AREA 51!! - Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Hey everyone!

Welp I'm back in Tucson Zone! I left the Countryside and Tortolita ward and am now am serving in the Central Ward! It's all of down town Tucson. It's pretty cool. It's kinda like down town Portland - but HOTTER!

Boy, it's getting hot here... Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm on a bike :'( All my luck being in a car finally caught up to me. My companion is Elder Malcarne. He's been out about 3 months. I'm his third companion. His trainer and the person finishing his training both were visa waiters to South Africa! So I'm his first companion who isn't a visa waiter. Haha! Well it was completely surprising that I left the North Zone. I thought for sure Elder Jones was going to leave. It was hard leaving the Blanco family and all the cool people in the North. Now I'm back to talkin' to hobos. It'll be fun! 

This last week in my last area, we didn't really have anything to do, so Elder Jones and I were driving on a whole bunch of dirt roads. And one night we were doing that, and we went on these windy, twisty, skinny dirt roads in the middle of nowhere. I was asleep in the passenger seat, but Elder Jones had apparently drove past a whole bunch of "no trespassing" and "private property" signs, until he stopped, and yelled "Elder Wise! Elder Wise Look! ALIENS!!!!!" So that woke me up. lol. I looked out the front windshield. And we were parked in front of this gate. It had a sign on it that said "WARNING: Area 51" and it said a whole bunch of other stuff including "Do not enter. Use of Deadly force authorized" So we got out of there. I just thought it was fake, but I asked someone in the ward, and they said there was a nonoperational missile sight that was I guess a branch base or something of Area 51. So that was SICK! Got pictures!

Man, it was hard to leave the North zone. I loved that zone. It's weird being back in Tucson. Haha! Well that's all that happened really this week! Love you all! The Book is Blue and the gospel's true! Have a great week!  

The 4th Missionary - Monday, May 19, 2014

Family,

This week was productive for the most part. Transfers are next week by the way. I want to share with you something I learned in my personal study. I read an article called "The 4th missionary" where is described 4 kinds of missionaries. The 1st missionary is disobedient, is lazy, and refuses to work in the Lord's service. The consequences are that he almost always goes home early from his mission, he finds it hard to fit in back home, where only awaits him shame and guilt and regret. The good that he would have done, goes undone (at least by him), and most likely goes inactive in the Church itself. The 2nd missionary is also disobedient, does some work, but without his heart, usually serves a full mission, but doesn't labor diligently in the Lord's service. The consequences are that he doesn't grow from his mission. He wastes two years of his life that he will never get back. The good that he would have done goes undone (at least by him), and when he returns home, he faces guilt and regret all his life. People at home will applaud him for his full time service, but he knows the shame that he brought home with him. The 3rd missionary is successful, changes lots of lives, and brings lots of people close to Christ. Labors hard on his mission and usually meets exceptional standards or numbers on his Key Indicators. The consequences are that he enjoys the success that he has on his mission. enjoys the company of the spirit that came with working hard, and returns home honorably. The 4th missionary contains the exact attributes as the 3rd with the addition of one more, which drastically and definitely changes his consequences. His attitude. His heart. Himself. The 3rd missionary SACRIFICED himself and his time to work in the Lord's service, whereas the 4th missionary GAVE all that he had as himself and all that he possessed. He gave the Lord all of his talents, hopes, desires, dreams, weaknesses, strengths, triumphs, defeats, disappointments, and expectations. This is called lining our will with Christ's, and ultimately, our Heavenly Fathers. This is what the 3rd missionary lacked. Christ teaches us that if we are going to work in his service, we need to labor with ALL of our heart, might, mind, and strength. The 3rd missionary labored with his might and strength. The 4th missionary labored with that with the addition of his heart and his mind. He gave himself. The consequences of the 4th missionary are that he brought others, including himself unto Christ. He grew incredibly from the spirit, and enjoys the constant companionship of the spirit. He actually enjoys and is edified in his testimony every time he looks back on his mission. He grows immense charity. He has the literal light of Christ. He experiences the same heartaches, and disappointments that come with being a missionary, but because he gave his whole self to Christ, he experiences eternal as well as very immediate blessings. Blessings of contentment and peace in the Lord's service. Blessings of happiness, and true joy, both of which are qualities of the Kingdom of God, which Christ teaches is really found within ourselves. The 4th missionary is a disciple of Christ and is redeemed from the natural man or missionary, who may work diligently, but fails to give his whole self to Christ with his heart and his mind. This can apply not only to missionaries but to members with a calling. May we give and loose all ourselves, and work with not only our might and strength, but with our heart and mind. Only then will we be not followers of Christ, but true disciples of Christ, making us like him. I love you all. Have a wonderful week! 

FAMILY ROCKS!!!!!! - Monday, May 12, 2014

Hey family!

I'll keep it short, cuz we talked a lot last night, which was awesome!! Thank you all for taking time to come to ma and pas house to come and see me! It was great seeing you all again! Stock and Trysen have grown up a lot! Haha! I've been telling everyone how you guys brought me outside to shoot a printer! Haha! Everyone thinks you guys are hilarious!

I have an interview with President Killpack. His last one. :'( I'll make sure I get a picture with him and Sister Killpack! Again, I want to reemphasize the importance of Family! Our family is so awesome! We have so much fun and love all of each other! It's because of the gospel! Which is the glue that holds us together and bonds us spiritually! We have a purpose as a family, and that makes us 1000 times happier than most families out in the world. You guys rock! Can't wait to see you guys again on Christmas! But for now, have an amazing week! Love you all! 

Indiana Jones - May 5, 2014

Hey Family!

It's starting to get really HOT down here. Haha! But it's pretty windy at the same time. It's like a HOT blow dryer 24/7.
This morning we went to Romero Pools again. And we found this rope that was tied pretty firmly into a rock. And all of us were climbing this cliff up and down to the water with this rope. I felt pretty courageous and went down to a cliff next to it and asked someone to throw me the rope. I was going to pull an Indiana Jones move and get a running start, kick off a rock and swing with the rope to the main cliff and climb up. It didn't work out that way. I got a running start, and jumped off the rock, but the Rope jerked a little bit and I fell face first into the water. I FELT SO APOSTATE!!! Haha! I quickly grabbed the rope and pulled myself out of the water. Haha! Everyone thought it was HILARIOUS, but I thought it sucked.....Until I saw the video on my camera, and yeah it's pretty embarrassing hahaha! So I had to hike back in soaking wet clothes. Not fun. Haha! 

So this week, we had a lesson with Suzette Blanco. She is the kind of person who is sassy and stubborn just for the sake of being sassy and stubborn. So the last couple of weeks, I have been praying for something to humble her. This week we she called us absolutely devastated, and told us that the guy she's been dating for the past 4 years, who is anti-Mormon, just dumped her. Boy, that really brought her into the depths of humility. We had an awesome lesson with her after that, and we told her that as representatives of Jesus Christ, we told her that he has allowed you to lose and forget about that relationship so she can focus on the relationship with her Savior. The spirit was really strong, and we could tell she knew the truth and knew what she had to do. We were planning on baptizing her next week, but she wants more time to read the Book of Mormon, so we are going push her date back a week or so. This last weekend, we baptized Josh Guillen. He is so incredibly quiet. I ask him "How does that make you feel about Heavenly Father?" "....Good." "Well, that's good. Can you expound on that?" "......Really good." GAAH! Furstrating. I honestly didn't think he was ready, but he says he believes in the church and the Book of Mormon, and wants to get baptized, so I wasn't going to stop him.

I have a picture of him on my camera in his white jump suit right before he is about to get baptized, and he has the most blank look on his face. That pretty much describes his whole personality. Haha! It was rough working with him, but I know he will experience the blessings of baptism. The Priests are going to teach him the new member lessons to keep him active and going to mutual and such. Tonight, I get to see my Zone leader that went home last transfer. Elder Zach Smith is back in town. Haha! It's going to be so weird seeing him again. Alright, well I hope you all have a great week! I love yall!