Semana 17: "Hey There Sweater Vest"

 

It is so beautiful here

Branch Council feat. President Jones (branch president), Brother Edwards (second counselor in the branch presidency), Sister Larchar, Sister Raphael (RS president):
President Jones: "Who has a spiritual thought about ministering they'd like to share?
Bro Edwards: "I did something that I've never done before that I wasn't supposed to do..."
Everyone: *look of confusion*
Sis Larchar: "What was it?"
Bro Edwards: "McDonald's brought the McRibs back... and I had to get one. BUT I paid for the people behind me so I guess that passes off as ministering"
President Jones: "So, you not only broke the Sabbath Day for yourself... but also the people behind you as well?
Brother Edwards: "Well they were planning on breaking it anyways"
Sis Larchar: "How did McDonalds get brought up with ministering??"
Sis Raphael: "The parable of the french fry"
Everyone: *more confusion*
President Jones: "I used to work at McDonalds as a teenager!"
*continues to talk about McDonalds for another 5 minutes*

So yeah that basically describes what it is like to be in a branch hahaha. I wouldn't change it for the world! Anyways, how is everyone?!? To be completely honest, this week went by pretty slow. Nothing too crazy happened. I got some news that I should be going to Mexico within the next few weeks, hopefully!! I am honestly so excited for that. Even though my Spanish is slacking right now, it will be nice to finally get outside and talk to some people in person. There is so much to be thankful for!

Last District Council

This Wednesday was a start of a new transfer and Elder Culebro, Elder Wilson, and I are all staying together in Norwich! What a party! Transfer 3 with the boyssss!

We had interviews over the phone with President Vest this last Tuesday and it turns out Elder Culebro and I were the last missionaries to be interviewed. It's such a great feeling being able to make my mission president cry laughing because of my brutally honest humor. I guess you can say President Vest and I are good friends! 

Side note: It's really funny seeing all the Elders in the mission lean forward on the zoom calls when an attractive sister missionary is talking. 

This is how Elder Wilson takes selfies, love this kid

So yeah Norwich is a pretty boring town to say the least but something pretty interesting happened... someone stole the Baby Jesus from the Nativity setup in the town's park. I don't know if I should call the person who stole it a savage or an imbecile but it definitely got a laugh out of my comps and I!

My companions and I were walking out of our apartment and there was this Post Malone lookin' gangsta dude just chilling  outside and Elder Wilson said hi just to be friendly and the man responded with "Hey There Sweater Vest" ahahah Elder Wilson got wrecked!

I don't know why all of the funny things happen to Elder Wilson but we called this one random guy who started cussing us out because he thought we were prank callers. He eventually calmed down and we started teaching the Restoration to him... kinda. Elder Wilson brought up Joseph Smith and this guy stopped him and said "Hold up... Joe Smith? You do know that has got to be the most generic name to ever exist? Joe Smith?". Elder Wilson kept saying, "Sir it's Joseph Smith" but the man WOULD NOT let it go and kept saying Joe Smith. He was totally taunting us and it was really funny. Finally after 10 minutes and like 30 minutes of trying to correct this man he finally was like "AH! Joseph Smith! Why did you keep saying Joe Smith?" I think we are all super annoyed at this point. Very interesting experience. 

#lighttheworld

We had a lot of amazing lessons this week and we even found 3 new friends: Adalynn, Kurt and Barbara! Adalynn is like 16 years old so we had to get permission from her parents to teach her and they said it was totally fine! Kurt is really nice and seemed eager to talk with us again about God. Barbara is the sweetest old lady I've ever met in my entire life!

Barbara is in a wheelchair and lives alone, but she's had many marvelous experiences in her life and she seems so grateful for everything in her life. She told us a really sad story about how her grandson committed suicide and how much she missed him. She said that if he was alive and heard the message we were sharing to her, he would probably still be here. That really touched me and made me think about how grateful I am to be born in the gospel and to know that we can be with our families forever. I think we often take it for granted.

Appreciate the scruff, I forgot to shave

I've been thinking a lot about the true need for a Redeemer and I feel like as I study, the more I can feel the Spirit testify to me the importance of our Savior. A Savior and Redeemer of mankind is essential to bring us from that degenerate state to becoming like God. Christ is that binding power to bring us to that plane of godship that we are all striving to obtain. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and everything he's done for me. This Christmas season is a great time to sit back and reflect on our own personal relationships with our Savior and what we can do to strengthen it. Too many people get distracted with worldly stresses and responsibilities and often forget about God. I hope you can all remember that it is Christ who makes those burdens light. Listen to Him and His counsel and everything in your life will feel easier. I know this to be true.

I love you all! Emails are very much appreciated. Hope everyone has a great week!

-Elder Scown