Week 12- April 24th

       This week has been a good week. Nothing to exciting really happening. Yesterday was the first day that I have really felt like a missionary. Let me explain, We did the usual morning routine, we got up at  6:30 excercised and did our studies and finished that at about 11 when then had lunch and did a little bit of relaxing. At Noon we loaded our bikes up into our truck and headed over to the church from the church we rode our bikes around visiting people and trying to find new people to teach. We were on our bikes for just about 5 hours. I was a little sore. We rode I wanna say something like 12 to 15 miles. It was a long day but it definitely made it feel like I was a missionary. Oh also while we were out on our bikes there was grey clouds in the sky and it would rain every little while. It was a cool experiance.

   We have been doing alot of things trying to find new investigators, Like walking around and all that good stuff, But no tracting. Last week while we were out walking around we met this guy out doing stuff in his yard, So we asked if we could help him. He looked at us and said he didnt want us to help because we were in nice clothes so we walked up and just started helping him while we were working he started asking us questions about what we were doing and all that good stuff. So we told him. But we didnt invite him to learn about the gospel right then. We went over 2 more times to do service and the third time we went over we asked if they would like to learn more. He said that they would talk it over as a family and let us know. They are a family of 4 the mom dad and then they have 2 daughters a junior and a freshman. I hope that they will want to know more we will just have to wait and see.

    So I have a funny story for you, Last week while we were walking around we were walking in wine country and most of the house have gates on them. On one of the walls next to a gate there were 2 lizards and they were pretty good sized. As we were walking past I picked up a rock and tossed it at one of the lizards. When I threw it it didnt look like I was going to hit it but come to find out I did hit it and It died. It was pretty crazy.

   This last Sunday was the first Sunday with our new Bishop. It was pretty cool. Its going to be a good change. I heard that we are going to be getting a new Bishop back home. Who do you think its going to be? any guesses? Thats going to be interesting coming home to a new Bishop.

   So you want to get rid of dandilions do ya? well I believe there is some fertlizer weed killer in the garage. It should be in the cabinet in the front right at the bottom. (if you were looking into the garage from outside.) Or there is weed killer fertilzer that you could get at Home Depot that you hook up to the hose that you spray on and that should get rid of them, Other than that I dont have any magical secrets for that, Sorry.

   The weather down here is definiteley starting to warm up, it is starting to get into the 90's. The weather here usually is in the 90's to the low 100's from about the end of May until September so thats going to be exciting to work in.

   Thanks for everything mom! Love you!

 

Love Elder Rindlisbacher

 

can you send me some more cds and pictures Please and thank you

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you last transfer one of the elders that I lived with wrote a rap about me. It is..

 

My name is Elder Rindlisbacher 13 letters long

I like basketball and this is my song

5 foot 7 and can touch the rim

I'm a freaking athlete, State champion

 

I just thought you might like that. Love you!

Week 11- April 17

Well this week has been pretty exciting around here. There has been a lot of things happening. Saturday we went down to Carlsbad to a mission meeting and Elder Nelson from the twelve was there and also Elder Halstrom and Elder Hanny. I got to meet all of them. It was awesome to get to shake their hands. They all spoke to us which was way cool. Sunday was a special stake conference and Elder Halstrom was there and spoke to us. Sunday night there was a special meeting for 4 wards in the stake. At that meeting the ward bounderies were changed, a new ward was made, and all the wards got new bishoprics. It was kind of disappointing because my area or the ward I am over lost a lot of cool families and getting a new bishop is going to be weird. We are going to be busy helping him out for a little bit. We have been trying to have a lesson with that one girl but her moms got a crazy schedule and its been really hard to get over there. hopefully this week. So there is this family that has been being taught since like last October and they have had a baptismal date and everything and it fell through and we have contiued to teach them and they come to church every sunday, they pay tithing and she is a visiting teacher but for some weird reason the wife has just been having a real hard time getting baptized, But yesterday we got a text from them and they said that they were ready to be baptized, it was so crazy! So they should be getting baptized here in the next couple of weeks which is super exciting! Yesterday I went on exchanges in the redhawk ward with my district leader elder Norton, Hes from Draper. We had a lesson with this guy in their area that they had contacted into. They met with him and his wife before and we were planning on meeting with them both again, but his wife was gone so he invited his friend over. His friend is actually a pastor of a church around here and he is getting his masters degree from a seminary around here. Our lesson basically turned into kindof a bash session where they kept asking us tons of deep questions and we kept diverting it and asking them questions to make it not a bash. But these guys were to nice about it and we won the bash, they kept contradicting themselves which was pretty funny, but it was really cool because this was the first situation like this that I have felt good in. I am doing great! I did get the package and thanks for that! The bag works great, I dont use it to often but when I do it does. We did not get to have dinner with that one guy and now we wont be able to because he lives outside of our area. Thats so cool the Brinkerhoffs got their call thats really exciting. Brittney hasnt told me that Bekahs getting married, Thats crazy! Did you guys get a invitation or something? I have been riding my bike, I ride it everyday, because I cant run. Thats cool that they got accepted. Thats cool that they are expecting, and thats cool they had their baby. Everything is going great! just staying busy. I love you mom!

Love Elder Rindlisbacher!

email from a sister in Temecula

Hi Cheryl, My name is Jeni Carpenter. I am in the Pauba Ward in Temecula. Your son is our Elder.....and we love him so much! I just wanted to tell you how great he is! He is our first "greenie" in our ward ever. We have been a ward for a little over 5 years and we have always had the zone leaders in our ward. We have always loved having such strong missionaries serve here. My oldest son, Brandon, is currently serving in the Paraguay Asuncion North Mission. he has been out 7 months. I always loved having Zone Leaders in our ward to take him on splits and come over and set a great example for him. I have to tell you....I would think your son was already a zone leader. He is incredible. He is so humble and has such a strong testimony. He is a hard worker and has a great attitude. He LOVES his mission. He gets along great with everyone in the ward and his companion....who is awesome too!! I was nervous and excited to get a "greenie". I have 4 children still at home. (I have 4 boys 19,13,10 and 5 and a girl 17). We always have the missionaries over and I wanted my kids to have the same strong example they have always had. But since my son was just recently a new missionary...I was excited to get a new one here. Your son is so great with my kids. They adore him. My 10 year old and Elder R can quote Brian Regan forever. My 13 year old asks to see his coin every time. I think I fell in love with him the first time he bore his testimony in our ward. We always love to hear the missionaries bear their testimonies...but they don't usually mention their families. (We always get them after they have been out a while.) Your son testified of the Savior and the truthfulness of the gospel....and then he shared with us how much he loved his family and appreciated their support. I cried and felt the spirit and thought of my own missionary who we miss so much! This is the very first time I have ever e-mailed one of our Elder's moms...but I wanted to tell you how much we love him. We will take care of him. I know you have already had a missionary out...so you are way more experienced than I am at this. I miss my son so much and I am thankful he is in the Lord's hands. I hope he has families in Paraguay that love him as much as we love Elder R.

Love,Jeni Carpenter

P.S. His mail comes to our house and he is so cute when he asks if we checked the mail. :)

Week 10- April 10

Well first off, I am doing great. Staying busy for the most part. I got the package last week and I'm excited for the next one. The scotcharoos were gone pretty darn fast, but I didnt eat them all I did share. Easter was really good. It honestly didnt feel like a holiday though, it just seemed like a normal day. We had two dinners so I ate a ton of food I was so full. Thats so cool you went to the real game. sounds like tons of fun. Sounds like the weekend was good. So we werent able to have dinner with thay guy and his wife which is pretty disappointing, but we are trying to have dinner with them tonight but I dont think its going to happen. Nothing to exciting happening though. The work here is pretty slow but its still fun. This up coming sunday there is a meeting for like 4 of the wards in the stake here and theres some speculation that the wards are going to be split so thats going to be exciting. On Saturday we get to go down to Carlsbad because Russell M. Nelson is coming to the mission. So im super stoked for that, and then sunday is a special stake conference and Elder Halstrom is going to be speaking so I'll get to here from 2 general authorities this weekend its going to be a good weekend. So This morning we went hiking and while we were hiking we walked past what looked to be a large dead rattle snake, so we were being dumb teenagers and we threw some stuff at at but it didnt move, so we kept going and on our way down we threw some more stuff at it and I threw a stick right at its head and it woke up and started rattleing so bad so we went running. It was pretty scary but it was funny at the same time. Its so crazy how time flies. Everyday just seems to fly by. At night when i am writing in my journal I look back on the day and I feel like it was forever ago that things happened so i guess its good that its flying by but i am definitely loving it. I have had a ton of awesome experiences. I have gotten 2 letters form the stake, which is pretty cool. and i also got a letter from jessie my cousin. It is so awesome to get letters i really love tham and I always look forward to getting them. Mail now comes once a week at our district meeting so thats good, because itpretty much stinks not getting mail. Thanks for everything you do. I love you. I know that being out here on a mission is the right thing to be doing. I know that this is the true church on the earth today and that it was restored by Joseph Smith. Thanks for being so great, Love you,
Love Elder Rindlisbacher

Jesus Christ is Important to me because...

Jesus Christ is important to me, because he atoned for my sins. He knows me by name and knows everything I am going through and if I turned to him he will help me. He has helped me through so many trials in my life. I am so grateful for everything he has done for me. I know that through him we will all be resurrected and be able to live with Him and our Heavenly Father someday. Putting my trust in him has changed my life and that's why I am serving him and I am proud to wear his name on my badge, and say that I am a representative of him
- Elder Cody Rindlisbacher

Week 9-April 3

I am doing great! working hard and staying busy. Today is transfers, but I am not getting transferred. I will be staying in temecula. I am no longer serving over the ysa branch anymore, which is kinda disappointing, but it will be good to only be over the family ward. Nothing to exciting happening which is pretty disappointing but its all good. last week we were out in wine country and we found a little mud puddle and had a little bit of fun driving in it to get to one of the members houses. Youll have to see the pictures when I send my card home. Its not full yet but i think it will be soon. Last week we had a goal to talk to 101 people out on the streets. In some areas that is very easy to do but in my area it is extremely had. The average is like 40, so alot of last week was walking around trying to talk to people. Sunday came and at the end of the night on sunday we had talked to 102 people which was a miracle. It was good talking to all those people we met some people who might be interested but we wont know until we go talk to them again. While we were talking to all those people we met this one guy and his wife who were way cool. we talked with them for a while about what we were out doing and he was asking us questions and all that good stuff and he invited us over for dinner and to talk more about our church. he is an ex pastor of some church around here which is really interesting. Elder Blakely and I were talking after we left and they are either going to be solid and want to be baptized in 3 weeks or they are just luring us in so they can throw anti at us. For some reason I get really nervous and scared when people throw anti and ask deep questions so thats one thing I am working on getting over. So next week I will update you on how dinner went if we are able to do it. I have not gotten the package yet but I should get it today or tomorrow. Thank you for sending it. Thats awesome that spring brak is this week. Are you guys doing anything fun? Thats so cool you are going to do it! One of the other elders that i live with is a runner and him and I are going to run a marathon when we get home, so thatll be pretty sweet. Thanks for everything mom, I love you.

Love Elder Rindlisbacher