Week 44....from cleaning to cars

Today we went the long journey to district meeting and the zone leaders were there they brought me more paper planners because they know that I am one of the only people in this mission to refuse using the technology, it's just to complicated so for the rest or my mission I will use paper planners and will be okay with it. Then we ate at a place called mountain top, it's a super good country kitchen and I am very impressed with it, I get the 2 cakes and sausage gravy. Then we came back and did laundry today because yesterday should have been our preperation day but we were in Baltimore all day yesterday.
So we did not get much time to proselytize, which was kinda disappointing.
Today we went to Winchester to get our new car an oil change, it's new to us.
We went to Moorefield after that and had pizza with a part member family shared a message about prayer and how it comes for different people, and how the Holy Ghost talks to us. Like in Helamen 5:30
Then set some more plans for baptism and we went to go look at the font to see what we have to do to clean it up, and I am thinking that maybe it will be a little water stained and a spider web here and there... WRONG... there is crickets and beetles that climb out of the drain and die and the ones that don't die run into the grim reaper of all spiders I am still debating on how to kill him. The lights are all burnt out and chairs are stuffed in there with mold and some massive centipede looking thing, that describes how long it has been since somebody had got dunked. So we are going to have to put some major elbow grease in it. That's how the end of that night went. 
Anyways the picture below is the bishop and his 1st counselor, which describes how our bishopric meetings go down in Petersburg West Virginia. Catching catfish 
We got the font cleaned out. My companion said we needed draino for all the rust and whatever crickets or anything else down there would be cleared out. But what I heard was kill every living thing down there, like the so well known quote "leave no trace" So we went to Ace's hardware and I was looking at the draino bottles deciding which one would work best, but as I was inspecting I saw in the corner of my eye a red skull surrounded by plastic wrap, 5 minutes later I walk out of there with Sulfuric Acid I figured it would work much better, I'm a guy so instructions at times seem irrelevant so I put the whole 32 oz bottle down the drain of the font put a bucket over it and after the popping and cracking was over which was about 15 minutes then we flushed it out really good. I called it going Firth style I am pretty proud of myself. 
I didn't think that was enough so I used bear spray as an air freshener...... Just kidding I tried doing that in the house when I was a kid my mom and dad weren't thrilled 
Anyways, Now we have to keep getting baptisms so it don't look like that again. 
I just didnt want her to get baptized and have a cricket or a spider that made its way up the drain swimming around there with her so leave it to Elder Killian. 
But I'll tell you what there ain't nothing clogging that baby now it drains like a dream.
Had the baptism today and had a great time and everyone was super excited to see the baptism. Most of today was preparing for the baptism and then when it was over we had to clean up which took up most the day, but we did get a lesson in with an investigator we finished her lessons and hopefully she will get baptized pretty soon, its more of a lack of care in her part but people change. 
Sunday today and was a pretty good day I'd say and pretty spiritual, I taught a lesson in youngmens and they ask me questions about a mission. 
Then we went over to a recent converts house an he made chili dogs and hamburgers and a rack of ribs and then we had strawberry short cake with ice cream, then we went over to another family we haven't seen yet and he showed us his nice cars that he has it was pretty cool didn't know him to well but now we are pals. 
Right now we are waiting for call outs, so tomorrow I will tell y'all how that goes down. 
Got transfer calls today I am going go Lancaster PA with Elder Allred so know on my mission I have served in Maryland and Virginia and west Virginia and Pennsylvania 

Week 43..out houses and Baltimore!!

Preparation day we got up and had our weekly pancakes, we will only make pancakes on our preparation day.
Then we went over to a members house and played poole and waited for all our clothes to get done. We thought we broke the washing machine, which we may have for a little while because it wasn't draining water and then it didn't turn on for awhile but we did figure it out. I bought a rope from tractor supply and I was showing elder walgamott the basics. Then at 5 we went to the Kimbles and had salmon and chicken and ribs and chicken wings and beans and homemade bread with apple butter and for desert we have banana bread with whip cream. Then we had kinda a slower night after that but still added up to not be so bad.
Had zone conference today, pretty cool all the deer here are having fawns now and you know the really good does protecting them and taking them across the road because that's the perfect place. A good place to see them but they might need to work on their parenting skills because a 150 lb deer finds it pretty simple to get hit by a car none the less, a 20lb week thing.
Anyways had a good time at zone conference. It is our mission presidents and his wifes last time in this mission they are going home which it's hard to leave them and we are getting a new mission president from the Congo. Only the mission president can speak English.
We also got a new car so we have more clearance. It's a 2017 Nissan rogue

pretty nice vehicle.
Had exchanges with Elder welling and had a great time talked to a guy named Charles, who is like talking to a potatoe sack. Then we have a member who lives up in the back back woods of Petersburg the family. We went there and elder welling needed to use the restroom he ask them and they said out back. So we went and used a broken down shack with a hole dug in the ground and a wood plank with a circle in the middle and there was mold and spiders every where. Then we went back and she said it time to wash up and she gave us soap and a bucket full of water and a old rag then they started talking about canned and pickled trout and how they use the water they carry up from the creek because they don't have running water, it was very interesting elder welling said it was the most memorable thing he has done on his mission using an actual outhouse he said he has only seen them in movies. I'd say it was at the top of the list then we came back and played around with the electric fly swatter and drank mtn dew. MTC companions all the way!!!
We exchanged back with romney today and I had a great time. After they left we went back to work and then we went and had dinner with a member and had deer meat and biscuits so it was pretty good.
We went and finished teaching somebody and elder walgamott is Baptizing them so that will be cool. We definitely burnt up a lot of miles on exchanges and elder walgamott was not happy about that but we had to help the work progress.
Today we had to weekly plan...and maybe there is missionaries out there who enjoy this but I don't even like saying the word weekly planning it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, but it has to be done.
After that we went to a part of our area a little farther thinking we might have luck but today was kinda botched but we did talk to a new member in the area.
It's fathers day so I thought I would get a father's day quote, this one is for my dad but the other dads our amazing i will make one up later if you want. Thus one begins
" GOD TOOK THE STRENGTH OF THE MOUNTAIN.
THE MAJESTY OF A TREE. 
THE WARMTH OF A SUMMER SUN. 
THE CALM OF A QUIET SEA.
THE GENEROUS SOUL OF NATURE. 
THE COMFORTING ARM OF NIGHT. 
THE WISDOM OF AGES.  
THE POWER OF THE EAGLES FLIGHT. 
THE JOY OF MORNING IN SPRING. 
THE FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED. 
THE PATIENCE OF ETERNITY. 
THE DEPTH OF FAMILY NEED. 
THEN GOD COMBINED THESE QUALITIES, WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING MORE TO ADD. 
HE KNEW HIS MASTERPIECE WAS COMPLETE. 
AND SO, HE CALLED IT....DAD."
Anyways visited a couple families today but not a whole gave a priesthood blessing and then set up the rest of the baptismal program for the baptism Saturday. The font here hasn't been used here in a while. So we have a very mighty cleaning job so hopefully nothing in there is to deadly. We opened it up today and it did the look very friendly anyways I get to go go Baltimore tomorrow so wish us luck we are driving there by ourselves. I'm sure we will be fine. 
Made it to Baltimore crazy experience but had fun traffic and people is just to much. 

Well that's this email hook me up with letters love y'all

Week 42...Turtles and Lightning Bugs!!

Good morning to ya

Been a pretty fun week in Petersburg West Virginia. 

Started out by having exchanges with elder munden, me and him were going to one of our investigators who is in the nursing home. 

Right when we walked in some lady walked up and ask us to sing because their male lead singers were 

No shows. I hesitantly said yes and so did elder munden. We walked in a room where a bunch of old people were sitting and waiting for someone to sing to them. 

Then the lady gave us books and the piano played. So for about 45 or so minutes we sang to everybody in the nursing home. It was a little awkward at first but then it became pretty fun. 

We then went to another investigator who we just barely picked up and we talked about trucks and tractors it was pretty sick oh and the atonement. 

Then we exchanged back and Me and elder walgamott went back to Petersburg. 

The next day we went out and helped some random guy set traps for a prairie dog that was getting in his garden. Then I found another turtle this one wasn't a snapping turtle but of course I jumped out of the car and grabbed it was smaller this time then we put it back in the trees.

Saw my first fire flies recently and if you haven't seen fire flies they are awesome 

 I caught 2 of them and took videos of it pretty sick in my books.

We have been getting a lot of missionary work done we now have a total of 17 investigators and 2 for sure want to get baptized one of them is getting baptized the 23rd of June and another one is not quite sure but he asks about every time we meet with him. He is just wheelchair bound so maybe we can wheel him into the Potomac river or something to baptize him I think that would be cool. 

So it's pretty sick we stay busy most the time Elder Welling my MTC companion is district leader for Romney and Petersburg and he gets to do his first baptismal interview for someone in Petersburg so he is pretty excited for that or scared whichever works. 

And we been having a lot of fun as well. 

We got to drive to Winchester and get an oil change on our car and get the tires rotated so that was a good long trip but on the way back we stopped at Splunkers which is a super good place to eat and there is only one in the world one of the best burgers ever when you bite into it and grease goes everywhere super unhealthy but worth every bite. And the ice cream is great too. 

I'm getting super good at poole while our laundry washes at a members home we play poole in there downstairs. Every Monday I've picked it up very decently I am a hustler now I go for 40 dollars a shot... No just kidding. 

I got threatened for my kids life by a member who is leaving town and needs her plants watered she will make sure my mom and dad have no grandkids if I let her plants die. She jokes around a lot but she seemed pretty serious this time. So I have come to the conclusion that I will water her flowers.

We got cut back on miles down to 1575 instead of 1650 so now we are really cutting it close and we got to go to Winchester for zone conference and also to romney for exchanges and district meetings. 

But we'll make due because we good like that. 

It rained and I was okay with that besides the mudslides, but now it is just way to hot the humidity is killer, right when you walk outside you are covered in sweat no matter what but our car you can start while your inside so it will cool down before we get in it. It's pretty convenient that way. 

Also everybody here thinks that I am 23 to 37 years old when I ask people. Like for example the other day we pulled up to a gas pump and I ask a guy how his day was he said good then looked in the car and ask if elder walgamott was my son. And he is older than me. They think that he is 15 to 18 years old. I still thought I had a baby face but whatever.

Taught a non member about the plan of salvation and where we will go after this life he agreed but his wife didn't. Well long story short he had a massive heart attack the next day and died. So he definitely believes what we were teaching him now maybe he could come back for a little bit and tell his wife that what we were talking about was true. We told a member about that and they said that was amazing and wonderful she said the lord needed him to hear that before he could die.

We got a call about one of our solid investigators and some little birds had got around that when we got done taking him back to the nursing home after church that he passed away after we left so we had to go back about 845 that night to see if the story was straight and it turns out somebody did die but it wasn't our investigator and it was a female and it was on Friday. 

Some of these rumors sure get me. Because that telephone game got totally mixed around by somebody I just want to meet the person who started it. 

Anyways instead of writing in my journal I am gonna start typing the events that happen throughout the week into notes like I am doing now and then sending in an email. I figured It would be easier and my emails may have been getting boring so this way they wont be as painful to read, just longer...

Remember write me letters everybody I promise I will write back I have tons of envelopes and stamps 

PS. send to 1604 Michael avenue Petersburg West Virginia 26847 and then we will be friends forever, what a deal!

Anyways have a great week I'll be waiting for letters in the box thanx!!! 

Note:  Once again this is Aunt Wendi, I have to agree with Elder Killian, Lightning Bugs, fireflies whatever you want to call them are AMAZING!! They are another one of my favorite things here.  Our kids LOVE catching them.

Week 41...Snapping Turtle....

It was a good week in Petersburg,

Found 6 new investigators this week and we have been pretty busy and having a good time. 

I found a huge turtle it was a snapping turtle I touched it and it didn't appreciate me. So I left it alone didn't realize after the fact that it could of took my finger off but it's whatever 

There has been a major flood here that's taken out a lot its been raining really bad had to pull over a couple time while driving so that we could see to drive. 

Are bishop and a couple other members had to drain water out of there basement. 

And the roads were closed because the river was running over the road been pretty crazy it has done nothing but rain for a long time.

Haven't had to help with service for it but if it gets worse I will. 

It's a warm rain anyways stays about 70 or 80 all the time. So can't complain to bad. 

It's super green here very nice drives when we go farther out 

Anyways I have a lot of stamps so whoever wants to write letters please do so I have 300 envelopes and 100 stamps awesome when my family rights me but others as well can just a suggestion. Anyways have a great week 

Kody would LOVE to get some letters and as my kids say..."some old fashioned mail"....here is the address:1604 Michael avenue 

26847 petersburg West Virginia in case you want to send a letter 

 All the rain that Kody mentions...it is true BUT look how beautiful and green everything is!!!

 For Kody this is like going back home....he LOVES working with cattle and has a small herd of his own.

                                       A great picture of Kody and the cow even posed!!!