Week of March 20, 2016

Dear Mom,

I am so jealous of you guy's going to the temple dedication! I heard it was really good. I really like the comments about the Atonement and I will sure use that with investigators and members over here to teach them that principle! I am sending some stuff up to Grandma and Grandpa Oaks so that I don't have to pay to mail them because they will not be accepted on the airplane either so they should get them anytime this week. Just have them either hold on to it for me or give it to you guys. I am really happy to be here in Carlsbad, it is a really great town and I know that the work will progress as we work hard. I haven't talked to the Farley side (besides the grandparents) for 2 years. So I don't know anything about that side of the family. Where is Brayden working? What job does he have? How is Aunt Stephanie? Thank you for the pictures of the temple, I really enjoyed them! They are really beautiful pictures.

It sounds like soccer pretty much envelops your lives, I guess you have earned the title of Soccer Mom officially. What is happening with Caden's anxiety? Is it a condition, is it stress, or was it just a random thing? Why doesn't Bryson ever email me? I will pray for success with the restaurant. Why are you staying out of the restaurant's business? Is it giving you too much stress? My week was really good. We drove to Roswell for Zone training, we taught a lot of people. Namely Stormy and Cat, Stormy is an atheist but he is a lot nicer and understands the doctrine better than most "Christians" that I have met. We have been sharing the new Easter Video with everyone and it is a really good video, I invite you to check it out. It is called Hallelujah. It is similar to the Christmas video but with adults. We also picked up a new investigator named Alma who is super cool, her mom is a member but she never really got the chance to learn so she asked us to come over. Kenny and Jessica are still doing good, Bro Caldwell is progressing slowly. Sister Smith is doing great, pretty much everyone is at a similar pace.

A lesson that I learned this week is always give the benefit of the doubt. So many people are filled with hate nowadays and they are so contradictory with their statements such as "I have muslim friends, but they all need to be kicked out of our country."  or "Mormons are the best people on earth, but they are just too sexist and racist" I have learned to just love people and not judge them and then if they backstab me, calmly just leave the picture. It is the best we can do without making the problem worse.

(what he is sending in his package home) stuff like eggs of large birds, a gift from an investigator, a rattlesnake skin, a watch, a electric machine toy, and a couple of books. Stuff that I don't need right now. 

So my goals are to get one last baptism at least, and become a really well-balanced person.

And about Karen, I am still trying to find out if we will even start something. But I do share little thoughts with her and I am working at her pace. But I will send you the address as soon as I remember it because you are right and that is my goal with her and I already have it in my head that if she isn't interested then it will not work out. So don't worry, I will not become one of those members. I love you so much and I want the best for myself and for you guys. I am a little smarter than you sometimes take me for ;)

Love you,

Austin

Water they hand out to people... creative storage

Week of March 13, 2016

Dear Mom,

The Caverns are really cool, I won't go back there again unless I get a new companion because it is one of those, you have seen it once, you have seen it all, places. I love it when I see wildlife, it just reminds me more of home because over here it is all oilfield. So it is really hard to see the actual nature of the area haha. Yeah, Elder Whitesides is a great kid, but I can not stand him as my district leader. He shows up really late to district meeting, and he forgets nearly everything. I don't know, maybe he is my test of patience and charity right now. Elder Cortez and I are doing great, we don't go a single day without trying to wrestle eachother into the running water of the shower with clothes on or wrestle on the ground over who knows what :) This week has been better with appointments but nobody is progressing just yet this week. This is a reconstruction week if I could give it a name. Sister Smith is the best but she is in Alamagordo all week so that is a bummer!

So her name is Karen Stephany Davila,(the girl he has been writing since before his mission?!) people usually call her stephany but she lets people who she cares about use her first name (I gained that privilege about a couple of months ago :) ) She is 20 years old about to turn 21 so about Hyrum's age. She is a really sweet girl who cares a lot about me and she does take time out of her busy schedule to make me videos and that kind of stuff :) She works at an English Academy and she is studying Pedalogy. We write every week, but sometimes when she is busy it takes anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to get back to me but when she does, it is with like 6 videos and 4 emails that she drafted so that she could send them when she had the chance. I didn't think that it was going anywhere until halfway through my mission so that is why I never said anything. Plus, I kind of felt like you guys kind of don't like it when I talk about my foreign friends so usually I leave them out of my conversations. ( I have 45 to be exact) And don't worry, I don't ever plan on living in Guatemala. She would come up here if it got really serious. But the thing is, America sucks when it comes to Visas. I only need to show the officials in Guatemala my passport and I can stay for 90 days automatically. She on the other hand, is in the middle of the process which has taken her a year and a half just to get accepted to maybe get a visa... My companion can verify that as he has family in El Salvador and Mexico. His aunt and grandma have been trying to get visas for years and they haven't been successful. So it appears that most of our dating will be in Guatemala until she gets the visa, but little fact... If she were to marry an American, then she would automatically get a Visa. So yeah, we will figure it out. That should be thought of way in the future but I thought I would put it into perspective :)

I am a little jealous of you guys watching movies when I am here watching the same Legacy over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over :)  This could take a while so I will stop right there :) So is pretty much everyone in sports right now? It seems that our family is more athletic than I had thought. It is a really great thing that Bryson is being influenced that way, he should be fine as long as he does that. I am really thankful that I decided to go on a mission and I have learned so much and met so many people that have changed my life forever! I love you guys so much and I can not wait to teach you guys what I know when I get back! I only have 3 months so I got to use it to the fullest! Love you

Your son,

Austin

Week of March 6, 2013

Dear Mom,

My week was great! We went to the Caverns and I have pictures this time, we did a lot of work in Otis which is a little town outside of Carlsbad which is mainly trailer homes. We also went to Roswell for Zone Training and I went on exchanges with Elder Whitesides in Artesia. It was fun and we taught some really cool people that night, Artesia is going to get a baptism! 
We are actually not going to cover 2 wards and we might get moved to the new ward which might actually be better because it is so hard to be in 2 wards when they meet at around the same time! We are having a rough time with teaching this week because everybody keeps punching on their appointments, we mainly have been working with Less actives this week. Sister Smith is my favorite, she is like our grandma in the mission.
Elder Cortez' strengths are his huge patience level, he likes the same stuff I do, he is very smart, and he is really funny :) 
OK, So about College, I think Weber will be good. Also, I forgot to tell you, so I have been talking to this girl for a long while, and she kind of likes me and I kind of like her so I wanted to give her a try when I get back. I don't want to do it too soon because she lives in Guatemala City but I thought I would let you guys know that so I am not surprising you. (Still surprising! :) I guess he met her over skype with his international hunting stuff he was doing before his mission?!) 
Is Kung Fu Panda a good movie? I saw some trailers and I laughed when I saw them. I am really excited to see that newly designed home haha. So what is the deal with Bryson and Caden? I thought they got along really well? I really hope you get better! I will pray for the restaurant to go well. Love you guys and I hope you have a great week!

Week of February 28, 2016

Dear Mom,

Thanks, Elder Cortez loves me a ton, he can't get enough of me. Usually because I am giving him a hug every 20 minutes. (I told him he may want to be careful about bugging his companion from Vegas ;))And he is the most pacifist guy I know, plus he is socially awkward so I don't think he knows anybody from that part of Vegas.(I asked what the difference was with them covering 2 wards) The difference is that I now have to go to 6 hours of church every Sunday :/ Not the funnest bonus, but we also get fed more and we get more work done. Turns out that Brandon has been being stubborn on purpose because he finds it funny to annoy us. But he is progressing nevertheless. We haven't talked to Ciara in a couple of days but we are planning on visiting them tomorrow. 

So I got the picture of Brittany, she is a really cute girl. Tell Caden that he did a good job. Tell Stratton that I said hello as well! Yes I have read that talk several times! (The Fourth Missionary) That is really strange but really fun to think that I will have a Mule deer buck under my belt this year. So our week went really well. We have been on bikes for the most part so that we can go to the caverns today. I will send some pictures! But enroll me in Weber for now so that I can help you guys out at the restaurant and start my hunting business with Dustin in a steady environment. But I really do want to get a degree in Spanish and I really would love to go to Guatemala if that works out. But I will explain more when I get back. Just tell Bryson to email me with his concerns and I can talk to him about them in a better environment. I hope he will feel comfortable opening up to me :) But thanks so much for your support and I love you guys so much! I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Austin