The Rains Came Down 3/14/16

Sister Lindberg and her companion, Sister Fa'ulao in the Mississippi downpour they had this week!

Like the subject line says, it has rained A LOT this week. We heard from the Relief Society President, Sister Cronin, our only source of weather updates during the week, that there was a storm/flood warning. We didn't think anything of it. And then the skies opened. We were walking home from an appointment, when it started to drizzle. By the time we got home it was falling in sheets. We ran inside, stripped our rain boots off and went to get food. Within 2 minutes, the zone leaders and the Elders had called to make sure we were inside. Then the zone leaders told us to stay inside since it was raining so hard. The rain only got harder and so what was meant to be a very productive day turned into a rain day. We sat in our apartment and studied ALL DAY LONG. It was a great break, but also got old after sitting there for 4 hours. We weren't allowed to go out, and since we didn't have the car, we would have been soaked within a second. I will send you videos. It rained the next day, but since we had service at the Bishop's storehouse, we didn't have to stay inside, so that was good. 

Another fun thing that happened this week was the Mississippi Food Network. We went to help box food for those in need. It was the first time either of us had been, so we didn't know what to expect. We showed up in our skirts, because we aren't allowed to change in less told to do so. Yep, everyone was in jeans or basketball shorts. That was fun. Two Sister missionaries, moving boxes of cereal around, among a sea of other missionaries and convicts. Quite the adventure!

I also received the blanket you sent me. It WAS very bright and happy... now it's kind of PINK and happy.  I opened the box and the smell of plastic was overwhelming. So, I did what any person would do, and I washed it. The whole washer, the rag that was in with it, and the blanket are now a nice pinkish/maroon color. I even washed it in cold because it looked very colorful and like it would maybe bleed a little. Or a lot. The blanket is still nice, but it isn't the same as it was PRE wash. Whoops. 

My companion is well taken care of. So no need to worry. Her family sends her lots of Prime boxes and says she is pretty sure her parents are now one of their favorite customers because they use it so much. So yes, Prime is a good option. It gets there quickly and is safe. 

We met with Mama Dudley for the second time. She is an elderly woman, but she acts very young. She is not a member, but we go and visit her a lot just to make sure she is taken care of... and also to hear her stories. She is currently fighting breast cancer for the 3 time. This time around, she is doing it without medical assistance, because she says it only makes it worse. She is kind of right to think that since the medicine she took to prevent her stomach cancer from coming back, caused her to get breast cancer. It was one of the possible side effects that her doctor warned her about AFTER she had been on the medication for 6 months. She is now very anti-pharma. She is fighting the cancer with a mixture of baking soda water and sheer willpower. In her words, "If it works, it works. If not, I'm ready to go." When we go over, she says she doesn't know why she is still here. Sister Fa'ulao told her it was because she obviously still has work to do, and then muttered under breath to me "like getting baptized"  Mama Dudley has a lot of stories about her children, grandchildren,and great grandchildren. Wonderfully interesting woman. She is convinced she is a prophet (most people out here believe they are, in some sense at least.) She claims to have seen 7 visions, 6 of which have already come true. We just smile and nod as she continues on about her life. funny woman.

Another interesting member of the ward, Brother Landry. He is a 73 year old Canadian who believes he knows everything. The Canadian part is vital to understanding who he is. Whenever he talks, his accent that he has tried so hard to hold onto since he moved here 40 years ago comes out... but only in words ending in -out. It is really forced, but he tries. he also hates America and the people in it. He takes every opportunity to tell us all about how Canada is SO much better, even though he is officially an American citizen. His poor wife just sits back and tries not to strangle him at times. On Monday we taught FHE at their home. One of the sisters in our ward started a gathering where all the recent converts and less active members can come and join in on FHE. It's a great idea. Anyways, we were teaching at the Landry's house. We were talking about serving our brothers and sisters in the ward. Sister Tripplett, a less active, said something about how, though it is hard to be a member of the church in today's world, that we must serve others and help them come unto Christ. Brother Landry interuppted and said "It's not hard at all. If we keep telling everyone it is, then no one will want to join. You just have to be a TRUE member of the church for it to be easy. If you think it's hard, then you're probably not a TRUE member" Sister Landry tried to explain that what was meant by "it's hard" was that there was a lot of opposition, but Bro Landry said all that was needed was TRUE membership in the gospel. We tried to repair the damage, but you could tell Sister Tripplett was still hurt by his words. We talked to her afterwards to make sure she was okay and knew we knew what she meant and agree with her. 

We also helped the Landry's clean their house. Bro Landry is what he calls "a collector" aka a hoarder. His workshop is a room that used to be the front room by their front door. Now the door is inaccessible and it is full of tools. He "repairs" violins, violas, and cellos in there. It is mostly broken instruments that he has taken apart and not been able to put back together since he doesn't actually KNOW how to fix them. He said he knows just about everything and how to fix it. His wife just stood there and shook her head. We were there for 4 hours and only made a dent in the clutter. The "cleaning" he wanted us to do consisted of him sitting in a swivel chair and telling us to pick up various boxes of random things and moving them to another bedroom. Not sure what it was accomplishing, but we could see about 5 square feet of carpet by the end, so we did SOMETHING. 

Okay sorry for the schpill of complaining, but it has been a rough week full of "know it all Canadian" attitude. I am truly loving it here in Mississippi! Despite the hard people, it is great! My companion is glorious! She cooks for me, and I bake her cookies and brownies, so we work great together. Also, Sister Landry made curry for us last night and I almost cried because it reminded me of Mom's curry minus the naan. Delicious. 

Other than that, this week has been really slow due to the rain, and the lack of people willing to listen. Even our two investigators with baptism dates are avoiding us. We are working on them. Utilizing the suggestions you gave me Dad. It is definitely not Utah with all of its "Mormonism" I live for Sunday when we can go and be among a decent number of Latter-day Saints. 

The dinners here are also very different from Utah. We have a dinner appointment about every 3 or 4 days, always with one of 6 families. The rest of the families kind of pretend not to know we exist. They don't feed us, go out to lessons with us, some don't even talk to us. Tough crowd. 

The Stake President has asked that members be assigned to go out with the missionaries a certain week of the month. Not sure how that is going to go over with the members, but there is always hope. Right?