Kyle - Halloween

Dear Family,

Happy halloween everyone!

This past week has really been a slow one for sure! All of our appointments fell through! And most of our dinner families canceled on us as well! I guess there are alot of people getting some sort of flu. Everyones been calling in sick i guess you could say.

I'll bet the parents are excited for the trunk or treat? We had ours saturday night, and it was combined with two wards. super fun! And one of our less active families showed up and i asked them if they'd come to church the next day to hear me speak on the book of mormon. They said they would! and i was way stoked! However, sunday came, and i saw that the mom walked in the back, talked to a member, then went home. I Got the news after sacrament that their family had been robbed the night before, during the trunk or treat. And they had to deal with the police reports the next morning. But they said they WILL for sure come next sunday, the non-member dad told me this. So i'm excited for next sunday!

Senior Companion, has been a pretty easy job. i dont do anything different other than, drive the car, and report our numbers at the end of each week. We both take part in planning our days and stuff like un to it.

for p-day today we had a zone hike to bell mountain, My commpanion and i didn't go, because it would conflict with the time that we could email today. Which i dunno if we're even suppose to since its a holiday.

I'm excited for you guys to go to japan! Thats really exciting stuff!

i hope everyone has a good week!

Love, Elder Kyle Ettinger

Kyle's shoe collection

Elder Kyle Ettinger and Elder Thorpe at trunk or treat

Ames - Halloween

Pretty excited for the day today, being Halloween and such. We are planning on having a normal P-Day today, the usual basketball and what not. Im getting alot better at it, and I really enjoy playing it now :D. But, becasue it is halloween, we have to be in our apartments at 6:00 PM becasue of all the stuff that goes on at night for Halloween. So, we are thinking of getting together witha couple other elders and carving some pumpkins and stuff, we are planning on asking our zone leaders today if that would be ok. Pretty stoked about it :D

We had an awesome week this week. Two New Investigators!!!! thats the most i have gotten in a week on my mission! and we taught more lessons this week then any other week on my mish as well! im so excited about it! haha. One of our new investigators was from tracting too! which is super rare. And it just goes to show that the lord is preparing people to hear the gospel. This guy is super accepting and was really excited about setting up a return appointment. Exciting stuff going on :D

 Dad: Yes, there is a bone yard here in marana, i get to drive past it every week to go to church, it is pretty small, but it has 5 or 6 old fighter jet skeletons, ill make sure to get a picture of it one of these days... I didnt know that you were a non-commital dry mormon dad? what did it take to finaly get you to commit to baptism, because we are having a hard time with this one? =/

Being senior comp is good, its more of a techinicality if anything. And I have been out only 6 weeks more than Elder Turnbull, so its not like I know much more. I am learning lots though, being more of a leader than my usual follower.

Mom: I have some family history questions!! are we related to a Marvin Ettinger? or a Nell Ettinger? Nell is a lady in Florida i guess? thats pretty much all the information i have on them, some people have asked me about them so i figured that i would at least ask about the names.

 

Cant wait to see what happens this next week!

Love you all,

God Speed

Elder Ettinger

Elder Turnbull and Elder Ames Ettinger

Ames - October 24, 2011

Just like mom said, this month has just flown by! holy cow its almost november!

Well, just like in other weeks, this one has been pretty much the same. Im sorta liking it here in the picture rocks ward, its still not as cool as my other wards, but it is getting better.

Thanks for the packages this week! I got both marens and moms. Unfortunatly moms somehow got a hole in the side of the box, and some ants made there way into one of my fruit snack bags! i was sooooo pissed, but the rest of the stuff was A Okay.

Last night when we were at dinner the dad was like "Elders!.. im going to call your parents and tell them that you're doing good. because when my kids were all over the country i would have killed for just a phone call! Ettinger!! whats your phone number" haha it was funny. I could hear dads voice and it seemed like to me that you didnt really know how to take the fact that he called haha. Pretty funny stuff. Cant wait to actually call you guys on Christmas! should be pretty fun!

We are teaching three sisters, they are 13, 10, and 8. They are so goofy and lots of fun to be around. we were able to teach them twice this last week, and we have a couple more appointments this week. We will be able to baptise the oldest one, but the younger two have a different dad and both parents need to agree on baptism of the kids. And the dad is pretty anti =( . but that is just a little bump in the road. They are way cool.

We also are teaching a highschool kid. He has been taught before, but he just wants to make sure he "Knows" that this is what he wants to do. He could totally be baptized tomorrow, he has a testimony and what not, and he lives his life like a mormon, so he wouldnt have to make any big changes. We arnt sure what the heck is his hold up! I wish he would just get it ya know!

 

Not much else going on, I wish i had some cool stories and stuff like that. Maybe Next week!

Love, Elder Ettinger

Kyle - Oct 24, 2011

Hello everyone,

This past week has had a few really cool things that happened.

First off, last tuesday we were called as we were heading home around 8:45, and we were asked to go give a blessing to a guy in our ward who just had a heart attack. We headed over to the hospital and checked in as visitors. First, before we checked in i helped a lady jump start her car. That was the first blessing of help. Second, we found where the man in our ward was being held, and we were able to give him a really cool blessing, and he said we could come check on him this next week, which was a miracle.  The third and most amazing miracle. While we were trying to find the member who had the heart attack. A random lady came up to elder thorpe and i and asked if we could give her a blessing, we told her we could but we had to give one to our member first. Well time came for the blessing, and she asked me to do it for her, it went well. But the amazing part was, is that she told us she was trying to become a member and she asked ME to baptize her when she was ready, and for elder thorpe to do the comfirmation! It was such a cool experience! The lord really puts his missionaries in the right place at the right time.

Last Saturday, we had a big service project out in the middle of the desert at a place called "El Mirage" (Google it) which is a big OHV riding area, and it has a big long 5 mile dry lakebed where they hold landspeed races and what not. We were there doing service for a few hours, picking up trash and cleaning the camp sites up. I had tons of fun being around the dirtbikes and hearing those loud noises again, i also go to hang out with Elder Bowler. 

The last great part of the week was the pinewood derby race on saturday night! We had a bunch of different classes to race in. My car was registered in the "Rally" Class which allowed you to do whatever you wanted to the car, as long as you were under 10 oz. My car ended up being 7 oz. And i took 1st place in the rally class! i'll hopefully be able to post pictures of my car.

The past week has been super fun! and i'm looking forward to this next week! Last week we had 7 less active lessons taught, and about that many planned for this up coming week.

Next sunday i'm giving a talk in sacrament meeting on the book of mormon. Should be exciting!

Thanks for package of stuff, everything came in good condition. I haven't tried my shirt on yet. I'll have to do that when i get back to our apartment today.

Thanks for all that you do! I love you all! have a great week

Love, Elder Kyle Ettinger

New companion, Elder Thorpe

Rally division Champion!

First Week - Ames 10/17/11

So this last week has been a really slow week. All the schools were let out this last week for fall break, so pretty much no one was home. Elder Turnbull has been taking me around to meet some of the members in the ward, but like none of them are home. So we have been doing a whole lot of nothing the past few days So its been pretty sucky. But i am reallty excited for this coming week. we have alot of investigators, so there is plenty of work to do. we now just have to go out and do it. haha. I really miss the Gila Valley, I made some really awesome friends there, so this change has been pretty lame. But im where the lord wants me to be, so thats where i will be.

Thats way cool about the people talking about red dog. Ill have to start asking around to all the football gurus to see if i can find someone who knows him.

Other than that I dont got a whole lot of news, The day to day of missionary work is pretty much the same. Sorry.

Love, Elder Ettinger

This desert tortoise lives outside Ames's trailer 

Kyle - Oct 17, 2011

Hello Everyone,

This past week has been pretty stressful! Because my Ames went senior companion last transfer, and i'm his twin, i also went senior companion this transfer. But stayed in the same area, which i'm pretty happy with. My new companion Elder Thorpe is from North Ogden, UT. He's a really motivated worker, and it should be a really good transfer, our numbers have already climbed a little bit since he's got here. i'll send some pictures probably next week or something.

Being senior companion i have the rights to be the "Designated Driver" Which means i drive all the time for the companionships. i've only ran two stop signs and almost got in an accident once. Its funny to see how crappy i am as a driver since i haven't driven for like 4.5 months.

We'll be out on missions for 5 months tomorrow. Which is totally crazy! the time goes by so fast! 

Thats cool that Ty patterson was called to chicago. maybe he'll be in the same mission as Kyle Brandt.

We have a pinewood derby coming up this next saturday, i wish i had my car from when i was a cub scout! but hey, i aquired a kit and i'm making a new one. I'm gonna be racing my car in whats called the "Rally" division. Which means anything goes! just have to stay under 10 ounces. It should be a great ward activity!!

thanks for all of your love and support! 

Love, Elder Kyle Ettinger

Goodbyes - Ames 10/10/11

So if you didnt guess, i was transferred. This last couple days have been pretty diffrent from the rest of my mission. All day monday was spend packing and saying goodbyes to all of the friends that i have made over the last four months. Easily the hardest day of my mission. Brother Palmer, one of the ward mission leaders, told me a comforting quote. "The best part of your mission is loving the people. The Hardest part is leaving them. Thats how you know your doing your job." Well he was definatly right, it was really hard to leave the Gila Valley. And leaving on the day of a Baptism... I missed it by only hours. But its not about who is there, its why they are there.
So where am i ?!? The Tucson West Zone. Serving in the Picture Rocks ward. My companion is Elder Turnbull from Eagle Idaho. He has been out on his mission for two transfers! Im Already Senior Companion! Oh my gosh!!! Im super nervous about it. but he seems really cool. . . So im pretty excited about this next transfer.
Some crazy stuff that has been happening as of late. Last week for P-Day we went to a place called red Knolls. Its a way fun place to hike and mess around. While i was there i got stung by a freaking bee! I was so pissed. It hurt for like three days, and spread on my leg and even right now it is still quite bruised looking. I also got a knife this last week. just to carry with me just in case i ever need one. and of course i cut myself with it! lame.
Thats pretty much it for this week. Im still trying to calm down about the changes that are happening. ha. Im just anxious i guess.
Love you all!
Elder Ettinger 

A huge pit at Red Knolls

Bats at Red Knolls

Ames' cut thumb

Elder Ettinger Photos

Bro. & Sis. Ettinger,

 We have truly enjoyed having your son in our Ward. Sad to see him transferred today, but I know he will enjoy Tucson. He is a great missionary and you should be very proud of him. I hope you enjoy some of the photos I have taken while he served here. I told him tonight (when he came to say good-bye) I would send them to you. 

May the Lord bless you and your family as he continues to serve Him faithfully. 

Gordon Thatcher

Late transfer calls = Stress! Kyle 10/10/11

Hey family!

So i just got the call about 15 or 20 minutes ago that i'm not moving again this transfer, but i am getting a new companion! elder Riley was called as a zone leader for his last transfer! which is really weird! he's a little nervous, but i told him he'll enjoy doing it.

My past week has been full of events it seems like! Last monday we were informed that we had a temple trip on wednesday as a zone. So we hurried and called around to try and find someone to take us. Brother j  (a great ward friend) didn't work that day, so he took us down in his very luxurious Cadillac CTS V series! i know you dont know what that is. But its just a very fast sports car! It was really fun going to the temple! everytime i go i feel the spirit so strong and its just so great!

Last thursday we had a mission tour, where a different elder packer of the seventy came to speak to us. The meeting was from 8 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon!  LONG!! But it was really uplifting! and i also got to see elder millward, and Elder Roberts from st. George, who wanted to say hi to maren, and mom and dad. which was awkward because he started talkin about his date with maren one time.

I was really upset to hear about the news of buddy! i was really relly hoping he'd be able to grow up till he was thriteen or fourteen years old! Because he seemed to be a real healthy guy! Thanks for the Tribute though. i really enjoyed the pictures! I'm gonna put up a picture of buddy on my desk from now on.

I'm pretty excited/ a little nervous for my new companion. But i'm lookin forward to staying in this ward again. We just got a referal text that we'll go hit up tonight. so we're excited about that!! The work goes on!

Thanks for all your love, prayers and support! 

Love, Elder Kyle Ettinger

Last week of the transfer - Ames Oct. 3, 2011

The last week of the transfer is always the hardest. in more than one way. First of all there is that unknowing of whether or not you are getting transfered, and becasue of that unknowing the work kind of slows down becasue you very well could be gone next week. Its not a very fun time.

This last week has been a fun one. We have continued teaching the football player, however we ran into some complications with his baptisimal date... As you know, it was set for the 22nd of october. well, there was a huge volleyball tourney that alot of his friends will be at that he wanted to be at the baptism. So he asked if he could move it. So we talked it over, about moving it a week back, or a week forward. and we told him why we didnt want to move it back. So he looked through his planner, and you could tell he was thinking about it really hard, and he looked up with a smile and said, We will do it the 15th. I couldnt help but smile. it was so cool. So a couple days later we get a call from his buddy dallin that has been going to the lessons with us and he had talked with his mom and found out that there would be a huge multi stake youth confrence that day.. another pickle. so in our next lesson with him we talked about it some more to try and find a date, we explained that it didnt need to be on a saturday, that any day of the week would work. So he checked his planner again and found the date that would work best.. the 11th of October =)... we smiled and said ok. This kid is so legit he has a strong testimony, and he is super excited to be baptized. The only bad part is that it is on transfer day, he doesnt know that, becasue we dont want to influence him at all. So that is another reason that i would be happy to stay in the Gila Valley. And this place is like home now. I have made such good friends with the members and it would just be hard to leave. but! thats not my choice, its the lords. So we will see what kind of calls we get next sunday!

 

Love you all!

God Speed

Elder Ettinger

 

Some other funny Stuff:

I was browsing Mormon.org the other day like we do once a week. And i was looking for people who liked photography, guess who one of the results were. Danielle Gilley, well former gilley. i dont know her new last name. haha I thought that was pretty funny.

Also, During general conf. i saw (the people we look for in the choir) within the first 5 minutes of the first session! Yea i'm boss at eye spy.

 

Kyle - Oct 3, 2011

Hello folks,

The past week  has been pretty good, not a whole lot going on. But i do have one really neat experience to share.

we were on exchanges last friday, and the spanish elder in our zone came to my area. His name is elder tenney, who is actually from richfield, UT. We were tracting friday morning while it was still somewhat cool outside. We finished tracting one big long street with only a few contacts and no return appointments. We then decided to try a new street. But before we drove down the street to scope it out. We decided to pray, and ask heavenly father to give us a blessing, to choose one house to knock on. so we finished our prayer and slowly drove down the road, looking at all the houses waiting for inspiration.

We got to one house and elder tenney and i glanced at it at the same time and said, in unison, "That one...". We immediatly pulled over and grabbed our bags, and ran up to the door. A guy opened it that didn't even live there. He was a worker that was fixing the house. We shared the message about the book of mormon. And he got really excited about it. We gave him a card, and he said he'd call the number to get the book of mormon. It was a pretty neat experience.

I really enjoyed reading the story about dad helping that person across the finish line, its always so fun when we are able to serve others unexpectedly. its one of my favorite parts of the mission so far.

Yes transfers are coming up this next week. I'm hoping to stay in the same ward, alot of the ward members want me to stay. But, i'll be happy with whatever happens. change is tough, but good in some cases.

Hope all is well in St George! i'm looking forward to see what you sent with miguelle. He's such a funny guy! He and his parents are the ones that want me to stay the most.

I love you all and hope everything is going well!

 Love, Elder Kyle Ettinger.