January 17th 2011

January 17, 2011

This week was kind of a boring week so if this email is lame I am truly sorry.

So on Monday as you now know I got a speeding ticket. The cop was really nice though. I was going 73 in a 55 and he said that looked kind of bad so he marked it down to 65 in a 55 which was a huge blessing but from talking with people it sounds like it is going to be a 300 dollar ticket. That sucks. Oh well. And as for the blurry pictures... It’s not my eyes, it’s my camera. It will focus good but when it takes the picture it goes all blurry. I have tried everything to get it to be normal. So now I just take gay pictures because nothing is cool blurry. So Monday was a good day other than the ticket. We had dinner with President Hofmann from the previous stake presidency. He is an awesome guy. Tuesday was a weird day. We woke up and got all ready and I needed to do my wash and since we have a washer and dryer in our apartment I just do it when it needs it so I cleaned up all my clothes and stuff then I decided to put my shoes away and next thing me and Elder Byrum know its 12 and we had cleaned the whole apartment and rearranged all the furniture and now our apartment looks huge and we have so much space for various activities. After lunch we went and tried to visit a few people. We didn't have much luck because no one was home. We went through a couple of Potential Investigators this week that missionaries had contacted in the past but none were really interested. It was kind of a bummer but we are still working with some great people and there are a few people that we are trying to get in contact with that will be real promising. We had a lesson on Tuesday night with Rudy and his family. We are still teaching Dusty (Rudy's Wife) Eve, Olga, and Jr. and since Eve has a set date we have daily contact with her to make sure she is still reading her scriptures and stuff. So on Tuesday President Hofmann came with us and it was a real good lesson. We didn't really prepare anything so we went in blind but it was one of our better lessons with them. He was able to relate to Dusty a lot because he was a convert with a lot of the same concerns she has. Before Rudy's baptism Eve was concerned about a few things but she felt the spirit at the baptism and now she doesn't care about those things she just accepts them as truth because she’s allowing the spirit to testify to her. It’s been amazing. Wednesday we went and saw a lot of people up in the snow because we had dinner up there. It was good. Most people weren't home but we got to visit with a few nice people for a short time. We had dinner with the Hopkins and it was fun. They are old. I enjoy old people, sometimes. They got me interested in family history. When I get home I’m going to do it. I looked up the Arnett’s on family search but it only went back to 1710 in Virginia so I still don't know where we come from... but yeah Wednesday was good. Thursday was a real boring day. Nobody was home at all. We tried to see some less actives and stuff but it seemed like no one lived there it was so quiet and desolate. It was lame. We had dinner with the Hancock’s. It was good. We have had the same thing for dinner all week though! Sloppy Joes or Spaghetti. I like spaghetti but some people suck at cooking it so it wasn't always the best but I ate it anyways because I’m hungry. Friday was a good day. We had weekly planning then we went down to Lodi and had lunch at this real good Mexican food place. They had chimichangas the closest to Matta's I’ve had since I’ve been out. They were good but didn't come close to Matta's. Then we had a Zone Training meeting from President Jardine. It was really good. They trained us on how to use Mormon.org more and better and how to use it with members. It was really good and now they want us to get on it once a week to be more familiar with it. Then we got trained by Sister Jardine on how to give talks and stuff. It was real good. We drove straight home to get to dinner in time. We had it with the High Priests at their social. Then went to Rudy's for a better dinner. We had steak. It was real good. Then we shared a good message with them. On Saturday we didn't do much because Elder Byrum was sick and I was coming down with something a little bit. So we stayed in for a bit then visited some people then took it easy for a while. We had dinner with sister Miligan who is a recent convert of about a year. She had a cool conversion story. Being on my mission has given me some good ideas for books. Especially after meeting Rudy and hearing his stories. Man he's been through a lot and he's only 32! Sunday we had church. We were down in Ione. It was good. We went to Jackson for Elder's Quorum because Rudy's whole family was at church minus Olga. It was the first time and I think everyone really enjoyed it. All the kids are making a lot of friends and they like going to activities. Sunday I was sick along with Elder Byrum so we just went to a few members houses and talked with them then had dinner with the Saldate's. It was good. She likes to make different foreign foods. Afterwards we went home and took a nap because I had a huge headache. Then we visited Rudy and it was real good. Their home teachers had been over already and Eve is going to start going to Seminary. It was cool. They are doing real good. So this week was kind of a bum week. I am starting to get over this cold so it’s not bad anymore. Me and Elder Byrum are getting a long really good. We are always tired because we talk forever at night. Its fun serving with him and we both hope president Jardine leaves us both up here for another transfer. I love the people in our ward and some amazing things are happening with amazing people. I hope everyone is having fun at home and doing well. I love you all.

Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett