Elder spencer Sept. 28, 2009

Dear family! Sept. 28, 2009

I'm 21 now! And...to be honest I still feel the exact same. Hm...I'm still trying to sort that one out...Is it always like that???

This week was a great one. Things are still going well, and we are always busy. The weather was perfect and it is starting to get a little bit chilly. Which is sad because it really isn't chilly it just feels like it. It is still like upper 50s but my ears get cold. This transition to winter is not going to be exciting.......

But on the bright side there were a lot of great things that happened!

"A honkin' marvy good time": This week a great highlight came in remembrance of mother and all of her fine vocabulary sayings. Including, but not limited to the words mentioned in the title of this paragraph. A lady was on her porch picking green beans. We talked to her and commented on the large size of the beans she was picking (because they really were big!) She replied "Yes! They are some honkin' big ones!" I didn't really believe what I had just heard. I wanted to ask her, "Did you really just say 'honkin?'" But I didn't. I also did a good job supressing the laughter I had thinking about Mom saying that exact thing becuase I didn't want this nice lady to think I was laughing at her. Good times. Thanks for the good source of humor Mom. Love you! :)

Teaching isn't all peaches and cream: This week we had some nice experiences I felt were significant. They both involve my companion and his greatness. We were sahring a spiritual thought after dinner and my companion decided to share a personal spiritual experience he had from the beginning of his mission. It is a pretty powerful experience and it helped him grow alot so it is realyl special to him. Right when he was talking about the most spiritual part of it we heard a big THUMP on the window. We all jumped and looked over and a humming bird had slammed into the window! It was hovering there looking a little dazed and then zoomed off. We kept composure pretty well, and my companioin didn't even turn around. He went right through and finished his thought like nothing had happened. He is very focused! A great example of not being distracted by other influences that come during teaching. I was distracted enough taht I even remembered to write in my email home like 5 days later...so I'm still working on that part....
-Another experience came while we were in another area with some other missionaries. I got to interview a man who is preparing for baptism. He had a friend there at the time so when we went out on the porch for the interview, she and my companion and the two other missionaries were sitting in the living room. They talked a little bit, but the missionaries told me later that a pretty akward silence of definetely more than a minute fell over them. Then, my companion said to her, "So....have you ever heard of Joseph Smith??" to break the long awkward pause. It definetely is not the smoothest way to introduce the gospel and we laughed about it after the interview alot, but she answered the question and they ended up teaching her a lesson during the interview. So sometimes in missionary work it isn't as much about how the initial invitation is delivered as long as it is delivered. Also, I guess sometimes the best way to break awkward silences is with awkward questions. Who knows!

The work: Things are still going realyl well. Winifred is still doing great, but she will be baptized next weekend on Sunday, instead of Yesterday. Her husband has agreed to come to her baptism, but he was working yesterday so we moved the baptism so he could be included. We felt taht was really important because after all, the gospel is all about families. But Winifred is super excited for her baptism. She has called many of her friends and is throwing a post baptism party at her house next week. She will be a great missionary!

A grand birthday week: Ok, maybe it was more than grand, it was glorious! I opened the great package on my birthday and tahnk you for that! It was a great treat. (Mom, the cookies were still good and not crushed!) Thank you for your thoughtfulness! Also, the members we lived with made Elder Green and I homemade apple crisp for a birthday treat. (His bday was yesterday!) So that was amazing. Also, on my birthday I made a delicious dessert to share with other missionaries whose district meeting we were going to. I made brownies with a layer of melted marshmallows followed witha thick layer of chocolate frosting. I don't mess around with my desserts. Also, for lunch we went to a burger place called Fuddruckers. It was delicious. Yay for birthdays!

Kids are krazy: The bishop's six year old shared the following joke during the middle of dinner.
Q: Why did Piglet look in the toilet?
A: He was looking for Pooh!
The bishops wife tried to tell the child that the joke was not appropriate for the dinner table, or for when missionaries were present, but it wasn't very effective because she was laughing too. The joke was then retold and retold again by the 3 year old sitting next to me until he was threatened to not get any dessert! haha. It reminded me of those great dinners we had when the missionaries were over. We would argue about who got to sit by the missionaries and I remember we even had to have talks about proper conduct when missionaries were over. So mom, don't worry, we weren't the only kids like taht! And as a missionary, you think it is awesome! :)

Transfers this week: This weeks is transfers again. Who knows what will happen!! So stay tuned for next week.

Pictures
1). Lunch at Fuddruckers. So delicious. The missionary I am next to is my companion. The one next to him is from Olympia.
2). This place is bound to be a success. The name is golden. I am so happy I found it. It is outside of my area though :(
3). I am a wrestling champion. Carl and Neil, you are going down when I get home. be intimidated.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you for all of your love and support.
With oodles of love,
Elder Spencer