I'll be caught up! Oct 12 and 19th letters

For October 12th we start with some pictures from a ward member that were sent to us of Elder Weidrich and Elder Burnside

Along with a nice note from the family

We had such a great visit from Elder Burnside and Elder Wiedrich
tonight. Joshua was excited to have the missionaries come for dinner
on the 1-year anniversary of his baptism day.
Thanks to these Elders for their service to our family, ward, and friends!

A couple more pictures including a zone picture

 Dallon's October 12th letter

People are telling me that I need to get on you about updating the blog. So get on it! haha. I am glad you all had a good week though. Our week was pretty good. The bad news first is that we are going to turn Maurice over to the Lord. He is high all the time and cant understand anything we teach him, which also means he can't keep commitments. So that is the news with our first baptismal date. Then we have Rick. We went and over and taught him on Friday. We had a long lesson about the Plan of Salvation and he really liked it. He loved the idea of eternal families. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying, and he believes the stuff we teach him and likes it, but he says he has to know before he could commit to a date. So he no longer has a baptismal date, but he is going to be praying about baptism now. So he is still doing pretty good. We got a new investigator named Stan this week. He is married to an inactive lady, and they are an older couple. He is going to retire next month, so he said he actually planned on reading the Book of Mormon afterwords. He said that he would be willing to take the lessons too. So we went over on Friday, but he is one of those people who just talks and talks, and we made the mistake of bringing a member who does the same thing. So we didn't get too much of a chance to teach. We just showed the Always Remember Him youth Mormon message and talked a little about the sacrament.  We had a couple cool miracles this week. One was one exchanges. Elder Comeau came with me in my area. And we were going to go visit some less-actives, but we took a couple wrong turns. So as we were walking back, and Elder Comeau spotted a credit card on the ground. We asked a couple people that were outside, and eventually someone told us to try a house on the corner. So we knocked, and she said she would give it to her land lord, who knows everyone in the area, and then we talked to her about the gospel And she was interested in us coming by, and even has a member roommate. Then as we were about to leave the roommate got home early from work and we started talking to her. Turns out Elder Comeau use to be in her family's ward and knows her mom pretty well. It also turns out the roommate has started to go less active. But he is now going to come to church with her friend. It was
super cool. Then on Saturday we were walking around to visit less actives again. Before we left the car we prayed to be guided to people who God had prepared for us. And I swear it was like 120 degrees outside, super freaking hot. And there was just absolutely nobody home or outside. Then just before we got to the car we ran into a guy and his 2 year old son. We talked a little about the importance of families, and how it is getting harder to raise kids in the world today, and they need some good morals. Just a very casual conversation, but he said he is looking for a church to raise his son in, and would love for us to come by. It was super cool to see God lad us to the people he has
prepared, a long as we show faith. Well I hope you guys have a good week. I love you and will talk to you later!
Elder Burnside

Now on to Dallon's October 19th letter

The suit looks good thanks. Yeah umm I am pretty sure the definition of cold is like 65 degrees now hahaha. Wait are family early to church?!?!? Or even on time?!?!? haha I am glad to hear you all had a good even if uneventful week. Our week was also pretty uneventful :/ We weren't able to have a lesson with either Jeannine or Rick they
both cancelled on us multiple times this week. So we tried just stopping by Rick's on Sunday afternoon. But he got pretty mad at us for coming by unannounced during his family time. I think he just doesn't want his wife to know that he is actually talking with us. So it will be interesting to see where that goes. 

We met with Stan again, his wife was wasn't feeling well though, so we didn't see her. Once again though he just talked and talked and we struggled to get a lesson in. He is getting ready for retirement on November 1st though, so he says that he is too busy to meet until after then. But after that he will read the Book of Mormon and take
the lessons from us.

We met with a couple less-actives this week the main one being a younger Tongan couple. They just had their baby blessed in Sacrament last week. But they were super awkward to teach. We tried getting to know them, but they wouldn't really make conversation, and so we started teaching the lesson, and every time we would ask a question it would get silent for a minute, and then they would give us a short general answer. So it was a little tough, but they came to church so I guess it worked.

So we spent a lot of time this week just talking to people on the street. But it was a lot of no's, and crazy homeless people. I think everyday this week we had homeless person talk to us for at least a half hour lol. You learn a lot of interesting things haha. One guy that we did talk to though who was interested and not crazy was a guy named Shawn. He said he would be interested in reading the Book of Mormon and learning more. When we tried to stop by on Sunday he wasn't there but the rest of his family was. They said that Shawn is very spiritual and always tells his family about the things he learns, and then they all have a discussion about it. So it should be interesting to meet with him. 

We also talked to a guy named David for a while. He said he had met with missionaries before and liked it, and would be open to meeting again. But much like Maurice, I don't know if he is mentally all the way there. So we shall see. But other than that nothing really happened. So hopefully next week will be better. The Lord has been blessing us everyday. As long as we keep doping what we are doing I know it is only a matter of time until we find someone that the Lord has prepared to be baptized for us. I love you and hope you have a great week!!
Elder Burnside

Sept 28 and Oct 5 Letter

The September 28th letter and picture

Caption: Picture of me with a tie that an investigator I met in the other elders area gave me last week

Me and Elder Wiedrich still can't get over that, it is crazy! Yeah it
was sad to hear about Elder Scott. Saturday will be even crazier now
that they have to call 3 new apostles. Although that provides a great
door to inviting people to watch it. I am glad that you all had a good
week and had fun. Sounds like you all had a good time. Our week was
super good and fun too!
We went on exchanges Friday I stayed in m area with Elder Larson. He
is a Spanish missionary who has been in the same zone as me
practically my whole mission. We wet and visited a potential
investigator from about a year ago name Rick. We talked to him for a
little why, and it turns out he actually met with the missionaries a
lot. So we reviewed some of what they had taught him, and talked a lot
about the Book of Mormon. We were then able to set a baptismal date
with him for the 25th of October! His biggest concern is his wife. He
said that she is very Christian and he would have to ok it with her.
But we are excited for him!
Then Sunday we had a lesson with a guy named Maurice. We had talked to
him on the street the night before. He had made it sound like he was
previously baptized, but then when we sat down with him we found out
he was not baptized. So we taught him, and it was tough. He got in an
accident when he was younger, and got some brain damage from it. So he
has a lot of trouble grasping some of the concepts. But we did our
best to teach as simply as possible and we were able to set a
baptismal date with him for October 25th as well!
We met with Jeannine a couple times this week too. One night we went
over and just read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon with her,
and explained all about it. Then on Sunday night we went over again
and talked a lot about the priesthood authority, and reading the Book
of Mormon to find out. She said that her mind has opened up a lot
towards baptism but she isn't ready to commit to that yet. But she was
super close! We should be able to set one with her next time!
That is all the super exciting news from this week! We were super
blessed and saw many miracles! It was amazing to see the Lord's hand
in this work. I love you and hope you have a great week!!!
Elder Burnside

The October 5th letter

Sounds like a good time with the family. I am sure you do love that
Janelle and Gabe enjoy cooking haha. But I am glad everyone had a good
week, it sounds like it was quite busy and fun. Our week was a little
less busy, we weren't really able to meet with a lot of people.
We weren't able to meet with Rick. He said his wife is pretty opposed
to the church, but he still wants to meet with us. He has just been
ver busy with his family. We were able to meet with Maurice again.
Turns out he is just high all the time. We tried to teach him, but not
much was really going through. It was a pretty frustrating lesson,
because he didn't follow along, or understand anything no matter how
simple we were. so we are not sure what we are going to do with him.
We had a decent lesson with Jeannine yesterday. The previous time we
met with her, we tried to set a date for the 18th, and she said that
it spooked her, and kind of turned her off a bit. So we just talked,
and shared with her some of the talks from General Conference that we
liked since she wasn't able to make it. We shared that talk with her
where he compared the commandments to the barrier in the bay. And we
also shared with her the one about ponderizing scriptures. She really
liked those and committed to start ponderizing a scripture in the Book
of Mormon every week, so it was good.
We had a good lesson with a referral named Rica on Sunday too. She is
an older lady that has M.S. Her friend referred her to us, because she
is looking for a church that is close by and easier to get to. And by
the grace of God she lives right next to our church! So we shared the
restoration with her and she absolutely loved the First Vision. The
spirit was super strong. But she said that her husband would be
against us coming over so she wants to meet at the church from now on.
But it is also too hot for her to go to the church, because I guess
heat makes M.S. act up. But we will keep in contact with her and
hopefully be able to meet again soon.
We also had a lesson with a less-active Tongan member named Leni. He
just got out of jail for the second time, but is actually committed to
changing his life this time. He found Jesus when he was in jail, but
really only believes in the bible right now. He is only in his 20s but
doesn't really remember anything he was taught at church when he was
younger. So we are pretty much teaching him like an investigator right
now. And it is going well. The spirit ha been there and he has really
opened up to us. Hopefully he can start coming to church!
But that is about it for our week. I love you and hope you have a
great week! talk to you later!

Elder Burnside

September 14 and 21st letter

Dallon is going to be a trainer for a new missionary!  Here is the letter from Sept. 14:

Wish the buttmunch a happy birthday for me! I will try to get out a
letter for him this week. Sounds like you all had a great week. I am
glad you had fun out on the boat. Next time you go I might be there :)
That is too bad about the Hammer's baby that would be really tough,
but it makes you really appreciate the Plan of Salvation.
We had a pretty good week. Elder Fifita is super cool. We have been
working pretty hard. But Elder Fifita was in a trio as a zone leader,
and is still a zone leader so we had to go on a lot of exchanges for
him to do zone leader stuff haha.
We had a pretty cool miracle happen the other day. We were trying to
find a referral named Claude who wanted us to come by his office. But
he wasn't listed on the directory and we didn't have the office number
and nobody would help us. So after walking around a couple floors with
no success we decided to say a prayer. After the prayer we both felt
inspired to go to floor three. There we ran into a janitor who guided
us to the Claude's office on the fourth floor. He had already gone
home, but it was super cool to see the answer to our prayers. Heavenly
Father didn't just give us what we wanted, but he gave us a way to
find it ourselves so we could learn and grow through the experience.
We also taught another super cool referral named Jackson. He is 18 and
going to Loyola Marymount. But his girlfriend of two and a half years
is serving a mission in Houston. He is super prepared. His girlfriend
sends him talks and scriptures all the time, his only concerns are
pretty much like blacks and the priesthood and gay marriage. Sadly
though he should be going to the YSA so we had to refer him to them.
Our investigator Jeannine isn't really progressing right now. We tried
to teach her but she didn't have much time and could't focus. Then our
next lesson sh didn't show up. But hopefully we can kind of get things
going with her.
The big news is that I am staying in this area and getting a new
companion. My companion will be a brand new missionary out of the MTC
I will be training. It is a little exciting, and kind of scary too, I
already feel bad for the new missionary haha. But it will be a fun
experience. I love you and will talk to you later!!
Elder Burnside

Here is the letter we got from the mission president:

Dear Brother and Sister Burnside,

Elder Dallon Jay Burnside has been appointed as a trainer in the California Los Angeles Mission. No more important position exists than that of training a new missionary. New missionaries need to be properly taught immediately upon entering the mission field. Initial experiences truly influence the remainder of one’s mission. Your son will teach by both precept and example the attributes and skills that his companion will need to become an effective representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am confident that he will, with the help of the Lord, be very successful in his new calling.


Sister Weidman joins me in extending to you our sincere appreciation for having a son of such quality and our appreciation for having Elder Burnside in our mission. We know he will receive your continued support in his missionary service.




Sincerely yours,

President David N. Weidman
California Los Angeles Mission

That was pretty cool news.  Then on September 21st we got this letter and pictures:

Caption:
Us after ball today. From left to right, Me, Elder Wiedrich, ElderBossy, Elder Comeau, Elder Larson, Elder Provost

I had a whole email on my Ipad, but it is deciding to be extremely
mentally challenged right now... :/ So I will send that email when my
Ipad decides to behave again. But Elder Wiedrich is my trainee. He is
from Odessa, Texas and is super cool. He was actually born in Amarillo
too. But he is a super good missionary, he has brought an enthusiasm
to our area that has brought miracles, which I will tell you about
when my iPad works again. I got to go for now, but I will talk to you
later. I love you!!

After I saw this email I replied and mentioned that when we were living in Amarillo First Ward in the mid 90's, that there were some Weidrichs living there, Henry and Nancy were the parents and I worked in young men's with some of their sons, including one named Jeff.  My baby sister was living there and was good friends with some of their younger son's. Dallon replied with the following.  Amazing how small the world is.

Well I am giving up on my iPad. I lost the charging cord, went out and
bought a new cord, but the new cord doesn't work. So I am going to
retype it on the computer. Lol I just showed Elder Wiedrich this and
he said that Jeff is his uncle! Small world haha. Sounds like a good
plan to me for Trek.I am glad your talk went well.
Well I don't have much time. But our week was great. I am having a lot
of fun training! It is extra responsibility, but I am enjoying it.
Training is definitely forcing me to be a better missionary, as I try
to be a good example. Elder Wiedrich is a super good missionary. He
has definitely brought an extra fire to our area that is bringing lots
of miracles.
I still don't know the area very well, so one night we were walking
around visiting less-actives and we got a little lost. We knew our way
back to the car but didn't know how to get to the less active's house.
But we didn't have enough time to go back to the car to figure out how
to get there. So we said a prayer and decided to keep looking for the
house. We eventually found it, but nobody was home. So we started
heading back to the car, and we ran into a girl named Jasmine who
really wanted a Book of Mormon. It was great, it was cool to see the
Lord guide us to where he needed us.
Then yesterday we were walking around trying to visit potentials. But
nobody was home, and nobody was outside to talk to either. So we said
a prayer that we would be able to find people to talk to and have good
conversations with. We then turned the corner and started running into
a ton of people, all of whom were open and we were able to have good
discussions with them.
But that was most of our week. Just walking around trying to find
people we can teach. But the work is progressing, we found some good
potential investigators, so I am excited for next week. I love you and
hope you have a great week!!
Elder Burnside

Wow I got behind August 31st/September 7 letter

I was chastised in Dallon's letter yesterday about getting behind in the blog.  I will do better (at least I tell myself that:))  Let's start with the letter from August 31.  The pictures are of the elder's bowling on P-day.

I quoted some 80's songs in my letter to Elder Burnside and here is his reply

80's!?!?!? SSSOOOOOO OOOOLLLLDDDDDD!!!! lol haha. Sounds like you all
had a good week. Mom says you really enjoyed test driving the trucks
haha. What car would I take to Idaho when I get back? The sabbath day
thing is church wide, they talk about it a lot at all the ward council
meeting we have gone to lately. Trek will be fun, if I had to pick one
of the two options I would be cool with going to Wyoming to be
released.
Our week has been really slow. We did meet with Jonathan a couple
times for lunch. And we set him up with missionaries in Rhode Island.
He moved on Saturday, we helped him pack up and everything. I don't
think he will change his decision anytime soon, but he will change it
eventually.
Other then that not much happened. We weren't able to meet with
Jeannine or Shad once agin. As soon as we can meet with them we will
set baptismal dates, but we just never seem to be able to meet with
them. Other than that not much happened in our area. We got a couple
referrals that we will visit this week.
On Wednesday I went on exchanges with our district leader Elder
Comeau. It was fun even though it was in a Spanish area so I had no
idea what was going on lol. It was a super hot that day. And we went
and taught this really old lady. Then we went to visit some referrals
a several blocks down. And I started feeling very dehydrated. I didn't
want to just ask anybody for water because I didn't want to be that
guy. So I was praying that somebody would offer us water. Then after
visiting a couple houses, the lady that we taught at the beginning
comes walking towards us with water bottles. She some how chased us
down after the lesson, it was a really cool answer to my prayers! Oh
and then we got our car towed... So I am going to be down 43 bucks
each of the next 3 months paying for that haha. just so you are aware,
I maybe using some personal funds. But other than that not to much
going on, hopefully that changes soon!
I love you and hope you have a great week!
Elder Burnside

On September 7 we received the following letter.  We were sorry to see Elder Lee go.  The picture was just before he left.

  Wow it sounds like you actually had a productive week lol justkidding haha. It sounds like you're are enjoying your new truck though. Sounds like a fun day you all got planned. We aren't going to an cook out or anything today, but we did go to basketball this morning. The Tongan ward had a big basketball activity with a ton of non members there. We played from 6-10 this morning. So now I am super tired haha. That sounds like a sick play by BYU. Its funny too because me and my companion were just talking the other day about how Taysom Hill can't stay healthy.

Our week was not so productive as yours was. Elder Lee wasn't enjoying his mission very much, so he talked to President for a while a well as his stake President, and actually eded up going home early. He flew home Saturday so that was kind of sad :( But because of that whole situation, we weren't able to get a whole lot done.

So I got a new companion for the rest of this transfer, which only has a week left. His name is Elder Fifita. He is Tongan and is from Aurora, Colorado. He has been out for 17 months, and actually played college football at Kansas State a little bit before he came out. He is a super good missionary though!  On Saturday and Sunday we went to what the Tongans call an "eat".  Which is pretty much just a party with more food then you have ever seen haha. One was a baby shower, and the other was to celebrate a baby blessing. Tongans apparently just have parties for everything haha. I enjoy it lol. We went over to meet with Shad on Saturday, he was the kid that wants to be baptized. But we found out that he is moving to Calla Bases this week, so we won't be able to do that. So we don't have a whole lot to work with now. But we are really working on finding those that Lord has prepared! But we got a couple appointments for this next week, so hopefully its good! I love you!!
Elder Burnside