Week 9!! Easter!!!

Hey everyone!! How are you?! Happy Late Easter!! My week was crazy I cant wait to tell you about it!

So a little bit of background: a week or so ago, Elder Warden and I met a man named Lloyd on the street and he was so shocked when he heard we were from Utah! Lloyd is from New York, but his parents are from Jamaica! He speaks English and is super nice! He told us all about how the people in Utah are so nice and the entire culture is so welcoming!! He invited us over and was excited to hear more about our message! We taught him a lesson about the restoration of Jesus Christs Gospel and he said he could recognize the spirit being with us.

Then this week we did exchanges with the District Leader which means I got to have a new companion for a few hours. Elder Nelson and I taught Lloyd the Plan of Happiness, and he again recognized the spirit in our lesson. He said he felt the warm, comforting feelings that the Holy Sprit gives us. It was a cool experience teaching in English because I could express exactly what I wanted to say, and I could understand the questions so much better haha!!

After the lesson it was getting dark, so Elder Nelson and I went back to the apartment for the night. The door was locked, and no one had a key. So Elder Nelson and I went around the back, and I climbed up onto the deck. The back door was locked, but the window wasn’t. So I climbed in the window and unlocked the front door for Elder Nelson. We were chilling waiting for the other Elders to get back, and I had an idea. So Elder Nelson and I locked the front door, turned off all the lights, dumped stuff all over the ground, took the cushions off the couch and flipped the chairs over. It looked absolutely trashed.

So the other Elders pulled in and the front door was locked. They called us and asked us where we were. We told them we went to a Gas station because we had to go to the bathroom, and they bought it. We told them to check the back deck and see if the back door was unlocked. (Remember they think the key is locked inside the house.) So Elder Warden climbed up the back deck with some help from Elder Watts, and he tried the back door. It was locked, and they called us again. They told us it was locked and that we needed to call the mission office to bring us a key. We thought about what to do, and about a minute later, Elder Nelson said “Wait! Isn’t the kitchen window connected to the deck too? Check that!” So Elder Warden opens it, told Elder Watts to go around front, and climbed through the window. (Elder Nelson and I are hiding in the closet listening to all of this trying so hard not to laugh!)

Elder Warden gets up from climbing through the window and turns on the lights and just stops. He was frozen in fear, thinking someone had gone through the house and could possibly still be there. He BOOKED it to the front door and opened it for Elder Watts. He told him what had happened, and both of them came up the stairs. Elder Watts grabbed a metal bar, and Elder Warden grabbed a tennis racquet and they started clearing the apartment hahaha!! Right before they opened the closet, I screamed out and made them jump, then put my hands up so they wouldn’t clock me haha. They were so scared and it made Elder Nelson and I laugh so hard! It was a harmless prank and after being embarrassed, they told us we did a good job.

ANYWAYS other than that, this week was pretty normal. Elder Warden spent a lot of time out in the hot rain trying to find people. We are having some success, but when we try to contact people to come back, they dont answer or respond. We have been walking a lot trying to save our miles because we only have a certain amount each month.

The situation on our apartment hasn’t changed this week. Ever since we cleaned the apartment we haven’t seen another bug, and we are thinking maybe we saw a tick or something. I hope our situation changes soon, but it wouldn’t be a half bad apartment if it weren’t for the black mold haha.

Anyways I hope you guys had a happy Easter and got to remember the real reason we celebrate. Yesterday Elder Warden and I had the wonderful opportunity to have 3 dinners!! Yup we got Easter dinner 3 times!! Once with an English family, once with the Santos family, and once with the Ortiz family! In between all of these dinners, we just talked to people on the street and shared a message about Easter. We talked to a group of young teenagers and asked them what Easter is. All of them replied something about Eggs and Bunnies, but when we told them it was about Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection, they remembered! We got some of their names and invited them to come to youth activities. 

I love you all so much and I would love to hear more from you!! I’ll be replying to emails today until 5:00 Eastern. Have a happy rest of your week and remember to be a little more Christlike every day!!