Going on an Adventure

Dear Family,

Had a pretty good week last week, I had a few adventures that were pretty fun and awesome. Fall weather here has been really strange.

On Monday we went to the mall so my companion could get his watch fixed...again.

Tuesday wasn't really too exciting, we mostly walked around and were told to go away multiple times. We finally just sat at a park for a bit and we took a picture of a tree because it was really straight. So that should tell you how the day went.

Wednesday is where our adventures start. We started out the day by having a Rubik's Cube race, which I totally got destroyed. We did it twice and the second time, my comp did it twice before I finished once, so I will need to practice on that. We went over to a sister's house, she's the lady who knitted me my hat and we go over every week and have lunch, we take our landlord with us and we're able to talk to both of them. After we walked around the neighborhood and decided to stop at a less active recent convert who has turned anti. It's not fun to be a part of and he wants to meet with us and the bishop about some concerns, but I know he'll just try to prove his point and not have an open heart so that meeting might not happen.

After that, we walked home to get a drink and Elder Quayle got his trunks in the mail, they are the papers he needs to fill out in order for the church to start working on his flight tickets for when he goes home soon. After he got those, he went a little crazy.

We left our place and started walking our normal path around the Lutheran Church and my companion was like "let's go talk to the Pastor!" I thought he was totally joking and I kept walking on the other side of the street...but he wasn't kidding. He opened the door and walked right in so I had to hurry. We asked if we could see the Pastor and the lady said he was in a class but to come back at 8. So we went back at 8 and all the classes were over and people were leaving. So we were just standing inside this church and everyone was looking at us and were really friendly with us. The Pastor came out and was really happy and full of energy and talked to us for a bit. He told us to come to his office sometime to set up an appointment. We haven't done that yet, but this whole story was a great story. We told it at district meeting and said that we are really trying to talk to everyone! lol

Thursday was our district meeting, our district is full of sisters now. There are 4 elders, including me and my companion and 7 sisters. All I can say is the room for district meetings smells dang good now. :)

After the district meeting I went on exchanges with Elder Wamsley in the Cottonwood area. We had a really good time. We met a guy who is a Sudan Warrior, when he was old enough to become a man...like 11-12 years old, he went through training to become a warrior and they cut 8 lines across his whole forehead.

On Friday we had a ward camp out that was pretty fun. We had a good time.

Hope you all enjoy my letter, it's a long one for me!! lol

Love you all!!

Elder Searle

Transfer Week

Dear Family,

Not much happened this week because of transfers. Elder Quayle and I are still together but our district got moved around. We spent one day saying goodbye to people, we also went to the departing testimony meeting which was really cool. We all wore our matching pink ties again and one of the sisters really liked the ties and she took a picture of us. We had to say goodbye to Elder Abad, he is going home to the Philippines.

On Monday we did a zone activity and we went to the park and played games like sand volleyball, soccer, basketball, Frisbee and kick ball. It was pretty fun and most of our zone was there so that was awesome. It was something different for us to do and it was fun!

On Friday we went to the Trail Center since they do firesides on Friday nights and for this one, they were watching Ephraim's Rescue, and this was like the only time we could watch a movie so we went. Most of the Elders were there so I got to meet up with some old friends and it was really fun.

On Saturday we were knocking and knocking on doors and we knocked on this one house that was a bit run down and a dude with an eye patch opened the door. He didn't want anything to do with us, but he looked just like a pirate. :)

Sunday was a good day, that night we got a ride home with a dude that just put a brand new engine in his Volkswagen because he blew up his last one after installing a brand new turbo charger and it blew his engine up.

This was really about it this week with transfers, I have been practicing the Rubik's cube and I keep getting better at it.

Hope all is going well with everyone, I am doing better. Getting along better with my companion and we are starting to have a good time together.....so that's always good!!

Love you guys!! Have a great week!!

Love Elder Searle

Chilly Week

Dear Family,

I actually had a really good and enjoyable week and a lot of good stuff went on. So to start it off, on Monday we went to the mall, again...we have gone to different malls like 3-4 P-days now. We found some cool skinny ties at American Eagle and my companion thought it would be a good idea if the 6 of us all had matching ties to wear to Zone Conference later in the week. Then he thought it would be a good idea that since 4 of us wear glasses, that all of us should wear glasses with our matching ties to Zone Training.

After our P-day is over, we've been going over to see a family that moved in when I got here. We bring our free Papa Murphy's pizza and they make a little food and we play games and visit with them.

Tuesday, I made myself a Purple Cow Shake...it made me really happy! :)

Wednesday, we went over to this older ladies house and she is always throwing a party with the older folks in her complex and they stitch hats and gloves and all that jazz that old ladies like to do. She gave me one of the hats that she made! It is really cool, it's blue and black and I took a selfie with me wearing it.

Thursday, I finally solved the Rubix's Cube!! My companion has been trying to teach me for 2 weeks and I gave up and quit like 6 times, but that day...I finally solved it. I was really excited. We had our Zone Training meeting this day and so us 6 South-Siders wore our matching ties and our glasses and we looked really classy. :_

Saturday was a full day of service, we spent 8 hours and laid a concrete pad and then laid bricks down by the sidewalk. They fed us both breakfast and lunch and would have fed us dinner, but we already had dinner plans.

Sunday I had to give a talk in sacrament...yep, even as a missionary I'm still scared to speak in sacrament. They had me as the youth speaker though, so that was good. The highlight of Sunday was being invited to a home and being able to see the Short's. It was awesome!! Nora saw us walking and she ran inside and yelled "Big Teddy Bear is here!" We talked to them for an hour before we had to go but it was really good to see them again. Then when we left, Nora gave me a big hug and that just made my week. :)

This week has been chilly, like I actually had to grab a jacket it was that cold...and it has rained a lot.

Hope all is well with you guys!!

Love Elder Searle

Week of Service

Dear Family,

This week has was full of service, like mowing, tilling, raking and putting up a retaining wall. The retaining wall was pretty cool because I have never done that before. A lot of the missionaries have been sick, the cold is going around, but so far I've been good.  On Wednesday, a set of Elders were suppose to train together but one of them was sick. I was asked to go sit with the sick Elder so that the other missionary could at least train. I sat at his place and since they live at a member's home, I got to play the pinball machine they have in their basement. :)

It's hard doing work out here on Saturday's because of the Nebraska football games. The work here is going really really slow, we do go see a lot of less actives and we do go read the Book of Mormon to Dean almost every day.

The computer is being really slow today, I'll have to try and come back later.

Love, Elder Searle

Soup Kitchen

Dear Family,

So this week has been fun, on Tuesday, I went out to Gretna with one of the zone leaders and spent the day out there, it went well and was packed with lessons. Gretna is a branch so their area is huge, we had to drive to one town that was 30 min. away...twice.

On Thursday, our ward goes to the soup kitchen once a month, so we went to North Omaha and helped serve food. It was pretty cool and I met some really cool people. It was very different to see people just live out of their cars. They had blankets and things covering their cars and they just chill in there. One lady was taking a shower in her car while the passenger was brushing her hair. One of the bishop's kid came and helped and everyone there just loved him! He did a really good job and he's only 9 years old. At the end the kitchen people gave him a big pirate cookie. I was teasing him about it and was like "how come you get something and I don't?" He said "That's because you're a missionary, but there is one thing you can have that is the best".... and he gave me a big ol' hug! He said that was the best thing...a hug from him. :)

We also went a saw some less actives this week, we go over to this one guys house, and read the Book of Mormon to him. He is very chill and lets us eat and drink whatever food we want. :)

We also took a recent convert to the Trail Center, but we never went inside...we just drove all the way there with him and another member and just sat in the parking lot and talked. The convert goes really deep with questions. After, they wanted to stop by the hospital and see a kid they know, he was having some tests done so we went and talked to him. He has gone through so much in his life and there's no way I could do what he has gone through, but we taught him some card tricks he could do when he gets bored, since he'll be in the hospital for a week or two.

We also went to the mall, I bought new sunglasses that look good on me. :P  I gotta run!!

Love, Elder Searle