Dear Browns January 22, 2012

January 22, 2012

Hey!
Well I am sorry that you didn't get an email yesterday if you were expecting one. It was a holiday, so the libraries were closed...so we get to do it today!

It is good to hear that you are doing well and keeping busy. I keep you all in my prayers every night. I am glad you enjoy what you do. It makes things just that much better. I enjoy serving a mission. It is work, but it really is just so much fun. Like last night we were teaching a 16 year old recent convert who was baptized before I got out here. We had a good lesson in one of the members homes and then afterwards they invited us to play a game of apples to apples. It was a blast. It is just the little things like that that keep us sane as missionaries. You can have fun, but still work at the same time.

Congrats to Tony! Hard work pays off. I want you to know that I am not jealous of those Big Boy Mover moves whatsoever, but I am happy to hear that it all is going well.

As for the Fritters, we did not see them this Sunday. However, our ward mission leader had been talking with them and earlier in the week they went and visited Brother Fritter's mother who has been in the hospital for quite some time. Brother Fritter was able to give his first priesthood blessing to his mother who is not a member. Brother Fritter has been a convert for about a year. From what I hear though, it was a pretty awesome experience. He then told Elder Hayes and I that Brother Fritter was talking about taking his mom to church, but to the ward that she lived in. So. I believe that is where they were this Sunday. Kinda crazy how much one visit can change people.

As for Juan, he is 17. He is such an awesome kid. He is so ready to be baptized, we are just waiting on his mother's approval. So...until then, we have been asking him to pray with his mom every night, and bearing his testimony to her. We just have to be patient. So in the meantime, we have just been going over lessons and principles with him. Answering questions that he has and so on and so forth. It will come...we just aren't sure when. :)

We also now have a new investigator. Another youth as a matter of fact. Every Friday we get together with the youth to play some basketball. It is super fun. We invite them to bring their non member friends though. That is how we found Keenan. I am excited to get to know him and be able to teach him. Elder Hayes and Elder Davis are actually gonna be teaching him tonight. I won't get to be there because we are on 24 hour exchanges, and I am with my District Leader Elder Prescott. I am excited for that though. :)

Other than that, life is good here in Nevada. I am just waiting for it to warm up a little bit. I miss the warm Arizona sun. I love and miss you Big Sis.

Love
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

Dear Dad January 22, 2012

January 22, 2012

Dad!

It is so good to hear from ya. Today is the emailing day, because all the libraries were closed yesterday, but we still had an awesome P day none the less. We woke up and did a district hike, which was pretty fun. Kinda uneventful, but fun. Then we had a good ol' Mexican standoff as Elder Chatterton calls it.(Nerf Gun war). Then we went out and did some shopping. Went and got lunch at Jazz, where we eat for free. It is a Louisiana type cooking restaurant. I got me some voodoo chicken strips with extra hush puppies. MMMM. And...yeah. that was pretty much our P day. Until later that night when we went to the Metcalf's home to teach a recent convert the last recent convert lesson. It went really well. Then they invited us to play some apples to apples...then they gave us treats...and toilet paper...and money to go to lunch. It was just a really good day. They are an awesome family, just like all the others out here.

I have heard some bits and pieces about the flu. Seems crazy...but I feel like they freak out about it every year. Good to hear that you are playing some ball. We do with the youth every Friday night, and we actually now have a new investigator because of it. I am excited about that. And I think that it is awesome that you are doing another race, but yes, try to get a little training in. It won't hurt. Too much.

I am happy to see that the Chargers are sticking with their Offensive mindedness. Hopefully this new coach can do it a little better than Norv could. I guess we will see. I am sad to see Chip go to the Eagles though. Wish he would have stayed with Oregon, but oh well. I guess we will see with that as well. I hope the Ravens win the Superbowl. Everybody and there dog are 49ers founds round these parts. It should be a good game though. Wish I could see it.

Anyways...I was just thinking today. The gospel is...so much like football. Like I can't help but relate it all back to it. Earlier I was thinking...we have the greatest coaching staff. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They know how to win. They have given us the perfect playbook. The Scriptures. We are the players. And just like in football, the players have to study and learn the plays. The coaches can help us learn, but it is our job to actually learn the plays. Because if not, someone may come to us with a question...If we haven't studied out play book, we may not know how to answer that question. We won't know what play to run and our coaches will have no way of helping us, because we haven't done our part. It is so important to study everyday. I am really starting to realize that. I know that to be true. I say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I am sorry to hear about the Noyes family as well. I will keep their family in my prayers.

With that, I want you to know that I love and miss you.

Love,

Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

My Bike Arrived

Hey Dad!

Just letting you know that I got my bike. It is awesome. You definitely picked out a good one. We put it all together yesterday. Elder Prescott and Elder Chatterton helped me out. I hope everything is going well with all of you guys back home. I am sorry the Seahawks lost...and I also heard that Duke lost their first game. That is a bummer. I think I will have to just cheer for the Ravens. Just because Ray Lewis...I respect that man. Elder Chatterton says I am growing out a moustache and my name is the Great Dane. That is all.

Love
Elder Shinkle
(The Great Dane)

One Month In...

Mom,

Thank you Thank You Thank You

I am glad to hear that you were able to share my own personal experiences in your talk yesterday. I am happy to know that they helped. It is crazy to think a month has gone by...but honestly...time is weird out on a mission. In the MTC, days felt like weeks, but weeks felt like days. Sometimes I feel like I have been out here a whole lot longer than I actually have. I want you to know that I am trying to be a better missionary today, than I was yesterday every day. Elder Prescott by the way lives like five minutes away from BYU-Hawaii. He had some names he wanted me to ask if you knew...but I dont know where he is at the moment...so I will ask you eventually. He told me today that he loves this haoli boy. He is so awesome...he also was telling me about one of his white friends that should be polynesian, and then he looked at me and said "Like you". I love him. I also love Elder Chatterton from Pocotello Idaho...which I believe I told you in a letter I just sent the other day. He is such an awesome guy though.

I apologize for you having to pack up my room. I miss listening to some good ol owl city some days...it is nice when I walk into a store or something though and it is playing. Tender mercies of the Lord :) As far as shirts go, I would like my ASU, fear the fork and ASU football shirt, My Weddle Chargers shirt, and....my penguin shirt. Also a couple hats. With that...I would just like to share an experience I had the other day.

So...Elder Hayes and I, along with our ward mission leader went out the other day to the other side of our area that we cant really get to by walking...it would just take to long. So we went out to make some visits with less active members. We only ended up making one visit...but it was a good visit. We spent a long time looking for their home, because they lived off in the boonies of Spark Nevada. Up on a hill off a dirt road. Just when we were about to move on to the next person, we found the turn off. We went in...and just started visiting with them. WE came to find out that they had started off the 2013 year very rough. Just those...one thing after another type of deals. We then offered to give them blessings of comfort, which they then accepted. I gave my first blessing as the mouth piece to Brother Dale Fritter. It was an awesome experience. The best part is, they were at church on Sunday.

I love the people here. I am happy to be where I am.

I am glad to see that Hayden is still a goof.

I am thankful for you Mom.

I love and Miss you.

Your Son, Your Missionary,

Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

 Elder Hayes

Elder Chatterton

First P-day

January 7, 2013

Well here I am in the library, writing you all an email on my first pday. I love this place so much, besides the cold part, I could do without that. These first few days have been full of walking and hard work, but holy moly, we have a lot of fun. We are planning to go play some ultimate frisbee with our district later, and President Hermansen may join us. Then we are gonna go get our shopping and everything done later. Then we have a couple lessons and then dinner at the bishop's house later tonight. We haven't had to provide dinner for ourselves once since I have gotten here. Last night we had sweet pork tacos and cheesecake at the Metcalf's. It was so yummy. Then we played a game of apples to apples. The people in my ward are so awesome.

Yesterday, I was able to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting and meet lots of people in the ward. It was a good Sunday. Most of you want to know about my trainer, Elder Hayes. He is quite the character. In fact, he is known as the turkey around the mission. I once again got paired up with a marching band kid from the east coast, but he is a really good guy. He has only been out three months, but we work hard. A lot of our work has been with less active, in active, and part member families. But we do have a 17 year old kid who just is waiting on his mother's permission to be baptized. He is super cool. Another thing that we have been working on is updating the area book. It hadn't been updated since about June...because Elder Hayes Trainer did not believe in using the area book. From what I have heard, the guy basically taught Elder Hayes everything that he shouldn't do. So we have had a lot of catching up to do, but it is good because it keeps us busy, and we have already started to see results. Last night we went and visited a home of someone that we found in the area book. They let us right in and we found that they are a part member family, and the dad who is not a member travels a lot for work. He had been taking the lessons in the past, but he is interested in starting up again in February after some business trips. WooHoo! That is exciting.

Jeri Lin, my teacher who is in Vocal Point, his name is Landon Peay. He is super cool. I really want to get the all hymns CD that he told us they just released.

Also, could you guys send me a couple more of my tshirts? I would really appreciate it! If you can.

Dad, thank you for getting me the bike. That will be nice to have...maybe a little colder, but faster. I heard that the Seahawks won, I was pretty excited about that. They better beat the Falcons.

I think that is all I have for now. I love and miss you all!

Love,

Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

First Area!

January 2, 2013

Hey everyone!

Well here I am. Living in Nevada now. There are plenty of mountains and rolling hills, kinda reminds me of back home a little. Except for the snow and ice. It was like 6 degrees this morning when we went to drop some of the Elders off at the mission office who are going to the area that is like 6 hours away...I am lucky, I am just here in Sparks in the Sparks North Zone for my first area. It is a biking area...so I am yet to get that all figured out. President Hermansen is looking into it a little more.

I have been told that the ward we are serving in is awesome, according to my trainer, Elder Hayes. He is from North Carolina and has been out here for 3 months. He is a pretty cool guy...a total nerd though. They call him the Turkey...and that is exactly what he is. I think we will have a lot of fun and hard work ahead for us though. We live in an apartment with two other Elders. Elder Prescott, he is a big guy from Hawaii and he also happens to be my district leader. He is super cool. His companion is Elder Davis, from Utah. He is also a total nerd...but is a really good guy and he really knows how to cook. We have had a pretty good time so far.

Elder Hayes and I just finished up visiting with some people that they have been teaching. We met with Juan. He is SO close to baptism...he just needs the final approval from his mom...and I am going to help him go over the Word of Wisdom on Saturday. The people we have met are so kind. I am excited. We have a dinner appointment tonight with a couple in the ward tonight and I will be meeting the bishop later tonight as well. So...everything is going pretty well!

I just have a short story to tell. So...yesterday was busy...and very exhausting. With all the anxiety, nervousness, and exhaustion, I started to feel pretty sick...it was like I had Flu like symptoms...but you know me...I dont like to make a big deal about things, and I just pushed pass the upset stomach and aches. I then kneeled to pray last night after companionship prayer and just asked for a good nights rest and feelings of relief from the sickness, because I didnt want to start off being sick. My prayer was ansered. I feel absolutely fine today. Heavenly Father answers prayers. I know that to be true.

I love and miss you all.

All my mail can be sent to the mission office, which you should have the address for. So just let people know. I love mail.

Love,
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

P.S. The mission office address is

Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle

Nevada Reno Mission

1146 Prater Way

Sparks, NV 89431

Arrival in the Mission Field

My flight was changed and ended up being a direct flight to Reno.  My friend, Elder Fajardo, couldn't fly due to his immigration status and had to leave a day early to drive.

When we arrived in Reno we had a luncheon at the mission home.

 I met my trainer, Elder Hayes (more about him in my letter).

My mission president is President Hermansen.

There were 16 other new missionaries that arrived with me on January 1, 2013.

The Last of the MTC

Here are a few more pictures from the MTC before I jumped into the mission field...

Mom and Dad drove me up to Provo.  We were able to stay with my aunt Sherra.  We spent a little bit of time at Temple Square in Salt Lake with one of Dad's old mission buddies, Elder Cabral.  My cousins Kristi, Chase, Shayla, Samantha, Chayne, and Brittney took me bowling and then out to dinner at Red Robin.  Chase paid for me to go bowling and Chayne bought my dinner.

The next day I reported to the MTC at 1:00.  Before Mom and Dad dropped me off we had to do some last minute shopping because I realized I didn't have a towel.  We also bought a sketch pad and some pencils.  We ate lunch at a noodle place.  I had a small bowl of Macaroni & Cheese.  I was so nervous I was shaking.

I froze in Provo...

...met lots of new friends.  It's amazing how quickly you can make friends when you spend so much time with people every day.

I really liked my branch presidency at the MTC...

 ...and playing with light sabers.

I learned how to work in a companionship with Elder Anderson...

 And got to work with some awesome teachers, one of which is in Vocal Point (BYU's a capella group).