Hello all,
This week has been kind of weird. People have told me that at a
certain point you hit a "hump" in your mission where the novelty and
initial fun has worn off. I think I hit it this week. This is the time
in the mission when even Gordon B Hinckley began to wonder how useful
he was truly being as a missionary, if you remember that story.
I'm doing alright though, so no worries.
This week, on Tuesday, we had a "Car Conference" with two other zones.
The mission installed Tiwi boxes in each of our cars. They essentially
just monitor our driving and tell us when we speed or forget our
seatbelt. They also send reports of aggressive driving to President
Griffin if we stop too fast or Peel out super fast. Unfortunately
there's a fair few speed traps around, so I've gotten called out for
speeding a few times. :P
On Wednesday, we went and did service again. We were working at this
soup kitchen, and I overheard this guy who was going on and on about
all these conspiracy theories the whole time. He talked about how he
got his brain scrambled by a little drone that flew in his room one
night. It was weird. :P We also helped brother Shelstad pick up some
doors he ordered from Lowes. They're for the house he's fixing.
Thursday was service day 2: electric boogaloo. We helped sister
Behrends drop off her old couch at a kind of thrift store to be sold
for her. Then we picked up a new one from goodwill. After that, we
went to an investigator's house and helped put up Christmas lights.
That was super fun, and we got to talk with her some more about her
beliefs and invited her to church. She didn't end up coming though :(
Starting Thursday morning, I'm in week 11 of my training. That means I
got put in charge of basically everything. I'm planning, leading
lessons, setting appointments, etc. It's pretty stressful!
Friday was a trainer/trainee meeting down in Glendale. I coordinated
borrowing a van and the logistics with our member driver to get us
down there, which I'm proud of. It was complicated! The meeting was
good, we talked about communicating with our companions. I also saw
Elder Dwigans, my MTC companion, and we talked to President Griffin
about becoming companions again. He said we might be able to later on,
when we're both more experienced.
That night, the Henries delivered a box of in-and-out burgers, which
were super good. I still love that place!
On Saturday, we had exchanges again. I was with Elder Amyda for the
4th time! It was long and uneventful, because only one person even
answered their door, and that was just the guys girlfriend, not the
one we meant to visit.
Sunday was a good day. We had really good meetings and I had a very
special experience. After Sacrament Meeting, Sister Wellington came up
to me to talk and told me she was prompted to talk to me about the
missionary "hump" I talked about. She shared that many missionaries
hit this point and struggle for a few weeks until they have a special
experience that boosts their motivation throughout the rest of their
mission. She also shared that she felt I would have that kind of
experience soon that would help me through the rest of my mission.
That was exactly what i needed to hear and has really boosted my
morale. Maybe her talking to me was that experience? Idk.
After church, we went home for lunch and Elder B fell asleep almost
immediately. I decided to try to cook "potato wedges", which are
essentially potato quarters covered in spices then baked. I failed to
realise that it would take an hour to cook, so I ended up pulling it
out like every 10-20 minutes. Finally, when they were done, it was
time to leave for dinner. :P these are the remnants after I ate a few.
Well, that's pretty much it for the week. We are apparently having a zone activity today, but the Zone Leaders still haven't put out any information about it.
Hope everyone is doing well,
Keep hauling that water,
Elder Joseph Richardson
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