Elder PumpkinHead :)

Momma!
Thank you so much for all you do :) You are most definitely my favorite! I love you so much! I loved the pictures you sent me! :) I haven't seen Jayce in too long! I miss him so much. :) And the missionary that said he was in the MTC with me looks way familiar! Where did you see them?
Halloween is this Thursday, and the missionaries have to be in our apartments by 6 unless we are eating with a member, then 7. We have to lock our door and stay inside until the next day. So today, we are stock piling on candy and treats and we are going to pig out haha :) Also, today for our P-day, we are being driven around by brother Clow. So we are going to shop, then go home and write letters and play some Tennis on the courts in our complex, (Elder Harris and I have both gotten pretty good at Tennis) Then at 3, we are all (Elders and Sisters) going over to the Clow's to Carve pumpkins and play some games! :) We're so excited!
This last week has been SO COLD! Apparently, it gets super cold here! I dare say that it gets colder than it does in Utah! Because of the humidity when it is 35 degrees, it feels like it's 10!  But it has been a very nice break from the heat. :) Suit season isn't even that bad when it's freezing! I am usually wearing Gloves and my jacket, and today I will probably buy a scarf.  The difference in how cold it is when you have a scarf around your neck is very significant! haha I hope that my spending isn't upsetting you, I am really trying to be careful with money. I was going to ask if it would be okay for me to go buy some warm stuffs. :) And will you send me some thermal Garments maybe? They'd be nice during the winter. :)
Elder Harris had his bike break, so we took it in on Thursday and we are getting it back today, so he has been riding a woman's bike since then. :P I can imagine that he is quite pleased to be getting his normal bike back! :) Starting at the beginning of November, we will have miles on our car again, so we won't have to ride our bikes nearly as much.
We are teaching a bunch of really awesome people, and we have 3 baptisms coming up. :) Elder Harris is really focusing on teaching me exact obedience in everything that we do, I am also seeing all of the blessings that come from being exactly obedient. :) I have been writing in my journal every day and I am finding a new love for it. I don't feel like a day is complete unless I get to put something in my journal. So I am really excited to have that. I am going to need some more paper to refill it in a month or so, however. I hope that doesn't pose a problem. I have been thinking about the family a lot lately, and I have been extra diligent and focused on praying for all of y'alls safety. Especially with my little brother driving now, I want to remind y'all to please drive safe. The drivers out here are so awful compared to Utah drivers, But I know God is taking care of me in all my actions, as long as I am doing his will, he won't let me get hurt. Please just make sure you're being careful when you drive.
Also, little miracle moment. My ankles have been acting up a ton. Hurting enough that it was hard to walk, well, I prayed about it, and stopped wearing my brace, and I have been exercising it every minute I can, and it hasn't hurt for days. :) I love it! I love you!

These Halloween pictures were sent this evening by The Clow's. Joel adores them and, as you can see, he is have a wonderful time at their home as always!

~We are really hoping this is a member's dog ;) you just never know!!!
At the end of the mission we will have to count how many pictures he has of animals and bugs :) 

This is us doing service :P

And we dressed me like a hipster one day :P haha

The Members we see... :P Haha   ~Halloween???

Transfer week

The Cipriano Family

The Ciprianos' are probably my favorite Family. :) they are such a loving and caring family. I don't remember if I told you this, but they have (I think) 9 kids.  Haha and their 19 year old son Preston is probably my new best friend! He and his Dad are going to take us fishing for P-day sometime soon. :) I am so excited! haha I Really love everyone here! :) 

Momma, transfers were hard..I miss Elder Sumner a lot, and it was hard to leave him. Everything is fine though, it was a very spiritual meeting, and I was happy afterwards.. :)

Last pictures with Elder Sumner

(Photo sent by The Clow Family)

Elder Sumner is in Greenville, His new Comp is my MTC District leader, Elder Cory Farnsworth. :) One of my best friends! 

My new comp lived up by the Leatherbees on Redwood! 

Haha his name is Elder Jayson Harris. :)

Elder Harris and I get along WAY TOO WELL! Haha he loves Dr. Who, and a bunch of other stuff that I love! And his Mommas name is Cynthia. :) Lots in common! He's been out about 13 months

(Photo sent by the Frost family)

We've been escorting the elderly around the fair all day. :) Haha it was great!

The Elderly.. :)

Ba-ah-ah-ah!!

(Photos sent by Sister Mechling ) 

This week has been pretty crazy because of the new companion and transfer week and all that. I have realized that taking over an area is a lot of work, but it is so much fun! I have been having to take it easy because my ankle has been acting up pretty bad despite stretching and exercising it daily. I called the mission nurse and she told me to ice it, take ibuprophen, and she would get in touch with our mission doctor and see what he wants to do, but other than that I couldn't be better! Friday night, the AP's dropped us off a car. FINALLY! :) We are sharing it with the other Elders, and we are so grateful for it. It will help my ankle and let us be way more productive! Elder Harris and I have way too much fun doing missionary work together, he and I come up with games and we are constantly laughing and playing around. (While getting things done, of course) But he plays this one game, where I will knock on a door and he will say something like "You have to use the word Seashell in this contact." It is so hard and so much fun. Hahaha But I have had so much fun in the last few days, it seems like I've been with him my whole mission, and it's only been a couple of days! I am working on writing in my journal every day, and I am really finding a new love for it! And it feels weird if I don't write in it! It's becoming a habit. :) I might need some new paper soon! :P also, I had a couple things I wanted to ask you about,
Will you get in touch with Daniel and have him write me please :P I miss him, Tell Ashley to write me too :)
Also, I have those brown slippers in my room that Grandpa Barker gave me, could you send those to me?
I have found a new love for weird and ugly or unique ties. So send me any you find. :)
I am just getting happier and happier! :) Especially with another great companion like Elder Harris! :) He and I get along so well, it's like he could be my brother! :)
Momma, I love you more than anything or anyone. :) I am completely lost in the work, and I am closer than ever to my Savior. :) You are my happy thought. :)

Peanut farm

Morning Momma! :)
This week has been pretty interesting! We got our transfer calls Saturday night and I am losing Elder Sumner to another Area :(   I am sad. But, He is going to do great and I am excited to get a new companion! We have somewhat been on fire this last week, we have 5 people on date to be baptized! :)
I sent 2 letters home at the beginning of last week, One for Sawyer and one for Savannah, have they not gotten them yet?
We have been having a blast lately! We went on exchanged with the Zone Leaders very randomly Friday morning to Saturday. We did a ton of service over at a less active member's home and did a huge overhaul on his yard, front and back. :P His neighbor came over to see what we were doing, and he talked to us for quite a bit. He was a quirky old guy named Jerry (Sound familiar?) He told us that we could dump all of the yard debris in his back pasture for compost. He has 200+ acres of peanut farm! He told us to go pick a plant to see how ripe they were for him. Elder Taylor and I walked back and we were both pretty confused, because there were no peanuts on the little bushes. He yelled from his back porch " Pluck one up and bring it here!" So I grabbed one, pulled it out of the ground and, guess what?
Peanuts grow underground!
Hahaha I had never known that and I didn't shut up about that for the rest of the day!
Jerry thought it was hilarious that I didn't know that and he had us crack a couple open and eat them. They were delicious! He told us that we could come back any time we wanted and go through his back yard to pick some. He then had us fill a black garbage bag full of them and he sent it with us. I have been eating peanuts since then :P I am thinking about attempting to boil them like everyone here talks about. :P It was so cool! You'll have to ask Uncle Jerry if he has ever grown peanuts. :P
Elder Sumner and I spent a lot of time knocking this week, and we found a couple of really great families that we are going to start teaching! (well, my new companion and I will start teaching) But it should be really great in the next week or so, and I see many baptisms coming from this. :) I am going to be taking over the area this week. I am pretty nervous about that. Elder Sumner says that I am ready, but I don't know how capable I am going to be. I would like to think that I'm ready to, but I don't know. It might just be because I don't want him to leave...
A couple of things that are coming up, is the ward is having their Halloween party on the 25th, and...IT"S ON A FARM! AND WE GET TO GO!!! :) I am so unbelievably excited to go :) I talked to the member that owns the farm, he is an older man named Brother Phipps, and he was talking about having my new comp. and me go down and help him prepare the areas on his pasture for the activities, and setting up all the hay rides and such! :)
I am in heaven! Haha
The Ward has really taken a strong turn towards missionary work, and they are all helping us with whatever we need! I am really sorry if this letter is somewhat jumbled up. I am really excited and anxious about all that has been going on, and especially about getting a new companion. It still feels like I am just barely getting here and like I have only been with Elder Sumner for a short time.
I AM DONE TRAINING TODAY! I am no longer a Greenie! :) I love it!
I love you, and I love emailing you. I love knowing that my family supports me and that you're thinking about me all the time.. :)
I love you Momma! You are my greatest strength! I am your happy, sunshiney boy! :)
Love y'all!

This is sister SchauerHamer 

Sister Jackson

Elder Farnsworth is from Moab! :)

Missionary work with Elder Gunderson

District's ice cream and hot chocolate. :)

We found Monster cereal :)

So...I found a kitty..can I keep him? :) 

We named him Elder Darius!

Froggies!

After exchanges...

My spirit has been fed.

Hello Momma! So, I am almost done with my training! It is the last of the first 12 weeks of my mission! Can you believe how fast time is flying by!? I can't! We have had a pretty good time so far! The last week we had an LTM (Leadership training meeting) And so we had tons of elders in our apartment, it is so messy! Hahaha we have a deep cleaning session coming up pretty soon! 

We also had General Conference, and it was AMAZING! Conference is a totally different thing when you're a missionary! You get so much more out of it than any other time! I took like 10 pages of notes! Or more, all I know is that I could barely bike home because my hand hurt so much afterwards! 

Conference was such a great experience though, I cried when they sang our Hymn, because I could see you singing it and feel the love of you thinking about me. I loved listening! And the other Elders made fun

of me because I was weeping for a lot of it :P But, that's what the Spirit will do to you. ;) 

We went to American Roadside Burgers (This awesome burger joint kinda like Blue Moon) And we get the Route 66 burger. Well, this time the manager came out, told us that he loves seeing us around, especially in his store, told us that he was Mormon, and gave us all of our orders for free! Hahaha it was so cool! I love Latter-Day Saints. :) 

Thank you for sending me those pictures by the way, it's really cool to see you with my companions mother :P 

I got your package with the DVD's and stuff. Thank you! And I enjoy the Stroop waffles, they are really yummy! I keep the in my backpack while riding around. :) It is so nice that Isaac is getting baptized! I didn't know that he wasn't! I always just pegged him as a member! I wish I could go! Has he been talking to the Elders? 

I miss Jayce! How is my childhood brother? He'd better write me!

Suit season begins today! We have to wear our suits everywhere we go unless it is above 75 degrees outside...like today haha. So, I am getting ready to sweat a lot and having to go to the dry-cleaners a lot. Although, I am getting really good at laundry! :)

I like having machine washable slacks, because they do get pretty dirty! I have only taken out 4 of my white shirts too, because I want to have some fresh ones as soon as I hit my year mark. :) I am getting good at rationing things! :)

Your missionary is just so great Momma! I am loving life! After Conference, I feel like I have just reloaded my weapon of conversion to go out and baptize! I am so rejuvenated and my spirit has been fed!

I love you!

Leadership training meeting

OH!! Haha those pictures! Sister Holm loves taking pictures during stuff like that, 

and I love trying to get into as many of them as I can! :) Because I know you'll see them!