Week 89-The Work Progresses, Burning Clothes, Pumpkin Carving, etc. (w/Pictures!)

Well, I was stewing all night yesterday about what to write today, but I think it'll be good. :)  I'll have to split it up- lots of photos. :P

First off, directly after my email last week, for a P-day activity we decided to do this: 

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:)  20 points next week to the person who can guess what we're doing!

Anyhow, this week was pretty great- lots of work, lots of fun!  For starters, let me tell you about Naoka.

Naoka has been coming to mutual for about a month now, and loving every minute of it!  We all thought she was a less-active member, so we were just feeling pretty good for the steps towards reactivation.  Things took a turn for the better after a Bishop-Youth Discussion last Sunday when Naoka expressed interest in procuring a temple recommend so she could go with the rest of the youth on their temple trip.

Sister Palmer, the Young Women's President, took the initiative to get in contact with Tina, Naoka's mom.  In their visit together, it was discovered that Tina had actually been baptized into the RLDS church and Naoka had never joined!  Sister Palmer asked if we could come teach Naoka, and Tina said that we could, but probably not in their home as her father wasn't too keen on religion.

Cue: Us. :)  We took some of those cookies that we'd baked to their house, ready to get to know the family!  We prayed, waltzed up to the door, knocked, and....

...The husband answered. O_o

We were terrified, but we quickly learned from his kind demeanor and apologetic nature that there was nothing to fear.  He told us that Naoka had been trying to show him the ropes with all of the Mormon lingo, and that he and Tina were planning to come to church soon to see what Naoka was learning. We invited him to the primary presentation for this next Sunday, and he told us he'd do his best!  Funny thing: He told us that, since Tina's native, she's the one that's not too keen on religion haha.  So we're looking forward to that! :D

Sister Fox, a less-active missionaries have been working with forever, had a break-through with her Word of Wisdom issues!  She told us that the reason she'd been struggling was because two of her co-workers smoke.  However, one of said co-workers is going away for two weeks, and when she comes back she's decided to quit smoking!! :D  So Sister Fox now has a miniature "no-smoking club" at work!

We had a great lesson with Rob again:  Mostly, he has intent issues.  However, this time around we brought Brother Biggs: 1st councilour in the Bishopric for Midnapore.  ...This might sound weird, but he reminds me sooo much of Dad.  He's a computer programmer who specializes in designing apps for smart phones, his sense of humour is great, and hearing him teach the gospel... It's weird, but it reminded me a lot of going home teaching.  The lesson was phenomenal, and Rob committed to fast sometime in the next two weeks for an answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet.

We had supper with a family who's sending their son on a mission within the month, and that... was a big eye-opener for me.  Seeing the carelessness with which he treated his testimony made me think back to before I left.  Honestly, I thought the changes I've made had been subtle, but I can see now that it's truly been a "small and simple things" experience.  I bore my testimony to their son about this, and I hope it'll have an influence.

It looks like mom got the Biscuits & Gravy email, so I guess I don't really need to update there haha.

Saturday was a full day as well: It started with us clearing out over 20 boxes of water-soaked books from a hoarder's home. :)  She's really cool; she and I actually get along really well, buuut that could just be because I'm also a bit of a hoarder haha. ;)  She's a less-active, but we invited her for church this next week, too.

We then went to visit Sister Brown: One of the sweetest old ladies around!  She's just been on fire for missionary work!  She had us teach two first lessons that day: One to the cook in the kitchen, the other to her non-member grandson who happened to be visiting at the same time.  Soo cool.

Now's the time for the fun experiences of the week. :)

Starting with: Clothes burning parties!! :D 

Elder Johnson, a member of my four-person district, hit his year mark, so we burned all of Elder Short's stuff and Elder Johnson's shirt. :) 

We found an ace on the ground. :) 

Soo you probably noticed that last week I didn't send home any pictures of my pumpkin.  That's because... I hadn't carved it yet haha.  I gutted the pumpkin and roasted the seeds when we were stuck inside Halloween night, but was at a loss for a pattern.  Without a stencil, I didn't know what to do... Until I just got over myself and went for it anyway. :P  I hand-sketched something on the back of a conference talk I'd printed out, sharpened a hanger with a pocket-knife to use as my poking tool, used kitchen knives and a small saw, stuffed a lamp inside for a candle, and... voila. :)

​Hopefully y'all can tell what it is haha. It's not quite as detailed as that Cruella DeVille, but I did the best I could with what I had. :)

Once I'd carved it, I had no idea what to do with it... Until Elder Williams had a suggestion. :) 

You probably won't recognize where this picture was taken, but this is the front door to the Mission Home.

...We doorbell ditched President. :)

That's a feeling I'm going to remember forever!!

I don't think there will be any consequences resulting, but I'll let you know. :) 

This is the Bow tower: The largest building in Calgary.  We have a member who's offered to take us up inside it one of these days, so I'll send those pictures, too!

I guess this shows you that we're still going downtown every week.  It was super cold this Friday... The first snowfall is always the roughest.  Since we're driving on a spare tire and both of our windshield wipers are broken, we've been praying a lot haha.  Anyhow, I had a fun experience there this week:  I walked up to a lady and said, "Hi!"

And she said, "You already talked to me a few weeks ago."

"...Oh."

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that..."

"No, it's totally fine.  I think last time, I was really rude to you, and I've felt guilty about it ever since.  Now I get a chance to tell you kindly that I'm not interested in your message, but that I have no disrespect towards you."

:D  It made my day.  I've always wondered if people actually feel bad about being mean to us.

Anyhow, things are going pretty well: Some days I'm in the mood for emailing, some days I'm not... I'll work on that. :)  It's so good to hear about Ellie!! I brag about her everywhere I go. :D  Keep the pictures coming!

As far as what I want for Christmas... The Nashville Tribute Band just released an album called "Redeemer" that I think I'd really enjoy.  It's hard to think of much else I'd like to have- transfers and plane rides will make it tough to get everything home. :P  The package last year was fantastic... I dunno.  Candy's great, messages are great... vaccuum bags?  That might be nice haha.  Money's good, too... I trust your judgement. :)

Well, I g2g, but I love you all, and I'll write you next week!

-Elder Jared D. Larsen