Easter!

Elder Talbert's letter from April 21

Hey Family,

                  This week has been great. Monday we hung out and played games, then we went to the Rain's for dinner and went to the Orey's after. It was lots of fun. On Wednesday we had specialized training. It was about being diligent. I really enjoyed learning that when we are diligent we will complete the task no matter what. Some good advice from Yoda: "do or do not there is no try". If we are diligent we will do or do not. After we got back to West Memphis we went to see Delores and talked with her for a little. We set up a return appointment then went to the Barnum's for dinner. The Barnum's are super cool family that is from Idaho. They moved down here for a job. He flies helicopters. They are moving today to Vegas for a new job and will be missed in the branch. On Thursday we went to see Noland. We met him at the church and talked about how he has been. We haven't seen him in a while because he went to Chicago to visit family. We talked and explained that he can get baptized whenever he wants to. He really has his mind set on getting baptized in June when his family is in town. We went ahead and set his baptism date for June 7. I am excited and hope to be here for it but I have been in West Memphis for a while. On Friday we went to go and see Delores and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. She seemed excited and said she would try to make it to church again. On Saturday we went to the church in the morning for an Easter social. We had breakfast and then there was a Easter egg hunt for the kids. We talked with a lot of less actives and non members that came. We also helped hide some of the eggs. It was fun. After the Easter thing, the Anderson's invited us over to help do yard work and for lunch. We went and helped them clean up their yard and plant some flowers and weed. Then we played some soccer and had brownies. We then went and got cleaned up and had dinner. After dinner we went to see a less active named Greg. He is really cool and funny. On Sunday we had some good talks about the atonement. Then in gospel principles we watched the "Lamb of God" it is a really cool Easter movie. After church we went to the Barnum's to say bye and take pics. 

Us and the Barnums

Then we went to the Anderson's for dinner. It was really good. They are super cool and their family reminds me of home and how crazy of a family we are.

                  That's it for my week. It sounds like y'all had a great week. Thanks for all you do for me. Y'all are always in my prayers. 

Elder Talbert 

Elder Brown, Elder Jacobson and Elder Talbert

Space the Final Frontier

Elder Talbert's letter from April 14

Hey Family,

                 This week has been great. On Tuesday we went to district meeting and talked about helping our investigators to come to church. We also have been learning about inviting and how we need to ask "will you" questions. That way they have a yes or no answer. I have found this to be a lot better than "you should" or "do you think" invites. After  district meeting we went home and me and Elder Sakurada were on bike week so we went walking to see Delores. When we got to her house she was on the way out but we were able to go and talk to her fiance, Willie. He is really cool and has watched the restoration DVD and said he liked it. We also met one of our neighbors. She is moving soon but said we can teach her till she moves and that she would look up the church in her new town. On Wednesday we went and taught our neighbor. Her name is Barbra. She is really cool and wants to learn. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she was confused at first how it was different then the Bible but after some explanation and scripture reading she understood why we use both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. On Thursday we went with Gene Jones to help move some stuff at his aunt's house. I don't know if I told you but Gene is an investigator that has been around for about 3 years and has come to church for a long time but just doesn't know if he needs to get baptized. Well we went with him out to Colt, AR. It's a small town about 30 miles away. We helped his aunt move and got rid of some couches, then we went to his place for dinner. On Friday the youth were having a temple trip in the evening. Cy Orey ( a recent convert ) was going and they needed more priesthood so we were able to get permission to go to help out with baptisms. It was lots of fun. We went and I confirmed for the first time. It was a blast. After we went out for pizza. Saturday we went up to Wynne to go and see some people. We were able to see a few less active members that no one knows about and some investigators. It was a good trip, but we can't make them too often because Wynne is next to Colt - about 30 miles away. On Sunday we had Fast Sunday. It was good and we learned about Joseph and Hyrum Smith.

                 That's about it for me. It sounds like y'all had a good spring break but don't want to go to school. Hope y'all have fun at school anyways this week. Thanks for all y'all do for me.

Elder Talbert

General Conference

Elder Talbert's letter from April 7

Hey Family,

                  This week has been great! On Tuesday we went and got haircuts. One of the ladies in the branch cuts our hair and her husband is not home very often because he fly's life-flight helicopters. We then went and tried to see a few people. Elder Sakurada started getting sick so we didn't do too much. On Wednesday we went to Bartlett to Zone meeting. We were supposed to go on exchanges but because Elder Sakurada was sick we decided not to. I only got a runny nose that lasted about 2 days but was really annoying for those 2 days. After zone meeting we went to lunch, then went and saw Delores. She was busy but we set up a time on Thursday to meet with her. Thursday we went to see Delores and had a good lesson with her we talked about general conference and how prophets and apostle are important in Heavenly Father's church. She also has a hard time reading so I have been burning the Book of Mormon on CD's for her. We then went to have lunch with the other Elders and with Sister Teeter. After lunch we went and saw Sister Orey's mom (we call her Nanna). She was busy so we only talked for a couple of minutes. On Saturday we went to the church to watch the first session of General Conference. Then we went to the Orey's to watch the second session. They were both awesome and talked a lot about the sins of the world and how we need to not get caught up in them. We then went to the church for dinner and the priesthood session. On Sunday we went to the Teeter's in the morning for breakfast and the morning session, then we went to the Anderson's for the afternoon session. I really liked the talks about family history work and the talk I think by President Uchtdorf about using the full name of the church. As missionaries we use the nicknames like the Mormons so people know who we are but I feel it is important for people to know we are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I heard this talk not to long ago about how when Christ organized his church He called it The Church of Jesus Christ because it was His church. If we made a church we would call it after ourself to signify who's church it was. We need to remember we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that everything we do in the church is because Jesus Christ has asked us too. 

                  It sounds like y'all had a good week and enjoyed conference. I hope y'all have a fun spring break and don't play too hard. Know that I love and pray for y'all. 

Elder Talbert

Elder Talbert's letter from March 31

Hey Family,

                 This week has been good. On Monday we hung out and played games most of the day. In the morning we went to Midtown because Elder Jacobson needed a bike rack.Iit was good to see him one more time before he went home.Ttuesday we went around and saw a few people but for the most part no one was home. Wednesday we went to transfers because we needed to get the car and some media. Transfers was good but fairly boring. After transfers we came home and set up some appointments for the next day. Thursday we went to Wynne to see some people. We first tried to contact a referral. She wasn't there and by the time we got there I was lost but luckily we had a gps. We then went to go see Sister Justice. She is a recent convert and is super cool. We hung out and talked with her for a while then she took us out for dinner. After dinner we had to run cuz we had another appointment. We then went to the Hansens. They are a part member family. Brother Hansen just passed away and his wife is not a member so we went and taught the plan of salvation to them. It was a good lesson and they invited us back so we are planning another trip to Wynne. We then went to see Noland. He is doing good and graduated from the police acadamy on Friday. Friday was fairly boring but on Saturday Elder Bell came down and interviewed Noland for baptism. He can get baptized whenever he wants so we will be talking alot about that with him in the next little while. On sunday Elder Cassler was feeling sick and so was Elder Sakurada, so Elder Fredette and I went to church and they stayed home. Church was really good and the 3rd hour we had combined and taked about the missionary work in the area. 

That's about it for my week. Hope y'all have a great week and a good start to the 3rd term. 

Elder Talbert  

Still in West Memphis!

Elder Talbert's letter from March 24

Hey Family,

                  This week has been great! Monday we just hung out and played games all day. Then on Tuesday we drove the other Elders to Midtown so they could go on exchanges. We then came back and saw a few people. We talked with Sister Orey's mom who's not a member. She is really cool. On Wednesday we had specialized training. It was all about doing whatever it takes to serve the Lord. I think that's what a mission is all about because if you do your part and do all you can, the Lord will help you find the elect and get baptisms. It was really good and I learned a lot. After Specialized we went on exchanges. I stayed in Lakeland with Elder Bell while Elder Sakurada and Elder Schut went back to West Memphis. It was a fun exchange, most of the people we tried were not home but we did get to talk to this one guy about the church and how it blesses families. They should be teaching him soon. Well on Thursday we went to Midtown and exchanged back. We then went to go see Delores. She is doing good but has been really busy all week. We tried to see a bunch of others but had no luck. Friday came and we went and saw this referral we got from the zone leaders named Desteny. (yes I did spell her name right she just spells it weird.) On Saturday we were able to meet with Noland. He has one more week of the Police Academy left then he is done. We talked about prophets and how they are important to lead and guide the church. It got me excited for general conference. It is nice to hear what the prophet and apostles have to say and what kinda things they warn us about. We also got talking about his girlfriend that lives in Utah. I discovered that she works at PCMC. (Primary Children's Medical Center.) I probably have met her some time. He is planning on moving to Utah in November. We also went and saw sister Misskelly. She is doing good and always says she will come to church but she never does. On Sunday we went to church and Noland came but Delores didn't. It was good, the talks were on the Atonement. Then in gospel principles we learned more about the Atonement. That evening we went to the Anderson's for dinner. They are a super cool family. I love going to their house because it makes me feel like I am at home with all the dinner drama and discussions. Today we drove to Midtown to give the Midtown elders our bike rack because Elder Jacobson ( my first companion) is going home. And just a warning, I gave him our address and he said he would come visit you guys because he lives in Orem as well.

           Well that's about it for my week. It sounds like y'all had a great week! I am not getting transferred and neither is my companion so I will be in West Memphis for at least 6 more weeks. I am excited to stay! Thanks for all y'all do for me.

Love Elder Talbert