Haha Well I'm always asked similar questions but not quite the same as those. I usually say. I'm from Arizona I have been out a little under a year. I have 4 siblings two of which are married and Then I usually give the ages and who's married along with two nieces and a nephew on the way. I am then usually asked if I came right out of high school and I say no I did a year of college. I study Mechanical engineering at NAU or Flagstaff Arizona and then From there the typical questions are usually up and it changes with every person. Haha that's good no one was hospitalized this week. Keep the streak going! So I take it Kristi is doing better since there wasn't an update on her. And That's too bad there was no spotlight on Tate at the beginning but thank you so much for the video! I love getting videos and pictures from you all at home. I need to be better with my pictures. I haven't been too great lately so I will try and do better with those. And Tate definitely has a great voice! And if you let me know what song we are singing I'll start practicing but I'm still not a huge fan of the idea. I won't voluntarily get up and sing but with enough practice time and an assignment I would do it. What Jealous! Tate gets to use the water Jet pack?! those things are way cool! And I hope you all get to Mexico ok and have a good trip there. Make sure I get any cool pictures you take and especially if they could be Book of Mormon related. And I heard about the boat and I think putting the money in the bank would be a good idea cause then we can possibly get a boat when I get back! ;) Yea it was a good training. The budgeting stood out to me the most and I feel like you taught me how to budget pretty well. I just get lazy from time to time and don't keep track of money. The other thing that stood out was just how we need to be developing and improving relationships with others. They gave us that color test to do that. I don't know if you've heard of or done that before. The red white yellow and blue personalities. Definitely keep me up to date about our new next door neighbors. I'm interested to learn more about them. What?! they all graduate this year?! that's crazy! I do feel old. Tell them congrats for me! I do remember that as the theme! I loved that theme! I love those scriptures. I will definitely read through Joshua again. It has been a long time. I have not tried to long into my account. That would be against rules. ;) and thank you for doing that for me and getting the check in for me. I appreciate everything you have done currently do and will do for me. You are the best mom Ever! This week has been good. Our investigator came to church again! 4 weeks in a row now. He finished the Book of Mormon! says he has received an answer it is true! we watched the prophet of the Restoration with him and he loved it said it was very moving and in his prayer after he expressed thanks for Joseph as a tool to bring so many people unto Christ and that he could see god and Jesus Christ! So now the only thing that is keeping him from baptism is Coffee. :( We will be talking more about baptism tomorrow so I'll let you know how everything is going with that. But things all in all are fantastic! I love being here and serving the Lord. I have felt great Joy in his service and feel like I have learned and improved a lot since the start of my mission. I love you so very much and wish you the best with everything this next week. Love Elder Aaron King p.s. I might be emailing Tuesday next week because of the holiday. Still not totally sure. Thanks for the Pictures! those were Great! And happy 30th anniversary!
Four hour photo shoot! WOW! I would have been one and done! Haha! that's hilarious about Kristi and Avery at the doctor! That's no fun about Kristie's doctor appointment though. Let me know how things go. Good thing you had planned those days off work. And yes I am very grateful for the priesthood as well. It truly does work miracles. And LUCKY! you got snuggle time with Avery! I don't get snuggle time with any babies for another year. ;) That's way fun about the star wars Baseball game! That was a good anniversary night I'm sure. That would be a lot of fun! And yes I was able to watch the video! I am super excited for a new nephew! Your guys' week was very action packed and sounds like things are going well now! My week was pretty good. No new investigators. :( but we still have one coming to church and that is 3 weeks in a row now! and we have a couple others who are definitely interested but we have a hard time catching. I haven't had any more acid reflux issues. Pretty sure it was a one time thing from the waffles I ate. So that is fine. This past week we had a specialized training though were our zone and a neighboring zone came together and we learned about our wellbeing's. like emotional, companion relationship, budgeting, health, ect. And then to top it off we played Umpa! That was tons of fun! and probably the only time we will ever play with the sisters. Our Elder sister rules are pretty Strict which I think is totally appropriate from things I heard from before we had these rules. But that was a lot of fun and President and sister Baker played as well and President even made a last second half court shot! It was way sweet and all the missionaries were cheering. Also Yesterday we taught the laurels in church. We were volunteered to do that like three weeks ago. But that was an interesting experience and I think that was my first time ever in young women's. The lesson was on Personal Revelation. It was a really good lesson I thought. And there was a lot of participation which is always good. I have been really impressed by all the youth out here. They are all great youth and really know their stuff. Well I don't have much else to report on other than you all can pray that our investigator keeps coming to church and will have a desire to be baptized. Oh and also did you ever find that $100 check in that binder I sent home with my letters at Christmas time? and how much money is in my personal fund right now? I haven't used it in a while and want to make sure my numbers are right? Well I love being out here and know that as we are in the service of our fellow men we are in the service of our god. I love being able to help people every chance I get and invite you all to look for people you can help each day! I know there are people all around you and as you look for people to serve each day the lord will bless you with opportunities. I love you so much there aren't even words for it. Thank you for all the love and support you give me. Love you! Elder Aaron King Hey! So I don't really have any update since yesterday but for others and for the blog Highlights were: A mothers day phone call! 2 investigators at sacrament And lots of tracting/ contacting/ teaching people. It was so great to get to talk with you! It was good to hear everyone was doing good. That is definitely the highlight of my last 5 months! I love hearing your voices and seeing everyone's faces. Tate and Tyler sounded different from what I remembered And Kinzie is way too big! Also Avery is super Cute! But pretty much everything else is the same. I definitely miss you all and look forward to seeing you all again at Christmas and spending time with you all next year. I also am looking forward to all the pictures and videos of everything going on there. And I do realize the great blessings from my mission though. And while the sacrifice is hard God will definitely make up for it. I love the quote by President Monson That goes something like this. "The greatest decision I ever made was to give up something I loved to the god I loved even more. He has never forgotten me for it." I know that is true and that when we sacrifice things for god he will make it up to us and bless us even more. Well I love you so much and hope that you had a fantastic mothers day! I have some chocolates for you but I didn't have enough stuff to send home in a box. So I sent the card but you will have to wait another month or so for the chocolates. And I did think if I could somehow get one of those ice pack/ hot pack bean sacks or what ever they are. That would come in handy. Bu it would probably need to be smaller than the one we have at home. well I don't know I might be able to make it work. Our freezer is just pretty small for 4 missionaries here. And I think I will be fine with the acid reflux. I'm pretty sure that was just cause I ate like a full mean right before bed. But I'll let you know if anything more comes of it. You don't need to worry about it though. I am doing fine. Well That all I have for now I think I might send another email if I think of anything but I love you so much! Love Elder Aaron King Dear Mom,
Yea I hope the Baby is here by the call too! that would be great! And if the baby comes Sunday President Baker said we could move the day of the call. So you don't need to worry about that. We will just need to keep each other updated. That's no good about Tate being sick! He seems to get sick quite a bit. Is he taking his vitamins? haha A priesthood blessing would definitely be a good Idea though if he isn't feeling well. And thanks for the Skype info.! We will probably plan on 5 our time then. And I will have the member set it up and give you a call some time this week to make sure things are good. We will be at the Giles. And I think you have her number so you could text her if you'd like. I am super excited for the call as well. It's the same guidelines for the call as last time. So we are going to try and keep it to 40 minutes. But I will definitely let you have your mom time even if that means we have to go a little over. That's way sweet Tyler got a car! He needs to write me more. I will send him an email today. I don't ever hear from him. But that's exciting about the car and possibly house in September. Haha that sounds like fun! I've got a lot of play time to make up for with her when I get back. And the Mexico trip sounds way sweet! Definitely take pictures! especially of the ruins. And especially if you see any Book of Mormon ties. maybe even a video of zip lining if you feel brave enough. That would be a lot of fun and totally worth it. So those investigators didn't show up to church but We had another one that did. We also had 10 lessons this week and 7 of them were new investigators. So things are looking up here. We just got to keep up the hard work. And thanks for the email address! I will have to shoot him an email. And You can send the letters if you would like. If I have time I will read them but Pictures and their email addresses so I can send short emails to them is my favorite! We don't really have a lot of plans for the day. Mostly just the regular p-day things. The people here do all sorts of different things. It is small city. College so very young people. We also have a huge country area outside of our city part. The roads are all too small for the population and there are no turn lanes so the traffic is terrible. Plus they are all college students driving around. Yes I live with 3 other missionaries. Elder Tolman and Bohman are the other two. We drive a toyata Carola. I think it's a 2015. The driving is good. Dad got the update on that so you can ask him if you want a little more details but I am good now. I feel comfortable behind the wheel again. And I am looking forward to skyping as well! I'll try to brainstorm some questions and I will definitely be prepared with some. Hope the week goes well. I'm sure it will fly by. Love you loads! Love Elder Aaron King Things here are going pretty great! Driving is still a work in progress. It's not that bad but I am definitely rusty! Mostly trying to manage the Greenville traffic is hard. If I was on a road alone I would be perfect! That's good Tate is getting some more practice. And definitely get the jeep in good condition before he uses it and have him be careful. I want to drive that jeep again when I get home. ;) And yes I'm excited for mother's day as well and hopefully she has the baby before mothers day so I can see it. And we are still finding a member for the Skype call. So I don't have any info yet but what time should I shoot for. We have church in the morning so I won't be able to do it until at least 1 our time. And could you send me all of the Skype info again? And no I can't imagine her with a tummy. It'll be weird if she does. That would be great if you could cut back a little on the work hours. I thought you were considering not working there any more and going to work with dad again full time? I'm sure dad will appreciate the help. He seems to be busy which is good. That's awesome about Jordan! remind me where he is going? And Yes definitely get me his email! I would love to email him! That's good grandma sounds good. I hope she got the card I sent for her birthday and all goes well with her hip. I didn't even know she was having hip pain. I guess it skips a generation. Her and then Tate so Tate's grandkids got to watch out. ;) The wedding and Mexico both sound like fun trips. I hope everyone enjoys it! And any special occasion for Mexico or just time for a vacation? Who's all going? You dad Tyler and Tate? I expect pictures. I am doing well. My new companion is Elder Jensen. He lived most of his life in Bakers field CA but left from Utah. A city I didn't recognize and don't remember. south of Salt lake I believe. And he has been out 17 months. He seems pretty cool. He really likes video games so we naturally talk about smash bros a lot. And yea I think we will get along. I have gotten along with all my companions. Some are easier for me to get along with than others but I always am sad to see them leave when the next transfer roles around. He is a life long member. his family is active. Elder Naylor ended up in Portsmouth VA. He seems to be holding up really well. He was looking forward to finishing up in three more months though and spending some time with his mom at home. Which I think is totally understandable all things considered. That's good the Come and see was a success. I think that is a great thing to do. And new homework since you didn't have anyone to invite. You need to find a non member and become their friend. Will you do that for me. I'll be following up in one year and 2 months. ;) Well now I'll give you a brief update on my week. So not too much has happened but my and Elder Jensen found a couple new people and taught them the Restoration. Not really sure how promising they are but I'll keep you posted if anything comes from it. And also we were able to catch up with two of our more promising investigators and they said they were both able to get work off this next Sunday and so they are planning on being there. Also we shared the book of Mormon intro. with them again and they were really excited about it and said they would start reading it. So I am excited about that. But other than that not much new has happened. still just doing my best to build up the lords kingdom in this area. And am loving every minute being out here. Well I got to get going. I love you and wish you the best this next week. Love Elder Aaron King Hey!
I am doing well. This past week was a pretty good one. I will be staying here for the next transfer and will be getting a new companion. I will also be the senior companion and that means I'm driving. Which has me a little nervous but I'm sure I'll be fine with it after a couple of days. The traffic here is just terrible. It will take a little getting use to. My new companion is Elder Jensen and I don't really know a lot about him. Elder Naylor was companions with him for a while and said we'd probably get along just fine. He just had a hard time with him because they were like polar opposites. I think it will be a good transfer though. I haven't had a companion that I haven't been able to get along with yet. I've loved every one of them. We taught priesthood I think because the person who was suppose to was out of town. I'm not totally sure. The elders quorum president just asked us if we would and so we of course said we'd love to! so I didn't really get a lot of details why. Haha no one to share the gospel with? must be zion or time to move ;) haha yea I know it's pretty hard there. I didn't really have any experience sharing the gospel till I went to college. That's good Tax season is almost over. That's kinda scary about Steve. That would be no good if dropped at the office. He does need to retire. How old is he now? That's crazy she is having her baby already! I remember when I got the email she was pregnant! That's a cute name. You'll have to keep me updated so I now my nieces name when she comes. You think it will happen before or after mothers day? Wow! you're suppose to put the spoiler before the comment! but I already asked tate to send me the spoilers so you're all good. haha And that's good him and Jared decided on the no girlfriends thing. That is the much better way to go and a lot more fun. Tate wsa telling me the same thing about Reece. He didn't seem so thrilled about it. He said he couldn't even see reece anymore without seeing her. Tate actually got to vault?! that's great! I bet he was really happy about that! That is so true about children and teaching them. I have also seen the same with adults. As a missionary adults all learn different and you have to adjust to how each person learns and listen and follow the spirit. We drive a car here and I have driven two days though out the course of my mission. I am the driver for next transfer so I will be driving every day now. I remember how to drive by myself but when I am in the middle of Greenville traffic it is a whole new story. The drivers here are terrible and the roads are terrible. So I'm a little nervous but I'll be just fine. I pray for safety every day. :) Well I don't have a lot of time left. This last week was pretty good. Not a lot out of the ordinary happened. We had stake conference yesterday and that was really good. All about the gospel being a refuge from the storm of the world. I really loved it and was just pondering about how when we center our lives around Christ no matter what challenges come we can always have joy and hope and peace. The council we were given was to study everyday go to the temple often and partake of the sacrament each week. I know that as we do this we will have the holy ghost with us and be able to have those feelings of peace and joy. I love you so much and love everything you do for me. Love Elder Aaron king Dear Mom, This past week was pretty good! You guys had heat?! we were cold over here. Yea! no more taxation without representation! or at least weekends off. ;) That's great the Court of honor went well! tell Tate congrats from me. Wish I could have been there. That's too bad Grandma couldn't make it but I'm sure she will congratulate him and give him a hug next time she sees him. Grandma is the best. It's crazy how big she is. I'm sure she will seem big once her little sister comes. They thought of a name yet or any ideas? I hope dad gets me those videos. I would love to see them. And yea Tate's a stud. I'm sure that injury had a huge impact on him. Mine did on me. That'll be weird if sully retires from coaching. I wonder who would step up and coach. And how is Tate doing with his leg. Would he be able to vault at camp? That's right. Bishop wanted me to remind you to invite some one to the come and see. So make sure you find someone. There's got to be someone you work with who isn't a member. any clients? And I'm sure there is a non member in one of Tate's classes. Tell him to look in each class and then invite one of them. This sounds like a really good opportunity to introduce someone to the church. And the wards here have but not while I've been here. Most of our new investigators are from tracting and potentials from other missionaries and a couple were people requesting a free bible. I am still a little shaky with everyone's names and the area but I think I'll do fine and be able to get around. This Saturday is transfer calls so if Elder Naylor gets transferred I will need to know the area. We mostly eat with members which helps me learn names a lot better so that is good. I have not seen sister Kerr. She is up in Virginia. Smith field I'm pretty sure. Elder Funk I think is also in Virginia so I haven't seen him either. I don't really hear much about Virginia. We are kinda cut off down here. This last week Elder Naylor went on exchanges with the district leader. So I went with his companion, Elder Shill, and that was a lot of fun. He would be a fun companion. We had a lot in common so we were shooting the breeze all day as we worked. He even knows sister Kerr as well. He use to live in Richmond for a while and Sister Kerr lived there at the same time I guess. So that was pretty sweet. We also taught in priesthood about prophets. That was ok. I'm just really use to simplifying things so trying to talk about prophets for 40 minutes was hard. I felt like the lesson was super boring. Something I learned on my mission is to always be trying to improve. Always try and follow the promptings of the spirit. For example I went into conference with two questions which were both answered but there was a third thing of always remembering Christ that stood out to me. And while that wasn't really related to my questions. As I've been trying to apply that into my life the other two questions were kinda irrelevant. So really paying attention to the spirit and following it even if it's not exactly what you are looking for is one thing I have learned and has helped me a lot so far in my mission. And I know that's not five things from this week but not a lot of other things stand out to me. We are still trying to help our investigators get to church and quit smoking. One of our investigators had quite the scare last night. Their one year old son was at their cousins house playing and their cousins house caught on fire. So everyone was taken to the hospital and they had to leave work to meet them there and they said everyone was fine but it was just really emotional for them and their cousin lost pretty much everything in the fire. So they are trying to figure out what all they're going to do. So that was pretty crazy. We weren't even planning on going by them that day but I suggested we swing by since we were driving past anyways and they were outside so we went up and talked with them and they told us all about it and our investigator was kind of shocked and said that we always come out of no where at just the right times. It was a really testimony of God knowing his children and placing us where we need to be. Well I need to get going. But I love you guys and hope everything goes well for everyone there. Have a blessed week. Love you Love Elder Aaron King Dear Mom, Wow Conference was amazing! It sounds like your week was a lot of fun and busy! I loved the pinewood derbies! I loved building the cars and racing them! Haha That's great tax season is almost over. But I don't know that things will slow down any. You will have another Grand baby coming. and ok well that's not to bad then these past few months I haven't had time to write everything out. But yea we will have to do better I guess. Maybe just put up both our letters. Then people would know what we are talking about ;) Haha that's so cute! I can't wait to see kinzie again. You will have to send me a video of how she reacts to a little sister. She is just taking after her uncle bear when it comes to the pancakes then! It's pretty much the best breakfast in the world! That's great about Tate! And that's cool I 'll have a family member in the same state as me! that's probably as close to a family member as I'll get on my mission! That'll be a fun vacation. Make sure I get pictures! :) I did get my colander back! I don't think I will need the other shoes. My shirts and garments are not as white as I wish but I would still say they are white. And One more pair of jeans might be nice. But these ones are working for how often I wear them. My suits and slacks are doing great! I will probably be good till the end of my mission. And Is there anything particular you would like me to hold onto cause if I don't use things I will probably start sending them home If I want them and leaving/ throwing them away if I don't. we got a little rain this week but not too bad of storms. And that's good Jared is getting my letters then. I wasn't sure if he was getting them or not. Transfers are two weeks since this one is a seven week transfer. Well Conference was amazing! I loved elder bednars talk about retaining a remission of sins through the holy ghost. That was incredible to me and is my personal goal for the next 6 months. I also feel like his talk would help a lot of the people I am working with here so I plan on incorporating some of it into our lessons. I definitely agree with what you said about conference. The best ones are the ones that make us change for the better. So when you have a favorite let me know and let me know what you will change because of it. Well I have to get going. Other highlights of the week were 5 new investigators and the most lessons we've had since being in this area. I love you so much and pray for you daily! Love Aaron Happy Easter! Thanks for the prayers! I am doing fine and so is Elder Naylor. We are back to work and doing even better than before. And yes being alone was a good teaching moment for me. It was definitely rewarding. Elder Naylor is back. He got back last Monday night. His father was in his 50's he was having health problems. He was having heart problems from his diabetes I think. There are four kids in his family he is Number 3 all boys. And yes Easter is a perfect time of year to remember our savior and the fact that we can be with our families for ever through temple ordinances! The resurrection is such a great blessing to all people! Easter has been great! We went to a members and dyed eggs on Saturday and then had Easter dinner with the Brimhalls and played a card game with the Giles. Your Easter sounds pretty fun. That's good Tate is getting into PT. So how often will he go? twice a week? and Swimming is definitely a great rehab! that is what helped me the most I think. That's kind of a bummer he couldn't do a lot at youth conference. I remember missing Havasupai when I tore my ACL. I've still never done that. It is something I want to do though. So it's on the bucket list. That's great Jared is doing so well. Tell him congrats and keep up the good work for me. HE hasn't written me back the last couple times I wrote him. Does he have my new address? and a little birdy told me my blog hasn't been updated since Christmas. Is that true? And that's fun Hunter and Danika and friend came over. Was it Tate's/ hunters friend? or Danika's? And definitely send me some pole-vault clips. I hear Hunter is pretty close to breaking the school record. You're back in cub scouts?! that's fun! I miss pine wood derby. Did I tell you about the quad copters out here on my mission? those seem sweet! I want to build one when I get home! The only down side is they are expensive so it may be a little while before I do. Yea! Conference! It's like the super bowl except twice a year and actually important! haha don't tell Shannon I said the super bowl wasn't important. I actually just found out he had Alzheimer's and I heard he was doing better since last conference but I don't know. Our couple of lessons were good. We had two new investigators so that was really sweet but one missed our next appointment and the other can't meet till after next week. So that's not too great but It's going well. The referral has his mother in law in the hospital if I remember right so we haven't been able to teach him yet. So once he comes home we will catch up with him and hopefully everything will go well. That's great Tyler got a calling! Everyone needs a calling! I have loved my two callings. FHE group coordinator and Missionary! You just get so much joy from serving! That was pollen all over the car! It is everywhere the streets have yellow dust clouds coming off them! And surprisingly I'm not dying. I think I am just allergic to some desert flower or the citrus pollen cause it's only bad in Mesa. And I will try to tell you who is in the pictures but I don't look at the pictures when I send them most of the time so I will probably forget. Thank you for the Easter box! that was great! and My feet must have grown while I have been on my mission or my shoes shrunk. Cause my toes are at the end of those shoes but they are still better than my other ones so thank you so much! Well I need to get going. I know that our heavenly father is aware of our needs and that as we prepare for general conference that we can go in with specific questions and come out with specific answers for our lives. He is waiting and willing to help. I love you guys. And wish you the best! Love you Mom Elder Aaron King |
Letters from AaronAaron King, left our home to serve the Lord for two years in the Chesapeake Virginia Mission. Archives
September 2016
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