The End is Near (Potentially Last Letter)

Hey Family!

 

Well I may be kind of brief today. I mean you guys can wait the 9 days right? But seriously this past week was actually really good. Some minor hiccups but for the most part it went very well. We got some new investigators to work with, and talked to a lot and I mean A LOT of Catholics. Holy moly. So as far as the new investigators go, Patrick is the most solid one. He is an African from Nigeria, and he is 28 years old. He's been in America since he was 19 so he speaks English fairly well, and is pretty intelligent. Not that being from Africa makes you unintelligent ;) So we were actually trying to see an unknown on the ward list and we knocked on the door, and we saw someone look out the window with the blinds and no one answered, so we were starting to leave and then Patrick came to the side of his house. It was super cold outside so he felt bad, and when we asked if we could come in and share a message about Jesus Christ with him he said sure. So we went in and taught him the Restoration and things went great. He said he could feel that it was right and he agreed for baptism on March 7th! So that was pretty neat. So the other investigators weren't quite as great as that, but it should be fun teaching them. 2 of them are a husband and wife, pretty young, and they're super devout Catholics (I thought that was an oxymoron but I guess not ;)) and we had a nice discussion with them and got to teach them the Restoration as well. It'll be a little tough with them since they're so invested in the Catholic church, but they have the Book of Mormon now and we'll go over again this week and read it with them. I heard more than I ever wanted to know about the Catholic church this week. I now know exactly what the Eucharist is now. Weird. And the 7 sacraments. Well anyways, that's about it.

 

I will definitely take you up on that weight loss deal. Count me in for a good 50 pounds. I am getting serious when I get home. It's hard to maintain the diet (high protein, low calorie) I want to with members feeding us almost every day, but come Utah I plan on being pretty strict along with going to the gym 6 days a week. Thanks for sharing the basketball information. I am excited to get back in the loop. Well that should do it for me this week. I might not be able to email you guys next week because it's Martin Luther King day or whatever, so if not I love you guys and I'll see you at the airport on the 21st at 10:14 AM. <3

 

Love,
Elder Ballif

Homecoming Talk

Happy New Year - Funny Experiences

Hey Family!

 

Well I hope everyone is doing well. Things are getting better here in Elmwood, slowly but surely. We had some funny, I guess, experiences. So New Years was alright. We stayed up 20 minutes past 10:30, oh no watch out haha. My sleep schedule is somewhat normal now, but I expect that to change for a little bit when I get home haha.

 

We have been emphasizing working with the members and things are starting to progress. We did bear our testimonies the first Sunday we were there so hopefully that helped a bit. We have been visiting the members regularly as well. We actually started teaching a friend of Sister Oltman's daughter named Trae. He is pretty cool. We went to the trail center and all that jazz and we're going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with him tonight at the Oltman's. 

So as far as funny experiences, we met this dude named Paul Weisahpl (pronounced wise apple) and we walked with him for a couple of miles, but basically he said he is in a spiritual crisis right now, and that he's going to rehab for the 9th time. He is a super smart guy, actually like genius status, but he got into drugs and uses his smarts for not so smart things. He was so darn funny though. Holy cow, everything he said was hilarious. But he was very vulgar unfortunately. So we actually sat down with him, and got to teach him, and he opened up and said he wants to change, and he wants to start over. We talked about how through the Atonement he could and read a passage out of Alma 36 with him and talked about how Alma's change of heart, and he said that really "spoke to him" and he said he wanted to have a better life, and that he would read the Book of Mormon while he's in rehab and he wants to missionaries to visit him there. Pretty cool. 

Oh another story. We were driving home and there was this dude, sitting on the side of the rode, and as we drove by we noticed there was blood all over his face, and we were like "oh crap" so we pulled over and he then crawled his way to the middle of the street. Turns out he was super drunk and fell and hit his face. He needed to get to his apartment and he said one of his knees was really bad so he couldn't walk. That and he was hammered, I'm sure that was part of the reason. His apartment was just a block away, but we unfortunately aren't allowed to give rides to people in the mission cars, but luckily someone else stops, and hesitantly offered to help (he was super scared the guy was going to kill him or something so he asked us to watch them as he drove the block) and got him into his car, and drove him to his apartment. We then helped him in to his room. I just remember helping him up the stairs and his pants were down so his bare butt was right in front of my face. I just remember asking him "Would you like me to pull your pants up, sir" And he was like "no, I'm good" hahahaha. We then got him to his room and he just fell down and sat there on the floor. Beer cans were everywhere. Well we gave him our number and told him to call us when he sobers up, but we'll probably go visit him soon, since we know where he lives. 

Well anyways that's all I got for this week hahaha. I hope all you have a great week! I hope everyone starts feeling better! Well I love you guys!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Short and Sweet

Hola Familia!

 

Welp, this past week was a joy. It was great getting to talk to all of you. And tell Carsen that I love him and that I'll see him soon enough. I'm doing my best to stay focused. I haven't given up. So Christmas day was fun. We had Christmas breakfast at our Bishop's house and then Elder Gardner talked to his parents there as well. Following that we spent most of the Christmas day at the Oltman's house and had a lot of fun. We even had a nerf war there which was awesome haha. Other than that not too much to tell about this week. We started taking the bus this week, so we've been doing a lot of walking. We haven't had much luck, yet. Tracting is not very effective. And even Less Active Members won't answer their doors haha. We had a pretty funny experience on the bus however. Some black chick called us Book of Mormons. I don't think she was all the way there but anyways she was like "Hey Book of Mormons!" and we respond with something generic, and then she followed with "Are Book of Mormons allowed to have girlfriends?" hahaha. It was quite the experience. Sorry, nothing spiritual or anything haha.

 

There are a lot of awesome members here so that is definitely a plus. Well I need to get going. I love you guys!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Merry Christmas

Hey Family!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! Well I was planning on doing the Christmas call just on Christmas night but since it has been made known to me that it would be inconvenient for you guys, I just texted the AP's. I'll let you know the results. We'll be Skyping at the Oltmans house so she'll probably call you guys or something to let you know what's up. If the Christmas Eve thing doesn't work out. We will be at the Oltmans like all afternoon on Christmas so I was planning on Skyping then, and I figured Mom would get home around 8 so I could talk to her for like 30 minutes but I'll try to make the Christmas Eve thing work. 

Well so far I would like to say thank you for the Christmas cards everyone. The extra funds were sorely needed haha. January 25th for my homecoming talk huh? Well that will be fun haha. Oh and I did get the Christmas package you guys sent me. Thank you guys! However I do feel like you guys are trying to sabotage my weight loss. Beef Jerky and HiChews? My only weakness. Those socks were pretty spiffy too. And I don't know if I was suppose to or not but I opened the wrapped present. Sorry. But I'm sure all of the ladies here in Omaha will appreciate it hahaha ;) 

Well as far as my scripture studies go, I have been really digging Jacob. Jacob 4 is definitely one of my favorite chapters right now. I have been reading a lot of conference talks lately as well. And listening to them. I decided for my last transfer all I'm going to listen to is Mo Tab, Hymns, and Conference talks. President Uchtdorfs most recent talk "Receiving a Testimony of Truth and Light" is super good.

Well as far as investigators go, there is not a whole lot to talk about. We did see Jeff and Erin, that investigator couple. They're super nice, but just have a lot of hold ups. She was asking a lot of polygamy and if we claim God doesn't change, then why did we change our doctrine on polygamy and what not, so we tried to explain, in the most politically correct way possible, that the doctrine never changed, just the practice of it did. But they're just going to need to pray about it. They want to logical conversion rather than a spiritual one so we'll have to work on that. Well guys, I need to get going. I love you! Talk to you soon! Have a great day!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Transferred to Elmwood with 6 Weeks to Go :)

Hey Family!

Well the news has already been spoiled I suppose. Sister Oltman keeps that facebook stuff current haha. Yeah I am in the Elmwood Ward in Omaha. It's about right in the middle in Omaha. In fact Center St. is in our area. I am pretty excited actually. Elder Gardner is a stud. He is so tight. He is in the running already for favorite companion. Things have been going great so far.

This is a interesting way to spend my last 6 weeks but I'm up for it. I was pretty shocked to get transferred but it has actually been nice. The area is not as depressed either. I actually see a lot of white people now so that has been an awesome change haha. 

 We've already hit it off with some members. The Pearson family, oh man they are so cool. We had an awesome dinner. She actually made that chicken broccoli casserole that Mom would make from time to time, and guess what? I actually like it now. Oh the things a mission will do for ya haha. 

Well as you may now we are whitewashing the area. The Elders here before us did not take good care of the area and let's just say we have our work cut out for us. We do have a dinner with an investigating couple on Wednesday though, so I am excited for that. Other than that, I'm not really sure what to do. We really want to work with the members so we have been trying to get to know them as much as possible. 

I'm trying not to check out, and I think I'm doing a pretty decent job. I wouldn't say that I'm trunky, but I would say that I'm pretty hubbed out. You can figure out what that means on your own haha ;)

So as far as the Christmas call goes, we are still working out some details. We can Christmas morning for sure, but I have yet to get permission for Christmas Eve haha. I will work on that and let you know next week. Speaking of Christmas, 

 Well I need to get going. I will email earlier next week, sorry for emailing so late. Well I love you guys! Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Ballif 

Moved Apartments

Hey Family!

 

How's everyone doing? I hope well. My week was pretty good. It went by super fast, which is always good haha. It is transfer week this week which is pretty crazy if you ask me. Then the next one will be me. Pretty weird stuff. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm trying not to think too much about it, but sometimes that doesn't work out too well. I am definitely excited to talk to you guys on Christmas. I'm sure I can work something out with your work schedule, Mom. But that is pretty lame that they're doing that. If you guys haven't already check outchristmas.mormon.org and what that video. It is so good. I have been very impressed with the Church's media campaigning lately.

 

That is pretty scary about Grandma but I'm glad she's doing better now. Seizures are very scary. Not that I know a whole lot about them. But I will make sure to send some extra prayers Grandma's way. I wish I would have developed a better relationship with the extended family back home. Hopefully I can make up for lost time when I get home.

 

Well as far as investigators go, Nealia is still doing awesome. Unfortunately she couldn't make it to church yesterday. She gave us a call the morning of and said she was in a lot of pain with her knee, and it was all swollen. She is actually having surgery today on her knee so keep her in your prayers. The surgery she's getting is orthoscopic so apparently she wont be down for too long. We still went over to see her yesterday, and taught her the law of the fast and the law of tithing, and it is just crazy how accepting she is. She was already doing the math for the 10% right after we told her haha. She is so awesome. Austin is still improving. The situation is a little interesting though. His mother is not living the law of chastity and like, I've said he just doesn't have a very good home situation, so we are still trying to figure some things out as far as his baptism. We need to make sure he really, really wants it. We have not been able to see Chloe either. She'll answer our phone calls, but we have had the hardest time getting things set up and actually working.

 

So before I forget we have now moved. Our apartment is a lot nicer and does not have the very pleasant smell of weed. The address is 2619 Nicholas St. Apt F, Omaha NE, 68131. So do not send anything to the Ames place. And to answer your question Mom, it would probably be a good idea to send everything to the mission office. 11027 Martha St, Omaha NE 68144. We frequently go there, due to the calling. Also just putting some money in my account would be awesome. I dropped a ton and I mean A TON of money at Costco, getting healthy stuff. But if you guys don't mind today I would like to buy something at GNC so if you could keep an eye out for that, I would greatly appreciate it. It will be an early Christmas present haha.

 

Well I hope you guys all have a great week. I love all of you and can't wait to see you guys on Christmas! Take care!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Another General Authority Visit

Hey Family!

 

I hope everyone's week has been great! My week was pretty good, and it went by really fast so that was great. We had another General Authority come though. His name was Elder Martino. He said some pretty awesome things, and let me tell ya, we have our work cut out for us. He really pushed working with the ward council, and having the ward council find investigators. Being here on a mission (now I don't know how it was in Utah because I never paid attention) I've noticed the member missionary work needs a lot of work. Members are supposed to be the finders, but they don't do anything here (Nebraska) so it has been difficult. But we are excited to make a push to get something going. Some also that was really cool, is that the Church is launching a Christmas initiative called "He is the Gift". I'm sure you can imagine what that's talking about. Anyways they made a ton of cards to pass out and made a video and some other things. It should be really cool. You can visit christmas.mormon.org to check some stuff out. The video is super awesome.

 

Well Mom to answer your question on Christmas presents, I can wait for most of the stuff. I just would really like some money to go to GNC or something and buy some stuff before I get home. I'll let you know if anything changes. A care package would be nice as well haha.

 

So as far as investigators go things have been great. We had an appointment with Chloe but that didn't work out, but the person I'm most excited about is Nealia (I'm pretty sure now, that's how you spell her name). He took her to the Trail Center, and showed her all of the Gingerbreads. I got a lot of pictures for when I get home so don't worry haha ;) Oh what the heck, I'll be nice and send you guys a couple of pictures today haha. Nealia said she "found her place" and that "this is where she wants to be". She'll be getting baptized sometime likely in December. Austin has shown improvement as well. He has been coming to Church regularly, with some member families picking him up, and yesterday we went over, and he was paying attention a lot more. I do thing he has ADD. But we'll work through that.

 

Just really quick, I'm glad Carsen had a great birthday. Happy Birthday, man! I love you. We'll have to have some wrestling matches when I get home.

 

Well I need to get going. I love you guys! Have a great week everyone!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Mission Tour and Investigators Doing Well

Hey Family!

 

Well this past week has been one of the fastest of my mission. We were super busy and didn't spend a whole lot of time in the area but we still worked hard and had a good time. We actually put up the Christmas lights at the Mormon Trail Center (the pioneer museum) which took us quite some time. So if you were to drive by and look at the building at night, Elder Pierce and I, were the ones that put them up, so that's pretty neat.

 

Well as far as investigators go, things are still going well, but not on fire. Neila didn't make it to church yesterday, because it was icy outside and she didn't want to fall and hurt her knee. She felt really bad though. She called and was asking us not to be mad at her, and she was crying. So yeah, I'm not really concerned as to whether she takes this seriously or not. She really is awesome. She is so accepting of everything we tell her. We actually got her baptismal date on the 30th of this month, but since she didn't make it to Church we'll have to figure something else out. 

So moving onto Austin, he is quite the puzzling case. I would never let my kids act the way he does. Sorry for saying this but he is a little punk. His grandparents who are members want him to get baptized on Friday the 21st but there is no way he is ready. I'll get into that in a second, but basically that's not going to happen. I think we can shoot for the 29th but he'll need to make some changes. I went over with Elder Markert, a new elder in the Zone that I was on exchanges with and we get along famously. We're super tight now... Anyways, we went over and he was being super disrespectful. When we would ask him if he wants to be baptized he would say yes and then a little while later he would say no, and we then asked him if he would like to go to Heaven and he said no. And then he ripped out the title page of the Book of Mormon and crumpled it up. Yeah we weren't too thrilled to see that. We took it and told him he needs to start taking this stuff more seriously or else he won't be able to be baptized. Obviously that is condensed but that was the jist of it. Hopefully he can get his act together soon. I mean I understand he's 9 but normal 9 year olds don't act like that. So anyways that's what's going on with that. 

Remember that super solid family I talked about a few weeks ago? Chloe was the name of the mom. Well anyways we lost all contact with them. And just when we were about the give up hope, she texted us yesterday and told us that there were some family friends that died recently and that these past few weeks have been crazy, but that she wanted to have us come over this week. I was really happy to hear that. I've been a bit worried because they seemed so awesome.

 

The Mission Tour was pretty dang awesome. Elder Nielson is a stud. He talked about a lot of different things but something that really stuck out to me is him talking about how the "ground always comes". He talked about the law of gravity and no matter how many times you jump out of a building, the ground will always come. Let's say it was a 5 story building, once you get to the 4th story, you're still feeling pretty good, and actually may think it's kind of cool, and so on with the 3rd. When you get to the 2nd story, you may have realized you've made a mistake, and then you realize that you've really done something stupid, and then the ground comes. He related that too how when we step off the building of chastity or the building of the word of wisdom, or whatever commandment it may be, we think we're fine. And then the ground keeps getting closer and closer, until we eventually hit it. Well anyways it was a great meeting. 

The leaders of the mission got to have dinner with him which was awesome. There are some nice perks to being in leadership haha. But anyways that was a great experience that I was very happy to be a part of.

 

Things are going well with Pierce and I. We are having a lot of fun. It's weird to think that he's probably my last companion haha. Well I hope everyone has a great day today, and a great week. I love all of you guys. Stay safe!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Short and Sweet.

Hey Family!

I hope everyone has had a great week! Our week was pretty great. We went on exchanges with a struggling companionship and they said they now want to make some changes and I have already seen improvement so that was really cool. 

We should have a great week this week. Brent H. Nielson is going to be here on Friday. 

Things are going really well with Neila. She twisted her knee so she couldn't make it to church but we went and saw her after church. She was so sad she couldn't come. We hard set her for baptism on December 20th so we're excited about that. 

Also Austin is set for baptism on November 21st but we'll see if he makes it. He's being kind of a punk but that alright haha. 

Hey Mom don't worry about sending me Hillsong. I got it taken care of haha. I did use 17 bucks on the home card so watch that ;) 

Well guys I need to get going. Sorry this is so short, but I'll make up for it next week! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ballif

New Companion Elder Pierce from Ogden

Hey Family!

Well I hope everyone had a great Halloween. My Halloween was pretty meh. Transfer stuff all day. I got to hang out with Elder French a bit though. Man that guy is easily one of the funniest guys I've ever met. But also one who isn't the best example. But I still love him. 

So my new companion is Elder Pierce. He is from Ogden Utah. He is a pretty cool dude. We have a lot more in common than Edwards and I did. We're are getting along great. I'm training him as a new Zone Leader which is a pretty overwhelming, because I myself don't know what I'm doing. I hope he turns out ok haha. 

Well this week as far as missionary work goes, was just a lot of mission business. I wasn't in the area until Friday night, because I was floating around with some other missionaries since Edwards was gone. But we still got to see Neila and Sheila. Neila is doing great. We had a super good lesson with them. We talked about Joseph Smith and the Great Apostasy. We committed her to come to church next week. She said she was going to go for sure. I was really happy about that because I saw that as a big obstacle. We are coordinating with the ward to find her a ride. 

Since Dad is asking and I forgot, the process for highlight the Book of Mormon is highlighting anything that is related to the atonement and highlighting anytime it mentions a member of the Godhead and circling or highlighting the word heart. Any color. I'm doing blue, yellow, and purple. And I restarted so I'm super far behind. 

And Mom it's up to you if you want to get me a Hillsong CD. I heard they have like 9 albums. Another missionary in the Zone had his sister send him a CD, and she sent the one called United. It has that song Ocean you were talking about. If you feel so inclined, you can research and find out what is accepted as their best album and send it to me. If you don't it doesn't matter to me. You can surprise me haha. 

Things should pick up soon. Elder Pierce is a great guy and a great missionary. Well I need to get going. I love you guys! Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Bed Bugs Arghhhhh!!!

Hey there Family!

 

Well I don't have a whole lot of time so I'll just start of by saying Happy Birthday Mom! And Kim and Ellie! I forgot to say that last week. I always forget about that stuff, even with the calendar you guys sent me haha. Sorry.

 

Things have been good this week. We went on 3 exchanges this week so we were pretty darn busy. One with the AP's so that was fun. Elder Scott, my MTC companion is an AP so I went with him. It was a lot of fun to be back together. The low light of the week was that we got bed bugs. Gosh dang it. We have no idea how, but we've been cleaning like crazy and I think, and hope we got it all taken care of. I had no idea those things even existed until I came to Nebraska. They're really gross. To make matters worse, our bishop helped us out by buying mattress covers and what not which is good, but he ended up telling everybody in ward council about it, and then they people of ward council told everyone in the ward so now everyone in the ward knows, and doesn't want us over right now. We're like a couple of lepers. But oh well. 

We weren't able to see Big Mike this last week, but we did see Neila and Sheila. They're doing really well. They're set for baptism in December, which I know Neila will make if her health allows it. She is so solid. She's such a nice old black lady haha. Austin came to church again. I don't really know what's going to happen with him. His family is really broken and just does not a have a good mom. But that family that is helping us out with them is awesome.

 

Things are getting better and better as a Zone Leader. I'm adjusting better and Elder Edwards has been good for me. He has helped me improve a lot. There have been some growing pains though haha. I am really glad I am able to experience this. It has been stressful, but I'm becoming a better missionary. This week should be good. We're going to see Meet the Mormons again tomorrow with a less active and his girlfriend. Actually that reminds me. There was a preview for a new movie coming out about a Christian Rock band called Hillsong. If you guys could, could you please, pretty please send me their CD. I'm getting tired of the Christian Rock all of the other missionaries have. PLEASE! Hillsong....Well I need to get going. I need to fill out a survey on LDS.org. We have a general authority doing a mission tour next month so I guess this is in preparation. I love you guys! Have a great week everyone!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

New Shoes and New Investigators :)

Well hey there family.

 

I hope everyone is doing great! My week was pretty good. We got some new investigators and had some good lessons. Zone training was this past week. That was fun. It was basically District Meeting but with a lot more people. And we have a lot more leeway on the trainings was give. We ended up talking about a plethora of things. Desire, hope, potential, acting, and not procrastinating, and tied it back to goal setting. It was fun. And then we went to Huhot after, which is a really good Mongolian grill buffet place. This is random, but I just looked over at this whiteboard here in the library, and it says movie night, waffles and soda. Man this place is confirming all the stereotypes of black people. Everything is true hahaha ;) EVERYTHING.

 

Well as far as missionary work goes things have been picking up :) We got a new investigator who goes by Big Mike. He's is pretty cool. He was outside working on his truck and we went up and offered to help him. We just talked a little bit and then he asked what we actually do, and then we got into a big discussion on religion, and we talked about prophets and he wants us to come back and show him stuff from Thomas S Monson. Apparently Edwards has talked to him before but he has shown no interest so it's pretty cool to hear how that has changed. We are still working with Neila and Sheila. Neila is progressing a ton. She is gobbling up everything we tell her. We got a large print BoM so she can start reading. I don't know if I've mention him, but we're also working with a 9 year old named Austin. His mom is an excommunicated member and it just a super broken home, but he has been coming to church with a family who we're getting pretty tight with. We actually taught their FHE lesson last night and had dinner. It was homemade lasagna and it was awesome :) Yeah I heard about BYU. That's too bad, but oh well haha. That's awesome about the Jazz. That's actually some great news. How does Exum look?

 

Hmmm responsibilities? Well if there are any announcements we are the ones to get them out to the Zone. Also if there are any companionships struggling we need to take care of it. Apparently it's pretty common in this Zone. There's some specific missionaries, that even argue at church. It's pretty ridiculous. And one of them has like 5 months left and is kind of giving up, so we're going on exchanges with them, and I'm going to talk to him. We get along pretty well actually. We go on a ton of exchanges. We're going on 3 this week with the average being 2. We also make sure everyone is doing what they should. We stay pretty darn busy, which has been great.

 

Oh so I bought some new shoes. Not crocodile skin. I decided that I wasn't black so yeah. They're some really nice lighter brown shoes with a nice design. I also got a belt that matches, all for a total of 52 bucks. I hope that wasn't too much. I got them at Burlington Coat Factory. I'm still going to check that Leflore's place out to see if there anything. If so Burlington has a 30 day return policy.

 

Well I should get going. I hope everyone has a great day! Things have been going really well here. Still a little uncomfortable being in the minority with all the beautiful people of color here but I'm getting there hahaha. The gospel is true!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Adjusting to New Area and Calling

Hey there family!

Well this past week was pretty good. I'm learning the area quite a bit better, and I'm starting to grasp being a Zone Leader a little bit. It is a lot different. But it has been a good learning experience so far. 

Well I'm glad everyone is ok with my going home in January. I just felt bad because all the nieces and nephews and everyone really was looking forward to having me home around Christmas and celebrating it together. Oh well, we'll have plenty of those in the future. 

Elder Edwards and I are still getting along fantastically. He's really into hunting and outdoorsy stuff so that's neat haha. He also looks like a model for Abercrombie or Hanes underwear haha. I tease him about it all the time hahaha. 

Things are going good in the ghetto. It's a rarity to see a white person here. I literally can count on 1 hand the amount of white people I've seen in our area the past week. Our apartment is on 49th and Ames. 30th and Ames is considered the most dangerous place in Omaha. I'll wait till after my mission to give you details so I don't worry Mom too much ;) 

Some old black dude, yesterday who lives in an apartment on 30th and Ames, started yelling at us when we walked in the building to knock on someone's door. He said in a really hateful tone of voice "Get out of my gosh dang house! I'll shoot you if I have to!" That was my rated G version. He sounded really angry. That was fun. We left pretty quickly after knocking the door haha. Ok sorry I just had to tell you guys about that, sorry for worrying you ;) 

We found this super cool dude, that lives in this random neighborhood called Miami Heights. It's on a hill, and there are like 8 houses that are super, super nice. Everything around it is dump, but that place is really nice. We talked to him for a good 30 minutes and he is super cool and invited us to come back. 

Well I need to get going. People are waiting on me. Oh hey so I got a question. I've had to throw away all of my shoes except one pair pretty recently. And this pair is little to big on me. So basically what I'm suggesting, is I am going to go the Goodwill today to look for shoes, but if I don't find any (I don't really want to, I'm tired of wearing old shoes) I was wondering if it'd be alright to buy some new shoes somewhere. I would love to get some nice ecco's but they're pretty darn expensive. But they last forever. Those dockers you guys got me before I came out got trashed in 2 months. I'll keep my eye out though. 

There is this ghetto dress shop here called Leflore's that I hear has sick shoes. Like light brown crocodile skin. I may have to get some just before I go home haha ;) 

Take care everyone! I love you guys! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ballif 

Transferred to Omaha

Hey Family!

 

So I have some bad news and some good news. I'll start with the bad news. I'm going home January 21st now. Sorry. I feel like it was the right thing to do and it was an inspired decision. 

So moving on to the good news. I got transferred. I'm now serving in the Fontenelle Ward in Omaha, in the ghetto. Black people everywhere. I'm not giving any details about that but it's pretty freaking crazy. Our address is 4907 Ames Ave. #5. I wouldn't look up Ames Ave on google ;) Oh and some more good news. I'm a Zone Leader now. It's so freaking weird. I'm like a deer in the headlights right now. 

Elder Crozier, my trainer actually just was serving here as Zone Leader but his mission came to an end so I replaced him. Weird stuff. In mission lingo, I'm following my father's (Elder Crozier) footsteps. 

My companion's name is Elder Edwards and he is pretty darn cool. We're getting along fabulously. Probably my best since Crozier and Chappell. He's from Las Vegas and is a bit of a cowboy or rancher or what have you. Not annoying like other people though. Like the cool kind. He doesn't have an annoying draw either. We're having a good time so far. 

Yesterday was pretty fun. We talked to some less actives yesterday who are going through some trouble, and they were saying how they wanted to get back into selling drugs and wanted to kill themselves. Oh man, this place is so much different than Logan. Oh and their dog peed on me. That was grand. But what was cool, is we just bore testimony and talked about Joseph Smith, when he was in Liberty Jail and how he didn't give up, and their demeanor completely changed and they said they want to be picked up for church this week. 

Things are going good here. I'm very happy with my decision to stay my entire mission. Probably because I know where I'd be right now if I didn't change. Elder Crozier found out transfer information before he went home, and it ended up being different. I would be in Lincoln right now, which would actually be pretty cool, but I'd rather be a Zone Leader. So like I said, both options were good, but there was one option better than the other. 

Oh can I ask a favor from someone, anyone. Please send me a letter. I had to pay 2 bucks here to get on the computer, because I don't have a library card, and I need a letter addressed to here to get one. Freakin bull honkey. 

Thanks pretty sweet about BYU. I'm excited to get home and see some of the games, if you're recording them. 

Thank you guys so much about everything you do. Sorry for switching the plans up. It was the right thing to do though, so you guys shouldn't fret too much, if you were going to. 

I love all of you guys so much. Have a wonderful week everyone. If I missed anything that you guys would want clarification on, let me know. I'll still be on for about 20 more minutes emailing other people. I love you guys!

 

Love,

Elder Ballif

Transfer this Week - Leaving Logan ?

Hey Family!

So I hope everyone has had a great week. My week was just mediocre. Nothing too crazy. I'm ready to leave Logan and it's starting to get to me. We had Stake Conference which was really good. Our Mission President and his wife gave talks as well as the Temple President and his wife, and of course, the Stake President. 

We have been pretty short on miles so we can't go driving a ton of places. Oh but something really cool that I forgot to mention last week, is that in Fast and Testimony Meeting, Michael (the guy that was less active for 12 years who we promised would get a job) was there and he actually got up and bore his testimony. It was so freakin sweet. Very inspiring. From Atheist to bearing his testimony, in just a few months. So other than that, I don't really now. 

Jeff and Tina are doing well. We haven't heard from Christine, even after leaving messages. What can you do? 

So transfers is this week. That should be rather interesting. I am so ready to leave. The Zone Leaders say they're positive I'm gone. But anything could happen I suppose. I thought it would be pretty neat to become a Zone Leader, but honestly I think my decision to go home 4 weeks early screwed my chances for that, so it has made me second guess my decision to do that. 

I don't even know anymore. It just hit me yesterday at Stake Conference, not to mention I went to it fasting, not really for anything in particular I just did and it just hit me there. I would like some input from you guys. While coming home the 27th would be awesome, I just want to follow the Lord's will on this one. Which could be going home and starting school but I'm just so unsure of it. 

They could have already bought the plane ticket so It might not be worth it but that's a might. Oh and by the way Mom, my release date is the 27th. I was referring to the Skype phone call on Christmas. I feel either way would work out, but there is always a choice that works out better than the others. 

Oh and by the way Dad, you're going to need to continue to spot me money for the rest of the month. I have good reasons as to why am I out, but I don't feel like explaining myself. I spent 9 bucks at Walmart earlier and will be spending a bit more at Subway after this. I am starving. I've had 2 bananas today and that's it. I freakin love bananas though haha. Especially with peanut butter ;) 

That's pretty sweet about BYU. This sounds like it could be a great year for them. And yeah I heard a little bit about Dad's new TL, which I asked him to send some pictures of, but he must not have gotten around to it ;) The issue with the Acura is that Acura doesn't spell Audi ;) I only tease. 

You guys need to figure out when the deadlines are for applying to BYU for the Summer and Fall semesters. I wouldn't be opposed to going there in the Summer. I just need to make sure I buy an all sports pass, so I can go to all of the games. I think it's like around 100 bucks for the year. Also knowing more info about Weber would be good. I need to make sure I'm all ready to go, before I get home and find out it's too late. I can't imagine it would be that hard though. 

Things are going good with the Book of Mormon reading. I'm on page 105 or something. It's pretty neat. Apparently you're supposed to highlight anytime it mentions Jesus Christ as well. It's pretty neat. Every single page. Well I'm am going to close this up. 

I hope all of you have a fantastic week! Stay safe everyone! I love you!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Jeff and Tina's Baptism Went Great!

Hey Family!

I hope everyone has had a great week! My week was pretty great. The baptisms were awesome and everything went well. There was one minor issue. So I guess something happened to the hot water heater at the church. So it was a cold baptism. That was pretty unfortunate, but they made it through it hahaha. It was great to see Tina's dad baptize her. That was the first baptism he's ever done. We had to have him do it twice though. The first time he omitted some words in the prayer, but the second time everything was said perfectly. 

The confirmations went great as well. We're still going to have to figure out something with their kids though. They're a real handful haha. So here's the deal. I will send pictures of the baptism home. After this I will not be sending any more pictures of me home. I do this for a wise purpose, a purpose which ye know not. Sorry if this upsets anyone but I'm sure you can wait till my release date. Actually the25th of December. That will be an interesting phone call haha. 

So there actually is some information I need for the paper you guys got in the.... and never mind I used my noggin, and figured out I could just get that information on lds.org. 

So there is something I want to bring up and possibly get your input on. School. I've done some thinking, and in the long run I want to end up at BYU. But I was thinking I could go to Weber State for the winter semester, and then transfer to BYU for the fall semester. So I don't really know what I need to do to apply on a mission so if you could get that figured out for me and just tell me what I need to do, that would be sweet. I want to do my generals at Weber and potentially take an intro to Computer Science class, and if I'm able to transfer to BYU, if I'm still liking that I'll stick with that and have that be my major, or potentially venture and see if I could get in the law program or something else. I'm still not entirely sure. I'll have to do a lot of praying on this subject. But I definitely want to end up at BYU. 

So our mission president has committed us all to read the Book of Mormon by the week of December 8th, while highlighting in red everything that has to do with or has relation with the atonement and circle in red every time it says "heart." It has been pretty cool to see how much you're highlighting and circling. We've been doing it for 2 weeks so we're on page 70, but any of you guys that want to do this, I would highly recommend it. It would only take 5.5 pages a day starting today and you'd be finished by the week of December 8th. It is super easy to do. It  takes me at the most 20 minutes each day. 

Oh there was an interesting development this past week that was halted, but Christine had made it to church 2 weeks in a row and came to the baptism and everything was looking great for her kids. We actually were going to baptize them this week. We got everything figured out. See the crazy part of the situation is, Christian is going to start chemo, and he needs a port put in and after that he can't get wet for 6 weeks so we got ok'd to do it this week, before he gets the port put in. Well they missed church yesterday, so that's not going to happen unfortunately. Hopefully it'll happen soon, but with chemo, he'll probably be pretty sick. It'll all work out. 

But aside from that, we've been teaching a few new people. Nothing really super noteworthy, because the library is going to close soon, and I need to finish up, but things are going great. I'll be sure to let you guys know what happens with transfers. Well actually I'll email you again, before transfers anyways haha. And that's pretty sweet about BYU. I am super excited to see some of these games when I get back. 

Have a great week everyone! I love you guys!!!!

Love,

Elder Ballif 

All Set for Jeff and Tina's Baptisms

Hey there Family!

Well this past week was a pretty good one. We went on a ton of exchanges, one with Denison, one with Atlantic, and one with the Zone Leaders in Council Bluffs. The latter was for the baptismal interview of Jeff and Tina, which they passed! Everything should be good to go. We went over there last night and got the details of the service figured out. Tina's dad will be baptizing her, and the stake president in Omaha will be baptizing Jeff. I will be confirming Tina, and Stubbs will be confirming Jeff. So I'm glad we got that stuff, along with some other things, figured out. 

There still are a few things we need to get in order but I think everything will work out great. Jeff is doing good with the smoking so far. I have the faith that he'll be good to go. We're going back over there on Friday so hopefully he's still good then. If not that sure would complicate things, but he can do it. 

Christine came to church again, but left early, not really sure why, but I'm not too concerned about it. Two weeks in a row has got to be some sort of milestone for her haha. So if all goes well her kids should be baptized within the next little while. 

Oh someone else was able to make it to Church. You guys remember Michael? The guy who didn't have a job and we promised he would get one and he did. Well anyways, he's been struggling the past few weeks, and we were able to have a nice discussion with him last Tuesday with the bishop. Well anyways he made it to Church. It was great to see. And the talks were very well themed for what he's going through. They were about being happy and not worrying about the things you can't control. I hope it struck a chord with him. 

And what, Austin didn't go the open house? That kid. I'll try to whip him into shape when I get back ;) That's pretty sweet about BYU. I was super anxious to find out what happened. You guys better have that game on DVR when I get back. And that's sweet my boy Taysom balled it up. Was he able to connect on any bombs? That would be sweet. I heard he's a Heisman Candidate this year. I am excited to hear about the Texas game. BYU all the way! 

Yeah I'm pretty positive I'll have one more area before my mission is over. Transfers are on September 19th and I think it's very likely I'll be getting shipped somewhere else. I really hope I go to Lincoln or something. That would be so freakin awesome. 

Well anyways, have a great week everyone! That color run looked like it was pretty spectacular. Oh and since I have addressed this yet, I'm kind of chapped you sold the boat. I've had a complete change of heart on my mission, where I want to have a lot more family time.  

And if your going to buy any sedan you have to get an Audi. Never get before 2008. They had some bad years between 97 and 04 or so. The new Audi A3 is legit. It's their new car that has won car of the year and it is only $30000 starting price. I say only because that's pretty good for a luxury sedan, that goes 0-60 in 5 seconds. Not to mention the car is beautiful. 

 Anyways I should get going. I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Talk to ya later! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Jeff and Tina Doing Great and getting ready for Baptism

Hey Family!

It sounds like everyone had a great week! I was honesty a bit distracted this week, but as the days went on, it got better. 

Jeff and Tina are doing great. Jeff has a smoking problem to overcome but I have faith that he can do it, and so does he. We gave him a blessing to help him quit, and he has until Saturday to do so. The Zone Leaders are going to be interviewing them for baptism then, and then the following Saturday will be the baptism. 

We actually had some some other people at Church that we were not expecting. Christine and her kids came! I couldn't believe it. We didn't really get to talk to her after sacrament meeting or anything so that was a bit strange. Maybe she's embarrassed or something but oh well. At least she came to Church. I was really happy about that. 

The Lake boys also passed the sacrament and they did great! It was awesome to see. Oh one little funny detail with Jeff and Tina. They have 2 boys, one that is 5 and the other is 4. Anyway the 4 year old somehow always gets loose during sacrament meeting and runs up to the stand and is running around up there while someone is giving a talk. Oh my goodness. So anyways Elder Stubbs and I baited him with candy and he came over and we got him to go back to sit with his parents, only to get loose again like 10 minutes later haha. This happened like 3 or 4 times. Oh man. He'll learn... Hopefully haha. 

Oh and that family we chose for fellowshipping came on time! It was great. That was the first time I've seen them 2 weeks in a row at Church since I've been here. They also sat with Jeff and Tina so that was good. 

We haven't seen Gina Green the past 2 weeks. I honestly am not too upset about that or anything. She won't do anything we ask her to. We can't help her if she can't even help herself. We'll see if that changes anytime soon. We'll probably try to set something up with her this upcoming week, and lay down the law. 

I am so chapped I'm missing my second season of college football. Dangit! Oh well just one more. That's pretty neat they're playing UConn. I got to play basketball again today, as we're in Council Bluffs. I did slightly better than I have been so I'm happy about that. Still have a long ways to go but oh well. I also made some good plays in volleyball, what a shocker. 

Well I'm going to get going. I love all of you guys! Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Still in Logan, Iowa - Did not get transferred

ed up about it, but it didn't happen. I am still in Logan, with Elder Stubbs. I am completely fine now and regained composure. Elder Stubbs also being sick on Saturday and Sundayslowed things down a bit. But Elder Stubbs and I are doing great, we're getting along really well, and I am excited to get back to work. 

We actually had 2 miracles this week, and they were both on the same day. And what was even cooler, is that I specifically asked for some miracles the night before. So in the morning around 9 we get a text from Elder Crozier asking if we're teaching anybody with the last name Dozier, and I replied that I'm pretty sure there is someone in the area book with that last name. So I went and checked their first names and it turned out to be the same people attending the Fontenelle Ward with the wife's dad because he is a member. They had moved from the address in the area book, and Elder Crozier got their new address which is still in the Logan Ward, and they said we can start coming over. So I am pretty excited about that. 

And then the other miracle was us finding some lost sheep. So there was this that are members, that ended up moving somewhere else in town and the Church didn't know where to. So anyways, Spencer one of the recent converts that was baptized in May (the son) has a best friend, that we've seen quite often. He came to church with Pam, Eric and Spencer and the bishop recognized him. Turns out he is the son of that family that moved away, and he was never baptized because he was too young and doesn't have a recollection of going to Church. So now we know where this family lives and hopefully will start teaching the son soon, and getting the family back to Church. 

That's good to hear that Austin is doing better. And that's good he's hanging around Todd Smoot again. He's definitely a good kid. 

How's Heather doing? Last I heard she was sick, but I can't imagine that would still be the case. Oh and I forgot to say happy birthday to Jenn so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I have been pretty crappy at remembering that stuff during emails. 

I've had a good day today. We went down to Council Bluffs again and played volleyball and basketball again. I still am struggling a bit with basketball, but again, oh well, what can you do? 

We saw Gina Green again yesterday. It was probably the best discussion we've had with her. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and avoided the polygamy issue fairly well. Basically we said if the Book of Mormon is true, there is no issue. Hopefully she will actually start coming to church. That would be cool. She knows she needs to. She just doesn't so it can be frustrating. 

The Lake family is doing well. Jessup, the second oldest son is being ordained to the priesthood next week so that should be awesome. They're an awesome family. Brother Lake has so many funny stories from his mission. He also wasn't the greatest missionary, what it seems like from the stories, but he still is awesome. He served in Salt Lake City. And I guess he at one time was a really good basketball player. 39 inch vertical, and had a money shot. He is 6'2 and got 10th in the state of California slam dunk contest. Which is saying something for it being all of the states best high school dunkers. 

Sister Lake also holds the Nebraska state record in college for most 3 pointers made in a game and most in a season. Unfortunately for her the WNBA didn't exist when she was in college or she very well could have made it. 

I hope everyone has a great week. I love every single one of you, even though I may not show it all of the time!

Love,

Elder Ballif