Frozen Tundra Fiasco

Snow in Portland!

Elder King covered in freezing rain.

This past week in Portland has been the most grueling of weather for the Oregonians.  It snowed about an inch or two on Sunday and the whole STAKE cancelled church meetings.  The snow continued to fall for most of the morning and we were instructed not to use any of our mission vehicles.  This presented quite a challenge because the Portland YSA ward covers two stakes.  However, we girded our loins and embarked on a snowy adventure to find some former investigators and kinda, sort-of played and frolicked in the snow because it's been a while since we have seen the winter weather or Utah.  The whole mission was instructed to not use mission vehicles and our lush lifestyle of car transportation was haulted for a day.  I felt the true nature of pioneering.  Later in the evening the snow all turned to ice because it was a rain snow mix and this morning we are also instructed not to use our mission vehicles THEREFORE I AM TRAPPED IN THIS DUNGEON OF AN APARTMENT and all the good stores require a hike to get there.  NONETHELESS it has been one of the best weeks of my mission thus far. On Monday night we went to teach a less active member of the ward whom we had not met.  We were graciously welcomed and sat down for a lesson when suddenly the door opened and a man named Ahmed (the uncle of the person we were teaching) asked to participate in our "bible study".  After sitting down he explained his experiences with the Mormon church in the past.  Ahmed went to the LDS church a few times and they were "always asking him to be baptized" but he never got the chance.  The next sentence spoken was Ahmed asking us if he could be baptized!  THE FIST PUMPS were FLYING after we left that lesson.  HE JUST WALKED RIGHT IN AND ASKED TO BE BAPTIZED.  Elder Jewkes & I went on exchanges three days in a row this week.  On Thursday I went to the Alameda Spanish ward for a day and got fed more than I have been fed in the past 9 months... All day long I listened to Elder Thompson speak Spanish incredibly fast to investigators and I even knew what they were saying every now and then.  I actually told 3 people I knew the BOM was true in Spanish.  A few others got the classic "nice to meet you" from good old Elder King.  Elder Thompson & I spent most of the afternoon looking for potential investigators in a particular apartment complex (mostly I just watched).  I was watching a man very closely who was working on his van in the parking lot of the complex and I felt the urge to speak with him.  I DENIED the urge due to my carnal nature and we continued... THE URGE came again shortly thereafter and I concluded we must speak with him.  After introducing ourselves he explained he was from Guadalajara, Mexico.  WELL… that was the destination of my first mission call!  Elder Thompson looked at me & I looked back at him, and before you knew it we had a new investigator who was asking us to come back the next day.  Right after we finished talking with this great man we came across Reggie... Who happens to be a young single adult that speaks English living in the Latino apartment complex.  Reggie also desires to know of the goodness and happy tidings of the gospel.  I met two investigators that live for Lord of the Rings this week which really invited the spirit into my day.  Elder Jewkes is still a hater of Lord of the Rings, but this will soon change.  I will convert him.  Just last night we went out for another snowy adventure and Elder Jewkes fell down twice within the first 5 minutes of leaving the apartment.  It was even funnier the second time.  I finally got to wear a beanie outside WHICH I WAS STOKED ABOUT.  Anyway, the church is true.  The Lord delivers if we but simply ask.  I hope you all have an awesome week and watch Star Wars a lot so when I get back you will tell me all about it.