We're not in Kansas anymore

Hey Family

                  This week has been eventful. It has been full of fun facts, meetings, service, and tornados. To start off here is a fun fact "When the death star was being built there were lots of tubes going up and down for transportation. One day Darth Vader's 3rd daughter, Ella, was playing next to one of these tubes when she fell down one. After that they named all the tubes after Ella Vader." hahaha. 

Ok Wednesday we taught some lessons on the street and talked to a couple of our investigators. Most were sick so it was quick visits all day. On Thursday we had Christmas zone conference. It started out talking about chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel which is all about Christlike attributes. Then we played some games and had lunch. After lunch there was a talent show and there was a really good comedian act. That's where I got the fun fact. We then watched a movie. Yeah! It was Ephraim's Rescue. It was really good and funny. I would highly recommend watching it if you haven't seen it. Then on Friday we went back to Memphis to help out with Toys for Tots. We were supposed to be there from 2-6 but we were there from 2-like 8. It was lots of fun and cool to see all the people we helped have a good Christmas. On Saturday it was stormy outside and we thought nothing of it. It had rained on and off for the past few weeks. Well, we went about trying to see some of our investigators. We had just pulled into a less active's parking lot and the rain started coming down hard. Oh, I almost forgot about 10 minutes earlier the West Memphis Elders called and told us that President told them to be safe and make sure we were safe. Well the rain was coming down hard so we decided to see if it would slow down in a few minutes. After a little, President Petersen called us and told us there was a tornado headed our way and to get in. As we drove home, we could hear the tornado sirens going off. We were close to home so we drove home and waited for about 5 minutes when President Petersen called back and said the tornado had changed course. We stayed in for a couple more hours till the storm let up a little. We then went and saw a less active family named the Russells. Later we learned that the tornado had hit about 30 miles east of us.

               That's about it for my week. If you have any questions you can ask on Wednesday. I hope y'all have a great Christmas and remember Christ as you celebrate Christmas.

Love Elder Talbert 

We couldn't walk that fast even if we ran!

Hey Family,

                   This week has been a boring one. On Tuesday we had zone meeting and they changed our zones again so now we have a big zone. It was a good zone meeting though. It was all about how we need to talk to everyone and how we will be surprised who will listen to our message. After zone meeting we went on exchanges. I went with Elder Mourino in our area and Elder Oveson went with Elder Bell in Lakeland. We went finding and had a good time talking to everyone. Elder Mourino is a very awesome outgoing person. We had lots of fun and went to the Orey's that evening and had dinner with them. On Wednesday we went and exchanged back. It was Elder Oveson and I's bike week so we walked around a lot and talked to lots of people and gave out lots of cards. On Friday we went to see this guy named Michael. He lives in Southaven and works in West Memphis. We went in to his work to see if we could get his number to give to the Southaven Elders. We ended up talking to him about random gospel related stuff for like 3 hours. It was good but left us with like no time to see anyone else. After we finished taking to him it started raining so we got the other Elders to come and pick us up. That evening we went to go see a play that lots of the members were in and Sister Walls directed the play. It was about how Santa became Santa. It was really good considering that the actors where 3rd graders, 5th graders and a few 7th graders. Saturday we tried to see some people but no one was home. We ended up going to see Michael again because he wanted to tell us something. When we were getting ready to leave we said a prayer then he wanted to pray for us. He gave like this 10-15 min prayer. He is Pentecostal so his prayer was kinda strange. At church on Sunday the Teeters gave their first talks. It was very good and Sister Teeter talked about angels and how we can be angels to others. Then Brother Teeter talked about the Priesthood and how it can bless us and our families. After church we went and gave the sacrament to Sister Rushing. She is 91 years old and is still with it but she has a hard time hearing. She is cool and has lots of fun stories.

                   That's about it for my week. It was good but fairly boring. I'm glad to here y'all had a great week and I hope y'all have another great week! Know I love and pray for y'all.

Elder Talbert

Ice

Joseph's letter from December 9th

Hey family,

                  This week has been good but fairly boring. We have had some fun storms this week and so everything has been iced over. Tuesday we had district meeting and President came and did interviews. Our district meeting was at 2 so he could do as many interviews as possible in one day. It was a good meeting on finding people and getting them to keep commitments. After district meeting we had dinner. We then went to try and see some people but no one answered. On Wednesday we walked around most of the day to save miles. They have just started doing the miles weekly so now it feels like we have less miles plus we have to use two days worth to go to meetings and back. We contacted this referral for a guy named Michael. He was really cool and wanted to know about our church and what we believe. He lives in Southaven, Mississippi but works in West Memphis. We spent lots of time talking to him because he didn't want us to send the missionaries to his house and he kept having customers come in. Thursday we went and talked to a lady named Janett. She lives up in Sunset and seemed interested in our message. We are going to see her again this week. Friday we got a big ice storm and were told that we couldn't go out. so we stayed in all day and then went out just for dinner in the evening. We went to the Orey's for dinner. After dinner Elder Morgan and I helped Sister Orey untangle yarn while the other two talked to the kids. The Orey's are really cool members. Saturday we stayed in for half the day then we went and saw some less actives. We were told not to do too much because of all the ice. Sunday we woke up and the branch president called and told us that church was canceled. Then the district leader called and told us not to go out again. So we stayed in and played games with the West Memphis Elders till dinner.  It sucked not being allowed to go outside. We had dinner with the Greens and watched the Christmas devotional. It was good but shorter then I remember.

That's about all that happened this week. It has been fairly boring because of all the ice and the storms we have been getting. I hope y'all have a great week and fun with all your snow.

Elder Talbert

     I grew a mustache over night. Just kidding it's made out of wax.

             Us at the ugly tie contest. Who do you think wins?

One Year

Hey Family,

                     This week has been good and full of fun events. On Tuesday we went to district meeting in Bartlett. It was good and about talking to everyone. We then came back to West Memphis and dropped off the other Elders because they are on bike week. We went up to this town called Sunset. It is a fairly sketchy town and and it is very small (pop 300ish). We have some investigators up there we went to go see. We got in with one and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. She had lots of questions about why she needed to be baptized again so we answered those. We then went to go see some others but they were busy and told us to come by tomorrow (Wednesday). We then went to one of our investigators named Nilean. I think I have mentioned her before. Well we went to her house and she was glad to see us. She told us the appointment we had on Saturday with her wouldn't work. We then shared some scriptures with her and invited her out to church. On Wednesday we drove to Midtown in the morning because the other Elders were on exchanges and needed to exchange back. We then went back to Sunset and taught a lady named Janette. We are hoping to go back this week and talk to her more. That night we went to YM/YW and played volleyball. We stayed over at the other Elders that night. The next day we got up and I opened my B-day gifts from you guys. They were all very cool and I was excited to get them, thanks. Then we went up to Marion because Elder Oveson and I had an appointment. We went to Dankeiya's house and taught her about the Book of Mormon and a little about the Restoration. Then that night we went to the Orey's parents' house for Thanksgiving. It was very good and they knew it was my B-day so they made me a cake. It was very fun and we had a ugly tie contest and I won  I will send a pic and you can vote). We stayed there for the rest of the night. It was a fun day and a great B-day. Friday was boring because everyone was tired from Black Friday shopping or they were Black Friday shopping. Then on Saturday we went up to Crawfordsville to see a less active member named Mae and had a good talk with her and shared some scriptures with her. Then we went to another less active member named McKenzie and invited her out to church. We tried to see a few others but no one was home. Sunday was fast and testimony Sunday. It was very good and McKenzie came to church towards the end of sacrament and stayed for the rest of church. In Priesthood we talked all about how we need to keep moving forward and never give up if we fall or make a mistake. After church we had a break the fast potluck thing. We then went to go see Nilean but she wasn't home. For dinner we were invited to a members named the Houstens. They were having a big family get together. It was fun and it was like a Thanksgiving dinner so that was awesome.

 

                   That's about it for my week. It has been good and fun. It sounds like y'all had a great week and lots of fun playing Minecraft and partying. Thanks for all the B-day wishes and I hope y'all have a great week.

                                                                                   Love Elder Talbert

Letter from November 25

Hey Family,

                  This week has been good. We went to Bartlett on Monday and dropped Elder Anderson off at the temple. From there we took some pics and Elder Oveson, Elder North and I went to the library to email. When we had finished emailing we went back to the temple and took more pics and said goodbye to Elder Anderson. We then went shopping and to Lakeland to play some games at the Longshore's. We stayed at their house till around 5 then we headed back to West Memphis's.

This is us at the Longshore's home. (he is the bishop in Lakeland and the Lakeland Elders live there.)

 We had dinner and went to the Orey's to give some gifts that Elder Anderson wanted to give them. Then on Tuesday, because Elder North was still with us, we really covered both areas. We contacted this referral named Sharon. She was really cool and wanted some Bibles. We taught her the restoration and gave her  Book Of Mormon. We are going back this week to give her a Bible and teach her more. It was strange to be in a tripanionship but it worked well. Wednesday we went to Bartlett again for transfers. Neither of us were getting transferred, we just needed to go get Elder North's new companion. Elder North's new companion is named Elder Morgan. He has been out for 23 months and goes home on the 31st of December. We got back from transfers in time for dinner so we went ther,e then we went to the church to help set up for the branch Thanksgiving dinner. On Thursday we saw this investigator of ours named Nilean and her nephew Jay Shawn. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and they really like learning the Gospel and want to come to church. Friday we did lots of walking, lots of talking and no results. We have been on bike week so we walked a lot but its good exercise. On Saturday we contacted this referral and it was a less active member that wanted to know where the church was. We told her and invited her to church but she didn't come so we are going to invite her again this week. That evening was the branch Thanksgiving dinner it was good and fun. On Sunday we went to church and it was the Primary program. It was very good and fun like they always are. In priesthood we learned about doing home teaching. 

 That has been it for my week. It has been a good week and it sound like you guys have had a good week too. Have a happy Thanksgiving and thanks for all the birthday wishes. It should be a good one. 

Elder Talbert 

Letter from November 18th

Hey Family,

                  This week has been great. It has gone by so fast I can barley remember what I did this week. For P-day we did our usual, playing board games. It was lots of fun. On Wednesday we went to an investigator's named Leona. She is really cool and wants to learn about the gospel. It was our first real visit so we taught how to begin teaching. She had a lot of questions for us already. It was a really good lesson. Then that evening we went to the church for YM because we were hosting a scripture chase. But the YM leader was out of town and none of the YM showed up. On Thursday we had specialized training. It was long but good. We talked a lot about getting focused in the work and putting our faith in Christ. We also talked about how to get our investigators to exercise their faith. At specialized we go some more Books of Mormon to give out. After specialized we came back and went and saw this guy named Detarrius. We had talked to him a couple of days before and he had wanted a Book of Mormon but we had none. So we went and game him one. Now we have an appointment with him and his family tomorrow. On Friday we went up to Crawfordsville to see a referral we got for the Jones. She wasn't home but we had a good talk with her grandma who is a less active member. Then we went and saw Joanna. She is doing well. She didn't know if she wanted to get baptized but we are still trying to work with her. I know that if she comes to church she will feel the spirit and have the desire to get baptized. On Saturday we went to the Teeters with the other Elders. Elder Anderson goes home tomorrow so everyone in the branch is making a big to do, which is understandable since he has been here for a while. Then we went home and tried to contact some referrals with no luck. On Sunday we had really good talks about how we can do any thing the Lord has called us to do. It reminds me of a quote I saw that says " two people can do anything as long as one of them is the Lord". After church we had a baptism for a kid name Cy Orey. He is part of a family of members but his parents are divorced and his mom wouldn't give him consent for the longest time. Then when he got consent he wasn't sure if he could keep the commandments. We asked him which ones he didn't think he could keep and he said I don't think I can go without soda and playing violent video games. Haha. It was funny and we quickly explained that those were his moms rules. After that he was excited to be baptized. After his baptism we went to the Orey's and had lunch. We went to the Anderson's for dinner and Elder Anderson going away party. It was lots of fun. That night we stayed at the Elders apartment and played games and helped Elder Anderson pack. It was lots of fun.

 

                  That is about it for my week. Not much exciting. It sounds like y'all had a good week. Thanks for all you do for me and I hope y'all have another great week!

Elder Talbert