Too Hot

Sweating from biking

Biking on a long country road

Howdy! Uhhh. I'm not sure if anything super crazy happened but I guess we'll see. We're at zone p day right now so I might have to write this a bit later. We ate burgers and hot dogs and played corn hole. Me and Elder glade won the championship. Thanks to Chris, Matt, Ryan, Zach, and Dad for training me. Haha we beat our trainers in the final match so it was sweet. We played a bit of horseshoes and I bought a super sweet soccer ball. Also I got a sick pair of shorts and we all got some so all the elders in our quad have awesome shorts now. I also got a sick shirt from goodwill. Uhhh. A member bought all our food which was awesome. She like made sure we were getting food actually cuz normally I live off of toaster strudel and stuff but she got us sandwich stuff and all kinds a things. So that was sweet. I'll have to look in my journal for what I did but uhh. Yeah.

A really cool community

Tuesday: we went to Canes with a member and then went to their house and poured a ton of mulch all around their house. Canes is so good. But it's only in Louisiana. Apparently its gonna have a store in like Provo or something soon. After that we went to the Jordan's and had brownies. After that we had Po Boys at the Baughmans. Which is southern sub sandwiches. They only know what a sub is because of subway Haha. They call them po boys. And finally we went to COACH GREENS! With a youth so it was cool haha. We read with him in the BOM I think hes slowly but surely coming to know that its true. 

Wednesday: we had district council and then went to Chicfila. After that we went over to an inactive members house and did service. It was really fun. They gave us meatloaf afterwards so that was pretty neat I guess. I sawed a bunch of limbs and it was way tiring. Also idk if I mentioned this but southern people don't say tree branches. It's just limbs. But after that we went to ward correlation and talked about a cool missionary plan the bishop has. And after that we went and talked to a nice old lady who wanted a bible. It was weird cuz some people from salt lake called us and said she wanted a bible and stuff so yeah. Cool. She talked forever though so we got home late. I made shepherds like again and it was good as usual hahaha. 

A pond by the community

Thursday: we went over to a house and mowed and weed wacked and stuff. I got a wicked burnline from weed wacking. So now my right bicep is red and the other one is sort of red haha. We met the dude who lived there and he was super cool. He is an uber driver and said he would drive us for free. Kinds dumb cuz he isn't in our area. He is baptism material. After that we biked a bajillion miles over to Jackie's house. She had to leave as soon as we got there soooo. Super dumb. It was only like 6 miles. So we biked a mile to a members house and visited with him. We gave him a blessing and stuff so he should be doin alright. Then we biked all the way back. So not a ton but man it gets worse.

Friday: we did exchanges and it was super sick! I went out with Elder Glade Haha. Hes freakin funny. A straight up goober. We went to their area and went to a guy brother richardsons. We poured dirt all over his backyard for him. And the stinkin sisters showed up. Jk they're okay. He took us to foochows after which is a Chinese buffet or Japanese I'm not sure. But still. I ate a ton of sushi. I dont know if I like it yet. But I ate a lot so probably yeah. After that we went home and planned for a while then biked over to a sketchy neighborhood. We tried seeing a ton of people and they are all flaky and had to go or weren't there. Then we knocked on houses kind of near the church for a while. A dog came running at us it was scary. Like foaming at the mouth and stuff. Scary stuff. Then we went to brother Hamiltons and had burgers. We talked about a ton of stuff I can't remember it all now hahah. He is dope. Like he told us some southern black people sayings. Like "cold drink" is what they call soda. And when they ask about someone they say "how's ya mama and them?" Or whoever and them? It doesnt matter who 'them' is you just ask hahaha. We biked home and yeah. Super cool day though.

Resting by the billboards

Saturday: okay so we went to this members house. And he's physically disabled kind of. But good gravy his house is a big ol mess. So we went over and cleaned it up. Golly gee I was gagging the whole time. Like man. It looks so much better now. But it smelt like urine and like just garbage it was gross. But now it's good so woooo. After that we biked 10 years over to the old Baughmans. They had a crawfish boil and it was gooood. I dont love seafood but like the spices and stuff make it really good. Sausage and potatoes with it are super good too hahaha. Then we biked 10 years back and went over to Ramones. He kinda wacky but I like him. After that we went over to the Carlin's and taught their friend. We had s'mores and it was really good. They have soo many pokemon cards. Like they have 6 kids and each of them has a huge binder of pokemon cards. The oldest son has almost 5000 cards. Like woah. We called a few people after that and we talked to an African man named Mxxxx. I might but have talked about him before, but man I can't understand him hahah. We were like "we got you a ride to church" and other stuff and he was just like "ok ok ok ok ok ok" and that's all he would say like over and over. Hes so funny. 

Sunday: church is always good. We talked to a ton of people. President Varner was at the 2nd ward so that was cool to see him and Sister Varner. We also helped teach a Sunday school. Kinda weird but yeah. We went to the Romitos and had sandwiches and got cereal. They flip houses and they showed us the one they are doing now. It's way nice. Then we went to the Ferrell's. Brother Ferrell is freakin funny. After that we biked a billion miles over to sister Poulsen's house. We taught a pretty good lesson so yeah. We biked a billion more miles over by the Solars and met a ton of people just outside their houses. They were all pretty interested so it was cool. We biked probably over 20 miles so jeez. If I'm not freakin buff by the end of my mission I'm gonna be mad hahaha. We made up code

names in our apartment so it's cool. Mine is Mr. Clean.

District

Well uhhhh. Yeah. Zone p day was fun. We just got back from the church playing volleyball and stuff. We're gonna go visit Ray and that nice old lady today. So hopefully that goes well. Alrighty then. Gotta blast.

Elder Checketts 

District

District - got soccer ball thrown at us

Wet Blanket

Our megabed

Howdy! So uhh this week has been pretty wild. We had transfers and stuff so it's been weird. I'm not the greenie anymore Haha. Well. Still green but like eh. It feels like time slowed down again kinda. The humidity is getting worse Haha. My notes for this week are pretty messy so I might forget some things.

So uhh tuesday: we had a district p day and it was pretty fun. It was our last day with Elder Torsak which was kinda sad but it's okay. We met this inactive family and they are really cool. They remind me of some cousins of mine. But uhh. I dont remember who. 

Me I guess

Wednesday: today was transfers. A moment of silence for Elder Torsak.

Alright well he gone. We now have Elder Glade and Elder Williams. They are really cool hahaha. We biked to phillips and chopped up more of his back yard. We used this ditch blade thing. It's like a machete with a long handle. It is so cool. I feel like a shaolin warrior when I swing it around hahahaha. It cuts through everything it's so cool. It makes you super tired. We went to the Hardys and had like keto burgers or something. They were actually really good. We went and talked to a lady named April and she seems kinda off but interested none the less sooo. COACH GREEN. he flippin bought us pizza! But it's like really specific with thin crust and junk. So its expensive hahah. Hes crazy. It was a really good lesson though. 

The 2 duck companions

Thursday: we had to sit in the church forever because of some leadership meeting thing. So I just hung out with elder glade for a while. We talked to a guy named Abel and read some of the BOM with him. Hes super cool but we gave him to the other elders so we probably won't see him for a while sadly. We went over to the Becks and taught their daughter and her husband. They had a wicked good dinner. I'm getting so fat. But we had a really good lesson. Funny thing though. We were planning on showing up early to plan a lesson for their daughter but when we showed up she and her husband were already flippin there! So we had to improvise hahah. We gave a blessing and uhh that's all that happened that day. 

Friday: we had district council today. Pretty boring Haha. But after we went to a crawfish boil. Yeehaa. Super cool. Mommas got some pictures of that so talk to her if you want. We got to go do service for that inactive family that we met on Tuesday. They are super cool Haha. We helped them out with this bunk bed they are making. After we talked to misty and her family. They are still dope. We gave them a soft invitation for baptism. They didn't totally reject it so uh that's good hah. But they said they would think about it. We talked to the kings after and had pizza yummay. And then COACH GREEN. Wicked chicken. I do but remember what we talked about but I think it was good Haha. 

My watch tagline

Saturday: We biked all the way to Phillip's and cut his weeds. I saw a tarantula it was so scary. The ditch blade is soo sick. Just slices through everything. Then we went to the fontenots and helped them move a couch. We biked back and that sucked. It was like 12 miles. And after that we went to coach green's neighborhood and knocked around. We found a dude named Ray and he is super cool. Surprisingly interested. We also talked to these Mexican dudes who didn't speak much English but they just gave us ribs and stuff right there. It was wack. Mexicans are the nicest people here I've discovered. They had us talk to this old dude Wayne. He seems like he really needs help and so hopefully we can talk to him more. Umm. We biked back home and then went to stake conference. We biked like 20 miles. It sucked.

Cool House

More Cool House

Sunday: We went to stake conference in the morning. I cannot stay awake it is impossible. But it was good I think. We were gonna go see Ray but we went to the bishops and talked about this super cool idea for missionary work. Where we select a group of like 10 members and then we make them a 12 week training program. Where they study each day and stuff. So they are given callings as ward missionaries and we train them. It's a lot cooler than I make it seem but yeah. After that we went and gave a blessing to a member and then went to the Romitos. They are cool people. Too smart though. We had sammiches and then gave them a message. We went to the Bradford's afterwards and did a practice teaching with them. They gave us like 20 referrals no kidding. Freakin sick. We went and visited the Zylks for a sec and then Stephen. He said he was actually interested and that he would have turned us away if he didn't want to hear the message. Which is awesome cuz his cousin who's a member didn't think he was serious. But yeah it was pretty cool. Uhh. Yeah. Ok cool.

A Big Old Tree

Monday: so today we went shopping and junk. I'm gonna make shepherds pie again. Cuz it's that good hahaha. I bought a notebook to draw in cuz I'm kinda getting into that. Uhhh. Some chips. Random stuff. Yep. We went to chicfila and then to the church. Then we helped one of the senior missionaries move some junk into a van. Then they took us to chicfila and got us shakes hahahah. Sick. We played some sports at the church which was pretty fun. I wanna do something different though. Cuz basketball suckz. After that we went and biked over to Ray's. He is like the most legit dude ever. Like he was asking so many questions I had no idea what to do Haha. Like he was asking what we believe and how does he get baptized and all that jazz it was crazy. He bugged us about our first names and now he flippin calls me Elder Tim. But still he said a cool prayer and mentioned me in it so that was really cool. He has 3 kids and kinda reminds me of Matt. 2 sons and a daughter haha. He also said he would read the BOM. But he has a hard time believing in books other than the bible so hopefully he works. He called us his elder buddies and we've only met him like once. They fed us spaghetti too which is wack for a nonmember. So uhh. Hes super awesome. After him we biked around and talked to some random people but nothing too special. We biked home and it was cool. It rained today and we almost had to bike in it. It is so humid. Like a wet blanket over you. Like the sun went down and hours later it's still 82 and wet. Jeeez. 

Well yeah that's about it for now. Life is weird. But eh. People here are crazy but cool. Alrighty then. Gotta blast.

Elder Checketts 

Ps I've been practicing German which has been sehr gut. Es ist nicht das gut. Aber immer noch gut. 

If you ain't first, you're last

It rained for 3 days straight

Ahoy! This past week has been pretty wild. P day is actually today on Tuesday because of transfers. But a ton has happened. I'll try to add in as much as I can remember. Also the title of this weeks email has like nothing to do with anything. It's just something to live by.

Monday(5-6): so last Monday I made shepherds pie and dang that was good. We went shopping for stuff and I mainly got ingredients to make junk. It was fun I got to call Caleb Clayton for a bit and that was super sick. We got to see the African family we have been teaching and it turns out they want their oldest son to get baptized! He wasn't even there so we were like what!? Super cool though. We also saw COACH GREEN! he is freakin funny. He bought some new shoes and they're actually really cool. 

Some trailers are just left like this

Tuesday: we had our apartment inspected by some members. It was kinda scary but we cleaned like everything so I think we did alright. We went to Walmart like 3 times today. Elder Torsak wasn't with us for part of p day so we went and got him stuff. Also we got dinner and I got a new bike tube....cuz I popped the 2nd one that I put in. I had to walk like another 2 miles on the same highway. I got bad luck around there I guess. But the bike tube we bought is like more than twice as thick so I think it'll be okay. We got to talk with this older lady who loves church and she has been reading the BOM. I don't think she realizes that if it's true then the church of Jesus Christ is the true church. But uhh we'll get to that I guess. Later we talked to a kid named Bxxxx. Hes been having a hard time. We gave his mom a blessing because she had been diagnosed with cancer. Crazy stuff. But he said he was thinking of getting baptized after school is out so that's sick. After Bxxxx we went and visited Pxxxx who is a recent convert. We didn't have a plan hahaha so me being as cool as I am?... pulled out the BOM and told them I would flip through the pages and that they would say when to stop. We ended up on Alma 50. Which was perfect cuz I had recently read that in personal study. So I just talked about how Captain Moroni built up defenses for his city and people. And that we need to build up our own defenses against the world. It actually turned out to be a good lesson so that worked. OH. After Pxxx we met a ton of crazy people. Like people here are just wack. This one dude named Nxxx. He is straight out of a movie. He talked about how he was driving, this dude pulled up next to him, shot him, drove into his car, he got thrown out of his car because of the crash, he skidded on the road and burnt his clothes into his back, he got up and started running at the guys car half naked, the dude got out of his car dazed, he points the gun at him and falls over, nxxxx runs over grabs the gun, he ends up shooting someone I can't remember who. Crazy story. I didn't really believe him but he said I still have the bullet in me. And turns out he does. So uh. Woah. 

Pretty Road

Wednesday: Jeez Tuesday was long. Okay. So we first went to the Exxx. We finished fixing their wall finally and taught them a quick thing. Then Doc Hxxxx. Hes this 70 year old dude who still plays and makes music professionally. What a legend. He reminds me a ton of Tom Hewitson. Except like 30 years older. But he pulled out these weird string instruments and just started goin ham. Also he showed us some of the songs he is making. I sadly think I'm starting to like country music. Very sad indeed. After that we did exchanges with the zone leader. Elder Hunt. Hes so cool. We talked to the Watts. They have a legit zoo in their house. Like 5 cats and random animals everywhere. They had a naked mole rat and some Guinea pigs too. We walked around for a bit and met a dude named Jxxx. The boat guy. He carpets boats and he seemed really interested. So we'll see how that goes. We went to Walmart real quick and got ingredients for a Rigby Sammich. Its secret so I'll just have to make it for you if you're curious. BUT. I went to a place called raising canes chicken fingers. It was super good. They use fry sauce with their chicken. Its funny because that's kind of why people here love it. Because they don't know what fry sauce is. But it was real good. 

Thursday: I did exchanges with Elder Wagner. Which turns out he was Brian longs companion. Crazy stuff huh? We did some tracting and it was pouring rain. Still pretty fun though. We went to the Baxxxx and had jambalaya. Then we went to the other Baxxxx and just gave them a message. It was a good day.

Friday: We went to a part member family and helped them do some weird scrubbing with their cabinets. They gave us some boudin though. Holy guacamole that stuff is good. Boudin balls? I don't know how to spell. We saw Misty and her family again. They are awesome. We left them on a wicked cliffhanger so that'll be cool to see them again. After them we talked to a lady named Krista. She had some tough questions but we got through. After her was COACH Gxxxx! that dude. We talked for a while about repentance and junk. He doesn't want to leave the Methodist church. We'll get him. 

Craw-fish

Saturday: we got to talk to Hxxxx for a bit so that was pretty cool. And after that we went to Bro. Lexxxx. I do not know why. But every time we go there i almost fall asleep. Just feelz really nice or something I don't know. We finally had craw-fish! Freakin weird stuff. I like it though. Sucking the juice out of the head wasn't bad at all. Pretty good actually hahaha. We got to visit a few members and some old people gave us really old crackers and stuff. So pretty cool. We got to talk to Jxx again. We don't get to see him a lot. I can't remember what we taught but I think that he really liked it. After that we went to Burger King. Super cool. When we got home we peeled the shells off of the craw-fish we got and told stories it was way fun.

The big old pig

Sunday: mothers day. We went to church and it was good. We had a quick missionary meeting and then studied. After all that we got to call home for a bit so that was cool. After that we went to a members house and had chicken and stuff. It was really good. We went to a part member family's house and they have a ginormous pig. They are awesome. After that we got to go see the African family we have been teaching. Every time the dad says something he says "Understand what I am saying?" it's funny because most of the time we don't. BUT! We got 2 of their sons on date! Like woah! Super dope. After we got home I tried making a super spicy quesadilla. With creole seasoning and stuff. Pretty good.

I am holding a Claymore Sword and that
thing is like 3 feet long. It's huge!
Sorry I'm not smiling I was trying to
look cool.

Monday(5-13): so yeah today wasn't p day. We first went to the church and learned about our transfers. I ain't goin no where. But elder Torsak is gonna be going to Liberty Mississippi. Sad to see him go for sure. We're gonna be getting 2 new dudes here though. And 2 more sisters. There's a ton of new missionaries coming in. Like I talked with president Varner and 80% of the mission will be new by September I think. So I might be training next transfer. Like holy crap. Also. He told me that some people said my testimony at zone conference was one of the most spiritual experiences they have had on their missions so far. I don't know who said that but. Dope. After all that we went to an inactive members house and moved some heavy windows for them. We went to Bro. Sxxxx afterward. He let us hold some of the swords he has hanging up. So cool. I have a few pictures. After that we went to the empty nesters FHE thing. We taught about Luke 18 and the parables. They made me explain what was said simply because I'm just a genius I guess. Hahaha jk. After that we met a Spanish family who gave us uhhh malé? I think is how you spell it. They aren't even members or anything they were just like. Do you want some? It's pretty good Also! We get to drive a truck next transfer. So like tomorrow. We get a Silverado. Super cool. Also I get to drive finally. I got my driving card thingy. But uh yeah.

Swords

So yeah. I'm still getting super buff and stuff. Maybe. I'm for sure getting more fat. So. That might be a problem. Something I forgot to mention I think is that here in the south, front doors are decoration. Not really but they treat it like that. We always have to go around the side and knock on their side door where they park their car. Because every time we knock on the front... you hear the door open and then someone come around the side. So we just knock there now. And its completely normal. Freakin southerners. Also they don't have sidewalks

More Swords

. Maybe like half of one. Like legit if they have one, then it ends halfway through their yard. Crazy people. But uhhh. Yeah cool. I'll talk to y'all next week. Gotta blast.

Elder Checketts 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

house with stairs going to the second floor

Howdy my brethren. This week was super awesome at first and then got bad and then good again. I feel like the subject for this email fits this week pretty well. We had zone conference and it was super cool. Also I got kinda sick and almost died. Jk just like a cold or something. Okay here we go.

I made Shepherds Pie

Monday: I'm not sure what I said last time but we met a lady named Jxxxx on Monday who believes in the pre mortal life and everyone in her church says she's crazy. But we were like no that's actually what we believe too. So that was cool. Also we went to the Txxxxs house and had jambalaya. It was really good. Basically gumbo but not in a broth type of thing. But brother Txxx pretended to be a non member for our new companion Elder Torsak. It was way funny. 

Tuesday: Zone conference! 

It was so boring. JK it was really cool. We talked about missionary junk and we all bore testimony on Jesus Christ. Mine was the best obviously. Haha but that was fun we got to eat sammiches and also snow cones and stuff. And we talked to Hxxxx afterwards. That guy is dope. He seems pretty hard on the outside but hes taking care of his son on his own and hes way nice.

Elvis Clock

Wednesday: We went and did some service for Hxxx and moved a bunch of tree branches and vines. Hes still super dope. Said he would read and stuff. We later went and saw Bro. Lxxxxx. I'll be honest I think I fell asleep while we were talking to him. I was so tired out of no where. So uhhh whoops. Then we went to talk to Sxxxxx again and he wasn't feeling well so we talked to his stepdadish person. Hes a British guy who is an astrophysicist. Freakin sweet. I've been wondering what to do for school and stuff and that was be so cool. Then we talked to the Bxxxxx's who are really cool. We had taco soup. I feel like I have had more taco soup than gumbo and it's super dumb. Like the people think that's all we eat. Come on. But they have this dope Elvis Presley clock and I took a picture of it so that's cool. We talked to coach green again. He is sick. Also my head and neck started hurting today so that sucked. But I've been working out my forearms and traps. So soon I will be humongous and everyone will fear me. Jk but soon I'll look buff hopefully.

Thursday: We had interviews with the mission president today. Hes scary Haha. But not really. Hes really nice I'm just new so hes kinda scary. Umm. We got pretty sick today so not much happened. We planned like all day. I can't remember who we talked to.

Friday: Today I almost died. In my head. I felt sick in the morning but it got way better later in the day. We talked to Hxxx again. He's just always working on his yard so you can always find him. Also we moved a fridge for the Walter's. Pretty cool. We had burgers so totally worth it. I was appointed as the leader for today and we've been switching off everyday starting today. I made my companions call me Big Boss for the day hahaha. Felt pretty cool. We went and talked to misty and her family and we answered a whole bunch of their questions so it was super cool. They are super legit. Also we talked to that Baptist lady again which is almost everyone it seems like. But her and her husband are crazy. But they said they would read again so they're legit. 

Driving in the trees

Saturday: we went to the Exxxs and did splits for a while. I stayed at their house and we fixed a hole in their wall. They are so awesome. After that we talked to the Jxxxs for a bit and then went to the Brxxxxs. They made this curry and it was pretty good. Not as good as Zach's but still pretty good. Elder Ladle wanted to leave after an hour exactly so they got kinda mad about that. They started calling him Elder Timekeeper now hahah. We had some way good ice cream afterwards though. Then we went to the Bxxxxxxx's and gave brother Bxxxxx a blessing. Pretty sweet. We talked about the French Huguenots because we're related to them. And finally we went to the Solars house. It was sooo cool. Their yard is huge and their house is pretty big too. Every house in Lousiana is just 1 story though. Rarely an upstairs. But they had some dope interior decorating. Like way nice. I wish I took some pictures. 

Opossum

Sunday: church was good. Fast and testimony meeting. We had 7 new people come it was so cool. Elder Torsak got taken away by the senior missionaries to go help with something so it's just me and elder ladle now. We were starving like all day though. Which sucked hahah. We talked to a guy who used to go to church and he is super cool. He had a music studio in his backyard and it was super nice. A ton of guitars and a few drum sets and stuff. After that we did a youth activity and had them roleplay missionary situations. It was super cool. They are all awesome. There was some non members there so hopefully they liked it.

Well uhhh. Today has been good. I made shepherds pie and it's super good. I'll become the best cook and have big muscles when I get back. Well. Maybe. It's been weird adjusting to the mission but I think it's happening faster than I think so. Cool. I'll add some pictures at the end. I sadly didn't see the ducks too much this week. But it rained on Friday and I saw an opossum. Wild things. Okay cool Gotta Blast

Elder Checketts