This week was absolutely nuts, because we had four exchanges back to back to back to back. Between Monday night and Friday night, Elder Giolitto and I saw each other for a combined total of maybe an hour. Besides all of the exchange madness, we met with Patience yesterday in the Borgs' home, and she's now been in contact with the realtor and is working on figuring out a place locally so that she can be baptized!
Here are some of the highlights of the exchanges: First, I worked with Elder Boulton, and we got to spend the night at the mission home, because there was a missionary that was finishing up his mission early, so he needed a companion to be with him for the night. In the morning, we played an intense game of HORSE outside on the Griffins' basketball hoop.
The next day, I worked with Elder Marchant in the Naperville 6th Ward. We had dinner with a member who said that I looked like one of her friend's kids, so she called up that friend and asked if the missionaries could come over right then and there. Then, she decided that she didn't want us to go by ourselves, so we followed her in the car to the friend's house, where the member introduced us to her friend and her son Ben, that actually did turn out to look like a younger version of me. What an awesome member missionary! That exchange became even more memorable when Elder Marchant and I went for a run the next morning, took a wrong turn, and ended up running 4 miles instead of the planned 1.5 miles, haha! Elder Marchant is one of the most fit people I've ever met--we ran the 4 miles in 30 minutes, but he probably could have done it in 25-26 if I wasn't with him, because he stopped to wait for me to catch up multiple times on the run.
I had the chance to work with Elder Reyes, who went to high school with me, so it was fun connecting with him for the day! We got to meet with Franni, the awesome recent convert that took Elder Cluff and I out to Ditka's restaurant a couple of months ago, and we did some painting for a member as well.
Then I spent the next day with Elder Roper in Arlington Heights, and the two of us celebrated his birthday by eating some awesome BBQ for lunch. The Johnson family from their ward took us out to dinner at Portillo's, and bought us an entire chocolate cake to take home...After dinner, we went to their house next door and had one of the very best lessons I've had with a member, and we had a lot of fun teaching it too.
Our next day was equally as busy, even though we weren't on exchanges: we had the Ward BBQ (haha, I probably gained about 5 pounds this week...), followed by the baptism of 8-year-old Lorenzo DaSilva, followed by a Brazilian dinner at the DaSilva home (make that 10 pounds...). Since I ate so bad during the week, I didn't have any cake, because the cake was about 7 inches tall (and was about 3 feet long and a foot and a half wide, biggest cake I've ever seen). I guess they didn't get the message that I was trying not to put on 15 pounds just this week, and they sent us home with a huge tray of Brazilian food, as well as a piece of cake that's about 7 inches tall by 5 inches wide by 5 inches long... #SoMuchFood
One of the highlights of my week: yesterday at church, I wasn't too happy. I was bitter about a couple of things, I didn't have a lot of desire to do anything, I was pretty much just there in body, but I recognized it and wanted to change. As I had the sacrament yesterday, it really was a changing experience, the best I've ever had when it comes to taking the sacrament. Like for real, for real. All of the bitterness left me, and I was again super excited to talk with people and do the work. It was something I'd never experienced, but was incredible, and I hope you guys are able to feel the power of taking the sacrament each week that you go.
Hope all is well for everyone, life's still good here in Chi-Town. Let me know what I can do for you, you're always in the prayers! Love you, and talk to you again next week! Got some more rhymes for you coming soon!
Love,
Elder Dallas Anderson
#MissionRapper
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