A Quesadilla-Tastic Space Train #39

nyob zoo cov neeg! welcome back to the semi-half-monthly email of me. the bestest human. yup. this ones gonna be heccin LONG, i'll try to shorten up some of the stories but no promises hehe! ESPECIALLY read the teaching part this week. has to be one of the best weeks i've ever had on my mission so far!

This week's summary! (for my TLDR folks)

☆ can't believe i forgot to talk about the BEST part of thanksgiving!!!

☆ Marcello Cadbeary the First

☆ BR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'tism, anyone?

☆ grilled chicken and pineapple quesadillas, anyone?

☆ The Maze

☆ goodbye to some homies 

☆ half of a sister's mission!

☆ Bro SF!! church for the first time in years 

☆ K&C!!!!!! awesome kiddos. Being bold pays off!

☆ we saw a long line of satellites for four minutes! it was so cool

☆ and.... aliens? now we got J&N

☆ good ol CDC, Elder Clark Avondet is now my DL!

☆ Panda Palace w/ da bois 

☆ chicken run

☆ ZC next week in GJ. u know what that means, i get chick fil a  (and i get to see old friends i guess...)

☆ we have too many pies. i NEVER thought that would ever be a problem to have

☆ Kids giving testimonies are my favorite!. and just little kids in general. Scarlet and her violin? unmatched.

☆ Dale G Renlunds dad looks like old Chevy Chase

☆ had a christmas party - and of course i ate way too much

☆ a wild goose chase for FR

☆ the S's! furniture, cookies, and suckers!

☆ helped build a float and heard one of my favorite songs. i'm not trunky, you are

☆ how do worms reproduce??

☆ the big sicc

Stories

☆ (favorite!) - alright. let's get into this! let me start with the best part of last week, tht i CAN'T believe i forgot to write about! me and elder Bales went to a food kitchen and helped out there, and served a lot of food for people who don't usually get thanksgiving dinner! it was amazing, fun, sad, just everything the whole time. all the emotions. i was in charge of the mashed potatoes and gravy, so i served a lot of stuff. i love being ambidextrous, i must say. when one arm gets tired you can just switch to the other one! it's a good time. eventually tho, we started to run out of food. and that's when i got sad. i started to have to skimp on the mashed potatoes, only doing half a scoop, then it ran out. we served about 2000 plates, but man. i'm so so so so SO grateful for the chance and opportunity i've had every single year to eat a great thanksgiving dinner. it was humbling, fun, and i wish i coulda kept helping out.

- i named the bear i got at the district white elephant gift exchange party. Marcello Cadbeary the First. i love him.

☆ (favorite!) - so, wednesday night, we get a call to help out this awesome older sister in our ward. we happily accepted! she really needed it. we were told we would just be moving some boxes n stuff... but let me tell you, it was... a LOT. kinda like a maze, if you know what i'm saying  but we worked hard, i moved lots of heavy things, and we got one of those rooms so dang organized! it was fantastic. and i can't even tell you how grateful she was! it was amazing seeing her gratitude pour out. she told us she couldn't express how grateful she truly was, and i'll just say it again as i have many times before, i LOVE doing service! but also, that's how i feel about Jesus Christ. how could i ever express enough gratitude to what He has done for me? i can't. i just can't.

- Rest In Peace Sister Burgoyne, Elder Yancey, Elder Montague, Hermana Holt, many homies. some home, some to their dOG, some to a different zone. will miss them for sure!  but now we got more new homies so it'll all be okay. including Sister Valenzuela, who i came out with! so that's hype!

- i hit my 9 months a few days ago! Sister Valenzuela was hyped about being halfway. hehe...... nah im messing! if given the choice between 18 months and 2 years i would pick the 2 years any day. i love everything about missionary work!! it has flown by tho, can't believe i'm already at 9 months!

- we were in a lesson with one of our best old lady friends Sister Deeds, when she tells us about these satellites that are passing over montrose for approximately four minutes, then they'll pass beyond the earth's shadow and we won't be able to see them anymore. we all rushed outside, still on the zoom call, and couldn't see them. i was sad, because i LOVE space, and stars, and anything that has to do with that! then, they showed up. just like a line of 20 stars, dashing through the sky. it was awe inspiring. sooooooo so so so so SO cool! i have some pictures in the email, it doesn't do it justice at all, but it's still pretty cool!

- if any of my fellow lone peakers remember Clark Avondet, he's now my District Leader! super exciting, and he's awesome. we remember having a seminary class together.... but we don't remember which one. heh. i payed attention in seminary, i promise!!!! there were no minecraft worlds played in that class. maybe.

- Combined District council was awesome tho, tons of bars were dropped, then some of us elders got food from tis bomb chinese place nearby. they messed up my order, but oh well. chicken is chicken i guess?

☆ (favorite!) - we did some service where we basically scooped up a BUNCH of chicken food, feces, you name it. it's not as bad as it sounds, basically just shoveling a bunch of dirt and throwing it into some garden beds. these people have like,,,, 20 chickens tho, and we made a fatal mistake. on one of the trips, we didn't close the gate. therefore, chicken run. i might get some really funny footage by next week of me and Elder Bales corralling them back into their cage. it took a while, but was actually pretty fun! wouldn't recommend tho.

- im HYPED that we have combined zone conference next week in grand junction. i'll get to see bealer, shill, jorgy, sorhus, and so many good friends! and most importantly, there's a chick fil a in GJ  so best case.

- we have gotten SO much food from our members. thanksgiving POPPED off, and i can confidently say we have too many pies. luckily, we still have a dessert war going on with the sisters, and apparently they really like pecan pie, which we gave to them without knowing that. it was also Sister Burgoynes last day here, so we wanted to bring by one last dessert for the war to end. but yeah, our fridge is stocked right now. i don't even know what to do. it's a good problem to have

☆ (favorite!) - i LOVE fast and testimony meeting for one fantastic reason. sure, people giving their testimonies is great, but the KIDS!!! man, they light up my world. they all say the same 2-3 sentences, (i will NOT show them the scripture about vain repetitions being used by heathens), but it's so pure. and great. and amazing. they're all so brave. just as much as me facing a spider in the shower. (psych, much more. i'm a wuss). one of the kids, about 4 or 5 years old, walked halfway up, then came back and grabbed his mom for moral support. she just sat off to the side, and he said his few lines and was out! then the best part - his mom reached her hand out to give him a high five. if you know this kid, you know he uses the force of a thousand suns in every single one of his fist bumps and high fives. bad idea. i swear, the LOUDEST clap i EVER heard in a sacrament meeting ever resounded throughout the chapel. i kid you not when i say it took everything in me not to die laughing. i was probably the same color as a tomato, and everyone must've thought i was praying hard because i did NOT lift up my bowed head for a while. extra spiritual brownie points from the members, not so much from God i bet. then i got a fist bump from him as he was walking back. ouch.

- and did anyone see scarlett in the christmas devo?? she's fantastic. i was the happiest camper as soon as that came up. man i love little kiddos, they're just the best. you better believe i had the biggest most mouth wide open smile the whole time. everyone probably thought i was a weirdo. she was just fantastic! once again THAT BRAVERY. i know of absolutely zero little kids that would do that in front of the whole world. i love it.

- anyone else think that Dale G. Renlunds dad looks like old Chevy Chase? just me? fair enough. that was a fantastic talk tho, so much joy from a european! it was a good time.

- we had a christmas party, i made german chocolate chocolate chip cookies with ghirardelli peppermint bark crumbled on top. they were scrump-didly-umptious. i also ate so much food i thought i was gonna explode. good times!

- there was this cool December parade, and Elder Bales and i helped with the JustServe float! we kinda just untangled about 100 strands of Christmas lights, and ate burritos. but, one of the people setting up the speakers played "Keep Going" by The Revivalists. good song. i promise i'm not actually trunky, but it was very refreshing! alo.... man that's a good song.

- messaged a former on fb. after saying some VERY interesting things to me that i will not repeat, i responded in a friendly funny way! as usual. he then thought that i was awesome, and wanted to meet! he wanted to meet at his shop, but wouldn't give us the direct address, no matter how many times i asked. just very descriptive locations. i thought it didn't matter too much, which led me and elder Bales on a very wild goose chase out of our area for a good 45 minutes. no idea if he's pranking us or not. hm.

- i will not elaborate on the worms. chicken mating, tho, has some similarities. not to the worms, but i must say.

- i do be the big sicc rn. just a little cold, but i hate it. prayers would be mucho appreciated 

Teaching Updates

 - wow. this one's finna be STACKED tonight!

- N! still about the same. but she's so elect! just the best!! we love her so much, and she will be baptized as soon as she can!!

- BR&S!!!!! We had an amazing Plan of Salvation lesson with her, and oh boy. was it PACKED with The Spirit. we taught everything, played some hang-man at the beginning for her son, S, (the word was 'heaven' ;)) and drew everything out on the whiteboard, at the end, after we talked about the Celestial Kingdom and everything, Elder Bales was finishing up talking. I had an interesting thought before we left for the lesson, it was kinda like, "what if you invited her to be baptized?" and i was ike haha, silly brain, you don't know anything! she's not ready yet. BOY was I Wrong! anyways, Elder Bales asked if i had anything to add after he was done talking. I have a really good friend that often talks about her crazy baptismal invitations, and how she "feels the words proceed forth out of her mouth". that's... not exactly how it happened for me, but it was still cool! i heard The Spirit whisper, "baptism". and i wasn't sure, so i decided to ask God and double check! "are you sure? am i doing this?" the immediate response was "yes". along with my ears burning very hot, a symptom of The Spirit i don't get too often! and a lightened feeling in my head. i trusted in that answer, and nothing spoke through me, but i just went for it, talked about the Celestial Kingdom, and invited her to be baptized! after talking through it a little bit, she said: "okay! challenge accepted!" 

- Bro SF!!!! So, there's this awesome guy in our ward who hasn't been active since covid started. we go over every week, and invite him to church every time. he never gives us an actual commitment, tho, just says he'll try his best and then he ends up psyching himself out of it. well, this time, we had planned on sharing a message on gratitude.  last second, decided to ditch that and talk about church! fumbled around in PMG and brought out D&C 59:9-15. here's where i felt The Spirit speaking through me. these words were not in my head until the moment they left my mouth. i told him that if he came to church regularly, if he sacrificed, his life would change. he would be able to quit the addictions and bad habits he had gotten back into. if he came to church every. single. time. from now on. he accepted. he said maybe not every week, but he came yesterday! so many people told him how much they missed him and loved seeing him. we got next week now to tell him that he can quit the addictions and come to church every week. now that was cool. we promised him hecka blessings, and yeah. it was a good time.

- K&C!!! same sorta situation as Bro SF! planned on sharing a message of gratitude with his family, and last second instead said "we wanted to share with you today God's amazing plan for all of us." man, i must be throwing my poor little greenie for a LOOP! he had no idea i was gonna change either of these. to be fair, neither did i, but he did great! we shared the Plan of Salvation with them, i drew it out on a napkin, and asked their uncle to testify of the blessings. and boy did he testify! at the end i asked the two boys, who are both non-members, if they want to receive these amazing blessings, and be baptized. they said they didn't know. i then asked if we could help them get to that point where they could know, if we taught them everything they would need to know, and if they followed through on the invitations we extended they WOULD get an answer and know for sure. they accepted!

- J&N!! pass off lessons from the Spring Creek Sisters! they  did a church tour with us and J, who really likes conspiracy theories and aliens! he's cool tho, funny, and although a tad bit awkward, we connected well and had a good time. he also came to that christmas party with us!

- the S's! we went to city market to pick up cookies for this PMF that recently moved in, and at city market there was a LOT of firetrucks, ambulances, and gurneys, yikes. spent like 45 minutes trying to find everything we needed in that maze of a store, dodging all the paramedics and then stopped by this family's house! just in time to help them move some furniture they were struggling with! i just want to say thank you, God, for perhaps injuring someone to the effect of us having to spend extra time in the store so we could perfectly arrive in time to help these people move some furniture. (totally kidding, pray for whoever it was. i didn't see them )

- not much news on the H's tho. we'll see when that changes next week ;))

Spotlight

- Hazzy boi! big bad zone dad. nah i'm just kidding, i LOVE you so much. so happy for you 

- Harmon, Seymore, Valenzuela, all STL's. man, all my friends be climbing up in the missionary world. congrats dudes!

- Dino Sorhus! District Leader! so happy for u!

- my boi Jacob Dolenc got the BIG zucced on fb. rip in pieces homie.

My challenges for you

- one of my buddies from high school had a companion who was shot just this week. please please PLEASE pray for Elder Michael Fauber. healing, strength, everything you got to give to him.

Every minute, every moment...there was Jesus.

- i always think about the atonement how Christ suffered for absolutely everything we've all been through. i was also reminiscing on some mental health problems myself and others have, and realized Jesus suffered for all the mental stuff too! every bit of discouragement, every heartache, every pang of guilt. He knows it ALL. the lack of motivation that comes, the hardness of accomplishing things when it's what we need to do. He suffered for everything. He's felt a combination of ALL your depression, anxiety and multiplied by, hm, about a trillion to include everyone in existence, i'd say that's quite an unfathomable amount. just know, whenever you're hurting, the Holy one was hurting too. He always can relate and knows what you've been through. in any instance. so turn to Him!

alright! this was a trip. took me about an hour and forty five minutes to write. hehe. oops.

mucho love to everyone, and stay frosty 

~ one of the newest facebook content specialist for the mission  Elder Kobo3