So this makes transfer number four that I will be staying in Grants Pass.  Elder Hatch is leaving to go to Springfield and I'll now be with Elder Ross.  So we'll see how this last transfer in Grants Pass goes.  Ross is super cool so it should be good.  Elder Ross is a new zone leader so I'll be training him.  I'm happy I'm staying here because of how much potential there is here but I've never stayed this long in an area so it's definitely different.  

A short recap of this week--We had zone conference up in Roseburg which was good.  We were also able to dye a coupe thousand eggs for an Easter egg hunt.  That was pretty fun!  Also, I was able to see Forest and Katelyn get baptized!  They were from my last area.  Elder Clark and I found them and taught them so we got to drive down to be at the baptism.  His wife and son will also be baptized soon!  

I've gotta go to the doctor today because I have this spider bite or something......
Stay Solid

PS  The spider bite is poison oak

This week was another good one.  A few noteworthy things went down which is always good!

So this last P day we went on a sick hike which I think I talked about last time but it was a good start to this week.  

On Tuesday we drove up to Eugene with our District Leaders for MLC (leadership council) which was sweet.  This time the DL's came with us which only happens like every three of four times we go up.  MLC was really good and it got me pretty pumped.  I always like going to my old area too.  It's nice to see the old Eugene. haha

Wednesday and Thursday we had some exchanges and had some good lessons and what not.  Friday we taught the zone and it was a really good zone training meeting I think. I don't mind teaching at all anymore.  

Saturday we did a 9-9 which is where we tract from 9 in the morning to 9 at night.  We decided it would be good for the entire zone to do so that's what we did and it was tiring as heck!!  I guess we're the first zone to do that and we did really well.  President was super pumped about us doing it so he called us and got all of our stats for the day and everything.  We found 33 new people to teach for our zone so that was good.  In the middle of all that I dropped my ipad and destroyed the screen.  lol  

Sunday Sally had her baptismal interview and she's good to go so she should be getting dunked soon!  That's all for now
Stay Solid

So this is a short general email because I'm lazy. This week was pretty awesome though, we got a lot of good stuff done and most of all......THE SUN CAME OUT FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR! Hahaha We had like 4 sunny days this week which was sick. It is a blessing!!

GP is doing really well right now!  We had some really good lessons including a couple with jake's friends Orion and Ethan who are now both on date. Sally should also be on date very soon! So we have 5 on date again which I feel pretty good about considering we just baptized three others! 

Conference was good and we watched it at the church with some of our investigators and recent converts. We had 9 people watching conference so that was good!

 

We went on a hike this morning which was pretty dope and that was the extent of the week.

Oh, and one of the other elders freakin broke our treadmill! We are pretty PO'd  lol

Stay solid

This week was long but good!  Monday we didn't have our P day so that was kind of rough.  When you only have one day off a week and you don't get it off it can be hard to get motivated.  

Tuesday was awesome though. We had a lesson with the Coulter family at the church and it was super cool!  Kaden and Katelyn (9 and 7) wanted to play some basketball in the gym after the lesson so we played a game with them.  haha  Then that night we had another lesson with Jake's friend Orion and played ball with them too which is always one of the  highlights of our week.  Orion is a straight homie and we always have good lessons with him. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with PJ who's getting baptized on the 22nd.  He's super solid!

Thursday we finally got a couple hours off.  We went to the Medford temple which was cool and we even stopped at In n Out while we were down there.  That evening we had a lesson with a lady named Sally, who is super awesome.  She loves us and she's super nice!  She should be getting baptized soon.  

Friday we had another lesson with Orion that also went super well.  

Saturday we had several good lessons and then we had Maria's baptism.  It was a great program and there were so many nonmembers there!  I had to dunk her twice though because her leg came up the first time,  but she survived so that's what matters right?  It was a super cool time though!  Afterwards we went out to get dessert with her and her sister and a few kids from the YSA ward so that was fun.  Her sister is awesome and hopefully we'll be able to teach her soon!  Maria's sister said to her "No wonder people join this church when the missionaries look like that"  lololol  We got a kick out of that.  After being on a mission for a while you just assume the name tag deters girls from looking at you.  haha  Sunday Maria was confirmed and it was great!

We also had another lesson with Jake and Orion and they brought their other friend Ethan. Ethan said he would pray about being baptized too!  It was an awesome lesson.  Jake Hancock is the sickest young man i've ever met!!  Then Orion calls us after church and says "What day do you think would be good for me to get baptized?"  So we all decided the 15th.  He's all in!!  So it'll be so awesome.  This area has so many good things coming up!!

 

This week was probably the craziest week of my mission!

First I just want to say WHY IN THE WORLD IS THIS THE SECOND WEEK IN A ROW THAT WE'VE HEARD ABOUT BECOMING GODS, HEAVENLY MOTHER, AND IF YOU COULD HIE TO KOLOB IN SACRAMENT MEETING WHEN WE HAVE SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS THERE?  haha  It's unbelievable!! But its ok, we're good at explaining.  LOL

Anyway, Katherine got baptized Saturday with her mom Debra!  We didn't think Debra would be able to because of a mix up last week but President Cropper came down Wednesday and interviewed her and said she was good to be baptized!  So Saturday was super cool being able to participate in their baptisms!  Also, Maria was interviewed last Saturday and is now getting baptized this Saturday!  So that makes two weeks in a row that we get to take part in a baptism, which is awesome!

We also had some good experiences this week with some new investigators.  We got a referral on Friday for a guy who's fiance is a member. He lives pretty far out so we called him and set up a skype lesson and he's now on date for April 15th.  He just quit smoking a couple weeks ago and he's super ready so I think he'll be really good to go!

Also, on Saturday, we were at the church to pick something up and we met this guy Codi, who actually has a lot of friends in So Cal.  He's super cool!  He's come to church with his friend before and so we taught him the lesson on the Restoration.  He wants us to come back and teach him and he said it feels right for him! So that was super cool and we'll be teaching him this week.  

We finally met with Orion again, who's the friend of one of the priests in our ward. He is super solid now!  We put him on date a couple months ago but he was super busy and we weren't able to meet with him.  But now we play ball with him and have a lesson every Tuesday and he said he feels like he'll be ready to commit to baptism soon.  We have at least two more people that should be baptized this transfer so that should be awesome and next transfer should continue going well too.  

So one of the craziest things that happened this week was that our investigator D called us up this week and asked for our help.  He wanted us to go to  drug court with him and tell the judge how  he's been doing well.  So we figured it couldn't hurt and decided to go.  So we get there and he ends up telling us that he relapsed earlier in the week and that he'll probably be in trouble and have to do community service hours.  We were like what the heck???  Then he goes up and talks to the judge and she tells him he has to go to jail for 30 days and they cuff him right then and there!!  We were straight trippin!!  Then the officer in the courtroom comes over to us and tells us he wants us to go visit his son and tell him what just happened and try and teach him.  haha    So I guess that's our story of how we lost our investigator for 30 days.  lol

This week was great!  We were able to stay busy and get a lot done.  

Tuesday we had MLC (mission leadership council) again.  It was a good one and it was definitely a motivating meeting.  It usually takes the entire day so the only other thing we did was a couple lessons that night.  

The next few days after that was really busy with, what seemed to be, constant lessons.  It's cool to see how our area is now compared to when we first got here.

Friday we taught the zone for zone training meeting.  It went well and there were some good topics.  Our zone is pretty tight so it sucks that transfers are today!

A couple cool things--We were able to go to Cave Junction on Saturday and we just drove down to the California border, so i've basically been back home pretty much. haha

Next cool thing is that our investigators are doing really well!  D is doing awesome with ADR (addiction recovery), Katie is still set to get baptized on Saturday, Maria is now set for April 1st because she's doing so awesome, as well as several others! One bummer thing is that D, Katies mom, was supposed to get baptized with her this Saturday but now she can't because she's been drinking.  Straight super disappointing but we are going to help her the best we can and Katie is a super good example to her so I feel like things will get figured out.  

Also, there's actually been some sunny and warm days!!!  It's the freakin greatest!!  It felt like Christmas!!

So all in all it was a good week, and as for transfers, it's like a straight miracle!  Elder Hatch and I are staying together for a third transfer so we'll be able see the baptisms we've been working towards!  It should be a great transfer!

This week wasn't too exciting but there were a few noteworthy things that went down.  We did a lot of service this week, helped a couple people.  

Tuesday and Wednesday we did some service for a part member family. We helped them move, and oh my gosh, it took a long time! They had a bunch of heavy stuff too, so I'm buff now!

Then Elder Hatch and I were tracting when we saw a lady chopping wood in her front yard.  We offered to chop the wood for her.  It ends up that her husband is in the end stages of cancer.  She was already hurt from chopping wood before but she had no choice in order for them to stay warm.  She had just prayed for help when we showed up!!  So that was really cool!  We are now chopping her wood for her every week and teaching her too.  

We also had zone conference this week with the Roseburg zone.  It was pretty good.  After conference we had a lesson with Maria, a girl that one of the YSA (young single adults)  girls brought to church last Sunday and she's freakin awesome!  She's on date to be baptized on April 15th and she's stoked to have found something that makes her happy!

On Friday we also had a lesson with Mary Ann and she is now on date for the 15th as well.  The six we have on date right now seem pretty solid--at least three of them are, for sure!

Transfers are coming up this week.  We'll know on Friday which one of us is staying and which one is going.  I thought for a second I would be the one leaving but I highly doubt it now.  President said in his email that I'm doing well and it seems like he's going to have me stay.  I'm just concerned about who my new companion will be.  I'm due for a difficult companion so I'm praying it won't be rough!
Stay Solid

Today

The one day of no rain