Sad News

6/19/17 Email:

Alright everyone,

So I am getting transferred out of Tuba City.  I am going to an area called Red Cliffs, it is over by Gallup, New Mexico.  So I will leave tomorrow morning.  I am all sad about it because I have really grown to love this place, and it has become a second home for me.  I have always been taken care of and watched out for by the people here, and I will miss them dearly.  I won't even get to say goodbye to everyone I want to because they are out of town.  But Heavenly Father has a plan for me and my mission and how I can be the best I can be, so I trust that whatever happens will be for the best.

I honestly don't know really anything about my new area, I have heard mixed things about it.  It is kinda a small place, deep rez, with a bit of city, and it is close to Gallup, so we will probably do our shopping there cuz I heard there is only one store where I am going.  Umm my new companion, his name I believe is Elder Henderson, we are whitewashing the area.  He was serving in Farmington as a Zone Leader before this, and is now a District Leader, but he goes home after this transfer.  He is pretty tall, according to what I've been told, so I won't get away from the tall people.  But maybe that is preparing me for something.

I don't have my camera with me to send pictures, but I will send a few of them next week.  I am just a little emotional about leaving right now.  But I am excited for the new adventure, so wish me luck!

God Bless


Elder Takis

China Star Got Baptized!!!!!

6/12/17 Email:

Ya'at'teh' everyone!

So to explain the title, China Star is a Chinese Buffet here in Tuba City.  But that isn't what got baptized.  Her name is Andrea, we just have nicknamed her China Star because she worked at China Star for a  while, and that's the name we gave her before we figured out her real name, haha.  Elder Hudak and I found her and started teaching her, and there is a really funny story as to how this all started but that is for another time.  All that is important is that she was so golden and elect and has started taking steps towards returning to Heavenly Father's presence.  Here she is...

Oh that is my companion Elder Huff, so yes I am back with someone who is a foot taller than me...

Anyway like I was saying, she is so awesome!  She is really smart, and had graduated high school with a 2 year college degree or something like that.  She actually was going to a different church when we found her, and for some reason she never got baptized there but really wanted to get baptized.  She just does so much for the community and her family, and pretty much everyone, and she is so into the church and all the programs it has to offer, and she has committed to not miss church, because she really enjoys it.  She is going to go down to Phoenix to do some college program there in a couple of weeks, and it will last about 5 weeks, but even though it's a three and a half hour drive from here to there, she said she will make the drive every weekend so she won't miss church.  Yeah, I was blown away, cuz I don't know that I would have done that.  That's obviously something I need to work on, haha.  She is also really excited to go to the temple as well.  But yeah there are so many great things and blessings in store for her as she continues to follow the path that Heavenly Father has for her.

Transfers are this weekend, so we will find out if I leave or stay.  I am praying that I stay, and hopefully y'all will do the same, haha.  But that is about all I have for this week.

Love y'all,

Elder Takis

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Scorpions and Grave Dedications

6/5/17 Email:

Ya'at'teh' everyone!

So this week was pretty insanely hot. I think I got heat exhaustion one day, haha, but I'll save that for later in the email.  But overall it was a good week, except for an unexpected death in one of the families we teach.

So first off, the scorpions...  Yes I finally ate the scorpion, and my parents wanted pictures of it in my mouth and all so here you go!

So to be completely honest with you all, it didn't taste very good, and it felt really weird on my tongue and in my mouth, and then chewing it was interesting as well.  But it wasn't like it was terrible, it was in between, like my body couldn't decide whether to gag or throw up or something, so my body was confused at what I ate as well, haha.  But anyway now I'm down to a worm and a cricket... yum!

Now to the sad part. One of the less active families that we teach just recently had a son who passed away unexpectedly.  We have been working with them for a while and things have been going really well for them lately, and when this happened I was worried that things would get worse.  But thankfully it didn't, they have been to the temple and have been sealed as a family, and they knew where their son was and that they would see him again.  So they were truly comforted and the Spirit was so strong with them.  That made me so happy.  But they asked me to dedicate the grave, so we went out, and like I said it was really hot.  So this is where the heat exhaustion came in.  We were out there for like an hour and a half, and we were in our suits, and it was like 94 degrees. I'll be honest though, I didn't drink a whole lot of water during that period, but I did drink a fair amount when we got back, but the damage had been done I guess.  All is well now though, I just needed like 30 minutes to recover, then we were back at it.  That was the first grave I have ever dedicated though, so that was a neat experience.

And last but not least, it was my dad's birthday yesterday so... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! LOVE YA, and I miss you, and I miss beating you in games, but I guess now you have time to rebuild your ego.  Just Kidding haha.

That's all for this week, we do have a baptism coming up this weekend so hopefully all goes well for that!

Love you all,

Elder Takis