Tomorrow I hit seventeen months (4/27/09)

I haven't been quite pleased with the weather the last few days. I love rain, but I wish it would be more consistent. We've been wearing our rain jackets because it has rained off and on, but most of the time we're wearing jackets when it's dry. On Saturday morning we knew it was a little cold so we walked instead of biked to test the conditions. After lunch we decided we could bike to go see someone. It was windy riding and as soon as we talked with the person we wanted to talk to it started to rain. So we biked home to drop off our bikes. It rained really hard. We walked the rest of the day but it never rained as much as it had while we were biking. The clouds have been sparse. Generally I like some rain better than no rain but the inconsistency gets annoying as a missionary.

But the weather has been warm enough that the very final snow pile in our area was tiny on Saturday and completely gone yesterday. Therefore I can assume we are out of the woods as far as deep snow goes so I hopefully should send home my boots today. And if I do get transferred this week (and I really don't know what will happen) I'll send something else home next week. I have one month in which I can acquire new possessions and then I have to start sending stuff home. If I don't get transferred this week I can assume that my next area is my last.

If I do stay, we have a place to call home on Mother's Day. We spent Easter with this family, and we had dinner about 4:00, so that's probably about when we'll be over there, FYI.

In December I got new insoles from Mr. Mac. One of the brands was called Florsheim. I put the insoles in probably about two months ago and the Florsheim insoles are already worn. I've wanted to get new soles for my Rockports[1] but without a car I'm at the mercy of the other missionaries, and I didn't want to risk this week sending them in in case I do get transferred.

That book you bought sounds intriguing.[2] In an interview with President Clark in February he told me to forget all about vampires and werewolves and such, saying such an interest is unhealthy, but I don't understand how it's different than anything else.[3] Now, as a missionary, my thoughts should be Gospel thoughts, but that book sounds cool when I get home.

We got a new ward mission leader yesterday, which is good, since we've lacked one.[4] I feel that I have lived up to the challenge of leaving the area better than I found it, but there's still a lot of improvement. The only people we're consistently teaching as far as investigators go are kids who have less-active parents. I don't understand it: The parents have testimonies and they want their kids baptized, but when Sunday morning rolls along, they don't come, even when they said the night before they'll be there. That's a frustration. We're also teaching several less-active people, who generally are living the Gospel--except taking the sacrament.  It's a veritable frustration.

I can't think of anything else at the moment. I'm almost caught up with writing people back so maybe soon I'll be able to write snail mail home again. Maybe not.

Love,

Elder Melville

Just a thought

With Allie around you could get a Snoopy shower curtain for both of us! (I kind of doubt they make them, though)[5]

wow…

We are allowed two hours at the library and most of the missionaries like to use all two, which can be boring. I was looking at old blog posts from before I left. I had forgotten how fat I was! I had a significant double chin but I don't really anymore.

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[1] The bottoms of my shoes were severely worn down.

[2] My mom wrote, “I bought a book for you the other day (actually I got it free with my teacher points from Scholastic.)  It is called The Graveyard Book.  It is a story about a boy raised in a graveyard by all sorts of dead people and some other sort of dead people.  I know it won't be mission reading, but I thought it was right up your alley for when you get home.  He doesn't mind the dark or the cold.  Like some other boy I know.”

[3] I had this obsession with vampires and werewolves; I was internally emo. I wanted to be a vampire so I could be scary, but not evil. My companion had told the mission president that I was a little different because I wanted to be a vampire, and he had this conversation with me.

[4] That ward mission leader designed this electric Doritos logo.

[5] My mom wrote, “I haven't picked a new shower curtain for your bathroom but I promise not to go too wild or wildlife-y.  With Allie here I can't promise no princesses :)”

April is two thirds of the way over (4/22/09)

Sounds like you had a fun vacation. I don't miss Vegas. Maybe when we tour up here after my mission we can see the Grand Coulee Dam. When I was in the Wenatchee valley we went to the Rocky Reach Dam. While we were there some members from Salt Lake came up the stairs. She said, "Oh, the missionaries are here." Then she said, "We took the dam tour. I'm sorry, we don't usually talk like that." It seems that jokes like that are inevitable whenever you visit a dam.[1]

Sorry you weren't feeling well. My companion hasn't felt the best either. Saturday we were on exchanges and he had bad stomach problems. Yesterday evening he got a fever. One thing I'm glad I have is a strong immune system. I don't think I've really been sick since all my fiascoes in seventh grade.[2] I can remember:
A few mild congestions and sore throats that didn't really bother me;
The family upset-stomach party after general conference in October 2004;[3]
A strange tired feeling and lightheaded-ness the weekend after my graduation, which I felt again on my mission in October or November;
and a few times I've lost my voice on my mission. The only time that's really affected what I do was in January. I kept waking up with a painfully dry throat, so I would drink large quantities of water in the middle of the night. A few hours later I woke up needing to release the water and drink more. My lack of sleep left me very tired when I got up the next morning so I had to sleep a little extra.

I simply do not get sick. People always worry about me not visiting or shaking their hands if they've been sick, but I don't worry. I'm not careless, but I somehow acquired a healthy immune system.

Speaking of health, on my exchange this week I got to weigh myself. I think I'm now at about a net mission loss of fifty-five pounds. It will be weird for me to see the new countertops; it may be weird for you to see me. I could be transferred in two weeks and my weight loss could slow down if I get a car again, but I imagine I'll be here until June.

I noticed you still have the same decorations on the counters.  I think this may be a good opportunity to replace the paper towel holder to one that actually works, as well as the little canisters to ones you can actually fit your hand in. (Sorry, just my little cynicism for the day.)[4]

The problematic paper towel holder is to the left of the sink, and the containers are to the right.

Also when I was on exchanges we visited an old people community (there are a lot of them up here; in my own area I've never seen so many old people in my life). I thought the name of it was odd; it was called Golden Spike, complete with a giant golden spike at the entrance. One of the streets was called Bryce Canyon. I thought it was weird because I'm in Idaho, not Utah.

As for the batteries, I still have quite a few from my last package. I have fewer AAAs, but I still have some, and the only thing I can think of that I use them for right now is my bike tail light, so I might have enough to last my mission, if I remember to turn the light off.

Umm...I know I wanted to say more but I don't know what it was. (I feel like a broken record saying this.)

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] My dad wrote, “We went and saw the power plant inside Hoover Dam (not a swear word.)”

[2] I had strep a few times in seventh grade, and on one occasion, I had an allergic reaction to the medicine.

[3] In October 2004, we had a family gathering for general conference and ate chicken and rice. At least four of us ended up with stomach problems.

[4] My mom sent me a link to see their new countertops on the family blog. My mom had decided at one point she wanted a bear theme in the house, so she had a bear paper towel holder and bear containers for sugar/flour/etc. I absolutely hated them. The paper towel holder did not allow for the paper towels to spin; using nothing was better than using the “dispenser.” The containers had very narrow openings, so you couldn’t fit a measuring cup in them, but they also had a bit of a lip that made it hard to pour the contents out. Obviously I did not like things that looked good that were not functional, and I still feel the same way.

Abril, avril (4/13/09)

There are a few times I don't like being a missionary, since being a missionary involves going and seeing many people. Superbowl Sunday is a bad day because everyone has their idolatrous parties. Easter also is not the best day. We didn't do too much yesterday, and the only person who wasn't an active member who answered yesterday didn't seem too happy we were there. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and the Fourth of July are all OK because those are non-proselyting days, but we received no such instructions for Easter. In my first area an investigator asked us accusingly, "You don't knock on doors on Christmas or Easter, do you?" Therefore, I was absolutely not going straight tracting yesterday, and was hesitant to see anyone else. We had dinner with members and watched To This End Was I Born (the non-investigator version of The Lamb of God) with them. I was glad when they gave us a big basket of Easter candy. It was raining pretty hard yesterday, and much of our time walking down the road we saved worms from venturing too far in the street. It always amazes me how many worms there are.

When it hasn't been raining this week we got to shed our suitcoats. It's weird to go back to this attire. This year I think I look a lot better with my pants since I actually have pants that fit now.

We've met a lot of weird people this week. I'd rather not go into it all. But in Elders Quorum yesterday we read the lesson on persecution from the manual. It just seems so obvious to me that we must be the correct church, or else why should everyone care so much to hate us? Like Paul, I take pleasure in persecutions (see 2 Cor. 12:10[1]). One particularly hilarious anecdote happened after district meeting when we went to lunch with two other elders. It is a missionary rule that when a missionary is backing the car another missionary must stand behind and back him. Usually the missionary doesn't really do anything but stand there but it's the rule nonetheless. In the parking lot was some skater who said something inappropriate to the missionary and made fun of him for backing. Immediately he totally biffed it on his skateboard. So the elder just got in the car and we drove away, the kid still on the ground, humiliated.

Along those lines, there's a house in our area that in November the missionaries knocked on the door. The lady was a real jerk. A week later, the missionaries walked by, and the house was burned to the ground.[2]

And of course this happens, because of the scripture you discovered about the commission to teach all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.[3]

Also, the last verse of the next gospel, Mark 16:20:
 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
The next time you send something, could you also send me some black socks? Most of mine have holes. Usually thick ones are the most comfortable and the most durable.

That's all I can think of for now. Have fun in Vegas. That's where my companion, Elder K., is from.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

[2] This was hearsay (my companion heard it from his previous companion), so it could just be legend, but I did see the burned house for myself.

[3] While on a vacation, my mom wrote, “We ended up not going to church today because your dad is sick and we  forgot one of the suitcases, the one with Sunday shoes.  We are going to try to buy some cheap ones before we leave so we can go to the temple this week. 

Since we didn't go to church we read the last week of Christ's life in Matthew. I didn't realize that the thing he told the apostles after his resurrection was to go to all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. How cool that my own son is out doing that at this Easter time.”