Week 9 - A Fatted Calf

Ollo

(It looks like no one got my last weeks email, I didn't know and never re sent it because I've been locked out of my account for like the whole past week. But here it is.)

This is my last 1 digit email. Woah. Also, I have now officially been a Missionary for 2 months as of November 5th.

1. Transfers and Goodbye Elder Ferry

2. Biking

3. A Fatted Calf

4. VeggieTales

5. Missionary vs Salesman Life: Ryan

6. Spiritual Thought

1. President Giménez had some weird things going on with transfers. The whole mission is in chaos. I got transferred into another trio and in a new area. Like what? I was only here for 6 weeks, but now I'm moving. Although I'm now companions with my old zone leader and he's really cool. So I have 5 Mission dads. Elder Palmer, Ferry, Hayes, Vickery, and Bushman. Elder Bushman wasn't technically my Dad, it just feels right for him to be one of my Dads. Anyway, so I feel kinda weird like I miss my old area and didn't feel like I did as much there as I could've, so I'll try to do better here. And, Elder Ferry is dead. He has stinketh for weeks. His parents came from Arizona to pick him up this morning and he's getting released later tonight which is weird to think about. But he will be missed. He's very awkward in a funny way. He also told me a couple of pickup lines which I have chosen not to share. The best way I can describe him is as an older version of my younger brother Owen. It just fits.

2. Well, there were, as it turns out, a couple of things wrong with my bike. I don't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but my back bike brake was broken. It was rubbing against the tire so there was more resistance. I found that out a couple weeks ago but I forgot and so I didn't fix it. So that made it difficult to bike at. My bike also got a flat tire. I don't know when it became flat, it couldn't have been flat for long. And I only noticed it the last time we biked. But it didn't feel much harder to pedal than before so I don't know. So yeah, seriously, I don't know how I have woken up every morning without legs made of solid steel. I should've taken a before picture. I'm not gonna share my leg progress because a lot of people on here probably wouldn't be as impressed. So since my bike was broken, I've borrowed Elder Ferry's bike a couple times while he's doing departing activities. And yeah, his bike is way easier to pedal, I was going into hyperspace. Also his seat is comfortable. But thank goodness we now have a car. Words cannot describe my joy. I have missed driving so much, even though it's not as cool of a car as the Fiesta.

3. Most mornings I eat a decently large breakfast. Pancakes, eggs and bacon or sausage. And last Sunday we had a couple, the Bachs, ask us how our dinner schedule was like this week. Brother Bach said it would be a "fatted calf" meal. That phrase just made me so happy. You know it's going to be a good meal if that's the phrase used to describe it. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant and it was really good. Later, we also had a visit with another family where they gave us a bunch of Halloween candy. We were picking candy from the bowl and I felt like a little kid again. I hadn't had Dots, Whoppers, Crunch, or other candies in sooo long. So, the point of these little stories is: I don't know if I should be concerned for my health or not. I honestly don't think I have gained weight. But in most cases I don't think people notice until the weight is already gained. So that might be what happens so I need to have some more awareness. I haven't gotten on a scale in a good while. I tell myself it's because the scale is broken, which it is, but it's also out of fear. I don't know what to expect or what it will say. I also have noticed my America pants feel like they're getting a little smaller. They still fit fine, but there is a noticeable difference from when I first got them. But like I said I honestly think I'm fine. Biking and exercise have definitely helped. But since I will be in a car, I'll have to take better care of myself. Also since we're getting into Holiday season, which is when all the Elders say they've gained the most weight. So I'll just have to watch myself better. I do have to make an exception for Thanksgiving. I just have to, it's like my second favorite holiday. 

4. So I wasn't planning on making this an actual point in my email, but there was enough I wanted to talk about, so here we are. So, on Friday I don't remember why, but I decided to make an Omelet for Breakfast. There was no reason for this. I was imagining the Omelet from VeggieTales that was described as Fluffy and Light (I haven't seen VeggieTales since I was like what? 6? 8? I do not know why I still remember it). Anyway, I was trying to find an image on FaceBook (which is my new Google) showing this perfectly cooked Omelet from VeggieTales, but didn't find any. but I found this quote from the episode and was inspired by the writers of VeggieTales. In this, the story is something about Omelets but the character is based on Hamlet. And the lesson is on sharing. Here it is from the scene.

"The last poor yolks! I'll chew them well, Horatio.... To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to share my eggs cooked light and fluffy or to scarf down the whole thing myself. To share or not to share... Just guess where my ships are. 2B? Not 2B ... Where might I find some toast? Get thee to a bakery."

We don't deserve the writers of this show. 

Like where did that come from? I am impressed and inspired. I also found the Ballad of Little Joe on Facebook. It's the VeggieTales version of Joseph of Egypt. I watched the whole thing, highly recommend it. The intermission song in the episode got me. I'm not gonna say what it was. But yeah, there's a lot of emotional weight to VeggieTales, and it's a lot more entertaining than I remember. So that's the Journey I went on that I just needed to include in this email. My Omelet didn't turn out so well, more like a broken scrambled eggwich with veggies and cheese in between. Image below. I also got a picture of the actual Omelet from VeggieTales for comparison

5. With all these people trying to feed me I have also concluded whether life as a salesman or Missionary is harder for me. And I think overall being a Salesman was harder for me. 

• In sales my days consisted of knocking doors for 7-8 hours a day, making 0 sales a day by myself. The amount of crying would depend on the day. Some days I didn't cry at all, other days, that's all I did. I would average it at 3 crying sessions a day I think. And people laugh at you while you're crying on the side of the road (Just kidding. Actually I guess it's possible but I never saw anyone). But yeah, it's just that nobody likes salesmen. There's a spectrum of love and hate, and for salesmen, you stay at the bottom. It goes generally from people who just don't want to talk to you, to people who will call the cops on you. There were like a couple nice people. Like a random guy gave me a powerade and people gave you water bottles if it was hot. But I can confidently say that no one wants to feed or be nice to some random Joe on their porch.

• As a Missionary, I get a lot of time for studying, and everything you do is geared to focusing on others. You're with someone 24/7 (Which also has its challenges), and I haven't done any tracting which is great. I can also say I haven't officially cried while on the mission so far. I've wanted to, but I haven't had time so I do count it. I did have time while going to bed, but I wasn't sad anymore because I was happy that I was going to bed. On the love hate spectrum, people are all over. You have nice members and cool people. People that are honking, waving, trying to feed me, or things like that. You also have a lot of people in the middle of the spectrum, just other random people. Then, you have the end of the spectrum. Rude people, Satanists, and Bashers. But when people hate you as a Missionary, they really hate you. A lot.

• I am grateful for that summer job experience. It's made the mission easier as I did receive a decently large whoopin. I also have some money for when I get back which is nice. But, let's just say I still have slight PTSD from when I hear Ring's (The Company) doorbell tune.

• But there are definitely parts that were easier in sales and harder on a mission. I would say what makes the two different, when you say that they're harder for different reasons, it centers around the importance of what you were doing. As a salesman you didn't feel like you were doing things as meaningful or important, even if I was working for college. As a Missionary what you do has more depth. It's harder because what you struggle with has more importance, as well as what you see others struggle with.

• So, now I would like to transition to Ryan. I mentioned him last week, but I didn't say much because I didn't know much. He was an inactive member for 20 years I think. We stopped by, left treats, but he kinda ghosted us. But those little stops worked because he called us Sunday a week ago. We visited him Thursday with the Elders Quorum President. He's essentially hit rock bottom. He's 40 years old, struggling with an alcohol addiction and he said he just needs help. When we stopped by, the apartment was a wreck. He was laying on a pullout couch right next to the door, close enough he didn't have to get up to answer it. It had a stench too and he was pretty tipsy. It was interesting. We were still able to have a talk with him and everything and let him know we were here to help. What made me more sad was after the opening prayer he said he really had missed that feeling. But it was great to talk with him. He was just drunk and grateful for us coming by. Well we went by on Friday too (Want to make sure someones coming by everyday). And he was sober. That's when we learned he was really sick. Vomiting a lot so he hadn't been able to eat in days. He was also worried he would get evicted. We left him with a blessing for the sick. But yeah pray for him. He's gone through rehab multiple times, they don't want him back anymore. He's got a wife and a kid that don't live with him, so we're just trying to help him get back on his feet. His parents and the Elders Quorum president are taking the main hold on the situation, we just stop by every once in a while. Or we were, I'm transferred now but Elder Palmer will keep me updated. 

6. I wanted to share this 1 month in or earlier, but I forgot. But, I wanted to share the main things I've learned this far into the mission. 

1) I define Missionary success by how pleased I feel with myself, how much I think God is happy with my effort at the end of the day. Regardless of how many people we've added to our teaching pool. So, the best days I've had are when I feel I've worked the hardest and done my best.

2) I have realized how important the Gospel is to me. I didn't treat it as important growing up, but after this change on the mission I've realized that I didn't study scriptures, pray sincerely or other things as much as I should've. And just realizing how much it has helped in my life. Because I've been told how important it is, but I didn't really take it in as well. So yeah.

But yeah I think that's it for this week. Bashing has been fine, I'm still just completely wrecking them with the Spirit. Although my brain has just felt off this week, it's malfunctioning, I need to take it into the shop or something. This week felt longer because it was the last week of the transfer. Also since it's the first week since I got my haircut. First week is always the hardest. But I just need to take a day off and sleep for like the whole day. Hasta la see ya

- Elder Wride

1. The Bachs gave us these custom waterbottles which were cool. Elder Ferry on a plane haha

2. My Eggwich

3. The VeggieTales Omelet

4. An Englishman with an Omelet

5. I made this cool castle on an exercise machine thing

6+7. Memes

8. I made a Burrito out of my bedding which I am proud of

Week 8 - The Music Underworld

Shalom

I'm having a lot of technical difficulties so I hope this works. 

I have officially been in San Diego for 1 Month. I also am about to hit 2 Months as a Missionary on the 6th. So that's cool. This email is long, but you should still read it.

1. The Music Underworld

2. Elder Wride vs Isaiah

3. My Bleach Water Balloon

4. Benjamin - LOTR Analogy

5. I Miss My Car

6. Haircut

7. Update on People we're teaching

8. Spiritual Thought - Prayer

1. So I have gotten more Music on my phone. Like, there aren't a lot of music apps available, so I didn't know where to get music from. But after getting more used to the mission, I've met some people, so I got Music now. I can't talk about it too much, because these are the people the Mission office is looking for. But it's like a Missionary Underworld. That's where you also get shows like the Chosen, Best 2 years, Fighting Preacher or other stuff you can't get on Gospel Library or Saints Channel. Don't worry, I'm not listening to anything apostate. 

2. I made a goal in the MTC to read and understand all the Isaiah Chapters. I mentioned in my email last week that I got to 1 Nephi 20, where he starts quoting Isaiah for the first time. I didn't read it because I just couldn't do it then. I was just having a bad morning. Well, this past week I decided to tackle Him. It has been difficult. I've only gotten through a chapter and a half at this point. I'm going for the Study Diligently approach, and I've spent a lot of time just looking at the words. I've also looked at everything on Gospel Library about it, like Bruce R. McConkie has a talk and the Institute Manuals. But I still need help. I'm not good at deep reading. I don't read or speak Isaiah. The worst part is, I'm not even to the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. Round 2 will come in next week.

3. My last idea for getting the oil stains out of my shirt didn't work. The bleach I used literally advertised working for oil. But basically, it said for best results to soak the clothes and bleach for 30 minutes before washing. Unfortunately, that is not a feature on the washing machine, so I would have to soak it beforehand. We didn't have any buckets or something to soak it in, the only thing that made sense to me was to use garbage bags. The theory was that I could put the clothes and bleach in, and fill it with water, then let it sit for 30 minutes and take it to the laundromat. It was what I thought was the best idea for the time. It got heavier than I thought. I would guess 40 lbs? I'm really bad at guessing weight but it was decently heavy. I wish I had a picture because it just looked like a water balloon. So after 30 minutes we went to the Laundromat. So far so good. But, on the way I had to set it on the ground for a second to readjust my grip. It was a rocky outside floor, and I think something on the ground pierced it because it started leaking. We aren't too far from the Laundromat, so I just started hauling this giant water balloon through the complex parking lot. Yelling to Elder Ferry to hurry and open the door because bleach water was spilling. I got some on my pants and everything. Luckily the bleach was color safe so my pants aren't white. But after all that effort, there's still oil on my shirt. It's gotten a little more gray, over the weeks of trying to remove it, but still noticeable. 

4. So I mentioned last week that I have been trying other methods of contacting people on Facebook. Like joining random groups, introducing myself and talking about the church with people. Nobody's been accepting my friend requests and so I'm trying to improve the efficiency of my Facebook finding. Well I joined another group and the post blew up more than I anticipated. My internet wasn't really working at the time, so I couldn't respond to people, but I could see all the comments. But yeah they were asking stuff about like polygamy, lgbt, race and the priesthood. It was a bit more controversial than the last post. There were like 30 of these comments at this point, only after a couple minutes had gone by. I didn't say a formal prayer, but was sort of like "Help me answer these in a way that leaves these people with a better impression of the church than what they had before." Later when my internet came back, I was saved. There was this guy in the group who was a member and had already answered all the questions, and did so in a pretty good way. I felt so relieved I couldn't even explain it. I messaged him and was like "thanks a lot, you have no idea how much I appreciate that". He said he knew a lot about church history and these sorts of topics. He also served a Mission. But yeah it was super nice. Well the next day there were more comments. We were at like 100 and something comments, including my and Ben's responses. But still, I was trying to stay focused on studies, and it was hard to not start replying to people throughout the day. So I decided to call for aid. Basically, in a Missionary group, I said I need a few people to come join this group and answer some of these questions because there are a lot and I can't right now. This is where I would like to bring in another analogy. I am actually beginning to get concerned for myself by the amount of movie analogies I relate to real life. I promise I didn't just watch movies all the time as a child. I had a life. I just remember what happened in movies really well. Anyway, this one's from Lord of the Rings. It's the scene during Helms Deep, near the end when they retreated inside. But Aragorn is ready to go charge, so he and the king just hop on their horses and go charging, basically bulldozing through the Uruk Hai  at the door. But they're outnumbered. They're fighting away, and then Gandalf and the White Horse appear on the giant hill to the side. And all the Riders of Rohan come up behind Him. Then they all charge down and eventually win the battle. That's the scene. Benjamin and I are the people fighting already, and the Missionaries from the group are Gandalf and the Riders. It was glorious. Just this flood coming in. Go watch the scene, and that's how amazing it was. But, it did get out of control. One of the moderator ladies got kinda mad because all of the sudden all these Missionaries started joining the group, trying to "impose beliefs" on people. She didn't put a stop to things, I was able to calm her down, but yeah. I don't think a whole lot came from that experience. A lot of people said we were racists and a cult, but we did touch some lives I think. For the nice people. I did invite a lot of people to read the Book of Mormon. I don't know if they will. We ended up with 385 comments, and I would say we won the battle.

5. I really have missed my High School car this week and probably will throughout the mission. It was a gray 2014 Ford Fiesta sedan. Manual transmission. And it was glorious. It is an ugly car, but I love it even more because of it. Anyway, this week I keep seeing it. The same car. While my Dad was on a Mission, he said he kept seeing my Mom in people. Like some of the people just looked like her I guess. Well, I keep seeing my car. But it's not like I see the Fiesta in other cars, there's just a lot of Ford Fiestas, mostly gray. And like it makes me sad. That car was amazing, it was so fun to drive. I literally, Mom and Dad, am considering buying it. Wesley, don't you dare crash it.

6. I don't remember if I mentioned it earlier but I needed a Haircut. And I got one this morning. I've accepted my fate. I was concerned because I've never had a Haircut from anyone except my Mom, and I just don't like having short hair. My concern was that the Elder giving me a Haircut wouldn't be as gentle as my Mom in like trying to not completely shave me clean. And he wasn't. In the past couple weeks he's been like "You're getting a haircut." He has just been waiting for this day. Anyway, he shows up with a haircut kit, and whips out different cutting tools and things, shaving cream, and some blue liquid. I asked if we could start with a prayer. I said a quick prayer and we started. He was very thorough with the buzzer things barbers use. He went around my head with it like 10 times, and hair got all over me. I shouldn't have worn my garment shirt because it's like they've changed color. The hairs he cut were so small they just stuck to the shirt. Don't know exactly what I'm gonna do for that. He also put shaving cream on the sides of my head which was cause for concern. He brought out a special razor blade and just cut it on the sides more. I was praying. The hair is definitely a lot shorter than the ones my Mom has done. She made an effort to not make it too short for me. He sheared me like a sheep. I can appreciate his effort, but I have officially concluded that I just don't like short hair. The saying "The difference between a good and a bad haircut is 2 weeks" hasn't helped either.

7. If it wasn't apparent by the amount of time I spend talking to bashers, we don't have a lot of people we're teaching. There's Linda, who moved away. We knocked on her door before she left, but her drunk grandson answered and said "Hail Satan". So we haven't really seen her since. She's not good at responding to texts and things. There's also Jacque. She's been on date for baptism for a long time. She just keeps pushing it back. She wants to get baptized in January so her son can baptize her or something. We're talking to her, but she already knows the gospel well. So, the main thing we've been doing is finding through Facebook, street contacting and member referrals. Not much so far. But, Sunday we did get a call. This is a guy that is inactive and we've knocked on his door before but he never answered so we've just left cards. Anyway he called because he said he's been going through a hard time and is just trying everything to find some peace. So we are meeting with him Thursday. But yeah, most of the things we've been doing are member lessons, and recent convert lessons. Still trying to find people.

7. Okay, this email is going too long, but I wanted to share something spiritual. So this is about prayer. Go look at the picture of the Bible Dictionary definition for prayer. 

Who knew the Bible Dictionary could spit such fire? Anyway, so that's what I've been working on because lately my prayers have not been as meaningful as they should be. So yeah just work in your prayers to unite your will with God's.

Well we also had Zone Conference this week and did a service at the temple. As well as a ward trunk or treat. I guess I didn't talk about them because I just didn't. Sorry this email is really long. It's more for my personal documentation anyways. Email me if you wish, I enjoy it. Have a splendid time.

- Elder Wride

1. Zone Conference

2. Cool Temple Picture. We hung up Christmas lights so I'll just talk about it more when they turn them on.

3. What Facebook work looks like. Elder Henrie from our district

4. The Fiesta in its Prime. Those are Lightning McQueen lucky stickers. My sister took them off like a day later because she didn't like them and I never got new ones. My main regret is that I didn't turn the tires for the real kachow

5. Prayer in the Bible Dictionary

6. Meme

Week 7 - Bible Bashers: Super Smash Bros Analogy

Alo. I have run out of languages that I remember how to say Hello in.

This week has been good! There are a couple things I forgot from last week. I was just a little off I think, but this week has been a lot better. The email is long, but I would love it if you read it all.

Last Week

1. Anti Vax Ladies

2. Tesla Ride

This Week

3. Potato Chip Hike

4. White Shirts and Bicycle Rides

5. Bible Bashers: Super Smash Bros Analogy

6. Beard

7. Spiritual Thought: Brittany

1. So last week while we were street contacting we went over to this Veterans Memorial part of the park. There were two ladies crying. They were Mom and Daughter, and the Daughters son. They were talking about their Husband/Father who died in January. We didn't go too in depth into the gospel, but we just talked about Spirits and how his Spirit is still with them. Then, it took a turn. They started talking about how he would be really sad to see what America was today, talking about covid, politics, how they didn't trust the vaccine, and it was really weird. They were just those people. The look in the Mom's eyes was very different, and kind of scary. Then I just sort of realized that the Spirit had left at that moment. And when the Spirits gone, Missionaries are essentially powerless. We can't do our job. Luckily, Elder Palmer was able to bring it back when he asked if we could pray for them. So we did, and the Spirit came back. We gave them pass along cards and they left.

2. Our bikes have broken a lot. We've had to get rides from people sometimes while they're getting fixed. So for one member lesson we didn't have our bikes with us and asked if they could drop us off. They said it was fine and the Dad pulled around with his Tesla. I wanted to ask if we could accelerate really fast like they do, but they gave us food to take and I didn't know if I would be able to keep it all from going over the place. But he did it without us having to ask. We accelerated from like 0-60 mph in like 3 seconds. It was cool. I did keep the food, accelerating that fast didn't have as much force as I thought.

I guess I just felt like I needed to include it here because Elder Palmer said that's going on his top favorite experiences. And I was like what? He's been out for a year, if that's one of the coolest things that's happened that's kinda sad. It was cool, but it wasn't super cool. It was like a 6 cool. But I thought I'd include it just in case that ends up being one of the coolest things from the mission.

3. This morning we went on a hike in our area called potato chip rock. It was pretty good, kind of pushed back everything else we need to do today though. Also turns out it isn't an actual potato chip. It doesn't even look like one I think. I don't know what I would call it, the closest thing I've come up with so far is that mountain the grinch lives in. But California is pretty. I found a new way to describe the landscape here. It's like that episode in the Mandalorian, I think the planet is called Tython. I won't say much more because of spoilers but yeah. That's what it's like down here, and it's like 60 degrees most of the time. See images below.

4. Before I left on my mission, my Dad got really into Mountain biking. He and the Kids are loving it from what I can tell. I don't love it, it's alright. I'd go biking, but I'm not as into it. So, when my Dad heard I was on bikes for the transfer he got excited. He said his dream had come true. But, it has started to have the opposite effect on me. Biking was fine before, but I'm developing a strong dislike for it. My heart goes out to Elder Higginson who is biking in Arizona, I am sorry it is hot over there. So I just need to vent a little, because my gosh. I don't feel like I have gotten used to biking at all since week 1. My comps have been getting better and faster but I'm still lagging behind. I'm like pedaling as hard as I can, switching gears, whatever. There are just so many hills here and it's hot and a little humid. Yes, it gets hot here too guys. I'm always sore. I don't know if anyone could make a more uncomfortable bike seat, because it's like sitting on a rock. Who's idea was that? And our bikes are old. We've had issues with a bike at least once a week which makes none of us able to ride. The chains also come off a lot, so we have to pull over and put it back on, which is hard to do with white shirts. Speaking of which, white shirts should not be a thing when you have bikes. I now have oil stains on them and some Costco pizza grease on one. These are my AndCollar shirts too. I've tried bleach, stain remover, I have one more thing to try, but if that doesn't work I don't know what to do. The oil might be there forever. I also got a little blood on one of my shirts because I crashed on Sunday. We were biking uphill, for like 20 minutes but we were almost there. We got to a point where it was going downhill for a little bit, but there was this huge hill ahead so I had to pick up speed. I went from 1st to 7th gear too fast, and my bike just had a stroke. I couldn't explain it, because I didn't see how it happened. All I know is I was down on the asphalt, my leg was kind of tangled in the bike with the bike kinda on top of me, and I was laying on my bike. Nothing broke, just my shoulder hurt for a couple minutes, but I was fine. I scraped my arm a little bit. I had long sleeves, but the asphalt scraped my skin through the AndCollar shirt. But the shirt hadn't ripped or anything. So that was pretty cool.

5. Jesus taught with parables, I teach with analogies. Most of them are from Movies or Video games. Well today's analogy is based on my experience with Bible Bashers this week. I felt like I wasn't really reaching anyone on Facebook. I've messaged a lot of people and sent out friend requests but nothing came from it. So, I started joining more Facebook groups, introducing myself, and asking if anyone had any questions about the church. Just because people hear a lot of weird things about it. I got a handful of responses, but after talking, they either stopped responding, or turned out to be Bible Bashers pretending to have legitimate questions. But I've been ready for this. Through the whole mission so far I've kinda wanted to talk to Bible Bashers, just to see how I would handle it. The Spanish guy from earlier doesn't count because there was a communication barrier. Anyway, they were attacking the Church for like polygamy, saying we married off our daughters at 13 years old, and practiced child abuse. And like, alright, I have to deal with these misinformed people. One of my favorite quotes from Elder Palmer is that Bashing isn't trash, it's recycle. And I agree! They make the same claims over again no matter what you say to resolve it. This is where the Smash Bros Analogy comes in. This is going to sound very confusing if you don't know what Smash Bros is or haven't played it. 

You know when you're Donkey Kong, your sister is playing Kirby, and you keep punching her off the map. But because she's a stupid balloon thing, she just keeps flying back up. It's the worst thing to ever exist. But it's super satisfying when you damage their health enough so that when you punch them they just fly off. As Donkey Kong, you head butt them into the ground, wind up your punch, and just send them away and they blow up on the edge of the screen. I miss that feeling. But, that's kind of how I felt responding to the Bashers. Because I kind of roasted them, but with the Spirit. And I felt like Donkey Kong, I just sent them away. And it's easy to combo them because they don't change their technique. Except in this case, instead of trying to destroy them, you also want them to read the Book of Mormon. I don't think any of the people I messaged are going to though. Maybe I should change my approach. Maybe. Probably.

6. Earlier this week, I got some pictures off the computer to get on my phone, but I didn't delete them permanently. Later an Elder from our district saw one of the pictures of when I had a beard. They didn't recognize me at first, but were like "I know this person". But they have more respect for me now because they can't grow facial hair.

7. So Saturday was rough. With three people in a small apartment we struggle to get everyone showered and everything in time so we can have Personal Study. So I got out of the shower last, a little late, but I wanted to try and clean out some of the oil stains of my AndCollar shirt with a stain remover spray bottle. I was scrubbing for a while but it wasn't working. It literally advertises on the bottle that it removes oil stains. Anyway, I was getting frustrated and beginning to have a spirit of contention. So I decided to go and Read the Book of Mormon and start Personal Study. This sounds like a good moment for a little spiritual experience or something, but it didn't really go that way. I was on 1 Nep 20 when he started quoting Isaiah. I tried to read for like 30 minutes, but it wasn't working. I just could not do it. I gave up, feeling worse than before. I decided to work on an invitation from my Dad to compare two scriptures and find common words, and after like 20 minutes I didn't get like any words except and, is, to, from, for, the, etc. The only word that had any meaning was Christ and God, but the verses weren't related at all. And I was like what? What the heck am I supposed to learn from this? So then we were out of Personal Study time and the day wasn't off to a great start. We later had a lesson with a lady, and the bike was all uphill. I won't talk about it too much, but I said "Fudge" and "Fetch" the whole ride up. So we got to the house, and the lady had some family and friends over. It was her, her parents, her younger brother, his wife, and their daughter Brittany. Brittany has some sort of handicap or special needs. She is in a wheelchair and has a neck support thing, I think she's 30 years old, and can't talk as well. So that was sobering when I walked in. We met everyone and had a lesson on Missionary work and it was good. Brittany served a Mission in the San Diego temple as I assume, a temple worker. And it was really cool. Near the end of the lesson Birttany gave us a paper and it's one of the pictures down below so go read it really quick.

I needed that. She also said that when we walked in, she felt that Christ walked in too. I haven't talked about this as much, but something I've been struggling with is I haven't felt like God is really with me. Like He's watching me, but that's pretty much it. And like c'mon man, I'm working out here, gimme a little help. And even though it's still something I'm trying to get better at recognizing, I can take that testimony from Brittany and hold onto that. It was really cool to meet them. They weren't actually even going to be there, but Brittany's scooter wasn't working or something, so they stayed when we came in. Another cool thing from that lesson was that Brittany's Mom was in contact with a lot of people that she wanted us to record our testimonies and send them out, and also to find the Missionaries in those peoples areas. 

Well sorry that was long. It's weird how short weeks feel, because there's also a lot of stuff that happens during the week. I'd love to hear from you guys, let me know how things are.

And it turns out, that quote from last week "Keep your heart locked, but your eyes opened", did not come from a Missionary. It came from Elder Stevenson. That's right, a frickin apostle in an MTC talk. You see a different side of apostles in MTC devotionals. 

Also, I heard this song this week and I really liked it so please listen to it. Save Me (Peter's song) 

Hasta la Vistan

- Ewder Wride

1. Brittany's Testimony

2. Potato Chip

3. California landscape

4. More California landscape

5. Mandalorian Episode landscape

6. My District

7. Harry Potter?

8. I just had to share this. Peter is adorable

9. The Trio

10. Meme

Week 6 - Mega Chair

Kon'nichiwa

The weeks are blending together so I'm not exactly sure what happened this week.

1. Mega Chair

2. Elder Palmer - Shrek and Singing

3. I'm a Bully

4. Moises

5. President Giménez

1. I keep forgetting to talk about Mega Chair. The night I got here my companions showed me Mega Chair. They had two extra chairs in the apartment, and so instead of getting rid of one or just leaving it, they decided to duct tape them together. Elder Ferry used to put his bike behind, but I kept knocking it over because I wasn't used to having twice the chair. So that's Mega Chair. It's pretty cool I guess. It's whatever. They both have nicer spinning chairs, but my chair has a cool name.

2. Before I start, I want to say that Elder Palmer is a great companion and we get along well. We have our differences and that's ok. But, Elder Palmer does not like Shrek. And Shrek is basically my Spirit Animal. Shrek 1 & 2 are way up there on favorite movies. So yeah Elder Palmer not liking Shrek represents a major difference in our personalities. That's been difficult because Shrek is just so good. One other thing, he has also ruined the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. He keeps playing it on the Ukulele and singing along, which is not super easy on the ears. That is one of many songs that he has ruined for me. And I would just like to say, I know I sang a lot back home and with friends and whatever. You have my sincere and heartfelt apologies if I caused any pain or suffering.

3. Something crucial for me to be able to have a good relationship with someone is if I can tease them. Me and my MTC companion had that a lot. But I think I may have taken it to another level. I can't help it. If someone says something, and I think of a savage and kind of rude reply I can't contain myself. But it's not serious, I don't think. I haven't made anyone cry, but Sister Gimenez said we can cry, just to cry in the shower. I'm trying to get better at being polite.

4. I technically placed my First Book of Mormon. Or co-placed I guess. It wasn't one that I brought, but I helped give it to someone (Although earlier Elder Ferry gave someone a Book of Mormon, but it was in a different language so I don't think it counts because I didn't talk). But yeah, we were just chillin at the park, about to go finding, going over goals for the time. And then a Mexican guy named Moises came over and asked if we wanted any food. He and some of his buddies were cooking chicken and quesadillas. So we went over there, introduced ourselves and started talking to him. We talked about God, Prophets, etc. and he accepted a Book of Mormon. He said he would read it that night and seemed very genuine. We will see how he is doing next Sunday, when he said to contact him. 

5. Also last Wednesday we had interviews with President Giménez. I really liked it. Over the past couple weeks I've really just been trying to figure out little ways to build up a desire to be working out here. But I do honestly just want to go to college. It hasn't been comforting to hear many missionaries out here, who have been out here a while longer than I have, still are trunky (trunky means wanting to go home for those who don't get mission slang). So that's what we talked about. And I liked how he said you either do missionary work out of duty, responsibility, or you want to do it. And for each aspect of missionary work, I should work to try and move to wanting to do it. So that's what I have been working on. 

Well sorry, I don't feel like this week's email was that interesting or entertaining. In fact, let me know if my past emails are or aren't entertaining so I can know whether or not I should try. Because it is draining. But, I didn't really try this week so, sorry. But I also don't much care.

Last point: One Elder said that on a mission you should "Keep your heart locked, but your eyes open." That killed me. Well I hope you all have a good week, email me if you so desire. Love you all!

- Elder Wride

1. Apartment

2. Mega Chair and Desk

3. Meme

Week 5 - Ukulele and Bible Basher

 Nihao

This week was Bueno

1. Random Things

2. Companions

3. Ukulele

4. Farmers Market and Bible Basher

5. Exchange

1. So there are just a bunch of random things I wanna talk about that aren't really related so each point is a separate topic.

• I think I've said this before, but Missionaries are very deprived of entertainment. I don't have a SIM card, so I can't download Samsung Music, which is what all the Missionaries use. So the only music I have is from the Sacred Music app. Which is great, but I don't like listening to only Hymns. I don't get a SIM card till the next transfer so it will be a long time.
• Quick tip: So, on the Facebook Messenger app, I used to get really annoyed when there were new messages and the little circles came up on your home screen. There's probably a way to fix it, but I found out if you just swipe it down it goes to the little x circle. So now I'm just getting practice shooting the little messenger icons, and it's my main source of entertainment right now. Unfortunately it won't bounce off the sides of the screen. That would be cool. But now you can have fun when that circle thing comes up, so you're welcome.
• Last thing. Thank you Mom! We ordered bedding stuff and had it sent to the Mission office because that's what it said to do on the missionary portal. I got like a waffle blanket and 2 poofy pillows and it's amazing. It was a little concerning that maybe the pillows would lose their profiles, but in the morning they have still retained their profiles. It may be that I'm just more tired at night so going to bed just is better, but it's like my favorite bed of all time. It's not like I just think about going to bed all day, but every time it's time for bed I just get so happy like I'm so excited to sleep. So thank you Mom for letting me pick my bedding stuff. 

2. I just wanted to talk a bit about my companions. Elder Palmer and Elder Ferry. 

• Elder Palmer is the tall one with glasses. Remember him because palm tree and Palmer sound similar. So Palmer is my trainer, and he's been out for a year to the day I think. We get along, but I think he gets frustrated with me sometimes. And I think this goes for my MTC companion too, Elder Hardman. But, my friends know this, I am so oblivious and confused a lot. And so, I want to know what's going on, so I'll be like "Wait, what are we doing?". And so sometimes he just won't respond and like I didn't know what the issue was, but now it makes sense. And like back with Elder Hardman too. So sorry, I just don't understand things well. He is great though and he likes to cook food for us, which is nice so yeah.
• Elder Ferry is cool. He's the District leader and kind of my second trainer I guess? He's got 4 weeks left, this is his last transfer. He  kind of reminds me of a combination of my brother Joseph and myself. He is a lot more calm and relaxed than Palmer. And he has a better sense of humor I would say. He has told me quite a few pick up lines That are both terrible, and golden at the same time. He also really likes body wash or something. Our bathroom has like 6 different body washes and he has like 4 deodorants. I mean, that's great, but a little peculiar
• Either my sense of humor is deteriorating, or nobody gets it. Because nobody laughs at my jokes anymore and it's starting to get to me. Because like I'll say things I think are funny, and then it's just quiet. And it's hurting my self confidence. Maybe it's just that they've been out here for too long and they don't understand. I don't know. 

3. I started practicing Ukulele. I just needed something because I'm dying here. The Ukulele is Palmer's old Ukulele which he says is kind of broken. The strings don't tune very well, but I can't figure it out. I'm practicing just string plucking, I don't really know how to do chords as well. Plus, it is out of tune and doesn't sound good. Anyway, the only songs I'm working on are like SpongeBob closing theme, Habanera (Carl's wake up routine from UP), Not in Nottingham by Robin hood and that's pretty much it. My companions are probably getting really sick of those songs. My MTC District knows. Those songs have been stuck in my head for weeks.

4. So apparently the only thing that goes on in Poway is the Farmers Market. We had it earlier this week and everyone had stands set up for food and things. One guy was selling almonds for like $15. I was like "Yeah forget it, that's not happening". The only thing we got was carrots from some lady who just handed them to us. As we were walking around the park some Spanish guy called us over. He started talking to us, and I didn't know what he was saying, but he was very passionate about whatever it was. I picked up a couple of words like "Killing" "Only the Bible" and something about how Christ is on coming 1 time". I was just standing there smiling like an idiot and then eventually Palmer was just like okay thank you, see you later. They said he was bashing, and like I kind of picked up on that but I wasn't sure. So that was cool.

5. We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was really good. Ferry and I went with one of the ZLs and it just felt a lot more productive. We went through the list of members to set up lessons, and went looking in the park. I just felt like I was fulfilling my purpose a lot better, because a lot of the time, we haven't done as much in person finding as I thought or felt like we should do. So we met this guy named Jeff. He is inactive, but he served a mission. He said he never gained a Testimony of Joseph Smith even after the 2 years and so he walked away from the Church. I just thought it was cool because he said he really respects the Church, he just never got that. And that is like my greatest fear. I've had enough experiences that I can believe in the Church and move forward. Experiences in the Temple, my Patriarchal Blessing, Efy, the MTC, Church History tour, etc. But like I'm scared about never getting to the point where I can say I know the Church is true without a doubt. I know there is a special light about this Church and that days go by better as we make efforts to do what God has commanded. In reading the Book of Mormon, praying with sincerity, following the words of the Prophets, the list goes on.

So I would encourage you all to do those things to the best of your ability. And can say that God's promised blessings from obeying these commandments will come. But it is in His timing.

I think that's all for this week. I did my best to make the email clear, sorry if it wasn't. Feel free to shoot me an email, I will read them. I hope you all have a splendid week.

1. My Comps and Zone Leaders - This is how we started one of the morning devotionals. I put duct tape on my glasses because I didn't have any sunglasses. And everyone here says Pogi. I don't really know what it means, I'll probably start saying it though.

2. Another sunset. The building across the street is Walmart

3. I thought this was sick

4. Ukulele 

5. Meme

Meme

A meme from Hyrum to once again describe how he's feeling, lol!

Week 4 - Indiana Jones and Master Oogway

Bonjour

The title is confusing, I am just going to use Indiana Jones and Master Oogway for analogies on the mission experience so far. But honestly, this week has been the wildest emotional roller coaster. Like some days I'm feeling sad, and then other days I'm happy. 

1. First Days in the Field - Indiana Jones

2. California and Biking

3. General Conference - Master Oogway

4. Current Status and Temple Trip

1. So the morning after I arrived we went to a new Missionary training thing. It went for like 4 hours of basically just being nuked with information. And like I was already kind of sad, because it was like "What's going on? Can I go back to the MTC?" I just wanted to go back to bed and cry but I got through it fine.

The analogy I came up with for what the first 2-3 days were like is the scene from Indiana Jones. The scene where Indiana is being pulled from the truck on the dirt. So, I'm Indiana Jones, the MTC is the White Horse he was riding on - 

- the dirt is just everything about Missionary life, and the truck is where all the other Missionaries and Mission leaders are. The truck represents where the ideal Missionary should be. So to the analogy, I was riding along on my horse, feeling good, but I needed to get on the truck. So, as I try to make an easy transition, I fall and end up on the ground. So I am being dragged along, just eating all this dirt. And I don't like it. 

But while being dragged, President and Sister Giménez on the truck are shouting "You can do it! Be patient with yourself! Do your best!". But they won't slow down for me, or let me climb on. While this is happening, other trucks are pulling up with Friends and Family members inside. They're shouting "We're proud of you! You're doing great!" I don't feel great, I'm trying to limit the amount of dirt that is going into my mouth.

2. California is nice. We are in a little city called Poway that is North of San Diego. I haven't seen the beach at all, except for while I was on the plane. Not that it would really matter if I did. I kind of thought California would be more green, but it's more brown and more desert like. But the temperature has been really good. It got a little hotter this week, but only to like Mid-High 80s so not terrible. Most of the time the temperature is like 60s and I love it. Biking hasn't been as bad as I thought, we will have bikes for the whole transfer which isn't super exciting. And our area is pretty big, and we've been able to catch rides if where we're going is too far. But both of my companions have already broken their bikes. They didn't really do anything to them, their bikes were already kind of messed up, so they just made it worse by riding them. But biking reminds me a lot of riding around the neighborhood with siblings. 

3. General Conference was amazing. We spent each session at a different member's house and they sometimes fed us. But I think what made this one better was it's the first time I've really brought a lot of questions to it, which made it more personal to me. But I had a lot of questions, so it was cool to see them all answered. There wasn't like one talk that would answer a question, I had to piece it together from a lot of the talks. I didn't want it to end because I still needed help and don't know what I'm doing. President Nelson was closing, and I just thought of that scene from Kung Fu Panda where Master Oogway ascends. 

In the analogy, President Nelson is Master Oogway, and I am both Master Shifu and Po. Shifu represents the side of me that is trying, and Po is the natural man side of me that needs the most help. I need you to watch it for me right now. Like stop reading and go watch it. President Nelson is telling me to believe and have faith, but I don't really know how to. Then he just sort of leaves and I don't know how to do this. I got emotional just thinking about it like "President Nelson, you can't leave me, I need help". Go watch the scene, and that's basically how I felt. I don't really know who Tai Lung is, maybe like Bible Bashers or just the Hard parts of the Mission. So when Conference ended I was feeling kind of down. And that seemed like the perfect moment for my companions to talk about getting haircuts, so they were just beating a man while he's down. 

4. I've been doing better since then, even though I still don't really know what's going on. I was able to piece together all of the things I pulled from each talk so that has helped, and I know what I need to do. Part of it is also that I have been more diligent in reading the Book of Mormon recently. Like not just reading, but studying and trying to make it more relevant and personal to me. I would encourage you all to do that because it does make a difference. Also, do the same thing with General Conference. Since the speakers are speaking to people all over the world, you need to work with the Spirit to make it personal to you and your needs. But yeah something else that also was great was going to the San Diego Temple this morning. The design of it was really good. Like the architect was into it. It was really good, probably my second favorite temple trip. When I got my Endowment is still number 1.  

I feel like the analogies didn't make sense, but that's literally how it was for me so yeah. But other than that, things have been fine. I pieced it together and kind of know what to do, but at the same I also don't know what I'm doing still. 

1. Picture with the Mission President

2. My cool little set up

3. Sunset picture

4. Jesus was a Ladies Man

5. Meme in Honor of the death of Priesthood and Women's session from Elder Ethan Wride

6. Lake Poway

7-8. Temple Pictures

________________________________________________

Olo 

I'm gonna send 2 emails this week, because I tried to send this one last Tuesday, but it wasn't working for some reason. So this email covers from Saturday the 25th to the 28th so it's for half a week. And so when I wrote this I had just got to California.

1. End of MTC

2. To the Airport

3. San Diego

1. Right after sending my last email, my family went in front of the MTC and waved before going to the BYU game. It was so sweet to see them. My last couple days in Provo were kinda sad. The MTC was a good time and I miss it, and my District. On Sunday we had a District testimony meeting, which was really good. Seeing everyone's testimony grow throughout this experience has been really cool. And I know my testimony has grown a lot from them. Monday we just did packing, and other recreational stuff. It was sort of another P-day. And then the next morning was goodbye to the rest of the District. At 4 AM I said bye to my comp who is going to Las Vegas. It's funny, I actually miss him less than everyone else. I still love him and he's the best, but I have spent enough time with him. Saying bye was more like a "See ya, have fun!". Everyone else left throughout the morning. But I keep thinking about the scripture Jacob 7:26 "the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream". It really does feel like a dream and it's kind of weird. I do miss it.

2. And then around 10 AM, I was off to the airport. We took the train up to the airport and it took like an hour. But while I was on the train, my Mom kept messaging me asking me how I was getting to the airport and whatnot. I thought like "Yeah she's just being a protective Mom wondering where her son is". But then, I get off the train and she just appears out of nowhere. My parents just hunted me down and were able to catch me as I was switching between two different trains. I was really caught off guard, like what? My parents are crazy people. But it was really sweet, and I loved seeing them. We just talked for a bit while waiting for the next train. And then I was off again. The flight to San Diego was 1.5 hours, and I had to endure without being able to watch movies or being able to sleep, because the chairs are comfortable. I didn't like it.

3. (Remember this is the perspective from Day 1). Being in San Diego feels weird. I'm not quite here mentally, I've only been here for a couple hours, but so far it's been alright. It hasn't been bad, I just don't really know what's going on. Once we landed in California, I met My Mission President, President Giménez, who fun fact spoke in Conference April 2020. And then I just hopped in a car with my comps, (I'm in a trio) and got some food. Also, good news we are switching to bikes! We are in a car area, but will have bikes. One of the Elders in a biking area broke his arm, so they're getting our car. So we'll have fun with that.

Sorry if this email was confusing, I tried to rewrite it to make more sense. But basically just point 3 is from the perspective of day 1.

But I hope this week and a half has been a splendid time, I will send another email about my first week in California shortly.

1. Family from the MTC

(and what I looked like to them, I mimicked them and held up an invisible sign)

2. After Sunday Devo with District

3. Sad Breakfast after most everyone left

4. Mom's shot from getting off the train

5. Picture with Dad

6. Family Selfie

7. Landscape Picture

8. New Comps