This was a mediocre week (although we had three investigators at church) and I was on an exchange in another area the day we had all our best appointments so this letter will focus more on silly anecdotes. I had to go on two exchanges this week. I felt like my companion was district leader again.
I am keeping a list of funny scriptures and I found some more this week. One is in Proverbs 6 (I don't remember the verse) and it says "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise."1 Another one wasn't so funny but Alma made a mistake in writing. He said that the Nephites were shielded from the more vital parts of the body.2 You can't erase engravings in gold so he had to correct and clarify that it was the parts of the body that were shielded, not attacking. I have to read four chapters a day for the next month so I can get through on May 10.3 Hopefully I can do that. If I can today and tomorrow it will be easier because I will finish Alma. The last half of Alma is the war chapters which I don't like that much. Everyone loves Captain Moroni and the two thousand stripling soldiers (they are soldiers, not warriors)4 but reading about building up heaps of earth to protect cities gets tiresome after a while. Once I finish the Book of Mormon I can get back to the Old Testament (I put Proverbs on hold until I get done with the Book of Mormon) which can also get tedious but I haven't read all of it before like I have Alma.
Speaking of the Old Testament, Duane, our on-date, was telling the bishop that he likes to read a Proverb or a Psalm every day. Elder C. and I looked at each other because we have had many discussions about how we hate Psalms. Can you say overrated? Especially if you read "Praise to the Lord. Selah" over and over again.
Yesterday in sacrament meeting we sang "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul." In the program they printed it "Save your Redeemer of My Soul." I also looked in the hymn book and found out that the tune name for "They the Builders of the Nation" is "Beaver." I can just imagine them playing a hymn about pioneers as background music for a documentary about flat-tailed, dam-building mammals.
We got a list of less-actives and part-member families the bishop wanted us to see and our ward mission leader typed out. There was one named Mitch W. but he typed it Witch W. and we had no idea what it was supposed to be. The thought of someone being called Witch was so funny to me I even snorted in front of Elder C.
Next week is transfers. I hope our companionship stays the same but I'll find out Saturday. We had interviews this week and President C. told Elder C. we were a good companionship. This week a sister missionary in the other district had to go home for medical reasons and she'll be gone for six weeks to six months. The other sister, Sister G. (the g is soft as in gel), had to come down here and form a threesome in our district while the elders up in Colville take over both areas. Sister G. is the first sister I've seen who's willing to play dodgeball with us.5
Well, I can't think of anything else to write so until next week (when I'll know my future for six more weeks),
Love,
Elder Melville
1Proverbs
6:6.
2Alma
43:38.
3After
Gordon B. Hinckley died, our mission president wanted us to read the
Book of Mormon in ninety-seven days.
4Alma
53:22 calls them “stripling soldiers.” “Stripling warriors”
occurs nowhere in the Book of Mormon. “Soldiers” is a word we
use regularly, but “stripling” is not, so it’s always puzzled
me that we keep the word we don’t
know, but get rid of the word we do
know.
5We
would play dodgeball on P-Day, and it was the only sport I liked
playing. We wouldn’t play in teams; it was every man for himself.
Whenever you got someone out, they would sit down, but if you got
out, then everyone you hit would be back in the game. So the game
ended when one person got everyone out. I liked this version because
I didn’t feel like I was letting everyone down. But sadly, no one
ever plays this way. :(
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