Letter - 9/29 {Garrett}

Mommy!

Yes, I got your package, thank you so much I log ether! You're the best mommy ever! The questions are fine, gives me something to do so not too bad! Good to hear Draper is going good. Sweet Isaac is doing great in HS! Make him do Student Gov haha and heck yeah he is hanging out with girls - that' show Lamb boys roll! Get him to start working out. Happy for Mallory - but maybe put her in dance or cheer or soccer! Those are the better ones. Kayla B is on the BYU cheer team - so maybe she will coach because she did it for a job, but then again she is only a freshman, so you'll have to let me know! Trust me you ain't as old and grumpy/ornery as people here so you're all good. haha - Happy Anniversary to the best parents on earth! Love you guys so much! I miss climbing so bad, my tough hands are gone so I'm gonna have to restart...so I don't blame Nate for climbing so much!

Questions:

What was your biggest success this week? put C on date - Oct 8

What was your biggest challenge? trying to learn and practice what I learn and getting words in the conversation when my comp talks a lot

Who has been our favorite person this week & why? C - way funny and super cute, she gave me a friendship rock

What has been your most significant tender mercy? meeting people that have it really bad and serving them

What are you looking forward to this coming week? transfers, pretty sure my comp is gonna be Zone Leader

What can we do for you? stay safe, don't let anything bad happen


What time do you get up? 6:30am

Do you set an alarm? alarm on the phone

When do you get ready for the day? before study right after shower

Do you study one topic a week? no, different every day

Who chooses the topic? study what you're going to teach through the day and what you studied during personal study

What is your fave part of PMG? #10 teaching skills

What is your current fave scripture? Mosiah 3:7 and Mosiah 1-6 - it's about the atonement and it's a scripture that all the other missionaries don't use

What do you usually eat for breakfast? cereal, eggs, toast, bagel

If you have time to cook what is your fave breakfast? eggs w/bagel, french toast

What "tools" do you have to cook with? all of them

What time do you leave the apartment? 12:00

Do you drive or walk? drive because of comp's foot

What is the "bike situation"? in a bike area but not riding right now

Do you ever proselyte on "main street" or in the shops? no

What time do you usually eat lunch? 11:00am

How long is your lunch? 1hr

What do you usually eat for lunch? rice, burrito, chicken, potatoes, sandwiches, salad, lots of fruit/veg

Do you share groceries with comp? no

What time do you exercise & what do you do? 6:30-7am

What time do you have to be in at night? 9-9:30pm

What time do you go to bed? 10-10:30pm

Do you shower morning or night? morning

Is it easy or difficult to fall asleep?  EASY! hahaha

What time do you leave your apartment on P-Day? 8-9am

What time is P-Day over? 6pm

Do you eat most of your dinners with members? no

Do you go to the laundry mat every P-Day? No, Bro F does our laundry

What do you usually do on P-Days? play game in Manito Park, shop

What is the hardest thing you have ever done on your mission so far? staying positive and having the will power to forget about things that are annoying

When have you felt the Spirit the strongest? during lesson with instigator that is about to get baptized, he is 18 and I was on exchanges with Elder T also w/J w/Elder T - pretty much the whole day

What strengthens your faith when you feel down? a whole lot of praying, and pushing through it

What do you wish you had learned before leaving? get my mommy to get me a good camera

What skill are you most glad you do already have? will to serve, natural street smarts, leadership, talking to people, the desire to learn

Letter - 9/28 {Gregory}

Hi mum :)

Hello so this is letter #2 because I promised you one every week from now on :) and I total always tell the truth :) Well I hope you have an awesome week and same with the rest of the family! I'll go ahead and start telling you about mine now.

Monday 9/21/15 - So today was my good ol' P-Day which meant I got to email which is always cool up until ou know...I had to go...so then it wasn't cool :) then we went and got our shopping and cleaning done then I got a "three year" package from Sabrina and Elder Willis was totally jealous haha, sweet :) Then we went to Goleta Beach Park which is the park we first came to on the first da I was here so that was cool. Played frisbee and hung out and just yeah it was cool. Then we went to dinner at the D's (the family that sent you that photo) and that was cool because they are cool so yeah :) Then we went and visited TL and her kids and then we went and talked with M and he is awesome, has a mullet and drives motorcycles and just yeah, he is pretty cool. We talked to him about the BofM and then after that guess what happened? I stepping dog crap again! For the second time on my mission I stepped in dog poop and it was soooo annoying...haha anyways :)

Tuesday 9/22/15 - We drove down to Oxnard today to the Mission Office for a "Trainers Meeting" so pretty much jus tot see President so he could catch up on us and all that fun stuff. I got to see Elder Crook and just yeah it was super fun! The meeting took up most of the day though so after we went and visited with Brother R for a bit and then we had dinner with the C's. After that we met with the Zone Leaders to do exchanges and we did this like activity thingy and then we exchanged and now I am with Elder Gregory!! He is super cool and he has a super cool name :) haha anyways, then we went to Sister P's house to take her trash down and we shared a message with her about her husband who passed away a year ago being an angel by her side at all times and it really touched her so that was really cool. Tomorrow is gonna be awesome with Elder Gregory because he is super cool and jus yeah - good times, good times :)

Wednesday 9/23/15 - Today was totally so awesome! We woke up and ran for exercise then we went and saw MW or at least we tried to go see her and instead of meeting her we met her dad who is named JW and his servant gave me a book he wrote about his lit saga, yeah that was sweet. Then we went and did service at the food banks that was super fun then we went and drove on the E's property to see if it would be good to have our Zone Activity BBQ there and so we were totally creeping haha so anyway I had to get out to back him up and I like felt someone staring at me and the first window I look through boom there was T just staring at us haha it was absolutely terrible...so awkward :0 Anyways then we went and visited B and then we went back to our apartment and Brother N picked us up and brought us to dinner to Marmalade Cafe and it was soooo good, I had this super yummy burger and then chocolate molten lava cake - yum! Then he dropped us off at our apartment and then the biggest miracle happened - this car broke down in front f our apartment and so we went and helped them push it off to the side of the road. Then they were about to walk to the nearest gas station and without even thinking I blurted out that we could go get gas for them and after I was like "what did I just say?" because these people are super sketchy looking haha, anyways, so they let us so we went to the gas station and while we were filling up their gas can this lady asked what happened so I told her what was going on and she was like "oh that is so nice of you, where do you work?" so I told her we were missionaries and asked if she needed any help and she jokingly asked for a spare tire and so I was like "well I wish I could give you that but here, can I give you a Book of Mormon instead?" She said yes, so she has a Book of Mormon and our number now :) So we drove back to give them their gas and once we got there it turns out they had started talking about the Bible and stuff so we answered their questions and offered a Book of Mormon and all three of them wanted one so then we got their phone number and address and they told us to come drop by and yeah, total miracle :) Then we did our exchange review and now I'm back with Elder Willis. Today was totally awesome! Transfers are October 6th so don't send me anything that won't get to me in time just in case I get transferred!

Thursday 9/24/15 - Today is my one month in the field! The time is flying by but there is still so much left haha so that's cool. Anyways, so about my day...today we had weekly planning. Then we went and saw B then we went and saw PV which is always fun then we went and saw Sister B which is always cool. Then we had a lesson with L and met her boyfriend, she actually is doing awesome so that's good. Then we had dinner with the D's and they fed us Little Caesar's pizza - yum! I missed Little Caesar's :) Then we met this guy named E and he was super cool and we set up a return appointment and yeah, that's cool!

Friday 9/25/15 - Today I am just stressed out and wanna come home but I'm not a quitter so blah, I guess I'll just keep faking it tip I make it, haha :) So about my Friday - we went to District Meeting and I had to give a talk on "How to be a Successful Missionary" so that was cool :) Then we went and did service for the D's and they sent you a few pictures :) Hopefully you forwarded them to Sabrina :) Anyways after them we went and did service for JC and helped her paint her walls pretty much the same exact color as I painted my room haha :) So that was fun. So yeah, lots of service today :) then we went and showered and got ready for some church tours with E and the J's and of course none of them showed up so then we drove around with nothing to do haha, up until we had a lesson with L at the church and of course she showed up because she is awesome and the lesson went great so that is cool. Then we went back to the D's because they had a ward party going on and guess what they were serving? Homemade Cafe Rio with the green sauce and everything :) just like Sister Myers does. Anyways then we helped them clean up everything because we told them we would and we started cleaning and it started getting close to 9:00pm so Elder Willis was like "we gotta go" and I was like "we are not leaving until we finish helping" so we were like 15 minutes late, haha oh well :) I'd rather do what is right than be "obedient" and make Brother D clean it all by himself, ya know?

Saturday 9/26/15 - Today was another really long day. We had to take this stress evaluation quiz that all new missionaries have to take and I sweat it made me more stressed taking the test than it helped, haha, like crazy, right? The test did help me realize that I am probably stressed because of how lonely I am though :) I'm used to having you or Garrett or anyone else in the family or Sabrina by my side all the time and now I have no one - depression, haha :) anyways...then we had mormon.org time so that was cool and then we met with Brother N to discuss the progress made for the week then we came back to have lunch and I got your letter! Yay for letters :) More on that later though. So after lunch we went to go see this less active and I don't remember her name but I do remember how not happy she was to see us, haha, it was solo awkward. Then we had a lesson with L and CK came and then after the lesson wen great C drove L to the B's to watch the General Women's Conference so that was cool. Then we met with E and so that was pretty cool. Then we met with J and hopefully he will be coming to church tomorrow! Cross our fingers! Then we started our fast for Fast Sunday and yeah. So your letters...yes, I got our package and I'm always like yay :) But you and Sabrina are making me fat :) j/k - packages are awesome! Happy Anniversary to you & Dad!! Did you do anything fun? I totally love the questionnaires :) Just make sure you share the questions and my answers with Sabrina, ok? :) Thanks! and good for Isaac! I'm so glad he is making friends and stuff. Put Mallory in soccer :) she will be competitive, it's in our blood. And you total would still be helping out with wrestling even while I am gone :) I knew you would. How is Garrett doing? Probably better than me I'm guessing :)

Sunday 9/27/15 - Today was Fast unsay so that was cool. J didn't come to church though, lame, and L was sick, so no investigators at church today. But other than that church was pretty good! I had the realization though that a mission is the exact same day after day after day haha soooo basically how do I enjoy being out here so that I'm not just depressed for the next two years? What did Nate & Nick do? What advice do you have? I enjoy doing service so maybe hopefully more service opportunities will come or something, I don't know. Anyways, so during study time I couldn't even focus I was stressing out so bad or homesick or whatever, lame. But then we went and had dinner with the L's at their super duper nice house with the most beautiful view ever so that was pretty cool. And then after dinner we literally had nowhere to go and nothing to do because everyone was out at parks or the beach to watch the blood moon or lovers moon or whatever it's called. Could you see that in Utah, too? It was totally awesome! Super duper cool moon - anyways, tomorrow is P-Day so we get to email - yay.

Email was awesome except Sabrina was working the whole time haha, lame. Anyways send me flash drives, okay? Thanks ... I love you lots mom - glad everything is going good back home - talk to you next week!

Questions:

What time do you get up? 6:30

Do you set an alarm? yes, I would be screwed without it!

Do you get ready for the day before or after study? before, it's poopy, but oh well

Do you study one topic for a week? we usually just study for whatever lessons we have that day

Who chooses the topic? just whatever is needed

What is our favorite part of PMG? I don't know - the lessons I guess, so that I actually know what to teach :)

What is your current favorite scripture? Probably Luke 1:37 because of Sabrina and how much it has helped me - or D&C 84:88 because that one is super good too

What do you usually eat for breakfast? cereal, pop tarts, eggs, or nothing...food from packages :)

If you have time what is your fave breakfast meal to cook? there is literally never any time

What "tools" do you have to cook with? Elder Willis bought a rice cooker and then we have the usuals

What time do you leave the apartment? usually 12

Do you drive or walk? we drive everywhere

What is the "bike situation"? hopefully I don't ever get sent to a bike area!

Do you ever proselyte on "main street" or in the shops? nope - but I can't wait to come back and be normal and go to the shops :)

What time do you usually eat lunch? right after studies

How long is your lunch? 1 hour

What do you usually eat for lunch? nothing, or whatever is here - food from packages :)

Do you share groceries? I share with him...

What time do you exercise int he morning & what do you do? 6:30, push ups, crunches, or go for a run

What time do you have to be in at night? 9:00 unless in an appointment then 9:30

What time do you go to bed? 10:30

Do you shower in the morning or at night? morning

Is it easy or difficult to fall asleep? easy most nights

What time do you leave your apartment on P-Days? right after studies to go email

What time is P-Day over? 6:00pm

Do you eat most of your dinners with members? Yes!

Do you go to the laundry mat every P-Day? we have one at our apartment, we go on P-Day

What do you usually do on P-Days? clean, shop, hang out with my District

What is the hardest thing so far? haha stay out :) deal with companion, I don't know, yeah, many just dealing with how lonely I feel! Everything else isn't so bad

When have you felt the Spirit the strongest? after reading some of Sabrina's letters about serving a mission

What strengthens your faith when you feel down? prayer - visiting with investigators and seeing the change this Gospel has for them

What do you wish you had learned before leaving? how to build a time machine :) how to type faster or write faster and neater

What skill are you most glad you already have? not being too shy, being able to work hard and have a good attitude or at least being able to fake it :)

Email - 9/28 {Gregory}

1  - What was your biggest success this week?

Leah is doing awesome and finally is giving up smoking :)

2 - What was your biggest challenge?

Finding new people to teach... there is no one!

3 - Who has been your favorite person this week - and why?

the dunns haha there funny :) and of course my family and sabrina :)

4 - What has been your most significant tender mercy?

the power of prayer haha its real ;)

5 - What are you looking forward to this coming week?

Transfer calls ;) jk haha im funny :) umm doing service at the food bank with leah? i dont know!

6 - What can we do for you?

Just keep finding ways to bring me comfort and help me not be so stressed out and home sick:)

me: why you stressed?

haha yes this area is awesome :) and I don't know I'm just like freaking out haha I can't believe I've almost been gone for two months but there is still so much time left 

F- My family is doing awesome! same old same old! and my Brother in Spokane is doing great!

A- This area is tough haha super hard finding people but we are doing are best and working hard!

C- haha like I said I'm here to work hard and love my companion and if I don't then well I'm gonna fake it. We are doing a lot of great work I think!

T- The Power of prayer is my testimony this week. My exchange with Elder Gregory was soooo awesome. and he left me with the advice to "Vent in Prayer" so I took that advice and it has helped sooo much. 

S- Lots of service this week!! it was awesome!! Elder Gregory and I did service at the food bank and then this car broke down in front of our apartment and so we helped them push it off to the side of the road and then went and got gas for them so they didn't have to walk to the gas station and then afterwards we gave them each a Book of Mormon and they gave us their address and yeah it was awesome! I love doing service and I hope more opportunities keep coming to serve! We also did service for the D's and for a less active named J. It was a good week full of service!

Elder Gregory and Elder Snyder wanted me to tell you how I was going to be a "two feet in missionary" and so here is how!

-I'm going to do my best to be perfectly obedient.

-I'm going to work my hardest at all times no matter what.

-I'm going to love my companions or at least fake it so that the work can always progress.

- And most importantly i'm going to have fun doing all of it. this is something that I wish I could be doing more of. the days I look back and think "wow what a fun day" have also been the most productive and successful days on my mission so far. Missionary work is suppose to be fun right? So that's how i'm going to put both feet in!

Anyways I have to go so I will talk to you next week!! I love you lots mom :) thanks for everything :) tell the family I love each and every one of them soo much thanks for being my best friends :) Love you bye!!!!

Pictures - 9/28 {Garrett}

we always work every night and it is super pretty at night  but boring, no one likes to talk

blood moon was way sick

the nature here is way pretty

over view of the city

got some sick pictures on a bridge road thing

way bad car crash :(

this is the candle heater I'm gonna make

Email - 9/28 {Garrett}

This week was by far my favorite week so far, it was filled with a lot I feel like! and it was fun!

Monday 9/21- I realized that I've been out more than a month which is crazy because I don't feel like it, my comp went and got his MRI on his foot so I went with the zone leaders and my comp went with Bro Fletcher, it was a pretty fun day! I think the ukulele is my new passion I love playing it on free time! After PDay was over my comp wanted to help fix a car of Bro Fletcher's son, and ended up taking all night...

Tuesday 9/22-  Went to the foot doctor and my comp doesn't have anything wrong! hahahahha so funny he thought for sure he ripped it!!! hahaha  but good new is no surgery for him!  I was laughing way hard because he has to go through the exact same things I went through with my shoulder but with his foot and I told him how bad it sucks and he was like I'm just gonna cut it off! hahaha taught B which is hard because he doesn't listen and taught Sister H and she had a close friend just die so that was sad to see... 

Wednesday 9/23 - Was such a fun day!!! Went on exchanges with Elder Terry and it was such a good day we taught so many people and my heart just poured out to all of them because they all had such a sad story!! Which I loved loving people because I've been having a hard time doing that in our area. Also learned that being yourself and talking to people is the best way to find people because they shut you down so fast if you go strait into the gospel so I've been having a ton more success with that!!! The work is moving forward way faster now!! Also gave my first blessing today which was way scary!!!(said the blessing not the oil part, so it was cool)

Thursday 9/24 - Good day but kinda slow until dark which is weird because it's usually the other way around here! Everyone goes to bed as soon as its dark which is soooooooo weird to me I can't wrap my head around it!! It's 8 o'clock and no one is out and the houses are completely dark so the last hour is hard to keep going... met a lady that left her previous life to join the church which was truly an amazing story, she is was awesome! There has to be a special place for those kind of people that can over come that trial!!!

Friday 9/25 - Had district meeting, went to Cost we get 70% off {or 60, you know, either way - that business rocks!! - a} and it made me miss water so much... went to physical therapy andIi turned up the shocking things on my comp and his foot was jumping it was so funny! hahaha he got mad after but it was worth it!!! hahaha 

Saturday 9/26 - Did a stupid greenie quiz, I hate being new, everyone puts you under them and I hate it... I just wanna get past this stage and it will be so much better!!! It's funny out here missionaries have to come up with excuses to prove that what they are doing is right and I'm always like just follow the spirit and don't be stupid! They all judge me like I'm a bad rebel guy but they are so weird it's funny! hahhaha ........totally got attacked by this rot-wilier and it got hold of my leg!!! hahaha it was so bad I don't know why but I wasn't freaked out at all I was more pissed that it bit me but it had a hold on me for a couple seconds and I was so mad I didn't do anything to it so my comp thought I was gonna get rabies hahahaha so I had to go home and clean it out hahaha. Looks like I should have gotten that shot! hahahaha oh well, I'm fine now so no worries! God is protecting me!! But it brought back bad memories about my long board crash and so I was laughing telling the story hahaha then the conversation turned into I've almost died so many times and the Lake Powell story I told at my farewell came up so it was some good laughs!! Hopefully I live through this all hahaha  We also saw a car smash into the rock wall on the free way and flipped over many time it was bad!!! But I swear the entire city was watching it after it happened! Not many exciting things happen here hahaha. We also had a solid lesson with C and we put her on date to get baptized and she gave me a friendship rock and then ran up and gave me a hug and it was way hard to tell her I can't hug her because I hate turning away hugs and she is so funny and cute to teach so that was an almost bad thing.

Sunday 9/27 - Got two new investigators that are solid and had the funniest meeting ever with the ward mission leaders and stuff and this one lady is way old but acts younger than me which is hard because I'm always dancing and singing and being weird to my comp and he hates it hahaha. But we get along really good so it's no big deal! I also found out why it's so hard to be a greenie because no one trust you deep down and my comp/trainer is really super passionate about the work so he always is talking and always has to be the first one to say something so it's hard to get what I want to say out because once he starts he doesn't stop! hahaha but oh well, I think I figured out a way to tell him so I'll let you know how it goes! But it was pretty much the best week yet! 

{me:  dad wants details on the dog bite!}

him:  I didn't know whose dog it was - I walked by it and it was just growling and we knocked on the door and no one was home and I was walking back and it attacked me! hahahha Then my comp used his walking stick to whack at it... he bit and it didn't tear through my pants

Gotta go love you more than anything hope everything is going good love you all so much!

Letter - 9/23 {Garrett}

Moma & Papa -

Thanks so much for the package!! It came at just the right time when my other package was running out! Mom I filled out these papers so don't lose them - haha! Good luck! And everything in the package is perfect so thank you, you always get it right every time! Dad thank you so much for the letter you sent me! It means a ton and was wonderful advice and spirit builder! Sounds like Bear Lake was a blast! Kind of mad you guys went without me - but sounds like Dad knows his way around those shores! I hope you guys don't get caught in a bad storm on a lake because I can't come to the rescue and save ya in times of danger! hahaha But so grateful I was a twin, because it would be hard to get along with a companion if I didn't already have the practice for it, hahaha. Also so glad you guys taught me how to work hard and to serve! I always want to just keep working because when I'm not working it's a lot harder. So every time my energy gets low I think of a time when we were helping out a family! Dad, Greg, and I were pushing a full sized fridge/freezer up a stair case! and while we're doing this we started to get tired halfway up the stairs and all o a sudden I hear Dad start to sing "Put your shoulder to the wheel"! Every time things get hard I think of experiences like that one and just laugh and keep moving forward! Now I just need to figure out how to fix being bored when I'm out here haha but thank you for everything you do! Love you so much!

PS - love the stamps you sent me!

Questions o'the Week:

Biggest success this week? getting 1 less active member to Sacrament and 1 investigator to church

Biggest challenge or concern this week? talking to everyone, my companion talks a lot so I'm trying to get something in every conversation

What was your goal this week? getting along with companion :)

What is your apartment like? 2 bedroom (1 for sleeping other for exercise),  bath, kitchen and living room, work out bench, massage chair

Where do you do your shopping? Walmart

How goes the budgeting? not bad at all!

Do you always cook or eat out? I always have to cook

Do you cook with comp? What is the best thing you cook? separately, rice bowls

What would you like to know how to cook? lemon rice

How often do members feed you? Best/Worst food? Not too often, maybe once a week and a half - potato salad with too much seasoning

Tell me about your area, how do you get around? car because of companion's foot but it is a biking area, Spokane 1st, it's right out of downtown so bottom of our area is a little sketch at night, top of it is really nice big and old homes

How do you typically proselyte? street contacting and referrals we only knock doors that are on our ward list

Pictures - 9/21 {Garrett}

Email - 9/21 {Garrett}

Hey here's the weekly update email! 

Okay so real quick I don't have much time so I print out all the emails I want to read so I can read them later at night! That's why I love hand written letters because I can do them whenever! and also just learned that I can print out pictures at Walmart so go me hahaha so be ready for some sick pictures! hahaha might be black and white mostly because it's cheaper to print  And I'm not gonna write much about today I'll put it in next week's email but I have picked up a new hobby of playing the ukulele, it's how everyone passes the time here it's sweet! hahhaha

Monday 9/14, last p-day we played marshmallow dodge ball and it is insane! haha it's a game that is allowed and everyone uses it to take out all their energy and anger haha i got the worst welt on my neck!! hahaha looks like a hickey whoops!!! hahahahahahhaha good times hahaha but man when those marshmallows are going fast it hurts on bare skin! But wrestling did me well because I was dodging those things like it was my job! hahaha so wrestling did help me in some way!;) 

Tuesday 9/15, woke up in the morning wanting to die! I was so sore from playing marshmallow dodge ball I went way too hard hahaha I couldn't sit or bend over or walk all day hahaha so I just stretched during work out time hahaha but I decided Sister H is the best less active ever!! She can roast anyone with the gospel with a smoke in her mouth hahaha she is so funny! But she is coming to church and working on her Word of Wisdom problems and is working to go to the temple which is way awesome!!! Today was a solid day we had 5 less active lessons which is a ton in one day! 

Wednesday 9/16, today Bro Fletcher came in our place and decorated our apartment with Halloween decorations which was awesome! So I stopped studying and helped him hahaha I couldn't focus I was so happy to decorate, I'm still a child hahaha. Also he brought a skeleton hand back scratcher hahaha so that is my new favorite thing! I found the biggest leaf today it was as big as my face! Bro Fletcher called it an "Adam leaf" hahaha sounds about right to me! I've started to miss music and we went to Costa which was nice because I listened to that music and also we get 60% off there so that's sweet!! 

Thursday 9/17, had a lesson with Sis. H and C which are both progressing less actives and they are gonna be such solid members now!! An older guy(member) came out with us and he is way nice pretty much the best grandpa figure ever! Then again he almost cut off his leg with a chain saw during the service last week hahaha.... Yesterday was Halloween stuff and today we put up a Christmas tree scented candle in our room and my comp made eggnog cookies so the smell didn't match the rooms hahaha whoops oh well! 

Friday 9/18, had a specialized training today and learned a ton! My Pres. is deep doctrine master hahaha but during the creation the sun moon and stars were made the sun to rule the day and the moon to rule the night and the starts were made to give light and are signs! Well the Big Dipper and Little Dipper are related to the gospel!!!! I love it every night it's so sick!! and also we had a ward corn feed and we all just went and ate Mexican styled corn which is so good!! and fresh apple juice!!! 

Saturday 9//19, not much happened today just a normal day but I've come to be really interested in deep doctrine! It's cool how history and science back up the gospel! {why, yes, I did tell him to stay focused on the basics :) }

Sunday 9/20, Went to church and Sister H came all three hours and talked to the Bishop! The next step in awhile is the temple! Had dinner with a member family and the two sons wrestle! So it was fun to talk to them about all of it! Today we found out we stopped by a house last week that was a do not contact he will shoot you and we didn't know hahaha so that was intense! 

But that sums it up, love you guys tons!! Love Elder Garrett Lamb

Email - 9/21 {Gregory}

Hello President Felix,

F- My family is doing great! They want to know everything about my life but there's too much going on haha but maybe that's a good thing!

A- This area is awesome. The work is awesome. The ward is awesome. We gave talks on Sunday and I think it went good! 

C- Just trying to get along! We are super duper different and I have to let a lot of things go so that we don't argue 24/7 haha I'm just doing my best to love him and keep working hard.

T- I know that reading the Book of Mormon everyday everyday everyday will bless my life because already in just one week I have seen it bless my life. and I know it will bless others lives too! 

S- We only did 1 hour of service for brother U this week.... I want to do more service but we just don't ever do it.... I am here to serve others whether they are gonna listen to my message or not so hopefully we will find some more people to teach!

We gave L a blessing, well actually our ward mission leader Brother N gave it to her and we stood in the circle. What are the rules on that? Anyways thank you so much for all you do President Felix and thank Sister Felix for me as well! looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!!

Elder Lamb

Email 5 {Garrett} - keeping busy! (and pictures!)

Hey Family!!!!!

Tuesday 8 - P-day - we play baseball and everyone in my zone has the skills of white people hahaha I think our family is full of super athletes because no one here can play sports hahaha - I also got a hair cut and the mean old man took away my curls.... I'm really upset about it hahaha

Wed 9 - So pretty much all that happened was Bro. Fletcher guessed my future hahaha... He talked about what my wife is like and looks like, what my kids are like and how many and predicted a few other things like how I'm gonna die and that they will bring me back to life... hahaha but other than that everything else was way good so I wouldn't complain if it was right hahaha but all of it is a crock he says and then after he says but I'm 95% right so far with all the missionaries he has guessed hahaha

Thur 10 - Had a solid lesson with D.... and her boyfriend M... (found out he read 29 pages of the BOM the first night and was reading until 3:00 am!!!)  So now we can count them both as new investigators, so go us! hahaha We then helped an older member put back together a way old lamp, I think it was pretty expensive but we got it working so no big deal! Then after I scared her dog somehow and it peed all over her house hahaha whoops!!! It's getting harder to teach people because I teach with the spirit so I hate butting in and my companion and older lady will talk until your ears fall off hahaha and my comp knows the lessons so well I think he goes on auto when he's teaching so I just have to sit back and watch sometimes

Fri 11 - Figured out the trainers like to throw you under the bus in lessons - whenever we talk about Joseph Smith I have to say what he wrote about it and let me tell you I just bomb it every time hahaha - I mess it up so bad, it's way funny! My comp can't not laugh when I do it hahaha. But the good side is I've got down how to give a blessing, I think because we've given so many already, it's sweet! Also we had a lesson with a 9 year old girl (C....) and I killed it. I love teaching kids they are way funny and I can connect with them a lot more!! Mostly because I don't know any of the big words either hahaha 

Sat 12 - Saturday was my favorite day because I named it Service Day! We did so much service! We helped with the day of service at the church and pretty much did everything you can think of with yard work  and then we helped an older guy clean off his roof and so I got to climb up there and then Bro Fletcher had me crawl in a spider infested basement area and I cut myself on a nail trying to fix his heating pipes but I got it so now he can be warm at night! Then I climbed up a huge tree to help cut down a huge branch that broke off but we never got it off the rope, the saw didn't work hahaha... I'm not sure if the President is gonna be happy with all of the climbing hahaha. I also found out how to make the coolest candle heaters ever. I will send a pic next week!

Sunday 13 - I got to bless a home for the first time so that was cool! And we finally got Sister H... to church and C.... came too, so it was the first time we got anyone to come! The babies were going crazy and an old guy gave his talk and wouldn't sit down hahaha it was way funny! But Sister H.... was smiling the entire time! Also we taught a lesson to the cutest family ever with so many kids I couldn't count! hahaha but they were all blonde and we also gave the dad a blessing because he was all stressed out because they recently just moved in and then we had the best peach cobbler ever! hahaha 

Overall it was an amazing week and it went by so fast!! I'm in the process of getting people to think I'm not a greenie anymore because I've caught on to this whole thing very well I think so I'm starting to enjoy it a ton more and I just want to visit everyone but after 8:00 pm my comp wants to go in because no one ever answers, but I want to just keep going - I think I've got the greenie fire they talk about hahaha!

Love you all so much! Miss you tons! 

Love Elder Garrett Lamb

p.s. everyone laughs at my name hahaha

{Garrett sent pictures - finally, lol - yay!}

temple trip

big hospital in area

no clue - gotta be a story here - guess we will have to wait until next week to hear it!

spending lots of time up high!

yeah - I know - I should've taught him to take pictures :( - lol - but this is a boat that is made into a car

crawling into the dark scary place under the house to fix something...good thing he is a brave & handy boy!

up in a tree...chopping down some big broken limb

that face though.... ;)

Email 5 {Gregory} - short, again...

{Greg is still trying to figure out how to best use his email time - so far it is still a very rocky work in progress, lol, but we are hoping that when his actual letters start showing up they will fill in the blanks!  Until then, we practice patience.....ugh, lol}

Hello President Felix!

F- My family is doing good I think! just living life to the fullest back home! 

A- The area is doing awesome! the ward is still pretty hard to work with cause of their lack of faith in baptizing but we have Four baptismal dates so hopefully that will turn their attitudes around!!

C- Elder Willis is doing good and we are getting along pretty good, too! We are definitely pretty opposite but it works really well when we are teaching others! 

T- This week I've just really felt the blessings that come from working hard no matter what. Miracles really do happen when you always do what is right and work hard no matter what!

S- We did service for D.... again this week for awhile and then she set up a return appointment to teach her a lesson! 

{he DID manage to send a picture...not to me, to Sabrina...good thing she is a good sharer, lol!  guess we will just have to take this and enjoy it since our email is so slim this week....gotta LOVE that happy happy face!!}

other than that he mentioned the following:

we have four baptism dates (3 of which seem very solid) :) 
Pdays we have to shop and clean... lame but also so far we went to this courthouse which was cool and played ultimate frisbee at the park at the beach! 

Letter - 9/14 {Gregory}

Tuesday September 1, 2015 - So today we started out by giving our car to the zone leaders so it could go get fixed which meant we basically went the whole day without a car... So we did service for a lady named D with the Los Olivos Elders and they drove since yano (we didn't have a car...lame) Anyways that took pretty much the whole day then we got picked up by a member named RJ who just got home from his mission like a month ago and he drove us to an appointment we had with an investigator and you'll never guess where we parked? In the parking lot of SANTA BARBARA PAUL MITCHELL!!!!!!! Anyways haha:) So we went and taught a lady named J who is from Jamaica and it went all right, she had to be somewhere so it was a super short visit. Then we went back to the car (right next to Paul Mitchell:) and got in the car and RJ realized he lost his parking gate ticket thing haha so we had to pay $15 to get out and when I say we I mean I... I had to pay $15 to get out of the parking garage that we were only in for twenty minutes......yeah supper annoying but oh well:) Then he drove us to our dinner appointment with the B...  dinner was good:) then Brother B drove us to our apartment where we then met with the zone leaders and they gave us our car and yeah pretty cool day I guess:)

Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - So today was super lame haha we woke up, did the usual stuff like working out and studies then we went to all our appointments and literally every single one fell through like legit every one of them haha so we did pretty much nothing all day besides read the Book Of Mormon with P which was pretty cool but still yanno? haha anyways:)

Thursday, September 3, 2015 - But today on the other hand was crazy awesome haha like complete opposite of yesterday. It was so awesome I just cant even haha;) We went a visited B the less active and (first I have to explain that we were supposed to go do our other stuff first but then Elder Willis said we should go see B first. So that's what we did) and so we got there and parked and B was down in the parking garage with her friend M so we invited B up to visit with her for a bit then we invited M as well and M said no. So we said okay maybe next time then we went up and all of a sudden there was M bringing us food, so we invited her again and she said no she had stuff to do. So then we said well here take this Book of Mormon and we will meet next time and she said okay and left.. thennnnnnn she came back hahahahaha. Changed her mind, said she would join so we taught her the restoration, invited her to be baptized she said yes and boom just like that we had three baptism dates;)

Friday, September 4, 2015 - So today was an interesting one other than the fact that I fell asleep while working out cause I was so tired hahahahaha. We taught L today about the word of wisdom and invited her to stop smoking and she said yes! So cool haha oh and we had zone meeting which was pretty cool haha and then we met with M, he's a member so that was cool haha and then we had dinner with the S family, very very very nice family haha they invited this old guy over though (who was wearing a dope bolo tie) and he had like Alzheimer's or something because he was legit crazy hahahaha like legit crazy haha so dinner was interesting!! 

Saturday, September 5, 2015 - Today we did the usual working out and study that we do everyday so I'll fast forward to after lunch. We went and saw B and then I saw the dopest car ever. It's called a "Maclaren" it's a European car!  Then we had dinner at the D's and they sent you a picture and yeah:) Oh and they gave us some chocolate milk cartons which I then sat on and it exploded all over me hahahaha depressing but yeah:) Oh and I heard the coolest quote, "Lack of hope stunts growth." So that's cool I think:)

Sunday, September 6, 2015 - Today was Fast Sunday, church makes me depressed still haha:) I did the calculations and I only have 100 Sundays left!! Anyways then we had dinner at Bishop R's house and they invited the W's over and guess what? Every single parent in the room was a doctor! haha Then we went and visited the M family and Sister M has a brother serving in Malaga! Oh and our zone leaders snuck into our apartment and scared us half to death haha but yeah:)

Monday, September 7, 2015 - Happy Labor Day!! and P-day:) awesomeness:) So today after chores and shopping we then went and played ultimate frisbee with our district at the park which was cool I suppose;) but I stepped in dog poop which really ticked me off:) Anyways then we had dinner at the N's home and they had a BBQ party haha and they live in a mansion so that was cool:) Then we went and saw the B's and they have the coolest most unique house! 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 - Today was gonna be awesome and we had our whole day planned out and everything fell through and we went through all our plans in like two hours haha:) Seriously we knocked on like 30 doors and not a single person answered haha it was crazy! Up until Brother N took us out to get dinner at this Mexican restaurant called Ruby's and it was seriously so so so good haha like so good:) After that all of a sudden our day like turned around haha we met with J but he was gone so we met with his son instead who is like 17 I think and we invited him to be baptized and he said yes!! So that's four now haha:) and this ward said we wouldn't baptize;) Then we met with the F's and the K's were there and the K's are seriously so awesome haha like so so so awesome:) Great Family!! And all of a sudden we looked at the time and we were supposed to be meeting with the Los Olivos Elders for exchanges and we still had to go visit Sister P and take her trash down when all of a sudden she called us and said to not come tonight and come tomorrow instead (total miracle) and so we went and met the Los Olivos for exchanges! So I went to three apartments with Elder Tofatofua to do Spanish work tomorrow... and sense he is like brand new we both don't have tipi cards so we can't drive so we have to walk all tomorrow... I hate my life ;)

Wednesday, September 9, 2015 - Today was absolutely terrible  hahaha ;) we had to walk everywhere;) then our dinner appointment fell thru cause the B's forgot but I handed out 4 Book of Mormons so that was cool!! :)

Thurday, September 10, 2015 - I am back with good old Elder Willis today;) and it was a billion times better than yesterday;) hahahah so we had a lesson with L which went great:) She is so awesome it's amazing how hard she is trying to give up smoking to get baptized :) Then we had weekly planning which of course takes forever. Anyways after we were done we went to the E's ranch/home. And they have so much land... and like a fishing/swimming pond in the front yard like for reals is the coolest thing I have ever seen like ever. We hopped in his truck and he showed us around all his property and just yeah it was dope:) and then we visited this J lady who is married to a non member and is less active and she was super duper super nice until we asked her to come to church and then she made it very clear that it was big fat no haha:) Oh and we drove the APS today! 

Friday, September 11, 2015 - Elder Willis got a package today and when he opened it there was soap all over everything hahahaha and the funniest part is that his mom zip locked everything except for the shampoo hahahaha like the one thing that needed to be in a bag haha he was so mad:) Anyways then we had a district meeting and then we did service for D until we had dinner with the B's. (Not the same B's as the ones that forgot about dinner) and they took us to eat at The Habit!!!! The Habit is like all over in Santa Barbara hahahaha:) So funny:) Oh and did I mention I threw away a dead rat? It was huge and nasty haha oh and that there are so many nasty big spiders here...... its terrible and freaky......... Anyways;) Then later that night we met a guy named J LAMB!!! He isn't a member and so I think we are going to start teaching him!!!! How cool would it be if I baptized some Lambs?:) Oh and earlier today there was a drug bust in front of our apartment! Like 20 cops were there haha anyways;)

Saturday, September 12, 2015 - Today was my one month mark!!! Im 1/24 the way there!! :) :) yay!! and what did I do to remember this day you ask? I had an awesome lesson with L and I asked her for her cigarettes to help her quit smoking and she said yes! So now I have a box of cigarettes hahaha:) Then we had dinner with the C's who are the most recent converts in the ward (back in February) and have the cutest baby girl in the whole wide world! She is so cute I can't even haha! Then we went to the adult session of stake conference which was way cool haha and President and Sister Felix were there so that was awesome! Oh and Elder Willis put a metal pot in the microwave hahahaha so freaking funny it like almost exploded hahahaha anyways;)

Sunday, September 13, 2015 - So today was Stake Conference which totally blows hahahaha but oh well normal church still makes me more sad so maybe it's not as bad :) Anyways afterwards we had lunch with one of the three M's family in the ward and it was the one where Sister M's brother is in Malaga Spain! Oh and she also went to the Paul Mitchell in Provo!! So that was pretty funny! They have cute kids too haha:) Then we had dinner with the W's who live in the middle of nowhere haha it was so awesome! Like for reals so awesome they live a life without TV and video games:) Oh and we had an awesome lesson with J and his son J! Oh and the W's have wild turkeys and pigs and bears like in their back yard haha cool huh?:)

Monday, September 14, 2015 - So today was P-day!! Went to shoreline park and played frisbee! Then we had dinner with the H's and a lesson with L!! :) 

Email 4 {Garrett} - look, real food, lol!

"look what I made....huevos rancheros" 

Wednesday -  A+ day! I started out really bummed out because I hate doing the same thing over and over again... so I started getting really bored and was hating everything... so of course the normal thing to do out here is pray so I pretty much just asked for something to do, anything at all to get the work moving somewhat, and it was answered! I gave a blessing to Sister C... when she got surgery and she told us about how she got another one years before and she asked for any priesthood holder in the hospital to do it and the place went nuts! hahha Everyone that had it was heading to her room and there were so many people coming they were fighting over who was gonna do it! They had to draw names out of a hat! But the cool thing is no one ever knows what to say or what they said after the blessing but it is always the right thing to say! Then I gave my comp and zone leader Elder T... (who was my fear busting comp) a blessing and the same amazing things happened! Then the day went on and we had lots of people to talk to and we got 2 new investigators!

Thursday - I had to prepare to teach other missionaries how to ask inspired questions but I'm still learning how to become a missionary hahaha which is weird, but I also gave a lesson to Sister R... and the switching the BOM with smoking worked! Well a little hahaha, she went from 5 a day to 2 which is really good progress for one week! I also got the coolest BOM today, it's a rare copy, only 140 copies ever made and it's the same book but has the pictures next to the stories and a fun fact page, like where it talks about Columbus!, and also the cover has Moroni so it's different! So it's my new treasure hahaha I don't want to even open it up too far!

Friday - the zone training was today and it's funny out here you just get thrown into things they need done and you pretty much have to do it hahaha - but the lesson went amazing and at the end Elder T... sang a song which he wrote and it was pretty much his testimony in song and it was amazing! There is tons of musical talent in this mission! But then he followed after the song saying how grateful he is for this mission and how hard it is to talk to white people and how he hates doing it! hahaha

Saturday - Sister H.... said she is coming to church and she said she would never come back for at least a couple months so it's been really good progress. It's weird because I think she could be a better missionary than me hahaha!!! I also got to lead the hymn "I Am A Child Of God" but in Marshallese hahaha so I had no idea what the language was hahaha but it was a day with a whole lot of walking and not much talking...

Sunday - my comp got sick so we had to end the day early and we couldn't go out and work much... so aka boring hahaha but Sister H... didn't come to church.... I hate it when people break their promises, it's my biggest thing that will make me mad! Also Brother F... said he has found one of the 3 Nephites that were promised to never taste of death so that was interesting to hear about!!

Monday - It was a great day! We talked to lots of people! But most importantly we had several lessons! We taught a family (A...and L...) and they have the biggest baby I've ever seen! He is the size of a 2 year old but only 6 months hahaha but he loves me and I can make him laugh way easy, so it was good! This day was the first time I got anti-Mormoned and it was so funny because my comp told me what they do and I was holding back a smile and laugh the whole time because he said and did everything they all do hahaha, not very smart they just try to prove us wrong and when they can't they hurry and change the subject hahaha, but pretty much the lesson from it all was you can't teach them because the spirit isn't there so you just tell them to pray about it then we can talk but they never do!! hahha

Overall it was a great week I think.  I love it when it rains, I always want to go outside but don't always get to so I just sit and watch it but  never get in it.... I wrote some handwritten letters so those are on their way! LOVE AND MISS YOU TONS! KEEP SENDING PICS!!!! 

Love Elder Garrett Lamb

Email 4 {Gregory} - short but sweet!

FACTS f=family a=area c=companion t=testimony s=service: {this is what he sends to his mission president each week....}

F- My family is doing good! Everyone is safe and working hard back home!

A- Santa Barbara is tough! but me and Elder Willis are working super hard at it and getting a lot of work done! We have four new investigators, three of which have baptismal dates! Super exciting and very encouraging for the ward members!

C- Me and Elder Willis are starting to get along really well. We worked out all our stuff and have been working hard ever since! He is a great trainer companion. Love him!

T- My testimony this week is on prayer and how much strength and comfort can come from praying. Every chance I get to be on my knees I can feel myself grow an even better relationship with our Heavenly Father and my prayers have more meaning! It's been awesome!

S- We did some service for D.... again this week and got her all moved out! She was super grateful and it was amazing knowing that I was representing Christ while doing it! 

{Elder Gregory is trying to figure out his "system" for writing...he likes to handwrite & mail letters - which is awesome - but then his emails were a little bit repetitive...same info.  So.  We are trying out a new thing where he writes the details of his week and mails the letter, and then his emails will be, umm...something else, lol.  This week this is pretty much all we got - hopefully going forward we will get a bit more!  Until then...hopefully his letter will show up by tomorrow!)