Happy Christmas

Hello Friends and Family, 

I know this email is coming a tad later today, and that is due to the fact that I have been puking my guts out since 5am this morning. It has been pretty rough, I'd give you more details but they aren't super pleasant. 

This past week has been filled with so much stuff. Last P-Day I met a crazy guy at Fred Meyer while trying to buy groceries who was telling me about how he can talk to animals and he cooked breakfast for a group of deer once. He also said that one time in the woods he had a swarm of bees come and make a beard on his face. I asked him what he did for a living and he said he was a mushroom picker, things started to make more sense then. 

On Wednesday the mission had a Christmas Gathering in Yakima with all of the southern zones in the mission. The house was HUGE and the food was so good and it was great to see other missionaries again, especially my MTC companion Elder Nelson. Each zone put on a skit and we all watched Meet the Mormons and then they passed out t-shirts and mail to everyone. It wasn't the same as spending Christmas at home, but it was nice to spend a day with the mission family. 

Thursday we got a TON of snow. I'd guess at least a foot. Coming from Texas, it was pretty cool to see. Elder Brassanini and I spent the whole day shoveling snow for people in town. It was a day filled with hard work, but a fun type of hard work. 

On Saturday we had Paola's baptism, which was such a cool experience. She was so excited and looking forward to it, and she really wanted her Mom to be there to support her. Her Mom had been supportive in the beginning and was planning on attending, when at the last minute she backed out and told Paola that she didn't think it was necessary and wasn't going to be there. Paola broke down and was devastated. Her Mom means so much to her and really wanted her support. Paola looked at us and told us that she still knew that it was the right thing to do and was the right path to take. Her faith in the face of adversity was a great example to me, and reminded me greatly of one of my favorite scriptures: Helaman 5:12. 

*In the voice of Ron Weasley* Happy Christmas, everyone. 

Mi amor por ustedes es mas grande de la luna. 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

The Best Burger I've Ever Had

Friends and Family, 

As you can read by the subject of this weeks email, I must tell you all of the marvelous experience I had this past week. My new trainer and I had a meeting Tuesday in Yakima, and the member who drove us up decided to take us out to lunch afterwards. In Yakima, there is a burger place known as Miner's. I've heard things about it and it's always kind of been this fantasy mystery land that missionaries talk about here and there. It's almost a missionary folk tale here in Yakima. And let me tell you, it lives up to the legend. 

This burger was incredible, and I'm talking truly incredible. I can honestly say, as a missionary, that this burger is a little piece of heaven on earth. I just needed to tell all you people about the greatness that is Miner's. Just like that one episode in Spongebob when someone jumps up on the table and starts singing about a Krabby Patty, that was me after eating the burger at Miner's. 

In other news, this past weekend was Stake Conference. To my recollection, I don't think I've ever attended a Stake Conference that didn't experience technical difficulties. The sound system at the Stake Center wasn't working, so everyone in the stake that could possibly fit tried to cram themselves into the Chapel and the gym to hear the speakers. Despite all of the chaos going on, it was still a great conference. 

On Saturday I got to see Gary's baptism. Gary is this man that Elder Wilson and I found knocking doors a couple weeks ago and talked with him for a little, and referred him over to the english missionaries. He is such an awesome guy, and it was really cool to see the fruits of our labor. Our investigator Paola was there, and had such a great time. She kept talking about how beautiful it was and is planning on being baptized this Saturday! She is so excited and eager to come one step closer to her Savior. There have been so many miracles that I've experience while teaching her. She is so awesome. 

Two of my students in my English class received their first graduation certificate for attending for 6 weeks! They are learning so much and it's so much fun to work with them as I help them learn English. The biggest struggle for all of my students is the letter 'v'. We had a fiesta to celebrate Christina and Haydee's 1st graduation with vegetables and vanilla ice cream to help work on their v's. There is a total of 4 certificates that people can earn, and everyone loves coming to the class so much and really wants to earn their certificates. 

I hope you all are having a great holiday season, and I invite you all to check out the video online called "A World Without a Savior". It is very powerful, and a great Christmas message. There are so many great videos coming out this time of the year, so if you're looking for anything to help procrastinate whatever you should be doing I'd recommend those. I love you all!

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

Crazy Week

Hello friends and family!

This past week has been such a crazy week. Wednesday was transfer day, and from last weeks transfer calls we were under the impression that Elder Wilson and I would be staying together and working for this next transfer here in The Dalles. We received a call from the mission president at about 8:00am on transfer day informing us that Elder Wilson would be emergency transferred up to Brewster in Washington and that I would be receiving a new companion to finish my training.

Man oh man, as happy as I was for him to have the opportunity to serve in a new area I was so sad to be losing him. Over the past 6 weeks I have grown to love him so much. He was an amazing missionary, an amazing trainer, and an even greater friend.

Interestingly enough, that day our area was covered in snow and ice. We called our zone leaders and they told us to wait until the afternoon to try and drive our way up to the transfer site in Goldendale and that the Assistants to the President would be there that evening to pick up the missionaries that were getting transferred. We made it up there very carefully and there were 5 of us waiting at the new cabin where the Goldendale Elders were living. We did some service in the area, shoveling snow and helping people move stuff out of the basement and whatnot until 7:00when we received a call from our mission president informing us that we were essentially stranded in this little cabin in the middle of nowhere for the next 36 hours. All of the roads were completely frozen over and we were not permitted to do any driving and were told to hold out there until somebody could come and get us.

It was a series of crazy events, but truly a blessing in disguise. I got to spend an extra day and a half with Elder Wilson and Elder Jarvis, having fun and doing our best to not freeze. It was so much fun.

If there's one thing I've learned thus far in my short time that I've had living life is that sometimes people leave. And sometimes unexpectedly. Mourn the loss, take a deep breath, and start living again.

I hope you all have a great week this week and don't end up stranded in a cabin in a frozen forest for 36 hours! Well, I guess if you do I had a pretty good time so maybe you will too. Love you all!

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder King

Pictures: The first one is of me with this giant truck at an orchard after Icemaggedon. The second is the final picture I took with Elder Wilson at the transfer site before he left.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

It truly is one of the most wonderful times of the year. Thanksgiving is one of my top holidays. I decided to try and arrange the holidays in order of most favorite to least. 4th of July is definitely first, and I put Thanksgiving second. From pie and turkey to the attitude of gratitude, it is so awesome. And let's not forget that dreadful day many moons ago where I proposed to Thanksgiving after getting my wisdom teeth pulled. I love Thanksgiving the same, if not more, than I did on that day. 

Over the past week Elder Wilson and I have experienced a TON of trials and rejection. There reached a point where we felt like we were giving everything we had to the work with and achieving nothing. One night I decided to just sit down and start making a list of all of the things I have to be grateful for. I started writing things down and I began to realize how much I have been blessed. From the names of people I have gotten to know to the memories I have, it made all the trials of this past week seem so insignificant. 

There are so many things in our lives that can so easily be taken for granted. However, there is one thing I'd like to focus on. The people in our lives. Sometimes it feels like we have an unlimited number of people in our lives, when in reality we are only blessed to come to know a select number. A taxi driver in New York might feel like he knows thousands upon thousands of people, but over the course of his life he might only come to know a couple hundred on a personal basis. I hope all of this is making sense, the point I am trying to make is that we only have so many people in our lives, and I am so grateful to have all of you in my group of people I have been blessed to know. Share your love and gratitude for those around you over this next week. William Shakespeare once said, "They do not love, that do not show their love." As crazy as life can be, never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. 

Enjoy this thanksgiving week, eat some pie and turkey for me! 

Con Mucho Amor, 

Elder King

Pictures: The first picture is of me on top of this little mountain, literally almost touching the clouds. The clouds get so low here and it is so beautiful here in the gorge to be driving along the Columbia River. The second photo is of me being goofy and posing with a sign on someone's door that says "Este Hogar es Catolico". I thought it was funny so I just made the most ridiculous face I could with it. Hope you enjoy

Aloha

Aloha!

This week has been pretty crazy. So much has happened. I must be king of the animals down here in The Dalles or something, because as Elder Wilson and I were going around knocking doors we saw this deer hanging out in someone's yard. It first looked like a statue and so we started walking up to the door when we saw it start to move and realized that it was a live deer just chillin' in this lady's yard. I wanted to see how close I could get to it so I just started walking right up to it and it just came up to me and started sniffing me and nuzzling itself against me. It was insane in the membrane. Elder Wilson and I were blown away because all of the deer here are so scared and skiddish and it was crazy to get so close to one. I now refer to that deer as our newest investigator, Bambi.

I also am a local celebrity among the hispanic kids here in the area. There is an apartment complex here that is almost entirely hispanic and I carry around stickers with me wherever I go and all of the kids now that when they see me they can just run up to me and ask for a sticker and get one. It's funny how much a kid loves something as simple as a sticker. I've searched for Spider-Man stickers, but I am currently carrying around Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Stickers. It is so fun to talk with the kids and give them high fives and pass out stickers.

I got to visit with one of the investigators in the area this week, his name is Aryan. He has had such a hard past and spent some time in prison and has tattoos all over himself, and even has a swastika on his neck. That's how rough and tough of a guy he is. As we were sitting in church, I looked over and saw him while we were singing and realize that here is this ex-felon, covered in tattoos, singing "I'm trying to be like Jesus". It was incredibly powerful moment that showed me that no matter what your past might be, with the right message and the right goals anyone can become a better person.

I know I thank everyone every week but I am just so grateful for all of you. With Thanksgiving coming around the corner I encourage you to take time to really reflect on how much you have in your lives. I am so thankful for all of my memories with each and every one of you and for the future memories with you all that are to come. 

Pictures were given me a hard time to attach and so I am only able to attach 2 pictures. The first one is with my newest investigator, Bambi. She nuzzled right up to me and so I did the best I could to take a selfie. The other is with my fan club, as they flock to me for stickers. I hope these two will suffice your picture needs for this week!

Winter is Coming

Amigos y familia!

Weeks are days and days are weeks out here in the mission field. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was writing you all and updating me on the adventures out here. In the words of Ned Stark, "Winter is coming." Temperatures are dropping, but for all who know me, it's still tropical.

An unexpected trial that I have began to face out here in the mission field is how much food people want me to eat. On ThursdayI had dinner with a family who fed us a huge meal, and then later at the english class we teach at there were cookies there, and one of our students invited us over to his house for his wife's birthday party where there was another dinner and dessert. Especially in the hispanic culture, it's considered rude if you don't eat any food they provide for you. I'm learning to eat very slowly and never finish anything, despite how tasty and free all the food may be. It makes me extremely grateful for the time I have in the morning to exercise.

That same evening we visited a man named Augustine. He is so funny. He LOVES karaoke so he spends thousands of dollars on karaoke equipment and invites us over to sing karaoke with him and teach him a lesson. It's hilarious because he lives in this little trailer with his wife and he will just sing karaoke by himself every night.

Today marks the 2 month mark of my time out in the mission since I have left home, and every day I am reminded how much happiness the message I share brings me. Even while tracting houses in the rain out here in the Oregon equivalent of the Land of Desolation I love the work.

As always, I love you all! And I know that people say that all the time, "Ahhh love you guys." But I really mean it. Until next Monday, keep rockin' and rollin'.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder King

Pictures: For my two pictures (the only pictures I took this week) I have me with some cool deer that were straight chillin up in the hills of Oregon. Also I found this chicken just walking around in the street, with no idea how it got there. I'm thinking of starting up a farm animal gang or something. Give me ideas on what it could be called. ​I attached them as attachments this week as apposed to included in the email. Let me know what works better. I can't seem to fit both pictures in one email, so I'll send a second email with the chicken picture.

Oh Deer!

A Missionary and his Chicken

Keepin' it Cool in The Dalles, OR

Homies back home,

This week has been filled with so much good. The Dalles, OR is such a great place to be. It gets so dark here so early however, so by 6:00 it's pretty much pitch black. Makes for some interesting evenings!

Something really cool that happened this week was my companion and I had a lesson appointment cancelled on us, so we just started walking the streets and knocking doors to see if we could share a quick message or provide some service. As we were walking, I saw this lady trying to change the windshield wipers on her car. Having done that a few times here and there, I asked if I could help her out. I chatted with her and got to know her a little bit while changing the wipers, and after I finished Elder Wilson and I shared a quick thought with her and went on our way. Elder Wilson looked at me as we turned the street corner and jokingly said, "Why don't we just keep walking around and see if anyone else is placed in our path for us to serve." Less than a minute later we saw an older woman sitting in her car by herself with the light on. We walked over and explained who we were and asked if there was anything we could do for her. Without a moment of hesitation she replied, "Yes! With groceries!" We gathered all of the groceries out of the back of her car and carried them up the stairs to her apartment. She explained that her daughter, who normally helps her, was out of town, and she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to get her groceries up the stairs. I absolutely love serving others, and it is just so cool to see that people are placed in our lives for specific reasons. There are no coincidences.

Another night we knocked on a door and met such an awesome family. They immediately invited us in for dinner and didn't even know us. Their names were Jose and Beatriz, and they had two kids. They fed us some of the best food I have ever eaten... cactus! It is so good, And super healthy too! They were some of the nicest people I have ever met.

One of my favorite things that I get to do out here is teach an English class to the hispanics in the area. It is a blast. I have about 10 students and they all work so hard on pronunciation, we spent nearly an entire class just learning the word, 'young'. Each week more and more people attend and it is just so great to get to talk with all of them and get to know them.

Something I've been learning ever since I've left Mexico City and arrived here in The Dalles is the important of attitude. The work out here can be incredibly hard and difficult and frustrating, but I've come to learn that we can either permit our environment to determine our attitude, or we can let our attitude determine our environment. 

I love you all so much! Be happy, smile more, and may the force be with you.

Con Mucho Amor,

Elder King

Picture Update: I actually have my own camera now! I'm still trying to get used to taking pictures of things I do, hopefully I'll get better. The first picture is a picture of Elder Wilson on Halloween and I with the kids of this awesome woman we are teaching, Jackie. The second picture is of Elder Wilson and I after a long day of work back in the apartment in front of our famous Thug Zone sign, because yes. I am always thuggin'. Even out here in The Dalles.