Hey Y'all!: Birthday!

Hallo!!!

So, real quick, thank you to all that sent me letters and packages. they are greatly appreciated. as well as the written testimonies and inside jokes from friends and family.

Absolutely loving my new bike, Riley. yes, I named her Riley. Riley the Raleigh bike. She's fantastic! My knees are still warming up to her though. They were pretty negative towards titan. (sister daybells old trek bike). Elder allens bike, Ceaser, had a tire that ripped a little bit, the other day and we didn't have time to go to the sports store so he had to ride titan. it was funny seeing 6'6" elder allen riding a bike that was too small for me. he threw the chain on titan 5 times in the short distance from our apartment to the library.

There have been many casualties in the trouser department. y'all know about my first rip in my suit pants last transfer, well, since then there have been three other rips. the second was in the other pair of suit pant that went with the suit coat. not a big tear but a good quarter sized hole near the bottom of the right pocket. we hadn't left the apartment yet so i went and changed.

third, my black trousers that i got at Holmes clothing, i was getting on my bike again after we'd just tried a family and there was pop and a breeze. top of the behind to about an inch below the zipper. we called the closest member which happened to be the same family as before. sister w fixed my pants the last time they ripped. she wasn't home this time so brother w came and picked us up, threw our bikes in the back of his truck and drove us to our apartment. i changed to another pair of pants and gave the ripped pair to brother w to see if sister w could fix them. he offered. a couple days later, we were going to meet brother w at the library and he was going to take us to see a less active. this was the day that elder a had to ride titan, and his knees where burning so we just went to brother w's house since it was closer and while there, sister w told me that she tried to fix my pants but said that she did a "bad job". it was probably better than what i could have done. she then told me she'd taken them to a taylor so it'd be a little while before i got them back.

fourth, the brown pair i got from Holmes clothing. i was just sitting, doing the morning scripture study and i look down and there is a rip about 2 inches long right in the middle of the crotch.

So, pant check. i have one pair that i can wear with my striped suit coat, and then my gray pair and my brown pair. then this morning we went to Ross and i bought 2 new pairs and a new belt.

also, i think i left my sewing kit in my blue bag that came with my luggage. i was going to mention that before my birthday but i forgot. sorry.

well, that was interesting. while writing this e-mail, a woman just came up to elder a and told him he looks like her brother who she can't see anymore cause he made some bad life choices and is now in prison for 10 years. she then told him to have a blessed day. and she was about to leave and we're just like WAIT!!! we can help with that!!!! we then tried to see if we could come share a message that helps with grief and forgiveness. she then said she was just visiting and she's actually from Michigan. i may be emailing Elder Ecton a referral.

I actually got an email from him last week. we were about to leave the library and i got an email from him that just asked if this was the correct Elder Felix and asked how things were going.

Now to answer questions:
Did you celebrate your birthdays together?

no. we celebrated his on his day and the next day, he asked when my birthday was so i told him in 2 days. so we celebrated mine on the 1st.

Did you both get a birthday package?

yes. i actually got 2. one from you and one from rachel and katelyn. it just got here this morning.

Did you open all of yours the day it came or wait till your birthday?

i opened the actual box but the presents that were wrapped, i waited till the 1st. the second package i opened up right away.

Did you like your package?

yes. very yes. :) thank you.

How is it going with the investigators?

well, ups and downs. tyron is so close to baptism. he was willing to make it to murfreesboro for church yesterday but still only for an hour. our church here in Smyrna is out of commission for a little bit, i'll go more into that later. we have a whole family who wants to attend church. but still, building is closed.

Has anyone progressed to baptism?

no.....so close.

That’s a tough commitment in the south. It is anywhere but there is a little more anti Mormonism there. They don’t see us as Christians because they think we blaspheme when we say that God was once mortal and that we can be like God. That’s putting us on the same level as God and They can’t believe that. They also have a hard time believing that Heavenly Father and Jesus each have bodies and aren't just spirits. Have you run into any of these things?

Actually, when we challenge people to baptism, the most common response is that they've already been baptized. even though we just said that you need the proper priesthood authority to baptize. also the biggest problem people have out here is that it is impossible for there to be another prophet on the earth today. FALSE!!! there is for sure with out a doubt, a prophet on the earth today. AND HIS NAME IS THOMAS SPENCER MONSON!!!!

What seems to be the biggest misconception people have?

multiple wives.......still.....also we get confused a lot for jw's. (Jehovah witnesses) also when we say church of Jesus Christ of later day saints they say, you mean the one that doesn't believe in music? no that would be the church of Christ. close in the name but no. we then ask if they've heard of Mormons. you mean the multiple wives people? (sigh) yes, but not anymore.

So, our church building. i don't know if i mentioned this last week, but our church is closed currently. there was a church in colorado that had their speaker sytem fall out of the cieling. well, our building is set up the same way, so we need to get an inspector out here to look at it and see if it'll fall. unfortunately, that was 2 weeks ago and no one has come to check it out. which is really unfortunate, because we had a family that wanted to come to church to see what it was like.

There are some weird churches out here.

Such as the church of Christ that i mentioned earlier that don't believe in music, meaning no instruments, just A'capella.

And the southern Pentecostals who take the following scriptures in a different meaning.

Acts 28:3-6

3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

Also many churches out hear believe in speaking in tongues. which i don't know how to type what it sounds like so i shall use spongebob squarepants as an example. during the episode with the flying Dutchman, Patrick tries to make scary noises but sounds ridiculous. ya. that sounds about right. LADLE LADLE LADLE LADLE LADLE!!!!!!! Well i'm saved.

That's another thing, there're a lot of people that tell us we need to go get saved and then tell us to have a blessed day. thanks, i guess.

Thats's all for now.

-Elder F