I finally made it! On Tuesday, I left the MTC (missionary training center) at 4 in the morning, and landed in Boise, Idaho around 10 a.m.. After meeting with other missionaries and the Mission President (the guy that kinda oversees the whole mission) I got assigned to serve in Fruitland, Idaho. We drove there that evening and I've been here ever since.
Fruitland is a little town right on the border of Idaho and Oregon. We cross the border a couple times a week. In fact, we email from computers in Oregon. Everyone in Fruitland basically works at 4 different places: you either farm, you work with potatoes in some fashion, you work at the prison, or you work at the hospital. There are a few exceptions of course. A lot of people work graveyard shifts, so schedules around here are pretty difficult.
People out here are super nice and friendly, and members of the local Mormon congregations feed us every night. There are 4 wards (or congregations) in Fruitland, and my companion and I cover two of them. We have a car, so we travel around meeting with people and trying to help them in any way. That might include doing yard work, teaching them more about God and Jesus Christ, or helping them eat their food haha.
My companion's
name is Elder Bacon, and he's from Texas. Cool last name, I know. He's
been here in Idaho for 6 months, but neither of us had been to Fruitland
before. We're the first missionaries to be assigned to this specific
area, so there's lots of organizational and logistical stuff we've had
to do. I'm still getting to know him, but Elder Bacon finished college
already, so he's quite a bit older than me. He loves to dance and went
to school for applied mathematics and physics. He's got a lot more
experience than me, so it's been interesting to learn from him. I would
send pictures, but I'm still figuring out how to hook my camera up to
the computer.
I don't have tons of time today,
but I wanted to start doing something. I thought I'd end my emails each
week with a little challenge or commitment. It'll just be a little
thing, and shouldn't take much time, but I'd love to hear from people
about how their experience with the commitments go. And feel free to
share this challenge with your friends! This week, find someone who is
struggling. It could be with school, work, family, health, etc. I
challenge you to pray for them, and then find a way to go out of your
way to help them. It might be to drop off cookies or mow their lawn, or
maybe just be a listening ear. Can't wait to hear your responses!
Oh,
one more thing! I can respond to letters a lot more easily than emails,
so feel free to write! The address to send any mail to is 1370 Caldwell Blvd. Ste. 300 Nampa, Idaho 83651
(Jack only has one hour a week on the computer so he can't always respond to every email. He can however write and receive letters every day.)
Thanks for being awesome,
Elder Doyle
