I know you're probably thinking, "he already used a song by Phil Collins?"
Heck yes I did.
And if it was up to me I'd always use songs by him.
The story is I was walking down the street and some people in Hancock were fixing the electrical system to an apartment building and listening to this song so I knew I had to use it.
Well anyway... this week had some pretty awesome moments and really awesome moments and that is about it.
Monday:
We visited the H... What an interesting family. Then we visited C for a while and he's honestly the most paranoid person ever so he just rants to us about how his neighbors listen in on his conversations and follow him around underneath him. He is a veteran so no judging.
Tuesday:
We did a whole lot of walking! We walked to the north side of H and knocked. Knocking is honestly so fun. Especially here because everyone is nice until you find out they are related to pastor T then they start flipping out at us. It's so much fun! On the way back we had lunch at KrazyRays BBQ and it was DIVINE I'll send pics later. Then we taught N’s family about the Plan of Happiness so that was lit. He used to be a member of the Jehovah's Witness so he had quite a few questions but we answered all of them. I think. Then we had dinner with the Hs. Which Hs? You might ask if you lived in this area. The ones that own the gun store, no the older one. He went out and visited members with us the rest of the night! .
Wednesday:
We did a whole lotta finding so we didn't teach much but that's ok. We had to go to H for a baptismal interview. That was crazy. On the way back we stopped by the 93 year old C and his wife. They are awesome members so that was cool.
Thursday:
We had Zone Conference. It was really neat. I got to see Elder B2 and B1 and also Sister T. So that was sick. But most of the day was driving there and back. And yes mom I got the package and the sweaters. I looked like a goon with 2 packages lol... But! We had a miracle that night.
MIRACLES IN H!!
So we have been teaching this guy for 7 months. He's always been super prepared. Like definitely elect! He wanted to be baptized but always had something holding him back. As of late he has been struggling with a new job that is hard on him. We thought that this would hold him back even more. But we just kept with it. AND THEN this past Sunday he called us this past Sunday and was SO excited and he told us about how he had a dream. This dream was PROPHETIC. We told him to write it down and ponder about its meaning. So then today we went to visit him. We asked him if he had an answer to what the dream meant. He told us that it meant he was going to have to make a hard decision between the easier wrong or the harder right. Then Elder A being the great missionary that he is, told him that he felt that decision was about being baptized. Then he got EXTREMELY EXCITED! He told us about how he had quit smoking all on his own and the whole world seemed like it had been opened up to him and that baptism was what he needed to do! So we told him he could be baptized on the 23rd and he told us he wanted to!
MIRACLES IN HANCOCK!!!
He's such a great guy... sadly he had a family emergency on Sunday so he couldn't come to church or else he would have been baptized on the 16th of this month.
After that awesomeness we visited R and P. They are a recent convert family. They own 16 cats. No joke. 16. I was able to give R a blessing. For those keeping track that is my very first one. Halfway through my legs became noodles... that was weird. It was crazy to feel like someone else was speaking through me. Like I said stuff I never would have thought of saying. That was pretty cool. Then we went home.
Friday:
We knocked a lot of doors... No success but then we visited the K family. They are a part member family.The father told us he knows it’s true he just doesn't really care. But he has so much potential so we keep visiting hopefully his heart is softened. Then we walked to the west side of town to visit the Fs. They are an older couple but she always gives us water which is great. After that we visited the Gs. They are also a part member family. We taught them the Restoration focusing on the sealing power being restored. It was awesome. I felt like I taught it super well cause I felt like myself while I taught it. The mother of the family and the most active one reminds me of my Mom kinda, plus they gave us fajitas so that was sick. Oh and C’s brother B ward took us to dinner at a southern restaurant and I tried frog legs. They honestly just taste like chicken. Nothing special and nothing gross.
Saturday:
We did service for S. He is another one of the 3 in the Hancock area... that was cool and he wants us to teach the rest of his family tonight! They also gave us a ton of lunchables so that is a YEET. Then we visited BK who is a member and he has dementia so we gave him a blessing. Then his wife wanted one too so we gave her one as well. My legs once again became noodles.
Sunday:
We had meetings. Then church. Then we met up with N and R who couldn't come because she was super sick. So we gave her a blessing as well. You guessed it. I got noodle legs again. Then we went all the way to Pennsylvania to have dinner with the Ss who are members and they are awesome. They own a farm so I got bad allergies... like seriously bad. I called the mission nurse and she said the best thing to do would be to take a nap. So I did that. And yep it helped. Well after that we went down to B and knocked a TON of doors. And we felt like there was an ELECT there waiting to hear our message so we just kept knocking. Then we met G. She told us she was just wanting to go back to church. She's 19 and just graduated high school and works as a nurse at the nursing home (which side note: that place has gotta be packed with people there is so many old folks around here) and said she was literally thinking about going to church again so we're going to stop by on tuesday to teach her. Pray that goes well....
That takes us up to now folks...
Funny thing that happened this week. We met S. I tried really hard to understand him. But man every sentence is so wildly different from the last. Sad thing that happened. We discovered the area presidency doesn't want us to play ANY SPORTS. This is honestly my first time having beef with a mission rule. But alas I will keep it and try to have a good attitude about it.
K now for some notes about the area.
Question answering time!
I did get my package. I am thoroughly enjoying the snacks. In fact since we didn’t really have time to eat after Zone Conference we just ate all the Ding Dongs and the beef jerky so you saved our lives (or killed us I honestly don't know)
I heard from a few of my MTC friends over the week.
I don't get much chances to take pictures cause we are either driving through it or walking where it would freeze my hands off to take a picture but I did manage to get a few cool ones which I will send.
We are in a ward. But it’s close to being a branch.
We don't bike. Thank goodness. We usually drive to an area park and knock all the houses then rotate areas.
I went 3/7 this week with the vitamins. I know this is starting to become a highlight of my letter so I'm going to try to do better every week until it is 7/7
All I know I want for my birthday is snacks. We don't have much snacks. We eat breakfast burritos hot dogs and elk burgers mostly cause that's what people give us. The members love to feed us oh and I've gained 2 pounds since exiting the MTC where I gained 5.
The weather was really good but got worse every day. And now its snowing.
I usually do the exercises we would do for ultimate in the morning. I also walk like 8 hours a day over tons of hills... I can feel my quads becoming huge.
We have 2 chain stores in our entire area... We have a Pizza Hut and a Hardees. That is legit all... we do our shopping at a place called Food Lion so I mean that's lit.
Also I can't visit Antietam or Gettysburg. Antietam is really close by tho. I did however get to visit George Washington's bathtub but I forgot to take pictures so next time I'll remember to take pictures of that iconic thing.
Ok last but not least.
Missionary work is hard. You hear it from everyone. It is hard. But come on people you all make it sound like missionary work is just depressing! I have found that if I just find the one thing about every situation makes me happy and focus purely on that it becomes such a joy! Missionary work is hard but missionary work is also SO MUCH FUN I wish I had learned this principle earlier. Find the JOY in things instead of the HARD part about it. Life gets easier when you do this.
Ok that is all.
I love all of you, keep those emails coming.
Don't let the cat in the house,
Elder Pew
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| MTC district with their teacher (a recent picture he sent us) |
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| First area |
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| Lunchables |
