Livin' it up in Elko!

That's right! I got transferred!

Last selfie with the Elders!

I am now in Elko, in the Spanish Branch. I have been here for a week and ohmygoodness, there is so much potential here! I loved my time in the Vista branch in Sparks, and this one is a little smaller than over there, so there is a ton of work to do! It seems like the branch is super missionary minded already, and I feel that this place is about to blow up.

The Rubies! (Ruby Mountains)

Water balloon-tree (primary activity)

Elder Johnson is my companion, and he is just like a loveable panda bear! He knows the area really well, and I am pumped to see what we can get done together!
Elko is a ton of fun, and I am so glad to get to serve here! I am going to miss the North Reno zone and Cold Springs and Silver Lake wards, but FaceBook is a magical thing!

Hope you all have an awesome week!

Volleyball and watermelon

Had a really great week the last few weeks! Emailing on phones means I can't send a blog though, so sorry!

Evening over North Reno

North Reno sunset

Stephanie Sauerberg (Smith) was baptized 2 weeks ago, and it was awesome! Great ward support, and the confirmation was pretty special as well. We also started teaching her close friend Jennifer, and she (and soon her daughters, too) is set on baptismal date for late June! She even posted about it on Facebook after the lesson!

Activity day pics

We had a killer zone activity last week! We went to a members home in North Reno, and played volleyball, carved watermelons, and grilled! Super fun, and such a blast! Probably the most fun zone activity I've ever been to, and I am totally not biased ;)!

Service work

Exchanges

Went on some great exchanges in the Marina with Elder Steck. We biked around and had tons of fun contacting people like all day. Also, I might have jumped off a curb, almost hit a parked car, and then fallen over on my face! But its ok, all is well, and we got a cool street contact out of it! Oh yeah!

Not much else to report! Extra pictures, though!

Amad a otros!

Had another great week! Stephanie Smith will be baptized tomorrow and so that is going to rock! She is awesome and has made a huge change in her life, so we are super pumped!

We found a sonic in our zone!

This last week we went to MLC, and got to learn a lot about ministering. Specifically about caring for a certain person's needs, and helping them individually. Christ ministered with love, and that is what we are here to do as well!

We have been reading the BoM as a mission and we are just about through with 2nd Nephi. I have been learning a lot about how merciful the Lord is, that he truly gives us every possible chance to repent and come unto Him. His hand is outstretched all the day long, all we have to do is reach out and grab it through our obedience! Loving getting to read it so much and loving being a missionary where I am able to proclaim it's truth to all!

Elder Schloemer's late night frog-escapades

Elder Schloemer really likes cloud pictures so here you go!

This week I was able to go on exchanges in the Sierra Spanish branch in Reno, and omg it was so much fun! I miss Spanish so much! I know the gift of tongues is real and that the Spirit brings things to our remembrance, because I was astonished with how not-garbage I was! I mean I wasn't perfect by any means, but honestly I haven't done the best job with keeping up on language study in this area so I thought it would be a lot worse. But it was so awesome to get to serve in a Spanish area again, even if just for a day!

Not much else! Been mega busy but honestly don't even remember what all happened this week. We found a new investigator from Guam, so that was shweet!

Elder Rodriguez!

Also taught a vegan guy, really interesting character!

Hope you all have a great week, and don't forget to love one another!


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Last Week

Fun week this week! A few people are preparing for baptism, so we are loving it! Tons of great work to do up in Northern Nevada, and it bring us great joy to be the ones who get to do it!

Zone Conference with Elder Sorensen

Had zone conference this last week, and we got to do a little musical number for part of our training. Wish we would have had someone take a video! But it was great, Elder Schloemer and I had a lot of fun giving that training and getting to see the zone apply it! It was all about finding, and this week as a zone we found the most I think we have ever found in a week since I have been here!

Kittens!

Not much else happened here, went on a few great exchanges that I failed to get pictures of, but we had a lot of fun. Was in a biking area on Saturday, and it was a ton of fun! Biking all up and down the Stead area!

Elder Schloemer and I are doing awesome, and we are seeing tons of miracles out here in the blessed high deserts of Nevada!

Have a great week!

Stead and Cold Springs

Great week this week! Lots of fun stuff!

Elder Schloemer and I are having tons of fun up here in Stead and Cold Springs.
One of our investigators and her kids are gearing up and ready to get baptized, as well as a few more individuals who are currently considering their dates!

Working on a training in park while we wait for new tires!

We found another bomb investigator who is so prepared. She just accepted a baptismal date in mid may, but turns out she actually doesn't live in our area! So we will be doing a pass off soon, yay free baptisms for other areas haha! No but it will be really good for that ward!

We have been running in the mornings and biking more often, so the weight should start falling off soon! Except our members keep giving us literal bags of cookies and muffins, soooooooo idk.

A wild Duggo appeared!

Another Duggo!

Anyway, not much else specific to mention. We as a mission are going to be reading the Book of Mormon in 65 days, and I am excited! It has so much power in it, and I am so grateful I can read it literally every day and feel uplifted by it! If you want to join me and my mission in this challenge, let me know!

Have a great week!

Coming unto Christ!

Hello everybody! Sorry for no email last week, emailing on phones is hard! Hope you all had a great one though! We have had some awesome stuff go down, though! Like:

Our Mission is now utilizing smart phones, for mission work only.
Its been a while since I've held one of these.

Elizabeth Razo's baptism! It was so exciting! It was the most well attended baptism I have ever been to and there was so much dang food! Sister Razo made some tamales and so that was awesome.

Sister Razo's Baptism!

On Thursday we were able to go to the temple again as a zone, and that's always a blast!

Temple Trip!!!

We got transfer news, and I will be staying in this area again, with Elder Schloemer. That will be awesome! Elder Schloemer has been like a role model of mine since I was in Sparks (like more than a year ago), so I am super excited.

In sadder news, Elder Torres is going home Wednesday! It has been a good 2 years for him and he has fought the good fight! It's been awesome to be his companion, though. There's always so much you learn from each companion, and I have gotten a lot from him.

The results of 18 months of walking and cycling in the rain, snow and sun.

Not much else to report on. Have a great week!

Easter and Conference!

We had an amazing week this week! Lot's of lessons, always staying busy. We found a couple more investigators thanks to some awesome member missionary work! We as well had zone conference, where we pretty much just helped everyone set up their smartphones. As of this week, every missionary in the Nevada, Reno Mission has a smartphone. Crazy!

Breakfast of champions

I went on some awesome exchanges with Elder McGee that I forgot to get pictures for so my b!

But they were great. Reminded me of home, because we went to this trailer park and got to do some serious redneck-engineering! We got a massive boat off of a normal flatbed trailer onto a boat trailer on dry ground. Using hand winches, tires, and floor-jacks. It was pretty incredible! It felt like I was rebuilding the Provo City Center temple or something!

Elder McGee!

Redneck-engineering

Then we were able to watch General Conference! That was so amazing! I felt so strongly that Russel M. Nelson is truly the prophet of God on the earth as we sustained him Saturday morning. Loved conference, and all of the changes are truly a testimony to me that the Lord is hastening his work, and is instituting a sort of "higher law" for the rising generation! It is a great day to be a missionary and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today!

We got to watch one of the sessions with the Razo family, and they are doing super well! Well on their way toward baptism!

That's pretty much all folks!

Hope you have a great week, and happy Easter!

Fasts answered!

Wonderful week here in Reno!

Exchanges with Elder Gailey!

We found a new family to teach this week! A transfer ago we were on exchanges and we tried knocking on a less-active lady's door, but she wasn't home. As we were leaving, a young man named Chaison pulled up and we started talking! The lady had moved out, but Chaison was super interested! We gave him a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and headed off. Well we weren't able to come back for our return appointment and we eventually lost contact, so we were bummed. But Elder Torres and I were in the area and we felt prompted to just swing by like on Tuesday. Well he was there and he had been reading the Book of Mormon! We came back the next day and had an amazing lesson with him and his girlfriend Laura! They are so prepared. Chaison is loving it and said he was so glad he let us come over! His name is pronounced like "Jason" but its spelled with a "CH" because he's "Chaison" the truth!!!

View from a bike-ride

Anyway, another amazing thing! ALL of the Razo family came to church this week! So awesome! They are still on track for baptism and we are super pumped! Best family ever. I will try to take a pic this week and send it next week!

Anyway, not much else went on! Have a great week, yall!