Pictures

#12 - Pro Pumpkin Carver

We went to the Potters house to carve pumpkins Thursday night! I helped Gracie with hers. We made a "princess pumpkin." After carving it out we decided to bedazzle it too haha. It was definitely the cutest one. I love the Potter family. 

Alice is a little old lady who had throat cancer this year. Last week we invited her to be baptized and she is very excited to. She lives in a trailer park all alone because in January her husband got really sick and now lives in a home for old people. She loves the gospel. The only problem is she has a hole in her throat and she can't get water in it. We called President and asked him how we were going to baptize her if she can't go under the water... We are still trying to figure that one out. Any ideas?

Dennis is finally getting BAPTIZED!!! We have been working with him for 12 weeks now and he is actually doing it:)) We have been pushing his date back for weeks but after we had a bold lesson with him about not procrastinating the day of his repentance I think he realized how important it was for him to be baptized. Saturday at 10 oclockis the big day! All of you are invited! Catch the next plane up here because it is a big day. 

A less active man called us up this week because he believed someone broke into his apartment and stabbed his bible. When we came over to check on him he was so frantic because he thinks he is being stalked by an assassin! Has says his drinks are poisoned and swore that he would not drink water ever again hahaha. We checked his bible and there was a tiny cut in one page and it was obvious that it was from his cat! Hahaha people are crazy in this small town. We think that all the drugs he has done in his life has made him a bit off his rocker!

Saturday was a special day! We went to the temple for the first time since I have been here! I love having a temple we can visit. Our mission will start doing special temple trips for new members every month from now on so I could possibly be going every month! The next one is December 5th. It is so great to see new members have this special experience. Afterward we went over to the new members house for dinner. We could notice that she was happier that day. As we go to the temple, as we remember the covenants we make there, we will be better able to overcome those temptations and to bear our trials that we face in life. In the temple we can find peace and comfort.

Next week are transfers! There is a chance that I will be leaving so I know everyone is dying to send me letters and packages but after Thursday try to hold off to send them until I know where I am going:)

This is our district

Hops for days

 Everyone here has a few hundred guns:) A guy was showing off his shooting skills on the birds last Tues.

We wish we could shoot!

 We were knocking on the cemetery door but no one answered
  

 Teaching Bain from Batman about the gospel... 

We live next to a grave yard and so we decided to go on a field trip to teach the dead people about the Plan of Salvation hahaha. It went well I think they want to be baptized!

 This is our ward mission leader I was telling you about a few weeks back!

And there is a story behind the second picture.... Redmond accidentally smashed through the door haha and our landlord is going to kill us when he sees this!

This is Ken, he is awesome!

#11 - The headless chicken...

Dear Elder Coon,
How are you? I won my soccer game again this week. Do you remember Izzy Dunaway, my old friend? He was on the opposite team. We had a lot of fun because I was on the ball a lot. You would have been very proud with my skills. At the end of the game with five minutes left the score was 4 - 2 we almost had a fifth goal but the referee called the game because of lightning.

I received my report card this week with all A's and O's. I have a book report due sometime this month or next. I also have a poem due in December. Can you believe it is almost been four months of school?

Questions;
1) Is there frost on the grass in the morning now?
2) what is the name of your ward?
3) Do you have to ride a bike or a car
4) How many miles per month are you allowed?
I love you James and good luck!

Hannah

Dear Hannah, 

Ya we had our first frost on Sunday. 

the martinsville ward haha only one in the whole town!

we drive our car! but it wouldnt start sunday and we had to go and get a new battery for it

we get 1200 miles about every month

thanks! good job  

Hello Elder,

How was your teaching pool this week, did your commitments follow through? I know that was a challenge in my mission, the person would set the appointment but intentionally not show. We called them "Lunchy" meaning they were out to lunch most of the time, even during the discussion. We could sift through to the best pretty easily. Tell me again what is considered a Discussion; Say a prayer, teach a principle and leave a commitment? How is the PMG going? Katie was trying to explain the "12 Points or Training Steps??" 

Today, after Stake Conference, I met with my Teachers Quorum Presidency. Our Quorum is tough when it comes to "Traditional Homes" where both parents live at home. 11 Teachers with only 4 with both parents at home. Very sad and challenging. I feel it is important to visit with the Teachers Pres in each home very often. He must exercise the keys he holds.

I dont know if we told you, but Johnny asked Sarah by having Danny fly them in a helicopter up on the Superstitions where he purposed. Great idea and he even had to slip her a drug, promising to trust him. She gets motion sickness and the drug was for that... Anyway, he did a great job, his birthday is next month and he will be 27! He knows its time.

Ron and Grandpa went down this weekend to the racetrack in Tucson. Ron bought a track membership there. They were having a benefit for the Burn Unit. I guess Grandpa was quite the celebrity, being a burn victim / surviver. He ran with Ferrari's, Porsche's and Audi's. They had a great time.

We sat next to Ashland and her step father at Stake Conference. Her Step Dad seems to be doing better. They said Ashland is doing so well and is submitting her papers tomorrow. They were also sitting next to the Packers. Its always fun to talk about you and what your friends are up to.

We love to hear about your teaching and the work you are doing. Stay strong and upbeat. The Lord is on your Right hand and on your Left and is there to bare you up....

I love you,

Dad

Dear Dad, 

The teaching pool is still solid. It is frustrating when they skip out! but when that happens we do whats called the 2,2,5. we knock on the doors that are 2 to the left, 2 to the right, and the 5 houses across the street. We are a bit frustrated because we have 9 people on date for baptism but only 1 showed up to church! ahh! we have really focussed on the importance of

1 read the book of mormon!

2 pray daily!

3 come to church!

especially coming to church. but for some reason they all have excuses. martinsville is filled with old people! only 2 of our 9 on date have a phone we can text. everyone else is too old haha but we love them and are working with them! 

Dear family,
How is everyone doing? Another great week has passed!

This week we had some crazy dinners! Thursday we had pancakes for dinner... but not just regular ones! They were chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate syrup and gross! Haha my companion was so mad because they didn't have any "gains" in them. Its funny how similar we are. Not to mention they had 4 dogs and 2 cats. And that means only one thing.... there was hair everywhere! But we were polite and eat them. 

Saturday I CHOPPED OFF A CHICKENS HEAD!!! And we ate it! I have videos and pictures of them but i will send some next week because i forgot my camera haha. The axe was so dull! I held the chickens head down while I chopped. The first swing was a good shot! But the axe wasn't sharp and so after I hit it I began to run away yelling because the chicken was going crazy! It was all bloody and the head was hanging by a thread. I had to then pick it up again and hit it two more times haha. Finally I chopped it off! We ate chicken and macaroni for dinner. Long story short it was hard to go to sleep that night because the headless chicken was haunting me haha :) But now I can check that off my bucket list!!

This week I ponderized D&C 88:63. Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. The Lord is here for each and every one of us. When we come to Him in humble prayer seeking to draw near unto Him I know that the Lord will draw near unto us. The Holy Ghost can be your constant companion. And the people around us can see that light of Christ in us. We teach our investigators how important that Spirit is. When we aren't baptized we can feel the Holy Ghost, but only after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost can we have it as a constant companion as long as we are worthy of it. Before someone is baptized they can feel it like a beam of light in a dark room. If you put your hand over it you can feel the warmth of it, but once you are baptized and receive that gift it is like the beam of light turns to a warm sunshine. When we draw near unto Him, He will draw near unto you! We can be in constant communication with God. He wants to hear our prayers. When we counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, He will direct the for good.  

We had dinner on Monday with a great family. The mother is a member but the father is not. He likes to race gokarts on Sundays. We connected great! He talked my ear off haha. When we gave the lesson that night we talked about the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was so strong! She was crying and i knew he could feel it as well. I pray one day he will join! He knows it is true! And so do I!

Oh and everyone here has guns haha. Elder Redmond hasn't shot a gun before and so seeing so many makes him want to haha. I told him when he comes to visit me in AZ I will let him shoot some haha. Monday we went to the Hubburts for dinner and his house is full of his trophy shots! A bunch of deer, elk, and turkeys. They all go hunting in their back yards! 

Email me at james.coon@myldsmail.net

#10 - Weeks fly by out here!!

Wowza it feels like I just wrote everyone! This week was a week of learning! On Friday we had a

This weekend in Martinsville was a carnival! We took that opportunity to go find some new people and to show people that we are normal. Many people think we are crazy to do what we do, so to show our faces here was good for us. Elder Redmond and I found hats that had a big CLEVELAND on it. Haha our mission president is President Cleveland. Transfer meeting is in two weeks we will wear our new Cleveland hat in support of our president.

We had a zone meeting on Friday. The theme was Halloween, so we could dress up. But we didn't get the memo so we didn't dress up. Haha oh well! I gave a training on patience. Afterward I went on exchanges with Elder Powers. He has been out for 20 months. He taught me how important the Preach My Gospel is. That day we walked around the little town talking with people, then transition into the gospel by using a "how to begin teaching" method. We were able to transition smoothly into each lesson. I have set it a goal to study my PMG more often. The morning study hours we have are a huge help on the mission. That is valuable time to study and wax strong in the knowledge of the gospel.

This week my ponderize scripture is D&C 88:63 "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." This promise is true. I have found the more I seek for the Lords guidance, the more I am given.

On Saturday we went over to a ladies house for dinner. She has three kids. The youngest one is named Wesly, he is the one in the pic I sent. We are best friends haha. We like their family, but they aren't the cleanest people. When we arrived and the first thing I noticed was how many animals they had. I swear atleast 7 cats! The cats live in the bathroom ha. They have one of those fly tape catchers hanging from the ceiling above the stove, and it was covered in flies! Their chickens they have live outside thankfully. She fixed us chicken with macaroni and corn. I am almost positive we ate one of her chickens that they have raised. What an experience! I was praying that I wouldn't get too sick haha. We were very appreciative for the food the gave us. Lucky for us they have signed up to feed us every Saturday this month...

"Two years is a big investment if you are not going to change." (MTC Thought)

"To see the divinity in others, you must first see the divinity in yourself." (Rosemary M Wixom)

  This is Wesley next to me, he is my pal! haha he is such a character! 

those are some chickens. we went over for dinner to a ladys house and ate one of her chickens..... grooooosssss haha but we were polite and at up:P

This is a sick bike don't you think!?

#9 - Conference was Amazing!

Conference was amazing! I could probably spend an hour just talking about conference but I don't have that kind of time. I have decided to "Ponderize" one scrip a week. My goal is to read and pray more. I want to keep my thoughts on how to help the people of Martintucky. Elder Hales said it great, ponder alone for some time after prayer, asking what needs to be done for me to improve. I hope all of us can strive for these goals as well.

This week we have worked very hard! 71 lessons! My comp has trained me very good. Every missionary is given a 12 week training guide when they come out. We are supposed to study it every day, but Elder Redmond and I agreed that the best training is just getting out and working instead of studying a packet for an hour a day. We do review it every so often, but I feel so much more prepared by just getting out and working. 

We had some humbling experiences this week and some.... different ones haha. We witnessed a drug deal.... check that off my bucket list! On Wednesday we went on exchanges with Elder Parks and Barbosa. Parks and I came out together. I feel like he is a true greenie haha! I did the talking haha and had a big learning experience. We have to rely on the spirit! The Lord blessed us to teach 17 lessons that day. Many of those lessons came from our own creativity! One man wasn't answering his door but we saw him in his kitchen so I yelled to him through the window that i loved his 1980 mustang haha. He came outside and loved to talk to us about it! We had a great talk with him about the Plan of Salvation after and will be going to see him again tomorrow. 

On Friday a less active texted us saying he wanted to meet with us and come back to church! We said we can meet him at the church. In the middle of our lesson some random dude started banging on the church window. He was a really skinny man wearing an orange hard hat. He looked frantic and wanted us to open the door. Elder Redmond and I were on our guard but let him in. First thing he said was, "I'm in big trouble. Are you familiar with electro-magnetic warfare?" HAHAHA sorry buddy you are out of luck we don't. We think he was on drugs. In his orange hat he had tin foil! He asked us if we could give him a blessing and we did so. 

That night after visiting some investigators we were going over to our last appointment at the Potters house. It was getting dark and cold outside so we were hustling down the road to get there quick. Out of the blue a man opened his door and called for us to come over to him. He was wearing old clothes and in the dark room were 3 little children all under the age of 3 years old. He told us his wife was arrested and he asked if we could pray with him. What a tender mercy we had. As we huddled around in the cold empty apartment to pray we could feel the spirit so strong. We were able to testify to him of the love the Savior has for him. I am so grateful to be here to stand as a witness of Jesus Christ. He suffered pains and afflictions of every kind so that we dont have to go through this life alone. When we turn to Him we can find joy, hope and love in our life. I love this gospel. I challenge you to apply what you learned in conference to your life. As we do so it will help us keep the Holy Ghost as a constant companion and as Eyring puts it, "The Holy Ghost makes what is good more attractive and temptations less pleasing." 

Love you all! Email me at james.coon@myldsmail.net

 average house here it stankssss

library, sitting on the computer with elder barbosa. we call him barbie for short