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

Beauty All Around...

Monday, Feb 20, 2017                                                           Onalaska, TX

" So for P-day we went to this members house and we rode golf carts and fished in the lake, and played with their horses. It was pretty fun.

We did some service this week for a member who wants to build a garden. Half of it they are going to put in fruit trees. We rototilled this huge area, and the rototiller was kinda broken, so we had to push it. After that we dug 22 holes about 4 feet deep and pretty wide ( not sure how wide cause we just eyeballed it). They only had 2 shovels and there was three of us, so I had to use the post hole diggers. For those of you that have used post hole diggers, you know that they are not fun, especially when you're just trying to dig a big wide hole and not a deep one-we took turns-it was super tiring. When we were done the member took us to Whataburger(which is now my new favorite fast food place) and then we did an hour of power. 

On Friday, President Drake came to our district meeting. He all of a sudden showed up, so that was fun. It turned our group of 4, to a group of 6. After that we did physical therapy for a member in our ward. At the end of the day we got a mini missionary( a youth member who goes out with the missionaries for the day).

Sunday we were in a meeting and my awesome companion looks over and says that I have a nice purple tie. I laugh and told him that was a good one. He was confused. I asked him if it was really purple (cause I can't see purple(color blind). He said yes. I asked the sisters as a backup and they said it was purple. I have had this tie for 5 to 6 months thinking it was 5 shades of blue and a couple shades of gray, but really it was 5 shades of purple and a couple shades of gray. At the end of church I was talking to a member and she is also color blind, so she thought it was blue and gray, so we agreed we both have the right taste in style. After church we visited a family that some members referred us to. They are pretty solid. They asked good questions and hopefully they will be there at church next week. After that our mini missionary went back. He did great.

There is beauty all around. Brigham Young said, " Let the people be holy, and the earth under their feet will be holy. Let the people be holy, and filled with the Spirit of God, and every animal and creeping thing will be filled with peace... The more purity that exists, the less is the strife; the more kind we are to our animals, the more will peace increase..." 
Love,
Elder Saunders
*note from mom and Dad: In July of last year, Elder Saunders lost his dog, Lucy. We were so happy to get the following pictures. He has made a friend with a special dog named Rocky**

Teaching in Onalaska. Sweet member sent us this picture Feb 2017

An elder and his (borrowed) dog  Feb 2017

Elder Saunders and his buddy, Rocky Feb 2017

An elder and his (borrowed) horse Feb 2017

Just horsin around Feb 2017

Our Feet Are Firmly Planted In The Path Of Service....

Monday, Feb 13, 2017                                                          Onalaska, TX

" We had a exchange with the zoneleaders, today. We talked to this inactive member said he was fine where he is and is not interested in going back to church. His friend came over and we talked to him and ended up teaching him. The less active member was answering questions correctly and even bore his testimony on a couple of subjects so that was cool. We tried a bunch of people and then we got some really good Italian pizza and they left. 

On Saturday we taught a lady whose family is coming down in a couple of weeks and they are all members, but she isn't. She is going to get baptized when they come, so that is awesome. Then we taught this girl named Shenequa and it was a super good lesson. We brought a super good member with us and he helped her out. We also committed her to a date and she agreed. She prayed about it and said she'd come to church so we'll keep our fingers crossed. After that we tried some people and then then played basketball with our non-member buddies.

Sunday, a former investigator came to church and asked for help cause he got evicted from his house and it was the last day. He needed help moving some heavy things, so we went over and we helped him move stuff from that house to his new place.

Sorry it's so short this week- we're running late and we are planning on going fishing at a members house.

President Monson said, " Make sure your feet are firmly planted in the path of service and our hearts and souls dedicated to follow the example of the Lord. In moments when the light of resolution dims and when the heart grows faint, we can take comfort from this promise: 'Be not weary in well doing...Out of small things proceedeth that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)
Love,
Elder Saunders

District in Onalaska, TX Feb 2017

Sunset over Lake Livingston on the Onalaska Causeway Feb 2017

On exchanges in Onalaska and we see this kangaroo and sign to the left, ha ha. Feb 2017

Lots and Lots of Spiders Climbed Up the Broken Spout....

Mon, Feb 6, 2017                                                                   Onalaska, TX

"Today, me and Elder Taylor drove to Kingwood for this mission leadership training meeting. It was basically all the leadership in the mission to discuss issues. It started at 9 am and it ended at 5 pm. We then had to collect supplies and other things, so we left Kingwood about 6 and had an hour and a half drive, so it was a very long day.

The next day the neatest thing that happened was we did some service for a less active family and we had to fix a piece of pipe under his house. It was a super tight fit and I was the only one who fit. So I climb under the house and fix a pipe and it was dark (I only had this small flashlight). It was really muddy and there was a ton of Spiders! Tons......Did I mention that I am really freaked out by spiders? I get under there and it's pretty far down, so I try to fix it but the piece was broken and we needed another part. I climbed back out to climb back in the next morning....Yay :(

So the next day I climbed back down under the house, but since the pipe was broken, it was leaking. It was even more muddy. I tried to fix it and it won't even tighten on the pipe. So I am down there struggling forever, battling bugs crawling on me, and then I realize we have the wrong size piece. So I climbed out and we went to Lowes with a member. We got the right part and then I went back under for the 3rd time and finally put the right part on. I managed to kill this freaken huge spider! The member turned it on and it didn't leak!! I was so relieved. Afterwards, the member took us out to eat. We went straight to Whataburger. It was funny cause I am super muddy and the place was packed. I'm getting a lot of looks but not like the 'I'm cute" type. It was more like, You need to take a shower " type looks. So that was fun.

Friday we had another meeting in Kingwood.

Saturday was spent trying to find someone to teach and then we played basketball with our inactive new friends. We also got transfer calls and both of us are staying.

Sunday was hard to teach cause everyone was watching the game. We ended up through no fault of our own seeing a few plays when we visited people and every house had a ton of food, so we ate pretty well. 

Always ask yourself: "What have I done for someone else today? " Lose yourself in service.
Love,
Elder Saunders

I love serving in Onalaska! Feb 2017

Studying in Onalaska  Feb 2017

Beautiful Onalaska, TX Feb 2017

Did I say I love Onalaska? Feb 2017

Fishers Of Men and Rocks and Catfish.....

Mon., Jan 30, 2017                                                            Onalaska, TX 

"So for p-day we went fishing at a members house and it was awesome. It was a bad day for fishing. Last night was cold and it never really warmed up. Plus it rained a ton so a lot of junk came down the river. It was super relaxing and it wasn't hot, just warm with a slight wind. Man it was perfect. I caught a rock first, ha ha. Brother Poff was amazed how I got it out of the water. Then I caught a couple of 6 inch catfish, some 8 in catfish and even a 10 in catfish. You have to have a 12 in catfish or else you have to throw them back, but it was still relaxing and fun to chill for a while. After that the Poffs fed us, too, so that was a plus.

On Wednesday, we had the missionary broadcast so I was going to make blueberry muffins to take. I found out we didn't have a muffin tin, so I made blueberry muffin bread and put Texas on it. ( picture included). We arrived at the broadcast and found out that nothing was set up . We had asked a member to do it but he forgot so us and the sisters ended up watching it on a iPad which wasn't too bad.

In the broadcast there was a lot that happened but since every missionary mentioned it, imma quote some of my favorites to save time: Elder Goodwin said, " Basically we now plan in the morning and the studies are shorter so that we have more time to work out and get ready."  

Elder Carlisle said, " We still wake up at 6:30 but instead of having a regimented schedule such as personal study at 8, companionship study at 9, leave apartment at 10, we now have to use our agency to decide when to get those things done. Basically between 6:30 and 10 am we have to exercise for 30 min, personal study for 60 minutes, shower and eat breakfast for an hour and a half. Leave at 10. 

Elder Odland said, "They also changed the indicators that we report, so now we only report on baptisms, people coming to church, new people that we begin teaching a lesson, and people with a baptismal date. I think this is an awesome change because we will get missionaries that work out of a motivation to truly help people and not just numbers."

Thursday we helped a member and then we did our Hour of Power. We talked to this one couple whose husband had Alzheimer's. We would be teaching and this sweet man would randomly say, "Are y'all looking to buy a house down here?" So we would say, 'No" . He'd say, 'Oh it is so nice down here. We've been here for 40 years." His wife would gently remind him that they have been there 12. "Oh, that's it," he said. We would start to teach and he would say the same thing and then would ask us if we were looking to move there and his wife gently said no and she laughed. At the last he would make these funny comments like, "Is that your cat?" or he would point to us and say, "Y'all moving in with us?" He touched our hearts and it was sad but he sure made us smile. He is probably a lot closer to God then we are-Then we had exchanges with our zoneleader. 

Saturday we were able to do service and then came back and showered. We tried a bunch of houses and this one house had literally dozens of chew tobacco cans tied to a string and hung on his trees. I wanted to take a picture cause I was amazed but he opened up his door and told us to go, so I was disappointed. We ended up getting a picture by a giant chicken so that was pretty cool.

And so Elder Woodhouse and I continue to work and love the promise of the Savior in Matthew 4:19 " And he saith unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
Love,
Elder Saunders

The prize picture-A giant chicken Jan  2017 in Onalaska, TX

Beautiful Lake Livingston  Texas Jan 2017

My blueberry muffin bread. If you look closely, you will see the shape of Texas I carved in the bread. Jan 2017 Onalaska, TX