Week 101 - Olympiads! (10/1/2018)

So this week has been a bombtastic week!! We've had tons of opportunities to share the Gospel with others it's been awesome!! So last week, we had a really fun District Activity and we even had the Assistants come down and play some ball with us. That was pretty cool. After our activity we came back and I got news about my departure and my departing interview and my interview was scheduled for the next day and I didn't quite have everything finished for it!! So I panicked for a split second then sent a text to our Mission President asking if I should have all my stuff finished before the interview. Waited a bit then the Mission President's wife called us and I asked then and she told me that I should finish it all. So that's exactly what I did in between appointments scheduled for that night. Luckily I finished.

Tuesday was our Zone Conference and Zone Olympics!! It was so cool!! So we got in for the conference and usually those that are departing, share their testimony's at the end of the meeting. Our Mission President gets up and has me and my MTC companion Elder Saunders, share our testimonies at the beginning. I was in for a shock. But it went super well. We then had some good training's about things and what we could do to better find people that are ready for the Gospel. We then had a lunch and then the games began. It was all super fun between, free throws, jump rope, push-ups, sit-ups, curls, volleyball!! It was so much fun!! The best part is, so when I first came out into the mission, we had Zone Olympics and we did free throws, jump rope, push-ups, sit-ups, curls, and tug-o-war. Then the next one we had we did Volleyball. This one, my last one, we combined it all together. It was fun!! We all got flu shots or something like that afterwords which was nice. I then had my departing interview and it was a long one. It was a very good one too. I'm definitely going to miss my Mission President. He's helped me through a lot and has gotten me through a lot too. I definitely know he was meant to be my Mission President.

Wednesday was a good day hitting the ground and finding people. So we started early and tracted down a street real fast, then we saw someone that we are working with. We then had a really good visit with another person that we are working with. We were able to read the Book of Mormon with him and he liked what we read and totally sees how the principle applies to him. It was awesome!! We then had lunch and tried a few more people before we went to Jerome to go sing! We sang then got some ice cream from a little place here in Jerome. Went back to Wendell and had a quick study before some appointments. Had dinner, then we booked our way to Gooding for an appointment. It was a super good appointment with a family that is prepared!! It was awesome!! We then tried a few more people and then made our way back to Wendell. 

Thursday, the laborious weekly planning day. We made some good plans and then had a lunch break. Then finished right after lunch the rest of our planning. We then got to work and tried a lot of people. Had no luck sadly. We then did some studies. Then went back to the pavement. We met some pretty cool people and we were even able to get some appointments set with some of them. We then did a language study. Had dinner. Then went out with our Ward Mission Leader to go and try some people. We had some good appointments with people and we were even able to give a Priesthood Blessing to the spouse of someone that we are working with. 

Friday, was a straight working day. We tracted, we contacted, we called, we  texted. We did a lot of stuff to find people.The biggest miracle of it all was when we tracted out a trailer park. We were able to talk to a lot of people. Almost every door we knocked on, answered. That was pretty exciting. We were able to have some good chats with a few of the people and we were even able to set some return appointments with a few of the people. It was awesome!! We then tried out a few more people before we had dinner. We had a good dinner and then we tried some more people. We then closed out with our language study.

Saturday was similar to Friday. A lot of contacting there.

Sunday was awesome!! So we had a good sacrament meeting in the first ward. We texted someone to remind them about church and they replied back asking what time and things like that. We were feeling like he probably wouldn't come. BUT HE CAME!!!! IT WAS A HUGE SHOCKER FOR THE BOTH OF US!!!! We were so surprised when he said he was outside. We got him and came in side and wen to the second ward sacrament meeting. He thoroughly enjoyed it and knew a lot of the members. It was awesome!! We then had a good appointment after church with this new move in family and it was super awesome!! They are so prepared and so ready for the Gospel. It's amazing!! We then had some other things fall through then had dinner. Then more appointments fall through. Then we closed with all the studies we didn't do. It happens. Got a call from our Mission President's wife and Elder Cox got his Visa!! He's going to Ecuador!! That's so crazy!! Wendell is getting white washed, again!! Poor Wendell. This is crazy!! He leaves next Sunday and I'm going with him!! At least that's what our Mission President's wife said.

Time has flown by and it's so crazy to see that. This Friday I hit my 2 year mark. That's so weird. I've loved every minute of my mission and it has been something that I did need. I don't know what I would do without it. I love you all and I miss you all!! Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!!

Elder Ruesch

Week 100 - Tale of Two Cities (More like Towns) (9/24/2018)

Well this week has been a great week!! To start off we went to the temple last Tuesday and it was an awesome experience to go through and feel the spirit of the Lord in his house. It truly was awesome!! We cut our preparation day short cause Elder Cox wasn't feeling the greatest so we went to Wendell and stayed home till he felt better. 

Wednesday was a good day! Elder Cox was feeling tons better, thankfully! We then made the drive to Jerome for District Council and we had a good council. We had lunch and then a study before we went and sang at Creekside. Good time there. We then picked up our supplies from the Zone Leaders and we got some pretty cool looking shirts!! These things are awesome!! I'll send a photo next week of them. We then had a quick study before we went to an appointment. He wasn't home so we finished up that study and then went to our dinner. We then tried a bunch of different people to no luck. We were even told by one person that we aren't allowed on their property. Missionary life. 

Thursday, the famous weekly planning session. We cut for a quick lunch break and then we resumed it again. We tried some people over here in Wendell and we had someone put some blame on other missionaries for not wanting to meet with us, but I know for a fact that those missionaries they were talking about, were fantastic missionaries. We then concluded with that finding game and we went up to Gooding to try and make some contact with people. We met some pretty cool people and we were even to get an appointment with one of them for next week which is awesome! We then had an appointment with this family that spoke Portuguese and it was crazy!! Like I expected to only understand maybe 60% of the conversation. But I understood all of it!! The Gift of Tongues is so real!! It was soo cool as I was able to speak to them in fluent Spanish and they would reply back in their Spanish/Portuguese blend and then occasionally only Portuguese!! It was funny seeing Elder Cox's reaction. I love him, he's such a great missionary and friend. We then made our drive back to Wendell and finished up with a late dinner and a language study. 

Friday was a good day also. So we got up and tried some people, then had an appointment early in the morning with a man and it was fairly short and sweet which is always nice. We then tried some more people and had some good things happen there.I then did some college work and then we had lunch. We then did a quick study then we took off for Gooding again. We had an appointment up there and we got there a little early to try contact some more Hispanics. We get there and only the kids are home and they told us to come back in like 30 minutes. So we went and contacted a few names and we were able to meet one. They let us in and we started talking and then they told us that they weren't interested. So we asked them if they knew any Spanish Speakers in the area that might be and they pointed us to their neighbor two houses down. We went and contacted that neighbor and he received us with gladness. We talked and shared a brief message with him and he invited us to come back which is awesome!! We then went back to our appointment, but they had to reschedule with us cause they had something come up. We went to the church building after a few more contact attempts and we finished up some of our other studies. We then made the drive back to Wendell for another appointment we had. We talked to a guy for a long time outside about reading the scriptures and how they contain God's plan for us. It was pretty cool. We then had a few more appointments before dinner and we got behind on everything after that, that we rescheduled our correlation meetings and went to the last appointment we had for that night. Met this really cool guy and if it wasn't for us being behind in our schedule, it probably would not have happened. We probably wouldn't have met him. MIRACLES!! 

Saturday was a day out on the pavement. We did a whole bunch of contacting and tracting and finding new people that day that it's kind of a blur and the funniest part is, is that it's the closest to today. We had some good contacts and good studies. We had an early dinner which was bombtastic!! I miss Mexican food!! We tried some names after them and we came back into town and had a language study. We then had correlation and cake with our Ward Mission Leader. Then we closed the night talking with someone at the porch. Good contacts all around.

Sunday was a great day. So everyone that we invited to church, didn't show up! But we had some others that we didn't get a chance to invite and they were there!! It was so cool!! In one of the wards they had a Primary Program and it always brings tears to my eyes to hear the little kids sing cause they are so amazing! After all of our church meetings though we went and changed and I didn't feel like doing studies then, so we switched up our schedule and we went and talked to some people. Well time escaped us and next thing we knew it was dinner. Then next thing we knew, we still had alll of our studies.... So we finished the night with our studies. The one thing we tried to avoid, but we got so caught up in talking to people. Who knew. 

Well this week went by quick! I can't imagine how the rest of these weeks will go!! Two more weeks of hard work and I'll be home in Cali! Gotta make the weeks count!! I love you all and I miss you all!! Look forward to hearing from you all!!

Elder Ruesch

Week 99 - Tale of the Farm Land (9/18/2018)

Well this has been a quick, long week!! It's been awesome and there were so many miracles and to start, we'll go with last Monday!! So we were on exchanges and I was with the District Leader Elder Karim and we had a blast in Wendell! It was awesome!! We just hit the ground and tried some people and had a good lesson with a family that we've been meaning to go see and it was great!!

Tuesday, we got up and we were out just working as hard as we could! We were able to make contact with some families and people that we've been trying to work with and we just had a good start to our day. After we took a lunch break, we then went and tracted out a street. It was a good walk as we met a lot of people. We had some miracles there too which was super nice. We had a terrible door approach, but luckily the spirit helped us out big time and we were able to make some good contact with the person that answered and they even accepted to have us come back! We then went down the street and back up and had some funny rejections. Someone opened the door partially and then slammed it without saying anything to us. Pretty hilarious. As we came back on the other side we had a good contact with this Hispanic man and we were able to share with him a brief synopsis of the Restoration and it was super good. He took a copy of the Book of Mormon and even told us to come back which was super awesome!! We were then exhausted from all the walking, so we did our studies and then had our dinner fall through. Sad. So we went to a local restaurant in town and had a good dinner there. Tried some more names and we had no luck. We knocked on this old abandoned house which was pretty sketchy. We then exchanged back in Jerome and we had a good time.

Wednesday came and we had a good time spent in Jerome with District Council and some lunch and some good old Creekside. It was eventful. We then drove back to Wendell and had a quick comp study before we had our appointment. We had a good appointment then bounced to our dinner and it was good as well. We then went to the church and got ready to meet some people there, but they didn't show up which was a bit sad. We then closed the night with our studies and it was good.

Thursday was another good day. Started out with our famous weekly planning session and it was a long, but good process. We took a break for lunch and then came back and finished. As we were doing our planning we felt like we needed to message someone that Elders had taught in the past so we did and then this girl replied back and was open to having us share the gospel with her again. It was pretty awesome!! We then finished up the one street we started and didn't have much luck with the last doors on the street. We then did our studies and had some people cancel and we then just got to working. Made some good contacts and had a good finding time. We went 0/3 on some specific names. We then had dinner and tried some more people. We then closed the night with our language study and taking a test. It was pretty fun.

Friday was another day on the pavement. It was good. We had a good time finding people in the morning and then we had a lunch appointment with a family that we are teaching and it was super good!! We had an uplifting time there. We then tried some people way out of town and it was good. Had no luck there. Came back into town and had a good appointment with someone. We then bounced around and did some of studies and things like that. And we tried finding some more. Then closed the night with a really late dinner.

Saturday was such a super good day!! So we have Facebook as a mission to use as a tool to teach people. So keep that in mind as I go through this magnificent day!! We started out our morning going through and contacting referrals that we had received and it was amazing as we got to meet some new people and new faces. Tried some more and then came back into town and had lunch. We then went to the church building and we tried something new. We had a Facebook messenger lesson with these two girls that are interested in the Gospel. Best part of this is, we included the member that told us about these two girls and we had a great lesson with them. It's amazing how people open up more over a computer screen or phone rather than in person. It was a super good chat and it allowed us to take time and think about what we would respond and things like that so it was super nice!! We even had some other things that we could do while we waited to reply back or waited on them to reply. Multi tasking was great! We got a lot accomplished in that time frame. We then did our studies and dinner then tried some names and got a lot of appointments set with people which was really nice. We then sent some texts out to people and called it with our language study.

Sunday was a great day within itself. Had some of the people that we are working with show up to church. We even had to teach a lesson last minute. We then had all of our appointments cancel on us. Which is always great. So we filled time with finding and contacting. We then attempted our studies before dinner. Made our way out to dinner and it was super great. We then came back and finished them. Then got packing for exchanges again. I stayed in Wendell with Elder Thomas, Elder Karim's companion which I was looking forward too. We came back to Wendell and that was our day.

Monday was such a good day too. So we spent the morning in Wendell and got to working hard. We tried some people and even had some good lessons with people, all in Spanish too. We then had lunch and we went to Gooding to try and find people up there to start teaching. We made the drive and before we got into the town of Gooding we detoured and tried some names of people that were taught previously and had no luck. Even got lost a few times. We then contacted some people that might have interest and people that were taught before. It was pretty cool as we had tried people some were just not interested and we two that told us to come back. Which is always a great thing. We wore ourselves out after awhile of trying to find. So we went to the church building to do our studies and it was good. We drove back to Wendell after a quick finding spree and had a late dinner in Wendell. We then had one appointment which was super great. We then packed up again and came to re-exchange. It was such a super good day. Being with Elder Thomas was so fun! 

Today will be a good day too! We get to go to the temple and we are excited for that!! It's going to be a good day for sure!! Looking forward to see what this week brings!! We were told that we are having Zone Olympics and they are making their comeback in the mission!! It'll be so much fun!! Well, I love you all and I miss you all!! Can't wait to see you all soon!!

Elder Ruesch 

Week 98 - Carry On! (9/10/2018)

Shall the youth of Zion falter? NO!! And neither will I!! This week has been a blast!! It's been such a good week for us it's been great!! So last week Tuesday, it was a fun preparation day as we got to do some things and mess around. We came back to Wendell and had some good opportunities to find people and meet new people. It was great!!

Me in my Coke shirt drinking my Coke

Wednesday, the classic District Council and Creekside singing day! That one was a blast. We spent quite a bit of time in Jerome and then we made our way back here into Wendell. When we got here, Elder Cox and I had the opportunity to teach one of his friends from back via Skype!! It was pretty cool cause that was the first time I've ever taught someone from a long distance!! It was pretty cool to be able to feel the spirit and see him interact with his friend from home. It was super neat! We then had some things and then tried some people after we had dinner. Got lost trying to find someone cause our map had them in a different location and the address was also wrong so we ended up asking someone in the area and luckily for us, it was a member and knew who we were talking about. 

Thursday was a bit of a rough day. Woke up and I felt fine, then after a little bit I started to go down hill. Wasn't feeling good at all. We did our famous weekly planning session and then came home after we had finished making plans. Had lunch and then I passed out for about 4 hours. The weirdest thing was that I felt cold and it was like 86 degrees outside. So you could totally say something was wrong. I slept and after awhile I started to feel better which was good cause we had some good things planned for that night. Right as soon as I was feeling it, we got up and went and tracted out a street, but didn't quite finish it cause we had an appointment to go to. Had some good times trying some more people and then closed the night with a family that we are working with. The husband told us that he is going to get baptized. When, we don't know and neither does he. 

Friday was a good day. It was busy and full of things to do and people to try. We worked hard and just tried to meet as many people as we could without stopping. It was quite a fun adventure. Met some new people and met some people that weren't interested and that's all in a days work. We then had a super good dinner and got some names we could go try which is always a blessing. We tried some more and finished out the night with our studies.

Saturday was also another good day. We started out with tracting an apartment complex and we were able to meet some new people and one of the names we got the previous day from our dinner, lives in that apartment complex, but they didn't know where. So we thought to knock on every door in hopes of finding this person and we found out where they lived, but didn't get to meet them. We then pursued our finding efforts and tried out some more places. We then went all the way to the boundary of area with Buhl and met a someone that we were told to go and visit. We had a super good visit with them and it was nice meeting with them. We then tracted out the rest of that one street and it was fun. All in less than half an hour. We then had one of our studies. tried some names and got attacked by a dog, as we were leaving the property. Tried some more names and then had dinner. Went and tried a few more people before this Stake meeting that we had that night and it was pretty fun. Another good day in the books.

Sunday was an amazing day! So we had Stake Conference and we learned a whole bunch of cool things. We then came home and we had some appointments cancel and I myself actually had the opportunity to hear back from a friend and he was interested in hearing about what we believe! So we created a time and got ready and tried some more people. We met the one person we were trying to catch at the apartment complex and we spent an hour talking with them outside. It was a pretty good long chat. We then had this Skype call with my friend and it was awesome!! It was such a great time for me at least cause I got to see one of my friends and at the same time, share with them what I've been doing for the past 23 months. It was a good chat. we then did some updating on our Area Book and then did some studies. Had a really good dinner and then closed the night with more studies and a broadcast to all young single adults. It was such a good broadcast!!

This week has flown by and it has been crazy fun!! Every minute has been a fun one and definitely one to remember for sure. I miss you all and I look forward to seeing you all here soon!! Have a great week!!

Elder Ruesch

Week 97 - Back to Spanish!!! (9/4/2018)

Elder Blaisdell and I saying goodbye to each
other :'(  I'll miss him. 

Well this has been a crazy week for sure. Time has flown by so much and it's just been pretty incredible. So last week Monday was a great opportunity to listen to the spirit. We made so many good contacts with the hours we had on our schedule. It was pretty neat.

Tuesday, the anticipation was on. Waiting for transfers is by far the worst thing as a missionary. Why? Cause I get sick every time. It's terrible. So yea I fell ill that morning and it was a struggle. But eventually snapped out of it. Someone that we were working with gave us a call and told us that she was moving that night!! It was crazy to hear that!! And she was just moving in around the corner to where we were living at. That was super crazy! We had a good eventful day of trying to get YSA work in the area, just because we had all the time in the world. We then ended up helping the other missionaries out with ride situations and getting them places. We had dinner and then made our way to a correlation meeting. Had a good meeting. We then helped out the lady that was moving. We got her all settled in and it was remarkable how much joy she had just because she has her own place now! It was really cool to witness. We got transfer info that night and I was called to be transferred out of Jerome for my last transfer. Best part is, I was going into an area I know nothing about with a new missionary!! Whitewash training an area!!! WAHOO!!!

Elder Blaisdell and I saying goodbye to each 
other :'(  I'll miss him. 

Wednesday was a day that I hoped wouldn't be spent packing and saying goodbye. Needless to say it was. Had one last hurrah with some people and visiting with them. Had our weekly service at Creekside. That was fun. We then helped out the Spanish Elders with the apartment they left cause they are moving Spanish Sisters into their and the Elders are leaving. Two sets of Sisters in the area. Fun! We helped them clean up and get that place looking nice. We called our dinner and went over and they weren't home... awkward. So we went out cause neither of us were really that hungry. Finished packing a lot of my things and then got back into saying my goodbyes. It was hard with some people, but I made due with it.

Thursday, the beautiful transfer day. That morning we got a phone call just before we were going to take off, from the lady that we helped move in. She told us that she is in the hospital in Twin! She was admitted not too long ago. So she called us and asked if we could give her a blessing and we told her that we would be able too. We got all my stuff loaded up in the car. Made sure everything was set in the Spanish apartment. And we took off for Twin. We got to the hospital and gave the blessing. We then made our way and grabbed some lunch. Saw some familiar faces which was really nice. We then went to the Stake Center behind the temple and I left to a trainers meeting. We talked about all the trainees and we found out that all of the Elders that are speaking a foreign language, are waiting on their Visas.... So Wendell, my area now, will be getting whitewashed again! Cause we will be here for 6 weeks and I go home and

New Comp Elder Cox

Elder Cox, who is my companion, will be going to Ecuador. Pretty crazy for Wendell. Well I got him and we went to Jerome to shop and got him some things. Made our way to Wendell and got settled in. We then planned out our night and it was basically make contact with the Ward Mission Leaders and meet with them. Which is exactly what we were able to do that night.

Friday was another day at the grind. We had our weekly planning and it was a little difficult when you don't know anyone and you are just reading off of what past missionaries left. We made plans and we set out to contact these people and find new people. So we went out to work and broke apart our studies and we just hit the pavement and worked. It was pretty fun. Closer to the evening we were able to meet with people which was really nice. We had a good night and we were able to meet a lot of people within the time we had.

Saturday was another day hitting the pavement. It's just been pretty fun here to say the least. We decided to go tracting and just hit up a street. We knocked on a lot of doors and it wasn't until the last one, that we were let in. We met this family that the husband isn't really interested and the wife is a member of the church. We talked with them for quite awhile. Learned a lot of things. Made us late to our dinner since we were walking. Had a great dinner and we went back to the grind again. Met someone else that is a huge talker and we talked with him for quite awhile. We then tried some other names before we closed the night.

Salsa that I found mom!

Sunday was another great day. Walked into the church building knowing no one and we just got acquainted with the wards very quickly. It was pretty fun. Had a lot of meeting and greeting with people. The coolest part is that they have a class for the Spanish speakers in one of the wards!! It was soo awesome!!! I definitely enjoyed it. We then got out of church, changed and went and tracted again. The same street we did on Friday cause we weren't able to do the other side. First door we knock on, they let us in. Had a good discussion with them and best part is, they are interested!! The spirit was totally there and it helped me a lot to be able to teach in Spanish again. I've missed that so much. We then made our way to an appointment that we had with one of the people the Elders were working with. We were able to meet the entire family and it was awesome!! We are honestly so excited to work with them. We were even able to set up a dinner appointment with them for Monday (yesterday). We then had our dinner and it was super good. We then closed the night with all our studies that we have to do.

Monday was such a good day. We decided to go up to Gooding, which we cover in Spanish and just try and find. Boy let me tell you that we did find. It was incredible. I couldn't believe at how many people we were able to find that speak Spanish and want us to come back! It was incredible!! We got up there and we tried contacting some former people that were being taught in the past and found a few that have some possibilities. We then went and had lunch and then went and tracted out the trailer park right before you get into the hub of Gooding. Dang we met tons of people. We had some good discussion with some of them and we were even to get some returns and place a few copies of the Book of Mormon. It was even cooler to watch Elder Cox with the enthusiasm that he has to talk in Spanish to the best of his ability. It was awesome see him do that. We worked hard and we were in the sun a lot. Cause by the time we were finished, I was exhausted and it was only 3:00... We got back to it and tried some names that we found in our area book and started contacting those people. Had some luck there which was nice. Did our studies up in Gooding and then made our way back for our dinner appointment/lesson. It was really awesome as we had dinner with them and we just got to talking with them. It was super cool. Tried some other names and then closed off our night.

I'm honestly excited to see what this final transfer will bring. I'm nervous, but excited. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us here in Wendell. We plan on giving it our all for these next few weeks. Wendell, will be lit!! I love you all and I miss you all so much!! Always remember there is someone above who loves you and misses you more!!

Elder Ruesch

Week 96 - Final Countdown (8/27/2018)

Wow these past few weeks have flown by. It's transfers already!!! Who knows what will happen with me. The last stretch is before me and I'm going to give it all I got!! We find out tomorrow and get transferred Thursday!! Looking forward to this!! Well on with what happened this week! So on Monday we had a good activity of a lot of basketball. It was pretty fun! We then booked it to an appointment we had at 6 and it was a bomb appointment!! All amazing! From there we went all the way to Gooding to give some baptismal interviews. I ended up not needing to give one so Elder Tauanu'u took it. Pretty awesome! Made it back just in time for curfew. We even were able to help someone around the block from us with loading an electric scooter into his car. It was pretty fun!

Tuesday, we decided to change it up and we thought to try some people early in the morning. We were able to do that and we were able to meet some people and we even met a Hispanic man who seems interested. This past week we've been praying for some service opportunities. With a lot of faith we were able to find some come our way. We went to the church to do our companionship study and we got a phone call from one of the members in the ward asking for our help. We helped out and then another member got a hold of us telling us we could borrow their equipment to mow lawns. It was pretty fun! We even met the family that we've been mowing their lawn for!! It was nice!! 

Wednesday was a good day as well. We had a District Council and then we made our way to lunch. Good lunch and then we sang at a retirement home here in Jerome. After that it was back to the service clothes. We helped out one of the members mowing their lawn and doing some maintenance on it. Learned how to fix some sprinkler heads and even move it. We then had a really good dinner appointment and afterwards we were able make some contact with a recent convert in the ward. His wife had their baby!! It was amazing being able to talk with them and see that they are doing well. We then made a phone call and talked to missionaries out in NYC. So apparently we also cover the Gooding Deaf Branch and neither of us can sign perfectly (I myself don't even now anything). So we talked with them about what we could do and figuring some things out for it. 

Thursday was another good day all together. Except for the fact we woke up not feeling well at all. It was not good at all. We eventually made our way out of the house and then out to work. We had some service early on in the morning. We then had the opportunity to participate in a blessing. It was really cool. We then had a lunch that was so good. Finally made it to the weekly planning portion of our day. Had a good appointment at four just before our dinner. Good dinner. We then had another appointment at 7 that had to reschedule, but we got some service opportunity out of it. 

Friday was another good day. Had a District Council in Shoshone and then we had an exchange. Made our way back to Jerome and had lunch then we helped out at the food pantry. Some little girl thought I was 10!! I don't know how to take that.... Then did some college stuff and had our comp study. We then went to work. Tried finding people like crazy and our day flew!! We then helped drive around some other missionaries and made our way to our dinner. Helped out and then brought the other missionaries back into town. Had a quick dinner before we had our appointment. They had to cancel, but it was alright. Rescheduled and made our way to another appointment of ours. Good appointment and we then closed the night finding.

Saturday, we worked in the morning. One of our wards had a father and sons campout and we helped with the cleanup after it. We then correlated with our ward mission leader and it was great as he gave us some names to try. We then made a lot of attempts to contact people. Had a really good lunch. Did some studies then more contacting. We then had our service project and we painted. It was pretty fun. We then went to our dinner and we went to the wrong place. Accidents happen. We then made our drive to Sun Valley. Pretty long drive. Got there and exchanged back. I even got a free pair of cleats from it!! Drove back and made it back in time.

Sunday was a busy day like normal. Had a phenomenal sacrament meeting and it was so very powerful. It was also cool cause I got to play a special musical number. It was super fun. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with the talent that I have. It was remarkable. Had some studies after church and then did some driving to drop off some other elders before our dinner. Had a great dinner and we went to contacting. Met a super cool family before we closed the night with our Bishop. It was a really good day to say the least.

Well this week has flown by and I can't imagine what the next few weeks will do. It's going to be crazy, but worth it. I'm excited for everything and I love you all!! Enjoy the weeks that come, live, and be grateful for what you have!!

Elder Ruesch 

Week 95 - History was Made (8/20/2018)

So this has been a really good week!! Last week on Monday we were able to go on Exchanges with the Elders up in Wendell. I stayed in the area and I was with a Visa Waiter Elder. It was really cool being with him cause he just wants to work!! It was awesome!! We had a really good night contacting people and finding people that hopefully are ready for the Gospel.

Tuesday we had a good start to things. We had to do a bunch of studies first cause he's a new missionary and after we got all of that squared away we went to work. We went to a subdivision that we started tracting, but never quite finished and we went and finished tracting it. It was a nice hot day to be walking. By the time that we finished, we were beat. We met a lot of cool people with interesting stories, but no one that was quite interested to hear what we had to say. We got into our car and we were just about to leave, when we got a text from our recent convert who lives in the area and she asked us if we would like an ice cream to cool down with. So we took up the offer cause all of our cold water was gone and hot. Went over and had an ice cream and we tried asking her for maybe someone we could go see or an idea we could try to find someone. She gave us ideas and we put them to the test. She even gave us challenge to get one of her neighbors to church. I was quite taken by the challenge so we accepted and extended the same challenge. Went and contacted a few more names, had dinner, and then went to a correlation meeting that night. We tried a few more people and then went to Wendell to exchange back.

Wednesday was a pretty good day too. It was a straight work day and we just went on one trying to contact people. It was nuts!! So we switched things up and we tried contacting someone. We didn't find him home so we continued on and tried some other names. It was pretty crazy as we kept going down the list of people. Eventually took a break and we went back at it. Had some studies and tried some people. We had a dinner and then a break for a quick service opportunity. We helped out on of the members move some fruit that they just had shipped in from Washington. Did a few more contact attempts and called it.

Thursday....was pretty boring. We just did a lot of planning... Nothing to eventful. We tried some people and met with someone that we thought had disappeared, but is back in Jerome for the time being. We then went on a little exchange to meet with a Spanish guy. I went with Elder Conner and we had a good discussion with him. We were able to give him a copy of The Book of Mormon to read cause he doesn't have one from when he moved up here. Pretty cool.

Friday. Wow!! That was a spiritually filling day!! We had a quick study session in the morning and then we took off for Twin Falls for Mission Tour 2.0!!! History was made at this one. For starters, the entire mission was gathered together and the icing  on the cake, we had An Apostle and 3 Members of the Seventy with us along with their wives!! It was a remarkable experience and the things that we learned were amazing!! It was really neat to have Elder Renlund visit with us as a mission it was super neat!! We were all so spiritually fed that it was kind of hard to return back to our areas. We had dinner in Twin and then made our way back to Jerome for an appointment that we had scheduled that night. It was a really good lesson as we went over the baptismal interviews with the lady that we were teaching. It was super humbling to hear her personal testimony of the Restoration and why there was a need for a Restoration. 

Saturday was a good day too. Went and tried some people and had a good correlation meeting. We were able to help out our Ward Mission Leader with some flooring in his spare house that they are renovating. It was pretty cool. Then we helped missionaries out with some things. In the midst of it all, we all had an idea of going to the car show here in Jerome and trying to find some people. Someone that we are trying to work with said he'd be there and to find him there. We didn't find him. But we did find some other people and some really nice cars!! I was in car paradise!! They even had two Super Cars!! The Nissan GTR and the Lamborghini Huracane!!! We all took photos with them... We then got busy trying some people and then had dinner. Had a really good dinner and we even got a bike out of it!! Elder Tauanu'u got this bike that a missionary left with a member here almost 2 years ago. So we took it off their hand and brought it back to our place. Tried fixing it up and we almost got it working. Something is wrong with the gear change so we took that in to Twin Falls today to get it looked at. 

Sunday was a good day as well. Full of church meetings like normal. After church had a quick snack. Tried some people. Gave some rides to the other missionaries. Did a study and went to dinner. Really good dinner and we then tried some people. Had some good findings and we even got to talk with someone that we haven't been able to see for awhile. Closed the night with some more contacting which was nice.

It's been a good week. Some news from this morning. So we've got this application on our smartphones that is kind of like a baby sitter monitoring and filtering all that we do and download. Well today, it crashed and removed all the apps that were downloaded through it and has ban listed them. Pretty funny. So the only thing that we really have working is our email, gospel library, and a few other apps. Our planning tool was removed and now we are back to the old school way. Hopefully this gets fixed soon. Otherwise, this will be a long week. Well I love you all and miss you all!! Hope that you enjoy these emails!! Soon, I'll be able to tell all of this in person!!! Love you all!!

Elder RUESCH