A Door Slammed and Service

May 26, 2014

Howdy!

So this week I have a lot to write about so I'll do my best to get it all in!

Monday
Preparation Day. We went fishing up at a private pond (the one in the pictures from about a month ago). My companion caught two and my district leader caught one! With my luck in fishing, it was no surprise that I didn't catch anything. It was still fun though! 

Tuesday
We went with a member, Brother Rampton, to stop by a couple of houses that we were scheduled to teach in. No answers. That's so normal with Hispanics though. They just don't have definite schedules and sometimes they don't actually want you to come back, so they give you a time that they know they won't be home. We went and talked with A a little bit. He lives just down the road, so we stop by often and play with his 6 year old son J. We're really trying to get J to go to primary, but he's just too scared to leave his dad. Baby steps!

Wednesday
District meeting. We then contacted a trailer- park and found a few potentials. We talked with one guy named Martin who would not bend on anything. He wouldn't accept the Book of Mormon because of Revelations. Bleh. And then he told us something about there being only one throne and how Jesus and Heavenly Father are the same person. That doctrine really bothers me. It just doesn't make sense to me. So anyways, we left him a Book of Mormon and he told us to next time bring a person who speaks better Spanish so he can explain everything to us. We'll pass on that one. We aren't here to bash. Later that night we taught English class at the church to Irma and Fausto. They really enjoy it, and sometimes that's the only time we can meet with them because of their work schedules. Afterward we played basketball. Let me just tell you how hard it is to dribble on carpet. I was losing the ball all over the place, but once I warmed up I made like five shots in a row. So that was fun! I always go home super energized and happy after playing. Fausto just loves it, and a lot of the people we contact are more interested in Basketball than even English class.

Thursday
Weekly Planning! We actually finished in less than three hours again! It's amazing what happens when you focus. Our dinner with I and F cancelled again so we weren't able to go over there like we usually do on Thursdays. It's hard to keep them progressing because they're schedule is just so unpredictable. So we ended up visiting A. We're really gonna work this coming week in getting A on a regular teaching schedule.

Friday
We didn't do too much on Friday. We went and contacted the same trailer park from earlier and found more potentials for the English Elders. It's hard doing all this finding, and then having to hand over all these good referrals. We're gonna talk to president about letting us keep some of our English investigators. Later that night, we ate at the Gross's.  Brother Gross is the ward mission leader.  He does an excellent job. We were just expecting it to be the Gross family, but when we arrived at the house, the Eliza's(a less active family) and the Arroyos(Irma and Fausto) were there. It was like WHAAAAAAAT. So one funny thing about Hispanic culture is the wife cooks the whole time and doesn't sit down to eat with you. She just keeps bringing more food.  I love it!  You never leave hungry from a Hispanic home. So we didn't have time to share any sort of a lesson because we were eating the WHOLE TIME.

Saturday
This was our day of service. We were finally able to get the Barry's house under way with the pressure washing and other stuff. They're an elderly couple who live in Pinebluff. We pressure washed the house with a couple of members from the Elders Quorum and cut her grass among other yard work related things. Later that day, we went and served a man we contacted. Carlos. He speaks English, but he'll probably be ours because Spanish would be better. Let's hope so!

Sunday
We went to church and the Arroyos randomly showed up! They keep doing this to us! It's good, but I just wish we could get a little heads up! So they enjoyed church and hopefully work will allow them to come more frequently. We then ate dinner at the Brock's. Lovely family. Lots of girls and a son who's leaving on a mission in September for Tonga!  How cool is that!  I'm happy for him.

That was it for the week. One thing I forgot to mention last week was about a Court of Honor we attended for two young men in the ward. All four of the Elders in Pinehurst were there, and three out of four of us are Eagle Scouts. Let me just tell you how happy I am that I became an Eagle Scout. We got to sit in the Eagle's nest during the Court of Honor, and it just felt so good. I'm glad I took the challenge of becoming an Eagle and I'm so grateful for my mom for helping me through the process. Definitely would not have got it without her. So Easton, I can promise you that scouting is worth it. It's a lot of fun, and it will prepare you for the rest of your life.  I don't regret any of it.

Also, I got my first door slammed a couple of days ago. We knocked, he opened, we said hi, and then he slammed. Oh well. I just laughed at it. It was kind of exhilarating actually. Haha.

I love you all and I pray for you often. Thanks for all the prayers coming my way. I can definitely feel them. The Gospel is true and I know it is the way back to our Heavenly Father.

-Elder Landon Carroll