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!

He Will Place You Upon His Shoulders

Q&A – 09/19/2016

1.) Do you have milk in your fridge? If you received a package in the mail today, you'll better understand the reason I'm asking this question! :)  -- Plenty!  I got the package!  Thanks for sending it mom!  Milk and cookies tonight!

2.) We are anxious to hear about splits this past week and would love an update on all those whom you're teaching. --  Well, things have been pretty crazy this week for a lot of our investigators! We're teaching a couple named M & V Gonzalez. They are going to be baptized this Saturday. They had some pretty major concerns crop up this last week, but they had an amazing spiritual experience that confirmed to them that they need to be baptized!  They've even asked me to baptize them! It will be the first time that I've done that on my mission. I think I've mentioned our investigator named Eva in the past. She's been doing amazing, but has had some really difficult things come up. She has a strong desire to be baptized, despite a ton of things that have happened lately, but she just found out today that she's being kicked out of her house and has no place to live. She doesn't really know what her plan is yet, but we'll be spending a lot of time praying for her. I can't remember if I told you all about Gilbert last week, but he's a really cool ex-gangbanger who's trying to turn his life around. We're teaching so many cool people right now, and I love all of them!

3.) Do you have any questions for us?  -- What's been happening with the Utes?

4.) What was your biggest challenge this week?  -- It's tough to narrow down, haha. This week has been a little rough in general, but I'm doing my best to not let it get me down! I know that everything that happens is for a reason, and it will make me a better person in the long run.

5.) What was the highlight of your week?  -- Probably hearing back from the Gonzalez family about the spiritual experience that they had!

*************

Hey everybody!

Sorry about the short letter last week! There was nothing too wild that happened, it was just one of those days where everything kind of piled up and that I didn't have time to do anything. Hopefully, this week will be better and I'll have a little more time!

I already talked about a lot of things in the Q&A section, but I'll see if I can remember a few more things to add in. I'll start by giving a little more background on Eva. She's had a really rough past, but she's been turning things around so much lately! Just this last week in church she shared her testimony in gospel principles about how much the gospel has changed her life! But now some of the things about her past are catching up with her again and trying to drag her back down. It's so frustrating to have people who are so willing to be baptized and are doing everything right, but things outside of their control prevent it from happening. I guess all we can do is pray, trust in God, and do our best with the things that are inside of our control.

General conference has snuck up on me again! It's so crazy that after this general conference, I'll only have one more of them left on my mission! I'm so excited for this opportunity we have to be able to hear a prophet of God speak to us! His messages have been really simple lately, but they always help me so much!

I wanted to include a small section of one of my favorite talks from this last general conference that I’ve been studying a lot lately and has helped to give me strength.  It’s from Elder Uchtdorf’s, “He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home.”

During the Savior’s ministry, the religious leaders of His day disapproved of Jesus spending time with people they had labeled “sinners.”

Perhaps to them it looked like He was tolerating or even condoning sinful behavior. Perhaps they believed that the best way to help sinners repent was by condemning, ridiculing, and shaming them.

When the Savior perceived what the Pharisees and scribes were thinking, He told a story:

“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

“And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”

Over the centuries, this parable has traditionally been interpreted as a call to action for us to bring back the lost sheep and to reach out to those who are lost. While this is certainly appropriate and good, I wonder if there is more to it. 

Is it possible that Jesus’s purpose, first and foremost, was to teach about the work of the Good Shepherd?  Is it possible that He was testifying of God’s love for His wayward children?  Is it possible that the Savior’s message was that God is fully aware of those who are lost--and that He will find them, that He will reach out to them, and that He will rescue them?

If that is so, what must the sheep do to qualify for this divine help?

Does the sheep need to know how to use a complicated sextant to calculate its coordinates? Does it need to be able to use a GPS to define its position? Does it have to have the expertise to create an app that will call for help? Does the sheep need endorsements by a sponsor before the Good Shepherd will come to the rescue?

No. Certainly not! The sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd.

To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture.

Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you.  He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.

It matters not how you became lost--whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control.  What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children.  Because He loves you, He will find you. He will place you upon His shoulders, rejoicing. And when He brings you home, He will say to one and all, “Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.” 

If that is so, what must the sheep do to qualify for this divine help?

Does the sheep need to know how to use a complicated sextant to calculate its coordinates? Does it need to be able to use a GPS to define its position? Does it have to have the expertise to create an app that will call for help? Does the sheep need endorsements by a sponsor before the Good Shepherd will come to the rescue?

No. Certainly not! The sheep is worthy of divine rescue simply because it is loved by the Good Shepherd.

To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture.

Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you.  He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.

It matters not how you became lost--whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control.  What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children.  Because He loves you, He will find you. He will place you upon His shoulders, rejoicing. And when He brings you home, He will say to one and all, “Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.” 

The Saviors atonement is extended to all of us, and I'm so grateful for it! I'm also grateful to modern day prophets who help me to know how I can strengthen my relationship with Him!

I love you all!
Elder Excell

****************

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but our area is right next to  Nellis Air Force Base. This means that this regularly happens right in the middle of us speaking with people.

Our Regular Interruption from Traci Excell on Vimeo.

No Time

Hey Everybody!

Although this last week has been great, I have absolutely no time today to write to you about it.  Sorry!  I'll do better next week!

I love you all!
Elder Excell


Q&A - 9/12/2016

1.) We've had a few nights recently that have been downright chilly.  Is the weather in Vegas cooling down at all yet?  --  It is! This coming week, most days, the highs are below 90!  I know that doesn't sound like much, but I can't tell you how exciting that is!

2.) We learned that Elder Summers is now in your zone! Have you gone on exchanges with him yet or are there plans to anytime soon?  --  I'm going on exchanges with him this week! Not sure who's going to be with who yet though.