SUN SUN SUN AT LAST!

Elder Hays has yet to make good on his promise of photos so I thought a comparison of Keighley and Phoenix weather might be apt today.

Praise Da Lawd!!!! We finally got some solid sun this week! So that was a great part of my week. Lol, unfortunately it rained so hard on my birthday, I walked into all our appointments looking like a drowned bear :p But I still had a great day, and we went and grabbed some Mexican food at a restaurant near our flat, so that was a nice way to spend the day :) It was also really cool because all the other missionaries in the zone called and left voice messages of them singing me happy birthday! Haha, I need to make sure to do that for our district leader Elder Cole on Friday, since it's his birthday, and he's a fellow Arizonian! 

 

It's been a great week though! Our district though is having a bit of an issue with finding however. All of the companionships are struggling hard with finding new investigators. We haven't found a single one this week, and we've been hitting the pavement every single day! Even the sisters here, who usually have a full list of people their teaching, have been having a hard time keeping solid numbers. Elder Schwarzkopf and I are going to fast off and on for the next few days and pray to see if we can get an answer on how best to proceed. We're also going to ask the Ward Council about any potentials/Less Actives we should reach out to. 

 

That's been a bit frustrating, but Elder Schwarzkopf and I have been pretty open in talking about it, and we've both come to the conclusion that it's definitely a test of our Christlike attributes we chose to work on this transfer. I choose Patience, and he choose Christlike love. My patience has definitely been tried with the frustration of people constantly slamming the door in our face. But we're keeping diligent and are trying to learn what we can about the people here, and how best to help them. One thing we've been working on is the Ward relations with the missionaries, Elders specifically. Pretty much a huge part of our goal here is to gain back the trust of the members. WHICH MEANS LOTS OF SERVICE PROJECTS! Lol, so far this week, I've moved a washer from one house, taken it to another, and helped install it. I've painted an old lady members bathroom and Kitchen. I've helped a member move all her stuff from one apartment, into another, and then took everything apart and reassembled it, and we've dug up concrete fences and and helped lay a new foundation for the next ones that are going in. So I'm just a bit sore ;) But it's alright, in the end that's part of why I'm here!

 

My missionary purpose is to invite, and hopefully bring, others unto Christ, and if that takes a few knicks and bruises on my part so be it :) It's almost a good thing we're getting so many service projects, because it means the Ward is starting to trust us again.  So all is good over here :) 

 

The food has been good this week! I got two spicy meals from the members as a birthday gift, so yay! Oh BTW Mom, no, I haven't gotten the packages yet. However, it could take a while. I got a few letters from the Wheats, and those took about 20 days to get here sooooo.... 

 

I am having a lot of fun though! Elder Schwarzkopf and I have now gotten to the point of inside jokes, so I think that's a pretty good indication that we get along. Oh! One story before I go. I had my first *ahem* fight with a street contact... We walked up to the man in the park and asked him if he'd ever met missionaries before. I was all smiles and was totally prepared to leave him alone if he just said buzz off, but he got this glint in his eye and just started railing on us of how we're indoctrinated idiots. We pretty much just smiled and nodded our heads to try and placate him, but then he said "You just have blinders on and refuse to see past your little book", and I just said "Have you ever been to one of our services" Him:"...No" 

Me: " Have you ever met with missionaries to learn about what we teach"

Him: "No..."

Me: "Do you even know what religion we represent"

Him: " No"

Me: " Well then aren't you the one with the blinders on? You're standing here yelling at two people who approached you completely no threatingly, and yet you have zero Idea about what we teach. Would you like to learn more?"

Him: "No! You boys have no life experience, what could you teach me!"

In my head all I could think was, "How to form a logical argument"

then he just started yelling about how that book was absolute rubbish and that we just hid behind it's pages because we couldn't think for ourselves, soooooo I snapped. I threw the Book of Mormon in the mud and just yelled back, "You're right, the book is complete rubbish. The book means literally nothing, it's value is probably about 5 pounds. But it's what IN the book that's important.", then Elder Schwarzkopf pulled us apart before we could deck each other. So that was definetly a test of my Christ like patience hahaha!

OH FREAK OUT OF TIME, CRAP PICTURES, SORRY, LOVE YOU BYE!