Sunday, April 17, 2011

Letter from April 12, 2011

April 12, 2011

Questions

I have only one this week....

1. I assume you have the transfer letters in hand. Is there one for you and if so, what does it say and what are your thoughts and feelings?

Well......I guess I will answer your question first.


1. I went to the office this morning and picked up the transfer letter. It is only one letter for the entire zone. It's from President and all it says is that there are the transfers and be at the Mission Valley Building (the center stake of the mission) at 11:00 a.m. for the transfer meeting. So, as usual, I go for the letter first. I open it and scan through it. And then I call all the people who get transferred and ruin their P-Day. This one was especially tough for me.........I had to call a really good friend in the zone to tell him his area was getting white washed. It is his last transfer and he is getting moved to another area. He was not too happy. Oh, but I guess yall only care about what is happening to me.......well.....let's just say that I should start to look for housing in Logan Heights. I'M STAYING!!!!!! HAHAHA Its unbelieavable. At the end of this next transfer I will have been here for 10 1/2 months! Its crazy. Stuff like this never happens.

Sounds like everything is going way good back home. A lot of stuff happening. Awesome! I got the pin last week from Ashton's Court of Honor. I haven't decided yet, but I might send it home so it doesn't get lost out here.

Things are going really good right now. We added a new investigator this week that is way good. She is the sister of another girl that we are teaching. We had an awesome lesson with her the other day. I shared that story of when I was driving home that night in CSTAT (College Station) and I had to swerve to avoid a car and I felt like someone else was in control of the wheel. That was the first time I had shared that experience out here. In fact, I had totally forgot about it until that moment. I guess it just goes to show you that the spirit will tell you what the investigator needs to hear. Pretty cool.

Well I don't have a lot to say this week. But, dad, I do need a little extra money. With the Apostles coming in a couple of weeks, I'm going to dry clean my suit and some ties. Also, I had to buy a white shirt because I was running low on them. So that is why I'm running kind of low right now. Sorry, I will slow down.

Well that is about it for now. Thanks for your prayers. God definitely heard yalls and mine. 9 months in one area is a long time, but 10 1/2 is unheard of. But I guess I still have some work to do here. I LOVE YALL! and I made arrangements with a member to Skype on Mothers Day!!!!

Ross

Monday, April 11, 2011

Letter from April 5, 2011

April 5, 2011

Well we went to Applebee's last night to celebrate a great week of conference and what did we see...the National Championship game. I saw a little bit of it and from what I saw, I don't know how Butler even made past the 1st round. In the time that I watched I think they made like 2 shots and threw up about 20....don't worry mom, I repented

1.When you watch General Conference, is in English or Spanish?

I watch general conference in English. We go and make sure our investigators are settled in the Spanish translation room and then we go back and watch it in English. Our members are way good at fellowshipping when it comes to that.

2. Have you been to the temple lately? That San Diego temple is Beautiful!! I caught what you said on the video that you are coming back to get married there in a year and a half. That is one of the big things that dad got out of conference is that we need to make temple attendance more of a priority, so we have scheduled the next two months.

Yeah. I got the same thing out of conference so we went today. That is why I'm emailing later than usual. It was really great. Elder Griffith, a Military Relations Missionary that I'm close to were there, Elder Moreno and Elder Sauer (2 former CSDM missionaries) were there with some recent converts going in so it was pretty awesome.

3. And what about all of the talks that referred to the men of the church getting busy and finding a wife??? I think one of them even said that after a mission, finding a wife should be the highest priority. What-What??? I want a little time with my son--I'm not quite ready to share you just yet.

Hahah yeah I guess I cant mess around like I wanted to when I get home. I have to run off and get married. CRAZY! But I guess I should listen to what the prophet says.

4. Is next week Transfer week? Any feelings yet about what will happen?

They are next week. I have no clue what is going to happen with me. No idea at all. But I will know next week when I email.

Let me first start with your letter in the package. Not funny mom. That was the worst April Fool's joke ever. I'm glad I saw the bent part of the card or I probably would have got in trouble for calling you hahah>

There is not too much to report. Conference was way good. In the first session I loved Elder Richard's(PAIN) and sister Stevens' (Children) talks--they were really good. The PH session was awesome as usual, the First Presidency was great. I loved Elder Scott's heartfelt talk about his wife, that was really nice. And I thought Elder Holland's talk about raising the ensign was awesome.

My top 10 are this: 1. Elder Oaks-Desire

2. Elder Richard's-pain

3. Pres. Uchtdorf-PH

4. President Monson-PH

5. Elder Bednar-Holy Ghost and Revelation

6. Paul Johnson-Trials

7. Pres Eyring-PH

8. Elder Scott-Marriage

9. Elder Gonzalez-Followers of Christ

10.Sister Stevens-Listening to Children

That's about all I've got for this week. Keep praying for me and I guess we will find out next week what is happening to me and where I am going. Thanks for all you do! I LOVE YALL!

Ross
March 29, 2011

Questions of the Week:

1. What is the story behind the blinged-out black T shirt that says "Ringspun" that was in the box you sent home? Cute but definitely doesn't look like you-haha.

The shirt was from a member. I have way too many shirts here and that is why I sent it and others things home.

2. We loved getting your memory card last week and enjoyed seeing your pictures. Is Marc the young man with glasses?

I'm glad you liked the pics. Yeah, the one with the big glasses is marc. All the recruits who have vision problems have to wear those kind of glasses. They can't wear contacts while in recruit training. Kind of weird, but they really help you see hahah

3. Will you get to watch all of the sessions of General Conference?

You better believe I will watch all the sessions of the conference. Its like Christmas for a missionary. We go to the stake center to watch it. The churches here are kind of weird. Not all of them have baptismal fonts, some were built without them. And only the stake centers get satellite reception....the churches look nicer here, but I like the ones in Texas more.

Well yep, I've been out 14 months now. I'm now officially in single digits. It is kind of hard to believe. A year ago today I was wetting my pants because I was getting ready to leave the MTC the next day. It doesn't even seem that long ago. The days feel like weeks but the weeks feel like days. Its kind of weird.

Yeah I have A LOT of stuff haha. I'm glad that I have my own closet, or I wouldn't have room for some stuff hahaha, no its not that bad. I give away a lot of stuff to little kids and other missionaries. There is a missionary here who is a big Packers fan so I gave him that little flag yall sent. He loved it hahaha. And I usually take the candy and stuff to little kids or member's houses as a gift or something. They like it!

I'm glad to hear Ashton's Court of Honor went well. I just remembered this morning that it was on Saturday. What an honor to get the mentor pin. I didn't know I had that much of an affect on Ashton. All I did was say what I thought needed to be said. The letter I wrote to him was pure inspiration I guess because I don't really remember what I even said haha. I think I put things that I wish I knew before my mission. I'm sure you already did, but will you thank him for me? I'll send him a letter once I get the pin and everything.

This week was a good one. One of our investigators got anti-ed pretty hard. Her black co workers were telling her that the Mormons don't like black people and that we do weird stuff in our temples. She got pretty upset about it but we answered her questions and everything is good now. She hates it now when people talk bad about the church. She is way solid.

Well I guess that is it for now. I'm looking forward to General Conference. It's going to be a great weekend. I have already been thinking of some questions that I know will be answered this weekend. I love it Thanks for everything and I LOVE YOU!!

Ross