Monday, July 23, 2012

Got more investigators and some baptismal dates set

hello everyone,
well another week has gone by here in Gaylord. we was on 2 trade offs this past week one with the zone leaders and then one with the Kalkaska missionaries. it has been another hot week as well. not rain this week again just humid and humid. well first off mom i have not got your letter yet. when did you send it off last week. and also for my birthday i was wondering if i could get a pair of black slacks that i could wair. and maybe a few ties but i will leave that up to you mom or whoever. and you guys can surprise for my 21st birthday. but can you believe that i am going to be 21 years old i cant i am getting old lol. and then the next day on the 2nd i am going to be out for 18 months wow where has the time gone too. that's crazy that are old ward is going to be in the same building again and we are going to be seeing each other. so that means when i give my talk everyone is going to be their huh from the 8th ward and no one is going to be their for their ward lol. man that is funny about buddy but i guess that's what he gets lol. so mom any more news about coming out here when i get done with my mission at all? well mom Tyler is a cow boy and a farm boy but that's to funny shooting a gun once he is released huh. mom you couldn't remember the young men's name huh?
this past week while we was on trade offs with the zone leaders on Tuesday. it was me and elder west here in Gaylord and elder Larsen went to traverse city. me and elder west was going to ride bikes up in boyne city while the Tischlers was doing their stuff but when we went and got the bikes i noticed that we have to blow up an tire again and we didn't have time to do that cause we had to get going o well. so we are going to do that day hopefully it is just a tub and not the tire. but anyway on Tuesday we had 3 lessons and one of them was with an investigator and then an less active with the tischlers and then we had a dinner appointment. on are way home from boyne city we stopped and looked at some old cars that was sitting on the side of the road and elder tischlers loves old cars and so i had to take some pics of them. so i thought you guys might enjoy them. the cool thing was when we got back into Gaylord. we had 30 mins to do something and so we went door knocking for a little bit right by are apartment and we found someone that let us come back on Thursday. so we went back and started to teach him and now he is an investigator. but on Wednesday we had district meeting in Gaylord and then after that we went out for lunch at Wendy's and that was the first time that i have been to Wendy's in a long time and it was good lol. me and elder bullard was down in grayling all day and we had a great day down their we had 5 lessons that day which is really good for grayling. and while we was down their we picked up 3 new investigators as well which is really good. and we also had a dinner with a less active and her son(which is a non-member and now a new investigator). and on Thursday we had trade offs with the kalkaska elders and i was in Gaylord again with elder Flecter and get this that day we had to go and help with the alpen fest and we help with a pizza eating contest and no we did not eat any pizza we watch other people do it. and their was a lot of people that was doing it. it was where little kids had to eat 1 piece of pizza and who ever ate it the fastest won and then 2nd and then 3rd. and their was some crazy young kids that love pizza. but then with the older people they had 2 slices of pizza and they could not use they hands at all. all they could use was their month to eat the pizza and boy some of them has some messy faces after words. we would have done it but we was in white shirts and pants so we didn't want to get them dirty. and while we was their i guess what i had mom i had an elephant ear. hehehehehehehe lol. and it was gggooooodddd. and i also took a pic of just some rides that they had for the alpne fest in a picture. but then on Friday we had to trade back and we did it before studies which i was tried getting up early to trade back and be back at are apartment before 8am ya i was tried. after that we had to go and help out again with the Alpen fest and this time we was selling stuff in the Main tent to people and then later on that night we went to are investigators house and while we was their we started the Stop smoking program with them that the church has for people to quit smocking. and with the stop smoking program we go over their to see how they are doing and/or keep in contract with them daily by calling them everyday and we have been doing that. and also with the program they have to get everything out of their house and car that will reminds them of smoking and so we did and we had 3 grocery bags full of stuff to throw away of smoking stuff. and we threw it away. well then on Saturday we had a lot of time for finding and almost everyone was not home cause of the Alpen fest and so finding/door knocking was not working at all. but we had a good lesson with another investigator names Matt stange and we set an baptismal date with him for the last Saturday of August which is August 25th. and so we have 4 people with baptismal dates now and we are happy for that. later on that night elder Larsen was talking on the phone with the 2 people that are quiting smoking and both of them are doing good still getting the nerve to smoke but that happens for a few days, cause the body wants the smoke but they are not smoking now which is good. but while we was talking to them he set an baptismal date with one of them and her name is Nancy Pattersen and her date is for the 18th of August. and she lives with someone else that is not smoking as well and that is doing the program and we are going to set a date with her tonight when we go and she them again. so that is are week here in Gaylord. so we had 21 total lessons for the week and 2 of them was with a member present. and we also got 4 new investigators as well. so we had a good week.
well this week we have another trade off and this one is with Alpena missionaries and then on Thursday we have interviews with Pres. Hess. but other then that hope everything is going great. hope to hear from everyone soon love ya. hope you like the pictures
love elder webster

Sunday, July 22, 2012

1st week with new companion

hello everyone,
 
     well to start off i got my new driver's License i got a call from the mission office saying that they have got it. and so they copied it and then they send it off to me and i got it this morning in the mail before we came and emailed. well elder Larsen is from salt lake city or Taylorsville, Utah. and he has been out for 6 months now. he left a girl friend back home as well. he loves to play volleyball he came from an active family always loves to go out and doing stuff. he loves to go surfing as well on the water, he was going to move to California before he came out on a mission to go surfing but he is glad that he came out here instend. he is a very hard working missionary. well mom i have to do some paper work for him i have been training him how to be a district leader. cause i have been around so many district leaders so far on my mission it is crazy. well it finally rained here as well and it was much needed and we was door knocking out in the rain. we didn't wear any coats cause it was so humid as well we was have been shocked from the sweat anyway. it was in the 80's and it was around 85 or 90% humid here. and Gaylord is the highest point in Michigan and the snow belt of Michigan as well. so was that really president monsen in driggs. cause he should have been wearing a white shirt and tie. and what was he doing up their in the valley? hey mom i have no idea for my birthday yet. i haven't even thought about that yet so i will let you know next week. just remind me.
 
     well this past week was a great week but no new people to teach no new investigators. that is a first in a long time for me and also a first for elder Larsen on his mission. when we was calling in numbers yesterday to the zone leaders over in traverse city elder Larsen told them that that is a first for him for no new investigators and one of the zone leaders told him "welcome to the north" and i had to laugh and say yep that is right "welcome to the north" and speaking of the north you would not of guessed who i met on Thursday for his 2nd day in the mission elder mann from rexburg Idaho. he is getting trained up the sue saint Marie area up in the UP. they had to stop here in Gaylord and give us some surpless that we ordered for are area cause we was getting low on them and so i met elder mann that day. his parents lives right by Adams and maverick. and so he is in the rexburg north stake. i was thinking about that on Friday and what stake he lives in and he lives in the north stake. which i thought was funny. well to start this week from Tuesday on tell today.
    on Tuesday me and elder coon had to be down in Mt. pleasant by 8 in the morning and we was going to meet the Kalkaska elders in grayling at 6:30am to take them down as well. well we on are way and the phone goes off and it is the kalkaska elders saying that they have not leaved kalkaska yet and this is 6:15 in the morning and so we thought they might have been playing a joke with us so we still went into grayling to see well nope so we called them back and told them to just drive down to grayling anyway and we will met them their. so then when we got down their the transfer van was late with the other missionaries that was coming up north in Michigan(which is normal) so we didn't leave Mt. Pleasant tell close to 9am good thing we didn't have any appointments tell 1 in the afternoon in grayling. later on that day we had an appointment with the Hubbert(the recert convert) and we had a good lesson with them about the atonement. and also while we was their we losed are phone it slip out of elder Larsen's pants and fell in the coach of a less active that we went and saw that day as well. good thing we notice missing before we lefted grayling that night. well on Wednesday and Friday we didn't drive the car cause we was finding all day long and i mean ALL DAY long. by 6pm my knees was hurting and my legs was tried so we called it a night by 8:30 even though we walked only around 6 miles that day but going up and down stairs can do it a lot on your knees. so like i send on Thursday i got to meet elder mann from rexburg with his trainer as well. and sister brown called us and took us out to dinner that night as well. so this week we had 2 lessons with a member present and 21 total lessons taught and we also talked to over 120 people as well ether walking around down town or door knocking. but like i said earlier we didn't have any new investigators but this week we are hoping for 6 new investigators. and we also have 2 trade offs as well this week. we have to go to kalkaska tonight to meet with the zone leaders from traverse city to trade off with them. and i am going to be in gaylord and elder Larsen is going to be in traverse city. and then on Thursday we have trade offs with the kalkaska missionaries. and the kalkaska elders are really doing good. they have an person that is going to be getting baptized on the 4th of next month and they are really excited about it. and one of the elders has been their for over 6 months now and no baptisms so he is excited for it and it was a member referral as well. and that's how long he has been out for as well on his mission.
 
well that's all for now. talk to you next week love ya
 
elder Webster

Monday, July 9, 2012

Transfers drum roll please

hello everyone,
well the BIG question is going to be answered right now about transfers. i am staying again here in Gaylord and get this elder coon is leaving he was the district leader here in Gaylord but now President Hess wants him to be a Zone leader down in Grand Rapids so he is getting transferred. and i am getting elder Larsen he has been out for 6 months now and he is the district leader and so trade offs again every week of the transfer. and so that means i am going to be up here in Gaylord for 4 and a half months or even longer and i have almost knocked the whole thing lol. so their you go for transfers i don't know much about elder Larson. i only know that he has been out for 6 months. well the weather here has been hot and humid BIG time. so it has been tuff o well. i was on trade offs with an missionary that was going home last Wednesday and we was out door knocking and we had to go in cause it was way to hot. with the humid it was over 100 degrees and with not that much water we was way to hot and we couldn't take it anymore o well so then we went and had dinner and then we had 3 more lessons that night that we went to and so we had a lot of fun. and he is planning on coming to my homecoming when i get home as well and when i give my talk. he only lives 5 hours away and he is a big fishermen and a big hunter as well. and i think that is a understatement with him. he loves hunting and fishing. hey Michelle you can go ahead and send the dvd about grandma and i do what pics and the thing from the funeral as well thanks sis. that's crazy that Kelty is 14 years old now wow. when i get home i might have to make a trip out and see their house and same with shad and selina's place as well. man dad you might have to start a business now of taking people everywhere in your pickup jk. hopefully you are getting better mpg in your truck now. coach Anderson got another football job huh wow can he not just stay in one place for over a year or something. i think he had 3 different jobs within 4 years for coaching football.
well this past week was a good week and a long week as well. on Tuesday when we was up in Boyne City at President Belfords home for lunch he was going to ask me to give a talk on Sunday but he forgot to asked me(he told me later when he called us) then later on in the day he called us and asked me to give a talk and the theme was on pioneers. he also gave me a few other subjects to pick from, he gave me family history, missionary work and also temples. and so i mixed them all he. and while i was thinking about what to write in my talk i thought of some story's about what was going on back home and the different actives that the word does. and one story that came to my mind was when we was up in Victor and grandma and grandpas ward was having a pioneer day or something so we went up for it and while we was their. there was a lot of games going on and i told them that i did the stick pull game(where 2 people try to pull each other off of the ground using their whit and their strengh to pull each other) and everyone liked mine talk. and President Grajewski(in the mission Presidency) was their as well and he gave a talk and boy was it a really good talk. he talked about Pioneers as well but he said that we are pioneers today and how we can stenghen are families and also start new things. sister Belford also talked as well and she was talking about her Pioneers as well and get this. her 3rd or 4th great grandpa on her dads side of the family is a knight and while Joseph smith was alive and was married to Emma smith. the knights took Joseph and Emma smith in let them live their while Joseph smith was translating the plates.; i thought that was cool so i had to share that with you. and she also gave us a challenge as members as well to write in are journals every night for are children and their children can read them and see what we did while we was alive and doing things. and how we lived. so i am going to start doing that as well. and mom i was wondering if you could send some stuff about are Pioneers out for me to read as well. well another then that not to much happening here in Gaylord got to email other people as well love ya guys and hear from you next week. will let you know more info about elder Larsen as well next week in the email.
love ya
elder Webster

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy 4th of July

hello everyone,
well happy 4th of July everyone, hope everyone has a good 4th of July and no one gets hurt. we don't have much planned for the 4th of July. we don't even have district meeting that day so we are having it on the 5th so the next day and then we have trade offs with the Alpena elders again this week. well transfers are coming up and we find out this coming Friday what is going on with transfers if we are staying together or if one of us are leaving, so will let you guys know next week in the email. and yes mom i am surprised at the hand written letter from ya that came in the package that i got and i got it this morning. and thanks for all of the stuff that you put in the package mom. and good thing that i didn't buy any snack food this morning when we went shopping for food. cause i got some in the package from ya. so how was the court of honor for Jesse? ya that would have been good if their was 4 people but how many eagle's was in the eagle's nest? yard sell hopping huh mom should of known you better by now. you and everyone always goes yard sell hopping for a lot of things and same with aunt jo as well lol. man golfing at 6 in the morning dad that is a good idea for now and it is cooler then, then in the early afternoon. next year i will come golfing with ya in the tournament for you don't miss it again how about that dad.
well this past week here in Gaylord, Michigan has been a long week and i mean a long week. to start off last Monday like normal we went and play basketball with some people at the Community center and some people that we are teaching. and then on Tuesday we was up in Boyne city with the Tischlers and i don't think that elder coon like the Tischlers very much cause he i don't think that he understands what they do and how much they help us out cause they have not helped us out as much now since elder smith has gone home. cause when we leave Boyne City the Tischlers like to leave around 6:30 and elder coon doesn't like to leave tell 8pm but we have to ride back with them so he doesn't like it to much. the Tischlers used to have stuff to do up in Boyne city but not anymore cause they don't see that many people anymore. but o well i guess. then on Wednesday we have trade offs with the Kalkaska elders and i was here in the Gaylord area with another missionary that was going home this transfer and he is still working hard to the end of his mission which is good. and while on Wednesday me and the other missionary was down in a town called grayling and we stopped in at the Library and while we was their we talked to an less active member that has not come for awhile. and we had a good lesson with her their and she keeps telling us that her daughter wants to be baptized and she even told us as well but they have to come to church in order for her to get baptized. but while we was their she told us that one of the less actives friends need some help with some service later on that night and so we went and help out cleaning up the edge of a pond for people could go swimming for a graduation party coming up. and then they feed us while we was their and boy was it a lot of food, like BIG hot dogs, 2 different kinds of salad, baked beans, and a few other stuff as well so me and the other missionary got stuffed big time. and something elder happened as well this past week. some awesome and a miracle happened as well. an recent convert family was going though a ruff time finnaclly(money problems) and we asked them on Monday when we called them to see how they was doing cause they wasn't at church on Sunday, well we talked to them about if they want to fast to see if they could get though it(they owned over 2,000 dollars to their home that they was buying) and we told them that we would fast with them as well so on Wednesday i had a felling to go over their to see how they was doing and the felling came to me when we was driving to go over and do some door knocking but as we was still driving the feeling came to me again and this time even stronger so i told the another missionary "hey i just got a strong felling to go and see the recent convert and see how they are doing with the fasting and everything else" and so we did and man that was good timing cause when we got over their. the mom(becky hubbert) was sitting outside and doing nothing cause the dad(tony hubbert) was working. so we read some scriptures with her to get her spirit up. and that really help them cause they was going to Gaylord later that night for a relief society thing and also to talk to the branch President, President Belford about what was going on and President Belford told them that the church will pay for the gas and another bill for they can pay off the trailer that they are living in right now. and when i called them Wednesday night to talked to tony cause he was not their earlier that day cause of work. he told me what happened with the meeting with President Belford. and that right their is a great experience about fasting and how great fasting works. and that also build up my own testimony as well. well then i was with the Kalkaska elders both of them all day on Thursday cause elder coon had to go to a leadership meeting down in Lansing and he went down with some other missionaries from up here in the zone. so i was their all day and we didn't get back to Gaylord tell almost 9 that night and we leaved Gaylord at 10 after 5 in the morning. so that was a long day. then on Friday we was down in grayling all day again and on Saturday and Sunday me and elder coon was door knocking all day cause a all of the appointments but 2 fell though and also 3 investigators dropped us cause they don't like what we have to share and they told us that as well. o well i guess not their time to learn. o on Saturday you should of seen how much water i drank i drank a lot. i drank 5 bottles of water on top of 6 classes of water, 2 classes of milk and also 2 classes of juice as well. so i got a lot of water in my body.
this next week are planners are felling up little by little with different things to do. we got a call last night from sister brown to let us known about dinner appointments this next week and we have 5 this week. we got some money given to us on Sunday to go out to eat somewhere so we are on a day that we don't have a dinner. which is today basically but who knows we polly wont go out today for dinner cause it is p-day. well i will have to go and eat Bavarian Creme(whatever that is) at the Alpen fest coming up in a few weeks here in Gaylord. we don't have to much planned really for the 4th of July. elder coon is not to much on doing a lot of stuff which is kinda a bummer o well maybe next year when i am home we can have a good 4th of July party with everyone on an weekend or something. well thanks again for the package and everything mom and dad. their is going to be some pics but i will send them in a different email this time love ya and will talk to you later.
love elder Webster