River Falls week 22

Hello!

So last P-Day we had our district P-Day, where all the missionaries get together within the district and do some activities. We were going to go to a corn maize, but that fell through. So we carved pumpkins and played some games. When I first arrived some missionaries were playing the organ. So I went in and we sat down. One of the Elders who I was in the MTC with started playing Canon in D. I started playing the pedals with my feet and some Canon variations up high while he did it down low. So the church rang with some beautiful classical music. IT WAS SO LEGIT <3 <3

Anyway, then I ran off to Woodbury on exchanges. Woodbury is a super rich area filled with countless town homes. The place is so prim and proper. Literally nothing is out of place. All the lawns are perfectly trimmed and the houses are all similar in style and color. It is kinda erie, honestly. When some plans fell through Elder Kelsch, the missionary I was on exchanges with, and I had the opportunity to go visit a family that a woman in Montana really wanted me to visit. I told the family I knew someone in Montana that knew them. We talked for awhile but they were ultimately not interested. I honestly did not believe I would ever have the opportunity to do that. The mission is so big! But I am grateful the Lord put me in the place to have that opportunity. 

While in Woodbury we taught a man who flipped out about the Word of Wisdom concerning hot drinks. He said that we are hypocrites for not drinking antioxidant caffeine free green tea yet drinking HOT chocolate, especially since one was healthy and the other was not. I asked him if he ate normal chocolate but then decided that the conversation I was about to start would  was not worth it so I changed the subject to talking about the Holy Ghost. 

While I was on exchanges Elder Cole and Elder Sharp when and talked to a less active I have been visiting for the 5 months I have been here. She told them she was leaving the church. Things went crazy. This woman can talk for about 2 hours straight. Literally. The member we brought can do the same. And that is what happened. The less active and the member went at it for about 2 hours and Elder Cole and Elder Sharp managed to say 6 sentences in 2 hours. Oh man. ha ha. 

For lunch one day Elder Cole fried up some chicken. Some oil spilled and burned onto the stove (a white ceramic sort of stove top) and a plate sized mess of black char stuck to the stove. I went and made some calls while he began to clean. I heard Sister Taylor come in and just gasp and say, "oh my..." I got a good chuckle out of that. It took 40 minutes of hard scrubbing to fix that one. 

So our investigator Sister J. is a young exchange student who is getting baptized on November 9th! But a lot of drama has come up because of it. She attends the singles ward in Minneapolis, 45 minutes away. So we cannot attend the baptism there. She found out and wants to switch it to here. Well now the Elders in Dinkytown (University of Minnesota ward) are not happy that a baptism is being moved from their area. Neither are their zone leaders. So there is some really dumb quarreling going on and I thought I left the drama behind in high school... lulz. This is our investigator's decision so we will just iron out the wrinkles. 

A member this week asked us about our investigators. We told him we are teaching in a lot of trailer parks. He laughed and said, "of course you are. In my mission we called trailer parks Narnia. They are hard to find, but once you get there it is magical." 

So friday night was our ward Chili Cookoff slash Halloween party. Elder Cole and I got pretty creative for our costumes! We dressed up as... each other! We switched name tags, wore each other's ties, I put contacts in and gave Elder Cole my spare pair of glasses to wear for the night (he kept them low on his nose), and then I did my hair like Elder Cole. It was mildly amusing. The members got a chuckle out of that one. Elder Farnes almost died laughing on the ground. It wasnt THAT funny... There is also this member who is a Grand Master in martial arts and self defense. Elder Mattison once taught me how to protect myself from a knife attack using a move he learned from this member. Elder Farnes was trying to use some move to rip out my intestine or something and so I told him to attack me with the knife. I couldnt remember too well how to do it so it didnt work to well. Then the member was like no this is how you do it. In a blink of an eye I was staring at the ceiling with a massive arm around my neck and the other arm pushing my spine upward. Yeah. it hurt. I got destroyed. The member who won the costume contest came as Slender Man! Now a lot of you probably dont know what that is, but it is a creepy character from this little computer game. Basically you are in a dark forrest trying to find some notes and Slender Man comes and consumes your soul. Mildly terrifying to play in the middle of the night. He stood about 8 feet tall in the costume. So bueno. look for the pictures I will send out. 

Last night we went over to a referral's house. The scene we stepped into was.... bizarre. I have never seen so much tobacco in my life. There was mounds upon mounds of tobacco piles and literally hundreds of cigarettes waiting to be filled. He smoked 4 cigarettes and drank 3 bottles of beer while we were there. He has this parrot who lives in the corner that was staring at us the whole time. The man is brilliant. He basically knew my thoughts from my body language. It was insane. When we left I saw that his gas stove burner was on high. It was just on. It wasnt being used. The flames were just billowing up. 

Spiritual Thought: 2 Nephi 2:24

 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things.

This scripture really stuck out to me this week while I was thinking about why bad things happen to good people, which I have been asked a LOT recently. It hit me that one reason God allows this to happen is because He knows that through the Atonement all will be made right. His Son came to earth and covered for all these pains. Yes bad things happen, but through the atonement of Jesus Christ those pains can be taken and the joy that comes from following the savior can fill our lives. Just Alma and his followers in Alma 24 (i think, somewhere around there) who had their burdens made so light they barely even remembered them through their faith and trust in the Lord. 

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Elder Damron