Hello everyone!

To sum up everything that happened within the last week: it was really
weird. I do not know how to describe it other than that, it just was.
It involved Russians, various instruments including Mandalyns and
Banjos, and really weird/interesting people. E. Boyer and I are having
a ton of fun together tho, we are working really hard and having a lot
of laughs. We were visiting a less active family the other night and
after the spiritual message, they noticed his name tag. Apparently
they also have family with the last name Boyer. After some
conversation, they started examining him for genetic similarities,
running their hands thro his hair saying how perfectly structured it
was (this was his first time meeting the family), comparing teeth,
noses, and hands, it was so entertaining to watch from my perspective
:) I guess he must be related to them somehow tho! Their hands did
have similarities as well as their teeth as well. One of the family
members just became a new investigator and she is actually someone who
we really want to focus on to be baptized before E. Boyer leaves. It
would be a really cool experience if he was actually related to her
and she was baptized before he leaves.

Almost half the zone changed for transfers, there are four trainers up
here so we got more exchanges this transfer - probably one every week.
We have ZLC tomorrow from about 8 - 3. We had zone conference this
weekend, it was a great experience. I fell in love with a turkey that
was at the members house we did it at. We had training in the morning,
then went and did activities, then had dinner, then closed with a
testimony meeting that was really spiritual. Our training plan for
this transfer is Zions Camp, so we pulled handcarts for part of the
conference and had activities along the trail around the members home.
E. Boyer and I trained on being 'equally yolked' as a companionship.
We talked about how the person you should be serving the most, next to
the Lord, is your companion. It is funny because a lot of the time, I
think we as missionaries forget to serve our companion because you are
with him/her all the time - I know I am guilty of that. I have been
making a greater effort to serve my companion tho and I have
definitely seen the difference. As you serve your companion, your
companion serves you back - it follows the adage 'what goes around
comes around.' Alma 41: 14-15 is a perfect scripture that talks about
that exact same thing. I am a firm believer of that saying as well. It
takes a lot of effort to serve your companion, whether it is a spouse,
brother, sister, or missionary companion, but it is definitely worth
it.

Hope y'all enjoyed this letter! I will talk to you next week!

1.  Tell us about your new companion.  Do you think this will be an
easy or challenging companionship?  Why?

This companionship is going to be super easy, it already has been.
Elder Boyer is a Yellow with White, way easy to get along with, we
have had so much fun the last week. He is the oldest in his family,
has one younger brother and one younger sister. He plans on going to
school at UNLV, then transferring to either the U or BYU. He wears
glasses, likes a lot of the same stuff as Bree actually, reminds me of
her in a lot of ways - which is really nice :) not sure what else to
say about him, let me know what else you want to know!

2.  Did your zone change much?  Have you had much interaction with the
new missionaries called there this week?  Did you get your packages
this week?

Yes, nearly half of the zone changed actually. We are on exchanges
right now, I am with E. Parkin, from Virginia, who is a new
missionary. I have met all of the other ones and they seem solid, this
is going to be a really fun transfer :)

3.  I wrote to you about talking to your president and our homecoming
- does that sound good to you?

That sounds perfect to me :)

4.  Is it beginning to feel like fall there yet?  Do the leaves change
there or is it mostly evergreens?  How soon till the snow starts
falling there?

Yes it does actually. The leaves are changing colors now, it is going
to look so pretty. The snow probably will not come 'till around late
September - early October I think.

5.  What do you want us to remember to do this Christmas?  Anything
you especially want us to plan, food, activities, etc.?

Just go to the cabin, that is my biggest and only wish - at the moment
:) I am so excited...