Fort Scott

Hey what's up.

Well this week went around and visited some of the people we have been working with and it went okay. J the guy that has the next baptism date has been having personal troubles with his roommate, which is lady that parked a camper trailer in his yard. She is kind of worthless and doesn't do anything and that is stressing him out so yeah that was kind of a bummer.

 

C, the other investigator with a date, yesterday didn't commit to anything of the law of chastity and I had an allergy attack in the middle of the lesson. My eyes about bursted out of my head, but yeah she had a problem with everything brought up which is just ridiculous and it was late and we just didn't want to deal with it so that is for this upcoming week again. She has a sister that is lesbian and she said that she said if it ever came to it she couldn't be sure with us about having a partner which was weird because every person I met so far was either one way or the other. No inbetweeners, she is not lesbian b

 

ut she is just weird. I guess that is upbringing which is very strange how different people turnout. Well sounds like graduation went well and summer is kicking off, So have a good summer,,,

That is all I have this week. I know kind of lame. Oh we have transfer calls this Saturday and both Elder Green and Freeman return home next week. Which is crazy.

Fort Scott

Well we had R's baptism this week and that is a good story which will be the majority of the letter so buckle up.

So R is a very jolly man he is kind of childish and humble and that is why he was so teachable and everything we taught him really stuck. Well we weren't sure what to do for the baptism because he is not to tall but he has an exceedingly large stomach. So from the Pittsburgh Sisters we borrowed the biggest baptism suit in Kansas and probably one of the biggest ones in the Joplin Stake. It was a 5 XL and this thing was monstrous I could have spread it out on my bed and used it for covers. So me and Elder M go over there Thursday for our usual split, and we take care of some final baptism preparations, one being if the suit fits. So when the time came and we tried to get the suit on R  asked, "How do I get in it?" Elder M responded, "One foot at a time." So very slowly R l sticks one leg in and the other. He pulls up the suit and things so far were looking good. We got up as the missionary support and helped him put his shoulders on which was a little tight but they fit. Next was the hardest task, which was getting the zipper over that belly of his. R  grabbed the suit and pushed it together and Elder M grabbed another part of the suit and pushed it together to aide me with the task of getting the zipper up and I yanked and pulled with all my might and it only went to about his belly button. He didn't have his shirt off so I couldn't for sure tell but trying my hardest to yank the zipper up I felt a small concave which must have been his belly button. Well he was to big the zipper didn't go much farther and I gave it all my might. It wasn't going to work. R was to big for the biggest suit I have ever seen. Twas a hard thing to comprehend. We left R's place that day with an assurance that we would figure something out. We tried quite a bit called around the zone looking for a 6 XL and it was no good. Elder M even made a call to the Kansas Temple and the biggest they had was a 5 XL and the largest size of pants they carried was 64 inch waste, R being a solid 68 to 72 he wasn't quite sure. I couldn't believe it, was this going to be Fort Scott's destruction. Then a great idea came up we have a 74 inch pair of pants that we fit three people in that could work so we tried to bleach it white but for whatever reason it didn't work. And the whole time this ordeal was going on Elder Cheney had in the back of his mind, "I have to baptize him." Well Flash forward to day of the baptism the final solution. We put him in the jump suit up to about his waste and tucked the rest in. The M's bought R a gigantic White shirt that did fit and so we draped that over him, and to top it all off we went to Wal-Mart and bought white rope to tie everything together so it would not come off during the baptism. Problem 1 solved now for the next. We felt a little bit more comfortable with two Elders Baptizing him so it was both Me and Elder Cheney. So how it went down is that Elder Cheney said the prayer and R afterwards got down on his knees and we held on to his hands and then he just went for it and dunked his head under the water and we made sure that he was all under. Now fortunately it only took two tries the first time he actually held on to the bars not realizing that his hands had to be under water so it was a second time and that is when it was successful. Never did I see R glow like that day. Everything that we worked for and was accomplished and like Ammon I will boast in my God and thank him for not having R drown.

That was a short story made long but it was worth it. I'll send pics. Had a good week this week. Peace

 

 

 

Fort Scott

It was fun to see all you guys yesterday man I miss those family dinners and stuff but enough mourning and lamenting for family I am just thankful that I got see everyone now it is back to reality. I don't really know what else to say but R is being baptized this week and Cheney is doing it. R  is like 400 lbs. and Cheney is not. I can't wait.

Fort Scott

Really? I mean there is 260 missionaries and I am stuck in Kansas so I don't know a whole lot of the peeps in the mish, but that is cool I'll have to track him down or something we have a Zone Conference this Wednesday and it is out of three zones so I have a good chance of seeing him. Dang no Brick who are we going to rely to have all the super cool adrenaline junky stories. Colton told me a bit ago that there were so many people moving in and out that the Ward is unrecognizable now. That is sad our ward is so great I entertain Elder Cheney about the good stories from our ward.

Well sounds like a lot of fun this week with dance and volleyball and all the goods. That would be crazy if you drove through Fort Scott it would be like thirty seconds and you would be disappointed because that was all of the town but you would have a pretty good chance seeing me on my bike we are always out. I kind of want to go to Tennessee. Maybe Elder Cheney and I can take the day off and go with you guys. Jokes, Jokes.

Well this week is very good we are having a blast with all the fun people that Kansas offers I will tell you a quick awesome story about R real quick.

So we were over and we were doing a mock baptismal interview lesson and I got to the question have you committed a serious crime? Well he says, "Well one time I was bounty hunting..." All the good stories start with that. Well he goes on to tell us that he used to do bounty hunting for his uncles bail bond business and he was tracking down some guy and he said he kicked down this one door and found the guy he was looking for and a girl breaking the law of chastity and the guy reached down and R thought he was grabbing a gun when he was really trying to grab his pants and "Bam" He kind of left us on a cliffhanger for a couple seconds, so I got super worried and was like, "Oh man we will have to get President to interview him, and we'll have to push it back, and a load of other stuff went through my mind." Well then R said he just knee-capped the guy and the guy later on forgave him and they are friends, but he still felt bad about what he did so we talked about forgiving ourselves and stuff like that. It was kind of crazy because we actually had one of our members with us. He was cool with it though (the member). Other than that just seeing crazy people and having fun. We have two more dates to be baptized Jon 24th we are pretty confident that he can make that one, and C on the 21st of June. So things are going good.

OH have you guys heard of the show Mountain Monsters we have a couple people here members and investigators who are obsessed and think it is real. They tell us that this group of hillbillies go around the south and Midwest and go searching for monsters and bigfoot and stuff and it reminds me of that one dude in Montana at the vortex, but these people go out and try to catch them. So they are telling us about this show and we are laughing like, "there is no way that is real..." Then they are like, "Elders its real" dead serious. So I think that is kind of funny maybe you guys could pull up an episode for family night. Well that is all I have for you guys. Peace.

 

Fort Scott

Well Hello family aww what is this Naders? Where? Jokes! SO yesterday we were riding our bikes visiting all the lovely people that we see and we got to this one family's house and it started to hail a little bit and so I ran out in it because it was fun good size chunks too. Well that ended very quickly and the sun started to shine and we were on our way when the sirens went off meaning that one touched down somewhere. I got very excited and I was like," today is the day I get to see my first nader!" Well we had a tornado touch down and it touched down about 10 miles north of town and nocked over some grain bins, a couple railroad cars, and a dairy barn. So far nobody was hurt people or cows. I was distraught I didn't get to see it ohh sad day. I don't really know about anywhere else I hear there were a few throughout the mission but nothing extravagant. That is all I have to say bout dem Naders.

Two empty grain bins blew over on the train.  This was about the only damage.

 

Well as for me I am doing fantastic Kansas is a place filled with awe and wonder kind of like Fangorn Forest on Lord of the Rings sometimes it never gets old. There is benefits to having two companions but for now one is good Cheney is a great guy and we are having Hay Bales of fun.

So I am bummed I can't wait to have a Filipino dinner I guess I'll have to make you guys a Kansas dinner with Opossum, Coon, and Squirrel that will be a fun dinner. But sounds good they will have to make that a tradition. Man I can't believe everybody is getting old Dad said that Tyler and Rex gave talks. What the? Since when did he they turn twelve since when were they even baptized I don't remember that. Actually I do I was a witness at Rex's haha.

Well to tell you about the week and all of that jazz. So Thursday Elder Carson left and that was just the usual as always people leave nothing new. Then we went back to our area and started visiting all of our fun loving people. Well we of course have R who is doing very well and is still tobacco free. I am telling ya nothing can stop this guy all he wants to do is live the gospel and read church books and manuals. It was funny in Gospel Principles Elder Mullenaux led the discussion on Honesty; Sister Mullenaux was sick and Elder Cheney was in Primary helping them and so it was us two and the investigators and recent converts. The lesson was on Honesty and somehow we got on the question if your wife asks you "Does this dress make me look fat?" No matter how we answered and where we tried to point the lesson someone would always refer back to that question I told them that Jesus would have told the truth with love and I thought that was pretty airtight. I guess they didn't like my answer. Well that was pretty random but to continue. So we work with quite a few people but I will tell you the ones that I think are important of course there is R. R's Mom who actually isn't investigating but she comes to church every week with him. We asked if she wanted to take the lessons and she just said, "No" strange right. Then B who is R's mom's friend and she is taking the lessons and enjoying it but she is pretty faithful to her church still so not sure. Then we have C who is a nice single Hispanic lady who is really sarcastic and likes to talk about her love life, but she is awesome and came to church for the first time yesterday and enjoyed and has a baptism set up in June but she says she will never give up Coffee which is not a big deal she will be dunked. Then this dude named Big J, we are not sure on his last name yet. He is a dude that is a Licensed Bounty Hunter who learned how to fly a Helicopter from a book and still hasn't flown one, and never wears a shirt. He is doing very well and he to will have a baptism date soon. So things are going well. Well I hope that suffices as a letter, I'll talk to you guys in a couple of weeks.

Fort Scott

Well Dana told me a little about Prom but not to much just that it was fun and last one and all that jazz. She didn't send me a picture :( I work so extremely hard to send you guys pictures and you guys can't even afford to give me one back. Jokes Jokes Jokes.

Well Easter was a swell time it was a pretty nice Sunday for our small branch. For after church dinner/lunch we ate with the M's and G and her two great-grandkids. G is an old, old black lady and is taking care of two black kids by one of her granddaughters and its kind of funny because she really has no concept of time so we planned this dinner for exactly 1:00 and they didn't show up until an hour later. Sister M wasn't two happy because her rolls were overcooked and a bunch of stuff like that but it was pretty good. Then the rest of Easter Sunday was going around and visiting the people who didn't really have anything going.

So Transfer call were this last Saturday and the Fort Scott Tripanionship is disbanded. Elder Carson is leaving to go to Springfield Missouri and Elder Cheney and I are staying here in Fort Scott which is actually kind of funny because Cheney thought he was for sure leaving he has been here for 6 months and he was like "Well I'm gone...leaving this place forever." Then he stayed, So I thought that was pretty funny. But it will be pretty awesome there is a lot of work to do. So I was talking to Elder Green the other day and I can't believe it that old dog only has 48-50 days left man then he'll be back in Mesa only 2.1 miles away from our house or something like that we looked it up when we were together. He is still in Osage and he'll finish out his days there.

Well but yeah sounds like the home life is dandy it will be fun to talk to you guys in a bit. Well this week was pretty busy with everything but good. Over the last 2 weeks we have found a truckload of new investigators and so that is where we are at right now just trying to meet these people with their different schedules and all that crazy stuff and trying to get them progressed and in the right direction. It will be barrels of fun. Our baptism with R is still on for May 17th so far he had his last cigarette last Tuesday and he is doing really good. For being just kind of a Hick guy out in the middle of Bronson which is a town in the middle of nowhere he loves studying and reading and learning. It makes you feel good when keeps asking for more things to read alongside his Book of Mormon reading, it is quite awesome. Man I love that guy you will probably receive a picture of him in no time. He is done with the lessons just working on no smoking and when we go back we are going to have him teach us the lessons to his Mom and his Mom's friend so it is pretty exciting.

Well that is all I got for ya for this week

Fort Scott

Yeah the M's are pretty cool they help us out quite a bit and it is nice to talk to people about Arizona. Well I'll let them know that you said thank you. So Spring is hitting the Midwest in a very Midwestern kind of way. This entire week was awesome with 60 to 70 degree weather and today as I right you it is snowing. The weather changes so much you can't get use to anything out here. Well I like the Kevin Bacon footloose Baconator is so cool he is almost as cool as the dance that made him famous. Volleyball, Prom yeah sounds like a blast.  Today I was in Wal-Mart and when I was waiting for Elder Cheney to print pictures off and I saw all the Go Pro promotional videos and I got really depressed because there is nothing to do in Kansas besides hunt and fish I can't do the former and it is snowing today so I can't do the latter. I am looking around Pawn shops and trying to find a parachute so I can try to parasail or something similar in nature but it is proving difficult to obtain one.

Well I am doing good just waiting for the cold to finally be over but it snowed last year in Arkansas in early May so I think I will have to be a little more patient. The work is going really good. So basically here in Fort Scott all normal people are part of a church and don't see the need to change so that leaves us with all the weird people. Most of them are nice, so we have a baptism coming up early May for a guy named R he is probably 6' 3'' and looks like he used to be a bouncer at a club. Except that he really innocent and kind of childlike it is pretty funny, but he is an awesome guy and he has little black teeth that kind of look like the top of a pencil. We are also teaching his Mom and his Mom's friend they are enjoying but I don't think they fully understand. A lot of other people we are teaching have been going through or are going through drug problems and well... it is fun. One investigator who is kind of crazy she was talking to people on the street and they started bad mouthing Mormons and Us and she punched one lady in the nose and broke it then pulled out her knife and threatened to kill them. Well she had the cops at her house the next morning. There are a few normal people that we are trying to teach but they are always busy and we just are not able to sit down and get anything started.

So yeah Kansas what more can you ask for. So that is basically what's been up here in Fort Scott recently. I can't believe Summer is going to be starting soon. Oh man, Time sure does fly. Peace