Monday, September 14, 2015

September 14, 2015

Hey Mom!

This Week:
Santa Claus, a most classy dinner, falling roaches, and digging holes!

Yeah, I know how you feel concerning critters. Something tells me that I was born with your sympathy towards nature, yet raised in what is best described as staunch conservatism. It yields some pretty hilarious moments sometimes. But I really wish I could've shot that squirrel. If I never draw for a hunt for various reasons, at least let me shoot some kind of critter. 

Good to hear the guests loved the ranch! I also got those pictures from the wood party. Glad to hear no one was hurt in the process. I really miss the ranch, or at least visiting it. How's Smokey doing? I haven't heard anything about my cat for a while, I do hope that you all are taking care of him. 

But the work here is going fine, we as a companionship are struggling to find new people, but it seems like those we find are solid investigators! Still, Kempton and I could use some help when it comes to talking with people. In a most recent incident where a couple of other elders were nearly mugged street contacting some folks, we've been trying to discern whether the situation is safe or not. Thankfully we haven't met anyone so physically unstable, but we did see Santa Claus this last week. 

No seriously, we SAW Santa Claus. He seemed a little wasted if I'm honest. He was walking out of this home up against Black Mountain, and sure enough, he had the round belly, the jolly nose, and the hair and beard combo. Despite the fact he was wearing a sleeveless tank top along with some shorter shorts and flip-flops, we can now safely affirm that Santa exists! 

On a more serious note, I had the tremendous opportunity to invite one of our investigators for baptism, and they accepted! It's amazing to see the spirit work in their lives, and even more awesome to hear their stories and see how they never lost faith. But they also are meeting with us very frequently, and I hope that maybe I'll still be in town for the event! And on the subject of mission calls, I'm afraid I've heard no news whatsoever. Both President Snow and Elder Kempton told me they'd be really surprised if a call extension didn't come, but I have good faith they'll send me where they need me to go! But I honestly have no idea how that one is going to come about. We had interviews with President Snow this last district meeting, and he said that the mission department is pretty effective on this. I also asked if there were other trial-missionaries in the mission, and he said that I'm actually one of four. Cool! I didn't know that there were other TM's out here. 

Oh, and don't feel too bad about my room. I feel like I have an obligation to take better care of my living quarters and feel like I should go out of my way to clean it when I get home.  We did have an incredibly classy dinner on Sunday. It wasn't ultra-fancy or anything, but they served soup in saucers. SAUCERS. I've only ever heard of using such bowl-like plates in stories and movies, but to be actually eating soup from these strange things felt incredibly formal. The family also had a couple bookshelves of authentic classics, Winnie the Pooh among them. They allowed me to read it.

We also had a roach drop from the ceiling during ward council onto the head of one of the sisters there. That was funny. But we also had the opportunity to do some service this last week too. A member in another ward volunteered us to help him with some terracing in his back yard, and part of it involved digging holes and building walls. I've fondly familiar of those tasks. It felt incredibly good to get behind the pick-axe again. Definitely brought back a number of good memories.

Glad to hear that everyone is doing fine! Hard to believe my time here is almost up. Holy smokes. I guess I'll literally be hearing from you guys soon, so stay strong and keep to the Lord and have faith as well!

Love you Mom, couldn't have asked for a better mother!

Michael


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