Christmas

Footie Pajamas from Lauren

Opening Presents

Christmas Sky in Alabama

Elder Ingersoll stirring Almond Roca

Elder Hardy ready for the ambush with the Marshmallow Gun

Elder Emmanuel with a Marshmallow Gun

Nativity and Snow Globe

Found some peppers??

They're HOTTT

Christmas Was Great

Hey Mom and Dad!

It was way good to talk to ya’ll on Christmas. It was so weird just hanging up on you guys though! It just felt weird haha. And the almond roca turned out horribly...started separating and that’s when I emergency called you and it never went back together. As I was stirring it, some scalding butter leapt up and burnt the heck out of my hand haha. It hurt so good. But other than that my Christmas was amazing!

I ate a lot of food and had a good time with members here in Tuscaloosa. Sounds like ya’lls Christmas was even better! Lauren sounds like the gift giving champ of the family. All the cool origami money and socks. Where are my socks?? It’s all right though because the footie pajamas are amazing. I’ve worn those things quite a bit already and they are really comfortable :) I still have only been to the Melting Pot one time! I want to go there again. That place was pretty good.

How was it having the missionaries over for Christmas? Did the family warm up to them and show them a good time? I hope so! I got cards and money from people -- it was awesome. Man, Jackie got to talk to me and her sister Becca? That’s a good day right there haha. It’s crazy that Becca is about to come home from her mission in Boston! She only has like 5 months left...man I can’t believe that. Time is flying by. That’s awesome that Jackie got all of you something sweet for Christmas! Dad got hooked up with haircuts! And you got that cute picture with some hair do stuff haha. I’m sure Lauren loved the phone cover too. That’s awesome. I’m proud of Jackie! She’s amazing! I hope she had a good Christmas too!

There is a new Sherlock Holmes movie? I never even heard about that coming out or anything haha. Man its so weird being out of the world and stuff. Don’t hear anything unless its a tornado siren...did I tell you about that? A couple of days ago the tornado thing went off so loud and there was a tornado cell right over the stadium. Like 1/4 mile from our house. It was crazy; the clouds were blowing one way on the left side and blowing the opposite way on the right side. It was pretty cool to watch but no tornado ever touched down. I wanted it to though, :( so I was a little bummed but I guess it’s okay because no one is hurt.

You braved the mall yesterday?? Me too! I bought some pants from Sears...Joseph A Bank was $175 for a pair of pants....way too much money for pants haha. So I went to the mall and it was the first time I’ve been in the mall in 6 months so it was a weird experience for me. Elder Ingersoll bought an Alabama hat and it was half off the next hat, so needless to say I had to get one too haha. It’s a good'n though. The top is all tan and the bill is real tree camo :) it has the Alabama “A” on it and I love it haha. Oh and I bought a cheap watch from Wal-Mart. It’s a classy one though. So I shopped yesterday. It was weird but fun a little bit.

And cousin Paige is coming down today? That’s awesome! And you get two dogs! Man you guys are so lucky. Get to hang out with family and hang out with some awesome bulldogs and stuff. Shoot I’m missing out haha. But all is well out here in the Promised Land. The weather is starting to get freezing so I might need to bust out the thermals today.

But other than that, training Elder Ingersoll has been smooth like butta and we're really enjoying being a companionship. He’s picking it up really quickly and we just need to go and find some new investigators that we can teach the gospel to. By the way, Elder Ingersoll is my lucky charm for getting fed! We've been fed 6 times the last week! The Mulders fed us last night and I finally got to see their brand new baby boy! He was so tiny it was crazy. Babies are sketchy a little bit. I always think they are about to fall and die or something but they told me they are more resilient than I think. We'll see haha. I always tell Bro Mulder I’m going to show him those pictures of the Wedge in Newport Beach during that storm but I always forget to bring it. So he told me to remember next time and he said bring a picture of Jackie next time too haha. So I have an assignment to bring pictures over to the Mulders. I love them. And I’m glad their little baby is happy and healthy.

Well that’s about all I have to say right now. I'll try and upload some pictures :)

Love you guys, Happy New Year!

Elder Oppenlander

Elder Oppenlander molding a new Missionary

Chase found out he is staying in Tuscaloosa, AL and got a new companion straight from the MTC.

Training to be a Trainer - Friday 12/16/11

Elders Oppenlander, Crockett, and Grant

Almost Christmas

Sup Momma and Poppa!

Sounds like your Christmas concert was a good'n! I’m so glad I wasn’t there to get forced into any choir or anything haha. :) And you got your hair cut again? Is Jackie getting good? And that’s crazy that JT is already in Utah...or on his way up and about to go into the Missionary Training Center! That’s crazy, but I’m excited for him. Zac will be in and out faster than JT will believe. That sucker has to be there for like almost 3 months learning to speak Tagalog and Zac only has 3 weeks for English speaking missions. haha. It’s awesome that they’re so close to going out though. Lauren told me she’s coming home on Thursday...not Wednesday. I’m excited to talk to y’all too! It’s going to be cool / weird haha. And I think I’ll just sign up on my old Skype account because I’m pretty sure I still remember the password and all that good stuff. And yeah, I’ve been getting packages like nobody’s business lately! Puttin’ Elder Hardy to shame ;) Got 5 last week! From Sis. Reynolds, 2 from the teenagers at church, and 2 from Jackie. So our apartment is very Christmassy? If that’s even a word? Anyways, haha, I’ve felt love like crazy this week and it made this week awesome for me. So tell everyone thank you for the packages! Especially Sis. Reynolds! Elder Hardy loves his pillowcase and our nativity set is up right by our little Christmas tree.

That’s still crazy to me that people actually read the blog haha. But hey, if it’s getting a good review and people enjoy it, then why not! Tell Tony that his sitcom idea sounds amazing! “The Adventures of a California Kid doing up his Mormon Mission in Hillbilly Country”, huh? It would be pretty funny and boring though. But hey, if you have someone like me doing it, it would be hilarious! I make everything fun out here. I have to, or I would go crazy! Like yesterday, Elder Hardy and I were walking around tracting, and no one was answering their door. So I taught him how to shoot beer bottle caps by flicking them. And we had a contest as we walked. Needless to say I smashed his trash all over the place. But it kept me sane and into tracting. So I pretty much do anything I can to stay happy.

Your couch reclines....sounds like heaven! We have one recliner in our apartment and it’s busted. So when I lean back, my feet are pretty much touching the ground and it’s at a way awkward angle. So I'll be excited to try that baby out when I get home.

And yes, I got transfer instructions on Saturday morning. Elder Hardy and I are both staying in Tuscaloosa, and we're both getting new companions. On Friday we got called to Birmingham for a "special training" so we went and I thought we were going to get yelled at or something haha. But it turns out it was a trainer training, and I'll be training a new missionary come tomorrow! Yeah, training already! Crazy! But the president could change his mind between now and tomorrow morning like he did last time. So I might not be training haha. Nothing is concrete!! But word on the street is I’m training. So I’m way excited for that! Kind of nervous though, I won’t lie. Got a little baby missionary’s life in my hands, so I hope I can treat him right and make missionary work fun for him. But I feel like I can do it. Elder Hardy isn’t training, just getting a new companion. So the four of us will probably be living in the same apartment. It will be fun :) I get my new companion tomorrow, and Bro. Mays is going to feed the four of us tomorrow night so he can get to know the new guys. But yeah, this week has been way good.

Elder Clegg came back to visit the Los Alamitos Ward! That’s cool! He was a way good missionary. I remember going on a team-up with that guy. How do you like the 2 new missionaries in your Ward? Sounds like they’re doing things right though, helping set up for the concert and getting support from the ward. That’s how you do it. Haha. I’m glad Savannah liked my letter and man, I'll be out for 9 months when PJ reports to the Missionary Training Center in March ... that’s crazy! Did you talk to Teralynn, Carolyn and Diana? I haven’t talked to them forever!

Our appointments went super good this week! Except Mary...she smokes illegal substances so we called her out on the way to church, and she didn’t have too good of a church experience haha. Bro Mays just went for it and I’m pretty sure she just felt super uncomfortable that he was so blunt with her. But it needed to happen and I’m not worried about it. She knows that you can’t be doing that. Other than that, this week was super good. Had 10 lessons with investigators that members attended, which is a ton. And we just had a good week. No complaints from me :) It’s been like 75 this week and has just started to get cold. So everything’s good over here.

OK, well I have church from 9:30 to 10:30. So I’ll be done 12:30 my time, and I have lunch at a member’s house after. So I'll probably call you around 12:00 your time and set up a time for us to Skype. So keep your phone on you and keep the computer close by!! And thanks for the almond roca recipe :) I’m going to make some of that :))))

Love ya! Let me know what else is going on!

Elder Oppenlander

Six months out!

Look how short Elder Lofthouse is...

Lake we fished

Creek we fished

Bro Muldog and his bass

My pride and joy :)

Freezing rain!

Bottle cap collection. a perk of living in a college town

Christmas tree with our District and Zone Leaders. Elders Stephens, Watson, York, Burdette, Hardy and ME

Bike parts.... I'm painting it - haha

Hey!

Yeah, its crazy I’ve almost been out 6 months! Got like 3 days then it will be official! And yes, I definitely think I have accomplished all that I would have liked to. Then again, I didn’t really have any expectations for my mission haha. But time is going by crazy fast for sure. Doesn’t feel like I’ve been out for 6 months already. But then again, I feel like I’ve been doing this forever! Its kinda weird. And president was taking random pictures at that lunch thing and I had no idea when he was taking them. So enjoy my back, because you're lucky he even wanted to take pics of me! The bike garage thing was awesome. I’ve never been downstairs in the mission home before so I enjoyed checking it out. No joke though, it was freezing that day and it still is freezing. Like in the 30s lately and one day I was riding my bike in the rain and it felt like I was playing in the snow barehanded. It was soooo colllllllllllddddddddd. I don’t like it at all. I want sunshine and birds singing.

What did you and Jackie get me for Christmas :)) ????And I miss Islands and their soup and buffalo wings. And you got a leather couch and lazyboy. Why couldn’t you get that when I was home and could enjoy it??? Shoot mom, come on now. That great-gma chair would be perfect for gma. I remember that thing. I used to sit in it and it would raise me up. Crazy I can remember back that far. Doris' son was in the hell's angels?? Hahahah That’s awesome! Tell him to give me a motorcycle :)

Crazy that Zac already had his farewell talk and stuff! Sounds like his party was fun and you got to chat it up with some good people. That’s cool and yeah, JT sent me some little flat Stanly or something. I’m supposed to color him, and fill out some info about Alabama and send it back with a picture of Alabama...I don’t know what to send yet though haha. I’m glad Zac has a lot of support for his mission. That’s gonna make things easier for him.

1800 hits on my blog?? I don’t understand why people read this thing haha. It’s boring! And Salon 9 shoutout!!! They read my blog every week?? Shoot, I need to step my game up so this thing isn’t so boring and more exciting! No biggie though, I'll just send some pics and stuff and everyone will enjoy it. I’ve been slacking so hard on taking pictures lately. I’m gonna regret it if I don’t get pictures of the tornado damage and all the cool people in my ward here. Need to get on it ASAP.

My letter made Jackie cry?? Shoot, I’m glad I’m making her proud and she’s enjoying the scriptures and stuff. I try to make them good so it’s not just the same ole same ole every week. Gotta spice it up a lil bit. :)...........mom......I do not know what time on Christmas I can skype....I don’t even know if I'll be here in Tuscaloosa or somewhere else. So it's not planned yet haha. Don’t worry, I'll let you know as soon as I know. Next Monday I'll know if I’m getting moved or not, and I’m sure I’ll know my skype plans then too. And man, I’m so excited for all of these packages --- you don’t even know. Mail is like crack to a missionary haha. You need it and when you don’t get it you are all depressed! Not really but almost....I love mail though. So feel free to send them out ASAP. I haven’t gotten Sis. Reynolds yet, but that means I'll probably get it today. And I got your lil package last Saturday. With the CD and shoe laces and all that good stuff. That mother’s day talk looked like it was good. Those were some good experiences you had, mom! Shoot, I need to have some cool story like that. And my West Point girl is slacking hard core. I’m gonna write her today and see what’s up? No excuse for you not having all that yet. Gonna get on her.

BJs with Zac and his dad sounds uh-mazing! I dream of that buffalo chicken pizza and lemonade and pazooki or however you spell it. I want it. The Baldwins are going to be driving like crazy soon. Goodness gracious. Hours in the car but whateva, it will be fun and some good family time.:) PJ finally got his mission call! That’s awesome, and that’s the mission right above mine! We touch :) haha So if I go as far north in my mission and he goes as far south we could hug each other or something haha. That’s awesome that he’s gonna speak Spanish, too. Tell him he’s gonna do a lot of traveling and trailer park tracting. Spanish elders in the south just drive around trying to find someone who speaks Spanish hahahaha. It’s pretty funny, but true.

Been in the 60s back home.....are you kidding me? I wish it was in the 60s here. Everyone keeps telling me it’s not cold, and I’m like, are you serious?? I got snot running out my nose, my cheeks are purple they’re so red, and my hands hurt. It’s cold out here! If I can see my breath, then it’s cold. But no, all these Alabamans are too tough for me. I don’t mind being a lil baby and getting cold haha. Complaining every once in a while is good for the soul. It’s fun, too. And yes, some of our old investigators were able to get back in touch with us. Which is good. We picked up Mary for church yesterday and she brought a friend. Her friend smelled like pot so bad and was hitting on me like crazy. I was like, dang it! haha. Stoned girl needs to get out of here. But it ended well and I just acted like I didn’t know what she meant when she was spittin game at me. So she backed off real good. It was awkward though for sure/funny later in the day when me and Bro. Mays were talking about it. I love him! Bro. Mays is awesome and he took care of me yesterday :) Elder Hardy was down in Demopolis again, so I was a lone ranger in Tuscaloosa ward with Bro. Mays. He took me home after church and fed me some bean burritos and I got a migraine, so I laid on his lazy boy. He took care of me :) Then we went to the Mulders for dinner and Sis. Mulders’ parents are in town because she’s due to have her baby today! So it was a good time eating with them. We had one pretty good appointment with this guy named Richard yesterday. But everyone else bailed on us. And we were able to find like 6 new investigators this week. So the work is moving forward and things are going great! I got nothing to complain about, and I’m loving the people more then ever. I gots to go. Tell Lauren I'll respond to her email next week haha. I don’t have time right now!! Sorry.

Peace out!

Elder Oppenlander!

Christmas Lunch in Birmingham

Chips and Dip at the Mission Home

Sitting down for Dinner

Getting Emergency Packs

Supplies for the Bikes

Happy December

Happy December!!

No, don’t send the Christmas tree haha. We have one in our apartment and I don’t want to carry a Christmas tree around. We're good :) Oh, how I miss the sweet smell of almond roca! That’s cool that Zac and Jackie were over and hung out and made some. I got the recorder back from Jackie finally this week and it was so good hearing her voice. And I heard Zac’s too! I was pumped and they made me laugh a little bit. Zac’s farewell is already next week? Shoot, time is flying and JT the week after? Man, that’s awesome! Yeah, I’ve told my chitlins story to like 50 people and they all say they would never eat it. I guess some people are just lame and would rather go home than go big. You know I like to go big ;) haha. For reals though, I had to do it. I couldn’t live with myself if I turned that opportunity down. I would rather say sorry to my stomach than have to regret never trying it.

Shoot, boy Loren needs to step it up. And get on a mission. And is Quinn that kid I used to hang out with all the time is serving in Uruguay? Uruguay sounds tight. That’s where Bro. Mulder went in my Ward here. Said he had parasites like crazy! Forget that. Jackie got the ring and letter? That’s good. Elder Hardy wanted to send it then got all shy and was like "no, you can just send it to her" but I got on that sucker and made him and finally he manned up and did it. And yes, I bought another inner tube and 25 minutes later I biked 7 miles to our investigator’s house and she wasn’t home.......so whatever haha. Eric is cold serving in Wisconsin ! haha What a sucker. Its December 5th and 70 degrees outside right now :))) People are freaking out because usually its freezing but I just say "you’re welcome" because I know I brought the warmth with me. That’s awesome that he’s on an Indian reservation though! I bet that’s awesome. What’s up with Grandpa and Grandma always getting colds and stuff. Shoot, tell them to take their vitaman C. And I’m glad Grandma’s knees are feeling better. Does Abby miss me at all? I doubt it.

Piano recital coming up! I’m so glad I’m not home for that --- Dad can’t force me to play anything haha. Sucker!!!!!!!!! And why are you playing for an elementary school? How did you get signed up for that and why would you do it haha. PJ still hasn’t gotten his mission call? Man, come on, I want to know where he’s going! Did I look good in the baptism picture? I hope I did -- I can’t be looking shabby in a picture on the internet. Haha. We had one girl way close to baptism but she decided to fall off the face of the earth. I’m kind of worried about her, but there’s nothing I can do. We had a lesson with her and it went well and after that she just stopped texting us and talking to us, and wouldn’t open her door. So we don’t know what’s up. Oh, and deaf dude never came back from his moms house for Thanksgiving so I haven’t talked to him. And PhD dude peaced out too. So we're running a little low right now. But we've been working with the young single adults, and they have friends we can teach. I love working with people my age haha.

Yesterday was amazing! Bishop and his wife gave Elder Hardy and me two fat things of Nutella :) and then two less actives we've been working with came to church for the first time in 6 months. Then Sis. Mills, a 70 year old lady said I have "a beautiful smile and cute dimples" and said I was handsome :) hahaha I love getting hit on by old ladies. It makes my day haha. And when I said bye to her she was like, "there’s my missionary" haha. All I did was be nice to her and get a chair for her to sit in. But yeah, I’m loving this ward and the area. I hope I can stay here for a while and continue to get to know them more and more.

I’m excited for Christmas and I hope I’m here for that too. We've had 6 families invite us over for Christmas Eve already, and Bro. Mays and Bro. Mulders’ wives will both be having babies around then so I want to be here for that too! So it’s a good time of year and I love it! And for Christmas I just want black v-neck sweaters or a navy or black cardigan or something. Or dark grey? I just want something I can be warm in and look cute in haha. And ties, and good socks! I just want clothes pretty much...I don’t need anything else really. Just get me whatever you want, I won’t complain haha. And this Wednesday I’m going to Pres. Holzapfels house for Christmas lunch so that should be fun. Get to see all the missionaries in my zone there.

That’s about it for this week. Thanks for all the love and support and let people know I’m doing better than ever. Stay healthy and I'll talk to you next week or now if you are fast enough to respond. I’ll be on until 9:30 your time.

Love you! Peace out from T-Town,

Elder Oppenlander

Baptism in Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Roll Tide

Elders Hardy, Burdette, Oppenlander, Sister and Elder Smith (Elder Smith performed the baptism)

November 28, 2011

Good morning!!

The Turkey Bowl was amazing!!!!! Haha You better believe I represented So Cal. It was so funny too. Bishop W got so into it and was getting all mad and stuff it was so funny. Bishop was knocking guys over and intercepting the ball! Funny stuff right there. My team had our bishop, Northport Ward’s bishop, Elder Hardy, Elder Watson, me, Brother M, and some rugby players in the ward. We won the championship game and I had so much fun. I was sore for 4 days though.... I was like, Are you kidding me? haha. I was so sore! Shows how biking and walking can’t compare to real exercise. It got me so excited to play rugby again. I think I’m going to do that for sure when I get home. I got to.

My Thanksgiving was a well needed rest! But also a horrible experience....so the Turkey Bowl was great and right after we showered, our ward mission leader came and picked us up to go to his house and eat lunch. Had a deep friend turkey injected with jalapeño butter...so good :) Had a coconut chocolate pie too. I enjoyed myself. 30 minutes later we went to a less-active member’s house named sister M. That’s my girl right there! She made me my mac-n-cheese, collared greens (kind of sketchy), stuffing (with turkey gizzard, eggs, and random parts of the turkey), butter beans (with slimy okra) and I then made a huge mistake....I tried chitlins. Lets just say pig intestines were worse than I thought they would be hahahahahaha. She had 10 pounds of it hanging out in a crock pot looking alright. So I said I’d try some. Poured some hot sauce on it and went for it. Less than a millisecond later I regretted that decision. The smell of it lingered for 2 days, no joke. It tasted like a dirty pig foot covered in poop. That is no exaggeration either! I don’t even know how I can describe it other than that. I had to struggle not to throw up and I pounded mac-n-cheese in my mouth to try to cut the taste.

After that, my appetite was dead for the day. I went to the Sorenson’s for dinner and I didn’t eat a thing. My stomach was so mad at me it was ridiculous! So we just hung out with them the rest of the night. Played wiffleball, bamaopoly (monopoly but the Tuscaloosa version) and some game called boxers and briefs. It was like apples to apples pretty much. And we just talked and I enjoyed my holiday just relaxing. :)) So that was my Thanksgiving haha.

Yours sounds amazing! 38 pounds of turkey?? Shoot, dang that’s a lot. I’m so happy Jackie came and enjoyed herself! She needs to learn how to make lefse and all the good stuff haha. I’m proud of the Oppenlander hospitality! I’m so glad that I’m in the Christmas photo too.

How did you like having one of your babies home for the holidays?? Did you cling to her and not let her out of your sight? I bet you did haha. And there is another Twilight movie? I thought that was all done? And yeah Lauren told me about her drive back to Provo haha. Can’t trust anyone to drive you places nowadays. And I think it’s funny that Grandma wants dad to supervise too haha. I remember she did that last year too. We just put up a little electric Christmas tree in our apartment today too. That thing is a cutie and brightened up the living room. Still have not gotten any visa waiters but that might change pretty quickly. All the signs are pointing to getting some. And am I crazy or didn’t Jennie Jones get married???? And yeah I got a letter from Savannah this week haha. It was good hearing from her and I want to know where PJ is going to go on his mission!!!!! I bet he’s going to South America or something.

And yeah, football is crazy down here. Not too bad this week though because 30,000 of the population of Tuscaloosa was out of town for the holidays. Slowest week of my life!!! This place turned into a ghost town haha. So only the locals stayed and we focused on them. And it was funny; we were walking around right during the end of the game and you could hear people shouting and cheering from their houses. A lot of them said some pretty funny stuff and got me to giggle a little bit. You still haven’t gotten the package??? Man that girl is lagging, I need to get on her and Elder Miller. And no I have not gotten my sunglasses yet. I probably won’t until the next big meeting. And the package is about to be sent?? Man I don’t know if I can handle all of that candy. I'll just feed Elder Hardy and fatten him up for the winter :) and yes, he should be a large in t-shirts. I have no idea what you could get for Jackie haha. Get her a life-size picture of me ;) hahhahah

Teaching is going pretty well. We baptized our investigator Lucinda in Demopolis on Saturday. The deaf dude has been out of town but I met his deaf friend named Shedrick yesterday. It’s cool talking to them but he was shooting signs at me so fast I had to tell that bugger to slow down!! Man it was crazy! I need to step my game up. PhD man is going alright. He’s so busy doing school work that we can really only talk to him on Sundays. He didn’t come to church yesterday though but we taught him this week. Elder York and I taught him. Elder York is our zone leader.

I should be able to Skype on Christmas for sure. I’m looking forward to that too. It’s crazy that Christmas is in less than 4 weeks! Time is flying out here. The basketball game sounds like fun and the OCMCO sounds whack haha. I’m sure dad is going to love it though. Prime sleeping music. It’s good to hear from you buggers and keep me updated. I really do enjoy hearing about the family and the going ons back home. Let everyone know I love them and thanks for the words of encouragement ::) I’m still loving it out here and for Christmas I just want pants and ties haha. I don’t need anything else. Oh maybe some good black and navy socks. These thin ones I have don’t last too well. IDK just send me money for the pants and stuff and I can go to the mall here and get them. So I can try them on and all that good stuff. But I trust you in getting ties and socks for me. Oh sad story my shoelaces keep breaking!! My shoes have to share one set of laces haha. The water and sun just deteriorated them. And my bike is being dumb. I got a flat tire from a staple.... then I bought a new one and the second I put it in I heard "ssssss" and yup the brand new inner tube just got a hole in it. So I retired my bike and we just walk everywhere haha. Maybe one day I’ll get another inner tube but I’m not on good terms with the bike right now. So I’m just going to ignore it.

And we have one investigator about to be baptized. Her name is Mary and we are taking her to Family Home Evening for the young single adult group tonight. We're excited for her to get some good friends in the church and to be baptized. We just have to teach her the commandments and she could be baptized this Saturday. So pray for her if you want to. We are trying to work with the young single adults a lot because of the campus and our young investigators. So we will be getting to know them well this week. Go to Family Home Evening and Institute every week I think. So that’s about it over here. I didn’t take any pictures.... they are on Elder Hardy’s camera so I’ll send some soon. I promise haha.

Love,

Elder Oppenlander :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Good mornin!!!!!

This week has been awesome! I cannot believe its already Thanksgiving! I’m so excited to play in the turkey bowl though. Our ward is so into it it’s crazy. I finally got to meet them yesterday and it’s a pretty small ward. Only 98 people showed up, so Elder Hardy and I are going to have to change that. There are 20 pages of members so over 400 don’t show up haha. But I love Tuscaloosa so much. I seriously love the people here. Like this less active member, Sis. M. She’s an awesome lady who is pretty serious and hasn’t come to church for a long time. So Elder Hardy and I went over to meet her and she loves me!! Haha I got her to agree to cook me some home made mac-n-cheese, butterbeans, and all the “fixins”. She invited us over for Thanksgiving but so did like 5 other people. So we are going to be making the rounds, but Bro. M, our ward mission leader, will be the main dinner. It was awesome though, because I was just myself around her and we started laughing and she opened up and said she'll "holla at me, when she cooks it." and that she won’t cook just any meal but "mix it up" for me hahaha. I love her so much. We taught her with bishop W last Tuesday but she was sick yesterday and couldn’t make it to church. So we swung by and let her know we missed her and she appreciated it. I love being a missionary. I get to meet so many awesome people and I don’t have to worry about myself at all and there’s no stress really. I don’t know why some missionaries freak out. All you have to do is love others and teach everyone. Easy as pie. And if you do that, everyone loves you back haha. Oh! And yesterday I taught a deaf dude! I found him the other day but yesterday I finally got to talk to him more and actually teach him. I loved it! He was just laughing and he felt comfortable right off the bat. Elder Hardy knows a little sign language from high school so he could understand a little, but I did all of the signing and teaching. It was so much fun oh my goodness. I love sign language. His name is James by the way, and he kept telling us how nice we are and how his dog loves us. He has the cutest dog. It barks when people knock on the door so he knows there is someone there. Its smart! And when we left he held on to our hands after we shook and said "I love you". It was an awesome experience. It was the first time Elder Hardy had taught a deaf person and he said it was one of the coolest experiences of his mission. I think its because deaf people are so sincere and they don’t lie to you haha. They tell you straight up how they feel and it’s awesome.

But yeah yesterday, was just good. This whole week was and I’m so happy. Even though no one mailed me all week and I felt like a loser haha. We had dinner last night with the Mulders. (The guy who took us fishing and his wife). We caught so many fish last week! Bro. Mulder was fly fishing and catching big bass all over the place. Elder Hardy caught a lot of bluegill, brim and 2 bass. And I caught a big bass and some blue gill. I'll send the pics next week. We took my bass home and cut it up but then we didn’t eat it haha. We were going to, but Bro. Mays told us that bass around here are sketchy to eat. So that was that haha. But yeah we were fishing for like 4 hours and it was so relaxing. I had like 45 minutes to write letters last week and clean so I just wrote Jackie and cleaned the kitchen. I love fishing though. But yeah, dinner last night was so good. Bro. Mulder threw down some roast, mashed taters, corn and some juice. Oh and chocolate chip cookies and milk :)) I was in heaven! And he had an indo board. A balance trainer thing Bennett has, so I did that for a while and then he did it....shoot he made me look like a punk! He’s so good at that thing. And I got to meet his wife for the first time yesterday too. She’s about to pop she’s so pregnant. But they are awesome and we had a lesson about mormon.org because Pres. Holzapfel wants us to use it more and get our wards using it. I went to leadership training with Elder Hardy this week and we learned a lot about that. I saw Elder Clanton there and it was awesome. President is awesome.

Man....I’m so ADD today haha. All over the place. Ok well, I’m going to start to respond to your letter haha. Ummmm yeah its crazy that turkey day is already here! Man, time is flying by. I was looking at the calendar yesterday and I was like dang! 5 weeks till Christmas! Crazy! And I’m excited for Lauren to come home too! You don’t have to be loners any more and get to see one of the babies :) That’s awesome that Jackie is planning to come over for Thanksgiving! Her mom too? That would be awesome. Show ‘em how the Oppenlanders do it haha. I’m glad Jackie is still involved with the family and stuff. That’s good :) makes me happy. And is Drew getting married this week?? Shoot, I forgot about that. And it won’t be strange not having me at Thanksgiving, you guys are already used to having me gone and you’re happier than ever I’m sure :) Just play some guitar hero for me and it will be like I’m there.

Man, the missionaries back home are getting it good from y’all. Smoked meats left and right, and Christmas with you? Shoot. I miss lefse...I’ve asked like 30 people here in the south about it and no one has ever even heard of it. And its warm here! Its crazy but the weather sure is going crazy. Cold, then hot, then rainy, then warm. And yeah, I think a tornado went through Demopolis this week. I wanna see one! And my investigator in West Point was going to send my package home. She better have sent that thing! Might take a while though I’m not sure. But I trust her. And yes, people over here are going crazy about football. They are all pumped because the teams that needed to lose, lost and Bama has a chance. I could care less though haha. All I know is people don’t open doors and the streets are empty when a game is on. How is JT doing? Is he still loving college life up in Idaho? And man, Zac and JT’s farewells are right around the corner. Are they nervous or excited? I’m excited for them. JT is gonna look like a white tree out there around all them tiny Filipinos. Haha I thought about that this week randomly. And stop having migraines!! Shoot mom, you’re worse than I am. I had one this week right before the team-up with the bishop. But it went away with the pain medicine. I love those things. Do they work for you? And I’m glad people still enjoy my letters haha. I love writing home and just spilling all my week and thoughts onto the computer. I feel so ADD when I do it though. Because I just type as I think it, so its all over the place. Gma and Gpa get to brag about me to all their friends. That’s right :) and your Sundays are worse than mine are haha. Missionary Sundays out here are: get to church early, have a meeting, then church/greet people, go home, eat, tract, visit members, teach investigators, go home, eat and go to bed. So that’s a missionary Sunday at least for me.

Haha sucker! Nick is going to have to pay a lot of money it looks like. At least he was wearing his seatbelt and not drunk or something. So it’s not too bad. Driving people before a year is a lame law anyway. But still gotta follow the rules. That’s awesome that he’s gonna work at Tilly's though! Man that’s a teenage kids dream job :) Tell him to get me something from there...I don’t know what, but something. We did not get any visa waiters, and yes there is a tiny washer and dryer in our apartment. It barely fits my whites and my darks (pants, socks, t-shirts, towels, and bed sheets) takes like 3 loads haha. I’m glad y’all are grateful for being able to do the rafters and for having a cute son. I’m grateful for you, too. And for being able to be out here serving the Lord. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, no joke. Meeting all of these people and learning and growing so much. Couldn’t do this back home and I’m glad I’m away from you and Jackie too, because it makes me appreciate things more and helps me see what I want in life from an outsiders view. But really, just being able to have time to dedicate to other people is what’s making me grow the most. Christlike attributes are my main focus right now, and those babies help out with everything that I do. Especially patience, gratitude, and love. I want these next two years to change me and for people to see that change in me. If I don’t change at all I’m failing. So let me know what you think of me :) haha

I love you all and I hope you enjoy the holidays and be safe:) I’ve been walking everywhere this last week. And I’m safe and sound. Losing weight too :) I love carpet I can workout on haha. Oh, and this Indian dude name Ezhil showed up to church yesterday. He’s a Phd student studying physics and some missionaries tracted into him a while ago and invited him to church. So he came. He was in his house during the tornado and his whole neighborhood got destroyed. He doesn’t understand why he's still alive and all of his neighbors are dead, and that made him think about a god for the first time in his life. So he’s very open, smart, and humble. So I’m looking forward to teaching him more. :) It was a good week. Love ya!

Peace, love, chicken grease.....

Elder Oppenlander

First Week in Tuscaloosa

Hey!

I love Tuscaloosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve only been here 6 days and I don’ t ever want to leave! Elder Hardy is awesome! He’s 22 years old and he’s from Tucson, Arizona. He came out with Elder Lofthouse and Elder Holley...so this will be my 3rd companion from the same MTC group. I thought that was pretty funny. He’s been out for a year and a half and I’ve been out for 5 months!!! Man time sure does fly. Elder Hardy is a really hard worker and I love it. We live about 4 blocks from the Alabama football stadium, and they have a cemetery right in front of it....haha But no joke I love it here. We just walk around and people come up to us and either cuss us out or talk to us about the church.

The first day here we had 4 referrals and people pulling over on the busy roads to ask if we need a ride somewhere or to tell us to come and teach them sometime. It’s awesome. They even have a young single adult group here that we can get to know and help fellowship our investigators. We've been teaching so much and we just got another area to cover, Demopolis, Alabama. It’s a tiny branch. We have 3 people to be baptized within the month and we can easily do that. We are so busy here I barely have time to think. I mean we even have lessons today on preparation day!! And we're going fishing right after this with a member of the ward. I love it haha.

The tornado damage here is crazy!!!!!!!!!!! Whole neighborhoods just gone and I’ve heard crazy stories. One of our investigators lost her 9 year old and 5 year old in the tornado. Her house was destroyed and her children ended up getting killed. Way sad but when you see the damage everywhere it’s hard to believe any one survived! And that was 6 months ago! So I can’t even imagine what it was like the day after.

Our apartment here is way better than my last one. Carpet, weights to work out with and a central air and heat. I love it. But I’m not too pumped because I think we are getting visa waiters this week so we will have 2 more people living with us and that means I don’t get my own bathroom any more haha.

How did Jackie get the recordings on the computer?? I thought that wasn’t possible haha. But awesome! Did you like my voice? I thought it sounded all nasally and gross but whatever. That hawk story was lame but I loved it haha. That’s crazy that everyone is getting ready to go on their missions! I’m so excited for them. I love it out here and getting to know all these different areas and people. I don’t know my ward at all yet though.

It was stake conference yesterday and I’m in the Bessemer stake. It was fun and we had some good speakers. We got a ride there from Bro. Mulder. He’s awesome and from Southern California!!!! So we talked about the beach and paradise for a while and we got pretty close. He’s the one taking us fishing today and also the one with crazy tornado stories. Go to Google and type in "Daniel Mulder hugging his wife"...It’s a picture of him with his wife next to their destroyed apartment. He also said he was on CNN and stuff. They were in their tub during the tornado and barely got out alive. Their whole apartment was splinters and he was telling us how he and his wife went outside after and injured people were all around them and he tried to save some but they just had holes in their bodies from where pieces of wood, brick and metal had just gone right through them. It was way sad but I’m glad he and his wife are ok!

Cal State Long Beach’s student section sounds way funny haha. I would have liked to see that!! And tell Dad to hook me up when I get back! I would love to go to school there! And yeah, I don’t know what classes I would need to take but I want to make prosthetics and orthotics and all that good stuff. Bro Mulder says his father-in-law is a podiatrist and does all that. But I don’t know. We'll figure something out. :)

Jackie showed you the picture of me?? Haha I love that Griffin sweatshirt and no it’s been warm here in Alabama! Way too warm for November 14th. Yesterday was perfect at 75 and today is a little rainy but still warm. I miss snuggling with that little puppy! Get a dog hah. Becca wrote you this week?? That’s awesome! She is such a good missionary! Makes me look like a wanna-be. She’s awesome. You definitely need to write her back. No I have not gotten a letter from Savannah or Chris Sanchez. But then again it probably went to my old apartment. I left my sunglasses in the old car :( I'll write Elder Miller today and tell him to send me all my junk.

I ate weight watcher’s food last night.. haha. Some member in the Northport ward made it for dinner and didn’t like it so they gave it to us hahahaha. It was cabbage, onion and turkey burger. Haha I just covered it in hot sauce like a good southern boy and ate it.

I wrote Grandma B and Grandpa O last week wishing them a happy birthday but I had no Idea how old they actually were. I was thinking how old are you nowadays? 81? 82? Haha. I didn’t know........and man still getting gophers! Shoot Grandpa’s got a magic pool or something that all the gophers want to try.

That mission board is so classy. I love It. Dad, you need to write me a letter, not an email about your conversion story. So I can keep it and not have to pay to print it off. And let me know about all the good family stories you’ve neglected to tell me all my life. That fireside sounds cool. I love some good art every once in a while. And that’s cool that Andy wants to start piano. How many students are you up to nowadays? And Dean finally proposed?? OMG that took a while haha. And she said yes? Dang I guess better late than never. So I think I told you everything. We got a bunch of investigators so I’m not going to name them all. But just pray for everyone in Tuscaloosa and Demopolis. I’m going to get them all haha. By the way the word "Bama" or "roll tide!" or an “A” are everywhere out here. Come on, I know where I am....you should too. Get over it haha. But no joke people here skipped the adult session of stake conference to watch the Alabama football game...they’re obsessed. I'll start taking pictures of stuff around here and send it to you tomorrow. Love you! Have fun in California and keep me up to date :)

Peace! Elder Oppenlander