Hello!
It has been a wild week! With snow storms, partridge people, stage preforming, lost keys, returning to Newport, and so much more, this has been a full week!
I think I'll do a day by day breakdown this time.
Monday:
P-day, great time hiking in Acadia!! :) We also met some guys there who were our age while hiking who were pretty cool then one of them started trying to mess with us for being Mormons. We were able to clear up some misconceptions, and call him out for getting his "facts" about Mormons from Southpark and some other media. His friends thought it was pretty funny when we called him out.
Tuesday:
Exchanges and I went back to Newport! Elder Glenn from my MTC room is one of our Zone Leaders there so it was nice to be with him too. We had a great day and talked to some awesome people. Seeing a few members was really fun again!! It feels great to see people you love and have them be so excited to see you again too! :) Elder Glenn and I talked a bunch and one thing we talked about really hit me and I've thought about it a lot. Sometimes it's easy to be hard on yourself as a missionary and focus on all the small things that you need to be so much better. Elder Glenn said something along the lines of, the Lord probably thinks of our missions just as much for us as for the people we're teaching. I love that. As long as we're trying our best and doing what we should, it's okay if we aren't perfect. That's no permission to start doing less than we are, rather it should encourage us to keep trying and working as we make mistakes and fall short.
Wednesday:
Elder Powell and I had a good day and worked hard. We got to teach D. who is making great progress. It was his first formal sit down lesson, and he accepted a invitation to be baptized as he comes to know its true. E is also doing well, he decided to stop smoking and drinking coffee on the 15th! Pray for him! :)
Thursday:
Ok, this is when things got wild. The Machias (furthest east branch of the church in the USA btw [aka first ones to see the sun rise each day in the country]) elders came down and we worked. Because of the snow storm we weren't allowed to drive, but we walked all over! Elder Gardner and I met a cool guy with what he said was a partridge/grouse in his yard. He was a real mountain man and was super grateful for a copy of the Book of Mormon!
We also met a new person to start teaching above a bar. Working in the snow is actually one of my favorite things! People usually are pretty nice when you bring a shovel and do service. We also carried around a white board in the snow and got 14 people to write on it what brings them peace. It was a fun way to talk to people! Would have sent a picture of the board but one of the elders smudged it all before I could get a picture. :'(
On the way back though I was talking about things that are fun and decided to jump into some snow. After a few jumps, Elder Gardner decided he'd try it out too. We put things like our tag and such in pockets that could zip. We jumped in the snow from like 9:10-9:29 as we walked back to our apartment. We even found some swings to launch off of! :)
Friday:
We headed out to District Meeting and the Machias elders called saying they couldn't find their keys... We took them to district Meeting, cancelled our exchange with the Belfast Elders, and spent the whole day searching for their keys. Apparently the keys hadn't been put somewhere secure when we were jumping the night before. We borrowed a metal detector and shoveled snow for hours, but never found the keys.
Saturday:
The new vehicle coordinator couple (the Trainers) drove up and brought spare keys. It was soooooooo nice of them to do that! It is a 4.5 hour drive from Manchester, so we made them cookies to say thanks that morning while getting ready. Later that day we had a ward talent show which went really well. E came, brought a dessert, and enjoyed the show! :) The Trainers stayed for the talent show and Elder Trainer helped Elder Powell and I close out the show with "called to serve" :)
Sunday:
E. and K. came, D. couldn't cause he was sick. We took him some food though which made him happy. :)
Monday:
Transfer calls, Elder Powell and I are staying which is great! All the other Elders have someone leaving, and a new one coming. Elder Donn who I served by at the beginning of my mission will be in my District which will be so fun! :)
It was going to be a normal day of missionary work, so we were on exchange with Belfast, but because of the storm coming today they made the last couple hours preparation. Elder Powell and I were caught up so we went hiking for the couple hours we had on a trail someone told us about. It was sweet!
So, lots happened!! I'm excited to keep going and see how the changes take us!
Love you all! :)
On the way back though I was talking about things that are fun and decided to jump into some snow. After a few jumps, Elder Gardner decided he'd try it out too. We put things like our tag and such in pockets that could zip. We jumped in the snow from like 9:10-9:29 as we walked back to our apartment. We even found some swings to launch off of! :)
Friday:
We headed out to District Meeting and the Machias elders called saying they couldn't find their keys... We took them to district Meeting, cancelled our exchange with the Belfast Elders, and spent the whole day searching for their keys. Apparently the keys hadn't been put somewhere secure when we were jumping the night before. We borrowed a metal detector and shoveled snow for hours, but never found the keys.
Saturday:
The new vehicle coordinator couple (the Trainers) drove up and brought spare keys. It was soooooooo nice of them to do that! It is a 4.5 hour drive from Manchester, so we made them cookies to say thanks that morning while getting ready. Later that day we had a ward talent show which went really well. E came, brought a dessert, and enjoyed the show! :) The Trainers stayed for the talent show and Elder Trainer helped Elder Powell and I close out the show with "called to serve" :)
Sunday:
E. and K. came, D. couldn't cause he was sick. We took him some food though which made him happy. :)
Monday:
Transfer calls, Elder Powell and I are staying which is great! All the other Elders have someone leaving, and a new one coming. Elder Donn who I served by at the beginning of my mission will be in my District which will be so fun! :)
It was going to be a normal day of missionary work, so we were on exchange with Belfast, but because of the storm coming today they made the last couple hours preparation. Elder Powell and I were caught up so we went hiking for the couple hours we had on a trail someone told us about. It was sweet!
So, lots happened!! I'm excited to keep going and see how the changes take us!
Love you all! :)
Acadia - Beehive Trail
Cars grounded - p day
