Temple Trip

What's up family and friends?!

Had a slower week than I would have liked but it was still good. Going to talk about the main couple three highlights of the week.

Had zone training and the temple trip so had a good time there, especially at the temple. I'm so thankful that I have one close enough that I can go to every other transfer pretty much!

We also got in and are able to do some service at a library that's up by the projects. The lady over the volunteer work is pretty cool and so happy to actually have some strong men to help out that's not your normal high school kids that need service. So they tested us on organizing books and then we just had to go put them on shelves. We will be going there every Wednesday and we will just start doing more and more so it should be pretty legit.

Went over the Ericson's because for the mini missions, they made food from their mission. Since he went to Brazil he made some Feijoada and some Terere/Chimarro. The terere is a drink and it's different but good.

Yesterday was our P-day, we went and played volleyball all day and I was soooooo sore! But it was fun, we just get to email today and then back to work.

One funny little story, we saw a black guy going through a dumpster and cutting wires and stuff and my companion kept walking by so I followed. Then I was like, let's go and talk to him, so as we were walking back to him he started singing and dancing, it was so funny!! He kept singing and wouldn't answer any of our questions so we left. Pretty funny!!

That was pretty much my week, hopefully this week will be better because it's been pretty slow. Grrr!! No one likes a slow weeks but we will keep our heads up and keep pushing through this cold! :)

Love, Elder Searle

 youth in their ward doing mini-missions

 Temple trip

companion Elder Bywater

Bipolar Nebraska Weather

Dear Family,

Welcome to the land of Bipolar Nebraska Weather! Where it snows like no tomorrow one day, warms up, snows a ton again then BAM! A couple three day of wishing I could wear shorts and flip flops. The side effect of this weather is a lot of people have been getting sick and that has hurt the missionary work a bit.

On Wednesday, we decided to go out and shovel snow for hours. We went around and did some driveways for some older people, some less actives, helped a mother in the ward shovel snow because he husband was out driving trucks. We were out for about 5 hours and had fun, and I felt it the next day! My arm muscles were so sore and I slept wrong on my shoulder so that was killing me, I just walked around the next day with a dead arm pretty much. lol!!

I was telling Elder Bywater that I haven't really slipped on the ice yet here, so of course, a couple hours later I slipped on a hill because I thought it would be cool and walk on the retaining wall, then when I jumped down, I totally ate it. Then the other day, we were helping a member move out a desk and my companion and I were going down the flight of stairs when my foot missed the stair and I stepped in the only muddy part on the cement, it wouldn't have been too bad if the desk didn't land on me.

Sunday we helped the youth in our ward. They are doing mini missions this week and it started yesterday. The sisters, the senior couple and us all taught about Preach My Gospel and why it's so important. We had 3 classes that were 15 min. each and it was pretty awesome. I really enjoyed teaching the class because I totally realized that I actually am starting to turn into a pretty good teacher, at least a lot more than I give myself credit for.

Elder Bywater is the quietest companion I've had, I've been stepping it up these past couple three weeks (Nebraska language) since he'll go home soon.

Had a pretty good week and this coming week should be even better. We are going on exchanges with the DL on Tuesday and have Zone training on Thursday and a temple trip on Friday so right there, you know we are going to have a good week.

Hope all is going well with you guys, good luck, have fun and take luck!

Love, Elder Searle

Slow, Snowy, No Church & Superbowl

Dear Family,

Had a very different week this week, started out by having a SUPER slow week, like everyone we tried to visit weren't home or they didn't live there anymore. We were going through some potentials and some former's because the area has been a little slow lately and we just haven't been having any luck. We also got dumped on with SNOW!! Like it was CRAZY!! It started snowing Saturday evening, then on Sunday morning it was just crazy outside! It was windy and we had some huge drifts! Some cars were covered in parking lots and everything.

We got a text that said cars were grounded, then got a text from the ward mission leader that said the stake had cancelled church. That was weird for sure. So we were like, since church has been cancelled does that mean Fast Sunday is also cancelled and we can eat? We were told Fast Sunday and the Break the Fast were cancelled and would not be rescheduled, but you could still fast if you like.

Since we couldn't go anywhere and we couldn't drive, we had the Erickson's come pick us up and we spent the day with them. We played games and had dinner with them and the Leylands came over with funny Teddy. We finally got him to say our names, it's cute how he says them.

Everything is going well with my companion, he has kind of the same personality as me, just chill with anything so I've had to really step it up and take the lead. I was talking to him and said that by the time he learns the area, he'll be going home. I told him that maybe the president was testing me to see if I have ANY leadership skills. lol! And I guess I was right...my companion told me the president called him and said that my comp would come here to help me with that. I'm not sure how I'm doing with the leadership skills, but I'm trying!

The lease on our apartment ends at the end of this month so we will most likely be moving to a new one then.

I'm thankful for the chance I did have to fast on Sunday, it was harder because we were sitting right next to food all day long....but it was worth it!

Have a good week everyone!! Love ya'll!!

Patriots FTW!! (for his mom!! :)

Love, Elder Searle

 A picture we sent Brendan for Christmas and he added himself to it. :)

Grim Reaper

Dear Family,

So...had transfers and I got my new companion! Elder Bywater, he is from Twin Falls Idaho, his family moved to Montana 6 months before he came out. What's funny is that he goes home in March...So I will be killing him this transfer...I'm like the Grim Reaper, just killing missionaries left and right. We have been getting along really well, he is more of a quiet Elder so we are about the same. It's been a little different because we both kinda had that "whatever" attitude, so I have been having to step it up a bit and just be like OK, we are going to do this now, type of thing. It's going to be really good for me this transfer. Going to work hard and step it up. It feels like the president has been "training" me with my last few companions, so we will see what happens.

This week was also different because I was with Elder Scott for the week working both places (Cottonwood & Bellevue) and we didn't get much done. With transfers and having to deep clean both places, that took most of our time. We did do one awesome thing, we joined the Bellevue ward and went on Offutt and played soccer. It was really fun and had a good time A LOT of running, I'm still feeling it a little bit in my legs...LoL

That was about my week, played some pinball because Elder Scott lives in a members home and they have a pinball machine, so that was my excitement for the week. :)

Hope all is going well with you guys. I love you all!! I'm grateful for the chance I have to serve a mission and how awesome it is!!!! (most days)  :)

Love, Elder Searle

Dead Man Walking

Dear Family,

So I killed my companion. Man that sounds so wrong, but in missionary language I sent him home. I said good-bye to him last night and bam! our 3 months together are over. Time is going by so quick that it's scary. So I'm chillin' with the lone ranger in Cottonwood, Elder Scott. We will be working both areas and we will be together until Friday morning when we get our new companions.

I had a good week with Elder Jacobson. We took 2 families to go see Meet the Mormons that is now playing at the Trail Center every night at 7pm. We took one family Wednesday night and then the other family Thursday night so it was movie night two days in a row! It has also been SUPER NICE outside lately....like 50's!! It's so nice to finally have it that warm and now there are actually people outside to talk to!

I'll give you an overview of some of the people that we are working with.

S-we have been teaching her for a few weeks now. She is 26 and has a 6 year old, she is going through some stuff with her husband so she is living with her dad for a bit. She has really good questions and is really keeping us on our toes with studies in the morning. She is super fun to hang out with, she has a sister who is in the Cold Springs YSA ward and lives with her as well, so she's usually there with us. She is a great support for her sister.

N-He just wants to know a little bit more about us. He is in the military and just left to go back to Texas for a few months, so we won't be seeing him again for a while. He comes here and lives with his gf who is less active.

C- We just met her a couple three weeks ago. We were walking around base housing, going to see a less active and she pulled into her driveway and got out of the car and said "Hey!! Where's your bikes?" We got talking to her a bit, found out she lived in Arizona and had a lot of Mormon friends. We got in a few days ago and talked to her and her buff husband. I guess they've talked to missionaries before and almost got baptized. They just have a lot of questions and really, we think, they need a testimony of the Book of Mormon and they will be set. They already know what we believe and they believe it as well, they just have a little doubt. Hopefully we will be able to see them again when I get my new companion.

D&S- They are doing well, they took us out to lunch to Hu Hot yesterday for Elder Jacobson's last meal with them. We had a good time! They have been travelling a bit lately and are going around buying baby stuff and getting ready for that in April. We are going through new member lessons with them, just to make sure they understand and to answer any questions they have.

That's about it for investigators right now. Also a funny story, we were helping a less active move out of his house in base housing, since he is going back to Cali. We were helping them pack stuff and they were like "yeah, we are going to have to find a place to take all of our food since we can't take it." We said the Elders would love it!! So they did, they loaded up a big box full of just about everything and we took it home.

The box sat in our car for a bit since we had other places to go. Like 2 hours later we came back to the car and it smelled so bad!! Turns out a rice vinegar bottle wasn't closed all the way and leaked. All the food is still good and everything, but the smell has been in our car for a week now and you can still smell it a bit. We scrubbed the crap out of it, threw a lot of cleaner we found on it and just did our best. Just a funny little story to tell.

I will find out who my new companion is on Thursday and I will get him on Friday, then back to good ol' Bellevue 2nd I go. Hopefully this week goes well.

Love you all!!

Elder Searle

Riding in a Mini-Cooper

Dear Family,

How's it going everyone?

I had a pretty good week, everything from playing Phase 10, going on exchanges, walking in -23 weather to meeting new people.

This is my companions last week, I drop him off next Monday or Tuesday so this week we are trying to stay busy so he doesn't have time to think about home. We tried setting up a lot of visits with people and so he can also say good-bye to some people too.

Exchanges were pretty fun, we went and had lunch at HuHot after zone conference, which was before we went on exchanges and ate way too much there...THEN while eating lunch, we had our dinner invitation call and couldn't have us come over, so we went and grabbed one more plate of food. Then.. no joke....an hour later, someone called to see if they could feed us that night instead of lunch the next day. So we were like crap...hopefully we don't go anywhere nice. Well, we went to an expensive place called Cheddars, it doesn't sound fancy, but it was really nice. The dude loaded us up with everything!!! So we had some nice steak and an appetizer and some dessert. All while he just had a potato and she had a salad. They were the coolest couple EVER!!

They have the perfect life at the ages of 25 and 22. They have a home in Florida on the beach and they felt like they needed to come to Omaha for a bit so they just got up and left. They are renting out their home in Florida and now he has some better job offers. They have a very happy marriage and are set for life. They gave us some very useful tips about life and stuff, it was really good! As you can tell, I really enjoyed them since most of my letter is about them. :)  They also have a Mini-Cooper, that was my first time riding in one, it was pretty fun...he drove like a race car driver!

Nothing else too crazy has happened. This next week should be full of stuff, lots of appointments with people so it should be an awesome letter!!

Other than that, everything is going well, having fun and enjoying life!!!

Love you all!!

Love Elder Searle

New Year

Dear Family,

So I had a pretty dang good week and a fun New Years! Went over to the Ericson's for New Year's Eve and had fun there. They are the ones who sent you the pictures of us. We played some card games and had a good time. They had a family over and that family has a silly 2 year old little boy named Teddy and he is so funny. He speaks in the 3rd person so it's always "Teddy wants food, Teddy wants Elder Searle" (in a cute little kid voice) it's so funny. Then for New Year's Day we went over to our Bishop's house and had dinner there, we also finished teaching Sara the rest of the lessons while we were there.

Now for the good stuff....(drum roll)... Sara was baptized!! It was a super good baptism!! Her husband was able to baptize her and it was so spiritual! After she was baptized, our ward mission leader asked if she wanted to bear her testimony and she said no, then at the end while we were singing the closing hymn, she leaned over and asked if she could say something. She thanked everyone and told everyone about her journey and it was awesome!!! The Spirit was so strong, best way to finish off your baptism.

Yes, the cold is back and it's even colder. It's 12 right now and for Wednesday it says the high is -1.....-23 with the windchill. That will be nice!!! NOT!!

Our week went pretty well, we found two new investigators and both are from part member families. We are teaching a 13 year old boy and his less active dad, then we are teaching a lady that's 26 and her sister. We went over there and played Candyland with them, since we promised them on Christmas that we would play that with them and we had a fun time there. Our ward also moved to 1pm on Sunday's so that means we are the last ones there, that also means we can use the church building for Break the Fast!! It went really well, don't think I have ever been in a family ward that has done a Break the Fast, but it went well, lots of food and good company.

That's about my week, hopefully everything is going well with you guys!!!

Take Luck!!

Love Elder Searle

 Elder Jacobson, Sara and her husband and Elder Searle

 Elder Jacobson and Elder Searle

Outside their apartment