SURPRISE EVERYBODY! We had the exact same week this week as we did last week. . . . More holidays, more cancelled appointments. Yeah, so I'm gonna do everything I can to make this week sound more interesting than it really was.
So on Monday we went to the Pauls Valley Rec Center for P-day, and while I was sitting on the bleachers in the gym a couple middle school-aged lovebirds decided to sit right next to me. Okay weird. Anyway, the two of them started cuddling with each other and talking about this person and that person and how that person's ugly and this person is a jerk and basic middle school drama. It was pretty funny.... Then the girl started talking pictures of the two of them together (with me sitting behind them), so I decided to photobomb their pictures ;) Seeing those two just took me back to my days at the SoJo Rec Center and my middle school and high school days. It reminded me of how different things are being a missionary--a good kind of different! And how much better life is with the gospel... Those teenage years involve lots and lots of growing up, that's for sure.
On Tuesday we got a call from Tammy's dad telling us that Tammy had to go to the ER--no details were given to us. So we called and left messages and stopped by their house all this past week, but we didn't get anything from them. Luckily on Sunday we caught them home (they weren't at church), and Tammy seemed to be doing fine. We had a good discussion with Tammy's mom trying to warm her up to the idea of Relief Society and receiving a calling in the Young Womens. Gosh, Tammy is so solid. She is SO on top of making sure she and her family gets to come to church every week! She was really bummed that she wasn't there this week.
So the best part about this week was our epic weekend visits! We ran around Sulphur and Davis trying to round up people to come to church. Since a lot of people down by where we live have an issue with gas, we decided to hook up some people with rides. Crazy thing was that it TOTALLY WORKED. We had a lot of new people come to church yesterday! One of the biggest miracles was finding a ride for a kid named Brandon (12) whom we've been teaching for a couple months now. We've been teaching him and his family: Bradley (14), Kali (17), Shanda (mom) and just recently Tolon (dad). We picked up Tolon this past week. They all work on Sunday, so they haven't made it to church. Brandon really wanted to come with us to church, but unfortunately due to church policy we aren't allowed to drive other people in the car besides other missionaries. So we hooked him up with a ride with Thomas--the kid we baptized in October--and his Grandma! The best part? Thomas and Brandon are TOTALLY friends now! And Brandon wants to come back! And if the kids are happy, the parents are happy.
We're praying hard that this will influence Shanda and Tolon to come to church along with the rest of their family. It's been hard meeting with them due to the holidays and work schedules, but they're gotten a lot out of us coming over to visit them. We are giving our best to bring them into to the church and along with it the blessings of the gospel. Our new year is looking bright, and we're ready to work hard and help reach Pauls Valley branch's goal: to become to ward by 2015. If there's anything I want to accomplish in this area, it's to leave Pauls Valley branch and the town of Sulphur, Oklahoma better than I found it. Hope everyone's having a happy new year!
Elder Garner
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