Slinky in the garbage disposal

Hey its great to hear from you guys! Glad that your email came through
today. The first time that it updated it said i didn't have any mail.
But turns out i did!

I'm happy that your talk went well. Of course its easy to talk about
me, I'm fantastic :) No i didn't get any pictures from dad. Maybe
today he will send them sometime. We had a pretty interesting week
with transfers. We sent elder Thomas home on Thursday. It was weird to
go to a transfer meeting and not be getting a new companion. Elder
Johnson and i stayed together. I guess that the only really exciting
thing that happened Thursday is that i became the designated driver.

We did have a fun week though. Monday night we had an appointment
every 30 minutes so we stayed super busy. Wednesday was a lot of fun.
Last day of the transfer so that night we had 9 elders in our
apartment. We had a little party. Its was a late night. So that next
morning when we were getting ready my companion turned on our garbage
disposal and the entire counter started to shake. So we realized that
a metal slinky had somehow ended up down the drain...

After transfers we went to harbor freight and i picked up some wire
cutters and was able to get it out. You never know what will happen
when you put 9 dudes in a single apartment.

I'm excited to stay with Elder Johnson. Its going to be a lot of fun.
We have already had a really good time so far and are going to
continue to work hard. I guess there isn't much to report on. Still
trying to find new investigators. We do have a couple of 9 year olds
that we are teaching so hopefully that will lead somewhere.

Love you!

Heavenly Father is proud of you!

** Note: I asked Elder Laing to send me some things that he had learned on his mission and also his testimony for a talk that I was giving in church.....This is what he sent! He is a wonderful missionary and we are so proud of the young man he has become.

-Heavenly Father is proud of you!
-There is a reason for everything!
-Love your companion!
-This is a devine work!
-Be yourself, become your best self!
-Mission life is real life!
-A mission is a life changing experience, let it change you!
-Your attitude will define your mission!
-Apply the atonement!
-Participation is key!
-As you move closer to God, you will see more of your weaknesses,
don't get discouraged!
-Everybody is different, your mission will be different from everybody else's.
-Don't let anything come between you and God!
-Don't be afraid of the atonement.
-Fear leads to decreased effectiveness!
-We are here to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone!
-A mission is the greatest thing that you will be a part of.
-It is a privilege to wear the name of the savior every day.

This advice came from 20 departing missionaries, with a combined 36
years of service so it better be good.

-Testimony-
I know that Jesus Christ is my personal savior, as well as the savior
of the world. He died for our sins and it's through the atonement of
Jesus Christ that we are all able to return to live with God. I know
that we have a prophet on the earth today. I now know what it means to
sustain a leader, and I sustain Thomas S. Monson as a prophet seer and
revelatory in our day. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of
God. And combined with the Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, and The
Pearl of Great Price, we are able to learn of gods will for us. I know
that the work I m doing is for a greater purpose, and will continue
till Christ comes again.

Hope this helps out! Love you!

Donating Blood!

Good morning! So i wish that i could help more but honestly you can
probably say it better than i can. Just tell them that the work is the
same no matter where you go. I feel like Virginia is just a mini Utah,
especially in northern Virginia. We are working hard and having fun.
Some days are harder than others, and some days i never want to leave.
Umm..anything else?? Don't be afraid to send me another email with
questions if you want because it is transfer week so there wont be a
whole lot going on!

This has been one of the most interesting weeks of my mission so far.
So last Monday you learned that we went mini golfing. A lot of fun.

On Tuesday morning we had training for family history. We are trying
to implement family history more into our proselyting efforts, but we
don't know exactly how to do that. Afterwards we had our district
meetings. This district has a lot of awesome people. We have a ton of
fun. After district meetings we went as a district to cafe rio. So
usually we aren't aloud to do that because we have sisters in our
district but we got special permission because after we donated blood!

Weirdest thing I have done on my mission. I'm sure you saw the picture
on facebook. It went on one of those missionary pages and people loved
it. So we did that for all of the afternoon. We all got 5 dollar
Walmart gift cards except for elder Thomas who got a 50 dollars Visa
card. He just got lucky. Our district leader Elder Bateman actually
passed out so that was pretty funny. My other companion has a major
bruise around where he had his needle. It's yellow and weird looking.
That afternoon I went home and took a nap. I was so tired, and I could
tell I was getting irritable so I just had to.

Wednesday was also a very weird day. So that morning we drove to Burke
where the mission office is because Elder Thomas had his departing
temple trip that day. We arrived at 7:30 and it was really cold. The
assistants told everybody to be there at 7:30 when it was actually
8:30. So at about 8:00 we figured that out so a bunch of us went over
to McDonald's and got some breakfast. We spent the next 7 hours in
Alexandria with Spanish. Not a whole lot got done that day.

So we went and picked him up and went to Walmart and got some drinks
for our New Year's Eve party with our zone. We went directly there
instead of going home fist just to save some miles. We watched Over
the hedge, and How to train your dragon 2. They were both really
funny, but I figured out that I don't like watching movies on the
mission. But I won't get to watch any more till I get home.

I mentioned this in my last email but we nicknamed our district the
Sandlot district. We all got t shirts too. I will try to send a
picture of it. We had a ton of fun this transfer. I don't know what
will happen. We find out tomorrow night what is happening with
transfers so I will let you know.

Love you!

Christmas Caroling at the Mall

This has been an interesting week. So with Christmas it was a really
slow week. We didn't get a whole lot done, but that is to be expected
with everything going on. So we did a bunch of caroling last week. I
can't remember if I told you or not, but we had the mall manager come
and talk with us. We thought he was going to kick us out but in fact
he liked it.

So we just got back from playing mini golf. So i didn't have any cash
on me so you will see that on my bank account. We had a lot of fun.
There was five of us so it was a blast. I will send some pictures from
it.

We are also going to get district shirts. So everybody thinks that i
look like the great hambino from sandlot so there is a picture of him
on a t shirt and they decided we needed those. We are going to take a
picture with them on and i will send it.

We are going to play some pool right after i get done writing. Elder
Ross is actually here as well. We are talking about how everybody is
doing back in Roosevelt.

Not much else going on. We don't have any major plans for New years but
I will take some pictures and send it.

Love you!

Elder Laing

Merry Christmas

Hey i feel bad that i wasn't thrilled to talk to you guys. Don't get me
wrong, i was really excited to talk to you guys but it wasn't as much
as the last times. It makes me think of home and I don't want to do that, I want 

to keep my mind where it is suppose to be.  I didn't even get to tell you that i really 

liked my gifts. We talked a little bit about it but not very much. Loved the
blankets. I wasn't expecting that to have a blanket to go with it.

You guys all look fantastic. Its hard to talk about things usually
because everything stays the same. You guys are working and just doing
normal stuff, and i am a missionary....everyday. Its really awesome to
do this but it is hard! In some ways i feel more trunky than my
companions. I don't necessarily want to come home but some days i am
just done being a missionary. But i know what i am supposed to be
doing and I will continue to be the best i can.

I cant believe that Dylan and Brandon are both 6` 7" !!!! I am going
to be on the shorter end of the family. And chase is getting tall too!
I guess things are going to be really different when i get home. His
voice also got a lot deeper.

I am going to try to write Chris, Spencer, and Tyson some sort of
Christmas email. I know i should write more but it just takes
FOREVER!!! and i only get 8 hours for p-day. Ill try to be better about
writing on Monday. I think i might just keep a short entry on my ipad
for everyday then that will help me.

The basement is looking really good. I'm going to come back to a
completely different house. Also a completely different neighborhood.
We aren't going to have any place to play games on an empty lot. But i
guess that was to be expected.

I hope i didn't give off the feeling that i was frustrated or angry...i
really wasn't. More along the lines of exhausted. After we talked we had
dinner. Ham and funeral potatoes. That was fun. There were 2 familes
that were over there and after dinner they both skyped and we played a
game.

We are going to go hang out with the Sterling Park elders again
tonight. Maybe play a couple of games or pool. I still think that i am
going to be better than you guys when i get home. I guess next summer
i better go golf on p-days so i can sharpen up my game before i come
home. And i will get up on the first time when i go waterskiing. Maybe
i will be sore afterwards but i will be fine.

I love you guys. I am really glad i got to talk today. It didn't feel
like it was that long but it was 75 minutes. Time just flies by. Next
time we skype is in 140 days. I guess we can look forward to then.
These last 7 months is the longest time we will have to do while i am
here. So that's good.

Love you guys!!!

Another Fantastic week in the D.C. South Mission

Hello family!!!

Another fantastic week here in the D.C. South Mission. We didn't do a
whole lot last p-day. We ended up playing 2 vs. 2 football since our
zone didn't do anything. We talked to the zone leaders of my last zone
about coming over and playing with them since we only live 5 miles
down the road. We had been in contact most of the morning with them
but it ended up not happening so we just played a small game.

Yesterdays it was Elder Thomas's birthday. We went to Ghengis Grill
for lunch to celebrate. It was fun. I haven't eaten there since i was
serving in Centreville 8 months ago.

It has been a very slow week. I am getting along with my companions,
but we have really different personalities as well as working styles.
I guess I'm going to have to tuff it our for another 4 1/2 weeks. Its
not as bad as it sounds. I am doing great!

We have a really busy week coming up so that's good. Keeps us focused
and motivated for the next little while. So our missionary tree had
its first official day today. I am going to post some pictures on
Facebook about it so the word can continue to go out to all of the
ward members. We think that it is going to increase the members desire
and motivation to do missionary work...at least that is what it is
intended to do.

I had the opportunity to help with the sacrament today. I got to act
as one of the priests and said the blessing on the water while my 2
companions passed with the deacons. I don't think i have done that in
over 2 years. It was really awesome to do that. I didn't realize how
much i liked doing that until i actually wasn't doing it anymore.

Last night we were able to go over to a members home who had a non
member family coming as well. So we had dinner and then we went to
their basement and played ping pong, as well as foosball. its was cool
to be able to just hang out for a little bit and show that we are just
normal people. We ended up spending our whole night there
surprisingly, but it was really good.

Today i think we are going to hit up the air and space museum. I went
when i was in Warrenton, but it felt really rushed so i hope today
will be more fun. We are going to go with the Sterling Park elders so
there will be 5 of us. Maybe i will get some sweet souvenirs.

I'm still a little peeved at the mail people. They couldn't figure out
that it was supposed to be square instead of court. I guess that we
will see how it goes. I think that this Christmas is going to be good.
We have a good member in the ward that is inviting us over.

I still wish that i could give you more Christmas ideas. I could go
for a nice hoodie. Have Chase or Dylan help you pick it out if you
choose to do that :) For Dylan i think anything camo. I know that he
does really like Dr. Pepper so there is an idea but i know that it
isn't very good. Just go to Ace and walk through the sporting goods
and say a prayer for guidance :)

Today is going to be a very monumental day. I am going to dry clean
one of my suits after 14 months of doing this. I know it sounds gross
but i wear it once a week for a couple hours. They are still in pretty
nice condition so I'm glad about that. Most of my clothing is holding
up. 2 of my short sleeve shirts have stains on them that didn't come
out so i have dubbed those as my sweater shirts. Hide the stains.

I'm happy to hear about everything that is going on with you guys.
Sounds like everything is going good and that if its not that it is
getting better. If it makes you feel any better i am not going to win
anything from my Christmas party either. Maybe a Christmas card or a
small gift from the mission.

Nothing else too exciting going on right now. I love you guys. Look
forward to seeing you in a couple weeks!

Missionary competition

We have had a busy week. So in our Ward we had an idea for a missionary competition in the ward. We have a wooden Christmas tree that we made that is in the foyer of the church, and when any member of the ward does an act of missionary service they get to put an ornament up onto the tree with their corresponding color. We had all of the different auxiliaries be different colors so it will be sort of a mini competition.

So on Wednesday afternoon we went to Home Depot and bought some sheeting and the paint and some other stuff we needed to build it. We have a car so we had a member who could haul it come pick it up for us and take it to his house so we could use his tools as well. He was originally going to help us build it, but he had someone he needed to visit in the ward so he took Elder Johnson with him to go visit her.

Myself and Elder Thomas were left to build the thing. I think you guys should be proud that you taught me enough about building stuff that it went pretty smoothly. We were able to measure and draw everything out then start cutting. We used a circular saw to cut out the entire thing then went in with a jigsaw in the very tight corners to clean in up.

Felt good to actually build something with my hands. I did all of the cutting so I'm pretty proud of myself. Dylan might have mentioned something about it to you guys. I was able to show him when we skyped. That night we took it home and Primed it then painted it. I'll attach some pictures too.

On thanksgiving day we went to McDonald's for lunch. I was surprised to see how many people were actually there. We weren't really aloud to Proselyte so it was a slow day. We went to Walmart and picked up some other stuff to finish up the tree. Thanksgiving has turned out to be
just another day. It's so commercialized then with Black Friday right after it makes it difficult. Stores here were starting Black Friday at 7 at night. That was weird to see.

We ate at the readings in our ward that night. They are a younger family in the ward. They have one 2 year old who was the entertainment the entire night. We stayed for about 2 hours. It was a nice relaxing night. Elder Thomas really wanted mashed potatoes at about 8 o'clock so we went to target and bought some. That store was crazy busy. I guess that's what happens with black Friday.

Friday was a pretty slow day. Not a lot happened. We had lunch at Chipotle. Just a Mexican restaraunt similar to cafe rio, but not nearly as good. Afterwards we went and did some planning for our week. We have some things going on but not a whole lot. We are hoping with this missionary idea for the ward that it will take off and the referals from members will come. It is much easier getting into somewhere that the members tell us to go to than trying to get in by ourselves.

Saturday was another crazy day. So we decided to go to Red Robin for lunch...(yes we like to eat out a lot) So we ordered our food and then ate like normal. Since they have bottomless steak fries we had to take full advantage of that so we asked for more. About 10 minutes later our waiter came back and told us they were coming. Then he said, "You guys are going to think this is crazy, but there was a guy that was at that table over there and he already paid for your check." So we were stoked. We didn't even get to see who it was. 

Then he said, "and what is crazier is that he gave me this 20 dollar bill to give to you guys, and he already gave me a big tip so you don't have to worry about that either." So we got free food and 20 bucks. I guess that is one of the perks of being on a mission. People are super nice (sometimes) and are willing to do things for us.

After that we went to a recent convert in the ward who is a single lady in her mid 40's. We helped her clean out her gutters with a leaf blower and re-attatch a drainage pipe to her house. After we cleaned them all out we raked her entire yard. We ended up spending about 3 hours over there. After she thanked us and told us that she was going to buy dinner for us. So we went to firehouse subs. Again sometimes people are super generous to us. That was my week in a nutshell. Very busy and fun.

Love you guys. Looking forward to Christmas!!!