Week 67: In which we find an investigator behind our first door, my companion swings a hammer, and there is a lot of smoke

Topp Dawgs
(sent September 4, 2017)

Hello from Toppenish! It's a beautiful smoky day here in the capital of the Yakama Nation. The Yakama are the local tribe of Native Americans. Toppenish is the center of the reservation. There are also a ton of murals here, which is cool.

I'm with Elder Rigby, who is super dedicated, a hard worker, and a great guy. He's really fun. He's from Cedar City, UT, and has a powerful testimony of the Gospel. He beats the ground with an 8-pound sledgehammer for morning exercise, among other things.

The area is great! Elders Gallacher and Wright are with us here. They're also Spanish Missionaries. See, Toppenish is just so heavily Hispanic that our two companionships split both the English and Spanish work. We also cover the Zillah ward, but only for Spanish work. So, basically, we are in both the Toppenish 1st Ward (English) and the Toppenish 2nd Branch (Spanish). We split it with the other two missionaries here. Both the Ward and the Branch are great! I'm excited, since I've never served in a Branch before. It's not that different, though, just a bit smaller. There are some amazing and very powerful members here.

Fun fact: Many of my companions and other missionaries I have served around have served here in Toppenish. Both Elder West and Elder Aguirre served in the other area, and they talked about the ward a lot. Elder Ramirez and my MTC companion, Elder Woodfield, served together in our area for a while (Elder Ramirez lived next to us in Othello). I'm super excited!

Now for story time, taken as an excerpt from my letter to Pres. Lewis:

The first door we knock, an older Mexican lady pokes her head out and tells us we have to go around to the back, since the door we knocked was blocked. We then knocked the other door (I guess technically the second door we knocked), and to our surprise, a young lady came out! While wondering what happened to the older lady, we started talking to Perla (the older lady's daughter). Long story short, Perla has been going through a rough time lately, and really wants to start going back to a church and come closer to God again. She especially wants help from God with raising her kids in a good path. After a brief conversation about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she said she wants to work to quit smoking, go to church, and be baptized! She agreed to work towards the 7th of October for a date. He daughter will turn 8 the 18th of October, though, so that might change.

It was crazy! Perla sadly wasn't able to make it to church yesterday, because of some weird situations and having someone take her car to Yakima instead of simply needing a small ride, among many other things. For sure, there is a lot of opposition against Perla's progress, but she's a determined lady. We know that through the power of Christ she can do all things! We're super excited to work with her. Not even kidding, the first door we knock in Toppenish is answered by a lady who loves our church and wants to be baptized. This transfer has got off to a good start, wouldn't you say?

I know this area is where I'm supposed to be, and I'm super grateful for the opportunity Elder Rigby and I have to serve here together. I know this Gospel is true, more than ever.

Much love and hugs your way!

Elder Adams

Questions from Editor Mom:

The obvious question: How's your new area? - It's great! I love it here in Toppenish; it reminds me a lot of Othello.

Are you finding common ground/things to talk to your new companion about? - Common ground? I mean, a love of the Gospel. We're keeping ourselves super busy just talking about that. Elder Rigby is amazing, a super hard worker, and a very dedicated missionary. I'm loving it!

What are you finding to laugh about? - Um, Elder Rigby swinging a giant hammer for morning exercise, maybe? That's pretty funny, I think, but also super awesome. He straight up bought an 8-pound sledgehammer to swing in the mornings. It's legit.

Do you have a car? bike? - We have a car! It's awesome! It's still a 2017 Toyota Corolla, so no complaints from me ;-)

Are you in the Yakima Valley zone? - Yes, we are! Elder Tapia (yeah, I know!) and Elder Bown are our Zone Leaders.

How are the wards? Are other elders there, too, or are you serving the Spanish and English wards? - Well, great, yes, and also yes. Elders Gallacher and Wright are with us here. They're also Spanish Missionaries. See, Toppenish is just so heavily Hispanic that our two companionships split both the English and Spanish work. We also cover the Zillah ward, but only for Spanish work. So, basically, we are in both the Toppenish 1st Ward (English) and the Toppenish 2nd Branch (Spanish). We split it with the other two missionaries here.

Both the Ward and the Branch are great! I'm excited, since I've never served in a Branch before. It's not that different, though, just a bit smaller. There are some amazing and very powerful members here.

We've heard that there are a lot of fires and smoke out there.  Is that affecting you & your work in any way?

Nope, it just gives me bad allergies. That means I have to constantly pump myself full of Benadryl (it doesn't make me sleepy at all) to keep my eyes from going puffy, red, itchy, and full of hives on the insides of my eyelids. Other than that, though, not really. There is a lot of smoke, though.

Pictures

(sent without captions or labels)

Pictures of Transfer Day (posted by Sis. Lewis, the Mission Mom)