So I got 2 ticks on my leg the first week I was here. Luckily they hadn't burrowed in so they came off pretty easily, but I still have scabs. Gotta love the South! The weather is getting cooler-ish, but is still hot some days. Hopefully this week isn't too hot because our car goes in the shop tomorrow to get a dent fixed. I have been trying to keep up my ninja warrior physique - haha. Morning workouts consist of lots of push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups. We don't have any other missionaries nearby to play sports with or any place to work out, but I hear there is a YSA ward somewhere that plays basketball every weekend (I think it's far away though).
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| America Ninja Warrior - Here I come! |
Well Monday we waited half the day for our electricity to be turned on so not much to report.
Tuesday I had grits for the first time at breakfast and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Not something I would eat everyday though. I also ate deep fried catfish the other day. It was disgusting. It tasted like dirt mixed with fish. We have spent most of this week knocking doors because we are trying to find more people to teach. So this past week was a little frustrating because of that.
Wednesday I went on my first exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went to Franklin, TN with Elder Porter. He is a Spanish speaking missionary. We got there and went tracting and ran into a 20-22 year old guy named Chris. He had questions for us and we talked for about 20 minutes. He was super cool and nice. There was one time during our conversation where I said a word after his comment like "yeah" and it was in a way that I needed to continue my sentence and keep talking. I was in trouble because I didn't have anything to say and no words came to my mind. So I opened my mouth and started speaking and the whole time I still didn't know what to say in my brain, but words were just coming out of my mouth. Now I think I know what people mean when I hear them say that the Lord helped them know what to say. I never experienced anything like that before - it was awesome. The Zone Leaders are going back again to talk to him later this week. Next we went with one of the president's counselors to see a lady that had been baptized not too long ago. She was in a rehab hospital counseling center. She had almost attempted suicide the day before so she put herself in there to get help. Within 5-10 minutes of talking to her, I could already feel God's love for her and I instantly loved her too. We were able to give her a Priesthood Blessing. It was so cool and the Spirit was so strong. Afterwards, we went to an appointment in Spanish. I sat there the whole time trying to pick out the words I knew from freshman and sophomore Spanish. I didn't get very many. On the upside, we went to a place called Sweet Cicis for frozen yogurt, probably the best I have ever had, and got it for free because a member owns it. Sadly though, I didn't see Travis Rosen from American Ninja Warrior - he is from Franklin.
Thursday we switched back to our normal companions and went back to tracting some more. We tracked for about 2 hours. While tracting we taught the Restoration to a lady and she liked it, but she lives far away so hopefully we can see her again. I talked to my first anti-Mormon and it was definitely interesting and kind of funny. I knocked on this door and an 80-something year old lady comes out and immediately goes off on us. She has some weird ideas about Mormons too. For one, she thinks we go to school for 2 years to teach people that the Bible is wrong - what? She only reads the King James version of the Bible (uh, so do we) and she doesn't believe you need to be baptized. She must have missed those verses in the Bible. We tried to share what we really do, but she wasn't interested in learning what we are about. She did say that her son had joined the church and that it broke her heart. We hope that her son will continue to love her and be patient with her. That might be a challenge, especially if she talks to him like she did to us. That night we went to the Bennet's home for dinner. They are super healthy people - dad you would like them. We talked about Abe Lincoln and the book The Lincoln Hypothesis, which I am going to read when I get back. It is all about how Abe read the Book of Mormon and knew Joseph Smith and how God told him certain things needed to be done and put into law. It sounds cool and some of you guys might like it too. We then went to Brandon and Cassie's. We talked, but not much about the gospel. He said he probably wouldn't convert or come to church, but we just invited him to try it and read and pray anyways. He said he would. Also I heard that Richard G. Scott died which was sad. I learned that the last time the church had to call 3 apostles in one conference was 1906. So will be a historic conference.
Friday we went through our list of old contacts that had previously been taught, but had stopped, for whatever reason. We contacted them to see where they were at and if there was anything we could do for them or if any were interested in learning more.
Saturday we went to the humane society to help out - we walk and train the dogs. It was really fun. They are nice dogs and it's sad that they are just stuck in there. After that, we went and visited people again from the area book. That night we went to a defense class thing for a lady we are teaching. Her company is called Damsel In Defense, so if you like cute defense gadgets, MOM, then check it out. It was pretty cool.
Sunday was Fast Sunday. After church we taught Kristin about how knowing that the Book of Mormon is true is essential to her conversion. I shared how I knew it was true along with Elder Wardle and the two members that had joined us that night. It was awesome. We then gave her a Priesthood Blessing to have strength to get over her smoking. She also said that the cinnamon we gave her had really helped. It was very spiritual in there and her kids were actually quiet for the first time too. Afterwards, we went out with a member named York. He moves like 100 mph, all the time. We went to see a family named the Mockerys. We talked with him and they had 2 pigs that we were able to pet -super cool. Then we went to the Riggs home to give their kids some toys. We talked with them for a while and when we left, we saw the super lunar eclipse happening. I guess it's when the moon is closest to the earth while there is a lunar eclipse. Because it is so close when it is covered, the whole thing looks red and it's called a blood moon. It happens like every 70 years. I don't know if any of you saw it, but it was pretty cool.
Well today is my birthday and my companion made French toast for breakfast. It's weird. It doesn't even feel like it's my birthday. I don't know why, but it's a weird feeling. Now I am watching the funeral for Richard G. Scott. We are going bowling again later.
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| Birthday Bowling |
Also thank you for all the quotes. Please continue to send them as you come across them. My goal is to have one for every entry for the next 2 years. Hope all of you have a great day, a great week and love conference. Until next week.
Elder Ellison
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