Bring on Christmas

 With Thanksgiving behind us...bring on Christmas.  I sent Hudson a game to play through the month of December.  He and his companion each select 1 of 50 wrapped gifts to open.  Each gift has a scripture reference on the top.  They are supposed to read the scripture and guess what is inside.  Hudson was less than thrilled when I told him about it.  Hopefully, he will find it as something to look forward to as the month progresses along.  The first box I tried to fit everything in, was not big enough.  I was able to send it through UPS (with a coupon) for about half of what USPS was going to charge.  He set up the Christmas tree that was left in his apartment.  I thought his display looked very nice!  

I have chastised Hudson, again, for no pictures of what he is up to.  He tells me he is not taking pictures so he does not look like a tourist.  Not buying it.  So he sent me some selfies to appease my anger.  I told him I will take what I can get.

Week 10 (Hudson Email)

 

Well today was a bit of a slow week, nonetheless exciting this still did occur. Last thursday was transfers so now we have basically a whole new district, almost half left. It's been nice to see a change in the scenery and I think we are getting a lot of cool new people. We just spent the last 2 days in Linden and Elder Meyers is Parkins new companion. He's super into pokemon from his last area and in a few short hours he's got all of us addicted as well. It's safe to say I've added a pokemon deck to my collection.

This Sunday we were able to put Billy and Stephanie on date. I doubt I've talked about them yet but... they're on date, they've been really hit and miss but it's looking good. So they're lesson was Sunday night after the Cheatwoods annual dinner. The dinner was.biscuits and gravy and I may or may not have gone hard. So we are in the middle of teaching Billy and Stephanie and my stomach starts to get really sick. So halfway through the lesson I just kind of tapped out and just sat and soaked in, thinking about the 10 biscuits I had just consumed. But the lesson went well and they're on date! (Also at our biscuits and gravy dinner, they fried bologna and used it as a breakfast meat, like sausage or bacon, kinda weird)  

My notable experiences this week have came from personal study. With all this freetime we are having, I may be indulging a little in personal study. I've had a few really good topics and I've wrote an essay of sorts, (kinda sickening right?) But I've wrote one on how the atonement is infinite, and then one about communism. Ive really enjoyed writing and I've learned a lot about those specific topics. Something else I've learned from this is how encompassing God and other Divine matters are. "God Is all encompassing" is said like a broken record. It's true, but we truly don't understand that though. If you believe that you do, you're wrong, and there is so much more to learn. This life is all about progression and learning, so do it. Learn and progress.  

Today for Pday I believe there will be some fishing involved so hopefully I'll be able to tack on some sick fish pics. 

 

Love y'all ❤

 

So we didnt catch any fish... and I legit took one picture this week, sorry bout it

Thanksgiving

 Hudson has been having a slow week.  Covid has increased in Tennessee.  The schools there have been doing online classes.  At church they stated that no church meetings would be held next week and they would have to see about after that.  Hudson has been extending lots of invitations to people to come to church, but not many are accepting.  With church not being held, that will not be an invitation for people to feel the spirit.  I have been putting together a Thanksgiving gift for the missionaries from Franklin 1st ward.  I asked the primary children at the start of the month to draw pictures of things they are thankful for, and send me a picture of it.  I put the video together and will email it to the missionaries on Wednesday.  Hopefully it will give them a spiritual boost.  Hudson is planning on four Thanksgiving meals this week.  I am glad he is being taken care of.  It will be hard having our first Holiday without him.

Week 9 (Hudson Email) Transfer 2 Lawrenceburg, TN

 Eero is a super cool little dude in our ward. His name is pronounced "arrow". He reminds a lot of Jaxie and he even looks like her so it all just kind of adds up. We celebrated his 4th birthday on Saturday and the theme was Taxi, super weird, super cute.

 For Sunday dinner we actually went to bishop Allen's son's house. It was his birthday party. So Bishop is a pretty forgetful dude, 2 weeks ago he invited us to his house for Sunday dinner. Because he works a weird schedule the invite was for this past sunday. Well he never told his wife or anyone we were coming over. Saturday eeros party we were talking to sister allen about coming over tommorow night and she tried to play it off but it was definitely news to her. She then went and asked Micheal, who is bishop's son if we were able to come over on his birthday party and she said it was all good. Safe to say we called Michael later and as expected it was news to everyone, he insisted we come over though. Super nice ribs and there were brussel sprouts covered in butter. I don't know if that made them worse or better. No matter what it did they could be improved.

 Our lessons and people are slowly but surely going up. There hasn't been any big changes or wow moments but we are steadily growing our teaching pool. 

 As I posted on facebook, a lot of you dont have facebook... and I'm sad to have it.... buttt I really do recommend everyone to tune in on President Nelson's address. I don't know what it's going to be about but I have a feeling it's going to be some pretty important stuff! He is a prophet of the lord after all, he's kind of important. I reccomend everyone to watch it! 

 What I don't reccomend you to do is to start doing p90x after not working out since March. We are going on a hike for Pday, and I hope I can handle it, I can't straighten my arms entirely, and then I just did a legs one recently too. 

 This is the end of the first transfer, I'm still in Lburg with Elder French, no suprise there. It's crazy the first transfer has already passed and then it's crazy to think about how long I still have to serve and then my mind starts to hurt so I try to just stop thinking about it. Pretty solid advice I know. 

Today for Pday we went on a hike, explored a cave, had our transfer last supper, and we ended doing cornhole with our word and eating fried corn. It was legit just kernels of corn deep fried..... *sweet home Alabama intensifies*

Petting Dogs

 Hudson had an exchange with the Linden elders again.  They were short on time to meet some appointments so they picked up lunch from a member and took it go.  The good news it was meatballs.  The bad news it was not in a travel safe crockpot.  One of the Linden elders was driving very fast along the windy roads that are in the area.  The crockpot couldn't stay upright and then there were meatballs all over the back of the car.  Hudson was glad it was not his car and he didn't have to try to clean marinara out of the carpet.  He also got to see how a companionship can get heated with different opinions of how things should be handled.  He was with one of the Linden Elders when they went to meet a self referral.  A self referral is something you can fill out on the internet that gives your contact information with the missionaries in your area.  Unfortunately, a lot of people use it as a joke.  Jokes on them, however, when the missionaries show up at their house.  This is what happened as they went out on this meeting.  They drove way back in the "sticks" to a trailer that was less than pristine.  They were greeted by a very large, very hairy, very barky dog.  The owner of the house and dog came out of the house and started yelling at the missionaries to PET the dog.  If you pet him he will stop coming at you.  Hudson was not sure if this was a trick to get the dog to attack, but he complied and to his surprise the dog stopped.  The man of the house told him he thought it was the man living in the trailer behind him that submitted the referral as a joke.  He was willing to allow the missionaries to share a message with him--score--.  He then invited them to come inside which was even more interesting then the outside.  His wife was inside doing paperwork.  A lively conversation ensued and the book of Timothy came in to the discussion.  The dog started going crazy again and Hudson started petting it again.  It flopped on the floor on top of his foot and laid as long as Hudson was petting it.  After their self referral contact they went back to pick up Elder French and the other Linden Elder that was giving a baptism lesson with an investigator.  Later that night Hudson got to assist with a blessing for a Jewish man whose wife is a member of the church.  He was at their house having family home evening.

Week 8 (Hudson Email)

 BREAKING NEWS: ELDER NELSON AGREES TO 15 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT WITH DENVER BRONCOS.

So, that headline is pretty self explanatory right? I guess they got ahold of my possum kicking clip and they decided now was the time to let Brandon McManus go. You heard me right, that's not a typo my POSSUM KICKING clip. As we were rolling out of the Cheatwoods sunday dinner, I spotted the varmint. As i fumbled for the door handle, I was trying to turn on my phone flashlight as well. Around 6 o'clock now, Tennessee gets pitch black, because of the sheer amount of vegetation, it blocks all light. As I finally got out of the car with my light on, the possum took off into the trees and into the field right next too the road. Me being the Alpha-Male I am, quickly pursued. Unfortunately the field was knee high in vegetation and I quickly lost of him. But I could easily hear him even over my own thunderous footsteps. I continued to chase him in the dark until he ran out to the road. When I finally brook out of the field. He was standing in the road taunting me, begging to be kicked. I I politely obliged and took off after him again. He ran to the other side of the road and as I took my first kick my foot slide off the road into the Barrow pit. Luckily the top of my foot was just able to nick him and push him into some downed branches that slowed him up. I was able to reset my footing and deliver a kick that would make Sebastian Janikowski quiver in fear. The possum ascended majestically too face level, I was praying he wouldn't actually hit my face. He luckily didn't and he quickly fell back down to earth as if God had thrusted him out of heaven. Are possums the devil? Possibly? Brother Hamilton told me minutes before I saw the possum that if I really wanted to find one, I just had to find a bloated cow, kick it, and 6 would come out of its butt... that sounds pretty devilish to me. Regardless I kicked the possum, cemented myself as a Tennessean, and then cleaned my boot with pine sol, I still haven't touched it. 

 

Lessons have been going slow unfortunately, but we have received a ton of referrals and yesterday on facebook I got a lot of really positive responses in my conversations! Unfortunately I got a lot of negative ones as well.. but some of the responses might have been a little too good... a girl asked for my number after I had already told her I was a missionary twice! I guess I'm relying on Chapter 14 of PMG a little too hard. That same girl though was super responsive about lessons and attending church. Hopefully I can curb ALL of her enthusiasm to learning the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! 

 

We had President interviews this last monday, nothing super exciting went down. I ate at a place called bishop's and got some hot chicken. That was some pretty good stuff👌. Speaking of food, saturday I got to go eat at a restaurant called square forty. I guess it's a stop for a lot of Congressman on their campaign circuit. I think marilyn monroe ate their as well. It was cool we ate with some old guys from our ward and an old Methodist pastor. He has a ton of theological books on the Book of Mormon. He won't say if it's true or false, he just says that if he joins the church his wife will divorce him.

 For Pday today we are going to Pulaski, fun fact Pulaski is actually where the KKK was founded! There are some crazy old stuff there.

 Super old house in pulaski, (KKKville)

Minecraft steve searching his chest

Place of possum kicking and possum fur

The most southern thing I have seen yet

Where I got my lunch today, super cajun

Pulaski town hall and methodist church 

Calvin Brown's grave

Missionary Work is Challenging

 Hudson is experiencing the challenges of missionary work in the bible belt.  Most people he talks with tell him they already have a religion and he need not bother with them.  People feel if they have been baptized in any religion that is enough.  He states there are churches everywhere from run down small buildings, to large ones that look like office buildings, to one where everyone dresses in wranglers and the preacher rides into the building on his horse and preaches from on top of it.  He has been told of a pastor that when the spirits strikes him strongly will run along the backs of the pews during his sermon looking up to Heaven and praising it.  He has felt optimistic about a few contacts that have resulted in heartache and worry.  He was prepared for one man to come to church on two occasions with them, but he did not show up.  Now he won't return calls, texts or answer the door.  He is a veteran with health issues and Hudson has been concerned for his well being.  The young man that was baptized just before he got there had some issues at the ward Halloween party.  Hudson is concerned about the way the Bishop handled it and is not sure he will be back to church.  A cold call led to a Book of Mormon delivery, in a mailbox, under the cover of darkness, at night.  When they made a follow-up call they were told they had the wrong number and this person did not request the Book of Mormon.  I hope he was answering someones prayer, by putting it in THAT mailbox, that he is unware of.  To top the week off, Hudson went to meet with a religiously scholared woman that he has been talking with since arriving in Tennessee.  She has met with the missionaries over the years.  She states she knows the Book of Mormon is true.  She feels the priesthood exists on the earth, but feels it does not have to follow a line of authority.  When Hudson and Elder French arrived she was sitting on the porch.  She was reading from the Book of Mormon in one hand and holding a glass of wine and a cigarette in the other.  I keep telling him "I need pictures".  He is excited to be able to eat in homes and restaurants with investigators now.  He is invited to a weekly Saturday morning outing with two elderly men in the ward and their retired pastor friend.  He got to try chocolate gravy which you dip your biscuit in.  He said it was the consistency of  thin pudding and was not that great.  Maybe if it was homemade it would be better?  He hoped for a possum kicking while delivering the night ride Book of Mormon.  He was in the "sticks" and had passed several deer.  He saw multiple little eyes on the side of the road, so they stopped the car and he went running.  It was a good think he looked before he kicked, because it was a family of raccoons. Since it was P-day he was wearing athletic shorts and tennis shoes.  I don't think he would have won that fight!  Hudson has also learned that Amish do not shave and that includes the women.  He was unaware so many woman could grow beards.

Week 7 (Hudson Email)

Hey y'all hope it's been going well. This has been a little bit of a slow week honestly. Last friday we had our ward halloween party at the cheatwoods and that was a lot of fun. There was a super cute little kid dressed up as spiderman and he was fighting us the whole time. The more time I'm spending with the ward and with the kids, it just reminds me so much of my family and my little cousins. Except for in this case they all have a drawl and long hair. I had a guy named josh we are teaching tell me my hair was super nice (shoutout aunt maddy). He also said he's never seen the style before, which is crazy cause it's one of the most basic styles. But it's true around here, everyone is either bald or has a ponytail. Brother Sagele is our first counselor, he has a massive beard and a ponytail that extends halfway down his back. He's a super cool dude though, hes contracted by the air force and designs defense systems. He's the one who is super into games and roleplaying stuff. 

Yesterday with the election we had to be in at 5, and there was a concern that we wouldnt be able to be out and about today as well. But, we got the go ahead this morning so hopefully no riots break out. I'm going back to that record store this morning and then hopefully we can get some fishing done a little later. Also as of lately I've tried to limit my milk intake to one gallon a week. In doing that I learned you can't tame the beast 

We had zone conference this monday and that was super nice. It was all in person and I was able to meet some more missionaries. We went and stayed with the east Dickson elders the sunday night before and it was a lot of fun, we might have stayed up a little late... oops. I met elder asay there, he came out the transfer before me and I hope we got comped up at some point, hes definitely a fellow lineman. I was bummed about zone conference though cause I thought it would be in Nashville, but it was actually 15 minutes short of Nashville. I've been here a full month and I still haven't even seen music city! 

We've had a rough week as far as teaching, Josh was planning on going to church but he never showed, and then we havent been able to contact him. A bunch of other people have just stopped answering our phone calls as well. Teachings a little rough. But elena is back on lessons and shes understanding a lot more. We did the plan of salvation lesson and she recently had a lot of people die and I think it went really well. We have a dinner appointment with doyce (kachinga) and a few more soft people, like one guy we called last night was actually super excited, kinda different, kinda nice. 

 1. Picture from sageles

(Claire Bear)

2. Growey bois in east Dickson 

Phone Difficulties

 This has been a long 10 days.  After talking to Hudson October 21, I haven't got his phone calls since.  Sunday October 25 I was out of service in Salmon, ID when he called.  He did not get the notice that I called him back so he would try again when we got to Mud Lake.  On Wednesday he had a South Franklin District p-day that kept him from calling during the day.  When he did call that night the calls on Google Duo did not go through.  After hours of looking into new apps I think we are ready with back-up options for today.  When Hudson did call he was sad to report most of his appointments had cancelled on him and the investigator did not show up to church for the second week in a row.  Missionary work is a roller coaster on your emotions.  Hudson enjoyed his exchanges.  The linden area missionaries are in a place that is very backwoodesque.  He also tells me most men
have long hair in Tennessee.  He had a booth at the ward Halloween party where he was dressed up as a pirate.  He got to bring home 30 cupcakes and 2, gallon bags of Halloween candy.  The candy fit in nicely with the 200 dum-dums he bought to hand out.  No one knocked on his door trick-or-treating.  Hudson says he has been asked to stay in the house on November 3 and maybe 4th in case the election results cause riots.  Hudson sent this picture to the girls.  Ellie asked if he would send it in a fed-ex box to her.