Monday July 31, 2017 St. Maries, ID

Hey so questions first…

1. Did you get our package? I totally forgot to send a pair of jeans from your closet. I can do that this week.

1. Yes I did. Thanks for those! Also when you send some jeans send the darker ones that are 30' 30's please.

2. Any news with any investigators? When you have investigators how often do you try to meet with them?

2. Yeah we have a few that are progressing. I’ll tell you about them below. We try to meet like 2 times a week to have lessons. And have frequent contact.

3. Do you ever eat out in your little town or just always cook for yourselves? If you have eaten out, where?

3. We don’t eat out too often. Every once in a while at the Mexican restaurant.

4. How many youth does your ward have that you're serving in? Do you ever get invited to teach them or help an any activities?

4. Not very many. Just like 5 or something. We don’t do too much with them. 

Now, a couple of questions about your recent ER visit...

1. What exactly did they give/do for you in the hospital? What medicines? Did you end up getting any prescriptions?

1. Just Benadryl. It was kinda lame. 

2. Did you request that they send you the bill? If you used the insurance card I think they'll just run it through that and we'll get the bill.

2. I didn’t request anything just that I could breathe better. So we will see. They did ask for my address in St. Maries.

3. Did they have you pay any sort of co-pay?

3. Nope just asked for the insurance card.

4. Did you have to wait a long time in the ER and were they nice?

4. Not too long. We knew a member working so we got in quick and they were nice. (It’s just a bandaid hospital, they’re not super professional)

5. Were you all itchy too, or just having a hard time breathing?

5. I got super itchy on my arms and stuff. They got all puffy too. 

Well this week has been pretty good. I’m feeling fine. We got to work and teach some lessons this week which was good.

Some of our investigators we’re teaching now…one is Eric. He’s in his 40's and he is pretty awesome. He’s gone from being a "non-believer" to praying and reading all the time. It’s great. He’s not on date yet but it he will be soon. Another is named Mia. She owns a real estate company in town and is super nice. She has come to church a couple times, but we have a hard time finding time to meet with her because she's so busy with work and family which is kinda backwards but oh well. Those are just two of the people we’re teaching. Prayers for them wouldn’t hurt.

We have been loving the work here. Our bishop and ward mission leader are great. Our ward mission leader is one of my favorite people ever. We will have to stay at his house when we come up to visit. Nothing crazy happened this week. We have been working with our less active neighbors a lot lately and they are great! They are like our best friends.

I’ve really grown to love this area already and my companion. I hope I stay here for a while. Transfers are not this Sunday but the next. So, coming up. Next transfer me and Elder Jackson hit our year mark. Weird, right? I can’t believe it. It’s already halfway gone. Well, I love you and I’ll talk to ya later!

-Elder St. John

Monday July 24, 2017 St. Maries, ID

Hey mom!

1. Did you catch any more mice with your redneck mouse trap setup?

1. Yes, got another one a day or two ago. Total mice caught: 10

2. Where are the mice coming in to your apartment?

2. Probably from our creepy basement. We put our redneck trap down there and we will see what we get.

3. What size are your jeans & slacks that we need to replace?

3. 30-30's 

4. Which allergy pills work the best for you? Blue, green or purple lid on the container from Walmart or if you know the actual name.

4.The green lid ones work the best. It’s the liquid soft gels. 

5. Is your ward bbq today or did it already happen?

5. It was on Saturday but we didn’t go. I will explain down below. 

6. Any good progress with any of your investigators?

6. Yes there are a couple we’re teaching that are starting to make some changes and one is consistently coming to church. 

Well it sounds like you had quite the trek experience I hope you learned and grew stronger from the hard things you did. 

This week has been interesting. We had exchanges the beginning of the week so I spent a day in Post Falls, Idaho. That was good and I had a good time. On Thursday we had zone conference and that was really good. I always love hearing from President Dymock. He has a lot of deep and interesting things to teach us. I mostly just try to absorb as much as I can because there is so much that he teaches. This time it was a little different. He taught about planning and goal setting which is something our mission struggles with. He showed us a couple videos from the new mission president seminar. That was really cool to see what the mission presidents are being trained on. One thing that was interesting was that the quorum of the 12 is encouraging them to leave missionary companionship's together and in the same area longer. That made me excited!

Besides that we had an interesting adventure on Saturday. In the morning we went and bucked bales of hay for a guy we found out in the sticks. It turns out I have really bad hay fever. Like super bad. I don’t think it helped that I had run out of allergy pills a couple days earlier. So we threw about 140 bails onto a trailer and into his barn and by the end I could barely breath. We went home and got cleaned up but it kept getting worse and worse so I knew I was having a bad allergic reaction to it. We waited a little bit and I still was having a really hard time breathing and it was freaking me out. We didn’t have any Benadryl or inhaler or anything so we went to the ER for a little bit. They gave me some meds and let my lungs calm down in the clean hospital air. So that was quite the adventure. I found out that I’m super allergic to hay! I used our family insurance card just so you know. If I pay a bill on the credit card in the next week or so don’t be surprised. And don’t freak out because I’m all better now and things are a'okay. Well I love ya and I’m glad you had a good week. See ya later!

-Elder St. John

Monday July 17, 2017 St. Maries, ID

1. Does it seem like the summertime weeks are going by fast or not really?

1. Yeah I guess. Time is just weird.

2. What's the average temperature been there this week?

2. Like 95 according to our Tacoma.

3. Does your ward there do anything special for Pioneer Day the 24th of July?

3. I don’t think so. We are having a bbq but not specifically for the 24^th.

4. Did you guys have your big fireside with the little Crosby girl? If so, how did it go?

4. Yes! It was amazing! Really a great missionary opportunity and it was really successful. 

This week was good. We had a really productive week which was very needed.

For the mice we made this way cool redneck trap and it totally worked. I’ll have to send you a picture. Our total mice caught is now up to 9.

We found 3 new investigators this week and that was really nice to get some new people to work with. It seems like getting people to have real intent and decide to progress in the gospel is hard here. But everyone is nice so it makes up for it.

We have been working with this one investigator named Eric. He has gone from not knowing there is a God to reading and praying daily. I’ve been so blessed to see his transformation so far. I hope and pray with all my heart that he will get baptized soon. He’s a really good guy.

It sounds like trek takes a lot prep. I hope you have a good week and learn a lot. Stay safe and healthy. Drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit leather.

I love it here in Idaho. I hope I stay here for a long time. This next week probably won’t be as productive because we have exchanges set up for Tuesday and Wednesday and then we have zone conference on Thursday so it will be quite the week. Wish me luck!

I’ll think about what I could use. The first things that come to mind are allergy pills. They’re super expensive here. I could probably use another pair of slacks and some work jeans maybe. (I ripped my gray slacks on my bike a little bit. But I sewed them up). 

Well I hope you have a good week. Love ya!

-Elder St. John

Redneck mouse trap

Monday July 10, 2017 St. Maries, ID

1. So, you got a new companion! But one that you already knew. How's it gone so far?
1. Yes, its Elder Jackson and he is awesome! I love him and he’s a good hard worker.

2. Did you get to do anything for the 4th of July? If not, what the heck did you do? I'm sure people were not wanting you to be teaching them.

2. No, so the 4th was transfer day so we spent half the day in Spokane. We just had dinner with some members and talked to a couple random people. Nothing fun.
 
3. Do you get to be the driver of the fancy truck now?
3. Dang strait I do. 

Well this week has been really good. I got my new comp on Tuesday and it has been a blast ever since. He is so fun and a really hard worker and we are tearin it up here. The first night together we got back to the apartment and could smell the smell of death. I knew that we were in for a treat. We figured out that it was coming from behind the fridge. So at about 10 at night we pull out the fridge and find that there were mice living there. There were 2 dead mice and a smelly mess. We put out some glue traps the next day and about 2 days later we had caught 7 mice in total. So we have been having the time of our lives!

We are just getting back in rhythm with teaching and we will start to get people progressing here pretty soon. One of our most progressing gators came to church for the first time this week so that was a huge blessing for him because the talks that were given were just perfect for his interests.

 
That’s really all the update I have this week. Just been working hard and walking in the hot sun. Sounds like you had a great time at the ranch and that prepin for the trek will be fun.
Love ya!

-Elder St. John

Monday July 3, 2017 St. Maries, ID

1. How much do you use your bike these days?
1. Well lately we’ve just been walking a lot but we have used them quite a bit here. 

2. How many towns are in your area?

2. Depends on what you count as a town. But about 3 major towns all less than 1500 people. Then about 5 that are less than 500 people. 

3. Do you go to ward council in your ward?

3. Yes.

4. Have you met any white supremacists in Idaho?

4. What kind of a question is that? None that are super outspoken about it. But I think since I’ve been here I’ve seen 1 person that was not white. 

So this week was really good. We taught a lot of lessons to investigators and did some service. The weather has been so nice for us. It hasn’t rained in a week at least so that’s some of the best news ever! There’s not much to update on this week except for transfers. Elder Horne is leaving which I’m kinda sad about because we work really well together and he’s a really hard worker. But, I’m getting Elder Jackson! He was in my mtc district so we know each other pretty well already and he is such a fun kid. I’m way excited to serve with him and I think we will have a lot of fun.

This week I’ve been studying Alma a bunch and I’ve just been eating it up. I’ve learned so much and my testimony of that book has grown and keeps growing every day. I know that reading it daily will change your life. It is also our greatest tool. It’s our evidence that what we believe is true. So, read read read!!!

I hope you have fun at the ranch this year. I’ll miss you guys a ton and the fun times that we always have there. Don’t drink the creek water! Just kidding it’s not bad. If that joke doesn't make sense just ask Tyler. I hope you have fun! Love ya!

-Elder St. John