I got all your pics from Mardi Gras, looks like ya’ll had a
blast! I hope you didn’t have to earn any of them the old fashion way. Ant?
haha. I remember doing that huge remodel down in Mobile and going to Mardi
Gras, it was a ton of fun.
Funny that you mention that because I actually already have
a few boxes of stuff packaged up that I’ve been meaning to send home, just
haven’t had the money (I’m trying not to think of home too much, haha).
Missionaries actually have people pick their stuff up all the time from the
mission office. If he's flying it would probably weigh him down a bit though.
This week was wonderful!!!
First off I got a new comp. His name is Elder Brighurst, he
hails from Buffalo, New York. There was actually a glitch on the church's directory
online so we were able to see all are new comps last pday, haha. When I found
out that I was getting him I was kind of scared because I have heard a lot of
things about him. But every time I enter into a new companionship I promise
myself to love them no matter what, regardless of what I know and have heard.
Surprisingly we get along great, were best buds! We have had similar pasts, we
have similar family situations, we relate very well, and have the same
interests. He is probably one of the funniest kids I’ve ever met. We are always
laughing and having a good time. He reminds me of Gage Kemerer a lot.
We had another guy try to tell us and a few other elders
about "Nephylum" children while we were at McDonald’s last pday. He
was this skinny black guy who must’ve been from South Africa or something. It
was pretty hilarious. I felt bad because I couldn’t help but start laughing as
he was explaining to us all this crazy stuff in a way that was super funny to
me, I don’t know why. I laugh at the most mundane things. hahaha
I was able to go to our Mission Leadership conference last
Thursday where all the District, Zone, and Sister Training Leaders in the
mission met together to discuss the needs of the mission and which directions
we want to take. I had heard a lot of bad things about it, but it was actually
very spiritually uplifting and edifying. I was also able to see a lot of
familiar faces and previous companions. S. Lemon is a Sister Training Leader,
E. Fitzpatrick and Moolenbeek are District Leaders now and E. Mather, (MTC
comp), is now one of the Assistants. All the elders we came out with from the
MTC were there, we are all zone and district leaders now which is pretty cool,
(were not "piles" after all!!! haha)
So we have a skate park in our area, (FINALLY), no I’m not
excited that I get to look at it all the time. I’m able to use it a missionary
tool. If were in that part of our area I make it a point to stop by the park
and talk to any skaters who are there. It’s pretty funny because they usually
laugh at us as we walk by, but I can’t resist showing them that I’m one of
them, and that I used to be in their exact same shoes 2 years ago, when they
start to make fun of us. Last week there was a big crew of kids up there and I
was able to show them a 360 flip. It was pretty cool, they were all like "OOOHH
SHOOOT!!" haha. They always say what’s up when we pass by now. I haven’t
been able to get any of them to take the lessons yet, but I’m working on them.
There are new kids up there all the time.
E. Bringhurst and I were walking down the street his first
night in the area and we heard a cat meowing but couldn’t figure out where it
was coming from. We looked up and saw a cat stuck all the way at the top. E.
Bringhurst has a thing for cats, so he had to save it. We tried everything we
could to get it out, he tried throwing his bag at it to scare it out but it
didn’t work. We even knocked on the guy’s door that the tree was in, but a Hispanic
guy answered the door and said, "I no like gatos". So we eventually
had to leave the cat, Bringhurst was pretty bummed, but we tried. It was a
pretty random experience, haha. Imagine two Mormon missionaries throwing there
book satchels into a tree.
Yesterday we taught a super cool guy named Omega. He is a
former investigator. He is black and had a super awesome beard. But that is not
the only thing that makes him cool. He is a former Green Beret, Special Forces
in the Army, former undercover police officer, and he is a Mason. Also the
business that he is a part of right now allows him to meet some pretty famous
people, he showed us a picture of him chill’n with Kanye West. haha. This guy
has tons of stories and is super funny. He also knows a ton about the church
already. He said that had a very profound experience with the spirit when the
missionaries knocked on his door a few years ago, he was just lost in the area
book and we were the first missionaries to stop back by. We were able to set a
date with him for the first weekend in March! He is a stud. We are super stoked
for this guy.
I’ve been doing a study on what the ingredients are that
produce diligence and consecration in missionary work. The core of it all is
conversion. true conversion to the gospel, especially the Atonement, will lead
to a strong desire to share that testimony and what we know with others, that
desire will allow us to act and lead to diligence. And from diligence to
consecration. You can apply this principal to any aspect of our lives. Just
figure out where the core is and fix the core. Then everything else will fall
into place.
I love you all,
-Elder Daniel
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