No rest for the righteous
Life has been pretty normal here…for a missionary!
On Monday we got to have 2 dinners! We got fed at 5 like we usually do and it was Fallgatter’s birthday on Sunday so we had dinner with him and Diana at The Golden Dragon. We had so much leftover Chinese food (he insisted we take it all) and we eventually threw most of it out yesterday. We also gave him birthday cards, which he loved. I’ll try to get a picture with them soon so you can see what he looks like (I’m still pretty new so I feel weird asking people for pictures) but if you picture Geppetto from Pinocchio you basically already know what he looks like.
Tuesday we did exchanges. Exchanges are when we switch companions with the sisters in 1st ward and go do missionary work in their area all day. Sis Sandorf went with Sis Parcell and I went with Sis Gillespie. We had a pretty good day. We tracted all afternoon (which is when we go and knock on doors) and we talked to some interesting people. The first door we knocked on was the home of 2 older ladies (a mom and her daughter) and it turned out that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. We were there for almost 2 hours and didn’t do much talking at all. Both Sis Gillespie and I are pretty quiet so we weren’t really sure how to leave gracefully. It was interesting to hear what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe, but it actually grew my faith in the church and what I believe. The conversation ended when the daughter (who’s 60) gave us a pamphlet about angels and told us that we should read it. We said we would take it if she took a pamphlet from us, but she refused and said that because she believes that they are the true church she wouldn’t read it. I told her we believe the same about our church and handed back her pamphlet. I didn’t think it was that bold, but Sis Gillespie told me later that it was pretty bold and I guess it was. I hope they didn’t think I was rude because I really didn’t mean to be!
Wednesday morning we went and helped a recent convert read and answer his mail cause he can’t read it. His name is Larry and he’s 84. Sis Sandorf described him perfectly using the words “he’s like a happy troll!” We go out to lunch with him sometimes (he eats at the same restaurant every day) and Sis Sandorf and I are his lock screen picture. We are also under “the girls” in his contacts! He makes me laugh because he’s pretty sassy. He told us on Sunday that we should go find food because we were being “ornery”.
Wednesday night was had a super awkward dinner with one of the members. We just didn’t know what to say to her and she didn’t know what to say to us. Thankfully she invited her daughter and so she did most of the talking telling us about her grandkids. We were at a restaurant and Sis Sandorf thought our server was cute, so of course I’ve been giving her lots of grief about it.
Nothing super crazy happened the rest of the week. We planned a lot on Thursday (which is so exhausting, even though we’re just sitting at home wrapped in blankets, because we basically have to plan out our lives for the next week). We visited the Sturgeons Thursday morning and learned that Sis Sturgeon is 4’9″. I tease Sis Sandorf (who’s 5’1″) that if she wants to feel tall we should go visit them.
On Friday we had district meeting and then went out to lunch with the 1st sisters. We went to the same restaurant from Wednesday night and they gave us our meals on the house! We think it was because an LDS family owns the restaurant and we’re all missionaries (I did throw out the possibility that it might’ve been because the server, the same one, thought Sis Sandorf was cute– oh, if looks could kill). We helped with a car wash at St Michael’s to raise money for the food pantry. We got to hold signs on a street corner for a little bit and then we helped wash cars. The bishop and his kids showed up to help out as well (and no, I haven’t asked him to take out his eye yet– that was the dinner topic of Sunday night dinner though).
Sunday was a little exciting. We were tracting after church, and right before we were leaving for dinner we got a call that Bro Baker (someone in the ward who is in an assisted living place) was dying and they wanted priesthood holders there right away to give him a blessing. We panicked a little because we didn’t know who to call and the Bishop wasn’t answering his phone so we finally called Bro McFarlane (the ward mission leader– we fold his family’s laundry Sunday nights for service and both him and his wife are awesome) and told him everything and he contacted someone to go over with him. Funny enough, the guy he took with him was our dinner and his wife wasn’t home, so he told us to finish dinner and then left us alone in his house. It was funny when his wife got home because she saw us and said, “thanks so much for making dinner… where’s David?” She served as a missionary in this area a little over a year ago though, so she gets that stuff happens.
We also had a great time at the McFarlanes as we folded their laundry because we got to hear their love story, which was overly complicated and dramatic. Amy also dumped a water bottle on me (I guess it’s newbie tradition in their house). I will get her back some day, I just have to be cautious about it because she’s pregnant (which she thinks makes her invincible– she will so see how wrong she is).
We haven’t really gotten any new investigators yet (silent tear), but we are really trying. We’re also pretty sure that the Herrera family low-key hates us because we keep stopping by, but as Sis Jackman told me in the MTC “you don’t drop the Lord’s children!” We still love them and want to help them so we’ll see what happens.
I still love my companion because she is just awesome and adorable. This week she told me how to make a food baby seem like a real baby (you know, just in case we need to use that someday) and she told a great pee story. Apparently she went to a baseball game for a field trip in 6th grade and drank too much Dr Pepper so she had to pee so bad on the way back (they took the train which didn’t have a bathroom). She said she just knew it was coming so she dumped her Dr Pepper on herself and then peed her pants– that way it would just look like all the wetness was from the spill. It was quite genious I have to say. I’ll try to get a video of her sometime the next week so you can all see how adorable and funny she is.
I think that’s it for this week! There is so much going on that this email is just a part of what has happened! Being a missionary is hard work, but so worth it!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Photos:
A taco place in downtown Ridgecrest:
The Pinnacles (our district trip today-apparently several movie scenes are filmed here):
Sis Sandorf not knowing how to look cool climbing through the hole (her words, not mine):
Her second attempt at coolness:
Elders Wasden and Warrett acting out “Titanic”:
The Sisters (Parcell, Sandorf, and Gillespie) not knowing how to pose majestically:
Our Sister selfie:
Wasden and Warrett being daredevils:
Sis Sandorf being a cutie:
More Pinnacles:
Sis Parcell and Sandorf looking cool on top of our castle rock:
Me looking cool(?) on top of our castle rock:
Sis Sandorf acting as the crocodile (dirt?) hunter:
Sis Parcell and I chillin’ on a rock:
Elder Pixton being a dork (it’s the Rameumptom!):
