Exchanges, mini-missionaries, Mandarin BOM's, Missionary rap, creeper mode, and Good ole' James!
Sounds like trek was a real blast for those who went! I defenitely would've wanted to go had I not been out here, but there's a good time and a good reason for me to be out on the mish. Also good to hear that the garden is coming back to life, and that you all are getting around fine with the work at the Ranch as well! And the Church History tour really is a blast, both spiritually and patriotically.
And as you can tell from the title, it was a pretty unique week! We had exchanges last Tuesday and I went with a certain Elder Tonn, or as I called him, comrade Tonn. They cover the area around Russell and Boulder Highway. Funny thing (thank the first amendment), he had been serving in Russia for 13 months before he was re-assigned here stateside. We still don't really know for what reason he was, but his companion had told Holt it was for safety reason. Tonn had been arrested numerous times and I guess the Russo's started to think he was more than just a missionary. The info didn't really surprise me. Elder Tonn had come from a family with anti-missionary feelings, and the guy had an attitude that is best described as a "speaks softly, carries small stick" vibe. Yeah, it was a looooong day working with him. I gained a mountain of appreciation for Holt and I's area. Still, Tonn and I taught a lesson to an investigator and I was able to share a scripture to help her out (Alma 23: 21-22, I think), plus, we had an excellent dinner with a wonderful family!
After that, though, the week progressed as normal. Holt and I spent a good deal of time trying to re-contact less actives and former investigators. And whoop-de-doo, no old mean folk in the process! We lost Cindy and Shawn though, but were blessed to find a new investigator named Rubi, who is visiting her family in the ward. She is from Taiwan and speaks Mandarin, and we were able to have her family help translate when we taught her.
Come Saturday we were assigned a mini missionary. These are Priests and Laurels who spend a certain amount of time working with full timers to see how the work is done. Holt and I were told we would have 2, and so we scrambled Friday during weekly planning to get a plan laid out. Come the next morning, and only one shows up, evidently there wasn't a second. His last name was Moon and since we had planned so excessively we didn't worry about running out of things to do. He accompanied us to two lessons, the one we gave to Rubi, and another to a boy named Kevin. The former lesson went much, much better than the latter. Kevin seems to be going through a struggle as to the direction of his life. That's what I inferred.
But on a more fun side, all the companionship's with a mini missionary got together at a chapel to have lunch, and on the way back I decided to give my missionary rap skills a test. Holt laid down a beat and it was going really good until I wrecked my flow about second verse. You do a lot of gospel-related shenanigans when you're out here I've learned. Also during exchanges we had to get inside a gated community, the same one I spoke about before, and since our remote was broke we parked a little way up the street and simply waited for someone to drive up. Kind of felt like creepers doing it, but we had Priest Moon look up funny Patrick quotes off his iPhone while we waited.
During exchanges though Holt and Simpson (Tonn's companion) went to go visit a referral they had received that led them to the home of our old friend James Koch, the guy who had gone off a religious rant to us before . Holt was too late to react when they realized where they were at. Holt told me this time, James brought out his views of the Mormon church. It wasn't pretty. But Holt and Simpson were able to correct him in all of that and eventually he just started to rant about old-guy stuff.
By the way, how long does one boil eggs for? That's the only question I have this week. Meals are going fine, and laundry is going smooth as well.
But all in all, it's been one heck of a week. And hopefully this one is even more exciting! Much thanks to your prayers and concerns and I hope all goes well with you guys as well!
Take care and remember to know that God loves us all.
Love you guys!
Michael
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