People of Walmart (10/07/2013)

There was this funny video on Youtube I remember watching when I was a junior or senior in high school called "The People of Walmart." It's pretty hilarious! It basically shows people from all walks of life going in and out of Walmart. Not that that has anything to do with the people of Oklahoma or anything.....*cough* 

 

This week cooled down a ton temperature-wise. It's amazing how much the temperatures have plunged this past week! We've got lows of about 50 degrees, and now we have to wear suits in the evenings because it usually dips below 60 degrees. I hear Provo got hit with snow... Lucky I'm in Oklahoma! Regardless, I think Oklahoma's revving its winter engines. 

 

Transfers came and went. Lots of new areas opened, and a lot of companionships stayed the same--not just in our zone but in the whole mission as well. We got a new elder (who just so happened to be in the Worldwide Broadcast!) in our branch who came from Edmond, the place where they shot the broadcast. He said to us, "Sooo, I came from the most functional ward in the mission to the most dysfunctional branch in the mission..." Poor guy...haha. 

 

So the crazy story of the week comes from...Walmart. We went there this past Tuesday since we couldn't go on Monday. We were in there for a good couple hours getting our stuff and searching for the elusive HAND SOAP. Eventually we found it in the shampoo section...hahaha. While we were there we walked past someone that kept stealing glances at us. I saw her out of the corner of my eye and continued to walk past her with that usual antsy feeling a missionary gets when people stare at you. Then she spoke up and said, "so how long do you guys have left?" So Elder Kahawaii and I stopped in our tracks a little startled. We began talking to this lady, who introduced herself as Michelle. We came to find out she was a less active member in Davis whom we thought had fallen off the face of the earth. In every area you've got less actives that only have a P.O. box address or a bad number, so usually you can never find these people. That's what we thought about Michelle. Fortunately the spirit guided us to run around Walmart like chickens with our heads cut off looking for the hand soap long enough for us to run into this lady! We had a good conversation with her about why she fell inactive, and she even took us out to lunch afterwards! We had a great spiritual conversation, and she even gave us her address and told us to come by! We encouraged her to watch conference and told her that we love and care about her.

So speaking of conference, holy cow that was epic! I thought they would lower the missionary age to 17 and 18, but I guess not... *Sigh...* Oh well. The talks were pretty awesome, huh?! It's amazing how fast conference goes when you're a missionary! You surprisingly stay awake and don't want it to end! Probably one of my favorite things said was from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who said, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." Ahhhhhh man if only all the less actives could have heard that!!! It was pretty incredible, to say the least.

Thomas and his mom and grandma even watched conference!! Thomas fell asleep through part of it, like most 13-year-olds would. Sharon and Wendy agreed that the talks were meant specifically for them, but they loved it nonetheless. Right now we're getting ready for Thomas' baptism next Sunday. I'm performing the confirmation the following Sunday, and Elder Kahawaii is baptizing him! I'm looking forward to it! 

I love you and all the Utah Walmarts,

Elder Garner