I'm getting really bad at the whole emailing thing huh?
Maybe I should just go to emailing every other week in purpose.... actually
no... then I'd only email once a month. On the bright side... that would mean
only 14 more emails.... or something like that. It's like counting fast Sundays...
huh... I actually remember when Emily had 14 fast Sundays left... she'd barely
started! Just out of training. That's a weird thought.
Alright well I guess we'd better rewind all the way back to two weeks ago again huh? Well it wasn't to terribly crazy exciting so it shouldn't be too bad. Anyway, so some people we've been trying to teach, the M's, had a big ole sewer issue that resulted in a giant hole in their front yard that they need fixed. And the grass is gone. But, the golf course is being renovated because of changes to the reservoir and they have a bunch of sod laying around so we went up there Tuesday to ask for some. We still haven't gotten it but they said they would eventually. We went and saw J, we visited with the B’s and set up dinner with them last week. Other than that pretty normal contacting. We went to the nursing home as usual to sing and play, we ate with the S’s, met with the B’s. Thursday there was a big community picnic deal that the MILLSITE Ward put on, we attended that and got to see some people and meet some new people, it was super good. A lot of people we figured wouldn't be interested, actually went and enjoyed it. It was a good tool. Friday was the normal daily planning and trading a song for lunch... with one obvious difference. So we went to the Senior Citizen Center like normal, we ate and talked with the ladies, and did my song. Then right as we're leaving someone else drives up.... with their WHOLE family. Apparently they decided to take a break from building their house to bring everyone over to hear me sing. So then we stayed for another hour or so, I did a couple more songs, we talked, it was good. Incredibly awkward however.... they could've at least warned me :P !
Sorry there isn't too much hear about investigators last week, we haven't had a lot of luck catching people home in spite of the fact that summer is nearly over. Most of the events that are worth mentioning relate to interactions with members and other missionaries.
Anywho Saturday Castle Dale begged to come with us to our voice lesson with Erin. Haha never doing that again. So now there are four of us sharing an hour. It's just not enough time. And she thought there was a little more time so they each got twenty.... and we got ten or less. So that was a super bummer. Then this week she was busy and we didn't get one at all L
One pretty notable thing that happened, we got to meet with the C’s. You may remember me talking about digging trenches for a guy several months ago. Back with Elder Baker. So that guy is a member who hasn't been to church in years and years. His wife and their whole family aren't members. We met with them and talked for probably a solid hour, hour and a half, in the process he mentioned that they had talked to their oldest son about baptism, and they said that while they weren't interested, they would support their kids if they were interested and said they would ask them about it and let us know. It was a fantastic meeting. We had been led there at the right time and they really opened up to us. That's a good feeling. Hopefully lots of good comes out of it.
Sunday was busy as usual, lots of sacrament meetings, lessons, etc. we had a pretty early dinner then lots planned... that kind of fell through. But then we were able to talk to some other people in that
time which opened some doors. It's really amazing how the Lord knows what he's doing. All the time. We also went out to the Property with J. and I. I can't remember what stories we were doing.... I
think we were finishing the story of Moses and his adventures getting the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
Monday we went to Moab. It was pretty fun but we had some misadventures along the way. We went to Canyonlands and I was gonna show Elder Shepston the False Kiva. I went there with Brent back in
Provo and it was super cool. So I packed water and Gatorade and snacks in my pack and we set out. Elder Shepston didn't bring anything... although we did stop and he got a small Gatorade and some salty chips. Do you see where this is going? We head over to the trailhead after going to the Ranger Station to double check my maps and that we're going to the right place. We get out and I grab my pack and he decides he doesn't need his Gatorade, he'll just leave it in the car. He had asked how hard and long the hike was and I told him that it hadn't been too bad, we'd spent several hours, but that it was also January then, and right now it's much hotter, ESPECIALLY in a canyon where the rocks are absorbing and reflecting heat at you. Anyway so we head down the path down the cliff face and follow the trail and it's smooth sailing until we get to the bottom and I was having trouble figuring out where to go, we were on the trail and there were plenty of cairns marking the way but it didn't seem quite right. But we kept going and I was just watching for the cave in the cliff where the Kiva is and watching the path for familiar things, and after a while I'd decided we'd either come down a different way or gotten sidetracked onto a different trail by accident. The Alcove Spring trails starts at the same place and so I figured we'd just follow it and find out what Alcove Springs was instead. However after an hour and a half or so I noticed that he seemed to be flagging. We had been talking about hiking and he'd told me about all the cool high adventures he had done but then he stopped talking and seemed to really be struggling. So I gave him some of my liquids and kept going a little farther. I could see that he wasn't really enjoying it any more so I convinced him that we'd somehow missed it and we should probably head back and see if we can tell where we got off. He agreed and we started back, getting slower and slower all the time. We finally make it back to the cliff and things are good, I chose to take some short cuts to make it easier on him and get him out of the sun, I would go ahead and scout the best shadiest path while he was resting under a tree or rock. We started up the cliff.. He really started to struggle he asked if he could drink my water too, but it was already gone. I hadn't planned for both of us, I only brought enough for me and some extra. We kept going up and it seemed alright, we'd been in the canyon for 3 or 3.5 hours at this point. There was a place on the cliff where he though we were supposed to go another way, when the path led up. So I told him to go his way around because it would be easier on his knee (did I mention the whole reason we were in Moab was to get a free shot in his knee from when he broke it wrestling 3 years ago and ignored the things all the doctors told him so it never healed properly?) while I went the right way so I could keep an eye on the path. I got up and sat at a flat point and watched him offering encouragement along the way. He went behind some rocks and a tree where I couldn't see him so I waited. And waited.
Alright well I guess we'd better rewind all the way back to two weeks ago again huh? Well it wasn't to terribly crazy exciting so it shouldn't be too bad. Anyway, so some people we've been trying to teach, the M's, had a big ole sewer issue that resulted in a giant hole in their front yard that they need fixed. And the grass is gone. But, the golf course is being renovated because of changes to the reservoir and they have a bunch of sod laying around so we went up there Tuesday to ask for some. We still haven't gotten it but they said they would eventually. We went and saw J, we visited with the B’s and set up dinner with them last week. Other than that pretty normal contacting. We went to the nursing home as usual to sing and play, we ate with the S’s, met with the B’s. Thursday there was a big community picnic deal that the MILLSITE Ward put on, we attended that and got to see some people and meet some new people, it was super good. A lot of people we figured wouldn't be interested, actually went and enjoyed it. It was a good tool. Friday was the normal daily planning and trading a song for lunch... with one obvious difference. So we went to the Senior Citizen Center like normal, we ate and talked with the ladies, and did my song. Then right as we're leaving someone else drives up.... with their WHOLE family. Apparently they decided to take a break from building their house to bring everyone over to hear me sing. So then we stayed for another hour or so, I did a couple more songs, we talked, it was good. Incredibly awkward however.... they could've at least warned me :P !
Sorry there isn't too much hear about investigators last week, we haven't had a lot of luck catching people home in spite of the fact that summer is nearly over. Most of the events that are worth mentioning relate to interactions with members and other missionaries.
Anywho Saturday Castle Dale begged to come with us to our voice lesson with Erin. Haha never doing that again. So now there are four of us sharing an hour. It's just not enough time. And she thought there was a little more time so they each got twenty.... and we got ten or less. So that was a super bummer. Then this week she was busy and we didn't get one at all L
One pretty notable thing that happened, we got to meet with the C’s. You may remember me talking about digging trenches for a guy several months ago. Back with Elder Baker. So that guy is a member who hasn't been to church in years and years. His wife and their whole family aren't members. We met with them and talked for probably a solid hour, hour and a half, in the process he mentioned that they had talked to their oldest son about baptism, and they said that while they weren't interested, they would support their kids if they were interested and said they would ask them about it and let us know. It was a fantastic meeting. We had been led there at the right time and they really opened up to us. That's a good feeling. Hopefully lots of good comes out of it.
Sunday was busy as usual, lots of sacrament meetings, lessons, etc. we had a pretty early dinner then lots planned... that kind of fell through. But then we were able to talk to some other people in that
time which opened some doors. It's really amazing how the Lord knows what he's doing. All the time. We also went out to the Property with J. and I. I can't remember what stories we were doing.... I
think we were finishing the story of Moses and his adventures getting the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.
Monday we went to Moab. It was pretty fun but we had some misadventures along the way. We went to Canyonlands and I was gonna show Elder Shepston the False Kiva. I went there with Brent back in
Provo and it was super cool. So I packed water and Gatorade and snacks in my pack and we set out. Elder Shepston didn't bring anything... although we did stop and he got a small Gatorade and some salty chips. Do you see where this is going? We head over to the trailhead after going to the Ranger Station to double check my maps and that we're going to the right place. We get out and I grab my pack and he decides he doesn't need his Gatorade, he'll just leave it in the car. He had asked how hard and long the hike was and I told him that it hadn't been too bad, we'd spent several hours, but that it was also January then, and right now it's much hotter, ESPECIALLY in a canyon where the rocks are absorbing and reflecting heat at you. Anyway so we head down the path down the cliff face and follow the trail and it's smooth sailing until we get to the bottom and I was having trouble figuring out where to go, we were on the trail and there were plenty of cairns marking the way but it didn't seem quite right. But we kept going and I was just watching for the cave in the cliff where the Kiva is and watching the path for familiar things, and after a while I'd decided we'd either come down a different way or gotten sidetracked onto a different trail by accident. The Alcove Spring trails starts at the same place and so I figured we'd just follow it and find out what Alcove Springs was instead. However after an hour and a half or so I noticed that he seemed to be flagging. We had been talking about hiking and he'd told me about all the cool high adventures he had done but then he stopped talking and seemed to really be struggling. So I gave him some of my liquids and kept going a little farther. I could see that he wasn't really enjoying it any more so I convinced him that we'd somehow missed it and we should probably head back and see if we can tell where we got off. He agreed and we started back, getting slower and slower all the time. We finally make it back to the cliff and things are good, I chose to take some short cuts to make it easier on him and get him out of the sun, I would go ahead and scout the best shadiest path while he was resting under a tree or rock. We started up the cliff.. He really started to struggle he asked if he could drink my water too, but it was already gone. I hadn't planned for both of us, I only brought enough for me and some extra. We kept going up and it seemed alright, we'd been in the canyon for 3 or 3.5 hours at this point. There was a place on the cliff where he though we were supposed to go another way, when the path led up. So I told him to go his way around because it would be easier on his knee (did I mention the whole reason we were in Moab was to get a free shot in his knee from when he broke it wrestling 3 years ago and ignored the things all the doctors told him so it never healed properly?) while I went the right way so I could keep an eye on the path. I got up and sat at a flat point and watched him offering encouragement along the way. He went behind some rocks and a tree where I couldn't see him so I waited. And waited.
Then I heard a voice. An actual voice, not a feeling or a
thought, but the Spirits voice saying "Elder". That's all it said but
that was enough. I got up and moved across the mountain to where he should've
been and after going down a ways, there he was sitting under a scraggly tree looking sick. I ask if he was ok and he told me that whenever he stood up he got dizzy and started to black out. After several minutes I managed to convince him to keep going up the cliff, but he fought the whole way and tried to get me to just go get the car and bring it back to him. I told him when we got to the top I would do that but I wasn't going to leave him on the cliff. So he would go a few steps and stop. He would ask how much farther it was. I lied more in that hour than I have In a long time. He would ask if it was gonna be hard, when would we get water, how much longer... you get the picture. Then we'd move up the mountain a few more feet and I would have to convince him to move again, telling him how close we were and all the cool water and stuff we had in the car. What should've taken another 10 or 20 minutes ended up taking about an hour. I would go ahead, and come back, go ahead and come back, stop ask how much farther it is and sit for several minutes. In the hot sun. Making everything worse. And even harder to get him moving again. Finally we make it to the top and he sits down next to the road. While, after climbing cliffs and being in a hot canyon for 4+ hours and just climbing out of it twice for the distance I went, I had to sprint another couple hundred yards down the road to get the car and bring it back to him. Like I said. It was an adventure :) haha and I told him that what we had been looking for was somewhere so that he wouldn't feel back about not making it all the way.
been and after going down a ways, there he was sitting under a scraggly tree looking sick. I ask if he was ok and he told me that whenever he stood up he got dizzy and started to black out. After several minutes I managed to convince him to keep going up the cliff, but he fought the whole way and tried to get me to just go get the car and bring it back to him. I told him when we got to the top I would do that but I wasn't going to leave him on the cliff. So he would go a few steps and stop. He would ask how much farther it was. I lied more in that hour than I have In a long time. He would ask if it was gonna be hard, when would we get water, how much longer... you get the picture. Then we'd move up the mountain a few more feet and I would have to convince him to move again, telling him how close we were and all the cool water and stuff we had in the car. What should've taken another 10 or 20 minutes ended up taking about an hour. I would go ahead, and come back, go ahead and come back, stop ask how much farther it is and sit for several minutes. In the hot sun. Making everything worse. And even harder to get him moving again. Finally we make it to the top and he sits down next to the road. While, after climbing cliffs and being in a hot canyon for 4+ hours and just climbing out of it twice for the distance I went, I had to sprint another couple hundred yards down the road to get the car and bring it back to him. Like I said. It was an adventure :) haha and I told him that what we had been looking for was somewhere so that he wouldn't feel back about not making it all the way.
So we got him all watered up and headed in for his shot...
and got a txt from the Zone Leaders we needed to call President. So we did and
we got chewed out a little for a misunderstanding. But I rectified it
afterwards and clarified the miscommunication. Haha but just a very long day as
you might imagine. And I didn't even get to finish my hike :(
Anyway back to work, we went and did service for Joe for several hours, we cut down some trees and helped him with some various other chores, that was really good. We headed down to Emery to try to do some good but the people we were trying to find moved(although we didn't know that yet) and some of the other ones cancelled. So we went to explore the cemetery. My great grandpa Brinkerhoff was born in Huntington, about half an hour away from Ferron, and down in Emery, there's a gentleman who is also a Brinkerhoff. I had looked in the Ferron cemetery several times but hadn't ever found any Brinkerhoffs but I figured Emery was worth a shot since there was still one there... and I actually found some. About 15 different graves, I went and took pictures of them and tried to see if I was related but I'm not too sure at this point, but it was pretty exciting. Elder Shepston found a bunch of people related to some people his parents are friends with. Turns out they actually came to Emery for a family reunion and we just barely missed them one week. It was pretty crazy. The next day was singing at the nursing home as usual and that was really about it, not too much happened that day either. Pretty normal, run of the mill kinds of stuff.
Thursday we had President interviews and that was good. I mean it's always good but this one was kind of funny. So we go into the room and he asks about my family and we talked for a bit, then he asks if I have any questions, which I did, things I'd been thinking about for weeks, specifically for the interview, so that was cool. Then he asked about my area. I explained how much I loved it and how much I loved the people and that I'd be happy to stay there for more time but that I worried I was growing complacent. Too comfortable where I was. We discussed that for some time and he said that even though board week wasn't until next week, he had been looking and things and I was probably gonna move. Which I had known already, 6 months is about as long as you stay in one area in our mission. Only one elder since President Hodgman took over has stayed longer, and we discussed that as well. However the possibility no matter how slight, was still there. Even with what he said.... until the end anyway.. then he said well Elder DeFord... you'd better go ahead and start packing. At this point I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm leaving Ferron. I'm excited for new things and new people, but I'm gonna miss Ferron a lot. And the people especially. That's a place that will always remain in my heart.
Friday bleh. I don't even wanna talk about Friday. Suffice it to say there were plans, and food, and no extra song guests this time ;P and more visiting that people weren't home for. Although the T’s are
finally back and I'll get to teach them some before I leave which makes me pretty happy.
Saturday, like I said, no voice lesson, so that was sad. But we actually got a lot done. Lots of visiting and knocking and talking. Met some good people. It was kinda cool, there's a guy from Maryland living in Price who has been working with a lot of members down here. We actually were gonna meet him in Emery before it was too late. But any he was a youth minister for a long time and then the people he was around starting doing some things that he didn't like or agree with so he started searching for truth. He eventually found his way to the Messianic Jews and tried that out for a couple months before he came out to Utah to work for a while. He's been super receptive and the members he's been around have been great missionaries and shared their lives with him. It's been really cool. Haha I haven't even gotten to meet the guy yet but I hope we can meet with him before he goes back.
There was also several funerals that day, all of which resulted in food being given to us... our fridge is very full right now. Sunday then also became very busy. We saw the B’s again and we taught
another Member Missionary Lesson which went pretty well. I sang in the Blue Hills Ward and set up to sing in Ferron Creek and Emery next week. Life has been good. Then we had meetings and meetings, and dinner, and cancelled rescheduled meetings and then J. and I. to finish it out. I'm now connecting all the Bible stories from Adam down to give them some context.
Any way that's the week, thanks for all the love and support from each of you!
Have a great day, have a great week, have a great life.
Love,
Elder DeFord
Anyway back to work, we went and did service for Joe for several hours, we cut down some trees and helped him with some various other chores, that was really good. We headed down to Emery to try to do some good but the people we were trying to find moved(although we didn't know that yet) and some of the other ones cancelled. So we went to explore the cemetery. My great grandpa Brinkerhoff was born in Huntington, about half an hour away from Ferron, and down in Emery, there's a gentleman who is also a Brinkerhoff. I had looked in the Ferron cemetery several times but hadn't ever found any Brinkerhoffs but I figured Emery was worth a shot since there was still one there... and I actually found some. About 15 different graves, I went and took pictures of them and tried to see if I was related but I'm not too sure at this point, but it was pretty exciting. Elder Shepston found a bunch of people related to some people his parents are friends with. Turns out they actually came to Emery for a family reunion and we just barely missed them one week. It was pretty crazy. The next day was singing at the nursing home as usual and that was really about it, not too much happened that day either. Pretty normal, run of the mill kinds of stuff.
Thursday we had President interviews and that was good. I mean it's always good but this one was kind of funny. So we go into the room and he asks about my family and we talked for a bit, then he asks if I have any questions, which I did, things I'd been thinking about for weeks, specifically for the interview, so that was cool. Then he asked about my area. I explained how much I loved it and how much I loved the people and that I'd be happy to stay there for more time but that I worried I was growing complacent. Too comfortable where I was. We discussed that for some time and he said that even though board week wasn't until next week, he had been looking and things and I was probably gonna move. Which I had known already, 6 months is about as long as you stay in one area in our mission. Only one elder since President Hodgman took over has stayed longer, and we discussed that as well. However the possibility no matter how slight, was still there. Even with what he said.... until the end anyway.. then he said well Elder DeFord... you'd better go ahead and start packing. At this point I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that I'm leaving Ferron. I'm excited for new things and new people, but I'm gonna miss Ferron a lot. And the people especially. That's a place that will always remain in my heart.
Friday bleh. I don't even wanna talk about Friday. Suffice it to say there were plans, and food, and no extra song guests this time ;P and more visiting that people weren't home for. Although the T’s are
finally back and I'll get to teach them some before I leave which makes me pretty happy.
Saturday, like I said, no voice lesson, so that was sad. But we actually got a lot done. Lots of visiting and knocking and talking. Met some good people. It was kinda cool, there's a guy from Maryland living in Price who has been working with a lot of members down here. We actually were gonna meet him in Emery before it was too late. But any he was a youth minister for a long time and then the people he was around starting doing some things that he didn't like or agree with so he started searching for truth. He eventually found his way to the Messianic Jews and tried that out for a couple months before he came out to Utah to work for a while. He's been super receptive and the members he's been around have been great missionaries and shared their lives with him. It's been really cool. Haha I haven't even gotten to meet the guy yet but I hope we can meet with him before he goes back.
There was also several funerals that day, all of which resulted in food being given to us... our fridge is very full right now. Sunday then also became very busy. We saw the B’s again and we taught
another Member Missionary Lesson which went pretty well. I sang in the Blue Hills Ward and set up to sing in Ferron Creek and Emery next week. Life has been good. Then we had meetings and meetings, and dinner, and cancelled rescheduled meetings and then J. and I. to finish it out. I'm now connecting all the Bible stories from Adam down to give them some context.
Any way that's the week, thanks for all the love and support from each of you!
Have a great day, have a great week, have a great life.
Love,
Elder DeFord
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