I'll just get this out of the way really quick, but you
guessed it, my
bike broke again. Wow, it's amazing to me how bad things keep
happening to good people. It's freaking Satan, and by Satan, I mean
Giant bikes. On Friday my peddle bar fell off again, so we called a
member who was able to drive us down to Monrovia to get my bike fixed.
The guy there told me to make sure to check the bar screw each week to
make sure it was tight, and that should fix the problem, because
somehow it keeps falling off a little bit and stripping the threading.
So we get home and try and hit as many appointments as possible, after
about an hour of riding our bikes, bam... It falls off again. So there
I am pitifully scooting my bike along the side of the rode, pushing my
feet off the ground in hopes of somehow keeping up with my companion,
who I have decided is on Cocaine, seriously that guy never slows down
for anyone. We ended up getting home late and had to walk everywhere
on Sunday, which was pretty horrible. It was impossible to make it to
some of the appointments that we had scheduled because of how slow we
were. We decided that the best use our time was to tract out some
houses nearby. I'm pretty new to this, but I can tell you that
tracting is not very effective. We knocked about 20 houses when we
came to one with a man that went by the name of Adrian. We started the
good ol' door approach expecting him to tell us that he is a inactive
Catholic who isn't interested, like 95 percent of people that live in
Glendora, but oddly he invited us in. Even if we get people to listen
they tell us to come back in like a month, so this is crazy. We talked
for about 20 minutes and were on our way, it was a great discussion,
and he invited us to come back in a couple days. I looked at my comp
and asked if that has ever happened in his mission, he responded that
it was the first time during the course of his 11 month mission that
anyone had every invited him in during the course of tracting, so
that's pretty incredible.
Something that I forgot to mention, I also got another flat tire this
week, whoo-hoo that's two for two. We were able to get another member
to take us to the bike shop again today to fix my broken peddle and
bar. I told the guy that this was the 5th time that this specific part
had been replaced and asked if there was anything else that could be
fixed to stop this from happening. He proceeded to tell me that it was
because I was being to hard on the gears of the bike, and needed to
switch the gears according to the incline of the road. Dumbfounded I
couldn't help but think to myself, "this is a 500 dollar bike, I
should be able to ride this thing up freaking Mount Everest in
whatever gear I want" but apparently gear shifting is very important
when riding your bike around town? Also, where the heck was this guy
when I got it replaced the first time? I have broken this stupid pedal
five times, that means that I have broken it practically every week
this transfer, don't get me wrong, but that's a stupid amount of times
to fix a new bike. Anyway, lessons were learned today, and
unfortunately you can not use a moped while in the field, all I'm
saying is that 500 hundred dollars should get you somewhere with that,
am I right? My bike should be able to fly and shoot laser beams with
that kind of money, but no, it can't even stay together, because "I'm
being to hard on the gears" so please make it a hashtag and put it on
Facebook #prayforelderlebaronsbike hopefully with some prayers, the
good Lord, and some tight lock I will not have to go to the bike shop
anytime soon, also I am so grateful that I have bike insurance, best
decision ever.
On Sunday when we didn't have our bikes we asked for a ride from one
of the ward missionaries to church. He's kind of a crazy guy, and one
time we had to confiscate porn magazines from his house, he's just
crazy, I still wonder why he is a ward missionary, but I love that
guy, Elder Low does not appreciate him the way I do, but we always
have a good time when he's around. He picked us up in what looked to
be an older mustang. We got in and he immediately began to tell us
that this was not just any ordinary mustang, but that this mustang had
over 480 horse power to it. I have never rode in a car that had more
than 200 horse power, this was something I have never experienced
before. He asks if we want to see what it can do, without waiting for
a response he pops the clutch and we fly through neighborhoods, swerve
through traffic, and skid through turns. We must have made it to
church in 5 minutes. What a wild man, I feared for my life, but at the
same time was pumped from the crazy amounts of adrenaline that I had
when we arrived at church. I hadn't had the chance to see elder Low
during the ride, since I was in the front, but when we got to the
church he was visibly shaken, and told me that we were never getting a
ride from Brother Moran again. I was ready for round two but
unfortunately as long as elder low is my comp I don't think that will
happen.
This week we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was lucky
enough to be with Elder Neilson who had the car. I can not express how
amazing it was to ride in a car, not to mention to have air
conditioning. I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined Elder Patterson
riding my broken bike in the heat. Since I have been on my mission I
haven't taken a nap, because Elder Low has told me that they are
against mission rules. During exchanges Elder Neilson explained that
he had no idea why Elder low had told me that because they took naps
all the time. Elder low is so crazy, most of the time he just
schedules us for 15 minute lunches and if he can he likes to push
dinner to 8 o'clock, on top of that, no naps? What a dirty dog. I'm
pretty sure he told me that so that we could work more during the
course of the day, like I said, that guy is on cocaine. Me and Elder
Neilson laughed, listened to some good hymns together, and had some
awesome lessons throughout the day. It was a paradise, not to mention
having the first nap of the mission, wow it was fantastic. And to top
it all off I caught a lizard! I made it a goal to catch at least one
my first transfer, and what can I say, through diligence, hard work,
and quick hands, dreams come true. That day was a good day, until
Elder Neilson dared me to see if the Lizard would bite my ear, I
couldn't get him off for 5 minutes.
bike broke again. Wow, it's amazing to me how bad things keep
happening to good people. It's freaking Satan, and by Satan, I mean
Giant bikes. On Friday my peddle bar fell off again, so we called a
member who was able to drive us down to Monrovia to get my bike fixed.
The guy there told me to make sure to check the bar screw each week to
make sure it was tight, and that should fix the problem, because
somehow it keeps falling off a little bit and stripping the threading.
So we get home and try and hit as many appointments as possible, after
about an hour of riding our bikes, bam... It falls off again. So there
I am pitifully scooting my bike along the side of the rode, pushing my
feet off the ground in hopes of somehow keeping up with my companion,
who I have decided is on Cocaine, seriously that guy never slows down
for anyone. We ended up getting home late and had to walk everywhere
on Sunday, which was pretty horrible. It was impossible to make it to
some of the appointments that we had scheduled because of how slow we
were. We decided that the best use our time was to tract out some
houses nearby. I'm pretty new to this, but I can tell you that
tracting is not very effective. We knocked about 20 houses when we
came to one with a man that went by the name of Adrian. We started the
good ol' door approach expecting him to tell us that he is a inactive
Catholic who isn't interested, like 95 percent of people that live in
Glendora, but oddly he invited us in. Even if we get people to listen
they tell us to come back in like a month, so this is crazy. We talked
for about 20 minutes and were on our way, it was a great discussion,
and he invited us to come back in a couple days. I looked at my comp
and asked if that has ever happened in his mission, he responded that
it was the first time during the course of his 11 month mission that
anyone had every invited him in during the course of tracting, so
that's pretty incredible.
Something that I forgot to mention, I also got another flat tire this
week, whoo-hoo that's two for two. We were able to get another member
to take us to the bike shop again today to fix my broken peddle and
bar. I told the guy that this was the 5th time that this specific part
had been replaced and asked if there was anything else that could be
fixed to stop this from happening. He proceeded to tell me that it was
because I was being to hard on the gears of the bike, and needed to
switch the gears according to the incline of the road. Dumbfounded I
couldn't help but think to myself, "this is a 500 dollar bike, I
should be able to ride this thing up freaking Mount Everest in
whatever gear I want" but apparently gear shifting is very important
when riding your bike around town? Also, where the heck was this guy
when I got it replaced the first time? I have broken this stupid pedal
five times, that means that I have broken it practically every week
this transfer, don't get me wrong, but that's a stupid amount of times
to fix a new bike. Anyway, lessons were learned today, and
unfortunately you can not use a moped while in the field, all I'm
saying is that 500 hundred dollars should get you somewhere with that,
am I right? My bike should be able to fly and shoot laser beams with
that kind of money, but no, it can't even stay together, because "I'm
being to hard on the gears" so please make it a hashtag and put it on
Facebook #prayforelderlebaronsbike hopefully with some prayers, the
good Lord, and some tight lock I will not have to go to the bike shop
anytime soon, also I am so grateful that I have bike insurance, best
decision ever.
On Sunday when we didn't have our bikes we asked for a ride from one
of the ward missionaries to church. He's kind of a crazy guy, and one
time we had to confiscate porn magazines from his house, he's just
crazy, I still wonder why he is a ward missionary, but I love that
guy, Elder Low does not appreciate him the way I do, but we always
have a good time when he's around. He picked us up in what looked to
be an older mustang. We got in and he immediately began to tell us
that this was not just any ordinary mustang, but that this mustang had
over 480 horse power to it. I have never rode in a car that had more
than 200 horse power, this was something I have never experienced
before. He asks if we want to see what it can do, without waiting for
a response he pops the clutch and we fly through neighborhoods, swerve
through traffic, and skid through turns. We must have made it to
church in 5 minutes. What a wild man, I feared for my life, but at the
same time was pumped from the crazy amounts of adrenaline that I had
when we arrived at church. I hadn't had the chance to see elder Low
during the ride, since I was in the front, but when we got to the
church he was visibly shaken, and told me that we were never getting a
ride from Brother Moran again. I was ready for round two but
unfortunately as long as elder low is my comp I don't think that will
happen.
This week we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was lucky
enough to be with Elder Neilson who had the car. I can not express how
amazing it was to ride in a car, not to mention to have air
conditioning. I couldn't help but laugh as I imagined Elder Patterson
riding my broken bike in the heat. Since I have been on my mission I
haven't taken a nap, because Elder Low has told me that they are
against mission rules. During exchanges Elder Neilson explained that
he had no idea why Elder low had told me that because they took naps
all the time. Elder low is so crazy, most of the time he just
schedules us for 15 minute lunches and if he can he likes to push
dinner to 8 o'clock, on top of that, no naps? What a dirty dog. I'm
pretty sure he told me that so that we could work more during the
course of the day, like I said, that guy is on cocaine. Me and Elder
Neilson laughed, listened to some good hymns together, and had some
awesome lessons throughout the day. It was a paradise, not to mention
having the first nap of the mission, wow it was fantastic. And to top
it all off I caught a lizard! I made it a goal to catch at least one
my first transfer, and what can I say, through diligence, hard work,
and quick hands, dreams come true. That day was a good day, until
Elder Neilson dared me to see if the Lizard would bite my ear, I
couldn't get him off for 5 minutes.
Going state side is an incredible
blessing, but sometimes it can be a curse, more specifically you get fed all
the time. I have eaten so many dinners with so much good food, oh so much good
food, but on a negative note the members often force feed you way passed the
comfort zone. I'm not taking about full anymore I'm talking about pain. On Wednesday
we visited 3 members, one of them was a dinner appointment, but all three
offered us food, already set out for us. I don't if you have ever started
sweating because of how much food you have eaten before, but that's exactly
what happened to me this week. After 3 servings of lasagna, a bowl of ice
cream, and half a watermelon, I was ready to explode. We them went to teach a
lesson, and she offered us huge bowls of pudding, ugh not even good pudding,
we're talking gross pudding that I would have had to choke down even if I was
hungry. I quickly ate all the pudding, taking breaks to gage a little bit, and
make sure I didn't throw up, slowly but surely my pudding was gone, and I felt
some sick sense of relief. My companion soon started to scoop his pudding into
my bowl when the member was in the restroom, it was not a good time.
Something that was pretty sweet, was that one of the members decided to send 2 pizzas and a huge cookie to our door from Pizza Hut. The members are so nice to us and definitely spoil us, one thing many foreign missions do not have. This is the only time in my life where I have had a love hate relationship with food, I've learned that there is a tactful way to eat food so that members do not trip over themselves trying to give you 2nds 3rds or 4ths. It's been a good week, and the work is getting better and better every day that I'm out here. The Lord is so aware of us and he's just waiting for us to ask for help. I'm grateful for a Savior that suffered for us so we don't have to go through this life alone. This church is true, I know it. I hope everyone has a great week and keeps living the dream, until next week,
Elder LeBaron
Something that was pretty sweet, was that one of the members decided to send 2 pizzas and a huge cookie to our door from Pizza Hut. The members are so nice to us and definitely spoil us, one thing many foreign missions do not have. This is the only time in my life where I have had a love hate relationship with food, I've learned that there is a tactful way to eat food so that members do not trip over themselves trying to give you 2nds 3rds or 4ths. It's been a good week, and the work is getting better and better every day that I'm out here. The Lord is so aware of us and he's just waiting for us to ask for help. I'm grateful for a Savior that suffered for us so we don't have to go through this life alone. This church is true, I know it. I hope everyone has a great week and keeps living the dream, until next week,
Elder LeBaron
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