Manteca!

Greetings from Manteca! Life is great at the mo. Shotgunning is crazy but fun. We get to start all over in the area, which can really revitalize the work because there are no routines to fall into. So if there's any weird idea I've ever wanted to try, now is a great time because we have no preconceived notions about what "works" in Manteca. So we're just trying a little bit of everything right now and seeing how it goes. We're still getting used to the area, and I'm getting used to working in two wards which can be confusing. I still can't keep the investigators and members from each ward straight.

 

I love the Manteca/Tracy area. It is so beautiful! I never want to go back to Sacramento again (although I'm sure I'll have to at some point). This is a much more rural area. There are orchards EVERYWHERE here (I've mostly seen cherries, almonds, and grapes), and if you go down further south there's lots of cows and farms and rolling hills. Beautiful area. Probably just what you picture when you think of nothern/central California.

 

My new companion is Sister DuQuette. I love her. We get along so well and she understands some of my weirdo personality quirks better than my previous companions. She's so kind to me and is willing to try anything that I want to do. She gives me great advice and is helping me to become a better missionary. I hope we get to work together for more than one transfer.

 

I also love the members in the wards I'm working in. They've really taken us under their wings and have made an effort to get to know us. They're also awesome member missionaries. We've already had a few calls from members wanting to schedule appointments with us for their non member friends. So cool. One member in particular who I love is Larry. He's a Vietnam war vet, and he's a very recent convert. We visited him a few nights ago and he spent a very long time extolling the curative properties of this (disgusting sounding) honey and vinegar mixture he makes. Afterward he talked about how he "became a part of music and rhythm" one day a few years ago when he heard a clock ticking and got up from the couch to dance to it. Ever since then he has loved dancing and does it any time that he feels the urge, whether the time is appropriate or inappropriate it sounds like. Yes, we did get to witness this. He warned us against the evil effects of TV-- "It distracts my THINKING, which is exactly what they WANT." (His wife Sheryl guiltily whispered to us that she still loves American Idol and she doesn't see how there's anything wrong with that.) Anyway, they're just great.

 

One of my ward mission leaders was kind enough to drive me an hour and a half north so that I could attend Chris' baptism yesterday. The experience was a little bit stressful. Chris didn't show up till 15 minutes after the baptism was scheduled to start, and he looked terrified when he got there. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. The Tala'ofa ward missionaries said they had talked to him just a few hours before and he was so happy and excited. Anyway, his mom failed to tell us that he is terrified of water until he was literally walking to the font. He started screaming and crying and wouldn't step into the water. They shut the doors to the font so that there wouldn't be an audience and Chris could maybe be a little less stressed, but it didn't seem to help much. Finally the man who was baptizing him literally picked him up and set him in the font, said the baptismal prayer, and then pretty much dunked him. Afterward Chris was great and seemed very happy, but it was stressful.

 

Anyway, the work is great and life is good right now. Good things coming in Manteca. Love you all.