Early E-mail Day!

Hey Everybody!

Elder Beddes wanted to use the little business center we have at our apartment complex instead of the library today, so that's why the e-mail is early. Kind of a bummer since I won't get to read all of the procrastinator e-mails ;)

We did a ton of service this week. It was nice because we got to get out of a shirt and tie. It feels like when I graduated from St. Joe's. Getting out of this "uniform" is like the best feeling ever. I'll probably not want to wear a tie for a few years after my mission. Sweats are okay to wear to church, right?

Anyway, the service. I learned how to put up a barbed wire fence! Sort of. I learned how to tie the barbed wire on the posts. I got gouged pretty good twice, and then scratched up as well. It made me feel manly. I was paranoid about ticks though, which is never fun. I hate those things. I almost cried when I had to pull one off my kneecap a few weeks ago. I dumped like a tablespoon of Vaseline on it and let it sit for like 10 minutes. It was pretty dead after that, but it still took just about all of my fortitude to pull it off. I'm so brave.

Oh, on Wednesday, we went down to the "Horseshoe Canyon Ranch" in Jasper, which is owned by a member of the ward up here. Mom, I'm pretty sure you would love to go on vacation there. I assume it's pretty expensive, but it's really neat and you used to talk about wanting to stay at a dude ranch. There were a lot of horses just kinda wandering around though and I didn't like it. Creepy.

We helped put posts up for a sign, and then helped put a big playground set thing up. I didn't feel super useful, but I enjoyed helping where I could! We also met a Jehova's Witness up there who works at the ranch. He's a super nice and super devout guy. It was a nice change meeting somebody who has a specific religion that's devout and not a meanie about it.

On Friday, we got to split wood at the Fosters. Brother Foster was just baptized back in December, but his wife is a member. Super nice people. He is a retired Forest Ranger, and she works for the National Parks Service and is retiring this year I think. We had some HUGE rounds, so they wouldn't fit in his hydraulic wood splitter thingy. I got to pound wedges in with a sledgehammer and that really made me feel manly. I think I got a little too into it though, because my hands still hurt a little bit and I got a nice fat blister on my thumb. It was fun though. I can't remember if I told you all about playing Hearts with them or not, and I can't find last week's e-mail in my sent folder, so I'll tell you anyway.

The Fosters like to play card games, but the problem is that Elder Beddes always wins. Anything. If he plays, he wins. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean he's annoying and stubborn and a sore loser so we always let him win, I just mean he wins. Everything. To the point where it's super annoying and I have to repress the urge to try and make him lose just because I don't want him to win. So, instead of Catch Phrase, which we've typically played in the past, we decided to play hearts, which Elder Beddes had never played before.

Guess who won?

Elder Beddes, that's who. Sister Foster wasn't very happy about it (she get's competitive). She even shot the moon and he still won. I think Brother Foster was the only one that didn't want to stab Elder Beddes.

Teaching has been slow this week, which is a bummer. I think most, if not all, of the people we saw this week were either less actives or recent converts. There are so many less active or inactive people here in this ward, it's ridiculous. Like....100 active members and 400 less or inactive members. We could have another set of missionaries just for reactivating people here.

'Twas a busy week. Sorry I don't have any funny stories or awesome spiritual experiences this week, it's kind of hard to have a touching moment with a strand of barbed wire or an axe. I hope that you are all doing well, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Love, 

Elder Christopher Drake!