Week 76 More Exchanges

Monday February 11, 2019

Dear Mom,

This week we had a couple exchanges and it seemed like we constantly had 6 Elders at our apartment. When there are 6-8 Elders in one apartment, it can be a lot harder to keep it clean, lol.

Monday we went to a park for P-day again and played some hood ball and threw the Frisbee around a bunch. Elder Carson just got a ring Frisbee and it made it a lot more fun. We did have to get it out of some trees a few times. Hood ball was fun but the court was wet because it rained for a bit and it made it really slippery and hard to play on. We also kicked a soccer ball around for a bit and while doing so I completely ripped my tennis shoes in half. They were pretty done and I had sewed them together 4 times, the last time being that morning. I had to use my basketball shoes until I could get a new pair. I wanted them to last the rest of my mission but they did last for about 4 years so I'll accept that. We went to some stores that evening to see if they had any good tennis shoes. There were some that were ok but they were a bit too much for what you were getting. Anyway later that night we had some appointments but they fell through so that was frustrating.
Tuesday we had exchanges with the Opelousas Elders and Elder Bowser and I had Elder Bagley with us. We went down to Abbeville and visited some people down there. We were able to visit a member as well and also give some people the Book of Mormon and Bible they requested. We then came back up to Lafayette, briefly stopped at Ross to see if they had any tennis shoes, and then went to a dinner appointment some members.
Wednesday we had District Council and we had some really good discussions and some fun practice activities. We all brought our own lunch so we just ate at the church. We then started exchanges with the New Iberia Elders. Elder Spencer was with Elder Bowser and I. We did our studies and then we biked over to an area we work and contacted people over there and set up appointments for the next few days. We then biked to the church for ward correlation. We went on splits with our leaders and I went with Brother Orme. We went to visit a few families, two weren't home/didn't answer but we did have a great visit with an elderly lady before we came back.
Thursday we did our studies as usual and then Elder Spencer was wanting to go do some contacting so Elder Carson, Elder Spencer and I went to a strip mall and contacted people and I also checked out a bunch of shoe stores as we did so. We then came back and they dropped me off at the nursing home with Elder Bowser and Elder Pedersen for service. After service we had an appointment with someone we are teaching and then we came back to the apartment. We got picked up by a recent convert who goes out with us and went to dinner with a member. We then came back, changed and he took us to the church. We had basketball night and we had a few people show up this time which was nice. We played some good games and got to know a member's non-member friend who was really cool.
Friday we studied, ate lunch, and then we went to some appointments up in the top north end of our area. We had some good lessons and then went to the library to do a survey we were supposed to do. We then drove to the church for a lesson but they never showed up so we grabbed some taco bell for dinner.
Saturday afternoon was packed full with contacting people we needed to see. We had two really good lessons with some people we are teaching and it was awesome to laugh and smile with them. We then had some members take us out to eat and we met them at Texas Roadhouse. The food there is always so good and I love their rolls, haha!
Sunday we had a great meeting and an awesome Priesthood class. We had some people that we are teaching come to church which was great. We did some studies after church and I got some really good studying in. We went to a member's house that evening and they gave us some fried fish, french fries, and some home made rolls and some caesar salad to take home.
Until next week!

Love,
Elder Acton

Almost made it to the 

end of my Mission-lol!

Week 75 Zone Council and Exchanges

Monday February 4, 2019

Dear Mom,

The first week in our trio has been a pretty good one. We had a Zone Council and exchanges with the Zone Leader and his greenie and the rest of the week we did some good biking.

Monday we went to a park for our P-day and we threw the Frisbee around a bunch and most of the other Elders played hood ball with some guys. I didn't because I didn't have my basketball shoes and the tennis shoes I have would rip to pieces if I played with them, haha.
Tuesday we had Zone Council and we had our interviews with President before, so we had to leave at 6:30 to be up there on time. We had exchanges afterward so we had to bring our bikes and we didn't have all the straps for the bike rack plus it is very hard to fit 3 bikes on it. On the way there, due to them not being super secure and also driving 80mph on the freeway on a windy day, they almost fell off a few times and we had to spend some time on the side of the road putting them on nice and snug again. We eventually arrived at the church and had our interviews. While waiting for Zone Council we shot hoops and played bump with all the other Elders there. We then had Zone Council. We sat around tables in a circle and had really good discussions on topics President wanted to talk about. We then had lunch, which was pizza and some salad Sister Varner made with her home made ranch. We then had some more good discussions and then we ended. We were then able to talk with each other for a bit and shoot more hoops before we left. We drove to the Zone Leader's pad. We planned a bit and then Elder Pedersen went with the ZL, Elder Dickerson, and Elder Bowser and I went with his greenie, Elder Peterson. We biked to visit a dude and he wasn't home. But then, while getting our bikes from the stop sign where they were locked up, we saw the guy we were trying to visit walking down the street in our direction. We had a good little lesson with him right there on the street corner and then we biked back to the pad and we all drove to a dinner appointment. It was some good dinner. They fed us five and the four sisters who were also on exchanges.
Wednesday we were taken out for breakfast by someone Elder Dickerson and Elder Peterson are teaching and then we helped him rake up leaves in his yard. We then went to someone else they are teaching and Elder Pedersen did a baptismal interview with him. The same guy that Elder Petersen and I set on date last time I was on exchanges with him. We then came back showered up for the day and packed our stuff and this time I made sure we put the bikes on in the most effective way with the limited amount of straps in the most crucial places and it worked much better. We stopped in Opelousas and ate lunch at Canes with the Elders there. We then played some hood ball with them in our proselyting clothes which was actually really fun! Playing hood ball is actually a great way to find new people to teach and it is super fun and a great exercise! Haha. We then drove back and we got picked up by Bishop and went to a family's house to give some kids a name and blessing. There are three families that live there together. They are all one extended family from the Marshallese Islands. It was cool because there was four of us, including Bishop, and there were four kids that needed a name and a blessing so each one of us had the opportunity of naming and blessing a child. They then fed us some fried chicken and potato salad. We quickly ate it and the brownies so we could get back to the church for our ward missionary coordination meeting. They sent us with all the left overs which was quite a bit. And we brought three of the kids with us (with Bishop) back to the church for mutual. We went to our meeting and discussed important matters for a bit and they brought us pizza, so we had even more left overs. we then went with Brother Foster, our Ward Mission Leader (Elder's Quorum President) and visited a part-member family we are teaching. We then came back to the church, shot some hoops with the youth and then came home.
Thursday we went and did some service with Brother Foster for the part-member family we visited the other night. We had to move a huge detailing tank onto Brother Foster's trailer. This tank was like 18 feet or more and around 6 hundred pounds or higher. We got there and Brother Foster told us we may be over our heads. We saw the tank and thought the same. Luckily there was a dolly there so Brother Foster was able to use it as wheels and pivot one side of the tank while the three of us lifted the other side and we slowly moved our way to the trailer and then up onto it. We then followed him to the guy's house and we put it in his car port. We then came back home and we had to cancel going to the nursing home to do service and we went to a lesson up north in our area. We then came back and went to the church to get picked up from a member to go visit some people but the member wasn't able to make it so we made some calls and did some work from the church. We also had dinner dropped off to us by a member that wanted to feed us. We then got changed for our basketball night that we are starting with the ward and people we are teaching. Not many showed up but it was the first day so it should get better.
Friday we biked up to the north part of our area and had a lesson with a lady up there and then another lesson right after that. We then biked over to another neighborhood and tried to visit a bunch of people over there too. After that, we biked back down to an area near our apartment and contacted many people there and set up appointments for the next day. We then biked to another neighborhood and set up some more appointments. We biked back to our apartment and a 17 year old recent convert, who is a ward missionary and comes out with us all the time, picked us up and we all went to a buffet where we met some members who wanted to feed us there. It was really good, they had a Mongolian Grill and a Buffet.
Saturday we had some appointments in the afternoon and they went really well. We then came home, ate some dinner and then went into town to some stores to do some Saturday evening contacting.
Sunday we had a few people come to church which was great and we gave a lady a blessing afterward. That evening we had a dinner at the Bishop's house for the YSA dinner and study night. We had a guy we are teaching come too, which was sweet.
This week has been pretty good and I have enjoyed being in a trio again. Until next week!

Love,
Elder Acton