Only The Beginning: October 2014

Friday, October 24, 2014

Elder Lickiss is on to the next phase of his Mission. October 19, 2014

Hi Everyone,

Texas is Amazing. First my new address is:

1418 Lincoln Ave. #2
Fort Worth, Texas
76164

"I am writing you guys today, to tell you I am so happy to be in Texas where the mail gets to you in only 1-2 days so we can have even better constant communication."

"Alright, lets talk about life. So they put me on this plane back to the states. The plane was a lot less full this time, so I sat in the back in a window seat. half the time I practiced Spanish by translating scriptures, the other half I took pictures of clouds. Our plane landed early and the AP (Area President) picked us up. He took us to a church first where we got oriented to all the rules, regulations and housing for our mission. We also did role play while we took turns meeting individually with the president. It was weird seeing street signs and, well everything, in English again. Then they took us to the mission President's house for dinner and testimony meeting. The house was a small mansion, this thing was beautiful. Tall roofs, everything lined with wood. Solid wood tables and 2 dinning rooms, this place was nuts. We ate something called Biscuit. Everyone compares it to the food we will eat in heaven and I see my years counting down if I eat it. It's like supposed to be really good tender meat I guess. It tasted funny to me. After like 20 hours of no sleep we were taken to the AP's apartment where we slept. We woke up the next morning at 6:30 and went to another stake center. There we had breakfast and were assigned companions.

I sat randomly next to two guys (Elder Hagen and Elder Tuluga) and talked and ate together. The president called up the trainers first and then the new missionary. The mission president called up Elder Tuluga and Hagen, and then me. We were put in a trio, I got two trainers."

"Then we went to our little green house. The house is 2 stories, when you walk in the house directly to the left is a living room. To the right is a door to the garage with our washer and dryer.


If you zoom in you can see the nice little message you wrote on the back of my moon plaque, this is my window from the outside

This is our kitchen and a little bit of our dining room.

This is the window I look through when I go to bed and see the moon.

Straight ahead are stairs that take us to the 2nd level. To the left at the top of the stairs is our kitchen and dinning room. We have a full sized fridge, oven, sink and cupboards. We have a plastic dinner table. The room that branches off from the kitchen is a little private room with a chair and a window.

Delicious

To the right at the top of the stairs is our bedroom with 2 desks, 3 beds, and a big closet, bathroom and shower room. The shower room has a back door that leads back to the little room next to the kitchen. Here we unpacked a little and then went right into it. We planned out our day of tracking. I kind of wanted to stay and organize my room a little but I guess that's not appropriate."

love these!

Look at all these nummies

"My companion Elder Hagen is from California he's been on his mission for about one year now, but he has never been in this area. He is fluent in Spanish and he teaches lessons well. Elder Tuluga is a Samoan from Samoa. He's really chill and funny but he still works hard. He moved to Utah about 6 years ago, he's 24 and pretty buff. "

"Our day consists of waking, exercising for an half an hour (we run twice around the block and then come back and lift weights). We get ready for the day/ eat breakfast (7-8), then do personal, companion, language and 12 week studies each for an hour, then we eat lunch (12-1). Then we head out with our plans and don't come back till 5:00 for dinner. At 6:00 we leave again and don't come back till 9:00 or 9:30. We plan, get ready for bed, and sleep. This is a normal day. We have had a lot of weird days, like days with meetings or General Conference."

Here are a few sights from Fort Worth Texas:

This is the stock yards, where they walk the stock down the street for people to buy stuff, just a little bit of Texas culture

Look at my elevation, no wonder i can breathe so well here

Yummy barrel of recess peanut butter cups

Huge candy store at the stock yards

Totally Texas right here.

This is part of my zone, the hermanans are hilarious

All you can eat ribs at some place, its a nice deal if you can eat a lot of ribs.

Eating the ribs, I can still keep my face clean.

"We have a really small area. My area is Spanish and usually Spanish areas are bigger than the English ones, so usually we get cars. Like the Hermanas area goes about 30 miles in one direction. Well we can bike to the farthest corner of our mission in about 25 minutes. Most Spanish Missionaries have to drive an hour to reach their corner. It's funny because we have the only home in the mission, it's the biggest missionary home in the mission, yet we have the smallest area in the mission."

This is my area, its super small when you look at it on Google maps, most areas are like 40 miles long and ours is like 2 miles

"Please tell everyone I Love Them. Tell Bishop I miss our water fights and his great leadership. Tell Brother Wells I want to play "Mafia" with him. Tell Mike H. that I could use some Arby's and a Mountain Dew. Tell Dustin C. he is one of the greats. I will see you all in a moment."

Love Elder Lickiss

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Plane ride to Fort Worth Texas

A quick message home

YOU

MOM

My Wonderful Missionary!!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

A Final Farewell To The MTC September 30, 2014

As Elder Lickiss prepares to leave the MTC he shares with us his last day with a group of people he has grown to love.

Elder Lickiss Shares

"My final days at the MTC have been amazing. I am utterly sad that my Hermanas have left, they left this morning between 3-5 am. I leave tomorrow at 5 am, my bus takes off at 9, and I will arrive in Texas at about 11:50 am. I have (had) hard times here but I have loved it because I just love the people. I love my house, I will miss that too. I do believe this is the best MTC is the world, it's huge, it's clean, it's perfect. There is so much room and there are palm trees. The food is questionable but it is worth it."

"Anyways, I have loved it here, I have loved the people here so much, this is a once in a lifetime experience and I am not going to waste it complaining. I have grown and have a crazy love for the people of Mexico. They are just such a fun innocent people."

"I am ready for Texas, not with the language, but with the spirit. I have learned that you teach with the spirit first and then in Spanish. 3 months is when everyone says I will be fluent, if I am diligent and if I am obedient."

"I am sad to be leaving all these wonderful things, nevertheless, the field will have so many more things and people to love. In my eyes I have only changed a little here, but I need to stop focusing on me. My goal is to change the world, and in that action, I will be changed. I know if I bear my testimony to you all every chance I get then your testimonies will be strengthened as well. We can not live our lives peacefully without it, and we will not make it in the next life without God. Not only do we need to know and love Him, we need to recognize what He does, and serve Him."

"I pray that everyone I love will have a taste of the fruit that is this Gospel. Then, you will remember that fruit, and when I testify to you, you will smell that fruit. Then maybe, just maybe, you will pursue that fruit. Then you will do all that you can do to get more o the fruit, you will make every action you do be in the direction of the fruit and when you have the fruit in your hands you will devour it every day and you will keep eating it so you don't forget what it tastes like, Then you will look and see all the people that you love that don't have the fruit and you will desire so much that they have the fruit as well, or at least if they already have it, to remember what is tastes like, and partake thereof everyday. I have tasted this fruit, currently I can smell it, and everyday I am pursuing it. Then I will have it, and at that day will I become the number 4 missionary (a talked called "The Fourth Missionary") and I will share that fruit with the world. No language barrier, no physical barrier, no barrier or distraction of the heart, will stop me from sharing this fruit with the world. Tasting the fruit is only the beginning, just look up into heaven where the tree of life grows on every corner. Taste the fruit, pursue it, share it and, become like God, forever."

"I love you, I will always love you, see you in a moment."

Here are some pictures of Elder Lickiss' world for the past 6 weeks