Week 32: Family Email

I miss some good barbeque. It's been so long. I got cheese curds at Dairy Queen once, it was like 4 dollars and there were like 7 of them. Haven't got them since. No one does it quite like Butts and Barley. They are just too tasty. Look at these fancy plates from dinner last night.

 Every placemat had their own salt and pepper shakers!! It was crazy! I didn't know which fork to use haha. I just tried to figure out what felt right. I didn't think people actually ate like that...but they do!!!  They had Ranch in a Ranch boat, Italian in an Italian boat and gravy in a gravy boat. It was a Thanksgiving feast. I was so stuffed it was crazy. They were a cool family! 

Week 32: Mom Email

The sun will be very good for a while! We all got a little sick for like a day, but we worked through it and did okay. Yeah, the move is crazy. I don't know what to think of it. The only thing I think is it will make college in Utah a lot cheaper, which would be nice. It also means I won't have a job when I get back like I would have at Super Games, so I'll have to figure that out. It would be fun to go back to Georgia, I definitely will miss it there. It was a great place to live.

We are teaching a few families. They are doing pretty good. Transfers are March 6th, we get our calls on Saturday this week. I have no idea what is going to happen to me.

Yeah, there was a lot of poop to move. The snow shovel did a pretty good job. The pitchfork was by far the best though. I thought of sending these pictures with my email but didn't want to gross people out!

 We marched a long ways in like a foot of snow and it cleaned it off our shoes decently. I can't believe the snow is still on the ground here.

The rules for calling got way less strict yesterday night. It used to be half an hour every other week during your 2 hours of email. Now it is every week anytime from 8 am to 6 mp and you can have parents like link grandparents in if you want too. It is weird. I feel like I was the only missionary that didn't call last week. This will let me be able to do things when I need to do them as well if I call. It will be nice, especially for busy families. I have to be done with calling by 5:45 so we can get out to work by 6. We don't do a full 5-7 on p-days. When you are in Utah it will only be a 1 hour difference. That will be weird. You will be a lot closer then.

Week 32: Snow....and Horse Poop

Well, it only snowed a little bit this week. It's mostly melted now, but it is still pretty deep towards the mountains in my area.

A few days ago we got a message from a member who asked us if we could help shovel. They were up towards the mountains so we assumed they meant snow, but when we got there, it was a bunch of horse stalls that had not been cleaned in a while because of the snow. There was so much poop! It was crazy! We did use snow shovels but not what they were made for, and pitchforks, those were fun. After shoveling out a bunch of stalls we went and immediately drove to a lady who was moving across the town and changing wards and helped her pack up her stuff and take it to her new place. The turnout from the wards was great! We had like 4 trucks and a trailer there and the move went really smoothly and only took a few hours, which was nice. Her new house should help her out a lot, which is awesome.

We also taught some good lessons this week. One of our best progressing people moved to Texas this week though which was sad, but he will do good down there. 

Interviews

Week 31: Mom Email

Mom:  Did you send the same email this week to the group that you did last week?

Nathan:  Ummmm, I might have accidentally hahaha. I type them up in my notes. I might have sent the wrong one.

Mom:  I want an update! New picture, which was really cool, same email.

Nathan:  Alright, I sent the other one out too.

Mom:  Thanks! So what exactly are the new rules?

Nathan:  Haha. I wondered if you were going to ask. I can call 2 times a month, for no more than 30 minutes each.

Mom:  Cool. Please do not feel like you have to call. I want you to do what you feel is best for you!

Nathan: Sounds good. I will figure something out. It feels weird being able to call.

Mom:  You guys have had so much snow! Were there shovels in your apartment?

Nathan:  No. We borrowed the shovels from the church custodial closet!

Mom:  Nice. Have you guys been cooking anything?

Nathan:  Ummmmm...no, it's bad haha. We just make sandwiches, Ramen, toast and stuff like that.

Mom:  Not even tacos?

Nathan:  Haha, meat is expensive. We have some ground beef so it might happen eventually. We made hamburger helper the other day. Alright, I have to go. Have a good weeeeek!

Week 31: Hello!

It is currently still snowy up here in PA. However, it is disappearing quickly. This week has been an exhausting one. Because of all the snow we have had to march through, it makes things go a little slower. We were able to use our car again a couple of days ago, which was nice. We have been carrying snow shovels with us wherever we go and have been digging a lot of people out of their driveways so they can get out to society. There are some places up towards the mountains here with 40+ inches of snow still! Yesterday at church one of the families said it was their first time in 10 days being able to leave their house. From what I've heard, it has been record snowfall for this area and there is talk about getting more a little bit in the future however the weather app says otherwise. On Wednesday we had to have a meeting at our apartment because the road to the church building was not drivable. It has been a lot of fun, that is for sure. It's been a different few weeks here, and I am kind of excited for it to return to normal. 

Communication Between Full-time Missionaries and Their Families

The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently approved updates to the missionary communication policy. Effective immediately, missionaries are authorized to communicate with their families each week on preparation day via text messages, online messaging, phone calls, and video chat in addition to letters and emails. Missionaries are encouraged to communicate with their families using the approved method that works best for them and their families. 

The means of communication may vary depending on the circumstances, location, and schedule of the missionary and family. If a missionary’s parents live in different locations, the missionary may contact each parent separately. It is not expected that missionaries will call or video chat with their parents every week.

 In addition to communicating weekly on preparation day, missionaries also are encouraged to communicate with their families on special occasions such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, their parents’ birthdays, and other holidays that are significant in the missionary’s home country or culture. 

Missionaries should initiate all text message conversations, online messaging, phone calls, and video chats. If a family needs to contact the missionary directly, they should contact the mission president first. 

When communicating with their families, missionaries should be wise in considering the duration of phone calls and video chats. In making these decisions, they should be considerate of their companions and keep in mind the purpose of their service. 

Missionaries should choose cost-effective methods of communication so they can stay within their monthly budgets. They may use Wi-Fi at Church buildings and computers at public libraries, internet cafes, and other public facilities to initiate online messaging and video chats with their families.

Week 30: Mom Email

We can email! That is the blessing of the mobile phone haha. I can write from it! I am getting snow for forever. I am ready for it to be done. It has not been very fun. Lots of walking. Yesterday we walked like 50 minutes to a lesson. The boots are phenomenal! My other boots would not have been able to handle it. It was my first time shoveling snow. It was an adventure to say the least. We haven't shopped yet. We were waiting for the Forks elders to get here. Their bus did not want to drive very fast haha. We will walk to the store after computer time is up.

I did get to go to the temple! It was awesome. I get to go every 6 months and that was my second trip! How crazy is that? We just did the endowment. It was nice. I enjoyed it. 

Week 30: Snow Continued

This week has been a crazy one. Not a lot happened this week, mainly because of the snow! It's been snowing basically nonstop for a week now. We haven't been able to drive our car at all almost all week. As a result, we have had to walk everywhere. It has been fun. In some parts of my area, the snow gets up over 2 feet! It is cool. I've never seen so much snow before. It is an adventure.

A few days ago we were not allowed to go out at all. We stayed inside the apartment all day. That was a long day. You can only play board games for so long before you start going insane! We have been going out and shoveling a lot of people's driveways because that is one of the few ways we can still be productive. Some of the driveways in the boonier areas are really long and took a lot of effort. It was a lot of fun and fairly rewarding though. I have been able to stay pretty warm too, which is a big plus. It is supposed to snow all day today and for the next few days as well. Hopefully, it lightens up soon. Maybe we will have a day we can stay out the whole day soon. We haven't been able to for quite awhile though. 

Snow Update

Washington has received record snowfall yesterday and through the night. Areas of our mission received 6 to 18 inches. All of our missionaries are safe...cars and bikes are still grounded until further notice. The missionaries have been out and about serving people, shoveling driveways in their area and being productive while in their apartments. We love our 185 awesome missionaries!

Sister Leishman

Temple Trip

Week 29: Family Email

I heard the Superbowl was a pretty boring one. I was out and about during it and people were giving me updates at the doors haha. It wasn't watched that much here because it was boring and the Seahawks were not in it haha. Everything here is painted like the Seahawks and there are flags and stuff everywhere. I have never seen so many passionate fans ever. Knocking while they were playing was honestly harder than the Superbowl.

This much snow is not normal at all. It is awesome though. We walked to the grocery store, then walked to the library. They are only like a 10-15 minute walk away. Our apartment is in a great spot. It makes snow life easy. We can't drive so I don't know what we are going to do the rest of the day, probably board games. Our designated driver is from Arizona so he cannot drive in it haha. The Forks elders are here. They took the bus down because it was still running somehow. I think they plowed the roads from here to forks. 

This is how driving in the snow went before we got the don't drive message haha. The van is not meant for snow, especially when the tires are pretty bald as well. But hey, at least we got it parked again.

Week 29: Snow!

This week was a busy one! It is also currently snowing. It's getting pretty deep! It's so cool. Last night we were out working in it and it was a lot of fun. Luckily, I have enough gear so I was warm. There were a lot of people who thought we were crazy for being out in it. Maybe we were but it was a blast. We also have been told not to use our car today so we walked to the grocery store and carried our groceries back. That was fun haha.

This week, as I kind of talked about last week, was mission tour! Elder Pearson came and talked to us all down in Tacoma. The hike down was forever long, as always. We stopped halfway in Silverdale and made the other half of the journey in the morning to get there on time. Once we were there, he gave us some awesome training and corrected us on a lot of things. He talked a lot about prayer and the importance of prayerful planning and studies. He talked about how the morning study hours will make or break your mission. That is something I am now going to start really focusing on, actually having a topic to study and studying it instead of just reading the scriptures. It should help me a lot I think and help me to know them a lot better. I have definitely seen it work these few days I have done it so far.

After the mission tour, we spent the night in Tacoma so we didn't get back really late. Missionary work there is so different than what I am used to haha. For 5-7s we just knocked apartments, all 12 of us there. We didn't finish the complex. There are so many apartments it is crazy. And not one long boonie dirt road. It was fun, but I missed the countryside and the views. Who knows, maybe I will end up in there at some point. Maybe not. Time will tell.