Dear Dad March 25, 2013

March 25, 2013

Dear Dad,

I have heard bits and pieces about the tournament, but I didn't know it was that crazy. I think it is awesome that some of the underdogs are doing so well though. You never know what is gonna happen, and when teams have something to prove, I think they leave it all out on the court. I never did get a bracket though, mine probably would have been trashed though too, but that is ok. I will probably hear about Duke later today, but I hope they did end up winning.

I hear you about work though. Sometimes, there are things that we really don't like about work. But in life, sometimes we have to do things that we don't necessarily want to do. That is something you have taught me. As a trainer, I have to make decisions, keep track of stats, and teach this new missionary how to be a missionary in real life while applying what he learned in the MTC for only 13 days. Sometimes, I wanna just sit back and just go with the flow. But I can't. It is harder somedays, but I keep moving forward. I want you to know that I already do keep you and your job in my prayers everyday as well as your foot. Just pray for guidance.

As for the first week of training. It has been totally awesome to be completely honest with you. Kinda busy, but good. So, I picked Elder Flake up on Tuesday night and we still had Elder Hayes with us till Wednesday morning when we had to drop him off so he could head out to Eureka. Then we also had Elder Harless with us all day till Wednesday evening when his companion got here from Spring Creek. So the first couple days were kinda crazy. So Thursday was our first normal full day together. It was pretty uneventful, but good. Then Saturday, I had five hours of leadership training and Elder Flake went into Reno with some other Elders to buy a bike. Then Saturday, we had mini missionaries. It is a thing that the Sparks stake every year for the young men and young women. We had two young men assigned to go out with us for the day from the Sparks First Ward. I am technically still a greenie. I am training a greenie. And then I had two young men with me as well. Brother Jimenez told me that it was like they gave me the players, but I had to call the formation, the plays, snap count, everything. Pretty much that is how I was feeling. And we didn't have any appointments set up for the day. So...I picked a section of our area to go tracting in after we did some companionship study. The first house we knock. No Answer. Second House. Come back on a weekday around 12. Woah...that is a first time deal for me. Cool. Third house. A 15-16ish year old girl answers. Blah blah blah...Would you like to learn more about our message? She says "Sure". Now what???? I have never gotten that far. So...we agree to come back to teach at 3:00. The kids are asking me, does this happen all the time? no. And this is the first time that I have taken Elder Flake out tracting as well. I was kinda freaking out. Anyways...we worked the area for a little while till lunch. Then planned the lesson at 3. We go back and knock...an older girl answers the door, we find out she is the girls older sister and the other girl isn't home. At this point I was starting to think we werent going to be able to come in. She says she wants to hear what we have to say though. So...we teach the first lesson. Yajaira is our new investigator. She committed to read the Book or Mormon and Pray, and we are planning to hopefully meet again this Saturday. Soo....Keep her in your prayers.

As for my companion...Elder Layton D. Flake. From? Mesa, AZ. Heck yes. Went to Westwood. His cousins? Chad and Curt Done. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Every body says we look like brothers, and we have had so much fun the past few days. It is going to be a good three months if everything goes right. :)

As for that look from President, he had a confused look, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. :)

Thank you for the Email and for all you do dad. I love you. Tons. AND. Miss ya.

Love,
Elder Bryton Dane Shinkle