'Cuz I don't feel good!

It's been, so far on this mission, a long and arduous path, one to be carefully tread as I cautiously pick my footing and hope not to slip down the trail. But, now that I have my first full transfer under my belt, I'll hopefully be able to choose that footing more and more confidently, so to speak. Nothing too crazy for me and my companion-we're both staying in the area-but my district and zone got pretty shaken up. About half of us are staying, and everyone else has been flung violently to all four quarters of the mission. Crazy.

Now, as we all know, it is, of course, not really my first transfer. I did, in fact, spend a whopping transfer-and-a-half at the MTC, but I'm not entirely sure if that counts or not in the record books. 

Now, on to something that will make a better read.

We didn't teach any nonmembers this week (apparently, we're not supposed to call them "investigators" anymore), but we did have some lessons with members (recent converts and stuff, you know). They went shockingly well, especially two of them (out of the three). One was with one of our members who has been a member for a long time, but was inactive for something like the last thirty years, and is just now coming back. Talking to her, I have no idea how she went inactive. She seems to have a very strong testimony. So we thought we'd just have brief overviews of the lessons with her, just to try to refresh her memory on anything that she may have forgotten over the last three decades of inactivity. We've visited her twice over the last two weeks, and each time has been a very good experience. She just absorbs everything we tell her, and she's very eager to study the scriptures and things like that. She's awesome. 

The other two were A, a visit with a "recent convert," whose been baptized for almost a year, and we're helping her prepare for the temple. That was good, even though she really likes to talk, and it's mildly difficult to keep the discussion headed in the right direction. 

The really good one, was with another one of our branch members. I guess he moved here relatively recently, and was baptized three years ago, so we just thought we'd visit with him, partly to practice our teaching skills, but mostly just to get to know him and his family (his wife is not a member). Oh my. Unfortunately, his wife wasn't home, so we didn't get to talk to her, but  this man is so strong in the gospel. It's crazy. He might be more doctrinally sound than I am. OK, maybe not to that extent, but still. My companion and I were trying to keep the discussion relatively simple, just going over the basic doctrines. But we see that this is far too basic for this guy. He's picking up everything we're saying, and asking all these great questions. So my companion and I look at each other and, like a football coach and his assistants, surprised by some random guy who just ran a 4.5 second forty-yard dash at an open tryout for an NFL team, we have the same thought.

"Throw him a few.”

So we start to go a little deeper. I could actually participate in this discussion more, because this guy speaks really good English, and it was possibly the best teaching experience I've had so far. It was amazing.

Well, I'm sure you are all wanting to hear about how the temple went, so I'm here to tell you.

Good.

Moving on…

Just kidding. It actually was fantastic, though. The Sacramento temple is an amazing one, for sure. We went through a session, and it too was stupendous, as usual. As our friends across the pond say, it was a smashing experience.

I now will do something that I've neglected to do for the past few weeks. Recommend a talk to read. Stand in Holy Places, by Thomas S. Monson in October 2011. 

Well, I feel like I've exhausted my relatively small arsenal of things to cover in the letter. So, if it doesn't pain you too much, I'll close. (Don't worry, though. You know there will be at least a few  "P.S.'s," so you still have a few scrolls before you're really through).

-Barging Ben

P.S. Surprise! Still more to read!

P.P.S. My humble brothers wanted me to mention them, so here you go. Jacob and Joseph.

P.P.P.S. I kind of feel like including a few more random quotes. I'll be surprised if you can't still get them immediately (or, at least, my humble brothers).

"Edoras?! That is no short distance!”

"Yes, steak.”

"The ring of Barahir”

"Why don't we just fry 'em up now, and serve 'em with chips?!”

"Horseradish is not an instrument either”

I hope that satisfies you.

P.P.P.P.S. You should have our house's doorknobs replaced with fancy, gilded ones.

P.P.P.P.S. Some pictures.

1-my companion and I, after a lesson

2-my zone at the temple

3-my companion, my district leader, and I, at the temple.