December 29th, 2014

Hey my family! Things are going good!!! It was so much fun to talk to you!! It makes emailing today seem lame compared to talking with you and seeing your faces, but I'll just be grateful to talk with you whatever way they will let me. :) It sounds like the Christmas party was fun! I hope that you enjoy your week off of school that will be sweet. What did owen and Spencer have to tell you? Christmas really was one of the best days of my whole life! I could dare say that looking forward to skyping you guys was one of the things I have been most excited about my whole life. I loved every second of it too! Sorry I am kind of a big baby. So this week we ran into a guy named wayne and he gave a pretty good description of what missionary work is like in his neck of the woods he said, "You guys should know that in this part of town you have more respect than the cops, at least people run away from you." haha I thought that was pretty funny, and it really is pretty true. It has been raining like crazy the past couple days. The darn rain really makes me miss the beautiful snow at home. It has been raining so hard that we couldn't bike so we had to walk, but as we were walking it was neat to notice the finger of the lord in the little things, and it made me really grateful for my bike. I hope that you have a great week!!! Thank you so much for all of the Christmas stuff that you sent me! I am spoiled rotten, it was a really humbling Christmas for me to not be able to really give back very well to all the people that sent stuff. I really am super grateful! I love you guys so much!! Thanks for being willing to talk with me the other day and every Monday :) I love you!! Love Mud

December 22nd, 2014

Hey my homies! I'm glad to hear that things are going good for you! All the Christmas plates delivered, tithing settlement done, and school almost out, that has got to feel pretty good! Heavenly Father must have wanted our Christmas's to look the same cause that is like the exact weather that we have here right now. We went caroling the other night in the pouring ran, it was fun but not quite as fun as the snow. I'm sad that I missed dads singing, I like it when he sings! I am very proud of Jessa for beating dad in ping pong too, I'm hoping that all this biking will improve my ping pong skills somehow. :) This week has been pretty good! Nothing too wild and crazy happened just a pretty normal week. I am super excited to talk to you guys on Thursday!! We are going to go to the Ory's for most of Christmas day so I am really excited! They are an awesome family, we have family home evening with them every Monday night and they are a ton of fun!! Sue came to Church with us yesterday so we were really excited! She is coming along slowly but surely. She finally agreed to say the closing prayer in our lesson the other day and I can't tell you how happy it made me to hear her pray! It was awesome!! That is crazy that the Idaho Falls Temple will be closed for that long but on the bright side when it is open again I will be able to go to it with you!! I hope you have a wonderful week and a Merry Christmas!! Happy Birthday in advance my wonderful mama!!! I love you guys!!!!!!!!! Love Justin

December 16th, 2014

My family!!!!! Ya'll are awesome!!! Thank you so much for the Christmas packages I am super excited! And tell Richard and Jon thanks for the Christmas card and the money I got it yesterday they are awesome!!! And Aunt Tammy sent me and Elder Porter a sweet package will you tell her thanks too? :) You'll have to tell Heidi hi for me I can't believe that she is back already. Jessa's party sounds like it was a good time! Things here are going pretty good! We got transfer calls yesterday and they are keeping me and Elder Porter around for another one. My friend Sister Widdison is getting transferred we are sad to see her go. It seems like this week has been forever long I don't even know where to start.... One of our investigators Sue gave us a 8 foot fake Christmas tree to put in our apartment it is awesome!! It took a little rearranging to fit it but it was totally worth it. If our apartment had any more Christmas stuff in it I'm pretty sure it would be illegal haha We also had a sweet Specialized training were we had a big Christmas party with President and Sister Hansen they are amazing! It was a lot of fun to spend some time with them on a more relaxed level. Joe Dirt 2 was being filmed again just down the street from Sue's house so we went and we were like 20 feet away from David Spade it was pretty awesome! I was wishing Zach and Jake and Dad could be there with me, his mullet is pretty sweet in real life too. We get to skpe with you guys on Christmas so next week I will get you a few more details. :) I think you guys are awesome! Thanks for letting me be a part of your family!! Love ya! Love, Mud

November 17th, 2014

My Family!! I can't believe that it is snowing there already that is crazy!! Tell the poor bishop I'm sorry that he has so much church stuff to do, I think he will get rewarded with extra Mountain Dews in heaven for doing it though haha I hope that Jake get's feeling better! And I hope that you guys have a great week!! This week has been pretty crazy! It has been a long week but a good one. The sisters had a baptism on Saturday and we got one of our investigators "John" to come to it it was awesome! I am still working on adjusting to my new companion I feel like I went from the Energizer bunny to Sid the Sloth, but it is a good learning experience for me. :) It has been getting colder here too. I am kind of a baby to the cold know when it's like 40 degrees I start freezing haha one darn Louisiana summer and it has screwed up 18 years of being a tough Idaho boy. On Saturday morning we did some pretty fun service we had to spread hay in this lady's chicken coop while the chickens we in there so we were fighting chickens and trying to hurd them into one corner it was an adventure haha It sounds like things are going pretty good for you guys! I sure miss you guys!! I have faith that it is going to be a better week this week!! I love you with all of my heart and soul!!!! Love Elder Dye

November 10th, 2014

Hey my family!!! It sounds like things are crazy busy there but you are doing good! I'm glad that the "love birds" made it home safe from their honeymoon and I hope that they are doing good! It sounds like Jessa is quite the little ball player and tell the Bishop to drink a dew or 2 before tithing settlement starts haha Missionary week sounds like it will be a good time!! And I am really jealous that you went on a 4wheeler ride haha Things here are going pretty good! My new companion is Elder Porter and he is from Texas so not very far away. He is a pretty nice kid, the best way that I can describe him is like Colby Hatton but he loves the military. So we have a little bit different personalities but I know that with the lords help we can make it through this :) I appreciate all the prayers, it keeps me from throwing rocks and from saying bad words sometimes! I hope you know that I pray for you guys too!!! This week has been pretty good, we had transfers on Wednesday and it was a little sad to say goodbye to Elder Richardson but that's what life is about enjoying the time while we've got it. I have some cool food to report!! On Saturday we had a pig roast and they roasted the whole pig all night and then had a great big party! It was awesome! I will send you some pictures next week. But with it they had "hog head cheese" which is pretty much boiled pig head mostly the brains and tongue that you eat on crackers and it wasn't to bad We were biking through the hood the other day past this kind of Ghetto park and we saw this kid that was shooting the basketball by himself so we went and asked if we could play with him and we played for a few minutes and got to talking and the next thing we knew we were teaching him the Restoration sitting there on the basketball court! It was Elder Porters first lesson and he did a good job. So dad has always been right when he has said the basketball helps bring people into the church!! I hope that you guys have a great week and that you know how much I love you guys!! Thanks for letting me be part of your family cause everyday I just realize more and more how lucky I am to have you! :) Love your redneck son Elder Dye P.S. Here are a few Christmas Ideas How about a twin tie with Richard Christensen or a wedding picture book. Or a jess for a week haha I am good with anything! Who do I have again?

November 4th, 2014

My family!!! This is my favorite time of the week too :) That does sound like a crazy week! But I am glad that you survived and that everything went well! The wedding sounds like it went good! and I can't believe that you got all of your brother and sisters there and trish in the church that's awesome!! This week has been crazy I don't even know where to start. I am feeling much better! Are you? We have transfers this week so that's why I am emailing you today instead of yesterday. So the big news.... Elder Richardson is leaving and both me and him are training new missionaries. It will be an adventure haha I am a little nervous to be getting one straight from the MTC but dad sent me a letter and told me to be tough, and I wore my "dad twin tie" all day yesterday so I would be tough enough to do what I need to do so here are the possible choices any guesses? Dobie, Nathan Alan Porter, Brayden Christian Sato, Kenzo Simmons, McKay David Staley, Tucker Owen So for Halloween we had set up to go over to 2 different members home cause we had to be in by 6. and both of the members had things come up so we couldn't come. So me and elder Richardson broke into the sisters apartment (cause they were at a members house, and we didn't want to just have to be in ours) and ate dinner and watched Mormon messages until it was time to go home. haha It probably wasn't as exciting as your Halloween but it kept us entertained :) Things here are going great! I am a little scared but I know that the Lord will help me to be able to help my new companion and that I have a great family that will help me too! I hope that you have a great week!! Glad the wedding was good!! I love you!!!! Love, Justin (Elder Dye)

December 1st, 2014

Hey my homies!! I'm glad to hear that things are going pretty good and that you had a good thanksgiving!! I'm glad that everyone at some pie for me too that was very nice of you guys! Thank you so much for the package! I haven't got the big one yet but the other one was awesome! It was so much fun to read all the Natural Helpers letters tell them thanks for me! Things here have been pretty good this week! Thanksgiving was very interesting, we ate some Turkey, Macaroni, dressin(stuffing with chunks of some kind of meat), sweet potato pie, and grape drank. In the hood with our friend jay and his family. It was quite the combination of foods haha The ward had a Turkey bowl thanksgiving morning so that was a lot of fun and than thanksgiving night we got together as a district and had a party together it was fun :) Last Monday was a lot of fun too! We went to New Orleans and went through the French market and stuff it was a lot of fun! We did the pepper palace challenge, which is tasting one of the hottest hot sauces in the world. Even just a tiny drop burns, but it was worth it for the experiences! And then we had a Turkey Bowl with our Zone and that was a lot of fun too! Things with my companion are going better. During companionship inventory this week he told me that I was too childish and I just laughed haha Growing up is overrated! I am having a lot of fun being a missionary, I am just really trying to look for the small things in life and enjoying them :) Thanks for being an awesome family!!! I am so grateful for you!!! I love you so much!!!!! Hope you have a wonderful week!!!! Love Mud :)

November 24th, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving My Family!!!!! You guys are awesome! I am glad to hear that things are going good!! Things this week have been pretty good! It warmed up a little and we had exchanges so that was nice to shake things up a little bit. I don't even know where to start about this week. So first off for some reason they film a lot of movies in Covington and guess what movie set we drove past the other day?......Joe dirt 2 it was awesome!!! I should have went and pushed the security guys over and gotten a picture with Joe Dirt but sadly I didn't. Sid is doing better this week! Thanks for all of your prayers for us, they help us make it through. Two different times this week we were going out to tract, and we were blessed with chances to go and help people rake their leaves it was awesome! The tender mercies of the lord really are all around us!! We are eating thanksgiving dinner in the middle of the ghetto this year so I am super excited to be one of the only white guys in that part of town! I hope that you guys have a great week!! Sorry so short but I am running out of time. I love you and I hope that you have a great thanksgiving!!! I'm so grateful that I get to be part of your family!! Thanks for all that you do for me!! Love Mud p.s. I am so excited to get some thanksgiving rolls your the best :) Things here are going pretty good!! We are just taking things one day at a time :) I am so excited to get some of your rolls you spoil me way to much mama! My companion seems to be doing a little bit better he has a hard time sleeping at night so he is always tired, so we are working on that but other than that he is doing pretty good! Our investigators are coming slowly but surley :) We are going to eat in the ghetto with one of our investigators named jay, I am super excited!! I will send you some pictures of it. :)

November 24th, 2014

Dad! Things are going pretty good here! Are you surviving all of your bishop stuff at home? I'm glad that mom finally let you get a snow blower, darn mom haha I bet Jessa's basketball games are worth watching we have made her into one tough little chick. You guys are for sure the number one thing on my list too! I hope that you guys have a good time in castle dale! We are eating thanksgiving dinner in the middle of the ghetto and we are going to be the only white boys there I am really excited! I will have to send you some pictures. I know that you are right, heavenly father puts us in certain places for certain reasons and I know that he will help us. Sometimes I feel like peter when he walks out on the water to go to Christ , I forget so easily that him and my family and everyone is here to help me and let myself start sinking. but I am working on getting some more faith! I wear my tie a lot too! Whenever I know that I need strength beyond my own I put my dad tie on and I can feel you help me through the day. I love ya dad! Thanks for letting me be your mud!!!! Love Mud :)

October 27th, 2014

Hey my family!! I'm glad to hear that things are going good for you!! How's all of the wedding prep coming? Cause ready or not it is coming pretty quick haha That is awesome that Melissa got to get her endowments out! It has been getting colder here to but not Idaho cold, it has been like 70's with low humidity it is BEAUTFUL!! I guess October is the payoff for August :) Things here are going good! I was a little bit sick this week, I was congested like I have never been before in my life but I am feeling lots better now. I sweated the sickness out like my daddy taught me, just work until you feel better. And Heavenly Father was just reminding me to focus on him and have a good attitude:) Other than that it has been a pretty normal week. The work is getting lots better we are getting lots more people to teach and not just tract all the time. There is like a 20 year old girl named Mallory that we have been teaching for awhile and she is amazing she just really wants to do what's right and she came to Church yesterday (she hasn't been for awhile) and I almost jumped out of my seat I was so happy! And then after Sacrament she met with the Bishop for like an hour, and then we are teaching a 15 year old boy named Noah he is a good kid. We are teaching lots of others too but they are the most progressing! Sorry I don't through out names a lot it is just kind of sad when I tell you about someone and than they drop us or something you know? :) So we were riding by this park in the Ghetto heading to go and teach a guy named John and anyway this little black boy was playing on the toys right next to the sidewalk we were riding on in the park. So when we passed by him he stuck his little head over the bars and yelled at us, "Hey uglies!" and his mom and dad were sitting on a picnic table right next to him and the mom jumped off the table and was like "Lamone we don't talk to people like that" Anyway it was super funny we laughed for a long time :) Things with my companion are good. He really likes to try and scare me so he is always hiding behind things waiting to try and jump out and scream. He definitely keeps things interesting around here!! But we have a good time. I hope that everything goes well with the wedding and that you guys have a great week!!!!! Thanks for all the you do!! Ya'll are the best!!! Love your homie Mud

October 14th, 2014

My family!!!! I am SO glad to hear that you are doing good!!! The library was closed for Columbus day yesterday and we just got back from zone conference in the big city so sorry it took me so long to email you this week. It sounds like you guys had a busy week! Melissa will be awesome in YW with you!!! And I bet that was a scary hunting trip!!! I am doing wonderful! :) If I was doing any better it would probably be illegal haha Not cause anything crazy awesome has happened but just cause I finally feel like I am getting better at having fun while working hard. This week has been crazy but a lot of fun! I ate fried chicken gizzard and fried chicken liver the other day....it was interesting but not as bad as you would think. And this week I get to try squirrel gumbo! I am pretty excited! We went on exchanges this week and Elder Martell came down to me so I was in charge again that was kind of fun. We worked really hard, I am kind of a slave driver like my mama :) But we had a lot of fun! We met with an investigator behind the library in this gazebo and anyway after our meeting he went and got in his old truck and it wouldn't start. He needed a jump so he popped the hood and then told us that he knew that if he had faith in Jesus someone would come and help him in like 5 minutes. So I told him if you have faith I know that he will help you, so we went to the front of the library (cause he was parked in the back) and I asked a lady to go and give him a jump and she did, and then we rode back past and he was like see I told you that Jesus would take care of me :) and he just had the biggest smile on his face. So I was so happy that I got to be the "works" for his "faith"!! Thanks for all of your letters and for all of your support!! They mean a lot to me! Will you tell the moultons thanks for sending me a package, that was so nice of them! I hope you have a great week!!! Thanks for being so amazing!!!!! Love, Elder Dye :)

October 6th, 2014

Hey my family!! It's good to hear that things are going good for you! Conference was great! Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't sleep at all either? God is still a God of miracles haha That's awesome that Randy was in that choir I didn't see him but that is sweet!! I am not going to lie going to the priesthood session without dad was pretty depressing, but I only have to go to 3 more without him! And when I was watching the Priesthood Session I had an undeniable impression that dad was thinking and praying for me. It was pretty amazing! We watched all but the Sunday Morning session of conference at a members house the Ory's they are awesome!! Sunday morning we invited a bunch of people to come and watch conference with us and nobody showed up so that kind of stunk but we will just have to get them to church next week. That is one thing that I have learned about southern people they love to talk but they are not very good at following through on what they say they will do. I'm sorry that you guys had to go back to school today that is depressing! How's school treating everybody? That's awesome it is Homecoming week that is always a fun week!! Dad is a brave and tough man to go dress shopping with you two crazy girls! That is pretty funny that Jessa fell off her shoes, it's a good thing that I'm not a girl or I would do a lot more than just through out my neck walking in 4 inch heels! I bet she did great dancing she is a good little dancer! I am really proud of our aggies!! That is awesome! There are a lot of BYU fans here that were really mad it kind of made me laugh haha Everybody loves football here. Even the little old ladies know the top 25 teams and who the saints are playing next so we get a lot of football updates. By the end of the week we have analyzed the whole Saints game at least 3 times with different people haha Yes I got my package it was great!!! You guys are way to nice to me! Thank you so much!! It is crazy that everybody is leaving!! They are going to be great though!! I don't exactly know where to get a raincoat but I will try and work on it this week. :) This week has been a great one! One of the Sisters went home, Sister Seegrist, and it was really hard to say goodbye to her. She was my homie!! I thought all that saying goodbye stuff was done when I left home but it's ok. haha Paul flew back in yesterday so we get to start working with him again this week so I am really excited!! We are working with a lot of different people and I hope that we will be able to help them how we should. So the new sister came on Wednesday so we borrowed an inactive members, Brother Nolans, bunnies and we went an locked them into the sisters study room haha The new sister was straight from the MTC so she wasn't quite sure what to think about chasing bunnies around to try and put them back into their cage hahaha I will have to think about the Christmas thing... just a letter from each of you and I will be great :)! I am doing really good!! It has been a great week and I am learning a lot!! Sometimes learning is a painful experience but every day I just try a little harder to be a little better and I know that the lord will help me :) Hope y'all have a great week!!! Your the best!!! I love you!!!

September 30th, 2014

Wow that is some crazy weather!! I can't believe that it hailed on you! It sounds like the weather has been doing some crazy things lately. Seth will be a great missionary! I can't believe that Westley is getting ready to leave already that is crazy!! I bet he did a great job. I think that's pretty funny that my friends still come over to see you guys, they are your friends too haha That is quite the bunch of people being ward missionaries, that is one brave bishop we've got to put Richard, Jake, and Bishop Beck together! I bet that is just a party and a half!! Katie Brown is awesome they are a really great family! This week has been great!! It's kind of crazy time feels different as a missionary all of the days and weeks just kind of mush together. But I am having a ton of fun!!! We have been working a lot with the "African American Community" and......amen to everything Jake ever said about them hahaha It has been an interesting experience and I have seen and heard things this week that I never would have imagined haha We have been doing a lot of stuff in the hood and we even played some ghetto ball with like 12 black kids the other day, it was a lot of fun! You never really know what it means to always have a prayer in your heart until you are biking in some sketchy neighborhood with a bunch of big ol black dudes that are looking at you like they really want to hurt you haha But I just have faith like my mama taught me, use my head like my daddy taught me, and bike away really fast when you can tell that they are not sober like jessa taught me! :) haha But we have meet some really amazing people that I know the lord has been preparing. One guys name is Tobias and he has been working a lot on changing his life and turning it around and he had been praying and looking for a church when we found him and we taught him the Restoration on Sunday and you can just tell that he has a really good heart! I love meeting new people. I just love to hear about peoples lives and help them to know that the gospel can help them! I know that probably sounds cheesy but it is so much fun and makes me so happy to help others feel of the Saviors love for them!! We got caught in a bad rain storm this week too. We were at the hospital giving this inactive sister brock a blessing and when we came out it was raining like crazy!! And we tried to wait it out for a minute to see if it would slow down but it just got harder and harder! So we went through it and we got soaked haha but it was kind of fun to bike in the rain! I am doing wonderful and I am having so much fun! Thank you for your love and prayers I can feel them everyday!! I meet a lot of people that don't have any family at all here and it just makes me so grateful for my amazing family! I am so blessed!! Hope you have a great week!! I keep you in my prayers too! I love you!!! Love Elder Dye I hate to ask for this but I could really use 3 or 4 more pair of garments. I sweat so much and get rained on so much that sometimes I have to change them twice a day and then I run out of clean ones so I have to re-wear some. So any way that is just an idea for sometime it doesn't have to be this package. My stamps are pretty good and pens are always awesome. But I really am not in dire need of anything I love you!!!!

September 22, 2014

Hey My Family!!! I'm so glad to hear that ya'll are doing good!!! Thanks so much for the pictures they are awesome! Nice work winning the Spud Tug Jessa! I was telling a family that we were eating dinner with on Saturday that it was Spud Day back home and they thought that was the craziest thing they had ever heard to have spud day haha That's awesome that mom and jessa did a 5K! And horary that you made it to spud break nice work!!!!! I bet that feels good!! Thank you so much for you letters and pictures that you sent me they made my whole week! This week has been great!! It has been crazy but awesome! I can totally understand why people gain so much weight while they are in a mission here. We have been fed like crazy here!! I had my first gumbo it had big ol crabs in it and like whole giant sausages and a ton of shrimp it was pretty great! We also eat a ton of red beans and rice and shrimp shrimp and a little more shrimp haha We have had a dinner appointment almost everynight and a couple of nights we have had 2! The members here are awesome! I did talk on Sunday. I'm glad that Sister Thalgott got that picture to you that was so nice of her. They called me Saturday and asked me to talk so that wasn't very nice but it worked out alright haha I talked about temples and how we get to be families forever and since mom gave me her soft heart I pretty much stood up there and cried that whole time haha but that's alright the spirit was there and I got to talk about my family and how much I love them so it's all good! We got a new investigator this week her name is Sue she is awesome! She is an older lady and her brother that lived with her just died and she is really sad about it. But she had us over for dinner and we talked and laughed and showed her the restoration movie and then talked with her a little bit about how she would get to see her brother again and it was a really sweet spirit and I am so excited to see her this week. We also had a lesson with Mallory Thursday at the browns house. It was amazing!! We kind of taught her the 5th lesson and mostly just talked about how her family is really being hard on her for her trying to become a Mormon and it has been really hard on her, and she really wants to do what's right but she wants to have it be her choice she we all knelt down in the living room and she said the most sincere prayer that I think I have ever heard and as soon as she started saying it she just starting crying and you could just feel Heavenly Father's love flood into the room it was awesome! Everyone was crying and it was just really beautiful! We talked about Eternal Families with her too and I cried talking about my amazing family then too, I have not been doing good this week on the not shedding tears thing haha darn mom :) On Saturday we did some Service in Madeville and we had to bike 31 miles haha It was a long ways and it wasn't pretty but we made it haha I am doing so good!! He is taking such good care of me it is crazy! I have SO many blessings in my life and one of my favorite is my awesome family that I know I get to be with forever!! I hope you have a great week!!! Thanks for all of your love and prayers!!! I love you with all of my heart and soul!!! Love Elder Dye

September 15th, 2014

My family!!!! Glad to hear that things are going good!....except dads pink eye that stinks!! I am doing great!! I'm glad that you got the pictures the other day. We just got done during service at a school a teacher, Miss Dixie, sent that to you. We worked on this gazebo thing and mostly worked on the flower garden around it. They bought like 15 different kinds of manures and we mixed them together so pretty much we played in poop for like 4 hours haha We smelt bad!! and my dye blood came through and yes I did throw some poo at the other missionaries...I'm sorry I just could not resist hahahaha There were a couple of poo balls that I threw that would have made dad and grandpa real proud haha That's crazy it is so cold there I am still sweating to death here but it is finally starting to cool off a tiny bit. I love the fishing pictures I am very jealous! But things here this week have been good. On Tuesday we had a Specialized Zone training meeting in New Orleans and President Hansen was there so that was pretty fun. But holy mackerel it was long it went from like 9 to 4! A conversation that me and grandpa had one night kept running through my head he was talking about the jail and he said that after an hour the only good a meeting is doing is making your butt hurt hahahaha and I agree but I am trying to be a good boy and be patient like my mama would have me! The people are great and I am finally starting to feel like some of the members are my friends and like I'm at home when I go to church. It's still not as awesome as our ward but some of them hit me and it makes me feel more like I'm at home haha Our investigator Paul that I was telling you about went into rehab for a month in Florida so that kind of stinks but we still call and have talks over the phone. There is this lady named sister Walkup who is an old widow that we go and see sometimes. Anyway we went the other morning and she had forgotten to take her pills and she was crazy and she was like shaking and couldn't stay awake. So I called hospice and talked with the nurse and then I helped feed her pills and it was pretty crazy There were multiple times that I thought she was going to die. She has cancer and is super sick and doesn't really want to be here anymore and as she drifted off to sleep during this time she looked at me and Elder Richardson and said , "Remember do not recessitate" and then she went to sleep and it was scary hahaha But before we went to leave I got the chance to give her a blessing and it was one of the craziest blessings I have given, It pretty much told her that she was going to die really soon and that heavenly father is excited for her to come home and so is her family on the other side of the veil. You could feel the spirit so long and it was just so peaceful. I have probably given at least 10 blessings since I have been here but none quite like that. Tell every body hi for me back! I love ya'll so much and am so glad to hear that you are doing good!! Tell jessa good job on the volleyballin!!! Hope you have a great week know how much I love you!!!! Love, Your white trash son :)

September 8th, 2014

My family I love you so much!!! I'm so glad to hear that you are doing good!! Did you enjoy Logan? I hope that you partied hard enough for me too! Mabey dad should just become a full time wedding guy he is getting pretty darn good at it it sounds like! haha The love shack doesn't even look the same you guys really have been working hard on it! Tell Jessa to keep up the good work at Volleyball and just keep being the amazing people that you are! That's crazy that soccer is doing so good, go Wes!! I got your package on Tuesday! It was awesome thank you so much! I was actually thinking that some Jam would be awesome and then I opened it up and there was jam, it was a tender mercy of the Lord I almost cried hahaha Y'all are to good to me. This Louisiana dirt bag doesn't even deserve how awesome of a family he has! This week has been crazy but fun! I went on exchanges with Elder Bennett to Mandeville and it is super nice there. It makes Covington look like a dump hole haha But it was fun to get a little change and to have a car instead of just my bike. We had a zone meeting in New Orleans and that was pretty awesome to see!! We drove across the cosway which is like the one of the longest bridges in the world it was crazy!! And after the meeting we went to the French market for a few minutes and it really is like the movies a bunch of black people playing jazz on the sidewalks and just having a good ol time! I love the people here! We went to a Less Active members house for dinner and it was awesome! They live out in the sticks (like a 15 to 20 mile bike ride) but it was worth it. There front yard is a pond and we caught turtles off of there front porch haha It was awesome! We ate some Jambalaya and then caught turtles it was a good ol time! The work is slow everybody is catholic or "has already been saved" by Jesus but that's ok. I've got so much Dye blood runin through my veins it is kind of scary sometimes haha These 2 or 3 hour long missionary meetings about make me lose my mind haha But I am learning to try and be more patient like my mama! I am doing great and the members are taking good care of me! I am doing my best to be the kind of missionary that I should be. I hope that y'all have a great week!!! I love you!! Love, your dirtbag son Elder Dye :)

September 2nd, 2014

Hey my family!! Glad to hear that you are doing good! Things here are great!! I still sweat a dripping sweat pretty much all the time but I love it! Sometimes I don't blame the people for not answering the door with a big sweaty white guy dripping sweat all over their porch haha. I haven't really ate anything to weird yet a lot of chicken and fish though. And one of the members his name is Brother Noland said that he would cook me up some squirrel in a couple of weeks so that will be fun! This brother Nolan has a pig that thinks it is a dog it is crazy I will have to send you some pictures! I hope everything is going good with the ward too. I was having kind of a rough night the other night so I had a Pepsi just for Wendy haha Tell them all hi for me! So we were riding our bikes the other day and this black dude pulled up next to us and told us to pull over so we did in this parking lot and he told us to get rid of something for him that he had hidden under a towel. We were like dude if you need to get rid of it there is a garbage can right there, and he said why would I do that and he uncovered it and it was a radar detector that he was trying to sell to us so he could get enough gas money to go and help his mom at the hospital. So as directed by the spirit we gave him a little gas money, a Book of Mormon, and our number and told him to call us if he wanted to learn more. So the nest morning he called us and said he wanted to learn more about this book so we met him at the library and taught him the restoration and he was really interested. So the next day we met with him again and taught him the plan of salvation and I invited him to be baptized, and he looked at me and said, "Is that a trick question?" Of course I'll be baptized! Can we do it right now? there is a hose right over there!!! hahaha it was crazy!! So we are planning on September 13th for his baptism! He is awesome his name is Paul and he says that he wants us to teach his whole family!! The lord works in mysterious ways haha We are also teaching a girl named Mallory that is doing really well! I haven't got your package yet but I will let you know!! Thank you so much for your love and your prayers! I can feel them especially when I am having a rough moment.So I was having a really rough night the other night, my heart was just troubled and I missed my family and I was frustrated and I knew that I just needed to sleep. So I got down on my knees and asked him to bring me peace and comfort so I could sleep and an overwhelming feeling of peace came over me and I slept great! He answered my prayer! I was thinking about it the other day and the impression came to me that he sent me Grandma Sheila to help me so I could sleep. and that it was her that comforted me through the night! He is so amazing and I know that he is taking care of me always, and that he is taking care of you too!! :)Sorry I just really wanted to share that with you! It was a tender mercy of the lord!! I'm glad that the house is coming along! I am still working on getting used to the heat but I love it! It rained the other day like crazy and I was still sweating during the rain haha My companion is good, he is a little crazy but he is good and he is really nice to me!! We have exchanges this week so I get to go to Mandeville with Elder Bennett until Friday I love you and I do miss you but if he will let me be with you forever than I will do whatever he asks of me!! Hope you have a great week!! I love y'all!!!!!! Love, Elder Dye P.S. Would you mind sending me some stamps if you get some time? It's ok if you can't and I don't want to sound needy haha

August 25th, 2014

MY Family!!!! I love you so much!!!!! How ya'll doing? I'm glad to hear that you are doing so good! Sounds like everyone is keeping pretty busy there! and I don't miss the rock picking your right haha My companions name is elder Richardson and guess what... he is Jaralee Richarson's brother! Isn't that so crazy he worked in shelley all summer for one of his other brothers! So us two Idaho boys are just working hard trying to be the best missionaries we can be! It is so hot here haha from the moment that we walk outside to the moment we come back in am dripping sweat haha Covington is a pretty cool area the people don't really like us and some of them call us not very nice names but it's good for us! With it being so hot here it is like the stinkin jungle the bugs here are giant. We got back in from tracting the other night and there was a giant cockroach in the middle of our apartment floor haha and I was using the bathroom the other morning and I felt something on my back...it was like a half millipede half slug thing that was crawling on my back I almost lost it haha The people are kind of crazy there is a member named miss betty that had us come over and help fix her toilet it was the nastiest thing I have ever done in my entire life!! haha but my parents raised me to work hard and jump in there and help so I did! Things are good with me I am so happy to be here!! It is hot and I am a sweaty mess all of the time but I know that the lord is helping me and that I have an awesome family that loves me and is praying for me and I am praying for them! I could us a cookbook with some reciepes that are Justin level haha and mabye some granola bars or something but I am doing good!! I love you with all of my heart and soul!!! Love Your Redneck son

Louisiana Here I Am!-August 19th, 2014

This is just a quick note to tell you that your son arrived safely in Louisiana on Tuesday. His mailing address will be: 518 S. Jefferson Ave., #103 Covington LA 70433 He will get letters much faster if you mail them to this address (his apartment) rather than the mission office. We will be mailing more information to you in the near future. Could you please respond to this note so that we know we have the correct e-mail address? Thank You, Sister Lauper Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission secretary

First E-Mail

I love you my family!!!! I am so glad that I get to talk with you today! All is well with me. The MTC is a little different then I would have expected but it is good. I'm starting to get used to it and love it. I am in a trio companionship with Elder Puefua and Elder Martell because Elder Martell's companion never came. It has been an interesting experience getting to know them haha They are a little bit different but I have been working on loving them how the Savior would. Elder Puefua keeps wanting to go home and it has been kind of hard to handle I kind of want to throw Jessa's rock at him and tell him to buck up and give him a speech like dad would give haha But the Lord is in charge so I will just continue to love him and just be obedient. I am going a little stir crazy here just sitting and eating and then sitting some more but it is good for me. I hope things are going good I pray for you often and I can feel your prayers. My pday while i'm here is on Saturdays we get to go to the temple at 2:30 and i'm so excited. I hope you week is good! Good luck with school starting!! Thanks for the package and for your love. Letters are awesome if you get time. I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love Elder Dye