No waffles this week. But that's okay because I went on a sweet exchange with Elder Walley to the Fon Du Lac Branch. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was with Elder Walley, he is a younger Elder who has been out for 5 months. He is from a small desert town in Washington State (I know it’s not what we all typically think when we hear Washington) Elder Walley is a nice kid, a BYU Idaho student. He and I started off the exchange by visiting a new investigator of theirs. They had never taught this guy so we both went in with a level of unknown. The man was really nice and I would describe him as casually religious. He has a testimony of God and had heard some but not much about the Book of Mormon. Elder Walley and I asked a few "get to know you questions" and then we began teaching the Restoration. Everything just clicked into place because we were teaching well, and the guy was listening and participating in the discussion. Then Elder Walley invited to guy to read the Book of Mormon and then invited him to be baptized. He said yes! That's a fantastic way to start off an exchange! Later in the evening we ate dinner with a super awesome family. Both husband and wife are converts to the church so it was great hearing their stories. We ate a great lasagna dinner with them and a salad. They had apples ready to be pressed to make homemade apple juice. I should mention that this family lives on a farm and have cows, goats, chickens, and lots of crops. The neighbor came over while we were preparing the apples and he walked in the garage with a super cool looking cross-bow! The man told the member "I just dropped one less than five minutes ago!" I got to see the deer, a nice one too with one clean shot to the neck from the guy’s cross-bow. It was a great day. On Wednesday we did service at the hospital and probably made contact with one hundred people who have Ebola...jk, that hasn't hit Wisconsin yet. The apple juice was the best thing ever and we got to take some home, we enjoyed a nice cup of juice when we exchanged back at the halfway point on Wednesday.

One clean shot to the neck from the cross-bow. The arrow
broke inside the neck and the guy had to wrestle to get it out.

Other things that happened in the week: The weather was warm, so people were outside. We spent most of the week tracting and park contacting. I also finished my cat training so now we can volunteer at the Oshkosh Humane society. The only reason why we are doing cats and not dogs is because the dogs require one on one, and that would separate Elder Stevenson and me so we couldn't do it. Cats! I'll have a few photos next week. The warm weather was great, it was enjoyably being outside and the fall colors are in full effect. I will say this though: The fall in da U.P was much better than it is here in Oshkosh.

On Friday we had the Oshkosh Ward Halloween party. It was simple with food, games for the kids, and trunk or treating at the end. Elder Stevenson didn't feel like dressing up and the Sisters didn't either. I wore a window light up jack-o-lantern around my neck because I was a gangsta missionary from LA. It was the best I had. The party was fun, and we just went around and talked with people.

My Gangsta Chain!

Here is a really great quote that one of my AP's sent us this week: “As a mission we have been putting an extra emphasis on becoming a consecrated mission. This past week I received a quote from one of my friends serving in Peru. It has helped me focus more on putting my life in the hands of the Lord. It says, ‘A basketball in my hands is worth about $20.99. A basketball in the hands of LeBron James is worth $19 million per year; it depends on whose hands it's in. A tennis racket in my hands is worth about $17.00. A tennis racket in the hands of Serena Williams is worth about $20 million per year; it depends in whose hands it's in. A baseball in my hands is worth about $3.00. A baseball in the hands of Derek Jeter is worth about $35 million per year; it depends on whose hands it's in. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands would make a few fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in the Savior's hands will feed 5000 people until they're full, and still leave 12 baskets leftover; it depends on whose hands they're in. Some nails in my hands are worth about 5 cents. Some nails in the Savior's hands will provide eternal salvation for each person who has ever lived on this earth, and all of Heavenly Father's children. It depends on whose hands they're in. When we put our lives in the hands of the Savior, we can achieve infinitely more than we ever could on our own. It depends on whose hands they're in.’”

Scripture for the week: Moroni chapters 4 and 5

Thank you all for your love and prayers,

Elder Luymes

Fall leaves under a tree -- almost as good as da U.P.