The Spring Crew
(From left to right:
Elder Draper, Elder Hinds, Elder Ihler, Elder Peery, Elder Story)
So Monday we went up to Springfield with a
member, so that Elder Hinds could say hi to some people he taught. We also hung
out with Elder Ihler and his companions. It was fun seeing him again. We spent
most of our time fishing.
Fishing in
Springfield
I caught
the first fish but not much more than that. After that we went and had dinner
at this really nice restaurant in Springfield.
The plains in
Springfield
Tuesday we had a lesson with this guy named
Joe, who is wanting to see if the church is true, thanks to his girlfriend, who
is a member. He had a lot of concerns, but the lesson went really well. We went
with our ward mission leader, too, and he's fun to work with. After that, we
drove up to Spring Hill, where we went on exchanges with the Thompson's Station
missionaries, and I got to go back to my old area. We tried a lot of the people
that I knew before, but we didn't have much luck. What was fun was to see a lot
of the members that I knew while I was there in the evening. It was cool to see
that I did have some influence on them while I was there.
Spring Hill District
(from left to right:
Elder Peery, Sister Wayment, Sister
Crossley,
Hermana Kilgore,
Hermana Hill, Elder Hinds)
Wednesday we met back up for district meeting,
and I trained on working with part-member families and less-actives, which went
okay. It was Hermana Kilgore's last district meeting before her mission ends
this week, which was kind of sad, but she didn't seem to bothered by it. After
district meeting, we met up with the zone leaders and had lunch with them,
which was fun. We then had a few lessons, but the highlight was teaching this one
girl whose mom is a member coming back into activity. The girl seemed really
interested and accepted to be baptized if she found out if it was true or not.
But later on in the week something interesting came up, which I'll get to in a
bit. For dinner we had these giant burgers made partially by a member and Elder
Hinds, which unfortunately led to...
Thursday morning around 3am Elder Hinds had
a bad encounter with food poisoning. I somehow dodged it, which made me sad, ‘cause
I wanted to lose some weight too, ; ) but for real, it pretty much knocked him
out for most of the day. He was able to come and teach for one lesson, but that
was about it. The coolest thing though was that the job I am applying for this
summer after I get home, contacted me and set up a phone interview for the next
day.
Friday Elder Hinds was a lot better, but
not exactly 100%. But he was able to manage. We went and helped mow the yard of
a recent convert family, which was fun cause they were Hispanic, so I got to
practice more Spanish! After teaching a recent convert at the church, I had my
phone interview with the job I'm hoping to get, and it went really well. It was
weird being called Andrew again, since on my mission I am called “Elder Peery,”
so I'm sure that will be fun in six short weeks. But the lady was really nice,
and I'm very hopeful that I'll get it. After that we went and met a recent
convert who's recovering from a total hip replacement in the hospital. Turns
out she was from Maryland so we had a lot of cool things to talk about. She
converted to the gospel after her husband died while they were living here in
Columbia area and then Elder Plant tracked into her. After that, we got a call
from that one part member family we saw on Wednesday asking us to come over.
Turns out
her daughter had a lot of emotional and mental issues. They had been fighting
the entire day and the daughter had locked herself in her room. To make matters
worse it was the mom's birthday night. I pretty much pulled a Dr. Phil and sat
both people aside and talked with them. Eventually they stopped fighting, but I
fear that a more permanent solution may be coming up. It was sad, but hopefully
the girl will be able to get some help soon.
Saturday we were invited to be a part of an
8-year-old’s baptism. It was sweet. I
said the opening prayer and helped confirm the kids as members of the church
and give them the Holy Ghost (see Acts 8:14-17).
14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that
they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16. (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17. Then laid they their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Ghost.
That was
a cool experience. After that, we got transfer info, and it turns out that I
will be finishing my mission with Elder Hinds in Spring Hill Ward. I was a
little sad about it at first, because I had wanted to train a missionary like
my trainer and his other trainee, but I'm happy to finish in a good ward with
good members and spectacular recent converts who love the missionaries. Plus I really
enjoy working with Elder Hinds.
We also
received news that Elder Jensen, the missionary who replaced me in TSTAT (Thompson’s
Station Ward) was going zone leader in Nashville, so we went up to see him, as
well as do some service.
The Well
was asking for the missionaries to help out with their community event, which
involved the mayor, alderman, and judge of Spring Hill. We ended up getting
invited to participate in this contest to build a food fortress. Though we
didn't win, we built what the mayor and judge called "the 8th wonder of
the world". How the thing was standing I have no idea.
3. The 8th Wonder Of The World
(compared to other
contestants.)
Surprisingly, it never
fell. But it did fall 3 times while making it.
This was constructed
by Elder Crawford, a TSTAT missionary, and me.
After
that, we went and did some service for a less-active member in the area. In
case you're curious, I've probably been doing more service here than
McMinnville because Elder Hinds really enjoys it. I do too, honestly, ‘cause it
is still a good form of missionary work. Plus it's a lot more fun than
tracting, haha.
Elder Stephen E. Thompson, Area Seventy
Stephen
E. Thompson, 59, Naples, Fla; partner and real estate attorney, Roetzel &
Andress Law Firm; former bishop, bishopric member, high councilor, stake
presidency member,
mission
presidency member and stake president; wife: Donna Ruth Thompson, six children.
Sunday we were invited with our recent
converts to attend a special meeting at the stake center right before stake
conference. Elder Stephen E. Thompson, a member of the Seventy, invited
all the recent converts to ask him questions that the missionaries hadn't
answered or needed further clarification on. It was really neat to be in that
setting. There were like 15 of us total, members and missionaries.
Here is the
link to an interesting article about Elder Thompson:
After
that we drove down to Spring Hill and attended stake conference in the TSTAT
building. I got to see a lot of friends and members there, which was awesome.
After that we had a good lesson with another part-member family. Their daughter is 8 years old and preparing
to be baptized. We focused a lot on repentance, which is one of my favorite
principles of the gospel:
I
guess the way I look at repentance in particular is:
Think
about a friend who takes you to this all-you-can-eat buffet.
They
pay the bill for you, and you just sit at the table and don't eat anything.
Is
the bill paid? Yes.
But
did you show appreciation for the gift you've been given? No.
Repentance
is not only becoming better, but showing the Lord how grateful you are for the
gift you've been given.
By
daily repenting, and not just "oh hey sorry about that," but sincere
repentance, we show we want to be better disciples of Christ, in
word and in deed.
So yeah, lots happened this week. Another minor highlight that happened today, I caught
a catfish! And also discovered that catfish have spikes under their fins. I got
stabbed a few times so I think it was a fair trade. I wasn't able to get s
picture cause my fingers were bleeding, and I was trying to get the hook
out.
Anyways,
hope y'all have a good week. It's weird that this is my last transfer as a
missionary.
I'm hoping to make it a good one.
See you
in six,
Elder Peery
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