June 9th, 2015

Oh my family... It is always so good to hear from you thanks for always sending me such great emails. That is super sad that Joe fell and that Sister Scott isn't doing good. And it sounds like you better tell Edgar to lock his heart haha This week has been a pretty good one! We have been able to accomplish a lot! On Tuesday we had a meeting with the Stake President, he is awesome! After our meeting with him we had to help the Sisters take this giant map home and it kept blowing out of the back of the truck. So I sat in the backseat and held it best I could but it was just like a massive kite. So after I pulled it out of 2 ditches it still made it alright, the lord answers prayers haha On Wednesday we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) in Baton Rouge and it was awesome! It is always a lot of fun to be able to go and see the mission president and his wife and figure out how we can best help all of our awesome missionaries. On Friday we had ZTM and it went really well! We were able to teach really well together and the Sisters did really well and it just turned out pretty good for a good ol Idahoan helping to plan it. We have to trade our truck in tomorrow and get a car, but that's alright a car is better than biking. Things here are good! I am getting excited for another transfer filled with a lot more exchanges to help and strengthen our awesome Zone! I love yall and hope that you have an awesome week!!!! With all of this Louisiana rednecks love, Mud

June 1st, 2015

My amazing family, Thanks so much for always being willing to email me even though sometimes my emails really aren't worth bragging about. I'm glad that the Father's and Sons went well and that Kaden stopped by he is an awesome guy! Sister Scott is a funny lady. Thanks so much for the package it was awesome! All of the missionaries in my apartment want my money tie but I wouldn't share with them. haha It was super fun to be able to see Devin Nii they is a little group of us awesome Shelleyites here in Pineville. Curtis Christensen (Allyson Christensen's older brother) just moved in to the ward too. This week has been crazy as ever but also a lot of fun! We had 2 exchanges this week one in Oakdale and the other in Eunice. It really is a lot of fun to get to go and work with so many other missionaries and help get them excited and happy again about being here. You get to love them so quick it is crazy and they are able to get some things off their chest that they need help with you share some laughs and then we leave until next time. It is awesome. :) We live in Alexandria and our area is 8 miles away in Pinneville, so we ran out of miles this month and had a "car appreciation day" it was good for me. We bike probably 30 or so miles in the ran but it made me tough again, this having a truck things has been making me soft haha Yesterday in Church we had a combined Priesthood and Relief Society lesson on not judging others it was really good. They mostly talked about President Uctdorf's talk about not judging others. The end of the transfer is coming up on the 10th of June. So I won't email until next Tuesday.I love yall and hope that you have a great week!! I'll talk to you on Tuesday next week!! Love Elder Mud

May 25th, 2015

Oh my awesome family!! I'm glad to hear that things are going well with yall and that everyone is doing good and is hanging in there! I can't believe that school is already out that really is crazy! That's crazy that it is raining so much there and thought that was just a South problem right now. This week has been a really good and a really crazy one! It started out pretty mellow and then bam on Tuesday night things got kind of crazy and we had to stay up really late for some missionaries to come and spend the night with us. I felt like a parent waiting up for my kid to come home after doing some things he probably shouldn't have been doing, it was definitely a different perspective.They are both awesome missionaries things just happen sometimes but that made Tuesday night and Wednesday pretty interesting. Then on Thursday we had a pretty normal day but on Friday we went on exchanges again and it was pretty interesting. It was my first time taking over our area on an exchange and I haven't been here for very long so I really wanted to do my best to be able to do a good job helping the area and helping the elder that I was on an exchange with. So I kept trying to get things set up and Heavenly Father wasn't having any of it. Plans kept falling through and I couldn't figure out why. And then as I prayed and pondered the quote kept coming in my mind, "Never let a problem to be solved be more important than a person to be loved." And I realized that I was letting the little things get in the way of truly loving this missionary, who is going through some tough things right now, the way that the Savior would have me. And so I stopped everything and just tried my very best to listen to him how I should and it was awesome, I know that the Holy Ghost was helping me listen to him and just truly love him as the Savior would. Also me and Elder Johnson and Elder Davis (the 2 other elders that live with us) had a watermelon fight the other day at lunch. It was so much fun!! We were eating and then Elder Johnson slapped me with a piece of watermelon and then I slapped him back and then he threw a piece and it went down hill from there haha you don't have to ask me or dad twice to throw things :) So needless to say we had a lot of fun but then had to clean up a lot of watermelon haha I also gave a talk on Sunday and started out by quoting the Aaron Tippon song, "you've got to stand for something" and then talked about prayer :) I hope that's not sack religious I love and miss you guys so much it is crazy!! But I know that I am hear for a reason. And I know that I am learning the things that I need to learn to be able to not be quite so white trash so I can return home and live with yall and with our Heavenly Father again someday :) Thanks for all of your love support and prayers they mean so much to me!! I was thinking of a few ideas for my birthday if that is alright maybe a new black belt, some new black shoes, a few new ties (twin ties are really good) , and maybe some cool uncle tyson sunglasses if that's okay :) Talk to you next week!!!

May 18th, 2015

My amazing family!! Hope that yall had an awesome week!! It sounds like you are keeping pretty busy. I can't believe that school is that close to being out. This week has been good but really crazy!! I have been on exchanges all but 2 days. I was in Natchez Mississippi and then I went to Many. It was a ton of fun!! Many is super back woods like old dirt roads and stuff and it was raining and lets just say I was having a lot of fun driving the truck through all of the mud :) I am my fathers son haha I love yall so much!! sorry so short I promise that I will be better next week!! Thanks for all of your love and prayers!! Your da best!!! Love Mud

May 4th, 2015

Oh my family! I'm glad that yall survived another week of work and partying and a Quiencerea. It sounds like it was a really fun and productive week. I can't believe that all of these people are getting married, did Allyson marry a good guy? I can just picture Colt taking down Jessa that is awesome. :) Things here have been really busy but good. I love my new area and new companion! Pinneville is a really nice and mellow place. Elder Brimhall is a really good missionary. He works really hard to make sure that we are doing the best that we can. He served the first 10 months of his mission in Sierra Leon and then he got reassigned to Louisiana when all of the Ebola stuff started happening. So he isn't afraid to work hard and he is just a great companion! He has only been a zone leader for 1 transfer so we are just kind of "faking it till we make it But with as many exchanges as we are going on this transfer I'm not sure how much I will even see him haha I totally agree with dad I know how he feels now when he just wants to throw the phone across the lawn after he gets a bunch of bishop calls. I feel like the phone never stops ringing, but I am glad that we get to help serve other missionaries. It was so much fun to be able to find out the the Micheal's are related to the Pulsipher's the grandparents were there too and they were like, I am pretty sure that the stayed at our cabin for girls camp. It was super awesome to find a friend in the first members that we met. I sure hope that I am good enough for this job, but I will just try my best and I know the lord will help us. I am so excited for Sunday!!!!! I love yall so much!!!!!!! Love, Mud :)

April 28th, 2015

Yall are awesome!! Man it has been a week full of lots of news! I'm glad that everyone is still doing good and that all is well with the car and the podium. That podium story made me laugh really hard hahaha Your awesome mama and I'm glad that your good :) This week has been a pretty good one! We got to go to the temple in Baton Rouge which was a lot of fun! It was really nice and refreshing to be able to get to the temple again. On our way to the temple we were going to be late so Elder Perazzo was speeding a little bit and in mission cars the have "tiwi's" which is a system that tells you to check you speed and put your seatbelt on and gives you violations if you don't in a certain amount of time. And if you get too many violations then you get "red dotted" and you aren't able to drive any more. So any way we were with some other missionaries and they are like just speed once and pass this car and you will only get one violation and we can get there quicker. So he goes to pass this car and is going over 90 and the I told him to slow down but it was too late. The office Elders called and he got red dotted for going over 90 in a mission car. So then last night we get transfer calls and then a little bit later president Hansen calls us and is rebuking Elder Perazzo for speeding and getting red dotted. Then he hands the phone to me and President rebukes me for not yelling and screaming at him for going over 90 and then in the same breath as he was rebuking me he says and we want you to be a Zone leader. And I didn't know what to say so he just said that he was excited to work with me, some things he wanted the zone to work on, and then said that he never wanted me to let my companion go more than 90 again. It was quite the phone call haha So I am a little bit nervous but I am excited to get to go and meet and help more missionaries. I am so grateful that I get to be a missionary! I am going to miss Houma but I am excited for a new adventure too! Thanks for being so awesome and for always keeping me in your prayers. I am learning so much and meeting so many awesome people! I love yall so much!! Hope that you have an awesome week!!!!!! Love Mud :)

April 20th, 2015

My awesome family!! That sounds like a very exciting week!! I'm glad that dance recital was all good and that Jake still has an arm and a barbeque grill haha I can't believe that those are the Natural Helpers for next year, Jessa and Jack can't be that old yet!! You are going to have a ton of fun though! And I bet that Johnny isn't to worried about having all of those women haha That is a ton of changes for the school! Leah Picanco will be awesome there at the middle school! It sounds like you have earned a little bit more mellow of a week this week! Things here have been really good this week! Elder Perazzo is definitely getting ready to go home, but he is trying not to get too trunky on me. Going on exchanges in New Orleans was alot of fun! We got to go have dinner with some college kids on the tulane campus and we had a pancake the size of a pizza it was huge! It literally came out in a pizza box! haha Then the next day we went and helped a lady move, she lived in the french quarter which is off limits so we had to call the mission president to get permission. It was fun to see the superdome up close, I remember seeing it on the TV so many times with dad watching football so it was sweet to actually see it in real life! I also got to eat a fried catfish poboy and it was soooo good!! All this southern food is going to make me fat! We are going to the Baton Rouge Temple on Wednesday and I am so excited!! I haven't been able to go since I've been here and satan has really been working on me trying to get us not to go, but he always tries that and I am so excited to go again!! The temple is awesome!! The work is starting to pick up a little bit, Elder Perazza really hates to find so that has been kind of a struggle to find new people to teach, but the lord has blessed us with tender mercies in finding new people. :) Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers for me!! I love yall so much!!! Hope you have an awesome week!! Love. Mud :)

April 13th, 2015

Hey my awesome family! It sounds like it has been quite the week and that you have quite the week coming up! I hope that yall can survive all of the craziness. That is some crazy sounding weather! It has been raining here like crazy but that is about it. That's awesome that Jessa is doing so good in Volleyball tell her to keep up the good work!! That's crazy that school is almost over for the year, it has gone so fast! Is the guy Danee married a good guy? Things here are going pretty good! I went on exchanges to Thibodaux this past week and I saw my very first Alligator in the wild! He was swimming down one of the Bayou's I almost jumped out the car to go and shot him with my .22 I felt like I was on swamp people haha. So I am happy I feel like a true Cajun missionary now. We have a senior couple in our district now, the nelson's, and he is super funny. he takes us on some pretty wild tangents sometimes, like Obama being that antichrist and then his wife gets mad at him and tells him to be quiet, so the keep things interesting haha The work is slow right now and Elder Perazzo is ready to go home, but good timber doesn't grow with ease the stronger the wind the stronger the trees :) So I know that as I keep trying my best, praying, and reaching out to others the best that I can it is all going to be alright. I love being a missionary! If I could call you guys and grandpa whenever I wanted and if I could drink a little more Dew from the Mountains I think that I could be a missionary for a long time. Thanks for all of your prayers and love for me. I don't know how I got so lucky to be blessed with such an awesome family but I'm so grateful that I get to call you mine!! We have transfer meeting on April 29th and I'm not for sure if I will still be here so we might want to wait on the package, you guys spoil me rotten. I love you so much!! Hope you have an awesome week!!!! Love Mud :)

April 6th, 2015

Hey my family!! I sure love you guys!! I'm glad that you had a good Easter and a fun vacation to Utah! I'm sorry that jakes shirt is so huge I thought that's what you told me though haha I can't believe that Brooklyn is a married woman that is crazy!! General Conference was awesome!! It is always so good to hear from the prophets. This week has been a pretty crazy one! We had a huge 7 hour meeting in Denham Springs on Thursday were some people from Salt Lake came and instructed us. It was really good it was just really long since it takes like 2 and a half hours to drive there, but it was good for me it built some character. haha We met this crazy drunk guy the other day too and he grabbed my hand and kissed it and then put it up to his forehead and starting praying. I had no idea what to do, so I just laughed while he thanked God for the 2 angles on his porch. We also went to a Baptist church yesterday morning to watch one of our investigators be in an Easter play and it was crazy! I have never seen that much jamming in church before haha But life is good! I am so grateful that I get to be a missionary!! I hope that I can work hard so that I don't miss anyone that I am supposed to be out here to help! Thanks so much for all of your love and prayers!! I love you with all my heart and soul!! Mud :)

March 30th, 2015

Hey my awesome family!! That sounds like it was an awesome and busy spring break! I think that they should give you another week off to recover from all that partying though. That is awesome that you got to grandma's and grandpa's they are awesome!! And thanks so much for the package it is awesome! I am excited to look for you guys on the Saturday session of conference. And would you please tell bubba congrats for me? This week has been a crazy one! We had a surprise meeting on Tuesday where they split our zone into New Orleans Spanish and New Orleans English instead of nola north and south zones. So I became the new district leader for our new Thibodaux English district. I think that they got the wrong guy but I will do whatever they tell me :) We also had one of our less actives that we see every week pass away and a big move that we had to help make so it has been quite the week. But it all ended really well yesterday with our 5th sunday potluck. It was awesome!! Everybody brought huge pots of gumbo's, jumbalya's, redbeans and rice, crawfish and a bunch of deserts and we all had a big meal together. It is tradition that the missionaries serve it to all of the ward members so I got to get my lunch lady on for a little while haha This ward is a lot like ours just really real and loving to each other. It is fun to be here! A lot of people fell through on us this week but we will just keep trying cause that's how things are being a missionary. Things here are good, the people are awesome and very loving and I am grateful that I get to serve them. I am learning a lot and being humbled a lot as I meet and learn to love more and more people. I love you so much!! And I am so grateful that I have such an awesome family cause I know that a lot of people don't. Hope you have a great week!! I love you!!