Elder Wride in California: Week 9

Ollo

(It looks like no one got my last weeks email, I didn't know and never re sent it because I've been locked out of my account for like the whole past week. But here it is.)

This is my last 1 digit email. Woah. Also, I have now officially been a Missionary for 2 months as of November 5th.

1. Transfers and Goodbye Elder Ferry

2. Biking

3. A Fatted Calf

4. VeggieTales

5. Missionary vs Salesman Life: Ryan

6. Spiritual Thought

1. President Giménez had some weird things going on with transfers. The whole mission is in chaos. I got transferred into another trio and in a new area. Like what? I was only here for 6 weeks, but now I'm moving. Although I'm now companions with my old zone leader and he's really cool. So I have 5 Mission dads. Elder Palmer, Ferry, Hayes, Vickery, and Bushman. Elder Bushman wasn't technically my Dad, it just feels right for him to be one of my Dads. Anyway, so I feel kinda weird like I miss my old area and didn't feel like I did as much there as I could've, so I'll try to do better here. And, Elder Ferry is dead. He has stinketh for weeks. His parents came from Arizona to pick him up this morning and he's getting released later tonight which is weird to think about. But he will be missed. He's very awkward in a funny way. He also told me a couple of pickup lines which I have chosen not to share. The best way I can describe him is as an older version of my younger brother Owen. It just fits.

2. Well, there were, as it turns out, a couple of things wrong with my bike. I don't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but my back bike brake was broken. It was rubbing against the tire so there was more resistance. I found that out a couple weeks ago but I forgot and so I didn't fix it. So that made it difficult to bike at. My bike also got a flat tire. I don't know when it became flat, it couldn't have been flat for long. And I only noticed it the last time we biked. But it didn't feel much harder to pedal than before so I don't know. So yeah, seriously, I don't know how I have woken up every morning without legs made of solid steel. I should've taken a before picture. I'm not gonna share my leg progress because a lot of people on here probably wouldn't be as impressed. So since my bike was broken, I've borrowed Elder Ferry's bike a couple times while he's doing departing activities. And yeah, his bike is way easier to pedal, I was going into hyperspace. Also his seat is comfortable. But thank goodness we now have a car. Words cannot describe my joy. I have missed driving so much, even though it's not as cool of a car as the Fiesta.

3. Most mornings I eat a decently large breakfast. Pancakes, eggs and bacon or sausage. And last Sunday we had a couple, the Bachs, ask us how our dinner schedule was like this week. Brother Bach said it would be a "fatted calf" meal. That phrase just made me so happy. You know it's going to be a good meal if that's the phrase used to describe it. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant and it was really good. Later, we also had a visit with another family where they gave us a bunch of Halloween candy. We were picking candy from the bowl and I felt like a little kid again. I hadn't had Dots, Whoppers, Crunch, or other candies in sooo long. So, the point of these little stories is: I don't know if I should be concerned for my health or not. I honestly don't think I have gained weight. But in most cases I don't think people notice until the weight is already gained. So that might be what happens so I need to have some more awareness. I haven't gotten on a scale in a good while. I tell myself it's because the scale is broken, which it is, but it's also out of fear. I don't know what to expect or what it will say. I also have noticed my America pants feel like they're getting a little smaller. They still fit fine, but there is a noticeable difference from when I first got them. But like I said I honestly think I'm fine. Biking and exercise have definitely helped. But since I will be in a car, I'll have to take better care of myself. Also since we're getting into Holiday season, which is when all the Elders say they've gained the most weight. So I'll just have to watch myself better. I do have to make an exception for Thanksgiving. I just have to, it's like my second favorite holiday.

4. So I wasn't planning on making this an actual point in my email, but there was enough I wanted to talk about, so here we are. So, on Friday I don't remember why, but I decided to make an Omelet for Breakfast. There was no reason for this. I was imagining the Omelet from VeggieTales that was described as Fluffy and Light (I haven't seen VeggieTales since I was like what? 6? 8? I do not know why I still remember it). Anyway, I was trying to find an image on FaceBook (which is my new Google) showing this perfectly cooked Omelet from VeggieTales, but didn't find any. but I found this quote from the episode and was inspired by the writers of VeggieTales. In this, the story is something about Omelets but the character is based on Hamlet. And the lesson is on sharing. Here it is from the scene.

"The last poor yolks! I'll chew them well, Horatio.... To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to share my eggs cooked light and fluffy or to scarf down the whole thing myself. To share or not to share... Just guess where my ships are. 2B? Not 2B ... Where might I find some toast? Get thee to a bakery."

We don't deserve the writers of this show.

Like where did that come from? I am impressed and inspired. I also found the Ballad of Little Joe on Facebook. It's the VeggieTales version of Joseph of Egypt. I watched the whole thing, highly recommend it. The intermission song in the episode got me. I'm not gonna say what it was. But yeah, there's a lot of emotional weight to VeggieTales, and it's a lot more entertaining than I remember. So that's the Journey I went on that I just needed to include in this email. My Omelet didn't turn out so well, more like a broken scrambled eggwich with veggies and cheese in between. Image below. I also got a picture of the actual Omelet from VeggieTales for comparison

5. With all these people trying to feed me I have also concluded whether life as a salesman or Missionary is harder for me. And I think overall being a Salesman was harder for me.

• In sales my days consisted of knocking doors for 7-8 hours a day, making 0 sales a day by myself. The amount of crying would depend on the day. Some days I didn't cry at all, other days, that's all I did. I would average it at 3 crying sessions a day I think. And people laugh at you while you're crying on the side of the road (Just kidding. Actually I guess it's possible but I never saw anyone). But yeah, it's just that nobody likes salesmen. There's a spectrum of love and hate, and for salesmen, you stay at the bottom. It goes generally from people who just don't want to talk to you, to people who will call the cops on you. There were like a couple nice people. Like a random guy gave me a powerade and people gave you water bottles if it was hot. But I can confidently say that no one wants to feed or be nice to some random Joe on their porch.

• As a Missionary, I get a lot of time for studying, and everything you do is geared to focusing on others. You're with someone 24/7 (Which also has its challenges), and I haven't done any tracting which is great. I can also say I haven't officially cried while on the mission so far. I've wanted to, but I haven't had time so I do count it. I did have time while going to bed, but I wasn't sad anymore because I was happy that I was going to bed. On the love hate spectrum, people are all over. You have nice members and cool people. People that are honking, waving, trying to feed me, or things like that. You also have a lot of people in the middle of the spectrum, just other random people. Then, you have the end of the spectrum. Rude people, Satanists, and Bashers. But when people hate you as a Missionary, they really hate you. A lot.

• I am grateful for that summer job experience. It's made the mission easier as I did receive a decently large whoopin. I also have some money for when I get back which is nice. But, let's just say I still have slight PTSD from when I hear Ring's (The Company) doorbell tune.

• But there are definitely parts that were easier in sales and harder on a mission. I would say what makes the two different, when you say that they're harder for different reasons, it centers around the importance of what you were doing. As a salesman you didn't feel like you were doing things as meaningful or important, even if I was working for college. As a Missionary what you do has more depth. It's harder because what you struggle with has more importance, as well as what you see others struggle with.

• So, now I would like to transition to Ryan. I mentioned him last week, but I didn't say much because I didn't know much. He was an inactive member for 20 years I think. We stopped by, left treats, but he kinda ghosted us. But those little stops worked because he called us Sunday a week ago. We visited him Thursday with the Elders Quorum President. He's essentially hit rock bottom. He's 40 years old, struggling with an alcohol addiction and he said he just needs help. When we stopped by, the apartment was a wreck. He was laying on a pullout couch right next to the door, close enough he didn't have to get up to answer it. It had a stench too and he was pretty tipsy. It was interesting. We were still able to have a talk with him and everything and let him know we were here to help. What made me more sad was after the opening prayer he said he really had missed that feeling. But it was great to talk with him. He was just drunk and grateful for us coming by. Well we went by on Friday too (Want to make sure someones coming by everyday). And he was sober. That's when we learned he was really sick. Vomiting a lot so he hadn't been able to eat in days. He was also worried he would get evicted. We left him with a blessing for the sick. But yeah pray for him. He's gone through rehab multiple times, they don't want him back anymore. He's got a wife and a kid that don't live with him, so we're just trying to help him get back on his feet. His parents and the Elders Quorum president are taking the main hold on the situation, we just stop by every once in a while. Or we were, I'm transferred now but Elder Palmer will keep me updated.

6. I wanted to share this 1 month in or earlier, but I forgot. But, I wanted to share the main things I've learned this far into the mission.

1) I define Missionary success by how pleased I feel with myself, how much I think God is happy with my effort at the end of the day. Regardless of how many people we've added to our teaching pool. So, the best days I've had are when I feel I've worked the hardest and done my best.

2) I have realized how important the Gospel is to me. I didn't treat it as important growing up, but after this change on the mission I've realized that I didn't study scriptures, pray sincerely or other things as much as I should've. And just realizing how much it has helped in my life. Because I've been told how important it is, but I didn't really take it in as well. So yeah.

But yeah I think that's it for this week. Bashing has been fine, I'm still just completely wrecking them with the Spirit. Although my brain has just felt off this week, it's malfunctioning, I need to take it into the shop or something. This week felt longer because it was the last week of the transfer. Also since it's the first week since I got my haircut. First week is always the hardest. But I just need to take a day off and sleep for like the whole day. Hasta la see ya

- Elder Wride

1. The Bachs gave us these custom waterbottles which were cool. Elder Ferry on a plane haha