Hellooooo Mummy :) (haha - get it?!?)
Okay, so I know Halloween is next week, but by the time I send this and you get it it will be Halloween so Happy Halloween! :) What is everyone doing/being for Halloween? Anything fun? :)
Tuesday 10/20/15 - Hi Mom :) Today a Safelite guy came and fixed our windshield's rock chip so that was cool. Then we went to EG's house to help him finish his project so he can get home to his wife and kids in Arizona. And guess wat he is doing? Exactly what we did to our patio with the pavers, haha! So that was cool. Then we went and helped S out for a bit which was cool. Then we had a good lesson with MM at the church which was cool. Then we had dinner at the K's which was awesome, they are super cool. Then after dinner we went and saw AR which was cool because she is cool and super nice, so yeah - that was my exciting day :) How about yours? haha - love you!
Wednesday 10/21/15 - Hello again! So today was pretty cool :) We had a lesson with E which went good and what not. His wife told him that I have divinity in my eyes apparently, so basically I am cool :) haha - anyways, so after that we drove to Galeta for President interviews which were awesome. While Elder Levis was in his interview I was talking to Sister Felix and then I got to talk to President Felix and they are both just seriously so awesome, like for reals so awesome :) and apparently the Utes are ranked 3rd!! That's so awesome! Holy smokes that is cool. Anyways after that we drove to Solvange straight to EG's house to help him out, then we went and had a good lesson with R, then we went and saw L which was cool. Then we went and said hi to Coach O, haha sweet. Then we had dinner with the M's (Sister M the RS President's son) which was super cool because they are cool and then we went to AH's house to help set up for trunk-or-treat so that was cool :) and yeah - pretty cool day, huh? haha - love you mommy. Hope everything is super cool back home and thanks for giving me super cool eyes that are divine apparently :) Have a certain sparkle or light about them haha j/k :) But yeah anyway - when are you going to sen dme a letter mean face - I have no questions to answer - haha love you!!
Thursday 10/22/15 - Hi mom :) So to begin with I am so your child hahaha goodness gracious :) more on that later though. So about my day - we had a lesson with E which was good and cool and dandy and then we went and did weekly planning and then we went to EG's to keep helping him which is always fun. Then after that we went and saw the H's and that was cool, they are super nice and what not. Then we went and saw G and set up some lessons with him and then we had a late dinner with the N's which was awesome because they are super awesome, super funny and nice and yeah it was cool. Then after dinner we came back to finish weekly planning. .....
Friday 10/23/15 - Hi :) Okay, so today we had District Meeting and me and Elder Levis had to do an EDPEP which went pretty good I think. Then we went and had District lunch. Then we went and took District photos at a member's home. So yeah, it was all very cool. Then we drove back to Solvang and went to help EG some more. Then we went to the church to help Brother H load up some tables and chairs in his trailer to drive down to Santa Barbara for Family Heritage Days tomorrow (which we are totally going to), then we had a lesson with EH and he is doing awesome, so that's good. Then we went and had dinner at the M's! You know the ones from Draper who have apparently been to our house before to play Bunco?!? holy smokes it is a small world! Let me know if she gives you a call, haha, so freaking crazy! Anyways, then we went and had a lesson with G who is hopefully coming to church thi sweek! So yeah, pretty cool day - love you!
Saturday 10/24/15 - Hi mommy :) Today was pretty cool! We had a lesson with R which was awesome...Then we went and had an awesome lesson with G which was also awesome.....I have realized just how blessed I really am to be in our family :) Anyways, then we drove to Brother C's to help him load up some stuff to cook beans with for a Family Heritage Days then we drove down with him! So yeah, got to go back to Santa Barbara. We got there and unloaded everything and helped cook the beans then we got to kinda hang out and see all my SB peeps. And we got to be the judges of the Pie Contest which was super cool! Then we helped Brother C clean up (Sister L sent you a photo!). Then we helped load everything up and drove back to Solvang! We helped Brother H unload all the chairs and tables and then we helped Brother C unload all his stuff and yeah, pretty coolday - haha, I love you mom!
Sunday 10/25/15 - Hello :) Today was Sunday which means tomorrow is Monday so that's always awesome because EMAILS!! Anyways, so today we went to Ward Council which is cool because the people in this Ward Council are cool, haha. Then we went to church and EH came but left after Sacrament Meeting but even cooler than that is that G came and stayed all three hours and had an awesome experience :) Then after church we opened up the font and had a lesson in front of it and it went so good. So that was really cool! Then after that we Sister M's house to have lunch and tell her about all the people we saw that she asked us to go see so that was cool. Then we went and did all our studies which was cool I guess since we have to do them everyday so I might as well just have a good attitude about them :) Then we went and had dinner with the E's which was awesome because they are awesome :) Then we went to Bishop P's to tell him about all the people we saw that he asked us to go see, so that was cool haha :) and then we wen tto the L's to share a message with them and get to know them a little bit better. Good old Sundays :) talk to you tomorrow - love you!
Monday 10/26/15 - Hi! So you were my only email friend today :) But then you hardly emailed me :) lame :) but it's okay because I got your letter today! Good for Dad and Isaac :) and good for Mallory and good for you planning some trips! Better send me some cookies :) and classic Nate and haha classic Nick :) geez, it's like I'm not gone :) and good for Grandma - sounds like everything is going good back home :) Oh and that is cool Nick is going to work for RB, haha, better keep me updated on that! Anyways so about my day :) So at 6:30 am we helped RS put his couch in his van, then we cleaned and then did studies then went to email - emails were totally lame today (thanks for asking oh wait not asking hence the reason they were totally lame - j/k - I still love you) Then we went to contact a referral guy who owns a bakery here in Solvang. So we went to B's Bakery and met the guy's son who is marrying a less active girl from Provo and he gave us free pastries and a tour of the bakery so basically ummmmm best referral ever! I am about to get really fat :) Then we drove to Lompoc to get the oil and tires changed on our car which took like two hours so that was totally way lame because we missed all of District Activity which was carving pumpkins :( oh well..then we drove back to Solvang and had dinner with PH and his family which was awesome :) The poor guy is the Vice Principal of the HS so no one likes him haha but he is cool :) Then we had a lesson with E at the church and now I am writing/finishing this letter to send off tomorrow - so I love you lots mom! And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Love, Elder Greggy Lamb
Questions for the Week! (with answers :) )
1 - How is life where you are different from life back home? Santa Barbara was insane :) Solvang is like Disneyland :) There is only Summer - no Winter, Spring, or Fall...lame, Super homie town though, haha, it's like Draper with no crime!!
2 - How is life where you are the same as life back home? Friendly people :) There's a casino here :) There's a road you drive down with huge pine trees along both sides, it's awesome! You would love it :) lots of bakeries, kinda really fun!
3 - What books do you use for study time - do you use the books we sent? nope - haven't even opened them yet, haha - just use Preach My Gospel and my scriptures!
4 - How big are the wards you are serving in? super duper small, seriously there are only like 2 Priests, super cool ward though!
5 - Explain your "area" to me...Solvang area = Santa Ynez, Solvang, Buellton - allgo to one ward and me and Elder Levis cover the whole are, the next town is Lompoc - 30 minutes away
6 - What do you love most about where you are living? it's in the middle of downtown Solvang :)
7 - What is something new you have learned to eat & like? nothing yet :) pretty normal food so far - new stuff though is tri-tip - super yummy!
8 - In what ways have you seen God at work lately? haha ummm G :) E :0 finding lots of service opportunities :)
9 - What has been the most challenging thing lately? same old same old - missing home, getting along with companion, not having fun, long days, time not going fast enough
10 - What are some crazy, absurd things that are a part of your life there? Other than the fact that I live in a city modeled after Denmark? Ostrich Land :) or maybe Mini Horse Land :) or Michael Jackson's ranch..."Pink" the singer lives here
11 - What are some of your hopes? To be better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today - to get through this and I don't know haha - baptize people - the usual :)
12 - How have you readjusted your hopes after being in the field for 2 months now? Just realizing that a mission is not what I expected at all I guess changed everything!
13 - How is missionary life different than you thought it would be? Everything about it haha - nobody could be prepared for a mission - it's just not real life :) no matter how normal you are or want to be you can't be because you are on a mission and yeah, I don't know...
14 - How is mission life the same as you thought it would be? Hard :) I'm learning to love this gospel more and more - more than I ever would have if I hadn't come out!
{I asked for 3 stories - he said he already told him all his good stories, but there is more detail!}
Story #1
I fed ostriches haha! They peck at the food super hard so you have to hold on with both hands so you don't die! And if you get too close they will bite you :) it's awesome :) And I got to pet a baby ostrich or maybe it was a baby emu - I don't know. Then we had abelskievers which are Danish pancake balls and they are like a dollar each haha total rip off but you gotta do it while you are here :) The singer "Pink" lives here and Michael Jackson's ranch "Neverland Ranch" is in our area - and Ronald Reagan lived here and one of the members in our ward was a body guard for him and Michael Jackson helped pay for another member's home because they were friends :)
Story #2
Brother C is a veteran who lives right across from the church and has a super cool Danish house. He has survived like three different cancers, super duper sad - and one was throat cancer so he has a breathing tube in his throat but he is the funniest guy ever. He loves to mess with people. Apparently he thinks people don't really like him but I freaking love him so I don't know what he is talking about. Oh and BA is the High Priest Group Leader and is a rodeo cowboy - he is in his like 70's and still riding bulls, super cool! His son actually just won the circuit finals her in CA! Look them up!
Story #3
Me and Elder Willis did Planned Miracles whenever we were planning and didn't know what to do at a certain time and almost every time a miracle happened! Last transfer me and Elder Willis gave away like a box and a half of Books of Mormon which is like 50 books - so yeah, that was cool. Our last lesson with G was awesome in front of the font because he told us how much he wanted to change to be better for him and his family so it was really cool :)
Monday, October 26, 2015
Email - 10/26 {Garrett}
hey hey hey hey!!!
This week was interesting, always something new hahaha lots of weird events
Mon 19-Tue 20 - not much happened Monday besides interviews and Sister Dymmock helped out a lot with teaching me how to deal with comps so good news is me and my comp haven't fought for a whole week so that was good!! We got a referral for a 12 year old (less active coming back to church) and he is gonna set us up with his friend so hopefully it works out!! and also put KW on date for the 14 Nov. but I'm positive it's gonna be put back a little bit. Then Monday night legit was a bad night because we got woken up in the middle of the night by a dog... I woke up and thought an elk got hit by a car and then I heard it again and and looked to the right and then heard it again and it was actually to the left, hahaha takes me a little to wake up. Then I saw the dog in the middle of the road after a car's headlights shined on it and then ran over it and then it got ran over one more time before Bro F got out there and shined his flashlight on the dog and they finally started to dodge the dog then they had to put it on a wood board and carry it off the road and some how it was still alive but I have never heard that noise from a dog before it was so sad it would scream like an elk every time it got ran over.....
Wed 21- we offered a ton of service today and no takers - p.s. if missionaries say "can we help you?" make them do something because they really will hahaha. We had a hard time getting in with people because every apt. fell through... but I picked up my suit from the dry cleaners which was sweet because discount haha but everything was super clean but they couldn't get Amanda's makeup stain out of the shoulder from homecoming hahaha to be honest not upset at all that it stained it because it reminds me of good memories hahaha
Thur 22- taught the W's again and still waiting on the for sure date for his baptism, it's gonna be hard because both his mom and grandma aren't supportive enough to come to church with him... found out Sister J's (an older sister that always gives us food) brother died... so we went to go give her a blessing because it was getting really hard for her... then helped a super nice family the F's move out of the ward and they are moving back to Utah and he is working at the Grease Monkey or Jiffy Lube next to the Pro Stop in Draper back home!!! So look out for him, he is tall guy that would be blonde but he's bald and he loves working on tires hahaha, so it's a small world!
Fri 23- EXCHANGES! I love them so much, this time I went with just the YSA Elder Morrison that lives with us but we had such an amazing time and tons of success!!! We found a new potential investigator C and everyone we talked to was a solid conversation! I took him to meet Sister H who I realized was my first lesson and he loved visiting with her and we had a solid lesson! It's always fun teaching her because she always teaches me something new and she is super funny!!! I wish you guys could meet her!! We also went to Sister C's and she is totally changing around for the better!!! She is getting into the apt. and out of the crazy Phoenix halfway house and she is getting her VA benefits finally coming up pretty soon that she has been trying to get for 25 years so it was apparently a big mess so it was really good to hear that she is doing better! Also had the trunk-or-treat and so free food and the kids in this ward are so dang funny always running around! So that was sweet!!
Sat 24- was sweet, we didn't get in white shirt until after 1 hahaha, we had a ton of moves and service for the morning so that ended the exchanges so it was a solid time!!! So aka it was two elders that were brand new only two months and we killed it and it was so much fun! But sadly it ended but it was alright because we went and gave a church tour to J, a new investigator dating one of our LA that did a 180 and is on her way back to coming to church! We went and talked to Bro B while he was making his own flies for fishing and the R family fed us and we found out everyone in their family is working on someone to invite them the church and take the missionary lessons!!
Sun 25- got woken up at 2 am by a drunk lady outside that was going crazy!!! She took out the street sign and almost got hit by a car and the cops had to come get her put her in a strait jacket and take her away hahahaha but that sucked waking up, couldn't fall back to sleep... went to church and found a guy that looks like Greg!!! kinda hahaha me and Bro F were trying to decide if he was or not but he's not really but a lot like him hahaha. Fall is still here and the leaves cover everything everywhere and it's so much fun to play in them!!! I feel like this is the longest Fall I've ever been in!!
Hope everything is going great back home where you guys are! love you so much!
-Elder Garrett Lamb
Email - 10/26 {Gregory}
Hello President Felix!
F- My Family is doing great!!
A- This area just keeps getting better and better haha lots of hard work to be done and people to teach and serve so it's been a fun filled busy week!
C- Things are good.
T- "Perspiration instead of inspiration" Our High Priest group leader gave that little line and it stuck out to me a lot! Are we going to just say a prayer and hope that everything works out or are we going to say a prayer, go out and work hard and make things work out with a prayer in our heart all along the way? I hope we all are going out and doing rather than waiting from our Heavenly Father to just make everything happen for us! You know? haha I don't even know if that makes sense but yeah :) The point is we should say a prayer and then go out and do rather then say a prayer and wait to know what to do. It goes along with showing God the faith we have that he will prepare a way for us as long as we do what hes asked us to do and that's serve!
S- Lots and lots of service haha its awesome! Hopefully it keeps coming or way.
Anyways, let me know if theirs anything I can/should Do!
Elder Lamb
"This Halloween, may the only ghost who comes to stay
be the Holy Ghost to guide your way.
May the only spirits you chance to meet
be the Spirits of love and friendship sweet.
be the Holy Ghost to guide your way.
May the only spirits you chance to meet
be the Spirits of love and friendship sweet.
funny poem from President and Sister Felix hahaha:)
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Letter - 10/21 {Gregory}
Tuesday 10/13/15 - Hi mom :) Today we went and saw A so that was cool. Then we went and helped our less active neighbor move a couch because he left a note taped to our door asking for help. His name is R and he does really funny art so that was cool. Then we wen tot Brother J's office to discuss the progress of our week. Then we went and got in our service clothes and went to Brother C's to help him do some stuff and he has a really cool house, it's all Danish and stuff and he has a sweet fireplace and yeah, it was cool. I had to crawl under his house though and there were so many spiders haha I saw like ten black widows, creeeepyyy, and there were bones under his house haha, creepy :) Anyways, then we went and helped Brother G move a cabinet and then we went to our apartment to have dinner because today is the last day of the Member Fast! Then we went to the E's and shared a message with them, then we went and saw some people we had to give these papers to so that was cool. Then we went to B's home so I could give her the package to send home to you! yay :) Hopefully you get it! Then we went and saw our neighbor who is a member and talked with him for a bit and he is really cool, he had a really cool story to tell and we talked about Disneyland haha, it was awesome. I love Disneyland and I love you!
Wednesday 10/14/15 - Hi mom - I love you :) So today was a pretty cool day. We went to Brother G's house to help him with his project and did that for awhile. He is super cool. Then we all made lunch together and he made the best guacamole I have ever had like for reals, it was so good :) Then we went to Brother C's to help him move a few things which only took a few minutes then we go ready and went and saw CS. I feel so bad for him because he is like depressed and shy and doesn't think he is good enough for anything but in reality he is like super cool and funny! So yeah, he has never been married or anything so that's sad :( Then we went and had dinner at our apartment (because our Member Meal was lunch with Brother G) and after that we went and saw A and met his brother M - they are both super cool. M is the Mexican form of Nate, it's super funny :) Then it started raining! Cool because it never rains here. So we went and tried seeing a few people bu ton one was home so that was lame up until R. Now R is really cool, he had a really cool story to tell and he related it to the Bible so that was cool. Apparently he got tazed like by six cops all at once and somehow lived so that's crazy. Anyway then we went and saw the N's so Sister N's maiden name is H so she is the sister of the H family down in Santa Barbara. Super nice, cool, and funny family. Anyways, I love you lots mom - you are so totally awesome - thanks for all you do!
Thursday 10/15/15 - So real quick about my day - we had weekly planning and then we went and saw NM and when we got there, well actually right before we go there, someone ran into his fancy gate, so when we got there he was in a really bad mood but he was still cool to us so that was good. Then we went and saw G and got him to commit to coming to church today so that was cool. Then we went and saw L and said a prayer with her. Then we were running behind on schedule and were supposed t go and do service at CS's house so we ended up just going in our shirt & ties so that was cool, haha. Then we went and sw CH and his wife and they are nice. Then we had a lesson with E which was interesting but good. Then we had a late dinner at Sister M's house (the RS Pres) and it took the rest of our night because we had to go in early to finish weekly planning. And to my surprise when I got back to our apartment there were two packages! Yay! One from you ad of course the other from Sabrina :) So a few things about your package - first off it was totally awesome and made my day :) Yay for Halloween! Thanks for my sweatshirt even though I didn't need the pants or sweater or fuzzy socks :) and the cool candy corn socks might be against the rules but I'm still going to wear them on Halloween because they are awesome! Oh, and the tie you sent me is so cool! Yay for ties haha :) Thanks for the two flash drives and SD cards haha even though I said don't get me new ones :) I have more memory than I know what do to with now. And thanks for the GPS - di duo spen money on it? If yes I think it's a little broken like the touch screen sensor is off so should I sent it back to you? And yay for lots of Halloween treats haha - thank you thank you thank you - you're the bestest! I love you :) and yay for having Halloween cookies to make to get in the Halloween spirit :) yay - thanks mommy - you're the best!
Friday 10/16/15 - Hi mommy :) So today we had Zone Meeting down in Goleta which is like an hour away from Solvang haha, so that is poopy but it was nice at the same time. On our way there though a semi-truck kicked something up at our car and put a chip in our window and a dent in our car so that sucks way bad - it scared me way bad too! I got to see Elder Willis at Zone Meeting so that was cool! He says he wants to leave Santa Barbara now that I am gone :) So then after Zone Meeting Elder Stewart (the one in charge of all the cars) told us to find a place to get the rock chip repaired before it got any worse so we spent like all day trying to find a place and when we finally did they wouldn't do it because of the location of the rock chip so that was annoying. Then we grabbed some lunch at the Habit which is always yummy then drove an hour back to Solvang. When we got back we had a huge list of people we had to go see from Brother M and we only had like an hour and a half to go see all of them and somehow we got it all done which was like basically a miracle, so yeah, that was cool :) Thanks for everything mommy, I really miss you but I couldn't be doing this without my cool family's support so thanks! I love you!
Saturday 10/17/15 - Saturdays are long and depressing and long and yeah. We saw tons of people but didn't actually get to teach anyone or anything or sit down because everyone was too busy. So we went and saw S and taught him a lesson which went eh then we went to go eat at this burrito place that Elder Levis tales up saying it had these huge burritos so I was like okay cool, let's do it. Then we paid $9 and got our burritos and they weren't even big haha I was like what are you talking about? You need to go to Gual Bertos or something haha, but they were pretty good so I guess that's cool. Then the rest of our day went like this - we briefly saw C, T, R, E, G, EB (talked for awhile but couldn't sit down because there was no third male). Then the P, then G, then RA this old guy who looks just like the old guy off the movie "up" so that was cool. Then we had dinner with the W's who have a handicap son who is a big deal to BYU Football! He like led the cheer at some game broadcasted on EPSN a couple years ago! I bet dad knows exactly who I am talking about, his name is AW. Anyway, then we saw CW and then finally the H's. So yeah, long and depressing, it's days like today I just look at the m ion and stars and miss the crap out of you and Sabrina and the fam bam and everything about home haha. It's too bad I didn't realize how blessed I was until of course I was gone and it was too late so I am sorry we didn't hang out more mommy, haha, but thank you so much for everything and all the times we did hang out. If I get hurt and sent home right now the one thing I would have learned is to not take for granted what I have and the blessings in my life like you and dad an dNick and Nate and Garrett and Isaac and Mallory and Sabrina but especially this Gospel. You don't realize how much this Gospel blesses lives and families until you kinda look at the rest of the world and think wow, I could be doing nothing at all with my family right now and still be happier than most people so seriously thanks for everything mommy, I love you lots! Oh and highlight of the day was right before dinner Elder Levis was like telling me how he had been fasting today and how it was really coo that he wasn't like hungry or thirsty or tired and I was like well, duh, you have been drinking water all day and we had burritos haha definitely a "had to be there moment" now that I think about tit, but yeah, anyway - love you!
Sunday 10/18/15 - So today was good :) We woke up and went to Ward Council which is always good. Then we had church which is always good. We had to teach the lesson in third hour which is always interesting, haha. It went pretty good though I think. Then after church we went and did all our studies and what not then we had dinner at Bishop R's which was cool. Then we went and saw D our investigator from Brazil, she is so funny. Then we went to a Stake Youth Fireside which was actually really good, the best part though was that a ton of people from the Santa Barbara ward were there, so it was super fun seeing all of them and it was really cool to see that they actually liked me and missed me. Sister D was so excited to see me, she gave me a hug, haha, so that's two hugs now. Anyways, yeah, I'm glad I left my mark down in Santa Barbara :) or maybe I just wasn't there long enough to do something stupid and get on all their bad sides. Tomorrow is P-Day which means emails - yay. I log eyou lots mommy. How's everything going back home? Hopefully good!
Monday 10/19/15 - Today was pretty cool, all except for the part where B totally forgot to drop off my package so I am bummed about that but oh well I guess not much we can do now! After email we went to Brother M's home and he fed us lunch and then we went to Sister M's house and she gave me a hair cut so that was cool. Not a Sabrina Bussel hair cut or anything like that but oh well, then for District Activity everyone came down to Solvang! We went to the Ostrich Farm haha and fed ostriches, then we went into town and got some ableskievers and ice cream (best ice cream I have ever had) I had churro con lech it was so yummy. Then everyone left and me and Elder Levis went to - wait for it - wrestling practice!! haha Brother J invited us so we went and it was totally awesome. Then after that we went and gave this C lady a blessing because she had a really bad fall and then we went to go see T again, a less active and turns out he moved out and a different less active family moved in who need help moving (miracle) :) Then we went and saw R and had a good lesson with him and yeah anyways I love you lots mom - you're my bestest friend :) I'm going to mail this and try and figure out the B situation later :)
Wednesday 10/14/15 - Hi mom - I love you :) So today was a pretty cool day. We went to Brother G's house to help him with his project and did that for awhile. He is super cool. Then we all made lunch together and he made the best guacamole I have ever had like for reals, it was so good :) Then we went to Brother C's to help him move a few things which only took a few minutes then we go ready and went and saw CS. I feel so bad for him because he is like depressed and shy and doesn't think he is good enough for anything but in reality he is like super cool and funny! So yeah, he has never been married or anything so that's sad :( Then we went and had dinner at our apartment (because our Member Meal was lunch with Brother G) and after that we went and saw A and met his brother M - they are both super cool. M is the Mexican form of Nate, it's super funny :) Then it started raining! Cool because it never rains here. So we went and tried seeing a few people bu ton one was home so that was lame up until R. Now R is really cool, he had a really cool story to tell and he related it to the Bible so that was cool. Apparently he got tazed like by six cops all at once and somehow lived so that's crazy. Anyway then we went and saw the N's so Sister N's maiden name is H so she is the sister of the H family down in Santa Barbara. Super nice, cool, and funny family. Anyways, I love you lots mom - you are so totally awesome - thanks for all you do!
Thursday 10/15/15 - So real quick about my day - we had weekly planning and then we went and saw NM and when we got there, well actually right before we go there, someone ran into his fancy gate, so when we got there he was in a really bad mood but he was still cool to us so that was good. Then we went and saw G and got him to commit to coming to church today so that was cool. Then we went and saw L and said a prayer with her. Then we were running behind on schedule and were supposed t go and do service at CS's house so we ended up just going in our shirt & ties so that was cool, haha. Then we went and sw CH and his wife and they are nice. Then we had a lesson with E which was interesting but good. Then we had a late dinner at Sister M's house (the RS Pres) and it took the rest of our night because we had to go in early to finish weekly planning. And to my surprise when I got back to our apartment there were two packages! Yay! One from you ad of course the other from Sabrina :) So a few things about your package - first off it was totally awesome and made my day :) Yay for Halloween! Thanks for my sweatshirt even though I didn't need the pants or sweater or fuzzy socks :) and the cool candy corn socks might be against the rules but I'm still going to wear them on Halloween because they are awesome! Oh, and the tie you sent me is so cool! Yay for ties haha :) Thanks for the two flash drives and SD cards haha even though I said don't get me new ones :) I have more memory than I know what do to with now. And thanks for the GPS - di duo spen money on it? If yes I think it's a little broken like the touch screen sensor is off so should I sent it back to you? And yay for lots of Halloween treats haha - thank you thank you thank you - you're the bestest! I love you :) and yay for having Halloween cookies to make to get in the Halloween spirit :) yay - thanks mommy - you're the best!
Friday 10/16/15 - Hi mommy :) So today we had Zone Meeting down in Goleta which is like an hour away from Solvang haha, so that is poopy but it was nice at the same time. On our way there though a semi-truck kicked something up at our car and put a chip in our window and a dent in our car so that sucks way bad - it scared me way bad too! I got to see Elder Willis at Zone Meeting so that was cool! He says he wants to leave Santa Barbara now that I am gone :) So then after Zone Meeting Elder Stewart (the one in charge of all the cars) told us to find a place to get the rock chip repaired before it got any worse so we spent like all day trying to find a place and when we finally did they wouldn't do it because of the location of the rock chip so that was annoying. Then we grabbed some lunch at the Habit which is always yummy then drove an hour back to Solvang. When we got back we had a huge list of people we had to go see from Brother M and we only had like an hour and a half to go see all of them and somehow we got it all done which was like basically a miracle, so yeah, that was cool :) Thanks for everything mommy, I really miss you but I couldn't be doing this without my cool family's support so thanks! I love you!
Saturday 10/17/15 - Saturdays are long and depressing and long and yeah. We saw tons of people but didn't actually get to teach anyone or anything or sit down because everyone was too busy. So we went and saw S and taught him a lesson which went eh then we went to go eat at this burrito place that Elder Levis tales up saying it had these huge burritos so I was like okay cool, let's do it. Then we paid $9 and got our burritos and they weren't even big haha I was like what are you talking about? You need to go to Gual Bertos or something haha, but they were pretty good so I guess that's cool. Then the rest of our day went like this - we briefly saw C, T, R, E, G, EB (talked for awhile but couldn't sit down because there was no third male). Then the P, then G, then RA this old guy who looks just like the old guy off the movie "up" so that was cool. Then we had dinner with the W's who have a handicap son who is a big deal to BYU Football! He like led the cheer at some game broadcasted on EPSN a couple years ago! I bet dad knows exactly who I am talking about, his name is AW. Anyway, then we saw CW and then finally the H's. So yeah, long and depressing, it's days like today I just look at the m ion and stars and miss the crap out of you and Sabrina and the fam bam and everything about home haha. It's too bad I didn't realize how blessed I was until of course I was gone and it was too late so I am sorry we didn't hang out more mommy, haha, but thank you so much for everything and all the times we did hang out. If I get hurt and sent home right now the one thing I would have learned is to not take for granted what I have and the blessings in my life like you and dad an dNick and Nate and Garrett and Isaac and Mallory and Sabrina but especially this Gospel. You don't realize how much this Gospel blesses lives and families until you kinda look at the rest of the world and think wow, I could be doing nothing at all with my family right now and still be happier than most people so seriously thanks for everything mommy, I love you lots! Oh and highlight of the day was right before dinner Elder Levis was like telling me how he had been fasting today and how it was really coo that he wasn't like hungry or thirsty or tired and I was like well, duh, you have been drinking water all day and we had burritos haha definitely a "had to be there moment" now that I think about tit, but yeah, anyway - love you!
Sunday 10/18/15 - So today was good :) We woke up and went to Ward Council which is always good. Then we had church which is always good. We had to teach the lesson in third hour which is always interesting, haha. It went pretty good though I think. Then after church we went and did all our studies and what not then we had dinner at Bishop R's which was cool. Then we went and saw D our investigator from Brazil, she is so funny. Then we went to a Stake Youth Fireside which was actually really good, the best part though was that a ton of people from the Santa Barbara ward were there, so it was super fun seeing all of them and it was really cool to see that they actually liked me and missed me. Sister D was so excited to see me, she gave me a hug, haha, so that's two hugs now. Anyways, yeah, I'm glad I left my mark down in Santa Barbara :) or maybe I just wasn't there long enough to do something stupid and get on all their bad sides. Tomorrow is P-Day which means emails - yay. I log eyou lots mommy. How's everything going back home? Hopefully good!
Monday 10/19/15 - Today was pretty cool, all except for the part where B totally forgot to drop off my package so I am bummed about that but oh well I guess not much we can do now! After email we went to Brother M's home and he fed us lunch and then we went to Sister M's house and she gave me a hair cut so that was cool. Not a Sabrina Bussel hair cut or anything like that but oh well, then for District Activity everyone came down to Solvang! We went to the Ostrich Farm haha and fed ostriches, then we went into town and got some ableskievers and ice cream (best ice cream I have ever had) I had churro con lech it was so yummy. Then everyone left and me and Elder Levis went to - wait for it - wrestling practice!! haha Brother J invited us so we went and it was totally awesome. Then after that we went and gave this C lady a blessing because she had a really bad fall and then we went to go see T again, a less active and turns out he moved out and a different less active family moved in who need help moving (miracle) :) Then we went and saw R and had a good lesson with him and yeah anyways I love you lots mom - you're my bestest friend :) I'm going to mail this and try and figure out the B situation later :)
Monday, October 19, 2015
Email - 10/19 {Garrett}
I thought we only had 3 days in this week because that's all I can remember! hahahaha but I got the Halloween package, thank you so much mommy! You are the best one anyone could have! It felt like Christmas when I got it! hahahah Bro F had to sign for it because I wasn't there so I had to share with him hahaha but I'll write more on today next week because it isn't even noon and a whole lot has happened so it should be eventful day hahahaha #notgoodsofar hahaha oh well, but sounds like Sunday was filled with a whole lot about feed my sheep, so to answer "why would God rejoice more when that one sheep is found than the 99 of the rest of his fold" this is what i get from it - Heavenly Father loves all of us and it breaks his heart when we are lost, that is why Christ commands us to find his lost sheep, but lost sheep can be anyone that needs help or comfort in any way, so the reason he is happy when 1 is found over the 99 is because those 99 have already gone through the rejoicing, everyone of them were that 1 lost sheep at one point and will be in the future, so he is super happy when 1 more enters because it strengthens the rest and because at the time the 99 don't need that attention and the 1 does and he uses the 99 to help the one and he still knows that he will do the same thing for the rest of the 99 at some point, that's kinda how I look at it, hope it makes sense hahaha
Mon 12- boring day not much happened but we did make a really good roast in the crockpot that a member gave us! A big part of the day was chasing my comp's mail around the valley that his mom sent to the wrong address and so we drove around a ton... oh wait hahaha, funniest lesson happened that I forgot about, we got a call from C to come over asap so we did and he was really drunk and we were just trying to get the Spirit to sober him up but we couldn't hahaha, but as soon as we got there I could see in his son's eyes that he was scared and it was super sad to see him scared and then I was a little bit laughing at the same time because he keeps shaking our hands, hahaha, also thought he was gonna wanna fight me out in the street and I was so confused on how it even got there hahaha...
Tue 13- it was a whole lot of dropped lessons and not a good lesson so then I had to do some comp inventory and tell my comp that we need to teach more powerfully, aka don't teach the entire lesson until you run into a blank in your head and expect me to pick up from your ideas, so now we are switching off topics in lessons so now it's really good because we are teaching a lot more powerfully so it's a lot more fun to teach now!!
Wed 14- had a fantastic day we had 5 lessons!!! We went out with a member that killed it when he said his testimony!! He has had 2 divorces and had a hard time but it was good, made me realize how thankful I am for the little things and made me realize how much I can change for the better! We did some service for an old lady and my comp kinda bugged me because he wasn't doing a good job and he knew it and I kept telling him things like do it right the first time so you don't have to do it again later and don't do half of a job and so I kinda freaked out and told him to do a complete job and he stormed off because we were 5 mins into our dinner break and so I had to finish it off myself... really happy I learned how to do a good job and work until the job is finished from my parents because she was really happy with the job after it was done so it was a heart warming experience!
Thur 15-weekly planning is boring but other than that it was a good day! Met a man from Africa named A! Found new investigator family through a wrong addressed referral and they are super solid came to a baptism and church so it is way cool that was found a family that is super interested!! I have realized that this gospel does and can bless families, it's insane how big the difference is!!
Fri 16/Sat 17- went on exchanges with the Marshallese (Elder Jally) so I pretty much sat there and listened but I guess they thought I spoke a little of the language so that was funny but I did pray and bear a testimony on service, in English of course, so that was a cool experience. Marshallese people are so funny and the little kids are so dang cute and funny! hahaha I could teach those people all day everyday only problem is I don't know the language, hahaha. My comp and me don't have the same humor so it's hard to have fun and laugh because I have no one else to do it with.... also decided that if our entire friend group was in the same mission we would baptize the world because I'm always like "dang I wish Bronson or Mitch or Grant or Alex or any of them was here because they could connect to so many things during lessons", so I pretty much connect to the people by saying "oh I know someone like that blah blah blah" and it goes on hahaha
Sun 18- the most successful Sunday we have had so far!!! Finally got investigators to church (R and E, the referral from Bishop that was wrong) gave two blessings and had dinner at the F's and had steak so that was really good!! We then started to walk around and it got dark really fast and we were walking around and me and my comp both got a strong feeling to get home as quickly as possible and so it was a really sketch night and super crazy but we got home safely and still don't know what would have happened but I'm glad I didn't stay to find out! hahaha
That was the week, really big highs and really deep lows, but it was a really successful week. Hope I can keep it goin! love you guys a ton!!!!
Love Elder Lamb
Email - 10/19 {Gregory}
Questions:
1) tell me a funny story from your week: There's one in the letter I'm sending ;) not really that funny though hahaha
2) tell me the biggest/best thing that you have learned so far: That Satan is a big fat meany head hahaha and that this gospel is pretty dang cool
3) tell me a habit you have been able to create that has helped you - or one you already had that you are so glad you have because it has made mish life easier - and/or one that you wish you could go back and get rid or or such....you know, just "habit overview - the good, the bad, the ugly", lol.....ummm I don't know there's a lot of habits!! Just being friendly is a good one I think ;) I don't know haha more importantly though is hi mom!!! :)
PS the package you sent me is totally awesome thank you so much :) even though you sent me a ton of things I don't need ;) haha thank you thank you thank you :) seriously it made my week :)
President Felix
F- My family is doing great as always!
A- The area is doing awesome! Working with the ward a lot to start getting this area really going!
C- All is well.
T- Showing Heavenly Father we are willing to do the work by planning out our days and going out and following those plans and being where we needed to be when we needed to be there! and also the Member Fast! It was so humbling to see how much the members wanted to feed us and how much they cared about whether or not we were getting something to eat. Truly I think this Member Fast was a great idea!
S- Lots of service can be done when we look for it! Did service for a member and a less active and a non- member! fun stuff!
Elder Lamb
{so - Member Fast..what have you been eating while cooking for yourself?} yupppp haha so I had a lot of chicken or PBJ or cereal ;) haha just whatever was here :) some pasta and what not haha :)
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Letter - 10/15 {Garrett}
Mommy! Yes, I totally want a hat made! haha that would be sick! Send it with my Old Navy black jacket (it's probable in the bins I packed!) and sunglasses. But heck yeah Isaac is lady killer, haha, that's what I like to hear! Also that's awesome Mallory can ride her bike now! And nate is killing me with all the rock climbing, I want to go so bad, can't wait to go with him to all the cool spots! Kansas sounds cool! But Washington is super pretty too! :) haha and I'm sure closer too :) ! Thanks for the Walmart card! Now I get to celebrate Halloween a little with candy!! Hope dad is doing great, looks like he's a cook now! Love y'all so much! Thanks for everything!
Questions:
When was the last time you laughed with your comp? What makes you laugh in your area? mostly it's me laughing and my comp thinking I'm weird haha, there isn't us both laughing mostly just me and there are super funny people around here that have such weird ideas!
When was the last time you saw an answer to prayers? Gave Sister H a blessing and the Spirit told me exactly what I was supposed to say, she was cringe after and that's a lot because she is a tough lady!
What do you like about your comp? twins are way better comps but when I draw a blank on what to say he jumps in, been learning more from Elder Terry my ZL
Are here any inside jokes in your mission? Not really, mostly my own inside jokes and Marshalees joke around with me about be brown and white
How are your clothes and feet holding up? clothes are good, wish I had more ties, feet are good - barely use them
Have you found any new investigators from your area book? no - new investigators are slow in this area
What was your fave meal from members? ribs and second was french toast
Are there street vendors in your area? no, kinda a street fair/farmers market every week but comp won't go to it
What has been your fave P-Day activity so far? marshmallow dodge ball
Do you do a lot of service? What? bark, digging, trash, moving, moving shelves, yard work, cutting branches, fixing heating vent, and more
How many progressing investigators do you have right now? 405 and new one is C
How much do you work on retention? are there lots of less active members? most of the work is less active work!
What is your fave/least fave smell? fall!! and weed/smoking
How often do you do laundry? When was the last time you washed your sheets? Bro F does laundry for us and every week
What is music like? Does everyone sing? Have you had to help? sucks, the piano is too loud and not many sing or not like home at least
What are some of the local sayings or local "things"? everyone goes to bed when it is dark around 8pm, and they all are missing teeth
What's the scariest thing that has happened so far where you have felt protected? got attached by a dog I guess I was protected by not freaking out and not tasting too good
What do most people do for work? doctors/mixed, it's because of Sacred Heart Hospital
Share how your testimony has grown: testimony is always on a roller coaster our here, and I have used the atonement every day without fail
Questions:
When was the last time you laughed with your comp? What makes you laugh in your area? mostly it's me laughing and my comp thinking I'm weird haha, there isn't us both laughing mostly just me and there are super funny people around here that have such weird ideas!
When was the last time you saw an answer to prayers? Gave Sister H a blessing and the Spirit told me exactly what I was supposed to say, she was cringe after and that's a lot because she is a tough lady!
What do you like about your comp? twins are way better comps but when I draw a blank on what to say he jumps in, been learning more from Elder Terry my ZL
Are here any inside jokes in your mission? Not really, mostly my own inside jokes and Marshalees joke around with me about be brown and white
How are your clothes and feet holding up? clothes are good, wish I had more ties, feet are good - barely use them
Have you found any new investigators from your area book? no - new investigators are slow in this area
What was your fave meal from members? ribs and second was french toast
Are there street vendors in your area? no, kinda a street fair/farmers market every week but comp won't go to it
What has been your fave P-Day activity so far? marshmallow dodge ball
Do you do a lot of service? What? bark, digging, trash, moving, moving shelves, yard work, cutting branches, fixing heating vent, and more
How many progressing investigators do you have right now? 405 and new one is C
How much do you work on retention? are there lots of less active members? most of the work is less active work!
What is your fave/least fave smell? fall!! and weed/smoking
How often do you do laundry? When was the last time you washed your sheets? Bro F does laundry for us and every week
What is music like? Does everyone sing? Have you had to help? sucks, the piano is too loud and not many sing or not like home at least
What are some of the local sayings or local "things"? everyone goes to bed when it is dark around 8pm, and they all are missing teeth
What's the scariest thing that has happened so far where you have felt protected? got attached by a dog I guess I was protected by not freaking out and not tasting too good
What do most people do for work? doctors/mixed, it's because of Sacred Heart Hospital
Share how your testimony has grown: testimony is always on a roller coaster our here, and I have used the atonement every day without fail
Monday, October 12, 2015
Email - 10/12 {Garrett}
Okay so I don't have my journal with me so this is going to be off the top of my head... so bear with me on this one! hahaha but not much happened this week (interesting week though and I write you the bad stuff because it adds more to write about so sorry you'll have to bear with it.. hahaha)
Mon- we played marshmellow dodgeball and mostly normal p-day stuff. P-days are some of our most busy days. Tuesday was transfers and they were crazy!!!! I stayed in the same place with same comp.. love the place..YSA moved in with us and it's packed! and they are messy so I gotta work on that and get them to clean up after themselves hahahaha sound like my mom.. :) but they are both from Vernal, UT and so they relate easy. So we spent most the day cleaning the apartment.
Tue- was the day we had to actually move in the Elders so we spent a lot of time doing that. Ummm some stuff that is an everyday usual thing= squirrels everywhere, stray cats, roads don't last here so they are really bad, up higher is all doctors that work at the hospital, sun rise and sets are amazing here!!!! I set up my bed so I can watch the sunrise in my bed when I wake up so it's awesome!
Wed- nothing happened besides Bro F's dog almost ate me hahaha, she gets so mad when we come over at night because she is half blind and so ever since I got bit by a dog all dogs make me jump, it's pretty funny I wish I could watch myself jump because I think it's funny, but I hate it all at the same time! So now I get her a treat every time so she likes me again hahahaha.
Sat- We were out walking finally because my comp's foot healed up enough! The first couple of people we talked to were not the elect you could say, so I just try to make everyone's day at least and so we get walking more and he was like "what are you doing talk to those people about the gospel?" and "I could tell they weren't gonna care about it at the moment', so we argued about that and then he didn't talk until after I talked to like 10 people that were either super ready or super crazy and fun to talk to. One family came up to us and asked us where our church was because they just moved in and wanted to come, so they are solid investigators! And I was like to my comp. "hey I'm on fire right now and you can't just sit back and be awkward, you're scaring people away and he finally realized what he was doing was childish and got over it and we had a solid day the rest of the day! I figured out that day that God has me here because I'm me and I shouldn't change because I'm a missionary I need to put the gospel in the front of my interests and then people will talk to you and it's actually a solid conversation!!! Ever since I started to do it I have had so much more success finding people and it's a ton more fun!!
Sun- Straight up met this crazy guy at the park hahaha and he was talking to us and the started yelling and rambling off about how he heard a cd and it talked about the Bible is wrong "THE BIBLE IS WRONG!!!!" he kept yelling at us hahaha and then he took his jumping dog and blind dog and moved on I was laughing so hard!!! hahahahha
That was pretty much it! love you guys so much more than the world!!! miss you guys!
Love Elder Lamb
Email - 10/12 {Gregory}
Hello President Felix,
F- My family is doing great I think! Probably just the same old same old!
A- There's a lot of work here in Solvang! Lots of people to teach and just yeah it's good!
C- After being with Elder Levis for a week I have come to realize why you had me with Elder Willis and how much he helped me. So I will just keep working hard and hopefully I can see why you have me with Elder Levis!
T- Listening to your counsel and trusting that you know what is best for me! Like I said I know exactly why you had me with Elder Willis and in Santa Barbara, it's just too bad I realized that after I was gone. So what can I do to realize why you have me here in Solvang with Elder Levis before it is too late? I want to enjoy all of this and have a positive attitude and be a leader! So what can I do?
S- Not much service this week, like an hour with a lady named Sn who is confined to a wheel chair so it was a really humbling experience to be able to help her out!
Elder Lamb******
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Letter - 10/07 {Gregory}
Monday 9/28/15 - today was my P-Day - emails between you and me were awesome but not between me and Sabrina because she was too busy being awesome haha. So today we had a zone activity BBQ at Goleta Beach Park and then we went to UCSB in Isla Vista to go to a big field and play frisbee and it wa so awesome, haha. Total college town :) Sorority homes everywhere and just yeah, super duper cool and fun - and frisbee was fun. I forget to take pictures haha oops. Anyways, then we went and had dinner with the K's and it was awesome. They are an awesome family, they have a baby daughter though who is deaf, it was solo heart breaking :( Then we went and saw J and pretty much just set up a return appointment so that was lame, but yeah, today was pretty fun for the most part - and UCSB is awesome.
Tuesday 9/29/15 - Today we did a lot so I am having a hard time remembering what I did. We had a lesson with L which is always good except for the fact that she started smoking again, freaking lame :( Then we went an dmet MW who is JW's daughter (the guy who gave me the book about his life) and she was super duper funny, hopefully we start teaching her. Then we went to PV's which is always cool. Then we went and visited Sister S who is awesome. Just a super nice funny old lady, she talked our ears off! Then we came back to our apartment and had a super short dinner because we had to go help the B's move! So we stayed there and helped until 7:00pm because we then had a lesson with the J's which of course they didn't show up to, dang, so annoying. So instead we went and had an awesome meeting with the Bishop and came up with a lot of ideas on how to get the ward more involved with missionary work! So yeah, that was my day - oh and when I was writing in my journal Elder Willis like almost blew up our apartment! haha - he stuck a knife on like an electrical wire and it like blew up and all our power went off, haha, it was super duper funny :) anyways, that was my exciting day!
Wednesday 9/30/15 - Hi mommy :) I love you :) How is the rest of the fam bam? Today was cool because we did lots of service and I decided that I hate finding people to teach and I hate teaching gin general so yeah, service is totally way awesome and yea :) I wish I could do more all the time. So we had to leave studies early to go finish helping the B's move from like 10-1 then we went to the D's to finish helping them and they fed us some Rusty's Pizza which was cool. And then while doing service we found this huge freaky any looking thing and it's nasty and you know me haha of course that means I caught it :) so now it is our pet in our apartment (which is technically against the rules) and it is eating some cheerios, pretty cool, huh? I have pictures I will send - anyways, so after doing service we went and had a lesson with L which is always cool. If only she would quit breaking the commandments :) Then we had dinner with Sister K and she and Elder Willis went off on a tangent about "spirit energies" haha weird. Then somehow motorcycles got brought up so then she went off on a tangent about that saying I was selfish to drive a motorcycle and stuff, yank, classic mom stuff :) Then after we went and tried seeing KR but he is being lame right now so that didn't work out so then we went home early to finish our studies and yeah, if i could do this much service everyday then that would be totally awesome. If only if only, right? I probably should have left a note letting them know teaching is not my thing but oh well too late now I guess :) and who knows it probably wouldn't have changed much, right? Anyways hopefully your day was awesome - I love you!
Thursday 10/1/15 - Today we had a lesson with L and Sister M came with and we talked about the atonement and it went really good. Then we went and met this E guy and he was pretty cool! Loved talking though that's for sure, haha. Then we met with MT which is always cool! Oh and today I saw a spider! Yano the three wheel cars all over Draper? So that was cool! Anyway, then we went to the H's for dinner and they have the cutest daughters, a 5 year old and then a set of twins who are 3! They all sang us songs after dinner and it was seriously so so cute!
Friday 10/2/15 - We had our last District Meeting together because transfer calls are tomorrow! So that was pretty cool and what not. Then we went and idd service for the D's which was cool, then we went and did service for JC which was cool! Then we had a lesson with L which went really good because Brother N was there and pretty much just told her what she needed to do and yeah, it went really good! Then we went to dinner with the U's. Then we went to se S and give him the emergency info he asked us for and when we got there he was watching the BYU game haha, it made me really miss watching sports and competing and all that fun stuff, haha, so that sucks but oh well. Then we met the Los Olivas Elders at our apartment and gave them a rol of toilet paper because they ran out, haha. I love you mom and tell the fam bam I love them too! Transfer calls tomorrow!
Saturday 10/3/15 - So we woke up and received out call about transfers! Drum roll please......I'm going to Solvang! No idea what to expect but oh well I guess! Then we went to the Stake Center to watch General Conference which was awesome then after the morning session we all went to lunch together and then we watched the afternoon session which was awesome of course. Then after that we went and had a lesson with L and she is on the border of giving up, super sad, but the lesson went good so we will see. Then we went to Priesthood Session which was awesome of course :) But made me really miss going with dad haha, I guess you just don't realize what you have until it is gone! So I'm excited to come home in two years and go with the family again :) Anyways, then we had dinner with the D's which was cool, they fed us really yummy Chinese food so that was cool :) and yeah! Exciting day, huh? I loved Elder Holland's talk about moms - haha, I love you mom, thanks for everything!
Sunday 10/4/15 - So today was Sunday and General Conference - so that was cool :) We woke up and went to the Stake Center to watch the morning session and then after that we went to the L's home to have a lesson with L since the L's had her over and it went really good!! Then the L's fed us lunch which was cool haha but then we were totally late to the afternoon session, haha, we missed like half of Elder Christofferson's talk so that sucks but oh well! Then we went home after that and did our studies and had dinner and I just took a nap because a) I was super tired and B) I'm getting fat :) haha - then we went and met with Brother N and he was like actually bummed that I was leaving, haha, made me feel special :) Had a ton of nice things to say like I'm mature for my age :) and he left me with a prayer to bless me and yeah, it was very nice of him and yeah, I'm gonna miss him - he is a good Ward Mission Leader!! Then after that we went and saw KR and then we went and saw MH and yeah, very exciting :) So I guess yeah, I'll be sending this letter tomorrow, hopefully ou haven't sen tme anything I haven't gotten yet because that would really suck really bad :) I love you lots mommy! Can you believe I have been gone for almost two months? That's crazy! Tell the family I love them especially Dad :) How is everything going? Hopefully good - How is Garret? Anyways, yeah, I love you lots! Can't wait to email tomorrow!
Monday 10/5/15 - So since I'm not going to mail this until tomorrow I guess I can tell you about my day :) I got your letter so that's good! Good for Isaac and Mallory and Nate and Garrett and you :) Keep Mallory in soccer! She will be so good at it! Anyways, so about my Monday :) We got to email which is always awesome! Then we came and I packed up for Solvang and holy smokes I have soooo much stuff it's crazy! Then after that we went to the church to sign each other's (all of us in our District) shout out journals! While we were doing that though the craziest thing happened. So I don't know if I'm allowed to like tell you this kind of stuff but I'm going to anyways :) So the BJ lady came into the church crying and asking to see the Bishop and saying she needed a blessing so after we called he tad us just to give it so after talking with her she said she needed us to cast out an evil spirit from her body...so we gave her the blessing then she asked us to come to her house and cast out the evil spirit from her house. I did not like it nope nope nope! Anyways so then we finished signing each other's shout out journals after that whole dealio. Then after that we came and got ready and then had dinner with the S's and then we went and saw L for the last time! Super sad but hopefully she gets baptized so I'll see her again :) anyway - I love you lots mom!
Questions:
When was the last time you laughed with your comp & why? What makes you laugh in your area? Just barely because we said we didn't laugh or when he got the call that he was the new District Leader or the crazy people here
What has your mission president been doing to inspire the mission? he is just super inspired haha, everything he does influences this mission! He is awesome!
When was the last time you saw an answer to prayer? every single question I went into General Conference with got answered, it was crazy :)
What d you like about your companion? He is very hard working and likes to tell jokes and stuff
Are there any inside jokes in your mission? haha no idea, I've only been here for not that long, I don't think there is anything
How are your clothes & feet holding up? my feet are doing good! I think my clothes are fine, a string here & there but nothing big
Have you found any new investigators from your area book? nope - but oh well, maybe in Solvang!
What was your ave meal from members so far? probably the restaurants Brother N took us to!
Are there street vendors in your area? nope, not really...
What has been your fave P-Day activity? probably frisbee at Goleta Beach Park!
Do you do a lot of serve? Like What? yes, it's awesome! Helping members move or yard work or yeah, it's awesome!
How many progressing investigators do you have right now? Just L
How much do you work on retention in our area? Are there a lot of less active members? Yes, sooo much less active work here
What is your fave smell in your area? Least fave? haha it's just either a fresh smell or it smells like cigarettes
How often do you do laundry? When was the last time you washed your sheets? every P-Day, haven't washed them yet - we do laundry at a complex at our apartment
What is music like in your ward? Does everyone sing? Have you had to help? nope nope nope nope...haha but oh well, it's cool
What are some of the local sayings? everything here is "local" the stores and shops and stuff
What's the scariest thing that has happened so far where you have felt protected? driving - should have died like ten times so far
What do most people do for work? all are either doctors, dentists, or business owners
Share with us how your testimony has grown: it's made what i already know more solid and has helped me learn and know so much more, lots of strength because of it!
Tuesday 9/29/15 - Today we did a lot so I am having a hard time remembering what I did. We had a lesson with L which is always good except for the fact that she started smoking again, freaking lame :( Then we went an dmet MW who is JW's daughter (the guy who gave me the book about his life) and she was super duper funny, hopefully we start teaching her. Then we went to PV's which is always cool. Then we went and visited Sister S who is awesome. Just a super nice funny old lady, she talked our ears off! Then we came back to our apartment and had a super short dinner because we had to go help the B's move! So we stayed there and helped until 7:00pm because we then had a lesson with the J's which of course they didn't show up to, dang, so annoying. So instead we went and had an awesome meeting with the Bishop and came up with a lot of ideas on how to get the ward more involved with missionary work! So yeah, that was my day - oh and when I was writing in my journal Elder Willis like almost blew up our apartment! haha - he stuck a knife on like an electrical wire and it like blew up and all our power went off, haha, it was super duper funny :) anyways, that was my exciting day!
Wednesday 9/30/15 - Hi mommy :) I love you :) How is the rest of the fam bam? Today was cool because we did lots of service and I decided that I hate finding people to teach and I hate teaching gin general so yeah, service is totally way awesome and yea :) I wish I could do more all the time. So we had to leave studies early to go finish helping the B's move from like 10-1 then we went to the D's to finish helping them and they fed us some Rusty's Pizza which was cool. And then while doing service we found this huge freaky any looking thing and it's nasty and you know me haha of course that means I caught it :) so now it is our pet in our apartment (which is technically against the rules) and it is eating some cheerios, pretty cool, huh? I have pictures I will send - anyways, so after doing service we went and had a lesson with L which is always cool. If only she would quit breaking the commandments :) Then we had dinner with Sister K and she and Elder Willis went off on a tangent about "spirit energies" haha weird. Then somehow motorcycles got brought up so then she went off on a tangent about that saying I was selfish to drive a motorcycle and stuff, yank, classic mom stuff :) Then after we went and tried seeing KR but he is being lame right now so that didn't work out so then we went home early to finish our studies and yeah, if i could do this much service everyday then that would be totally awesome. If only if only, right? I probably should have left a note letting them know teaching is not my thing but oh well too late now I guess :) and who knows it probably wouldn't have changed much, right? Anyways hopefully your day was awesome - I love you!
Thursday 10/1/15 - Today we had a lesson with L and Sister M came with and we talked about the atonement and it went really good. Then we went and met this E guy and he was pretty cool! Loved talking though that's for sure, haha. Then we met with MT which is always cool! Oh and today I saw a spider! Yano the three wheel cars all over Draper? So that was cool! Anyway, then we went to the H's for dinner and they have the cutest daughters, a 5 year old and then a set of twins who are 3! They all sang us songs after dinner and it was seriously so so cute!
Friday 10/2/15 - We had our last District Meeting together because transfer calls are tomorrow! So that was pretty cool and what not. Then we went and idd service for the D's which was cool, then we went and did service for JC which was cool! Then we had a lesson with L which went really good because Brother N was there and pretty much just told her what she needed to do and yeah, it went really good! Then we went to dinner with the U's. Then we went to se S and give him the emergency info he asked us for and when we got there he was watching the BYU game haha, it made me really miss watching sports and competing and all that fun stuff, haha, so that sucks but oh well. Then we met the Los Olivas Elders at our apartment and gave them a rol of toilet paper because they ran out, haha. I love you mom and tell the fam bam I love them too! Transfer calls tomorrow!
Saturday 10/3/15 - So we woke up and received out call about transfers! Drum roll please......I'm going to Solvang! No idea what to expect but oh well I guess! Then we went to the Stake Center to watch General Conference which was awesome then after the morning session we all went to lunch together and then we watched the afternoon session which was awesome of course. Then after that we went and had a lesson with L and she is on the border of giving up, super sad, but the lesson went good so we will see. Then we went to Priesthood Session which was awesome of course :) But made me really miss going with dad haha, I guess you just don't realize what you have until it is gone! So I'm excited to come home in two years and go with the family again :) Anyways, then we had dinner with the D's which was cool, they fed us really yummy Chinese food so that was cool :) and yeah! Exciting day, huh? I loved Elder Holland's talk about moms - haha, I love you mom, thanks for everything!
Sunday 10/4/15 - So today was Sunday and General Conference - so that was cool :) We woke up and went to the Stake Center to watch the morning session and then after that we went to the L's home to have a lesson with L since the L's had her over and it went really good!! Then the L's fed us lunch which was cool haha but then we were totally late to the afternoon session, haha, we missed like half of Elder Christofferson's talk so that sucks but oh well! Then we went home after that and did our studies and had dinner and I just took a nap because a) I was super tired and B) I'm getting fat :) haha - then we went and met with Brother N and he was like actually bummed that I was leaving, haha, made me feel special :) Had a ton of nice things to say like I'm mature for my age :) and he left me with a prayer to bless me and yeah, it was very nice of him and yeah, I'm gonna miss him - he is a good Ward Mission Leader!! Then after that we went and saw KR and then we went and saw MH and yeah, very exciting :) So I guess yeah, I'll be sending this letter tomorrow, hopefully ou haven't sen tme anything I haven't gotten yet because that would really suck really bad :) I love you lots mommy! Can you believe I have been gone for almost two months? That's crazy! Tell the family I love them especially Dad :) How is everything going? Hopefully good - How is Garret? Anyways, yeah, I love you lots! Can't wait to email tomorrow!
Monday 10/5/15 - So since I'm not going to mail this until tomorrow I guess I can tell you about my day :) I got your letter so that's good! Good for Isaac and Mallory and Nate and Garrett and you :) Keep Mallory in soccer! She will be so good at it! Anyways, so about my Monday :) We got to email which is always awesome! Then we came and I packed up for Solvang and holy smokes I have soooo much stuff it's crazy! Then after that we went to the church to sign each other's (all of us in our District) shout out journals! While we were doing that though the craziest thing happened. So I don't know if I'm allowed to like tell you this kind of stuff but I'm going to anyways :) So the BJ lady came into the church crying and asking to see the Bishop and saying she needed a blessing so after we called he tad us just to give it so after talking with her she said she needed us to cast out an evil spirit from her body...so we gave her the blessing then she asked us to come to her house and cast out the evil spirit from her house. I did not like it nope nope nope! Anyways so then we finished signing each other's shout out journals after that whole dealio. Then after that we came and got ready and then had dinner with the S's and then we went and saw L for the last time! Super sad but hopefully she gets baptized so I'll see her again :) anyway - I love you lots mom!
Questions:
When was the last time you laughed with your comp & why? What makes you laugh in your area? Just barely because we said we didn't laugh or when he got the call that he was the new District Leader or the crazy people here
What has your mission president been doing to inspire the mission? he is just super inspired haha, everything he does influences this mission! He is awesome!
When was the last time you saw an answer to prayer? every single question I went into General Conference with got answered, it was crazy :)
What d you like about your companion? He is very hard working and likes to tell jokes and stuff
Are there any inside jokes in your mission? haha no idea, I've only been here for not that long, I don't think there is anything
How are your clothes & feet holding up? my feet are doing good! I think my clothes are fine, a string here & there but nothing big
Have you found any new investigators from your area book? nope - but oh well, maybe in Solvang!
What was your ave meal from members so far? probably the restaurants Brother N took us to!
Are there street vendors in your area? nope, not really...
What has been your fave P-Day activity? probably frisbee at Goleta Beach Park!
Do you do a lot of serve? Like What? yes, it's awesome! Helping members move or yard work or yeah, it's awesome!
How many progressing investigators do you have right now? Just L
How much do you work on retention in our area? Are there a lot of less active members? Yes, sooo much less active work here
What is your fave smell in your area? Least fave? haha it's just either a fresh smell or it smells like cigarettes
How often do you do laundry? When was the last time you washed your sheets? every P-Day, haven't washed them yet - we do laundry at a complex at our apartment
What is music like in your ward? Does everyone sing? Have you had to help? nope nope nope nope...haha but oh well, it's cool
What are some of the local sayings? everything here is "local" the stores and shops and stuff
What's the scariest thing that has happened so far where you have felt protected? driving - should have died like ten times so far
What do most people do for work? all are either doctors, dentists, or business owners
Share with us how your testimony has grown: it's made what i already know more solid and has helped me learn and know so much more, lots of strength because of it!
Monday, October 5, 2015
Email - 10/05 {Garrett}
Today I got a massage so that was sick!!! I knew we should have done that for a dance activity, so worth it! hahahha missionaries get hooked up! hahaha
Mon 28- P-day! went to Manito Park and played Frisbee hahaha everyone knows who is from Utah and who isn't just by playing that hahahha super funny! One Elder got hit in the middle of the throat by the Frisbee hahahaha it was an accident so no worries hahaha, it was so funny I was crying laughing at him. It gets intense with games. We also cooked up hot dogs for lunch so that was sweet! Also lots of snacks and the cookies there were Grant's family's cookies so that was cool! Went to Japaneses gardens in Manito Park and that was way cool and pretty! We were so busy we had to skip dinner, didn't have enough time so that was a fun day!
Tue 29- Slow day but did help an investigator P, way funny guy that is into old cars and loves to talk! We helped him make a ramp up to the second level in his garage and drag cabinets up it! So that was fun! I think he had every tool you could think of. We had a solid lesson with the J's and committed them to watch General Conf. then found out Bro J has a pirate tattoo and it's way sick hahahha. Then my comp and team teacher (members from the ward) got mad at me for thinking it was cool hahaha, hey what can I say, it was cool!
Wed 30- Had district meeting Elder Aguilar is leaving so he said his testimony and it was super powerful! I hope I can have one like that at the end of my mission! He said it wasn't the best two years but it was the best two years for him to progress so I thought that was interesting and cool! Then went to see D because she got anti-Mormon-ed when I was on exchanges so we went back there and fixed everything and she is back to investigating so that's really good! AKA I don't get anti-ed hahhaha. We did service cutting wood and weeded Manito park, I thought I would get out of weeding for two years and little did I know I'm doing it more hahahha
Thur 1 Oct- Was A WAY SICK DAY! We went to a spacial meeting for all the leaders of the mission and the weird thing is I'm new and not a leader so it was cool to be there! Everyone keep saying I'm gonna be district leader so I might have to accept it and do what the Lord wants me to do!.... but the meeting was crazy! Some missionaries took it to heart which wasn't good because some were crying, but pretty much Pres. threw down because things weren't being done right! and I said AMEN!! hahaha so now we do things how Preach My Gospel says to do and already I can see it working and having more success! So pretty much I already love the Pres! Some missionaries are kinda mad because they don't understand how to do things anymore and I say read PMG hahaha, so hopefully things go as planned ,how it's supposed to go because there is a lot more "govern yourself" so hopefully missionaries don't take advantage of it... Talked to Sis. H and she is struggling and having bad nightmares...
Fri 2 Oct-Started weekly planning how it's supposed to be and it went completely different but really good! Our whole day had eventful stuff so we were blessed greatly by doing it the way the Lord wants! Biggest event that impacted me was visiting M in the VA home and my heart just opened up to him!!! It was so sad to hear about how no one visit him beside his wife and us not even the church he belonged to visit him so it really made everything worth it!! We also gave Sis. H a blessing and it was way sick but I was so nervous! At the beginning I had no idea what to say so I just followed Dad's advise and say the simple things that are good about them and then I finally relaxed and was able to listen to the Spirit and it was way cool! I guess it went pretty well because she was almost crying after when she said thanks which is way cool because she is one tough cookie! Kinda like my momma! hahahha But she is way funny when she roasts people so she later at the end of the lesson roasted my Comp. hahahha, me and her get along great!!
Sat 3- General Conf. aka the Missionary Super Bowl! hahahhaa I don't know if it was super short this time or if it was because i was actually paying attention hahahha but I loved it got a ton out of it about faith, atonement and love but the biggest was how important family is especially the women! So that was really cool! Pres. Monson almost died while he was talking so that wasn't good on Sunday... (side note don't know what day it was but I was crying on the ground laughing with Brother F and his dog barking at us because of my comp's innocence!!! hahaha it was classic!) Met a New Investigator so that was cool, straight up said he was a drunk so he knows he needs to change but doesn't want to find the time to and doesn't realize this message can help him!...so hopefully the spirit can work on him!
Sun 4- General Conf. #2 went by just as fast, amazing what happens when you enjoy something hahaha. We had an amazing chance to go to a baptism and it was super cool! It was the last time Elder Aguliar did it and the Spirit was super strong in every talk that was given! Then during wet time I had the chance to teach the Restoration (first lesson) with Elder Terry (who is my favorite, always learn a ton from him!) and it was the first time I have truly felt the Spirit really strong while teaching! I learned it's not so much that I need to teach the lessons, I need to testify the lesson so they know I know it's true and it works way better! I learned you can't convince someone of something, you can only testify of it and the Spirit does the rest! Transfers came and I'm staying in the same place and same comp. and my comp. is Zone Leader and District Leader so that will be interesting, still wondering why I went to the special meeting for leaders though, hahaha oh well, I don't have to worry about other missionaries and I can focus on the work!
That was my week! IT WAS SUPER SPIRITUAL!
Email - 10/05 {Gregory}
Questions:
1 - What was BEST about this week? I am getting transferred to Solvang so i get a fresh start :)
2 - What was hardest about this week? L is giving up on us and it is really sad
3 - Tell me about transfers...do you always go in to the mission home, like everyone goes? How does that whole scene work? We go down to the ward in Ventura and have a big testimony meeting for everyone who is leaving and then the new ones coming in and we switch companions and yeah!
4 - What has been your biggest "aha!" moment so far? No wonder i miss home so much because i have been blessed with the coolest family and best girlyfriend in the whole wide world haha;) and that conference is way cool when you actually care and pay attention hahaha
5 - What are you looking forward to this coming week? meeting my new companion and going to a new area!! It's exciting!! I'm way bummed I'm leaving this ward because the families here are totally awesome, but yeah there's a good chance I could get sent back here so no worries right?? :) I've heard a ton of cool things about Solvang and the candy and treats they have there so I am way excited!!
6 - Did you get to watch conference? Where/how/with who? with all the missionaries at the Stake center!! it was cool! I loved loved loved Elder Holland's and Elder Nelson's talks on mothers and women haha thank you so much for everything mom, I love you so much :) I have the best women in my life, I really do :)
Hello President Felix!
F- My family is doing just awesome haha they are having fun and working hard!
A- This Area was an amazing area it truly has benefited me in so many ways. I'm sad to leave but I am so grateful to move on and have a fresh start!
C- Elder Willis is a great missionary. We have our differences for sure but he has helped me in so many ways and he is going to really turn this area around for the better!
T- Having faith. This conference I realized that my faith has really been lacking. That it isn't just enough to pray and read the scriptures. So I am going to really be putting my faith and trust in the Lord especially going to a new area! It will truly be a good new start and I hope I will be able to serve more faithfully!
S- Service this week was truly so awesome! I guess when you ask for something and really search out for it then it usually comes!! We helped a lot of families in the ward this week with things around their house and helping them move! I love serving and I love the people here. It's been awesome!
Thank you so much President Felix for your guidance and counsel. for always being so in tune with the spirit while directing this great work!
Elder Lamb
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