A pie eating contest

June 19, 2012

This is one of my zone leaders.  For district meeting we were talking about putting on the armor of God so that we don't get discouraged.  Someone had a suit of armor that the elders borrowed for a more effective object lesson.

 The three of us are all from Tennessee.  I am from Memphis, Elder Garrett in the middle is from Nashville, and Elder Vaughn is from Knoxville.  So we took a picture of us in order of where we live, while making the shape of Tennessee with our hands.  :)

This week has been really good.  It has gone by quickly, which is both a good and a bad thing.  If it goes by quickly it must mean that I am busy doing missionary work.  At the same time, it makes it harder to remember all that has happened.

On Saturday one of the wards was having a carnival.  We have an investigator named Monica in that ward, so we went to the carnival to help her feel more comfortable with the ward.  Monica is awesome!  She is 16 but is finishing school this year.  And there was a pie eating contest.  Almost no one from the Relief Society wanted to participate in the contest, so I figured I would go and show that I am a good sport.   I was the first one to sit down, but more and more sisters came up due to peer pressure and what not.  Anyway, we each had a little pie to eat, and man, it was tough!  There was a super yummy but thick chocolate cream on the inside and a thick and dry crust on the outside.  It was really hard to eat quickly.  But, I did it!  I even tied for first place!!!!   It was silly and funny and my stomach hurt afterwards, but it was worth it.

 On Sunday we spoke in the 8th Branch. (Yes, I am serving in a branch in Utah.)  It is for an apartment complex, and if every apartment had active members, there would be at least two wards in the apartment complex.  Sadly, there are only about 10 active couples/families.  Half of the congregation is made up of the service missionaries that are called from other wards in the stake.  Anyway, I spoke on Sunday, but we weren't supposed to focus on our earthly fathers.  Instead, we were asked to speak about our Heavenly Father and His love for us.  I think my talk went well.  This is the third week in a row that my companion and I have spoken in church.  By the end of my mission, I probably won't even know how many talks I have given.

This week I have really been noticing how awesome the members are.  Without their willingness to help drive us around and feed us, it would be really tough to be successful missionaries.  We are having a musical fireside up in Logan on Sunday, and we had a rehearsal for it yesterday.  So, we had to find a member who was willing to drive us all the way to Logan and wait around while we had our practice.  I am so grateful for all of those who do that.

So, Dad has requested that I include something funny that happens during the week.  I am not sure if the pie eating contest counts, so here is another story.  It is from a while ago, but it really made me laugh.  Sister Davis and I were having dinner with an older couple.  One of their daughters and her family were also there.  The mom/grandma was talking about how her husband always does the dishes. (They don't have a dishwasher.)  She said that they went to the store to buy a new fridge, and the sales person asked what color her dishwasher was.  Her response: "Caucasian."  Haha.  I thought it was really funny.  It made me laugh.  So there you go--my one funny thing for the week.

I love you all!  I hope you have an amazing week full of lots of fun and letter writing to your favorite missionary. :)