Patience and perseverance

How time flys when you have a missionary.  It's been a couple of weeks since we last wrote on this blog and Alex has had a lot of new experiences in that time.  One of those experiences has been learning that everybody has their free agency.  Alex wrote us last week and said that he has had one of the toughest weeks since he arrived in his mission.  It has been a little rough at times trying to get things going in Lawrence.  Alex and his companion have had some successes but they have also had some disappointments.

Six weeks ago when Alex and his companion arrived in Lawrence, they really didn't have anybody to teach.  They were literally starting from ground zero.  Since then they have been able to find a few people who have been interested in listening to the message that these Elders have.  Unfortunately some of those people have also decided that they had heard enough.  That is where the free agency part comes to play.  Alex mentioned that a few days ago they had set 5 different teaching appointments.  As the day went on, 4 out of the 5 appointments never materialized.  Fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, the 5th appointment did work out.  The unfortunate part was that when it was all said and done, it didn't go real well.  Needless  to say, it wasn't a good day in the life of a couple of the Lord's servants.  They don't call a mission the hardest two years of a young man's life for nothing.  But out of every experience there is a lesson.  But as good as that lesson might be, sometimes it is hard to learn.  Maybe this lesson is just to learn a little patience and perseverance.

It wasn't all bad though.  One of the bright spots was that a young man from the Wamego branch (Alex's first area if you remember) decided that he wanted to spend his spring break working with Alex and his companion  in Lawrence, Kansas.  Think about it.  A young man, just a senior in high school, wanting to hang out with the missionaries over spring break.  For a missionary, it just doesn't get much better than that.  To know that you have influenced someone else to the point where they feel that the best way to spend their spring break would be to help the missionaries teach the gospel.  Alex told us just how much this young man enjoyed spending the week with the missionaries.  Alex also said that some really good things happened and the whole experience was life changing.  In Alex's words, "It Rocks!!!"  Things also picked up the next day when they went out to teach some other people that they had been talking to.  Alex said that during one of the lessons, the spirit was really strong and that the person they were teaching could really feel it.  In the end, it really isn't the missionaries that change peoples lives, what it really is, is the spirit testifying to that person.  I'm sure that they must have had many other great experiences that week.  Of course weekly letters just can't capture them all.  But the overall impression was that sometimes things go the way you expect and other times they don't.  It is that whole free agency thing.

In most of Alex's letters he usually includes some kind of interesting story about an event that happened to him.  Well this week wasn't any different.  Alex told us about how he and his companion were baking some brownies to take to some of the people that they had been teaching.  Making food for people is one thing that Alex picked up long before he arrived in the mission field.  There were plenty of mornings when we would wake up to find Alex making breakfast for is friends after an early study session or temple trip to do baptisms.  But anyway, back to the story.  So while they were making brownies, Alex heard the phone ring and knew that it was a call from the mission president.  Apparently they have set a special ring tone on the phone for the mission office.  So Alex picked up the phone and sure enough, it was the mission president with a new assignment.  If you remember back a few months, the last time Alex got a call from the mission president with a new assignment, the new assignment included a transfer to a different area.  Alex was a little scared that this new assignment was going to turn out the same way and the last thing he wanted was another transfer.  Luckily this new assignment didn't include a transfer.  So here is the rest of the story in Alex's words:

 [Mission President speaking] “Elder Nicholes, congratulations I have a new assignment for you!”, my heart just dropped, I thought I was getting transferred for sure! But he told me that I was going to be the new district leader and that my companion and I would be staying together in Lawrence. So I didn’t really know what to say, I mean it’s crazy! I barely know what I am doing as a missionary, let alone a district leader.

Yep, that's right.  Alex is the new district leader over the Lawrence, Kansas area.  We also received a nice letter from the mission president today.  Among other things, it said just how well Alex has demonstrated leadership abilities and because of that and his strong testimony in the restored gospel, he has been called to be a leader in the Independence Missouri mission.  This isn't the first time that Alex has stepped up to be a leader but most of the other times usually had something to do with sports.  I'm sure that this leadership position will come with new experiences and challenges.

It seems like every week Alex is talking about new people that they are teaching.  Sometimes they start out teaching somebody and things don't work out and other times they do.  The thing to remember is that life as a missionary has a lot of ups and downs.  You just have to learn to roll with them.

So here is a follow up to something that happened to Alex during his first few weeks in Wamego, Kansas not long after arriving to the Independence mission.  If you recall, one of the things that missionaries do is try to volunteer some of their time to the community.  In an effort to do that, Alex and his companion at the time, volunteered at the high school to help out with the wresting team.  For those who may not know, Alex was a state champion wrestler during his senior year in high school.  Anyway, the local newspaper found out that there were a couple of "Mormon" missionaries helping out with the high school wrestling team and decided to write a story about it.  Unfortunately before the newspaper article ran, Alex got transferred from Wamego to Platt City.  So finally, just today, we got a copy of the article that ran in the Wamego Times (OK, I'm not really sure what the actual name of the Wamego newspaper is).  The article was titled "Mission on the Mat, Mormon missionaries assist Raider wrestling program".  Too bad this particular newspaper doesn't have an online version, because it was truely a well written article.  Since I can't really reprint the entire article here, I will try to just pick out a few quotes.  The article starts out:

    "Utah's 2009 state wrestling champion in the 152-pound weight class is back on the mat as a volunteer coach for the Wamego High School wrestling team.  
    He's 19-year-old Alex Nicholes, an elder in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon church), who was assigned to Wamego as the first stop on his two-year mission for his church."

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...  "Hartwick said Elder Nicholes has already made a positive impact on the WHS wrestling program. "He's helped make our team a team," the senior wrestler said."

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... "Nicholes credits his faith for his wrestling success.  He has been wrestling since eighth grade.
    "I put a lot of religion in my wrestling," Nicholes said. "That's where I get my strength from." 
    While he enjoys wrestling, Nicholes said the main benefit of being a volunteer coach is that he is "meeting great kids."

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... "Only the LDS church officials know how long Nicholes' tenure at Wamego will be, but Hartwick and other WHS wrestlers hope this assignment lasts at least through the wrestling season. He has definitely found a unique way to help out in the community."

Those were just a few of the many things that this article had to say about Alex, his companion, wrestling and life as an LDS missionary.  After having been in the local PG newspaper several times during his high school wrestling and track career, it was great to see Alex in the newspaper one last time for his wrestling accomplishments.  But this time is a bit different.  More importantly, he is in the newspaper for being a great missionary. 

You never know who you are going to meet...

Can you say "road trip"?  I told you last time that one of the wrestlers from Wamego (Alex's first mission area) who is also a member of the LDS church, would be wrestling in the Kansas state tournament.  This wrestler had asked if Alex would be able to go to the wrestling tournament to support him and help out in his matches.  Alex and his companion talked to both the assistants to the president and the mission president and received permission to go to the tournament.  What an opportunity!  Not only would Alex get to watch wrestling again, but he would get to do it while wearing his suit, tie and missionary name tag.  I'm sure that many people will take notice that there are a couple of Mormon missionaries wandering around a wrestling tournament and wondering why they are there.  The more people who ask questions, the more opportunities to share the gospel.

Anyway, Alex and his companion got up early on the morning of the tournament and headed for Wamego to meet up with the wrestler and his family.  After giving his companion a quick tour of the town, they met the family and were off to the tournament.  To make a longer story shorter, the tournament didn't quite turn out the way everybody had planned.  As we can testify, sometimes wrestling matches go your way when maybe they weren't suppose to and other times they don't when they should have.  In this case it was the latter.  On a more positive note, it always amazes me just how much Alex has influenced for the good, all the people he comes in contact with.  This case is no different.  Alex's influence and I am sure the influence of many others as well, will never be forgotten.  Alex told us that despite the unfortunate outcome of the tournament, it was still an awesome day.

Well after their big day at the Kansas state wrestling tournament, it was back to normal missionary work and trying to find those who are willing and ready to listen to the message that the missionaries have to offer.  From the time that Alex and his companion arrived in Lawrence, this has been their biggest struggle.  But Alex told us that things are really picking up for them and that they are now teaching a number of really solid contacts.  Of course you always have to take the bad with the good and missionary work is no different.  There are always those who start out with a real interest in learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ but then later, for whatever reason, don't want to continue.  Alex and his companion have been experiencing this as well.  But literally, in their case, as one door shuts another one seems to open up and the work moves forward.

Alex told us a story about how he and his companion where taking down the Christmas lights at a neighbor's house one morning.  Seems a little late in the year to be taking down Christmas lights.  If it were up to me, I would just forget about it and leave them up for next year.  But that is a completely different story.  Anyway, since they were having to climb up and down a ladder while working outside, they weren't dressed in their normal missionary suite and tie.  While they were working, a couple of missionaries from a different denomination just happen to pass by and started up a conversation with Alex and his companion.  At first these other missionaries didn't know that Alex and his companion were actually missionaries themselves, but from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  As the conversation continued and the other missionaries started throwing out bible references, Alex was able to recite the references from memory even before the other missionary had a chance to look it up.  Finally the other missionaries asked if Alex and his companion were Mormon missionaries.  Alex said in his letter:

"...we weren’t going to lie, so I put my arm around one of them and said we sure are!!"

Needless to say, not a whole lot of progress was made on either side, but chalk one up to new experiences.  You never know where it might lead.

Alex and his companion have really been working hard to get things going in Lawrence.  Every week he tells us about all of the people that they are teaching and how well the work is going.  The Ward that they have been assigned to is really stepping up and helping out in the missionary work.  Alex has mentioned several times how much he enjoys working with the Ward mission leader and what great families there are in the Ward.  Alex also mentioned just how crazy it is that there are so many ties back to home.  He said that there are a lot of people in his area that have sons, daughters, nieces, nephews or grandchildren that live in Utah and some that even went to the same high school with Alex.  Alex found out that one Ward member was actually at Alex's graduation last year.

It is always great to hear from Alex and to read all about the people that he has met.  Hopefully Alex and his companion will be able to stay a little longer in Lawrence rather than getting transferred again.  I know Alex would love that.

Rising to the challenge

Well, in my last entry I told you that Alex got transfered yet again.  He is now in Lawrence Kansas and loving it.  I also told you that this was a double transfer, both Alex and his companion were transfered into Lawrence at the same time.  One of things that Alex has mentioned in his most recent letters is that for whatever reason, Lawrence seems to be one of the tougher places to be for missionary work.  When Alex and his companion got there, they literally had to start from ground zero.  They had nobody to teach and no current referrals.  But that's OK, it just means that they have more opportunities coming, to meet and teach new people.  In fact that is exactly what they have been doing.  After spending time shoveling snow, knocking on doors and talking with the members of their Ward, they have found some new people to teach and as Alex told us, things are looking better than ever in Lawrence Kansas.

So Alex told us a story about his first Sunday in the new Ward that I am sure all of you returned missionaries can relate to.  Being new missionaries in the Ward, apparently both Alex and his companion were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting.  Of course they accepted and prepared for their talks.  But when it came time to actually speak in the meeting, apparently the person who spoke right before Alex's companion, had pretty well covered the topic.  So right then and there on the stand, Alex's companion pulled a new talk together and spent his time talking to the congregation about the 8th article of faith.

"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

Of course that is one of the shorter articles of faith but it carries a lot of powerful meaning.  According to Alex, his companion did a "way good" job.  "I was way impressed; he just whipped it out of his back pocket.".  Alex went on to talk about proclaiming the gospel.  Given that Alex is a full time missionary, you would probably expect a missionary to touch on this subject.  Alex said that it all went really well.  Besides talking about how important it is to proclaim the gospel and help in doing missionary work, he also told the members of the Ward just how excited he was to be there in Lawrence and how he was looking forward to working with them.  He said that after Sacrament meeting was over, several of the members of the Ward told Alex and his companion just how much they enjoyed their talks and even shared with them a few referrals of people who they thought would be interested is listening to what the missionaries have to say.  Does that sound like a typical missionary experience to you?  It does to me and one that happens time and time again all throughout the world.  Also keep in mind that Alex has only been on his mission for about four months and his companion has only been out for just a few short months longer than Alex.  You know that the Lord is looking over these missionaries and allowing them to do things that they themselves may have thought were too hard to do just a few months ago.  They both have many more of these types of experiences ahead.

At the end of one of Alex's letters he told us another story about one of their P-day antics.  So on their P-day a week or so ago, several of the missionaries decided to go to a local restaurant that serves up some screaming hot Buffalo Wings.  When they got there, they decided to take on the "Blazin Challenge".  For Alex, this isn't the first time that he decided to take on a new challenge, not even with Buffalo Wings.  According to what Alex told us, the challenge was to eat twelve of the restaurants hottest wings in under six minutes.  Like I said, this wasn't Alex's first venture into spicy food.  Before he left on his mission, we used to have contests on how many hot chili peppers we could put into a bowl of top ramen and still make it through the whole bowl.  It got really exciting when we switched to habanero peppers a few times.  Anyway, they met the challenge, conquered it and won their free t-shirts.  Alex got the fastest time out of all of the missionaries and got his picture taken to be put up on the wall.  Of course Alex made sure that he was holding his Book of Mormon when they took the picture.  Forevermore immortalized as the fastest missionary Buffalo Wing eater.  Almost as good as his state wrestling champion title. ;-)

Alex told us this week that they have some really awesome families in their Ward, but they did have one slight problem at church last week.  You have probably heard about all of the snow storms that have been hitting the mid-west and east coast lately.  Well, I guess one of these storms must have hit last week which caused church to be canceled.  The only problem was, nobody told the missionaries.  There they both were sitting on the front row in the chapel five minutes before the meetings were suppose to start and not another soul in the building.  Oh well, sounds like they were blessed with a great opportunity to sit and ponder the gospel in the quite solitude of the chapel.  I think that many of us would love to spend a quite moment like that in the chapel especially after one of those noisy weeks with all of the restless kids and crying babies.

Remember back in some of the earlier blog entries when Alex first arrived in his mission, he was assigned to Wamego Kansas and spent six weeks there teaching a lot of people and also working with the wrestling team at the local high school.  Well it has been almost two months since Alex was in Wamego but he still gets news from the members of the branch there about what has been going on.  One of the most exciting things that Alex reported to us in his last letter, was from Wamego.  It looks like one of the wrestlers that Alex worked with and is also a member of the LDS church, will be competing this week for a state wrestling title.  From what Alex has told us, this wrestler has been doing really well during the season, is currently ranked third in the state and has only lost one match all season.  Alex is really excited for this kid because Alex knows exactly what it is like to win a title like that.  Alex also wrote a letter to one of his former team mates who is still wrestling for the local high school here and also recently won a state title.  One of the things that Alex told him was that a sport like wrestling really teaches a kid how to work hard and that wrestlers make some of the best missionaries.  To all of you who have wrestled and served a mission, you know what Alex is talking about.  To all of you who are wrestlers and thinking about a mission, apply everything that you have learned in wrestling to a new challenge as a missionary.

One last thing, you might also remember that during Christmas just before Alex left Wamego, Alex, his companion and several other young men from the ward (including the afore mentioned wrestler), sang some Christmas songs at the branch Christmas party.  Well apparently the word never made it from Wamego to Lawrence about just how well the missionaries sing, because they have been asked to sing again in a few weeks at a Ward fireside.  We'll have to see how well it goes this time around.  I'm sure they will do great. 

I just have to share one last quote from Alex's last letter:

"Lawrence is a blast! This is definitely the most fun I have had on my mission! My companion is awesome, the work is moving forward (slowly but surely), and Lawrence is a way fun place to be!"

It doesn't get better than that.

Three for three...

Three for three, that is the number of months that Alex has been on his mission and it is also the number of times that he has been transferred. Yes, Alex got transferred again last week. He is now in Lawrence, Kansas not far from the University of Kansas. We aren't really sure why he has been moved around so much in his first few months, but with each move he seems to be getting more and more into the work. This wasn't just a normal transfer, by the way. The reason why I say that is because in a normal transfer, usually a missionary is paired up with a companion that has been in that area for at least the previous six weeks. This time, as Alex called it, this was a double transfer. In other words, both of the missionaries that were there before were transferred out and Alex and his new companion were sent in to take their place.

Alex said that he really had a hard time leaving Platte City just like he did when he left Wamego. He and his companion had done so much work and things had really started to reach the tipping point with the people that they were teaching. Alex said it best in his letter so I will quote it here rather than try to paraphrase it. In his letter he is talking about why he thinks that he has been moved around so much already:

"I work hard so I will get moved a lot and I won’t be able to see the fruits of my labor. ... I know that the people I have been teaching are getting baptized, but it doesn’t matter whether I am the one getting “credit” for it or not. As long as people are getting baptized, and I am able to get the work cranking everywhere I go. Honestly I really don’t care if I get the “credit” for baptizing a single person on my mission. As long as I can help the work go forward and lay a ground work for people, I am completely content with that. I know that our purpose is to baptize people, but people will get baptized because of my efforts.

It is weird to see because as soon as I left Wamego people starting getting baptized there and the same thing is happening in Platte City. It is so cool to see! I feel kind of like Jonny Appleseed ha ha. I just plant the seeds and move on, never looking back. I love it!! Sorry I hope that it all made sense; because it makes sense in my head. It is just weird trying to write it all down. Man I am so excited about this transfer! "

That is the way it should be. The Lord knows where he needs his missionaries and he will make sure that they get to where they are needed. Even if that missionary never gets to see the fruits that come from the seeds that were planted. The most important thing is that there are fruits.

So another interesting story to tell here and it goes back to something I mentioned in a previous entry. Remember how I said that for some reason, no matter where Alex is, he seems to find some tie back to Utah. Well, Alex has only been in Lawrence for less than a week and he has already run across a tie back to Utah yet again. As it turns out, Alex and his companion happen to run into an ex-NBA basketball player who now lives there. Things didn't really go very well with the meeting but when Alex told us the story, it just so happens that I used to work with the brother of this same basketball player at a previous job. I wrote Alex back and told him how he probably didn't know it at the time but he had actually also met this basketball player's brother back when Alex was a young scout and we were at a nearby scout camp. Yet again, funny how small the world gets sometimes.

Well this entry is a little shorter than some of the others, but then it has only been a week since the last time I wrote on this blog. Since so much had happened to Alex this week, I felt that we just needed to write it all written down and share it with all of those who are actually reading this blog. Things are going great for Alex even though he and his companions have had to almost start from scratch with each transfer. We just can't wait every week to hear more about the things that are going on in the Independence Missouri mission.

Change is just part of being a missionary...

There are many ups and downs when you are serving as a missionary. It just comes with the territory. Sometimes things fall through with the people that you are teaching and other times there might be issues with your companion that need to be worked out. But all of those things just provide opportunities for growth and Alex is finding that out. Apparently Alex and his companion, for whatever reason, decided that it was time to move to a different appartment. So they spent this last P-day packing things up so that they could move. You would think that for a missionary, packing and moving wouldn't be that hard since they are used to moving from place to place. But Alex mentioned that moving everything from one house to another was a bigger job than they expected. He also mentioned that he enjoyed living where they were, but who knows, sometimes new opportunities come with new territory.

Speaking of opportunities, in the last blog entry I mentioned how Alex has had opportunities to exercise his priesthood through giving blessings. One of those opportunities involved a young man in his ward that had recently been in a car accident. Well the good news here is that this young man is recovering nicely but has still been in a lot of pain. So to cheer this young man up, Alex and his companion decided to visit him and bring him some gifts. Alex described these gifts to us as,

"... a pink suit coat with gold buttons, a clone trooper helmet, and the ugliest sweater you have ever seen!"

They even decided to sing to this young man a song entitled "I'll be your hero" by Julio Iglesias. For some reason Alex has decided that singing is his new talent. Singing seems to come up a lot in several of his last few letters. I'm not sure why singing seems to be at the center of several of his stories, like singing on the doorstep as they are tracting, singing at the Ward Christmas party, singing to a young man who needs some cheering up or singing on the video that he sent home to us. But it seems to be working for him so I say, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Well maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. As far as something being "broke", if you heard his singing you would understand. ;-) Anyway, getting back to the story that I started with. Apparently their gifts and singing must have worked because Alex ended the story with "it was so funny!!!!". Did you catch that? Count them. Four exclamation marks!!!! It must have been hilarious (in more ways than one).

Alex said that the work as been going really well. They have been teaching over 20 people recently and several of them decided to come to church a couple of weeks ago. In his letter he said,

"But you have to remember who is really doing the work, and who is really in charge. Alma 26:12:

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

So the lord is definitely blessing us right now, so we just need to keep doing the right things and working hard."

Alex had another interesting new experience that he has never had before. Teaching "Sharing Time" in primary. His mother knows this experience very well, but it was all new to Alex. He didn't really go into detail about what they taught the kids, I'm sure it had something to do with missionary work, but in his letter to us he asked his Mom how she did it all of those years. Apparently the senior primary had a few problems that week. But I'm sure it all went well even with some disruptions from the senior primary. The kids probably really enjoyed having the missionaries come and teach them during sharing time. Just another one of those little experiences that will prove to be valuable later in life.

Here is a story that just goes to show you just how small the world is and who you might meet one day. Last summer before Alex left on his mission and even before he had received his mission call, he spent his time working and earning money for his mission. He became really good friends with his boss at work and many times his boss would tell Alex stories about his family back in Missouri. Well guess what Alex just discovered? The same people that he had heard stories about all summer long, are actually some of the very same people that he is now working with in the Ward where he is serving. It seems that no matter where Alex goes, he seems to find some connection with the people he meets that tie him back to Utah. Small world don't you think? Or was his mission call to Missouri and Kansas not really a coincidence? I think you know the answer to that one. :-)

I'll finish off this entry with an addition to one of the stories that Alex told in the last blog entry. Remember the story about the seven giggling girls that greeted the missionaries at the door while Alex and his companion were out tracking? Well apparently those weren't the only giggling girls that they encountered in the last couple of weeks. So here is the story. A week or so ago the Young Women's organization invited the missionaries to teach the beehives a lesson during their weekly activity night. So as good missionaries should, they showed up prepared and started teaching this group of young girls. Sometime during the lesson, the beehive leader stepped out of the room to go and talk to the older girls in a different class. When she walked into the room where the older girls were, they started complaining and asking why they hadn't been invited to class where the missionaries were teaching. The young women's leader was a little surprised by the girls' complaints and asked them why they would want to meet with the younger beehives. They have never expressed an interest in being with the beehives before. Well apparently the young women's leader misunderstood the older girls' complaints. You see, it wasn't because of the beehives that they wanted to be in the other class room. ;-) Alex finished up the story by saying, "So I guess we are causing a minor stir amongst the young women, oh man that is too funny."

Well it has been couple of full weeks for Alex and his companion. Alex mentioned that this week is transfers again and that they will find out within the next couple of days whether he or his companion will be off to a new place or if they will be able to continue the work that they started.

Amazing how things just work out...

We have received a couple of letters from Alex since the last time we updated this blog. He has been in his new area for a few weeks now and working harder than ever to find people who are searching for the gospel. His recent letters have included more details about the people that he and his companion have met both members of the LDS church and those who are just listening to what the missionaries have to say. I won't share many of the details here of the stories that are of a more personal nature, but if you would like to hear more about them, just contact us privately. But I will say that just like with his last area, Alex has met some very great people some of whom he and his companion are now teaching and others who are helping them teach. Drawing from my own experience as well as from what Alex has told us, there are always those people in every area who are placed there by our Heavenly Father to just watch over the missionaries in a similar way as the missionary's own parents would. To those people, we say Thank You!

As always there are the funny missionary stories and this week's letter is no different. Alex, for whatever reason, decided to buy a new suit... well maybe not so new. He described it as a "super ugly suit that looks like it's from the 60's". Hey, I lived through the 60's and my suits weren't super ugly... ah well, maybe they were. ;-) He seemed to be really proud of this suit especially since it only cost $5. Leave it up to the missionaries to find a bargain. I am guessing that in this case, he might have overpaid for the suit. Apparently his companion also found an equally impressive suit and they both decided that they would wear their recently acquired duds to church the following Sunday. But before Alex could put on his suit, he had to take care of one minor issue. Choosing a tie to go with it. You see Alex inherited a very unique trait. He is very challenged in the area of selecting which colors go with what. A trait that is probably shared by many men only in Alex's case it is a bit more pronounced through genetics. So at a dinner appointment the night before and following the customary missionary spiritual thought that follows, Alex asked the hostess (one of those people that I referred to in the previous paragraph) for a little help picking out a tie. They must have done a really good job picking out a tie because Alex said that everybody at church loved their new clothes. I just hope Alex doesn't decide to send the suit home at some point. I don't think that I could re-live the 60's!

Besides teaching the gospel and working with the members of the church in his area, Alex is also receiving some good experiences in exercising his priesthood. In his last letter, Alex told us a story about how a young priest in their ward was recently T-boned in a traffic accident in heavy fog. The injuries were serious but not as serious as they could have or maybe should have been. As part of their missionary services as well as just looking out for another human being that you care about, Alex and his companion visited this young man in the hospital several times. As things go in these kinds of cases, Alex had the opportunity to use his priesthood to give a blessing. I'm sure this young man has also received many blessings and prayers from other family and church members as well, but calling on the Lord to help those in need can never be overdone.

He ended his last letter by telling us another funny story about going out tracking one day, knocking on a door and being greeted by a bunch of giggling high school girls. Trying to think quickly on his feet he didn't really know what to say to them so he blurted out something stupid, gave the girls some pass along cards and just move on to the next door. Keep up the good work Alex.

We received some more pictures and videos from Alex this past week. Most of the pictures were from Christmas time and all of the things that Alex and his companion were doing in Wamego.

You might ask why Alex is writing on a framed picture on the wall. According to what he told us, this picture contains all of the signatures of all of the past Elders who have worked in Wamego. Now that Alex has been transferred to Platte City, he is adding his name to the Wamego legacy.

Again you might ask, what is he wearing? Have the missionaries traded in their white shirts and ties for a more traditional monk-like robe? No, it is actually kind of an inside joke. In one of the videos that Alex sent home while in Wamego, he joked with this companion about buying matching snuggies. So for Christmas we sent both he and his companion matching embroidered snuggies. Alex loves his. We aren't quite sure what his old companion thinks of the gift.

Life in a new town...

It's been a couple of weeks since we last wrote on this blog and a lot has happened. I mentioned last time that Alex had been asked to transfer to Platte City, Missouri. Well the transfer happened just before Christmas and Alex bearly had time to adjust before getting right back into things.

One of the nice things about the Christmas holiday is that missionaries are allowed to call home. Alex spent his last P-day before Christmas in Wamego, Kansas and we had set up a time with him when he would call on Christmas day. We had originally made arrangements that he would call home at about 10:00 am Christmas morning. This would give us enough time to take care of all of our Christmas morning traditions, eat breakfast and then be ready to talk to Alex. Well just before Christmas we recieved word that he would be calling a little later around 2:00 pm rather than at the originally scheduled time. That was OK, we would just have to wait a little longer to talk is all. So Christmas morning went as expected, and we waited around for Alex's phone call. Well just like Alex, instead of calling at the time that we expected, he decided to surprise us and call about an hour earlier. The phone rang, Susan answered and there was Alex on the other end. What a surprise!

It was really nice talking with Alex on Christmas. He had asked us if it would be OK for a couple of his friends to come over as well, so that he could talked to them also. We set up the speaker phone in the middle of the room and talked and talked until we all ran out of things to talked about. It was great. Alex told us all about his transfer from Wamego to Platte City. He told us about his new companion and how hard it was to leave his previous companion. He talked about his new apartment but didn't know much about the Ward yet because he had only been in Platte City for about two days. We filled Alex in on the current status of the PG wrestling team and caught him up on everything that the family was doing. Finally it came time for him to go and get back to life as a missionary. I can tell now why Christmas and Mother's day will be our new favorite days of the year. BTW, if you didn't know. Missionaries get to call home on Mother's day too. :)

We have heard from Alex a couple of times since Christmas through his weekly letters. In his first letter home after Christmas he told us that he still didn't get a chance to meet all of the Ward members. Apparently it snowed in Platte City, just enough to shut everything down. Being from Utah, I imaged a dumping of at least a couple of feet in order for church to be cancelled on Sunday. But Alex told us that the snow storm was more like 6 to 8 inches. 6 to 8 inches, what??? My Grandma drives to church in 6 to 8 inches. OK, well she would if she were still here with us, but 6 to 8 inches doesn't seem like enough to cancel church. Of course the members of the church in Alaska probably laugh at us Utahns for cancelling church in a 2 foot snow storm. The Alaskans probably don't cancel church unless there is at least 4 feet of snow and several polar bears wandering around the church parking lot. ;)

Alex told us a funny story of what happened to him and his companion on Christmas night. Apparently Alex's companion, who hasn't driven in the snow much, was driving back to their apartment after a dinner appointment or something. The next thing they knew, they were stuck in a ditch on the side of the rode. It took a few good samaritans and a couple of trucks to pull them out of the ditch. I'm not sure if that is the best plan for contacting new investigators, but hey, whatever works right! Anyway, I guess Alex is now the new designated snow driver from now on. We'll see if Alex can do any better.

Any of you who know Alex also know how much he loves wrestling and how many friends he has made through wrestling. In fact one of Alex's best friends who joined us on Christmas day when Alex called home, is also somebody Alex wrestled with and against over the years. Anyway, you would also know that Alex was chosen last year to represent his weight among the 5A high schools in the annual wrestling All-Star matches. Well the match ups for this year's All-Star matches were finally posted last weekend and as it turns out, another one of Alex's best wrestling friends was invited to represent his weight for the 3A high schools. And to top it off, Alex's friend will be wrestling against the same kid that Alex beat in the 5A state finals last year. Ok this may not mean all that much to you, but when we told Alex about the All-Star match up, it just made his whole day. In Alex's words "Ok I am so stoked about [the All-Star match]. I am giddy! This is so legit!!!". That was the first sentence in his letter home this week. We told Alex that we would be there to watch the All-Star matches so that we could fill him in on how they went. What does this have to do with Alex and his mission? Not a whole lot, but it does show how much Alex cares about all of the relationships that he has made over the years and how much he will also care about all of the relationships that he is going to make over the next two years.

Alex is really enjoying his current assignment and his new companion. Even though he was transferred from a place he loved and given a new companion, it doesn't seem like that has slowed him down at all. In his latest letter Alex told us about all of the good things that are happening. He filled us in on many of the new people that he has met in the last couple of weeks and how the work is progressing. At the end of his letter, he said that things are going well, they are working hard and good things are happening. You really can't ask for much more than that!