December 19th 2011
So we are only allowed to write letters on P-day and in the middle of the week I had the urge to write Grandma a letter to tell her how much I love her and stuff but Elder Jones and I committed to God a new level of obedience and I knew I couldn't go back on that so I am waiting till now and now I can write her. Maybe I’ll type it up, have you print it out and give it to her. If she doesn't remember me then oh well, at least she'll know someone loves her. But yeah I'm glad to hear she is hanging on. I really want her to last till I come home. A lot of missionary’s grandparents pass away while they are on their mission but I don't think many of them grew up living with theirs and being in the same ward their whole lives and being as close as we are to our grandmother. It would be like losing a parent, which some have in our mission. But this is God's plan for us. We live to die and we die to live again. We will see her again with all the ones we love. So this week was pretty good. The whole zone is working so hard to receive miracles and blessings from God. We are consistently baptizing each week and have the most people set up to baptize the most in the mission this month. So it is an exciting time to not only be in the Sacramento mission but to be in the North Sac Zone! Monday night we had a good dinner with the Lopez family. They are the family we are working with that have nonmember friends. Their niece who is from Arizona lives with them and is super pretty. After that dinner we went and tried to see a few families the ward asked us to go see but none of them were home. Tuesday was a good day. We had a leadership meeting in the morning with the district leaders and it was fun. We went into the chapel because the room we normally do it in was super cold and dark. It was a good meeting and we talked about some good stuff. We tried to see a lot of people throughout the day but we didn't have much success with that. We tracted a lot which is always good cuz then we get to talk to each other a lot. We had dinner. The member we were supposed to eat with forgot so she just gave us some money and so we went to Taco Bell. Then we went to a meeting with the all the leaders in the stake. It was preparing for the Gladys Knight performance they are having on January 28th and 29th. It’s going to be one of the coolest things ever and all the Negros we talk to are pumped for it. The meeting went longer than we anticipated so we went home afterwards. Oh and on Tuesday I was blessed to get my package! Thank you so much for the medication and all those cookies. They are a hit with the apartment. And I love the date candy and every time I pop one in my mouth then take a sip of the hot cocoa while listening to my boy Michael Buble I think of all the hard work that must go into those dates before making the candy. It is much appreciated and we love the cd. Wednesday was really good. We had a great district meeting. We recommitted the whole zone to obedience and diligence. Everyone is super pumped too for a white Christmas. After lunch we went and visited Joanne a black American recent convert and told her about the Gladys Knight performance. I think she called ten people in the five min. we were there. Then we went and visited a few people. We had a lesson with Justin and Shana and the kids were crazy! They are so rambunctious lately. We went to see some more people then we had dinner with the Kanady family. But the parents weren't home so we just ate with the son who is contemplating going on a mission and his little sister. I think his parents planned it that way so we could talk to him and stuff. Hopefully he will go. We went and visited Roberta and Serenity and said hi to them. They are doing good. Then we went in for the night. Thursday was great. The morning was boring and I wasn't feeling too well. Then we went out and saw some people. It seemed like the day was dragging on for a while. We tracted a lot and that was good. The Elders Quorum president took us with him and his wife on their date night. We went to Logan's! It was good but I didn't get what I normally get because the steak was so dang expensive! After dinner Bro. Call, the eq pres. went with us to teach a girl named Megan Hall. We have been working with her for a bit now and it’s been good but she wasn't getting baptized. So we went in and it was super spiritual but she wasn't opening up then the spirit took over and we were asking and saying all the right things and it was great. She opened up and we resolved all her concerns and she committed to work towards January 12th, the week after I will be transferred. It was awesome. Then we went to Bro. Call's house to help him give his son a blessing cuz he was going into surgery the next day to get a random bump moved from his face. It wasn't a bad bump it was just getting bigger and didn't look so good. Kinda like dads ex-bump. Then we went home. Friday morning we had weekly planning. For lunch we met Elder Jones' recent convert from Lodi at Cold Stone and had ice cream for lunch. How healthy right? Then we went and tracted which seemed like forever! We later saw some people and it was good. We were super late to our dinner because we were talking to this lady forever and she would not shut up but that’s good I guess. We had a great dinner. It was with the family we had dinner with for Thanksgiving. The daughter and son in law live in our ward and they signed up to have us over but the whole family came and it was a good time. After dinner they wanted us to teach them a practice lesson and it was fun. We saw a couple of people then went home. Saturday morning was kind of weird. We were seeing people but it felt like everyone was tired and slow. We had a good lunch with some other elders in our zone. They had just had a baptism so we wanted to celebrate with them. Its great being a zone leader cuz you realize what it really means to have joy in others success. Or maybe that’s just me and Elder Jones. Who knows? We taught a cool guy after lunch. His name is Jon Parkes. He just got out of jail a month ago after being in there for 13 years! A member has been working with him in the prison he was in for the past 2 years and this guy is truly converted to the gospel. He just has to be approved by the first presidency because he is on parole. The member that was working with him said he has written 7 letters to the first presidency to get his people approved and all of them have so we have faith in him for Jon. We then went and taught Justin and Shana again. We are getting ready for their baptism this Wednesday and we are all super excited. Then we just tried to see as many people as we could that have been to church and can get baptized this month. We are two people away from hitting our zone goal and breaking the record and 2 away from the stake goal of 100 for the year. So we are working our butts off so we can see miracles. We had dinner with Joanne. She cooks some good southern cooking but I don't like bbq sauce and she made ribs. If it was a dry rub I would love them but the only bbq sauce I like is uncle Chets. Then we went and saw some more people. At the end of the night we went to visit one of the members because his nonmember girlfriend had come to church and we wanted to teach her. But her dad won't let her. He only let her because the kid was getting ordained a priest and it was a special occasion. So that was a bummer. Sunday was swell. There were two farewells and a homecoming in sacrament meeting. It was PACKED! The stake president son was coming home and another one was leaving and then a Tongan kid was leaving. It was so packed it was crazy. We had lunch after church and then went out to see some people. We had dinner with a family in the area where Elder Jones started his mission. They are in our zone. The husband is a nonmember and was supposed to get baptized a year ago and is now getting baptized on New Year’s Eve. He asked Elder Jones to baptize him. Then we met up with the zone to go caroling. It was a mighty fine time and since we had practiced Hark! The Herald Angles Sing! For the temple day we sang it a lot and people loved it. I might add that we sounded pretty good. Then we set some goals and did numbers and went home. This morning for P Day we played football again. We WON! Again. It was a lot of fun but I fell and hit my head trying to block a pass and now I have a head ache. So that was my week. It was funny. Elder Jones and I were talking and when he was getting transferred we talked on the phone and I told him not much was going on here and it was kind of dead. Now we have had six baptisms while together with another one the week I’ll be leaving! So that was cool to see how many miracles we've seen and how much the Lord is blessing us. I think I have said this a couple of times now but I am having the best time of my mission right now and I love it! Well that is about it. I don't have any idea when I am going to call home. I know it will be close to right after three or at three. Any later and Elder Jones family would be asleep and any sooner and Jackie would still be at church so we will try and do it then. I am so excited to talk to you! Well I love you. Hope all is well.
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Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett


December 19th 2011
Dear Grandma,
I wanted to take a little time and write you a letter. I feel bad because I haven't written you as often as I should have. But I wanted to write you today and take this chance to tell you how much you mean to me and how much I love you. Ever since a young boy I looked up to you and Grandpa Pete. It was an amazing experience being able to have my Grandparents help raise me. Not many kids get that opportunity. I can remember from a young age always trying to do something that would please you and make you proud of me. I remember the first time I came to help you out with the yard. We cut the big ole bush on the side of your house to nothing. Then I still had the lawn to mow and the other bushes to trim. I remember thinking "Oh boy, what have I got myself into". But as I continued on working on your yard I was able to spend some more time with you and get to know you more. It was great. I got to hear some of your stories and learn some life lessons. It was always a good time. Every gift I have gotten from you I have cherished and loved. From Grandpa's trophy to his war ring, his tie and even just the small notes in my birthday cards. I just want to say how much I love you Grandma. You are one of my Hero’s and I have always looked up to you. When I think of my Grandma I think of someone who has lived her life faithful to the gospel always doing good. I was privileged to grow up so close to you and to be around you so often. You mean so much to me and I love you so much. I hope you get feeling better and I know God has a plan for all of us.
Love,
Your Grandson, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett