2-15-16
Bro. Tadlock (Frank) took us out to eat along with the Zone Leaders
for my birthday! We call him Bro. Tadlock because he's basically a
member. Just hasn't got dunked yet! After that, he took us so that we
could go get groceries.
For dinner, we are at the Harvey's. We had a really good visit with
them! I was talking to Bro. Harvey about how much schooling he had to
do for dentistry. It's only two more years than chiropractic
schooling. It is better pay and easier to find a job. He said that he
had initially wanted to be a Chiropractor as well. I've been thinking
about dentistry and I think I would enjoy that. I might go into that
instead! Maybe a pediatric dentist. I love the Harveys. Probably
because they remind me so much of Kaylee and Roger.
2-16-16
Today, we had interviews with the President! He was impressed with how
we are doing in Hartsville. The topic was goal setting and how we can
achieve them. We brought all of our key indicators from the past four
weeks and discussed them. We set the goal to use faith as a power to
get four member presents this week.
When we got back from Hartsville, we got some lunch at Cook-Out. Then,
started our day proselyting. We taught a less active and committed
hoer to come to church! After that, we taught a lady named Lisa. We
out her on date! We taught a couple other lessons as well. We stopped
by Juwan and he told us that his mom doesn't want him to make that big
of a commitment to join our church. He's 18, but is still living under
her roof. It was very heart breaking to hear that. The whole ward was
so excited for him... Maybe someday, he will decided to join when he's
moved out.
2-17-16
Today, we went to go see a less active in the straight ghetto. It is a
pretty rough neighborhood. They're called the "Alphabet Streets"
because they didn't even bother to name them. It's just A-L streets.
The less active member lives on G street. I was very surprised to see
how much knowledge of the gospel he still has and how strong his
testimony of Joseph Smith is. He's a drug dealer which is pretty
awkward! Haha his brother came over, so we were able to teach him as
well. Later on, his goddaughter came over and we taught her too! He
got offended by someone in the church and hasn't come back since.
Elder Nielson from the seventy told us that we have the authority to
apologize for the church and say; "As representatives of the LDS
church, we solemnly apologize that you've been offended. Will you
please consider joining us again?" I think just saying that meant a
lot to him. Hopefully, he comes to church this Sunday.
2-18-16
Today went by really slow... I can't stop thinking about Juwan and how
heartbreaking it is for him to cancel. His mom isn't even in a church,
but doesn't want him to join one. It's sad because I know how much it
could bless him and his family. He knows that too. He's the oldest
sibling, so he would be setting a great example for his siblings.
We met a lady at the public library to teach her a lesson and it was
very interesting! She talked about how she thinks God is "lashing out"
on us for using so many chemical for medicine and things. Those
chemicals are hurting the environment, so God is mad at us... We just
taught her about prophets and how they would've said something about
that. Then, we talked about the authority needed to be a prophet. This
led into the Restoration. We also, helped her know how to pray and
recognize the answers she gets. We taught another lesson after that
and then, went to eat dinner with members.
2-19-16
This morning, we helped a potential investigator year floors up for
his house. They've been living in a small camper trailer until they
finish the home. Cory has two kids and a wife. They have a pretty
rough life. I feel bad for the kids... He was very thankful that we
came to help. He was an interesting guy to say the least. Haha! We
taught him a short lesson after that.
During the evening, we went to visit the Laffidy's and talked with
them for a bit. I love that family! They crack me up.
2-20-16
Today. Oh boy... I had no idea what I was getting myself into. A less
active member texted us yesterday asking for help moving. I've never
met them before, so I thought it would be a good idea. Oh I was so
wrong... We got there and walked to the back of the house where the
Uhaul truck was. The first thing I saw was a kid helping carry s
mattress and on his back was a big COCKROACH crawling on his back! I
didn't think too much of it until I walked in the house... My heart
just dropped to my feet. There were cockroaches literally, everywhere.
I have never seen so many in my life. Picture a horror movie with
roaches and add more to that. There were reaches crawling all over
their beds, pillows, food and everywhere else you could imagine. When
we were moving stuff, they would just scatter and some would start
running up our arms! I didn't want to freak out in front of them and
be rude, so as I was dying on the inside, I quickly but calmly brushed
them off. That wasn't even the worst of it. The walls were covered in
mold and the air was probably harming our health. A guy that was
helping them move, picked up a portable toilet that was by the bed to
move and it WASNT EMPTY. It spilled all over the floor and his shoe!
It smelled like death after it spilled. We had to take a "lunch break"
to go buy gloves. When we got back, it was time to move the washer,
dryer, oven and refrigerator. When we moved the fridge, the floor
underneath looked like it was moving. You couldn't even see the actual
floor. They scattered towards us, in the air vents, and up the walls.
While we were moving the fridge, it opened and there was moldy stuff
and roaches in there. The oven was even worse. We finally, got
everything moved over to the other house. We tracked more roaches into
their other house, so that's not good... They didn't clean off
anything. We tried our best to clean everything off before we got
inside. Once everything was moved out of the truck, the bed was
covered with roaches that had fallen off the furniture. Let's just say
I'm scarred for life. It made me want to deep clean everything. I am
so thankful that I haven't had to live like that. It didn't even phase
the people living there anymore. I just kept thinking about how many
of those they've eaten in their sleep... I feel like breathing in that
air took off about three years of my life. My breathing was really
shallow afterwards. They were very thankful that we helped though. It
was a very humbling experience.
On the bright side today, we got a member to go out teaching with us
for a little while. We also, put a lady on date for baptism! The
member bought us each pizzas from Little Caesars after. He also talked
about some experiences that his wife has had. His wife has lymes
disease and it got to her brain for a little while. He was telling us
about how there was an angel that used to come and help her when he
couldn't. We talked about how it could've been a family member from
way back. His wife used to know the angel's name, but forgot it.
Imagine that! The veil must've been closed again. To end the night, we
met with a couple less active members and shared a message with them.
One hasn't been to church since she was just a little kid. She seemed
pretty interested, so hopefully we can visit with her again!
2-21-16
I had to give my talk today, but I think it went pretty well! It was
about faith and how it works. I related it to football! Frank came to
Hartsville to listen to my talk. It was such a nice day today. It was
about 67°. We reached the goal we set with President Turner when we
met with him to get four member present lessons this week. We ended up
getting five! We met three of the Standards of Excellence for this
week! We've been working with some less actives as well. It was a good
day today. I am looking forward to P-Day tomorrow. We're going to go
play some tennis, clean and take a nap!
-Elder Mitchell
