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

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[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.