November 14^th 2011

I think the quote sounds better when I think of someone else saying it, not myself. So this week was really good. Despite some lost time here and there from being new zone leaders and trying to figure things out on the run, Elder Jones and I are seeing some good success. Its fun. Wednesday we had a good leadership meeting and things went well. Afterwards Elder Jones and I went to a delicious pizza buffet called Rico's. I guess it was huge in California back in the day but now there is only like one in Sacramento. So we went there. It is super good. The TV was on Sport Center and we saw all the good stuff on Joe Patterno and his friend. Man what is this world coming to! Also the commercials are ridiculous. Man. After lunch we were able to tract for a little while. It was fun. Then we had a pretty sweet miracle. We went to see some referrals that some missionaries gave us a week before and after two or three elder Jones had to pee real bad so we were about to go to Roberts house, the blind recent convert who is awesome. He said he could hold it for a little longer so we just kept seeing people who all lived in the same apartment complex. So we went and thought we were done but then we remembered one last one that was up on the third floor. So we went up to it and knocked on the door and this nice white guy with a beard answered the door. This part gets cool. He says he is busy babysitting two of his daughters and his house is a mess but he wanted us to come back on Saturday. Well we asked what his daughters names were and the first ones name was Kaylee. Elder Jones has a little sister named Kaylee who is 17 and super pretty, so I might be moving to North Carolina in 6 months. So that was fun but then he told us the name of the younger daughter and her name was Hayley. Well how about that. He has two daughters that have the same names as our younger sisters! So we talked for a bit then we asked if there was anything we could do before we left and he said no, just answer me this. (this is my favorite part) why did you come over to my house today? We replied that we felt we needed to stop by and that we almost missed it but we were prompted and remembered it. He got a real surprised look on his face and almost started crying. He said he had been praying the day before for guidance and he knew there was more he needed in his life religion wise. He told God that if this Mormon thing was for him that he needed to send the missionaries over the very next day. Well there we were. An answer to his prayer. So that was cool. The only thing is, he wasn't home for our return appointment on Saturday... but we will get him!!! The rest of the day would be a letdown compared to that story. We did have Chipotle for dinner which was mighty tasty. Wednesday we had a great district meeting. Elder Jones and I rewrote She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. We made it missionary like. We played it for the zone. I started out singing it and I sucked. Elder Jones took it on the second verse then I interpretive danced the rest. It was fun. We taped it for the viewers to enjoy. I'll send the card home soon. The rest of the day I was with Elder Seigfried on exchanges. One area I am trying to work on is patience and the only way to strengthen something is to exercise it and push it till its tearing and about snap then release. That was an exact description of how the day went. But I feel like I am better from it. Oh and the girl didn't give me my jalapeno poppers when I paid for them only after she asked if I wanted them! Thursday was a good day. We taught a few people. We didn't plan the night before so looking at my planner right now isn't helping me remember what we did. Oh we had interviews with President Lewis on Thursday morning. It was really good. I love talking to him. He gave me some comforting advice. Friday was a swell day. We had weekly planning then we went out to lunch at a China buffet. It was good. We saw a few people afterwards. We tracted a little bit, then we had dinner. Member dropped it off to us. We had fried chicken from Raley's. Then we had an appointment fall through. We went to another really cool appointment. We had talked to an older couple the week before and missed the return appointment and she called and was mad but said we could back. So we went to the appointment and didn't listen to the spirit at all. They were asking great questions and we ignored them. We ended the lesson really really well when we finally learned our lesson and we will see them again this Friday. Their names are Tom and Annabella. Saturday was a crazy day. We got up and went to the church to play basketball with Leroy and the Elder quorum but Leroy and not one elder but like 4 people showed up so we left and then Leroy called us so we went over to his house and taught him. He is really struggling right now with unemployment and meeting with us is shaking up his family but he knows it is right so he is still going to meet with us and he came to church. We had a lot of appointments but a lot of them fell through. Our phone died so even though we were planning on skipping lunch we went and took lunch so we could charge our phone. Oh yeah and I bought an inhaler sometime in the past. We had to take a trip to the mission office to get our tires rotated and to pick up some supplies. It was fun. Saturday I wrote in my journal and I realized it was my 18 month mark so I committed to write in my journal every day the rest of my mission. I have failed already but I'll catch it up today. We had dinner with Robert and his wife Sandra and it sure was tasty. We always love hanging around Robert because he makes us feel good. He is a marriage and family therapist. So that is fun. I like to talk to him about music, movies and books. Its fun. So that was a good time. Sunday we had a meeting with the Stake Presidency. It was fun. I have decided that I want to spend my life in a room with a lot of people high up in a business and just talk about random stuff. Elder Jones is trying to convince me to go to LDS Business College for school so we can hang out when he goes to BYU. We'll see. So yeah that's whats going on. We had a good dinner last night. The mom made some amazing cookies that were almost as tasty as the oatmeal ones mom makes. Only when they are cold in the fridge with no chocolate chips and I dip them in milk. Man I will be looking forward to that someday. Maybe Christmas??? So I do like it when people honk at us when they drive by. But if you’re going to do it then do it early. Don't wait till you are right by the missionaries cuz it scares us. And I get scared easy! So don't do that. But I like it. So yeah. Things are going good. We have a lot of people we are working with. We found out a lady that came to church the past two weeks is a nonmember and has a daughter she wants to be baptized. We will be teaching her tonight so we are excited. The zone is setting things up for an amazing White Christmas. Well I love you. I won't be emailing till thanksgiving cuz next Monday we don't have P-day so don't be too bummed. Love you.
Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett