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