Yep, still alive.
Last Tuesday the youth in our small ward had a spaghetti cook off. Sisters Lake and Masson and Elder Paulsen and I were judges. I didn't tell anyone except Elder Paulsen that I hate spaghetti. But I am also always down for free food. We got there and there was a mess of kids and tomato sauce in the kitchen as these juveniles attempted to cook the unsavory noodles. They actually did a pretty good job though. I believe I judged pretty fairly considering I disliked both dishes. And to no one's surprise, the young women won. And the young men had to clean up the mess in the kitchen which was 99% theirs. And then at the end of the activity, while I was playing kickball with a bunch of the primary kids (a couple of them had pretty foul mouths, it was hard not to laugh) Elder Paulsen acquired a full bag of spaghetti. It is still in our fridge today. I want to throw it out, but he keeps saying he'll eat it... I don't believe him.
On Wednesday we played the school kids at volleyball again. We came prepared this time...
The first game (of 3) was actually pretty close, but we pulled through in the end and Westover snatched the win with his awesome serve. It was hilarious, two of the kids both called it and then both stepped back and the ball just smacked the ground right between 'em. In the end, they beat us the next two times, but that fact remains that the "church league" beat the team that practices everyday at least once. And the other two games were still very close.
Time for an interesting story.
Last Friday, I think, me and Elder Paulsen were street contacting out in a very sketchy place. We got yelled at by a random hobo that called us some pretty ugly names, but when I looked over at him, he was staring at a wall. So... maybe it was the wall that offended him, I don't know. After a while, we were heading back to our car when a lady at a gas station yelled at us. She asked if we were Mormons, so we kindly corrected her and told her what we prefer to be called. She just smiled (pretty creepily actually) and said "I love the Mormons!!!" She then asked us to pray with her because she was cursed by some crazy transgender voodo he/she from Louisiana. We agreed and she had us pray twice. The weirdest thing was that she kept switching from bawling, to cackling, to very serious. She was quite possibly literally insane. But she said that the other person had been putting blood in her drinks, so we did what he could through prayer. Eventually we got out of there, but it was a very interesting encounter.
I'll finish off with another short testimony.
I've seen some very interesting things this past month and Texas is constantly reminding me of how blessed I've been to grow up in a stable home with a gospel centered family. I've seen what the absence of Christ does to people in an extreme way, and it is very depressing. I've come to greatly understand that without the light of Christ in our lives, we cannot make it through the darkness that is mortality. I know that as we search the scriptures, serve others, and strive to follow the commandments, we will be blessed in so many ways. I promise all of you that are reading this that if you earnestly strive to make Jesus Christ the center of your life, you will find that your burdens become lighter and your life becomes more blessed. Jesus Christ is the Savior and the way. The only way.
I love you all and I pray for you. Have a great week.
Elder Peterson
