Who Attaches an iPad to a Wall?

August 4, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

This is very difficult. Due to unforeseen events, I have to use an iPad the library and it is very difficult when they mount the darn thing to type. Already my wrists are tired and the "a" key is difficult to press. If there are typos, then I blame the library for the genius of mounting this device, making me use at least one finger at a time.

It sounds like things are looking up on your end. I would say more, but obvious frustrations as explained.

I have been in a bad mood all week. Well, nearly. And if you remember three weeks ago when I overworked my body, well, I think things have gone a little worse. My lower left back area has grown in pain, so I think I strained it. The pain is not numbing and it is progressing downward. As much as I want to avoid the doctor, I am going to call the mission medical officer to discuss this pain of which I have been having.

Monday, Elder Avison took a while to pack. Then, some nearby missionaries needed some help with their member and moving. We thought we could help, but dinner took a lot longer than previously thought. We were reaching the end of our time of which we thought we could help, so we cancelled on them. Due to miscommunication on their end, it turned into a big mess. A bit frustrating.

Tuesday, the day of transfers. Elder Avison essentially switched with my new companion for my new companion came from a ward above us. He is Elder Young. He has a big medical history, so he has frequent doctor appointments that I, as driver, have to drive him to for attention. I replaced him in Powhatan. In some ways, I can get along. We know the same people. Others, I have been slightly annoyed. He claimed the apartment was dirty, when in reality it just needed a few things tidied. He rearranged a lot of things and in some ways, he put himself in charge. In a lesson, he did the entire thing and I only spoke when he did not know something. I understand that he wants to help, but, as I have talked to him about, I would love to speak and I know what needs to be worked. He has some good ideas and I am trying to remain positive. He is a bit rigid, so I added some fun quotes from Avatar and Fringe above the coffee table/my desk. (I wish I could remember more from other shows that I liked, such as Avatar: Last Airbender and Korra, and Sherlock, etc., but alas I cannot.) On the plus side, he likes Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

We received a phone call that day from the one lady who is slightly crazy and trying to find her way back to Idaho after escaping from her husband and such. Somehow, and I do not know how, found a pregnant woman who is helping her. Don't ask.

Wednesday, we helped someone move with the person who we get rides from for transfers. In exchange for a ride to transfers, we help with a move. Every ride comes with a price. 

Thursday, we taught the pregnant woman that is lodging with the Idaho woman the Restoration. She is trying to get into a better situation.  She was open to learn. From there, we "moved" out of Petersburg. The Petersburg apartment is officially moved. But, oh my. There was so much damage to the place that I did not even realize. And so much junk. It was a wreck. Elder Medsker was ticked. It was awful. So, on Friday, we did some housework. I worked on the kitchen with organizing our new found food from the Petersburg apartment. We now have a bakery, because we have all sorts of flour and sugar and corn syrup.  I found imitation rum extract. I cleaned out our fridge and found dill relish from 2004.

Saturday, we had a zone meeting. Then, we had our splits afterwards. It was a success. Remind me to tell you about it next week. 

Sunday, the nearby missionaries asked for help again with a move and we got conjured in. Glad to help.

I am honestly tired of typing and I feel like I am running out of time. He has a doctor's appointment today. 

All is well and will be well!

Love, 

Elder S. Todd

P.S.  I wrote quotes on my wall. I do not look at them too often. Just when I am in a bad mood, because they make me laugh. I did this sort of thing in Powhatan as well along with spiritual quotes.

Getting To Know People In a New Area

July 21, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Another transfer is drawing to close. By next week, another transfer begins. This weekend we did receive calls. Yep, indeed, my companion, Elder Avison, is leaving. I do not think I even mentioned transfers in my last email, so I am glad you are keeping track. Who knows, maybe I will get my medicine tomorrow, but I really do not know. It looks like the work is moving forward in Lemoore. I am excited for that, because well, it is a thing to be excited for. And changes seem to be happening over there. It is sad to hear about Mrs. Rhoads, even if I had issues with her; she had good qualities. I am a bit surprised with Dr. Rosa, but life changes. I am also a bit glad that I am remembered over there.

This week was slow, but fast. It really has blurred together. Some good things have occurred. So, last week, I mentioned my watch. I went to Target and they told me that they no longer do any kind of watch work. They showed me different bands that I could select of which I then said no and left. I could have gone to a jewelry store and fixed it then, but I figured that cost a bit too much. I gave myself some time and found a way to fix it. I took a thumb tack and it pushed out the necessary pins and I did the necessary work. I was able to fix my own watch and now it is closer to my arm. It is not so loose anymore. The rest of our P-Day we played Monopoly and Clue. The evening of the Monday, we tried looking for less actives and found one that we could return to visit.

Tuesday, we decided to find some more less actives in Colonial Heights. Some people were not home. Finally, we knocked on this one person's door. She has been less active for a while due to transportation issues. Her son just turned eight and she feels that they (herself and her son) need the missionary lessons. Her son also wants to be baptized. I was quite happy that we found somebody and that we have somebody to work with. We worked on the details for the baptism and got mostly everything established. There were two people who would be shaky on whether or not they would make it. I made plans to ensure that those two had back ups just in case. One of them was the talk on baptism and volunteered my companion as backup. It took me a while to get to sleep that night, because I had been coughing. As much as I am not feeling sick, I have a deep cough. Other than that, I am healthy. 

Wednesday, we made the program and it was good. We went to the church to make copies of the program. I decided to review my previous work of listing in which county, or city limit, people lived in, using the church's tools. (My last project on that of creating such a list involved using maps). There were several corrections that needed to be made on my end. Meanwhile, my companion was making copies in the library and had to use the restroom. Well, he left the car keys and church keys in the library and the door locked behind him. We decided to trek through Petersburg in order to get to our place in Colonial Heights. We figured we would get our keys later that night. Thankfully, my companion rectified the situation and somebody bailed us out. We tried seeing some people that day as well, but it did not work out. We did not have correlation either. Our ward mission leader was at work; the bishop asked us if we are having correlation. We told him no. The bishop, as far as I can tell, knows of the situation of correlation. 

Thursday, we finished making necessary corrections on the ward roster and then tried to see some people. It did not work out so well either. We had an appointment, which we took attended. As we were coming up, a person approached us. She had talked to missionaries before and wanted us to come by. Funny thing is, the street she lives on was a place we had been planning to tract. We are definitely going to tract that place when we can and hopefully, we will be able to stop by to see her. 

Friday, we did weekly planning. I was trying to stay focused and come up with ideas to help this area. My companion was distracted. Planning took a bit longer than normal, but whatever works. We went to bed early that night, because we had to get up at 4 to make sure the font was going to be filled and warm. I fell asleep quickly until the phone went off. It took a while to fall back asleep. 

Saturday, we got up at four and did our business. We crashed at the Petersburg apartment and it took a lot longer getting up that morning. I got ready and it is about 7:40. It took a while for my companion to get around, only because he forgot a few things back at the other apartment. The baptism of our investigator went well. My companion gave a talk on baptism and I gave one on the Restoration. Everything was excellent. Afterwards, we enjoyed the celebration of Pioneer Day. By eleven, I was tired and by noon, I was done and a bit exhausted. After gaining some rest, we left the Petersburg Apartment and went to the office. The Petersburg apartment is going to be closed down soon and we found some things that we needed to do. That is going to be some work that I will get to do. We found a person who is less active who recently moved in. We introduced ourselves and got to know her history in the Church. It is another person we can work with. And then that night we received the calls. I am staying while my companion is leaving. 

Sunday, I had been talking to the new elders quorum president. This Saturday, we are going to triple splits to meet less actives in the ward. I also talked about aiding in home teaching. I did that in the hopes of eventually establishing exchanges when we have people in our investigator pool. A new ward missionary has been called and he is male and can drive. I am excited for that. That means an ease on miles and a third male. 

This past transfer I have been trying to organize this area, because there was a lot to organize and a lot of things that needed to be done. Necessary procedures were done. I have been working around my companion, because, as much as I like him, it is hard to push him to do things. He is willing to work, though. I am excited, because there is a chance that this area now has begun to go forward. I mean, we now have different less actives to work with, a new potential, and future plans that will be meted out. I am hoping that this new companion will be the aid that I need. It has been a bit frustrating at times, because things do not work out. Then I read Doctrine and Covenants 84:40, "And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, 

shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint;and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst." That for me was a big realization that I have been at least trying to do the right things. We have been blessed in different ways this past transfer.

All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. Say hello to Grandma for me! It would be cool to write down her stories.

A California Delicacy?

July 21, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

(Seth's mother and father took a trip to Salt Lake City where his sister lives. His mother attended a retreat with about 240 other mothers of missionaries. Together they spent time with his sister who works at Olympic Park in Park city, Utah.) It sounds like you had a lot of fun. I imagine it was a lot of fun hearing about

Salt Lake City LDS Temple

missionary work from different people. I am glad you two had a lot of fun. I am glad you got to enjoy "Music and the Spoken Word." It is so fantastic! I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and no, it is not because I nearly listen to it every day. It is just amazing.

I am glad to hear the dogs are doing well. My week was up and then utterly crashed down in a spiral. I found my planner Monday night, which was good. I am glad to have found it. Not much really happened on Monday, anyways.

Tuesday, I had a little fun. To our surprise, we had district meeting on Tuesday. As I was getting ready for it, I remembered we had something in our cupboard. A few weeks earlier, I found some dog treats in our little downstairs closet. It was a surprise and having no clue what to do with them, I put them in the cupboard. Well, Tuesday, I put them in a plastic bag; they are meat looking treats and do not look too edible. My companion was quite aware of what I was doing. The treats smelled like what they are supposed to (dog treats), which would have given it away. So, I put some chicken spice on them and the spice was so strong that it removed the odor of dog treats. We go to district meeting and our district leader and companion show up. I told them about this California delicacy called Mexican Meat Nuggets that I received in my Hump Day package. (Sounds appetizing, doesn't it?) Now, they did not have a funny reaction, but to my surprise, they were willing. Once I told them about this delicacy, they willingly ate it. It took no goading or extra persuasion. The district leader ate it first and I quickly burst into laughter that I ran out. His companion followed after the district leader and later complained that he could still taste them. I did tell them what it was that they actually ate. The district leader told me it was not the first time he ate dog treats.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The rest of the Tuesday was spent driving to go see people. We had received a few weeks ago a referral for a lady who wanted a German Book of Mormon. We received the referral, but no Book of Mormon (however, with the referral, we did receive a German, "The Family: A Proclamation"). My companion ordered the book and we got it on Monday.

Tuesday, we were driving to her house. On the way there, a bird flew into our car; no blood, just a plume of feathers. We knocked on her door and she let us in. She did not say much, but she was in pain due to a recent dental procedure. We were not able to talk much. One more note, our phone speaks to us in Spanish (it reads the words), it meows at us when we receive a text, and it moans at us to get up in the morning. While we were there, somebody sent a text, so our phone meowed at us. The lady was surprised, because she thought her cat just meowed. We had to briefly explain. Later that Tuesday, we had dinner at a member's with our investigator who is being baptized. It poured (rained) in sheets while we were there and the power threatened to go out. It was a really good time.

Seth's sister

Wednesday, I was a feeling a bit sore from working out on Tuesday. I pushed through it and worked on some more. It hurt a lot more afterward. Well, correlation did not happen due to our ward mission leader being at work. He called on Tuesday, because he wanted to hear from our district leader, whom he previously challenged. We received dinner, which ended up giving me a stomach ache. It was the beginning of the end.

Thursday, I woke up, extremely sore from previous brilliance of working out when sore. It hurt to move the entire day that occasionally my muscle would tense up a bit. My throat was also sore and I began to take ill. And my stomach was fine for a while. I was so exhausted from doing little things. I took three naps that day, because I was that exhausted. Our dinner that night gave me a lot of cough drops and Vitamin C supplements. They said I looked terrible. When I got home, I crashed. I drank water a lot in an attempt to relieve my muscles from their burden.

Friday, still sick, no longer sore (just a little), and my stomach clear. We helped somebody move and it was simple. We did not finish that day. We had lunch with those people and they gave us bread, Kraft American Cheese (aka the infamous fake, plastic cheese)(It is just Seth's way of describing processed cheese where we buy the real California cheese.), and some meat. (Cheese, when bitten into, should blend with the other layers of cheese, but rather, it should still be recognizable layer different from the other layers of cheese. Also, cheese should be compliment, not the only thing you taste.) A member later took us out to eat at some Mexican restaurant. I do miss good Mexican food and this was somewhat close to it. I enjoyed it.

Saturday, I still had a sore throat and it hurt to swallow. The Target Daytime stuff gratefully numbed my throat. We finished the move, which consisted of moving furniture and them still packing along the way. And then, something sad happened. My watch got snagged on one of the couches that I had to move. Thankfully, it did not break like I thought it probably should have. No, rather one of the pins for the links fell out, so the watch fell off my wrist. I am currently watch-less and I occassionaly stare at my wrist before I realize there is no watch. I will have to go to Target and have them fix it. It should be an easy fix. The watch, to begin with, was really loose, but still stayed on my wrist. In theory, if they reduce the size of the watch by one set of links, they could use one of those pins to fix the watch and I would have a watch again. (Yes, my watch has been loose this entire time. I tried going to Wal-mart, the blessed place I shop cheaply, to shorten it, but they refused to do it, only because I bought it at Target. I had to put it on my left hand, so President would not get his fingers stuck in my watch. It happened one time apparently.) The rest of Saturday we spent partially on hunting down a baptismal suit for Alexis. We found one, but have yet to obtain it.

We moved out of Petersburg. So, yes, we are officially in Colonial Heights. They closed the apartment in Petersburg. Elder Medsker made that official. Sunday, we had church, had lunch, and got a free haircut from a member. It was a blessing for the both of us. My companion has not been sleeping all too well. So, we got home about six and had some dinner. He crashed for about three hours before going to bed around 10. We have not been doing too well. However, I have the feeling that this week will actually be better and we will actually move forward. Perhaps this past four weeks was a test and trial of patience. I feel that now is the right time and now is the time to go forward. In fact, we have been blessed with a P-day where we actually have nothing other than a couple of chores to do plus laundry. Things will go forward this week. I am feeling less sick. My throat is no longer sore, although I have an annoying cough that spurs when something "tickles" it.

All is well!

Love, Elder S. Todd

Be in the Right Place, At the Right Time, Doing the Right Thing

Elder Todd's dog Carly with Sister Gomez a missionary serving in Lemoore, CA.

July 14, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I loved the pictures. Thank you for sending them.  And I am glad my dog is cheering people up. She may be skittsh, but she is love-able. I am glad to hear about Rita. It is always good to share in one another's success. I have heard some good news yesterday. A person who I found and taught in Woodbridge is still learning and has a solid testimony. That was great to hear. I have not heard anything about our special investigator in Powhatan and I am still trying to get permission to write to her. I failed to do it during interviews.

To answer your question about the apartments, I do not foresee as such. There are a good amount of empty apartments in the mission. President Wilson, with good intentions, is trying to keep the missionaries as far apart as possible. If at possible, he does not want two or three sets of missionaries living together. That means more apartments. Certain areas have recently closed, such as White Oak for Elders (I was a bit sad). President also wants to open more areas, which means more apartments. The mission is already over budget with apartments. I know that Powhatan has an empty apartment, possibly White Oak and other areas in Fredericksburg have one or more, and here there is an empty apartment. There may be an influx of missionaries that are soon coming in; I do not know. 

Bear with me that this may be short. I lost my planner and I have no idea where. It could have slid out somewhere unbeknownst to me. And thus, now I am relying on my memory. 

Monday, we had P-Day. Shopping took a while. It seemed as though everybody was there. And everybody brought there families with them. With driving, Elder Avison, who is the driver, yells at the people. It is rather humorous. 

Tuesday, we had lunch with a less active due to illness. He is the one who has raccoons chattering in his chimney. Those raccoons are getting bigger and it is a rather curious thing to wonder if the mother will toss her babies down the chimney into his house. That has happened before to him. He fed us a wonderful meal of fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and green beans. He gave us spice cake as well. It was delicious. And then he gave us some of it to take home. Now, I am beginning to figure out the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. You see, we had nothing in our refrigerator and hardly anyone signed up this past week (partially due to us forgetting the meal calendar the previous Sunday). Yet, we were able to take home leftovers from that, somebody who did sign up gave us a lot of food, and we raided a wedding reception (more on that story). So, essentially, we have enough food to last us a while. And we have other leftovers. There is a lot of food; we have an abundance of it. Somehow we started with nothing but bread, cheese, and meat. Now, we have a lot of other things. God has been blessing us.

Wednesday, our investigator who is being baptized had her interview. Then, I went on exchanges down in Lawrenceville, where I became the designated driver. We saw all kinds of people and attempted to see others. I met a lady who had four kids under the age of six, some of them adopted. She was feeling depressed that day and told us that she decided to not have any more kids. I met one of their investigators who is going through a lot, but she is making it through. As much as I did not want to be on exchanges, I am glad I was. I needed a break, because I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed. I had a lot on my mind since Sunday after that nightmare and there were a lot of things that needed to be done. And sometimes it does feel that I am doing it alone. As I have discovered time and time again, God is watching out and knows my situation. Hence the exchange. Meanwhile, over here in the Appomattox ward, my companion and our district leader tracted. They found some nice potentials and a person who was waiting for the missionaries to come back. I am excited to work with them. And my companion and our district leader went to missionary correlation. Our ward mission leader was at it again. They talked about missionary work for about five seconds and then, the ward mission leader got excited about the gospel. Thus, he went off on a tangent about the Creation again and gave questions to the district leader to try to figure out, giving him two weeks to come up with an answer for them. The district leader has yet to figure it out. I know the answers, because the ward mission leader told us the previous time of correlation. Yesterday, I met a ward missionary; she approached me. She asked about correlation and I explained that it just depends on the ward mission leader showing up. Perhaps if that person shows up, maybe, just maybe, things can be centered.

Thursday, I finished the ward roster. I was so happy. I figured our where mostly everyone lived, which should make life a bit easier on us. We saw a recent convert and watched a video with him. He responds quite well to videos. 

Friday was an absolute off-day. We were going to help somebody move, but we needed a ride to spare miles. Our ride was supposed to show up at ten. Well, he did not show up until one. We were with two youth; one youth put in a little more effort than the other. We had no clue what we were supposed to move, but we were expected to do something. It was a bit frustrating. We got home at about 4:30, showered and changed. Someone had invited us to a wedding reception for their daughter. I was tired and so was my companion. He knew the family a lot more than I did. So, I relented and we went to the wedding reception. It was all in the idea of supporting the family. Albeit, it was the oddest thing I ever went to see. We show up at 6, when it was supposed to start, and we were the first people there. The first person we meet is the groom, who did not know we were showing up. It was awkward. There were plenty of non-members there as well.

Saturday, we tried to see certain people. All of it failed, except one. He is a less active who we are now working to return to church. And we planned after dinner, because we had yet to do that. 

Sunday, we had church. It was centered on temples and families. Well, our investigator who is being baptized soon went up to the temple yesterday. Some member and her daughter invited her to come and visit. Well, our investigator had a wonderful time. She was invited by the bishop to come bear her testimony of the temple. She did an excellent job of bearing her testimony. She wants to serve a mission. It was awesome. After church, we saw a few people.

So, yes, things are moving ahead. There have been off days and down days, but there also has been up days. Progress is taking time, but I like time. Time is a friend, not an enemy. I know I am at the right place and at the right time. I know that, because Satan is trying to throw a lot of things at me. I am not giving up. I do not care how tired I am. I do not care what happens as long as I am doing the right thing and as long as I am obedient and hearken to the word of the Lord.

All is well! I would say I do not need anything, but I know it has been nearly a year and the count is coming close. I need Aller-tec and perhaps some more nasal spray. Thanks!

Love,

Elder S. Todd