Osage Beach

Well this new area is pretty crazy everybody around is pretty nice even though they don't talk to us. Within weeks you can meet everybody in the town because there is only like 900 people. I though my last two places were small towns. Well the boat races were pretty sweet I wish I took pictures of all the boats they were crazy awesome. The most expensive boat was like 5 million dollars 250,000 of that was strictly in the paint job, it also had two helicopter engines that powered it. I know Dad would have liked to been there to check out the boats and all their hardware.

Well everything is going good like I said we have 5 active members on our side of the lake so we are desperately trying to get less actives and investigators baptized. We have a few promising investigators and investigators. Nobody wants to drive into Osage Beach to go to church. They don't realize the blessings that they are missing out on and they honestly don't care so the fun begins.

Some crazy things happened this week we cut down a tree for service at an investigators house, but the problem was they didn't have an chainsaw, axe, saw or anything. All they had was a blunt hatchet that we couldn't sharpen, some wedges, and a hammer that you pound nails in around the house and the tree was good size. So we found a rope tied it to the top and I had Elder Horlacher bounce up and down on the rope while with I small hammer tried to pound these wedges in. It sucked and after two hours it came down. This week I also caught 8 roosters with two little kids, because one of the members in the area wanted them so he could eat them. It took us a long while to get those buggers. I will also be participating in the slaughtering of these roosters. Also we had a recent convert who wanted the sacrament at her house so we brought it to her, and we did it outside because their shack was too small. Outside they have eight dogs, numberless amount of cats, and 3 goats. So while I was kneeled down blessing the water. I had Goats coming up sniffing my face, cats trying to steal the leftover bread, and two dogs sniffing my back end and the other six barking. They were thankful and I guess they felt the spirit somehow because it was nuts.

Elder Horlacher is good just kind of quiet but he is a nice guy and I am enjoying my time working with him. Once you get him talking he is pretty funny. Well I sent you a letter yesterday. These older people in our ward are kind of obsessed with me because I am from AZ and it turns out that I am related to them and they invited us over and showed how we were related. It turns out I am also distantly related to Elder Horlacher and the Prophet Joseph Smith. The letter explains it better, but they are nice and they helped us out with the genealogy.

Well that is mostly it for this week I do love this area it is a pretty sweet place and I am having some good fun. Well Peace. Can't wait to slaughter those roosters it is going to be a good chicken fry

Osage Beach

Bass Pro Shop Deluxe



Luke & Logan in Lebanon Missouri



View of Lake of the Ozarks from Mission Leaders House



Osage Beach

Well hey howdy hey what is up everybody? Okay so a pretty big change. The library up here is closed on Monday's so I will be writing either Tuesdays or Wednesdays, most likely Wednesdays, Tuesdays are kind of busy. I am only writing today on Thursday because we ran into some trouble yesterday. One of the lady's they just baptized up here; her and her husband have been having car trouble the registration is three years expired, it has a leaking brake line, and the road to their house is so rough that a tire gets flat about once a month. So we helped them almost all day yesterday. Sorry I wish I could have come and said I'll email you tomorrow or something I know how you freak out about these things. Well Leaving Lebanon was a bummer things were going good and me and elder Babb were just having a blast. But all things must come to an end. I'll send you pictures of our departure they were pretty good. Well so transfers I met up with Horlacher he is a very nice kid. He loves yu-gi-oh and vanguard and stuff like that. He wants to be a video game designer. He has flaming orange hair. And he is awesome he is easy going and you can work with because he is fun to talk to. So I like him a lot and we will have fun. So about the area it is pronounced exactly like it is spelled O, Sage people in Missouri aren't the smartest so everything is pronounced exactly how it is spelled, one town near by is Versailles and they pronounce it Ver Sales silly right? Well we live in Laurie so not in Osage we have one big ward and we have four elders that share it. The Camdenton Elders, and the Laurie Elders, Us or Laurie is the more beaten down redneck side of the lake. We have 4 active members on this side of the lake and a lot of work to do. That is why they split it up is because the Osage elders wouldn't venture up into our neck of the woods unless they had too. We live about 30-40 miles away from the church building so that kind of stinks, but oh well I love it up here and Yes! it stinks looking at the lake every single day but awesome. By the way, look at Lake of the Ozarks Shootout its like the biggest boat race in North America and it is happening Saturday everything is getting pretty crazy all these rich guys are coming in from out of town with these huge speed boats all ready to race in the shootout. So crazy story I am at church meeting everybody and then some guy comes up and says I heard one of you is from AZ. Every ward I have been in there has been people from AZ but no one that I ever knew or knew someone they knew. He comes up tells me he lives in Mesa and then I start to talk to him a bit about AZ then he looks at my tag and says Heywood. HuH? Are you related to a Parker and I said Yep! that man is as mean as a snake! not really I said he is my brother then he said that Parker was in Montana and he had Filibertos with him a few weeks previous. I guess he originally comes from Missouri but he lives in AZ currently. So that was pretty cool and then he got a pic with me and that is where that comes from. I really like it up here it is beautiful our ward mission leader, Brother Howell is a cool guy, and he has like my dream house I'll show you a pic. It is up on a hill overlooking the lake and you walk down like 50 yards and you are on his dock on the lake. That lucky dog. Well it awesome. So we got a lot of work to do getting members active working with the investigators. The one lady that we helped with her car her and her husband live in a shack, probably the size of our family room, they have goats that live in a beat up mobile home behind their shack and they have twelve dogs that bark every time you drive up, and one that as you walk nips at your heels I hate that thing. Well she has a hurt leg because one of her Male goats rammed her and broke it a while back so it is kind of messed up. it is interesting on this side of the lake. But I love it here, I love Horlacher, and everything is good except for the fact that I am not with the Babb. Well I'll send pictures now and don't call Pres. I will email most likely Wednesday of next week. Your Son

Lebanon

Well today was a pretty good week a lot happened and I'll try and remember all of it because right now for some reason I am really tired. Well first of all Sharron was baptized, I am sorry I forgot my camera with pictures but I'll try my hardest to remember next week to share those with you guys. It was a very good baptism, Bro G who is Sharron's boyfriend baptized her and pretty soon I'll think they'll get married but we'll see I guess. We had a few investigators at the baptism a lady named J who we just met a couple Sundays ago she is a nice lady going through a tough divorce so we are helping her out as much as we can. And no other than R and R, R is the jolly old man that looks similar to Santa Claus.

 

So everyone we worked with got baptized and now we have a whole lot of new people that just appeared this week to be taught besides our usual investigators. Lebanon is a truly blessed place. There are a few less active people decided they wanted to come back so that is good one is named R I think I mentioned him last time but maybe I didn't well he is a younger guy in his 20's and he wants to come back and he is pretty cool. Then this other guy who we are meeting this week he had a huge battle with cancer I guess so he is now starting to get back on his feet. Some other people we have J who I mentioned above once she gets over the divorce and gets all that stressful junk off her mind she'll be ready. J who is 18 or 19 and is a non member son to a guy in our ward. He is kind of like he is smart and communicates though has some kind of aspergers or something, but he is reading the BOM and Gospel Principles manual like a savage. We haven't spoke to J lately, the guy with CP we saw him a couple weeks back and he still was having physical problems. R and R are as Jolly as ever just being R and R. So that is all that is going on around here.

 

The weather isn't bad really nice actually. It is not very hot and I don't really feel the humidity is so bad; everybody exaggerates it and says its the worse but it is nothing like working in 115-120 heat nothing. Actually we have had a lot of rain lately;I think we have had 5-6 days of straight rain and there has been some flooding especially people who are kind of outside of town. They can't get somewhere because of flooding or their basement is full of water so that has been crazy. So far everybody in the ward is not affected by the mass amounts of rain.

 

The bad news about this week is that I am getting transferred it feels like I just got here which sucks. But I am heading up to Osage Beach which is on Lake of the Ozarks and everybody is telling me it is a cool area and I am excited the only problem is I leave Elder Babb who is the man and my new companion to be is Elder Horlacher who I know kind of. Whatever it is all good because I am still in the same zone and I will see Babb at least once a month. Well I think that is all I got for you guys.

 

Everything sounds great at home school starting everybody getting back to the normal thing I bet Katie is excited that she is not going back to Kino and she gets normal kids. Well tell Seth to keep getting more chubby and in case I don't see you again good afternoon, good evening and goodnight.

Lebanon

Man sure got your hands full. School, Norwegian Kid, Dana in Norway; if anything got more crazy I would have to say that you were living in Missouri. It was awesome to see Logan I enjoyed that so much. Sorry about the phone I couldn't hear a word you guys were saying on Statton's phone, but I could hear crystal clear on Megan's phone so I talked to Parker. Again I'm sorry but you understand right? It was quite fun. Yeah Colton has his papers in and I think he will be going to Japan. That is my guess. So it will be interesting to see exactly where that old boy goes. That is cool that Thomas knows the politics and economics about his country. I think that our youth should know that stuff instead of who Justin Bieber is dating or when his next haricut is. You know learn something that matters.

Well our week went by pretty fast; the entire thing is going by pretty fast. On the thirteenth it will be my six month mark, crazy right? S the lady who smoked and had to be postponed is scheduled back for this Saturday. It will be good she will be able to officially quit this time she has got that kind of desire to do what is right. This week we have been working with some less actives we have been running into them in random places like Wal-Mart or on the street. Which is a sign that we should help them out. One guy named R is a pretty cool guy he is about 23 and works at a local country radio station even though he hates country music, but he is funny and a normal person. In Missouri you don't meet to many normal people.

As far as other investigators they are doing good. Slowly yet surely it will happen. The best that we visit is still R the jolly old man that looks like Santa Clause. We usually go over and he is watching Ellen or Jerry Springer so it is pretty funny because he has bad things to say about both of those people. "She is Queer" and "What a Smuck." So we enjoy that for a little bit and then we start to teach and usually get about half way into the lesson or a principle and then he interrupts and he spends the rest of the time about a recent problem in his life. That is usually how it goes but surely he will be in the water I don't know if I will be the one but maybe down the road.

Another cool thing is that A's 9 year old son now wants to be baptized. After seeing his Mom be baptized and the change and blessings that come with it, it was only a matter of time. So we went over there and taught J. He is a very nice kid, a little quiet but he is pretty funny. He likes the Wii Michael Jackson dance game. So he all about Michael Jackson. Elder Babb found the Michael Jackson greatest hits CD in Wal-Mart and bought it for him.

One more thing we went into Springfield Tuesday and guess what I got to eat HuHoT!!! Oh and it tasted so very very good. The end results were also very extroadinary as always but well worth it for the meal. Another interesting fact the Bass Pro HQ are in Springfield so we had some extra time and we checked that out. It is like 5 Bass Pros put together it is sweet.

Well keep on going on. Remember to also stay classy.

Your Son