Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Another great week in el campo (field)!

Buenas dias weras!

We found another investigator in South Lake Tahoe, and yes, he is weird! How did you know? Jeff was the guy that showed up drunk to church a few weeks ago and has been attending regularly since. We went and had a really interesting talk on the snowy beach in Tahoe about his life and what not. He is a very interesting gentleman, but he did seem genuinely interested in our church, so we will see where it goes. We were kind of interrupted in the middle of our talk because apparently we witnessed a very old sailboat sinking in the water nearby. Apparently Jeff had seen that sailboat many times before, and was quite distraught to witness it's passing. We sang "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again" as we saluted the sinking vessel. Not really, Jeff's Catholic, he doesn't know that one.

Spending quality time with Elder Leon

Elder Jarnagin and myself studying scripture

Last week has kind of me just being a klutz. I was frying some salmon and accidentally splashed some hot oil onto my arm, so I have some gnarly burns on my arm. Also I cut my leg getting out of the car last Friday.

Elder Jarnagin lost his card that let's him drive so for a couple days I have been driving. I've only hit like 3 cats so I would say all in all I'm not doing too bad.
Elder Jarnagin and I also deep-cleaned the house last week. Apparently it was motivated by a mouse-sighting by Elder Jarnagin. His name is Stewart. But we haven't seen Stew since then so maybe he booked it after eating all of my peanut butter. The house is looking pretty spiffy right about now though, and it helps relieve the stress a little when there isn't random food from old missionaries everywhere. Cleanliness is next to Jesusliness.

Carson Zone conference with President Chestnut

Another pic from Zone conference

Been having a good time and have been learning lots about the gospel. I am preparing a talk about member missionary work so it’s been an interesting learning process. Also the Spanish is coming along nicely. I don't actually use it super often, but when I do people don't flinch anymore, so that's a good sign I think! #NoMoreMrWhiteGuy

Site of our recent off-roading shortcut

Posing at sunset

Had a pretty fun week this week! We had Zone conference and got to learn a lot from President Chestnut. Also our car was inspected so that was nice. We had to do some off-roading and it was a pretty good time. We literally forded a river because we are trying to save our miles lol. So we cut across another huge off-roading park, and this one included a little stream. Thank goodness for 4x4!

We have been working with a family up in Tahoe and they are doing very well. We will be seeing them and another family this week and we are going to try to set them with baptismal dates.

Not much else been going on. It's not super busy up here right now, we are just trying to find some more investimagators.

I have a joke that I would really like to share.

Que le dijo la wera a la otra wera? Werare joo?

Nos vemos gabachos! Have a great week everyone!​​​​​​

Friday, March 17, 2017

Daylight Savings and a New Typewriter

We had daylight savings time yesterday night. That kinda sucks. Missionaries are finely tuned machines, and one less hour of sleep is really throwing a wrench in the works. But the work goes on.

Still battling the snow in Lake Tahoe

We have been finding like crazy in South Lake Tahoe! We have 3 new investigators there this week. One is named Enrique, and he is a man who has had a rough past and is just trying to do right by God. We have discussed what the BoM is and he is reading it right now. The other 2 are John and Alexis. John is a disabled veteran with Alexis (wife) and 3 youngins. They moved from Salem, Oregon (shout out) about 2 years ago. We just now got the referral for some reason, but it's ok, because we think the time really might have helped soften his heart. He and his wife are very prepared to hear and listen to our message, and we very accepting and understanding of our message of the restoration. They have also committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, so we look forward to continuing to work with them.

In another development, Elder Jarnagin and I have started doing bi-weekly service at a GoodWill-esque thrift store called Fish. Annnd my first day there I found and subsequently bought an electric typewriter. I am currently cleaning and oiling it and I have purchased (via some members with Amazon Prime) some ink ribbon to get her up and running like new. Before you assume I have totally lost my marbles, typewriters are actually quite useful out here for missionaries without iPads:( because we can type much faster than write, and we don't have to worry about handwriting. Also typewriters are cool cuz they make sweet noises and stuff. Elder Jarnagin's handwriting is terrible so he uses his typewriter for just about everything. Including almost all mission-related paperwork. But anyway, I am quite excited to start writing on it. If you get a typewritten letter, it means I love you. If you don't, at least Jesus loves you.

The latest in personal communication devices.

Saturday, I got to attend two baptisms, and those are always fun! Elder Jarnagin and I both spoke at a man named Robby's baptism, and it was a pretty dunk-tastic experience. Robby actually has a little bit of a mental disorder, and is extremely afraid of water. So obviously the actual ordinance of him getting baptised was quite an ordeal. But after we wrestled him under the water, all was well.(just kidding of course ;)) No but it was a great service and we had a great time, and of course learned a lot from preparing our talks.

The same day we also got to attend a baptism for a man named David. He has had a very interesting past, and he actually turned himself into police because he wanted to repent and be baptised so bad, even though he knew he would likely be facing a prison sentence. Miraculously, however, his sentenced was waived and he was given an alternative punishment. Which means he got to be baptised Saturday! God is great! A lot of people had heard his story so there were like 50+ people at his baptism, including us! I've only known David for a short time but he really is an awesome guy and it just goes to show that the gospel changes lives!

Helping out at the local thrift store.

Oh also! We did a really sweet object lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ through making chicken parm! A member took a video of it, so it will probably be in next weeks email. It was awesome!

Nothing really else been goin on. Just the J Squad tearing it up here in Carson Valley and South Lake Tahoe. More like Salt Lake Tahoe by the time we're done with it;). Anyway, hope everyone has a great week and don't forget to spay and neuter your pets.​​

Adios!

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy

Hola!

Last week we were pretty low on our allotted miles for the month, so we biked home from South Carson City back to Gardnerville. It was pretty fun, and I think it was very good to help work off all the food I ate at dinner. Also something pretty weird happened on the ride. We were like half a mile from our house, and right before we rounded a corner, we heard some crazy loud screaming. So we get around the corner and see this lady leaned up against the her door screaming that she's having a heart attack. So we use our phone to call 9-11 and the operator is like, "Chill, that lady just has anxiety, she's fine. We have some people already on the way." We were like uhhhh. So then while we wait for the "people" to show up, we just listen to this lady start screaming about some totally random stuff, having nothing to do with a heart attack lol. She's screaming about her dog, and then her husband who left her, and how she is going to sue the Lutheran church down the street because they didn't call the cops for her. Then eventually a cop and ambulance show up and we started talking with another by-stander who lived nearby who came over because of all the noise. We got his number and he said he might be interested in meeting with us! Cool! Anyway yeah that was a weird night.


Downtown Gardnerville, Nevada, population 5,600


In other news, we found two really great new investigators in South Lake Tahoe. One of them is a very average man, like seriously the most average person you could ever meet. Never really gotten into a religion before, but says he would like to. When we taught him and gave him a Book of Mormon, he acted like it was the most exciting moment of his life, so that's sweet!

The other investigator we met is quite the opposite. We were actually trying to see Johnny, our African American KKK member investigator, but his roommate said he wasn't home, but that we should come in anyway. We go inside and he is listening to sad country music with tears in his eyes. He said he needs help, and that he can't find happiness in his life. He said he has been Pagan all his life, and that it doesn't mean anything. He is a member of a very notorious biker gang, and has been in prison for half of his life. We shared a message of the Plan of Salvation, and by the end of the lesson, he said he already felt happier, and he asked if we had a book that we could give him, because he learns by reading. So naturally we told him we could go get him a Book of Mormon right away. He said, straight faced, "Good, and if you do not, I will find you." We're like, dude, it's literally in our car right over there. He goes, oh ok good. Well hurry up then. South Lake Tahoe is a preettty weird place. But the gospel is for everyone!

Nothing much else happened this week. I though it was going to start warming up here, but we got a foot of snow yesterday :( I miss Texas heat.

Sorry, I don't have many pictures this week because my camera is falling apart, but I should be getting a new one soon, and then I will be posting pictures faster than a 14 year old on instagram with multiple personality disorder.

Hope everyone has a swell weak.

Adios
#drinktahoetap