Hello everyone now it's time for the update from the kid out east.
well since our last little comments of last week we have been working our legs off. which i have really enjoyed, and the coolest thing about being in this three some is that we all want to work, one's got the plan, one's got the knowledge to get there, and the other just wants to make everyone happy. so to put it in a better light we are getting a long so well that it's not even funny, it's like we can complete each others sentences and keep the work going forward, so I'm really happy right now.
so some stories of the week,
this last Wednesday we were able to go to the Ronald McDonald house where we did a list that the ladies had for us to do, one of which was to use a leaf blower to get rid of all the leaves and junk that had accumulated in the front walk ways and the parking lots. so i decided that i was going to take the job, which might of been a poor choice, not only did i start to lose my hearing but it took me about 2 hours to complete the whole job, but on the other hand i was able to exercise not only my hands and legs but my forearms as well which is always fun to do. Later that day we were also trying to get our car fixed because it's got a leaky tube. so it'll get fixed this week and our man van is going to be awesome.
other service this week we helped in the old historic state capitol where we helped take down all the Christmas decorations that were put up, mostly garland and big old bows that were attached to the garland. and the people that actually work there said that it takes them like 3 days to put it up and we were able to take it all down in a matter of three hours. so we felt pretty accomplished about what we did.
an amazing thing that happens when missionaries don't fear is that things get done the way that they are suppose to and a lot quicker than those that are nervous, and I'll be honest that i once was a very nervous and scared missionary but i think now that I'm a lot more confident than i once was, but that leads us to what i studied today, it doesn't matter how much you have confidence in yourself you should put your confidence in the Lord and let him work through us to find his children that we are supposed to help him get back to him, which means that missionaries are nothing, but in the same vein we are something, the only thing that we have is that we have a choice and that's either, God or not, that's what it can be broken down into, something that everyone has to learn at some point. but we don't always remember it all the time so we need to be reminded more than once. I'm glad i have that chance now to learn what i would of had a much harder time back home.
so another story is that we were able to meet with an inactive who wants to come back, and he's got quite a story, apparently he was a sniper for the marines, and their training is nuts. like they have to shoot a target the size of a quarter at a distance of a half mile in 4 stances, standing, kneeling, laying, and upside down hanging by a tree limb. so he's a bit intense so we're going to try not to get him mad. but a very intense man who is back on track with what needs to happen. which I'm glad to be a part of. so things are going well with us.
so other stories than that, well we had a great time in sacrament meeting where an investigator that other missionaries had been working with came and sat by us and seems really interested in getting into the church so we are going to get thing rolling the right way with him. he was even asking about what the temple feels like so i think that it's going to be awesome. he's just a nice man to be around.
well I'm kind of out of stories except for the fact that i don't know if I've told you but now I'm covering the entire 4th ward of Tallahassee instead of it being split north and south. so it's been an interesting change to have from sticking to the south side of town to covering a lot more. so it's been really neat to have more freedom to work.
I haven't got a lot more to say
I miss you guys, thank you for your prayers and concern for me. I hope you had a wonderful time with your holidays and i hope that a couple of the new year resolutions are still going on and what a wonderful time it is for all of us to make a little bit of a change in all of our lives.
Love
Elder Gillespie
jethroybn, thad, emily. that was an awesome letter I'm glad that you were able to combine and write that it made it so much more interesting to see how you all had different opinions and how they we all combined doing something together.
Mom your awesome keep it up also don't walk to church unless you actually have boots. because it sounds like your having a lot of snow. so definitely invest in some boots.
Dad i don't quite get the whole tunnel in the attic thing is it on the west wall and does it go down into the part above the garage where you can see, above the quityourbellakin sign? It's sad to see all those ward members starting to get ready to go back home. i hope everything else is going well though.
Ben G. your great I'm glad you keep me updated on how great the mountain west really is so it's cool to see that even your family is growing up so fast too. i can't believe that it's been 3 months since Eliza was born, time is just moving too fast. so it'll be fun when we all get back together.
Also Congrats to Sunny for being cousin of the year. kudo's to you!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Eggnog Tonic
Hello Everyone
so what is the biggest difference from being a missionary with Christmas, well let me just tell you, first a lot of people want you to feel at home so they like to invite you to their home where you can just enjoy a great conversation with them. the other thing is that they love for you to come over and have dinner with them. much like the thanksgiving season, where we had 6lbs. of food. this time i think i only had about half of that and people want to give us presents. which i have a hard time accepting. but I'll get over that.
so some stories that have happened since Christmas they are...
well today we help a lady in our complex move out, and the fun thing was that it was on the third floor, so i got used to climbing stairs. she's a nice lady, Victoria is her name, and she and another member are friends so she told her that we would help her with her move, so we were volentold. but we did it with a smile on our faces. another reason to put on jeans. it took us about 4 hours which was really nice to have done, not a whole day thing.
umm.. the other really cool thing is that we me and elder Hibbert got our other companion Elder Hammond the same as John Hammond who went to high school with me and sat next to me during a capella he's a really cool guys who has gone through a lot but has learned a lot, he's so impressed with Tallahassee especially coming from Dothan, which is described as "a circle".
So other stories or news.... umm... i don't know if i already told you guys but we had a Christmas party with half of the mission and i was able to see a lot of old friends and i got to talk to a lot of them, they are all doing really well and happy to be where they are at which is really cool. and there were a lot of cool talents that were performed.
umm.... I'm kind of running out of ideas because of the fact that this last week i was so involved with wanting to get to talk to my family that everything else seems like a dream. oh i remember we as zone leaders were able to help those who were getting transferred ready for the day, which was a pretty cool experience. and i think that we have some of the coolest missionaries there are.
I love you guys and miss you a lot.
please feel free to write. by the way the address is
410 Victory Garden Drive apt 188 Tallahassee FL 32301
Elder Gillespie
Mom your letter is one that is going to be saved for the ages. you're just so kind and i'm so glad that you're my mom.
Thad, i was able to get your Christmas present I'm still having troubles opening it so i can actually use it, and it's going to be a real great help. thanks brother.
Robyn. that is a lot of snow. i can't believe that, so does that mean that Jethro is going to have to do extra days after school should be out, or did he have enough snow days. how did Lincoln like all that snow and the giant snow hill?
so what is the biggest difference from being a missionary with Christmas, well let me just tell you, first a lot of people want you to feel at home so they like to invite you to their home where you can just enjoy a great conversation with them. the other thing is that they love for you to come over and have dinner with them. much like the thanksgiving season, where we had 6lbs. of food. this time i think i only had about half of that and people want to give us presents. which i have a hard time accepting. but I'll get over that.
so some stories that have happened since Christmas they are...
well today we help a lady in our complex move out, and the fun thing was that it was on the third floor, so i got used to climbing stairs. she's a nice lady, Victoria is her name, and she and another member are friends so she told her that we would help her with her move, so we were volentold. but we did it with a smile on our faces. another reason to put on jeans. it took us about 4 hours which was really nice to have done, not a whole day thing.
umm.. the other really cool thing is that we me and elder Hibbert got our other companion Elder Hammond the same as John Hammond who went to high school with me and sat next to me during a capella he's a really cool guys who has gone through a lot but has learned a lot, he's so impressed with Tallahassee especially coming from Dothan, which is described as "a circle".
So other stories or news.... umm... i don't know if i already told you guys but we had a Christmas party with half of the mission and i was able to see a lot of old friends and i got to talk to a lot of them, they are all doing really well and happy to be where they are at which is really cool. and there were a lot of cool talents that were performed.
umm.... I'm kind of running out of ideas because of the fact that this last week i was so involved with wanting to get to talk to my family that everything else seems like a dream. oh i remember we as zone leaders were able to help those who were getting transferred ready for the day, which was a pretty cool experience. and i think that we have some of the coolest missionaries there are.
I love you guys and miss you a lot.
please feel free to write. by the way the address is
410 Victory Garden Drive apt 188 Tallahassee FL 32301
Elder Gillespie
Mom your letter is one that is going to be saved for the ages. you're just so kind and i'm so glad that you're my mom.
Thad, i was able to get your Christmas present I'm still having troubles opening it so i can actually use it, and it's going to be a real great help. thanks brother.
Robyn. that is a lot of snow. i can't believe that, so does that mean that Jethro is going to have to do extra days after school should be out, or did he have enough snow days. how did Lincoln like all that snow and the giant snow hill?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Santa doesn't use Elves. . .
Thank you so much for sending so much stuff to me, I was able to receive Toni's package and as for your letters I haven't gotten them yet but our address right now is: 410 Victory Garden Drive apt 188 Tallahassee FL 32301
So now you know, sorry for such a long wait It was hard because the post office didn't give us a key to the mailbox until about a week ago.
I hope that fills in the silliness of the day for you all. Now a little bit of an update here in the world of Tallahassee. Rosenlund went home this week on Wednesday I believe and so for the last few days me Hibbert and O'niones were companions and then we got news that they were going to close down the Tallahassee 4th north side. So that means that instead of having two sets of english missionaries in that ward we are only going to have 1 set which will be a complete change for the ward, but in reality they don't really see us all that much either so it's a nice change, hopefully we'll be able to get better acquainted with everyone and not just be stuck in our area. So that's what we've heard today we got the whole story of what's going on, so me and Hibbert are going to be Zone Leaders for the Tallahassee zone and Jon Hammond is going to come up with us and is going to be a district leader, so i'm going to be in a apartment with two sweet guys.
Now for some bad news: a member who lives in Geneva County Alabama was kidnapped on Friday and we are just finding some more information on what's going on and it doesn't look good. Elder O'Niones knew this member so he hasn't been the same since, and to make this week even more interesting another member who we visit very often, their daughter got into a car accident and totaled her car, luckily she and her friend only had minor injuries, an injured wrist and minor bruising. So this has been quite an interesting week not only for us but for a lot of people that we know. We as missionaries have been safe and I thank you for all your prayers.
thank you all so much, i'm sorry to report but this week has been kind of a slow one and it's going to be a great time now with the three on the way and that I get to talk on Saturday to you for Christmas!
Love
Elder Gillespie
So now you know, sorry for such a long wait It was hard because the post office didn't give us a key to the mailbox until about a week ago.
I hope that fills in the silliness of the day for you all. Now a little bit of an update here in the world of Tallahassee. Rosenlund went home this week on Wednesday I believe and so for the last few days me Hibbert and O'niones were companions and then we got news that they were going to close down the Tallahassee 4th north side. So that means that instead of having two sets of english missionaries in that ward we are only going to have 1 set which will be a complete change for the ward, but in reality they don't really see us all that much either so it's a nice change, hopefully we'll be able to get better acquainted with everyone and not just be stuck in our area. So that's what we've heard today we got the whole story of what's going on, so me and Hibbert are going to be Zone Leaders for the Tallahassee zone and Jon Hammond is going to come up with us and is going to be a district leader, so i'm going to be in a apartment with two sweet guys.
Now for some bad news: a member who lives in Geneva County Alabama was kidnapped on Friday and we are just finding some more information on what's going on and it doesn't look good. Elder O'Niones knew this member so he hasn't been the same since, and to make this week even more interesting another member who we visit very often, their daughter got into a car accident and totaled her car, luckily she and her friend only had minor injuries, an injured wrist and minor bruising. So this has been quite an interesting week not only for us but for a lot of people that we know. We as missionaries have been safe and I thank you for all your prayers.
thank you all so much, i'm sorry to report but this week has been kind of a slow one and it's going to be a great time now with the three on the way and that I get to talk on Saturday to you for Christmas!
Love
Elder Gillespie
Monday, December 13, 2010
Four Wheels and an Engine
Hello Everybody!
So we have some very exciting news this week. First to clear up any misunderstanding about Florida being cold; tomorrow they say it's going to get down in the teens, and then by the end of the week the highs are going to be in the mid 60's to 70's. So yes it does get cold here and it's a different type of cold just like it's a different type of heat, so no matter really what you wear here if it's just a bit cold say the 40's and the wind is blowing it feels like it's in the 20's just because the humidity is here and it just cuts through the clothing which you are wearing, straight to the bone as they say here.
other great news is that we got our car back!!!!!!!!!!! (yes i know i broke the Exclamation point rule but it's that important) Molly the Malibu is back in commission which frees me and elder hibbert up a lot instead of walking or biking everywhere which we have been doing for the last 4 weeks. We now can go to and fro with ease and please. You'd be surprised how much a car actually makes missionary work so much better and effective. We can actually get to more people's houses than just walking down a highway.
So stories this week...umm... so zone conference was this week and it was just a really good time. We have one of the older zones in the mission, the youngest missionary is about a transfer out but everyone else has at least 8 months under their belt. Even the older mission couples and sister missionaries. So this zone conference was really just an opportunity to relax a bit and just get used to teaching and how to teach better rather than trying to explain it to the younger elders and watching them do it, so we broke off into little groups where we did some role plays. There were 5 to a group and we were told to have an investigator and then a critic and missionaries. So it was me Elder O'niones, Elder Gates, Elder Thomas and Sister Fink, so when I finished being an investigator for O and Gates we all decided that the next one it was going to be a three person companionship with Fink, me and Thomas teaching Gates and the really neat thing that I picked up on was, that each of us had a different way of explaining things and helping the investigator understand what's going on. It was just insightful to me to see that no matter where I would be with teaching someone that another person could teach the exact same thing but in a completely different way and that I teach and another person would teach would have the same effect because the spirit would be there and that the spirit would be testifying to them in their own way. So that was in zone conference. At the end of that we called the body shop where our car was and low and behold the car was going to be there in an hour and a half. So that was a pretty sweet day, Then we got a call to come to a dinner with a member who is from Russia and one who served in Russia so we actually had a Russian dinner, and it was good. borche! So all in all Tuesday was a great day!
Wednesday was not so cool we had an appointment, but of course that fell through mostly because people don't want us to come back so they schedule a time where they know they won't be home. I'm not stupid, but i'm going to be as punctual as I can but if they don't want to show up that's on their heads not mine. We were able to get a lot of lessons in with members seeing as how we now can actually go and visit them.
Which leads us to the rest of the week; it has kind of been a hum drum week, mostly as I see it. Every campus now is done, finals are over and i think graduation is too. A lot of people are going out of town for the next little while and those who are home are working crazy hours just to make ends meet at home or abroad. Life is crazy for the holidays and that's never going to change. I love all you guys and miss you especially during the holidays.
Love
Elder Gillespie
Jethrobyn, you guys are so cool the Egg Nog party sounds just like something jethro would do and something that should continue for years to come.
Ben, you are a busy man with many of those questions on what to do you can do it i believe in you. and i find it surprising that the car was totaled just a back smashed in. so very interesting.
Mom you're the best and i love you guys.
Beetle your talk was simply the best. Very well put and I love the stories and the pure and simpleness of the gospel and testimony. Because it is true.
Sophie Lee! Holy cow. and Congrats I only wish i could be there to see it go down. Your going to do great don't worry to much remember to breathe, and don't lock your knees.
Roxanne you are in for a treat that is for sure, don't be too worried about what's going to happen just enjoy the moment and don't let the stupid elders stink up the class room too much, just a warning. and get as much chocolate milk as you can!
So we have some very exciting news this week. First to clear up any misunderstanding about Florida being cold; tomorrow they say it's going to get down in the teens, and then by the end of the week the highs are going to be in the mid 60's to 70's. So yes it does get cold here and it's a different type of cold just like it's a different type of heat, so no matter really what you wear here if it's just a bit cold say the 40's and the wind is blowing it feels like it's in the 20's just because the humidity is here and it just cuts through the clothing which you are wearing, straight to the bone as they say here.
other great news is that we got our car back!!!!!!!!!!! (yes i know i broke the Exclamation point rule but it's that important) Molly the Malibu is back in commission which frees me and elder hibbert up a lot instead of walking or biking everywhere which we have been doing for the last 4 weeks. We now can go to and fro with ease and please. You'd be surprised how much a car actually makes missionary work so much better and effective. We can actually get to more people's houses than just walking down a highway.
So stories this week...umm... so zone conference was this week and it was just a really good time. We have one of the older zones in the mission, the youngest missionary is about a transfer out but everyone else has at least 8 months under their belt. Even the older mission couples and sister missionaries. So this zone conference was really just an opportunity to relax a bit and just get used to teaching and how to teach better rather than trying to explain it to the younger elders and watching them do it, so we broke off into little groups where we did some role plays. There were 5 to a group and we were told to have an investigator and then a critic and missionaries. So it was me Elder O'niones, Elder Gates, Elder Thomas and Sister Fink, so when I finished being an investigator for O and Gates we all decided that the next one it was going to be a three person companionship with Fink, me and Thomas teaching Gates and the really neat thing that I picked up on was, that each of us had a different way of explaining things and helping the investigator understand what's going on. It was just insightful to me to see that no matter where I would be with teaching someone that another person could teach the exact same thing but in a completely different way and that I teach and another person would teach would have the same effect because the spirit would be there and that the spirit would be testifying to them in their own way. So that was in zone conference. At the end of that we called the body shop where our car was and low and behold the car was going to be there in an hour and a half. So that was a pretty sweet day, Then we got a call to come to a dinner with a member who is from Russia and one who served in Russia so we actually had a Russian dinner, and it was good. borche! So all in all Tuesday was a great day!
Wednesday was not so cool we had an appointment, but of course that fell through mostly because people don't want us to come back so they schedule a time where they know they won't be home. I'm not stupid, but i'm going to be as punctual as I can but if they don't want to show up that's on their heads not mine. We were able to get a lot of lessons in with members seeing as how we now can actually go and visit them.
Which leads us to the rest of the week; it has kind of been a hum drum week, mostly as I see it. Every campus now is done, finals are over and i think graduation is too. A lot of people are going out of town for the next little while and those who are home are working crazy hours just to make ends meet at home or abroad. Life is crazy for the holidays and that's never going to change. I love all you guys and miss you especially during the holidays.
Love
Elder Gillespie
Jethrobyn, you guys are so cool the Egg Nog party sounds just like something jethro would do and something that should continue for years to come.
Ben, you are a busy man with many of those questions on what to do you can do it i believe in you. and i find it surprising that the car was totaled just a back smashed in. so very interesting.
Mom you're the best and i love you guys.
Beetle your talk was simply the best. Very well put and I love the stories and the pure and simpleness of the gospel and testimony. Because it is true.
Sophie Lee! Holy cow. and Congrats I only wish i could be there to see it go down. Your going to do great don't worry to much remember to breathe, and don't lock your knees.
Roxanne you are in for a treat that is for sure, don't be too worried about what's going to happen just enjoy the moment and don't let the stupid elders stink up the class room too much, just a warning. and get as much chocolate milk as you can!
Monday, December 6, 2010
What the. . . December?
Hello Everybody!!!
So what has it been like for you guys in the wintry grips of snow? well here in the southern part of the country its been kind of cold and just not that exciting still no car, but I'm getting use to walking and walking and walking all over the place. and it does get a bit chilly around here surprisingly like i actually have to wear a sweater most days.
alright i guess it's time to get to the fun of this week. well we have had the great opportunity to start teaching a little bit, but still a lot of tracting, it's getting to the point where we've tracted all the places that are close to us so it takes us like 30 minutes to get to a new place. but we got a lesson in with a lady named (I-saw-too), she has had a lot of different experiences all over the world talking to different people and all sorts of different religions but she really hasn't met with us so she's trying to find all of the things that are right with all of them and then go from there. and she is also very very smart and wants to understand everything, and in my mind they make no sense because she jumps from topic to topic, but i guess that makes better sense than how i think, so we have had good talks about this whole thing and it should be going somewhere soon, i think.
other than that we had a Christmas party where it was back in the old days. like what it would of been like in the olden days. so we had everyone dress up in robes and capes and all sorts of things you would normal see at Halloween, but everyone who came had a good time, and we as missionaries helped set up the whole thing. so we helped with the food, and we cut up about 4 wheels of Gouda cheese that would of been about 18 inches across. cleaned about 5 bushels of grapes and a bucket full of humus we put into little cups, it was interesting none the less. and one thing that I've noticed about myself is that I'm not really concerned about what's going on as long as i can actually help people i don't care, while others just like to leave as soon as the party's over me I'd like to stay and clean up, that's just me.
so other than that it's been kind of a slow week for myself and the work it's just the same old routine. so we'll see what happens at Zone Conference this week, we've heard that things are going to change, but i don't know for sure.
I love you guys so much.
Elder Matt Gillespie
Beetle it sounds like your taking everything in stride and having a easy time readjusting to life. and Sis Palmer was in my same zone for 6 months. she's a pretty neat missionary and person, I hope you guys are good buds now.
Thad your description of what happened with Clint's baptism sounded so cool i wish i could of been there. and I'm sure that the spirit was so strong there. You are doing great Thad, keep up the good work.
Toniben you guys are amazing and I did like Anna's email and it sounds like she's a little girl with a big old heart. and Eliza sounds like the chillest baby ever. and I'm super excited about the phone call, Christmas sounds like it's going to be pretty relaxed so whatever time works best with naps or something like that should work for me.
Janben i really do hope you guys get the place that you like the most and i think that you'll go where ever you need to go to get the best schooling and be great examples to everyone else.
Jethrobyn thank you for the pictures they really made my day and it doesn't seem like beetle is actually home right now to me. but that's mostly because I'm not there so everything at home doesn't exist.
So what has it been like for you guys in the wintry grips of snow? well here in the southern part of the country its been kind of cold and just not that exciting still no car, but I'm getting use to walking and walking and walking all over the place. and it does get a bit chilly around here surprisingly like i actually have to wear a sweater most days.
alright i guess it's time to get to the fun of this week. well we have had the great opportunity to start teaching a little bit, but still a lot of tracting, it's getting to the point where we've tracted all the places that are close to us so it takes us like 30 minutes to get to a new place. but we got a lesson in with a lady named (I-saw-too), she has had a lot of different experiences all over the world talking to different people and all sorts of different religions but she really hasn't met with us so she's trying to find all of the things that are right with all of them and then go from there. and she is also very very smart and wants to understand everything, and in my mind they make no sense because she jumps from topic to topic, but i guess that makes better sense than how i think, so we have had good talks about this whole thing and it should be going somewhere soon, i think.
other than that we had a Christmas party where it was back in the old days. like what it would of been like in the olden days. so we had everyone dress up in robes and capes and all sorts of things you would normal see at Halloween, but everyone who came had a good time, and we as missionaries helped set up the whole thing. so we helped with the food, and we cut up about 4 wheels of Gouda cheese that would of been about 18 inches across. cleaned about 5 bushels of grapes and a bucket full of humus we put into little cups, it was interesting none the less. and one thing that I've noticed about myself is that I'm not really concerned about what's going on as long as i can actually help people i don't care, while others just like to leave as soon as the party's over me I'd like to stay and clean up, that's just me.
so other than that it's been kind of a slow week for myself and the work it's just the same old routine. so we'll see what happens at Zone Conference this week, we've heard that things are going to change, but i don't know for sure.
I love you guys so much.
Elder Matt Gillespie
Beetle it sounds like your taking everything in stride and having a easy time readjusting to life. and Sis Palmer was in my same zone for 6 months. she's a pretty neat missionary and person, I hope you guys are good buds now.
Thad your description of what happened with Clint's baptism sounded so cool i wish i could of been there. and I'm sure that the spirit was so strong there. You are doing great Thad, keep up the good work.
Toniben you guys are amazing and I did like Anna's email and it sounds like she's a little girl with a big old heart. and Eliza sounds like the chillest baby ever. and I'm super excited about the phone call, Christmas sounds like it's going to be pretty relaxed so whatever time works best with naps or something like that should work for me.
Janben i really do hope you guys get the place that you like the most and i think that you'll go where ever you need to go to get the best schooling and be great examples to everyone else.
Jethrobyn thank you for the pictures they really made my day and it doesn't seem like beetle is actually home right now to me. but that's mostly because I'm not there so everything at home doesn't exist.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Turkey Day
So this week has been a bit of a crazy holiday type of a thing. First of all Monday was a pretty crazy day and on that wonderful P-day we literally played Basketball at the church for like 4 hours, which felt so good. I haven't done that in a long time, so about half way through I was completely exhausted, so we worked for a bit that night, came home and zonked out faster than a candle in a room filled with carbon dioxide. which leads us to the next day, so the Zone Leader Elder O'niones and Rosenlund, both of which are pretty active especially when they are put together. they just feed off of each other and get to the extreme but both are playing around which ends up being pretty funny, Well they had to go to Zone Leader Conference. which then led us to not have a ride all day, so what did we do we walked and walked and walked, but really it wasn't that far. Our area really isn't that big it's just super nice to have a car when you have an appointment on one side of the world then on the other and you only got 5 minutes to get there. So a car is super cool, In fact that night we went to dinner at sister Walkers house who is really one of the coolest members in the ward, She was baptized like 2 years ago and is now super strong with what she believe in and every thing else. She is super smart too. So an awesome dinner with her and then hung around with the Spanish elders and one of them was a temporary missionary who is actually in Peru and we found out that it was his last day before leaving to Peru. But way before that me and Hibbert were just doing some tracting in a neighborhood where we could walk to because we are in one of those finding stages, and the cool thing was that we were able to find like 4 people who said sure come on back and teach us a bit, but not in a couple of days because it's thanksgiving. So we now have a full week of revisiting people. The really neat thing about this is it's a completely different attitude from those in Ozark who have been in their ways for the last umpteen years and are happy with what they have got. People here I think are more open to what's going on, but it's harder to pin them down because there's a lot of other things to do instead of just go to Wal-mart. So Tuesday was a success along with Wednesday which was similar. So that leads us to the infamous Turkey day
So what does a Missionary do an such a joyous occasion? You're right, stuff himself to where he can't eat a single bite more. Now how does this happen? Well it first starts with waking up and getting everything ready for the day and finding something to do before your first dinner, which this day started at 2 pm, so being smart we head to waffle house to plan for the upcoming week and what we need to do so we can get all the people that want us to come back in a day that works for them and us. and what do we do in such a thing as waffle house? Eat of course and we get their most famous items, which are their waffles, duh, and their hash browns with everything. and we eat that at noon thirty. so we finish that, us and the Spanish elders who are Elder Judd and Elder Wood, Judd has been out about 20 months and Wood has been out 3 weeks so it's his first area and he is a really cool guy well both of them are, It's a really nice thing to have another companionship in our area to talk to, when i get sick of listening to Rosenlund saying he's got two weeks left and then he'll be sleeping in his own bed. and all that other fun things that happen when arriving at home. so we finish up and head over to the members house where we eat and eat again. then we save a little room where we can eat again because we have another dinner appointment at 5 pm. so by the time we are done with that it's 4pm and then we headed to the mission home where Sister and President Jensen invited us to have a "little" thanks giving dinner with them so we had a great time and ate just enough to be filled then headed to another appointment at least the Spanish guys did and they ate again at 630pm and after a great meal they headed to another investigators house where all of us went in and they fed us again at like 730pm and of course it was a Spanish house were if we didn't eat their food they would be offended. So I took a bullet and started eating off of others plates so that they wouldn't get into trouble and every thing else. we then headed off to one more place for the night, where the zone leaders were at where they offered us some more food, but we politely turned it down. Now the kicker of the whole night when i weighed myself, from the first time to this time right after all of the food. I put on 6 pounds of food through out the day. which made the night very very uncomfortable. and I now know that eating too much is very much a bad idea.
So I think I'm still working off all of the food that I somehow packed away. which leads us to the rest of the weekend, seeing how most people in the south love football and seeing how it was rivalry weekend it made work a whole lot harder because people would be getting mad at us for interrupting their "games." But we did hear about all the games and everything that was going on in the world of football. For example we found out that byu and utah played and that utah won by a point about 5 minutes after it was done. We also found out that one of the missionaries who served here and plays on the utah team made some big plays, Elder Rogers. he's the tight end and his number is 89 and is very much a big kid.
So that leads us to Sunday where we had a great sacrament meeting It has probably become one of the most favorite things on my mission to do. It was a really neat experience to see everyone who talked talked about things out of preach my gospel and I love seeing how everything connects to each other. because that is what the gospel is all about. It's all connected and it all get us closer to god and to become one big happy family.
I love all you guys
Elder Gillespie
Clint and Melissa CONGRATS! I'm impressed and in awe of your willingness to find out for yourself. and to make those necessary steps to start your journey back to Heavenly Father.
Mom and dad I'm doing great and me and hibbert are doing really good together and we are getting things done.
Jethrobyn you guys are so cool and i'm impressed for your steadiness of writing, as for titles try the funniest quote of the week from either your kids or your students, maybe that could help? as for you Miss Robyn your kids are just so darn cute and doing so well i can't believe that it's been so long since i last saw all of them. please take a lot of photos when beetle gets home.
Ben gains HOLY COW that was a crazy story much more intense than mine we just started pulling out from a stop sign thinking that it was a 4 way stop. I know that angels are looking out for you and that sounds like quite the snow storm that you all had. I'm so glad that you guys don't have a huge damage to yourselves, what I tell myself is that it's the outlook on life that's going to get us through our problems.
Beetle you're awesome and don't let anyone else tell you differently and don't let others pull you down. I tried to get a letter to you as soon as you arrived but i don't know for sure when it'll get there though.
love you all
So what does a Missionary do an such a joyous occasion? You're right, stuff himself to where he can't eat a single bite more. Now how does this happen? Well it first starts with waking up and getting everything ready for the day and finding something to do before your first dinner, which this day started at 2 pm, so being smart we head to waffle house to plan for the upcoming week and what we need to do so we can get all the people that want us to come back in a day that works for them and us. and what do we do in such a thing as waffle house? Eat of course and we get their most famous items, which are their waffles, duh, and their hash browns with everything. and we eat that at noon thirty. so we finish that, us and the Spanish elders who are Elder Judd and Elder Wood, Judd has been out about 20 months and Wood has been out 3 weeks so it's his first area and he is a really cool guy well both of them are, It's a really nice thing to have another companionship in our area to talk to, when i get sick of listening to Rosenlund saying he's got two weeks left and then he'll be sleeping in his own bed. and all that other fun things that happen when arriving at home. so we finish up and head over to the members house where we eat and eat again. then we save a little room where we can eat again because we have another dinner appointment at 5 pm. so by the time we are done with that it's 4pm and then we headed to the mission home where Sister and President Jensen invited us to have a "little" thanks giving dinner with them so we had a great time and ate just enough to be filled then headed to another appointment at least the Spanish guys did and they ate again at 630pm and after a great meal they headed to another investigators house where all of us went in and they fed us again at like 730pm and of course it was a Spanish house were if we didn't eat their food they would be offended. So I took a bullet and started eating off of others plates so that they wouldn't get into trouble and every thing else. we then headed off to one more place for the night, where the zone leaders were at where they offered us some more food, but we politely turned it down. Now the kicker of the whole night when i weighed myself, from the first time to this time right after all of the food. I put on 6 pounds of food through out the day. which made the night very very uncomfortable. and I now know that eating too much is very much a bad idea.
So I think I'm still working off all of the food that I somehow packed away. which leads us to the rest of the weekend, seeing how most people in the south love football and seeing how it was rivalry weekend it made work a whole lot harder because people would be getting mad at us for interrupting their "games." But we did hear about all the games and everything that was going on in the world of football. For example we found out that byu and utah played and that utah won by a point about 5 minutes after it was done. We also found out that one of the missionaries who served here and plays on the utah team made some big plays, Elder Rogers. he's the tight end and his number is 89 and is very much a big kid.
So that leads us to Sunday where we had a great sacrament meeting It has probably become one of the most favorite things on my mission to do. It was a really neat experience to see everyone who talked talked about things out of preach my gospel and I love seeing how everything connects to each other. because that is what the gospel is all about. It's all connected and it all get us closer to god and to become one big happy family.
I love all you guys
Elder Gillespie
Clint and Melissa CONGRATS! I'm impressed and in awe of your willingness to find out for yourself. and to make those necessary steps to start your journey back to Heavenly Father.
Mom and dad I'm doing great and me and hibbert are doing really good together and we are getting things done.
Jethrobyn you guys are so cool and i'm impressed for your steadiness of writing, as for titles try the funniest quote of the week from either your kids or your students, maybe that could help? as for you Miss Robyn your kids are just so darn cute and doing so well i can't believe that it's been so long since i last saw all of them. please take a lot of photos when beetle gets home.
Ben gains HOLY COW that was a crazy story much more intense than mine we just started pulling out from a stop sign thinking that it was a 4 way stop. I know that angels are looking out for you and that sounds like quite the snow storm that you all had. I'm so glad that you guys don't have a huge damage to yourselves, what I tell myself is that it's the outlook on life that's going to get us through our problems.
Beetle you're awesome and don't let anyone else tell you differently and don't let others pull you down. I tried to get a letter to you as soon as you arrived but i don't know for sure when it'll get there though.
love you all
Monday, November 22, 2010
Taking Tally by Feet
Well this week has been kind of a blur I'm not going to lie, Biking or Walking everywhere isn't the most satisfying thing to do but i think I'm understanding more and more what it feels like to be a missionary in the rest of the world. and i think I'm going to have some huge legs when i get done with this area if or when I get in a car again. so i think that the this week we've probably gone about 20 miles walking or biking. and the cool things is that we've found a couple of people that we probably wouldn't of found otherwise. and the neat thing is that when you actually go and try your hardest to find someone and also testify of what you do know people will respect that and will respond in a positive way to what you believe in. so for one example seeing right now how we don't really have anyone solid to teach we've been doing a lot of tracting and one of those times we were going out we ran into a lady who said "you know you won't convert me but I'll listen" so that is the perfect opportunity to just say what makes our church a little bit / a lot bit different. but they don't realize this but then they are interested and then they just get a book of Mormon and as you mark a few chapters to read then they get a bit more interested. and everything starts to work out better. so we have had a few of those opportunities to talk to people that way.
other than that let's see we had a little turkey bowl last Saturday or two days ago where we as missionaries and the elders quorum played and the sad fact is that we are out of shape even though we won't want to admit it, i still think i'm fast and that i can do anything but the day after had been quite a sad relaxation when everything starts to hurt to move, i think i know what you mean dad and Jethro.
other than the fact that Tallahassee is Huge compared to Ozark it's still not quite as big as the whole Provo Orem Utah valley area it's just built higher and a lot more cars smashed together I think i haven't really been able to tell from the last area i've been in felt like home to me and i was there for so long as well. so I'm a bit nervous around rush hour time. but i'll get use to it.
so now I'm in FAMU campus writing you guys, which is kind of like UVU in comparison, the difference is that it's pretty much an african american college there are so many here i think the percentage is close to 99% african american 1% everyone else. and they are pretty nice as long as you don't get into trouble, which we don't other than that i don't know what else to say about Tallahassee and how everything else is going besides one of the elders in the apartment is going home like 6 days before Christmas and is already counting down. but who can blame him. then i look at where he's at and then where everyone else is at and it seems like my next year is just going to fly by with hardly a bump in the road.
well that's all i've got
wait one question, i love to work but i am wondering if i don't play a bit will i just be a dull boy? as the saying goes i know there is a balance in all things so how do you find the balance between working and playing or playing and working?
Love Elder Gillespie
Mom you are so awesome and i bet your birthday party was awesome
Dad I'm glad your feeling better, keep up the good work and don't fall down on the new blanket of snow/ice
Jan your kids are just so darn cute and i can't wait to see what's going to happen when beetle get's back make sure to take lots of pictures please.
Robyn you're a whiz with that camera of yours and your kids are just so darn cute as for your little adventure to the ER, don't worry about it i did the same thing when i was just a young wart hog. as soon as we started heading over i felt so much better, i don't know why though,
Jethro you master of art and it's awesome that your students call you dad. that is a title that is earned not given. you are definitely doing the right thing.
Thad your doing great i can already tell. and your going to have so much fun with the rest of the fam
Toni the Anna saying are defiantly top ten material.... cows with guns. (way to go dad)
Ben Gains your are awesome have fun this week don't stress to much about stuff you can't control which is funny because i have the same problem. any suggestions?
beetle have fun and don't hold back.
other than that let's see we had a little turkey bowl last Saturday or two days ago where we as missionaries and the elders quorum played and the sad fact is that we are out of shape even though we won't want to admit it, i still think i'm fast and that i can do anything but the day after had been quite a sad relaxation when everything starts to hurt to move, i think i know what you mean dad and Jethro.
other than the fact that Tallahassee is Huge compared to Ozark it's still not quite as big as the whole Provo Orem Utah valley area it's just built higher and a lot more cars smashed together I think i haven't really been able to tell from the last area i've been in felt like home to me and i was there for so long as well. so I'm a bit nervous around rush hour time. but i'll get use to it.
so now I'm in FAMU campus writing you guys, which is kind of like UVU in comparison, the difference is that it's pretty much an african american college there are so many here i think the percentage is close to 99% african american 1% everyone else. and they are pretty nice as long as you don't get into trouble, which we don't other than that i don't know what else to say about Tallahassee and how everything else is going besides one of the elders in the apartment is going home like 6 days before Christmas and is already counting down. but who can blame him. then i look at where he's at and then where everyone else is at and it seems like my next year is just going to fly by with hardly a bump in the road.
well that's all i've got
wait one question, i love to work but i am wondering if i don't play a bit will i just be a dull boy? as the saying goes i know there is a balance in all things so how do you find the balance between working and playing or playing and working?
Love Elder Gillespie
Mom you are so awesome and i bet your birthday party was awesome
Dad I'm glad your feeling better, keep up the good work and don't fall down on the new blanket of snow/ice
Jan your kids are just so darn cute and i can't wait to see what's going to happen when beetle get's back make sure to take lots of pictures please.
Robyn you're a whiz with that camera of yours and your kids are just so darn cute as for your little adventure to the ER, don't worry about it i did the same thing when i was just a young wart hog. as soon as we started heading over i felt so much better, i don't know why though,
Jethro you master of art and it's awesome that your students call you dad. that is a title that is earned not given. you are definitely doing the right thing.
Thad your doing great i can already tell. and your going to have so much fun with the rest of the fam
Toni the Anna saying are defiantly top ten material.... cows with guns. (way to go dad)
Ben Gains your are awesome have fun this week don't stress to much about stuff you can't control which is funny because i have the same problem. any suggestions?
beetle have fun and don't hold back.
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