Yeah, that week was pretty awesome. This week sounds a bit more like Dad's used to; every single one of our appointments we had scheduled fell through. We were only able to see four of our investigators, through drop by visits, and because of Winter Carnival, a lot of the people we tried had simply vanished. It was a kind of tough week, work wise.
However, we still had an awesome Sunday. To start it off, we went up to Riggins Idaho, for the first time for either Elder Maynard or me. We were asked to give talks in the Riggins Branch on "Decisions for Eternity," and i feel like we both did a really good job, with Elder Maynard's being better than mine. He went first, and spoke on how small and simple changes can affect our lives, either for good or for bad. One of the quotes that i liked was:
"Surround yourselves with positive things, because the things that you're around lead to thoughts, and your thoughts lead to words, and your words lead to actions, and your actions lead to habits, and your habits lead to your life. As latter day saints, we also know that you life on earth leads to your life after death, so each small thing you do to improve brings you closer to your goal."
Amen.
I focused my talk more on the bigger decisions that we make as Latter Day Saints, specifically the ordinances we do for exaltation. I used the True to the Faith to define what those were, and lead that into what we always talk about; missionary work. I worked the history of the Restoration into it, stressing the trials that Joseph Smith went through so that we could have the gospel back on the earth. I closed it with a challenge to friendship, regardless of the outcome, three new people in the coming week.
Since there were 28 people in attendance to the Riggins Branch, that should be 84 people friendshipped in total.
Also at the Riggins branch, there were three investigators at church, all the work of the members of the branch (Elders hadn't made it up to Riggins in more than 6 months because of how far out it is). The Elders' Quorum President (and the Ward Mission leader, and the Scoutmaster, and the Home Teacher coordinator) had four other families that he wanted to come with us to teach, aside from the three at church. In short, there would be at least one ward in Riggins already if they weren't so far away. We have set up with Brother Parmenter (said Elders' Quorum President) to try and go out to Riggins once a week now, because we don't have to cover Cascade anymore, so things should pick up really quick.
After Riggins, we headed back to New Meadows (about twenty minutes from McCall), and had a few visits with with some members (one PMF and a dinner appointment). Then we stopped by a few less active families, and went home.
Anyways, WINTER CARNIVAL!!!
I am working on uploading a bunch of pictures, and and of the structures you see at night and made of ice. Today we are having the rest of our district up for the carnival, and i'll get some better pictures of the sculptures. Those big pillars of snow, are going to be a competition for professional sculptors, and i'm super excited to see how those turn out. On Friday they started off the whole shenanigan with fireworks over the lake, and because they were over the lake, there are no restrictions for how high they have to fly. We had some blast low enough that some of the sparkles hit the ground while still alight. On Saturday, there was the longest parade that i have ever seen, up to and including any at Disneyworld, on the 4th of July, or the Rose Parade. (The floats weren't quite as cool as those parades, though). At three on Saturday, there was a polar plunge, where Nate dressed up as a fox and him and two other members sang (with the music playing in the background) What does the Fox Say? (Look it up on YouTube if you are curious--the song, not the plunge).
The one event that i really wanted to go to, but we had to miss, was the Monster Dog Pull. They had about a hundred different dogs, from Bull Mastiffs to chihuahuas, lined up to pull weighted sleds and see who got the fastest time in each weight class. Unfortunately, the date and time were problems. The Dog Pull happened on Sunday morning, at 11:00 am. So first off, no because it was on Sunday, then another no because we were at Riggins at 11:00. So, i was very very very very very very sad. Oh well.
Well, that just about sums up the week. Thank you for sitting and reading my ranting every week.
Love and Insanity, Elder Stuver
No comments:
Post a Comment