April 27, 2010

Sorry my email was late last week, we had mission football in Cardiff and I forgot to warn you. Sorry about that. But it's all going good here. We're still working hard and trying to get somebody baptized. The problem is here in England it seems like no one cares about God, but we try to make it all work out. Oh well. So you have been talking to Elder Rapana's mother still. Their family is really cool. Quite a few of the kids are adopted as well, they are way cool.
Elder Spence and Elder Largesse are both going home next week so maybe you'll get a visit from one of them soon. Spence said he was going to go try to play football at ISU so he might stop in on his visit to the campus and stuff and Largesse is going to BYU-I so he'll be up there too. So don't be surprised to see them. I think you'll love them both if you get to meet them. We seem to be getting more DA's (dinner appointements) now than we were before. A couple of the previous missionaries were clock watching nazi's so they were a bit rude to some of the members if they were a minute or two late cooking the dinner and stuff so the members had a bit of a bad taste in their mouth about feeding us but we seem to be rebuilding the bridges that got burned so that's good. I haven't had barbecue anything since I got back here though cuz their idea of barbecue sucks and they don't like that kind of food anyway so we never see it. I wish though.
So Dad did you ever get to fly the new plane before all of the repairs and stuff? You've probably told me this already but I can't remember. I'm excited to get back to flying again. I miss that alot. You'll have to tell me how the memorial golf tourney goes and everything. I wish I could be there to play in it. But later I will. And yes I've gotten a ridiculous amount of mail lately. More cards than I can handle, lol. Thanks everyone for those!! Did you make address stickers for everybody or something? Anyways I better get going now. I love you guys.

April 20, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad. That's really cool that you've been able to talk to Elder Rapana's mom. She asked for your email and stuff last week so I gave it to her. What kind of stuff do you guys talk about? Me and Elder Rapana are doing so good. I hope I don't get moved, that wouldn't be cool. But ya we have lots of fun. We got chased by bulls the other day. I'm going to try to email you the video after I write this so hopefully that'll work. But ya we get along great.
All that volcano business is crap so don't worry about it. It's just like swine flu and everything else. Everyone makes it a bigger deal than it really is. I haven't seen any ash yet and they've been talking about it for a week. So don't worry about that. The next missionaries to leave are going home on the 5th so it'll be cleared up by then I'm sure. Elder Spence and Elder Largesse are going home in that group. It makes me a bit sad to see them go. But Spence said he might come up and visit. I'm glad Cody went through the temple that's really cool. I just wish I could go to the temple. That was the only place I really felt peace. Like I know everything is fine and I know where Blake is but I also know he was there when we went to the temple. Sometimes I still feel like he's with me but it's not like it was in the temple. I've felt the same way about talks and things too, a lot of church talks by the stake leaders and stuff have been directed to that type of stuff that we need to hear. It's so good.
Thank you for the life lesson today Dad. That was pretty deep I'm not gonna lie. I'm printing that one off to show people at district meetings and stuff. That was brilliant. Thank you for that.
President Ogden told me to get started on getting my UK driver's license last week. I know, I was as shocked as you are but he said he wants me to get it so I'll need to start that. The thing about it is I'm responsible for the first 100 dollars of it. The mission covers the rest but the first 100 is on me. And the good news is if I get a UK license that means my insurance back home will go down a bit :) But ya anyways I better get going now. I love you guys!!! Oh ya, and about Elder Rapana being from New Zealand but lives in Australia. He is originally from New Zealand but moved to Australia as a teenager and he still lives there cuz that's where he plays rugby.

April 13, 2010

How are things going on the home-front? It's all good here. We've been working hard and everything so it's been good. And the weather is starting to warm up so that's good too. I'm glad Justin was able to get those letters to you. He told me he had sent them so that's good. I'll let him know you got them. I finally got your package on Thursday with the shirt and everything so thank you for that. I haven't made the biscuits and gravy yet but I told Elder Rapana he's in for a treat cuz he's never eaten that before. Thank you for all of that stuff it was great. And I got your card too I thought that was pretty funny. You can tell Stephanie she can email me if she would like. Sometimes the time is limited so I can't promise a reply every week but I'll do my best. Usually I have a few extra minutes so it should be fine. I'm anticipating getting transferred on the 5th but you never really know so I don't want to tell you a definite yes or no. But it is quite possible. I hope not though cuz me and Elder Rapana get along really well and everything.
I think you should tell Kyle to have the tournament. I think that is a really cool way for him to be remembered and if there was one way I would want to honor him it's by playing golf. Dad you can plan on us playing in that tournament every year until we can't swing a club anymore. It doesn't matter where I end up we will be there no matter what. How long will it be until you get the new plane going? those annuals seem to take alot of flight time away. But at least this time you still have the Cessna right?
As for my birthday the only thing I really need is some new g's. But I don't know if you can send those can you? I figured you guys would know better than I would. Other than that I should be ok. And our flat is around the corner from the Co-Op. It's in a funny part of town so sometimes it's a bit tough to find on a map or gps or anything. But anyways I better get going now. I love you guys. Thank you for everything. Elder Rapana and I are headed to the driving range now in Blake's honor. Talk to you later.

April 6, 2010

Everything is going good for me here. Elder Rapana and I get along so well! We're always laughing and working hard so don't worry, I don't feel quite so sad to have lost Elder Spence anymore. So it's all going good. Conference was amazing. I don't know if Dad told you about the Priesthood session or not but it was so good! I loved it and Pres. Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session was amazing as well. I shed a tear or two during that one. But it was so good. For Easter all we did was watch conference. Because of the time change we watched the Saturday morning session on Saturday night at 5, Priesthood on Sunday morning at 10, Saturday afternoon session on Sunday at 1, and Sunday morning session on Sunday at 5. And it was all shown at the Stake Center in Cheltenham so we ended up just staying at Cheltenham all day on Sunday and hanging out with members. And for Easter dinner we ate cold sandwiches so that wasn't so cool. But other than that the day was really good. I still don't have the package yet but we have Zone Conference next week so I should get it there if they have it at the office. And the next transfer is on May 5th cuz this one is a 5 week transfer instead of 6 for some reason. Tell Cody congratulations for me. I didn't get any emails from Devon surprisingly but thats really cool, that should be a good mission. Anyways I better get going now. I love you guys!!!

March 30, 2010

First of all, sorry there were no posts for the past two weeks. As many of you know my brother, Blake passed away on the 15th and I was able to go home for a few days for the funeral and to support my parents. I have the most awesome mission president in the whole church, President & Sister Ogden are the best.  Thank you everyone for your love & support through this.

Hey it's transfer week this week and I'll be staying in Worcester for another one so I won't be moving. Unfortunately Elder Spence is moving though so that makes me pretty sad. He was just like all the boys back home so it was kind of like getting a little piece of Blake every day so I'm not so chuffed about this move. But other than that it should be ok. I'm getting a comp named Elder Rapana from New Zealand. I already know him so thats good and he's a really cool guy so I think we'll get along really well. He's actually a pro rugby player in the Australian league so he's a pretty big dude. But ya when I figure out his first name I'll have you google him cuz he's pretty famous from what I hear. That's a pretty funny story about Alex. You probably would have crapped your pants if I did that to you guys. I'm really excited to watch conference myself I think it'll be a big help. To answer your questions no I haven't given my passport back cuz I lost it and I haven't had a chance to talk to President Ogden yet. But we'll be going to Birmingham tomorrow for transfer meeting so I'll talk to him then and tell him thank you for you guys. And if you want to write him letters just send them to the office and they put them on his desk. And I'll pick up the package while I'm there. The trip back was really long but I've adjusted back into working and the jet lag wore off so I'm doing good now. We had to do some circles around London before I landed so I got to see London Bridge and Big Ben and all of that stuff so that was cool. Didn't get any pictures though unfortunately. It was a little tough from the plane window. Dad, don't do any base jumping off the bridge til I get home at least. Then I'll come with you and it'll be cool. Mom can come too. Anyways I better get going now. Love you guys!!
Oh and by the way I figured out my comp is Jordan Rapana so you should look him up on google.
p.s. I didn't really lose my passport I'll be taking it back to the Og-dog tomorrow when I go so don't worry.

March 9, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad. I'm loving Worcester still. Everything is going really well. Me and Elder Spence are getting along so good! He's a really funny guy and he reminds me of Brandon. Justin is doing good as well. No need to dust off the feet at anyone or anything so thats good, he's doing much better. I got to talk to him last Tuesday and he seemed to be alright. I send him letters too so hopefully that'll keep him strong. He told me he wants to come to Idaho after I go home and he's already started saving up some money for it. So in 18 months or so he should have enough to come over. I told him if he did we would take good care of him. He really wants to see Temple Square and the mountains. I think Salt Lake's mountains might scare him because over here a mountain is the hill between Grace and Niter. They have some pretty big ones in Wales but they're about like the ones next to our house so it's nothing special.
I haven't bought a new suit yet because the store with the cheap ones isn't in Worcester. There's one in Hereford and one in Birmingham so I'll need to go to one of those places to get it. But we'll get it done. No worries. I don't know if my body would handle another DA like that one to be honest with you. That was not good. I was not doing very well at all. But I recovered so no worries. The accommodation center in Preston probably is the way to go if you come over here. The only problem is that its 3 hours from Birmingham. But that's ok. Then you could see the temple there. It's amazing! And the accommodation center is a shared building with the MTC. Pretty cool huh. So then you could see that too. But ya anyways I better get going now. Love you guys!!!

March 2, 2010

Ok, now I'll tell you about life in Worcester, I love it here! I was really worried about the move because I loved Hereford but it's not so bad and I'm close anyways. Justin is going through a rough patch right now because someone is filling him up with doubts. It makes me angry because you don't mess with people's salvation but, we're going to Hereford today so I can talk to him and if you will write him a letter it will help too I think. Other than that life is good. My suits are ridiculously too big now so I priced getting them altered and buying new ones and it's cheaper just to buy a new one. There's one store that has cheap suits for about 35 pounds so I think I'll get one of those soon.
I have to tell you a couple of funny stories too. But first I have a missionary joke that a member told us at church on Sunday in his talk: 2 missionaries are out tracting and knock on the door of a woman's house. The woman tells them, in no uncertain terms, that she is not interested and she wants them to leave. She then slams the door but it bounces right back open again. And she tries again with the same result. So she does it again, and again, and again until finally she shouts "Get your damned foot out of my door!" (damn is not considered a swear word in England). One of the missionaries replies "Ma'am neither one of us has a foot in your door, but you might want to move your cat. Pretty funny huh, I found it amusing.
But anyways second story, we had the worst dinner appointment either one of us has ever had last week. Now the host has a heart of gold but he can't cook worth two poops and a jackrabbit. But anyways he made us burgers and fries and the burgers were burned and the fries were partially frozen. The good Lord was with us so we were able to eat most of it, but then after we left my body couldn't handle it anymore so it was violently projected from my stomach all over the ground next to a bike path. It was gross, I tell you what. And then the next day the same guy called and had locked himself out of his house and needed our help to get back in. So we went over there and it turned out his balcony door was unlocked so we had to try and get over there and get inside. The only problem was he lives on the third floor. So we ended up going to his neighbor's house and I swung over from her balcony onto his and into a pile of garbage. So I almost heaved my lunch a second time but I was able to hold it in and we got into his house alright. So that was an interesting couple of days I can tell you that much. But it makes for good mission stories right? Anyways I better get going now. Love you guys!