November 30, 2015
Well this was another crazy one. The work unfortunately slid to a bit of a halt due to some unexpected and hard to control circumstances.
We started the week with absolutely no miles left in the car, so that left us with an obstacle. We tried getting exchanges with us, but no one was available. And then most of our appointments fell through due to lack of organization and agency. And on top of that, every time we planned a good night, some crazy thing would happen that took us out of the work. Allow me to share with you a few examples. I'm not writing this to give excuses, but rather, showing you just how unpredictable life is!
So on Monday and Tuesday our car wasn't working, so the few miles we had left were unusable until we fixed our car! We drive a 2014 Chevy Cruze, so it shouldn't have been giving us any problems, but it was! The battery started to die each day for about the last week and a half, and then finally it got to a point where the car wouldn't even start. So we called a young man named Peyton and he came to the rescue. He jumped our car and then we drove it around for a while to see if it would do anything. Then we got to Kohl's to buy Elder Christensen a new coat and when we got out of the store, the car wouldn't start again! So some nice man jumped our car and then we headed back home. We turned off the car again and then we called for one more jump. Bishop came and jumped our car and then we went off to Autozone to get it checked out. Turns out our two year old battery was completely fried! So we decided to take it to the dealership so we could take advantage of the warranty the car was under. And that took FIVE hours. So we sat in the waiting room trying not to watch whatever was on the TV. Sadly, we were unsuccessful on that one. So once we got our battery fixed, we drove back and we were officially out of miles! Woooo! That means bringing out the bikes.
The next crazy thing involved Thanksgiving. We ate too much food! We had dinner with the Lykins family so that was super fun. They have so many kids I thought they were all cousins when we got there. And one of his brothers, the other Brother Lykins was there from Pinehurst (my first area), so it was nice catching up a little bit. Also, this family really loves pies. There were sixteen pies set out for dessert and I only got to try two of them I was so full. So we grabbed some leftovers, played some basketball with the kids, cleaned up, and then headed out. Then we went to a random grocery store and passed out some cards because we’re not allowed to proselyte on holidays like that. We were pretty successful with that.
The next crazy thing involved dinner on Saturday night. We went over to the Christensens for dinner. It was pretty fun being at their house. They have a farm in their backyard, so I got to pet their very tame cow named Emma. She was pretty cool. We had Thanksgiving leftovers (of course) with them and the food just made me sick. That last piece of chocolate cake was just too much for me to handle. Ten minutes later, I just felt horrible. When the Christensens finally took us home, I told my companion "I'm gonna go lay down. No me siento bien." So I laid on my bed writhing in pain for about an hour and a half until I finally went to the bathroom and threw up that chocolate cake. Bleh. I felt a little better after that, but we ended up staying in for the rest of the night, despite our awesome plans.
But wait, there's more! I was feeling well enough to go to church on Sunday morning, so we did that. Church was excellent, by the way. Really great talks about the power of tithing and fasting in our lives. Pay your tithing and feed the poor! Anyways, we went home after church, ate lunch, and did a little bit of training. Meanwhile, something was happening inside of me. My hands fell asleep while I was standing up, so I went upstairs and sat down for a little while and everything was better. Then our exchange came over and picked us up so we could have a good successful night. Well, our appointment cancelled, so we decided to go to the hospital to visit a member named Brother Link. He was having some tests done on his heart, so we figured we'd pay him a visit. We got there and checked in and then headed up to see Brother Link. He was doing alright and really appreciated our company. But as we were talking, I started to feel weak, so I pulled a chair over and set down. Then everything got progressively worse. My hands had fallen asleep again and it was progressing to my chest, feet, stomach, and head. My whole body was tingling like I wasn't getting enough air or circulation. So I started to breathe deeper, thinking maybe that was the problem, but things weren't resolving. Brother Link said "You okay? We can hook you up to this thing if you need it" pointing to his machine. I said "Nah, I'm good." Things didn't get better and I felt like I was going to pass out. I told everyone in the room "I feel like I'm about to pass out." So our exchange, Brother Dominguez, grabbed a nurse and I was quickly put into a wheel chair and wheeled down to the emergency room. The people at the desk were so confused because we had just checked in to visit someone and now I was in a wheel chair. So they quickly called me in, had me sit on a gurney for a while, and then they started testing me for stuff. They took my blood, checked my blood pressure, took a urine sample, and then we waited for the results. They had me set up to receive an IV, but that apparently wasn't necessary. The doctor came and said I was extremely low on potassium, probably from the vomiting. Weird, but it is what it is. Hopefully nothing more serious happens in the future. So they gave me some potassium supplements and a prescription for the rest of the week and now I'm here! I've never felt anything like that in my life and I pray that it doesn't happen again. I seriously thought I was going to pass out.
So there you have it. Our crazy week. All of those things really impeded the work, minus a few miraculous showings at church. The plan this week is to organize ourselves a little better and attack things more directly. I feel that I've been slacking as a missionary and I plan to turn that around. Repentance is real. We can improve each day if we set specific goals and plan to reach them. I've gone through sloppy phases on my mission and have found ways to turn them around. This is no different. Please pray for our success and our organization.
Love,
-Elder Landon Carroll
We started the week with absolutely no miles left in the car, so that left us with an obstacle. We tried getting exchanges with us, but no one was available. And then most of our appointments fell through due to lack of organization and agency. And on top of that, every time we planned a good night, some crazy thing would happen that took us out of the work. Allow me to share with you a few examples. I'm not writing this to give excuses, but rather, showing you just how unpredictable life is!
So on Monday and Tuesday our car wasn't working, so the few miles we had left were unusable until we fixed our car! We drive a 2014 Chevy Cruze, so it shouldn't have been giving us any problems, but it was! The battery started to die each day for about the last week and a half, and then finally it got to a point where the car wouldn't even start. So we called a young man named Peyton and he came to the rescue. He jumped our car and then we drove it around for a while to see if it would do anything. Then we got to Kohl's to buy Elder Christensen a new coat and when we got out of the store, the car wouldn't start again! So some nice man jumped our car and then we headed back home. We turned off the car again and then we called for one more jump. Bishop came and jumped our car and then we went off to Autozone to get it checked out. Turns out our two year old battery was completely fried! So we decided to take it to the dealership so we could take advantage of the warranty the car was under. And that took FIVE hours. So we sat in the waiting room trying not to watch whatever was on the TV. Sadly, we were unsuccessful on that one. So once we got our battery fixed, we drove back and we were officially out of miles! Woooo! That means bringing out the bikes.
The next crazy thing involved dinner on Saturday night. We went over to the Christensens for dinner. It was pretty fun being at their house. They have a farm in their backyard, so I got to pet their very tame cow named Emma. She was pretty cool. We had Thanksgiving leftovers (of course) with them and the food just made me sick. That last piece of chocolate cake was just too much for me to handle. Ten minutes later, I just felt horrible. When the Christensens finally took us home, I told my companion "I'm gonna go lay down. No me siento bien." So I laid on my bed writhing in pain for about an hour and a half until I finally went to the bathroom and threw up that chocolate cake. Bleh. I felt a little better after that, but we ended up staying in for the rest of the night, despite our awesome plans.
But wait, there's more! I was feeling well enough to go to church on Sunday morning, so we did that. Church was excellent, by the way. Really great talks about the power of tithing and fasting in our lives. Pay your tithing and feed the poor! Anyways, we went home after church, ate lunch, and did a little bit of training. Meanwhile, something was happening inside of me. My hands fell asleep while I was standing up, so I went upstairs and sat down for a little while and everything was better. Then our exchange came over and picked us up so we could have a good successful night. Well, our appointment cancelled, so we decided to go to the hospital to visit a member named Brother Link. He was having some tests done on his heart, so we figured we'd pay him a visit. We got there and checked in and then headed up to see Brother Link. He was doing alright and really appreciated our company. But as we were talking, I started to feel weak, so I pulled a chair over and set down. Then everything got progressively worse. My hands had fallen asleep again and it was progressing to my chest, feet, stomach, and head. My whole body was tingling like I wasn't getting enough air or circulation. So I started to breathe deeper, thinking maybe that was the problem, but things weren't resolving. Brother Link said "You okay? We can hook you up to this thing if you need it" pointing to his machine. I said "Nah, I'm good." Things didn't get better and I felt like I was going to pass out. I told everyone in the room "I feel like I'm about to pass out." So our exchange, Brother Dominguez, grabbed a nurse and I was quickly put into a wheel chair and wheeled down to the emergency room. The people at the desk were so confused because we had just checked in to visit someone and now I was in a wheel chair. So they quickly called me in, had me sit on a gurney for a while, and then they started testing me for stuff. They took my blood, checked my blood pressure, took a urine sample, and then we waited for the results. They had me set up to receive an IV, but that apparently wasn't necessary. The doctor came and said I was extremely low on potassium, probably from the vomiting. Weird, but it is what it is. Hopefully nothing more serious happens in the future. So they gave me some potassium supplements and a prescription for the rest of the week and now I'm here! I've never felt anything like that in my life and I pray that it doesn't happen again. I seriously thought I was going to pass out.
So there you have it. Our crazy week. All of those things really impeded the work, minus a few miraculous showings at church. The plan this week is to organize ourselves a little better and attack things more directly. I feel that I've been slacking as a missionary and I plan to turn that around. Repentance is real. We can improve each day if we set specific goals and plan to reach them. I've gone through sloppy phases on my mission and have found ways to turn them around. This is no different. Please pray for our success and our organization.
Love,
-Elder Landon Carroll
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