Well good morning again!
I thought of some stuff. I just
finished putting away my clothes, bed is made, there’s still some stuff on the
floor I’ve got to take care of, I’ve got to get a new pillow. This one doesn’t have a pillowcase and is
really, really disgusting. Like, I’m
fairly certain that’s a blood stain and that’s not from me on the pillow. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I
just kinda turn the pillow over and don’t use that side. I’ve been forgetting, somehow, every time we
go to the store, I really, really need one.
I’ve been kind of just using a sheet as well, I use a sheet and wrap
around it as a case. But, I’m just going to buy a new pillow. And they usually come with cases, so… ( no
they don’t….) So that’s just what I’m going to do. We’re going to Missoula today, so
Wal-Mart! Yay! No more Super-1. This week.
Let me think, oh yeah.
I discovered a bunch of German chocolate left behind by some previous
missionaries. I don’t know how it
slipped through the cracks. And its
fantastic. I’m just like, “what is this?!? How has no one eaten this before?”
So there’s like these German chocolate Ritter Sport. I don’t know.
I’m probably butchering these words.
I have like four of these square things.
This one is like ‘kokosraspeln’
(I googled it) , there’s definitely coconut in it that I can tell. So I’m guessing coconut chocolate, and
looking on the back it says “vollmilchshokolade”. (I googled it again) So I’m guessing milch is milk if I remember
right, and schokolade, well that’s chocolate, I know that word. (laughs) Heck, I remember the song (something
unintelligible in German) But I’m totally probably butchering these words. I would have been cringing at myself 2-3
years ago. This is new…. So this one is
Weisse zint crisp. On the back it says
(reads ingredients in German) so, I think that’s white chocolate? I’m also guessing maybe cinnamon? From the
picture on front? 2 of those and 2 coconut ones. I ate one immediately that I thought it said
caramel on it, but no, it was a crunchy something. Really good still. Then I got a bunch of these like, I can’t
even pronounce that – d-o-u-c-e-u-r?
Basically it’s a chocolate egg.
With a bit of a creamy inside. Or a nougat. Super good as well and I got 4 of those. I’ve been rationing them out. They’re wonderful.
So yeah, that’s my
spiel on food. I also had eggs for
breakfast with extra chopped up onions and crushed red pepper as usual. I didn’t get creative with any green onions
this time. I didn’t have a… no well I
did that for a lunch this week. I made
some mac and cheese and decided I’d get creative and instead of putting chili
or anything in it, I went “ green chiles are on sale…” So I put a bunch of those in, I was sad, they
said “hot” but they were totally mild.
I’ve been so disappointed in the lack of Mexican food here. I found some good stuff in Wyoming, but
that’s because there’s lots of Mexicans there, and its still not as good as the
stuff in Arizona. Probably just because
they can’t Get the good stuff. They try
to grow it themselves, but they don’t put that stuff in the restaurants. They keep that for themselves. I had one feed me. It was amazing. So yeah, I put green chilies in with my mac
and cheese and it was awful. I can never
again. It wasn’t terrible,
disgusting. I ate it. It was okay, but
definitely not something I’d do again.
Now maybe like chili with some green chilies in it I could do, I just
felt like I was kinda eating… it was
just two flavors that did not mix. They
are two separate things. I tasted both
mac and cheese separately and green chilies, it was kinda like I was just
eating green chilies. It was not too
pleasant.
Kinda like what I did with that family down in Wyoming. The Lee’s.
I love them to death. I told you
about that right? I think I did. I don’t even remember the stories I’ve
had. I’m gonna be like this old guy when
I get home, I’m gonna be like (old man voice) “Yeah, I remember I had this one
experience” And you’re like “Elder
Berrett, you’ve told us this one like 7 times in the last hour.” The Lees, they have this long standing
tradition with all the missionaries, where so if there is a say, oh for
instance the experience I had, I had been there before so it had been done to
me, and it was my turn to do it to my new companion, so I told them that
transfers happened and they signed up to feed us, and it was like four or five
days in, so my companion is kinda thinking he’s getting to know me, and what
I’m like, and I’m not really that picky of an eater. Even if we had seafood, like,
I’d eat it. I would never make it for
myself, and probably wouldn’t eat too much of it, but I’ll still eat it. And so we’re sitting there at dinner, and she
made this fantastic chicken pot pie with shredded chicken, cream of chicken, with
rolls almost, super, super good. Like I
remember taking the first bit and going “Oh this is going to be so hard.” Basically as a missionary you have to pretend
to hate it. Loathe it. And be absolutely
rude and disgusting. Elder Hatch who is
totally a germophobe, they convinced him to spit it out into his napkin a
couple times and just like… Me I was just like, I pretended to look like I
wasn’t even excited to try it. I’m like
“ohhh, okaaayyy….” Like I’m really just trying to be polite. I take a bite and I just start gagging. I can’t even put it down. I barely did.
And I’m like “So, what all is in here?” And she tells me, and she’s like
“It’s our favorite family recipe!” And
she goes on, and on, and I just look at her and go “Well, this is disgusting.
I’m sorry, but this is awful.” And she’s
like “Oh we can make you other stuff.” And I’m like “well maybe I can try it
again.” They’re trying to convince me to try it again. “Well maybe it was just a bad bite.” And I do and the same thing… I mean, oh the
theatrics! Oh my goodness I thought Elder Tucker was going to kill me from his
reactions. And I remember they were like “we can make you something else.” They
tell you a bit about what other elders have done to give you ideas. One elder
just requested, he’s like “No. I want a
pb&j, I’m not eating this whatever you’re making.” And so they are like “We can make you
something else…” And I’m like “No, I’ll just have this, and grab the can of
green chilies and just start eating them.” (laughs) I only got one or two small
spoonfulls in by the time Sister Lee just broke down laughing. She couldn’t
take it anymore. And we had so much more
planned. Like she was going to run out of the room supposedly just upset. Brother Lee was going to chastise us, it was
going to be great. And apparently if
both the missionaries are new, then the kids do it to the parents, which I
honestly don’t think it’s that much more fun, but it’s fun for the kids. As a missionary you’re just like “Ok this is
weird. These are some bratty kids.
Really, really picky kids.” For all you know that could be normal at
their house. But yeah, just tons of fun.
It’s kinda like there’s a family in Shell, which is close to
Graybull, with a long standing tradition which we never did, probably for the
best, was to get a bunch of Budlight cans and poke a hole and drain them, and
kind of re-solder the bottom. Rinse them out, and solder them up so you can’t see.
And they fill them up with rootbeer, before they solder them up of course, and
stick them in the fridge and everything, and the missionaries come over and
they pretend like they are a bunch of hicks and he’s really a doctor. He’s like one of our mission medical doctors.
And he ends up, when the missionaries come over, and he’ll turn to the
missionary who’s been there the longest, and he’ll be like “Honey, pass me a
Bud, the elders are here.” And she’ll give him one of the Bud Lights out of the
fridge. And he’ll offer one to the missionaries, and the one who’s been there
the longest will take one, and drink it with him. So probably for the best, and
you’ve probably heard that story, I think I’ve told you that.
We have some wonderful families here as well. Definitely
been enjoying the company of lots of these guys. Brother Wilton, our ward mission leader is
the best. We went out on a lesson with him and he just loved it. He loved the
teaching, being able to bear his testimony… He definitely felt the spirit and
the power of missionary work. He’s like
“We need to do this all the time!” So now we go out with him every Thursday or
Friday.
(coughing) I have
this cough randomly. It’s been with me
the last couple of days. Nothing bad,
just a cough. Oh yeah, did a bunch of
service for the Graysons in our ward.
This older couple whose health is not really good. But they got a bunch of hay for their animals
and asked us to come help them bale it and put it away. It was already pre-rolled and everything so
it was just like these 100-115 pound things of hay that we had to lift up and
go stack and everything, and oh my goodness.
So my job, we backed the trailer up to the storage place, and my job was
to pick it up and throw it up and over a fence, to my companion, throw it on
the ground, and he’d pick it up and go stack it. We did it that way to keep all the animals
out. Like as I’m throwing it, they are
totally trying to eat from the trailer, they had a bunch of goats and alpacas. But anyways, I didn’t get the memo that we’re
supposed to have long sleeve shirts, and my arms are just so scratched up. At
one point my hands were getting tired from lifting, from the strings or
whatever they are, the bailing twine, throwing it over, that I tried to like
put my arms under and lift it up that way, and just kind of toss it, and oh my
goodness, like I did it, but it hurt. Oh
my goodness. It was… He’s like “No don’t
do that!” It was like close to pure
alfalfa hay and it apparently makes you really really itchy and hurt a
lot. Yeah. However, I can honestly say that 1) you use
every muscle in your body and I definitely felt it. I lost a bit of weight. (laughs) It was good
it was a really really good two hour workout. And then also a shower after that is one of
the greatest things known to man. Oh my goodness it was so great.
Everything is green here.
It’s summertime, grass, trees, everything. There’s still snow on the mountains. Oh! Speaking of freaking snow, so Wednesday we
drive to Helena, there’s a pass we go over.
I woke up at 3:30, my companion woke up at, I don’t know. So we had to be in Missoula by 5:30, and it’s
about a 30-40 minute drive, so we got up early to get ready and everything, and
as we’re pulling out of our house at 4:45, it’s SNOWING. Dumping.
It’s all kind of melting over here, but I’m like “Oh this can’t be
good.” And of course I’m driving because
we’re carpooling with a bunch of other missionaries, so we get to the church in
Missoula, they load up in our truck, and we take off. And it’s not too bad, just basically big
clumps of wet rain hitting our car so it’s nothing too bad, and then we get to
the pass, er, as we, not even to the pass, like within 20 minutes of leaving
Missoula it’s just whitewash everywhere.
Snow is sticking to everything, icy roads… I’m like, “This is freaking
MAY!” And I feel like I’m in the middle of winter. I mean it’s just dumping snow, clinging to
everything, roads are icy and slick and snowy and cold and you can’t see anything
because it’s a blizzard… Oh my goodness. It was an adventure. So we drove there and got to Helena by 8:45,
had a wonderful mission tour, and then braved that coming back again, same
experience. It was great.
Umm… laundry is almost done.
We’re planning on leaving here to head to Missoula at about 12:00 today
so I’m really excited about that. Like
I’m super pumped. Ummmm….. sorry for all
the “Ummm’s”. How long has this been
going on? 15 minutes. I think I’m
probably just going to stop here. Try to
make sure I can’t think of anything else right now, I don’t want to just waste
a bunch of time on a recording. I know
you love hearing from me, but at the same time I don’t just want to say “Ummm”,
and maybe tell the occasional mission story that comes to mind. So I’m going to end here. I hope you have a wonderful day. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Just listen to “Entreat Me Not To Leave You”
again. Amazing, amazing song. Ummm, yeah.
Love you to death. And remind me,
because I don’t know if I sent them off last week, basically like I have taken
lots of pictures, I have some, probably including all the nature ones I’ve been
taking, probably 25 pictures to send. I
just need to actually sit down and go through them and send them and do that,
so. Yeah. I’ll probably try to sit down and do that now.
Love you to death! Hope you have a great day! Bye!
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