Fallabama!

What on earth!? already 5 weeks down in Fallon you guys.. craaaazy! i'm approaching 3 months as a missionary. I sure love y'all! things in NV are as great as usual. Ebbs and flows baby! that's what it's all about.

 

So this email is coming a day late. yesterday, as it was the holiday, the library was closed. i warned ya last week but all good!  

 

WHERE DID YOU ATTEND CHURCH YESTERDAY? tolas pl building. we are only covering one ward so we go to the same church every week. it's a tiny chapel.. only 6 rows of .. pughs?is that how you spell it? anyway, it's a branch buildling. our building is under construction and will be for another.. 70 days or so.

HOW WAS YOUR DISTRICT MEETING? District meeting today was great. this transfer we are working on chapter 13 of preach my gospel.. working within the ward organization. we have been learning how to incorporate the ward in the missionary efforts. according to preach my gospel, missionary work is the wards responsibility and the full-time missionaries are just around to help. That's not what any of us are familiar with so we are focused on helping the ward members catch the fire! we want to help them experience some of the joy we experience when sharing the gospel. for the zillionth time, there is nothing like witnessing somebody receive a witness from the spirit. If we can get some of the ward members to experience this great joy than we will move forward with some serious gumption! :) (hopefully that word was used correctly.. a lot of the elders have been sayin' it lately)

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS HOLIDAY? so yesterday we actually had a BBQ with an investigator from another ward. there were 14 missionaries there! and 4 non members. we just barbequed and talked. there wasn't enough chicken for everyone so we cut the chicken breasts in half. then they baked ribs in the oven.. ugh! i'm so far from a food critic.. i'll eat anything, but those ribs were not great. they tasted like the smell of raw meat.. and they weren't undercooked. overcooked. but hey! it was a lot of fun. then we played bball. from 2-5... we were all super spent after that. how was y'alls memorial day? great i hope!

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING YOU ATE THIS WEEK? WHERE WERE YOU? hah on friday we had tritip at our X members house. it was amazing! they sure know how to bbq.

WHO DID YOU GET MAIL FROM THIS WEEK? i got mail from mom! great letter, thanks a million! and both of my grandparents. :)

DO YOU NEED CANDY? goodness no! fallon 4th ward sends us home with leftover dessert more often than not. i'm working my best to still fit into my suits. :P

ARE YOU RIDING A BIKE YET? Nope! we are headed to reno tomorrow to get a bike rack installed on our corolla and while we are up there i'm going to look for a bike.

WHAT WAS THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK? well in terms of lessons, we had a great meeting with S and M from last week. they asked us to share our testimonies with them to help them rekindle what their belief's were. as missionaries we never turn down an opportunity to share our testimonies! i heard one time that your testimony is strengthened in the bearing of it. so far seems to be true as that's what we are doing everyday! :) but the lesson with them was awesome. we couldn't see our other 2 investigators at all this week, but we are set to see Amy today so we're hoping for great things! :)

WHAT SCRIPTURES JUMPED OUT AT YOU? i didn't write any down to share this week unfortunately. I spend so much time in chapter 6 of preach my gospel.. i just want everyone to go read it! i actually looked a lot at the commandements in preach my gospel too and the corresponding scriptures were awesome. I'll be sure to think of home in my studies this week and i'll have a very applicable scripture for.. someone. :) but if anybody has time right now.. look at patience in preach my gospel. you'll be so glad!

HOWS THE COMP? I think i'm numb to him these days. He talks a lot and I've prayed a ton to not let his personality and (for lack of a more respectful word) arrogance get to me. I know that our father in heaven loves both of us and has us together for a reason so i'm just going to try to learn whatever lessons i'm supposed to learn from him!

HOW WAS ELDER GARAVEET?(SP?) he was pretty cool! he has a super thick accent so he was hard to understand at times and i guess he was pretty disappointed with some of the missionaries lack of respect. all around it was great to learn from him.

WHEN ARE TRANSFERS? june 6th or 8th.. i can't quite remember. i highly doubt i'll be going anywhere because it's not likely to get 6 week transferred.. not to mention twice in a row... but they are that week in june. not next week but the following tuesday.

DO YOU WANT A CONFERENCE ENSIGN MAG? We have one! i love it. I'm serious Elder Hollands talk (surprise surprise) is just great. we try to study in preach my gospel for personal study but i couldn't resist reading that one. i'm planning on reading in it some more in the next couple days. we got it last week and i've been giving excerpts from hollands talk as our dinner thoughts at members homes. :)

 

so allergies have been kickin my trash lately.. yesterday we had a normal pday until the bbq, we hung out there for a while then played basketball for 3 hours. needless to say, with my body fighting off the allergies and a little head cold, i was beat! we came in just after 8 last night (because we can't really visit anybody unannounced that late in the evening) and right after planning i went to sleep. i probably crashed out at like 8:45. anyway! life is good my friends. i'm so grateful for the gospel. there's such a tangible and real happiness that fills us when we follow the example of our Savior. I just love it! I hope everyone is jus stellar at home these days. i miss you all and i'm still prayin for you. :) until next week!

 

-Elder Sykes

Got to Meet Elder Dallin H Oaks

Good people! how we dern? :)

it's been such a great week here in Fallon NV! so many great experiences harvesting the field!

 

WHERE DID YOU ATTEND CHURCH YESTERDAY?

we had a special stake conference.. i'll tell you about it later on here. :) it was at the taylor stake center.

 

DID YOU HAVE ANY INVESTIGATORS WITH YOU AT CHURCH?

Yes! there was a special fireside on saturday night and 2 of the investigators we picked up this last week came with us to that and to the stake conference on sunday!

 

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK? haha well nothing too funny that i can remember other than the 4 yr old S and M's daughter let a whole box of baby chicks out in the backyard so we had to round em' all up as they were runnin around. that was pretty funny! oh and i better add this.. there is a drunk guy next to me at the library.. you have to punch in a 6 digit code to unlock the computer and he can't read his code he's so drunk. probably dangerous but he's laughing enough so i'll just laugh with him until he get's violent. ;) 

 

 

DID YOU GET YOUR BIKE? WHAT COLOR IS IT?  DO YOU HAVE A PIC?

no. I didn't get one yet.. i'm kind of on the fence because my thinking on it is if i'm going to get a bike, i want to get one that i'll use when i get home too. in other words.. i'm looking at downhill mountain bikes because i'd use it at home.. :) ha but i'm not really decided yet. i still have a car in my area so we'll drive until we can't anymore.

 

WHAT SCRIPTURE REALLY JUMPED OUT AT YOU?

D&C 112:10 wonderful. i studied a lot in patience this week in chapter 6 of preach my gospel. it's wonderful! also, humility in the same chapter. if you look at some of those scriptures.. you'll be glad you did!

 

 

WHAT WAS THE MOST SPIRITUAL MOMENT YOU HAD THIS WEEK?

Okay.. i was going to put it off longer but i'ma blow up if i don't tell you about our new investigators! they are the absolute best! and this is a good opportunity to tell you why. so i'm not going to say names because i wouldn't be surprised if they found the blog and out of respect for them i'll keep it private. we'll call them M (the wife) and S (the husband) then they have 4 kids. 13, 12, 10, and 4 yrs old. S is a return missionary, S and M were sealed in the temple. the temple really scared M and drove her away from the church. S wanted to still be a part of the church so M left him. S downhill spiralled after this occured and got into drinking/smoking and what not. M went back to drinking and smoking as well. they both did whatever they did.. you know.. got X'd. then they got remarried! they were only divorced for 8 months. they've been remarried for 3 years now.. about the same amount of time that they've been x'd right? so anyway they gave us a call on tuesday of last week and M told me the story on the phone. they just moved into our area and got our number from some other missionaries and reached out to us. M told me she and S are missing something and they know it's religion. I can honestly say i feel like this family is why i'm in Fallon right now. we met with them in person on friday and had SUCH a spiritual lesson. we talked about faith and having a real relationship with God. that was the most spiritual moment i've had on my mission, even more than the musical fireside.

 

 

DO YOU PONDER THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME YOU READ?

 Morning studies can be difficult for me so i tend to do more pondering than studying. I have been reading 30 minutes of the book of mormon focusing on the character of christ (which is easy for me to focus on), 4 pages a day in the bible, then the rest of the time in PMG, other than this last week. i stopped reading the bible and read PMG more. Pondering is very important in order to retain what we learn but also to enlighten us to what we should study next.

 

 

WHAT TALENT OF YOURS HELPS YOU THE MOST RIGHT NOW ON YOUR MISSION?

well you can call it a talent if you want.. or a spiritual gift.. but i think listening. The only person i have to compare to is my companion who really doesn't pay any attention to what people tell us. drives me crazy. but with all of our investigators.. (Jason, Amy, S and M) i do most of the conversing. I think he is a little bit insecure becuase he doesn't relate as quickly with people.. it takes him time to open up and to visit with people.. and to really care. so i think a combintaion of things have been really helpful to me.. and that's really caring about our investigators and listening to what they say.

 

 

WHAT WAS THE LAST TIME YOU READ YOUR PATRAICHAL BLESSING?

Yesterday actually! only the second time i've read it on my mission. so great to have a scripture for our lives! i know that my patriarchal blessing is an outline of my life from our father in heaven. i know because I'm experiencing some of what it talks about right now!

 

WHAT DO YOU KNOW FOR SURE?

I know for sure that the Lord hears our prayers. i know that If we humble ourselves enough to rely on him.. to really honestly put our trust in him and ask for guidance that we will receive it. Prayer is the avenue in which we align our will with God's. if we can master this i can't imagine how easy life would be! I KNOW that our father in heaven loves us so much. and i know he wants to hear from us.

 

WHO DID YOU GET LETTERS/PACKAGES FROM THIS WEEK?

I got a package from you momma! thank you, thanks for the pics. they are up in my room now. and i also got a package from pops! had my wedge and putter in it so if i can talk my comp into going to the course i'll be chipping and putting today. :) Mail from Grandma and Grandpa and a postcard from you as well! that's all for this week. :) oh and almost forgot, a letter from my lil homie NEWS! haha slick, i'ma write you back soon so look forward to it man!

 

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE US TO PRAY FOR?

Jason, Amy, S & M! haha heavenly father knows who they are.. don't be scared!

 

WHAT WAS THE CRAZIEST/DUMBEST THING THAT HAPPENED?

Well.. we'll go with craziest. I MET AN APOSTLE. Dallin H. Oaks came to the fallon stake center for stake conference. I shook his hand. talked to him about where i'm from. GOT A PIC. he's so funny. he took a pic with all the missionaries and it's horrible quality but i'll send it anyway. :)

 

ARE YOU KEEPING YOUR BATHROOM/BEDROOM SUPER CLEAN AND ORGANIZED SO THE SPIRIT CAN RESIDE THERE AND HELP YOU?
(MOM'S GOTTA KNOW)

yes. i don't have any shelf space or anything so all of my pday clothes stay in my suitcase on the floor but we keep it neat. believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, i have become kind of a neat freak.

 

well folks, i think that's all for the week. we have another great week coming up too! we'll have District meeting tomorrow, then our mission meeting is wednesday. Gavarret from the 70 is our area official and he'll be coming on wednesday to teach us a bunch of great things. next monday the library will be closed so i won't email again until tuesday. write me and send pics! i love you all!!

 

-Elder Sykes

Transferred to Fallon, NV

Okay you guys.. go look up fallon on google. where am i!?!? haha this place has quite a different feel than what i'm used too. I'll answer these questions then vent a little. :)


WHERE DID YOU ATTEND CHURCH ? our church building in Fallon is under construction so we went to a smaller building on tolas road where a bunch of wards have to meet now. the actual chapel only has 6 rows of benches.. or pughs.. whatever they are called. it's a little brutal in there but we make it work. also because there are so many wards meeting there our meetings don't start until 3. so that's 3-6pm. on a positive note it gives us an opportunity to invite people to church beforehand. yesterday was fast sunday so my comp fasted until 6. that's going to be tough for me. i got a random little stomach bug and have felt super weak the past couple days. i began fasting but i was really shaky and not feeling well so i ended up eating a meal for lunch. I have felt much better today though.. i'm hoping it passes all the way. weird sickness!

WHO IS YOUR NEW COMPIE? Elder Osborn.

WHERE IS HE FROM? Colorado

DO YOU LIVE IN A HOUSE OR APT? house! it's tiny though. i forgot my camera.. i'll send pictures next week. it's off this little dirt road behind a glass replacement shop so during studies we'll hear glass breaking and some gnarly stuff. it's cool though. 1 bathroom for 4 missionaries so that's a bit stressful. and the bathroom is the tiniest thing ever. oh well. guess who i live with though!? Elder Lewis! he and his companion live with us so it's been super fun. It's nice to get along with someone so easily when you're with someone all day that you don't really get along with. i'll explain in a bit.

WHAT IS YOUR NEW ADDRESS TO SEND LETTERS? 4348 Reno Highway Fallon, NV 89406

WHAT SCRIPTURE(S) JUMPED OUT AT YOU AND WHY? Alma 7:26 

as y'all know i've been studying the character of christ since that bednar talk in the MTC. that scripture encompasses a lot of the characteristics of Christ and after reading it a lot of things just made sense. I made a goal to serve my mission and live my life considering that scripture. read it and see what you think! 

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK? hahah i'm so glad this question is in here. i'm going to apologize in advance for anybody that this might offend. We went to visit a less active guy in town named Roy. (this should give you a good feel of what the town is like) when we pulled up to Roy's house he and this little boy, age 5 were standing outside. Roy was really friendly with us and this little boy climbs into the back of Roy's pickup, climbs on the roof while we are visiting.. etc. just being a little kid. he jumps down into the bed of the truck as i'm visiting with Roy getting to know him a little bit. Roy asked me how i'm liking fallon and my response was oh it's great you know, people are super nice blah blah, and this little kid was like " yeah, pretty much everyone is nice, but not black people. we don't like them." hahaha again i'm sorry if anybody is offended by that. ha i laughed for a minute and said hey little buddy, there are some real nice people no matter what they look like! and Roy was super embarrased he kinda echoed me and said yeah pal we like everyone don't we? hahah. oh and an important part of this story.. this was the first day.. literally the first day that Roy had ever hung out with his son, this 5 year old kid. he left her mom before he found out she was pregnant. one of those situations. but ha that is one of those things.. maybe you had to be there.. but i still laugh out loud when i think of it.

WHAT WAS THE DUMBEST THING? oh goodness. there have been some relatively dumb things this week. I don't have much privacy right now so i'll try to remember them for next week.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE US TO PRAY FOR? Pray for Amy! she's the sweetest 40 yr old woman, two teenage sons.. really going through a hard time. she wants to rely on the Lord but she doesn't really know how just yet. we are working with her again on Tuesday i believe. there are a ton of investigators here.. eternigators is what they've been referred too. we have a lot of people to work with now which is so great! my last area wasn't like that. I'll keep you posted on the progress and i'll give you a name or two more next week. :)

DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE TEACHING BY THE SPIRIT? I do! teaching by the spirit is an act of faith. My testimony has been largely strengthened though learning how to teach by the spirit. It is a promise that if missionaries are worthy of the spirit and have faith to open their mouths the words will be given to them. It's scary at first but the promise is very real. sometimes something will come out of my mouth where i'll look at the investigator.. completely unsure if what i had said made sense. kindof like my farewell talk.. i just began to speak and kinda rolled with it. God works in mysterious ways but when we exercise our faith we are blessed!

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR TODAY? haha. well after we shop my companion wants to go site read some hymns and chill on the couch.. i'm going to try and play basketball. if we can swing it than that's what we'll be doing. if not i'll be listening to him sing..

WHAT DO YOU NEED FROM US THIS WEEK? well honestly i need some love! hopefully we can get that address posted and get some letters because being in a new area, with a new companion (who is not easy to get along with) has been challenging. There has been so many things that i've wanted to write you all about but i've thought better of it now that i'm at the library. He is a nice enough guy.. just very abrassive. it's sad because he doesn't realize it but he offends people left and right. He is very knowledgable in the scriptures and he's very obedient so i'm looking forward to learning a lot from him in that regard.. i just have to really work to help him learn how to interract with people. I'm telling you .. i may be in over my head. I'm so grateful for the companionship of the spirit and for the knowledge that my heavenly father knows what i'm going through. I know that if i rely on him and pray for an ability to love my companion we will be really successful. it's just so hard when it feels like it is all my responsibility. i dont know.. we'll figure it out. :) but i would just love to hear from any and everyone. when i'm having a hard time my wall of pics sure helps me out too. keep sending pics and letters!

I think that is all. i hope i don't sound too down this week.. it's been a lot of change and a lot of adjusting. the mission as a whole is tough.. but I know that there are people who need me and Elder Osborn to bring the good news to them. :) The church is true! i love you all! hope to hear from you soon.

oh also, skype. a week from yesterday we are going to the bishops house to video chat with y'all for mom's day. by y'all i mean mom and fam, and Dad. I want to google hang out to make things easier. i have 40 minutes total on that day so i'll probably do 20 and 20. we'll figure it out, but plan for betwen 10-11 mountain time.. or 11-12 our time to begin chatting. we will verify with the bishop this week and i'll be back in the library for a survey we have to take later this week and i'll let you know. :) again, love you all. until next week!