Last mission post plus I'M HOME EVERYONE!

Dear family and friends,
          I apologize for not having sent a post out last week. A lot happened in the last week of the transfer and in case you haven't heard: I'M HOME!!!!!!
                          So first let's start with the second to last week of my mission: First, on Tuesday I got my "trunky letter", a.k.a. my flight itinerary.

 Second, Elder Beck and I moved out of our converted three door garage into an apartment complex 3 miles out of our area! It had a racquetball court and a gym which was nice.


Third, on Saturday Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to our mission and toured it! This was a mission-wide conference and it occurred outside of the skeleton of the new Phoenix temple.

 I took a few pictures before we sat down with some old buddies. The missionary I'm with on the top is Elder Pearson, my MTC comp.
 

The missionary in the middle is Elder Beck, my last companion on the mission.






 
And this is Elder Hernandez. Another really great missionary! 

         The mission conference was SWEET! Elder Anderson, Elder Maynes of the First Quorum of the Seventy and Bishop Causse of the presiding bishopric was there. Bishop Causse spoke a lot about Alma 5:62. He said that our purpose both as missionaries and as members is to invite everyone to be baptized. Elder Maynes spoke about being connected to our purpose. Elder Maynes also said that Joseph Smith was the first investigator of the last dispensation and how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ represent the first missionary companionship in this last dispensation. Then last, but definitely not the least, Elder Anderson spoke to us. He spoke a lot about how "faith is the power to make the unseen a reality". He spoke a lot about how faith is the power to create miracles and spoke of how faith builds us up. He also mentioned how missionary work is changing. There's no advantage toward rushing baptisms, tracting is going away and he stressed the importance of working with ward leaders. "The Atonement is learned by experience" he said, and "these spiritual experiences help to build their testimony". All in all it was a great conference.

Later on that very same evening WE HAD A BAPTISM! Patrick Alexander, the brother of Ryan Alexander who Elder Kelley and I previously baptized, was baptized October 20, 2012. We moved his baptism up by three weeks because Sister Alexander wanted me to be there for the baptism and because he was ready to be baptized. He and his family investigated the gospel for about 2 years so he did not need to be taught again. Patrick wanted me to baptize him which was AWESOME! That had to be the most rushed baptism I've ever had but I was glad to have it then right before going home. It was a great way to end the mission!

So that all happened in the second to last week of my mission. The last week of my mission consisted of me and Elder Beck feasting on numerous pizzas, brownies and ice cream, barbeque and candy. It was amazing! We attended both Trunk-or-Treats, which were very well done. The Winceks, an amazing member family in one of the wards I served in, did a phenomenal job dressing up for Halloween.

The picture's kind of blurry but you can still see who's who.Then I came home.

                   The flight to San Fransisco didn't take too long. I slept through almost the whole flight. The flight to Modesto was the shortest flight in my life! I was happy to see Molly, Aunt Carrie and Grandma and Grandpa Boothe. It was awesome seeing family! After seeing everyone I bought an orange sweatshirt and jeans. After that I had my interview with President Wasden. He gave me a lot of great advice and he talked for a while. What was even weirder was to see MY plaque on the wall. President Wasden released me and then the next day I went out on the train and made my way to Utah. I read the Princess Bride on the way there. THEN I GOT TO SEE RYAN, GARIT AND DAD! Granted it was 4 am but I was a happy man.

                  I've been living with Ryan ever since. I've bought a few more sets of clothes since then and I've  slowly yet surely been readjusting back to "civilian" life. Ryan, Garit and I hiked up to the Y yesterday. I haven't hiked that high in a while and it was tiring but I was glad I did so.

Ryan and I hiked past the Y. I couldn't help but take a few pictures.

Yes I made some goofy poses. It was fun though.

Another cool thing I've been doing is reconnecting with all my mission buddies on Facebook. I've been able to get in touch with almost everybody really quick. I'm loving it!

I should let you all know that I will continue to update this blog for a while so you can all see how I'm doing with adjusting to post-mission life. Anyway gotta go.

Love,
Grant (former Elder) Boothe 

Two More Weeks

Dear family and friends,

 

        I am pleased to report that this week was more eventful than the last. For starters we set a baptismal date with Ryan Alexander's brother Patrick for November 3rd. We also got haircuts that same day with a less active couple! The weather this week was actually quite nippy, reaching down to the 70's. In comparison to the weather in Utah that must be warm but here in Arizona you start putting on a jacket when it hits the 70's or lower. I am not looking forward to the shock that will take place once I get to Utah. 

 

        The people that we live with are moving out so that means we're moving out as well! The Andrews were planning to move in November and since the mission office wants us out of there a.s.a.p that means we'll be moving out by this Wednesday! Of course the mission office didn't inform us until this past Wednesday but whatever. We'll be moving to an apartment complex that the sister missionaries used to live in that's way outside of our area, and they're not giving us a car. I'll be fine since I only have about 1 1/2 weeks left but poor Elder Beck and whoever his new trainee is are going to have to scramble to find someone who will let them live with them. 

 

        In Gospel Principles yesterday, in one of our wards, nobody who was teaching the lesson so me and Elder Beck taught on the fly. That had to be the most awkward and the most boring lesson I've ever taught. There were like 5 people in class and only 1 of them actually responded. Oh well. 

 

         We found 3 new investigators this past week, which should make this week even better! Plus we've got General Authorities visiting us this Saturday! I'll let you all know how that went.

 

It's scary to think about how little time I have left! I love you all!

 

Elder Boothe

Three Weeks

Dear family and friends,

 

     The highlight of my week was General Conference. I loved it! I've never appreciated General Conference more than being on my mission! As one missionary put it "General Conference is like Christmas for missionaries". There seemed to be a lot of great talks given and believe me I took a lot of notes! Elder Beck and I don't live too far from the Stake Center so we were able to bike there just fine. 

 

      We also had interviews with President Taylor this week. I loved having interviews with him. He is such a kind man who is awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed interviews! The work right now is dragging by a snail's pace! It's slow over here. Elder Beck and I are trying to increase our faith. Prayers would be helpful. I'm also working on my D & C Countdown. I'm on Section 120 right now. I'm fairly confident that I can finish the D & C before going home. 

 

Love,

 

Elder Boothe 

The Morning Breaks...‏

Dear family and friends,

 

         We found 3 new investigators this week. This came about by tracting in an apartment complex. This is funny because I don't really believe in tracting because I've done it so much on my mission and haven't seen fruit come from it. One of the people we knocked into was a lady from a Catholic who, after letting us say a prayer with her, had us come back a few hours later. We shared a spirtual thought from mormonchannel.org with her and taught a little bit about prophets and set up a church tour for this upcoming week. We also started teaching a part-member family that we came across. My companion, Elder Beck, and I abolished the dinner calendar much to the dismay of the members in both of our wards. 

 

          So we had this cool experience happen a few days ago. We were out on splits with a future missionary in one of our wards when we visited a former investigator that we came across in the area book. We set up a return appointment with him since the time we met him wasn't a very good time for him. We're in the car figuring out where to go next when the man walks up to the car. Elder Beck and I thought he was going to cancel when he instead pulls out a $100 bill and gives it to us. MAN OH MAN we were so happy! We went to Culver's (it's like Dairy Queen except better) and then two days later we went to Red Robin's. It just so happened to be Justin Bieber's birthday when we went to Red Robin's so the place was packed! We had a good time though and the young future missionary we took out with us had a good time so it was a good experience in the end. I'm looking forward to General Conference this weekend! Who else is? 

 

  Well that's all for now,

 

Elder Boothe

Five More Weeks

Dear family and friends, 

      Meet my new companion: Elder Beck. He's from Seattle, Washington. He's been out for 7 1/2 months, this area is his second and I'm his third companion. He's the youngest of 5 and he's the hardest working missionary I've ever come across. Keep in mind that he's my 10th companion out in the field so that's impressive. He's definitely got a vision to get this area up and running. Because our area's dead (sigh) he doesn't have a whole lot to take over at this point. He just needs to get to know the members and he'll be good to go. 

     I forgot to mention that Elder Kelley and I ate with the richest man in Arizona last week. His name is Jerry Moyes and wouldn't you have it he's LDS! He's a really humble guy too. Everyone reading this could fit their house/apartment/whatever you have in just one of his rooms! It's beyond ridiculous. He also has an Olympic size pool with a winding staircase. Like I said, it's impressive. 

    Well Peoria's still really hot, it won't cool down until I leave. Fun stuff huh? Anyway I look forward to seeing you all again.

Love,

Elder Boothe

Me and Elder Kelley

An awesomely nerdy family in my area called the Winceks.

 Me and Elder Beck

Six More Weeks

Dear family and friends,

       This week is transfer week, and the news just came out: I'M Staying but Elder Kelley's getting transferred! We both figured that this was going to happen. Elder Kelley's been in his area for 7 1/2 months. Plus the way everything's been going my last 3 companions prior to Elder Kelley were all 1 transfer each. Apparently they can't find anyone who can put up with me for that long. Ha! Ha! Oh well. This is my very last transfer on my mission! HOLY COW! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S COMING! This is both exciting and terrifying! I wonder who my new companion will be. Anyway about this week:

 

       Ryan Alexander finally got baptized! We held his baptism on Sunday so nobody would forget and we had the room packed to full capacity. It was almost a standing room only because there were so many people there. Elder Kelley was a great companion but now he's gone. I will also be missing Elder Gerber since Elder Gerber's getting transferred as well. I really got attached to them both. That's all I have to report for the time being.

 

 I love you all so much!

 

Elder Boothe

These are the pictures of Ryan Alexander's baptism! I included one of his family. His mother was a very happy woman!

Getting Closer to the Edge...‏

Dear family and friends,

 

         This week consists of an interesting swirl of ups and downs for me. One of our investigators attended Standards night and felt the Spirit so strongly that he told Elder Kelley that he wanted to be baptized. He passed his interview yesterday so he's good to go! We also got a car since Elder Kelley's knee still hasn't healed. It's sick! It only had 500 miles when he first got it! It also has some pretty cool features to it. Elder Kelley can hook up his external hard-drive and his USB drive to it. We've been listening to some good stuff! Plus we can talk to people through the stereo (kind of like Dad's bluetooth back when he had the Acura XL). Elder Kelley's acquired so much awesome gospel related stuff on his USB and his external hard-drive that I want that I bought a USB drive (last week) and before e-mailing you all I bought a 1 terrabyte external hard-drive. IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! I figure that I'll be needing it for college after the mission so it was a worthwhile purchase.

 

          Our stake had an emergency preparedness fair this past Saturday. It went really well! Elder Kelley and I helped the Andrews, the people that we live with, set up their booth (ha ha). They primarily dealt with food storage. The booth consisted of a "food storage calculator" which is an Excel spreadsheet that Elder Kelley put together that calculates the cost of a year supply of food based on the dimensions of your family. It's pretty darn cool! It was a popular feature. Other parts included eggs coated in mineral oil. Did you know that if you did that your eggs could last a year without refrigeration? We also gave handouts for how to get a year supply of prescription medications. It is possible. It was really neat! While I was there I came across a lady that I previously worked with back when I was in North Glendale about a year ago. It was awesome catching up with her! It felt really good to see her again. I've seen quite a few people from my area in North Glendale here in this part of Peoria since it's so close that neck of the woods. 

 

        I got a lot of mail from 4th ward this week and I am extremely grateful for all the love and support. Any member of the 4th ward that may be reading this will be interested to know that yes I am coming back to Modesto and you will all be able to listen to me give my "homecoming talk" (I hope so anyway as opposed to a homecoming testimony). Thanks for the support! 

           Love,

       Elder Boothe

Interesting and Not So Interesting‏

Dear family and friends,

 

     The most interesting part of my week happened on Saturday when Elder Kelley ran into the back of a parked car. His knee broke the tail light and he crashed to the ground. He really bashed his elbow and his knee until he wasn't in any condition to ride a bike. We're probably going to get a car. We just got back from the chiropractor's and he wrote us a note telling us that Elder Kelley needs to stay off the bike. Oh well I guess this should make up for all the lost time caused by him trying to recover. Two days ago on Sunday I went on exchanges with my district leader, Elder Gerber. The reason why is because Elder Gerber's companion, Elder King, was sick so me and Gerber had companions that were out of commission so we went on exchanges. Elder Gerber and Elder King are Spanish missionaries and since their ward hadn't started yet I tagged along with Elder Gerber and went to his ward. As you all know Sunday was Fast Sunday and I felt prompted to bear my testimony in the Spanish ward. Elder Gerber came up with me because he thought I was going to need him to translate. I told him that I was going to speak what Spanish I knew without a translator. I got up there, bore it, and then sat down afterwards. All the people there said I spoke good Spanish and that they could understand me just fine. I felt really proud of myself for that. 

 

       Not much else to say other than the fact that the members are saying things like "Oh you're just about to go home". Oh my gosh I hate it when they say that.

 

Love,

 

Elder Boothe 

An Uneventful Week

Dear family and friends,

 

       One more week's been chipped off. Not too much happened. Elder Kelley went to go see two of his converts receive their endowments back-to-back so I was basically on exchanges with the Spanish missionaries: Elder Gerber and Elder King. Elder Gerber is my district leader and Elder King is Elder Gerber's trainee. It was pretty boring being in the Spanish lessons for obvious reasons but we knew that before going in and Elder Gerber and Elder King are phenomenal missionaries and they really know how to have fun and how to make things better. I enjoyed their company A LOT! We attended the baptism of a different set of missionaries in our zone and after the baptism finished we noticed some members carrying HUGE stacks of Little Caesar's pizzas. Naturally we offered to help (carry the pizzas in of course) and of course the members bugged us into eating the pizza. Not that we minded of course but before that I had to take a picture next to the pizzas. Come on, there's no way I'd pass that up! We got two pieces but I was still a happy elder. 

 

        Bytheway I hear that Austin Lee's engaged. Congrats man!

 

Love,

 

Elder Boothe  

 

The missionary to the left is Elder Gerber. The missionary in the middle is Elder King.

Commandos and Parrots

Dear family and friends,

 

      Another week passed by in Peoria and I am enjoying Elder Kelley's company A LOT! He's been a great help and support! This week may have been slow in terms of missionary work but if I were to have another slow week I would have it with him instead of some of my other companions. He works hard, he's bold, he's honest and he has some amazing ideas! I'm hoping that he could be my last companion, even though he's been in his area for 5 transfers already. He thinks he's getting transferred but I hope he doesn't. 

 

       I don't know if I've told you this or not, but the members that we live with own two annoying parrots. One of them is called Charlie and the other one is called Baby. They're stuck in their cage all day long and unless provoked into doing exercise they will stay in their cage. Neither of them fly very well. One of them hit the wall on the opposite side of the room and nearly fell into the garbage can. It was pretty funny. Unlike most birds these two are graceless fliers. They also have the most annoying squawk I've ever heard from any bird! No "Paulie want a cracker" it's just an endless barrage of squawking.If you wave one of Sister Andrew's shoes at them (the Andrews are still on vacation) they start squawking big time and for some reason they become frightened. 

 

      So Elder Kelley knows a bike mechanic in Surprise (one of his former investigators) who gives free tune-ups on bikes. We went over there on Tuesday and he (the bike mechanic Elder Kelley knew) HATED my bike! The reason why is because my bike hasn't seen a bike shop since the day of it's creation so it's been beat-up pretty bad. This guy had to do a complete over-haul on my bike. I got new tires, new brakes, a new shifter, a lubed up chain, etc. You name it he did it. He had two "smoke breaks" over my bike. According to Elder Kelley that's never happened before. Even with all the discounts that he gives to missionaries I still had to pay a lot of money. Moral of the story: Keep up the general maintenance of your bike, don't let the problem become HUGE! According to Elder Kelley this applies to cars as well. 

 

       Last week we played "Commando" for our zone activity. It's basically like Canadian dodgeball except with tennis balls and barricades. It was really fun except for the time when I got nailed in the crotch. MAN THAT HURT! Few things in life are that physically painful. 

 

         By the way one of Lindee's friends is in one of the wards I cover. Anybody know who Kelsey Warcup (her maiden name is Martinez) is? She is from Fresno and she does know Lindee. By the way Lindee Congratulations!

 

Love,

Elder Boothe

 

 

Peoria

Dear family and friends,

 

          As I mentioned in my last e-mail I have been transferred (thank heaven) from Tolleson and have moved to Peoria. My new companion is Elder Kelley! This is really cool because we already served around each other prior to being made companions! In other words we already know each other. We were both in Surprise way the heck back in the early days of our missions. I had just been transferred from Cottonwood and Elder Kelley just got into the mission field. I remember watching his trainer, Elder Beard, introducing him. Elder Kelley's only one transfer behind me so he's a very experienced missionary who knows his stuff. He's from Spokane, Washington (techincally he's from Elk but hey who knows where that's at right?) and he's a genius when it comes to cars and computers. He worked as a diesel mechanic before coming out on the mission and he sold his '68 Camaro in order to come out here. I already knew this before we were made companions but I figured that you didn't. He knows a ton of things about the gospel and I've learned a thing or two from him already! He's been in this area for about 7 months and I'm his fourth companion in this area. He figures that he's getting transferred after this. I think it's pretty logical for him to assume that. I am so grateful that he's not form Utah and I am equally as grateful that I got an experienced missionary as a companion. Since I already know him and have taught with him on companion exchanges we shouldn't be having too many problems adjusting to each other.

 

           Ok so the coolest thing happened Saturday evening! After having a delightfully busy day we had some members take us home and we saw a tricked out Ghostbusters van riding in the opposite lane from us. These guys dress up as Ghostbusters at different Comic-Cons and raise money for charity. Apparently these guys were on their way home from a Comic-Con event when they got pulled over by some cops who were flashing their sirens! We couldn't believe our eyes: The Ghostbusters got busted! We drove up to get a closer look. We were right at the parking lot where the Ghostbusters vehicle got pulled over. There was another cop car that drove around to try and head these guys off while yet another car came flying in their rear. Elder Kelley and I got as close as we could to the vehicle and the cops and not only did we take pictures but we also took videos of the thing! It turned out that the guys liscense plate expired. It was nothing big. I'm sure the cops just wanted to take a picture of the van. After the officers let these guys leave they walked over toward the car we were riding in (there were members dropping us off) and they explained the situation to us. Here's a small excerpt of what the cop said:

 

              "I'll give you two options: I either write you up or you let me take a picture of your vehicle". I'm sure you can imagine what option the Ghostbusters guys went for. Right after it happened we drove back toward the members home where our bikes were (I'm in another bike area) and the the members' daughter posted the pictures and a video on Facebook! I wonder what kind of response she got. It was pretty epic!

 

               Yesterday Elder Kelley and I gave a FHE to a somewhat less active family (not enough time to explain the situation. Maybe in the next e-mail) who's son is 18 and really wants to serve a mission. We played "Do You Love Your Neighbor" and we also played another game involving rhythm and you also had to make signs like an animal. I won the latter game and I did pretty well at "Do You Love Your Neighbor". It was really fun! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting this past Sunday. It was pretty sweet!

 

Anyway time's flying and my session's almost up.

 

LOVE YOU ALL,

 

Elder Boothe

 

 The tarantula owned by a less active Tolleson family

I hate spiders, especially huge ones. 

 Me and Sister Archuleta, one of the members that we lived with.

The Ghostbusters got busted! 

 The cool, tricked out Ghostbusters van

Big Spiders and Full Suitcases

Dear family and friends,

 

     I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED! I've only been in this area for two transfers but hey it's time for another change huh? Elder Hebert's taking over the area. I'll have at least six areas now and my new companion will be my ninth! Wow! I've been moved around a lot! I like that though. I'd get really bored being in the same area for a long period of time. I finally get transferred after setting one baptismal date. That's crazy! 

 

     Speaking of that yesterday Elder Hebert and I set a baptismal date with an investigator named Michael Leon. That kid is golden! He's a former investigator that was being taught by a previous set of missionaries and they stopped teaching him and his family because his sisters weren't interested at all and according to them these guys were trying to avoid them. Michael apprantly already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he already knew so much about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the Plan of salvation. Now I won't get to teach him. 

 

         I hope I get transferred to a good area with actual work because this area is by far my worst in terms of missionary work. Seriously, I didn't get any baptisms when I was here, that's never happened before. Oh well, At least I didn't have to be here for very long. As usual I'm wondering what my new area will be and who my new companion will be as well. This is my second to last transfer. Man I don't believe it. What happened to all that time? Speaking of time, my trainer sent me his wedding invitation. ELDER MORTIMER'S GETTING MARRIED! He's been off his mission for seven months! Holy toledo that's quick! I wonder if Elder Bell's married. Hmmmmmmm.......

 

          We came across a family that owns a tarantula. Dang that spider's huge! It's actually quite small for a tarantula but it's still huge for a spider.

 

Well I'll send you all the e-mail about my new address. Oh boy, this will be a new adventure.

 

Love,

Elder Boothe

A Better Week

Dear family and friends, 

 

        This week went by better than last week. For starters we actually had investigators at church yesterday! Elder Hebert and I jumped up and down for joy singing Hallelujah! Okay we didn't really do that but you get the point. We've had a few more appointments which is so nice to have for a change. 

 

          Yesterday Elder Hebert, Brother Stewart (our ward mission leader) and I taught the third hour lesson. We've been preparing for it all month long and during coordination we even practiced all the role-play we wanted to do. Brother Stewart's wife didn't approve and after further thought and deliberation we cut it out of our lesson. At first the audience didn't participate but after I called our Relief Society president out people seemed to be more responsive. We all thought it went well after we did it. We even set up the ward mission plan in front of everyone. 

 

         One of our ward missionaries "made a confession" and told us that he felt bad about not doing his job so we put him to work immediately. We started by giving him our dinner calendar. By the end of church he had the whole month filled out. I was a happy missionary. The stake president signed up to eat with us for the end of the month! 

 

         So this is the last week of the transfer which means that next week's e-mail will come on Tuesday rather than Monday. Holy cow! Time flies fast if you know what I mean.

 

Love,

 

Elder Boothe

Turtles, Wiccans and Dust Storms

Dear family and friends,

 

      This past week went slightly better than the previous one before it and this upcoming week looks promising. This past Thursday night we went on splits and we decided to make visits to our former investigators since we're trying new ideas on how to find people. Well we found a nice Wiccan girl and we found a family where the son said he literally wanted us to baptize him and that he'd recently spoke to his mother that morning about baptism. I thought it was awesome and we set up two return appointments with these individuals. The Wiccan girl isn't interested in "converting" but at least she wants to know more about our beliefs. I don't know how to deal with people like this because on the one hand you don't know if the Spirit will be working on them and they'll change, on the other hand they say they're not interested and as a missionary you always want to live your purpose at all times and find people who are interested. I talked it over with Elder Hebert and he thought it'd be better to work with her at the current level that she's at and give the Spirit a chance to work on her first. Besides we don't have anything better to do anyway since the number of our investigators dropped since the beginning of this transfer so what do we have to lose? We received a referral from the bishop of one of our wards for a lady who's undergoing about as many trials as Job did. I feel really bad for her but if these trials humble her and if they increase her receptivity to the gospel then at least they'll serve a purpose which in the long run will work to her advantage. We gave her a priesthood blessing and invited her to take the lessons. She accepted and we're meeting with her this Tuesday. 

 

        Two days prior to splits we met with this member named Brother Hoban, who struck me as a very interesting individual. He likes reptiles, as you can see from the pictures. He keeps horned toads, mosquito fish and he breeds turtles for the purpose of selling them. He even keeps an incubator. He showed us the turtle eggs and then explained that after the turtles hatch they have something like an ambilical cord that's attached to them and that they continue to derive nutrients from this cord for several weeks. The "ambilical cord" eventually shrinks and their bodies absorb it. Brother Hoban places the turtles in several different tanks of water after that based on how old the turtles are. He showed the mother turtle that laid all the eggs. According to Brother Hoban mama turtle "went to town" as he put it when she laid her eggs because she laid about 40 eggs within a period of several weeks. He then sells the turtles for about $20. That's not how he makes his living but it sure sounds like an interesting hobby.

 

        There was an habub (the Arabic word for dust storm) on Saturday as Elder Hebert and I rode our bikes on our way to a dinner appointment. The habub flew in our direction at a rapid pace but fortunately we were close to our dinner appointment by the time it blew over. We waited it out and ate chicken fettucine alfredo and the dust storm blew off after we ate. Dust storms always affect the weather long after they're blown. The temperature drops but they spike the humidity. After that dust storm the humidity in the air rose to about 30%, if not higher. It also rains both before and after a dust storm plus rapid moving winds always accompany habubs. So Elder Hebert and I rode in rainy, humid, windy weather on Saturday evening and we decided to ride as fast as we possibly could and when we arrived home we both felt like we jumped in a swimming pool. We were exhausted and I felt like I sweated off several gallons that day.

 

Well that's about it. Hopefully by the next e-mail we'll have several investigators with baptismal dates.

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Boothe

How Brother Hoban's horned toads deal with their prey

Multiple horned toads

Brother Hoban's 1 year old turtles

Some older turtles inside a tank full of water

This is what a habub looks like. They move really fast.

 Taken 10 minutes later inside a member's house

Sweating Buckets

Dear family and friends,

 

            When you don't have a whole lot going on in your area there's not a whole lot to say. On Tuesday the rumors that the church burned down because of arson were confirmed by the investigators (not mine since I really don't have many) and the cops and there's a $10,000 reward that goes to anyone that catches the person who did it. 

 

             The weather sure has been interesting lately. Since Elder Hebert and I were about 89 miles at the start of this week over what we should have been we decided to ride bikes all day for a couple of days and save up miles. I could have sworn I sweated off 5 pounds. I like feeling like I'm losing weight even though I don't like the feeling of being drenched in sweat. Of course these were during the hotter days of the week. Once the week progressed we were blessed with several days of rain. On Saturday it was pouring cats and dogs in the afternoon! We did not ride bikes in that weather. See that's the weird part about Arizona: You celebrate when you see a cloudy day and you groan when it's sunny. This is the exact opposite of how I would have reacted if I were in Modesto, or in Utah. The temperature's dropped but it made up with an increase in humidity. Some people complain but personally I would prefer upper 80's - mid 90's with extra humidity over 110 degrees with no humidity. That's just me though. Elder Hebert's from North Carolina and he does not like humidity so he would prefer high degrees of dry heat. Needless to say cars are awesome because they shield you from the elements. On Sunday there were a couple of dust storms that occurred in the area where I live. As we rode back from church we rode straight toward the dust storm. I thought it was pretty cool.

 

              Speaking of church Elder Hebert and I taught the EQ lesson. It was on sharing the gospel effectively of course. We got a fairly average amount of participation. They're quite a non-responsive group. On the 5th Sunday of this month we (Elder Hebert and I) along with our ward mission leader, Brother Stewart, are teaching the combined Priesthood/Relief Society lesson on whatever we want. We're trying to make this GOOD! 

 

          At least we're getting a bunch of refferals though. One of them came from one of our bishops. However, most of these people are never home. So that means we have to try again. We still need prayers for our area to improve.

 

Love,

Elder Boothe

Root Beer and Interviews

Dear family and friends,

 

           This week went by pretty slow. President Taylor pushed up interviews three weeks in advance and gave us only one day's notice. Interviews were awesome though! In honor of pioneer day coming up this month Sister Taylor had us watch 17 Miracles. MAN THAT MOVIE IS AWESOME!I love the music in it and it's also very well done. The stories of the pioneers is very inspirational to me. Their stories of courage and sacrifice bring a humbling and awe-inspiring perspective and they don't get old. I was balling at certain parts in the movie, especially when Levi Savage came home at the end and saw his kid after like 5 years I think it was. I wasn't the only one tearing up either. 17 Miracles came out last summer while I was in North Glendale, or so I've been told. I definitely have to own that movie when a certain time comes around... 

 

              We actually worked for most of the Fourth of July which surprised me because last time we had to be in all day the 4th of July. We got home by 6 pm and since we didn't have a dinner appointment the Archuleta's bought 3 Little Caesar's pizzas along with Root Beer and we celebrated. 

 

              Both of our wards meet in different buildings so getting rides is a little bit of a hassle. Elder Grasley, our district leader, came up with a few ideas to help us find people more effectively. They're pretty good ideas and we've been working on them. I could sure use some prayers right now. 

 

Love,

 

Elder Boothe

Transfers, Burned Church, New Comp

Dear family and friends,

       Right after I finished my last e-mail I received transfer news: ELDER WOOD GOT TRANSFERRED! After one transfer (6 weeks) of staying in this area I get to take it over! I didn't see that coming but I figured Elder Wood wouldn't be my last companion. He and I didn't really get along which was a bummer. My new companion is Elder Hebert. His name is pronounced "a-bear" (a as in plate). The way he explains it to people is "there's a bear over there". So far I'm one of the few people who can actually pronounce it right. Elder Hebert is from Highpoint North Carolina and he's been out for almost a year now. The funny thing is that I remember seeing him when he was a brand new missionary. I was in my third area, North Glendale, when he came in. Elder Hebert is the oldest of three boys (and his first name is Ryan which I thought was pretty cool) and he likes music. He can play the piano, the guitar and the cello. We listen to his iPod either in the car or on his iPod base which I think is uber-sweet! I'm impressed with his taste of music! We both like the same kinds of music so I think life is going to be awesome! This is Elder Hebert's fourth area already and I'm his fifth companion, he's my eighth. I was so glad to learn that he wasn't from Utah. Half of my companions came from Utah. I also realized that half of my companions have been with me for 1 transfer or less. I get the feeling that Elder Hebert's going to be my last companion.

           It's official. Our area's dead. We have no investigators. Right now we're spending all our time finding. We both have been through a brain-storming session on how to get investigators. To make matters worse the previous missionaries did a pathetic job of keeping records. They drop investigators without telling us why. We tried stopping by a former investigator last night and the person didn't live at the listed address. Instead it was a member of the church who told us that the dropped investigator legitimately had mental issues. That would've been good to know. The member told us that the bishop's specifically said that nobody should visit this person. Hooray for unkept records!

           Our ward mission leader gave us a call Friday morning asking us if we'd heard the news. We don't watch the news so naturally we don't know what's going on. He told the news: OUR CHURCH BUILDING BURNED DOWN!  

                Literally! The fire started in the chapel and two of the three bishop's offices in that building burned down. There were cops everywhere fencing everything around and there were news stations and reporters there. The roof collapsed and the insides were destroyed. There were investigators there (the first time I heard the word investigator and it didn't mean a person that the missionaries were teaching) and guys from the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms) squad were there too! There's speculation that it was a hate crime or that it was arsonry. However the investigation just started and the stake presidency asked us not to speculate. We're earning a lot of sympathy points from the neighbors around the community which is good. Our two wards yesterday met at two different buildings at the same time so me and Elder Hebert had to split off. We only did sacrament meeting in both wards. It felt strange. The burned building was mentioned in most of the testimonies borne. That building was dedicated by Spencer W. Kimball back in 1965. We received our new meeting times and both of our wards are meeting at different buildings at different times. We'll be at church from 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Basically all day at church plus since we get dinners with members you can guarantee that little work will be done on Sunday.

Well that's life from my end. I love you all very much and I am grateful for your love and support!

Love,

Elder Boothe

I tried to get a picture of the rubble. The cops fenced the building off and put tape around. They were very serious about not moving underneath that tape.

 The church building burned down. The roof collapsed and the inside's completely destroyed.

 Here's a picture of our zone. Again I am amazed at how thin I look. It's quite scary!

 Me and Elder Bartlett, the missionary I told everyone about in my last e-mail. I forgot to send this last week.

Me, Elder Bartlett and Elder Burrows all goofing around in their apartment.

Me and my MTC comp, Elder Pearson were both at transfer meeting. I recently acquired a pair of shades from one of my zone leaders who went home. Every time I look at a picture I'm shocked at how thin I look.

Isn't Elder Pearson so awesome?

Me and my new companion: Elder Hebert.