Week #47 Letter

We are not going to attack, right, now!!!! 

Well, we're not going to:)

Hello everyone! It is so good to be back here with you in this fine email letter. I wish I could talk to all your beautiful faces but that just isn't possible. So this will suffice. As you can tell from the subject of this email, it was my birthday this past Friday. (Insert happy birthday saying here) and we got some surprising news at Trainer Trainee meeting this past week about Facebook. But you can read to find out what exactly that is:) Cause I am mean that way and I want to make sure you actually read the email and not skip to the pictures. So, here is summaries of the day 41: (Not actually week 41 I think but just what I have for my record. I think I am on week 43 or something like that.)

7-18-16

"He who says he can, and he who says he can't, are both usually right." Preparation day! But today wasn't as exciting as the past couple weeks. We went shopping after studies and ate lunch at chipotle. Then went home and hung around our apartment all afternoon with the Spanish elders. After preparation day ended, we went and picked up elder Liljenquist's stuff for our exchange and dropped off elder Johnson's stuff but didn't exchange yet. They had a lesson so they both wanted to go to that so elder Johnson and I went to Inwood to knock and found a friendly family. They had seen missionaries before and was down to talk. We first talked about their faith and ours too which lead into the restoration lesson. It was cool but they aren't ones to convert at all. But they are super friendly and nice and invites us back anytime. Then we went and exchanged and I'm with elder Liljenquist for the day:) 

7-19-16

"Go faster, must go faster. Go faster, faster, faster! " I'm tired and exhausted like never before. It was an interesting day but also a long one and a fast one, all at the same time. We went to service and did framing there. Ate lunch at a pizzeria nearby and then continued framing afterwards. After that, we went home and cleaned up and ate dinner. Went to a lesson with this referral and taught her the plan of salvation as she was already taught the restoration. It was an awesome lesson and had some cool experiences during it. Then the madness happened. We went to exchange but realized elder Liljenquist had his stuff still at home and so we went and got that. Went to the other elders apartment to exchange, they sent a text they are going to be late and so we went to pick up the other 2 Spanish elders and waited for them as we told them in a few minutes but went immediately so not their fault. Then went back to the apartment to exchange but waited 45 min for them to get there to get a call that is basically they will be another 30 min and so I decided to just exchange tomorrow as it is 9:45 already. Went and dropped off the other elders and went home. And as soon as all of that was done, it was 10:30 on the dot. Time for bed. And repeat again tomorrow. So still with elder Liljenquist.  

7-20-16

"Please, stay here. And don't do anything...stupid. Ok? " Almost back to a normal day. We had trainer trainee meeting today and we first exchanged early in the morning and headed to Rego. The meeting went until 3:30 and was pretty fun being on the trainer end of it. Already know what they are going to talk about and get a refresher on it. Then headed home and got home in time for dinner. Ate and then went and exchanged with elder messenger and Roland for a handoff lesson. I went with elder messenger to the lesson and exchanged back. It was a super short and simple lesson as the man we taught is super old but super nice and willing to read the Book of Mormon. Then contacted on Mott till we went to the church for a lesson with Iderle but she didn't answer so we continued talking to people and taught 2 guys both named Omar. And we saw their driver's license so they could prove they had the same name. Taught them on the street and went through the restoration in simple terms. And then headed on home. Good to be back to normal schedule.  

7-21-16

"I couldn't have asked for a better district." -Elder Heaton. Yes I did just quote myself but I do love my district. They are the best and had 2 surprises for me today! So we started off with the regular study schedule and lunch afterwards. Then we went to the church to finish our online safeguards stuff as we had a big surprise yesterday at trainer trainee meeting. President Reynolds said we are getting Facebook by the end of the month! After that, we went contacting on the street and then went to district meeting. It was just elder messenger and Roland and the two of us at the beginning as the sister were on their way home from exchanges and the other 2 were in Manhattan for a doctors appointment. The sisters showed up half way through and at the very end, elder messenger and Roland brought in a cake with a 19 in it made out of toothpicks! They sang and we had cake. Surprise #1. Then we had dinner and went contacting by the church until I had branch presidency meeting. That was cool to be in but it was another meeting. Went to visit an investigator and talked about the Book of Mormon for a sec but had to leave as they were on their way out the door so we made a return appointment for tomorrow. Went to the church to surprise sister Lilly as yesterday was her birthday but as soon as I walked in, they all sang to me. The entire district was there and the Lilly's and then we sang to sister Lilly. The district even got me a present. They all bought me a hulk buster lego set:) so nice and the Lilly's made cake so we had cake and went home. Surprise #2. It was a fun day and it was all thanks to the district. Well, this 18 year old is signing off for good. Goodnight! 

7-22-16

"Low flow shower heads? I don't like the sound of that." It was a fun day today:) so we did our studies and went to the church. Ate lunch at McDonald's and then went to the church to try to modify our Facebook's more as we have no idea what we are doing and there are some certain settings the mission requires for Facebook. We think we figured it out with the help of Elder Messenger who was here before Facebook got banned. He's old. Then we did our weekly planning and went to Chipotle for dinner. Knocked around Inwood for Prime Time and tried to visit some members but they weren't home. Then contacted by the church until the end of the night and went home. It was a fun day for mission standards, doesn't sound like it but it was. :)  

7-23-16

"I reject your reality and substitute my own." Well, pretty average day. We had a lesson at 10 so we went to it and drove around to look for parking. And continued to look. And a little more looking. Until after 45 min of driving around looking for parking, we gave up. Saturday's are a popular day for people to go to the beach, who would have thought, huh? So we went to the church and did 12 week and then went home and ate lunch. Went to the church for correlation and then went to go to a lesson with Daniel but he wasn't home so did some knocking. Went home and ate dinner and then went to a lesson with Maurine, a lady we taught last week, but she had company and went to visit our referral that wanted us to drop off a bible and Book of Mormon. Dropped it off but weren't able to teach as they were very busy. Ugh. And then went back to see Daniel but no one answered so we knocked and went contacting by the church till the end of the night. Great day of cancelled lessons. 

7-24-16

"I have a plan, attack." It was an interesting day today. All thanks to a member named brother Beaty. So we had church and it was less stressful this week so it was nice. Got to go and learn new things in Sunday school and did tithing after church. Then went with brother Beaty to see sister Harvey. So brother Beaty was a member that lived here 3 years ago and he is visiting for 3 weeks for some med school program or something like that and will be staying at a member's home here. He went with us to see her and invited us over for dinner and talked about the branch and what we can do to help it. Then went by the SIddoway's and weren't able to teach them as they were busy but got a return appointment for tomorrow. Went contacting by the church till the end of the night and went home and made the calls to the district. So much fun:) 

So sorry about the font and everything. Weird coloring and sizing. Don't know how to fix on the iPad when I copy it from notes to email. But whatever, you can read it. So Facebook, we are getting Facebook by the end of the month according to president Reynolds. This Friday's ZTM is what that will be all about so we get to find out more on Friday. 

My birthday was also really fun thanks to the district. They made it a special day. Thanks to everyone that sent a happy birthday email! I saw them all and also saw the ones on Facebook thanks to mom:) 

So for our investigators, not much has changed but we are trying to follow up with potentials and those we have taught very recently to determine if they are interested or not. That is what we will be working on this week along with the less active list. We will be going around to ever member's home and getting to know them or determine where they are. Gonna be a fun week with brother Beaty as we do this. 

Love you all and miss you. I will see you in the next email! By-bye! 

-Elder HĘÅTØÑ

Week #46 Pictures

Week #46 Letter

THis week was pretty good. We had Mega Zone conference which was amazin. We had 2 exchanges and the branch BBQ with a surprise that showed up at the BBQ. You will read all about it here:) 

7-11-16

"Is that goal regulation size or what?" Today was such a fun day! We had preparation day and we went mini golfing as our district activity. We had a little contest of which companionship would get the best score. We did not win, but came in 3rd place. Oh well, super fun. Went to Costco afterwards and got food finally. We weren't able to go last week and was scraping the barrel for food this past couple days. But now we are set. Went home and emailed for a bit till preparation day was over and went to Inwood to knock some more. Ended up teaching this lady and she was interested a little. Hopefully she will continue and keep her commitments. Then went to the church to teach Iderle but she never came on and didn't answer her phone so we left and went to visit some potentials. Nothing and headed in for the night. 

7-12-16

"You're going to give me your best, your very best. Nothing less. Give me your very best." Today was great. We had Mega Zone Conference and we went to get the car washed and then picked up Elder's Messenger and Roland to go to it. Took a while to get there and I have gotten better with driving in the city I feel like. Mega Zone was great. It was super spiritual and uplifting. I'll send the notes in a separate email if I remember. We left at 5:30 and took an hour and a half to get home. Went to this prayer circle we got invited to Sunday Night and showed up for 10 min then left as it was basically another sermon for them. They said it was going to be for the Dallas shooting and a community coming together but nah. Wasn't like that. Then went and exchanged with Elders Corzo and Liljenquist. I'm with elder Corzo for the day:) 

7-13-16

"Don't talk to me, I'm on my popcorn break."

"But my car has been in there 3 hours..."

"Do you see this suit, I don't fix cars, I sell them."

"But..."

"Do I look like I care?"

"...No."

Well, great exchange. It was exhausting and stressful at the end of the night but good exchange overall. We had studies and lunch afterwards. We went to district meeting and had a good time. the sisters weren't there as they had a medical issue. And a district meeting of only elders did not stay on topic as well as it could have been. Still stayed on topic for the most part but had its moments. Afterwards, I worked on branch clerk stuff for an hour and tried to get organized for the audit coming up in a couple weeks. Then went to visit potentials and ran into a lot of people and taught this lady about the church and the restoration. Pretty cool but not very interested in converting or changing anything. Then ate dinner at KFC and went knocking in Inwood for prime time find. First door we knocked on was a lady that missionaries taught years ago and she was wondering what happened to them and listened very well. Wants us to come back but prefers Spanish so elder Corzo got an investigator. Then went to the church and taught Iderle via FaceTime. That was fun to see her and a great lesson. Went home and got elder Corzo's stuff and went back to the church to pick up elder messenger and Roland. Went and exchanged with the other two and went home. Stressful at around 8 pm till 9:30 pm as that is when we got home. 

7-14-16

"So I'm drawing the map that leads to you. Ain't nothing I can do. I'm falling, falling, falling." It was an interesting day today. We did service today and we did it for both parts. Before and after lunch. I worked on scraping paint off the cement in the back side of the house and after lunch, helped frame parts of the area we were working on. That included shooting nails into the concrete which required a special tool that was basically a gun. Had to wear ear plugs and everything. After service, we went home and cleaned up and made cards till dinner. Had some dinner and exchanged with elder Messenger and Roland. I'm with elder Roland for the day! We went to the church to have branch presidency meeting but couldn't get in contact with our branch president so we left after 20 min and he called later to say he was out of town. We went to visit a couple people but no one answered their door. Talked to people on the street and planted seeds until we went home. 

7-15-16

"Who knew, that all the planes we flew. The good things we been through. That I would be right here standing next to you. How could we not talk about family when family is all that we got." Great exchange today. We had studies and made cards all morning until we went to the opening ceremony of a house we worked on for the past while for service. It was cool to see the finished project and see the owner of it. Then we ate lunch and went to go to a lesson but had a wrong address and called the person and they weren't home but we got the right address now. Went knocking for 30 min to find no one was answering their doors so we went to Mott Ave by the church contacted and did some look ups. Ate dinner and exchanged back. We went to Inwood and knocked some more and talked with this less active that doesn't live in the area but is here a lot and has a nonmember friend he wants us to teach which is in our area. So cool and then went home. 

7-16-16

"I said dart gun, not, ugh!" 

"Oh, because, I was wondering, under what circumstances, would we use this. But whatever." 

It was a really fun day today. We had personal study then picked elder messenger and Roland to go to the branch BBQ. We got there at 9:30 to help set up and ended up going to a near by store and buying stuff for the grill at the beach. When we got back we had a nice surprise waiting. Elder Burningham was there! Well, Jason now, but that's too weird to say. It was awesome to see him and to catch up with him. The BBQ started and a good amount of people showed up which was nice. After a while, we started cleaning up and everyone went to the beach and we went to the church and had correlation. Then went to Inwood for lessons which only 1 happened. It was an awesome lesson though. It was with a guy named Daniel we met last weekend and he was really open and excited for us to come by and teach him. Totally willing to accept our message and wants to come to church. Hopefully! Then went to the other ones but they didn't happen. Went to the church and met Jay there and he took us to dinner at a Chinese restarting nearby. Always a good time to see him. Afterwards, we went to a lesson with a lady elder Corzo and I met on exchanges and taught her about the restoration. She was also super nice and willing to hear us. Then went to the SIddoway's and ended up teaching her nephew, Reggi about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was an awesome day.:) 

7-17-16

"Worlds apart were broken in two, two, two! Good day today. About our average Sunday but I'll go through it with you. We went to the church and had branch council and the regular Sunday meetings. I was as usual running around before church trying to get the program ready and make sure the hymns were good as our pianist and chorister is out of town for a couple of weeks. But other than that, it was good. After church, we did tithing and went home and had lunch. Went and gave sister Harvey the sacrament and then had our studies. Only had like a half an hour of personal study as we were at sister Harvey's for 1 hour. That was a long time. Had dinner and went contacting on Mott Ave and 20th street. We did that for the entire prime time basically and got 66 seeds out of it talking to everyone. That was exhausting to continue talking the entire time and walking. I'm not used to walking! So lazy. 

Week #45 Pictures

Week #45 Letter

Herro!

This was a pretty good week. We had exchanges, Zone Training Meeting,
the 4th of July last Monday, etc. We had a pretty full week so here is
how it went:

7-4-16
"Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join
others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest
aerial battle in the history of mankind. "Mankind." That word should
have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by our
petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests.
Perhaps it's fate that today is the Fourth of July, and you will once
again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or
persecution... but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to
live. To exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no
longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world
declared in one voice: "We will not go quietly into the night!" We
will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going
to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!" Sorry for the
long quote but you have to quote the entire thing if you are going to
quote part of it. Happy 4th of July everyone! Today did not go
according to plan. We planned to do studies, then go to the church to
meet with the Spanish elders and then went to Costco only to find out
that it was closed. So we ate lunch at Taco Bell and went home to
email. After preparation day, we went knocking by Wavecrest and didn't
talk to too many people but saw a lot of fire works and as I am
writing this journal right now, there is a lot of fireworks
continually going off. But hey, I'm used to missing out on things by
now. After knocking, we contacted by the church till the end of the
night and took Elders Messenger and Roland home and then wen those to
find the other Spanish elders at our place still doing laundry.
Apparently they didn't get there until really late so they were
contacting by our home and changing their loads all night. Feel bad
for them as they didn't get to do a whole lot of missionary work and
the bus schedule changed their day dramatically. So we took them home
and then came back.
7-5-16
"Happy birthday dear mom!" So it was a little different today. We had
an hour of personal study and then went to service for the morning. We
went to a new location located close to our home and it was in the
beginning phase still so we did demolition. Took out a lot of boards
that rotted away and tried to save some of them by taking the nails
out and chucking the nails. Afterwards, we went to subway for lunch
and then went home, cleaned up and did 12 week for a bit. Then went to
Richmond Hill for exchanges with the zone leaders. I'm with elder
Selfaison. We went finding for the night. Ate dinner at Burger King
though:) and went to their apartment and called it a night.
7-6-16
"When this baby hits 88 miles an hour..." It was a fun day. We had the
exchanges with the zone leaders and we had studies and then wen to eat
lunch at the church. We got some Chinese food and our service
cancelled because it was so hot so Elder Selfaison and I made cards
all afternoon. When exchanges were over, we had a review and then we
were off. We went and picked up elder Messenger and Roland to go to
the church and do the quarterly report. We got pizza while there for
dinner. Afterwards, we went contacting around the neighborhoods and
talked to a lot of people and taught a lesson too:) Finally taught a
lesson. Then went home. Our apartment was 84 when we walked in. So hot
still. Almost an hour later after turning on the ac and it is 82 so
far.
7-7-16
"You must be swift as a coursing river... And mysterious as the dark
side of the moon." Not a very productive day but that happens. We had
our studies this morning and had district meeting afterwards. That was
fun and then we had Halal for the first time with Elder Johnson and he
loved it:) Thought he would. Then tried to do our weekly planning for
a bit but after an hour, got distracted by the other elders. Then we
weren't hungry so we just stayed at the church during that time and
talked with the other elders then went knocking. Weren't able to teach
any lessons but got some seeds planted. Then visited some members but
not home so we went to visit the Forbes and we ended up teaching Cruz.
Good lesson.
7-8-16
"I'm a sailor, I like to sail! Look at me, I'm a sailor!" Boring day
today. We had studies and then lunch. Did our weekly planning and then
left for Zone Training Meeting. ZTM was at 2 pm... That took up all of
our day and we got back to our area by 6 and then went knocking. We
talked to a few people but talked to this sort of basher guy for 45
min. He was going off about how we are doing the dirty work for the
church to get money and how he feels bad for us so he always talks to
missionaries and tells them what a dangerous place they are in and
should go somewhere else. That was the basics of how that conversation
went and at the end, he asked to take a selfie with us. So we did and
here it is:



Interesting guy but the most part of it is that he respects us for what we do but feels bad we are doing the dirty work for the church. Then we went to see Sister Siddoway but as we knocked on her door, we said hello to her next door neighbor and started talking. He was waiting for a jump from his friend so we said we could jump his car so we proceeded to jump his car for the next half hour and talked with him for a few minutes about the church. He was very interested and said we could come by anytime and he wanted to come to church Sunday. That took up all our time we had so we said we will go by tomorrow to see sister Siddoway and headed home. 
7-9-16
"Gus, don't be a gooy, chocolate chip cookie." We actually did missionary work today! Sort of. We had the studies and lunch, normal morning and then went to go to some lessons but none of them happened and we went to the church to make some calls and finish the quarterly report and found the computer locked. So I had to call a member to come and type in the password and then change the settings so we can use it and had to call him again to come back and type in his password to change the password. That was a mess, but I got the computer to work and finished the quarterly report. Went and visited some potentials and referrals but no one was home. Had dinner and went knocking for a bit but no one was answering so we decided to contact by the church for a while. Then went to see sister Siddoway and had a lesson with her. She said her entire family is coming to church tomorrow! 
7-10-16
"Hello from the other side! We must have knocked a thousand times to tell you about our beliefs." This was a good day. Worked hard and saw the blessings. We had church early and the computer was messed up this past week as they were being upgraded to Windows 10 and we lost the files on the computer so I had to make a modified program really quick for sacrament today. Then had sacrament meeting and helped teach a Sunday school lesson to the youth and then taught the young men during 3rd hour on the spot. Did tithing and then went home and ate lunch. Took the sacrament to Sister Harvey and went home and did studies. Had dinner and went knocking. We had a goal of teaching 2 other lessons and planting 33 seeds. We taught 2 lessons and planted 40 seeds:) We just walked around Inwood and knocked and talked with anyone we saw and was able to do that:) Super fun and time flew by so fast. We went to the church to plant some seeds and ended up meeting this pastor and the Spanish elders show up and take over and ended up teaching him about the Book of Mormon. That was cool to see him be willing to listen and super nice and genuine about it. Then headed home after that:) Great day. 

So we still don't have a teaching pool. Our investigators are out of town or we haven't been able to contact them. Very frustrating but that is probably what the summer is like usually for missionary work. So we were doing a lot of finding and teaching doorstep lessons. But it was a good week with Elder Johnson. He is a great elder and has come a long ways already. 

Love you all and miss you. I will see you in the next email, bu-Bye! 

-Elder Heaton

Week #44 Letter

It was a good week as I was getting used to training and to the 3 hours of studies again. Not a very successful week as far as lessons go but there are always weeks like that and you just keep trying and working hard and it will all works out eventually. SO here is how the week went:

6-27-16
"We've come a long way, from where we began. Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. When I see you again, oh-oh-o." Very emotional day today as we said goodbye to old friends. The district was very tightly bound. We are sad to see one companion from each companionship leave this transfer. But we will say hello to the news ones and welcome new memories we make. We first started this emotional rollercoaster of a day with studies at the church as we had to be there early for haircuts. We got the calls at the church and half the district is leaving. We then had Jay come and gave us haircuts. It was good to see him:) afterwards, Elders Corbett, Messenger, Parrish and I went to IHOP for lunch. Went home afterwards and emailed for a while. Had a good time as Elders Honey and Corzo were there as well. It was a good time. After preparation day, we went to a lesson but didn't happen, went to visit sister Siddoway but she wasn't home so we went to Brother Thompson's earlier than usual and taught them. Then went back to Sister SIddoway's and it was very emotional for the both of us. I am dearly going to miss elder Parrish. He has taught me so much. 
6-28-16
"It's a celebration, that'll last throughout the year. So bring your good times and your laughter too. We gonna celebrate your party with you." Transfer day and the start of a new adventure! We did some studies but had to go and drop off some clothes at the Spanish elders apartment, then had to stop by the post office and Mail off a package. Picked up some luggage and went to Rego. We got there 1 hour early basically and went to the mall real fast. Went back and saw the other trainers and went inside. We were talking when we saw the trainees coming in. The assistants were walking them to a room and they sent us to another. We waited some more and the trainees came in. We were sitting and they were standing and president announced the companions and I got Elder Johnson as my companion! We went to another room and ate pizza for a minute and talked with them for a bit. Then went upstairs and everyone else started showing up and I introduced him to a lot of people, he probably won't remember half of them, and set up his iPad. Waited for the leadership meeting to start and it finally did in the afternoon. That meeting took 1.5 hours I think. It was long though. Just went on. And afterwards, we went and picked up his luggage and drove home. We did not get home as fast as we got there, traffic and all. And went and dropped off his stuff at home and went to the Inikoris. Shared a quick message and went knocking. Just planted seeds. Then looked up some potentials and contacted by the church till the end of the night. He is still in shock about this place:) everything is so cool to him:) it's awesome. I'm gonna love being a trainer. 
6-29-16
"Let's be honest, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." Today was a pretty good day. We had our 3 hours of studies. Yes, I'm back to 12 week. And then a small lunch after that and went to District Meeting. That was an experience as I had to conduct it for the first time. No longer do I just show up but I have to prepare for it. But it went well I thought. Afterwards, we had to go buy some sheets for Elder Johnson as he didn't have any and bought some food to last us till Monday. Then went home and made cards and some calls to set up lessons. Had dinner and went knocking. We taught a lesson to a guy who was interesting. He seemed a little different but he was interested and hopefully he reads from the Book of Mormon. Continued knocking and then went to visit the Dures but only Bruce was available so we shared a message with him and went and picked up the Spanish elders and took them home. Great day and it flew by really fast. I was surprised this day is already over. I felt like I just did my journal.  
6-30-16
"What's a raccoon? It's what you are stupid." 
"I am Groot."
"Yeah, we heard for the fortieth time already, what's wrong with the giving tree?" 
Good day today. We had studies but not 12 week as it is weekly planning day. But during the 12 week time, we had a mission wide conference call form President and Sister Reynolds sharing a quick uplifting message. It was pretty cool to hear. Then did weekly planning and that was fun to explain to Elder Johnson for the first time. Probably didn't do a very good job but hey, he learns quick. Had some lunch and went to the church to modify his Facebook account and after like 30 min of it, I didn't know how to do anything the guidelines were telling us to do to make it mission approved so we did some things and called it good. Went to a lesson but didn't happen. So we knocked and taught a lesson at a doorstep. Then went to another lesson with James and we taught him. Pretty good lesson. Went to dinner and went knocking around Arverne which is really close to our home. Actually, we live in Arverne but we knocked close by. Went to visit Ayodeji but not home and so we went to the Forbes and introduced Elder Johnson to the Forbes. It was fun and amazing. Headed home after that. 
7-1-16
"Luke, I am your father." 
Today was a great day. We had studies for 3 hours and lunch. Went to do look ups and ended up teaching Edwin for a while and had to go to another lesson but didn't end up happening. But I didn't find out some interesting info. So remember last week on Sunday when we saw Edwin or David standing and then Edwin later that night but they were wearing the same clothes? Yeah, that was still David, he wa splaying a trick on us and said he was Edwin again but in reality it was David driving the scooter to the hospital for Edwin to drive home. He is such a prankster. Anyways, we didn't have that other lesson so we knocked for a bit around them until we went to another lesson that didn't happen but we taught this very enthusiastic guy about the restoration and he was very excited to get a Book of Mormon as it is another book to read. Interesting response but he says he already believes it is true and he will come to church. Still want him to pray though. Anyways, we went home and ate dinner and went knocking some more and taught another lesson and went to the Prison Yard to do look ups and while walking out of one building, this lady came over to Elder Johnson and said along the lines of will he take her home tonight... Well, great first week in the field, introducing him to drunk people wanting to go home with him. Perfect. Well, we talked with her for a few minutes and smelled the weed and alcohol all over her but she has has a rough life. We finish that conversation up and went to go do more look ups and went home. Welcome to NY Elder Johnson! HAHA:) 
7-2-16
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” What a day that wasn't too productive. We got a call just before studies that a member needed to us to open the church for him so we went to the church and opened it for him and had our studies there. We ended up having to leave during companionship study to go pick up the Spanish elders for the branch barbecue that both branches had today. We got to the church again and had to set up everything and help get the barbecue going, set up the tables and food, and wait for member to actually get there. We had 2 young men from our branch show up but no leaders so they didn't know what to do. Neither did we so they hung around for a bit and we were waiting for the party to end to help clean up and so we went and did a few things around the church and visited investigators near by but when we came back, there was more people. So we had to wait it out for like half an hour then they started to clean up and we helped and it got done finally around 4:30 so we went home and ate dinner. Then looked up referrals for the night and ended up talking to this guy for an hour about the phrases of words. Wouldn't let us talk or teach him at all. Bummer, we seem to be getting a lot of those lately. Then we went to the church and contacted for 2 min before we get a call form the sisters asking us to give a blessing to their investigator. We ask the Spanish elders to hurry up and give them a ride with us to the blessing and give it and went home. Great day:) 
7-3-16
"Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Well we're all in the mood for a melody."  Great day today. We had church and I got my new calling as the branch clerk and all during elders quorum and 2 hours after church, I got trained and did tithing. So that was fun as I have 2 big reports to do too in the coming weeks. Yay. After, we went to visit sister Harvey and gave her the sacrament. Then went home and did our studies as we are supposed to do studies even on Sunday's for training. Then had dinner and went knocking. We even got invited to a barbecue and talked with those people there and had a good time for 5 min before we left. Pretty cool. Then visited the SIddoway's tonight and helped her with some things for a bit. Then went home and did the calls for the district. That was weird to do that. 

So as far as investigators, we lost a lot. Iderle is in Ohio now, Colleen is traveling with her new job a lot, Clifton came to church but we are still trying to find a date for his dad to baptize him. Shaheed has had some car troubles lately so he has been getting home late from work so we aren't able to meet with him and he hasn't been able to come to church either. So that is difficult but we are trying to meet with him. But overall, a great first week for Elder Johnson in the field. He is doing great for a new missionary. He tries to talk to a lot of people and is taking at half of the door approaches so he is easy to train I think. I just got to be good at letting him know what he needs to know! I'm not too good at that part as I forget he is new and doesn't know everything yet, neither do I for that matter, but he is doing great. 

Love you all and hope your 4th of July is wonderful. Have a great week! 

Week #44 Pictures