Monday July 2, 2018 Spokane Valley, WA

1. How was saying goodbye to Pres & Sis Dymock?

1. It was kinda sad. But you know how I am with goodbyes. They don't bother me that bad. 

2. What is your first impression of the new mission Pres.?

2. I couldn't tell ya, I haven’t met him yet.

3. When are the next transfers?

3. July 19th is when my last transfer starts.

4. Are you pretty sure you'll just stay where you are til the end?

4. I'm pretty sure I will but you never know. 

5. What was the highlight of your week?

5. Hmmm👇

Well I'll tell you what. So emergency transfers happened right. The elder that got to our apartment is Elder Kritter and he got there on Tuesday. We had exchanges with the assistants on Tuesday and then on Wednesday Elder Kritter was just meandering his way out to work and BANG his knee just exploded!!! Dislocated (it's called a supulation) but they took him to the er and found out he has a tumor in his knee that's twice the size of his knee cap. Don't worry it is benign so he might not even get it removed. So I know I'm weird, but I find it super fascinating and so that was the highlight of my week. 

Besides that, my week was fine. The work is a little slow but not bad. Our area is tiny so it's pretty repetitive. 

This week we have mlc tomorrow so I will meet the new president there. And then we have a mission tour where President Thompson will go to the whole mission and meet everyone. So it will be busy and a lot of work but it will be good. Well I love you and I’m glad to see Logan home and doing well. Say hi for me! 

- Elder St. John

Bikes in the apartment

 We flipped an Elders desk. It was pretty funny!

 Spokane

Monday June 25, 2018 Spokane Valley, WA

1. Tell us about "The Villages" that you live in? How big is your apartment, what color is it, is your bed comfy etc.(We googled his address & it showed he lived in a big apartment complex called the Villages – turns out he doesn’t live there)
1. What the heck do you mean by villages? It's just a normal apartment nothing to special. Everything there is just mediocre just like every other missionary apartment.

2. Do you have any furniture in your apartment besides the used desk you found and your beds?

2. Well we have a table our desks and dressers some shelves. 

3. Have you talked to any of the other tenants of your apartment complex?

3. A couple of them. Most are kind of sick of talking to missionaries. 

4. Do you go to the nearby Fred Meyers to buy your groceries and other necessities?

4. Nope we just go to Wal-Mart.

5. Have you gone to the Five Guys near you? and if Yes, how was it? If no, Why not?

5. We have not. Mostly because of time and money. 

Well so crazy story this week. One of the elders in my apartment just got et'ed today! (Emergency transferred) along with some other elders in the mission so that was fun. Other than that, we had a great week we found 4 new investigators! And we are working hard.

Yesterday we had stake coordination meeting. I don't know if I told you what that is. But we meet with the stake president the mission president and the high counselor over missionary work. So it's a sweet meeting.  But that was on Sunday and it went forever long! Like almost 2 hrs., which is pretty long. 

So I get to see President Dymock as President Dymock for the last time on Tuesday for a temple recommend interview. I will miss him a lot. He has taught me so much. He flies out on Saturday. And President Thompson gets here that day as well. It should bring good change to the mission, but we will miss him a lot. 

Well thanks for the good email. Logan gets home this week which might be the second most weird thing ever. But I guess that time had to come. I also got the allergy pills today so thank you very much! Love ya!

-Elder St. John

Pday in Coeur d'lane

Monday June 18, 2018 Spokane Valley, WA

1. When does your current mission president leave to go home?

1. He leaves not this Saturday but the next. 

2. Do you have a big meeting to meet the new one or does that just happen at zone conferences?

2. So we have zone conference this Tuesday and then we will have a mission tour next week to meet the new mission president. 

3. Who are the Elders you share an apartment with and how long have they been out?

3. Elders Brinkerhoff and Williams. 1 year and the other 9 months. So basically, I'm ancient. 

4. How are the two wards that you're serving in different from each other?

4. One has a ton of youth and the other doesn't and that's pretty much it. 

So this week was good. To start, last p-day my companion just happened to dislocate his pointer finger playing a dodgeball sort of game. That was pretty fun because he trusted me to put it back in place for him. That was pretty cool.  

Well we are just doing the normal work here as usual. I don’t really have much to write about like normal. Pretty much cuz there aren’t things to say. I guess one thing is that we have been doing service for this guy in his yard and he is super picky. But it’s kinda fun because its service.

There is a lot of member support here. I feel like I’m in a Utah ward. It’s pretty great. The members take super good care of us and we get dinners like every night. One family gave us 2 lbs of shrimp to take home because we had been craving shrimp! There are a lot of wealthy families here. It’s different. But a good different. This week should be good. We have a sports youth activity on Saturday so I might get to play some sport of some sort.

So funny story… the other Elders called us saying there was a free desk on the side of the road and they needed us to come pick it up for them. So, we spent like 20 minutes trying to fit this desk into our Corolla which was going to be impossible! At the best time a member decides to roll up in a truck and offers to take it to our apartment. So now we have an extra desk in our apartment just sitting in the hallway. So that’s fun.

We had stake conference this weekend which is always fun. I feel like I’ve been to like 6 or 7 stake conferences on my mission. I don’t know if that’s normal or not but it was good. This week they talked a lot about the sacrament and how to honor it and prepare for it. They also said some bold statements of how to treat other people it was a good time. 

Well that’s all I got. I don’t really know what you are expecting me to say each week when I have been doing literally the same thing for like 90 weeks. But I love you guys! Hope you have a good week!

-Elder St. John

 My companion's finger

All the stuff we got from Panda Express today

Monday June 11, 2018 Spokane Valley, WA

1. How did your transfer go?

1. Great!

2. I guess that means you left before your scheduled baptism? How did that go?

2. The date got moved so it hasn’t happened yet.

3. What's your new address?

3. 15719 E. 4th Ave. Apartment 15 Spokane valley. 

4. Do you live in an apartment/house? With another companionship?

4. Apartment with another companionship.

Well this week has been good. I got transferred to the valley, Sullivan and Ridge Crest wards, with Elder Robb who was trained by Elder Jackson in St. Maries. It’s a blast! He is super cool, from Logan and does cool stuff. It’s going to be a blast.

This week there is not too much to say, and I really don’t have much to write about so I’m just adding fluff to this email so you don’t get bored. 

The valley is nice. It’s got a lot of members who are super cool and fun. Elder Robb is a hard worker and we are teaching quite a few people. If you remember my companion Elder Horman he was trained in this area 2 full years ago. It’s an interesting place to be. I’m excited to work hard here and finish strong. 

Well love ya!

-Elder St. John

Monday June 4, 2018 Spokane, WA

1. How warm has it been there?

1. 70s and 80s. 

2. How is your person you have on date doing this week? Can you tell us about her? Single/married, old/young, crazy/sane? Where does she live?

2. She is doing good. She's an older lady and she is getting baptized this weekend. She is pretty awesome!

3. Sounds like you were pretty sure you'd be staying in this area this transfer. Have you heard officially?

3. You may read below for more information on this topic.

4. I google earthed where you live. It looks like a nice, little older area. Are you guys in a house? I didn't see any apartment buildings around.

4. Yeah we live in a duplex thingy. It's a decent area. 

So we got our transfer emails this morning. And I'm leaving! I had my suspicions that I would be outta here but you just never know until it happens. I'm going to the valley to 2 wards Sullivan and Ridgecrest. I'll be with an Elder Robb, which is who Elder Jackson trained right after he was companions with me in St. Maries. So it should be good. I guess I did what the Lord needed me to do here. 

-Elder St. John

Monday May 28, 2018 Spokane, WA

1. When are your next transfers?

1. June 7th

2. What was your happiest moment of the week?

2. When our on date (for baptism) came to church.

3. When was the last time you drank a Dr. Pepper?

3. Oh man it's been a while. At least a month or so. It's only been about 2 weeks since I had a Mountain Dew though. 

Well there isn't too much on my end here. But it's been a good week. Lots of hard work. I'm definitely learning patience and diligence. We had interviews this week and that's about it for different things than the normal daily work.

We have been working with a couple new people so that's a plus. We have one on date and she is doing great! She is almost off of those dang cigarettes and she will get baptized the 9th of June. So we have been working with her a lot lately.

We might pick up another ward next transfer is what it sounds like. But that's it for the most part. My bonsai tree is doing fantastic and he now has a brown trunk. I also got a hammock today to put up on our deck. Should be nice. Well love ya talk to ya later!

-Elder St. John

Monday May 21, 2018 Spokane, WA

1. Do you have any pictures of where you live? Inside or out? Maybe the street you're on or anything around you?

It's very hard to picture for us when we know nothing.

1. Umm not too much. Just look on Google street view. It's not anything special though. it's just a normal neighborhood.

2. What was your favorite part of church yesterday?

2. The stake president came and spoke about how God leads us to where we need to be. It was a really good talk.

3. When do you get to go to the temple next?

3. Should be in the next week or two.

4. How's your little pine tree coming along? Does it have a name?

4. It's coming along great! I think I mentioned this but its name is Chad Gilbert, named after the lead singer of New Found Glory. 

Well this week really has nothing too special to make note of. We had one cool experience. We were out working in the morning, going out to walk down the big hill we live on. Elder Woods had the idea to walk down a different road than the road we live on. So about 30 seconds down the road a lady come up outta nowhere in her car. And she stops and says, "Elders! I just moved from Seattle and I have super bad anxiety so I haven’t been to church yet.” We talked to her for a little bit and turns out she is a recent convert that just moved and kinda fell through the cracks. We were able to get to know her and make sure she doesn't get neglected anymore. All because we walked down a different street!

Well that's pretty much it for the week. Love you all hope you have a good week!

-Elder St. John

P.S. Also I might have acquired a kayak if i can find a way to get it home. 

Pictures: My new pet snail and a super cool cathedral named after us.