Back on my Feet!- Week 29

Hey!
Your prayers have worked! Thank you, I am feeling a lot better! This last week I felt 10 times better than I did before. It was such a relief to go out again. And it felt good to go out and enjoy the fresh Arizona air;) Every night on our bikes we watch the sun go down and I'm always amazed and reminded how beautiful Gods creations are. I don't know how anyone can see the beauty all around them and still say there is no God!

But yeah Elder Child is a fun companion, I honestly think he has just as much or more energy than Jack! He's a happy guy.

And no that lady at BK actually dropped us, we weren't surprised at all because you could tell she wasn't interested. I'm glad because now we won't be wasting our time with the pointless questions she was asking. We can only hope that she learned and felt something from our lesson with her, maybe someday down the road she will remember it:)

This week was full of a bunch of awesome lessons. On Wednesday we had one with a sister who was baptized in June. She is the best and we had a great lesson with her. She had a rough week and so we shared a very uplifting message, gave her a blessing, and she was very happy about it. On Saturday we had three lessons at the Visitors Center!! Oh man that day was fun, I love the VC so much, I'm so glad our mission has it.We watched the 8 missionary stories with Gabriel and Israel, the kids we baptized a while back, and they absolutely loved them. We're just getting them hyped for the mish someday. I loved watching them too! Remember when we went to the Washington D.C. Temple Visitors Center and watched them? Yeah it reminded me of that, good times! They are some great videos that make people excited about serving their missions. That day we also watched the Joseph Smith Prophet of The Restoration movie with two of our investigators. I think I've seen it like 20 times now and it gets better every time! It tells the life of Joseph Smith so powerfully and you could tell that our investigators were feeling the spirit. I don't think that they expected that😎 We again asked them to read and pray about the BOM and they will know if these events and things that we are teaching them are true. So we hope that they do that:)

On Thursday we had zone conference again. I feel like we just had one! Anyways it was great, the focus was on member missionary work and how missionary work here is super difficult without the members help. We talked about ways we can get members more excited and involved in the missionary efforts of their ward. President Townsend gave an awesome training on using the lesson pamphlets that we have but never use haha. He was preachin man! He also took us back to our apartment after it was over because we are on bikes and got a ride there. So yeah we got the Presidential escort😝 Anyways later that night we put P-Towny's training to the test, we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ using the pamphlet to our investigator Phylicia. It made a world of difference, the transitions on teaching were clear and right in front of us and the spirit was there. We had Brother Hardison and Brother Bosley there with us and their testimonies were perfect. It was just a good good lesson that we need to have more often!

Yesterday was our first Sunday in our wards combined. It was rough I'm not going to lie. I had 3 wards my first transfer in the mission and I forgot how hard it was haha. We had 8 hours of church and by 6 hours I was struggling really bad to stay awake😂 but don't worry, I've got it to the point that when I do accidentally fall asleep it just looks like I'm praying haha...just kidding! But yeah our wards are all really great! 12th and 34th wards have hardly any work going on in them because the areas are really tough. 60th ward on the other hand is exploding and I'm just so happy I still cover that ward:)

Oh haha and Elder Child water-logged his iPad in his bag because his water bottle exploded! Thank goodness I have mine with area book on it. So I pretty much did all of the scheduling and things this week. So today we are going to the mission office to see what he needs to do.

And my boy Jack is growing up! I'm so proud of him for advancing to the office of teacher in the priesthood.What a stud, man I look up to him so much!The reason I say that Jack is going to be a great
missionary is because he is super passionate and hard working with everything he does. He has a solid testimony and he does well in most things anyways, so imagine him doing missionary work with the Lords help! Soooooo cool!😎

Well, I hope you all are healthy and happy!  It's starting to get pretty warm here in Mesa! I hear not so much in Utah!  I love you all! 
Love, Elder Findlay

Sunsets!!!

They are already starting to set up for the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple.  The stage is massive!


And these people have like a billions dogs!  Haha it was NUTS!!!

A New Start- Week 28

Heyo! Its good to hear from you, I needed it especially this week.This week with my new companion Elder Child was really fun! He's a pretty funny dude, he was actually homeschooled so he didn't know anyone I know from Box Elder. Elder Watmough went
home on Tuesday last week which was sad and then Elder Quist and his new companion moved out of our place. Elder Calio and Elder Higham are nour new roommates. I love them both haha, I came out with Elder Higham. Its a party! And Elder Eaton went to the Kimball Stake down south a couple of streets. I still see him a little bit.

We do cover 3 wards now, 12th, 34th, and 60th wards. So or Sundays are packed full of church and meetings. Yesterday was Stake conference which was great! It was really good. The speakers were really good! It turns out Tiana, we baptized her in the beginning of January, spoke at conference and it was sooo good! She's awesome! The world needs more members like her. We have the B family who are coming close to baptism, the only thing really holding them back is Brother B has some problems with the Word of Wisdom so it will take some time. Other than that we have a bunch of investigators but they just aren't keeping commitments.We'll just keep working at it!

Wednesday was pretty crazy, we had a bunch of lessons! We first had a lesson with a lady (name withheld) and we had it at Burger King haha.We taught her about agency and how there is a purpose to everything that happens. She then went of on like 10 or 15 anti questions just randomly. Things like polygamy, drugs, same sex marriage, and all other sorts of stuff. We could tell that she wasn't looking to learn, so for our next lesson we are going to establish our purpose as missionaries and see if she I really looking to come closer to God.

This week was so off and went by sooooooo slow. Sad to say it but it was probably the worst week of my mission:/ On Wednesday I got really sick and I was all achey and had a pretty bad fever. It kept me up all night and I woke up exhausted the next day. I didn't really know what to do so I went out as usual, and the biking didn't help at all haha. On Thursday I was just feeling wasted but I still went out and did the usual. On Friday it was pretty bad so Sister Clifford (mission nurse) said that I should rest so that's what we've done for the last three days including today. Turns out it was strep. Although we did go out tonight, I couldn't stay another minute in the apartment, and we found a new investigator! Not bad considering how the week went. Anyways I really hope I start feeling better!

Anyways all summed up not much stuff happened because I was sick, but this week will be a lot better! I know that it's supposed to warm up this week so we'll see how that goes! I love you a lot Mom and keep praying for you and everyone! Love you!

Love, Elder Findlay

Here is a video from a little while ago.  This was an old missionary record player they used in Argentina. Bro. H. is our ward mission leader and he's the best!

Sunsets!!!

Me and Elder Child
He's a goof, haha, love this dude

This was our last P-day before transfers

Happy Valentines Day- Week 27

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow Mom!!! How's this week been for ya? I did get your package too! Thanks so much!! I love it haha!! I loved all of the little sayings you put on them too. You guys are the best! And i loved the pictures! Why is so much changing! I've only been gone for 6 months and EVERYTHING is different. Friends getting married,
sister getting married, Utah weather going nuts, little bro growing, up, getting a dog, I could seriously go on forever haha! I cant even imagine what it will be like when I get home. And Island Splash is opening up again? Good for them! The thought of working there makes me a little crazy, but good for her:)

And my little brother is growing up! What the heck, that's not supposed to happen til I get back 😂 He's a stud, I'm sure all the ladies are falling for him. You have no more deacons Mom! I sent him something in the mail so he should be expecting it:)

Oh yeah and the basketball game that we had last week with the high school team was great. We stomped on them, it was hilarious! Haha they got really frustrated😝 God wouldn't let his missionaries lose😜

Today has been great, we've just been getting ready for transfers and Elder Eaton has been packing. I've been getting rid of a bunch of things I don't need and just re-organizing myself. We did get to go to Brother Thompson's house again and use his massive theater. We watched Prince of Egypt with Elder Watmough and Elder Quist and it was fun. It's one of the few movies we are approved to watch. And Elder Watmough goes home tomorrow so we have been making it fun for him.

And yes transfers are tomorrow! So my new companion is Elder Child, I've been on a bunch of exchanges with him and he was in my district last transfer. So it's a weird transfer move but it will be good! Plus he is going to be district leader so I still get to do a bunch of exchanges! So I did cover the 30th and 60th wards but now our area is 60th ward (which I'm so happy about because most of our work was in that
ward anyways), 12th ward, and 34th ward. And IM STILL ON BIKE😐 3 wards is a big area and yet I'm still on bike. Haha whatever I'll be fine😂 thank goodness I am still in the same apartment so I can still enjoy the smell of tacos every night we come home:) 

Not much happened this last week so I don't have a lot to say but I have a few pictures and videos! I hope you all have an amazing week and I love you more than you know Mom! You keep me going everyday!
Love, Elder Findlay


Celebrated my 6 month mark last week.....

Sunsets!😍

#Backyardtaco :):):)

my valentine to you!💕💙💚💗

Livin' the Dream - Week 26

What's up! I am doing fantastic on this p-day. It's been a real chill p-day which I have needed really bad. We have had a crazy week full of lessons with investigators and tons of moving people. And I can't believe I've already been out for almost 6 months, its unreal. Well I won't be considered a greenie anymore, although I still feel like one!   I'm very much enjoying the perfect weather but in a few months it will be super hot again, crossing my fingers I'm in car again by then!😎 Transfers are on Valentine's Day and anything can happen. Elder Eaton thinks he is leaving and I will stay but I could see it the opposite way. The last Elder that was in my area was here for 9 months so it's beyond me what will happen! But I'm excited! 

That's awesome that stake conference was good! I love a good speaker who can really speak their heart, it makes a world of difference. I definitely see the need for what Elder McKay spoke on. There are so many people that I've met here that have fallen away from the gospel and it makes me sad because more than half of them are returned missionaries. Being offended, sinning, laziness, and doubt are all tools of Satan in this world and it gets the best of a lot of people. He knows that he can't win so what he is doing is trying to bring down with him as many of us as he can. That's why it's so important to have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. In elders quorum we were talking about building our lives on solid foundations. If that first foundation of everything we do is based on Jesus Christ then it can't be broken! Its so easy to forget this and its also really easy to do it! Its so worth it, there are so many blessing that will flow your way!

Oh and guess what? So one of the High Schools here is Mountain View, which is also nicknamed "Mormon View" haha. Anyways a bunch of kids from the basketball team think that they could beat us Elders in a game of basketball. It's today at 4:30 and its actually a pretty big thing haha, the Elders team is Me, Elder Thompson, Elder Cox, Elder Jackson, Elder Higham, and Elder Lee. These kids are going to wish they didn't challenge us. We are all good ball players so its going to be like the good old days. 

Some of our new investigators came to church yesterday! Mike and Teresa were there which was great! It was a really good sacrament meeting I think so we hope they liked it. They had to bounce after Sacrament but it was good that they made an appearance! Since it was Super Bowl Sunday it was an interesting one. I wasn't too bummed about missing the game until everyone we talked to asked "so are you watching the game?". That's when I was kind of missing it haha but I'm glad I'm here. I did get to see the score quite a bit though, I just asked everyone we talked to. It was a great night though. We were riding our bikes through one of the apartment complexes that we cover and I saw this one guy just texting on his phone so I went over and talked to him a little. And as he was talking I looked around and noticed that there were a bunch of boxes with stuff spilled out in the front of his apartment. He was looking pretty sad so I asked if there was anything we could do for him and he opened up and told us about his girlfriend and how she got mad and chucked his stuff all out in the street. So we helped him cleanup and he was really happy that we helped out. So he gave us some limited edition ghostbusters soda pop haha! I love helping people out, now I know why the Lord did it so much!😝

All in all it was a solid week. Things are great and the Lord is working his miracles. I love you momma and hope you have an awesome week! I keep praying for you everyday. Tell everyone I say hi! Love ya! 

Love Elder Findlay

I love our temple!

chillin

I got to hammock for a few minutes today!
 #livinthedream #missionhammocklife

Mesa Week #25!

Hey Everyone!

 I am having a bunch of really awesome experiences in this area, I'm going to be sad when I leave it. And you cant beat the January weather! Man and there is so much snow back home! What the heck! Basin is probably amazing this year😭 And you are right about being out of the world when you are on a mission. Me and my roommates were actually talking about how sick the world is and how it is just going to get worse and worse. Yes I do miss things at home but holy cow I am in my own little spiritual bubble away from the world for two years! Its such a blessing! Its a time where I can find my relationship with Christ and bring others to Him! It just gets better and better!

Changes are always happening in the mission, and this time it's our mission schedule! And it's awesome! We no longer plan at night but in the morning instead. The reason is because the missionary health department is pushing for missionaries to get 9 hrs of sleep so we can go to bed at 9:30 if we want now! They gave us a lot more flexibility with when we can do our studies and all that good stuff, oh and they also cut lunch in half. No to stoked about that one but that's alright. Normally on P-day we would wake up, exercise, do 2 hrs of studies and then P-day would start at 10 a.m. Now we only do half an hour of personal study and P-day starts at 8 a.m.! Its pretty awesome! 

I went on exchanges with Elder Child in his area on Tuesday, it was cold! The nights have been really chilly but this next week is supposed to be 70's everyday! Anyway Elder Child is from Brigham City which is pretty cool! He lives like right by the temple! We talked for a while about that! But I love his apartment because it has a fireplace and so when we got back I just laid in the recliner and chilled. I was so relaxed haha! Now I know why Dad wants a recliner haha!

So we have this investigator that we have been teaching and she is 60 has read the BOM already 1 full time. She would get baptized in a heartbeat if she could, but she can't quit smoking! We have been working with her since we got here and have done everything that we know how to do. We have not been able to progress with her and so we had to stop teaching her this week.  That was really hard for us.  Hopefully she will be able to find the desire in her heart to fully commit to the gospel of Jesus Christ and be baptized someday. 

On Saturday we went to the visitors center with Gabriel and Israel and their family. We watched the old prodigal son video about forgiveness. Its an 80's movie that has terrible acting but puts out a good point. Afterwards I asked Israel what he learned from the video and he had some wise words, he said that "you can't change the past, you can only fix the future". Its so true though, the past is the past and it is nothing to dwell in. What's done is done and you should be changing  the future for the better! That's what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is! It is change. 

I love this gospel so much. I wish I would have focused more on it when I was home!! I had no idea what I was missing out on. I hope you guys are continuing to pray and read the scriptures! That is what will keep you close to God! I love you Momma so much! Your are the best and I miss you everyday! I'm always praying for you guys and hoping all is well! I hope you have a blessed week! I love you!!!😊

Elder Findlay

Oranges!!!

blessed

We were riding our bikes and starving so a nice member
invited us in for spaghetti.  The members of the
church really look out for us here in Mesa.

Exchanges

Rain Rain Rain- Week 24

Wow this week sounded like it was a blast in Florida! I love the pictures and videos that you sent me! The Fam looks great and I am so glad you all are happy and doing well. 

Lately I have really been thinking about how the Lord works wonders and teaches you personally when you serve a mission. I've been studying about repentance and the Atonement because when you get a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you can use it in every aspect of your life. The mission really brings you closer to the Savior and makes you want to do the right thing every time. I never could have asked for a better experience on my mission!

 This week was full of busy days as usual...

Saturday was really awesome! We had the baptism of Gabriel and Israel T. and it was special. They are righteous kids and it was really good for them and their family that they were baptized. And we had the privilege to baptize and confirm them. I was able to baptize Israel and it is something that I will never forget. Baptizing for the dead is really awesome but baptizing someone that you've taught comes with a different spirit. They joy you feel can't be described. Bringing someone into the fold of the Savior is one of the most important things that we can do here. And then I got to confirm Gabriel and that was a first for me! What an awesome day! Missionary work is super important and we can all do it everyday! Anyways after lunch we went to the visitors center by the temple with one of our recent converts. We watched a couple of meet the Mormon stories with her and she absolutely loved them, and it made her super emotional! She's the best. We watched one of the old ones, The Candy Bomber, and then a newer one called The Horseman. We are really lucky to have that resource in our mission!

And let me tell ya it just rained and rained and rained here all week. I've found that I really really don't like biking in the rain haha but my rain coat is a life saver. It doesn't rain here very much but when it rains, it RAINS! I'm honestly looking forward to seeing the sun again! 

Other than that I went on a bunch of exchanges which was pretty fun but nothing to crazy happened. Next week though we do have a world wide missionary broadcast that we will watch together as a mission. They are coming out with a whole new missionary schedule so it's a pretty big deal. We are excited to see what they come out with. I loved your email mom, it makes me smile every time I read it haha! I hope you have an amazing week in the freezing cold snow, enjoy it mom. When you move away from it you will miss it like me! Jk you probably wont😂 I love you!!!!❤

Love Elder Findlay

Me and Israel!

Gabriel and Israel on their baptism day

I love this family so much!
And yes, I am way taller than all of them..haha;)

And on exchanges we helped some people move
and they gave me like a whole box of sports
stuff, I thought this was cool!
 AZ pride 😂

Week 23 as a Mesa Missionary

Hey sorry this is last weeks email...we were out of town and I didnt get it posted to the blog...mom

That's so awesome that you are in Florida this week! I'm sure you'll soak as much sun up as you can! 

On Tuesday I was able to go with Elder Klaus in his area. We had a really good time and  went to a ton of houses. We also had zone training meeting that morning so that made things pretty crazy. But we did get to go to backyard Taco with Elder Campbell and Hanks. They are our zone leaders. We then went to like 30 people's houses and 1 person answered. Their area is really struggling. We found some potentials but that was about it. We had a really fun time haha plus elder Campbell and Hanks are their roommates so we partied that night. Me and Elder Campbell get along really well, he is from Louisiana and is thinking of going to LSU to play football. Haha we all slept in their room and talked til like 2 in the morning. I'm gonna remember those nights for a long time!!

On Wednesday I got to go to Elder Calio's area again. It was a blast and I love love having a car. Its so nice, you can do more things a lot faster than you can on bike. Brother Owens texted us and asked if we wanted to come over for lunch so we were pretty stoked about that. He made some bomb grilled cheese, it was sooooooo good. And he gave me a loaf of Grandma sycamore's bread which made me super happy. I can't find it at any stores in Mesa, mostly cause I can't go to Costco. Reminds me of home! You never go to Lanny's house without something special of course. He collects coins and has a huge collection of old coins from the 1800's and it's pretty sweet. He also showed us all of his deer skinned leather that he got from Canada. He makes pouches and cool things from it and then gives it to people. He is honestly the nicest most kind person that I have met it mesa. There are so many great people and I can say that I am loving them!! It makes the work very worth while!😎

Saturday was super cool, I went on exchanges with Elder Watmough for the last time because he goes home in a month. We went to do service that morning doing yard work and such. It was actually really sweet, the guy we did service for had a 1970 Ford Thunderbird and he couldn't get it started and so I worked on it for a while trying to get it going but had not so much luck. So then we just mowed their lawn and did some pretty good yard work for them. They were then kind enough to provide lunch for us and so the got Costco pizza! I hadn't had that stuff in forever. It was super good. Me and Elder Watmough biked back home and got ready and rushed to a lesson that was actually with one of my investigators. I think I might have mentioned her before but she is super awesome who really wants to build her faith in Jesus Christ. So we had an awesome restoration lesson with 4 missionaries which was bomb! We got her to commit to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! I know it will bless her and her kids sooooo much! I want people to know about it mucho mucho! Towards the end of the night Elder Watmough was just out of things that we could do. Their area is sooooo dry right now, they haven't had a single investigator for 2 transfers and no one is willing to listen. It stinks because Elder Quist and Watmough are probably the most hard working missionaries I've seen on my mission and yet the success isn't there. So Me and Elder Watmough decided to go to the church and offer a kneeling prayer. It was such a powerful prayer and especially for me. Hearing it from a missionary who has been out for 23 months was a real testimony builder for me. At the end of it we both pondered and both got the answer that its all in Gods time when the area will be bringing new investigators! It was awesome! Super cool experience! 

Sunday was so sweet!! We had some great meetings at church, had some investigators come which is always a joy! Church ended about 4:30 then we just went back to our apartment and had a pretty chill dinner. We were then privileged to have another baptism, this time for Tiana! It went super well and had a bunch of people come. After that we had a lesson with sister cook who is such a nice lady!! She is a recent convert and she made us apple cider with ice cream and brownies. Sooooo nice.

All in all this week flew by and it was crazy! I had such a good time with the other Elders and stuff! And I'm still enjoying the sun here in Mesa and I'm super glad that you can enjoy some too in Florida!! I love you momma and hope you have the best week!!

Love Elder Findlay

Our Zone:)

Sunday nights in the 480

It's cold in the mornings sometimes! ;0