Birthday week!

 

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM ALL OF US TO YOU, WE WISH IT WAS OUR BIRTHDAY SO WE COULD PARTY TOO HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many birthday this month and coming week. Elder Allen's birthday is the 29th, Moms on the 13th, Braden's on the 31st, and mine on the 1^st.

 

So, this past week.....

    We went on exchanges with the zone leaders again. they go on exchanges with every companionship during a transfer and since it's second transfer, yes. last transfer I went to the murf, (people really call it the boro, even though it's murfreesboro) with elder Fore. so I was thinking/hoping that this time I'd be with elder L. (gotta love those pollies) But alas, nay. Elder Fo came and stayed in Smyrna with me. We got the car from the sisters and went up to la Vergne. We met a couple of interesting folks, got to read a chapter of the book of Mormon with Brooke, still have yet to get through the commandments with her since her 7 year old daughter keeps running in and out and slapping us for her attention, but we're trying to get her to the church or somewhere where she can feel the spirit and not where her 2 year old nephew keeps yelling at her and drooling Doritos cheese saliva on my pants, 3 times if you would like to know....sorry. I don't intend to complain but it comes out sometimes. Missions are stressful.

    Anyway, we also have a new "investigator". Taylor is a non member in a less active part member family who is starting to come back to church. The fun part, she's 10 so we have to simplify the lesson even more than necessary. It was hard enough getting through the restoration with her yesterday, It's going to be fun teaching the plan of salvation tonight. she's really excited though to get baptized. when ever we ask if she has any questions, she asks, "When can I get baptized?" to which we reply, "we don't know it's up to your parents and the Lord." It's really unfortunate that the parents make the whole family sit through the lessons and they don't want to be there. and they keep chastising her for asking questions. But I digress. we taught the restoration to the best of our abilities yesterday and she was getting most of the lesson. so onwards and upwards. At the end of the lesson, we were about to leave and we're shaking the families hand and Taylor comes up to us and gives us both hugs. at which point, my mind was being torn in half. "Awwwww that's cute" and AWWWWW SHE'S HUGGING ME!!!!! I'M BREAKING THE RULES!!!!!!

    that was actually the second time I've broken that rule this past week. during exchanges, we went to see a less active family in la Vergne and at the end of the lesson, (reading a chapter of the book of Mormon with them as well) I shook the mans hand and I face the woman's hand who is a non member and she says, "oh honey I don't bite" pulls me in for a hug. After she steps back, she sees the surprise on my face and say's, "oh I'm sorry, I'm hard southern and we hug everyone." It was at this point that I explained the mission rules to her to which she just bust up laughing. I then shook her hand and we left.

    Yesterday, we met an old guy who was the husband of a referral. we started talking to him and he kept saying he wasn't interested but then asked us even more questions. he then starts going off about how he goes bowling with a preacher and other friends on Monday's, he then invites us to come and we think, well we didn't have anything else planned. So this morning we went to Smyrna bowling alley and bowled with a bunch of 80 year old men. He actually had his brother there as well and his brother was just getting strike after strike after strike. We asked him what his secret was. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. We think ok make sure your ball is clean? Nope, he takes off the top and starts drinking. southerners. gotta love em.

    That reminds me, people live forever out here. I don't know the average age of death out in Utah, but out here it seems like most people live well into their 90's. We have about 3 or 4 people from our ward in their 90's but they don't come to church often. We also go out and meet people tracting and when we see an old guy cutting his grass, (it's cutting grass out here and not mowing the lawn) we offer to help them. to which they reply, "No, no, no, I've been doing this for 65 years and if I stop, then I stop for good." they just keep working even though they are retired for the millennium.

 

that's all the stories I’ve got for now, so question answering time:

What do you usually eat?

Chicken. lots of chicken. 

Do you eat at members houses much?

almost every day. that's how I get so much chicken.

Are you careful what you eat?

I try to be. I eat the salad when they have it. and I bought a bag of salad for lunches.

Are you loving your bike?

Yes. Very yes. I named her Riley. Riley the Raleigh. 

Why were you making a goofy face in the picture Sis A sent?

I don't remember. I made it on accident and her daughter thought it was funny.

and why did you go out for dinner?

She lives with her parents who are Jehovah's witness and they try not to bring up religion so she just takes us out to dinner.
Are you doing better with your comp?

a little

Are you serving and complimenting him?

I try.

Did you get anyone to church this week?

Our church building was actually closed on Sunday. Apparently there was a building in Colorado that had its speaker system fall from the ceiling. and our building is the same design so we need to get ours inspected before we can use it again.

Have you gotten any letters from friends?

many. have I replied to them? no. I have almost no time.

What do you think of all the trees in Tennessee?

not that different from some parts of Utah. definitely green.

Where did you get your hair cut and how did it go?

Our district has the sisters, the hermanas, and us. Hermana McN is a beautician. So on P-days we go over and get our hair cut. she's leaving soon though so we'll see where we go from there.

Do you dream of winter?

oh only 10 times a week. you wonder how when there is only 7 days? I day dream while sticking my head in the freezer.

 

one quick story then I'll be off.

    

    On Friday, we had to bike to our dinner appointment in la Vergne. 5 miles straight up hill. which was a long way for me being a out of shape 210 lb guy. I felt the burn after 1 mile. by mile 3 I was in pain. at mile 4, I was ready to get off and walk the rest of the way. but then I heard in my head a line from a Mormon message we'd watched earlier that week. Keep going Utah!!! You can make it Utah!!!! don't stop Utah!!!!!. It was a line from a talk by Elaine S. Dalton. At first I thought it was kinda cheesy and funny that it'd popped into my head cause those lines were yelled at her when she was running the Boston marathon. but then I thought about it more and applied it to my mission. there's a lot of times I just think, I want to go home, I'm done. but then I also hear the voice of my sister who told me that if I quit, whenever I hear "Nashville" I would feel so low. And now I believe it. Thanks Malayna.

 

That's all for now. love you all, apologies for not writing y'all individually yet. working on it.

                                                    -Elder Felix

New Week, New Bike

                                                                               July 21, 14                                                                                                                                                    

  So, TYRON FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH!!!

    He was finally able to make it to church this week. only for an hour, but it's good enough for jazz. With his cleaning business, he owns his own cleaning business, and his other job for a company that goes out and helps people and businesses save money he is a very busy bee. but on Saturday, we talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. and he was eating it up with a gold plated spoon. that's an ice cream taste testing joke. modern marvels Ben and Jerry factory, SORRY. My mind at work. anyway, I was sitting with the deacons to help pass the sacrament, small ward, and I look back and he's sitting with elder Allen and Johnny Phillips. I did I loud/silent fist pump. with loud/silent grunt. after the sacrament, I went and sat with him during sacrament meeting and after, he was really happy he'd came. (leads him down the hall, "and this is called a baptismal font" pushes him in.) (nope sorry bad. free agency) so after the service, a ton of ward members came up and introduced themselves to him and he was like unto a celebrity. He then said that he had a little time left and asked what else we do. we showed him the gospel principles class and he sat in on half the lesson. baptism hoe!!!

I bought a new bike. I told Braden about it so you can read his email.   

I bought a new watch. that watch I stole from dad bit the dust. I hit the button for the back light and it died. the battery is empty. and not easily accessible. so I went to Walmart and bought a new watch.

    

    this is going to be a little bit of a short email cause we spent all morning driving to Hermitage. and we haven't even done our shopping yet. and p day ends in an hour and a half.

    Love all you, hope all is well,

                           -Elder Felix.

P.S. I didn't get an email from you this week. try resending it

Dear Braden,

Thank you oh so much for the advice on bikes. We just got back from hermitage an hour ago. When we got to the bike shop, I just went blank. There were so many. I started judging by color. then the price. Luckily one of the staff came and suggested a bike. He pulled out a green one and started going through the specs. After he was done he let me ride it around a little. It felt much better than the old bike I'd been using. So we went back in and I told him I'd take it. I then went through your emails to see if it had everything. "29ers" check. Raleigh, check. 500 or 600 dollars, 709. cheaper than the others. unfortunately, he tricked me into buying a helmet as well. Mechanical disc brakes, disc brakes, check, mechanical, wait a minute did he say hydraulic? Like car brakes? I then asked him if mechanical and hydraulic disk brakes were the same. He then explained to me, no wires and fluid. He then explained how hydraulic were actually better than mechanical cause the wires would rust and the hydraulic system is completely enclosed. It's at this point I'm thinking, what if the hose brakes/cracks, how do I change the brakes? What kind of fluid is it? So I asked him to which he replied, we have a lifetime service warranty included with the bike and oil. So, we'll see how that goes. He also said that when it comes time for me to go home, I can go get a box from them to ship the bike home. So hopefully I made the right choices. Then funny thing, after we got back, I was riding my shiny new bike around while my companion was getting a haircut from another missionary and one of the sisters told us they needed sister daybells bike cause she was coming to visit the area and taking her bike with her when she leaves. So I bought a bike in the nick of time.

so, all in all, I now have a brand new shinny Raleigh talus 296 and a scott watu white helmet.

I haven't gotten an email from mom this week so thanks for emailing me.

Love you brother. miss you.

                             -Elder Felix

P.S. that's not camera weight, I'm actually fat.

Hot and Humid July

Our music actually consists of mostly men's accapela (acascuse me?!? sorry) and Nashville tribute band. which the first time i heard it, i thought, "this is dumb country." i then thought a few weeks later, "HEY NOW PORTER, GOT AN EYE LIKE AN EAGLE, SWORN TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET OF THE LAMB, MANY MEN ARE LYING UNDER SIX FEET OF GROUND, FIRED FROM THE SMOKIN' GUN OF MODERN DAY SAM." now i think, "destroying angel, troubled man, i won't judge the blood on your hands." basically, we've listened to so much NTB that we can sign the whole album. as well eclipse the men's acapella group. that song i was quoting earlier is a song about Porter Rockwell by the way. he has got quite an interesting story. you could probably find the song on youtube or something. but i digress, some of the motab song i like better as vocal and some i like better instrumental and vocal. it's all better than what we've been listening to.

    Dad was talking about the temple, from what I heard before i left, the open house should be starting on my birthday.

So, yet another interesting week. I'll unfortunately have to start with what i remember. i forgot my journal at home. anyway, so yesterday, Sunday the 13th of July, we had to ride our bikes to church and this bike that I'm using has a bent sprocket which has a tendency to through the chain off. so it did, and i got off to fix it and while i was putting it back on, the car pulls past me slowly, pulls up to my companion, says something to him, my comp thanks him and he drives off. i asked him what he said. my comp says that the driver said, "Y'all need to stop preaching the false doctrine and get saved!"

    That's OK. the pharisees rejected Jesus too. yesterday wasn't too good of a day. elder Allen and i had all these plans and literally everyone of the people we were going to see at church or after church, canceled. oh well. cwmali. (come what may and love it) also, I've been having a lot of back and knee problems lately so we went to a chiropractor in the sisters ward that does adjustments for free. don't worry, I'm not going to take advantage of it every week. we're only allowed 5 chiropractor visits on our missions. so one down. I am going throw major media withdrawal. luckily the resident above our apartment likes dubstep.

    Met a really cool teenage kid in a trailer park out by the Nissan plant. (if you look at Smyrna on Google maps, the Nissan plant is that giant building that is a mile long.) his name is Landon and he has got an interesting back story that was kinda personal so i won't go into detail. but know this, he is really awesome. we taught him the restoration and the whole time he was focused right on us. he was amazed at some of the things that we said. now if only we could get back into see him. doesn't help that he is on the complete opposite side of town that we live on.

    Still haven't gotten Tyron to church. we saw him on saturday and our plan was to teach him the law of chastity and the word of wisdom. however, that evolved into word of wisdom, law of chastity, law of the tithe, fast offerings, and some other commandments. so that was fun.
    Brooke has been struggling as of late. since she got the new job at McDonalds, she hasn't been to church and she says she's been falling behind in her reading. and her daughter is still being crazy giving anyone near her shell shock.

    We've basically lost all contact with Allen. Tammie's lost interest in baptism but still likes us coming over. we haven't been able to catch Sherri. and we got another investigator with a baptismal date, but anytime we try to go see him, he's always on his way out the door or not home. so ya.

    this morning, after the chiropractor, we were driving home, and we passed a large cemetery, we then passed a visitor center and determined that it was a cival war visitor center. which it was. it was the battle of stones river. lots of death. not good. they actually had a place you could look up your last name and see if you had a ancestor in the battle. of course, i looked up felix. nothing. i then looked up beal. there was one named jacob beal from ohio. company e. i then looked up edwards and there were about 35 results.

I do believe that's all for now. so chow.

                                         -Elder Felix

P.S.

forgot to tell you, we went to see some less actives in the ward and i got on the subject of guns with the brother. he then goes into the hall way out of view and i'm saying to myself, he's going to grab a gun to show me. and sure enough, brings out a nice composite, stainless steel, mini 14. 5.56 caliber, iron sights, well polished. He checks the action, and holds it towards me. Unfortunately, it says in the white hand book of rules, missionaries are not allowed to participate in dangerous activities such as...handling fire arms, fireworks, or explosives of any kind. which also stinks cause elder allens family sent him a package with fireworks in it. just small ones like smoke balls and sparklers. but they are still fireworks and also not allowed on the apartment property. we should probably get rid of those. but i digress, (hope i used that right) i told him i couldn't handle firearms and he apologized and put it back. i had a thought in my mind of an angel smiling cause i followed the rules.

the following pictures are significant to me because the first one is a soldier that witnessed the first hydrogen bomb in the bikini isles.

the second i thought was funny cause it has my swear word.

End of June

In the movie, jobs, there is a scene where Steve jobs just got let go from apple. he's driving down the road and just screams at the road.

that's kinda how I've been feeling as of late. I'm pretty sure if i were alone for a few seconds with everyone out of hearing range, I'd have a very sore throat.

SO!!!.....This week has been a week of many firsts.

1. First Ripped Pair of Pants.

Elder Allen and I were riding our bikes to district meeting when i got off for a second to adjust my seat. Then when trying to get back on, POP! split the seem on the inner right thigh from knee to crotch. so I'm standing there a mile and a half from our apartment and 2 miles from the church. my holiness showing to all who drive by. Elder Allen and I decide to go to a members house just down the road. when we get to her house, ("Her" being this kind late 60's woman named sister warren), we explain my predicament and she tells us to come in, she then goes to her bedroom and comes out with guitar hero pajama pants (Rock on), gives them to me and tells me to go change in the bathroom. I do so and she then takes my trousers and begins to fix them on her sewing machine that she'd just barely fixed the night before. Good timing no? I then changed back, thanked her immensely, and we then got a ride to our church from our zone leaders who were heading to the meeting.

2. First Exchanges.

After the district meeting, we went back to our apartments and i packed a suit case for 3 day in the boro. (Murfreesboro) we went on exchanges with our zone leaders so for 3 days, my companion was elder fore from Seattle Washington. (warshington if you're in the south. which i am.) It was ok i guess. Nice change of teachings from elder Allen.

3. First Time We've Been Knocked On Instead Of Knocking.

Yesterday, (Sunday, 6/29/14) we were at our apartment having dinner when we get a knock on our door. we're thinking it's the woman from across the street. we'd just helped her with her car and offered to help her when ever she needed something. but no. "Hello Sir, my names Germaine I'm a student from blah blah university in Huntsville Alabama, and I'm out here spreading a word that you don't need ibuprofen or tylonal or aleve or anything like that. we have books that will help you with any medicinal problems such as bruises. did you know that you can iron a leaf of cabbage and place that on the bruise and it'll heal it in no time?"

Me: "No I did no-"

Germaine: " well it's true and many other miraculous things in this here book. And we also have this other book about different herbs and their healing properties. such as tobacco. back in the olden days tobacco was used as a medicine."

Me: "I actually knew that. i was once bitten on the neck b-"

Germaine: "oh yes tobacco will do marvelous things by sucking out the poison.

Now these books in book stores go for (amount) but I'd be willing to sell it to you for (amount). Will that be cash or credit?"

Me: "....Thanks but I'm not interested. Thank you though. but it's kinda funny you knocked on our door. we're missionaries for our church and usually we do the knocking."

Germaine: "Ya I've seen i few of you around. are you the Mormons or the Jehovah witnesses?"

Me: "Mormons."

G: "Alright, I had a couple of friends out in Alabama who were Mormon."

M: "Really? Did they ever share their beliefs or a book of Mormon with you?"

G: "Nah, we didn't talk about religion too much."

(I grab a book of mormon off the table)

M: "Well let me tell you a little bit about it. Do you believe in the bible?"

G: "Yes sir!"

M: "Awesome. So do we. We believe the king james version of the bible to be scripture. As well as the book of mormon. Aroujnd the time of jermiah, the prophet, there was another prophet in the land named lehi. lehi was comanded by god to take his family and leave jerusalem. and after that build a ship and cross the sea to these lands."

G: "These lands? the americas?"

M: "Yes sir!"

G: "Wow"

Elder Allen: "Like Elder Felix was saying, we believe that the book of mormon is scripture. And we believe that scripture is importnant. so we'd like to give you a copy."

(I offer a copy of the book of mormon to him)

G: "Hey man I apreciate it but my bag is already full of books."

(He totally had room for it)

We then gave him a pass along card with our phone number on it and told him if he ever had any more questions to call us. He took the card, thanked us for our time and left.

Tyron still has not, in fact, made it to church. We keep commiting him to church, but then he no shows and we get a text or a call from him later that day, "Sorry elders. I was getting ready to go but something came up. but god knows my intent, he knows i try, he knows everything bout me. so he knows i tried, he knows i intended to go. but i wasn't able to. but i hope i'll be able to make it next week, hope you both are safe, hope all the other missionaries are safe, hope i'll be able to make it next week, hope you both are safe, hope all the other missionaries are safe, and god bless you, have a blessed day, god bless you and have a blessed day."

 

haven't seen brooke in a week. she wasn't at church yesterday. but she called us later and said she forgot about us coming on saturday and slept in on sunday. but she's still cool.

the temple walk sounded cool. literally. i miss the mountians and the spiritual mountians. (temples) i may have said this last time but we only get to go to the temple 4 times a year. the next time is in august though so not far.

4th. on the fourth, the original plan was missionaries were supposed to be in our apartments by 6. how ever, we just got an email for president saying that he wan'ts us out later because there will be people home from work and spending time with family. so the new curfew is 8.

not much else to write/type.

                            -Elder Felix

 

Showing Sister Williams his family pictures she recognized Annie, Cory's sister-in-law.

 They've been good friends for years.

 Fun to find people who know your people.