Elder Tellez 9-16-13: The Last Email From Mexico

Sooo......... I'm super excited to be home. It should all be fun. Everett is the executive secretary, wow!! I hope all is well. I feel like eating Taco Bell. We baptized this Friday. Ok, so I will see you all in 3 days. I will show you the photos then. I love you all........

Elder Tellez 9-9-13 email

How is everyone?? I'm good. We baptized this Friday. We will baptize again this Sunday, MY LAST BAPTISM!!!! I'm super excited. Why is my appointment with Pres. Banks sooooo late? Thank you for the garments Gramma!! Mexico City North!! Awesome, when does she leave?? As you can tell in the pictures, my companion and I have a lot of fun. We are still working hard. Well, time to go. I love you all.

Elder Tellez 9-1-13 email

I'm sorry that my letters have been a little negative. That was not my intention. The main theme of my latest letter was supposed to be hope. It is a normal thing in this life, some people accept and others reject but we must never lose hope because like Gramma said, Satan wants us to lose hope or faith, he wants us to be sad. We cannot let that happen. I am not sad about what is happening but I am working harder than ever to change things. One of my favorite scriptures is in Alma 8. I love how when Alma completely lost hope on the city of Ammonihah, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him to return and preach the gospel to those people. I look at that experience and try to avoid turning my back on these people and offer a humble pray in its place. I know that I'm not perfect, but I have been called of God to preach the gospel to everyone I meet. I am completely thankful for the support of everyone. We will be having a baptism this Friday........I am definitely prepared for my talk, I am super excited for it. 17 days left, haha. I was thinking, I will be getting off of the plane at around 2:10, after that I was thinking of Taco Bell or Chick-Fil-A, or both; and after go to the stake president. What time is my appointment with the stake president? I love you all. Time to go.

Elder Tellez 8-19-13 email

John comes home one month from today. Also, he is the last of the "Four Amigos" AKA "Liberty Ward Stripling Warriors" still on his mission. How is everybody? I'm good. We didn't baptize this week. We are planning on baptizing this week. My pant size is 32 or 34. Shirt size would be small. You could buy like one pair of church pants, 1 church shirt, 1 t-shirt, and a pair of jeans. Flip-flops would be nice. I am seriously going to leave almost everything here because almost everything is destroyed. Are you excited?? When does Everett come home? Ok, time to go. I love you.

Elder Escobar's last email!!! 8-12-13

Hey, last e-mail while on the mission!!!

 

It's so crazy, but just like you said ready or not here we come. Well from the phone call that I made to you on your birthday, you already know the beef of my week. You already know the about zone conference, exit interview, and what not. However, there are a few things that you don't know about. So yesterday I was pretty disappointed with the bishop of Avon Ward. So for a few weeks now bishop had been proposing that I speak or bear my testimony my last Sunday here. So, even in PEC yesterday he yet again brought up the fact that this was my last Sunday. However, in sacrament meeting he didn't even acknowledge me or call me up to bear my testimony. And it's not like he forgot, Elder Watson was even performing hand motions throughout the meeting just in case he had somehow forgotten. Okay....the only time that he actually told the congregation that I was leaving was in priesthood, not that it really mattered then. Geez, so much disrespect (I'll explain later.) After church we got a call from President Packard. Turns out that there is a Elder going home on Thursday and so Elder Watson will be taking his place (it's a Zone Leader area). Yep Elder Watson is leaving on Thursday and I will be in a trio with Elder Farr and Elder Boren (the other missionaries in the ward) .So for at least 2 weeks there won't be any missionaries in the Avon/Simsbury area. At transfers they could put Elders or Sisters in the area. So yea that's the exciting stuff that happened yesterday! This coming week, I will be with the Farmington Elders. So let's work and let's go! We went to the temple site yesterday and took some pictures (those pics are on this e-mail). Well I don't want to say too much, otherwise I might not have anything to talk about when you get here :P Just kidding.

 

It's sad to hear that Brother Pate passed away. I was thinking about him this past week. Looks like all 4 of us missionaries from Liberty Ward are getting replaced with the youth. That's good! And Gilberto is going to serve a mission, that's amazing!

 

It has truly been an amazing experience serving my fellow brothers and sisters that reside within the New England area. I am sure that throughout the years as I reflect on my time here, my heart will be filled with even more gratitude. This has been the best 2 years of my life as of right now. The following years should be even better than the last, as more challenges, knowledge, and opportunities come into the equation of life. D&C Section 4 isn't just for missionaries, it's for all of us. We all need to keep pressing forward with an eye single to the glory of God in all that we do. Where one mission ends, another begins. The Lord knows what He is doing and apparently it is time for me to return home. And in so doing I will have to take my discipleship as well as the knowledge and understanding that I have received in this sphere and adapt them into the next phase of life.

I will see you soon!

 

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Tellez 8-12-13 email

How are you all? I'm great. I'm sorry to hear about Brother Pate, I will be praying for his family. We baptized a girl named Margarita on Saturday, it was a great service. The other picture is of me with Elder Gontes, the missionary I trained with his greenie, Elder Child. I'm a grandpa!!!!!!!! The mission is soooo fun. We have another baptism planned for this Sunday. All is well in Zion. I love you all and I will be praying for Tio Juan as well.

Elder Escobar 7-22-13

Hello this is Elder Escobar.
Okay so for the schedule, I just need to make a few quick phone calls today and then I can relay the info to you as to where we need to find hotels. I don't quite know how to explain this past week, it was such a rush and it was so spiritual. So on Wednesday we went to Six Flags again, had a blast. But I found myself throughout the day thinking about what I might say the following at transfer meeting. However, as I reviewed the past experiences of my mission nothing seemed to really stick out to me. There was plenty that I could say but most of it just didn't feel right to me. So fast-forwarding to transfer meeting, I still didn't know what I was going to say when I walked up to speak at the pulpit. However, I treated the situation like an investigator. Before it was my turn to walk up to that pulpit I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help me and give me the words that I should utter. I specifically explained that this testimony wasn't for me, I wanted my words to lift, inspire, and possibly to be an answer to someone's prayer. As I finished my prayer, my time had now come. As I made my strides to the pulpit, I still didn't know what to say. But I felt confident and peaceful. Right when I got to the pulpit I took a quick, sweeping look of those that were in the chapel. I saw the missionaries that I've known for quite some time: Elder Shim, Elder Jensen, Elder Lefthand, Elder Soares, Sister Crane, Elder Stone, Elder Martinez, Elder Reid, etc. Then I opened my mouth and the words just came, the Spirit took over and bore the message of my soul. I cannot recount the message in it's entirety, but I know that it was one of the most powerful testimonies that I have ever given. I was at the pulpit for 8-10 minutes, but as I was up there my perception of view changed and a more eternal perspective manifested itself within that chapel or at least to me it did. After I ended my testimony, I made my way back to the pew where I was previously seating. In the duration of time that it took me to walk from the pulpit to my seat I noticed that the chapel was completely silent and that the missionaries were all smiling and staring at me (some were crying), this affirmed to me that I had indeed touched them in some way. Even when I sat down at the pew and looked ahead of me, I found that everyone was still staring at me, even President Packard, Sister Packard, President Haight (2nd Counselor in the Mission Presidency), and Elder Bennett of the Quorum of the Seventy. It wasn't until the next missionary began bearing his testimony that the attention was taken off of me. It was an interesting experience. At the conclusion of transfer meeting, missionaries came to bid me farewell and to thank me for my testimony. After that I along with all of the other departing missionaries went to the temple with President Packard, Sister Packard, and President Haight. Going to the temple alone is always a spiritual experience. In the temple President Haight pulled me to the side and spoke to me in whispers. He explained he thoroughly enjoyed my testimony and was in awe as to how I had captivated and held the whole entire audience. He expressed that other than me, he had only seen general authorities do this. He then went and expressed to me that I have a certain spirit that very select people have. He told me that I would go far in life and that my testimony truly did project what type of missionary I was and he thanked me for even coming on a mission. After my conversation with President Haight, I went to the closest chair to pray and offer up myself to the Lord. As I began to pray I heard President Haight talking to President Packard, my name was mentioned several times. After the temple we went to the mission home where President and Sister Packard hosted a feast for the departing missionaries. In the dinner Elder Young, Elder Thompson, Sister Caulder, Sister Crane, and some other Sisters served us. After dinner everyone but the departing missionaries were excused and President and Sister Packard spoke to us on a variety of topics: transitioning to regular life, careers, dating, marriage, raising families, etc. It was awesome to receive their take and counsel on such topics. I did not have my exit interview with President Packard but I did talk to him about August 17th.

So this is the plan for the 17th, President Packard is trying to make arrangements for you to be present at the groundbreaking that will be done by President Monson.However, if that doesn't happen you will still be able to view the groundbreaking via broadcast at the Avon Chapel. President Packard and Sister Packard will be present at the groundbreaking and after the groundbreaking President Packard will give me my exit interview and after that we will start our travels (: 

I am actually running out of time, probably got to go soon. But a lot has happened this last week, even though you only heard about 2 days out of the week. Anyways, sounds like a lot is happening. The ward sounds ever eager to have us back home in grand reunion. 

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Escobar 8-5-13

Hi!

This is my second to last e-mail that you will get from me being out here in the mission field. That seems super weird. I still don't think that it's actually hit me even though I have been making all of these preparations to go home. I've been giving some of my stuff away already to missionaries. I don't think that it will really hit me until it actually happens. By the way, I did get the full amount of msf for this month so that was a relief. So I didn't give my final testimony to Avon Ward, I'm reserving that for next Sunday. This past week we have still been striving to visit everyone on the ward list in preparation for the temple groundbreaking. And we've gone on splits everyday with the Young Men of the ward. No new investigators this week, but that's not our main focus anyways. This past week was interesting visiting with both active and less-active members, just hearing what they have to say (drama, oh boy). The adversary is making his presence known with some of the members (so much pride and selfishness) as the temple is about to begin being erected. I've noticed it just intensify these past few weeks. Yep we got the pride cycle that has been apparent throughout the history of the church going on. Anyways, on a happier note, this past week we received a phone call from the non-profit organization that we do serve at. They knew that we've been trying to get involved with the community more so they asked us if we would like to attend 2 events this week that would benefit charity organizations within the community. Of course, we said YES. So the first event is a golf tournament of which they are having us take part in. Yea, we will be playing golf this week with leaders in the community of Avon, Simsbury, Plainville, and Farmington. I think it's a pretty good proselyting opportunity. We can get a lot done with all 4 of those cities leaders in just 2 or 3 hours in the morning (I think that's pretty efficient, effective work). The second is a Community Cook-Off Fundraiser for a variety of charity services. We will be helping and assisting in setting up, serving people food, and taking down for the event. Ought to be fun. Also this week we have Zone Conference. So last week was busy and I'm pretty sure that this week will be busy too as our days fill up.

 Oh Mom, about the books for school question: It sounds good to me. So I'm pretty sure that we are going to have to watch the temple groundbreaking via broadcast at the chapel. Here's the address: 27 Lawton Rd (Canton, CT)  Telling Danny and everyone else that I say "Hi!" back (I am waving at the computer screen) and tell them that I love them too. Same for me, I can't wait to see you guys, I imagine that's when I'm going to break down. But yes I will keep working hard till the end.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Escobar 7-28-13

Hello,

Farkle!!! I like that game. I've played that on my mission. So what are Samuel's plans? Is he staying in the area for a little while? Things are getting better. I already know that this is going to be the 3-week haul of my life (as of now). I know it's going to be hard, I see it coming. It's the last and final push. This week we have been a little stunted in our efforts. We have had to join ourselves with the other elders in the ward. One of them hurt his ankle pretty bad (they don't have a car) so he can't ride a bike. So they have been with us all through the week. We've been taking care of him, but we have been visiting members this week especially the less-active members to inform them about the temple. We also went on splits with one of the young men in our ward. He seems pretty enthusiastic about going on a mission. The moment he was with us he wanted a missionary haircut. So I gave him one (he and his family liked it a lot). Maybe that's something that I could do when I get back home. Haircuts for $5, I am pretty good at it. I don't know if I told you but I cut my own hair and I cut all of the other missionaries hair. I don't charge them though, maybe I should. Just kidding. So it's looking like we might have to watch the temple groundbreaking at the Avon chapel (things aren't going quite as expected). Sounds like this week has been fairly eventful for all of you. I still haven't heard much about Danny though. So Taylor and McKenna finally tied the knot. So are either of them working? I imagine the reception was nice. Was it held at the Community Center that is in the Dayton Library?

Well Mom I kind of agree on the fact, that I hope that they give me all of this month's msf. If they don't I might have to call and plead my case haha. I read Alma 14 recently and I felt like I could really relate to the whole chapter, even though I'm not quite in the same situation and circumstances that they were placed in. Hopefully the end of my mission does turn out to be somewhat like Alma and Amulek. I have heard from Megan Loveland a little bit. I last heard from her 2 weeks ago. I'm still trying to configure how I'm going to send the rest of my stuff home. I do have a plan though, hopefully it goes through. We all have a bunch of stuff to do and don't have much time, but that's life. I will be calling Sister Needham to see if we're are still good to stay at her place in Worcester. And yes keep me updated on the hotel situation. I love all of you and hope that you have a great week.

Sincerely,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Tellez 8-5-13 email

How are ya?? I'm good. Things are going great over here. My companion and I are having the time of our lives and we are going to baptize like crazy!!!! Today we went to the beach to play some soccer, it was fun. The picture of me with the ears is when I was in the house of some converts, it was pretty funny. Can I sleep in the washer and dryer room or the living room at least? Haha. So, I am now in my last transfer and Elder Montano will be my last companion here in Tuxpan. We have big plans this transfer. So, life is great. I hope that everyone is well. I love you all.

Elder Tellez 7-29-13 email

Hello everybody How are you all doing? I'm good. Sooooo, this past week there were some special transfers. Elder Gontes went to a different area and my new companion is Elder Montano. He is cool. He is from El Salvador. We baptized a couple this week, Armando and Miriam. I'm soooo happy. Can I sleep in the little room by the other bathroom? I'm still completely focussed on my mission, don't worry, haha. Obviously, I'm excited, who wouldn't be, haha. But for this month and a half, I will be working and giving it my all. We are going to baptize a lady this week. It is super hot right now. Everyone is getting married!!!! I'm next!!!! HAHA!!!! Time to go. I love you all.

Elder Waddell is home!!

Elder Tellez 7-22-13 email

How is everyone doing? I am doing good. Quick question, who is sleeping in that room all the way in the back? We didn't baptize this week. It has been a while since we have baptized. Thank you for the pictures. Tell Trinity and Sam that I said hi, and also Regan and the twins. Time is one of the things that we can't control and it is running out. I get sadder and sadder every day and yet anxious to start a completely new life style. Some of the many things that I have obtained in this life-changing experience are: knowledge, more common sense, a strong and firm testimony of the Gospel, helpful study habits that will help me school and work, useful house-keeping skills, and much more. I think that the only thing that I have lost is weight. I can honestly say that the mission has converted me is so many ways. I understand better the commandments of God. There is soooo much more that I have yet to learn in what is left of my mission and in the transcourse of my life. You are such a supporting mother, thank you. you have been with me every step of the way. One couldn't ask for a better mother. I think about every single one of you all of the time. I know that the many miracles the I have wittnessed and performed are not from my own strength but from God. I love this work, it is the Lord's work. I love you all. Time to go.

Elder Waddell's last email 7-15-13

hola mi mami, te extrano bastante! I figured we'd be speaking and no I'm alright haha I'm legitimately in a daze right now. I don't really know what or how to say anything.

Best. 2 Years. Ever. 

I really can't describe my emotions you'll have to read Alma 26

Thanks for all the prayers. I really felt them. The Lord has shown me many of his tender mercies. It's crazy when you're ability to feel his love expands. I really feel like I have come to know my master so much more. in Corinthians Paul says "For now we see through glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known" 

God loves us. 

I love you mom.

2 John 1:12

Elder Escobar 7-15-13

Hi!

I'm doing well. Today is going to be a hectic! It's transfer week. Both Elder Watson and I are staying in the area. However, there's a catch. We will be split off he and I will both have mini-missionaries this whole transfer, so there will technically be 6 missionaries in Avon Ward. We will be preparing the way for the ground breaking of the Hartford Temple. The date of the groundbreaking was announced and it will take place on August 17th! Go figure! It will start at 11am. So I kind of need to talk to President about that because I kind of want to be present at that event as I am sure that you do too. I'm still trying to work on finding a place to stay in Newport, Rhode Island. I need to get ahold of the missionaries who are serving down there and work through them. I think that we might have to get a hotel/motel in New York, I'll keep you updated. I am conversing back and forth with (Sister) Erika Rivera who lives there and wants to show us around. We do have a place to stay in Worcester though. This week was successful, our Meet the Missionaries event for Avon and Simsbury went very well. We will be showing this event again for Farmington and Plainville soon.

So this week is going to be crazy, okay I take that back. This whole month is going to be crazy! But this week in particular is going to be interesting. Today and tomorrow we will be meeting with members trying to promote the Meet the Missionaries event and have them invite their friends. Wednesday, we will be hitting Six Flags. I think that there is only one ride that might jeopardize my safety or would be considered tempting fate is 'Goliath'. So I won't ride it this go round, but when we as a family go to Six Flags, I'm going to ride it. Thursday is transfer meeting, where I will be giving my farewell testimony to the mission (there might be tears, we'll see) and I will be spending the rest of the day (temple, interview, dinner, and other discussions) with President Packard, his family, and all of the other departing missionaries. However, do to the lack of room and beds in the mission home, I will have to drive back to Connecticut around 10pm or 11pm. Yeah! Driving at night is fun! I'm going to be dead tired...ugh, but it's all good.

So Trinity and Samuel will be done on Thursday...wow. And I only have 4 weeks...wow. What happened? I don't even know where to start or know how to explain the way these past 2 years have come and gone. But anyways, it sounds like Aaron was pretty high on the sea base pedestal, being 1st mate and all. Those lucky ducklings who are currently in the scouting program, I never got to do anything like that (: Well it seems like everything is somewhat back to normal. Dad is back to work. Aaron is at camp being a leader/teacher. Wait what is Danny doing in all of this? Is he doing a camp or anything? Aw man, I'm going to miss out on the gong show ): The pain in my toe has gone down a little bit but it still hurts if placed in the wrong position.

Yes, I won't play sports or any other related activities /: And I will make sure to 'sttay strong, eat good, read some books, love the people, stay close to the Lord, work with all my might, mind and strength. And forget yourself these last weeks of my mission and work hard.' I will especially make sure to 'read some books' because it is from this act that I gain further knowledge and it was probably the best advice that Ignacio gave to the orphans in Nacho Libre. Anyways, work hard, play hard. Have fun and be safe. I'll see all of you soon.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

PS I have plenty of pics to send you but the computer's not cooperating, sorry.

Elder Tellez 7-15-13 email

I can't believe that Trinity is coming home this week!! The time is going by sooooo fast. Things have been going good over here. We didn't baptize this week either. We still have the goal of baptizing 15 this month when we only have 2 weeks left, haha. I have faith that it will all happen. I just need to work super hard. I am super excited to return home, just saying, haha. I took some pictures this week but I forgot my camera, haha. Anything else new in the world up there? The weather is nice over here, not too hot but not too cold. My converts from Martinez de la Torre are going to come visit me before I end. Are you going to prepare that back bedroom for me???? I am super healthy and cool. Time for me to go. I love you all.

Elder Escobar 7-8-13

Hello! Good afternoon!

This has been a very eventful week! 4th of July was crazy. Our whole district went to New Britain to watch a crazy firework show. Afterwards, we went to Denny's. It was about 12:45am when we finally got our food and we got home at 1:50am. It was super fun.

Throughout the week Elder Watson and I have been getting techy and have been constructing Google Drives, Calendars, and Spreadsheets for our ward (so that we can relay info better). Thank you yet again for the pics, I will be creating my power-point presentation shortly.

I have some sad news though. On Sunday, Gloria and Ian dropped us. It had to happen, neither of them disagree with anything that we've taught them and they told us that they are eternally grateful for us and all of the members in Avon Ward. The reason why they dropped us is because Gloria is about to engage her ex-husband in court for full custody of Ian. And apparently, her ex doesn't like the fact that Ian has been investigating the church. So she doesn't want that to hurt her case and cause her to lose custody. So we were dropped. We still have a good relationship with her and Ian, but we just need to give them a little space till this whole ordeal is over. I hope that court doesn't take too long, I don't want them to lose their fire and testimonies. Gloria and Ian are in good hands though, there are several members that live right across from them in the apartment complex.

We've noticed that in the location where the Hartford Temple will be built that there have moving trucks and demolition crews on the site. So hopefully, everything is still on schedule for the groundbreaking in August (:

Church on Sunday was good. We taught the Gospel Principles class. The topic was Scriptures, but we went into detail in talking about studying the scriptures by showing the class how we study everyday. It went well.

Yesterday just as you know, we were at Six Flags. Jeff Collins Jr., a Young Single Adult in the ward took us. He's really cool. My MSF card wasn't working in Six Flags so I had to resort to my Debit, sorry. We had a blast though. We rode Goliath (it's not a ride for the faint of heart) 6 times. Right after we got off the last time we rode it, 2 other missionaries that were waiting in line got on. And as the ride commenced it stalled in the middle of the ride. So they were stuck on the ride for 30 minutes until a maintenance crew escorted them off. Other than that we had no problems. I got a pretty good tan.

This morning was Zone Meeting and another missionary and I were asked to bear our testimonies since we will be leaving this coming transfer. It was the beginning of who knows how many farewell testimonies I will give in the coming weeks. It felt so weird! I don't like it. Anyways, everyone thanked me and said that I will be missed. I think this was one of the first times that I actually realized that I will really be gone soon. Crazy!!! August is pretty much here, ahhhhhhhhhh!

Mom you are kicking it in high gear, cleaning the pantry and garage pretty much by yourself. And by all means get Danny away from the TV and computer. It's good that Dad and Aaron are having a good time at Sea Base. It's good that 'The Other Side of Heaven' is one of Danny's favorite movies. I would have never imagined that. Anyways, transfer texts are this Saturday. Next P-Day we will be going to Six Flags, Jeff wanted to go again. We are getting some other missionaries to go. Hope you all have a great week. I love each and every single one of you. See you soon.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Tellez 7-9-13 email

How are you? I'm good. We didn't baptize this week. We are definitely going to baptize this week. I was sick this week with a cold. Now I'm better. The weather has been really strange lately hot at time and cold sometimes. Missionary work is growing really fast. Time to go. I love you all. Until next week.

Elder Waddell 7-8-13

hello hello! 

I'm doing just fantastic. It's been a good week. Lots of good stuff happened. 

Girls camp seems to be a super powerful testimony builder. boy scout camp was never like that...... haha

Dad in charge of fireworks? how did that work out? 

oooh yeah I'll probably want to move back. But I'll just keep the island breeze in my mind to convince myself to stick around.

I've kind of been thinking about coming up here next summer to work. from Hawaii it would be a pretty cheap flight. We could even all meet up there before I work
and I could show you around haha.

The trip to Kodiak was awesome. It is beautiful there. It reminded me a lot of Lanai... well the pretty parts of Lanai. We went to surfers beach and stuff like that

If it wasn't so expensive and secluded it seems like a pretty nice place to live. Beautiful. We taught a lof of Filipinos and I was able to teach a few Spanish people
and ate some pupusas. It was awesome. 

I haven't had to fly as much as some people but I've boarded a plane, counting return flights and from the mtc, about.... 10 times. so that's been pretty cool.

part of the plane caught fire this trip to kodiak haha it was just like a heater malfunction. Good thing we were on board... ha. 

Oh and I actually had a full missionary day on a bike. so that was a new experience. 

the mission has been more than I ever imagined. It means more to me than anything so far.

Everyone should do it! 

love you tons!

Elder Waddell

Elder Escobar 7-1-13

Hello!

First of all, I have to say that I laughed at the experience that Danny had with the car window. Now don't misunderstand, I wasn't laughing at it because Danny was in pain. I laughed because I could just see it happening in my mind and it seems like something that would happen to Danny. That's why I thought it was pretty funny! However, I don't think that it's funny that he got hurt. I am doing fairly well this morning. I actually don't have very much to say for this past week. This past week was filled with service as we along with other missionaries and members of the ward helped a charitable organization 'Gifts of Love' move from there previous location. We had 4 day dedicated to the move. The organization has had a great connection with our ward for years and the organization has made a great impact in Avon and in the surrounding areas, including Hartford. We knew that it would be great publicity for the church and especially for the temple which will be coming up. Our ward mission leader made sure that he took plenty of pics of the missionaries to put in the newspaper (:Also on July 13, we the Avon & Farmington Elders are having a 'Meet the Missionaries' Night for both members and non-members. And I was wondering if you could send me some pics of our family at different locations doing different things, so that I could put together a small slideshow presentation. It ought to be a good event, we just want people to see that we're normal people too haha. Sorry for putting that on your never-ending list of things to do. My foot has been healing up very well. The swelling is gone, but my big toe on my right foot is still just a little tender when I move it. Things are going well, stuff is actually happening in our Ward Council and PEC meetings now. We didn't get fed very well this past week and at PEC the ward mission leader acknowledged that and the Bishopric made an announcement in sacrament meeting to remember to feed the missionaries. Apparently, people listened because the majority of our calendar for July is filled now. The Bishopric told us that the members probably were getting too involved within their own lives especially since this past month with all of the events that have been happening and that they probably supposed that we were being fed by someone. We are still teaching Gloria and Ian, still haven't pinpointed an actual date though, it will probably be at the 11th hour of my mission. This week we had interviews with President Packard this week, he made sure that I was squared away for school and for you guys coming to pick me up.  He read 2nd Timothy 4:6-7 and said 'this is you'. He then encouraged me to keep going, to finish strong. A lot was said during the interview, I also made mention to him that I was about to keep and fulfill a promise that I made to him in my first interview with him. Overall, this week was good; full of meetings and service.
I found out that Sophia Gawu is home as well, she finished her mission and is back in Beaumont, Texas. She was telling me that she feels so out of place being back home, especially since her family moved while she was out on her mission.

So Aaron is done with Drum Major Camp, I will have to see his skills at the football games. Yes, Dad is finally on the day time shift. Now we can have FHE consistently. So President Rascon is going to Florida for Sea Base. So does all of Sea Base take place in Florida or just part of it?

Next Youth Conference is at the Sacred Grove? Are they going during the Hill Cumorah Pagaent? Sign me up! 

So Bishop was reading letters from the Mission Presidents? Like from all of our Mission Presidents? What did these letters consist of? I do imagine the members of Liberty Ward are restless upon our return. Trinity and Samuel will be home in 21 days, wow...I don't have anything else to say, I don't know what to say. Anyways, I hope each and every single one of you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Tellez 7-1-13 email

We had an awesome baptismal service yesterday. We baptized the wife of Antonio the man we baptized two weeks ago. Everything is fine here. The finish line is drawing nearer. We are going to baptize a married couple this week. I love the mission but it is soooo exhausting. Congradulations on your calling!! Does Bianca have a calling?? Time for me to fly. I love you all.

Elder Tellez 6-24-13 email

How is everyone? I'm good. Soooo, the tropical storm, haha, that was fun. We live on a hill so nothing happened. Most of our area was flooded. I figured out that it was a tropical storm while it had already started raining. We just worked and visited people. It was just a lot of rain and not too much wind. The same thing happened last year, we were working through the rain and after it all passed, they told us that it was a tropical storm. So, one of my old companions, Elder Carmona has been assistent to the president since February (he was my companion at the time). Now one of my other ex companions, Elder Lee is now his companion as the other assistant. A brother in our ward installed our AC unit, ahhhhhh, it is paradise!!!! Time for me to go. I love you all.....

Elder Everett Escobar  03/24/2013

'The New England Missionary'
I stand here with a purpose.
I didn't used to be this confident and determined.
I have changed.
I have become selfless and devoted.
I have resided here for a time.
I've stood on vast areas of greenery, of lush foliage, and of stone.
I have seen the rising sun.
I have walked these many hills.
And have stopped at many doors.
I have trudged through knee deep snow.
I have withstood winter's blasts.
I have not done these things in vain,
I have done them with a purpose.
Pouring out my soul upon this land and tho this people,
I have overexerted myself.
I have given my all.
I am tired, but I move on.
I have consecrated my time and efforts to the One who basks in glory.
He is my Father and He is your Father.
It is this Father who gives us a true sense of belonging, a purpose.
And it is He that shows us the meaning of life through His pure and infinite love.
And through His love I am able to withstand persecution, pain, and sorrow.
Through His love, I can do all things.
Who am I?
I am a missionary, callled and set apart to do the will of the Father.
I am a child of the Father.
We are all children of God.
We are of a true, divine, royal heritage and we are striving to return back to Him.
This is the message that is in my heart and this is the message that I share.
I take part in showing others their true identity, their purpose.
I bring happiness to those that I come in contact with.
This is my purpose, this is the righteous cause that I will forever stand by.
This is my joy.
Others have gone before me and I have gone before others.
I have fought a good fight and I will continue on my journey back to the Father.
The foundation of which I stand upon is sacred to me.
I love my mission.
I am forever changed.

-Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Everett Escobar  06/24/2013

Hello,

In like manner this week has just ridiculously zoomed on by. Everyday reminds me that my days are short (and I don't know if I like that idea.) Anyways, this week I spent a good part of our weekday mornings fixing the two bikes that we have. We are currently out of miles, so we need to use our bikes (: So the bikes are all set and in working condition now. We have lots of biking to do!

Yes I do hope that this family does get baptized before I go, that would be sweet. They still don't have a baptismal date yet but we will be meeting with them this week.

This week I started re-reading the Book of Mormon, I am currently in Enos. I want to finish the Book of Mormon and possibly read it again before I go home. By the way, you never answer my question; when I asked you if it would be alright if I went with you to seminary.

By the way, I saved you bukoos of dinero on my stuff that I sent home. I was going to send my stuff in flat rate boxes but I found a better way. Since the majority of my stuff that I was sending home was media, I was able to classify it as media mail = discounted price. So instead of using the flat rate boxes I grabbed my stuff and put it in a big box. All in all, the box weighs 51lbs 4oz which at first would have cost $256.00 but with the media mail discount the price became $26. So yes I saved you BUCKOOs of dinero (: However, you might want Aaron or Dad to pick the box up and bring it into the house, because it's a little heavy haha. So I didn't procrastinate, I sent it on Friday. So for our flight back home are we allowed to have 2 carry-ons? And the 2 other bags what is the weight limit? Is it 50lbs? Let me know so that I can plan ahead. And you still didn't tell me if you wanted to do anything while we are in New England /:

By the way, for the Hartford temple the planned ground breaking is set for August 18th, but that may change. They still have to demolish a building that is currently on the land, President Monson will be here for the ground breaking. That would be awesome if we could attend. Has Bishop Thomas said anything about me speaking in church the following Sundays that I'll be back?

You'll be happy to hear that I'm back to not playing sports. However, I only came back to this conclusion because of another injure (yes I am having the greatest luck at the end of my mission) haha (: I didn't get hurt playing basketball. I was barefoot and I was taking one of the bikes down to the basement to fix it up. On the way down the stairs, I slipped and lost control of the bike. I got my big toe caught in the chain and I fell down the remaining steps. I must say that some words did slip out of my mouth as blood was profusely spewing out of my toe. I was so angry, because I had been trying to be cautious. I stopped the bleeding at looked at my wounds of war, I had a few gashes in my toe (not deep enough for stitches though), part of my toe nail had been sliced off, and about half of my foot was bruised. So I cleaned everything up, made good use of the Neosporin, and put a ziploc bag on my foot to set it in ice cold water. After that I went right back to fixing up the bikes again.

Since then my toe isn't as swollen and my toe isn't infected, but it's still very sensitive. So for the past few days I've walked with a slight limp and as you'd guess members noticed and asked me about it. I guess it didn't pull on their heart strings enough because only one family signed up on our dinner calendar for this week. However, they signed up for random days next month. Why couldn't anyone sign up for this week? I don't know. That 2 or 3 weeks without that many meals, but next month looks promising, the Ward Mission Leader realized how few dinners we had and started getting on member's cases.

Well that Book of Mormon Quest Youth Conference sounded amazing. I wish that I could have seen it. You didn't send any pics and I don't see any changes on the Stripling Warriors blog, but I know you're busy. Hopefully Drum Major Camp is fun for Aaron and that Sea Base Camp is fun for him and Dad.

The world-wide training was cool, I wasn't surprised by anything that was said because it has alrighty been initiated within our mission. Previous to this world-wide training our mission was the only mission that had developed a massive internet database that would make it easier for people on the internet to be referred to mormon.org and other blogs that could answer their questions and refer the user to missionaries. Our mission released a pilot run of the database for a space of time prior to the world-wide training, so that the general authorities could determine whether it would be well-worth the change to digital proselyting (such as facebook and other databases). And as you'd guess it was indeed worth it, many baptisms have come from it especially within the urban areas of our mission. We were the fore-running mission in this development and similar programs to ours will be given to missions throughout the world. There are currently 6-8 missionaries that have been called as 'digital missionaries' (computer geniuses). They are in charge of running and making changes to this database on a day to day basis. I didn't tell you this previous to the world-wide training because it was semi-confidential at the time. By the way, I haven't knocked on a single door for 1 year, other than trying contact less active members and yes knocking on doors can be dangerous.

At one of the dinners that we had this past week I did a little bit of networking with a member that was there, who is a healthcare administrator at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and he said that he can hook me up with another administrator who is lds and is in Houston. We have a few more dinners with the family so I will be able to talk to him a little bit more about the matter. Dad you would have been proud of me haha.

Have you been in good contact with the Stones? You should send the missionaries over there, maybe the Sisters. People seem to be more open to them in first contact.

That stinks that Aunt Jean broke her foot, hopefully she gets better soon.

I wonder when the Spanish Branch will be approved, hmmm.

Anyways, I love you all. Hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

PS I need to get some new socks and garments sometime soon, so could I use my debit card for that? No pics sorry. I will take some this week.

Elder Everett Escobar  06/16/2013

Well hey!

I hope that you all had an awesome Father's Day celebration! I feel like I just e-mailed you guys the other day and here I am again. But anyways, this week has just gone by. This week, I've been viewed as the handy-man. I've been fixing things left and right. I fixed our dryer (The plug had apparently burnt out and stopped working, so I grabbed a plug from a dryer that someone had thrown away and switched them out. Now the dryer works.), a blow-up mattress (There was a hole in it. So I came up with the idea of sealing the hole with plastic wrap and a lighter. I folded the plastic wrap tightly, stuck it on the mattress and took a lighter to it. After some time of heating the plastic it melted and bonded with the fabric of the mattress, which became a perfect seal for the hole.), and a pair of Reebok shoes (So we were doing service and someone told us to throw away a pair of high-top Reebok Classics. So like the frugal person that I am haha, I asked if I could have them instead. The shoes weren't beat up or old, they were just really dirty. And I was pretty sure that I could clean them up and make them look new again. So I took that challenge and cleaned them up and they turned out quite nicely.) I have pics of some of these things that will be attached to an e-mail.
This past week we aided and assisted the members in going into greater detail with their member missionary plans and setting specific goals. We drove the 'troublemaker' missionary to Providence, Rhode Island to be picked up by the APs to take him to the airport. Everything has been running more smoothly now. Not to dog on him but it's the truth. We had an awesome lesson with Gloria and Ian, we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We committed them to baptism and praying about a specific date for baptism. We are trying to gain more investigators as well. I talked with a member from Worcester, Liz Needham on the phone this past week. She called me (I don't no how she got my number, I guess the missionaries gave it to her) and opened up her home to us for when we tour the mission in August, so we would have a place to stay. She told me to stay in touch with her and to let her know what our schedule will be like when we have a little vacation.
I also received my 'Gold Plates' in the mail this week. Gold Plates are gold-colored documents that are sent to missionaries who will soon be departing. In the documents you write certain things about your areas, companions, investigators, testimony, and you write a final letter to the mission president and his wife. It's about 5 or 6 pages long. I haven't started it yet, we haven't been home that much and haven't had time for me to start it. So I should probably get it done and out of the way because I will need to send it back to the mission office soon. Ugh, I have so much stuff to write and plan, plus my regular proselyting stuff. But it's all fun though (: So you didn't tell me what you guys wanted to do while we are up here? How do you expect me to plan? And this vacation isn't just about me. 

I forgot to tell you that I played basketball this week. The temptation was too great! But I didn't feel any discomfort in my arm and I think that I played even better than I did before I hyper-extended my arm. I was surprised. This whole entire time I've been done a lot of good stretches in the mornings. By the way, all of the members are talking about the NBA Finals and how close the games are. You better be rootin' for the Spurs!

I don't think that I've gotten 'trunky' quite yet. I'm still in the game. As a matter of fact, I am trying to get everything done and out of the way just so that I can solely proselyte and finish strong. I don't really want any of this 'trunky' monkey business.

On a side note, I'm interested in being an attorney now. I know, I keep flipping back and forth. This past month it seems like everybody has just brought up that profession and put it in the spotlight and it's starting to peak my interest.

Answering your question, I do miss southern women. But do southern women miss me? That's my responding question (: I've been getting my southern draw back a little bit, because we work really closely with the Farmington Elders, Elder Farr and Elder Boren. And Elder Boren is a devote country boy and he has definitely been rubbin' off on me.

What Danny had a sleep over?! Isn't he too young for that?...or maybe I'm just old. I hope Dad passes that swim test. Does Aaron have to take the test too? Has Dad been losing weight like the doc told him?

I will be sending my boxes of stuff home this week. So expect 4 boxes to be at our house sometime. Alright so I hope you guys have a great week.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Everett Escobar 06/09/2013

 Hi,

Six Flags was awesome! We had a blast and we are planning another trip for later this month, put that season pass to work and get the most out of it! 

Things have calmed down a little bit, but there always seems to be something opposing each and every single one of us. As of right now there is one missionary in our district who is causing quite a bit of trouble and hindering the work, but he goes home in 4 days so that solves the problem. Only 4 more days... Then we can breathe and have peace. Anyways, this week we did service at a local food pantry, 'Gifts of Love' which was good. We serve there 3 times a week for 3 hours. We have been teaching our overwhelmingly solid investigators Gloria and Ian. They are so prepared and ready to get baptized it's ridiculous. The next lesson that we will be having with them we will be setting a baptismal date for both of them. They're amazing and they are pretty much already a part of our ward. It's amazing to see all of this happen just in 2 weeks! It's a privilege to just behold something like this happen. They are just soaking everything in. We have also been working with members in trying to help them develop a family missionary plan. So overall this week was good. I expect the work to pick up even more near the end of next week, we'll be able to accomplish a lot more.

So why is Dad, Aaron, and Danny breaking in the upstairs for me? And that's hilariously-gross that all three of them pretty much had a gas bath up there. Well it's good to hear that the Spanish Branch is back on track and as expected there are a lot of changes that have and will be made because of that. These next 2 months are going to be crazy for all of us, but it will work out and we'll meet back up with each other for the first time in 2 years. And about the boxes, no I do not have the reimbursement money anymore. I have 5 large flat-rate boxes packed and they each cost like $17,  however I'm going to try and see if I can get the boxes discounted because all of it is literature and media. So I don't know what the total cost will be in the end. But without the discount it will be like $85 or somewhere around there. I came up with a 20-week exercise regimen (I've been putting it together for almost 2 transfers now) but I'm done now. I will show it to you in August and hopefully it will help Dad as well in his journey through weight-loss. Actually I don't hope that it will help, I know that it will help. I'm pretty sure that he could do it. I'm going to start it when I get home as well. Hope you guys have a great week and that you keep progressing like investigators to the church should haha.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

PS You better let Danny swim all summer! Plus, you never know, he might be the next Michael Phelps. Probably not, but you never know.

Elder Everett Escobar  06/02/2013

Hey!

I'm am doing better. I have gotten more sleep. This week has been great! I forgot to tell you last week that we were going to have the baptism. Well the baptism was held this past Saturday for Julianne Good (10). And she and her mother were both confirmed by Elder Watson and I on Sunday. It was a great experience. We also gained 3 new solid-investigators. It's a golden family, I don't think that they can get any golder than what they are now. They are so prepared and they are just embracing the gospel. We have only had 1 lesson with them, but they have attended every single church meeting and activity throughout the week. We talked with them yesterday and asked them how church was. They said that they had a great time and that they learned more in 3 hours than they had at any other particular church and that the doctrine is solid and understandable and that everything makes sense. They said that they felt blessed to have come across members of this church and to have just came across the church in general. They also mentioned that they enjoyed the confirmation of Mary and Julianne Good and that they would like to have this ordinance done for them in their lives. So next time we meet with them, should we setup a baptismal date? Yea, I think so.

This past week we found out who would be transferred. Found out that neither I or Elder Watson are being transferred, so he will most likely kill me. President Packard called me before and after he organized transfers. The first time he called, he asked me what I thought should happen in the zone that I'm currently in (Which was interesting to me, since I'm not in any leadership position.).  And I just replied, "President Packard, I don't have any problems with it. Then President Packard called me up before he was going to send transfers out to the mission and talked to me again. He told me that he knew that I had gone through a lot in the short time that I had been here and he said that he feels like I am beginning to realize why I am in this area (Which is true, I realize why I'm here more and more with each passing day.) He then told me that Elder Watson and I will stay together. He then mentioned that he would talk to me more on the subject a little later and that he would speak with me in a more in-depth manner in my last interview with him. Haha welcome to my crazy missionary life! It's so funny, I love it. I actually have to talk with him in a more in-depth manner as well sometime, it will probably be in my last interview though. So yea, I have a lot to tell you as well when I go home, but you probably already knew that.

Anyways, you should know that things are going well. I have had peace all through this week ((((: Yea. I'm still expecting something else to happen though, things will only be in this mode for so long till something happens. That's the way it always works. Oh, I forgot to tell you this, this past Sunday our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Love, got up and bore his testimony about missionary work. At the end he expressed to the ward that we have some extraordinary missionaries and that they are doing a mighty fine work. Then he said (I'll say that he prophesied), "I expect all of those empty chairs in the over-flow to be full by the end of this year." He then said the ward is doing well in helping the missionaries, but that they still need to pick up some more of the slack. I have to say say that I was impressed, we had at least 50 chairs in the overflow that were empty when he said that. But I know that it can happen, this ward can probably have at least 1 baptism a week if all of the members were to wrap their minds around missionary work. When Brother Love said that in sacrament meeting, my eyes bugged out and I imagine that the biggest smile just came across my face as well. I know it can happen and I want it to happen. So with only 1 1/2 transfers left on my mission, it's all or nothing. As you probably guessed I'm picking, 'all'. Haha

Just let all of you know my summer fun is about to start, so don't get jealous when I say this. Today we are going to take a tour of ESPN Studios which is legit. However, on Wednesday we got permission to go to Six Flags: New England, some members are taking us. How sweet is that?! Yes, Aaron and Danny are probably complaining right now, I'm sorry. But normally I don't get to do anything like this so it's cool.

Well from you e-mail Mom, it sounds like you got some wise words of counsel from Bishop. It's good to keep hearing that the boys are still not only involved in extracurricular activities, but are also involved in missionary work. Graduation 2013?! Geez I felt young till you brought that up haha, it's crazy. It doesn't even feel like 3 years have gone by. Hey this thought came to mind as I was reading your e-mail. Would it be alright if I were to go to seminary with you, I think that would be legit. And I would start off my day studying the scriptures and helping you and the youth. That would be cool, I guess that I would kind of in a sense be your 'assistant'. I don't know, you can do whatever you want with me. What are your thoughts on that?

By the way, I've heard of Elder Wetkisser (if that's how you spell it) but I don't believe that I've actually met him, the name rings a bell though. And also greenies training greenies isn't all that rare up here, but it's always been interesting to me. That's a lot of faith and trust to be putting in new missionaries. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed my long letter of random excitement haha. I love and prayer for all of you as well. Hope you have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escoba

Elder Everett Escobar  05/19/2013

Hey!!!

I understood it for the most part. Connecticut is good. Elder Watson is doing well, as a matter of fact, it's his birthday today. So to celebrate a member is taking us to Cheesecake Factory for lunch (: We'll probably be playing b-ball today, I going to take it a little easy though. I really don't want to get injured before I go home, that would stink. We are getting fed dinner pretty much everyday, but lunch has been hard because we seem to always be on the run. So you've probably seen transactions for fast food. And it stinks because we pretty much don't have anything in our apartment, just oatmeal and condiments. Neither my companion or I have any money (I have just a little bit but that's been set aside for the packages that I will be sending home sometime) and to top it off our monthly msf is going to coming late next month. Egh! It's so annoying not having a steady income of some sort cause you feel somewhat stuck at times. However, I have been enjoying my time here in Connecticut. Most of the members here are just loaded, it's beyond ridiculous and there are quite a few members here that are dentists. We had stake conference yesterday in which we had a live broadcast meeting from Salt Lake City, where President Packer, Elder L. Tom Perry, and a few other speakers spoke to the congregation about temples, missionary work, and strengthening families. It was nice, everyone is excited for the Hartford Temple. The building process of the temple will most likely start in June or July.

Mom...come on, you know that I forgive you about the blog. It's not like I'm going to get mad or upset and hulk smash everything haha. Sounds like you had a pretty full week. You can probably guess what our week was full of SERVICE, of course to the members. 

It's good that the Elders finally got a car. We heard that our car might be getting stripped from us and will be given to the new Sisters coming in. I don't like the idea because we have a fairly large area and it is going to take a blow to the work here if we are on bikes, we won't be able to do anything (comparably speaking). A lot of changes are about to happen yet again this transfer, because 18 new Sisters and 1 Elder is coming into the mission. So there is probably going to be 6 or 7 new areas being added to the mission. There have been a lot of rumors going around the mission. For some reason or another some missionaries, including our Zone Leaders, seem convinced that I'm getting transferred this transfer in which I will be made an Assistant to the President. I highly doubt it though, come on, my last transfer getting made AP and leaving right after that, it seems silly and ridiculous to me. I've had a lot of people predict and tell me that I will or should be AP throughout my mission but I'm completely fine and happy where I'm at. I find joy in being a proselyting missionary and that's enough for me at the time being. Plus I don't know how much more tired I can get before I might snap, just kidding. But I am super tired.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Everett Escobar  05/06/2013

Good morning!

It is a beautiful day in Worcester, Mass. It has been a beautiful week. Things are starting to pick up quite a bit in the Worcester 1st Ward. This past week Elder DeLong and I have been striving to reach out to those that have been on the minds of the auxiliary leaders in the ward and trying to get in contact with referrals that we had received from members in the ward. We were successful in our endeavors and have gained some new investigators. Yesterday was a blast! The whole ward was fasting for a strengthening in the ward and when we got to church we saw a large amount of members in attendance (a lot of the members that we had contacted that week showed up to church, there were several non-members at church also), fast & testimony meeting was amazing (almost everyone talked about missionary work), and there seemed to be a sense of unity throughout the entire 3 hour block of church and even afterwards too. Things look bright and the work is picking up. After church we had a break-the-fast linger longer, it was Cinco de Mayo themed. It was so good, it seemed more like a ward activity than a linger longer. There were decorations, pretty much the whole nine-yards. Throughout this week we have been given many opportunities to serve others. We helped in a American Red Cross Blood Drive, we help a lot of people in the cleaning up of their yards, we assisted in a Stake-wide Relief Society Conference (Sister Evans was there, but I didn't see her. We took care of kids, we got permission of course, and we cook and prepared food) and we were able to minister to some of the members who were sick and to some that were in need of comfort. This week was long, but short at the same time. One thing that I have noticed for sure is that it just keeps getting harder and harder to wake up on time, I have to literally force myself out of bed. I thought that I was already exhausted but this past week has really pushed the limits, but the Lord provides. I can clunk out for a good long while, when I get back home. As a result of my tiredness, I haven't been exercising twice a day, you can probably imagine why. I guess that I will get back up in the 'fitness' bandwagon when I get back home as well.

Sounds like the Liberty Ward is just booming! Pretty soon you might be bursting at the seams, haha. It's good that Aaron will be getting more involved in the missionary work of the ward. That's what all of the youth need, especially now since the young men can go on their missions pretty much right out of high school. Going out with the missionaries and serving with them will give them a good perspective of what their mission might be like and hopefully their experiences with the missionaries will continue to kindle or spark a desire to serve. Oh, by the way who is this "friend" that Aaron will be escorting to this Choir Concert? Come on, we need details (: Anyways, Danny sounds like he is doing some rather academic things, such as the Science Fair. 

By the way, it's funny that you mentioned the topic of 'dusting our feet', I have been intrigued by that as well and have been tempted to do it several times. However, just as you said it is something that you should take into deep consideration. You wouldn't want a guilty conscious, especially if you did it just out of anger and frustration. It's definitely something that is not done often at all.

It's good to hear that the Smesnys' are now sealed together as a family, that truly is something beautiful. So Dad is now one of the 'Men In Black'. Is he going to be in the next movie with Will Smith? That would be awesome. It was 40 degrees this morning, wow, it's the same for us too. Except I don't think that is all that 'rediculous' right now but I imagine if I were back home, I would think that it was. Hopefully it doesn't get that much colder, because Mom I know that you JUST CAN'T STAND IT at all. Also I just wanted to let you know that I will probably need one more bottle of contact solution and one more stick of deodorant and I guess that will last me till August, that's my guess, maybe I will need two sticks, who knows. I am looking forward to the Mother's Day call, I don't have all the specifics as for the exact time yet, but we will be working that out today and I guess that I will text you the time (:

Alrighty well, I love all of you and I hope that you have an awesome week no matter how chaotic it might be.

Love,

Elder Everett Alan Escobar

Elder Everett Escobar  04/22/2013

Good morning,

It was a little hard for me saying goodbye to Elder Metcalf and Sister Crane, who left the district this transfer (Mom, I want you to meet Sister Crane when we tour the mission). I must say that I did get a little emotional during transfer meeting, it was hard trying to hold back the tears that were about to spew out of my eyes. I held it in well though. However, it didn't help that the meeting was super spiritual. It made it harder for me to hold my ground, haha. .I was getting so good at not getting emotional throughout my mission, but this past transfer really put me through the ringer and I've become a crier again. Some people have started calling me, Elder Eyring (because he cries in pretty much every talk)  I have 2 more transfers and it is ridiculous how fast time has gone by, I don't even believe it myself. In the meeting President Packard expressed that the Priesthood Brethern (Prophet, the Apostles, and the Seventy) have had and still have their eye on this mission, because we are exceeding our goals and are growing tremendously. Some of the practices that we've initiated in this mission are now being used in other missions around the world, because of it's much success. Through these past months we have also broken records number-wise and it is consistent. The work is growing tremendously as we strive to have everyone visualize and help in the building of Zion. My new companion is Elder DeLong. I served around him when I was in Nashua, we were in the same Zone. He has been out for 17 months, he's a hard-worker. I like him a lot, we get along really well. To tell you the truth, as of right now I don't think that this is going to be my last area. I have this feeling that I'm going to get transferred for the last transfer that I'm here. That thought has and is pressing in my mind right now. I feel like I have grown a lot this past transfer. A lot was made known unto me and I feel like I have a better grasp or knowledge as to who I am and who I can become. The Lord has revealed many things unto me. I feel like I have talked with him face to face as I have expressed my struggles, my feelings, and the concerns that are existent within the ward which we are striving to resolve. He has spoken to me through my thoughts, through people that I have come in contact with, and through my dreams. All of these ways of revelation which I have experienced have complimented each other and have helped me in doing the will of the Lord. As a result, I have gained a greater sense of happiness, joy, and peace of mind.

So Mom, as of right now I don't have any plans in the near future of attending any sporting events with huge crowds (: Hope your happy about that. I will try to schedule an actual time this week, as to when we can communicate on Mother's Day.

By the way, I found a shnazy wool suit that looks nice. And the best part about it is that it was free. I just have to find someone in the ward who can tailor the slacks for me (I have a pic of me in the suit coat, but with a different pair of slacks).

Tell Aaron and Danny that I am proud of them for their academic and extracurricular success. Keep doing what you are doing and you will have many accomplishments in life.

Elder DeLong and I are pretty much wiping everything that was being done in our ward and start everything over again. Were starting from the ground and working our way up. And we are hounding down on strengthening the ward itself rather than pin-pointing new investigators to teach. For the past three days, we have been coming up with more and more ways that we can interact with individuals and families in the ward. I feel like we are doing the right thing and that what we are doing is the will of God. This Sunday, the bishop made a push for the same thing. He called for a strengthening in the ward and pleaded with the members to have us, the missionaries, in there home so that we can help and strengthen them. So that they may be better prepared for trials to come and for missionary opportunities. We did not have our expected baptism it got pushed back due to family issues, but it should happen sometime this coming month. Anyways, hope you all have a great day and an amazing week.

Love, 

Elder Everett Alan Escobar