HOW IS IT ALREADY THANKSGIVING 11/27/2017

(​​Here's a pic from a while ago, I promise I have pics, but I keep forgetting to bring my camera, orrrr I have to get film developed before I can actually send pics. But this is proof that as of a month ago, I was still alive and well. )

Well, I left my house in July. December starts on Friday. I've got 15 days left in Massena. This upcoming transfer will get us into 2018. I still remember what I ordered from Fiiz on the 19th of July, I also remember the last item I sold at both Biker's Edge and Loyal Cycle. So don't let anyone tell you that time doesn't fly. Because holy cow it's cruisin. Literally the first week that has actually seemed to drag on, was this week. There's an odd feeling around the holidays as a missionary. Time kinda slows down, and you think about home a little more. It's odd, we go around teaching how important families are, then we get back to the apartment and the most we can do is write a letter that they probably won't see for week. So holidays are a little weird, and feel a little off. But we only get 2 of each away from home, so we might as well have fun with them. Anyways, this week was a busy one, however it's the kind of busy where you're doing a lot, but not getting much done.

     On Monday, we went down to Potsdam and spent some time with the ZL's for P-Hours. Pretty much what we did was go from Mcdonald's to Taco Bell to Arby's then back to the Church to sit and talk. The (second) best part of the day was our dinner appointment. We were invited to dinner by a recent convert while we were on exchange in Potsdam. Coincidentally, the meal was at 6, and at 7 we had interviews right up the street. So, the 4 of us were able to go to this dinner appointment, where the RC's had brought a potential investigator, and we sneakily taught the whole Restoration message as if it was part of the regular dinner conversation. So it was a great meal. After we ate, Jennipher (the recent convert) brought us in some tea. Before you freak out, realize that she knows we don't drink black or green teas, so she made sure it was an acceptable tea. Anyways, Elder Wallentine and I knew exactly what kind of tea we would be getting, because we had  requested mint tea when we visited her and set up the dinner plans the week before. Elder Hill and Elder Manley did not have the luxury of choosing their flavor, so, Wallentine and I decided for them. The flavor we decided on wasn't really a flavor. We just told Jennipher to boil some potatoes, garlic, and onion, then just give Manley and Hill the liquid from that. She glady obliged, and Elder Wallentine and I had to suppress laughter as they drank their hot potato-garlic-onion water and act as though they liked it. They were very polite about it, until we told them what it was. Anyways, that was awesome, and was well worth it. After the dinner appointment, we had our interviews with President. I found out that I will either be going to Binghamton, or Johnson City. Both of which are at the very south end of the Mission. So I'll be going from the far north in basically Canada, down to basically Pennsylvania. I love Massena, however, I am more than ready to experience a new area. So I'll be finishing my last 15 days here strong, then I'll be heading south for the winter. (not quite to Florida though, but that is where about half of Massena relocates to, so it's dead around here.)  

     On Tuesday we had Zone Conference. We talked a lot about driving in the winter, which I am not really worried for. I've seen all the Gymkhana videos that Ken Block makes, so I am more than prepared. My favorite part about the winter driving segment was when the AP's ensured us that our cars were equipped with "ESB", "ASB", "EBS", and "automatic brake sequence, or ABS." I guess they didn't ever read Car and Driver or Motor Trend as avidly as I did, however I got the point. I also came to realize that they didn't quite get my sarcasm, when I came up to them after the meeting and asked "we're supposed to leave traction control off in the winter right? So we can drift corners better?" They informed me that they were unsure of the rules on that, and I'd have to contact Elder Haderlie, the vehicle coordinator. I was rather disappointed they didn't quite catch the joke, but they're good guys so it's whatever.

     On Wednesday we helped Salvation Army set up for Christmas, despite the international law that Christmas cannot be setup until Thanksgiving is over. After that we were able to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with the Marsey family. They are probably the greatest people in Massena, and let us spend a little extra time relaxing, eating, and celebrating. And don't worry, President told us at Zone Conference that we could indeed spend more than an hour at a dinner appointment for the holidays. So we had an awesome day on Wednesday, and then that night we knocked some doors and visited Floyd. 

     Thursday was odd. We were kind of encouraged not to proselyte, because it would primarily consist of us interrupting family time, cooking, or football games and napping. So we went to the Church and tried to do some Facebook proselyting, and shared a message there. After that, we went to DD's and waited for him to get back with the Ogdensburg Elders, so we could go to our first Thanksgiving Meal. DD took us to The Village Inn. This Village Inn is rather different from the pancake joint that I thought was a hotel until my sister Ashley worked at one. This place is a very classy, upscale restaurant that does an all you can eat turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. It was pretty darn good. It was no Lindberg family Thanksgiving, but 'twas quite good. After dinner/lunch, we went to DD's house to play some Irish Dice and talk. Around 4, DD had to take Ogdensburg back so they could go to their second dinner, and we had to leave to our second dinner. However, our second dinner, which was supposed to be with a PMF and a few LA's (that's part member family and less actives for you guys who don't speak missionary), had apparently moved their time from 4:30 to noon, without telling us, so when we texted the member to confirm the time, we were informed we missed dinner. Apparently this member, a 17 year old girl, who is one of the very active Young Women's half sister, was mad that we had other appointments that day, so she told her parents that we weren't coming at 4:30, and just to go ahead and eat. I'm still not entirely sure who did what and what went wrong, but either way, we didn't have a second appointment. Sooo we kinda wandered around that evening, then ate some leftovers from the Marsey's, then went to bed. Weird Thanksgiving.

     On Friday we exchanged with Malone West, where Elders Little and Hill are. First of all, our district has 2 of the 3 Elder Hills in the mission. So that's unique. Secondly, here's a little background info on the Malone West Elders. Elder Little has been out 4 transfers, Elder Hill has been out 3, same as me. Elder Hill has a speech impediment, and Elder Little is 5'3". The last time they got a car wash, they left their gas cap open and got water in their gas tank. They hit a deer this week, and when they write down info, they get either a name, or an address, never both, as far as I can tell. They're two very new guys, but the problem is, they're both very new, there isn't really a "seasoned missionary" as President likes to call them. So they struggle, and the Malone East Elders and the Malone Senior couple help them out a lot. But still, I can now understand peoples' concern when they find out that we're only 18. Sometimes, two 18 year olds can be just fine, and nobody has to worry too much. But there are scenarios where I can see the concern... Anyways, Elder Little and I tracted a road on the outskirts of Malone. We found 1 potential investigator, talked to one guy about his Jeep for a bit, but weren't able to teach any lessons. It was a slow afternoon. However, I was able to see something that lifted my Spirits and gave me hope, both for myself and for Northern NY. We walked up a driveway, and in it sat a rather cool Civic Si, however, that wasn't what stuck out to me, the big Cervelo sticker is what stuck out to me. For those of you who don't know, Cervelo is a big bike brand, and they specialize in what I'll just call "fairly expensive" bikes, so I don't bore you too much. Anyways, that sticker got me excited, but the view through the front window about knocked me to the ground. There was a large window that you simply couldn't avoid looking through. And boy am I glad I did. Because in that room sat the most beautiful thing I've seen in the North Country. I beheld, with my own eyes, a Pinnarello Dogma F10, with a Sram eTap build kit, Zipp 404 NSW wheels, a Rotor inPower crank, and many more goodies. I know that none of those words will mean a thing to most of you, so let me put it in an easier form to understand. This dude's front room was the home of a bike that was worth well over $15,000. I haven't seen a nice bike since I kissed Ms.Felt goodbye (Ms. Felt is my favorite bike.) So this Pinnarello was a happy sight. If you know me at all, you know that bikes are at least 37% of my life, so a nice bike was a wonderful blessing to see. 

     The rest of the week kinda flew by, I was able to speak in Sacrament Meeting. This was cool because I found out during Sacrament Meeting that I would be speaking in Sacrament Meeting. Apparently we had a speaker not show up, so me and Elder Hill split the extra half hour and gave it our best shot. The crazy thing about being a missionary is how much we talk. Not just in church, but like in general. I feel like all I do is talk. Idk how I was at home, bc it's been like a year since I was there, but I feel like I was fairly quiet. Now all I do is talk. Anyways, I filled a good 13 minutes by just winging it and using a bike analogy I shared in a letter to my dad this week. So that was cool. The other awesome part of church was the fact that EVERY ONE OF OUR INVESTIGATORS THAT SAID THEY'D BE AT CHURCH, WAS AT CHURCH. That was dope.

Thank you all for pretending to read my entire email, it really means a lot. I ramble, but lots of stuff goes down and I've gotta tell someone. So big shoutout to everyone who even opens these things. Hopefully some of you appreciated my new signature. Anyways, your support means a ton. LOVE YOU ALL. Also, I promise I am having spiritual experiences and learning stuff out here, but I figure y'all will hear about that in my homecoming talk, so I share the fun stuff here. If you want more testimony stuff, please ask. Thanks.