Week 104 - "It all happened so fast! Just WHOOSH, and he was gone!"
Hey, everyone. This week's quote is from Don Knotts' Barney Fife in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. I don't know the name, but the episode's about a spoiled boy who's illegally riding his bike on sidewalks and such.
I'm sure it's not really a new theme to all of you by now, but HOLY cow the days and weeks are going by quickly. This last week was a blur. It feels like I don't even know what happened, but I'll recount what I can remember.
So first we finally got out of some of our social isolation and had the opportunity to do indoor service opportunities again, so we went to the St. Vincent de Paul kitchen at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church again on Thursday after having been away for a couple weeks. I guess the other elders hadn't really gotten in touch with Margaret, the woman who runs the kitchen, because she was like, "What happened?" So we explained that we had been put in a lockdown, but we were back now to help. It was a pretty good day. There was actually a woman there from a Catholic parish in the area who was there to volunteer for the organization that runs the pantry. She was a very interesting lady to talk to. She used to teach art history but retired recently. It was one of the first times I met someone who wasn't a member who was heavily involved in academia. It was really nice to talk to someone like that after not having talked to someone like that in a while. She was very nice. She was also very respectful, and we were able to clear up some misconceptions about missionary work and what it's about (for instance, whether we're forced to be here). Her name was Carol. She kind of reminded me of Grant's mom, Sister Holyoak. It was a good day, and it felt good to serve in that way again.
The next day we were supposed to have weekly planning, but we actually didn't finally get to that until yesterday. We've just been busy taking care of social media stuff. We found out after talking to the senior couple over finance in the office that we actually need the receipts for all the Facebook ads transactions in a different format (we had them as invoice summaries, and they needed them as individual invoices for each transaction), so we're basically rounding up receipts from all the missionaries again. And then I've been busy trying to edit together videos for the Hear Him series that we're doing. I'm starting to be really proud of it. I think that what the different missionaries talked about are very practical things that people can use to strengthen their relationship with God and come to receive inspiration from Him more effectively. Everyone had something different to say about ways they connect with God. Again, if you want to check out the series, it's here. I'd love for you to see it--I think you'd enjoy it. Each video is only about two and a half minutes long, and we think they really invite the Spirit. The last one was about a sister missionary who writes letters to God.
Elder Brayden Foster's will be coming out tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. EST, and then the rest just come out at that time every Tuesday and Friday. Elder Washburn's and mine might end up being last. We're working right now on Elder Magleby's, which, sad news, he's getting transferred out of the mission--we just found out tonight. Originally Elder Magleby was called to Oaxaca, Mexico, but because of coronavirus he was brought back home to the states, and then eventually he was shipped out here to Ohio, where he's been since July, and now he's being sent back to Mexico. He leaves Dec. 1. We're all pretty bummed about it. Of course, I'm not going to be here for much longer and would have to say goodbye to him anyway, but it's sad that he won't get to stay here. He'll have a pretty interesting mission experience. It was punctuated in the middle by a return home and then a stint of stateside service. Kind of crazy. He'll have some cool stories to tell when he gets back, and it will be an interesting experience to sort of cross mission cultures. I've met some of the missionaries I've really loved the most as I've served up here in this district, and we're all sort of a family now. We've lost a few people along the way, first Elder Day, then Elder Grayson, Elder Douglass, Sister Santore-Tovar, Sister Keller, and now Elder Magleby, which is sad, but we've had one of the coolest, most cohesive districts ever, even as people have come in and out. We spent the day today playing chair soccer (if you have a burning desire to understand what that is, email me, I'll explain the rules to you), volleyball and ricochet (again, email me), and just being together as a district. On Thursday we'll be able to have Thanksgiving together, and we'll have a lot of food, it sounds like. Different members of the ward (plus Elder Washburn's mom) are funding some different food things so we can have a Thanksgiving. The Relief Society president is having the sisters get a Bob Evans thanksgiving dinner, it sounds like the bishop is doing something for us elders, and Elder Washburn's mom is arranging for a meal to feed 6-8 to be delivered to us, so we will feast. And now it also sounds like a member in her 50s who doesn't really have anywhere else to go will be joining us that day and having Thanksgiving with us. It's going to be really cool. We'll have a fun time.
On Friday I also had my exit interview with President. He was asking me who I think would be good to replace me here in Youngstown, and he said a lot of things to me that were really helpful for me to know now that I'm here at the end. Goodness, it's so surreal. It's just such a change. I've gotten so used to it, and now I have to leave. Now that I'm coming to grips with it, I'm becoming more and more excited for home, and it would sort of be a disappointment if something crazy happened and I had to stay for another transfer--I would have to take a bit and emotionally readjust, and I think I would ultimately be grateful for the extra time, but I'm becoming more and more used to the idea of coming back. I'm just a little intimidated at the prospect of no longer being a missionary. I've gained a lot as I've been here and done this, and I wonder how much of that is going to go away when I get released and take the tag off.
This week President Connor, our stake president, also started throwing some money behind an ad we made for him about why God cares about us, and it's gotten a lot of positive response. I've actually been surprised at how few negative reactions we've gotten to it.
On Sunday we had a really great weekly planning and really fleshed out what we want to do for the week. That might be the first time during my whole mission I've really gotten detailed about all the plans we had to accomplish the specific goals we've set, and it felt good. We're really coordinated and on the same page, and we know what we'll be doing this week.
On Sunday we also had the opportunity to give a church tour to a family who's coming back to church. It was really awesome. I posted about it on Facebook--Elder Washburn did a really, really great job and taught the kids basic gospel principles in a really accessible way. It was really awesome. He's great at connecting with kids. He played tag and hide-and-go-seek with them afterward as I talked with the parents. It was great.
And then, of course, President Nelson's video was a highlight of this week. I really appreciated hearing him pray. I felt a lot of peace.
That's about it for this week. I can't really think of anything else. Oh, yeah! We have a weekly devotional on Sundays through the whole mission that President Horgesheimer sets up, and this week Dallyn Vail Bayles, the singer, was our devotional speaker! It was really good. It did my heart and soul good to learn from him and listen to him sing. I was reminded of Nauvoo.
Oh, yeah, and then we gave a pair of the sisters blessings on Sunday, which was a really good experience. It's always a little nerve-wracking giving a blessing, because you don't really know what you're going to say until you start, but the Lord provides the words, and it always ends up being a good experience.
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Talk to you next week. If you'd like to chat, shoot me an email--I'd love to hear from you.
Elder Davis
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