Week 60 - Worst P-day ever...

Hey guys!

Well this week’s been a slow one hah. On Monday… not going to lie probably the worst P-day ever hahah. Got cavities filled :/… my word of advice, just get them all fixed before you come out or right when they pop up! Hahah. For the remainder of the day we played water balloon volleyball and then did some contacting. Tuesday, we had English class and then family history training. Wednesday, we ate at the pastrana’s and they cooked us sopes made with haberno chillies haha, a little hot you could say. Later that day we tried the hottest sauce in the universe made with ghost peppers hahah!! Uh…Yeah! Thursday, we had English class and ate at the Salgado’s and had mole which was okay… :p hahah Friday, we ate at the qouaso’s and had pizza! Saturday, we went contacting in this super ghetto complex and contacted 41 people crazy sauce! We met this really, really awesome Cuban family!  Sunday was just a regular Sunday haha… all and all a pretty chill week. sorry not that many crazy stories…next week will sure blow your socks off hahah :) As many of you probably have heard we are having some crazy flooding today!

~Elder Tidwell

Hottest Sauce in the Universe!

Me and Elder Corn

At the dentist visiting with the nice lady on the wall...

Week 59 - The Adventures of Bonzi and T-Diddy...

Banzi and T-Diddy...

The Aventures of Bonzi and T-Diddy…

Well you’re probably wondering what the title is about… I'll explain a little later hah. So my week started with Water balloon fights and we went to do some contacting and visited a few families. Tuesday we had English class at the school which was so much fun hahah :) Then we had family history training for a while. After that the elders of H 10 needed to go get a new car so we went with them but it took like 4 hours to finally get the car! Hah Then we went on exchanges, Elder Cabrera came with me and we did some contacting and tried to visit a few members. Wednesday we exchanged back and had interviews with our mission president which went really, really good! Thursday we went to H10 and did some weekly planning with them and then went on another exchange. Then Friday we had district meeting and then went on another exchange! Whoa! A ton of exchanges this week! I went to Elder Banzo’s area with him and we started our day off with some wonderful contacting. We passed this group outside and didn't think anything of it but then decided we would go say hi and invite them. Brent, Kevin, Suzy and Sarah were their names and they were awesome hahah! We invited them to do some family history and then just chat with them for a while. We got to the end and I was just like, can I take a picture with you guys?? I have to tell my family and friends about you so I did hahah! While we were talking to them Brent gave me and Elder Banzo nicknames, Banzi and T-Diddy hahah! So there's that! They were blown away with some of the things we do as missionaries hah! They also told us we were probably the coolest LDS cats they have ever met hahah! Definitely made me feel pretty good hahah ;) Saturday was a good day…we had to do our weekly planning and then had some appointments going on and found these super awesome ghetto apartment complexes! Like I'll have to take pictures hahah.

Well that's pretty much all for this week love you guys!
Elder Tidwell

Got myself some Dinosaur Oatmeal!

Us and D!

Me and Elder Bonzo!

On the exchange with Elder Cabrerra...

Week 58 - Zone Meeting and Conference!

Hey guys!

Well another week down hahah. This week was pretty chill not much had happened until the weekend because of miles. So I'll start off with Friday, we got new miles and had zone meeting and Hermana Lowery gave her final testimony to us it was really good! We learned a lot about faith and all the things that help us build it up. I've learned it's like a muscle, you can build it up and up but when you stop using it or stop working it out…it fades away. Saturday, we had general conference… my favorite talk was probably President Uchtdorf’s during the priesthood session Saturday night and Sunday's was probably Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his talk about fathers. But overall I think my favorite talk as I'm sure is the same with many of you is Elder Holland’s talk. The first thing he talked about was how much they love us, which really touched me and also talking about how times will get hard and we might not be able to handle the task at hand but that the Lord will bless those of us who try. Sorry skipped ahead hahah! So in between first and second session we got Chick-fil-a for lunch and then went back and kind of hung out. We had the second session and then when we were waiting for the priesthood session playing on the piano a member came up to us and just gave us some watches! He looked at the sweet Nixon watch I have and said you need an upgrade hahah it was such a blessing! Then we ate pie and watched the session hah :) I definitely got a lot from the past three sessions including a lot of stuff I can't wait to put into use when I become a husband and father. Sunday, we had the other sessions and I just wanted to say how thankful I am for prophets in these the latter days and for all the guidance we get from them. We then had a lesson after with this less active member C and her boyfriend M. Toward the end of the lesson the spirit was so strong…we sealed it with our testimonies which definitely brought me and Elder Pesci to tears and then even more when we saw all of them crying. Over all it was a really good week :)

~Elder Tidwell

Trying crawfish! 

On an exchange with Elder Child

The sweet watch I was given!!

Zone pictures!!

Week 57 - A ward party at the park for Easter

Back again!

Well this week was a lot of fun! 

On Monday, we went laser tagging which was awesome! Then we went to visit a few families and went contacting. Tuesday, we had a mini conference about family history which was so awesome! They've really gone crazy with the whole family history thing and they introduced a module for us to use and they really want us to teach it! I think it'll be an awesome opportunity! Then we had a few lessons with some of our investigators that fell through and then just ended up going finding hah. Wednesday we had family history and I found a ton of names I'm so pumped to keep putting them all in!! After that we had to get our car inspected which took FOREVER and then had enough time to go visit our investigator J with Hermano R. Thursday we taught English class at this school which was pretty good! There is one guy who comes and then like 13 ladies hahah it's pretty great. We had weekly planning that day so it took up most of our time and then we went finding and tried to see Pepe and the Garcias. Friday, we had district meeting which was good! My favorite part is always language study hahah. We were playing this game on the chalk board where you have to translate a sentence into Spanish…I got to the last one and got so pumped I threw the chalk and it hit a leg on a chair and like disintegrated it was pretty funny hahah. We then tried a ton of people we hadn't seen in a while and we got in with a few it was a pretty good day! Now Saturday is a day all on its own hahah. We had a ward party planned at this park for Easter and we’re like struggling on miles this past and next week so we're trying to get as many rides as we can. So the only ride we found was from Hermano R, who was going to go to a temple session at 7 a.m. so we had to be up at 5 a.m. to get ready and then walk to the church for him to pick us up hah! We get there and the party doesn't start until 9 a.m. so we just waited on the temple grounds and then another member came to pick us up. So this part is key... I looked at what the weather was going to be like, it said it would be cloudy and like 70’s so I didn't put sunblock on thinking I won't need it... We get there, help set up the bbq and out comes the sun. There was this huge soccer field next to the picnic tables if you can tell where this is going…so we played soccer and then all the members showed up and then the Louetta ward showed up at another spot. After we ate we played soccer for like 4 hours... I got sunburnt so bad and had a crazy watch tan line hah I'm really glad I know a ton of Hispanics who are always packing that aloe plant ;) But then the sisters had a baptism that went really good! Then Sunday of course was Easter and we ate with the Cabrera family and had this stuff called ting it's like chicken and some other soup stuff on a tostada hah :) That's my week! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Love Elder Tidwell

The temple very early in the morning...

A little bit of sun....

A little pday kick ball at the church...

A bike I found in the bayou...yeah it may need some work...

Not sure what's going on here...lunge training???

Me and Elder P

Me and S...she is headed back to Mexico. She will be missed.

Week 56 - Fun with my district...surprise visitors...and Happy Easter!

Hey y'all!

We this week was good! We had an awesome pday… our district is so big!! We played human battleship and ate cake because it was Elder Pescis Birthday. Tuesday we had exchanges with Elder Cabrera and Elder Child and then Wednesday we exchanged back. Then we went to this training for English class that was pretty fun, they just taught us how to play games and stuff like that. Then I got the crazy opportunity to see my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Chuck! We met up at the church and then went to go get some dinner. It was so great getting to see them and see how they were doing. Then right after, we got called by one of our members to go out and eat with him.... I'm getting fat... Hahah. Then Thursday we went to the temple! It was so awesome and definitely an experience I won't ever forget! I got the opportunity to take one of my family history names and do all the ordinances for them and I definitely felt the spirit so strong while doing it. After that we picked up this young adult in our ward and had a mini mission! It was pretty cool! We probably won't do one during district meeting again, hahah we asked him if he liked it and he said it was really long and kind of boring hahah. We did some lessons with him and met some really awesome people!  Saturday we went to a baptism and that was really good! I also got to see one of my favorite English homies Elder Seamons! Hahah Then Sunday, well, we’re low on miles for the month so we've like walked all over Hahahah.

I just want to bare my testimony that I'm so thankful for this time of the year with Easter coming up… I'm thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. We have the opportunity to remember why he was sent here, he set an example for us that we all should follow and he had so much love he died for us so that we can be forgiven for all of our sins and all the mistakes we have made can all be forgiven. We have the chance to move on. I'm so thankful for my family and all my friends that I have. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Thanks for checking in!... Until next week!
Love Elder Tidwell

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Chuck!

Such a nice surprise!

Cici's!

Fresh cuts!

At the temple!

At the baptism...

Me and Elder Seamons!

Elder Cabrera before we went to laser tag!

Laser Tag!!

Me and Elder Backsteen!

Week 55 - Saying goodbye and a new comp...

Hey guys!

Well this week’s been tiring let me tell. My new comp really likes to get everything set up before we do anything else hah. We've done so much contacting this week my knuckles are starting to get all cut up hahah. Besides that, it was a good week! It was really hard the starting of the week… saying goodbye to Elder Curtis and stuff. I haven't gotten close with a comp like that since Elder Christensen. So needless to say it was pretty hard hah. I know he's going to do awesome things in his mission and change hearts.

This week I've been learning a ton about patience yet again ;) Just trying my best to keep a good mood all the time no matter what's going on. We were in kind of a trio with Elder Banzo for a few days and it was so much fun! Then we went with him to pick up his new baby and he's perfect for Banzo hahah. We’ve been taking them around everywhere because they got put back on bikes. I even got a picture of it, pretty great if I do say so myself ;) hah This transfer is going to be long but it’s going to be awesome and I'll definitely learn a lot from it. Hopefully next week I'll have a longer email with more to write! Have a good week! 

~Elder Tidwell

Saying goodbye to Elder Curtis...

The sisters...

District photo