Bell, Rigdin PT

This week we had some really long visits with our members. We've learned, old people like to talk A LOT! But it's all well and good because it helps us to know what's actually going on in the community. MONDAY we went to every single barbershop and hair salon in town so I could get a haircut, but they were all either closed or completely booked. I knew it was a small town, but wow. After all that, we took an hour drive over a mountain and through the woods to get to this place called Lake Roberts. It was a really pretty lake, and we had a nice picnic with most of the zone. TUESDAY was a lot of driving because we went up to Glennwood, which is 30 minutes north of the main part of our area and another 30 minutes from where we live, so we could visit some members and then had to go home and get packed so we could stay the night in Deming, which is an hour from where we live, before zone conference on Wednesday. WEDNESDAY we got up, got dressed, and drove to Las Cruces for vehi...

Nothing too exciting this week, but we did manage to spend a lot more time in our area. I also did the math and realized that I'd spent at least 10 hours driving between Wednesday and Monday. MONDAY I had to drive an hour over to Deming so we could meet up with the rest of the zone for P-day. It was a pretty good time and we had our own little cookout in the church. TUESDAY we just went to a couple more towns in our area that we hadn't visited yet and met some of the members around there. WEDNESDAY we did something a little special by going to the farmers market in our area. It was a really good way to get to know more people in the community and to let people know that there are missionaries in the area again. We talked with a bunch of people at their stands, got some good food, and I also got the chance to video Elder Droge walking around with drunk goggles on, so it was a lot of fun. THURSDAY our plans all got wrecked because halfway into the day we got a screw in our tire a...

Transfers have been fun, training has been a little stressful. I guess that's how it goes when you do anything new, but opening a new area is also the cherry on top. But the members here are super cool! MONDAY was a fun last P-day in the Mt. Franklin zone. We got together at this one board game shop and beat a game I really wanted to try. Afterwards, we went to the church and had a big Nerf war with the zone in the cultural hall. Then we finished up my signing transfer journals and saying goodbye to the missionaries who were heading home. TUESDAY I went on exchanges with another elder being transferred and we basically just spent the whole day saying goodbyes to members and packing up our stuff. WEDNESDAY we had our transfers and I picked up my new greenie, Elder Droge (Dro-ge). He's from West Valley City, UT and is actually older than me, which is funny. We had some trainings from the APs and the mission president, lunch, and then loaded our luggage into our new truck. Fun fac...

Transfer week this time is a bit interesting. I'm not particularly stressed about what the next transfer is going to be like, but I really hate that I have to pack again. MONDAY was a lot of fun. I got to try out a new board game based on a video game I like, play in a really competitive game of chair soccer, and then finish the night off with everyone in the zone doing a spa night with face masks. It was pretty fun to be able to just hang out with everyone like that. TUESDAY we had our normal district council. Nothing too special happened today, but we did help our recent convert, Ashlin, move to more downtown El Paso. WEDNESDAY was a little weird because normally half the zone comes to this one farm for a couple of hours each week, but it ended up just being us and another companionship. We also had a really cool lesson with Ashlin, where he told us a lot of his life story. THURSDAY there was a really terrible dust storm going all day, so we spent a lot of our time inside people...

Sometimes I've had weeks on the mission where I get really burnt out and exhausted because we're just doing so many different things all the time, but this was like a refresher week just before the end of the transfer. I've just felt like I've been really refreshed spiritually and like I'm ready to go out and share the gospel. MONDAY we had a district P-day because the zone leaders were too busy to plan anything for the zone to do. Elder Moody planned a really good day for our district. We went bowling for free at a place a member owned, had a picnic lunch with everyone, and then went to a board game store and just played games for a while. TUESDAY our district council was originally going to be focused on one inspired question we can ask people, but then it turned into how we can better work with members and help them to share the gospel. Overall, it was exactly what the district needed, and you could tell the whole thing was guided by the Spirit. Our lunch that da...

This week's been kinda boring. We baptized Ashlin, and now we're back to just trying to find new people to teach. It's not always the easiest trying to find people to teach, but I know the Lord has a plan for us. MONDAY we swapped to the new p-day schedule. Before this, our p-day started at 8 and went until 6 so we could use the last three hours for finding and teaching. Now, we do our normal studies and our weekly planning until 11 when p-day starts, and we go until 9. It's a pretty interesting change, but it worked out pretty well, and everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot. We played some no-tackle football and some ultimate frisbee with everyone, and it ended up being tons of fun. TUESDAY was also different from normal. Our district council got moved from Friday to Tuesday, so now we see everyone in the zone a lot earlier in the week and basically not at all later on in the week. Something pretty annoying was that the whole day our key kept getting stuck in the ignition....

This week has been pretty great. It's been really nerve-wracking trying to make sure we had everything we needed to do done, but we managed somehow. TUESDAY – We and another companionship were given permission to travel with a senior missionary couple to the Gila Valley Temple! All of us were really excited because this was the first time any of us had gone to the temple in around 5–6 months. It was a really boring drive there, but when we were actually inside the temple, it was such a spiritual, uplifting, and calming experience that it was all worth it. Afterwards, the drive back was even longer and more boring because we had to take the back roads due to the highway being closed in some parts. WEDNESDAY was pretty normal, but something really cool was that President and Sister Willis took us out to eat for dinner! It was a mix of interviews and just getting to know them, so it was pretty unique. THURSDAY was another regular day, but we did have a lesson with our friend who was o...