Monday, 4/21/14 - Sunday 4/27/14

Monday – Today was a great preparation day! Balled it up with the black kids again. I hit like 3 game winners which was a good thing and made it really fun. Jamie got sick so we couldn’t eat there but Brother Burbidge took us out to eat at Applebee’s and I had the juiciest steak ever! It was so good! Brother Burbidge is such a cool guy. I wish I could remember some of the hilarious quotes form our conversation with him. Then we had a good lesson with Andy talking about real intent. It went well. He has sadly back slid…we will get him there!

Tuesday – 20 months! It is going pretty fast. Had a really great district meeting in Elder Urquiaga’s district meeting. It was really powerful. He talked about doing a 40 day fast type deal where you fast from worldly things and try to break bad habits and become better. I am going to do one pretty soon. Had our exchange with the DeFuniak Elders after district meeting. I went with Elder Larsen to DeFuniak and Elder Rasmussen went with Elder Hintze to Crestview. DeFuniak is huge so we spent a ton of time to drive different places. We first picked up “farm bread” from a member with the Habel’s (senior couple). Then helped some member, the Howard’s, pull up some carpet so they can lay wood flooring. Had some delicious chili with no meat in it. Left there to go to a lesson but Rosylyn thought it was on Thursday so we moved that. Saw a less-active and then did our companion study to finish the night. Then talked to Savannah their gator about not being Wonder Woman for some event she is going to. My reasoning is because Wonder Woman has an invisible car and that isn’t riding in style.

Wednesday – To start the day off Elder Larsen and I did our exchange report then headed out to teach Savannah, their gator, but she was a bit late so Elder Hintze and Elder Rasmussen got back before we started so all 4 of us taught her. I think Elder Rasmussen and I probably could have left to make it less intimidating. She is golden though. Should get baptized soon. Headed home to do some of our zones key indicators on Excel so that we could graph it and track it. Should help the zone out hopefully. Ate dinner with the Boyd’s. Found out from Brother Boyd that Tony isn’t happy with us for some reason. Had some hilarious dinner conversation with the Boyd’s. Brother Boyd has a bit of a messed up eye and Elder Rasmussen asked him about it. Brother Boyd responded by saying he got surgery on it to make it so he could see the intent of people’s hearts. Then topped it by telling us he looked at too much port…he was joking of course. Also had coordination. Oh he told us the real reason of his eye being messed up. He had surgery to reattach his retina and it didn’t work and he now has a ton a scarring on it.

Thursday – Today we had our weekly planning session. Went good. Took up a lot of time though as always. Went over to the Rice’s and talked with them a bit and then when Andrew go there we taught a short lesson. Read a bit from Alma 32. Their hearts are softening a bit. Then we had a short meeting with the 2^nd Ward Elders and Sister Newell about the Family History Center rules. Then we tried to see Tony and he wasn’t happy to see us at all. I am not sure what he has heard or read but he said he didn’t want any more false prophecies. Then we ate dinner and then played basketball at the church for our fellowship activity. Got a good crowd. Brother Ratcliff finally came and he is really good! It was way fun!

Friday – Today was honestly a really rough day. We walked around to start the day and we had some good success. Got Caitlin’s phone number so we could get in contact with her. Talked with Sister Bielec and her niece. Talked a bit and said a prayer. Had lunch and then did some brief service for Donna. Came back and changed to go to our lesson to teach Chris Robbins. It went pretty well and he is understanding it pretty good. Stopped by the Whipple’s and talked to Sister Whipple for a minute. She is a really nice lady. Also met a kid named Cole that lives nearby and got his number for basketball on Thursdays. Then ate at the Wanner’s. It was so much fun. Talked about Elders and their weird quirks that they do with each companion. Brother Wanner told us about how he read to one of his companions while his companion took a bath. Then he gave us each a giant piece of ice cream cake. Took a minute to eat all of that. Darren then fell through so we tried to see a less active and then had volleyball and that was fun. All of that made the day better then it started

Saturday – Today we talked with President Miller about some things to improve the work in the Wards or Branches to help hasten the work. Then had our studies before heading out to help the A-Team Sisters with service. The service fell through. Had a pretty good lesson later that day with Gerald Jones (T-Pain) as we call him because he look like him. Then we talked to Mike on the phone and he wanted us to go teach him or something but we think he was toying with us. Checked out the car show on Main Street while we were waiting for him to text back. Got to sit in a 1920 Model T. That was sweet! Went to see the Thomas’. Brother Thomas isn’t really progressing toward anything right now. Saw Josh and he is going pretty well. He took his test so we can start teaching him again. Gonna have to give him a jump start to get him to May 31^st for baptism. Went by to see Chris Nichols and told him his nickname if 5 cents because of his last name. I am glad we went there because he needed some uplifting. Chris also dropped a rhyme for us. That sums up the day.

Sunday – Today was interesting. Definitely didn’t go how we thought it would. Had Ward Council and discussed the Ward Mission Plan. The leaders, not all but some, do not get the concept of a Ward Mission Plan. They seem to think that if your ward isn’t functioning as well as it could that a Ward Mission Plan won’t work. In reality it is the opposite. If you don’t have a functioning Ward Mission Plan then your ward won’t function. People don’t understand that the only thing in the Church is missionary work. No matter what you are doing in the church it is all supposed to bring souls to Christ. Brother Burbidge talked to us after about a great idea he had. We were telling Bishop about it after church and as we were talking about it Elder Rasmussen just said something along the lines of, “It’s all just a work in progress”. So we might use “A Work In Progress” as our ward mission plan motto. Had dinner at the Fisher’s and went with Brother Fisher to home teach the Boyett’s. Fun day but church stuff took so much time.

Monday, 4/14/14 - Sunday, 4/20/14

Monday – Today was the much anticipated day that we find out if we will be transferred. To my surprise I will be staying here in Crestview for at least 6 more weeks. Emailing was good. Some days it is so hard to find the motivation to write people at this point in my mission. Played some more basketball at Twin Hils. It wasn’t as fun today but it was still pretty good. I think it was just the mood I was in. Had dinner with the Thomas’ and had a powerful lesson there. Looks like Brother Thomas might come on a church tour with us. Then Brother Wadas came with us to teach Jamie and the lesson was powerful! Jamie is so close to allowing Christ to take over her life. I want her to come unto Christ so bad! It will bless their family so much.

Tuesday – Great day today! Had District Meeting and afterwards had our district activity of ultimate Frisbee which was way fun. Got a bit muddy and the Sisters played too. We did some Elders vs. Sisters. There were a lot of Sisters on their team. It was 6 on 8 or 10. I can’t really remember how many. Had lunch and then a great lesson with Theresa and Ariel. They plan on Utah in July and October. Then we went and made programs and preparations for Wes’ baptism which was so powerful! I had the opportunity to baptize him and give the talk on the Holy Ghost. It was so awesome and so calming. Then we had some dinner with Wes, Erika, Alyssa, Erica and Cameron. It was a lot of fun. Elder Urquiaga was talking to little Erica in an English accent which caused all three of us to go off for the rest of the night in English accents. It was so funny!

Wednesday – Today we started the day off working on transfers. Got that all ready to go for tomorrow. Started the day off getting stuck a little bit in English accents. It was pretty funny. Elder Urquiaga couldn’t even speak normal without thinking really hard. Tracted into a less active lady, Brenda Bailey, which was weird. I didn’t know she even lived where we found her. I have been on that street a few times and didn’t realize it. Moved some couches to the curb for her. It was cool to see the spirit work with us. Started with an unplanned visit to Darren. He wasn’t home so we headed to Lake Drive where a couple potentials and less actives live. On the way to those people we met a really nice guy who was thinking about finding a new church. It was sweet! Taught Chris Nichols a little Easter lesson and taught Chris Robbins a bit about the fall and our life. Chris Robbins is coming along pretty well! Then we had to go to the 2^nd Ward choir practice for their Easter performance. They tried to convince us to sing Sunday but it’s not our ward it’s Urquiaga’s. Then finished the night with coordination at Brother Boyd’s.

Thursday – Today was transfer day! Transfer went great! Found out that I was supposed to be transferred to Ozark and be companions with Elder Miller who used to be down here in Destin. It was great to see Elder May, Elder Condie, Elder McPhearson, Elder Musgrave and a bunch of others. Sad to see some of the missionaries in the zone leave like Elder Sorrel and Elder Bochener and also Elder Lopez. And we also helped Donna briefly in between transfers. Taught some great lesson with Andrew Linares. Taught the Rice’s and they let us teach again. That was good! Not as awkward as we expected. Then we taught Jamie and she told us she is considering making her appearance this Sunday at church. Then we had dinner and played around with a numbers calculator on Excel that was emailed to us for our zone #’s.

Friday – Today was kind of a weird day because we started to do our weekly planning but ended up doing a bunch of zone planning. Then I got a letter from my mother rebuking me for not following the spirit. So I will be going home 30 days later instead of early for school because I felt right about that when I asked the first time. Then we went to the McKenzie’s to help them lay some wood flooring. It was awesome to get to learn how to do that. I love Brother McKenzie! He is such a man’s man! So fun to spend time with him, had dinner there too. Brother McKenzie made Jambalaya. It was exquisite! Then went to volleyball. No gators came L.

Saturday – Today we had breakfast at the church for an Easter thing. It was fun. Got to talk to the children in a British accent and it entertained them quite a bit. Had an odd day with quite a bit of weekly planning. Got to go on a church tour. We took Brother Thomas on it and it went very well. He might even come tomorrow! Brother Hansen came an did a good job teaching a bit. Also went to Sam Hill’s house. The Niceville Elders told us to go by and to do some family history. So we did and it ended up turning into a really messy lesson of why we do family history work. He didn’t really like our scriptural reasons. He did take a Book of Mormon. Talked to a really rude lady and her pretty nice husband. Stopped by Jamie’s briefly and she gave us an awesome Easter thing called the Resurrection eggs. Hope she comes to church tomorrow! Had dinner and a FHE with the Tatro’s. It went well and we used Jamie’s eggs thing. It is a dozen plastic Easter eggs that have different objects that relate to the Resurrection. That was all that happened. Got a sweet tie in the mail today too actually from my mom.

Sunday – Great day today! Had 4 people come to the 2^nd Ward then had one to our ward. It is awesome to be able to get people to church. Elder Rasmussen and I also got to speak with Andrew Linares in Sacrament Meeting and Wes was also confirmed in Sacrament. It made for a great Sacrament meeting on Easter. Wes told me that the confirmation was really powerful. Elder Rasmussen is the person who he asked to confirm him. Theresa also gave the closing prayer in Sacrament. That was sick! Had a great dinner and lesson with the Washington’s. They are really fun to be around. Also had an interesting experience while talking to Tony. A guy named Mike asked who were so we talked to him. He kept telling us that we were lying and that we weren’t who we claimed to be. He thought we were the CIA or something similar. It was pretty funny. Then we met Bertha Smith a former from the days of Elder Mallory. Weird how the spirit guides.  #BecauseOfHim

Monday, 4/7/14 - Sunday, 4/13/14

Monday – Today we went shopping first because I had a doctor’s appointment with Doctor Roberts for my ankle. My ankle is fine. Our gator Crystal gave us each a $50 gift card to Hibbet Sports. We were surprised that she got it. She kept asking and we told her as a joke and she did it. Then we played basketball and it was so humid that the indoor courts were slick. Elder Rasmussen almost did the splits cause of it. Had a great dinner with the Tatro’s and had a ton of laughs about Uranus. It was a good time. Then role played for zone training.

Tuesday – Today we headed down to Niceville for our zone training meeting and it was pretty awesome. It was the most fun to teach out of all the zone training that I have done. The entire zone was engaged and offered insight. Had a bit of lunch at the Chinese Buffet but we made that quick so we could go to Hibbet’s in Niceville and see if they had anything. They didn’t but they are going to send some Kobe and Durant shoes to Crestview’s HIbbett and then they will call us when they get them in. Headed to Crestview and called Elder Mills about our phone then headed to the church to meet Wes there. He was way late but we were able to teach a bit about the Sabbath. Had a lesson with Mark Hayes. Read the intro of the Book of Mormon and that really helped him understand it a bit better. Then we were going to help put a bed in the Sister’s apartment but they beat us to it. So President Morgan, the Olive Branch President, got us Wendy’s. Then we went to see Jamie and teach her a bit but ended up just setting up an appointment. She did tell us that she wants to get more serious with learning about the church.

Wednesday – Today was a crazy day! Talked to an old guy in his underwear at his doorstep. Then we rode our bikes all over the place and talked to a ton of people but unfortunately we didn’t get any new gators. Talked with a guy who use to be a member but left because the church doesn’t do enough for the world according to him so we told him to check out lds.org and all the stuff the church does. Our church I am confident to say does more than anyone. Saw the Nunley’s for a brief moment before they had to head out. Then we went to see Crystal and to see “mom”. It was a crazy visit but it ended up turning around at the end. Crystal has so much potential! We also ate there. Crystal got us pizza. Then headed to teach Wes at the church. Had to wait a long while but finally got to. It was pretty good!

Thursday – Today we had a bunch of time devoted to weekly planning. Wes’ appointment fell through because there was a gas spill on 85 so he was running really late. Brother Burbidge then picked us up and we taught Theresa and Ariel. Wow! Theresa is so solid! She just keeps trekin’ forward even through struggles. I love those two! Then they also told me they might head to Utah in August timeframe. That would be sick! Then we went with Brother Burbidge to see the Washington’s and had a great lesson. Chris tends to get off on some tangents. They want to feed us on Saturday so we are stoked for that. Brother Burbidge then treated us to Firehouse which was delicious. Took us home and then Bishop met us at the Bissen’s. Andy told us he wanted to take a break. He didn’t really have a good reason but we might still be going by. Bishop bore strong testimony. Josie is also walking now. Then we went to play ball at the church with Jerome and Pablo. The 2^nd Ward Elders, Hunter from the 2^nd Ward and Andrew Linares who just got home from his mission. Jerome and Pablo played at Twin Hills with us. It was pretty good. I sucked it up though.

Friday – Today was a really weird day but it was pretty good. Taught Wes first thing. Went over the baptismal Q’s with him and set up some things for his baptism. He also prayed and we could never get him to before. He gets really nervous but it was a great step! Then taught Chrystal and even got her into our church and the lesson went pretty well. She and her friend, Jason, both opened up to us a ton. It was great! Went with Andrew Linares, well he came with us and we taught a guy named Damingo. Andrew translated for us and we tried to teach him. Didn’t get far though. Then went home for lunch at like 2:30 pm. Ate and activated our new phone. They sent us a dang LG Smart phone. It is sweet! Finally got that set up and then picked up my Kobe Venomenon 4’s and Elder Rasmussen’s Durant 6’s. That was for our dinner hour. We picked them up from HIbbet’s. After that we went over to see Jamie and we finally got to teach her and she asked great questions. It was pretty awesome. Then we played volleyball which was pretty good. It was pretty dead compared to how it used to be.

Saturday – Went to our breakfast with President Miller and then back home for studies and to finish up weekly planning. Went to try to see Jose who wasn’t home so we headed to the 2^nd Ward Elders apartment to get them so we could drop Elder Burnham off at Wendy’s and the assistants took him to Tally and then he will fly to Zimbabwe. Elder Urquiaga then became our “AZL” (Assistant Zone Leader). He answered our phone and said, “Hello this is the Assistant Zone Leader, Elder Urquiaga, speaking in behalf of Elders Rasmussen and Foster”. Then after they asked for what they needed he said, “We will check the underground and see what we can do”. It was so funny! Met a really cool guy today name Clay who was really cool. He made a sick “Joker” from Batman sculpture and was painting it when we walked up. Also got to teach a guy in 2^nd Ward a bit. His name is Bill Kelch. Really nice guy and he told us he would be at church tomorrow. Should be sick!

Sunday – Today an interesting day. We first had the 2^nd Ward’s Ward Council which was sweet! It runs like a machine! Then had 2^nd Ward church which was pretty good. Bishop Roberts is such an organized guy. Must be the doctor in him. Had an awesome lunch at the Toolan’s (in 2^nd Ward). They are a really cool family. They have a daughter in California on a mission. Then we headed back for our church at 1:00. We had Ward Conference. Honestly I couldn’t focus at all being at church for the 2^nd time in one day. Had a great dinner with the Wyatt’s and got to talk to her more about my possible career choice. Then Brother Cochran drove us down to Fort Walton to the “Lamb of God” musical performance down there. It was good! Sister Oliphant and Sister Newton did a great job on their solos. Way to represent the CVI Ward. It was a great day!

Monday, 3/24/14 - Sunday, 4/6/14

Monday – Balled it up a Twin Hills again. Elder Smellie and Elder Swenson came up from Niceville because Elder Smellie had a dentist appointment up in Crestview so they got to play. Elder Smellie is way good! Had dinner and a lesson at the Bissen’s. It went pretty good. Andy just needs to take the leap of faith and get baptized. Saw the Nunley’s briefly. They are way funny people and I really love going there. I also got to look up schools and found out I will eventually be going to Utah State or to BYU at some point because they have Dietetics programs. That was about everything.

Tuesday – Today we went to the DeFuniak District Meeting. Elder Hintze is a brand new district leader but he does an excellent job so far. Traded off with DeFuniak. I went with Elder Hintze to Crestview and Elder Rasmussen went with Elder Larsen to DeFuniak. Elder Hintze and I had a pretty good exchange. He really wants to be effective so we discussed making visits with less-actives more effective by using the how to begin teaching bullet points. We were able to see Jamie for a brief moment and teach her a little bit. I think she might just like our company though. I don’t feel she really wants to learn. Went to see the Thomas’s and Brother Thomas didn’t come out so Sister Thomas gave us some Blue Bell Ice Cream. It is dang good! Shared a little message with her about Ammon’s perseverance with King Lamoni. Taught Chris Nichols a lesson and he is going to come out with us to a lesson. Read a bit with Angie Davis and it looks like she is going to be moving soon. That was about all the highlights.

Wednesday – Took Elder Hintze back first thing and tried to do some role plays. They were not very effective though. Hard to keep everyone focused. We were all a bit distracted. Weird day but we did get back in contact with Donna and we plan on helping her tomorrow. She got some of her path laid but had to tear some of it back up. It wasn’t level and we will have to pull some more up tomorrow. Went and picked up Chris after that to take him to Jose’s and that was such a funny appointment. At one point Jose said “I’m 5’9” so basically 6 foot”. Elder Rasmussen and I started laughing so hard. They got off on all sorts of topics. Saw the Woodring’s for a brief lesson and that went well. They’re cool! Ate with the Ratcliff’s which was really fun. They really crack me up! Then went to get a canopy for Brother Hartwell and he showed us all the cool things they are changing in their house. He is such a cool guy! Love this ward!

Thursday – Today we went to Donna’s in the morning to help her with her walkway and there was a guy named Will there who had done a lot of walkways and knew how to make it nice and flat. He was really good and he could explain things to Donna really well to get her to understand what he was doing. Had a really quick lunch and then went to see Theresa and Ariel. That was a good visit except that Theresa told us that she is still having issues with a member who is racist. It is really pushing her to her limit. Skylark’s fell through. They forgot about our appointment. Then we went and created some slips for referral sheets for the Family History Fair. Ate a quick dinner and then went to see Josh Vining and had a good lesson with him. He seems to be getting a lot more solid. Then we headed to the church for our first basketball night. It was a success. James Purcel came and I hadn’t seen him for a long time so it was good to catch up. He said he was still reading the Book of Mormon and is going to get baptized as soon as he moves out of his house which is going to happen pretty soon.

Friday – Had a lesson with Pat again and this time Brother Hansen came with us. Pat read a bit and says he is going to continue to read the Book of Mormon. He is softening and doesn’t even know it. Then had lunch with the Burbidge’s at Cracker Barrel and that was way fun. I love getting to talk to the Burbidge’s. They are such a cool family. Then we had some weekly planning. A quick version of weekly planning. Then had a great dinner at the Bissen’s with chocolate fondue. It was really fun. Then had a lesson after that was decent. Andy is being kind of difficult right now. He is just not excited about the Gospel because it has been around him so much. Then we had the coolest lesson ever with Tony. First thing he did was ask why we set the baptismal date for April 26^th. We told him we prayed about it and felt good about that. He kept trying to figure out if there was another reason and come to find out that day is his mom’s birthday. She just passed away so it was so cool! No coincidences in the gospel. The assistants then came over for our exchange and we had a lot of fun chatting it up about “Dumb and Dumber” and “Ace Ventura”.

Saturday – Today the first thing Elder McPhearson and I did was go to Main Street at about 7 am to set up our Family History booth on Main Street. That took a long time and then after that we went to McDonald’s because we were locked out because I forgot to grab the extra key. Elder Rasmussen and Musgrave got back and we were able to get changed and then do our studies. Went and tried to see a few people including the Grice’s but they weren’t available but we invited who I believe was their sister to church because she hasn’t been to her ward in a long time. Went to the bowling lanes for the Elders Quorum activity because we invited some investigators to it. Wes did come but he didn’t end of bowling so we didn’t either. It worked out though because we were able to set up an appointment with him. Saw a less active name Lucio who I kinda recognized and come to fine out he worked at the Greenwood Medical Center next to my house as a nurse. Went to the Family Search booth for our shift which was awesome. We had a ton of members help out and got 39 referrals of people that want to do more. After Brother Hartwell took us the APS and 2^nd Ward Elders to Bamboo Sushi which was good! Then had a pretty good lesson with Andy. He is getting closer I think.

Sunday – Today we called referrals from the Family History booth. Went to see some referrals and potentials with no avail. Then had some great testimonies and lessons at church. Had the 5^th Sunday lesson and Bishop Parker asked us to ask questions that we often got to the members so we could help the members to be more comfortable to get out there and talk to people about the truth. Taught Wes right after church about the rest of the Plan of Salvation. Brother Wirt helped us teach him. It was pretty good other than a tangent here and there. Then had the coolest Word of Wisdom lesson with Tony. We taught him and he said he would live it. After the lesson he poured his vodka down the drain. He hadn’t drunk that for like a year or so, so he was fine with that. He didn’t want to dump the coffee at first but I think he was so pumped when dumping the vodka that he decided to just do it. Had dinner after that a then we taught the Andersen’s a bit and then came to our complex to teach a lady named Judy that we met today. That fell through so we tried to see Brother Harter – wasn’t home so we talked to his sister and then we talked to Brian that we used to always teach. We told him to read the Book of Mormon and live the law of chastity.

Monday – Today was a good day. Got an email from the Brooke’s from the Fox Run Ward. It was awesome to hear from them. They are such a great family. Looks like their daughter’s boyfriend might just get baptized. Played some basketball again at Twin Hills Park. We lost for the first time in a long while. I had the shakes the entire time for some reason but it was still fun. Had Brother Wadas come out with us to see Mark Hayes but that fell through so we went to see Josh Vining and taught him the Word of Wisdom and Josh committed to live it. It was so cool! Then we headed to the Crestview 2^nd apartment to do an exchange with them. We are blitzing which means both companionships stay in Crestview 2^nd Ward. We hope to find some new gators.

Tuesday – Today was awesome! We blitzed and I went with Elder Burnham and Elder Rasmussen went with Elder Urquiaga. Elder Burnham has grown a ton! He was talking to everyone we saw and it was so good to see. He still isn’t always sure what to say but he is fearless. Talked with an awesome guy that had a sweet 60’s Buick Classic, I believe it was. Such a sick car! Had a great conversation with him. Then we had a weird experience where this little girl asked us who we were and we told her and then she asked if we wanted to see where she lived. Elder Burnham said sure and she was on her bike and we awkwardly followed her and one of the people in the neighborhood drove up wondering what was going on. By then we just gave her a card but it was weird. Then had dinner at Azteca with the Jackson’s. They are pretty cool. Brother Jackson is a member but Sister Jackson isn’t yet. She questions Joseph Smith’s story. Then had a chat and message with the Homestead’s, well just Brother Homestead and he is an awesome guy. Air Force guy and he knows so much about it. He has a cool gun too. I don’t know what it was.

Wednesday – Today we had MLC and President changed it from what it used to be and actually made it into a council and it was sweet! We got to actually throw out ideas and discuss what we thought could help the mission and our individual zones. I got to catch up with Elder Winter and let him know what is going on here in Crestview. Elder Welch and Elder Smith are also zone leaders so I got to catch up a bit with them also. After the meeting we went to help Sean Whipple who is married to a member but he is not yet baptized. We got 10 minutes into the move when a bunch of stuff fell off of the moving truck hydraulic lift. That included a TV, so in an attempt to catch the TV…didn’t catch it…Elder Rasmussen dropped a bed frame which fell and put a giant gash in Sean’s ankle so we had to take him to the ER so he could get stitches. He was way cool about it though. After that we ate with the Cochran’s which is always good. Then we had coordination which was kind of weird for some reason. Probably because our day was chaos.

Thursday – First thing this morning we had a conference call with all of the Sisters in the zone. There was a sarcasm issue in the zone with feelings getting hurt so we addressed that. Then we headed to help Sean Whipple move in. Try #2! This time Brother Dunn was there to help out with the unloading. He is a good guy but certainly could be a lot more humble. Had lunch and then went and taught Stan and Helen Rice for the first time. They are very kind and seem very open to learn about the restored gospel. Did some zone training planning after that and then got ready to go help Brian Andersen with some service. We got there and they were getting dinner ready. Brian had some hotdogs and took them outside to a homemade fire pit in which he started a fire with gasoline and then cooked the dogs. I don’t think eating food that is cooked with gas seems like a good idea. Didn’t taste too bad though. Then we asked what we were going to help with and he didn’t even know. So he decided to cut down a bush in their yard and their neighbor came over and he had the nasty tattoos on his arms, literally porn. Ate dinner and had a great lesson with Tony. He is living the Word of Wisdom still!

Friday – Did some planning today for zone training this morning. Then went to see Pat but he wasn’t home so Sister Gray told us to come by for lunch so we went and tracted a bit and met Mr. Thomley. Really nice guy who talked to us for a long time but wasn’t interested. Then we met a somewhat rude lady who had a mustache. Ate with Sister Gray. Did our weekly planning. Then I felt we should go find someone and Elder Rasmussen thought we should go see Chrystal a referral. So we went and saw her and got to teach and it went great! She is a really funny lady and I think she is ready for the gospel. Her mom was there too. Her name if Tonda but she told us to call her mom. It will be interesting teaching them.

Saturday – Didn’t get to do a ton today because we had zone training to plan for. We also had General Conference which is the last one for both Elder Rasmussen and I while on our missions. Unfortunately no one that was supposed to come did come. There were some great talks though. Elder Holland’s was awesome as always. Elder Zwick’s cracked me up! Quote of the conference was him when he was talking about his wife jumping out of the semi and he got out and said “What were you thinking?” Good stuff! Gave Sister Haines a blessing. She is such a celestial lady. I hope her husband gets back to being a strong member. Saw the Tatro’s to see how they were doing and they volunteered to feed us Monday. That was brief and we headed to Priesthood which was great. Elder Oaks gave an awesome talk! Then we had some root beer floats. Headed home after.

Sunday – Today we spent a bit more time on our zone training preparations. Had some more conference and it was great! After President Uchtdorf’s talk I have been feeling that I need to head home for school but man it is a tough decision. The fifth session is always hard for me to focus so I didn’t get a ton out of that. Then after conference we gave Wes a blessing for his toothache and then met Brother Burton at one house. He gave us a ride in his STI and it was sick! Dinner was also delicious! Sister Burton did a great job. On the ride home he showed us what it could do. He told us that it goes 0–100 mph in 8 seconds. I think my brain almost fell out of my head. Then taught Tony with Brother Boyd and he is well on his way to baptism. He doesn’t get everything yet but he will. Elder Rasmussen and I also had a heart to heart conversation with Tony about wine. He really likes that stuff.