Monday 3/17/14 - Sunday, 3/23/14

Monday – Today was a pretty great P-day. We played some basketball again at Twin Hills Park. It was pretty good. There are some good players there. Most of them aren’t that great though. We played together with the 2^nd Ward Elders and one other guy. It makes me chuckle that 3 white kids and a Peruvian who are Mormon tore up a bunch of black kids who are more athletic and play way more. Then later that evening we went to the hospital to give Barry McCall a blessing and got a bit lost in the hospital because the signs weren’t clear. Well at least not to us. Finally found him and gave him a blessing. Then Brother Burbidge came to teach Mark Hayes with us. That went pretty good. He told us some of the same stories he told the first time. Then we had a fun little FHE with the Haines. We taught about the Plan of Salvation. William and Brent are so cut and energetic and Isaac their newborn is a cute little guy.

Tuesday – We headed down to Niceville first thing in the morning to go to their district meeting and see how Elder Smellie is doing as district leader. He is pretty new at it but his district is doing a really good job. They tend to get a bit off topic but who doesn’t at times? Then we ate at a place called Taco Town which was pretty good food. They had some fried cinnamon tortilla things that were pretty good. Then we traded off. Elder Smellie went to Crestview with me and Elder Rasmussen and Elder Swenson stayed down in Niceville. We had a great day in Crestview. Had a lesson with Wes and Erica was there. Went good. It was more of a get to know lesson. Then had dinner with the Peterson’s which was awesome as usual! Had yummy pulled pork sandwiches. Then had a weird lesson with Jamie. Brother Kriser came with and Jamie seems to just be playing games with us. Then Brother Hartwell came to Tony’s and it was a great lesson. Tony set April 26th as a baptismal date and we read 3 Nephi 11 and he liked us. Great day!

Wednesday – Traded back first thing and also did some role plays. During role plays we were all doing different voices. Elder Rasmussen did “Herbert the Pervert”, Elder Swenson did Batman, Elder Smellie did a gay southerner and I did “Gollam” from Lord of the Rings. At one point we were talking about having a “party” jokingly in our accents. Then Elder Smellie said something about bringing the meat and Elder Rasmussen responded with ”I hope you’re not talking about your friend’s ye sick a**”. It was unexpected and he didn’t even mean to say it either. Typed up a mission call letter for our member MTC tomorrow to help split up the groups. Then had a lesson with Wes. He is so ready for baptism and that is so cool to see. They are going to take us out to eat Saturday. Ate at Azteca with the Boyd’s. It is a pretty good place. Mexican food! Taught Andy a quick lesson. Brother Peterson came and was awesome once again. Had some funny role plays with Andy. He pretended to be his brother and I pretended to be him. Then we practiced what he might say. Had coordination which was short and sweet. Then gave a blessing to Fay Mason. It was a bit weird because I had the thought to tell her to move on but didn’t know if it was my thought or the Lord’s.

Thursday – Today we had our weekly planning session. It was pretty good. Didn’t get to do our comp inventory but finished everything else. Had a pretty good lesson with Chris and Tina Washington. They told us they would come to church with us. Should be sweet! Also saw a Nissan GT-R at one point which was sweet. Flew down to eat dinner with the Wadas’. They are awesome and have a ton going on right now but they are still awesome and always great conversations. Then flew to our apartment to pick up some family proclamations. Then flew to the church for the member MTC which wasn’t as big as we were hoping but it was still fun. We ended up doing some role plays, some online media stuff and Preach My Gospel Jeopardy. Pretty good stuff. Then we talked to the Bishop and Brother Ratcliff about a family history booth we plan on doing next Saturday.

Friday – Today was a slow day. Started off great! Had a lesson with Pat Dunn and had Sister Gray come and he just couldn’t say no to her. She is such a sweet 85 year old lady. She grew up with Pat’s grandma so they are family friends. Then Sister Gray made us some sandwiches which were lovely. Talked with Wendy O’Bynne, a referral, but she was sick and we talked to a couple of her neighbors. Talked with Krista and her cousin recently committed suicide so that was sad to hear about. Also read with Chris Robbins a bit. Wow he is a spiritual 17 year old. Day was rough at that point and we were tired so we went and got drinks at Walmart. Talked with Henry a bit which was good and played volleyball. Might just rename Tucker to Spike because that’s all I did! I was on fire!

Saturday – 19 months! Holy cow! Had a great time with Miss April chopping down some trees. Actually we were chopping trees up into roughly 3 foot logs. Made a little bridge/path with them. Then we made a really weak bridge over the creek and I almost fell in a few times. It was really fun! I got a huge blister on my left palm from axing. Stopped by to see Josh for a minute. Had an interesting conversation about all the things he wants to change in his house. He is a great guy! Then headed to the church to teach Wes. He got there a bit late so it took a minute to get started. Had the lesson and then they took us down to Fort Walton to dinner at Logan’s Steak House. It was pretty good. But they messed up so we got back late. Got to talk to Wes about a ton during the car ride though and talked to him about fasting for his divorce to be finalized.

Sunday – Today we had our Ward Council Meeting which went pretty well. Then we had a good old fashion chat with Brother Burbidge. He is such a funny guy. Went home and had lunch while watching “Legacy” and then studied a bit. Had church which was pretty good. We taught Gospel Principles and was reminded of how powerful the Bible videos are. We also taught Mallory King. I wish he would let Christ help him. He is sadly frustrating. Figured out the signage of our family history booth. After that lesson we got a lot of support from our ward for the booth. Should be sweet! Had dinner with the Cockrell’s and they were telling us about the springs throughout Florida and how there is a giant vacuum like thing going under all of them. Then taught Andy a good lesson. We showed some of the Bible videos and talked about Christ. Also helped them put their new mattresses on their bed frame.

Monday, 3/10/14 - Sunday, 3/16/14

Monday – P-day! It was way fun! We played ball at Twin Hills with a bunch of black guys and tore them up pretty good. They cheated a ton too. Had one guy travel terribly and wouldn’t admit it. Later we ate at the Peterson’s which was really fun! They are such a celestial family. Had a lesson over at the Thomas’ but Brother Thomas didn’t even sit in and Brother Hansen even came out with us. Then got lost in a neighborhood when he was driving us all to the Rodriguez Family home to give Sister Rodriguez a blessing. It was such a funny memory. Then had a great blessing that Brother Climer gave.

Tuesday – Today we headed down to Fort Walton to go to each of their district meetings. I went to Elder Schwartz’s District Meeting. It was good! Got kinda weird but funny when in our role play Elder Schwartz, Elder MacLay and I were a TV and Elder Schwartz started stripping. At least he only took off his jacket, belt and tie. Then had our exchange after district meeting with the 1^st Ward. Elder Atagi came to Crestview with me and Elder Rasmussen and Elder Schwartz stayed in Fort Walton. We also did some role plays with them before we split. We didn’t have a ton of success during our day. We gave Sister Maldonado a blessing before she headed to Utah. Taught Jamie a bit which was good. She is still planning on church with us this Sunday. I really hope she comes! Saw Mark Hayes briefly and set up an appointment. Tracted with no success so we visited with the Haines a bit. They really like Elder Atagi because he is Samoan and Sister Haines is Fijian so we all talked about all sorts of Polynesian stuff. Then we had dinner with Sister Blum, the Blum kids, Sister Roberts and Sylvia, my mom’s cousin. They took us out to Mia’s Italian Restaurant. It was pretty good. Wow Elder Atagi can pound some food! Tony fell through but we talked to his brother Henry for a minute or thirty and also got a referral from him to go see his uncle. Then we did the exchange report and Elder Atagi played some tunes on his guitar. He is a great guy! Huge 360 pound “teddy bear” type of guy.

Wednesday – Today we traded back and Elder Schwartz did some “personology” on me. It was so weird! It is really accurate. He looks at your traits and tells you what personality/tendencies you have. Then had our exchange with the Fort Walton 2^nd Ward Elders. Elder Rasmussen went with Elder Bochenek and then Elder Sorrell came down to Crestview with me. Did some planning stuff because Elder Sorrell wanted us to help him plan a bit better. So I did my best to help him. Then we went to see Chris Nichols but he was gone so we put that on the back burner and tried to contact a guy. Couldn’t find his address so we went back to see Chris because he told us he was back. Read a bit and had a good lesson with him. President Pocket called us. We called him back and I asked him to call my Dad. I haven’t heard from him for a really long time. Don’t know what is going on there. Taught Austin again for the first time in forever. Ate a great dinner with the Boyd’s. Sister Boyd made some daghum good cake/brownie with ice cream in the middle and fudge on top. Then had a great coordination. Talked about our member MTC which should be sick!

Thursday – Today we traded back with Fort Walton and did some role plays. Went well and it was pretty fun. Then headed home for some weekly planning and finished it pretty quick and painless. Taught a good lesson to Josh Vining and it went well. We are going to help him tomorrow with his jeep. Also set up a church tour with him and his family! That will be sick! Then we had a great dinner with the Bissen’s and a great lesson with them after. Had Brother Peterson come again and he did awesome again! Then had a pretty good lesson with Jamie. Brother Climer came with some great testimony to add to our lesson. Went pretty well. Also got to kneel down in prayer with Andy and he prayed to open a joined fast with him and Brother Peterson and us. It was powerful.

Friday – Today we had a good morning. Went to see Pat, an old potential, and got to teach him about the doctrine behind family history. It went really well and he invited us back. Had service with Josh which was kind of slow but we got a bit of work done and it was fun to get to know him a bit more. Then had a pretty good lesson with Chris Robbins. Got to answer a couple of questions and help him understand the gospel a little better. Devon came to teach Theresa and Ariel after that. Ariel seemed a bit sad but she wouldn’t let on. She did wake up form a nap so she was probably just tired. Had a quick dinner and then went to have volleyball. Took some things down that were in the cultural hall for tomorrow to put them back up when we finished. They showed up to set up more before we were done so we set up and did some beach volleyball to finish it up. It was way fun to play in the sand at Twin Hills again.

Saturday – Today was sick! Had a sweet church tour with Josh Vining with Bishop Parker there. It went really well too. Josh set May 31^st to work toward for baptism. Decided to go to Taco Bell but put that on hold for Eric and Stephanie Eliot. Eric is not a member and had a ton of questions for us. They were all valid questions. He was feeling sick and allowed us to give him a blessing. I got to act as voice and it was a powerful experience. I felt that I shouldn’t say something that the spirit was directing me to say. But the spirit wouldn’t let me move on so I had to say it. Went and enjoyed happier hour at Taco Bell. Brother Harter came to teach Tammy and try to resolve her concern but Brother Harter kinda exploded and talked about way too much. Went to the Grice’s but that fell through. So we went to volleyball because they decided to do it again. Unfortunately none of the investigators we invited made it there. It was really fun though!

Sunday – Today it rained like crazy! We went to Tony’s first thing and his street was literally a river. Brother Boyd came with and we had a really good lesson. He sorta accepted but didn’t accept a baptismal date. He was there at church though and that was sweet. He is a cool guy and his son, Ryan, and his daughter, Toni, are so cute. Church was really good. After church we taught Jamie. She is so nervous to pray so we were encouraging her to do so. Had to help her get into their truck so she could get the key out. Somehow Elder Rasmussen did it while I was on the phone with Brother McKenzie who was telling me we couldn’t do it, so that was kinda funny. Had a great dinner with Bishop Parker and his daughters. Role played missionary invites with them. Then Bishop took us to the Bissen’s where we had a powerful lesson with once again the “spiritual giant” Brother Peterson! Brother Peterson bore strong testimony of eternal families and told a really powerful story about his wife dying and the comfort the Plan of Salvation brings him. The spirit was so powerful. Then Brother Peterson took us home.

Monday, 3/3/14 - Sunday, 3/9/14

Monday - Today was kind of a weird day. Elder Evans spent most of it prepping to send his bike home. It was hard to see someone prepping to go home. It has been a great time with him. We found out Elder Rasmussen, my MTC companion, will be my new companion here in Crestview. Had dinner with the Thomas' as well. I really love them! Bore some strong testimony to Brother Thomas which was good. Then went to see Ben because he is being deployed tomorrow so we won't see him again. He went down to South America. Then we flew to the Harter's for a Family Home Evening.That was really fun! Things seem to be getting better for the Harter's. He told us some funny stories about him getting tazed and taxing other people too. So funny!

Tuesday -Today we had a great District Meeting with our own district finally. It was really good. Elder Urquiaga is a great district leader. Then we did some district pictures. After that we had some lunch with the Burbidge's at Whataburger. The manager was LDS and ended up giving us and Brother Burbidge our food for free. We were all so mind blown by it too.  Went to see Mike but he told us he didn't want to learn. That was a weird situation. Met John, a referral, and he was nice. Hope he is interested. Went out with Brother Jones from the 2nd Ward and he took us to go see a couple of his friends in our ward. Didn't work out but he told us a cool story about how he needed a hip replacement but got a priesthood blessing which healed it. Ate dinner with the Taylor's which was awesome as usual! They are so much fun to be with. Then we went to the Barbecho's with TJ to butcher a chicken for her. Quite the experience. I had to cut its head off while it was alive. Chickens do still run around with no head. It was trying to but Elder Evans held it.  Then we had another really good lesson with Andy and Brother Peterson came again. Andy prayed after we left! So awesome!

Wednesday - Today we mailed off Elder Evans bike for only like 108 bucks which seemed pretty cheap. Then we went to lunch with the Vining's at Wayne's Catfish. I think that's what it was called. I had white fish which was pretty good. Met a young lady named Kandice that was baptized in Niceville. She met the Sisters so we will leave that up to them. Saw the Fluhrer's for a brief second but they were eating lunch. So we tracted and met a Japanese lady who wanted a Japanese Book of Mormon. Saw Jamie briefly for Elder Evans to say bye and give one last testimony. Also saw the Washington's briefly and got to chat and share a little bit of the gospel. Also got to teach Chris Nichols and read some from the Book of Mormon and Aaron, his roommate, even sat in and listened and gave some great insights. Had dinner with the Boyd's for Elder Evans "last supper". It is always a good time there. Coordination was cancelled so we saw Theresa and Ariel early. Great final lesson for Elder Evans. Had a great lesson and great laughs. They are so funny.

Thursday - Today was transfers. We headed to the transfer spot first thing to pick up Elder Rasmussen and help out with everything else. Everything went smooth at our transfer spot and then we sent the rest away. Then we headed home so Elder Evans could finish packing up the loose ends and Elder Rasmussen started unpacking his stuff. Went back to transfer spots and said goodbye to the rest of the people leaving the zone and to Elder Evans. It is weird to see someone going home. Then Brother Wing came out with us and we had everything fall through so we ended up tracting after he left. Met Tammy who was Muslim at one point and changed her name to Jannat Hajar Coulibauy. She is Christian now. Also met Chris Robbins, like off Winnie the Pooh. Cool kid that reads the Bible at least an hour a day. Saw Brother Spears briefly. He is doing pretty good. Just a way busy guy. Also shared a short message with the Woodring's. Then ate some grub at the Cockran's. Always a good time there. Tried to see a couple potentials and then headed home to unpack.

Friday - Started the day off figuring out zone stuff and doing some weekly planning. It all took so long because I am trying to get Elder Rasmussen up to speed on the area and on being a zone leader. Went to Josh Vining to work on his jeep. He begun sandblasting it and we also took apart some leaf springs. He is sandblasting the tub of the Jeep so that he can repaint and weld anything that needs to be. We had some kinks with the sandblaster but he kind of got it going near the end. Went home and ate and went to see Joe Olivera who Elder Bailey told us to go see. Nice kid just doesn't quite get it all yet but who really does? Then we had volleyball which was pretty fun. Not as many came but it was still pretty good.

Saturday - Did a ton of weekly planning today as well because we didn't finish. Played basketball too. It was supposed to be Elders Quorum but the 2nd Ward Elders just invited a bunch of kids. So that was weird. It was really fun. Most of our stuff also fell through today. Unfortunately Tina was sick and we didn't get to go to the Washington's. Brother Wanner came out with us to teach Jamie and that went really well. Jamie wants to know if the church is true and came out and said she wants to come to church. Had our 8 o'clock appointment fall through. So we talked to Devin Grice for a minute and then tried to see a less active. Then went to a potentials named the Steele's and we knocked and the lady looked through the window which was creepy but it gave us a good laugh.

Sunday - Had Ward Council and then had a long conversation with Bishop about some people in the ward. Had lunch and then taught Tony with Brother Boyd. It went well only Tony didn't come to church. We also met Wes Carrol again at church and his girlfriend Erica (member). He has taken all the lessons and wants to be baptized. He is from Crestview but they just moved down from Utah. So the Lord is handing Crestview a baptism. We talked for a while and they are cool! Also my mom's cousin Sylvia was at church again and I eat with her and Sister Blum on Tuesday. After church we taught Kevin Harnett a bit. He is a less active but still believes. His wife is just against it. Then we helped his neighbor build a slide for a jungle jim thing. That was random but really cool. Ate at the Bissen's and then Brother Peterson came and we shared a lesson. Andy is a tough one. Then we headed home for a quick study because morning meetings killed that part of our day. 

Monday, 2/24/14 - Sunday 3/2/14

Monday – Today was a great P-day. Went and had some pizza buffet with the 2^nd Ward Elders. I am not a big fan of pizza or buffets but I enjoyed being with the 2^nd Ward Elders. We also played basketball with them which was really fun. I went pretty hard and my ankle feels pretty good. So it is healing okay, I think… Highlight of the day was that we got to finally see the Roger’s for the first time in my time here in 6 months. We answered some of their questions and hopefully that will open up a door for us.

Tuesday – Today we started the day off going down to the Destin District Meeting. It went pretty well. I wish Elder Simmons cared a little bit more about fulfilling his district leader responsibilities because he is a great missionary. Then we had our exchange with the Destin Elders. Elder Miller came to Crestview with me and Elder Evans stayed down in Destin with Elder Simmons. We had a pretty good exchange. We got to go to do home teaching with Brother Hansen and then Brother Hansen came to the Thomas’ with us. I think Brother Thomas liked him. We also got to teach Andy which I feel went really well. We accidentally set Saturday the 1^st as a baptismal date and he accepted. We talked about the spirit and it was awesome. Then Johnny fell through so we said hello to Ben. He was packing for his deployment. Then we ended the night. I also had a cool experience. I have been thinking a lot about extending my mission. Only 30 days is allowed right now. Any way I thought I should ask God and after doing so felt strongly that I should extend.

Wednesday – Today we headed to Niceville to exchange and do role plays with both Destin and Niceville. Then we started our exchange with Niceville. Elder Smellie (Smay-lee) and Elder Evans went to Crestview and I stayed in Niceville with Elder Swenson. Weird day, Elder Smellie took the car keys with him on accident so we ended up walking all over the place with no one being home. We did meet a couple ladies that might have some potential. We also tracted a bit with no one letting us in. Ate dinner with Brother Young. He is a good guy and made some really good cinnamon bread. He is very opinionated! Also saw Sister Whitzel and tried to teach her. She is an “internagator”. She has had missionaries coming by for 15 years. Nice lady! I also talked to President Smith this morning and he told me I would have to talk to my mom/dad before I can extend but that he would love to have me 30 more days. So we will see!

Thursday – We had a pretty good day today. We exchanged back and headed to Crestview to do some weekly planning. Did as much as possible but we had a ton of appointments today. Had a really good lesson with the Skylark’s. They asked a ton of really good questions. It made it a really fun lesson and Ishmael also felt the spirit. Hope they come to church Sunday! We also went to the Woodring’s but Robert and Maribel weren’t there so we shared a message with Daryl and Devin which went well. After that we went to see Johnathan. He is a gator that was referred by the Crestview 2 Sisters. Interesting lesson. Met his dad, Bill, and his mom, Angela. We believe Bill is a preacher of some sort. They knew a lot and also brought up a lot of anti-material. Then had a great lesson over at the Bissen’s with Brother Peterson. Spirit was so strong! Andy knows it is true but is pushing it away. Brother Peterson is a spiritual giant! He bore strong testimony to Andy! It pumped the spirit into the room! Sooo CooL! That’s right notice the capital L on cool.

Friday – Today we finished up our weekly planning which took forever. Also got to teach Chris Nichols. That lesson went really well. We taught him how to get more out of his scripture study and showed him some techniques. It seemed to help him a lot! Headed to the Fisher’s after that for dinner. Sister Fisher made some really good soup for us and we also talked to them a bit about some new move-ins that we can help with. Then we shared a message with the Fisher’s and invited them to kneel down and pray with us. Brother Fisher offered a powerful sincere prayer to conclude asking God for opportunities to share the gospel with those around them. Then we finished the night with volleyball which was really fun!

Saturday – Weird day! We had our usual meeting with President Miller over breakfast which was really good actually. Then went to the Ralph’s to go over the ward roster with them and all the Sisters. That was productive but just took forever! Brother Thatcher came out with us as well. Our appointment fell through but we ended up having a weird visit with Johnny. He was working on his cars and then we taught him. Invited him to church and Stacey, his “wife” got all snooty telling him his daughter wouldn’t sit through it. She has been rude the past few times we have been there. Contacted a referral named Mike. We will teach him in a few days. Then tried to “tract” into James Purcell’s house but that didn’t work. His stepdad was outside. We tried to talk to him but he was clever and avoided us by holding his dog. Talked with Skyler Nunley who gave us some grub. That was awesome, much needed snack. Then we went to the Higgins. Brother Higgins has been having a hard time and we bore testimony of the atonement! It was so powerful.

Sunday – Today we saw a ton of people and got to finish the week strong! Saw the Anderson’s and taught the doctrine behind family history. We were surprised Brian didn’t dispute a bunch of it. Then we headed over to see Jamie and taught her a little bit. Invited her to come to church as well. Ben drove up a little bit later and we invited him too. Sadly they didn’t come. They told us about the new movie “Son of God”. They went and saw it and must have liked it. Had church which was great. Fast and Testimony Meeting was fantastic! Brother Peterson came out with us to see Andy again and that was a really good lesson. Brother Peterson is a SPIRITUAL GIANT! Andy will get baptized soon. He knows it is true. Then we had dinner and a lesson with the Wyatt’s. Brother Wyatt knows the church is true so it was awesome to help him regain what he knew. Then to finish the night we had a fun lesson with Theresa and Ariel. Theresa was just crackin’ jokes which made is so funny.