Wow what another crazy week. While it wasn't as miracle filled as last week but was just as great. Elder Dortch and I were just super exhausted after last week so it was pretty obvious that this week was going to be a little slower. We also had exchanges this week which were both surprising and even more exhausting.
So after P day on Monday all three of the appointments that we had set up cancelled! What a bummer! But I think it was Heavenly Father working in a weird way to help us de-stress after a crazy week. We completely purged the apartment. We went to every closet and threw out everything that wasn't ours and we didn't want. The apartment is now so clean. I think this is my purpose for being on a mission. Hahaha! I told Elder Dortch that why I was called to this mission is so that I can get transferred to a different apartment every transfer to completely clean them up because apparently I'm the only one of the Elders that knows how to scrub anything. We did find a couple of gems in the closet. I found a brand-new pair of desert boot style shoes that actually fit me and are super nice! I've decided I'm going to keep them.
 |
| Elder Galvin Relaxing after a long day... |
So this week we had exchanges which were set up the night before and I did something crazy. We went to see Brother C and we had dinner there. While at dinner Elder Bishop (our district leader) and I tried a Southern delicacy... Pickled pigs feet! It was very weird to eat and the texture was so strange. It kind of reminds me of the way the tongue feels on your teeth. It was very rubbery but not as disgusting as I thought it was going to be. He has been feeding the missionaries pickled pigs feet for over 40 years! After the missionaries eat the pickled pigs feet they get to sign something called the Book of Life. It's something fun that he does to remember all the missionaries that of served in the area. I even found a sister from Cardston with the last name of Beohmer! Maybe related to the Beohmer family in the Diamond Valley branch!
 |
| Yum...Pickled Pig Feet! |
Unfortunately we haven't been able to have a visit with the H's (M and A) this week. We have been able to text them but they've been crazy busy. Hopefully we will be able to visit them at some point this week to keep them progressing towards a March 1 baptism date. At the current moment it is very doubtful that any of them are going to get baptized on that day, seeing as we have only seen them once since we've committed them to be baptized. Thankfully it's only going to be a matter of when not a matter of if. Now we just have to pray that neither of us get transferred. That would stink.As it turns out my first baptism on the mission probably won't be an actual investigator. Sister H got her kids back this week! One of her granddaughters turned eight while she was away. She wants to be baptized so bad. We have been teaching her the discussions and hopefully she'll be baptized in the next week or two. Since she is eight and her mom is technically a member it won't count as a convert baptism but it will still be a baptism to me!We also had a bit of an exchange miracle. We went to visit the house of a less active member but they weren't home. We saw a lady on her porch across the street and decided to go talk to her. We ended up teaching her about the Restoration and committing her to read the Book of Mormon. We asked her who else she knew that would want to hear what we talked about and she referred us to a couple of people. They ended up not being home but we did wander into a "mom party" in the backyard of one of their neighbors. We talked to them about the church. One of the ladies lives up in Boone and knows where the church is. She was very interested to hear about the primary program and said that she would check it out!On Thursday we did service with the Sisters. We went to M's House to chop wood for three hours. It was a lot of fun. Some of the logs were so huge it took so much effort to try and break them into smaller pieces but we eventually did it. After we chopped the wood we got to give M a blessing.
Crazy Story! So while we were chopping wood with "A", (M's son) he found a wood grub under a log. To make a long story short he ended up eating it. Well, I found out that you shouldn't do anything crazy without having the camera on yourself. What a weird moment. The only reason he did it is because his friend told him he'd give him five dollars if he ate it. Apparently it was surprisingly sweet and tasted a bit like chocolate and bark. So if you're ever stranded in the forest and have nothing but wood grubs to eat at least you'll be eating well!Our mission has also started a 40 day fast. What that is is that every missionary gives up one thing (or more than one thing) and they give it up for a 40 day period. The purpose of the 40 day fast is to increase the sanctification of the missionaries. I am fasting from my bed! So for the next 40 days I will be sleeping on the floor! Elder Dortch and I are also fasting from one dollar Walmart pizzas because they are a staple in our diet and we should probably get rid of them. It may turn into a "today tomorrow and forever" principle. I am also working on improving my language and have created a list of slang words that I am fasting from. Unfortunately I have already said some of those words but I'm improving! The specific purpose I am fasting for is humility. Hopefully at the end of this 40 day period I will be more humble and hopefully my back will not be so messed up that I'm unable to function!We had the zone leaders at our district meeting on Friday. That was a stressful experience! Because our district is, in a word, ‘special', (We Asked Liam what he meant by this and he told us that his district gets along great and love to have fun together!) having missionary leadership be there is always an interesting experience. We also went to Chick-fil-A with them after district meeting. Sister R drove us there and came in with us. She is my favorite person that I've met on my mission so far! Well, one of them. She is such a good missionary and was talking to people in Chick-fil-A about us!Crazy story! On Saturday we went out to McDonald's with the Sisters for breakfast. Because of the 40 day fast they are fasting from fast food so they wanted one last taste. When I went up to order my food and pay they told me it was paid with lovin'. After a really confusing and awkward exchange with the cashier, it turns out that I got my food for free! I thought she asked if I wanted it paid with lovin'. Since I had no idea what that was I said no. She then looked at me weird and said "you don't want your food for free?" It was really confusing but it was wonderful.Miracle Story! So if I am being honest this week is been a bit of a down week for us. We haven't had much success in finding anybody and the people that we found last week has been difficult to get in contact with them. Yes we have been able to text them but we haven't been able to visit with them. People just need to stop being sick! But we did have a miracle at church on Sunday. "A" showed up to church again even though him and his Mom, "M" were a bit late because their car wouldn't start and the sisters had to go and drive them! It all worked out though. He had a really good time and I don't know why he doesn't come to church more often because he always enjoys it and always leaves with a greater testimony of the Gospel.Missionary life is so hard but so great. It's such a blessing to be serving here. I simultaneously love and hate every second of it but no there is nothing else better that I could be doing right now.Love ya,Elder Galvin
0 comments:
Post a Comment