Ha, I wish! I really love that song "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Lately that's all that's stuck out to me with the beginning of September. It's odd to think BYU's started, Bingham's started, Elk Ridge's started... and I'm not there. As nice as it is to take a break from homework and school, it does feel weird not to be there.
I've plunged into the second week of serving in the Pauls Valley Branch. Pauls Valley is pretty cool. It's got the modern highway look with the fast-food restaurants and the chain stores and all that. Then when you drive past the woods you arrive the small, downtown part of Pauls Valley. It's got some pretty neat historical sites, and like every other town in Oklahoma, it's got some ghetto neighborhoods. Sulphur is much the same, except we have a super Walmart (crazy), and we have natural springs that smell like boiled eggs. Supposedly the water keeps the mosquitoes off you... if you can even stand the smell of the water, that is! Sulphur is pretty nice, though. It's one of the prettier towns in Oklahoma.
Missionary work right now is kinda like digging through sand to find your beach toys and barbie dolls. We have several upon several investigators, but most of them are hard to contact at the moment. Our most promising investigator is named Sara, who I haven't even met yet because she's helping her (ex) boyfriend move out!!! Now there isn't a chastity problem anymore! It's a blessing in disguise. She just doesn't know it. She's been taught most of the lessons already and been to church at least three times, so she's not really considered "my" investigator. Baptism seems pretty close for her. We are helping another lady named Rustina try to quit smoking. Last Tuesday (Aug. 27th) we visited this lady and I got to take the lead in teaching the Stop Smoking Workshop for the first time. Elder Kahawaii said I taught the lesson like a rockstar, so that will also be my critique. She's pretty against the Book of Mormon, so hopefully if she can stop smoking successfully than that will open up some doors. Other than that we are still trying to set up appointments with investigators.
The Pauls Valley Branch is a little... small. And quiet. And old. There are two girls in young women (from the same family) and one guy that actually just became an elder, so he's not a youth anymore! There are even less youth members here than the Noble ward! Right now I've been meeting members and less actives and trying to put names with faces. Our branch presidency is a little on the reserved side. Elder Fairbourn literally had to tell President Burnett to say hi to me when he saw me for the first time! President Burnett asked the branch to fast for member missionary work (for more info about this, look at the church's website and watch the video that happened in Stillwater, Oklahoma!!), so he's on board with that. Also, he's fixing to be released from the presidency. Yes, I just said "fixing to." Anyway, when he gets released we will also get a new branch mission leader. This branch seems a little dead at the moment.... Hopefully that will change. It might take a little more love and enthusiasm than before to actually do missionary work for the ward.
The last two days of August were brutally hot, but luckily it should be raining today. That's another reason why you guys need to wake me up when September ends. When October rolls around it'll be cooled off by then! September should be better than August though weather-wise :) Our Zone P-day is today in Duncan, so that should be fun. I finally get to meet everyone in the Zone! I miss that about Norman Zone...the close proximity all the missionaries had to each other. But I suppose that will make our Zone P-days more meaningful! At least this will make the first part of September bearable, but just wake me up when September ends!
With love and a little bit of drowsiness,
Elder...... Gar.....
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