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8/12/2021- Getting my Latino on

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Me n Elder McKeachnie got fired up this week, with each day being filled to the brim with something or the other to do (not just tracting). We started off the week with our first District Council meeting in Spanish, which helped me realize how much I have to learn before I'm even gringo good. Afterwards we headed over to our shift at Centro Hispano, where we taught English and got tamales from one of our students (that wrecked my stomach for the rest of the week). Wednesday we also taught an English class, but this time it was to Vietnamese people. Luckily they love us and we love them, so even though we can hardly communicate with each other we have a lot of fun/snacks. Thursday we had an amazing lesson with Jovanny, who is dating a member, and his brother Joshua. They have had little religious experience in their lives up until Jovanny met his girlfriend, and when she talked to them about it they were very interested. We met with the three of them and our ward mission leader, whe
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8/2/2020 Fixxing the Stinky Toe

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It has been like 2 months since my last email, and no, I haven't been shot, kidnapped or fatally wounded from my stinky toe; I have been ballin. June 15 was also my last day in the hood. The Saturday before, we recieved calls for where we would end up. My companion Elder Gunter was told he would be transferred to a whole new area and zone to become a district leader/social media specialist/ad manager. On top of all that, he was also put on bike to start off the Summer, showing just how hard of a worker our Mission President knows he is, When they got to me, I was told that I would also be leaving the area with Gunter as my new District Leader, and that after just getting out of training, I too would be training a new missionary. And so, the day after, I packed up everything I could fit in my suitcases and a bedsheet, threw it all in the car, and drove it to my new area. I have now been with Elder McKeachnie for like 7 weeks in both a Spanish and English area, and you can bet we sti
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6/3/2020-First Time dunking

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  Standing at 5'11 and weighing more than I'm willing to say, I never thought that I would ever be able to dunk a basketball. And I still can't.   I was, however, able to baptize old Ally pally on the 22nd, and it was a crazy experience. Every day leading up to the baptism, something else went wrong for him, but he continued to push on to take the first step back to Eternal happiness. Now he's chilling in Mexico to get new teeth, while me and Elder Gunter are teaching his Spanish speaking wife so she can get baptized when he gets back. Aside from that, Elder Gunter and I have continued to walk the streets of Vegas, talking to everyone we see and don't see. Then, at the end of the day, I take my shoe and sock off and soak my toe in hot saltwater because I didn't know how ingrown toenails worked and need to get it cut out this Thursday. But until then, I'll do what they did back in the day and tough it out. I've also found out that since the start of my mi
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5/17/2020- Preachin and Ballin

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  A lot has happened in these past two weeks, but one of the craziest things has been that I've become a baller. Every p-day, while other missionaries are resting up and playing their go fish and exploding kittens, me and the dawgs have been ballin it up on the courts of the church gym. I've been going so hard I almost made a basket in the last game. While my ballin skills still need a bit of improvement, my comp and I have been going hard on the streets finding people to teach. This last week we found 14 people, wayyy above what we were thinking we would get at the beginning of the week. Al is also about to get baptized this next Saturday, which he's been committed to doing even after he had six people show up to his door asking why he wanted to become a member. If I haven't mentioned this before, Al has a landlord who is a member, and while he is a pretty cool guy to talk with, he is an absolutely ruthless businessman. And so, everyone in Al's apartment complex, i
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5/4/2020- Soggy and Poggy

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  As I see weather reports for the South of killer snowstorms and freezing temperatures, I have a greater feeling that all of the heat was sucked out of there and chucked at Vegas instead. This last week has been in the 90s, 100s or so windy I can't tell what the temperature is. Regardless, we've been staying on the grind, hitting the streets lathered in sunscreen with an extra water bottle in hand.  Our efforts have continued to pay off, as we've continued to find more and more people every week. Our buddy Al, who we've been teaching since the first week, decided he wanted to get baptized, and his wife Astella is to join him in his commitment very soon. He even asked if I would baptize him since I'm from Idaho and I "know how to lift up a sack of potatoes like him". Prowling the streets of the "Historical" side of Vegas always brings its share of stories. This last Saturday, I went on transfers with a brain of a man named Elder Faulkner, and we
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4/26/2020- Livin the Grind

  I have survived yet another week out here in Vegas. Not that I'm worried about getting shot (which is still a risk) but rather I'm worried I'll die from the workouts I'm hitting every morning. Last week, me and my companion Elder Gunter found out our District Leader Elder Eugieren lives a block away, and he has a literal gym in his apartment. So we've been heading over there every morning to work out, and through that I've come to realize why Eugieren is in such good shape. Even as I write, I am unable to do a single pushup from the tricep workout we did. Aside from getting absolutely shredded, I've been out on the streets almost all day every day. We've been having lessons with an older couple that are super cool. The husband, Al, is always cracking jokes and has lots of questions about the church that we always seem to have the answers for. His wife, Astella, speaks almost entirely Spanish, but says that even during English sacrament meetings she can
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4/12/2020- Preachin in da hood

  Two weeks and a half in and I've already got a hefty portfolio of stories. From getting ran out of an apartment by a naked security guard to watching someone get jumped right next to me, things really do get wild when you preachin in da hood. Since last week, I've walked the streets long enough for my pants to somehow rub off through my loins and turn my legs blue. I've found out that the area I'm in is a gold mine for finding people, so that's what I've been doing. There are a lot of great people we meet, offering water bottles and giving warnings of our safety as it gets darker outside. However, there's also been a good share of people that aren't too happy to see us.  The previously mentioned security guard was the first. We had a run in with him a couple of weeks ago, where he just told us we couldn't walk around the apartment complex. Then just last week, we were talking with the landlord of the buildings who was a member of the church, tellin
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