11/28/2016
We did have a good number of appointments this week and we did get some more referrals from members. More than anything the problem was contacting as we normally knock doors in this particular sector because there aren't a lot of people in the street. The problem is that we have contacted a lot of the doors here and so there aren't many doors left to contact. And there aren't a lot people in the streets.
That also sounds like fun for Thanksgiving. After our district meeting which was on Thursday we went to pizza hut to do the all you can eat offer. The only unfortunate part is that they give you mushroom pizza or in our case mushroom tomato pizza and that is the only option. I feel it is designed that way so that people can't eat that much. You also are supposed to buy the drinks in the restaurant but the drinks are super over priced so no one can really win there. Still it was fun I got to 15 slices.
Today we cleaned the house a bit and played some football with the other elders in our district. So that was a lot of fun. Nothing more then that today. We have rescued a less active here as well and he baptized his younger sister which was really great to see. So we are seeing some signs of success. We did have a few investigators attend church. Just the thing is that the ones with a definitive baptismal date have it for the 10th which is the week after changes (we get changes this Sunday) So I am not sure if I will be here to see those baptisms. I am doing well enough with my companion it just requires a lot of patience sometimes. Still I have learned new things and I have seen a progress in him and the district which is really important. I hope you have a good week,
Love
Elder Throop
Monday, November 28, 2016
Monday, November 21, 2016
Good Week with Investigators, Referrals are Still the Best, Getting Better with Companion
11/21/2016
Well this last week has been pretty good for us. In terms of investigators we have had some more success and we have found an investigator recently who was really prepared for receiving us. He wants to get baptised pretty quick just the problem is that we have a stake conference and we have to go over the teaching to help him out. This last Sunday we did have some investigators go to church and two of them are set for a baptismal date. The third we weren't sure when to set the date as he was a referral from his wife (well they aren't married yet. They live apart but really close at the same time.) And we taught him yesterday. We know we know when to put a baptismal date to help him progress. He has a lot of desires and he does want to get baptised. Another investigator that we are teaching needs a little of a repass with the lections to help him understand better. The other person that was progressing is an old guy who was a referral and he has a lot of desires. He also was really rich and now he doesn't have as much but he has plans to make money. He also wants to find the true church which is great.
I really like getting referrals here which means that you invite someone to listen to the gospel and you invite them to go to church and everything. Here and really everywhere I think referrals are easier to baptise as they already have a friend in church. And they progress a lot faster. The people progressing were referrals and they all want to be baptised. There is one who was a referral that went. His difficulty is that he hasn't felt the church is true yet but he has improved and that is because of member help. I want to give you guys a challenge.
With my companion some things have smoothed over. I have asked for some help and everything and that has given me a great help to serve him. It still can be a little difficult with his personality sometimes and I can be a little frustrated but I am still learning. The other elders in the district will have their baptism this week. Unfortunately for them another family didn't want to get baptised yet. When I gave the interview the father said he didn't have desires. They are considering baptising his daughters to show a good example but they will have to see what he says. This week I did have an activity planned but there was a zone already there so that didn't happen. We did get Jose Luis confirmed which was also great and he should progress well. I hope you do well.
Elder Throop
Well this last week has been pretty good for us. In terms of investigators we have had some more success and we have found an investigator recently who was really prepared for receiving us. He wants to get baptised pretty quick just the problem is that we have a stake conference and we have to go over the teaching to help him out. This last Sunday we did have some investigators go to church and two of them are set for a baptismal date. The third we weren't sure when to set the date as he was a referral from his wife (well they aren't married yet. They live apart but really close at the same time.) And we taught him yesterday. We know we know when to put a baptismal date to help him progress. He has a lot of desires and he does want to get baptised. Another investigator that we are teaching needs a little of a repass with the lections to help him understand better. The other person that was progressing is an old guy who was a referral and he has a lot of desires. He also was really rich and now he doesn't have as much but he has plans to make money. He also wants to find the true church which is great.
I really like getting referrals here which means that you invite someone to listen to the gospel and you invite them to go to church and everything. Here and really everywhere I think referrals are easier to baptise as they already have a friend in church. And they progress a lot faster. The people progressing were referrals and they all want to be baptised. There is one who was a referral that went. His difficulty is that he hasn't felt the church is true yet but he has improved and that is because of member help. I want to give you guys a challenge.
With my companion some things have smoothed over. I have asked for some help and everything and that has given me a great help to serve him. It still can be a little difficult with his personality sometimes and I can be a little frustrated but I am still learning. The other elders in the district will have their baptism this week. Unfortunately for them another family didn't want to get baptised yet. When I gave the interview the father said he didn't have desires. They are considering baptising his daughters to show a good example but they will have to see what he says. This week I did have an activity planned but there was a zone already there so that didn't happen. We did get Jose Luis confirmed which was also great and he should progress well. I hope you do well.
Elder Throop
Monday, November 14, 2016
Reactions to US Election, Frustrations with Companion, Capture the Flag
11/14/2016
Yeah I did hear a lot about the elections. A lot of people knew. On Wednesday we visited a less active person and that was the first appointment we had and they said yeah you know Trump won. There are a lot of unhappy people as they fear that Trump is racist. I am not sure on his policy but I know a lot fear him and don't like him either. Still you do hear a lot about those things as it affects even Ecuador. I don't really have any worries. I just hope that nothing too bad happens. There have been nothing too bad that has happened but we will see.
This last week we have been working hard to find new investigators and have more success. It has been somewhat frustrating with my companion as he is somewhat prideful and doesn't listen very well to any counsel or constructive advice I give him. When I was trying to explain things to him he said and what about the goals I put on you? I said well you can give advice but it isn't for you to decide goals. Afterwards I explained it a little better and asking well who gives goals to our mission president or the assistants or zone leaders or district leaders etc. It is a little frustrating. He does seem a little annoyed about some small things in my personality. I am trying to be funny and help members and we have seen some success especially yesterday. Yesterday we didn't have investigators show up until late but we did receive two references in church and we were able to teach one of those people and they were actually interested. More then anything I am a little frustrated right now as I am trying to help my companion he just seems to ignore me. I will be trying different things and i will be talking with our mission president and others for help to help out. He does seem very irritated with me and he does seem to focus a lot on little flaws.
The sector is going well but I am unsure if we will have other baptisms in this change. Still we will continue working hard and helping people. Today we did have an activity where we hiked a mountain which had this big cross on top. It was rather interesting but it was fun. We played a round of capture the flag then we had to go down. It was pretty fun. I am hoping to do a district activity next week.
Love to you all,
Elder Throop
Pictures from the hike
Yeah I did hear a lot about the elections. A lot of people knew. On Wednesday we visited a less active person and that was the first appointment we had and they said yeah you know Trump won. There are a lot of unhappy people as they fear that Trump is racist. I am not sure on his policy but I know a lot fear him and don't like him either. Still you do hear a lot about those things as it affects even Ecuador. I don't really have any worries. I just hope that nothing too bad happens. There have been nothing too bad that has happened but we will see.
This last week we have been working hard to find new investigators and have more success. It has been somewhat frustrating with my companion as he is somewhat prideful and doesn't listen very well to any counsel or constructive advice I give him. When I was trying to explain things to him he said and what about the goals I put on you? I said well you can give advice but it isn't for you to decide goals. Afterwards I explained it a little better and asking well who gives goals to our mission president or the assistants or zone leaders or district leaders etc. It is a little frustrating. He does seem a little annoyed about some small things in my personality. I am trying to be funny and help members and we have seen some success especially yesterday. Yesterday we didn't have investigators show up until late but we did receive two references in church and we were able to teach one of those people and they were actually interested. More then anything I am a little frustrated right now as I am trying to help my companion he just seems to ignore me. I will be trying different things and i will be talking with our mission president and others for help to help out. He does seem very irritated with me and he does seem to focus a lot on little flaws.
The sector is going well but I am unsure if we will have other baptisms in this change. Still we will continue working hard and helping people. Today we did have an activity where we hiked a mountain which had this big cross on top. It was rather interesting but it was fun. We played a round of capture the flag then we had to go down. It was pretty fun. I am hoping to do a district activity next week.
Love to you all,
Elder Throop
Pictures from the hike
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| Zone Starting from the top is left sisters gutierrez and rios and then Elders Marques(my companion) Palacios Morris and Paiva(they are the elders in the district Elder Paiva is from Graham) and elder Yanqui Next row Elders Socola, Chavez, Shaw(with the bandana) me, Valenzuela and Mooney. It was pretty cool |
Monday, November 7, 2016
New baptism, Getting Member Referrals is the Best, Still Working with Companion
11/7/2016
The day of the dead is pretty tranquil here. It's just that no one is interested really to hear us during that time. We had a lot of rejections during that time which wasn't so much fun for us. We did have a baptism last Thursday which was great for us. He seemed very prepared. His name is Jose Luis. He couldn't get confirmed yesterday due to the fact that he was working. He will get confirmed next week. So we were really happy. I do have some photos of that which I will send you guys. It was really great. We didn't have any one attend but we are seeing other investigators that are accepting a baptismal date and that are wanting to progress. The hope is that we can have more baptisms this change and help more people out.
The ward is doing well enough just only one member really gives us referals. Fortunately his referals are usually good. The other elders in the district are doing well and seem to be having more success. I went on divisions with them last week and went with a guy called Elder Paiva from Graham Washington. He is still in his training so it was interesting. Still he seems great and he likes to learn so I set some goals with him. Today I got a little small instruction manual about some duties of a district leader to help me out. There were some things I allready knew and some things that will help me out in the coming weeks. It has been a big learning experience and I have grown in many aspects.
I am doing well enough with my companion. I just sometimes get the feeling that he can be frustrated with me or some different things. I feel it is just him learning the sector. There are some things I do have to due for the assignment but I hope to help him learn the sector better so that he can direct it better. There are some teaching skills that I am trying to help him improve so he can be a better missionary. So that is what we have been working on. I hope everything goes well.
Elder Throop
Here's some pictures of the baptism. Tyler's companion was asked to perform the baptism since there's such a height difference in the man getting baptised.
The day of the dead is pretty tranquil here. It's just that no one is interested really to hear us during that time. We had a lot of rejections during that time which wasn't so much fun for us. We did have a baptism last Thursday which was great for us. He seemed very prepared. His name is Jose Luis. He couldn't get confirmed yesterday due to the fact that he was working. He will get confirmed next week. So we were really happy. I do have some photos of that which I will send you guys. It was really great. We didn't have any one attend but we are seeing other investigators that are accepting a baptismal date and that are wanting to progress. The hope is that we can have more baptisms this change and help more people out.
The ward is doing well enough just only one member really gives us referals. Fortunately his referals are usually good. The other elders in the district are doing well and seem to be having more success. I went on divisions with them last week and went with a guy called Elder Paiva from Graham Washington. He is still in his training so it was interesting. Still he seems great and he likes to learn so I set some goals with him. Today I got a little small instruction manual about some duties of a district leader to help me out. There were some things I allready knew and some things that will help me out in the coming weeks. It has been a big learning experience and I have grown in many aspects.
I am doing well enough with my companion. I just sometimes get the feeling that he can be frustrated with me or some different things. I feel it is just him learning the sector. There are some things I do have to due for the assignment but I hope to help him learn the sector better so that he can direct it better. There are some teaching skills that I am trying to help him improve so he can be a better missionary. So that is what we have been working on. I hope everything goes well.
Elder Throop
Here's some pictures of the baptism. Tyler's companion was asked to perform the baptism since there's such a height difference in the man getting baptised.
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| Ward Mission Leader, Tyler, Jose Luis |
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| Jose Luis and his girlfriend, who is a member |
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| Tyler and Comp |
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| All dressed in white for baptism |
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| Jose Luis, his girlfriend and her family |
Monday, October 31, 2016
No Halloween, Just Dia de Los Muertos, Baptism Scheduled for Thursday, First Baptismal Interview
10/31/2016
Here Halloween doesn't really exist. I mean they know that it is a holiday but they don't celebrate it. What they do celebrate is Day of the Dead which is a holiday they celebrate in November. They take a thing of bread in the shape of like a child and dunk it in colada morada which is a drink made from a type of grain and lots of fruits. So we have absolutely no worries around Halloween. Only Christmastime and New Years. I will try to get a photo next week of the day of the dead tradition. My camera wasn't working due to lack of batteries so I had to get new batteries today. I will try to send some photos this time.
This last week went pretty great for us. We found some new families that seem rather interested and that we will be able to help in the next weeks. We were happy about that. We also have an investigator who will get baptised this next Thursday. This guy knows a lot about the gospel and he is really enthusiastic about getting baptised. He wants to get sealed to his girlfriend after being a member for a year so he has some pretty great goals and a big understanding. His name is Jose Luis. We are working with someone else as well who could get baptised soon. He just needs to get a testimony of the book of mormon first and he hasn´t been reading. He attends church and activities it just he doesn't read so he can´t get a strong testimony. We hope his member friends help him remember. We will be working with some more people to help people to keep progressing and be converted.
This last Sunday I performed the first baptismal interviews. It was two daughters of an investigator that the other elders are teaching. The investigator had some problems that he needed to resolve so he called a counselor of the mission president while I interviewed. Unfortunately the person can get baptised but still has the idea of the Jehovah's witnesses in his head so he believes he has to wait a year to get baptised. He has everything and he believes and knows it is true he just has that fear. Hopefully the other elders can help him as he has everything necessary to get baptised.
My companion seems pretty great. He just needs to improve on some teaching skills and a few other things. He technically is from a part of the coast of Peru so that is where is is from in Chimote I believe it is called.
I hope you guys have a great week. We ahve had some great success and I believe we will be having some great days coming up. This has been some great success here.
Love ,
Elder Throop
Here Halloween doesn't really exist. I mean they know that it is a holiday but they don't celebrate it. What they do celebrate is Day of the Dead which is a holiday they celebrate in November. They take a thing of bread in the shape of like a child and dunk it in colada morada which is a drink made from a type of grain and lots of fruits. So we have absolutely no worries around Halloween. Only Christmastime and New Years. I will try to get a photo next week of the day of the dead tradition. My camera wasn't working due to lack of batteries so I had to get new batteries today. I will try to send some photos this time.
This last week went pretty great for us. We found some new families that seem rather interested and that we will be able to help in the next weeks. We were happy about that. We also have an investigator who will get baptised this next Thursday. This guy knows a lot about the gospel and he is really enthusiastic about getting baptised. He wants to get sealed to his girlfriend after being a member for a year so he has some pretty great goals and a big understanding. His name is Jose Luis. We are working with someone else as well who could get baptised soon. He just needs to get a testimony of the book of mormon first and he hasn´t been reading. He attends church and activities it just he doesn't read so he can´t get a strong testimony. We hope his member friends help him remember. We will be working with some more people to help people to keep progressing and be converted.
This last Sunday I performed the first baptismal interviews. It was two daughters of an investigator that the other elders are teaching. The investigator had some problems that he needed to resolve so he called a counselor of the mission president while I interviewed. Unfortunately the person can get baptised but still has the idea of the Jehovah's witnesses in his head so he believes he has to wait a year to get baptised. He has everything and he believes and knows it is true he just has that fear. Hopefully the other elders can help him as he has everything necessary to get baptised.
My companion seems pretty great. He just needs to improve on some teaching skills and a few other things. He technically is from a part of the coast of Peru so that is where is is from in Chimote I believe it is called.
I hope you guys have a great week. We ahve had some great success and I believe we will be having some great days coming up. This has been some great success here.
Love ,
Elder Throop
Monday, October 24, 2016
Worked Hard with "Dying" Companion, Made District Leader, New Companion, Looking Forward to Possible Baptisms
10/24/2016
Well this last week we worked pretty hard. Last Sunday, not yesterday but the one before that, we had someone that went to church who we taught on Tuesday. He is a new investigator from Venezuela and he seems pretty open. We also found another family that seemed very interested. We just can't teach them until November because they are busy. One investigator who we have been working with will probably have a baptismal date for not this week but the week afterwards. More then anything he wants to find a free day as he has work consistently and so he can be a little busy so he wants a day off work to get baptised and invite his friends. So we will be setting a baptismal date and then adjust to his schedule and yeah he should be great as he really does have a great testimony. We felt more then anything that he needed to attend.
Now to the changes because you know I got changed. I worked pretty hard with Elder Adams and we had a pretty great week. Elder Adams went home of course. So on Sunday around 6:30, we met up with the zone leaders, so I wouldn't be alone, and then we went to the offices. Once we got to the offices we went upstairs and got the changes straight from the assistants. I am staying here as district leader with an elder named Elder Marquez from Trujillo Peru. He has like 6 months in the mission I think. The other elders in our district was an interesting change. Elder Groberg, who was training another elder named Elder Morris, was transferred to my first sector (Argelia) to train another elder. Then this Elder Morris, who just finished his training is now going to be training. So I am with him today to make sure he isn't alone.
The plan is tomorrow evening to drop him off with some other elders to sleep with them. He will be with us tonight and then tomorrow he is going to sleep with others as on Wednesday they get the new guys. Our district of four is going to have a lot of new people (with the exception of me.)
The goal that I have is to work hard with my new companion and hopefully have some people become converted and take the decision to enter the waters of baptism. There are at least two people that easily should get baptised this change. I hope we can find more and help more progress. The other elders might also have some success as one of their investigators needs an interview for some things that happened and so he will have that this week. If it works out he and his two daughters could get baptized which would be awesome for the other elders. So I am hoping we should have a great change and have success here and to help people progress. Plus the ward seems really enthusiastic to work and I feel its about to be really awesome here with lots more of referrals and ward help. This place seems pretty great. I still don't know what it is like to give a complete capacitation (I have only given small capaciations before) nor a few other things so this will be a fun learning experience.
I like hearing about home and I intend to serve and help. I do not want to have an assignment for any sort of honor nor glory. I want to serve and help here, and that is what I intend to do. I hope you have a great week.
Love you all!
Elder Throop
Here's a pic of his new companion.
Well this last week we worked pretty hard. Last Sunday, not yesterday but the one before that, we had someone that went to church who we taught on Tuesday. He is a new investigator from Venezuela and he seems pretty open. We also found another family that seemed very interested. We just can't teach them until November because they are busy. One investigator who we have been working with will probably have a baptismal date for not this week but the week afterwards. More then anything he wants to find a free day as he has work consistently and so he can be a little busy so he wants a day off work to get baptised and invite his friends. So we will be setting a baptismal date and then adjust to his schedule and yeah he should be great as he really does have a great testimony. We felt more then anything that he needed to attend.
Now to the changes because you know I got changed. I worked pretty hard with Elder Adams and we had a pretty great week. Elder Adams went home of course. So on Sunday around 6:30, we met up with the zone leaders, so I wouldn't be alone, and then we went to the offices. Once we got to the offices we went upstairs and got the changes straight from the assistants. I am staying here as district leader with an elder named Elder Marquez from Trujillo Peru. He has like 6 months in the mission I think. The other elders in our district was an interesting change. Elder Groberg, who was training another elder named Elder Morris, was transferred to my first sector (Argelia) to train another elder. Then this Elder Morris, who just finished his training is now going to be training. So I am with him today to make sure he isn't alone.
The plan is tomorrow evening to drop him off with some other elders to sleep with them. He will be with us tonight and then tomorrow he is going to sleep with others as on Wednesday they get the new guys. Our district of four is going to have a lot of new people (with the exception of me.)
The goal that I have is to work hard with my new companion and hopefully have some people become converted and take the decision to enter the waters of baptism. There are at least two people that easily should get baptised this change. I hope we can find more and help more progress. The other elders might also have some success as one of their investigators needs an interview for some things that happened and so he will have that this week. If it works out he and his two daughters could get baptized which would be awesome for the other elders. So I am hoping we should have a great change and have success here and to help people progress. Plus the ward seems really enthusiastic to work and I feel its about to be really awesome here with lots more of referrals and ward help. This place seems pretty great. I still don't know what it is like to give a complete capacitation (I have only given small capaciations before) nor a few other things so this will be a fun learning experience.
I like hearing about home and I intend to serve and help. I do not want to have an assignment for any sort of honor nor glory. I want to serve and help here, and that is what I intend to do. I hope you have a great week.
Love you all!
Elder Throop
Here's a pic of his new companion.
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| New companion, Elder Marquez |
Monday, October 17, 2016
New Investigators, Working Hard with Companion, Pizza, and Immune to Rabies Now
10/17/2016
Well this last week went a lot better for us. We found a lot more new investigators in the form of a big family we found. There is a family of four that lives in one part that is super interested in the message and their sister was present and she also liked it. She lives in another part but we have to see with her husband. We found them Saturday and they weren't able to go to church. We have already taught them a bit and they seem really interested. We just need to get them to go to church and get them progressing. The only unfortunate part is that the dad wants to go to the states November 1st to get work to provide for his family. The thing is they probably would have a baptismal date for the twelfth of November (we haven't put the baptismal date) so we will probably have to teach the mother with the children with members once he leaves. Still he is super interested and they also are really interested and they understand a lot. The story they have was great as we passed by knocking their door and he had been praying to God to find a way to change his life because of things in his life. Then we found them in the street and that is when he realized it was time to talk to us. So they seem really great. We have been trying to help investigators to go to church just none that we planned for went. still one did go and we are hoping to help them out. There are other investigators that we will find this week and one that has been progressing well.
I am doing well with my companion and I am trying to make sure that he works hard and that we work well together and so we are doing a lot of work together. I have enjoyed it and I have learned a lot. Today we did go to Pizza Hut for an all you can eat deal. The only unfortunate part for me was the pizza had mushrooms and I don't really like mushrooms. I just took them off and ate the slices. I ate 14 and they are a pretty big size. Plus pizza costs a bit. It was 7 dollars for that deal so that was fun.
I got my last vaccination today so I am officially immune to rabies (yeah) and so less problems to worry about. I will send the pictures so don't worry I think my companion had a few pictures and I will try to get those as well.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
Here are the pictures from last week's trip to the waterfalls.
Well this last week went a lot better for us. We found a lot more new investigators in the form of a big family we found. There is a family of four that lives in one part that is super interested in the message and their sister was present and she also liked it. She lives in another part but we have to see with her husband. We found them Saturday and they weren't able to go to church. We have already taught them a bit and they seem really interested. We just need to get them to go to church and get them progressing. The only unfortunate part is that the dad wants to go to the states November 1st to get work to provide for his family. The thing is they probably would have a baptismal date for the twelfth of November (we haven't put the baptismal date) so we will probably have to teach the mother with the children with members once he leaves. Still he is super interested and they also are really interested and they understand a lot. The story they have was great as we passed by knocking their door and he had been praying to God to find a way to change his life because of things in his life. Then we found them in the street and that is when he realized it was time to talk to us. So they seem really great. We have been trying to help investigators to go to church just none that we planned for went. still one did go and we are hoping to help them out. There are other investigators that we will find this week and one that has been progressing well.
I am doing well with my companion and I am trying to make sure that he works hard and that we work well together and so we are doing a lot of work together. I have enjoyed it and I have learned a lot. Today we did go to Pizza Hut for an all you can eat deal. The only unfortunate part for me was the pizza had mushrooms and I don't really like mushrooms. I just took them off and ate the slices. I ate 14 and they are a pretty big size. Plus pizza costs a bit. It was 7 dollars for that deal so that was fun.
I got my last vaccination today so I am officially immune to rabies (yeah) and so less problems to worry about. I will send the pictures so don't worry I think my companion had a few pictures and I will try to get those as well.
Love you all,
Elder Throop
Here are the pictures from last week's trip to the waterfalls.
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| pictures along the trail to the falls |
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| Selfie on the trail |
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| small waterfall |
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| selfie at the small waterfall |
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| big waterfall |
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| Zone |
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| Tyler and his companion Elder Adams |
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| Tyler wearing the hat a new family gave to his companion, Elder Adams because it was his birthday |
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| Elder Adams with a cake face from his birthday cake |
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