My Week in Pictures

Hey y'all!

This last week has been great! Not a lot of time today, but I'll try to make up for it in pictures! 

Amanda was baptized his last week! She's awesome, and it was really cool to see her make that step! 

This next week is transfers, and it seems like there's going to be a big shakeup! I'm excited to see what happens, and I love you all!

Amanda's Baptism!

Finally got myself a new belt. Sometimes, you just know it's finally time...

Me, Elder Young, Elder Tupou, and Elder Leakehe (who's in my zone
again!) helping someone move!

A picture from when we were proselyting the other night. Our area
covers right by the stratosphere!

Enjoying a sunset at a stoplight.

Q&A - 11/21/2016
1.) Did you get our package of Cutler's Cookies finally? Are the cookies green, or will they still be edible? Still sad that it took an extra week to get to you!  -- I got it! And the cookies are still ok! Definitely not fresh out of the oven, but not green either!

2.) Something new on your gratitude list that wasn't there last year.  --  All of the experiences I've had his year! (Kind of lame, I know, but I'm not good at thinking on the spot, and I'm running out of time, haha)

3.) The thing I want to remember most from last week is....  --  I went on exchanges with an elder, and he really opened up to me about some struggles that he's been having the last couple of weeks. We had some really good talks, and I think he felt a lot better afterwards. I'll always treasure any opportunity I have to help other missionaries!

Tender Mercies

Hey everybody!

This last week, I've been thinking about tender mercies. There was a class about it on Sunday this last week, and so I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I'll include a part of a talk given by Elder Bednar a few years ago so y'all can see what I've been thinking about:


Six months ago, I stood at this pulpit for the first time as the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Both then and even more so now, I have felt and feel the weight of the call to serve and of the responsibility to teach with clarity and to testify with authority. I pray for and invite the assistance of the Holy Ghost as I now speak with you.

This afternoon I want to describe and discuss a spiritual impression I received a few moments before I stepped to this pulpit during the Sunday morning session of general conference last October. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf had just finished speaking and had declared his powerful witness of the Savior. Then we all stood together to sing the intermediate hymn that previously had been announced by President Gordon B. Hinckley. The intermediate hymn that morning was “Redeemer of Israel” (Hymns, no. 6).

Now, the music for the various conference sessions had been determined many weeks before--and obviously long before my new call to serve. If, however, I had been invited to suggest an intermediate hymn for that particular session of the conference--a hymn that would have been both edifying and spiritually soothing for me and for the congregation before my first address in this Conference Center—I would have selected my favorite hymn, “Redeemer of Israel.” Tears filled my eyes as I stood with you to sing that stirring hymn of the Restoration.

Near the conclusion of the singing, to my mind came this verse from the Book of Mormon: “But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Ne. 1:20).

My mind was drawn immediately to Nephi’s phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord,” and I knew in that very moment I was experiencing just such a tender mercy. A loving Savior was sending me a most personal and timely message of comfort and reassurance through a hymn selected weeks previously. Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord’s timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.

What Are the Tender Mercies of the Lord?

Since last October I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord.” Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15).

Recall how the Savior instructed His Apostles that He would not leave them comfortless. Not only would He send “another Comforter” (John 14:16), even the Holy Ghost, but the Savior said that He would come to them (see John 14:18). Let me suggest that one of the ways whereby the Savior comes to each of us is through His abundant and tender mercies. For instance, as you and I face challenges and tests in our lives, the gift of faith and an appropriate sense of personal confidence that reaches beyond our own capacity are two examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. Repentance and forgiveness of sins and peace of conscience are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord. And the persistence and the fortitude that enable us to press forward with cheerfulness through physical limitations and spiritual difficulties are examples of the tender mercies of the Lord.

In a recent stake conference, the tender mercies of the Lord were evident in the touching testimony of a young wife and mother of four whose husband was slain in Iraq in December of 2003. This stalwart sister recounted how, after being notified of her husband’s death, she received his Christmas card and message. In the midst of the abrupt reality of a dramatically altered life came to this good sister a timely and tender reminder that indeed families can be together forever. With permission I quote from that Christmas card:

“To the best family in the world! Have a great time together and remember the true meaning of Christmas! The Lord has made it possible for us to be together forever. So even when we are apart, we will still be together as a family.

“God bless and keep y’all safe and grant this Christmas to be our gift of love from us to Him above!!!

“All my love, Daddy and your loving husband!”

Clearly, the husband’s reference to being apart in his Christmas greeting referred to the separation caused by his military assignment. But to this sister, as a voice from the dust from a departed eternal companion and father, came a most needed spiritual reassurance and witness. As I indicated earlier, the Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord’s timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings.

Some time ago I spoke with a priesthood leader who was prompted to memorize the names of all of the youth ages 13 to 21 in his stake. Using snapshots of the young men and women, he created flash cards that he reviewed while traveling on business and at other times. This priesthood leader quickly learned all of the names of the youth.

One night the priesthood leader had a dream about one of the young men whom he knew only from a picture. In the dream he saw the young man dressed in a white shirt and wearing a missionary name tag. With a companion seated at his side, the young man was teaching a family. The young man held the Book of Mormon in his hand, and he looked as if he were testifying of the truthfulness of the book. The priesthood leader then awoke from his dream.

At an ensuing priesthood gathering, the leader approached the young man he had seen in his dream and asked to talk with him for a few minutes. After a brief introduction, the leader called the young man by name and said: “I am not a dreamer. I have never had a dream about a single member of this stake, except for you. I am going to tell you about my dream, and then I would like you to help me understand what it means.”

The priesthood leader recounted the dream and asked the young man about its meaning. Choking with emotion, the young man simply replied, “It means God knows who I am.” The remainder of the conversation between this young man and his priesthood leader was most meaningful, and they agreed to meet and counsel together from time to time during the following months.

That young man received the Lord’s tender mercies through an inspired priesthood leader. I repeat again, the Lord’s tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Faithfulness and obedience enable us to receive these important gifts and, frequently, the Lord’s timing helps us to recognize them.

We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20).


I've been really looking for the tender mercies of the Lord throughout this last week, and when you start to look for them, you start to see so many of them! I was in the Spanish elders area again, and this time it was with a really new elder who hasn't quite learned Spanish perfectly yet. Neither of us were very sure what was going on a lot of the time, but in my very limited Spanish, I got the chance to just testify of the gospel really simply, and I could really feel the spirit throughout the day! Also, I've been really wondering about a lot of things lately, so I decided to fast this Sunday and read my patriarchal blessing. The Lord spoke peace to my heart so strongly! And then all throughout the day on Sunday, all of the lessons and talks seemed to be pointed right at me! There are so many tender mercies that we can see each day!

I'm so grateful for all of support that you all give me! I love you all!
Elder Excell

Q&A - 11/14/2016

1.) Since Thanksgiving is next week, are you making any plans? Do you have a dinner invitation for that day? Will that be a regular missionary day or more like a p-day? -- We do have a dinner invitation with a really cool family! The Littlefield's. It will be pretty much like a regular proselyting day.

2.) What are you most looking forward to in the week ahead?  --  We have a really busy week this week, including a zone training meeting. It's always fun when you get a chance to be with the whole zone.

Temple View

Hey everybody! This last week has been great!  

The view outside of our chapel -- not bad!!

I guess the best place to start would be last Monday. It was Halloween, and for those of you who don't remember from last year, we aren't allowed to proselyte on Halloween night. Apparently in the past there have been problems with people dressing up as missionaries and doing stupid things, so instead, all of the missionaries get together at the mission office and have a Halloween party! It was pretty great, and it's the one time of the year when all of the missionaries get to watch a movie together! Last year it was the Cokeville Miracle, and this year it was Shrek!  It was great for a few reasons. As a missionary, the things that you find funny change a lot. I've never seen so many 20 year old's so caught up in, or laughing so much from watching a kids movie! I've also never felt quite so uncomfortable about incredibly small amounts of crude humor, haha.

The baptism this Thursday was great also! Isaac had a lot of friends and family there to support him, and it was a really cool experience.

I've actually had a lot of cool experiences this week that have really helped me to appreciate the things that have happened to me on my mission. I already mentioned it in the Q&A, but I think it bears repeating. I'm so grateful for everything that I've learned, all of the people I've met, and all of the ways that my life has been changed. I really love this mission!

And, I love and appreciate you!

Elder Excell

Elder Tupou puts his feet up by the fire after a long day

Q&A - 11/7/2016

1.) We'd love to hear more about the baptism on Thursday.  -- The baptism was a guy named Isaac. He's a really great guy! He has a girlfriend who's LDS, but he didn't let that influence his decision at all. He made sure that he was getting baptized because he knew it was true. To be honest, I didn't have too much to do with this baptism, it was already pretty much in place before I got here. It was still really cool to participate though! He asked me to do the confirmation, and that's always a really cool experience.

2.) Does it feel weird attending a YSA ward as a missionary?  It seems like not so much a temptation to start dating or anything, but just kind of weird because everybody is your same age, but you're the only one that is a missionary.  Let us know how that feels.  --  It can definitely be kind of weird serving a YSA ward sometimes. But it can also be really cool! It's like getting to do missionary work with a bunch of your friends.

3.) What do you wish you had more time to do on P-days?  --  I definitely wish I had a little more time to send off some decent emails. But I'm grateful that I get the time I do!

4.) During this month of gratitude, I'm thankful for...  --  The chance that I have to be a missionary. I can't even describe all of the ways that this mission has and is changing my life, and I think often about how fast it's going. Don't get me wrong, I miss home and everything, but there are a lot of times that I never want to leave. I really don't know what I'll do. But no need to think about that for quite a while yet!

Pictures of our patriotic apartment...

  

A Drunk Guy Almost Punched Me

Hey everybody!

Not a lot of time today, so I'll have to keep it short but still try to include some stuff! 

This last week has been pretty great! Elder Timothy J Dykes visited our mission. He's a seventy, and had some really great insights. It was also really great to see most of the rest of the mission, because we all got together for his visit. Especially enjoyed seeing Elder Branning, Elder Andersen, and Elder Dixon. (Elder Aitchison went to a different conference.) 

In other news, a drunk guy almost punched me the other night! It was definitely a little crazy, but nothing ended up really happening. Elder Tupou and I were just walking and talking to some people late last night, and we came across a couple of drunk guys. We talked to them for five or ten minutes, but could see it wasn't going anywhere. When I said, "well, we have to get running", one of them got really upset with us. He started getting really angry and shouting at us, and his friend held him back so that he wouldn't hit me. It was pretty crazy, but I'm fine, and nothing really happened. Just one of those crazy Vegas stories! 

I hope all of you are doing well! Sorry I don't have time to write more!

I love you all!

Elder Excell

Elder Tupou and Elder Excell

Q&A - 10/31/2016

1.) Thank you, for sending us the audio file of your musical number with Elder Branning!! I loved hearing you play the piano again and have listened to it dozens of times this week! Is this an arrangement that you wrote or was it from a book that you have there with you? It was incredibly well done!! Both piano and voice!! -- It was a lot of fun to perform with him! Definitely a great way to end the transfer.

2.) Did you find some time to take pictures of your patriotic apartment?  --  Shoot! I forgot! Next week for sure.

3.) How are things going with Elder Tupou? Are you adjusting to a new companion?  --  Were getting along really well!

4.) What was your biggest challenge this week?  --  I actually got the chance to go on exchanges in a Spanish area for the first time. Not gonna lie, it was really confusing. Not sure how those missionaries who have to learn a foreign language do it! I was just really lost and confused the whole day. I did manage to learn how to pray in Spanish before the end of the exchange though!

5.) What was your biggest success of the week?  --  This was not necessarily this week, but just in general. I've got a couple of baptisms coming up that we are really excited about! We should have one this Thursday, and another on November 19. Really excited for both of them!

Great Start in Templeview

Bishop Nelson, his wife, and his daughter, Scarlett

 Hey everybody!

This week has been crazy! (As the first week after a transfer tends to be) but it's also been great! 

As I briefly mentioned last week, I'm now serving in the Templeview YSA Ward! This ward is really cool for a few reasons. (1.) It's a young single adult ward, which is pretty unique for elders to serve in. (2.) It covers a really large area, and is really diverse. (3.) We live right next to the temple, and the chapel we go to is right next to the temple as well! You can literally walk out of the front door and the temple is right there! We take investigators on temple tours all the time now! There are some great people we're teaching right now! We have a couple of baptisms coming up in the next few weeks. 

My new companion is Elder Tupou. He's from Montana, but his dad is from Tonga. This will be my 3rd Polynesian companion! He's a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures of him or the new apartment yet, but I'll send some next week. As far as the apartment goes, suffice it to say it's patriotic...  you'll see what I mean next week, haha. 

That's about all the letter I have time for this week. Just know that I love you all and that I'm so grateful for everything you all do for me! Prayers, emails, moral support, I appreciate it all!

Elder Excell

**Ty sent us the audio of he and Elder Branning practicing for a musical number they were asked to do for Eva's baptism - How Great Thou Art.  So fun to hear our missionary playing the piano again and Elder Branning has a wonderful voice!
How Great Thou Art from Traci Excell on Vimeo.


Q&A - 10/24/2016

1.) Did you get your new iPad yet? Did you get it when you paid or did you have to wait for it to be ordered from SLC? –- I got it the same day.

2.) Are you able to back your iPad up to the cloud? Did you ever do that with your old one that took an unfortunate tumble?  -- No, the iCloud storage space was full a long time ago, so most of the stuff is gone. I got most of the important pictures sent to you. The main part that I'm going to miss is all of the notes that I took from trainings throughout the mission.

3.) Do you still get dinner appointments when you're assigned to cover YSA Wards? -- We still get some meals; less than in a family ward, but still a good amount. Some of its fast food, some of its them inviting us over to their parents house for dinner, and some of it's just them cooking for us.

4.) Where is Elder Tupou from? What is your favorite thing about him? -- He's from Montana, but his parents are from Tonga. Or his dad is at least. This makes my 3rd Polynesian companion! He's got some really great people skills! He's a great guy, and I'm learning a lot from him about how to work with people!

5.) Honest feelings about your new area? -- I really love it. Obviously I'm really sad about leaving Sunrise Terrace and leaving Elder Branning, but this is a really cool area. It's definitely unique, because it's YSA, and there is a lot of great member missionary work going on! We've already had several people call us asking if we can meet with their friends they’ve been sharing the gospel with just since I've been here. And there are some amazing people we're teaching!

 

Me and Eva

Michael - an incredible young man!

Brother McIntyre

Eddie and Malinda

Brother Garcia

Brother Huntsman

Elder Branning and I went to Cheesecake Factory on our last day together!

Transfers

Hey everybody!

This last week has been a really amazing one!  I have almost no time to email today because of some weird circumstances, but I'll do my best to fill you in a little bit!  

I had a pretty rotten thing happen this last week.  I was an idiot, and left my iPad on top of the car and then drove off.  It's way beyond repair, and as upset as I was about the money it'll cost to replace it, I was more upset about the pictures and videos that I had lost on there. I was pretty upset to begin with, but after a little while, I started to remember that temporal things just aren't that important.  When I started to see things in the eternal perspective, I remembered  that I didn't really come out on a mission to come home with a bunch of cool pictures, or an iPad, I went on a mission to help bring others closer to Christ.  I've actually had a pretty good couple of days since the accident, and even though I obviously wish I could go back and change what happened, because I still feel really stupid about it, I'm at the very least at peace with what happened.

On to better things - Eva got baptized!  It was probably the most spiritual baptism service I've ever attended!  Not only was it amazing to see Eva and the changes she had made, but she was also able to see all of her children that she hadn't seen in a year and a half at the service! Needless to say it was an emotional day.

 
In other news, I'm being transferred!  It was a big shock! We were both pretty sure that it was going to be Elder Branning who was leaving, but I guess you just never know.  It's hard to describe my emotions.  As seems to usually be the case, I'm absolutely devastated to be leaving, but also very excited about my new assignment!  I've been called to serve in the Templeview YSA Ward, which covers 3 stakes!  I'll be with Elder Tupou, who is a great missionary.  It's going to be really strange covering a young single adult ward.  There are only 2 in the mission that are covered by elders.  One by the AP's, and the other by the zone leaders in the Central/Sunrise zone.  It's going to be interesting, but I'm excited!  

Hopefully I'll get another chance to send off more of an email later, but if not, here's this at least!  I love you all! 

Elder Excell

P.S. Thankfully, I've had a wonderful companion willing to share a few pictures and he will be sending them soon...

The Best Sunday

Hey everybody! 

This last week has been great! (I love that he starts every email with this statement!!)  Eva has been approved to be baptized this Saturday, and Michael was baptized this last Thursday!  Michael was so happy the entire time!  He was especially happy when we told him that now that he's been baptized, he can come out with us and help us teach others! It's so cool to see what a strong desire he has to share the same things that have helped him so much with everybody else! On top of all of this, Eva's son also moved in with her this last week! She's been trying to get her kids back for a long time now, so she's incredibly happy that he's here.  Eva, her son, and another investigator named Gilbert all attended Michael's baptism, and were really touched by it. And then all 3 of them made it to church as well!  

This Sunday was pretty amazing, because in Sacrament Meeting, not only was it one of the best fast and testimony meetings I've ever been in, but also: 1. Michael got confirmed, 2.  Michael got the  priesthood, 3. Victor (the man who was baptized a few weeks ago with his wife Mary Lou) got the priesthood, and 4. We had a ton of investigators that are working towards being baptized at church!   All in all, I'd say it was a pretty jam packed Sunday!  

This p-day has been really crazy, so this is about all I have time for, but I love you all! 

Elder Excell

Q&A - 10/10/2016

1.) I know you got an email today from someone pretty awesome and I'm anxious to hear what you thought about it!!  (Courtney arranged to have one of Ty's favorite piano composers, Michael R. Hicks, write a surprise email to him!  Needless to say, it was an awesome surprise for him!) -- It was so cool and really inspiring to hear from him!  I'm amazed that he would take time to write to me!  I'll tell her as well, but be sure to tell Courtney thanks for making that happen!

2.) Update on the Utes: they beat Arizona 36-23 on Saturday making their record 5-1 for the season. Go Utes!! :)  --  WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

3.) Did you get the package I sent with your winter stuff? Wanna make sure it arrived safely! -- Haven't seen the mail yet, but I'll let you know next week!

4.) Are you healthy? Are you happy?  --  Probably a little heavier than I would like to be, but other than that I'm doing great!

Great Things Happening!

Hey everybody! 

This last week has been a good one! 

The weather has been really cooling down! When Elder Branning and I went outside this morning, it was 68 degrees, and we were both tempted to go back inside and grab some jackets! I may be in trouble for my first winter home...

We got some really great news on Monday night this last week! Some of you may remember me talking about a 15 year old kid named Michael. He's been our most solid investigator for quite a while, and is an amazing kid, but because he was really involved with gangs in the past and has had a rough upbringing, there were some things that needed to be sent off for approval before he could get baptized. We've been waiting for quite a while, and this last Monday, we finally got word that he's been cleared! He's been doing amazing, and he's so excited to be baptized! He'll be baptized this Thursday. 

Eva has also been doing really well! She's still excited about the 15th, and despite some major hardships and trials, she's still doing great! 

On top of that, general conference was amazing! It's always so great to hear from the prophet and the apostles.

Not much more time for writing today, but I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Q&A - 10/3/2016

1.) When is your next zone conference? -- We just had one this last week. We have another one in 3 months, but we have a zone training counsel at the end of next week. We'll also have interviews before our next zone conference.

2.) What was your favorite talk/s from General Conference? (There were several that stood out to me, but one of my favorites was one I listened to this last week that I had missed from the women's session since we were cheering at Zack's MMA. If you haven't had the chance to read/listen to Elder Uchtdorf's "Fourth Floor, Last Door", I highly recommend it!!)  -- I had a couple favorites!  I really like President Uchtdorf's Saturday morning talk. It really is true how often we take the simple truths of the gospel for granted. I also really like Elder Andersen's, Elder Oak's, and President Eyring's in the priesthood session.  Also, as a side note, the story that Elder Holland told in his priesthood session talk, about the father who lost his son, is about a family from this mission. Elder Branning was actually in the family's ward when it happened! Crazy to have something that close to home pop up in conference!

3.) Did you have good company during General Conference? Hoping so!! -- Not as much as we would have liked, but still a couple of people that really needed and enjoyed conference!

4.) What are you most looking forward to this week? -- We have MLC this week, which is always a great chance to hear from President Snow!

Small and Simple People Like Me

Hey everybody!

This last week has had some definite victory moments! 

I'll start off by telling you a little bit about how our investigator named Eva is doing. If you remember from my letter last week, she had been going through some really difficult things. These things included, but were not limited to: possibly being kicked out of her house, her boyfriend breaking up with her, and a whole truckload of other things. It was a really rough week for her, but things are starting to really look up now! She ended up not getting kicked out of her house, which was definitely great. She's also patched up a lot of relationships with her immediate family, and for the first time in many years, has strong positive relationships with her father. All of these miracles have come because the gospel has come into her life. She's so incredibly happy, and is still very excited to be baptized on October 15! She's been one of my favorite investigators, and we're so happy to see the changes that she is making in her life. 

There were also a few baptisms this weekend! Another one in Dolan Springs, and Mary Lou and Victor G. here in North. The one in Dolan Springs was a lady named Anna that Elder Aitchison and I taught a ton. She's been going through some really difficult things in her life, and it's so amazing to see the peace that's been brought into her life from the gospel! Unfortunately, due to late notice, I was unable to attend the baptism. However, I still got some pictures with her via Skype! I'll be sure to send those along. 

It was also amazing to see Mary Lou and Victor be baptized this weekend. As I mentioned, I had the opportunity to be the one to perform the baptism. This was a very special moment for me. I was particularly impacted by the wording of the baptismal prayer this time. It starts by saying, "having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you..." The meaning of this phrase really struck me this time. When an ordinance is performed, the person performing that ordinance literally gets the chance to stand in the place of the Savior and extend salvation to someone through the power of the priesthood. The spirit that I felt as I had these thoughts was overwhelming, and it was one of the most special experiences of my mission so far. It means so much, that despite the fact he can do anything, Jesus Christ chooses to empower small and simple people like me and others to do his great and marvelous work. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I had.

In addition to these other things, we also had some other exciting news from this week. A member was throwing out an old massage chair, which they gave to us instead of throwing away! We've been thoroughly enjoying having this massage chair in the apartment!

I'm so happy that I have this chance to serve my mission right now! I truly can't think of anything else that I would rather be doing right now, and I know that this is the best thing that I could possibly be doing for my life. I realized, that soon the number of months that I have left on my mission will be in single digits. It's going by way too fast! However, this realization has been giving me a stronger desire to really buckle down, and work hard. I also really want to make sure that I have a clear vision of the kind of person that I want to be by the end of my mission, so I can continue to develop myself to the end. I want to make sure that at the end of these two years, I've become the man that Heavenly Father needs me to be. I think he gives us all experiences that will shape us and mold us into the people that he needs us to be. I hope that all of you are having the same experiences, and can recognize them as the blessings that they are. God truly knows and loves each one of us, and has a plan for each and every one of us that is far greater than anything we can imagine. 

I love you all, and I'm so thankful for everything that you continue to do for me! 

Elder Excell 

P.S. Go Utes!

Q&A - 9/26/2016

1.)  I sent you a video clip of Zack's MMA fight from Saturday.  Did it work to send it it the way that I did?  Were you able to watch it?  Not sure if it's ok for you to watch, but I wanted you to be able to see your brother in action if you were able to.  --  I was able to watch it! It was so cool! It looks like Zack did a really good job, and trained really hard!   I'm definitely proud of him! I'm going to write him a letter and tell him so. That is really cool to hear about how much support he had! Never in my life would I have guessed that Grandma Excell would skip out on the women’s session of General conference to watch a UFC cage fight.  I guess there's a first for everything! 

2.)  Do you have plans for the upcoming conference weekend? Do you have investigators that you'll be watching with?  -- In general, our plans are usually to watch at a chapel. We'll be watching at an old school chapel on the corner of Civic Center and Tonopah. As always, we'll definitely be hoping to have some investigators there!

3.)  When are your upcoming baptisms scheduled for?  --  Eva's baptism is scheduled on the 15th. We have a few others, but they aren't quite as hard set as that one. We're definitely very excited about that one though!

4.)  I'm hoping you had a better week with a few less setbacks and discouragement's. Is this true? Or was it another rough one?  --  It was a good week overall. Most of the stuff that made last week a little rough were just small things that happened on p-day. Overall, this week had a lot of great things about it!

5.)  What do your typical p-days look like these days?  --  Typically, we wake up at the usual time and get ready for the day.  Then, at 8:00, we get a call from the APs asking us about how the week has been and about any concerns that we have in the zone. Then at 8:30, we have a meeting with the sister training leaders for our zone. We discuss a lot of different things, such as how the previous week went, upcoming plans, and how the zone is doing in general. After that meeting, we usually go to a nearby Smiths, and a nearby car wash that gives us free car washes and take care of some of our errands early on in the day. Afterwards, we head back to the apartment and spend an hour or so cleaning it and getting lunch. Then, we drive down to pick up mail for the zone. This can take anywhere from an hour round-trip to two hours round-trip depending on traffic and where we have to go to pick the mail up. After that, we usually head up to the stake center and do our emailing and also play some sports with other missionaries. There's usually some kind of random thing that pops up in the middle of it, but for the most part that's what our days look like on P days.

6.)  With the way things are right now, there is a good chance we will still be living in the trailer when you come home.  Mom is a little worried how you might feel about that.  Just want you to know that we always have room for one returned missionary and hope you’ll feel good about staying with us.  --  I think it'll be a blast to stay in the trailer! It'll be fun to see how you guys have been kicking it for the last couple of months. It'll also be cool to see the house midway through. It'll bring back some memories of the old days when we were trying to put together a house. Especially the memory of golfers shouting at us, while you were being held up in the air on the ladder being held up by mom and you were 30 feet in the air,  trying to put in 4 x 4 posts for a second story deck! Definitely lots of good memories! I'll look forward to being able to help you out with a little construction when I get home. That’s something I've always enjoyed doing with you. Definitely grateful that you taught me those skills!