Well we got our e-mailing back. I didn't know how much I love the e-mailing system. Dad I don't know how you did it on your mission. lol I sure did miss e-mailing and knowing what was going on right then at that moment. Pretty grateful for small things. So for Christmas we get to Skype or video phone. President just sent us all an e-mail telling us of this opportunity. I just wanted to let you know so that we could do that if you want to. Let me know what y'all want to do , I am down with whatever y'all decide. I would like to do the video phone so I can see everyone since it has been so long, lol. Mom I still haven't gotten my box with my little tree in it. I thought you had said you sent it and I wanted to make sure it didn't get lost in the mail. It doesn't feel like Christmas without my little tree. lol Thanks! Well the weather here has been freezing cold, we have been down in the 20's and let me tell you it is not one bit of fun riding bikes in that kind of weather, lol. Abilene has gotten it's first snow fall. We got a whole 1/4 inch. Ya! we are moving up in the world here. They said a long time ago it snowed a whole 1/2 foot, Ha I didn't know weather to act surprised or just be like, "oh that's cool. We get 4 times that much in Washington. lol My comps and I are getting along great! They are pretty funny guys to be with. We get some pretty good laughs while we are tracting and out working. I am pretty excited for when I don't have to go into the bathroom to be alone. Ha Ha! So how is everything back home? Anything new or fun you all have been up to? How is the house looking? Have ya'll started working on the inside yet? When are ya'll expected to be in? I get it! Ya'll are delaying the move in so I can help , right! lol
Did ya'll get those pictures I sent home? Hope you liked them. Before I forget. Dad , Happy Birthday, also can you tell little Taylor Happy Birthday for me too.
Well a little about the area. We are getting a bit frustrated about everything that has gone on here. We find new people and we all get so excited and they seem so strong and then we can never get ahold of them. We have been having that a lot. So we don't have to many solid people right now. We are working hard towards positive things to happen. We do have a girl named Hannah and her boyfriend named Toby. He is a less active member that is trying to get back into going to Church. She keeps her commitments but it is hard for her to get to church cuz she works on Sundays. I think she is done working after Christmas though. Then she is going to be having a baby here in February so we will see what happens. Then we have Eric. Eric isa guy that always tells us that he doesn't have time to read the Book of Mormon, but then whenever we go over to his house he is playing computer games. We taught him last night and he tried to bring up every excuse that he could think of in the excuse book but we were on our game so we had a little something to say after each one, so he pretty much backed himself up in a corner. Then, Tarus we found when we were looking for one of our other investigators. He is way cool we started just talking to us and we were getting to know him and all, then all the sudden he just started asking questions so it was pretty sweet. Our of all the people we have found since being here he is the most solid one. lol So I got a pretty funny story to tell y'all. You have to picture this in your head while you are reading it so it will be funny. So we were riding down this sidewalk, and whoever designed this sidewalk is an idiot. They put fire hydrants right in the middle of the side walk. We were riding and I was on my bike and I tried to shift up but it wouldn't shift so I was looking down at the gears and right when I looked up I ran right into a fire hydrant, flew off my bike into the area, hit the cement and slid like 5 feet. It hurt pretty bad but I think the thing that got hurt the most was my pride cuz I was on a main road so everyone in Abilene pretty much saw it, or I felt like it. lol So I had to get my bike fixed from that. I had to use all the money on my mission card so I will probably be using the home card for food for the rest of the month. Well I think this tops my longest e-mail home. lol I probably better get going. Make sure y'all write back right away letting me know if y'all want to do the video phone or Skype for Christmas, ok. I need to know asap. I love y'all , take care and stay warm building the house. Hope to hear from you next week. Love Elder Eppich
Friday, December 9, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Pecos, Texas! 2011
Training meeting again! Elder Simmons & Me!
This is God's four-way stop sign in Peco's Texas!
More photo updates!
Eppich has a smile on this one! :)
Elder Eppich and Elder Jacobsen at training meeting!
Floors in Apartment are getting cleaned! Time for a snooze!
A member took them to a mexican horse race! He said a guy died that day!
New Photos of Elder Eppich
This is a photo of Karl on his mission in Australia!
Mailing a letter home!
Elder Eppich and Elder Martinez in Pecos! Cool Photo!
October 17, 2011
Dear Mom & Dad;
Well how is everything doing? Pecos is treating me pretty good. Right now we are stuck in our apartment. President Augustin told everyone to get inside cuz there is a 70 mph sand storm coming through. I think we will be in for the rest of the night. I am very bored, there is nothing to do when you are stuck inside. lol Anyways the branch here is pretty small. There is only about 30 people counting all the kids. lol Pretty small! So there is a family here named the Sparkmans. They are pretty cool. They have us missionaries over every Sunday for dinner. Then the kids have us over through out the rest of the week. There isn't very many member so their family pretty much takes care of the missionaries. I really appreciate them for that. The whole branch is pretty much related. The older Sparkmans pretty much had a lot of kids and they made up the Branch, lol! So on Saturday night Elder Martinez got a call from President Sparkman to give a talk on Sunday and he was upset because I didn't get asked to speak. Well, dumb me decided to make fun of him. The next day we go to church and sacrament starts and Brother Barrera gets up and says now we will hear from Elder Martinez, knowing me right, I start laughing at him. Then all the sudden Brother Barrara was like, we would also like to hear from Elder Eppich. He said sorry for not telling you a head of time. Right then my stomach dropped. My mind went blank and I couldn't remember scriptures or anything. It was bad, lol! I didn't know what I was going to talk about till I got up there. Then all the sudden the Gospel of Jesus Christ popped into my head. It was crazy. I felt really good about the talk and I felt like I made sense. I pretty much surprised myself. Usually I get a little notice when I need to give a talk so this was a good test for me to always be prepared. I talked for about 10-15 min with the help of the spirit. My comp was giving me guff because he didn't think I messed up and I didn't get way ahead notice so it was a good day for me. He did good also. A few cool experiences we had this past week. We were knocking doors and we saw this lady and her daughter sitting outside. It turns out that they were less active and her sister wants to be baptized. Pretty cool! We are teaching them now. Also there is this other lady named Ellen, she has been taking the lessons for awhile now. Well we go to her house to talk to her for a little on the door step. Well, it turns out she has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized. Also this other lady named Anita, she wants to get baptized too but she said she needs a little more time. Hope she doesn't wait to long she is about to die over dead, lol. Kind of old. Oh , man there is this other lady we are teaching. Her name is Arelli and her house stinks so bad. I think that is the reason I stayed states side cuz I wouldn't be able to handle it, lol! She is about 400 lbs and is pretty lazy. She has a 4 year old daughter that jumps all over us and I have the hardest time letting that happen cuz her mom just doesn't keep her clean. We endure though. We went there the other night and they kept giving us food, so me thinking I was smart tried to stuff it in my backpack to eat, (throw away) later. Well, she caught me and said, "eat, eat" I know I am supposed to appreciate that they will give us anything but I had the hardest time eating that stuff. I was being polite Mom and I ate it but I felt sick!lol Hey! Thanks for the picutres! Looks like everyone and everything are doing great. The house looks great, can't wait to see when the outside is all done. I think all of us missionaries get a little trunky when we get to the end of our missions. I am not sure when I will be home but I sure look forward to coming home. Don't worry, I am pretty good at staying focused, I have it covered. Yea! about those concussions, I got the one after the bike reck in Alpine. I got another one in Midland. We were playing football with those black guys from the college and they wanted me to play quarter back I got clobbered pretty hard on one hit and I felt like I did when I had my accident. I didn't want to go to the hospital. I just put up with it. I do have headaches more often now but it is all good, I have it covered. Well I got to get going, not sure where I am going since I am stuck inside for the night! lol. Take Care! Love ya all!
P.S. Thanks for the camera and Mom here are some pictures finally.
Well how is everything doing? Pecos is treating me pretty good. Right now we are stuck in our apartment. President Augustin told everyone to get inside cuz there is a 70 mph sand storm coming through. I think we will be in for the rest of the night. I am very bored, there is nothing to do when you are stuck inside. lol Anyways the branch here is pretty small. There is only about 30 people counting all the kids. lol Pretty small! So there is a family here named the Sparkmans. They are pretty cool. They have us missionaries over every Sunday for dinner. Then the kids have us over through out the rest of the week. There isn't very many member so their family pretty much takes care of the missionaries. I really appreciate them for that. The whole branch is pretty much related. The older Sparkmans pretty much had a lot of kids and they made up the Branch, lol! So on Saturday night Elder Martinez got a call from President Sparkman to give a talk on Sunday and he was upset because I didn't get asked to speak. Well, dumb me decided to make fun of him. The next day we go to church and sacrament starts and Brother Barrera gets up and says now we will hear from Elder Martinez, knowing me right, I start laughing at him. Then all the sudden Brother Barrara was like, we would also like to hear from Elder Eppich. He said sorry for not telling you a head of time. Right then my stomach dropped. My mind went blank and I couldn't remember scriptures or anything. It was bad, lol! I didn't know what I was going to talk about till I got up there. Then all the sudden the Gospel of Jesus Christ popped into my head. It was crazy. I felt really good about the talk and I felt like I made sense. I pretty much surprised myself. Usually I get a little notice when I need to give a talk so this was a good test for me to always be prepared. I talked for about 10-15 min with the help of the spirit. My comp was giving me guff because he didn't think I messed up and I didn't get way ahead notice so it was a good day for me. He did good also. A few cool experiences we had this past week. We were knocking doors and we saw this lady and her daughter sitting outside. It turns out that they were less active and her sister wants to be baptized. Pretty cool! We are teaching them now. Also there is this other lady named Ellen, she has been taking the lessons for awhile now. Well we go to her house to talk to her for a little on the door step. Well, it turns out she has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized. Also this other lady named Anita, she wants to get baptized too but she said she needs a little more time. Hope she doesn't wait to long she is about to die over dead, lol. Kind of old. Oh , man there is this other lady we are teaching. Her name is Arelli and her house stinks so bad. I think that is the reason I stayed states side cuz I wouldn't be able to handle it, lol! She is about 400 lbs and is pretty lazy. She has a 4 year old daughter that jumps all over us and I have the hardest time letting that happen cuz her mom just doesn't keep her clean. We endure though. We went there the other night and they kept giving us food, so me thinking I was smart tried to stuff it in my backpack to eat, (throw away) later. Well, she caught me and said, "eat, eat" I know I am supposed to appreciate that they will give us anything but I had the hardest time eating that stuff. I was being polite Mom and I ate it but I felt sick!lol Hey! Thanks for the picutres! Looks like everyone and everything are doing great. The house looks great, can't wait to see when the outside is all done. I think all of us missionaries get a little trunky when we get to the end of our missions. I am not sure when I will be home but I sure look forward to coming home. Don't worry, I am pretty good at staying focused, I have it covered. Yea! about those concussions, I got the one after the bike reck in Alpine. I got another one in Midland. We were playing football with those black guys from the college and they wanted me to play quarter back I got clobbered pretty hard on one hit and I felt like I did when I had my accident. I didn't want to go to the hospital. I just put up with it. I do have headaches more often now but it is all good, I have it covered. Well I got to get going, not sure where I am going since I am stuck inside for the night! lol. Take Care! Love ya all!
P.S. Thanks for the camera and Mom here are some pictures finally.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Pecos, Texas is a slow town!
Elder Eppich wrote today. Not a long letter , he has Zone Conference tomorrow so didn't have much to say. P-Days are pretty quiet as there is nothing in the small town of Pecos. He was looking forward to Zone Conference as there was a General Authority coming to visit the mission. They just made a visit to a woman's home and it was a very dirty and poor home, they give them lots of food, Elder Eppich wasn't sure what it was and if it was edible so he proceeded to put it in his back pack to get out of eating it and throw it away later. The lady was persistent that they eat. He did and felt very sick the whole time. Not sure how that came out for him. Elder Eppich is in an all Spanish speaking area and he doesn't speak the language. It is kind of difficult for him but good that he might be able to learn some Spanish. Says to say Hi to everyone! He loves you all.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
New Transfer! Pecos, Texas October 5,2011
I don't get to many good letters from Elder Eppich these days so I will share a bit from his SHORT e-mails. He has been transferred from San Angelo, TX to Pecos, Texas. This is a very small town which he likes. He is in a car and he is pretty excited about that also. He has been given a challenge of being put in Spanish speaking area. His companion is Elder Martinez from Payson , Utah. He speaks fluent Spanish and all their contacts up to this date are completely Spanish. I think he is being challenged. He was excited to learn Spanish at the first of his mission but he said he is pretty tired right and not sure if he has it in him but that he would sure give it his best try. The food is awesome for sure! His companion has been out for about 9 months. There has not been a baptism for quite a long time now so he hopes he can work on that. The weather in Pecos is around the 70's and he is enjoying that. It is a pretty slow pace town and he thought he may get caught up on some letters that he is behind on. Don't anyone hold your breath though. He only has about 4 months left on his mission so it is going to pretty much fly by for him after the holidays. We are grateful for his service to the Lord and we are thankful for keeping him safe and healthy. Thanks for every ones support to Nate as he has served. I will post his updated address soon. Love y'all!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
August 25, 2011
Elder Eppich made his transfer yesterday. Long day for him. He stayed up pretty late and cleaned his house and was to be in Lubbock for his bus ride to San Angelo by 9:00 a.m. Missed the bus so he had to be ran to Odessa and there he waited for an hour for the bus and then took a 6 hour bus ride to San Angelo. He was very happy about that because he was able to get some much needed sleep. He said he is in a town of about 100,000 people. When he got off the bus he was hit with extreme heat. His companion is from Utah and has been out for about 6 months. He said he is a hard worker and looking forward to getting to know him. His comp said he really likes the town but people are not nice because this town is close to that Polygamists Jepps, (crazy guy) so they associate him with us. So he is anxious for planning meeting tomorrow. He is healthy and happy and says to tell everyone Hi and he loves them.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Transfered to San Angelo, Texas Aug, 22, 2011
News from the mission field has it that Elder Eppich is headed to San Angelo, Texas.
He will be headed there Aug. 24,2011. He has been in Portales a little over 6 months and
is looking forward to some new scenery. We will look forward to some news from him on
Thursday which is his prep day.
He will be headed there Aug. 24,2011. He has been in Portales a little over 6 months and
is looking forward to some new scenery. We will look forward to some news from him on
Thursday which is his prep day.
Friday, August 5, 2011
August 5th, 2011
I decided I had better put a little information on here for Nate. He has become very inconsistent with his letter writing. So if any of you have written and he hasn't written you back, I will apologize for him. He isn't following the rules and writing to his Mom even. That Boy!
He is still in Portales, NM He has served there for 6 months. He believes that he will be getting transferred here in a few weeks. He loves the people there. He had to let his greeny go, Elder Ward. He trained him and he said he was the best guy. Very humble and funny and willing to learn but very homesick. He went up to Amarillo, Texas to serve. He is happy and enjoying the fruits of their labor. He enjoys watching people he cares about enter the waters of baptism. He can't believe that he is winding down to 6 months left. Crazy he says. He will return home the end of February or first week of March. He misses the family and looks forward to spending time with everyone. He reminds us ofter how important it is to stay close to the Lord and stay close as a family.
Hopefully we will get some updated photos soon.
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 23, 2011
Dear Mom & Dad;
Well first off I just want to say , sorry for not having an e-mail written to y'all today when you opened your e-mail. the computers in the library all shut down. Then when we got back on we didn't have a whole lot of time, but at least I got a really small e-mail out to y'all. LOL Anyways, Dad what you were saying today about when you get out on your mission for so long it gets harder and harder to write back letters. It is so true. I am tired that all I want to do is sleep. But I can't sleep right now. It was pretty nice because today was the first p-day in I don't know how long that I got to take a nap. It was so nice. Dad I don't know if you ever took naps on your mission but when I get the chance I take advantage of it. LOL!
Anyways, my comp is doing great. He is a cowboy from Elisa Idaho. A really small town. Only 150 people there. He is a way good kid. He was way shy at first but I am breaking him of that in a hurry. I have been making him do a lot of the talking at door steps. He has made me laugh quite a few times. He has been a little homesick. He say's it feels like he has been out for 12 years already, lol! I just laughed and told him it will start to fly by before long and to just hang in there. This kid has probably been my favorite greenie. He is way funny and a very nice guy. Not cocky and is willing to learn, he is just a very good person. Well a little bit about what's going on here in Portales. We have this guy named Michael Whery. Way cool guy. We set a date for him to be baptized on the 10th of July. This guy is way solid. He has read the whole Book of Mormon in about a month. So way cool. He knows it is true and is stoked to be baptized. So pretty exciting. He actually took us to Pizza Hut tonight. Next is Grady. He is a 45 year old black dude. At first it was a little hard to get him going but he is doing great now. He said ever since we started to teach him everything has just felt right. Because he has been going through a lot of stuff with his wife and everything. So he is a pretty cool dude. He is going to be baptized on July 2nd. Next we have Sally, Perla, Yla. I think I have told you about them. Well, right now we are kind of in a bind with them. We really don't know where to go next with them. But we will figure it out. Well the house is looking pretty good so far from what I can see. I really do wish ya'll would send me more pictures of the house and everything back home. I would like to see y'all. lol Honestly it is not going to take my mind off the work. Promise. I mean y'all want more pictures of me right? This can go both ways here. The more pictures I send home the more y'all will think about me, right and interrupt your work. Lol! Do you get what I mean? I would like some more photos of home. So I will get some updated ones sent out and you do the same OK! Good! How is everyone doing back home? Good I hope. Well I had better get going now. I need to get to bed I am a little tired. I will talk to y'all later. Take Care. Love ya lots! Love Elder Eppich
Well first off I just want to say , sorry for not having an e-mail written to y'all today when you opened your e-mail. the computers in the library all shut down. Then when we got back on we didn't have a whole lot of time, but at least I got a really small e-mail out to y'all. LOL Anyways, Dad what you were saying today about when you get out on your mission for so long it gets harder and harder to write back letters. It is so true. I am tired that all I want to do is sleep. But I can't sleep right now. It was pretty nice because today was the first p-day in I don't know how long that I got to take a nap. It was so nice. Dad I don't know if you ever took naps on your mission but when I get the chance I take advantage of it. LOL!
Anyways, my comp is doing great. He is a cowboy from Elisa Idaho. A really small town. Only 150 people there. He is a way good kid. He was way shy at first but I am breaking him of that in a hurry. I have been making him do a lot of the talking at door steps. He has made me laugh quite a few times. He has been a little homesick. He say's it feels like he has been out for 12 years already, lol! I just laughed and told him it will start to fly by before long and to just hang in there. This kid has probably been my favorite greenie. He is way funny and a very nice guy. Not cocky and is willing to learn, he is just a very good person. Well a little bit about what's going on here in Portales. We have this guy named Michael Whery. Way cool guy. We set a date for him to be baptized on the 10th of July. This guy is way solid. He has read the whole Book of Mormon in about a month. So way cool. He knows it is true and is stoked to be baptized. So pretty exciting. He actually took us to Pizza Hut tonight. Next is Grady. He is a 45 year old black dude. At first it was a little hard to get him going but he is doing great now. He said ever since we started to teach him everything has just felt right. Because he has been going through a lot of stuff with his wife and everything. So he is a pretty cool dude. He is going to be baptized on July 2nd. Next we have Sally, Perla, Yla. I think I have told you about them. Well, right now we are kind of in a bind with them. We really don't know where to go next with them. But we will figure it out. Well the house is looking pretty good so far from what I can see. I really do wish ya'll would send me more pictures of the house and everything back home. I would like to see y'all. lol Honestly it is not going to take my mind off the work. Promise. I mean y'all want more pictures of me right? This can go both ways here. The more pictures I send home the more y'all will think about me, right and interrupt your work. Lol! Do you get what I mean? I would like some more photos of home. So I will get some updated ones sent out and you do the same OK! Good! How is everyone doing back home? Good I hope. Well I had better get going now. I need to get to bed I am a little tired. I will talk to y'all later. Take Care. Love ya lots! Love Elder Eppich
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Short Update June 26, 2011
Not a whole lot of news from New Mexico. Elder Eppich is kind of decided that he doesn't have to much time for letter writing. He seems to be very busy in the mission work. He is still in Portales New Mexico and loving it. He is training a brand new missionary from a small town in Idaho. His name is Elder Ward. He says he is very shy and quiet but that he is a great kid and is going to be a great missionary once he opens his mouth. He is giving him lots of opportunities to talk. The work is going great there. They have just welcomed a new mission President. Haven't heard anything about the new President yet. Nate hated to see President Robinson leave. He is very busy and very hot , the temp stays in the 100's this time of year with lots of fires around the state.
He said he realizes that his mission is winding down to the last 6 months and there is so much work to do. He apologizes often that he doesn't write much but welcomes anyone that would like to drop a line. He said he is having the time of his life and really enjoying mission life.
He said he realizes that his mission is winding down to the last 6 months and there is so much work to do. He apologizes often that he doesn't write much but welcomes anyone that would like to drop a line. He said he is having the time of his life and really enjoying mission life.
Friday, June 10, 2011
June 2, 2011
Dear Mom & Dad;
How are things going back home? Good I hope. Sounds like ya'll had a great time with Kyle & Natalie and the kids home. Did Kel and Mel make it, I never heard, I sure hope the got to go. I like knowing that all the family is together, just like it should always be. Sounds like Liv had a little accident. I sure hope she is doing ok now! She is part Eppich she should be tough, lol! I sure hope the house is done by the time I get home and I miss the moving part. I do so much of that out here and would love to put the grass in so I get that job. lol Things are going pretty good here in Portales. We finally got rain here. So everyone is happy about that, lol. Si it is really starting to get hot here. It was in the upper 90's the other day. Man was that fun to ride bikes in that heat, lol. speaking of heat, Mom did you send those mesh garments? I want to try them to see if they will be cooler. Thanks! Man, I was sad to see Elder Krizin leave. At first we really struggled with each other and we were able to work things out and we got to where we were working really well together. We learned a lot from each other. He really had a hard time that I was younger than him but we made it work and now I hated to see him move on. Seems like you just get going with a companion and then it is time to move on. Oh Well! My new comp is from a little town in Idaho with about 150 people that live there. His name is Elder Ward. He is VERY quiet and scared. Kind of drives me crazy but we will work that one out, he will get more comfortable here, we have amazing members here. Just like home. His dad raises and works with horses for a living , I think that is way cool. Mom, there isn't a whole lot that I want you to send me because I know it will be food that I should not be eating. I love your cookies but I will eat them all and I am trying to keep my weight down so don't worry about it right now. I really don't need anything, but thank you. Our investigators are doing great but kind of slow. We are working with Sally, Pedro and Yla. They aren't really reading and we have only got them to church 1 time so hopefully something will change I hope soon anyways. I do think they will get baptized soon so that is good. Next is Destiny, she is legit. She was a referral from a member. She says she needs direction in her life and she has gone to other churches looking for that direction and hasn't found it so she is really liking the doctrine of Jesus Christ and what the Gospel has to offer. I know she will like this I have such a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel I just don't know how anyone could not see the good. The most progressing investigator is Michael. He is a cool kid. The only problem is he can only go to church like every 4 weeks so we have to figure that one out. But it will be all good. Well I got to get going, I am tired. I really need some sleep. Last week was so crazy and exhausting. So I plan on crashing here soon. I love ya'll lots. I am having a blast on my mission and so grateful that I am able to serve and especially here in the Lubbock mission. I will send more pictures Mom don't worry. Love ya'll! Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
How are things going back home? Good I hope. Sounds like ya'll had a great time with Kyle & Natalie and the kids home. Did Kel and Mel make it, I never heard, I sure hope the got to go. I like knowing that all the family is together, just like it should always be. Sounds like Liv had a little accident. I sure hope she is doing ok now! She is part Eppich she should be tough, lol! I sure hope the house is done by the time I get home and I miss the moving part. I do so much of that out here and would love to put the grass in so I get that job. lol Things are going pretty good here in Portales. We finally got rain here. So everyone is happy about that, lol. Si it is really starting to get hot here. It was in the upper 90's the other day. Man was that fun to ride bikes in that heat, lol. speaking of heat, Mom did you send those mesh garments? I want to try them to see if they will be cooler. Thanks! Man, I was sad to see Elder Krizin leave. At first we really struggled with each other and we were able to work things out and we got to where we were working really well together. We learned a lot from each other. He really had a hard time that I was younger than him but we made it work and now I hated to see him move on. Seems like you just get going with a companion and then it is time to move on. Oh Well! My new comp is from a little town in Idaho with about 150 people that live there. His name is Elder Ward. He is VERY quiet and scared. Kind of drives me crazy but we will work that one out, he will get more comfortable here, we have amazing members here. Just like home. His dad raises and works with horses for a living , I think that is way cool. Mom, there isn't a whole lot that I want you to send me because I know it will be food that I should not be eating. I love your cookies but I will eat them all and I am trying to keep my weight down so don't worry about it right now. I really don't need anything, but thank you. Our investigators are doing great but kind of slow. We are working with Sally, Pedro and Yla. They aren't really reading and we have only got them to church 1 time so hopefully something will change I hope soon anyways. I do think they will get baptized soon so that is good. Next is Destiny, she is legit. She was a referral from a member. She says she needs direction in her life and she has gone to other churches looking for that direction and hasn't found it so she is really liking the doctrine of Jesus Christ and what the Gospel has to offer. I know she will like this I have such a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel I just don't know how anyone could not see the good. The most progressing investigator is Michael. He is a cool kid. The only problem is he can only go to church like every 4 weeks so we have to figure that one out. But it will be all good. Well I got to get going, I am tired. I really need some sleep. Last week was so crazy and exhausting. So I plan on crashing here soon. I love ya'll lots. I am having a blast on my mission and so grateful that I am able to serve and especially here in the Lubbock mission. I will send more pictures Mom don't worry. Love ya'll! Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Time flies
Just an apology to those that follow Elder Eppich on his blog. His mother has gotten so behind in posting his letters. He is doing awesome and looks forward to seeing everyone when he has finished his mission.
May 1, 2011
Hey! Mom & Dad;
Man, a year ago I would of never thought it would be this hard to keep up with this letter writing, LOL! I am trying my "best" to get er'done. :) I wrote Lexi, Taylor, Kacie and Laurin. They should all have their letters by now. If they don't I don't know what to tell you. I am still working on a huge pile on my night stand. We have been so swamped with work that I get in at night and crash then p-days are so full it seems. Hope everyone understands.
So, I don't know if I could have a better Mother's Day than this one even though it is for Mom's. The reason way, I get to call home which I can't wait for. It seems like I just talked to ya'll yesterday. But that is good because that means we have been very busy in the Lubbock Mission. The next best reason is that we are having a baptism this Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday. I am so stoked. This girl is so tight. Her name is Jolisa Carter , she is 18. she is really excited to get baptized. We are also teaching this other family. There is a Mom and 2 daughters, they are pretty tight. They are from the Evangelical Church. They are coming along slow but still they are making progress. Then we have this other lady named Denice. She is cool. Her boyfriend left her for some other girl and they had a 7 year old and another one on the way. She is thinking about abortion. We are going to be having a good lesson about the plan of Salvation tonight. I hope it goes well. Well that is about it for our investigators. We work hard at finding more. It is funny, here in Texas when we walk down the streets the some families will hurry and get their kids to come in the house from playing and shut the doors and close the curtains. Then as we walk by you can see them peeking out the curtains and we just smile and wave to them. A lot of people think we are the FBI, that is kind of funny also to watch people hurry and put on seat belts and worry that we are the law and going to stop them. I get a kick out of that one. I love serving in Protales, New Mexico. People here are so humble and teachable. We are fed way to much food but we enjoy it. The winds have been so bad. We try to ride bikes in 60 mph winds, there was one day that I almost hit a parked car because the wind was blowing so bad and dirt blowing I couldn't see. Windy season will be over in May , so they tell us. My legs get great exercise. Things are great here, it is wonderful to see the work of the Lord move forward. It will move forward with or without us. I am so glad to be on the Lord's team. It has been a huge blessing in my life and I have seen it change the lives of many here in the Lubbock mission. I am thankful for this opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father these 2 years. We are so busy and I like it that way. Take Care! I love ya'll. Love Elder Eppich
Monday, April 11, 2011
A Day at the Ranch
Hey! Mom & Dad;
Well, Here you go Mom, here is another letter for you. I am so sorry that I haven't been keeping up on the letter writing. I will try to keep up on it. I am not going to lie, I might miss a few weeks but I will do my best. Well, this week has been pretty sweet nothing really exciting has gone on except for Conference. That was pretty sweet. I love Elder Uchtdorf's talks. I think he is my favorite speaker. It seemed like conference was focused on guys picking up their game and getting married. At least in Priesthood it was. I hope they aren't talking about returned missionaries getting married right when they get home because I am worried that I have so many decisions to make when I get home. Conference was so great though. I noticed that President Monson was full of jokes. LOL! President Robinson came to our district and he was telling us that after listening to conference and realizing his call that he was having a change of heart. He is going to get out there and actually be a missionary instead of just a mission President. I thought that was pretty cool. Last week we found this unmarried couple that we started to teach, they are pretty cool. Their names are Debra and Andrew. Andrew is a lot more opened to learning, Debra not so much. We talked to them about eternal marriage and they really liked what we taught. Andrew was asking some pretty cool questions. So was Debra. I hope everything goes good with them they could really use the Gospel in their lives. Keep them in your prayers please! The Selina's family, we are trying to find out what to do with them. I don't know. They aren't taking it serious. But it is just like Preach my Gospel say's if they don't realize how important this message is , We Do! So we need to help them realize that they need Christ in their lives. Well those are our most progressing investigators.
As far as my comp and I , we get along pretty great. He does have a problem with someone younger telling him what to do. I guess I wouldn't like that either. But he thinks that I can't serve without him and keeps telling me that. He is right! I think one day I will just keep quiet all day and help him realize that we need each other to do the Lords work. He knows the area better than I and I have been out longer so I have had more experience in teaching. So basically together we make one. Other than that we are doing great and we will get that figured out.
We are pretty excited for p-day. We get to go out to a Ranch and we are going to play doctor with the cows. We get to put our hands all the way into the mommy cows .........and feel for the babies. I think it will be tight! LOL So I am pretty excited. We are going to be able to hang around the farm and help out and jump into hugh cotton bails. I will take photos for sure.
Riding bikes is going pretty good. Going good with the exercising also. I have started to eat more because we get fed here very well so I am pretty much staying at the same weight. I am hoping to get some running in here soon. Here in New Mexico it is a little colder than Texas. Actually a lot colder right now but still a lot warmer than home. You know Mom & Dad I have had a lot of experiences out here in the mission where I have realized that the Lord cannot work through us when we are boastful and think we are the best at everything. We are not able to listen to the spirit or be teachable. I am thankful that you and Dad taught us that we should not think so much of ourselves. I know I probably didn't listen so much at the time but I have been reminded of that often out on the mission. When we think so much of ourselves and put ourselves above others we are not able to be effective. I remember Dad always telling me, Let your game do the talking, you don't have to remind everyone that you are good if you have game. It works here in the mission too! Being humble! That is a Christ like quality. With humility we are able to serve others and not worry about ourselves.
My camera is ok! I bought that one from Best Buy but it was way expensive. So I took it back. Jeremy the kid we taught in Midland needed some money so I bought his camera that was pretty much new. It works for now. How is Dad feeling? Hope better. I have picked up something and been feeling really crummy. It is hard to do missionary work when you are sick but we will shake it here soon. Mom, you haven't seen Morgan in awhile? I am sure he is real busy with baseball. Hope he is doing ok! He wants me to go play baseball with him in Oregon when I get home. Yes! We are getting a new mission President in June. I am going to really miss President Robinson. He is way tight! Change happens and we all have to deal with it. I am excited to meet our new one. Well I had better go. Love ya'll lots!
Love Elder Eppich
We got back from the Ranch! We had an awesome day. We got to jump into huge cotton piles. We didn't get to check on the baby cows but maybe some other time. We loved being on the farm. We got back so late and we had a lesson and we didn't even get to shower. Stink!
Love ya'll
Friday, April 1, 2011
Spiders!
Hey! Mom & Dad & family;
First off! One of the members brought us home after splits the other night and said that he needed to check out the cellar for spiders. Didn't think to much of it until we took flashlights down there and there were BLACK WIDOWS EVERYWHERE! My comp and I ran up those stairs so fast. We left him down there. I have never seen so many Black Widows in my life. You know how I HATE spiders. Well, I think I got one hour of sleep that night. I could just feel them crawling all over me. The guy came back the next day and sprayed to kill them. I don't want to go down there to see if they are dead or not. I really like our home that we are staying in but not the fact that I have to live with Black Widows.
Well Mom & Dad, this letter is going to be a bit different. I know I don't say much on the net but I have a challenge for you. I would like to send this to the kids but not sure how they will take it. I know everyone is busy but I am going to give you and Dad this challenge anyway. This is a prompting from the spirit that I had and I want to share it with ya'll. I would like you to try and accomplish this before I get home. You have lots of time. Dad you know how hard it was to go out and knock doors all day long in the heat just to find that one investigator that is just waiting for the gospel to feast upon the words of Christ. Well if you have been on a mission you know that it doesn't work all that well. Most of the baptisms come from member referrals. Not all members go out and do what their part in the missionary work is. I guess we all think it is the missionaries job to find those who are searching. NO! that is not how it works, we are on a mission to help members to do their job, members are the means. Without the members our work is not possible. Last year we had 400 baptisms in the Texas Lubbock Mission. 350 of them came from member referrals. NOT from knocking doors. I would like ya'll to read D&C 38:40-41. Think about that scripture and look at your responsibility as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Also, read Alma 6:6 and do what that scripture tells us to do. I will get down to the chase. What I am asking ya'll to do is to find at least one person to teach in your home with the missionaries before I get home. The members here in Portales that follow that advice tell us all the time of the blessings that they receive from doing this. I know our family will be truly blessed. Then you will be able to bless the lives of others. Please take this challenge for me!
Things are great here in Portales. I am loving this place. I love the farm area. Dad I know you said in your e-mail that I couldn't wait to leave the farm and get away from it , but I can honestly tell you that I really miss being on the farm. I would give anything to go out and move hand lines with the family. I know, pick yourself up, it is a shocker. We are not able to be on the equipment on the farms here that we do service on but we get to do the grunt work. I love it, it gives me a chance to get into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and get my hands dirty. I am glad ya'll liked the pictures that I sent. I need to do better, I just forget to get the camera out but I know I am going to want them after my mission. Yes! Mom that is my comp Elder Krizin. He is from Utah. Funny looking guy but fun to be around. I am doing pretty good on keeping myself healthy. I can't work out much but I do my best. I have lost lots of muscle but we can work on that when I get back home. Oh! I lost one of my memory cards. I know you are mad right now Mom. I will keep looking for it. Yes! Mom it would be fun to skype but that is not allowed here in this mission. We are getting a new President in June. Maybe he will let us, but if not that is ok. I am going to miss Pres. Robinson. We get along great!
Our investigators are doing great. We have a family of 7 with a date of April 10. Keep them and us in your prayers so that all goes well. We are teaching the plan of Salvation tonight so I am so excited for that. I love the plan of Happiness. We are so blessed to have this in our lives. It gives us peace and comfort during our life here on earth. There are 2 other investigators. We have two appointments with them, one tonight and one tomorrow. We hope to set a date with them by this weekend. I love this place. I love the humility of the people in the community and the ward. I would love to stay here for awhile. The other missionaries tell me that I am in the promise land. Just kind of like home. Well I had better get I am going to get kicked off this computer. Hope all is going well for ya'll. I am really excited for this weekend to listen to Conference, it will be great! I hope ya'll love it as much as I will. Suit season is over here. We don't have to wear our suits all day. I am pretty stoked about that. LOL! Well, Love ya'll, Take Care.
Love Elder Eppich
First off! One of the members brought us home after splits the other night and said that he needed to check out the cellar for spiders. Didn't think to much of it until we took flashlights down there and there were BLACK WIDOWS EVERYWHERE! My comp and I ran up those stairs so fast. We left him down there. I have never seen so many Black Widows in my life. You know how I HATE spiders. Well, I think I got one hour of sleep that night. I could just feel them crawling all over me. The guy came back the next day and sprayed to kill them. I don't want to go down there to see if they are dead or not. I really like our home that we are staying in but not the fact that I have to live with Black Widows.
Well Mom & Dad, this letter is going to be a bit different. I know I don't say much on the net but I have a challenge for you. I would like to send this to the kids but not sure how they will take it. I know everyone is busy but I am going to give you and Dad this challenge anyway. This is a prompting from the spirit that I had and I want to share it with ya'll. I would like you to try and accomplish this before I get home. You have lots of time. Dad you know how hard it was to go out and knock doors all day long in the heat just to find that one investigator that is just waiting for the gospel to feast upon the words of Christ. Well if you have been on a mission you know that it doesn't work all that well. Most of the baptisms come from member referrals. Not all members go out and do what their part in the missionary work is. I guess we all think it is the missionaries job to find those who are searching. NO! that is not how it works, we are on a mission to help members to do their job, members are the means. Without the members our work is not possible. Last year we had 400 baptisms in the Texas Lubbock Mission. 350 of them came from member referrals. NOT from knocking doors. I would like ya'll to read D&C 38:40-41. Think about that scripture and look at your responsibility as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Also, read Alma 6:6 and do what that scripture tells us to do. I will get down to the chase. What I am asking ya'll to do is to find at least one person to teach in your home with the missionaries before I get home. The members here in Portales that follow that advice tell us all the time of the blessings that they receive from doing this. I know our family will be truly blessed. Then you will be able to bless the lives of others. Please take this challenge for me!
Things are great here in Portales. I am loving this place. I love the farm area. Dad I know you said in your e-mail that I couldn't wait to leave the farm and get away from it , but I can honestly tell you that I really miss being on the farm. I would give anything to go out and move hand lines with the family. I know, pick yourself up, it is a shocker. We are not able to be on the equipment on the farms here that we do service on but we get to do the grunt work. I love it, it gives me a chance to get into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and get my hands dirty. I am glad ya'll liked the pictures that I sent. I need to do better, I just forget to get the camera out but I know I am going to want them after my mission. Yes! Mom that is my comp Elder Krizin. He is from Utah. Funny looking guy but fun to be around. I am doing pretty good on keeping myself healthy. I can't work out much but I do my best. I have lost lots of muscle but we can work on that when I get back home. Oh! I lost one of my memory cards. I know you are mad right now Mom. I will keep looking for it. Yes! Mom it would be fun to skype but that is not allowed here in this mission. We are getting a new President in June. Maybe he will let us, but if not that is ok. I am going to miss Pres. Robinson. We get along great!
Our investigators are doing great. We have a family of 7 with a date of April 10. Keep them and us in your prayers so that all goes well. We are teaching the plan of Salvation tonight so I am so excited for that. I love the plan of Happiness. We are so blessed to have this in our lives. It gives us peace and comfort during our life here on earth. There are 2 other investigators. We have two appointments with them, one tonight and one tomorrow. We hope to set a date with them by this weekend. I love this place. I love the humility of the people in the community and the ward. I would love to stay here for awhile. The other missionaries tell me that I am in the promise land. Just kind of like home. Well I had better get I am going to get kicked off this computer. Hope all is going well for ya'll. I am really excited for this weekend to listen to Conference, it will be great! I hope ya'll love it as much as I will. Suit season is over here. We don't have to wear our suits all day. I am pretty stoked about that. LOL! Well, Love ya'll, Take Care.
Love Elder Eppich
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Hey! From Portales, New Mexico
Dear Dad & Mom and Family;
Well it has been awhile since I have wrote. I am sorry about that. I will work on that. I am really getting bad with the letter writing. I don't think anyone has gotten a letter from me in awhile. I have a stack of letters just sitting on my desk. I hope I get those people wrote back before the next year is over. Lol! Things are going great here in Portales. Mom, you were saying that it looks like it is a farming community. Well it is. There is a lot of farming here. I love it. It makes me feel at home. We have gone out and done some work on some members farms. It has been a blast. It was pretty funny watching my comp try and get the eggs from all the chickens, I was rolling on the ground laughing. Watching him around all the goats, cows and horses. He kind of gets freaked out. We are getting along pretty good. We have had a few scuffs but who hasn't! I think I can tell you that I am not ready to get married right when I get back. I think I may need a little freedom, this 24/7 stuff is kind of tough sometimes.
Guess What? We had one of the members take us home the other night. He wanted to see the house we live in. Well, we have a cellar under our house and he wanted to see it and so he went under there with a flash light. Well, as soon as he went under there he looked up and saw a whole bunch of black widows and a whole bunch of egg's too. So our house has them everywhere, under the house and you know me, I hate spiders so much. I started to freak out and my comp was freaking out too. I don't think I got more than an hour of sleep that night. LOL. It was bad.
Dang, I can't believe I am past my year mark. That's so crazy. This last year is going to fly by. We are going to get a new mission President here in about 3 months. I am sad but excited at the same time. I guess I have mixed emotions about it. So everyone keeps telling me that Portales is the place to be or in other words, The Promised Land. After our meeting last night I am starting to believe that. We are teaching this lady named Salina, her daughter Destiny, and her 4 boys. Jonny, Elisha, Clay, Micha. Then we also teach Destiny's boyfriend Cody. We were at their house last night teaching them the Restoration. At first they were somewhat into the lesson. Then we got to the Joseph Smith part and all the kids started getting closer to us. They were all leaning in so they could hear better. The circle of the little family got really tight. The spirit was so strong. Like you could grab your arm and slide it down your arm and wipe the spirit right off your arm. Weird analogy! Lol I don't know how else to describe it. It was so awesome! I told them the First Vision and I bore my testimony after and I started to tear up. It was so amazing. I loved it. We set a date with all 7 of them for April 10th. So pray that it will go through. We also set a date with this guy for April 3rd but he told us yesterday that he was good where he was at. I felt that when we set the date with him that it wasn't going to go through. That is ok! He is a great guy and it is his decision, we are here to share the message. We planted a seed and he was very grateful. The ward here is very missionary minded. They love to go out with us and they love to feed the missionaries. I hope I don't get fat before I leave here. Lol! Actually I have lost weight since I am back on a bike and using the tower 200. That thing works great and I get up early and exercise in the morning. Anyway, this ward kind of reminds me of home. Everyone is related and they are a strong ward. I just love it here.
So I hear that Taylor and Laurin and Rex will be there for the summer. That is going to be so fun. Where is Taylor working at? Did you say that Laurin is working for Kacie part time also? Wow! Everyone of the kids are going to be so big when I get home. Crazy! Well I had better get. I promise I will do better on my letters. You will get one next week Mom. Promise! Love you all and ya'll all take care!
See Ya'll , from Portales, New Mexico!
Love Elder Eppich
Well it has been awhile since I have wrote. I am sorry about that. I will work on that. I am really getting bad with the letter writing. I don't think anyone has gotten a letter from me in awhile. I have a stack of letters just sitting on my desk. I hope I get those people wrote back before the next year is over. Lol! Things are going great here in Portales. Mom, you were saying that it looks like it is a farming community. Well it is. There is a lot of farming here. I love it. It makes me feel at home. We have gone out and done some work on some members farms. It has been a blast. It was pretty funny watching my comp try and get the eggs from all the chickens, I was rolling on the ground laughing. Watching him around all the goats, cows and horses. He kind of gets freaked out. We are getting along pretty good. We have had a few scuffs but who hasn't! I think I can tell you that I am not ready to get married right when I get back. I think I may need a little freedom, this 24/7 stuff is kind of tough sometimes.
Guess What? We had one of the members take us home the other night. He wanted to see the house we live in. Well, we have a cellar under our house and he wanted to see it and so he went under there with a flash light. Well, as soon as he went under there he looked up and saw a whole bunch of black widows and a whole bunch of egg's too. So our house has them everywhere, under the house and you know me, I hate spiders so much. I started to freak out and my comp was freaking out too. I don't think I got more than an hour of sleep that night. LOL. It was bad.
Dang, I can't believe I am past my year mark. That's so crazy. This last year is going to fly by. We are going to get a new mission President here in about 3 months. I am sad but excited at the same time. I guess I have mixed emotions about it. So everyone keeps telling me that Portales is the place to be or in other words, The Promised Land. After our meeting last night I am starting to believe that. We are teaching this lady named Salina, her daughter Destiny, and her 4 boys. Jonny, Elisha, Clay, Micha. Then we also teach Destiny's boyfriend Cody. We were at their house last night teaching them the Restoration. At first they were somewhat into the lesson. Then we got to the Joseph Smith part and all the kids started getting closer to us. They were all leaning in so they could hear better. The circle of the little family got really tight. The spirit was so strong. Like you could grab your arm and slide it down your arm and wipe the spirit right off your arm. Weird analogy! Lol I don't know how else to describe it. It was so awesome! I told them the First Vision and I bore my testimony after and I started to tear up. It was so amazing. I loved it. We set a date with all 7 of them for April 10th. So pray that it will go through. We also set a date with this guy for April 3rd but he told us yesterday that he was good where he was at. I felt that when we set the date with him that it wasn't going to go through. That is ok! He is a great guy and it is his decision, we are here to share the message. We planted a seed and he was very grateful. The ward here is very missionary minded. They love to go out with us and they love to feed the missionaries. I hope I don't get fat before I leave here. Lol! Actually I have lost weight since I am back on a bike and using the tower 200. That thing works great and I get up early and exercise in the morning. Anyway, this ward kind of reminds me of home. Everyone is related and they are a strong ward. I just love it here.
So I hear that Taylor and Laurin and Rex will be there for the summer. That is going to be so fun. Where is Taylor working at? Did you say that Laurin is working for Kacie part time also? Wow! Everyone of the kids are going to be so big when I get home. Crazy! Well I had better get. I promise I will do better on my letters. You will get one next week Mom. Promise! Love you all and ya'll all take care!
See Ya'll , from Portales, New Mexico!
Love Elder Eppich
Monday, March 28, 2011
New Mexico is Great!
Hey! Mom & Dad
I know my letters have been pretty short. Not so good at letter writing lately. Mom I will start writing to you better. That is a requirement that we write our parents once a week. I have failed on that commandment lately. LOL I haven't written a letter by hand in about 2 months. Last letter I wrote was to Morgan. Things are going great here in Portales. I think I told you that when I walk out the door every morning to work it feels like I am headed out to work with Dad on the farm. Looks just like home. When we do service it is usually on a farm. Smells like cows here. We travel lots of miles on our bikes. There is just 2 of us that cover this town of about 13,000. The district all comes here to have district meeting. We have 2 sisters in our district and 2 Spanish speaking Elders, they cover 2 towns and then 2 Elders that come from around an hour away. We are well taken care of by the members of the ward. Our Bishop is so missionary minded and it is so great to have help from the ward members. We do have a family of 7 on schedule for baptism here soon so we are very excited about that. We ride about 2 to 3 miles to the Library to e-mail. We have a family that has kind of adopted us and they are a fun family. My comp is from Utah and he is an older missionary. He has been out for 5 months. He doesn't really like it when I suggest what we should do, I just kind of ignore it. He pulled out in front of an Ambulance the other day and I got after him for that so you can imagine how our day went. I just try to no dwell on it. For the most part we work well together. President Robinson was excited to send me here. Midland was a lot of work. I served there for 6 months so it was time to move on. I love this place and will enjoy my time here. The work is going good here and we are seeing great success. Hope you are all well at home. I heard the girls did good in their Moab half marathon. Sounds like things are beginning to start on the house. I am excited. Hope all the family is doing good. Miss ya'll and look forward to talking to you on Mothers Day.
Love ya'll- Love Elder Eppich
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Transfered to Portales, New Mexico
Hey! Mom & Dad;
Sorry! I kind of messed up today on the mailing. We have been swamped and lot's to do here in Portales. I am in a farming community, dairies, peanuts. My comp and I are the only elders here in this town. I had a very hard time leaving Midland but I think I am going to really enjoy the people here. They are so humble. The Bishop is very good to work with the Missionaries. People say Hi everywhere we go and even if they are not interested in what we have to share they take the time to visit with you. I love it. I don't have much to say right now have to run.
You all take care and we will talk to you next week.
Thanks so much for all the Birthday gifts. Best birthday.
Love ya lots! Love Elder Eppich
Sorry! I kind of messed up today on the mailing. We have been swamped and lot's to do here in Portales. I am in a farming community, dairies, peanuts. My comp and I are the only elders here in this town. I had a very hard time leaving Midland but I think I am going to really enjoy the people here. They are so humble. The Bishop is very good to work with the Missionaries. People say Hi everywhere we go and even if they are not interested in what we have to share they take the time to visit with you. I love it. I don't have much to say right now have to run.
You all take care and we will talk to you next week.
Thanks so much for all the Birthday gifts. Best birthday.
Love ya lots! Love Elder Eppich
Monday, March 7, 2011
Getting Transfered Soon
Hey! Mom & Dad;
Well, how are things going for y'all? Seems like y'all are not liking the fact that y'all are all sick. That's no bueno, lol. I hope y'all get over that as soon as you can. Well things are going pretty good here in Midland. Right now with all of our investigators we are not doing to hot. We have dropped all of our investigators except like one. They are just not progressing at all. So we have been hitting the streets and knocking doors like crazy. We have really been trying to get the members to help us out. We can't do this work all alone we really need their help. We have been working on that lately. Brenda is doing alright. She is still smoking but she is slowly stopping. We just have to keep on her and let her know that we are here for her. Anyways, something cool happened last week. One of the less active ladies that has started to come back to church asked me to baptize her twins. I was able to confirm them also. She also asked if I would bless her baby, that was way awesome. I had a lot of fun doing this but I was so nervous. Great experience!
Well I think a transfer is in the working for me. I have been here in Midland for about 6 months now, I am ready to move on but not ready to change companions. Elder McAdams and I have worked so great together. I love that kid and he is a great missionary. I hope to serve with him again someday.
I want to let you know that I don't know if I am that excited about being 20. I still feel like I am 19. Crazy huh! It seems unreal that I will be on my mission a year on the 17th. That is crazy too.
I know this next year will fly by for me , I am committed to make it the best. My district is doing great. All the Elders are great and working hard. We have one of the companionship's that is tearing it up and they were struggling here a bit ago. I am so happy for them. Well I had better go. I love y'all so much and hope y'all get feeling much better. What is happening with the house or are you moving? Keep me posted.
Love ya Elder Eppich
Well, how are things going for y'all? Seems like y'all are not liking the fact that y'all are all sick. That's no bueno, lol. I hope y'all get over that as soon as you can. Well things are going pretty good here in Midland. Right now with all of our investigators we are not doing to hot. We have dropped all of our investigators except like one. They are just not progressing at all. So we have been hitting the streets and knocking doors like crazy. We have really been trying to get the members to help us out. We can't do this work all alone we really need their help. We have been working on that lately. Brenda is doing alright. She is still smoking but she is slowly stopping. We just have to keep on her and let her know that we are here for her. Anyways, something cool happened last week. One of the less active ladies that has started to come back to church asked me to baptize her twins. I was able to confirm them also. She also asked if I would bless her baby, that was way awesome. I had a lot of fun doing this but I was so nervous. Great experience!
Well I think a transfer is in the working for me. I have been here in Midland for about 6 months now, I am ready to move on but not ready to change companions. Elder McAdams and I have worked so great together. I love that kid and he is a great missionary. I hope to serve with him again someday.
I want to let you know that I don't know if I am that excited about being 20. I still feel like I am 19. Crazy huh! It seems unreal that I will be on my mission a year on the 17th. That is crazy too.
I know this next year will fly by for me , I am committed to make it the best. My district is doing great. All the Elders are great and working hard. We have one of the companionship's that is tearing it up and they were struggling here a bit ago. I am so happy for them. Well I had better go. I love y'all so much and hope y'all get feeling much better. What is happening with the house or are you moving? Keep me posted.
Love ya Elder Eppich
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Feb. 10th, 2011
Hey Mom & Dad;
It is P-Day right now and it is about 10:30 a.m and I am still in my apartment because Elder McAdams is still sick. Not sure if he feels well enough to go out and e-mail. It's not a whole lot of fun when your not sick and your comp is, there isn't a whole lot to do after I get all my studying done. But it's all good. I remember when I had my bike reck and my comp had to stay with me. Pay backs! Things are going pretty good . I love being in our own apartment. It is so nice. We actually have room to move around. Instead of just sitting in a small room. Me and my comp are getting along just great. He is a pretty funny kid. He has a pretty big family and they all run track in college. So if we need to scram from a sticky place, I will just hang on and he will run as fast as he can. lol
I can't believe that I am almost hitting my year mark. It is so crazy. Time is just flying by. My last year is going to go by so fast. I need to kick it into gear and work harder than ever. Speaking of work, we have a few investigators that I'll tell you about. First up is Brenda, she is way tight. She is a 54 year old black lady. She is way cool and funny. She was telling us that she was praying for help and no longer than a minute later we showed up. So that's pretty sweet. As soon as she stops smoking she will be good to go. So that is what we are working on with her. Next is Jesse. He is 13 years old. We took him to church with us and he loved it. I don't know if his parents will let him get baptized. I hope they do. Then there is Susan. She is kinda crazy. She believes in the whole flopping on the ground thing. She says when she feels the spirit it comes out in her and she flops on the ground. That could be a real show if she decided to do that in Sacrament meeting. lol Tonight we are teaching this girl named America. This will be the first time teaching her. She seems like she will be pretty solid. So we will have to wait and see.
Hey! It finally snowed here. I got my wish, lol. It has been really cold here in Midland. I am pretty excited for it to start warming up again. I don't like knocking on doors in the cold. Well life is good here. How about back home? How is everything going? Le me know how your cruise went. Love y'all lot's. Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
It is P-Day right now and it is about 10:30 a.m and I am still in my apartment because Elder McAdams is still sick. Not sure if he feels well enough to go out and e-mail. It's not a whole lot of fun when your not sick and your comp is, there isn't a whole lot to do after I get all my studying done. But it's all good. I remember when I had my bike reck and my comp had to stay with me. Pay backs! Things are going pretty good . I love being in our own apartment. It is so nice. We actually have room to move around. Instead of just sitting in a small room. Me and my comp are getting along just great. He is a pretty funny kid. He has a pretty big family and they all run track in college. So if we need to scram from a sticky place, I will just hang on and he will run as fast as he can. lol
I can't believe that I am almost hitting my year mark. It is so crazy. Time is just flying by. My last year is going to go by so fast. I need to kick it into gear and work harder than ever. Speaking of work, we have a few investigators that I'll tell you about. First up is Brenda, she is way tight. She is a 54 year old black lady. She is way cool and funny. She was telling us that she was praying for help and no longer than a minute later we showed up. So that's pretty sweet. As soon as she stops smoking she will be good to go. So that is what we are working on with her. Next is Jesse. He is 13 years old. We took him to church with us and he loved it. I don't know if his parents will let him get baptized. I hope they do. Then there is Susan. She is kinda crazy. She believes in the whole flopping on the ground thing. She says when she feels the spirit it comes out in her and she flops on the ground. That could be a real show if she decided to do that in Sacrament meeting. lol Tonight we are teaching this girl named America. This will be the first time teaching her. She seems like she will be pretty solid. So we will have to wait and see.
Hey! It finally snowed here. I got my wish, lol. It has been really cold here in Midland. I am pretty excited for it to start warming up again. I don't like knocking on doors in the cold. Well life is good here. How about back home? How is everything going? Le me know how your cruise went. Love y'all lot's. Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Elder Eppich has a new address
Elder Eppich has moved into an apartment in Midland.
He is pretty excited about this. He has been living with the
Jones family. The father is in the presidency of the Lubbock
mission. Very nice people but he is excited to have his own
space. He has a new companion from Cleveland Ohio.
Elder McAdams. Just finished having snow storms in Texas.
All is melted and back in their vehicles.
New Address
Elder Nate Eppich
4405 N. Garfield
Apt #621
Midland, Tx 79705
He is pretty excited about this. He has been living with the
Jones family. The father is in the presidency of the Lubbock
mission. Very nice people but he is excited to have his own
space. He has a new companion from Cleveland Ohio.
Elder McAdams. Just finished having snow storms in Texas.
All is melted and back in their vehicles.
New Address
Elder Nate Eppich
4405 N. Garfield
Apt #621
Midland, Tx 79705
Friday, February 4, 2011
Snowing in Midland Texas
Dear Mom & Dad;
This is crazy weather. We have been grounded for a couple of days. It stinks! If we go anywhere we have to have one of the members come get us and take us. Jeremy came to bring us to the library so we could email out to our families. It is so cold and we now have inches of snow. I think I was wanting a box of snow for Christmas. NOW! I need it to go away so we can get back to work. We are all good here. Sorry that I have been so bad about the letter writing, when I get in at night I am bushed and fall asleep fast and on p-day, well, it seems like the day goes so fast before we have appointments again. That is good though. I have a new companion from Cleveland Ohio. I have had all Utah boys up to now. His name is Elder McAdams, really cool kid. Brand new out so I will be training him. We will get some good work done and have fun while doing it. We are moving on Saturday the 5th so don't send anything. We will be moving into an apartment. I am pretty excited that we will be in our own space. I appreciate the Jones a lot but it is nice to have our own space.
The work is good. We have several investigators. Many of them have vices that they are trying to stop, like smoking, drinking etc. Really awesome people. The district is doing great. I feel like I am not the best leader but I am really trying. They are all good to work with. Well this letter is short, sorry! Oh! Elder Reay got back into the mission this week. I am so excited for him that he came back. He has the choice to stay 3 months longer than our group or go home when we do. I think right now he will return home when we do. I am so happy for him.
Well got to go Mom and Dad. Tell everyone hi for me. I love you all so much and appreciate all you do for me. Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
This is crazy weather. We have been grounded for a couple of days. It stinks! If we go anywhere we have to have one of the members come get us and take us. Jeremy came to bring us to the library so we could email out to our families. It is so cold and we now have inches of snow. I think I was wanting a box of snow for Christmas. NOW! I need it to go away so we can get back to work. We are all good here. Sorry that I have been so bad about the letter writing, when I get in at night I am bushed and fall asleep fast and on p-day, well, it seems like the day goes so fast before we have appointments again. That is good though. I have a new companion from Cleveland Ohio. I have had all Utah boys up to now. His name is Elder McAdams, really cool kid. Brand new out so I will be training him. We will get some good work done and have fun while doing it. We are moving on Saturday the 5th so don't send anything. We will be moving into an apartment. I am pretty excited that we will be in our own space. I appreciate the Jones a lot but it is nice to have our own space.
The work is good. We have several investigators. Many of them have vices that they are trying to stop, like smoking, drinking etc. Really awesome people. The district is doing great. I feel like I am not the best leader but I am really trying. They are all good to work with. Well this letter is short, sorry! Oh! Elder Reay got back into the mission this week. I am so excited for him that he came back. He has the choice to stay 3 months longer than our group or go home when we do. I think right now he will return home when we do. I am so happy for him.
Well got to go Mom and Dad. Tell everyone hi for me. I love you all so much and appreciate all you do for me. Take Care! Love Elder Eppich
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Good in the Texas, Lubbock Mission
Hey! Mom & Dad;
Things are going pretty good here in the Texas Lubbock Mission. The weather is perfect for missionary work. Midland is doing just great, at least I think so. The town is about half the size of Tri-Cities I think. I am ready for a new area but then again I love this area. Things are a bit slow for us right now, but hey! everything can't go the way you want it to all the time. We meet a lot of awesome people everyday but then as soon as we mention the Gospel to them they all the sudden are not all that cool to us anymore. We get a lot of people that get mad because we knock on their door, we just address them nicely and tell them who we are and they are nice to us, there is another church here that most people won't open their doors for and they think we are part of them. The one ladies family, you know the one that has a wife, yep! still can't get over that one. Kind of weird right!
They came to church last week, it was awesome and they liked it. Someone shared with them about pre-earth life and that they were probably in the chior in Heaven before this life. They didn't know how to handle that one. We have a baptism set for the 24th of January. This lady is so awesome but she is still smoking so not to sure on that one. It is pretty crazy because she says she hates the smell of smoke that it makes her stomach hurt. She has had cancer so she is scared to smoke so it doesn't make sence to me. Hopefully we can help her out with that committment. She is a special person and wants to clean her life up. The weather here has been in the 70's, it is alright but I think I am going to freeze when my mission is over. I am used to this weather here. I hear that the weather is getting a bit warm back home, is the snow gone yet? I think Kyle has warmer weather than what I have here becasue we have frost on the windows every morning when we go out. I hear that Kel is almost ready to move into their new home. I am excited for him. What is wrong with Mel's hand? Kel tells me that they have a track right behind their home, we can do some riding back there. I know Mom you don't like motorcycles!
The other day I went about 45 minutes away to Big Springs which is part of our district to do some exchanges with some other Elders. It was pretty crazy because we were riding bikes there and FYI there are a lot of hills there so you can imagin that I was having a hay day on those hills. lol We were about 7 miles from their house and about 5 miles from Wal-Mart and guess what? I got a flat tire and we had to walk the bikes all the way to Wal-Mart to buy a tire for a bike that is not even mine and then fix it. OH! It was a pain in the rear, but it was fun at the same time. lol ! We don't have to many more investigators right now, that is what we will be working on is finding more this week. It should be a long week of hard work for us but it is all good.
Hope work is going good for Dad and he isn't getting to much gray hair. Mom how did your's and Kacie's class go in Mutual? Well I am done with this letter and I have to run. You all take care and know that I love you all so much. Thanks for being an awesome family.
Love Elder Eppich
Things are going pretty good here in the Texas Lubbock Mission. The weather is perfect for missionary work. Midland is doing just great, at least I think so. The town is about half the size of Tri-Cities I think. I am ready for a new area but then again I love this area. Things are a bit slow for us right now, but hey! everything can't go the way you want it to all the time. We meet a lot of awesome people everyday but then as soon as we mention the Gospel to them they all the sudden are not all that cool to us anymore. We get a lot of people that get mad because we knock on their door, we just address them nicely and tell them who we are and they are nice to us, there is another church here that most people won't open their doors for and they think we are part of them. The one ladies family, you know the one that has a wife, yep! still can't get over that one. Kind of weird right!
They came to church last week, it was awesome and they liked it. Someone shared with them about pre-earth life and that they were probably in the chior in Heaven before this life. They didn't know how to handle that one. We have a baptism set for the 24th of January. This lady is so awesome but she is still smoking so not to sure on that one. It is pretty crazy because she says she hates the smell of smoke that it makes her stomach hurt. She has had cancer so she is scared to smoke so it doesn't make sence to me. Hopefully we can help her out with that committment. She is a special person and wants to clean her life up. The weather here has been in the 70's, it is alright but I think I am going to freeze when my mission is over. I am used to this weather here. I hear that the weather is getting a bit warm back home, is the snow gone yet? I think Kyle has warmer weather than what I have here becasue we have frost on the windows every morning when we go out. I hear that Kel is almost ready to move into their new home. I am excited for him. What is wrong with Mel's hand? Kel tells me that they have a track right behind their home, we can do some riding back there. I know Mom you don't like motorcycles!
The other day I went about 45 minutes away to Big Springs which is part of our district to do some exchanges with some other Elders. It was pretty crazy because we were riding bikes there and FYI there are a lot of hills there so you can imagin that I was having a hay day on those hills. lol We were about 7 miles from their house and about 5 miles from Wal-Mart and guess what? I got a flat tire and we had to walk the bikes all the way to Wal-Mart to buy a tire for a bike that is not even mine and then fix it. OH! It was a pain in the rear, but it was fun at the same time. lol ! We don't have to many more investigators right now, that is what we will be working on is finding more this week. It should be a long week of hard work for us but it is all good.
Hope work is going good for Dad and he isn't getting to much gray hair. Mom how did your's and Kacie's class go in Mutual? Well I am done with this letter and I have to run. You all take care and know that I love you all so much. Thanks for being an awesome family.
Love Elder Eppich
Thursday, January 13, 2011
January 13, 2011
Hi Family;
Things are going pretty good here. We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday the 15th but the lady was not able to come to church for good reasons so we will be working with her on that.
It is one of those slow times in the mission. I think it is just the January spell. All the district missionaries are doing good. I am doing pretty good in my calling as District Leader. I have to realize that I was called here to learn. I am learning alot that is for sure. I have to have more confidence in myself and know that my Father in Heaven is by my side to help me along the way if I show humility and hard work. I get more comfortable as the days and months go by.
We as a Lubbock mission had 400 baptisms for the year of 2010. We felt pretty good about that but we always know that we can work harder. It is getting harder for me to write letters. I am usually so tired when we get home that I just crash. Sleep is a gift. Just got done being sick but I think I was able to keep from getting strep like I usually get this time of year.
Hope all is well at home. It is good to hear from all the kids. Oh! Daniel that moved to Logan, he is moving to St. George, Utah. He doesn't like Logan. Hope he likes St. George, it is warmer there. Jeremy , that was baptized a couple of weeks ago is doing great. He moved back in with his parents so that he can save money to go to school at BYU, Utah. He is way excited about that. Elder Reay will be back to the mission here in the next week or so. He healed pretty good from his knee surgery. Look forward to seeing him. The weather has cooled down quite a bit. Still warm for me. Hey! I heard that Colton has gained some weight. What! He is not a skinny little guy anymore! Say , Hi! to him for me. I have heard from Morgan. Sounds like he is doing good. Well, got to go. Tell all Hi from Texas. I love you all, take care. Love Elder Eppich
Things are going pretty good here. We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday the 15th but the lady was not able to come to church for good reasons so we will be working with her on that.
It is one of those slow times in the mission. I think it is just the January spell. All the district missionaries are doing good. I am doing pretty good in my calling as District Leader. I have to realize that I was called here to learn. I am learning alot that is for sure. I have to have more confidence in myself and know that my Father in Heaven is by my side to help me along the way if I show humility and hard work. I get more comfortable as the days and months go by.
We as a Lubbock mission had 400 baptisms for the year of 2010. We felt pretty good about that but we always know that we can work harder. It is getting harder for me to write letters. I am usually so tired when we get home that I just crash. Sleep is a gift. Just got done being sick but I think I was able to keep from getting strep like I usually get this time of year.
Hope all is well at home. It is good to hear from all the kids. Oh! Daniel that moved to Logan, he is moving to St. George, Utah. He doesn't like Logan. Hope he likes St. George, it is warmer there. Jeremy , that was baptized a couple of weeks ago is doing great. He moved back in with his parents so that he can save money to go to school at BYU, Utah. He is way excited about that. Elder Reay will be back to the mission here in the next week or so. He healed pretty good from his knee surgery. Look forward to seeing him. The weather has cooled down quite a bit. Still warm for me. Hey! I heard that Colton has gained some weight. What! He is not a skinny little guy anymore! Say , Hi! to him for me. I have heard from Morgan. Sounds like he is doing good. Well, got to go. Tell all Hi from Texas. I love you all, take care. Love Elder Eppich
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Loooooong Break!
This is from Mom;
I was surprised at how long it has been since I posted one of Nate's letters. I didn't think I had been that bad at keeping up. Actually, Nate is getting pretty bad at writing these days. He has been very busy in Midland , Texas. He has been the district leader there for some time now and he enjoys it most days. They have been teaching quite a bit. He is looking forward to a baptism on January 15th. We look forward to his e-mails every Thursday morning. He was looking forward to some cooler weather. I think they are getting it now. Nate lives with a couple, Brother Jones is one of the counselors in the mission office. His companion is Elder Mulcock from Utah. Transfers should be coming up soon so he could be seeing some changes. He has been in Midland since September of 2010. Every Thursday, (almost) they have the opportunity to play some football. Down in Texas they have football fields that they let the community play on that are better than the football fields that we have in the college level. Nate enjoys this time to get some exercise. They play with several guys that are on the college teams there in Midland. While he was in a restruant during the Christmas Holidays , a young man came up to Nate and told him that he recognized him and that he knew his sister Kacie. Small world! That has happened twice to him while he has been in Midland. In Midland, there are lots of oil fields and cotton that is harvested. This was new to him. He had no idea how they did that. I have some photos to share. Well , I have reminded Nate that we need mission up-dates so hopefully we will get a letter soon. Thanks for all the prayers and support . Nate appreciated all the cards and gifts that he received , he didn't know if he was going to get all the Thank You's out but Mom assured him that he could do it, so hopefully that will happen.
I was surprised at how long it has been since I posted one of Nate's letters. I didn't think I had been that bad at keeping up. Actually, Nate is getting pretty bad at writing these days. He has been very busy in Midland , Texas. He has been the district leader there for some time now and he enjoys it most days. They have been teaching quite a bit. He is looking forward to a baptism on January 15th. We look forward to his e-mails every Thursday morning. He was looking forward to some cooler weather. I think they are getting it now. Nate lives with a couple, Brother Jones is one of the counselors in the mission office. His companion is Elder Mulcock from Utah. Transfers should be coming up soon so he could be seeing some changes. He has been in Midland since September of 2010. Every Thursday, (almost) they have the opportunity to play some football. Down in Texas they have football fields that they let the community play on that are better than the football fields that we have in the college level. Nate enjoys this time to get some exercise. They play with several guys that are on the college teams there in Midland. While he was in a restruant during the Christmas Holidays , a young man came up to Nate and told him that he recognized him and that he knew his sister Kacie. Small world! That has happened twice to him while he has been in Midland. In Midland, there are lots of oil fields and cotton that is harvested. This was new to him. He had no idea how they did that. I have some photos to share. Well , I have reminded Nate that we need mission up-dates so hopefully we will get a letter soon. Thanks for all the prayers and support . Nate appreciated all the cards and gifts that he received , he didn't know if he was going to get all the Thank You's out but Mom assured him that he could do it, so hopefully that will happen.
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