Its getting nice and cool over here in Louisiana and I'm starting to get real pumped. It's raining most of the days and there is nothing better than that!
This past week was a weird one. A lot happened but I have no Idea where to start.
PDay started out real cool. A local high school coach down here got in contact with Elder Ainge and I and asked us to come play basketball with his guys at practice. I was pumped... But It has been over 18 months since I have really played some competitive basketball so I was a little nervous. Well we show up and I was pumped. There was 3 white kids in the gym and two of them were Elder Ainge and I. Well everyone looks at us and are like "Who are they?"
The coach stops practice and says "I invited them to come play with us." The guys all start talking here and there it was pretty funny. The coach says "If you think I just got these kids from the street you're wrong. These guys can both play and they are gonna kick your butts" Everyone was like "yeah sure whatever.." The coach then said "One of these two right here has a dad that played in the NBA. Everyone starts talking again. The coach stops talking and then they are all like 'BLAKE GRIFFIN BLAKE GRIFFIN!' It was pretty funny. We played some good scrimmages and I think we went a few games in a row of winning. It was a good time. The coach then got mad at his team that we had beaten them so bad and so everyone was on the line. We ran a few suicides and sprints and it reminded me of the good old days. I was pumped. So PDay was great.
I then had exchanges with Elder Ainge and we went and saw a bunch of people and it was a good time. Wednesday was district meeting and we exchanged back. My comp Elder Shaddick was very happy to come back. Haha I was pumped to see that. We get along super well.
Later in the week we were very low on miles and so we were biking pretty much all day everyday. There are two bridges that separate our house and Morgan City so It was a fun time riding each day.
The rain hit us very hard and it seemed like it didn't stop.. Rain Rain Rain all day. It was sweet though. On Friday and Saturday we had to be in at 6 because it was Halloween and things get a little crazy around here on Halloween. So we were on lockdown all night.
A few of our investigators gave us the cold shoulder and so we are doing even more finding to try and get the work progressing.
Sunday came around and like I said before, anything and everything affects attendance here in Morgan City. 11 people total at church. 6 of them were missionaries. It was a little sad seeing that... But we all went home to the apartment and we had a little meeting of how we were going to get Morgan City popping. We printed out a giant map and now we are pretty pumped and have a pretty good Idea of what we are going to try. I'm excited for these next few weeks.
I also had a meeting with the Branch President and I was talking with him about what we could do. He told me something that hit me real hard. It was super cool. I was talking about how it seemed as though nothing we were doing was helping. He talked about the War in heaven and about how Jesus and Lucifers plans differed. As missionaries we teach and invite but we can never force even if we may want to. That's why Lucifer was cast out. Because he wanted to force everyone to do it. It definitely boosted my spirits knowing that it's really not up to me what their decisions are, but it is up to me to help guide their actions.
Sunday was testimony meeting and so Everyone got up. It was cool as Elder Nelson the Senior Misisonary got up and bore his testimony. He looked over at me and said how thise was his last testimony in the mission field. He started talking about how I was one of the first missionaries he met. It was another pump up day because then he started talking about how he has met many many missionaries but he said I was different and he said I was one of the best he knows. It pumped me up. He's pretty much family to me. He always says. "I better get a wedding invitation once you find a wife Elder Whitmarsh. Ill be there!" He's a great guy!
So the week was good with a lot of learning and I hope this next one brings even more! Love you all and hope you had a great Halloween!
I'm loving all the pics and vids of costumes haha!
Love yall!
Have a great week,
Elder Whitmarsh
This past week was a weird one. A lot happened but I have no Idea where to start.
PDay started out real cool. A local high school coach down here got in contact with Elder Ainge and I and asked us to come play basketball with his guys at practice. I was pumped... But It has been over 18 months since I have really played some competitive basketball so I was a little nervous. Well we show up and I was pumped. There was 3 white kids in the gym and two of them were Elder Ainge and I. Well everyone looks at us and are like "Who are they?"
The coach stops practice and says "I invited them to come play with us." The guys all start talking here and there it was pretty funny. The coach says "If you think I just got these kids from the street you're wrong. These guys can both play and they are gonna kick your butts" Everyone was like "yeah sure whatever.." The coach then said "One of these two right here has a dad that played in the NBA. Everyone starts talking again. The coach stops talking and then they are all like 'BLAKE GRIFFIN BLAKE GRIFFIN!' It was pretty funny. We played some good scrimmages and I think we went a few games in a row of winning. It was a good time. The coach then got mad at his team that we had beaten them so bad and so everyone was on the line. We ran a few suicides and sprints and it reminded me of the good old days. I was pumped. So PDay was great.
I then had exchanges with Elder Ainge and we went and saw a bunch of people and it was a good time. Wednesday was district meeting and we exchanged back. My comp Elder Shaddick was very happy to come back. Haha I was pumped to see that. We get along super well.
Later in the week we were very low on miles and so we were biking pretty much all day everyday. There are two bridges that separate our house and Morgan City so It was a fun time riding each day.
The rain hit us very hard and it seemed like it didn't stop.. Rain Rain Rain all day. It was sweet though. On Friday and Saturday we had to be in at 6 because it was Halloween and things get a little crazy around here on Halloween. So we were on lockdown all night.
A few of our investigators gave us the cold shoulder and so we are doing even more finding to try and get the work progressing.
Sunday came around and like I said before, anything and everything affects attendance here in Morgan City. 11 people total at church. 6 of them were missionaries. It was a little sad seeing that... But we all went home to the apartment and we had a little meeting of how we were going to get Morgan City popping. We printed out a giant map and now we are pretty pumped and have a pretty good Idea of what we are going to try. I'm excited for these next few weeks.
I also had a meeting with the Branch President and I was talking with him about what we could do. He told me something that hit me real hard. It was super cool. I was talking about how it seemed as though nothing we were doing was helping. He talked about the War in heaven and about how Jesus and Lucifers plans differed. As missionaries we teach and invite but we can never force even if we may want to. That's why Lucifer was cast out. Because he wanted to force everyone to do it. It definitely boosted my spirits knowing that it's really not up to me what their decisions are, but it is up to me to help guide their actions.
Sunday was testimony meeting and so Everyone got up. It was cool as Elder Nelson the Senior Misisonary got up and bore his testimony. He looked over at me and said how thise was his last testimony in the mission field. He started talking about how I was one of the first missionaries he met. It was another pump up day because then he started talking about how he has met many many missionaries but he said I was different and he said I was one of the best he knows. It pumped me up. He's pretty much family to me. He always says. "I better get a wedding invitation once you find a wife Elder Whitmarsh. Ill be there!" He's a great guy!
So the week was good with a lot of learning and I hope this next one brings even more! Love you all and hope you had a great Halloween!
I'm loving all the pics and vids of costumes haha!
Love yall!
Have a great week,
Elder Whitmarsh