Elder Cody W. Conder

Soooo… After e-mailing you yesterday, we had to stop by the office to pick up a bike rack… and I got a couple other things too.  A letter from Elder Higginson… and my flight itinerary.  AHHHHH!!!  I don’t have it with me right now, so I can’t give you every detail, but I can tell you some stuff.

I’ll leave from George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 1:01 pm, Tuesday, January 17th.  I’ll fly into Denver.  I have about an hour and a half layover.  Then I’ll fly from Denver to Boise.  It says I’ll be landing at 6:00 pm, and I’m pretty sure that’s local (Boise) time.  So, now you can count down the hours if you so desire…

Good Afternoon!

Well, today should be an interesting p-day… it’s FINALLY starting to cool down a little bit.  I think it’s currently in the 50′s.  And to start off our day, we had to do service at the Kingwood chapel.  They’re doing a Nativity community event there… and they need help all this week getting it set up.  So we were there hanging lights and a backdrop of Bethlahem and everything else… quite interesting!  And we’ll be back there tomorrow.

Thanksgiving was awesome!  The McCains… well, being over there was almost as good as being home   Ok, not quite… but pretty close!  About as close as you can get in Texas, ha ha!  Let’s just say we had a good time.  I’m sure it was quiet back home… you guys never told me anything about where you were going for thanksgiving… so now I guess I know why!

Can you believe I only have 7 weeks left? *shudder*  I’ll probably get my itinerary within the week… or maybe next week.  I’m not sure… but apparently it’s all figured out already.  I guess almost everyone else is flying into SLC… but I’m just going straight to Boise.  I’ll just want to go home, be released, and go to sleep, ha ha.  And don’t feel too guilty about being excited.  I’m super excited!

From what I understand, Elder Majors is going to fly into SLC… but yes, he is from Twin Falls.  I guess most of my MTC district will be flying into SLC, considering lots of them are from Utah anyways… the exceptions being me, Majors, Espin, and Wasden.  But frankly, I don’t really want a joint home coming experience in SLC… I’ll take my own in Boise

Speaking of coming home soon… I’m going to start shipping boxes home in the next couple of weeks… can you please make sure I’ve got some funds to do that with?  oh, and I’ll need to ship my bike home eventually… I’m not quite sure how that will work, but i’ll be talking to Elder Tolman a little later, and we’ll get it figured out!

We had a little bit of a miracle this week.  We were on exchanges with the zone leaders.  Elder Davis and Elder Godfrey were knocking a trailer park… and knocked into an inactive member!  He hadn’t been to church in YEARS.  Well, we went back and taught him a few days later, and met his wife (who, by the way, is not a member).  We invited them to church, and they came yesterday!  They stayed for all three hours.  It was awesome   So we’re going to have to find his records and everything… but it shouldn’t be TOO hard… we’ll see

I know I already told you this, but we still love our Fusion.  We’ll be turning over 1,000 miles within the next few days.  Funny story… yesterday, we were trying to visit someone, but the weren’t home.  So Elder Davis was going to turn around.  I was outside of the car, ready to back him.  He went a little too far right into the ditch.  It was a shallow drainage ditch, so it shouldn’t have been a problem… except that it had rained the day before… and so it was more of a mud ditch… and the car got stuck.  Oops!  We tried rocking it out, but it wouldn’t move.  So we had to go down the road to the nearest neighbor, who just happened to have a tractor and a chain, ha ha!  He was able to pull us out without a problem.  The downside… the wheels were absolutely covered in mud, and the rest of the car got pretty dirty too, ha ha!  But no damage, and no real problems… the entire ordeal only took about 15 minutes.

No news yet on the ticket… I’m going to call the courthouse today and see if they’ve gotten it in.  Then, depending on what they say, I’ll call the atourney and see what he says.  I think I already told you, but just in case… my driving privilages were restricted… NOT revoked, restricted.  So what that means is that I can still drive if I need to, but usually Elder Davis should be driving.  So, for example, if he’s not feeling up to driving, he can give me the keys.  So yesterday, after he got the car stuck, he handed me the keys and told me I could drive for the rest of the day.  I would prefer for me to have my full driving privilages back, but I guess I’m just lucky they weren’t completely revoked…

Anyways, that’s about all there is to report today…

Elder Conder

Happy (early) Thanksgiving!!!

Yeah, I suppose we’re already there, ha ha.  It’s kinda crazy to think that we only have a couple weeks left in this transfer… and then I start my last transfer!!  EEK!!!!  Speaking of trunky stuff… Sister Anguiano (from the mission office) called me today and asked me which airport I would be flying in to….. AHHHHHHH!!!!!  I told her Boise.  So apparently, she just bought my ticket today… I’ll probably be getting my “trunky” papers pretty soon…

We do have a thanksgiving dinner appointment with the McCain family… I haven’t really mentioned them much… they’re not in our ward, but she’s pretty much our mom in this area.  She seriously reminds me so much of you, Mom!  ha ha!  So we’re having thanksgiving with them

You wanna know something funny about Sister McCain?  She LOVES Christmas.  Their house is pretty much already decorated.  And there are two presents under the tree already.  Wanna know who they’re for?  Elder Davis and me, ha ha!

So… some sort of mess with the internet/server, eh?  *sigh* this is the kind of garbage I was worried about when I left.  I was hoping to not have to worry about anything when I left.  And in my defense, if you guys hadn’t moved, you wouldn’t have had to worry about a thing, ha ha!  Well, I guess we’ll just do what we can… plug the server directly in to the modem for me, and I’ll see what I can do…

I haven’t heard anything back from the attorney yet…  And I don’t know if my ticket has shown up at the court house yet either…  So, no news there yet.

Well, sounds like you’ve been having plenty of fun lately with the internet and trying to register me for classes…  I guess that schedule will just have to work!  I don’t blame you, it’s ok   So basically, I have three classes on Monday, one class Tuesday, two on Wednesday, one on Thursday, and two on Friday?  Just making sure I read that right   I guess that gives me plenty of time for a job too!

Dang… I’m sorry to hear dad’s laptop croaked… tell him I said hi and send my love back as well

Honestly, there’s really nothing to report this week… I’m sorry   We had a pretty uneventful week… I suppose that’s kind of a good thing after last week, ha ha!

-Elder Conder

Good Afternoon!

Well, today is a wonderful day here in Texas… except it’s HOT!!! Like 82 degrees… BLEH!  Isn’t it november yet?  I’m certain it’s well below freezing in Rexburg already…. man, I miss cold

Saturday was an awesome day   We had our surprise baptism this week!  His name is Santiago, and he’s the father of a member who was baptized about a year and a half ago.  He has taken the missionary lessons a few times, and we were teaching him again… when all of a sudden on Wednesday, after the lesson, he and his daughter were like “we have some news.”  They had great big smiles, then he told us he wanted to get baptized… THIS SATURDAY!  We hadn’t even planned for this!  But he was ready.  If only I could’ve taken a picture of his smile as he came out of the water.  He was so happy   He’s an awesome guy.  His wife was opposed to his baptism, and refused to come… but he has the full support of his daugther and son-in-law (who also happens to be the elders quorum president).

Then, right after that baptism finished, I had to rush down with Elder Campbell to Channelview for another baptism!  Remember Bartolo and Mari and their kids?  Yup, their baptism was this saturday, except for their daughter Valeria (Valorie in english)… she’s waiting until this coming weekend.  It was awesome, because there was another family that got baptized at the same time!  I love watching people after they are baptized.  Bartolo has a hard time walking, and he almost slipped and fell as he was entering the font (he would’ve if we hadn’t been there helping).  And coming back out of the font was also a struggle, but the smile on his face was so amazing, and he told us as he was coming out of the font… “Me siento muy contento.”  I feel so happy!  I had the opportunity to baptize their son, Tony.  His 10th birthday is next Saturday, and he wants me to come down for it… but I don’t think I’ll be able to get permission for that

So yeah, about the car… well, I don’t know how much the ticket will be, or really what I need to do… I’ve never had to fight a ticket before!  When they give you a ticket here, you apparently have to go to court to find out how much it will be.  oh well… I think I need to appear by December 27th or something… but if I can, I’ll go in sooner than that…

No, I haven’t been sore from the crash… which is kind of amazing considering how fast the other guy was going…

Yes, of course I kept the Toyota emblem!  I needed a souvenir from the crash, and the left headlight assembly was a little bit too big to carry around with me   But no, I most certainly do NOT want to trade my Civic for a Toyota… *shudder*  MAYBE for a new Fusion

Speaking of which, you told me you wanted a report about the Ford Fusions… well, in a word, they’re AMAZING!!!  I love our new car!  We just turned over 300 miles today on it, ha ha.  It’s so quiet inside… it has great acceleration, EVEN with the small engine!  It’s probably the best in the mission, ha ha!  Still good on gas mileage.  The transmission is smooth… speaking of which, it’s a 6 speed transmission!  That’s pretty awesome!  Frankly, I love it!  And it looks cool too

Oh, I forgot to mention… On Friday morning, we got to listen to President Rasband, senior president of the Seventy!  That was pretty awesome

Anyways, I think that’s about it!

Elder Conder

Well, I figured you’d want to find out from me… we were in a car accident yesterday, my second on the mission (see this post).  Now, before you freak out, please know that we are both fine, and the other person is fine as well.  Our car will probably be repairable.

It happened as we were pulling out of a subdivision.  It was a five lane road.  The two lanes going our way… well, the one closest to us had no one in it for several hundred feet (enough room to pull out and accelerate safely).  But as I pulled out, a Dodge Ram changed lanes and sideswiped our front left corner pretty good.

He was pretty ticked… got out and started yelling at us.  I tried to remain calm… When he calmed down, he actually ended up being a pretty nice guy.  It took the police about an hour to show up.. yes an HOUR.

Long story short, I got the ticket because I had the stop sign… but to be honest, it wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t really his fault either… it was just rotten luck.  I’ll be fighting the ticket in court, because frankly, I don’t want it on my record, and I don’t want to pay it!  Plus I didn’t really deserve it… but the officer explaned he had to issue a citation to someone for the accident, and since I had the stop sign, and he didn’t see the accident happen, I was the one who had to receive it.  But he said I could fight it in court, which, as I said, I will.

So, here’s some pictures…

Yeah... that hurt a bit...As you can see, we're missing the left headlight here... oops As the sun sets... just another day in the life of a missionary

You can see Elder Davis in the background here.  This whole ordeal took a couple hours to resolve…

The good news is… I don’t really have any pain from the accident.  My ankle is a little bit sore from slamming on the brakes after the crash, and my neck and back are slightly sore, but that’ll probably go away within a few days.

Elder Conder

Here’s a few pictures from Elisabet’s baptism on Saturday.  It was awesome!!  Those are some great people

Hello there!

Well, yes, once again, it’s Monday, and here I am at the library.  Hooray!  Today is kinda humid… it rained a little bit this morning… but not a lot.  And it’s warmed up AGAIN… *grumble* Apparently, the weather doesn’t seem to realize that it’s FALL!!!

So yeah, time is going by pretty fast, isn’t it?  I only have 10 e-mail sessions left!  HOLY COW!!!  And that includes my e-mail right before I go home!  EEK!!!  So that’s…. uh…. 10 full weeks left!  *shudder*  How do you feel about that?  ha ha.

Nope, no box yet… we’ll see when it shows up.  Maybe later today… but it didn’t come on Saturday.  Just wondering, has the new Mo-tab christmas CD come out yet?  And did you find it?  And did you get it???

So I guess I’ll have to decide classes pretty soon… When did you say registration was?  When do I have to figure this out by?  *sigh*  STRESS!!!

SO, some REALLY good news!!  We most certainly DID make it to Elisabet’s baptism   We were so excited, and they were excited to see us!  Elder Campbell and I went on exchanges, because there wasn’t enough room in the car for all 4 of us.  Elisabet was so happy after her baptism   I wish I could send you some pictures… but I forgot my camera cable, so you’ll just have to wait.  But probably not too long, I’ll probably be sending home the memory card soon.

So, I have a funny story… we had dinner this week with a family, and you just have to guess what their last name is…  give up?

CONDOR!!  Yup.  So when I walked in, I kinda covered up my name tag.  The wife (who’s american, by the way), wanted to know my name… but I was just kinda hiding it, ha ha.  Then I showed her.  She got a kick out of that!  We might be related somewhere back there… but I’m not sure where.

Our car will probably get replaced this week!  We’re about to turn over 40,000 miles (as in, we’ll turn over either late today or tomorrow), and Elder Tolman told us to give him a call when we did.  I told him we wanted the white fusion, ha ha!  I’ll let you know if it’s a good car.

Anyways, I guess I just don’t have that much to report this week… Elder Campbell and I will likely have a baptism to go to next week down in Channelview too!  Bartolo and Mari and their kids should be getting baptized on Saturday   They’re AWESOME!!

Elder Conder

Hello there!

So yeah… it’s a slightly small world, I suppose   When I walked into the chapel this Sunday (the gym, actually) and she started walking over to me, I didn’t recognize her.  To be perfectly honest, I still didn’t recognize her very well when she introduced herself, ha ha!  I guess I just hadn’t really seen her before.  But yes, I most certainly did see Sister… well, not Soelberg, but… yes…  That was pretty cool   She had to give me a hug from you… but of course, I couldn’t really hug back… there were lots of members there, and for some reason, people think that missionaries are not allowed to hug, ha ha.

So yes, Humble… it’s the place where pretty much EVERYONE in my mission geneology has served, ha ha.  Elder O’Connor, Elder Manders, and a few before that that I know for sure.  Plus Elder Petersen (my “brother”) trained Elder Davis (my “nephew”) up here.  It’s the family tradition, ha ha!  It was in my blood to come here all along

Well, we have not moved yet… and I haven’t heard anything about it since I told you… so maybe we won’t be moving.  Honestly, we probably should… we now live like right on the edge of our area… so a move towards the center of our area would certainly help   But we’ll see.

We might be getting a new car too (but that’s not official yet).  Elder Tolman has 6 brand new cars, and our car is #5 for high mileage in the mission.  So we have a pretty good chance of that.  One of the options is a gold Malibu (dun dun dunnn!!!)… remind you of something?  (It should… Check here)  Honestly, I’m hoping to get a Fusion   We’re currently driving a 2009 Carolla with about 40,000 miles.  It’s almost due for a trade in anyways.  Elder Tolman said he wanted our car to turn over 40,000 miles before we got a new one… which we’ll probably do within a week or two… we’re actually at like 39,500 or 600… not quite sure.  But we’re close!!

Yeah… my bike probably won’t get sent home TOO soon… probably not until near the end of NEXT transfer…

I still haven’t gotten anything from Channelview… but I should this week.  The new missionaries didn’t get there till Thursday afternoon… and we haven’t gone down there since then.  We have spanish class on Thursday mornings, so we’ll see them then… and I can get my shtuff!  They said they’d forward the letter.

Yes, we teach english classes!  They’re fun!  We teach them Tuesday nights at the library right by our apartment.  Then after that, we go over for dinner at a member’s house.  It’s a pretty good setup.

Elisabet is getting baptized this saturday, FINALLY!!!!  And we’re still cleared to go   So I just need to find a ride… I think the ward mission leader from Houston 7 should be able to take us… *crossing fingers*

Things are actually going pretty good with me and Elder Davis!  We’re getting along better than I expected… I guess I still struggle with judging others a bit prematurely.

Anyways, that’s about all there is to report this week, I think…..

Elder Conder

Hello there!  So good to be able to sit down and send an e-mail

So I’m sure you’re dying to know where I am.  So I’m going to torture you a little bit longer before I tell you, bwahahahaha!!!  This much I will tell you, though… it’s most certainly different from pretty much every other area I’ve served in.

Well, sounds like you guys have been having e-mail troubles!  Sounds fun, ha ha.  Hopefully they’ve got it all figured out   So the entire data center crashed?  Wonder what caused that… :S

Yup, I was thinking my little text there would shock you, ha ha.  Honestly, when Elder Campbell answered the phone, and then told me we were being flushed, I didn’t believe him at first.  Then I checked the phone… and looked at him… and realized he wasn’t kidding.  And my mind was just spinning…. GAHHH!!!  We’ve got people we’re teaching!  We’re doing alright here!  COME ON!!!  WHY?!?!?!  Well, I don’t know why still… but either way, we’re gone from there, and now I’m here.

Oh yeah… speaking of here… where is here?  Well, to be honest, I’m not 100% sure where “here” is… but I can tell you the name of the area, I suppose.  I’m now serving in Humble, TX, in the San Jacinto River spanish branch.  Yup, right near the mission office and everything!  My new companion is Elder Davis.  This is his 3rd transfer, and he’s actually my “nephew.”  He was just trained by Elder Petersen (my “brother,” because he was trained by Elder O’Connor as well).  He seems to be alright so far… haven’t really gotten to know him that well yet   I’ll keep you posted!  Just so you know, we live in an apartment here… don’t have the address yet… I’ll get that to you soon

So poor Elder Campbell… he was just moved over to a BRAND NEW AREA, which actually borders our area.  They just opened a new spanish branch a few weeks ago, and now we have an area to cover it.  Elder Campbell and Elder Egbert are the first missionaries there.

Yeah…. I’m not 100% sure, but I might be lactose intolerance… it seems to make sense.  I’ve looked at when I felt like crud, and what I had eaten.  After drinking a glass of regular milk, my stomach was feeling “gurgaly,” just a few different things that seem to be pointing to lactose sensitivity, or intolerance… not sure which   Either way, I got some Lactaid, as a just in case… and I’ve switched to… well, I’m not sure yet.  I’ve tried soy milk and almond milk.  They’re both good…. but if you say soy milk is of the devil, I won’t drink it \

So, sad/bad news…. I did NOT get your letter on Saturday   Actually, there was no mail that came on Saturday at all.  So hopefully, I’m able to get a hold of your letter soon!  I would really like some of that school info!

I did get one box mailed home.  It’ll probably show up on Wednesday or so.  I’ll probably work on sending home a few more boxes this transfer.  I sent them home using a few different funds.  First, I returned a couple things to Wal-mart that I didn’t like, so I got about 30 bucks from that.  Grandma and Grandpa sent down some money.  So between those two things, I only spent about 5 bucks on groceries today   I didn’t have enough time to send another box before transfers… but I’ll get them sent off over the next couple of weeks.  I heard that Media Mail is cheeper, although it’s slower.  I think I’ll probably use that instead of flat rate…  I’m working on budgeting better…

Elisabet is getting baptized on November 5th.  YAY!!!  We should be able to go… I’m just not sure how we’ll get there.  Either find a ride or ask if we can drive over there… but I think we should be able to find a ride…

Elder Conder

Hello there!

So, I got your letter and your e-mail (obviously).  I think I’ll reply to the letter first because your e-mail… well…. that first paragraph scared me :S

Yeah… I’m doing better today than I have been.  This last week I was STILL sick.  This is obviously not a virus or a bug.  Apparently, there are a couple more missionaries (among them Elder Bench) who are struggling with pretty much the exact same thing!  Woo hoo…. lots of fun!  So it’s made it very difficult to work.  I have been in contact with Pres. and Sis. Crawford about this though, and they know what’s going on.  It kinda stinks cuz we can’t work very hard (lest I start having major issues)… but we’re able to visit the important people we have right now!  So that’s good!

Yup, I had heard a little bit about that baptist preacher guy that bashed the church.  It just goes to show how narrow minded people can be, and how misinformed they are.  If people would just acutally THINK about things for a little bit, they’d realize that that’s not true!  But the sad thing is that most people won’t… sooooo…. meh.

I suppose you deserve a high-5 for standing up on facebook!  Sadly, I cannot give you one through e-mail (technology hasn’t advanced that much yet).  But yes, I am proud of you!  Just don’t be too defensive   That’s one thing I’ve learned on my mission.  If we come off as overly defensive, it turns people off, and they don’t want to talk to us.  However, that’s not to say we just lay down and take it.  False ideas and misconceptions do need to be corrected

I’m glad to hear that you’ve been talking about religion more lately!  It’s really not that hard   Especially with the internet… back in the day, missionaries would go to the town square and preach.  Well, today’s “town square” is the internet!  So keep up the good work

So what’ this Ooma thing?  I’ve never even heard of it!  I’m assuming it’s like Vonage and other VoIP providers, I’ve just never heard of it… what’s so great about it?  And I was thinking about the whole internet thing… wait until I get home before you make any changes to the speed and such

So you’re thinking of a smart phone, eh?  That ought to be fun.  Pretty much everyone has one now.  And you’re right… we really need to look at the cell plan… 7,000 extra rollover minutes?!?!  That’s crazy!  I will need a new phone when I get back too   Soooo, I guess we’ll see what they have!

Zone p-day… well, I was feeling pretty sick, so I didn’t really participate.  But there was some soccer and volleyball going on.  And yes, it’s nice to have the running shoes back.  They’re much better than the Vans were… but I haven’t been able to run lately because of the stupid stomach problem… soooo…. yeah.

Huh……. I’ll never be able to be on my own again?  Well, thinking about that, I think I’d kinda like some alone time after being with someone 24/7/365 for two years!

Nope, no changes to the music.  The official mission policy list came out, and there was practically no change there.  Still Mo-tab and the church seal.

Elisabet… Well, some good and some bad news.  The good news is that she’s getting baptized.  The bad news is that she has to get baptized in her own ward.  SO!  We ended up having to pass her off this week.  But she should be baptized within a couple more weeks.  And Elder Campbell and I received permission to go to her baptism

The weather down here IS pretty nice right now.  I’d be happy if it was just about 10 degrees cooler, though.  That would be nice

*sigh* I think Grandma and Grandpa need to move into a different house.  I understand that this fall wasn’t at home… but that house is NOT helping them.  They need a house with only one story.  Is grandpa doing ok?  I assume so, since you didn’t tell me otherwise.

And thanks for reminding me that this coming sunday is Grandpa’s birthday!  I almost forgot to get him a card!!

Elder Conder