Our Missions' Cookin...Teaching, Service and a Big Ole BBQ

Monday, Mar 20, 2017                                                Onalaska, TX

" We started off our week by doing service-raking leaves. After that we went to another members house and laid sod. We did some service the next day for another member and we cleaned out his garage with some guys from the ward.

The next day we had a dinner/lesson with the part member family we have been teaching and it was great. He made us really good pork chops. We had an amazing lesson where we taught the Restoration and he asked how he could be baptized. He asked all these super solid questions and we talked for awhile about the word of wisdom.

Thursday, we had a party at a members cause a former missionary sister came back and visited and they had a big ole BBQ for her and her family. There were a lot of members that came. They brought their guitars and played and sang songs. It was really cool.

Friday we used up a ton of miles and went to this small town named Corrigan. We knocked a couple of doors and found this lady to teach. At the end of the lesson she wouldn't take the Book of Mormon-that was sad. We made our long trek back and had dinner with a member at an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet.

On Saturday we taught one of our investigators and we will probably not be able to continue with her because she doesn't want to come to church. I asked her if there was something that was holding her back and she said nothing but still wouldn't come....Sigh....The highlight was when the part member family came to church. We were happy about that. 

Love,
Elder Saunders

Funny sign in Onalaska, TX Mar 2017

Me and my cool companion  Mar 2017

On A Wet Tin Roof With A Blower.....

Monday, Mar 13, 2017                                              Onalaska, TX

" We taught Patricia and she is a bit stubborn than we expected her to be. Her daughter sat in on the lesson and they were not on the same page, ha ha, but she said she will pray about her date and then we will check on her next week. 

The same day we went to a lesson and the person never showed up, so we went to this part member family who was in the area. We were told that he was pretty anti. We knocked on the door and he answered and immediately invited us in. He was super friendly to us so we went in. Then his wife came out and she was kinda mad and made us get out-in a nice way. She is the member so we were so confused. After that he texted us and tried to set up an appointment for tomorrow and he said that his wife freaked out cause the house was dirty-but it wasn't at all. So we are hoping to plant a seed.

We went to see this investigator and she was home but she didn't come out. Instead, her boyfriend came out who had too much to drink and wanted to tell us his life story. Then this girl came out of nowhere and she was high on something and they know each other so she wanted to tell her life story also but at the same time as the other guy so Elder Woodhouse and I had quite a time getting away. She kept wanting to tell Elder Woodhouse her story... It was pretty exciting... 

The next day we stopped by the part member family again. They invited us in and we talked with them for a while. We got along with them so good. We weren't talking about the gospel at first and then he suddenly says that he wants to learn more about the church. We offered to teach him and he said yes. They want us to come by on Wednesdays and he even offered to feed us. It was super cool. He loves us.

On Saturday, we did a bunch of service. I climbed on a tin roof with a blower and blew it off. Then it randomly started to rain. It was very sketchy trying to get down, ha ha. Mosiah 2:17, " ......When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God."

Love,
Elder Saunders
*The first two pictures are the ones we got from Elder Saunders when I asked for pictures. The last two were sent by a sister who was visiting the mission. So thankful for the extra bonus pictures.....

Fresh Eggs that some members gave us March 2017

His description for this pic, " Look how big the egg yolks are!" Maybe because everything is big in Texas?

Elder Woodhouse and Elder Saunders  March 2017 

Members giving the elders a good ole Texan concert. March 2017

Onward Ever Onward.... I Hit The Eighteen Month Mark...

Monday, Mar 6, 2017                                                                         Onalaska, TX


" So I hit my 18 month mark....that's pretty exciting. Time has flown and I love the people of Texas. 

Today is remember the Alamo Day or Texas Independence Day. We are going to eat at a members house tonight and they are going to teach us a lesson on the Alamo for family home evening, ha ha. We are looking for a scripture to go with the theme, ha ha. 

We checked out this huge flee market down here for p-day and it had a bunch of cool stuff, but nothing really worth it to take home, but I did find this lapel pin, and also later today we're going to this flag shop to get...flags of course. 

Well, we did a lot of service this week and taught, which is a perfect week for me. We painted a members house-like their whole house. It was fun and looks dang good! We also put a sprinkler line in so this member could have water to his garden. We dug a bunch of holes for some fruit trees that he was having brought in. We also replaced a water filter. 

We met this guy named Juan. He seemed pretty solid. He was Catholic but saw faults in that church so he left and hasn't gone to church since. So we taught him the Restoration and he loves it. The only problem is that he works a lot. Every time we text him, he responds with, "I'm working late again." So that is a bit frustrating.

We finally got back with a lady we had on date a couple of weeks ago. We thought she had been ignoring us cause she wouldn't answer her phone or door. She told us today that she had some troubles with some unpaid tickets and so she hasn't been home. At least she is still open for baptism, so we set a new date for her. 

Patricia, our investigator, had her family move down here and they're members. They are super cool and are helping her to read the Book of Mormon and trying to get her to go to church. She is sweet but kinda stubborn but eventually we will get her to church and then baptized. 

Keep Prayin' and Tryin',
Love,
Elder Saunders

Cherry Cheesecake we made! Feb 2017

Cool pin that I found in a Flea market Mar 2017

My companion and I found these cool flags here in Texas. Mar 2017

Adrenaline Verses The Spirit...It Makes So Much Sense!

Monday, Feb 27, 2017                                                   Onalaska, TX

" So we taught Patricia the Word of Wisdom and we were a bit worried cause she struggles a bit with some things, but it's not near as bad as we thought and she's sure that she can get over it. Plus, her family is coming down and all of them are members and they are super active. 

The next day we taught our investigator, Sabrina, the gospel of Jesus Christ. She got a little side tracked and talked about this one church that she went to. She went to the altar and people put their hands on her head and she said that she felt the spirit so strong. She asked if it was all in her head. There was silence for a bit and then I looked at her and simply said, " Yes it is in your head." She laughed and said, "Wow that was so honest." She asked another question about why our Church has such boring music instead of the Christian rock stuff. She went on to say that our music isn't that bad , but she feels better when the Christian rock music is playing. She wanted to know why? We looked at her and explained that there's a difference between adrenaline and the spirit. Her eyes got big and she said, " Wow, I never thought of that. It makes so much sense." We talked about that for awhile. 

We also helped a member install a pipe that led from his house to his garden so they could get water. After, we did hour of power. We met this cool guy and his name is Jay. He is like 85 but he looks and acts like he's 63. It's crazy! He is a pilot and has his own plane, but he is pretty open, so that's cool.

The rest of the week we just taught a lot of people. It is a little bit harder in this area because there are a lot of vacation homes. Our district consists of 2 elders and two sisters-they call it the double date district. I call it a little stressful but they are good sisters involved in the Lords work.

Love, 
Elder Saunders

Had to smile at this one-It was entitled, "Hey mom and Dad. Look at my sweet haircut" I wonder if this is the before or after picture? Feb 2017 

Elder Woodhouse and Elder Saunders teaching a lesson on the Restoration. They came up with an inspiring way to teach. Feb 2017