ET phone home

So what's new since last week...

well the phone call was really good and for those who were not apart of it and everyone is doing fine. umm... Christmas was awesome and thanks for all of the packages and the updates and for all of the support.

As for the area we had a good Christmas with the members and they made us feel right at home. and they gave us all a lot of food, oh my gosh, so much food.

so not much missionary work has been going on out here, mostly because of the holidays and we really don't want to bother people to much about the gospel. so our focus is mostly with the members and trying to get them to invite their non-member friends to do activites with them and once they are comfortable with that then ask them if they would like to hear from us missionaries and teach them more in the members house. so they feel more comfortable and so it doesn't seem like it's to much of an aggressive step.

another thing that I've learned is that the gospel is simple, God wants us to come back to him and all we really need to do is to follow Christ's example, and that is simply choosing to look towards god and get rid of all the things that the natural man wants. so while it sounds a bit hard Christ has made it easier. to way i see it is that we are in a suit of rusty armor, one of those old suit that knights used to wear, well anyways the suit is attached to chains. now that we have that established, now picture yourself in a room/ hallway where one end is dark and black and the other end has a door with light coming in from the other room. so now your in the middle and when your coming to god your fighting your hardest to work your way from the darkness to the light, but the chains are pulling you back. so to get rid of the chains you need to take the armor away, or in my opinion things that are taking you away from God. once those things are away then you are able to easily move and then able to move, but if you don't take the armor off, you are then going to have a hard time moving forward, since the chains are connected to wentch which is slowly taking you back to the darkness. well anyways this is one of those visualizations that i have, and it makes sense, it's really hard to get to god if you are still attached to the world. so yeah that's what i've been thinking about lately

also we had a transfer inside a transfer today, some missionaries are going home to go to school, so being in a threesome one of us was shipped out, so the lucky contestant was Elder Louden. he is now in Enterprise LA (lower Alabama) which is an entire zone away so i don't think I'll see him for a while. so right now it's Elder Jensen and me and then the other people in our district is Elder Solomon and Hibbert and we're going to get along for the next three weeks till transfers.

With Love Elder Gillespie

No Snow but a Good Freeze

Hello Everybody
Sorry this is going to be short but My last letter that i wrote timed out on me, stupid computer. well things here got a bit chilly last night and we got our first freeze of the season, so if you think florida is sunny and nice and warm all the time, tough luck it ain't.

well things here are slow and people don't really want to listen to us, which is kind of not new.

well a couple of things i've learned is that missionary work isn't hard, it only becomes hard if you focus on other things in life, and spend more time on that then missionary work. what a weird concept...

anyways, christmas time is here and things are going to be good.

thanks for all those who keep me in their prayers i try to keep you in mine. also prayer is a very powerful tool if you think about it, you are talking to the most powerful thing in the universe and he wants you to talk to him, he wants to hear from you and he want to help you out in as many ways as he can. the tricky thing is finding out what he has in store for you and how to follow what he wants to you to do. so while you can't get everything you want you do get everything you need.

as for family i love you all and can't wait to talk to you on friday

as for friends

Uncle Boyd and Aunt Carol thanks for the package and I can't wait to open it on Christmas morning

Roxanna thanks for the package and i got transfer so your packages to my old companions will take a little while to get there. so thank you for your giving it made my day.

Camille you are an amazing person with amazing advice and i treasure up those words of wisdom you have given to many. thanks again for all you have done.

to all thanks for all that you have done if it wasn't for you i wouldn't be here right now. and i couldn't become the person i need to be. so to ya'll thanks.

Redo

I got the packages and i won't open them until christmas unless otherwise told to. as for my companions Elder Jensen most closely reminds me of Richard Wilson, with the same kind of wit and humor. and Elder Louden is most like Adam Swindlehurst, with the same kind of ups and downs with in a day, ex. Elder Louden has been waiting for a runners watch which he order about 8 days ago and everyday since that day once the mailman comes around he's waiting at the door waiting for the package, and if it didn't come then he would just get a little bit mad, then he would remind himself that he needs to calm down, and so he does, but you bring it up again then he gets mad again. so sometimes i have fun just getting him riled up and then watch himself calm back down. well anyways he's a great guy and really is looking forward to working which is good.

as for the investigator front, we really haven't had much success, it seems that all the missionaries can tract the entire town in about 6 months or less, so most of the people have already heard what we've said. other than that we have three other villages in our area, first is wausau (wa-saw) and that's about 11 miles down the road and people down there like to hand out anti stuff to us, so i really don't know what to do about all of it. but who cares the gospel is simple, love god, love your neighbor. when we can do that to all people then the world will be in a much better place.

now for lessons learned i guess...

umm... obedience, if you do what is right and do it at the right time you will feel better than, if you do what you think is right for you and on your time. sure you might think you feel like everything is right but there is a different kind of peace that you get when you it the right way. as the primary song says there is a wrong way and a right way to be happy. so i choose the right way to be happy. that is what i feel like right now is the biggest thing for me, if i'm obedient then i feel right and everything does end up right and we also have the right attitude and right perspective. so yeah that's what i've learned.

Jethroyblincophia..?
i'm so glad to hear that all is going well and that heavenly father is looking out for you. it's those small things in life that make life worth living, and for me personally it helps me focus on what the important things in life are.

Janben
You are right Eva does look like a little scamp. and she is so adorable. i could almost eat her right up. Congrats on the finishing of the Scrubs shifts, i hope you enjoyed it ben, you'll have to tell me more about it later. also i can't wait to hear all of the cute voices.

THAD!!! the Master of Science!!!
Congrats that is an accomplishment you can only do once. i guess you could say the same thing about everyday, you can only do it once. as for the advice you want, you are doing more than most people, just listen to what your coworker has to say you'll find something that connects to the gospel your very smart and you can find one.

ToniBenAnna
I was getting nervous that you guys weren't going to send anything this week, and that would've made me really sad, but i luckily got it before i was kicked off the computer. it sounds like the Holiday Season is in full swing. now just don't get sick that make the holidays worse so don't take unnessisary risks.

Beetle!
sounds like your having so much success right now. i'm impressed. and i can't wait to hear your voice again, it's been like 7 months. Holy Cow! or in the south Dad-Gum! except fast. kind of a silent d at the end of dad. oh i'm excited.

well boy-howdy this Christmas is fixin to be the best Dad-gum event for ya'll, i recon.

see ya soon
Elder Gillespie

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

So What is New in the life of Elder Gillespie?

I'll tell you what is new. first of all i got transfered, to the "roaring" metropolis of Chipley Florida, which is about the size of Spring Creek, or Elko, or Oak City or Heber. and one interesting fact about this place is that in the phone book there are a total of 364 different churches in the area. So things here are going to be interesting.

Another interesting fact about this mission, we have the Guinness Book record for the most churches in one town, not Chipley, but in the area. also we have the largest night club in the United States in Panama City Beach. so i find that to be an interesting correlation.

So my new companions are Elder Jensen, he is from Orem and went to Timpanogos High and is about 6'3 and 220 Lbs, and then Elder Louden, he is from Mesa AZ, 5'10 and 185 Lbs is the District leader and loves to run. so much so that he wakes up at 6 am to get ready to run 4 miles. so this is going to be an interesting companionship, because i like to sleep, but i'm willing to sacrifice.

The funny thing about Chipley is that it's almost like Romeo and Juilet. there is two family's that are Mormon that basicly started this community it's the Sapp's and the Kriser's. Luckily they are both working together to strengthen the ward.

As for the Cereal Box count it's up to 5 boxes now out on the field. and the address for my new appartment is

774 Hoyt St.
Apt 8
Chipley FL
32428

H.O.Y.T. Happy Otter Yoddling Togther. that's for you Section Leader.

Jan, I love/loved your letter it's brought me lots of strenght and Direction on what i'm supposed to do so thanks for sending that today.

Thad, You are the Master, the master of Engineering!!! go out and party like it's 1999 plus 10 years.

Jethroybn. i'm excited to see your house and the fort pic's I enjoy. yes i can see the blogs. so continue to post.

Toniben. i'm so jelous to hear about how anna is now speaking "coherently" and that you can understand. and by the time I get home she'll be speaking full sentences. as for the Christmas talk with my parents, they have my Christmas list.

Beetle I think i'm feeling like a missionary now, it's hard but it's going to be worth it.

As for the rest of you, Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!!!

Elder Gillespie

Yellow Jackets and Holy Socks

So what's new?
for the first time since i've been out here it's been "cold" it got down into the 50's but there still isn't any snow. which is really weird, mostly because I see the Christmas decorations going up, which in my head says that there is supposed to be snow. it's like watching a movie about the arctic and then you need to get a blanket because you think it's cold. (one of those mind thingies). so since it's been a bit nippy in the mornings i was "forced" to get a jacket or two from one of the many beach stores that sell an arrangement of clothing items. the great thing about it is that so far the jackets have only cost me $13 bucks for two. so it's an amazing deal.

the other thing is that while we do have a car, this month we are almost out of miles so we are now forced to walk to appointments or seeing less actives. and with this and not cutting my toe nails, my socks have now gotten a bit "holy".

now on to things that really do matter. or at least somethings that i've learned while being out here.
First. you have to be willing to work all day and if that's done then miracles happen, for instance last night we could have gone home early to get ready for today, but instead we decided to see one more referral and as soon as we got to the door the father came out and talked to us and wanted us to come back to meet with him and his family.
Second. a testimony is built not received, so you have to put in your effort to find out if what you want to know is right, or exercising faith, and then go to the Lord and ask him if what you studied is right or what it says it is.
Third. the mission is kind of like a crucible with the refiners fire, let me describe it some more. so we are like a lump of gold or silver, and before we come out on to the mission we need to try to do our best to get rid of some of the impurities, or sins, but again that's through the Lord or refiner. then once we're on a mission we are placed in a crucible and the heat is then amplified until we become a liquid. then the Lord will take our impurities off, by taking off the "Dross" or imperfections. (i think that's correct lingo) And then he continues until he can see his own reflection in us. but this is only possible if we become moldable in the lord, if not then we crack and then we're of little worth to ourselves because we are trying to put ourselves back together. So while the mission is a great opportunity, we must ready ourselves the best we can before we can head out, and most be able to be humble enough to be molded.
Fourth thing, while i've got a whole lot of ideas it's not until i write them down, whether that's in a letter to someone, or writing it down in a journal, then it becomes personal and then i can understand what i've been trying to learn or when the lord wants me to learn a lesson from him.
Fifth. I gave my first talk yesterday in the mission field and while I think i should have been more nervous i wasn't mostly because i'm trying to be moldable to the lord. and i give all my credit to Him because he was the one who wrote it for me, now will this happen all of the time i think not, but it's nice to have it happen.
Sixth. the members here are simply amazing no matter what time of day it is they are willing to take us in and feed us and make us feel like were part of their family. so i would encourage you all to do the same, when you see a pair or a group of missionaries, show them that you do care about them, and in so doing you will be blessed by the lord.
Seventh. Today is the only day we have so lets make the best of it.
Eighth. There are miracles all around us, we just have to be willing to see them and if not that be the miracle workers.
So those are a couple of the things i've learned so far.

Jethroybn. I'm so happy to hear that your in your new house that lincoln is already trying to destroy it like a good reckless two year old boy. and that sophia is starting to build up her own immune system. I wish you the best Christmas.

Janben, I hear you trip was a success but that's about it, so i would love to hear more about it from you point of view. even if that's a couple of lines i would love to hear about it anyways.

Thad. You are so old your going to graduate and be a real working person, i'm impressed and in awe of your tenacity to stay true to your word. very few people do that all the time, but i would number among them.

ToniBen. I'm so glad that your doing well and that all turned out well for thanksgiving and that all the small children enjoyed being together. unfortunately they got sick, to that i'm sorry.

BEETLE!!! I miss you and i can't wait to talk to you in only a matter of weeks i still have a hard time figuring out that i'm a missionary, and for the next 22 months i'm going to do this, so i don't try to think about the time, but i'm doing my best to figure out how to be the best missionary possible, also i feel the same way about my brain being less cluttered except i just bought some Christmas CD's but i have in increased desire to study, which i find weird, i thought i would never get like that.

Camille, I'm sorry to hear about the loss and for the poor sportsmanship of the Cougar Fans. but i hope you were able to take the loss in stride, and accept that while they didn't win this year in the up coming years they will have their glory again.

Roxanna, Your letter was great and i really did enjoy it, I hope that my last letter helped you, because it helped me figure out what i needed to do. so thanks for your support.

Sophie Lee... your amazing plain and simple, so again i say Keep Truckin'

To all who read this I love you and i wish you a Happy and Merry Christmas season, because he is the only way back to happiness and love, which is god. because God is love. while we might not know everything it's line upon line that we obtain this knowledge. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Hello Everybody!

Well this week went by so fast, i can't hardly believe it... but i wouldn't have it any other way, i just hope it stays that way. so news...

i've decided to put the things missionaries like to do in a hierarchy of most fun to least.

1. Teach
2. Sleep
3. Eat
3.5 Get Mail/Write Letters
4. Service
5. Visit Members
6. Visit Less Actives
7. Tracting

so while we haven't really had much of one or two i'll tell you about three. so yesterday was the first real southern food i've had since i've got here, it was Oysters. now for those who don't want to get sick skip the next part

So an Oyster kind of smells like the great salt lake from a distance, then once you look at it, it looks like and feels like a giant spitwad. The way that your supposed to eat it is with a saltine cracker and hot sauce. So you put the Saltine Cracker on bottom, then get a tooth pick, pick up the oyster from the shell, after it's been shucked, and place it on the cracker. once at this step then apply hot sauce according to desired hotness. so once to this step then put in mouth and chew a bit then swallow. So that was the first experience i've had with Southern food. while i didn't really like it i was able to hold down my cookies while i had a half dozen or so. but i won't go and order any at a restaurant.

on to number four
so I havn't really spent to much time describing this in my other letters so i'll tell you a little bit of what type of service we have been doing here. so one of our members here had a fire in her house about two years ago and then started building a home right after, well she's still working on it and we as elders go over every weekend and work for about four hours on her house, and since i've been here all we have been doing is sheet rock, hanging, mudding, finishing, etc. etc. so thanks to dad i've been a good help to them, but it seems like no matter where i go i'm still doing same things as i would at home. but were making pretty good progress, the first week we had to fix most of the problems that the last time they tried to work on this house. the biggest problem was the sheet rock was hung vertically, not horizontally, which then left the end of the boards off of a stud. also sidenote. they are now making sheet rock boards 12 foot by 54 inches now, most of the stuff were using is 10x4 foot boards. so now were on the process of mudding and flipping the ceiling boards over, because they were put in upside down. so that's been a constant in missionary work.

another was helping out at the iron man with lost and found. while we really didn't do much it was really cool to see all the swimmers go out and then swim 2.1 miles. and get ready for the bike.

we also helped another member move her business out of an office and into her home, but that was on a fast sunday so i wasn't really able to help much, with my lack of fat.


so I think that'll do it for me today it's been a fast week but not much has happened. but I did recieve letters this week, and i thank all those who sent them, and i would encourage all to write more. it dosen't have to be much just tell me how things are going.

and just to everyone who reads
Guess what... I love all of you. (the mission will do funny things to a person)

Toniben. thanks for the update, while i would love to listen to his talk i can't really use headphones, and i'm checking my email in a library, so kind of awkward. also good idea with the rolls, and you should probably stop trying to subsitute ingrediants. and Ben florida is kind of wierd i actually live in the same time zone as Jan so beetle is 3 hours ahead.

Jan Congrats on the Garden it looks like the same ecosystem as i have out here. so i guess the summers are going really hot and humid. well were just going to have to wait and see.

Mom I love you so much and your letter means a lot to me, thanks for all that you do.

Jethroybn. Congrats on the HOUSE!!! i really can't wait to come and see it in 23 more months. Enjoy the holidays and i can't wait to see how cute everyone is!!!

Thad... yes. your comments with ben were great. but you should send some email/snailmail. and your almost done with college, congrats you really only have like 10 days left of class now weird, then you have to be a real person with a job. so i guess i'll give you slack until your done with school. then you have to write me.

Sophie I got your mail and it sounds like your doing fine, so just keep trucking.

Beetle I love you!!!

Fast-Ball was right

Good Morning Sunshine The Earth Says Hello!!!
so first of all it's still summer here it's been in the 70's since i've gotten here and when i wake up it's in the mid 50's so in my opinion it's still summer.

News. our investigator Matt kind of just stopped trying to contact us because he's mom is quite against the idea, but i think he'll come back if not this month then in a couple of years to come. but it's really sad to see him not accept it.

other than that nothing much has happend, we have been doing a lot of walking around because we are about to go over our miles for the month so that leaves us with walking. now you might be saying why don't you ride bikes, i don't know but my comps don't want to so we don't.

1. let's see what have I learned this week. mostly the personal relvelation is great.
2. that personal scripture study really gets the spirit into the room.
3. that there are really hard days when people really don't want to be taught but want to teach us.
4. Drunk people should be avoided.
5. when i send a letter it usually shows up about the same day as this letter and so I repeat myself.

this week and the last couple that i've been out here have been pretty slow. so to top it all off as a zone we went paintballing and it was really fun, and i'm pretty good at it.

Jethrobyn congrats on the house and i hope your move works out fine with it being during everything. hey you could even try to use thanksgiving for some helpers!

Toniben I Really enjoyed your letter and like beetle must concur that you continue to write that way, mostly because it reminds me of how you both work together and it's awesome. so I say YES!!!

Jan i hope your travels turn out to be just fine and hope that you can relax during your trip back.

Thad you should write even if it's only a couple of lines.
the same goes for all those in BKE that i know, or don't.

Mom and Dad i think my favorite scripture will be the Matthew 18 3-5 but you could take out 5 if you think that would work better.