I Forgot Where I Live

 Wednesday September 15th:  Today was honestly so sweet. We started off with an awesome hike, called Stone Door. It was so cool, first time seeing real mountains in a long time! Then after we ate lunch at this super good place, the only place actually in Altamont haha. We came home played basketball at the church and some games with other missionaries in the zone. Talked to friends and family, definitely a good pday. After 6 we did Facebook and cold calling. It went awesome actually, we talked to a ton of people and found 3 really cool people who seemed to be quite interested! Lyanna, her daughter Alaina, who were interested in the Book of Mormon, and then Karen who was super sweet and kind and interested in the Book of Mormon too so that was hype!! 

Thursday: Today was good! It was a little long though, so a little harder to stay motivated, but that's okay there's good days and hard days! We did have an awesome call with President in the morning though as zone leadership and talked about what we are currently doing and some more really awesome ways we can help the zone! We talked about Heleman 10 and compared that to us as missionaries and it was powerful! We had a productive morning and talked to a lot of people on Facebook, sadly I had these two people that just refused to listen and so we kept going back and forth for a bit, but finally the conversation died.. hopefully some type of seed was planted there. We had a super good dinner at this restaurant with these people the other elders are teaching and that was good! We had a good little lesson with a guy named Melvin and taught the restoration on his porch and set up a time to come back Saturday! Then we had a lesson with Steven from Walmart and boy can that guy talk. We even had a member there and we taught a really powerful short lesson and he said he had 4 questions so we thought okay sweet! His questions had 20 minutes of context each, and he wouldn't let us interrupt, it was tough. Other than that just a lot of finding today, but it wasn't too bad! 

Friday: This morning we went to the home of a lady named Tiffany.  I might have mentioned her before, but regardless we sat down and got to know her a lot better this time. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and she was pretty interested! We talked about getting her whole family involved and she said okay! We also commited her to coming to church and also gave her a soft baptismal invite and she said she'd think about it, definitely a good lesson! We then talked to this guy named Kenny, who's had it hard growing up, he's only 18, and had lots happen. We had a good conversation and shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon with him (Alma 14:11) and talked about hard things happening to good people. During the afternoon we had weekly planning, then we had a planned lesson over the phone, and tried to add a member, but she got intimidated and hung up, that was a big bummer. Elder Hall came and picked me up after that and we went to Nashville on exchanges, we made some contacts on the way home and even talked to this guy named Mohammad, who was a follower of Islam, for awhile at an apartment complex. That was interesting to say the least. ;)

Saturday: Today we had a good workout and comp study in the morning. We went and got some doughnuts at this place where I got doughnuts back in May of last year and they were so good. We tried to talk to a few people, but for the first time on my mission we were trying to talk to really wealthy people, and they were way too prideful. We went home and did some more work, and then drove half way back and met Elder Navarro and Lewis and then Elder Navarro and I headed home. We had an amazing lesson with this lady named Ronda who we shared a short but powerful restoration lesson with her and put her on date for 10/30, it was so sweet!! We then had a long night of contacting, but it was good too. 

Sunday: We had an awesome service and had some really great talks given by Brother Crowley and Brother Vaughn. We didn't have anyone attend with us again sadly, but next week we are hoping for some miracles. Honestly not much happened today. We did have a good restoration lesson with this Lady named Terrie over the phone, but she seems pretty stuck where she's at, but she said she'll read John 10:16 and 3 Nephi 15 and so we'll see what she thinks! We talked to this guy named Michael and shared a scripture with him and promised him some blessings, he's going through a hard time. We had a good devotional as a mission, and heard some departing testimonies too from missionaries who are going to their original missions.

Monday: Today was sweet! Elder Navarro and I drove to McMinnville and had district council with the McMinnville district. Afterwards, we exchanged and now I'm with Elder Rodriguez until Wednesday. We did have lunch at this Mexican restaurant though and the owner is actually a less active member and so the missionaries we were with set up a time to visit him and his family so that was cool! We came back and talked to a few people and found a cool lady named Melissa at dollar general and we talked to a guy at a stop sign from our car named Jerry about Prophets and set up a time to talk tomorrow with him too! Then we talked this guy on Facebook who after we brought up baptism said he's actually been looking to get baptized again! We also had another call with this girl named Kaitlyn who loved the restoration and wants a Book of Mormon tomorrow so we are definitely going to get her one!! Awesome day! 

Tuesday: Today was fun! We had some lessons at this one government complex we go to fairly often and had some okay contacts/lessons, but no one was super engaged besides this guy named Kenny who's 18, we talked to him last week and he actually came outside to talk to us this time around. He's such a stud and we had a really good conversation about the restoration and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, it was awesome! We made a few more contacts in between lunch and dinner and then for dinner we went to Jersey Mike's because we got gift cards from a member.  Anyways, I'm telling you that. to explain this, and it's actually a super funny story. So we cold called (random called) Alex yesterday and he didn't answer but he texted us back and we told him who we were. He said we could share something tomorrow but never got back to us on a time... fast forward back to when we are eating at Jersey Mikes, like I was saying, and we get a text saying "Are yall at Jersey Mikes right now?" He works at t-mobile next door! We went over and talked with him and we talked a lot about phones and technology. Right place at the right time. Long story short he's met with missionaries in the past due to some relationships and was interested in talking again so that was way cool! I had my first stake meeting, with all the leaders of the McMinnville stake and President Weaver, it was honestly stressful during preparation, but it went super awesome, so that was great! I know this is a long report for today, but last thing is there was this guy who talked with Elder Rodriguez for 30 mins during my stake meeting, and I came out and tapped Elder Rodriguez out because he had been going for awhile and he was pretty stubborn, but nice, and according to him he was interested. The funny part was at the end of an hour call he goes, "How often is it that

Wed: Today was honestly so sweet. We started off with an awesome hike, called stone door. It was so cool, first time seeing real mountains in a long time! Then after we got lunch at this super good place, the only place actually in Altamont haha. We came home played basketball at the church and some games with other missionaries in the zone. Talked to friends and family, definitely a good pday. After 6 we did Facebook and cold calling. It went awesome actually, we talked to a ton of people and found 3 really cool people! Lyanna, her daughter Alaina, who were interested in the Book of Mormon, and then Karen who was super sweet and kind and interested in the Book of Mormon too so that was hype!! 

Thu: Today was good! It was a little long though, so a little harder to stay motivated, but that's okay there's good days and hard days! We did have an awesome call with President in the morning though as zone leadership and talked about what we are currently doing and some more really awesome ways we can help the zone! We talked about Heleman 10 and compared that to us as missionaries and it was powerful! We had a productive morning and talked to a lot of people on Facebook, sadly I had these two people that just refused to listen and so we kept going back and forth for a bit, but finally the conversation died.. hopefully some type of seed was planted there. We had a super good dinner at this restaurant with these people the other elders are teaching and that was good! We had a good little lesson with a guy named Melvin and taught the restoration on his porch and set up a time to come back Saturday! Then we had a lesson with Steven from Walmart and boy can that guy talk. We even had a member there and we taught a really powerful short lesson and he said he had 4 questions so we thought okay sweet! His questions had 20 minutes of context each, and he wouldn't let us interrupt, it was tough. Other than that just a lot of finding today, but it wasn't too bad! 

Fri: This morning we went to a lady named Tiffany's house, I might have mentioned her before, but regardless we sat down and got to know her a lot better this time. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and she was pretty interested! We talked about getting her whole family involved and she said okay! We also commited her to coming to church and also gave her a soft baptismal invite and she said she'd think about it, definitely a good lesson! We then talked to this guy named Kenny, who's had it hard growing up, he's only 18, and had lots happen. We had a good conversation and shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon with him (Alma 14:11) and talked about hard things happening to good people. During the afternoon we had weekly planning, then we had a planned lesson over the phone, and tried to add a member, but she got intimidated and hung up, that was a big bummer. Elder Hall came and picked me up after that and we went to Nashville on exchanges, we made some contacts on the way home and even talked to this guy named Mohammad who was a follower of Islam for awhile at an apartment complex. That was interesting to say the least. 

Sat: Today we had a good workout and comp study in the morning. We went and got some doughnuts at this place I got doughnuts back in May of last year and they were so good. We tried to talk to a few people, but for the first time on my mission we were trying to talk to really wealthy people, and they were way too prideful. We went home and did some more work, and then drove half way back and met Elder Navarro and Lewis, got ice cream with them and then Elder Navarro and I headed home. We had an amazing lesson with this lady named Ronda who we shared a short but powerful restoration lesson with and put her on date for 10/30, it was so sweet!! We then had a long night of contacting, but it was good too. 

Sun: We had an awesome service and had some really great talks given by Brother Crowley and Brother Vaughn. We didn't have anyone attend with us again sadly, but next week we are hoping for some miracles. Honestly not much happened today. We did have a good restoration lesson with this Lady named Terrie over the phone, but she seems pretty stuck where she's at, but she said she'll read John 10:16 and 3 Nephi 15 and so we'll see what she thinks! We talked to this guy named Michael and shared a scripture with him and promised him some blessings, he's going through a hard time. We had a good devotional as a mission, and heard some departing testimonies too from missionaries who are going to their original missions.

Mon: Today was sweet Elder Navarro and I drove to McMinnville and had district council with the McMinnville district. Afterwards, we exchanged and now I'm with Elder Rodriguez till Wednesday. We did have lunch at this Mexican restaurant though and the owner is actually a less active member and so the missionaries we were with set up a time to visit him and his family so that was cool! We came back and talked to a few people and found a cool lady named Melissa at dollar general and we talked to a guy at a stop sign from our car named Jerry about Prophets and set up a time to talk tomorrow with him too! Then we talked this guy on Facebook who after we brought up baptism said he's actually been looking to get baptized again! We also had another call with this girl named Kaitlyn who loved the restoration and wants a Book of Mormon tomorrow so we are definitely going to get her one!! Awesome day! 

Tue: Today was fun! We had some lessons at this one government complex we go to fairly often and had some okay contacts/lessons, but no one was super engaged besides this guy named Kenny who's 18, we talked to him last week and he actually came outside to talk to us this time around. He's such a stud and we had a really good conversation about the restoration and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, it was awesome! We made a few more contacts in between lunch and dinner and then for dinner we went to Jersey Mike's because we got gift cards from a member, it is an expensive place though! Anyways, I say that to say this, and it's actually a super funny story, so we cold called (random called) Alexx yesterday and he didn't answer but he texted us back and we told him who we were. He said we could share something tomorrow but never got back to us on a time... fast forward back to when we are eating at jersey mikes like I was saying and we get a text saying are yall at jersey mikes rn? He works at t-mobile next door! We went over and talked with him and we talked a lot about phones and technology. Long story short he's met with missionaries in the past due to some relationships and was interested in talking again so that was way cool! I had my first stake meeting, with all the leaders of the McMinnville stake and President Weaver, it was honestly stressful during preparation, but it went super awesome, so that was great! I know this is a long report for today, but last thing is there was this guy who talked with Elder Rodriguez for 30 mins during my stake meeting, and I came out and tapped Elder Rodriguez out cuz he had been going for awhile and he was pretty stubborn, but nice, and according to him interested. The funny part was though at the end of an hour call he goes, "How often is it you meet someone as open as me?" I gotta good laugh out of that one, but just wanted to remember that, that's all. you meet someone as open as me?" I gotta good laugh out of that one haha! I  just wanted to remember that, that's all.