June 27^th 2011

So this week was fun... Psych! They gave me a shot at the doctors and I was feeling better by Monday night so a week inside feeling fine just isn't that fun. So Elder Taratai and his brother Brock Allen did get to meet. Brock met up with him on Saturday and was able to do 5 hours of missionary work with him and have dinner as well. Man what a miracle. President Jardine told everyone at zone conference that, that is just one of the reasons me and Elder Taratai were called to this mission at this time and that it was one of the many miracles he was able to experience. I feel so happy for him. Elder Taratai hugged me and thanked me like 10 times that day. Every time I see him he does. I just tell him that we were both doing what was right so the lord blessed him. That is something I will remember forever. So pneumonia is a funny thing. After you break your fever you don't really feel sick. So this week was pretty boring. I'll tell you some of the things we did. I read over 20 ensigns, all of a marvelous work and a wonder, cleaned the apartment including all the dishes the closet all my bedding and desk and what not, played phase 10 multiple times with Elder Moss, we started and completed a 750 piece puzzle, slept almost as much as I was awake, wrote in my journal, wrote the outline to a story I’ve had in my head, talked a lot, watched church dvds because they gave everyone in our mission portable dvd players for study, and walked around the apartment and then to the church to borrow some of their ensigns then home and stuff. So it was a very boring week. We went out maybe 5 hrs. total which I wasn't even supposed to do that. It is really hard to do missionary work when you’re sick. Thursday sister Adams did let me go to zone conference. It was amazing! It was full of the spirit and we learned some amazing things. I am sad to see President Jardine go. He is my mission president but I will love President Lewis as well. The work will be the same either way so it’s no big deal. Yesterday, Sunday, I went back for my checkup. The doctor said my lungs sound amazing but they did x-rays just in case and he said I am 100% clear of pneumonia, so that is some good news. He said he was actually surprised I got better that good. It was the blessing I got. So now I am allowed to work. But my lungs are weak so I have a car. They gave it to me on Thursday and I’m not giving it back until they ask for it. But I think I will start jogging in the morning so my lungs can get stronger, biking just isn't enough. But the car is nice now that it’s hitting the 100's. Everyone says, "Oh you’re from Arizona this must be nice weather for you" but hot is hot no matter where you go and 100 is hot. So yeah. This week I am going to work Elder Moss like none else. He had a nice vacation but now it’s on. But I will set limits this time. I think that’s how I got pneumonia, working too hard to get him work, and not resting. So that is it for this week. I have to write a letter to President Lewis about myself, so that is what I am going to do now. I hope everything goes well at home.

Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

P.S.- I just want you all to know how much I love being on a mission. Sometimes it’s hard and things are the greatest but as a whole a mission is the greatest thing ever. I wish everyone could experience it.

June 20^th 2011

So this letter will be short. I wasn't feeling good Thursday night, Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday I got real bad with a lot of chest congestion and my asthma acting up so at night I called our medical lady, Sister Adams and she said I should had called earlier cuz she wanted me to go to urgent care. But she said just sleep at home and go in the morning. So this morning I went to Urgent Care. The doctor was concerned so he did chest x-rays and I’m sure you can guess what’s next mom. Yup I have pneumonia. So he gave me a shot and a prescription for some good meds. So next week’s email will probably be pretty short as well, beings I can't do anything for a week. I have to go in for a check up on Sunday and he said he'll give me the go to work or not after that. I don't think it’s very serious but it is pneumonia so we're not going to take it lightly. So mom can you send me some more medicine for my breathing machine. Taking a treatment every four hours depletes my supply fast. So my boy (that’s mission lingo for my new companion I’m training) will be going on a lot of exchanges this week so he can still get experience. So about my boy. He rocks! His name is Elder Moss. He is originally from Utah but for the past two years him and his family have been living in Gilbert AZ! So you'll have to hook up with his parents and gossip about us or something. I'll get their info from him for next week’s email. So he is a cool kid though. He is tall and skinny but is athletic. He plays golf and loves it. He is a hard worker and has taught me a lot in the short time we've been together so far. So yeah he is a really cool guy. It is starting to get warm out here. This week we had a couple of days in the nineties I think. They say it will get up and over 100 this week. I'll be inside all day so I won't have to worry about that. Training has been a really cool experience. It is teaching me a lot and it feels good helping someone learn this stuff. The best part is when I tell him something he listens! Some of my past companions weren't like that. So it’s great. So far we have been getting along really good. He is a cool and calm kid but I can tell he can be really goofy. I'm trying to get it out of him but he's still new and shy. So yeah that’s about it for today. I think I’ll go sleep now. Oh and don't worry about me. I am sick but not dead, so it will all be good. Plus I'm one of the Lord's servants so he will bless according to his will. I have complete faith that all will be well in time. I love you all.

Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

June 14^th 2011

Well now that was a busy one wasn't it? It is still weird to think that Jamie married Joe but that is cool cuz they will be fun to hang out with at family parties. That’s awesome that Maddie is going on a mission! It’s the greatest thing ever! So about the cook books mom. Honestly the only thing I've used mine for is the converted measurements in the front. We really don't have any time to cook. Well we could if we didn't work hard but then what’s the point of being on a mission if you’re not working all the time? So this week was good and long. We did have transfer calls but I'll tell you about them as we go. So Monday night we switched up for exchanges. I went with Elder Taufu'i in the Elk Grove park ward. I was with him all day on Tuesday. It was super fun and a good time. I love going back into that ward, I have a lot of good friends from serving there. We were able to teach a less active girl who is 17 and pregnant. But the lesson was good. We got her to believe that I was adopted by Asians and was raised bhudist. We told her it was a joke and she said she honestly believed us ha. We had a good day. We switched back up that night. Wednesday was a good day. It was starting to get warm this week which I am thankful for. I am willing to sweat if it means no rain and no cold. I had a meeting on Wednesday morning. It was good. We planned out a great district meeting for the next day and it was swell. The rest of the day we went and saw people we had appointments with. Unfortunately they fall through a lot. But we always plan backups and it works out good. I have a new planner for a new transfer so I can’t remember everything we did this week. Thursday we had district meeting. Our zone leaders made a giant Book of Mormon out of a large box and I wore it and sang Book of Mormon stories on Elder Garcia's Block Rocker with my iPod playing the songs as well. It was fun and I'm sure you can believe how much I enjoyed the attention. We then got into a more spiritual mode and all the leaders trained everyone in a different room of the church. I did the Chapel and did my training at the Sacrament table and related it to sacrifice and how we can sacrifice the little that is asked of us because Jesus sacrificed more and is there to help us. I thought it went good. Then we had a testimony meeting. It was one of the more spiritual district meetings. I have been going to Togo's a lot for lunch. It is a sub shop that is closest to Steve's than anything thing I have found. It’s a little expensive though. We had that for lunch. We had some more appointments later that day. I'm sure we taught someone but I don't remember. Friday we did weekly planning then we met brother Meisner at Mama Mia's pizza to have lunch with him and the Spanish elders. It was good. Bro Meisner is the kind of guy who likes dragons and fairies and mystical creatures... So I told my alien and skin walker stories. Of course I made half of them up but he enjoyed them and wants me to write them down so he can have them ha. We saw a few people that day. There was this kid who came running up to us as we were passing a store and these bullies were chasing him to beat him up. He is in our ward so we walked him home and scared those bullies nice and good. There were four of them all a year older and they were going to steal his money he had to buy an iPod. I feel bad for him cuz they will come back when were not around. His mom isn't a member but she thanked us so we hope it was a good example for her. The rest of the day was good. Saturday was good too. We got yelled at by some lady with a beard and her 80 year old husband. They were white but had black grandkids and don't like Mormons. They got mad cuz we knocked on their neighbor in the apartment’s door. Their neighbor is a less active member who asked us to come over. I just told them to go tell on us and leave us alone. They didn't like that especially cuz the office is closed on Saturdays ha. We taught a guy from South Africa later. He speaks Swahili but enough English so it worked. He was awesome and has an earnest desire to know the truth. The rest of the day we did stuff but I can't remember then either. Sunday was good. We had church and then we had dinner with the Childress'. They made us some bbq'd chicken. It was tasty. We had a blitz and it was good as well. Monday was a nice day. We saw a few people in the morning. No one was home but we met some nice people on the streets, we went to a less active member’s house for two hours after lunch. She told us her life history and man was it better than any TV show we could had been watching at 3 in the afternoon on a Monday. It was great, we tracted for a while then we had dinner, Afterwards we went and saw Clair. Her Caregiver was there for the first time ever. She’s Jehovah witness and she just bashed us for a while. Finally I told her, were not going to agree on most of these things, because we believe we have a Prophet that still receives revelation. She said she would research if we still needed a prophet and get back to us. I won't hold my breathe. We then got our transfer calls. President Jardine threw us for a loop. He is transferring Elder Garcia to Stockton to be in Spanish work, which will be good. I am staying here for my 4th transfer... that will be six months in Florin! I am also going to be training a new missionary. I am nervous but excited as well. I don't know who it is yet so I will update you all next week on him, its crazy being here for so long. I'm excited to learn more with this experience. I just hope I don't ruin him too bad. So last night we had a party and sang with the Block Rocker in our apartment. It was gay. I took videos so don't worry. I also videoed my Book of Mormon singing... Its long. Well I love you all.

Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

June 6^th 2011

Well it sounds like everything is going good with sports and work and what not. It was fun to hear about Dads missionary work. Who knows maybe one day when a crisis happens in his family the missionaries will knock on his door (cuz that’s how it always works) and he will say hey I had a friend named Max that ate my food. Sure come on in. And then he will be baptized. Of course the wife will take a little longer with the kid’s cuz they didn't work with dad but then he will baptize his kids later. That might happen. Who knows?

I got a letter for Jackie this week. It was real good and fun to read. The candy didn't do me any good especially during planning at night but it did help when I was falling asleep during personal study. This week was good. Monday night we went Tracting. It was good. We talked to a lady who told us she was going to start working with LDS missionaries where her mother in law lives but if that doesn't work out she wants us to come by every week just in case ha. Oh well as long as someone’s teaching her. Then we went and visited with Mark Childress. He is a large fellow that loves to talk about food but it’s always a good time at their house because they are so nice and make us feel at home. After we met with him it was time to go home. Oh yeah and Elder Garcia bought a new speaker at Sam's Club. It’s called the Block Rocker. It looks like a guitar amp but it has a hook up for an ipod on top and also a microphone. I love it! It was totally an unnecessary waste of money but I enjoy it cuz I didn't pay for it ha. I like to sing with the people on my Ipod. So the Block Rocker has been playing every second we’re at home except when we’re sleeping of course. Tuesday I had a leadership meeting. The Zone Leaders were playing Hide and Seek and we had to find what room they were in. Not easy in a building that has two chapels two relief society rooms two primary rooms and numberless class rooms. Maybe not numberless but I haven’t counted them yet. We finally found them in a supply closet where we had our meeting. Then we had lunch. We had a bunch of appointments that day but sadly all of them fell through. And it rained. It has been storming a lot lately. The weathers been in the sixties. Not June at all... But we still saw a lot of people. It was good. We knocked on doors for a while. It was fun. We met some nice Spanish people. That’s when I just hand it over to Elder Garcia. A member brought us dinner. Later that night another member drove us all the way down to Elk Grove where we switched up for exchanges. Being a District Leader you have to do a lot of them. And I’m not a huge fan of them. I was with Elder Nugyen in the Elk Grove Park ward. It was a lot of fun being back. This is his second transfer in that area but he doesn't know it very good yet so I actually navigated most of it. We had correlation and that was fun also being with some old friends again. We taught a couple of nice people and it was a good day. We had a great lesson with a less active girl at her dad’s house. He is very active and has been a bishop before so it was great. Her nonmember cousin was there as well. She has cancer so she is putting her priorities in line. It’s sad that it takes something like that for people but hey God knows what’s going on. We switched back up that night. On Thursday we had district meeting. It was good. I hope. I trained on not worrying about stupid crap and worldly things and just forgetting yourself and going to work. Then I trained on teaching people not lessons. Basically about how you teach according to someone’s needs instead of a set lesson. It went smooth and it was a good day. We had lunch. Then I went with Elder Bevridge on an exchange. It was good. We saw a few people and tracted a lot. We switched back up at dinner because they had appointments with Meinh people and Elder Pelfrey speaks it better. I was bummed cuz I thought I was going to receive the gift of tongues for one night. Oh well. That was a joke btw. So the night ended. We saw a few people. It was good. Friday we had weekly planning. Then lunch then I had to do transfer reports on all the Elders in my District. It was good. The weirdest part was doing my own... at the end it asks for my recommendation on what should happen the next transfer. Well in interviews President Jardine said he wants me to be a Zone Leader either next transfer or the one after that, the latter he wouldn't have control over. Well I didn't want to sound all prideful and think I’m the man so I just put get transferred somewhere with a car, cuz my bike is being destroyed under my weight. Which it is. So we'll see what happens. We had a lesson with a Mexican named Anna. Elder Garcia wanted to teach her first before we passed her to the Spanish elder’s cuz she has the same name as his sister. She didn't understand half of what we were talking about. Later we visited some good people. We talked to some nice people that night and had dinner and then we went home. Saturday morning we called a bunch of people to see if they wanted to come watch a baptism at the church. We got a couple of flaky commitments but then a solid one so we got our suits on and went on over there at 11:30. No one showed so we just watched it. Then we had lunch. We had a couple of appointments but once again they all fell through. We talked to some nice people though and we had good backups. Brother Boyd, the man whose computer I usually email home on, took us out to Golden Corral. It was great. It was out of our area but thankfully all you have to do is get the District leaders permission to leave your area. So I pulled some strings and he let us go... We knocked doors the rest of the night. That night I did a duet with Taylor Swift, don't worry it was a Christmas song, on the Block Rocker. It was good. We filmed it. Sunday Nancy was the only one to church. We found out that the guy living with her is in jail right now so once we find out for how long she can get baptized! Church was good. We had a blitz and I was able to give a blessing with a member to a guy who is going to die soon. It was sad. He is 34 but wears diapers. The night was good. We played soccer this morning... not my favorite sport but it was fun. It is raining still. I hear it’s the tail end of the long storm and then this week in will go up to the 80's. Finally some not wet and cold weather. I would say warm but of course you’re all dealing with 100's right now so it’s just not cold in the 80's. So that was this week. It was good. I hope you all have a wonderful week. It’s kind of weird to think of summer vacation because we don't get one so it’s all the same thing all the time. So thinking that people are doing something different than school sounds weird. I love you.

Love,

Elder Tyler Pete Arnett