Another week bites the dust.

 

Tennessee sunset

  This was a really odd week honestly.  It was one of those really dry weeks (even though it rained the whole time).  We had at least one or two appointments fall through last minute every day, mostly due to illness.  And we were planning on having 5 investigators at church this week, which for this area it is really tough to get any, and they all couldn’t make it.  So it was a pretty long week of "well, shoot".  Haha, but there are still lessons to be learned nonetheless.  And we have been able to get some inactive families starting to come back, so that’s good.

   It has been raining like crazy, but it’s also like 60 degrees, Holy Humidity.  Haha, it’s pretty nasty.

The Pigeon River flooding from all the rain

   We were able to pick up a few new investigators, one of them is named Maricela, a Spanish speaking single mother.  We taught her La Restauracion del Evangelio de Jesu Christo (I know very little Spanish so I use it as much as possible… haha), and she really loved it!  I couldn’t understand a lot of her words, but I could feel of her desire to know more. The spirit is real!  I was able to understand almost all that she was saying, but not a single word.  Right there on her front porch in the Smoky Mountains.

Tracting...

   We were also teaching a member family from West Virginia, and turns out he used to be a root digger! He used to dig for Ginseng and he still has a big bag of it.  There is a TV show about digging for Ginseng and I think it is called "Appalachian Outlaws" or something, but one of his friends is actually on that show!  West Virginians are pretty wild!  Another guy in our ward from WV invites us over sometimes to ride his Pigs!  He said he even has one for me to ride, it is over 800 pounds, haha!  We will have to go sometime.

   Also, one other distinction I have learned since being down here, don't call southerners “Rednecks”. They make it very clear that they are to be called Hillbilly's.  Haha! They say Rednecks are from West Virginia, Florida, and out west. 

  Well I’m sorry there wasn’t too much to report on this week, just one of those weeks.  I love getting out and being able to work all day, it’s a privilege!  Even if the reward isn’t seen right away! Thanks everyone for their love and support and prayers!

Elder Roden