I still have a mtn dew every once in a while and Fishing on P-day!

Blake still loves a  Mtn. Dew

Fishing on P-day in Warrenton, Virginia

Zone conference and Elder Ballard

This week has been pretty crazy. So on Tuesday we had our zone conference. We learned a lot about owning your area. There was a bunch of different people that talked to us and it was just a really good day. On Wednesday we had district meetings. Thursday we went to lunch with the zone leaders from another zone and another set of elders. We had 5 guys, I didn't realize how expensive that place is. But that's alright it was still a lot of fun. We have a couple of investigators now so that is good. One of them is a part member, and another is a guy that lives way out in the middle of no where. It is right by a members home so it will be really good for fellowshipping. 

As you know on Saturday we had the elder Ballard conference up in d.c.  There was a lot of really good information given to us. I did get to talk to Kaden McDonald for a while. So it is a really bad deal over in Ukraine. He is hoping that they will reopen the mission so he can go back, but he says that more than likely there is going to be a war there so they won't do that. It was really good to talk to him. He said that one of the first things that president asked him to do was message Jared and try to get him back out. 

Sorry that I don't have a ton to report on. Maybe when we start teaching it will get better!

Love you all!

A great new area, and a great new Companion!

So as you know on Thursday we had transfers.So i told you last night that i am now in Warrenton. We cover the furthest west of the mission. It is about 25 miles west of Centreville i believe. So we were sitting in transfers and i am always anxious to know where i would be going to. So a little bit before the meeting started i was in the bathroom with elder Alofipo, (the Samoan in the picture with me that i sent to you) and President Riggs walked in and hugged us both and he told me that i should be excite because i am getting an awesome companion and an awesome area. So when he said that it made me even more nervous because i am pretty sure we have different vies on whats awesome.

I was absolutely shocked to learn that i would be companions with Elder Tolle. He has been my zone leader for the past 2 transfers, and he is also going home at the end of this one. So i never thought that i would be companions with him, but here i am. So if you look on the map, Warrenton is more out in the middle of no where. So it kinda takes me back to Roosevelt. We cover a lot of farmland so we are going to try to start doing a lot of service to try to get into peoples homes. We cant do much Tracting because where we cover, houses are really spread out.

On Saturday we helped with a wedding reception. That was another one of those things that i thought i would never do. So we served the food and helped with a little bit of the clean up. During the dancing we sat against the wall just tapping our foot and wishing we could be part of the slow dancing. But missionaries cant do that. So that was really interesting. Also that night i met someone that i have talked to before back in American Fork. The Mayne family is in our ward out here in Warrenton. I went to school with their son who is currently on his mission in Germany. We were actually in the same year of school so that was pretty cool. She actually worked at the front office on both the Junior high and the high school so i remember her from that. It is really weird that connections you make out here.

We don't have anything planned this week. We think that we are going to be doing a lot of service here. From all the service that we have done in the past 4 days we have gotten about 135 dollars from doing things. We try not to take it but people insist so we do. We are going to use it to buy groceries for the apartment. We have a grill on our porch so we are going to get some steaks and grill those up. 

I love you all thanks for your support and Write me a letter!!
blake.laing@myldsmail.net
or my new address in Warrenton is:  762B Cedar Crest Dr. Warrenton,  VA 20186

I saved myself $300.00

 Well I cut my thumb pretty bad and it definitly needed stitches, so I went to the Doctor and they told me that they wouldn't accept the insurance and that it would cost me $300.00. So my Companion and I went home and I super glued it shut. It's been about a week now and my thumb is healing up really well. We didnt teach any lessons this week so it has been pretty slow. We are still having fun here in centreville, but we think our area is getting closed this transfer, so chances are ia am heading somewhere new. I am kind of glad that im leaving just so i can get a fresh start. I am getting along with every body, but i want something new. Take Care everyone!

Selfies in our awesome helmets!
Elder Laing and Elder Wagner

A talk with Muhammed....

This week has been pretty good. So last Monday another elder in our district and i went on a bike ride. We didn't really feel like playing basketball so we did that instead. We road out to a big open pit mine and that was pretty cool. Then we went and checked out a little bit of bull run. I guess that is where winter quarters was during the civil war. Pretty cool to be near all of the history, just makes me wish that i would have paid more attention to history during high school.

 

So Tuesday we had an appointment with one of our investigators Craig. So we went to his house and he wasn't home and it was about 7 so we didn't really know what to do from there. Somehow we ended up on a bike trail then right at the edge of our area on the road that we take to go home. So it was about 8:30 and we didn't know what to do since it was so late. We noticed a guy walking the other direction so we decided to talk to him. We ended up walking with him and teaching him the first lesson. On the way when we were walking we actually had Craig come from the other direction. So we set up another return appointment with him. It was kind of a bummer because that appointment fell through as well. So we talked with Muhammed, (the guy on the road) and he had a bunch of questions about the Book of Mormon and the bible. We invited him to be baptized if he came to know that the gospel is true, and his response, "ABSOLUTELY NOT"  It kinda caught me off guard a little bit. So hopefully this week we will be able to meet with him.

 

Wednesday and Thursday were not very exciting days. Wednesday we did some service at the thrift shop right up the street that was fun but my allergies really get to me when we serve there.  Thursday we were riding around through a neighborhood, and from behind we heard "hey missionaries"

So we went over there and there was 2 member kids and two of there friends. So we played a 4 vs. 2 game. We had to win. We couldn't let kids beat us. But we should have let them win.

 

Friday we taught a lesson to one of our more promising investigators. We shared Mosiah 18 and talked a lot about baptism. We had one of the members over with us and he talked most of the time so that was good. I like it when members teach for me.

 

I enjoyed conference a lot. I really enjoyed Elder Oaks talk during priesthood session. It really related back to women and the priesthood. I have never really asked you what you have thought about the group "ordain women" I have seen a lot of it on facebook recently. Elder Oaks stated that the first presidency and the quorem of the 12 don't have the authority to ordain women to offices in the priesthood. I thought it was really powerful. Sister Reeves talk was also really good. It really hit on a topic that is more serious than ever.

 

So that was my week in a nutshell. Other than that some random stuff that happened.

 

1. I broke a chair, and in doing so bruised the entire right side of my body.

2. I rode my bike through a river.

3. Did some wrestling last night and now i am really sore from a 300 pound man sitting on me.

4. I saw a dog. And he was cute.

5. I have 6 open wounds on my body.

6. I'm getting a watch tan, basically all of my arm is tan, except for where my watch goes.

 

Other than those i got nothing. Today is going to be fun. It is currently raining and we might go on another ride, or play some ball.  You guys have to send me more pictures. I wanna see the side yard. How about the basement, how is it doing?

 

That's no good about your eyes. I hope that i don't have those problems for a while. I still have good vision and i need to keep it.

 

I love you so much, that's awesome that your reading the Book of Mormon ,I'm currently in about Alma 48 i think. So i am right by you. Thanks for eveyrthing you do for me, and your continued support!!!

 

Love you!!!

 

Elder Laing

Why did Mitt Romney lose the election?

So we actually taught a hand full of lessons this week. 1st we taught a guy named Craig who we have been trying to get in contact with for about a month now. So we were walking into our area at about 2 pm, and once we got just inside of our area we stopped on the bridge where we crashed and stood there for about 30 minutes just trying to decide what we should do. So after about 30 minutes we started walking slowly again into our area. We had noticed a guy behind us a little ways back and didn't even think about it. So after about another 15 minutes of walking slowly we heard him yell something so we went back and talked to him and it turned out to be Craig!

So we walked over to a bus stop that we were at and sat with him. We talked for about 90 minutes. All of our conversation was basically answering a bunch of questions that he had. He had already had contact with missionaries in Detroit as well as in New York and now in Virginia! So he had a couple of simple questions about Joseph  Smith and the first vision which we were able to answer with ease.

So he was like hold on, he pulled out his phone and called his pastor. He told him that he was with us right now and if he had one question what would it be. The pastor said that he didn't have any questions because we didn't have any real answers. We sat there like wow, what a mean dude. But about 2 minutes later his phone starts vibrating with a bunch of texts. So my initial thought was these questions are going to be super hard coming from a pastor, but they were actually the most frequent questions.

Explain the trinity. Super easy. Acts 7 talks about God and Jesus Christ standing on his right side.  2 The end of revelation said that there is no more scripture and that no one can add to it. We explained that this was written even before some of the other books in the bible, and as well that it says that in other books in the bible. Number three was just a stupid question that i think was supposed to just be a jab at us. It was, Have you reached the point of wearing magic underwear and why did Mitt Romney lose the election.

So it was easy to answer to answer those questions and he seems really promising. He said that he was going to come to church when we saw him on Saturday, but he wasn't there yesterday so that was kind of a bummer.

Our second lesson was with a guy named Tom. Tommy is a guy who was in the area book who i had never met before so we decided to try to go see him on Friday night. We had just got elder Wagner's bike back from the shop. So we were down checking on another investigator that we had and it turned out that he moved so that was a real bummer. We were right there and i had the thought to go by his house and see him. We were at his house for about 2 hours. He is a used car salesman and he talks really fast. So Thursday night, the day before we got there, he decided to read some of the Book of Mormon. So it was a tender mercy us showing up right at the right time.

We talked for a while on all different subjects. We couldn't keep it pointed in one certain direction. He is moving Tuesday morning and we are going to go help him. He doesn't quite know where he is going just yet. So he actually is a felon who was convicted like 5 times, but since cleaned up his life. He has a roommate that isn't doing the smartest things so he wants to get away from that. We are going to help him and hopefully he ends up still in our boundries. We also got to play some darts with him so that was pretty fun.

Our third lesson was with a guy on his doorstep. Taught the restoration to him, and we are going back next Sunday.

So my knee and elbow are still a little screwed up, just taking forever to heal. My bike didn't get any damage and for that i am really grateful. There is an elder who went through about 12 bikes on his mission. I don't want to end up like that. I think My suit at home still fits. I don't think i have tried it on in a while. Have dad try in on and if its to big for him then send it. I am always up for more ties. So if you are ever in Orem don't be afraid to get me some. I you see any paisly ties, get those :) 

Im still jealous about the boat. Tell dad he cant sit there. That is mine. Don't you touch my chair! That's ok, i can wait another 18 months for it. I dont need to go to the dentist. Nothing hurts yet, and they are pearly white. kinda. Yes i brush my teeth and floss actually quite regularly so for that you should thank me. You finally got it through my thick skull.

We are still getting along really well which is good. i will definately send pics. We are going on a bike ride today and i will take a bunch.

I love you guys  I'm glad everything is good at home. Enjoy that new boat, im sure you will. Thank you for your support in all that i do!

Love Elder Laing

Transfers and No Food!!

Good morning!!! So today is another preparation day! So we have no
idea what we are going to do today. They made a rule about segregation
between elders and sister on preparation day now so we don't have the
gym to go play basketball. not that i could play anyways with my
stupid knee.

So we were basically going over a bridge on the sidewalk and elder
Wagner got in between the guardrail and me and basically his front
tire hit my back tire and we hit the ground and i ate dirt. I really
liked those pants. Hopefully it wont take to long to get another pair.

That's cool you got to go to the temple, i haven't been in about 6
months now. I want to go soon but i don't know when. So elder Wagner
and i actually came out at the same time. I was really surprised to
hear that we would be together. So far we are getting along great and
i think it is going to stay that way.

So basically we had a gallon of milk left, half a jar of grape jelly,
some peanut butter, 1 loaf of bread, and that was basically all that
was left. So it really sucked, but now we have food! Just got done
shopping. Elder Greenwood and i got along, but nothing really past
that. We could pretty much stand each other. So i was glad when he
left. I have only been with my last two companions 6 weeks each, i
wonder if this time it will be longer.

We don't really have anybody we are teaching. Last transfer we taught a
total of 3 lessons. That was really bad. Hoping this transfer will be
better.

So Saturday when we got in the wreck we were just on our way back from
riding about 40 miles. I'm just glad we were close to our house.

Glad to know that everything is alright.

Love you guys!

Elder Laing