So, yeah, I got a call this morning, as we usually do the day before transfers. I picked it up, pen in hand, ready to write down Elder Jameson's transfer directions, only to be told I'd be writing down my own transfer plans. Yep. I'm moving again. It's not because I'm doing anything wrong, President is just transferring people how he would have if it hadn't been for the emergency transfer.
So, I'm getting the wonderful opportunity to pack. Again. I guess I'll send you the address for my new place as soon as I know, so you can send the cake. Please send it quickly this time. Who knows how long this will last.
But, instead of getting down about it, I'm going to be my ingenious self and make a list of positives:
1) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they've had as many companions as they've had transfers,
2) I'll be one of the few missionaries who can say they're on their 7th Transfer and their 5th Area.
3) I'll get to see more of the beautiful state of Iowa.
4) I get to have it beat into my head even more how to break attachments to people.
5) I might just be moving to greener pastures (while this is just a phrase in Washington, out here it's quite literal).
6) I get to perfect my packing style.
7) I get to go to Burger King tonight on the way to Des Moines so I can get myself a Kid's Meal and an Iron Man Action Figure.
8) There is no number 8
Let's see, this week...um...really it's just been normal stuff. I know, a really lame answer to the question of how my week's been. Um...let's see....
Well, Elder Jameson crashed his bike. We were riding along and I looked down to make sure I hadn't just flung mud on myself and when I looked up he was all of a sudden on the ground. He cut open his pants and his leg, but both are fixed now.
I went and did some work in Corning, Iowa, which, as you should know, is the birthplace of Johnny Carson. I even got a picture of his house.
Oh, actually, one important thing! Last week, after district meeting, Elder Jameson went to a little place called Mt. Pisgah on the way back home. Ever heard of it? It apparently was a Mormon Trail way station (Creston, by the way, is right on the Mormon Trail, which is pretty cool) and cemetery. It's on a hill with a beautiful view of a valley to the west of it. Apparently when Parley P. Pratt reached the crest of this hill and saw the panorama before him, felt like he could view the promised land and thus named it after the mountain that Moses saw the promised land from. There's an obelisk that was set up with a few of the names of the people who died there, and a fenced in area where the cemetery is. All the actual markers have completely deteriorated, though. There's also a little cabin that is like one of the ones they would have built there. It was just a small little place for this little piece in LDS history that I had never heard about. I was left in awe of being able to visit it and see it basically as the pioneers had originally. But another marker was left, this one commemorating deaths that had occurred much more recently. On a little plaque on the ground was engraved the faces and names of four missionaries who had served here ten years ago and had died while traveling either to or from the cemetery. They had tried to pass a car only to end up crashing head on into another. Much like those videos they show you in drivers ed, seeing this plaque with the beautiful flowers beside it, accompanied by the picture of the four of them that was set up on the table inside the cabin, and the newspaper clipping of the accident in the apartment in Osceola, help us missionaries remember how important it is to drive safely. It really left my companion in a thoughtful state. I think it might have made him realize why I drive as safely as I do. I mean, he is from Utah, after all. But anyway, this was just a cool little place that seemed very spiritual. Before I ever visited the Mid-West, I never had much of a desire to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman, but now that I am here, I really look forward to being able to go there someday. There really is a spiritual atmosphere to these places, even if to most people they are just another place in the midst of a bunch of grassland and farms.
Speaking of grasslands, my allergies don't seem to appreciate it here. I've been really congested and junk this week and I'm pretty sure it's just due to the allergies. And I think it may have given me a sinus infection along with it. But whatever. I just push forward doing the work of the Lord. We don't have much of an excuse to stay inside due to most sickness.
I think that's about it, though. I know I'm not updating you much on investigators, but there's not much to tell. Well, there's one that was pretty cool. We showed him the Restoration and it really seemed to help him. He said, in his own words, "I believe more now." I think he's really coming a long way. I just hope he comes to church! I think he will now.
But yeah. Whew. I think I'm now excited to move on. I just hope that at some point I get to be one of those missionaries that stays in an area for six transfers. Maybe God knows better and wants to keep me from being too attached. Or maybe he just wants me to learn how to break attachments by doing it over and over and over and over.... Either way, I know being transferred is what needs to happen.
OH! And I got another missionary update packet from Sister Little. (THANK YOU SISTER LITTLE!!) But I was saddened to notice that the highlight of the week listed, the one where I was emergency transferred out of Knoxville, was missing. Maybe it was just too depressing. I thought it was quite exciting (ok, so what if I cried when I found out it was happening? It's exciting to look back on....). But anyway, it's fun to see how everyone else is doing, and also get a chance to look back on my letters home and realize how entertaining they are. Not to give myself kudos or anything. I like Chewy Granola bars better than Kudos anyway.
I love you all. And if there's nothing else you pick up from my emails, just learn what I am: what the Lord has in store for you and what you want aren't usually the same thing. But as we all know, He knows better. And also that adversity brings forth the greatest blessings. I'm learning so much and being able to spread the goodness the Lord's doing through me to a lot of people throughout Iowa (wow, that sounded both cocky and not-so-straight at the same time, but you know what I mean. And I pay really close attention to Ammon who tells his brother, Aaron, that he is not boasting in himself but in his God who has done a great work through him).
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Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
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