Christmas in a cup...I don't think wrapping paper smells very good, but hey, that's just me.

Howdy y'all!

I hope he moved before the lightning struck him.

Monday we had an awesome lesson with David!  We taught the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong!  He told us how he knew the church is true and it was marvelous!  He wrote down a word before church on Sunday and it was actually one of the topics spoke about in sacrament!  So he knew then and there and he is going to be baptized on Saturday!  Prayers are going to be much needed for him and us.

Tuesday was a ton of finding.  The Spanish elders, Elder Brinkerhoff (from Cedar City) and Elder Padilla, drove us with them and we went finding in those areas.  We met a few awesome people!  A guy named Ivan even called his cousin, who is a trucker, and had us talk to him and set an appointment with them!  We found a weird, random trail and took some pics in it.  You're welcome mom!  We got in contact with an investigator who used to have a baptismal date but when he told us to come back, he couldn't meet...so we set another appointment on Saturday.  We went to dinner with the Thaxtons at Larrys pizza.  For some reason, Elder Robinson loves this pickle pizza thing.  It's pickles with ranch as the sauce and cheese.  I about threw up at the scent, but hey, to each his own haha.

Member love!

Wednesday we had a lesson with David on the Word of Wisdom and it was great!  We had Book of mormon class and it was good! 

Thursday we had Zone Conference and it was a throw down!  We basically had a Zone heart to heart on how we are going to better ourselves as a mission to be the most obedient mission in the world.  Elder Parks had a SUPER powerful testimony on the need of love for one another.  For the record, Elder Edwards and I called him being an AP in like October of 2016.  It was super powerful though.  We came home and went out with Paul and he took us for ice cream before it was time to go in.

Friday we went out to lunch with the Spanish elders again at a members house.  We had a drink that was literally Christmas in a cup.  I'll try to explain it.  It is made from purple corn (it's a Latino thing) and y'all know that smell when you open up all your Christmas decorations?  Or I guess like the smell of hobby lobby or Michael's?  Well it tasted like that!  It was so good!!!  She gave us some cause you can only get it in Mexico and she imports it haha.  We then went out to with them to see RM Keller cause they didn't have time to drop us off at home.  It was great even though everyone in there besides Elder Robinson, Sister Kellers mom and I spoke Spanish.  They talked and set an appointment with a former.  We then went to dinner with Sister Glazier and then went to an orientation for this fire alarm installing thing.  It's a service project that the Red Cross is doing!  It was great.  Then I got super trunky cause they were playin some dang good music and made us burgers.

Blues Brothers? They are on a mission...

Saturday we went out for the Arkansas Sound the Alarm with the Red Cross.  We put in smoke alarms in houses and it was great!  We got to ride in a fire engine like all day haha.  We talked to a couple of them and one owns land and cows, so Elder Robinson and him talked a lot.  I asked about firefighting as a career and they all love it and talked it up...so yeah I'm back in my predicament about my life, but it's whatever haha.  When we got back, we went out with Paul and no one answered the door.  We did though get in contact with Ivan and got all his contact info!  So we're calling him soon to set up an appointment.  Paul took us to eat to end off.

Before the spiders...

Sunday was amazing!  We had a great church experience and I got the chance to talk to a new ward missionary who just got back from college at BYUI.  Well guess who this dude knows?  The one and only Shane Hill haha.  It was great to talk and get to know him.  He is starting his mission papers.  I got to see Paula!!  That's always a wonderful experience!  She brought the Hot Springs sisters.  During dinner before the tribute, we went to eat dinner at the apartment where we got to watch a rad game of chess between Elders Robinson and Giles.  Giles is easily one of the funniest human beings I have met.  The devotional was pretty good!  I missed a couple words in "The Living Christ" as I recited it, but in all it wasn't too bad!  Thank goodness for the Spirit cause I ain't too good at memorization!  Paul took us out afterwards and we had a feeling to go see David as we talked about missionary work (Paul is fillin in as ward mission leader).  He is doing great!  He was going to bed cause work kicked his butt, but he is excited still for Saturday!  We just have to teach him a couple more lessons and he's all set!  We're super excited for this week!!  We just felt the spirit tell us that he is ready once all is taught. 

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

And they're out!

I'm intrigued...laughing so hard you puke and security system salesman that is not a returned missionary...interesting.

He's pretty proud of his corduroy jacket.

Howdy y'all!

Tuesday we walked to a referral who wasn't home.  We decided to try a dude in the neighborhood by him and met a security system salesman from Utah.  That was funny.  Definitely not Mormon, but nice guy.  We walked home and talked to a good amount of people and had dinner at the Bushka's.

Yeah...the jacket again.

Wednesday we tried to see Markus.  He said he was on his way out and asked if we could come by on Friday.  So we left to see Jabari but he wasn't home, so we walked to the church and got lunch and then Brother Logue picked us up and we went to visit Brother Bailey who was in the hospital.  He was in surgery when we got there, so the entertainment while we waited was Brother Logue rippin into Elder Robinson about his maroon pants.  We still have no regrets on buying them.  We left the hospital cause we had a dinner and we went to the Smiths.  They're awesome.  We played with his 2 yr old son and built things with these magnet building stuff and his 1 yr old daughter would destroy it within seconds.  It was adorable.  We had Book of Mormon class after that.

Because you always wanted to eat crayons!

Thursday we had district meeting and exchanged.  I went with Elder Paopao in Benton.  It was awesome.  We went park finding and talked to a guy who thinks preachers should preach about saving the environment and all is tree hugger stuff, it was great.  But after that jazz, he told us there should be one church cause were was one Christ and Elder Paopao and I got excited!  We explained the restoration a bit and asked if we could come to his home and get his number.  Well he shot that down and gave us the usual excuse of "I never know when I'll be home."  Well, that's why we asked for his number...but it's whatever.  So we kept walking and we left to go to do service for a part member family.  Well, as soon as we leave, of course that's when people decide to go to the park...but we did the service and cut down trees and vines and pulled out a few trees cause were men.  In the midst of us trimming, pulling and cutting, we found a nest of 2 baby birds.  We cut around them and try to keep that little tree up.  Well....it turns out (the non member husband looked up if we could move the nest), if you mess with the surroundings at all around the nest, the mom will abandon it...and we messed with the surroundings.  So, to repent, we took the pulled up trees and sticks and stood them up around the tree to look like a forest type of deal again.  So hopefully those baby birds didn't die!  We went to correlation afterwards and then got pizza.  It's kinda tradition for Elder Paopao and I to get pizza.

Who's the good doggo?

Friday we exchanged back and weekly planned and tried to see Markus again.  He wasn't home...again.  We went around finding to no avail and then Paul took us out and we ate and washed his car.

Saturday we went out with Paul and his grandma fed us burgers.  Super nice family.  We saw Tom.  He wasn't able to meet cause of work, but he asked for our facebooks so we can talk to him whenever!  It's crazy how cool this technology works.  Before we got Facebook, we maybe got asked for it like 6 times, but now that we have Facebook, I feel like we get asked every day for it!  We saw Brenda after that and had a great plan of salvation lesson.  We met her husband, Bernard, and he is super nice.  Turns out, they're moving to Missouri in a month or so...so that sucks.  But it's okay because they asked us to find the missionaries in that area haha.  We saw David and boy do I love that man.  He has a dog named max, who's a huge German Sheppard, and he is the biggest baby.  If I am trunky for anything, it's Titus and a dog haha.  We got to know him more and why he is investigating.  He let us hold his guns and he let us hold a .50, and I won't lie, I think I peed myself a little.  His .300 blackout was freaking awesome too.  He also has a Remington 700 that made me pee a little more.  So yeah, I had a great time.  Paul took us out to eat at Larry's pizza and then on the way home, Elder Robinson made him laugh so hard he threw up...so that was funny.

Yous the good doggo!

Sunday we had a good church service.  David came!  We went to the Adney's where they made breakfast!  It was awesome.  We then got taken to the Bishops where we had a meeting with a couple recent converts and David!  We watched a conference talk called He will put you on his shoulders and carry you by Elder Uchtdorf in April 2016.  I recommend y'all give it a listen!

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

And it came to pass that he moved to Little Rock and begat a cowboy...okay so no actual begatting occurred.

A shout out to Elder Miller!

Howdy y'all!

Well this one ain't going to be too long.  This week we mainly got to know the area and saw some people.  My new comp, Elder Robinson, is a stud.  I would recommend him to any female.  He's a cowboy from Idaho.  He did rodeo and all that jazz in high school so I already love the kid.

Monday we had a lesson with Sharon and it was awesome!  We taught the restoration and it was so spirit filled!  I was so upset that I was leavin cause she is getting baptized!  (Cross your fingers)

Tuesday we transferred.  We drove around Little Rock waiting for the Spanish elders to get there.  We drove to the apartment and ate dinner and I unpacked a bit before going to dinner with a member named Brother Thaxton.  He's awesome!  He used to live in Scottsdale so I like him even more.  We played basketball with him and another member to end the night.

Wednesday was whack.  We did all of our shopping and I got a haircut.  That's about all we did until we ate with a member named Paul and then went to Book of Mormon class.  We taught it and it's super different than all of the other ones I have done.  Hard to explain, but it was still great!  Paul then took me on a tour of the area.

Thursday was full of service!  We went and helped Brother Tobler (in the bishopric) help move a friend.  It was great!  I love the guy and we had a lot of fun.  We came back and the bishops wife asked us to accompany her in bringing food to a high school softball team.  So we did that and THEN we went and helped another member get a hutch that he bought.  We moved it and I guess we impressed the lady or something cause then she told us they are moving and asked if we could help them move!  It was great!  So we will do that sometime
within the next few weeks.  We unloaded the hutch (and a table with its chairs) at the members house and ate there.

Friday we called a ton of people to set up times to meet with them.  We went out walking and tried to contact some people and then walked to the church after no one answered.  We got pizza and walked back to see a guy named Marcus.  He has a background of Baptist but has gotten into believing in science, so he has some good questions haha.  We just went for the throat and told him to pray and ask God if he is there and he will answer.  We explained the first vision as well.  He is so cool though!  Brother Haws, who took us, played in the NFL and is really cool.  He is also freaking huge.

Saturday came and we went out with Paul.  But before that we had to wait for the office elders to bring me a desk cause I was using a ghetto church table that was tiny.  We went to help pick up at a swap meet at the church and got a dope tan corduroy coat.  We went out with Paul and saw 16 people!  2 really stuck out, and that was Tom and Brenda.  Tom has such an open mind and took a Book of Mormon and was all "I take no ones word, I study for myself" and when he said that I about fell off his porch!  So we're seein him tomorrow!  Brenda was a bible referral looking for Gods love.  Well, we shared the restoration and she was in tears!  It was so amazing!  We had dinner and all that and it was a good day.

Sunday I gave a talk in church on how the Book of Mormon is the key to conversion.  I thought it went pretty well!  We then drove to Conway to sing at the musical devotional.  It was good!  I had fun!  I got to talk to Elder Dawson and Miller and Barney and Barron.  It was grand!  I love those guys!  After it was over, I gave Elder Barron a blessing and it was awesome to feel the spirit work with me.  We drove home and basically just went to bed.

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

And he's off to Little Rock! Been a long time in Glenwood, now for a fresh start in the LR.

Howdy y'all!

Hard goodbyes.

Monday we I got egged cause I lost a challenge of inviting people to church.  I invited 10 when I said I would invite 14.  But in my defense, I still invited more than I think everyone in the district!  I now know that eggs also don't break as easy as I thought.  Them suckers welted me up.  We went mini golfing afterwards and it was great!  I also forgot to mention, the Nasilai's last week fed us on Monday and it turns out, one of their sons served in the Century Gardens ward in Mesa!!  How awesome is that?!  We talked about the McGhans, the McKinnons and all them!  It was awesome!

He loved this area.

Tuesday we had district meeting and Elder Asay came with me to Glenwood for exchanges.  We just did service for Jimmie and holy cow.  I ain't never seen so many ticks.  We stepped on this one dirt pile, and I ain't lyin, ticks came out like ants.  There was at least 15 ants on EACH of our boots.  We ran up the hill (we were picking up trash for a hoarder) and brushed em off and then literally bathed until we were wet in bug spray.  Thank my Father that worked.  Ticks ain't nothin to mess with so that was scary.  We had dinner at the Luttrell's to finish the night.

Wednesday we exchanged back and did service at the CADC and saw Sister Hill.  Good visit!  We then went and did farm work at the Harris's.  We picked weeds and tilled the ground of their garden and then went around picking up a ton of big ole sticks.  It took a good 2 or 3 hours!  I have never had so much fun doing service for someone!  I also thought pretty highly of my self after I found a good sized log and broke it 3 times by throwing it down and stomping on it.  No ax needed, like a man.  I'll send pics.  The Harris's fed us some of the best burgers I have had afterward.  We went home and sat back cause we were sore haha.  But so worth it.

Model...looking to the future.

Thursday we went with Sister Hawthorn and saw Denise.  She was busy and couldn't meet so Sister Hawthorn took us back and we changed and did service for her.  We drove and got some chicks and then came back and butchered, gutted and fixed up her roosters.  That was AWESOME!  I mean, they stink pretty sore, but it was one of the coolest things!  I also now know what it means when people say "run around like a chicken with its head cut off" cause we got one and holy moly.  That thing must have jumped and flang itself 10 yards.  It was awesome!  She fed us some good biscuits and gravy with eggs and bacon when we were done.  I'm tellin ya, this week is full of mission high lights.

Wow...just, wow.

Friday we weekly planned and went out with Sister Crow.  We saw Sister Jacobs again and talked about the resurrection and the Celestial Kingdom.  She asked Elder Miller if she could keep him again and I chuckled...a lot.  We saw Sister O'Neal and I got a picture with her in case I get transferred.  We talked and set up some service for when she moves.  Also, Mom, when we go to Denver in November, we are visiting her. She lives just outside of Denver.  Make a note.  Sister Crow took us to a new Chinese Restaurant in Mt. Ida and it was pretty good!  I've never ordered ribs for an appetizer before until then.  They put some Chinese twist to it though and it was...different.  But not horrible!  We drove back to Glenwood and got in contact again with the Hearns.  They actually set up a return appointment and we talked with Russ for a good 5 minutes!  He has the most radical pony tail/mullet and I want it.  We ended the night after that and took some rest.

Now that's country.

Saturday was good!  And by good I mean it was a "Sweet is the work!" Day.  We went out in the 35 degree weather with high humidity due to the prior storm (its thunderstorm season) and so it was tough.  We saw Sister Lenz for a little while before she kicked us out so we could see others before it got too much colder.  No one was home, sadly.  We tried a good amount of people, but to no avail.  We came back and ate some and studied before heading to the Robbins for dinner and a Skype call with the district and the zone leaders.  It was a great call!  Elder King is by far one of my favorite missionaries!  It was a call on being an Ammon, not a Samson.  I did a deep study on Samson and turns out, he is one of the most tragic stories in history.  He loved the world more than his calling as a Nazarite (not Nazarene, nazarite is means full consecration to the Lord, he being the only one ever called a nazarite for life) and gave into his own desires and only defeating the Philistines when he either wanted revenge, or for personal reasons.  He had God given strength and a calling to free Israel, but failed due to selfishness.  Ammon on the other hand, was as consecrated as they come!  If y'all read Alma 17-20, you'll understand why he is one of the best missionaries of all time! I also got transfer news.

All tuckered out.

Sunday was a good day at church!  I said good bye and packed everything up.  Some of those goodbyes were hard!  I never thought I would miss Glenwood so much!  It started out so rocky and hard and ever since has been an uphill sprint, but I cant express how thankful I am to have served here!  We had a break the fast lunch and then went home and packed.  We went to the Robbins for milkshakes and goodbyes and then the Hawthorns.  Sister Robbins got the milk bucket kicked over for tickling the cows utter hahaha!  I don't think I've seen anyone so scared.  Howard thought it was the funniest thing too.  We took pictures and had a stellar time.

Like I said, I'm leaving!  My new area is Little Rock with Elder Robinson!  He's a great guy and I like him a lot!  It's also time for me to lose my beer gut as we're now in an all bike area!  I can't wait!  I might go home from here, so I'm excited to work it like there's no tomorrow!  I love y'all!  Thank y'all so much for the prayers and love y'all send my way!

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

He strong!

Tilling the ground for the next round.

Walking away in service.

Egged.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...it's way late (April 2 email), but we were on vacay!

Howdy y'all!

It was a pretty good week this week!

They call him Gator.

Monday we went to an alligator farm and played with gators and fed baby goats.  And no mom, I did not steal one...yet.

Tuesday we had district meeting and I went on an exchange with Elder Barney.  We saw Jerry and had a pretty scattered lesson, but we got down to the point and explained church and sacrament and invited him to read the Book of Mormon every day and pray about it and Jospeh smith every day.  He agreed as we left.  We had dinner at the Luttrell's and had a stellar meal and spiritual thought on Gods love for us and Conference.  Jimmie said he would pray about reading the Book of Mormon so that was cool.

Wednesday we did service at the CADC after exchanging back.  Sister Crow took us to Sister Jacobs.  Funny moment: Sister Jacobs asked Elder Miller if she could have him.  She is very fond of him.  Very.  We then had dinner at Sister O'Neal's.  She had a tough week again but she said we uplifted her.  She again told me to burn my journals cause I write the stories she tells us.  Not happening! 

Kai is looking huge...impressive, son.

Thursday was great!  We finally saw Denise again after about a month or so.  She was in the moving process for a while (she's moved in) and was super busy.  We gave her another Book of Mormon cause she lost hers packing.  We invited her to Conference and she was happy to watch!  Sister Hawthorn is doing great with contacting her.  We saw a less active family who let us in and they were super fun!  We had a good visit with Sister Hill.  She was having trouble keeping her kids from disrupting, but she was able to feel the spirit and understand what we read.  She asked us to teach David this week!  We then saw a lady named Sharon who is VERY hard headed.  Not gonna lie, very prideful when it comes to how much she thinks she knows the Bible.  We just told her that we ain't here to sell out religion and if she wants to know, keep reading and keep praying and watch Conference, otherwise, the answer will never come.  Humility is the key to heaven.  We hopped on over to the Harris's for a sec and set up service and then ran over to another Sharon.  She was super nice and told us we can teach her!  We set up a time tomorrow to teach her the first lesson!  She was excited when we brought up Conference and she was gonna try to watch it when all the Easter festivities were over.  We taught about the Book of Mormon and gave her one.  We had to speed over to dinner, as we were already super late, with the Barnett's.  Good visit with them!  We got home and we're able to rest from the day of speeding around.

Friends forever.

Friday we planned and then got a call to help a members non member daughter with some yard work.  We moved a bunch of old, wet, gross clothes from a shed to a burn pile, along with other random things.  Pretty great!  She wasn't interested, but she and her mom fed us a little home cookin!  We then got home and changed for dinner with our branch president.  Going there, eating and coming back takes like 3 hours cause he lives so far out, so that was the end of that.

Saturday we drove to Conway for an appointment for Elder Miller.  We watched Conference at the Routt's.  They're freaking hilarious!  If I ever serve in Conway, they're my Go to.  What an amazing opportunity I had to hear Elder Wakolo!  I was so giddy!  (He told us on Friday that he was speaking so I already knew).  When he said the missions name, I squealed like a 10 year old girl at a Justin Bieber concert.  And when he said "Everyday, everyday, everyday" I about let loose some bodily fluids.  And THEN, when he started off with "I rejoice with you in the gospel and doctrine of Christ" I quoted it with him and couldn't wipe the grin off my face.  Never have I been more inspired by a man who I am not in debt to (Christ) or related to!  I hope y'all know have a small glimpse of why I look up to this man so much!  I can't wait to see him and hug him again!  What a disciple!!  A true, loving disciple of Jesus Christ.  As we drove to Hot Springs for Priesthood session, I couldn't help but quote him!  What a day to remember!

If you know the story, you know the joy.

Sunday was just as fantastic!  Hearing of being a true disciple through pure love motivated me for better, harder work as I work towards the tail end of my wonderful mission.  And then Elder Uchtdorf, BEHOLD THE MAN!  How inspiring!!  I cannot explain with enough joy grateful I am for a loving savior!  It's been a rough transfer for us here in Glenwood, but how grate is my joy to be able to be on the Lord's errand!  What better thing to do with my life could there be?  I'll tell you what, absolutely nothing.  As Alma says in Alma Chapter 26 (my favorite chapter) verse 16, "I cannot say the smallest part of which I feel."  Oh how great the plan of our God!  He is my God and your God.  My Father and your Father.  In the Book "The Count of Monte Cristo," there is a man who has been wronged and framed for a crime he did not do.  He starts to plan out his revenge to a newfound friend, a wise and old man.  This man tells the young man, "do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence, God said, vengeance is mine."  This young man then tells him he doesn't believe in God.  My favorite quote of this whole thing is then said, "it doesn't matter, he believes in you."  Isn't that wonderful?  God believes in each and every one of us, no matter how bad we falter and no matter how bad our faults. 

God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten, live.  For He is risen.  This I know and this I stand by.  Forever and always, He reigns supreme.

Kings Do King Things
Goin' Buck Wild

District love.

Ride 'em Gator!

Easter.

Shake time!