Tender Mercy

Phew I have done a lot of blogging, you should all be very proud of me. The best story is the 4th one down. :) But here is a little story to get you started. Totally shows that the Lord is looking out for forgetful missionaries like Elder Call! (This is after he already lost/broke his other camera and asked us for a new one for his birthday).

On our way back from Talihina, we had a REALLY pretty view of the rolling hills, so we stopped to take some pictures! Well... i ended up setting my camera on the back of the car, on the trunk in between the bike rack, and the back window. So, we're taking picures with Elder Borrowman's camera, and then we get on heading home, and Elder Borrowman says, "did we leave anything on the car?" And i told him we didn't and we kept on driving.

Well, on our way home, we pass through these little towns, Hartshorne, and Haileyville. At the end of Hartshorne is this billboard that i'd never noticed, and i saw it as we passed. I laughed and said that we needed to turn around and get a picture of that billboard. I kinda felt guilty for doing so, but we got out and as i reached for my camera, i realized i'd left it on the back of the car, and that it probably fell off, and was broken in a hundred pieces. So, i said, "goodbye camera," to the wind, knowing i'd never see many of those pictures again, and happy i have some of them as hard copies. Well, Elder Borrowman positions himself to take a picture, when i hear "no way!" And lo and behold, my bike had caught the camera cord, that i had tied around the case so they'd never be sepearated. The camera was intact, and wholly not lost and broken into a hundred pieces! Well, needless to say, it was a tender mercy from the Lord, for which i am really grateful.

To Tell the Truth

Another touching story from Elder Call. Hopefully you can follow it. He and his companion have been teaching Jeremy and his family for a while. To me, this is what missionary work is all about.

Here's the best story i think i can tell. Yesterday, Sunday, we pulled up to church and who did we see, but our two families that we're teaching, good friends with each other, all at church. Kids and all! Jeremy, Tammi, Kirk, Shannon, and all their kids! They looked like the fundamentalists that come in from Missouri and Texas every holiday. Well, it did my ol' missionary heart good to see them all together, coming to church. Kirk works grave, and gets off at 7am Sunday, and so he said he'd probably not come to church, so we're really happy about him coming! (sorry this is scattered, i am really really out of it.)

Well, they stayed for Sacrament, and then left, but had a really good time! The talks were all on the pioneers, both modern, and old. :D I cried most of the time. Well, that night we went to go have a lesson with the Pierce/Martin clan on Family Home Evening. Well, Jeremy's friend Danny comes over during the lesson, so we make it quick, wrap it up, and go. Well, Jeremy accompanies us outside as he usually does, and we ask him for a refferal, if there is anyone he knows that we could go see, and he tells us that he can't think of anyone. I asked him about his friend Danny, and reminded him that he didn't think Kirk was going to go anywhere, and Kirk is almost done with 2 Nephi! Jeremy said, "yeah, but he just started going to church, and besides, his wife is weird. ...let's let Danny get in the habit of going to church, before we tell him the truth." Yeah, Jeremy bore his first testimony. I've got to see him go from his first day in church in 16+ years, to bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. :) In my opinion, that is the most sublime experience ever. He knows the gospel is true, and so do I. :)

A Day in The Life...

Have any of you ever wondered what a missionary does on Preparation Day? Elder Call explains!

Monday: Preparation Day! 6:30am Wake-up, and roll out of bed, and start exercising. Usually consisting of jump-rope, push-ups, ab workouts, lunges, spider push-ups, or stretching. 7:00 hop in the shower for a quick clean off. 7:10 get ready and dressed. 7:25 time for morning prayers! 7:30 is breakfast. Yum! Oatmeal, Golden Raisins, Cinnamon, and Honey with a glass of water. Don't forget to brush your teeth, floss, and rinse! 8:00 Personal Study! 20 minutes in the Book of Mormon, 20 Minutes in the Old Testament, and 20 Minutes in Preach My Gospel! 9:00 Companionship Study! Review what we've learned and read Preach My Gospel, write our Letters to President, and then play some Book of Mormon Baseball! 10:00am E-mailing ya'll! 11:00 Grocery Shopping! 12:00 Lunch with Sister Crownover! 1:00 off to the laundromat to do some laundry, then back to the Apartment to hang everything up, and put it away. The rest of the day is playing, and writing letters.

This is not that exciting, but I am trying to make up for the lack of posts. Plus today's email was a good one, so I gotta milk it.

American Bear

Hey Everyone,

So I have a cool story for you today! Here is part of Elder Call's last email:

Down in Talihina we had some awesome experiences. We were biking all around town, and right as we were packing up the car to head over to the Shaw's for dinner, this car pulls up with this sign, "American Bear: an adventure in the kindness of strangers. Curious?" And it pulls up in the Choctaw Nation parking lot, which is completely empty at this time, next to us and out emerges two people, a girl and a boy, both in pink, asking if they can interview us!

Turns out they are film students from New York, and are going all around the Nation going to every town in the US named "Bear," and they were stopping in Talihina for the night on their way to Bear, AR, and they rely totally on the kindness of strangers, and they interview people along the way, and are turning it into a DVD! We accepted, and they whipped out this huge video camera, and taped an interview with us! We're going to be on a DVD! Well, they said they'd take our picture, and put it on their blog so ya'll can take a look!

The website is www.beardocumentary.blogspot.com, they gave us a flier for it. I put our home address as the mailing address, so if anything comes in the next 1.5 years keep it for me :) Apparently the movie won't be finished and ready for a year and a half, so that is good timing for me :)

Pretty cool huh? Here are the pictures the nice film people took:

You can also keep up with their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/BearDocumentary