On Fire
written Sept 11, 2017
Dearest family and friends,
This place is on fire! Literally! Okay, I don't have a lot of time, but I'll do my best. So much going on!
Okay, so Monday we went by a lot of people, and I don't remember anything really spectacular happening. In my planner, it says we got a new investigator, but I can't remember who. There were a lot this week.
Tuesday, we were super busy all morning going by appointments (a lot of them fell through), and we then had dinner with Bro. Lott. He used to be Stake Patriarch, and told us a bunch of absolutely crazy stories from his mission. After that, we had a great lesson at the church with Perla and her two kids, Jose (6) and Evelette (7). They are crazy. We then went to visit two people who were referred to us, Joyce and Russel. They were referred to us by Leroy Elderberry, formerly known as Elder Elderberry. Nearly 40 years ago, Mr. Elderberry was here as a missionary and taught and baptized almost all of the members of a particular family. Now years later, he contacted one of the remaining members of the family, Joyce. He was surprised to learn she was never baptized! He then asked us to go by and offer to give her a blessing, which we did. However, she is in very ill health and didn't want to talk to us at the time, but we talked with her husband, Russel. He's super nice, and knows Bro. Lott really well! That went great.
Wednesday, more miracles. We go by another referral, a man named Juan about in his 30's. We've already met him and his father, who is also named Juan. Juan (jr.) isn't there, but we talk to his mom, Maria, and dad, Juan. They are active in some random Christian church. However, we have learned that people understand priesthood, apostasy, and restoration a lot better if you constantly refer to the priesthood as the "Special Apostle Power". Seriously. I have no idea why that works, but it does. Anyway, we tell them about that and how we have the "Special Apostle Power" again on the earth and it totally blew their minds. We're going back tonight.
Thursday, we go by a less-active named Jobana who wants her daughter Juana to be baptized. It was super short but went really well. Perla missed her appointment (we found out later she actually remembered, she was just really, really, late). We then tried by some other investigators of ours: two kids named Juan and John. I know, it's a lot of Juans to keep straight. Finish it off with English Correlation.
Friday, we do weekly planning, have our interviews with President Lewis, go by a guy who we set up a lesson with named Claudio, tract a bit, steal some food (with permission) from the other Toppenish Elders, and then go to our lesson with Ivan (19) and Osiris (18), his girlfriend. This is in Granger. They're awesome, say they want to be baptized when they know it's true and come to church. They're loving it. We then finish off the night with another lesson, this time in Zillah. President Kendall, the Spanish Branch President, came with us to teach Noe and Norma. They really needed our visit. She has a brother who was in the big earthquake in Mexico and she hasn't heard from him. She's just about beside herself. We share some scriptures from the Book of Mormon, and invite Noe and their son to come to church.
Saturday, we had a ridiculously busy day again. We had a bunch of lessons, did some tracting, ran helter-skelter all over the place, had a great dinner with the Barneys (Gene; there are two families) where we invited them to start a family mission plan, and finished off by going by Perla and re-committing her to come to church.
Sunday, Perla, Noe, and 2 less-active members came to Spanish church! It was incredible! We then tracted near the other Elders' apartment (they live in our area), had dinner with the Claytons (he's the English Ward Mission Leader), and then had several great lessons. We started out with Rosio, where we clipped through the Restoration in 5-8 minutes, and her poor kid was really upset about something. We then taught Erica (24) and her nephew, Mario (11). They're great, and Erica said she'd be baptized when she knows it's true! They have a cousin who's a member here. They loved the Restoration, and really seemed to understand it (thank you, Special Apostle Power). We finished off with going to Buena to a trailer park and talking with a family who are "Creentes Catolicos" (inactive Catholics). They've passed through some seriously tough stuff. Seriously. I'm not going to share just because it's bordering on graphic. We're going back Thursday.
Okay, I think that's it! That's a suuuuper simplified version!
Love you all!
Elder Adams
Questions from Editor Mom
How is the work coming in Toppenish? - It's coming along great, actually! Toppenish is on fire! Not literally, thankfully; I heard The Dalles is, but the last week and a half have been the busiest in my entire mission!
Have you considered getting masks to filter the smokey air? - Not really. It never really bothered me, aside from the itchy, miserable eyes. Breathing-wise, though, I hardly even noticed.
Do you know if the fires are stopped? (I'm glad you got to see the falls in OR before the other side of the river burned.) - I don't know. There isn't really any smoke here any more, but I know that down by The Dalles got completely roasted. Cascade Locks is now a ghost town, from what I heard, and everything except the town itself got scorched out. Sister Lewis showed me a video. It was nuts.
Tell us about your investigators (in the main letter is fine)! - Wow, so much to tell you about! I don't think I'll have time, honestly. It's just been so, so, busy. Main investigators: Perla, Erica/her nephew, Noe/Norma, A ton of people named Juan, Ivan/Osiris (his girl), Jobana, Rafael, and many, many, more.
Tell us about Elder Rigby. - He's great! He's really organized, good at leadership and working hard, and really dedicated. He's basically a powerhouse. I'm super lucky to be his companion. He loves the Gospel, and he's a really active, happy, guy.
Have you gotten any souvenirs from your mission (not something to focus on, but something to consider on a P-Day)? - Not really, no. I'm not entirely sure what I would get. Honestly, if I were to get any kinds of souvenirs, Toppenish would be the place to get them (what with the Yakama tribe and all). Also, yes, we do talk with a lot of Native Americans. We cover both languages in Toppenish and Buena.
What did you talk about in your interview with President Lewis? - Not a ton. He told me he thinks I have the gift of faith. That's cool, I guess. We talked about how awesome Toppenish is, and about how great Elder Rigby is, and that was pretty much it. He brought up one of the scriptures I've been memorizing, though! That was cool. Mosiah 28:3. It's a classic.
Are you speaking mostly Spanish there?/ What are you doing for language study? - Yeah, we're pretty much speaking mostly Spanish here. It's awesome! Lately for language study, I've been translating my lesson plans into Spanish.
Have you read the Book of Mormon all the way through in Spanish? - Uhhh, no. I haven't started that project. I've got some other study-related projects I'm finishing up first (like the lesson plans/memorizing scriptures), but that will come next (if there's any time left!) If I can't get to it on my mission, I think that would be cool to do afterwards.
Are you doing anything fun for P-Day? - Not really, no. This week we're just staying in Toppenish.
I guess that's enough questions for today--lots to talk about, eh? - Yeah, tons!
And one from Dad:
Do you ever call Elder Rigby "Thor" when he is doing his hammer exercises? - Not yet...
Pictures from Sis. Lewis (the mission mom)
These are from President Lewis's visit to Toppenish for interviews.
Sis. Lewis asked each missionary two questions:
If you could have three wishes...
- At-will telepathy (or the gift of discernment) to help me with strategy, resolving concerns, being epic, etc.
- A perfect memory (best learner, vast amounts of knowledge, and never lose things again).
- Temperature immunity. I’d like to be able to go anywhere in any temperature/climate and be comfortable, be versatile.
My favorite tie has blues, purple and yellow and looks like the Blue Mosque with geometric shapes/not quite flowers.
Sis. Lewis took pictures of each missionary showing what they carried in their bag.
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