Week 34

Hey, this fall has been amazing. The weather is super great right now - nice and cool. The ward is taking good care of us. We have a good number of meal appointments this week. Things are still going great between me and Elder Denton, we are doing super well together.  I can’t say the same for my district leader though.  I went on an exchange with him and we don’t get along very well.  So yeah Nolan’s baptism is on Saturday and we are so excited for that. I’m super excited for Nolan. Other than Nolan we aren’t teaching anyone. No one is keeping commitments but that’s ok because things are getting better here. Me and Elder Denton are doing great! I’m so excited for this transfer, its great!

  So the guy on the side of the road got antied hard core and he’s going to Mexico. By the way he’s a little nuts. He claims to be an apostle and believes in the trinity, which I don’t judge him, but he argued about it a lot. He called us two nights in a row at like 10 and preached to us for like an hour. Oh, and then another guy tried to convert me. He bashed with me and my district leader. So this week was interesting for sure but it just strengthened my testimony even more about the truthfulness of this gospel and I know how true it is. I love you so much and appreciate all you do for me. Love you all!  Have a great week!

Love, TJ

Week 33

Hey everyone! This week was great!  Things with Elder Denton are going really really well. We get along super well and it’s really fun. Its fun to tell people we are cousins and then they always ask if we’re first cousins and we’re like YEP!! so it’s really great. The work is going really well. Nolan is progressing really well and will be baptized on the 21st and we have a temple trip/zone conference tomorrow to see the new temple video so that will be fun. The weather here has been super hot but it’s been good. So how’s grandma doing? Hope she starts to feel better.

     So that’s really cool that Forrest got to listen to Elder Bednar because I got to meet his oldest son who lives in the Crestwood ward. So here is the story. We went to check up on a member to introduce Elder Denton to them (the Engleman’s) and they invited us to eat dinner with them.  They were having a bbq with Elder Bednar’s oldest son, so we got to eat with him and his family.  It was really fun! Well I love you so much! Hope you have a wonderful week.  Love you! Love Elder Sutherland

Week 32

Hey all, so you will never guess who my new comp is. . .  drummroll please.....................

Its elder Denton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, I’m not joking, he is my new comp. And yep, it’s going to be great! We were in transfers and Elder Denton is called to Rolling Hills and I was like HEY, that’s my cousin. So yeah, it’s pretty great. So this last week was really tough. We did set a baptismal date with Nolan though, so that’s good. It’s for September 21st and we are still in the process of getting Tim in contact with the other missionaries. But other than that it was kind of a stinky week. Elder Johnson was super area trunky, which means he wanted to be out of the area. So it was a rough week trying to motivate him to go to work but he did really well.

    I can’t believe Jeff is about to leave on his mission, but its cool because we are e-mailing each other, so its nice to hear how excited he is. But if you go to his farewell, tell him how proud I am of him and that he will be a great missionary. Well, I am doing great! I will probably have more next week. Love you so much!

Love, TJ

Week 31

Hey, what’s up? Yeah so transfers are next week so we will find out on Saturday. I can’t believe the transfer is over already. It feels like it just started. But yeah, Elder Johnson is hoping he gets transferred because he’s been here for like 6 months. I hope he stays because we get along so great. But I kind of think he will be transferred which is scary because I don’t know the area at all!  Well, it  sounds like you had a good week, I hope you all enjoyed the package I sent.

So this week was so amazing! Probably the best of my mission so far.  So on Tuesday we contacted this guy and started talking to him. He was kind of nuts.  Anyway we start talking to him and it starts raining just a bit, then it just starts pouring rain and we just talked for like 20 minutes in the rain. Then his wife came outside and told us to come in so we did. And we talked to him for like two hours - WAY TOO LONG BY THE WAY, but we just couldn’t get out. We tried like 10 times. It was bad. He started talking about like aliens and stuff. I'm pretty sure he was drunk and high - or just nuts. Either way  - I don’t know. Something about Adam and Eve coming from aliens. Anyway, random awesome story to look back on. It was super funny. So then we talked to Nolan’s dad about his baptism and he said that we could set a date for Nolan to be baptized when we go over because we were talking on the phone and he wanted Nolan to be there to get excited about it. So then we had a zone meeting on Friday and we had it on the basics like the book of Mormon, prayer and church, and following the spirit. So that night we went to an older guys house and I just wasn’t feeling like this is where we should be. So because I’m still learning the area I asked Elder Johnson how far away Ann lives and he said pretty far. And I was like, ok lets go see her, and he was like well ok. So we went over there and knocked on Ann’s door and talked about the Book of Mormon and church and she said she couldn’t come to church because she had like a conference or something she had to be at. So we invited her to come to the mission home fireside at 7 on Sunday and she said she could probably do that. Then we talked about baptism and set a baptismal date for September 21. So that was amazing. Then on Sunday we went to check up on Ann and she wasn’t home yet so we left and went some where else. Then I felt like we should go back and Elder Johnson didn’t really want to because it was out of our way, so I kind of argued my point some more. So then he thought about it for a few minutes and agreed to go. So we went to Ann’s and she wasn’t there. So I was bummed but we saw Sam and talked to him and told him to have Ann give us a call back and he said he would. So then we went to a less actives house and talked to her on her door step for a while and she really wasn’t interested in coming back. But we talked with her for longer than I thought we should but as we were leaving, I was going to grab my bike and this car stops in the middle of the road and starts talking to me. But I couldn’t hear him so I ran across the road and he asked if we were the Mormon missionaries and I was like yeah, and he asked if he could pull off the road and talk with us. And I was like YEAH! Of course! So he got off the road and we talked for like 15 minutes and he was really interested because the church he was going to had like 80 families and now it has like 20. And he was thinking that in the bible it says by the fruits ye shall know them, so he was thinking well I need something better. Then he was watching TV and saw something about Mormon missionaries and then saw us and he was like I have to talk to them! So yeah, that’s his side of the story. Anyway, at this point its like 5:50 and me and Elder Johnson are both like, hey do you want to come with us to this mission home fireside? They are really amazing. And he asked when and we said in an hour and he was like sure, got nothing else going on. So we were like sweet! So he went home and got changed and came and picked us up and drove us to the fireside and he loved it. It was great! Then we talked about the church the whole way home and he loved everything and basically believes everything already. And at the end of the night he was like, hey do you believe in laying on of hands? And we said well yeah and he bowed his head and said can you pray for me? So we gave him a blessing of comfort and counsel. And we also set a baptismal date with him BUT he’s not in our area so we have to refer him to the missionaries that cover that area. None the less it was an amazing week. I think everything lead up to us meeting him. All of the promptings that we were getting to follow the spirit and not get discouraged when we could see what the end result was going to be. I still don’t know the reasons for things but I do know that God loves us and will guide us as long as we are humble and will listen to what he is saying, and I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that this is the true church that Christ set up when he was on the earth, and I’m so thank full for the experiences I have had on my mission. I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I LOVE MY MISSION SO MUCH!!  Thanks for all of your support and encouragement.  I love you so much! Have a great week.

Week 30

     Hey, how is everyone doing? How was getting ready for school? So yeah, Buffalo Wild Wings was great! We actually went twice this week with the member who took us. His name is Brother White, he’s a regular there. He goes like once a week and invites us sometimes. It’s great, he’s such a great guy. So we don’t have anything exciting planned for  p-day today other than the norm. We played basketball and that was amazing. Then we will probably shop and do laundry and stuff.

     So my week was great! I felt great all week and I feel great again today, probably because we played basketball today which was great. So this week was great. We had dinner with one of our investigators and shared a scripture with her, but first I have to back up. Ok, so a couple of weeks ago we were thinking we needed to go see a former investigator, but we didn’t do it. Then like that Monday we were walking home with our groceries and this truck comes in the parking lot and this lady is like hey, my name is Ann Holloway and I love the missionaries! They always used to come to my house. So we set up a time to come and teach her and she fed us dinner and we left her with Alma 32 to read and invited her and her friend Sam (he might be her boyfriend, we don’t really know yet but he lives in Bardstown my last area) Anyway, so we invited them to church and they came and loved it. They only stayed for sacrament, but hey it was great!  And we have a couple other investigators that we are working with: Nolan is a 9 year old boy but his dad has to get permission from his ex wife and that will probably take some time, and we have a few other people, but no one has a baptismal date yet. But Ann and Sam should have one hopefully this week. The zone baptismal date that we are all shooting for is September 21, not the 23.

    So I have a story for you. So one day (I can’t remember exactly when because they all run together) anyway we were tracting in this area and there’s a no soliciting sign posted (and a lot of people don’t understand what soliciting is.) Since we are not selling anything, we are not soliciting, so we can tract there.  But because people are awesome they don’t understand that. So anyway that’s my rant, sorry, back to the story. So we lock our bikes up and I see this old man so we go up to talk to him and he looks at our nametags and back up to me and says some unpleasant words to me and walks away. So I look at Elder Johnson and he just shrugs and starts laughing and we’re like, ok that was great, moving on. So we start tracting and he makes another lap and we wave politely at him and he starts yelling at us that we can’t be here because we are soliciting. (ha-ha no we’re not.) But I did not say that - I just wanted to, and then he tells us to leave and that he’s going to call the cops. So we’re like ok, what ever. So we leave that street - not the neighborhood but off a different section, and he follows us over there and calls the cops and yells at us a little more, so we just laugh and say have a nice day. And so we are really done with this guy so we decide to leave, and yeah the cops never showed up. Anyway we left and yeah it was great. So then we felt like we needed to go back because a few numbers stuck out to us that we should go back to and so we did. The first door we knock on a lady comes out and starts telling us we can’t be here and she’s calling the cops, and we’re like, ooooooooooooooooooooooh awesome! Not this again. So we knock the rest of the doors we came to knock and left. We didn’t find anyone so that was a bummer.  So yeah that’s my story for the week. It was intense.

     Well, that’s all I got for this week.  I just want you to know how much I love you. Thank you for all the help you have been throughout my mission, I love you so much.  I hope you all have a great week.

Week 29

Hey family, what’s up?   I feel amazing today!  Probably because I got to play basketball. It was so much fun! Oh yeah, and a member is taking us to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings so that should be great.

So my next transfer is on the first Tuesday in September, so not for a while. The weather is getting cooler. I love it! It’s nice while riding our bikes.  So things here are getting better. The work is a little slow right now but we are trying to turn things around. So the zone has set a goal that every companionship will baptize on the 23rd of September. So that will be neat for the zone to all baptize together. We have a few people we are working with: Nolan is a 9 year old boy whose parents are both members but the dad’s ex-wife is not a member, so he will have to ask her for permission to be baptized. We also have a less active we are working with. Her husband is not a member so we are going to try to work with him. So things are looking up. I am so excited for this area - its great! The members are amazing as well. So yeah, everything is going well. Things are going great!  I am loving my mission and loving life! I am feeling great! I think the medication is starting to work. I love you so much and hope you have a great week.  Let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support.  Love you tons!

T.J. dirt biking it up.

Elder Sutherland and Elder Johnson

Week 28

     Sorry,  I guess I was confusing. ,The kid in the picture was my MINE MTC comp.  - not my actual MTC comp. The mine MTC where we got two youth and showed them what being a missionary is like. That was him, my actual MTC comp was actually with Chazz for a transfer.

     Hey dad, sorry, I thought I answered those questions in the email I sent to mom, sorry about that. So transfers went well.  My comp is great, his name is Elder Johnson and he is from St. George. He has been out for 14 months. Our area is Rolling Hills. Its in Lyndon. Its the rich part of Louisville - very wealthy. The houses are massive and Anchorage is in my area - its where Papa Johns lives. The area is great and the members are amazing. They feed us well except for this week because we forgot to bring our dinner calendar. So yeah, we don’t have any dinner appointments for this week, but the ward is great. We got a referral from the Storms, a family in the ward. Their daughter’s friend is interested.  Her name is Sabrina. We taught the restoration and it was amazing. We hopefully have a lesson with her this week. And then there is Nolan. He is a 9 year old boy whose dad is a member but his mom is not. They are divorced, so the dad will have to get permission from the mom to baptize him. So yeah the work is going well.

     So the bike track was a lot of fun last Monday.  My biking is getting better -  I didn’t fall off this week so that was good.  So yeah, I had a cut on my hand from flipping over my bike but its all right now.  I liked the pics Forrest and Bailee drew for me about not dying on my bike, they were great!

 I’m feeling pretty good this week. I still feel anxiety but I think that’s normal for missionaries. The depression is getting better. I think the anxiety has picked up a bit -  that or ADD cuz I am having a hard time focusing. I’m kinda all over the place, but I don’t know I should be fine… So yeah I think that’s all, if I missed a question just ask it again. Like I said I can’t focus all that well so my mind is kind of everywhere so I hope I got every thing.  Oh yeah, we have to catch the bus to go get groceries and we almost missed our bus on the way back to the apartment because the Wal-Mart is a long ways away. We have a Walgreen’s but its not the same. Anyway I think that’s it. I love you so much! Have a great week. 

Week 27

Hey there, how’s it going? Sounds like you had a great week. The family reunion sounds great. So yeah I remember Nauvoo. Its basically like that - we go outside for 10 minutes and we are drenched. But its good, I love the bike area so far. The ward is amazing. I forwarded some pics to you from a member and her family. The one with the Superman shirt was my MTC companion so that was cool. We had dinner with them last night and are going to a bike track with them today for p day so that should be fun. So the ward is great and so is Elder Johnson. We are teaching a few people but not a ton, so we will definately work on that. No, we don’t take showers during the day because we will just go back out and get sweaty again, so it’s not really effective. But I love biking except I almost got hit by a car twice on Saturday and flipped over my handle bars a couple of times. It was a rough couple of days. I'm pretty sure I'm going to kill my self on a bike but it’s fine. Hahaha I'm just kidding, I will be fine.

    So yeah, not a lot to report on other than I'm trying to learn the area and stuff. The members are amazing and I love Elder Johnson, he’s great. So yeah I hope you have a great week.  I'm doing well. I fell pretty good other than I woke up a little sick today but not too bad. Well I can’t think of anything else to tell you so hope you have a good week. 

Week 26

Hey there, how are you doing? So I'm getting transferred to an area called Rolling Hills. It is in Louisville. I was hoping to stay but I'm excited to go to Louisville. So this week was rough, we were on a bike all week so the work was slow. Oh yeah and my new area is a bike area as well.  Yeah we were on bikes all week - we get the car back today just in time for me to leave - hahaha. Oh man. For the most part I'm still not felling all that great. Today has been really bad.  I think I'm just anxious to get to my new area but its been a rough couple days. Most of the week was really good. Being on a bike was good for me, but anyway yeah. The people here are still doing well. I leave tomorrow for my new area. So yeah if you send the package they will forward it to us. We don’t go to the mission office like ever, but now I'm going to be in Louisville so we will go more often.  But yeah this week was good. The last couple days were rough. The medicine hasn’t really had much of an effect on me yet, so I'm not sure with that. Well I will have a lot more for you next week. I will have a new companion and a new area, so I'm way excited for that and I'm going to elder Hawes' last area so he told me all about it. I'm really excited for the area and my comp’s name is Elder Johnson. I haven’t met him yet but Elder Hawes told me about him. So yeah it should be good. Well I think that’s it. Hope you all have a great week and hope grandma is ok, she is always in my prayers. I love you so much. Have a good week.  

Week 25

So this week was good for the most part. We set 3 baptismal dates. One is with Doug who is a stud. I don’t know if I told you the story but he is married to a member and they have been married for like 3 months and we started teaching him. Then out of nowhere he calls us and tells us that his wife kicked him out of the house and wants a divorce. Now he is living in Cincinnati. He has gone to church there 4 times and is still praying about the church. Most likely he will be baptized in Cincinatti because it would be weird for him if he was baptized into the ward where his ex wife is. So it’s a weird situation, but Doug is so awesome. We had a lesson with him at the church and showed him the font and had a kneeling prayer in front of the font - it was so powerful. Then we set a baptismal date with Patricia. She is engaged, we haven’t met her fiance yet, but she is solid. Then we set a date with Ronald. It’s kind of cool because we tracted into him about a month ago and he was totally not interested, but we street contacted his son the other day, and then got a text that told us to go talk to his dad so we did and set a date for Aug. 31. It was really cool. It was a great week as far as the work goes but mentally I’m not feeling much better. They upped my dose of medication but I don’t know, it will probably take another couple weeks to kick in. I’m still struggling, but I’m hanging in there. I know the Lord will watch over me and I feel his presence every day. I’m so thankful for the time that I have to serve. There’s nothing I would rather be doing. 

     This week we are going to be on bikes, because before I got here one of the other elders backed into a trailer hitch and dented the back. So we are going to get that fixed and we have a super big area so its going to stink but its good exercise I guess. So transfer calls are on Saturday. I can’t believe it’s already that time again. I kinda think I might get transferred because me and Elder Hawes have been together for 2 transfers almost and I think one of us will leave and its probably going to be me. So I will have some transfer news next week. I really don’t want to leave again because it feels like I just got here, but I think I’m probably gone.  I can’t believe I have already been out 6 months, it has gone by super fast. I can’t believe I have been in Georgetown for 2 months. But yeah, with all of the new missionaries, it’s nuts. They’re mostly sisters. There are so many of them - transfer meetings are nuts with all the new missionaries coming in. Well that’s all for this week. Hope you have a good week. I love you so much and am so thankful for all you have done for me - love you so much.

Week 24

 So, sounds like you had a great week with Forrest home again. That’s really exiting. So are you doing anything exciting for his birthday? The 4th was fun, we had dinner at a members home and then watched some fireworks from our porch. People here are nuts about fireworks. It was crazy, they shot them off all week, it was cool. Sounds like you had a great week.  So yeah, the baptism for July is not going to happen. His mom isn’t going to allow it, so we were kind of bummed, but I expected it. So Doug hasn’t answered our calls in like a week and a half, so not really sure what’s going on there. 

   So to answer your question about how I have been feeling is I am always drained of energy, always tired and just want to sleep.  I have lack of focus and just don’t feel like myself and sad for no reason and I can’t explain why. But I went to the doctors and I got some medication. The doctor told me it will be like 3 or 4 weeks for it to really start working, but I am feeling a bit better this week. I’m not sure if that’s the medication or what, but I am feeling little better than before. 

   Well thanks for all your prayers, I know they have defenatly helped. Thanks for all you do. I love you so much, hope you have a great week.

    Love, Elder Sutherland

Week 23

Hey mom and dad, what’s up?  How’s Scotland? besids the rain? haha well hope you’re having fun. Any fun plans for the 4th? thats really cool that you can see some of the people Forrest got to serve around.Well hope you’re having a good trip. Well, the work is going well. We have a baptism coming up on the 20th of July. By the way, can I say how nuts it is that its already July - I can’t believe it. Anyway, so the only problem is his mom is a Jehova’s Witness. He is 25 but has a mental disability. It really isn’t all that bad but we would probably have to ask his mom for permission to baptize him. So that could be a problem. But we have some others who are progressing. We have one named Doug. His wife is a member but she is divorcing him, so its really rough but he likes the church and has gone to church twice in Cincinnati so we just call him like every other day because we can see him a lot because he’s in Ohio. Anyway, the work is going ok. and I’m doing ok, it depends on the day. Some are better than others, but hopefully I will get back to normal here soon. Oh yeah and yesterday we went to a mission home fireside and I saw Lauren there so that was really cool to see her again. I loved the pics you sent me. Forrest looks pretty good  - not too fat. hahaha but yeah the one missionary looks like Jason Nieman. Its really cool and  he looks like he’s 12 - not that I can say much but I look at least 15. haha. So yeah, hope you all have a great week. I should have a package for ya’ll coming with in the month of July, or maybe next month, but I am working on it right now so if there is anything you all want from Kentucky just let me know. I will try to send some pictures as well in the package. Well I think that’s all I’ve got for this week. Love you so much.  Have a great week! Love you so much and apreciate all that you do for me. Have a great week love you

Love, TJ

Week 22

Hey mom and dad, how’s Scotland? How’s Forrest doing? is he way fat now? haha well I hope you’re having a great time. I like the pics you sent me, thanks for those. Ok, so the baptism was great, everything went well. They are moving to Florida because Nancy is old and is having a hard time taking care of Brooklyn and herself.  It will be sad to see them leave but we are exited for them because they told us they still want to go to church. We found the ward that they are going to be in so everything should go pretty smoothly. This week was pretty crappy. Other than the baptism, Friday and Saturday were great but the rest of the week was rough. I called Sister Woodbury and she thinks that I might have depression or anxiety, so we are looking into getting some help.  I have a doctor’s appointment this week so hopefully we will have something figured out by next week.  But I will be fine. The work is still going really well and the baptism was amazing. And we are working with some great people. Thanks for all you do. I love you so much! Have a great week with Forrest and enjoy Scotland. Love you soooooooooo much!

Week 21

So  I have been struggling lately. I get sad a lot and I think that I still might be struggling with depression. Last week was pretty bad. The work and everything is going great, but I'm not feeling good mentally. I don't know what's wrong but its been really hard the last couple of weeks. That's why I didn't say much last week because I'm trying to be positive, but its hard. I love my mission, but its hard. I knew that it would be. But yesterday and today I just have been really sad and I don't really know why. But I will be fine, so don't worry too much. I will be fine because I know what I'm doing is right and so the Lord will bless me. But no, it hasn't been peachy. Everyone here is great and have been helping me. I love my companion, he is amazing and so are all the others in the apartment. So thats all the depressing stuff, how about some happy stuff? Spencer got baptized on Saturday. It was so amazing - probably the most spiritual experience so far on my mission. And Brooklyn is still good for this week, so that's exciting. I hope that you and dad have a great time in Scotland. I miss you so much, but I know that I need to be here and that what I'm doing is right. I hope that you have a great time picking Forrest up. I love you and miss you so much. Have a great week. Love you and thanks for all you do for me. You always know how I'm feeling - its kind of scary. But I just want you to know that I love you so much and appreciate all you do for me.  Well, thats all I got. Sorry its kind of a depressing email, but this week will be better and we have another baptism, so everything will be great. Love you all.

 At Spencer's baptism

Week 20

T.J. and Chazz old district.  Transfers are tomorrow.

Nice photo

Hey everyone, hows it going? Hope you had a great week. So Spencer's family is active but since he has Down's syndrome  he has not been able to be baptized, but the bishop has given them the ok for him to be baptized. He is 12 I think? or 11. He gets baptized on Saturday and Brooklyn gets baptized next Saturday so I'm so excited. So we did some serivce at the blue grass festival.  We just took tickets and stuff, kind of like  we do at the rodeo. So it was fun. I have some pics I will send you. The  weather has been really good.  It rains a lot though, but I still hate the humidity. But other than that life is great. I can't believe you leave for Scotland in a week - thats nuts. I hope yall have fun. Send me lots of pics. I'm sure you will so I don't have to tell you. But  anyway transfers are tomorrow. I'm staying and so is Elder Hawes and basically the whole district minus Chaz.  He is getting transferred so thats kind of a bummer, but I'm sure I will see him again. Thanks for getting all of those emails and addresses for me I really appreciate them.  Have a great week. 

Week 19

So this week was sooooooooooooo amazing! I can't even tell you everything that happened but I will do my best. So we are working with Brooklyn and we taught her like three time this week and invited them to church and they came! It was so exciting, we had three people there yesterday, it was great. Brooklyn has a baptismal date for June 22 so thats really exciting. The formers are going well, we invited them to church but they didnt come, but thats ok. Spencer is still doing well. We were supposed to have a baptism set for next week, but they cancelled so we are going to try to set up another one, but we dont really know yet. We also got in a bash this week. It was so awful. So we knock this guy's door and he answers and is like hey come in. Then he tries to bash with us. It was horrible! We tried to get out, but he kept asking stupid questions, so we answered them, but finally we just bore our testimonies and left. So yeah, I hate bashing! You get nowhere and its not fun. I have had like small bashes, but that was the first full on. He just wanted to bash. but its all right.  Well sounds like the Lewis's had a good trip. Hope you are enjoying the summer. Love you so much! Have a great week.

Week 18

Hey! I forgot to tell you I'm in a ward and it is so much bigger than the branch I was in. There's like 300 people I think - sooooo much bigger. But its great, we get fed a ton more here. We had a dinner appointment every day this week except for Wednesday. It was great! I still don't cook. Cereal, peanut butter, bread,and pizza rolls is basically what I eat, but hey its great because now we get fed. We also had a dinner appointment yesterday and that was really good. We have had a good variety of food, but a lot of chicken - just about every dinner apointment has chicken. Sounds like Sunday was great! Tell both of them good luck for me. Sounds like the Lewis's should be having a good time on their cruise. This week was amazing! So we set a baptismal date with Spencer and teaching him is so much fun! One of the spanish elders had a good idea for teaching the restoration to Spencer. You use the game Janga. So I bought Janga and used it in the lesson and it was great, it helped a ton and it was a lot of fun! Then later in the week we found this less active that has an 11 year old grandoughter. So we are trying to reactivate her and we actually set a baptizmal date with Brooklin the 11 year old. It was great, we used janga for that lesson as well. Probably my favorite way to teach the restoration. We also tracked into another less active. Its so crazy how many less actives we tract into. Thats the second here and we had two in Bardstown. Anyway she got offended by some members about a lot of different things, so we apologized for what happened, but tried to help her come back to church. She doesn't understand tithing and we tried to explain the blessing but she didn't really listen. It was a great week anyway. It seemed way long but it was great. Yesterday was so amazing! We called a bunch of former investigators and one called back and told us we could come by! The wife is a less active and the husband is not a member and neither is the daughter. So we went over and talked with them - it was great. We are going back on Saturday and they are going to feed us, so that will be great! And another former called us and I don't know why she isn't baptized. She's met with missionaries for like 8 years and she sounds like a member, but she's not baptized so we are going to try to teach her as well as get her to church. Also we are working with Doug. He just married a member who is actually a RM. They're  like in their 40s. He is great. He has come to church twice and we are teaching him tonight after pday - so excited for him. Well, I think that's just about it. Hope you have a great summer. Enjoy the weather. The weather here has been amazing! Not too hot, but really nice all week. Well, have a great week! I love you so much!

                                                                       Love,  TJ

Nice look you two.  Chazz and T.J.

Week 17

Hey Mom and Dad,  how are you? GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK? WE HAD A BAPTIZIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His name is Cody Baker and he goes to the marines in like a week. I met him on Friday and we played basketball with him on Saturday. He didn't know me or Elder Hawes very well because Elder Hawes has only been here for two weeks more than me. So Cody didnt know either one of us all that well, but I got to know him a little bit and he is a stud. He doesn't have a lot of home support, his family didn't want him to be baptized, but his girlfriend is a member and thats like the only support he has. He is so cool, and I had the privlige to baptize him. It was sooo amazing to be able to baptize him! It was the coolest feeling in the world! I can't even tell you how amazing it was, but it was sooo great! Then Elder Hawes confirmed him yesterday. It was so great. We also have an investigator who is 13 years old and has downs syndrome. I dont know how it works, but I think the bishop gave him the ok to be baptized. They said he is accountable so we are teaching him the lessons. His name is Spencer and he is such a stud! It was great! I love working with kids with special abilities. Helping Jack last year really helped because I knew how to work with him. We used a ton of pictures and played some games. It was great, Spencer is so great! I love working with him. We are also working with a part member family. We had dinner with them last night and he is going to take the lessons, so thats super great. This week has been so amazing! I love Georgetown. We also do service every Tuseday and Wednesday for 3 hours at a food bank. and yes, we have been eating lots of doughnuts at that doughnuts at that shop.  We ate there like 3 times this week - its great. We are also in a ward, which is so wierd now after being in a branch for so long. So yeah, its pretty great. I am loving Georgetown so much and its really fun having Chazz in my district too.  We get along a lot better out here than we did at home,  so thats really cool. That's crazy that Gavin and Porter leave already. I can't believe its June!  What the crap, its going by way too fast! It has already been 4 months! I can't believe it. It's so crazy, it feels like I just left and now I'm already in my second area - it's nuts.  I love the 4 elder apartment. its great. Thats cool to here about Judd's homecoming. Well I think that's it. Hope you have a great week  - the last week of school. That should be fun. Oh and can you have Bailee see if she can get Alissa Kenington's address for me? That would be great. Thanks,

Love, TJ 

Week 16

Hey, how is everyone doing? It was great to talk to you yesterday.  After I talked to you we visited some members, said goodbye, then packed up my stuff and left. I got to my new apartment at like 10:30 because we started going the wrong way so it took a lot longer. So yeah I'm in a four elder apartment and its great! My companion's name is Elder Hawes. He is from Boise, Idaho and he's way cool. He has been out 9 months, but he has only been in the area for about 12 days, so he doesn't know the area super well and the bike elders are white washing.  Chazz is in my district, so that's way cool. He's actually coming over to Gtown to play basketball with us so that will be fun. I will be in a car, but will probably end up biking a lot this month because they're short on miles.  We have 3 baptismal dates, so that's super awesome.  This morning we woke up and played basketball, and then there's a member who owns a donut place, so we get free donuts! We went there today and it was soooo good! I'm gonna love that place. Well, thats all I can think of so have a great week! Hope school goes all right for ya. Love you so much - have a great week!  Love TJ 

T.J.'s new comp. Elder Hawes

Week 15

Sister Baldwin (Lauren) and T.J. at the mission home

T.J. and his new companion Elder Cox

So this week was great. At transfers I got to see Chazz and Lauren. Chazz is now with my MTC companion and Lauren is opening a new area somewhere. Not sure where that is, but it was fun to see them. My new companion's name is Elder Cox. He is from Montana and he's been out for like a year and a half.  We are still working hard and its different being with Elder Cox, but its really good.

So Kitty and Dakota are doin good. Neither of them came to church but they had legit excuses so that's ok, but we did get Josh Thompson to come and that's super awsom. It was stake conference and it was broadcast at the church so it was different and really long but I think he liked it, hopefully anyway.

   Yes, I did hear a bit about the derby. An investigator we are working with was watching it when we went over there. But yeah its been raining like all week. On Friday we walked around in the rain for like two hours and got completely soaked - it was great. hahaha!! Anyway that's crazy to think you are done coaching dad. That's crazy, sounds like it was a fun year though so that's good. That's awsome to hear that Rylee Rockhill is going on a misson!  Tell Jay good luck for me. 

   So I don't know exactly what's going to happen on Sunday but fear not because I will just give you a call I I think on Saturday to let you know for sure. That's what Elder Cox says he usually does and it is approved by president. It will just be a quick minute or 30 seconds or I will leave a voice mail. Sorry its not really organized yet, things are still kinda crazy with a new companion. I will let you know a bit later this week.  Well hope all is well. Have a great week and I will talk to you next week. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!