October 25th 2010
Man, what are you trying to do to me mom? Make me homesick...? Mexican Food, and fried chicken with the white gravy?! Two things I miss most out here! There are seriously no good authentic Mexican food restaurants here. They have some fast food crap that is sort of authentic but it is like taking a step down from taco bell... so that is one thing that has been a bummer not being in Arizona. I miss Matta's and Filibertos. I just want good food. I'd even settle for some, man I can't remember that place. It’s by sonic and we went there after priesthood conference all the time. But I guess I can just wait 18 and a half more months. It’s not too bad. But I have heard of that Mexican backyard. Adam Krummenacher used to talk about it a lot at work. I hear its real good. You got me with all the talk about the fried chicken this week too. I sure do like fried chicken and the white gravy. It is delicious. The best part is eating the left over’s from the fridge.
I got a little homesick when you told me about making the Halloween decorations. I miss just talking to everyone. Whenever you guys would have a project going on on the table I wouldn't really help but I did like to sit there and talk. It was fun. That’s something I miss this transfer. Talking. Me and Elder Holyoak talked all the time! It was awesome. But now I don't want to talk to my companion so I just read Jesus the Christ or the Book of Mormon. Also I have a lot more time to write letters because I'm not spending every moment of p-day talking about random crap. But its good. I like it. It’s nice having four of us in our apartment because then there is always someone who I can just chill with.
So this week was a weird week. I can't really remember much of what went on in it but it was good I think. Monday after I emailed we went to this big park and played football. It was a lot of fun. We played the senior companions against the junior companions and we pounded them hard core. It was a lot of fun except for the first drive down the field I was running a route and I looked over my shoulder to catch the ball and kind of jumped and then the next thing I know I'm on my hands and knees with a bloody nose. It hurt but my nose isn't broken so that’s good. We were playing two hand touch but one Elder was super intense and he knocked over a couple of us. Then the rest of the day I just kind of hung out in our apartment. We did a little bit of cleaning. I took a fatty nap because I didn't drink enough water playing football. I wrote Andrew a letter and also sent the one I wrote Marianne the week before. For some reason it takes me a week from actually writing the letter to get it in an envelope and then to send it out. I don't know why. But that was good. Then we had a couple of appointments that night. On Tuesday Elder Roberts came out with me and Elder Cannon cuz his companion had a leadership meeting. That was a lot of fun. We biked 22 miles that day. It was a lot for how small my area is. Then on Wednesday we had a great district meeting. We learned on why it was important for our investigators to come to church. Then we went out and saw a bunch of people. We had a pretty cool thing happen as well on Thursday. So on Wednesday night we were planning for what we were going to be doing the next day and we had a couple of people we wanted to go see and I was looking through all of our former investigators and we saw this girl who was taught a year ago but would technically be YSA now because she’s 18 so we weren't sure if we should go see her or just pass her off to the Zone Leaders. Well on Thursday we ended up going to her house and she came to the door and was kind of laughing and we talked for a little while. She said she was meeting with our bishop that night because her best friend, who is at BYU, convinced her she should go as well. So she said she was planning on going to young woman’s and then was going to talk to the bishop to get an interview. So that was cool. She also said that she was laughing because when she heard someone knock on the door she thought to herself, wouldn't that be funny if it was the Mormon missionaries again? And guess what? It was! So it was super cool. We also found out that a couple of members had also contacted her at that time a little before we did and we just getting in contact with her to see how she was and if she was at all interested in the church anymore. So I definitely think the whole thing was inspired it was awesome. The Bishop said the meeting with her went great and so that was great. Thursday was kind of a boring day, during the day. We just went and saw a bunch of random people and tracted for a while. We had an appointment with our investigator JT at 8 so at 7 we decided to go see a potential who said we could come by sometime. Well we were expecting to just set something to when we could come over and teach him but he invited us in right there. We taught him our basic message about Jesus' church that he set up when he was on the earth and how it was lost then about Joseph Smith and how he was called to be a prophet and to bring that church back. We could tell he wasn't way interested but he was polite and answered our questions and listened. So as the lesson went on we introduced the Book of Mormon. We used the Introduction, which is freaking amazing for missionary work, and immediately in the first paragraph we could see a huge change in his interest level. He was intrigued by the statement our church makes that the native Americans are the lamenites in the Book of Mormon and he was kind of skeptical about that so we asked him what he thought he should do to know if it was true or not and he told us that he would read it and that should let him know whether or not it’s true. So we read the last two paragraphs with him and you could definitely see the wheels turning in his head. It was awesome. He committed to read and then pray about whether the Book of Mormon is true and then we set up a return appointment for this Friday so I'll let you know how that goes. So it was pretty cool to see a miracle happen when we were just expecting a normal event to take place.
Friday was a day and a half. Man. So we had weekly planning on Friday and we finished early so we rearranged our apartment. ( Last night I took a video of my apartment which I commentated, be excited) Then we went out and started seeing some people. Luckily we looked up the forecast before we left and discovered it was going to rain so I wore my rain coat out. It didn't start raining till like 3 but it still sucked. I hate the rain. I just tell myself that after this winter I will only have one more to put up with so it’s not so bad. I got wet cuz I didn't wear the rain pants I found in my apartment. It was gay. Then at 5 we went over to the church cuz they needed our help setting up chairs and tables for our ward Halloween party. It was good. My companion was mad because I wouldn’t switch name tags with him. I just wore some glasses that I popped the lenses out of, like the ones I wore back at home. It was a good party. They had a Chili cook off and we got to help judge. It was a close one between two chili’s. I should have got recipes for you mom. One had chunks of marinated steak in it and it was super super good. The other one was a white one. It had green chilies in it and chicken with some beans. It was soooo good. The steak one won though. So remember those peoples. Then they wanted our help in the haunted house. It was a lot of fun to scare all the little kids. I wore my big rain coat and talked like Satan.
On Saturday we had exchanges and it rained the whole freakin day. I was dead by the end of the day. The rain just drained me. Then yesterday we had stake conference. It was real good but I like ours back at home a lot better.
Well my time is about up. I hope you all receive some sort of enjoyment from reading this week’s letter.
Love,
Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
P.S.- I got your email last week mom. no letters in the mail though. I might need a new inhaler soon. They have me taking a steroid one morning and night but I still use the other one.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
October 18th 2010
October 18th, 2010
So to start off I’ll tell you a story and then kind of explain my companion. Don't worry, they relate...
So last transfer we had interviews with our mission President and then training from him. It was really good. In my interview President Jardine (I'll call him PJ for the sake of I’m too lazy to write it out every time) PJ told me a lot of positive things that made me feel really good. Then he told me I need to take credit for the success I have and to accept that I’m a good missionary. That’s kind of hard for me because I don't want to be prideful but I think I get what he means. So let’s take this horizontal line to illustrate what he did with his hand vertically ------] he said this is where I'm at ---------] this is where I should be and -----------------------] this is what he expects of me. Yeah I almost freaked cuz I thought I was making good progress. He was thinking since elder Holyoak was so good I didn't want to mess things up so I would talk too much. And we got along so great it didn't make me really try and he believes I can get along with anyone. Ha he doesn't know about my rages. So he told me the next transfer he was going to make me stretch. I thought maybe he would have me teach more and stuff like that not make me stretch with a new companion. Well I was wrong. So this is my new companion Elder Cannon. Dad, maybe you can relate to this kind of person because I know for a fact that you've experienced exactly what I am now. He was in band. Not just band but marching band. Now I don't have a problem with marching band. I had a few good friends in band. He is the kind of band kid that thinks that people only go to the football games to watch the band at half time but come early so they have something they can do to get ready for it and stay so they aren't bored the rest of the night. Now we all know that this is just incorrect. Everybody loves to watch the football games. They come for football and go to the bathroom and poop while the band plays on the field. Maybe and this might be a stretch but maybe 25% of the people at the games come to watch just the band but then probably 10% of those actually like to watch the game as well so they have duel motives. Anyways. I don't get along with people like that very well. Also he is extremely nosey. If I say anything to anyone and he can't exactly hear it then he says “wait what did you say” and if I say “oh nothing” he is like “well it didn't sound like nothing.” And gets all butt hurt. But if he says something and people think it’s funny and I ask what it was he just says “don't worry about it, it doesn't matter to you.” And so I just let it go. Cuz that’s what kind of person I am. He also criticizes me a lot and he doesn't make sense when he talks. So I now know what PJ was talking about when he told me he was going to make me stretch. I have taught more and talked to more people than I have my whole mission this week because, even I get confused when he teaches the lessons. But he does have a really strong testimony and he is sincere when bearing it so that it is really awesome in lessons and he always testifies that what I taught was true so it’s like two witnesses all the time. So I am stretching. But I’m not tearing. So I think it is helping me out a lot.
That was a lot of negative things about my Companion but I just want you to know that I do love him. We get along some of the time and I have only freaked once so it’s all good. He is a good missionary and we do great together in lessons.
So this week was good. We had two lessons with our investigator JT and then one with Nici. On Monday we finished up the plan of salvation with JT and then on Thursday we just read in the Book of Mormon about what Christ wants of us. We asked him if he would be baptized in three weeks and he said yes! It was awesome and we taught him about the proper authority and he said "I think my Grandpa has that, can he baptize me?" and he can. He is a member and is active and it is going to be awesome! We were so excited that night. Then on Saturday morning we had a lesson with Nici and it went great. Rewind. On Thursday we had a Zone conference and we did some role plays where one of us would act as if we were one of our investigators and then two missionaries would teach on something were struggling with and then through the promptings of the spirit we, as the investigator, would answer according to how they would probably answer. Well I did Nici and it went really good and I really felt the spirit working through. So back to our lesson. It went almost exactly like it went in the role play. It was amazing! She doesn't feel like she’s receiving an answer on whether our church is the only true church on earth. And so she doesn't think she should quit drinking coffee. Well we told her the promises of keeping the word of wisdom and then on her own she said she would quit smoking for good and not drink coffee for three days and then at the end of the three days she will pray and then if she feels good about it she won't ever drink coffee any more. So that was awesome and that’s exactly what happened in the role play. The spirit of God like a Fire is Burning! So that was great.
So on Wednesday our Bishop called us and asked us to speak on Sunday. I spoke on why I came out on a mission and then how being out has helped me more understand the Savior and how I have become more like him. It went great. I was nervous but I have gotten so much better at speaking. I only had to look down to read the quotes and scriptures. It was awesome. So that was a lot of fun. I stole Christiaans joke and told it to the ward. I said "Like a cow in tall grass I am utterly tickled to be speaking here today." They all laughed and it was great. Well I'm about out of time. This week was really good. It was warm the first couple of days but it’s now in the 70s and I’m freezing my butt off. Everyone makes fun of me cuz I’m from Arizona and cold all the time. It rained yesterday so that was cool but I’m not ready for the rainy season to start. I don't like being wet. Well I know the church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love it as well. I know our Prophet has been called of God. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
October 18th 2010
Elder Arnett is replying to his dad’s email telling about Jackie, Jamie, David, Braden, Porter and other’s from our Ward doing the Grand Canyon rim to rim this last weekend!
That sounds like a bunch of fun! I wish I was there to do it with you guys. It’s a lot of fun and a really good experience. That’s amazing that Braden could do it that fast. I think ten hours is about what it took me to do it my second time, mind I had someone hanging on my arm the whole way up and then singing to me the whole way home... but it was fun. Hopefully they will be doing it when I get home? I'll get back for just the right time too to do it! Well the work is great out here dad. I often times think back to the stories that you would tell me about your mission and it’s fun to see that I’m experiencing some of the same things. Well thanks for the email. love you.
So to start off I’ll tell you a story and then kind of explain my companion. Don't worry, they relate...
So last transfer we had interviews with our mission President and then training from him. It was really good. In my interview President Jardine (I'll call him PJ for the sake of I’m too lazy to write it out every time) PJ told me a lot of positive things that made me feel really good. Then he told me I need to take credit for the success I have and to accept that I’m a good missionary. That’s kind of hard for me because I don't want to be prideful but I think I get what he means. So let’s take this horizontal line to illustrate what he did with his hand vertically ------] he said this is where I'm at ---------] this is where I should be and -----------------------] this is what he expects of me. Yeah I almost freaked cuz I thought I was making good progress. He was thinking since elder Holyoak was so good I didn't want to mess things up so I would talk too much. And we got along so great it didn't make me really try and he believes I can get along with anyone. Ha he doesn't know about my rages. So he told me the next transfer he was going to make me stretch. I thought maybe he would have me teach more and stuff like that not make me stretch with a new companion. Well I was wrong. So this is my new companion Elder Cannon. Dad, maybe you can relate to this kind of person because I know for a fact that you've experienced exactly what I am now. He was in band. Not just band but marching band. Now I don't have a problem with marching band. I had a few good friends in band. He is the kind of band kid that thinks that people only go to the football games to watch the band at half time but come early so they have something they can do to get ready for it and stay so they aren't bored the rest of the night. Now we all know that this is just incorrect. Everybody loves to watch the football games. They come for football and go to the bathroom and poop while the band plays on the field. Maybe and this might be a stretch but maybe 25% of the people at the games come to watch just the band but then probably 10% of those actually like to watch the game as well so they have duel motives. Anyways. I don't get along with people like that very well. Also he is extremely nosey. If I say anything to anyone and he can't exactly hear it then he says “wait what did you say” and if I say “oh nothing” he is like “well it didn't sound like nothing.” And gets all butt hurt. But if he says something and people think it’s funny and I ask what it was he just says “don't worry about it, it doesn't matter to you.” And so I just let it go. Cuz that’s what kind of person I am. He also criticizes me a lot and he doesn't make sense when he talks. So I now know what PJ was talking about when he told me he was going to make me stretch. I have taught more and talked to more people than I have my whole mission this week because, even I get confused when he teaches the lessons. But he does have a really strong testimony and he is sincere when bearing it so that it is really awesome in lessons and he always testifies that what I taught was true so it’s like two witnesses all the time. So I am stretching. But I’m not tearing. So I think it is helping me out a lot.
That was a lot of negative things about my Companion but I just want you to know that I do love him. We get along some of the time and I have only freaked once so it’s all good. He is a good missionary and we do great together in lessons.
So this week was good. We had two lessons with our investigator JT and then one with Nici. On Monday we finished up the plan of salvation with JT and then on Thursday we just read in the Book of Mormon about what Christ wants of us. We asked him if he would be baptized in three weeks and he said yes! It was awesome and we taught him about the proper authority and he said "I think my Grandpa has that, can he baptize me?" and he can. He is a member and is active and it is going to be awesome! We were so excited that night. Then on Saturday morning we had a lesson with Nici and it went great. Rewind. On Thursday we had a Zone conference and we did some role plays where one of us would act as if we were one of our investigators and then two missionaries would teach on something were struggling with and then through the promptings of the spirit we, as the investigator, would answer according to how they would probably answer. Well I did Nici and it went really good and I really felt the spirit working through. So back to our lesson. It went almost exactly like it went in the role play. It was amazing! She doesn't feel like she’s receiving an answer on whether our church is the only true church on earth. And so she doesn't think she should quit drinking coffee. Well we told her the promises of keeping the word of wisdom and then on her own she said she would quit smoking for good and not drink coffee for three days and then at the end of the three days she will pray and then if she feels good about it she won't ever drink coffee any more. So that was awesome and that’s exactly what happened in the role play. The spirit of God like a Fire is Burning! So that was great.
So on Wednesday our Bishop called us and asked us to speak on Sunday. I spoke on why I came out on a mission and then how being out has helped me more understand the Savior and how I have become more like him. It went great. I was nervous but I have gotten so much better at speaking. I only had to look down to read the quotes and scriptures. It was awesome. So that was a lot of fun. I stole Christiaans joke and told it to the ward. I said "Like a cow in tall grass I am utterly tickled to be speaking here today." They all laughed and it was great. Well I'm about out of time. This week was really good. It was warm the first couple of days but it’s now in the 70s and I’m freezing my butt off. Everyone makes fun of me cuz I’m from Arizona and cold all the time. It rained yesterday so that was cool but I’m not ready for the rainy season to start. I don't like being wet. Well I know the church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love it as well. I know our Prophet has been called of God. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
October 18th 2010
Elder Arnett is replying to his dad’s email telling about Jackie, Jamie, David, Braden, Porter and other’s from our Ward doing the Grand Canyon rim to rim this last weekend!
That sounds like a bunch of fun! I wish I was there to do it with you guys. It’s a lot of fun and a really good experience. That’s amazing that Braden could do it that fast. I think ten hours is about what it took me to do it my second time, mind I had someone hanging on my arm the whole way up and then singing to me the whole way home... but it was fun. Hopefully they will be doing it when I get home? I'll get back for just the right time too to do it! Well the work is great out here dad. I often times think back to the stories that you would tell me about your mission and it’s fun to see that I’m experiencing some of the same things. Well thanks for the email. love you.
Monday, October 11, 2010
October 11th 2010
October 11th 2010
Wow! What a great email that was Mom. The story of the storm was crazy! I can't believe tornados actually touched down! We haven’t had any weather problems here. Last week it was kind of cold and the beginning of this week was pretty cold but by Thursday it was in the 80's and boy was that heavenly. So I have this problem where I write a bunch of letters then they sit on my desk for a week then I put them in envelopes and then send them a week later. So that is what happened this week. I have written letters to everyone including Grandma and will put them in the mail box today so they will probably get picked up tomorrow so you can figure out how long they will take to get there. Also, I need Jeff and Candice’s Address. I don't hear anything from them but I would like to send them a letter.
So this last week was good. It is super weird being in just one ward now. My area in Stockton was pretty small and just one ward as well but it was bigger than the ward I'm over now. With both wards we could stay pretty busy and things would be fine with finding people to teach and having appointments and things like that but now in just one ward it’s kind of difficult to do so. It probably similar to the size of our ward in Mesa but not as many members in it. So this week we were doing a lot of seeing potentials and less active members and stuff because all of our investigators were in the other ward that I decided to give up. It was a tough decision which ward I wanted because in the other ward we had a bigger teaching pool but the investigators weren't exactly solid and the members were all pretty cool and stuff but they weren't the most missionary minded and weren't as available to help us out with stuff. In the ward that I’m currently over we only have two real investigators and so it is harder to have things to do all day cuz you can't teach two people every day of the week. But ultimately I decided to pick this ward because the members are all great. They are usually available to help us out any time of the day and they are always willing to do missionary work. We had dinner with the bishop this week and it was amazing to see and feel the love he really has for the youth in the ward. He was rearranging things in the ward to specifically help out the missionary work and the youth. It’s a lot of fun working with him. So one thing we were trained on by another missionary a couple of weeks ago was working with members to find people to teach. Oh how true I know this is now! The two people we are teaching for real’s right now were because we went to visit a less active family. The first is a 15 year old kid named JT. We met him like a month and a half ago. His dad is a less active member and is a brother to the biggest well known family in Elk Grove. They own like four different businesses so we thought it would be good to meet him. He (the father of JT) told us that he wasn't going to be coming back to church or anything so we kind of left it at that. Then a couple weeks later we went and visited a less active lady in our ward with the same last name. It was funny because when we knocked on her door she knew exactly why we were there and she told us she was trying to make it back to church and then we asked if we would be able to come over and practice our lessons on her and her kids and she said she was actually wondering and asking her Mom the day before if she thought the missionaries would be willing to teach her kids so they could be more "knowledgeable". So she said of course and we went and answered her and her kids questions. We soon found out that she was the ex wife of Jt's fathers brother. So JT is her nephew. Well we thought well certainly these lessons would be more effective with an unbaptized kid here, which JT is. So we asked her to invite him over a time or two and she gladly did and also provided a Book of Mormon for him. So since then we have been over three times to teach JT and we have plans to invite him tonight to be baptized in a couple of weeks. So that was awesome and totally inspired. The other person we are working with is the 26 year old daughter of another less active sister in our ward. A couple of weeks ago we had dinner with this lady and she told us that she was having trouble getting in contact with the woman she visit teaches. So she asked us if we could go stop by and we do things like that everyday so we said "Why of course!" So the next day we went by and met Nici (said Nicki). She had previously moved back in with her mom and dad a couple of weeks before after having lived with her boyfriend in Colorado for 5 years! We got on the subject of religion, naturally, and taught her a little bit about Joseph Smith. She was intrigued by this, and was more than willing to have us over more. So since we have taught her 3 times and she is progressing greatly. She has committed, on her own, to stop smoking and drinking coffee. She, however, is not progressing as much and we would like. She works every Sunday and just started at her job so she has no seniority to take off whenever she wants to. So we are praying for help with that. So those have been two huge awesome things that have happened so far.
So now I have a new companion! His name is Elder Cannon and is from Bountiful, Utah. My first Utah companion. I was on a roll. He is awesome! He loves to work and is not afraid to just go out there and do it! We get along pretty good from what I can see. He is no Elder Holyoak, who is like a secretary in the office doing paper work and what not, but it’s fun. He went to UNLV the year before his mission on a full ride scholarship. He is majoring in Music and he plays the clarinet and is working towards being something with that. It is a lot of fun. We also live with two other Elders now. It’s so much fun. It’s easier to slack off but we are doing pretty good working hard. They are Elder's Duncan and Roberts. From New Mexico and Payson, Utah. They are great missionaries and they are a lot of fun being around in the apartment. So yeah that’s what has been happening this week in my mission. I will close this email now and then go play some basketball. Then after that I will probably go back home and write some girls. Bye
Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
Wow! What a great email that was Mom. The story of the storm was crazy! I can't believe tornados actually touched down! We haven’t had any weather problems here. Last week it was kind of cold and the beginning of this week was pretty cold but by Thursday it was in the 80's and boy was that heavenly. So I have this problem where I write a bunch of letters then they sit on my desk for a week then I put them in envelopes and then send them a week later. So that is what happened this week. I have written letters to everyone including Grandma and will put them in the mail box today so they will probably get picked up tomorrow so you can figure out how long they will take to get there. Also, I need Jeff and Candice’s Address. I don't hear anything from them but I would like to send them a letter.
So this last week was good. It is super weird being in just one ward now. My area in Stockton was pretty small and just one ward as well but it was bigger than the ward I'm over now. With both wards we could stay pretty busy and things would be fine with finding people to teach and having appointments and things like that but now in just one ward it’s kind of difficult to do so. It probably similar to the size of our ward in Mesa but not as many members in it. So this week we were doing a lot of seeing potentials and less active members and stuff because all of our investigators were in the other ward that I decided to give up. It was a tough decision which ward I wanted because in the other ward we had a bigger teaching pool but the investigators weren't exactly solid and the members were all pretty cool and stuff but they weren't the most missionary minded and weren't as available to help us out with stuff. In the ward that I’m currently over we only have two real investigators and so it is harder to have things to do all day cuz you can't teach two people every day of the week. But ultimately I decided to pick this ward because the members are all great. They are usually available to help us out any time of the day and they are always willing to do missionary work. We had dinner with the bishop this week and it was amazing to see and feel the love he really has for the youth in the ward. He was rearranging things in the ward to specifically help out the missionary work and the youth. It’s a lot of fun working with him. So one thing we were trained on by another missionary a couple of weeks ago was working with members to find people to teach. Oh how true I know this is now! The two people we are teaching for real’s right now were because we went to visit a less active family. The first is a 15 year old kid named JT. We met him like a month and a half ago. His dad is a less active member and is a brother to the biggest well known family in Elk Grove. They own like four different businesses so we thought it would be good to meet him. He (the father of JT) told us that he wasn't going to be coming back to church or anything so we kind of left it at that. Then a couple weeks later we went and visited a less active lady in our ward with the same last name. It was funny because when we knocked on her door she knew exactly why we were there and she told us she was trying to make it back to church and then we asked if we would be able to come over and practice our lessons on her and her kids and she said she was actually wondering and asking her Mom the day before if she thought the missionaries would be willing to teach her kids so they could be more "knowledgeable". So she said of course and we went and answered her and her kids questions. We soon found out that she was the ex wife of Jt's fathers brother. So JT is her nephew. Well we thought well certainly these lessons would be more effective with an unbaptized kid here, which JT is. So we asked her to invite him over a time or two and she gladly did and also provided a Book of Mormon for him. So since then we have been over three times to teach JT and we have plans to invite him tonight to be baptized in a couple of weeks. So that was awesome and totally inspired. The other person we are working with is the 26 year old daughter of another less active sister in our ward. A couple of weeks ago we had dinner with this lady and she told us that she was having trouble getting in contact with the woman she visit teaches. So she asked us if we could go stop by and we do things like that everyday so we said "Why of course!" So the next day we went by and met Nici (said Nicki). She had previously moved back in with her mom and dad a couple of weeks before after having lived with her boyfriend in Colorado for 5 years! We got on the subject of religion, naturally, and taught her a little bit about Joseph Smith. She was intrigued by this, and was more than willing to have us over more. So since we have taught her 3 times and she is progressing greatly. She has committed, on her own, to stop smoking and drinking coffee. She, however, is not progressing as much and we would like. She works every Sunday and just started at her job so she has no seniority to take off whenever she wants to. So we are praying for help with that. So those have been two huge awesome things that have happened so far.
So now I have a new companion! His name is Elder Cannon and is from Bountiful, Utah. My first Utah companion. I was on a roll. He is awesome! He loves to work and is not afraid to just go out there and do it! We get along pretty good from what I can see. He is no Elder Holyoak, who is like a secretary in the office doing paper work and what not, but it’s fun. He went to UNLV the year before his mission on a full ride scholarship. He is majoring in Music and he plays the clarinet and is working towards being something with that. It is a lot of fun. We also live with two other Elders now. It’s so much fun. It’s easier to slack off but we are doing pretty good working hard. They are Elder's Duncan and Roberts. From New Mexico and Payson, Utah. They are great missionaries and they are a lot of fun being around in the apartment. So yeah that’s what has been happening this week in my mission. I will close this email now and then go play some basketball. Then after that I will probably go back home and write some girls. Bye
Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
October 5th 2010
October 5th 2010
Man do I sure love these emails. So I am extremely sorry about lasts weeks email. I was up all night on Sunday night and slept all day Monday trying to catch up on our pday so I could be better by Tuesday so on Monday I tried to come over to the Church's family history Center and email but after sitting up too long I started to get sick so I had to take off to the couch and lay down for a bit and then actually fell asleep for a long while. And then I realized that I failed to mention that this week was going to be transfers so we wouldn't have Pday until today (Tuesday) so I just want you to know that I am not dead. I am actually doing really good. I finally started feeling better on Tuesday night but the medical lady told me I couldn't go out on my bike so I just went in the car with another missionary and we had splits with the elders quorum and high priests so I rode in a car all night. They put me on the B.R.A.T. Diet for a couple of days (bread, rice, apple sauce, toast) so it would make my stomach not act up and I’m glad to say that I am all back to normal. But the worse part about the whole sickness wasn't the tiredness and not eating normal food and not even the actual throwing up but since I did throw up about ten times in one night, the muscles in my chest that normally don't get used were super sore so my chest was killing. Now I know what you’re thinking Mom and I was thinking the same thing. Pneumonia (or however you spell it). So I talked to the Medical lady and she told me it was just the muscles and my chest doesn't hurt anymore so she must have been right. But my chest was killing me for like three days. She told me not to ride my bike but I had to because we had appointments and stuff so it just kept hurting. But now I'm all better. I went to the doctor last Tuesday for a follow up on my asthma. They put me on these pills for a week then on Tuesday the doctor prescribed me an inhaler that is a steroid because he thinks while I'm here in Sacramento it will help me out. I take it every morning and night just one puff and so far I haven't seen too drastic of a change but I have to check in with the medical lady every couple of days because she said I am probably worse off than I think I am but I’m not. I can never breathe so it’s nothing new. So by now some of you might be wondering about transfers because I had previously mentioned it. Well I am sad to say that Elder Holyoak is getting transferred... Bummer. But he is going to the office to be an office elder which is really cool. So my new companion is going to be Elder Cannon. He came out the same time as Elder Holyoak so he’s been out for about 15 months. So it should be good. But something else is happening too. My area used to consist of two wards but now, since Mexico is being really slow with visas, we have a lot of visa waiters in our mission so they split my wards up so now I will only be covering one ward which will be nice because it’s kind of hard trying to put the same amount of effort in both wards. So that’s exciting news. So this last week was crazy. We recently started going over to a Less Active families house to teach them the lessons because the kids don't know much about the church even though they have been baptized and it has gone real good. But we found out that their cousin is not a member so he has been coming over the past couple of times and wants to be baptized so that is really cool. Also we went over to a Less Active ladies house who someone in our ward wanted us to stop by so we did and met her 26 year old daughter who is not a member and we talked to her for a good little while and she told us she almost got baptized but she doesn't want to quit smoking and drinking coffee so we decided to teach her anyways and the next time we came over she told us she got rid of the coffee maker and was on her last pack of cigarettes because she thought it was stupid to do those things. So that was really cool. It’s amazing how the spirit works on people when their time is right. We have a lesson with her tonight so we will see how that is going. We have been teaching this 79 year old black guy named Leon whose wife died in May and it has been good. We’re not sure if he’s taking the lessons because he knows a lot of people in our ward and likes to hang out with them or because he is truly interested but either way he listens and feels the spirit so that could lead to a strong desire to be baptized. So I have broken two more spokes on my bike since last emailing home which brings me to a total of 5 and I’ve spent over 100 dollars. Its ridiculous so I’m going to call CTR bikes and see what they want to do for me. So that’s a bummer. When I was sick I got all the way down to about 225 but am back up at 240ish so that was crazy. That’s how sick I was. So conference was AMAZING! I loved how the prophet got up first thing and challenged every young man to come on a mission. It’s the greatest thing ever being out here. We watched Conference at our Church building. It was nice. There were only like 10 people there and a family that came cooked lunch on sat and sun. for us. It was good. I loved Saturday morning session. I felt like it was real good. Then priesthood was definitely the best I have ever heard in my life. The Korean or whoever who spoke about the scorpion sting was AMAZING. I loved his talk. After it I leaned over to my companion and said man he hit that one out of the park. And he agreed. The first presidency did amazing. I wrote down a couple of good quotes from each of them. One from President Uchtdorf was "Being humble isn't thinking less of yourself, but thinking less about yourself" That was good because I tend to beat myself up for stupid things and end up comparing myself to others which he told us that "Pride is a sin of comparison". Then I loved President Monson's Three R's of Choice. They were good. I loved his quote of "Decisions do determine Destiny". That one was really good. Then on Sunday it was all amazing. It was hard to take very many notes because I was captivated by each of the speakers. The Choir was amazing in all sessions and Love One Another is now one of my favorite songs. It was so cool to see Elder Allred singing up there with the MTC Choir. I wasn't expecting to see someone I knew but I thought I would look anyways. They did great. Well I’m about out of time. So I will update on more next week. I'll have more details on my new companion and on people were teaching. I was able to go to the temple this morning and it was fantastic. Each time I go it strengthens my testimony that this church is true. I know it is and I know that President Monson is a true prophet of God. I am so glad to live in a time when we have the true church and a living servant of God to lead us. I hope all is well at home and I love you all. Good luck in life.
Love,
Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
Man do I sure love these emails. So I am extremely sorry about lasts weeks email. I was up all night on Sunday night and slept all day Monday trying to catch up on our pday so I could be better by Tuesday so on Monday I tried to come over to the Church's family history Center and email but after sitting up too long I started to get sick so I had to take off to the couch and lay down for a bit and then actually fell asleep for a long while. And then I realized that I failed to mention that this week was going to be transfers so we wouldn't have Pday until today (Tuesday) so I just want you to know that I am not dead. I am actually doing really good. I finally started feeling better on Tuesday night but the medical lady told me I couldn't go out on my bike so I just went in the car with another missionary and we had splits with the elders quorum and high priests so I rode in a car all night. They put me on the B.R.A.T. Diet for a couple of days (bread, rice, apple sauce, toast) so it would make my stomach not act up and I’m glad to say that I am all back to normal. But the worse part about the whole sickness wasn't the tiredness and not eating normal food and not even the actual throwing up but since I did throw up about ten times in one night, the muscles in my chest that normally don't get used were super sore so my chest was killing. Now I know what you’re thinking Mom and I was thinking the same thing. Pneumonia (or however you spell it). So I talked to the Medical lady and she told me it was just the muscles and my chest doesn't hurt anymore so she must have been right. But my chest was killing me for like three days. She told me not to ride my bike but I had to because we had appointments and stuff so it just kept hurting. But now I'm all better. I went to the doctor last Tuesday for a follow up on my asthma. They put me on these pills for a week then on Tuesday the doctor prescribed me an inhaler that is a steroid because he thinks while I'm here in Sacramento it will help me out. I take it every morning and night just one puff and so far I haven't seen too drastic of a change but I have to check in with the medical lady every couple of days because she said I am probably worse off than I think I am but I’m not. I can never breathe so it’s nothing new. So by now some of you might be wondering about transfers because I had previously mentioned it. Well I am sad to say that Elder Holyoak is getting transferred... Bummer. But he is going to the office to be an office elder which is really cool. So my new companion is going to be Elder Cannon. He came out the same time as Elder Holyoak so he’s been out for about 15 months. So it should be good. But something else is happening too. My area used to consist of two wards but now, since Mexico is being really slow with visas, we have a lot of visa waiters in our mission so they split my wards up so now I will only be covering one ward which will be nice because it’s kind of hard trying to put the same amount of effort in both wards. So that’s exciting news. So this last week was crazy. We recently started going over to a Less Active families house to teach them the lessons because the kids don't know much about the church even though they have been baptized and it has gone real good. But we found out that their cousin is not a member so he has been coming over the past couple of times and wants to be baptized so that is really cool. Also we went over to a Less Active ladies house who someone in our ward wanted us to stop by so we did and met her 26 year old daughter who is not a member and we talked to her for a good little while and she told us she almost got baptized but she doesn't want to quit smoking and drinking coffee so we decided to teach her anyways and the next time we came over she told us she got rid of the coffee maker and was on her last pack of cigarettes because she thought it was stupid to do those things. So that was really cool. It’s amazing how the spirit works on people when their time is right. We have a lesson with her tonight so we will see how that is going. We have been teaching this 79 year old black guy named Leon whose wife died in May and it has been good. We’re not sure if he’s taking the lessons because he knows a lot of people in our ward and likes to hang out with them or because he is truly interested but either way he listens and feels the spirit so that could lead to a strong desire to be baptized. So I have broken two more spokes on my bike since last emailing home which brings me to a total of 5 and I’ve spent over 100 dollars. Its ridiculous so I’m going to call CTR bikes and see what they want to do for me. So that’s a bummer. When I was sick I got all the way down to about 225 but am back up at 240ish so that was crazy. That’s how sick I was. So conference was AMAZING! I loved how the prophet got up first thing and challenged every young man to come on a mission. It’s the greatest thing ever being out here. We watched Conference at our Church building. It was nice. There were only like 10 people there and a family that came cooked lunch on sat and sun. for us. It was good. I loved Saturday morning session. I felt like it was real good. Then priesthood was definitely the best I have ever heard in my life. The Korean or whoever who spoke about the scorpion sting was AMAZING. I loved his talk. After it I leaned over to my companion and said man he hit that one out of the park. And he agreed. The first presidency did amazing. I wrote down a couple of good quotes from each of them. One from President Uchtdorf was "Being humble isn't thinking less of yourself, but thinking less about yourself" That was good because I tend to beat myself up for stupid things and end up comparing myself to others which he told us that "Pride is a sin of comparison". Then I loved President Monson's Three R's of Choice. They were good. I loved his quote of "Decisions do determine Destiny". That one was really good. Then on Sunday it was all amazing. It was hard to take very many notes because I was captivated by each of the speakers. The Choir was amazing in all sessions and Love One Another is now one of my favorite songs. It was so cool to see Elder Allred singing up there with the MTC Choir. I wasn't expecting to see someone I knew but I thought I would look anyways. They did great. Well I’m about out of time. So I will update on more next week. I'll have more details on my new companion and on people were teaching. I was able to go to the temple this morning and it was fantastic. Each time I go it strengthens my testimony that this church is true. I know it is and I know that President Monson is a true prophet of God. I am so glad to live in a time when we have the true church and a living servant of God to lead us. I hope all is well at home and I love you all. Good luck in life.
Love,
Elder Tyler Pete Arnett
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