Hello Lake Charles, Louisiana!

Monday, May 15, 2017                                        Lake Charles, Louisiana

" So I got transferred to a place called Lake Charles. It is in Louisiana. I'm pumped that I can say I actually served in Louisiana. Our area is awesome-it is super city and so easy to contact people. Goodbye to knocking doors. We have a college in our area....so there are tons of young people. Our apartment is super nice and has a really good gym-so we are hitting that up. It is a perfect area to end my mission in. 

This week we cleaned up an investigators home. Cockroaches and spiders everywhere-and you know how much I love Spiders and Cockroaches. 

We talked to a bunch of people but not really any cool stories, yet, but we did have quite a bit of success. 

We had a crawfish boil at a recent converts home. It was so awesome. I ate a ton of crawfish. He boiled some pineapple, corn and potatoes. It was amazing. Really, really good.

On Sunday we went to church. The ward is super young-like 90% are like low 30's  and under. Pretty crazy. I got to Skype my family which is always a plus. My last one before coming home. After we had burgers and Boudin. Yum. I am in an another area with amazing member support. 
Love,
Elder Saunders

Lake Charles, Here we come! May 2017

This ones for you, Mom! I know how much you like bridges May 2017

Keep on wishing, Son! May 2017

Utah Boys Eating Crab May 2017

How do we do this? Elders Saunders and Kent May 2017

We can do this! May 2017

Last Skype call May 2017

Mothers Day dinner at the Sanders! Yum!

Mothers Day Burgers and Boudin(stuffed Cajun sausages) It was amazing! 

Goodbye Onalaska....I'm Getting Transferred!

May 8, 2017                                                                  Onalaska, TX

"On Tuesday I had a meeting in Kingwood that lasted from 9-5 plus travel, so we got to our area at 7:40 and had dinner with some members and drove home.

Today we taught Carla and she is doing good. She's going in for surgery in the next couple of days, but she is progressing nicely. She texts us whenever she needs support to help her with some habits she is trying to change. 

Another cool thing is that we met this person last week and we set a return appointment with her. She wasn't very solid but we went to it anyway. She had her friend over and both of them had read the pamphlet we gave her. She said it was the best pamphlet outta all the churches cause it actually meant something. It not only had a scripture on it, it went into detail with a testimony. She said how she is trying to find a church for 6 months and has had no luck, but she wants to come to our church. So that was cool. 

After that we visited another person we contacted and we not only taught her but her husband too. They both were super nice and wanted to come to church.

Friday we started out with 50 cent corn dogs. We went and taught a lesson on the Word of Wisdom for one of our investigators and set a new date with her to be baptized. At night I crashed because I felt absolutely horrible. 

On Saturday we helped some recent converts move in and then we went to a Spring Party. It was way fun. We got transfer calls and me and Elder Esplin are leaving. I was pretty bummed out but I've been here a while. I love it here. Stay tuned for next week to see where I am going.....
Love,
Elder Saunders

Prep Day  May 2017 

Beautiful Lake Livingston at the end of our day  May 2017

Saying goodbye to Onalaska! Elder Abbott, Elder Esplin, Bro Dillard, Elder Saunders and my furry friend May 2017

We're On a Relay For Life......

Monday Apr 24, 2017                                             Onalaska, TX
Monday May 1 2017          

This is a combination of two weeks. A little sparse on the 24 but he made up for it on the 1st of May.

"The week of the 17th we basically knocked a bunch of doors and found some people but most were not interested. We also were able to go to Kingwood  for a meeting. Always good when we get to go to Kingwood. 

We also moved two people this week. For church we had three investigators show up and they all really enjoyed church. I taught Gospel Principles and my other two comps split off and helped teach Primary." 

" Last week (week of the 24th) on P-day, we and the Sister missionaries went to Lake Livingston State Park and rode some bike trails and stuff like that. 

We also had a couple of really cool lessons with a couple of our progressing investigators. We ate at this members house and they fed us catfish, which he fished from his porch. It was the best fish I've ever had. It was so good! He told us that it was all you can eat.

We did our Hour of Power and talked to a bunch of people. The last guy was a bit hard to talk to. I started to talk about how Christ called his twelve apostles and then he stopped me and told us that Christ also called twelve women. I told him no and asked where that was found. He said not from the scriptures. We tried to testify of Christ but he chose not to listen. Then we visited this less active and he loved us and gave us these cool pens. He told us he would take us fishing on p-day. 

On Friday we worked at the Relay For Life event. and that was way fun. We worked at the National Cancer Society booth and we talked with people. Cancer touches a lot of lives and we were thankful to help. We also had a giant turkey leg and ate some deep fried cheesecake which was amazing.

Saturday we loaded some hay and ate at this place called Floridas. We played some basketball with some less actives.

On Sunday we had church and one of my comps was in a skit in Primary in which he was a son of Helaman. He was dressed in armor. It was awesome! Later that evening we had a meeting where we saw David Archuleta and he spoke to us and sang like ten songs. It was really cool and I even shook his hand. I'm pretty sure every sister's heart, in the whole entire chapel, melted, when he was shaking our hands. The Sisters pretty much pushed all the Elders outta the way, ha ha. It was a super good, motivational meeting. We got back at 8:40 and went to dinner and had amazing Mexican food. A good week!
Love,
Elder Saunders

Sweet Sister Esplin sent these awesome matching ties. Apr 2017

I think we have worn out our comp in the back. Apr 2017

Elder Abbott as a son of Helaman Apr 2017

Pure joy as they saw the son of Helaman

Our District in Onalaska Apr 2017 Sis Marx, Sister Taysom, Elders Saunders, Abbott and Esplin.

Me and Elder Abbott making friends Apr 2017

Lake Livingston State Park

Lake Livingston State Park-Apr 2017

Livingston State Park Apr 2017

Lake Livingston State Park Apr 2017

Lake Livingston State Park Apr 2017

Lake Livingston State Park Apr 2017

The field is ready to harvest. 

Eating our giant turkey legs at the Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Apr 2017

This picture was sent by a member with the following : "Look who helped us at the Polk County Relay for Life in Livingston , TX The American Cancer Society took this picture and posted it on their facebook page. The missionaries helped gather registration information for ACS. Their presence opened up numerous opportunities for conversations for us with our friends, teammates, and Relay participants. Keep those prayers flowing. They are working! Thanks for sending your best. They are working hard and we love them. P.S. The lady with the purple hair is a 37 year cancer survivor and a Marshall Arts Grand Master. "