Pretty Much The Most Amazing Experience Ever!

September 30, 2013

The brownies were actually really good. None of us finished so we tried it again just to say we finished it. It really didn’t make me sick at all. Well, transfers happen this Thursday. I am staying in Norfolk as a district leader, but my companion, Elder Long, is leaving. I get to train a new missionary... again. Other than that this week was pretty good. We met with our investigator Josh and taught him the Plan of Salvation. After we taught him, we asked if he had any questions and he said, nope you pretty much answered every question I could ever have, I feel like I have meaning to things I am doing in my life right now. Pretty much the most amazing experience ever! That was a really good lesson. Then last Sunday we were out visiting a less active family and on the way to the door this lady said she was from the church too. We talked to her for a little and found out she hasn’t been to church in 7 years but wants to come back. So we met with her again and she has such strong desires to get back on the path. Life’s been hard on her but the one thing she said she realized is that she always sees the church come back no matter how bad life gets. Missionary work is pretty awesome sometimes. That’s really about it, it’s been a really good week. Love ya.

Jordan

Oh ya funny story I forgot to tell. Let me preface this by saying that my companion and I are both fine, not a scratch on us. Plus we didn’t even rip our pants. Elder Long and I were riding our bikes to a dinner appointment on Wednesday, I was in front of him. In Norfolk the sidewalks are kind of dumb, sometimes they have the nice little ramps on them when they end, and sometimes there is just a curb that drops off. So we are riding and we go down one of the side walk ramps and cross a little side street. And logic would say that since the sidewalk we just rode down had a ramp that the sidewalk we were about to ride up would also have such a ramp. Logic doesn’t exist in the south... SO midway thru the street I notice that this giant curb is in my way so I squeeze my brake levers to stop a little so I can jump up on it. Elder Long didn’t see me stop... so he runs full speed into the back of me and my bike and we end up on the sidewalk in a pile of bike and missionary. It was super funny, we stayed on the sidewalk for a good 5 minutes just laughing. The only thing that happened from this wreck is that I bent my handle bars, but luckily in the apartment there was a random set. And perfectly fine, not sore or anything so it’s all good :)

"Are You The Ones With The Books?"

September 23, 2013

Not much big happened this week, just the same old missionary stuff. I had a neat experience on Friday though. After our district meeting we wanted to go to lunch so everyone decided on Wendy’s. There are two Wendy’s near us and my companion and I didn’t know that so we went to the only one we knew and realized none of the other missionaries were there. So we called them and found out they were at the other one. We were about to leave the one we were at and meet the district at the other one when we both felt like we should just stay and eat where we already were. So we went inside and the lady at the counter asked "are you the ones with the books?" SO we had the opportunity to talk a little and give her a book of Mormon. Unfortunately she doesn’t live in our area but we got the other missionaries in contact with her. So either our laziness of not wanting to bike to a new Wendy’s paid off or the spirit is really awesome, but that was a really neat thing to experience. You need to update the pictures, those are old. The new sign looks nice. Well that’s about it, have a good week love ya.

Jordan

Leaving Clayton

Jordan's P-day trip to the Naval Base

Trying to eat the whole pan of brownies

The Sister Missionaries Planned A Surprise Birthday Party For Me

September 16, 2013

Thank you for the package! It all turned out really good, just had to put a few things in the fridge. The cookies and cream puppy chow was really good! I still think the peanut butter stuff is better, but the other stuff was really good.  Ya it’s weird to think that I’m 20, I don’t feel that old. Zone conference went well, I really like President Baker, and he’s a good guy. I know some people it’s just weird because I was one of 2 missionaries there from the Raleigh mission. We are moving because this apartment has had 7 years of missionaries and its a little run down. We are probably moving into to one in the same complex we are in now. There are 3 sets of senior missionaries in our complex along with the elders that live with me, and another set of elders and a set of sisters. So we will probably stay close. I will have to buy new shoes soon, I ripped one of my pairs on my bike pedal. I took a bunch of pictures of the helicopters last week and forgot my camera at home so I’ll send them next week, sorry. But this week was good, we committed a guy to baptism in November and things are just cruising along nicely. The sister missionaries planned a surprise birthday party for me last night at one of the senior couple’s house. So we had cake and ice cream with the district, it was fun. I guess that’s about it, love ya thanks for the package.

Jordan

I Popped Like Three Tires

September 9, 2013

Sounds like yall had a good time for dad’s birthday. That’s good to hear that you finally have people to help you at work. Hopefully things will get a little more normal now. Ya it’s weird to think that I turn 20 in a week... I don’t feel like I’m that old. This week we spent a lot of time fixing broken stuff. I popped like three tires my companion bent his wheel and just a lot of other bike stuff. Plus we are moving at the end of the month and the apartment has had 7 years of elders living in it so it’s not in the best shape. So we spent some times fixing holes and such and cleaning a lot. We had cracked tiles in our shower so people came out and fixed that. They had to take the shower door off to do it and they told us that someone from the complex would come by and fix it, no one ever did. So we called around and got nowhere. So my companion and I did it ourselves and caulked it and all that jazz. It was fun, I learned a lot about home repair this week. This week we have zone conference on Thursday so that should be fun. It’s been weird because I’m one of the few missionaries in my zone from the Raleigh mission so I don’t know anyone, I feel brand new again. I guess that’s about it, things are going well. Love ya.

Jordan

The Weather Feels So Much Cooler Up Here

September 2, 2013

I like it up by the coast, the weather feels so much cooler up here than my last area. The ward is really good, we get fed decently but with us and a set of sisters in the ward it’s not as much as my last area. We just got a new bishop yesterday. It’s funny because it’s the brother of someone in my first area. He was there yesterday so it was interesting to see him again. The ward likes the missionaries, there’s a lot of good plans for the future with missionary work in the ward so I’m excited to be here, it should be good. A lot of the ward just got deployed so it’ll be different the next few weeks. But things are going really well. But other than that not much new is going on, just doing missionary work, this area is a lot smaller than my last so it feels like I’ve already been more effective. But being a district leader is fun, it’s a nice change of pace from before. Well I guess that’s it for this week, love ya.

Jordan