Ice Storm

Hey Family and Friends!

  I hope all is well for all of you. I am so excited to see you on Christmas! I can't wait! Thanks for all the letters and emails. I treasure all of them and I hope that I've responded to all of you.

 

  Last week was a crazy one! haha. On Thursday, Elder Fincher wasn't feeling to good and so we had to go inside pretty early. Then Friday through Sunday we had an "Ice Storm". It wasn't too bad compared to Utah weather, but Marion isn't used to this stuff. We had a lot of freezing rain and the roads were pretty slick. President Anderson told us to stay in if the weather got bad. So we stayed in for about 3 days straight! We went out a couple times to go to the store or just to get out of the house. We couldn't do any missionary work though. We just spent the time inside sleeping or writing letters or creating games to make us less bored. haha. We also made some crazy videos for you guys. I'll send you them soon. It was kind of nice to relax and take a day off, but then when it turned into a couple days, it was pretty boring. Elder Fincher and I had fun and now we are back into "normal" life. The weather is still pretty cold outside, but the ice is clearing up.

 

  Luckily we got to drive drive down to Princeton yesterday for the Christmas Devotional. It was a really good Devotional. I love how they can change the stage to fit the event. It was really good to get out of the house.

 

  Well I don't have a lot to say this time because we didn't do that much this week because of the storm. I hope you guys are doing well. I miss you a bunch. I love ya! I can't wait until Christmas!

 

-Love Elder Cottam

Crazy week!

Hey Family and Friends!

  This past week has been a crazy one. It has gone by so fast. Time flies when you're a missionary!! In 9 days I'll hit my 3 month mark!! It's pretty crazy. It feels like I've been here for only a couple weeks. haha. Thanks for all the love and support that you guys always give me.  I continue to love my mission each and everyday. I will never stop loving my mission. I love serving the Lord and I love feeling the Spirit.

 

 So much has happened this week. I need to explain it day by day.

 

Monday:

  District Pday. We only had a couple minutes to email in the beginning of the day and that's why I lacked in my emails last week. So after emails, we drove down to Hopkinsville and had our District Pday. We had a lot of fun. We ate food, played games, played a couple sports in the gym, and laughed our heads off. haha. I love my district. They will never replace you guys, but I consider them my family. They are serving Heavenly Father and they all love doing it. Just like me. I love being around a bunch of people that believe in the same thing as me. Being a missionary is legit! After Pday we got a couple of groceries and headed back to our areas. Every transfer the District leader switches with the other Elders of our area and we go on "Exchanges". They help us get to know our district and get used to other areas. Elder Fincher is our district leader, so he went to Hopkinsville with Elder Ackroyd and his companion, Elder Motes came with me to Marion.

 

Tuesday:

  Elder Motes and I had an awesome time. We found a lot of new people and we really worked well with each other. Elder Motes is from Arizona. He wrestled for 3 years in High School at heavy weight. He isn't like most heavy weights, he is super strong and in shape. haha. So, after an awesome day of missionary work together, we decided to duke it out the last night. Exchanges only last a couple days. Usually Monday night to Wednesday. Anyways, Elder Motes and I came in for the night and we decided to wrestle. haha. I got a couple of moves on him, but he was pretty strong. I ended up taking a bad shot on him and he "sat" on me the rest of the time. haha. We had fun and we had some pretty good carpet burns. Elder Motes is an awesome missionary.

 

  Elder Motes and I had an awesome lesson with a progressing investigator on Tuesday. This guy is making so much progress and we are feeling the Spirit so strong in each lesson. He knows that the Church is true, he just needs time to take it all in. I love this investigator.

 

Wednesday: (MISSY'S BIRTHDAY!!!)

  Wednesday was the day of interviews with President Anderson. Elder Motes and I went to Hopkinsville again and spent most of the day there. While President is interviewing our District, we get some "training" from the assistants. (Elder Byington and Elder King) (By the way, Elder King wrestled in California! haha. He looks like a wrestler too... Dad will know what I'm talking about) So, the trainings went well and my interview with President was awesome. I love President and Sister Anderson. They are so loving and they do so much for us. After interviews, Elder Fincher switched back and we went back to Marion.

 

Thursday: (Happy Thanksgiving)

  So much food.... haha. The people in the south really know how to eat... hahaha. Don't worry, I still weigh 150, just like I started. Elder Fincher and I were invited to the Marion Baptist Church for a lunch they were giving to the community. It was really good. We met an investigator there and we talked with them while we ate. They had more desserts than the regular meal. haha. Then we drove down to a members house in Kuttawa. The Aherns fed us dinner and they had some of their family over too. Sis. Aherns really knows how to cook. They are a nice family and they do so much for us.

 

  Well those were the four big days. I had a lot of fun and it was definetely a different week than normal. haha. As a missionary you don't really have a "normal" week. Today we get to go bowling with a member for part of our pday! We are super excited!!

 

  Well I hope you enjoyed my email. Thanks for taking time to read it. I hope that you guys know that I love ya and that I'm always thinking about ya. You help me to keep moving forward and you help me to be a better missionary. Thanks for all your love and support. I am so grateful for the example you are to me. I love you, and I miss you. I can't wait to see you at Christmas! It's so close!! See you soon!

 

-Love Elder Cottam

Thanksgiving in the field.

I got a text from an unknown number on Thanksgiving.  It said, "Check your email. -Elder Cottam's amazing members phone." I immediately checked my email, but didn't see anything in my inbox.  

Then I checked my junk mail and found this......

Elder Cottam loves you!

The wonderful members who fed Tyson and his companion sent us this cute picture!  It made my day. If she hadn't of sent me that text, I would of missed this email.  I emailed her back, thanking her for feeding him and for the picture.  She sent this email back to me...

"You are very welcome.  It is a joy to have the Elders to dinner and my husband loves going out with them visiting our investigators.  Elder Cottam is so dedicated and is a pleasure to be around.  A great "Son". 

You are blessed."

I love hearing that the people in Tyson's mission think he is as amazing as I do.  

I am truly grateful for this sweet message!

"Elder Cottam's Devil".....

 We've been waiting to hear about Tyson's sleep walking.  

He does it a lot.  

We told him to warn his companions about it, but he didn't.  

POOR Elder Fincher!! 

Hey Family and Friends!

  I hope everything is going well for you guys! My mission is so much fun. Spreading the Gospel is one of the most rewarding things you can do. I love bringing the Spirit to someone.  I love when I explain the Gospel to someone and it just makes sense!  Thanks for all the support! You guys build me up! I love all the letters/ emails!

  The missionary work is going great! It's a little slow right now, but that's how it is when you open an area. We are having some really good lessons with a couple people. I love it! I love sharing the Gospel. I'm having a blast!

  

  Day to day life as a missionary... hmmm.... I don't think we ever have a normal day. haha. But it's always fun. Elder Fincher and I have so much fun together.  We have so much in common. We've been talking about all the "new stuff" that has come out while he has been gone and it's pretty funny to hear what he knows.  I want to know about the things that I'm missing. But it doesn't matter, it's good for me to be away from the world for a couple years. Crazy world!

  So, last week was pretty fun. Elder Fincher had his 21st birthday on the 22nd. It's funny how old everyone is here. So many missionaries are in there 20's, and they just call me the baby of the family. haha. I love still being 18... I still got my life ahead of me... Just Kidding. Anyways, we had a blast for his birthday. We went to this Italian Grill in Marion and had an awesome lunch! My birthday present to him was buying lunch.  It's so hard to look around for real gifts while on my mission. So if you guys get gifts from me, I want to apologize for the poor quality of the gifts. haha. I hope my letters warm your heart and do the job. Then we went to dinner at a member's house and we had hamburgers with fries. I really am in Kentucky! The members were so sweet to us and they baked Elder Fincher a birthday cake! I also texted everyone in our district and told them to call him and scream and sing happy birthday.... haha!  He wasn't too happy about that, but I know that he felt good about everyone thinking about him. He was totally happy throughout the day and I felt good that I did my job.

  Now I have to tell you about my sleep walking... hahaha... I guess I do it more then I think. Most of the time I get up and I go around the house and Elder Fincher says that I walk funny and I mumble a lot! Some of the stories he tells me, I don't believe, but I don't have a lot of evidence against him. haha. So, this one time, I woke him up by yelling, "Why did ya take the last one?!" then I fell back to sleep and mumbled something. Then Elder Fincher said that he woke up and I wasn't in my bed... then he hears me come out of the bathroom and I started to walk towards him and he held out his hand cause he thought I would attack him or fall on him... haha, then I just stared at him and he told me that I had no "Light" in my face... whatever that means! So, I continued to stare at him and then I sat down on my bed and put my shoes on... haha... Crazy stuff. We both call it "Elder Cottam's Devil" haha... Another time he said that he woke up when he heard are front door close. I guess I locked the screen door and the normal door, then walked away in a weird walk... hahaha. I don't think that I left the house, I've never done that, but I don't know why I was looking outside.  That was the start of last week. The past couple days I've been sleeping "normal". I haven't been sleep walking. I haven't done it since I had a dream about President Monson. In my dream I was talking to him, then he gave me a hug, and then it kind of faded off... haha is that crazy or what?

 

  I hope you guys enjoyed this email. I know that I enjoyed writing it! I am having so much fun on my mission! Thanks for everything!! I love you guys so much! I miss you with all my heart!

 

-Love Elder Cottam

Tornado warning......

Hey Family & Friends!

  It was an interesting week with a lot of craziness. haha. Our ward got super nervous for a tornado warning they received from the news. They also thought there would be an ice storm. haha. So, they canceled Church on Sunday and Elder Fincher an I had to stay inside for most of the day. It turned out to be nothing. There was a flash rain storm for a couple minutes and the sirens went off a couple times, but other than that, it wasn't that bad. I got to write a ton of letters to you guys, so it was a pretty productive day for me. haha. The areas around us got a little bit of the crazy tornadoes, but I haven't heard of anything too bad. But then again, I'm a missionary and I miss a lot of the news. haha. Oh well.

  Elder Fincher and I are doing really well together and we are making a lot of progress in Marion. We haven't been placing nearly the amount we placed in the first transfer, but we have been getting a lot of really good second visits.

  The branch gave us a really nice "Thanksgiving" dinner on Saturday. There were a lot of people there and we brought two investigators with us. They had a great time and I did as well. I'm not really sure why they did it so early, but I can't complain. haha.

  Well I'm sorry that I don't have a ton to talk about. I'm still loving the missionary life. It is so much fun. I love sharing the Gospel with the people of Marion. The work is really moving forward. I love and miss you guys so much! I'll see ya soon.

 

-Love Elder Cottam

 Elder Cottam met up with his companion and some of the sister missionaries from the MTC.

 Elder Cottam in the "Pimped" out van.

 Secret Handshake?!

This is Elder Cottam's new companion Elder Fincher!

My mission is the best. Yep....that sums it up!

Hey Friends and Family!

 

  My mission is the best. Yep...that sums it up... haha... To start off, I want to say sorry for not writing any of you on Monday. Monday was Veterans Day and the libraries were closed. I was going to write you on Tuesday, but we had a big Zone Conference. So...that's why I'm writing you TODAY. haha. I don't know what I'll write in this email because I have so much to share with you guys, but I'll try my best. (_Here we go_) (AKA Mike Dunning quote) (Probably the greatest convert in the world!!)

 

  Anyways, I just want everyone to know that I am having so much fun on my mission. I love every single second. The Spirit is amazing. I love teaching about the Spirit and I love the fact that I'm surrounded by so many wonderful missionaries. They have so much happiness in their life and they LOVE and LIVE the gospel each and everyday. They have taught me so much. This Gospel has brought me so much happiness. I LOVE and LIVE the gospel each and everyday. I LOVE IT! I am learning so much. These people in Kentucky and Tennessee are truly remarkable people. I love them with all my heart. Especially President and Sister Anderson. They have so much love. They have such strong faith and they are so funny! Especially President Anderson. haha. You CANNOT have a bad day when you're around these people. You just can't! haha. Sister Anderson is a sweetheart. Everyone loves her. It's impossible NOT to love her. Mission life is fantastic. Happiness comes with perspective. (Mormon 7:7) (Favorite Scripture!!)

 

  Last week we had transfers. Elder Fisher was called to Mayfield, Kentucky (not very far away). President Anderson said that he has been doing a fantastic job with training new missionaries. (I TOTALLY AGREE). So, President Anderson gave me Elder Fincher to do the rest of my "training" haha. I was sad that Elder Fisher had to go, but I am loving Elder Fincher. He is so funny and he is completely obedient. We are doing so well together and we learn from each other each and everyday.

 

Elder Fincher (I see what you did there President Anderson. haha.)

-From New Mexico

-Loves Dirt Bikes

-He turns 21 really soon. 

(By the way, Elder Fisher is older than Brady. When I found out, I was blown away!! haha.)

-About 6' 3"

-Wants to go into Massage Therapy or Food Nutrition (I don't know why, but my companions have similarities to Brady. haha.)

-Likes spicy food

-Loves movies

-Has helped me realize that you miss a lot of stuff when your gone. haha. I listed a bunch of popular movies that he has never seen. haha. I knew it was going to happen. I just don't know what I'm missing. haha.

-This is his last transfer!! In missionary terms: "I'm killing off my Step-Dad"

 

Missionary Terms (haha. I just had to explain)

-Dad (First Trainer) (Usually trains you for the full 12 weeks of "training")

-Step-Dad (Only if your Dad leaves you, like me...)

-Killing (If you are with someone and that transfer, they go home)

-Brother (If your Dad trains another.) (I have about 3 Brothers and 2 Step-Brothers. haha.)

-Step-Brother (If your Step-Dad trains another missionary)

-Cousin (Don't ASK!) (haha. Just Kidding.)

 

Don't you LOVE the missionary terms. haha. Yeah I know...this is the work of a bunch of bored missionaries. haha. You gotta love it!

 

  Anyways... I don't even know how that happened. Oh well... Elder Fincher is fantastic. Elder Fincher has helped me out with a lot of things. I was sick and tired of eating bad things and I wanted to learn more about healthier foods. So, Elder Fincher has helped me understand the basics of eating better. It's really easy too. Small and simple changes have really helped! I don't know how to describe the changes, but I know that it is helping a bunch! I will still eat dessert and stuff. haha. I couldn't live without that!

 

  This past week has been mainly transfers and getting Elder Fincher acquainted with Marion. Marion is so much fun. We are teaching a bunch of people and we have 2 really good progressing investigators. They are so close!! I am so happy with how the lessons have been going with them. They are reading the Book of Mormon, they are praying, and they are learning from the Spirit. One of our progressing investigators is coming to church. I love it!

 

  Well that's all for today. I will tell you more next week. Thanks for all the support! Thanks for all the love. Thanks for all the letters and emails. Please be patient with me in responding. I am trying my best. I love you guys. I miss you so much.

 

-Love Elder Cottam

Just a Note from Elder Cottam's Mom:  

As of November 11th, Elder Cottam has been out for 2 months!  

Only 22 more to go!

Change...

Tyson had a very busy Monday, so we didn't get an email.  

We got a letter instead on Thursday.  Here it is.  

He had a very big change this week.  

Hey Family,
  Well, I am writing you guys a letter because we're having a transfer breakfast today.  I will still email you if I can, but I won't get much time today.  This week has been pretty crazy. I've been through one complete transfer.  There are 16 transfers total, so I only have to go through it 15 more times. Well, I have some important news to share with you before I talk about my week.  Since this is the end of the transfer, President  Anderson tells us if we are staying in the same area or going to a new one.  Well, Elder Fisher and I though we would stay together because I'm still training and we just opened Marion.  We were wrong... Elder Fisher is leaving me!  I am staying in Marion and getting a new trainer.  My new companion's name is Elder Fincher.  Very similar name.  haha.  He also looks similar. haha.  This will be his last transfer.  I hope I like him.  I've only heard good things about him.  I'm super excited. 

  Ethan's baptism was amazing!!  The spirit was so strong.  I could feel Heavenly Father's love for Ethan.  We both felt so much peace,  I was so grateful that he chose me to baptize him.  It meant the world to me.  Now it wasn't the perfect baptism (I had to shove him completely under), but the Holy Ghost testified of the truth.  I wish you guys could of been there.  But I felt your love and prayers. 

  For the past 2 weeks, Elder Fisher and I have been church "hopping".  We went to 3 different churches.  We have been going to their Bible Study.  We want to try to gain a friendship with them.  We didn't want them to feel like we hated them.  The bible studies have been different, but I am learning more about the bible.  I'm also seeing why we can't have "modern English/modern language" bibles.  It creates confusion between which translation is correct.  The vocabulary is so important.  Making sure we have the correct translation is so important.  I have found it very interesting, while I've been coming to bible studies, how many different copies or translations of the bible they have throughout their church.  I don't mean to mock or disagree with other churches.  I love them.  They are good people and they truly love Christ.  I love hearing their testimonies. 

  Regular missionary life.  What is regular missionary life?  haha.  Each day is a miracle and exciting in it's own way.  I love being a missionary.  I love the gospel.  I love being a servant of the Lord.   I love wearing the missionary name tag.  Each night we plan out the next day and I've realize every single day is different but unique. 

Subject Change- President and Sister Anderson are amazing! They are so nice to us.  They do so much for us.  I feel their love everyday.  They would do anything for us.  President Anderson is so funny.  He will jump into any game we are playing.  He tells the best jokes.  We always have the best time when we are around them. 

  For p-day today we played Frisbee with a ward member at Cadiz park.  So much fun!  We also went to an antique shop.  So fun.  We did this because we have an Elder who is leaving today.  :( 

  Well, I've got to go.  I miss you guys and love you so much.  Thank you for all the letters, email, and packages.  I love them so much.  Especially the packages.  I hope you enjoyed this crazy letter of mine. haha.  Love you and miss you. Thanks for everything. 

Love always.
Elder Cottam

Some random pictures.  

That is not Tyson's new companion.  That is the Elder that is going home.