Cats and Old People.

Hi fam.

Interesting week this week.

Oh, that old lady from Little Flock is getting baptized says Elder Allred so that's super awesome. The bad news is I'm practically in St. Louis so I won't get to go. But that's okay. I'll see her when I come back.

We kept busy this week. It was really hot. We saw peeps. Elder Hegsted can't stand the heat, and I love it, so that's a bummer sometimes, but we've bridged the gap and agreed that 68 is a good temperature for the apartment and I just roll down the window or close my vents in typical passive-aggressive fashion when it's too cold in the car. I make it okay by telling myself that it's okay because I'm only being considerate in case he's still hot or something.

There are a couple cool peeps that we're teaching. One guy, Mike, is basically a member already, he just needs to quit smoking already. We're working with him.

On Sunday, we stopped by Mike's neighbor, Tom. He's an older guy. He's come to church a few times, but not recently, so we wanted to get the scoop. He told us all about how ever since the Lord told Satan, "Get behind me," that Michael, the Archangel has been holding Satan back in heaven and soon Satan is going to be let loose for five months and anybody who doesn't have the Lord in their heart will die or something. It was a little weird, but he likes the Book of Mormon, so that's cool. We'll see what happens.

Later, we saw the husband of a referral and did a quick Restoration lesson and he liked it and took a pamphlet but then told us to come back in a month. -_-

For dinner we went to a sweet member's home and after dinner we played "The Name Game" it was sweet. I did really bad on the one word round though. The name was "Terminator" and the first thing that popped into my head was "Back" in a really bad Austrian accent. Then I couldn't change it and people were confused and were thinking "Bach" or "Bok" and there really wasn't much I could do. But I rocked all the other rounds, it was cool.

Elder Hegsted tried to milk a cat this week. It was awkward. I told him to stop. All I could think of was Meet the Parents. That's really pretty much the whole story. I think that's enough to say.

Okay gotta go! Love y'alls.

Oh yeah, this is Elder Dickson and I at the Walmarts.


Man, that's a bad picture of me. That's how much I love you guys. 

Elder Christopher Drake

Rolla

Mornin, fam

Rolla is indeed very far away. After I traveled for an hour and a half to get to the next transfer point, I then drove for another 2 hours or so to get here. I was tired.

Elder Hegsted is my new companion who is also a good guy. He is taller than me though, so that's not cool. He insists that I am at least 6'4" because he is 6'6" or something. I'm pretty sure I haven't grown though. Well, not vertically at least.

Rolla is a quietish town and there's a ton of stuff going on, so that's sweet. Our area is pretty big and we drive a Jeep Compass. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm kind of opposed to FWD Jeeps, even if they have On-demand 4WD.

At any rate, we've been really busy which is definitely awesome. This is Elder Hegsted's third transfer and I am his second companion which makes it kind of fun to reflect back on when I was a newer missionary. Good times.

The area is sweet. We're teaching a lot of people. There's a small Engineering University here, MS&T I think it's Missouri Science and Technology. There are a lot of smart people here. We're teaching a Chinese family and another Chinese lady that are visiting scholars from China. It's been cool because they're the first people I've taught without a Christian background as far as I can remember. That's an interesting experience. They also don't speak very good English, but luckily we have a member who does some translating for us. It's good stuff.

I don't really have a ton to report on for the week =/ Getting in the rhythm of a new area is always a pain, but sort of fun at the same time. I have a Senior couple in my district, so that will be a new experience too.

I also forgot to bring my camera today, so sorry about that. I'm really bad at pictures.

I'm looking forward to a busy and productive and awesome and stuff week this week, so pray for us!

Love you guys, and hope you have a great week!

Elder Christopher Drake

On the Road

Not the Jack Kerouac novel. Wasn't impressed. 

However, I am being transferred again. And so is Elder Dickson. 

Little Flock ward has now been shotgunned three transfers in a row. 

The good news is Elder Allred is coming in and is training. He broke the news to me before my Zone Leaders did. That's what they get for waiting until 9:50 to break such terrible news to us. 

So that's a bummer. I'm going to Rolla, Missouri and Elder Dickson is going to Prairie Grove Arkansas. It'll be fun adventures ahoy. Good news is Rolla has a truck. Just in time for the worst part of summer. Hopefully it has a Walmart though, unlike Stockton. 

We did exchanges back to back this week, and we're supposed to do one before transfers but not sure if that's going to happen now. Weren't exactly expecting to have the new elders in the district transferred along with one of the elders that reopened a closed area 4 weeks into the transfer. Oh, the mission drama. 

On Thursday I went to Pea Ridge with Elder Harrison. He's an interesting guy. He's from North Pole, Alaska, so that's cool. He's not very good at biking uphill, and the bike I was using was very janky and didn't like to do anything right. A few times he'd cruise down a big hill and I'd keep up as best I could because if you pedal too hard, the chain slips on Elder Howard's (the missionary that I swapped with) bike. Then I'd shift into the lowest gear I could to get up the hill without losing momentum thanks to the slipping chain and sure enough Elder Harrison would be almost stopped and then then it would just be bad news bears from there. 

We did see a sweet investigator named Marty though. He doesn't want to commit to a date to be baptized, but he'll get there. 

Later, I learned how to play Scarborough Fair on Elder Harrison's guitar which he just decided to get last week so he could learn to play guitar. He's coming along. 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyyyme

On Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Magna, one of the Spanish missionaries. It was nice because they have a car, but I also don't speak Spanish, so that made lessons a little hard to stay awake in. I did get to read from El Libro de Mormon though and I felt cool. I think my new favorite word is sacerdocio. I think it means priesthood. Well, it means priesthood in Portuguese, because I remember a friend writing to me about that. Who knows what it means in Spanish.

Remember that guy who has an RX-7? Well he's totally awesome. His name is Chad. He's super busy, but he wants to come to church and all that cool stuff. It's one of those "Hey gimme all your info so I can call you" cases though, and that's super bummer as a missionary because even though we can tell he wants to learn more, it just feels like he's putting us off, but really he's just crazy busy. We compromised with the "If we don't hear from you, is it okay if we stop by next week?" I'm really bummed we couldn't become best friends and drive our RX-7s to the temple together or something. 

Oh yeah, here's a picture of Elder Magana and I at Chik-Fil-A

Apparently they have "Cow Appreciation Day" and if you dress up like a cow you can get any meal on the menu FOR FREES. I don't know if it's every July 11th, but if it is, my goal is to find a city that has both a 7-11 and a Chik-Fil-A and get a free Slurpee and a free meal. 

Love you peeps, have a good one!

Elder Christopher Drake

July 7th

This morning started off much like any other, but just outside of my scope of reality lay in wait a book that would change me forever. As I walked into the library, where my fellows joined me, I saw it. Quietly displayed on a shelf for the curious soul to behold. My eyes caught the cover. Confused for a moment, I gazed upon it, and something deep in my soul stirred. "What is this new devilry?" I pondered, and hesitantly approached it. It beckoned to me, almost calling my name. With shaking hands I picked it up. Almost not daring to open it, I stole a furtive glance over my shoulder. Finally, my curiosity triumphed and the book fell open in my hands. It's pages read, 

VADER    If thou but knewest all the power of

               The dark side. Obi-Wan hath never told

               Thee of what happen'd to thy father, Luke

LUKE       O, he hath spoken much. And he hath told

               Me of the truth--that thou didst slay him, aye, 

               And without cause or mercy, murderer

               Most vile and wretched!

VADER                       --No, I am thy father.

100 million brownie points to the person who gives me a copy of "William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back: Star Wars Part the Fifth" when I get home. I haven't read it and I'm pretty sure it's already my favorite book of all time. 

Anyway, Star Wars aside, we had a super week full of back to back double header exchanges, the fall of one of our most precious investigators contrasted by another soul rising from the ashes of old age, and also Monopoly. Oh and fireworks. 

Happy Independence Day, by the way. 

We played Monopoly on Monday and I won for the first time! It turns out that when you're older than 8, have at least three more people to play with you, and also play by all the rules, Monopoly can be quite fun. 

We all thought Elder Dickson would be the champion, but alas! he fell into my clutches when his dice betrayed him and placed his top hat on States Avenue and the hotel which resided thereon. The old adage is true, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Elder Dickson's tears only fueled my thirst for power as his assets became mine as a result of his unforgiven debt. I mercilessly placed houses and hotels on the properties which had so recently fallen into my possession, and Elder Arroyo was helpless to resist. 

That's pretty much a preparation day in the Little Flock district. 

On Tuesday, we went and tried to see Dale and Maddie, the Nova guy. Maddie wasn't there, and Dale had just heard a few hours prior to our arrival that a good friend of his had terminal cancer. =/ Unfortunately, he wasn't too interested in talking more about what we believe, and was insistent that he wouldn't "convert or nothin'" However, there still lies a glimmer of hope with his daughter. She's just super busy. 

On Wednesday and Thursday we were on exchanges. Double headers are rough, but fun. I stayed on Wednesday and worked with Elder Howard from Pea Ridge, and on Thursday I worked with Elder Trantham (whom I came out with) in Rogers 1st ward. Exchanges were...interesting. Rogers 1st was also shotgunned, but after their area was closed a week and a half into the transfer, and reopened on the third week. It was also Elder Tranthams first week back after recovering from a broken leg from falling off a tractor three months ago. We didn't do a whole lot. After about two hours of stopping by people with no luck (remember this was the 3rd of July) Elder Trantham said, "Well, I don't know what to do now." So I bought some Swedish Fish, and a new pair of socks with my Target gift card and we tried to stop by a few more people after that. Luckily we had dinner at 6 and something to do after dinner. Poor guys. 

Oh, also, I forgot to mention that while on exchanges the previous day with Elder Howard, I offered Elder Dickson's and Elder Bulpitt's services to a less-active fellow. They mowed his lawn (with an old fashioned push mower. You know, the kind without a motor) and also trimmed up some of the grass around the fence and his trees (with scissors). Good times. 

On Idependence Day, we didn't do a whole lot. Nobody was really home, and if they were they weren't really wanting to talk to us. After dinner, we went to Bentonville, courtesy of the Ericksons and thanks to the Zone Leaders for permission. I sat in a lawn chair and kept my best friend, Sam the Labrador/Shar-Pei mix, from assaulting Elder Arroyo who doesn't like dogs. Elder Dickson got chiggers and talked (or rather listened) to a 5 year old for two and a half hours. They became best friends. Good times were had. 

On Sunday, we had an awesome lesson with our old lady friend, Vonnie, and a Wal-Mart intern who was our exchange for the night. We talked about the Spirit World, and all of that wonderful stuff. After the closing prayer she said, 

"Well I gotta open up a can of worms before you go."

"All right, let's have it," we replied.

"So tell me what the deal is with polygamy and all that weird stuff."

"That's a great question! The short answer is we don't practice that anymore, and anybody who does is excommunicated. There's a long answer, and if you like we can share it with you next time."

"Nope, I don't need to know anything more than that you don't do it anymore."

People are fun. 

That's about the whole of my week. I love y'alls and hope you have a splendid week! 

Elder Christopher Drake