This week has been pretty cool.  We've been able to do some cool things.

So last Monday we had zone conference and it was with our zone and the Eugene zone down in the Eugene Stake Center. It was a really good zone conference on becoming better teachers.  Elder Henley and I taught a 20 minute segment on resolving our investigators concerns.  It went super well actually.  I felt like we taught really well together and we did an object lesson with it which went really well and a lot of people really liked it.  So we were super glad that went smoothly!

Tuesday the whole zone was able to go to Newport.  We had a good time on the beach and hanging out together.  It's always good to be back at the beach when we can.  So that was a great start to the week.  

Thursday we had another great day and we were able to go back to Newport to do a baptismal interview for the Newport elders' investigator.  I did the interview and she is super solid and so ready to be baptized.  After the interview we couldn't get a hold of the Newport elders to give them back the paperwork because they were in a lesson so we decided to drive up the road a bit to the lighthouse and see the sunset.  It turned out that you had to pay to get to the lighthouse if you were in a car so we parked and jogged a mile to see the lighthouse and sunset before the park closed.  haha It was way sick though and then after we gave them back the paperwork we headed home.

Throughout the week though we were able to have a lot of great lessons! We were able to teach Jacob and Anissa again which was great and we were also able to have some really good lessons with some of our newer investigators.  Definitely a good week for working with those that we've been teaching or have found lately.  We were also able to have four people at church this week which is great.  It was overall a good week and great to be able to have some good lessons!

Stay Solid

This week went well for the most part.  We had some good times and some good lessons.

Tuesday we had leadership council again which went well.  Not the most exciting meeting but it's helpful in trying to see ways to become a better leader.  That night we got back and had a lesson and played some basketball with Jacob and Anisa which was fun!  They are super cool and its great to see them understand more and become more willing to change.  

Wednesday we had an exchange the whole day with the 1st ward Elders.  I went with Elder Packer, who just came out 3 weeks ago. Their area is really lacking so we went to their area instead. I really wanted to do some good hard work to show him some success and how he can be bold in talking to people but have fun in doing the work.  We had a good long day and found some new people to teach.  So if nothing else, it was a good experience for me.  Throughout the week we found several more new people.  We were also able to teach some of our other investigators and some of the new investigators we found on campus!

On Friday we had interviews with President Orton which went well.  He's a super nice dude and he's pretty soft spoken but its good. I had a good interview but i'm kind of concerned about what's going to happen this transfer.  I have a feeling I'm leaving. haha

On Friday and Saturday we had another exchange with the 2nd ward elders and that went pretty well too.  At church we were able to have 4 of our investigators there so that was pretty dope!  It's such a struggle to get young people to meet with you let alone get them to come to three hours of church. We have done a lot of talking to people on campus though and a lot of tracting in some of the other areas.

Oh, and for the miracle of the week....while on the exchange on Friday we had dinner with the Chinese sisters and they made us cookies.  I always try to make sure I know what kind they are so I know they don't have peanuts but they said they were chocolate chip.  So I ate a good piece of one but after I ate it I could totally tell there was probably peanut butter in it.  lol  So I just kind of waited to see if I was going to die or not ( I never carry my epipen) and I definitely didn't feel good but I didn't start dying.  So for the entire night, from dinner on, my stomach started hurting worse and worse and it was awful.  So after talking to people on campus the rest of the night in great pain, I went straight to bed when I got home.  The miracle is that I didn't die because usually I just stop breathing and whatnot.  But hey, I was still able to breathe and it worked out....because I'm a missionary :)

Some Random things:
1.  I've been a ZL for 9 months now
2.  The Chinese sisters said if I go to China I could be a model  lol
3.  A lot of people think Avery is cute (I have our family pic on my desk)
4.  People are going nuts about a solar eclipse that's going through here at the end of August
5.  I'm going to grow my hair out again when I get home
6.  I can play quite a few more songs on the piano now
7.  I email probably half as many people now than I did at the beginning of my mission
8.  I would never live in Oregon after my mission

Stay Solid
Love You

This week there were some good ups and downs.  

Monday after P-day, we went to FHE with one of our investigators which was pretty cool.  We went hiking and it was a pretty cool short hike.  

On Tuesday and Wednesday we taught some good lessons and we did service like we usually do.  

Thursday was a super good day though.  We started it off with a new investigator lesson with a kid named Alex who we found a couple weeks ago.  He is so freakin prepared its crazy.  We taught him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and how this is the fulness of the gospel and he told us that he had always felt like he was not on the right path completely at the other churches he had attended. He said he felt the spirit as we taught and feels that the Restoration is true.  We set him up with a baptism goal of September 9th.  It was such a sick lesson!!  

We also had lessons with Hailee and Michaela on Thursday and both of those lessons went really well!  The Chinese Sisters found a girl named McKenzie also and we had a hand off lesson and she seems super open so that was a really good lesson also.  

We also welcomed the two brand new missionaries into our zone.  They got here on Thursday so that was cool.  

On Saturday we met with Jacob and Anissa which went alright.  They have definitely felt that the Book of Mormon is true but we will have to see if they are willing to do what it takes to follow it.  

Over all, things are alright.  The area is looking better and better each week.  We had a good extra meeting with our zone after district meeting to set some transfer goals and hopefully motivate everyone for the upcoming weeks.  Hopefully that will work because most of the other areas are not looking so hot.

Love You
Stay Solid 

July 17, 2017

This week was not the most exciting by any means.

Tuesday we had leadership council in Eugene and that went well.  It was President and Sister Orton's first one but it went alright.  It was definitely good to see Elder Falatea, Elder Hatch and Elder Ross!  Missed all those guys and its good to see them every month.  We came back that night and went to Sports Night, which they have every Tuesday.  They went to the Bishop's house to go shooting this week.  We had one of our investigators come and she really enjoyed it.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Michaela and put her on date which was really exciting!  She seems super prepared so hopefully we will be able to work with her so she can learn more. We have been teaching a few people consistently and the lessons have been going well. We taught a new girl named Ruby who also seems super prepared so next time we meet with her I'm sure we will be able to set her up with a date for baptism.

We also got transfer calls on Saturday and it was not very exciting.  haha  Elder Henley and I are staying together so we will see how that goes.  Other than finding new people and trying to solidify those that we are already teaching, there isn't much more going on.  Hopefully we will be able to see some sweet miracles in this next transfer!  That's all I got so hopefully my life gets more exciting so you have something good to read next week.  lol
Love You
Stay Solid

This week was pretty good for the most part.  

Started off the week with Independence Day Tuesday (which is normally my favorite day of the year) and it was actually pretty good.  This year was definitely better than last year but I am stoked for next years Independence Day! haha  It was like impossible to do any missionary work because everyone was partying but we did have a good time with some members and other missionaries at some BBQ's and trying to OYM people.

Wednesday we did splits with some of the other elders and we were able to contact a lot of really cool people.  

Thursday was a great day!  We got to teach a couple of really good lessons to Michaela and her friend Hailee.  Michaela's lesson went really well and she said she truly wants to find out if this church is actually Jesus Christ's and if it will bless her life so it seems really promising.  
Hayley, the girl I talked about in my email last week, met with us and brought her friend and we had a good lesson.  They are both Catholic but actually wanted to know what we believe so hopefully they'll continue to want to learn. 
That evening we drove to Newport to interview the Newport Elder's investigator for baptism and that went really well.  Newport is beautiful and reminds me a lot of Bandon.  

Friday we met President Orton which was good.  He's the complete opposite of President Russell so we'll see how it goes.  

Saturday we were able to go to Newport again to see the baptism we interviewed for and Bryce, our investigator went with us.  The Jensens and the couple that works in the office drove us out there and we got lunch and stuff so that was fun!  While out there, I found out that two kids i've taught for the past six months just got baptized so that's awesome!!  I was able to skype with them too..

Church was good on Sunday.  The highlight was probably when the Chinese Sister's investigator, Yi, decided to leave church to go buy me frozen yogurt from down the street and bring it to me in class.  lol  She wants me to be her boyfriend and wants to write me when I get home.  lol  
Love You
Stay Solid

So this week went pretty quickly but I have just been trying not to  stress about our area. We had two exchanges this week which both went well. We were able to find quite a few people which was really good.  Our area is not doing super great and it's a real struggle building it up. It is a lot better than it was a few weeks ago though. 

Something that was kind of cool this week was we were having a lesson with one of our investigators outside one of the buildings on campus at a table. The lesson was pointless and we dropped the guy but as elder Henley was saying the closing prayer I had this thought  that we should talk to the girl sitting at one of the tables close to us. So I was just about to go talk to her when some guy walked up and said something to us and it made it just to where it would have been awkward to go up to her so we left. I told elder Henley I felt like we should have talked to her and we decided to go back. We went up to her and started talking and she was familiar with Mormons because she's had some LDS friends and she was totally interested in meeting. So now she's a new investigator and we are meeting with her this week! So that was cool. 

On Friday president and sister Russell had their last day here and they decided to come to our district meeting! So that was super cool to see them their last day and talk to them before they left. 

On Saturday president Orton got here and  we got to talk to him on the phone shortly. Should be interesting to see how things will change. I was also able to see Maria my recent convert from GP, she came to church and bore her testimony here! Then I was able to see the Sharps also from GP on Saturday. It's so good to see them again! Other than that we will be meeting the new mission president this week and I think we will have MLC also, we will see.  Love you
Stay Solid

This week was a much better week than the first here in Corvallis!  Even though this was finals week for the spring term, we have been able to have some lessons and find some new people.  

On Tuesday we had 5 lessons set up with people and 4 of them cancelled which was a bummer but we found several new people and we were able to have 4 lessons still with different people.  

Wednesday was a pretty average day.  We taught a couple lessons and did a lot of walking around campus. 

Thursday was a really good day.  We were able to go down to Eugene and have zone conference.  There were six zones at this conference and it was President Russell's last one before he goes home.  First it was cool to see a bunch of the old friends from all the past areas but also it was just super spirit filled.  The talks were really good and they ranged from "listening in teaching" to "breaking bad habits".  Probably the best parts were the musical numbers though.  You could just feel the spirit so strong it makes you want to tear up.  I was not about to start tearing up though so I made sure not to let that happen.  haha  It was a great meeting though.  

Friday we didn't have district meeting because of zone conference but we still had new missionary training which is fun.  The new missionaries in our zone are really good already so they pretty much train Elder Henley and I.  lol

Saturday was definitely the best day of the week though!  The First Ward Elders were contacting in their area and found a young couple, Jacob and Anissa, who asked them to come back so they referred them to us.  We went and saw them Saturday and it was a phenomenal lesson!  They invited us in and we all sat down and they started asking us question after question.  So we taught them the Restoration which answered many of their questions.  They had a bunch more questions about our missions and also the plan of salvation and church so we were there for two hours just teaching and answering questions!  I asked them what they had felt as we taught them and they both said, "I just feel like this is right.  I just feel so peaceful and warm."  I was just amazed.  I knew I could feel the spirit as we went through the lesson and it was beautiful to hear that they did too!  We invited them to church and they both came Sunday which also went so well.  Sacrament was really good and they had a beautiful musical number and Bishop Glasmen spoke and they loved it. Luckily Elder Henley and I taught second hour too and the lesson went so so well. They both added their ideas and testimony.  It's just a beautiful thing to see people take steps like that!

Sunday evening we went to Bishop Glasmen's for dinner and it was a good time with all of his family too!  

Definitely seeing some miracles since we have been here which is beautiful because Elder Henley and I cannot get this area going on our own!  Much love fam.
Stay Solid

Bishop Glasmen and Family