Hello Everyone...
So I was at the li-berry at around noon today and I wrote this big huge email to Randi, but apparently it took me too long and the email server thought I was gone, so when I went to send it to her, it wouldn't worked because I'd been logged off... so that made me mad... But whatever. Life continues. Then I wrote the email to send to everyone, and just as I hit "send" all the computers in the li-berry froze and my email wasn't sent... sooooooo lame... I can deal with one lost email, but two lost emails and an hour of wasted time was kinda irritating... blech... Then we went home for a couple hours and just chilled around, and now we're back here for try two of the family email because the same thing happened to Sis Davis... Thus... The electronic world being against us today.
Anywho... On to life's events.... I got a letter from Grandma Dyer this week and she said she saw a TV program about Hope, Arkansas and the Watermelon festival they have there. I have definitely had my fair share of "hope-er-melon" and "hope-a-loupe"... haha... Everyone here has a fridge full of them. I haven't participated in a seed spitting contest though. I'm not too good at seed spitting anyways.. It's actually really nice to have so much watermelon. With weather consistantly over 100 degrees, a nice, juicy watermelon is very welcome.
Speaking of hot... It's still really hot... So far the most showers I've had in a day is 3... Everyone says August is the worst, but I dunno how that even works... Its already really really really hot. So if it's worse than July, the only thing I can think of that would make August the "worst" month of the year would be having FOUR showers in a day. haha. We'll see if that's accomplished. If I still remain at three... that means the locals were just trying to freak me out, and August isn't any worse than July.
Speaking of August... Happy Birthday to Randi and Clarke!!! But since I love both of you individually, you both get an individual Happy Birthday from me.
*ahem*.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY RANDI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot being 21!!!! Now you can go serve a mission and stuff... *cough.cough.nudge.nudge*.... haha....
and... CLARKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Old Man... I figure Dad's had the title long enough. It's time for him to pass it down. It only makes sense.. You ARE closer to 30 than you are to 20... haha...
man... people are growing up... that's weird....
Anyways... Every P-Day morning, we have to read Joseph Smith History. I love reading it and all, but after 7 months of reading it once a week, it gets a little redundant. So Sis Davis and I have decided to make it more exciting and this morning, we each took a turn reading a page, while the other interpretive danced the narration... haha... I dedicated my performance to Randi. Next week... Well... We'll figure something else out. haha...
Also. I forgot to mention last week that we got a new mission president. So that was fun. Pres and Sis Drewes have arrived, and they're pretty wonderful. Pres Drewes wasn't nearly as terrifying as I was anticipating. However, when he interviews you, he glares at you, but in a loving way, but its scary because it's like he's staring into your soul... Nobody will be able to hide anything from that man... yeesh... He was a three star general in the Air Force too... So in Canada that means that he's very very influencial and way high up in the military... I really dont know what a three star general means... But people tell me it's a pretty big deal. haha. I think it's best that I dont know though. That way I can keep my cool around him, but I definitely sit up straight when he's around.. haha..
Sis Drewes is amazing though. She's as sweet as can be. She actually broke her upper arm the month before she got here, so she's walking around with her arm in a sling. haha. I guess she was rollerblading or something and had a bad fall.. haha.. She was rollerblading.... That just shows how amazing she is. Also.. They have a son who served in the SLC South mission!! Go figure!! He apparently opened the Spanish part of the mission. Seriously.. Everywhere I go, theres a reference to that mission. It's crazy. My District Leader (Elder Bradshaw) is from that mission... Cottonwood to be exact, and he thinks that possibly Clarke might have eaten at his home, but he's not sure because it was around the time they moved there. But he said he lives down the street from John Stockton, so who knows.
Also.. I FINALLY got the money order cashed that Grandma Olive sent me. It took a while because every place I took it to wouldn't to it unless I opened a bank account with them, and Walmart and the grocery stores were no help either. I was asking Louise what I could do about it and she said that she's good friends with a banker, and she ended up taking me there, and she vouched for me and we got it cashed. I guess whenever people in banks hear "Canada" and "money order" they automatically think "FRAUD"... come on people... I'm a missionary... haha...
Speaking of Louise... We're working hard on her husband now. Last night we read Alma 22 with them both. It's about how King Lamoni's father was converted, and he was an atheist too. In verse 18, King Lamoni's father prays the most simple prayer to know if there really is a God. So we told Larry to use that verse as an example of how to pray. He openly admits that he feels left out, and he wants to know if God really is there, but yet he's refusing to pray. So we thought that if we asked him to use that verse as an example and if we all knelt down together and he offered the prayer, he would get his answer right then.. Well.. we didnt THINK he would get an answer... we KNEW he would get an answer! The spirit was SOOOO strong during that whole lesson.. But when we invited him to pray, he said if he was going to do it, he'd do it in private... So that didn't work out to swell... I was/still am pretty upset about it... I have absolutely no doubt that his answer would have come right then if he had prayed... but he didn't and its frustrating. I just wish he would have taken the time to stop and just listen... not to us, but to the Holy Ghost, that was DEFINITELY present, because I KNOW it was SCREAMING into his ear that what we've taught him is true.. If only he'd listen... The longer he puts off praying, the harder his heart is going to get and it scares me.. So pray for him okay??? He just needs to listen...
At the end of the lesson with them last night, we had a closing prayer, and we asked if we could kneel while doing it, which was fine. Larry has no problem participating in prayers, he just doesn't offer them. So he starts going to his knees, and the instant they hit the floor, he shot right back up because every once and a while he has a leg cramp that I guess is really painful. I find it interesting that the leg cramp happened the instant his knees touched the ground... Seriously... He's got some powerful forces working for and against him. I know that once he gains a testimony, he's on the fast track to baptism, but the other side wants him just as badly. I know that that leg cramp wasn't coincidence. It was literally the Adversary not wanting him to even be in that position... It kinda freaked me out. It made me realize how powerful both God and the Devil are. So that must mean that I if I still felt the spirit so strong, that there's definitely a strong force against him too, so he must be a POWERFUL spirit...
Yeah... Interesting stuff happening here...
But very cool stuff.
The Church is true. I know it more and more each day. Never give up and keep the faith. And remember that I love you.
-Sister Dyer
