Bell, Rigdin PT

Another week and another baptism! This one was really special because I had been able to teach him everything that he needed to know in a very short amount of time because he had been ready for a really long time. MONDAY we were the first ones to show up to the chapel in Fort Stockton for p-day and found a dead pigeon in front of the door. We took a picture of it and put it into the chat our zone has before we cleaned it up and went inside because we thought it was kind of funny. TUESDAY we had one of our mission presidency stop by our trailer and do the quickest housing inspection I've ever seen in my mission. It was barely even 10 minutes, while all the other inspections I've had were closer to 20 minutes. WEDNESDAY we went to the young men's activity and did some pumpkin carving! It was pretty fun seeing them all get into it and make some funny-looking carvings. THURSDAY our friend Rich was interviewed and approved for baptism! He's been coming to church, seminary, a...

This week was really exciting because 2 of our friends were able to make their first covenant with God! We don't speak the same language, but I'm still really excited for them and for the effect this will have in their lives. MONDAY we had a p-day down in Alpine, TX, which is about 2 hours south of us. It was a ton of driving, but we got to see some nice sights on the way down, including some of the only mountains and trees I've seen since being out in the Fort Stockton zone. We went down there to have a barbecue with all the elders and to go on a tour of the observatory with one of the members who works there. It was a really cool experience to be standing right by the telescopes and see just how big they were. TUESDAY we somehow spent all day just preparing for the baptism on Saturday by calling people and asking them to give talks and just inviting people to come. WEDNESDAY our Zone leaders came up from Fort Stockton to help us teach our friends we had on date for baptis...

This week we got some more exciting news and it's made us even more busy! MONDAY we spent a bit of time getting our car cleaned up because we had to turn it in the next day so we could get the new car they were assigning us. This is the third time I've had to swap out a car in my mission, and it's always pretty exciting because the new cars are always brand new. TUESDAY we went back down to Fort Stockton for zone conference. The zone conference out here is a little disappointing because of how small it is, but we still had a really good discussion on how we can form good habits and break bad habits. We were also able to take some time and go over President Nelson's talk from conference. We had our interviews with President afterward and it seems like he's thinking about putting another set of missionaries out here in Monahans, which would be really exciting. WEDNESDAY we had a really awesome lesson in Kermit with a friend who had referred herself from Facebook. She ...

This week has been pretty eventful! Exchanges, service, and general conference were all pretty exciting, and I'm sure a lot of people were excited about conference too. MONDAY we had a lot of fun with the zone when we got together. We played a bunch of board games and then had lunch, which was nice so we could get to know each other better. That night, I went on an exchange with the district leader's companion so that we could teach our Spanish friends, and they all unfortunately fell through. TUESDAY the exchange went for the rest of the day, making it one of the longer exchanges I've been on. We unexchanged that night around 7, so we had to use the rest of the night to get back to our area and then had a super late dinner. WEDNESDAY we did some service for a member, helping him clean out a rental home he owns. The last tenant had treated it really badly, so we had a lot of work to do. We had to pick up broken glass, window frames, doors, trim, and a bunch of other junk. T...

This week was our transfers, so I got a new companion and we had to go introduce him to a lot of people, just like what happened when I got here. We also went on a bunch of exchanges so that we could teach our Spanish friends. MONDAY we had a lot of fun playing board games with the zone in Fort Stockton. Because there are so few of us out here, we're able to have almost everyone play at once. Then that evening, we went around visiting people so Elder Watson could say his goodbye. TUESDAY we finished up with all the goodbye visits and packing that Elder Watson needed to do, so we spent the rest of the day finding people to teach. WEDNESDAY transfers took up the whole day. We left probably around 11 in the morning and didn’t get back until around 6 in the evening. It was a lot of driving, but I just got to sit in the passenger seat the whole time, so it wasn't too bad. THURSDAY we spent a lot of time taking Elder Hardy around to introduce him to the members in the branch and some...

This week we got transfer news and it's somehow both what I expected and not what I expected! MONDAY was an easy day for me because we ended up having a lot of lessons with our Spanish friends and I just kinda sat there while Elder Watson taught them. I'm trying to work on learning Spanish, but I have never been good at learning any language. TUESDAY was pretty boring other than it being hot outside. WEDNESDAY, the branch helped out an older member whose yard had gotten pretty messy by mowing and picking up trash. It's always nice to be able to help out someone else when we can. THURSDAY, we actually had a really good English lesson! I was really glad to be able to actually participate in a lesson for once and be able to share my testimony of the restoration. We had taught him about how the church was restored and about the Book of Mormon, inviting him to pray about the message we had shared. FRIDAY, we went on an exchange with our other zone leader, Elder Colohan. It was a...

This week we actually had a missionary come home to our branch, so the members were really excited for that. MONDAY was a pretty relaxed day because we just stayed at our trailer and cleaned everything to make sure there were no bed bugs. We also had a lesson with our most progressing family where we taught them about the Word of Wisdom and they said they are willing to keep it. TUESDAY we had weekly planning as normal, but for some reason, this week really just made it click how short it can make a day feel. By the time we finished up with all our planning and studies, we only had 2 hours until dinner. WEDNESDAY we had the opportunity to teach about the temple and the ordinances performed in it with a member we are trying to help go to the temple. The temple has a special place in my heart and it was a good refresher for me to be able to teach about it. THURSDAY I was getting pretty cold because the AC in our house is really strong, so I found a space heater and started using that. El...