Eh. It was fun.

NEWS: I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED AGAIN. I will still be in Tennessee
though, so it won't be too much of a hassle. I will probably be
replacing Elder Heaton in Memphis South, so it'll even be the same
branch!
So, this week's email is going to be a little different. This week was
one of the more discouraging ones of my mission, or it should have
been. We literally taught one person. We talked to about 10 total,
which is also super low by the standards we usually have. It wasn't
that we didn't work. In fact, we tried harder than ever this week.
Since we were low on miles we biked most of the days. It was just that
no one wanted to talk to us. Some of the time it was rough, but
honestly I feel great! I know what I'm doing, and it's the right
things. So, this week I don't want to focus so much on events as much
as the stuff I have learned. But first, a little summary of the week I
guess.
Monday was fun. Since it was raining, we couldn't go out to Shelby
farms to continue our adventure like we had planned. So, we did the
next closest thing: Dungeons and Dragons. I'd never played before, and
it didn't sound super entertaining, but it was fun! Granted, takes a
looooong time, but I'll do it again.

Tuesday's highlight was district meeting. I brought no bake cookies
for refreshments again, since they were so popular (again, props to
Anjilee) and Elder Spencer brought beetles. Yep, Bro. R gave
him some so he could start his own population and he figured the
sisters needed to try some. And they did! And took some home too! Haha
it's great.

The other highlight was right after. The elders went to Olive Garden
for lunch (soup and salad woo!) and it was great. The cool part was
our waitress. She was really talkative, and mentioned how much she was
working to try and get promoted. She asked what we did, and we
explained a bit about missionary work. She thought it was great, and
commented that she hadn't gone to church for a while due to work.
Elder Peterson testified to her of the power and blessings that come
from keeping the law of the sabbath day, and she got a bit choked up
and left. A few minutes later she came back and thanked us a lot for
talking with her. She said it was exactly what she needed to hear. It
was a really cool moment.

Wednesday had a good start and good end. We got called early to go
give a blessing to the Hermosillo's daughter, who was really sick. I
am grateful that they trust us as priesthood holders to do that. That
night Bro. Benitez fed us dinner. It's always great to see him. He
just got called as branch mission leader, and he is on top of the
world. Plus his wife cooks really delicious food.
Thursday involved a lot of bike problems. Really, so did the rest of
the week, but towards the middle of the week it got fun. We ended up
changing 3 of our 4 tires, and Elder Moore's tire was flat by Saturday, 
for unknown reasons. It's been great. We also had dinner
with the Rs again, which was great. Sister R is seven months
pregnant, and it's been fun helping her. This week she called right
before studies to help her carry groceries.

Friday's highlight was  awesome. So we were biking down the street,
and I saw this Gringo mowing his lawn. I felt the prompting to turn
around and talk to him. It was suuuper awkward, but we stopped. He
didn't live there, no one was home, and wasn't interested. So,
figuring maybe God just wanted us to just stop at the house, we left a
card there.  As we were getting on our bikes, out of nowhere this
little old Hispanic guy in  a suit came strolling down the street with
a huge Bible in his bag. We said hello, and he asked "Do you preach
the gospel?" "Well, yes...?" "Do you have anything I could read?" So
we gave him a Book of Mormon, which he was excited about and promised
he would read.
Saturday was the day we actually had a lesson. It was with this guy
named Z. He is a really cool, really religious guy. He had lived
in Utah for a bit as we found out. We had a really good talk with him.
It was also the first day in months I actually got cold. When you are
riding bikes in the rainy 50 degrees with a short sleeved shirt and a
jacket that isn't as waterproof as it was before, it's not surprising.
But I am grateful for sweaters :)

Sunday we got the news that Elder Moore is training! Also we got to go
to church, which was even better! And then we were just leaving the
other elders' apartment (Moore was borrowing a bike :P) when there was
a big commotion on the roof and a sparrow fell off of it and hurt its
wing. We didn't want to leave it to die, so it is in a box in their
apartment while they get some birdseed from Bro. Rs' parakeets.

Well, that ended up longer than I thought it would be. No, we didn't
have a lot of success this week number-wise. But that's ok. I am stoked
for this week! A lot of change, but it should be good!
This week marks the beginning of my second-to-last transfer in the
mission. It is freaking me out like nothing else. But I just want to
say that for as fast as it went by, I have learned and grown more than
I have at any other point in my life. I gained a stronger testimony
that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and that this is His
work. He has worked wonders in my life and in the lives of countless
others I have met. God is still a God of miracles. He still speaks. If
He didn't, we wouldn't have this message to share with everyone! I am
grateful that I can be His sergeant here in the South.
Love you guys and hope you have a fantastic week! Thanks for staying in touch!


The District.......