Elder Pack

Hey everyone! We got to talk to Ethan and he is doing really well.  It has been a busy week for him.  They had transfers last Wednesday.  He is staying in Windsor but half of his zone had changes so he and his companion were up at 4:45 to get ready and get to the transfer bus.  They are in charge of making sure all the missionaries in their zone are on the transfer bus with their stuff in the morning and then off the transfer bus in the afternoon with all their stuff.  Ethan earned his name because he was in charge of packing all the stuff into one of the compartments under the bus.  Ethan called it Tetris.  He said many mentioned that he lived up to his name.  Along with transfers, Ethan and Elder Nichols had to move furniture for missionaries.  One area has a trio of sisters, so they had to get them another bed.  Another elder has a weight set he uses for rehab (he must have an injury) and so Ethan and his companion had to move a bunch...

Hey everyone! Thanks for the emails, packages, and letters for Ethan's birthday last week.  He said he was spoiled and appreciated being thought of. The last transfer in Ethan's mission (minus the one home) happened this week!  He stays in Windsor, CO, continuing with Elder Nichols, and continuing as a Zone Leader.  There are quite a lot of changes in their Zone but Ethan said that change is really good and he is looking forward to a shake-up of things. They had some success last week finding people to teach.  Ethan and Elder Nichols have been driving to parts of their area and then walking around.  They don't knock on doors, they just walk around and talk to whoever is outside.  They were blessed to find people to teach on Sunday and Monday just walking around.  One of them let him borrow an umbrella because it was starting to sprinkle.  When Ethan protested, the man told them that he would get it back from them at Church on Sunday.  They ar...

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...

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! 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: Ethan didn't write this week so I thought I would share what we talked about when he called today.   Ethan is doing well in Windsor, Colorado.  He said that the weather has been annoying lately.  One day it will be beautiful, the temperature in the 50s, and feel like Spring. The next day it will snow, the temperature in the teens, and feel like Winter.  He wishes it would just make up its mind.  He had an easy winter last year so he was spoiled and is now tired of the snow and cold.  Poor kid! He is enjoying life with Elder Howard.  They seem to be a fun companionship.  The ward is feeding them well and they have been entertained by the children of ward members.  Ethan has some funny stories of what life is like when they visit homes with crazy little kids in them.  He is really entertained and loves it. I need to explain the pictures Ethan sent us this week.   Yesterday they had Mission Leadership Council where ...

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! Hope your week has been great. Things have been pretty normal here. Most of the people we're teaching are super flaky so I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be teaching them. But the ward is pretty good. We get fed pretty good which is a blessing haha.  The only other thing I really have is that I had a great study of alma chapters 40 and 41 in the Book of Mormon. It talks about the plan of salvation and what happens after we die. You should all check it out. I made a list of all the stuff we learn from those chapters and it's pretty  awesome . Thanks  for all your support! From, Elder Pack PS: Don't ask about the pictures of the frog and...whatever that is...because I just don't know. 😉  Ethan is doing well but he is adjusting to Colorado.  I think he misses his all-elder District.  He doesn't want to play slaughter ball and risk hitting a sister in the face with the ball. haha!  So they are playing other games and just c...

  Hey everyone! It's been a minute since I've written an email but things have been going great here.  Michael, who I was teaching in Casper, got baptized! I, unfortunately, didn't get to see it because I got transferred down to Loveland, Colorado.  Colorado is pretty cool. If I'm being honest, I prefer Wyoming but that isn't to say Colorado isn't great too. Also, my last district was  awesome  so it's been an adjustment.  I'm training again too. His name is Elder Bateman. He's pretty cool. Here in Loveland things are kind of slow teaching wise but it's picking up. We've been working hard and have seen success because of it.  Some notable things: we talked to a flat earther. We had an  awesome  new missionary orientation meeting (President Palmer is  awesome ). The weather has been great. Taught a guy named Eli a first lesson on his porch. He really appreciated being given the Book of Mormon. Got to go through the temple last week and cl...

Hey Everyone! I'm still doing good. We are keeping really busy right now with 3 wards. If you could all pray for the missionary work here in Casper, I'd really appreciate it.  I want to share a quick scripture with you all. 2 Nephi 32 verses 8 and 9, in the Book of Mormon. The prophet Nephi says, " 8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." So basically, pray. It helps out a lot and it d...