Well, it looks like Elder Downer too was struck down by
illness. I'm beginning to believe that I might have given it to them, although
I didn't have the same symptoms as they did. Early tuesday morning as we were
leaving to a trainer-trainee meeting, he manifested sickness as we drove the
2-3 hour drive up to Kyle. That's a disadvantage of this area -- we are forever
away from anything. We got a few trainings, and when it was Elder Downer's turn
to get an interview, he came out and we were told to take him home. More
driving, yay! President Slaughter apparently had said to him, "You
shouldn't be here. Go home and get some rest." We probably shouldn't have
left in the first place, but we didn't want to be the ones that backed out
because our 'wittle companion was sick. Well, goes to show that your common
sense sometimes should be heeded every once in a while.
I had the opportunity to go on splits with some of the
brothers in the ward while my companions recovered at home. We taught a lesson
to Lorena's daughter's Laurel and Felisha (Fi-fi). They were very well informed
already and they knew an awful lot. The problem was that the room we decided to
teach in had some coloring pages and colored pencils, and I had to frequently
shift attention back and forth between the two sisters to make sure that they
knew what was going on. Felisha's deal is she believes she doesn't need to read
the Book of Mormon to know it is true. She says that she should be able to ask
God, and that He will tell her. Makes sense, wouldn't it? But I did learn a
lesson from her that it takes consistent reading of the Book of Mormon to
continually know it is true. I'm grateful for daily scripture study.
The day before we taught a lesson to the Alba family. Sister
Alba isn't actually married to Brother Alba, and she needs to get divorced from
her current husband who is hiding somewhere in south Texas. Until she can serve
divorce papers to him, she can get a divorce, which means she can't get
married, which means she can't get baptized. She is prime except for the
essential road block. Her son is a precious soul, who got baptized a little bit
ago before we got here. He could make anyone smile -- anyone. We'll continue to
work with the Albas and hope that they progress towards baptism.
While looking in the area book, Elder Downer came across a
former named Casey. Casey had apparently stopped keeping commitments and return
appointments, so the missionaries dropped him. But Elder Downer gave him a
call, he accepted a visit, and we met him at the church. He's an open minded
individual, albiet he calls himself an agnostic, when before he was an atheist.
We thought his first question, "So y'all practice polygamy right?"
might set the relationship off for disaster, but things continued and he was
very cordial about his questions. He made it to the first two hours of church
as well, which was a blessing. If he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about
it earnestly, he'll get baptized for sure -- no doubt about it.
For dinner last night we ate at the Elder's Quorum
President's home, and his wife made Navajo tacos. Imagine a scone topped with
taco toppings. They were good. Sister Alba and the kids came to dinner as well,
but the husband got called on a job out of no where, and couldn't make it. The
members of the ward are very welcome to feeding those we work with.
We also got a "ward missionary dinner calendar
specialist" called this Sunday. Now we have someone endeavoring to help us
get dinners with the part member, and less active members of the ward. She's a
sweet old lady who seems in touch with the ward, like the youngest old lady
I've ever met. Universal City has someone with this calling as well, and as a
result, we hardly missed a dinner with a member while I was there. I'm
exercising as much as I can in the mornings to keep the wait off! :)
Time is going even quicker. I could have sworn I just began
this mission.
Questions and Answers:
Do either Elder Bertelsen or Elder Downer like singing?
Elder Bertelsen does. He's off key every once in a while,
but that doesn't detract from it much. He's more into improvisation. Elder
Downer plays the piano decently well, but doesn't really like to sing. I'm
content to sing in the shower.
Did Elder Downer get
his bike yet?
Nope. He won't be needing it however.
How are things going
with teaching and serving this week?
We had a few appointments to serve people this week that
fell through, but we did get the chance to teach a fair amount of lessons. Cars
in general are just more effecient. While I like the chilling-to-the-bone wind
of biking, cars allow us to visit more people across larger distances quicker.
If you like tell us more about the members in the area.
We got a famous roper in the ward. He has a few non-members
that live on his ranch, or rather, that work there. They have a great dane that
I absolutely love. It makes me want to buy a great dane when I get home.
Like I said before, most everyone wears boots, or works on
the oil field, or works at the hospital, or HEB, so the occupations are much
different than Windcrest or Universal City, where many military families live.
What's it like being in a car more often?
A lot less bumpy. I'm
worried that if I get sent on a bike, my keister's gonna get it. Visits are
fast. We can't preach by the way as often, or talk to people as we meet them on
the street, because it'd be creepy to stop by people on the road. We want to make
an effort to park away from appointments so that we might find people ready to
hear the gospel on the way walking.
We got some heavy cleaning of the apartment to do. Missions
teach you everything.
-Elder Hall
Texas San Antonio Mission
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No pictures today, so here's a random text-face.
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