Deer

Merry Birthday Ella! Congrats, i hope turning 15 was very refreshing ha ha ha. Thats so sick that you found my ipod! just make sure that when you send it to me that you clean all of the other stuff off of it because I would defiantly be tempted to jam to some Justin Timberlake or Michael Jackson! Please can you load a whole bunch of conference talks on it, and try to refrain from putting on any solo singers who butcher the hymns by singing every note but the ones that were in the sheet music. But if it's in a group of people who change the notes thats not as bad, you see because when it's a group it sounds planned, but when it's one person...

 Today is my 2 month mark of being out on a mission.

Man I am so glad that I have come up north at this point and time in my mission, It would have sucked to come 1 month later than I did I seriously have been up here during the prettiest time ever! and it's really sad to see now because leaves are just falling like none other.  one of the forests near my apartment is almost completely bare of all leaves. And there is a blanket of color all over the ground every where, i keep bringing them into the house on accident because they get wet and just stick to me shoes or my pant leg. The only colors left on the trees are assorted browns and yellows with occasionally one yellow turning red. I was standing out on the balcony on our Zoneleaders apartment and it is really funny how all the trees from far away looks like colored marshmallows in the shape of brocoly (I don't know how to spell that but it's what we call dinosaur trees) 

This week we were out and about and while we were leaving a less actives house we got a text from one of our investigators husbands. it said "smoked venison at the trailer...now" we hit the road immediately! He is a less active member who has been working on a deer processing trailer to butcher deers. He is building this inside a Semi Trailer and has been working super hard on getting it finished in time for deer season (which is bigger than almost any holiday up here apparently, they don't have school on opening day because they know no one will come, and the city is gridlocked with cars apparently. 

 

I saw a bunch of office chairs out on a side walk that had a "for sale" sign on them, they were just regular office chairs but they were being advertised as "good deer blind chairs" ha ha.) We've been meeting with our investigator inside of this trailer and have been teaching her lessons, we set a baptismal date a few weeks ago. But the husband, as he was driving his son to school saw 2 deer get hit by a car and the other guy didn't want them (they were young and they died) he took them and cut them up and started cooking them. When we got there we had a lunch with glass plates, we had salad and venison, and we were sitting in folding chairs with our plates on the table saw table. It's alright tough we made sure to unplug the thing.

It's so funny I don't think I have gone a week up here without eating Venison.

We had District conference out in traverse city this week. It was like Stake conference but it was a weekend long event. Traverse City is about as far away from Mesa To Showlow in the time it takes to drive over there. But I loved Traverse City so much I did not want to leave. 

 

It currently has a population of about 30,000 people, but in the summer it's more than double that amount. It was nice being in a bigger city where there was actually traffic and noise, i could not go to sleep because I loved being in the Zone leaders apartment and being able to look out the window and since their apartment is on the top of the hill I could see city lights and hear cars quietly humming outside. 

 

But my favorite part of the whole thing was just being able to be around other missionaries for once, We stayed with the ZL's and the Elders from the Upper peninsula (the soo), and during conference we got to see like 5 other sets of both Elders and sisters. 

 

The Cop cars there in Traverse city are so sick they are all new Cameros and Dogechallengers I think, I thinks it's sick how they just have super nice sports cars.

 

We heard from Elder Lansing, one of the area 70's. Most of what was talked about in the meetings were for Family History and temple work which doesn't really apply to me because I can't do either at this time.  I really liked Elder Lansings insights on D&C 121 -123 though, he read through quite a bit of it and testified of many things. 

 

One of the things I liked was how in D and C 122 V 9 it says "therefore hold on thy ways" you'll have to read the whole chapter to get what i'm talking about but Elder Lansing likened it to Finding Nemo how Dory would sing "just keep swimming" and how we all have hard times just as the prophet Joseph smith, and we can plead for the lords help just like Joseph did in Section 121, 

 

but the Lord won't always give us the things we ask for in the way we ask for it, he will give us the strength and the courage to just keep swimming and endure to the end so in that way will our prayers be answered and we will be delivered from the things that bind us . 

I love you all and pray and miss you so dearly!

- Elder Truman Rex Crockett