Twenty-one and wrestling again

As I started this blog entry, I noticed that it had been over a month since the last time I wrote about what Alex has been doing.  The blog entries aren't this far apart because we are slowing down towards the end of Alex's two years of service, it is more because Alex has been very busy and has had little time to write home.  So when we get letters from him, many times that are very short with just a quick summary of what he has been doing.  After a months time, I think we finally have enough good information to make a descent blog entry. 

Oh before I forget, today is actually Alex's 21st birthday.  Alex didn't really want us to send him anything because he would just have to pack it up in about a month when he comes home.  Hard to believe that Alex's two years is coming to a close in just over a month.  Anyway, to celebrate his 21st birthday we made him a little video filled with all kinds of very embarrassing photos.  These photo range from when he was just a little kid in elementary school to the last pictures we took of him just before he entered the MTC.  We had the office Sisters in the mission office help us out a little by surprising Alex with the video.  We told the Sisters that they had free rein to show the video to as many people as possible with the goal of making sure that Alex knows that we love him and are proud of all that he has accomplished.  Of course everybody knows that you only embarrass the one's that you love the most, right?  ;-)  So if you happen to be in the Independence, MO area and would like to see a good video of Alex, I'm sure the office Sisters wouldn't mind showing it to you. 

A couple of weeks ago Alex sent us a short letter and told us that he was coaching wrestling again.  If you remember way back almost two years ago when Alex first arrived in Independence, his first area was Wamego, KS.  While in Wamego Alex received permission from his mission president to spend some of his volunteer service time helping out at the high school as a wrestling coach.  Well it appears that Alex will finish out his mission in much the same way as he began.  No he isn't back in Wamego, but he is spending some of his service time at a local high school near Independence, helping out with the wrestling team there.  Alex told us that this is kind of a poorer area of town and because of that, some of the wrestlers haven't been able to purchase wrestling shoes.  Some of the team members show up to practice each day in just their stocking feet.  If you have ever watched a wrestling match you have probably noticed that a good grip on the mat is essential to being a good wrestler.  So trying to wrestle in socks is a very difficult thing to do which leads into a great story. 

Alex emailed us one night after getting special permission from his mission president since he was sending this email on a day other than his normal P-Day.  In his email he asked if we would be able to dig up some of his old wrestling shoes and send them out to him at the mission office.  His intent was to help out some of the wrestlers by trying to provide them with some descent wrestling shoes even though they might be a little worn.  After digging through Alex's stuff which has been put away in boxes for the last couple of years, we were finally able to find some of his old shoe.  Unfortunately, none of the shoes were in very good shape.  So we decided to get online, find a descent pair of shoe and send them out to Alex so that he could give them to one of the boys on he team.  Here is where the story gets a little more interesting.  As it turned out, we found a good pair of wrestling shoes on Amazon for not too much money.  If you know anything about purchasing from Amazon, many times they are just an online presence for a lot of other smaller stores.  We were a little surprised to find out that on Alex's next P-day after purchasing the wrestling shoes, he had already received them at the mission office.  That is when Alex told us about where those shoes really came from.  The sporting goods store that had actually sold and shipped the shoes is in Lenexa, KS.  Lenexa just happens to be one of the cities in the Independence, Mo mission, so obviously the store didn't have to ship the shoes very far.  Then Alex told us that the store is actually owned by a member of the LDS church.  Who knew that when we purchased the shoes on Amazon that they were actually coming from somewhere in Alex's mission and going to serve someone in that same mission.  The latest we have heard from Alex is that the shoes had been put to good use and the team is doing great.

Being in a mission with lots of church history sites Alex, at times, runs into people from back home.  In Alex's letter a couple of weeks ago, he told us about being at the visitor's center in Independence talking with people as they toured the center.  He started up a conversation with a couple who were there and asked them were they were from.  Their response was American Fork, Utah.  Alex told them that he was from Pleasant Grove, Utah.  If you aren't familiar with the Utah Valley area, Pleasant Grove and American Fork are two cities right next to each other.  In fact there is a fairly healthy rivalry between the two high schools in these cities.  Anyway, the couple made a comment to Alex about Pleasant Grove being good but American Fork being better.  Alex said that he had to teach this couple a little lesson about Good, Better, Best (if you don't get this joke, you better re-read Elder Holland's talk from General Conference).  The couple noticed that Alex's mission plaque said "Elder Nicholes" and they told Alex that they knew a Chris Nicholes from Pleasant Grove.  Alex responded with, "hey, that's my brother".  It turned out that this couple was the parents of one of Alex's brother's best friends from high school.  They had a good conversation right there in the visitor's center and caught up on a little news from back home.

Alex sent home a few pictures this week.  About a month or so ago, Alex told us about spending some early morning time at Adam Ondi Ahman.  He described a sunrise shooting through the clouds and how beautiful it was.  I told him to get some pictures and send them home.  Well he didn't get the picture of the sunrise but he did send some other picture from around the area.

Now here is a young man who is obviously out-standing in his fields.  OK it is an old joke, but you have to admit that it is a good one and it fits the picture.  :-)

Here is a handsome group of young missionaries.  Except that one in the back doesn't look very happy.  I think he was a little sad because he was nearing the end of his mission and was finally headed home.  Someone once told me that the day that a missionary enters the MTC, the missionary smiles and his mother cries.  The day that the missionary comes home, the mother smiles and the missionary cries.  That is the sign of a mission well served.

 

Apparently there is a bit of a pranking war going on between the office Elders and the Sisters.  The latest in the feud is sticky notes all over the office Elder's car.  Oh the wicked web we weave when revenge is on our minds.  Watch out Sisters!  What goes around comes around. ;-)

Beams of sunlight through the fog at Adam Ondi Ahman

As usual, "Busy" is the key word.  But despite all of that, Alex managed to email us twice over the last couple of weeks which is now unusual.  Anyway, one of the things that he told us is that his responsibilities as an assistant to the president will be changing a bit.  Over the last week or so, both Alex and his companion have felt that they needed to get out more and work with individual companionships.  During the past few months, they have been doing a lot of training session at zone conferences and working with the zone leaders, but they haven't worked much with individual companionships.  Now with his new responsibilities, they will be able to do just that.  Alex is very excited about this new opportunity.  He told us that both he and his companion will be spending a lot of nights sleeping on the floor at various missionary apartments as they travel around the mission, but that is all part of the excitement.

In his latest email, Alex told us that he and his companion had already started traveling.  He told us about traveling to Gallatin and spending the morning in scripture study while over looking the valley at Adam Ondi Ahman.  Alex told us that they got up early in the morning so that they could experience the peacefulness.  When they got there, the whole valley was covered in fog.  When the sun started to rise over the horizon, they could see beams of light shooting through the fog.  Alex said that it was one of the coolest sights he has ever seen.  I reminded Alex that this would have been a great time to have had a camera ready.  We would have really liked to have seen that sight as well.  Since he will be spending a few days there, hopefully he will take his camera with him the next time so that we can share the same visual experience with everybody.

Since Alex and his companion won't be spending as much time in their home area, now that they are traveling.  They were asked to turn some of the people that they had been teaching over to the Sister missionaries there.  Alex was a little sad about that because some of the people that they were teaching were really progressing well.  In fact before too much longer, Alex felt like some of them would be ready for baptism.  Of course no matter who is actually doing the teaching, knowing that somebody is ready for baptism is always a great feeling.  Alex is just glad to know that he was able to help out even though he couldn't be there through the whole process.

In his last email, Alex told us a cute story about wrestling.  He started out the story by telling us that he had his first official wrestling match recently on a Sunday night.  At first when you read that sentence you think to yourself, "official wrestling match", "Sunday night", "Missionaries".  Ok, something sounds a little off with this story.  But after Alex's explanation of what happened, it all seemed to come together and make sense.  As it turns out, one of the mission president's grandsons was visiting the area with his family recently.  This grandson is a little blond headed kid who reminded Alex of himself when he was little.  Apparently this boy's grandfather had told him that Elder Nicholes would be dropping by a little later and that he was a wrestler.  Upon hearing that news, this little boy immediately wanted to challenge Alex to a wrestling match.  So there you have it.  Alex's mission president had just scheduled a wrestling match between Alex and his little grandson. 

Alex and his companion arrived at the mission home and after dinner, they all went to the conference room where there would be enough space for this wrestling challenge to take place.  Ok, so this match seems a little lopsided but this is where the whole story gets really good.  Immediately on the whistle, the little boy charges for Alex's legs.  Good move, especially since that is what a good wrestler should do.  The only problem was that with Alex being more in the 172 lbs weight class and this little boy weighing in at maybe 40 lbs.,  this little brave wrestler ran into Alex and immediately bounced off to the floor.  Oh, but that didn't discourage or stop this little guy.  He jumped back up and the wrestling match went on.  After a few head shucks, granbies, arm bars and cradles, this little guy finally pinned Alex flat to the floor.  So after a state champion season a couple of years ago, Alex has just started out his first official wrestling match in two years at 0-1.  We aren't quite sure how Alex is going to recover from this loss. ;-)

Summer heat and new opportunities

   It seems like these blog entries are getting fewer and farther between.  Basically they have and that is mostly due to the fact that we don't hear from Alex as much as we used to anymore.  He has been so busy over that last few months, that he rarely gets a chance to write home.  This last month has been especially busy due to the transition from one mission president to another.  The month of July is usually when a certain number of mission presidents complete their missions and turn the reins over to a new mission president.   This was the case in Alex's mission. 
   When the previous mission president returns home and a new mission president takes over, it is a unique opportunity for both the missionary and the parents.  With Alex serving as an assistant to the president, he and his companion automatically become part of the transition plan for the new mission president.  This last month Alex and his companion have been traveling the mission and conducting zone conferences with the new mission president and his family.  However, that isn't the only new opportunity that has come from the changing of the guard.  We, as the parents of a missionary, had the great opportunity to attend the Sacrament meeting in which Alex's returning mission president and his wife, spoke.  This was a great opportunity where we were finally able to meet the mission president under whom Alex has been serving for almost two years.
    It was a wonderful day and a great experience for us when we were able to attend the homecoming Sacrament meeting in which Alex's former mission president spoke.  The church building was literally pack with Ward members, friends and former missionaries.  In fact at one point during Sister Van Komen's talk, she asked all of the former missionaries in the audience to stand.  The number of people who stood up at that point had to be about half of the people in the audience.  Keep in mind that the number of people in attendance that day spilled out of the chapel and into the cultural hall.  Judging from the number of people, it looked more like a Stake conference than a normal Sacrament meeting.  There were a lot of former Sister missionaries as well has senior couples who served in the visitor centers and in other capacities.  There were also a lot of young men who served in the Independence Missouri mission as proselyting missionaries just like Alex.  There obviously wasn't a lot of time, but we had the opportunity to briefly speak with President Van Komen right before the meeting started and to hear some wonderful comments from him about Alex.  Following the meeting we also had the chance to speak with Sister Van Komen as well.  As we stepped up to greet her, I introduced myself as Alex's Dad.  That was all it took.  Sister Van Komen just started talking all about Alex and all of the wonderful things that he has done as a missionary in the Independence Missouri mission.  It was so great to hear directly from her knowing that she and her husband have been such a big part of Alex's life over the last year and a half.
    I mentioned that Alex and his companion have been traveling the mission visiting every zone with their new mission president and conducting training meetings.  At one point just a few weeks ago, Alex contacted us and wanted to know more about my mission and the people that I had taught.  He wanted to use these stories as part of the training that he was conducting during the zones conferences.  Both Alex has well as his companion have had the opportunity to get to know personally some of the people their fathers taught while serving mission many years ago.  They wanted to draw on some of those stories to help train current missionaries to love their missions and to take advantage of every opportunity.  Alex told us that the training sessions have gone really well.  On top of all of the training, Alex and his companion have also been going on splits with each of the zone leaders following the each of the zone conferences that they conduct.  This has made for some very long days full of hard work and a lot of spiritual promptings.  This kind of work has left these two young missionaries very tired but at the same time, very excited to get up the next day and do it all over again.
    In Alex's latest letter home he again told us all about how crazy life has been.  Alex told us all about some of the recent zone leader splits that he has been a part of and some of the miracles that he experienced.  I won't go into detail here but one of the stories was all about meeting someone that was just waiting for the missionaries to knock on their door.  It was one of those kinds of stories where a missionary is prompted to go somewhere or talk to someone that he normally wouldn't have.  The end result was an opportunity and an experience which neither Alex nor the zone leader that accompanied him that night, will never forget.
   One of the funnier stories this week was Alex telling us how much he likes the heat.  Summer time in the Midwest can be very hot.  Apparently they have had a few days where the temperatures have been over a hundred degrees.  For most people as well as for missionaries, this is a sign that it might be a good idea to go inside where there is some air conditioning.  For Alex, it is the opposite.  The only explanation that Alex could give us for wanting to be out in the heat is that he loves to sweat.  With all of the running and wrestling that he has done over the years, Alex is very used to sweating a lot and for whatever reason, he really enjoys it.  If you think that is a little strange, well then you probably don't know Alex very well.  Anyway, according to Alex, the hot weather also provides him with a great line for getting a conversation going.  All he needs to say is "Wow, we sure are having some beautiful weather, huh?".  After that comment, most people look at him with an "Are you nuts?" kind of look in their eye and wondering what he is talking about.  Right there the conversation starts and Alex is off and running.  Soon the conversation transitions into a gospel topic and before the person even knows it, they are hearing all about the gospel and message that the missionaries have to offer.  Who would have ever thought that talking about the weather would be a great way to start a gospel discussion. Humm??? ;-)

Messing with the greenies

This is going to sound like a broken record but every time Alex writes home, the underlying theme of the letter is telling us just how busy he is.  To give you an idea, this last week he sent a short little email explaining that as he was trying to find time to write us, he was also typing up the mailing lists, working out the transfer rosters, figuring out the bus schedules for transfers, sending out emails to all of the Stake Presidents notifying them of the missionary transfers and typing up the leadership call list for the mission president.  Apparently he and his companion had been in the mission office all day finishing up all of these last minute tasks before transfer notices go out in a day or so.  In all of that emailing and scheduling, the one thing that Alex didn't get finished was sending out his weekly family letter to us.  Well, we finally did receive his letter, but it wasn't until the next day.  He had to get permission from his mission president to write home on Tuesday rather than Monday because he had run out of time the day before.  I guess that is just how it goes.  We will have the rest of our lives to talk to him, but Alex only has a few more months as a full time missionary.  So making the most of it is obviously the top priority.

 Alex's last couple of letters, once we finally got them, were filled with some great stories.  I will try to retell some of them here and hopefully I will be able to capture the same spirit in which they were originally told to us by Alex.  One of the first stories that Alex told us really pointed out just how far he has come in the last year and a half.  One of the traditions that the mission president's wife has at each of the zone leader's conferences is to randomly pick a couple of missionaries to give a five minute talk on the spot.  This was a tradition that was started back when the mission president and his wife first entered the Independence Missouri mission almost three years ago.  The five minute talk is meant to prepare the missionaries for times when they are called on by a Bishop or Stake President to stand up in Sacrament Meeting or some other meeting and speak with no notice before hand.  The idea is to  stand up, quote a scripture, thank the Ward and bear pure testimony.  The reason why this is significant is because back when Alex was first made a zone leader almost a year ago, he used to get really nervous during each of the zone leader conferences wondering if it was going to be his turn to give a five minute talk.  Now step forward almost a year.  Alex is now an assistant to the president and as part of his responsibilities at each zone leader's conference, he is expected to lead two different training segments, conduct the meeting, prepare for and clean up after the whole thing.  After handling and completing all of those responsibilities, a five minute talk seems like a very insignificant cake walk in comparison. 

Another story that Alex related to us in one of his recent letters was really about another missionary who had struggled a bit but is now really starting to shine.  It started at a district meeting up in Platte City Missouri.  The district leader in that area was conducting a meeting and doing a very good job.  But for a missionary, something seemed out of place.  During the after meeting review that the assistants hold with each district leader individually, Alex mentioned to this Elder that his mis-matched suit and pants didn't really look appropriate for a missionary.  As it turned out, this Elder didn't really have a lot of resources when it came to outfitting himself for a mission and so he was doing the best he could.  After hearing that, Alex and his companion decided that they would pool half of their monthly allotment to try to help this Elder purchase some new clothes.  As they were preparing to pool their money, they talked to the mission president's wife and found out that the mission actually had a fund to cover just this very thing.  So the next time that this Elder and his companion were in Independence for interviews, Alex and his companion grabbed the Elder and took him down to a local discount clothing store where they proceeded to set this Elder up with three new suits and some killer ties all for under $200.  According to Alex, this has made a real difference in this missionaries attitude and life.  Sometimes just the simplest changes can make all the difference.

Alex also included a story about one of their favorite investigator families.  Unfortunately, this story goes more to show that their are ups and downs as a missionary and this story was one of the downs.  Without going into all of the details, Alex told us that they had really made a lot of good progress with this family but for some reason, the parents just couldn't quite get past a few issues that they had with the Church.  As a result, things kind of came to an end as far as teaching goes even though Alex still feels that they are some of the finest people that he has meet.  At the very least, the seed has been sown.  Maybe someday another set of missionaries will be there to help that seed grow and complete what Alex and his companion had started.

Finally, this story has to be one of the funniest stories that Alex has ever shared with us.  It is all about messing with the greenies.  One of the many highlights of being an AP is when the new missionaries arrive in the mission, every six weeks.  The APs along with the mission president have the great opportunity of meeting these new missionaries at the airport and helping them get adjusted to their new life as full time missionaries.  Well, maybe the words "helping them get adjusted" is a bit of an over statement especially when it comes to seasoned APs and new greenies.  Alex told us that he and his companion had a little bit of fun with the new missionaries as they were helping them get all of their luggage loaded into the trailer at the airport.  Here is how the story went.  Picture this, a bunch of brand spankin new missionaries have just arrived at the airport in Independence and have just meet the mission president and the APs.  They are all standing around the trailer as Alex and his companion are helping them load their luggage.  As they are loading the luggage and knowing that all of these new missionaries are still a little shell shocked, Alex and his companion start up a little bit of a gospel conversation.  Alex says to his companion,   "Hey Elder, what would your interpretation be of Lamentations chapter 4 versus Romans chapter 15?".  His companion responds, "Well I would have to refer you back to Romans chapter 3 to answer that question".  Of course this little scriptorian discussion was all totally made up, but looking around at the faces of these newest missionaries, they were thinking that maybe they missed something during their training in the MTC.  Alex said that their jaws were dropping all over the ground in awe.  Then one of the greenies pipes up and asks, "Elders, how long have you been out?".  Of course continuing in the vein of messing with the greenies, Alex responds, "Oh, about 5 months".  Oh what a story, I'm sure there will be some repenting to do Elders. :-)

Life is busier than ever

Now that Alex is an assistant to the President, we haven't heard from him quite as much.  In fact just this week we finally got his first real letter since we talked to him on Mother's Day.  Alex told us that life as an AP is crazier than he ever imagined.  He said that when he was a zone leader he thought life was busy.  But now as an AP, he and his companion are constantly on the move.  Alex gave us a brief run down of what he and his companion have to do.  Every transfer period, which is basically six weeks, they are traveling the mission and going on splits with every one of the zone leader companionships.  They use this time to do training and to find out just how well the zone leaders and their zones are doing.  In addition to that, they are helping to conduct the zone leader conference every month and also taking care of every odd and end that the mission president needs done in between.  On Sunday evenings Alex and his companion are at the mission office making phone calls and collection the weekly numbers so that they can report them back to Salt Lake.  We know this firsthand because during our Mother's Day call last month which happened to be on a Sunday night, Alex was constantly interrupted by phone calls from zones leaders who were calling to report their weekly progress.  Then on top of all of that, they are also expected to continue their normal proselyting and teaching just like every other missionary.   

Alex told us a story that is typical Alex.  When Alex was called to be an assistant to the president, he had to leave Manhattan and report to the mission office about a week before regular transfers.  His companion in Manhattan was also preparing to finish his mission a week later.  This meant that two new missionaries would be taking over the Manhattan 2nd Ward area where Alex has been serving for the past 8 months.  When his Manhattan companion arrived at the mission office week later, just before going home, Alex was obvious there.  Apparently the mission president and his wife invite all of the departing missionaries to have dinner with them in the mission home.  Alex told us that he and his Manhattan companion skipped out of the dinner that night and went tracting instead.   Alex told us that his former companion had a really hard time leaving the mission and that Alex had a really hard time watching him go.  During that final night of tracting, Alex told us that he and his former companion found 10 potential investigators.  Alex hasn't mention what has become of any of those 10 contacts but I can just imagine that when the time comes for Alex to return home, this is probably how he will spend his last night in Independence Missouri mission as well.

Alex told us in his most recent letter that he was able to travel back to Manhattan to perform the baptism of one of the people that he and his previous companion had been teaching.  He said that the baptism went very well and that he really misses the Manhattan Ward.  He also said that since both he and his previous companion basically left Manhattan at the same time, fortunately they were replace by two very good missionaries.  Of course the work will always go on no matter what, but it is good to know that when a missionary leaves an area, that there are good missionaries who are capable of picking up where they had left off. 

Alex told us kind of a funny story about what he and several other "white" missionaries did for Memorial Day.  Apparently Alex and his companion are currently teaching several black people.  So for a Memorial Day celebration, these good people invited Alex, his companion and several other missionaries over to their house for a good southern fish fry.  Alex told us that as these gatherings go, there were quite a few people at this house, all enjoying each others company and having a good time.  So many people that when one of the missionaries was asked to say grace, the line of people all holding hands during the prayer extended through the garage and into the house.   Of course everyone there were singing and dancing and having a good time.  At one point during the celebration, Alex's companion decided to join in by "busting a little dance move" just to show what he's got.  Well, I'm not sure what kind of moves this missionary had, but it caused the whole crowd to burst out laughing.  Alex said that they all had a very good time and it was a unique experience for all of them.

In closing his letter this last week, this is what Alex told us about his last few weeks as an AP:

"I am very grateful for this opportunity that I have been given. I feel like I have grown so much in the past three weeks, its incredible. My testimony is growing by leaps and bounds, and I am loving my mission more than ever! I love serving the Lord, and seeing the miracles that happen when we work as hard as we can! The church is true!"

A quick transfer and a new set of responsibilities

As you probably all know and I would be surprised if you didn't, last Sunday was Mothers Day.  But when you have a missionary out in the field and in our case two missionaries out serving, Mothers Day is "our missionaries call home" day as well.  So obviously we got to talk to Alex on the phone this past Sunday.  He worried us just a little because when he was able to call home in the past, he usually called first thing in the morning.  This time was a little different.  We waited all day for Alex to call and by about 8:00 in the evening, we were wondering if he was going to call at all.  His older brother who is in the Rochester, New York mission had already called us earlier that day and we had a very good conversation with him.  But Alex hadn't called all day long.  Then finally at around 8:00 pm Alex called to tell us that he was someplace other than Manhattan, Kansas.  Yep you guessed it, after nine months in Manhattan, Alex finally got transferred.  But the funny thing was, this last week was not transfer week so something very interesting must have happened. 

So here is the interesting thing that happened.  Last Monday after P-Day was over, Alex and his companion traveled to Independence for their monthly zone leader conference.  Alex arrived a little early and when the mission president saw Alex at the mission office, he asked Alex to join him in his office.  Alex told us that when the mission president invited him into the office, he was a little nervous and had a hard time breathing.  After a little bit of chit-chat, the mission president finally asked Alex if he would accept a call to be the new AP.  That's right, Alex is now one of the assistants the mission president in the Independence, Missouri mission. 

When Alex called us on Mothers Day, he was calling from the mission office.  Being Sunday night, he and his new companion were in the middle of AP training.  Part of this training included contacting each of the zone leaders throughout the mission to gather the numbers for the week.  We asked Alex what else his new responsibilities would include and he told us that he was still learning all about what it means to be an assistant and what he would be doing.  Of course he and his companion will still be responsible for doing traditional missionary work which means finding new people and teaching the gospel.  But in addition to that, they will also be responsible for traveling throughout the mission and doing a lot of training themselves.  Then there is helping out with transfers, collecting and organizing mission data and who knows what else he will be asked to do.  One thing that will be very interesting however, is that Alex will most likely be in the mission office when the current mission president finishes his mission this summer and the new mission president arrives.  That whole transition will be a very interesting time in the life of an AP.

Obviously, with this news of Alex being transferred to the mission office, most of the Mothers Day phone call revolved around finding out more about this new responsibility.  But before Alex left Manhattan, which apparently, according to Alex, is now called "Manhappenin", Alex told us all about the new people that he and his companion had been teaching.  Alex mention again this week just how much he loves doing church tours and how the spirit is always so strong.  Alex talked all about how some of the people that they have been teaching have already experienced some great changes in their lives.  Alex referred to these changes as miracles.  As you can probably imagine, when a missionary watches these kinds of miracles happen quite frequently, it makes everything that is sacrificed for a mission, worth it. 

With the transfer to the mission office happening so quickly, Alex didn't get much of a chance to say goodbye to many of the people in the Manhattan 2nd Ward as well as the many other people he had come to know.  So if you are one of those people, don't worry, Alex will be back as he travels around the mission as part of is assistant duties.  Alex can't believe that he is on his last six months in the mission and has told us more than once that he doesn't want to come home.  Of course we can't believe how fast the time has gone by to this point and that the next time we talk to him, it will be face to face at the airport.  But there is still a lot of new experiences that Alex will have over the next six months and we are very excited to hear all about them. 

Beyblade, not just a sport for kids

Finally, after several months of talking about a temple trip, it happened.  The Missouri, Independence mission does not have a temple within the mission boundaries so the missionaries, on special occasions, are given permission to go to the Omaha, Nebraska Winter Quarters temple.  The Winter Quarters temple is one of the smaller temples.  Alex described it as being about the size of a large house.  Alex accompanied several members of his Ward along with about 20 youth on this temple trip.  He also had the pleasure of going with a few of the people that have recently joined the church in the Manhattan area.  This was their first time attending an LDS temple. 

This temple trip was all about baptisms for the dead.  Since the Winter Quarters temple is one of the smaller ones, Alex as well as the others who traveled from Manhattan, were responsible for staffing the entire baptismal font area.  Along with the 20 or so youth that went with them, they didn't have any trouble filling the whole area.  Alex told us that when he got there, he recognized many of the temple workers from the time that he spent in the Lawrence 2nd Ward in Lawrence, Kansas last year.  He said that it was really nice to see them and know that they were all there in the temple together.  Alex spent most of the time on this temple trip as a witness during the baptisms.  However, at one point he was able to perform a confirmation along side of the baptism font for one of the recent converts that some of the sister missionaries from his mission, had brought with them.  Overall, Alex said that the temple trip was a really good experience and that he was really glad to have had the opportunity to go.

Church tours still seems to be the way to go when doing missionary work in the Missouri, Independence mission.  Almost every week Alex is telling us about the people that they have taken on a tour of the Church building itself.  Once they reach the baptismal font in the Church, the spirit is usually pretty strong and the common response from the people on the tour is that the feel a feeling that they have never felt before.  Something that just makes them want to stay in that spot and never leave.  The past few weeks have been no different.  Alex has told us about several people who have taken a tour of the Church building.  Without fail, the same spirit is there and the people respond in much the same way.  I'm not sure if Church tours are a common thing in other missions, but is sure seems to work for Alex and the other missionaries in his area.

OK, so here are a couple of stories that Alex included in his last letter that were really good blogging material.  Everybody who knows Alex, knows that he is just hungry for any kind of sport, especially if it has something to do with wrestling or running.  So while Alex and his companion were out tracting the other day, they ran across a house where the garage door was open.  When they looked in the garage, they noticed that there was a picture on the wall of the Olympic rings.  At that point Alex made the comment to his companion that maybe the person who lived their was some kind of Olympic athlete.  As it turned out, he was right.  This just happened to be the house of one of the more famous decathletes of all time.  Also living in the house were several other Olympic hopefuls who are very likely to be part of the 2012 Olympics.  On top of that, when Alex and his companion approached them and asked if they would like to hear the missionary lessons, they agreed and were taught the first lesson right there.  Of course they also left them with a few Books of Mormon and an appointment to come back and teach them more.  Alex doesn't really know where all of this will end up, but for him, it was like a dream come true.  Not only did he get to meet some Olympic athletes, he also got to teach them the gospel.  If nothing else comes of this meeting, at least while Alex is watching the Olympics next year on TV, he can say that he taught the gospel to the athletes who are on the track right then running in the Olympics. 

The second story that Alex told us was pretty funny and in the end, is just all Alex.  Alex has always really liked little kids.  In fact when in comes down to it, in many ways Alex is just a bigger little kid.  This story just shows how big of a little kid Alex really is.  Quite often when Alex and his companion go to a teaching appointment, they will take along with them, one of the members of the Ward.  After one of their teaching appointments where they were accompanied by a Ward member, they decided to drop in on the Ward members family afterwards.  As Alex walked in the house, he asked the Mom if they could drop off a bag of candy for their daughter since it was her birthday.  While they were there, they noticed that the two boys in the family were playing "beyblade".  OK, for any of you like us who don't have little kids any more, beyblade is probably not what it first sounds like.  When I first heard this, I had visions of two little kids fighting it out in their living room with some kind of Japanese swords or something.  Well, after looking up beyblade on the Internet, I found out that it is all about spinning up a couple of over-sized tops in a small arena and allowing these tops to bump each other until one of them topples over.  Well, you wouldn't really expect a twenty year old missionary to know much about a beyblade either, but when Alex found out that the boys were playing, he told them to hold on for a second while he ran back out to the car.  A few minutes later, in walks Alex with his brand new beyblade that he had just recently purchased.  Everybody thought that Alex was just joking so when they saw him come back with this toy, they all busted up laughing.  Alex didn't tell us how the actual beyblade competition went, but I'm guessing that there is a little lesson to be learned here.  If you make friends with the kids, the parents are going to love you.  That can open a lot of doors for missionary work.

Well as always, there are plenty of stories about all the people that Alex and his companion are currently teaching.  Great stories about people coming to Church for the first time.  Stories about baptismal commitments and stories about how the missionaries are helping to change people lives.  If you would like to hear more about all of the great things that are going on in the Independence Missouri mission, just ask and we will be glad to share them with you.