I am so excited it's August and the summer is two thirds of
the way through! I've been in East Wenatchee for two months now. For a few days
it was relatively cool. Word is it's going to get pretty hot, and that the
annual two-week hot spell hasn't come yet, so I'm not looking forward to
that--but it's starting to get dark a lot earlier than when I first came. I'm
going to have to put my headlight on my bike now for the twilighty eight to
nine hour. I could be out of the warm Wenatchee area by the time September
comes, but I really am excited we're on the downward slope. September is the
best month of the year, and it's not that far!
Last week I didn't tell you things I need. Well, I would
like replacement heads for my shaver. I got some two years ago online. I have a
Norelco Quadra Action, and a number on the back on the little trimming thingy
is 7886 XL. The heads themselves say T-series.
And most missionary music is common among everyone. Oddly,
pretty much the only approved stuff I have that is not heard everywhere else is
the Hymns and Children's Songbook (which we in the Church need to be a lot more
familiar with--I'm falling in love with the W. W. Phelps hymn "Now We'll
Sing with One Accord"). Another exception is the Christian artist Michelle
Tumes. She is somewhat popular around the mission but not too overplayed (like
EFY or Joseph: Nashville Tribute to the Prophet). Another one of her albums
might be good.[1]
I have "The Very Best of" and its songs are:
Heaven's Heart (I think it's OK)
Dream (which is a little too upbeat to listen to)
Do Ya (which I can't listen to because it's a love song)
Heaven Will Be Near Me (one of the best)
Christ of Hope
Healing Waters (very good and very popular with
missionaries)
Everywhere
Please Come Back (another love song)[2]
Deep Love (many songs on the CD sound like they could either
be love songs or God songs, and this is one of those--it's hard to know because
there are unquestionable songs for both sides)
Life Is Beautiful (not really religious, but very mild and
positive)
Lovely (like "Deep Love")
For the Glory of Your Name
Introit
You maybe could get one with some different songs, and even
listen before you send it to give me a heads-up to what might be not so good to
listen to.
I also need shoelaces, as the stores here don't sell the
kind I need, and I have had to tie knots in the laces in one of my pairs
because they keep snapping. Just send me sufficiently long black dress laces,
but not the super thin ones.
And you know the pants I was telling you about last week that
I got when I got here? Well, they now have a hole worn in them. I'm definitely
going to need to get some more, and to get my existing ones tailored. Maybe
I'll just get them from Fred Meyer. And the shoes whose laces are broken have
lost most of their tread. Maybe when it gets icy I'll just wear my overshoes,
which do have tread.
This was a decent week. We got to do a lot of service. We
actually did three projects this week, and usually you can only find one a
month if you're lucky.[3] The first two were for
active members, and the third was for a part-member family. It was good because
the bishop wanted us to see the new PMF, and that day we were planning on
seeing them, but they actually called us first and wanted us to help them
paint. So we did. If they had been active members, we wouldn't have done it, or
if they had been the first project of the week, we wouldn't have done the rest,
but it was too good of a contact. The nonmember husband acts more like a member
than the less-active wife. Hopefully when they get settled we can teach him :)
And one of our investigators called us to tell us when he
unexpectedly couldn't come to church. No one ever calls to tell us something
like that--people only call to cancel appointments--so we were very glad. Sad
he couldn't come, but glad he called.
Love,
Elder Melville
[1]
My mom had written me the previous week and asked “Is there anything in
particular that you would like me to send with that? Do you need more music? More clothes?
Any particular treats?”
[2]
I would skip this song on my mission because I thought it was a love song, but
when I got home I learned it was about the Prodigal Son.
[3]
One of the things I would like to change about missions is having more service.
We had weekly recommendations for service, but we rarely met the hours, and no
one seemed to care. In fact, toward the end of my mission, I heard some
missionaries thought the service hours were the maximum, not the goal. I think service—picking up trash, weeding
goatheads, volunteering at charitable institutions—would be far better than
daily tracting.
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