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.
--
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

December 12^th 2011

Well it didn't seem like much happened this week. It’s sad to hear about Grandma. I think she will hang out long enough for me and Elder Skousen to get home. We get home with in like two weeks of each other so hopefully she hangs on. It is so sad to hear about that though. This week was pretty good. Actually it was awesome. I think I’ll tell you a little bit about it. So Monday night we had dinner with the Lopez family. We have been working with them on sharing the gospel with their friends. They have two people they are working with and so they were supposed to invite them over for dinner but they couldn't make it. We had a great time. We have been over there a little bit and they love to film Elder Jones singing and me dancing. They named them Elder Jones singing and the other one Elder Arnett dancing. So you should check em out and see if they are there. I have a pretty good video I recorded of me dancing. I'll send it home soon. Then we went and taught Roberta and Serenity. They are great and accept everything so easy. Tuesday we had a good day. We had leadership in the morning. It was good. After lunch we went out and saw some people. I'm not sure what we did all day. I can't remember. It was a good day I’m sure. Wednesday we had a great district meeting. We practiced singing Angels we have Heard on High. We were asked to sing it at the Mission Temple Trip on Friday. We sound pretty good actually. Oh yeah before I forget. For some reason I keep thinking Ammon, Betsy’s husband, is from St. Johns. There is a missionary in our zone who is from there. His name is Elder Sean Bast. He is a cool guy. So if Ammon is from there what’s his last name? Wednesday was a day as well. We were able to teach some people. I'm sorry the weekend was a lot better than the week so those days got drowned out. Thursday we had to do weekly planning cuz Friday was the Temple trip. We had a good time doing that. Then we went and did some more stuff. Our night was pretty busy. We had so many appointments we actually had to cancel out dinner. It was fun though. We taught Roberta and Serenity and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. They loved it. We were able to teach Justin and Shauna and it was real good as well. An appointment fell through so the member we were with took us to get some Chinese food. It was tasty. We had a good correlation with our awesome Ward Mission Leader. Then we went home and planned and went to sleep. Every morning I write in my journal and as of today I have written in it for a whole month straight! So there is some good stuff in there. We had our Temple Trip at the Sacramento Temple. First there was a mini zone conference with a Christmas program. They showed what we call the White Christmas video. It’s a picture slideshow of a bunch of baptisms over the past year. It was really good. The last two pictures were of two people who were baptized then a short time later passed away. Manat Soutsavang the paralyzed girl was one of them. President asked Elder Seumanutafa his feelings after watching it then he asked me to share my thoughts cuz I was a part of the baptism. It was the first time I really cried since before my mission. Then we had some good lunch. The temple was awesome as it always is! We had a good time though. Afterwards we taught a guy named Tracy. He doesn't believe Jesus is necessary so we moved on of course. We had our ward Christmas Party and Santa came! We got a good picture for our Christmas card. We had a real good time there and it was a lot of fun. We had 4 investigators come so that was fun. Saturday we had 2 baptisms! Roberta Campbell and her Daughter Serenity Douglas were baptized! It was awesome. Boy am I glad I learned how to play three Hymns, because we couldn't get a pianist for the program so I played. I messed up a little bit but that’s ok. Over the past week I have begun learning two more hymns. It’s not that hard if I just practice. Every time we're at the church and we have a minute I practice. So hopefully I can learn a couple more and fine tune the ones I know. The baptism was good though. We had to stay for the next baptism as well because the lady asked Elder Jones to say the opening prayer. People love him. It’s great. Then we went out and worked all day. We taught the Williams family and it was good. The Williams are Justin and Shauna. We tracted for a while. We had to write up a bunch of things for our Stake Correlation meeting with the Stake Presidency we had yesterday. That took some time. Especially cuz the office Elders in our mission aren't as on the ball as they usually are so I had to remake the form for our zone and I’m not great with computers but I’ve figured some things out so it works. We were able to see a few more people the rest of the night. Sunday morning we had a great meeting with the Stake Presidency. They are some cool guys. We are close to hitting the goal for the Stake of 100 baptisms for the year. We need about five more so we'll be close. We have the people to do it and some so we are working our patoots off! We had a good Church. Roberta and Serenity were confirmed and it was good as well. The Lopez daughter brought her friend Ryan to church so hopefully he'll be there tonight for dinner so we can teach him. Justin and Shauna were supposed to get their interview but they weren't at church so we went over to their house with our ward mission leader and he took them to church. We don't take peoples agency away but we give them as little as possible and then make them feel uncomfortable so they have to do what we want. It works almost every time ;]. So yeah that was good. We went tracting some more after church. We had dinner with Bishop Lee, the bishop of our ward. It was a lot of fun. I love his family. They have a little boy named Braden but he isn't anything like my brother. We had a good time with them. Then we had a Christmas Fireside. It was LAME! Seriously I thought it was like make a wish foundation and they let these people perform the day before they die but they all looked too healthy for that to be the case. The last number was pretty cool though. The Tongan ward sang the Hallelujah Chorus in Tongan and it rocked. Then we had a zone meeting afterwards. It went good. People are starting to slack off and it’s frustrating. At the beginning of the month we asked each person what they expected out of us as their zone leaders and we have been doing everything they asked us to but they aren't doing much. So it was rough. But I think everyone is going to be on board now. Today is P Day. We played football earlier. It was fun. We WON! I hate losing. So that was good. Things are going good out here though. I love serving. I have been taking each day by itself and I have never been happier. It’s rough to look ahead too far cuz then you get discouraged or now trunky but if I go day by day and do my best it all goes smooth. Inch by Inch like it goes. So yeah that is what’s going on right now. I hope everyone is having a good time back at home. I will be praying for Grandma. Oh and to answer your question mom, I don't really feel like they are here with me but sometimes I feel like Grandpa Pete is talking to me telling me what I should do. I think about him like every day. I just hope Grandma makes it till I get home. But either way she is a worthy woman who is entitled to the blessings of heaven and will be rewarded. I have learned a lot about the Plan of Salvation and honestly I feel like a mission is the best place to lose a family member because you have the spirit constantly. We'll just face the future with faith. I love you.

--
Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

December 5^th 2011

I am sorry about the random email times. The computers we usually use are down so we have been trying to find members who will let us use theirs so we found one. I am actually using the people who got baptized a little while ago. They are super solid and haven’t missed a sacrament meeting yet! So this week was rough. We had a lot of zone leader responsibilities to take care of with people being disobedient new missionaries coming and stuff. It was crazy! We had a hard time finding the time to work in our own area. When we did get the time it was quality and well spent. So being on this obedience run has been awesome. We told the zone that we have a goal of 16 baptisms in the zone this month so we can beat the record for the zone. We have a lot of people were working with so we know it is possible. We read a few scriptures about obedience and righteousness and how without it God can't bless us. We then told them that if they are disobedient and if we don't hit our goal then it was because of them. So that has motivated a lot of missionaries to be better. On Wednesday we were able to talk to the elders that decided to go on their Black Friday extravaganza. They all felt real sorry and have all changed a bunch since we have talked to them. They are still scared because President Lewis hasn't said much to them yet. So that was fun. Actually it wasn't. Being a zone leader is fun and all but when you have to be the bad guy its rough but hey it has to be done. After we talked to them in the morning we had to drive up to the mission office to pick up one of the Elders that is Training. It’s funny because he is training his girlfriend’s cousin! There is no way President Lewis knew that when he was assigning trainers. So that was fun. We took him out to Chipotle for his first mission meal. He loved it compared to that nasty mtc food. We were able to get some work in the rest of the afternoon. For dinner we had Potato Casserole! It wasn't even half as good as the one guys make but hey it was familiar. We also had some ham. We had dinner with the whole zone with the stake President, President Treadway. His son just got back from his mission in the Philippines and his other son leaves in a month for Italy. We had a good dinner with him and his family then a nice little visit afterwards. He shared with us some news that makes me bummed that this is probably my last transfer here in North Sac. At the end of January Gladys Knight and her choir are, for the first time ever, returning to a stake she has already performed at. It was so successful to missionary work last time she wants to do it again! I am bummed I will probably miss it. But man is that going to be cool. After dinner we did something that I can't remember then we went home. Thursday we had a good District meeting. Our district leaders are great and we have a lot of good additions to the zone. Everyone seems to be on board with obedience and with the plans we have for the zone. We are super excited. After lunch we did stuff. I don't have my planner so I am going off of memory and since this week was crazy and not normal I don't remember much. I remember what we did actually. We taught 3 lessons at night in a row and they were all amazing. We taught Roberta and Serenity, then we went and taught a girl named Megan Hall. She came to church last week out of the blue and we had a great lesson with her. Our ward mission leader is awesome too! He came to our appointments with us and when we were at Megan's she was telling us about the dilemma she was having. Her Saturday babysitter got a job and now works Saturdays so for the past month the baby sitter has been leaving Megan's 18 month old child, Hector, with her boyfriend and then working at her job so she could get paid twice as much. Megan was not going to stand for that. So she fired her and now she needs a baby sitter. Well Bro. Lopez offered to watch him with his wife. They have three little kids that are all around hectors age so it was cool. So they watched Hector on Saturday then they hung out with Megan for a couple of hours and she came to church again this week! So he and his wife are great. Friday we had Mission Leaders Council. It sounds real important but it’s really not that big of a deal. It’s with all the district and zone leaders in the mission with President and Sister Lewis. We all just get to know each other and announce our goals for the Transfer. We have the highest goal with the most set up to be baptized. We are super excited to have a White Christmas in North Sac! I don't remember what we did the rest of the day. We probably taught somebody or did something. Saturday was crazy as well. We tracted for two hours in the morning, then we had lunch. After lunch we tried to see a few people. The Elders we now live with had gotten their car towed cuz they parked in the wrong spot so we had to drive them outside the mission to meet the car coordinator to go get it. That took a long time and a lot of miles. Then Elder Jones left with a member to go down to Lodi to see his favorite investigator get baptized. I stayed with the Tongan ward elders cuz they were having a baptism for Tina. I taught her a couple of times. The first time I invited her to be baptized she laughed in my face then four months later I watched her get baptized so look who’s laughing now. Actually no one’s really laughing but whatever. After the baptism we went to Tina's house for a Tongan feast. It was really good but then right after I had to meet elder Jones at Roberts for another dinner. It sure was tasty though. Then we went to see some more people before the night was through. Sunday morning was rough. I have two analogies to describe how I felt. First I felt like I went all 6 minutes in a wrestling match with Lucifer. When we got to church none of our investigators were there. Then I felt like I jumped on a roller coaster and neither I nor Elder Jones were wearing a seat belt. It was rough. Finally all five investigators showed up. Roberta and Serenity had gotten in a quarrel with the member they live with and so they went to Roberta’s mom’s house instead of coming to church. Well they had to come to church cuz they are getting baptized on Saturday and they needed their interviews so they finally came for the last hour. So the whole morning was just crazy trying to get people to church and what not. But they all came. Because we have been obedient God is on our side and we can't lose. Our testimony meeting was ridiculous. It went till 10:30 when our church starts at 9:00... One guy said over the pulpit that without Jesus we are all screwed... It was crazy. We had a good dinner with some members after tracting for a little while. Then we enjoyed the great Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency. It really was awesome. We love the Christmas season here in the mission. After the Devotional we had a good zone meeting to set a weekly focus. We committed everyone companionship to have an investigator with a baptismal date by the end of the week. We have four in our ward so things are going great. So that was good. Things have been going real good lately. It was a rough week but it was real good too. Usually I am dying for a Pday but I didn't even think about it. We are just going day by day and working our hardest and being obedient and it’s awesome. My mission has never been better. We are seeing so many miracles and we are always happy. Oh yeah mom I ran out of Claritin and man is it expensive. I bought a 15 pack to get me through but could you send me some more. It doesn't have to be in a big package just send it in a little one, cuz I need it fast. I almost got sick with out. I probably am addicted to the nasal spray. I have to have it, but it works. So yeah things are good. Mom I already told you. Elder Jones can't marry Hayley cuz I love his sister. That would just be weird. So I really don't want to send the Christmas card to that many people. Maybe like 40. I would like to send it to some families in the ward but i don't know who... I want to send it to some old converts in the mission and some of my friends so maybe you could give me the addresses of like 15 families in the ward. The Halms, the Schmids, The Allreds, Reidheads, Packers, Bishop Petremallo, Bishop Hitchcock, Threets, Campbells, Bullochs, Frosts, Thomas family, grandma Ray and Ilene, Wilyerds, Bret Church they liked it last year. So yeah. It shouldn't be too much. I think its like 50 cents a card so maybe like 50 dollars would cover it. Idk. But we are thinking of a good card. Speaking of Christmas. I really miss seeing that big huge tree up in the house. No one I have met here in Sacto has had a tree as big as ours. I was wishing for a unique Christmas gift of a picture, with everyone in the family even Jeff and Candice cuz I only have one picture with them in it all standing in front of the big tree. That would bring lots of old Christmas feelings back of warmth and joy. Well I love you all and I hope everyone is well.

--
Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

Dad it was great to read your email today. I loved it. I don't think about everyone in the family every day but I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't thought of my mom and dad and the many things they have taught me. I remembered a quote you told me while mowing the yard one day. I used it in a lesson the other day and it was great. You told me "Inch by Inch life is a Cinch, but Mile by Mile it will take you awhile". It’s true especially in missionary work. Things are amazing here. We are seeing so many miracles. I have been striving so hard to be obedient in every way I can and I feel like since I have been, God has been helping me grow so much. I feel like in the past couple of months my Testimony has grown more than it has at any one time in my mission. Well I love you dad. Thanks for the email.

Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

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

November 24^th 2011

So this email might not get sent cuz the computer is jacked so I’ll send this real quick
Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

“He who thanks but with his lips thanks but in part; the full, the true Thanksgiving comes from the heart”. (J.A. Shedd)

This was a quote from the weekly email President Lewis sends to us. I liked it so i thought i would turn the tables on you mom and send you a quote. So this week was rough. It was hard going three extra days without a p day. Everyone was feeling worn out and stressed. I know now what the importance of having a pday is. So now we are relaxing after a great morning of Turkey Bowl. The team i was on won both of the games we played. The first one was good. We won like 4 to 2. I had a sweet touchdown pass and ran it all the way. I was very very tired after that, luckily i have ran in the morning for more than a week straight now. I am trying to get into better shape before i come home. It’s called Six months to Sexy. Trust me, I'll need all of the six months. I am finally starting to see some results. I think my muscles had to build up which made it look like, on the scale that it, i wasn't losing weight. Now I’m losing it. Hopefully i don't completely ruin everything tonight at dinner. The second game we played we destroyed the other team. It was 6-0. They never got close to scoring. I felt bad because we were playing two line man on both sides of the ball. These guys have never played football a day in their lives and i was just pushing them down every time. It was fun though. So tonight we have dinner with an awesome family. It is the Larsen family. They live in another ward in the stake. Elder Jones started his mission there and they really like him so they invited us over for dinner. Mom it might sound like we never get fed but we get fed almost every night. The ward loves Elder Jones and I. We don't quite know what we’re doing right because after Sunday we have 4 people set up to be baptized in December with the zone having a total of 11. I will be so so bummed if i get transferred. I've put a good word in with the big guys in the office so hopefully elder jones and i can stay together another transfer. Elder Jones is by far my favorite companion and this area is by far my most favorite area. So i really hope i can stay.

This past week was good. We did some good work. We are teaching a lot which is good because Elder Jones and I aren't too crazy about tracting but we do it at least an hour every day. The members are great and they love coming out with us so it’s never too hard to get the members to come out. On Sunday we had two kids of a part member family come to church. We have been teaching them since Manu was here and now they are getting ready to be baptized on the 21st of December. I think last week i told you about a lady named Roberta who came to church the past two weeks. We went up to her after church and asked if we could come by and teach her and she said yes and that she wanted her daughter to be baptized. So we have been teaching them twice a week and both her and her daughter are set to be baptized on the 10th of December! We are so excited. All these great things are happening. Elder Jones and I realized all these good things as well as that we could totally do more if everyone was working harder and more obedient, so we started leading by example and we now look for things that we can be more obedient on and it is way nice to have that good feeling. We talked to the zone about it last week and read the scripture in the Book of Mormon about the anti-nephi lehis burying their swords. I made cute little handouts with swords on them and the scripture with a place to write down what you’re going to give up, then we all put them in the paper shredder. Everyone in the zone has been seeing more and more miracles as we are all trying to qualify for the blessings of God. We are doing the best in the mission with 11 people set up for December. We ended November with 7 which was the most in the mission as well so we are excited to be doing work! Elder Jones and I figured out that we aren't doing anything that is leading to this success but that God is blessing us with it because we aren't doing anything to hold it back. Well this is the only computer that works so we have to be fast so everyone in the zone can email their families. Elder Jones is good looking but he has his eye on someone already... sorry. So i really want to hear about everyone’s lives back at home. Mom can only tell me so much. I don't want to come home in six months and not know anyone in my own house except mom of course. She still loves me... If you want to email me, I’ll print it out and read it and write you back... Or just write me a letter. I really want to hear from you all. Everyone in Elder Jones' family emails him every week. So yeah. I feel like i am holding up my end and mom is carrying all of the other end on her back. Thanks mom for being so faithful... I love you guys either way but I’ll love you more if you write me!

Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett

I wasn't very clear on this. Roberta has a Daughter named Serenity and they are set up for the 10th of December. Shauna and Justin McCartney are set up for the 21st of the same month. Love ya.

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

November 7^th 2011

You know Scott is right. My mission is AMAZING! This week was pretty good. Monday night was pretty good. We went to Deseret Book in the middle of the day to buy 17 Miracles. Then we went and bought some pizza for the zone. We had called the High Councilor from our ward that deals with the electronics and asked him to set up the projector in the cultural hall so we could watch it on the big screen. He has a son on a mission so he likes to do things for us and so he did set it up for us and also bought us some pizza so we had a bunch of pizza to eat. The movie was awesome. We all really really liked it. It really put things into perspective for all us and now no one wants to complain about anything. The whole mission loved it and it was great. We had a Zone Leader roundtable with President and Sister Lewis on Tuesday. We talked about some different things and it was pretty good. We talked about a new rule. It’s not really new but they are now enforcing it in the mission. When it is cold instead of just putting on a sweater or my cardigan like I usually do, we have to put our suit coat on first. So from now until it gets warm, which may not be till I am back in Arizona, we have to wear our suits. If we are still cold we can put a sweater on underneath but it has to be one dark solid color and v neck still so people can still see your white shirt and tie. Luckily I have two cardigans which pass, one is grey which I wore in my Christmas card and another one is red. I wore it on Saturday. If it’s raining we still have to put suits on then we can put a rain coat over it. Luckily I’ll most likely be in a car the rest of my mission so my suit should stay ok. Then we talked about a goal for baptisms this month. I had a lot of comments and we ended on the goal of 73 so when we hit 101 in December we will make our goal of 800 for the year. It will be a stretch because we only have like 15 baptized so far this month with like 38 people set up but we've all seen miracles and are all expecting and working for them. I did talk a lot to make the goal 73 so if we don't hit it I hope people don't look to me afterwards. But I know we can and we prayed about it and everyone felt the spirit and it was unanimous after the prayer that we will hit 73 this month. We ended last month with 85 which was five more than our goal so we were blessed a lot. I have been feeling so much better this week as well. I am still taking my medication but I feel like 100 bucks. We taught a few really good lessons this week. We didn't teach as much as we had hoped and we didn't find as many people as we wanted but we have some really great people. This weekend Michael and Mercy Slover got baptized. It was amazing. This baptism has been the biggest miracle and fastest baptism so far. It’s been awesome. President and Sister Lewis came to the baptism and that was really nice of them to be there. Elder Jones and I have been doing great. We both get along very very well and just laugh and have a good time all day long. The stories never stop and it’s always a shin dig when we’re around. Elder Jones has gotten a hold of a guitar and he plays it often at night and in the morning. He is amazing and can sing better than most the people on the radio. He sounds kind of like a mix between John Mayer and Daniel Beddingfield the one that sings the song, "I don't wanna run away but I can’t take it, I don't understand, if I’m not made for you then why does my heart tell me that I am?” Jackie has to listen to it and you'll know. I made a video of him singing an arrangement of a hymn he did and it’s awesome. I have already committed him to sing at my wedding and we have already started making a list of songs he is going to sing. I am excited to get married now. I haven't met too many people on my mission that I plan to stay in touch with and be friends with but I will definitely be friends with him. It’s great. So yeah that’s my week. The weather has been pretty good. It’s been cold some days with the highs in the low sixties to upper fifties. We can wear our suits all day and be comfortable. Some days we put our sweaters and cardigans on underneath cuz it’s a bit nippy. But yeah. Life is great. I am loving the work more now than I have ever on my mission and we are being blessed so much with success. I love being on a mission. I have learned so much stuff for my life on managing my life and helping others, organizing my time and talents and just working in general. It’s great and has helped me realize that really we can do anything. We just have to go for it. Sometimes taking the time to think whether something is possible or not makes us too late to accomplish it. We just have to have faith and fly. So I am excited to receive the letter and pictures. I love letters and pictures. I am still expecting some from my siblings so I will be waiting. I love you all so much.

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Love, Elder Tyler Pete Arnett