Transfer pics

Bro. Pool

Goodbye Parkersburg District: Elder Squires, Penn, Tyler (invetigator), Moreang and I. 

Elder Reidhead, Allred, and Muirbrook. 

Reidhead was in Parkersburg South when I first got there. 

Allred and Muirbrook and I all came out of the MTC together. 

Muirbrook and his companion also share an apartment with us.

Elders who've served in the Cave Spring area: 

Pendleton, Maxwell (Canadian), Dumpke, Myself, Conger. 

Bro Shorter in front of course!

Going Back to Dixie‏

Hey Yall!

Oh my heck there's so much to say I don't even know where to begin! Well if you've been counting the weeks you may notice this is Transfer week again. Leading up to it I really felt like I wanted to stay in Parkersburg, even though I've been here now for 6 months. Starting off I didn't really think much of the city. But I think my time here has been the most instructive part of my mission so far. It was almost never easy. It seemed like challenges seemed to follow each other. I had to exercise greater faith with each experience and with that grew my testimony. I've also yet again fallen in love with the people here who've treated me as though I was their own. Leaving will not be easy.

Sunday night we received a call from President Pitt. He asked to speak to me and began to explain about the new stake in our mission. I'll briefly paraphrase his explanation. Recently the Church in the Salt Lake Valley has set up several Young Single Adult (YSA) stakes replacing what were once student wards. The boundaries of these stakes overlap those of existing stakes but only include the 18-30 year old population who are single. One of the main reasons for this is now a Stake President can focus 100% of his attention to that demographic and create programs specifically for this vital age group. Out West this has proven very successful with an average of 1000 YSA being picked up per a stake where before they had fallen by the Wayside.

BUENA VISTA VIRGINIA YSA STAKE was created on April 15, 2012, the First YSA stake outside of the Salt Lake Valley. I have been assigned to the Buena Vista Area to Cover the North end of this Stake. There will also be a set in Lynchburg, and another Set in Roanoke. My companion will be Elder Gurney!! It may have been a while since you've heard that name. He was my District leader/roommate in the MTC. We came out together!! He will be a Zone Leader. The other Zone leader will be in Roanoke. At least for now. Seeing as this is a new thing to our mission part of this will be experimenting to see exactly how the area is going to work. They're still working out details with the Stake President and President Pitt. So no one really knows much of what its going to be like in terms of work yet. Luckily its summer and school will be out, giving us time to figure things out before we are overloaded with Students. Within the area are Southern Virginia University (SVU), a Liberal arts school owned by members and 95%+ Lds population. Also Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a private officer school for the Military and one other school which I can't recall. The draw back of serving specifically YSA is that we will not get to work much with Children, youth, Young families, more experienced families and so forth. So a big change up for me.

So aside from all of that I've been working frantically to pack (almost done!) and clean the apartment for the new missionaries...Elder Penn will also be transferred out and sent to Floyd, VA. In our Place will be Sister Scannel, and a new sister missionary to the Field. So We've also been cleaning the apartment pretty well. To our Credit it was not that dirty to begin with and far better than the average Elder Apartment in my opinion. We've spent the last 2 days visiting families and saying our goodbyes. Even more to go to today. I'm glad for the sisters though, We've got a good pool built up for them to teach and I feel good leaving the area with them. I've also left probably 50+ sticky notes in the area book and around the apartment to help them get up to speed.

This transfer I will also say goodbye to some of my best friends on the mission. 18 Missionaries will be going home, including my first two companions, Elder Pendleton and Elder Conger, My dear Brother Elder Moreang who I've spent these last 6 months serving around, Elder Leah, Elder Taylor and many others. I'm glad I'll get one last chance to wish them all well as they return to the Dark and dreary world. 

Well, I'd better stop now before everyone gets tired of reading. 

Love you all. Thank you for your Prayers. Each one is felt. :)

Elder Sunada 

I'm a What?!‏

A Trainer. Weird. Crazy. Cool. and a little Scary. But I'm down with it.

 

So Tuesday night we spent working in Lynchburg seeing members of the Grenta Branch in hospitals. Both Elder Fisher and I were trying to get over a cold and were pretty stuffed up. He got it a Little worse that I did. And He really didn't want to have it when he got of the Airplane Thursday afternoon. So he took a pretty good dose of NyQuil. Elder Houghton and I were up at 3 Am just starting to get readying for the early day ahead. Elder Fisher runs into the room with his arms spread wide winding back and for and proceeds to tell us about this crazy airplane dream he has. Then he states that he feels a little weird. Elder Houghton and I bust up because Elder Fisher has no clue that he's a little stoned from the Medicine. He shaped up by the time we left for Roanoke.

 

I love Driving in the early morning hours! It felt good to be able to go on a bit of a road trip again. When we got to Roanoke I got to meet up the elders who were leaving the area. Which means I got to see Elder Conger!! It was sweet. And I got to spend the day In Roanoke with Elder Leah! We had probably one of the best lessons ever, Mostly because his investigator was super sincere and studious. Then we got to go see Danny...WHO GOT BAPTISED!!! YEAH!!!! I was super stoked to spend some time with him.

 

Finally the Transfer train arrived along with my new car and....ELDER BOLAN from Richmond UT. Its a small town a little north of Logan in the Cache Valley. Darn these Utah Missionaries from Cashe Valley. The more I meet the more they try to convince me that I want to go to Utah State University down there when I get home. Pfft. That would be silly. But its starting to get to me... But yeah he's a pretty chill kid. He Loves Fishing and Hunting. I can still remember pretty well my first few days in the feild. He's in for some wild times and I've been trying to do my best to share with him what I know and be a good example. We have a 7 week transfer ahead of us so hopefully I'll be able to get him well prepared for whatever comes his way. I myself feel like sometimes I don't know hardly anything and its a little scary at times but with continued prayers and Heavenly Father Guidance I think I'll be able to pull through.

 

Oh! The new car sadly is not a Jeep or an SUV. But It is a Subaru Impreza. A step up in my mind from the Corolla we were driving. Still has the new car smell :)

 

Sad News. The United states Postal Service stopped accepting Mail to Canada as of June 18th till the Strike is called off :( I'm a little bummed about this. Someone give me a heads up when we get this thing over with. Common Canada! Get To it! Go Petition the the Gov. For me! I'll manage in the mean time though.

 

In the coming weeks of training I'm really hoping I'll be able to use Elder Bolan's Enthusiasm and Fire to get some good work done. The Mechanics of missionary work is one thing, and they come with time, But right now its the spirit that he carries thats going to lead this work and I'm going to try and feed of that as much as I can.

 

I love you all for your continued support and prayers. Thanks to those who sent out Birthday wishes! Each one was very much appriciated.

 

Elder Sunada

 

Tetris skillz have I

I sure am going to this Area! So many cool Families!

Made Some Awesome Smores for Dinner last night

TURTLE POWER.

Apparently they found him Crossing their Front Driveway. Super Sweet.

This is how we Roll.

Using some pro Packing skills I've managed to fit my ricecooker, 4kgs of rice,

and a Christmas Tree in my suitcase. So pleased!

PICS!



Elder Conger IS supa Gansta. He had to buy this suit.

Elder McKee and I have become good friends as well.

He's the Salem Elder that I've mentioned.

Sadly he's gone to somewhere in West Virginia now.

They Found these suits at a place called Suit City.

 You know the Creamsicle orange and baby blue suit that were in Dumb and Dumber?

Well these guys have suits like that... and worse.

The reason why you'll never see suits like this at home is because we don't have near enough black people. No joke, Hommies Legit come in and buy dope suits to look phat with their Boiys.

 

 Don't worry, I'm still cool too.

Elder Stoker Wanted me to sign a book for him in case he left.

The sisters had some pretty cool stuff on the pages they made for him.

I was feeling tired of being artistically out done by the "Relief Society"

so I'm pretty confident we bested them on this one.

It was themed after President Monsons Priesthood talk so its legit.

 

Things are starting to turn pretty Green out here.

Lots of trees in blossom and the Grass in Green.

A few more weeks and the rest of the trees should be green as well.

 

Phat like a Doughboy‏

I have some sad news.  Last week when I was trying to send some pictures I discovered that they'd all been accidentally deleted when I tried to reformat my camera card...So I've lost all my photos since the MTC...a bit of a demoralizer... I had some way sweet pics! And some awesome memories that are now in oblivion. But I'm trying to salvage what I can by asking other elders around to help replace some of the pictures I lost (such as Jason and Kim's Baptism) Elder Pendleton Also made copies of most of my pictures before he left so Hopefully I'll be able to get some back that way. Needless to say I was pretty bummed out most of last Monday. Elder McKee tried to comfort me by telling me there no use crying over spilt milk. I had to agree. There was nothing that I could do but move on. Still I was in a state of Grievance.

Luckily Heavenly Father knew just what I needed to get me back to normal. That night a member had invited us and some of their Friends over for dinner with the intention that after we'd eaten we would teach the Family a bit. This is a Missionaries dream. We were able to teach a great lesson to a new family without it being awkward or difficult. The members bore their testimony and I think at least the Mother and the Daughter were really feeling the spirit. Teaching a good lesson instantly makes me feel great. No matter whats gone wrong in the day if we teach a lesson and the spirit is there nothing else matters after that and I can walk away with a smile knowing that I'm fulfilling my purpose and doing what I need to do in life.

In other Exciting news I went to Court for the first time ever!!! OK ok I wasn't actually called upon. Elder Conger was subpoenaed (<---editing help?) to be a witness in our accident case. And because it was a kid who hit us we even went to a Juvenile court! I was having a sweet time. Coming out of the court room I exclaimed "That was fun, Lets do this more often!" I got some looks from some gloomy looking kids and their not so impressed parents waiting their turn to appear before the judge. It was Awesome.

And besides all that it was a pretty normal week. We are making good progress with Both Crawford and Emery. I'm hoping to get at least 1 more baptism out of this area before I leave. Tonight is yet again Empty Nesters. I'm starting to be able to sing along to the songs. Which is funny to me but I'm glad.

People are dumbfounded when i tell them there's 10 inches of snow back home this time of year. I would love some snow. Its like 70+F(+20C) degrees here. Ridiculous right? Well I guess I should just enjoy it instead of complain about how nice it is haha.

Elder Sunada

Springs brings new life

Alright, So i forgot to mention last week that this coming week was Transfers and therefore I would not be able to email till Tuesday. But here I am and last night I received some good news.

I'm Staying Another Transfer!!

It came as much relief as I was not quite ready to leave this area. I feel like now I've built enough trust with the members and our current investigators that we'll be able to make leaps and bounds in working with them. Now I just have to work on my scheduling dilemmas So that I can effectively and efficeintly see all the people I need to in a week and still go out tracting occasionally.

I'm so jealous that there is so much snow back home! Out here we are well into spring. The apple and peach trees are all in bloom. The Grass is growing and all manner of flower and plants are popping up. Things are finally starting to turn beautifully green. I never used to think that we had endless winters back home. It was at least 20 here part of yesterday. Its cooled down now as a storm has brought along some moisture but that should blow by soon enough.

So remember Jason and Kim? The couple I told you all about back in December... We'll they got baptized Saturday morning! Wanna know something even cooler? I was the one who got to baptize them!! They asked me last monday evening if I would do it for them. I was so honoured that they wanted me to be the one. They are such an awesome couple and Jason and I have become quite close. Kim should be having a baby soon as well! The Lord has truly helped them along there journey. Though they've struggled in many ways since I've known them, its so clear how every time they had challenges, the Lord poured out blessings and they've done better than they ever expected. It was really cool to me also because it helps build my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does bring happiness and peace. It really works! My purpose as a missionary helps people find those things better than anything else In the world I could be doing. What greater work is there than this? Hopefully I can fix some camera issues so you can see the pictures.

This past weekend was Also General Conference. I can't believe I never got this excited about it back home. I was always anxious to listen but this time I feasted over every word. I loved the Prophets talk on Temples. I made sure every time I heard him give advice I wrote it down. While most of it seemed to be the same message, (Pray always, Study the scriptures, attend the temple often, etc) Only now do I realize how vital these things are. There is so much in just those simple and small commandments that can lead to great blessings. These last few days I was listening to a talk in the Car about Evidences of the Book of Mormon. It was about the historical and archeological findings that support what the book of Mormon Says, and they are not few. But what was even more impressive to me was how in depth the explanation of certain passages were. I've read those passages hundreds of times but many of those things had not occurred to me. There is an endless amount of study that can be done. There is no way possible to ever learn it all. At a surface level you can learn all that you need in order to Come unto Christ. But the details and hidden treasures within the pages are always there waiting to be found. So exciting!

Well This week I can't wait to get some good hard work done. We've got plans to see a family tonight that a Member has invited us over to visit with. They exercised faith in trying to find someone to teach and its well paid off. So pray for us not to mess this one up! haha and with that I'll wish you all well till next week 

Elder Sunada

They Walked and walked and walked AND Walked.‏

I feel much better about our work this week. I think that though there is only a slight increase in our numbers, we accomplished much more and are set up better for the week to come! Numbers don't really matter anyways, but they have to have some way to track the work we're doing so we report on how many lessons we taught, investigators who came to church, new investigators etc. But I think if we keep on the same track and continue to increase our efforts the numbers will follow!

Last Monday for Pday we went bowling...again. I am going to be a pro bowler when I get home. Haha well at least now I can bowl above 100... Its cheap and we often can't agree on what else to do. If I keep this up I'm going to have to invest in a bowling arm brace and my own ball. I saw a guy show up in a lane next to us with a suitcase and 6 matching custom balls...Help me if I ever get that hard core.

That night I went to my 3rd empty nesters event. I am really going to miss that when I move out of the area. They've got some sweet...more experienced? members there that are such great people and are so fun to be around. Not to mention I'm going to miss some of that cookin, as well as the Banjo pick'in, Guitar Strum'in and bluegrass sing'in music that they play.

We actually spent most of the week on foot. Remember that small crack in the front bumper of the car that happened on Christmas? Well this week we finally paid for it. We dropped the car off on Tuesday morning and didn't get it back till mid-day Friday. It wasn't all bad. We did have a few appointments that we had to walk quite a ways to get to, but all that walking was good for me. I feel like I have more energy when I'm on my feet all the time and not just driving around.

It was also because we had to walk that we found a new investigator! We've been doing alot of praying in our district for new investigators. Its been a few weeks since we've had anyone nwe who's let us teach them. But we had to walk to a dinner appointment and arrived in the neighborhood an hour earlier than we needed, so we decided to tract it out. On the Last door before we arrived at the members home we had someone let us in! In our area I've never had anyone let us in so willingly and I was half shocked when he said yes. It just doesn't happen that often! But as we found out that he's known many good Mormons for years and he's done a bit of research and is pretty open to talking about it. He's the nicest old man ever. He spends most of his time going around and helping out all the widows do yard work and making sure the sick are taken care of. I can tell that he's been being prepared for years and we were led to find him this week. So I'm super excited to be teaching him! Its good that the Lord gives us such blessings, especially because after the dog I met tracting last week I needed a good Tracting experience to keep me motivated. And thats just what I got!

Friday we did exchanges with the Zone leaders and this time I was moved to their area for the day. They cover the downtown section of Roanoke, which also includes most of the ghetto. So I was immersed into an entirely different culture of people just a few miles from where I had been working. The cave springs area is the richer part of town and there are very few black people living there, but it was just the opposite working in the projects. There are certain trade offs between the areas. In Cave springs we almost never find people who will listen, while downtown you can find 4 or 5 new investigators in a day, but quite often they are not reliable and its super hard to set up appointments with them. But I really liked working there because I was able to give away 4 Books of Mormon, almost more in one day than in my whole mission yet combined! And I got to meet some crazy sweet people. Not to mention Elder Leah, my companion for the day, worked me like a dog, which felt good. They have so many appointments that they don't often have large gaps of time between them so its go-go-go.

I'm getting super excited for General Conference coming up during the first week of April. I love it because not only do I get to hear the Prophet's voice and be spiritually recharged, but its a great opportunity to invite others to do the same. Most people have access to the internet and can watch it online in their homes fairly easily. It makes for a very easy door approach and invitation. Also I'm very eager to hear what the Prophet has to say about the events going on in the world these days and how we can be prepared. Though I'm often troubled by what I hear from people about the news of the world, I'm comforted that I can learn from the Prophet how to be safe and prepare adequately.

Anyways, I've got to run again! Hope everyone is doing well! I sent out a bunch of letters these past two weeks so hopefully some of you will be getting them!

Elder Sunada

I love people! just not their dogs....‏

What exciting news I've been hearing from home. People getting home and leaving for missions all over! I can't believe Logan will be home and Tyler is already there! What madness! it still seems a world away for me, which I guess is a good thing cause I still have much to do. .

This past week has been on the slower side again, But I'm determined to see that this week we have a drastic rise in our numbers. Elder Conger was suffering from a cold most the week and a few days of rain had interrupted some of our work but I wont let that stop us this time!

Oh and I feel like I've come through a rite of Passage among the Elders in the WVCM. I got mauled by a dog!! We were tracting and everyone out here has these "Invisible fences" which include a wired perimeter and a shock collar that lets the dog know when its crossed the line. So we were working in one of the nicer neighborhoods on a high hill over looking the valley. Seemed nice enough. Till we walked up to a house with a mid sized dog sitting in front of it. Upon our approach the dog became excited and waited for us to cross the shock line. Then its demeanor changed some what and it became a little less friendly looking. It barked and charged us a few times. Eventually I convinced it to come up and smell my hand. I was even able to pet it for a moment. But once we started knocking on the door it changed moods again and decided to try to forcibly remove us from his turf. The woman who answered the door was on the phone and motioned that she was un-interested. I think the dog picked up on that cause it started to attack my pant legs. Upon seeing this she half heartedly tried to assist me in moving to the edge of the lawn where the shock collar took effect. Luckily the dog didn't really seem intent on causing physical harm, and only took target at my suit pants, which now have a nice pair of holes torn in both legs near the ankles. Luckily for that dog, Its owner was there otherwise it may have had some marks to boast. In any case thats just part of a day in the life of a missionary haha. Hopefully next week I'll be able to procure a success story from tracting.

I can't really think of anything else to exciting this week. Its Empty nesters again tonight so that should be fun. I'm looking forward to a new week of opportunity and finding people to share the gospel with. I know there's nothing else that can help people live more fulfilling and happy lives. As for their dogs...well I might have some other suggestions...

I'll leave you all with one of my new favorite sayings from the south I saw on a sign:

SHALOM YA'LL

Elder Sunada

PS. So how's the temple building going back home? I can't remember exactly when its going to be done. Send some pictures and let those returning elders know I love them!

So much News! So little Time‏

Hey Everyone!

So There is a lot to cover this week. And SO LITTLE TIME TO GET IT OUT! So this might be brief.

Ok Lets start with The funniest part of my week. We had some Elder Stay with us again while they were waiting for training the next day. They are awesome Elders and hard working. Even helped us get some goals and finding done! But one of them has a slight problem when it comes to sleeping. That is that He's a sleep walker. And Let me just say this, There is sleep walking, and there is SLEEP Walking. The difference is that in the latter of the two the sleep walker lives out his dreams in real life as completely different characters according to his dreams. Luckily we were warned that this could happen by him prior to sleeping. But no Warning could have prepared us for what we saw that night. I was awake from 4:30am on wards and from that point until just after 6 Both Elder Conger and I, As well as the Elders Companion experienced a series of 9 completely different dreams. And the Elder who's dreams we were living had absolutly no control, nor did he remember anything upon waking. A Brief summary of the dreams. A small Child hiding from Tiger wolves. A man planning to infiltrate an indian camp by practicing Indian Dances. a creature who spoke only in clicks. A mother of 3 children. an auctioneer, a blind child and so forth. Each dream seperated by a space of unconsciousness. Incredible. Would not believe it unless I lived it. 

Great thing Number two this week. An Update on Jason and Kim! So a few weeks ago Jason and Kim Moved into the Salem Boundrys to a home much safer and more secure for their coming child to grow up in. We've been over to visit with them a few times with the Salem Elders and have had wonderful lessons. They are so Humble and such honest people. They want to do the right thing so bad. Jason Even sold a vehicle that he loved because he wanted to be able to make sure his son would have everything. Such a solid couple. They went to Church for the first time on a  Sunday and Loved it! Jason told me he wanted to be as involved in the church as he can. They have a baptismal date set for the end of the month which I'm sure they'll make so long as Kims baby doesn't come early! He keeps on saying how grateful he is for having us stop by and teach him and how much we've been a blessing. But the Truth is that seeing him and Kim make these steps and the blessings that have been given to them are such a great testimony to me of how much the Gospel Can changes peoples lives for the better. There is so much love and joy that comes from living it and that I can even be the smallest part in leading them to this lets me know how important it is for me to be out here. I love it.

And Finally for the third most Wonderful thing to happen. STEVEN'S GETTING HITCHED!!!! I'm So stoked for him! (My Bro) Even though I kinda had the inside scoop that there was a pretty good chance it was going to take place I was still fillled with such joy to read his email this morning. I can't wait to welcome Kim and her Boys into the family!

I truly have been blessed with such a great family. A mother who's given me the gift of her faith. A Father who's taught me to work hard and supported me in everything. Sisters who are such great mothers to their kids and a Brother who's going to be a Fantastic Husband and father!!! There is such Joy in the family. I can't even begin to discribe how much I love all of you and I love that our Family is growing in both Numbers and Love for each other.

With that I am out of time and will talk to you all next week.

SHALOM Y'ALL
Elder Sunada

Transfer Week (Enter Elder Conger)

Hey Everyone!

What a crazy last week. So many changes. So busy. So tired. But Content. So Elder Pendleton was transferred out early Wednesday morning. We had to get up at 4:45. Due to the packing and having other missionaries stay at our place I was up till nearly 1:30 that morning. So it was a fun start. After he Boarded the shuttle back to Charleston I went with Elder McKee of the Salem elders as his companion was leaving too. I was sad to see Elder Pendleton go. Being the first companion I've had in the field I wasn't sure what it would be like having anyone different. But Luckily I got Elder Conger, Who is a pretty cool Elder. He's from Orem Utah and only about 5"11 so we finally see eye-to-eye haha. He's a hard worker and is really good at keeping the schedule, which is good and just what I needed. I'm finally getting some value out of our morning work our routine. Except for this morning when I knelt down to pray at 6:31 and said "Amen" at 7:04. I wish I was that righteous but I think the more likely conclusion is I had a nap during prayers.... But Most mornings are much better is the point!

So the majority of the week as been helping him get settled in, meeting members, learning the area and a few teaching appointments. Its been great because this has given me a great opportunity to meet with church leadership about how we can do better in our missionary assignments and help the wards with theirs. The Bishop's and ward mission leaders down here are outstanding and do a great job in helping us and keeping us busy with certain families.

I've been enjoying trying to explain how all the families are connected to each other to Elder Conger. This week we visited 5/6 Bohon Families and a few of the Ferguson's. Moving into a new area is tough because of the vast amount of information people you meet all at once. I know I'm going to struggle when I get transferred out of here so I'm trying to help him as best I can.

The Zone has shifted around quite a bit too. About half of the Missionaries have now changed around in our little zone so there are a lot of new Elders to meet and get to work with. Elder McKee got a Greenie! And I really like the new zone Leader Elder Leah. He's originally from England though he lived in Utah for a few years prior to coming out. He's so solid. By the book but thats just the way it should be. I remember him from my second day out in the mission when he came up to me and told me how excited he was that I was here. Super nice, Hard working, and a fellow foreigner! So I'm excited for all of the new changes that have happened and I'm trying to keep the best parts of all the people I come into contact with out here.
I hope all is well at home. I'd write more but I'm out of time!
Love you all and Can't wait to hear from people back home.!!
Elder Sunada