2014. President Henry B. Eyring was at church that day, which I didn't expect. Peter Moosman was one of the speakers, and he began by saying, "You are looking at a spiritually sick individual," caused by not reading scriptures or doing other things. He shared an experience saying the prayer at his Christmas dinner, which strengthened his testimony. There was some extra time at the end, so President Eyring addressed us. He told us how he married later, and how his wife's parents didn't really approve of him, but he was very bold in proposing and she accepted. It had started snowing when we were at church. I began driving home, and I think I was listening to my new Nashville Tribute Redeemer CD. I took Eaglewood Drive up to Foxhill, and there were lots of cars coming slowly down the other direction. When I was coming down Raygene in front of my house, my antilock brakes came on. But the snow didn't last super long. My home teachers, Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan (substituting for Nathan Loveridge), came over. The conversation turned to my work, and I went and brought out my copy of Mapping Mormonism, so I showed them where my name was in it. I wrote my culminating blog post for the year. We played my new Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly game; we wanted to do the fast way, but even that was slow, and we had to pause the game for another day. I think my mom picked the Jack Skellington playing piece. This is my journal:
"President Eyring was at our sacrament meeting again this week, and there was extra time, so he told us about how he got married. It started snowing when we were in church, and the anti-lock brakes came on right in front of the house. I spent the afternoon working on my year-in-review blog, but there were breaks for my home teachers (Mike Angerbauer and Chad Hogan, who was subbing for Nathan Loveridge), dinner (chili), and a game night (my Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly). I shoveled the driveway once."
2012-2013. We were in California both years. I'm sure if I remembered one thing that happened specifically on this day, I would remember a lot, but right now I can't remember anything.
2011. I know I worked that day, but I don't remember anything.
2010. I was in Tennessee visiting my brother's family, the last time I ever visited that state, but I don't remember that day specifically.
2008. It was the day before transfers, and Elder Love was being transferred. We taught a girl who was dating a member of the Ritzville Branch, and she seemed to accept everything we taught, but we thought it was more for her boyfriend's sake. But she didn't live in our mission, although she would be going to school in Pullman. That night we had dinner at a birthday party for John Galbreath in the branch. He had received a Neal A. Maxwell quote book for his birthday, and they had ginger ale. They had a three-year-old daughter who was hilarious and talked about her imaginary friends. She said they slept in her bed, and her dad told her they couldn't sleep in her bed until she was married. She had received a doll named Lucretia for Christmas, and her mom was saying that sounded more like a black name, even though the doll was white, but there was a white Lucrecia in the branch. I journalized as follows:
"I am thirteen [months] today. We taught Sarah, the girlfriend of Andrew Burt, who lives out of the mission. We also said goodbye to a few others for Elder Love. We had dinner with John Galbreath and family. Their daughter Taylor is hilarious and very imaginative, telling us today all about Steve, Johnny, and Jackson."
2007. We visited a less-active member, not knowing how we would be received, but he invited us in immediately and was very friendly; we began regularly visiting him. I think this was the time we drove to the Franklin Park Ward's church building because Elder Chun needed to conduct a baptismal interview. There was a convert there who was enthusiastic about soon leaving on a mission, and we were telling the other elders about our upcoming appointment that we assumed would be a bash session; Elder Chun told Elder Gammon how the wife said she had read the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants, and the husband said, "How did you get a D&C?" Elder Gammon said we should have corrected him to "Doctrine and Covenants," since he had a thing about not using that abbreviation. That night after our meeting with Kristi Waylin, Elder Chun got lost and we were going down an ice-covered hill and couldn't back up, so some people came to help push him back up, and I felt awkward as I got out of the car after they were already helping. In Spokane they didn't really plow snow, and there were many times we got stuck on icy roads. We went on a road in the Greenbluff Ward to check on some people we had tracted into the previous week. We talked to a new man who said his wife had lots of Mormon family (and I think we later learned she was on our ward list). And I think we took these pictures that night, although I'd have to double check the original photo information to know for sure (I just took these from Facebook):
"Today we taught Richard Swinkles, the only member in his family. We are trying to reactivate him possibly to influence his family. Elder Chun had to do some baptismal interviews, and then our potential investigator wasn't home. We met with Christi Waylin, a former investigators [sic] whose boyfriend is a less-active member. They are strengthening their relationship by wanting to come to church. The previous missionaries did an unsatisfactory job. We taught a good lesson but it was very difficult because she has very rambunctious children.
"We then got stuck on a road again by some houses so people helped us push again. We set up a return appointment for a possible investigator who was gone yesterday. Then we talked to a man on that street, and Elder Chun pulled down an enormous icicle."
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