Fishin'

Hey everyone!

Thursday night the Darsey's took us to their pond for a picnic.  After we were done eating they pulled out some fishing poles for us and asked if we had a moment to fish a little off their dock?  There is always a little time we can squeeze in for fishing!  I have not been fishing on my mission yet either so I was excited too.  No one was catching anything, we were getting hits but nothing was biting.  Well everyone gave up and I went for a few more casts of nothing. Then I was like ok last cast this is all!  Well how it goes with everything else, it was the last cast that caught the fish.  I reeled in a small little Bass.  Everyone else thought they were the master fisherman too! Told me I would not catch anything with the line set up I was using.  Leave it to a Legg to show them how a Westerner fishes!:p

One of the members of the ward here in Gray is a Chiropractor.  Well he needed some help moving some equipment around and preparing a room for some new stuff.  We went and helped him out.  He wanted to do something for us to show his gratitude and so Elder Davis and I got adjusted.  Both of our first Chiropractic experiences, and it is really cool. He explained how everything worked that he did to us and we got a really cool education.

Many may think that the South is a the Bible belt and all of that good stuff. Well I think many would be surprised at how many people do not attend church, when there is the most amount per ca-pita here over anywhere in the world. Yet more surprising is the amount of people who do not even believe in a God with so many God fearing people around them.  We knocked into one of these yesterday.  His dad was a pastor and he just said "I don't".  We would try and say something or ask a question and he just kept repeating "I don't. I don't. I don't. I just don't. I can't be more skraight then that". (Skraight is how people say straight down here.)

A couple fun things this week. We were biking and a random lady pulled over and gave Elder Davis and I Krispy Kreme donuts just because she felt bad for us biking.  Oh she felt bad because it was 83 degrees in February!  That is wrong!  Then Elder Davis likes fires and so we built one on our back porch and enjoyed it as a nice relaxing way to end our day!

Mom: Thank you for the Info and Glad that you liked your present!  Wow it sounds like you had quite the day and discovered a lot of cool things this past weekend! Oh in any packages in the future can you start sending drink mixes again please? It is already getting hot and it is easier to drink a lot of flavored water to stay hydrated!

Tay: Happy Early bday bro!  And what are you talking about mom for you are the one getting old!!!  I have never been to Jump Time was it fun? (friends kidnapped him for breakfast & Jump Time) And dude you are going to love your surprise I bet you!  It sounds fun to me!:)(surprise activity for him and 10 friends for tomorrow,  his 17th bday) I love you bro and enjoy your day! I sent you a letter hopefully it is there for your bday!

G4: Oh it is a good thing you have Fat Boy to keep you busy and give you something fun to do!  and YOU won at bowling!!???? Dang!  Good job!  And also great job on keeping up on your school work!!! I love you Grace!

Tali: You are sick?  What do you have? Hopefully not the flu like everyone is getting over here!  So many are getting really sick over here!  It is a good thing us missionaries shake hands all day and build up our immune systems real well!  Oh good I know you can not stand a baby not liking you!  I love you sis!:)

Dad: Hey you joined a softball team and i did too!  there is a church league for Gray and the ward mission leader put us on the team!:p It will be interesting too because I still can not hit a ball to save my life!:p  Maybe they can stick me in the outfield to run and catch balls?  Dong that is a whole lot of Basketball in a week!  We play with the ward and some others every Thursday or so?  No Locust Grove is not in the mission it is in one of the Atlanta ones?  Hope you do well on the softball team and enjoy it! Love you Dad!

Love you all!

Elder Legg

Text from the Darsey's with the pictures
"Enjoyed a nice evening with a fine
missionary!! No fish for dinner this time! Just a nice
lazy evening on the dock.  Our weather was a
perfect sunny 73* today. I know you must be
proud of your son, he is a really dedicated
missionary!"

Hey Everyone & Happy Birthday Mom!

Hey Everyone!

Happy Birthday(29) Mom! I love you and hope you are spoiled!

Well mom is not the only one to have hit a milestone this week. I have now made it to 13 months.  Downhill here I come!

Alright so there were Transfers this last week and I stayed in Gray. I did get a new companion though. His name is Elder Davis. He is from Oakley, UT, near Park City.  He has been out for about 20 months now.  He is one of eight kids.  We have served around each other before and been on exchanges and are super excited to be serving together.

Being in Gray reminds me of Valdosta.  We get fed pretty well and we do lots of biking and knocking doors.  The ward is very nice though and help us all they can.  In fact this past week I was very excited we were invited to go and watch the Jones County High School Varsity soccer game.  They got whooped on 5-2 by Putnam County, but I enjoyed the chance to watch.  Right before Elder Jole left he also came with me on Pday to shoot around at the high school and play a little soccer.  Elder Davis was a cross country star and so I get to run in the mornings again! And he did not play, but likes soccer, so I will hopefully get to play it more for Pdays in the future!  Also another opportunity has popped up to possibly help coach soccer here which I would Love.  One of the members wants me to help coach their kids team since it is the first year that Jones County has had a 13-14 year old boys team, and they are not good. They need help!

Just since Elder Davis has been here though we have been engaged in the Grind (the battle royal between your body and mind).  We have been putting our noses to the ground and working our tails off. We are exhausted every night and sore each day.  We are seeing the results of our efforts though.  We have found new people to teach and contacted people I have been trying to for weeks now. I know that when work is expelled Faith is shown and miracles can happen, that is what we can see everyday if we give it a chance!

Elder Davis and I also found a little hole in the wall called Treasures by the Tracks Cafe. We both liked it a lot and it is cheap enough we have decided to become once a week regulars there!:p  It is a little antique shop slash sandwich stop.

Mom: I am not sure where Locust Grove is? but North of Macon is where I am at.  I work hard to keep it so I have no belly! I have heard and seen far too many horror stories of weight gain on the mission. Especially ours. On average people gain 30 lbs in our mission!  It is crazy!  I need the insurance info so I can make an appointment at the Ortho and get new retainers I keep forgetting to ask! Oh and mothers are always right! You called it, Elder Smith is now back to only 6 miles away from you.  He went home yesterday. They have just closed the Cusseta area.  No missionaries are there any more. And funny thing Smith fell through the floor of the trailer!:p  Oh and Brother Jones is coming to see me tomorrow! And you should have a package today from me.  You can not open it till tomorrow though!  Yeah if you ask any serious runners what the first thing you should do to get serious about running is they will tell you to get good shoes!  so it is a little late but better late than never!:) Oh and mom everyone down here has cats and dogs and there are tons of strays. Did you ever get that stuffed pepper recipe? Well we have to go now I love you mom and hope your Bday is great and that you love my Present!
 Happy birthday mom I love you!

Tay:  Dude thanks for hooking me up with the guitar tabs and ok if I think of anything I will make sure to let you know! dude how are our girls basketball teams such beasts dude?  Good luck with the accordion and when you have learned it some you will have to send me a short video. Love you Tay!

Tali: Well I hope you had fun on the ski team!  And we have our self a science girl huh?  good job! are you riding horses now?  I hope you enjoyed the days off and stuffing the bag! I love you sis!

G4: A Charmeleon?  Don't you know those are dangerous and breath fire? oh, oh you said Chameleon!  Ok that is a little safer.  What is up with you all getting all of these animals now that I am gone? That is pretty cool you got to build a cage though!  Yeah playing a bad person in plays can be difficult you have to be ok not being liked!  But it seems like you drama kids are mean anyways!  Just be nice to the new girl, you do not have to be her friend but be nice! I love you Grace!

Dad: yeah it is 75 today and we are in short sleeves all the time and sweating already here! I know about the spring fever. With all the soccer practicing going right next to our house since we live next to the high school I got the fever.  I have been around some horses here and it makes me want to ride so bad!  And If I find any more coons I will make sure to try and get more picks!  For sure to bring home for you and trav!  And maybe gracie?  Thanks for getting the books!  I love you dad!

Love you all!
Elder Legg

Me on Valentine's Day

Pretending to be a jockey 

Me and Elder Davis

Historical Gray and Confederate Generals

More history 

They do a mock battle of the Civil War that happened here once a year.
This is in Clinton an old part of Gray

Buttermilk Pie
One of his favorites!
A member found a recipe online & made it for him

On an old barn in Clinton

This is a recipe he really liked and had the lady text it to me

Pictures & 1 Year Shirt Burning Video

The 1st year of his mission blows away like ashes in the wind

Tyson in the convertible he enjoyed

Phillips & Tyson together again
at transfers
Jenny Phillips sent them to
me from the mission FB page

Happy Valentine's Day

Hey everyone!

Happy Valentines Day and if you do not have a Valentine you can claim me!

Pucker Up!

HEART ATTACK we sent him

Since we are hurting for people to teach at the moment we just dedicated one day this week to nothing but knocking.  We did find a couple of potentials to try back, but nothing solid yet. However, we ran into a preacher. Now preachers always see us and feel like they need to set us straight and EVERYONE is a preacher down here!  Well this one felt the same. He was asking all of these questions about what we believed and it ended up starting a rant from him.  Well as he got cooking we were on his porch and he starts to call for the collection plate.  Now for anyone who is unaware in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints no one is paid, not from those who teach the children to the prophet.  All is volunteer work, out of our devotion to God, even my mission.  His mother runs out of the house with an ashtray trying to get us to cough up money to pay for his time and the conducting of the spirit for us to hear truth.  We told them we were not going to pay them bore a simple testimony of the Savior and walked away, being called all sorts of colorful words. That is not the spirit of truth I know, to holler out profanity at someone trying to spread the word of Christ. Just for the gain of money.

There is a wonderful family that invites us over for meals all of the time and they try to help us out as much as they can. They are not members and do not have the desire to become members but are wonderful people who love the missionaries.  Well their daughter is in FFA and had a project.  This Saturday they were selling homemade jams/jellies and goat soap.  It was a little money out of our pocket to help them, but completely worth it to have the opportunity of giving back.  Plus we got delicious wild berry jam and autumn song scented goat soap.

If you know my family than you know we own a Model-T.  Well I have grown up around these cars and love them.  I have missed being around them and riding/driving  in them.  Sadly I still have not seen one down here, or been around one down here.  However, the elderly couple the McOmbers, who serve in Gray with us, have a VW Bug convertible.  Today we went on a trip and it was pretty enough to put the top down. It was wonderful and sunny.  Well the sound of the wind and breeze in my hair reminded me of riding in the T's.  It was such a good taste of home!

Me & Brer Rabbit!! 

So now on to the trip we took this morning!  I am in Gray, GA and that is about 26 miles from Eatonton, GA.  Fun fact about Eatonton, GA it is the home of the Turnwold plantation.  This may not mean anything to many of you.  However, do the names Joel Chandler Harris or Uncle Remus ring a bell?  Joel Chandler Harris is the author of the Tales of Uncle Remus, such as Brer rabbit and the tar baby and the rest of the Brier gang.  Turnwold is the Plantation owned by Joseph Addison Turner who also produced "The Countryman" paper.  He hired Joel Chandler Harris as an apprentice to the paper as a 14-15 year old boy.  As a young boy he would listen to the stories of the plantation slaves and was fascinated by them.  Later he published them for the world.  There are 185 Brier adventures that have been translated into 27 different languages and he has written over twenty other books not pertaining to the Brier adventures.  Well since all of this happened in Eatonton, GA we went to the Uncle Remus Museum they have there. It is really cool! It is constructed of 3 different old slave cabins put together. They have some of his first edition books. They teach you about the coming forth of the stories. It was fascinating especially since I grew up with my momma telling me the story of Brer rabbit and the tar baby.  Also all of Walt Disney's movies, until Song of the South(about the Brier adventures) were all animated.  Song of the South had an actor for Uncle Remus though, and that was the first hired actor by Walt Disney ever!

The Museum

That is the original wood of the slave cabin and the ax marks are because it is so old there were no saws for a clean cut, but they actually had to hatchet them to the shape they needed.

Ooops!! Wrong one!

That is better!

No I have not been to any Civil War stuff yet but there is some in Gray I will try and get you some pics for next week, it is part of Gray now but it is a little section called Clinton and there was a battle there and they do a reenactment each year of it in that part of town!

Mom:  Friday fun days are back baby!!!!  That is awesome that they decided to do your ideas!  I do not even know if I have ever seen that much sugar in one place!:p (Gracie's bday party) oh we had ward conference Sunday though and they do potluck/linger longers after those here and man there was food for miles!!!!! I almost died, Buffets are not good for me!!!!  When I get home I totally want to apply to be an EFY counselor and BYS one too! I will plan on taking of the summer from school and doing that!  EFY would be better though because it is longer and there is money in it.  What?? I want to go to a Train concert!  Not fair!  and good luck with conferences! oh and did you get that stuffed bell pepper recipe? It is way good! It kinda taste like jambalaya! Love you mom!

Tali: You let the pancake beat you? haha it sounds like you had fun!  and what you are letting lulu take over the T?  I was just missing that thing! and now I here it is dusty and catty, rude!;) Love you sis!

G4: It sounds like your bday was wonderful!  I still do not believe you are 14!  "you bad"!:p so basically you had lots of girls hyped up on sugar for 7 hours? That sounds scary!  yeah the lego movies are kinda random!   I'm glad your bday was great and the party too! I love you Grace!

Tay: Dude where did you get a TV from?  Of course yours won, the Valencias make great food and have you tasted your momma's cooking?  It kinda ruins you for a lot of other people's, oops! Dude I went to a music store this week too because I need some guitar stuff!:p  and the accordion? Dude that will be sick!  I am glad you tore it up at the Dance as a proper Legg should!  Hope your speech goes well! also thanks bro for having my back you're the best!  Love you Tay!

Dad: Love you!

Love you all!
Elder Legg

Autumn Song Goat Soap

Bigfoot Sighting

My Newest Ride
(Funny thing is, he made that same exact face
when he was 3 years old and would ride something
like that!!)

Japanese Magnolia tree, they are way pretty!!

Sunrise everyday out our back door

I Have Broken That Barrier & Am Never Looking Back! 2/6

Hey everyone!

Alright well the nature of this work struck this week and hit hard. For whatever reason just nothing went our way this past week and not much happened.  I went on two exchanges and both were awesome.  On the first one I was with Elder Whitchurch and he taught me how to solve a Rubik's Cube all on my own!  I have known how to solve one layer for years now, but that is as far as I could get. No longer will that be the case!  I have broken that barrier, and am never looking back!  Then on the second one, I was with Elder Gillins.  We were going to go serve in the garden, but then we got to have more fun. We got to help him burn a bonfire and his grass.  That is a thing down here apparently?  So some yards have two types of grass planted and it is green all year round!  Then there are those who have grass that dies in the winter, and they burn it every winter to help it stay healthy.  That was all that really happened this week though, sad I know!  I knocked a lot of doors and it got slightly chilly.  We are trying to find people to teach right now and things are just slow at the moment in Gray, GA!

Mom: Wow sounds like your trip was amazing!  I am glad you had fun!  Yeah I was pretty surprised the Pats won.  Last we had heard last night was 3rd quarter 27-3 Falcons and then we woke up to the Patriots won! We were like what?  Sounds like a game I will have to watch when I get home!  Yeah so like I said not many are Falcons fans here. Well the whole day before, and all over the corners here, and all the sports stores were packed for people to get Falcons gear.  Since no one is too big of a fan no one had anything.  So last minute everyone was buying stuff. It was hilarious!  Oh my gosh your Super Bowl foods sounds so yummy! I was missing the treats so bad! (He asked what we ate, I didn't try to torture him) We had home made lasagna and salad and home made rolls last night.  And we were just having a member send a text update anytime there was a score.  It sounds like it was nuts! I went to bed thinking Atlanta had it in the bag! I did get my package too.   Love you mom!

G4: I agree mom should have taken me on her trip too! (Math Conference in San Diego)  and thanks for the movie update! love you Grace!

Tali: I hope you enjoyed the baptism and the shower!  Yes at baby showers there are lots of clothes and I can see Theresa  loving to shop for baby clothes, especially for her grand baby.  That is awesome that Hunter and Taylor got to exercise there priesthood power and be a part of the Baptism! Love you girl!

Tay: Dude you got to be a witness at Karsty's baptism? that is sick!!!!  You were organizing your room what the what did  not know the SUPERBOWL was on?  I missed the best Super Bowl yet. Dang it!  Oh well thank goodness for recordings now!:p  How were the commercials and halftime? I love you man!

Dad: I love you!

Love you all,

Elder Legg

Elder Whitchurch & me

Rubik's Cube Solved it!!

Dreams Do Come True & I Watched as the Past YR Blew Away With the Ashes 1/30

Hey everyone!

Alright Business first.  We had a World wide missionary Broadcast this last week from the missionary executive board in Salt Lake. Consisting of Elder Oaks, Bednar, Anderson, Bonnie L. Oscarson, one of the presiding bishopric Memebrs-stevens I think?, and 2 members of the seventy. Well due to this Broadcast Missionary life and work have been changed. They have changed the Schedule that missionaries live by.  Now it offers more agency and flexibility.  Leaving more responsibility in planning efforts of the missionaries.  In hopes to help prepare them to get back into the real world when finished with missionary service.  There is still all of the same elements there was before only we choose when would be most beneficial for us to get them done.  As long as they follow the simple Guidelines of wake up at 6:30am, go out at 10:00am, have lunch and dinner, be inside at 9pm, and be to bed by 10:30. An example of a simple change is we used to do daily planning the night before and now they want us doing it sometime in the morning the day of. Also changing the way we do things.  We used to have 9 different categories of things we focused on and reported on. Now we only report on 4.  Which will change the attitude of what we plan for and focus on throughout the week.  It is exciting and I hope it works wonders around the world!

 Okay and now for the dream come true part!  All who have been staying tuned for a while may remember me mentioning this last summer.  A crazy old man told me and Elder Hiatt about this mystical tool.  A coon pick, a bone from the..."thumb" (a reference from Trav's mission) of a raccoon; skinned, bleached, and used as a toothpick.  Well I have had the desire to obtain one of these ever since I heard of it sense you know, I'm CRAZY.  Sadly though I had not seen any raccoons, which this is GA and there are plenty here.  This past week, however, we were biking down our road and we past a fresh road killed raccoon.  We were in a hurry to an appointment and did not have time to stop and grab it.  Well the day went on and we did not go home until late that night and a member gave us a ride home and I forgot all about it. Until the next morning, I woke up with all gears moving and raccoon on the mind.  That morning we checked to see if the coon was of the male Gender. Eureka, it was!  We quick went to the store and I gathered my supplies for the extraction.  I cut it out with knives and scissors.  We went back picked it up and blah blah blah I now have a coon pick! YAY!

Alright now for the fun parts of the week.  Wednesday we get a call from the 12-13 year old's young women's leader.  She asks us if we could help her out and...if we needed a hair cut?  We both say yes we would love to help, as all good missionaries do, and tell her that we could get one. She said "Oh perfect see you at the church at 7:20 pm."  We show up to find out she had an activity dumped on her last minute to figure something out to do with both the 12-13 and 14-15 year old young women groups.  Her husband told her to teach them how to cut hair.  Now he was kind enough to offer his head as sacrifice. However, she wanted more than one so all the girls got plenty of experience and his hair is really short already so she wanted more of a trial for them, the missionaries.  Well after she gave the young women a 15 minute crash course on how to cut hair they got their chance to scalp our beautiful heads.  I, of course, being the brave one got voluntold to go first.  Well I was the guinea pig and they did not do a baaaaaad job, but it shows they were cutting hair for the first time young women, and I went first!:p They were all very proud yesterday at church though as I held my head high for all to see and praised them to the ward members on cutting my hair.    I was really sad, but happy to help, my hair was at one of my favorite points to have it, but oh well it will grow out.

Now that's service!  He loves his hair!! 

Also since I recently reached my year mark, and it is tradition to burn some article of clothing every six months of your mission I participated in this act. I burnt a white shirt, and watched as the past year blew away with the ashes.  

Mom:  Wow! Your trip should be tons of fun I hope you enjoy it and I wear a Medium shirt.  Oh and speaking of shirts Elder Spencer said that they sold those shirts in the MTC store?  So I do not know what you can do to get one maybe there is an online MTC store you can look for?  I am glad that Robin and Connor took care of you in picking your glasses! That is weird that Gracie draws things that look like the Avatar creatures and wow us boys saw that for the first time in AZ as one of our New Years movies with you and dad or maybe just dad?  But dang that was a long time ago and it feels just like yesterday!  I will be looking for your package today and tomorrow. I love you mom!

Tay: Crooked septum sweet bro!  And ahhh man you mean you don't need like a cochlear implant or something? Nah I am kidding that is really good you are fine without one.  Oh and no problem man glad that book has found some good use.  And why was Hunter not in FX? I think yall told me but I have forgotten?  I am glad he is back in though!   Love you Bro!

G4:   Haha I am glad that you loved the movie Avatar. It is a pretty good one.  Also you will have to draw something and take a picture so I can see these creatures that you draw.  Oh yes the Harry Potters are all very old and might be scratched. Oh you will have fun at the baby shower it is games and food what is not to like??!  Love you sis!

Tali:   Sad movies are the worst. No body likes to cry in public.  You have got to watch them on your own, or with your best friends, so you can make fun of each other later and laugh about it later.  Ummm Pita spelled backwards is Atip?   And way to go I am proud of you making records you speed machine!  Love you girl!

Dad:  Haha I am sure that you will be good to come snowmobile around with us! I was thinking about him the other day and the state he was in when I left and yeah I was thinking he would last but I think it will be close?  haha yes we dig a lot and deep half way to china I think? Well it rained a ton and we were not done digging and so it filled with water and looked like a nice little pool.  They can and do use Rotatillers here only they only get like 8 inches into the clay.  So it still requires digging and it is not to get to good soil but the purpose is to create good soil.  and a soft area for the roots to grow while in a tender stage. Also I had never thought about the Chinese New Year affecting your work that is interesting.  I hope you were able to be all caught up in your slow part than!  I love you dad!

Love you all!
Elder Legg

Scenes around Georgia

 COON PICK!!!

Ready for my coonpick adventure!

Coon Pick in USE!!!  

Elder Jole, Legg, Spencer
Left to Right

Frost