Slow mo movie from Joe!

its Fall- y'all

Hey fam and friends!

Another week here in the oasis of NV. everyone should google Fallon if you haven't before.. this place is the best/worst. the desert oasis.. 

hey but life as a missionary here is pretty good! i'll tell ya the Lord is teaching us a lot here, sometimes i feel like the information is coming from a fire hose and i'm a red solo cup trying to contain it all. i'm grateful the Lord is patient with me! anywayzzz, let's get to some questions . 

DO ANY YM GO ON SPLITS WITH YOU?

not on a regular basis- i'm sure they would if we invited them. we have a recently returned missionary that works with us a lot- he has a car...and we don't. :) and he's an awesome kid! 

HOW MANY WARDS ARE YOU INVOLVED/WORK IN?

just one ward. it's so small. fallon 4th ward- it's about 4 miles by 5 miles, very rural in places, we have one neighborhood, no apt's - just comfy country homes. it's the nicest part of fallon but it's so hard to find people to teach! 

ARE YOU RIDING BIKES STILL?

yes! my bike got thrashed in a neat accident last week. the stoooz went over the handlebars of my bike and under the wheels of my companions. we've been walking a lot since then and planning better and getting rides. hahah. 

DO YOU STILL HAVE A CAMERA?

i sure do! i've got some pics to send home today. 

WHERE DO YOU GO TO ANSWER EMAIL ?

The family history center or the city library . now we are at the family history center because the city library is closed for remodeling. 

DO YOU PREFER EMAILS OR SNAIL MAIL?

i prefer to hear from people. snail mail is more fun but i'd rather get emails from people than have them say they don't have time to sit down and write. emails take literally no time.. the whole "i don't have time" excuse is invalid. but i know it's hard! so yep. 

WHAT IS THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK?

hmm i think the best thing that happened this week was MLC meeting. We discussed the needs of the mission and what our role is to help ourselves and other missionaries get there. all about pushing and giving a little more tomorrow than we did today- i've been thinking a lot about that principle. There's a quote from i believe spencer W kimball that identifies "good" members from "durable disciples" - good members live a life that is comfortable in the gospel. they live the standards mostly when convenient and do good things. a disciple strives everyday to be more like the savior. the difference is in where the effort is exerted. I've got so much to work on, and so much to relay to the zone this week. it was just a great reminder and motivator for me to not get complacent at all in a time of my mission when that is very easy to do. 

WHAT DID YOU DO FOR HALLOWEEN?

we went to MLC and then came home and weekly planned. i forgot it was even halloween. 

WHO IS S BETTER COOK? You or your Comp?

i definitely cook more often then my companion.. i've never tried anythin he has made so i can't say for sure. 

WHEN ARE TRANSFERS ?
last week! i've got 5 more weeks at least here in fallon .

HOW DID YOU SEE THE HAND OF GOD WORK IN YOUR LIFE THIS WEEK?

It was easy to see and feel the chastening of the Lord this week. In a recent email home i emphasized that to each of my areas there has been kind of a missionary lesson learned.. some method of finding that the Lord helped me to gain a testimony of- some element of the work that i needed to more fully understand etc. but i quantified it.. i said that i felt like the Lord was going to teach me how to work with members in this area. it was like that was my expectation- foolish of me! he will teach me how to work with members in this area, but it became apparent to me that he's got much more for me to learn here. me saying i was going to learn that one thing was limiting the power of the Lord in my life to help me learn and change to the extend that he wants me too. Like i've said a few times, i've got so much to learn. I'm grateful that the Lord has given me this excellent opportunity and so grateful for his hand in helping me to understand ( or at least scratch the surface ) of things like this. 

WHAT DO YOU NEED FROM US THIS WEEK?

I'd love some photos! what are you people up too lately!?

well my friends and fam. I hope everybody has a great week this week. I'm so grateful for all of you. your love and support is felt! My testimony is strengthened every time i think about it- The Lord has blessed me with the best family and friends ever . i love you all! talk to you very soon.

Elder Sykes