Week 54 - Exchanges and Transfer time!

Well this week’s been good! Hahah After something like the baptism story things are kind of chill hahaha. Monday we hung out with our sisters and played some really fun games and then did all of our pday things haha. Tuesday we had English class and I met the English Elder version of me hahah. Then later that day we had a bunch of lessons and stuff but ended up dropping some people again kind of sucked1 :/ Then Wednesday kind of the same thing happened. Thursday we contacted all day long and then had English class that night. Friday we had zone meeting! The last time I'll see Hermana Larson and then it's just me and Banzo from the original district hah. It was really good… we talked a lot about baptism and its importance. Then we went on exchanges, I went with Elder Pesci in Bear Creek. Let me tell you… I was not to excited for it! :p Their apartment is cockroach infested! :p hahah Pretty gross I guess there not as big as I thought they would be but still super gross!! :p I slept for like 30 mins that whole night. I thought they were crawling on me all night long… kind of freaked me out :p Then Saturday we exchanged back and had some lessons going on and then played soccer. Sunday was Sunday and we got our transfer calls Elder Curtis is out and I'm staying. It's kind of bitter sweet …I hate saying goodbye after I've gotten so close with some of my comps, so it's just a little hard. That's pretty much how my week went! 

Thanks for checking in! Until next time! :)
~Elder Tidwell

Last pday with Elder Curtis!

For three...

Saw  this while on my exchange!

The last of us from left from our district...

Week 53 - Crazy baptism story complete with an unexpected plunge into the water!

Hey y'all!

Well this week was a lot better than the last one! Monday was a pretty normal pday, we played basketball and cleaned and all that good stuff then had some lessons with some of our investigators and then had a lesson with this less active lady Hermana M, which went really, really good! :) We shared this video called… The Will of God, which is probably my favorite video from the church. Tuesday we went to family history training! Our mission president told us we could go to the temple and do work for our families sometime this month. We met there with a bunch of other missionaries and then had exchanges afterwards. I finally got to go with Elder Banzo! Or well he came with me to my area in Jersey Village. It was a lot of fun but every appointment we had fell through :p hah. Wednesday was kind of just a regular day. Thursday we ate two dinners…we had the first dinner then and hour later we ate again :p! Then we were going to teach English class but no one came! Friday we had district meeting which was awesome! Every time we have something like that I learn so much from Elder Curtis. Then we had English class with all the Vietnamese people hahaha, they make me laugh they are so awesome haha! :) We had some lessons after that and then did some contacting for the rest of the night.

Saturday will be a day I will remember forever! The sisters had a baptism with this lady we started teaching first (p.s. Should be our baptism hahaha) and well it started a half an hour late and in the middle of the opening prayer we all hear this "shloughhh" and are all like crap... So I decide to go back to the font and the plug had gotten sucked down the drain. So I was like I got to fix this!! I rolled up my suit pants and take my shoes off and stuff and then I jumped in. Well the water was a little higher than I thought and the rolled up part of my pants got wet, but regardless I reached down and pulled the plug out and set it in there again. While I was trying to dry my suit pants off and shirt I heard that noise again so I took my pants off this time and dove in to put a new plug in, while this is happening the 1st counselor is giving a talk and then Hermana Parslow comes in and is like, "It's time to sing are you done?" I'm like nope! I'm soaking wet and I told Elder Curtis just to go on and do a solo (we were supposed to sing a duet) it sounded quite good from inside of the bathroom hahah. As I was changing they come in and are like we need you to be one of the witnesses and they can't start without you so I go out in my soaking suit pants and my wet shirt and well the baptism was awesome to say the least haha! I left some puddles everywhere I went haha! Then at the end we realized we forgot to ask them to take the plug out when they left… everyone asked me to just jump back in and I was just not having it hahah! So Elder Curtis was chosen next and he told me to close the curtain and lock the two doors and he jumped in naked...... Never in my life did I think I'd have to do this on my mission hahaha. Sunday was good, we went contacting all day long. 

Well that's my week! Until next week...

~Elder Tidwell

My planner after I plunged into the baptismal font.

Eggs I made...complete with my ketchup in a smiley face...Just like mom  used to do!

Papusas! 

Nacho libre corn!

My exchange with Elder Bonzo!

Week 52 - A little b-day video for Mom...and Half way done this week!

Hey y'all!

Sorry I didn't do a weekly email last week we got super busy with stuff. But this week was good! A little hard though not going to lie. We had a bunch of lessons this week and had to drop a lot of our investigators which sucked :/! On Tuesday we had a zone conference with President Mortensen that went really, really good! We talked a ton about the Book of Mormon and how it came to be and where we receive our inheritance in the gospel and just a lot of deep and crazy stuff… it was awesome! While we were there some of the missionaries I knew were giving their last testimonies at the conference and it's going to be crazy seeing so many of them go! Wednesday night we decided to run instead of doing it in the morning and I was shocked! I was able to run a lot faster than I thought I would! Elder Curtis is like scary fast he hasn't run in a while and ran a mile in 5 min 27… I rode a bike hahah. Friday we had district meeting and then we had English class which went good but, we probably won't be teaching that class anymore :/. Saturday we gave the sister’s investigator her baptismal interview wich went wonderful! Then we went and got breakfast with them and man we got that all you can eat buttermilk pancake deal! I only ate like 4 :p hahah! Then we went to visit a few people and played soccer with Suamy!

Today was a great day! We had church and I got to meet this younger guy from Mexico who got baptized like 3 years ago and then just like decided to move here! And one of the Elders who baptized him lives here in Houston but he doesn't know where or anything. Then we had a training for missionaries, ward missionaries and ward mission leaders which was just for our stake and it went really good! I learned a lot! To top it off it was my mom’s birthday today! I miss her a ton but only a year left to go Thursday! Crazy how fast time goes!

Well thanks for checking in guys! Love you lots,
Elder Tidwell

At zone conference! 

Week 51 - Just pictures...

A few words from Mom...

First of all I would like to thank you all for checking in on Elder Tidwell and reading his weekly blog emails! I apologize for getting behind and not always updating every week!

As far as this week's update goes...there wasn't a group email. He sent a couple of personal emails but not one for this blog. There have been some issues with emails that are being felt all over the mission world. Some emails are taking hours even days to go through. Tristin was also somewhat short for time this week. He did however manage to send a few photos. (He didn't leave any captions for these photos besides the Zone Conference)

Elder Tidwell is doing really good and will be hitting his halfway mark really soon!! Thanks again for checking in!!

Zone Conference!!

Week 50 - A full week...and mattresses!

This week was pretty good! On Monday, we had an activity with our district again and played some mean beach volleyball and had lunch haha. Tuesday Elder Curtis and the other leaders had a meeting they had to go to so I went with Elder Childs for exchanges, we had an English class at like 10 a.m. to go to and that was a blast! Hah we had a ton of people come too and as you might assume I did make them all laugh hah. We also met up with the Galianos to eat at Panda which was good, still not as good as his wife's cooking though hahah. On Wednesday not much happened until later in the day when we visited our investigator Manuel and had a bomb lesson! Friday we went to zone meeting and wow it was probably one of my favorite ones like ever! One thing we talked about was positive affirmations hahah Like telling yourself things are great or things are going to be good and you really start to believe it's going to be! I've used that a lot on my mission not going to lie hahah. Another thing we talked about was just putting a smile on your face, not worrying about anything and just be happy about it… another thing I've just learned how to do out here. We also talked a lot about faith and well like faith in finding. I realized if I wouldn't have had faith to find someone I don't know if we ever would have found Marco and Mayte in College Station. It's all so key to being a missionary and it's absolutely key to the work! After zone meeting we went to Jimmie Johns with a few sisters and talked for a little while, It was nice haha. Then we played soccer with Suamy and a few of these guys came to play with their kids and we ended up playing with all of them… it was fun! :) Then we had a few lessons planned after that and went over to this family who's investigating the church, the Rivas, they bought us papusas which were seriously so good! We really got to know the family a lot more. Saturday we helped someone move up to their third story apartment but it kind of sucked because we got there and the lady was like, "They’re coming with the truck… they'll be here in about an hour. I'm going to go to the store, be right back" and had us wait in her apartment until she got back. Then when the truck finally came it was filled with temperpedic mattresses!! That kinda sucked to carry all 7 mattress and then the box springs for them all up 3 flights of stairs:p hahah And…they didn't even help at all which was kind of a bummer… but whatever, it was an opportunity for service! Then on Sunday we were going to have a ton of lessons but because of the Super Bowl, every one of them cancelled. And… well that's pretty much how my week went!

Thanks for checking in!
Love Elder Tidwell

Elder Bonzo and myself!

Elder Curtis and I ....

Add caption

Week 49 - Such a busy but great week!

Hey!

Well guys, this week has been pretty awesome! Starting with Monday, we played basketball with the English elders and wow am I out of shape! Hahah Then we went and met up with our sisters and had I guess… a picnic at a park. Then we played soccer or well kicked the ball around while they just did a bunch of cartwheels hahah.

We taught a bunch of lessons this week and did a lot of finding again haha. On Friday, we played soccer with Suamy and a bunch of these kids that were just there at the fields, which was fun! I've started to love playing soccer hahah. Saturday, we met up with the other two missions in Houston and heard President Nelson talk! It was crazy! They had us go up and shake his hand and everything which, by the way, the guy has the softest hands ever hahah. We learned a lot of stuff in that meeting including a ton about the temple and family history and that our Heavenly Father loves us so much. I also got to see some familiar faces!! ;) Hah And… even a new elder, who happens to have the same last name as me! Haha After that, we went to this place called the Pulga, which is like a giant storage flea market. Pretty much if you can think it… they probably have it there haha! :) We found this place that had a bunch of soccer jerseys well we found like 4 places that had them, hahah but the ones we got were the cheapest! Heck yes! 

Sunday, we had stake conference and well we got there at like 8:15 a.m. or something like that and the conference didn't start till 10... And we still had to sit in the hard chairs! :p hahah But besides that it was an awesome conference! At this one point we all had to get up and sing, La Luz de la Verdad, and it really was an experience I won't ever forget. We finished of our Sunday with a visit to one of our member’s house that we've been teaching. We talked about a few thing and then they brought up a concern about not seeing any changes in their lives yet… I told them that you won't just see the changes in one day, it happens little by little and although sometimes we don't see it in ourselves other people can. That's pretty much it! Thanks for checking in you guys!

Love ya lots!
Elder Tidwell

The new Elder Tidwell!

Just a little hello selfie for my family!

I love it so much...I had to go bigger! haha

A familiar face from home!

Week 48 - A week of food challenges!

Guess what???

Where both staying together for another transfer!! Heck yes! Haha This week’s been great! We've set two baptismal dates this week and it's been so awesome! The work over here is really starting to progress! Also this week with the English elders, who live right behind us, we have had ongoing food challenge nights hah! The other night we did the cinnamon challenge and then the next night I did the gallon milk challenge… that didn't go well but I finished! Hahah I will spare you the details and the video!! Also this week I've had some of the best food in my whole mission at this less active’s house! And I freaking love salsa now! hahah Like it's gotten better as time’s gone on in my mission but it's like essential to some foods hah. (For those that know me well, know that I was a pretty picky eater and wouldn’t touch things like salsa before!) And well that's pretty much the sum of my week! Sorry it's not too long this week next week will be better!

Thanks for checking, in love you guys!

~Elder Tidwell

One of my favorite meals this week!

I love this stuff!

Look mom...I am eating big boy food now!!

Just a couple of G's

Just some parking garage pics...

Our Zone!

Week 47 - Great food...tons of teaching...and soccer!

Hey!

I can't believe how fast time is going! The transfer is almost over and time has just blown by! I guess that's what happens when you’re having fun! Well we've had some awesome things happen this week! We've had the opportunity to get to know a ton of or members and had a few dinner appointments which has been awesome! I tried some new stuff and it was freaking bomb! We had these things called sopes which are a tostada with frijoles and cheese and salsa on top! hah Man I can't wait to get home and make them!

We taught a crap ton of lessons this week and had finally seen a bunch of miracles from all of the finding we've been doing! We found some really solid investigators on Sunday with two of the youth from our ward and walked a ton too. Saturday, we played soccer and had a super fun time…and I'm getting better hahah. A few weeks ago me and Curtis made up this dance and we were able to do it in a video we took during soccer it's pretty funny hah. Oh, on Sunday, we had to practice singing for the upcoming stake conference and they told me to lead them even though I have no idea what I'm doing! :p It was super funny haha, definitely a day to remember hah.

Something that has been getting a lot better are my jokes in Spanish… I'm always able to make people laugh which is and awesome feeling! I love leaving people feeling better than the way I found them! Well pretty much a lot of what we did this week was a lot of knocking and a ton of following up, but I'm excited to see how they all progress! :)

Thanks for checking in guys!
Love Elder Tidwell

Pday bowling!!

Week 46 - Caught in a rainstorm and a busy week!

Look what was at Chick-fil-a!!

What up?!

Crazy things have gone on this week! On Monday, we had some dumb stuff go down with our gas card… it was just crazy and took an hour and 45 minutes to get gas! Hah! Tuesday, we had a mini exchange and I went with Elder Williams… we seriously had a ton of fun! Hah! We got some donuts for breakfast and then went to this 99 cent store and then went to a goodwill type place, we also taught English class to these two people from Vietnam which was awesome! Wednesday, we went on splits and when me and this kid Jason were contacting it started pouring down rain and usually in Texas it'll stop within like 10 min or something. But nope it didn't go down like that :p!! We ended up waiting underneath this garage like cover area thing while Elder Curtis and this other kid Victor were in a lesson and then it was super cold on top of it all. We ended up just walking to the car and it would start pouring and then fade a little bit and go hard again, so we waited outside in the rain for probably about an hour :p hah! Thursday, we went running for the first time in forever and wow, I'm out of shape :p haha. Friday, we had zone meeting and that went really good! We then went and had exchanges with our zone leaders and that went really well too! Saturday, I got a sort of new mattress hah, it's a lot bigger and firmer than my last one :p hahah. Sunday, we went to church and then had an activity with the Elder’s quorum to visit less active families and invite them to our stake conference. We met some great families and had a great time! :) If you guys have any questions hit me up!

Elder Tidwell

So there was this today at Chick-fil-a!! Takes me right back to my childhood!

I totally saw this today! Oregon plates!

Caught in a rainstorm...

On exchange with Elder Williams...

English class...those are my drawings...I know...they are legit!

Yes...we did go get some jean shorts...rocking the 90's gear!

Treated to a meal!!