Dear Family and Friends,
What an amazing and experience filled week I have had! I hope that you all had a wonderful week and that you find joy in the week to Come!
My new Address is
3232 N Locust #1114 Denton, Tx 76207
So here is how my week went!!!
Week February 15-21 2016
Monday:
Wow today was such a crazy and fast day! So today we had the amazing opportunity to have a really fun p day with the whole Zone for the last time, and it was hard to say the good byes to some of the amazing missionaries going home or even just leaving!
So today I went with Elder Corrington and Elder Bowls to shop and do emails while Elder 'Otuafi and Elder Sikaleti and Elder Taylor made food for the Zone party! So the whole morning we spent together and had a blast! We even went and gave a sick man a blessing in he ICU, and it was such an amazing opportunity to be able to use the priesthood power to help someone else! Also today we had the chance to play volleyball and basketball and it was just really nice to be able to work out and get stress out that I really built up this week! As the week slowly pushes by again the stress and nervousness builds knowing what will be happening this Wednesday!
So after our really fun P day we had a blast at Family Home Evening and had even more people than Expected come out and join us for a great lesson on enduring to the end and also a great home made meal! So our new tradition is to have everyone bring a small dish of food and after the lesson we go and eat and just visit, and we actually have got a few new investigators out of it! So tonight as I was leaving Elder Parkin, the District Leader came to me and gave me the church keys and the District Leader Binder that made me get even more nervous and excited to start with my district and make it the best!!! A huge adventure is right around the corner!
Tuesday:
Wow what a tiring day we both had today!! So our plans started out that we were going to spend the morning at our daily bread and then cleaning our apartment, after which we would go and teach 2 lessons, but by the time we got our apartment spotless it was already 9 o'clock!! So today we had a great time at the Soup Kitchen making food and cleaning dishes for the last time together. We are sad to leave each other, but also excited to see what other treasures are in store for us! So when we got home we planned to spend some time cleaning and then we were going to go and teach Emanuel Guillen, but as we got cleaning we realized we would not finish cleaning out our apartment until later in the evening! It was crazy moving everything out and just realizing that we have nothing in our cupboards or anything. We are enjoying spending the night sleeping on the ground and having everything packed because tomorrow we are being picked up for transfers at 6:50! Only crazier times are about to hit and I am so excited! We it wasn't to long tonight, but hopefully they will get better as my energy comes back to me!! Also we partied all night on the Floor, because our apartment was being taken apart the next day and had to be ready!
Wednesday:
Well today was just a great day! So today we got going super early and were in the Hurst Stake Center by 8:15! Saying goodbye to elder O was super hard, because he had taught me so much in the time together and we hugged for a close 3 minutes just saying thanks for the times spent together. However, As we had breakfast I could already tell who my new companion would be because he was the only Spanish Speaking missionary coming out! So as the meeting started we were introduced as companions and I was so excited to have him as my new companion for 2 transfers!! So his name is Elder Wardle and he is a great missionary already! He is from North Ogden and is way into anything outdoors and just super awesome! I thought it was going to be hard to connect with my trainee until I meet him and we have so much in common! So after the meeting we went outside and we had our new Chevi Cruise waiting outside for us to drive home! I was awesome to try and fit Elder Wardle's new bike in the back of the car and all of his luggage as well in our huge trunk!! As we got going it felt so good to be able to drive again! As we got to the apartment we unpacked our bags and boxes from the other apartment and then we were able to get busy and go contact some investigators and set some appointments after we had a great dinner at Hna. Strassers house and taught a wonderful lesson on how the Book of Mormon blesses our lives. I am already loving Elder Wardle so much and just love how much he is willing to listen and learn! He is not way good with Spanish yet, but it willing to learn, so I know he will learn super fast!! So tonight I was able to call all my district and welcome to the best District Ever and tell them I love them! My goals are big for this district this transfer and for just my companionship, and I know it is possible as we work together as a ward family! I am so excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord!!
Thursday:
So today was a very tiring and stressful day for the both of us, but as we got closer to the end of the day it seemed to just get better! So today we started out by having studies until 12 because he is a new missionary and learning how to become better. So after our amazing studies we headed over to the library where we had 3 more hours of Weekly Planning where we finished and we're just burned out. Between all of the weekly planning I was receiving texts and calls from the sisters and elders in my district about our area books and things that were happening and it just added to my stress, but it was a good thing! So I had the chance to call and visit with the APS and hopefully have a solution to the problem and it was good to finish! Also we had the chance to go with Elder Escobar and his new comp, my MTC companion, Elder Lakey, to eat at Roosters! It is awesome to have him in my district!! After dinner we had the opportunity to teach Emanuel Guillen and also take a member to teach a less active man. At the end of this lesson the man thanked us for bringing him along us. He had really missed having him in his life and never had the chance to thank him for what he had done for him. It is such a blessing to have loving members who want what you want! What an a,axing work we have. And best of all, my companion even new is trying his hardest to share the gospel with all his might!!!
Friday:
Wow it is just so crazy how fast times gets going even though I am training! I thought time would slow down just a tad, but I was wrong! So today we had the opportunity to go and serve at the Our Daily Bread and I was fun to watch Elder Wardle at his first mission service project as he was interacting and just seeing how much fun it is to give service to all of the people here in Denton. Elder Wardle is really good at creating conversations with people and is working up to be such an amazing missionary, and I thing he really already is one! So we met a lady today who was from South Africa, knew 3 different languages and just loves to serve people. She was such a funny lady always joking with us because we were slow, and she brought up a huge point to me! She said, "I am glad God gives us the chance to make friends so far away from home so we feel at home." She looked at us as her true friends in just a few minutes and that made me look at my whole mission. These people are my friends and I am glad I feel so at home here in Denton!! So after our service we took a halt by having a power nap, and it was a really good thing we did, because Elder Wardle was so tired he slept the whole 1 hour! However after that we had some really good studies with Role plays and had dinner fast so that we could get through some iPad training before our lesson. A rule in our mission is we have to do so much training on the iPad before the trainers can give the trainees their iPads, and he was able to finish it! We had a wonderful lesson tonight with Alicia Castor Moratalla with her non me,ver husband, and it was so good! I started the lesson and the I tried to work Elder Wardle in when he felt comfortable. As I listened to his struggle and just his nervous expression with jumbled Spanish it made me look back and see where I started and how much God has blessed me! Now my desire and hope is to change his life by helping learn Spanish super fast!! I know he can do it, because he has a desire to learn and work hard! After our lesson we were able to finish his training so that he could receive his iPad and start using it, and it was a good feeling accomplishing it a little at a time!!! What a great day! I love my companion!
Saturday:
Wow today was such a fun day for us!! So today I felt like we definitely bonded really well together! So today we were able to go to the community garden and do a little bit of service where my companion found a snake and had to take some pictures with it! Also we got the chance to just have a good time talking about the things we love and why we chose to serve missions! So as we finished we headed to the house of Elder Escobar and Lakey who made us lunch today and it was really good! After lunch we headed to the house and finished up some good companionship studies along with language studies where I feel not only Elder Wardle grew, but I grew as a missionary as well!! I was able to teach him secrets to Spanish and he was able to teach me his love the of the Gospel! I loved seeing how much energy he had even when he was nervous! So after our good studies we headed out to a dinner appointment with a member Caine Espinosa who has been inactive and is returning to activity! As we ate at his house I feel like our relationship grew and I actually found out he served his mission where the CCM is in Mexico! He loved it so much and loved sharing his experiences! As we taught him a lesson about baptism and how it is for everyone he decided to share his goal with us. He said, "my goal is to go back to Mexico and to baptize my wife and daughters. I can see myself in the font with them and at the temple and it makes me want to leave right now!" It made me so happy to hear him say that. He understands the importance and wants the best for them! As we taught I loved hearing Elder Wardle jump in and say what he felt was important, because he was right! The things he said helped Hno. Espinosa and it was fun to see him try his hardest to speak correctly! I know that in just a few weeks he will see a difference in his Spanish, and I can't wait for him to see his progress!! So after that dinner we headed straight to work making appointments with people and seeing when we could come back, but no one seemed to be home, and now that we have a giant area we realized that we spent a lot of time in the car, and that is when I felt we really bonded by visiting and just joking around with every one another! I can already say I don't want to say good bye to him any time soon!
Sunday:
Wow today was quite the energy draining day for me! So today we had our mission coordination meeting and ward council meeting in the morning, and I was really cool to see how my position opened up more ideas to help our district in these meetings, for instance, the presidencies wanted to know what I though about a lot more things, but I was also a little bit more nervous that I would say what I thought was good and not what was needed, so I was slow to speak and fast to think on what I should say! However, Elder Wardle was a champ in church for his first day, and he is able to understand a lot more Spanish than I was expecting and that was a really nice thing! However, now it is time to help him to be able to speak it! I feel he will pick it up really fast and be fine, it is just taking the time to struggle through it and not give up! So as church finished we had the chance to go home and take a halt by having a power nap because I was demolished after church and so was Elder Wardle from translating Spanish to English in his head! After we woke up we had a partial study time and then headed straight to work contacting some different houses for the first time in a referred area. As we contacted we only found one Hispanic lady out of like 15 houses, so we don't know why the street was referred to us, but we had a great time truly contacting for Elder Wardle's first time! Come to find out he is just like I was. He hates contacting and can't wait to use members to get people to teach! As I am sitting writing I am in the middle of collecting numbers from my district and calling the Zonle Leaders and I just feel like it is crazy how fast time flies and as I think about where I was to where I am at it blows my mind! God is changing me and I love it and I know that as I keep moving forward he will only help me in my life and my companions as well! I am so glad I have the opportunity to learn from Elder Wardle! He is a great missionary!
Thank you for all your love and support for me!! I am sorry to those of you I haven't been able to write back to or email back! I promise I do love what you send and I have all intentions of writing back, I just never find the time to write back, so please be patient with me!
I love and pray for you all daily!! Have a great week!!
Con Amor,
Elder Spendlove
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