Starting with... Another awesome road trip to Wichita Falls, Texas! We had zone p-day and our specialized training! And for dinner we went to Texas Roadhouse again! And since we had a district leader counsel the next morning, we got to have another sleepover! Probably the best part about serving in boonie areas has to be the miraculous excuse that missionaries have to lodge at other missionaries' apartments and have sleepovers there. Okay, there are definitely better reasons than that. Don't say Amen to that! Regardless, it was a good time for us to get to know each other better and counsel as a leadership to better help our areas and the missionaries we lead.
Lately this week our big focus has been on getting people prepared for the upcoming General Conference. Elder Garcia made these really cool handouts, and we've been passing them out to investigators and inactive members. We've been watching talks and discussing the importance of a modern-day prophet and apostles to help guide us, the children of our Heavenly Father.
On Thursday we had the opportunity once again to go to Mangum and visit the Smiths, the part-member family we ran into at the air show. We taught them the Restoration and why the church needed to be restored. Their non-member friend, Keigha (pronounced Kee-uh, like the car!), was there and seemed mind-blown by all the doctrine we'd taught. The first time we met her last week, she was shocked to find out we didn't have horns or have multiple wives. Mmm, mmm. We got lots of clearing up to do in the little town of Mangum. Teaching their family is a blast...and sometimes a challenge. I should so be ready to teach primary kids and young mens when I get back! Amen! They are so full of questions and random comments. I'll just quote a couple things they said during the Restoration movie:
The 15-year old daughter: "Is that his sister??" (Referring to Emma Smith)
Me: No, that's Joseph's future wife.
15-year old: "Her??? He's too beautiful for her."
The older Joseph Smith then makes an appearance in the movie and walks past Emma's yard with a shovel on his shoulder. A couple seconds later:
15-year old: "Oh. Just kidding. They're perfect for each other."
Oh man...it just throws me back to my middle school days and the things that girls said. Silly...
Then on Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Chavez. Pretty fun, to say the least. We drove out to Hollis with a pre-missionary from the ward. LOTS of fun... We had a good visit with an inactive member from that area named Bro. Shirey. He has two parrots! They try to act like and imitate human beings, and it's quite funny to watch. We of course invited Bro. Shirey out to conference and shared about how Jesus Christ made the sacrifice of walking 70+ miles just to have John the Baptist baptize Him. Jesus recognized the importance of being baptized and therefore was willing to make that sacrifice. It's a good reminder to those that don't live close by the church. His girlfriend and his 13-year old son are both non-members. There's potential there!
Then on Sunday after our church we went to Strong Tower in the southern part of Altus. Angela, the head honcho at Operation Care, is a co-pastor for that church. We were invited out, so we went to their afternoon services. They have a good little group, about the same size as a branch. Their church was really awesome--a lot of good, friendly people. It really reminded me of the parable of the talents, and how everyone has something to contribute. While watching "Come Join With Us" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf with a less-active member, he talked about how everyone has need of the blessings of contributing and being included, and receiving what's being contributed from other people. It was a good reminder to me of where I fit in this life and in this town of Altus. Sometimes I'm not sure where I fit in the picture. I'm trying to figure out what I bring to this town...besides being a missionary, of course. In Sulphur I learned to recognize that there were people there waiting for me, for us. So lately I've been trying to figure out my reason for being here. As with every other area, it's taking some time to figure out, but I know I'll come to that realization.
Can I get an AMEN?? Hope y'all have a splendid week!
Elder Garner
P.S. Amen!
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