Sick Week

Hey yunz ,
This week was unfortunately pretty long and unproductive.  Monday night Elder Nixon started feeling pretty sick, which made us pretty nervous because we had zone conference the next day and didn’t want to miss it.  But, unfortunately, Nixon woke up sick as a dog. We called President Pickett and he advised us to just stay home, which kind of sucked, but oh well. He was down with the flu all the way until Thursday, when he was kind enough to pass it along to me for the back half of the week.  It was definitely no fun being cooped up all week.  But I hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the support. I would also like to wish my dad/best friend a happy birthday on the 27^th. He’s an amazing man who has always had my back and led the way for me.

                                                        
Elder Roden 

Elder Roden sporting his Jazz playoff shirt.

April 23, 2018

Hello everyone
It was a good first full week here in the Kingsport area.  It is a really cool area and the ward has been very impressive thus far so I am really excited.
So I thought I’d give you a little background on the boundaries that I serve in and around.  It is known as the Tri-Cities area (Johnson City, Bristol, Kingsport). Davy Crockett is from the Kingsport area, and the big rival high schools are Davy Crockett High and Daniel Boone High, which is kinda cool.  A good majority of our area is in Virginia, and most of our Virginia work is in Gate City.  There are a lot of cool historical things to see, and Kingsport itself is a cool city.
This week has mostly just been a lot of organizing our area book and ward rosters, and getting me introduced to a bunch of people, but there were a few cool things that happened.
SHADES OF GRACE:
So shades of grace(shades) is a United Methodist congregation in downtown Kingsport that is also open 7 days a week serving food to the homeless. We usually go there on Wednesday and Friday to help them clean.  They are so loving and they tell me to play the guitar every time I’m over there so that’s really fun. 

Elder Nixon and Elder Roden, sent to me by a kind member who fed them(I think Sister Courtney)

DAY OF SERVICE(LITERALLY):
Friday was a pretty tiring day, but it was good. We started out by going to the Kitchen of Hope, a food ministry, at 8am to do spring cleaning and, boy, did it need it. Then at 10am we went from there to a lady's house to help move a bunch of heavy furniture down from their 2nd story apartment onto a trailer. That lasted about an hour.  Then from there we went back to the Kitchen of Hope and were there till about 1:30, then from there we went to Shades.  We were there moving a bunch of stuff around until about 4:30, including this giant filing cabinet, taller than me, up a staircase, and a giant 8 food tall cross, and other interesting stuff, haha.
FUNERAL:
On Saturday, Shades of Grace was having a procession and funeral for about 9 cremains of unclaimed homeless people that had passed away, and they asked us and the sisters to join. So we met at shades and joined the line of cars all the way to a cemetery which was next to the oldest congregation in the state of Tennessee, a beautiful Lutheran building. But we had a great service atop the hill.
COURTNEY'S:
We had a super fun meal and lesson with the Courtney family. They are super cool. Matt is the head of the household and he is a nonmember and he is awesome.  He is so ready to be baptized it’s not even funny.  It’ll just be on his time.  We made burgers, and I introduced them to fry sauce, and they really loved I,t haha.  Then Elder Nixon had to join a conference call with the mission leadership for training, so I just played cards with them for a while.  Sister Courtney is an awesome lady and an awesome member and she is super awesome to just talk to because she is basically like a mom to all the missionaries.
BAUGHANS:
The Baughans are such an awesome couple.  We went to their beautiful home and ate with them.  They are super competitive and love talking trash. So we took that to the ping pong table. Haha! We all had a ton of fun playing for a little while.  They are pretty good but I feel like I held my own, a total of 4-1 in the games I played, haha. 

I think this picture came from the Baughans

MALACHI:
Malachi is an investigator who is 13 years old and he is such a sharp kid. We taught him the plan of salvation and asked if he wanted to be baptized and he said he really wanted to.  The only thing we are unsure of is if his mom will let him.  His grandmother is a member and is always a part of the lessons, and we are just working to open her daughter’s (Malachi's mom) heart a little bit.
PRAISE JESUS:
Holy cow, Sunday was so fun. After church we went to the Kitchen of Hope again because they invited us and the sisters over for cake and ice cream at their little social. The serving area and kitchen is in the basement of their church, so afterwards we went up just to look around. Next thing you know we were the only white people in the building, singing and dancing and playing the tambourine up on the stage with the "band", which consisted of LaTisha, BiBi, and Mel.  They are sisters. They were a little surprised when I busted out some slick moves, I went for it man. Haha, but it was so much fun.

That’s about it for this week.

Elder Roden

Transfers

Mon: Today Elder Sessions and I just kind of hung out for our last P-day. Nothing too exciting.  That night was my "farewell" dinner with our ward mission leader, Brother Thedy, who is such an awesome guy.
Tue: It was kind of a somber day, haha. There were a lot of goodbyes. But at noon Brother and Sister Carriere invited us to their photography studio and took professional photos of us and gave us pizza as a going away gift I guess. They are a super cool family.  Then at 4:00 we went to say goodbye to Mama Saas who is an awesome woman in the ward. Then after that we went and ate pizza and played Uno with the sister missionaries at the Blalock’s house (the ones that feed us every Wednesday).  Nobody on planet earth loves missionaries more than Sister Blalock.  They are such an amazing family and I love them. They even gave me a UT shirt and hat! After that we headed over to the church to play basketball with the ward one last time and it was super fun.  I came up clutch with back to back to back 3's to end the last game I played in that building. Money. Haha! But this is really such an amazing place that I have grown to love so much. I will definitely make an effort to come back and visit!
Wed: Crazy day! Transfers were fun, and I got to see a lot of friends there. Then I met up with my new companion and headed back to my new area.  It is the Rotherwood ward, but there isn’t really a town or city called that, it’s just the name of the ward.  So we live in Kingsport.  A good amount of our area is also in Virginia. 

The Kingsport District

Thu: Today we did weekly planning and a lot of cleaning. My companion was in a trio before this and I’ll just say it’s not super tidy.
Fri: Today was a cool day; it started out with a good district meeting with the new district. I really like everyone here.  Then we went to Shades of Grace, which is a food ministry run by the United Methodist church, to do service. Then that night we drove to the Powell Valley ward building in Big Stone Gap, VA.  My companion conducted a baptismal interview there because he is the district leader. It was cool to get to know the PV elders while up there.
Sat: Today we got to go eat at the Mears’ home, and then brother Mears offered to drive us up to the PV baptism. We weren’t able to go originally because of the meal appointment, but it was really nice of him to take us. It saved us about 100 miles too!  Brother Charlie Mears is a really awesome guy and we got along really well on the car ride.
Sun:  Crazy day, haha.  Got to attend the Rotherwood ward for the first time and it was great. There are a lot of great members here.  We even got to sit in and help teach the Beehive class.  Then that afternoon we went to Shades of Grace for their church service and it was really cool because I had never been to a Methodist service.  It was a great service and the pastor even mentioned us, in a good way, while speaking about service.  Then from there we went to our dinner appointment with the Jason Mears family (there are 3 Mears families in this ward, all brothers).  That family is super cool. He and his wife served missions. She served in Las Vegas, and he served in the California Anaheim mission. He was also out the same time my dad was serving in LA.  So it was cool to talk about that. 

The "real" Kingsport District

So my companion’s name is Elder Richard Nixon (haha), he came out from San Diego, California. His father is in the military, though, so he has lived lots of places like Virginia, Winnipeg Canada, Japan for 7 years, and a lot of places. But he is the District leader, so that makes me the district monkey, haha. So far I really like him. He is a very hard worker and is a great guy.  This apartment is pretty sweet, but it’s just dirty from the trio, haha. So we will get on that.  But thanks again for all the support and everything!
One thing we have been talking about a lot is how crucial it is for us to read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, daily.  We hear it brought up so much it almost seems silly. But there is a reason that it has been talked about so much by the prophets and apostles. It can and will offer us the protection we absolutely need. It is a simple, but important task! 

Love, Elder Roden

Tennessee Knoxville Mission 

Transfer Week

Mon: This was one of the most fun P days I’ve had yet.  We were at the church ballin’ for a little while and then we went on a hike/walk with the whole district and a ward member, and it was really cool. That night we got a call from a sister in the ward that needed a blessing.  So we went to her apartment and gave her a blessing and talked with her for a while. She is a really cool lady who served a mission in Idaho. And on our way out she said, "have y’all eaten tonight?" And we said that we hadn’t. Then she just whips out this $50 gift card to Logan’s Roadhouse and says "I got this for Christmas but I’m not gonna use it, go get ya a nice steak".  We went straight there, haha!  I had a pretty flamin' New York Strip.  Hardcore blessings!

Hike with the district

Tue:  Tuesday we had district meeting in Maryville, which is always awesome.  I really like this district.  After that we went to this super good Cuban restaurant for our district lunch.  We had a couple good lessons that day including an investigator named Ken, who we haven’t been able to meet with for a while because he and his family are going through some really tough trials. But he always says, "don’t give up on us", so we know he is very genuine.

Wed:  Wednesday was a pretty unusual day.  That night at about 4:30 we went to eat with the Blalock's, who feed us every Wednesday, and they took us out to Cracker Barrel.  I told Sister Blalock I would probably be leaving next week and she started to cry in Cracker Barrel, haha. She REALLY loves the missionaries and she is so awesome.  After that we had to drive to Loudon, TN. The reason was because Elder Sessions had to go give a baptismal interview to somebody who only speaks Spanish.  He is one of 2 elders in the zone that speaks Spanish, and the other one was teaching the investigator.  You can’t give the baptismal interview to your own investigator, so we got permission from the mission president to go up there.  It was fun to hang with the Loudon missionaries for a while. One of them is Sister Rodriguez, who was in Sevierville for a while, so it was fun to catch up.  That night we didn’t get back until like 10:30, so we were pretty exhausted.

 

District Meeting

Thu: Thursday night we went and saw Kurt and Abi, who are investigators that Elder Martin and I started teaching on my 2nd day in the field.  They are just super awesome people and we get along so well.  They just moved to a new house in Gatlinburg so we went to go check it out.  They said it’ll be pretty sad if I end up leaving, which I agree with, haha. But we are Facebook friends so it’s alright I guess.

Fri: We went and had some lessons with less active members that went really well. Out of over 500 listed members, only 120 are active, so we really take that kinda personally to try and improve the ward.  Friday night was kind of somber, haha. It was the night before transfer calls and we were both a little nervous, but mostly sad that we were probably going to get split up.

Sat: Saturday morning at 9:00 were transfer calls, and we did find out I’m getting transferred.  I will be heading up to the Rotherwood area, which I think is about half in Tennessee and half in Virginia.  It is in the Kingsport stake/zone and I’ve heard there is a lot of cool historical stuff up there, so I’m excited! My companion will be Elder Nixon, who I know nothing about, haha.

 

Meeting the Mintons from the Sevierville ward when they drove out for General Conference

Sun: Sunday was just a bunch of goodbyes at church and that kind of thing. That night we got to go to the McKinney's house for dinner. They have been feeding us after church pretty much every week and they are definitely one of my favorite families here. They are super cool. And also Sister McKinney is related to a ward member of mine from back home named Berry Wooton. Haha, small world.  We got back that night and Shookie (next door) invited us in and gave us his famous  Louisiana Mustard Greens. They are kinda like collard greens but way better, and I think that was the best thing I’ve had in Tennessee so far!

This was a pretty weird week as I now know I will be leaving my first area. But I am very grateful for the 4 1/2 months I was able to serve here. I grew to love so many people and will always remember this place!  I am excited for this next chapter, here we go!

Elder Roden

 

April

Mon: We went down to Maryville and just hung out at the church all Pday, it wasn’t too exciting.  Me and Sessions both think we are hilarious because we can do pretty good Goofy impersonations, haha.  It’s nice to be able to have someone you can laugh with.

 

Elders Sessions and Roden on Easter

Tue: Today we had a District meeting, which is always an uplifting experience.  We have a really good district and it’s fun to learn from them. Our DL used to be a Zone Leader and we also have the Sister Training Leaders in our district, so we have a good group of missionaries.  We also got fed twice that night, haha. At 4:30 we met Sister Johnson in Pigeon Forge and she dropped us off a pizza from the Smoky Mountain Brewery, probably the best 'za that I’ve had in a while.  Then at 6:30 we went to the Minton’s and they just bought a ridiculous amount of Taco Bell.  It was a pretty good night if you ask us.  We did pay for all that food, though, because right after we went to play basketball with the ward and we did not feel too good, haha.  I went and yakked in between games, haha. There are usually a couple less active members and an investigator that comes and play with us every Tuesday, so that is really awesome.

 

P Day hike with the district

Wed:  Today at 9:00 we at our apartment inspections, and were given kinda last minute notice. BUT we got a perfect 30/30 score. We have Celestial Housing over here.  Then we went out and just kept trying people all day with no luck.  One thing that has been really tough here is finding new investigators.  It’s been a struggle since i got here but it’s been really slow lately. So we have been praying like mad.  And even though we aren’t having much success ourselves going out, in the last 2 days we just got 3 random online referrals.  Little miracles!

Thu:  Thursday night was pretty funny… we were meeting with an investigator and we talked a little bit about how we both love seafood and Cajun food. For like 10 minutes that’s all we talked about, haha. Then we drove home right after because it was past 9:00 and our next door neighbor, Shookie, came outside when we pulled up and was like "y'all eat fish?". I said "heck yes I eat fish", then he said, "well good! I went and just caught, cleaned, and fried some just now. I’ll fix y’all a plate".  I kid you not, I almost cried.  He gave us a plate of fried fish, fish liver, fish eyes, fish eggs, and his home made Shookie-Sauce.  It was sooo good.  Shookie is a really cool guy, he’s a big man from New Orleans and we always look out for each other’s packages and mail and that stuff.  He’s a super awesome neighbor to have.

Fri: We decided to head down to Gatlinburg to visit some people and to try some street contacting on the main strip.  What we were not planning on was the traffic.  It took us like an hour and a half to go 10 miles both ways.  So it ate a big chunk of our day but it was ok. We had a good time talking to people.

Sat: On Saturday and Sunday the highlights were definitely General conference.  It’s weird how excited you get as a missionary to watch it, haha. We watched all of the sessions at the church where they were broadcasting it. I really liked Elder De Feo’s talk and President Eyring’s.  I also like how they waited until the end to announce the new temples.  People here are really pulling hard to get a temple in Knoxville. They thought this might be the one, but no.

Today we’re off to go hiking with the district. Have a good week!

Elder Roden