January 15

   This week started with a really good P day. We hung out with the Maryville elders all day so that was nice. We went to Smoky Mountain knife works, which I think is the biggest knife store in the world or something.  Elder Heninger and I both got sweet knives and we got one for Elder Haynes, who was one of our good friends in the MTC. He is actually down in Georgia right now so we will have to wait until zone conference to give it to him, but that's ok. 

Elder Heninger and Elder Roden and the "sweet knife"

     Then the work started.  We had a really busy week which was super nice. It's nice to see some of our labors from the last month or so paying off. We are really working on strengthening the ward members. There are over 500 members in the ward boundaries, and we have about 110 consistently active. I would say there's some room for improvement. So we have been meeting with as many members as possible each week to help them understand the need for them to be doing their own missionary work. We have gotten a good response so far, so we will continue to do that. We also have some solid investigators we are working with right now... and some not so solid. But, nonetheless, we are working our tail ends off to help these people out.
     We also were able to do service at a food bank here in Sevierville. I wasn't expecting to get much out of it. All the volunteers there were elderly Baptist folks. They can be tough sometimes, but wow, what a testimony builder for me. We would pack bags of groceries for these families who had next to nothing. And seeing these volunteers’ faces light up as the "regulars" would come through was amazing. We worked closely with a 60-70 years young woman named Kathy, from Alabama. She has the wit and spirit of an 8 year old farm girl, because that's what she is at heart. I watched as she would go out and pray with and shed tears with those who came in. After we told her about our missions and us leaving our families and everything she immediately said, "tell your Mom I LOVE her".  So mom, Kathy loves you. We aren't supposed to hug women while we are out here, but ask me if I cared about that rule when she had to leave! We will definitely be back to help them out in the future. 

Martin and Roden at church

     We have been able to teach a lot more this week than we have in the past, which is good. Martin and I have narrowed down how we teach best with each other and it’s really fun to see it working for the people we teach. I call him a "doctrinal encyclopedia" and he calls me a "testifying powerhouse”.  I'm not so sure about that, but we definitely have a pretty good system.
     One odd thing about Tennessee is the obsession they have with Dolly Parton. I swear her name is on everything down here. They have TN license plates with her face on them. Haha. I guess she really doesn't like the church from what I've heard. I would love to sit down and share our message with her one day. Also, the weather is odd. It was really nice earlier in the week and then it just got down to 20 degrees and freezing rain again in one day.
     And shout out to LeAnn and the Riser family for the Baskin Robbins gift card hookup! This might be one of the only areas that have one. That’s mostly because Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are high tourist areas. But thanks again and they definitely be will put to good use!

Elder Roden