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Showing posts from August, 2018

Angelique's Baptism

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Angelique's baptism: It was about 8am. Things were... calm. I thought of the quote from Futurama Soldier: "This is the worst part... The calm before the battle." Fry: "Really? And then the battles not so bad?" Soldier: "Oh right, I forgot about the battle *fearfully squeals*" The last baptism we had the adversary made an attempt on our lives so naturally we were slightly uneasy. We made our first move of the day by calling the Bedford elders to borrow their flash drive and then the games began.  We learned to little too late that the Bedford elders had changed apartments and so they were now about 25 minutes away instead of 15. We left our own apartment way too late to make it to them by 10:30. We had a lesson 30 minutes away from them that was supposed to start at 11. We showed up at Bedford and they couldn't find the right flash drive. They were on exchange and so Elder Hartman was on the phone with Elder Lundel...

Baby Footprints

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Well shoot, gang. This week flew by so quickly I didn't even have time to smell the roses. All I've got is a little story this week! Baby Footprints: We were teaching this new person, we'd met him a week earlier and were preparing to teach him again. We went to his apartment and he started off with a prayer right away but right after he said amen he posed a question, "In America, why do doctors imprint baby's feet?" I knew in an instant why he was asking and desperately tried to think of a way to bring the conversation back to the gospel but he insisted.  Let me explain, In Africa, people are a lot more superstitious and if you asked the average African the most common form of death besides old age, "witches" would be a very popular answer. My own companion is also a staunch believer in witches and explained to me long ago the easiest way a witch can curse you. Basically all the need to do is find someone's bare footpri...

"Island Storm" "Waiting in the Rain"

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Island Storm: Recently, they changed up our districts so we've been with a new district and a new district leader who I went on exchange with last week. This week, I went on exchange in his area with his companion, Elder Kairo. The forecast was looking like rain which was really bumming me out because it's a bike area and I've never been a strong biker, let alone in the rain. Morning came though, and so did the rain. And as you already know about Texas, when it rains it pours. We mounted our bikes and charged into the storm to contact Less Actives. At first I was being very careful to avoid puddles because the back tire would flick water onto my back. Then someone in a 20 year old Mazda intentionally splashed us and we were drenched. I didn't get mad, though Elder Kairo, if he were given the chance,  would have punched them so hard multiple ambulances would have been required for any witnesses within 15 feet. I thought about Joseph Smith and how he seale...

"Manuia Asofanau"

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Manuia Asofanau: First of all, thank y'all so much for your love on my birthday, I really appreciated it!  Side note: some guy tried offering us a smoke (Not in a creepy "hey kids, want some drugs?" Kind of way but in a genuine nice way.) Then he caught himself and said, "y'all aren't old enough to smoke are you?" We said no but as we walked away we realized we are old enough to legally smoke which was weird. Unfortunately I had to go on exchange on my birthday with my district leader, Elder Tafua  who is indeed Samoan. It's not that I dislike him or hate going on exchanges, I kind of just wanted to be with Elder Shiday so the burden of decision isnt placed wholly on my shoulders. The day was ok, in fact, it was pretty normal. We did some contacting in the morning, had lunch at Chick-fil-a where I realized I've been ordering the same thing from Chik-fil-a for years. We had a few lessons in the afternoon and dinner with one of our b...