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.