Week 22 A New (ish) Bike / 19 Jul

Thomas refers to Brandon, and what happened to him. Brandon was stung near the church building by a wasp from a large nest just outside the door while walking out to retrieve his scriptures from the car. One of the wasps hitched a ride on his suit coat into the chapel and began stinging him repeatedly. He was stung 3 times on the face and twice on the hand. They announced in church for anyone that might have some Benadryl, which of course someone had. We got him some, but inevitably it made him fall asleep, so we had to take him home.

Dear Family,

It was great hearing from everyone. So sorry to hear about what happened to Brandon! I hope he's doing okay now, poor guy. I remember getting stung by a bee back in Provo when we were living in a quad. Dad might remember it. I was probably about 4 years old or so. An older girl was looking after me but then I was close to a flower bush and I got stung by a bumblebee and the stinger stayed in my arm until I went back up the stairs into the apartment and Dad took it out. Or there was that other time when Mom and I were walking to school and a bee somehow got stuck in her sandal and stung her, and I walked the rest of the way to school by myself. I don't really like bees or wasps very much. Luckily, it's getting a little too cold for them over here so I don't see them as much anymore.

Despite the colder weather that seems to be heading in, it continues to be very muggy. It reminds of the way that Israel was, when the air just pushes in from around you and makes you sweaty even when you're freezing. It's the weirdest thing in the world. Also, the wind has really been picking up, it's starting to cause some problems while biking. Somehow, no matter what direction we're headed, the wind seems to be blowing right in our faces.

We also had some more bike fun. We got a semi-new bike as, as the other one was trashed, and we've been using a member's bike ever since. There was a nice bike in a second-hand shop which they had restored to an apparently perfect condition. The bishop of the ward insisted that the missionaries simply pick a bike and the ward would pay for it, so we brought him out with us to buy that bike. That very same night, we were riding the newer bike to a tea appointment when the left pedal started going all wobbly, and then fell right off! We stopped and took a look at it. Turns out there was a nut that wasn't properly screwed on, hidden under a little plastic cap. We wheeled the bike to our tea appointment and attached the pedal back on, this time making sure that nut was secure, and we haven't had any problems since. I should have taken pictures, but the memory will have to suffice. It's a really nice bike though. I'm letting Elder Reeves ride it around, since his muscles are still aching from getting used to biking everywhere.

An incredible miracle happened this week. There was this lady named Maria Hardy who I may have talked about before. Elder Jacobson met her at the beginning of June, and we knocked into her house by accident (or was it an accident?) just a few weeks later. Elder Reeves and I tried by her house just this last week again, and we got in and taught her the entire first lesson, scheduled her for baptism, and then invited her to a Stake activity in Hull that Friday. She came to the stake activity and loved it and was wonderfully fellowshipped. We gave her a chapel tour with a member on Saturday, and she was still excited for her baptism and excited to go to church the next day. Unfortunately, due to health problems she wasn't able to make it to church yesterday, but she sent us a text saying she was sorry and to ring her later that day, so we did, and set up another appointment to see her this Tuesday. She loves having the missionaries over and has even referred some of her friends to us to teach, who became new investigators. Maria really is an amazing person and is certainly the miracle we've been praying for.

Let Alisa know I'm really excited about her mission call! It's hard to believe that in 4 months all the friends I had back home at church will be on missions all at once. It must be a very good experience for the ward to have right, to get them excited about missionary work. Let me know if there's anything I can maybe say in a letter to the ward to help them along in the work.

I just realized that I absolutely need the chocolate chip cookies recipe from Dad. Those cookies are definitely make-able, even on a missionary budget.

Love,

Elder Alsop