December 8, 2009

Hey how is everything going back home? All is going pretty well here. Everybody is atheist it seems like. All Christmas means to them is to drink themselves stupid and not have to go to work the next day. There are a few believers but the overwhelming majority are atheists. It makes it a little bit tough to talk to them because all they do is mock you for having a belief. One of my mission goals is to bag me an atheist before I go home though so I'm going to do it. I'm also gonna bag me a Jew, a JDub, a family, and a Born Again Christian. So those are my goals just so you know. I was reading my conference notes and found out I'm supposed to share my goals with my family so there you have it. Post is pretty ridiculous isn't it? I haven't gotten the package yet but we have Zone Conference on Friday so it'll probably be there.We set up our Christmas tree the other day too. You should see this thing, it's a disgrace. It's a fiber optic tree that stands 9 inches high. I'll take a picture for you. You'll laugh I promise. As far as Christmas goes we don't know what time we'll be calling or anything yet, that'll come eventually I'm sure. We do have two dinners set up for Christmas day though. One is with a less-active lady and her son for lunch and then we're going out to the ward mission leader's house for dinner and calling home. He has a really posh house you should see this thing. It's like 400 years old but he restored the whole thing and modernized it all. It's sweet. I'll let you know about all the Christmas details later though. My bike and I have not fared well this week I tell you what. I've had 2 flat tires and a wicked wreck. We were cruising down a bike trail and there was a bridge over the creek that was covered with moss. One second the bike was under me the next it wasn't. I kissed the pavement and thought I knocked out a tooth but they're all still there don't worry. Elder Largesse was behind me so he ate it as well and landed right on top of me. His bike went over the bridge and swimming in the creek so when we gathered ourselves we had to do a bit of fishing. Pretty cool huh. I was telling some members about it and said the word "crick" they thought that was pretty funny. I got hit by a car too. Not hard or anything he just bumped me a bit. But by heck I kept control of that bike like a champ I tell you what. Didn't even fall over. I watched a guy get hit by a car in Worcester the other day!  He got hit by a bus. It wasn't moving too fast so he was ok and everything but it shot him in the air hardcore. I thought he was a dead fetcher but he got up and walked it off. It was awesome. And yes that is the same Worcester as like Worcestershire sauce. But you say it like Woo(as in wood)-ster-sher. So now you know how to say it properly. It sounds nothing like it's spelled I know, but thats how you say it. I'm teaching one of the member kids how to speak like an American so that's pretty cool too. He's pretty good at it. Oh by the way, I was reading an Ensign from August 05 and there was a story in there by Bart Benson from his mission. It was really good, I liked it alot. I don't know if you ever read it but if not you should. It's a good one.

December 1, 2009

So an update for England. My new companion and I get along really well so that's going really good. He's from Las Vegas. We both hate BYU as well so we'll continue to get along lol. And the best part.... He's a Raiders fan! Sweet huh. He loves the blanket you made me too. He said you are awesome for doing that. He has a girl waiting for him. Get this, she is at BYU-I and she's been there for 2 years and she's not even married! I told him she must be a keeper lol. But ya all is going well here still. We kinda lost a ton of investigators for unknown reasons though. They all kinda quit answering their doors and phones at the same time so we just have to look for new ones now. So that was just a little bit stressful but it's ok we'll find the ones who are prepared right? Oh ya I was going to tell you a funny story about an old lady lol. We stopped her and she told me I was good looking so I would go far in life lol. Crazy huh. At least somebody thinks I'm good looking.... ;)
Hey I hope Thanksgiving was good. Ours was really good I liked it alot. We had dinner out at Brother and Sister Hansen's house with some members from the ward. Brother Hansen is a fellow yank so it was pretty sweet. They made us some really good food I enjoyed it alot. So don't worry we were taken care of Nobody has claimed us for Christmas quite yet but it's coming I'm sure. Thanks for all of the pictures I loved them and they all came in fine so no worries. If you want to look up the Hansen's on facebook his name is Tom Hansen from Hereford I don't think it'll be too tough to find.Our baptism for the 12th fell through because the guy suffers from depression and tries to drink away his problems and he has no desire to quit whatsoever. So there's not too much we can do for him but pray. It's a bit frustrating but it'll be ok. Have you gotten any snow over there? It was frosty today but no snow yet. Just butt-freezing cold. And my under armour was in the wash today so I'm not keeping very warm. We don't have a dryer so we have to hang dry everything. That really sucks alot but it's ok. Christmas is coming really fast. I just realized I need to do some shopping. Fetch. Oh well. I'll get that done. Anyways I better head out now.

November 25, 2009

Hey guys how is everything going? All is well here. I'm staying in Hereford for another round so no worries there. We baptized a guy named Justin last week. I did the actual baptism so that was a really cool experience. I loved it. The work is awesome! And don't worry about thanksgiving we have a big huge dinner planned for tomorrow night at the American's home. I got a new companion as well. I don't know much about him yet other than his name is Elder Largesse and he's a fellow American so he'll appreciate the dinner. One of the members brought us a pumpkin pie last night. I thoroughly enjoyed that I tell you what. It has been raining like mad the last little while. The river flooded over on monday. We had to get bussed out to Worcester for 3 days so we wouldn't drown. Just kidding. The river really did flood but it only got into one of the parks and we live on the only hill in Hereford so we woulda been fine anyway. Just wanted to wind Mom up a little bit.

It's all good here in Hereford, especially since I'm staying here. Elder Israelsen is moving to Boston on the other side of the mission but I'll still be here. I love Hereford. I'll probably be really sad when I do have to leave. My new companion is Elder Largesse. He's American thats about all I know. I haven't even met him yet he should be here in about an hour. The baptism was awesome! Justin is the man. Seriously. He's so solid. He's going to be an awesome member! He'll probably be getting a calling soon as well. So that will be really good.

November 17, 2009

Hey Guys I don't have too much time this week but I just wanted to shoot you a quick email. Everything is going well here. We have transfers next week so we'll have to see how that goes. We still have a baptism on Thursday and he asked me to baptize him. Pretty cool huh. So I'll get to baptize somebody. I'm really excited for it he's a really cool guy and we've been working with him for quite a while now. We also got another guy who accepted a baptismal date for Dec. 12th. I don't know if I'll still be here or not but either way he's a really cool guy and I bet he gets baptized eventually. It has been raining like crazy lately and my bag started leaking and got my scriptures wet so they're all smeared and everything. Could you send my old scriptures to me ASAP. They're still good and they have a nice case and everything but if you could send them soon that would be wonderful.

We had football today, I didn't play because of my hip but it's fun to just go and see everyone you know. I got to tell one of the sisters in my district at the mtc about your call and everything she said to say congratulations to you. And I'm so excited for the baptism! He actually asked me to baptize him so I'm really excited and a little bit nervous but it'll be good. Yes you should probably hold the post until next week. Depending on where I get moved to I might be emailing Wednesday or Thursday either one. Transfers are a bit crazy. Anyways I better get going.

November 10, 2009

Man I'm proud of Garrett tell him that for me. Even if Blake and Brandon would prefer to just hang out with dudes the rest of their lives I'm proud of the Guthmeister. Satan does work really hard it's true. It's sad really. What has been going on? We have one guy set up for baptism on the 19th. Thats a Thursday night so that's kinda weird but he wanted to be baptized soon and the weekend wouldn't work for the ward that week.My package is in Birmingham. I'm not sure why but I have to pay 18 quid to Her Majesty's Revenue in order to get it. That's England's version of customs. Either way it's here so I'm going to pay that and get it forwarded to me. I have some pictures to print then I'll get them sent out to you. And they do have me in them so don't worry. I'll get them on the way soon. Ya I actually gave myself a haircut last night to be honest. It was a professional job I tell you what.

Teaching has been awesome this week. We have the guy who was struggling with tithing getting ready for baptism next week. He's so confident and excited about it too. It's so amazing to watch someone's life change right in front of you I can't even tell you. It's just the coolest thing ever!  In your last letter you asked if riding a bike was hard. It used to be when I first got here lol. But I'm used to it now. I've lost 2 stone so far. And I'm getting good at riding wheelies lol.

November 3, 2009

Hey how is all going back home? Everything is going ok here. It's freakin cold though. The last couple of days I thought my feet were going to fall off. Seriously. We have one guy committed to baptism on the 21st now so that's pretty sweet. We've been teaching him for a month and a half now but he wouldn't ever commit. Now we just have to get him to stick to it. Wales is beautiful I love it. And yes they talk alot different than the English do. You can instantly tell when you're talking to a welshman. They're pretty cool though. A pretty rough crowd when they've been drinking thats for sure. But nice enough when they are sober. I sure as heck don't talk like they do but some of the words they say are pretty funny. One of them heard me say "crick" the other day and they thought that was pretty crazy. Oh well. We changed the time over here last week. Now it gets dark at about 5:15 or 5:30. I've heard that around Christmas it gets dark at like 4:30. My training of the greenie went pretty well. We saw pretty much the most intoxicated man I've ever seen in my life the other day. He was trying to ride a bike and totally turfed it big time. We went and helped him get up and told him he should probably walk the rest of the way home. He agreed and started walking but that lasted all of about 10 yards and he was riding again. It was pretty funny though. He couldn't even walk the bike in a straight line.

November 3, 2009

I actually haven't gotten any post since the letter you sent on your birthday. They're actually having postal strikes in England at the moment so maybe that’s the delay.
We have been attempting to get the issues resolved with our investigators this last week but unfortunately they're not taken care of yet. One guy did agree to work towards baptism on the 21st though so that'd be the Saturday just before transfer week. I think I told you already but that one lady who lost her husband has been coming to church for the past couple of weeks so that is awesome. We gave her a blessing when were out there and she said that was what helped her the most. Priesthood is so amazing you know. It only works by faith, though. Have you ever noticed in the New Testament that every time Christ healed someone he either asks them beforehand if they believe, and then he can heal them, or he says afterword that their faith has made them whole? It is so cool! I love it!
I have one funny story though about my bike. The other day I was looking behind me to find a space in traffic and freakin ran right into a street light lol. I felt like such a tard. I carved up my hand pretty good on that one too cuz I hit the pedestrian button with it. And we street contacted some gay dude who started sending us dodgy txts so I had to call him and rebuke him. It was nasty lol. Then the other day we were tracting and met this guy who said he'd been to Miami and Florida, and he like Miami better lol. I almost told him that Miami was in Florida, but I thought I'd just leave him to it. It was pretty funny though! That's about it for exciting news though.