The Perfect Rosé

Hi all young goblins (and other readers),

This week was crazy, it felt like it flew by because it was very out of the ordinary.

Monday we woke up early, went shopping, and drove down to Bossier City. We went and got our tire fixed, due to a stray nail that had decided to make its home in our tire, and then drove into Shreveport for Zone pday! It was fun to see the whole Zone, and we had hot dogs and did goldfish racing! It was more fun then anyone expected, especially when Elder Davis ate one :)

In the evening we did exchanges with the Brownlee Elders, and we went to an FHE that their Spanish group was having. It had amazing steak tacos, and other food at it. The only problem was the Guacamole, which was so incredibly spicy that even all the Mexicans were sweating profusely! Later that evening we saw a gator in the Brownlee Elders pond, and Elder David fed it bread which it seemed to like very much :))

Tuesday was the 4th, and we started it off by going to district council. Then us and the Brownlee Elders drove an hour and a half up to Taylor, AR to eat a 4th of July lunch with some members! They came with us so they could do exchanges in our area for once. We drove into the RV park near the lake in Taylor, and then had a great time with the Masses. Lunch was good we had some big sausages, and pasta salad and chips. When we were leaving it started POURING, so we drifted the back of the truck at every opportunity, and tried to hit as many puddles as possible while driving on the dirt roads back! I love driving in the forest in the rain. 

We drove down to Springhill, and split up. I went with Elder Freeman, and we walked around one of the northern neighborhoods. It was still raining so we didn't expect anyone to be out, plus it was the 4th so it kinda felt like a waste of time. But we were wrong, there WAS a few people out, and we were able to get a couple numbers, teach a guy about our church and correct his misconceptions, and help some very incompetent people set up a badminton net! (They were putting the poles upside down, and then trying to tie the net just straight to the pole and ignoring the loops that were meant to hook onto some hooks which they neglected to attach. This was all because they didn't even SCAN the instruction booklet tsk tsk)

In the evening we all met up back in Magnolia, and ate at What-A-Burger. It was good but way too expensive for what you get. But the Banana Pudding shake was one of the best Shakes I've had, so that redeemed it slightly! After dinner we split again and Elder Freeman and I went and taught Diabolical David and Charlien. We taught them about the importance of Priesthood Authority and baptism, and talked about what they've been learning. D. David has not been reading at all, but Charlien watches Book of Mormon videos every day! D. David seemed to musing on something throughout the lesson, probably thinking about his next evil scheme. They also told us that they like to order pizza, eat a slice or two, and then order another one just because. Whatever that accomplishes...

We also walked around, and met a guy named Jimmy. Got his number and invited him to get the Book of Mormon app. After our evening we all met back up at the apartment, and then put the mattress in the back of our truck and watched the fireworks haha

Wednesday all 4 of us went to the Thrift store to help out, and I found a super cute panda that I had no choice to acquire. It was extremely expensive, but worth it ($0.50). Then we ate Chick-fil-A at the SAU food court, and the other Elders left. We went and taught a guy named Enoch from France after that, and he loved the Restoration! He wants to play professional soccer which is cool too. We also taught Tyre the Plan of Salvation. 

In the evening we drove down to Haynesville, and went out with Brother Bahr down there! We had a lesson with a less-active member that was baptized a few years ago named Debbie Ryan! We were very bold with her and talked about how important church is since she hasnt been in over 6 months. At the end we invited her to church, and Brother Bahr offered her a ride! To our surprise she said she would come!

Then we went to visit a media referral named Monica (I have made up a potential name for her, because I am too lazy to press the home button and open the other app to see what her actual name is). She wasn't there, but as we were getting into our car to our surprise Brother Bahr went over and talked to a guy working on his lawnmower. Let me paint a scene:

Behind us: trees, abandoned house, dead-end road, feral horse, and pile of old machine parts (next to house)

To our left: big scary forest (bsf for short), and old truck sitting in the forest for no apparent reason

Straight ahead: the road, and some run-down little houses, the corner house is a small little house from which anything could emerge (slhfwace for short)

To our right: ancient guy who's face has had so many things hit it that you can see scars everywhere (hit by bars and things in the oilfield), his lawnmower which consists of about 6 total pieces of the thousands of parts a lawnmower SHOULD have, small trailor home which is falling apart and has smashed windows, lawn covered in random parts and trash organized in a specific way as to make it impossible to find ANYTHING, also the sun

Now that you can imagine the picture in your mind I can accurately share the account. 

So this old guy named Rusty David started talking with us, but the only problem was he had such a thick Cajun accent that we could only understand 1 word in each sentence pretty much. It was basically gibberish haha--and he had no teeth. As he was talking we looked over to the bsf, and saw a figure emerging. As he came into the light we saw he was this vacant-eyed guy, who walked and looked straight ahead as he walked, as if in a trance. As he walked past Rusty David told us (at least I think so) that this was Bill, a random guy who sometimes comes and stays at his house. We continued trying to talk to R. David, and started teaching the restoration but everything we asked a question he started telling us about his mower and how much he hates the state of the world. Finally we gave up trying to teach him, and then a guy holding a pipe came out of the slhfwace. And trailing him was a kid. They came up to us and Rusty David, and the little kid sat on the mower. The older fellow started arguing with David about the pipe he was holding for some reason, and then stopped to introduce ourselves to the kid. The kid ignored us and didn't even GLANCE at us. Then David and the older guy started yelling again so we just left :))

This is what Louisiana is like.

We also visited some others who promptly rejected us, but we did meet a lady named Dorothy and were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon! We ended the evening back in Magnolia with some virtual work, and one of our Burger King employee friends let us try the Impossible Whopper. It was surprisingly good! 

Thursday morning we drove down to Bossier City, and then carpooled with them down to Longview for a Meet-and-Greet with the new mission president. We tried a pizza buffet place called CiCi's on the way which was not bad. At the Longview building we got to meet with the Taylor's,  and it's going to be interesting cause they have a kid at home! He seems cool, and so does their daughter Jocelyn who goes to BYU some missionaries seem to think...

President Taylor is nice, I'm waiting for the hidden iron hand though cause I've only seen his nice side. Hes definitely a businessman though I could instantly tell. He struck the perfect balance of asserting dominance, and being likable that I could tell he'd practiced it many times with other groups he's lead. I didn't like how he went on and on about all his accomplishments, but I don't think he was trying to be prideful, he just felt a need to show us he is up to the task. Overall I think he will be cool though, we will see how things go. 

Thursday evening Brother Harris took us out to eat in Bossier City and I got the Cajundillas! They were super good, even though the name is bad. 

On Friday we drove back and then went up to Waldo! We taught Xavier, and met his Sister, Dee, whos in town from Atlanta. She said she works in the "Entertainment Industry" whatever that means. We talked about the Book of Mormon, but then Xavier got off track and started suggesting good bars we could check out in Shreveport, and offering us the services of his friend who could get us some liquor, and some girls. Tsk tsk he has a long way to go, but he said hed be at church! And hopefully I don't take him up on his offer or I may finish this drunk :)

Saturday we walked the dogs as usual. This time we got a few we haven't walked before, and mine enjoyed throwing itself at the ground, and then lying there on its back to rest. Then I would drag it to a standing position, it would walk for a bit, and then repeat. Elder Davis' dog couldn't stand the heat and I've never heard a dog pant so fast. Sounded like he was constantly hyperventilating haha

On Sunday church went super well! President Platt came to our Presidency meeting, and spoke in church. It went really well, he's a cool guy. Also Doneshia, D. David, Charlien, Tyre, and Xavier came to church! They all really liked it! Also had branch Council which went super well, and we talked to a cool lady named Joel.

-Abe