Thanksgiving Week

Hello family that I am oh-so-grateful for!

So this week was another week in the works I suppose. We haven't been able to teach hardly any lessons though. Everyone is busy or out of town for the holidays. Melissa did come to church though! As well as Cameron and Elaina. Elaina is the one who has been taught all the lessons and has a testimony but still has a hold up (her boyfriend). Our current game plan with her is to help her to help her boyfriend. They won't get married sooner and they won't break up so the only option is to overpower them with the spirit! Muahaha! Only by being "pricked in your heart" can some people really change.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with brother Adams (1st counselor in bishopric) and his family. It was fairly normal: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rice pilaf, green jello pudding (with pistachios! mmm), rolls, and yams that I casually passed on. haha. We also got invited over to another member's house with some other missionaries but it was later in the evening so I thought it was just to hang out and maybe eat dessert. Turns out they were actually expecting us for dinner! I was so stuffed I was barely able to eat more than some fruit, jello and another roll or two. It was fun though.

 

Coordinating the vehicles has gotten a little easier. I know what I'm doing as far as all the basic stuff. I get several calls every day, some of which are pretty funny. It's weird that missionaries call me thinking I would know exactly what's wrong with their car. I'm definitely no auto mechanic but so far I've had a good idea at least of what's going wrong. Some sisters were the victims of a hit and run on Thursday and those are the calls that are less fun to answer.

 

So the sisters in Indio that we swapped cars with had an issue last Saturday night. They called me complaining about Chevy cars and why I couldn't give them a toyota because now their car isn't working. haha. It wasn't turning on or anything and after asking a bunch of questions it sounded to me like a battery issue. I asked if they had any members that lived close by that could help them jump the car and they said they did and would call me again if they had any more issues. I thought it was going to end there but they called 10 minutes later. They said "so we got out and shook the battery and the car started up fine. We drove home and parked in front of our mailbox but when we got back in the car now it won't start again." Me: "so you parked in front of the mailboxes andturned off your engine?" Them: "Yeah and now it won't start and my companion is shaking the battery again and there are sparks flying everywhere!"  Oh dear. haha. Well I told them to stop shaking the battery and call their zone leaders to come over and tighten the terminals on their battery (since the sisters didn't have a wrench). Whew! It made me realize why the church only buys new cars and why, oftentimes, the sisters are driving the newest of the bunch. They didn't even know what a wrench was! haha... oh well. They're all squared away now.

 

Well I hope it doesn't sound like my life is boring. It definitely isn't. There are some really slow moments in the office where I would love to just listen to music. Some of the work is really a lot like what I did for Browning P.S. I've actually had a lot of laughs this transfer. So it's been fun.

Oh! We had dinner with Melissa Strong on Wednesday and she is Steven and Ben South's cousin! Crazy huh?? What a small world!

 

As far as Christmas goes, I actually have one or two small ideas. I could use a new black belt. One of the ones I came out with was already kinda old so the other one I wore like 80% of the time. They're both pretty worn out. Just make sure it's not a super wide belt because some of my belt loops on my slacks are small. I could use more garments... but I wanted to try out some slightly different kinds so I might just do that when I come home. A couple socks wouldn't be bad either since most of the ones I have are on their last leg. Or foot. haha.

Well that might not help much. haha. I already have a christmas tree so you don't need to send another if you were planning on that.

 

Anyways! We actually don't have to email on Saturday. Pres said we could just do it Monday since we're already at a computer in the office. So. Still unsure which I'm going to pick. I wish he would just pick one for me! When I told him I'd last Monday that I'd already emailed Saturday he was just like "well if you'd like to email your mom again and have time, go ahead!" So I might just go back to Mondays. I just don't want to feel like I have free reign. I'll talk to him about it again.

 

Love you guys! I'm definitely thankful for you all and for you mom and dad. I've realized what a blessing it is just to have a mom and a dad at home, especially ones who try to do everything right.

Love,

Elder Nelson Browning