Monday, November 28, 2016

Mesa Adventures Week #16

Hola!!! 
Merry Merry Christmas!!! I'm super happy Christmas season is coming up. Definitely the most wonderful time of the year!  How was Thanksgiving?  How were the orange rolls?😍 Well this week was my first week with Elder Eaton. I can't tell you how good he is at being a missionary. We get along really well.  Super glad I have a new companion. He knows how to work and my new missionary schedule is twice as packed as it was before! It's super awesome but I have never been more tired on my mission before. He has been out since January which is awesome, he is pretty darn strict though. It's a great thing but you need to squeeze fun in there somewhere so I am working on that😏 


Tuesday was beyond crazy. Since I was getting transferred I packed up all of my stuff and Brother Jarvis helped us move to our new apartments. My new apartment is literally right across the street from Backyard Taco which is soooo awesome! Apparently our apartment is one of the nicest apartments in the whole mission. We have our own kitchen and a super nice bathroom! I love this apartment so much. We live under an orthodontist office. Kinda weird but I'm not complaining? Brother Jarvis has probably been the most caring person towards me since I have been on my mission. He took me in and treated me like a son. I will never forget that man! We helped Elder Renel move into my old apartment and such. Elder Green was with him and Elder Green went home on Wednesday. All the way back to Australia. He was super awesome. I met with Elder Lee and Elder Higham before transfers so they could give me a quick run down of the area. Compared to my last area the teaching pool is very small. We are definitely going to be doing a lot of finding. Once me and Elder Eaton got together we got a ride from my bishop, Bishop Coombs, to the Gilbert Temple. That was such a heart warming experience for me. After teaching Sister Hess for 3 months and then seeing her finally go through the temple was amazing. She was honestly the most excited and ready person to go through the temple that I have ever seen. There were over 100 people going through with her! And sheesh the Gilbert Temple is huge! The celestial room was like 3 or 4 times as big as the Mesa Temple celestial room. Anyways it was really awesome! Absolutely loved it! Plus there is no better way to get to know your new companion then going to the temple! We got some pictures with Sister Hess which I see that you got somehow haha, those were all of the missionaries that she has had. Except Elder Eaton and Elder G's new compy. Gilbert is way nicer than Mesa so we thought we'd stop for some dinner at IN-N-Out Burger! Soooooo good. Haven't had that in forever!


Well one thanksgiving down, one to go haha. Had an awesome experience. Since it is a holiday most people are with their families and that means we aren't allowed to tract. There really isn't much you can do except Plan and visit members if they have invited you over. Since me and Elder Eaton are new to the area we had no idea what was going on for Thanksgiving. Until the Booths called and told us we were eating with them. I felt like family there, they took us in just like that and it was awesome! By far the best meal that I have had on my mission! They had every sort of thanksgiving food, except orange rolls haha! But Sister Booth asked what my favorite thing to eat on Thanksgiving was and I told her ORANGE ROLLS!! She laughed and said that they have it for Easter instead but she is going to make me some so I am beyond pumped for that! We had pie after everything and there were 9 different pies. So much to choose some but I went with the usual, chocolate cream pie😝 That night our zone did a little get together at one of the church buildings and we just chilled there. Me and Elder Knudsen played a little one on one. It was fun ha, I beat him of course;) idk if I told you but he is my zone leader, I love him to death. He is the only one that I know in my zone besides Elder Eaton. Ahhhhhhhh good day today indeed😏


We have an investigator named Carol and she just turned 60 today. She is on date to be baptized December 16 and her quit date from smoking was today. She has been trying to quit for a while now but she is really determined this time. She usually calls us 4-5 times a day to see how we are doing or just asking for advice. We told her to call us every time she had a desire or temptation to smoke, so she did that and made it through the day clean! Super awesome, she is the funniest and sweetest lady! She doesn't have any teeth but her smile is the biggest one out there! We have also met two guys in their 30's who are inactive. They both served missions in Rawlings North Carolina and were companions. They are not at all interested in the church anymore. I don't understand why or how someone could devote all of their energy and life for 2 years serving with all their heart and then fall away from the church. That's all I hear down here. I'm not even kidding at least half of the less actives in our wards are returned missionaries. It really just makes me sad and want to help them. Its like they know it's true but just don't show it. Anyways we got to meet Bishop Allen and he took us to Barro's pizza for dinner and it was bomb. He is an awesome guy and his kids love basketball and skiing so we get along really well. 


So we had our first Sunday here in the Mesa 30th and 60th ward. Both super awesome wards. Its funny because one of our ward meets at the church building on brown and I am not kidding, it is identical to our old church building in Reno. It really made me feel at home haha, it was really great! It poured all night while we were on our bikes and it got super windy even some trees blew over. We were soaked and freezing! It got down to like 50 degrees so it was chilly!!! Anyways all is well down in Arizona. Big changes are happening and that's really what missionary work is. I love this gospel. Especially during Christmas season because it is really a time to remember Jesus Christ and serve others. There is a new Christmas initiative on Mormon.org called light the world. You guys should watch it together for family home evening or something. Its light the world in 25 ways over 25 days. There is an advent calendar that goes along with it and each day has a different way to serve others in simple ways. You guys should do it throughout this Christmas season! It would be really awesome and I know the Lord will bless you for it! Man I love you guys to the moon and back, pray for you all the time, and wish you could be here with me! I hope you have an amazing week and tell everyone back home I love them! :)
Love, Elder Findlay
I miss my zone :'(

We just had to get a picture with Brother B and he insisted on wearing his wife's jacket haha

Best temple day ever!

My pad...




This is one of the Root kids and he is awesome


Thanksgiving Day