Elder Wride in California: Week 5 - Ukulele and Bible Basher

Nihao

This week was Bueno

1. Random Things

2. Companions

3. Ukulele

4. Farmers Market and Bible Basher

5. Exchange

1. So there are just a bunch of random things I wanna talk about that aren't really related so each point is a separate topic.

I think I've said this before, but Missionaries are very deprived of entertainment. I don't have a SIM card, so I can't download Samsung Music, which is what all the Missionaries use. So the only music I have is from the Sacred Music app. Which is great, but I don't like listening to only Hymns. I don't get a SIM card till the next transfer so it will be a long time.
Quick tip: So, on the Facebook Messenger app, I used to get really annoyed when there were new messages and the little circles came up on your home screen. There's probably a way to fix it, but I found out if you just swipe it down it goes to the little x circle. So now I'm just getting practice shooting the little messenger icons, and it's my main source of entertainment right now. Unfortunately it won't bounce off the sides of the screen. That would be cool. But now you can have fun when that circle thing comes up, so you're welcome.
Last thing. Thank you Mom! We ordered bedding stuff and had it sent to the Mission office because that's what it said to do on the missionary portal. I got like a waffle blanket and 2 poofy pillows and it's amazing. It was a little concerning that maybe the pillows would lose their profiles, but in the morning they have still retained their profiles. It may be that I'm just more tired at night so going to bed just is better, but it's like my favorite bed of all time. It's not like I just think about going to bed all day, but every time it's time for bed I just get so happy like I'm so excited to sleep. So thank you Mom for letting me pick my bedding stuff.

2. I just wanted to talk a bit about my companions. Elder Palmer and Elder Ferry.

Elder Palmer is the tall one with glasses. Remember him because palm tree and Palmer sound similar. So Palmer is my trainer, and he's been out for a year to the day I think. We get along, but I think he gets frustrated with me sometimes. And I think this goes for my MTC companion too, Elder Hardman. But, my friends know this, I am so oblivious and confused a lot. And so, I want to know what's going on, so I'll be like "Wait, what are we doing?". And so sometimes he just won't respond and like I didn't know what the issue was, but now it makes sense. And like back with Elder Hardman too. So sorry, I just don't understand things well. He is great though and he likes to cook food for us, which is nice so yeah.
Elder Ferry is cool. He's the District leader and kind of my second trainer I guess? He's got 4 weeks left, this is his last transfer. He kind of reminds me of a combination of my brother Joseph and myself. He is a lot more calm and relaxed than Palmer. And he has a better sense of humor I would say. He has told me quite a few pick up lines That are both terrible, and golden at the same time. He also really likes body wash or something. Our bathroom has like 6 different body washes and he has like 4 deodorants. I mean, that's great, but a little peculiar
Either my sense of humor is deteriorating, or nobody gets it. Because nobody laughs at my jokes anymore and it's starting to get to me. Because like I'll say things I think are funny, and then it's just quiet. And it's hurting my self confidence. Maybe it's just that they've been out here for too long and they don't understand. I don't know.

3. I started practicing Ukulele. I just needed something because I'm dying here. The Ukulele is Palmer's old Ukulele which he says is kind of broken. The strings don't tune very well, but I can't figure it out. I'm practicing just string plucking, I don't really know how to do chords as well. Plus, it is out of tune and doesn't sound good. Anyway, the only songs I'm working on are like SpongeBob closing theme, Habanera (Carl's wake up routine from UP), Not in Nottingham by Robin hood and that's pretty much it. My companions are probably getting really sick of those songs. My MTC District knows. Those songs have been stuck in my head for weeks.

4. So apparently the only thing that goes on in Poway is the Farmers Market. We had it earlier this week and everyone had stands set up for food and things. One guy was selling almonds for like $15. I was like "Yeah forget it, that's not happening". The only thing we got was carrots from some lady who just handed them to us. As we were walking around the park some Spanish guy called us over. He started talking to us, and I didn't know what he was saying, but he was very passionate about whatever it was. I picked up a couple of words like "Killing" "Only the Bible" and something about how Christ is on coming 1 time". I was just standing there smiling like an idiot and then eventually Palmer was just like okay thank you, see you later. They said he was bashing, and like I kind of picked up on that but I wasn't sure. So that was cool.

5. We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was really good. Ferry and I went with one of the ZLs and it just felt a lot more productive. We went through the list of members to set up lessons, and went looking in the park. I just felt like I was fulfilling my purpose a lot better, because a lot of the time, we haven't done as much in person finding as I thought or felt like we should do. So we met this guy named Jeff. He is inactive, but he served a mission. He said he never gained a Testimony of Joseph Smith even after the 2 years and so he walked away from the Church. I just thought it was cool because he said he really respects the Church, he just never got that. And that is like my greatest fear. I've had enough experiences that I can believe in the Church and move forward. Experiences in the Temple, my Patriarchal Blessing, Efy, the MTC, Church History tour, etc. But like I'm scared about never getting to the point where I can say I know the Church is true without a doubt. I know there is a special light about this Church and that days go by better as we make efforts to do what God has commanded. In reading the Book of Mormon, praying with sincerity, following the words of the Prophets, the list goes on.

So I would encourage you all to do those things to the best of your ability. And can say that God's promised blessings from obeying these commandments will come. But it is in His timing.

I think that's all for this week. I did my best to make the email clear, sorry if it wasn't. Feel free to shoot me an email, I will read them. I hope you all have a splendid week.

1. My Comps and Zone Leaders - This is how we started one of the morning devotionals. I put duct tape on my glasses because I didn't have any sunglasses. And everyone here says Pogi. I don't really know what it means, I'll probably start saying it though.