"I'll give them the Universal
Greeting. Bah-weep-grana-weep-ninny-bong!"
"Bah-weep-grana-weep-ninny-bong?"
"It's a universal greeting!"
Last week I was in a bit of rush due to a variety of
factors. Elder Fulton
had been asked several months ago to find a new apartment for the missionaries
to stay in, mainly because the Huntersville missionaries were not living in the
Huntersville area. The move was scheduled to take place after transfers, which
was okay since we were assuming that Huntersville would be remaining an
Elder area. However, with the sisters coming in, the cleaning had to
take place on an earlier day, so Elder Fulton and I, assisted by
our magnificent District Leader Elder Parker and his companion Elder
Wilkinson, desperately cleaned and packed for Monday and Tuesday.
Also adding to the confusion was the fact that President decided Preparation
Day should be Tuesday, not Monday as usual. So it was all a bit
hectic.
Huntersville was a very nice area. In one of our last
member-home dinners there, I played O Divine Redeemer on
the piano while Elder Fulton and Sister McDonald, the mom of the home, sang. It
was a wonderful experience.
Now a little bit more about the current situation:
I am with Elder Collinwood, who is two transfers away from
going home (so, about 22 months out). He's been a senior companion ever
since he finished training, and he is a very seasoned missionary. I'll probably
be his last companion. He's been having a lot of success in the Shelby area. He's a great
teacher, gets along great with the members, has a good knowledge of the
scriptures, and knows how to work smart. I am going to learn a lot from him.
As for Shelby itself, it is a
small town about forty minutes west of Charlotte ,
near the border with South Carolina .
We have a ward here that probably should be a branch, meeting in a cute little
Stage 2 church building. The bishop is great, and the Stake President lives in
our ward. The Shelby
area is full car, which is a very different experience than what I am
used to. For your information, Shelby
is not in the Ashville Zone, so I will be staying in the
North Carolina Charlotte mission for the remainder of my time.
I've noticed a lot of billboards here in Shelby . The majority of them advertise three
general things:
1. Bridal stores.
2. Divorce lawyers.
3. Diamond pawns.
Another fun thing about Shelby is that there are a ton of
churches here. I thought there were a lot in Dobson, but oh boy, there are more
here. I've noted Baptists, First Baptists, Second Baptists, Primitive
Baptists, Missionary Baptists, and Temple
Baptists , and I've
also seen Methodists, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, and many other kinds of
churches. Some of them have their own sorts of special names, usually sounding
something along the lines of Memorial Grace Journey United Love Church of
God, and I've willing to bet my nametag that nobody could tell you how they
came up with that name.
In other words, to quote little orphan Annie: "I
think I'm gonna like it here."
The Shelby
area has been very successful the last few months. Elder Collinwood does a lot
of work with part-member families and less actives, which is probably why he's
been doing so well. The last few days have been a game of Catch the Less-Active
at Home. It's pretty fun, except when the less-active cheats.
For example, on Sunday we went to go visit a
certain James B_______. We arrived at the address to find a small,
disheveled home, with all the windows and doors open and junk spilling out of
it. The interior looks like something out of a crime scene show and there is a
vapid odor about the place. It looks like not a soul has lived here for years.
We call out hesitantly: "James B______?"
Not a sound is heard.
In my mind's eye, I could just imagine a scene at the
beginning of a horror movie when two young missionaries get eaten by the evil
monster in the abandoned house, the scene just before the opening credits
begin.
So, Elder Collinwood and I took a smart step across the
street to the well-kept house and lawn on the other side and politely
knocked on the door. After a brief conversation with the kind older lady who
lived there, we asked where James B________ was.
She gave us a curious look and replied, "Honey,
James B________ is dead."
Afterward we marked his address on the Garmin with a skull
and crossbones and moved on. We'll let Alma
and Amulek play Catch the Less-Active at Home with James.
The last major highlight of this week was a
Mission Tour where Elders Evans and Nielsen of the Seventy came and spoke to
our mission. One of the major things they told us was that knocking on doors is
one of the most ineffective ways of doing missionary work, and that we need to
stop doing it. I kind of felt like an idiot since that's basically all I've
been doing since the beginning of my mission. I guess that's why the Lord has
paired me up with Elder Collinwood.
Finally, my new address in Shelby is this:
Sorry for the big read, I guess that it kind of averages out
if you combine it with last week's. Love you all! Hurrah for Israel !
Elder Fisher
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