So I am currently staying with other elders because I am
companionless. One thing I've noticed about transfers is that I'm sad to lose
the old but I'm perfectly fine once I get the new. Unfortunately, I don't have
the new yet. Tomorrow I will get Elder D. I've met him briefly a few times.
He's been out about a year. I know what he looks like but I know very little
about him personally.
I feel like writing another anecdotal, non-flowing email.
There are major wildfires going on in our area. To the east
of us is Badger Mountain, and we frequently see the smoke. It almost looks like
a big cloud with a hint of yellow. Haze sets over the whole Wenatchee valley.
Our back door overlooks a field behind a junior high, and the field now is full
of tents of firefighters and a truck with portable showers. I guess Sister
Knighten's son from Mead is a firefighter, and as I was leaving yesterday I met
him. I can tell why he was a do-not-contact in my last area.[1] As we were leaving we
heard a big rumbling and a couple of young men were veering in a screeching car
on the road behind our house. He was yelling at them with very vile language.
He apologized for his language, but my companionim (I've been reading the
scriptures too much and become accustomed to Hebrew plural forms)[2] were shocked.
Elder B. had to speak for his last sacrament meeting. Also
present was Elder (Dixon or Dickson) of the Seventy.[3] I felt bad because I was
trying to listen to him but I was falling asleep. So then I started flipping
through the hymn book to stay awake but then I wasn't paying very good
attention. It's not every day a general authority speaks in sacrament meeting.
It's been so good to hear about my niece and nephews. For a
while I figured by the time I got home my sign wouldn't say "letter
Mark" but it sounds like it very well will, considering it's been the same
thing for a year now.[4] I really wish I could see
Franklin.[5] And I think three is a
little young to know about daddy baby DNA, even if the details are not
discussed.[6] I cannot believe Allie is
going to be five in a week! That is so old!
This week we were checking up on some people and doing
typical daytime missionary work. We had an appointment at 2:00. Elder Bramall
looked at his watch at 12:50 and thought it was 1:50. I figured I had it down
for the wrong time since we'd been on exchanges. So we were biking down the
road and a woman on her bike saw us and stopped and waved us over. She said,
"I was tired so I thought I'd stop and talk to some nice guys." She
actually had been investigating in Wyoming and was on date for baptism in
November but then she moved. We are now teaching Shannon. We gave her July 26
as a baptismal date, but we don't think she'll be able to keep it because she
smokes. Regardless, it was interesting because it was a mistake that we were
where we were at that moment, but it was actually exactly where we needed to
be. I love it when investigators find us instead of us finding them. Elder Bramall
gave her his bike before he left because hers wasn't very good, and his wasn't
worth selling or taking home.[7]
Love,
Elder Melville
[1]
Mead was my first area. Sister Knighten was the member we lived with, and when
I told her I had served in Mead, she said her son lived there. I remember
knocking on his door a few times before I learned he was on our do-not-contact
list.
[3]
Elder John B. Dickson. He had a family member in our ward.
[4]
My niece, Allie, had noticed a sign in our neighborhood that said “Welcome Home
Elder D!” She hadn’t heard the term “Elder” before, so she thought it said “Letter
D,” and then she thought they would make a sign that said “Welcome Home Letter
Mark!” I was disappointed when I got home and it actually said “Elder Mark.”
[5]
My nephew Franklin was soon after I left on my mission.
[6]
My mom wrote me a letter that my three-year-old nephew, Preston, had learned
about genetics from his dad, so he drew a picture of “daddy baby DNA,” aka
sperm.
[7]
We taught Shannon for a month or two, but then she quit meeting with us. I
still believe, though, that we were meant to meet her that day, even if she
used her agency differently in the end.
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