Memories from Abilene, TX

We received Sawyer's SD card with all of his pictures and videos from the first area of his mission. He loved his time in Abilene. He met some wonderful people, and made some great memories. He said that leaving was really hard, and it felt like leaving home all over again. We're grateful for all the people there that took such great care of him.

Elder Harris, Elder Dalley, Elder Chapman, Elder May, Elder Simonson, Elder Martin, Elder Varvel, Elder Evans, Sister Davidson, Sister Kramer, Sister Archibald.

Sawyer's first companions were the zone leaders, Elder Martin & Elder Chapman.

A tour of his first apartment. Be prepared to get dizzy :)!

One of the first things that Sawyer experienced in Abilene was a storm! He said that when it rains, there is nothing quite like it. The rain comes down so hard, that within minutes the streets turn into rivers. They drove through the streets with water up to the door of their car.

An Abilene rain storm!

On one of their P-days, the missionaries got to go to Prime Time. It's like Fat Cats or Blastoff. They bowled, played games, and he won at laser tag!

Prime Time

 The Bundy family loved the missionaries, and always took good care of them! Sawyer loved them, and will miss them greatly. 

Dinner at the Bundy's!

Hanging out at the Bundy's house.

The Bundys had an old military truck. 

The Bundy's dog was making the donkeys mad. I cracked up at this video just listening to how entertained the missionaries were.

Elder Varvel is working on his domestic skills! Cookies!

Here is Sawyer's cool insta-freeze magic trick :)!

Elder May, Elder Hancock, Sister Archibald, Elder Chapman, Elder Pasquale, Sister Kramer, Elder Thorpe, Elder Martin, Elder Dalley, Elder Varvel

This is a video of what they do when they are bored during planning meetings.

Sawyer and Brother Murrow. He was their ward clerk.

This is a video of the missionaries trying ghost peppers. A ghost pepper is the world's hottest chili pepper, and is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Most of the missionaries started going numb, but Sawyer must have got a lot of seeds, because he got pale and broke out in a sweat. Good times in the mission field!

Sawyer saying goodbye to the Bundys.

Jessie and Chelsea

The Cannons- He was their ward mission leader.

Sawyer with the Hedin Family.

The Elders with Lovenia. She is a recent convert who loved the missionaries.  She owns Chicken Express and would let the missionaries eat for free. Sawyer said her husband makes the best food ever, and she makes the best dessert!

 One of Sawyer's hardest goodbyes was with Chado and Bobooshka! :(

Sawyer and Bobooshka 

Chado, Babooshka, and Sawyer

Sawyer really grew to love Chado, and he will miss him a lot. I hope we can all go to Texas someday and meet all these people.

Elder Varvel & Elder Pasquale 

Elder Varvel & Elder Hancock

Elder Watson and Elder Varvel. I miss his goofy faces!

Elder Varvel, Elder Chapman, Sister Kramer, and Sister Archibald.

Saying goodbye to Elder King. 

Elder King and Elder Varvel.

Elder Moffitt and Elder Varvel 

Elder May and Elder Dalley both came out to Texas with Sawyer.

He says this is his last moments with his parents :)! He learned a lot from these guys, and I'm sure he'll miss them a ton.

Sawyer loved his time in Abilene. He will miss it a lot, but he is excited to start a new phase of his mission is Muleshoe , TX. I hope he can meet just as many great people there, and have just as many wonderful experiences.