So here is a general email of my week. This week seemed to be long and not super eventful. We did a lot of finding this week and not as many lessons. We still had about 10 ish lessons this week but we did a lot of tracting. 

We found quite a few investigators and also found a couple people that evidently know more about the church than we do. We tracted into a lady that told us we are being controlled by the church and we aren't allowed to read any books other than what is on the acceptable reading list the church gives us hahaha. And she said she knows that the church secretly makes women slaves lol. So obviously we tried to clarify her misconceptions and she just talked over us the entire time so that was tight. Haha but that happens pretty often, it is so liberal here it's crazy.

Being literally like 5 minutes away from U of O is pretty cool though. There are a bunch of students and a lot of them listen which is cool.

We also did exchanges this week which was weird since that was my first time. I went with elder bushman and it went pretty well. We do a lot of service. Usually we have a couple hours a day at least 4 days a week and it is usually pretty fun.

I'm super stoked for Shawn and him getting his interview to be baptized Saturday. Other than me being sick now, things are going pretty well. I've already met so many people that I've come to love here. So many people I would have probably never talked to or thought much of if I hadn't gone on a mission. I do miss family and friends every day and I miss my district from the MTC but things are going good now and it's awesome to actually be helping people to change their lives. Here are a couple pictures again from this week and I love and miss everyone.

So this little girl came up to us as we were going into the mission office to pick up my package.  She is super smart.  She ran up to us and was like "hey elders! My name is Sister Hayes (she's 14).  She recites like 5 of her favorite scriptures and said she goes tracting in her neighborhood all the time. lol  We took her and her family into the mission office and showed them around.  It made her day!

Okay so since you have a bunch of questions, this will probably be the general long email for everyone. So this week was pretty tight. I got my iPad and we have had a lot of stuff going on. Elder Falatea and I work really well together and have like the same exact personality. (It's probably not a good thing hahaha) but we are both pretty outgoing and relaxed. But when we work and we are out tracting we are always working hard. So here's some stats for us right now; so we have 6 people on date to be baptized, 2 more that are super super close to being on date, we have found 6 new investigators this week and we have a few progressing. This area is super solid.
So 2 of those on date are Brandon and Kelly. They were super solid but this week we gave them the chastity pamphlet... (They are living together and not married) so that went super rough. At first they were solid with it and wanted to get married so they could get baptized but then they saw that we don't condone homosexuality and weren't too happy with that. Hopefully they will be fine in a couple of days.
We also have Shawn who is getting baptized in two weeks and he is super solid and ready. There are a few more on date and they are doing super good. And the two that are almost on date are Mainen and Daryl and they said they want to but they are going to pray about it, so that's cool.
Also ally is one of the few on date and she's having a super hard time with her family so pray for her if you can!
So the dinners are alright. My pickiness is going away I guess...kinda...not really. I just suck it up and eat whatever they have. Sometimes people make good stuff though, so that's tight.
On Pdays we usually do a zone activity or just hangout as a zone in the institute. We get up at 5 and go to the YMCA and then do laundry and shop and then just hang out.  We haven't been able to go see the fifes but we are going to this week. I feel better now, we have a lot of people to focus on and I just try to focus on the work and not myself which seems to be working. And right now we have a car so we barely have to use our bikes which is super nice. I miss everyone a bunch but things are going super good right now and our area is doing super tight. 

(Written Letter)

Mom and Dad
What's up?  Today is sunday and I have been here in Oregon for 5 days. This is only my third day as an actual missionary though.  I'm writing you this now but i'll probably just end up emailing you all of this tomorrow anyway, but its alright.  My trainer is Elder Falatea from Hawaii and he is super cool.  We are a lot alike in how we can be relaxed and have a good time but still get a bunch of work done.  We have already taught around 6 or 7 lessons in the last 2 days we've been together.  We've found several new investigators which is sweet too!Then yesterday I asked Brandon and Kelly to be baptized on May 21st and they said Yes!!  I got my first two people on date!  The struggle will be that they have to get married before then but they want to so we are going to help them.  We should have 7 of our on dates, progressing investigators, and less actives coming to church today so lets see if they all make it.  Maybe i'll let you know if I finish the letter after church, how many came. or i'll just email you tomorrow.  haha  The first 3 days were super hard being here.  I felt really lonely and depressed.  Like it's just me and my companion and if we have a bunch of people fall through or we can't find anyone to teach it really sucks!  And i'm used to being with you guys or my district at the MTC so just living with one companion and barely seeing or talking to other people can be super depressing.  It has been better since we got a bunch of new investigators and lessons and stuff but it can still be a struggle.  I also try not to think about how i'm only on day 5 and I have a super long time left.  It's a struggle.  It can definitely be fun but it can just as well be depressing.  Maybe I will get used to it.  Elder Snyder is in the same area as us so we've seen him the past couple days which was cool.  P-day is tomorrow which i'm excited about and i'm sure i'll let you know how its going when I email tomorrow...
I am now finishing this letter after church and only one of the seven made it to church so that sucked but it's whatever.  Well I will be writing you guys and emailing.  Love you and Miss you!
love sawyer

mom--so we are in an apartment and I cant remember the address because we aren't there right now but I sent you and dad a letter so it will be on that and if you need to send anything just send it to the mission office I guess. so when I get my ipad I don't think I can look at email everyday but I will be able to email you easier on Mondays. today I'm on a computer so its difficult and I wont write a bunch. my companion is so tight. the lord matched us together like a professional. we are both super chillaxed and wen we work, we work hard so its tight. we already got 4 people put on date this week! I got two of them myself! so my first couple baptisms might be soon! we are doing so good. i don't think I need anything in specific but packages are always so awesome. ties are always needed btw. cool ties. other than plaid too. and we rode our bikes today but that's the first time. we haven't had to that much and it isn't raining in Eugene right now. I'm in the Eugene area too btw. so that's a quick answer since I don't have much time. ill send you another email if I have time again today! love you and relay to dad :)

dad- hows it going?? hows work? i hope you're doing awesome and i hope work is going well! Oregon has been real weird. a lot of pot smoking and atheists hahaha. its kind of funny. i already was able to put two more people on date and we have four total if i remember correctly, maybe six. i felt super depressed the first couple days but since we have been so busy its been good. i get my ipad soon so next time i email should be better. i emailed mom so you can look at that too and i sent off a couple letters today too. i will email you again next monday! miss you and love you!

All the new missionaries

All the new missionaries and their trainers

Sawyer and his Trainer Elder Falatea from Hawaii

so yeah I got the box and it was a week maker again! the socks were perfect! it doesn't matter if they are the same because i need a lot of them! so we watched general conference all together as the MTC in the MTC so it was kind of cool. it was A LOT TO SIT THROUGH along with our additional devotionals in between the sessions and after them. i will be calling you on Wednesday when i'm at the airport so have your phone ready! that's the one time we are aloud to call you! i'm pretty excited! i really loved a lot of those talks from conference though! Monsons was super awesome even though it was short and Uchtdorf and Hollands were awesome as always so it was cool to hear! there were a couple more that stood out but i forgot to bring my notebook with me right now. i've almost filled my entire new notebook in two and a half weeks of class hahaha. also, there is a way you can write me every day, its called "dear elder" its a website i think that you write me and i get it as a printed out letter that day. If you want you can do that and if you aren't sure how you can call here and ask! this week was super exciting! not only did a new district come into the zone and i get to show them everything but elder Snyder and i are the only ones teaching a serious non member investigator! its way more stressful knowing he is really no joke not a member but he is super cool and we are having our fourth lesson with him tomorrow! Elder Snyder and I have had some issues because he can be emotional and I show like no emotion usually and i'm not very sympathetic so we have just had to improve our communication and we are solid again! I can not wait to eat normal food again!!!!!!! that's what i'm looking forward to the most other than being able to call you guys! I will be writing letters to you guys also so expect those. I sent one today. i hope all of you are doing awesome! I miss you so much but keep up everything and i love you guys! love you! oh and here are a couple pictures.

well first to reply to dad- it is awesome to hear from you! your letter was a huge help to me! i enjoy written letters so much! i finally understand what you have been telling me all these years about it hahah. i seriously miss the runs and hikes with you already. i pray every night that you will be able to go to work and have a good time or at least a decent day. i love you so much and miss you tons. keep the work outs up and update me whenever you have one that seemed really good! love you! (ill attach pictures at the end)

mom- so my companion is bracken snyder from orlando florida. my favorite meal is definitely when they have either papa johns or subway once a week. all the rest of the food is disgusting and makes me want to quit eating for the rest of my life hahaha. for easter we got to hear from elder ballard! it was sick! he was like 40 yards from me. but the food was awful and the rest of the day sucked lol. i pretty much cant even check or see your emails until friday which is hard but i am not supposed to check them until then so... i have class, study, or teaching like every minute of every day though so not much time to think about stuff. and thank you for that scripture.

Mom & Dad- so that package came yesterday. it made my entire week. i was so happy. thank you so much. i am going to start sending actual letters too so expect those. i had to get a shot yesterday that i guess we missed doing before i came and my arm is destroyed and it cost seventy dollars or something. anyway thank you so much for the letter, rocks, jacket and everything else! means so much! just a reminder, socks (like the blue and grey ones we got at khols) and ties are always needed! thank you so much for all that.

I love both of you mom and dad! tell the girls and everyone else!