First week out in the field!

I got to the mission home in Newburg, Oregon on December 19th, 2018.

My mission President and his wife, Sister Tateoka met us at the airport and took us to their home. They are awesome.  We had a home cooked meal and some training, stayed the night and headed out to get to work the next day. 

My trainer and companion is Elder Shiozawa from Nevada.  He has been been on a mission for 18 months and in this area for a little over one month.   He is awesome and I'm learning a lot from him.  I feel like the Lord has already prepared me for missionary work so it's less training and more working so it's nice.  

We are in Silverton, Oregon.  Our area is very spread out.  To drive from one end of our area to the next takes around 45 minutes.  It is absolutely beautiful here.  It is so green, there are trees growing out of trees. I have already fallen in love with this place and have found some great rivers to fish when I come back after my mission. For now, there is no fishing on prep days and it's okay, I'm not here to fish but I can still look and admire my surroundings. 

I love my mission president and wife, President and Sister Tateoka.  They are so cool.  One thing they ask us to do is run every morning for 30 minutes.  Good thing I packed some good shoes for that.  One missionary asked if we could use a treadmill and Sister Tateoka asked, "Do you see any treadmills outside?"  haha  She is funny.  Running outside here is wet, windy, and cold because of the humidity but it's beautiful!

Fun fact:  Silverton gets about 47 inches of rain a year.   Where I lived in Utah the average was 18 inches a year.  I love the rain here.  haha  It is wonderful.

Today is my prep day so I will email you more about Christmas on Monday but my first week in Oregon has been very awesome! I love it here, I am hoping the work is going to take off soon-everyone keeps telling us to come over after the holidays. 

Highlight of the week: 

I was talking to a family on the street and telling them about Jesus Christ and the message we have to share as missionaries and the blessings that come with His gospel.  
After I talked with them my companion, Elder Shiozowa, looked at me and said, wow that was really good...thanks for being my trainer. hahah so that was awesome!

Also, I got a Book of Mormon referral which apparently is very rare so that's awesome!

It's a little tough being away for Christmas but it's good to be here doing the work. 

 I love the Savior and I love being able to share His gospel.