Week 30 1/19/15

1/19/15

Hey Yall!

Ok, to start off, I am being transfered!!! So... DO NOT send me anything untill i can send out my new address!! how we do transfers is that on saturday we get called to tell us if we are moving or not. then on wednesday we go to birmingham if we are being moved and get assigned our new companions and areas. then we drive there and set up camp and send out the new addresses! So its pretty Much a mystery where we are going untillwednesday!!! at least it is this time!! sometimes we can guess where we are going (considering theres only like 30 spanish elders) but this time i have no clue haha. we will see how it goes! im excited to go somewhere new and progress the work :)

It is sad to leave Huntsville though! Ive grown to love this branch and the familys here. Ive grown so much; ive learned to speak spanish, learned how to be a missionary, learned how to be myself as a missionary, learned to play soccer, learned that alabama is COLD, and so much more! It was truly awesome to serve here, and although i will miss the people. (espessially the soto family) i will be able to come back and see them again and be lifetime friends! we live in an awesome world today with facebook and such! :)

Ok, so the Soto family is awesome! They are our investigators right now and they are so solid! We met them last week doing service for them with the silva family and since then Jackie (the daughter) has been to church twice and is reading the BOM! Her mom and older brother Came to church this week as well and seam super interested! They are comming to the church a bit later to play soccer and we are going to teach a little lesson as well! So there whole family is Fernando and his wife addriana, then Jose who works out of state a lot and is 20. and then jackie who is a senior and is 19. They are all awesome! one of the favorite familys i have met on my mission!

So this week we have really been focusing on working with them. we went out to athens on thursday and had dinner with them and the silvas and taught a lesson. then on friday for our normal soccer night they all came and we taught another lesson after. Its been a blast! Other then that though we have really had just an awesome last week of the transfer!

Starting out the week we had dinner at the knights house monday night, they are just the awesomest implant family ever! he has taught me a lot about how to be a good morman in general. humble and meek but firm and resolute. brother knight is awesome.

Then tuesday we had an awesome day full of tracting and contacting, we saw donna and she fed us, seriously, ive been fed more this week then like my whole mission combined! ha

wednesday We had a bit of a slow day, not to much happened accept for english class wednesday which is starting to go really well! we have a few regular students and hopefully a few new investigators will come from it :)

thursday was the day we went out to athens with the Sotos! We also had an awesome weekly planning session at starbucks and just all in all had a good day.

Friday We had one of the best district meeting ive ever had! Brother knight came and shared just some awesome thoughts on life and what he has learned from being a missionary and bishop and stake president and he is awesome! I learned so much!! We also had a member give us a $25 gift card for dominos and so we had an awesome dinner!! Then to top it off an awesome football night with some great investigators.

Saturday We went to Floridalma lopez's house and ate dinner and she introduced us to her friends who want to come to english class and futbol! so it will be just a blast to work with them! We also stumbled upon a boat show and walked in to where it was free, it was pretty cool haha.

Sunday was awesome and sad! we had great investigators at church and things are really comming together! but at the same time i had to say goodbye. we went over to the santos house and they threw a little party and invited over president lopez and his family. it was way sad saying goodbye but i am really comforted to know that i did my very best to leave huntsville better then i found it! So im conte4nt to leave :)

Then today we have had an awesome day! played ultimate frisbee and then had a zone activity where we did yoga for an hour! it was such a blast! it really does help you balance your body and spirit and let yourself be open to the spirit! then we are going to play soccer tonight and have a lesson with the sotos! should be a great way to spend my last p-day here in huntsville!

Alright, so i just wanted to share one little video then head off! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/gordon-hinckley-lessons-i-learned-as-a-boy-1

Its awesome and shares a really good message! what can we do that is small and simple, but could change someones whole day or week or even life!

I love you all so much! ill send the new address soon!

1/21/15

Hey Yall!

I just got to my new area and settled in a bit! My New companion is Elder Gunther. He is from Logan Utah and is a stud! he used to do ballroom dance and is a super good missionary. I already know that i will learn a lot from him.

I am now in whats called the Altadena spanish branch which covers the Birmingham stake for spanish people! Should be a blast! We actually live in a town called homewood though. My new Address is...

415 B Raleigh Ave,

Homewood, AL

35209

Anyways, i hope you are all doing awesome! im super excited to be starting again in a new area! Love yall!

Week 29 1/12/15

1/12/15

Hey everyone!

I dont have like any time this week and so i just wanted to share a quick thought with everyone and let yall know that i am doing very good! I have had a crazy successful week! Weve been working a lot with members and have found awesome success! We met a man named Alfredo in Decatur who is super open to the gospel and weve been teaching, then we did an awesome service project this week where we moved over 7000 bricks and cleaned and got a house ready to have the interior work done! That was with a member for another new investigator named Fernando and his family! They are really awesome! So the work here is really picking up and its a blast! 

Real quick though, i probobly will be leaving huntsville next wednesday, so... if you send me anything try and do it before this friday so that i for sure will get it. next p-day i will send out my new address for everyone :)

now for a quick thought!

James 1:22

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

I love this scripture. It really strikes home with me because its all about taking action. we can hear good things and talk about doing them as much as we want, but if we dont act upon those good things then we are just lying to ourselves. so, i encourage everyone to take their good decisions, and stick to them! to be doers of the word! lets all do the word of the lord.

Love you all so much!

Week 28 1/5/15

Happy New Year Yall!

You wont beleive how many times i heard that this last week haha, and then i probobly said it back another 100 times ;) But, its fantastic! The south is full of nice people that are willing to say that to random strangers and i love it! :)

So here is a brief run down of my week.

Monday: I sent yall emails and stuff and then we ended up doing a little tracting and contacting, nothing to exciting but it was fun!

Tuesday: We had a crazy good day, we spent a lot of time in downtown huntsville and talked to a lot of people just walking around. We met this guy who was building a rocket for the "moon drop" The next day. Apparently in this big park in huntsville they do a moon drop where the drop a moon to thew rocket and its like a big part thing. pretty fun all in all!  then we taught a bunch of lessons to people! one guy we met in the library and we really wants to come to church and it was a very productive awesome day!

Wednesday: new years eve! The highlight was definitely that we drove to Athens to a members house. They are the Silva and they are the nicest couple! Brother Silva was going to play pro soccer in mexico before deciding to come to the states (needless to say he beats us friday nights) and sister silva can cook crazy good! She made like fried chicken tacos with home made salsa and avacato. super good! We then had a little party at my apartment. The other spanish elders stayed with us and we talked and played games. ate little smokeys, and then said happy new year and went to bed.

Thursday:HAPPY NEW YEARS! we woke up and got our studys done and got ready. then had an awesome contacting day, taught like 2 random lessons just on the street. then went to one lopez family for late lunch (delicious) Then to the other lopez family for dinner! We were so full!!! Sister lopez made peruvian tomales and holy cow... Best food there is!  but, that was the end of my holiday food stuffing!

Friday:We started to really push our eating healthy and working out again now that the holidays are over. we had an awesome zone training about setting goals and we decided that the best way to feel energetic and ready for missionary work is to be healthy! So weve been working on eating mostly fruits, veggies, things like chicken, rice, eggs. Food thats low fat and not processed and is good for you in general! I already can tell the difference in how i feel now verses then. The Word of wisdom is definitely inspired! living healthy is the way to go! We also played soccer and had English class this night super successful! and we got a little better at soccer from playing agianst brother silva haha.

Saturday:Had the most amazing lesson with martin! He is preparing to be baptized the 31st! super excited for him! He just needs to keep progressing :) Then at 6 our mission got like "shut down" for tornado warnings. so we had to go inside. all we had was some rain though. we are all safe and sound haha :)

sunday: was just another awesome day in the life :)

So thats whats been going on! I dont have more time so i gotta head, love yall!

Week 27 12/29/14

12/29/14

Hey Everyone! and Merry Christmas! and also, Happy new year!

First of all i want to say a huge thank you for everyone who sent Christmas and birthday gifts and wishes and cards and everything that you did for me. THANK YOU!!!! It made Christmas and my birthday so memorable to receive so much love from so many! Im sorry if i was not able to write you individually but i tried my best! I love you all so much!

The highlights of my week though started on Christmas eve! We had a bit of a wild day getting everything ready for Christmas, trying to buy eggnog on Christmas eve and such is a bit wild! Then we went over to the Santos Families house! They had made a bunch of tamales and invited us and the lopez family over and the silvas and it was so fun! we played a white elephant gift game with candy bars and then watched some lds.org Christmas videos! It definitely brought the spirit and got us in the mood for Christmas :)

Then that night all of us Spanish elders stayed the night at me and elder Kellogg apartment so that we could all wake up by the Christmas tree! it was really fun! we had a good time talking and geting ready for the holiday!

On Christmas we woke up and made some cinnamon rolls! (one of Elder Kelloggs traditions) then got all ready and went to the knights house to skype! it was a blast to be able to see my family and talk to everyone! We played scrabble and ate some yummy sandwiches and then left for the Lopez familys house where we had another awesome hispanic party! haah we had tacos and then they shoved my face in a cake for my birthday haha. almost burnt my eyeball with the candle but i saved myself haha. I love the spanish culture! its just so fun!

The next day (on my actually birthday) Me and elder Kellogg had to drive to Birmingham for a doctors appointment and so we were able to stop and eat lunch at buffalo wild wings (one of my favorite places) With Elder Jackson (my trainer) and Elder Pendleton. (a friend from the MTC) It was a blast!

But then to top it all off, saturday was our branch Christmas party! Investigators came and almost the whole branch! We played soccer and i may have even caved and danced a little haha. This whole week has been a blast! It has also been very good for missionary work to though! we have ran into and taught some really amazing familys! everything is going awesome here right now and i am just loving the mission!

I hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas as well! Love you!