This week defiantly had its highs and lows - but hey, that’s
life, right? I’m typing this email with
my new wireless key board. I love it! Not
only does it allow me to type faster, it allows me to have more room for my big
hands. (before, I had to use the typing
function on my tablet.)
Not only do we hear about the big drug busts here in
Lordsburg, we get to experience them close up - and it’s awesome! This week, the Border Patrol pulled 3,600
pounds of ‘grass’ out of two cars that were covered with tarps and left in a
wash. The illegals who drove the cars got away and stole horses then rode them
20 miles to I-10 –thinking they could catch a ride to Los Angeles or New York.
That only happened like 2 miles away from our apartment! On Sunday (yesterday) we had dinner with a
Border Patrol agent who worked that bust and he told us all about it. He also shared a ton of other stories, which
was really cool. Growing up, I always
watched TV shows like Border Wars, and he was actually included in some of the
cases on TV involving the Lordsburg Station. We talked about his career and the
salary. Man, they make some good money and it is always something I was into.
He said 7 years in the force and he has never been in harm’s way and is making
six figures. It’s a tempting occupation, that’s for sure.
Anyways, as previously stated this week had its high and low
points. On Monday (P-Day). its always good getting to talk to you guys. I loved
every minute of it. Later, we drove to Galeyville, AZ and explored a nearby
cave. The cave was big, and if you can’t
tell by the picture, it was hot and humid and very tiring. I was sweating super bad. After the cave, we drove to Animas NM and
played basketball. Later that afternoon, my companion got sick with flu-like
symptoms, so we went home and he was in bed by 6 p.m.
 |
| Spelunking in AZ! |
Tuesday (my Birthday), Elder Degrange still wasn’t feeling
good, so while he slept away his sickness, I quietly cleaned around the house,
did personal study, read some talks, and made lunch. We had tuna helper – it’s
what he wanted - so I made that for him. After lunch we went and visited
H______ and C______ and read the Book of Mormon with them. After that Elder Degrange needed to rest a
little bit. While we were at the apartment my package arrived!!! I was
soooo happy about it and I loved every little thing in it. That evening, we
went to the Bishop’s house for dinner. We had softshell beef tacos. I also
learned I have a new found love for avocados.
They are super good.
 |
| My 19th Birthday package just before unpacking! SO EXCITED! |
Also, something I forgot to mention, New Mexico is the
green chili state, and man, do they know how to use them. Green chilies are
used in 90% of the meals down here. The largest green chili farm in the world
(Hatch Green Chilies) is just on the other side of Deming NM. Any green
chilies in the US are probably from here. Pretty cool right?!?
After dinner at the Bishop’s we left and drove to Clifton,
AZ to play basketball with the other elders and some non-members. It was a fun
time as always, but we actually went up there for our district meeting the next
day and to do laundry, since we didn't get a chance to on Monday.
Wednesday was a great day! First we had district meeting,
which was probably the most spiritual meeting of my mission so far. For some
reason it turned into almost a big intervention. First, we talked about each
other’s weaknesses and what annoyed us about each other. Then we said two things we loved about each
person. After two hours, the spirit was so prevalent, we felt even closer than
before. So, that was awesome. After this we went to an all you can eat chicken
wing and pizza joint for $5 - with a missionary discount. It was awesome! We then did exchanges. Elder
Forté and I drove back to Cotton City and stayed the night
there.
Thursday Elder Forté tried to visit some people, but no one
is ever home during the day, and as soon as it gets dark they don't answer the
door. It was kind of of disheartening, but good practice, I guess. By the time
we were done with this we had to drive to Duncan, AZ to pick up Elder Degrange and then drive back to Animas, NM for dinner.
One weird thing = Arizona doesn't observe day light savings
time. So, New Mexico is an hour ahead of
Arizona. Being so close to the state
line - it is confusing. We leave NM drive an hour and get to Arizona – but we
get there the same time we left New Mexico - it confusing, we end up having a
25-hour day.
We ate dinner with the M______’s, I had my first genuine
chicken fried steak. Ugh, I was in heaven. We then played basketball with their
priest-aged boy. It was fun, but I got super sweaty. Then shared a quick
message and drove home.
Friday was not. I repeat NOT a good day. I woke up sick with a constant, severe
stomach ache. After I ate I would almost
through up, every time. Being sick, I
slept most of the day until mid-afternoon. We did do about an hour of weekly planning,
then went to dinner at the R______s house. They had all of their grandchildren
over for a St. Patrick’s Day party. We had green spaghetti, green Jell-O and
green cupcakes. It was fun, but once again I felt like garbage after eating. So
still being sick, we then returned home and went to bed. I’ve been using a fan
to sleep, because it's so warm here. It has been in the 90s this last week. It
was awesome.
 |
| Backyard Redneck Rollercoaster one member made for his children! :O |
Saturday, I woke up - still sick – then rolled over and
slept until lunch. Finally, feeling
better, we ate those Kings Hawaiian roll sandwiches you make in the oven (now that
I have the recipe). I was so happy, lol. Later, we were finally able to contact
some of our other investigators. We had
a planned to teach them, but they got caught up talking about other things. The
good news is: they did come to church on Sunday.
After this we drove to Rodeo, NM and tried finding some
people we were told about. It took forever, but we finally found one of them out
in the middle of the desert. Holy cow,
the was an experience that scared these two Mormon boys for life. We were supposed
to find a woman in her 30s, but she actually ended up being in her 60’s. When we finally located her house, she
answered the door with no clothes on. I almost got sick again, LOLOL!!!!. After
all this nonsense, we had dinner with the K______ family and had some sort of
stew that was just flat out amazing! It was super fresh with lots of veggies,
just awesome! We had to drive all the
way back to Lordsburg, because we had to give the prayers in sacrament meeting
the next day.
Oh, I forgot to mention, earlier that morning, Sis R______
gave me a haircut. It doesn’t look bad at all, but you will have to wait until
next week for me to send a picture from my missionary plaque. I still need to practice how style my new haircut,
lol.
Sunday was just an all-around good day. It was a beautiful
morning so we walked to church where we greeted people, as always. I always love seeing peoples’ smiles on
Sunday mornings. We have sacrament
meeting, Sunday school and priesthood meetings all in the chapel, which makes
for a sore back and a numb bum, only because you don’t get to stand up and walk
around in between meetings and because the pews are the old wooden kind.
This Sunday was awesome for us and the Lordsburg Ward. We had 5 investigators show up to sacrament
meeting!!!!!!! It was insane – and we have 2 baptisms planned for April 15th,
rescheduled from the1st because of General Conference. It looks like Lordsburg
is a hot spot for missionary work now.
 |
| I cant get enough of the NM sunsets! |
After church, we had Ward Council, then we hurried over to teach
the M____ boys. We taught them the second lesson: The Plan of Salvation. The
lesson went really well and they understood everything. The birthday gift you sent (the diagram of
the Plan of Salvation) arrived just in time for me to use it in the lesion and
it helped soooo much. I love it, lol. We
then went over to Bro. H_____ and fellowshipped his son. Little-by-little, he is starting to warm up
to the church. We then had dinner with
the B_____s, He is the Border Patrol agent I told you about earlier. He is a super cool guy, and their family has
seven kids, and the oldest is 12. To end the day, we went to our apartment and
packed for P-Day then drove to Duncan, AZ.
For what it is worth, that was my week. I guess lol.
I love you guys so much. Soooooooooooo much!
Until next week,
Love,
Elder Dickinson
No comments:
Post a Comment