Austin's Missionary Journal

Hey everybody!!!! So, yeah. This week was pretty good, but it's so hot over here!!! I don't even know the exact temperature over the week, but Sunday was the worst and it felt like I was melting  in  my suit outside. But other than that, all is well. Still learning to get along with Elder Stewart, and I feel I'm doing much better than last week. On Tuesday, we had exchanges and I went to Key Center's area to work. I've missed my old area, and it was fun to see a lot  of  members I'd served around at the very start  of  my mission. To my surprise though, almost everyone  in  the ward recognized me on sight, and it's been a year and a half since I served there last. That was a great experience. I love that ward. While I was gone though, Elder Stewart and his comp-for-the-day saw our investigator, Jennifer. She's committed to be baptized on July 8th! She's awesome, really a golden investigator. She's come to church by herself every week so far, she...

HOOOOOOOOO Boy! This transfer is really kicking my butt! So, this week I got a new companion, Elder Stewart. Here's a pic  of  him by some spray-painted flowers we found. He's fun to be around and work with... but everything he does pushes all  of  my buttons without him meaning to. Apparently God wants me to work on patience because I haven't felt this much impatience for any  of  my companions, not even the ones that I didn't get along with. We get along, but he seems to be able to do everything that annoys me just because that's his normal behavior. I'm hanging  in  there though. Just having to adjust to his behavior, because truthfully there's nothing wrong with it. It's just all the little things he does, and I need to ignore those things... but I'm sure that process will take a while and I won't like it. Oh yeah, and he has a looooooot  of  things. He only has two transfers left, so it's understandable that he'd accumulate a lot...

Hey Everyone! So yup, transfer calls came. Elder Stuart's mission is over and he's going home. Meanwhile, I'm staying another and I'll be getting Elder Stewart... Yeah, I'm pretty sure President Blatter just made that the call to be funny, seeing as this is his last transfers he'll decide before he goes home next month. The ironic part is that this new Stewart only has two more transfers, so if things work out this way, I could potentially be his last companion, too. But dogone it! I'm still not the senior companion! I only have three transfers left and I still have never been a senior companion! Hahaha, apparently either the Lord or the mission president doesn't trust me being alone with a younger companion out  in  the boonies. At this rate, I'll somehow never be the senior companion my whole mission. Don't know how that'd work out on the last transfer, but I'm sure with my luck it'll happen somehow. So, I'm excited to be gettin...

Hey Family! Sounds like the Summer fun is beginning! I'm jealous, but it's still fun out here, too! On P-Day, we went to Gig Harbor to shop and hang out with the other missionaries. We all went down to a public beach on Fox Island, looking for crabs, enjoying the scenery, skipping rocks, and just fooling around. A few  of  us, including myself, didn't have P-Day clothes with us, so some  of  us were walking the beach  in  white shirts. Since it was Memorial Day, there were a lot  of  people on the beach, too, and a few  of  them gave us some strange looks. We had a good time, but all day my stomach was giving me trouble. By the end  of  our time at the beach, I felt like I was going to throw up. It was later  in  the night that I realized that I had caught a stomach flu. I took the rest  of  P-Day easy, but at the end  of  it I still wasn't feeling good enough to work. So we stayed home the rest...

Hey, Family!!! Last week, after emailing, we went to Costco to shop, but first to grab lunch. One  of  the missionaries with us wanted to get a Costco card, so we waited while he signed up and purchased one. As we waited though, a young man came up to us, asking if we were missionaries. We said yes, to which he asked us to come over to his table when we were done getting the missionary's card. The young man walked off, sitting at his table where another older man sat. At this point, Elder Stuart began wondering if these were members or anti. But once we got over there, we found that they were actually members  from  the Ollala Ward and they wanted to buy lunch for us. That was very much appreciated. (Haha, sorry, I had to tell about that one because it looked like it was a similar experience as one  in  Ben's latest email. Good things come  from  getting lunch at Costco! ) P-Day was fun. We shopped, and then met back up with the other elders ...

Hey Everybody! This week was exhausting! We never had a slow moment. But unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures! oops! Monday: It was a good P-Day. After emailing and shopping (I made a Costco run again, so now I'm good on food for a couple  of  weeks), we went to the Gig Harbor missionaries apartment to play some games. That's always fun. One thing that I noticed though is that we have a really 'old' zone. All  of  the elders, except for one, are all within the last six months  of  their missions. That's pretty crazy to think about, but it just makes for a united zone, too, because we've all seen each other around the mission for a long while. Tuesday: We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders  in  Wollochet Ward. I went to their area, while one  of  the ZL's went to Belfair with Elder Stuart. It was enjoyable, though nothing too exciting happened. It turned out to be a long day though. It wasn't because  of  the weather or th...

Hey Everybody! (Disclaimer: This is a long one. It has a lot   of   entertaining stuff, but I won't be sad if you skip this one either. You'll just miss out! ) This week was a pretty good one! I loved calling home yesterday, and I'm glad I was able to talk to everyone! The little kids are still as adorable as ever and everything seems to be going really good. Let's do a little synopsis  of  my week: Monday: P-Day was alright. We got our groceries, then headed to Key Center's library to email home. Then we got lunch, then hung out at Key Center's apartment again. They live with members, so I was browsing through their bookshelf and I found a little book called, "Boys Who Became Prophets." It's a very cool read about some stories  from  each  of  the latter-day prophets' childhood. Very entertaining. Then we knocked, and then visited with some members the rest  of  the night. Tuesday: Pretty regular work day. We spent the day trying to vis...