"Well, Billy's up a gum tree so see ya."

Hello Dearest family!

This week was pretty grand. 

Starting off with last P-day, we played a bit of mini golf, and then played on some dangerous playground equipment. Picture attached. 

Then Tuesday we had a decent lesson with our investigator Mark...slow going but he'll get there someday somehow. 

Then that evening the young men's group invited us to their activity to taste the food they made...the challenge was to make the best/cheapest/healthiest missionary meal. 

Some were pretty mingin', but it inspired me to be more creative with food. One was chicken ramen noodles with cheese on top and cut up hot dog and beans. Couldn't decide if it was nasty or genius. But yeah, I'm gonna experiment and let you know how it goes. I bet you are so excited.

Wednesday I went on exchanges with an elder...it was super fun, he was just super goofy and it gave me an opportunity to release all my pent-up goofiness. 

But at the same time it was hard to focus on the work at times. If I had a super goofy companion 24/7 I'd have to try hard and find a balance. It was a super fun exchange though.

Thursday we went to a funeral! I was sitting by Elder Farnsworth (the one we met at the airport) and I whispered to him "I put the 'fun' in 'funeral'" and we had a wee silent chuckle to ourselves. 

Luckily we were in the back of the chapel; the lady's family was all really sad and they weren't Mormons. Mormons seem happy at funerals. 

In this country, everyone gets cremated because apparently the cemeteries are too crowded.

Friday we had a zone conference. The training was pretty good, I learned a lot...then we talked about family history. They are trying so hard for us to use it in our finding efforts, but so far I've seen 0 success when we've tried in the past. But we'll try again I guess.

Saturday I had a good Scottish food experience again. We went to a chippy, and I got a deep fried Mars bar. Soooo good. So unhealthy. 

Don't worry; I haven't put on weight while I've been out, as most elders do...but I haven't lost any either and that's my goal. But that's another story.

Conference was so good!!!!! 

Being on a mission I feel like I get super excited for it because: 

1) We get to rest from walking around and such for eight extra hours in one weekend.

2) We are always spiritual so having them speak to us is like an extra super spiritual high. 

3) They're like celebrities to us. 

I learned quite a lot, which I'm sure yous did too. My favourite line that I am going to use when talking to people: "We are all hypocrites...come and join us." 

Also I loved Edward Dube's talk, mostly because it's fun to listen to his voice. And that one guy who kept saying "exclamation point!" was super cheesy. 

But Elder Holland's talk was suuuper good! Especially for our area, where we teach a lot of people with mental problems of some sort.

I noticed during conference, and throughout my mission, that EVERYONE prays for the missionaries. ALWAYS! In the ward, in conference, everywhere. Not sure if that's changed recently, or if I'm just noticing it now because I am one. But it's nice that so many people are praying for us.

Funny story: We found a guy who was fairly receptive; we taught him about the Book of Mormon on his door step and gave him one, and he said he'd read it and we could come back two days later. We did so, and he answered the door, said to hold on a minute, and then another guy came to the door and said, "We don't really do that sort of stuff in this house." 

We told him that Billy said we should come back, and he said "Well, Billy's up a gum tree so see ya." And closed the door. No idea what it even meant but it was pretty funny.

Well, that's the week. I hope you enjoyed it. I sort of did, it was a bit drab in retrospect. Maybe hopefully this week is full of unexpected fun and hidden surprises!

Love you all!

--Spencer

 

Photo:
Playground thing, where we sit or stand on the ropes and one person pushes us around and around like a carousel....and then sometimes we fall off! It's fun!