Sheesh dad, you travel a lot. I really have empathy for you now. Livin’ out of a suitcase blows.
Work is hard. Barf.... Haha. At least now we have our own washer and drier so laundry is free.
I've been meaning to tell you dad, you remind me a lot of Helaman. A lot of the lessons you taught me are repeated by Helaman to his 2060 "sons of war." I'm glad I never had to be commanded by you in battle, but I would gladly dive on a grenade in a foxhole for you. Well, let me rephrase, not GLADLY, but I'd do it without hesitating. For sure.
Love you dad. I appreciate all you do for me, and I love your letters. I haven't read your other email yet about the super bowl, so that's next; Just 1 more super bowl away from each other. Then we'll see the Colts and the Broncos duke it out in 2014. YES!
Always yours, no matter if I like it or not (but I do like it. I love it! Go temple power!),
Are you
Aiken yup yup yup, for some bacon yup yup yup, he's a big pig yup yup, you could be a
big pig too OY!
I am in
Aiken, South Carolina! We're part of the Augusta Zone, though. Who is my
companion you ask?
Drum roll please ....................................................None other than........... Elder Kerr! From the MTC! Remember him? Yeah we're
companions! How cool is that?! We're having a great time! We're both in the
IMOS (missionary system thingy) as "senior companion." We are like Zone
Leaders in that we both are liable for the area, and we just swap who drives
whenever we feel like it. It's way fun!
We live in Aiken with Elder North and
Elder Harper (Elder Harper is our district leader), 2 of the other 4 Elders in
our district. The other Elders are: Elder Taetakua (Elder T for short) and Elder
Wilcock (my dear old Zone Leader from Greenville Zone). This is the best place
ever! I love it here! The ward is GREAT and everything about it is awesome!
There are a billion people in the ward and the area from out west who came to
work on the SRS (Savannah River Site), a big government nuclear plant. When
someone asks where I'm from I have to give 'em my whole address instead of just
"Orem, Utah" since basically 1/4 of the ward is from Utah. Haha. It's
fun.
We're
teachin’ this kid named Z. A., who is 12 or 13, every week in Deacon's
Quorum. His dad is not a member, but is supportive. They live with his dad's
girlfriend and her kids. They're all members. She is not very active, but her
son B is. He is a priest and he is awesome! Really great in helpin’ Z accept the gospel :D I'm really excited for
Z, and yesterday when we taught him the Plan of Happiness he really lit up.
He is sooooo getting baptized this month!
Yesterday
was the super bowl, obviously. As we knocked that night most people answered
and said "We're busy." So I would respond "What's the
score?!" We got updates all the way 'till 9, but I don't know how it
ended... We're going over to a home tonight, the Kelly family, and they
promised to let us know how it went.
So we had
been strugglin’ with studyin’ and planning when we were all in the same room,
so our Zone Leaders, Elder Law and Elder Israelson, decided (after Zone Leader
Council, their special monthly meeting with President and all the 14 Zone
Leaders) that we should do a megabedroom and 2 study rooms instead. So... we
did. And it is so much fun being all together! Haha.
Last night, as a matter of
fact, something awesome happened! I woke up to a sudden BOOM- Thump sound. Elder
Harper had moved his mattress while asleep and it fell off the side of his bed.
He bumped his head on Elder North's bed, and his mattress flipped up sideways.
All I saw was a mattress stickin’ up in the air. I was trying so hard not to
laugh cause it hurt! It was so hilarious! AH YEAH! So good....
So we now
email all at the same time in the family history centre of our church building.
It's much nicer not havin’ a 45 minute timer on me :p
Well here's
somethin’ interesting. We are in a car-share area right now. That means that
we're supposed to switch off between biking and using the car every other day.
Now, I can't bike. Do you see a problem here? I did, and so did President and
Elder Ray and Elder Fonnesbeck (the assistants). So.... They executed the
simplest plan they could. We stole the Myrtle Beach Elders' car! We have 2 cars
now. :D
We're drivin’ a 2011 Corolla, and the other Elders
are drivin’ a Malibu. Basically, after a buncha logistics and whatnot, the
other Elders are limited to 600 miles (since they can bike. And also since this
Malibu is over 50K miles and is soon to be replaced, and as such needs her
miles kept down), and we get 1K.
Ok last
couple things. Tuesday I spent the day in Simpsonville in a bike area with 2
other Elders (all our companions had to be in Irmo on Tuesday since they were
training). We walked 13.5 miles between 10 and 5. It was 39K miles, and my
average daily is 6K. That was an adventure. We stopped in at Barnes and Noble
whilst walkin' by and I got the newest Celtic Woman CD, Believe. It's awesome!
They sing Bridge Over Troubled Water, and, needless to say, it rocks. Also,
Elder Stephens (who looks like Stephen Serrano, as a coincidence) got some
"Magic, the Gathering" cards and taught me how to play. It's super
complicated, but it's pretty fun. Good way to spend P day. But an even better
way to spend P day is playin Brother Taylor's guitar he lent us! Yeah! :D It's
so great gettin the Led out. Mmmmm. Brother Taylor is in our ward, is awesome, and made us dinner yesterday. Nice!
This
transfer is going to be the best to date! I can't wait! That rhymed.
I love y'all
so much and I pray for you each and every day. Stay strong, keep the faith. So
many people have been asking, "What do you want me to send you? What do
you need?" (By the way, thank you to everyone who has sent me stuff.
I try to get letters out to y'all, but if I haven't - know that I appreciate it
and pray for you all). So in response, all I want is
your prayers. Read your Book of Mormon, ponder in your hearts what the Lord
wants you to learn from that passage that day, and pray for the strength to do
His will, His way. Pray for missionary experiences, and pray for us
missionaries. We need it, and we can feel the Lord raise us up when you do.
Pray for your families- they need it more than anyone in these latter days.
Pray for our beloved Prophet and the other leaders of the church. In the words
of Bob Dylan "The times they are a changin," but I testify that the
Lord is not. He is absolute. He is real. He loves us. That we may all know
this, through scripture study and prayer, both alone and as a family, is my
prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I was just
reading a letter from Sean about choir haha. Brought back a lot of memories,
especially about Seattle. What are the chances? Haha. I'm kinda jealous y'all
get to be up there.... :p
So, first item
of business-
I will be transferred this Wednesday to a new area... (fingers
crossed for Myrtle Beach!) Double-edged sword here. I love
Anderson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't wanna leave! But I am excited
to go somewhere new and love it, too! That rhymed. Haha.
Today will
be my last day in Anderson. We're going up to Simpsonville tonight. Just some rule the Greenville Stake President has- members in the
Greenville Stake can no longer give rides to missionaries to transfer meetings.
Dunno why... But that just means all of us leavers are going to Simpsonville (a
good central point, also the Zone Leaders' area) and being picked up in the
mission van/trailer. It should be fun to ride with all the other Elders. Elder
Wilcock is being transferred as well, so it'll be a fun ride talking to him and
Elder Ray again.
This Sunday
was a broadcast to 42 Stakes in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, in which
Elder Ballard and some other General Authorities and leaders spoke. It was
mostly about getting the youth on track and getting boys out on missions. There
was also a little bit of a smack down saying members need to work harder with
missionaries to do the good work. That was nice to hear. Then there was a
little smack down on us missionaries telling us we need to work harder- we're
not cutting it. Talk about pressure!
We went
around yesterday, and will go around tonight, to say goodbye and get pictures with
everyone here I don't wanna forget. I'm writing down addresses, #'s, emails,
and whatever else so I don't lose these people! :/
Thank you
for the package you sent! It was fantastic to get all that music, and I can't
believe you found the Celtic Woman CD haha! Awesome blossom! Thanks :D All the
other stuff in there was great, too. I had a very good time reading
about Brother Olson and Brother Cannon. Sure do miss those guys... Sure am
thankful for the Plan of Happiness- the Plan of Peace to a Weary, Lonesome
Soul, as I like to call it in these times.
There is so
much going on in the world! Here in South Carolina, back home in Utah, and all
over the nation in particular. We watched some fun videos lately about the
Presidential Race. "Jon Stewart Mitt Romney" and "GOP online
debate" are really funny, and you should look em up. :D
Well, that's
about all I got for this week. I got dad's letter, and I'm sending one back
with a picture or two. Yes. I also remembered his birthday is today. Happy
Birthday, my Y-chromosome compadre!
Love you
guys! Hope all is well in Zion! Jealous of your snow!
Holy sweet
Moses! Snow finally! Haha. I've been wondering about that. I'm jealous- all
this rain blows. It's wet and cold and smells like stale cat hair. Yum.
As far as an
update for this week- there is not much to report. We are working and working.
It seems like no one is home anymore when we knock! But we have been doing well
at getting less-active members back to church. There were a few there
yesterday, and it was nice to see that we had SOME kind of success. Tonight we
will be doing a FHE with the Helms. Our plan is to share BRP with them at the
end and get a few good solid referrals to visit. We'll see how it goes......
We are
having too much fun with the Addisons! Brother Addison is just like that big
brother I always wanted. Hahaha. L (Sister G daughter (Sister
Addison's daughter)) is just a cut up! Yesterday we went to their house to show
her a Coke+Mentos "Science Experience," as she calls it. It was a lot
of fun! She also says "busy" instead of "dizzy," and just
yesterday we heard a new one; L was searching through something, and when
she found what she was looking for she yelled "jack box!" instead of "jack
pot!" hahahaha.
We do
laundry after email and shopping usually, just before lunch. It's kinda a pain
to do. It takes time, and today especially I don't wanna carry it all in the
rain :/
I'm sad to
hear about Brother Olsen. He is in a better place now, though. I am so thankful for
the Plan of Happiness and the knowledge we have of it. Brother Olsen and
Brother Cannon are two fantastic gentlemen and I know they are having a great
time up there! Can't wait to see 'em again on the other side. Well, ok, maybe I
CAN wait- knock on wood*- but it'll be nice to see 'em at their full potential
again!
Funny you both saw Nick, I was planning on writing him a letter today! I wish I could email him...
That would be so much easier! But I do have his address, so I'll drop him a
line. I sure do miss that kid...
So T. G. is having a baby on the 4th, and yesterday while we were there we saw
her 3D ultrasound. It's FREAKY! The little human in there opened his eyes and
everything! He's all wrinkly and gross, and he snuggles up to her spine. EW!
It's amazing what women can do- growing a human like that and everything.. Wow.
I'm worried I'm gonna get transferred on the 1st and miss seeing the li'l guy!
Ok, I just
wanted to clarify for you- today I learned while studying that
"Woman" is actually a title above "Mother." Though
"mom" or "mother" would show respect to your own matriarch,
calling someone "Woman" shows respect to her to the whole of humanity,
instead of just your own family. That's why in the Holy Bible we read women
being called "Woman" so often.
Well that's
about it for the South. I love it here! I only have 592 days left! Time is
going too fast! I hope I can use my days wisely and do what the Lord would have
me in such a short timeframe!
This week has been one of the tougher weeks so far. We've been struggling as a district lately. Some of us have been disobedient to the little rules and we are suffering for it. So we'll be making some changes this week in our behaviors. That way the Lord can bless us for obedience. That's the major reason He gives us so many rules. Yeah they keep us safe and whatever else, but I feel like He gives us rules so we can keep them and be blessed, not to inconvenience us. And rules are rules, after all, not suggestions.
So we were doing laundry last Monday; I saw that one of the dryers only needed 4 more quarters (someone had evidently put one in already) so I put one of mine in. It was jammed! I was finagled out of a quarter! So we pounded on it for a while to get it back when, to our surprise, we were blessed with 18 quarters coming out of the "return" slot! We made $2.25- nearly an entire extra load of laundry! :D
We were out somewhere, I don't remember where, when a lady said, "Young man!" I turned around and she said to me, "Young man, you are absolutely gorgeous," and walked away...
Do you know any Rhumatologists that may be hiring in the near future? We have a member here who wants to move to Provo this coming summer, and she is a nurse. She wants to work for a Rhumatologist. So if you know anyone, let me know please :)
So that's about it for this week. I'll close with a joke I heard from a member:
What do a hurricane, a tornado, and a redneck divorce have in common?
Sweet Moses. This week I have been getting cabin fever a bit. I feel like we've knocked every door in Anderson! We are working hard, but no one seems to be interested in Jesus Christ right now. It makes me sad every time someone closes the door. I've been down in the dumps this week. I haven't cried once on my mission until this week. I don't really cry so much as I get watery eyes and depressed that these people are missing out on so many blessings! Plus the week of solid rain and 30 degree weather doesn't help..
So on Friday there was a Leadership Training meeting in Irmo. Since I'm just a junior companion right now I didn't go. Normally I would have just went and three-packed with Seneca, but they are training there so they went to the meeting, too. That put me down in Greenwood. That's a biking area, and I can't bike, so we walked all day. Elder Cahoon was my companion. That was the most fun I've had on my mission to date! He is the best! I hope I get to serve with him again! He's from West Jordan, Utah, so I'm sure we'll be able to hang after we get home. He's been out just over a year now. We found a new investigator, put him on date for baptism this month, and taught many lessons. We also went up to a person and Elder Cahoon said "Good day sir!" They responded "I'm a ma'am and we're not interested!" Ouch. Haha!
One day Elder Hahn and I found an old abandoned mill (not hard to do; there's about 1000 or so in the state, and 10ish just in Anderson, with 20ish in our area) and explored around in it for a few minutes. It was cool! The last report we found was December 26th, 1998. It reported assets around $17 million, and liabilities right around $17 million. They had $1,000ish left over and still had to pay the workers' salary. So... They shut down.
Well the last thing I want to do today is mention something I find hysterical, not hilarious. It's a funny situation, but I'm not laughing... I was looking at the record from the MTC a couple days ago. The Health Department had, hmm, miscommunicated I guess is the word. Or rather, messed up. I was supposed to get a Hep A shot. They gave me a Hep B. So... I am extra B immune, but that messes up the Hep A 6-month cycle deal. I say screw it, I'm fine, I'll wait till I get home and get a REAL doctor to do it.
Anywho, I love being on a mission, and I love serving the Lord!
One of my favorite quotes in the world is this:
"Don't ever give up, my son." That simple sentence gives me a drive to do all I can. It brings strength when I think I have none left. Where did it come from, you wonder? None other than... Starfox! Yes, video games ARE good for kids! :D
I love y'all so much!
Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Seaver
P.S. Mom, no I did not forget... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! You're 29! Again! Love you!!!
Okay, on
to the work in this area. There is nothing new to report. Just a lull in the
work as we try new ways to find, teach, and baptize. Well, new ways to find and
teach- we know there is only one-way to baptize. Haha.
So New Year's
Eve was great! We came in at 5 for dinner, then we were on "lockdown"
the rest of the evening. I fell asleep at 8ish, so I got a ton of sleep! I
needed it, too, so that was good :) As you know by now, yes, the library was
closed yesterday, so here we are today!
You'll
never guess where I just came from! That's right, the Anderson City Health
Department! I got my last Hep B shot today, just like the doctor at the MTC
ordered. Yum. Haha.
To answer
your question, we had 1 dinner, 2 families were in attendance, on Christmas.
So my step
counter you sent me broke... It quit counting! But I got a new one, so we're
ok. I'm over 1.5 million steps so far! I don't know if that's a lot compared to
average, but it's a lot more than I thought!
We got
some more ties at Goodwill, and the register calls ties "Men's
lingerie," so I was wondering- where have these ties been?! Who was
wearing them as a loin cloth or whatever to get it registered as lingerie?! Ew.
Go to a
store and find a perfume or an oil or soap or something scented as "tea
olive". It smells amazing.
