Football = Missionary Work

Hey Family,

                  This week has been great! Monday was transfer calls and we didn't get a call so both me and Elder Eatchel are staying together. The rest of Monday we went played some games with Nash. We worked in the family history center on Wednesday. Not many people came in so we looked at our family history for a while. It's cool to see how much of it is done. Also because it was transfers we got a new District Leader. I thought it might be me at first but then I learned it is Elder Bell. He has followed me from the West Memphis district to here. On Thursday we went to Shirley for lunch. We went to this restaurant called the Mona Lisa. It was really good and the lady that took us knew the lady that runs the place so that was cool. Friday, the sisters asked us to go teach this guy for them. We drove out to his place and taught him but it was super awkward. He didn't say anything but yes. Even when we asked questions that didn't take yes or no responses he said yes. It was awkward but we are going back tomorrow. Later that evening we were talking with the sisters and they gave us a bunch of referrals. Saturday, we drove around contacting all the referrals the sisters gave us. We saw this guy named Chris. He said he was busy but we could come back. We called this guy named Dennis and he said he was moving more into town and we could see him when he has moved. Then in the evening we saw this guy named Jesse. On Sunday we gave talks in church. Mine was on member missionary work. I compared member missionary work to Football. In Football they run plays to get the ball form one side to the other. There are all kinds of plays. Lots of running plays, lots of passing plays. It's the same in missionary work. There are several different ways we help people progress. We use different "plays" depending on the type of person and what they are going though in their life. But the only way for a play to work in football is for the whole team to work together. It's the same in missionary work. The only way for someone to get baptized and stay active is if the members and the missionaries work together. Later that day we taught young men's. After church we went out teaching with Sean. It has been a good week. This letter is later then usual because we went to lunch with Matt Staib. He was my follow up trainer and has since gone home. He is doing a mission tour and went a little out of his way to come see me. It was lots of fun and cool to meet his family.

                   Well that's about it for this week. It was good and the work here in Mountain View is going great. Thanks for all y'all do for me. I love and pray for y'all. 

Elder Talbert   

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Joseph's letter from June 16

Hey Family,

                 I want to first say HAPPY FATHERS DAY! I hope you had a fun day yesterday dad. Well this week has been fairly boring for me as well. We have settled in and our new place is really nice and in a good location. On Monday we played games with Nash and Sean. They are two young men in the branch. On Tuesday we went with the Donovan's (Sean's family) to Greenbrier to get our car. We then walked around and met some crazy people. Then on Wednesday we walked around and met some more crazy people. Then in the evening we went to Sean's house and read some of the Book of Mormon with his dad who isn't a member. On Thursday we had a meeting in Little Rock so we drove to Brother Carr's, then we rode with him to our meeting. It was a good meeting. It was kinda a farewell for President and Sister Petersen. They focused a lot on living like you believe and always doing good. After our meeting we went to dinner with Brother Carr then we went to Jacksonville because he had high council meeting. After that we came home. Friday we went to Clinton to give up our key to the house down there. We stopped and saw Miss Kitty one more time. We then came back up and went with Nash to the Donovan's to chop and stack some wood for them. It was lots of fun and I got attacked by my first tick. They aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Saturday we did some planning for this next week with Nash and Sean. We then meet up with the sisters in the area and they gave us some people we could go see. We went and saw a few of them. One of them was recovering from surgery so we talked with his wife a little and will go back this week. Then we decided to go to a town called Prim to go see a less active. We were going down this dirt road and then it just dead ended into a river. So we turned around and will go another day. On Sunday, church was good the talks were about fathers. This next week we get to talk on missionary work. Well during priesthood we went in with the young men and talked about missionary work with them and we are going to do it again next week. It is lots of fun up here and the branch really likes us. After church we went  home teaching with Nash and Sean. We then went to the Donovan's and talked with Sean's dad again. 

                 Overall it has been a good and fun week. It sound like everything is going good over there so that is good. I am not getting transferred so I will be here for 6 more weeks and it will be fun. Thanks for all y'all do for me. I love and pray for y'all.

Elder Talbert   

Mountain View

Hey family,

                This week has been great! It has also been lots of fun. The fun all started when we went to Greenbrier on Monday to hang out with Elder Wheatley and Elder Pulsipher. We then met up with this member named Kyle and we all went down to Conway for the day. In Conway we went to this gym and another member from Conway taught us how to box. Yep that's right, I went boxing for about 2 hours on Monday. It was lots of fun and really exhausting. When we finished boxing we did an ab workout so my ab's have been hurting a little this week. We then went shopping and went out to dinner with this member named Sean. He is from Mountain View. Tuesday was a normal day. We went and saw Dan and Miss Kitty. We then then saw Sam in the evening. On Wednesday we went to Zone meeting. We learned a lot about how to teach simply. There are a lot of new missionaries out and we should be getting another big wave soon. After zone meeting we got a call from the office couple saying that they were heading up to Mountain View and were wondering if we needed a ride. We then went to lunch while we waited for the office couple to come get us. We all went up to Mountain View and looked at this 3 bed 2 bath house to rent. After we were done looking, Elder Bowling signed some papers for us to rent the house. We went home and he said he would call in the morning and let us know when we would be moving. The next morning Elder Bowling called and told us to start packing. He said they were coming the next day at 8 in the morning. Well we packed all day and got ready to move. We went and saw Mark and Kim and had some cake with them. Then on Friday we loaded all our stuff in a trailer and moved up to Mountain View. We spent most of the rest of the day unpacking. On Saturday Gene Jones came and picked us up in the morning. we went with him to West Memphis. I got permission from President to go to Noland's Baptism. We drove to West Memphis and then went and saw the Oreys. We had dinner at their house and had a good visit with them. We then went to the church for the baptism. I gave a talk on baptism and it was really good. The baptism was good and I had a fun time seeing people I know. Afterwards Noland took us home. His girlfriend works at PCMC doing stuff with the IV's for surgeries. It was a super fun day! Sunday we went to church and had a good time there. We learned about missionary work and how all members need to help out. After church we went out teaching with Nash and Pres Woods. It was a good week.

                That is about all from me. It sounds like y'all had a fun week and are still having fun. Thanks for all you do for me. I love and pray for y'all.

Elder Talbert 

Arkansas: the Bipolar State

Joseph's letter from June 2

Hey Family,

                 This week has been great! I felt like the subject was appropriate because this whole week it has rained on and off. Not just a little but it would come down super hard and fast for 10-15 min then it would be all sunny and the rain would stop. Then later it would do it again. We decided Arkansas is the bipolar state. Tuesday we had district meeting and we talked about getting the members more involved. It was really good. After we went and saw Sam. He is doing ok. Later we saw Dan and he really needs to get his drivers license so he can get a new job. Then he will be able to come to church. On Wednesday the Greenbrier Elders came up and we all went up to Mountain View to blitz the area. Elder Eatchel and Elder Wheatley went off to see some people and go tracting. Meanwhile me and Elder Pulsipher went off to see less actives and others on the roster. Later that night we went to the church for a social. We played some kickball and ate some watermelon. It was a fun day. After the social we drove home and dropped Elder Eatchel and Elder Pulsipher in Clinton. Me and Elder Wheatley went to Greenbrier on Exchanges. The next day we went to a members BBQ place for lunch and it was really good. We saw this less active family named the Clarks and saw this guy named Jack. We had dinner with the Sommerville's in the Choctaw ward. We had a super fun time. Elder Wheatley is from Provo and he came out the Transfer before me and was in my first district. We then exchanged back. On Friday we went and saw Brooke. She is doing good. We then went and talked with Miss Kitty. On Sunday we went to Mountain View for church and had some meeting in the morning. After church we went with Rene and Phillip Carr to look at a house and see if we could find out who owns it. We hope to move soon. We then went out teaching with Nash and Sean. We went back to the Carr's for dinner.

                    It was a really great week and we hope to move this week or next. It sounds like y'all had a great week. Thanks for all you do for me and know I love and pray for y'all.

Love Elder Talbert

Elder Kopischke

Joseph's letter from May 19, 2014

Hey family,

                  This week has been great. Monday we saw Mark and Kim in the evening and they were doing good. On Tuesday we went to see Sam; he is doing great. We then went to see this lady named Brooke. That evening we went and saw Miss Kitty. We were able to answer her questions about the Book of Mormon. Wednesday we went to see Sam again and answered some of his questions he had about the church. We also talked with this guy named Jimmy. He is moving soon and going to Texas. After dinner we went down to Pinnacle Mountain to stay with the Pinnacle Mountain Elders because I had a Dr apt on Thursday. Because of the influx of missionaries they have like 10 mattresses in their house so we got to sleep on a mattress. The next morning we got up and went off to my Dr apt. It was a usual apt and the Dr said that everything was good and they would see me in 3 months time. We then went to lunch and drove home. Not much else happened that day. On Friday we went to the Greenbrier Elders' house and waited for President Oliver (he is the counselor to President Petersen). We then went with President Oliver and the Greenbrier Elders to the Stake Center to see Elder Kopischke. It was very good. We talked a lot about following the spirit and recognizing the promptings of the spirit. He talked about being "diligent about the daily duties of discipleship". We need to do the big spiritual things first and the rest will come. It was really good and cool to see him again. After, we went to Jacksonville for a baptism interview that President Oliver had to do. We then went home. It was a great and long day. On Saturday we went to see Sam and check up on him. We then went to see Dan and had a good visit with him. He is reading and knows the church is true but he can't get work off to come to church. On Sunday we went to Mountain View again to go to church. We are in the process of finding a place in Leslie to move into. Church was very good and we talked about how important it is to pay your tithing. In gospel principles we talked about how important it is to live the word of wisdom. After church we had a potluck lunch at the church. It was really good. After that we went to try and see a bunch of people but no one was home.

        Well that's about it for my week. We will be working more in Mountain View this next week. Thanks for all you do for me. I hope y'all have a great week.

Elder Talbert

Happy Mother's Day

Joseph's letter from May 12, 2014

Hey Family,

                Ok I know I just talked to y'all yesterday so lots of this might be repeats. But this week has been good. On Monday I got notified that I would be leaving West Memphis. Well we played some games that day and went to the Jones that night for dinner. After dinner we took pics and went to the Anderson's to say goodbye. We took some more pics and visited with them for a little. Then on Tuesday we went to the Lott's for breakfast and more pics. After the Lott's we went home and I packed my bags. I called Noland and talked with him then we went to Sonic and visited with McKenzie. We went to the Orey's for dinner and and visited with them and Nana and Papa Jim. We then went to Gene Jones house and visited with him. On Wednesday we went to see Sister Teeter and say goodbye to her. We then went off to transfers. At transfers I got moved to the Arkansas side of the mission which I was expecting. We then loaded all our stuff on some trailers and drove to Little Rock. From there I was told I was going to Choctaw 3 (Clinton). My new companion is Elder Eatchel. He is new and has been out for 3 months so I am follow up training him. We were asked by President Petersen to work more in the Mountain View area. We then went to Clinton and by the time we got there it was around nine so I unpacked. On Thursday we walked around most of the day. We aren't on bike week but one of the other missionaries crashed our car so it is still in the shop. We saw a few people. One is a recent convert named Sam. He is really cool. We also saw Mark and Kim and Miss Kitty. Mark works a lot and it's hard to catch him at home but is really cool. Miss Kitty reminds me of Pat. She is always doing something and knows everything about the town. We also went and saw Dan. He is a 19 year old that likes playing video games. On Friday we went and got the car out of the shop because it was done. We then went to the Conroy's. They are less active members that we have FHE with on Fridays. On Saturday we went to town square in the morning and did service. We then went to Mountain View to see some people. When we came home, we went to see Sam and teach him a new member discussion with the Carson's. On Sunday we went to Shirley where Bro Dunlap lives. We went with him to church up in Mountain View. When we came home we talked to our families. We then went to see Dan later that night. 

 

                 That's it for my week. It has been a great week and I think I will enjoy serving here in Clinton. It was nice talking to y'all yesterday. Thanks for all y'all do. I love and pray for y'all.

Elder Talbert 

May the Fourth be with You

Joseph's letter form May 5,2014

Hey Family,

                  This week has been good. On Tuesday we went to see Delores. She is doing great and has been really busy. We are going back this week to teach her the Word of Wisdom. We also got to see Dynasty and Destiny. We talked with them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. That evening we went to the Orey's and talked with them. On Wednesday we had zone meeting. It was lots of fun we played this game about working together. We then talked about how we need to work together as a companionship and as a district. That night we went to mutual and played some football with the young men. On Thursday we went to Chevy Dealer because they have had a recall on 2014 Chevy cruises because their has been some cracks in the axle's. We happen to drive a 2014 Chevy cruise. We got our car checked out and there were no problems. That evening we went to see Arsenio. He is really cool and seems interested in the gospel. We set up a return appointment with him for Sunday. On Friday we went to see Delores but she wasn't home so we went home for lunch and Sister Justice called and asked us to come up and give her son Karl a blessing. We hurried up to Wynne and went to see Sister Justice. We gave Karl a blessing, then we went to see Sister Bynum and give her a blessing. She has been sick this last week. We had planned to go up to Wynne on Saturday so we were fine going in the first place. We then went to see the Hansens and they were excited to see us and talk with us. They said they would come to church. On Saturday we to see Dynasty and Destiny. We had a good talk with them and they had some friends over. One of the friends asked the strangest questions that were worded in such a way we had no idea what he was talking about. We answered his questions the best we could and we taught the first lesson like 3 times before he understood what we were talking about. It was a crazy lesson. Sunday was good we had fast and testimony and I got up and bore my testimony. in gospel principles we had an investigator that wanted to learn about the church more. He already knows quite a bit because his daughter is a member. We had an open discussion about his questions. After church we went and saw Arsenio and taught him the first lesson. Today was transfer call Monday and I am leaving West Memphis. ): 

            That's about it for my week. It has been a great last week here in West Memphis. I don't know about Mother's Day call home so I will call you on Mother's Day and I will make it in the afternoon. Hope y'all have a great week and I will talk to you next week.

Elder Talbert