Hola Mi Familia...y otros....
Ok, so we had to take a bunch of time to fill out our letters to the President that are now done online and fill out a survey so Elder Zwick of the Seventy will know how best to teach us when he comes through in October and we're at the Library in Clear Lake (don't you love how missionaries talk about their areas' geography as if you know as much about those areas as they do?) because the Library in Mason City is closed today. Why didn't we email yesterday? Because we had interviews with the President and district meeting that day. So Prep Day was bumped to today. I'm wondering if I just need to ask if I can make tuesday my Prep Day. Probably not, huh?
Anyway, a good portion of this week was spent helping a member scrape his house. His little daughter who is probably just barely over a year old, somehow got lead poisoning from the paint on their house. SO, he is currently living alone there as his wife and children live elsewhere and he tries to finish scraping his house and repainting it. He's called upon ward members to help, but most of them are already busy beyond belief (hospital people with families) or else too old to be much service. Or they live forever away, take your pick. So we've been trying to assist as much as possible, and it was a couple weekday days for a few hours and a saturday morning spent on it. Most people would say that I shouldn't have spent so much time doing that, but it seems like a pretty big emergency to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm going to hell, at least I'll feel good about it.
In response to your email, mom, yes, I am getting along pretty well with Elder Shelman. I'm still learning to chill out, though. I've slightly lost the ability to take myself lightly between last transfer and training so I'm trying to regain that as to allow us both to have more fun.
The missionary work is interesting, as always. Things come and go and i'm not sure if it's because I'm slacking as a missionary or if everyone we talk to has a hard time sticking to stuff. And then things happen like yesterday. We tried to visit an invesigator whose name is Meki/Mike/Chris, different each time, and when he wasn't home, we went to the next house over to start tracting. A man came out, and when the question "Have you ever talked to Missionaries from our church before?" was posed, he said "My girlfriend might have." He then wrestled with the dogs behind him for a few seconds before shutting the door. Elder Shelman and I stood there, unsure of whether to leave or stick around, before his girlfriend answered. She was what we can "less-accountable," at least as far as I could tell. She was alright with us talking to her and was willing to read and pray, but..not really there enough to understand everything as well as she would need, as far as I can tell. I might be wrong, but if I'm not, it's just another exciting new investigator that might disappear off the map on us.
But I'm trying to stay motivated. I think I've gotten a new boost from my last interview with President Jergensen. I just have to do it. He's given me an idea to get both my companion and I up and going in the morning, and after utilizing it today, that motivation has seemed to carry on to now. I just want to do this and do this right. I've been told time and time again that training is the most important calling in the missionary field because generations of missionaries depend on this. Woo, no pressure. And it's hard when you have a discouraging week to pick up and work harder and not just go chill at the cool Less Active's house, but I have got to do it.
There's a thing here in Iowa called RAGBRAI. It's a big bicycle rally from the banks of the Missouri to the banks of the Mississippi. And get this, this is the really good part: it's to prove that Iowa is not flat. Let me explain something here. If you have to have people ride their bikes across your state to prove that it is not flat, IT IS FLAT. Maybe I'm crazy, you tell me. But you don't see people riding their bikes across Washington trying to figure out if it's flat or not.
I've realized more and more how blessed you can be as a missionary in Iowa. It is a very fruitful place to serve and things are nearly handed to you on a silver platter. Today we were given two tins of jelly bellies. Life is good. Much better than those glory missions to Mongospekistania where I get to sleep in a sleeping bag and eat something indistinguishable from the bowel movement I had the night before. Sorry if that's too discriptive.
This Sunday we were going to have to give talks, but it's been bumped back to a different week as we wouldn't have had enough time. So my still unwritten (and, knowing the topic, it probably won't ever be written as it's a topic I can do extemporaneously without even trying) talk on temples and families.
We're also finding Less Actives nobody ever knew about. It's happened twice now, and is kind of interesting. Our long list of less active (inactive, to all of you not going by PMG Lingo) is just growing, not shrinking, with our work. I've never heard of that being counted as a good thing....
Well, I guess that's enough rambling. Love you all!
--
"But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in." D&C 127:2
Elder Charlie Gates
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