Monday, July 13, 2015

Week 58 in the Field: Up to our Ears in Mud



I really didn't get the chance to take too many pictures, but it should be fun this week. The only photos I got were of the barn in Ozark. It was a very dirty experience--but fun nonetheless.  Here is Elder Steed-- Elder Steed and I were both covered in dirt, and you don't even want to know what else besides dirt! (Since it was a barn, just use your imagination!)  This is a picture of his filthy arms. He was wearing gloves. You don't even want to see what I looked like.
  
Hi everybody!  Hope you are doing well.  So this week was fun.

On Monday we went over to the church and pretty much stayed out there most of the day doing miscellaneous stuff. We were waiting for the branch president to go check out our house which has started warping due to severe heat and humidity. It looks kinda cool but it probably isn't very safe.

Tuesday I felt sick so we had to stay in for a bit till I felt better. We then went over and had dinner with our former member who is coming back. She made us this really really good lasagna and chocolate chip cake with homemade butter cream icing on top. Yeah. It was really good. She's currently reading through Isaiah and we said we'd be willing to help since it is semi-challenging.

Wednesday we went to go see our investigator in Galatia. He's currently going through a rough time right now with multiple things going on. But he was grateful we stopped by. We then stopped by our "Warriors of Christ" investigator. He is literally a walking miracle. He has suffered two strokes since we had last seen him and that day was one of he first days he was back on his feet. His grandson later showed up and had a similar foot problem I did. I gave him some advice which he was grateful for.

We then stopped by a less active in Eldorado who was huge on making things. He showed us this spare room he had converted from a simple shelter. It was pretty sweet looking. In the evening we decided to go have a Bible Study at another church called "Little Chapel," which is kind of a mega church with usually a few thousand people per Sunday meetings. At this particular meeting there were probably about 70-90 people there total and about 40 in the room we were in.

The guy who headed the meeting was a Steed, so Elder Steed had some fun talking with him. He was also pretty famous for using church bands at NASCAR events and has worked with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jr. It was fun talking with him. After the study, he invited us to stay around for this BBQ thing where they discussed plans for Liberty Fest. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. We had fun.

Thursday we drove down to Paducah, where we had interviews with the mission president, President Andersen, and his wife. I got to talk to Sister Andersen first and I showed her some pictures from the area. I think she may have gotten us confused with Foxcroft, which is the neighboring Illinois unit, but it was still a good chat. President was also great. He's noticed a lot of improvements with me and he gave me some insight from him about how to be better as a missionary. Everything went well.

1. Side view of the barn showing the loft and the moat of mud. We spent most of our time in the loft.


Friday we went to work with the Baptists in Ozark. It had been pouring rain and storming the past few days so they gave us some boots to work in since there was loads of mud. We worked mostly on the wall closest to the road and then the loft. There was so much dirt, dust, and you don't even want to know what up there. We got coated with it. By the end, however, we had taken out the entire floorboards and the wall facing the road. After a long shower we went and did some planning at the church.

2. Front of the barn


Saturday was rough. Most of our appointments cancelled, and we were also still tired from the previous day of work. The only person we ended up seeing was the former member again and helped her get through more of Isaiah.

Sunday was fun! We had a good showing at church and had some great talks on agency. I taught a small gospel principles class on missionary work which was okay, but the fun part was getting to teach the young men during third hour. We had an investigator in the classroom so working with the youth we "role played" teaching the Restoration. It was fun to get to teach with 13 year olds. We also set up an appointment with him for Tuesday. 

After church we had lunch and during lunch two random kids came up and asked us if we were using the bikes on the back porch, which we weren't. They take things apart and try to make their own bikes which is cool. They also noticed we were missionaries and asked us to follow them to see if their parents would be interested, since they were looking for a new church. We were glad to do so, but sadly, the parents weren't interested. We ended the night talking to the district leader and it turns out I will be going on exchanges to Foxcroft later this week, which will complete my tour of all possible areas to serve in Illinois. I'm excited.

It's been rough, but it's been fun. Hope ya'll are having a good week, too!

Elder Peery

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