This week was pretty slow on the teaching side--we had two lessons with recent converts in the ward that went well, but didn't find any new investigators and weren't able to connect with any of the potential investigators that we found last week. We had two zone training meetings that we attended where we audited iPads and updated apps on them, and we have a meeting tomorrow with all of the new missionaries and their trainers where we're presenting for 20 minutes or so. Our topic is "Dos and Donts" of Facebook, and we'll probably have to throw it down a little bit, because missionaries are getting pretty relaxed with what they are posting on Facebook.
A couple crazy experiences this week: Tuesday, I'm sure you probably heard about the tornados here in Illinois that happened. Well the storms that came with them were unbelievable, easily the worst storm I've seen in my life. Elder Campbell and I were driving (I was at the wheel) to a lesson, and we were going 12 MPH on a 55 MPH road, and there was a layer of rain always on the windshield, literally the wipers could not go fast enough. Everyone was driving with their emergency flashers on for better visibility, and there were over 12 cars that pulled off to the side of the road because it was nearly impossible to drive. You couldn't see any of the different lanes, so pretty much you drove wherever you wanted as long as you stayed on the road. We ended up canceling the lesson and driving home, because we got a tornado warning on our phone. If that wasn't crazy enough, a tornado touched down in Joliet, which is where we were earlier that day, and one started forming in Oakbrook, which is exactly where we were. Fortunately, we're all safe and sound, it's a real blessing that we didn't get hurt or stuck in the storm.
The other interesting thing that happened this week, maybe you saw it on Facebook, is that Elder Campbell and I helped a member build a privacy fence in his backyard. I swore that after helping build the fence in our backyard, I wouldn't do it again, but this experience just solidified that you couldn't pay me enough to build another fence...Here's the story: Joe (the member) rented an auger (a fence post digger), and it was pretty heavy, probably 80-100 pounds. Now here's the thing, you're probably like, Dallas, 80 pounds is nothing, that's a joke. But when you've got to lift it up and down over and over, and adjust your grip several times, and the machine's vibrating like crazy, it gets heavy real quick. Anyways, Joe wasn't home (his uncle was), but he had us start so that when he got home, we could finish up faster. So Elder Campbell and I are starting to dig with the auger, and the first hole goes okay, we're trying to get the hang of it, but we get it done. The second hole, we dig down to about 38 inches or so (we were digging down to 42 inches deep) and the machine locks up in some clay, and we can't get it out of the hole, because it's stuck. Now the machine doesn't have a reverse button, so we had to get a big pipe wrench, hammer a 3-foot piece of metal to the end of it for leverage, and manually unscrew this thing from the clay. It was freaking exhausting, and it took us about 2 hours to do that. But the story doesn't end there, that wouldn't be good enough. We finally get it out and finish digging the hole and move on to the next hole. We start digging this hole, and get about 20 inches down, and the machine plugs again, which means that we have to get it out by hand, round 2. After another 30-60 minutes finally getting that out, we discover that it's an old garbage pile from the previous home owners, so when they built the new house, they threw all the garbage in the backyard and just buried it. So while Elder Campbell is working with Joe's uncle to cut through all of the garbage with a saw (we found tons of glass, pieces of metal window frames, yard supplies, cans, etc.), I'm starting to dig the next hole in the corner by hand. I actually got that one 100% done, and got the next one down to 38 inches by hand by the time they finished with the other hole. So you know, digging by hand is exhausting too. But, we get done with those holes, and we get the courage to try the auger one last time. Fortunately, we got the remaining 5 holes done without an issue, but we were super sore by the end. And that, my friends, is why I will never build another fence again.
Well, that was pretty much my week. Hopefully we can start finding some new people to teach. We are going to try signing up for service at a couple of different places and seeing if that allows us to meet new people.
Well Mom, I love you and I hope you'll let me know if there is anything that I can do for you!
Love,
Elder Dallas Anderson
P.S. Here's a picture of my haircut!
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