Whattup y'all! So I forgot my camera this week, sorry no
pics! But this was to date, the funniest week of my mission. I don't think I
have ever laughed so hard...
Elder Brunner and I drove into Spokane to contact
some less-active members of the YSA ward, we knocked on a door and the house
looked pretty run-down, we talked to the young woman and she said she went to a
different ward and wasn't too interested in talking with us, as we were walking
away she looked at me kind of funny and said, "Could you give my dog a
blessing?" I was like, "Uhhhh, I'm not exactly sure."
So we went to
the car and called President and he said no and told us we could pray for the
dog. We went back and broke the news to her. Her mother had come out; her mother is a blind lady who uses the dog as a guide. The dog is in terrible
shape. Its back legs don't work and it seemed pretty bad. So we told them that
we could pray for it. So we did and then the blind mother started crying
hysterically and told us it had received blessings before and that they wanted
us to call President Dymock again. So we did; we went back to the car and left
him a voicemail about the situation. We were sitting there waiting because we
didn't know what to do and we got a text back reading, "Go ahead then and
give the blessing." I was dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do...
After
some deliberation as to whom was to give the blessing (rock, paper, scissors), we returned to the house where, for the first time, I actually saw the
dog. As the front door opened, a smell that my current vocabulary cannot
describe exited the house and penetrated me to the depths of my soul. I had to
hold my vomit down. The daughter had to drag out the dog because it couldn't walk.
The dog was peeing all over itself as she dragged it out. It was covered in
fleas and hadn't been washed since the cold war. It was very unfortunate.
Running through my mind were as many ways as I could invent to get out of the
current situation. I found I didn't have the heart to act on any of them.
I channeled my inner Elder Brunner (he doesn't have a sense of smell) and
sucked it up. We anointed and blessed the dog.
We have not stopped laughing
about it since. Last night we received a text that the dang dog died. I cried
from laughing, I couldn't believe it. Turns out that family also has two 300 lb
pigs living in the house so its an all-around interesting situation. Hope you
all laughed at or at least enjoyed that story.
We did also get some real missionary work done. We met
with Allie, the friend of a member; her boyfriend just left on a mission.
She is awesome and we had a great lesson about the restoration.
Yesterday at
church a guy named Bobby came and he is looking to become a convert, but he is
kind of hung up on the word of wisdom. We have an appointment later this week
and I will keep y'all posted.
Also of course Nemo, he is so solid. We met with
him and talked about real intent, he said he is going to try to work on being
purpose driven while reading the Book of Mormon. His baptism date is set for
the 20th. PLEASE pray for him; he is really looking for an answer.
Sorry this email is kind of long, I wanted to share what I
have learned as I have studied this week. Reading over the talk given by S.
Mark Palmer, I noticed the significance of the word "beholding." Elder
Palmer expounds on this and talks about his search for charity as he beheld
those around him and sought to feel the love of Christ for each of them, I was
touched as he took the time to pray for the gift of charity and the ability to
behold those he met with.
We talked about serving others this week, and I kind
of realized that without charity, service's value is greatly decreased. I hope
that we can seek to love those whom we serve in order to feel the love that God
has for his children. In the end we are the ones who benefit most from this
pursuit. I challenge you all to pray for the gift of charity and implement it
at least once this week!
I love you :) Thanks for all the packages and mail, keep
them coming!
E.Rapier
610 Villiard
Cheney, WA 99004
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