Monday, March 28, 2016

Week 95 in the Field: Getting "ET'd" again. (Emergency Transfer)



With Willy and the Mathis family

Wow. So yeah, lots happened this week.

On Monday we went down to Manchester where we met up with the Manchester elders and the Tullahoma elders and we played a ton of baseball. It was loads of fun. Elder Beckett didn't play too much, so he was the commentator. After that Elder Cox and I went on exchange in Manchester. Not much happened that day.

Manchester water tower

Tuesday Elder Cox and I tried a bunch of people, but majority of them were not home. We did get to meet the Anderson family who were really nice and fed us scones. We also got to teach one of their friends there as well. After that I got him some Zaxby's shakes, which apparently are very high in calories. Still tastes good though.

Seminary with Elder Cox!

Wednesday Elder Cox and I were invited to help out with the early morning seminary class. It had been the first time I went to seminary since I was inactive from the church, the 2nd semester of my Senior year in high school. They were memorizing Malachi 3:8-10, and we studied the Atonement. It was awesome! We then met back up at district meeting, and I went with my regular companions, Elders Barrus and Beckett, to go try some people, but ended up striking out.

Thursday we followed up with a lot of our investigators and also found some new ones. We also saw the Mathis family, and they were kind of sad because of a sickness in their family. We then went on an exchange with a member and tried a few people but not much luck, however, he did take us to Captain D's which is essentially like Long John Silvers. After that we were able to contact a less active who moved here from Soda Springs, ID so it was fun talking about southeast Idaho for a bit.

I think part of the reason I'm skimming a bit on the first few days of the week is because of what happened the next three days since they are kind of huge...

Friday morning around 9:05am, President Andersen texted asking to speak with me. I was very nervous ‘cause it could mean a number of things. Sadly, it was what I feared. I called him right back, and he informed me that a missionary would be leaving early because he was homesick, and since I was in a trio, I'd be called to fill his spot. I would leave Sunday after church for Spring Hill, TN to serve in the Spring Hill ward which is the neighboring ward to Thompson's Station, one of my old areas. I was very sad to say the least because I wanted to finish my mission in McMinnville. And once again was being emergency transferred from an area I liked. But I told president I'd do it.

We spent the rest of the day saying goodbye to people. In the afternoon I went on a split with Bro. Street and saw the Majors family. Bro. Majors should be receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood in a few months, which is exciting. In the evening we went out teaching with Bro. Pennington and saw Debra. It was sad saying goodbye, but I know I will see all of them again. We had a jam session with Bro. Pennington in the late evening after some dessert.

Saturday we went with Bro. Shoemaker and tried to see a few people but no luck. We did get to try a referral and contacted her. In the evening we went over to the Hoyles' spa, and they gave us these scone sandwiches which were really good. We also got to try out their massage beds which was kind of like a waterbed mixed with a jacuzzi. The jets massage your back but you don't get wet or anything. It was nice. Most of the day was spent packing for Sunday.

Sunday was kind of rough. Reminded me of when I left Hendersonville. I was asked to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting which was hard to do. Debra came to church to see me off. Elder Beckett tried to take care of Willy during sacrament meeting but failed miserably. So me and Elder Barrus had to go watch him. I also watched him during second hour. During third hour I taught Elders Quorum on the talk by Neil L. Andersen on "Faith is not by chance, but by choice." I can't really remember everything I said, but it was really good.

Here is the link to the talk, so you can watch it and/or read it, too. 

Bro. Mathis gave me a Liberty Bell in honor of my nickname "Thomas Jefferson". After that, we said goodbye to a lot of people, and then we went to the apartment where President and Sister Andersen were waiting. I said goodbye to Elder Barrus and Elder Beckett, and then off we went.

Riding with President and Sister Andersen down to Spring Hill


The drive down was kinda quiet for the first bit. They were listening to Acts 3-7 before I finally started a conversation. I talked to them about their lives before the mission and what they want to do after the mission. It was like a two hour interview with me asking the questions. It was fun.

Finally we got to the Spring Hill apartment which is located in Columbia. I got out, the missionary going home got in, and I loaded all my stuff into the apartment and met Elder Hinds, my new and probably last companion. He's from Kaysville, UT and has been out about 9 months. He's a pretty strong guy and was Elder Ihler's MTC companion.

Elder Hinds demonstrating how to skin a fish

We talked for a bit and then went off to this Easter party at the Pennington's who are relatives of the Pennington's in McMinnville.  (Small world!) It was kind of like drinking from a fire hose--so many people to talk to and meet. Elder Hinds showed off his hunting skill by catching and skinning a fish, which we later cooked and ate. After that they had an Easter egg hunt with all the little kids. It was fun to watch. In the evening we had dinner at a returning member's home. They want us to teach their daughter, which we will begin doing tomorrow.

Easter Egg chase

Today we did all kinds of stuff, which is why this email took a little longer than usual to send out. It's kind of strange all this happened. I literally had 4 companions this week. I'm hoping things will be good here even if it's just for 8 weeks. I'm grateful for all the members and nonmembers back in McMinnville and hopefully will see them again.

See y’all next week,

Elder Peery


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