Hey family,

Monday consisted of a trip to Vegas with my companion and Elder Oakey for transfers. The most exciting happening was the workout we got early in the morning. We left Overton at 4am and arrived in Vegas at 5am. Since we had nothing but time on our hands, Elder Oakey suggested that we head over to Oscar’s house for a morning workout. Oscar is an awesome athletic guy who coaches MMA and loves teaching missionaries how to work out. I’d heard a lot about Oscar from other missionaries, but I didn’t think he could actually live up to all the hype that surrounded him. I’m glad that I was wrong! Oscar was awesome! Not only did he know how to work out, but he knew how to teach and tutor us in ways that made us feel like winners. He was hilarious to boot! We focused on our legs in addition to some general AB workout and sparring with boxing gloves (no human-to-human contact, just gloves-to-practice-pads). He kept telling us that we were going to be super sore the next day, but I didn’t believe him because I felt like I was holding up just fine. I was wrong. Ouch. Elder Lambson and I could barely move for the next two days! I’m doing much better now, but Oscar definitely taught me loads about the limits of my body!

On Wednesday, we had a great teaching appointment with Matt. He’s a nineteen-year-old kid who watched his mom get baptized a couple years ago. He was so surprised by the change that she’s gone through because of the Gospel (stopping drinking, an increase of the Spirit, a kinder attitude, etc.) that he decided that he wanted baptism for himself. He actually approached us at the end of sacrament meeting last week and told us flat-out that he wanted to be baptized. He’d been taught by multiple missionaries in the past, but none of them had tried to set him for baptism. We met with him on Wednesday, quickly verified his sincerity, and then asked him when he wanted to be dunked. He surprised us by asking if Sunday was an option. Whoa! We jumped on the boat and got everything set up and ready for Sunday. It was a bit of a struggle, but Matt was baptized yesterday. He’ll be confirmed next Sunday in his ward’s sacrament meeting. I am happy that he made such a cool decision on his own and that we were able to help him come closer to Christ.

I love you all more than you’ll ever know and hope you’re all doing well. Thanks for staying strong and supporting me. You all are an inspiration.

Yours forever,
Jesse

P.S. I guess I should explain the pictures I sent, huh? We had dinner with a member of one of our wards this past week who is a VERY avid hunter. He used to manage a large construction company which apparently gave him the money needed to travel to places as exotic as Africa, India, and Alaska just to hunt. He’s got a venerable museum in his house which he willingly let us explore. Interesting, eh?