Tuesday, July 22, 2014

"Is it weird that I kind of WANT to get punched in the face..."

OK got a bit more time so here's a quick rundown of the week!
I saw a guy with a "Glasgow Smile." Basically it's like the scars that the Joker has on Batman, but real life.
Apparently it's pretty common in the Glasgow drug/gang scene. It wasn't fresh, but I could see scars running from his mouth to his ears. It was kinda scary.
One of our investigators has a past with police confrontations and illegal stuff. We taught him last week, and right after we finished the Restoration DVD with him, the police knocked on his door.
He went to answer it, and they just wanted to ask him a few questions about someone he knew that got arrested. But he was being difficult with them, kept his foot against the door and wouldn't open it more than two inches.
We listened from the other room for a couple minutes and decided we should leave. He was kind of using us as an excuse to not let the cops in, saying that he's in the middle of discussing with us and can't be interrupted. So we decided we better leave. As we did, the cops kind of let themselves in thru the doorway. It was an interesting experience...
We started teaching this other guy. He's a bit of a hoarder, but a nice guy. He investigated about a year ago, so we decided to go by. He seems receptive, but a bit of something isn't quite right in his head.
We met a solid (so we thought) guy named Anthony while tracting. We were knocking his door as he walked up, and he said "that's my house" so we talked to him outside for a few minutes, and he invited us in.
We taught the first lesson, and he was one of the most agreeing, positive, receptive, and even "prepared" people I've found. He said it all made sense, more than any other church he's ever heard of.
He was super excited to come to church; we set a place to meet so we could show him to the church because it's a bit tucked away. We waited at the destination for a while, called him, his phone was off, waited some more, and then decided he wasn't coming. We've tried a few times since to call and he hasn't answered. So hopefully we'll find out what's up.
We met another interesting guy outside.
He says he believes in Jesus Christ, but can't possibly believe that Mary had a child without [procreation]. He was a bit drunk when we met him, but he asked legit questions, and seemed to want to know.
We set up a time to teach him the next morning. He said he lived in a little camp trailer in front of his grandparents' house.
He gave us the address, we went there, and sure enough, there was a trailer (or "caravan" they'd say here) we knocked on it, no answer. Knocked the house door, and his grandma said he wasn't there; he'd gone to stay the night at a friend's house. So we'll see what happens with him as well.
We played a bit of football with some members and investigators from around the stake on Saturday. It was fun. I didn't play too well but it was fun nonetheless.
Oh funny story: as we were walking down the road around 8:45 heading back in for the night, we saw this teenage couple on the other side of the street.
The girl looked like she was crying...and I guess I "stared" just to figure out what was going on. The guy just stood there glaring back at us, and then he yelled at me, "What are you actually looking at?"
I said sorry, looked down and kinda smiled, because I've learned on my mission that when someone gets mad, it's no use to get mad and by now I find it kinda funny.
But I guess he thought I was laughing at them, and then he got a bit more angry, "What the **** are you laughin at?!" He started walking across the street, saying some choice words to me, but his girlfriend grabbed him and pulled him back.
He was a bit crazy. Anger management needed. Is it weird that I kind of WANT to get punched in the face by a crazy angry guy sometime, especially on my mission? It would just make for a good story to tell my kids in the future.
Got the package this week, thanks bunches to all those who contributed items, effort, etc. I loved it!
Have a great week bretheren and sisters!
Love, Elder Burt

Photos
Glasgow conehead statue


Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 sculpture thing


Half Birthday celebration