August 23rd

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Hey hows everyone doing? As for last week all the news reports were accurate. We woke up did our daily stuff and prepared to leave at 10 and when we walked outside and our apartment was surrounded by water everywhere. Our apartment building was the only one that was safe and dry. All the houses and everything was under water, you could probably see pictures online or something. If you see a trailer park under water we live right across the street in a apartment. So as we walked outside I was like crap we better go put some regular clothes on cause we will be giving service for a while. We have about 6 people who live right around us who are in the ward and they were completely flooded out. They lost everything and none of them had flood insurance cause they lived in a flood zone. We have two seperate investigators who live in two seperate trailer parks right by us and they lost everything. no one is allowed to live in the trailer park again, so they both have been staying in shelters. We did end up going to the fair last Wednesday it was way fun, it is sooo big they have the biggest elk there and cow and pig. I mean none of them were less than a ton. As for this area it is still slowly progressing, trying very hard to find more people to teach but everyone around Akeny is very anti and get fed by there pastors anti mormon stuff so alot of people try to bash, even tho I know I could win haha since I know quite a lot about the bible and B.O.M but I never do, just bare my testimony and walk away, they can't bash with that. Thank you again for all you do and for the support you give me while I'm out here. i love you all and hope all is well

Elder Figgy

August 9th

Last night we had a huge storm and it flooded out like all the streets. so we drove around for awhile trying to find a route to the library to email. The storms here are way worse than Arizona monsoons, we get rain like every other day, which makes it really hot and humid most the day.

Well we are still struggling to find new investigators and we kinda picked up a old investigator we were teaching. But all we do is tract all day and its a little tough cause I kinda have a companion who is pretty lazy and its starting to frustrate me. I have had some struggling companions my whole mission, but yet again I know I'm with them for a reason. This afternoon we are going to Adventureland which is like a theme park, a member in are ward gave us tickets so we are going to go, and yes we are allowed. And the Iowa state fair starts next week which is the biggest fair in the U.S. so that should be fun. The work is going good, it definately is a big challenge to try and get these people to continue to progress, but hopefully they remember the feelings they felt when they were being tought and come back. well not much else going on hope all is well I love you all.

Elder Figueroa

August 2nd

Hey hows it going? Man another week down and I'm back writing. It seems like the weeks go by fast, but the months go so slow. Well I did get a new companion his name is Elder Truman he's from Enterprise, UT and he's been out one month longer than me. The work here is still going really slow, I called up every single investigator we had in the past two months and had no luck with them. We recieved a referell from a ward member so hopefully that goes somewhere, other than that we are doing a lot of tracting. We got a new ward mission leader and I like him a lot, he will do really good, hopefully we can get the ward more involved in mssionary work. Today we're going to go play basketball for p-day. And yesterday a member gave us two tickets to Adventureland which is a theme park by are house so we will go next week, also the state fair opens in two weeks and its the biggest state fair in the country so that will be fun cause thats also next to are house. well hope all is well at home, love ya

Elder Figgy

July 27th

Hello!
The work has really, really died down. Its getting more and more frustrating. We keep dropping all our investigators and all our lessons are falling through. Its starting to get discouraging, but I know things will eventually turn around. This area is one of the toughest, but we are remaining diligent so hopefully we can start seeing success. This will be my third transfer here in Ankeny. I won't know who my companion is till Thursday. New companions make me nervous cause you never know who you are getting and what kind of missionary they are. Well the weather up here is still humid. It has its mild days where is stays in the 80's and its way nice. I love all the green too, but for some weird reason I'm looking forward to the winter again. Maybe cause it will be my last one. haha. I love you all.
Elder Figgy

July 13th

Well hello everyone
It is starting to get really hot and humid here, but the country scene is way beautiful. Can you believe I'm going on 8 months already? Its way crazy. The winter was really long, but after that it has gone by pretty fast. The work in this area is really slow. We have been doing a lot of tracting and its way hot, but I kinda like it. Those investigators that we did have earlier we actually dropped cause they weren't progressing. But we tracted into a lady who we sent an appointment with and taught her last Friday. The lesson was way spiritual, she was crying and we were getting teary-eyed. So I looked at her and said, "Kathy would you follow the example of your Savior and be baptized by the proper priesthood authority?" She said, "I would absolutely love that." We set a date for July 31st so hopefully we can keep her progressing. Then last Saturday we had another sweet, spiritual lesson with another new investigator named, Jared. He's about my age and cried too and accepted the same invitation. So I know the hard work we did in being diligent and hard work payed off a lot. The Lord truly puts people into our lives for a reason. Its bitter sweet when you recognize who those people are and the love you have for them, makes it all worth it.
Spiritual passage/testimony:
I know my Savior lives. I know that through him is the only way we are going to make it through this life and obtain eternity. I know this is the only true chuch upon this earth and we need to yield to the enticings of the Holy Ghost. Just remain patient and push through with steadfastness in hope, having an eye single to the glory of God.
Love you all.

Elder Figgy