Week 11: 3rd and long

Hi family! Sounds like things are going really good for y'all. It's cool to see all of the blessings that come your way. This week has been solid. The area is now split and I'm still with Elder Taylor. And Elder Bollinger is with Elder Murphy. We have been knocking doors so much to find people to teach that my knuckles are bruised. Hopefully my first baptism will be in two weeks and I'm really looking forward to that.

Still no snow here, nor do I think there ever will be. It's was way funny me and Elder Taylor were out tracting a couple days ago and the Titans were playing. And it was there first play off game and everyone was going nuts in their houses and we got invited by tons of people to come in off the street and watch the game. But we didn't of course. They won that game and now they play the Patriots so lots of people are giving up hope.

I'm super excited to hear that you guys got a puppy. That's makes me so happy. It looks like a cute one to.
Really I can't focus to much today on what to say because of the experience I had today. All four of us elders went to the temple and things were going swell. We were almost done with our session and right before we made it to the celestial room. My companion got sick. He went from standing and looking pale to his eyes rolling back and he went from standing to the ground way fast and hit his neck and back. He seems to be fine we are just at the hospital right now. We might not be able to work for the next couple days until he recovers. Super scary though. Luckily we had an er doctor in the temple so he came and got the situation figured out. So that's been the adventure for today.

I'm gonna send a picture of me holding a dog dressed up. That is sister Taylor's dog. The Taylor's are a couple in our ward who are just bomb missionaries. So we were setting up a family mission plan with them and she said look I dressed my dog up like a missionary. She was close, so we counted it. That's the update for me this week love you all and I hope y'all have a good week.

Week 10: Divide and conquer

Hi family! So yesterday we had transfer calls and I'll be staying  in Murfreesboro with Elder Taylor as my companion still. But my other trainer Elder Bollinger will be training a new elder from the mtc. So there will be four of us in the same apartment but we will be separate companionship.

Yesterday I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with my district leader Elder Acosta in the YSA branch of the Murfreesboro area. So we were knocking doors on campus all day. And that was a really fun experience. While we were walking we saw this gentlemen on his bike riding by. So I gave him a friendly smile and wave. I guess it's possible I could have given off the wrong signals because five seconds later he looked back at us and yelled "you guys have really nice buts". We were so surprised by this that we didn't know how to respond. That is the first time I've been hit on by a man and hopefully it will be the last time. That same day we got to teach the first lesson 3 times to people who let us in there home.

Also another fun experience. So we got a call from some Elders in Nashville that they had a blessing referral for us to do. Which just means someone got a hold of them and asked them for a blessing. And it was in our area. So we went and found this guy named R., and when he answered the door he was shirtless and something seemed off. So we walked in side and he fell on his couch. He was pretty drunk and then he started crying. Anyhow needless to say he was a less active member who is now a cocaine addict and was trying to quit. So we gave him a blessing and the he hugged me and cried on my shoulder. That was a new experience for me. He had a cool little dog tho that kept on biting me.

Hopefully with getting a new missionary we will get a full time car to split between the companionship. We went shopping today and I had to get a scarf and some way clearance pants. And now I'm going to get my hair cut.

I hope your trip was fun for you guys and I hope that everyone has been having fun out of school. How much snow do we have back home and what has everyone been up to? What's the rest of the family up to?  Love you guys and can't wait to here from you!

Elder Swanton with Brian Regan

Too much egg nog?

Week 9: Merry Christmas

Sounds like you guys are having loads of fun. And looks like you found a good place to hide from the cold! Love you guys lots and hope you have a good week!

Note from Mom: The highlight of my Christmas was seeing Michael. Listening to him and seeing how well he looked calmed my anxiety over him being so far away from home. He is doing well and working hard. He loves the Lord and it shows when he speaks of the work he is trying to accomplish in Tennessee. 

My apartment complex flooding

veiw from patio

trail access

trail access

Week 8: Hey, this is Christmas!

Charlie Brown tree

Hey family:) Christmas is coming up soon and that's crazy! Can't believe it's already hear. To answer your question mom I can Skype at 7:00 your time. So that will be 8 for me. Well the weekly update. It just doesn't really even feel like winter here. It just get cold and then rains all day long. So that's kinda weird. We did a decent amount of tracting this week but we are trying to incorporate finding new people to teach on Facebook. Knocking on doors at night has been kinda interesting. We were on this one street and it was pitch black and we knocked on this families door. Just picture us three Elders huddled on the porch as it's lightly raining. And we heard a noise like a door opening. And so Elder Taylor and Bollinger peeked around the corner of the house into the garage to see if someone was coming out to talk to us. And instead the people let out there dogs to scare us off. A big German Shepard comes barreling out of the garage and Elder Taylor and Bollinger just took off running and I just froze on the porch. I don't know what my thought process was. Maybe if I don't move the dogs won't see me. By that time my companions were half way down the street still running pretty fast. So I casually turned my back to the dogs and walked after my companions. It was just funny because they didn't even really say anything they just had a scared look on there face and took off running. So I was left on the porch thinking like what the heck is going on. So that was pretty fun. I also had the opportunity this week to teach the law of chastity for the first time this week so that was interesting. I thought it would be awkward and hard and it defiantly was. But it was worth it. The investigators didn't commit to live the law of chastity but they said they would pray to know if it's true. So that's a win in my book. 

Sounds like you guys have had a pretty full week of fun. One of the youth in the ward agreed to get us a Christmas tree. So he went out in the woods and cut off a branch of a spruce tree and it looks super ghetto but it works and I love it. A little tree is better than no tree. I'll probably be writing some letters home soon. Once I can figure out how to do that. I'm super excited to go pick up the package tomorrow at zone conference and I get to see all my batch mates so that makes me happy. 

Alright I can't think of so much to say but I miss you guys lots and I'm super excited to talk to you guys on Monday! Alright love you guys!

Week 7: Ready for Christmas

People in room

Hi familia,

This week has been really good. You can tell dad that yes the bike is working well. Everyone is super jealous because my bike is the best. I'm not freezing any more I bought some clothes and that's cool. The week has been going good. We have been on four exchanges in one week and I'm super burned out and tired. I've been adapting to mission life pretty quickly. Sometimes my comps forget that I'm new. We are teaching a cute family from Ghana and a cute family that is moving to Michigan. Both of them want to be baptized so I'm hoping that goes well.

I was super happy to get some mail from you guys. Letters are awesome and that really made my day. That's cool the Bishop wants to go on a mission. I honestly thought he would be the bishop forever. So that's gonna be fun to see who will go in.  Well mom I'm glad that you got everything handled and tell Adee she is a champ for keeping the Christmas tradition alive, yes of course I'm staying healthy and I'm actually pretty good at budgeting so I'm sure that will be a surprise. I can't wait to Skype you guys and it's gonna come so soon. I hope grandma gets feeling better and I miss visiting them.

My comp Elder Bollinger gave me a hair cut this week so I can't send any pictures cause he messed up my head. Just kidding it looks alright. I'll try to get better at taking pictures. But for now I just suck. I miss all of you a lot. But not that much. Today was another week of walking but since we have a part time car we get the car back this week. It alternated every other week.

Missionaries

Jake sent me a pretty good email and that's super good to hear from him and that he is doing well. They don't have sidewalks here in Murfreesboro so we walk on the road and I've been pretty close to being hit by cars and that's awesome. Had a super scary experience with some one yesterday that maybe Jake will tell you guys about.

I'll just leave you guys with a quote that everyone says here on the mish that I love.

"They send boys to foreign countries to become men. They send men to the states to become leaders. And they send leaders to the south to become legends." Aww yeah baby. That's what I'm talking about. The wards here are super close knit and super fun to be in. The south is a good place but home is so much better.  The gentle man in the sweater name is Ron. He is a recent convert who we got to take to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead. His sons name, his fathers, and his brothers. It was one of the most cool spiritual experiences I've ever had. He is definitely a legend. Its almost to cold to bike here. Our faces freeze. But my bike is the best. I'm so grateful to dad for shipping it, I miss Uncle Nate and his family and Uncle Ben. We have a mission conference soon and I'm super excited for that. We do a lot of stuff on facebook and that is gonna take some getting used to .
Love you guys!! Have a good week

Ron and missionaries

Week 6: Settling in

Looking out window

Dear mom and family. Sounds like you guys have had a pretty full week. It sounds like you guys want a lot of details about everything so I'll try to send some pictures of the city and the apartment and such. Currently I'm in Nashville on a exchange with the a PS. Those are the assistant to the presidents. Great guys both from Utah. The weather has been getting great but it's going down hill. I love talking to people and I'm way good at budgeting. Exchanges are way cool cause you get another perspective of missionary work. I love what I'm doing here no matter how many doors I get slammed in my face. There are some good religious people here tho and that's nice. Lots of people respect what we are doing they just don't want any part of it. It's crazy the the people who live in city are the most humble and the most willing to listen. I wish I had brought more clothes and shoes cause I'm always freezing. But it's really cool. Yes dad I have my bike and I put it all together a couple days ago and I get to ride it next week. We are a part time car zone so next week we won't have the car. The car we drive is a 2017 Chevy Malibu. It's really nice. Let me know specifically what you guys wanna know and I'll answer your questions. I'm sorry I'm not good at emailing but I love you guys. Email me back today if you can. Well sis its hard and sometimes really sad. but I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I'm working my butt off. What is it like being in Tennessee?, its honestly pretty much the same as back home just way less Mormon people. the humidity is weird. so its way cold. but most people here are at least kind hearted. how is it different? everything looks way old. and there are some huge houses here. I also found out that David Archuletta lives here and is in one of the wards in the Nashville area. so I'm hoping I will get to serve there and meet him. maybe get a picture or something. How is the food? the food is amazing. I mean these people know how to cook. the fried chicken is insanely good. but the members keep feeding us tacos over and over again. its like someone told them that was our favorite. we are teaching a few people. one of them is a cool guy named T who played minor league baseball in Arizona. hopefully we can get a baptismal date for him. the other promising person is a 10 year old kid who lives in a less active family. and we have a baptismal date for him on the 30th so that exciting. and we are going to the temple in two days with a guy who just got baptized named R so that he can start on his family ordinances in the temple which is super cool. he is a skinny old man who is way nice. yes I like my companions. Elder Taylor from Logan is a tank and he works way hard and is a good example. Elder Bolinger is a legend and he works hard to. I think I probably got the best trainers in the mission. Anyways love you all, until next week.

2 lanes go left, 1 right, 1 straight ahead

apartment fireplace

Week 5: Play on

SPAM guitar

Hello family:) it's really good to hear from you guys. It's been a long week. Defiantly a good week but a long one. First and foremost yes dad I have the bike I'll be putting it together tomorrow. And I think I have all the parts and stuff.  My first official day we got fed two thanksgiving dinners. They were way tasty. People in the south know how to cook that's for sure. After that on Friday we went out and knocked on doors all day. I burned holes right into my socks. It was hard work and I've never met so many interesting people before. Some of the people I have met this week are really on another high level as far as spiritual things are concerned and some are really trying to get back to being all natural and some just want to shout at the top of their lungs!  Besides that it's really cool here. My companion Elder Taylor and I went to high school together. His older brother is Nick Taylor, Jake knows him. So that's amazing I get to be companions with someone I know and he's way chill.

 My other companion is Elder Bollinger from Oregon's own Portland and he is way cool.  They are the zone leaders and we are in a trio. Sunday was way cool I got asked to speak in sacrament on my first Sunday in a new place in a new ward. It was awesome I just gave my farewell talk again. So that was a new experience. The apartment is decent. We have met some exciting people knocking doors in our area of town. 

Really tho I expected to be gaining some weight but I'm actually loosing weight. We have a couple investigators so that's cool. Alright well I miss all of you guys quite a bit and hopefully I'll get to here from you again before the day is over. Love you guys bye.