Ok so in my defense.... Pday was Wednesday last week because
of the 4th, and we went goat packing, then had a BBQ where I was gonna email...
but that said BBQ involved too many wifi enabled devices which overloaded the
router... so no wifi. So apologies for the silence. Haha I'm getting better
slowly.
Anyway, this week has to be one of the most bizarre on my mission. Let's begin. Monday started well enough, we went with a less active family we've started teaching. They took us up to one of the many reservoirs in the mountains fishing. It was fun and very, very hot. We did not have a ton of success, but we got to know them a lot better and have a good time. We're working pretty hard on getting them back to church so that was a really good deal. Then we had to pack and prepare. We left for Price to pick up some other Elders, then drove them to Springville for the night before leaving to go to Spanish Fork where we were gonna stay with the Zone Leaders over there. That was fun as usual, Elder Durfee and Elder Santos are two of my favorite missionaries and they are the Zone Leaders. So we spent the night with them and the next day headed out to the Parade.
For those of you who don't know, in Provo they have a large parade for the 4th of July, and traditionally the missionaries from the entire mission come to march in it. Since the split two years ago when Orem and Provo became separate missions, both missions have collected all their missionaries to march in the parade. This is one of the most highly anticipated parts of the parade, many people just pack up and leave after the missionaries pass them because that's the most important part to them. Anyway so we were required to be at the parade start by 7:15 even though the parade didn't start until 9 I think and we didn't begin until almost 10. So we all gathered up, got everyone there, and walked to a large stadium where we all sat together in the bleachers. There we sat and waited. Eventually the Orem mission arrived and we sat and waited some more. For a couple hours actually. During that time, we were asked to perform several impromptu musical numbers.... which were just awful. Not gonna lie. Apparently the Orem missionaries had a few people who had been practicing some song for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd never heard it, I've only
heard it on my mission, and honestly, it's really pretty poorly written to begin with. Then they threw these unsure missionaries on a mic system in front of the combined missions without warning to perform. They really did pretty well considering the circumstances, which were far from ideal. Haha but then President Hodgman decided we needed a musical number too... so he pulled some of us down to perform an unrehearsed Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy.. again not bad considering... but I found out after that some of the ones up there had never even heard the song before, much less sung it. *sigh* haha it was a long wait. Then when the parade finally began we had some fun, it was great to see so many people so excited for the purpose that we had and the service we were giving. I got to see my sister running through the crowd with her adorable little pregnant tummy trying to find me. I got to see some people that I had taught and baptized and some from the Stake I'd served in. I saw some old friends from home. That was funny because I heard someone calling out Michael and was so confused before I remembered that my name hadn't always been Elder DeFord ;P
Anyway it was a lot of fun, and following the parade was a party with all the missionaries... and because we had some extra time, the Hodgman's went around requesting talents for an impromptu talent show. So my companion performed again, without warning. We had time to run "Make us One" one time before we had to perform. But whatever, it was good. Or at least ok. I was really impressed though, there were some fantastic talents shown, even on such short notice. I'm so glad to be in this mission. We also had a performance from Elder Evans, a magician from Colorado, that's always fun. And the mission slide show. We also learned that each one of our senior office Elders served in the military and they talked about their testimonies and their service. It was really cool. So after all that... and the 2 and a half hour drive back and dropping off the other elders, we gathered all together as a district to finally watch Moana! And sing all the songs since we've been listening to them for months already. It was good to finally have some closure. We also had a great set up and a bunch of food and snacks provide by Emery. It was pretty sweet to say the least. We're still working through the leftover pizza.
Wednesday was then preparation day, and we got to go Goat packing for the first time with Herb, a super cool guy we met a while back who isn't a member of the church. We went hiking with all the goats, including his new one, little dude. We saw a rattlesnake, super cool rocks, had a little adventure, touched Cactus Dans ashes. It was a good day. After that we headed to Price for a big BBQ with all the missionaries in the Zone, which was where I was unable to email after
all. Once again, my apologies. I don't remember if I told you all, I acquired some butchered pig heads for this BBQ... and they were delicious. However as soon as p day ended, exchanges with the Zone Leaders began. I went with Elder Minson, one of the Elders I came out with and we had a fantastic lesson with a great couple. That night we ended up sharing their house with a total of 7 elders because the Moab Elders where staying in Price so they didn't have to come back the next day for Zone Training Meeting. And they're in a Trio. Haha so that was a whole nother adventure.
Thursday as mentioned above was Zone Training Meeting, which luckily this time I was not asked to spontaneously perform for, however there was a request from the Sister training Leaders for me to sing Shiny from Moana, which I said I would if they remembered at the end.... which they didn't, so I'm off the hook. Other than that it wasn't too exciting except Elder Bayless and I forgot our suits in Ferron so we went to the meeting suitless, but other than that nothing. Crazy. Follow that up with Greek food with Brother Quentin, my favorite ward mission leader in the Zone Leaders area and it made for a pretty great day. Then we got back to Ferron, had a baptismal interview, yummy dinner, and a lesson with a family that I love that has been struggling. It was really good on all sides.
Friday there is far less to report... honestly... I'm not even sure what we did that day actually. So ... skip
Saturday on the other hand was full and great. We started things off nicely by preparing for the one of the most wonderful baptisms I've had on my mission. And we had almost nothing to do with it. We just taught the lessons and provided the interview and paper work, made sure the font was filled, that was it. And we were done, just like that. Everything was planned hand prepared without us, we were able to bring another investigator to see it and altogether the Spirit was so powerful, there was hardly a dry eye in the chapel we almost filled. It was incredible. Then straight from there to lunch and a lesson with that investigator, then off to Emery for Elder Bayless' final singing lesson. And my lesson too of course but I'm gonna have more after his last one ;D it went really well and we actually had a really cool spiritual voice discussion about some super deep stuff that blew my mind all over again. Then we prepared our song for Sunday... which we forgot about until Friday and Friday was the first time we'd heard or seen the song. With very little practice time. Then one practice with Erin on Saturday in Emery. Then we contacted a family and went off roading looking for another potential investigator. We maybe got a little distracted... but we were looking for him. Haha but those are videos I'm not gonna show you :P no luck though, it was weird, a Saturday in the middle of summer, and all of Castle Valley Ranch was deserted. Oh well
Sunday we had J's confirmation and a homecoming talk, then straight to Dutch Flat to perform The Song of our Hearts for Sacrament meeting. Haha and then they weaseled Elder Bayless into a kind of farewell testimony on top of that. But it went well and we didn't really have any complaints.
Today we went roping for the first time in months... and let's just say the cows were a little bigger and more cranky than the ones before... I attached a video that is the closest I got to flipping any this time around. Haha but I'm mostly bruise free anyway ;P not much to report after that, just emailing, food, and driving to Price and back. Tomorrow is just packing Tuesday for Elder Bayless and then transfers after that.
Oh yeah btw, I'm staying in Ferron and my new companion is Elder Shepston who will actually be going home in a just a few months as well
Have a great day, have a great week, have a great life.
Love,
Elder DeFord
Anyway, this week has to be one of the most bizarre on my mission. Let's begin. Monday started well enough, we went with a less active family we've started teaching. They took us up to one of the many reservoirs in the mountains fishing. It was fun and very, very hot. We did not have a ton of success, but we got to know them a lot better and have a good time. We're working pretty hard on getting them back to church so that was a really good deal. Then we had to pack and prepare. We left for Price to pick up some other Elders, then drove them to Springville for the night before leaving to go to Spanish Fork where we were gonna stay with the Zone Leaders over there. That was fun as usual, Elder Durfee and Elder Santos are two of my favorite missionaries and they are the Zone Leaders. So we spent the night with them and the next day headed out to the Parade.
For those of you who don't know, in Provo they have a large parade for the 4th of July, and traditionally the missionaries from the entire mission come to march in it. Since the split two years ago when Orem and Provo became separate missions, both missions have collected all their missionaries to march in the parade. This is one of the most highly anticipated parts of the parade, many people just pack up and leave after the missionaries pass them because that's the most important part to them. Anyway so we were required to be at the parade start by 7:15 even though the parade didn't start until 9 I think and we didn't begin until almost 10. So we all gathered up, got everyone there, and walked to a large stadium where we all sat together in the bleachers. There we sat and waited. Eventually the Orem mission arrived and we sat and waited some more. For a couple hours actually. During that time, we were asked to perform several impromptu musical numbers.... which were just awful. Not gonna lie. Apparently the Orem missionaries had a few people who had been practicing some song for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if you'd never heard it, I've only
heard it on my mission, and honestly, it's really pretty poorly written to begin with. Then they threw these unsure missionaries on a mic system in front of the combined missions without warning to perform. They really did pretty well considering the circumstances, which were far from ideal. Haha but then President Hodgman decided we needed a musical number too... so he pulled some of us down to perform an unrehearsed Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy.. again not bad considering... but I found out after that some of the ones up there had never even heard the song before, much less sung it. *sigh* haha it was a long wait. Then when the parade finally began we had some fun, it was great to see so many people so excited for the purpose that we had and the service we were giving. I got to see my sister running through the crowd with her adorable little pregnant tummy trying to find me. I got to see some people that I had taught and baptized and some from the Stake I'd served in. I saw some old friends from home. That was funny because I heard someone calling out Michael and was so confused before I remembered that my name hadn't always been Elder DeFord ;P
Anyway it was a lot of fun, and following the parade was a party with all the missionaries... and because we had some extra time, the Hodgman's went around requesting talents for an impromptu talent show. So my companion performed again, without warning. We had time to run "Make us One" one time before we had to perform. But whatever, it was good. Or at least ok. I was really impressed though, there were some fantastic talents shown, even on such short notice. I'm so glad to be in this mission. We also had a performance from Elder Evans, a magician from Colorado, that's always fun. And the mission slide show. We also learned that each one of our senior office Elders served in the military and they talked about their testimonies and their service. It was really cool. So after all that... and the 2 and a half hour drive back and dropping off the other elders, we gathered all together as a district to finally watch Moana! And sing all the songs since we've been listening to them for months already. It was good to finally have some closure. We also had a great set up and a bunch of food and snacks provide by Emery. It was pretty sweet to say the least. We're still working through the leftover pizza.
Wednesday was then preparation day, and we got to go Goat packing for the first time with Herb, a super cool guy we met a while back who isn't a member of the church. We went hiking with all the goats, including his new one, little dude. We saw a rattlesnake, super cool rocks, had a little adventure, touched Cactus Dans ashes. It was a good day. After that we headed to Price for a big BBQ with all the missionaries in the Zone, which was where I was unable to email after
all. Once again, my apologies. I don't remember if I told you all, I acquired some butchered pig heads for this BBQ... and they were delicious. However as soon as p day ended, exchanges with the Zone Leaders began. I went with Elder Minson, one of the Elders I came out with and we had a fantastic lesson with a great couple. That night we ended up sharing their house with a total of 7 elders because the Moab Elders where staying in Price so they didn't have to come back the next day for Zone Training Meeting. And they're in a Trio. Haha so that was a whole nother adventure.
Thursday as mentioned above was Zone Training Meeting, which luckily this time I was not asked to spontaneously perform for, however there was a request from the Sister training Leaders for me to sing Shiny from Moana, which I said I would if they remembered at the end.... which they didn't, so I'm off the hook. Other than that it wasn't too exciting except Elder Bayless and I forgot our suits in Ferron so we went to the meeting suitless, but other than that nothing. Crazy. Follow that up with Greek food with Brother Quentin, my favorite ward mission leader in the Zone Leaders area and it made for a pretty great day. Then we got back to Ferron, had a baptismal interview, yummy dinner, and a lesson with a family that I love that has been struggling. It was really good on all sides.
Friday there is far less to report... honestly... I'm not even sure what we did that day actually. So ... skip
Saturday on the other hand was full and great. We started things off nicely by preparing for the one of the most wonderful baptisms I've had on my mission. And we had almost nothing to do with it. We just taught the lessons and provided the interview and paper work, made sure the font was filled, that was it. And we were done, just like that. Everything was planned hand prepared without us, we were able to bring another investigator to see it and altogether the Spirit was so powerful, there was hardly a dry eye in the chapel we almost filled. It was incredible. Then straight from there to lunch and a lesson with that investigator, then off to Emery for Elder Bayless' final singing lesson. And my lesson too of course but I'm gonna have more after his last one ;D it went really well and we actually had a really cool spiritual voice discussion about some super deep stuff that blew my mind all over again. Then we prepared our song for Sunday... which we forgot about until Friday and Friday was the first time we'd heard or seen the song. With very little practice time. Then one practice with Erin on Saturday in Emery. Then we contacted a family and went off roading looking for another potential investigator. We maybe got a little distracted... but we were looking for him. Haha but those are videos I'm not gonna show you :P no luck though, it was weird, a Saturday in the middle of summer, and all of Castle Valley Ranch was deserted. Oh well
Sunday we had J's confirmation and a homecoming talk, then straight to Dutch Flat to perform The Song of our Hearts for Sacrament meeting. Haha and then they weaseled Elder Bayless into a kind of farewell testimony on top of that. But it went well and we didn't really have any complaints.
Today we went roping for the first time in months... and let's just say the cows were a little bigger and more cranky than the ones before... I attached a video that is the closest I got to flipping any this time around. Haha but I'm mostly bruise free anyway ;P not much to report after that, just emailing, food, and driving to Price and back. Tomorrow is just packing Tuesday for Elder Bayless and then transfers after that.
Oh yeah btw, I'm staying in Ferron and my new companion is Elder Shepston who will actually be going home in a just a few months as well
Have a great day, have a great week, have a great life.
Love,
Elder DeFord
We went roping this Monday... but the cows were a little
bigger that
the one’s we fought before. Oh well, it was still fun
the one’s we fought before. Oh well, it was still fun
Allow me to introduce the Herd.
Bacchus
Shelby GT
Vincent Van Goat
Amelia Goatheart
Vicki
Woodstock
And Little Dude
He's the little one who catches up so adorably when he gets distracted ;P
Bacchus
Shelby GT
Vincent Van Goat
Amelia Goatheart
Vicki
Woodstock
And Little Dude
He's the little one who catches up so adorably when he gets distracted ;P
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| Baptism Day |
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| I have no cow related bruises ... |
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| One of my fishies |
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| post roping selfie |
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| rattlesnake rock |
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