Thursday, November 30, 2017

The Most Bizarre Week of my Mission! Mesa Week #68

What’s up Mom!

How goes it it Utah? Well I probably had one of the most eventful weeks of my mission this week😂 I saw so many people from my hometown! Running into the Marriotts, Naylors, and Markers was a treat! Yeah it was cool seeing the Marriotts at the temple, they seemed to be doing good. Bayleigh seemed pretty excited about getting out to the mission field. When I ran into the Naylors I was just walking through the Temple lights and I heard someone scream my name, then I was tackle hugged by Jeff😂 It was really good to see him. For those who don’t know he was my young men’s president growing up. THEN we went back to the our place and I was cleaning for our housing inspection the next morning when I heard the doorbell ring. I was like who could that possibly be, and it was Rob Marker😂 I was like no way, I must be dreaming haha, so their whole family came into our living room and we talked for a while. Man all of their kids are WAY bigger than when I left. It’s so weird! As far as how I felt seeing everyone I felt fine, it was different that’s for sure. But it was definitely a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. He gives me those a lot, I try to always be grateful for them😁

So we live with members and the Schnebly’s asked us if we could move a bunch of boxes of books from their front yard to their back yard sometime. There was no way me and Elder Draper could do that ourselves, so we got the whole district together and we did it in an hour or so on Wednesday morning. It was super tiring, those boxes weighed like 40-50 lbs each. I was so dead after it. Sister Schnebly also made us some delicious breakfast so it was a good morning. Our district is pretty tight so there is never a quiet moment😂

Thanksgiving was BOMB as ever. Every year Mesa does the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5k and 10k. It’s a pretty huge deal, a ton of people showed up. We volunteered to help out there in the morning because what better thing to do on Thanksgiving! We were first assigned to direct the parking lot traffic, not my favorite thing haha. But it worked out, people just aren’t good at listening😒 After everyone was parked we helped out at the water stations on the course. I got to show off my lighting fast cup placing skills, preparing the Sacrament prepared me for this very moment in my life😂 There were a handful of missionaries running and every time they ran by we would just throw cups of water on them, and basically just started a huge water fight. We went with Elder Bland and  Elder Crossly which made it that much more fun!

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with the Garners. The service took up most of the morning and early afternoon, so by the time we were done with our studies and getting ready it was time to go to dinner. Brother Garner made a super good fried turkey which was a new experience for me. I’ve never had that before, and I approve. They had a ton of family there. The Garners are such a great family, they are a young family. Anyways Brother Garner lives right next to his Mom’s house and he has 10 siblings, 5 of which still live at his moms. The cool thing about those 5 is that they are special needs and they are ANGELS. One of them is Garrett, he has down syndrome and he can’t speak. So he’s been teaching me some sign language haha, he’s taught me to sign the words crazy and poop😂 It was fun to have Thanksgiving with all of them, whenever I’m around them I always feel the spirit. They all have such pure spirits. You can’t help but feel a piece of heaven when your around them. God loves ALL of his children.  

THE TEMPLE LIGHTS ARE THE GREATEST THING OF MY LIFE OH MY GOODNESS. They are super pretty this year, they have a ton more lights than last year. We don’t work there at all, we just bring investigators or other people to enjoy them. But it’s been such a blessing, we’ve already received a few solid referrals which we desperately needed!! Such a huge missionary tool here in Mesa. The first night they had over 6,000 people there and it was so cool. Since we live so close we walk through the lights every night on our way home, we are the luckiest missionaries to live right across the street from it. Everyday I’m grateful for that. And we have already received 2 referrals from it!

Time flies by here. Everyday I wake up under my covers thinking "wasn't I literally just here?"😂 The weeks are like days to me. This week was great. We stayed busy for the most part. We are working with a young boy named Logan, he is almost 9 and isn’t baptized yet so we are helping him progress towards that. His mom is a convert of just over a year so she is still learning a lot. It’s good though, we are slowly having more and more work. We’ve been working with a less active member who finally came to church this week! He really enjoyed it so that was a huge miracle.

Today for p-day we had another good ball sesh. I invited TJ, the one who me and Elder Karren taught in Las Sendas. He is such a baller and he brought his friend who is super good too. Our team went undefeated😂 It was the first time I saw TJ since I was transferred. He’s gone to church the last 3 weeks, loves the YSA Ward, and is intending on being baptized here pretty soon. Salem(Elder Karren) has been messaging him from home and is planning on coming up this next month. So we will all get together and do something fun. 

I love my mission and I especially love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it’s true and it is definitely the greatest thing you could possibly have. I love you Mom! Your the best!

Love, Elder Findlay

Mesa Temple Lights!!!



The Naylors found me at the temple lights!

Ran into the Marriotts at the Mesa Temple too!
Bayleigh took out her endowments and is going to leave for her mission to Santiago, Chile in a few weeks

The Markers found me too!!!

Thanks for the doughnuts Josh, Melisa, Jett & Amelia!

My district is the bomb!

     The sisters at the visitors center made this   
“I’m a Mormon” thing and for some 
reason I’m the only Elder in it😂 

I found the white version of my car!!


Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Doughnuts for Days! Week #67

Hey Momma!

Happy almost Thanksgiving!! I can’t believe it’s that time of year again.  I am getting ready for the loads of food we will eat this week...yes! We have plans to go to the Garner's house for Thanksgiving. They are the BEST family ever. We will also be going over there for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Plus they feed us like twice a week anyways. They are such a blessing to us. 

I’ve been getting into the holiday spirit lately, I’ve been bringing out the Christmas vibes😂 On Saturday we had the chance to go out to Globe for a baptism of one of the investigators Elder Draper taught when he was there. Elder Jackson also came with us so we were in a trio for the day. Anyways the drive over there is like an hour and a half. We basically sang Christmas music at the top of our lungs the whole time. Then on the ride back we were wiped out and slept. Luckily I drove up so I didn’t have to drive back. It was a fun little road trip. It was super cool as far as the temperature goes up there. Like 10 or 15 degrees cooler. They get snow in December usually so we are planning to go up there again and experience the snow. I miss snow sooo much. Christmas isn’t the same without it😂

I had a cool experience this week. It was on Monday night and the time was around 8:30ish. We were both wiped out and it was kind of a rough day. Anyways I was thinking to myself and then I told Elder Draper that we needed something to cheer us up. So I said we are going to get some donuts😂 We live near a donut shop and so we went there. We get into the shop and I started talking to the lady at the register, turns she had just moved from out of state a few months ago and started working there. Her name was Portia and as I was talking to her I felt prompted to invite her to the temple Christmas lights. She had never heard of them and we talked some more and it turns out she is a member of recent. She said she hadn’t been able to find where her ward meets or when it was. She said she had no idea how to find that out, so she just hadn’t been going. She felt helpless. We figured out where her ward met and connected her with her Bishop and the missionaries there. She was super super happy, she even gave us free donuts😂 Anyways it was a little tender mercy but it had an impact on me. There are people all around us who are searching for the Savior, who don’t know where to find Him. In this experience it was a literal search, but there are lost sheep looking for their shepherd and we are the means of helping them find their way. As we go about our day, look for those lost sheep and reach out to them. It’s an everyday joy we can experience!😁

Also random answer from last email, yes I did get my flu shot. It was in October. So I should hopefully be good for the next year. I did catch a cold the last few days though. The cold weather isn’t helping either😂 Mom!! I’m such a wimp!!! It’s like 70 degrees and I’m FREEZING cold all the time! I’ve been wearing hoodies every chance I get. I guess AZ got the best of me... Anyways I hope my cold goes away soon. A bunch of people have it so it’s going around. I should be fine though, still kicking. 

We had fun mission blessing the other day! We had district meeting this week and had a district lunch after. Well we were feeling expensive so we decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory😅 Yep us poor missionaries. Luckily I don’t spend a ton of money on food, I’m pretty good about saving money. So I could afford it but I’m not sure about the other missionaries. There were 8 of us there. We were just about to order when a guy comes up to me, gives me his credit card and business card and says “I am one of the three Nephites, buy whatever you want and drop my card off at my office when you're done”. And then he just walked away😂😂 I was like what just happened?!, so that’s when I knew without a doubt that we are some of the most spoiled missionaries😅 I am so grateful for all of the wonderful people in Mesa. They are everywhere and they are angels in disguise. As we were driving away I saw this poor homeless dude on the side of the road. I felt really bad because I just ate at a ridiculously expensive restaurant and this guy can barely feed himself. I got a slice of strawberry cheesecake to go and let me tell ya, I wanted it sooo bad, but I would’ve felt terrible if I didn’t give it to him. So I gave it to him, he was really grateful and I felt the love of Christ and I know he did too. Again there are so many little opportunities for us to help people feel the love of Christ, especially this holiday season. 

We had a good ball sesh today right before our music practice for the Christmas lights. Over half the mission was there watching us ball. I got a sick alley oop dunk that I wish I would’ve got on film...it’s okay I have a lot of witnesses😂 Anyways I love mission ball, it’s the best. But I love my mission more. I am so happy to be here in Mesa serving the Lord.  I wouldn’t change it for the world. I feel the spirit so often and there is no better thing. I love the Gospel and I know it’s true. I want to share it with everyone.  I love you so much Momma!! You are the best. Thanks for being the best. Have a great week!


Love, Elder Findlay

My awesome district

He's out! ;)

Here's a short clip of my and my boy Elder Thompson. This dunk isn't clean but the one I didn't get on video was legendary!  haha
Mission ball is the best


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings Week #66

Hey Mom!

Man I have a lot to talk about this week, we'll sort of. It seems like we do a ton and then when it's time to recap in your weekly letter you kind of forget what you did throughout the week a little bit haha. I would be lost without my journal! I'm happy to say that we are finding more success day by day. It's slower but it is success. I've really seen Heavenly Father's hand in my life this week. There have been a lot of learning experiences that I've been able to have and grow from. Basically we've trying really hard to contact all of our investigators in our area book. There are still a handful of people that I haven't been able to meet but this week I was able to meet with more. 

I've been really trying to figure out what is going to work best in this area. I talked to President about it and said that our focus in this area especially should be on part member families and so that's what we are beginning to do. So far there are a couple families that we are working with. The Sanchez Family and Torres family. Super good families that just need some spiritual help and I'm really excited to help them. Plus their kids are soooo funny, man I love Hispanics! They are the kindest people. I went on exchanges with Elder Orse a few days ago and there was a huge fiesta going in an apartment complex. We were walking through and they all just invited us in haha. They didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish but we had a good time! I managed to communicate just a little bit though thanks to jr high Spanish, which I was terrible at by the way, and also with the Lord's help of course. They even fed us😂 I got this nice looking fish head and it wasn't bad actually...I just couldn't look at the face while eating😂 good stuff 

Since we live right by the temple sometimes before we go in for the night we sit on the benches on the temple grounds and message people. There is just a really special feeling there. Anyways they are putting up all of the Christmas lights and decorations! It's looking super good, man I cannot wait for Christmas. Still my favorite holiday by far. It's going to be such a great missionary tool especially because I'm literally right next to it so we will most likely receive a lot of referrals. We are super lucky to have the Visitors center in our mission because it brings in soooooo many referrals. Blessings on blessings on blessings. Plus we've been handing out Christmas light cards like candy and people love it. Another reason why I love my mission!😂

So I've been trying really hard to meet each member of the bishopric in each ward and I was finally able to do that this week......but then they re-organized the bishopric in Pioneer ward😐So I guess I will get to do it again, lucky me! 

Yes I would like to receive Hailey's and Greyson's emails haha, if it's not too much of a hassle. They are both crack ups so I'm good with that. And lucky for me I get regular food, mostly. Poor Greyson (a friend serving in Guatemala that has had several bad cases of food poisoning), my stomach is weak and so I'm glad I'm serving in America. Actually where I'm at right now all the local people call it Mesaco😂 I'm trying to learn as much Spanish as I can...

So school is the big question for me right now. (He needs to register for fall semester soon).  I'm torn between Utah state and BYU Idaho right now. I'm not sure where I want to go. Most of my friends from home are going to Utah state as well as a bunch of friends from my mission. I also kind of want to stay in Utah but I don't know. BUT I also feel like BYU I would be a great place for me....what do you think? But ultimately I know it's up to me. I will definitely need the Lords help with this one.

Well it's been an awesome week. Sorry nothing too exciting to report but, hopefully next week there will be more excitement! I love reading your emails and seeing everything at home go well! Have a good week Momma! Love you!

Our new district

Cool graffiti wall

Pueblo Zone

My fish head dinner.
 See mom, I'm not such a picky eater anymore!

Elder Orse and I with Roberto the fish dude

The kids are the BEST! :)

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Happy Mesa Week #65

HEY MOM!
Happy Monday!! I am currently enjoying myself on my p-day. We are just playing some ball at the church with a bunch of other Elders. I needed it this week. Lots has happened in the area and it's been all good things! Elder Draper has a bad back and he hurt it on Monday playing ball so we get a car for the rest of the transfer. It's sad that he got hurt but hey I'll take a car again😂 Everyone in our district is super jealous of us haha. Good stuff. We did get to go to the temple on
Halloween night which was sweet. It was a lot of fun. We were able to do a session and some initiatory work. It was fun because I was with Elder Eaton the whole time. He goes home in January😭 We talked about all the good times we had as companions. I'm gonna miss that guy.

I'm definitely getting the hang of things here and it's been a huge blessing. I love this area soooo much. This is the first time in months where I've been fairly busy and have plenty of people to visit! I love it so much. We are teaching a few people right now. Britain is one of our investigators. She has been meeting with missionaries for a long while. She's definitely converted to the gospel but is just waiting for some marriage paper work to go through so she can be baptized. She's awesome. We are also teaching a handful of
less-actives. It's been really good. Most of the work in this area is with less-actives and recent converts.

This week was really motivating for me in many ways. The first being that I was sick AGAIN. I was actually sick Monday and Tuesday, then on Wednesday I was fine. Sadly earlier today I felt really sick again but now I'm better. It's weird, anyways it's made me want to get out and work hard while I'm healthy haha. Another reason why I was motivated
was zone Conference this week. It was super awesome. The focus was really on conversion by the spirit. Everyone was asked to come prepared to give a five minute talk on conversion and then President would pick 4 missionaries to share with everyone. Of course I was one of the four😂 I had it coming, I accidentally made eye contact with
President Townsend before the meeting started....I was like ohhhhh nooooo😂. It was good, but I still do not enjoy speaking in front of people. Anyways I just really felt the spirit a lot and it reminded me of how exciting my time as a missionary is and how I should be enjoying every minute as much as I can. It's made a big difference and it's been exciting! I've grown a lot this week with all my different
experiences😂

One cool experience that I had happened last night. We were driving home from a visit and we saw a bunch of police lights and stuff on this one street. So we stopped and got out and like a ton of people were outside. There was a huge house fire and so everyone was waiting around. Given that 3/4 of them were Hispanic, I was prompted to talk to this family on the side. They were super friendly and we ended up having a good 30 min conversation with them about Christ.  They didn't end up wanting to meet with us but they were really surprised about us and what we believed. They did accept an invitation to the temple Christmas lights though!😁

So the  IPhone we found in the river has some issues and
doesn't work like at all. Sadly there isn't a way to find the owner. Speaking of smartphones our mission is getting them at the end of the month! Its crazy. I'm not sure how I feel about it all.  I also don't know how they are going to do it
with the missionaries who have tablets. I think they are just going to give out a bunch of loaner smartphones for the missionaries who already bought their tablets. That's just my guess, we'll see how it goes. It's exciting because the church is also coming out with a referral system for members on the lds tools app where members can refer anyone at anytime. We as missionaries will have smartphones with data on them which means we can receive the referrals instantly to our
Areabook app and they want us to contact them within the next 15 minutes. It's so cool! The church does such a good job at using technology. I love it! Totally the hand of God in all of this.

Hearing how happy you are makes me super happy too! I know the reason behind our happiness is because we
have the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. To me it just makes sense to live the Gospel always, there is no other way to live that will bring you this much happiness in your life.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support back home. I love you so much and hope you have an awesome week!

Love, Elder Findlay
This blue bench is rad

I updated my facebook profile pic

This grocery cart is right by our house so I
decided to try it out...ha!

mom note: This was texted to me from someone in Mesa. They said they love Elder Findlay and that he is an amazing missionary.  Warms a momma's heart :)



Love, Elder Findlay

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Mesa Week #64

Hey Mom!

I had a great time this week in my new area! I'm slowly getting the hang of things and getting to know the neighborhood.  It is super different from my last few areas. The people are a lot more humble and willing to hear the gospel. The wards that I serve in are so different. They are both about half the size of my last wards. There are TONS of less-actives here and that is most of our work. We are teaching a few investigators on the side but we've had a hard time contacting them. This area is good for finding but a good portion of the people we find are kinda flakey. But I really do love it. The missionaries in our district are fun! Sister Kenny is in my district, she goes home in a transfer. She's the one from Pleasant View. One thing that I love about this area is that 80% of the people are Hispanic and they are soooo kind. Every morning when I'm biking I wave at everyone out walking. Most of them are Hispanic and they have the friendliest hellos! It makes me want to smile more😊

My new companion, Elder Draper is hilarious. He's from a small town in Wyoming. I love being his companion. He has a lot of back problems and stuff so it's kind of difficult to get around quickly but we make it work. We get along really well and just laugh all of the time. We are going to do big things here! We live right across from the temple, so we can even see it from our front window. Every day I get to bike past the beautiful House of the Lord and be reminded of my promises with God. Speaking of the temple, tomorrow is Halloween and we have the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple all night long! The whole mission is going and it's going to be a special experience. I love being a missionary!

On Saturday we participated in the Salt River cleanup project again like last year. It was a lot of fun. I got to see all of my mission homies again. It was a super good turnout. Me and Elder Draper were out for like 5 minutes and we found in the river an iPhone 6 and $60 in a waterproof case😂 We definitely found a jackpot. There were some other people that found GoPro's and stuff like that. Plus we cleaned 7 miles of river and had thousands of pounds of trash cleaned up. I Love Service! 

There is a family here that absolutely loves us haha, they spoil us so much. They are the Garner Family and they are a younger couple with two kids. They basically feed us every night and they make us lunch on Sundays! Since I've been in this area we've had 3 different Halloween parties and it's been fun! I've actually met a ton of people in the ward already because of the many parties. Elder Bland (my MTC comp) served in this area and he tells me all about it, and we are back in the same zone which is a miracle😂 I really really like my Zone, but like 3/4 of them are Spanish missionaries so it's different. This morning we played k-ball (basically ultimate frisbee using a volleyball, and you play on a basketball court and try to score on the hoops) and there were a ton of people there. We made like 3 teams and we dominated. Elder Gull is also in my zone, remember him? He was Elder Parra's companion. I love that guy. Anyways there is this new Elder in the mission who is super tall and he was going up for a dunk and I came out of no where and stuffed him so hard! Everyone went crazy and started freaking out😂 Man if I would have gotten that on video. That's one I'm going to re-watch in heaven😂

I'm glad Grandpa's funeral was a success. I wish I could have been there but I'm sure it was special. It looks like the Nielsen family members are doing good! I did get all of the pictures and the song. Super cool, your right about the song being perfect for Grandpa. It definitely suits him well. Yes it is a bummer that I got transferred out of the Truitt's Ward, but I can still have Thanksgiving dinner with them. We don't have a dinner set up for thanksgiving. I'm like 3 miles away still and so I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem getting a ride there😂 I also got your package! It is the bomb! I love the tie and man those pretzels are amazing, where did you buy those? You know how I like snacky stuff. I know Christmas is coming up again, I don't know of anything else I need. I definitely don't need any random stuff, I have too much😂 One thing that would be nice are more blue slacks. Mine are turning white. The sun just takes out the color in my slacks. But that's the only thing I can think of. I'll let you know if I think of anything else. Your the best Mom, I love you so much😊

I think that's about it for this week! I'm happy that I'm serving my God in this wonderful work. I love you Mom! You are AMAZING. Have a good week! 

Love, Elder Findlay






My new room


This is the Browns..They owned the home that I lived in last transfer.  It was sad to leave them, they have taken great care of me.

Me and Elder Draper and the iphone we found in the river.

I like this little brick nook by my bed. It's good for shoe displays...haha!

My desk and closet


Our view of the temple from the front window of our house :)
I got your package! Thanks MOM!!! :):):)