Sleep Over, Mmeetings, 4th of July, New Mission President, Biking: July 8, 2013

Friends, Idahoans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I shall declare to you the events of Harrisonburg 1st.

We had a pretty eventful week. P-day was really fun - I bought two new ties and we played Monopoly Deal with the Franklin Elders.  I put my cards down and almost won then Elder Zimmerman put a Just Say No down and everyone went crazy. I did win in the end and really everyone won except Elder Moon and he got mad. We also had fun at this party store downtown.  There was a basement full of old toys and we messed around with costumes and hats. The place is really hilarious – it’s where Elder Moon got his Obama mask and I got a confetti cannon. At the end of the day, Franklin and us drove down in the Jeep to Richmond, partying up with fun music. Our whole district stayed in one apartment with Elder Olive, Guzman, Murdock, and one other elder whose name I can’t remember. So there 10 people in one apartment and we slept on the floor.  I had a tiny wool knitted blanket so I was freezing. While we were there that night, they pranked us a bunch like taping the sprayer at the sink, Saran wrapping the toilet, dressing a rake to look like a person outside, and putting the boxspring on top of the mattress. It was fun.

The next day we got to meet our new mission president, President and Sister Wilson. It was really weird not knowing the other half of the mission since they came from DC South mission. Basically they set the rules, gave spiritual thoughts, and announced the zones. The rule for the dress code is now a shoulder bag instead of a backpack, suits are no longer mandatory, and no fat ties. It was funny when the two other zones were announced; the Elders and Sisters serving there all snapped their fingers. It was like being in a beat poetry club. After all this, we got snacks.  I’m having a hard time seeing President Wilson as my mission president because I had such a good relationship with President Perry, but I will just have to adapt. He’s a nice guy and funny too. We haven’t seen him mad yet but it’s only been a week. After the conference, we ate at 5 Guys with potatoes from Idaho and drove on Monument Ave. in Richmond.  The last time I drove down Monument Avenue, it was my first day here. 

The 4th of July was fun since we went to a tri-ward breakfast and played corn hole and volleyball. Elder Dotson and I made a good team but we got beat. All the missionaries got soaked except for me and Dotson. I splashed Elder Hillock with a water cooler with a good amount of water in it. We also taught this guy named Jordan who has been to church a few times before either of us began teaching him and he’s also dated a member. He just started bringing up all these doctrinal questions like the three levels in the Celestial Kingdom and the Book of Abraham meaning something totally different from how it was translated. He just wants his questions answered. We also helped sand these doors for a L.A. member. We went for three hours and I burnt out the smaller sander but it was okay with the member. We couldn’t go any longer because we have to be in before 8pm if not with members. 

The rest of the week was fun since President Wilson also came to our zone meeting and found out more things were changed around. William is doing really great since before he was baptized; he had a little issue with tithing and getting things paid, but he put aside money to pay tithing when he gets a membership number and consequently he got blessed with more hours at work and found a $20 bill under this computer so he is just so prepared. We taught him about temples and it went well. 

Since we aren’t doing so good on miles we tried biking. Man, we were out of shape and the bikes needed tweaking. It was terrible. During our biking around we saw a less active member and asked him if he was a member and he said, “I don’t have to answer that,” and walked off. Elder Moon’s chain fell off his bike.  Later that day, we ate a delicious meal of deep fried pork at sister Romaro’s house. So good! 

Church was good too because William got up and bore his testimony and it was really good. I bore my testimony and it was really cool and everyone loved it. We got to go to the baptism of Noah Condrey (the Condrey family moved from Waynesboro to up here - so sweet). It was great.

Well, I love you all. 

Elder McClure

Super Soaked, Weird People, Funny Lessons, Painful Awakening, and an Awesome Baptism: July 1, 2013

Well, this week was a fun week!

 

On Monday, I requested my priesthood line of authority via the email and got a printed out copy – sweet! We went to the other Elders’ house and we had planned to fish at this park but it suddenly rained really hard so with a bunch of other guys we went out and got soaked in our service clothes which was really funny. We ran around and stomped in the rain and when the sun came out we fished. Only Elder Burbank got a fish though. It swallowed the hook whole so this redneck guy helped him out and put his hand in the fish's small mouth to get the hook and by the end of it the fish died. Afterward, we dried up and played Girl Talk (don’t judge!) and watched The Testaments, which is a pretty good movie we don’t watch that often. We ate a lot of junk food so the next day Elder Moon was just dying from how much food he consumed. 

Over the week we have met a bunch of weird people with just bizarre conversations. One of them was a guy named James Shank.  He is a Mennonite and just bashed with us that things in our church or in the Book of Mormon just couldn't have happened, for example living prophets and modern revelation all the way down to that Nephi couldn't have built a ship to get to the Americas. 

Another one was this guy who claimed to be the assistant park manager over this trailer park where we had just finished visiting two referrals.  The guy didn't want us to come back. He said they don’t like JWs or Mormons there and he started arguing that no way Satan could be Jesus's brother since it would have tampered with Jesus's purity, which is frankly BS. He told us to come back but we would have to get permission from him which sounds like we have to Bible bash for it.

Later in the week, we went to contact potentials and this little girl came up to us and had us hold her chicken.  She was just bizarre, kissing this chicken and arguing with it. The mom was outside so we talked to her and found out she’s a pagan. The mom got mad when the chicken was running through her flowerbed and later the little girl got us to catch fireflies with her. 

We also had this really weird lesson that the Doves invited us to. Their neighbor showed interest in learning about the gospel so they invited us to dinner with him so we could get to know each other. The guy’s name is Bill and he was a little tipsy from drinking a little before.  The Doves gave him a Bible and S. Dove said, "Read the book and pray to feel inspired."

Also over the week Elder Moon and I have been given a painful awakening that if we eat a lot of junk food like cake and stuff at members’ houses, then we have bad bathroom issues. Elder Moon has been having issues the whole week in and out of the bathroom. It’s been crazy.

We finally got William Ingram baptized!!!! It was amazing and we just had so much fun with it happening and our mission president coming in the day before. He almost came to the baptism. Not a whole lot of people came to the baptism but we did get everything done for it. When we opened the font to watch William get baptized, the glass was all foggy from the heat.  William doesn’t like getting in water but he managed very well. When they were getting changed, William had a very hard time getting the jumpsuit off since it shrunk when it got wet.  We listened to the prelude music to pass the time for a while then switched to testimonies. Even though most of our district was there, only I and Elder Burbank went up to bear our testimonies. The next day was even better.  I was so nervous to confirm William since it was in front of a ward and not a tiny branch like Wakefield. I felt the spirit very powerfully during and after and the spirit helped me a lot through the blessing. I was so happy afterwards and William got introduced as the new member in all the meetings. Such a great experience!

Well, love you family and have a good week doing things.

Elder McClure