Week Three -- St. Johns AZ

So first thing's first; my companion's name is Elder Denham with an E. Denham. And he's a really cool guy, and we're getting along very well. I actually found out yesterday that he's only got five weeks left in the field, and I'm his last companion. He didn't want me to know that, and he would never tell me exactly how long he's been out, but we were going through a packet of letters he got from his ward's primary kids and one of them said, "See you in September!"

 

Anyway, in just my first week in St. Johns, I've had a lot of classic missionary experiences. We taught a couple lessons that went very well, and we taught a couple lessons that could have gone better. We've got investigators that are having a hard time sticking to the word of wisdom and/or the law of chastity, so that's fun stuff. We've contacted referrals that seem genuinely interested in learning about the gospel. We've gone street contacting and been told to scram.

 

There are a lot of members in St. Johns, but also plenty of non-members and recent converts to be working with. What I quickly realized is that most of these people, member or non-member, are people that I never would have cared to hang out with back in Juab. Most of our investigators are covered in tattoos and piercings, and a lot of their homes smell like cigarette smoke or mold. And the members are mostly all very small-town, blue-collar folk who don't seem to get out much.

 

Through it all, I've been thinking of two people whose examples I want to follow. The first is Dad. I've always been impressed with (and, admittedly, at times embarrassed of) Dad's ability to talk and become friends with anyone. Dad just doesn't care about wealth, social status, or, um, smell. When he would take me home teaching, there were some families that I just plain wanted to avoid. Dad, though, would go on in there with his head held high and have a nice, friendly conversation with everyone in the house. He would make them feel loved and needed and would let them know they had a friend.

 

The second person is pretty obvious. It's Jesus Christ. He didn't see a leper or lame man only to turn around and pretend like He didn't see the guy. He went and served them. He loved them as much as He loves everyone else.

 

So with Dad and Jesus in mind, I've been meeting with the people of St. Johns, working to be as friendly and loving as I can be. Luckily, it's working. I love going around this town meeting people and hearing their stories. There are some real odd ducks, but the odd ducks of the world deserve the gospel just as much as I do.

 

The camping trip was a lot of fun. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera with me today to send pictures, but I guess that will have to wait. We went to Big Lake, and it's beautiful up there. We left at around 10:00 AM on Friday morning and spent most of the day fishing. Nobody caught any fish, but we had some fun catching crawdads. Together we caught five, and one of them was caught by this guy (I'm pointing my thumbs at myself right now). We took them back to camp and boiled them. I was okay with this, because I figure my opportunities to eat weird food in Arizona will be limited. So we broke them in half, ate the tail meat, and then the fun part was in sucking out everything from the head. You will get to see that picture next week I suppose, if I remember my camera. That night, we taught the Plan of Salvation to everyone around the campfire. Then Elder Denham and I slept out under the stars because I had joked that we didn't need a tent and I felt too awkward to take it back when Elder Denham jumped at the idea. So go me. It's okay, we were plenty warm, and the moon was beautiful. The best part is our investigator kid, Mario, had a great time and says I earned his friendship, so mission accomplished.

 

We left camp at 8:00 Saturday morning and then spent the entire day serving out in "the 40's". There are 40 acres of nothingness surrounding St. Johns, but I guess a few people are daring enough to live out there. We helped a potential investigator named Louie move from lot to another, which involved moving a freaking shed and digging out his ginourmous water tanks. I've had easier days, but Louie was extremely grateful and not only promised to take us to dinner sometime, but he also came to church the next day to hear me and Elder Denham speak.

 

Our talks went very well. We were assigned to talk about missionary work, so I told John Holladay and Ruth and Arvo's missionary stories. Then I told the stories of how I chose to go on a mission and opening my call (the same stuff I covered in my farewell talk). I closed with some of the lessons I've learned so far on my mere 2 1/2 weeks in the field. Elder Denham spoke about member missionary work. Anyway, everyone was telling us all day afterwards how great we did, and I even had several parents tell me how glad they were that I was open about once not wanting to serve a mission because their sons are struggling with the decision right now.

 

So that was this week. I love the field so far, and it's a hundred times better than the MTC (and I liked the MTC). I love you all. Remember, as Elder Denham would say, the book is blue, and the church is true!