Elder Findlay Under the Sun: Hot Halloween... Week #12

Hello Everyone... Happy Halloween!

Well, it is beautiful down here in Mesa. This last week was really hot though. It was at least 90 degrees everyday this week. People say it cools down here but I haven't seen any cooling down ha. I've decided it's just a myth or something.

One of our investigators named Alex is doing really well. We have taught him the first three lessons and then some. He loves learning about the gospel and is saying that he has recently been knowing things, not believing them but knowing them. He will get baptized, there is no doubt in my mind:) He is definitely our most progressing investigator right now!

This week was awesome!! On Tuesday we had breakfast at our stake presidents house. President Porters house is sooo nice and massive, just fyi haha. We had some super good waffles and buttermilk syrup, best breakfast that I have had on my mission. Our whole district was there and we talked about things we could do to find more people to teach. It was really cool, I think I forgot to mention this but the AP's Elder Renel and Elder Nuttle are in my district and they are such awesome missionaries. That being said they asked me to give a training on becoming a consecrated missionary during district meeting. It went really well and I learned a lot more about being the best missionary I could possibly be.

Wednesday night was crazy fun! We had a huge ward Halloween party for Salt River. Everyone brought chili and hot dogs and their awesome families of course. It was one of the few times on my mission when I have felt like I was home. We had a few investigators come and it was really great to see the ward welcome them into the family! I'm to the point where I know most everyone and it makes me feel like I can talk to anyone. We played football with a lot of the kids and it got pretty intense haha but we won of course. All of the kids had pretty awesome costumes. It was really nice because it gave us a little break from everything.

I went on exchanges with Elder Harris on Thursday. He came to my area and Elder Grabenstein went with Elder Karren. It was a crazy day haha, because when we were making the exchange Elders Parra and Gull drove us and some crazy lady backed up into our car! We were parked on the side of Elder Karrens apartment and the lady was backing up while she was on her phone and ran into the back of us. I was actually standing by the trunk when she hit us, I saw her coming and I started slapping on her back window hoping she would stop but she didn't. It only really cracked the back bumper and that was it. Not too bad! After lunch our zone had interviews with President Townsend. I was literally the last one on the list to be interviewed. Save the best for last right?! Anyways it was a really good interview.

Saturday was beyond fun! Cherri and Carlos got married at the church!!! We helped set up everything and made sure it was welcoming for everyone because none of their family that came are members. Cherri was the one that wanted it in the church which is awesome because she isn't a member either! Bishop Coombs married them in the chapel and it was one of the happiest times of my mission! I just felt so happy for them and proud of them. They had such good things to say about each other and I can already picture them in white going through the temple someday. There was such diversity in their extended family and it was really cool to see how well we all got along and connected with one another. Everyone just had lots of fun together. A lot of people in the world think that just because someone is a different religion than they are, that they are to be avoided or treated differently. We are all still people we just have different beliefs. After the wedding we got to have dinner with the Dunns again! If you haven't noticed they like sending pictures of me haha. We had create your own burger night and it was bomb. I stuffed my burger with bacon and cheese. We also played laser tag at their house! After we left the Dunns we had a lesson with the Palmers. They have a 9 year old son Jack, who doesn't want to get baptized so we are helping with that. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it is crucial that we understand the importance of Baptism. After the lesson we went to Bahama Bucks which is like Zeppes but surprisingly better! We are spoiled missionaries!!

I hope everyone has the best week this coming week! Find way to serve others and the Lord! You will be blessed. The feelings of giving service to someone is priceless. There is always someone the Lord puts in our path everyday that could use our help, the challenge is to recognize that and act on it!

Love Elder Findlay