Come What May and Love It! Last week in Mesa #105

Hi Mom!

This is my last email as a missionary :/ Kind of a weird thought I know. I feel like this has been my whole life haha, it will be different not being in Mesa anymore. 

The reoccurring subject that I noticed in our 3 wards on Sunday was CHANGE. How change is uncomfortable, scary, intimidating, etc. It's not something that we necessarily enjoy, BUT it is something that helps us learn and grow. It's scary making the change back to regular life because all I know is how to be a missionary right now😂. When we view change, we need to have the outcome in mind. Understand that Heavenly Father knows what is best for YOU and YOUR life. As we trust him, he will make the best outcome for us. "COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT". I know that God will always make change a positive experience for us as we trust in Him and live our best. 

Answers to your questions: 

1. So we are going to the mission home tonight for dinner with our mission President and then I don't know what they are going to do after that haha

2. I've said most of my goodbyes already:( 

3. Yep my stuff fits! (in his suitcases)

4. I'm handling everything okay, I'm sad but that's how it is with any goodbye

5. Is there anything you can do for me? Hmmm, not really Haha! You've done it all😁😁

 I have really enjoyed serving here. I have a hard time putting into words how I feel about this place and the people especially. They all mean so much to me and have impacted me in every way possible. You know, they say that the people you meet on your mission will become friends for the eternities and I definitely believe that. Especially in this last area, being in YSA I've made so many close friends. I'm basically leaving a piece of my heart here. I will miss them soooooo much. 

I love you Momma! Thanks for supporting me for a good two years. Can't wait to see ya! Bye!

Love, Elder Findlay

a few final goodbyes.....

Garner Family

My comp from last summer, Elder Nuttal
came to visit me on my last p-day

Last Week...Ruh Roh...Week #104

Hey!

Ha I was reading my first email that I sent out when I got to Mesa and I was like "I can't believe I've already been out a whole week!!". Haha now I only have one left :( oh well, it has to end sometime right? It's been a roller coaster of mixed emotions as my leave date has been getting closer.  It's been weird, I just feel like I'm always going to be here😂 I forgot about my former life! 

 

So this last week was a huge miracle week. Remember that referral we received last week from a member? Yeah well we've met with her 3 times now and she is way prepared. She is seriously probably the most prepared person that I've taught in my mission. 

Her name is Paul, and in our first lesson with her she told us how much she knows about the church. She said she's been going to church for the last 8 months, she reads the Book of Mormon everyday, SHE HAS HER OWN PREACH MY GOSPEL THAT SHE STUDIES to help prepare her for her mission that she is planning on serving, and she wants to be baptized super bad. She is so awesome! Her family doesn't support her too much in her desire to become a member of the church so that's hard for her, but she is moving forward anyway. She is going to be baptized on August 25th and it's going to be LEGIT. 

Sunday was a cool experience, especially since it was my last fast Sunday as a missionary :/ I was able to share my testimony in my wards. Paul came to the YSA for the first time. She even got up to bear her testimony!! SHE ISN'T EVEN A MEMBER YET. Her testimony was so pure and strong I'm pretty sure everyone was crying their eyes out. She basically announced her baptism over the pulpit, it was super cool. That was probably the most special sacrament meeting that I've been in on my mission. 

Ever since I've been teaching Pauly, Heavenly Father has reminded me that he sends people to Mesa SPECIFICALLY so that they can receive the Gospel. The people here are prepared, all we have to do is find them and help them receive it.

This is why I love missionary work. Being a part of someone's conversion to the Gospel is an amazing experience. It blesses you with an undeniable witness of Gods love for his children. That's the most special feeling in the world folks. If you haven't felt that in a while, you need to remember what that feels like and do all that you can to feel it again. I love the Gospel! It's AMAZING. It's real, don't ever second guess that. 

I love you Momma! I love emailing you but I'm glad that I won't have to anymore lol :) have a good week! See you soon!

Love Elder Findlay

P-day crafts with a member.
 They made leather scripture cases.
The members have been so kind and
generous to Elder Findlay

This is Pauly and her friends :)

YSA District.
Best place to be in my opinion!

My homie Uncle Drew...Can't see the
movie so this will have to do for now ;)

Major haboobs this week in Mesa...

This was during the day! Crazy weather

Byes...Week #103

Hey!!!

 YEP! it's been blazing hot here, and we've also been having some gnarly monsoons. It's pretty fun, I love/hate the summer here. Hate, because it's unbelievably hot and love, because the monsoons are SICK. They are pretty fun to be in for some reason...probably because it's the only change in weather that we get. 9 months out of the year it's just straight sun...its rare to even see a cloud...its nice to see clouds again😂

We are meeting with a guy named Jacob, he is super cool. We've been teaching him over Skype and it's been really great actually. He comes to church and stuff, it's just hard to meet with him during the week. So we do Skype lessons. And on Friday we put him on date for the 11th! Super sweet. Hopefully that works out, it would be cool to end with a baptism :) he's been preparing for a long time for this and he didn't even know it. 

We received some super solid referrals this week! One girl texted us and said that she wants to get baptized asap, so we have a lesson with her tomorrow! YSA is THE BEST.

So this week was Annie's farewell :( All of our homies are leaving on missions and to school. It's been sad haha. She is going to be a REALLY good missionary in Ohio. We all went over to her house Sunday night and talked about the hilarious moments we've had together since we started teaching Summer😂 They are literally the funniest group of people I've been around in Mesa😂 Anyways we had to say our last goodbyes and that was it! See ya in 1&1/2 years!! 

We also met with Marqus this week. He's doing just swimmingly. He has a calling, goes to the temple often, and he's got a super solid girlfriend😂 He's safe. Anyways we talked about Patriarchal blessings and how they are a road map to our lives. We should read our blessings, I think, DAILY. It helps us keep a vision in our minds of the person that Heavenly Father sees us becoming. I love reading mine and seeing how I can improve. It is such a blessing to have. So Marqus is going to get his as soon as he gets in touch with Bishop. Dillon was there too, he's a G. They want to get everyone together again one last time before I head home to have dinner. So I'm excited about that. Man I'm going to really miss the people here :(

I think that's about it! I love being a missionary in Mesa. Best thing ever. I couldn't be more happy :) I love you Mom! Have a great week! 

Bye Bye Annie. Good luck on your mission!

The "tri-panionship"
Elder's Findlay, Burningham and Matthews

Marcus and Dillon

Shark Week

Bye Bye Mesa Temple Visitors Center :(

Sit Down, Be Humble Week #102

Hey Mom!

So this last week was a blur. I'm having a hard time remembering what all happened😂 The weeks just mesh together and seem to be one big blob. Especially towards the end of the mission I guess. 

I went on my last exchange as a missionary. I went with Elder Mamula in his area and we had a ton of fun. Elder Mamula has only been out for 8 weeks and he's already a baller missionary. Like he's one of the best missionaries I've served around and he's brand new. He's from West Virginia and he knows his stuff that's for sure. We get along really well, we had some first lessons with some investigators and had some good success. We met with a kid in their area with some really hard Word of Wisdom struggles. He's at a rough place in his life right now but he's keeping his head up and is trying to change his life. It was a very humbling experience for me. Don't ever be satisfied with where your at with your testimony. DON'T SETTLE. We need to be constantly stretching it and nourishing it so it can keep growing stronger. That was a powerful lesson for me this week. 

We met with Summer a few times this week. She is super solid, more than most members are😂 Meeting with them is the funniest time of my life haha, they are nuts😂 There are 2 of them leaving on missions really soon, Annie leaves next week to Ohio and and Megan leaves to temple square TOMORROW, so hopefully its been a help to them to get an idea of what missionary work is like. And then Savannah just submitted her papers so she should be getting a call soon😁 I will definitely remember the people that I've become close with on my mission. They have been by far the best part. I've come to love so many of them and I'm going to miss them when I leave. Summer and her friends are just one example of many. Missions are the BEST. 

We've been struggling to find more people to teach SO we had to get creative with our wards. We decided to do a glow in the dark volleyball night and it was LEGIT. We had a bunch of people come from the ward and even a non-member came with Lyric! She was super open and she is basically a dry Mormon so hopefully we will be meeting with her this week. Talk about MIRACLES.

We were able to go to the Gilbert temple today and do a session so that was cool. I love everything about the temple. I'm going to be attending WAY more when I get back.

Well I think that's about it for this week. I love being a missionary. It's been one of my favorite things that I've ever done. I can't imagine where I would be right now if I hadn't of made the decision to come to Mesa. I love you Mom! You're an angel, cant wait to see you soon!!

Our  "tri-panionship" in the Malibu

Having fun with the Garner kids
(picture is from a few weeks ago)

Temple day at the Gilbert Temple
with Elder Matthews and Elder Burningham.

for our new member "Summer" 

Summer's reply...

Garner kids and puppies!

Sweet truck

Experiences of a lifetime! Week #101

Hey hey hey! Wow it sounds like Nauvoo was a pretty special experience! I'm jealous that you got to see so many different church history sites. I would like to go there someday to see them. Now I  understand and appreciate their importance so I actually want to go. I'm also super grateful for Joseph Smith. He was such an amazing prophet. I bet it was really cool to see Grandma and Grandpa work in the temple. I would have loved to see that, I love them both a ton! 

This week was super crazy. So remember how Elder Burningham was transferred a few weeks ago? Well he is back. We are in a trio now! It's a long story but basically he is is with me and Elder Matthews for the rest of this transfer. You can imagine it's been a party haha, we are having a blast. I'm really glad he's with us. My own son gets to kill me as a missionary😂 (missionary slang)

We also had zone conference this week! MY LAST ONE. It felt weird, I had to give my departing testimony and it was hard. Hearing all of the testimonies of my closest friends that I've been with for 2 years was pretty emotional. We've all been super close since day 1. We've been through everything together. Seeing how much we've all grown is amazing. I love how much the mission can change an individual. I'm going to miss so many people that I've met and come to love in these two years.

A few weeks ago I received a message from a convert that Elder Grabenstein and I worked with in my first area. Her name is Cherri and she said that she was going through the temple for her first time! She wanted me to be there so I was able to go to the Gilbert temple and see that. It was such a special experience to me. I was sitting in the celestial room talking with her and I said to her "You know the last time I taught you, you weren't even a member. Now look where you are." I thought to myself that this women was literally changed by Jesus Christ himself. I'm so glad that I could be part of this person's conversion to the Gospel :) 

To answer your question, no I didn't dye my hair lol. I just got sick of it being in my face so I just put it up. I feel so much lighter haha. I'm not sure if I'll keep it, but for now I will :) hopefully it doesn't look horrible haha

Also I sent home a couple of packages. Sorry, nothing good in them haha. Just some things that I don't want to take in my suitcase. So those should be coming soon :)

Elder Thompson went home on Friday😭😭 That was pretty hard. We had one last meal at Kneaders before he left. We've been together from the start of our missions and now he's home. That's crazy to me.  He's coming to Utah for school in the fall so Me, him, and Fiti are going to hangout a bunch. We are all pretty pumped for that. 

Alright we'll I think that's it! Sorry for the long email. This week was just full of experiences. Good ones especially. I will always remember them :) I love you Momma! Have a good week!

My final Zone conference of my mission...Benson Zone!

She just got back from her mission, and is
 super missionary minded. She posted this
 picture on Instagram to hopefully catch someone’s
 attention😁 Social media is awesome
 to share the gospel with.

Last lunch with Elder Thompson

We've been together since the MTC. 
It's been a great two years serving with him
and playing ball with him on P-days.

Cruisin' in the Malibu

The Gilbert Temple

100 Weeks in Mesa!

What's good Mom! I had no clue how many weeks I'd been out! Man that is a lot of time😂 Yep, I started the first week of my last transfer. It is a lot different since Fiti and Burningham aren't living with us. Definitely a lot quieter. Every night when we come home, we expect them to be there or to come home later but we forget they don't live there😂 Those were days to be remembered haha

The 4th of July was not much different than a regular day on the mission honestly. We did go to a bbq with a family and then afterwards went up to Las Sendas to watch the fireworks in the valley. You asked about a parade here, it's super super hot here so no one really wants to sit in the heat for an hour haha! Too hot for a parade😂

Our new wards are pretty cool. They are a lot smaller than Chapparal Park ward, the one ward we kept. Yesterday was super hectic. We have two wards meeting at the same time so we have to bounce all over the place. It's been a while since I've covered 3 wards, I forgot how busy it keeps us. One of our wards is getting a new Bishopric next Sunday which is going to be so good for the ward, everyone looked so dead at church. Like no one wanted to be there. Kind of sad, but I definitely believe that a new bishopric will turn things around. We also have a brand new ward mission leader so we are both trying to figure out how things work in the ward😂

We are teaching a few people. We are teaching Joscelin, Elder Fiti and Burningham were working with her. I've actually met with her a few other times so I know her already. She is on date for August 18th so we are trying to help her prepare for that. She works on Sundays so it's tricky for her to get to church. We are teaching another girl named Christina. She was referred to us this week and she is PREPARED. She wants to be baptized already so we set a date for the 28th of this month! Super cool. 

Remember that girl Amanda that I baptized a month or two ago? Well she is in the ward that we lost, but we did get to go to the temple and do Baptisms with her this week! That was so great, she is such a trooper. She has a prosthetic leg and so it's difficult for her to do the Baptisms but she does it! Everyone in the temple was pretty much balling their eyes out when she was hopping into the baptismal font. We all had a good time, and she loved it.

Yes the heat, I'm tired of it😂 But today has been super nice, we are having a huge haboob/monsoon. It's raining buckets of mud rain, so much for washing our car!

I'm enjoying the time I have left here! It's been fun, I'm glad I got to serve here. I love the people I've met! Love you Mom! Have a good week:)

This pic is with Alex. He was one of the first people
 that I taught on my mission. He got baptized in
November last year and I ran into him at a dinner
 with a member😂 Super good to see him, he's awesome

Amanda's temple day

Turning 20 in Mesa! Week #99

Hey Mom!

 My Birthday was awesome! It was a party. Nothing too unusual happened. Because of our schedule for the day we spent a lot of time with Elder Fiti and Burningham. We went out to lunch and Fiti sponsored the boys, so that was nice. BUT, it didn't stop there. For dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory and Elder Thompson came too. It was the last supper with the boys since Elder Fiti is going home tomorrow. And Elder Thompson is going home on the 14th because of a trip his family is going on. I guess that's okay to do?😂

 Anyways, THANK YOU for all of the birthday wishes, my package, treats and money!!!

So we found out Transfer News on Saturday night. Elder Matthews and I are staying together but there's a catch. One of the YSA areas is being dissolved and that is Elder Fiti and Burninghams area. So me and Elder Matthews will be losing one of our wards and gaining both of theirs. Luckily the ward we are keeping is the one we are closest with. That's the ward with Marqus and Summer. We are super excited, the two wards we are getting have a lot of work going on. We should be having some baptisms in the next month or so. I am sad that Elder Burningham is being transferred but it was fun spending a bunch of time with him. Love that kid. Elder Matthews and I will have the whole place to ourselves😁

We have been seeing a lot of miracles as we've been practice teaching the members. We've gotten several referrals as a result of it and they've been solid!! Sadly we won't be able to teach them any more because we are losing that ward. But hey that's all a part of missionary work! I'm excited to start my last transfer. I'm going to enjoy it while I still can! I love you Mom! Have a good week!

The boys one last time.
The one below is funny, we sent this to
Summer (our recent convert) and so
 they all tried to copy our pic😂
Pretty good haha

Final picture with my housemates for this last transfer.
Elder Fiti is going home (see you in 6 weeks Bud!)
and Elder Burninghamis being transferred.
It's been a good time living with them all!

This is Riley my Ward Mission Leader,
 he’s become a really good friend.
That’s what I like a lot about YSA.