Week 12: Happy Independence Day everyone!

Sports haven't really changed at all. But today I'm going shopping at a cool sock store in San Luis Obispo. We are playing ultimate with the rest of our zone. So there should be about 20ish missionaries total.

My companion has been a great help in helping me learn and grow spiritually. He's one of the few missionaries that takes morning workouts seriously. Which is great because I think I've gained 3 or 4 pounds and it aint muscle :(

Service this past week we helped a non-member with MS move furniture around his house in preparation to have the inside of the house painted along with new furniture. 

We had a "hand off" lesson with one of our investigators with the Paso 1st Elders. Her name is Elizabeth. It went great and she wanted to get baptized on the 12th of July. This was awesome to hear because her husband is less-active and has made a huge effort the past two months to attend church. She wants me or my companion to do the confirmation. I've never done one before but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I think it rained like 6 drops the other day but that's about it. It's always sunny and the people in the ward continue to impress me each and everyday. Also I had a chance to go to the Fresno Temple last Wednesday with the Vance's. It was a very small temple but it was still a great experience.

Fresno LDS Temple with Vance's

Week 11: Speeding from Goleta - The work is progressing

We are playing basketball with a less active today and with Jedi. Jedi is planning on serving a mission in the near future. Also I got to meet a member of the seventy in Goleta. Which is just south of Santa Barbra. On the ride back my car and another car were racing. We were constantly at 80-95 mph and same with the other car. Our Mission President found out and the people who were driving can no longer drive for the rest of their mission. We also have a device called "ti-wi" which monitors our driving and tells us when we are speeding, brake too hard, or are driving to aggressively. Us boys will be boys I guess.  

My area reminds me of home so much. Except for the fact that where I live in Washington is 15 degrees cooler. We are constantly finding new people to teach and reaching out to those that are less-active. The Hill family has came to church for about 5 or 6 weeks in a row now. They are less active and are coming back. One of our investigators at church told us that she wanted to get baptized. But she lives outside of our area. We are planning on handing her off this week with the Paso 1st Elders.

My companion is great! He is constantly pushing me to work harder everyday. Whether it be during exercises or scripture studies. He helps me a ton with teaching me new rules and shares incredibly good insights during companionship studies.  He's starting to get the area down more and more everyday.

My testimony has grown so much this weekend. Just with something so simple as prayer. Elizabeth wanted to read the entire BOM before she wanted to get baptized. But we taught her about the power of praying to know of the truthfulness of the BOM. Her husband was a huge supporter in praying and asking God to know if it's true.  She only read to 1 Nephi 25, then she asked us to set up the baptism. We've been praying for her for many weeks. It's been about a month since we taught her a lesson. But we saw her every Sunday at church. Her husband who is less-active bore his testimony 3 weeks ago and brought her to tears. The spirit was definitely present during his testimony and for the rest of the meeting.

For service this past week we picked peaches for good ol Cowboy Larry. We have more service with him lined up this week as well. Also this was the Willardson's last week before they move to Utah. I'm going to miss this awesome family.

Best place for a Jag

Late night smores

With Elder Tufts at Olive Garden

Willardson Family  

Barber Dan & wife treating elders to Olive Garden

Week 10: Go LeBron - More Service

Elder Dusara is loving his mission. Reading his short letters it appears that he is doing lots of service and plays sports with the other elders and ward members.

This was another great week of playing sports on Monday. As well as volleyball on Wednesday. We as a district have way too much fun while playing sports.

My new companion is still adjusting to the area. I'm his navigation system everywhere we go. But he's a really hard worker and he enjoys talking to EVERYONE!

Service this past week we laid down some sod for the Budrows. We basically do it all when it comes to service. 

We had 1 investigator at church this week as well as two less actives. It's great that they are all making it a priority to attend church. The work here is growing more and more every week.

The weather is beautiful out here and I'm loving every single minute of it.

He recently received a package from home and below are some of his comments:

Thank you so much. My flash drive won't work on my DVD player cause that thing is like from when Jesus roamed the earth. We had a bonfire on Saturday with a couple other elders and we stayed up till late having smores and sharing laughs. We probably aren't supposed to do it but oh well. I'm loving my mission.

Overview of some of the ward members he really likes:

There's 4 dentists in my ward and 6 State troopers. I had dinner at the Moore's last night and they have a 4k sq ft house with a pool that looks like its from high school musical 2. They live in a gated community and have 5 kids. the oldest is 14 and the youngest is 4. they live on an acre and a half. they are starting an extension to their house this week to add 400 sq ft. He's like 42 years old and makes really good money working only 4 days a week with having his own practice. He's awesome! He's a killer chef. We had some bomb tacos too. I love this ward!

Week 9: Two month mark in the field - GO CAVS!

Volleyball was a blast this past Wednesday. I'm actually getting better and I think I'm ready to submit some highlights of me to D1 schools. Today is going to be our district's first day of playing basketball. One of the elders in my district has a pair of LeBrons so I'm curious to see if he plays up to the standard.

My new companion is Elder Summers. He's from Bluffdale, Utah. He's very laid back. He's been out about 8 months and him and I both listened to the same rap music before our mission. I'm looking forward to this transfer.

Service this past week we helped and investigator take out a stump. Then we helped the Asplund family move dirt into there backyard to prepare it for new sod. Here's some pictures of us and of their backyard. 

This past week I've been taking Elder Summers around to meet some of our investigators and also stopping by our awesome members. We had 2 investigators at church yesterday and it was probably the best testimony meeting that I've ever been to. We also saw a less active couple at church that we had met about 2 days before. It's great to see little victories that make everything all worth it.

The weather should be in the 90's this week. Hopefully I'll remember to put on sunscreen. All is good in Templeton! I love it here and I love my ward!

Moving sod in Templeton

Week 8: NBA Finals are tonight

My district is planning to have a pretty intense game of basketball this afternoon. I found out that I'm staying in this area. I'm happy to hear that. The members in this ward are amazing. Volleyball on Wednesday was a blast. It's honestly one of the top highlights of my week. We got a flat tire the other day and we have to go in this morning to repair it.

My companion sang a solo at Stake Conference and he killed it. I think the song was called "my brightly beams" or something like that. He's being transferred to Thousand Oaks which I hear is a very wealthy area.

For service, we continued helping Bishop fill in his pool with Elder Dort and Elder Tufts. These Elders are honestly so awesome. We all laugh and have a good time. Elder Dort is being transferred so I'm giving him a LeBron shirt as a going away gift. We also helped an investigator mount his new flat screen to the wall. 

This past week I've been sick and we've had some cancellations, much like last week. But we are continuing to build better relationships with the members and we found out that some of the youth have been talking to their friends about the church.  It was great to hear that the youth were talking to their friends about their beliefs. Little steps into being a full-time missionary. 

It was 85 degrees plus this past week. I'm getting pretty tan and I'm starting to have a really insane watch tan. But I really like it out hear. I hope everyone has a good last week of school. Also happy late birthday to Grandma Nana!