Bell, Rigdin PT

Another week done and a lot of miles over the limit. Due to the size of our area and how often we've had to go into town, we are now 400 miles over for the month. But apparently, that's not even the most they've gone over recently. The month before I arrived, they apparently were 800 miles over the limit. There's a lot of driving in this mission. Monday was a good day that started with us going shopping for food for the week and then going into town to spend some time with the other missionaries in the zone. After that, we took some time and went out to talk to some people and had a great experience with one of the individuals we talked with. They felt the spirit and invited us to come back another day to talk more. The next day, we began a new Facebook challenge to see who could get the most lessons with people they meet through Facebook. Hopefully, it sees good results so that we can find some more people more easily. Other than that, it was a fairly uneventful day wi...

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this now. Mission life was a bit confusing to start off with, but now that I've been living it for a couple of weeks, I've got a hang of the schedule. The hardest part of adjusting has been just not being able to cook food whenever I want. It's a small thing, but I was so used to cooking for myself whenever I wanted that it's strange to not be able to do that. But overall, it was a quick week with not too much happening other than lessons and door knocking. Monday was a pretty fun P-day that started with us going shopping for necessities and other things. After that, we went to a chapel that was pretty central to all of the companionships in the zone and played basketball for a while before going bowling where I lost both games. After Monday, most of the week blended together with the only part that stood out being going on exchanges Thursday. That was interesting because I went from an area that was mostly spread out to an ar...

Another week down, and I think I'm starting to get used to mission life a bit. I still forget I have to back my companion out of parking spaces a lot of the time, but I'm getting used to tracking, lessons, and just talking to people for a while. I'm assigned to the Tijeras and Sedillo Hills areas and have been told that it's the best area in the mission. There's been more rain than I was expecting, but it's nice because it means that it's not as dry out. Monday was my first P-day in the mission, and it was interesting because we got up bright and early to drop off my trainer's old companion so he could go home. It was cool to see all the missionaries going home and to hear how they were all feeling. They were all excited to be going home to their families but sad to leave the mission. It really just goes to show how much they enjoyed the mission and how much they loved serving the Lord. After that, we all went to one of the churches in Albuquerque to pla...

IT'S FINALLY HERE! I've officially arrived at the mission field and have started my time as a full-time missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was a bit of an exhausting week, but it was also very fulfilling and exciting. Monday wasn't too exciting, with me dropping my suit off at the dry cleaners and attending classes. It was mostly just one of those days where you make sure you have everything you're going to need when you leave. Tuesday, our morning class was a bit shorter because we had a devotional on what to expect going into the field. Wednesday, we had another workshop on how we should be while in the field, as well as what the travel will look like. The latter half of the day, my district all hung out and said our goodbyes, as half of them would be leaving early in the morning Thursday. It was sad to see them go but exciting that they were getting started on their work. Thursday felt like an odd day due to the lack of half the distr...

Another week into my actual mission, and I'm tired. Attending class, devotionals, workshops, and all other preparatory work for my mission is exciting but also very tiring. Monday was a fairly calm day, with the district attending a workshop on how to have normal and natural conversations with investigators before going to the fitness center or the gym to work out some. Tuesday was a very early day, with all the Elders in my district waking up at 5:30, so we would have enough time to do laundry, eat breakfast, and get going to the temple for our temple work session. It was a very busy preparation day with talking to family, as well as being the first practice teaching appointment for my companion and me. It went okay, but derailed when they asked us the same question for the third time in a row; they were not happy with our answer, apparently. However, the day ended well with a very nice devotional that I struggled to stay awake for. The next day was nothing too special, as we just...