Hey!! 

I'm bummed to hear about the football game. I was waiting all weekend to find out what happened. Yeah I looked at the website to watch it but you need an account. So I'll use your guys account and maybe watch a little bit of the game. Well at least Jaden still has another year. I'll be home for his senior year. When I get home tell him I'll take him out and go train with him to get him ready for the football season. Anyways this week was a pretty good week. The weather was nice again. It was really humid this past week so it was a little warmer. The weather is so weird here. I have no clue when it's going to be warm or cold now. I'm sure it will start getting cold now though. So here's something crazy that happened....someone was telling us how a Grandpa and his little granddaughter were out walking one night and they got shot and killed. And it was right over by where I live. Pretty scary...it's so messed up down here. I think that's why Hurricane Katrina happened..to wipe out all the wicked. But there probably needs to be another hurricane like that. But I guess that's what I'm down here for so there doesn't need to be another hurricane! The work here is still pretty slow...we aren't really teaching anybody right now. Last week I was telling you about the guy we helped move into his apartment..well we still haven't heard from him. He probably went online and read alot of anti-stuff. Everyone down here always reads the bad stuff about mormons. I think we will just go over to his apartment and knock on his door or something. This past week we got some names some people in the ward wanted us to go see what their situation is. So this one guy we go to served a mission and everything so we decided he might be a good one to go see. He answers the door and we talk to him for a little bit and we tell him where the church is and he says you probably won't be seeing me there. I was like how come? He was like well...I'm gay...we kinda just stood there for a while because we didn't know what to say. Finally I was just like well.....there is a website the church put out for gays you should check it out. It was probably one of the more awkward times on my mission. But that's about it for this week. Yeah I heard about the typhoon in the Philippines..that's really sad. I guess it was the biggest typhoon ever? I don't know. I'm pretty excited for Thanksgiving to come up. We have a couple appointments so far. I think only 2 will be fine enough for me. Haha Um...I'm pretty sure I'll be able to skype for Christmas. It's a month away. I guess Mom is just so excited to talk to me :) I'm sure there is someone here that will let me skype on their computer. Well yeah not too much has happened this week. The work is really slow on a bike. You dont get as much accomplished. Anyways love you guys.

Elder Willis :)

Hey!!!

So nobody said anything about Dad's birthday so I don't know if you guys are trying to test me but I'm pretty sure yesterday was dad's birthday! Happy late Birthday!! Hope you had a good one. Anyways that's great to hear about Jaden's game. I was anxious to find out how they did.  I'm sure Jaden is excited about that. I bet he will be pretty nervous. That's pretty cool we both played in the state championship our Junior year. Just tell him he will probably be really nervous at first but after the first couple minutes it will feel just like a regular game. Tell him to play that game harder than any other game he's played that season. I can't wait to find out what happens on Monday. Anyways my week went pretty good. I'm pretty comfortable in this area now. I'm starting to like it a lot. They people here are so much different than any other people in the state. The whole area is pretty much dominated by african-americans. I hardly ever see any white folk. This past week the weather was pretty bad. It was super windy this week. I hated it. Trying to ride your bike in the wind is so hard. It got pretty cold at night too. I think it was the first time this year I have worn my long sleeve shirt. My short sleeve shorts are getting worn out but the long sleeves are pretty much brand new still. But I will probably wear them a lot this winter since i'm not in a car. Well this past week there was this guy named Julius that was moving some furniture into our apartment complex so we asked if we could help. So we helped him and everything then the next day or the day after I think he came up to us and was like "Hey I've been trying to find you guys because I  want to know more about what you guys do"  So we talk to him a little bit and give him our number and he says he wants to learn more. He is trying to fix his life up and wants to start going to church. So we're excited about that. Hopefully we can teach him. Then we are teaching this other guy named Russell and he wanted to come to church and we told him to be ready at 8:30 so we can come pick him up with a member. He said he would be ready and we go over there on Sunday to pick him up and he didn't answer his door. I was pretty upset. I shouldn't be but it's hard not to at this kind of stuff. So those are really the only people that have potential. Still pretty slow in this area. The members feed us here alright. A little bit better than in Covington. So yeah the branch there is a lot of blacks. No the branch president is white. My comp is from Ogden, Utah. I guess I forgot to tell you that? The other 2 I live with are from Draper, Utah and the other one is from Mesa I think or one of those towns over there. He went to Desert Ridge High School. They are all pretty cool. We all get along really good. So yesterday for pday I got to see Elder White and my other buddies from the Denham Springs zone. They all got permission to come to New Orleans. So we went to the Stake Center and we played a lot of basketball. It was cool to see all those guys again. Well I cant really think of anything else. Nothing crazy has really happened. Well I love you all. 

Elder Willis :)

 His dream car :)

Book of Mormon Musical in New Orleans....People thought they were in the musical when they saw them on the street.

This is the view from his area....it it downtown and across the river

Hey Family!

I hope everyone is doing good. Sounds like the Football team can have a pretty good chance to win it all. Tell Jaden he better work his tail off these next 2 weeks. I hope they can win it all. I never got a chance to win a state championship so I hope Jaden will at least be able to win one. That would be cool. So I'm sure you have been wondering where I got transferred. I got transferred to New Orleans :) Yeah it's pretty sweet. The part of New Orleans I'm in is called Algiers. It's like right in the heart of New Orleans. It's one of the worst parts of New Orleans too. I'ts really sketchy everywhere. My companion is Elder Smith. He's from Ogden, Utah. He has been out like 3 months. He's pretty cool and we get along really good. We live with 2 other Elders. I like living with other Elders. The mission is funner when your around other missionaries. I'm in a bike area again. I don't mind it because it will keep me in shape but sometimes it's nicer to have a car. Plus the weather is starting to get colder and it will not be fun to bike in cold weather. So I'm in the West Bank Branch. It's a pretty good sized branch though. It kinda reminds me of the branch I was in in Opelousas. The branches down here in Louisiana are ran a lot differently than other places. I like this branch though. The people are very friendly here. Most of the branch is African-Americans. Which I kinda like. I love seeing black mormons for some reason. There is not much work in this area either. This area hasn't had a baptism in like 2 years I think. But I think the work here will be a little better than the work was in Covington. So the weather here has been pretty chilly lately. There was another big storm that came through but it ended up just being really windy. There was hardly any rain. So all I know about Elder White is that his companion is Elder Stewart. I don't really know anything about him but he is really short and wears glasses. He will probably email me and tell me how his companion is. So my first night here we went and visited a less active guy and when we left we went outside and there was 5-6 cops busting some kids for something. Welcome to Algiers. Then the next day we go to the library and some lady comes in and was like there was a bike that just got stolen outside. It wasn't our bikes though because we lock them up. But this area is pretty bad. I guess I need to be careful down here. We actually live in a pretty bad area too. We are pretty much surrounded by the projects. It's scary. There are a lot of houses and buildings around here that are still boarded up from Katrina. It's crazy. It honestly feels like I got transferred to a different mission. I'm seeing a whole other side of the mission now. New Orleans is for sure the craziest place I've ever been. I can't wait to bring you guys down here someday and see how you guys feel about this place. I know mom will probably be too scared to get out of the car in a lot of places. Haha. Well that's about it. I can't really think of anything else. Remember you guys are in my prayers. I love you/

Elder Willis :)

Hey!!

Hope everyone is doing good. Sounds like Jaden and Makenzie are tearing it up in sports right now. So this week is transfer week and I got called and found out I'm getting transferred. So on Wednesday at the meeting I'll find out where I'm going. I have no clue to where I could be going. It's all a mystery. I think I'm ready to leave though. These past 3 transfers in Covington were rough because there was no work. So I think I'm ready to move on. It will not be fun getting a new companion though. Me and Elder White had some fun times together. So next week I'll let you know what happens. So this past week not much happened. I was sick pretty much all week. There was like a big cold front that came through so the weather got super cold real quick. That might have been what caused my sickness. But now the weather is back up to normal again. I don't know though but I was sick for a few days. We still tried to go out and try to do something but we didn't get too much done because i wasn't 100%. Yeah I got the package you sent. The way you named all the candy in it was pretty funny. I got a good laugh at it. Me and Mitchell and Ashlee all email or write each other pretty often. We keep in good touch with each other. You will have to tell Justin my email so when he gets on his mission he can email me. Maybe we will just start a big group email between all 4 of us. So last Monday i told you guys how we were down in New Orleans. It was sweet. I took pictures but I forgot my camera at the apartment. I will try to email some pictures next week. But we took pictures of the theater where the book of mormon musical was playing and people were walking by us looking at us weird probably because we were dressed up exactly like the missionaries on the billboard. Then while we were walking down by the downtown area some guy stopped us and told us he played one of the missionaries in the musical. So he wanted to take a picture with us. It was a fun time down there. Next week ill let you know on everyhing that happened if you don't somehow figure out before i tell you. Haha. I love you guys.

Elder Willis :)

This is the Ory family that took good care of Elder Willis & Elder White.  He had to say good-bye as he will be transfered this week.  Thank you Ory Family

Hey!!

So were emailing on Tuesday. Yesterday the library was closed because of Columbus Day.  Isn't that like Canadian Thanksgiving? hmm...i wonder if Matt is celebrating his Canadian thanksgiving. Ha. So yesterday for P-Day we went fishing again. We have been doing a lot of fishing lately. We can't catch any fish though. We aren't very good at fishing. I went and bought one of those cheap kid poles at Walmart and tried to fish with that thing. It broke like 3 times and then I was done fishing. It was pretty fun though. It's still really hot here. They say it's supposed to get cooler this week. I hope so. I'm ready for winter to come around. Last year it didn't start getting cold until the last part of December. I actually think it was pretty warm for Christmas. Hmm...anyways this past week went pretty good. We had zone conference and it went alright. Sometimes zone conferences can be a little too long. We go from like 8 in the morning to like 5 or 6. With only like 1 break. We learn a lot of good things though. Our zone is very young. We have a lot of new missionaries. I still feel like a brand new missionary most of the time. It goes by fast. We still can't find really anybody to teach. We talk to a few people about the church but no one seems really interested. Everyone already has their own church. You can't throw a rock without hitting a catholic or baptist. The ward here is still the same. A couple weeks ago we thought things were going to start changing when we had a couple more dinner appointments. Now it's back to normal again with hardly even 1 dinner appointment a week. Yeah we eat cereal a lot. Most of the time I have cereal for breakfast lunch and dinner. It's probably not healthy but it's the easiest thing to make. We have a ton of cereal at our apartment. I'ts not bad because I love cereal. I don't think I have any vitamins. If you want to you can send me some. I bet Makenzie is excited for volleyball to start. I know that's probably her favorite sport. Oh this past weekend we got to play basketball with a ton of nonmembers. One of the youth in the ward always invites his non member friends to the church to play basketball. We probably play once a week. That's always fun. We play a lot of basketball. We haven't been back to the ghetto courts lately. They are probably sick of seeing us around anyways. We might try to go there sometime soon again. Transfers are on the 30th....So in a couple weeks. I don't know if me and Elder White are going to stay together. I might end up getting transferred. Who knows..? Well that's about all I can think of. I love you all and pray for you.

Elder Willis :) 

Hey!!

Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good. My week was pretty good. We are emailing a little later than usual today because we just got back from fishing with this crazy swamp guy. He is a less active member and he always talks about how good he is at fishing and everything so we told him to take us fishing. We hardly caught any fish. I think he got like 1 or 2 catfish that weren't very big. It was pretty fun though. It was super hot today though. I think I got sunburned a little bit. So conference was really good. We watched all the sessions over at the Ory's house. They are a sweet family. They are like the only family in the ward that does anything for the missionaries. There were a few talks that I liked but I likeed M. Russell Ballard's talk. Because during this past week I was thinking of how we can get more people to teach and I read a quote online from a talk...I can't remember who it was by but he said that if you talk to a few people you will baptize a few people, if you talk to a lot of people you will baptize a lot of people. So I thought I probably needed to start talking to a lot more people on the streets and stores and everything. Then Elder Ballard said something like if you want more investigators you need to talk to more people. So that was cool. I think I might try that out and see what we can get going. I really enjoy conference because it like spiritually refuels you. Before conference I was completely drained and then conference pumped me back up. I'ts crazy that I only have 1 more conference on my mission. Anyways this past week we had a zone training meeting which was pretty good but afterwards we had a zone volleyball tournament. It was district vs district. That got pretty competitive...even as a missionary I still don't like to lose. There are like 6-7 districts in our zone. My district did alright. We took 3rd place. This past weekend they had a parish fair. A parish is pretty much a county so it was a county fair so we spent a couple days at the fair trying to talk to people. That was probably one of the most awkward times on my mission. There were so many people and everybody was just staring at us. We stuck out pretty bad. We did end up talking to a few kids though so it wasn't that bad. Yeah there was a tropical storm-hurricane thing that was coming our way but it didn't do anything here. It was just a little windy. I guess right when it was about to hit land it died down a lot. So it wasn't that bad. Well that was pretty much my week. Just another week. That stinks to hear that Jaden still isn't 100% hopefully he will get better pretty soon. I don't think I need anything at the moment. I'll let you know if I ever need anything.  Just keep me in your prayers.  You al are in mine. :)  Love you!!!  Elder Willis :))

Hey!!

Sounds like a pretty crazy week for everyone. That stinks to hear about Jaden..  I hope he gets better. I bet it's not fun being hurt. I'm surprised I didn't ever really get hurt. There probably were a lot of times where I should have been hurt really bad but I never was. I think the worst for me was getting hit in the chin and spitting up a lot of blood. That was pretty much all. So who did Jaden end up taking to homecoming? I saw the picture but I can't tell who it is. Or I don't even know who she is. I also saw the picture of Makenzie and her friends. That was pretty funny. That's really exciting about Justin. Trevor and I found out a couple days ago when Justin emailed Trevor and told him. He didn't email me though. Oh well...I hope he does well. So this past week was alright. It was super slow because we can't find anybody to teach. That's how it's been my whole mission pretty much. Super slow...but this week was a little better because we had a couple more dinner appointments. That was nice...I love home cooked meals. I'm getting tired of eating cereal for breakfast lunch and dinner. So other than that nothing really too exciting happened this week. I'm pretty excited to watch General Conference this weekend. It's always nice to take a break and watch meetings like that. I think the members here are getting more missionary minded. Yesterday for the 5th Sunday lesson it was on member missionary work so hopefully that gets the members a little more excited to do missionary work. A lot of members yesterday at church come up to me and were trying to give me shoes. They were like I saw those shoes you were wearing and I think you need new shoes. I do have some pretty beat up shoes that I wear sometimes. I just tell them it's how hard I'm working. I have those nice pairs you sent me but I only wear those for meetings. Anyways....so something cool about the church here in the south is that sometimes after church the members will have a big pot luck luncheon. We had one yesterday. Right after church we go into the cultural hall and have a big lunch. It's pretty cool. It's a good way to invite friends to church...just tell them there will be food right after church. Well that's pretty much for my week. I did get your package. Thanks for that. I'm excited to eat some of those treats in there. Well I love you all and pray for you every day.   Love, Elder Willis