told him to read it, but he never did. Elder Demetropoulos and I taught together pretty well, so it was cool to see. Later in the week when Elder Rigby was back, we went back to his house. We knocked, and his grandpa opened the door. His grandpa was a less active member. We sat down with him, his wife, and Marcus, and we chatted for a little bit to try and break the ice. As we were talking, the grandpa, Ron, started to break down. He and his wife had been raising Marcus, they hadn't been to church in years, and he said that he feels responsible for Marcus not being taught the gospel growing up. He says that he feels that he'll be accountable for that one day, and so he wants us to teach Marcus the gospel, and Marcus agreed. It was a suuuuper spiritual experience, seeing the testimony of this man who hadn't been active in the church for so long. But his testimony was still there!! So we're going to see Marcus on Tuesday, and we're excited!!

We also visited with Josh and Iliana Grenwalt this week. We were on splits, and I was with a member named Bro. Lamb. Bro. Lamb and I taught the Plan of Salvation, and they soaked it up like a sponge! We invited Josh to be baptized on a specific date that he chose, and he said "how about sometime in October?" Elder Rigby and I had planned on inviting Josh to be baptized Oct. 1st beforehand, so it worked out perfectly! Funny how things work like that! There was also one time this week where Rigby and I were visiting people in a housing complex called 100 Homes. In the middle of the complex, there were some basketball courts (where we often pros-balled). Rigby and I approached a house, and as we walked up to it, we saw a younger guy shooting hoop. He was Native, had a black Crompton SnapBack on, shirtless, wearing some sagging shorts and white socks and high tops. As we knocked on the door and waited for the answer, we watched him shoot hoop. Shot after shot, he missed, and missed badly. We knocked on the door again, and continued watching. He still kept missing. Finally, he gathers himself and walks to the free throw line. He composes himself, and then shoots a free throw. It ends up being a brick that bounces right back to him. Frustrated, he yells, and he chucks the basketball back at the hoop, turns around, and starts to walk away. As he walks away, the ball hits the backboard perfectly, and comes straight back to the guy walking away. BAM! The ball hits him right in the back of the head, and he falls to the ground. Rigby and I lost it!! It was soooooo funny. We were laughing for a solid five minutes. Luckily, the guy didn't see us, but it was hilarious!! Easily the funniest thing I had seen the whole month. We wished we had caught it on video!

Saturday was an interesting experience. We went to visit Ronnie Thomas at 10 am. As we pull up, we see a car already out front of his house. We knock, and Ronnie answers. "Ahhhh man," he says, "the JWs are here, they sort of just dropped in. Can you come back a little later?" We told him yeah, but we also asked him if he had been reading the Book of Mormon and Bible and praying, which he said he had. We told him we would come back in about an hour. He said okay and we said goodbye. We left and visited some people. We came back a little later, this time at around 11:30, and that car was STILL THERE. We knocked on the door, and Ronnie answered again. "They're still here!" he said. "Dang Ronnie, that's a long visit don't ya think?" I said. "Yeah I know!" he said, "but I think we're almost done. Can you come back later today?" Rigby and I looked at each other. "Okay," I said, "but make sure you keep reading the Book of Mormon and the King James Version of the Bible, okay Ronnie? Remember, they do compliment each other, and bring the fullness of the gospel together! You can always pray about it too, Ronnie, because God will always tell you what is actually truth, okay bud?" I heard a sigh from Ronnie's living room. "Okay, sounds great!" Ronnie said. We left. (I can be a little snarky sometimes.)

We came back later that night at about 8:30pm. As we walked up to the door, we saw a "PRIVATE PROPERTY: NO TRESPASSING" sign on Ronnie's door. So, we knocked. Ronnie answers, and his face lights up. "Hey guys, come on in!" We walk in and sat down. He told us that the Jehovah Witnesses that were there put that sign up, and said that that'll keep people away from him. We were mildly amused, and then Ronnie told us after we left the second time, the Jehovah's Witnesses started to tell Ronnie all these bad things about Mormons, and how false our beliefs were, and about how we don't use the Bible. Ronnie said that he didn't like the way they bad-mouthed us at all, and that it wasn't very Christ-like. We agreed. So, Ronnie allowed us to make an alteration to the No Trespassing sign (which I'll send a picture in a separate email), we shook his hand, and we left. Ronnie has been doing very well lately, and he's getting even closer to baptism! We're super excited.

That was my week! Pretty crazy stuff. We have a baptism this Saturday which I'm stoked about! It's a part-member family that's getting baptized. Parker hasn't had a baptism for a while. The font has been so dry that there were cockroaches in it when we cleaned it last week. Yick. Things have gotten better in this area! I'm excited. I hope you have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

"We thought the sign was funny, so Ronnie let us alter it a bit. :)" (Sent 8/29/16)