My next email will be in November (10/27/08)

It is fun to walk the streets through the leaves. They all gather in the curbs and on the edges of sidewalks and they are very fun to kick.[1] I can't believe November is almost here, but November is my second-favorite month.

We do walk around generally when we are in our towns. Everything is so close together that we don't feel we need our bikes too much, and also we are in a top apartment so we don't feel like taking our bikes up and down the stairs all the time (I don't think there's a place to park our bikes). I actually still have my wheels separate from my bike from the transfer. And it could get annoying to have to transfer our bikes on the bike rack every few days. We do have a full-time car, but we have to use it to get from town to town, not from house to house (although actually we did go farm tracting the other day--knock on one house and drive to the next). Ritzville is about fifty miles from Cheney and Davenport, and Davenport is about forty miles from Cheney.[2] Then it seems all the other small towns are twelve miles from our main small towns. We get 1600 miles a month, and we're doing very well this month. I'm worried for November to come because then we have to be careful again. We're due for a new car sometime soon because the Church likes to sell them before 50,000 miles and we hit that on Saturday, I think. The office missionary in charge of cars says he has some older cars he has to sell first and then he'll get ours.

Exactly one year ago today was my first day of freedom from Wal-Mart (today at the store I saw all the new "associates" being trained and my heart went out to them) and my official full-time mission prep, not working just to get ready for my mission. We practiced my bike riding and carved pumpkins. Tomorrow I hit eleven months. It is Zone Conference tomorrow, and to get there we will be driving through Mead. It will be fun to go through my "greenie area" again. Actually all of us English missionaries who came to Spokane from our MTC group will be at the same conference--it's two zones and all five of us are in those two zones--Spokane, which includes Ritzville, Davenport, Cheney, and the main part of Spokane and surrounding areas; and Northland, which includes northern Spokane, Mead, Deer Park, Chewelah, and Colville. (All these cities probably mean nothing to you.) Ah! Memories abound this week. Last year's Halloween was probably my favorite one that I've had.[3]

I think I will send home my birthday check to you, and write Grandma and Grandpa today.[4] It's weird to think that I'm still expecting a birthday package, because I've completely forgotten about my birthday.

So I'm confused as to whether Allie's Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.[5] I still think her witch costume when she was two was the best. And I'm kind of missing my fantastic cape.

I'm going to email Dave today, so I'll close now.

Love and Happy Halloween,

Elder Melville

I forgot to tell you

I forgot a few little anecdotes about this week.

Last Monday we got back home and an ambulance was there. Brother H., with whom we live, had been vomiting blood quite profusely, and was in the hospital for a few days after. That night we had to have a ten-minute dinner twelve miles away so we could come back and give him a blessing.[6] He's doing better now but still not feeling the greatest.

The next day we went to Reardan, a small town, and we showed up at an investigator's house just as their dog was dying. We have impeccable timing.

A lighter--but grosser--dog story has to do with an investigator named Crystal.[7] Her grandma is active; her dad is an active recent convert.[8] Her mom, Lucretia (sp) was ex'ed but still believes the Gospel. Both Lucretia and Crystal like us teaching them, and we were at Crystal's house teaching. She has a very rambunctious son, Edward, who is almost three. Among the three houses of Crystal, Lucretia, and the [grandmother and dad], there are many, many, many kittens and dogs (I've seen more kittens in this area than in my entire mission).[9] Edward was playing with a puppy behind Elder L. (we were sitting on a bed used as a couch), hitting it on the head and trying to resist my protective measures for the dog.[10] Suddenly Elder L. stood up, and a yellowish liquid was on the bed. So after visiting with them he changed his pants. But the problem is there are no dry cleaners around here. None in Ritzville, none in Davenport, none in Cheney. So he won't be able to wear those slacks for a while.

Just thought I'd give you another random note!

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] I can remember walking through a pile that collected up to my waist. In Ritzville, everyone would put their leaves in the curb, and a big truck would come by and suck them up. I was surprised such a small town would have something like that.

[2] My mom had asked how far apart these towns were.

[3] You can read about my 2007 Halloween here.

[4] My grandparents had sent me a birthday check, but there was nowhere I could cash it.

[5] My mom’s email said she was going to be Sleeping Beauty, but then she said they bought a Snow White costume. She was Snow White.

[6] We had a dinner scheduled in the town of Creston, but the branch president called and asked us to come back to Davenport, so we had to cut our dinner short.

[7] She actually spelled “Crystal” really weird, so I misspelled it here.

[8] I kind of think the dad was only active because he took his mom.

[9] The grandma had more than twenty cats and a few dogs living in her single-wide trailer. She was disabled, but her son didn’t do much to clean up after them, and he even let a friend freeload there. I often said we should get her out of the house, then torch it with the cats and men inside. That area made me decide I didn’t want to own a cat anymore. I’ve overcome that, obviously.

[10] That was your typical sad, poverty-stricken, “white trash” family—the drug addictions, the filthy houses, the abusive ex-boyfriend that she kept letting back in.

Three emails from 10/20/08

Mayberrys and Hootervilles

I had thought you sent my package a while ago, so I was worried it had gotten lost in the mail or something. Our address is

104 E Second Ave #9

Ritzville, WA 99169

Thursday would be the best day for it to come, because we are usually home doing our weekly planning on Thursday mornings (the mail comes around 11:00).[1] Friday would be the second best day. Because I don't know what week you're planning on sending it I cannot give you further details about when would be best, but generally Wednesday would be third in preference. We asked our neighbors if they'd seen a package--she said she hadn't, and a few days later she told us--without us asking--she still hadn't seen it, but she was watching out for us.

It's interesting how small these towns are. The new investigator I mentioned last week said she knew one member of our church, but further discussion among members has revealed that half the branch knows at least of her. Several of the youth and parents know her 16-year-old daughter; at least one knows of the 13-year-old; another family has a Down syndrome daughter who goes to the same school as her Down syndrome son. One family has been close friends for years.

We also made it to another small town, Lind, south of Ritzville. There we met a 20-year-old who moved from England a year ago, and actually missionaries in Moses Lake had given him a Book of Mormon the day before we happened to be in Lind, where he lives. In Priesthood Executive Committee we mentioned him, and many people knew him. We also saw a less-active, and at least one person knew her, but didn't know she was a member, so he knew her but not through the Church.

It is not at all uncommon to see the same people many times a day in various places throughout the town. The noisiest thing in Ritzville is the train. (Of course, that doesn't say much; we live pretty close to the tracks.) There are lots of churches in the area, and they play patriotic songs on bells at various times throughout the day. (I hope they change their music for Christmas.)[2]

Well, the email's acting weird today, and I don't know how much longer I have. So, I'll close now.

Love,

Elder Melville

extra time

It seems I do have a little extra time but I don't know how much.

I got Kadee's announcement this week. Congratulations to them for getting m=

arried in St. George.[3]

I am always excited for holidays. For Halloween we are having a district me=

eting that night so we're not among the costumed people. We are allowed t=

o do fun stuff as well during the meeting. The New Year was the most fun =

holiday I've had so far on my mission.

I'm stretching anymore to think of stuff. Sorry. Good job on Allie knowing =

her phone number, goose![4]

Love,

Elder Melville

sorry, me again

OK, sorry this is the third note. I need to be more organized, too.[5]

We had interviews this week and President Clark told me I may be here for a while. I do feel like this is my area, more-so than East Wenatchee at least. There, Elder B. had been there seven months so I felt like it was his area, then with Elder D. it was his first time being senior companion so it went to his head, causing him to be mean and bossy and wanting to take over. Mead I have a special attachment to but I wasn't as good during my second three months there (Elder C. was a wicked, wicked missionary but I didn't realize it at the time). Next week we'll actually be driving through Mead (I think) to go to Zone Conference. That will be a nice reminiscence.

---

[1] My mom wrote, “Your package:  I am sorry that you have such a dilinquent mother.  I am not even close to sending the rest of the package.  It will be at least another week or two.  If you give us your address is [sic] Ritzville we can send it from here so it gets there on a specific day.  Just let us know what day of the week would be best.”

[2] They did, and I think they even played some Thanksgiving music.

[3] This is my cousin.

[4] My mom’s email to me had said, “Did you see that?  Allie just gave you her phone number.  She has always told us that she doesn't know it, but she just wrote it for you!!  She says to tell you, ‘I go to school, goose.’”

[5] My mom wrote, “What would life be like if I was organized?  Maybe if I live to be 100,,,?”

Even so we also should walk in newness of life (10/13/08)

[1]So I have successfully made it to my new area. Due to when my old members could go to Spokane and when my new members could, I waited in the mission office for four hours. That was interesting. One of the senior office missionaries needed help with cars, so we went to pick one up and I followed him back to the office. Driving without a passenger for more than a few feet was a very different experience. Then I had to drive a pickup with soft brakes to be repaired. Again I was companionless in the vehicle. That was also the first time I've ever driven a truck, and backing it up in the small, full mission office parking lot was a little intimidating, especially with the office missionary waiting for me to follow him.[2]

I really like Elder L. He kind of reminds me of Howard Sprague on The Andy Griffith Show but with swapped interests. He is from Sunset and used to be a mechanic, and periodically points things out on cars that aren't good for them. I know nothing about cars so it's a different situation.

It's the first time I've been to an American branch.[3] Yesterday we attended the Davenport Branch, which I understand is somewhat struggling. It doesn't help that the missionary I replaced offended half the branch by spraying a cat[4] so it would get cold, joking that he was going to kill it. But I guess their problems with him go beyond the cruelty to animals, so I have some positive existing to do. We spend Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday up there, and every other weekend. We spend P-day in Cheney (CHEE-nee), home of Eastern Washington University, with the rest of the district. In Davenport we stay with the Herrons, an older couple. Our staying there is not the easiest for them, so I kind of feel bad.[5]

The rest of the time we stay in Ritzville in an apartment, which is our official place of residence. It has me concerned about my impending package, because I do not want it to sit on our apartment doorstep for days at a time. We were going to see if we could call into the office and have them forward it to our branch president's house, but we forgot to ask him if that would be fine. I don't even know if the package has gone through the office yet or not.

It is kind of difficult being so isolated. I would like to get some new shoes, but I don't think even Cheney has good shoe places. My Hushpuppies have worn completely through the insoles, and my Rockports have lost all traction and the heels have begun to flatten.

I am also still concerned about my birthday check from Grandpa and Grandma. I forgot to bring it up from Ritzville this weekend. And when I do bring it up, I have to figure out where to cash it.

But it's fun covering small towns. We cover probably about ten of them. Ritzville and Davenport have a very Fillmore-y feel to them, but they may be a little smaller. Their location and the time of year have caused me to have many flashbacks to the funerals and related events of 2004 and 2006. It was really weird when the Herrons had a calendar open to October 2004, and there the remembered month was, and I could look at the calendar and say exactly what happened on several days of the month.[6]

We talked to a guy who is just a person who is nice to missionaries and has read the Book of Mormon but says he won't come to church and won't tell us whether or not he thinks it's true.[7] I wasn't impressed with him; he asked for my first name and wouldn't accept Elder. I feel like when I reveal my first name I'm uttering a naughty word or dropping my pants or something. So later when he called me by the name I gave him, verifying if it was correct, I said, "Actually it's Jeremiah." Jeremiah was what I said my name was once at Taco Bell (for the name they call out) because I was reading Jeremiah. I almost told the guy yesterday it was Luke because that's what I'm reading (good thing I already finished St. Mark) but I decided Jeremiah sounded better. I think that's what I'll say my name is when anyone asks. I get sick of members and investigators asking and it's none of their business anyway.[8]

We got a new investigator who speaks English but prefers to read Spanish so we gave her our Spanish material. We're encouraged to study for the needs of our investigators so I had some fun reading 3 Nefi 11 and the pamphlet La Restauración del Evangelio de Jesucristo.

This morning I was looking through my suitcase and found a small plastic thing. I hadn't seen it in forever and had forgotten that I had it. It filled me with great joy, for it was the thing Allie stuffed in my suitcase on the morning of November 28.[9] (It's a pen thing used for those little static boards with the plastic strip of film on them for writing.) I am most likely going to hit my year mark in this area, the day after Thanksgiving. It's sad and unfathomable, but I'm sure it makes you happy.

It seems like I was going to say something else but I don't remember. Oh, well.

Love,

Elder Jeremiah Melville

---

[1] My email’s title comes from Romans 6:4, but I took the “newness of life” to refer to my new area.

[2] To this day, that is the only time I’ve ever driven a truck.

[3] I visited branches in 2002 when we picked up my brother in Taiwan.

[4] There was no shortage of cats in this area.

[5] The Herrons had many health challenges.

[6] My grandpa died in October 2004 and my grandma died in October 2006. They lived in Fillmore.

[7] This man was actually a descendant of Brigham Young.

[8] Even now, once in a while I feel weird saying my own name. Thanks to LDS Tools and other things now, I couldn’t get away with this anymore.

[9] That was the day I left. Allie was putting it in my suitcase that morning and I almost told her not to, but I realized it really didn’t matter.

Rural marriage (10/6/08)

I loved my birthday! How did you find the floral shop in East Wenatchee?[1] Sister Knighten made us lunch, then we went to lunch.[2] I ate a lot that day and I kind of felt sick.

I didn't get around to writing you last week. It was a busy day. What I wanted to write about was the experience of going up Badger Mountain to contact a part-member family. We had a member give us a ride, about twenty miles out of town. We couldn't go out that far just to see them, so we went boonie tracting. I felt like I was in The Andy Griffith Show. The wife of the part-member family looked very much like Charlene Darling.[3] One house we knocked on had a resident who looked just like you'd expect a yokel to, complete with a snaggle tooth. Most people weren't home, but it was fun to knock on all those obscure houses.

The day after my birthday was very fun. The mission miles are low now, so we had to save two days worth of miles. We got so good at saving that we were more than a hundred miles under what we needed to be under, and it was the last day of the month, which meant we could do whatever we wanted. So we went up to Waterville, a small town we cover about twenty-five miles north. I'd never been there before. The only thing keeping the town alive is the fact that it's the county seat. I think it's smaller than Fillmore. We tried to see a few less-active members and former investigators, but we couldn't find most of the addresses. The few we did weren't home. One address was for a 210, but there was no 210, so we tried a 201,[4] but he closed the door before we could ask if the person we were looking for lived there. (Some people...) It was really fun to take a spontaneous road trip through nothing. Part of it was winding roads through a canyon. I felt like I was heading to Park City or something. Then we helped a less-active move over to Wenatchee twice. All in all we went 77.7 miles that day.

The ruralness continues with transfer information.[5] I am going to Ritzville, WA,[6] to be with an Elder L., who has been out about nineteen months. Apparently we cover two areas, the other being Davenport, WA.[7] Looking at the map we cover an enormous area. Elder L. on the phone said it's two counties.[8] We cover two branches--which, as big as the land area is, means it's pretty rural. I will probably have more than one residence with as big as it is, but I don't know.[9] I believe the stake center is in Cheney (Chee-nee), and is located on, of all things, Melville Road. My district leader will be Elder H., who was in the adjoining East Wenatchee area, who came out with me, and who is probably my favorite missionary.

I will be sending a box home. In it is a memory card with an explanation of pictures. I also sent home a few T-shirts I don't need. There is a polar bear tie a member gave me (I don't know why he thought I could wear it), and a Rudolph tie I bought at Goodwill (the non-LDS version of Deseret Industries) for $2.[10] (Interesting side note about Goodwill being the non-LDS version--that day we saw the Relief Society president with her family shopping there, and a Deseret Book "Time Out for Women" bag for sale. A more serious note is that a member said she found an old one-piece garment for sale, so she bought it and gave it to the bishop.) I have two pairs of pants in the box--one I bought here for about $40 and they're already worn in many places. The other is one that I had tailored, then they split, so I had them fix it, but they split again. If you could fix them and send them back when spring gets closer, I would appreciate it.

We're playing dodgeball today with pumpkin dodgeballs we bought at Fred Meyer.[11] I have to pack today and hopefully get a ride worked out to the transfer site for tomorrow. I hope all works out well.

I'm out of things to say for now.

Love,

Elder Melville

---

[1] My mom sent me a hand-delivered gift basket of candy and fruit from a local floral shop. I know it had a red delicious apple, which was anything but delicious, and a banana, and my companion was mad that I put the peel in the garbage in our room instead of the kitchen garbage.

[2] I had already made plans to go to lunch with the other elders who shared our car, so I was a little disappointed when I got home and Sister Knighten had made lunch—but it was so nice that I couldn’t turn down. It was either Navajo tacos or regular tacos.

[3] Side characters on The Andy Griffith Show. My life at that time revolved around 1960s shows.

[4] I might have not realized east and west addresses.

[5] I titled my letter “rural marriage” as a play on “plural marriage,” but it’s a stretch, because “marriage” isn’t really relevant.

[6] Ritzville was my favorite area. I’m excited to reminisce on it in the coming months.

[7] Two branches, but one area.

[8] Most of Lincoln and Adams Counties, but not all.

[9] We spent part of our time in one apartment and other nights living with members.

[10] I still wear the Rudolph tie, which I bought on my birthday.

[11] I suggested to the other missionaries that we could get them and play dodgeball, and one of them said, “You are a specter of the gods!,” a quote from The Testaments. I sent it home after Halloween, having only used it once, but when I came home, it had disappeared.