Week #6
(First week in Colorado.)
Hello everybody,
Sorry about the long silence, but today is my first P-day, so here goes.
I left the MTC Monday morning around 6 AM. I had to get up at 4, so I was very tired. Anyway, about 40 missionaries piled onto a bus and we drove up to the Salt Lake City Airport. From there I flew to the Denver airport and met my mission president and the other 20 missionaries that arrived at the same time. We were the first set of missionaries ever called to the Fort Collins Mission. Exciting, right? Driving to the mission office and doing interviews took all day (they did feed us)and guess what! Monday is P-day, so everybody missed it.
I don't live in an apartment. I live in the basement of a lovely old lady named Sister B. We have two beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge, a microwave, and a coffee table to study at. It's not the best setup, but it works. We just cleaned it up today, so I'll take pictures and send them next week. (I forgot my SD card converter, so I can't send pictures today). We also have had some strange nocturnal visitors. Elder Yarman likes to sleep with the window open, but near the bottom there is a large whole in the screen. One morning while I was reading, I got up and saw a salamander right where I was about to put my foot. I didn't expect to see an amphibian in Lafayette, Colorado and wondered if someone had let their pet get loose. I held onto it for a few minutes while I waited for Elder Yarman to get out of the shower and he said that was not the first time this particular salamander had paid him a visit. I guess we've made a friend. Pictures coming next week.
My companion's name is Elder Yarman. He is 25, has been out for 6 months, and has been in the area for the last seven weeks.
The work here is sort of slow. They had two baptisms right before I came and that kind of cleaned out the teaching pool. We've been trying to find people, but people here don't really like to talk much. I've already had some doors rather rudely closed in my face and being Colorado, a lot of people seem to like their marijuana. The nickname for the hippie, recycling, counter culture, weed smoking types is Boulderite. I've met some minor ones, but I hear there are many far more liberal in their ways.
In the last couple days we've run into just about every woman in a particular family around Lafayette and, as of Saturday, finally were able to stop by their house(They just moved in). The mother's name is Nina and she has two daughters Rachel and Sarah. Nina immediately told us that she has her own faith about the nature of God and how He interacts with His children. As she elaborated, we realized that she believes almost exactly what we teach. Yesterday we helped her move a few things into her new home and she has invited us to come back. The more we talk to her, the more I've come to realize how much the Lord prepares people to receive the Gospel. She is my first experience with the love I've often heard missionaries express for their investigators.
Most of our teaching at the moment is to less active and part member families. We have stopped by the new converts a few times, but mostly we're trying to get involved with the ward and gain enough trust to get some referrals. Knocking doors is not my favorite.
Church yesterday was fun. The ward is small and the primary is almost nonexistent. There are a few young families, but the majority are empty nesters. The Aaronic Priesthood seems to have no more than five members and the Elders Quorum is spread through all the rest of the ward (we had six elders in quorum meeting). I'm told the neighboring ward has 200 primary children. Sacrament meeting has to be a peaceful experience there.
So far we haven't eaten a single dinner on our own. The Relief Society simply expects us to pass around a dinner calendar each Sunday, so we're fed practically every night. On the nights we don't have something already set up, if we so much as mention eating at home, Sister B. gets on the phone and immediately finds us a meal. (She used to be the Relief Society President)
The first week was long and I hope I get to Brazil soon. I love this area, but this seems to be predominantly a driving mission. I think I would rather walk and talk to more people, but Elder Yarman insists that street contacting is not very effective here. I guess I'll have that experience when my visa comes. Aside from not walking, I have no one to practice Portuguese with. Most of the ward thinks I speak Spanish anyway.
I need some mail to prove my residency so I can get a long-term library card. I know the address I write from is the mission office address, but they forward it to me, I promise. Also, do not try to send packages through any service other than the U.S. Postal Service. UPS, FedEx, or any other method can't be forwarded for free and I probably won't get it for a month.
To my family, tell me about Vermont. Oh! That reminds me. Elder Yarman lived in Vermont and went to the Newport Branch from about 1997-2000. He said is dad was in the branch presidency. Maybe somebody remembers him.
Well, the library computer is about to kick me off. I have other stuff to do anyway. I still haven't even unpacked everything yet.
I love you all,
Elder Samuel Dickson
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