Bring on the Spring

So this week has been pretty fabulous! A lot of good happened, especially towards the end of this week. 

Tuesday I had planned to do exchanges, but with zone meeting the next day we decided not to. We went to English class and met a really nice girl from China named M. or X. She's super cool, hopefully we can talk to her some more! We had a lesson with S. and taught about the Plan of Salvation. He ate it up, he just loves learning about the gospel and it's great. Then we went out to Bono to look for a less active member, but he didn't live there. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.
Wednesday we went down to Searcy for zone meeting. We focused on working with members and achieving the "Standard of Excellence." It's basically a set of goals that President Wakolo set for the entire mission for lessons, new investigators, etc. Our district hadn't done so well last week, so it was a tad embarrassing going up to write down our results in front of everyone. That kinda made the push for the rest of the week. Then we went to the hospital to try ad find someone's neighbor only to find, after about half an hour, that he had left it that day. Still, we got to talk to someone outside about the Plan of Salvation and get him in contact with the missionaries where he lives.

Thursday we went to ASU to do the booth again. It was kinda slow with spring break coming up and all but we still got to see some people. Maggie came by and said hi, and some of the professors who are members also did. There are actually a lot of the teachers here who are members, so it's kind of nice to have them around there. Then we went on exchanges! I went with Elder Zickella to his area. We saw a new investigator named T.  and set a baptismal date with her! That will be exciting! Then we drove out to Bono to go try and find some people, but no luck. Then we drove across the area to Trumann to contact a referral from the bishop. It was a woman named B. and her 3 kids. She had been going through a rough patch, and her friend who is a member contacted the bishop and sent us over. She is a really nice lady, and it's a great family. I have high hopes for them. Then we contacted some other people who lived out there, then went and had dinner with the Rs. 

Friday we unexchanged, then went to the college to help Bro. R clean out some more chemistry lab stuff. We've taken out a lot, and there's a huge pile of old furniture and air ducts and stuff outside. So this week we are all going out there with sledgehammers tom make sure that no one can use it again. It'll be quality entertainment. Then we went out and found some potential investigators for a few hours, then had dinner at the Ms.

Saturday we really put the pedal to the metal! We called one of the youth, S, to go out with us. He's a super chill kid, and plays upright bass in the orchestra and is really good at it. But anyway we went to go contact the people we had found the day before. None of them were there, so we looked around the neighborhood for some more people. We talked to H, a former investigator, for a bit. She was busy cooking (she caters from her home) so we didn't get to teach too much, but she made us pupusas, which are basically deliciousness pancakes made from cornmeal, cheese, and meat. Hard to explain. Go find a Guatemalan and have them make you some. Then we went to S's house again and had the 3rd lesson with him, which he enjoyed as much as the first two. He is firmly convinced that this church is true, and he has felt the Spirit every time we go see him. It made S's day to go there, because S is just a very energetic guy and just went on and on. Then we dropped him off and went to see a Hispanic guy named A. We talked to him about church, and he said he would go. Sounded sort of shady about it, but we set up a ride for him and everything.

Sunday rolled around, and it was great! S came to church and loved it, A also came to church and.. well, we're pretty sure he liked it. He is NOT a talkative guy. President Wakolo also came to church, and spoke in sacrament meeting for a bit about fellowshipping people. He did interviews with us all, which was great. It's always nice to have an interview with President Wakolo, he is the single nicest man I have ever met. Then we went and gave a blessing to an older member who's having back issues. We also went and had dinner with the S family, a recently married couple who met in the MTC. The wife is from here, and the husband is from Mexico. They are awesome people, and super funny too! We had southern sopes, which was basically normal sopes but with "queso dip" (velveeta with salsa) instead of cheese. Then we went and had a lesson with the B family, and we watched the Restoration with them. It was a really good lesson.

Well, that's about all! Just in case anyone needs to write me during the week, my address is:

3700 S Caraway Rd. Apt. B-12

Jonesboro, AR 72404

Probably the worst name for a shopping center ever....

Some of the flowers we have here (they are called daffodils, Andrew)