Out of the MTC!

Sorry for no post last week-- out of the 5 P-Days I've had so far, I've only been able to email on 2 of them (until now). So I'm out on the mission now.... for real! I'm finished teaching fake investigators and role-playing at the Missionary training Center, and out doing it for real! Or... in other words, I'm out in the ocean after fishing in the MTC (empty sea... get it?)

FYI, my address for at least the next 5 weeks will be: 6970 E Cedar Bldg C #704, Denver, CO 80224.

So, I'm serving in the Crestmoor East area of Denver with a companion named Elder Stamper whose been out 20 months. I have been lucky/blessed with several things: 1.) the largest apartment in the mission. 2.) a FREE bike from a departing elder, and 3.) a fairly easy-going companion who is really good at fixing and tuning bikes.

All English Elder areas use bikes, and almost every mission has a car with limited miles for use in long commutes. Unfortunately, ours is one of the few missions with no car-- bike only. Plus, in addition to it being my first time riding a bike in 6 years, my companion is Speedy Gonzales on the cycle, so it's... interesting trying to keep up.

Oh, and I may possibly get a Spanish mission after all! The Spanish Elders and Sisters heard me talking Spanish, and they started conversations. They're recommending me to the President for a language transfer, and my comp is sure it's going to happen within two transfers. I'm not as sure, but it would be nice, because Spanish areas are so big they never use those confounded bikes!

Also the work is progressing well. My comp says there hasn't been an elder that cares about the area for about 2 years, and no one has reached the kind of numbers we've reached this past week, nor the success we've experienced. We have a ton of New Investigators to go teach on Monday. The only problem is, half the people we contact speak Spanish, so I do most of the talking. Still, I enjoy it.

I can honestly say that this work has made me the most tired I've ever been, but in a good way. I go to sleep satisfied and happy (waking up is a different story-- 6:30 doesn't suit me well).

I'd include pictures, but the USB slot they have here doesn't like my microSD to USB adapter. Looks like I'll be getting a USB extension cord pretty soon. I'll send pictures next week-- Colorado is what Mom would call "beautiful." We live on the 7th story of the largest building in the area, so you can see for miles from our patio.

Ooh, of course I must tell you about Colfax. Colfax is a major street that we OYM (Open Your Mouth) or contact almost every night. It's a great, busy street, but the problem is, we tend to attract lunatics.

We usually run into an average of 3 crazy people over 2 hours of contacting. The funny thing is, none of them call us Mormons, but use the Church's actual name (The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).

There was one guy named William who accosted us and pulled out of his wallet one of the cards that missionaries pass out-- a Faith in Christ Referral card. It has a picture of Christ coming out of the tomb. While he was homeless in Louisiana, he fell asleep at the foot of a Jesus statue. When he awoke, he found this card and a dime sitting next to him (I think it was some Elder trying to be funny).

Well, William decided that it was God's message that Christ was always watching out for him, so he taped his newly-found "sacred Jesus dime" underneath Christ's outstretched hand,"as if to say, 'here-- have a dime'" William so eloquently stated. He's carried that card and dime around with him for inspiration for 3 years, and would not let us leave until we promised to make such a card-dime combination ourselves, and to tell his story to others (I assured him that I have a blog, and people would definitely know ☺). William told his story no less than 7 times over again, and sent us off with a solemn testimony of our "divine calling against the adversary in a crazy world," and sang "Onward Christian Soldiers."

That one takes the cake, though there are plenty more I will have to share later because I've almost exhausted my 30 minutes. I know that I'm doing a good work, and I love serving this people! I know that the things I teach are true, and I love it.

God bless you all!