Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Monday December 19, 2016 Kamiah, ID

Hey not too much time today and sorry I’m late emailing - just had a crazy schedule today. So...

1. Can you give me a firm ish time for our skype call coming up on Sunday!?
1. Umm I would say somewhere around 5 or later...but not too late so between 5 and 8 here time. Not Utah time.

2. Did you receive any packages this week? I sent the last of the fun Christmas stuff - cookies!
2.Yeah!!!! I got the cookies. Thank you sooo much! Made my week that much better. I’ll send pics.

3. We'd like to know what your rules are for Christmas. Can you play games with the members? Do you spend all day at one family's house?
3. Well I don’t know all the way yet. I’ll know on Wednesday. I don’t think we are allowed to play games. We can only go to set appointments which will be dinner and then another dinner...I’ll explain on Sunday.

4. Did you have more contact with your investigators this week or was it another week of meetings?
4. Yes! So we actually worked this week. We have had a lot of contact with Mike. He will probably get baptized the 31st. We are way excited for that! Pray for him to stop smoking!

5. Do we have any pictures of your Christmas tree & presents? Proof that you haven't opened them all yet?!
5. I’ll send them in one second.

Not too much time this week but it was cold snowy and long. We finally got our truck back from being worked on in Spokane.

oh! I found someone who used to live in Birdseye like forever ago and so that was weird. Of all places I found someone from Birdseye in Kamiah Idaho! Weird right?

This past Saturday we had an awesome Christmas activity called journey to Bethlehem. They take you around to different rooms and show different scenes of the nativity like the shepherds and the wise men and evil King Herod. It was super cool and a great missionary opportunity. Makes me miss Christmas at home when we do stuff like that.

Things are going really good. Still been settling in with my new companion and responsibilities, but things are going well and I’m getting used to doing missionary work a different way. This last Sunday they switched ward mission leaders on us so I’ve been dealing with that and helping him get used to his new calling so that’s been a little stressful.

Well I don’t have too much to say and there is a lot of red underlined words in this email but I don’t have the patience to right click on them all and fix them so good luck. Well love ya! And see you on Sunday!

-Elder St. John  

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Monday December 12, 2016 Kamiah, ID

Hi there!
 
1. How's your new companion? Tell us about him and how things are going...
1. My new companion is good. His name is Elder Chamberlain and he is about my height and a ginger. He is awesome and so willing to work hard. He is from Saratoga Springs and was home schooled. We get along good and are excited to work together.
 
2. How was your first week of being district leader, a trainer, etc.? How are you feeling about the situation as a whole?
2. First week was good. A little overwhelming but good. I feel good about the situation and I’m excited to serve in different ways.
 
3. Any updates with investigators? 
3. Not too many updates this week just because of the crazy schedule we had. We spent maybe two days in our area so we didn’t get too much work done.
 
4. Did you get any packages from us this week? And perhaps take any pictures?
4. Yes I got the package with the pull up bar and Christmas tree. Sooo awesome! Thank you. Also got a big box with a bunch of presents in it and put them under the tree. I can’t wait to open them! It’s killing me not to peek at what they are. Also got a package from grandma and grandpa St. John. So I will email them a thank you.
 
This week has been crazy. Lots of driving and way too much confusion and meetings, but we were supper blessed to travel in safety the whole week. The meetings were good and I learned a lot. So really not too much to update you on.
 
But! I have the best member family ever (the Degroots) they bought me a coat! I know it was way too nice of them but they wouldn't take no for an answer and she loves to shop and spend money so they just got me one. It’s nice and warm. I’ll send a picture of it. maybe. But yeah not too much about this week. Elder Chamberlain is getting used the area so that is good. But yeah it’s snowy and wet so wish me luck.
Love ya!
 
-Elder St. John
 

Me (wearing my new coat) with Elder Chamberlain

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Monday December 5, 2016 Kamiah, ID

Hi! 

1. I've been looking at the weather in your area and it seems like it's pretty cold. Are you sure you don't need a better coat/boots?
1.The weather hasn’t been too terrible. It’s been in the 50's mostly and drops lower in the night but not too bad. I’ll look for a better coat, but there’s not anywhere to buy one so I’ll let you know.

2. Did you get the gloves and hats?
2. I did...love them all. They’re very nice to have so thank you.

3. You have transfers today! Please make sure you tell us if you're staying or going. And if you're going I need your new address asap to send a few Christmas things...
3. So yeah transfers are a little crazy! Elder Stoddard is leaving. I’m staying here. They are making me the district leader and I will be training a new missionary as well. That might not sound crazy to you but I just finished my training and now I’m training so it’s crazy! I’m way excited for it though. It will bring some new adventures. So I’ll have to go up to Spokane on Tuesday and on Friday this week. So lots of traveling and meetings this week. 

4. How is your investigator Tyler doing? I liked hearing about him last week.
4. Tyler is doing good. He is still super solid and really searching and coming to church and wants to get baptized, but his church that he goes to right now is crazy. They are super anti and hate us. But he is freaked out by them because they follow him and watch him and stuff and have really weird rules so yeah he wants to leave. But he rents from a member there so he’s scared if he leaves that they will kick him out of his place and he’ll get treated badly. So yeah crazy stuff there. Pentecostal churches are weird.

Well my week was mostly normal and lots of running around. We had a temple trip on Thursday and that was way fun. But a lot of driving. The temple trip was with two ward members that drove us up. The temple is called the Spokane temple and it’s super small. Only one endowment room. 

Then we had zone training on Friday so more driving. Then transfers and that exciting news. I hope my new companion is cool. I really can’t believe they’re letting me train. I feel like a new missionary still and so it’s kinda weird.

Christmas time is coming! They put up a bunch of lights in our town and so that’s fun. I miss having our house all decorated and stuff. Nobody goes all out inside their house like we do, except for the Degroots. They have like 4 full sized Christmas trees in their house.

So for Christmas skyping we need to coordinate a time to do that. What time works best for your schedule on Sunday? Also it sounds like we have around 40 minutes to talk so keep that in mind. Well not much else to update you on. I’ll keep you posted about my new comp and things like that. Love ya!

-Elder St. John