Pics from Trevon

Monday, July 27, 2009

So this was a pretty intense week.
On Monday we wrote letters and then went home for Pickering to pack to go home.
Then on Tuesday we got picked up by the senior couples the Naylors and they dropped me off at Elder Probert and Amesse and then took Pickering to meet President.
After that we had my last District meeting with Probert as my DL. and then we went to a members house for Probert and Amesse to do something on their computer so I just sat there and played with the members dogs. On Wednesday they were planning on packing all day, so I got one of the Priests in the Ward to go on an all day trade off with me and I went back to my area and tracted there. Then transfers came.
Elder Probert went up to Brunswick Georgia to be a Zone leader. Amesse went down to Ocala Florida... and my new companion isn't a new companion... I got assigned as senior companion to Elder Chadwick... my mtc companion... haha I didn't see that coming at all.
Anyways now we have a car share in the area so every other week we will be on car and then on bike the next time around.
After transfer meetings on Thursday I got a call from James Howard from Dunn Ave. Ward ...he is an excommunicated member that I got coming back to church while I was there and he and his nonmember girlfriend just had their baby and he wants me to come up and bless the baby this weekend. I think it would be sweet to go but I don't know if I can. I don't think President will let me and I will miss PEC in the morning and I don't think its the best idea... I think I will tell him that I can't make it because I have other obligations... he will be sad but it will only last a while.
Then on Friday we had our weekly planning. and we decided on a goal to baptize 7 people this transfer and I had a very spiritual experience that night where I just prayed for about an hour trying to figure out who we were going to baptize this transfer.
On Saturday morning there was a pioneer day activity at the church.. we ate breakfast and it was amazing I stuffed myself so full you couldn't fit water down my throat... after that we did a tug of war with the missionaries against all of the primary kids and the teachers we won because Chadwick is huge... and then we did my favorite part ...a pie eating contest... it was Bishop, Bishop's son, Bro Sanderson (executive secretary) and I. I had an egg custard pie and I guess I don't like egg custard pie. And not to mention I was full to bursting... so we couldn't use our hands or forks or anything we had to go at it with our mouth and I got maybe 4 bites in before I puked all over the pie... it was disgusting but I was determined to win so I started to go down to eat again and I couldn't find a part of the pie that didn't have throw up on it so I figured it was time to give up... I couldn't do it. But it was really fun...
Then we had a water balloon toss with all the primary kids I was using a towel with a three year old girl who was adorable and tried so hard to throw the balloon but she could never do it so I would have to cheat a little bit to get it to the next towel but it was worth it because she would get so happy when it would make it over... and at the end she threw the last water balloon at me and soaked me... it was a really fun morning... then we went tracting the rest of the day.
On Sunday we had our first ward correlation in this ward.. meaning it was the first time that we met with our ward mission leader and went over who we were teaching... our new ward mission leader is so excited about everything. He handed out three Book of Mormons to two elders and I went with him to Relief Society to hand one out. I bore my testimony both times and told them all about my goal to baptize 7 people this transfer and I told them that I don't know who the people are but God does and I asked for their help in finding the seven... it was reallly good I think some of the members got inspired by that...
Anyways that is about it I hope that it was long enough. I have been getting good at writing in my journal I have written every day this week and almost 3 pages a day... i hope to finish this one a lot sooner than the first one I finished.
anyways I love you all. Please write!

July 20, 2009

Note from Mom:

We got a tape from Trevon the other day, and it was really fun to listen to him. He sounds happy, and positive. I was happy to find out that the Mission President has changed his mind about them eating with the members, so it sounds like he is at least getting one meal a day by members. Travis, he reports his best meal has been from a Filipino family, he loved their food, and is hoping they sign up to feed the missionaries every time!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sorry the tape hasn't come yet.. I didn't have any postage stamps so I couldn't send it but I am getting some today and I will be sending it.
So this week we pretty much tracted all week... not a lot happened. We went on trade offs and I went back to my old area and we set a couple baptism dates for Probert and in turn he set a date for my area named Jason Kirz for the 18th... Jason was a media referral and he has been meeting with the missionaries on and off for 9 years. Apparrently the only thing that has been holding him back is he is afraid what his wife will think... she thinks the church looks down on women. We are going over there with a member this week and hopefully change her mind and get her baptized on Saturday as well. So this week we will be expecting some miracles. Chris and Amy are being kinda lame... they are having some arguments and they aren't sure if they want to get married yet. We are having them meet with the Bishop tomorrow to get some counseling so hopefully they will get baptized on Saturday as well . Right after their wedding. I got an email from Brooke today and that was really cool. She isl the first person to write me other than mom and dad in a long time! I am missing those letters!
hint hint :)
We found out that our new A.P. is our zone leader Elder Fish... he baptizes a lot of people. He gets about 8-9 average in a six week transfer . I don't know why but that means that the APs are no longer Spanish... so that will be interesting it means that now we have a huge variety of who the next one will be which will be called next transfer.
anyways I hope you enjoy my tape and I love you all very much we will talk to you later.

Monday, June 29, 2009

So this week has been crazy. Amy and Chris are incredible! They came to the investigator and recent convert class we hold on Wednesday nights and it was perfect. We taught about prayer in it... and that night at like 10:30 we got a call from them to tell us that they had had a very spiritual witness that Joseph was a Prophet. So we ran over there in our pajamas and talked with them about getting married so they can get baptized. They are so excited , but they want to meet with Bishop first to have premarital counseling, so we are trying to set that up. Elder Pickering wants to get them baptized before he goes home which is at the end of July.. but we think that shouldn't be a problem.

Amy said that she is excited to be in the Temple and all it's so crazy I haven't had investigators like this in a long time.

This week we taught a lot of lessons as well... we were out knocking doors all week and got the door slammed in our face hundreds of times ..but we did get a lot of new investigators ..so hopefully we will be having some more baptisms coming up.

Also we got our new zone organized and we are in a new district and Elder Probert is my district leader again it is so sweet he is awesome... I am so excited to serve under him.

Sorry I don't have more to write. If I can I will send another email ...but the internet here is having a hard time so I will send it before I have anymore problems. I love you all....and keep those letters coming!

Monday, June 22, 2009

So, Mom I rode my bike on Friday and didn't have any problems with it at all. The pedal was fine... the seat still hurts but I think I will be able to endure.

So, a lot has happened this week. We went on trade offs with the zone leaders and it was lame... it was the least productive trade off I have been on in my so far on my mission...

I was pretty disappointed, but it's all good and I realize we are here to grow and learn.

So, on Friday we had to go out and teach 200 people. We didn't quite get that high but I think we got the highest amount of lessons. We taught 158 and committed 103 people to baptism... it was a pretty good day we got 17 new investigators... most of which said they would get baptized. The only problem it was blazing hot... it was the first day of the summer that it was over 100 and the humidity was pretty bad too.

But at the end of the day we knocked on a door of a guy named Matt who invited us in to get out of the heat... we started teaching him and his fiance Amy and we didn't even really get to teach they just kept asking questions for about an hour and a half... and they kept saying "if we get baptized will we have to do this"... they were sweet. They are both recovering drug addicts and they have a 1 year old son named Aiden. They are probably in their middle 20s. Amy is a strong Christian but Chris says that he wants to be but he cant look himself in the mirror and say that Jesus Christ died for him. Anyways they said they would come to Stake Conference on Sunday. So we arranged to have a member come by and pick us up and take us while leading them to the Stake Center. We were definitely inspired on who to take to pick them up. Pete and PJ Sorrano.. a younger couple in the ward. When we got to the Stake building Chris told us that he felt way under dressed because he was wearing a polo shirt . So Pete, without saying a word walked over to his car... took his shirt off and put on a t shirt... it was perfect for Chris! During the conference PJ sat with Amy and Chris ..Pete and I sat behind them randomly. During the conference Chris stood up and left... Pete, Amy and I followed him to the bathroom and waited. He came out and said that he couldn't keep himself from crying so he had to leave. He told us that conference was a life changing experience and that he had never felt the love of God more in his life... we went back to sit down and Chris was so absorbed in the talks. Amy wasn't so much but I was ok with that ...because PJ started talking to her and telling her about her conversion which was perfect because PJ was a drug addict as well and a big party girl... so she talked with her about how repentance works and all that it was perfect. Anyways we got a ride home from Don and Liz but Pete and PJ walked Chris and Amy to their car and set up a family home evening for tonight and we are going to come as well and hopefully set a baptismal date for the Saturday after next. They are some of the most prepared people I have ever met.

Anyways, Stake Conference was involving 3 stakes because a new one was being created... the new Stake is a Jax south which borders my area at I-295 so now the mission has 6 zones/stakes in it.

I also had my President interview and he has an assignment for me. We talked about our gathering approach at the door.
1 . We're messengers from Christ
2 Did you know that Jesus and God appeared to Joseph Smith?
3 Did you know Christ also appeared anciently in America?
4 Did you know we have a record of it?
and then teach about Book of Mormon and invite to be baptized.

President wants me to experiment with it and try it this way and see how the results are.
1 we are messengers sent by Jesus Christ to inform you that he has restored his gospel and to invite you to be baptized
2 did you know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph in the grove.
3 did you know Christ appeared anciently...

and the rest is the same... President thinks that if we do that at the beginning it will bring the Spirit stronger and the only people that will say no and shut the door will be those who are not elect and not prepared yet.

I like it I haven't gotten the chance to try it out yet but I will give it a shot this week.

Anyways, I have been doing good, Mom I bought a new camera for 100 dollars and I got a really good deal... it was on sale for Fathers day. I love you all.
happy Fathers Day Padre

A note from mom:

Just a little add on for the record.....Fathers day morning Dad got a phone call on my cell phone. It was the first man that Trevon had baptized...in St. Augustine. He loves that couple and is hoping that he gets to see them sealed in the Temple before he comes home. They were giving Trevon a ride to Stake Conference. And were wishing Dad and happy Fathers day from Trevon. By they time they hung up, I was in tears. They love Trevon so much....they said that they make him call them every time he gets transferred so they can keep track of him.....and they call him often to ask him a question about the gospel. And that he tells them often how much he loves his family. It made Dads day to get that call......and mine too.

Happy Hump Day, Trevon!!!

Congratulations, Trevon! You made it to the half-way mark! Here are pics of the nieces and nephews!

Kailin and Karsyn

Kailin and Anna

Kailin, Emma, and Karsyn

Kailin, Anna and Jakob

Monday, June 15, 2009

So, I got transferred from mandarin all the way to Mandarin...
hahahaha
I didn't even leave the ward. There are two areas in Mandarin and I got transferred to the other one.
I am in another three-man with elder Kuhlman and Elder Pickering...
Kuhlman is going home in one week from today... and Pickering is going home at the end of the transfer in 5 weeks.
Elder Macdonald got sent all the way to Jesup, Georgia.
So, it was a surprise to a lot of people when I walked into church on Sunday.
And guess what?? Elder Probert replaced me so we are serving in the same ward again. I am pretty excited for that. I love Probert. He might be my favorite missionary in the mission... used to not like him very much.
We are living in the largest apartment complex in Jacksonville and Kuhlman sold his bike so we are walking everywhere. Since we are in the middle of our complex of about 60 buildings we have to walk quite along way just to get out of our complex.
So, I got the pirates CD and the Davinci Code CD... I haven't listened to either yet and Probert gave me the receipt for my hump package that was taken to the post office and a member is taking us there to get it today. I am excited...

So, don't worry about the cop situation. People just told us they would call the cops on us and there just happened to be a cop in the complex at the time, so the stubborn lady went over and told on us and the cop asked us to leave so that people would be happy.

We use the apartment offices library to do emails in this area and it is a really slow computer. I have been on for half an hour and its taken me most of that time to get so I could write to you all.

We were tracting on Saturday and we caught a little frog about and inch long and we took it home and elder Pickering ate it.... hahaha that grossed you out, didn't it, Mom??
We don't really have anybody progressing to baptism right now. They weren't doing too much before I got here, but we will be finding a lot of new people this week. We have been challenged to find 40 new investigators this week by our zone leaders.
I don't think it will be that hard... I average 20 a week and since we are in a three man we can use trade offs a lot more effectively.
On Thursday-- my hump day-- we are going to a members and I am going to burn a shirt. I hope I can video tape it and send it to you guys, but my camera isn't working so I don't know how that is going to work.
Well, there is someone waiting for the computer, so I have to go. I will find a way to email again today and I will send you my new address.

Monday, June 8, 2009

So we had a pretty interesting week. We had the most lessons we have taught together and the most baptismal invites either of us have had on our mission. We had 77 lessons and 54 bap invites.... it was pretty sweet we also found some new dates... but it is all for naught... both Elder Macdonald and I are getting transferred. We found out that the transfers went back to this week and then we got calls that both of us were leaving... this is going to be an intense transfer! A lot of people are getting switched around and the new Stake/Zone is being made in two weeks... Elder Anderson is coming down for the Stake conference and he will be here this weekend for the selection of the new Stake Presidency. It will be interesting.

I didn't get to do much here I don't know very many people so it isn't hard to leave... I haven't even unpacked completely which is pretty cool but I have no idea where I will go I am hoping to go to Lake City or Gainsville I am kinda getting sick of Jacksonville I want to teach new kinds of people.

There are a couple of new places opening in both those zones... anyways I am excited to find out where I am going and who my companion will be.

So don't send any letters till I tell you where I am next week.
love you all.

Monday, June 1, 2009

So we had a decent week we got 6 new baptismal dates.... none of which came to church but they are still on for this weekend we will have to see what happens.

We went on trade offs with the zone leaders and I went with Elder Lambourne and had a great time... it was nice to sit in a car again. We got poured on again and today is HURRICANE SEASON hahahahahahahahaah hopefully we will get one.

Yesterday in church we found out a new Stake is being formed in Jacksonville it will be interesting to see what happens there will be a new zone in the mission and a lot of new areas will be opening up.

I haven't fallen off my bike this week but it keeps breaking... I looked through the warranty and the only way the warranty will work is if you specifically tighten the pedals every single day... which I think means they knew it was a poor design of bike... I think we might have gotten ripped off mom.. but I will just bring the tool with me so I can put the pedal back on every time it falls off... I am however going to buy a new bike seat today because I can't take the one I have right now it is killing my rear end.

So, I heard that the Cavaliers are out of the playoffs, Lakers and Magic that is a pretty good matchup. I hope the Magic take it I like them a lot more than the Lakers.

So, other than my bike I have been doing pretty well.. we have transfer calls this weekend... time is starting to fly by I feel like I just got here.

We are also getting a new ap either next transfer or the one following I am not sure. I have high hopes for Elder Probert getting it I think he would be awesome, he was my district leader for one transfer.

I got to see a bunch of members from St Augustine yesterday because their family members were speaking in our ward it was cool..
anyways I love you all I hope to hear from you all soon.
The Dr. has be icing and heating my back....and doing my exercises to strengthen muscles.....it is doing much better!

Trevon with his broken bike.

We are assuming this is the Orlando Temple.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Hello everybody... we just had the slowest week of the mission. It was pouring all week and we couldn't get much work done. We got the cops called on us for tracting in an apartment complex ...but we are going to go back tomorrow and tract some more. I am not sure if I got to tell you last week or not but we had President interviews and our chapel is outside our area so it was a long bike ride... and it is almost hurricane season and it was pouring. So we were riding to President interviews and my bike seat broke so I had to ride the rest of the way standing on my bike.

Then I had the shortest interview ever because President was in a big hurry. And we decided to go to Chipotle because we weren't too far from it. On the way there my pedal started feeling funny and after we ate and were on our way home my pedal broke off. So I had to walk my bike all the way home... I got home and fixed everything. or so I thought the next day both the seat and pedal broke again.

I don't know if the insurance covers it or not but if it does mom could you tell me so I can get my bike fixed for good.
Since it is Memorial day we are writing emails at a members house. And we will be probably hanging out here the rest of the day.
I don't know what else to say.

Oh ya we went to the Temple on Saturday with the Ward and helped with the baptisms. We did confirming. It was so cool I love going to the Temple so much I hope I will be able to go do endowments again sometime soon. It will be so cool when we can go to the Gilbert Temple... does anyone know if it is going to be a big temple or not?
anyways I love you all.

Monday, May 18, 2009

So it was pouring really hard on Saturday while we were riding and I was going to cut through a parking lot to beat Elder Mac Donald to our appointment and I wasn't turning sharp enough so I used the brakes and I skid into the curb and was launched over my bike and started rolling down a hill... I caught my feet just in time to plow head first into a huge puddle and went almost completely under water... it was hilarious! There was this old Chinese guy watching the whole thing under a building and he started laughing ...so I went over and taught him a lesson and commited him to be baptised. He was still laughing when he said no so Ii took off to catch up with Elder Mac... it was a very fun day. (But he did invite us over...so its a good thing!)

Anyways, Taani, thank you for the Chipotle card. I hope I can go some time soon. I love you all

Monday, May 4, 2009

So, I am in Mandarin 2nd ward... it's in southern Jacksonville... my area is really small and I am on bike... I actually followed Elder Weidmeier here . I replaced him... our boundaries are south to I-295 west to the St. Johns river, east to Phillips highway, and north to Baymeadows Rd. I am serving in President Newman's ward and I am back in St. Augustine district... I am companions with Elder Macdonald who lived at the courner of Ray and Val Vista. Haha he went to Mesquite. He s pretty sweet we are having alot of fun and working really hard. This is a pretty slow area but we decided we are going to jump start it and have 9 baptisms this transfer! And this week our goal is to teach 150 lessons and invite 100 people to be baptized. Meaning we are going to have to talk to more than everybody we come in contact with... my most I have taught on a mission is 90 something so this will be cool!

I haven't met anybody in the ward really, just a couple people. But I have liked what I have seen.. they seem to be a big help.

I was hoping somebody could send me a big blowup map of my mission... I want to highlight the areas I have served in it and my boundaries and write all of my baptisms inside each of them. It would be fun and I can hang it somewhere when I get home... I have no idea how to do that so that's why I ask if it can be done.....Jarod?

I am loving it here even though I will be on bike through summer and hurricane season I think I will see a lot of people baptized in this area.

So story time... I got here on Thursday and on Saturday at 5:00 I got a call from Dunn Ave and they said that James Smith, who I had been teaching is getting baptized at 6:00... 1 hour. And he wanted me to baptize him... so I called James Howard who is an ex communicated member in Dunn Ave that I have a pretty close relationship with and he came and picked us up and took us to the baptism... I baptized James.... and had completely forgotten a change of garments so I had to wear wet garments all the way home... hahahahahahahahahahahaha it was pretty ridiculous!.

But, anyways i love you all and i hope to hear from you soon.

10275 Old St. Augustine Rd. #1010
Jacksonville, Florida 32257

Monday, April 27, 2009

So I am getting transferred... actually both Hill and I are getting white washed which means we are both leaving our area... so I will write you on Monday with my new address and everything... it's kind of a bummer though because we have so many people getting baptized in the next two months here... things were finally starting to click. We will have to see how it goes. I have no idea where I am going.
Could be anywhere between Jessup, Georgia and Oscala, Florida.

I had to speak in church yesterday and Elder Hill and another member... Hill and the other member took about 5 minutes between the two of them. So I had to fill about 25 minutes it wasn't too hard though... I just talked about the Atonement and told everyone that they need to find something in themselves to improve on. It was fun I have a bunch of dinners and lunches set up with alot of members so I can have a good time before I leave...and tell everyone good bye. We also have to solidify our baptismal dates for this weekend. It will be interesting.
So I have fallen 100% in love with sushi ...it is the best tasting thing in the whole world. I can live off it.
In fact I have asked the Korean member of the ward to make me some sushi on Wednesday night I am excited.
anyways nothing else has happened but I will write you all next week and tell you where I am at.
love you.

April 20, 2009--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TREVON!!!

So not much happened this last week, we got some new sweet gators and we set some new baptismal dates. We got a cool family of like 3 and the two sons are sweet. They came to mutual and are getting baptized on the 2nd of May.

I am thankful for all of those who remembered my birthday we are going to Red Lobster (after shopping) for lunch I am so excited. I am going to probably get the usual ultimate feast... cuz I want some of everything. And I am getting some calamari even though the rest of the guys here are lame and don't want any calamari.. I will enjoy it myself. Haha but I don't feel like I'm twenty at all !! I am pretty much in no way other than personality... a child... it kinda sucks! I expected to feel older!

So... we played tennis today really early. It was fun I am getting pretty good at tennis... we have a court outside our apartment and we play whenever we have free time.

Anyways tonight we are doing a family home evening at the Davis's with Marvina's family... I hope it goes well.

Transfer calls are on Saturday so don't send any letters if they won't get to me by next Wednesday. And I get to call home the weekend after that for Mothers day.... yay!

Love you all, and thanks for remembering my birthday! Trevon

Monday, April 13, 2009

So, this last week was all right. We worked a lot with our old investigators.. we found out that Marvina didn't get baptized because she is scared of being a hypocrite. She doesn't think that she can make the covenant and keep it.

Emier said I can have his X box 360 and a bunch of games... so I will be sending that home shortly. He has to get it from his dad's house first... I am so excited! Now I won't have to buy one when I get home. (But I am not thinking about that....right?)

We are going fishing with Marvina's family on Thursday so hopefully we can talk with her husband while we are doing that and get him in on baptism.

We had our President interviews on Wednesday and I think that President Newman is the most inspired man in the world... I walked in and he asked me what was wrong... I said nothing cuz I didn't think anything was wrong I thought I was fine. Then he said that I am not myself and he asked me what's wrong again... and I didn't even know why and I started confessing to him about how I cant get my investigators to church and therefore they can't get baptised and I was freaking out because I haven't had a baptism in months... he told me that none of it was my fault and that next transfer I would have a new companion and get back on top of things... but he said that he doesn't think my work here is done... so now I know that I won't be with Hill next transfer but I wont neccessiarily be leaving Dunn Ave. It was pretty intense. Then he told me that he wants me to find a new strategy for the mission on how to get people to church... He said because I am the one person who is most worried about it that I am the one who needs to find the answer for it. So, I got a lot of prayer and study to do this week... and once again, I didn't have any investigators at church on Sunday... but President says that I shouldn't worry about it at all.

So other than all that... I enjoyed the Easter package mom and dad thank you so much.
I hope you guys all enjoyed the pictures. I am going to go.... we might go to the zoo today. Love you all.

District pictures at Okeyfanokey Swamp

I was so close to this big one I even threw a stick at him and hit him right in the eye.... ha ha don't worry mom... when I was at the alligator farm they told us that its a rumor that alligators can run fast they are actually really slow... now crocodiles could burn me.

Monday, April 6, 2009

So... this week was kinda disappointing and would have been a complete loss if it wasn't for Conference... this was the most amazing session of conference I have ever heard... Ucthdorfs talk in Priesthood and Christofferson's and Holland and Perry... oh.. it was so good! And Monson is just the sweetest prophet we could have at this time.

So we got cell phones this week at zone conference and it was the last time I got to see Elder Wiedmeier because he is going home. That is the saddest thing that has happened so far on my mission ..he has been the perfect idol to look up to on my mission so far and I don't want him to go home... I am planning on going down to Mandarin for my birthday which will be his last p-day so we can hang out... otherwise I won't see him till after my mission.

But it's all good ...we went on trade offs with the zone leaders and set 12 baptismal dates though none of them were really solid.

About a month ago we got a referral for Elizabeth Washington and we set a date with her instantly she was so sweet... but we could never sit down with her so it fell through, but one day when we were going by her house we met her son Emier who just turned 19. He came to play basketball with us one week and he came to church.. he really liked it but didn't believe in one true church, anyways we lost contact with the Washington's but on Friday we had an appointment fall through in the area so we went by to see them and sat down with Emier for a while. and he told us he wanted to go to University of Utah in the fall and he wanted to be baptized before then, so I told him that we need to baptize him this weekend between sessions of conference. it was so sweet. He loved the idea... so we made plans to come and teach him everything on Sunday morning and baptize him after the first session of conference... anyways Saturday night the zone leaders called and they kept telling me to get him baptized at all costs because our zone needs the numbers... and I got a little offended because they kept referring to him as a number. But anyways we went over Sunday morning and found out his mom didn't want him to get baptized. So I had two forces fighting me at that time... he could still get baptized this weekend because he doesn't need her permission, that was what the zone leaders would have done... but then I started thinking what Christ would have done so I asked him how he knew the Bible was true and he said he didn't... so we got down on our knees and he prayed to know if the Bible was true... he said he felt like his chest was on fire after the prayer. So I said lets do it again but this time pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true, if Joseph Smith is a Prophet, and if you need to get baptized... after his prayer he was in tears and said he felt like someone was pushing his back as if he needed a boost. So we committed him to talk to his mom and tell her that he wanted to do this and that the Savior wants him to do this... we haven't heard back yet... but that will be our project this week.

The good thing about all the new gators we got last week is that we have a lot of people to try to get a hold of so we don't have to do so much tracting.

And to answer your question mom about why we baptize people so fast... the field is white and ready to harvest, Christ says in the Doctrine and Covenants that all of the seeds have been planted.. people are either ready or they're not.

And look at how Paul in the Bible and Alma in Mosiah did it, and Alma the younger and Ammon they baptized as soon as the people knew it was true not after they learned all the doctrine.
Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 that is the only requirement for baptism.

Anyways I love you all

Monday, March 30, 2009

Well we had another slow week. We got a paper of about 100 referrals that we need to contact. They were ones from a long time ago that were never reported.... so we spent most of the week calling people. We got quite a few new investigators though, so it should be fun.

We rearranged our apartment and moved all of the furniture out on to our balcony which has a screen on it to keep rain and bugs out. That is our new hanging out room and journal writing room. I will send some pictures next week.

Yesterday when we were coming home from church we saw a turtle on the road and we saved it and took it home. But we let it go. Then Hill and I went to see some members and this one new family, the Faulkners, who are really sweet. Bro. Faulkner took us to his pond outside and put a remote controlled boat in it with fishing line tied to it. And he started driving it around. He caught a huge bass with it... it was hilarious...!

Anyways then we went home and I went to the bathroom and the turtle was in our toilet! The other Elders went back out and caught it and put it in our toilet... I thought it was hilarious but Hill through a fit! It was kinda funny... but we let the turtle go and he got away... till next time.

Anyways I would send some pics but I forgot to bring my camera...
But I love you all.

P.S. Mistie asked what I wanted for my birthday and I have no idea....But I came up with just church DVD's. Like Testaments....and Special Witnesses of Christ and some of those kinds of movies put out by the Church...Oh, and there are two movies that go over evidences of the B of M like where the cities were....

Monday, March 23, 2009

Hey, guys!
Not much happened this week at all. Hill and I are still together in Dunn Ave. Our new district leader is Elder Hendrickson. He has been out a year and is pretty sweet... his companion is Elder Parker who has been out 4 months and he is tight. Elder Mcnaughton got sent to Hilliard, so he is in my district again. I am pretty excited. He is coming down here for p-day. I am pretty excited. We're going to play some basketball. There is one family here in Dunn Ave... the Davis'... they are the sweetest family ever. Brother Davis is the elders quorum president and Sister Davis is the young womens president. They are so much fun... we stop by there house a couple times a week for water or stuff like that, but they have the coolest kids in the world.
Anywaysm we are kinda holding off with the Williams for right now because Brodrick is the only one that actually wants to get baptized and he can't come to church. Marvina's out of town for the week but we are planning on baptizing a Puerto Rican woman named Sixta Martinez this weekend... the zone leaders want us to get her baptized in March so we will try... the only problem is the only time we get to meet with her is on Thursday and we have only taught her the 1st.
Anyways, I am doing good. Sorry there isn't anything else to write about...I love you all.
>

Monday, March 9, 2009

So, I don't think I told you much about the Williams family... I don't know how I overlooked it but it happened about a month ago... I had a dream and in the dream I knocked on the door of a house that was number 232. But I didn't know where it was. This girl answered the door. Anyways I woke up and told Elder Hill about the dream... We went out tracting and we were having a bad day. We were getting rejected everywhere and Hill was "like, let's go find your house." So we went driving down all the streets with 232 on them, and we finally found the one I had seen in my dream... So we knocked on the door, and who answers the door but the girl in my dream.! Her name is Tonya... she is black and has 4 kids and a husband. We couldn't meet with her for a while , but when we finally got to sit down with the whole family it was tuff.... the dad is very smart in his knowledge of the Bible... his name is Brodrick.

We taught the first and committed them all to baptism. They all said yes except him... but he told me that I had a light about me and he wanted me to come back. So, the next day we went over and taught the plan of salvation... he didn't like much of what Elder Hill said, and he didn't like the idea of three kingdoms... then he asked me what I thought of it all and I told him how we found their house and that God sent us here to change their lives... then I asked him if he knew if the Book of Mormon was true...(he had been reading it) There was a long silence where we just stared at each other. Then he said Yes, he did know without a doubt... then I told him he needed to be baptized on March 21st and there was another silence and he said , "ya, I do".

So, we set a date with Tonya, Brodrick, Lant-13, Jasmin-15, Asia-12, and Corey-11. Then we told them we would come over everyday at 5 to see how they are doing... The next day we came over and somebody we have never met answered the door. Her name is Lequida and she is 19 apparently and she has 5 kids.! So we invited her to church and told her we wanted her to get baptized with her family and gave her a Book of Mormon... She said she would pray about it... but she didn't seem too sincere. So on Sunday we went back because none of them came to Church. We talked to Brodrick for a long time... apparently Tonya had to go to the hospital because she has diabetes and she doesn't take care of herself. But the whole atmosphere of the house has changed! It seemed like we were trying to convince Brodrick before, but now it's like we are just telling him what he has to do and he believes and understands it all...
The gospel is so sweet!

Anyways Marvina is still set to be baptized on Sunday after church and she is still doing sweet... I am so excited! My first baptism found tracting!

I love you all! Trevon

March 3, 2009

Sorry I didn't write yesterday... we went to St. Augustine early in the morning... and I spent the whole day with Elder Mcnaughton visiting members... while the rest of the guys went to Ripley's and sight seeing... it was the freakin' sweet best p-day I have had yet.

Anyways I don't think I told you much of what has been going on with Marvina Scruggs... she didn't show up to her baptism because her son has scicle cell and she had to take him to the hospital. We reset the date for this Suday and we are going to the hospital as soon as I get off the computer to give her son a blessing and read some of the BoM with her. Marvina, mom is the one that we tracted into that just happened to have a sister in law whose family is Mormon! She is incredible but she works on Sundays so I want everyone to pray for Marvina Scruggs that she will be able to get time off on Sunday so she can get baptized.

We also found a family, the Williams, who are really cool. We set a date with them for the 15th. There are 6 of them and I am really excited because I have not baptized a family yet. The only hold back we know of so far is that Brodrick, the Father, works on Sundays and they only have one car so the rest of them can't make it to church. If I were in St. Aug then we wouldn't have this problem because we could get members to pick them up... but the members here are lame and won't help at all.

We are also working with another woman named Elizabeth and her son Emier who is 18. He is sweet and came to church and played basketball with us but he believes there is no one church, and his mom is just lazy. We are planning on going over tonight and setting a date with them. We will see how it goes.

We also got another guy named Charley Holmes who smokes, but he commited to me that he wouldn't buy any more...and he would make his last 10 last him until this Wednesday and he will be getting baptized on the 15th as well. He loves the Book of Mormon and can't put it down.

Well I am doing good I can't wait for a change of some kind though. The Bishop of this Ward got really mad at us because we were expecting too much of the members, (rides for our investigators) and that is kind of a pain when the Bishop of your area thinks your worthless but it's ok....we will make the best of it...

Isaiah Gathogo who we baptized last transfer has a van, so we will probably start having him pick people up for us. I think I am going to get transferred at the end of March but Elder Probert thinks that Hill will get transferred and Probert and I will stay here .I don't particularly like being Senior companion...I would rather be a follower... But if Hill was Senior companion not much would get done in our area... so I hear Jake had an emergency transfer. That would stink. Well I am going to leave my proselyting area now and go see Marvina... love you all.

Thanks for the letters....keep them coming!
Trevon.

February 23, 2009

Trevon and Mom emailing back and forth this morning - here are Trevon's little emails all combined into one, hopefully not too confusing... and some pix!!!

Shannon - Mom wants you to send the pix to Sam's Club!

so I don't know if its because i dropped my camera and broke it... or if my camera is just not suited for computers but i cant get them onto the computer for you to see...
so a new/better camera for a birthday present might be really cool.

I tried the cord and it still cant bring them up i am not sure my camera is very computer friendly.

Ya, I know I was hiding cuz I knew you would be mad at me..
:)
I am going to try to send some pix in my next attempt.. I don't need a new card
the pix of baptisms are the ones president newman goes to.

Ilost one of them... I only have one...
I was just kidding about you buying a new camera. I don't need one.

So the baptism didn't happen. Marvina never showed up for church so we have to reschedule it and we don't even know where she was or why she didn't come it was a pretty sad thing. But we will hopefully get to talk with her this week.

I won't be able to send a full one today the computer is being dumb and it keeps signing me off
the myldsmail.net isn.t working properly today.
sorry but here are some pictures.

Monday, February 9, 2009

So we went to the beach today down in southern Jacksonville. It was a lot of fun... the only differences we have had is we got a new district leader his name is Elder Probert... he just came from being a zone leader and he has been out one transfer longer than me... I did not like him at all and I was dreading him coming here but since he got here he has become one of my favorite missionaries in the mission. He is a really hard worker and a lot of fun.

Anyways we got Elijah confirmed on Sunday and we are still working with all our investigators and they are progressing slowly but surely.

We set a baptismal date with Marvinna, who was the girl that we found tracting last week. We are going to baptize her on the 22nd because that is the first time she can come to church. Our goal this week is to get her husband to have a desire and be baptized with her.

We also helped Michael apply for 30 jobs this week so we should hopefully have him baptized too. We decided to set a date with him to show our faith to the Lord... it is for the 22nd of March...that should give him enough time to get the money once he gets a job...

Anyways sorry its not as long as usual but we are kinda in a hurry tonight. I love you all so much
p.s. send me lots of letters!!!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Hello all...
So last week we got committed on Friday to teach 50 lessons and commit 20 people to baptism by Sunday night and Hill and I got all that done by Saturday. It was pretty sweet! It pumped us up a lot... this week we have to do 90 lessons and 45 commitments and we want for our district to have 10 baptismal dates from it. It's going to be a sweet week!

We can't go to the library this week because of the holiday so we are at a members house doing our emails and watching Aladdin... so I will send pictures next week.

Anyways... Marvinna is still getting baptized this week... on Sunday so it will be really cool! She is so amazing and ready for this. I am so happy for her. It's a blast to be able to see people change like this... Elder Probert and I went on a trade off last weekend and it was sweet. He has become one of my favorite missionary's in the mission. We get along so well ...it was a blast. He slapped my thigh today and there is still an imprint of his hand its disgusting ...it hurt so good.

So I heard that Terry Porter got fired! I am pretty happy. Hopefully we will just play the rest of the season really well... cuz we can... I saw all these rumors of Amare leaving and I am glad they decided to keep him at least for now.
Anyways sorry I don't have more to say but there are other people who need to write and we still have to go shopping... I love you all... I will send pictures next week.

February 2, 2009

Well, we just had the sweetest weekend ever... I am not sure if I told you about Elijah... he is this really tall, black guy that asked for us to come over and teach him. Anyways he got baptized yesterday. When I was dunking him I thought he was going to be heavy so I put all my weight under him and almost threw him out of the font... he only weighs 170lbs! That is ridiculous! He is like half a foot taller than me and I weigh a lot more.... and I wish I could say its all muscle!
We were tracting on Friday and the last house we went to we met this girl named Marvinna... and there were a bunch of little kids running around and she told us that she was baby sitting for her sister in law. Anyways we taught her and she was really excited and wanted to come to church. I would have committed her to baptism if the kids weren't so chaotic but the Spirit wasn't as strong as it could be. But then she said that she works on Sunday and she told us to call her in a couple weeks to set up an appointment... so i figured darn we're never going to see her again... so we went on with our day... anyways we get home and we have a message from her that said she was talking to her nieces and nephews and they are all members from West Palm... it was so sweet. and she wanted to move our appointment up! We set a time to meet her on Thursday. It will be so sweet... she was tight.
And then on the same street we found a guy named Roger that I had to literally chase down in his truck as he was driving away... Hill couldn't keep up.. haha... but anyways he has a Book of Mormon and the missionary's used to visit him like 15 years ago and he just happened to start reading the Book of Mormon a couple of weeks ago! We are going to meet with him on Wednesday hopefully, and get him baptized in the next couple weeks...
So, Michael, the one who is on parole and needs a job to get off parole... still doesn't have one, but he comes to church every week... he has stopped smoking, drinking, and doing drugs and he wants to be baptized so bad we are just waiting for him to get a job... so keep Michael Burnum in your prayers...
And we have been working with an excommunicated member's fiance for a long time, and she will be getting baptized pretty soon too... they just need to get married and to do that James (ex. member) has to get divorced first. He just filed for it so it should take a couple of weeks. I am trying to convince her to let me baptize her in the ocean cuz they are getting married on the beach. They wanted me to marry them because I can because of the ministers certificate but President won't let me.... darn it. That would be a cool experience...
We just had transfer calls and I am staying here for another 6 weeks and Hill is staying but our district leader is leaving... we should know by tonight who is going to replace him and I hope its not me that would stink.
anyways I love you guys

January 26, 2009

So, I had an interesting week.... it was actually really lame. We only taught like 16 lessons because all of our appointments fell through.

But anyways, I found Virgil... on Tuesday night I just felt an impression to go to his house. He had just barely gotten home... the sad news is that I found out he is dying... and there is nothing they can do about it. He has colon cancer, and the only treatment would result in him having to carry a bag around with a tube, for his poop and he refuses to let that happen, so he is just accepting that he is going to die... we went over to his house the next day and read Alma 40-41 with him which talks about the Spirit World and resurrection and then I talked with him about how the Lord prepared him to get baptized just in time for him to die... he has now left Florida and is living in Nashville, Tennessee because they have a better hospital. It was really sad but he will be an awesome missionary in the Spirit World.

Well, on a happier note we met a guy named Elijah who is a really tall black guy... he is sweet but really weird... he thought the Mormons were like gothics. I corrected him... he read all that we left for him and loved it but he didn't make it to church on Sunday so now we have to move his baptismal date back from the first to the 8th we are going to see him tonight and we will teach him the 2nd. It will be awesome...

He is really weird though he speaks in parables.. hahahahahahahahahaha.

Ummm so Jason Privette called and said he wasn't interested ...which is really sad but he really likes us coming over.. so he still wants us to come hang out some time... I need to tell him that that's not the way it works.

But he will get baptized... it will probably just be a long time... hopefully before the second coming!

Anyways, I am doing good. On Saturday we have transfer calls so I will find out if I stay or go... I want to leave. I am not too fond of this area, but I think I will probably stay another transfer or two.

Anyways, I love you all.

Bye. Elder rogers

January 20, 2009

The cardinals are going to the Super Bowl... what the heck happened?? I don't know if I am excited or shocked!

Isaiah got baptized, confirmed and got the Aaronic priesthood... it was soo sweet... and he is setting Michael up with a job so he can pay off his probation and get baptized, too... we are going to get Isaiah to do it.

Anyways, sorry about not writing yesterday... the library was closed down for MLK day. Anyways, I didn't get any letters last week... except for one from Mistie with some sweet Disney music.

I was hoping that everybody who gets this email could fast forJason Privette to realize he needs to get baptized. We are going to start the fast on Friday after lunch and skip dinner and breakfast... we have taught him all 5 lessons. He has been to church countless times, he is just a little lazy, but we finally got him to start reading... he is soo sweet and he knows more than most the members but he doesn't feel like he has ever felt the spirit before.

Well not much happened last week except for the baptism. We spent all week focusing on it. Elder Hill got his first baptism and I confirmed him. It was really cool... in case nobody knows who Isaiah is he is the guy we found that is from Kenya.

So, i heard from the bishop that a mission somewhere in the south got shut down because the members weren't doing a good job of fellowshipping and all of the baptisms they were getting were falling away after the missionaries left... so everyone listening needs to make friends with new converts. But, I have been thinking about it & I think that my mission will get dissolved and President Newman will become the general authority to replace Wirthlin.
Haha, just kidding! I would not be able to serve under anyone other than Newman and if I did I probably wouldn't listen to them and just keep doing what Newman has taught me.
So, this last week we had the lowest numbers I have had in a while. We only had like 50 something lessons and 15 new investigators, but it's all good cuz we got one of them baptized... I am kinda sad we don't have any baptismal dates right now but we are planning to get 4-5 tonight... we are going tracting so it should be fun... anyways, sorry I have so little to write... we are kinda in a hurry... got to go eat lunch we have an appointment at 3...
I got a haircut & we have president interviews tomorrow... love you!

January 12, 2009

We went to contact a referral named Gwen and she had some friends over and we taught them all and committed them all to baptism on the 25th. And we just found out that one of them has a family of 8 kids, and the other has 6. It's going to be so sweet when they all get baptized.

Well, we have been doing good with Isaiah and he is still set to get baptized on Sunday... he has almost given up smoking but we found out the law of chastity is a slight problem but he is willing to give that up, too.

We have been talking with Mike, too, and he is going to a job conference today and hopefully he will have one by the end of the day. Then he can get his probation paid off.

Tonight we are going to see Jason Privette with Elder Christianson, who is our zone leader. He is one of the best missionaries I have ever seen so I am very excited! I hope I can learn from him. We are going to read Alma chapter 5 and start a fast with them for Jason to get his answer and Elder Christianson is going to invite him to be baptized again.

I don't know if i have told you about Angie yet... she is engaged to an excommunicated member named James who rocks... he got ex-ed because he broke into the Church and stole church movies... he didn't know he could repent from that until a little while ago. They are going to get married as soon as taxes come in and then she is going to get baptized right afterwards. It probably won't be until March, though.

We also got in contact with a family we found a while ago who was a referral and we recommitted them to be baptized and they want to be, but we still need to set a time for it. We are going back over on Wednesday and on Thursday we are giving Jamie, the mom, a blessing cuz she is having a surgery on Friday.

Anyways I am doing good here we are teaching a lot of people and I think we will have a lot of baptisms in the next few months.
love you all.

January 5, 2009

So, this week was kinda lame. We got some new solid investigators... but we found out that Johnny wasn't listening to anything we said: so he did not get baptized, so we dropped him... and Michael... it turns out is on parole and you can't get baptized if your on parole... he is supposed to be on parole for another year, but if he pays the money he owes he will get off it. He is so anxious to get baptized. It probably won't take that long but the only problem is he doesn't have a job... that's a big problem. So now we are working on getting him a job.

We have also been working with a man named Jason Privette who is married to a member. He is sweet! One of my favorite people in my mission. We have been teaching him since I got here and yesterday I finally committed him to be baptized. It was so perfect! The Spirit was in control of the entire lesson. I don't even know what I was saying... and me or him wouldn't look away. It was like an hour long staring contest... then I committed him and we just kept staring at each other for a whole minute, my eyes were getting watery. But I refused to blink, then he said that he thinks he is still an investigator.... it made me so mad. But he promised me he would pray about it. He knows he is going to get baptized... its just a matter of when.

Anyways I took Elder Hill tracting for the first time last week... it didn't go well. Every door he had he would introduce us and say that I had a message to share, so I would start teaching. I told him not to do that and he ignored me, so the next time he did it I didn't say anything and the person at the door got mad because neither of us were talking and just shut the door... Elder Hill was in a bad mood the rest of the day. But it's all good, I am becoming a much better teacher this transfer. haha

Anyways I got my Patriarchal Blessing and my Line of Authority! I was so excited!

We got our miles restricted ...now we can only drive 1100 which is way too low! I don't know how we are going to do it... I think I am going to call the office and try and have them give me some more... our area is way too big...

So, when we were tracting last week I was driving to tract the street that we had decided on when I felt a prompting to tract a small street we had just passed. So I went back and we tracted it. The whole street sucked until the last house.

It was a girl named Danielle who had ordered a Book of Mormon a long time ago and never got it. So I taught her about it and committed her to be baptized and she said yes. We are going to see her again on Thursday.

We also met a guy on Saturday named Isaiah and he came to church and the other Elder's baptism. He is sweet. I set a baptismal date with him for the 18th... he smokes and drinks but we will take care of that.

Anyways I love you all!
Trevon

December 29, 2008

Christmas was wonderful! I was so happy that I got to talk to everybody.
It was so much fun!
So, on Saturday we woke up to go to the gym and our car wouldn't start. It was a huge bummer and after a while we got Virgil to come and jump start it for us... he is the last baptism I had. So we were able to get on with our day... we were tracting and we ran into a man named Michael Burner who is really sweet. I taught him the first and committed him to be baptized on the 4th he said yes. He is a sweet black guy with this tight grill... anyways he came to church yesterday and loved it ..but we found out he smokes so we are going over there tonight to teach him the Word of Wisdom. Johnny's baptism got moved back a week because of minor problems. But he is still ready for it so he will probably be getting baptized on the 4th as well.

So for those of you who don't know I am training and for those of you who don't know that means that my companion is brand new from the MTC.

His name is Elder Hill and he is from Orem, Utah.

I think the Lord is trying to test me. My patience has grown alot since I started last week. But we are doing great. We found out that one of our investigators named Angie is getting married to her fiance in March and that means that she can be baptised right afterwards. I wish we could move the wedding forward but her fiance who is a really sweet member is still married to his wife and he can't get the divorce finalized untill March. She is ready all we need is the baptismal interview.

So on Sunday we woke up and the car didn't start again... so we got a neighbor to jump start us and went to church and then we went to Johnny's house to teach him and the car wouldn't start again so we decided to leave it there for the time and walk to Angie's which wasn't too far, there we watched the Gordon B. Hinckley movie... he is my favorite I cried during it it was soooo good. Then we walked to the Bishops and got him to come jump start our car. But it didn't work this time so we left it there and Bishop drove us home and we just cleaned the apartment the rest of the day.

So today we went back to the car with Bishop and we finally got it running and we had to take it all the way to the other side of Jacksonville to get it fixed and that is why I am writting so late.

Anyways I hope everyone is doing well I am going to start on a tape tonight since I have a tape player.

I love you all.

Monday, December 8, 2008

So first off I still don't know who I am buying for Christmas.

I looked at my blog on www.returnwithhonor2010.blogspot.com and I thought I would correct some things... the area I am serving in is called the Dunn Avenue Area... there isn't a Jacksonville area... there are actually 2 1/2 whole zones in Jacksonville so there are alot of areas.

But anyways on Friday we set another baptismal date with a new referal named Virgil Bond... he is ridiculously amazing he knew it was true before we even came to his house. He said he is willing to give up anything to be baptised into Christ's true church. And we finally set a solid date with a girl named Lashanda and her daughter. We set one for another girl named Angela and for a couple named Tyrone and Tracy... all of these dates are for the 20th... it's going to be a sweet weekend.

We also decided that we probably wont be tracting for the rest of the transfer. We are just going to focus on those investigators who are getting baptised, cuz we don't want Satan to mess things up like he has so many times in the past.

On Monday we went to St. Augustine and I noticed that I had a letter from Chantry and Annie that my old companions hadn't forwarded to me. I called them that night to complain about how they didn't forward them and they said I got two more: one from Jake and one from the little girls in my ward... I didn't recognize any of the names on the list except for Olivia, and Alice. There must be alot more people in the ward now.

But while we were in St. Aug I got to see Don again and then we went to Ripley's and a Pirate tour again; it was pretty fun.

I still don't know where anything is here. Elder Augustin knows how to get everywhere but I don't even recognize any of it... part of our area goes up to Georgia. It's so big it takes more than an hour to drive from one corner to the other.

Anyways besides the baptismal invites not much happened this week. So I guess I will talk to you all later. I love you.

December 1, 2008

So, Monday was the worst day of my mission so far...

First, I got bit by a dog and it was sooo deep that it didn't stop bleeding until Saturday. I had to go get checked for rabies and that is why my card had a thing for urgent care on it. But it's all good now. It has healed up, but it will make a great scar. It was really deep... I took a picture of it on Thursday. I would have taken one the night it happened, but you wouldn't be able to see it cuz it was just drenched in blood... they said if I would have come on Monday right after the bite they would have given me stitches.. but they said it wouldn't be necessary to get them anymore.

After that we got home and Danny Miller who was supposed to be baptized on Saturday called and told us he was moving on Tuesday and wouldn't be able to get baptized. And another investigator dropped us.

It was a horrible day...

But Tuesday was just the reverse and probably the best day on my mission so far. Elder Augustin and I decided to start a fast, because of all the terrible stuff that happened to us. So during my studies I read the talk that President Monson gave in priesthood that talks about how we need to be bold when sharing the gospel because people that don't get to hear it could never get the chance again... so I felt inspired to go over to Danny's right then and tell him he was getting baptized tonight, (Tuesday). So that is what we did and I baptized him and gave him the Holy Ghost. Tuesday night he was able to come back over the weekend and get the Aaronic Priesthood which Elder Augustin gave him. It was so cool... while we were getting Danny ready... Elder Augustin decided to go to another one of our recent converts houses and invite her daughter to be baptized who is a twin... one of them said yes and got baptised that night, but the other is still scared of the water and we couldn't talk her into it... but we will.

We also met a sweet part member family with 5 people over 8 that have not been baptised, and we are going to start teaching them this week. And we met a couple that lives with some members that has never heard the gospel but likes coming to our church. We are meeting with them tonight, we are going to try and get them baptized this weekend.

So I realize its December now. On Saturday we went to the flea market and I took 60 dollars out of my account so I could buy Christmas presents, but I don't know who I am buying for yet this year. so I didn't buy anything, so you need to do the drawing and tell me who I am buying for.

So today we are going to St. Augustine for p-day I am so excited. We are going to Ripley's again, and a pirate tour and the lighthouse and we are going to go out to lunch with the Sister missionaries there... Elder Lehman and McNaughton are lame and don't want to hang out with us but that is ok... but the most exciting part about it is I am going to go see Don at work. I can't wait I feel like its been forever.

I was hoping I could go see Adrianna and the Martinez as well but we won't have time.

So I have an efficient amount of pictures to send home to you.. but I wont do it until I get my memory card back... and I think I am out of those envelopes too. I don't know what happened to them I thought I only sent one home but I must have used more or my old companions stole them or something!

I am also thinking about just sending my ipod home and having you put it in a safe place. I never use it out here. And as far as my music goes I would like it if you could just send me all my cds, from the Cowtown case and I will keep all the appropriate ones and send the rest home.

It's just so much easier to use cds out here than an ipod.

Anyways I am sorry about the whole scripture thing. I got my new scriptures this morning and they are good I am excited to start using them. And I got a really big case so I am going to have a lot of room to put stuff in I'm excited for it.

Anyways we are kinda running low on time I have about 7 minutes left on my computer time.

I hope that this letter is big enough I am sorry I'm not a very descriptive person and I can't answer all your questions about everything.

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anyways I love you all so much. I had a dream last night that it was my last day of my mission. Then I woke up and it wasn't... and I was kinda happy. I won't know what the heck to do when I go home.

P.S. Oh and I looked up our address on google earth like you did so I could give you directions... right where the pointer thing is is where the driveway to our apartment starts. It is on the opposite side of the road as the motel... the driveway is about a mile long its ridiculous...
And I don't think I will see many alligators on my mission most missionaries tell me they haven't seen any.
Love you tons.

p.p.s. I am having a really hard time learning the area here it is like 3 times as big as St. Aug and I don't recognize anything ever...

I have met a lot of missionaries that carry gps systems with them wherever they go so they don't get lost. All the zone leaders have them and even some other missionaries. I think that would be a good Christmas present. Hint hint!

And I don't know if i should buy a tape recorder or not cuz I want to start another tape for you guys, but I don't have anything I can use.