ELDER JOSEPH RICHARDSON - November 3, 2015 - Week 10: Service out the Wazoo!

Hello everyone!

Monday night, we went and visited a less active guy named Brother Smithbourne. It was really cool, because he does really cool drawings of old cars (like 1930s). He does near photorealistic drawings and could've talked for hours about all the interesting things he's
learned as he has researched each one. He could just go into antique car collecting and be an expert in that! He's started an art business and hopes to be able to begin displaying his work at some local galleries. He even gave us each a business card with a small print of
a "Duesenburg":

Needless to say, it was pretty cool!

He also had this strange piece of fitness equipment that he had us try out. It's called an "Inversion table" and reminded me of that one medieval torture device in movies, you know the one where they stretch people. This thing was kind of fun though. What you do is secure your feet in a little felt harness, laying on the table, then shift your body weight to flip yourself down to a 135 degrees angle from upright, with your head near the ground. Then you just hang upside down for a few minutes. It stretches your whole body and especially your joints, and is apparently really good for your body!

This week has been full of a ton of service opportunities! We ended up painting a house, laying out shingles for nailing, volunteering at both a soup kitchen and a Habitat for Humanity store, as well as helping Bro Jennings cut back his giant oak tree!

A big highlight of the week was Elder B's birthday on Halloween. We had a special Halloween dinner with the Millers, and Sister Miller made meatloaf in some kind of gory shapes!

I ended up quite grossed out, so I just had a bit, then ate the mashed potatoes instead. Sister Miller also made a raspberry lemon bundt cake.

We also went and had a mini party with the rest of our district. We played a bit of Clue and Apples to Apples. We had fun, and it was much better than going home at six, as we're not allowed to proselyte Halloween night.

When we got home, the Jennings had another cake! They also got trick candles, which wouldn't go out!














Here's a picture of our hilarious little family. The guy in the back is Daniel, a nonmember who lives with the Jennings, because he works with Brother Miller earning money for his family, who live elsewhere. I've never really asked for the details.

On Sunday, we had a good set of meetings, and Elder B taught the Sunday School lesson on Missionary Service. We had dinner with the Studingers, a really funny couple who have two little adopted boys, Beau and Jake. Beau was hilarious, running around throwing things. He took everything out of Elder B's pocket and threw it around the room. He was so cute! :P

I think that's about it for today.

Keep hauling that water,
Elder Joseph Richardson