Elder Adams in Yakima: Week 33: In which it is cold, I give a blessing, and we visit a Bavarian

[written 9 Jan 2017]

The hamlet of Othello

Okay, sorry for the title. I felt like referencing Shakespeare. Also, sorry I can't write in Spanish this week; I'm running super low on time and have a lot to talk about.

Okay, so first of all, it's cold. Yep, really, really, cold. Actually, the cold isn't quite as bad as it used to be, since we also now have nearly record amounts of snow here. It's awesome! I think I must have brought a little bit of Boston with me.

We are still working with Yolie and Nikita, and they're awesome! They are really, really cool. Unfortunately, Yolie is still recovering from her accident on Christmas Eve. Because she had a really bad headache, she couldn't come to church yesterday. Nikita also didn't come, we assume because she was looking after her mom and little brother. However, we had a cool experience Tuesday, since we got to give Yolie a blessing. We were on exchanges, so I was with another missionary (Elder Klossner, from the Othello 3rd ward) in our area. Because she knew me best, I gave the blessing. I have gained an even stronger testimony of priesthood blessings with that experience, even though she still had headaches. Thing is, that was never a part of the blessing. However, what I do know is that the moment Yolie felt our hands come to rest on her head, she felt the spirit really strongly. She said afterwards that she felt the spirit just wash through her, and she knew that the priesthood was real and that the church was real. It was really special.

We're also still working with Brenda and her daughter Crystal, and I'm convinced we have the coolest 10-year old in the mission. We were talking about Commandments in general and the Word of Wisdom specifically, and Crystal said "You mean, like when God commanded Nephi and his family to leave their home." Our jaws about dropped. She is not only reading, but making connections to what she's read! It's pretty incredible. They're both still working towards being baptized on January 28th, and they're totally on track. Brenda was already trying to stop smoking, and she hadn't even smoked at all that day! They're both doing really great.

Finally, we met a really cool lady named Siggy. She moved here from Bavaria, Germany in the 70's. She was talking, and after a while said "I'm German. Well, you probably could already tell from my accent." Thing is, I hadn't even realized until then that she had an accent! I could recognize it afterwards, though. She recently lost someone she cared about, and seemed really interested in our message of hope and of how families can be together forever. She even has a little plaque on her wall that says that! We're going back Wednesday, and it's pretty exciting. I'm sure my dad is really excited to hear that we're going to be teaching someone from his mission. :-)

I love being here, and I'm excited to see what miracles this next week holds!

Love you all!

Elder Adams

[Questions from Editor Mom]

Still staying warm? Boots still keeping the water out? - Oh, I am definitely staying warm. The boots also definitely help.

Still happy? - Very much so, yes. (Being in Othello right now + Elder Steadman = Happy.)

Are you doing anything fun for P-Day today? - Um, not really anything special. Elder Steadman and I went into the chapel and played around with the piano/organ, and then I took a break and napped until now.

Any chances to use the testimony or family booklets [books we sent him for Christmas]? - Family book: YES!!! It's super awesome. Testimony book: Not yet exactly, however, I have read through it and I love it! I was actually considering using at least a few stories from it when we teach Yolie and Nikita about tithing tonight.

Is the Spanish word calendar helpful? - Absolutely! In order to ensure that I don't forget the words, I always write them down in my little Spanish book. They're super helpful!
What's the funniest thing that has happened this week? - Uh, I'm actually not sure. Good thinking to ask me.

What have you been doing for service? - Oh, yeah! I forgot to ever talk about that, didn't I? Well, spoilers: it's the food bank.

How are your investigators doing? - Oh. My. Goodness. They are doing FANTASTIC!!!

How do you keep from getting bored with the fairly monotonous routine? - Um, it's usually staying busy and having really interesting conversations with my companions. Yeah, it's pretty much those two things.

Any chances to use music to bring the spirit into your discussions? - Not really yet, no. However, a little bit? On Christmas and Christmas Eve, we had an excuse to go caroling.

So yeah, it's pretty cool! I'll try to write more later!

[And now for pictures!]

#Skatepark
#LETitSNOW