Turnin 20 in Mesa- Week #98

Hey Momma!

( I asked him if he likes summer, since he's had so much of it the last 2 years) Yes I still love Summer! I've basically had 2 years of summer so I kind of have to enjoy it😂 (Before his mission he had pretty tough seasonal allergies, so I asked if he has struggled with them in Mesa) You know my first 3 months in Mesa was HORRIBLE for my allergies, probably the worst I've ever had. But since then I haven't had any problems with it. It's been nice actually, a big blessing. I feel like it will come back when I get home though...haha. We'll see. But my eyes are doing great, my daily contacts are AWESOME and I haven't had any problems since I've been wearing them. 

Yep, there is only 1 week left of this transfer. It flew by...again. This next one will fly by too. I talked to President and he said me and Elder Matthews will stay together in our area next transfer so I'm glad about that. Elder Matthews is motivated to work so we do well together. Elder Fiti goes home in a week so we are going to party it up one last week. Then when I get home we are going to hang out a lot. We are excited for that!

As far as plans for my birthday on Saturday, we are all going to cheesecake factory so that should be fun. Other than that not much, just a normal day as a missionary, except I will no longer be a teenager.  

We had a good week full of missionary work. Lots of lessons with members. We've actually gotten a few good referrals so it's been pretty successful. We've been pretty busy so time has flown by. 

Sunday night we had a fun little get together at our bishops house and we played a ton of games with a bunch of the ward. We also had some great desserts so it was fun. The ward is awesome because we do a lot of fun activities, which provides us lots of opportunities to invite people. 

I know it's short but that's about all I have to say. And sorry I don't have any pictures this week :( 

 I love the work and the people here. I love you too! Have a great week! 

Happy 20th Birthday Elder Findlay!!!

Happy Fathers Day Week #97

 Hey Mom! 

We didn't have anything too big happen this week as far as finding more people to teach. But we've been meeting with the members to try to get to know them better. We are also practice teaching them some of the missionary lessons in hopes that we can find someone new to teach! It's been really good, we are getting super tight with everyone in our YSA wards and they will do anything for us😂

Amanda got her temple recommend! That was a huge miracle, we are hopefully going to go to the temple this week! Round 3! Another amazing blessing, the temple is awesome. Go as often as you can! 

There are only a couple of more weeks before a lot of missionaries go home so we are trying to get a good time in! Elder Fiti goes home, Elder Thompson, Elder Brigham, etc. A lot of my closest friends. My last transfer is going to be a lot different but that's okay! It will be super fun! 

Today we got to watch the new Beauty and the Beast movie for p-day and I almost cried😂 I got so deep into it. That could be my new favorite movie! We'll, maybe that's just cause I haven't seen any movies in forever, so everything seems good to me😂

I'm really enjoying my last few weeks in Mesa. It's been really nice, I love so many things about this place. I'm glad I've been able to serve with so many great people! I love the Lord and His work! Have a good week!

My district 

I thought this was cool:)
I love my Grandma Nielsen!

Mesa Sunsets :):)

Check out this TRUCK!

It's June! Week #96

Heyo Mom!

We had a super busy week, the good kind of busy. I did get the Hydro Flask and it is AMAZING! I think it's the first time in forever that I've had cold water all of the time haha, thanks for sending that. 

There were a few highlights for this week! On Friday we went to the Gilbert temple with Marqus to do Baptisms. It was a party haha, the rest of the crew (his friends) came with us too and so we all carpooled down. Gilbert is super nice, a lot nicer than Mesa lol. It's cool though, I love Mesa. Anyways Marqus finally got to baptize all of his friends at the temple and they all had a really good experience. Afterwards we went to Costa Vida together to celebrate.

On Saturday we went to Gilbert again but this time with Summer and her some of her friends. Elder Thompson and Jones also came with their convert because she is good friends with Summer. We all did baptisms and it was really special. Summer really enjoyed it, and felt the spirit strongly in the temple.  They also had a member of the temple presidency talk to Summer and Marqus because it was their first time in the temple. They said some really great things, but I think my biggest take away from it was that temple work is among the most important work of the Lord. I'm excited to go to the temple more often when I get home and be a better part of this work when I'm not a full time missionary. 

Well I think that's about it for the week! I love where I'm serving right now! I hope you have a good week Momma! Love you!

Love Elder Findlay

Marqus's temple day

Summer's temple day

Missionaries!

Lunch at Costa Vida

Elder Finday and Elder Matthews
at a member's home for dinner.

Summer's Summer Baptism! Week #95

Hey Momma!

Hi, I'm doing great! I did get my contacts FINALLY...Sister Garner always comes in clutch, just like you :) They are daily contact lenses and I got 90 lenses per eye, that will last me about 3 months which is good. They feel super comfortable in my eyes, I don't feel dryness or pain which is awesome.  Sister Garner is always a huge help to me, she's amazing. The people in Mesa have been so good to me.

Summer got baptized and it was SO AWESOME! I've never been to a cooler baptismal service. We taught Summer a lot this week to prepare her. She has been waiting a long time. A ton of her family came to support her and we had a full house, so we had to do it in the chapel. We had a huge planned for Summers baptism. we had her cousin Skype in and give a talk on the Holy Ghost.  He is serving a mission in Guatemala so it was special. It was a cry fest for sure, everyone was crying. Summer asked me, Mathews, Fiti, and Burningham to do a musical number for her so we put that together. Elder Mathews is a musical wizard and wrote a piano piece for our musical number. We sang the song "Baptism" and it wasn't bad! We had a ton of compliments and Summer loved it haha. Doing it was definitely out of my comfort zone but it was okay :) She was baptized by her uncle and it was a sweet experience. I love seeing closely knit friend groups and families help each other receive the Gospel and get baptized, that's the real way to do missionary work. 

Sunday was super special too! Marcus was ordained a priest and received the priesthood! Super cool, we and the crew(Marqus and his friends) are going to the Gilbert temple this week to do baptisms! He's way excited, we are too😂 Oh and we are also going to the temple with Summer this week too! Man miracles everywhere!

Random fact, I think I killed 6 scorpions in our apartment this week. They LOVE the heat...haven't been stung by one thank goodness!

Other than that, we had zone conference this week and it was good. It's always a revamp for missionary hype so it was great. 
 Elder Fiti gave his departing testimony so that was pretty cool as well. 

One thing that I've been focusing on this week is the Atonement of Christ and what that means me. To me it means that I have second chances for my mistakes. It means that I can change and become better than I was yesterday. It means that the Savior understands me and my life perfectly. He knows how to help me and I can do all things through him. That's why I love the Gospel.

I love you Momma! Your an inspiration to me, have an amazing week:)

Zone conferences this week...Benson Zone!

Summer's baptism day

Elder Burningham and I at Costco getting
 my contacts with the Garner kids

Some time spent with Summer
 this week prior to her baptism.