Monday, November 7, 2016

Flat Iron Week 13

Heyo!

I know 3 months, that's crazy! It flies by, let me tell ya. I love reading your letters, I look forward to them soooo much. You always say the best things and it really helps me out.  

(He's answering mom questions next...) 
So I actually haven't attempted to wash my pants yet, I haven't had time haha hopefully I can do it this week! My ankle is doing better as long as I wear my brace, it is a life saver! So for Thanksgiving I think I am going to Bishop Vennards house, he has like a huge turkey fest with a ton of people. But who knows, plans always change here in Mesa! So our investigators in Salt River ward are doing awesome, we don't have too many investigators in Alta Mesa but we are working on that. 

This last week was a blast! Of course it was Halloween, so we went to the Tahliani's house with the usual group of elders. Sister Tahliani bought Barro's Pizza, which is the best pizza ever, and we watched The Other Side of Heaven in their crazy cool theater room. It was the most relaxed I have felt in a long time. It was so nice to get a few hours of relax time. Before I left on my mission I thought P-day was sort of that relaxing day but holy cow I was wrong. P-day is my most stressful day of the week. There is a whole list of things I have to get done in time and its crazy haha. Anyways it was a really fun night, and I got to enjoy lots and lots of candy. 

This week was really different than weeks in the past because I went on exchanges twice. I found out that I love going on exchanges because it allows me to experience new things! On Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with my district leader Elder Karren. I went into his area and we had a really awesome time. I learned a ton from him.  He is a very obedient missionary and he knows how to work hard! I don't know how he does it but he showed so much care for me and how my mission has been. I got a lot of pointers from him that helped me realize my purpose a little better. On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Taylor, he is my zone leader. He has been out for about a year and a half and is such a nice dude. I have had a little trouble always finding joy in the work and he brought to my attention how to find joy in the work and how to love the people we find/teach. We had some great member visits and finding opportunities. We were about to retire for the night when we were walking by alta mesa park and we saw a kid playing basketball. We went up to him and I started talking to him about basketball and stuff. Of course we got along really well because of that. I went on to tell him about what we as missionaries teach and he really enjoyed it. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. We also set up a lesson with him, then we ended by playing some basketball. Couldn't have asked for a better time! The Lord sometimes reaches people through our interests and talents when it comes to missionary work.

On Thursday I was back with Elder Grabenstein, we went and worked at Brain Food that morning and had a lot of fun with that as usual. Since a bunch of us elders were together at Brain Food we decided to have lunch together so we went to elder Hanks and Blands apartment. It was pretty fun. I pretty much just live off of corn dogs for food haha! Anyways I had gotten a flat on my bike earlier that week and so I finally got that fixed. She rides brand new again! We got to have dinner with the Egberts and they are great! They are a very young family in our Salt River ward. Brother Egbert served in the Tempe mission so we could relate quite a bit. He had some cool stories from his mission as well as some scary ones. He gave us really good advice for our mission. Oh and I forgot about this, the whole day it was pouring and we were on bikes.....you could imagine how that went. Haha, no I really enjoyed being on a bike in the rain, it was super cool outside and plus I finally got to use my rain jacket which was a life saver by the way! Everything that happened on Thursday was in the rain:) Anyways we visited this sister Dalyna. She is an investigator of ours and young adult and lives with a bunch of her friends and so I felt that we should visit her so we did. She was actually there so we got an appointment set up!! It was a really good day!!

On Friday we helped brother Mulks move his mom into her new apartment. Then they made us a delicious breakfast that was really good! We just did a lot of moving this weekend. Saturday morning we also helped 3 families move. So in case you are wondering I am getting shredded😂

On Saturday night we were supposed to have a lesson with an investigator Saundra and her son, but she ended up cancelling. We had like a whole bonfire set up so we just enjoyed it with Bro Brinkerhoff. He has a flame thrower so we used that, definitely a first for me! We also went to the Giles house, she is my grandma away from home. She gives me cookies and milk whenever we stop by. Her daughter lives in Huntsville and so we have some things in common. She knows the McKay boys, like Tanner who graduated with me. 

This morning we went and hiked Flat Iron.  If you look it up you will know why it is called that. Anyways it took us about 4 hours to do it, and it was very hard, but totally worth it! Brother Brinkerhoff took us and it was so much fun, it reminded me of home and all of the hikes that we did as a family. It is so steep when you are on your way up. It was a leg killer, especially on the way back down. Our legs were jello and I felt like I forgot how to walk! From the top you can see everything, Mesa, Apache Junction, Gilbert, Tempe, Phoenix. It is the coolest view you will ever see. When I get home we will have to hike it because I know you would love it! Here are some pretty good pictures, but in a lot of them I wasn't ready when Brinkerhoff took the picture, so sorry haha! 

Anyways, I hope you all have a fantastic week!  Stay strong and be happy!
Love, Elder Findlay
You are so beautiful to me, can't you see...


My pancake omelet sandwich!
 Probably the best thing I've made here

flame throwing

P-day hike up Flat Iron

me and my g-pa Elder Knudsen

We went to the tip top


A picture sent from the Davis family :)