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| The Rappahannock River runs approximately 195 miles. |
Monday, November 17. 2014
Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,
There is no Bank of America nearby me for cashing checks. Yes, I have a car, for which I am grateful . Yes, I have plans for Thanksgiving with our landlady and their family and extended family. I have no idea what my size is in the waist. Also, thank you for sending healthful items to me in the Halloween package (pumpkin seeds?). I did enjoy it.
There is no Bank of America nearby me for cashing checks. Yes, I have a car, for which I am grateful . Yes, I have plans for Thanksgiving with our landlady and their family and extended family. I have no idea what my size is in the waist. Also, thank you for sending healthful items to me in the Halloween package (pumpkin seeds?). I did enjoy it.
It sounds like things are growing in Lemoore. Is it? ( We're a Navy town, so attendance can vary on deployment, vacations, etc.) Last Sunday (not yesterday) we had a stake member come and take a picture of the congregation (which that week was totally full) to show how much the Tappahannock Branch has grown. (This week, though, a lot of people were at home, because of sickness.) Tell Sister Saari that I say hi. I definitely understand back pain and I am taking it easy. I have been trying to work on my core strength as I have probably already said. Odd question: How is the gas prices in Lemoore? Here it is $2.55 per gallon. (Sorry if I make you jealous.) And yes, the weather is definitely getting colder. We have been trying to stay warm inside and outside.
This week seems to have a handful of car troubles. Be careful out there. First our landlady's mail car (which got fixed), then Bria's accident, and finally us (more details coming).
Monday night. We had an appointment with the people we set on date for baptism last week. Well, it fell through. And subsequent visits proved fruitless, because they ditched out on us. Until we finally caught one at home, who was sick. We gave her a blessing and we hope that everything will be okay with her. ( Notice the sentiment was not that she be made well and be converted but simply that things will be okay with her.) We arrived late to family home evening, but it was a good lesson.
Tuesday, we had a successful day of appointments. We saw one of our investigators who has many medical issues. She seems to focus in our lessons; although, we are going to ask her to turn the telly off, rather than mute it. I learned a couple of lessons myself about the Spirit in that lesson. Then, we saw an elderly lady whom we are trying to teach, but I am wondering if things are sinking in. She understands and always has the same tangents, although she has the mental competency and is physically well and able for her age. Hopefully, things do stick with her and that she understands the importance of what we say. We also saw a less active whom I had not seen since I arrived. He requested that we do not prepare a lesson, but open the scriptures to some chapter. It is a great idea, but with tabs, it makes very hard to open it to a random page (or I might open to the topical guide). Finally, we taught a recent convert of a couple months the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tuesday was a successful week after a hard week.
Well, Wednesday rolled around. We had district meeting that day. Our zone leaders and sister training leaders showed up. I trained on the companionship and our relationship with our companions. I think it went well; I used a lot of scriptures and a lot of scriptural companions (even if it was not an actual missionary companionship). After that and doing our usual things, we headed off to see a few people. As we went by the library (which has construction nearby), we instantly heard a lot of clanging from our car, specifically the left rear tire. We immediately went into the parking lot of an elementary school. Lo and behold, there was a metal rod, with a screw end, sticking out of the tire (the screw end was in our tire). My companion immediately pulled it out and our tire, in a matter of minutes, deflated. We had a spare, but we thought we had no tools. (We later found the jack and we found the necessary tool, which was hidden.) We called somebody who came and helped. Now, we had a donut and had to limit ourselves. As per expected with a donut, it was half the size of all the tires.
So on Thursday, we had it patched with help from our landlord. It took two plugs. And as we sadly realized, it is leaking air, albeit slowly. We have to fill it with air everyday. But, with a fixed tire, we headed off to see people. We saw an elderly couple, one of whom has specifically dementia. We read the scriptures and helped the man with the dementia understand what we read. His wife helped out. Then, we saw an investigator, who lives with a member. We had a good lesson, though the member goes off in non-important tangents and talks and talks. No matter what we do to stop him, he keeps on talking. So, it is a matter of relating the tangent to the topic.
Friday, we visited our investigator with her giant two year old. In teaching the Ten Commandments, we asked questions and she asked questions. It was good, albeit a few tangents that somewhat deviated from the lesson that we also used to try to bring it back. We tried a few more people that day with no success, especially that night. We helped our members upstairs decorate their Christmas tree; it is decorated in red and white.
So on Thursday, we had it patched with help from our landlord. It took two plugs. And as we sadly realized, it is leaking air, albeit slowly. We have to fill it with air everyday. But, with a fixed tire, we headed off to see people. We saw an elderly couple, one of whom has specifically dementia. We read the scriptures and helped the man with the dementia understand what we read. His wife helped out. Then, we saw an investigator, who lives with a member. We had a good lesson, though the member goes off in non-important tangents and talks and talks. No matter what we do to stop him, he keeps on talking. So, it is a matter of relating the tangent to the topic.
Friday, we visited our investigator with her giant two year old. In teaching the Ten Commandments, we asked questions and she asked questions. It was good, albeit a few tangents that somewhat deviated from the lesson that we also used to try to bring it back. We tried a few more people that day with no success, especially that night. We helped our members upstairs decorate their Christmas tree; it is decorated in red and white.
Saturday, we helped at the tail end of a Farmer's Market. There was not much going on when we arrived and people were leaving. We stayed there for a while before packing up everything and leaving. We did our best that day as well. We had a good lesson with our investigator that is a single mother and two children. While the children were all over the place, we tried hard to focus the lesson on the main point.
Sunday was the normal best day, it being the Sabbath. Not much happened on Sunday.
All is well!
Love,
Elder S. Todd
Pin by Jackie Helwig.
All is well!
Love,
Elder S. Todd
