Week Three in the Mission Field

        This week was very interesting because of New Year's. I couldn't light any fireworks because of rules, but I got to watch some of the neighbors light theirs, so I was happy.

        We started this week with exchanges. We had Elder Kent go to Lake Placid and we got Elder Smart from Lake Placid. We went over to Sister Knapp's house and did service for her. We were there for a majority of the day. Later Elder Kent came back and they took Smart back.

         New Year's Eve was fun because we went and got Little Caesars late at night. We had to be back before 10 pm, which is really the same time as we need to be back on any day. We went to Little Caesars because the people that were supposed to feed us that night forgot and decided to feed us the next day. At 12 pm my time I got to call my parents and wish them a happy New Year. and I also got to watch people light some fireworks.

  

         New Year's day was pretty much like another P-day, we aren't really supposed to do anything or call anyone, but we did go to dinner with a nice family. At dinner we drove to a little gas station with a small taco shop built into the side. It had a list of tacos you could get for $2.50 each. They had 5 different kinds of meat but my favorites were asada, spiced pork, and cow tongue. They also had some mild hot sauce that looked like avocado. It was all really good and we also got to share a message with the Mexican family. Later I had one of the most interesting phone calls. As I'm sitting on the couch I hear a phone start to ring. As I go to see who it is, my companion answers it with a "Hello, this is the missionaries," then "Hello, this is President Ashcraft, is Elder Waite available?" At this point everyone here is looking at me. I take the phone and answer "Yes this is Elder Waite, how can I help you President?" After talking with him for 15 minutes he ended the call just wanting to get to know me because I was new. That was kind of an interesting experience because I got a straight shot of adrenaline.

           The day after New Year's was a Saturday and every Saturday we have service for Sister Knapp, but before we had that we had service for a family in Lake Okeechobee. We were feed blueberry pancakes with orange juice. After breakfast we were given a small anchor with rope attached to the end. We needed to throw it out into the water and drag it back to collect all of the dead reeds in the water. This was all really fun to do. After filling 4 large trash bags we took off back home. We went over to Sister Knapp's house and did more service. The plan was to trim up and burn a lot of branches that her son had cut down. We had built a lot of small burn piles. After burning about ½ of all the branches we started roasting hot dogs. I turned mine into a chili dog. After eating two I moved onto making smores. They were golden brown and absolutely delicious.

           Sunday was a very interesting day because it was the first fast and testimony meeting I have been to since covid, it was also their first time so it was interesting to watch them clean after someone finished. Me and my companion both decided that we should go up and say our testimonies. I went first and started by expressing my appreciation for the members and them feeding us. I then talked about the truths of missionary work and the temple. Afterwards, I went back to my seat and waited until Elder Kelly finished. After the meeting we helped clean, but as I was cleaning people would walk up to me and thank me for bearing my testimony.

    

            P-day is always fun and this one was no different. We went to Walmart and got some groceries but we also met with all the other missionaries in the district to buy coats of different colors so we can play, in real life Among Us. We started at the Lake Placid elders house, where we would draw a piece of paper from a hat and then go. It was all super fun and we would kill each other with plastic spoons. After playing for a while we decided to call it and head home.

             I had a lot of fun and have two appointments for next week and look forward to next week.

                                              

 Elder Waite