Week 24: Service and Bold Ginger Ale

Hey y'all! Here we are again. Another Monday and another email! It's been a pretty productive week so it feel like I literally just wrote an email. Weeks feel fast anyways, but productive weeks feel WAY faster! We got to do a lot of service this week which we always love doing. I've said it before, but it really helps break things up and keep it fresh out here when we get to serve. Without further adieu, here's the breakdown.

Fun fact, some zones are cool and play more than just basketball on P-day! Definitely way more fun. We did that last week, and I hope we do again today. I'm not a huge basketball person myself, so I appreciate the variety hah.

We had exchanges again this week! I stayed in the area and we had a FAIRLY normal day. Lots of stop-bys and some tracting, and we were able to visit with an inactive couple who were super sweet and even said they would come to church next week! (next week as in not yesterday) That night though, we went back to the apartment, walked inside aaand into a puddle. Our water heater had leaked all over the floor. After calling maintenance and mopping up the floor with a bunch of towels we fortunately had on hand, they were able to get it fixed without too much trouble. Very lucky.

Ok so when I write these emails I generally use our Area Book planner sort of as notes for how our days played out. It kinda just jogs my memory so I can remember what happened. Well, we planned on Wednesday, but for some reason Areabook decided to be a jerk and delete all of what we planned so I have no notes for that day and I didnt write in my journal that day either. The only thing I remember is doing some service where we moved a giant heavy latex mattress as well as a big bed frame out of a moving truck and setting it up for someone. Super cute dog though! 

Thursday was sure interesting! This was the first day of service and it was...an experience. A member had contacted us a few days back asking for help moving an antique table supposedly owned by Hyrum Smith. This member is one of those people who is somewhat infamous among missionaries. I suppose he would call himself a "collector of antiqities and heirlooms". Take that as you will. And much of it is not exactly...hm appropriate. Anyways, we went over there to move the table and were then asked to disassemble a very heavy wooden bed frame and move a piano that was sitting on top of two carpets that we had to remove. Needless to say, it was a bit more than we signed up for, but at least we were able to be helpful. He also gave us a few cans of bold ginger ale which definitely does taste bold.

OH but the day isnt over. That evening we went to dinner with a fantastic member couple and had some delicious food BUT the best part of the evening was the gigantic storm that rolled through! It was one of those storms that just absolutely dumps water and the streets flood and rivers rise. It was wild and awesome. We even got a little bit of hail!

Oh, also! We got another sister missionary in the area. She's a Spanish sister in training named Hermana Budge. She was in a neighboring area that got closed all of a sudden mid transfer, so she got ETed (emergency transfered) here! She's only been out for three weeks! And I thought my training was weird.

The only really noteworthy thing to say about Friday was that we had a VERY fun member meal. It was with a young couple in the ward and our ward mission leader and his family! They both have very young kids so it was quite entertaining, plus they're all just awesome people. We also did a LOT of stop-bys that day. 

Guess what we did on Saturday?! More service! This time we just took one of those heavy hospital bed frames with the motor on it to the curb for an older woman in the ward. Pretty simple compared to the rest of the week hah

That day we also practiced our musical number for Sunday!

Speaking of which, my companion and I sang in church! We were both singing in the car (as you do) and I had the thought that we should do a duet in church. I had already been recruited to sing by the music coordinator weeks ago, so it was perfect. We sang Be Still My Soul and it went super well! I love singing/music because it's such a great way to bring the spirit. That night we actually were asked to sing it again haha. We were invited to a member house for dinner and it was like an extended family FHE thing, so we were the musical number!

"Spiritual thought" for this week is about talents. Getting to sing in church made me think about the fact that our talents are given to us by God for a purpose. Sometimes it can be hard to see them or to understand how it can bless others, but I promise that sharing your talents brings blessings. I invite you to think about what talents you have and how you can use those talents to bless the lives of others. Bring the spirit and uplift those around you. Don't hide your talent in the earth. Use it!

Well, I guess that's it for today! I hope that y'all have a fantastic week. I love all of you and I hope to hear from you! (if you have time, of course) I'll catch y'all next week! God bless. 

Love,

Elder DeWitt

A VERY cute and extremely sweet dog named Phoenix