Christopher has been have a hard time with his companion as per his usual pattern. He really has had some doozies but this one is really testing his patience. Hopefully they resolve something soon so the missionary work can be first priority. Anyway these are the posts since July 1. I did not know if I wanted to post them but I guess that is just part of being a missionary. Finally I got a much better email so I am posting all of them. He is such a great young man. Only seven more weeks and he will be home.
I got this one the day after I mailed his package.
June 27
Mom, I got the address wrong it is:
247 w Brundage # 3
Sheridan WY
I love it here. I got here on Wednesday and as we where driving in the mountain still has some snow on it. At first I thought it was a cloud, but as we got closer I asked the missionary driving me what it was and he said it was a mountain. I was so excited! He just laughed at me. He is also from Grand Junction Colorado. His name is Elder Gardner. He is way cool. He is not my companion but we live very close (we actually live in their area) so we hang out all the time. He is going to make a coat company to sell to missionaries. He is one of my favorite missionaries I have met so far well. I love you and hope you have a good week.
July 5
Hey, I am doing good. The library was closed for the fourth so I am emailing today. Everything is going good. I am serving with Elder Dahl and he is good. He seems to likes to work. We live outside of our area and we have to ride up a big hill to get to our area which kinda stinks. We don't have a car and the last missionaries kinda killed the area. So there is a lot of work to do. I am doing good and I like my area. So thanks for everything. For the fourth of July we got to shoot a cannon. It was a revolutionary war four pound smooth bore and it was super fun. We shot tennis balls out of it. I got the garments except the order form says 7 tops and 7 bottoms and I only got 6 bottoms so I don't know what happened to the other one. (I called and they sent him one more bottom.) Other than that, I love it here and I am enjoying the last of my mission. Tara sent me a letter. Is she in your young womens? You said they were difficult.(Tara is not difficult but she is leaving to go to college) If there anything that I can do to help, I will. If you dont have a lesson plan you can have them all write me letters or my district there are Elders Gardner, Holmes, Dahl, Lund, and Bemis. Then some sisters but I dont think they would be as excited to get letters as the elders would be. That is just a suggestion. Have a good week. love elder esplin
Then to his dad he wrote:
Hi. How is it going? I am good. I am kinda having a hard time with my comp. It seems like everything he does just aggravates me. Then there are times when he just does really stupid things like throwing away a postcard from grandma because it has Indians on it. Then today we got in an argument talking about our "movie in heaven." He said that it was just stupid and that movies are all man made and I told him that all things were created spiritually before they where made physically. He said to just shut up and I said that the wicked take the truth to be hard and he threw some water out of his cup on me. I didnt think we were really arguing but he got all mad. I want to be friends with him but like I said he just makes me mad. But I didn't really react because we were at Arby's and I just don't know what to do so please email me back.
Mom don't freak out.
July 11
Hi mom. I am doing great. That sounds like fun to have Clan around. She was always one of my favorites. There is a missionary here that really wants Jessica to write him and he is one of my favorites. So if you would have her write him it would be great. He is from Colorado and his name is Elder Gardner his address is
Elder Gardner
29 east 1st street
Sheridan WY 82801
So if you will get her to write him it would be great. She probably already has a boyfriend but I think Gardner could take him.
Well my bike is breaking. It is the bearings in the crank shaft that is hooked to the pedals that are going bad. I need to get it worked on. I have already spent $300 on that stupid bike, so I am thinking I will just not worry about it. I only have two months left and I dont want to pour any more money into it than I have to. If my bike is clear broke I will just walk
There is a greenie that came out whose dad is reading my blog the greenie's name is Elder Stoker so this is for Elder Stokers dad - I think I am going to get a 30-06 but I dont know a 270 might be what I get. The other day when we went shooting that cannon i saw a 45 long colt with a break action. It was way cool it is a top break. I think they arent making them any more, though. But it was way heavy.
I got to go. Have a good week love, Elder Esplin
July 18
Well, good luck with everything. Not really much news my comp is being a baby and when I try to help out or criticizes he gets really offended, but other than that I am doing good. I am glad that my mission will be over soon there is just so much drama. I thought missionaries would at least act like 19 to 21 year olds but instead they act like a bunch of seventh graders that have very fragile egos and anger issues so yep I am pretty much sick of whiny missionaries. I try to be humble and stuff but then he talks to members and I overhear him talking to other missionaries and he says I am teaching him long suffering and patience. But his last five companions have sucked and he always compares me to them and I am sick of it. I think I might just call him out and tell him if he has a problem to do something about it. But then he will just pout for a couple of days. The other day we were out doing work and tracting just wasnt working out. There were some people out in there yard and it was his turn for the door approach. He walks up to the girl and says ''whats your name '' and then he just had the most awkward conversation and she turned us down. As we were walking away I said it would have been better if he had said his name first or something and he got all mad and was like ''you are awkward too '' and went on and just insulted me for a while. Finally I said ''your being a baby '' and he got all mad and so that ended tracting. He just sat down and I was like what are we going to do? He waited for me to do something. I have been here for a month and no one will talk to us so I dont know anyone to go see. So I apologize to him and sooth his battered ego and baby him back into acting like a grown up and cajole him back to work. But I am just sick of walking on egg shells and hoping I dont offend him. I think if he has a freakout again I might just go ballistic on him. Life is to short to put up with all this crap. So please let me know what to do and thanks for letting me vent. It is super hard because we hang out with other missionaries a lot and they have seen him freak out and no one wants to say anything because it might offend him. I dont know what to do because I have never had a problem with any of my companions before like this. I am afraid he might be with me till the end of my mission. I dont know.
have a good week love Elder Esplin
I got this one the day after I mailed his package.
June 27
Mom, I got the address wrong it is:
247 w Brundage # 3
Sheridan WY
I love it here. I got here on Wednesday and as we where driving in the mountain still has some snow on it. At first I thought it was a cloud, but as we got closer I asked the missionary driving me what it was and he said it was a mountain. I was so excited! He just laughed at me. He is also from Grand Junction Colorado. His name is Elder Gardner. He is way cool. He is not my companion but we live very close (we actually live in their area) so we hang out all the time. He is going to make a coat company to sell to missionaries. He is one of my favorite missionaries I have met so far well. I love you and hope you have a good week.
July 5
Hey, I am doing good. The library was closed for the fourth so I am emailing today. Everything is going good. I am serving with Elder Dahl and he is good. He seems to likes to work. We live outside of our area and we have to ride up a big hill to get to our area which kinda stinks. We don't have a car and the last missionaries kinda killed the area. So there is a lot of work to do. I am doing good and I like my area. So thanks for everything. For the fourth of July we got to shoot a cannon. It was a revolutionary war four pound smooth bore and it was super fun. We shot tennis balls out of it. I got the garments except the order form says 7 tops and 7 bottoms and I only got 6 bottoms so I don't know what happened to the other one. (I called and they sent him one more bottom.) Other than that, I love it here and I am enjoying the last of my mission. Tara sent me a letter. Is she in your young womens? You said they were difficult.(Tara is not difficult but she is leaving to go to college) If there anything that I can do to help, I will. If you dont have a lesson plan you can have them all write me letters or my district there are Elders Gardner, Holmes, Dahl, Lund, and Bemis. Then some sisters but I dont think they would be as excited to get letters as the elders would be. That is just a suggestion. Have a good week. love elder esplin
Then to his dad he wrote:
Hi. How is it going? I am good. I am kinda having a hard time with my comp. It seems like everything he does just aggravates me. Then there are times when he just does really stupid things like throwing away a postcard from grandma because it has Indians on it. Then today we got in an argument talking about our "movie in heaven." He said that it was just stupid and that movies are all man made and I told him that all things were created spiritually before they where made physically. He said to just shut up and I said that the wicked take the truth to be hard and he threw some water out of his cup on me. I didnt think we were really arguing but he got all mad. I want to be friends with him but like I said he just makes me mad. But I didn't really react because we were at Arby's and I just don't know what to do so please email me back.
Mom don't freak out.
July 11
Hi mom. I am doing great. That sounds like fun to have Clan around. She was always one of my favorites. There is a missionary here that really wants Jessica to write him and he is one of my favorites. So if you would have her write him it would be great. He is from Colorado and his name is Elder Gardner his address is
Elder Gardner
29 east 1st street
Sheridan WY 82801
So if you will get her to write him it would be great. She probably already has a boyfriend but I think Gardner could take him.
Well my bike is breaking. It is the bearings in the crank shaft that is hooked to the pedals that are going bad. I need to get it worked on. I have already spent $300 on that stupid bike, so I am thinking I will just not worry about it. I only have two months left and I dont want to pour any more money into it than I have to. If my bike is clear broke I will just walk
There is a greenie that came out whose dad is reading my blog the greenie's name is Elder Stoker so this is for Elder Stokers dad - I think I am going to get a 30-06 but I dont know a 270 might be what I get. The other day when we went shooting that cannon i saw a 45 long colt with a break action. It was way cool it is a top break. I think they arent making them any more, though. But it was way heavy.
I got to go. Have a good week love, Elder Esplin
July 18
Well, good luck with everything. Not really much news my comp is being a baby and when I try to help out or criticizes he gets really offended, but other than that I am doing good. I am glad that my mission will be over soon there is just so much drama. I thought missionaries would at least act like 19 to 21 year olds but instead they act like a bunch of seventh graders that have very fragile egos and anger issues so yep I am pretty much sick of whiny missionaries. I try to be humble and stuff but then he talks to members and I overhear him talking to other missionaries and he says I am teaching him long suffering and patience. But his last five companions have sucked and he always compares me to them and I am sick of it. I think I might just call him out and tell him if he has a problem to do something about it. But then he will just pout for a couple of days. The other day we were out doing work and tracting just wasnt working out. There were some people out in there yard and it was his turn for the door approach. He walks up to the girl and says ''whats your name '' and then he just had the most awkward conversation and she turned us down. As we were walking away I said it would have been better if he had said his name first or something and he got all mad and was like ''you are awkward too '' and went on and just insulted me for a while. Finally I said ''your being a baby '' and he got all mad and so that ended tracting. He just sat down and I was like what are we going to do? He waited for me to do something. I have been here for a month and no one will talk to us so I dont know anyone to go see. So I apologize to him and sooth his battered ego and baby him back into acting like a grown up and cajole him back to work. But I am just sick of walking on egg shells and hoping I dont offend him. I think if he has a freakout again I might just go ballistic on him. Life is to short to put up with all this crap. So please let me know what to do and thanks for letting me vent. It is super hard because we hang out with other missionaries a lot and they have seen him freak out and no one wants to say anything because it might offend him. I dont know what to do because I have never had a problem with any of my companions before like this. I am afraid he might be with me till the end of my mission. I dont know.
have a good week love Elder Esplin
Finally he wrote this one and it gave me hope for him so I could post all these others.
July 25th
Things are working out with my comp. I just realized that he is different than me and we still fight and stuff but I pick my battles and we sit and wait for him to think. He tries quoting pmg(Preach My Gospel) at me so I quote it back and make him look at it my way, but we will get along. He has some crazy messed up ideas and he is wrong a lot. He told me not to call him out and I told him that he should stop being wrong. But I always apologize when we get into fights. Life is to short to get mad at people and stay mad. We had a priesthood lesson about avoiding bad thoughts and it was the one with "leave it alone John. Just leave it alone," so when I think about fighting with my comp I "just leave it alone" and then there is no problem. When you are humble things always work out.
So, Macie is there. Is she Tom's daughter, the one that liked to ride horses? I thought she was cool. You should see if she likes writing missionaries. I know Tara is already writing me, but she can also. Ask her if she knows someone named Elder Cooper. He is a missionary serving here in the mission, not in Sheridan. But he is from Vegas, or if she knows a Travis Davis he is also from Vegas.
Kab said you all got in a fight about lambs and stuff. Well I hope you keep them. I want animals when I get home. I am still planning on working for about a year then going to school.
It sounds like you had fun on the 24th. We did also but we didn't do much.
Just remember the church is true. Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus. And compared to that nothing else really matters much at all.
Have a good week. Love Elder Esplin.
Then I wrote back to him and he was online so we could chat. This is what I wrote to him.
Hey reading that makes me so happy. You are a great missionary. You have learned so much in your life about getting along with people and what really matters. It makes me happy.
That is too bad about the sheep but I will help butcher them.How old is Macie?
July 25th
Things are working out with my comp. I just realized that he is different than me and we still fight and stuff but I pick my battles and we sit and wait for him to think. He tries quoting pmg(Preach My Gospel) at me so I quote it back and make him look at it my way, but we will get along. He has some crazy messed up ideas and he is wrong a lot. He told me not to call him out and I told him that he should stop being wrong. But I always apologize when we get into fights. Life is to short to get mad at people and stay mad. We had a priesthood lesson about avoiding bad thoughts and it was the one with "leave it alone John. Just leave it alone," so when I think about fighting with my comp I "just leave it alone" and then there is no problem. When you are humble things always work out.
So, Macie is there. Is she Tom's daughter, the one that liked to ride horses? I thought she was cool. You should see if she likes writing missionaries. I know Tara is already writing me, but she can also. Ask her if she knows someone named Elder Cooper. He is a missionary serving here in the mission, not in Sheridan. But he is from Vegas, or if she knows a Travis Davis he is also from Vegas.
Kab said you all got in a fight about lambs and stuff. Well I hope you keep them. I want animals when I get home. I am still planning on working for about a year then going to school.
It sounds like you had fun on the 24th. We did also but we didn't do much.
Just remember the church is true. Joseph Smith did see God and Jesus. And compared to that nothing else really matters much at all.
Have a good week. Love Elder Esplin.
Then I wrote back to him and he was online so we could chat. This is what I wrote to him.
Hey reading that makes me so happy. You are a great missionary. You have learned so much in your life about getting along with people and what really matters. It makes me happy.
Our lambs are so small that they all did not make weight. We are not having any for the fair this year. It is a bad year. Next year who knows. We don't have to worry about it. Logan's biggest best lamb got sick and died and the others were kind of sick for a minute but now they are just too small.
I will try to have Macie write. She is the one that loves to ride horses. She has often come into town to ride with Logan. Macie has gone to one year of college. She is a year younger than you. She is not going back to Vegas and should be here when you come home. Her parents want her to go to college so it may change.
I want to sell all the lambs. Well keep one so I can eat it.
And that is cool that Macie is planning on staying but she should remember that your parents are almost always right. (I did not even have to pay him to say that.)
And that is cool that Macie is planning on staying but she should remember that your parents are almost always right. (I did not even have to pay him to say that.)
Got to go love you bye.
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