Hello Everybody,
Well, no, I didn't get the tie on friday. I did get it on Saturday, though. It was disappointing to not have the tie I would have been wearing Friday at Cari's wedding on the day I would have worn it, but I wore one of Elder Heyborne's all-pink ties and went to work. The going to work part was probably the worst part of the day, but I knew I'd feel worse if I didn't. I got it the next day, though, rubber-banded to a package sent from Elder Heyborne's family. His was sent two days after yours. For those who do not know much about geography, let me explain a little something. Vermont is farther away from Iowa than Utah. Not sure if you (or the postal service) knew that. So, by normal calculations, my package should have reached me sooner than his. False, apparently. I figure that what happened was that they got word in their computer network that another package of the same size was coming out and figured to just hold onto mine until his was there, too, to make it easier for the postal workers (Heaven forbid they have to carry two packages that weigh less than a pound on two separate days). Strangely, that was also the only day that week that we got mail. Hmmm.... Not that I'm bitter or nothin. The tie was great, though, and it was wonderful being able to talk to you. James does sound like he'll fit right into our crazy family just fine.
Despite missing the wedding it's been a pretty good week. We got some good work done and taught some great lessons. Our main investigator that we've been teaching for awhile even came to church for the first time, which was awesome. We hope to set a baptismal date soon with her.
But, the bigger news is that we are going to the temple this coming saturday. There's a branch temple trip to Nauvoo and a couple of our recent converts are going, so we got permission to go as well. That'll be three times on my mission, when most don't get to go by now. Once in each area! I'm hoping to be able to hop on through a session before the baptisms, but I'm kind of doubting it. We might just end up having to hang out with all the teens and converts while the teens' parents go through a session or something, or we may not even end up getting there until it's time for the baptisms. I'm looking forward to going through a session in Nauvoo, even if it doesn't end up happening until my end of mission temple trip.
So yeah, that's about it for updates.
Love you all,
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Three Days of Conference
Hello Fellow Missionaries, Most of Which Are On the Member Missionary Side of Things!
I really wish the shift bar on this thing worked a little better, that last sentence was painfully (literally) dumb. But I got halfway through it and realized that for all the work it was taking I might as well finish it.
I really don't have much to update on. Or so it feels.
This week we had, as the title states, three days of conference, starting with zone conference on friday and going through general conference the next two days. So it was about three days of spirituality with very little work done. We even had easter dinner yesterday at a member's home. Problem. "Dinner," in most places in the United States, means "That Meal That Takes Place Late in the Day." In Iowa it means "Lunch," and "Supper" means "Dinner." Even after 8 months I still can't keep track of it, since sometimes dinner means supper and other times it means lunch. Ugh. Anyway. Not quite sure if this is where things went wrong in this instance, but I like to think so. It's nicer than believing that it was our poor planning. We showed up after the second session of conference to find out that we had missed our meal altogether. They're a very sweet family and they still fed us leftovers and it was basically a dinner appointment...just we were the only ones eating.... They had also apparently had over a nonmember friend that we totally could have taught and had accepted a Book of Mormon from them. Double lame. Oh well, it was probably better that we stayed in Knoxville (They're house is in a nearby town named Pleasantville, which, sadly, is not in black and white) anyway, since the satellite was down. We found that out the day before when we showed up at church just to find out we were unable to watch it there. Not so bad, since there was only one other person who showed up. Most apparently watch conference at home or not at all. She went off to watch it online and we went to a member's home to watch it on his satellite. Priesthood session, however, might just be the most interesting session I've ever been to. For about forty-five minutes before it started until forty-five minutes into it, the group of priesthood holders that came were trying to fix the problem. None really had any more of an idea on what to do than us missionaries had, so it was kind of fun to see them run over the same things we had done already and lovingly bicker (A good portion of them are military guys because there was a VA Hospital here. A good portion of Knoxville is made up of military people) over how to fix it. It never got fixed, since after getting on the phone with the satellite people and busting open the box to the satellite boxes, we discovered the giant, unprotected satellite dish outside was not alligned. They even tried online through the family history library, just to discover they had no speakers and then even the web went down. SO, at about 7:45, Central Time, they decided to just go ahead and eat ice cream. I, however, was not about to miss any conference, and since I had already gotten permission to do so, we drove thirty minutes to Oskaloosa to watch the last forty minutes or so of it. Totally worth it.
And zone conference was all about becoming a consecrated missionary, laying everything down that would withhold us from giving our all as missionaries. So now we're committed to do that. We're even having a fast today to make ourselves consecrated. Works, since we missed, along with most of the branch, fast sunday last sunday. We just didn't know about it.... Anyway, I've never regretted having easter candy around so much....
I love it when people whisper-sing in libraries while listening to music, thinking they're the only ones that can hear themselves.
So, yep, that's about it. Love you all!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
I really wish the shift bar on this thing worked a little better, that last sentence was painfully (literally) dumb. But I got halfway through it and realized that for all the work it was taking I might as well finish it.
I really don't have much to update on. Or so it feels.
This week we had, as the title states, three days of conference, starting with zone conference on friday and going through general conference the next two days. So it was about three days of spirituality with very little work done. We even had easter dinner yesterday at a member's home. Problem. "Dinner," in most places in the United States, means "That Meal That Takes Place Late in the Day." In Iowa it means "Lunch," and "Supper" means "Dinner." Even after 8 months I still can't keep track of it, since sometimes dinner means supper and other times it means lunch. Ugh. Anyway. Not quite sure if this is where things went wrong in this instance, but I like to think so. It's nicer than believing that it was our poor planning. We showed up after the second session of conference to find out that we had missed our meal altogether. They're a very sweet family and they still fed us leftovers and it was basically a dinner appointment...just we were the only ones eating.... They had also apparently had over a nonmember friend that we totally could have taught and had accepted a Book of Mormon from them. Double lame. Oh well, it was probably better that we stayed in Knoxville (They're house is in a nearby town named Pleasantville, which, sadly, is not in black and white) anyway, since the satellite was down. We found that out the day before when we showed up at church just to find out we were unable to watch it there. Not so bad, since there was only one other person who showed up. Most apparently watch conference at home or not at all. She went off to watch it online and we went to a member's home to watch it on his satellite. Priesthood session, however, might just be the most interesting session I've ever been to. For about forty-five minutes before it started until forty-five minutes into it, the group of priesthood holders that came were trying to fix the problem. None really had any more of an idea on what to do than us missionaries had, so it was kind of fun to see them run over the same things we had done already and lovingly bicker (A good portion of them are military guys because there was a VA Hospital here. A good portion of Knoxville is made up of military people) over how to fix it. It never got fixed, since after getting on the phone with the satellite people and busting open the box to the satellite boxes, we discovered the giant, unprotected satellite dish outside was not alligned. They even tried online through the family history library, just to discover they had no speakers and then even the web went down. SO, at about 7:45, Central Time, they decided to just go ahead and eat ice cream. I, however, was not about to miss any conference, and since I had already gotten permission to do so, we drove thirty minutes to Oskaloosa to watch the last forty minutes or so of it. Totally worth it.
And zone conference was all about becoming a consecrated missionary, laying everything down that would withhold us from giving our all as missionaries. So now we're committed to do that. We're even having a fast today to make ourselves consecrated. Works, since we missed, along with most of the branch, fast sunday last sunday. We just didn't know about it.... Anyway, I've never regretted having easter candy around so much....
I love it when people whisper-sing in libraries while listening to music, thinking they're the only ones that can hear themselves.
So, yep, that's about it. Love you all!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Monday, March 29, 2010
Yeah, Wright: How I Would Rather Work On Planes Than Bikes
There's a slight problem with this whole five or so day difference between PrepDays: there's very little to report on. Besides the following:
Last P-Day we busted out the bikes. That's been exciting. I remember the days when I liked riding my bike. I considered it fun and exciting to go fast and have the wind blow on my face and try to get, like, three feet of air off of some dumb ramp. Now I'd rather hop in the car or walk. We rode our bikes a lot there for a few days, even attempting to ride out into the countryside to visit a less active. Yeah. They say Iowa is flat. I'd actually claim that there's a flatness that is achieved by Washington that southern Iowa misses completely. Iowa has rolling hills, which is a cutesy term for annoyingly long, slight inclines of death. Washington has a few different things. There's either Up for a couple hours, down for a couple hours, or flat in the valleys or somewhere in between the up and down. There's also this wind thing that hits you as soon as you leave the towns. And wind in Iowa has this amazing ability to always blow in your face. Plus my bike always seems to be one twist of a bolt away from perfect. Not that I'm complaining, it's just fact. We still got a lot done, but we're still perfecting this whole bike riding thing. Yesterday Elder Heyborne refused to ride his bike and let his backside rest from the whole bike seat thing. Cari, you're probably thinking to yourself that your brother is a wimp. That's a fact. And I'm proud of it. I'm sure once I'm used to the bikes again I'll be fine.
On the whole missionary work front, we're still struggling getting investigators to come to sacrament meeting. We did, however, have a less active come back!!! That was way cool. He brought his daughter even, who's 4 and loves preschool, and we're hoping that, if nothing else, he keeps coming for her to come to primary. The branch did a great job it seemed of welcoming him back, so that's great!
We also finally met with a less active that has kind of dropped off the map for a long time. I tell you, missionaries make the best private investigators. Maybe that's what I should do when I get home, get a big mullet and aviators and a funky facial hair thing and call myself Magnum. And/or get a talking car. Depends on how 80's I want to get. But anyway, we were able to find out where she lived from a friend and were finally able to contact her. She's way cool and loves missionaries and I think has a chance of coming back. We'll definitely try. She fed us, which is a plus, and said we can come by anytime. AND her husband was asking all sorts of questions, being way interested to understand more.
We're also still working on contacting everyone we see, which is leading to more investigators, more interesting moments, and more blessings. It's cool to see how many investigators a companionship can be blessed with if they do the work the Lord's. Now's the struggle of working with all of their really busy schedules!
We also had our first new member lessons and more attempting to be arranged. THAT'S awesome, too. New member lessons tend to be thrown by the wayside at times and that's what leads to all of the Recent Converts that are Less Actives. LAME. Neither I nor this branch are going to allow that to happen here, though.
That's it! Have a wonderful week!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Last P-Day we busted out the bikes. That's been exciting. I remember the days when I liked riding my bike. I considered it fun and exciting to go fast and have the wind blow on my face and try to get, like, three feet of air off of some dumb ramp. Now I'd rather hop in the car or walk. We rode our bikes a lot there for a few days, even attempting to ride out into the countryside to visit a less active. Yeah. They say Iowa is flat. I'd actually claim that there's a flatness that is achieved by Washington that southern Iowa misses completely. Iowa has rolling hills, which is a cutesy term for annoyingly long, slight inclines of death. Washington has a few different things. There's either Up for a couple hours, down for a couple hours, or flat in the valleys or somewhere in between the up and down. There's also this wind thing that hits you as soon as you leave the towns. And wind in Iowa has this amazing ability to always blow in your face. Plus my bike always seems to be one twist of a bolt away from perfect. Not that I'm complaining, it's just fact. We still got a lot done, but we're still perfecting this whole bike riding thing. Yesterday Elder Heyborne refused to ride his bike and let his backside rest from the whole bike seat thing. Cari, you're probably thinking to yourself that your brother is a wimp. That's a fact. And I'm proud of it. I'm sure once I'm used to the bikes again I'll be fine.
On the whole missionary work front, we're still struggling getting investigators to come to sacrament meeting. We did, however, have a less active come back!!! That was way cool. He brought his daughter even, who's 4 and loves preschool, and we're hoping that, if nothing else, he keeps coming for her to come to primary. The branch did a great job it seemed of welcoming him back, so that's great!
We also finally met with a less active that has kind of dropped off the map for a long time. I tell you, missionaries make the best private investigators. Maybe that's what I should do when I get home, get a big mullet and aviators and a funky facial hair thing and call myself Magnum. And/or get a talking car. Depends on how 80's I want to get. But anyway, we were able to find out where she lived from a friend and were finally able to contact her. She's way cool and loves missionaries and I think has a chance of coming back. We'll definitely try. She fed us, which is a plus, and said we can come by anytime. AND her husband was asking all sorts of questions, being way interested to understand more.
We're also still working on contacting everyone we see, which is leading to more investigators, more interesting moments, and more blessings. It's cool to see how many investigators a companionship can be blessed with if they do the work the Lord's. Now's the struggle of working with all of their really busy schedules!
We also had our first new member lessons and more attempting to be arranged. THAT'S awesome, too. New member lessons tend to be thrown by the wayside at times and that's what leads to all of the Recent Converts that are Less Actives. LAME. Neither I nor this branch are going to allow that to happen here, though.
That's it! Have a wonderful week!
--
Your Favorite Missionary,
Elder Charlie Gates
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Elder Gates Iowa Des Moines Mission Knoxville Area Elder Heyborne Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure
Yeah, I know my subject is a reference to The Office but it had to be done. You see, my companion, Elder Heyborne, was bit by a dog this week, and there was a slight rabies scare.
The following is my version of the story.
...Ahem...
Soo, Elder Heyborne and I were out walking around, trying to talk to as many people as possible between appointments. The wind was pretty harsh, so we began walking down some side streets I'd never walked along. As usual, there was a dog tied up in someone's front yard, barking its ugly head off. Elder Heyborne and I were about to walk down another side street to try to conquer the impossibly harsh zephyr, when I got the always irrefutable prompting to go talk to the owner, who was standing in the doorway trying to quiet down the mutt. So, we changed our course and began walking up to the house and trying to speak with the owner, an older lady, who was struggling to real in her mangy hound. She, as all owners do, assured us that the yapping and snarling monster (a medium-sized dog that has been given the unassuming title of "Terrier") was friendly and would only sniff our hands. I, being senior, got up to the dog first and let it sniff my hand. But the dog did not stop there. It then LICKED my hand. Yes, the beast even went that far of attempting to pull the wool over my eyes before turning on my poor, naive companion and attempting to rip his hand off. Elder Heyborne quickly pulled his hand away, and the wild thing attacked again, with a bite just above Heyborne's knee. He lifted his leg, bringing the dog with it, and kneed the thing right in the gut. The dog fell back for a second, allowing Elder Heyborne to run outside of the chain's reach. It was about this time that I was able to get my wits about myself and booked it out of the chain's reach as well. My companion smoothly just began reassuring the frightened owner (and myself along with her) that he was alright. Lies, all lies. He turned to me as she finished shoving the dog inside and whispered "Dude, we gotta go." My thought process was "Well, DUH, now you agree that it's a scary dog and that you probably got a scratch or two and that-HOLY CRAP!!" The last two words hit when I saw the two bloody puncture wounds on his palm. For those of you who know me, you know I don't like blood. Or guts. Or all those things that are in people that God intended to stay there. I knew, however, that there was a reason I had been drawn to this house, and that this was not an everyday sort of contact. It wasn't. It was a less-active that I had never known the address for. So we finally found her!
And then we got out of there as fast as we could.
We began heading back to our car and also a recent convert's house to get him washed up and get him somewhere where they knew a little more about health and all that jazz then what we forgot from the first aid merit badge and what Cari's spewed (actually, from the way she described things, I think I was the one that spewed) to me from her ER years. On the way there he threw hand sanitizer on his cuts (his recent attempts to rid his speech of Mormon cusswords ceased when he did that) and I called Sister Talbot.
"Hello this is Sister Talbot."
"Hello Sister Talbot this is Elder Gates."
"Hello Elder Gates! How are you?"
"Oh, me? Well I'm just fine.... My companion on the other hand, well, he just got bitten by a dog."
I then went on to explain the injury as the little punk contacted some lady to try to teach her about the gospel, conveniently hiding his bleeding hand behind his back. I got him to start running so we could get to Brother Rayburn's quicker. I told him, as I went to the car to grab something, to just go in even if Brother Rayburn didn't answer. When I got over there he was still standing at the closed screen door (Brother Rayburn doesn't shut his front door if he's home but leaves the screen door closed. He's from the south). Having been able to recognize already that my companion was in shock, I didn't care much and opened the door for him. Brother Rayburn was in the bathroom so as Elder Heyborne began washing his wounds in the sink, Brother Rayburn came out and I had to let him know that it was just us. He was completely ok with the invasion, but still came out with his hands up. He's a pretty good jokester for an 80-year-old.
As Ray helped Heyborne get cleaned up, I got another phone call from Sister Talbot, asking if the dog had had its rabies shot. I told her I'd call and find out, but after a few vain attempts of getting ahold of the sister to who the dog belonged, I realized we'd need to drive by her place again. As I went back inside to grab my companion, I realized I was walking in on a very spiritual lesson. I could not help but think of how much of an idiot my companion must be to not be able to comprehend that he was bleeding from a pretty deep puncture wound from an animal that, for all we knew, could give him a disease that could kill him within 72 hours. But I could tell that with his slower-than-normal speech and increased giddiness, he was probably not all there. I quickly explained to Brother Rayburn that I would call him back with an answer to the question he had posed and that we needed to get going. He understood, but Elder Heyborne didn't. "Dude," he said as I hurried him to the car, "I didn't even get to say a closing prayer!"
We got back to the less active's house just as she was about to leave to go take her dog out for a spin. We quickly got the information we needed from her and left, but not before Elder Heyborne scratched their other dog behind the ears.
"Wow," she said, "That's usually the meaner one!" I was ready to shoot my companion.
Back in the safety of the car, I had him call the mission doctor with all of the information of the wound and everything to see what we should do. He did, and, very poorly, tried to explain that he had gotten a fairly deep puncture in the spot between your thumb and forefinger about a centimeter long and another one on his palm below his pinky (he tried explaining the size of them by saying "Ya know the size of a little dogs' teeth? Yeah, something kinda like that...."). Don't judge him, he was out of it.
"I'm not in shock," he told me.
"Sure, whatever."
Since both of us were very thirsty, and we were waiting on a call back from Sister Talbot to confirm the doctor's orders to take him to the hospital to get him checked out, we went through the drive thru at DQ real quick. Well, I thought it would be real quick.
"May I take your order?"
"Yeah, I would like one small kiwi strawberry arctic rush."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, one second." Then turning to my companion, "What drink to you want?"
"A Small."
"Yeah, sure, but what DRINK?"
"Dude I don't know.... Um...Sprite...?"
After getting his drink, in his slow speech I had gotten used to by now, "They put ice in my cup. I HATE ice...."
By now we had heard from Sister Talbot so I simply pulled into the ER parking lot next door and began walking in with my arctic rush in my hand. He left his drink, completely forgetting to ever drink out of it.
"Hello," the people at the front desk said, "Are you here to visit somebody?"
"Nope," Elder Heyborne responded, almost joyfully, "I just got bit by a dog!"
The nurses ushered him back into the back room as I sat down in the waiting room to enjoy my arctic rush and call the district leader. I was halfway through explaining what was going on, and basically at the worst spot to end the conversation, when Elder Heyborne came out and signaled for me to come. For once, he looked serious and actually in a hurry. This did not look good.
"Uh oh, I gotta go, Elder Rowley."
"Wait...uh...ok...bye."
I gathered up all my stuff, including my arctic rush and bag, and went on to the back. There I found Elder Heyborne and the nurse with a clipboard. Elder Heyborne turned to me, and asked a very serious question.
"What's Sister Talbot's first name?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded. THAT'S why he had been in such a hurry???
"Uh...Sister?"
The nurse went ahead and wrote down Sister on the clipboard. "Any chance you know his social security number?" she asked me. I couldn't even think of my own.
Anyway, they checked him out, cleaned him up, gave him a prescription, had the cop interview us to see if he needed to become part of it, and we went on our way. Shortest stay I'd ever had in an ER. Also the smallest ER I'd ever been in.
So yeah, Elder Heyborne's ok, just on some really strong antibiotics. And it's been about five days so he definitely doesn't have rabies. We even went back to visit the less active the next day. The dog was way friendly, even licking Elder Heyborne's face. But I've finally convinced him that dogs are the ruthless beasts I'd always seen them as.
Anyway, beyond that story...I'M STAYING IN KNOXVILLE!! Woo! Both of us are, actually, which is perfect because there's a lot of great stuff just getting going. We have our main investigator, after having trouble getting in with her for awhile, praying for a date to be baptized!!! I've also learned so much this last week it's crazy.
The weather's much better. I never thought I'd sweat so bad from temperatures in the upper fifties.
Anyway, that's it for now, talk to yall in pertinear a couple three days yet!
Oh, and I'm also sending Elder Heyborne's version of the story.
Elder Gates
[FPEO So, more on the tiny bit about all I've learned. I gave a blessing to a less active that reminds me a lot of Cari this week. She looks like her and has a personality kinda like hers. Anyway, she asked for a blessing because her and her husband are struggling starting a family. During the blessing of comfort, a feeling came very strongly into my heart. It was the feeling of how strongly God's love is for His children. I could tell there was a special place in his massive heart for people going through hard times and most especially for those who struggle having children. It says in Preach My Gospel that he weeps with us when we weep and rejoices with us when we rejoice. I used to think that was just some corny little exaggeration. It's not, not in the slightest. He really, truly, does. It was probably the strongest impression I've ever had of his incredible love in my life, and I hope to never forget it (no worries, it's in my journal ;) ). Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. I love you all.
This is Elder Heyborne's take on the event
Everyone under the sun, or above it (I don't discriminate);
I have had an amazing experience this past week. Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be impaled by a medium sized dog's fangs? Well, I wonder no more.
I was having a little bit of an off day and as my companion and I walked to our next destination we felt prompted to talk with a woman who was reeling in her dog by the chain. We made our pleasantries and advanced toward the dog. She commented that the dog was nice and to just let the terrier smell our hands. My loving companion Elder Gates went first and when I noticed the dog had licked his hand and let him pet her I decided it was my turn.
I put my hand down towards the dog, but far enough to let the dog come to me, which it did. However, instead of a taste it wanted a piece. After feeling sudden pain I shot up and started to back up but the dog was quicker and got a hold of my right leg 3 inches above the knee. I continued backwards and dragged the dog a few feet back before raising my knee into it's chest and making the dog release me. Then I turned and ran because I knew that if I could get out the chains length the dog would be stopped.
After that less than 10-second episode was over I laughed and was like "WOW" and started a conversation with the lady. Elder Gates, realizing I was playing way too cool for having been bit, continued to talk with her. I guess he thought I was just fine. Of course I acted like it but when I came up to him and said with no joke on my face, "Dude, I need to go. Now," and he looked at my bloody hand; we left.
We walked quickly away and I knew that cleanliness is next to godliness so I put hand sanitizer on my bites. He called the Mission President's wife (Sister Talbot) to find out what to do. Since he was on the phone and I had nothing to do, I started talking about the gospel to someone who was putting her child in her car. I gave her a card and we left. Elder Gates face was white, so white and we decided to run to a near-by member's home to wash off the wounds.
We got to Rayburn's home and just walked in. I went to the kitchen and washed it off with water. Rayburn came in and we started talking to him. We gave him "The Family: Proclamation to the World” which we had wanted to give him for some time. I put band-aids on my sores and sat down with him as Elder Gates went outside to talk with Sister Talbot. We talked about a boy down the street that he knew that had a brain tumor and how to comfort the family. I reflected on what scripture to use and Elder Gates rushed in, still pale, and I asked him, "What scripture do you think would be good for this?"
He stared at me, shook it off and was like, "WE HAVE TO GO!" Whatever. As we left I shared my distaste at having left without praying with Rayburn. He was so worried but I know in whom I have trusted. We drove off to that persons house whose' dog bit me. We talked with her about the dog and whether or not it had gotten shots. Her daughter came out with the other dog and I started to pet it with my other hand. They proceeded to tell me that that dog is the mean one; RIGHT!
We got into the car and I called our mission doctor and I could not for the life of me explain my wounds. He finally gave up and told us that he would call Sister Talbot and tell her we needed to go to the ER. I turned to Elder Gates and said that I was thirsty. So, we went to Dairy Queen. As we got there Elder Gates quickly said what he wanted but I could not decide whether or not a cold drink would melt while I was in the ER. I knew what size I wanted but nothing else so I told my companion. He looked at me, with that look, and said, "WHAT KIND! This was a bad idea." Therefore, I was rushed and just decided to get a Sprite.
We proceeded to go to the ER and I forgot to even take a drink. As we walked in security asked if we were there to see anyone. Everyone (a few doctors and nurses) stood there and looked at these two odd young men in suits. I stated matter a factly, "No, I got bit by a dog."
Then everyone looked alive and I was ushered, once again quickly, into a room. I gave a nurse my information but could not think of Sister Talbot's first name. I stepped outside and ushered my companion into the room, rather abruptly. He hurried over and I asked him. ONCE AGAIN I got the 'look' and he said stupidly, "Sister. I don't know” We had her write down sister.
To make a long thing quick; they washed and dressed me with a sympathy bandage. We drove to get the anti-biotics. Went to drop off a Bible and then to an activity at the church. The butt of the jokes that night was dogs and my massively bandaged hand.
The next day we went back to this ladies house and the dog, named Buddy, was friendly and even cordial. Buddy licked my face and I pet Buddy for most of the visit. I had a great time and Elder Gates still thinks I was in shock or something. I was just enjoying the journey.
Byetheway, I am not dead so I do not have rabies. Also, the wounds are healing quickly and the anti-biotics make me sick to my stomach. Elder Gates has been patient and much the gentleman even though I still get stuck with the dishes and trash. Watch out for dogs!
Love,
Elder Heyborne
The following is my version of the story.
...Ahem...
Soo, Elder Heyborne and I were out walking around, trying to talk to as many people as possible between appointments. The wind was pretty harsh, so we began walking down some side streets I'd never walked along. As usual, there was a dog tied up in someone's front yard, barking its ugly head off. Elder Heyborne and I were about to walk down another side street to try to conquer the impossibly harsh zephyr, when I got the always irrefutable prompting to go talk to the owner, who was standing in the doorway trying to quiet down the mutt. So, we changed our course and began walking up to the house and trying to speak with the owner, an older lady, who was struggling to real in her mangy hound. She, as all owners do, assured us that the yapping and snarling monster (a medium-sized dog that has been given the unassuming title of "Terrier") was friendly and would only sniff our hands. I, being senior, got up to the dog first and let it sniff my hand. But the dog did not stop there. It then LICKED my hand. Yes, the beast even went that far of attempting to pull the wool over my eyes before turning on my poor, naive companion and attempting to rip his hand off. Elder Heyborne quickly pulled his hand away, and the wild thing attacked again, with a bite just above Heyborne's knee. He lifted his leg, bringing the dog with it, and kneed the thing right in the gut. The dog fell back for a second, allowing Elder Heyborne to run outside of the chain's reach. It was about this time that I was able to get my wits about myself and booked it out of the chain's reach as well. My companion smoothly just began reassuring the frightened owner (and myself along with her) that he was alright. Lies, all lies. He turned to me as she finished shoving the dog inside and whispered "Dude, we gotta go." My thought process was "Well, DUH, now you agree that it's a scary dog and that you probably got a scratch or two and that-HOLY CRAP!!" The last two words hit when I saw the two bloody puncture wounds on his palm. For those of you who know me, you know I don't like blood. Or guts. Or all those things that are in people that God intended to stay there. I knew, however, that there was a reason I had been drawn to this house, and that this was not an everyday sort of contact. It wasn't. It was a less-active that I had never known the address for. So we finally found her!
And then we got out of there as fast as we could.
We began heading back to our car and also a recent convert's house to get him washed up and get him somewhere where they knew a little more about health and all that jazz then what we forgot from the first aid merit badge and what Cari's spewed (actually, from the way she described things, I think I was the one that spewed) to me from her ER years. On the way there he threw hand sanitizer on his cuts (his recent attempts to rid his speech of Mormon cusswords ceased when he did that) and I called Sister Talbot.
"Hello this is Sister Talbot."
"Hello Sister Talbot this is Elder Gates."
"Hello Elder Gates! How are you?"
"Oh, me? Well I'm just fine.... My companion on the other hand, well, he just got bitten by a dog."
I then went on to explain the injury as the little punk contacted some lady to try to teach her about the gospel, conveniently hiding his bleeding hand behind his back. I got him to start running so we could get to Brother Rayburn's quicker. I told him, as I went to the car to grab something, to just go in even if Brother Rayburn didn't answer. When I got over there he was still standing at the closed screen door (Brother Rayburn doesn't shut his front door if he's home but leaves the screen door closed. He's from the south). Having been able to recognize already that my companion was in shock, I didn't care much and opened the door for him. Brother Rayburn was in the bathroom so as Elder Heyborne began washing his wounds in the sink, Brother Rayburn came out and I had to let him know that it was just us. He was completely ok with the invasion, but still came out with his hands up. He's a pretty good jokester for an 80-year-old.
As Ray helped Heyborne get cleaned up, I got another phone call from Sister Talbot, asking if the dog had had its rabies shot. I told her I'd call and find out, but after a few vain attempts of getting ahold of the sister to who the dog belonged, I realized we'd need to drive by her place again. As I went back inside to grab my companion, I realized I was walking in on a very spiritual lesson. I could not help but think of how much of an idiot my companion must be to not be able to comprehend that he was bleeding from a pretty deep puncture wound from an animal that, for all we knew, could give him a disease that could kill him within 72 hours. But I could tell that with his slower-than-normal speech and increased giddiness, he was probably not all there. I quickly explained to Brother Rayburn that I would call him back with an answer to the question he had posed and that we needed to get going. He understood, but Elder Heyborne didn't. "Dude," he said as I hurried him to the car, "I didn't even get to say a closing prayer!"
We got back to the less active's house just as she was about to leave to go take her dog out for a spin. We quickly got the information we needed from her and left, but not before Elder Heyborne scratched their other dog behind the ears.
"Wow," she said, "That's usually the meaner one!" I was ready to shoot my companion.
Back in the safety of the car, I had him call the mission doctor with all of the information of the wound and everything to see what we should do. He did, and, very poorly, tried to explain that he had gotten a fairly deep puncture in the spot between your thumb and forefinger about a centimeter long and another one on his palm below his pinky (he tried explaining the size of them by saying "Ya know the size of a little dogs' teeth? Yeah, something kinda like that...."). Don't judge him, he was out of it.
"I'm not in shock," he told me.
"Sure, whatever."
Since both of us were very thirsty, and we were waiting on a call back from Sister Talbot to confirm the doctor's orders to take him to the hospital to get him checked out, we went through the drive thru at DQ real quick. Well, I thought it would be real quick.
"May I take your order?"
"Yeah, I would like one small kiwi strawberry arctic rush."
"Anything else?"
"Yeah, one second." Then turning to my companion, "What drink to you want?"
"A Small."
"Yeah, sure, but what DRINK?"
"Dude I don't know.... Um...Sprite...?"
After getting his drink, in his slow speech I had gotten used to by now, "They put ice in my cup. I HATE ice...."
By now we had heard from Sister Talbot so I simply pulled into the ER parking lot next door and began walking in with my arctic rush in my hand. He left his drink, completely forgetting to ever drink out of it.
"Hello," the people at the front desk said, "Are you here to visit somebody?"
"Nope," Elder Heyborne responded, almost joyfully, "I just got bit by a dog!"
The nurses ushered him back into the back room as I sat down in the waiting room to enjoy my arctic rush and call the district leader. I was halfway through explaining what was going on, and basically at the worst spot to end the conversation, when Elder Heyborne came out and signaled for me to come. For once, he looked serious and actually in a hurry. This did not look good.
"Uh oh, I gotta go, Elder Rowley."
"Wait...uh...ok...bye."
I gathered up all my stuff, including my arctic rush and bag, and went on to the back. There I found Elder Heyborne and the nurse with a clipboard. Elder Heyborne turned to me, and asked a very serious question.
"What's Sister Talbot's first name?"
I stared at him, dumbfounded. THAT'S why he had been in such a hurry???
"Uh...Sister?"
The nurse went ahead and wrote down Sister on the clipboard. "Any chance you know his social security number?" she asked me. I couldn't even think of my own.
Anyway, they checked him out, cleaned him up, gave him a prescription, had the cop interview us to see if he needed to become part of it, and we went on our way. Shortest stay I'd ever had in an ER. Also the smallest ER I'd ever been in.
So yeah, Elder Heyborne's ok, just on some really strong antibiotics. And it's been about five days so he definitely doesn't have rabies. We even went back to visit the less active the next day. The dog was way friendly, even licking Elder Heyborne's face. But I've finally convinced him that dogs are the ruthless beasts I'd always seen them as.
Anyway, beyond that story...I'M STAYING IN KNOXVILLE!! Woo! Both of us are, actually, which is perfect because there's a lot of great stuff just getting going. We have our main investigator, after having trouble getting in with her for awhile, praying for a date to be baptized!!! I've also learned so much this last week it's crazy.
The weather's much better. I never thought I'd sweat so bad from temperatures in the upper fifties.
Anyway, that's it for now, talk to yall in pertinear a couple three days yet!
Oh, and I'm also sending Elder Heyborne's version of the story.
Elder Gates
[FPEO So, more on the tiny bit about all I've learned. I gave a blessing to a less active that reminds me a lot of Cari this week. She looks like her and has a personality kinda like hers. Anyway, she asked for a blessing because her and her husband are struggling starting a family. During the blessing of comfort, a feeling came very strongly into my heart. It was the feeling of how strongly God's love is for His children. I could tell there was a special place in his massive heart for people going through hard times and most especially for those who struggle having children. It says in Preach My Gospel that he weeps with us when we weep and rejoices with us when we rejoice. I used to think that was just some corny little exaggeration. It's not, not in the slightest. He really, truly, does. It was probably the strongest impression I've ever had of his incredible love in my life, and I hope to never forget it (no worries, it's in my journal ;) ). Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. I love you all.
This is Elder Heyborne's take on the event
Everyone under the sun, or above it (I don't discriminate);
I have had an amazing experience this past week. Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be impaled by a medium sized dog's fangs? Well, I wonder no more.
I was having a little bit of an off day and as my companion and I walked to our next destination we felt prompted to talk with a woman who was reeling in her dog by the chain. We made our pleasantries and advanced toward the dog. She commented that the dog was nice and to just let the terrier smell our hands. My loving companion Elder Gates went first and when I noticed the dog had licked his hand and let him pet her I decided it was my turn.
I put my hand down towards the dog, but far enough to let the dog come to me, which it did. However, instead of a taste it wanted a piece. After feeling sudden pain I shot up and started to back up but the dog was quicker and got a hold of my right leg 3 inches above the knee. I continued backwards and dragged the dog a few feet back before raising my knee into it's chest and making the dog release me. Then I turned and ran because I knew that if I could get out the chains length the dog would be stopped.
After that less than 10-second episode was over I laughed and was like "WOW" and started a conversation with the lady. Elder Gates, realizing I was playing way too cool for having been bit, continued to talk with her. I guess he thought I was just fine. Of course I acted like it but when I came up to him and said with no joke on my face, "Dude, I need to go. Now," and he looked at my bloody hand; we left.
We walked quickly away and I knew that cleanliness is next to godliness so I put hand sanitizer on my bites. He called the Mission President's wife (Sister Talbot) to find out what to do. Since he was on the phone and I had nothing to do, I started talking about the gospel to someone who was putting her child in her car. I gave her a card and we left. Elder Gates face was white, so white and we decided to run to a near-by member's home to wash off the wounds.
We got to Rayburn's home and just walked in. I went to the kitchen and washed it off with water. Rayburn came in and we started talking to him. We gave him "The Family: Proclamation to the World” which we had wanted to give him for some time. I put band-aids on my sores and sat down with him as Elder Gates went outside to talk with Sister Talbot. We talked about a boy down the street that he knew that had a brain tumor and how to comfort the family. I reflected on what scripture to use and Elder Gates rushed in, still pale, and I asked him, "What scripture do you think would be good for this?"
He stared at me, shook it off and was like, "WE HAVE TO GO!" Whatever. As we left I shared my distaste at having left without praying with Rayburn. He was so worried but I know in whom I have trusted. We drove off to that persons house whose' dog bit me. We talked with her about the dog and whether or not it had gotten shots. Her daughter came out with the other dog and I started to pet it with my other hand. They proceeded to tell me that that dog is the mean one; RIGHT!
We got into the car and I called our mission doctor and I could not for the life of me explain my wounds. He finally gave up and told us that he would call Sister Talbot and tell her we needed to go to the ER. I turned to Elder Gates and said that I was thirsty. So, we went to Dairy Queen. As we got there Elder Gates quickly said what he wanted but I could not decide whether or not a cold drink would melt while I was in the ER. I knew what size I wanted but nothing else so I told my companion. He looked at me, with that look, and said, "WHAT KIND! This was a bad idea." Therefore, I was rushed and just decided to get a Sprite.
We proceeded to go to the ER and I forgot to even take a drink. As we walked in security asked if we were there to see anyone. Everyone (a few doctors and nurses) stood there and looked at these two odd young men in suits. I stated matter a factly, "No, I got bit by a dog."
Then everyone looked alive and I was ushered, once again quickly, into a room. I gave a nurse my information but could not think of Sister Talbot's first name. I stepped outside and ushered my companion into the room, rather abruptly. He hurried over and I asked him. ONCE AGAIN I got the 'look' and he said stupidly, "Sister. I don't know” We had her write down sister.
To make a long thing quick; they washed and dressed me with a sympathy bandage. We drove to get the anti-biotics. Went to drop off a Bible and then to an activity at the church. The butt of the jokes that night was dogs and my massively bandaged hand.
The next day we went back to this ladies house and the dog, named Buddy, was friendly and even cordial. Buddy licked my face and I pet Buddy for most of the visit. I had a great time and Elder Gates still thinks I was in shock or something. I was just enjoying the journey.
Byetheway, I am not dead so I do not have rabies. Also, the wounds are healing quickly and the anti-biotics make me sick to my stomach. Elder Gates has been patient and much the gentleman even though I still get stuck with the dishes and trash. Watch out for dogs!
Love,
Elder Heyborne
Monday, March 15, 2010
Spring-ing Ahead Sets Me Back
Aloha My Familia,
Well, I'm feeling much better this week, no more sicknesses. That's always good. I think Elder Heyborne's getting sick, but he won't listen to me. He follows the fake it till you make it strategy. It's good...but I don't think it works the same for illnesses. And yes, Transfers are next week. This transfer has flown by. Both Elder Heyborne and I hope nothing gets switched up here in Knoxville...but we'll do whatever the Lord wants and all that junk.
This last week we went on exchanges down to Centerville. With the way things are right now with the missionary from Centerville being in a companionship with the missionaries in Oskaloosa (please look at a map to get a reference on the distance there) we both went with him down there instead of splitting up like usual. It was fun and all but Centerville is a very interesting town. It has the largest town square in the nation (or so they claim. I was expecting bigger. Major disappointment. Not to be a terrible tourism rep or anything...), but it has the look of a fairly impoverished little community. They also (I don't know if I've told you this before, but if so, bear with me because I'm telling it again) have an interesting church down there. It's a barn that was converted into a bar and used as the church too for awhile before the bar closed and was officially the church. For some reason it always smells like Arby's there and it makes me really want a roast beef sandwich. Oohhh...Arby's.... They have it here but I haven't gone yet.
AAAaaanyway, the weather has gotten a lot warmer very quickly. It's actually kind of scary how quickly. Yesterday we went to a member's home to get him prepped to teach the new member lessons to one of our Recent Converts and we sat outside in the sun as we met with him. It was way comfortable and I even watched as a sunburn formed on his forehead. It even rained this week. I used to hate rain like I hated dogs (now I tolerate them...mostly. Still just stinking, slobbering firballs who won't just leave me alone. It's like they sense that I don't want to be bothered and so they try their best to get me to love them. Or maybe it's because I'm nice to them once and all of a sudden I'm their best friends. I especially hate big dogs that think they're small. Yeah, doberman, I REALLY want to be tackled to the ground right now, that's just GREAT! And yelling a dog's name at them only sometimes works. I need a dog that is way chill like a cat. Cats are great. I pet them and even as I do that some will just walk away. THAT'S a pet for ya. One that will give me privacy. Anyway, sorry bout that). But now I like the rain. It's nice to just get drenched. Out here, though, there's this thing called wind. I don't the wind. It takes cold and makes it frigid, and takes rain and makes it no fun. Kind of like how the kid that poops in the pool takes a fun thing (the pool) and makes it no fun for everyone else. And that's the conditions of the day this week that we had set apart to walk around town and talk to everyone we saw. Yeah. We met 8 people in our walking (probably because people were smarter than us and decided to just drive everywhere and stay warm). The next day, however, it was very sunny and warm, and a day that we hadn't left much room for walking around. Such is our luck. The mud's still around. Lots of flooding has been happening elsewhere. Muds usually don't stick around too long, I think, but I think this year will be especially bad. Please refer to stories of pioneers crossing plains.
But that's about it for this email. Wow. That was a downer if you don't understand my humor. Things here are going very well. Our main focus was getting the new member lessons set up for our three recent converts. We pretty much have that all lined up, one home teacher just has a terrible work schedule. We picked up a new investigator, but like many of our others, he has stuff coming up to hold him back. His stuff is surgery while one had family visiting, one has a freakishly busy work schedule, and one is just busy. So, besides that new investigator, we didn't get a chance to really meet with any of our main investigators and have a sit down lesson. We did mostly a lot of meeting with members, actives, less actives, and recent converts this week. We have some very solid recent converts here which is exactly the way I like it. We've been trying to meet with one less active who contacted us for help to change his life around, but after the first time meeting with him he's just gotten drunker and drunker. And his house is not a good teaching environment. His friends have been kind of cool, though, one even said he'd like to come to church sometime. Hope that works out. It's sad to see somebody in such a bad spot in their lives. We just hope he allows us to help him out.
So, yeah, now I think I'm done. Hope all is well back at home! No worries, I'm happy, I just have a weird sense of humor, as you all know. And it doesn't help my companion has the same kind of humor. But it sure makes life more hilarious for the two of us!
Well, I'm feeling much better this week, no more sicknesses. That's always good. I think Elder Heyborne's getting sick, but he won't listen to me. He follows the fake it till you make it strategy. It's good...but I don't think it works the same for illnesses. And yes, Transfers are next week. This transfer has flown by. Both Elder Heyborne and I hope nothing gets switched up here in Knoxville...but we'll do whatever the Lord wants and all that junk.
This last week we went on exchanges down to Centerville. With the way things are right now with the missionary from Centerville being in a companionship with the missionaries in Oskaloosa (please look at a map to get a reference on the distance there) we both went with him down there instead of splitting up like usual. It was fun and all but Centerville is a very interesting town. It has the largest town square in the nation (or so they claim. I was expecting bigger. Major disappointment. Not to be a terrible tourism rep or anything...), but it has the look of a fairly impoverished little community. They also (I don't know if I've told you this before, but if so, bear with me because I'm telling it again) have an interesting church down there. It's a barn that was converted into a bar and used as the church too for awhile before the bar closed and was officially the church. For some reason it always smells like Arby's there and it makes me really want a roast beef sandwich. Oohhh...Arby's.... They have it here but I haven't gone yet.
AAAaaanyway, the weather has gotten a lot warmer very quickly. It's actually kind of scary how quickly. Yesterday we went to a member's home to get him prepped to teach the new member lessons to one of our Recent Converts and we sat outside in the sun as we met with him. It was way comfortable and I even watched as a sunburn formed on his forehead. It even rained this week. I used to hate rain like I hated dogs (now I tolerate them...mostly. Still just stinking, slobbering firballs who won't just leave me alone. It's like they sense that I don't want to be bothered and so they try their best to get me to love them. Or maybe it's because I'm nice to them once and all of a sudden I'm their best friends. I especially hate big dogs that think they're small. Yeah, doberman, I REALLY want to be tackled to the ground right now, that's just GREAT! And yelling a dog's name at them only sometimes works. I need a dog that is way chill like a cat. Cats are great. I pet them and even as I do that some will just walk away. THAT'S a pet for ya. One that will give me privacy. Anyway, sorry bout that). But now I like the rain. It's nice to just get drenched. Out here, though, there's this thing called wind. I don't the wind. It takes cold and makes it frigid, and takes rain and makes it no fun. Kind of like how the kid that poops in the pool takes a fun thing (the pool) and makes it no fun for everyone else. And that's the conditions of the day this week that we had set apart to walk around town and talk to everyone we saw. Yeah. We met 8 people in our walking (probably because people were smarter than us and decided to just drive everywhere and stay warm). The next day, however, it was very sunny and warm, and a day that we hadn't left much room for walking around. Such is our luck. The mud's still around. Lots of flooding has been happening elsewhere. Muds usually don't stick around too long, I think, but I think this year will be especially bad. Please refer to stories of pioneers crossing plains.
But that's about it for this email. Wow. That was a downer if you don't understand my humor. Things here are going very well. Our main focus was getting the new member lessons set up for our three recent converts. We pretty much have that all lined up, one home teacher just has a terrible work schedule. We picked up a new investigator, but like many of our others, he has stuff coming up to hold him back. His stuff is surgery while one had family visiting, one has a freakishly busy work schedule, and one is just busy. So, besides that new investigator, we didn't get a chance to really meet with any of our main investigators and have a sit down lesson. We did mostly a lot of meeting with members, actives, less actives, and recent converts this week. We have some very solid recent converts here which is exactly the way I like it. We've been trying to meet with one less active who contacted us for help to change his life around, but after the first time meeting with him he's just gotten drunker and drunker. And his house is not a good teaching environment. His friends have been kind of cool, though, one even said he'd like to come to church sometime. Hope that works out. It's sad to see somebody in such a bad spot in their lives. We just hope he allows us to help him out.
So, yeah, now I think I'm done. Hope all is well back at home! No worries, I'm happy, I just have a weird sense of humor, as you all know. And it doesn't help my companion has the same kind of humor. But it sure makes life more hilarious for the two of us!
Monday, March 8, 2010
...And Then In Flew Enza
Well.
Yeah.
This week has been mostly uneventful...on the missionary front....
You see, I felt like I had a cold or something last week, and then Tuesday or wednesday it turned into my stomach feeling all nauseated, like something restless had settled in my gut. I didn't think much of it until Friday morning, when the restless something found an escape strategy. Luckily, that escape was not my mouth. After rushing to the toilet, my companion made me call Sister Talbot. She informed me I probably had the flu (you know, that thing that I should have gotten a shot for but never did because I was really busy and forgot and all those other excuses investigators use on us when they tell us they haven't read or prayed? Yeah, that thing....) and probably needed to stay inside and sleep and all the other stuff I needed to do. So most of Friday and Saturday was just getting up in the morning, getting showered, laying on the couch, intermittently running to the restroom, and going to bed. I played some games but Friday and Saturday I didn't feel like sitting up much. Sunday came along, and I felt better, and didn't have to rush to the bathroom once, buuut, well, we were kindly asked by the branch to please leave, so as to not get all of the members with weak immune systems sick. I'm pretty sure I was much better, and really only felt funky because I hadn't eaten much more than three cans of chicken noodle soup over two days, but still. Sunday all I had was a can of Progresso soup, trying to step it up a bit, but that kind of bugged my stomach. I think that was just mostly because I was not used to eating by that point. Being sick on fast Sunday is actually a fairly lucky thing: You're not hungry anyway! So, yeah. Today, I just got restless. I decided that I was going to try solid foods and see what happens. So I ate some eggs and unbuttered toast, without any troubles, and then ate a brownie (NEVER MAKE BROWNIES WHEN YOUR COMPANION CANNOT HAVE DAIRY DUE TO ILLNESS! IT'S JUST PURE EVIL! "And I realized halfway through making them: I don't even like brownies anyway!" Elder Heyborne said, nearly eliciting a punch from me. Gotta love the kid.) and a plate of spaghetti. I was fairly full after the eggs but I just wanted to find out, and find out quick, whether I was still sick or not. Besides feeling full, and having that feeling be a shock to my system, I feel alright. I've definitely lost some weight this weekend, though. No food and excessive amounts of liquids do that to you.
So, yeah, besides sickness, we had a pretty good week. We met with a lady who would be an investigator if it wasn't for the fact that she's a consultant from home to both sides of the coast and is thus on phone calls all the time, making herself really busy. She's had missionaries meet with her before and enjoys hearing them bear their testimonies. She seemed fairly impressed after meeting with us and hearing that we put two years aside, without working, not earning anything, to do this. She originally was just going to tell us to come back in June when all her consulting was done, but she told us instead to try back in a couple weeks.
The snow's all melting now. You know all of those stories about how hard it was for the pioneers to cross Iowa due to the mud and how it took them more time to cross it then the rest of the trip from then on out?
Yeah.
Now I get it.
It's pretty dang ugly out there.
I actually might prefer the colder weather at the moment. It actually legitimitely rained this past week! And it didn't freeze! It was glorious. I miss rain. I never thought I'd say that, but I do. Getting wet in winter is so nice. Uh oh, trunky alarm's going off....
We also had a snowball fight with one of our investigator's kids and a friend of the kids. That really wasn't that spiritual of an occasion, but it was really funny when the friend, who's not a member nor an investigator, said, "It ain't fair, you got Jesus on your side!" That's truer than he knows....
I'm still not hearing any news about contract deals for my writing.... A little source of income would be nice. Oh, on the subject of earning money, for all you high school musical fans out there (I bet those words right there will ensure most people will skip over the rest of this paragraph. I sure would), the kid who says "Is that even legal?" in the first movie (I've heard from a second hand source that was his only line. I wouldn't know, I've never seen it.) actually came out here on his mission the same time as me, just he was speaking spanish. He's even on the posters for the CES broadcasts for this year. Yeah. I'm just THAT close to stardom. I would have put that in here when I first came out, but I didn't know until later. Anyway, I have so little to update on that I even just stuck THAT in there. It was just that exciting of a week.
So, yeah. That's about it. It's getting warmer. I was sick. I've read a LOT out of the Book of Mormon. Investigators are still investigatin. Some less actives are less less active. Members are still...memberin. All in all, life is good. Church is still true. The Iowa Des Moines Mission is still the best. The Book of Mormon and Bible are still true. And I still ramble.
Elder Gates
Yeah.
This week has been mostly uneventful...on the missionary front....
You see, I felt like I had a cold or something last week, and then Tuesday or wednesday it turned into my stomach feeling all nauseated, like something restless had settled in my gut. I didn't think much of it until Friday morning, when the restless something found an escape strategy. Luckily, that escape was not my mouth. After rushing to the toilet, my companion made me call Sister Talbot. She informed me I probably had the flu (you know, that thing that I should have gotten a shot for but never did because I was really busy and forgot and all those other excuses investigators use on us when they tell us they haven't read or prayed? Yeah, that thing....) and probably needed to stay inside and sleep and all the other stuff I needed to do. So most of Friday and Saturday was just getting up in the morning, getting showered, laying on the couch, intermittently running to the restroom, and going to bed. I played some games but Friday and Saturday I didn't feel like sitting up much. Sunday came along, and I felt better, and didn't have to rush to the bathroom once, buuut, well, we were kindly asked by the branch to please leave, so as to not get all of the members with weak immune systems sick. I'm pretty sure I was much better, and really only felt funky because I hadn't eaten much more than three cans of chicken noodle soup over two days, but still. Sunday all I had was a can of Progresso soup, trying to step it up a bit, but that kind of bugged my stomach. I think that was just mostly because I was not used to eating by that point. Being sick on fast Sunday is actually a fairly lucky thing: You're not hungry anyway! So, yeah. Today, I just got restless. I decided that I was going to try solid foods and see what happens. So I ate some eggs and unbuttered toast, without any troubles, and then ate a brownie (NEVER MAKE BROWNIES WHEN YOUR COMPANION CANNOT HAVE DAIRY DUE TO ILLNESS! IT'S JUST PURE EVIL! "And I realized halfway through making them: I don't even like brownies anyway!" Elder Heyborne said, nearly eliciting a punch from me. Gotta love the kid.) and a plate of spaghetti. I was fairly full after the eggs but I just wanted to find out, and find out quick, whether I was still sick or not. Besides feeling full, and having that feeling be a shock to my system, I feel alright. I've definitely lost some weight this weekend, though. No food and excessive amounts of liquids do that to you.
So, yeah, besides sickness, we had a pretty good week. We met with a lady who would be an investigator if it wasn't for the fact that she's a consultant from home to both sides of the coast and is thus on phone calls all the time, making herself really busy. She's had missionaries meet with her before and enjoys hearing them bear their testimonies. She seemed fairly impressed after meeting with us and hearing that we put two years aside, without working, not earning anything, to do this. She originally was just going to tell us to come back in June when all her consulting was done, but she told us instead to try back in a couple weeks.
The snow's all melting now. You know all of those stories about how hard it was for the pioneers to cross Iowa due to the mud and how it took them more time to cross it then the rest of the trip from then on out?
Yeah.
Now I get it.
It's pretty dang ugly out there.
I actually might prefer the colder weather at the moment. It actually legitimitely rained this past week! And it didn't freeze! It was glorious. I miss rain. I never thought I'd say that, but I do. Getting wet in winter is so nice. Uh oh, trunky alarm's going off....
We also had a snowball fight with one of our investigator's kids and a friend of the kids. That really wasn't that spiritual of an occasion, but it was really funny when the friend, who's not a member nor an investigator, said, "It ain't fair, you got Jesus on your side!" That's truer than he knows....
I'm still not hearing any news about contract deals for my writing.... A little source of income would be nice. Oh, on the subject of earning money, for all you high school musical fans out there (I bet those words right there will ensure most people will skip over the rest of this paragraph. I sure would), the kid who says "Is that even legal?" in the first movie (I've heard from a second hand source that was his only line. I wouldn't know, I've never seen it.) actually came out here on his mission the same time as me, just he was speaking spanish. He's even on the posters for the CES broadcasts for this year. Yeah. I'm just THAT close to stardom. I would have put that in here when I first came out, but I didn't know until later. Anyway, I have so little to update on that I even just stuck THAT in there. It was just that exciting of a week.
So, yeah. That's about it. It's getting warmer. I was sick. I've read a LOT out of the Book of Mormon. Investigators are still investigatin. Some less actives are less less active. Members are still...memberin. All in all, life is good. Church is still true. The Iowa Des Moines Mission is still the best. The Book of Mormon and Bible are still true. And I still ramble.
Elder Gates
Monday, March 1, 2010
Baptism by Fiery Water?
So apparently people have been commenting positively on my literary style in my weekly emails home. At least, Mom says they do. If this is the case, please start sending these into Mormon Times or something. I might as well make some money off of this. My apartment could use an air conditioner with the current heat wave of 32 degrees, and my increased body mass due to the good Iowa cooking and my inability to eat just "a couple three spoonfuls, yet," as a true Iowan would say.
I know it's bad to look at other people's computer screens, but this guy sitting in front of me is going to every dumb ad that says you can win something. I was wondering who actually clicked on those things.... There's also a guy watching a preacher on his computer and intermittently saying "Amen." You know you're in Iowa when....
Anyway, Cris Arnold was baptized this weekend!!! It took a lot of work to get it all ready, and nothing seemed to go right. She wanted people to give talks that were confused about what to say so we had to teach them and kind of point out to them to not worry about it (that person got sick anyway so it didn't really matter after all). The brother who usually fills up the font wasn't going to be able to so we did instead, and it took a lot less time than we thought it would and ended up with a problem we have never had before: water that was TOO hot. Then I've been sick the last few days with a funky cough and nearly choked on my own throat during my talk on baptism. And she had to be put under a couple times because she just didn't bend her legs at first. I guess things didn't go quite as wrong as they have in the past or could have gone wrong, but still, baptisms can get pretty stressful to plan for and get ready. She also asked Elder Heyborne to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was his first time doing it. Kind of scared him but he did a good job. He's a lot like me, which is nice, because I can actually understand my companion, but It also makes me annoyed by things I know I do....
Beyond that, the work's just been pressing forward as usual! We spent a good chunk of one day driving around looking for less actives that I'd never met that lived out in the country. That was fun.
Oh, and Ray Rayburn got the priesthood yesterday! And Jacob should be getting it next week! That's exciting. We're hoping to be able to get them excited about some family history work and to the temple here soon. I really hope I'll be able to go with them, and Cris, for that.
Elder Heyborne and I have been working on talking to everybody we come in contact with. We even make ourselves do 5 pushups at night for every person we miss. Which is good...but bad at the same time. Like one time, Elder Heyborne started talking to one guy that was walking down the street but started to stop, so I picked up the conversation and took it as far as I could. Elder Heyborne later pointed out to me that the guy had a vodka in his jacket. I don't know why I attract drunk and high people.... Also, another time, as we were tracting at night, we started to walk down an alley because E.H. thought there was a few houses down there. On our way back out of the alleyway, we saw some lady across the street walking her dog. Not wanting to do pushups, Elder Heyborne yelled across the street "Hello! We're Missionaries!..." Apparently two guys dressed in black walking out of an alley and yelling after you is a scary experience. Luckily the lady did nothing other than start walking even faster and yelling back "No thank you!" I also loved the atheist who, as soon as he told us he was an atheist, had his door fall over onto him. He just seemed to ignore it leaning against him and it just made everything more awkward.
Well, I really don't have much more to add. At least, not that I can think of. Oh, there's also apparently a movie out now called "Dear John." Elder Heyborne and I want a picture by the poster by the theater down on the square.
That's all, folks,
Elder Gates
I know it's bad to look at other people's computer screens, but this guy sitting in front of me is going to every dumb ad that says you can win something. I was wondering who actually clicked on those things.... There's also a guy watching a preacher on his computer and intermittently saying "Amen." You know you're in Iowa when....
Anyway, Cris Arnold was baptized this weekend!!! It took a lot of work to get it all ready, and nothing seemed to go right. She wanted people to give talks that were confused about what to say so we had to teach them and kind of point out to them to not worry about it (that person got sick anyway so it didn't really matter after all). The brother who usually fills up the font wasn't going to be able to so we did instead, and it took a lot less time than we thought it would and ended up with a problem we have never had before: water that was TOO hot. Then I've been sick the last few days with a funky cough and nearly choked on my own throat during my talk on baptism. And she had to be put under a couple times because she just didn't bend her legs at first. I guess things didn't go quite as wrong as they have in the past or could have gone wrong, but still, baptisms can get pretty stressful to plan for and get ready. She also asked Elder Heyborne to give her the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was his first time doing it. Kind of scared him but he did a good job. He's a lot like me, which is nice, because I can actually understand my companion, but It also makes me annoyed by things I know I do....
Beyond that, the work's just been pressing forward as usual! We spent a good chunk of one day driving around looking for less actives that I'd never met that lived out in the country. That was fun.
Oh, and Ray Rayburn got the priesthood yesterday! And Jacob should be getting it next week! That's exciting. We're hoping to be able to get them excited about some family history work and to the temple here soon. I really hope I'll be able to go with them, and Cris, for that.
Elder Heyborne and I have been working on talking to everybody we come in contact with. We even make ourselves do 5 pushups at night for every person we miss. Which is good...but bad at the same time. Like one time, Elder Heyborne started talking to one guy that was walking down the street but started to stop, so I picked up the conversation and took it as far as I could. Elder Heyborne later pointed out to me that the guy had a vodka in his jacket. I don't know why I attract drunk and high people.... Also, another time, as we were tracting at night, we started to walk down an alley because E.H. thought there was a few houses down there. On our way back out of the alleyway, we saw some lady across the street walking her dog. Not wanting to do pushups, Elder Heyborne yelled across the street "Hello! We're Missionaries!..." Apparently two guys dressed in black walking out of an alley and yelling after you is a scary experience. Luckily the lady did nothing other than start walking even faster and yelling back "No thank you!" I also loved the atheist who, as soon as he told us he was an atheist, had his door fall over onto him. He just seemed to ignore it leaning against him and it just made everything more awkward.
Well, I really don't have much more to add. At least, not that I can think of. Oh, there's also apparently a movie out now called "Dear John." Elder Heyborne and I want a picture by the poster by the theater down on the square.
That's all, folks,
Elder Gates
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