October 26, 2015

Ok so if I could title today's entry it would definitely be "Bacon Xplosion" but I'll get to that in a little bit. 

So last P day we went bowling as a zone fun day, which was sweet! Especially because I did super well and killed it, I got 2/3 of the top scores for the day... okay... maybe I should try being a little more humble. But we all had such a great time it was so fun, I love these missionaries!!! Bowling was awesome but the weird thing was that I wore jeans and a t shirt... what? What is this? I had forgotten what it feels like and frankly I am already more comfortable in proselyting clothes than I am in "normal" clothes haha So after P day we went to a family in the ward's home to cast out some devil's no big deal... Just kidding we only dedicated it but she said that she was hearing things and her kids were hearing and seeing things but luckily we didn't feel anything too sinister so just dedicated it and we have seen her since and she didn't mention anything about it so I'm hoping that it is all better now. I think that that is why it is so important to be doing family scripture study and prayers every single day in our homes. When we have the right spirit in our home there is no room for fear because we have the faith and the power of God with us which light will cast out all darkness from before it. 

So I hope that nobody back home is worrying about me. Everything is awesome and the members are feeding us and the work is going forward and I have God with me. Seriously the members are amazing in this area, last week for example Sister Robinette cooked dinner for 4 of the elders and Kayla and she made... Salmon. Yeah. Oh and yesterday the Shumakers made homemade chicken noodle soup homemade rolls and homemade cinnamon rolls and then sent a 2 pans of those cinnamon rolls home with us! They were awesome but of course they have nothing on mom's famous General Conference Cinnamon Rolls! Oh and I have made you wait long enough. Bacon Xplosion time. So we went to the house of a family in another area who called himself "Bro P" (Brother Perkins) And he made what he calls Bacon Xplosion. Yeah. So it is this pork and sausage meatloaf thing with bacon in it and wrapped in bacon. With it we had green beans with bacon bits in it and mashed potatoes with... can you guess? Bacon in it. And for desert we had vanilla ice cream hot fudge caramel and mmm hmm bacon bits. Can you say best meal ever?! Truth be told it was a touch overkill but still pretty amazing :)

Ok now that I've told you the important stuff I will share a little about my missionary work. So I went on two exchanges this week and they were right in a row so I wasn't with my companion Elder Macfarlane for soooo long! It is interesting because one was the best exchange and one was the worst that I've had so far, which is a surprising amount, mostly because my companion is the district leader. So the first one was a blitz. So me and elder Macfarlane went to the zone leaders area and worked with them for the day. So that wasn't a very productive day to be honest. Between the two companionships we taught one lesson. Yeah. But I did get to ask a lot of questions and kind of got a one on one training which was super super cool. And Elder Heiner and I were the ones that taught the one lesson that we did have. We were able to do 2 hours of service at the retirement home there and that was the highlight of the week! Those men and women there were so fun and I'll show them the respect they deserve by not calling them cute haha It was great we played corn hole! Which is pretty much just a bean bag toss but it is definitely a sport out here and then we played bunco! Best service of my life!!! And then we went to a baptism which was fun, it is the first that I have seen out here but we have one in our ward (But the other missionaries) getting baptized this week on Halloween! His name is Wade and I just need to send some pictures this week because you just have to see him! He is awesome though! Super solid! All in all that exchange was the funnest day that I have had on my mission so far! 

So we went from there straight to the other exchange and I was with Elder Tolbert. Honestly- hardest day and exchange so far. I tried so hard to talk with him and get along but he was not very responsive, I would ask questions and try and talk and stuff and he would give like one word answers. I spent the entire day praying within myself for charity. It was good for me but definitely hard. All the good things in life are hard though right?? And it helped me appreciate my companion even more!

I have had the opportunity to study the sabbath day this week and it is amazing what honoring the sabbath can do for us. It obviously brings blessings as we obey the Lord's commandments but it also consecrates the rest of the week to the Lord and helps us to remember Him throughout the week. That is another thing that I didn't do very well before I came out here but am committed to live after I return. 

I love you all and am humbled by all the email that I receive that says that they have been reading the blog. My hope is that this will be an uplift to all who read it and that all who do will come closer to Christ by it since that is my purpose in all that I do for the next two years and hopefully beyond. (I'll talk about food less in the future so as to encourage coming closer to Christ and not closer to obesity) ;)

With much love,

Elder Howland

P.S.  Hey if anyone has a good missionary recipe for me please send it to mark.howland@myldsmail.net.