November 4, 2013

October 28, 2013 to November 3, 2013

 Monday we had an amazing dinner with the Boiks. We found out from the Boiks that someone had passed away. We went to the Shelhammer viewing. Although I didn't personally know the man we learned a lot about him. He was an amazing man. We headed back from Berwick and dropped off a triple combination for Stephanie. Then we talked with several people - one being Stan. He ran off before we could give him anything because people were following him and harassing him. He literally ran into a light pole to get away from them. Those few minutes were probably the most thrilling and frightening part of my mission.


 Tuesday we went to the food cupboard and bagged potatoes. On the way back we ran into Stephanie. We let her know about the ward trunk or treat. Not much later we worked on the area book. Afterwards we went to visit a few people and ran into Patrick once again but this time he was joined by April. At first the conversation was light chatter about nothing in particular but soon ventured into deeper subjects - we gave them Books of Mormon, a couple of pamphlets each, and an Articles of Faith card. It was the Articles of Faith card that caught Patrick's attention and we sent up a return appointment for the following Tuesday - when they would be available next. That night we met with Don and talked with him about the commandment of health - the Word of Wisdom. We then went to the Dicks home and had an amazingly spiritual lesson on the Holy Ghost with Margot.


 Wednesday started out with District Meeting. The first part of the meeting was focused on getting to know each other. Something that stuck out to met from the meeting was this statement "Don't just sit and stew, go and do!" Each of us created a little paragraph for a lesson for someone we were teaching. After district meeting we went to visit some people we had met previously and ran into a member from another ward. Imagine our surprised when he told us that he was a member and was preparing for a mission. We then met with Brother Stanley and talked with him about two commandment - the law of health and following the prophet. Gabby's lesson was probably the lesson every missionary dreamed of. The spirit was thick as we read the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32. Then we went on to read about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. She accepted the invitation to be baptized. Before we saw Gabby a whole sting of events led to the lesson even happening. Through the string of events we met Andre who had been to church a couple times before either Sister Stovall or I were there. Amazingly spiritual guy. That night we went to Trunk or Treat. Sister Stovall got in the back of Sister Meaders car and had fun scaring kids when they went to get candy from the bowl. Stephanie and her kids came to the Trunk or Treat. It was an amazing day.


 Thursday was Halloween. We ate lunch after studies and headed to the public library. We ran into Brother Johnston on the way into the library and talked with him for several minutes. We then went to see Martha and Jessica. We found out in the morning that Jessica had recently lost her friend. We watched the Mormon message "Hope Ya know, I Had a Hard time Today". During the lesson my locked and I couldn't get it open. I called the mission doctor after the lesson and he had me contact an oral surgeon in the ward. He said he would look at my jaw on Sunday. We then had dinner with the Howies. After dinner we headed in for the night. We had to be in early for the holiday. I worked on the area map and finished it. Sister Stovall worked on the to do list we had and on calling people in the directory that we didn't know. Overall it was a good day, however I ended up losing my CTR ring (the one my older sister gave me).


 Friday after weekly planning we talked to Andre for some time. We headed further out and ate at Playa Cancun. From there we went to a street and spent several hours tracting. With the exception of one each house was a rejection. The exception was a teenager named adam who was interested in learning more. On our way to meet a less active member we stopped at a house. Both Sister Stovall and I looked at the house but continued on. However when we continued on several deer crossed the road and were forced to stop. We took that as a sign and turned around and pulled to the side of the road. At first we talked to Amber who said she'd talk to her husband and that she'd let us know. We were walking back to the car when her husband came out and lit a cigarette. Sister Stovall turned around. I asked what she was doing and she said that was going to talk to him. At one point in talking to us he said that he wasn't going to be convinced of Joseph Smith. Sister Stovall said held up a finger and told him (and challenged him) to have just one lesson with us. He agreed and we set up a return appointment for the following Wednesday. We then went to go meet Brother Stuart. When the door opened we met his wife, Jeanette. His wife isn't a member. Brother Stuart told us why he hadn't been to church for some time. He told us that he had been wanting a Book of Mormon because he had lost his. We set up a time for us to return the next day.

 Saturday Danny joined us and because of that we were able to help Brother Todd for about 6 hours clean out his house in preparation for him moving out and other moving in. We picked up the elders after we cleaned up and changed back into proselyting clothes. After dinner with the Forsbergs we dropped the elders off back at their car and then dropped off food that Brother Todd was taking with him to someone who needed it. We dropped by a less active couple that we hadn't been able to see in awhile. We were able to talk with him for a few minutes before we headed back in. We had received a call earlier in the day from Brother Stuart cancelling our lesson with them because his wife wasn't doing to good. We were sad but wished them well.

 Sunday morning we had a meeting with out ward mission leader. Sacrament meeting we a fast and testimony meeting. Both Sister Stovall and I bore our testimonies. Eash testimony, no matter how short or tear filled, brought a special spirit to the meeting. Afterwards Brother Johnson looked at my jaw. It was determined that I most likely had TMJ. Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (sometimes abbreviated to TMJ or TMJD) is an umbrella term covering pain dysfunction of the muscles of mastication (the muscles that move the law) and the temporomandibular joints (the joints which connect the mandible to the skull). The most important feature is pain, followed by restricted mandibular movement, and the noises from the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) during jaw movement. Although it is not life threatening, it can detriment quality of life, because the symptoms can become chronic and difficult to manage. That night we ate dinner with the Chartrands. We then had a lesson with Martha before we went in for the night.