Week 7: Lebanon, TN

January 16, 2023

So we are supposed to do weekly planning on p-days, and we did, but it was pretty shabby. I don't know if we were tired or just tired but it was pretty bad. But we've got a plan and we're gonna kill it this week. We went to Walmart and got wayyy too much food, but it's alright because it's bulking season. 

Later we went to the church and played Secret Hitler for like 3 hours. Not gonna lie, Secret Hitler gets pretty boring after 3 hours. We've got a cool district though, so that's chill. Anyways, that was pretty much it for today.

January 17, 2023

I had my first Zone Conference today which was way cool. Since me and McConkie are the outcasts, it was a good 1 hour drive to a city called Sparta. Zone Conference was actually really sweet. First off, Elder McConkie and I gave an insanely good training on knowing when to invite someone to be baptized. I haven't gotten even close to that yet but it was still way good. Throughout the rest of Zone Conference they gave trainings and invitations to better our missionary work. I need to work on lots of stuff but it was super helpful. 

We also planned on doing exchanges with the ZL's right after Zone Conference, so Elder Smith and I drove back to Lebanon. We had a great lesson with the Lynch's when we got back. Elder Smith felt like we should teach them the Restoration again because the first time was a few months ago. I'm really glad we did because I think we really helped Erin understand it more. Elder Smith is very good at teaching simply and at the speed of the learner. Such a beast. Also they said they wanted to go to church so let's gooooo!

January 18, 2023

It was overnight exchanges so Elder Smith was still at the crib. He slept on the ground like a weird missionary whose weird trainer only slept on the ground would. I learned a lot about teaching, listening, asking questions, and so much more from him. He is very good at speaking slowly and relaxed, which allows for great lessons. 

Also we met this old man walking around this neighborhood who said he is 89. We walked with him back to his house and talked for a while. His name is Johnny and his wife's name is Patricia. They were the sweetest little old people I've ever met. Johnny is about 5'2" and Ptricia is maybe 5'0". Johnny had this little rusty old weight set where he apparently cranked out like 200 curls a day at 89 years old. Johnny is an absolute dawg. I'm really glad I got to go on an exchange with Elder Smith, it was a huge blessing.

January 19, 2023

Today was another pretty good day. We had a lot of planning and goal setting to do so that took a bit of time. It was a normal day of talking to people and spreading the gospel. We had dinner with the Clark's which was way fun. Brother Clark is either first or second counselor in the Bishopric, not sure, but their family is so awesome. He is a commercial musician for the Discover channel and other TV shows, which is sick. They also have a son named Parker who is planning on serving a mission soon. 

Later in the night we had another lesson about prophets with Toni and Deb. It went pretty well with them. Toni always keeps reading commitments so we're going to keep coming back until she has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Bishop Lee came with us and shared his amazing testimony of prophets and some cool stories. I'm so grateful for all the members who are always willing to come teach with us. It's a blessing to us and the friends we teach. 

January 20, 2023

Today I went on an exchange with Elder Beckstead. He's been out for one transfer longer than me, which is pretty new. He's so cool though. It's hard to describe missionaries on paper, but he's a beast. We had a great day and learned a lot from each other. There is this member from the 1st ward, Brother Vasofsky, who is such a gangster. He does physical training and has a carpentry business. He is a great example of someone who knows what his passions are and isn't afraid to share and use them to help others. He's such an awesome dude. He was willing to drive me and Beckstead around for a good portion of the day to help us on miles, and just to come talk to and meet people. People like him are what makes the mission easy. I'll shoutout his Facebook because he's a G: Vasofsky Designs. Also, Elder Beckstead is a G too. I learned so much stuff from him today. He's so kind to everyone and is way smart when it comes to the scriptures and interacting with people. 

January 21, 2023

We balled up today, you know how it is. After that we went over to Brother Carling's apartment to do some fellowshipping. The lesson we had planned fell through, but like the absolute man that he is, Brother Carling drove us around for a few hours. We did some contacting and met with a few people. Much love for Brother Carling. 

We met this dude named Jamaal who seems really cool. Jamaal lives in the same apartment complex as Brother Carling. We've been finding so many people at this place, it's a gold mine. After that we did some more team up stuff with President Dickerson. Then we went to a funeral afterparty. 

January 22, 2023

We had church today, which was really good. We were hoping the Lynch's were going to come, but nah. They said they really wanted to. We went and knocked on their door this morning and called them a few times and still nothing from them yet. Pretty sad, but what can you do. 

Our Elders Quorum was way good today. Nothing like a big circle of Old Tennessee elders discussing random problems happening in the ward. Later we brought one of the priests, Parker, with us to go knock on some apartments. It was fun to kind of show him what he's getting himself into. We met this one old woman named Patricia who instantly let us in her apartment. Her story was super sad. She said she and her husband had a son named Spencer who died when he was 17. It was a car accident with six high-schoolers and he was the only one who died. Eventually this led to Patricia and her husband getting divorced. Super sad, but we taught her the entire Plan of Salvation and caught her interest a little bit. Anyways it was a great day and tomorrow is P-day, so lets goooo.