May 9^th 2011

Well it sounds like things at home are just moving along. Hayley is as white as ever ha. This week has been pretty good. Kind of weird but I learned a lot and missionary work is just moving along. Tuesday night was spent visiting some different people. We had three appointments for all three hours we go out after P-day and none were home. So we visited some other people and it was good. The member that came out with us was a big basketball fan so he told us how the play offs were going. It sounds cool but not as cool as missionary work, and definitely not as satisfying. Wednesday morning Elder Hock got ready to take off. He left at around 9 and Elder Garcia-Gomez (my new companion) got here at around 9:30. He is full blown Mexican. He was born in Mexico but moved to San Diego when he was 9. So he has been here awhile but I still can't understand half of what he says. He is a cool kid. He had a different past but he’s on Jesus' team now so it’s all go. He works really hard and kicks my butt on the bike but waits up for me cuz I told him I had asthma and like everyone else he thinks I’m going to die if I do anything semi physically demanding. We had a lesson on Wednesday morning. They were nice people. The mom doesn't seem to want to commit to anything but they dad and the 14 year old son seem like this is something they have been looking for. I had a leadership meeting with the two other district leaders in our zone and the zone leaders. We just went over all our responsibilities because all three of us are first timers. Except the other two have been out 6 months more than me so they have more experience. It’s weird because I have no idea what I’m doing. But I’ll just keep working hard and doing what’s right and the Lord will bless me. After that meeting I had some lunch then we went out to visit some more people. We talked to some nice people. It was cool. We had a lesson with an old lady named Mrs. Kelley. She is like 80 something. She is looking for a church that fits her and she likes the LDS church a lot. But she doesn't like Mormons and she doesn't know that they are the same thing... we didn't tell her yet but we will this week. We had dinner with President Williams that night. It was awesome. He rocks. He is the stake president. We have gotten to know each other pretty well with me being here for my fifth transfer. I'm going to spend more than a 4th of my mission in the elk grove stake. I want to be a zone leader here some time. That would rock. After dinner we went and visited Clair. She is doing well as I said last night. Thursday morning we had district meeting. It was my first time training as a district leader. It was good. I trained on expecting miracles or Milagros as they say in Spanish as well as faith cuz they go together. Then we had lunch. We had two appointments after lunch that flaked on us but that’s how it goes some time. We visit a lot of good people. We tracted a bit then we had to go to dinner. There was a miscommunication and we went to the people’s house but they were dropping off at our house. They brought us pizza. We had pizza for dinner Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday nights. After dinner we taught a black lady named Lashanda. It was really good. We took a member with us. He taught real good but liked to teach things like baptism for the dead and stuff like that that had nothing to do with the first vision. But it was good. We went to Kyndras house to make sure she was still set for baptism. Her mom related to us that she wasn't going to get baptized yet because she has been bad and disobedient and she doesn't think she’s ready for it yet. But she doesn't know that baptism is what could help her most at this time. Friday we had weekly planning in the morning. We planned for some good things. It’s always interesting in the first weekly planning of the transfer because missionaries do it very different some times. The rest of the day was pretty weird. We talked to some good people. They were pretty nice. We tracted in the Ghetto and it was fun. We talked to a Jehovah witness for a while. She said she would agree with us if we didn't celebrate Easter. They are weird sometimes. We had some good dinner afterwards then we tracted some more. Saturday rocked! We had a mission wide leadership council. It was awesome. I felt weird because I was the third youngest missionary in the room. But I learned a lot and it was fun. That day was also Mormon Helping Hands where they go clean park and stuff but it was during the meeting. They had a huge BBQ for the stake and I saw a lot of old friends from the Elk Grove Park ward as well as the Waterman ward. It’s amazing how many people you meet out here. We saw a lot of people on Saturday. We didn't teach anyone but we met some really cool people on the streets. We had dinner with The Meisners, it was good. That night I got a flat tire so we had to walk home so I could fix it and by the time we got home it was 9. I fixed it though. Sunday was nice. We had a good church. I had to teach the lesson in gospel principles. It was good. It was on the gifts of the Spirit. We had dinner after church at a Meinh (some Asian language) person’s house and it was good though I didn't know what it was. Some meat soup with noodles or something. Then we called home! It was nice to hear that you had a fun time visiting. I had a good time waiting for the phone. The family was from Hawaii and they had a Ukulele even though none of them played it. I tuned it up for em and played a couple of songs out of the children’s song book. It was good and fun. After calling home we went to the church to meet the rest of the zone and set some good goals to find more people this week. Today was good. We played a good game of football. My team won. I say my team because I was the captain and picked winners. So it was good. Tell Grandma I'm sorry I didn't mention the camel in my last email. I did get the package. We all enjoyed the brownies and love the popcorn. The camel is hanging over my head on the bars of my bunk bed. So it’s all good. It was so nice to hear everyone’s voices. It was nice to hear more from Jeff this time. I miss you all a lot. It’s been year! This same date last year I gave my farewell talk. Its crazy how fast time flies. Well I have to go. Love ya all.

Love Elder Tyler Pete Arnett