Week 7 in the Field: Smith Springs Ward Missionary Work Blows Up! : )

Nazarene Church that got struck by lightening 6 weeks ago. Massive destruction.
It makes me happy to hear that there are so many people reading my blog. It would appear that I get more attention when I'm on my mission than when I was home. Thanks everyone!  (Still looking forward to hearing from more Idaho friends!)

So remember how I kept saying Smith Springs has the capability to blow up (in a good way)? Well, it blew up! This past week we ended up with 8 progressing investigators including one with a baptismal date. As excited as I'm sure you all are, I'll be saving that story for a little later. 

Elder Leavitt arm wrestling with one of our investigators

Monday was the last Pday in the area for Elder Perry. We decided to all go downtown and shop for boots. I believe a picture of us boot shopping might've been in the last post. Elder Leavitt, Elder Moeller, and Elder Perry all bought boots while I decided to save my own money purely cause I don't/cannot wear boots for two years. But it was pretty entertaining to see these elders gain their man badge by purchasing a pair of Country boots.

Tuesday was kinda sad. Elder Loveless, Elder Perry, Sister Ellis, and Sister Larsen were transferred or rather  "...the Spirit of The Lord has called (them) another way;" (Alma 22:4). Also one of the Hermanas from Providencia Ward was transferred whose name was Hermana Holman. She and I had performed a musical number last Sunday with myself on piano and her singing "Where Can I Turn For Peace" in Spanish. It was a lot of fun, but I'm also happy to meet the new missionaries: Elder Byner, Elder Tomlinson, Elder Threet, Sister Johnson (one of the many), and Sister Cook. It was a fun district meeting on Wednesday.

Thursday was the day everything blew up. We had a pretty stacked day. Even though our first appointment cancelled on us, we were determined to have an awesome day. After lunch, we met someone who was quite possibly the coolest person I've ever met. "K" was an investigator that Elder Leavitt and his past companion Elder Ackroyd contacted a while back. She was from Ireland and had an incredibly strong accent. (Including using sentences like "I've talked with me mates..." and "I be hearing things..."). It was so great cause it brought me back to those days when I helped tech the show, "Dancing at Lughnasa" at BYU-Idaho. But the problem was we couldn't track her down. One day while I was on the exchange with Elder Moeller, he and Elder Perry ran into her again and were able to schedule an appointment for this past Thursday. When I found out that we had an appointment I could barely contain my excitement. 

Finally when we met with her she was everything amazing and more. On the outside of the door she had a note which read something along the lines of "Sir Elders, I be home. Please come in." She had read the pamphlets and even some of the Book of Mormon and she had a lot of great questions. After having a great lesson, she wanted us to come back he next day to talk to her more about Joseph Smith. We also found out so many cool things like how she has toured with Skillet and is friends with many other metal bands. 

When we came back the next day we were ready for the second greatest lesson ever. We walked up the stairs with great excitement (myself almost tripping a couple times) until we got to the door. There was another note on the door but not nearly as happy. I have sent a photo with the actual note which hopefully should be posted after this if my mother can do it.

K's note

We were heartbroken. Both of us didn't say a word as we climbed back into the car. It was a full 180 from the past lesson and it was hard for us to believe that one of our best investigators could be turned so quickly. It hurt, but we left a reply saying something along the lines of "We are grateful for the time you spent with us and respect your decision. We hope you continue to read the Book of Mormon because we know how much it has blessed our life." There was more but I can't remember it all. We took the pamphlets but left the book and also placed The Testimony of Joseph Smith on top of it. What happened to those two things we do not know, but we hope the best for her. In an ironic turn of events we had just taught a lesson to the Clark's and Danielle about enduring to the end, quoting D&C 121.

The aftermath of the incident with K

BUT back to Thursday, after K, we saw the Elson family. We have been working with their son, David, who's 12 about getting baptized. Finally we told him that we were thinking about holding a baptism on August 9th and asked him if he wanted to be baptized then and he said something along the lines of "It's gonna happen anyways." A few days later, with his parents agreed, it was announced formally in Priesthood meeting that he would be baptized then. The bishop announced the baptism during sacrament meeting, but after talking with him afterwards he did say he wanted to. 

We've also been working with a great family who has said they really appreciate us coming and talking with them about the gospel. Though a lot of things have been difficult to accept, they are working through it and are progressing really well. 

That's pretty much everything that happened this week. There are a lot of cool things going on and it will be fun to see what happens next. As for my bible study update, I am trying to power through Leviticus but it's hard with the endless chapters on sacrificing animals and other ordinances.

There's a pretty cool Mormon message we have been using in our teaching. When you have the time, look up the Mormon message titled "Testimony of the Book of Mormon" or something like that. Elder Holland bears this amazingly powerful testimony on it. Good stuff.

Thanks for the prayers,

Elder Peery

Sweet sunset on Anderson street

Week 6 in the Field: More Adventures in Antioch

Downtown Music City -- Nashville, Tennessee

Thanks to the people who sent many emails saying how worried they were that I was going through a rough time last week. And while I am very grateful, just know that I am not close to depression or any of the things people were worried about.The major depression that I've gone through in my life so far has mostly happened before my mission ever started. Elder Leavitt and I are working hard and doing fine! But once again I do appreciate all those emails, cards, letter, and prayers. Keep it up!

This week has been pretty hard physically and mentally. If you ever look at the layout of

the area I'm in (in Antioch, Tennessee) you will see that there are plenty of hills,

especially on Anderson St. where we do a lot of biking. While we didn't have a lot of

lessons, we made up for it greatly with some new investigators. But let's just review

the week.

Elder Leavitt and I do a ton of biking. 

On Monday after emailing, I went with a bunch of other missionaries to play racquetball and other sports with President Anderson and the AP's (Elder Tagaloa, Elder Byington, and Elder Steiner).  President destroyed everyone in racquetball including some of the elders who had played for many years. The closest score I heard was 15-7. I was able to beat President at walleyball (volleyball with walls) with him accompanied by Elder Spencer (a Spanish elder) and myself accompanied by Elder Byington. 

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Zone Leader Elder Loveless. He was super sweet, and while on the exchange, he and I committed one of their investigators to baptism in August. It was pretty amazing to get to see someone make that decision. The ZL's have continued teaching him and I have no idea if he's still interested. I haven't seen him at church yet either.

On Wednesday I taught a training session for the first time in district meeting. It was loosely based on talking to everyone and I used President Monson's talk about how love is the essence of he gospel. Didn't get too much feedback, but people seemed to enjoy it. It was also the last district meeting before transfers, and it was kind of sad to say goodbye to people because we didn't know when we'd see each other again.

We had a super sweet dinner with the Clarks on Thursday. 

Elder Leavitt and I have been working harder and harder with one of our investigators who is a personal trainer. He enjoys what we teach but he's having a hard time keeping his commitments. Finally during one of the lessons, Elder Leavitt came up with the idea of him giving us a ride to church. 

Though we were 20 minutes late, we got him to church and he really enjoyed it. He told us this was the first time he'd been to a church in many many years and that if his friends and family could see him now, they'd give us a standing ovation. He said he'd come back next Sunday. 

We have also been working hard with a family who recently moved here from Shelbyville. A few nights ago we asked if they wanted to be baptized and they said maybe. I'm pretty confident that if we can continue to get them to church that they will feel the peace and love the gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer. We have many families anxious to meet them and other investigators.  Like I said before we have an amazing ward. 

The result of transfers this week:

• Elder Leavitt and I are staying in Smith Springs B. 
• Sister Cotton is staying while Sister Larsen is going to follow up train Sister Tebbs (from my MTC district) 
• Sister Daines is staying while Sister Ellis is going 
• Elder Moeller is staying while Elder Perry is going 
• Elder Harris is staying as a ZL while Elder Loveless is going to train a newbie as a DL 

I'm not sure how much longer I'll be in Smith Springs ward but I hope it'll be as long as possible.

Oh yeah I also read the entire Book of Mormon in less than one transfer. I'm beginning to study the Old Testament so that I can say I've read the entire Bible. I encourage you all to study Ether 12.

I'm grateful for all letters and prayers and hope to hear from more people. 

Elder Peery

Contact me at:
Andrew.Peery@myldsmail.net
or
Elder Andrew Peery
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive, Suite 190
Brentwood, TN 37027-5010

Here are a few more pictures:

Elder Leavitt wanted to go shopping for boots today.

I got a haircut.

Davidson County Courthouse

Beautiful sunset in Tennessee!

Week 5 in the Field: Please pray for us. This week was really hard.

Sooo I'm not going to sugar coat it. This week was really hard. Not just for me but for everyone in the district.

On Tuesday my companion, Elder Leavitt, being a district leader, went to a leadership training meeting where an area authority gave a jaw dropping training on leadership. According to him it was the best training he had ever seen. What did I do? Tracting. 4 hours of tracting from about noon till 4 o'clock in record high temperatures for Tennessee. It was miserable, but we did not complain. I was among a tri-panionship consisting of Elder Peterson, a blonde Elder Calhoun type guy who was not afraid of anything or anyone, and Elder Brown, one of my good friends from the MTC whose picture is in one of my blog entries.  He is a super awesome guy, and I would love to be paired up with him. But yeah the entire day for me was pretty tiring being outside in 105+ weather.

Wednesday was no better. After district meeting we went to teach this Christian who "has found her Israelite/Hebrew roots." So basically she was a Jewish Christian. Her question was why we celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday versus Saturday. My companion had gone off on his own and had collected scriptures from the New Testament on how the Apostles broke bread on the first day of the week relating that to the Sabbath. She would tear each scripture apart by showing what those scriptures really meant as shown in the Old Testament. The two would go at it for about an hour with me staying out of the scramble. I felt the Spirit leave the room as the argument continued.

On Friday, my companion wanted to speak with the other area in our district who have been struggling greatly this transfer. I have never seen a room more filled with depression on my mission than in that room. These two sets of missionaries were so defeated that they could barely answer questions on why the area wasn't doing well. My companion and I explained the purposes of having a good attitude and how it can affect not just the area, but the missionaries. Whatever we said may have helped because both sets had investigators at church that Sunday.

Center for Visual Arts -- in Nashville

The missionaries in my district have said such wonderful things about me which I have written down in case I ever get depressed. Here are a few examples:

Elder Leavitt-

• Better than Robin (Elder Peery calls Elder Leavitt Batman)
• Literally prayed for your music talent, you answered his prayer
• An anomaly he was not expecting, but you are exactly what Elder Leavitt needs
• Example of diligence
• Christ like love
• Keep the Greenie fire

Sister Ellis-

• Super humble
• Ready to be here and do missionary work
• Admire that you want to improve and be the best that you can
• You have an amazing potential to be soooooo great

Sister Daines-

• You know what is right! Be yourself.
• Future batman
• Good teaching skills able to know what to do despite your newness

Elder Perry-

• Reminds Elder Perry of himself when he first entered the mission field
• Continue to work hard and be diligent

Elder Perry and Elder Moeller on the bus.

Elder Moeller-

• Amazing desire to learn and to improve yourself and how you do something
• Not afraid to share what you learned or to speak your mind

Sister Larsen-

• You make Sis. Larsen happy.
• Child like faith
• The most amazing faith for being so new, you just want to do things for the Lord.
• Willing to be thrown into any situation

Sister Cotton-

• Doesn't hide your talents, you are called to use your talents and you use them.
• You want to improve
• Takes calling seriously
• Let the Savior be the only person you want to emulate.

The 4th of July was pretty sweet even though we didn't really do anything. We walked around downtown for a bit and I took a lot of pictures. 

Here is a picture of the Chet Atkins statue in downtown Nashville.

More from 4th of July in Nashville

The first firework I saw though was a misfire that happened on Saturday. We were inside before any of the huge shows happened which is a shame since Nashville is credited as the second best firework show in the nation. But while walking downtown we had our fair share of mockery from soap box preachers who get paid for condemning people. Gotta love it.

At church, Sister Cotton and Sister Larsen had an investigator who had been attending church for about 4 months straight. The bishop walked up to her and jokingly asked "Sister Lee? When are you getting baptized?" Surprisingly she said "Today!" And he said "Sweet! We'll make it happen!" The ward was launched into a happiness overload. The sisters were so happy that they couldn't contain themselves. They had to run around the building just to get control. The bishop announced the baptism during sacrament meeting. It was probably one of the first times there would be a baptism asked, interviewed, and carried out within 2 hours. But there was an obvious part. The interview. My companion interviewed her and found out she wasn't keeping the word of wisdom and didn't believe Thomas S. Monson to be a prophet. 

The baptism would have to be postponed. It was the sad duty of the missionaries to inform everyone the baptism was off. The sisters couldn't even move. They were absolutely stunned that someone they had worked with for so long had clearly failed the interview. They broke down and we have been praying for them ever since. I invite you to do the same.

So yeah. A lot of stuff happened. Not much of it good, but we should have a better week soon. 

This beautiful sunset reminds us of brighter days to come.

Please pray for us. We need the help of strength from your prayers.

Elder Peery

Write to me at:
Elder Andrew Gordon Peery
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive Suite 190
Brentwood, TN 37027

Email address: Andrew.peery@myldsmail.net

Week 4 in the Field: Smith Springs Ward is the BEST!

Tennessee Titans Football Stadium

To start off with I'd like to thank the people who have emailed me this week. It's been great to hear from the regulars and even better to get those surprise emails you'd never guess you'd get. I'm very grateful for those who email every week. They make this time even better. 

I don't want to start any fights, but the Smith Springs Ward is probably the best ward I've ever seen--especially for missionary work. These people have started inviting friends over to their homes to be taught by missionaries. Their bravery and courage is something that I'm amazed to see. People love the ward. They love coming to church and helping the less actives. It's been great to see a ward move as one even if they have to split repeatedly. The ward mission leader Brother Hernandez is amazingly good at what he does and he can get everyone passionate about serving others. Bishop Foote is also amazing in that he is a great example for members. The people are great, the teachers are great, and just the level of Spirit is amazing. If I were to be a part of any ward in 2 years, I hope I can come back to this one. We'll see how other wards in this mission can compete with this one.

Investigators are progressing but some faster than others. Not much I can really say about them other than we may see a baptism in the next two weeks. This one investigator has told not only he bishop and us he wants to be baptized, but even the stake president. I'm excited for him and I hope that he will accept the invitation to come unto Christ.

Photo taken near the Cumberland Branch.

So, The Book of Mormon Musical is coming to Nashville this month and already people have been mistaking us for cast members, singing songs from the show, or even asking what we really believe prior to getting tickets. It will certainly be an interesting time to be in Nashville the next few months. We are expecting a mixture of mockery mixed with real questions. It should be good.

From what I've observed, some people are noticing so much change in their world today. They are seeing their churches move away from the core beliefs that Christ created. They are beginning to search for truth which is exactly what Spencer W. Kimball envisioned for the South. He made a very profound statement when he stated his vision for the south which is what we missionaries recite daily. I will do my best to remember as I post it now:

"Make no small plans, they have no magic to stir men's souls. This is the vision I have for the south. I believe that one day, the south will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together. There are great hosts of marvelous Baptists, members of the Church of Christ, Methodists, and Catholics, who are honorable people, and have faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and love him. As they see their church veering off to the right or to the left of those basic teachings, they will begin to search for truth. And as pivotal teachers come into the church and have influence, we will see the time when we will baptized hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands. In your day you will see a million members of the church in the south. There will be temples plural in the south states. What a great call you have to serve these marvelous people. The missionaries love the south. We are making great strides and expect to continue." - President Spencer W. Kimball and Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone.

We continue to expect miracles as we progress in the area, though people mock us and call us names, we remain strong. Thank you for your prayers and support. I always appreciate them. Love you all.

"We are making great strides and expect to continue."

Elder Peery

"And the Lord caused it to rain for forty days…"

Huge storm we got caught in.  WE…GOT…SOAKED!!!

Week 3 in the Field: Into The Deep End

Things have been really hectic this week. My trainer, Elder Leavitt, decided to throw me into the deep end on Tuesday. What was really cool was that for the most part things went pretty well. We were able to make a lot of appointments and meet a lot of people. What's more cool was that every time I didn't know what to do or if I was really upset, a random, and I mean random, person would come up and talk to us. We ended up talking to several random people including a security guard from Salt Lake. In my hardest moment, an email from a good friend appeared on my iPad. 

Random picture in Nashville

For the amount of bad stuff that happened this week we had a couple good things happen. Several of our investigators have been progressing quickly. We are nearing our area goal of 6 baptisms in 6 weeks with already 2 down and 3-5 scheduled for the upcoming weeks. We are very excited as some of our own investigators are getting closer to that point as well.

Another random picture in Nashville

Two days ago was my first Saturday without having to attend a baptism. We went out tracting in an area where we had received a referral. After teaching the people and handing out a Book of Mormon, we asked if there was anyone they knew who could use a message about Christ. They referred us to their neighbors around the area. This happened 5 times. We ended up teaching and placing 6 Book of Mormons in the space of 30 minutes. This resulted with 5 new investigators and several other referrals. It was super fun to get a spot of success from a few weeks of nothing.

Elder Leavitt is fixing a bike for a sister missionary.

Several people in the Smith Springs ward have come up to me saying they remember my parents. Sister Clark even came up to me showing me a picture of myself as a baby. On top of that Brother Knott who is the Elders Quorum teacher called me out in class saying I was the cutest baby he had ever seen followed by the question "Where did it go?" It's been fun seeing people I have absolutely no recollection of. 

This is the ward building where I am serving.

This is ALSO the same building where my parents attended church when I was just a baby.

That's pretty much everything that has happened this week. I'm going on exchanges with Elder Moeller today while Elder Perry is going with Elder Leavitt. This should be lots of fun! 

I appreciate all the prayers and support I've received these past few days. They've been a big booster. Please continue writing me and thank you for your prayers.

Elder Peery

Write to me at:
Elder Andrew Gordon Peery
Tennessee Nashville Mission
105 Westpark Drive Suite 190
Brentwood, TN 37027

Email address: Andrew.peery@myldsmail.net

Week 2 in the Field: Adventures in Antioch!

Adventures in Antioch!

So first off my email system has been really messed up today. A lot of people who have been trying to email me have ended up in the Spam and Junk folders.  Thanks to everyone for writing me. 

Things have been a little frustrating this week. It started off fantastic with one of our investigators, whom I will call "Kyle", had been progressing rapidly. In one lesson we taught him 10 principles which he understood completely. We were overjoyed when he heartily agreed to attend a baptism this past Saturday. (Kyle also has two killer dogs who seem to adore me more than Elder Leavitt. They are super cute killer creatures.)

You can only imagine how devastated we were when not just Kyle, but 3 other progressing investigators didn't show up not only at the baptism, but church as well. Some of them had even texted us asking where the church was so that they wouldn't miss it. It wasn't the best day in the world that's for sure.

This past week has also been trying for us in that we've been mocked, insulted, cussed at, flipped off, and in some cases threatened. I will have to admit it's been pretty scary to the point that even knocking on doors has been slightly nerve wracking. Our patience as well as our endurance and tolerance have been put to the limit and we have been constantly praying for help. One of the funnier cases was when we went to this ice cream place with our Ward Mission Leader and got the dirtiest of looks. Within a few minutes we cleared the room that was full of people just by our presence. I even heard some of the customers say "D*** Mormons." So if you ever want someone to clear out a place, just ask the missionaries. They can help.

Some good things came out of this week however. We discovered a couple new investigators who were in an apartment complex of one of our progressing investigators. One had come outside her apartment and said "Why don't you boys knock on my door?" We answered "Because we've been kicked out of this complex twice for door knocking." She replied "Well that doesn't make sense cause they let in everyone else! Jehovah Witnesses, the people who leave those ads in your screen door, and even salesman. But I guess heaven forbid two white boys talkin' 'bout Jesus!" We will hopefully be seeing this lady this week and according to her she will fight off security if they come and try to take us away.

I've been playing a lot of basketball with other elders in the zone. It's been very fun to get back on the court and according to the other elders, I'm a great shot from beyond the arc. "Quick-trigger" is back in action.  Haha.

I've also been playing a lot of musical numbers with Elder Leavitt. We recently started talking with another member from our ward who played with country greats and he agreed to join in on making an album with us in 3 weeks. Be on the lookout for that haha. But actually I am very happy to have a guitar in my hands again.

Spiritual Time! As I've said this week has been brutal. But at the same time I have never been more supported. In some cases I have actually felt angels around me. Here's a good example that I plan on telling my mission president. This past Saturday at the baptism I volunteered to play a little prelude music on piano. So I removed my suit jacket and started playing some easy stuff. When we were about to began I was about to take my seat when Elder Leavitt whispered "What are you doing? You're supposed to be the pianist!" I looked at the list of songs and knew I was in trouble. 

The opening hymn was a song I had only heard once or twice and have never played before. Uttering a small prayer, I slowly placed my hands on the keys. I want to point out again that I was not wearing my suit coat and that I was wearing a short sleeved white shirt. No sooner as I had placed my hands on the keys that I felt two hands lightly grab my wrists. I allowed my hands to go where they were prompted and I started playing. I didn't ace the song but I got about 80% correct. It was a miracle. I had never before played an instrument by the spirit and it was something very unique and amazing. When I finished I felt an overwhelming feeling as if to say "Well done." I thought that was pretty cool.

So far I have met a couple families who remember my parents back when they lived in the Nashville 3rd Ward 20 years ago. That ward was at the Haywood Lane building which is the current building in which the Smith Springs Ward is located. It also happens to be my ward. 

I have met my mother's former visiting teacher, Estella Clark, her daughter Danielle, who was my first babysitter, Brother Knott, The Lifferths, The Furnells, and the Inschos. It's been a major blessing to be back at the very ward building I was blessed in as a baby. A lot of people have been getting more active by the presence of the new and eager elder and have been giving us referrals. Bishop Foote couldn't be happier with all the baptisms the 3 sets of missionaries have been working on. I expect great things this transfer as approximately 4-5 people have been scheduled for baptism!

Thank you for your prayers and support.  I enjoy your letters and emails.

Elder Peery

Week 1: Welcome Home to Nashville!

Howdy!! It's been crazy since my last email! 

To first close off my experience in the MTC, let me just say that the last week rolled by quickly. Elder Hagen recovered quickly, but we were all very grateful that we were headed to Tennessee. On the last Tuesday I joined the MTC choir in singing Hope of Israel for Russell M. Nelson who would later speak to us. Apparently my face was broadcasted to every MTC in the world. It was a good thing I told one of my companions who was standing near me to shave. But yeah Elder Nelson was fantastic. He quoted himself which was pretty awesome. Also during my last week I got to meet Brother Christiansen (not sure if that's spelled right) who was the same Elder Christiansen in The District II. That was pretty sweet. But then finally it was time to leave. As we said goodbye to Elder Pedersen (we decided that if he and Elder Hamling came up to BYUI we would all be roommates) and Elder Hardman at 3:30am, we boarded the bus to the SLC Airport.

When we landed in Nashville on Monday we got to meet the President and his wife. President Andersen is an awesome guy who's really strong spiritually. He kinda looks like a Mormon Elijah Wood too. We got to meet the three AP's who were all excited we were there. On Tuesday I went to the stake building where I was assigned my trainer, Elder Leavitt who is from Provo area.

Elder Leavitt and myself meeting for the first time

He's an awesome guy who has the voice of an angel. We've been teaching a lot of people and he constantly says how grateful he is to have an eager companion. We currently are teaching around he city of Antioch which is cool cause in Biblical times that's the location (in the old world of course) where disciples were first called Christians! But yeah you get a little bit of everything from the stuck up rich people to the humble poor. It's been great teaching a bit of both. 

Here's a few pictures of what I've seen/been doing.

Walking in Nashville

The Nashville temple at a whopping two stories high

All the green!! All the hills!

The apartment. Beds are basically from where I'm taking the picture.

Traveling by bus, bike, car, and walking!

Elder Leavitt and I have been performing musical numbers this past week. He sings and I play a guitar we borrowed from a member of the Nashville Tribute Band. It's been really sweet and even President was impressed. Sister Andersen posted the video to her Facebook.

But yeah I've also been amazed how many people I've heard have been reading this stuff. Didn't think that many people would care! I don't really have anything that spiritual to share other than maybe "humility is the key to inspiration" (for those of you who know where that's from you're awesome) and that literally the people who are most likely to accept and retain the gospel are those who are continually searching for answers. I've taught people here who have so much guilt in their hearts. It's been amazing getting to see their faces when they hear their questions answered. 

One last thing I wanted to add. For all members in the church that are reading this, guess what? Your mission (whether or not you served) is not over. The Lord is hastening his work and the best type of missionaries are those who have a strong foothold in the gospel. Go out and talk to your friends! Invite them into your homes to teach them! One of the most common things I've heard is that most non members really don't know what we believe because we keep a lot of what we know secret! We are not a secret church! Go for it! 

And mom to answer your questions:

1. How are you doing?  Doing great. Could use a tighter belt cause I've lost a lot of weight.

2. Where are you?  What area/ward?  Antioch, TN, Nashville Stake, Smith Springs Ward.

3. Who is your companion?  Elder Leavitt.

4. Where are you living?  What is it like?  Apartment complex, can't tell you really.

5. Should I send care packages to your apartment or to the mission home? Always to the mission home.

6. Did you receive your box of bedding and stuff AND your bicycle?  Yes, thank you.

7. Did you receive your new watch?  Yes, thank you so much.

8. Do you need me to send you anything else?  Other than maybe a belt not really. Thanks!