Rolling Through the Boonies

 สวัสดีครับ Hello!

I had quite the week! Lots of new people, 2 exchanges, 1 spontaneous holiday, and a party every night.

BOONIE FINDING

We've been working on a list of inactive members from the Elders Quorum for the last few weeks, and this week it was up to us to try to find those who were way out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of gravel roads, amazing views, monster dogs, and wrong addresses haha. Not too many people who were all that happy to see us, but the experience kept it fun. It was crazy to see that in the most random spots that don't even have paved roads can have these crazy big houses, while also having really small rundown houses right next to them. Orting is a weird spot...

JUST A THOUGHT

There are lots of times where people have asked, "how can a loving God let so many horrible things happen?" It can be a really tough question. Just like in Elder Renlund's talk, "Infuriating Unfairness", in the last general conference was talking about, tragedies and disasters in life can seem contradictory to our concept of a loving God. While I was studying this week in Alma 60, I read this verse that really stood out:

13 For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God

What I get from this is that the presence of evil doesn't disprove the reality of a loving God, just the reality that God knows our hearts and our actions reflect who we truly are. Those who are good people don't need to be afraid, because when bad things do happen to them, there is comfort and support given through the atonement of the Savior. These good souls aren't lost, never have been.

LAST THINGS LAST

- I am still the pizza tossing champion I was in high school.

- We put a lady we met on date for baptism! We haven't heard from her since, though...

- I decided to have some fun and celebrate christmas in july on Sunday.

- Remember, no matter what anyone else has said about you, I still love you.

เอ็ลเดอร์ ซานต้า (Elder Santa)

Elder Barrett

Orting ROCKS!

 สวัสดีครับ Hello!

How are you all this week? Good? Great! This was quite the week in the life of a missionary in the humble town of Orting, Washington. We had some really amazing things happen, so I'm gonna stop wasting time on this paragraph and get right to the good stuff!

WATCH THE SUNSET

So a lot of things worked together to make this happen. First of all, a member texted us to have us go up to his house to pick up something. He lives up in a neighborhood called The Buttes. It's really out of the way up on a hill and we don't have anyone to teach up there, so we don't go up very often. We got up there at about 8. We took some time up there to get things figured out, and by the time we finished up, it was almost 9, so we started heading back. When we got to the end of the neighborhood, we could see the sunset and it was AMAZING looking over the valley with the sunset painting the sky. So I found a spot to stop for a second so we could go back up a bit and find a good spot to take a picture. Luckily there was an opening in a fence nearby that let us see the sunset more easily. We took a few pictures, and then the people who lived in the house that the fence belonged to came out and let us into their backyard to take better pictures. He even took some pictures himself! We got talking to him for a good hour before it was too dark to keep going. We didn't end up getting home until about 10!! He lives in a neighborhood that's usually gated off, but because the fence got taken down the day before, because the member told us to come up, and because we got prompted to stop and take some pictures! Sometimes spiritual prompting come through the disguise of just being something that sounds fun! It was a cool experience.

THE ROCK FESTIVAL 

On Saturday, Orting was way busy. It was full of people who came down for the annual rock festival (rock music, not just a really cool collection of rocks) that was actually run by our friend, Chris. He was rocking the handlebar mustache and a tie-dye tank top. It was a vibe. We actually met a ton of people over there, so it was worth our time.

TRACTING TIME

I've been avoiding tracting in this area as much as possible. Was it laziness, fear, low faith, or a combination of the three? Whatever it was, I've since repented, because on Sunday night, we decided to knock some doors and met some really awesome people! We met someone named Cub and also placed a BoM with someone named Michael! It was awesome! Turns out there are some really cool spots in Orting that I still haven't explored, even though I've been here for 3 months! It's the best.

LAST THINGS LAST

- Met a guy who made fried chicken for President Monson and also met Jabari Parker. He called us into his garage just to tell us about it. 😂

- Horchata is a top-tier beverage.

- Drunk people dancing is a fun thing to watch.

- Hey, I love you! Just putting that out there.

เอ็ลเดอร์ นักดนตรี (Elder, musician)

Elder Barrett

Alternate Dimension Barretts

 สวัสดีครับ Hello!

We got transfer calls on Saturday night, guess who's staying in Orting for a 3rd? Me! Elder Hagler is off to Auburn but Elder Stucki is staying here. It should be a good one!

MEMBER MERCIES

We had some really cool encounters with members this week. The first one was with Brother Ballard. I felt prompted to text him while we were planning out our morning, and he told us to come over anytime. So we headed all the way up to his house in the middle of the woods and come to find out, he had just had heart surgery! He was surprised we hadn't been sent by anyone because of that, but I guess the holy ghost sent us haha. We talked a bit and a few days later we came back to do some service that hes less than able to do while he's recovering. The other cool contact was with the Barrot Family. We've been trying to set up times to meet with member families, but they haven't been easy to contact over the phone, so we've been trying to go right to their doors to set things up. It's probably annoying, but they've brought it upon themselves. One of the families we knocked was the Barrots and they are the coolest. Sister Barrot is Cambodian and makes the best southeast asian food ever. All of that jasmine rice and soup and fish sauce made me miss Thailand a lot. We got to meet with them and had a lot of fun there. It was much needed, because we met a few less than friendly people. One of those encounters went like this:

Me: "Hey, how's it going?"

Him, smiles and says: "Bye!"

Me: "Bye?"

Him: "Why are you here, I told you never to come back here!"

Me: "Sorry, I've never met you...?"

Him: "Excuses, excuses, excuses! It's in your computer!!"

So that was fun.

MY OWN STRENGTH

I've been studying in Helaman this week, because I realized I had for the most part neglected a good chunk of that book. It was a lot of really important political and social context for the rest of the Book of Mormon, but it didn't seem like a "spiritual banger" as Elder Stucki would call it, so I kinda just breezed through it every time. But while I was studying this week, I came across a verse I really liked in Helaman 4:13. While talking about how prideful the Nephites had become, it says, 

"And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands."

Because they bragged and boasted about their own strength, they were left in their own strength. It's really interesting to note that when we show God that we don't need him, He'll say ok, if you don't need me, then I won't be with you. The drastic difference between being strong with God and being left to our own strength is evident in this story. The Nephites got a little too big for their britches, and they payed the price for that pretty quickly. It caused me to take a look at myself. Do I invite and involve the Lord in the work I'm doing? After all, I'm doing his work. I haven't seen much success in the work in recent weeks, maybe I need to make it a greater priority to keep myself in tune and listening to the spirit.

LAST THINGS LAST

- Two weeks in a row having a barbecue with a non member. 

- Toilet paper goes FAST in an apartment of 3.

- Even expired twinkies are delicious.

- Trivia time! Who do I love? Is it A: You, B: You, or C: You? Check in next week for the answer!

เอ็ลเดอร์ กินเยอะมาก (Elder ate a lot.)

Elder Barrett

The Sky is On Fire!

 สวัสดีครับ Hello!

Happy 4th, everyone! Hope you had an amazing barbecue and blew plenty of things up. I had quite the week, full of plenty of ups and downs. So why don't I stop wasting time and just jump right in?

I'VE GOT A MIGRAINE

I'll start with some of the downs. On thursday, I had a migraine all day. It took me out and we had to spend the day inside the apartment because I just couldn't handle any sunlight or physical activity. It was a rough day haha. But it's the first one that I've had since I was in the MTC all the way back in 2019, so that's a small victory.

EAT AND EAT SOME MORE

We had a lot of very good food this week. Some of the absolute greatest carne asada ever from a former multiple time Baja 1000 champion, more food than you can shove into your stomach in a week at our friend Gary's house on the 4th, Herfy burgers, anything and everything you could ever want. I'm still full from our 4th of July barbecue yesterday afternoon. 😂

WELL HELLO THERE

The Zone Leaders asked us to stop by their apartment Sunday Night to drop off our mileage log. We waited in the dark for them to show up. Eventually some other Elders showed up to do the same thing. We all waited in their apartment with the lights off for almost an hour for them to come and take our stuff. When they arrived, we switched on the lights waiting for them on the couch. At this point more Elders had somehow made their way inside before  the Zone Leaders got home to find 6 other missionaries just chilling in their apartment. We ended up taking a squad picture and then hurrying home while the fireworks were going crazy. It was epic.

LAST THINGS LAST

- Tracting in Orting is brutal.

- Cheater's Monopoly is the best version of Monopoly.

- Bible Studies with Non Members is a unique experience. Definitely more spirit in a sacrament meeting.

- I love America, and I love you, too!

เอ็ลเดอร์ อเมริกา (Elder America)

Elder Barrett