Well, this week was another interesting week. We had another fall-through baptism. It seems like every time it happens, it has to out do the time before. Well, this guys baptism was going to be Saturday at 6 pm. His interview was going to be Friday night at 7:30. Long story short he never showed up and wouldnt answer his door when we went over to talk with him. He met with him the next morning and he's pretty much just been lying all along to us and it caught up with him that night and he was just embarassed. So, no baptism. All the other people that were lined up for next week won't be getting baptized either. So that is a bummer, but life goes on. I grew a lot from this experience. We were upset that night but over the weekend i turned it into a growing experience. "Forgive us of our debts, as we forgive our debtors" was in my mind a lot the next few days. Not that this man owed me anything, but we all depend on the same God for forgiveness.
At church a couple of people were "complaining" that we hadn't called everyone to tell them that there wouldn't be a baptism. They said that luckily they found out from someone else that there wasn't one, or else they would have had to have gotten dressed.....and would have changed their plans for the night.......Luckily it was in the morning and i didn't really care.
It has been tough of late to get people all the way there. They've gotten so close to baptism and then just drop like flies. I just figure that this is preparing me for something down the road that i am not aware of. But we're still working hard, so at the same time it doesn't bother me too much. I'm doing what i can, people just are using their agency in poor ways.
On saturday we had transfer calls. I remember reading jeff's letter last week and him saying his mission president made a mistake because he was becoming district leader. Well, President Darrington has made an even bigger mistake. I'm going to be the district leader in this....district....so i am staying in Sanford once again. My comampanion is staying as well. So i will be district leader over 6 missionaries. Us 2, the spanish elders, and one set of sisters. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it.
Well there really wasnt much more news this week in terms of missionary work. I went on exchanges with the Assistants this week and had a pretty fun time. There are a lot of elders going home this transfer.
Well, i'm glad little Wade was born with health to his bones. I'm not sure what that phrase means. Maybe someday he'll grow to be a better basketball player than his uncle....and i'm not referring to Mike.
I did get your package of brownies and cookies. Oh they were definitely a treat of delight. I think i've eaten them all by now, there might be a few brownies left.
I really can't think of much else to write about that we did this week. It was just one of those tough ones that come around too often. :) I did see a pretty funny sign somewhere. Someone else got a picture for me, i didn't have my camera, so i'll get you a copy somehow. But we saw this sign that overlooked a field and it said, "No Swimming." Well the funny thing about it was that there was absolutely no water to be seen in sight. I also plan on getting a picture by the "wildlife crossing" sign, with me, the wild one, crossing the street. This week we didn't cut up any more watermelons and use them as helmets, so i can't really say we got too bored.
This week i'll hit 7 months in this town. I'm getting tired of the lack of help we're getting from the members in terms of helping us find people to teach. It's tough work on your own as i've learned here.
Well, life seems to be going well back home. Keep up the good work. Love ya.
Friday, August 17, 2007
August 6, 2007: A stellar week
Well, not that this may make sense to many of you, but this week was probably the best week in a long time, maybe in my mission, in terms of progress made. By the end of the week, our three investigators with dates for baptism this month (august) all were at church and all are progressing. So i was very happy about that. Although, you would think, by looking at the names of these three people, that i am a Spanish elder. Danilo Frias will be getting baptized this weekend. German Perez and Alexander Martinez will be getting baptized the next weekend. Yesterday at church i taught the Gospel Principles class and, once again, if someone had walked in to that room they probably would have thought this was the Spanish branch. So things are in the process of pickin up again. There is one more week left to the transfer. President Darrington told me last week i'll probably be staying (again) but we'll see about that. I'm going in this last week with the idea that i'll be out of here next week. One of the guys set for the 18'th might move his baptism up to next weekend. If you remember, Alexander Martinez is the guy i've been working with forever...who was on probation....whose wife said no....but he's determined to do it. So we'll be praying for him. I love meeting with him and having him say the closing prayer. "I thank you God for sending your minister to me to teach me the true gospel." Always brings a smile to my face.
One quick question for Mike, or for anyone who may know.....when you came home from your mission, we often times ate corn beef hash for breakfast. What goes into that? I want to make it. Lately i've been making hashbrowns, eggs, and ham. Oh so good, a tasty treat. Thats my new breakfast.
I had a couple of cool experiences this week. On Wednesday we had a little training on more effective contacting, ways to talk with people. Afterwards, we drove over to a street named Copper Ridge Circle, which is a street i've been thinking of for a few weeks. We biked past it once and ever since then it has stuck in my memory. Well finally we got over to it. We walked up to the first house and knocked. Using my newfound techniques, we taught the man for 20-25 minutes or so and set up a time to come back the next day. It was pretty amazing. The first house we knocked, and actually the only house we knocked on because we had to leave after that. But for a week i had just kept putting it off for some reason, and Wednesday felt like the right day. Also on Wednesday we went to the temple for a sealing of a family here in the Sanford ward. This family is pretty sweet. Sister Bendoski comes amazing, although not as good as mom's style. But it was nice to go to the temple for just a little bit of the day. Also, on the way to the temple i saw a van drive by that was covered in the Dark Side of the Moon cd cover art. I'll send a pic.
Friday night we had a ward party. They called it a Louisiana Boil. They boil shrimp, chicken, and sausage and then just drump it out on a table and you grab what you want. Well, the cool part of the story is that there was also a cake auction to raise money for the boy scouts. My companion and i decided to make a Book of Mormon cake. we borrowed some food coloring and spent a bit of time trying to get the right color. We ended up using tons and tons of food coloring. We then realized that whoever would eat it would have quite the stained mouth. Well someone bought it for 24 bucks and then i'm sure they regretted it. We also used peanut butter puff balls to spell out "The Book of Mormon." Oh, and of course i got pictures of the beauty.
Well the work is going well. Can't really complain. We just keep on working and we know things will come from it. Bishop doesn't want me to leave. Bishop always comments on how he rarely comes across something in the ward that i haven't already found out myself.
Oh, a funny story. We talked with a lady for half an hour or so, a nice lesson about the restoration of the gospel. At the end i asked if we could pray with her and she told me no, because she didn't know what kind of evil spirits we might have. "You never know..." is what she then said. But i asked her to pray, which she did, in which she called us servants of God. So first we have evil spirits, then we are servants of God.
Well i hope all goes well with the baby on the way. I'll make sure to keep Jen and...Wade Matthew in my prayers. I hope this is a message of encouragement for you Jen, but keep in mind this bit of info. I myself was born 7 weeks too early, and look how i turned out.....I'm not sure if that is encouraging or discouraging to know how i turned out from being born early. I blame that more on my upbringing.
Well, like i said, one more week till the transfer. We'll probably be having some changes. There's a lot of zone leaders going home. Pretty soon the mission is going to have a lot of different faces. Enjoy the pics that i'll send.
Love you all. Thanks for your e-mails. I'll talk to you next week. It's true :)
One quick question for Mike, or for anyone who may know.....when you came home from your mission, we often times ate corn beef hash for breakfast. What goes into that? I want to make it. Lately i've been making hashbrowns, eggs, and ham. Oh so good, a tasty treat. Thats my new breakfast.
I had a couple of cool experiences this week. On Wednesday we had a little training on more effective contacting, ways to talk with people. Afterwards, we drove over to a street named Copper Ridge Circle, which is a street i've been thinking of for a few weeks. We biked past it once and ever since then it has stuck in my memory. Well finally we got over to it. We walked up to the first house and knocked. Using my newfound techniques, we taught the man for 20-25 minutes or so and set up a time to come back the next day. It was pretty amazing. The first house we knocked, and actually the only house we knocked on because we had to leave after that. But for a week i had just kept putting it off for some reason, and Wednesday felt like the right day. Also on Wednesday we went to the temple for a sealing of a family here in the Sanford ward. This family is pretty sweet. Sister Bendoski comes amazing, although not as good as mom's style. But it was nice to go to the temple for just a little bit of the day. Also, on the way to the temple i saw a van drive by that was covered in the Dark Side of the Moon cd cover art. I'll send a pic.
Friday night we had a ward party. They called it a Louisiana Boil. They boil shrimp, chicken, and sausage and then just drump it out on a table and you grab what you want. Well, the cool part of the story is that there was also a cake auction to raise money for the boy scouts. My companion and i decided to make a Book of Mormon cake. we borrowed some food coloring and spent a bit of time trying to get the right color. We ended up using tons and tons of food coloring. We then realized that whoever would eat it would have quite the stained mouth. Well someone bought it for 24 bucks and then i'm sure they regretted it. We also used peanut butter puff balls to spell out "The Book of Mormon." Oh, and of course i got pictures of the beauty.
Well the work is going well. Can't really complain. We just keep on working and we know things will come from it. Bishop doesn't want me to leave. Bishop always comments on how he rarely comes across something in the ward that i haven't already found out myself.
Oh, a funny story. We talked with a lady for half an hour or so, a nice lesson about the restoration of the gospel. At the end i asked if we could pray with her and she told me no, because she didn't know what kind of evil spirits we might have. "You never know..." is what she then said. But i asked her to pray, which she did, in which she called us servants of God. So first we have evil spirits, then we are servants of God.
Well i hope all goes well with the baby on the way. I'll make sure to keep Jen and...Wade Matthew in my prayers. I hope this is a message of encouragement for you Jen, but keep in mind this bit of info. I myself was born 7 weeks too early, and look how i turned out.....I'm not sure if that is encouraging or discouraging to know how i turned out from being born early. I blame that more on my upbringing.
Well, like i said, one more week till the transfer. We'll probably be having some changes. There's a lot of zone leaders going home. Pretty soon the mission is going to have a lot of different faces. Enjoy the pics that i'll send.
Love you all. Thanks for your e-mails. I'll talk to you next week. It's true :)
July 30'th, 2007: Some good news and some not so good news, but not bad news, so don't worry
Well, i'm going to start off with the not so good news. Well this last friday marked good old 10 months of missionary work. I was excited to see a package come from home in the mail. Well, almost excited....until i noticed a sticker on the package that said, "Received unsealed. Received empty." Fortunately, they delivered me the package you sent....without the contents. So hopefully there wasn't anything in there extremely valuable....hopefully it can be sent again :). I looked at my companion and said, "i can't believe someone stole my package." And he replied with a very true statement of, "I can't beleive someone stole my bike." So, count your many blessings.
Now on to the good news......President Darrington has obliterated some of President Farnsworth's Law of Moses-esque rules. We can now listen to a wide variety of uplifting music. No longer can we only listen to pretty much the Tabernacle Choir, but we're back to the white handbook rule. Also, i can play guitar now. Isn't that glorious news? I remember seeing a small guitar at Goodwill awhile back, so later we are going to see if it is still there. The dinner rule is still the same, although i guess it is "under revision" at the time.
I think the most memorable event this week was while we were riding around on bikes. We came across a lady who was having a yard sale. I figured we'd act interested and knock her out with the Gospel. Well, i REALLY had to act interested. The items were all.....decorating type ornaments and clay..figurine objects? See, i really didn't know what they were. Then, i saw what i needed.....a 25 cent plastic bat. So i bought it from her and talked to her. She wasn't interested, and now i had this plastic bat that i had to figure out how to transport home on a bike. Well, i had my backpack.....so i stuck half of it in and the other half hung out from the top. So it looked like i was prepared to break somebody's kneecaps. We talked to a few people, and i think they weren't interested because they thought i was going to harm them. I sure felt safe though. Now, the bat sits in our apartment as a reminder of the worthless purchase that it was.
We had President interviews this week, the first one with President Darrington. He informed me i'll probably be staying in this area for 2 or 3 more transfers. If that is true, then i'm looking to be in Sanford till towards the end of the year....We'll see if that actually happens or not.
Yesterday in church my companion and i spoke in sacrament meeting. He prepared a pretty good joke. I was jealous. He got up and said, "Well, i really hope i don't get nervous.....when i get nervous, my eyes sweat....and i can't read my mom's handwriting." We talked on how the ward can (needs) to do better missionary work. I think i told you our Bishop really liked what he have been presenting, so i think he had a stake counselor come and listen. I'll need to send you the outline of the talk one of these days.
Well, at the end of the week, we have 4 people commited to baptism in August. One on the 11'th and 3 on the 18'th. That reminded me of back in November when we had 5 commited for one day and none happened. :) So we'll be working hard to make sure we can get as many of these as we can.
This Wednesday we are going to the temple. There is a family in the ward that is going to betting sealed in the temple, and we are over there once or twice a week it seems like for dinner, and they invited us, so i got permission to go. This will be my first time on my mission.
Sounds like everything is going well back home. Mom is planning to make the food storage much better in the home, and dad is racing people down ygnacio valley in the escalade. What more could a son ask for? :)
Not much else has happened this week. The work continues on. It was tougher this week to find new people to teach. People just weren't all that interested this week, but we still worked hard. The main focus now is on those 4 people with dates for baptism. One of them is the man whose wife doesn't want to do it. He commited himself this time, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefulyl the 3'rd time is the charm.
we're thinking of buying lawn chairs to keep in the trunk so we can sit down with people outside and teach them. Which reminds me of the days spent with James, lounging in his front yard at the roundabout on Walnut ave., eating Panda Express.
Well we didn't make watermelon bike helmets this week or anything like that. Sorry i don't have any pictures to send. I'll get you some for next week. Love ya'll (there is my southern touch). Adios. I talked to some Spanish people a little bit in Spanish this week....im workin' on it.
Now on to the good news......President Darrington has obliterated some of President Farnsworth's Law of Moses-esque rules. We can now listen to a wide variety of uplifting music. No longer can we only listen to pretty much the Tabernacle Choir, but we're back to the white handbook rule. Also, i can play guitar now. Isn't that glorious news? I remember seeing a small guitar at Goodwill awhile back, so later we are going to see if it is still there. The dinner rule is still the same, although i guess it is "under revision" at the time.
I think the most memorable event this week was while we were riding around on bikes. We came across a lady who was having a yard sale. I figured we'd act interested and knock her out with the Gospel. Well, i REALLY had to act interested. The items were all.....decorating type ornaments and clay..figurine objects? See, i really didn't know what they were. Then, i saw what i needed.....a 25 cent plastic bat. So i bought it from her and talked to her. She wasn't interested, and now i had this plastic bat that i had to figure out how to transport home on a bike. Well, i had my backpack.....so i stuck half of it in and the other half hung out from the top. So it looked like i was prepared to break somebody's kneecaps. We talked to a few people, and i think they weren't interested because they thought i was going to harm them. I sure felt safe though. Now, the bat sits in our apartment as a reminder of the worthless purchase that it was.
We had President interviews this week, the first one with President Darrington. He informed me i'll probably be staying in this area for 2 or 3 more transfers. If that is true, then i'm looking to be in Sanford till towards the end of the year....We'll see if that actually happens or not.
Yesterday in church my companion and i spoke in sacrament meeting. He prepared a pretty good joke. I was jealous. He got up and said, "Well, i really hope i don't get nervous.....when i get nervous, my eyes sweat....and i can't read my mom's handwriting." We talked on how the ward can (needs) to do better missionary work. I think i told you our Bishop really liked what he have been presenting, so i think he had a stake counselor come and listen. I'll need to send you the outline of the talk one of these days.
Well, at the end of the week, we have 4 people commited to baptism in August. One on the 11'th and 3 on the 18'th. That reminded me of back in November when we had 5 commited for one day and none happened. :) So we'll be working hard to make sure we can get as many of these as we can.
This Wednesday we are going to the temple. There is a family in the ward that is going to betting sealed in the temple, and we are over there once or twice a week it seems like for dinner, and they invited us, so i got permission to go. This will be my first time on my mission.
Sounds like everything is going well back home. Mom is planning to make the food storage much better in the home, and dad is racing people down ygnacio valley in the escalade. What more could a son ask for? :)
Not much else has happened this week. The work continues on. It was tougher this week to find new people to teach. People just weren't all that interested this week, but we still worked hard. The main focus now is on those 4 people with dates for baptism. One of them is the man whose wife doesn't want to do it. He commited himself this time, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefulyl the 3'rd time is the charm.
we're thinking of buying lawn chairs to keep in the trunk so we can sit down with people outside and teach them. Which reminds me of the days spent with James, lounging in his front yard at the roundabout on Walnut ave., eating Panda Express.
Well we didn't make watermelon bike helmets this week or anything like that. Sorry i don't have any pictures to send. I'll get you some for next week. Love ya'll (there is my southern touch). Adios. I talked to some Spanish people a little bit in Spanish this week....im workin' on it.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
July 23, 2007 - How Bizarre, How Bizarre
Remember that song? How bizarre, ooo baby, you're making me crazy, every time i look around.....well that was playing this morning in the Hair Masters salon place. Well, im grateful for all the emails i got, and all the things you all told me. I could go on and on and on about this week. This town is just....there is no other place like Sanford, Florida. I dont think i could ever live here if i wasnt a missionary, but the fact that i am living here as a missionary.....so many funy people and stories. It would take me all day to write about this last week. From lessons in which a man stood up and shouted, "I WILL KILL THAT MAN!" and then he exclaims, "I'm doing 3/4 of the work. Thats right!. 85% of the work, i'm doing" to a lesson in which one lady complains about all of the "invaders" in our country. She wouldn't stop calling people invaders. Finally i got tired of it and told her to stop calling people invaders. Well, let me get on with more stories i guess.
Well, Wednesday was a very interesting day. I told you a few weeks ago of when a man asked us to pray with him and i volunteered my comapnion to say it, and then it got really akward....well two drunk guys asked us to pray with them, and he asked me to do it....and it got really akward.....so that came back to bite me. The funny part is that just that morning i told Elder Dunn that story. Then, just a few hours later, i had to say the same type of prayer, and Elder Dunn started laughing during the prayer when the drunk guy started going crazy. The man then asked if he could see my teeth, and i thought of that rap song, "I wanna see your grill". So i showed him my teeth, or my grill, and he said "too many acids..." I didn't even ask what that meant.
We were on our bikes that day, and it started pouring with lots of lightning. We had nowhere to go, and after a few minutes we realized that standing under a tree wasn't the best place to go. (duh) So we looked for places to go, and couldnt really find any. We ended up taking cover under a staircase, which also wasnt the best place to be. Well, there is a ton of lightning in Florida and it was within a mile or so. Oh well, still alive. Our bikes were still under the tree and we ended up teaching a man. Now, we are only 20 feet away or so. While we were teaching, someone stole......my companion's bike! But not mine......it was actually kind of funny, the way the day had gone, it really didnt bother him. So we made the long walk back in the rain....so i still have my bike. Don't worry. Someone gave him a free one, so we both have bikes once again. There was a lot of rain this week.
A member gave us a watermelon. We cut it in half and i cut my half in pieces. Elder Dunn just ate it like a bowl. But....my brilliant mind was looking at that half of a watermelon and i thought....wow, clean that thing out, and you have a perfect bike helmet. So we did it....and i've got pictures alright.
A few things from your e-mails now......so mother, you aren't cutting your hair till i come home? I wish i could do the same, and not cut mine for a year.....you said you were under a pact to do so...who is that pact with? Was it me? cause i dont remember
I don't remember off the top of my head what elders are over in St. Cloud. But i'll find out. I sure am glad they said i was a cool guy.....
That's a shame about Dr. Chiaponni (She's-a-pony) I guess that's all i have to say about that one.....i guess he was a good orthodontist.
I do have one reaquest. In that video mike made of dad's 50'th birthday, during one of the picture segments, there is a picture i would like. It was from last summer, when we were up in Utah for i think Nate's wedding, but also it was when Mike blessed Annie. We were all at Grandma Barton's and we took a family picture out in the backyard. I would like that picture.
All i will say, is that this week was just one of those weeks that i look back and think....what just happened.
In terms of missionary work, it was an average week. We've been going around and giving presentations to the members, to get them to share the gospel with those they meet, so that we can get more member referalls. 1 out of 10 people taught comes from a member referall, but 70% of our baptisms come from that 1/10. So its much more effective. The work goes forth. The guy whose wife wouldnt let him get baptized, we're kinda just laying off for a bit. Its hard to get hold of him since he work 6 days a week from 6 am to 10 30 pm. Another lady who was going to get baptized is actually on a scholarship to go to school and the scholarship is being paid by the baptist church, so she cant change membership while that is going. Well, she can, and we're gonna talk with her this week and just tell her what she has to do and see if she'll do it.
We were very tired by the end of the week. Another week of hard work gone by. I think when im done with my two years im gonna take a 5 day nap....tough on the body. Well, i'm gonna send you some pictures of some funny moments this week. Thanks for your letters. Ah yes, i got your package. And i did get the "bashing" bible from aaron. I think i'm just going to make my own version of it, and then send yours back home, so that i dont lose it or ruin it. Its got some good stuff in it for sure. Did you do that all on your own?
Well, i got to be going. I hope you enjoyed the stories from the week. There are many more where that came from. Love ya. Be safe.
Well, Wednesday was a very interesting day. I told you a few weeks ago of when a man asked us to pray with him and i volunteered my comapnion to say it, and then it got really akward....well two drunk guys asked us to pray with them, and he asked me to do it....and it got really akward.....so that came back to bite me. The funny part is that just that morning i told Elder Dunn that story. Then, just a few hours later, i had to say the same type of prayer, and Elder Dunn started laughing during the prayer when the drunk guy started going crazy. The man then asked if he could see my teeth, and i thought of that rap song, "I wanna see your grill". So i showed him my teeth, or my grill, and he said "too many acids..." I didn't even ask what that meant.
We were on our bikes that day, and it started pouring with lots of lightning. We had nowhere to go, and after a few minutes we realized that standing under a tree wasn't the best place to go. (duh) So we looked for places to go, and couldnt really find any. We ended up taking cover under a staircase, which also wasnt the best place to be. Well, there is a ton of lightning in Florida and it was within a mile or so. Oh well, still alive. Our bikes were still under the tree and we ended up teaching a man. Now, we are only 20 feet away or so. While we were teaching, someone stole......my companion's bike! But not mine......it was actually kind of funny, the way the day had gone, it really didnt bother him. So we made the long walk back in the rain....so i still have my bike. Don't worry. Someone gave him a free one, so we both have bikes once again. There was a lot of rain this week.
A member gave us a watermelon. We cut it in half and i cut my half in pieces. Elder Dunn just ate it like a bowl. But....my brilliant mind was looking at that half of a watermelon and i thought....wow, clean that thing out, and you have a perfect bike helmet. So we did it....and i've got pictures alright.
A few things from your e-mails now......so mother, you aren't cutting your hair till i come home? I wish i could do the same, and not cut mine for a year.....you said you were under a pact to do so...who is that pact with? Was it me? cause i dont remember
I don't remember off the top of my head what elders are over in St. Cloud. But i'll find out. I sure am glad they said i was a cool guy.....
That's a shame about Dr. Chiaponni (She's-a-pony) I guess that's all i have to say about that one.....i guess he was a good orthodontist.
I do have one reaquest. In that video mike made of dad's 50'th birthday, during one of the picture segments, there is a picture i would like. It was from last summer, when we were up in Utah for i think Nate's wedding, but also it was when Mike blessed Annie. We were all at Grandma Barton's and we took a family picture out in the backyard. I would like that picture.
All i will say, is that this week was just one of those weeks that i look back and think....what just happened.
In terms of missionary work, it was an average week. We've been going around and giving presentations to the members, to get them to share the gospel with those they meet, so that we can get more member referalls. 1 out of 10 people taught comes from a member referall, but 70% of our baptisms come from that 1/10. So its much more effective. The work goes forth. The guy whose wife wouldnt let him get baptized, we're kinda just laying off for a bit. Its hard to get hold of him since he work 6 days a week from 6 am to 10 30 pm. Another lady who was going to get baptized is actually on a scholarship to go to school and the scholarship is being paid by the baptist church, so she cant change membership while that is going. Well, she can, and we're gonna talk with her this week and just tell her what she has to do and see if she'll do it.
We were very tired by the end of the week. Another week of hard work gone by. I think when im done with my two years im gonna take a 5 day nap....tough on the body. Well, i'm gonna send you some pictures of some funny moments this week. Thanks for your letters. Ah yes, i got your package. And i did get the "bashing" bible from aaron. I think i'm just going to make my own version of it, and then send yours back home, so that i dont lose it or ruin it. Its got some good stuff in it for sure. Did you do that all on your own?
Well, i got to be going. I hope you enjoyed the stories from the week. There are many more where that came from. Love ya. Be safe.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Act a Foo--July 16, 2007
I'll get to the story behind the subject in a second....but today marks 6 months in Sanford. I arrived here on January 16, 2007 and have since come to know this strange little place so very well.
First things first.....to answer the issues about this plane crash that happened this past Tuesday. It wasn't at the Sanford airport. The plane crash a few miles before it, into a house. You may not beleive me, but i viewed the aftermath from across the street of the house it hit. We have some members of the ward that live in the neighborhood that it happened in, and so we went over there at night to see how they were doing. Well, the cops had it closed off, but they let me in since i am "clergy." He did write down some info from my drivers license.....so i dont know what they are going to do with that. But, mother, to answer your mind, i am okay. I heard all the ambulances going, but didnt know what for. We found out a few hours later.
In dad's letter, he reminded me that we are amidst the greatest time of the year, the tour de france. I must have forgotten to mark these important days on my calendar. Oh well, i guess i'll have to wait a few years till i can watch it....I did however just watch the 50'th birthday dvd this morning. I apparently missed the memo on dressing up like a bicyclist, although those clothes that i was wearing are also my bike clothes....so in a sense i was. It was a very good dvd, i enjoyed it, especially all the wonderful pictures of mother smiling. :) I found a good photo-op this past week in honor of your birthday, which i will send in an e-mail to mom.
Mom, did you say in your e-mail that Aaron is working at the Safeway in Pleasanton??? I thought he was doing his internship....or is it both? I'm just slightly confused. Oh well.
So yesterday i was talking to a lady, whose name apparently is Shanetta. Whether she was given that name at birth or it evolved from Sharon or something, i don't know. But we were teaching her at her doorway, and i just asked her a simple question, in the form of an analogy. In a class of 3'rd graders, what happens when the teacher, the authority figure, leaves the room? Her response was, "They gonna act a foo" I managed not to laugh, but was about to reaffirm her answer and say, "yes, the best be acting a foo" but i decided against it and just went on with the lesson. Remember what i said about loving Sanford?
Not a whole lot happened this week. My companion and i are getting along well. We didn't have a baptism this past weekend. The man's wife is really against it and so he decided he didn't want to cause a conflict right now. We're still working with him and hopefully we can talk with her and calm her down.
We had an ivestigator "drop" us this past week in an interesting way, kind of amusing. We hadn't been able to get hold of her for a few days, so we were kind of expecting something to be wrong. Well, we pulled into the church one morning to make a phone call, and there was a Book of Mormon at the door, which i thought was weird. well, i walked up to it and looked at it, and there was a note inside of it. "Hey, this is Jamie. I changed my mind. Thanks." At least we got our stuff back.
Well thats about all i can remember. Talked to a lot of interesting characters this week. Oh, we had a zone meeting and President Darrington's kids made a dvd about him and his wife, so we could get to know them better.....well, i have to say, it didnt compare to our family video of "getting to know the dad." Mom and dad, you raised some interesting children.
It's been hot of late, not a whole lot of rain. Yesterday we got some rain, but everyones wondering where all the rain is. Today we're going to play some softball and soccer, so its gonna be a hot one. Good to see that everyone is doing well. Only a few more months till we get a new one in the family.
Keep on keeping on. Read your scriptures. - "Twords" (Swords)
First things first.....to answer the issues about this plane crash that happened this past Tuesday. It wasn't at the Sanford airport. The plane crash a few miles before it, into a house. You may not beleive me, but i viewed the aftermath from across the street of the house it hit. We have some members of the ward that live in the neighborhood that it happened in, and so we went over there at night to see how they were doing. Well, the cops had it closed off, but they let me in since i am "clergy." He did write down some info from my drivers license.....so i dont know what they are going to do with that. But, mother, to answer your mind, i am okay. I heard all the ambulances going, but didnt know what for. We found out a few hours later.
In dad's letter, he reminded me that we are amidst the greatest time of the year, the tour de france. I must have forgotten to mark these important days on my calendar. Oh well, i guess i'll have to wait a few years till i can watch it....I did however just watch the 50'th birthday dvd this morning. I apparently missed the memo on dressing up like a bicyclist, although those clothes that i was wearing are also my bike clothes....so in a sense i was. It was a very good dvd, i enjoyed it, especially all the wonderful pictures of mother smiling. :) I found a good photo-op this past week in honor of your birthday, which i will send in an e-mail to mom.
Mom, did you say in your e-mail that Aaron is working at the Safeway in Pleasanton??? I thought he was doing his internship....or is it both? I'm just slightly confused. Oh well.
So yesterday i was talking to a lady, whose name apparently is Shanetta. Whether she was given that name at birth or it evolved from Sharon or something, i don't know. But we were teaching her at her doorway, and i just asked her a simple question, in the form of an analogy. In a class of 3'rd graders, what happens when the teacher, the authority figure, leaves the room? Her response was, "They gonna act a foo" I managed not to laugh, but was about to reaffirm her answer and say, "yes, the best be acting a foo" but i decided against it and just went on with the lesson. Remember what i said about loving Sanford?
Not a whole lot happened this week. My companion and i are getting along well. We didn't have a baptism this past weekend. The man's wife is really against it and so he decided he didn't want to cause a conflict right now. We're still working with him and hopefully we can talk with her and calm her down.
We had an ivestigator "drop" us this past week in an interesting way, kind of amusing. We hadn't been able to get hold of her for a few days, so we were kind of expecting something to be wrong. Well, we pulled into the church one morning to make a phone call, and there was a Book of Mormon at the door, which i thought was weird. well, i walked up to it and looked at it, and there was a note inside of it. "Hey, this is Jamie. I changed my mind. Thanks." At least we got our stuff back.
Well thats about all i can remember. Talked to a lot of interesting characters this week. Oh, we had a zone meeting and President Darrington's kids made a dvd about him and his wife, so we could get to know them better.....well, i have to say, it didnt compare to our family video of "getting to know the dad." Mom and dad, you raised some interesting children.
It's been hot of late, not a whole lot of rain. Yesterday we got some rain, but everyones wondering where all the rain is. Today we're going to play some softball and soccer, so its gonna be a hot one. Good to see that everyone is doing well. Only a few more months till we get a new one in the family.
Keep on keeping on. Read your scriptures. - "Twords" (Swords)
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Bi-Centennial--July 9
I am under the impression that bi-centennial will mean 50 years....if
i am wrong, then i apologize. But, i thought i would need to begin
this letter with a warm greeting to an officially old man. Happy
birthday dad. i bought a card to send you months ago, and this week i
just got lost with training and doing everything else, so i'll send it
tomorrow most likely. I hope you enjoyed the video, and i would love
a copy of the dvd. I can find a way to see it.
Well this week, somewhat suprisingly, went very well. On Tuesday i
went to pick up Elder Dunn, my trainee. One of his first questions
was, "So when do we get to work?" I was a bit taken back by the
question...."i guess as soon as possible." So we got out to working
around 3 o'clock. The first house i took him to were some potentials
i met at Wal-Mart the night before. They let us come in, we taught
them, and we had a good lesson. When we walked out, i made sure he
knew, "That generally doesn't happen...." Talk about a good first
lesson to be in on. Right after that lesson we went to Wal-Mart to
get some food and stuff. I told him, ok, go talk to people. :) And
he did it. I was very surprised and impressed. I hardly have to do
any "training." Compared to last transfer when i was basically doing
90% of everything with someone who had been out 6 months, i now find
myself not having to do as much, with someone who has been out less
than a week. There were a couple of lessons we'd go to, and generally
i'll start it out and lead it, and he would just start talking. Of
course, i'll still gain control of it and use some experience to
direct the lesson- by the way, some old guy,....maybe like 50 years
old, or something old like that, cough (dad) cough, his cell phone
just went off and it was snow by the peppers.- anyways, back to the
letter...
One of the most joyous moments happened this week....remember 6 weeks
ago or so....a man by the name of Alexander Martinez. He was going to
get baptized and just a few days before, he called and said he was on
probation, and then i lost track of him and couldn't find him. Over
the weeks i came to suspect that his mother-in-law didnt like me, and
was lying to me. So i had a Spanish person call their house, and only
speak Spanish.....well this Spanish person squeezed a phone number out
of the lady. Then they called the number, and guess who they talked
to...one Alexander Martinez. They talked for a bit and he said to
have me come by, and gave this person his new address, still near by.
So Friday night i showed up and knocked on his door and he opened up.
Well over the weekend we talked and we have plans for him to be
baptized this upcoming Sunday. Now, he works from like 6 am to 10 pm
all throughout the week, except for Sunday....so it will be tough to
keep good contact with him during the week, but we'll do our best to
get him baptized. He still wants to be, and he is off of probation,
as of a few days ago. Perfect timing, eh?
We did have a baptism this last weekend. It was a long awaited one.
It went very well, nothing came up that would cause a problem.
It was just a really good week. We taught a lot of lessons, got some
good new investigators. My greenie is having a hard time realizing
and understanding that things wont always go this well. I've been
trying to tell him that this was a VERY good week. Hopefully things
will continue like this. Alexander is comitted for baptism this week,
and another lady is comitted two weeks later. We met her on
WEdnesday, taught her on Thursday, and i comitted her to baptism right
there after 30 minutes. Then i had a flashback of back home when i
heard that sometimes missionaries challenege them the first time they
teach, and i thought that wasn't very smart. Oh how things have
changed. :) That wasn't the first time we've done it, but that memory
came back to my mind.
On Tuesday i got to meet President Darrington. He's a funny guy, i
doubt that many of the rules will change though, but thats okay.
Things went well. Training this transfer wont be a problem at all.
I've got a missionary who will follow rules....what a change.
Sounds like everyone had some good times this last weekend with the
surprise. I'll hope to see some of those pictures and that dvd. Have
a good and safe week. Love ya.
i am wrong, then i apologize. But, i thought i would need to begin
this letter with a warm greeting to an officially old man. Happy
birthday dad. i bought a card to send you months ago, and this week i
just got lost with training and doing everything else, so i'll send it
tomorrow most likely. I hope you enjoyed the video, and i would love
a copy of the dvd. I can find a way to see it.
Well this week, somewhat suprisingly, went very well. On Tuesday i
went to pick up Elder Dunn, my trainee. One of his first questions
was, "So when do we get to work?" I was a bit taken back by the
question...."i guess as soon as possible." So we got out to working
around 3 o'clock. The first house i took him to were some potentials
i met at Wal-Mart the night before. They let us come in, we taught
them, and we had a good lesson. When we walked out, i made sure he
knew, "That generally doesn't happen...." Talk about a good first
lesson to be in on. Right after that lesson we went to Wal-Mart to
get some food and stuff. I told him, ok, go talk to people. :) And
he did it. I was very surprised and impressed. I hardly have to do
any "training." Compared to last transfer when i was basically doing
90% of everything with someone who had been out 6 months, i now find
myself not having to do as much, with someone who has been out less
than a week. There were a couple of lessons we'd go to, and generally
i'll start it out and lead it, and he would just start talking. Of
course, i'll still gain control of it and use some experience to
direct the lesson- by the way, some old guy,....maybe like 50 years
old, or something old like that, cough (dad) cough, his cell phone
just went off and it was snow by the peppers.- anyways, back to the
letter...
One of the most joyous moments happened this week....remember 6 weeks
ago or so....a man by the name of Alexander Martinez. He was going to
get baptized and just a few days before, he called and said he was on
probation, and then i lost track of him and couldn't find him. Over
the weeks i came to suspect that his mother-in-law didnt like me, and
was lying to me. So i had a Spanish person call their house, and only
speak Spanish.....well this Spanish person squeezed a phone number out
of the lady. Then they called the number, and guess who they talked
to...one Alexander Martinez. They talked for a bit and he said to
have me come by, and gave this person his new address, still near by.
So Friday night i showed up and knocked on his door and he opened up.
Well over the weekend we talked and we have plans for him to be
baptized this upcoming Sunday. Now, he works from like 6 am to 10 pm
all throughout the week, except for Sunday....so it will be tough to
keep good contact with him during the week, but we'll do our best to
get him baptized. He still wants to be, and he is off of probation,
as of a few days ago. Perfect timing, eh?
We did have a baptism this last weekend. It was a long awaited one.
It went very well, nothing came up that would cause a problem.
It was just a really good week. We taught a lot of lessons, got some
good new investigators. My greenie is having a hard time realizing
and understanding that things wont always go this well. I've been
trying to tell him that this was a VERY good week. Hopefully things
will continue like this. Alexander is comitted for baptism this week,
and another lady is comitted two weeks later. We met her on
WEdnesday, taught her on Thursday, and i comitted her to baptism right
there after 30 minutes. Then i had a flashback of back home when i
heard that sometimes missionaries challenege them the first time they
teach, and i thought that wasn't very smart. Oh how things have
changed. :) That wasn't the first time we've done it, but that memory
came back to my mind.
On Tuesday i got to meet President Darrington. He's a funny guy, i
doubt that many of the rules will change though, but thats okay.
Things went well. Training this transfer wont be a problem at all.
I've got a missionary who will follow rules....what a change.
Sounds like everyone had some good times this last weekend with the
surprise. I'll hope to see some of those pictures and that dvd. Have
a good and safe week. Love ya.
Let's Triangulate---Isoscoles or Equilateral?
Well its good to hear from everyone today. Just this week i hit 9 full months out here in the field. Time sure flies by. I'm approaching 6 full months in this little town of Sanford. By the way, i'm staying. I also have other good news.....not only am i staying, but i'm gonna be the proud new parent of a boy. I'm getting a brand new, fresh out of the MTC missionary, my first son. Our new President called Saturday morning, President Darrington. He seems to be a funny guy. He said, "Elder, where are you calling from?" "Up here in Sanford." "Oh, Sanford?......ya, i dont really know where that is...i just know Orlando." So he tells me that i'm going to train, so i accepted with glee, and then i asked, "So will i be staying here in Sanford or going somewhere else?" His reply, "........one second...." then he asks someone else, and is told that i am staying. Then he says, "Ya know, people are just asking me all these questions that i just dont know, you're staying." So he seems like he's got a good sense of humor. President Farnsworth did the transfers before he left, so President Darrington just made the phone calls. Tomorrow i'll go down to the mission office to pick up the greenie, and so i'll get to meet the mission president then.
I'm pretty excited, because i think there are 9 missionaries being trained, and all of the trainers i am really good friends with, so we all get to see eachother on Tuesday at the office. Our ward leaders and i were thinking about things to do to him the first day. One of the sisters asked me, "So what are you going to do to help him get comfortable?" And i replied, "Well, actually, all i've been thinking about are things to do to make him uncomfortable." I dont know anything about who i train, i'll find that all out tomorrow. But i'm glad to be staying here.
We had a great teaching week. I think we taught the most lessons this week i've taught in awhile. I had some cool experiences this week.
One day, maybe Wednesday, not much was really happening. I stopped by the Holt's house, we baptized Sean Holt back in January. He is now 12 years old. Anyways, his mom came up to me and said, "Sean told us that he wants to go on a mission now, so he's starting to get ready." Then she thanked us for all that we did for him and our examples. So that day i learned the lesson that the young kids really do pay attention to us. It was just one of those moments where i felt, "No matter what happens this week, or this day, i did something good."
On Thursday night, we had two members come out with us, so me and i companion could split up. Now, these past 6 weeks, whenever that has happened and we have a teaching appointment, i'd take the lesson, and Elder Duane wouldnt want it anyways. But this night i decided it was about time he made some progress. So i told him, "You're taking the appointment tonight." "Are you sure?" "Yes, i am sure." "Are you really sure?" "I'm sure." And he ended up doing a good job. He taught the lesson, and set up an appointment to come by tonight, so i was happy for him.
On Saturday night we taught a lady named Linda and i told her she needed to come to church the next day. She had earlier said, "People make too many excuses for not going to church." well, her answer was "I need to do some yardwork tomorrow." So Elder Duane said told her that was okay, and we weren't trying to pressure her into doing something. Then i said, much to the contrary of his remarks, "Actually, just as you mentioned earlier, people need to put church ahead of other tasks." Then i read Matthew 6:33 about seeking after the kingdom of God first. She then goes, "You're right, i'm coming to church." Well that was a pretty cool experience. Eventually, she didn't come to church, which was a bummer, but it was a good experience while teaching her.
Now to answer some things from your e-mails:
Mom: That line came from the movie Mystery Men. For the 4'th of July we're gonna go to someone's house for fireworks. Also, we'll probably go to the Lake and see some fireworks from there. About the moving of my suits; I am fairly confident that as long as i have 7 thrift store suits in my closet, i will not be transferred. It would just be too much work. And i am proud of the skills you are learning on a computer, from being able to turn it on to sending pictures in e-mails. Baby steps, right?
Mike: Good choice with the "challenge to become" talk. I actually just talked about that one in a lesson with someone the other day. It sure is a classic. I'll work on shipping a suit out to you.
Her: I enjoyed your comment, "I hope you haven't been too hot, but of course you have." Thank you for your honesty. Good choice with the talk, and yes, it is true.
James: If you want your guitar string fixed anytime soon, i'd pay the money and take it to someone. But, if you want it done with care, wait 14 months or so and i'll make sure it is done right. And also hold out on the chicken meal deals from Safeway. Save your money for when we can both eat of that delicious meal.
Yesertday, i ate soooooo much food. I was about to explode. I am 99% sure that was the most i've eaten in a looooonnnnggg time. We went over to the Bendoski's for a lunch. Oh my goodness did i eat. Then a few hours later, we went over to someone else's for a dinner. I just had one plate, and i struglled to finish, then found room for dessert. Then i taught a lesson, even though i was rolling over on my belly the whole time.
This upcoming Saturday we're having a baptism. I'm pretty sure this one will go through. I've had a nice string of those suckers falling through in the last week of late :). But not this one. He's another young kid. Or as we call them, nino baptisms. (Nino should have that curvy little line on it, but i'm not sure how to make that, and i forgot to bring my bilingual keyboard today :) The kid's name is Moses. Lately i've been reading through the Old Testament. Not suring study time, but like at night or whenever we have a few minutes. I came across something that will apply to mom.
Your patriarchal blessing talks about your sons and daughters that you will have. And we always thought that was interesting, because you only had three sons. Then we decided that your granddaughters were what it refers to. Anyways, i've always thought about that, and i think i found an answer while reading in Genesis. Jacob, or Israel, had his twelve sons. One of those was Joseph. So Jospeh would be Jacob's grandson. Just before Jacob dies, he takes Josephs sons (Ephraim and Mannaseh) and gives them a blessing. So we have grandather blessing his grandchildren. In that blessing, he says an interesting thing. He says, and i';m paraphrasing, "Just as Joseph is my son, you two are also my sons." He kind of takes them as his sons. Well i thought when i read that, hey....that's like mom. her granddaughters are her daughters. Well, maybe i'm the only one that thinks this. But next week i'll find the scripure passages where that whole event happens and you can read it. I thought maybe you would enjoy that. :)
Well thats about all i got this week. Staying here, same address. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL, 32773. Or the mission office, 10502 Satellite Blvd. Suite E, Orlando, FL 32837.
Wish me luck with my brand new companion :). I'm pretty sure Mike told me a story of when he trained someone. Well, i'll write everyone next week. And yes, to answer everybody's question, it is very hot. This morning i went to get my haircut, and she said, "Oh,the curls sure take over in the summer." Love you all. Bye bye
I'm pretty excited, because i think there are 9 missionaries being trained, and all of the trainers i am really good friends with, so we all get to see eachother on Tuesday at the office. Our ward leaders and i were thinking about things to do to him the first day. One of the sisters asked me, "So what are you going to do to help him get comfortable?" And i replied, "Well, actually, all i've been thinking about are things to do to make him uncomfortable." I dont know anything about who i train, i'll find that all out tomorrow. But i'm glad to be staying here.
We had a great teaching week. I think we taught the most lessons this week i've taught in awhile. I had some cool experiences this week.
One day, maybe Wednesday, not much was really happening. I stopped by the Holt's house, we baptized Sean Holt back in January. He is now 12 years old. Anyways, his mom came up to me and said, "Sean told us that he wants to go on a mission now, so he's starting to get ready." Then she thanked us for all that we did for him and our examples. So that day i learned the lesson that the young kids really do pay attention to us. It was just one of those moments where i felt, "No matter what happens this week, or this day, i did something good."
On Thursday night, we had two members come out with us, so me and i companion could split up. Now, these past 6 weeks, whenever that has happened and we have a teaching appointment, i'd take the lesson, and Elder Duane wouldnt want it anyways. But this night i decided it was about time he made some progress. So i told him, "You're taking the appointment tonight." "Are you sure?" "Yes, i am sure." "Are you really sure?" "I'm sure." And he ended up doing a good job. He taught the lesson, and set up an appointment to come by tonight, so i was happy for him.
On Saturday night we taught a lady named Linda and i told her she needed to come to church the next day. She had earlier said, "People make too many excuses for not going to church." well, her answer was "I need to do some yardwork tomorrow." So Elder Duane said told her that was okay, and we weren't trying to pressure her into doing something. Then i said, much to the contrary of his remarks, "Actually, just as you mentioned earlier, people need to put church ahead of other tasks." Then i read Matthew 6:33 about seeking after the kingdom of God first. She then goes, "You're right, i'm coming to church." Well that was a pretty cool experience. Eventually, she didn't come to church, which was a bummer, but it was a good experience while teaching her.
Now to answer some things from your e-mails:
Mom: That line came from the movie Mystery Men. For the 4'th of July we're gonna go to someone's house for fireworks. Also, we'll probably go to the Lake and see some fireworks from there. About the moving of my suits; I am fairly confident that as long as i have 7 thrift store suits in my closet, i will not be transferred. It would just be too much work. And i am proud of the skills you are learning on a computer, from being able to turn it on to sending pictures in e-mails. Baby steps, right?
Mike: Good choice with the "challenge to become" talk. I actually just talked about that one in a lesson with someone the other day. It sure is a classic. I'll work on shipping a suit out to you.
Her: I enjoyed your comment, "I hope you haven't been too hot, but of course you have." Thank you for your honesty. Good choice with the talk, and yes, it is true.
James: If you want your guitar string fixed anytime soon, i'd pay the money and take it to someone. But, if you want it done with care, wait 14 months or so and i'll make sure it is done right. And also hold out on the chicken meal deals from Safeway. Save your money for when we can both eat of that delicious meal.
Yesertday, i ate soooooo much food. I was about to explode. I am 99% sure that was the most i've eaten in a looooonnnnggg time. We went over to the Bendoski's for a lunch. Oh my goodness did i eat. Then a few hours later, we went over to someone else's for a dinner. I just had one plate, and i struglled to finish, then found room for dessert. Then i taught a lesson, even though i was rolling over on my belly the whole time.
This upcoming Saturday we're having a baptism. I'm pretty sure this one will go through. I've had a nice string of those suckers falling through in the last week of late :). But not this one. He's another young kid. Or as we call them, nino baptisms. (Nino should have that curvy little line on it, but i'm not sure how to make that, and i forgot to bring my bilingual keyboard today :) The kid's name is Moses. Lately i've been reading through the Old Testament. Not suring study time, but like at night or whenever we have a few minutes. I came across something that will apply to mom.
Your patriarchal blessing talks about your sons and daughters that you will have. And we always thought that was interesting, because you only had three sons. Then we decided that your granddaughters were what it refers to. Anyways, i've always thought about that, and i think i found an answer while reading in Genesis. Jacob, or Israel, had his twelve sons. One of those was Joseph. So Jospeh would be Jacob's grandson. Just before Jacob dies, he takes Josephs sons (Ephraim and Mannaseh) and gives them a blessing. So we have grandather blessing his grandchildren. In that blessing, he says an interesting thing. He says, and i';m paraphrasing, "Just as Joseph is my son, you two are also my sons." He kind of takes them as his sons. Well i thought when i read that, hey....that's like mom. her granddaughters are her daughters. Well, maybe i'm the only one that thinks this. But next week i'll find the scripure passages where that whole event happens and you can read it. I thought maybe you would enjoy that. :)
Well thats about all i got this week. Staying here, same address. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL, 32773. Or the mission office, 10502 Satellite Blvd. Suite E, Orlando, FL 32837.
Wish me luck with my brand new companion :). I'm pretty sure Mike told me a story of when he trained someone. Well, i'll write everyone next week. And yes, to answer everybody's question, it is very hot. This morning i went to get my haircut, and she said, "Oh,the curls sure take over in the summer." Love you all. Bye bye
I did something for the first time ever--June 25
Now, before i tell you all what i did, i must throw out a disclaimer, that this act was not done on purpose. I happened to be driving, last Monday. Out of nowhere, a squirrel came flying out of the road. I didn't even have time to try to let it live, and i ran it over. My thoughts immediately turned to none other than Seinfeld. The episode where George keeps running over ducks or something on accident....until finally he proclaimed, "I thought we had a deal!!!!" Well, my little squirrel friend, i thought we had a deal.
Anyways, i soon got over it. This week was another week of momentous ups and crushing downs. :) I wouldn't say they were "crushing" but it sounds more dramatic. I'll explain....
This week, on Tuesday we went over to a 17 yr. old member's house to teach his 12 year old BEST friend, yes, their age difference apparently doesn't matter. Well, there was a 19. year old friend there as well. We taught the 12 year old and at the end, i asked the 19 year old if we could come back and teach him more. So he said, "Sure, it doesn't matter." Not the most pleasing of results, but nonetheless better than nothing. So we went back a few days later, this time i was with my zone leader. We had a good first lesson and he was surprisingly very interested and agreed. Well, then we went back on Saturday to meet with him again, and he says he knows its true and wants to be baptized. Once again, not something i was totally expecting. So we set up a plan to have him baptized on July 7'th......so then comes the "crushing" part. You may recall a similar experience a few weeks ago, where someone wanted to be baptized but we couldnt because he was on probation....and now i dont know where he is exactly....well, this situation doesnt involve probation, luckily. He goes home and tells his mom....and she tells him that as long as he is living in that home, he will be Baptist, even though no one in the family goes......Talk about a change of events! We'll keep working with the situation this week and i'll keep you posted.
This last saturday i was given a toy shovel by one of the Sisters. I asked what it was for, and she replied, "So you can keep planting all those seeds." So i'll take a picture with my seed planting shovel this week and you can check it out.
Also on Sunday one of the kids gave his farewell for his mission over to Monterey Mexico.
On Friday we got taken out to a Polish restaurant by an ancient Polish lady in the ward. She was actually a survivor of the concentration camps. She took us there with her daughter and we had a good time. I haven't been to a real restaurant in a few months. Denny's doesn't count. But i sure did enjoy that Polish food. I don't understand the names of anything i ate. I had no idea what was what on the menu, but whatever i had, it was good.
A moment of humor this week: We knocked on someone's door, and he invited us in to "pray with him" so that he would have a good job interview. Feeling the soon to be akwardness of this situation, i gladly invited Elder Duane to go ahead and say the prayer for us. So, this man, Brother Eckles, takes our hands and we bow our heads to pray for his job interview. While Elder Duane was praying, it was as if Brother Eckles was just echoing everything he said. It was an interesting experience and i'm just glad i had Elder Duane say the prayer, because i would probably have started chuckling. Oh well.
Also, we tried visiting a less active member of the ward. While we were talking to whoever opened the door, we heard a very audible and clear voice from the background, "Tell them you cant talk to them!"
Also, last night my companion was asked by someone, "who are you?" but with several profanities laced through it. He was just kinda like.....uhhhhhhh....but we lived.
The weather had been pretty hot this week. Mid 90's, and HUMIDITY. Not as much rain as last week. The rain really helps cool things down.
Missionary life goes well. We will be getting the new Presidente this week. He comes in on Friday i believe. On Saturday we'll find out what we are doing for transfers. We are getting 14 new elders this transfer. A lot of people are going home this transfer and the one after it, so there will be a lot of changes around the mission. It is going to get a lot younger by the time the summer is over.
I realized yesterday that i turn a good 9 months old on Wednesday, which also happens to be the Prophet's 97'th birthday. Many reasons to celebrate.
This morning we went out for a zone activity and played soccer, football and kickball. It was raining a little bit, which made it funner. Hopefully this rule of "one activity a month on p-days" will go with the new president, because it makes things a lot funner. Just getting out and getting some good excericise.
We've had some pretty cool lightning and thunder storms of late.
I enjoyed the e-mails. I thought the other day to myself, ok...we are out from 10 to 9....thats almost 12 hours of work.....now dad is going to be swimming, biking, and running for at least 13 hours or so......hmmm...... I must say, that is impressive, even for an old man, oh i mean even for a man like yourself.
Question: I told the Bishop here we were getting Pebble Tec back home. He does the installing of it here in the Orlando area. So, he asked me who is doing it. He said he thinks he knows the man who does it up in our area. Is it Adams? Maybe that is his last name. If so, ask him if he knows a Kim Liljenquist. That is pronounced without the j. (Lilyenquist) But hey, if he does know him, talk about a perfect opportunity to bring up the church....so do you know Kim Liljenquist? Oh you do? Well my son knows him very well.....he is in Orlando....you know how it goes.
Well i think thats about all i can remember about the week. I read a lot of Conference talks and such things. I enjoy you sending me the church news. President Farnsworth told us, "The best convert you should ever make as a missionary in your 2 years is yourself." Some of my favorite talks of late are from the april 2007 conference, Elder Uchtdorf's and President Hinckley's, when he retol the vision Joseph F. Smith had, the "You're late...." "Yes, but i'm clean" talk. Today i read in 3 Nephi, somewhere in Chapter 5, where when the people began to believe in Christ, it says they immediatley began to forsake all their wrongdoings, to serve God with ALL diligence both day and night. They took their belief, and they transformed it into faith, by living what they believed. President Farnsworth would ask, "Are you a missionary who beleives, or a missionary who excercises faith?" So we all have to answer to that same question, "Do i believe, or do i have faith?". Love ya. - Elder marcus.
Anyways, i soon got over it. This week was another week of momentous ups and crushing downs. :) I wouldn't say they were "crushing" but it sounds more dramatic. I'll explain....
This week, on Tuesday we went over to a 17 yr. old member's house to teach his 12 year old BEST friend, yes, their age difference apparently doesn't matter. Well, there was a 19. year old friend there as well. We taught the 12 year old and at the end, i asked the 19 year old if we could come back and teach him more. So he said, "Sure, it doesn't matter." Not the most pleasing of results, but nonetheless better than nothing. So we went back a few days later, this time i was with my zone leader. We had a good first lesson and he was surprisingly very interested and agreed. Well, then we went back on Saturday to meet with him again, and he says he knows its true and wants to be baptized. Once again, not something i was totally expecting. So we set up a plan to have him baptized on July 7'th......so then comes the "crushing" part. You may recall a similar experience a few weeks ago, where someone wanted to be baptized but we couldnt because he was on probation....and now i dont know where he is exactly....well, this situation doesnt involve probation, luckily. He goes home and tells his mom....and she tells him that as long as he is living in that home, he will be Baptist, even though no one in the family goes......Talk about a change of events! We'll keep working with the situation this week and i'll keep you posted.
This last saturday i was given a toy shovel by one of the Sisters. I asked what it was for, and she replied, "So you can keep planting all those seeds." So i'll take a picture with my seed planting shovel this week and you can check it out.
Also on Sunday one of the kids gave his farewell for his mission over to Monterey Mexico.
On Friday we got taken out to a Polish restaurant by an ancient Polish lady in the ward. She was actually a survivor of the concentration camps. She took us there with her daughter and we had a good time. I haven't been to a real restaurant in a few months. Denny's doesn't count. But i sure did enjoy that Polish food. I don't understand the names of anything i ate. I had no idea what was what on the menu, but whatever i had, it was good.
A moment of humor this week: We knocked on someone's door, and he invited us in to "pray with him" so that he would have a good job interview. Feeling the soon to be akwardness of this situation, i gladly invited Elder Duane to go ahead and say the prayer for us. So, this man, Brother Eckles, takes our hands and we bow our heads to pray for his job interview. While Elder Duane was praying, it was as if Brother Eckles was just echoing everything he said. It was an interesting experience and i'm just glad i had Elder Duane say the prayer, because i would probably have started chuckling. Oh well.
Also, we tried visiting a less active member of the ward. While we were talking to whoever opened the door, we heard a very audible and clear voice from the background, "Tell them you cant talk to them!"
Also, last night my companion was asked by someone, "who are you?" but with several profanities laced through it. He was just kinda like.....uhhhhhhh....but we lived.
The weather had been pretty hot this week. Mid 90's, and HUMIDITY. Not as much rain as last week. The rain really helps cool things down.
Missionary life goes well. We will be getting the new Presidente this week. He comes in on Friday i believe. On Saturday we'll find out what we are doing for transfers. We are getting 14 new elders this transfer. A lot of people are going home this transfer and the one after it, so there will be a lot of changes around the mission. It is going to get a lot younger by the time the summer is over.
I realized yesterday that i turn a good 9 months old on Wednesday, which also happens to be the Prophet's 97'th birthday. Many reasons to celebrate.
This morning we went out for a zone activity and played soccer, football and kickball. It was raining a little bit, which made it funner. Hopefully this rule of "one activity a month on p-days" will go with the new president, because it makes things a lot funner. Just getting out and getting some good excericise.
We've had some pretty cool lightning and thunder storms of late.
I enjoyed the e-mails. I thought the other day to myself, ok...we are out from 10 to 9....thats almost 12 hours of work.....now dad is going to be swimming, biking, and running for at least 13 hours or so......hmmm...... I must say, that is impressive, even for an old man, oh i mean even for a man like yourself.
Question: I told the Bishop here we were getting Pebble Tec back home. He does the installing of it here in the Orlando area. So, he asked me who is doing it. He said he thinks he knows the man who does it up in our area. Is it Adams? Maybe that is his last name. If so, ask him if he knows a Kim Liljenquist. That is pronounced without the j. (Lilyenquist) But hey, if he does know him, talk about a perfect opportunity to bring up the church....so do you know Kim Liljenquist? Oh you do? Well my son knows him very well.....he is in Orlando....you know how it goes.
Well i think thats about all i can remember about the week. I read a lot of Conference talks and such things. I enjoy you sending me the church news. President Farnsworth told us, "The best convert you should ever make as a missionary in your 2 years is yourself." Some of my favorite talks of late are from the april 2007 conference, Elder Uchtdorf's and President Hinckley's, when he retol the vision Joseph F. Smith had, the "You're late...." "Yes, but i'm clean" talk. Today i read in 3 Nephi, somewhere in Chapter 5, where when the people began to believe in Christ, it says they immediatley began to forsake all their wrongdoings, to serve God with ALL diligence both day and night. They took their belief, and they transformed it into faith, by living what they believed. President Farnsworth would ask, "Are you a missionary who beleives, or a missionary who excercises faith?" So we all have to answer to that same question, "Do i believe, or do i have faith?". Love ya. - Elder marcus.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Shut up, Turds--June 18, 2007
I can't believe we are halfway through June. Summer starts in a few days, at least the calendar changes over to summer. Summer started long ago here in Florida. It has been hot, but it doesn't bother me too much. This past week we had some HUGE rainstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday, some good wind on one of the days. We were in our car for both days, and some of the roads we were on had some decent water flow, so we just stopped at the church and took cover till it was done. Then, on Friday it rained again, but we were on bikes this time. It wasn't too bad, because we found a place to take cover about a minute away. On Saturday i caught a glimpse of the weekly weather report for this week and it had the thunderstorm clouds for every day of the week.
Well last week was an interesting one. We are now no longer teaching anyone who we were teaching as of last week. We fasted on Wednesday for the area to see some success and on that same day either we dropped someone, or they dropped us. Interesting how that worked out. But we also had some success finding a couple new people to teach, although one has already been dropped because her husband doesn't want us coming over. Oh well.
One common theme from the week was eating. I can recall two meals in which i didnt want to eat more, but was forced to. On Wednesday night, i had a HUGE plateful of lasagna. I ate it all, and she asked if i wanted more. Apparently she interpereted my "No thank you, i am full" as a "Shovel me up another plateful sista!" I finished it all. Then we had ice cream. The second occasion was on Saturday, when we ate at a Spanish member's house. She didn't speak much English, but her husband did. Plus i was there with one of the Spanish missionaries. We are teaching the husband now. But she made us dinner, as all the Spanish people do, (there is no visit without food) and she asking me if i wanted more pollo, but i was hearing it as "take more chicken!" and so i jsut kept eating. Then, once again, we had ice cream. I think i gained 6 pounds this week.....last time i weighed in at 159, and yesterday i was at 166.....talk about a change in diet (the proper use of the word diet has just been shown).
I don't know if i told you about the frog that was on our porch, well apparently it fried up. And neither of us have the guts to pick it up and move it, so it still layes there, skin and bones.
We had some funny lessons this week. I asked one man when he gets stressed throughout the day, and we went for a half hour straight telling me of one incident that happened weeks ago in which he got stressed out. It was really pointless, and it was hot. We also taught someone who kept their eyes closed the whole time, and i wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not. (Note: That happened back in St. Cloud) Yesterday we commited someone for baptism in July and i commited him to live the Word of Wisdome. USually we'll ask which parts of it they';ll need to quit doing. Most often, it is tobacco. Well for the first time, the reply was "All of it. All 5 of them"
For Fathers Day we were given ties made out of candy bars, and of course the running joke at church was, "You missionaries can't have kids!" har-har-har, real funny. But after church we ate some steaks over at the Giffen's.
This morning we went to the driving range. I'll send you some pics. Boy was i happy. I only bought 35 golf balls to hit, and gave some to Elder Duane, but just after a few i wished i was out on the course. Although we went at like 10 in the morning and it is way too hot to go out and golf for a couple hours. We were only there for like 15 minutes.
Elder Duane, and this may interest Mike, was a avid Homestar Runner fan back home, so he knows all the songs, and sometimes i can sing along with him. Always will i remember when Strongbad interviews Homestar for that job, "I doubt it, i dwove." or the classic song, "I said come on, fghwgads, everybody to the limit, everybody to the limit, everybody come fghwgads."
The past week has been a good experience. We had one occasion where we went to a house to teach someone, who wasn't there, bu ended up teaching whoever was there, and she was reading from the Book of Mormon before we even finished teaching the lesson. She doesn't live around here, but she was definately the one who was prepared for that lesson.
That actually happened a couple times this week. On another occasion, we stopped and talked to a lady for a few seconds one day and she said to come back another time. So we stopped by the next day, and she wasnt there, but her son was, and we taught him everything and will be going back this week.
My companion still has a tough time talking to people. I've generally just been telling him to talk to certain people, but for a few days this week i decided i wouldnt make him do it and see if it got done.....and it didn't get done. So i just got to keep making sure he talks to people.
This week we tested out a myth we were told. If you bury a balloon under the ground, and then pop the balloon, the ground kinda rises and then drops like a sinkhole. Maybe we did something wrong, and maybe it didn't work because we covered it in sand, but nothing happened, just the balloon popped. By the way, there really isn't any dirt in Florida, just sand.
Well thats about all i got. Life goes on. 2 more weeks to the transfer, then will see where i go, or if i stay. I wouldn't really mind staying. I like it here, but we'll see. I'll be heading out now. Take care. Have fun with the pool getting redone, that rhymes by the way. No more rhymes and i mean it, anybody want a peanut? Love ya
Well last week was an interesting one. We are now no longer teaching anyone who we were teaching as of last week. We fasted on Wednesday for the area to see some success and on that same day either we dropped someone, or they dropped us. Interesting how that worked out. But we also had some success finding a couple new people to teach, although one has already been dropped because her husband doesn't want us coming over. Oh well.
One common theme from the week was eating. I can recall two meals in which i didnt want to eat more, but was forced to. On Wednesday night, i had a HUGE plateful of lasagna. I ate it all, and she asked if i wanted more. Apparently she interpereted my "No thank you, i am full" as a "Shovel me up another plateful sista!" I finished it all. Then we had ice cream. The second occasion was on Saturday, when we ate at a Spanish member's house. She didn't speak much English, but her husband did. Plus i was there with one of the Spanish missionaries. We are teaching the husband now. But she made us dinner, as all the Spanish people do, (there is no visit without food) and she asking me if i wanted more pollo, but i was hearing it as "take more chicken!" and so i jsut kept eating. Then, once again, we had ice cream. I think i gained 6 pounds this week.....last time i weighed in at 159, and yesterday i was at 166.....talk about a change in diet (the proper use of the word diet has just been shown).
I don't know if i told you about the frog that was on our porch, well apparently it fried up. And neither of us have the guts to pick it up and move it, so it still layes there, skin and bones.
We had some funny lessons this week. I asked one man when he gets stressed throughout the day, and we went for a half hour straight telling me of one incident that happened weeks ago in which he got stressed out. It was really pointless, and it was hot. We also taught someone who kept their eyes closed the whole time, and i wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not. (Note: That happened back in St. Cloud) Yesterday we commited someone for baptism in July and i commited him to live the Word of Wisdome. USually we'll ask which parts of it they';ll need to quit doing. Most often, it is tobacco. Well for the first time, the reply was "All of it. All 5 of them"
For Fathers Day we were given ties made out of candy bars, and of course the running joke at church was, "You missionaries can't have kids!" har-har-har, real funny. But after church we ate some steaks over at the Giffen's.
This morning we went to the driving range. I'll send you some pics. Boy was i happy. I only bought 35 golf balls to hit, and gave some to Elder Duane, but just after a few i wished i was out on the course. Although we went at like 10 in the morning and it is way too hot to go out and golf for a couple hours. We were only there for like 15 minutes.
Elder Duane, and this may interest Mike, was a avid Homestar Runner fan back home, so he knows all the songs, and sometimes i can sing along with him. Always will i remember when Strongbad interviews Homestar for that job, "I doubt it, i dwove." or the classic song, "I said come on, fghwgads, everybody to the limit, everybody to the limit, everybody come fghwgads."
The past week has been a good experience. We had one occasion where we went to a house to teach someone, who wasn't there, bu ended up teaching whoever was there, and she was reading from the Book of Mormon before we even finished teaching the lesson. She doesn't live around here, but she was definately the one who was prepared for that lesson.
That actually happened a couple times this week. On another occasion, we stopped and talked to a lady for a few seconds one day and she said to come back another time. So we stopped by the next day, and she wasnt there, but her son was, and we taught him everything and will be going back this week.
My companion still has a tough time talking to people. I've generally just been telling him to talk to certain people, but for a few days this week i decided i wouldnt make him do it and see if it got done.....and it didn't get done. So i just got to keep making sure he talks to people.
This week we tested out a myth we were told. If you bury a balloon under the ground, and then pop the balloon, the ground kinda rises and then drops like a sinkhole. Maybe we did something wrong, and maybe it didn't work because we covered it in sand, but nothing happened, just the balloon popped. By the way, there really isn't any dirt in Florida, just sand.
Well thats about all i got. Life goes on. 2 more weeks to the transfer, then will see where i go, or if i stay. I wouldn't really mind staying. I like it here, but we'll see. I'll be heading out now. Take care. Have fun with the pool getting redone, that rhymes by the way. No more rhymes and i mean it, anybody want a peanut? Love ya
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
May 29: Illusion Michael, it's an illusion!
greetings and sulutations my loved ones. as you could probably have guessed, yesterday the places were closed so we weren't able to e-mail. I think it was Memorial Day, maybe Veterans. Well i guess that goes to show you how much of a holiday it was for us. Actually, 'i'm pretty sure it was memorial. I called a member of the ward, and he picked up and said, "Hello, this is Mark Bendoski, How are you doing? Happy memorial day." ....One comment at a time! I didn't even know where to begin in responding to all of that.
We went bowling. we bowled 4 games. I got frustrated on the 2'nd game because we were doing team bowling, and all my companion had to do for us to win was knock down two pins in the final frame and we would win......ya, he got one. It was okay though. I got over it. My highest score was a 180 yesterday. Those bowling shoes i bought sure make a difference :).
Last Monday i bought another suit, but this one reached the all-time low price of a whopping 3 dollars and 50 cents! And it looks like a million bucks. Elder Ostler called from his new area and said he found a suit that he will bring to me at zone conference. That is going to put me up to a grand total of 7 suits that i have now. And keep in mind i came out with 1. Thrift store after thrift store has kindly donated to my collection.
On Tuesday we had transfers and i got my new missionary companion, Elder Duane, and guess what, he is a Canuck! Luckily it hasnt been the source of any contention yet. He's been out 5 months now. He can play the recorder pretty well, which is nice. Can't go wrong with a little recorder action. I must say i enjoy being senior companion a lot. I like setting the work load. This last week we made tons of progress with one of our investigators, Jaira Cuthbert. We had a sweet bomb diggity lesson Friday night.
We just drove over because we had about an hour left in the day, and so we were just gonna stop by and set something up. So i just asked if we could come in and we did. I then turned to my companion and asked, "So, any ideas?" I sure do love unplanned lessons. But it went really well. We read from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 59 of why church is so important, and it finally registered to her why she needed to be at church, and she did come. It was one of those lessons where you don't really remember what you said. Just like the hymn we sing says....."let the holy spirit guide..." and thats about all i know of it.
Sunday morning was one of the most anxiety filled mornings of my mission. We met someone at 8 20 am to go pick up people for church. Well he set off the car alarm, which came with CAR ALARM 10.0 or something outrageous like that, and he couldn't get it to turn off. So he starts driving down the road, with everyone coming outsire to see what the noise is. Finally i just said, we need to turn around and get this off, i'm not picking people up in this thing. Plus, the power had just gone out, so the cops were out doing the intersections. Keep in mind that time is still running. Finally we figure out how to turn it off every time it came back on, so we drove past some cops and quickly turned it off, and they looked at us for awhile. Luckily we never got stopped. So we get to the first persons house, Jaira, and she is in her PJ's. So i told her to come at 9 30 and i'll be outside. Then we got our other person, Alexander, and that went fine.
Well 9 30 comes and i go stand outside.....and wait....and wait....finally i gave up and went back into sacrament meeting, thinking she never came. My blood was pumpin! But then when the meeting was over i walked out into the foyer (check with Justin Jones on the pronunciation of that one) and she was sitting their with her two kids. That sure made my day.
Anyways, Alexander is scheduled to be baptixed this saturday at 10 am, Jaira the next Saturday. We were supposed to meet with Alexander and set up the program last night, but he didn't get home till...well actually i'm not sure right now if he came home. :) Sure do love the week before baptisms. So we could use some prayers with this one.
Other than that things are going pretty well. Oh ya, last Monday we got a phone call from the Assisstants, and they told us we now have the car all the time. I think this is the first time i told you that......right? Well either way, it is nice. Especially with the summer time and what not. My companion is doing well, just need to help him get up in the morning. But i'm used to that. Good to hear Mike got himself an internship. Working the good old 9 to 5. Mom, you said that will be new for him. Well, Mike once worked a 6:30 to 10:30, so i think he shouldn't mind it.
Oh ya i met some lady yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot from Boston. I told her i used to live in Connecticut, and she was so upset when i said we lived in California now. Oh well. Sister Knudson, the lady in the ward with the two kids, single mom, who we have been trying to help quit smoking, is now on day 31 smoke free. Thats the longest she's gone in 30 years or so. Well, thats about all for now. Sounds like you've got some traveling to look forward to these next few weeks. Hope ya have fun, send me some pictures. My companion's name is Elder Duane, he is from Cardston, Alberta,......Canada.
Love, your third born
We went bowling. we bowled 4 games. I got frustrated on the 2'nd game because we were doing team bowling, and all my companion had to do for us to win was knock down two pins in the final frame and we would win......ya, he got one. It was okay though. I got over it. My highest score was a 180 yesterday. Those bowling shoes i bought sure make a difference :).
Last Monday i bought another suit, but this one reached the all-time low price of a whopping 3 dollars and 50 cents! And it looks like a million bucks. Elder Ostler called from his new area and said he found a suit that he will bring to me at zone conference. That is going to put me up to a grand total of 7 suits that i have now. And keep in mind i came out with 1. Thrift store after thrift store has kindly donated to my collection.
On Tuesday we had transfers and i got my new missionary companion, Elder Duane, and guess what, he is a Canuck! Luckily it hasnt been the source of any contention yet. He's been out 5 months now. He can play the recorder pretty well, which is nice. Can't go wrong with a little recorder action. I must say i enjoy being senior companion a lot. I like setting the work load. This last week we made tons of progress with one of our investigators, Jaira Cuthbert. We had a sweet bomb diggity lesson Friday night.
We just drove over because we had about an hour left in the day, and so we were just gonna stop by and set something up. So i just asked if we could come in and we did. I then turned to my companion and asked, "So, any ideas?" I sure do love unplanned lessons. But it went really well. We read from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 59 of why church is so important, and it finally registered to her why she needed to be at church, and she did come. It was one of those lessons where you don't really remember what you said. Just like the hymn we sing says....."let the holy spirit guide..." and thats about all i know of it.
Sunday morning was one of the most anxiety filled mornings of my mission. We met someone at 8 20 am to go pick up people for church. Well he set off the car alarm, which came with CAR ALARM 10.0 or something outrageous like that, and he couldn't get it to turn off. So he starts driving down the road, with everyone coming outsire to see what the noise is. Finally i just said, we need to turn around and get this off, i'm not picking people up in this thing. Plus, the power had just gone out, so the cops were out doing the intersections. Keep in mind that time is still running. Finally we figure out how to turn it off every time it came back on, so we drove past some cops and quickly turned it off, and they looked at us for awhile. Luckily we never got stopped. So we get to the first persons house, Jaira, and she is in her PJ's. So i told her to come at 9 30 and i'll be outside. Then we got our other person, Alexander, and that went fine.
Well 9 30 comes and i go stand outside.....and wait....and wait....finally i gave up and went back into sacrament meeting, thinking she never came. My blood was pumpin! But then when the meeting was over i walked out into the foyer (check with Justin Jones on the pronunciation of that one) and she was sitting their with her two kids. That sure made my day.
Anyways, Alexander is scheduled to be baptixed this saturday at 10 am, Jaira the next Saturday. We were supposed to meet with Alexander and set up the program last night, but he didn't get home till...well actually i'm not sure right now if he came home. :) Sure do love the week before baptisms. So we could use some prayers with this one.
Other than that things are going pretty well. Oh ya, last Monday we got a phone call from the Assisstants, and they told us we now have the car all the time. I think this is the first time i told you that......right? Well either way, it is nice. Especially with the summer time and what not. My companion is doing well, just need to help him get up in the morning. But i'm used to that. Good to hear Mike got himself an internship. Working the good old 9 to 5. Mom, you said that will be new for him. Well, Mike once worked a 6:30 to 10:30, so i think he shouldn't mind it.
Oh ya i met some lady yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot from Boston. I told her i used to live in Connecticut, and she was so upset when i said we lived in California now. Oh well. Sister Knudson, the lady in the ward with the two kids, single mom, who we have been trying to help quit smoking, is now on day 31 smoke free. Thats the longest she's gone in 30 years or so. Well, thats about all for now. Sounds like you've got some traveling to look forward to these next few weeks. Hope ya have fun, send me some pictures. My companion's name is Elder Duane, he is from Cardston, Alberta,......Canada.
Love, your third born
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
This One is Action Packed (see new pics)
Lots of stuff went down this week. I'll get some info out of the way first, and then tell you probably the coolest thing that has happened here, aside from missionary work.
First off, we had transfer calls on Saturday, and i got to call in for the first time. woo woo. I'm gonna be staying here in Sanford another transfer and will be going senior companion. So i'll be here in Sanford for a quarter of my mission at least, by the time this transfer is over. My companion is going to be Elder Duane. He has been out 4 1/2 months. I've seen him a couple times. I know who trained him and who is with him now, and they are both cool dudes, so he should be in good shape. Also, the Spanish missionaries are both leaving, and no one is coming into their area. So we live in a 4-man apartment, and it will just be the two of us, so there will be a lot of room. It should be fun.
We were going to have a baptism this upcoming Saturday, the 26'th. We had it all scheduled and everything, but he called at 2 am Sunday morning and said he wouldnt be able to make it to church, so his baptism will now be scheduled for June 2'nd.
The "love bugs" are out in full force already. I mentioned bugs that the University of Florida created to eat mosquitoes, but they dont do that. The dont do anything really. Just multiply and die. So they aren't all that annoying, but there are so many of those suckers around. They come out twice a year, for about a month or so each time. Once around now and once towards late Summer.
I'm happy to be staying in the area and looking forward to the next 6 weeks. Elder Ostler is going to a place called Lecanto, which is only known for the fact that people like to eat squirrel out there, so you can imagine he is thrilled to be going out there.
Now on to the really cool story. Tuesday afternoon, we were driving down a street. We saw a man booking it, just running as fast as he could, with a bag. And we thought, just joking around, that he had stolen something and took off. We drive around the bend and we see a car, up in someones yard, crashed into a lightpole, which had been knocked over. So we put two and two together, pulled over and asked someone what happened. They said that guy just crashed and took off running. Well there weren't any cops around or anyone else......so guess who had to go chase him down......Elder and Ostler and I started running in hot pursuit and apprehended the madman until the cops came. The story of what actually happened is quite funny. He had stopped to pick up a turtle in the road. He then started driving again, but the turtle was bugging him and he couldn't get it off him. So he wasn't paying attention and went off the road into someone's yard and hit a pole. His license was suspended, so he took off running, because he didnt want to get arrested, since his wife was pregnant. Now....what was in the bag? Vegetbale oil and one box of rice-a-roni. Just getting some groceries. And you are probably wondering about the turtle. The creature survived with just a few scratches. Ya see, turtles have a protective shell to shield them from these types of accidents, and he was just chillin' in his shell. The cops eventually came and asked the guy if he wanted them to call paramedics for his turtle. So he tried to do a good thing and ended up in a wreck. We don't know what happened to him, but i got some pics by the scene. You should try to find an online news site for Sanford newspaper and see if we made it in the paper ever. I just wonder what people saw as they drove past and saw a man with blood on his face being chased by two missionaries in slacks, white shirts, ties, and dress shoes. It was fun though.
That's about all that happened this week. I did get my hat from Mike and Leslie. It was just sitting in the apartment office. Apparently they dont worry about delivering thigns to us when UPS drops it off.
So my address is still the same and will be for another 6 weeks. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL 32773. Hope you enjoy the pics. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya lots
First off, we had transfer calls on Saturday, and i got to call in for the first time. woo woo. I'm gonna be staying here in Sanford another transfer and will be going senior companion. So i'll be here in Sanford for a quarter of my mission at least, by the time this transfer is over. My companion is going to be Elder Duane. He has been out 4 1/2 months. I've seen him a couple times. I know who trained him and who is with him now, and they are both cool dudes, so he should be in good shape. Also, the Spanish missionaries are both leaving, and no one is coming into their area. So we live in a 4-man apartment, and it will just be the two of us, so there will be a lot of room. It should be fun.
We were going to have a baptism this upcoming Saturday, the 26'th. We had it all scheduled and everything, but he called at 2 am Sunday morning and said he wouldnt be able to make it to church, so his baptism will now be scheduled for June 2'nd.
The "love bugs" are out in full force already. I mentioned bugs that the University of Florida created to eat mosquitoes, but they dont do that. The dont do anything really. Just multiply and die. So they aren't all that annoying, but there are so many of those suckers around. They come out twice a year, for about a month or so each time. Once around now and once towards late Summer.
I'm happy to be staying in the area and looking forward to the next 6 weeks. Elder Ostler is going to a place called Lecanto, which is only known for the fact that people like to eat squirrel out there, so you can imagine he is thrilled to be going out there.
Now on to the really cool story. Tuesday afternoon, we were driving down a street. We saw a man booking it, just running as fast as he could, with a bag. And we thought, just joking around, that he had stolen something and took off. We drive around the bend and we see a car, up in someones yard, crashed into a lightpole, which had been knocked over. So we put two and two together, pulled over and asked someone what happened. They said that guy just crashed and took off running. Well there weren't any cops around or anyone else......so guess who had to go chase him down......Elder and Ostler and I started running in hot pursuit and apprehended the madman until the cops came. The story of what actually happened is quite funny. He had stopped to pick up a turtle in the road. He then started driving again, but the turtle was bugging him and he couldn't get it off him. So he wasn't paying attention and went off the road into someone's yard and hit a pole. His license was suspended, so he took off running, because he didnt want to get arrested, since his wife was pregnant. Now....what was in the bag? Vegetbale oil and one box of rice-a-roni. Just getting some groceries. And you are probably wondering about the turtle. The creature survived with just a few scratches. Ya see, turtles have a protective shell to shield them from these types of accidents, and he was just chillin' in his shell. The cops eventually came and asked the guy if he wanted them to call paramedics for his turtle. So he tried to do a good thing and ended up in a wreck. We don't know what happened to him, but i got some pics by the scene. You should try to find an online news site for Sanford newspaper and see if we made it in the paper ever. I just wonder what people saw as they drove past and saw a man with blood on his face being chased by two missionaries in slacks, white shirts, ties, and dress shoes. It was fun though.
That's about all that happened this week. I did get my hat from Mike and Leslie. It was just sitting in the apartment office. Apparently they dont worry about delivering thigns to us when UPS drops it off.
So my address is still the same and will be for another 6 weeks. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL 32773. Hope you enjoy the pics. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya lots
Sunday, May 13, 2007
May 7 Letter---But I sure do love fignewtons
That one comes from Talladega Nights. This last week had a few firsts in my 7 1/2 months of serving the Almighty. I was blessed with a popped tire. We were riding to an appointment kind of in the ghetto when my tire just decided to get deflated on me. Well, it turned out i piece of glass piereced the tire and went through the whole tube, both sides. Well we pulled over, stopped at the Agricultural Market, and patched it up. Then, I started pumping the tube back up and broke the stem. So we decided we REALLY weren't supposed to go to that appointment at 10:30. Who knows what would have gone down in S-Town. That rhymed, in case you didn't notice.
That day, one of Elder Ostlers companions who has since returned home came out and visited with his family. They took us out to Chipotle and then they went ahead and bought me a new tire. I just thought they were joking about paying for it but they went ahead and got it. Sure was nice of them. So the bike was fixed in no time and we were back at it.
Not too much happened this week. I went on exchanges with our Zone Leader Elder Jones, who we always joke about being the most spiritual person in the world, who gives counsel to President Farnsworth. He's just on top of things. Anyways we had some cool experiences tracting teaching. He also possesses the deepest voice on the face of the earth, which i am sure at times registers on the richter scale, or whatever that earthquake thing is called. We went tracting and ran from house to house. We got a lot of free water out of it. It was a good exchange. He said i was well on my way.
Brother Little Joe Rodgers let us down a little bit this week. He called at 8:10 am on Sunday morning and said that since they slept in, the wouldnt be able to come to church. He had called his neighbors, who we are teaching, and told them that they shouldn't plan on going because his family wouldnt be going. It was really weird. I couldnt say, "Brother Rodgers, its only 8:00 am, you still have an hour to get to church, and even if you are a few minutes late, thats not a problem." Well maybe i should have said that, but i didn't. But we went over after church and taught the neighbors again. She is rock solid. She, Julie, has a Buddhist background but is just drinking it all in and reading more than we give her. This Friday we're planning on going on a Temple Tour over in Orlando, which would be nice because its been a few months since i've gone. WE usually try to get everyone we teach over there.
That was the extent of the week. Jsut usual missionary work. one guy said he wouldnt calm down until he pulled his foot out of our.....pants? It was pretty funny. I also met a guy in our ward who moved in who is from PLeasant Grove. I forgot his name, but i'll get it again. I said, my grandparents are all from there. He looked at my nametag, "Barton.......school principal?" I said, "Yep, thats my grandpa." So i asked him if he knew any Ringgers. He said he new Nathan Ringger and his dad who was the mission president. So i said, "Yep, my cousin and uncle." Small world huh.
This morning we had a lesson with one of our investigators with a date for May 19'th and it isnt looking hot at the moment. I pulled a pretty gutsy move and told him we aren't going to schedule another appointment, because we dont want him to read just because we are coming back.
Yesterday Elder Ostler decided to become 100% obedient, and so i hopped on the bandwagon and we are shooting for the perfect obedience, not just 95% or so. This will be an interesting experience as we approach the obedience with exactness to everything. But we already felt it this morning as we felt prompted to not set a return appointment. It is now completely up to our investigator and his desires. WE told him he will be rewarded according to his desires.
I had some cool experiences as we fasted yesterday and i read from the scriptures. I had a pretty cool experience as things were just unfolded before me in the scriptures. Alma 42 is a little complicated to read, but boy do i understand it all now. The Plan of Redemption is based upon the law, which law brings about a punishment, or a consequence. This consequence brings about remorse of conscience, or sorrow, your common feeling of guilt, which brings us to be humble and leads us to repentance. Repentance is the purpose of this life, to serve God. Repentance is made possible through the plan of Mercy, brought about by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which brings us back into the presence of God. Make sense? Its a fun one.
That was the week in a nutshell (hey look! this is me in a nut shell). Remember what movie that is from? TOnight the Zone LEaders are going to be in our area so they are just gonna sleep over at our place. It should be fun. This will be my first sleepover on my mission. A lot of sleepovers take place, just not legally. I dont know id "legally" is the right word, but you catch my drift. I'll send some pics from the Science Center when we visited last monday.
Just remembered. I'm calling home this Sunday. Boo ya. I have church from 9-12. So i guess i can call anytime after that, 9 your time. We'll have to keep it to about 40 minutes, since we are going for complete obedience. I guess i'll call Saturday night and set up a time, like i did for Christmas. I guess you'll be at church at some point in the day, but we'll figure out when i'll call. Take care. I send my love through this electronic world. Love ya.
That day, one of Elder Ostlers companions who has since returned home came out and visited with his family. They took us out to Chipotle and then they went ahead and bought me a new tire. I just thought they were joking about paying for it but they went ahead and got it. Sure was nice of them. So the bike was fixed in no time and we were back at it.
Not too much happened this week. I went on exchanges with our Zone Leader Elder Jones, who we always joke about being the most spiritual person in the world, who gives counsel to President Farnsworth. He's just on top of things. Anyways we had some cool experiences tracting teaching. He also possesses the deepest voice on the face of the earth, which i am sure at times registers on the richter scale, or whatever that earthquake thing is called. We went tracting and ran from house to house. We got a lot of free water out of it. It was a good exchange. He said i was well on my way.
Brother Little Joe Rodgers let us down a little bit this week. He called at 8:10 am on Sunday morning and said that since they slept in, the wouldnt be able to come to church. He had called his neighbors, who we are teaching, and told them that they shouldn't plan on going because his family wouldnt be going. It was really weird. I couldnt say, "Brother Rodgers, its only 8:00 am, you still have an hour to get to church, and even if you are a few minutes late, thats not a problem." Well maybe i should have said that, but i didn't. But we went over after church and taught the neighbors again. She is rock solid. She, Julie, has a Buddhist background but is just drinking it all in and reading more than we give her. This Friday we're planning on going on a Temple Tour over in Orlando, which would be nice because its been a few months since i've gone. WE usually try to get everyone we teach over there.
That was the extent of the week. Jsut usual missionary work. one guy said he wouldnt calm down until he pulled his foot out of our.....pants? It was pretty funny. I also met a guy in our ward who moved in who is from PLeasant Grove. I forgot his name, but i'll get it again. I said, my grandparents are all from there. He looked at my nametag, "Barton.......school principal?" I said, "Yep, thats my grandpa." So i asked him if he knew any Ringgers. He said he new Nathan Ringger and his dad who was the mission president. So i said, "Yep, my cousin and uncle." Small world huh.
This morning we had a lesson with one of our investigators with a date for May 19'th and it isnt looking hot at the moment. I pulled a pretty gutsy move and told him we aren't going to schedule another appointment, because we dont want him to read just because we are coming back.
Yesterday Elder Ostler decided to become 100% obedient, and so i hopped on the bandwagon and we are shooting for the perfect obedience, not just 95% or so. This will be an interesting experience as we approach the obedience with exactness to everything. But we already felt it this morning as we felt prompted to not set a return appointment. It is now completely up to our investigator and his desires. WE told him he will be rewarded according to his desires.
I had some cool experiences as we fasted yesterday and i read from the scriptures. I had a pretty cool experience as things were just unfolded before me in the scriptures. Alma 42 is a little complicated to read, but boy do i understand it all now. The Plan of Redemption is based upon the law, which law brings about a punishment, or a consequence. This consequence brings about remorse of conscience, or sorrow, your common feeling of guilt, which brings us to be humble and leads us to repentance. Repentance is the purpose of this life, to serve God. Repentance is made possible through the plan of Mercy, brought about by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which brings us back into the presence of God. Make sense? Its a fun one.
That was the week in a nutshell (hey look! this is me in a nut shell). Remember what movie that is from? TOnight the Zone LEaders are going to be in our area so they are just gonna sleep over at our place. It should be fun. This will be my first sleepover on my mission. A lot of sleepovers take place, just not legally. I dont know id "legally" is the right word, but you catch my drift. I'll send some pics from the Science Center when we visited last monday.
Just remembered. I'm calling home this Sunday. Boo ya. I have church from 9-12. So i guess i can call anytime after that, 9 your time. We'll have to keep it to about 40 minutes, since we are going for complete obedience. I guess i'll call Saturday night and set up a time, like i did for Christmas. I guess you'll be at church at some point in the day, but we'll figure out when i'll call. Take care. I send my love through this electronic world. Love ya.
April 30 Letter
Hey there. Been a pretty cool week. Did some service, bought something, and got some work done.
Last Monday i was at JC Penny before we went to a dinner, and i saw a deal to buy a suit jacket and then get the pants for 88 cents. So i went for it. I sure do love the suit. Its a dark gray looking thing. I'll have to snap a photo of it sometime this week so you can see it.
On Tuesday we layed down some sod for some members of the ward. Did about half their backyard. It was pretty fun hauling grass around.
I guess the real cool part of the week all happened yesterday. Well i'll talk a little more about the rest of the week first. Not a whole lot happened, but we managed to make some good progress with some people who we taught a month or so ago and they told us they would call us. Usually when someone says "we'll call you" it means they wont. anyways, she called last week and wanted us to come back over. She had a death in the family and so that prompted her to call us. Although, when we got there she said, "I wanted to tell you that you are being misled and you need to realize that." Luckily, not the first time i;ve walked into a teaching appointment and heard that. Let me just say that 30 minutes later she was crying and promised that she was wrong by saying that, and apologized, and is going to read and pray and do all those things. There's the spirit for you.
Then on Sunday, we hadn't found anyone new to teach so far in the week. Well first off, on Wednesday we had Zone Conference and President Farnsworth was talking about faith and made most of us realize maybe our faith wasn't all that strong. He said a lot of us are missionaries that believe but we dont have any faith. Then he built us back up. What a tactic. Anyways, Elder Ostler was really into the talk, because that something he's been struglling with, and so this week he has been much more diligent when it comes to missionary work, so that was a good thing. Anyways, Sunday came and we hadn't found anyone and we had set a goal to find 4 people this week. Elder Ostler's faith was getting low. He said on Sunday, "well it looks like we wont have any." So i said something along the lines of, "We still got one more day. Let's go bring in the sheaves." I dont even know what "bring in the sheaves" really means but i said it. So we knelt down and prayed. Here is where it gets pretty cool. I opened the door to leave, walked back inside real quick to grab something, and then went back outside. There was a man satnding there with his dog and he asked "So do you go to the flight school?" (There is a Delta flight school right by us and a lot of people in the academy live in the complex) So i told him who we were and he said he was really curious and told us to come by at 8 that night. He's 25 or so. So we went back later and talked with him for awhile and he was really interested, fascinated by all the information i guess. He said he was all tingly and getting goosebumps the whole time. It was a pretty cool experience.
In the middle of that story, before we went back to teach him at night, another cool thing happened. We were riding around talking to people and i started talking to one guy while he was doing yardwork. He said he always wanted to order a Book of Mormon and read more, but for some reason never called. So we talked for a little bit, then he said, "Ya know, i'd like to invite you in for some Kool-Aid." So we drank some Kool-Aid, gave him the Book of Mormon that he had always wanted, and set up a time to come back this week. He also invited us to stay for dinner but we had to leave.
But just like that we found some really cool people. And it was all a test of our faith throughout the week. Sunday came and it was one of the easiest days i've had to find people who would listen.
That was really all i had for the week. I'll send some pictures to you in another e-mail. Got in a pretty decent spiritual throw down with another man this week. It was done in somewhat a manner of politeness but i probably wasted 40 minutes just going back and forth with him. Not the best thing to do with our time.
Yesterday for church we had a Stake Conference and it was one of the ebst i've ever been to i think. Brother Rodgers and his family brought their neighbors, who we have taught a couple times. On Friday we were talking to them, she is Buddhist but it was cool because at the end she said she believes in Jesus Christ. Anyways, Bro Rodgers got them to Stake Conference and sat them down on the front row. Perfect place for visitors! The music was really good. The stake choir was rivaling the Tabernacle Choir it seemed like. All the talks were really good.
One lady told her conversion story when she was baptized about a year ago. It might have been the best talk i've ever heard. She told her life story pretty much. Her talk was called "Searching for the truth, but not knowing where to find it." All these stories of people telling her when she was young that her grandparents were going to hell because they died without doing certain things and other stories like that. 20 years later she finally found the fulness of the truth. It was a good one.
I got your package of food. That oatmel is really good. I've been eating a lot of oatmeal of late. Dont think i'll need to buy much food this week. It was very hot the past few days. Excited for the summer.....
I heard the Warriors are up 3-1 against Dallas. Talk about miracles! I hope all is well back home or whever everyone is. Congra(g)ulations to Her for graduating from college. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya.
Last Monday i was at JC Penny before we went to a dinner, and i saw a deal to buy a suit jacket and then get the pants for 88 cents. So i went for it. I sure do love the suit. Its a dark gray looking thing. I'll have to snap a photo of it sometime this week so you can see it.
On Tuesday we layed down some sod for some members of the ward. Did about half their backyard. It was pretty fun hauling grass around.
I guess the real cool part of the week all happened yesterday. Well i'll talk a little more about the rest of the week first. Not a whole lot happened, but we managed to make some good progress with some people who we taught a month or so ago and they told us they would call us. Usually when someone says "we'll call you" it means they wont. anyways, she called last week and wanted us to come back over. She had a death in the family and so that prompted her to call us. Although, when we got there she said, "I wanted to tell you that you are being misled and you need to realize that." Luckily, not the first time i;ve walked into a teaching appointment and heard that. Let me just say that 30 minutes later she was crying and promised that she was wrong by saying that, and apologized, and is going to read and pray and do all those things. There's the spirit for you.
Then on Sunday, we hadn't found anyone new to teach so far in the week. Well first off, on Wednesday we had Zone Conference and President Farnsworth was talking about faith and made most of us realize maybe our faith wasn't all that strong. He said a lot of us are missionaries that believe but we dont have any faith. Then he built us back up. What a tactic. Anyways, Elder Ostler was really into the talk, because that something he's been struglling with, and so this week he has been much more diligent when it comes to missionary work, so that was a good thing. Anyways, Sunday came and we hadn't found anyone and we had set a goal to find 4 people this week. Elder Ostler's faith was getting low. He said on Sunday, "well it looks like we wont have any." So i said something along the lines of, "We still got one more day. Let's go bring in the sheaves." I dont even know what "bring in the sheaves" really means but i said it. So we knelt down and prayed. Here is where it gets pretty cool. I opened the door to leave, walked back inside real quick to grab something, and then went back outside. There was a man satnding there with his dog and he asked "So do you go to the flight school?" (There is a Delta flight school right by us and a lot of people in the academy live in the complex) So i told him who we were and he said he was really curious and told us to come by at 8 that night. He's 25 or so. So we went back later and talked with him for awhile and he was really interested, fascinated by all the information i guess. He said he was all tingly and getting goosebumps the whole time. It was a pretty cool experience.
In the middle of that story, before we went back to teach him at night, another cool thing happened. We were riding around talking to people and i started talking to one guy while he was doing yardwork. He said he always wanted to order a Book of Mormon and read more, but for some reason never called. So we talked for a little bit, then he said, "Ya know, i'd like to invite you in for some Kool-Aid." So we drank some Kool-Aid, gave him the Book of Mormon that he had always wanted, and set up a time to come back this week. He also invited us to stay for dinner but we had to leave.
But just like that we found some really cool people. And it was all a test of our faith throughout the week. Sunday came and it was one of the easiest days i've had to find people who would listen.
That was really all i had for the week. I'll send some pictures to you in another e-mail. Got in a pretty decent spiritual throw down with another man this week. It was done in somewhat a manner of politeness but i probably wasted 40 minutes just going back and forth with him. Not the best thing to do with our time.
Yesterday for church we had a Stake Conference and it was one of the ebst i've ever been to i think. Brother Rodgers and his family brought their neighbors, who we have taught a couple times. On Friday we were talking to them, she is Buddhist but it was cool because at the end she said she believes in Jesus Christ. Anyways, Bro Rodgers got them to Stake Conference and sat them down on the front row. Perfect place for visitors! The music was really good. The stake choir was rivaling the Tabernacle Choir it seemed like. All the talks were really good.
One lady told her conversion story when she was baptized about a year ago. It might have been the best talk i've ever heard. She told her life story pretty much. Her talk was called "Searching for the truth, but not knowing where to find it." All these stories of people telling her when she was young that her grandparents were going to hell because they died without doing certain things and other stories like that. 20 years later she finally found the fulness of the truth. It was a good one.
I got your package of food. That oatmel is really good. I've been eating a lot of oatmeal of late. Dont think i'll need to buy much food this week. It was very hot the past few days. Excited for the summer.....
I heard the Warriors are up 3-1 against Dallas. Talk about miracles! I hope all is well back home or whever everyone is. Congra(g)ulations to Her for graduating from college. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya.
Monday, March 26, 2007
March 27 Letter
At least some of you may find it pretty interesting. anyways, to start off, i've got a milestone coming up tomorrow. 6 months of glorious missionary work. I have to say...6 months and only 2 areas, i wouldn't trade that up for anything. I don't want to move around much. We have transfers in two weeks and it would be great to stay. Thats what we are hoping for.
Well the cool news is this.....follow me into storytime....
So it is Thursday night, i'm eating some fruity pebbles, a normal occurence, and i overhear my companion and one of the Spanish elders talking about the Apopka ward, where they both have served at some point. They were talking about the people in the ward, and i'm just coming in and out of the convo, when they hear the name.....get this....."Michael Wood." And i stopped, put my spoon down and listened some more and they said, "He went to Canada in a Spanish speaking mission." So finally, i did what i could only do, and interjected. "this michael wood doesnt by chance have flowing red hair does he?" i asked. "yep." Well long story short, these two knew the Wood family, and they have since moved to Tampa i guess, but i told them that i used to go to high school with Michael Wood. The Spanish missionary said that Mike went out with them one night, and he speaks no Spanish, and they asked him to say something and the would translate. And Michael said something like, "no, i'll try it" and he just busted out in Spanish. I thought...oh, only Michael Wood could do that. Talk about a small world.
There is a new rule surrounding P-days.....this is worse than any rule ever imagined. Brace yourself. We can't spend time on P-days with other missionaries now. For some odd reason, we can only get together twice a transfer (twice every 6 weeks) with other missionaries. So no more hours of basketball on Monday. No one understands this one. Let's just say i'm not sure how many people will follow it, and that i can just see the new mission president come in 3 months and see that rule and wonder what was going on through President Farnsworth's mind. They also want to take money away from the missionaries in the State's. That's all the state-side missions though.
Missionary work wise it was a very up and down week. No one who was progressing last week is progressing well this week. Quite a bummer. But we are still finding new people. We just aren't finding the "elect" very well. Our elect last week weren't acting like elect this week. This are is so much different than St. Cloud. There it was steady work, but here it is very up-and-down. You really don't know what to expect. Makes things a little more difficult, but that is expected. What is a mission without difficulties?
This week i left the car keys in a members car from the night before. So the next morning we walk out of the apartment and my companion sayd "You have the keys right?" Well, i didn't. I paused on the stairs, tought about the night before, and quoted one of the famous lines from arrested development....."I've made a huge mistake." My companion didn't find the same humor in the statement as i did. Anyways, the keys were where i thought they were. It jsut took all day to get them back.
Some lady told me this week while i was talking to her, "Wow, you are the nicest minister i've ever talked to." Definitely strange to be called a minister when you are 19. But we do have cards that say we are authorized ministers. Did you know i can marry someone? Don't plan on doing it, but it was just weird to be called a minister.
Thats pretty much life right now. Been writing a lot of ukelele songs and writing them down in my journal. So i'll have a nice bunch of songs when i come home to fool around with. Oatmeal rocks. Sounds like things are going swell as usual back home. I still can't really think of anything i would like for my birthday. Bummer about the sweet bomber jacket that i have to send back to that old lady. Thats about it. Love ya all. Dad mentioned something about hoping at least one of his sons would live in the bay area....if that is an open invitiation to inherit the house, then yes, i will live there. Have fun and be safe this week. It is good to hear that Annie is growing into a Grandpa Ringger chin. Keep the tradition alive.
I got the cookies mom and makenzie made this week, the ducks. the other elders really lke them as well. Oh ya, some of the candles in the envelopes you are sending have been popping out while traveling :). So i am going to be short a few candles by the time i get them all. Looks like i'll only be turning 15 or so.
Some of these life stories you are sending me are bringing back memories, and some i refuse to believe. I remember getting my checked out in little league because they all thought i had tampered with it so i could hit further. That was a great day. However, the incident in McDonald's, where you claim that i just left my mark all over the McDonald's floor as a 3 or 4 year old, i refuse to beleive. When was the incident in Maryland where we were playing whiffle ball outside and the enxt door neighbor somehow swung and managed to just nail me in the ribs. Remember that one? Good thing i was wearing my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle baseball glove and my motorcycle helmet to soften the blow. Remember those days? Or in maryland when i couldnt figure out how to slow down my bike, so i just went straight for the curb and launched myself off of the bike? Well, life is good. I'll talk to you next week. Love ya.
Well the cool news is this.....follow me into storytime....
So it is Thursday night, i'm eating some fruity pebbles, a normal occurence, and i overhear my companion and one of the Spanish elders talking about the Apopka ward, where they both have served at some point. They were talking about the people in the ward, and i'm just coming in and out of the convo, when they hear the name.....get this....."Michael Wood." And i stopped, put my spoon down and listened some more and they said, "He went to Canada in a Spanish speaking mission." So finally, i did what i could only do, and interjected. "this michael wood doesnt by chance have flowing red hair does he?" i asked. "yep." Well long story short, these two knew the Wood family, and they have since moved to Tampa i guess, but i told them that i used to go to high school with Michael Wood. The Spanish missionary said that Mike went out with them one night, and he speaks no Spanish, and they asked him to say something and the would translate. And Michael said something like, "no, i'll try it" and he just busted out in Spanish. I thought...oh, only Michael Wood could do that. Talk about a small world.
There is a new rule surrounding P-days.....this is worse than any rule ever imagined. Brace yourself. We can't spend time on P-days with other missionaries now. For some odd reason, we can only get together twice a transfer (twice every 6 weeks) with other missionaries. So no more hours of basketball on Monday. No one understands this one. Let's just say i'm not sure how many people will follow it, and that i can just see the new mission president come in 3 months and see that rule and wonder what was going on through President Farnsworth's mind. They also want to take money away from the missionaries in the State's. That's all the state-side missions though.
Missionary work wise it was a very up and down week. No one who was progressing last week is progressing well this week. Quite a bummer. But we are still finding new people. We just aren't finding the "elect" very well. Our elect last week weren't acting like elect this week. This are is so much different than St. Cloud. There it was steady work, but here it is very up-and-down. You really don't know what to expect. Makes things a little more difficult, but that is expected. What is a mission without difficulties?
This week i left the car keys in a members car from the night before. So the next morning we walk out of the apartment and my companion sayd "You have the keys right?" Well, i didn't. I paused on the stairs, tought about the night before, and quoted one of the famous lines from arrested development....."I've made a huge mistake." My companion didn't find the same humor in the statement as i did. Anyways, the keys were where i thought they were. It jsut took all day to get them back.
Some lady told me this week while i was talking to her, "Wow, you are the nicest minister i've ever talked to." Definitely strange to be called a minister when you are 19. But we do have cards that say we are authorized ministers. Did you know i can marry someone? Don't plan on doing it, but it was just weird to be called a minister.
Thats pretty much life right now. Been writing a lot of ukelele songs and writing them down in my journal. So i'll have a nice bunch of songs when i come home to fool around with. Oatmeal rocks. Sounds like things are going swell as usual back home. I still can't really think of anything i would like for my birthday. Bummer about the sweet bomber jacket that i have to send back to that old lady. Thats about it. Love ya all. Dad mentioned something about hoping at least one of his sons would live in the bay area....if that is an open invitiation to inherit the house, then yes, i will live there. Have fun and be safe this week. It is good to hear that Annie is growing into a Grandpa Ringger chin. Keep the tradition alive.
I got the cookies mom and makenzie made this week, the ducks. the other elders really lke them as well. Oh ya, some of the candles in the envelopes you are sending have been popping out while traveling :). So i am going to be short a few candles by the time i get them all. Looks like i'll only be turning 15 or so.
Some of these life stories you are sending me are bringing back memories, and some i refuse to believe. I remember getting my checked out in little league because they all thought i had tampered with it so i could hit further. That was a great day. However, the incident in McDonald's, where you claim that i just left my mark all over the McDonald's floor as a 3 or 4 year old, i refuse to beleive. When was the incident in Maryland where we were playing whiffle ball outside and the enxt door neighbor somehow swung and managed to just nail me in the ribs. Remember that one? Good thing i was wearing my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle baseball glove and my motorcycle helmet to soften the blow. Remember those days? Or in maryland when i couldnt figure out how to slow down my bike, so i just went straight for the curb and launched myself off of the bike? Well, life is good. I'll talk to you next week. Love ya.
Monday, March 12, 2007
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