Week 51 - Got rear-ended driving today!

Hey! Hey!

This week has been a good one We have three new people we are teaching this week! So that is great. One of them is Daniel. He is the boyfriend of a little sister of a member in our ward. He went to the Philadelphia temple open house with them and liked it, and wanted to learn more. So we went and taught him about the restoration. And it went really well! It was probably one of the best first lessons I have had! 

And then the next person is Melisa. She isn't the most interested, but she is super nice. And wants to learn so it's cool. This was kinda a funny story. So some Spanish elders tracked into her and she was kinda interested, so we scheduled a pass off lesson where all four of us would go and teach her so she gets to know us. But it isn't all at once, so we plan to meet at this coffee shop down in the city. So we show up and she invited two of here friends and the Catholic deacon. And they are all sitting there and are like "welcome, sit down" and we are like dang we got set up! It actually went surprisingly better then I thought it was going to go. There wasn't really too much fighting. The deacon wanted to know kinda what we believed and why we believe that way. And she is looking for knowledge and was interested too. She was super nice and she could really feel the spirit when we talked about how we know and so that was cool. The lesson didn't go the best but we connected! So that is great. 

And then we meet another guy named Neal. And he is looking for a church right now. He is really smart but open. He is a very scientifically minded person and so he wants to know, but he doesn't want his mind to get in the way. He wants to know the truth. So that is super cool. And we had the perfect member in that lesson with us. So that was a definite bonus! So it is going great right now!
We went to PEC and were like "YAY, we have three new people that are coming to church! So watch out for them." But none of them came. So we said, "next week, They will be here!" It was kinda funny!

Dang it is crazy to think that school is starting again soon! That is so crazy to think. I have almost been out a year too. That is super crazy! That's good you got a good coaching staff. And that you are kinda settling into your position. Dang I miss those tacos. Whenever someone asks what we want for dinner. I always say tacos. Because we get spaghetti and pizza and potatoes and meat a lot. So like what can you ask for that isn't super expensive. So I always say tacos. So we get tacos a decent amount.

Things are going really well. We had a good week this week. For activities we played fugitive for FHE. Elder McCray and I were the cops and we had to pull these towels out of like you pocket to get you out. Kinda like a flag. And this one girl put it down her shirt and she had like 2 inches sticking out and we were like ok. Really. We are missionaries and you do that. But it was kinda funny. And then Saturday we had a game night. So we went for like our dinner hour and they had pizza and games. So it was fun. It was nice to relax a little bit.

No we don't watch the olympics. It stinks. I have seen probably 4 minutes of footage totally. The news was on it the gym the other day and they showed a couple highlights. And that was cool. Some girl swimmer is killing it I hear, but other then that I don't know much.

Oh and funny story. We got rear ended today. By an old Asian lady today. It wasn't that bad but she didn't want to give us her information. It was a pain, it was hot and she didn't speak English very well. She was like 58 and tried to tell us she had her baby in the car who is 4 months old. And I was like, "Yea that's not your baby." It is kinda funny now, but it was really testing my patience at the time.

I sure love you! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Bigelow

Week 50 - I will be really weird

Hey mom!

This week went really well! We were able to take Sam to the temple. He really liked how the temple is completely about families. And how we go there so we can be with our family forever and that we also go there so that people that have already died can be with their families too! He liked how we could see the model of the temple and see all the rooms. And how we talked about what all the rooms are for and what we do in them. And then we watched a video about family. And then we were able to go into the entry way of the temple and they have a little room on the side. Where we just sat for a little while. And he loved it. He said he felt like he was "at home". And I thought that was so cool! Because he is home. He still isn't really progressing too much which kinda stinks. But he is coming along slowly. He is muslin from Sudan. (I can't remember if I told you). But he is really smart and kinda gets hung up on some things that most people wouldn't think of.

And than something else cool that happened is we had a less active come to church yesterday for the first time in over 4 years. So that was great! We have been working with him once a week for like the past 8 months. And we went over Saturday night. And he was like. "Oh hey, I think I am coming to church tomorrow". We were super surprised. We were like what??? He was planning on coming on the 21st because he was singing in sacrament meeting. But he told us he wouldn't come before then. But hey he changed his mind. And it was great! And then he actually came so that was really good! He is pretty funny. He makes me laugh all the time.

So those were kinda the two big miracles for the week. And that was great! We got a lot more people to sign up on our meal calendar this week. So that was good. I passed ours around priesthood executive committee.

I really like the ward here! It is super fun to be around people closer to my age. Yea they are all older and definitely more responsible but they like to have fun and they are not all caught up with their family stuff. So that is good. And it is super fun to be able to go to FHE and some of the other activities with them! We started basketball Saturday mornings. And bring people we find in the street to play. And we found a couple of guys who are super excited about it. Saturday was the first day we played and it was super good. I think that is probably the best way to find people for us right now, because it is easy for members to invite some of their high school friends and people from work to just come play ball. And it is super easy for us to go play at some court by the church and be like, "hey, we have an indoor court, want to play. We play on Saturdays." And then they come. They have questions we can answer and they meet members. They already have a friend. And so that is really fun. We play one or two nights a week for like an hour if we don't have an appointment. And we have had some really good contacts from that! And I am a lot better at basketball now. You would be super surprised! I can actually make shots consistently.


So for the first couple weeks I was here it seems like everyone in the ward is just super good friends. Kinda like a family. Not really like a bunch of single people who are looking for spouses. And so I was like cool. And then yesterday we were waiting for Gabe, the less active to show up and this guy we go out with a bunch comes walking up holding hands with this girl in our ward. And it took me by surprise. I was like what??? And then I remembered I was in a YSA ward and it just took me by surprise. I haven't really seen anyone I knew holding hands for a while or anything or like people having a girlfriend. Like yea I will see that when I get home. But hey it happens out here too. It was kinda funny. I realized that the mission awkwardness is here. Like I was weirded out by hand holding. And I still have over a year left. I think I will be really weird when I get back. So just be warned.

This week for studies I read a talk about having real intent and I liked it. It is kinda long. But you should check it out. Living with Purpose: The Importance of “Real Intent” by Randall L. Ridd. It was in the 2015 CES devotional. And I think about serving a mission with real intent. Living life with real intent.

That stinks that you are already to school again. All the people going to BYU from our ward are peacing out. So that kinda stinks. But we still have some homies in our ward.


That quote is pretty cool. It is true. And sometimes when they are unresponsive it is easy for you not to love them. But that is good. That's all you can do with everyone in life. Not just investigators or students but friends family and everyone else.

Today we have zone activity. We are playing sand volleyball and basketball and spike ball. And we have a bbq and it is bring your own meat. So that should be fun! We do have a zone training tomorrow. We had MLC (mission leadership conference) and so we have somethings we are instructing our zone on. Like unity and patience and enduring to the end. So that should be good. I don't think it will be too bad.

Something cool about Sam. When he was home there was a church that tried to build a church there in Sudan. And he is the guy that would sign the permits to build and stuff. And because the government is mostly Muslim most people wouldn't have signed for a Christian church to come. But Sam just felt like it was a good thing. And it turns out that it was a Mormon church. So that is pretty cool. And I keep getting the feeling that even if Sam doesn't convert that he will be very influential in the church getting missionaries into Sudan. So that is pretty cool.

I love you. It is always great to hear from you!
Love, Elder Bigelow

 

Week 49 - Birthday Elder

Hey hey  :) 

It was a really good birthday. It was a really good day. So we started out and we had a stake breakfast in the morning. That's where President and Sister Huntsman were. That's where they got the picture. So all the missionaries in the stake sang to me and then we got breakfast. It was good. Sister Huntsman asked me to come get a picture with President and then she would send it to my mom. So I was like, "ok cool." Then she gave us fruit loops and told us to hold them, as proof that we are getting fed. I was like ok cool, sounds good. So that was super fun. 

After that we went and cleaned the church. And then we went out to lunch with Elder Hudson. I had a big hamburger. It had pulled pork and onion rings on it, and it was super good. And then we went home and got on the computer and looked for some service opportunities on justserve.org. We emailed a couple of people about some opportunities.We decided to go play basketball down in Arlington. There are like a million courts down there. So we went and played a couple games. Got some really good contacts through that. We are going to play Saturday morning at our church and we are looking to get people to come play. So we found a couple people that want to play. And then we went home. We got free fro yo on the way home from a place that gives missionaries free fro yo. So that was good. 

The sisters in our ward made me cupcakes for my birthday. It was super cool. And then some others sister made some cookies. So that was cool. And then on our way home we got a call from so other sisters asking what our address was. And they made some brownies. It was funny. I don't know what I did. But I think I might have done something right. Haha. But it was a good day. (I know it probably seems like I have a couple of sister girlfriends out here that wanted to make me food for my birthday. But I don't. I am nice. But I make sure I am not too nice or too friendly. Because I am still a missionary)

Elder McCray is doing well. We get along really well. I think he was happy all the sisters brought over food. He enjoyed it too! So that was pretty funny!

For zone training we talked about the spirit. And more specifically the role of the spirit in conversion. It was kinda funny because the sister training leaders (basically they go in exchanges with the sisters) talked about the doctrine of the spirit. And while they were talking they pretty much cover like 3/4ths of the points we were planning on talking about. And so then we had 45 minutes to fill with basically what the sister talked about. So we went up and I was like. "Ok, this is a discussion. And if you aren't participating I am going to call on you." And then we started and I had to call on someone. But then after that everyone got involved. It went really well. A lot of times in those kinda things missionaries talk and they don't really talk about some of the real challenges we go through. They just basically bear their testimony and it is good but not great. So we really focused on every day challenges that we admit we have and that was pretty good. I talked about thinking of home and stuff and how if you tell yourself not to think about home then you are already thinking about home. I even used Dad's pink elephant example. Everyone thought that was funny.

The ward is pretty cool. We have made some friends here, but we don't get fed that much. So that kinda stinks. Thank you for your package. It was fun! I love you lots!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Hudson and Elder Bigelow - Birthday Elders!!

Birthday Email from Sister Huntsman

Brother and Sister Bigelow,

We had a wonderful morning with Elder Bigelow at the home of the McLean Stake President and all the missionaries in their Zone. We sang Happy Birthday to him as he sat red faced and embarrassed with all the attention.

He is doing a great job as a Zone Leader as he just completed his first round of Zone Conferences.

Hope you enjoy a Birthday photo.

Love,

Sister Huntsman

Week 48 - I am turning 19!

Hey Mom,

Can't believe I am turning 19 his week. I won't be able to tell everyone I am still 18. I think I will kinda miss that. The other day we went to breakfast with our ward mission (so our ward mission leader and the sisters in our ward). And something came up about age and I was like yea I am still 18. And Sister Jensen, a sister that came out like 2 weeks ago was super surprised that she was actually older then me. So I think I might miss being one of the youngest our here.

This week has been pretty good. I like being in the YSA ward because there are a lot of activities that we can go to. So that is super fun! Like tonight I think we are going to Paint Twister. And then there is a carnival activity on Saturday that I think we are going to as well so that will be fun. We just need to bring investigators or less actives. Last week went went to this thing, the Twilight Tattoo. It was pretty cool. We had a less active in it. It was at Fort Meyer, an army base. And it went through kinda the history of the American military. So it started in the Revolutionary War with people dressed up in Revolutionary War get up. And different people tell their story. Like Paul Revere was there and other men. And the army band plays while this is all going on. They went through all the wars and it was really cool! We didn't get to see a lot of it because we were late. But it was super cool!

Then we had a water color night and we all came and painted. And it was a competition. We all got different prompts from the scriptures and some from today. Like one of the was "captain Moroni as the captain of the Washington Nationals" and some were weird stories from the Bible. They were all cool. Mine was Hillary Clintons role in 1 Nephi 8. So that was kinda funny. And then they had some like what did the Bishop look like 20 years ago and stuff. It was fun!

I am getting along well with my companion. He is a good guy. We have a lot of fun. It is weird. We drive a lot more then I have. Our area is two stakes. So it is really big. But it is fun. His name is McCray. And he is from Snowflake. He just hit his year mark last week. And he has been a zone leader for 3 months.  It is really hot here. The other night at 8:00 at night it was only 99. So it is super hot. And you start sweating from the time when you get out of the shower.

So, as zone leaders, we are over 3 districts. Two English and one Spanish. And we go on exchanges with all the district leaders. And we decided to go with all the elders in our zone too. We do some training. But not that much every week. We did one at the beginning of the transfer for like 30 minutes. It was mostly to get to know everyone in the zone. And then this week we have a zone conference where we have to prepare 45 minute discussion. The president and APs talk too. So that will be cool! They are all good and work hard.

I love you lots!

Love, Elder Bigelow

The Sisters, Ward Mission Leader and Elders McCray and Bigelow

Elder Sanders, Bigelow and Frew

YSA activity at Fort Meyer

Week 47 - New Area, New Zone Leader...ME

Hey Mom!

Wow this area is a lot different then my last. This area is two whole stakes out here. So that is pretty crazy and it is a lot slower. It is hard to find YSA aged people. Our ward is a lot smaller. I gave a talk in church and there was like 30 people in the audience. It was kinda funny but it went super well! My new companion is pretty cool. He reminds me a lot of Dakota Carter. It's funny.

Ray's baptism was super cool, and it was so fun. It has been so cool to see him progress. His wife didn't come which made me a little sad, but they will keep trying to work with her. It was great. There were a lot of missionaries there. And Ray was so happy. He was so excited and he tried to get baptized before the prayer. It was super funny. But he did so great!

Things are going well with the zone. I was nervous, but it is going well now. We got all the exchanges planned out and stuff. It will be super fun!

Last night we went tracting in some houses. We didn't really think we would find any YSA. But if we find someone, we just refer families to the ward who's boundaries we are in. But last night we actually found a YSA. It was super cool. We taught the whole first lesson to her and that hasn't happened to me in a while. So that was super cool. And we get to keep her. So that's even better.

Things are going really well for me. I am super happy right now. And so it is going great! I sure love you. Sorry this email is kinda short. I wanted to get it sent off to you this morning before you left. I love you. Good luck at girls camp. Don't be afraid to put is a good word for your favorite son. I am kidding. Good luck!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Ray's baptism and all the missionaries

Elder Timothy, Elder Bigelow, Elder Evans and Elder Skousen

The Smith Family

Elder Bigelow and Chip Sheller, the sushi guy

The old district Brown, Sanders, Abney, Evans, Bigelow, Frew, Edwards

Week 46 - President Huntsman trusts me!

Hey Mom,

Sorry about the change in pday. It was a surprise for me too. So Saturday night Elder Snow got a call and was asked to be the new Assistant to the Mission President. So he left on Sunday afternoon and because transfers are this Thursday Elder Sanders came into my companionship so we had a three some. So Elder Sanders is still a zone leader. And they had a special leadership meeting on Monday in DC. So all the zone leaders changed their p days to Tuesday. And because we are companions with a zone leader we had to change our p day too. So that's why we changed. I hope that makes sense.

So transfers are this Thursday. And I am leaving Tall Cedars. I don't know where I am going yet. But I got a call last night saying I am going to be a zone leader and that I need to pack. So that is kinda a pain. I don't like packing and I really like this ward. But we will see what happens. It will all work out and it will be fun. We looked at all the options of places I could go. And they all seemed like chill guys. So that will be cool. I am excited for it. I didn't expect it. I thought I might be training. But I didn't know. But I am excited for this. It will be cool. It means that I am basically just over like 25 missionaries now. So it will be cool. And that President trusts me. So I am happy about that. 

Ray is still going to be baptized. I will come back for it. Hopefully, unless I have something going on. But he is still on track which is really good. Things have been really good. I will miss Elder Evans. We had a lot of fun. So that will be different. But it will be cool. 

The family reunion sounds super fun. Dad sent me a couple pictures from it. And it looked super fun. I love the beach and fishing. And just hanging out! That sounds great.  

These past couple days have been super weird with Elder Sanders in the companionship. And he is super nervous about transfer now. And it is weird going from two people to three. But things are getting a little more normal now. 

Last week was pretty normal. I will know tonight where I am headed. I am a little nervous. But not too much. More just surprised. But it will be cool! 

We had sushi night with this non member. We did a bunch of service for him. And he went and got us sushi. So he bought a ton of sushi. But it was super good. He is pretty cool. He is super nice. And funny.

Love, Elder Bigelow

(Mom note - We were notified last night that Elder Bigelow is headed to McLean, Virginia in a Young Single Adult ward.)

Week 45 - Bulls vs. The Jazz

Hey Mom,

I totally almost forgot it was the Bigelow family reunion. That sounds like a pretty crazy time. But that will be super cool! That is way cool that you will get to go fishing out in the ocean! That will be a blast! And that's cool that Noah will be baptized on the 16th. That's when Ray is going to be baptized. So that will be a cool day all around. 

Things are going better this week. We have been doing better at using our time wisely. So I am happy about that. And we have a guy we have been teaching a lot more. So that is good.  I don't know. Transfers are in like a week and a half. But it is pretty up in the air. Elder Evans is a good guy.  

This new guy Satish is cool. He is kinda crazy. We saw him Saturday night. We just ran into him. He was walking to the grocery story. And we went with him. He kept bringing up the Utah Jazz. And the 1997 NBA playoffs against the Bulls (game 6). And he was so mad about it. And then when we got back to his place he was trying to find the video of how the Bulls cheated. He loves the Jazz. And we left and told him we would be there tomorrow morning to pick him up for church. So we knock on his door at 9:45 for church. And he comes to the door. He says, "I just woke up and give me 5 min. and I will be ready." So we wait for him. And he comes out carrying his trash and he walks it down and throws it away and then is ready to go. It was funny. We were with the elder quorum president to pick him up. And he is a big hunter and has his big truck. 

He came to church and sacrament meeting was kinda long for him I think. But there were some good testimonies and I think they resonated with him. I gave him my I pad and he read the lesson and followed along. So it kinda worked out. And then Elders quorum was really good. We talked about choices and President Monson's talk about choices and he really connected with that. He was all there and he really liked that. And he saw how in his life he didn't have any direction. So that is why it didn't matter what he choose. And I think he liked church. There were some people that came up and talked with him. And we're really excited to see him here. And it was great! He is working on getting in with some good group of friends. And so I think the happiness of all the families stood out with him. He has a long way to go. But if he takes it seriously. I feel like he can be working and making it again in like 3 months. But he makes us laugh.

Love, Elder Bigelow

Week 44 - Focusing on the finding

Hey mom,

 
Man it is getting hot out here. We were really sweating a couple days this week! We have been walking a lot and knocking a lot. And sweating a lot. But we have found a couple of cool people this week that we started to teach. This week as a mission we wanted to find 300 new investigators. And so we were really focused on finding. It was super cool. We found this new guy named Satish. He is pretty cool. He is Indian, but born in DC. And while he was growing up in DC he loved the Jazz. And everyone would make fun of him. But it was funny. And we were walking by an apartment complex and he was like on the porch and he stopped us and started talking to us. It was super cool! And then we met with him again on Sunday. He missed church but we went over after and he is still going good. 

I am doing a lot better this week. I think that finding a couple new people helped. 

Ray is still progressing. He is ready and excited! 

On Saturday morning we went on a hike with Brother Smith. It was cool! We actually found some mountains which was super nice! And then we had lunch at his place and we stopped and got ribs and smoked chicken with some beans and collared greens. It was super good. It is kinda like a mini farmers market. Like super mini. It is at this round about and they have the rib guy, a salsa guy, a kettle corn guy and a pastry guy. And they are come here every Friday and Sunday. But the rib's guy is the best. He makes some dang good ribs. There is usually a huge line for them! But it was dang good. Dad would be all over it. And it was the first time I have ever had collard greens. Well I think it's collard greens. It was like boiled kale. Anyways it was pretty good!

We went to Mananas Battlefield today. Which was pretty cool. It was where Stonewall Jackson got his name. It was pretty cool. And now we are going to pick up elder Evans.

It was a good day. I sure love you! Thanks for all you do! And thanks for your prayers for me. They really help. And I can feel them help keep me motivated and patient and for the people I teach. That's so fun that Emily and Audrey got to stay. They are super cute. And that's funny that you had the missionaries talk with them. That's super Funny!

I hope you feel better. I sure love you!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Week 43 - Ray is on date!

Hey mom! 

This week has been good. It has been kinda long. But good. We put Ray on date for July 16th. So that's really exciting. He is super excited about it! And I think that he will pull through! So this will be great. We are going to really try to get his wife in on the lessons too. We will see how that goes! I am super excited about him! 

This week we did a lot of moving! We helped this family move Thursday most of the day Friday most of the day. And then all of Saturday! But hey we finally got it. I think we might be going over there on Tuesday to help move some stuff around. She is super nice. And funny. And it is like a happy family that nobody would have expected. While we were helping them move I learned a lot about her heart of the east coast. Not like the busy life but the deep roots east coast. And southern lifestyle. Something they all do is laugh at there own jokes. Super hard. And most of the time they are the only ones laughing. Hearing all these ladies go back and forth about crazy road trips they had and stuff was super funny! So that's kinda how moving went! Just to give you a little idea.

But I am super excited to go golfing today. It should be pretty fun! It will be a nice break. And something we haven't done. I am doing well though. I will grab something for Mark and Dad today to send home. They will like that I think. I sure love you mom. You are the best! 

Love, Elder Bigelow

Week 42 - It is hot here!

Hey mom!

It was great to see you on Thursday! I had a blast! It was fun to see some of the old ahs people. And some of the cousins. It was my favorite part of the week too! I think she will really like more pictures!

The rest of the week has been good. It has been pretty hot! It was 100 or 103 on Saturday! It was dang hot! We walked so much. I think I walked like 18 miles on Friday and Saturday. I was pretty worn out this weekend!

Elder Evans and I are getting along well. And I think I am helping him a bunch. Everyone says he is a lot happier now then he has been before!

Today we are going to go play sports with the zone. We might do some soccer which would be nice. I miss that! So I am excited about that!

I am doing great! My legs are a little sore in the mornings from walking. But hey it's all good. It helps me to not get fat!

I sure love you! Hope you have a great day!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Mid Week 41 - Mom and Mark get to see Elder Bigelow

This blog post is from mom's point of view...

Thursday, June 9th.

Mark and I had been in the Washington DC area since Monday.  We had been in Virginia since Thursday, June 2nd.  We were on Mark's 7th grade class trip.  What a wonderful experience we were having with the goal of seeing the Lord's hand in our nation's history.  Mark was recuperating well, but still spending most of his time in a wheelchair.  We got the news on Monday the 6th that Elder Bigelow would be able to meet us on Thursday for a couple hours, he had been able to switch his P-day.  He and Elder Evans would plan to meet us at Mt. Vernon around 11:00.

We were standing on the bowling green in front of Mt. Vernon taking a group shot when Mr. Leland Anderson said, "hey, there are the Elders!"  And there walking toward us where these two sharply dressed, tall as can be, handsome young men.  I took off running.  Elder Bigelow's smile got huge and I just hugged and hugged him.  Poor Mark had to walk himself over while I was hugging his big brother.  I had told him I would go slow with him, but in the moment I totally forgot.  We hugged, we laughed and Elder Bigelow was able to see two of his cousins that were on the trip and a lot of the younger students that he knew while he was at school last year.  His sweet seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Updike was guiding our trip and came up and got a big hug also.

From there we followed the group but kind of hung back a bit.  It was music to my ears to hear Elder Bigelow and Mark just laugh and joke together.  Elder Evans' commented that it was crazy that there were "two of them".  Mark was sounding more and more like his big brother.

We went from the gardens at Mt. Vernon to lunch in their cafeteria.  It was here that Elder Bigelow got to see his Uncle Ralph van der Beek.  The picture of them shaking hands actually made me cry when I saw it later on.  My little boy looked all grown up talking to his Uncle.  Ralph commented after Elder Bigelow left how well he carried himself.  He said leadership just seemed to leak out of him.  He couldn't believe that he wasn't the senior companion and that they had been both out the same amount of time.

After lunch we walked some more of the grounds around Mt. Vernon and then took the public ferry with the class.  I have been to Mt. Vernon three times now and I just love the feeling I get there.  But now, and forever more, it will be one of my most favorite places on earth.  We talked, we laughed, Elder Bigelow and Elder Evans told us mission stories and Mark told them stories of everyone at home and at school.  The three of them bantered back and forth and I just sat back and watched.  I was truly in heaven.  I watched both Elders talk to people that stopped them to talk.  I watched them as they walked.  They are each over 6'3" and they stand as big solid young men of the gospel.  They took turns pushing Mark in his wheelchair and I just kept watching...

After a couple hours I knew it was time to let those young men go back to work.  I had thought and thought how tough this would be.  But when it was the day of, the hour of, and the minute of, I wasn't sad at all.  How could I be?  My little boy was doing fabulous.  He looked happy and healthy and he was ready to get back to work.  He was leading, he was learning and for 120 minutes I was able to be a part of that.  15 months is still a long time, but I will make it.  And most importantly, Elder Bigelow won't just "make" it, he will conquer it!  He has been described by a member as being on fire and I could see it!  It was a little bit of Heaven!!!

Mark and I hugged them both goodbye and watched them walk away.  We didn't cry, we just stood there with our arms around each other.  Mark looked at me and simply said, "He looked good."  How grown up all of a sudden my Mark looked.

It was a wonderful day!!

Love, MOM

Week 41 - Elder Sanders is back!

Hey mom,

     How you enjoying Virginia? I bet you are remembering what it is like to sweat again. I has been pretty humid this past week.
     I am glad that Mark is doing well. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up. But it sounds like he is doing alright. So that is great! DC wears me out even without a concussion. So that is totally understandable. I get what he means!
     This week was a little slower and we couldn't meet with everyone we hope to meet with. So that kinda stinks. But this week will be better. Elder Holdaway got transferred. But Elder Sanders is here now. I served around him in Falls Church. He was in the same ward as me. He is super fun. I really like him. Also, I am not the district leader any more. So that is nice. It is nice to just relax and be a regular foot soldier for a little bit. Elder Abney is the new district leader. He is pretty funny. He will be good.
     I think we are going to go fishing today. At a guy's pond. So that will be pretty cool. This guy is pretty funny. We do service a bunch for him.

Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Sanders and Elder Bigelow in the same area again....

Week 40 - Can't believe it has been nine months this week!

Hey mom,

This week has been good. It's crazy to think that it is transfers already. But it is here and I am excited. I think this has been my fastest transfer yet. I will be at 9 months this week. It is sweet.

We had two people at church this week, Ray and Mike. They both really liked it which is great! They only came for sacrament meeting and that kinda stunk. But we will get them to start coming more. 

Elder Holdaway had some weird spots on his arm that he found last night. So we went after sacrament meeting to go get them checked out. They were just bruises. It was pretty funny. He is super embarrassed. That was funny. 

We didn't have quite as many lessons this week. Which kinda stinks. But it is still going well. I am getting better with the ward. But I am not super close with anyone yet. I have to keep telling myself I was in Falls Church Ward for 7.5 months. That's why I knew everyone. It will take me a couple more months before I really know people and am close with them. But it is going well. We have a couple families I know well and that I think like me. 

We do a lot of moving here. It is crazy. I think since I got here we have moved like two people every week. Or at least moved a bunch of their stuff. It is crazy, but I like it. When you are directly serving someone you get to know them better and that's good. And that helps me to really get to know some ward members better. We moved this family on Saturday that are pretty cool. He is in the Air Force and he was stationed in South Africa for a couple years and so he has shot a ton of big African animals and then he loves hunting out here too. So we made a pretty good connection there with that and I really like them. 

Today I wanted to go down to Arlington cemetery. But I don't think it will happen. I think we are just too busy. Which kinda stinks. But maybe for the Fourth of July or next year I can make it down there. Hopefully I am a little closer next year! (Mom note...today was Memorial Day!)

That's good to hear Mark is doing better. He is a champ. He will be back to making us all laugh and bang our heads against the wall before we know it. 

Can't wait to see you. Love you!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Look Mom!  The APs let me drive! (Elder Snow, Elder Holdaway, and Elder Bigelow)

Week 39 - Ticks for real this time!

Hey Mom,

This week has been going well! I feel a lot better now. I am back to 100%. And that is super nice. I am starting to feel a lot more like I am a part of the ward. Still not the same as it was in Falls Church. But getting more and more familiar every week. So that is good. We have a bunch more work out here then we did in Falls Church. So that is super nice. We don't have a car though. So we spend a lot of time walking. And that kinda stinks. And there aren't really people just out that we can talk to. There are some people jogging or walking but they are too busy to really talk most of the time. They are doing their thing and are relaxing their mind. And they don't really want to talk. So that part kinda stinks. But other then that it is going well.


We are teaching this guy Ray. And he is doing really well. We meet with him 2 times a week. He has a son that was baptized a couple months ago and now he is investigating. He came to church again this week and he is coming to a family history night this Thursday. And he is excited about that!


Then we are teaching this guy Mike. He is super solid. He just wanted to turn his life around. So he just flagged down missionaries like a week before I came. So that was cool. He hasn't made it to church yet. But he is super interested. He has heard some anti stuff, but he realizes that there are answers to all his questions. And he is willing to listen. So it is great!


We meet this lady, Sana from Bethlehem a couple weeks ago and we do service for her sometimes. She is pretty cool. I think we will invite her to come to church next time we are over there. It is cool to hear what people from other places in the world think of the United States. And the difference between their countries and here. And I also love the food they bring. It is usually super yummy. (Usually. Not always)


We are teaching a couple other people. But those are our top two promising. And a cool lady we met. Thought it might be cool for you to hear a little bit about what we got going on.


Today we are headed into DC. We are going to all the embassies. It could be pretty dope. Or it could be a bust. It might just be offices. I am not sure. But it will be cool either way. It is fun to be in DC.

Transfers are coming up soon. It's crazy! I can't believe this is our last full week of the transfer. Things are starting to go by really fast! It is crazy!


This week it has rained a lot. Everyone tells me that it doesn't usually rain this much. But it has been raining a ton. We got pretty soaked last night too! But it is supposed to get hot this week. It is going to be like 95 on Friday. So I am not super excited about that. That will be kinda a pain! But we will take it how it comes.


Oh guess what, I got a tick. Actually two but only one of them got into my skin. I woke up on Thursday went to the bathroom and right there on the top of my thigh there was one. So we pulled it out and I got all of it on the first try. And so we put him in a bag and froze him. ( that's what you are supposed to do, for a month so you see if you got anything that they can identify it by the bug). So that was a little scary. I don't know where I got it from, and then last night we were outside a grocery store waiting to get picked up, and there was one crawling up my leg. I got him off before he could bite. But I am checking for ticks like every night now. It's kinda crazy. But just being out walking around on trails and stuff surrounded with bushes I think they like to hop on my clothes or something. Did not think there could be a problem with ticks out here. But there is.


I am sorry Mark isn't doing very well. I will keep him in my prayers. I will respond to you email a little later. I typed this this morning for you so you had something to read! I sure love you!


Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Snow, Elder Bigelow, Elder Evans and Elder Holdaway
just hanging out in DC.

Street Tacos for lunch/