November 29^th 2011

Well this week was a good one. It was rough going all those days without a p day but it was nice to have a short week till this one. When we don't get p day on Monday we call it marathon Monday. It was rough having two of those in a row. So thanksgiving was awesome! We ate with a family over in Elder Jones' first area. The dad is the bishop of the ward and his daughter is married and lives in our ward with her husband. She barely got home from her mission in Thailand a year ago! So it was fun. Her husband is a convert to the church and served a mission at 26! The family we were with, the Larsons, have 4 children. Two are married, one is on a mission in North Carolina in the mission Elder Jones is from, and the other one just graduated from High School and is getting ready for a mission. We had some good food. I got full super super fast. I have been eating a lot less lately, I eat apples a lot cuz I can take them with me out the door and they are good for you. Like dad always told me, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I think he told me that about a few foods though. So couldn't eat too much. Elder Jones was in a lot of pain that night. He has a bad back and he tweaked it while we were playing football. He is just now starting to recover. It’s been rough on him, I feel bad. He did have like 4 touchdowns though so maybe it was worth it. He spent most of the night icing his back and put a heating pad on it. Since he was in the living room on the couch doing that the parents and the married daughter came in and talked with us. We had a real nice chat about the Gospel, about our future lives and ambitions and just talking about some fun things. We played the game Apples to Apples and had a good time. The TV was on the whole time with different football games on. It was a temptation not to watch. The rest of the night was good. Friday we had a busy day doing different things. I can't remember what we did. Saturday was good too but just like Friday I can't remember what went on. Sunday was a very very good day. We got all ready in the morning and went to church. When we first got there and until 20 min. into sacrament meeting Shauna McCartney was the only one there. Randomly an old investigator we haven't been teaching texted us and asked if she could come to church and we enthusiastically said YES! She did come for the second and third meetings. Just after we received that text Roberta and Serenity walked in and sat in the back, so we texted the mom of Shauna to see if Justin, her brother, was coming. The mom had gotten home late from work again so she was bringing him late. Just as Sacrament meeting ended, he waltzed on in with a purple suit coat and black MC Hammer pants on. It was ridiculous but he was there! So we had 5 people come to church and 4 of them are set up to be baptized this month! We are stoked. The rest of Sunday was kind of dull though. We had dinner with the Welch family who is the family that Michael and Mercy Slover, the last two baptizees live with. The dad cooks very very well. They were all bragging about his fried chicken so he finally made it. He has nothing on your chicken dad! He does make some good potatoes with Garlic and what not in them. Most people wouldn't like them but I love garlic. Then after that we met with all the missionaries. Since it’s after Thanksgiving we took the liberty to go Christmas Caroling as a zone to everyone’s investigators. It was a lot of fun. Monday was good as well. We went to all the apartments in the zone and did checks to see if they were clean. Then we went to the mission office to pick up a Spanish Book of Mormon for one of our investigators. She speaks Spanish and English but her husband only speaks English so we get to teach them. Then we had some lunch. We were able to see a few people and tract for a little while. We had dinner with the Thomas family. His dad just got made the Stake Patriarch a little while ago. They are a real nice young family. During dinner we got our Transfer Calls... Dun, Dun, Dun... President Lewis asked to speak to Elder Jones and I together so he could break the news to us so Bro. Thomas let us go into his 12 year old daughters room. It was a unique transfer call. For one there were David Archuleta, Demi Levato, and Selena Gomez posters everywhere. Then President Lewis said that he regretted to inform us that the Lord wanted us to stay together here for another transfer! So a year of my mission will be spent in two areas! I am super super excited! We are stoked to stay together. We both get along so well and we are doing some great work together. So that was exciting. This is by far my favorite area. I have been praying everyday asking to stay here. The Lord answered!

So Elder Jones was born and raised in a little town called Roanoke Rapids North Carolina. It has a population of like 5000. He loved growing up there and that is home for him but he is not opposed to move away. He loves his family and they are all there but he doesn't see much opportunity for himself there. His dad is a Lawyer. His parents are probably late to mid-40's He is the second oldest of Six kids. He has an older sister who is 23 and not married. He has a younger sister who is 17 and a senior in high school. He has another younger sister who is like 14. His little brother is 10 and his baby sister who is soo cute is 5. They all sing very very well and they all play the guitar. I have seen a few videos of them and it’s great. I might love his little sister so he can't marry Hayley. He hasn't showed any interest in her so idk. He is a great guy though. I am considering going to Utah for school just so we can hang out. That is where he plans on going. He loves Taylor Swift and so does his family. So we get along pretty well with that. He enjoys long walks on the beach, Horseback riding, and finger painting. Just kidding. I made the last three things up. Well, that’s it. So I want to do a Christmas card again but I don't know if I’ll have the money for them and stamps. If I do it I won't send it to 100 people again. Probably only like 30. So maybe you can help me with that. I really don't want much for Christmas. I just want to baptize a lot of people this year. Well things are still awesome. We are still striving to be as obedient as possible. I have discovered heaven in a bottle recently. It is Afrin Nasal Spray. It works wonders in my congested sinuses. I still take Benadryl every day but this helps me have a clear nasal passage way all day. So things are great. Some of the missionaries are making our hair turn gray cuz they aren't being obedient and we are finding out about it so we have to crack down on things. Well I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. We are having a fine time listening to Holiday favorites and classics. I can't wait till the day I can eat a Krazy Sub! Well I love you all. Have a nice week.
Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett