This week seemed to fly by!

Christmas was pretty great. We spent the morning at a member's home and ate brunch there. Super yummy! We then FaceTimed home to our families. It was delightful to see my family and be able to talk to them for a little bit. We then went to the President Griffin's home. We spent time there with him, his wife, and some other missionaries. We went to a dinner at a member's home. Her husband isn't a member. She invited one of our investigators and her neighbor. It was a really good time and again yummy food. We spent the rest of our evening playing cards with the zone leaders and another set of Elders.

Elder Sutcliffe, one of my zone leaders who I live with, went home Monday. It was sad to see him go but exciting to see who the next zone leader will be.

This week is transfers week so I've now been here for 2 transfers. That seems crazy to me. It feels like I just got down here last week! I honestly love it so much. I don't necessarily love Arizona, but I love being on a mission. Arizona is a great place, but I would love it just as much even if I was called to Salt Lake City. Going on a mission is easily the greatest decision I've made thus far in my life.

I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Tribe

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!
Short message this week.
I'm doing great and loving every minute out here. It's hard and
strenuous at times, but that doesn't make me love it any less.
I encourage all of you to think of someone you can help this holiday
season, and do it. Even if it's just helping them in a small way. It'll
bless both of your lives and bring you both closer to Christ during
this time we have to remember Him and His birth.
Love you all!

Elder Tribe

It was our Christmas conference so 3 zones at a time got to go to the
Mesa temple. We did a session, went to a buffet, and toured the
lights. I saw Elder Smith there as you saw on Facebook. That was super
cool.

This week was solid...

This week was solid. I don't have any great stories to tell but work got done. We printed out a ward roster and we're putting a face with every name and making notes. It's crazy how many people haven't had any contact with the ward in years. Some are really nice people. We've met a few older gentlemen who tell us about their missions. It's cool to hear their stories. One guy we met owns 300 suits, because he made himself a promise in his youth that he'd never worry about having clothes to wear.

We had interviews with President Griffin this week. They went really well. Every time he sees me, he always complements me on my looks. He came up to a group of us talking and greeted us then stopped and said, "Elder Tribe. You look great. You never fail to impress me with your presentation of yourself." No comments to the others. Kind of weird but hey I'll take it.

I'm instituting the use of fake glasses in my contacting approach. We found these fake glasses in our apartment one day so I decided I'd wear them. Ever since then, when ever I wear them, we seem to have better success. More people talk to us and let us in the door. I bring them out about twice a week. It's more of a fun thing to do than anything else. Members give me funny looks trying to remember if I wore glasses or not. I don't help them out. I just let them sit and think the whole time haha.

A little spiritual thought for this week. 

Proverbs 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

So beat your children with a rod.

Just kidding. 

Here's the real spiritual thought.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

We show God and Christ our appreciation and love by keeping the commandments they have set. As we express our love to them, we are more receptive to their love for us. This will cause an increase of blessing and happiness in our lives. I don't know about you guys, but I'm always down to bring more happiness into my life.

I love you all!

-Elder Tribe

Members are the best

Toph was having dinner at a members house and she took this picture and sent it to me. I'm so grateful there are wonderful people out there taking care of my boy. Look at the amount of meat on his plate. 

So we bought a whiteboard...

So we bought a whiteboard. Not just any whiteboard though, we bought a 8 foot by 4 foot whiteboard! That's right, we have a giant whiteboard. We have all sorts of colorful markers that we use to organize our weekly/daily planning. Our board is already full. We have it filled with potential investigators, investigators, less actives, and helpful active members. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever!

I've been sick for the past 6-7 weeks. Finally getting healthy! I'm not coughing all night! It's pretty great! It's definitely been a great opportunity for me to put my faith in the Lord, because there is no way I could've biked all I did while that sick by myself. Now I can breathe and ride happily :)

The church put out a video called "He is the Gift". They are pushing us missionaries hard to share it and get the message out there. I encourage you all to go check it out and share with your friends and families. Go to Christmas.Mormon.org to see it. It's a great reminder that Christ should be our focus this time of the year.

I got some pretty sweet air on my bike this week! We were cruising pretty quick to a dinner appointment so we wouldn't be late. The fastest way to get there was through the wash. In the wash some one had built a big jump for a dirt bike. I decided I could get enough speed to go off it. And I did. I flew off of it and landed a good distance away. We made it to our dinner appointment on time and I got some sweet air. It was a good night!

I've also acquired some ties. I've gone from 10 to 29. My collection shall continue and I'm excited to see how many I can get before the end of my mission.

Love you all!

-Elder Tribe

 

 

 

It's all sorts of Christmasy. From left 

to right it's me, Elder
Burbank, Elder Green, 

Elder Farnsworth, Elder Clark, then

 Elder Sutcliffe in the middle.

The paper bag guys are our 

fandangos! They are Elder 

Farnsworth's 

traditions so we
>>>> all partook. It was our P-Day 

activity! Super fun! 

This week was a good one.

This week was a good one. We were able to have thanksgiving with some
recent converts and their non member friends and family. We gave their
Indian friends a Hindi Book of Mormon. It was sweet to hear them read
from it.
A member gave me Kevlar lined tires and another member bought me new
tubes. They are so great and now I'll be able to go about my
missionary work without a problem!
I was able to go to the Mission Home and spend time with the Mission
President which was awesome.
I have an incredibly strong testimony that everything happens for a
reason and I have all my faith in Heavenly Father's will.
Sorry I don't have any funny story this week and it's a short email.
Love you all and thank you so much for the prayers for my brother and
family.

-Elder Tribe