Really Good Busy Week!

The week here was really good. Really busy. Tuesday was busy with the departing missionaries going to the temple. Then we had to plan for the next few weeks worth of things to come. It is going to be an extremely busy 3 weeks. Wednesday we were able to take the missionaries to the airport! We also had two missionaries coming in, so we picked them up and took them back to the mission home. That afternoon was a new missionary training for these two missionaries and their trainers. It went well. Then on Thursday we went on exchanges with the Elders in Forest Grove. It has been crazy how busy things have been. But Heavenly Father has truly helped us out in getting done all that we have needed to get done. The craziest part of all of this is that Elder Oswald and Elder Greenwood are with each other just as much, if not more, than with us! So they are pretty much training themselves with the help of the Spirit. They are awesome though! They are doing great and are doing better every day. It is fun to see. 

We had an cool experience this week. Last week, we were in a mobile home park and were leaving it. A lady was at her mailbox in her car. Elder Oswald gave her a picture of Christ through the two inches that were open on her window, and then we all left. This week, when we were on exchange, Elder Smith and I were back in the same complex area to see someone else. As we left the guys house, I saw the same lady! At first the natural man said, "we already tried talking to her, no need to try again." But the Spirit impressed that we needed to talk to her again. So we did. She turned out to be really accepting! We gave her a Book of Mormon and then yesterday we texted her to see if she has had a chance to read it and she read what we invited her to read! She was really cool and we are going to go back and meet with her again on Thursday. 

This upcoming week is going to be a busy one. Elder Bills and I take off for Bend this evening around 6. It will be cool to make that drive over the mountains, just like the days in Madras. And I will be able to drive through Stayton on the way which is cool! So we have Zone Conference in Bend tomorrow, MLC on Thursday, and then a Zone Conference in Forest Grove on Friday. It will be fun. I am truly amazed at President and Sister Tateoka. I don't understand how they have the strength, time, sanity to do what they do! Their calling is so crazy! I'm grateful for the chance to be around them. 

Solar Eclipse in Newberg

The eclipse was pretty crazy. We watched it with President. It was fun! Newberg wasn't in full totality. It was at about 99%. But it was still really cool! It got dark for a minute. Here in Newberg it wasn't crazy. Places like Madras and Salem were pretty crazy I'm sure. 

The week was good. It was really fun having all 6 of us here. It was fun spending time with Elder Price! He is fun. It was good being with Elder Woody and Price this week before they go! They were both really focused, so that was good. It's going to start getting extremely busy here this week. Tomorrow we are taking the departing missionaries to the temple. Then on Wednesday we are taking them to the airport and picking up a couple of missionaries coming in. So it'll be a full week and then we are going to start having Zone conferences and stuff here coming up soon. 

  

We have been doing a lot of finding. A lot of talking to people. We have seen some success. Elder Woody is great at street contacting people and so we have learned a lot from him. Elder Oswald is awesome too. He is very willing to learn for a new missionary. He is so humble! We had a returned missionary speak at church yesterday, so that was good. The Spirit taught me that I need to really focus on learning of the Savior and that's what will bring peace. I know that that is true for all of us. 

Busy Week in Newberg

The past week has been insanely busy. But has been really fun. It was great to be able to see the departing missionaries and how far they have all come. To see the contrast between the departing missionaries we take to the airport and the new ones we pick up is pretty funny. It is cool to see how much they have learned and grown. We picked up a ton of new missionaries too. There were 31 of them. Next week, because of school, the September transfer is getting pushed up to go home on the 23rd, so we will have the opportunity to take them home as well. There are 17 of them, and then in September, 28 will come out.

The week has been super busy with a lot of stuff to get done and take care of, but it has also been extremely fun. Currently, There are five of us in the apartment. We have two trainees, elder Oswald and Elder Greenwood. And then Elder Bills and I. And then Elder Woody, who has been an assistant for a few transfers and is going home with the transfer next week! Elder Woody, Oswald, and I are companions and then Elder Bills is with Elder Greenwood. Whenever we have to do stuff for President, Elder Bills and I go off and do it and the rest stay together. It has been a blast though in our little tricompanionship. Elder Woody is awesome. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve with him, even for just these two weeks. I have learned a ton from him already and will be really sad to see him leave. We are having a really good time talking to everyone and enjoying each other's presence! And Elder Oswald is awesome! He's already a really good missionary and will continue to grow.

Getting Transferred

Hey! So we did get transfer calls on Saturday evening. Elder Patterson is going to be staying here in Salem 1st and I am going to be going over to Newberg. This transfer is going to be pretty crazy. We have 31 missionaries coming in on Wednesday and 28 going home. And then the September transfer, because of schooling reasons, is going home on August 22nd, so we have 16 more missionaries leaving that date. But then in September, we have 28 more coming out. So there is a lot of stuff going on. There are a lot of trainers. Elder Patterson and his new zone leader companion will both be getting trainees, so there will be four missionaries in this ward and all living together. For me, I will be going up to be with Elder Woody and Bills. Elder Woody goes home on the 22nd though. Elder Bills and Woody will both be training and then I will take over training when 
Elder Woody goes home. There is a lot of stuff going on. It is going to be an extremely busy time. This week was super busy. But it was good. We had MLC on Wednesday. That was really good. We learned about the importance of helping the people we are teaching understand the doctrine that will help them have a desire to act. We also talked about the importance of using the scriptures to show the promised blessings that the Lord has given us. It was a good MLC! We also had exchanges with Jan Ree on Tuesday. That was fun. I was with Elder McElreath. He is a new missionary from Georgia. He is a really good missionary! He has been out for six weeks now, but he is awesome. It was fun being with him. (His new companion will actually be Elder Lambert from AZ). Other than that, we had a lot of stuff happen, but today is going to be super busy so I don't have a ton of time to write. Gotta get ready for the move. There is a lot of stuff being talked about with this big eclipse happening on the 21st. People are going to be coming into the state from all over, so we are having to prepare for that as well. Crazyness.