Week 22 - First encounter with a cockroach and a new car!

Hey y’all!!

Well this week… Um we were told on Monday that we had to take our car into the office and they were going to be giving us a new one. So seizing the opportunity I took the dying picture with our car and then the starting picture with the new one! Also there was a little trouble with the Post Office:p hahah but and the end of the week all was well haha.

My favorite thing I ate this week was probably my mac & cheese I made hahah! Nothing's better than making a thing of mac & cheese just like mom used to make for dinner haha. Something I've really been trying to work on as always is patience and humility. They’re both things that when you like run out of them or you just think, “oh it's them not me,” is I guess when you need it the most. There's always something you can change… I've come to know that to be true. I hope this will make you laugh but we have an investigator who always has the coolest Nikes or Jordan's and it just so happens I know the names to like all of his shoes. One day I commented on them and he said you know more about my shoes then I do! How do you know what kind they are? With just a grin on my face, I said I live in the area where Nike shoes began.... Shoes are my life... Hahah! 

I know this week is kind of short and I don’t have a ton to say, but I would love to bare my testimony with you. I know our Heavenly Father loves us and cares about us so much. I know that families can be together forever in his plan. I know that he will put people and experiences into our lives all for a reason. I am so thankful for all my friends and family and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Thanks for checking in guys love ya!
~Elder Tidwell

P.S. One more thing to add, pretty much the worst morning ever! I lifted my cowboy hat off of my clothes to look for some socks to go running in and I found a cockroach under it... Well my companion said he would kill it but we had to wait until we get back and I was like as long as It gets done.. Well we got back and it was gone... 30 min of searching and I found it as it crawled on my arm from a pair of pants, needless to say I was just a little startled hahah!!! That's how my morning’s been hahah. (Video below, make sure you have the sound on!)

The dying car (the old one)...

My new ride!!

Week 21 - An offer to go English speaking...

Well this week went by really fast!! I can't believe it's already Monday! At the starting of the week I got to jump on a trampoline and finally got a picture with Nugget! Background about Nugget, when he was born he was just that, a nugget hah! But now he's a monster and he's huge and everyone in the mission knows who Nugget is hah. I don’t know his real name…actually no one does, well besides his parents, haha. Also I had these bomb fish tacos, they seriously are so good!!

The rest of this week was kind of stressful! Elder Christensen and I before he left, set an appointment with our recent converts to go to the temple for baptisms. Well let's just say a lot of prayer was involved in it hah. At the last minute thanks to the 1st counselor we were able to get the 4 most recent converts to the temple and meet up with Elder Christensen and Elder Bonzo which was definitely an awesome experience! I won't ever forget the moment we walked in to the temple and the look on Marco’s and Mayte’s faces when they saw the inside of it and it was all white… it was just so amazing :)
     

We had the opportunity to have an interview with our president of the mission. While it was going on he asked if I wanted to switch to English. He said he wanted me to be happy and use my talents as best as I could. I kind of just sat there thinking…and I declined the opportunity to do so. I know I was called to this mission, this area, these people and this language for a reason and there are some people that need to hear my story... my testimony. After I said that he proceeded to tell me that I have such a gift and such a potential I just need to let it out.
     

I know things are going to get hard at times but there's so much more reward in it at the end. Thanks so much for checking in you guys! I hope everyone is having a good week and a you all have a good week to come!

Love Elder Tristin Tidwell

And this is Nugget!

Me and Elder C! So great to see him!

Me with Elder C and Elder B!!

Our little trip to the temple.

Such a great experience!

They were joking around saying this resteraunt is for me...haha. 

Yep it's hot here...

A little service helping someone move...

You can hear these bugs everywhere...this is it's shell.

Yes...that's me with a machete...

Ummm...yeah we were pretty much melting...

Some sweet birthday glasses...no it wasn't my birthday ;)

Wearing Sister Soto's glasses...

Week 20 - Out for 5 months now!!

Hey Y’all!

Well this week has been kind of crazy to say the least! I had a companion exchange that was crazy awesome and realized at our zone conference that we’re the funny district which was awesome to find out hahah.

Something kind of hit me these past few days… I've always known but it's starting to click on the purpose of rules and all things like that. It's just the same as the commandments, they are given to us not to subdue us, but to guide us in the right direction. As I'm sure some of you may have experienced…we all like to try to bend the rules sometimes and think,” oh they’re just trying to hold me down,” but they are there to help us out. There is a quote by President Monson, “These rules have been given to us by a loving Heavenly Father. “ I know that to be true and it's been something that's so hard to accept.

My favorite thing we did this week was either just seeing the zone or when we went over to the Morgan's and had pizza! I haven't had anything weird to eat in a while (knock on wood), well I did try a little bit of tripe... I have to say, it was pretty gross. The one thing I've been really working on is having more patience, it's something I really wish I had more of sometimes hah. Well I think that's about it for now...

Oh the other day we were working out in the morning and this guy comes over and has like this mental breakdown in front of me and is just like "I have no idea how I got here or where my keys are or my phone,” so yeah that was fun hahah! But hey thanks for checking in you guys, I'll talk to ya soon!!

Love Elder Tidwell

This really cool looking building...

A Pday selfie...

We were invited to a 1st Birthday at a new members house.

Some sweet little kitties we found.

So we happened upon this the other day...

Hmmm....Maybe a Medapod???

This juice is seriously the best...it's so good!

A sign at the food bank we volunteer at...Wondering if that's what I would really look like if I fell...

My customized planner!

Week 19 - 4th Of July and a new companion!

Elder C's farewell

Hello guys!!

Well, let me just say probably the hardest week of my mission… probably in my life to be honest haha. My trainer left who became my brother and I'm with a comp now that only speaks Spanish to me and who I barely know. On the good side though I know this is all for a reason. Heavenly Father has a plan for it all so no use getting down about it. One thing that really helped me get through this week was prayer and thinking about my family a lot. I know that Heavenly Father and my family will always be there for me no matter what happens. I'm so grateful to have a family like I do who is always going to be there and help me along the way. I wouldn't want to trade them for anything in the world.

This week a lot of changes have gone down in the Brozos ward I'm in! My new companion has decided that we are going to focus on less active member that we have! We have a very big list so it's a good choice! On Saturday (the 4^th of July) we started off the morning with a booming breakfast from the English speaking ward at a park and it was really awesome to get to know some of the people's stories where they came from, how long they have been a member and more importantly why did they become one. It was really awesome to see what they said. Then we had a dinner bbq with the English speaking elders… Elder Cloward and Alder which was a blast! They really know how to cook in Texas let me tell you! Hahah Then we went and did some contacting but no one was home so we ended up going to visit a member and having dinner all over again! So lots of bbq which I'm okay with! I found out they have a burn ban out here in the city because of how hot and dry it gets so we didn't get to see any fireworks which kind of stunk but oh well! :)

Best thing about this week was probably when I got to give the newest member of the ward, the priesthood, which is something I won't ever forget. Something that was definitely the hardest this week was saying goodbye to Elder Christensen... It was really hard for me because you know we've gone through those hard times and we've also had really, really awesome times and those good times just really meant a lot. I know he's going to do great things when he gets back home and I can't wait to hear all about it. Something we use to do a ton… like every day was quote movies… by far one of our favorite things to do! So as he was leaving it really reminded me of “Toy Story 3” when Andy leaves Woody with Bonnie and all you see is Andy driving away and Woody says "so long partner"… definitely felt like that when he drove away, so I said the quote haha.

I know everything happens for a reason even though we might not understand now it'll all be for the good. I hope you all had a great 4th of July and hope you all stayed cool!

Love Elder Tidwell

A little scripture reading!

Pday selfie...at the request of my sister...haha

Package from home!

All of the goodies!

Saying goodbye to Elder C!

My new companion!

Week 18 - Wedding, Baptisms, and Good Food!!

Favorite meal of the week!

Well hey guys!!

This week has been full of emotions! hahah We had three baptisms and a wedding! To top it off, I’m head of this area now and Elder Christensen is heading to another area. It’s kind of sucky but it’s okay. Oh and yesterday we had like a flash flood! I wish I could send the video of it! It was so crazy to drive through it! My favorite part of the week is when I baptized the couple all in Spanish and after I lifted them out of the water the smiles on their faces was so breathtaking and also just the spirit that was there…Just incredible! Elder Christensen said when I was doing the baptisms he couldn't tell it was me talking, I sounded that fluent in what I was saying! The spirit is something that comes to me in so many different ways I definitely felt it this time and it brought so much joy to my soul.

My least favorite thing we ate this week was this overly cooked chicken and it was like burnt and crispy all the way to the center hahah, I didn't eat much of it.(Although I was grateful for the meal!) My favorite thing we ate this week was these pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake for desert! haha We got it from the Morgans, definitely one of my favorite families here haha. 

I’ve realized transfers are going to be something that’s really, really hard for me to get through. Especially when I’ve gotten so close to my companions but I know that heavenly father has a plan for us all and that it all has a purpose.

I love you guys so much and thanks for checking in! I’ll let you know who my new comp is next week!!

Love Elder Tidwell

Wedding for this sweet couple!

Helping with dinner!

Just my blanket fort!

Study time...

Close enough...haha

So happy for this little one and her parents!