Happy Pioneer Day 7/21/14

First- two weeks ago we had a BIG rainstorm. Although it only lasted a few minutes, it was really intense and it caused some damage to my scriptures (even though I wrapped them in a plastic bag). It was almost as crazy as the storm last pioneer day. There was lightning everywhere and the roads instantly became rivers. The sidewalks were under inches of water and as we biked through it water sprayed all around us. Yep, we biked through it. We just kept on working through the storm and surprisingly people were not any kinder to us (they just made remarks like "looking a little soggy - keep on biking" as we approached them)! Some people took pictures of us, but we still couldn't get anyone to talk to us (we looked ridiculous drenched in water). I'm a little tired of the way that many people treat us here. But I suppose it has helped me to really appreciate the few people who don't reject us so much more. I have never felt so much love for a people before in my life. I really desire to help them. These last few weeks I believe my prayers have been more for these individuals than they have for myself. That is perhaps the greatest miracle.

This week was probably the first week this transfer that neither my companion or I have had a flat tire. Instead, as we biked Elder Adams lost his whole pedal! The whole thing just fell off right before dinner. Fortunately Elder Farr had a similar experience in North Las Vegas so we knew exactly what to do about it. Elder Adams took a clothes hangar from the closet of the family we had dinner with and he bent the metal wire around the single pedal so that he wrap it around his foot. Then he biked with one leg for the rest of the night! Actually, he only went a block down the road to a different member and we borrowed his allen wrench to put the pedal back on. But it was hilarious to watch him pedal with one leg even for a few minutes. Missionaries do the dumbest things.

We saw a bee this week the size of a humming bird. It was called a taranchula(incorrect spelling?) wasp. It lays eggs on tranchulas and the babies eat it. It was really scary so Elder Adams stepped on it three times (it wouldn't die because it was so big). I didn't realize that missionary work could be so dangerous!

I made it through week 4 of the companionship (I don't know if you've noticed the trend, but usually about this time I start to really get irritated by my companions). But we made it through the week by working on our communication skills (it's always so hard). There are still some challenges in my companionship but The Lord is teaching me how to work with Elder Adams.

Our ward mission leader fed us peanut butter and pickle sandwiches yesterday. They were surprisingly good. But then again there is a spiritual gift that I invented called "the gift of not being picky about the food you are fed as a starving missionary" and I think that this gift helped to mask the flavor a little bit (I don't know if I would recommend the recipe to non-missionaries). Also, I made Top Ramen Stir Fry this week and it was super delicious! I even used some leftover chicken from a previous dinner. I am going to become a Top Ramen chef when I return from my mission.