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