Week 87: A Crazy Busy And Crazy Fun Week

QUE ONDA FAMILIA!

So a lot of questions were asked about transfer week and what we did so I'll just kinda give you a run down of our week and what we did since I sadly don't have too much to report on investigators! Although we do have a family we are teaching!!!

So I got a call from Pres. Friday night of week 5 of the transfer. He told me that the APs would be there to pick me up Sunday after Church. So I didn't have a lot of time for goodbyes or even to really pack cuz we already had a full day planned for Saturday. 

Sunday they picked me up and we able to work their area (which is really rich, and white, and English, none of which I am used to. The area is called Eagle Springs.)  a little during the day then that evening we jumped right into things. We had a meeting with President and talk about missionaries where we wanted to move them and who was going to go where. He really involves us and listens to our ideas. I found I have to be very careful what I say because it could affect the mission of someone else haha! It was fun though. Then for the next week we worked together finishing that...then we got a visa waiter call and had to make room for 7 tiros...which required us driving mattresses around the mission...it was a long drive! But I got to drive by myself for a bit since we had to take 2 trucks. We have a Silverado and a Tacoma. It was nice and quiet. which I needed! haha 

We had a lot of computer work to do in preparing info on who was going where and adjusting everything in the churches program for missions. Its hard to explain! but it was a lot!

Then Monday the new missionaries flew in and we went to the airport and picked them up and then drove them back to the mission home and helped in the new missionary orientation. We basically spent the whole day with the new missionaries and had all the elders sleep in our apartment. Which is just up the road on Kingwood Drive. I don't know the address but it is right across the street from a high school. Then Tuesday we had breakfast at the mission home with the new missionaries and more meetings and then we had a meeting with their trainers..then transfer meeting. Then after Transfer meeting we went back to the mission home and did a whole fireside thing with the departing missionaries. Had a nice steak dinner! haha It was fun to spend the evening with them. Then they all came back to our apt as well to spend the night....then the next morning we went to the temple with them! It was so awesome to see the new video!!!!! I learned so much from it! and have a million more questions now. After the temple we went to Ihop and then dropped all the missionaries off at the airport. Then went back to our area and tried not to think about going home! ;)   It was a crazy busy and crazy fun week! 

Elder Walser my new comp is from Cali. Yosemite area. He has been an AP for 4 transfers already. This will be his last as an AP so I have to learn everything pretty quick! but he goes home 1 (transfer) before me!

He is a English missionary but knows pretty dang good Spanish from having 3 Spanish comps in a row and also studied a lot in school. 

So I hope this all helps you understand a little better about what I've been doing! ;) I'm enjoying it! this week we have a Sisters training on Wed. and Thurs. then we will be out in Beaumont and Vidor Texas the rest of the week on exchanges with different elders! gotta love it ;)

I Love you and Miss y'all tons!

Con amor y respeto

Elder Erickson

Week 86: A Day that I Will Never Forget!!!

8/19/2013
Hey no time today! We have to go pick up the new missionaries and have the day with them...we might find time later to shoot a quick email. Sorry! Love y'all!

Con amor y respeto

Elder Erickson

Hey family! 

We just picked up the new missionaries and had a lunch and presentation with them. They were up at 1:00 this morning to fly in from Mexico and Provo so we planned a little nap time in the day so we snuck off to get some email time in. So we only have a few minutes because we have to get back but we probably won't find time later either.

Saturday was the most amazing experience of my mission. Being able to be inside the temple and seeing the Ortega family walk around the corner was unlike anything I've ever felt! I imagine it is much the same feeling for parents seeing their children enter the temple! It was different doing a session in Spanish but I liked it a lot! Still the old video but we will get to go again this Wednesday with the departing missionaries!, one of the perks to being the AP!  

I wish I could explain the feelings of being in the temple with the Ortegas but there isn't words that even come close!! We were able to go to the sealing with them as well! While sitting in the Celestial room talking with them, both were crying and saying how strong the feeling was and how they never thought it would be so strong! While we were talking a temple worker came up and was looking for "Elder Erickson" I had no idea why but she pulled me and Hno Velazquez (now Obispo) out of the room and guided us to another room. She sat us down with the sealer and He talked with us and how the Ortegas asked for us to be witnesses!!! We had a good talk with them all is Spanish and he told us how we need to make sure they attend often and support them in the gospel! After we went to the sealing room and it was such a spiritual time for me and for everyone! Elder Cope and Elder Walser were able to come with us and also some other members from the Galena Park Ward were also going through for the first time, one of which was Elder Mallard's convert. So he and his companion were able to come as well. And to top it off Elder Viitanen was put with them so he was able to come! That is one day I will never forget!!! The temple is amazing and should be the goal for everyone! Those who haven't gone yet should do everything they can to prepare to enter and those who have better be going often! I know the temple is the Lord's House! To feel His presence strongest, we must go to His house. 

8/20/2013

Life has been pretty crazy for the past couple days! Today is Tuesday and we are sitting in the Mission home with the departing missionaries they are making things for a scrapbook that sister Crawford has and I'm just chilling with writing y'all on a laptop. So I don't have a whole ton of time! There have been so much going on and I would love to tell you about life now but I'm going to have to pick and choose so I'm going to share an amazing miracle story and dedicate it to PaPa! After the craziness of the new missionaries and preparing for everything we were about to start the meeting and Elder Brown came up to me and told me that they were in the store the other day and a man came up to them and said that he has a friend that is a member of the church. He said it was one of his best friends that he met in the Navy. These Elders were serving out in the country part of the mission in an area called Buna. The man said that his good friend from the navy has a grandson serving in Texas!! It was Papa's friend from the Navy he told me to find! I've never made it out that way but I've always remembered that Papa has a friend out there! So with God's help he found us! They got his info and address and now the sisters that cover that area are going to visit him! I'm going talk to President and look for every excuse when we are out that way to go and visit him! I was super happy when I heard that! 

I've really enjoyed my new assignment working with President and all the office staff. It's different, super different, but I like it still, I get to see a whole new side of missionary work. I will miss knocking into drunk Mexicans in the 100 degree sun but I'm excited to get to work with all the missionaries in the mission!!

Con amor y respeto

Elder Erickson

Week 85: My Mission Just Changed 100%

Hey Family!

Well to start off...I Love all of you so much!

second...I Have Cancer....haha 

I kid. I kid. 

Really though I do Love y'all but it doesn't take a moment like that to make me realize it! 

I have Great news though! The Ortega's will be going through the Temple this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!! the 17th at 9am! And I will be able to go!!!!!!!!!! I am so stoked!!!! Baptisms are great but I don't think anything will compare to this! I was able to talk to the the other day! We dropped off some Elders in our zone at their house because they were having some problems with stuff so we had to take them to the police station and drop them off again. Luckily their next appointment was with the Ortegas so I was able to talk with them! 

We had a miracle this week as well that was a real testimony builder to me of acting on impressions. We were driving away from an appointment and didn't really have a plan since that was already our backup plan and I was thinking where to go and Elder Viitanen was just driving....he still doesn't know the area! haha but he drove us into a dead end so I got out to (help us) back up and as I did I saw two really big...tatted...mean looking Mexicans working on their truck. Something said to me "go talk to him" I thought...I already look like a dork backing this mini van in the middle of the road, but oh well...I guess I should talk to them even if I have to fly solo. So I went and started talking about his truck...I don't know too much about cars so it was pointless but anyways I started to say I was a missionary and he cut me off. He said "Yeah, LDS. I know. I'm a member!" It was amazing! He still has a testimony, parents are real strong in the chruch, they live somewhere else, he moved here and works Sundays so hasn't been able to go to church, his wife and kids are catholics, been to church a few times with him but never had any missionaries over! He asked us if we need food or anything to eat and sadly we had a dinner in a bit but we set up another time to go see him! It was a legit experience for me to see how the spirit helped me to go talk to them.

Dallin and Jamie... you are now free to release that story and E-mail! I'm no longer in that apartment!  (see email below)

Also I made some purchases....I had to buy new pants, and a watch that actually works. So there are some charges. I needed to look more professional now. I got moved. I'm not in the Ghetto anymore. I'm working with President and Elder Walser now. I'm the new AP ;) MIX FEELINGS!

Address ( mission Office)

 2815 West Lake Houston Parkway

Kingwood, TX  77339

Con amor y respeto!

Elder Erickson

From: Ethan Erickson 

Subject: Pinche Chinches

Date: July 29, 2013 11:30:10 AM MDT

To: Dallin Erickson, Jamie Heslop

proque ya saben, Les voy and contar algo....

Its probably one of the funniest stories...mixed with a horror story. Make sure you have your visual thinking caps on and that you aren't around other family members because i don't want them to know until we are all the way in the clear. 

So Day by day:

Saturday I woke up and saw a few blood stains on my sheets...i was scared but tried to just tell myself it came from a scab or something

Sunday morning: woke up and saw more blood. And a couple bigger spots, a huge blood smear and a dead bed bug on my sheets so now i was scared but didn't know what to do. 

Monday: Slept on the couch and everything was fine. 

- called sister crawford and she "wanted to be sure" so she told me to sleep in my bed then to wake up in the middle of the night and to grab a light and hurry and turn in on and look and see if i could see any bed bugs. 

-2 o clock i woke up just on my own before the alarm. I grabbed the light, turned it on, Tons of FREAKING BEDBUGS were all over me...a couple of them were mid gulp of my precious blood! I freaked out and started killing some of them...but then i was just smearing blood. So i went and got a water bottle and started catching them. Then i checked under my mattress and a long it and there were tons o i just gave up, got in the shower and then unrolled my yoga mat and slept on the freezing tile. our whole apt. is just tile. It was the worst night sleep ever but i was so freaked out that i couldnt even go close to were they might be. 

Tuesday: They fumigated the room. We were out working all day and they told us we had to wash ALL OUR CLOTHES, EVERYTHING i dropped like $15 just in laundry. we ended up teaching until 8:30. we had to make sure Teresa was ready! so we get our laundry done at like 10:30...then we had to vacuum everything too!!!!!! so we were vacuuming (keep in mind that all of this is happening and i cant speak and english! which i went the whole week without! haha) while cleaning the box spring we found a whole colony of chinches! so me being super baby and scared. We just hucked it outside...haha and then we found more in Elder V's Boxspring...so we hucked that too....this is about 1 in the morning. Then the frames were next. Then our Rug we have in our room...and then the vacuum because they were crawling all over that...we bleach mopped the floor. bleach scrubbed the mattress. got to bed by 3. 

We had all our clothes in trash bags for a few days...we froze our backpacks and all our ties! dry cleaned our suits. we had nothing left but mattresses in our dang room! haha 

Good news though! no bites or blood since then!...just super tired!!!! haha 

Love you! hope that made you laugh!...keep this email cuz ill probably never get time to write it in my journal...but after a few weeks ill send it to the public. VIP ONLY NOW.

Week 84: SALVATION IS NOT CHEAP

Hey family!!!!!

This week!....well...It was a week of missionary work! haha

We spent a lot of our time doing things for Zone meeting and driving up to the mission office and we had a meeting there about how we can better help our Zones and what are the problems we are having, and boy are there a lot of them ;) 

Some advice I would like to direct to all those who are planning on going on a mission, Make sure you prepare for it! A mission is thee greatest time of your life, IF you give your all to it and are willing to work. If you are not willing to sacrifice things and work hard, you then become a burden to those who are willing to. My testimony has never been stronger and my knowledge of the gospel is where I didn't even imagine it getting, granted I'm still a baby in this stuff...before I was just a embryo. I've learned so many people skills and spiritual skills that I know will help me throughout my life! and I hope that everyone has the chance to have this same learning experience that I have had. Just please be preparing before! :) read, pray and understand that it's not a trip. Elder Holland said something along the lines of this regarding missionaries who don't understand why baptisms don't come easier, he said that These things should not be easy because SALVATION WAS NEVER EASY FOR HIM, SALVATION IS NOT CHEAP.  If Christ had to go through such a hard time to bring salvation to us then it shouldn't be a cheap thing to us!. That quote (I wish I knew it word for word, but the idea behind it has really helped me through my mission (when) it has been hard! and people don't want to listen to us. I wish I would have been more prepared and many of the new missionaries are thinking the same thing! This is the work of salvation! Its a big deal :)

But sounds like y'all had a blast at Bear lake! Thanks so much for sending those pictures!!!! I'm sure you took a lot! I would love to see more! haha...Eli is so tall...I can't believe it! You look like a stud! just hit the gym! ;) you and Dallin! haha just kidding! ....BUT I was most shocked when I saw this beautiful young girl...in a dress...and her hair was done? she was standing admits my family...in the big family photo...white and blue stripped?  Who is that? 

I Hope Miles enjoyed his first trip up there! Even if he didn't love the water yet, I'm sure he will learn to!  

As for my pants...well they are fine! I think we found a member of the ward to take care of them and she said she will sow them up! so I'll try that first...if it doesn't work I'll probably go buy some new ones at Ross or something! 

 Last Monday Teresa's Father fell and hit his head and passed away....its really messed up how the low blows Satan troughs at people right after their baptism! It was a super hard for her....she was strong but it really beat her up....she went out of town to Austin yesterday to get away from everyone...they do the Mexican style funeral....aka "party and drink beer for a week, on the tab (of the) family who had the death"...it was pretty messed up...no joke there were guys out in her yard for the entire week drinking! When the Relief Society went by to offer help all she asked for was someone to get rid of the pile of trash bags full of beer bottles and cans! 

Hugo is doing good... probably going to have to push his date back because he is a heavier smoker than we thought!

We had a new lady come to a baptism this Saturday!....Mariluz Carrillo! she is such a sweet humble lady! Her husband doesn't like the church and seems abusive so we are taking things slow...but she is down to get baptized and pay tithing...she really wants to pay tithing but doesn't have a job...so she wants to get a job to be able to pay because her husband wont give money of his for tithing...She has amazing faith!

Love y'all dearly!

Con amor y respeto!

Elder Erickson