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/

Week 38 - Ticks

This week has been kinda long for me.

Thursday we went and did some service for this guy. And it was all outside. And there were a ton of tick. So I checked my body for ticks. And I didn't find any. And then on Saturday I had a bit of a fever all day. And then I woke up Sunday and was on fire. And did not feel good at all. So I stayed home and thought I probably did have a tick. And now today I am feeling a lot better. So I don't think I got one. But I was pretty sick.

But I am feeling better now.

One of our investigators Ray came to church and that was great. And then this other guy Mike couldn't come to church. But he did a church tour last night that went really well! He is pretty cool!

We have been doing a lot of service. We moved someone for like 10 hours on Saturday. And that was really long. But then they took us out to a way yummy dinner.

I didn't have district meeting this week. We had a zone teaching. Which is a meeting with the whole zone. And it is lead by the zone leaders. And it was really good!

I miss you and love you lots!

Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Pincock and Elder Welch...two of Elder Bigelow's
good friends are missionaries in Taiwan.
Elder Welch sent Elder Bigelow this picture.

Week 37 - Motivation

Sorry it has been a little while!

     Things have been going well for me! It was great to be able to talk

with my family at Mother's Day. They are the best! I miss them. But

glad they are doing well.

     Something I have been thinking about is motivation. How do we motivate

ourselves and how do we motivate others. And we have to have a

something that motivates us. President Uchtdorf talks about how when

he was a kid he was having a hard time learning English. But then when

he found out you have to speak English to fly it was easier for him.

He did better because the motivation. And in life if we want to do something.

Especially if it is hard. We have to find motivation!

     This week I was able to go to a baptism back in Falls Church. And it

was great. It was for Brother Meiners. I am so grateful I was able so

witness a family come to the gospel. They are the greatest! I like my

new area and my new companion. Hope you all have a good week! He is

a picture of me and the shuttle Discovery



Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Bigelow, Elder Snow, Elder Evans, Elder Holdaway

Week 36 - 1/3 of the way finished!

Hey mom,
       1/3 of my mission is finished! Wow.
       Things have been going pretty well here in Tall Cedars.  We moved a man  this weekend and is wasn't pretty.  This guy wasn't the biggest hoarder I have seen out here, but it took forever.  I think that I personally spent 15 hours over at his house this week.  He had a bunch of pets.  Not normal pets like cats or dogs.  He had 4 spiders, 4 different snakes, a bunch of frogs and a toad, and then a lizard that is like 2 feet long.  It was crazy.  And then he has his glass cage that he is raising cockroaches! There were probably 200 in this little cage thing. It was crazy!  It smelled bad and my allergies exploded. I have never really had allergies, but I was dying.  So we did this Saturday like all day.  From like 8 till 4. And then he needed us to come over Sunday and so we went over. And we missed sacrament meeting. Then a couple ward members called us and were like, "what the heck!  You have people here. Where are you?" So we went to church for the last two hours. And then came after and did like another 1.5 hours. Yes, missionaries are great at service!  At least we are!
    Things in the frat house are going well! We are working hard and having a good time. We started teaching this guy that is pretty solid. I think he will get baptized in a month or two.
     I think I will be with this companion when you come out, but not sure. We have a transfer before then, but we will see!  I think he will still be my companion.
     Sorry this is short. But I wanted to get an email off this morning!
 Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Bigelow and Elder Evans

  

Hey, look who I ran into at President Huntman's house for a BBQ... Elder Timothy!  

I love asian stir fry...who knew!

No caption even needed...

Tall Cedars!

Say Cheese!

Helping move people isn't always all that bad!

All the district leaders at President Huntsman's home.

Elder Evans didn't think it was funny when Mom and Catherine told him the 60's called and wanted their shirt back.

Before the rain drenched us....

And after the rain...

Week 35 - Transferred!

Elder Evans from Santa Clara, Utah

April 22, 2016 I made it!  This place seems pretty sweet!  Elder Evans is my comp's name. We live in a town house.  It is sweet.  There are two other Elders.  They are cool, one from California and one from PG.  Elder Snow and Elder Holdaway. We are on bikes. We all live together in one of the nicest places in the mission! 

April 25, 2016
Hey Mommy,
Tall Cedars is pretty cool. I like it a lot. It is different then Falls Church. A lot more country. But it is really nice. I like it a lot! The ward here is super cool. And the guys are too! We had a ton of fun! Elder Evans is really cool. He laughs at all my jokes. And it is all around just grand. Funny story this week. So we are working with the youth a lot trying to get them to invite their friends and stuff. And the one girl in the ward invited us to her school play. So we went. And she told all he friends that we were from the play The Book of Mormon playing in DC. And so after the show they were so excited to meet us and stuff. It was really funny! I felt like a movie star for a little bit. It was pretty funny. One of the girls started singing to us the songs from the play and stuff. It was cool.
We have this guy in our ward that his pretty funny. His name is Brother Smith. And He is the one that invited us to the play. And then he invited us to go out on a drive with him on Sunday. We went. And he basically took us and toured the back roads of western Virginia. (Not West Virginia.) It was cool to learn about the new area a bit.
My comp is from Santa Clara. He is cool. He came out with me. So he has been out for almost 8 months also. He has a little sister and two little brothers. Also, one of the guys here in my house is from Pleasant Grove, Elder Holdaway. He is cool. It is nice to take a little trip back to PG in my brain! 
I am glad things are going well. It seems to be busy at home but it's all good. I love you. Can't wait to see you on Mother's Day! 
Love, Elder Bigelow

Elder Snow from California

My old district - Elder Finlayson, Elder Haddon, Elder Skousen, Elder Keloti, Elder Poulsen, me, Elder Bishop,and Elder Teeples