Monday 11/19/2012 - Sunday 11/25/2012

Monday is of course P-day so we did the usual of cleaning, shopping and emailing. We also helped an older lady finish packing up her stuff to move. She is the mother of a lady in our ward and was really nice. I also got a haircut so I could only write one letter. We also went to the Looney's for Family Home Evening and Amy told us she wants to be baptized! We also watched Elder Olsen's video that he made in high school. It is done pretty well. Then we were running to the car because we needed to get home on time. While we were running my right leg was eaten by a hole and I just biffed it! We laughed so hard!!

Tuesday we had Zone Training and that was way good to be at. The ZL's were way good and so was Elder Faulkner. I even took notes of Elder Faulkner because he was that good! He is going home after this transfer. Went and talked to TJ Davis about receiving the priesthood. We have to get him to church so he can receive that.

Wednesday we went and helped the Ronald McDonald House with a bunch of stuff. Then we went contacting all day. Walked a bit while our car was getting an oil change and we had no luck. Went to Sonny's BBQ and had all you can eat pulled pork and also sliced pork! It was so good!!! That night the Spanish Elders ran in and told us that the family they have been teaching for a long time finally committed to baptism!

Thursday was Thanksgiving!!! Elder Olsen forgot his tag and didn't have it on all day so we called him Brother Olsen haha. We went to the Presidents for a little bit and ate there and then we headed to the O'Conners for some more food! There were a few families from the ward over at their house. We ate and also made gingerbread man ornaments. Then we went to the Looney's and ended up just talking about random crap and unfortunately didn't talk about as much gospel stuff as we would have liked. Missed my Mom's yams though...nothing can beat those! Funny thing happened at the end of the night. Elder Olsen found his name tag in his pocket. He had it all day.

Friday is first of all my cousin Shannon's Birthday so Happy Birthday!!! We had a busy day. Started with Marsha Turner, we helped her finish a path in her yard and she told us an awesome story about the experience she had with her father when he passed away. She opened up to us a lot so hopefully we can get her to listen to our message eventually. After that we headed to Woodville to contact some people. We met a lot of people and had a weird moment by accidentally asking for a guy that was dead. Later we realized we asked for the wrong guy and that the other guy isn't dead.

Saturday was my birthday!! 20 years old! I don't know where the time goes. For some reason we put a bunch of candy in the toilet and they sang happy birthday and then I made a wish and flushed the toilet. Florida beat Florida State which is sad for most in this town. We taught Amy about tithing and committed her to live it and committed her to December 15th to get baptized! When we were home the Spanish Elders ran into our place and gave me Laker pajama pants and that was Sweet!!

Sunday is always great! Had meetings and church as always! Met a guy that the Sisters met named Bahiro and we will be teaching him. He is from Ethiopia and has a catholic background. Awesome guy! Also got a new investigator named Felicia. She seems like she could be a great member! Great Week!

Monday 11/12/2012 – Sunday 11/18/2012

Monday was a busy P-day. We washed our cars…by hand, had some pizza at Stevi B's, emailed, shopped, cleaned and then had dinner. The highlight of the day was going to the Looney's and taught Amy about the gospel!!! She has been reading and praying all on her own! We taught her how to recognize the spirit and about the word of wisdom. She committed to live the word of wisdom. Then we played a card game called BS and that was way fun.

Tuesday we tried to see Zach and he said it wasn't a good time. Later we went to Rosalin Davis' to talk to her about her son getting the priesthood. They are less active so we have to get them to church first. We ended up tracting a lot today and getting appointments canceled on us. My ears are still plugged so we used these "ear candles" and it helped but not completely.

Wednesday we tried to see Ramon and we are pretty sure he gave us the wrong address so we tracted a lot. Went to see a referral, Alisha, and she wasn't home so we tracted and found a girl named Takeisha. She is doing a project for school about religion so we taught her a bit and she wanted to come to church to see what it is all about. She jokingly said that she might just get converted haha. So we are going to see what that turns in to. We also did more ear candles and I fell asleep praying.

Thursday I had my first Zone Conference! It was really good and I learned a ton from it and took a lot of notes. It went from 8:15 to about 4:30ish. We found out that by October of next year we will have 100 Sisters. Right now we have 12. When that ended we went and got 69ers with the other Elders that we drove to Zone Conference. Then we went to Tabatha's for a lesson with Keith and she wasn't home so we took Keith home and then went to dinner with Brother Gorby. He is Rod that I baptized a while back. I played chess on his iPad and I actually won a game! Then we went to the Looney's to teach Amy again and it was kind of a weird lesson because the spirit just didn't feel like it was there.

Friday we had to do our weekly planning. After that we went to our appointment with Beth and she wasn't home, but we did get to see Dewayne. So we stopped and talked to him and committed him to read and pray. We also committed him to go to church. Then we went to see Beverly and Walter, but they cancelled on us so we went to see Malcolm and Kai (Ky). They are a couple that Elder Olsen used to teach. They know we believe in Christ, but they think we have false prophets and all that. So we testified a lot.

Saturday we had two of our solid investigators, Dewayne's family and Whitney, cancel on us. It was still a good day though. We went to see some referrals and did some fruitless tracting. Then we went to the Stuckey's and talked to Brother Stuckey. Really cool guy and we got a referral from him. Then we had to jet to go get Keith and go to dinner and to an appointment. Our appointment fell through, but Tabatha did say she wanted to go to church Sunday. Took Keith home and headed to an appointment that fell through, but we did help a guy named Allen. We temporarily helped him fix his car. He was 50 miles from home, but after we helped him he called us cause he kept breaking down.

Sunday we found out Allen did make it home luckily. Then we went to church and Takeisha did come. She is very outspoken and she speaks her mind. She thought a lot of things we did were weird. We also found out from Sister Looney that Amy does want to get baptized!!! I am very happy for her. Then we ate and studied after church and meetings before heading to get Keith to go to Tabatha's. We found out that Tabatha knows the Book of Mormon is true she just has some complications.

Monday 11/5/2012 - Sunday 11/11/2012

Monday we shopped and then went to lunch with a brother from our ward named Johnathan Liedy. Nice guy; he has gone through some rough times but is doing better now. We ate at Moe's which is a bad version of Cafe Rio, but still pretty good. Then we cleaned and emailed and then went to dinner. Weird thing is that the Oaks brought us to Moe's as well. I am thankful for members, but that was a lot of Moe's. Then we went to do Family Home Evening with the Looney's again and they fed us some dessert or desert. I can't remember how to spell that.

Tuesday, Election Day, we had District Meeting and I needed it. Tuesday's can be hard for me because it is the day after emailing. After District Meeting we went to Walter's to play some chess which was pretty good, Elder Olsen lost. We just can't seem to beat him. We went to see a bunch of people which mostly fell through. Then we went to a less active family, the Hollingers. Their son met Barrack Obama, which is kinda cool, and now he is prepping for a mission. So we talked to him about how to prepare. Tabatha cancelled on us so we went and tracted and got 2 new investigators. Then we had an election party. It was fun, but then I was trying to go to bed on time but I struggled because my comp and a couple other Elder's were up talking. Then I found out Romney lost when I woke up at like 12 or something like that. I think. I didn't look at a clock.

Wednesday wasn't a good day when it comes to missionary work. Didn't find anyone to teach. We did throw the good ol' pig skin around with Dan for a bit and talked about some different stuff. Went and did service at the Ronald McDonald House. Then our appointment with Zach fell through. Tracted then we went to the Morgan’s for dinner and it wasn't ready so it took way too long! Then Elder Faulkner told us some funny stories to finish the night.

Thursday we threw our plans out the window. Dan came over at 9:30 to give us our robes that he bought because of the outside shower. Then a bug guy came at 10 to spray all of our apartments to get rid of the roaches in the Spanish Elder’s apartment and to prevent the other apartments from getting them. Then we planned until almost 5. Ended up tracting, then seeing Brother Feathers. He lives on the same street that we were tracting on so we stopped by because he is less active.

Friday we had to change to our old phone because the newer one was being weird. It wouldn't have taken long, but the first lady I talked to messed up and I had to call back and get it all fixed so it took almost 2 hours for something so simple. Then we put our members in the GPS. Went to Lake Ella talked to a preacher who tried to preach to us. Then we talked to a really nice old lady, but she wasn't interested. Then we spoke to a really drunk guy which was sad. Then we had an appointment with Tabatha so we got Keith and had a short appointment with her. Good lesson and then we headed back to get ready for our exchange. This time I stayed in our area and was with Elder Blanchard. He is really cool and he is also a Lakers fan.

Saturday exchange with Elder Blanchard. Elder Olsen went to the Tally 1 Area with Elder Wright. Elder Blanchard and I walked a lot which was good. We talked to a lot people. We tried to see a couple referrals and a few formers while we were on foot. We did a lot of street contacting. Went to see Dewayne and he was having a party. They had ribs so we both took one because they kept offering. Then we went to the Stansel's and Elder Blanchard started teaching even though I told him I was told it wasn't a good idea because it would get us in an argument. But it ended up going well and I think it helped. Then we got Keith and went to Shirley Anne's. Taught her about the prophets. She is a really crazy member that has a very different style of religion. Then traded back.

Sunday was Ruben's birthday!! Someone tell him I say Happy Birthday and to write me. Love that kid! Or if you're reading Ruben, I love ya man and Happy Birthday! We had to teach Gospel Principles Class today which went well for us not having any time to prep. We also taught a couple that we met a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Their names are Jonathan and Lauren. They have a lot of questions for us and we did our best to answer them. We definitely think they would be awesome members and I think it is just a matter of time with them. They just seem like they are golden people. Then we had dinner with the Looney's. They made us breakfast for dinner and it was great! Then we watched The District with them and taught their ex-daughter-in-law that lives with them. Her name is Amy and she has a little girl named Jamie. Jamie is the cutest little girl I have ever seen and she is way funny. Good day!

Monday 10/29/2012 - Sunday 11/4/2012

Monday we went shopping with Spanish because we are short on miles. Wrote letters for a bit and then headed to the Russell's home for dinner. After dinner, we went to the Looney's again for Family Home Evening and that is always fun. I can't wait to go again!

Tuesday was great, had District Meeting to start the day, which was awesome and president’s message was really strong. Then we went to Institute so I could get my pants hemmed by Sister Johnson. She is a senior couple sister. Talked to a guy that came by to fix the tile in our shower that was all funky lookin. Referred him to the Spanish Elders. Then we went and helped the Beyer's the rest of the night. They were helping Sister Beyer's Mom move so we helped out with that. Then they fed us venison chili which was freakin great! Also, the house that her Mom was moving in to had some strange locks at the top of the outside of each door. We decided it was probably for an elderly person or someone that was mentally ill so they wouldn't get hurt.

Wednesday was Halloween!!! We can't tract after 6:00 on Halloween and it was still a great day. We went to see a former and ended up finding a guy named Zach. We taught him the entire first lesson and he liked what we taught a lot!! He said he would read and pray about all the stuff that we talked to him about. He also committed to be baptized if he found the Book of Mormon to be true. Then we talked to a lady that kept asking us what it meant when the white politician says, "We are going to take back our country?" She was way nice though and gave us candy. Then we went to our landlord Dan's house for a Halloween party which was pretty cool. Dan made it hard to leave so we accidentally stayed longer then we were supposed to. Then we stayed up way too late and I wasn't really very happy about that, but Spanish just stayed in our apartment so we couldn't really do anything.  Oh yeah, also got awesome Halloween treats from my fabulous mom!

Thursday we were so tired!! Went to Dan's to eat lunch and he ordered all the 6 compound boys robes. Weekly planned a bit and then went and met with Rod to play some chess and just stay in touch with him. We both lost and I am horrid! Then we went to the Morgan's and talked about the Book of Mormon for a bit and then ended up watching a Joseph Smith movie. I don't know what it is called.

Friday we had to finish our weekly planning because we suck and didn't finish it. Sifted through some investigators so we went to see the new Beverly and her fiance', Walter. Good lesson until at the end Walter said he wouldn't pray to know because God would tell him if it was true. Got stood up at our next appointment so we decided to go to Stevi B's and a lady from the 1st Ward bought us dinner! It was way good! I like that place, all you can eat pizza!

Saturday was great but ended kinda weird. We went to Karsten Deans house and talked to him for a while then read the Book of Mormon with him. He is less active right now and he recently moved from San Antonio and we discovered him. Great guy and he is way Christlike. He also said he would go to dinner with us because the lady that is feeding us doesn't have another man living with her. On the way home, we talked to a black guy that thought LDS people were racist. Then we talked to a guy named Ty and have an appointment set up with him. Then we went and got the car from the FAMU Elders after we talked to some others. Then we went to get Karsten and head over to dinner with Sister Drake. We got to her house at five and called her and she told us to go to the apartment office to meet her so we did. The office was locked so we called her and told her we would wait outside. 15 minutes later she came out and told us she would go get her mail and then meet us at her apartment, so we started walking there. While we were going there, she told us there was a "short cut" so we were like okay and followed her to her mailbox. She wants to buy a car and guess what, there was a car for sale next to the mailbox, so we looked at it for like 15 minutes. Finally, we started walking to her house and she wanted to chill next to the pool for a bit. She said for 5 minutes and that turned into like 15. It was like 5:50 when we finally got to her apartment and she had us do a ton of chores. Then WE had to cook dinner! Dinner is supposed to only be about an hour. So God basically cooked the pasta because it never boiled, but cooked in like 10 minutes. Then she wanted a blessing and we told her we could and then we had to hurry out and she got mad and said no. Then she ended up rebuking Elder Olsen through prayer. Messed up! Then we took Karsten home, picked up Keith and headed to Shirley Anne's. Taught a little lesson and then took Keith to Sonic because he goes out with us a lot!

Sunday was fast and testimony meeting which I enjoyed. Tried to see the McDermid's and they didn't want us to visit them. They are a less active family. Then we did some fruitless tracting. Had dinner at the Shannon's and they also signed up to Thanksgiving and I am stoked because they are awesome!! Then we taught Bill with Brother Sizemore. It seemed to help a bit to have Brother Sizemore there, but Bill is a tough egg to crack.