We went to Florence and played the Zone Leaders in tennis. We beat
them pretty bad. Tennis is actually fun to play! Frank is good, so he
gave us some pointers along the way. Then, he took us all out to
Cracker Barrel after! We headed back to Hartsville and got our
groceries. When we got to the apartment, a less active member called
and literally, talked to us (me) on the phone for 3 hours and 26
minutes!! I probably said a total of about 15 words the whole time.
She wouldn't let me go when I said we had to either. I was stuck on
there and it was frustrating.
3-1-16
Well, we ate lunch with the Mayor today! His name is Mel Pennington.
I've worked out a couple times with him when we used to get up at
5:30am for F3. It's a bunch of guys from the community who get
together and do military workouts. It stands for Faith. Fellowship.
Fitness. Anyway, we were biking down the street and he pulled up in
front of us. He asked if we've eaten lunch yet and then told us to
meet at this Mexican restaurant. We got there and there were a lot of
people who I have worked out with before. We all get funny nicknames
when we go. Mine us "Todo" since I'm from Kansas. I know, real
original. Haha but Mel paid for our lunches! He's a really nice guy.
We met with a guy later on got into some deep doc with him. It's not
always advised for missionaries to get into that, but the questions he
had caused it to lead to that. It was a really neat conversation and
got us thinking! He was a pretty intelligent guy.
For dinner, we ate pizza at a park with the Beckett's. After that, we
shared a message with them and went to go see Patti and Dave. They
were really happy to see us!
3-2-16
Today was a really slow day... Nothing seemed to go our way. Our
appointments all cancelled. So we did some tracting. People were
really rude today for some reason, so that hurt my pride a little.
It's hard not to just reach out and strangle someone after they tell
us that we are going to hell in front of their kids. I just have to
remember that I'm a missionary! Haha
We taught s couple people today, but they were just doorstep lessons.
We had ward council and visited with the ward mission leaders. After
that, we went over to the Solomons. They're such nice people! Bro.
Solomon will talk your ear off.
3-3-16
It was a pretty busy day! When we were heading back to the apartment
for lunch, we drove by Ruth's. One of Frank's friend we know was
walking in, so we stopped to say hi. He invited us to eat lunch with
him, so we did and he paid for us! He's a pretty nice guy. We went out
to the "Alphabet Streets" (ghetto) to teach Rickey again. His brother
Earnest was there who isn't a member. I am surprised about how much
Rickey still knows about the church. We had a really good lesson with
and put Earnest on date! While we were heading to go see an
investigator, we noticed two kids playing baseball. They were a less
active's kids, so we stopped and played a two on two game. They had a
blast! After the kid, "Jr." And I won, we went to go see the
investigator and taught her husband. They seemed pretty interested, so
we will have to swing by later on!
3-4-16
We had ZTM this morning and it went really well! The Spirit is always
so strong in that room full of missionaries. At ZTM, they outlawed
member meals starting in April... Unless they're less active or have
an investigator. I think that is ridiculous. We are supposed to work
with members so how are we going to be able to do that without going
to eat dinner with them and build their trust. There is a whole
section in Preach My Gospel about working with members. We should be
able to eat meals with them as long as we are staying on purpose and
seeking referrals. It's better than going to the apartment for that
hour and not interacting with anyone. Oh well, still have to be
obedient to it!
After ZTM, we went on exchanges. Elder Webb came to Hartsville with
me. We got to teach quite a bit of people! While we were tracting, we
knocked into a nice family who's daughter has been to church a couple
times with the Thompsons. They are looking for a church to go to as a
family. We've been wanting to teach the daughter, so I'm glad that we
found them!
For dinner, we ate at the Carroway's. They have been members for about
7 years. We found out that they have gotten their endowments, but
haven't been sealed! We talked to them about that and getting their
patriarchal blessings. If they go and get sealed, we can go with them!
3-5-16
Before we finished up exchanges, we got special permission from the
Zone Leaders to go play tennis with Frank. He brought a friend, so we
played doubles. E. Webb played tennis in highschool. It was Frank and
I against him and Jody. We beat them 6-4! It was a lot of fun. Tennis
is nice because it can only take about to people to play. It's a good
workout as well. I picked it up pretty fast! After that, Frank took us
to Cook-Out to get some burgers.
When we got back from Cheraw to finish exchanges, a member of the ward
asked us to help them move the wife's grandma in. After we finished
that, they took us out to eat at Applebee's. It was nice to visit with
them! Then we went to go teach a guy who turns out to be flaming... It
was awkward and even more so when he started hitting on us. He was
wearing just a robe and I thought he was going to rip it open any
second. We got out of there pretty fast!
3-6-16
We went on probably the longest bike ride I've been on yet. We covered
a lot of miles! We were trying to contact some less active's we
haven't met. One out of six were available to talk to. The others were
either not home or moved. We taught a couple other people while we
were tracting out there. That long trip was exhausting because we were
fasting until dinner, so we didn't have any energy!
I made some hamburgers for dinner when we got back, so we chowed down.
It was a good day today! We are going to go play some tennis tomorrow
and just relax!
-Elder Mitchell
