Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Finished up the MTC and off to MESA! Week 3

Elder Findlay left the MTC today and flew to Mesa.  He was able to call home from the airport and talk to us for quite a while.  He loved his time at the MTC and made many great friends and learned a ton!  He is ready to be a missionary in Mesa and was excited to get on his way.  We heard of his safe arrival from his mission president and they sent us a picture...
Elder Findlay with President and Sister Townsend

We are excited to hear from him on his P-day which we are guessing is Monday?  Stay tuned... :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

MTC week #2

HEY!!!:) 
I miss you all a lot and I still love it here! I did get the Dear Elder letter and that really made my day! idk how it works but its pretty cool, lots of people get them everyday. Its funny because we go and check the mail everyday during lunch and dinner and everyone looks forward to that! I also got the package! Thanks so much! I was running low on food/candy so when I got it I was soooo happy! 

Yeah, I didn't want you guys to worry about me but I guess the word got out about my ankle haha! So I was playing ball on the 3rd day that I was here and I just went up for a rebound and came down on someones foot. I felt something pop and a really uncomfortable feeling in my ankle. And as I was walking over to the the physical trainers office it started swelling up really bad, it was nasty! I have pictures of it but idk if you want to see them, maybe I will send them just in case you do;)  I was really lucky because I didn't tear any ligaments or anything like that. When I landed on his foot I dislocated my ankle but it popped back into place. Its weird now because my ankle joints are really loose but I can walk on it and stuff. The doctor said that I should have broken it but luckily I didn't, and I know that the Lord was looking out for me. I was cleared to play ball again a couple of days ago, after I had been doing super boring stretches and stuff.  I have an ankle brace for it and so I am ready for more ball haha! I will be careful mom:) its still pretty sore but not too bad! 

And I think its crazy that me and Elder Bland have connections!! He's a funny guy and we get along super well! There are a lot of cool, fun people here.

Sunday was just amazing, the whole Nashville Tribute Band came for the devotional and we got to sing with them. Yeah WE got to sing with THEM!!! It was so cool! Oh and I am doing the MTC choir which I absolutely love because I feel the spirit so much! Pretty much everyone is in the choir, if you are surprised that I'm participating! There are 1700 of us!! I have loved singing with so many missionaries.  The spirit is so strong and it makes me feel so excited to be a missionary and share the gospel with the people in Mesa. 

Everyone says that the third week in the MTC is when you get the most homesick. I mean sometimes I feel it but for some reason this place feels like home. I am happy :) 

I got my flight plans and stuff today.  I leave the MTC at 3:50 am Tuesday morning and my flight leaves at 8:30 or something. As far as I know we are allowed to call home so hopefully I will talk to you that morning! :)

Yep I love it here still! Teaching is hard but it's coming along slowly. We are learning to teach the people, not just memorize lessons.  Sometimes I get so worried about sticking to the lessons but when I prepare and pray about what I need to teach, if I have to change the subject, the spirit fills my mouth just like it said in my patriarchal blessing.  I was struggling a little with confidence in my teaching but you reminded me to read my blessing and when I read that I would teach with confidence and that if I open my mouth the Lord will fill it, I was feeling a lot better. It was an answer to my prayers so thanks for that!:) We got a new investigator this week name Ny. She is from Madagascar and idk why but me and Elder Bland are the only companionship that gets investigators that can hardly speak English!! ahhhhh!! It's stressful but we do our best. I'm pretty sure she has only said like four words because she is the quietest person I've met! 

Also just in case you were wondering I'm practically a pro at laundry!! haha not really but I can do it! Time here flies and its super crazy, I feel like I have been here for months but it really has only been 2 weeks! It's super weird. I absolutely can't wait to get to Mesa next week! I mean I love it here but I'm ready to get on my way! Half of my friends here left yesterday to their missions so that was pretty cool! They were such studs and I will miss them, but we have each other's emails so that's sweet! 

Funny thing, there is a really bad cold going around just in our building! like everyone has it. I'm just getting over it which is good but like everyone has it... 

I miss you all a lot and think about you all the time. I hope you guys are doing awesome! Give everyone hugs and kisses for me! Love you!
Elder Findlay
Squad pic

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only normal person...haha!

Elder Beeston...he left this morning

Lots of people have their mission shirts so I ordered one!
Yeah it's sick, I know! ;)

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

First P-day letter from the MTC! Week 1

Hi Mom!!!
 So it turns out my p-day's are on Tuesdays!! Mom I can't tell you how much I've learned here and how many friends I've made! I absolutely love it here and am having so much fun! Its actually kind of funny because I see Elder Hogge and Elder Reed at least 4 times a day haha! I have also seen Elder Boyle and a few other kids from Fremont. My district is literally the best district at the MTC! I love them so much and we are already best friends! My companion Elder Bland is from Arkansas and he's pretty cool. He is super quiet but can really teach with the spirit and we get along really well. Its weird because he loves basketball just as much as I do so we talk about that a lot. So half of our district is going to Atlanta Georgia and the other half is going to Mesa! Its kind of a bummer because I'm super good friends with the Atlantians and its going to be hard to go our separate ways!! Sister Drasbec, Sister Smith, Elder Slaugh, Elder Hobbs, and Elder Bland are going to Mesa. Sister Busath, Sister Bjazevich, Elder Ashcraft(also our district leader, super hilarious kid haha), Elder Johnson, Elder Holmes, and Elder Stephens are going to Atlanta. Our room is me, elder bland, elder ashcraft, elder johnson, elder holmes, and elder stephens. We seriously have the most fun out of anyone in our building!!! 

So our first Sunday was really cool and spiritual. Our District presidency is AMAZING!! Brother Shumway is the second counselor and he gave one of the most powerful talks I have ever heard. It was super spiritual and touching because a bunch of the elders that had been here for their MTC  time were leaving so everyone was crying. I have loved the older missionaries that have been here since  we got here. Elder Dininger was like my best friend and he is super hilarious! He is Asian and he left for Colorado yesterday which was hard. Sorry I've kind of given up on punctuation because its to time consuming haha. 

We got to walk around the temple on sunday which was nice because we really hadnt been out of the mtc since we were dropped off haha! This morning we got to go do endowments and that was awesome because its not everyday you get to listen to the prayer circle praying for the missionaries when you are one!! It was beautiful and really cool! And I did get the doughnuts!! Thanks a lot!! i actually didn't get them until thursday because we didn't know about the mail thing on wednesday haha! Everyone loved me for it!

It sounds like everything is going good at home!! I really miss you guys and home a lot and sometimes its hard. Well the mission is definitely one of the hardest things ive done for sure but i loooooovvvveee it! Its weird because sometimes I get super down on myself because i dont feel something, i dont understand something, or can't teach something right away. It really makes the day a lot harder and makes me not want to be here BUT then i remember my purpose, my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. There are other times when i'm bouncing off the walls because i'm so excited about being a missionary! its weird but i try to make my days more excitig! We study at least eight or nine hours a day, its exhausting and can get really boring sometimes. But it's ok.  I still haven't perfected studying but i'm learning;) 

Yesterday was my first TRC which is teaching our first real investigators! We taught Sam Herrera and he was really cool and really accepted what we had to say. Emi our other investigator is from Tokyo, doesn't believe in a god or Jesus Christ, and hardly speaks any english haha!!! She was really tough but we got her to understand a little bit more about who we are and what we are all about. She is seriously the sweetest person and i already love her so much!!! We teach her again tomorrow so we will see how that goes!!

oh yeah and i have played some ball, we have exercise time almost every day for an hour and so that's what i do. Me and Elder Thompson, the one from Oklahoma:), get along really well and we got to play ball together.  We dominated! just kidding. The food here is actually not bad,  but sometimes though the lines take forever and that stinks haha!

It was hard getting used to this place but now it almost feels like home! I really do love it here and I really miss you guys a lot. I love you guys!! I hope you have a good week!!

love Elder Findlay:)

I am trying to figure out how to send pictures but i can't find out how!! So I'm going to get some help later today to send them:)

MOM NOTE: We found out that Cameron's companion is from a ward in Arkansas and is friends with one of our old friends from Reno, Esther Dick (who also lives in Arkansas now).  She was able to send us his companions first letter to his family so we could get a different perspective.  Sounds like they are doing great! Except he mentioned that Cameron dislocated his ankle playing basketball and it's all purple and black.  Hmmm...Cameron neglected to tell us that in HIS letter.  Must not want us to worry.  So please pray for him that he will recover quickly and that it wont be a burden to him as a missionary. Ugh that kid!!!

He was able to figure out how to send a bunch of happy pictures...Enjoy!


Mom and Dad I got my first day doughnuts!

Elder Holmes got a burrito!  HAHA!!!


Trying to study ;)

My master bedroom.  I'm the cleanest...

My tag and Kaitlyn's tag :)

My awesome district

Elder Bland and I at the temple

Companion study

My closet

Elder Ashcroft and Elder Stephens on day one

First day...Khaki pants

Yep it's official! got my name tag

And this is me from today, happy and smiling!
 It honestly gets better and better everyday!

Friday, August 12, 2016

He's off to the MTC!  Here are a few pictures of the day and his quick email 10 minutes after we said our goodbyes....

Long time no see! We have five minutes to email our families and tell them that we are here. I am doing good. My escort was Elder Wilde and he was pretty cool, he took me to my room and stuff. My companion is Elder Bland, i havent met him yet but he seems like a cool guy. I met two other Elders in my district, i cant remember their names but they are hilarious guys! i really like them and we are already getting along really well. I also received my tags, i got a magnet one and then also one that slides into my suit pocket. I already miss you guys but im doing great. Don't worry about me I'm already liking this. Tell everyone I love them and i'm having fun!! well time is about up to i have to go, love you!!!!

Elder Findlay

Cameron loves O-town and will miss it!






Well it looks like Cameron is going to still
 be taller than his dad in a couple years.

ALWAYS messing around..always. 


We'll see who's taller in two years!
See you in two Elder Findlay!