November 29th 2010

November 29th 2010
Wow Mother it sounds like you all had a great shopping day on black Friday. I wish I could have been there to enjoy in the sitting in long lines and fighting off people and stabbing legs. I can't believe you would resort to that. Just kidding. That didn't happen. But I imagined it did. I do remember that Chandler kid. I think. He was a cool kid.

So Thanksgiving was a blast. We went shopping in the morning after emailing. It was so nice going to Wal-Mart again. Oh how I have missed it. We got some needed food but were mindful of the short weekend till today so we didn't get too much. I forgot to make my Christmas cards but I will remember today. I can make them right there and print them out myself so that is exciting. After shopping we went over to our ward mission leader’s house he had invited us over but his wife wouldn't feed us. She said if she had invited us over for dinner and we showed up after just eating somewhere else an hour before she would be pissed and they would have been the somewhere else so we ended up just hanging out there for about an hour with Brother Roberts (the ward mission leader). He took us on a tour of his back yard and it was amazing. Talk about the Garden of Eden. It went down on a slope with a few ledges to sit and stuff all the way down to a creek. It was really cool. It had a lot of trees and bushes but most of the flowers had frozen and died so I guess it wasn't as pretty as normal, but I thought it was still amazing. Then we just talked for a while. After their house we went over to the Hansen’s at two for dinner. I was nervous because I thought I would be hungry later but I did stuff myself enough that surprisingly I didn't eat till the next morning. We had a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving dinner. I usually don't like turkey but it was really good. They had a lot of stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy. It was great. There were a lot of people there though. It was their whole family. So about five kids and each kid had about 5 of their own so it was a good sized shin dig. Brother Hansen made some really good pomegranate grape 7-up punch. He grew the pomegranates and the grapes himself. Everyone in northern California has a garden. I will plant one when I get home. It was delicious punch though and he gave us some grape juice to take home and a bag full of home grown kiwis. It was a delightful afternoon. We left their about five and went over and saw Karey. It was a good time with him. His speech has improved sooo much but they told him that he wouldn't be getting his feeding tube in his stomach or the tube in his throat out until at least Jan. 20. So he was super bummed but we talked a lot about his past work experience. He actually started out as a plumber but is now a General Contractor. Well not anymore but he was. He has a full shop with every tool imaginable out back and he has a full work out gym. Even with his accident he is still working out. It’s amazing. He can still rep 225 in bench and he said his max is about 350. It’s a miracle he is using his arms let alone lifting that much. After Karey's house we decided to go visit one of the bishops in our area and thank him for all that he does with us. He was super nice and invited us in for a bit. We ended up playing pool with him his son and his wife from 6 to just before 9. It was a lot of fun. I took President Jardine's challenge and was totally myself. They probably think I’m the weirdest kid in the world but good thing I’m the good kind of weird. If there is one... It really was an enjoyable evening. Then Friday we just went out and saw a bunch of people. Not much went on. We have been stressing tracting lately which usually isn't too effective but we seek inspiration for where exactly God wants us to go and we have seen soo many miracles from it. We found a guy Friday night who let us in cuz it was cold. He wants us to come back because he thinks his wife would love us coming over. They are old. It was awesome.

On Saturday we had an interesting day. Instead of studying right away we went over to Brother Roberts’s house and discussed the work we had been doing the past couple of days. He is a great guy and it was a good time speaking about the missionary work in his ward. After that we went to the church to check out the wards missionary supplies and they were all way out dated. Like things from the 80s. It was funny. I got a packet of the discussions and I have gone through them a little bit. They are so different than how we teach now. Then we went and made our progress record that we email to the bishops and ward mission leaders and ward missionaries in our area. Then we finally came home at 11 to study. After lunch we went to see a few people that live in upcountry. We also wanted to see more snow. They had sooo much snow up there! Like 2 feet everywhere except on the roads. And it’s a good thing because we drive a corolla. But it’s nice. President wanted me to start driving so I could get to know the area better. So since Friday I have been driving. It was fun driving in the snow but it sucks driving in the rain at night on windey country roads. But it is a thrill. It’s a lot more fun with me driving anyways. I'm sure Ellie, Hayley, Braden, and Porter all know what I'm talking about. I get places on time and with a thrill. I don't speed but I know how to drive. So that was fun up there. We went to a member’s house to visit them at 7 and we were going to go home at 8 for dinner but they were just sitting down to dinner and they wanted us to stay. They have a big family of 7 kids so the mom is used to cooking for a lot of people but most of them are gone and married so she had cooked the normal amount but not enough people so it was perfect we showed up. We had roast and stuff like that. It was awesome. They were super funny and cool so it was a great night. When we got home Elder Bowmon threw up and was up till 2:30 throwing up so he most certainly was sick! I slept good though. He came with us to church but then we left him with an old guy to rest while we went out and worked. After tracting we went and visited a crazy old lady. Then we had dinner with the other bishop in our area. It was a fantastic time. They made sweet pork burros from Cafe Rio so that was good. The bishop is only 29! He is super young and cool but mature and understands the importance of his calling. We talked a lot about our families and how they are probably going to be crazy parents at their kids sporting events. I told them about dad getting kicked out of my Junior High football game. They got a kick out of that. I also told them about his fuzzy pink shorts he used to wear and how he dances real good all the time. They both said they want to drive down there just to meet him. It was real funny. Later that night elder bowman called the mission nurse and she said it was probably a bug that will go through our whole apartment so you can guess what I’m buying today when we go shopping. Lysol! So I can kill the poop germs.

I really like the work up here in the hills. All the members are super cool and nice. It’s a lot of fun being up here. I love being a missionary. It’s a one of a kind experience you can't get anywhere else. It’s always a lot of fun even when things are tough and people are being rude and things just aren't going your way. It is definitely true that we will not be tempted above that which we are able to handle and that the Lord provides a way for everything. If we keep that in our minds and have faith we will never fail. I miss everyone so much. I love you all. Until next week,

Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

Oh yeah and I did get the package like a week and a half ago. Thanks so much it is great. We have been scarffing the delicious goodies all day every day.