It's really amazing because you
spend the whole week thinking to yourself, "wow there's so much to tell
about this week in my email on Monday!" And then Monday rolls around and
you've forgotten just about everything you wanted to share in your
email! So I apologize if my emails are lacking. This week has been
pretty fantastic though! My companion and I are finally not sick, so
we've been able to get out and do a lot of work! We've met tons of new
people and feel like we're really starting to be effective servants of
God out here. Here are a couple highlights of the week:
Friday:
All the missionaries in this area (about 80) got together to run a 5k.
Running ain't exactly my forte, and I was just getting over my
bronchitis, so a 5k wasn't my ideal way to spend the day, but it ended
up being a blast! Yes, I felt like death, and I'm still feeling it 4 days later,
but it was really nice to meet some new missionaries and get out and
exercise. I just realized I didn't get any pictures, but some of the
missionaries wore costumes for the 5k, which was quite entertaining. The
last missionary to finish the race was one wearing a huge blowup T-Rex
costume. What a champ.
Saturday:
Elder Bacon and I decided to drive way into the middle of nowhere to
meet some people that hadn't come to church in awhile. We turned into a
driveway whose mailbox had the address we were looking for and turned
in. It was a long, skinny, unpaved driveway with fences on both edges of
it. We started driving down it, and after about a half mile, we're
starting to wonder where this house would finally be. But instead of a
house, we eventually just hit a dead end. The fence came across the
driveway, and we could go no further. That would have been fine, except
there was nowhere to turn around, so we got to drive backwards up toward
the road, narrowly avoiding the fences on both sides. It was actually
pretty hilarious in the moment, and I'm sure the cows in the fields next
to us were quite entertained. If you're ever in the middle of nowhere
in Idaho, don't drive down mysterious driveways that lead to nothing.
A
new LDS temple is being built in Meridian Idaho, so that has been a
really cool opportunity for us to answer questions and tell people what a
temple is all about. When a new temple is built, it's open for the
public to take tours for the first few weeks, so we've been able to
invite people to go see what it's like. I haven't been able to go see
it, and will probably only get to go through the open house tour once,
but I hear it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm excited for people to feel that
special spirit that resides in the House of the Lord.
Weekly
Challenge: This week, use social media to brighten someone's day. Post a
positive comment or picture, and see what kind of positive response you
get. I've heard stories this past week of social media being used to
really change people's lives, so try it out, and let me know how it
goes.
Sincerely,
Elder Doyle
 |
| Sometimes Elder Bacon and I practice teaching and talking to people
as we study. When at home, we practice teaching Sprite (pronounced
SPREE-TAY). He's very receptive and loves to participate. |
 |
| Whenever we leave the house, Annie runs up and sits on my feet. It's actually pretty nice as the mornings get colder and colder. |
