February 22, 2022

Everyone!

Ethan didn't write a letter this week so I'll let you know what we chatted about this morning. 

Ethan is in a trio of missionaries right now.  A missionary went to his original assignment so his companion was transferred from Laramie, WY, to be in a trio with Ethan and Elder Howard.  Elder Ray was Ethan's district leader when he was in Wyoming. So they are having a party.  Ethan said it has been really good and they are getting along great.

Last p-day they went to Estes Park.  Ethan was really excited to go there.  He and Elder Howard wanted to leave at 4 am so they could watch the sunrise but everyone else wanted to leave at 10 am.  So they left at 10 am.  They got to go inside a haunted hotel where the movie Dumb and Dumber was filmed and also the Shining.  They got to watch taffy being pulled by a machine and they hiked (and fell while hiking) for a little bit.  They had a great time.

Today they got up early so they could get things done before starting their fun day.  They were going to do laundry, go shopping, play chair soccer at the Church, go bowling (there's a place in their zone that is only $4 total per game), and then a member was going to take them to Costco (which they were really excited about).  So it was going to be a busy day.  

Their zone has been having great success lately.  They challenged their zone to up the number of people who are committed to baptism.  The zone rose to the challenge and they now have 13 people in the zone committed to baptism.  Ethan was pretty excited about that.

They had 2 investigators come to church on Sunday,  One was a guy named Nacho who wasn't too sure about going.  The last time he went, the people weren't as welcoming as he would have liked, but he gave it another shot and had a great time.  Another investigator, Justin, showed up and enjoyed it.  Ethan said the work is progressing well in Windsor.,

It has been really cold in Windsor lately.  Ethan and his companion stopped by a gas station to check on an investigator.  They chatted and then, as they were leaving, the girl gave me free hot chocolate.  They were pretty excited about that.  

Ethan is doing really well.  He is happy and working hard.  He is grateful for all the support and prayers.

-Michelle

Here are some  pictures:

The new trio: Elder Ray, Ethan, and Elder Howard.  They look like a fun group!

Elder Ray, Ethan, and Elder Howard doing a "shotgun" with Mountain Dew.  You turn the can on it's side, puncture it with your finger (see the hole?), and then as you suck the soda from the hole, you pop the top.  I don't get it but Ethan said it's quite the thing.

This is the face a missionary makes when he is told there is free taffy. 😉

In Estes Park, there is a place to watch taffy being pulled.  A lot of the missionaries had never seen that before, so they stopped to watch for a while and were offered free samples.

The trails were icy in Estes Park so they slid down them.

The Stanley Hotel which is haunted.

Ethan was showing us how cold it was going to be today.

He found a knife with his name engraved on it.  He didn't buy it but thought it was fun to see his name on it.

A view of Longs Peak from Estes Park.