Hey All

 Us and the sisters. Sora Schuld on the right, Sora Remsburg on the left.They bought us some ridiculous ties from a second hand store at the beginning of the transfer.

Hi everyone! Man, that was a little intense reading that story about Mom's car incident/accident thingy. I'm really glad that you didn't get hurt too badly, Mom. I'm not going to lie though, thinking about what happened I have to laugh a little because that sounds exactly like something that I would do! I think you and I react to stress in very similar ways. And of course the men of the family, Erik and dad came to the rescue!

I hope you will be able to heal up enough to go to trek! I remember how much I LOVED trek! Besides going to Philmont and other Scouting hiking trips, trek had one of the biggest impacts on me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After my first time going I was really disappointed that I would be too old or on my mission by the time the next one came around. I'm really excited for Eli going, he will love it!

This week has gone by pretty fast. From Tuesday night to Thursday morning I was in Timisoara on an exchange with Elder Martin. It was good to be able to spend a day with him since we served together in Pitesti. He's learned and grown significantly serving as branch president there. Of course this transfer he was released and his companion, Elder Schroedter is now the branch president. From everything I've heard from either members or missionaries who served around Elder Martin while he was branch president, he did a lot for that branch.

Thursday day we went with the sisters out to two inactive members who live about 30 minutes outside Arad. We don't get to go out to the countryside very often, so I always relish the chances I get. Romania is a beautiful country, and many parts of it remind me so much of northern California.

A flower bed in front of someone's house I saw while we were knocking doors in this nice neighborhood of vile (houses). There were a lot of snap dragons, or gura leului (the lion's mouth) as the they call it in Romanian, and some lupin-looking purple flowers. I thought mom would enjoy them. 

gura leului (the lion's mouth) as the they call it in Romanian

The flower Shane mentioned being "lupine-like" is actually a delphinium.

It was interesting visiting these members, and learning their motives for not coming to church. I've always found working with less active members to either be really really rewarding, or somewhat depressing. Either you see people re-find their faith and start experiencing the blessings of the fulness of the gospel again, or you witness a lot of bitterness, misunderstanding and unhappiness.

We had a grand total of three people at our beginners English class, but they're all really nice people, and one of them took a copy of the Book of Mormon saying she was very interested to read it. We're still having a hard time finding new investigators, but we're pluggin along, trying to do as much as we can. Zone conference is this week, so we've got a fair amount of prepartion to do for that.

Even today has been kind of crazy. This morning we went to a meeting with Brother Edi, the branch mission leader, Brother Ciprian, the Elders Quorum President, and President Banatean (buh - nuh - tse - ahn) --AKA PEC!! (which is rarely held in this branch) to talk about some of the problems in the branch. It was actually really cool being able to see the priesthood leaders of the branch working together to figure out what things they can do to help strengthen the members of this branch. They all have  good intentions and a lot of drive and desire to serve the members here. Hopefully together we'll be able to see some improvements. It's pretty incredible to think that these men who don't have much experience in church leadership or organization are able to come together and discuss the needs of the branch, and make a plan to help things progress. It's just one more proof to me that this is the Lord's church, and that His hand is in every little detail, and that without the help and guidance of the Holy Ghost, things would not be the same.

So, for the rest of the p-day we plan on going and playing tennis! Also, I had called Alex up to see how he's doing (he's still at his grandparents' in Oradea) and he said that he'll be in Arad for today and tomorrow. I don't know if he's here yet or not, but we're hoping to meet up with him for a little bit at some point.

Thanks for all the updates on everything! I'm also glad that Nana is feeling better. I hope dad and Eli made it alright up to Utah, that's so awesome they get to go to Whitney's wedding! (Sorry mom....). I've attached some more pictures from this last week. I love you all!

Elder Myers

Ce mai faceti?

Three Generations of Missionaries!
In the Missionary World the elder who trains you is your "Dad", so this is Shane's "Son," Elder Cox, and his "Grandson," Elder ?

Ce mai faceti? That literally means, "What more are you doing?" or in other words, "How have you been?" Sounds like you have all been pretty darn busy! 


Thanks on the transcript update, I'll get that email sent right after this one. So, dad had some questions about stuff, ummm well, Elder Cox is hitting his year mark this transfer I think....So he's still got a year left to go. And as for all the zone leader stuff, your little experiences from when you were a zone leader made me laugh Dad! That's crazy that you had to memorize entire discussions. I can't imagine I would have really enjoyed that...One of your mission presidents was from Argentina, wow! 


So yeah, we do have a car here in Arad that we share with the Walquists (the senior couple). We'll use it for traveling to Oradea and Timisoara, or a couple times we've used it to go with a member to home teaching appointments, or other teaching appointments we have set up and don't have enough time to take public transportation. That rarely happens though. The car is a Skoda Fabio with an automatic transmission. I'm pretty sure that Skoda is owned by VW. Driving this car kind of reminds me of driving mom's Jetta. 

Skoda Fabio

It's not a bad car. The only down side to driving is that gas is EXPENSIVE!!! It costs anywhere between 5-6 RON per liter, which averages out to around $6 a gallon!! And I used to wonder why hardly anyone drives here...thankfully travel expenses come out of our zone funds, so when we drop 200 RON on a tank of gas, it doesn't come out of our personal MSF (Missionary Service Funds). 


Last week we did exchanges with Oradea, and this week will be with Timisoara. My exchange in Oradea was with Elder Cox (different Elder Cox from the one I trained, who is in Timisoara). It was a really good exchange, and over all an awesome experience! I had never served around this Elder Cox before, but I had seen him at zone conferences here and there so I never really got to know him until now. It's his first time being a District Leader right now, and he's doing an excellent job. I learned a lot from him on my exchange. 


Oh my gosh, I just have to say before I forget, the pictures of Allyson's sonogram are incredible!!! I remember with her last two pregnancy they had started doing those 3D photos, but it seems like they've gotten even better since then. You can make out all the little details of her face!! Man wouldn't that be incredible, to be say, 12 years old and be able to see a picture of you when you were the size of a softball? That is so awesome!


This week's been a little frustrating as far as investigators go. We haven't  been able to meet up with any of our potentials like M--- or M---, although we did run into C--- and his wife one day while walking through Centru! He introduced us to her and they were both really nice and friendly, and he said that he still wants to meet up and that he'd give us a call when he has some time off work.


 This Sunday went really well though! There were a lot of people who came. The sisters had a couple investigators come, and on our side M--- came and stayed for the second hour, and we had a couple less active members we've been trying to work with show up as well! M--- wanted a copy of the Liahona to give to a friend of his who's been asking him about our church. He's already doing missionary work, and he's not even an official investigator of ours! Then after church we went with two members to give the sacrament to two older ladies in the branch who are too sick to come. I remember back home doing that once or twice, and they were always very tender, spiritual moments. 


Nothing else too out of the ordinary has happened, we're just pluggin along, trying to get things moving here. Man, I can't believe Adam is coming home on the 5th! Wow, I still remember clearly  when he left and I still had a whole summer before leaving for my mission. Now all I have left is a summer. I figured it out that a full season is only about two transfers. Wierd. Time is such a relative thing, it almost might as well just not exist. I actually remember reading in the Book of Mormon I don't remember exactly where, where it said essentially that time is only a thing measured by man, and that to God there is no time. Try to wrap your head around that one.


 Well, I'm sorry I don't have any cool awesome or amazing stories, lately I've just been appreciating all the little things that happen every day, and it's hard to put all that into an email. I'm looking forward to this next week, and I hope all of you have safe travels to all of your crazy stuff you have going on, and know that I love you all and I'm always so grateful that I have people like you for my family.


Love,
Elder Myers

Hey!

Shane's district celebrated Sora Henrie's birthday in Arad
Sora Schuld, Elder Nilsson, Elder Myers

Well, it was really really good to be able to talk to all of you on Mother's Day! It was like a breath of fresh new air and a taste of what's to come after 5 months, but I didn't leave the conversation wishing I had more time or wishing I was just back home. If anything it only made me realize even more how fast these next months will pass, and that my time of serving the Lord 24/7 is limited. That's actually a sad thought. I have a feeling that my last weeks in Romania, when they come, will be bittersweet. I've come to love this country and it's people with all my heart.


 I'm excited to find out who the referral is from Brian! So he's got 84 days left, that's sounds like only about 2 transfers! That's pretty exciting. Adam's going to be getting home in a few weeks too I think. 

So really quick, here are  some specifics I would like you to search for in guitar lessons.  I want to focus on learning how to read sheet and lead music for mainly jazz guitar. If you just tell the teachers that, they should know what I need. I can't remember if there was another question you wanted answered...I'm going to call President Hill and get permission to email the lady at Durham High about the transcripts as soon as I can. Thanks you so much again for doing all of this for me...I really really appreciate it. I know that doing college stuff isn't the funnest thing to do. 

Today I mainly want to tell you about my day yesterday; everything that happened before I talked to you. I was a spiritually enriching and strengthening day that taught me a lot about serving others. On Saturday evening us missionaries and other members of the branch started a special fast with E--- (the branch mission leader) for his wife, who has been meeting with the sister missionaries for the past couple weeks and is searching for answers about the church and the Book of Mormon, and also about God in general. E--- asked us if we would all fast with him for his wife to receive a testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement and to develop a closer relationship with God. All afternoon on Sunday E--- took us with him to go visit his grandmother and Sister Florita (floor - eets - ah) who is sick with cancer and has not been able to come to church because of the effects of the chemotherapy, and then we also stopped by the Sofroni family for their daughter's birthday. It was very touching to see E--- serving and caring for the sick and afflicted, and the elderly members of his family. 

Elder Nilsson and Elder Myers with the Sofroni ( show - fro - knee ) family in Arad, Romania

We had the opportunity of giving the sacrament to his grandma and Sister Florita, and Sister Florita asked for a blessing of health. I did the anointing and E--- did the sealing and gave a powerful blessing that promised strength and endurance to overcome her sickness. The Holy Ghost was there with us and with those that we visited, enveloping us with His peace and comfort. It was especially touching being at Sister Florita's house. I felt as if I could almost see the angels surrounding her and constantly ministering to her. She is an incredibly strong woman with a powerful faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a humbling experience being with her for that hour. We closed our fast at 6:00, so pretty much right before I talked to all of you. E--- was just glowing the whole day. I wish you could have been there to experience it as well. That day was a powerful testimony to me of the power of fasting, and the whole time I was reminded of the part in King Benjamin's address (I think) when he talks about fasting (or maybe it's somewhere else in the Book of Mormon, I don't remember exactly) and he talks about how your fast is not complete if you do not also serve those who are suffering and in need. 


That's about it, tonight we're driving down to Oradea to do exchanges there. I will probably be staying there until Wednesday and working with Elder Cox (different Elder Cox from the one that I served with in Brasov). He is now the new district leader in Oradea. We're already into our 2nd week of the transfer, and things are just moving right along! We found out that zone conference will be here in Arad on the 31st and the 1st so me and Elder Nilsson will have to start preparing for that this week. Once again, it was great seeing you all, and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love,
Elder Myers

P.S. Pictures!

1. three generations of missionaries!
2. Last transfer's district. It was Sora Henrie's birthday! She's the one sitting in front of the cake, and the other sister missionary is Sora Schuld. 
3. Us with the Sofroni (show - fro - knee) family

Transfers!!

Hey all!!

I enjoyed reading your emails and seeing all the photos!! I loved the ones of Carissa and Taylor. That's so cool that Sean had come up! I was recently thinking about him and wondering if he was back from his mission or not. I couldn't remember exactly when he left.

Shane's friends, Taylor and Carissa Bradley, just days before Carissa left for her mission in Brazil.

The Myers family bids Carissa farewell.

Thanks for all the college info! I've spent some more time on BYU's website and pretty much found out most of what you told me, except for the details about the school of music itself. I've been thinking about the auditions and I'm not really sure how prepared I will be for the auditions. I've thought about seeing if I can take some private lessons from someone in the couple months that I'll be home before the semester starts. I'm fairly confident that I will be accepted into BYU as well, but I have been thinking about back up options. I don't know how much more you looked into CSULA as far as prices go, things like that, but I would probably just continue in the music program at Chico State or like you said, just finish all my generals at Butte and work....I don't know. I know the application deadline for CSULA is June 4th or something like that. Don't worry about that though. If I don't get into BYU I'll still have some time when I get home to figure out what my next step will be.

 As far as college credits go, I honestly have no idea how many I took. I could look it up on the website because I remember all the courses I took, I just don't remember how many credits it was. I'm pretty sure I had at least 24 credits because I took two full-time semesters and 12 credits/semester is the minimum for being a full time student. And also for the AP scores, BYU counts scores of 3 and more, and I got 3's and 4's on all of my AP tests. Also, about my SAT scores, I don't remember what I got but there is a folder in my bedroom desk where I put all my important documents and it should be in there. It should be in the left hand side big drawer. If not then the right side. Haha, I'm kind of surprised that I still remember that.

Whew, ok, well in answer to other questions, the zone p-days are planned and coordinated by me and Elder Nilsson, and as for choosing what to do, we just called everyone in the zone and asked what ideas they had. There were a few people who had been to Lipova before, so they suggested that. We're probably going to have another zone p-day this next transfer as well. Speaking of which, Elder Nilsson and I are staying together in Arad! Which is good because I still have a lot of things to learn about being an effective zone leader.

Sora Schuld is staying, and Sora Henrie is going down to Bucuresti and Sora Remsberg is replacing her here in Arad. I've never met Sora Remsberg, but Elder Nilsson does and Sora Shuld said they were companions in the MTC, so she's super excited about that! I'm really really excited to be staying in Arad. We still have a lot of work to do. We haven't been able to meet up with C---again, he didn't come to English or church and he doesn't pick up when we call him. Not really sure whats up there. It's possible he's just really busy with work. A--- left Arad yesterday and he will be heading back home to LA within the next couple of weeks. Right now he's staying with his grandparents in Oradea. Some exciting news though!! M--- (brother Sofroni's friend, the one I met in Bacau) came to church!! So did Mc---, the guy whose lawn we planted back when the McFaddens were still here. The fast and testimony meeting was soo good and some of the testimonies shared made Mc-- cry! M--- seemed to enjoy it as well and even stayed all 3 hours. We also had two less active youth come to church, P--- and C---. There were a lot of people at church, and the Spirit was strong.

Ok, one more thing before I forget. Mother's Day. So it's this Sunday, and I get to Skype with all of you!!!!!! Here's the thing, I don't know what time your church is so I'm not really sure when you want me calling. However, since this is transfer week and everything's kind of hectic, President Hill has allowed us an extra 20 minutes of internet time on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday so we can work out all our Mothers Day plans. Also he said that the call doesn't have to be on Sunday. It can also be on Saturday or Monday, for example. I think Elder Nilsson is planning on Skyping his family Sunday night (our time). His family has church at 9:00am Utah time, so he's going to talk to them after their church. I'm flexible. Basically, tell me what time you want to Skype, and I can get it all arranged. I have a couple different options. The senior couple here the Walquists have Skype, the internet cafe here as Skype, or Marcel probably has skype and another guy named Gabi who is a friend of the church. So get back to me on this by Saturday and I'll get it all figured out. Thanks sooooo much, I'm really excited to see all of you!!

Love,
Elder Myers

Ciao!



Fortress at Lipova, Romania

Hey all, I'm writing a little later than usual because we just got back into Arad from a zone p-day trip to this place called Lipova that has a 500 year old fortress! It was awesome! The fortress ruins are situated on top of a huge hill in the mountains overlooking a valley with a large river running through it. It was absolutely gorgeous. Everyone from our zone except for the missionaries in Oradea came, and the two elders in Deva also came, it was super fun.



A--- came along with us too and I had a chance to get to know him better. He's got a pretty interesting life! He went to school and was best friends with Nicolas Cage's son, and has done a lot of traveling. He said he's recorded a couple albums, written a novel, and he said that before he came out to Romania he had tried putting together an orchestra! He's also a really open guy and easy to talk to. He asked a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon, and I explained to him the history of the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith's story. He found it all really fascinating and said that he has a friend from LA who is mormon. It was pretty cool and he didn't seem weirded out or awkward at all by the fact that he was spending his day with a bunch of missionaries. On our train ride home back to Arad I thought about talking to Brother Moldovan to see if he's ever offered A--- a Book of Mormon. If not, I'm planning to get one in English, write my testimony in it and give it to him before he leaves. He said He'll probably be in Romania until some time in June.



My exchange in Oradea was really fun. Elder Nilsson actually stayed in Oradea with Elder Newton -- his former companion -- and I brought Elder Newton's companion Elder Sneed back to Arad. Elder Sneed is in his second transfer, and it was really fun working with him for a couple days! He's got an upbeat, positive attitude and loves everything about Romania! At the end of the exchange, I always give the other missionary a commitment - something to work on improving - and I also ask them to give me a commitment for something I can work on. He told me to just smile more and be as positive as I can about every situation! I learned a lot from his example about keeping a positive attitude and always looking for the silver lining in things. Funny enough, that was actually a personal goal I had set the week before - to not get stressed out when things don't work out right, and to keep a more over all positive attitude.

This week we found a new investigator! We haven't been able to meet up with M--- yet, but on Saturday we had a lesson with a man from the English courses! His name is C--- and his 12 year old daughter has been coming to the classes for  a couple years. C--- said that he had wanted to come too, but was always too busy with work until now. He also said that the past few years he's been searching for a church to join. He's born Orthodox but isn't necessarily practicing and knows a lot of people who have joined protestant churches. When his daughter started coming to our English courses she told him that it was held at a church and then he heard what church it was and he was really interested to learn more. Our lesson with him went soooo well and the Holy Ghost was present and strong the whole time. He seems like a really humble man, and he said that he wants to find a church for his family, and that family is the most important thing to him. He took the Book of Mormon, said he would make time to read it and pray about it and come to our church services, and he also said he wants to meet with us as often as possible. He had a lot of really good questions and with each question he posed Elder Nilsson and I were both able to see the ways that he has been prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the gospel. Naturally, we're really excited to meet with him again.

Thank  you for looking up more college info!!!! I looked over the info you sent me about CSU, LA, and I also found some helpful information on the BYU website. I'm still leaning towards BYU at this point, partially because of the financial advantage it has, as well as me having a TON of connections there from my mission, and their music program. I think the only advantage of going to LA or some other southern california school would be living in one of the capitols of the world for music industry and it would give me a lot of networking opportunities. But it would also be a lot more expensive. I looked up cost average for BYU for two semesters that includes averages for housing, books, transportation, meal plans, etc and it was a little over $17,000 for one academic year. Tuition itself was like $4,000-ish for two semesters. Also, Even though the application deadline isn't for a while, I think I'll want to start the application process soon so that I'll never be stressed over deadlines. I also saw that housing for 2013 semesters has already opened up. Some things to think about. Let me know what you think!

Thanks for the pictures, and that's soooo exciting to hear about Carissa and Justin! Wish them luck for me. I'm glad Dad had the oppoturnity to speak at Carissa's farewell, wish I could have been there! I love you all and can't wait to hear back next week! Oh yeah, next week is transfers, so within the next several days we'll find out who's going where. Crazy right? I feel like I just got here! This transfer has flown by!

Love,
Elder Myers



tp

Hey All

I call it "Blue Steel." I just cut my own hair for the first time last night with some clippers Elder Nilsson has. This is the shortest I've ever had it. I kind of like it. 

Oh my gosh I'm so jealous of your weekend. Happy Birthday Grandpa Gary and Andy!! The pictures were really fun to look at, and the whole area where the cabin is sounds absolutely amazing and wonderful! I'm glad you all had a chance to get away from everything for a weekend. It was fun seeing Amy and Jason's kid too! He's a big little guy! 


So a little update on college stuff, this last Friday we had our quartery interviews with President Hill and I talked to him a little bit about BYU. He was the director of the business program there before he was called as mission president so he knows a lot about the school, and he said that application deadlines should be coming up pretty soon....he may have been thinking about fall semester, but he knows I'm not going home until October. Either way, he gave me permission to go onto the BYU website and look up all the information I need to, so I'm going to spend some of my internet time doing that today. 

Well, this week sure did fly by! On Thursday I did my first zone leader exchange! I was with Elder McCombs in Timisoara. He is the district leader there and Elder Martin's companion. It was really fun being able to work in a different city for a day, and to get to know Elder McCombs. He's a great missionary and doing really well as district leader. He's from Elder Cox's group, so that puts him in his 7th transfer. One thing I love about working with other missionaries is the fact that you can learn a lot from working with other people, and it really motivated me a lot to do even better in my own area with Elder Nilsson. 

We're still busy with member visits, although we weren't able to get in as many this week because of our exchange and interviews with President. Elder Hyatt and Elder Simmons are the assisstants right now, so they stayed at our apartment Friday night. It was really fun seeing both of them again! But yeah, with our missionary work this week, we're still low on investigators....in that we don't have any....but, we got a referral from a member! His name is M---and he's been friends with Fratele S--- who was baptized a little over a year ago and get this, M--- said that he lived in Bacau for a while last year, and that he knew a missionary from there who served in Arad after Bacau. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet him because I was on my exchange with Elder McCombs when Elder Nilsson and Elder Martin met him, but from Elder Nilsson description of this guy, I'm almost positive that Elder Schank and I knew M--- from our English classes when I was in Bacau!! Elder Schank and I are the only people who have served in both Bacau and Arad in the last year. I'm pretty excited to meet him! It always blows my mind how stuff like this happens. God just lines up everything perfectly and leaves you standing with your mouth hanging open thinking, "did that just happen?" 

Other than that we've been doing a lot of former investigator hunting but so far nothing has come out of it. The weather's been pretty crazy too. There have been a lot of rolling thunder and rain storms that will dump buckets of rain for an hour or so and then leave and it will be perfectly sunny and warm. Elder Nilsson and I got caught in one of them a couple days ago as we were out visiting former investigators' homes. Luckily we had umbrellas with us but we still got pretty wet!


Oh yeah and then one last thing and I have to get going. On Sunday Fratele Moldovan (the guitar teacher) brought this guy to church who is the son of a guy that used to play guitar in a band with Fratele Moldovan. The son's name is Alex, he's 21 and both of his parents are Romanians who had moved to LA in 1985, so Alex was born American and grew up in LA and now speaks both romanian and English. Alex has been in Romania since mid March and is staying with Moldovan right now, and he plays the guitar as well, so today right after internet we're going to go over to Fratele Moldovan's and jam for a little while! 

That's all for today, sorry my email's a little shorter. I'll have more to say next week! This Wednesday and Thursday we'll be doing an exchange with the district leader companionship in Oradea so I'll tell you all about that. Thanks again for the emails and all the photos, I love you all!

Love,
Elder Myers

Hristos a inviat!

Elder Nilsson and Elder Myers at Orthodox Easter Mass -- Arad, Romania

Adevarat a inviat! Happy Easter everyone! You should consider yourselves lucky that you're getting an email from me today, because practically everything else in this town is closed today because it's the day after the Orthodox Easter. 

Interior of Orthodox Cathedral in Arad, Romania during Easter Mass

On Saturday night we went to Invierea (The Resurrection) at the big Orthodox cathedral in Centru -- it's their big Easter mass where the priest lights everyone's candles. I have some pictures from it. It's crazy to think that a year ago I was in Bacau with Elder Schank!! I miss him, tell him I say hi on Facebook, haha! 


Thank you tons for all the college information. When I read the discription for BYU's Media Music major, it pretty much described everything I want to do in my life. This is actually something I've been praying about for the past month or so, and I've been feeling increasingly better and better about going to BYU. I feel like it would be the best environment to accomplish everything I want to. You can still look at what other CA schools have to offer, but I'm 80-90% sure that BYU is where I will want to go. As I was reading all the things you have to do just to get into the major, it made me really grateful that I've been writing music.............basically since I was a little kid. I still remember that little song I wrote back from when I took lessons from Sherrel Allen. I don't remember how to play it or how it went, but I do remember being so excited that I got to actually write my own song! I should have a fairly solid portfolio to offer. 


As far as the music auditions go, the only thing that worries me is that I can't read sheet music for guitar very well. Of course I could always just audition for voice, but it does suggest auditioning for as many instruments as you can. I'm just glad I don't have to worry about any of that for another six months! The one thing that has been coming to me from my prayers is the reminder that I am called to put away all personal affairs and give myself up to the work. On the one hand, that seems like a really big sacrifice, but really it's a HUGE blessing. The Lord is basically telling me that all I have to do is put everything I've got into my mission, and everything else will work out in the long run. That's what I've been trying to do. 

This has been another week full of member visits! I love getting to know everyone here, and I don't know why I didn't do more member visits earlier on in my mission. Something that I've been finding through these visits that are concentrated on helping members with their own missionary work, is that a lot of the members here already do a lot! Most of the people we have been visiting will talk about how they already pray to have people put in their path to share the gospel with, and the church always comes up in their workplace or amongst family and friends. The only sad thing is, most of the time they get the same responses that we do. They really have set a high standard and example for me though in doing member missionary work. I remember before my mission I hardly ever talked about the church or the gospel with my friends because I always thought it would be awkward or weird, and I remember whenever the missionaries challenged us to share the gospel with someone we knew I never really wanted to. I feel bad saying that, but I'm happy to say that my attitude has completely changed. 

Our English courses have'nt been very fruitfull so far. Last Tuesday Elder Nilsson and I had two students in the beginners class, and on Saturday no one showed up. The sisters and the Walquists (the senior couple here) had some though. Hopefully the lack of people was mainly due to last week being Easter week. We've been able see M--- a little more though, he came to the branch Easter party and loved it, and promised us that he would come to church this Sunday. He's such an awesome man! He's one of those people who just makes you smile whenever you talk to him, and a lot of his views and beliefs cooincide with the gospel. Today we were going to play tennis with him but when we got to the courts, they were all closed because it was too wet. It's been raining on and off pretty much the whole past week. April showers bring May flowers! Right? I hope so. Oh yeah, and more about the Easter party, we had a pretty good turnout, I think over 40 people, and we stuffed ourselves on Saormale. Yummmmm!! Before the dinner part we had a little devoitional type thing where the Walquists gave short talks about the resurrection, and I played my song ,"Vino Fiul Meu," on the guitar. It all went really well and the members all loved it!

Heather emailed me today and shared with me her posting that she submitted to a journalist company, it was really good!!!!!!!!! Man that is soo cool that she found that job opportunity, I really hope it works out for her. Speaking of writing, have you made any more progress on your book mom? It's fun to hear about all the farming going on back home. Sounds like the "Myers Farm" will actaully be a farm at some point.That's really cool. 


Right now, I'm just feeling really grateful and really blessed that I can be a servant of the Lord for two years. Underneath all the underlying trials and hard days, there is always that joy of being in the service of God that always brings me back up. I hope you all have an awesome week. Thanks for everything that you share with me each Monday!

Love,
Elder Myers