Bell, Rigdin PT

This email won't be too long because the only thing that really happened this week was that both Elder Shawcroft and I got a stomach bug which knocked us out for the week. It was a rough couple of days, but we're back in shape and are excited to return to the work. MONDAY we had our last p-day of the transfer down in Santa Fe. We played a bunch of dodgeball with the whole zone for a bit and then a handful of us started playing the one board game called 7 Wonders with one of the senior missionaries. The rest of the day was pretty normal, except at the very end when Elder Shawcroft started having symptoms from the stomach bug. TUESDAY we just stayed inside and let Elder Shawcroft work on recovering. WEDNESDAY we managed to have a phone lesson with one of our friends we had been teaching for a bit, Anna. It went really well and they are loving the gospel so much. Then that night I ended up getting hit with the stomach bug which was really rough. We also found out that both of us a...

Nothing too interesting has really happened this week, but I guess that's just how some weeks will be when you've been out for long enough. MONDAY no one in our district really felt like going anywhere to do anything, so we just stayed in our area and ended up playing a bunch of board games at our apartment. TUESDAY we spent most of the day just tracting and trying to find someone we could start teaching. WEDNESDAY I went on exchanges to Española with our Spanish-speaking zone leader. It was a pretty fun day because it had been a while since I had lived with another set of missionaries and just hanging out with them during dinner and lunch was funny. Ending off the day was interesting because we had a very emotional lesson with one of the people they had been teaching, but it was all in Spanish so I didn't understand any of what was said. THURSDAY we unexchanged and ended up spending the rest of the day inside the apartment because the day before Elder Shawcroft had a bit o...

This week, we had some pretty wild weather while we were out and about during the day. We experienced wind, rain, and even hail, but I'm just happy for anything other than dry weather! On Monday, we had our zone P-day in Santa Fe, so I wrote most of my email on the way there and back. Other than that, we didn't do anything too interesting besides playing some ultimate frisbee with the whole zone. Tuesday, we did all our normal planning for the week and then went tracting for the rest of the day. The tracting itself wasn't anything too interesting, but we were dealing with really strong winds that were blowing us around a lot. Wednesday, we went out to the part of our area called Angel Fire and tried to visit some members that we'd never met. Because it's so far into the mountains, we even saw a herd of elk. Thursday, we had been asked to prepare a training on how we can prepare our friends for baptism. A big thing we focused on was making sure that they have friends...

Whenever we have Zone conference or interviews in a week, it usually means a lot of driving. This week we had both so I'd say most of our week we weren't even in our area. MONDAY, we went on a hike with our district on one of the trails that went along a part of the Rio Grande. It took about an hour to go to the top and back, so it was a good time to get to know some of the other Elders in the district. TUESDAY was a bit of an unfortunate day because during our weekly planning, a lot of the people we had been teaching dropped us and told us that they didn't want to meet with us anymore. It's a bit sad, but everyone has their own time to hear the gospel. WEDNESDAY we were able to have a lesson with one of our friends we had been teaching for a bit, and we extended the invitation to pray about a baptism date. It was really exciting for me because they said that they would, and it really seems like they are dedicated to being baptized. Other than that, I day ended a bit sh...

This week felt like it went by really quickly for me. Probably because we had to spend almost half of it stuck inside because Elder Shawcroft got some kind of stomach bug, which was no fun. MONDAY was the first zone preparation day since basketball was banned, so I was pretty interested to see what everyone was going to do. Unsurprisingly, the stuff we spent the most time doing was volleyball and pickleball. TUESDAY we did a lot more service than I would have liked to, but we gotta serve as the Savior did somehow. After we got done with all our planning for the week, we went and helped stack wood for a member of our congregation for a bit. We were able to get some tracting done that day, but then some woman who speaks very little English had us come over and help set up lights around her porch for almost 2 hours. WEDNESDAY we had exchanges with our district leader, and I went out to Española for the day. It's always interesting going out to Española because you can either be in the...

This has been the first full week of my seventh transfer, and I'd say it's been a fun one. I'm glad to still be serving with Elder Shawcroft here in the Taos ward and to be able to keep teaching the people. MONDAY, because one of the areas in our district was whitewashed, meaning both missionaries there were replaced, they needed more time to get their apartment set up, so they decided not to come to district P-day. Because of that, the district decided to just do separate stuff this time around. Elder Shawcroft and I decided to just stay in our area and play a bunch of board and card games. It was nice to have a really calm and relaxed P-day without having to do a bunch of traveling. TUESDAY, we had some odd service to help out with. Someone who missionaries had tried teaching in the past but marked as someone to not contact anymore because they just bash the missionaries had reached out to us a couple of days before, asking for help putting bags of dirt onto his roof so i...

This week had quite a few interesting things happen for a couple of different reasons, with the biggest reason being that we had transfers! Monday, we had the last zone p-day of the transfer, and it was a pretty good one. We had new senior missionaries in the zone who decided to come and hang out, so we ended up playing a good amount of pickleball with them. It was really fun because they were apparently a coach back home and were really good at pickleball. At the end of the day, during the mission's family home evening call, I got to hear my last companion, Elder Stanger, give his departing testimony before he goes home. We also got a slightly menacing announcement from President Edwards that a lot of people were going to be moved this transfer. Tuesday, we headed up from Taos to a little middle-of-nowhere town called Questa to help a member who is moving back for the summer drain their well house that flooded. That took about 2 hours, and then we just spent the rest of the day in...