Hey I can almost see down the barrel (week 12/13)

Hello All!

Again I was lazy last week so I will combine the two weeks into this email. I feel bad but I also don't Ha! Ohh but there has been so much to talk about and so much to look forward to. SO! lets jump into it!

The Referral Grind (Feat. Elder Winterton)

     So I went on exchanges with one of zone leaders one day and it was actually the first time I had got the chance to do an exchange in my own area. I got to "Lead" the area but my zone leader just took over and said "Elder all we are doing is hitting up old referrals all day." So, I didn't actually lead my area he did lol. It was chill because it was the most productive day I've ever had out on the mission. Here is how it went. We started in a town called Azallia, which is about 20 minutes from our house we then drove all the way back to our house knocking on old referrals doors. We met a ton of people. A lot of who were genuinely interested and it was so much fun. My first taste of dissapointment out on mission was when we met this guy named Jedadiah. He was seriously the most "Elect" person we've met. He was asking questions, super involved in what we were teaching, and just wanted to know more. We told him about the Book of Mormon and told him about what it’s about. He was just blown away, he loved it! We offered him a copy and he took it with genuine care for it. We then set up a meeting with him the next day. We were on a spiritual high that night. So we cranked out a couple more referrals and called it a night. Elder Winterton leaves and the next morning I tell my companion about Jedadiah. Now he's hyped up. So we text Jedadiah to see if he's still wanting to meet. He then sends a short text message that says he doesn't want to be associated with our church and simply put. "I didn't know you all were Mormons." 

Are you for real? I thought we literally told this guy about the book of "MORMON" and gave you a copy before you left and he couldn't piece that together? Anyway, that was my first interaction with meeting someone who I thought was going to be our next friend who we would be able to teach only to get shut down. Such a shame. At least we got him in the books so we will give him time and hit him up later. The best lesson I learned from that exchange was just how important it is to hit referrals. You never know who The Lord has prepared for you.

Thanksgiving.

Happy late Thanksgiving! I hope you all ate some good grub and that your Thanksgiving was memorable this year. I know mine was. To start off, missionary work during a holiday might be the most uneventful thing ever. Especially during Thanksgiving. You really can't plan to meet with anyone or knock on doors because literally everyone and their mom pulls the "I am preparing Thanksgiving today" excuse. So we spent a decent amount of time at a returning member's house named James, who is an absolute DAWG love ya James. We then spent a large majority calling, texting, and studying, until 6pm which was our Thanksgiving dinner. It was with Brother and Sister Stigers. They are awesome and they cooked some amazing food. They made literally all the essentials. stuffing, yams, rolls, and of course turkey. Speaking of Yams I think I ate half the pan while we were there. It is absolutely insane looking back on it. I'm surprised I didn't die after that but holy they were so good. Anyway, dinner was great and we had a nice chat, time was up so we said our goodbyes and started heading to the door. Right before we could leave we somehow got on the topic of guns so Brother Stigers is just chatting about some of his guns he has and randomly his wife disappears after we start talking about this. It was odd, but we kept chatting with him for a second. Then out of nowhere Sister Stigers comes walking up to me with this Pistol in her hand pointed directly at my face. I could literally see down the barrel. She said "This is my gun isnt it awesome!!". Yeah Sister Stigers that’s some nice rifling you got going on in that barrel care to show me how it fires?! 

Holy crap I was so shocked and of course a little on edge after that. One wrong move and well... Sketchy. Well we left quickly after that and my comp was unfazed by the interaction and just said to me "Pfft I wouldn't have cared if I died right there, I'm headin to that celetsial kingdom babyyyy!" Okay bro... I prefer to keep living right now but okay you do you. 

Conclusion

     That’s all I got. I know I am slacking, I am trying my best trust me. Getting a gun pointed at my face was definitely not on my bingo card. I hope you all are doing well. I just got my plane ticket to South Korea. I leave December 10th. Hyped. However I am going to miss this place. Myrtle Creek Oregon is going to have a special place in my heart that’s for sure. I literally started to tear up when we were driving through the woods earlier this week with the sunset just beaming through the trees with the scent of pine just engulfing my soul. Im going to miss that a lot but I am sure I will see the Lord's beauty out in Korea as well. He needs me there so I hope I see something nice. That’s all from me, I love you guys, keep shooting me emails. I read them I promise Im just terrible at replying haha.

God Loves you.

I Love yall (x7)

-Elder Christensen