Tracting Stories

Holy cow have I got lots to say!

To start off, it's been a slow week. Only 11 lessons this week. But that's not bad considering it's the holidays.

Thanksgiving I felt sick... we played in 2 turkey bowls, and I think I was just worn out. I didn't eat any dinner. I had a roll and piece of pie, that was it. I think this is the 1st thanksgiving I didn’t eat any turkey, I just wasn’t feeling good. But I’m doing okay now. Went home and slept well that night, and had to sleep in Friday morning, but I felt better.

The biking is getting easier. And the weather is warming up some (close to the 50s- low 40s), so it's been pretty nice. Still cold enough for me to bundle up, but it's been nice. I don’t go to bed with my legs screaming at me anymore. I still don’t have a bike of my own, I’m borrowing a members bike, so I may need to buy one for myself, not sure what I’m gonna do yet. I have the money, they're just expensive.

Since we haven’t had a lot of lessons lately, we've been doing some tracting. Man, have I got stories!! In just the last 2 times we've done it we had some pretty crazy people.

We knocked on one door and a lady answered. We told her who we were and she went to grab her bible. She belonged to the Church of Christ and proceeds to prove to us through the bible how our religion was false and was started by Joseph Smith, and that we're basically damned. She talked for 10 minutes straight. Every time we tried to talk she would cut us off. It was really funny looking back on it. It was the 1st time I’ve received any opposition, so I was kinda freaked out. Oh, and she said she didn’t want our testimony either. She wasn’t letting us talk, so we just said, "Well, can we leave you with our testimony?" she said no, that they were personal, then we just left after that. Interesting experience.

The scariest happened yesterday though. I knocked on a door and an old grumpy looking guy came out and was like "whatdaya want?" we told him who we were and he said "well ya’ll can take a long hike to hell. You’re talking to a guy with 3 degrees, 1 in theology, and I believe in the "real" Jesus. You need to take a look at your religion and what you believe in again. You’re gambling with eternity here". It was kinda scary. The house was dark, he was rude, and it was something else.

Tracting... it's the most effective tool we have = P . That’s where you get all your stories about the crazy people.

That’s pretty much been our week. I think we've spent more time on our bikes riding around then we have actually teaching people. We did just get 2 new ward mission leaders, so we're really excited about that. If all goes like it should, when we get these new guys oriented and practiced, this area is gunna be on fire. I may not be able to reap the benefits, but I’ll be here planting that seed.

Meridian is nice. Kinda reminds me of Texas a bit. We only cover the neighborhoods, and it's kinda like it was in Houston, only more trees. Most have already lost their leaves. Winter is coming...

Elder Crosby is from spring. That’s like 30 minutes from us right? Small world.

For mail, my address is 2026 NorthWest 10th St, Meridian ID 83646. I would probably say just keep sending it to the mission office though. It may take a day or two longer to get it, but it's safer that way (with transfers and all). I’ll leave it up to you to do what you want though. It was kinda nice getting it at the mission office today. We play basketball every week w/ the cold, and we have to make a basket to play. Well, today I only made 1/5 baskets, so I sat around for a long time watching people play. I did get letters though, so I was able to read them when I wasn’t playing. But again, it's your choice. As long as I get letters, I’ll be happy = ]

Keep writing to me. Encourage Alex to as well. I really want to hear from her. I’ve heard nothing since I came out.

Hope everything is going well

Love,

Elder Blomquist