March 21, 2016

Well this week was an interesting one.. I'll give the transfer info to start out, I'm leaving Laurel this week. 

Sounds like it was a good week for you all! And I'm glad that the temple dedication turned out so great! Hope it's a great Easter for you all! Funny about Caleb mountain biking lots, We have actually been biking a little bit around since it's been pretty warm this week and it saves us come miles. Never felt more like a missionary then biking in some short sleeve shirts hah 

The week was pretty good.. I'm just gonna hit some of the highlights.  So on Wednesday we went to the Temple. I love getting to go to the temple, and yes Elder McDonald and I extended the streak haha. I sat in between McDonald and Jenks and Mellen was next to McDonald, it was the best haha! But after the temple we took a trip to one of the three Cafe Rios in the mission! That pork burrito was so amazing haha. 

So I didn't mention it, but last week we got a call from some of the Spanish elders and asked if we had some time to come help them out. Then we ended up helping get a refrigerator up two flights of stairs for their Obispo (Bishop). After he told us he wanted us to come to a BBQ and so we went on Friday and it was AMAZING!! I mean I might not have understood what was going on the entire night, but it was tons of fun to be adopted into the Spanish Program for the night haha. Plus there was a girl that just returned from a mission in Peru and knew Cole Parkinson!! 

Saturday night a single guy in our ward took us to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and it was amazing!! Then after that the Call Outs came! So I am leaving and Elder Schank is staying. Elder Mellen is training, then McDonald and Jenks are both leaving their areas and Coombs was just called as a traveling assistant. 

Sunday was kinda hard to say goodbye to people in the Ward.. It was rough. The hardest was telling Ismael, at first he thought I was kidding then he tried to keep it under control then started to cry. It broke my heart!! Plus he came over after church and said "I'm not going to go to Young Men's Tuesday so you can come say goodbye and be with me your last night.." Let's just say Tuesday I'll probably bawl like a baby. After church we had a Why I Believe and it was pretty good and then we came and slept over at Elder Coombs again. So I'm spending the P-Day with them and of course Elder McDonald came! Elder Mellen is from Payson and Elder Jenks is from Washington State. And all 3 (McDonald, Jenks and Mellen) are going to UVU so we can keep being friends after the mission!!

So update on investigators.. So Archibald and Yassa had to cancel their appointment this last week but rescheduled. So I still have hope they will get baptized eventually. They are both really amazing and humble people. Susan and Sarah fell off the face of the Earth.. We haven't heard from them for about a week! Super sad, but I'm sure they will turn back up. They were so solid and I can't see anything that changed them. So Elder Schank and his new comp have their work cut out for them. Lots of people that are close but still need some work. I can't wait to hear about their success and get to come back for some baptisms in the next few months! 

I have some guesses of where I'm heading, but I'll find out later today. So stay tuned! I'm a little mixed, I'm sad to see some people go here in Laurel, but at the same time I think it's time for me to go. I'm ready to have a little change. I've done lots of good things here in Laurel and hopefully the next guys keep it going. 

I'll talk to you all soon! I hope you all have a great week leading up to Easter! Crazy to think going to conference was a year ago!! I love you all and miss you tons! And a few weeks until we get to talk on Mothers Day!

Love you tons!

Austin 

Temple Trip

Elder Call and I after the temple and some Cafe Rio!

Adoption into the Spanish Program for a day! Elder Ord and Elder Smith are on either size of Obispo and they go home this week! Elder Ord was an AP when I got to the mission and he's an amazing missionary! Such a good example.

District

Zone  

Story behind this picture.... So the pink cowboy hat is a posterity gift. Meaning it gets passed from father to son, so it will be Elder Schanks later this week. I got sentimental and sad I'm parting with it so I wore it for the rest of the night after I got the call I was leaving. I'm on the phone with either Jenks, McDonald or Coombs I can't remember. Haha I was on the phone with people for a while trying to figure out where I'm heading.