Hello Elder Payne!

This was possibly the most exciting week so far! It was transfers so I said "adios" to Elder Chavez and said hello to... Elder Payne! He rocks we are grinding hard. One kind of silly thing is that my Spanish is better than his (haha/oh no). PERO I've been clutching up and so has the gift of tongues. 

Goody Highlights

-New comp is a G, we do GOOD work.

-I LEAD MY FIRST NON-MEMBER LESSON IN SPANISH. Insane.

-We met an Ultra Cool guy that gave us some deer and elk meat, very yummy.

-We came back the next morning and did some service for him and I got to play with their grandsons and they are so cute and funny!

- Daniel watched sacrament meeting on zoom! (He couldn't come in person this time but next week him and his wife will come).

-I won rookie of the year according to the Zl's!!

Lunes- Hype P-day, Hermana Risenmay volunteered me to host a district breakfast. Luckily it was good and we had an awesome time I of course whipped up fire pancakes and quality smoothie. I spent the evening with Elder Rose who was super cool, I loved getting to know him. We were together because his comp was also going home so my comp and his comp went to leaving interviews and dinner together and we did the work, we met an awesome member family and they gave us Pink milk! (Strawberry milk). It was super fun.

District Breakfast!

Elder Rose and me

Tuesday- TRANSFER DAY! We zoomed to the mission office and dropped silly Elder Chavez off. There was an elder there that was supposed to be going to his apartment or something with another Elder but he left so he didn't have a companion, so Sister Daich (a senior missionary) volunteered me to go with him haha. It was good his name is Elder Watson and he is a solid guy. We went home and then dropped off elder Draughon at his apt. (Very sad I super miss Elder Draughon) Then we zOOmED to a nicely BBQ place and it was indeed yummy. Then my sICk new comp came and it was ultra hype cause Elder Bringhurst and his comp dropped him off and Bringhurst is a G, we met on the plane and he's dope. We then had a great rest of our day, we had a sweet lesson with Hermana Piets and it was awesome.

Some of my favs! Elder Backman and Elder Roland!

My new comp- Elder Payne!

Miércoles- Wow. Mega day. So I knew this day was coming, cause we meet with the Torres family every Wednesday so I was hype but also super scared because they solomente speak Spanish. So I prayed hard for the gift of tongues and luckily it went good! We taught the plan of Salvation and it was super awesome I asked them how they felt about it after and the wife told us it was "Muy Bonita" (Very beautiful) The lesson was about 95% in Spanish and I did about 85% of the teaching- so really, what's up!, Spanish is simple and I'm already fluent so ha, send me to Argentina already geez lueez! We then had a nice member lesson with the Picahardo family and it was super good. We talked a ton about temples. We also talked about why we are called to difficult callings.

Jueves- Bummy day.

Viernes- Zone conference day. It was a good zone con, we had a good time. I love to see other missionaries! It was super good we talked about joy and (my mother is going to flip over this one) Positive Thoughts! It was a very good time. I got to see a ton of buddies and it was awesome.  Unfortunately the night was less great, we spent a lot of time trying to find, but almost nothing really came out of it :(

Saturday- Woke up and exercised, then we went straight to the house we were at on Friday night to do some yard work. About half way through I started playing with their little Grandsons (Jack, who's 7 and Luca, who's 4) but it got a little out of hand and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get back to raking because they would keep playing and if I stood still they would get me with their swords and stuff haha. But we finished the job and it was super fun. Then later we knocked on this one presumably Spanish speaking door and he was a member, we did some service for him and then he showed us his sick '06 Corvette! That night we met some members from Honduras and the DR but they don't go to our ward so kind of lame.

Cool car- Lincoln would love it!

Domingo- Pretty good day we gave Daniel the Zoom link and so he watched it, sadly his wife wasn't feeling good that night so they cancelled our lesson, we are going to meet with him on Wednesday. Then we talked to an English bishop and he gave us a lot of names and addresses where Spanish speakers live!

T'was a solid week and everything is mega good. However I'm still seeing a lack in emails being sent to me so thank you to everyone that did, but I'm going to need all of you to do better.

Goodbye Elder Chavez, Hello Corolla!!

 Welcome. Thank you all for being here. It's been another good week. Lots of ups lots of downs, but in the end we came out with the W.

-Insane burgers (If I can even call them that haha) (see Monday)

-Probably the best lesson I've taught yet (see Sunday)

- We became a trio with Elder Draughon and it was fun.

- Because we all had to sleep in the same room I got the floor :) (luckily I snagged the couch cushions haha)

- We got a CAR! (hence the title)

Monday- Nicely P-day, we balled with the district on la mañana and then did some shopping. Then we just hung out with the district played some sports and some card games. Then I talked with my wonderful familia. At 6 we went to a members house for dinner kinda as Elder Chavez's goodbye to them and they made us an insane meal my mind was boggled. It was 2 donuts then a one pound burger and then bacon and two more donuts as the top bun (don't worry I'll attach some pictures cause it's hard to envision in your head haha). We had two good lessons with some English bishops and then we headed home.

Martes- Balled up. We did exchanges for the first time which was a super cool experience, I was with elder Underwood who is super cool. We had a lot of good studies and planning which is good because E. Chavez isn't the best at that sometimes haha. For dinner Elder Roberts and Bethea brought us Pizza and we ate pizza and played some games! Then we had one member lesson and it went pretty good.

Miércoles- Solid day, we did some service in the morning first we read to the kids at the school and then when we were biking back we saw an elderly couple raking their leaves so we helped them. It was quite good. 

Thursday- A very crazy day, our district leader left to Chile in the morning and so at district council we became a trio with Elder Draughon. We had district council and then we got some lunch and then we had to zoom to the mission office, then we dropped of some Elders and then we traded cars with the Hermanas (Because of some weird creepy stuff going on). Then we had studies had dinner then did some service, we put together some furniture for a new member. Then we had soccer night and it was actually hype. I went off! I even scored! My defense was very good (that's what they told me) so I'm glad I'm improving.

Viernes- We played basketball which was good. We had good studies and planning and then we did some good hard work service at Hermana Peits house then she had us over for dinner that night which was very good. She has an awesome accent and is super fun to listen to her tell stories.

Saturday- We ran in the morning and did a little workout so that was good. Then I whipped up some heat pancakes. Then there was this awesome basketball tourney at an English ward and we were invited to play. Sadly we pulled a Gonzaga and went undefeated until the championship. Muy triste. But it was lots of fun. That night we went on exchanges with ZL Elder Arce it was super good. We met a pretty silly guy that said we don't need to pray and we could just talk to God like he was right there. He also said that we didn't need to go to church haha. But the weirdest part about him was he would cuss in the most random places haha it was weird. But we had a great night. We then went home and had a Pizza night with Concretes from Culvers. So that was very fun and good.

Domingo- We went to church and Elder Chavez said bye to a lot of people. Then we went and visited some people he wanted to say bye too. Then we went home and ate. Then we went to a lesson with the Torres family and yay what an awesome lesson! We taught the restoration and they told us they believe that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet! I'm so happy for them! Then we ate dinner with one of Elder Chavez's favorite families. Then we went home and got the transfer board! I'm so happy, because I'm staying in the area and in the house with the ZL's! My new comp is Elder Payne so hopefully he is cool.

Temple Trip

 What a week, what a good week to be more specific! Real quick just want to say that the church is true!

Our District at the Bountiful Temple!

-We found an awesome couple that seem to totally be ready to hear and accept the gospel!

-I can feel my Spanish getting better! I am starting to understand way more!

-I finally got a new bike and it is 1000 times better than the piece of garbage I was riding before.

Monday- Very good P-day, Zone unity day! We played tons a sports and had an awesome time. We played lots of football which was super fun. Then a lot of us went to Cafe Rio which was also very fun. Reminded me of my MTC days with my mom :) 

Tuesday- Great morning, we woke up at 5:30 to get ready and go to the Bountiful temple! We got there and the thing is ENORMOUS the dressing room is the size of the Spokane temple! But it was a fantastic experience and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go. I haven't been since the MTC and so it was awesome to go again. But unfortunately the rest of the day was less awesome. We knocked doors of people previously taught and it didn't go well. We had a guy who told us the Joseph Smith did it for money. (Clearly he's never read D&C) and the the book of Mormon is written by man and is not the word of God. We wouldn't even listen to one verse :( Then we had a guy who we knocked on at 8:20 and he flipped his lid on us. He asked us what we were doing there so late (come on my guy it's not even 8:30) but I went home feeling super discouraged. It's so hard to know that there are people out there who will not accept the gospel. Especially after knowing all the things it's done in my life.

Me and Elder Roland at the temple!

Bountiful Temple in the early morning

Wednesday- So I woke up and I didn't feel to great because of what happened on Tuesday night. But during my personal study I read 3 Nephi 21:9 "For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them." That helped me out a lot. Then we went to go out and BOTH MY TIRES WERE FLAT! I pumped them both up and they both went flat immediately. I was so furious I was throwing the bike so much. So we called our District leader and asked if we could borrow his bike. He brought it to us and then we went and knocked a door and they invited us in made us dinner and we had an awesome lesson!!!! Satan was trying to make sure we didn't get there but I know that he cannot frustrate the work of the Lord. It seems like my life is a puzzle right now. Like I'll be looking for a piece like a miracle or an answer and the next day I'll find it. Super awesome.

My Awesome District!

Thursday- Well call me LeBron James because we beat Elder Gray twice in a row, and I hit both game winning shots. It's not a big deal or anything but might as well share. We had district Council which was good. Not quite as good as last weeks but still good and spiritual. We then went to this cool Food Truck called "The Zone" can you guess what they serve? Yup Calzones, they are soooooo nice and they give food to missionaries for free! Sadly they were out of Calzones so they made us something special that was very yummy. We had soccer night and it's insane how bad I am compared to this little Latino kids. They take me all day long. But it was super fun still. Trying to work on my soccer game so I don't embarrass myself in Argentina!

Friday- Solid day, we went out to all the bishops in the stake we are serving in, to ask about Spanish
speaking people that might live around them. While we were riding our bikes we came across a dog and we called his owner and returned him. Then we came to this one bishops house and he told us he was sick and he had a really important day tomorrow and needed to be there. He asked us if we could give him a blessing and so I got to give my first blessing! It was a super awesome experience and super testimony building! Then we went to the relief society presidents house (the one with the adorable granddaughter) and I taught a lesson and it actually went super well!

Reading with kids for service

Saturday- We continued to ride around and talk to the English bishops and it was super awesome! One of them gave us ice cream! We met some super cool people and had an awesome day.

Domingo- We did studies in the morning and then went to church, where we got a new bishopric! Then we went to a temple walk and we got to talk to lots of people and got some food. We returned to the people that we taught on Wednesday day and it was awesome I'm super excited for them and hope they keep progressing to baptism!

Testimonies and Halloween

 Welcome to the email. I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween. Mine wasn't too bad, it was pretty good. This was a very nice and good week. A few disappointing moments but overall good.

- Had one of the most Spiritual experiences of my life. (see Thursday)

- I whipped up some fire Annie Ditto breakfast for the guys.

-  We found a few new people finally so that's exciting!

- My bike broke AGAIN. INSANE.

Monday- I think this was my favorite P-day yet, we started out by going golfing at like 8:30. I'm very bad at golf but I improved a lot throughout the day, I even got par on one of the holes! Driving the golf cart was super fun, I loved it more than the actual golfing. Then we went to a restaurant which was good. Then we went to our district activity and played some chair soccer, some football, some basketball, and some card games. It was tons of fun, we have a super fun district too so that's good. Even though I am terrible at soccer, I'm trying to get better so when I go to Argentina I don't get destroyed by the Argentinian kids haha. Then sadly I had to get my hair shaved because I told E. Bethea that if he got E. Draughon do it, I would too...and dang, elder Draughon did it! Then we went home and I got to talk to my family, so awesome! I love hearing about them and their lives. I talked to Laynie for like an hour so that was super fun.

Tuesday- I played so good in ball I made like 4 threes and a ton of layups we smashed elder Gray and elder Chavez. Then I made my fire smoothie (thanks mom the boys loved it) We went to the Library while E. Chavez did college things I had a fire personal study. Then we had dinner at the house and went out to find we had a good lesson with some members and then we went to this one house but she wasn't there but her niece was and so we're teaching her on Friday- so that's super cool. 

Wednesday- I balled horribly, very bad :(  I finished Alma and it was awesome! Then we went to lunch and got paid for again. Every Wednesday and Friday the ZL's give us a challenge, so Wednesday's was to give out as many Books of Mormon as we could and *holy cow* did we crush that challenge, we gave out 7! Every single one we had left! And we found 3 new Latino contacts! I'm so excited because last week was slow and we're finally finding people!

Thursday- Holy cow. What a day.

We had district council and our District leader had an amazing lesson idea. Last week we talked about what our biggest doubt would be if we were not members. I said that I think mine would probably be the first vision, then he challenged us to research it and come back and give a lesson on it as if we were teaching ourselves. (Best idea he's ever had.)

But I went into that like "well I believe the first vision is true, so it'll be easy." I started the lesson and as soon as I got to when he went to the sacred grove... I lost it. My eyes started tearing up and a I couldn't talk. I didn't understand why,...I believed it, I knew the story...but the Spirt was so strong. I looked around and all the Hermanas were crying, and most of the Elders too. When I finished my lesson I no longer believed it,  I Knew It. It had never occurred to me that I didn't know it was true...I thought it was true, I was pretty sure it was. Now I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and did see Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. And to think I gained this testimony because I was teaching, and not listening. Crazy what 3 weeks devoting all your time to Christ will do to your testimony. 

The rest of the day was great. Helaman 5 is like my new favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. We got some solid contacts in and set up a lesson with a lady who we met my first day but haven't been able to meet with her yet.

Friday- I whipped up some fire authentic Spokane Annie Ditto breakfast, pancakes and smoothie, the guys loved it so thanks mom! Then I did some fire study and finished Helaman. It boggles my mind how wicked the Nephites were even after the signs that Samuel the Lamanite gave. Then we ate some pizza for lunch. We had a lesson a 7 with a girl we met who is super cool, we invited the hermanas over YSA because she's 20. We knocked and no one answered and then we went to a members house for a little and we went back and she was there! She works nights so she sleeps a lot of the day. But we scheduled to go back on Saturday. 

Saturday- Kinda a bummy day, we had to go home at 6:30 and stay there so that was necessarily the most fun haha. But we had some good studies. Sadly both our lessons fell through :( but we learned that there is another Latino family living in their basement- he was cool to talk to, but he isn't interested. Then we talked to some cool guys at the golf course. We went home ate dinner and stayed home for the night. Played a little poker too.

Sunday- Happy Halloween. Mine was alright we got some candy from members so that was nice. Then we did some finding but everyone was doing stuff with their families so it was kinda hard, but we did find a new couple and I'm praying they will actually show up to meetings. We had to go home at 6:30 again but we played a little football and I got to call the family so that was nice.

Me and my guy Leo

Fall in the Mission

 Hola and hello. This week was good, slow but good. It rained a good amount (no snow yet, bummy) but we put someone on date for baptism, so that's good!

-We had a mission wide p-day, very fun. We went to a pumpkin patch and after we did them service by picking a hundred thousand pumpkins they fed us some mega good pulled pork, apple cider donuts!

-Making pancakes on a stove works way less good than on a skillet cause the middles don't get cooked. We call them medium rare pancakes.

-We taught Simone twice and put her on date, she lives in Equator (shout out Hermana T and E. Bollwinkel). She's here visiting her sister who is the bishop's wife.

-Elder Gray dropped a cup of juice and it splashed everywhere. Me and Elder Arce couldn't stop laughing.

-My bike still sucks.

Monday- Mission wide p-day so fun I didn't really do any of the activities though because we played football the whole time. Super duper fun though.

Tuesday- We beat Elder Gray in ball again! haha I hit the game winning shot. Very hype. Then we taught Simone which was good. Later we went to a skate park to see if anyone was there and we met 2 very nice boys. They let me ride their scooters and I'm pro. One of them was very enthusiastic about serving a mission so that's awesome.

Wednesday- I blocked Elder Chavez on a lay up very good very good. We taught Simone again and it's awesome. Can't wait to have her enter the waters of baptism. 

Preach to the Chickens!

Thursday- We had our first District council, it was super fun and very good so see the district and talk about how we're doing and how who we're teaching are doing. Ward soccer night again all the Latinos are insanely good and I don't stand a chance.

Me and Elder Arce (he's from Texas!)

Friday- We went to an elementary school to sign up to read to kids. I'm so stoked cause I love working with kids so I can't wait to actually do it.

Saturday- I read like 8 chapters of the BoM. Pretty good day. Happy BYU won.

Elder Chavez is trying to eat at all his favorite places before he goes home...

Sunday- Stake conference pretty good but very laggy. Then we had a lesson but they say they are not ready which is understandable cause they moved from Columbia and had to get new jobs so they ate a little overwhelmed so it's alright.

The chickens where we live love to sit in the tree- they remind me of Laynie and her obsession for chickens!

First talk in Spanish

 This week was a good week, not as good as last week but still good. 

-My comp was sick Wed and Thurs so we had to stay home and that sucked megaly. But we played a ton of football cause we couldn't do anything else, and that's how I decided to be a D1 QB.

-My front tire on my bike went flat this week so I had to fix that.

that.

-I gave a talk in church yesterday which was insanely scary but people told me I did good. 

-Seagulls ate my fries. But it's fine I got new fries.

Tuesday- At morning ball me and elder Arce beat Elder Chavez And elder Gray which was awesome, elder Gray was so mad though haha. Zone conference was on Tuesday and it was so cool. I loved it, it was spiritual and super fun and the lunch was so good. In the evening we went to a member's house and I swear she could be a general authority. One thing she said was "Gratitude is the conversion of the soul" I liked that a ton.

Wednesday- Elder Chavez woke up sick so we played 3 man ball while he slept in the foyer. We made some calls and I read like a hundred chapters of the Book of Mormon (which is like the coolest book ever)(make sure to read it if you haven't yet, or haven't in a long time). Went to lunch and got paid again. We played insane amounts of football. We had to go get tested for Covid which was bummy, and we had to quarantine until we got the results.

Thursday- Balled in the morning. Quarantined for the whole morning played more basketball and football. The Willy's (the family who's guest house we're staying in) got a baby cow so that's super cool. Then we got the negative results but Elder Chavez couldn't go out until he didn't fell sick anymore so Elder Arce was very kind and let me go to soccer night with elder Gray which was so fun but I'm crazy bad at soccer and all these Mexican boys are insane with their indoor soccer shoes and crazy sick moves haha. So I sat out a lot to let them play and talked to Hermana Steed who is super nice.

Friday- Elder Chavez felt better so we actually did missionary work. We woke up and me and elder Gray went to the track at the high school (He's running for BYU when he gets back so he's mega fast) I ran a few miles and kicked a 10 yd field goal so that was sick. 

Saturday- We did regular missionary things and then for dinner we went to Wendy's, (and the car in front of us gave twenty dollars to the cashier for us so that's awesome) my bike had a flat front tire so I kept having to fill it up until I got the new one, but right in front of the house the bag caught the tire a ripped and my fries went everywhere I kinda salvaged everything else. I didn't have to pick up the fries though, I just let the seagulls chow down. But I went back to get my bike and the garbage and this couple came up to me and started talking to me and then they told me they would go and get me something from Wendy's!!! And so they got me large fries and another burger so I guess it worked out haha. Then we went and I gave another Spanish lesson to some members, which I think went alright. Then went to Rodolfo's house and they said they would COME TO CHURCH!

Sunday- They did not come to church :( 

I woke up and started writing my talk in Spanish and then we had 2 meetings over zoom. Then we were gonna get a ride from elder Brammer but they lost the keys to their car oops so a member gave us a ride. I gave my heat talk and I think it went not bad then we went home ate lunch and played a little pass. Last night my comp was on one or something I don't know but it was weird he didn't say a single word to me all night haha. I had to do what uncle Todd told me to do, just be super nice and not get mad (shootout Todd for the g
ood advice). It was hard though cause I'd be like ok cool where we going now? No answer. Should we go here? No answer haha. Whatever you do you I guess. Then we got home and I started doing cleaning while whipping up Straight flaming mac and cheese (my man Tacen Cobb knows what's up)(someone make sure he sees this please) but I was going ham doing dishes washing the stove just cleaning so good quick break to eat the fire mac and cheese and then BOOM where back to cleaning. The house looks insane now so that's very good. Elder Arce and Elder Gray were glad I cleaned. 

Good week, thanks for reading! I can't wait to continue the mission. Also Argentina is looking really good, lots of missionaries are getting to go so I think I'll be there within like 3 months or so... we'll see. 

Off to Layton!

 I made it to Layton! This place actually rocks. I won't be mad if I have to stay here longer than I originally wanted too. This email is mega long so if you don't wanna read it all I'll give highlights (shoutout Hermana T for the Idea).

- I live with the zone leaders, Elder Arce and Elder Gray. Who are actually the best. So nice and so funny.

- I've used Spanish way more than I thought I would. On Saturday I gave an entire lesson to some members.

- We gave a woman a blessing, It was so spiritual even though I was spooked out of my mind we went good.

- I've been paid for 4/7 times we've bought something and been given pickleball paddles (absolutely insane).

- Saw elder Backman and Roland soooooo hype.

 - It's rained everyday except Sunday and on Saturday the mountains got snow it's an awesome view.

-My bike tire got a hole in it and it was such an annoying process to fix haha. But I'm getting so good at no hands and I'm trying to teach elder Chavez.

- The funniest thing that happened was, my comp has this grass powder stuff, straight up like alfalfa and barley and wheat and we dared elder Gray to dry scoop it and he did and then he threw up twice hahahaha.

Tuesday- I said Adios to my family and hopped on a plane with 2 other elders who are dope, we had a great time on the plane. 

Saying Good-bye!

When we got there we followed the instructions and found some senior missionaries with three other elders. We tossed our things in a trailer and hopped in a van and rode the mission home (which is a church building, not the mission president's house) . We met tons of people but I was focused on that all I wanted to do was see Elder Backman and Elder Roland. But we ate some lunch and when through some instruction on different things, then I saw Elder Roland which was so hype. My mission presidents are super cool I like them a lot. Then I got to see elder Backman, then I met my companion. Elder Chavez. Then we went to our TINY house where we live with the zone leaders, Elder Gray and Elder Arce (R-say) who are awesome super cool really nice guys. Then we went and taught a lesson in Spanish ahhh it was crazy but I think I did alright. Then we went home and ate dinner and went to bed.

I found Elder Roland!!

President and Sister Johnson

Wednesday- I hopped right out of bed at 6:30 (hasn't happened since) don't worry I'm awake just not out of bed Haha. And we went and played ball with the ZL's and I suck so bad but it's ok. Then we whipped up some desayuno and started our day. We usually go to the library that's close to do our studies because our apartment is microscopic. We went to Arby's for lunch and someone paid for our food! In the afternoon we practiced singing with our district to sing the next day at a mission conference thing. Then we went home and ate and then we went and taught an investigator who's on date to be baptized. He is super cool but speaks no ingles! Then we went to meet with another investigator and my bike tire went flat!! So we got a ride back home then we went home and headed to bed.

Thursday- We hooped again in the morning and did studies. Then we NEEDED to go shopping cause I didn't have any food so I was mooching off everyone haha. AND SOMEONE PAID FOR ALL OUR GROCERIES!!!! It was like $50. Then we went to this good restaurant AND GOT PAID FOR AGAIN!!! In the afternoon we went to the mission conference thing which was good, super informative and we sang army of Helaman (which bops, take a listen) then went home and taught a non member! My comp said "look cold so he'll invite us in haha. 

Friday (the best day of the week)- I finally got my hands on a bike pump (that didn't work so I fixed it and patched my tire just to find out there was like 100 trillion more holes in it haha. So we went to Walmart and got a new tube and put that on and was ready to go (thanks for making me fix all those bikes dad, sure came in handy). Then we went to a house where one of my comps coverts had just moved out of. We knocked on the door and a woman answered and told us she didn't speak English! (Oh great here we go again) She was a member. But she had tears in her eyes and so we politely asked what was wrong. She told us she's been having marriage problems and was super sad she's has to little boys and another kid on the way (I think but my spanish is bad but we're pretty sure she said she was pregnant, she doesn't really look pregnant though so I don't know, whatever, not important) but we shared a message of love and peace and then she asked us to give her a BLESSING!!! I was crazy nervous but I think it went good. Then we told her she is strong and she will get through it. Then she gave us ice cream :) we went to a member's house next and talked to them for a while, and then went to the person we taught on Thursday to see if he was home to follow up with him, but he wasn't. Then we went and knocked on a door and talked to a 15 year old girl who's moving this week. She was really nice and funny. While we were talking it started to rain and I had a sweater but not a rain coat oops. We rode home in the pouring rain and it was awesome I felt so much like a missionary it was insane I was singing all the way home.

Me and Elder Chavez got caught in the rain!

Saturday- I woke up and made some heat pancakes for the house. But mom I need your recipe because Krustez doesn't compare. AND! The members who's guest house we're staying at gave us FREEZER JAM!!!!!!! So that's the best thing ever. Then we did studies and then for dinner elder Chavez made some very yummy spaghetti. Then we went and tried to visit these non members but they weren't home so we went to the relief society president's house and talked to them and they have the CUTEST granddaughter she was soooooo funny. Then they convinced me to give an ENTIRE lesson in Spanish! It went pretty good I think (I mean they told me it was good but it was probably bum smacks) but while we were talking the little girl was playing tic tac toe with me haha but she would do so many boxes and then make it up as she'd go haha. And then I taught her how to play the dot game but she would draw a full square and then give herself like 4 points and me like 4 points so that was pretty funny. They asked if I have little sibs because I was so patient haha. Then we went home and moved the bunk bed into the bedroom for more space in the open room but it was so much harder than I thought and took like an hour and a half eek! 

(the fruit bowl I crafted to make it feel more like home) 

Sunday- I woke up and I read like 5 chapters of the Book of Mormon and then after breakfast (forgot it was fast Sunday oops) during personal study read like 10 more. I've never liked to read the Book of Mormon
like this before, it's kinda weird. Then we went to church which was whack barely understood anything haha. The elders did a little thing about Joseph Smith to the primary (luckily all the kids also speak English haha) but you can tell the other elders have WAY less experience with kids than me haha. Then we went to a member's house to eat dinner and it was SO GOOD and I ate a piece of a habanero that they grew in their garden... very bad idea haha. But the food was so yummy she's from Guatemala (shout out best MTC companion E. Cortez!) I hope you get to eat food like that there. Then went out to talk to some people and we met this I swear drunk lady but she is a member and has kids, and went on a mission but she was kinda crazy haha. Then on our way back home it was like 8:30 and we saw some people playing pickleball and we went and played with them and talked to them and then they GAVE US THEIR PADDLES AND 2 BALLS!!! Insane. So I'm hype to play pickleball now. Then we got home and had a super dope Poker night and hit the hay.

Monday- We and went and played basketball for like 2 hours (Lots of fun, except everyone is better than me cause I'm crazy bad). Then we got flu shots. We're going to play games later so I'm stoked for that.

Great week, I can't wait to continue the work. I hope your all doing great.

Love, Elder Ditto.

The Beginning

 So I'm now in the 4th week of MTC and it's wild. I can't believe I leave for 2 years in a few weeks, its very crazy. Classes are getting harder and more boring so that's not ideal, however I do feel like I'm learning a ton. I've started to notice these crazy moments, where I won't be paying as much attention as I should be but I'll understand what she's saying in Spanish, so that's happened to me a few times and it's weird because to understand I used to have to give 100% focus just on the words but now it's less than that. We're learning more and more rules and grammar things now which are tricky to remember but I feel like I'm doing pretty well.

My very own MTC sign!

 I've be able to go to the temple 3 times now and it's fantastic, It's such a different feeling when I walk out and see my mom sitting in the celestial room I try to be all cool about it but I can't help but smile. I get to go back next week to and I'm so excited about that. 

Me and the district are still getting along great so that's really good. A few times a night week make someone the spotlight, where they make a Kahoot about themselves and we play it and them ask them a bunch of questions. It's super fun and a great way to get to know each other. I wish I got to meet them in person before the mission SO BAD. But it'll be a party after the mission. The funniest thing I've heard all week was when we were talking about opening our mission calls and if we cried or not and Elder Bledsoe told us that he was tearing up and could barley talk and over zoom his dad goes "Why aren't you reading it!" That made me laugh really hard. We've been doing lessons with our teachers pretending to be investigators, those have been crazy luckily for me I have the GOAT Companion who is a genius and so at first it was scary and our teacher told us how we needed to improve but since the first one we've been doing really good. Me and my companion we're talking and we thought that is a good thing that our Spanish is really basic so when we explain it to people it'll make more sense then in English cause we know less big hard words. I've noticed such a crazy difference in my Spanish it's incredible. I'm so thankful for the gift of tongues and the brain God gave me.

 I said Adios to one of my favorite people this week, my cousin Jacob left for the MTC on Tuesday and after that he goes to Fresno California. Me and my cousin George went to the airport to say bye but missed him bye like 2 minutes! ¡Muy triste! I'll miss Jacob a ton, we've so many memories together, he's been such a great influence on me. 

George and I were actually too late to say goodbye to Jacob at the airport- Dang it!!

The covid numbers in Argentina are going down a lot they're at the lowest 7 day average since like May of 2020 so that's good I'm hoping and praying for them to open on October 1st! I cant wait to get to Layton and start my mission.

Me and Elder Blake at the temple!

Missing a few people from the picture that were in the temple with us, the Cobbs, Tay and Leeland, and Bishop Richardson...such a great group of family and friends!