Week #16 - Ice Cream for I Scream!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! A very special birthday letter will arrive soon.

This last week's been pretty nuts. We've been insanely busy but unfortunately it wasn't quite due to missionary work. Our car was finally taken away and totaled, but sadly we are not getting a new car. The entire mission is down three cars, so instead of getting a new one like we were told we would, we didn't get anything. Being without bikes and having to cover a Singles Branch (which covers the entire stake) made this even more exciting, and our travel coordinator suggested bus transportation and rides from members. Easier said than done I suppose. Thankfully, the first ward elders (who used to be on bike but last transfer got a brand new Corolla) offered to pretty much give up their car for us and go back to bikes. So, after two days of walking (and accomplishing little), we did get a new car which was quite helpful.
Friday and Saturday our zone put on puppet shows of Bible Stories (Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion's Den, and Jonah and the Whale) at a crazy big festival dealy in Rio Vista. They were a HUGE hit. Elder Walton, Elder Allred and I wrote all the scripts and they were pretty well done, if I do say so myself. We also did most of the voices and puppeteering and got pretty into it. The kids loved it and we actually got some good contacts as well.

Also, I made another trip to Rio Vista today because a sister that's going home in a couple of days wanted me to sing with her and the other sisters in sacrament meeting- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. It went well and the woman who played piano for us asked me to marry her daughter. We blew a lot of miles having to make three trips to Rio Vista in three days though.

Other than that, we had quite the experience with Kelly (the 89 year old guy we're teaching). We had about four people that were somewhat nearby that we decided to visit (while we were on foot). Kelly was one of them- they were all somewhat scattered, but he was the farthest one away. So we were just going to visit all four, him being last, and then head back to the house. Out of nowhere I decided we should just go see Kelly first and then see everyone else afterwards (it really didn't make sense to do that...it added a lot of time to our walking). But, it turned out that we showed up about twenty minutes before he had to go to the doctors office all day. He wasn't thrilled about going at all and he told us that he had just been thinking about us and wanted to be able to talk and pray before he went. After reading a bit from the Book of Mormon we asked him if he'd like us to give him a blessing instead.

(FYI - If you're not familiar with what a blessing is, here's the definition:
Priesthood Blessing: A blessing given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, by the laying on of hands and by inspiration, to one who is sick or otherwise in need of special counsel, comfort, or healing. If the blessing is for the sick, consecrated oil is used (James 5:14–15). Priesthood blessings are given by the authority of the priesthood for healing, comfort, and encouragement. Brethren who perform ordinances and blessings should prepare themselves by living according to gospel principles and striving to be guided by the Holy Spirit.)

He asked me to offer it and afterwards he prayed and thanked the Lord for sending us and for the comfort he received- he also said how he knew the words spoken were straight from God. After the prayer he told us he felt tons better and was very grateful for us stopping by. It was way cool. It also turned out that the other three people we planned on visiting weren't even home.

I'm a little short on time- transfers are tomorrow so today's a full day. Everything's staying the same for me but a lot of people are leaving. Sounds like things will be interesting. That about wraps her up.

Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Al