July 18, 2011

silly scripture of the week is 1st Kings 3:24

hopefully we'll have a few baptisms by the end of the month. we have a few people ready for it.

so this week there hasn't been much rain it's back to being really hot again. but i'm kinda getting more used to it. the heat and salty air are hard to get used to though. the air and rain really destroys everything here. everything rusts in like a week because it's so close to the sea. (my area is pretty much what Americans would call the beach.) which destroys buildings really quick. the chapel has been being renovated this entire time that I've been here. i'm not sure if that's normal, but it think if it's not constantly being fixed, it'll break down because of the weather.

this time around though, i'm alright because i've already experienced the heat and gotten used to it and i've lost a lot of weight so it's helped to ease the burden. when i first got here, it was really unbearable and i wanted to leave but it just took some time to adjust. the ward has really helped me to enjoy my stay here. they work really hard to help with missionary efforts. they'll go out working with you for like 5 hours and they'll feed you a lot. i didn't really realize how good of a ward this was until elder woodford told me about his other areas. out in the bukid (jungle mountain areas)

there was an earthquake this week here. it was in the middle of the night and the bed and house were swaying a bit. i didn't wake up to quickly to it because i use earplugs and earmuffs while i sleep but it lasted for like 20 seconds and then we went back to sleep.

Elder Woodford pointed out that all the Arizonans in this mission are big (like at least 6'0") i didn't realize that until recently. that probably somehow factors into why i was sent here. who knows, maybe jake will be sent here as well and i'll be his trainer. (long shot though)

i spoke last week about being "blessed." well there is this one kid who really likes shaking missionary's hands and he's been doing that since i first came into fifth ward. (he's like 2) but now he's also blessing us. it's funny because you normally only do that to the elderly. not only that but at a party, he was crying because of something and me and elder woodford walked up to him and shook his hand and he blessed us while he was crying.