Week 45

What's up! another week's gone by! we had a really good week here in Scott County!

Tuesday we had another lesson with Guillermo and it was a good lesson but a little disappointing! we finally figured out his doubt! so he is working at a Hotel cleaning rooms and he works 7 days because he is saving up to go to college and because of his circumstances he cant get any type of help paying for tuition and what not so he told us his focus right now is work and saving money so he cant or more like wont get Sundays off! So its a bummer but at least now we understand his doubts! on a happy note his mom did make us some really good Mexican food after the lesson! I cant remember what they're called but I'm sure spencer will know! its like a little round tortilla with salsa Verde and like this white cheese on top! it was super good! and for dessert she gave us la arroz con leche, which is like kinda rice pudding but it was super good as well haha we actually came back to their house 2 days later on Thursday and taught his mom and step dad for the first time which was really cool! we watched the restoration video with them and the spirit was super strong! 

We also had a lesson with our 14 year old investigator and we decided to explain the restoration to her one more time, even though she has been taught it many times before. After about 30 minutes of explaining about prophets and the apostasy and joseph smith restoring the gospel,  we asked her is she believed that joseph smith was a prophet, to which she replied "yes, its just that I don't know what a prophet is" hahah so we are going to have to seriously re think the way we teach her, its been a struggle! she is great, super open and willing but really slow haha

Friday night we had a bunch of appointments fall through and so we were just trying some old/potential investigators and we knocked on this guys apartment door and were just standing there in the cold and the dark and we heard from the door behind us this voice of a Hispanic lady talking really fast so me and Torrico both slowly turned to eachother and laughed haha and we turned around and knocked this apartment door and the lady answered and let us in and we saw a guy on her couch and figured out his name was Isias, or Isaiah in English, and we started teaching them both and he was a little stand off-ish but still listened to us and agreed to take and read a book of Mormon and as we were leaving he actually told us he was a pastor at one of the local Baptist churches haha so hopefully he reads the book of Mormon and prays with real intent and gets baptized and brings his whole congregation with him haha one can only hope! 

Also, this Saturday some guy named D. Todd Christofferson from the quorum of the 12 apostles is coming to visit the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission so the whole mission is gathering in Louisville  for 2 hours to listen to him talk so I'm really excited for that!

Hope everything's going great back home! love you guys!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos!

Love Elder Follett

A few weeks ago we went and toured the Toyota factory here in Georgetown (the 2nd biggest in the world and 1st biggest in the US) and it was super sweet! if you people ever come to Kentucky we for sure are going to do this tour! super cool stuff! it was free and the drive you through while their building cars it was super cool! 

Week 44

What's up Family!

On Tuesday we went out with a priest in our ward here and went and taught that 19 year old kid named Guillermo and it was seriously I think the best lesson I have been a part of in my whole mission! it wasn't perfect there are still things that could of gone better but the spirit was killer strong and he was really excited about what we were telling him.  He committed him to be baptized the 28th of February, which is kind of soon and hopefully he makes it, we might have to move it back a little bit but I'm not super worried about it.  He told us he works on Sundays but if he asks for it off he could probably get it because there's not like a set schedule. SO hopefully everything goes over well with that and we can keep helping him progress. As we were leaving his house his mom came up to us and said "hey anytime you guys want you are both welcome here, this is your house now, also do you guys like Mexican food? next time you guys come over I'll make a big dinner and we can have a little lesson together" haha so it literally could not of gone better! 

Later we had another lesson with Hilber and it was a awesome.  We have been trying to get in with him and teach his wife as well, but she doesn't speak Spanish and Hilber said he wants to be taught in Spanish so every time we went over there he would immediately start speaking Spanish to us and she would kinda hid in the back because she didn't know what was going on so we have been trying to get her more involved so this time we actually got her in the room with us and we taught 2 lessons at once haha while Elder Torrico was teaching Hilber in Spanish I was teaching Ashley in English haha it was kinda funny but it totally worked! She told us that she would really like to come to church but she didn't want to go with out Hilber (an excuse we get more often then not) But Hilber said he would be willing to go but Sunday rolled around and nothing. 

We also had a lesson with our 14 year old investigator that was pretty break-through! usually when we teach her, her aunt and uncle are there and they talk a lot which is great but I think Jennifer felt a little pressured or embarrassed to talk so she was pretty quiet, but we asked if we could just talk to Jennifer and she really opened up to us and we were able to figure out her concerns and now we understand her a lot better and know how to help her, so that's going really well! She comes to church every week and participates and is one of the only like 4 young women in the Branch so she'll get there eventually.

Things are going really good here and I'm loving Georgetown! Hope everythings going good back home! Love you guys, have a great week!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos!

This is just like a little square building in the middle of the trailer parks and they sell some good tacos here!

Week 43

Whats up!! this week was a pretty good one!

Tuesday night we had a couple lessons fall through but we found a 19 year old kid from Mexico City named Guillermo who seemed pretty open and willing to listen! we had another appointment with him on Saturday but he wasn't home so hopefully we can get back in contact with him.

So because of the other English Elders getting closed down we picked up one of their investigators (who is from Venezuela so she should of been our investigator in the first place but she speaks English so they just never told us haha but the point is she's ours now) she actually invited us over to eat on Wednesday before we even met her.  We went over there and when we walked in i saw her boyfriend, who she lives with and is also investigating, but he was wearing a Dallas cowboys hat and playing the guitar so for me it was like love at first sight haha he's a pretty cool dude.  We were talking to her and asked her what was the reason she decided to come to America and how she ended up in Kentucky of all places and she gave an answer that i had never heard before and don't think I'll ever hear again haha she told us the reason for immigrating to the US from a pretty war stricken bad place...was to see One Direction in concert.... hahaha it was really surprising.  But they are a cool little family and I'm excited to keep teaching them. they have a few concerns but over all they really enjoyed church when they came.  We're teaching another interracial couple named Hilber and Ashley who are pretty cool.  They don't know a lot about the church but she told us she has an aunt and uncle who are serving an LDS mission in Africa so that's pretty cool. They have a 7 year old daughter and she's pregnant with another.  She's 7 months along but still hasn't given up smoking haha I'm starting to realize the challenges of English work in the bluegrass state. but they are pretty interested. Its hard because his first language was Spanish and doesn't get a lot of interaction with Spanish people so every time we come over he wants to speak to us in Spanish but his wife doesn't speak a word of Spanish so its been hard to include both of them in lessons.

Thursday night we had a really awesome lesson with Jorge and Zaira.  We brought Francisco (owner of Franks Donuts) and it was a super great lesson.  They would be baptized but cant get work off to come to church and we've tried every trick in the book to help them get work off or find a new job or anything but this time Jorge said he was going to ask to get Sundays off and he said he would probably only get one or 2 Sundays off but hey! one or two is a good start! so I'm pretty hopeful for them! They have such solid testimonies and really have grown so much over the past year of meeting with the missionaries.

Friday we got snow! it wasn't a lot but we biked down to the trailers and got a good solid few inches of snow! we went down there at about 6 pm and when we left around 8:30 and when we came out there was another inch on our bikes seats haha so on the way back was definitely a little colder. 

Saturday a member from the branch drove up from Lexington to go teach with us which was pretty sweet! we taught a guy named Santos and it was a really good lesson. The spirit was super strong.  He's a really funny guy, total typical Mexican, talks with like 80% slang and has the high fade haircut and like designs on the back of his head haha he's awesome though, he keeps telling us that he really wants to change his life and be better so I'm excited for him.

Things are going really good here, I'm excited to see what this transfer has in store for me!

Love you guys, have a great week!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos!

Week 42

What's up! 

Transfers happened this week and nothing changed so I've got at least 6 more weeks here in Georgetown! Some crazy stuff is happening her in the Great Kentucky Louisville Mission! So due to the huge surge of missionaries in the summer after all the high school kids came out now the influx of missionaries is changing and the past 3 transfers they had to close 12 areas here in the mission and another 13 areas will be closed next transfer so a lot of changes happened this transfer! luckily not any Spanish Elder areas have been closed yet but I think next transfer they will close a few! I have a feeling Shelbyville will be one of those areas but we'll see!

Monday night we had a pretty cool experience, we were at an apartment complex where we had a few appointments set up and we went there and one by one the appointments started to fall through and we weren't getting in with anybody and we tried everyone we could so we started to make the sad retreat back to the bicycles when we saw the English elders step out of an apartment door and see us and begin to run towards us all excited haha they told us they just found an investigator for us and they gave him a Spanish book of Mormon and talked to him in his broken English so we went and met him right there and he's a pretty cool guy! his name is Eric and he's 6'4 which for a Mexican is like a 7 footer haha but he was pretty nice and told us we could come by and see him.  He said he is going through some hard times right now and would like to be closer to God so hopefully we'll be able to see him again and keep helping him!

Later that week in that same Apartment we had a bunch more appointments lined up and the same thing happened haha a lot of them dropped so we decided to run over to a near by apartment complex and just knock some doors and had some weird experiences but in between those experiences we found some cool people! We met a family that had been taught once by missionaries but soon moved after that and lost contact! I think they are the first Baptist people I've ever taught so that's cool haha and they fed us some pretty tasty soup!

We had a lesson with our 14 year old investigator Jennifer and while we were there her aunt made us some really good Molé which is like this type of sauce you put over chicken but its like chocolate based and spicy at the same time its really good stuff! and the next day another member made it for us again haha so I love me some molé! Sunday was church all day long haha we went and visited a sick family in the branch on the way home from church because our ride was the elders quorum president so we didn't get home until like 8 o'clock! 

This week was really good and I'm excited to keep working in Georgetown! love you guys! have a great week!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos! 

The English elders next door to us got their area closed so we got all of their stuff haha so our apartments loaded now I'm not sure what it has to do with whats happening in this picture but I had to send this one haha 

One of the elders is going home so to burn his suit we went to a members land and threw mozoltav cocktails at it haha

Week 41

What's up!! Another week, another email! This week went really good!

Monday night we were able to get in contact with an old investigator named Santos Villon de Angeles (which in English means saints of the village of angels in English haha) but we got back in touch with him and sat down with him for a while and he told us that he has 5 kids with 3 different women, and that he's only 30 years old and he wants to change so there's a lot of work to do with him but hopefully we can continue helping him! 

Tuesday we went down to the trailer park for the first time in a while and we taught the crazy Catholic family that likes to feed us haha they're really cool and friendly but they're so set in their beliefs and not really willing to change so we might drop them soon, we'll se what happens! 

Wednesday I went on an exchange with the district leader and it was like below 10 degrees all day but I was in a car all day doing English work but the next day was just as cold and I was back on a bike!  We had a few good lessons and a member from Chile came out with us and it was really good! 

Friday we found a new family to teach! They are the 2nd Nicaraguan family I've ever meet and both of the women happened to be named Carla haha but its Carla, her son and daughter, her father and grandfather! there's like 4 generations in this small 2 bedroom apartment haha but they're pretty interested and I'm excited to keep teaching them!

Saturday we made our way back to the trailers and finally saw Jennifer again! its been 2 or 3 weeks since we've taught her so it was good to see her again! she is close to baptism she really wants it we just have to help her find the courage to tell her parents in México! We also found another old investigator who is probably the most humble man in the world haha he lives in a single room shack with no bathroom or kitchen just a room with a bed and a small fridge and some clothes and he had a big pile of bibles and reading material from every religion possible.  He told us that he had an 'accident' and that he always heard a voice in his head tell him things were going to happen and the would happen and he's been searching really hard for the truth so were going to try our best to help him find it! 

Over all this week has been really good and were making a lot of progress here, and overall its been pretty balanced! I hope everything's going good back home, I love you guys and miss you so much!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos!
Love Elder Follett

Week 40

What's up everybody! HAPPY NEW YEAR! this actually was probably the worst new years celebration in the world we played checkers and went to bed at like 9:30 haha I set an alarm to wake me up at like 11:55 to watch the new year come but it didn't go off and I woke up at like 3 and looked at the clock and said out loud "darn..well happy new year" and went back to bed haha so not super festive here in Georgetown!

This week was a pretty good week! we had some pretty good lessons! not going to lie my companion right now is definitely not the first person I would choose to live with but I'm learning a lot from him! Either by his example or maybe just having to learn more patience but either way I'm learning something haha. 

So we've been working a lot this week with a long time investigator named Enoc, his wife was actually baptized 2 years ago by Elder Torrico and his trainer when he was first here, but we've been trying really hard with him.  He is a great guy and loves us and loves to have the discussions and hear our message and pray with us but he is almost afraid to do anything.  Like super solid testimony, super nice, like this week Torrico got a flat tire on his bike so we called him and within like 5 minutes he was there to pick us up, he's just an awesome guy but he will not come to church.  He has been investigating for about 2 years and in the past he was about to be baptized and he was really excited about it but like the day before he backed out and said he wasn't ready.  He told us that he knows and understands that church is important and that its a commandment and that his life will be better and he'll be blessed if he comes to church, and he told us he's not busy on Sundays, all he does is watch TV all day, but that its not his time to come to church and be baptized yet.  Super hard! he is so humble and ready to receive the gospel, we just have to help him feel ready!

We have focused a lot more this week on finding, and have seen a lot of success we haven't been able to see some of our regular investigators as often but I'm excited to work with more people! we found a couple of really cool people this week! one in particular that I'm pretty excited about is a Mexican guy named Eduardo and he was like the perfect 1st lesson situation, he asked all the right questions and he was really impressed with the idea of having prophets on the earth again.  He told us he works Sundays and before we even asked he told us "but I'm going to ask my boss for Sundays off instead of Saturdays so I can come to church with you" haha so he is super solid! I hope everything works out and we can keep seeing him! 

We also were able to do that church tour with Jorge and Zaira and it went AWESOME! the spirit was super strong! they are coming along and one day will be ready but it'll take some more time! 

I love you guys and hope you all have a great week and a Happy New Year! 

Para Siempre Dios esté con vos!

On the way back from Louisville last Monday we drove through my old area, Shelbyville, and Elder Torrico saw these buffalo and FREAKED haha he thought they were the coolest things he'd ever seen so we had to stop and get a picture!

Me and one Crazy Elder from CALI

Week 39

What's up suckas! first of all I just wanna say thank you so much for all the Christmas and Birthday goodies and wishes! its managed to be a pretty good Holiday season here in my old Kentucky home haha so thanks so much! So on Friday for my birthday it was a pretty normal day, we had a English family sign up to feed all 6 of the Elders here in Georgetown so we went over with the car elders and were waiting on the couch talking to the family and then the other elders and the father walked in and they had all these balloons and huge presents and i was super confused because i didnt tell anybody that it was my birthday but it turns out, the balloons and cake and presents werent for me haha the family also had a couple from the ward over and they had just recently adopted a baby boy a few months ago and the 26th was his 1st birthday haha so at least I got to eat cake and ice cream! it was pretty funny.

This week was really fun, but the work was pretty slow haha a lot of our investigators who we normally meet with a few solid times a week that we just couldn't meet with, either they're out of town or they have family in town so this week was just a little crazy haha not super productive but it was still a great week! So a few years ago the English elders here in Georgetown baptized a kid named Jesus and we have been teaching his mom for a few months now and one day we were just knocking doors like we usually do and the bishop of the English ward called us and told us that Jesus's brother was in the hospital in Lexington and his mom was staying there with him so he asked if we could go down with him to visit them and give them a blessing (because bishop doesn't really speak Spanish) so we dropped everything and went down to the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington and talked to Joséfina and Guillermo and it was pretty cool to be able to give him a blessing.  They said he has something wrong with his blood like he started coughing up blood at work and something to do with his liver so he's going to be in the hospital for 2-3 weeks so we talked to them for a little and gave them a Book of Mormon to read which was good.  we hadn't really been able to make a head way with Guillermo before but he seemed to listen pretty intently to us haha so hopefully one day he'll listen to the missionaries. 

We got to teach our investigators Jorge & Zaira finally, it had been a few weeks since we've seen them so it was good to finally hear from them again. we set it up and we are going to meet them at the church building here in Georgetown and have a little tour of the church so that'll be good! 

This week was a lot of fun and super different and honestly I'm kind of excited to get back to the normal routine of missionary work! I love you guys and hope you have another great week! It was awesome getting to talk to you!

Para siempre Dios esté con vos!

Love Elder Follett

Christmas morning hike in Sadieville!  Pretty sure this was somebody's property but oh well, haha!

 Sadieville River

Go Pro on the Teeter Totter