Week 17 - A Happy Birthday video for Jace!

A word from Mom...Hi all! Sorry I am getting this update out so late, it has been a very busy week! Tristin seems to be doing great and I couldn't be more proud of his faith, hard work and dedication to serving the Lord. This last week was Jace's 5th bday and I thought that I would share a video that Elder Tidwell emailed to his little brother. It really made Jace's day! Thank you so much for taking the time to check in on T! 

Well hey again!

This week has been so amazing... We were able to have a session in the temple and being inside was so just, well…amazing. I know while I am inside, I can ask any questions and I know my Heavenly Father is there and will answer them. Something that I've just loved to talk about out here in Texas is how our message blesses families. I know that to be true, and it's something I feel so strongly about.

As we had this awesome Father's Day yesterday (or Sunday whenever you read this), I thought a lot about my dad and just how thankful I was to have a dad like him in my life. Someone who's always been there for me and I know he always will be. When I was down he was there to help talk me right back up and then have a good ol’ laugh afterwards. I know he does it for all of my siblings and we have that trust in him that he'll always be there for us. Hermana McOmber gave a talk on Sunday that I appreciated; I realized that our fathers really do that for all of us. It’s part of the role they play in our lives! I'm so thankful for my dad and all the other dads in the world who are there for their children and provide that support for them.
 

Worst part about my week is I got pretty home sick, I also got eaten alive by mosquitoes again hahah. Me and Elder Christensen have just one week left together and it's kind of been bitter sweet. Best part about my week was probably the temple or talking to the fam on Pday! The language has been getting better and better each day! Our investigators are still going strong on their path to being baptized and I love seeing their spirits grow each time we go visit. I know they’re going to do great things. I love you guys so much and hope I didn't take up too much of your time haha. I appreciate you all for taking the time to read this!

Talk to ya next week!!!
~Elder Tidwell

Just a bit humid here!

A game of horseshoes anyone??

Week 16 - Preparing for Tropical Storm Bill

Well hey everyone!!

Wow this week has been crazy to say the least! To start off, at the mall they have this store called Puppy Corral and they have a bunch of different breeds of pups, for 25 cents you can hold one for as long as you want! Yeah…I died when I saw this place hahah! What a stress reliever it was!

Weather…things have been hot and humid. Right now we are preparing for a tropical storm. Kind of crazy! We will be grabbing our survival kits and taking all of the necessary precautions so that we are prepared for whatever hits! I was hoping that we wouldn’t get much more rain. The locals say that with the heat and then a big rain, huge cockroaches make their way out. That does not sound exciting!

I went on an exchange with the AP Elder Barlow in The Woodlands. Can I just say lots of really nice cars and huge houses! I totally saw Beyonce's house, it was huge and on a lake. No, we didn't go knocking on her door haha. I was English speaking for another day when I was there but when it was over I was so glad I'm Spanish speaking hahah! 

Exciting news…we have three investigators who are getting baptized!! Crazy I'm so excited! We also have a wedding to help plan for a wonderful little family! This is going to happen this week! To top it off we were able to go to the temple with all three of them! We have these things called temple tours where we walk around the grounds and all the gardens and take pictures and they give little talks through the tour and our investigators loved it. Man, I love to see the temple. There's this spirit there that I really can't find anywhere else. When I enter into those gates it's like all the worries, all of the outside world drama is gone. The temple is such a special place to me, it's a place to find answers, feel the spirit and most of all get closer to my Heavenly Father. If you’re having a rough time the only thing i can say is just go, you'll find what you’re looking for there. 

Thanks again for checking in you guys, I really miss you all!

Love Elder Tidwell

On my exchange with Elder B.

A little bit of service.

This one is for my dad...some lunch at Golden Corral!

Reminds me of home for some reason.

A family we got to take on the temple tour.

One of our investigators at the temple!

I got to see this guy while at the temple. Me and Elder P!

Me and Elder C!

Just some car selfie fun with our guy!

Me and the temple!

One of my favorite places to be!

Weeks 14 & 15

Hmmm...A man hole in the grass. You don't see that in Oregon.

Hey everyone!

So sorry about last week! Time just slips away when you’re talking to family! 

Well this week has been pretty crazy! We spent 9 hours driving to and from Houston this week haha! Some very long car rides haha, but we had a lot of meetings with our mission president and a Spanish fireside we went to! We had some awesome lessons with our investigators and a few that are getting ready for Baptism! We have had some lessons that were just okay, but we made up for them! We also went tracting yesterday and found so many people including a member who has been inactive for a very, very long time.

Something awesome this week is we've been able to have a lot more confidence in ourselves in all that we do! We just realized no one is going to listen to our message if we don't have that energy that everyone wants!

Food…Something interesting that we ate this week was this gross fish soup, like wow, I've never tasted anything that bad. Let me be honest hahah, it had pickles and different soups and then shrimp and some kind of fish with bones still in it. Ummm… yeah and I got the biggest bowl, "Thanks elder Christensen!" Each sip was… yeah, just great haha.

Something that could have went better, was my 8 week review. All the people that came into the mission with me at the same time, we all went to Houston and had a special training. While there we also had an evaluation kind of thing hahah. Yeah, that could have gone better, but I've improved so much that it's still blowing my mind! I know that as we go through life that there's going to be ups and downs but the only thing we can do about them is make the best with what we got. We're supposed to have challenges for a reason and it’s to shape us into the person He wants us to be. How else are we going to learn and grow?

Thanks you all so much for listening and I can't wait to talk next week!!

Love Elder Tidwell

Us with the Birthday boy.

Just hanging at the Birthday party with our party hats on.

Everyone in my Zone.

All of us Elders in my Zone.

Fresh Mango anyone??

This is how we roll...Exchange adventure with Elder C.

A chair big enough for two!