Saturday, April 11, 2009 - Starving with Aliens

Hey!

How's it going?

We've been really busy the past little while. I haven't had the chance to do emails for a long time! I checked the "Sent Items" folder and it says my last one was on the 21st of March? Is that true?

Well, I have some catching up to do. I might repeat myself, since I've forgotten what I wrote, but don't worry.

Transfers had come and gone. Elder Johnson has been moved to Odessa, and Elder Philpot is now with Elder Rasmussen and they're living with us at "Chief's". He [Elder Philpot] was serving in Plainview, TX just before. He came out one transfer after me (in fact, he was Elder Rasmussen's MTC companion! Now they're serving together again!), yet he's been in the Lubbock zone his whole mission. There's a lot of missionaries that have hardly moved in their entire mission. I'm kinda glad that I've been able to move around and see more of the mission.

Also, we got four new missionaries from the MTC. One of them was delayed for medical reasons. He had really high potassium levels. Don't ask me how. Anyways, he came a couple days later. It was the first time I did a new missionary orientation as the finance guy. It was a lot shorter, but it was fun since I got to give them their credit cards. We also took them to go bike shopping. It was funny. Since there was about nine missionaries leaving, half of them wanted to sell their bikes, but only two of the new missionaries needed one. Everyone kept lowering the price to make a sale, and eventually, one of them won at $150 for his used bike.

We also said goodbye to the departing missionaries. Because we no longer have the party van, we had to help take all nine of them and their luggage to the airport. I knew almost all of them and it was tough to say goodbye.

At the transfer site, we had a lot of people come through Lubbock, either passing through, or getting off.

We also opened a new apartment in Snyder, TX. Sister Bingham and Sister Jones were sent there to re-open the area. So we hauled a trailer full of furniture, unloaded it, got all the paperwork signed and all the money delivered. The next day, we opened an apartment in Odessa. Elder McKeen and Elder Beesley were sent to cover West Odessa, TX. So we drove with the trailer to Snyder to deliver a check for the application fees and then to Odessa to unload. We did a lot of driving; Elder Northey did a lot of driving. Note: if you get to design a house or an apartment, MAKE SPACE FOR A COUCH TO GET IN THE DOOR! It took us half an hour trying to wedge a couch in the door and around the stupid corner at the same time, before we decided that it wasn't possible. We even scratched up the wall in the process. Let's just say that a washer and dryer never would have been an option.

But now these two companionships are all settled in and already doing great work. Then came closing apartments. More on that later. Anyways, by the time we got back, we were tired. Thank goodness for Sister Robison who fed us the leftovers from the meals for transfers. Seriously, we knocked on their door with a tired face and she didn't let us leave until we've eaten something. We should go more often. Just as a side note, it's cool doing big errands like that because we get our meals paid for with our office cards. Since we're on the road, we can't eat at home and it costs too much to eat out, so it's paid for. It's tithing money, so we always go for something cheap, like McDonald's; but still cool. Even so, that doesn't hold a candle to Sister Robison's cooking.

Zone Leader Conference was on that Friday [March 27th]. We went with them to the usual breakfast at IHOP. Still so expensive, but the "country sausage browns" are really good. I also got to talk a little bit with Elder Larson and Elder Valenzuela, two new zone leaders. This transfer, they split the Midland and Odessa zones. These two are the leaders of the Odessa zone. And get this - they're both really young missionaries. Elder Valenzuela came out about 11 months ago and Elder Larson, about 6 (he's still in his greenie area and serving with his follow-up trainer!). President is showing that he really values good missionary and leadership traits over length of time in the field and experience.

On Saturday [March 28th], we had our mission audit. Two "Melchizedek Priesthood holders" from the stake (as prescribed by the audit rules) came and went through all the receipts, all the checks and all the records for 2008. Then President Robison came and they interviewed him. Long story short, we passed....and they gave us Krispy Kremes.

On Sunday [March 29th], we went to the Brownfield Branch again. We're probably going to go more regularly. Testimony meeting consisted of five people, all over 60-70 years old, getting up and giving their life story or conversion story. There were almost no gaps the entire meeting. After church, we went back to Lubbock where the Fourth Ward was having a Linger-Longer. This was the first ward activity they've had in a long time, but it was a success. There were a lot of people (it's a big ward - contrast that with Brownfield: 10 vs. 100), and lots of food. I enjoyed that.
We also visited Brother Smith, a member from Hobbs, NM, who was in the hospital and in need of a blessing.

The next week were zone conferences. We weren't travelling to those, but the Hansens were; so they can meet all of the missionaries. Also, our mission got a "hardware upgrade" from Sprint. All of our cell phones were being switched out for new ones. I guess that was just part of the deal that the Church has with Sprint. Elder Hansen gave out new phones and everyone now has rectangular indestructible bricks. No joke - Elder Northey and I got our hands on an old one that didn't work properly and we dropped it down the staircase in the office from the fourth floor. It just bounced at the bottom and it was still completely intact.

I also got a haircut from Sister Sybrowsky (the ward mission leader's wife). She sharpened the blades on the clippers, so, unlike last time, it didn't pull any hair out. She did a really good job.

Elder Philpot had an appointment with Dr. Farrell. He needs to lose weight. When they were done, Dr. Farrell commented that Elder Northey should lose weight too. They agreed to help each other lose a few pounds. The next day, Elder Philpot and Elder Rasmussen went to United and saw a special: 3 half-gallon tubs of Blue Bell ice cream for $11. They each got three. They finished it in that week. Elder Northey, not one to be outdone, went to United and got his own. I'm thinking it's hopeless. Meanwhile, we're still just as busy; so I'm missing meals here and there, but I got a 3-pound tub of Virginia Peanuts at Sam's Club to leave in the office. I've had several all-peanut meals since then.

Speaking of Sam's Club, we went back to stock up again. They ran out of macaroni, so we got penne rigate. ...penne and cheese just isn't the same as macaroni and cheese. It doesn't cook right, and after what seems like double the cooking time, the inside is still hard. I miss macaroni. I've also discovered what a canned salmon-mayo sandwich is like. Despite the stink, the picking out the bones and the disgusting look of it, it tastes pretty good. I'd have another. Also, Elder Tripp introduced us to a place called Smoothie King. They make smoothies from fruits, milk, ice cream, etc. and add protein or whatever other stuff a health place sells. Even though it's only liquid, it can actually fill you up for a while.

General Conference was great. We watched one session at a member's house, two at the Stake Center and the rest in the office. It was really special watching conference with the temple visible right out the window. I especially liked President Uchtdorf's talk in the priesthood session.

On Monday, we had a clean-the-storage-units project. The whole Zone was there. President Robison was there. We pulled everything out and he told us what to keep. It really needed a cleanup. The rest (couches, etc.) was destroyed in the funniest way possible (jumping on it, hammering it, throwing it). Afterwards, we went with the Assistants to the Lubbock city landfill. Going to the dump was actually a lot more fun than I would have expected. It's a giant pit in the ground, just outside the city. We just drove into it, threw whatever we had on the ground and the tractors pushed it away, ready to be covered in dirt to become a mountain. Then we took that opportunity to get rid of whatever garbage we had in the truck. It was cool - throwing garbage out the window *wasn't* littering!

Tuesday, we had district meeting - Elder Northey's first as District Leader. He did a really good job. Later on that day, Elders Craven and King had car problems (their key was too worn down to start the car). A couple hours later, Elder Craig (newly serving in Lubbock - he's from Canada too (and the only Canadian to not serve in the office (yet!))) had his bike stolen, so we had to pick him and Elder Humeniuk up and take them home. On the way home, we stopped at Velocity Bike Shop to order two bikes for two Sisters in the mission.

Thursday, we hooked up the trailer and drove to Ft. Sumner to close the apartment there. It was the first time I had ever been in New Mexico. When we got there, Melton, a local member, told us that most of the furniture came with the place and that he would get someone to clean it. Basically, we had nothing to do there. He gave us a tour of their small chapel (they have 10 active members) after that. We decided that instead of making the whole trip a waste, we would drive on to Roswell where there was another apartment to close. So we did.

My first time in Roswell. That city is famous for the whole alien-UFO thing and they really take advantage of it. Half of the lamp posts have alien heads on top. There is a UFO Museum "and research center" (just to satisfy the nuts). Most of the businesses have aliens drawn all over their buildings. Wal-Mart has aliens. McDonald's is shaped like a spaceship. It's crazy. We moved all the furniture out and spent the next few hours cleaning. Then we drove home. It was a long drive.

When we got back, President Robison told me that he's switching the housing responsibilities back to my position. It was too confusing before, since I'm in charge of paying rent, utilities, etc. and he's in charge of managing leases, starting and stopping utilities... Anyways, now I have to learn yet another thing. After this, all I have to do is learn how to manage vehicles, referrals, and cell phones, and I will know how to do everything in the office. I can't imagine what it's like for President Robison.

Finally, I've been asked to update the mission website. Right now, there's hardly anything and it's been like that since before my mission. President wants a site that newly called missionaries, family or RMs can go to to learn a little about the mission. I was already planing on making something like that for you, but now I get to do it for everyone. If you have any suggestions of things that you think people would want to know, tell me.

Anyways, I hope that's enough for make up for the past weeks.

I hope you all have a great Easter.

The more I learn each day, the more it all points to the fact that the Church is true and it's the way to go.

I love you!

-Elder Brandon Wong

Something I wish I knew before my mission: the value of Virginia Peanuts when you're hungry and there's nothing else to eat.