Weekly Update on 9/16/13

Before I post the letter, I forgot to post a picture sent to our family by a ward member in Elder Mellor's ward! Here is the message she sent with them: "Hi! Here are some pictures of your Elder! He is very well and happy here in PA! He gave such a great spiritual thought tonight and we really appreciate him!" 
We are so gratefully the Zack has people over in PA taking care of him and looking out for him! He is doing a great work and being so blessed for it! 

Elder Mellor and His companion Elder Workman

Look how happy he is!!! That is a real actually genuine smile on his face!!! :) 

I was thinking about doing pictures first this week, but decided against it since if I run out of time you would probably prefer this.  Since the start of my mission I have struggled managing my money, but now I think I finally figured it out.  That makes me happy and hopefully I will have a little bit extra to spend.  I recently learned that they released all of the Joseph Smith papers everything he has ever written has been put online, even pictures of the papyri from the Pearl of Great Price.  I was looking at this website for a while and it is pretty cool.  I have had an obsession with a person named Orrin Porter Rockwell, he was Joseph Smith's bodyguard.  He received a special blessing from The prophet that as long as he doesn't cut his hair, he won't be able to be killed pretty much.  I listened to a radio thing about him from the Mormon channel it was really neat.  There are some books out there about him that seem pretty cool too.

I got a new Camera recently and it is better than my old one, an elder who was going home soon let me have it, he just got a new one or something.  I have a lot of pictures taken with it I will upload later.  It got up to 100 degrees one day a week or two ago, but now it has been below 70 consistently and I think hopefully it will just go down from there  WOOO!!!!!

We were at a dinner at an active member's home, the Mackowiaks, and they said that if we didn't have anyone feeding us that day we could go over there and they got a little bit mad at us that we haven't been doing that.  Also Brother Mackowiak is a Math major and he works at the hospital writing up how much radiation people need for different cancers or something like that.  Anyway he was showing us some math proofs (one being that girls were evil it was pretty funny) and he showed us one that said that .9 repeating = 1 and my companion was arguing for like 30 minutes about it and it was hilarious.  They also have a really cute baby named Blake, she is great and always shows off for us when we eat there.

I also got a package from my companion's mom, that was really sweet of her so I sent her a thank-you letter.  I have pictures pending later.  I was just starting to get a little bit envious of my companion, who gets either a letter or a package pretty much every day.  So it kind of made my day. 

We went to see this really old member (he is 97 and still kicking) named Stacy Allen and he seemed a little down and kind of sad he was just laying down and he sounded like he thinks that he is going to die soon (if he does I hope I am here for the funeral) I really do love that man, we have been visiting him (since he is pretty much home bound) since the very start of my mission and we have become good friends.  He doesn't really talk much and he doesn't have a favorite anything if you ask him.  He says "They are all good"  it reminds me a little about myself.  So anyway he is too old to read and blind in one eye so he doesn't ever read anymore and he loves to read.  So we read him some of the Book of Mormon and we are reading it to him and will keep doing so till he passes.  He also has a bunch of books and he said we could have them or give them to the church library.  I got the complete box set of the History of the Church, which I have been wanting. There was another box set of like Jesus the Christ, The Articles of Faith, Discourses of Brigham Young, and a bunch of other good church books that we both wanted but I let my companion have it.  There were also a few other books that we both wanted so I trying to be the better man just let him have them.  One of those books was Faith Proceeds the Miracle by Spencer W. Kimball and I read a little bit of it and it is really good and another book that I want.  Right now I am working on the History of the Church it is 7 volumes each with about 500 pages and so far it is really good!

I almost forgot about Tim!  He said that he is excited and recognized that he needs to be baptized!  It was awesome, because it is hard for a lot of people to realize that and it is exciting when they do.  We checked to see if he will fit in the Baptismal font and he will not.  The water would go just under his knee he is so tall and our font so small that we will have to do it somewhere else.  I hope we can do it in the River!

I also forgot to say that I am planning on cutting Sweets out of my diet, unless someone sends me something or someone gives me something or it is at a dinner appointment.  Hopefully I will lose a little bit of weight.  It is starting to be hard to fit in my suit pants comfortably.

This is the boxed set of History of the Church that Elder Mellor got from a ward member. He has really learned to love reading while on his mission!

Instead of using a desk to study, Elder Mellor has two tables for more room.

Elder Mellor's companion got a hold of his camera!

So dramatic!

Elder Mellor got a package from his companion's family! How sweet of them! 

Apparently 101 degrees is now too hot for Elder Mellor...Typical. 

They used this to kill some bugs in their apartment? I am not totally sure why he sent this picture. Haha

This is an old Catholic School that they use for a church building now. 

And the inside of the church building. 

"This angel is something we found in one of those books and my companion decided to stick his face there when I was taking a picture of it after I taped it to my wall." They may be missionaries, but they are still goofy boys sometimes. :)