The Blessings of Blessings

Hello!
So I now have a new companion, Elder Heyborne from Vermont (we're keeping them Utahns out of here). He's a way cool guy and we get along very well. He's one transfer younger than me, so we've got some very young blood here in Knoxville. And before you start getting all excited for me being senior, let me just point out that it is, in my opinion, a simple numbers game: when you have groups of 10 or more missionaries coming out, and most groups before me are all just 3 or so or else all zone leaders, it kind of evens out where younger missionaries end up having to go senior and train. Elder Knapp, who came out with me, is training right now, and went senior a transfer before me. So, yeah, it just works out where I would be senior. Maybe there's more to it, but that's just how I see it. Either way, being senior includes more responsibility. I think it's just hit me how callings, even in the mission, should neither be desired nor saught after. Yeah, I'm good keeping this as my highest rank for a long time. But, with that whole numbers game, I'll probably be called to more stuff, unless I completely mess up.

Besides that, there's not much to report on. Really. It's kind of been a normal few days around here. Last week Elder Havice was all drugged up, so we didn't get out much before transfers. He was on 800 milligrams of ibuprofen 3 times a day to help with some foot problem and apparently it got him pretty messed up. So I spent half of last week sitting around the apartment. If you want a sure way to feel depressed on a mission, sit around and do nothing.

Yesterday we gave a blessing to both of our progressing investigators. One had fallen down pretty hard and the other was just plain old sick. The second one was the same investigator who had had a sick child we had blessed. It was pretty cool to get the chance to bless both of them, and afterwards she was crying and said it was cool. She wants us to come over this week when her children are there, which is a first, so it would be really cool if they started investigating as well. Our Branch President gave the one to our other investigator, the one that has a baptismal date, and that was good, too. She slipped this past week and smoked a cigarette her friend had offered her and drank some coffee. I contribute it wholly to us not visiting her more this past week.

It just keeps snowing here. I'm ready for spring.

Elder Gates