June 29, 2015

Monday was great. We had a zone p-day of basket ball and volleyball. It was nice to have time to really play and relax as that last week was crazy. Got haircuts.

Tuesday we had to finish the service that we started. We have some awesome pics but I need to get them from the other missionaries. A full day of contacting and almost no doors opened.

Wednesday was good. We had lunch with a single sister and her home teacher. They had panda express and I had Subway only because I am not that big of a fan of panda... they made fun of me. But it was all good. Elder Castillo was able to get to the physical therapist again so that is making it easier on our work load. Or we can work more because he is in less pain.

Thursday was district meeting and interviews with president. It was weird because my interview was way shorter than anyone else's. Tried some more contacting...by the way this was the first day it was really over 100 for a majority of the day and we didn't have enough miles for the rest of the month so we had to ride our bikes. The only real problem was that Elder Castillo wrecked his back tire so we borrowed Elder Garcia's tire while we took his into the shop. (Later we learned that the gear was rusted on there so bad that they couldn't get it off to do the necessary repairs so he has to buy a new one).

Friday service. We helped this non-member family with some work around their house. We have helped them in the past cutting and moving wood and junk so that they could really get started on cleaning up the yard. Well we went over with a weed whacker and they had a lawn mower. I started whacking and brother Young (the non-member) started mowing when about 30 mins in it caught on fire literally so we had to stop. We helped clean up some of their yard and load up their truck to take stuff to the dump. That night we had my first birthday party with the Hall's in the ward. They are moving and wanted to throw me a party before either they left or I did. We watched Meet the Mormons.

SATURDAY BIRTHDAY!!! It started with service at a less actives house. We were helping clean up his barn and we were doing some sweet parkour around. Well I did at least. We then drove home got ready and went to lunch with some members in our ward as they wanted to treat me to lunch at a local Mongolian restaurant. It was awesome! We then tried to visit some other people who of course didn't open their doors. It was turning out to be a pretty bummer birthday. Until we went to the Thorn's for dinner. We went to Chipotle it was so good. We hung out for a little while there as we let our stomachs settle for the cake she had made for me. Double Chocolate  We then went to the Stadler's who wanted to take me out for ice cream. I was completely full by this time and both Elder Castillo and I thought we were going to die. It was a great day all in all.

Sunday we were in meetings all day, which was good with me. From Thursday to Sunday the temp was over 100 everyday. So I was fine being in a nice ac'd building. Had a quick dinner and that was pretty much it.

I am really looking forward to this next week as we are getting more organized with who we can visit and when is the best time. I am really grateful for all the help and strength that you are all to me.

Elder McCallson

Why I Love My Weight

Birthday at the Stadlers

 

June 22, 2015

Not much time today sorry.
This week was great so I will go over the highlight reel.

On Monday we had a great meeting with the primary president who use to be the relief society president so now she know everyone. She gave us quite a few people to stop by and with great hopes we started the week.

Tuesday we started on some of the names she gave us and what a success. We met with sister Su, who's first question was "who sent you?" It was interesting to watch her turn from sort of a clam all tight and close to really opening up and showing us a great pearl of a daughter of God. We met another member who was moving and accepted our help but we had to wait til the following day. We met with a gentleman who is not a member but comes to church pretty regularly. We are going to work on him to see if he has any interest in increasing his knowledge and faith in the Savior or in other words invite him to take the lessons.

Wednesday we helped that family move out as their land lord sold the house out from under them.... that is happening quite a bit here in Eagle right now... Met with our new eternal investigator. He is going through quite a bit right now but said he is grateful for our visits and that he may want to be baptized but not right now. So we are going to let the Spirit work on him for a little bit.

Thursday we had the worst and best service ever. We layered rocks around a new man made pond in a subdivision. I will try to get pics for it. We couldn't finish it all in one day so we went back Saturday. Met the Hranacs in the ward, they have a turtle.

Friday was district meeting. We then finished cleaning up sister Blodgett's, bamboo lady, yard.

Saturday some service as previously mentioned above as we also helped a less active member who wasn't even there. Random call from a member for service they too are moving but not because their land lord sold their house but because they let him know that they were building a house and moving out in a few months so he was going to raise their rent $1000. So they were happy to leave.

Sunday... Father's day. Two missionary farewells and a missionary home coming. It was awesome!

Love,

Elder McCallson

Turtle and Me

Awesome Sign!

 

 

 

 

June 15,2015

Monday was great! It was a zone p-day we played rugby almost the whole time. It was 98 degrees and the sun was out in full strength. So, being the type of person I am, I got a headache that night because I didn't drink enough water. But, we had an awesome dinner. Crapes! They were so good.

Tuesday went fast. We had district meeting that morning. It was really weird because it was so silent. Mostly because we kicked the sisters out of the district. We then tried some contacting but really no one was out as it was just about as hot as it was Monday. We had dinner drop off of pasta casserole. It was good but no meat. I was a little disappointed. But we looked out our window and saw a member across the street who needed some help moving dirt. So we rushed out to help him as all our other plans had cancelled on us that night. We worked with him for about 2 hours. Also, the young men's president and a few priests left to go harvest a pig for a party the 4th ward youth were going to have Wednesday night. So they came back, this happened while we were working on moving the dirt. We saw them come back and wanted to see it. We ended up helping them dig a hole, start a fire, put the pig on it, and cover it for the party. Needless to say that took us to the end of the night. I felt very accomplished.

Wednesday was slow to start. By the time lunch rolled around not much had happened. We visited Curtis. He has had a very hard life. Most people we have talked to about Curtis say that he is completely changed from the way he was before he became a member of the church. He laughs and talks now where as before, they say, he was a very quite and almost bitter man. And with all the things he has told us I can see why. We then left to visit some more people in the 3rd ward. We met this brother and boy was he one weird dude. We got in there and started to talk with him and he started to talk about menopause.... I think that is how you spell it... anyways he said that he was this tough farmer now he sometimes catches himself tearing up a commercials. Anyways... it was great to get to know him and his wife. We then road from there to dinner. Sweet and sour chicken and rice. It was really good. We then went from there to help with the pig. We unburied it, and moved it to the grass where it just started to fall apart as we unwrapped it. It was great! The only problem was that we didn't dig the pit big enough or deep enough and only half of the pig cooked. So we got to take some home and try and cook it.

Thursday we had this thing called Just Serve that started. It is where we as missionaries serve without proselyting. It was really weird as we cleaned some class rooms at a school. It was gross to think how dirty the desks and chairs and room was after a year of school. I am glad that I don't have to go to school anymore.... well until I get back that is. I think that almost all of our investigators are tired of seeing us as no one would open their doors. I guess this is the curse of Summer. Dinner finally rolled around and we got to have some fun on stilts before as we waited for the husband to get home. We then road to church for our 4th ward correlation meeting and were able to make some good visits.

Friday was a special day as we got a car. A Jeep Compass. My only real problem with it is my sister bought one and the sister missionaries in Star had it so it has been forever in my mind that it is a girl car. My companion keeps trying to reassure me that it's not but I probably won't change my mind. As missionaries we have an allotted amount of miles that we get to dive each month. Well the sisters that had the car before us when they dropped their car off 10 days into the month drove 400 miles. To put that into perspective in my last area for the first 3 months of my mission I had a car and we got about 450 miles for the month. Now this area is a bit bigger so we would get more than that but I am not sure how much more. So we are have to watch how much we drive until we are told how many we get. We gave it a wash and vacuumed it out... it was a mess.... filled up the tires that were low and then had to pick up some Elders for service. We almost have all the bamboo gone from the sisters yard. It has only taken us 2-3 months. We then visited another sister from the 3rd ward that really likes it when we stop by. Had dinner, then met with our eternal investigator of the 4th ward. By that we mean that he is slowly making progress but keeps refusing to be baptized. He wanted to watch a movie about Joseph Smith that he found and we were kind of worried that it was an anti-mormon movie but to our surprise it was Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration on Netflix. He also prayed when we asked him to. So we are not really sure what else to do with him...

Saturday we helped do some service for a brother in the 4th ward that lives in the 5th ward with his girlfriend who is sort of taking the lessons. So as missionaries we teach only those in our area. But, there are sometimes boundary exceptions like this brother lives in another ward but his records are in our ward because he is building a house in our ward. Anyways we did quite a bit of clean up as he is wanting to start landscaping. Went home weekly planned had some studies. Went to dinner. Tied to contact some more but no luck. But, we again looked out our window and this same brother was now spreading mulch. So we ran over and helped with that. We then had smores and I was so happy. I have wanted those for so long.

Sunday was crazy. Now that we have two wards we also have double the meetings to go to. We had ward council for both wards at 9 then 3rd ward correlation at 10 and sacrament for 3rd ward at 11 we then are a little lunch at 12:30 then went to sacrament for the 4th ward. We drove home in time for us to leave for dinner. Again our plans cancelled on us so we really didn't have much to do the rest of the night. Made a few stops at members we hadn't seen in a while. One of them is moving as they closed a deal on their house on Saturday the full price they asked for. The couple that bought it is from California and thought it was a great deal. This is one of the big homes on one of the wealthiest streets in all of eagle. So this was not cheep. But hey, I guess moving from where houses are insane to where only the big houses are crazy is good.

This week was a little slow in all. But, I know that this next week will be awesome! I am really excited to be able to get around faster now that we have a car. I really hope I have more fun stories to tell you about next week. I love you all.

Elder McCallson

 

Buried Pig 

 

Walking on Stilts



June 8, 2015

Monday was interesting. First day of having two wards. We called people to make appointments to meet the ward mission leader but no luck but we were able to call him and set up an appointment. We had dinner with pretty much no luck.

Tuesday started off with us going to a physical therapist for my comp. He gave him some exercises to do. We then started looking through our new area book for the 3rd ward. It was crazy. There were people they wanted us to visit so.... we did but, still no luck. Got back to get ready to go to meet our ward mission leader. He is going to do one of the pageants in Nauvoo so he has a huge beard. He gave us some more people to visit. We then had a double booked dinner so we went on splits. I went with a family in the 3rd ward. The Wilcox's. Elder Castillo went with Bro McDonald. It was awesome. I had burritos that were really good. A little blackened just because their daughter forgot to keep checking on them. We then stopped by the Zollingers to set up our dinner for the next day and see how their friend is doing.

Wednesday we stopped by a family that is getting ready to move. So they need some yard work done. We cleared out quite a bit of grass and shrubs. We then started in on our list of people to visit. We stopped by a sister, Sister Conrad. We then proceeded to take two hours to talk to her. She is awesome. But no one else really opened their door. We went to dinner. Fajitas, so good.

Thursday was good. We did our weekly planning which took forever. We read through every note and person that the Sisters made. We then stopped by Sister Blodgett to set up service for the next day. Tried a few more people with really no luck in finding what we wanted. We had dinner with the Bartels. They are a blended family that is working on getting sealed in the Temple with their kids. It is awesome to see the progress that they are making. They have some of the greatest kids. In fact it almost makes me feel like I am home. They are constantly sarcastic and jump on every chance they can to point out how right they are. But, in the end they all are close and really help each other. It really reminds me of home. ;) Tried to have ward correlation in the 4th ward but no one showed...

Friday was our Zone Meeting. President and Sister Winder came, it was one of the best Zone meetings I have ever been at. We then went to IPC for lunch where I realized how much it sounds like a great idea to have all you can eat pizza but when you get to the point where you have eaten all you can you really hate it. Luckily though we had service right after at Sis Blodgett's. We are making progress, slowly, but it is looking better. We then had dinner at the Thorne's. The picture is what we had. Yes, I made it on my own, Mom. :P We then got a ride to a non members, the Stadlers ,who I helped move in and it looks as though I will help them move out.

Saturday was crazy. More contacting with no success. It was a little demotivating to have so many people but no doors open on a Saturday. Oh well. We had a referral that we contacted but they said they weren't interested. Finally met with the Elder's Quorum President of the 3rd ward. He is awesome! Had Bro Schrader pick us up for dinner. It was date night for him and his wife but he cancelled to feed us... she wasn't super thrilled about that. But, I hope that she is over it. :/

Sunday flew by. We had our regular morning studies then had a ward mission correlation meeting in the 3rd ward at 10. With 3rd ward Sacrament at 11. It was a fast and testimony Sunday so we were asked to introduce ourselves as this was the first time we had nearly full ward exposure. It was a great meeting. Really no time was spent in silence. There was always someone sharing the blessings from the Lord they had received. We then went to the next class, Gospel Principles. There was a Brother in there that said that the Sisters the week before had said they would teach the class the next week. Well here we were, no time to plan to teach and we rocked it. It was on missionary work so we really didn't need time to prepare but it would have been helpful for at least a 10 min notice. We then went from there to the 4th ward Sacrament. During the Sacrament a kid was whistling Jingle Bells. It was fun to watch everyone try to figure out where it was coming from. We were in the back as we got out of the other class a little late and the only available seats were in the back. It turned out to be a really good meeting though. I really wanted some one to figure out a way to use jingle bells in their testimony, but no one did. We had to then run from there to a lesson that was set up by our ward mission leader for a man he is helping find a job. It was a great first meeting and he took a Book of Mormon and asked us to come back!! MIRACLES! We then got dropped off for the last hour of 4th ward. Elders Quorum. The lesson was on Families can be together forever but ended up being a talk about speculation and opinions on what is going to happen after this life. But, it really helped me thing about how this life is just a blip in the grand scheme of our eternal existence. We then went to the Jamison's for dinner. Meatball Subs. They were really good. As I was sharing my spiritual thought some kids knocked on the door. They answered and one of them asked " Do you want to buy pine needles to cure cancer?" The other kid held up a few of the pine needles. The family politely said "No." We then proceeded to laugh. Also my companion felt something under him and pulled out a Pokemon thing, two drum sticks, and a pencil. Funny things you find in your couch. Finally we ended our night at the Stadler's again as they invited us over to play games. I won crazy 8's, go fish, and a snowball fight. Then again the snowball fight was unbalanced as it was 5 of us on their daughter that is 7... They asked us for help on a house that they are looking at buying and have already started plans to demo and rebuild parts of it.

This week was awesome! It was hard because of all the riding that we had to do and not knowing where we were going. We are starting to learn the layout of the other ward and will hopefully get a car this next week. But, who knows really.

I really want you to take a moment today and the rest of this week to ponder the miracle of you. By that I mean, look at what the Lord has done to get you where you are right now. OR how you got yourself where you are now and how the Lord can help bring you back to where you will be best and happy.

Love,

Elder McCallson

Escallop and Bread, YUM!

 

June 1, 2015

Monday was not a P-Day. So we tried to get out and do a little proselyting. But, Elder Castillo wasn't feeling too well. We eventually had dinner with a doctor that night (coincidence?) and they diagnosed him with Bronchitis so they took him in and gave him an inhaler, which he had lost in his first area, and a breathing treatment. He started to feel better right away.

Tuesday was better. We were able to get out and actually proselyte. But, of course the day that we can get out, no one answers the door. So we pretty much walked around trying to contact anyone that would open the door for us.

Wednesday was P-Day. TEMPLE P-DAY! It was great to get to go that far out of the area and the Temple was the perfect topper to change the bummer last week to make this week the best. It was suppose to be a Zone P-Day but the rest of our Zone had their P-Day on Monday except for all us in Eagle. So of course we didn't do anything.

Thursday was a good day. We spent most of the time packing as we had to move out of the Thorne's because their daughter is coming home from her mission and they wanted to repaint and fix a leak they had before she came home. SO, we kicked the sister missionaries out of one of the apartments in our area so that we could live there. It felt like sweet revenge for loosing my car to some sisters earlier in my mission.. but, I'm not bitter about that at all. ;P Later that night we had our Book of Mormon Basics class... I took charge as no one knew who was suppose to. It was the best. Not because I took charge but because the people that came participated and helped it be one of the most spiritual classes we have ever held.

Friday was District Meeting It was great! Probably the best one I have ever been to. We went to Mongolian for lunch. I still couldn't eat all that I had taken. But am getting better at seasoning it and making it taste delicious as it melts your face off because of how hot I make it. We then returned home to get our stuff into a truck to move it to the new place. I always wanted to live there. But, we didn't unpack because we had no idea what was going on with transfers and we wouldn't get the call until Saturday. So we went out and visited a few people in attempts to get some work done.

Saturday was agonizingly long. But, we kept a good face about it. We helped clean the church building, went to the Throne's for Saturday morning waffles, helped move the last of the mission's stuff out of the basement and into a truck. Headed back as we were going to lunch with a member who wanted to thank us for helping clean the building. Went back and changed. Still no call. Went to lunch a Dicky's BBQ (that is some good food right there). It is just so expensive. Got back and like magic we got the voice-mail. We kicked the sisters our of Eagle and now we cover both Eagle 4th ward and Eagle 3rd ward. So we had to go and let people know that we were staying. Stopped by our ward mission leaders house to show him a map of our new area. Biked as fast a possible to get back for dinner. We had it with the Nielsen's and Curtis Puckett. Now Brother Nielsen is a vegan but isn't for PETA. He is doing it for his mom. But he helped make a pork roast that Curtis had bought for us to eat. It was good and I was surprised that he made it... then he told us his wife had made it. So that took away from it. :P

Sunday was good. We had a sister from the third ward speak in our ward as when she left she was in the fourth ward but it split while she was out. It was one of the best home coming talks I have ever heard. We then talked with some more people trying to get some more info on the new ward that we are covering. Got to second hour for a bit, it was good. We then had to wait for the Sisters to get us their area book so that we can see what they have been up to and who they are teaching and who they think we should go see. So we missed third hour but it was okay because I already knew what it was about. One of the nice perks about being a missionary is that often you may get information even before Bishops do. Strengthen Faith in the Home through Sabbath Day observance (Or at least how I think it should be worded.) Went home with our ward mission leader to have dinner, TACOS!! Then we had the person that had cancelled dinner call us and ask if we are coming over. So we ended up having two dinners. But it was one of the best I had ever had. They made pork chops that didn't taste like pork and some kabobs. It was really good.

I am looking forward to the challenge of serving in two wards. I ask for your prayers for strength and for success. I have really come to understand the power of combined faith. Prayer is an essential way for us to not only communicate with our Father in Heaven but also to bring about the miracles associated with the combined faith of those participating.

Keep in mind that you are loved by a GOD. Three actually (The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost). All you have to do is ask and He will give you an answer. There is real power in reading the words of God. Remember to read as a family and to build the faith of your children and your faith as you live the gospel not just profess it.

Love,

Elder McCallson

May 27, 2015

Monday was good. Another boring District P-Day. But we made it up because we had a lot of fun cooking. Other than that.... BORING! Until dinner. We had dinner with the Stockings. They are a funny family that we have met a few times, Bro Stocking works for HP as does most people that live here in Eagle. He is a very quiet person but gets to fly all over the world. He just got back from a "vacation" in Belgium and Germany. He brought back some chocolates. They were really good.

Tuesday we walked around pretty much the whole day. Most of last week was rainy so there weren't that many people outside for us to talk to. Although the Thorne's, the family we live with, son, Harrison, is a kind of child prodigy. He composed this great piece called Forest of Silver. It was fantastic. It was great to be there and support him in his triumph of a successful performance.

Wednesday was good. Again rain. We stopped by Curtis and talked for some time as our other plans fell through. During the semi part in the rain we were able to stop by a few people who all were not interested right now. Went to dinner at the Wingets... TACOs!!

Thursday was good. We had district meeting. It was good. but after that we stayed home pretty much the rest of the night. Elder Castillo wasn't feeling too well.

Friday we got out and did some service for sister Blodgett. We cleaned out her gutters and power washed her back porch. Then we stayed at home....

Saturday we stayed at home... seeing a pattern here. I watched movies pretty much all day. I even had to change the language on some of the movies so that it would keep me entertained.

Sunday we were able to go to church so that was nice. But then we spent the whole day at home.

This week was a little slow but luckily he is feeling better and we are out working again. I look forward to having more to report this next week.

Elder McCallson

 

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day

 My District

 My NEW favorite Picture



May 18, 2015

Monday was great other than the fact that I hurt my knee that morning and couldn't really play anything that Zone P-day. We had a great dinner with a family in our ward that is housing another set of missionaries. So they joined us... So rude. :P We then road from there to the edge of our area to visit another family who had us come over for Family Home Evening. It was awesome to finally get to really sit down and get to know them. It was interesting to me that I "know" a lot of the members at least by name, but you can't really get to know them until you sit down with them for a FHE. I love being a missionary!

Tuesday was fun. Elder Castillo and I went over and helped a sister weed her garden. She then proceeded to make us a full dinner for lunch. Chicken and potatoes. It was awesome. I am seeing many different ways to cook potatoes. Maybe I will actually learn a recipe and make it myself. We then were able to stop by a sister who we hadn't seen in a while. She is a member, her husband is not and has quite a few illnesses. So she has been his full-time nurse helping him keep going. When we stopped by she said that he was now in a nursing home and would not be returning home. She was devastated. She let us pray for her and her husband as they were going through this hard time. It was great to see the way the Lord prepares people who are ready to come to him. We then had a great dinner from our Elder's Quorum President. Fried Chicken and potatoes. Hmmm felt familiar. :) The first time was just baked this time it was fried with a light breaded coating. IT WAS AWESOME! Then we met with some new move ins from Germany (not originally from there). He was called into active duty to help with training. Now they are back and happy to be here. We also, while we were talking, had a really good storm start to move in with thunder and lightning. That just made my day.

Wednesday we a little slow. We had a member take us out to lunch at this China Palace place here in Eagle. It is good. I am still not a huge fan of Chinese food. It makes my stomach yell at me. We were able to contact a few more people but, it ran pretty slow the rest of the night.

Thursday was FANTASTIC! ZONE CONFERENCE! I am not a huge fan of meetings, or at least I wasn't when I came out on my mission, but now there are almost this huge build up for me. It was a sad day in the mission as TIWI boxes were installed in all the vehicles. TIWI are little black boxes that track just about everything you do. How fast you are going, how hard you break or step on the gas, hit a bump, if your seat belt is buckled, etc... but, interestingly enough not if you run a red light. Well I really don't have to worry about that as I don't have a car. The rest of the meeting was great. We were able to ask questions on just about anything. So it was fun to hear the answers that were given to just about every question. "I don't know." Most of the questions were odd questions about doctrine that is not yet understood or at least that our Mission President didn't have the answer to off the top of his head. That ran us till dinner at the Blaine's. They raise pheasants. Mostly ornamental ones that are small and not really worth eating.

Friday was wet. It rained all night and into the afternoon. But, we pressed on!. We pulled more bamboo and poisoned it with as much weed killer as we had. We will see if that will get it. The truth is you can't get rid of it. There will always be a sprout showing up here or there and most poisons just won't kill the roots. Walked around for a bit and got to talk to a man with no arms or legs. His name is Kory. He is a member that has just decided that it isn't for him. But that is okay, he still wants to talk to us. We ended the day with some nonmembers who are not really interested/"we're not the church going type." But they love talking to us and getting to know what is going on and if there is anything they can do to help.

Saturday was good and bad. We started by doing some service for a family in the ward that is trying to keep their house nice so they can sell it. So we had a lot of huge weeds with all the rain we have gotten lately. The kids are awesome too. We played museum (one person is moving around looking at everyone and seeing if anyone moves, you move when they are not looking at you or can see you), we raced on our bikes (it was a little unbalanced), soccer, and then shared a lesson about Christ and the love that he has for each of us. We then proceeded to wait 3 hours for our ward mission leader to pick us up. He was at a flea market.  He said "I just kept seeing twenty dollar signs and it was hard to walk away." He sells antique clothing so that is where he goes to find new things to sell at his store, mostly because people don't know how much their stuff is worth and just want to get rid of it. He made up for it by taking us to a Mongolian grill place. We then had exchanges. So I need to back up to yesterday. We asked everyone in the district to help with pulling bamboo, and only the Sisters showed up. One of the other Elders called us and said "We will be there right after we go to the hospital." So we think, oh they are going to give a blessing and will be here soon. Well they didn't show. We then get a call Friday night from our district leader asking what we are doing Saturday. He then proceeded to tell us that his companion, Elder Folau was in the ICU at the hospital because he was having trouble breathing Thursday night. WHAT!!! Well, jumping forward (he is all good now) we had the weirdest exchanges ever. So I went with Elder Kennington and Peterson in their ward and Elder Castillo went with Elder Lee. Well we, Elder Kennington, Peterson, and I, tired to visit two people in their area and spent the rest of the time in our ward. As we had a dinner (chicken and steak kabobs) and a lesson set up for that night.

Sunday was depressing. We had two of our investigators drop us. Church was great. We just had a missionary return from the San Diego Mission Farsi speaking. It was so weird to hear it. It is not as guttural as Arabic and very flowy. Had a good dinner with the other Jamison's in the ward. No relation as far as I know. Burgers. Tried a few people, no answers until about 8 that night when we were able to get into contact with a sister who I guess is a snow bird. Also she said she is almost never home on a Sunday night. So, can you say tender mercy from the Lord. Her husband worked on the Cobra helicopters in Vietnam. He is not a member but maybe he will be interested?. We will see.

There are so many blessing just awaiting us. I just think every time that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. It may not always be a yes but he never says no. He always knows the big picture. It was hard for us to lose two of our investigators. I pray that they will continue to cultivate their relationship with their Heavenly Father and want to grow closer to him. I know that even though they may have lost their interest that Heavenly Father is calling his children and presenting ways and paths for them to return to him. I know that we can all grow closer to God if we read the scriptures and pray to know that they are true and look for way that we can use them in our lives.

 Love,

Elder McCallson

May 11, 2015

Monday was awesome! We had a family that helped us out big time that day. The wife works at a salon and offered to cut our hair for free. Those are usually the best kind. They then took us out for lunch. I honestly have never tried real sushi. The closest stuff I have come to is store bought or all you can eat restaurant stuff. I won't eat it everyday but I didn't throw up like I thought I would. Spent most of our day driving around as it was just a regular P-Day. Had a great dinner with the Young Men's President. Ended the day on a good note.

Tuesday we helped our Relief Society President do some yard work in the morning. We fertilized her yard and cleaned off her back deck. She gave us some money to go get lunch. We stopped by the church building to make some reduced sized copies of the directory that we had, for convenience. Got picked up for dinner by Brother Small and had some white chicken chili. He had also invited his Catholic mother over and we watched Meet the Mormons. She loved it. She wasn't interested in taking the lessons but she will get there eventually. Went over to one of our investigators and watched Meet the Mormons with him too and inspired him to go back to Nepal and work through the Church for humanitarian aid. We pointed him to the Bishop as I have no clue who to contact for things like that.

Wednesday was good. It was a little slow to start the morning as most people are heading out the door to get to school, work, or appointments. We were able to, however, contact a sister that we haven't seen in three months. Had a quick lunch and road our bike the three miles up Eagle Rd, which is one big hill, to help Brother McDonald on his farm. We cut branches off his trees that he is trying to save. They look awesome! But, then again I did help with is so... Had dinner with a nice family that is always in a rush especially as it is youth night. Made a quick stop by a family across the street.

Thursday was soaking wet. It rained from when we got up to about dinner time. We were able to get our weekly planning done and make some visits with our newest ward missionary. But other than that not much happened.

Friday turned it all around though. We had a great Zone Meeting that really built my spirits. It is interesting that meetings, which I am not a big fan of, are usually the source of the most uplifting experiences I have had on my mission. We then nearly finished the job we had started at Brother McDonald's. Had a drop off dinner of Carl's Jr. The El Diablo Burger is good but I have tasted better.

Saturday was the best day. We helped serve a sister in the ward by pulling up more bamboo. We are almost done... I think. Had a great lunch and visited a potential investigator. Who turned into an investigator! She said "I have about five minutes to talk." So in mission language that means come sit for an hour. Not really, but we did end up spending that much time talking about the Church and about the Book of Mormon. The tender mercies of the Lord are always there at the best times.

Sunday was fantastic. Most would think that this should be the best day of the week especially as it was Mother's day and I got to Skype home. And it was. I was still debating on which day I enjoyed more. Went to church, made dinner for the family we live with, Chicken Fried Steaks. Ended the night talking with them and another set of Elders that came to Skype home too.

This was an awesome week. It is the weeks that I serve for. I love being a missinoary. I love the Lord. I love my Heavenly Father. I know that they are watching us and want us to be happy.

Love,

Elder McCallson

 

First Time Eating  REALSushi!