Move to Virginia!

The webmaster has been deliquent in posting so there are a number of letters this post!  The first thing you should know is that Elder Latimer has been transferred.  His new mailing list is 517 Mason Ct. Drive, #4, Pearisburg, VA 24134.  You can also e-mail him at joshua.latimer@myldsmail.net. He would love you to write him!

October 12, 2013

Hi Everyone:

I got a chance to get on the computers today for a little bit and figured I would let you know that I’m in Pembroke, Virginia now. It’s a pretty cool place. It is a really small just like my last area, but we actually have the stake center here and a ward. I’ve met the bishop and a couple other members. Down here they have a pretty thick accent, and its everyone not just every other like in West Virginia. I really like it here so far, and my companion is awesome. We get along well and have the same interests and outlook on things. My comp’s name is Elder Thueson. He is from Nampa, Idaho, which is like 20 min from Boise. He lived on a farm and worked there his whole life, played football and basketball and also tore his left ACL. He is pretty cool, and we work well together. 

Also we have 11 people on date here. One is a family of 6 who should be baptized this transfer along with a lot of other very promising investigators! So the work his is moving forward, and it will be a nice change to have people to work with! We also are teaching a family who has a 12 year old daughter who is into acting and been in a lot of commercials and has a contract with Disney I think they said.  She is flying out to shoot a movie with Ice Cube and Channing Tatum, which is pretty cool.

Anyway, that’s just the update, and I feel bad putting this in here because I always feel like I’m asking for too much, but it’s getting a little colder here and I’ve gotten 10 pounds bigger and my sweaters for over my white shirts have shrunk in the wash and are too small.  I was wondering if you could transfer some money onto my card so I could get 1 or 2 more to wear so I won’t have to wear that huge ski jacket all the time! Also a little for food? Just because I got all my food in my last area and then I got transferred and now don’t really have any. My support card has money to get me by for a little but I’m not sure how long... sorry. Also would you be able to send me my cleats from when I played at BSU the white and orange ones? The members and investigators like to play football here and with the turkey bowl coming up it would be nice to have them. Also if you can find it my black tank top with the green logo that looks like a heart rate monitor and turns into the sky line? I don’t like to work out in my t-shirts because I don’t have many so I try to save them for service and things. 

Anyways I love you guys! Tell Jake, Joe, Jonathan, and Jace I say “hi!”

I’ll make sure to take a lot more pictures because the leaves are starting to change even more! 

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer 

October 14, 2013

Hi Everyone!

The new area is great! Still a small town but bigger than Pennsboro and has a Wal-Mart! It is a relief to finally get out of Pennsboro. Some people there were great but it was hard with no support from members and no one to teach. So far the ward here is amazing and is all about missionary work and want to help in every way they can.  Having people to teach is nice! Out of the 11 on date 8 are very promising, and we are sure they will make the date of November 16th. We are excited for them. The family of 6 (Blankenships) were a member referral, but I haven’t met them yet. The other two are the daughters of a recent convert who was just baptized last week and in turn re-activated her husband!

And the area you described sounds exactly like where I’m at. The fall colors are really cool, and they aren’t even in full swing yet! I have a few pictures, but they will only get better! I’m excited to do some hikes around here, because I hear they have some really cool ones,  although the coolest one I heard is now shut down because the federal government shut down.

My comp is great – a really chill guy. He had a hard transfer last transfer with his companion, who was pretty difficult from what he tells me. So I think we will have a fun transfer. The other day we actually had to corrall some goats after a member returned from a show they did. That was interesting because I was told not to let one of them choke when it ran as I held its collar because it would pass out.  And as all the other goats walked of course this one tried to run. So in turn I tried to run with it so I wouldn’t choke it. It was an interesting ordeal.

I dont know if i need anything else sent from home other than T-Shirts would be good. Also my cleats I used when I was playing Lacrosse at BSU for when we play football here. Cotton sweaters would be good, just because I don’t want to have to spend the extra money on dry cleaning them.

That’s funny Nana got you some of your own potatoes! I would love to get some in the mail. I’m sure my Idaho companion would enjoy that too!

That’s crazy there are 100 primary kids, that’s almost as many as the ward here has active members!  Didn’t you say they were thinking about splitting out ward?

That’s too bad about your foot how long have you been going to physical therapy for it? I remember I never really liked going because it definitely wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do.

Other than that not much is going on just trying to learn the area better. Still getting settled in.

Love you Guys!

Elder Latimer

P.S

I will send you the address later in the day, we have it in the apartment but neither of us can remember what it is.

October 22, 2013

Hi Everyone!

That’s crazy you could see North Korea! Could you see houses and things or just the land? [In response to his dad flying by North Korea on his way to Japan from China]

It really is great to be in a new area! The people here have a much thicker accent than they do in West Virginia, but are still very nice! The family we are teaching is coming along well. We meet with them tonight to teach the third lesson, and we hope to get them to church this Sunday so they can make their date. Actually we might already have to move it back because our bishop here wants them to attend 3 times as opposed to 2 times, which is the mission rule. Also we are teaching a recent convert’s daughters who are 13 and 15. They both have been coming to church regularly and really love the gospel. Their mom told us the other day that they have been telling their friends about the church and inviting them to come!  I haven’t met the others yet. They have been busy and hard to get a hold of, but I’m excited to meet them.

Tomorrow we are having the ward Trunk or Treat. It’s nice having ward activities! From what we have been told, a lot of non-members show up there. We are also having a chili cook off for the adults too, and Elder Thueson and I will be the judges. I’m hoping they don’t have any that are too hot! When I was in Kentucky we had a member make some ghost pepper chili, and I couldnt taste food for like 3 days!

That’s too bad about the Huskies, even worse that they got destroyed! But they will pick it back up I’m sure.  I don’t remember if they play UCLA or not. I’m thinking they do because Stanford played them. If so, I think they can beat them, which will help with our ranking because they have been in the top 15 all year. I’m excited about the Hawks! I’m really hoping they play Denver in the Super Bowl. I have a lot of friends who are huge Bronco fans and it makes me mad, so it’ll be nice having a great match up that will end in me having bragging rights!

This year has gone fast to me too!  In the moment it feels like it’s never going to end and then you look back it seems to have gone by so fast. I guess that’s kind of like everything though. Days feel like weeks, and weeks feel like days.

We talked with Pres. Pitt the other day, and he was telling us we will have Facebook and Twitter and things like they by next year (2014), and he said within a few months we will all have our own personal iPads we take to every area we go as well as iPhones for the areas! How cool would that be?! He says they will be used for a lot of things, but one thing he told us about is that we will download the area book on the iPad and the bishop can track what we are doing and progress of investigators etc... as well as doing online teaching and more! It will be awesome! He also told a story of how a missionary in a mission where they are trying them out was able to teach his parents over Skype so they could be baptized. The same with if there is someone y'all know in another country or a friend somewhere else we could teach them over Skype! And then the missionaries in that area will also be involved, but we can start to teach people in other countries too!

It’s a pretty exciting time! I am glad I don’t have the flu yet.  I think as missionaries we might have a little extra protection from sickness :) At least i hope so! That would be terrible to have the flu out here, because I would be out a few days and then my comp would probably catch it and be out another couple days!

I bet Oliver [the family dog] will make sure to make his place on the new carpet. He just seems like he would do it to frustrate you!

And I got the orders from Macy's, thank you! I have not got my protein and things yet it must have gone to Jake.  Anyways I don’t know how to express how thankful I am!

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

November 4, 2013

Hi Everyone!

This past week has been good.  I just started driving in the area so I will begin to learn it a lot faster.

I heard about the Seahawks last night, a member called and told me they were in OT with Tampa.  I thought he was just trying to get a reaction out of me because I’d been hearing about how bad Tampa Bay was all season. It wasn’t until he texted us that they ended up winning that I believed him.  If he would have said they lost I probably would have thought he was joking. I’m glad they didn’t lose! They need to start playing better if they are going beat Denver in the Super Bowl! 

This week nothing to exciting has happened, just a lot of appointments that fell through. Although we did finally meet with the Blankenship family again and on Sunday the father and one of his daughters came, and they plan on bringing the rest of them next Sunday. Also we had to two girls we are teaching Lexi and Aliyah come. They are set on date for the 16th and we are pretty sure they will make it! But we will have to reset the date with the Blankenships because the father and daughter could make it, but we want them to be baptized as a family.

This Saturday we go to Roanoke, Va with the Southern half of the mission to have a mission conference with Elder Sitati of the Seventy. So that should be a fun, long meeting though 9am-4pm. 

Other than that we plan on hiking the Cascades today, which is a pretty well-known hike in this area of the country, I guess.  It should be pretty cool. I’ll try and take pictures.  I forgot my camera charger in Pennsboro, so my camera is about dead, but it is being sent here soon. Is there anyway y'all could find a cord so I can download pictures onto the computer from the camera so I can e-mail them too?

And I am planning on bringing up doing a turkey bowl on Thanksgiving here for a ward activity for lass actives and investigators. I was asking around and no one around here in West Virginia or Virginia done know what the turkey bowl is. They even said no one plays football on Thursday morning! I thought that was crazy so I want to try and organizing something.

Other than that nothing else is really going on, just the same old routine. I cant think of any good stories now, but I’m sure I’ll remember some soon and have to write them down to send!

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

November 11, 2013

Hi Everyone!

I’m doing well – just getting things taken care of and trying to keep busy in the area. I enjoyed that story.  Luckily, I haven’t served with a missionary like that. I don’t do well when people cry. I just don’t know what to do, so I usually will just go somewhere else until they are done.

Yesterday, the family we are teaching didn’t come to church. Matt had to work and so Yana didn’t feel comfortable going. But we did have a great lesson with them Saturday night! They had a lot of questions, and we resolved a lot of their concerns. They are an awesome family, but because they didn’t come to church we will have to reset their date. The girls [other investigators] are doing well, although we will have to reset their date also because they said they got nervous and didn’t feel like they know enough yet. They say they want to but only after they learn everything. So we are going to talk with them Wednesday night and hopefully get everything in order.

In our ward I think the relife society is out to get us. I guess Elder Thueson missed a dinner because he was in a three-some in another area after his comp left for Brazil and forgot. Since then they have been getting mad at us.  They don’t sign up and then call us mad because we didn’t show up!  When we check the calendar there is nothing there! Our bishop is having a few challenges too.  The visiting teaching routes got changed and I think there might be some sort of a mutiny forming. The Bishop always tells us. "Elders, some advice.... Never, I mean NEVER, get a group of women angry. That’s how World War II started." It was pretty funny so we are dealing with that too.

The meeting with Elder Sitati was LONG! It was from 9-4 and President Pitt spoke for 15 minutes or so, and Elder Sitati spoke the rest of the time. It was hard to understand him because of his accent and he was kind of quiet. He just taught about finding answers in the scriptures, but it was crowded and hot.

I’m glad the dawgs and hawks are doing so well! It’s bitter sweet being out here, but the good news is we have a member who has taken upon himself as his own calling as college football updater. So he will randomly let us know about scores! People here are pretty excited about Virginia Tech beating Miami. I hope the hawks play Denver in the Superbowl.  That would be one heck of a game!

Other than that, there is nothing too new, except we went to a house that was like caved in on one side and figured no one lived there (up in the middle of nowhere on some hill). We knocked anyway, and a lady answered the door and invited us in. We asked if we should take our shoes off and she said, "if you would like to" and then we looked down and the entire house floor was dirt! So we kept out shoes on.  As we walked over to another room, her mother, who I assume who is in her 80s probably, was in the kitchen and guess what she was doing? She was sweeping the dirt floor! I wanted to ask so bad, “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SWEEPING!” Anyway I thought that was funny. They are a different breed of people out here.

For Christmas, I was thinking when I get home I plan on getting my concealed weapons permit and buying myself a 9mm. So if y’all would be ok with it, you don’t need to send me anything this year to save for next Christmas where I can do the concealed class and get a 9mm or something of the sort? I mean you never know.  I’ve heard of multiple shootings lately, and they seem to happen more and more. Just imagine if someone there was armed. They could have saved lives and their own!

Anyway that all I have for the week!

Love you!

Elder Latimer

September Letters - Leaves are Changing!

Finally got around to posting the last several letters.  Elder Latimer may be transferred tomorrow (we don't know yet), but you can always reach him by e-mail at joshua.latimer@myldsmail.net!  Please write him, he would love to hear from you! -- eds.

September 16, 2013

Hi All!

I’m doing well here. Jay is coming along.  He is still planning on getting married so he and possibly his family can be baptized, but I don’t know if he talked to his fiancé yet. We will see though! We are still teaching Jordan and Dakota. With Dakota, because of behavioral problems, we are working a lot closer with his parents to make sure he is ready and not telling us he is ready when he isn’t. Then with Jordan we have just been fellowshipping with his mom to get on her good side. She is an awesome person, but she just doesn’t want her son to make a mistake. So we have been going to all his football games and catch rides with Ryan [his brother] and his mom to go to the away games. It’s a lot of fun.  It’s nice because Ryan is a big football buff too. We sit there and talk game strategies and have even begun kind of sideline coaching. Every once in a while the coaches come to the stand and talk to Ryan and I and ask us what we are seeing and what we think would work. It’s pretty cool. That’s something I want to kind of get into after the mission. I would love to coach a high school team! And of course a D1 team but that’s just a little harder to do!

That’s crazy the weather got that warm this time of year! It doesn’t even get there here in the summer! Over here it’s been getting a lot nicer. Fall is here. It’s been mid 70's the last week or two so it’s been nice. The leaves are beginning to change. I’m really excited for that. I’ll make sure to take pictures for you! 

Also at church yesterday we had a member’s less active son come with his non-member wife.  She is getting him back into church and really interested in the church. We taught her the restoration and after she told us how much she loved it. She felt most churches try to push everything on you, and while we were teaching she just felt really peaceful! That was a really cool experience so hopefully we can help her work to baptism!

That’s cool Jake is back at school. I bet the girls will keeping encouraging him as he prepares for his mission. From what I hear from missionaries out here is that they call BYU-I BYU- “I Do.”  They say all the girls are there for is to find a return missionary. They just go to school until they find them then that’s it, I guess. I’m not sure I would want to go there when I get back, but I don’t know. I just enjoyed Boise State too much! Plus lacrosse!

Sounds like I get my pain tolerance from you mom! You had bad asthma and felt like you had broken ribs and you had no idea! That’s crazy, glad you are feeling better!

We don’t have a “day of service” here.... At least not that I have heard of. But people see us a lot of the time as free manual labor so we get our fair share in! Like tonight we are helping unload a couple hundred bails of hay. It’ll be a good workout as well as our 3 1/2 hour workout this P-day morning!

Speaking on working out we, did chest today, and I decided to find my max. I’m at about 190-200 right now, so im getting there. I’m up to around 155 lbs in body weight or so! I’m pretty excited. I’m sure I told you, I want to get to at least 180 and get my 40 time back up from when I hurt my knee. Then maybe walk on -- even practice squad when i get back! That would be a dream come true. But that’s quite a bit of muscle to put on.  210 would be nice :) But even if that were to be possible for me, I’d need to be home to get that big, not enough time or weight on the mission.

That’s so funny about Jace! He is a witty one! The best part is he was probably serious when he said it huh? That’s awesome. I’ll have fun talking with him and Jonathan about football that would be cool. I just wish they could stick with it! I would love to kind of coach them.  That would be fun.

I’m more than excited about the Seahawks and the Dawgs!!!! Even on my mission just like back home knowing they won makes me happy. So I’m more than excited!!

That’s about it. I may have forgot something but I’ll send it next week!

Love you!

Elder Latimer

September 23, 2013

Hi Everyone

It’s definitely becoming fall here in West Virginia too! The leaves are starting to change. The majority of the trees are still green, but now I can tell some of the color differences between them. I really excited for when everything is red orange and yellow! It’s nice because it’s beginning to cool down. Highs are in the mid 70's and the nights low 50's. It’s perfect!  And I guess this summer was abnormally cool and from what people tell me there was A TON on more rain than normal. So I’m not too excited to experience a normal summer. Because of all the rain, they say it will be a pretty bad winter this year, which I’m not too worried about because I like severe weather, especially as a missionary it’s a nice change of pace!

I really hope Jace stays with football! If not, oh well. That’s funny he still does that cry. I remember I was always in between laughing at it and getting mad because it got so annoying!

That’s good Jake is doing well at school.  It’s funny he is the same place as Jamie. I would always give him a hard time about her. I don’t know why, but that’s just who it was. He is lucky he has a lot of cute girls im his ward. Both of my areas have had no cute girls. I guess that’s a blessing while I’m out here.

That’s sad about Bishop Eden's mom. I’ve met a lot of people out here and back in Boise who have had parents pass away. I’m glad I still have you guys!

It’s cool Ryan, Ben and Jeff all got jobs! And jobs they wanted! I’ve been writing Alex, and he was telling me about how he is wanting to move out of state. Not sure why, but I’m guessing to start new? At least he is looking at trade school though. Next time you see Alex and Jim tell them I said “Hi!”

This week not too much happened. We did finally get a washer and Dryer. Both came without any hook ups so we had to buy them. The washer took us an hour to set up because one of the water hoses was cracked, and so we had to return it and get a new one -- wasting those precious miles! Then the dryer needed a bigger outlet and some 220 wire, so we went and bought the outlet and after cutting the power and taking off the outlet cover, we found out that we need to run a 220 wire all the way to the fuse box. So unless we can find an electrician we will still have to dry at the Laundromat, although it does save us a lot of money.

Other than that Jay is still working on getting married and hopefully his fiancé agrees with him. Dakota is hard to get a hold of like always, but we plan to visit him this week and hopefully he is ready. Jordan is still working with his mom, so he can be baptized as well. We are also teaching less active member’s wife. She is a great person who I think will get to the waters of baptism, but I probably won’t be here just because I will probably leave this transfer which is the first week in October but you never know! 

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

September 30, 2013

Dear All:

I’m glad to hear about the Huskies and Hawks! Sounds like they are both looking really good! That's crazy the Seahawks played so badly, but I’m sure that game was fun to watch with the comeback.  Of course, it was Richard Sherman who had the pick-6! I think he is one of my new favorite players.  He is so mouthy it’s ridiculous. He has gotten into arguments with guys like Darrel Revis (Revis Island) about how much better he is. I don't know what it is, but he is so cocky it’s fun to watch him do well and shut up the people who don't like it!

Good thing the Huskies play Oregon at home. I’m sure we will need that home field advantage to help us out. I really hope they beat Stanford. That would be huge!

The area is doing well. Our main problem is getting parents to be ok with our investigators being baptized, and to get Jay to get married. It’s frustrating working with these people for so long and not seeing a lot of progression. But we do have a few that are doing well, like the less-active member’s wife. So this past week or two we have been working with all of them as opposed to finding because we are trying to get them ready and push them while I am here, before they get another brand new missionary in the area who they might be a little more hesitant about. Transfers are next week. I’m really hoping I’m going to leave. The area is good, but there just isn't much work to do.  It is a tough area, and I’ve been here long enough!

The last P-day we had a huge touch football game together with Ryan [and investigator] and his friends. We probably had close to 20 people, and the best part was it was competitive. It was a lot of fun being able to play again! I don't know if it’s been my [weight] lifting but I feel faster, like a lot faster, which is nice knowing my knee isn't bothering me. It was nice to play football at around 150-155 lbs, as opposed to high school when I was like 115-120. There’s a big difference.

The electrical [home improvement] stuff I’ve learned out here.  I’ve learned quite a bit about that kind of fix it stuff because everyone here is pretty self-reliant and fix all their own stuff.  It’s probably because most can’t afford to have it done professionally so they learn to do it themselves. As they do it they like to explain how they do it and all that good stuff, so I feel like I’m getting some good skills out here!

We aren’t sure about where we’ll go for general conference. Maybe a member’s house would be the best so we don't waste over 400 miles going to Clarksburg twice -- even though the closest member is like 20 miles away. We will see what happens.  I’m excited for it especially after being in this tiny branch forever. I get to hear people who are exciting speakers and know what they are talking about speak. Yesterday someone gave a 45 minute talk on translated beings.... and I’m pretty sure the majority of it was false, but I’m not sure as I haven't ever really studied it.  One Sunday we gave a Sunday school lesson to the branch on the Word of Wisdom, and they got off on the tangent of eating in moderation. Someone asked whether we were supposed to give fat people temple recommends because it is obvious they don’t eat in moderation? We didn't want to make that call.   The next week we had someone from stake leadership join us and he was asked about it and said he wasn’t really sure either.  Strange.

I’ll be sure to send my photo card.  I have a few pictures with people we are teaching and things, but I will have to get more. I will send it out soon. Not too many pictures of the leaves yet. They are starting to change and it’s really cool!  But they aren’t even close to where they will be so I’ll have more coming later!

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

October 8, 2013

Dear Everyone:

This week has been a lot of me training Elder Shaffer on the area. I haven’t been officially notified that I’m being transferred, but we do know one, or maybe both of us are leaving. We find out who and where tonight.  So I am still in Pennsboro and our P-day is Wednesday this week, but we are sending e-mails on Tuesday because the library isn’t open tomorrow for some reason.

We are still working with the same people mainly. The biggest problem is that Jordan and Dakota both want to be baptized but their parents are holding them back. Other than that the week has been full of me helping Elder Shaffer get to know the area better because I’m guessing I’m leaving after being here for so long but you never know!

Sadly, not much else is going on, just trying to do our best to help the investigators we have progress.

I haven’t seen conference yet. We didn’t have it streamed out here, and no members were able to have us over to watch it. So we plan this week to be at the library and watch all the sessions throughout the week. I’m really excited to listen to what was said.

As I mentioned, we have been working out.  We wake up at 5 a.m., so we have plenty of time to work out and still get all our study and prep time in. That’s too bad about the Huskies and Seahawks. It’s even more frustrating that it was so close and knowing that we had a chance to win. But it is good to know that we can play close with teams that are that good! Hopefully the Dawgs can beat Oregon because they play them at home. How great would that be?!

I am doing well and enjoying the mission. The leaves are still changing and will continue to until around the end of October. I’ll make sure to keep taking pictures!

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

New Companion and Avoiding the Cheerleaders!

September 2, 2013

Hi Everyone!

I am having so much fun with Elder Shaffer! [Josh’s missionary training center companion] We are both exactly alike, so it’s a good time! I’m assuming I will leave this next transfer, but who knows!? I’m sure we will get Dakota to be baptized this transfer and hopefully we’ll get to talk to Jordan’s mom to help him to get there too as well as Jay and his fiancé and kid!

I’m more that excited to hear about UW!!! [beating Boise State in football] That’s so sweet! I’m a Boise state fan, but I still have to go with UW over them. I mean I’ve been a UW fan my whole life and a BSU fan for like 3 years. I really hope they can keep it up and as long as they destroy Oregon and especially WSU, I will be more than happy! It’s gonna be hard missing this season with how the Dawgs look and hearing about how good the Hawks are. I guess it’s just a blessing in disguise! 

Thank you for getting the ties ready and the talk also! [Josh had requested we send him more ties and some talks by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland] That will be awesome! Other than that, nothing too much new is happening here. I have just been taking Elder Shaffer around and getting him used to the area. We did workout on P-day for about 3 hours, and then play basketball for another 3 hours. This game was great! We got to use an indoor full sized gym. It was 5 on 5 for 3 hours straight. I never sat out and I’m glad I didn’t because that meant I was good enough to be chosen each game! These guys were actually competitive and good – not like the guys I usually play with. We met them playing in a different town, so it was a lot of fun! Now Elder Shaffer and I both walk funny because we are so sore! I’m slowly continuing to gain weight! We have a ton of weights now! Elder Shaffer is big into it too, and he brought a bench curl bar and about 175 pounds in plate weights. I went and got a straight bar for squats and bench. So we are having a good time here! This week we are starting back in full teaching mode now that Elder Shaffer knows the area. 

Sorry this e-mail isn’t as long but not much has happened. Transfers week is usually pretty boring.

Love you!

Elder Latimer

September 9, 2013

Hi Everyone:

We just had Stake Conference here yesterday too! It was great.  We had President Pitt and his wife speak along with the Washington DC temple President, who gave and amazing one-hour long talk on the temple, and how it prepares us for eternity and the hereafter, and how important and sacred it is. It was pretty amazing. I just wish they would have given President Pitt more time to speak.  He is so smart and spiritual its mind blowing. But other than that we had a good time. Tell Joe I say “happy birthday!” and that he should get all his craziness out now before he can be tried as an adult.:p Just kidding. But that’s crazy he is almost 18!  It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long!

I wish I was able to hear Elder Nash speak again.  That’s pretty cool he gets to do those kind of things now.  Hopefully he speaks in October!

Elder Shaffer is great. We have a lot of fun together (and get plenty of work done at the same time!). Our big thing has been waking up at 5 am and lifting until around 7:00 a.m.  Then we shower and study. I’m excited that I’m making some good progress. Still upwards of 150 lbs, but I’m hoping to be around 180 when I return... I don’t know if I have the kind of time/resources to do so out here.

Jordan, Jay and Dakota are doing well. They couldn’t come to church yesterday because it was in Clarksbur, which is a hour or so away. But it’s understandable. We have been going with Ryan and his friends on Friday nights to watch Jordan’s football games. It’s pretty cool experiencing the atmosphere at these small town games. Although we do need to start being careful. We found out last Friday that the cheerleaders know who we are... and we went to the rest room at half time and came out to 7 or so of them waiting. We talked for a while to be polite, but it seems if we aren’t careful it might become a problem. Good thing the next 2 games are away, so it’ll have time to die down hopefully. Even when we went to proselyte at the county fair that was happening. They spotted us and walked around with us for a while. So we decided to leave a little early before anything could go too far.

Along with that our neighbor is still crazy. She has been coming over at least 4 times a day and won’t leave us alone. She knows when we are up and when we are home. I’m sure she sits and waits for our car to pull in or lights to turn on. The other day she came over at 7 AM! It’s rediculous. The problem is if we don’t answer the door or refuse to talk or to try and get her to leave she freaks and starts crying and threatening to run away and even once she threatened to hang herself... so we have to go along with her because we are never sure if something would happen. It’s a chore to do it.

I can’t believe I’m missing this [football] season it sounds so sweet, except for the fact that WSU beat USC.  Even though I hate both teams, I hate WSU more... Oh well, it’ll make it even better when we whoop ‘em this year. Also Ryan [an investigator] told me UW got new like chrome helmets? I heard they were pretty awesome! I’m glad the hawks won.  Even though it was not by a lot a W is a W in the NFL, so that’s good. I keep hearing so much about it and it kills me to not be able to see it!

Thank you for everything you send me and help me out with! I don’t think you know how much I appreciate it. I did get the talks by Elder Holland. They are perfect. I’m excited to start showing them to people. Elder Holland can tell people better than I ever could! It will sure get people thinking.

Everything is good here. The work is still progressing, and now I’m having a blast doing it! I can’t believe it’s been 9 months already. Sure doesn’t feel like it!

Love you guys!

That’s good Jake is heading back to school where he’ll be around some good people.  I’m excited to see where he is called to!

The Work Continues . . . Staying In Pennsboro (for now) - August Update

August 5, 2013

Hi Everyone!

Thank you! I have gotten one package which I’m assuming is some kind of shoe, because it’s in that Zappos box like my boots were. I haven’t gotten the others yet. They will probably be here today then! I’m excited! Believe it or not I haven’t opened them yet! [Josh’s birthday was August 6^th, so he is referring to his birthday packages – eds.]

My interview with President Pitt didn’t happen. During our district meeting he was making calls to Salt Lake somewhere in the building when all of a sudden Sister Pitt leans over, passes out and hits her head really hard on the floor.  Her eyes were wide open, but she was not moving and was unresponsive for 5 min or so. It was really scary. We had no idea what to do. She didn’t respond to anything as we tried to talk to her and the Zone Leader's ran to get President Pitt. He is a bigger man, and I’ve never seen him move as fast and as smoothly as he did. But he got on his hands and knees over her and right as he put his hand on her head she came back to herself and was able to start talking again. I don’t know if it was a coincidence of if President Pitt had some kind of blessing going through his head, but it was a cool but really scary experience. She ended up going to the hospital and ended up being ok. They didn’t let her sleep because they thought she would have a concussion from hitting the ground. But after all of that he postponed interviews until this week, so I will meet with him on Friday.

I am still with Elder Price. Apparently Argentina visas take a long time.  There are a few in our district waiting, and they have been out 3-4 transfers. Dakota, Ryan, Kelly and Jordan came back to church Sunday and loved it. What’s cool is Kelly’s mom is kind of not sure about having her daughter go to an LDS church, but Kelly still really wants to go and that’s good. We had a lesson with Ryan that night about the plan of salvation and things, and we have set him on date for August 27^th.  We talked with him about a lot and he really opens up, telling us about how he and his girlfriend (Kelly) have dated for 3 years and are planning on getting married, but they aren’t sure when.  But he also brought up they are waiting until marriage too so the law of chastity won’t be too much of a problem. He says he loves being with us and Kelly does too.  They just feel peace I guess, and that’s something they have been looking for. So hopefully Kelly will follow Ryan. He also told us about the day we found him he was praying for someone to help him relax and things.  It was a longer story that I can’t remember to well, but it was really cool. We hope to talk to his mother soon as well, and hopefully their family will join along with friends after seeing there example. Pretty cool experiences

Jay still hasn’t been to church.  I don’t think he quite understands the importance of it, but we will continue to work with him.

That’s exciting about the LDS Encampment! I bet you [Dad] are finally glad for it to be over! That would be something really cool to see. It’s good that Jace has enjoyed football.  I dont think anyone really enjoys the running though, except for maybe Jonathan

I still don’t have an e-mail from Jake. I don’t know what’s wrong with this e-mail. Oh well, Ill keep trying, but that’s exciting he is working on his mission papers!

I remember you telling me about when you guy watched Monday Night Football when I was born. I wish I knew who was playing! I guess it can always be looked up! I enjoy telling that to people. Ifeel pretty proud about it!

And that’s great about Aunt Teri! Tell her I love her! How are all the cousins doing? I wish I had a temple in my mission. The closest one is either Columbus, Ohio or Louisville, Kentucky, or DC depending on what area we are in, so we have them everywhere around us but none in the mission.

And $168 Million [referring to the cost of the new University of Oregon football facility]!?! Are you kidding! I hate Oregon so much, but at the time it still gives me butterflies imagining what it would be like to play for a program like that. I mean those guys are 19-24 or so and they are like Gods and have the nicest equipment in the nation. I really hope they still go downhill though. I bet Phil [Knight] did it just because Chip Kelley left and knew they would need all the recruits they can get and this will definitely help them. They are starting to run their program almost like the MLB. The team with the most money is the better team because they can buy players. Oregon “buys" players not by paying them (even though they probably do), but they buy the best of everything so players want to play there for the gear. It makes me kinda mad, mostly because I hate Oregon.  I wouldn’t be complaining if UW did it but that’s because I’m biased. Oh well, this will be a hard fall for sure being my first full season away since like forever. Oh well, it will be that much better when I get back!

Anyways, iI love you guys! Thank you for everything!

Elder Latimer

August 12, 2013

Hi Everyone!

I’ll be sure to check at the post office [regarding his missing birthday package – eds.] after I’m done with e-mails! Thank you.  I’m sure it’ll be there.

I wish I could be at the lake this week! I did take for granted the opportunity I had to swim and do those kind of things, especially with how hot it is here.  When I see a pool or a river or something of that nature all I want to do is go jump in and hang out for a bit. Oh well, I guess it will be just that much better when I get back!  That doesn’t surprise me about Jace [going paddle boarding on the lake]. He doesn’t seem scared of anything really, and that’s cool he made a friend up there, especially one who is a lot older!

I wish I could have gone with Jonathan [to Wyoming to play with a friend – eds.]! They have all those things out here... but as you know we aren’t allowed to do any of those things. Although we get invited to all the time. It kills! That’s cool about Encampment! I bet it’s nice to have it over finally though. I have heard Chad Lewis is a great speaker and the liaison for the NFL to China. My companion said he had him speak to them in the MTC and when he was asked to translate a game for the Chinese, he accepted but forgot he only knew mission Chinese -- not football Chinese. So he testified that Tom Brady was throwing true passes!

That’s too bad about the Edens! I guess I’ll just have to tell the mission office to give me a layover in Colorado on my way home and then he can stop by the airport while I’m there!

I did get an e-mail from Jake today so that’s good. i just have to write a whole new e-mail so he can receive it.

It’s going good here! On Friday we spent the whole day helping out at a wedding, and I’ll be the first to tell you I’m never going to one of those again. It was so boring! I think you might be happy with this. When I get married it will be as simple as can be. I think you guys already know I don’t care for any of that extra stuff. There was an exciting part... kind of, I guess. When they got married they poured this colored sand into a glass thing. I have no idea what for but they did right before they were married by the preacher... but after the bride’s sister was carrying it in and right in front of everyone in the middle of the room, she dropped it.  It shattered and sand was everywhere! So that was a nice change of pace. That whole cutting cake together and helping each other take a drink and stuff – not happening – that was the corniest thing I’ve ever seen! Anyway other than that it’s been pretty good here

Dakota is still on date for the 17th but we may have to move it back because of his tea drinking, but we will see. We set Ryan and his brother, Jordan, on date for the 24th! So that’s pretty exciting. They can help push each other to get there. We hope to get their mom involved as well. Last night we taught Jordan the Plan of Salvation. He told us he was so happy just hearing it and seeing it (we drew it out for him), and he feels like he understands it perfectly like he has learned it before. When we told him that he did, in the pre-existence, he just lit up! And it brought him to tears (a 16 year old boy keep in mind)! It was a really cool experience. He said he is hanging it up on his wall! 

The night before he and Ryan got in a big fight, which involved punches being thrown and Ryan got kicked out, which is crazy because he is the nicest guy in the world, and always tells us how bad he feels whenever he has a bad thought. After things cooled down we talked with him and Jordan separately. Ryan told us how he feels sick to his stomach just thinking about what he did, and how he has never done that before. Jordan was just crushed because he doesn’t have a father in his life, and Ryan is his role model and the person he looks up to the most. After our lesson with Jordan we had him pray. He prayed that Ryan and him would work things out and for him to know he forgives him, and talked a lot about how much he loves him and things. Later that night we got a text from Ryan telling us how he sent a huge apology text to Jordan and everything is all right now. We hope that brings them even closer together than they already are.

Other than that not much else is going on, just working with those 3 mainly and playing basketball, continuing to find people to teach.

I had my interview with Pres Pitt. It went really well. He was just so excited to talk about the work happening in Pennsboro and wondering how we are doing it. He was just so excited to talk about it and told me how in his time being mission president, Pennsboro has never gotten anyone to church, and we have been getting 4 consistently now! It sounds as if I may stay another transfer here and before I would not want to, but now I do want to stay because the work is progressing, and I have made some really good friends here in Ryan and Jordan. 

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

August 19, 2013

Hi Everyone!

Dakota’s baptism date was moved back to the same time as Jordan’s. Ryan left to go to school in Parkersburg and said he wasn’t ready and was not sure if he could keep those covenants he would have to make.  We like to hear that because he takes it seriously. But Jordan and Dakota both should make their date for the 24th! It just depends on getting their parents to sign consent and to make sure they are both off of work so they can be there. Jordan and Dakota are both really excited!  The mom isn’t taking the lessons yet but we have talked to her a little bit, and she is really nice and likes us to come over. We think that after Jordan gets baptized that it may spark her into investigating. So that will be good!

The ring [Josh’s lacrosse state championship ring] fits on my index finger, but not my ring finger. I think that will be fine cause it still works, and I don’t know when I will have time to stop by a jeweler.

That’s cool about Jordan [Murray], I think from what my companion says Brazil visas come a little faster than others. [Jordan was called to serve a mission in Brazil] My companion says his usually takes around 3-4 transfers in the field to get it. So I bet Jordan will get his pretty soon. William [Lange] sent me an e-mail today, so that was cool seeing how he is doing.

That’s good Jace is enjoying football! We just went to Jordan’s high school scrimmage Saturday to watch him play with Ryan and Kelly. It was really hard watching high school football again because all I wanted to do was play! Especially with them being a 2A school, and when I played we were a 4A, I think. So the competition they were up against seemed like middle school kids. I would have loves to play against them! Oh well, maybe I can play again if I can find enough weights to put on another 25 pounds out here and take a 2 or 3 tenths of a second off my 40 time. I don’t think that will happen out here, not enough time/resources.  Oh, and I’m out of protein again . . . could you send me some more please :) If you could some pre- workout formulations? That’s one of the few ways I can get up to work out in the AM. Well at least work out hard so I don’t have to do it at night! I’m still at about 150-153 now.  It changes depending on how much water I drink because of the creatine, but I’m at least maintaining!

It will be bitter sweet this season with the Hawks – being so good and supposed to win the superbowl this year and I’ll miss it! Oh well, I guess it’s a blessing in disguise. I’m going to have to have you buy me a newspaper too if they win! Can you get your Seahawks CFO friend to get me some signatures please!? :)

And that’s funny about the wedding. I’m not surprised at all though! I would debate going just for the interesting experience! I’ve talked with some companions out here when we see people do things that are so weird! We always want to know peoples thought processes to see how they got to the decision that what they did/said was ok. I think that would be pretty funny to see that!

Oh and I was wondering if you could possibly make some copies of Elder Holland talks on some DVD's so that I can use them to show investigators. Sometimes those talks can do a lot more than we can. Just whenever you can find time. I don’t need them anytime soon. The ones I would want are 

"Safety for the soul"

"My words... Never Cease"

"The only true God and Jesus Christ Whom he hath sent"

"Lord I Believe"

Anyway, other than that I’m doing good, and it’s a toss-up whether Elder Price or I leave. I’m not sure what I want to happen, but either way I’ll be happy with. President Pitt made it kind of sound like I would stay another, but he never is for sure until the day before transfers. So we will see I will know if I leave in about a week or if I stay, so I’ll let you know!

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer

August 28, 2013

Hi All!

Well I found out last night that I am staying here in Pennsboro another transfer, which I’m not too sad about. I’ve come to love it here. Especially the people and great friends I have made! Even better news is I am going to be serving with Elder Shaffer, who was my companion in the MTC.  We got along really well.  We are extremely similar, and he loves basketball, which may be one reason President Pitt decided to have him come here. Also I heard that he has gotten big into lifting since he has been out here and has over 100 pounds in weights and a couple bars and a pushup assist that adds 180 pounds to your push up! Not to mention he will have plenty of protien and pre-workout as well! I plan on being close to 160 after this transfer if my body lets me get there naturally! It will be an awesome transfer! And I get to continue working with those we have that are so close to baptism! I think we could have 4 or 5 this transfer is the Lord wills it!

Sadly the baptisms did not go through. It was interesting how it happened though. We had both of them interviewed and they both passed and were extremely excited last Wednesday. Dakota and Jordan both need parental permission because they are under 18. (16 and 17) and with Dakota we could just never get in contact with his mom who is always so busy with work. She is the one who is an inactive member, but all for him being baptized. His step dad is a Baptist so obviously against it. Although since she is his biological mother we only need her signature, but we were not able to meet with her in time. So we hope to visit with her this week or next to get the baptism ready. 

Jordan was the weird one, I guess. We had his interview last Wednesday and our District Leader said he was more than excited during the interview and he had been studying all day for it. He passed, and we got his mother (who is a single mother) to sign the baptismal record. She had known all along that he was taking lessons and planning on being baptized. After we made sure to answer any questions she had (which she had none) we went back to the apartment. About 5 min later we got a text from Jordan telling us his mom doesn’t want him to be baptized anymore because she doesn’t think he is ready. I think Jordan was more frustrated that we were. He is still a little bitter about it.  He was so excited! So we hope to talk with his mother some time and to help her understand this is a good thing and he is ready.

Other than that things are still going good. Jay (the African man) we are teaching came to church with his son, Marlon, on Sunday, and he loved it! He told us that his fiancé had a lot of worries about the church, and said he is going to bring her and she will have all her problems resolved just by coming! Also, since he and his fiancé are obviously not married and live in the same house, he can’t be baptized until they get married or move out. So after Sunday school we talked to him about marriage and how it is important and its something he needs to do before he can get baptized. We knew he was short on money and told him that our branch president can do the wedding for free. And they he can begin to tell his family their wedding will be in one year when they get sealed in the temple. We showed him some pictures of the DC temple and told him how he can be married for time and all eternity there... and for free!! He seemed pretty excited about that and began to ask us questions on what all he has to do to get married! Of course, I had no clue so he went and sat down with President Schweinbraten, and they talked about it. I think they may make that commitment, talk about acting on your faith!

One of my favorite families here has been the Colkets. They are a great family who have a huge property on the top of a hill to themselves! Steve Colket, who is the father, is so COOL! He is an 8th degree black belt in just about everything I swear. He has a dojo in Harrisville where he teaches 5 or more kinds of different martial arts, and he is an avid hunter. And by avid I mean he has a whole cabin built full of stuffed animals from turkeys - deer- bear- buffalo.  He has just about every kind of animal you can hunt there. It’s like the ultimate man cave complete with a fridge, microwave, A/C unit 70" plasma that always has the hunting channel playing, and over 15 rifles and pistols! Diana, his wife, is an amazing person and very strong in the gospel and a hard worker. It’s always amazing how she can stay so active and have a testimony like she does. But anyway, they are an awesome family and Steve has told me when I’m off my mission I have to call him to have him take me on a hunting trip as well as to get my concealed weapons permit!

And that’s cool its Bishop McArthur now! I can totally see him being the bishop. I’m surprised it took this long! 

Thank you for getting the Elder Holland talks ready. That will be awesome! I can actually put music on from the library. The computers have itunes on them and other missionaries always have CD's, so I put their music on my iPod as i go. But thanks though!

I’m way to excited about the football season. Too bad I’ll miss it! Its bittersweet the seahawks are doing so well! I want them to win the superbowl but not while I’m out here! Oh well, it’s better than them going winless I guess! Will you save the Huskies ticket for that first game in the new stadium? I would love to keep that! The only problem with a UW vs. BSU game is I don”t know who I want to win! It’s a lose-lose situation, or a win-win I guess. Oh well, I’m sure it will be a fun game!

Anyways things out here are going good! Could you possibly send me the other half of the ties I got before my mission? 

Love you guys!

Elder Latimer