December 7, 2021

 Everyone!

Ethan didn't write a letter this week.  They have been having problems with their sim card so he has been a bit frustrated.  They used a ton of data last month using their hotspot and they were put in data jail. 😉  But it's a new month and their sim card still isn't working right.  Luckily, they live close to the Church so they are able to go there and use the WIFI when they need to.

Transfers are tomorrow and Ethan is staying in Loveland.  It wasn't a surprise since he has only been there 6 weeks and is still training. But the rest of their district is all being changed.  They are having to combine areas and they have moved the bike areas into the other district, combined them, and made it into a car. The district Ethan is in now will be made up of 3 companionships of elders and 1 companionship of sisters.  Since they will all have cars it will be easier for them to do things on p-day, which Ethan is looking forward to.   

There is going to be a mini transfer in 3 weeks so the missionaries who will be starting school in January can go home a few weeks early. Right now there are a lot of trios in the mission which will switch to pairs when the missionaries go home.  Ethan said there are actually fewer missionaries now than there have been previously.  It is getting back to what it was before Covid craziness.

Ethan was able to do a full exchange last week with the district leader who was on a bike.  Ethan was proud that he was able to keep up the entire day.  He said the first few times he rode a bike on an exchange he was a bit wobbly but he has it all figured out now.  But there won't be bike areas in his district anymore so that opportunity is gone.  Although it is getting really cold in Loveland so Ethan won't mind being in a car now.

While they were on the exchange, both greenies were together (well, one is in his 3rd transfer so he wasn't technically a greenie anymore).  They went to buy gas and couldn't find the gas card.  They called Ethan but he didn't have it.  They ended up borrowing a gas card from another companionship and then they had to call the mission office to report that they had lost it.  The elder over the cars happened to be in the office and asked if they were out of gas, because that is usually what happens when a card is lost.  They were able to tell him that they had gas but they needed a new card.  He had them run to the mission office where he gave them another card.  Ethan said he isn't going to lose it again because it was a pain to get another one, although it could have been worse.  They could have been in Wyoming!

Ethan has an old sugar beet mill in his area.  That's just a side note. There isn't a story about it except there is one man in Loveland that Ethan wants to meet because the man is obsessed with the sugar mill.  Ethan thinks he would be fun to talk to.

Things are going well for Ethan.  His companion is settling into mission life and beginning to adjust.  The ward is feeding them well and the work is, hopefully, picking up.  It has been getting colder and they are supposed to get snow this week.  Hopefully, they will stay warm.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Ethan on his mission.  He feels the prayers and appreciates the emails and packages.

-Michelle