The Week . . . of DOOM! Not really

This week wasn't bad, and it seemed to go by really fast and really slow at the same time. June is flying by and before you know it'll be July. Crazy! 

This week we did service again with the Sagers. It's been a while since we have. This time we went with the Summit Elders instead of the Guilford Elders. We are hanging out a little more with them this transfer, probably because they feel bad because we have no one to chill with anymore. They actually showed up at our apartment today and are hanging out with us. Well, anyway, the power went out at the food warehouse and we packaged in the dark, so that mixed things up a little. We went to a hot dog stand in the middle of downtown Greensboro, and it was really good. 

The next day we had interviews with President. It went well and I learned I need to plan better, so I have something to work on. Later that night we had dinner with the Sagers, and President Alexander had nowhere to go so the Sagers invited them over for dinner, so we had dinner with a past mission president and a current one, so it was a little nerve racking but wasn't that bad. So Friday was spend time with President day! Dinner was good, but the lesson afterward wasn't so hot. That's what happens when you are a little nervous. 

Friday we also went to the Neese's and tried to fix Brother Neese's bike but probably ended up making the problems worse. A rain storm came out of nowhere while we were there and we had to bike home in it. It was fun, and I'm just glad that it was on the way home instead of the way there because we could change when we got home. 

We cleaned some rain gutters on Saturday. It reminded me of the good old times when I worked for Troy. I was pulling a clump of mud out of the gutter when a little frog jumped out of it. I don't know how he got all the way up in the gutters, but that was crazy. I tried to pick him up, but he jumped down the downspout, so that was the end of him. 

We were finally able to get back in contact with the Goins! We had two appointments with them this week and they followed through with both of them!!!!!! It was great! We had two really good lessons and they said that they would come to church sometime in the future. We'll have to see, but at least that's progress! 

We had a pretty good Father's Day yesterday. We ate at the Lindsay's and as always, they had a ton of food prepared and expected us to eat a lot of it. I ate two huge bowls of the pasta and some bread, I was pretty stuffed, but I still felt pretty good. Elder Skinner on the other hand ate three huge bowls and felt real sick. That's the third time I've driven home in the car with my companion in the passenger seat, groaning, moaning, and telling me to go faster. Every time we go there we stuff ourselves because they prepare so much food, and it's tradition for the Elders to eat as much as they can. It's always super good stuff though, so it's well worth it. 

So that's pretty much the week. Love y'all!

Elders Skinner and Huff eating too much

Things Are Heating Up

This week started out a little differently but it wasn't bad. So on Monday we had a zone activity. It was called pioneer paintball. To play it we got a bunch of nylon socks and filled them with flour and colored chalk, tied it off, then threw them at each other. We played capture the flag and that was pretty fun. 

Then on Tuesday, Elder Skinner had to go down to Charlotte for a mission-wide MLC (Mission leadership council) and I had to find someone to stay with for the day. Since the Guilford Elders are no more, it wasn't very easy. I finally got placed in Colfax and I packed my things and the zone leaders took me there. So I hung out with Elder Bishop and Elder Anderson for the day in Colfax. It was a little weird at first considering I didn't know these elders because they aren't even in my zone, but they are awesome missionaries so it turned out pretty fun. We did a lot of biking that day and it turns out, Colfax doesn't have very many trees at all, so I ended up getting a little burned. It's always fun to be in a trio, so I actually was a little sad to come back to Summerfield Tuesday evening. In Colfax we had a super busy day all day long and I have kind of forgotten what that feels like. I miss it. But Summerfield is where I'm supposed to be and that's where I'll stay...for now. 

On Thursday we went to Claxton Elementary's fifth grade graduation ceremony. It was being held in our church gym (which is conveniently right across the street from the school) and we were asked to sort of welcome people and tell them where the bathroom is and water fountains are. It was pretty fun. We saw Melissa there for Aiden's graduation. It was kind of weird because we have stopped trying to see her because she isn't really interested right now, but at least she said hi to us. Afterwards, we had to clean up all the chairs and tarps that had been laid down and put them away. It was just six missionaries, a sister from the Guilford Ward, and President Hiatt (stake president, awesome guy). It was a lot of work for not that many people. The gym was PACKED with chairs from all over the church building and we put them all away. At one point Elder Skinner ripped a huge hole on the seam of his pants all the way from the mid thigh to the knee. He he he 😆. Then to finish the project off, we had to pick up a chair rack full of chairs and lift it to the stage. It was super heavy but we did it. Afterwards the Summit Elders and us went to IHOP. It was really good, I haven't been there for a very long time. 

On Friday we had zone meeting (So I got to see Elder Murray two times this week) and it was pretty good. It had a "Finding Nemo" theme related to us finding new investigators, which is something Summerfied really needs, so I enjoyed zone meeting. Well, this past week the temperature has raised quite a bit. It went from seventies earlier this week, to nineties in the last half of the week. On Saturday, with humidity, it got up to 107 degrees...ouch. And it hasn't gotten that hot yet either, I can't wait until August! I'm just so glad we have the car right now, maybe in August I'll be in a full car area...we'll see. 

Sure love ya! I'll talk to ya next week!

How gangsters drive down here in their super old, lifted Taurus cars
with bling rims...no joke

How I drive...jk

The New Transfer!

Huff & Murray

Monday was the last day with Elder Murray😭. It was sad. On Tuesday morning we got picked up by Brother Freeman and we loaded all Elder Murray's stuff into his Buick station wagon. We then drove the hour or so drive to Salisbury where we met at the church building there. A ton of Elders and their rides came to that church building. I was even able to see Elder Washburn and then Elder Nelson! That was pretty cool. Then Elder Murray and I said goodbye and he went up to Danville. (I'll get to see him today though at a zone activity, so that's cool!) Then I said bye to Elders Hulet and Randall, picked up Elder Skinner then drove back to Summerfield! He's a lot different than Elder Murray, but he's chill. He's really good at talking to people so that's fantastic, because I am still a little awkward. He's not as clean as Elder Murray though, but that is easily remedied. He's a great guy, and it's fun to serve with him. It's also fun to reminisce about the good'ol Concord/Kannapolis days. It's so weird to think how long ago that was. I just caught myself this morning talking about Need for Speed Rivals with Elder Skinner and I was telling him it maybe came out about six months ago, but then I realized, I was on my mission at that time! I have that game at home and had it for a couple months before I left for my mission, so it's probably been at least a year! Time is really starting to fly. Ever since May hit it's been a blur. Before I know it, I'll probably be in another area and I'll be 19 years old! I don't want to hit 19! I like being 18! Oh well! 

We did a lot of drop bys this week to introduce Elder Skinner and I think the ward will really like him. Talking to people comes so easy to him. He seems like a pretty good district leader and we had a pretty good district meeting this week. Our district has totally flopped! Elder Skinner and I call it the sistrict. Other than the zone leaders (who rarely come to our district meeting anyway) we (along with Elder Sagers I guess) are the only Elders. We have two companionships of sisters! Yikes! 

Well, not much else happened this week, we're just driving around, trying to get Elder Skinner accustomed to the area as quick as we can because we think I'll be getting the boot this next transfer! I'll actually send some pictures this week, unlike last week when I forgot. Love y'all! 

The Transfers!

So we got transfer calls, and a lot of things are changing. On Sunday morning we got a call from the zone leaders. I'm staying in Summerfield. I don't know whether to be happy or not, but it is what it is. Elder Murray, is being transferred! No! He's going up to Danville, VA! So he'll still be in the zone so I'll be able to see him a couple times this transfer so that's good. He's going to a four elder apartment. Well actually it's a house, a really small one with four elders crammed in it. It only has one bathroom! 😆 Poor Elder Murray, he's not too excited about that. But Danville has been on fire for the last couple months so hopefully he'll see some success and baptisms there, cuz he sure ain't seen them round these here parts! It's pretty ghetto up there so he'll have fun. I'll miss the guy, he's a great companion and even more so a great friend. We're already talking about meeting up after the mission. Summerfield just won't be the same without him😢. 

I also found out who my new companion is going to be! It's Elder Skinner! You know, the one elder who was in Kannapolis my first transfer in Concord! So that's pretty cool. At least I got someone I know fairly well. I'll probably only be with him one transfer, we'll see how it goes. So, a ton of people got transferred out of the district and I've heard almost half the zone is leaving! That's a lot! Only three companionships stayed the same in the entire zone. Sister Godfrey is going to Moorsville and Sister Starr is replacing her. Sister Krummenacher is going to Boone and a brand new sister is being trained by Sister Lovell. Elder Wilde is going to Newton-Conover and is being replaced by Elder Rasmussen (an Elder Elder Murray trained!), then comes the stinger.; both Elder Hulet and Randall and getting transferred and they are not being replaced! There will be no more elders is Guilford. Huge bummer! Who are we going to hang out with on P-days?! Yikes! Elder Hulet is going to Bethania (he's being reunited with his trainer, he's super pumped) and Elder Randall is going to Cornelius. I feel like I'm being left in the dust! All three of my buddies are taking off and only Elder Skinner is replacing them. It's really weird. Oh well! Only about 44 days till next transfer! Not that I'm counting or anything😑. 

Well. Not much went on this week. We had a slow week...again. We went on exchange with the Guilford elders for the last time. Elder Randall came to Summerfield with me. I'm really going to miss the Guilford Elders. Elder Skinner is going come and be the district leader and he isn't going to have anyone to exchange with other than the zone leaders, who only do one exchange per transfer. He has a district full of sisters! Poor Elder Skinner!😏 Elder Skinner is my fourth companion. He's also my fourth companion that is a district leader....weird. 

The Summit Elders had a baptism this week. It was really good and I felt happy for them. They've been working real hard together for the last 4 1/2 months and they finally got one. So now the only companionship in the district that didn't baptize is Elder Murray and me! Yay!☹️ So far on my mission I've attended 11 baptisms. That's a good amount in less than 8 months. So I've been surrounded by success, but I can't seem to scrounge up any. We'll see how things go in the future. 

Yesterday we went over to the Quijano's so Elder Murray could say goodbye to them. We had dinner (I ate octopus, I'll send some pictures!) and when we left, Sister Quijano started crying! The ward members really love Elder Murray, he'll be missed a lot. We visited the Smiths for lunch today too and tonight we're going to visit more people that Elder Murray wants to say goodbye to. It's kinda sad seeing him go. He's my first companion that got transferred and I stayed, so it's a whole new experience.

Trying octopus

This morning we went to the International Civil Rights Museum in downtown Greensboro. It was pretty cool, but I think we paid too much. I didn't really love the tour guide either. She made it seem like the Constitution was really faulty and America wasn't that great because of the whole civil rights problems. But I do have a newfound respect for all the men, women and children who fought for their rights. They had to be really brave to do what they did. We had fun. It was good. Afterwards we ate at Jimmy John's then said bye to Sister Godfrey and Sister Krummenacher. We'll see the Elders tomorrow at the Salisbury church building where we are meeting with our new companions. It's a huge change, and I don't know if I'll like it, but everything will be just fine. Hopefully Elder Skinner and I will have some good success this upcoming transfer. We'll have to see! Love y'all!

A Week of Home Teaching

This week went by pretty quick like, even though not much happened this week. On Monday we had a really good lesson with Melissa and Aiden and they said they would read the Book of Mormon every night, and though we set up an appointment with them for yesterday, that fell through...🙁. Hopefully we can set up another time with them. 

We did a lot of service this week again. We went with the Sagers to the food pantry. We are well known there now, all the people who work there know us. They even made name tags for us to wear so people who aren't regularly there can ask us questions and stuff. It's like we're part of the organization. We had district meeting on Wednesday and beforehand the Sagers provided a district lunch for us. It is awesome having the Sagers in our district. They are super fun to have around. I'll be sad when I leave this district just because of them. Elder Murray is actually golfing with them right now and I'm hanging out with the Guilford Elders. 

Well Wednesday night we helped Steve and Dana move and then on Thursday afternoon as well. They are moving to Wilmington. They were not progressing, but they regard us as friends so we helped them out. Steve was smoking the whole time and I started to get a headache, and then it just got worse and worse. It turns out I got second hand smoke from being with them for two hours. I felt like my head was going to explode! It hurt so much! That night I went to bed early and I felt like I was going to throw up it hurt so much. I woke up the next morning with a little headache but it went away throughout the day, so I was happy it went away quickly. 

That morning we had interviews with President. It went well, and basically he told us to keep casting our nets out and eventually we'll catch something. I sure hope so. 

It's been raining a lot this week and the weather is still pretty cool. Last year at this time Elder Murray says it was already hot, but we're getting lucky this year. It rained hard on Saturday and we had lightning real close by. I really like how much it rains. I don't really love it when we are biking, but when we have the car, I love it. 

Church was great this week. We actually got our ward mission leader to church this Sunday for the first time in two months. We had a really good ward council meeting where we talked a lot about missionary work and we were able to teach both junior and senior primary sharing time. That was really fun. The kids in the ward really like us, as well as the members. We've been here a long time together, Elder Murray and I. Though it isn't the greatest missionary minded ward, it sure isn't the worst. There are a lot of great people and families in the ward. 

Transfers are coming up this next Tuesday, and we feel Elder Murray is going, he's been here for six months, that's pretty long. But anything can happen, we'll see. Elder Murray and I teach really well together and maybe president has seen that and he'll keep us even longer, who knows? We could even be whitewashed, anything could happen. 

Well, that's pretty much our week. Not too exciting. We taught a lot of less active members this week, and sometimes it just feels like we are just glorified home teachers. But at least we're doing what we can. I'll talk to y'all next week! We'll have transfer business by then😳

A Week of Meetings and Service

Greensboro Zone

This week was a slow week. It seemed to last forever, but it wasn't necessarily a bad week. We did service at the food pantry with the Sagers again this week, that was good. Then we helped a sister in the ward pick up rocks (there aren't many down here in NC, so they sold for a good price) and we kinda did some landscaping with them for her. 

Then on Saturday we got up, got our service clothes on, then helped this old guy named Derwood organize a lot of junk. He is a hoarder, and if he wasn't such a sweet old guy we wouldn't even be there. His backyard is full of old riding lawn mowers, bicycles beyond repair, wood, wood, even more wood, random stuff, and a lot of other junk. His neighbors are complaining so he has to organize stuff and he's in his 80's, so it's not very easy for him, so we helped him. I don't really know if we actually did anything other than move around wood, but he was very thankful so that's all that counts. Right after that we went to an assisted living place and helped a sister and her non-member family move stuff out of their father's old room, he had passed away. They were very happy we could come. 

We had a good amount of meetings this week too. On Friday we had zone conference. It was really good. The doctrine and our presentation of repentance was discussed as well as the importance of service. That meeting lasted about 7 hours! Yay! They are really good though and keep us engaged. Then on Saturday night, after we had got home from serving at the assisted living center and eating dinner, we went to the adult session of stake conference. It was a great meeting. The stake presidency here is amazing! All three of them are very spiritual men as well as very good speakers. We also had Elder Meredith come. He is hilarious! I felt like we were watching a stand up comedy show! He would make us laugh so hard! I don't think I've ever laughed like that at church. But on the other hand, he was very good at switching from a really funny story to a very spiritual point. I was really impressed. He's a pretty young general authority as well. And then to top off the greatness of the meeting, there were refreshments at the end! 

Then the next day of course we had stake conference. It was great as well and Elder Meredith spoke again. We were able to get in contact with a few people we thought had fallen off this week. We finally talked to the Goins and we now have an appointment with them tomorrow. Hopefully things will go well and they'll commit to coming to church. We were also able to meet with Melissa just yesterday. She told us she had been working a bunch and hasn't been able to meet with us. She asked a lot of good questions about the church that we were able to answer and she seems pretty interested in coming. We have an appointment with her tonight @6:00, so hopefully that'll go well. 

Not much else happened this week. Looking forward to a great week this week! Love y'all!

The Week

So this week was pretty difficult. We had our bikes for the fourth week in a row and frankly, I had no motivation to use them. But we did and we got a good amount of work done. I'm just real happy WE GET THE CAR TODAY!! I've never been so happy about that in my life. It was a good experience though and I'm appreciative of it. It makes me so happy that I am not in a full bike mission. It's nice to know that I'll always at some point have a car in each area I will serve in. 

We were able to work with a lot of less actives this week, but not many investigators, we don't really have any😬. We need to work on that this upcoming week. We were able to get in contact with an old investigator, and though she said she wasn't too interested and she was good where she's at she said we could come back whenever, so that's something, so we'll jump on that opportunity. 

We had exchanges with the Guilford Elders this week. I was able to go to Guilford with Elder Hulet and we had some good fun. They are really struggling as well and they have both brought up the issue of wanting to go home, but we're not really sure they are serious or not. Well, I had a really good exchange with him, I taught five lessons with him, that's the most they have ever had in a day since I've been here he said. They then had a really good week and I think it lifted their spirits. I was glad I was able to help. 

We had zone meeting as well this week. On Wednesday The zone leaders called us and asked us to do a musical number with only a day and a half warning. Needless to say I wasn't very happy about that, and I didn't feel prepared at all, but we scrambled with the Guilford Elders, who don't really have any musical ability, but we practiced a bit. We sang Battle Hymn of the Republic, and it wasn't bad at all. Well, I guess the best part of the week was the chance I had to call my family! Yay! It was great. I got to do it at a really nice house too. So after I talked to my family, I got to eat a really nice dinner, and go down a slide that's in their house! Pretty cool! Well, talk to y'all later!