Rain, Hoarding, and Transfer News- week 62, 60 weeks in Phoenix mission, 12 weeks in Glendale

Dear friends and family,

This week was long, but awesome. It was really rainy and a lot of cool things happened! IT'S COOLING OFF!!! In other news, I've been a missionary for over 14 months now. Yeah if that's not crazy I don't know what is!! Both Elder Thaut and I are staying in the area for at least one more transfer. Our roommates, Elders Clough and Rodriguez, are also staying together for a third transfer! Our apartmentship cannot be separated! We will conquer Glendale! Also, no one in the whole zone was transferred. We must be doing something right, or something wrong. ;)

Here was my week!

Monday: Pday. Played speed ball and went to Ross! I got a sweet new tie! (I'm pretty sure I acquired 4 new ties this week. I'm up to like 65) After our time off we made some visits. We saw a member family from Liberia. We visit them a lot because they're kind of recent converts and new to the area. It's a mom with six kids ranging from 2-13. Since they're all girls, we sat outside their apartment and everyone sat in front of us at our feet and listened to us teach. It was a really cool experience to teach the children and hear their simple testimonies of the Savior. 

Temp: 96°F

Tuesday: A pretty average day. A priest from another ward named Juan came out with us for the afternoon and we made some visits with him. He and I have gotten pretty close this last transfer. He's from Tulsa, Oklahoma so we reminisce about the Midwest. Haha! After dinner we went out with a member to visit David, who was baptized last week. We taught him about the priesthood and its power. Plus we talked about life which is always fun. He is really interested in how the missionary program works so we explained it to him!

Temp: 97°F

Wednesday: We helped the bishop's wife move a piano! It took six missionaries to do it. We moved it out of a member's house, into her truck, and unloaded it at the bishop's house. Then she gave us some of her famous homemade cinnamon rolls. Sooooo worth it! Probably the best cinnamon rolls of all time. We had a lesson with the Pope family that afternoon. We hadn't met with them in a while so it was great to see them again. After dinner we taught two guys named Jesse. One at 7, one at 7:45. Two different places, two Jesse's. It was kinda funny. We also weekly planned.

Temp: 100°F (...RIGHT?)

Thursday: Zone conference! Something funny happened during our morning exercise. So as we were walking down our street, we see two fit guys running down our street shirtless. At the same time, there was an older guy riding his bike on the other side of the street. The two guys passed us, and the older guy saw them, turned his bike around, and began biking in their direction with a creepy smile. Yiiiiikes. Hahaha! Anyway, zone conference was wonderful! It was really long. We talked about the importance of having a mission vision, but not only developing a vision, but establishing a mission culture. It was a pretty in-depth topic in which a lot went right over my head, but I think I got a lot out of it. Definitely something we can all work on as a mission. They fed us lunch after the meeting and we sang Happy Birthday to the people with birthdays! I got to sing it in Korean with Elder Jeong before he left! It was a cool experience. I'll attach pictures. I already miss my "dad", Elder Jeong. Then I got a flu shot. I hate needles! But I also hate being sick so I was conflicted!! That night we were on our own for our lessons. We ended up teaching 3 lessons that night, one was pretty cool. As we were biking down 27th Ave, (a pretty sketchy area at night) Elder Thaut stops to talk to a kid who is walking up the street. This is what happened:

"Excuse me, can we ask you just one question?"

He pauses a moment. "Probably where will I go after I die?"

Temp: 98°F

Friday: I experienced the nastiest thing I've ever experienced. We went to a service project in the morning that we were told was "yard work." We met a guy who worked for the city of Phoenix. He then proceeded to tell us the "situation." We were going to clean up a compulsive hoarder's back yard. He had shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes,MASKS, gloves, and all sorts of other tools. There was crap piled up to his windows. It was a decent sized back yard and only two missionaries could fit back there with him. Shout out to Elder Dennis and Elder Bradley for being back there the whole time. There were cockroaches, rats, lizards, and—prepare for it—dead cats. The whole place reeked of cat pee and poop. It was absolutely disgusting. He kicked us out because he couldn't stand to see all of his stuff being thrown away. (It was basically just old papers, dirt, dead things, and various parts to random things). I enjoyed serving, but I was glad to get out of there. There were bees and wasps flying around everywhere. *shivers...* so anyway, then—after taking a long, much needed shower— we had a short, hour-long district meeting after lunch. We then went to a lesson with a YSA member named Spencer because we thought this guy was YSA age. Spencer doesn't have a car, so we biked to his house and walked to the lesson. It was about a 20 minute walk. About half way to the lesson the winds pick up. I feel the first raindrop. Then the dust hits me. Yep, we got caught in a dust storm. Haha! Luckily the investigator was there and we had a great lesson with him. When we left, though, it was pouring down rain. We called our roommates and they were free so they picked us up. Not much else happened in the afternoon. After dinner we went with Juan to visit Mike, a recent convert. He always has snacks and soda for us. It's nice. :)

Temp: 91°F

Saturday: Chris came to our area and took Elder Thaut and me to Culver's! It was really great to see her again and talk to her. Went finding, and did a lot of street contacting. Had a great lesson with a couple great recent converts. 

Temp: 87°F

Sunday: A pretty normal Sunday. Ward council and Church. There was a kick-butt lightning storm after church while we were out so that was fun! We visited a lot of people and ended with a visit with David. The Patriots vs Colts game was on in the background and I commented that I like the Patriots and he said, "Maaaaan! And I've been letting you into my home? Leave!" Just kidding, of course. He's hilarious.

Temp: 86°F

Monday: Non pday Monday. During studies we got a call from some missionaries giving us a referral. Elder Thaut answered the phone, and took the referral info. The missionary asked Elder Thaut if his companion was Elder Kevin Jones. He said yes, and handed me the phone. Lo and behold, on the other end of the phone was Elder Kaleb Claypool from my home stake serving in Nevada Las Vegas West!! Their investigator is moving to Phoenix and we're going to teach her! It's so cool that I got to talk to my friend from the YSA Branch back home!!! Anyway, We then went out with a member to lunch then we went on some visits with him. Had dinner, had a pretty normal lesson with the Popes. They really like to talk. Haha! We got the transfer news and we are all excited to stay together one more transfer at least.

Temp: 83°F

What a great week! So I'll be home today if anyone wants to email me...haha. I'm very excited to be here with a Elder Thaut for six more weeks. The members are excited too. Everyone tells us that they can tell we get along. President Griffin told our zone leaders that we would stay together because we are working well together. I'm a happy camper!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Much love,

Black Canyon Ward

Arizona Phoenix Mission