Thanksgiving

December 2nd, 2013

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

It sounds like you had a good Dead Bird Day (a reference to what Seth's grandfather called Thanksgiving). I had a fun day, going from one members house to my landlord to an investigator. It was a lot of fun and a lot of food. By the third meal, I had a very small portion, because I knew my stomach was not that hungry. And I had deep fried turkey, which is a lot crunchier and juicier than regular turkey.

And wow Mom! I saw a picture of you, thanks to the courtesy of Joy! You look different! I had noticed it with the other picture. (His mother has a short, different style haircut) I was happy that Joy sent me pictures of the family and Bria helped out on that as well (especially with a picture of my dog). I hope you got my letter. I know I sent it out late, but it should arrive soon, hopefully. I will definitely keep an eye out for the packages. (We sent him a package for his birthday that should arrive a couple days early.)

It sounds like you had fun with Bria! That must have been really exciting to see her! I am glad that you were able to help Grandma with her puzzles. Those were a lot of fun and I loved doing puzzles with Grandma.

It has been a good week. Things are definitely looking up, even though this week looks the same as last week. We were able to have a good amount of investigators come to church and they are progressing. I am really excited for these people and I hope they continue to progress. We had a major crunch on our miles(missionaries are given an allowance on their mileage); we had to walk a couple of days to preserve what extra miles we had left. 

And our car does not seem to get a break either. So, we have additional scratches on our car; this time of our own make. We just got done with potluck and everybody left. My companion and I were the last ones to leave the member's house. I got a call from the ward mission leader and I was focused on the call, what he was saying. As I was doing this, my companion, who I was not paying attention to, started backing up. Next thing I knew, the car was right in view and I started to tell him to stop.

He cannot see me, because I do not have any light on me and I am wearing black (coat, pants, shoes, beanie). Well, there was a small stone wall with slate that the car went over and scratched the car. My companion rolled down the window as I was talking to the leader. I said, "I told you to stop!" He replied, "I cannot see you unless you are behind me!" The poor mission leader said, "Well, I will talk to so and so and I, uh, will call you back." We told the member, which he did not seem too upset about the wall, just wanted to laugh at us. As we left and started to talk to someone else, the "maintenance required" light came on. Our car cannot get a break.

But, like I said with Thanksgiving, I had fun. The one member's house was a lot of fun; we played 20 Questions, only different. My companion knew me too well to figure out what I was thinking. (Javert, from Les Miserables). Then, with our landlord and his family, it was real nice. And the investigator was fun. We were able to gain another new investigator by teaching the Plan of Salvation. Plus, the investigator shot off fireworks! Nobody, thankfully, called the cops.                                                 

And the Lord works in mysterious ways. The investigator where we went to Thanksgiving finally came to church here. I hope he enjoyed it. He has been investigating for a few years now and it took him to go to Arizona and be stranded there. Why? Because, he went to church there and received assistance from the bishop there and bishop here spoke highly of the investigator. The only bad part of his Arizona trip is that he got in a car accident and the airbag shattered his radius bone. His arm will not be the same, but I know a great scripture that can help (the investigator is pretty depressed about his arm)! 

Are you sending this to my siblings?

All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. Congratulations also mother for bearing your testimony! (She bore her testimony in church. Members are given   the opportunity the first Sunday of each month to bear testimony of their Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the amazing grace poured out upon those who choose to come unto Christ Jesus.                                                                     
P.P.S Also, someone made deviled eggs and they did not add paprika, but pickle relish. I started laughing, because I thought of Grandma and her deviled eggs.

'Twas the Week Before the Bird Died . . .

November 25, 2013

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I got your Thanksgiving card. Thank you for it. I much appreciate it. I did enjoy the humor of today as well as last week. 

We have two to three places to go, which means on Thursday (Thanksgiving) I have three set meals. Lunch, snack, and dinner. I am excited for Thanksgiving, though this week and the upcoming weeks we plan on tracting a lot. I will go into that a bit later. I hope Bria has a safe flight (his sister was flying for the first time with one layover); I know she is scared and I pray for her safety. Have fun on Thanksgiving!

It is frustrating for me that I cannot go to the temple, especially with it so close! But, that would require me to cross two missions (D.C. South and North) to get to the temple. Plus, you have D.C. traffic, which is bumper to bumper even at so many miles away. It is hard especially with the big excitement of the Festival of Lights and performances that go on from December 6th on towards January 1st at the Washington, D.C. temple. We cannot go at all. The mission president made that clear. 

I am glad to hear things go well in Lemoore with missionary work. Keep on working hard.

So, this week was a crazy week. We went out to eat with our district on Tuesday and then, we had a surprise appointment (in which we gave a church tour). The appointment was a surprise, because we had thought we were just calling to set up an appointment. Instead, the investigator told us, "I am on my way." Oh, and we were trying to finish laundry at another missionary's apartment, seeing as we do not have access to one in our basement apartment. So, it was a good appointment; the investigator likes to ask deep, deep questions. 

While we were waiting for him to arrive, we noticed that something was different about our car. Somebody hit the bumper and did not leave a note, so we have a nice dent on our car. Wednesday, we had to fill out a form, figure out where to go, and set up an appointment for an estimate. Thursday, we had the estimate done and then, we mailed it off. It was a fun form to fill out, "What is the driver's information?, What is their VIN number?, etc." We had no idea. 

A progressing investigator of the church dropped us, saying that her doctor said to limit contact with others, us. That was heartbreaking. 

I fell down stairs twice. First time, I was carrying my laundry and it was dark. I thought I come to the bottom of the stairs and took a step. Apparantly, there was another step before the end. So, I fell and landed on my knees and hit my elbow on the railing. My companion asked me if I was okay. I told him that it felt like I had prayed for a long time. Second time, I was holding onto the railing when my hold slipped and I knocked off a post (which was attachable still) and cut my finger.

This week had its good moments. We had some good appointments. I got to watch Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with the man I baptized. We had some great meals with members. It was a good time. Now is the time to refocus our efforts in finding people to teach.

Since you sent some funny things this week and the past, I will tell you some funny things. With the Primary Program, the bishop at the end, talked a bit, and then turned around and said, "Children, I want you to know that you are children of God." Then, a kid piped up, "We already know that bishop!"

There are plenty of historical markers here in Virginia. One of them read "General Hooker's Headquarters." I read it to my companion and he said, not realizing, jokingly, "We should go there for P-day. Haha, just kidding!" I looked at him and said, "It is a historical site." He replied, "Oh." I guess he had thought it was literal. A fascinating fact if I had not shared, the word hooker comes from General Hooker who had women following his army. That is enough of that fact.

There was a time when one of the sister missionaries needed a blessing. I was with my companion and another male member. The sister missionary has an accent, so it can be hard to understand sometimes. She received a blessing before for a cold that she had. Well, it was different this time. My companion was wondering what was wrong, seeing if it was the same problem as before. She replied with cramps, but my companion thought she said Chromes. He thought she had Crohn's disease and wanted her to go to the hospital. Her companion replied, "No, stomach pains." My companion finally understood, but then, the male member said, "Oh, is the Virginian food getting to you?" That left an awkward silence for a while and the male member understood why after it. I always tease my companion, saying, "Crohns." I really do like my companion; he is a good missionary and he can be funny. I can also be stubborn at times, but that is besides the point. He looks after me. I set up a dinner appointment with a member on December 7th (that's Seth's 19th birthday). I had absolute no intentions of saying what day that was, but my companion told the member anyway.

So, I hope you had a good laugh. I hope that you are sending my week to my siblings, because I do have limited time here, especially today. Do you mind sending this to Grandma as well?

I knew I would be getting packages soon. I was kind of hoping, seeing as I was nearing the end of my Book of Mormon studies, to obtain my New Testament Institute manual. I understand if you do not want to send it.

All is well. Have a good week.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. I made sure to wish my mission president, in these exact words, "a Happy Dead Bird Day." May you also have a Happy Dead Bird Day!