End of July (7/27/09)

It was fun to hear the stories of Preston, since I get the Allie stories, but a certain someone hardly ever tells me Preston (and Franklin) stories.[1] It's weird to hear the things he says. I just can't imagine it because he's older than Allie was when I left. I remember him saying things like "Mommy! Don't talk to Baba!" and "Mommy, Baba, Shu-shu, go home, Amen!"[2] (I don't know the proper Chinese spelling for the equivalent of Mommy.)

Somehow I never got that you were tending the boys without David there. Last week I wondered but I didn't find out for sure until just this email.

It has been pretty hot here lately. Fortunately we supposedly only get another month of the infernal heat. It's transfers tomorrow, but we're both staying here. It's the first companion I've had for more than one transfer since Elder L. back in Ritzville from October to December. So I'm already surpassing my length of time in Hayden and going for tying with Ritzville and East Wenatchee.

We will be having a baptism on August 8 for an eighteen-year-old who's wanted to get baptized for years. We're excited for that, and I'll be here for it. It will be the first time I've had more than one baptism in an area. It will make up for not getting any baptisms in Hayden. (Not that that matters, of course.)

This week we had interviews with President Palmer, whom I really like so far. For some reason he wanted us to look at my transfer board picture when I was about fifty pounds fatter. I haven't weighed myself since I got here, but I do know that sometimes I can now go on a hole of my belt that I couldn't before. I think the uphill biking contributes. I like to bike even when we have the car because we can save miles, and some of the streets around here are more like alleys, so parking gets annoying.

Last week on P-day we were playing tag on a playground with the other missionaries. Elder W. jumped and hit his knee and bruised it pretty bad. So for a day we walked (we had to anyway because my bike was being fixed). Then this Friday we had some surplus miles on the car so we got to go to another small town called Culdesac. I love small towns. If I finish my mission here I'm excited for September, October and November, because then we can save more miles because it won't be too hot, and we can go to other small towns. I'm somewhat bored of Lewiston itself but I love exploring new areas. In August the ward is having a special picnic geared to fellowshipping the less-actives who live out of town, so we'll get to go to the town of Winchester, although I don't know what kind of work we'll be able to do that day. Yesterday we visited some members who live in Waha, which isn't really a town but rather a settlement in a cool glen--twenty degrees cooler than Lewiston.

I'll try to finish my memories of Grandma and Grandpa and send it home. Also, I need the Weights' address.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] My nephews were visiting Utah without their parents, so my parents were in charge of them. Both Allie and Preston typed gibberish in my email. Allie supposedly said, “ I was sick today.  I was going to give a talk today.  Thank you for sending me money for my birthday.” Preston supposedly said, “I want to say the words I love you.  After Allie's birfday will be mine.” My dad dictated, “Franklin is mostly just cute.  The other day he chased a deer out of our yard and was just giggling about it.  So he is a mighty hunter.” My mom said, “Franklin will run and jump in your arms when you count to three.  He is happy as long as he is well fed and not sleepy.  Preston has a really cute sense of humor.  The other night he came in to get me about 2:30 AM.  He asked sweetly if I could come sleep with him.  When I laid down he told me this story. ‘Grandma, I felled out of bed and I didn't even get hurt.  Isn't that so cool?’"

[2] Just before I left on my mission, I visited my brother’s family in Tennessee, and Preston turned three while I was there. When his mom got mad at his dad (“Baba”), he would defend him. “Talk to” was his word for “reprimand.” I was known as “Shu-shu.” He liked to say prayers, which were hilarious because he said “Amen” super dramatically. Allie was four when I left; she had just turned six at the time of this letter. Preston was four.

I'm melting (7/20/09)

Well, this week was the first week possessing the infamous Lewiston heat we keep hearing about. It is hard to go out with the heat. We take cool-down breaks at the church but then it is hard to go out in the heat again. Saturday it was supposed to get to 103; I don't know what it did get to but someone told us it did get to 99.

I try to find solace knowing that July is halfway over, and that what I consider to be summer--June, July, August--is thereby halfway over. But then I remember that last year in East Wenatchee I didn't think it was consistently terrible until about this time, and the last half of July and then August were terribly long. Everyone here tells us we're just getting started with the heat; it won't cool down until the end of August. I might have heard it's supposed to rain this week. I might be able to handle the heat if we keep having rain breaks. I think already we've had more storms than I did last year.

Normally I am absolutely thrilled for the summer to end. This year I'm trying to be better about finding joy in the journey. But I'm also not anxious for the fall. I love cool temperatures, my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, leaf-strewn lawns, etc. But last night at a member dinner the member asked how long I've been out. I told him what we've been counseled to tell, the truthful answer of "over a year." But later he asked what month I go home. I wasn't going to lie to him. It kills me to write what I am now; I can't bear to write how the rest of the conversation went. In one week, I will have no more companions out who go home before I do. :(

A few weeks ago Aunt Terri and Uncle Terry sent me a check. I will not be able to cash it here so I will send it home. I also will try to finish my memories of Grandma and Grandpa before the reunion. I instructed Allie with her birthday money to share with her cousins.[1] By that I either meant sharing in the actual purchase, or sharing what she buys with them.

Have fun with my nephews this week! We have a busy P-day so I can't write more. My bike's not feeling well so I think I'll have to go take it in.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] I sent my niece a five-dollar bill for her birthday. My nephews were staying with my family that summer.

Baptism! (7/13/09)

Friday night we were scrambling around. Our baptism was scheduled for 7:00, and we showed up just after 6:00 and the font wasn't filled. The people who ordinarily fill it up were out of town. We learned just last night one of the branch presidency was supposed to have filled it, but he didn't know about it. We had a key to the clothes and to open the font curtain, but we didn't have a key to the panel to turn the water on. We had seriously begun calling people to use a swimming pool--which are hard to find in Lewiston--but luckily the branch counselor discovered his key worked. Secretly I was kind of disappointed when I heard the water start. Baptizing in a swimming pool would have made for much more interesting stories. But it was interesting anyway. The baptism started late, due the fact that it wasn't filled in time (and that the person getting baptized showed up in shorts and a T-shirt, so his fellowshipper told him to go change), and it was pretty shallow. I wasn't too happy with the person baptizing, because I thought it was pretty irreverent--he was making light conversation with everyone who was watching the whole time he was in the font. It was funny that he had to shove him under the water because it was shallow. But he had to do it twice--he managed both times to get him all the way under, but the first time he said "Holy Spirit" instead of "Holy Ghost." But it worked out--he was confirmed Sunday just before he left, so he starts the Marines today.

A while back we were teaching a girl named Katelyn H. but she couldn't continue because of her family. Even while we were teaching her, she didn't come to church, even though she received her Young Women's award and went to seminary. Her family's home teacher's wife is kind of negative and saying she didn't think she should be baptized since she's hardly seen her at church, but she came to the singles branch yesterday and we're going to start teaching her again this week, so I'm excited about that.

We've also been good about saving miles so hopefully we'll start to be able to go to some of the small towns we cover. I've really come to love small towns on my mission. They're just fun to be in! Maybe when I'm married I'll move to Fillmore ;)

Love,

Elder Melville

Slam dunk (7/7/09)

This week has been and will be crazy. We have a lot going on.

On Thursday, we taught Nick M., and set this coming Friday for his baptism date. We went over the baptismal interview questions with him, and he got them all, and he even understood the Plan of Salvation before we taught it. Since he's joining the Marines next week, it's been crazy getting the approval for everything before he goes. But we called President Palmer, and said he could get baptized as long as the singles branch president was fine with it. So we had to get that all scheduled.

Friday we went on exchanges and I went up to Pullman, the home of Washington State University. With it being a holiday weekend, no one was home; we tracted an entire apartment complex without a single door answering.

Saturday wasn't too exciting. We went to the ward breakfast. We were supposed to work the rest of the day, but that was hard to do, so we walked around (but few people were outside) and went to a home that had invited us for their barbecue. One dinner cancelled because they were sick but they dropped off pizzas. After that we were walking around and a member called us and said they had extra steak if we wanted. I wasn't interested, but Elder Warren was. So he ate steak there and brought more home. Then both Sunday and Monday night we had steak for dinner with other members. I hope we don't have it again tonight.

On Sunday, Nick's truck broke down on the way to church, so he had to go back, and drive his motorcycle. But it was fine; he thought his interview with the branch president was earlier than it was, and he got to come to the singles branch (his first time not in the ward) and let everyone know about his baptism.[1] He had a good interview with our district leader, so he's all good to go.

Yesterday we met our new mission president. He has a nice New Zealand accent. It's weird to me that the majority of my mission was spent with another president, so it'll be different getting used to President Palmer.

Because of our zone meeting yesterday, we have preparation day today. It will be interesting doing everything without a car, since we don't get it Tuesdays. When P-day ends we have a pretty booked night. We need to figure out what we want to teach Nick, since we've taught him all he needs to know. 

I am sending home a memory card with pictures that go back to November. I'm also sending home my CD player and speakers. If this is my last area, I don't need them, because we already have a CD player. If this is not my last area, my next should have one, and if not, oh, well, I get to send my music home.

It occurred to me that I really need to get on with writing down my memories of Grandma and Grandpa. I started a while ago but then forgot about it.[2]

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] Nick was friends with people in the family ward, which was how we started teaching him, but he was baptized into the YSA branch. He didn’t even live in the boundaries of the family ward.

[2] I think this was in preparation for my grandparents’ fiftieth anniversary celebration.

Dying, bats, and other scary things (6/29/09)

First some business:

First, I need the Weights' address because I forgot to copy it down before I threw the box away. I need to thank them for the package.

Second, I'm sorry I forgot to give my address for Terri.[1] It is
[redacted] 15th St 'E' {note again that the E does not mean east}
Lewiston, ID [redacted zip code]
I should be here at least another four weeks, unless there is an emergency transfer, but Elder W. doesn't know the area that well now, so even if an ET did happen, I could likely stay.

The last few days I have been aware of my mission mortality. Yesterday was my nineteen month mark, and for some reason nineteen months is a much bigger punch in the stomach than eighteen was. I also had a dream that it was the end of this transfer. At the end of this transfer, one of my past companions, Elder Andronicus D. (I had to give him another name since there's more than one Elder D. now), goes home.[2] I was with him when he'd been out as long as I had left--fourteen and ten months were what we each had. And next transfer is the last transfer for several missionaries who were still very young when I came out. And the group who came out one before me got their documents for going home (commonly referred to as "trunkie papers") this week--meaning I'm next. It's very depressing.

I also just had a dream that combined all my areas except my first into one. When members ask where I've served, I rattle off a long list of areas, which I never dreamt of happening.

This week we went to Lapwai, our Indian reservation, and visited a less-active member (but he's all white). At his work a bat had flown into a window and damaged itself, so he picked it up and brought it home. When we went there he was wearing gloves with the bat crawling around on his hands. He was petting it and saying how soft it was, then held his hands out for us to pet it. I was a little leery at first, but then I realized it was probably the only time I'll get to touch a bat, so I did, and it was soft. My companion declined, but when the bat got more energy and began flying around the room, it touched him in flight. It was funny to watch the cats in the room stare at the bat when it would rest by hanging on the wall.[3] I hope the bat lives; it seemed to be losing its guts out its back end, but that was before it started flying around. Maybe he just had faulty organs.

We also had to kill several wasps' nests this week. My companion thought they were yellowjackets so we bought a yellowjacket trap, but he didn't know wasps could be yellow.

Since it did last week, I thought I'd get an extra ten minutes today. But no such luck. I do have more important stuff to write. Oh, well.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] My aunt asked for my mailing address.

[2] When there was more than one elder with the same last name, I made up first names for them from the scriptures, since I didn’t feel comfortable using their real names. Andronicus is from Romans 16:7.

[3] That house had at least a dozen cats in it.

Happy late Father's Day and Happy Birthday Nan! (6/22/09)

The time where all of the Melville children were in their 20s simultaneously has come to an end, and none of them were all together during that time. Ten more years, though, and we'll all be in our thirties.[1]

I'm sorry I didn't get anything sent off for Father's Day. I hope my loving letter will suffice.

This week certainly was new and exciting. I like my new companion, Elder W. He is from Bloomfield, Indiana. He is my tenth companion--I've had five from UT, two from NV, one from CA, one from KS, and now one from IN. My last companion was one of those jerk people who either likes people or hates them, with no middle ground, and he didn't like me.

It was also rainy. The weather's been unpredictable all week, but yesterday it rained most of the day. I like the cool, but I'm not looking forward to the impending 110 degrees everyone's telling us about.

Also, I have complained about the little blue heeler dog where we live. This week it has gone crazy and bites my companion's bike tires. He has not yet punctured them, though. Yesterday we came home after walking around, and it may have been because we were in our black raincoats (I'm not sure), but he was growling. He frequently barks but calms down when we walk by, so I just went past. But he was not calming down so I tried to get up the stairs quickly. I was wearing my rubber overshoes because of the rain, and they felt a little funny. The owner came out and apologized (the dog had never been so aggressive before), and put him away, and Elder Warren came up and found the little chunk of my overshoe he had taken out. This morning when we left he was still in his kennel, but they had put up the short line so he can't get to us. Hopefully they'll keep him on the short line, or not keep him at all, or, best yet, we'll get moved in with members.[2]

It was also the last time seeing our mission president. He shined our shoes, I assume as a type of washing our feet. He's out of the mission home so they can get it ready for President Palmer, so the Clarks are just touring the mission now, saying goodbye.

I am glad for a new start. Elder L. had some bad habits in this area and wasn't too open for suggestions, so now I have the difficult task of basically burning a lot of old patterns down and rebuilding it. I did leave Hayden stronger than I found it so hopefully I will be able to do the same thing here.

We're also unusually busy today so I don't know if I'll be able to write letters today (I couldn't last week, either). Hopefully today I should buy some new shoes, since my Rockports are too worn and my Hushpuppies aren't the most attractive.[3] I also want to buy a jumprope, because it is hard to run or bike during our morning exercise time, and hopefully really doing exercise (which few missionaries do), more than the way I've been doing it, along with all the biking now, I should come home quite slim, and have to buy new pants. (I will be worried about $$ when I get home, though.)

I can't think of anything else to write!

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] My sister turned thirty in 2009.

[2] I hated that dog!

[3] I still have the shoes I bought in Lewiston and still wear them occasionally.