"I'm leaving on a jet plane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

THE VISA IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and off the wall with so many emotions right now it is super hard to describe but I just love life, it is honestly just awesome! So we are taking P-day again on Wednesday cause of transfers and that is why this is getting to you late but I only got the call about my visa yesterday and I could barely sleep last night! I ship out to Brasil on Monday and I am pretty much already packed. I will be sending home another pack of just random stuff like letters and shirts I am not gonna take so be expecting that. I am just so excited!!! I got the call about it last night and when Sister Young told me I honestly had this emotional split because I have loved serving here in Oregon so much, it has been a blast and I have met some truly amazing people. Till Monday though I am back in a tri-pod with Elder Tillack again! He was the VW going to Russia that I was with for a week back in Albany and we are all having a blast together. I am going to miss him, Elder Fristrup, and Hoopes a ton, but I really am just so excited. PRAYERS REALLY DO GET ANSWERED!!! I don't know my exact flight time and stuff yet but you will be getting a phone call from me when I am in the airport and then I dunno when you will hear from me next cause I don't know when my P-day is down there! So mom I really liked what you had to say in your e-mail and I totally agree with you that now I can focus on the language and the culture (loud people, parties, and soccer, sounds tough :p) But I am sure my first e-mail from Brasil will be interesting!

The work here in Medford is also chuggin along too. We spend the majority of our time teaching which is my favorite. It is weird that I am going to be saying goodbyes this week cause I feel like I just got here... cause I did haha. But once again, it is crazy how fast I can fall in love with an area... I just love people I can't help it. We just had some really solid lessons this week and it was awesome... Ah I just love serving a mission. It is such a completely different experience then I could of had any other time in my life. My ankle is feeling better too. I still wear the brace all the time but I can now run at least.

Ryley... e-mail me!! You are doing all these amazing things right now and I am only hearing from them from the parents and I wanna hear your side a things! I am stoked you are looking into USU. It really is such a great place Ry. They are so student focused and there are so many opportunities to try new things and meet new people. I really think you would love it up there. You would love anywhere you go though cause you are just that type of person. When you go to the open house at South Towne it is run by the Ambassadors so you will see a lot of the friends I made last year so just tell them I said hi and stuff :). Parents, sounds like you two are just as wonderful as ever and I love that. I would like to see some pics of Heber though... did you see the pics I sent last week? I hope you are all doing well and you are all excited for Halloween! Trent, be sure to dress up as something that will really embarrass Mom. I love you all so so so much and next time you hear from me I will be on my way to...... BRASIL!!!! Stay fly...

 

Elder Big (anxious) Deal

 

Wolf Shirts Rule........

Okay so first off the temple is amazing. That is exactly what I needed and I had missed going to the temple so much so this morning was so awesome. The Medford temple is pretty small but it doesn't matter, every temple is beautiful and when else in my life would I have gone to the Medford temple?! It was awesome cause I was just able to relax for a little bit and really pray about something that had been on my mind. I loved it! Ah so rad!! Today is also really stinkin amazing cause........ My visa is now one step away from being done!!! It did a huge jump the past week and I am like stressing cause I could be gone really quickly!! Ahhhh I am so stoked! Maybe I needed to go to the temple one last time or something I dunno :)

So that has pretty much made my day amazing and then on top off all of that, I bought this amazing wolf/ indian shirt at Goodwill today that is amazing!! Indians are just so wise.... Oh and Elder Hoopes is right next to me and we are laughing pretty hard because we both read about the mothers contacting each other at like the same time! He is a stud. I am also really pumped for Aaron, he will do work down there!

This week was fantastic! We got a ton of work done and our area is really catching on fire. We have 3-4 really siiiiiick investigators who have baptism dates for the near future and I just love seeing the Spirit working in the lives of other people. It is such a real thing it blows me away everytime I see/feel it. I love teaching lessons, it is such a blast. Cause it is just a conversation about the Gospel and it is so cool to see people have real, honest questions. We had zone conference this week which was another spiritual uplift. I love talking with Sister Young, she just makes me laugh and she tells me all about Landon and how he is doing it is pretty dope. 

It got pretty cold here this week, it really started to feel like Fall and I don't have anything wintery really so I had to go get a nice sweater... Yay. But I love seeing all the Halloween decorations and now when I knock on doors I say, " Hi, we are the missionaries from the LDS church and we were just knocking on your door to make sure it is trick-or-treat ready.... Do want to hear about the restored church?!" I don't really say it yet... but I have to try it at least once.

   

But that is pretty much just my weekly update.... I will give you my address here but it might be changing soon but it is 824 Summit Ave Apt 4 Medford Oregon 97501. I am going to try and send some pictures via e-mail today as well. I love you all so much and this Church really is so awesome, prayers really do get answered, I promise you that. I love hearing the scriptures from Mom and Dad both but I will be pretty bold, it is something I am working on, I wanna hear from the rest of the fam too! I miss you goons I hope you know that :( Love you all so much!!!!

 

 

 Elder Big (Brasilian) Deal

The rain begins.........

Well before I forget I won't be e-mailing you guys until Wednesday next week cause we are going to the temple here in Medford which will be a cool thing to do. I miss the temple and I am excited to go in there and just think. I have a lot of things that have been weighing on my mind lately. One being the visa. I checked the status of it last week cause it was just frustrating me and I checked it this week and once again no progress was made. My expected date of arrival was September 29th but that sure worked out. I dunno.. I am just really bugged by the whole situation and I don't even like talking about it anymore.

Conference was pretty sweet though we got to watch all the sessions and we hung out at members house with Elder Hoopes and his comp so it was a really good time. I loved priesthood session, except the talk about serving wherever you are called haha. But my favorite talk this time around would have to be President Eyring's in the Sunday morning session. You could literally just see him getting hit with waves of the Spirit and it was so powerful. I loved what he talked about too, how he will always fulfill his duties. So awesome. It was nice to kinda take a break for awhile and kick back and listen to those inspired talks. I needed a little spiritual boost. I also loved all the call outs on Ipod games and knew for a fact the brothers were playing AngryBirds, Tiny Wings, or Words with Friends. The members we were watching it with totally were playing those games too. Best memories ever. Mom, we actually got cinnamon rolls on Sunday which I was super pumped on. It still feels like I was just at USU driving down to Priesthood in the April conference. Time is flying by it is creepy.

Mom to answer all your questions we spend most of our days teaching LAs and finding investigators. I love knocking on doors and just talking to random people. It is my favorite thing cause I force myself to think up creative new ways to talk to people and then bring up the Gospel. I have gotten yelled at quite a bit here though... Old ladies have it out for me. I guess I just don't have the Trent charm haha. We usually have dinners with members every night which is good cause I love sharing dinner messages. To be honest I just love teaching, it is a blast cause I have to really understand what I am talking about and it makes me really study the scriptures. I am doing really well food wise I have eaten everything I have been given and have found out there are some things I really like. I figured the food in Brasil, if I get there, will be crazy so I might as well eat whatever I am served here. Don't worry I still get my T-Bell fill, and McDonalds is doing Monopoly right now so we go there quite a bit too. I get up at six most days so I can have more time to work out and play hacky sack before studies but I have been lacking in both areas since I hurt my ankle. I have a brace now and I am doing better but if I don't wear the brace I limp quite a bit. Oops.

We have some great investigators to be honest with you. I love how sincerly interested people are in this Gospel and then people recognizing that it is true, and will help them become happier, is amazing. We set a date last night with this awesome lady named Darla and her daughter is pretty interested too. I love telling the story of the First Vision. It is so powerful and so true. The spirit it brings is so real I feel it EVERY time I say it. It is like an addiction to me to say it now hahaha. I am such a nerd.

I have been having a ton of fun too. Elder Hoopes is pretty much my hero. My comp is pretty cool too. We have recently gotten into spider fights and I taught the district how to recgonize Black Widow webs and now we have been seeing um everywhere. I am having plenty of fun so don't worry :) That is pretty much it on my end.

That is horrible news about USU losing to a fake school, and Ry, I am super sorry about the loss to Alta. Just remember you are still an amazing player and if you are putting the effort into winning that you need to, your team will be blessed for it. How is that for missionary? Hahahaha :p Sounds like a lot went down last week, I hope the Sheldons are doing okay. Tell them I miss them! Keep being my wonderful, happy, positive family I know you all are and I hope everything you guys are involved in is going well. I love you all very much and we taught a lesson about families and I brought out our family picture and almost started crying. You guys are overrated. :p Stay fly.

 

Elder Big Deal

Humility.....

What up fam?! So as you can probably tell I learned a pretty good lesson this week and I also learned about things to pray for and things not to pray for. I started my Friday by praying for chances to be humble.... and I failed. That night we were at a member's house and they have a daughter who is a cheerleader and we were talking about gymnastics so of course I mentioned I could do a standing backflip, ego move #1. Her dad then said I needed to prove it to them so we went out into the back yard and it was like 8:30 so pretty dark out and I have done one in the dark so that is my excuse as to why what happened, happened, ego move #2. I then proceeded to do the backflip and I landed it but when I landed I kinda pushed my ankle foward a little bit and I heard a pop. I thought to myself, "great I probably just did something pretty stupid, ego move #3. Then they told me to do it again cause they didn't know I had possibly hurt myself and of course being the person I am.... did it again, ego move #4.

Turns out I didn't do anything too bad to it but I have a limp when I walk and I have to keep it wrapped up which isn't too bad. But the thing that makes the story so great is right before I did it, the mother of the household said, "Elder you better not hurt yourself on my lawn!" So when I bore my testimony in church yesterday everyone could notice my limp up to the podium and I then proceeded to bear testimony on the importance of humility and how we should all be like Ammon and realize every talent we have is a God-given gift and should not be taken lightly. I learned there is a major difference between confidence and cockiness. Ha. I am doing fine though and the bright light of all of this is that in the MTC whenever an Elder would hurt his ankle it meant he was leaving for Brasil soon so.... I am pretty CONFIDENT it will be soon.

Medford is going pretty swell. Sorry I don't have an address for you yet mom but we might be changing places so I don't want to give you one and then have that be the wrong place. I am 100% sure that I am just getting sent all over the place.... Crazy times. We are teaching some really great people and I love how the work is the same no matter where I serve. I can't remember if I told you about my district leader Elder Hoopes, he is legit the coolest kid alive and lives maybe 5 minutes from our house. He lives over by Falcon Park, how crazy is that?! But he went to HillCrest (no good) and is a little older then me, but we get along super well. He is a stud. I will try to send some pictures soon but I haven't really gotten many cool ones but I will do what I can. 

One cool thing that happened this week on the spiritual side of things is I shared the story of the first vision for my first time cause I only had it memorized in Portuguese but I have heard it enough in English that I memorized it as well. I love teaching about that, the spirit that comes into the room is so powerful and overwhelming I love it. I can't wait to try it in Portuguese though. Two of the ward members here went to Brasil on their missions and they speak Portuguese with me when they see me and I love it. They say I have it down pretty well, but it will still be a whole different thing when I hear native speakers cause of all the slang they use. I can't wait to try that out!!

Sounds like home life is not settling down, I swear you guys are just all over the place. Ry, hows the simulation going? I am stoked for your games this week and know that I will keep you in my prayers. Maybe I'll tell you something in Portuguese so that you can play like a Brasillian :p Do work though! Dad thank you so much for your last e-mail, totally blew me away I loved it and mom I have decided you should just hike the whole country now... I mean you might as well! Hahaha Well I love you all so much and I love the lessons I am learning out here on my mission, no matter how ridiculous they make me look. This Church is so true I know it and I know that you know it as well. Have another awesome Guzy week!!

 

Elder Big (Humble? I don't think this works but whatever) Deal

 

P.S. I had a dinner with a family that reminded me so much of ours. We quoted movies and talked about Halo the entire time we were eating!! Perfect :)

"What up from Medford?"

Yeah I totally got emergency transfered last Friday so I am now serving in the Sourthern half of the state down in Medford, it is pretty sick here and I am already getting along with my new comp Elder Sadler. Mom here is the list of all my comps in order: Derek Peterson, Don Gabel, Devin Fristrup,  Jerry Thompson, Greg Tillack, and now Jacob Sadler. He is cool he is from Illinois and has been out about 8 months his comp hurt his back and got sent to the office so that is way I am down here. Sorry this letter is going to be so short but I dont have a library card yet so I only have 20 mins. Sounds like life at home is going sweet. The BYU Utah game is hilarious, Aggies are better anyways. And I am gonna say it... i just wanna be in Brasil. I just wanna finally really get settled somewhere instead of always thinking I could be leaving soon. I love it here in Oregon but I just wanna be there. It will be totally different cause I won't have to deal with all the temptations of American culture and stuff but whateves, I am here so I might as well work. That is about it tho sorry, Love you all!

Elder Big Deal

 

Alright so I have a little bit more time so I will just write about how I ended up in Medford. I got moved down here on Friday and President called me and asked about my visa and about how much time I think I have left here and I said... "a lot" with how things are looking on the check up site... so he sent me down here! i legit had about 1 (?) to pack which was fine cause I have never really gotten unpacked completely cause I could be leaving at anytime so that was fine. Then I drove down here with a senior couple and got here at about 9. Met my new comp and went to our place. It was a mess! So I just started cleaning, we vaccumed, cleaned the bathroom, did dishes, and all that good stuff. I swear Mom has been trying to prepare me for this or something haha. But I like it here, It is actually really pretty and it hasn't been too hot, which is a bummer cause I want it to be as hot as possible in prep for Brasil. But I am about 11 miles away from Ashland which is like hippie town USA and it is the one place in the mission I really wanna serve like so so so bad. It sounds legit so we will probably visit it on some P-day I hope. I still feel a little lost and out of the loop by I know once I spend about a week here I will know the area a little bit better. I do miss Albany a lot tho. It is so funny how I could become so attached after 7 weeks. So I know in my last e-mail I said I really wanna be in Brasil which is true, but I know I will really miss Oregon when I go.

Elder Big Deal

That is no good about the Alta Brighton game... Alta really is so overrated haha. The district leader down here is from Hillcrest and we know a lot of the same people so we get along pretty well. I don't really know what else to talk about..... I have gotten 3 wedding announcments in like the past week and it just makes me laugh... Crazy people. Well that about wraps it up... I hope that clears things up a little bit and I am sure next week's letter will be better! Stay fly.


Elder Big Deal

 

"I am 20.......That is gross"

In no way am I mature enough to be this old hahaha. But whatever, I am over it! Besides the awesome package I received from Mom and a few birthday letters that was about the extent of my b day which is fine, I have bigger things to worry about! But I loved the package mom thank you so much for it and it is already getting put to great use! 


Ryley... I quit. You are just to awesome. Really I could not ask for a better little sister in the entire world. The amount of respect I have for you is crazy. The same with the whole family as well, but you guys didn't score a winning goal this week so ha! :p
   
This week was crazy.... Ended up not only getting one comp but two... So I will start from Monday after e-mailing, my new comp Elder Thompson came down from where he was serving and the 3 of us, being Guzy, Fristrup, and Thompson had a great time together until Fristrup had to leave on Wednesday to Eugene which is sad cause he was awesome. So now it is Wednesday and Thursday and I have taken over the area so I am trying to remember all the house we have people in and how to get there cause we don't have a gps any more and I actually did alright. But come Friday morning at like 9 we get a call from President Young saying we are getting a brand new missionary from Canada who is visa waiting to go to Ukraine and that he would be there at 4! So we had to go get the Hobbit Hole all prepped and things and it turns out he is awesome. His name is Elder Tillack and he is already an awesome missionary and we love visa talking. But language study everyday is hilarious cause we just yell at Elder Thompson in our languages and pretty much just play a game of charades all day! So wild. 


Visa wise.... Looks like things might take a little longer then expected but it is still a toss up. At least now I can check it twice a week which is pretty nice. But I will work no matter where I am so... That is the plan haha. I love the people here so much though already it is crazy, I told them that when they made me talk yesterday on my birthday!!! All three of us had to speak and we found out only like 5 minutes before, but I guess it went pretty well. The wards are just awesome here. Our investigator Matt was there and he really enjoyed it which is sweet! Speaking of which... Mom if people have been friend requesting me on FB just add them cause more than likely it is investigators or teachers from the MTC. That is honestly about it though... I dunno what else to talk about except for how Dad's email had me laughing pretty hard. I miss the Danger jokes around the dinner table haha. Well I love you all so so much and thank you for all the birthday wishes! I hope you all have an awesome week and get alot of work done :) 

Elder Big (happy) Deal

"High and Lows"

Fam.... What up?!
    
Talk about a crazy week this week we had some sick stuff go down and then two things bad go down.. I will start with the bad news though... First off my comp is getting transferred to Eugene and I am getting a new comp today. We really were getting along so well and were getting work done and now they are taking him away from me and I have to take over the area... I don't think I am ready for that haha. But I guess my new comp is pretty sick and he comes in at 4 today so I am excited about that. Who knows, I might only be here for a week and then they would have to send someone else out here as well and start all over again. 


And then the other bad news really sucks.... Ugh... my side bag, which EVERYONE calls a purse, got stolen yesterday IN church. I honestly set it down in the exact same spot I always do right next to my comp's and we went to the library and when we came back it was gone.. I thought it was a joke at first but we can't find it anywhere. The reason why it really sucks though is cause the camera was in there so now all the pics are gone and everything... Ugh I am praying it was just an accident but we will see. I had some sick pictures for you guys this week too :(
    
Good news time! We got a baptism yesterday! It was awesome and a very good thing for two of our investigators who were able to come. His name is John and he is about 18 years old but I swear he has a bigger testimony then I do... He bore his testimony in church yesterday, before his baptism, and just said some amazing things. But I didn't get pictures of it cause of the bad news... UGH!!!!!!!!!!! Our investigator Matt was there and he totally felt the Spirit and was just stoked on it. We committed him and his wife to church next Sunday and I feel they will really start to come about. John actually came and bore his testimony to him after the baptism and it was a pretty neat thing to see. Haven't heard anything on the visa side of things since last week but I am really excited all of a sudden :) I love the OEM but I am so stoked for Brazil.. We played soccer today and I was just in heaven! I am also constantly thinking in Portuguese again cause I really need to get on top of it again if I am going to be leaving soon.
    
Speaking of soccer.... sounds like Ryley is dominating and I love hearing that. You really are such a champ Ry... one day when I get home from Brazil I will almost be as good as you hahaha. Sounds like the whole family is kinda settling back into normal lifestyle now which is probably a good thing! Heber sounds like a great time too but I will admit it is weird hearing about it cause I was only there... twice? Still is some foreign (spelled that right on my first try... yesh!) place to me! That is pretty much it though, the work is going well and I enjoy being here and the people here as well. I love how I get to feel the Spirit so much too, it is something I had really taken for granted and now I just love it. I love you all so so so so so much and I hope everything is going well for you. I pray for you every night!!!

   
Elder Big (stoked) Deal

P.S. We did service for this less active guy in our ward and we were moving wood from one house to the next and we didn't have gloves on... Saw two black widows and some house spiders bigger then any I have ever seen and it was after we had pretty much moved the whole pile. I went and asked for gloves after that.