Daniel vs Cinderella

Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:39:05 -0700
From: eric.feller@myldsmail.net

The work has been going really slow here lately. All of our investigators have tremendous outside influences keeping them from progressing like probation, mandated community service, work, ect. So we're trying the best we can. We've got some good potential with the two other Porter kids, but their schedule has been crazy so its been tough to teach them. We have a for sure appointment tomorrow. 

But I have lots of other funny stories this week! 

Monday: I was talking to this greenie in our zone from the Ukraine. It was pretty funny. He said that America is just like the Ukraine, not all that everyone thinks it is. He said everyone just thinks we're rich. He was also in a Rap Band when he was 15. He rapped in Ukrainian for me.

Tuesday: Let me preface this story with this statement: Sometimes, I feel like especially in Arizona, members ask us to do really stupid things that have nothing to do with missionary work. I find it really annoying when members treat me like I'm here to stake up their chairs after church, or I'm just here to help their sons go on missions to mexico later... I hate it, and its really annoying. Don't ever treat your missionaries like that. They'll be nice, but secretly they hate it.  

So, we had this super hilarious awkward dinner at the Stake Presidents House. This is a Terrible idea, and don't ever do this to your missionaries. They had an appreciation dinner put on by the Mia Maids in one of the wards. They made us food and we had to sit at tables with them and talk to them... A bunch of twenty year old MISSIONARIES sitting down and eating dinner with a bunch of 14 year olds. It was soooo awkward. But really really funny because of it. We did not break a single rule, but it just kinda felt like it. We tried to talk to them, but all the girls at my table were in the 8th grade. They like soccer and piano... More importantly for later on in the email, when I eating, I was trying to cut something with the side of a plastic fork, and I totally snapped it in half right in front of everyone. 

Fast Forward to Saturday: 

So I went on exchanges with my Zone Leader, Elder Williams from Wyoming in his area. I slept really bad at their apartment, and we had to go to a baptism for the Spanish Elders in the Morning. So we go out in the afternoon, and we go to this members house and it looks like a Castle! Seriously, some of the more wealthier people in Arizona build these houses that are just huge and crazy, but pretty sweet. So we go past this gate, and over this stone bridge over a pond, and there's this huge house that is covered in stone. So we knock on the door and while we're waiting I look around and comment on how this looks like a castle. Elder Williams agreed and we made a few jokes, and then we turned to leave because no one answered, but when we turned this BMW came through the gate and over the bridge and turns past us to go through this archway to the side of the house where the garage is. Inside we see this girl, probably like 18, in this big fancy blue dress, waving at us. She goes back and parks, and we're like.. "that's weird" and she comes out of the archway in this big huge blue dress, hair all done and make up and everything, and I'm thinking, "what the heck... that's an ugly prom dress... wait, its not prom time..." and as she is walking up to us, she says "hey guys! how's it going!? What can I do for you today?" and we kind of just look at her awkwardly, and she says "Sorry I'm dressed like this, I'm a princess! ... I do birthday parties." And so Elder Williams talks to her about the family her parents were working with and we are about to leave and she says "Sorry, I'm not always dressed like this I promise." and we laugh, and leave. It was like a bad Disney movie! The missionaries end up at this castle and meet a princess!  But it was so funny. We talked about how we met a princess all day. 

Then later on in the exchange, we were at dinner and I was scooping some ice cream, and telling the story about how I broke the fork at the stake president's house, and while I'm putting a ton of pressure on the ice cream scoop, it snaps in half and the ice cream and this spoon slide across the table and into this guy. Everyone laughed, it was really funny, but I was really embarrassed! Twice in a week! And while I was telling the story!  

That brings us to Sunday: Sunday was stake conference, and I decided to wear this tie I got from Elder Lesh when he went home named "Handicapped Hercules" for the first time in public. See the picture below, its a very coveted tie in the mission, but President Howes specifically told Elder Lesh he hated it when he was in the office. (He hates all our polyester ties... but especially ones with people on them) And so we were waiting for the Porters to show up, and then on the other side of the building President Howes walks into the building... Of course... So I freaked out because I really didn't expect that. I figured someone from the stake would have told us if that was happening, so I wave and start looking for a member I know well so I can trade ties with him. Except all the ties I saw were really ugly, and I couldn't do it. So we go up to talk to someone and President and Sister Howes pull me aside and ask me what these people need to hear. I saw Presidents eyes go from my eyes, to my tie, and back to my eyes. In my head all that was happening was "NOOOO." So I stammer off some topic I thought would be really good for the members to hear, and they say thank you and we go get the Porters and sit down next to them in the first few rows. Its not that it really matters President saw me wearing that tie, it doesn't effect me at all, it was just really funny that it all happened.

Then later the Stake President was talking, and was going off on this huge story about the titanic, and then the "deep dive" to retrieve it, and then invited us to take a deep dive in the Book of Mormon. And then stopped and invited this little 10 year old girl and she talked about how much she loved the Book of Mormon and how scripture study enriched her life. It was really powerful! Like, we were all almost crying. 

Whew. So that was my crazy week this week. 

Love,

Elder Feller

Some of my new ties. "Handicapped Hercules sits in the center, with "The Lady Killer" one to the right, and "Chalk Zone" on its left. Some of my new favorites.