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. "

Back Roads, BBQ's and Celebrating Easter....

Monday, April 17, 2017                                 Onalaska, TX

"As far as work goes we found this back roads neighborhood and knocked a lot of doors with not very much luck, but we did find a cool river that we took pictures by. 

Also on Tuesday, we knocked on a bunch of doors to conserve miles and found some cool people. One guy we found is super cool and he is Korean. We had a nice chat with him and he seems interested. Another person we met was handing out Jesus cards, which is okay, but she was a bit insane and didn't want to listen to our message. Despite great efforts we went over miles.

We went to choir practice at the church and the choir instructor told my companions that they just had to watch but she let me sing. Go figure. We performed for Easter Sunday, but we were only able to go to one choir practice, so I knew 2 of the songs and we sang 10 so that was interesting. None of them were hymns. Easter messages in church were so awesome.

We also had exchanges with the zone leaders. Friday morning was crazy because we had 5 people who had to take showers. I went with Elder Bohne (from Canada). We had a pretty good day and knocked on a bunch more doors. At the end of the day we had a pine wood derby contest. All of us were able to make cars and mine took first place( humble, I know) I never lost a match.

We also tried this BBQ place that was voted 50 best in Southern Texas and it was super good! I got this doubledecker  sandwich filled with brisket and links and fries. We knocked another street and then we played basketball.

After church on Easter, we met with one of our investigators and taught him. Then we went and saw this lost sheep family that we met last week and they fed us these super good burgers and sides. Later we went to our actual dinner appointment for Easter and had ribs and ham and cake. What a blessing. They are so good to us. 

That was our week in a nutshell.
Love,
Elder Saunders

Doubledecker brisket, links and fries sandwich  Apr 2017

Three hungry elders at the BBQ place Apr 2017

The yummy BBQ place that was voted 50 best Southern Texas places. It even had pony rides. Apr 2017

Cool tree! Apr 2017

Elder Esplin and Elder Abbott by the back roads river Apr 2017

Elders Saunders, Esplin and Abbott by this awesome back roads river Apr 2017

On exchanges with Elder Bohne (from Canada) on this muddy back road. Apr 2017

my Pinewood Derby winning car Apr 2017

A Week of Miracles...Finding the Lost Sheep...

Monday, Apr 10, 2017                                   Onalaska, TX

" Last p-day we fished at a members house and all of us caught a couple of fish. No major ones though, but it was super fun. After that one of our investigators took us out to eat. It was this hole in the wall place named Jerry's. It was actually quite good.

For our week, we had quite a few little miracles. First, we found 2 more lost sheep families. One of them we contacted his wife during Hour of Power. At first she was hesitant, but we shared the Easter video and she opened right up and told us that her husband was a Mormon. We talked to her and then made an appointment to come back on Saturday. They were all there when we came back and they are super solid. Her husband was telling us the times he went out with the missionaries when he was in Houston. His wife and son are not members so we are excited about that.

We also had a lot of miracles finding people. We found a ton of people including one person I will tell you about. We decided to knock these two doors in the middle of no where. We knock on the first door and the lady told us to go away, so we moved onto the next door and a lady answered and we shared the Easter video with her. She went off on a rant about how she is so confused because there are so many churches and they all teach different things. We then taught her and we are going back to teach her again, in a couple of days. Then we taught another family but they ended up dropping us :(

We went to Sonic a little later and it happened to be 1/2 off cheese burgers and 1/2 off shakes so I got a cheesecake shake and cheeseburger for $3.45! I felt pretty accomplished. 

As far as service, we helped a bunch of members and even help put up a fence....We also cut a ton of poison ivy off a fence and then coated ourselves in oatmeal cause apparently it helps and then we made pinewood derby cars.

We also had zone conference so I got to see all my Kingwood friends. It was a great week.
Love,
Elder Saunders

Oatmeal bath to prevent Poison Ivy? Elders Esplin and Saunders Apr 2017

My trio companions, Elder Abbott and Elder Esplin with a fantastic view Apr 2017

Elder Esplin riding shotgun and Elder Abbott in the back... Apr 2017

Here we are enjoying the weather- Elders Abbott, Esplin and Saunders Apr 2017

Feeling the Weight of the World and Finding Peace in the Savior

Monday Apr 3, 2017                                              Onalaska, TX

" We are in a trio and things are going pretty good. The ward loves that there is three of us. We finally got the third bed and another dresser, so that solved a bunch of problems.

During our hour of power, we knocked down this street and this person comes out to get mail and we start talking to her. She is walking back to her house and her mom comes outside and we talk to her. Come to find out-she is a member that moved and never got her records sent up. Her whole family is there and all are members except for the daughter, so that is exciting! We met a couple more people during hour of power there, but the last person we were walking up to was on the phone. We were thinking she was going to shrug us off, but as we came closer she told the person on the phone she had to go. So we taught her and she seemed pretty interested, so that is exciting.

We taught a lot of people. A reminder this week before Easter is to go to lds.org and watch the 'Honoring the Prince of Peace" videos. Each day there is a new one. Jesus Christ is still our key to peace. Principles are Faith, God's word, Compassion, Gratitude, Prayer, Forgiveness, Repentance, and Hope. I hope you are able to watch them.

Sorry this is so short, we are going fishing today and so that is exciting!

Love,
Elder Saunders

We weren't too sure of this picture he sent until it was explained: ' We as missionaries feel the weight of the world. Only through the Savior can we feel Peace." 

Temple Trip, Transfers, and a Trio of Missionaries...

Tuesday, Mar 28, 2017                                                  Onalaska, TX

"On Tuesday Elder Woodhouse and I did service for a member and then we went to interview two of the sister's investigators  and their kids for baptism. We went to their house and they weren't home. They were at their uncles house so the sisters called the uncle again for their address. No one knows where the address is so they told us to go down here and down there and this and that. We got lost so many times. About an hour later we found the house and it's clear in the middle of no where, but at least we found it. The kids were there but we had no where to interview them. We had a thought and the sisters have a truck so.... I popped the gate of the truck down and did their interviews on the truck bed. Pretty awesome-the Lords work continues and then we went home. 

On Thursday we were able to go to the temple. That was way cool.

We also got transfer calls and Elder Woodhouse left to go to a new area. They gave him a Texan farewell complete with fireworks.... In return I got Elder Abbott and Elder Esplin.. Yep, we're in a trio! It was super unexpected! So much so that we only have two beds and two desks and one dresser. We had to call the Assistants to the President and they said they will bring the stuff in a week. So it's going to be an interesting week. It's been a real change, not bad at all, just different.

"I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of his temples." -President Thomas S Monson This is so true.

Love, 
Elder Saunders

Houston Temple Zone Pictures Mar 2017

Onlaska/Livingston District- Houston Temple  Mar 2017

Me and my awesome companion, Elder Woodhouse at the Houston Temple Mar 2017

My breakfast one morning. Two cowboys, top and bottom slices (cooked just enough to make them runny), then some fried ham, and then the last of my jalapeno sausage cut up. It was probs one of the best breakfasts of my life. 

I love Onalaska! Mar 2017

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