Week 27 - 6 Month Mark
Hello all of you beautiful people!
I hope you all had a wonderful week full of joy and happiness! And I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!
This week was pretty interesting to say the least ... actually it was just one day that was actually pretty crazy, and it all happened on my 6 month mark! Let me just tell you about this day that we had. It was a beautiful Thursday, we were actually on a split so I was with Elder Cottle and he came to our sector I serve in. It started off as a normal day, we had a lesson in the morning and all was well. We went and passed some members and other investigators just to say hi, then we go to lunch, had a great lunch and got on our bikes to head home ... and this is when it all got crazy! As we are riding home it starts to rain, no big deal. We are riding on the road that goes through the island and it has 3 big hills that we go over. We get to the top of the first and when we are going down if we go fast enough, we can make it up the second one pretty easily! So we are hauling!! And as we get to the bottom and start to go back up this 80 year old lady walks out in front of us to stop us! Well she definitely stopped us! So we end up talking and she is speaking only Tahitian to us so we are having a hard time understanding and conversing with her because we mainly speak French here, but we manage our way through the conversation. She ends up wanting a blessing and asking if we can stop by her house the following day. No problem at all! So we walk with her so she can show us where she lives at. As of right now, still just a normal day! We get to her house (she lives on a few acres of land) and there are 4 goats just hanging out eating grass. But then we realize the goats aren't tied up and the old lady freaks out! They are her goats, and she doesn't want to loose them but there is no way she can go catch these goats. SO she asked us to go trap her goats and tie them up. Let's just say these aren't your average size goat, they are HUGE!! So Elder Cottle and I look at each other and just start laughing, knowing that this is going to be quite the adventure. So she hands us rope, a machete, and crackers! And we GO! We get the first 2 lie we were professionals! It was so easy and we were pretty proud of ourselves! Then we go after the third one, and it takes off running! So we go after it! It runs into the house of this old lady, and we trap it in the corner and we get it tied up! We are walking out of the house to tie it to a tree and it takes off and starts dragging Elder Cottle! Meanwhile, I am laughing my butt off! We finally get it under control and tied it up to the tree! Now there is just 1 left, so we go after it and the goat runs! For the next 2 hours we spent going after this goat and finally end up catching it! Man was that a great day for my 6 month mark on the mission!
Later that night at home, it is tradition to burn a tie for your 6 month mark, so I burned one of my ties. Before we did that we went to the store and I bought a Mountain Dew and it completed the day for me!!
So instead of sharing a specific scripture this week I just wanted to share an experience relating to the scriptures. I have been reading my scriptures for the last month in French, so I can help improve my language. It has helped a ton for my language but also spiritually! Having to really slow down and break down every single scripture has given me the opportunity to really take it verse by verse. It has been awesome and so helpful for me!
I hope you all are having a great holiday season! I love and miss you all!
Elder VanLindt
I hope you all had a wonderful week full of joy and happiness! And I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season!
This week was pretty interesting to say the least ... actually it was just one day that was actually pretty crazy, and it all happened on my 6 month mark! Let me just tell you about this day that we had. It was a beautiful Thursday, we were actually on a split so I was with Elder Cottle and he came to our sector I serve in. It started off as a normal day, we had a lesson in the morning and all was well. We went and passed some members and other investigators just to say hi, then we go to lunch, had a great lunch and got on our bikes to head home ... and this is when it all got crazy! As we are riding home it starts to rain, no big deal. We are riding on the road that goes through the island and it has 3 big hills that we go over. We get to the top of the first and when we are going down if we go fast enough, we can make it up the second one pretty easily! So we are hauling!! And as we get to the bottom and start to go back up this 80 year old lady walks out in front of us to stop us! Well she definitely stopped us! So we end up talking and she is speaking only Tahitian to us so we are having a hard time understanding and conversing with her because we mainly speak French here, but we manage our way through the conversation. She ends up wanting a blessing and asking if we can stop by her house the following day. No problem at all! So we walk with her so she can show us where she lives at. As of right now, still just a normal day! We get to her house (she lives on a few acres of land) and there are 4 goats just hanging out eating grass. But then we realize the goats aren't tied up and the old lady freaks out! They are her goats, and she doesn't want to loose them but there is no way she can go catch these goats. SO she asked us to go trap her goats and tie them up. Let's just say these aren't your average size goat, they are HUGE!! So Elder Cottle and I look at each other and just start laughing, knowing that this is going to be quite the adventure. So she hands us rope, a machete, and crackers! And we GO! We get the first 2 lie we were professionals! It was so easy and we were pretty proud of ourselves! Then we go after the third one, and it takes off running! So we go after it! It runs into the house of this old lady, and we trap it in the corner and we get it tied up! We are walking out of the house to tie it to a tree and it takes off and starts dragging Elder Cottle! Meanwhile, I am laughing my butt off! We finally get it under control and tied it up to the tree! Now there is just 1 left, so we go after it and the goat runs! For the next 2 hours we spent going after this goat and finally end up catching it! Man was that a great day for my 6 month mark on the mission!
Later that night at home, it is tradition to burn a tie for your 6 month mark, so I burned one of my ties. Before we did that we went to the store and I bought a Mountain Dew and it completed the day for me!!
So instead of sharing a specific scripture this week I just wanted to share an experience relating to the scriptures. I have been reading my scriptures for the last month in French, so I can help improve my language. It has helped a ton for my language but also spiritually! Having to really slow down and break down every single scripture has given me the opportunity to really take it verse by verse. It has been awesome and so helpful for me!
I hope you all are having a great holiday season! I love and miss you all!
Elder VanLindt
Typical rainy day in Tubuai
Happy 6 month mark to me!
Kyle the pyro! They are still boys!
Merry Christmas, Elder! I love hearing of your adventures. May you have peace, safety, and guidance each day.
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