Llamas and such . . .

Just wanted to tell you hi, that I love you guys, and that I'm alive and doing well. 

As you can see...I'm having a great time over here with this strange beast. It was quite the event.

We found another family to teach and invited them to be baptized! Their names are Nicki Matthews and Charles Matthews. 

They are super humble and we had a great first discussion. 

The 10th ward is doing way better. They used to not be missionary minded at all, but the more we've been working there, 

the more they've been ready to help us. There's definitely a different spirit about that ward. 

A mission of miracles

Someone sent me this video...i think he's saying hi...and that he only has 4 months left!!! crazy!!!



My goodness where do I even begin!?

It's been a week of devastation and blessings...good thing is that when we usually have miracles I forget about all the terrible things that happen lol.

Well let's start with the bad news! woo! You remember Carlos Gonzales?? Yeah, he was being prepared to be baptized and confirmed this upcoming weekend...nope! He moved to Salt Lake City without telling us. Awesome. Oh, you remember Kaylen Long, that legit Jehova's Witness that was preparing for baptism? Yeah, she moved to American Falls. Completely devastating. That happened in the same day on Tuesday. I seem to have bad luck with all my baptismal dates moving away. Maria Lopez was preparing for baptism as well...but she went to Mexico lol

So on Wednesday we had a mission wide goal for every companionship to set a new baptismal date! Everyone. in the mission. no pressure. So! We had a few appointments throughout the day where we were SURE to set a date! But they all declined. We seriously worked so hard, talking with every single person, but alas, no success. It was 8:00 at night and we were the last companionship in the Zone to set a date. The last people we thought to invite was the Hiatt Family! now...the dad is a less active, mom super anti-mormon, and none of the kids are baptized. Plus...they specifically told us not to come over on Wednesdays...and it was a Wednesday. Not to mention, the mom got offended like 7 years ago so she's like super anti missionaries/mormons. 

We were parked outside of their house...we knew this was our last chance to set a baptismal date and all odds were against us. So...my companion and I said a prayer...probably the most heartfelt prayer I've ever offered...we just prayed that their hearts would be softened. 

Then we knocked on their door...

"Come on in Elders!" ...like what? The dad totally invited us in, the whole family was there...while my companion used their bathroom I just started talking to them and we were having a good time...the spirit was helping me tell the funniest jokes because the whole family was laughing. Those jokes were beyond my power haha when my companion got out of the bathroom he just gave me the most surprised look, obviously surprised that the family was actually smiling and laughing. Yeah, even the MOM was opening up to us. 

We shared a message...the most important message in the world in fact: THE RESTORATION. They were all in tune and listening. We got to the climax where my companion invited them all to be baptized on October 11th...The dad stared at us...blinked a couple of times...then said, "Well that would be great! I would love all my kids to be baptized on that day. That's my birthday!"

0_o OH MWA GOSH! So the Hiatt family is preparing for baptism. My companion and I just jumped for joy and we were so ecstatic! gah...when we have worthy goals and if they are inspired...Our Heavenly Father will honor our wishes and grant us success. But we have to work diligently and you have to show our Heavenly Father that you really want it.

That's just like...a tiny bit of how the week went. I could write a lot more but i simply don't have the time to do so. 

Blackfoot is awesome. You are awesome. Be awesome today. 

Elder Petitt 

GQ & Zone Conference

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Awwww snap! It's my man, Elder Pridmore!! hahaha it's so nuts to see him! I got to see him at Zone Conference =) We ate sandwiches together. It was legit. He's having a good time =)

But yeah, Zone Conference was super good =) We talked a lot about teaching skills, asking inspired questions and what not. Elder Cook and I gave our training and we think we did an okay job because no one fell asleep lol. 

SO. This week was a crazy week. The first half of it was so terrible haha. In 4 days we only taught 6 lessons...investigators were dropping us...appointments were falling through....Warren refused to listen to the discussions because his girlfriend told him that he can't listen to us anymore. Yeah, it was devastating and we were like...super depressed. So, Elder Cook and I got on our knees and prayed that we could teach 14 lessons in the next 3 days so we could get 20 lessons a week and accomplish our goals. Next day we went to work! We found new investigators, found a lady named Lori who is now preparing for baptism in October, we reached 20 lessons, and to top it off...RENEA WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED. holy snap. 

let me tell you about Renea

Renea has been around mormons and missionaries preeetty much her whole life. She had some pretty bad experiences with missionaries in the past so she stopped listening to them for 15 years. Elder Ponce and Meza (The missionaries before me) found her and started teaching her again. She relaxed a lot and enjoyed hearing us...but there was no commitment. So...ever since I've been back here we've been teaching her like once a week...BUT it all changed just the other night. Her countenance was different and she had a whole list of questions for us...one of them being, "What does it really take to get baptized?" She believes the Book of Mormon to be true, but she is having a tough time with Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God. She had a whole host of other questions, but...we told her before we can answer Allllll her other little questions...she has to pray and find out of Joseph Smith really was a prophet. It was powerful. The spirit was there. And she committed to pray. wow. We're stoked!

Well today is the annual Blackfoot, Idaho State Fair. Lots of food, people, fun stuff...so we are going as a zone to have a good time! woohoo! It's already getting cooler here. It's about that time to put those sweaters on. I can't believe it. I have about 4 1/2 months left as a full time missionary...only one more zone conference. GAH! Gotta keep working hard though. The shorter amount of time you have, the harder you should work. woot woot. 

Stay Classy

Elder Petitt 

Battle Axes!

​Get your battle axes ready because this is gonna be a good one!

First off, Elder Carlos A. Godoy of the First Quorum of the Seventy is a g. I learned so much from him. What a cool experience! We had a mini mission leadership council with him with just five zones from the mission, and my companion and I were lucky enough to go. We were talking about goals, accountability, our vision...it was very instructive. Ever since I've been on my mission I've learned so much about the importance of goal setting and being accountable to that goal...don't make excuses! If it's inspired, all that's left is up to our works and faith. It has actually made me consider studying business...along with graphic design and what not. Anyways, it was time for Elder Godoy to stand up and instruct us...and before he started to speak he began to cry. He talked about his mission experience and how much it meant to him...every blessing he has received is because of his mission. He was a convert to the church and he talked about when those missionaries met him, it changed his life forever. He told us that when he entered the room that he could just feel the difference...but as us missionaries we don't even recognize the changes in us! It was emphasized the importance of being patient when blessings are delayed...Heavenly Father might be reserving those blessings for a future time when you will most need it. 

So my companion and I were asked to give a training on overcoming addictions in zone conference. We've been learning a lot about it and what we can do to overcome them. We talked to the head leaders of the Addiction Recovery program in town. We are going this Tuesday to observe the process. It's a very spiritual experience and anybody who reads that booklet of the 12 step process (whether you have an addiction or not), you WILL come closer to Christ. The main two things that I've learned is that when people have addictions they feel that 1) God doesn't love them and 2) that there's no way they can overcome it...but as we know the opposite is true. It's up to us to teach them that doctrine...unless they understand that then they can't progress.  

This past Sunday we had quite a few of our investigators come to church! The Dan family came! woohoo! It scared us at first because church began at 9:30...we waited, and waited, and then the sacrament hymns started to play...but then they showed up with their family! That was exciting.

We met this guy named Warren who is the most humble and golden guy ever. He reminds me so much of Michael Wright when he was taking the discussions...he was just soaking everything in. We found him outside and we just started talking to him. We talked about the restoration, the great apostasy, the book of mormon...then we invited him to be baptized on a specific date and he agreed to learn more. He's from Atlanta Georgia and he has never talked with mormons before...lol but when you move to Idaho you are BOUND to run in to some mormon missionaries =) buuuuuut we found out he actually lives in another set of missionaries area so they have a golden investigator to work with now! haha. We seriously find so many investigators for the other missionaries...that's what happens when you are involved with tracking down those Spanish speaking fellows =D

OH MWA GOSH. we found a HUGE Hobo Spider in our apartment. Holy snap it scared the living day lights out of us. Hobo Spiders are deadly. It's one of those lovely creatures that inject you with poison and it eats your flesh away. yah, that was on my dirty clothes basket so my companion and I set a sticky trap right under it so when we sprayed the hobo spider with some Windex spray...it fell right into the trap! gah! we are so smart.

Anyways, this is becoming a novel. Thank you for your prayers because I feel them. Things are going great. peace and blessings yall.