River Falls week 9

Hello family and friends!

So this week had some amusing moments. On Wednesday, Elder Mattison (one of my zone leaders) arrived at the home we are staying at in time for us to drive them to district meeting. But he came running into the house with these flip flop things on and was like Elder D.! I forgot my shoes somehow! I need some! So he borrowed some shoes. But Elder Mattison is a tad bit shorter than me and wears a size 10 compared to my 12, so he looked a tad goofy. I love that kid. 

While knocking some doors near an appointment we had, Elder Berg turned to me and said lets go knock those garages (they were more like storage units). I stood there with an amused look on my face as Elder Berg proceeded to knock on the garage doors and cover up the key hole as if he was blocking the eye hole (we dont normally do this, dont worry). Eight garages later he turned to me and said Hey! We arent supposed to contact alone get over here (i was leaning against a nearby wall). I must give credit to Elder Berg. When he commits to a practical joke, he really commits to it. ha ha. 

Then at the appointment we had, the son, John, ran up to Elder Berg and placed a lego piece on his head. john and another girl who is about 7 (John is 8) then started chanting "all hail king Elder Berg" and they began bowing to him and whatnot. It was an amusing sight. Then Elder Berg turned to me with an expectant look on his face. I just said no and laughed. But then John grabbed the leggo crown off of Elder Berg's head and placed it on mine. He then shouted "All hail King Elder Damron! King over all the world!" I returned Elder Berg's expectant look. 

We also met a woman named Sarah Larson (we are teaching like 5 Sarahs right now. what the heck) in a trailer park we go to that is 5 miles out of town. We bike there since we have limited miles. We have 1000 miles for the month and we went over. The funny thing is that we only use the car for meetings and dinners. So we used about 800 miles on dinners alone. Yay for being in farm country! Anyway, I digress. Sarah is super cool. She is going through some life troubles and recognized the help this gospel could give her almost immediately. She has a 1 year old named Gracie who likes to rummage through our backpacks looking for pamphlets. So precious. Anyway, Sarah told us she wants to meet women in the ward. We were going to bring one over Saturday night, but her father was hospitalized so she canceled. Then sunday her ride for church got impatient waiting for her and left her because she was running a few minutes late. That was kind of frustrating for us because she now cannot get baptized on her committed date and the next available date is next transfer.. but oh well. We are just hoping she gets baptized. 

It rained most the day friday. Elder Berg does NOT like cool weather at all and was very unhappy. I enjoyed it a little bit. But riding in the rain while getting soaked was an interesting experience. Later that night as we were about to cross the street and knock on the door of a town home, a police car came soaring into the parking lot and screeched to a halt, the police man ran out, and then he ran to the door we were about to knock on. then we heard sirens coming from every direction. 2 police cars and 2 ambulances later Elder Berg and I retreated to watch the scene unfold from behind another building. One cop had run at the door with his gun out for some reason. But then we saw the medical team move it. A man was wheeled off after a couple minutes. But he was joking and laughing with the medical team as he was being wheeled off, so hopefully everything turned out well. 

At church on sunday, our most progressing investigator did not appear at the meeting place for his ride (we teach him at the library. he wont tell us where he lives). Then 10 minutes into sacrament meeting he appeared! He drove himself! But he doesnt have a car, so he borrowed someone's car to make it to church. Seriously a miracle. Elder Berg and I were very very happy. 

Well that is about how the week went. We taught 9 doorstep lessons on saturday and 1 member present. It was a very fun day! Most of them were meaningful too. We used to just teach to whomever we could teach to. But if they really dont want to listen, the Spirit wont be there, so we now just follow the Spirit, gauge interest, and move on to find those truly prepared sheep just as president has counseled. I truly love to teach and share what I know. 

This week in my studies I was reading 1 Nephi 8 and I decided to make the Tree represent the Atonement as I read the chapter and see how all the symbols would apply with such a representation. The verse that stood out to me was verse 7. It talks about the land being a "dark and dreary waste." Such is this earth and our lives without the Atonement of our Lord and Savior! Embrace it. Learn of it. Pray for a deepened understanding it. It truly is the center of the gospel. The axle upon which this whole gospel swings. I would challenge you all to read the same chapter and apply the same symbol for the Tree as I did last week. You will learn a lot. 

Have a wonderful week everyone! 

-Elder Damron