Finally some pictures!

I got three questions from katie to answer this week:
1- At what moment have you been the most proud of yourself thus far in the field? Umm this one is harder to answer, but i feel like this past week was actually a proud experience. We did exchanges with the English elders and i went with the senior who has 15 months out. It was really cool though because he and i did puertas' and i's normal schedule so i was kind of the leader. I just felt way big cause i planned out the night, led all the discussions that we had, and got a referral from a random member that we didn't know before haha. I did all that talking and the teaching, and not only that but i got to decide more or less what weould teach and stuff like that. It was a really cool experience and even though it wasn't a hugely succesful night, it was a confidence booster that i know more about what i'm doing than i thought.

2) what it feels like as you go to knock a door? Okay so honestly i hate knocking doors, especially white people's doors. hahah i just feel so awkward and puertas makes me do every one just because i need the practice. For some reason, i cannot just be myself when i do it, i always feel like i'm trying to put on a face or something, i don't know, i need to just chill and relax when i do it. But, we don't knock every door we pass. We actually hardly ever go knock beacuse our days are pretty full. We go knock for a few minutes if appointments fall through though and we just walk along the street until we feel like we should go knock (or until it looks like someones home) and then puertas says "no tenga miedo" "don't be scared" and he makes me go do it haha as he slowly comes behind or talks to someone on the street. It's good though, just the other day we talked to a lady mowing her lawn after an appointment fell through and then she said sure come on by after we offered to finish mowing her lawn hahh.

3- Least favorite thing to do as a missionary? (plan at night, wake up 630, knock?) Ugh my least favorite thing? I hate getting up in the morning but we have been going for a walk every morning which helps us have something to look forward too haha, it helps us wake up too. But in all seriousness i think knocking doors might be my least favorite. Even though i think, "what's the worst that could happen" i just don't like it and i get nervous hahah. It feels unsuccesful too like there is more we could be doing.

Man there is so much to say, so many stories to tell! A kind of funny one is that we were gonig to an appointment witha spanish couple and on the way, i walked by a house with the blinds open and saw a guy with one leg in a wheel chair watching "night at the museum" hahah. SO i wave and keep walking. But as i walk away i hear a small voice saying ELDERS!. So i turn around and see him in the door. I'm thinkin "great who is this crazy old man with one leg and no teeth" But he starts talking to us like he knows us. I honestly had no idea who he was but he told us he was a convert adn that he goes to a different ward than ours. Then he told us, my friend is coming over right now and i'm giving him our mormon book (the book of mormon), and that he wants to go to church at your building tomorrow. SO we are like hey sweet and we gave him our number to give to his friend bill. Then Bill calls us that night and we set up a ride with him for church haha and then he and the wheel chair guy came with us to church and they loved it! it went so well and they were even participating in sunday school and priestrhood and stuff it was awesome.

Anyway, that was the cool stuff that happened this week. I read a cool story in the new testament this past week too. I have never really opened it up much, but this past week i just started reading it and it is soo awesome! i love reading about all the stuff christ did and how he taught and everything. The story i liked though is actually one of the last things he did. I was reading in John, i dond't remember which chapter. ANyway, Jesus was put up on the cross and one of his apostles were there along with his mother and mary magdalene. The last thing he says before he dies to his mom is, Mother behold thy son, and to his apostle he says, Son behold thy mother, and then he passes away. What seems very simple, really stood out to me. The last thing Jesus Christ did while he was on the earth was make sure that his mother was in good hands by leaving her in the care of one of his apostles or disciples. It just made me think of how important our mothers are and last night i shared this same story with a recent convert spanish family, and they loved it. It made me think of you mom though and i just wanted to say thank you for everything that you do for me even out here on my mission. Your support and love and uplifting messges that you send me, I can't thank you enough for everything you do. it makes me grateful for the our family too, and the relationship we have together between all of us. I have seen a lot of families out here that are just missing it, and it really is soo sad! I'm serious it breaks my heart to see families being torn apart and distant relationships between siblings and parents. We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives, i know that that is the reason our family is so strong. It makes my responsibility even more sacred and special to know that i am in charge of giving that happiness to others. We are so blessed to have the gospel, it is the only way to have lasting happiness :) I love you guys so much! And thankyou for all the support and letters and love, it has been a real blessing. Be well, i pray for you everyday and night, know that our savior lives and that we have his same exact church on the earth today. It seems like a good thing to share huh? I love you guys!!!!

Katie's commentary: Love the pictures and Tra'vs progress. Just one thing. I always love to see what missionaries wear on P-day--the 1 day of the week that belongs to a missionary until 6pm. Usually the missionary wears their favorite jeans, shoes, belt, that hemp bracelete they brought, that puka shell necklace they saved, their hat, sun glasses, favorite skater shirt and jacket. Never fails ;0)

Does anyone read this blog?

Just curious if anyone follows this blog...if not--I'm going to delete it unless you comment in the comment field or email me at kce14@hotmail.com. Thanks for supporting Trav.

Wet Week

- This was a wet weekend, not only was it pouring but we had 3 baptisms! I'll explain up to them in a second. This past tuesday, was super stressful, we got a couple married that was living together. Jose and Cindy, me and my companion even got to be the witnesses to the marriage ha it was a really cool experience. We have been working with this family since the weekend that i got here and now things were on track for this weekend.

- one evening for dinner, we shared a dinner message with the family that we were with, and what we didn't realize that the lady eating with us who was sister crows sister-in-law, wasn't a member. SO we share something from preach my gospel and do a little role-play. We asked sister crow to invite her sister in law "rhona" (is her name, their from new zealand), to do something. It could be read the book of mormon, come to church, anything. We explained that in order to gain a testimony and grow our faith, we must ACT. As we act and show heavenly father we WANT to know these things, then we receive our testimony or witness. Anyway, they do this little role-play as we watch. It was such an awesome experience becaause what started out as a little "pretend role play" turned into something real, a real missionary moment. And sister crow just bore a sweet testimony of the book of mormon and even started crying saying "rhona i wish i had shared this with you earlier", she got so into it and the spirit was so strong! It was just a cool thing to see how the lord works in mysterious ways. Puertas and i were all ready to change the message that we were gonna share because we thought it might be weird to teach from preach my gospel to a non-member, but we stuck with it and it was so powerful! so now we are going over to her hosue this week again to eat with Rhona and follow up and see if she read :)

- Here's another cool story, we were teaching a family called the "payasos" which means clowns in spanish. They are actual clowns for their work, they dress up and go to parties and stuff hahah. But they are so awesome and their two little girls give me all sorts of art work that they make so they are awesome ha. We went to teach them like a week and a half ago but they were like oh we're moving we'll get in touch with you later. So puertas and i are like great, we may not ever see her again. But she said she was moving over into the "flats" which is just an area in west salem. So on friday, we are driving through the flats and we have 1 hour to go knock doors. While we're driving puertas turns to me and is like "edwards, pray that we find the payasos" so i'm like okay and i said a prayer right there. Then i try and give him directions just trying to be led by the holy ghost, and then he stops and we get out. I was like bro i think we should go up there, and he's like nah let's go here, so i follow him over to this apartment complex that we've knocked like 4 times. There are a bunch of kids playing in the middle, it's shaped like a "U" with a play ground in them iddle. So we are talking with the kids and a couple that was sitting outside when all of a sudden, i turn to the right and see martha and jaquelin (the payaso girls) playing. And i do like a double take and just say NO WAY! They were playing right in front of their new house and so we found it, (with heavenly father's help of course)!! it was soo crazy like the first place we go it was where they live. What an answer to our prayer! That was soo cool.

This is a picture of 3 of the boys from our home ward--elder nate quinn, elder mike kinney, and trav man all in the MTC together.

Excerpts from Trav's letter:

- Things i have learned from this week: i have learned how to hold my bladder, and how to eat without throwing up.
I'd love to say that i've eaten a bunch of crazy things but no, we just eat a ton! haha! 3 nights this week, we had to eat 3 dinners in a row yikes! Before every dinner, i have to say a prayer that my stomach will have a little extra room. There was one time where i took a bite of chicken and was chewing, then i thought, if i swallow i'm gonna puke haha so i just sat there with this chicken sitting in my mouth and then i said a prayer and swallowed haha. Thats how those dinners are. Its great though, we are getting fed really well.
Things with my companion are great. We are speaking more spanish and just started this thing called purification. We made a list of 10 things that we need to do better in our companionship and just as missionaries, and then we prayed and fasted this weekend (since it was fast sunday) for help in bettering ourselves as missionaries. So we put down some things that will help us be more obedient, more spiritual, and better at spanish ha. Me and puertas have been doing really well, and i see that he trusts me more even in my first 2 weeks. I realize that last week i was being kind of selfish and that fact was, i just didn't know how to do anything haha and now i'm getting the hang of things better, i know the people better, and i am more comfortable when puertas throws me under the bus as we teach in spanish. He is always like, and now my companion is gonna talk about ...fasting or the temple haha. I try so hard to follow the conversations and then puertas just drops something on me and i teach and bare my testimony about it haha. We have taught some normal lessons too like the restoration and the plan of salvation too. Today we are gonna go teach abotu the commandments and something else i can't remember.

- i just love this work! it is such an amazing feelnig to go around from house to house, with the sole intention of helping that family. That is really the only reason why i am here, to help these people accept the gospel and bring them a life full of blessings and happiness. I just love the interactions and the role that we playh as missionaries. Even through the hard stuff like one family that just got baptized told us they had a relapse with drugs and drinking. It was aweful of course but thats the beauty of the atonement. They can be forgiven and they will be as they continue to live the gospel. But the fact that they shared that with us, with complete trust in us to help them was a really cool thing. I just love this! I'm beginning to see why daniel and katie always tell me how jealous they are of me :)

- Ah man i can't tell you all how much better i feel this week. There are still hard days when i get super frustrated either with myself, or with another elder (not even my companion). I try to just remember why i'm out here and that its not about ME! I loved the first day we planned together, my comp and i, and he said the prayer. He said help us heavenly father to know how we should plan YOUR day. I just really liked that how it really is his time that we are on, not our own. And even though i lose that perspective at times, in the end it always comes back and i remember.

- Last tuesday we had a good finding day. We only found 30 new people instead of 100 haha we set our goal pretty high huh? But 30 was still great and we've gone back to teach a couple of them. There is one white family (not married of course) that was actually really into our message. The girls name is vanessa and she was like, ya know what, a ton of religious people like you guys come and knock on our doors and i've never let any of them in. But for some reason i just felt like you guys should come in." We were shocked ha and just prayed and said thank you heavenly father for these miracles we see literally everyday. They are great and their family is really just looking for a new start, which is exactly what we can give them!

First week in the field

Hey family it was so great to talk to you all that one y in the airport! I have officially been out here for 6 days now WOW! it feels like a month ago that i was at the MTC. So there was a ton of stuff that happened this week. I think most of you know but the first day i was here, my companion calls me and says you got a baptism tonight bro! so i was freaking out cause i had to memorize the little prayer in spanish and just didn't know what to expect. it was so sweet though that first day, i walk into the church, meet my comp named elder puertas, and then meet thel ittle girl i'm going to baptize. Her name is bianca. She was so sweet and nice to let me do that and her mom and brother also got baptized that day.

That family is so awesome and they are learning more and more all thetime. The little girls in that family love me too hah i love to make them laugh. So the first few days of me being here were kind of different because i was in a 3 some for a little while since elder puertas' old companion was actually going home on wednesday. So tuesday evening we just went and visited people he wanted to see. Although we did get a carne asada dinner which was spectacular! and i got to meet some more members in the spanish branch. Everyone loved the guy that was leaving though, his name was elder jones. I'll send a picture home of me and him and the people we baptized. Apparently he broke the record in the mission for baptisms. Anyway, tuesday night was good and i got to know my comp, jones, and another elder mack better.

Elder puertas is from peru, and has been out 7 months. He's way tight and just wants to succeed all the time. He seems like he just does whatever it takes which is cool. He is the district leader for our district and he's just a solid guy. Really funny and he's lookin out for me. He was kind of quiet for the first little while but i guess he was just stressin or something cause he's opened up now. I'm in Salem oregon right now which is supposed to be a great area. I can't really tell you all the specific areas we have because i dont know haha but we cover west salem for sure and a few other places as wwell. Our apartment is nice, its on the second floor but has a nice big sliding door window that we can look outside, a nice little tiny kitchen, two beds, another room for studying witha big couch haha, and a bathroom. It's actually a pretty nice place, very quaint. Elder puertas and i cover an english ward and a spanish branch so we do both english and spanish work. It's kind of hard too cause we'll talk to people in english and then get in that habit and i don't feel like i'm learning how to speak better to be honest. I am slowly understanding people better but speaking is still just what i could do in the mtc, which isn't bad but not great. But i love the wards i cover for real, they are awesome. Oh yeah and elder puertas is an awesome teacher, he seems to tie everything question they have into a gospel principle and then bring it back to the person we're teaching. It is awesome cause he makes the gospel apply to every situation no matter what we're talking about. He is great

On thursday we had a district meeting which was pretty long. I learned a lot though and i just like meeting more missionaries and feeling apart of everything ya know. That was the hardest thing about this week. I honestly felt useless. It was like i didn't know anybody, i don't know how to talk to people in spanish, it was hard to ujst be myself if we weren't in the apartment, and i just would get really frustrated. It slowly was wearing me down each day too. Every morning i would wake up determined to do somethhing better that day i dont even know what, but these little things would just wear me down. I think it's just part of the transitiion though into the field. I know i can start making a difference but i have start by making a little bit of a difference and then it wlil gradually grow as i do. But no lie there were a few times where i thought i was just gonna start crying at night when i would lay my head down to go to sleep but then i was too tired to think about anything and i would be out hahah. I actually meant that on friday we had district meeting and on thursday we had weekly planning where we kind of plan for half the transfer with baptisms and new investigator goals and things. Our goal for baptisms this transfer is 26. that is the magic number. I know we can get but we are gonna have to seriously kick it into gear. And tomorrow (tuesday), we are dong what's called "happy tuesday" where we are al going on splits (4 missionaries) with members so we'll have 4 companionships and we're splitting up all over our areas and finding people to teach. Our goal is to find 100 new people tomorrow. It's gonna be awesome. I've had a few opportunities to knock doors and stuff and i'm not very good at it but i'm getting there. I feel so official when i do it so i'm trying to be more just myself and say hey whats up instead of "hi we're selling religion" kind of thing. I wanna just be someone they can trust in those first few seconds on the door and then when the timne is right, bring up why im out here. Im getting there. Puertas has thrown me under the bus a few times too when h'e'll say oh i got this one and then he'll knock and be like "bro i'm not saying anything this is all you haha" so he keeps me on my toes and i've done a few door approaches in spanish and ya know i'm not so bad.

We have had a ton of appointments too meeting with recent converts and new investigators. To be honest though, we have only taught "lessons" like twice. I taught about the creation and adam and eve, and then i've born my testimony a few times haha so i'm just trying to get courage cause i'm such a wuss hahaha!

We kind of work differently too in our area. Since there are 4 spanish speaking elders we kind of work together which is cool but at te same time, i don't kknow if i love it. Elder mack and elder wilkes are the other two spanish elders. I just get frustrated because wilkes just got to this area even though he's been out a year but mack and puertas have been here for a bit. They know all the people and mack is decent at spanish so he can converse a little more so this past week i felt like i was getting jipped. this is why. one example is this past sunday. We were in the car, with all four of us, and mack and wilkes would have a schedule and so did we, we have a dinner even though we had eaten a late lunch right before. So we were going from lunch right to dinner YUCK and i was stuffed. Mack says oh hey we have to go visit so and so. Why don't we go on splits. So then mack and puertas go visit a family while me and wilkes just have to go suck it up and eat another dinner. There were other examples during the week where one would say oh we have to go visit this person. Naturally i don't know who they are but i'm never going to know them if i don't get to meet them. Anyway, one will say oh lets just go on splits so we can be more effective and more personal, which i understand, but then me and wilkes (who know nothing about the area) are left to go out tracting on our own looking for spanish people when neither of us know it very well. Maybe i'm just being a downer but i was getting so frustrated cause i felt like we had this happen like once a day. I realize that it's kind of selfish thinking but at the same time i feel like i'm just doing their dirty work. I guess i am the greenie so, whatever it is what it is. I just get frustrated cause they'll even sleep over at our house and then it takes us twice as long to plan cause we have distractions and they eat all my food hahaha (i dont really care about that), but in all seriousnss, i want to learn things from puertas and grow closer with him on a one on one basis. The few nights that we have been alone in our apartment have been awesome cause we'll do good studies in the morning and we'll have cool experiences where i can learn about him and missionary work and about myseflf. I love these guys really even mack and wilkes and everything but sometimes it's like okay we got called to be in a companionship not a foursome all the time. Yesterday evening was fun cause puertas and i got to go out solo knocking doors for a bit and got to do our own thing. Ahh those are all my frustrations i think.

I want to tell you about sunday thouhg cause it was dope! We had meetings in the morning and one guy told us about a family taht just moved in that is spanish, but also speaks english. So right after the meeting, we went over to their house and knocked. Luckily they were there, getting ready for church! ha fancy that. So we introduced ourselves and Jose the dad, is like, come on in guys come on in, "first of all i just want to let you guys know that i'm from the street. I've done it all, drugs, gang banging, everything." and then he un buttons his shirt and shows us all his tattoos. HA but he's like "i'm here now. I realized tahts not the life i want for me or my wife and kids. So i believe he's off the drugs and he's all religious now. His wife or girlfriends family is mormon but she is not. So neither of them are mormon but they are totally into it. They came an hour later to church and i basically sat with them the whole time. I got put on english duty this week so i went with jose and cindy and their son through sacrament meeting, gospel principles, and preisthod and relief society was combined. Which actually was perfect cause they were talking about unemployment and jose doesn't have a steady job right now so he was ALL ears. hah. They are so awesome though they were way into it, participating in discussions and everything. It was sweet. Then after those three hours, spanish branch sacrament meeting is right after so i went to all of english and then 1 meeting of spanish. We had 10 confirmations today! haha it was crazy and took up almost the whole time. I got to give that little girl bianca the holy ghost and give her a blessing in spanish! oh my gosh it was the highlight of my day! it was so awesome and i was so nervous too haha but i had a very powerful experience. The whole meeting i was trying to think about what i was gonna say and things and how to conjugate verbs and stuff, and then it was finally my turn, (i went last) and when i layed my hands on her head, i felt so good! My heart kept pounding but there was no wavering in my voice or buterflies in my stomach. I just said the words as i had practiced them and then gave her a blessing as i felt it. I ended up saying generally what i planned but that wasn't the point, it was mor just having faith that whatever i did say, the lord would take care of her and i felt something so powerful as i gave her the blessing. They always talk about a burning in the bosom and i always had no idea what that meant but as i gave her this blessing it was like a warm something pulsing through me. I wasn't hot but i just felt like i was really exercising the power of the priesthood, that it is so real. I was literally acting in the name of God at that moment when i gave her the holy ghost and i felt it. I have always been afraid to give blessings, not knowing exactly how to just rely on Heavenly father to help me know what to say. I think it was better that i had to do it in spanish ahahah because no matter what i was thinking, i needed a little help from above hah.it was awesome though and then she sat next to me bianca did, for the rest of the meeting and she drew me a picture of me and had her little ctr ring in spanish that i gave her (thanks mom!). She is so awesome. So that was my highlights of sunday. Our schedule was kind of different too cause we've been doing 11 at night is bed time and 7 is wake up. I dont know if we're allowed to but that's what my comps told me. I think i'm gonna try and switch it back to 10:30 - 6:30 this week. it's just hard cause if i want to stick up for something, i have to do it in front of 4 people most of the time instead of just me and my companion ha.

I've been trying my hardest to stay obedient though even if people are stilll awake at night or if someone stays in bed for a little longer. I'm trying to be a stickler for myself cause i don't want to get in bad habits. It's hard to get study time in too cause at times we have appintments in the morning so i don't get my full hours of study. I guess its a good thing though cause i would rather be helping someone or teaching someone than just studying for something. We got to help somebody move on saturday too which was pretty ufn too cause we practiced that vocab in the mtc haha so i generally knew what people were yelling at me to do hahah. just kidding everyone is so nice. I love the people here. They are always smiling and it makes it easy to just smile all the time even when i don't know what people are saying. I've decided that that is my most effective tactic thus far ;) The spanish are definitly nicer than the english. We work way more with the spanish too which i love! I like it cause i feel like i'm learning more and also they are just way nicer. Always getting us drinks and food and making jokes and laughing with us, even when we knock on their door for the first time.

I forgot to tell you that my daddy (puertas) used to play for the byu soccer team. He's sick! hah we've played on the streets a little bit with the kids in certain areas and he is so dirty haha. I think his brother might have been on Real Salt lake but i'm not sure. Anyway, it's great for contacting haha we just look on the streets for "brown people" ( i know it sounsd racist but he says it not me! haha). and then when we find them, usually kids, all we have to do is bring up soccer and we are almost guaranteed to come back again hahah. So far it's worked great. (I gotta brush up on my soccer skills). Anyway they say we have as much time as we want for email, but i think the official rule is just an hour so i'm gonna try and keep it at that.

I know i've sounded like a downer at times and that i'm frustrated and well i am sometimes but really i'm always smiling and making an effort to keep it that way. Each day has become more comfortable and i'm getting the hang of things a little better each day. I feel really comfortable with the spanish elders and they really like me. Oh and also i have to tell one more story! We were at bishop wertz house (the english bishop), and they had a guitar so my comps know that i play since we have a ukulele at our apartment that is my comps. Puertas was like bro play us something! I got all embarrased but i was like okay fine haha even though i wanted to play the guitar so bad i had to sound humble! Then he was like make something up, in spanish, oh just do the first vision. So i ended up reciting the first vision in melody with some progression that i made up right there and it was sick hahah. It actually sounded so good and the family was like whoa and same wth the 2 recent converts that were with us. Ha it was just fun to play for a second. I sing all the time in the apartment and stuff and puertas can play a cool song on the uke that i am learning to sing, so i think we are gonna try and sing it for members and get referrals from them after. So i'm trying to use my talents! hahah! Anyway, i really am getting the hang of this. I feel like a sponge right now and even talked with my comp about it. I think i just like to take everything in and then, when i know what i'm doing, i will use it all. So i'm slowly trying to transition and use little things i've learned but i'm still soaking in haha.

Keep praying for me famliy and friends i could use them. I could literally fall asleep at any time of the day haha but i am so happy to be here. My testimony is unwavering and i love talking to people about the gospel. Literally i'm sharing something that will change lives forever. My faith is growing and i'm really trying and working hard. We have huge plans for this transfer and know that we will meet them! These guys have had success here before so i'm trying to learn from them the best way to go about it. I love you all so much! Each one of you i think about at night before i go to bed. I'm praying for you and wishing you the best. Know that i'm so happy to be here and that i love missionary work! i love being a missionary! I gotta go but i can't wait to here from you all and i love you soo much! This is my new address for the next 5 or 6 weeks. You can all send letters here (please do!! i love hearing from peeps!) Emails are fine too if you'd like. When i have an hour, it's a lot easier to say everything. Love yoU!

Elder Edwards

1580 wallace road NW apartment# 255salem, oregon 97304

"Elder Edwards--Go change into your white clothes."

Dear Family and Friends,
This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no letter this week from Travis due to the fact that he left for Oregon on Tues. Aug. 24. But we wanted to tell you about his first day.

The family got to talk with Travis while he was at the airport which was so great. Later in the day we had a message from Travis' mission president--President McDonald. He basically told us Travis was sent to North Salem, Oregon the most northern part of the mission. He said he got off the plane with a big smile on his face and then asked us to call him back. So I did and his wife basically told me the same information and that was it.

But then President McDonald called back and told us that Travis, specifically had a very unusual first day in the mission field. That when they got to the mission office that he was asked to go change into his white clothes. That he was going directly to a baptism in his new area and that he was going to perform it, in Spanish! (Thank goodness I hemmed those white pants at the hotel right before he went in to the MTC)

I am sure Travis was in the car memorizing that baptismal prayer in Spanish thinking what did I get myself into. President McDonald said that not many missionaries get a baptism on their first day!!! But Travis was excited and ready, at least on the outside. He must have been scared spit-less! He is going to be with a Latin trainer named Elder Puertas, and then with an Elder Jones for one day, who is finishing his mission in Salem, but who was an assistant to the President previously. He left today. I guess this Elder Jones thought it would be a cool experience to have this greeny do the baptism on his last day of his mission. What a dear, special missionary to let Travis have this experience on his very first day, and for that missionary to give him that opportunity when he so deserved it himself! We couldn't get over it last night when we heard.

So we look forward to hearing from Travis next Monday on his P-day, I am sure his first week in Oregon will be a real growing experience.Travis sounded very mature and focused and ready to get out in the field. It was a testimony to us of so many miracles that he has already experienced, one being the gift of tongues. We couldn't believe how fluent and natural he sounded as he shared his testimony in Spanish. And his brother and sister who know Spanish said it wasn't a rote memorized version but one that came from his heart and chosen words. They said he sounded amazing. We can see his growth already and now he will do great things in Oregon. We love his letters and hope you are enjoying them as much as we are. His mission president and his wife also have a blog of the mission which is: TomandKaye.blogspot.com.

Can't wait until next week!!
Love,
Jennifer and Morgan

Travis last Pday in the MTC

Hi everyone! so this might be a little shorter than normal cause it's my last p-day here in the MTC and i'm booked today! but i will still use the 30 mins of course. First i wanna say that i got my travel plans!!! im leaving tuesday the 24th at 5 in the morning. My first flight is at 8:36 a.m. (mountain west time) so ill ghave some time to hang out at the airport AND i will definitely get to call home! i have another flight at 11:25 a.m. (western time) from portland to eugene so there will be about 2 hours in between my first and second flight that i can also call. I need everyone's numbers, like Katie, and Daniel, and even daddy and zach, i can't remember them all. I don't know if i can call friends but if a 1800 number calls you, then just pick it up haha! So be ready for a call between noon your time and 2:00 okay? thanks everyone!So yeah i'm so excited to go! already the past few days have been tough to focus just cause we're all soo exicted! But we have so much to do this week so that helps us stay focused ha. I want to tell you guys that i have seen elder quinn like 500 times haha cause he lives on my same floor and has class on the same floor as well. Hes not in my zone or anything but we have the same gym time and we see each other every night for a while. it's been great to catch up with him and he seems to be doing amazing! I love the kid and it has been great to have him here.Questions from katie:1. tell us about your comps: Elder walker is from north carolina and went to N.c. state for a year at college. He is studying engineering. He loves football, he's pretty muscly, and also loves music. Hes a really good singer and loves playing guitar and things like that. He's really talented and we've been able to connect nicely. Elder nelson is a little bit different. He's a runner, and lives in provo utah. He was freshman of the year on the cross cournty team for the mountain west conference so he's pretty talented too ha and he knwos a bunch of people ariound here since he's basically at home haha. Elder nelson is very soft spoken and is more quiet, while elder walker is somewhat of the opposite. He;'ll say what hes thinking when hes' thinking it. 2 thing i've leanred from each companion: Umm i would have to say the number one thing is patience ha. I feel like i am racing everywhere i go haha and when we have three peoples needs to satisfy, it doesn't allow me to just go do my own thing whenevr. I have really tried to look for the good in others too because it's easy when your spending so much time with the same people, to get frustrated and annoyed, but i have found that drives away the spirit and doesn't help us in our work, or in our unity as a companionship. Those are probably the two main things. Other than that, they both know the book of mormon really well, like all the scriptures and stories and names and everything. At first i was kind of overwhelmed that they knew so much but now its become ahuge help.3. Thing i bring to the companionship: Hmm this one is hard. I think that in our companionship there at times is a lot of me, me ,me stuf goping on (myself included). But recently i've really tried to step out of that box and see a bigger picture and i think that has helped each of us to have a more selfless outlook. We're all pretty different, but i think im relatively personable and kind of bridge the gap between our personalities and that helps us get along nicely. 4. How many prayers are said a day: I say between 15 and 20 i think. It's funny how natural it becomes when you need something or your so grateful for something, you just bow your head and say a quick little prayer for help, or for thanks. It has really blessed me here in the mtc and i know that as i continue to rely on prayer and that realtionship with heavenly father, he will be more willing to bless me and rely on me as his servant, and friend. it was great hearing from each of the fam this week. I got letters from everyone which was so fun! It was cool hearing about erik's farewell in ct and austin getting excited to go to the mtc. It's great to hear about those guys, i can't wait for them to be here, this place is amazing! Also, i am hosting this week, so i'm gonna look for mike and try and be his host for the day which will be sweet. If anyone can find out and send me something today, about what time he is coming in, that would help me, otherwise, ill just look for him and try and snag him for my little "nuevo". It sounds like the ward keeps growing too. Mom said that there are a bunch of new families! I'm glad that 7-11 is up too, i could use a slurpee right now, hopefully theyll have them in eugene! I laughed pretty hard at the bat story and the rabies. It made me think way back to my birthday party where the same thing happened ha! Thats so cool that chloe helped find him. I know that was an answer to your prayer momma. i miss her too sleeping on the edge of my bed at night. I meant to mention something about the article that sponsored you! that soudns so great! if you can ever coopy it and send it to me, id love to read it! I can't believe adam lysenko and andy thompson are already coming home! thats nuts! I liked the meassage you left me mom about how your mission is made up of so many small and simple things that make it meaningful. Already i've noticed that here. It in the times where i feel so tired, or like i don't want to study, and then i'll just receive a little boost of energy or determination and i know that the lord is watching over us. And happy anniversary mom and dad! sorry i didn't remember that one (oops!). It soudns like everyone is doing so well! i can't believe school is coming soon too! Anyway i wanna tell you a little about my week. There was some good stuff taht happened. I spoke with that lady that i talked to last week in the RC for an hour. Her name is jacueline and we spoke two more times, (both for an hour!). SHe loves talking about church stuff and has so many questions. Me and my companions found a church near her and gave her the number of the bishop. She called him and said she was interested in attending and that she wanted to learn more. I called the mission office in rochester (where she lives) and they are getting missionaries over there pronto! I have loved talking to her and helping her. She has had a crazy life too.Thuis weeks trc went better with elder nelson too. He spoke a lot more and we had great unity when we were teaching the "investigator". I can't wait for those situations in the field!We had a really cool talk this week given by the branch presidents wife. It was only a few minutes long but something stuck out to me really powerfully! She was talking about a birthday party for her son and how she was struggling to make a pinata for him. She decided to say a prayer but then had second thoughts and said, "why would i pray over this, this is so stupid". but she said a prayer anyway. In this short prayer she distinctly had an imperssion come to her mind saying, "If it matters to you, then it matters to me". Wow what a profound statement. I just love this little quote because it makes everything so much more meaningful. Even the little things we do during the day. It all matters to Heavenly father beacuser he is in fact, our father that loves us so dearly! I just thought it was cool some other random things: i weighed myself, coming in at 166. I dont think i've gained anything? We watched "legacy on sunday night and it was hilarious haha it was just terrible acting but it was a good movie. And we have the coolest "native" friends. Tghey are in our zone and are jhust soo awesome. they are always trying to help us with spanish but then they ask us all these qwuestions about the book of mormon and how to teach the lessons! they are like our best friends here haha! well thats everything. SOrry it was kind of vague but i gotta run and do so much today! I love you all soe much and can't wait to hear from everyone again! I love this work and can't believe i'm gonig to oregon next week~! oh yeah and mom i will have to find a pic to send you for my placue, and the scripture i want to use i think will be alma 37:36-37. I think thats it, i dont have time to double check. but io love you !!!