Catching up to Tuesday

Friday,  May 8th

Today we had our Ocho de Mayo celebration.  Basically a chance to celebrate mexican cuture with the wsrd and neighborhood.  I got the chance to talk Spanish to a lady from Panama and also to play Uno cards with some teenagers who were skateboarding in the parking lot. One of our ward members was kind enough to invite them in.

Saturday May 9th

Today Megan and I planted flowers for Mommy and we all took a nice mothers day gift to my mother in law.

Sunday May 10th

Today was all about Kristen!!!  I made breakfast and dinner, put Mel down for a nap, played with the girls in the back and we did a dance party!!!

Monday May 11th

This evening I got to spend time with Melody and go on a nice walk to the mailbox. We didnt have Megan with us so we got to walk at a slower pace and Melody got to hold keys the whole time. Her favorite thing!!!

1st week of May

Well here I am writing on my blog on a Thursday night.

Here is what happened thiis week:

Sunday May 3rd

I went to visit my neighbor Luis with my daughter Melody to give him a flyer to our upcoming missionary/ward party. I had a great conversation with him on the porch.  He is a really cool guy and has quite a bit in common with me.

Monday May 4th

Well we have been working with one of our part member families and trying to get them in with one of our strong families to have a meal and make more friendships.

Well since there was some communication mixups the dinner never happened and I was afraid that we would damage the progress we have made so far so I bought them pizza and dropped it off! They loved that...who doesnt love pizza?!?

Tuesday May 5th

During lunch I arranged rides for Johnnie to be able to go down to a career class at the lds employment center.

Wednesday May 6th

I have tried to go out of my way to introduce myself and get to know some of the new guys at work: John, Grover,  Justin, and Pat.

Thursday May 7th

Im sitting in a parking lot at a Lowes in Apache Junction to meet up with some people that want to buy some pond supplies from me. Even though they are really late...im being really cool about it and not negative at all :)

This past week

Ive started slipping on the daily opportunities to help other people so I will do a better job at paying attention to what I can do.

But this past week I did have the opportunity to help Johnnie out. I helped him build a resume, cover letter, and his list of references. And today he came over and I helped him apply to 30+ jobs!!!

Finishing out last week

Wednesday April 22nd

Today was Earth Day! It was actually a really good day!  Not only was I nice to one of my coworkers in another office when he beat me out with a job placement, but I also got to spend lunch with my wife and kids! They had some food trucks outside our office so we met up and ate lunch out there.

Thursday April 23rd

Today I got to spend more time with my girls!!! We went on a walk around the block and Melody walked almost the whole way!!! Then we came home and I helped Megan practice on her bike! She rode it really good through the whole kitchen!!!

Friday April 24th

Today we had a company picnic. I brought some donuts in to my team in the morning (which had been given by my home teachers) and at the picnic was able to talk with Joe for quite a while to make sure he was happy with how things are progressing.

Saturday April 25th

I spent a lot of time with my family today.  I competely destroyed my pond (this has been a bit of a sore topic since I loved the pond but Kristen has always felt uneasy about it since kids could fall in). And I helped get Megan down to a nap when she was very squirmy and restless.

Sunday April 26th

We went home teaching today and spent a lot of time with Leah. I could tell she enjoyed the company and her son loved showing us his toys.

Monday April 27th

I gave my coworker Steve a ride to work today and later in the day drove him to pick up his car.

So far this week

Sunday April 19

While talking to one of my neighbors just before I stopped by another  neighbor to home teach, an elderly neighbor lady motioned that she needed my help. I walked over to her and found out that she was in need of some legal counselor for beneficiary advisory paperwork.  I explained that our Bishop has a financial background and would probably be able to help. I passed the information on to him and he is reaching out to her.

Monday April 20

After work,  I came home to a pretty chaotic house. Melody was not in good spirits and she had not taken a good nap. So I took her and Megan back to Megand room, sat on Megans bed with them and we watched all sorts of cute animal videos on youtube while my wife finished making dinner. I think it made a big difference for the girls :)

Tuesday April 21

Today during lunch I wrote a letter to one of our ward members. I had an unkind exchange with her on Sunday due to a mix up and I realized I had really taken her efforts for granted. She is one of the best missionaries we have and an extremely effective fellowshipper. I made sure to express that to her in the letter as well as ask her forgiveness. 

Catching up to today

Thursday April 16

I had to get my car home from the shop so my coworker Tom helped me out.  Because of that I took him out to Lunch. It was great to spend time with him and also show him my house since he had never been here before.

Friday April 17th

I sent my sister Julia an e-mail to update her on our little family. She has been over in China on a program where she teaches English. We miss her lots and wanted her to know we are thinking about her.

Saturday April 18

One of Kristens friends needed a new twin bed since her sister is coming to stay with them over the summer. So Kristen and I disassembled the bed in Megans room, vacuumed the floor and pillows, made up her trumdle bed to be a toddler bed and helped load up the bed pieces in her friends van.

This week so far

Well Sunday evening I left a facebook message for a young man that is in our ward. He is turning 18 today and I wanted him to know how proud I am of him. He has dealt with autism his whole life as well as several physical disabilities but he is the best ward missionary that I have ever workrd with and is a lover of all people.

Monday I took my coworker out to lunch. We have had our disagreements in the past but I have tried to makr amends so that we can work well together. Im really proud of all the work he is doing! He seemed to enjoy lunch!

Tuesday I broght over a bunch of leftover food to Johnnie. Our work had left over pasta from olive garden and left over chipotle rice from some catered events. I was able to visit with Johnnie and learned that things are going really great for him and he has improved a lot of his life

Today wednesday April 15th
I sent in an article about Johnnie to our ward newsletter publisher. I think it will help strengthen him to be praised on his accomplishments in front of the whole ward.

Saturday April 11

Today after going to the temple, I went to Papa Johns to pick up our dinner. Apparently because the diamondbacks won, they were doing like 50% off all orders. Anyways because of the good deals, the place was a madhouse. Even though they got my order wrong two times, I was very cordial and nice. I showed my understanding and I think  that made quite a difference.

Catching up to the weekend

Thursday April 9

Today I brought my coworker Stern a gift because he and gis wife just had a new baby. I gave him a box of daipers and 3 homemade burp cloths from my Mom. She does a really amazing job making them!

Friday April 10

Today was a super busy day for me and I didnt have time to think of something nice to do until I was driving home. So after getting gas at the local gas station, I walked in and pre-paid $20 for the next person to use that pump. I hope that was a blessing in disguise for whoever came to fill up gas after I left.

Wednesday, April 8

Today on my birthday I called my buddy Max to say hi and see how he has been doing. He has been struggling with walking Pneumonia for the last few months and I encouraged him to seek a priesthood blessing. I also talked about him snd his family. It would seem that everything is going pretty well for him.  Im glad I took the time to call him and touch base.

Getting caught up to my birthday

Sunday-April 5
I spent the afternoon continuing to help the Dillards fight the invasive virus that had tried to take over their computer. I got to sit and chat with them for a while.  They had both watched all the sessions of General Conference and the Easter Pageant!

Monday April-6
For Family Home Evening we walked around and gave lemon bars to two new neighbor families that moved into the ward. Both have younger kids so they could be some good playmates for our kids.

Tuesday - April 7
I scheduled some time during lunch to do a skype call with my wife and kids! They loved it and I know that the girls enjoyed having more time with their busy Daddy!

Quarter 2 begins

With the 1st quarter of the year gone, I have decide to reapply myself to accomplish my 2015 goal of going outside myself and helping one person each day.

Wednesday April 1 - I mentioned to my coworker Kwame that he is a really likable guy and just all around a good person. He joked around with me for a little bit but at the end he said he really appreciated the compliment.

Thursday April 2 - I stopped by to see Robert and Anissa today and gave Anissa a blessing. It wsd clear to me that I was an instrument in the Lords hand because I clearly wasn't speaking words from my own mind and at the end Anissa commented that her heart felt very warm from the blessing she was really appreciative! I also started helping them clean a virus off of their computer.

Friday April 3 - I stopped and gave an orange and a bag of crackers to a homeless girl that was on the corner of Higley and the 60. She was very grateful and kept saying "God Bless". I wonder what her story is because I have seen her on that corner beforr and she is a very pretty girl that seems like she is all there. Not the typical homeless persona.

Saturday April 4 - This evening after General Conference I made lemon bars from a really easy recipe that I found on pinterest. We delivered them to the Hunts and also to Grandma Erickson. We all enjoyed seeing Grandma!

Monday January 5th

Today I stopped to visit with a brother in the ward who said that he could help us burn the lds scriptures on cd. We have a few investigators and recent converts who really need the scriptures in an audio format. It was great to visit with him and im sure that he will be blessed for helping us out!

Sunday, January 4th

We attended a Missionary fireside at our stake center today. It was a great meeting with lots of powerful music and speakers.

After it was all done, I saw one of our recent converts leaving the meeting to head home for the night.  Even though it was time for me to head home, I stopped to talk with him.  He had gotten a ride out to the meeting with another member and they were both in really great spirits!

Saturday, January 3rd

To follow up on the entry from earlier this week when I visited with a brother who is learning more about his priesthood duties and helping his wife prepare for baptism, today I got to spend more time with both of them.

Together with the full time missionaries we met at the Stake center and talked about the priesthood, I helped give a priesthood blessing to the brothers wife who is quitting smoking in preparation for baptism. Then we walked near the baptismal font to discuss the baptismal service and help the lady set a baptismal date! The goal we all set together is for her to be baptized on January 31st! She is excited to work towards that date.

Friday, January 2nd

Today we were very busy and had to go to the doctor so that my daughter could be checked to see what sickness she is experiencing right now...we thought it was chicken pox. It turned out to be hand foot mouth disease.

Because of that we had to go to our pharmacy to pick up some medication for her. While there I took the opportunity to converse with a young lady in line to find out why she was there at the pharmacy. I found out that she has cholesterol issues and so I explained that my wife has similar problems. I also had the opportunity to converse with one of the workers there who I have now seen many times and I feel that a good friendship is developing.

New Years Day

Today being the first day of the new year and having this resolution to reach outside myself, spread my circle of influence and help others each and every day, today was a good day!

A few days ago, I had learned of a lady who has been friends with my wife since high school. I learned that she is diabetic, poor, very sick, doesnt have health insurance, needs diabetic supplies, and has 2 little girls. I asked my wife what we could do to help and she started messaging the lady on facebook. She learned that they needed money to go to the doctor so that she could get the prescription that she needs.

So on New Years day, my wife drove out to meet her and give her the money that she needs.  While there my youngest daughter played with their daughters and they had a great visit.

Im glad that we took the time to help them and I pray that she will get better quickly so she can take care of her precious girls!