Well, this weekend has been somewhat stressful. We got volunteered to do a bunch of service for CAPA (Child Abuse Prevention Association) for an awareness event and race they had. They had Elizabeth Smart come out to speak and start off the run and a lot of the members and other people were really excited to meet her. Elder Bishop knew her in the MTC when they were both starting their missions. Elder Cancel was kind of bummed that we never stuck around long enough after our service to see her. Lol, her story is kind of a weird one to be a celebrity for; I would hate for people to know me for something like that.
So Saturday morning we were up at 5 to help setup for that race, and then we had an Open House and Movie Night that we were hosting at the church to try and get non-members to come see what we're all about. We did a church tour with each auxiliary and the Bishop explaining what they do and then showed Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. It was a minor success -- we had a few non-members come, gave away several copies of the Book of Mormon, and picked up some new referrals. We were cleaning up at about 8:45 and a member of the Bishopric approaches us. "Hey elders, our speakers for tomorrow had an emergency so we're moving missionary Sunday from the 5th week to tomorrow. We need you to speak." Some notice! Elder Cancel, the ward mission leader, and I were selected to be the featured item the next morning. By the time we got in, planned, got transfer calls, etc, we didn't have time to prepare, so we just prayed real hard and went to bed.
Couldn't sleep very well though; I was stressed about being transferred and had a lot of memories and experiences running through my mind, so by the time morning came, I was exhausted from two nights in a row of little sleep. Parris Island services in the morning were wonderful - I love those Marine recruits! By the time we got back to the regular ward, sacrament meeting had already started and I had about 20 minutes to think of some scriptures and experiences and throw it all together. Surprisingly, I spoke for 20 minutes on having love as the motivating factor behind missionary work and had a lot more I wanted to share, but the time was up. Ha! Contrast that with my farewell talk when I struggled to reach 12 minutes. =P I guess being a missionary really does teach you to "open your mouth and it shall be filled."
We're ending the transfer strong though. The investigator who approached us that P-day is listening to the Book of Mormon audio at a rapid rate and has a huge thirst to learn. I guess the possibility of dying at any moment awakens one's desire to know things of an eternal nature. He doesn't have a date yet; the family is working out when they can come from Arizona to be there. We also plan on setting two more dates tonight and tomorrow, so Elder Cancel and his new companion should have some good things to build off of.
Ben, I loved your quote about shooting fish in a barrel with a rocket launcher. Haahaha, perhaps Mom is right - you just need to bite the bullet and become the branch president.
Jake, I don't know why you like shrimp so much. They're everywhere here! I call them "sea bugs" with all the little legs dangling.... (shudder) I dunno, I guess I'm just not such a big fan of sea food. Elder Craynor likes to make fun of me for that.
Love ya!
Elder M.
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