Elder Fisher #85, 3/23/14:
And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the
church, have ye spiritually been born of God?...Have ye experienced this mighty
change in your hearts?
- Alma 5:14
I looked out the window, and what did I see?
Popcorn popping on ornamental pear trees!
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise:
Popcorn popping right before my eyes!
Yes indeed, it's that time of year when all the trees go
crazy in North Carolina and sprout popcorn. It's beautiful. Right now it's the
white popcorn, and in a few weeks we'll get the pink popcorn. After that is
will be time for the airborne waves of yellow pollen that cover everything and
make poor Elder Fisher have allergies. But this time I will be
prepared for them.
E. Mickelson had to go to transfers early because he was
going to be a trainer. As I sat down at the little luncheon they'd set up for trainers
and their companions, I sat next to one E. Dedrick. His companion was going to
be a trainer.
"Oh, so are you staying or are you going?" I
asked.
"Staying."
"Oh, well in that case, we might just end up being
companions!" I said.
About thirty minutes later in the transfer meeting,
President Craven announced over the pulpit, "And Elder Fisher will
be serving in the Newton-Conover ward with Elder Dedrick -- he's now
served in every zone in the mission."
I got a good laugh out of that. I have now indeed
served in every stake in the mission. One of the many blessings of serving in
so many places is that I've been able to see how nine different bishops
approach missionary work. There's been a wide variety in how they involve
themselves in it.
As for E. Dedrick, he is from Anaheim,
California, has been out 10 months, and is serving as our district
leader. He is always smiling and one of the most amazingly diligent
missionaries I've ever met. An investigator family of his got baptized
just this Sunday -- pictures attached.
We share the Newton-Conover ward with the sister-training
leaders. This is a new leadership position developed because of the
increase in number of sister missionaries mainly due to the age
change. They are kind of like zone leaders in that there's one companionship of
them in every stake and that they go on exchanges with other
sisters missionaries. However, unlike district or zone
leaders, missionaries do not report to them each week on how their
efforts. It's a useful position because the sister-training-leaders are
able to talk to sisters about female things, which no district or zone
leader, however mature, is able to do.
Now, some mission info:
-Our mission is roughly shaped like the corner-stone of an
arch, the top of the stone being the Virginia border and the bottom being the
border with South Carolina.
-There are 7 stakes in our mission: Charlotte Central,
which is where the mission office is located; Charlotte South,
extending about a 40-minute drive south of Charlotte; Gastonia,
which is up to 40-minutes west of Charlotte; High Point,
which is about 45 minutes northeast of Charlotte; Greensboro,
an hour and a half northeast; Winston-Salem, an hour and a half north; and Hickory, an
hour and a half northwest.
Some Newton-Conover info:
-The Newton-Conover ward building is the stake center of the
Hickory stake and is right across the street from a Protestant church. The
chapel in our building is quite unusual -- it slopes downward so the people in
the front are lower than the people in the back.
-This is the first area I've ever been in where I've been
able to see mountains. The Appalachians are just to the west of us.
-This area has a lot of Mong people. They're from Laos, I
believe, and most of them say their religious background is "shaman."
We keep Mong Book of Mormon copies and Mong pamphlets with us when we go
out looking for people to teach.
-There's also Catawba Indians here. One of their old
chieftains from years ago, Chief Blue (spelling?) is a bit of a legend because
he joined the Church, along with much of his tribe.
Some North Carolina info:
-As missionaries -- to use North Carolina speak --
sometimes we ax people on the skreet questions about faif while we's
conversatin' with them. Or we ax them how they eat their Ree-see's cups. (But
only if they live in the Apple-aah-chin mountains.)
-It was once suggested that missionaries get little mopeds
to ride around instead of bikes. A member told us that that would not be a good
idea. In North Carolina, if you get too many DUI's you get your driver's
license taken away, but you don't need one to drive a moped. Thus, mopeds are
often referred to as "liquorcycles." Were missionaries to ride mopeds
people would assume we were all drunkards.
-Every time it rains here, a bright red-orange clay
comes out of the ground. If it gets in your clothes it becomes indestructible.
-There is a fast-food restaurant here in North Carolina
called Cook Out. It is THE BEST fast-food I've ever had. For $4.40 you get an
enormous and delicious main dish (like a big fat double burger) and
your choice of two sides, like a bacon wrap, chicken wrap, hush puppies, and so
forth. The first time I ever got a "Cook Out Tray" back in
2012, I got completely filled up. For just a dollar more you can get
a shake that's bigger than a DQ Blizzard and tastes better. I will greatly miss
Cook Out when I go home.
I would include a funny story from this last week but I'll
save it for next Monday.
Not surprisingly, the Church is still true. Love
you all! Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Fisher
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