Elder Pack

Hey everybody! We got to talk to Ethan for a little while on Mother's Day.  He didn't want to tell us all that had happened over the past week because he needed to save something for Tuesday, but it was fun to chat with him. When we talked to him on p-day, he filled us in on his adventure to Martin's Cove.  They woke up at 4:30 am in order to get ready and drive from Windsor, CO, to Martin's Cove in Wyoming.  It was a long drive.  Once they got there, they were split into groups to do service projects around the area.  Ethan's group put up signs in the camping area.  When they were finished they ate lunch (sloppy joes and brownies) then they went on a hike. Ethan said it was fun to hang out but most of the missionaries he knows well have gone home.  The district went to Laramie for dinner and then drove home.  Ethan said it was the scariest drive of his mission.  It was raining slush and they hydroplaned a few times.  I'm glad I was hear...

Hi everyone! It's a day early but we got to talk to Ethan for just a little bit today.  Ethan is going to Martin's Cove tomorrow.  The entire mission gets to go.  They will do some service projects and walk around.  Ethan had a great time doing this last year so he is excited.  They will leave their apartment around 5:15 am to drive up.  They asked the APs a couple of weeks ago if they could use the transfer van.  The APs forgot to ask the mission president so when Ethan reminded them, they told him to text the mission president and ask.  By that time, the transfer van wasn't available.  So they are all driving their own vehicles.  It will be a long day but it will be good. Since they won't be in their areas tomorrow, they had time today to call home, do laundry, go grocery shopping, and do whatever else necessary to prepare for the upcoming week.  They ran out of money so they have been eating cereal and chicken for the past week....

Hey everyone! This week we had a funny phone conversation with Ethan.  He and his companion rearranged the furniture in their apartment.  They put some chairs in one of the corner and it turned into a little chatting area.  So they started making videos "In the Corner with Elder Pack."  Ethan shared a couple with us.  He is a funny kid and I'm so glad his personality comes through in his missionary work and that others see it too.  He said they share these in the chats and that people think they are funny.   The missionary work has been going well.  They found some new people to teach last week and one even came to church.  Ethan said that was a welcome change.  It was a mom and her daughter.  The little girl was cute because she left Primary and said she loved Primary and wanted to come again tomorrow.  She had a little cup with sunflower seeds in it and told Ethan that if she put dirt on the seeds they would grow.  ...

Everyone! Here is the update on Ethan for the week. Ethan had an exciting p-day last week.   His big news was that he made a hole-in-one in disc golf!  He was pretty excited.  He hasn't seen anyone do that before so it was really cool.  He said they didn't expect it so no one has it on video but we believe him. He also ate a dried ghost pepper.  He said he ate it and it was really hot.  For some reason, the older elders began running around the church building (Ethan didn't know why) so he had to follow them because he couldn't be away from his companion.  By the time they got all the way around the building, it was hurting a lot.  Ethan thinks he drank about a gallon of water trying to cool the water off.  Afterward, his stomach began hurting and he said the ghost pepper was painful to digest.  But he learned his lesson. He said he will never do that again.  Crazy kid!! Ethan has been having a lot of fun this week.  He is...

  Everyone! Ethan didn't write this week, not that we are surprised (haha).  But he is doing really well.  It is transfers week and he is staying put for another 6 weeks. Elder Howard is being transferred which is sad.  They got along really well and will actually be roommates when they go to BYU in the Fall. Elder Howard goes home after Ethan so he will get home just in time for school to start.  Ethan is really excited that they will be roommates.  Watch out BYU!  Ethan is, however, excited for his new companion, Elder Nichols.  Ethan was his district leader previously so he knows who he is and said that Elder Nichols is a good guy.  Ethan may or may not finish his mission in this area.  There is only one more transfer of Ethan's mission.  Ethan's release date is June 30th, which is 2 weeks earlier than we thought.  His mission president finishes on July 1 st  so the missionaries are going home with their mission preside...

Hello everyone! Ethan didn't get a chance to write because he was able to go to the Fort Collins Temple!  He is on the left-hand side in the picture.  He sent us a message Monday night saying that he wouldn't be able to call first thing the next morning because he was going to the temple.  They thought they would be going later in the morning because the Greeley Zone and the Windsor Zone were both going the same day.  But, since the restrictions have been lifted, both zones could fit in the same endowment session!  They had to be at the temple by 8 am to get in the 8:30 am session.  Ethan said it was really great to be in the temple again.   He called us in the late afternoon because they also went to lunch, did their shopping, and did laundry.  But he is doing really well and is happy.   They will have a baptism this weekend and they are super excited about it.  The woman has been working hard to quit smoking and has seen...

Hey everyone! I wanted to write a quick check-in to let you all know I'm alive. Please pray for Donna that she can get baptized on the 9th of April!  Here are some pictures.  Love yall! From, Elder Pack PS:  He wrote! haha!  We had a fun chat with Ethan when he called today. He had an interesting Sunday School experience where the teacher went off-topic for a while.  We had a good discussion about using entire quotes and not just picking out the words or lines that defend your position.  It's fun to see how mature he is when he talks about gospel things.  He certainly has grown and changed. They had a dinner appointment yesterday where the family talked about what they learned in Come, Follow Me the week before.  Ethan said they talked about how Joseph shows attributes of Christ.  As missionaries, they don't study the Come, Follow Me curriculum.  He said it was cool to hear about what the family had learned that week.  He wishe...

 We got to talk to Ethan so I will share what he is up to. He didn't have too much to say.  The work is going well for him and they have people they are teaching who, they hope, will be on date for baptism soon.  They have Donna on date so they are excited about that. The weather is good so they are going to play Frisbee Golf for p-day, go bowling and then go to lunch.  The gift cards Ethan has been sent have been great for these kinds of activities.  He really appreciates those. He is still working on figuring out how to get his pants fixed.  If you don't remember, they ripped from the crotch to the belt loops.  Haha!  It's the pants from his nice suit that he wears on Sunday.  There is a woman in their area who does alterations who said she could look at them but didn't think they could be fixed because of the extent of the repair needed.  I'm trying to get him some new pants through the 2-year Guarantee we got when we bought his suits...

  Everyone! We had a fun chat with Ethan yesterday so here is the update on how he is doing. Ethan was excited to tell us that Donna (a woman they have been teaching who survived a polygamy discussion in Relief Society on her first day attending Church and still went the next week) is on-date for baptism on April 9th.  They are excited.  They have some other people they are teaching who, they hope, will progress towards baptism.   Last week, Ethan and Elder Howard decided to ask if President Palmer would like to do companionship study with them one day.  He told them he would check his schedule and get back to them.  Last Monday, President Palmer texted them to see if they wanted to study.  They hurriedly drove to the mission office (close to their area) to have companionship study with "a future general authority" as Ethan put it.  He said they spend about 1 1/2 hours studying and discussing the Gospel with their mission president.  I a...

Everyone! Here I am again, letting you know what Ethan told us about during his phone call (although he sends a lot of pictures afterward and has to explain them a bit).   It's transfer time and Ethan is staying put in Windsor, CO.  He is excited because he has really enjoyed it.  The only bummer is that Elder Ray (the newest member of their trio) is being transferred.  Ethan and Elder Howard will continue on as Zone Leaders in Windsor but Elder Ray is going back to Wyoming.  They are sad to see him go because the three of them had a lot of fun together.  There were only 13 missionaries (8 sisters and 5 elders) coming into the mission this transfer so Ethan and his companion weren't needed to go to the airport to pick up missionaries.  He was hoping they would be needed but thinks they may be needed next month.   But they did have to do one more stupid thing together as a companionship before the transfer.  I guess they played a gam...

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 ge...