Monday, September 12, 2016

One Month!

Hey!
I'm glad to hear that everything seems like its going good at home!! I'm bummed out that I missed Peach days because that is one of my favorite times of the year but it will be there when I get back! I honestly can't even believe that I have been out for a month now. Only 23 left haha!! They aren't kidding when they say the days are long but the weeks go by fast. We are constantly rushing to and from lessons and dinners and its all crazy but that makes time go by faster! Our area is so blessed! We really live the luxury missionary life. We have all of the necessities that any missionary has. Some of the houses here in our area are soooooooo big. You would not believe how big. We went to this one house that had a 30 car garage. Dad would have loved it haha! They had a bunch of razors and Ferrari's. Serious though so many people here seem to have a lot of money and their houses are like hotels.

We get fed really well here by members. Brother J. is one of our ward mission leaders for salt river and he is seriously the most fun and dedicated person! He is always on top of getting us dinners so yeah we have dinners every night except Mondays. I have had a lot of spaghetti and lasagna which doesn't suprise me, but it's great.  Bishop C.  always buys us this super good pizza so that's probably my favorite. To answer your question mom,  I do have to make lunch and breakfast on my own. For breakfast I usually have bagels and cream cheese with sausage and a banana. For lunch I just buy sandwich stuff like PB&J and turkey and such. I also have ramen and mac and cheese, I know surprising! 

 I think the hardest thing for me here is teaching. I've found out that even though I know a lot, it's still not enough now that I am teaching non members. YES, I wish I would have paid more attention in church and seminary and studied more;). When I don't know the answer to things, it can be frustrating but I try my hardest to answer the best I can and listen to the spirit. So that is definitely something I am working on. I know it will take time, but I have faith that I will get better!

I met an inactive member this week who is 45 and is handicapped. No one is taking care of him and he doesn't have support from his family. He doesn't have many friends, and can't cook for himself because he has seizures. He is moving out of his apartment soon because he says that one of his military buddies is flying him out to China for two years to be healed. When he told us this he had already packed and was just waiting. It didn't seem right so after hearing this we were worried about him. We have been trying to help him and hopefully will sort things out tonight. Missionary work is always interesting!

This week was super big. One of our investigators, Alecia got baptized!! I kind of just walked into it because she had already committed before I came to Mesa but I did get to teach her a lot. She is awesome and was super excited to get baptized. She was baptized by her dad, who is really sweet, and me and Elder G. got to be witnesses. It was a cool experience because she has come such a long way in her life and that really made my week! 

Another one of our investigators Jaclyn, who is so awesome, gets baptized this week! She has a super strong testimony and we get along really well. I am so happy for her :)

 We also had stake conference this week which was great!! Elder Larkin of the seventy came and spoke and he was really inspiring. I noticed that the talks all revolved around families and having family counsels. It helps to have family counsels to discuss the needs of the family. I want to challenge everyone to have regular family counsel meetings to see how everyone is doing:)

So this week I get to go on exchanges with Elder K.  I'm not sure what to think about that but I hope it turns out good. He has a reputation in our zone of being really strict and serious. So hopefully we can work hard and have some fun too!

 Today we woke up and played flag football with a bunch of other elders which was super fun. There are 4 other elders in our zone that we get to do things with a lot and they are really fun and hilarious. We have a great time together doing the work! 

I can say that I am still adjusting here but it's all good! One part of the day I am wishing that I am home, then the other part of the day I love this! Its just a roller coaster but I will get it! I try to love it as best as I can. I've learned that faith will take you through your first few transfers so that's what I'm going off of. I'm trying to put my life in the Lord's hands. And I am beginning to love the people here so much, they are great! 

 I miss Utah and everyone, and sometimes homesickness can get the best of ya but I'm not letting it:) I hope your week goes well and is full of happiness!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!


Love Elder Findlay

I forgot to send this pic from the MTC but it was my last Sunday walk around the temple

Arizona sunsets are amazing!

I was so happy when I saw this sign, O-town baby!

Alecia before she was baptized!!!

Elder Findlay and Elder Grabenstein at the
adult session of stake conference