Chemical Burns and Copious Books

I'm expanding my culinary prowess from cactus to artichoke. And they were delicious! It was
Elder Despain's first artichoke, so I'm glad I was able to provide a pleasant experience for him.

Hola hola hola.

So first I have to share a story. I must get it out of the way before getting on to the important content. This is the story of how Elder Ellis Naired his legs. And it worked well. Why did he do this you might ask? Well, Elder Ellis proposes a counteroffer and asks, "why not?" I was able to convince Elder Francom to do it as well. Peer pressure works great. Now I have scripture to defend my Nairing process. Many of you may be saying, "What? This is blasphemy! There is no scripture that talks about Nair!" This scripture is found in Alma 37:35, which reads: "O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God." I am learning wisdom and gaining experiences in my youth. For now I know that one shan't leave Nair upon one's leg exceeding 10 seconds, lest he receive a chemical burn. This is beneficial to know for the future. 

Apparently the mission has a rating system on drivers. There are A, B, and C drivers. "A" drivers are missionaries that they feel most comfortable driving and want to be behind the wheel more for optimum safety for the missionaries. I've just received confirmation that I am an "A" driver. Finally, after years of being terrified of driving, I'm finally a confident "A" driver!

I went on exchanges with Elder Lamunyon in his area. He had quite a few service appointments lined up that day, one of which was this ridiculous task he volunteered us for. Elder Lamunyon agreed to help a women get rid of her copious amounts of literature. And by copious amounts of literature I mean this women had nearly 150, Holy Bible-sized books. Now I'm always down to help people with just about anything they need that's within my ability, but what are we suppose to do with 150 books!? So, we got to her house and we loaded the trunk and back seat of our little Toyota Corolla with what seemed like 2 metric tons of books. There was so much additional weight in the back of our car that every time we drove over any uneven surface, the bottom of our car would scrap along the road. We drove to the Napa library and were able to donate all the books and have a wonderful conversation with a women who told us all about how her son joined the church and went on a mission to Italy. It all worked out!

I went on our Wednesday night spits with a reactivated member, Marshall, to go see a less active man, Mitch. Mitch is going through some tough times, especially with the divorce he's going through and the custody battle he's in. While we were talking to him he was saying how his ex took his kid even though he has custody. He also elected to lower the amount of how much she needed to pay him for child support from $750 to $250 and Mitch said that no women would do that in the same situation. I was just sitting there thinking, "*Scoff* you obviously have not met my mother!" Hearing about all that just reminded me once more how grateful I am for my circumstances. I never realized like I do now how blessed I am until I embarked on a mission and witnessed less fortunate circumstances than mine.

We have 4 investigators with baptismal dates now! Wooooo! Not sure how all of that transpired but we have big things coming up in this area in the months to come. Unfortunately, I probably won't be here for any of them because all of them happen in the next couple of months and I expect to be transferred at the end of this month. One of these investigators, Daniel Herrera, came to church yesterday. It's sad to say that I've only had two investigators come to church the entire time I've been in Napa. I've been able to help reactivate a few less active members, but our investigator church attendance is nearly nonexistent. So it was quite refreshing when Daniel came to church yesterday! He really enjoyed it and so many members came up and made him feel welcome, which Napa 1st Ward is very good about doing. Daniel has a baptismal date for May 16th, and I firmly believe he can make it. We also set a baptismal date with Abubakarr Kamara, the young man from Sierra Leone. His is set for May 30th. So, I probably won't be able to have any baptism while I'm here, but I'm grateful I was able to leave this area better than when I found it. Transfers are next week. We find out Friday where I'll go next so we will see what happens! Next email will contain my new laboring location! 

Wow a Weber grill.... Don't know what that means but it seemed to impress the Elders around me, so good on ya! Mom, Sister Yeakey, who should've sent you a picture of my companion and I, said you looked super young when I showed her a picture of you. She thought you looked 30 years old. There's your uplift for the day! I'm glad to hear that Stephen wasn't overly traumatized by the movie when the mom was obliterated by a milk truck. Also, it's refreshing to hear that a friend of yours finds me exceedingly attractive. This will certainly aid me in the future.

Love, Elder Hayden Ellis