Elder Pack

Since Ethan didn't write a letter, I figured I would just put what we talked about on the blog.  Those who are subscribed to the blog will be able to see what we chatted about. It's still Christmas break so we had to wake Courtney up to talk to Ethan and she was cold.  It was hilarious because they were matched - both in hoodies - so Ethan took a couple of screenshots and sent them to me.  These two are hilarious when they talk on Tuesdays.  Ethan teases Courtney just like he did before he left and Courtney likes to tease back.  They love each other and it's fun to see. It's been getting colder in Loveland so Ethan said he was chilled and had his hoodie on. (I got a message that night from Elder Bateman's mom asking if I knew that the elders didn't have heat in their apartment and didn't have hot water.  Ethan didn't tell us anything.  Hopefully, they got it all taken care of or stayed with other elders until it was.) We had just talked to Ethan on Sat...

Ethan got to call us on Christmas Day.  They had spent the morning studying, reading, and chilling.  They had been invited to dinner with a member family so Ethan called us at 2:30 pm. He and his companion were at the Church (I think the wifi is better there) and Ethan hauled all his presents to the Church. Ethan opened his presents and it was fun to see what people had given him.  Members in the ward gave him hot chocolate, cards, gift cards, and mugs.  Ethan was excited because one of the mugs was really nice.  He also got candy from family, more gift cards, money, shirts, a hat, church books, and some other things.  He was really happy about all he was given and all the Christmas cards he got.  He had fun seeing the pictures on the cards. We chatted about the weather (it's warmer there for Christmas than it was in Ivins), the caroling activity they did as a District (Ethan said one member posted a video but I can't find it), and how the work is goin...

Everyone! Ethan said he was going to take time today to write an email to everyone but...he got busy and didn't get a chance.  He did send pics and an email to Grandpa Oman so I hijacked it.  That's where I got these pictures from. ;)  Here are some things Ethan shared with us on our phone call today. If anyone is wondering, it is warmer in Loveland, CO, than it is in Ivins!  Ethan has been enjoying great weather and we have been pretty cold.  I told him that he needs to tell the people wherever he serves in the winter that they will be having mild weather while he is there.  It seems that he has been missing all the cold stuff.  That will probably change but right now it's in the mid-60s and Ivins has been in the low-50s. Ethan was so excited to tell us about a family that they started teaching this week.  The father is an inactive member of the Church who reached out to the missionaries to ask to be taught.  His wife and 2 sons (ages 10 and...

Everyone!  Once again, I'm just going to share what Ethan told us when he talked to us on the phone.  I'm really only doing this for family history's sake.  Ethan is still serving in Loveland, CO.  They just had transfers and all the District had changes.  In fact, the District boundaries changed and they are all car areas now, which Ethan is glad of.  He is still with Elder Bateman and training is going well. Many of the other missionaries in the District are also training. Last week, Elder Bateman found a really cool YSA guy through Facebook finding.  They had a great lesson with him and found out that he is in a different area.  They had a "pass off lesson" with him and the other elders only to find out that he isn't in those elder's area either so they didn't really pass him off.  Ethan and Elder Bateman are still teaching the man and are going to pass him off later.  But the man is already talking about baptism so that is great....

 Ethan's latest Facebook post: The link he shares in his post if you want to watch it: 

Hey everyone! Things are going good here. Thanksgiving was good. We got to play ultimate frisbee (there was only 1 torn ACL) and eat dinner with some members. It was pretty great.  Other than that, it has been business as usual. We were able to teach a lot of members and a few nonmembers. Also, the weather has been super warm recently, which is weird because it's almost December. But I'm not complaining.  Well, that's honestly about it. Things are going good though.  Thanks  for all your support! From, Elder Pack PS.  It wasn't Ethan who tore his ACL.  They were playing Ultimate Frisbee and an elder was a bit too aggressive at trying to chase Ethan down.  Ethan was looking up for the frisbee and the elder ran up on him.  Their legs tangled up and they went down.  That's how the other elder tore his ACL.   Ethan got to ride a bike again.  He went on a mini exchange with the other elder in their district.  Ethan was able to ...

Here are a couple of videos Ethan posted on his Facebook page.  The links should open in a new window so you can see the videos. The first is of his Zone reading the story of Christ's birth: Luke 2 video This video is of his District caroling at a preschool. Caroling video

 These are some of Ethan's posts for Light the World:

  Hi Everyone! This week was good because of Christmas but slower with teaching. For Christmas, we got to eat dinner with the other Fort Collins zone missionaries. We did a talent show too, and I learned how to do a card trick just for it (I had to do something). We also got to watch the movie "Fighting Preacher", which is a good movie. I had already seen it but it's good.  It snowed here and so we got to go around and help people shovel their driveways. It was nice to help people out.   Like I said, it was a bit of a slow week. But thanks for all of your support! I hope you all had a great Christmas! From, Elder Pack PS.  This is Michelle.  Since Ethan talks to us each week, he doesn't put much detail in his letters.  I thought I would tell you a little about his Christmas.  He was spoiled!   Thank you to everyone who sent him packages, cards, letters, and food.  I think he has enough chocolate to last him until Halloween....

  Hi Everyone! I hope you are all doing well. This week has been pretty good. We started teaching another person, who I actually taught right when I got here! Hopefully, she is more willing to keep commitments now that she is less busy with things.  My district has been doing a lot of caroling. We've sung to a 104-year-old, some preschoolers, a woman who was 'under the influence', and a lot of other people. It has been pretty great! People have really appreciated it because not a lot of people have been caroling this year obviously.  I listened to Elder Ballard's talk today he gave in the October 2018 general conference. It's about the spirit world. It is really great! I recommend you to go look for it and give it a listen or a read. It is really good! I appreciate how comforting it is. Thanks for all of your support! You are all awesome. Merry Christmas! From, Elder Pack

  Hey everyone! It has been a pretty good week here. For light the world, our district has been going caroling. That has been pretty fun. Not very many people are doing it nowadays, so it's nice to get out and brighten people's nights. We got someone to sacrament yesterday! It was great. Sherry got to watch the broadcast, and she said that she really enjoyed one of the talks. She is also reading the Book of Mormon, which is also awesome. For service/finding activity, I've been taking family photos for people. It has been working pretty well. We've managed to hand out pass-along cards, tell people about light the world, and invite them to learn more about Jesus Christ. Also, the pictures I've taken haven't sucked so I'm grateful for that haha. The owner of a small ranch has been nice enough to let me use it for all of the shots. She is really nice to let me do that! We had a cool experience when we got to teach someone the other day. We went by a former perso...