September 13th 2010

September 13th 2010

I sure do like reading your emails each week Mom. They are entertaining and it feels nice to have a little idea of what’s going on back at home. So yeah my bike is doing pretty good now. I just need to lose weight so my fat butt stops breaking it. And so here is the story why my zone leader has a ukulele. So when he came out he brought his families old expensive ukulele with him and the first night out in the field the assistants to the president told him he couldn't have it so they took it from him and put it in a closet in the office. Well a couple of months later he got called as an office elder and he went to the closet to play his uke and what do ya know. It”s broken... so he was super bummed and there was a Hawaiian family in his ward and he told them the story and they all felt real bad for him so they bought him a new real nice one and gave it to him. So he talked to our mission president and he said to just keep it with him cuz he had no way of making sure it was safe so he has very special permission to have it with him. We are allowed to have instruments but you have to be able to play them in sacrament meeting and have special permission and be super super good. All three of those I do not qualify for so oh well. I think I’ll be ok. So this week was super super crazy! On Monday night till Tuesday night we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and I went to their area and it was fun. They cover the YSA ward so it was kind of fun talking to people my age. We taught a girl who is going to be baptized real soon and there was two other member girls there and then some Jewish girl. All of them just graduated in May and are starting their freshman years of college so they are all within a year of me so that was kind of weird. I was nervous at first to be honest. I know it is hard to believe but by the end I had them all wanting me to come back. That parts easy to believe I'm sure. So I got back with my companion who I still love! We still get along real real good. I'm probably annoying sometimes but we have fun. And then we had another interzone exchange and I got to be with an Elder that had only been out for one day and he is in Asian work so he was super super new and didn't know what was going on so it was fun to get a glimpse of what it will be like if I get to train. So all day Wednesday I got to do everything. We had a great lesson with one of our investigators named Erich. It was super spiritual. It was the second time we taught the restoration because we thought he needed extra clarification and afterwards he told me "ok brother elder you don't need to convince me anymore. I believe it. Start giving me the meat. I want more". So that was awesome because I was pretty much by myself other than the Bishop which was super awesome because he was bearing real powerful testimony that strengthened my testimony because he was a convert. So that was great. He said he will feed us next time. It was funny he gave us a call and left a message and told us to "give him a jingle and we'll mingle". It was hilarious. Then on Friday morning to Saturday morning we went on exchanges with someone in our district so it was a crazy week. I went with Elder Anderson and this kid who went with him on a mini mission named elder butler. It was a lot of fun. Elder Anderson is super good at singing. Then on Saturday morning we participated in a stake wide priest activity where we each got a priest and took them out tracting. It was a lot of fun. The kid I had was really good at it. At the meeting where we got the priests to take out, our Mission president came up to me and put his arm around me and told me that the Jordan's who I had been teaching before were getting Baptized! Also another guy I taught, Jack, had a date for the twenty fifth. It was awesome. He told me that those baptisms were because I had prepared them to be in that position so that made me feel real good. I already knew the Jordan's were getting baptized so I arranged for a ride down to Stockton. I went down there at about 2 and got there just in time for the 3 o’clock baptism. It was amazing. The ten year old daughter was real excited I came down to see it. She gave me a hug. It was funny cuz we’re not allowed to hug girls so everyone laughed. The Mom, who is a member, told me I need to stay in contact with them forever because I changed their family’s lives so that was nice. I'm going to write them a letter to make sure they are working towards the temple. It was a very joyous experience. So that was way awesome. So they are my first three baptisms. And a family too so that was awesome. I was so happy. So that was a great week. It was kind of all over the place because of the exchanges but I got to know my fellow missionaries a lot better and our zone has a lot better unity now. The baptism was an amazing experience. I almost even cried when I talked to the mom. So yeah that was my week. It was fun. Missionary work is amazing and I really feel like I’m sliding into the Missionary lifestyle well now. I hope everything is going well at home. I wish I could help out Jackie and Dad but I can't. I'll keep ya'll in my prayers.

Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett