Week #45

Hey Mis!

Sounds like good week with all the birthdays. Mom's bday was tough for me, but a PMF in my last area got baptized that day, which was cool. I saved that picture of Asia as her contact on my iPad hahaha. So we had an eventful week. To start off, we went on splits four times with members! It was super cool, and we got a lot of work done! The members are getting more excited for the work here in Parker. We found a really cool teenager named Isaac. He's a super cool kid! He wasn't super into God when we talked with him at first, but when we taught the Restoration, it peaked his interest! He really liked the Plan of Salvation too, he asked a ton of questions about "judgement day" hahaha. He's a really cool kid! On one of our splits, I went with a kid named Landen, who's getting ready to submit his papers. He's a really cool kid! He lost his dad to cancer a few months ago, so I had a really good talk with him about mom's situation and still trying to leave on a mission. The lesson we went to, Landen testified really well, and the investigator felt the Spirit super strong!! We also had four people come to church this week! The Diaz family came, except for the mom. They're doing super well, hopefully they can get baptized soon! Another lady named Theresa randomly showed up to church. She came with a friend, and we talked with her. She looooooves church, and so we're going to start teaching her!! A part member family in my last area also got baptized on Saturday. Saturday was rough cuz of mom's birthday, but the baptism made me feel better! I got to FaceTime in which was cool. It was a great week this week!

We also received transfer doctrines. Elder Peterson is going to North Las Vegas, with a missionary who's a pretty good guy. I'm staying in Parker. I'm still a district leader 🔫, but now as if I wasn't stressing before...... I'M TRAINING. It's going to be a crazy transfer. I'm excited but nervous too. I'm still figuring out how to be a DL, and now I'm training haha. It should be interesting. I'm going to have to go back into Vegas again to pick up my greenie, so it should be an eventful week. That was my week! How's the ward doing? How's the office? What are you doing for fun in NY? Have you seen Whitney or Marshall or Joanna or anyone lately? It was Marshall's bday last week. I hope you're doing well!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Leakehe and my replacement lol. (Elder Excell - he's a cool guy) Sent 7/25/16

Week #44

Hey Mis!

Sounds like a fun but long week! That's cool that Tyler was down there. Are you guys doing anything for Asia's bday? We had an interesting week. We had a great lesson with Randi, one of our investigators, on Saturday. She hasn't come to church lately, so we had to be a little bold and tough with her when inviting her to church. She committed to go. So on Sunday morning, a member volunteered to give her a ride. We went with the member to go pick her up, and we knocked on her door to find her in her PJs. She said she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go. This had been the third or fourth week she had said that. So, we dropped her on the spot. It's frustrating that she isn't progressing, but even more frustrating when it's up to her, and she chooses not to. She texted us later and told us to come back, but we didn't. Sometimes, the best help we can give is to let people go. It's tough, but sometimes it's necessary. 

On the bright side, we had some pretty sweet miracles too! I got to do an exchange with Elder Demetropoulos this week in my district. He's from Hawaii, and he's been out for about seven months. It's funny cuz he's a body builder, but he skips leg day hahaha. He's pretty big on top, but he's got skinny legs. A lot of people tease him about it, but he's a really awesome guy. They had some cool people that they were teaching, their area is doing really well. We got to give a blessing on exchanges, and I was really impressed with him because he's sort of a goof, but he buckled down really well and gave a great blessing. It was pretty neat. For our area, we're still in the process of rebuilding. We dropped a lot of people this week, but at the same time, we found new people too! We've been teaching a guy named Daniel Holt, and he's doing really well. He wasn't really big into religion or God, but he's been getting really into the Book of Mormon! After his lesson, we left his house, and a guy was walking towards his door. As we were passing by him, we stopped to talk with him. His name was Jacob, and he was a really good dude. He's Daniel's brother, and he just got off of his shift at work. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon, and he was really interested by it! So we're teaching him when we go visit Daniel again tomorrow. We also reconnected with the Diaz family. They had been out of town for a while, but they just got back in town. We read the Book of Mormon with them since they had been struggling to read. We read with them Lehi's dream, and they loved it! They're a lot of fun. 

That was pretty much my week. Peterson and I are struggling right now honestly. He's sort of checked out cuz he thinks he's getting transferred next week. It's been an interesting transfer. I've learned a lot though, definitely helped with patience and humility. How's the ward doing? I heard there's a new bishop. How are the missionaries? Anything happen in the ward's mission efforts? Have a great week!

Love ya Mis!

Trev

Week #43

Hey Mis!

I actually have not gotten the package yet :/ idk if you sent it to the mission home or my trailer. If it got sent to the mission home, it takes a little longer to get out here to Parker. But thank you so much in advance!! My week has been very eventful. We're teaching a lady named Randi. She's supposed to get baptized next week, but before she does she needed to quit smoking this week and come to all three hours of church. We've been working with her for a while now, and this week, she gave us her last cigarette pack and said that she was "done" with smoking!!! Elder Peterson and I celebrated by making a video, which I'll send in a separate email. It was frustrating though, because we called her Sunday morning to come to church, and she said she wasn't feeling well and she wouldn't be able to make it. :(

It was really disappointing, so we're going to push her date back. We're going to give her a few days to rethink some things and clear her head. She's suuuuuper close though. We were also teaching a guy named Ronnie Thomas. He's a really good guy, and loved talking to us, but his pastor found out and got involved which I mentioned in an email a few weeks ago. Well, his pastor decided to pull a Satan and take away Ronnie's agency, so Ronnie called us and said that he didn't want to meet with us anymore because he didn't want to disappoint his pastor. So, we stopped by his house and talked with him. He said that his pastor talked him out of it, which was really sad. If he had told us on his own it would've been one thing, but the fact that the pastor was choosing for him was what got us mad. It happens though. 

On Wednesday they had an extended-Mission Leadership Council in Vegas, so the ZLs picked me up and we drove to the meeting. It was fun because we drove right through my old area in Green Valley, so I saw some familiar places haha, it was fun. It was a really good meeting too. All the ZLs and STLs were there, and hey invited all the DLs for the meeting. It was really cool to see how the mission is run from that perspective, I learned a lot! I also got to see my trainer, Elder Wightman. He's a ZL so it was cool to get to see him! I also got to see Elder Williams and Robinson, from my MTC district!!! They're both DLs, so I got to see them. The meeting was super cool, they emphasized a lot of obedience haha. 

Sooooo Sunday was interesting. We had just finished comp study, and I went to the bathroom right before we left our trailer for church. As I was leaving the bathroom, I turned the knob and heard a "ping" sound. I tried to turn the knob, but it wasn't doing anything. I wiggled the knob, and it still didn't do anything. I was trapped. I yelled for Peterson, and he came over and tried to pick the lock. No dice. He got a screwdriver and took the knob off. The bolt that opens and closes the door was stuck, and we couldn't open the door. So, Peterson had to break it down. I was in there for about a half hour before he broke the door down, and we barely made it to church on time. First our trailer had a bunch of bugs, now the doorknobs are locking me in. I'm never living in a trailer after the mission haha. That was pretty much my week haha. It was a slower week with our investigators, so we're going to focus a lot on finding people to teach this week. Any fun plans this week? 

Have a great week!

Love you Mis!
Trev

Sent 7/11/16

Sent 7/11/16 

Sent 7/11/16

Sent 7/11/16

Sent 7/11/16

Week #42

Hey Mis! Sounds like a super fun week! That sounds like a really fun reception! I think Jenn Blosil is on one of my efy CDs haha.

We made a lot of progress this week, both in the area, and in our companionship. One of our people with a baptismal date, Randi, came to church and has almost quit smoking! She's soooo close, and she loved coming to church. We met with a guy named Larry again. We met with him last week, and he had brought up a concern that he had a weird dream. He said in his dream he was praying, and that he was surrounded by darkness. Then, he saw a dim glow in front of him, which slowly started to get brighter. Then he woke up. He was super confused. So, Elder Peterson and I shared 1 Nephi 8 with him his week about Lehi's dream, and it was really cool how much he got into it. He invited his wife, Dominique, to join too, which was cool because she wasn't super big in joining the lessons. But she soaked it up like a sponge too. We're going to see them again his week. 

We also got to see a lady named Renée Fisher. She lives with her grandparents, who she had been taking care of because they are both ill. We stopped by this week, and she told us that her grandmother passed the week before. She also said that she lost her mom, dad, and now grandmother within the last five years. We had a member with us who bore a powerful testimony about eternal families, and I explained to Renée how the Plan of Salvation has blessed our family. It was neat because she was saying that she feels a special spirit and happiness when she talks with us, and that's why she keeps inviting us back. It was super cool. We've been teaching her brother, Lewis, as well, and he's pretty cool too! We also had Zone Conference this week. It was neat to see President and Sister Snow, and I learned a lot from it! Since it was a two hour drive from our trailer to Zone Conference, the ZLs invited us to stay the night before at their apartment. I got to know them super well, and they're really cool! 

We met with Bishop Nelson yesterday. He's a reallllly good guy. He sat us down and talked to us about how the work is going. He said that he's seen more work going on in the last three weeks than he has in the last three years, and he's very excited about it. It's tougher trying to get members out here in Parker, because the ward is small and the boundaries are so big. But, it's not impossible. They called a few more ward missionaries to help out, so I'm excited that things are turning around here! Bishop has helped Elder Peterson out a lot too, and he had said that Elder Peterson has come a long way since he first got transferred here. He's changing for the better, which is good! And he's keeping me more humble too haha. He's not afraid to mention something when I mess up, which is good haha. Like I mentioned earlier, Randi is almost ready to be baptized, and Ronnie Thomas is close too! He's the one with the annoying pastor, but he's going to talk to her about finding a new usher for their church haha. So we'll see!

This week should be a busy week. There's an extended-mission leadership conference this week back in Vegas, so we have to leave Parker by 5:00am🔫 The ZLs are gonna pick me up, so Elder Peterson will be on splits pretty much he whole day. We have a lot of appointments his week too, so it should be a busy but fun week!

As for my birthday, we're going to Lake Havasu as a zone, so that'll be fun! I've been thinking a lot about mom this morning, and how excited she would get for my birthday. More excited than me lol. I remember how bad she felt those years we either took you down to or picked you up from efy on my birthday hahaha. Good times. I hope you have a good holiday! Have a great week!

Love you Mis!

Trev

Zone Conference (Sent 7/4/16)

The bow tie Grandma sent me for my b-day (Sent 7/4/16)

The bow tie Grandma sent me for my b-day (Sent 7/4/16)