Well, we got transfer calls last night (I've already been in the field for six weeks?) Both Elder Sanders and I are staying in Orofino for another transfer. Actually, most of our district hasn't changed, which is good because I like the other missionaries.
Saturday was the last time I'll ever talk to the mentally ill woman, because tomorrow she is being sent back to jail. Oh well, it was a good experience.
This past week has been somewhat uneventful. We did some service for the woman with the eight dogs. We went out with a member and had to dig up a broken pipe and helped him fix it up then re-bury it. It took a lot longer than you would think haha. It was funny because six of her dogs were in the yard with us and so I would occasionally pick up a pine cone and then after I got the dogs attention I would throw it. I never thought that playing fetch with half a dozen dogs could be so fun to watch. Whenever they were a little ways away, I would whistle and every single one of them would stop in their tracks, perk up and just stare at me. Then they would resume what they were doing. I would just do that over and over again because sometimes they could tell it was me and other times they couldn't tell where the whistle came from. It was hilarious :)
Speaking of dogs, I've mentioned before that almost everyone up here has a dog. So I have been keeping a list of the ones I decided I like so that it will make buying one in the future easier. I decided that I like playing with Labs but I'm not so sure I would want one as a pet because they seem too hyper. I really like a member's blue heeler because it was really cool looking and has an awesome personality. A member has one dog that is a mix between a husky and a german shepard, it is a REALLY good looking dog. There is another guy who has a mix between a black lab and a rottweiler, it is probably one of the coolest looking dogs I have ever seen. And then, even though I've never really been a big fan of small dogs I decided that i REALLY like boston terriers. Three people have I've met have one as a pet and I think that they are the coolest dogs to have. They aren't all yappy like a small dog. And even though they are small they act like a really big dog. And all three of the ones I have met will get up on there hind legs and start jump like crazy to try and play with you, it's awesome. Oh and one family has a dog that is a german shepard mixed with a coyote. It looks exactly like a german shepard but it is the size of a coyote, it also bounces up and down just like coyotes do. Basically they have a pet coyote that looks like a german shepard. I want one. haha
Elder Sanders teases me because I remember the names of people's dogs before I remember the name of the people we are visiting. We'll be going to see someone and I'll say something like, "I forget who these people are, have I met them yet?" He'll respond with, "Yup, they have dog named Tank."
"Oh! The dog that's part boston terrier, part dachshund!"
I should probably work on people's names a little more :P
Oh ya, so I gave my first blessing on Thursday. We were having dinner with some members when someone from the hospital called us and said that someone wanted us to come and give him a blessing. We got there and Elder Sanders anointed him with oil and I gave the blessing. It was a pretty cool experience.
I have another interesting person that I met. So we had just filled up with gas and we went into the gas station to get a snack. On our way out our phone rang and Elder Sanders answered it. While he was talking a woman opened her car door and said, "Hey you. Come here" So I went over to see what she wanted. She kind of gave me a mean look and said "Do, you believe in God?" Of course I said, "Yes I do"
She said, "How much" I responded with the only reasonable response, "Well... enough to want to be a missionary! How much do you believe in God?"
"A lot, do you have a pamphlet?" I told her I did and I went and got one of the ones we give people during a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She opened it up to a page with a picture of two men giving someone a priesthood blessing, pointed at it and said, "I believe in that!"
"Priesthood blessings?"
"Yes." She then reached out and grabbed my hand and said, "Pray with me."
"Right now?"
"Absolutely right now."
"Okay, umm... would you like to say the prayer?"
"Nope you could say it"
"oh, ok"
So I said a prayer with this random woman. She was still sitting in her car and had a firm grasp on my hand. When I started to pray (for her safety as she traveled home and stuff like that) She grasped her other hand around my hand and squeezed really tightly and then pressed her cheek against our hands. It was really strange. A couple sentences into the prayer, she shouted, "Don't forget to bless my babies Jesus!"
Ok i'll just end this email with one more funny thing. So a couple weeks ago we were fed something that I thought was actually really good. You take ham, and spread cream cheese on it, then you wrap that around a slice of a pickle. It's really good (at least to me) So on P-day last week, I bought pickles, cream cheese, and ham. And I'll occasionally eat that as a snack. Elder Sanders calls it my "devil food" and thinks that its super nasty. I insist that pickles wrapped in cream cheese and ham is all there is to eat in heaven so he'd better get used to it. :)
Also, Elder Sander's gets annoyed by slang terms and things like that, it's hard to explain. But normally in the morning before we head out i'll say things like, " 'ight bro, I'm golden. Let's bounce" it's really bugs him and I think it's hilarious. I use the term "Let's bounce" a lot just because i swear I can see him cringe. :P
-Elder Rebalkin
PS
As far as teaching goes, it can be really frustrating. We have one man who we put on date to be baptized in March ( i don't know why I never mentioned that) the problem is that he has memory problems because of an accident he had a few years ago. and so he almost never remembers any of the doctrine we teach him, but he always remembers that he really wants to get baptized. And he keeps bringing it up so that's good. I think I've mentioned this but his wife its the woman who gave us all of her coffee. I think I've brought her up in previous emails. But she is a less active member of the church and it's really hard to get here to come to church. After her husband's accident he was revoked of his driving privileges so if she doesn't come to church, then he doesn't.
Every Sunday we'll call them and asked if their coming to church. Almost every week she uses the exact same excuse that she is sick and that she doesn't want to get anyone else sick. its really frustrating.
Tonight we'll be visiting with a man named Juan, who was baptized when he was 8 but hasn't been to church since he was 9. We met with him once before and he really enjoyed the visit. Hopefully tonight goes well.
Saturday was the last time I'll ever talk to the mentally ill woman, because tomorrow she is being sent back to jail. Oh well, it was a good experience.
This past week has been somewhat uneventful. We did some service for the woman with the eight dogs. We went out with a member and had to dig up a broken pipe and helped him fix it up then re-bury it. It took a lot longer than you would think haha. It was funny because six of her dogs were in the yard with us and so I would occasionally pick up a pine cone and then after I got the dogs attention I would throw it. I never thought that playing fetch with half a dozen dogs could be so fun to watch. Whenever they were a little ways away, I would whistle and every single one of them would stop in their tracks, perk up and just stare at me. Then they would resume what they were doing. I would just do that over and over again because sometimes they could tell it was me and other times they couldn't tell where the whistle came from. It was hilarious :)
Speaking of dogs, I've mentioned before that almost everyone up here has a dog. So I have been keeping a list of the ones I decided I like so that it will make buying one in the future easier. I decided that I like playing with Labs but I'm not so sure I would want one as a pet because they seem too hyper. I really like a member's blue heeler because it was really cool looking and has an awesome personality. A member has one dog that is a mix between a husky and a german shepard, it is a REALLY good looking dog. There is another guy who has a mix between a black lab and a rottweiler, it is probably one of the coolest looking dogs I have ever seen. And then, even though I've never really been a big fan of small dogs I decided that i REALLY like boston terriers. Three people have I've met have one as a pet and I think that they are the coolest dogs to have. They aren't all yappy like a small dog. And even though they are small they act like a really big dog. And all three of the ones I have met will get up on there hind legs and start jump like crazy to try and play with you, it's awesome. Oh and one family has a dog that is a german shepard mixed with a coyote. It looks exactly like a german shepard but it is the size of a coyote, it also bounces up and down just like coyotes do. Basically they have a pet coyote that looks like a german shepard. I want one. haha
Elder Sanders teases me because I remember the names of people's dogs before I remember the name of the people we are visiting. We'll be going to see someone and I'll say something like, "I forget who these people are, have I met them yet?" He'll respond with, "Yup, they have dog named Tank."
"Oh! The dog that's part boston terrier, part dachshund!"
I should probably work on people's names a little more :P
Oh ya, so I gave my first blessing on Thursday. We were having dinner with some members when someone from the hospital called us and said that someone wanted us to come and give him a blessing. We got there and Elder Sanders anointed him with oil and I gave the blessing. It was a pretty cool experience.
I have another interesting person that I met. So we had just filled up with gas and we went into the gas station to get a snack. On our way out our phone rang and Elder Sanders answered it. While he was talking a woman opened her car door and said, "Hey you. Come here" So I went over to see what she wanted. She kind of gave me a mean look and said "Do, you believe in God?" Of course I said, "Yes I do"
She said, "How much" I responded with the only reasonable response, "Well... enough to want to be a missionary! How much do you believe in God?"
"A lot, do you have a pamphlet?" I told her I did and I went and got one of the ones we give people during a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She opened it up to a page with a picture of two men giving someone a priesthood blessing, pointed at it and said, "I believe in that!"
"Priesthood blessings?"
"Yes." She then reached out and grabbed my hand and said, "Pray with me."
"Right now?"
"Absolutely right now."
"Okay, umm... would you like to say the prayer?"
"Nope you could say it"
"oh, ok"
So I said a prayer with this random woman. She was still sitting in her car and had a firm grasp on my hand. When I started to pray (for her safety as she traveled home and stuff like that) She grasped her other hand around my hand and squeezed really tightly and then pressed her cheek against our hands. It was really strange. A couple sentences into the prayer, she shouted, "Don't forget to bless my babies Jesus!"
Ok i'll just end this email with one more funny thing. So a couple weeks ago we were fed something that I thought was actually really good. You take ham, and spread cream cheese on it, then you wrap that around a slice of a pickle. It's really good (at least to me) So on P-day last week, I bought pickles, cream cheese, and ham. And I'll occasionally eat that as a snack. Elder Sanders calls it my "devil food" and thinks that its super nasty. I insist that pickles wrapped in cream cheese and ham is all there is to eat in heaven so he'd better get used to it. :)
Also, Elder Sander's gets annoyed by slang terms and things like that, it's hard to explain. But normally in the morning before we head out i'll say things like, " 'ight bro, I'm golden. Let's bounce" it's really bugs him and I think it's hilarious. I use the term "Let's bounce" a lot just because i swear I can see him cringe. :P
-Elder Rebalkin
PS
As far as teaching goes, it can be really frustrating. We have one man who we put on date to be baptized in March ( i don't know why I never mentioned that) the problem is that he has memory problems because of an accident he had a few years ago. and so he almost never remembers any of the doctrine we teach him, but he always remembers that he really wants to get baptized. And he keeps bringing it up so that's good. I think I've mentioned this but his wife its the woman who gave us all of her coffee. I think I've brought her up in previous emails. But she is a less active member of the church and it's really hard to get here to come to church. After her husband's accident he was revoked of his driving privileges so if she doesn't come to church, then he doesn't.
Every Sunday we'll call them and asked if their coming to church. Almost every week she uses the exact same excuse that she is sick and that she doesn't want to get anyone else sick. its really frustrating.
Tonight we'll be visiting with a man named Juan, who was baptized when he was 8 but hasn't been to church since he was 9. We met with him once before and he really enjoyed the visit. Hopefully tonight goes well.