The transfer calls this week came as no surprise: I am getting transferred to the Mustang 1st Ward in Mustang, Oklahoma. For the first time on my mission I'm being sent to a suburban area. Mustang is just west of the international airport and southwest of Oklahoma City. My new companion is Elder Cody Bolan, who's been out six months. Going from a branch to a ward, going from out in the country to in the suburbs, and going from two companions to the normal one companion is signaling radical change in my missionaryhood. It only seems like I just arrived in Sulphur, but I'm excited for the opportunity I have to serve in the Mustang area!
So now that my days are numbered in Sulphur it's time I share some final stories about Sulphur and the Pauls Valley branch. This week turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would be, so I'm mildly pleased with that. On Monday we get to go to a member's granddaughter's basketball game at Sulphur High School. Her name's Chynna (pronounced like China), and she's also an investigator. She did an awesome job, and her team won! Fun fact: In girls' basketball there's only six minutes in each quarter! That's my kind of basketball. Short and sweet.
Tuesday we raked for a member in Sulphur who's celebrating her 50th birthday in Disneyworld. Guess you're never too old for Disney....? I'm definitely not! We ended up raking her yard for five hours... way longer than we expected. And we broke all three of her rakes, two of which were new. My bad....
On Wednesday we had a pretty crazy tracting experience. We knocked on an older lady's door, and when she saw us through the window she waved us off. No big deal. Two seconds later we turned around a heard a MASSIVE thud coming from inside the house! You know the little life alert commercials they have when the old lady's lying on the floor and she's like, "help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"? We pretty much witnessed that but in real life. The lady (Barbara) started screaming for help, so we barged in the door and found her lying on the floor and in tears. She slipped on a sleeping bag and fell on her hip and broke it! Now, you probably think that we're the reason why she fell and broke her hip. If we'd never knocked on her door she'd have never got up from the couch to get the door and later on slip and fall. But let's be honest, who better to help an older woman than three studly missionaries? We helped Barbara out and comforted her while her daughter raced home to check her out. We decided to call 911, and when we did we left her house. Ironically, her house number is 911. We prayed for Barbara and went on our way as we heard the sirens go down Broadway Avenue in Sulphur.
Man, what would the older women in Oklahoma do without the missionaries? Actually, the more important question is what would WE do without the older women?! They are seriously so great. They make my life sometimes. We did a thorough job at making sure all our solid investigators and our less actives with whom we're in contact were able to make it to church this week. But then Oklahoma decided to have a snowstorm over the weekend... and church got cancelled... no bueno. More Monopoly and more Uno for us!
And of course, that day on Sunday we got our transfer calls. Now it's just saying goodbye to people and packing up. The time has come for me to move on. Transfers are such an emotion-filled time. You're excited for a new adventure but sad about leaving people you've grown to love. After six months Sulphur's become home for me. My trust is in the Lord's hands, and I'm excited for what comes my way in Mustang!
Elder Garner
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