13 - Sanford Maine!

MOM!!

hi.

So this week I had the worst numbers thus far on my mission (they WILL BE the worse numbers I EVER have) I only taught one lesson, which is hard because I came out here TO TEACH and instead we spend most of our time tracting. The one lesson we did have was when I was on exchange … so I didn't even get to teach it.
Thursday had to be the slowest day ever in my LIFE, my companion was sick or something and he couldn't do anything. He passed out for almost the whole day; well it was the WHOLE DAY. I just read magazines and Jesus the Christ and paced the apartment for the entire day and did nothing - we didn't leave the apartment. This is the second time this has happened to me,  Elder Thomas got sick once as well, he slept for like half the day…. am I weird or something because I’m never tired - at all. Except when I need to exercise in the morning, then I’m always tired!

So any way Thursday was a total wash, Friday was our weekly planning and then we just tracted. Saturday was actually really fun, unproductive but FUN! We did service for a member, he has a small farm, not enough to make money but big enough for the purpose of food for the family. He has 7 girls and no sons. We helped him out around the yard, stacked wood (that’s how they heat homes here!) some other stuff. After that we went and helped out a potential and that took all day - literally all day! It was a long, fun day and it was fun to be out of a suit! The member with the farm is getting pigs this week! I am excited to go see them, farms are kinda cool! I decided I am going to go hunting when I get home to Georgia.

Cool thing - I found out how to make like a whole pig smoker out of like an old oil storage container, not a drum, but a storage container…. its weird they use oil to heat homes here as well, cool huh?

My companion is really awesome he is from like the Moab Utah area and he is really awesome. He is a farm boy and he gets along with the people out here really well because of those skills and stuff.

Oh guess what? A lady from our ward made FRIED DANDELION HEADS?!?!?! Crazy! They are so good!!!!!!!

Gosh just don’t eat one raw picked straight from the ground…. that’s not so good.

About Rico (our sort of investigator), this was an interesting  week, so Elder Wells and Elder Guthrie went there for a scheduled appointment, someone (not Rico) answered the door and said it was a joke to tell the us to come and that Rico really didn't want us to come. So they left, but later that night Rico, called and said he had seen on his video cameras what happened and that guy who answered the door didn't speak for him. So we set another time and he said he would come to the church to meet us. So we went to the church at appointment time and waited for an hour and half for him and he didn't show up. We got a call from him that night and he said his car had broken down on the way down to the church. That he had to hike back home to tell us he couldn't come and that because of this he knew that there was evil in the world doing this and he was even more determined to talk with us now!!!!! So that is freaking sweet huh?!?! I know right!!! Legit!!! But yeah seriously AWESOME!!!

It is crazy how much has happened since last year alone, and it went way fast,( hopefully the next two go by fast as well), I don’t need anything else mom. You don’t need to send anything. I am fine… although you should see the dress pants and tie I got form Marshall's - they are sweet! I also got cologne for 40 bucks FOR ALL OF IT! I know right!! That’s crazy!

That is awesome that lady had fun at the park I miss her. I am glad she is still able to do some things. That is awesome for Alexander and the potential job. I will pray for him.

Tell Lochlan that he needs to look in his email. I am writing him a letter…. I miss him.

I miss you mom, so much and love you so much more. Hope all is going well with the youth in our ward, its a good ward.

I love you mom miss you!

Love,

Elder Dean

Exeter, Maine

Fun times

12 - Sanford Maine!

Hi mom,

It’s weird writing you right after talking to you yesterday for the first time in like three months… but its good I guess.

So the investigators name is Rico, maybe at least that’s how I think you spell it. My new companions name is elder wells, and so far its good, I really like him.

So honestly I don’t do a whole lot with the youth of this ward, we are generally teaching or doing some sort of meeting on Wednesday night. There is one young man who we are trying to get to come out tracting with us – because his mom wants him to and so do the YM leaders.

We are going to the horse farm next week to see if we can do service there. We are going to check with them to see if they need help rebuilding the fences or something like that, that should be fun.

Did I tell you we were tracting one day and we went to a house, a woman answered and said maybe some other time. We stared to walk across the street to a guy sitting on his front porch having a cigarette. As we were just about to him a man popped his head out of the house we just left and yelled

“RUN DAN, RUN!” we started to laugh. We went up any way and started to talk to the guy. After a bit the guy from the first house stuck his head out again and yelled:

“YOU WEREN'T FAST ENOUGH!!” It was really funny.



Another time when we were tracting we started to talk to this guy who had NOT ONE BUT TWO!!! Red with white racing stripes, Shelby GT’s! One was a 2008 and the other was a 2014!!! SERIOUSLY!?!?!!!How cool! Don’t worry I got pictures! I will send some home soon!

Can you believe that I have been out on my mission for 4 months? I’m not going to lie its hard - but mom despite how hard it is I LOVE IT. I feel so… I don’t know, I feel so much More…. different. I am glad I am here. I am glad I am on a mission.

I am going on exchange to Exter tonight and tomorrow because my companion is a district leader and the Zone leaders go on exchanges with all of the district leaders so I will be with one of the elders from Exter… or wherever.

Don’t worry I did get a picture with my first companion. I promise I will get pictures with all of my companions, don’t worry about that I will always get one. I miss the kid (Lochlan), I miss everyone.

For district Pday we played basketball and volley ball. It was Awesome!

Love elder dean

PS. There is an awesome video on LDS.org

It has a really great quote:

“Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.”

I love you mom

Flashback - At the movies with Bryson!!

At the movies ....The last one before Bryson left to serve his mission!

A few pictures from Sanford, Maine

Bryson and his Companion wondered around an old graveyard! He thinks they are really cool, and he said he loved seeing how far back the dates on the headstones go. 

"I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible, I'm in this big ol' coat from the thrift shop down the road"
~ Thrift Shop
Maclemore and Ryan Lewis

I love that you can hardly see the scars! He looks so amazing!!!!

Rocking the size 64 pants! With Elder Thomas

First transfer down and still in Sanford Maine! (11th letter)

Hi!!!!!

Hey mom!

So we got transfer calls on Saturday. I am staying here in Sanford for another six weeks, I will be getting a new companion because Elder Thomas was transferred. Honestly I’m a little nervous, I have really grown to love Elder Thomas he has been a great trainer. I’m scared my new companion will be like (my MTC companion)… that would be so bad. I’m praying it will be ok, I do have faith that whatever happens will be what needs to happen. You can tell that Elder Thomas is ready to go, I know he loves it here but this was his first and ONLY area.

This week has been as usual. A mission is a funny thing, the weeks seem to go so slow – and yet they seem to fly by at the same time. P-day goes by really really quick, there is always so much that you need to get done during the day. This P-day is really tight because Elder Thomas is saying goodbye to everyone.

Before I forget could you please let Marlee know that I am so excited for her to start her mission and that I think she is going to be such a great missionary. Wish her luck for me and tell her I will write her when I get her address.

So I have realized that I am an awful son! I didn't wish you, MY OWN MUM, happy birthday. So….. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so sorry I forgot. Mother’s day is on Sunday and I get to call you !!!! So yay!!!!

I bought the leather jacket 25 dollars at a thrift store where we do service, it is a really great jacket. The thrift store… not so much. It is really dirty and gross and the old man that works there is so grumpy. It would be nice if we could find a different place to do some service.

The box of curry came today!!!! I had to go to the post office to pick it up though. Thank you so much for sending that to me! I love it so much, all the stuff looks really good. I love curry.

Stuff we do on pday. Well here in our mission it is usually a rush to buy food and get laundry done. we use a laundry mat near our apartment. After we finish shopping and getting our cloths washed we go to the library and write and read emails. They are really full days.

I am really sad I missed Lochlan’s birthday, it is the first one I've missed of his and yours for that matter. I bet Lochlan was excited to get that game. It is a really fun game. Alexander, Lochlan and I played the first one all the time and it was a lot of fun. Are you guys going to go see Iron Man 3? You know mom to be truthful I miss video games and movies and TV. I feel guilty that I miss them, like I’m “to of the world” and I am trying to not think about that kind of stuff. BUT some of the BEST times that I had growing up were when you would pull me out of school and we would play hooky and go to the movies. I loved skipping school and going to movies with you. I miss the video game parties down in our basement that I would have with my friends.

I’ll be honest – I’m sad Christine choose not to go to BYU, I think that she would have really loved it there. I will keep her in my prayers and pray that she will be OK in Boulder. I love her and I think she will be alright.

I THANK YOU Mom for raising me the way you did. You are so great. We had a district meeting and they asked us which we thought was more important family or the gospel. I couldn't pick. Yes this gospel does bring so much joy and happiness and incredible amounts of peace and blessings but without my family (without you) I would not be who I am. The people that we tract out here in Maine do not seem to have the strongest family. The school systems are poor and there is a lot of divorce and teenage pregnancies. I feel so bad for the people that don’t have what I do. When we were asked that question in our meeting (at district meeting) I was one of the few missionaries in our district who didn't say the gospel was the most important. I just couldn’t place one above the other, because without one I wouldn't have the other.

I love you mom so much. More than anything and I am really glad that I am serving a mission, that you helped me to be able to serve a mission.

I really love my family, tell them all that I miss them and that I cannot wait till the day I see them again.

I miss you! I love you! I get to talk to you in a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Elder Dean