Laundry

Guess what I did last night, go ahead now, and guess. Nope, not it. Guess again. Ok, I will tell you

I washed all of my underclothing in… the… bathtub.

That is right, we have no washer and dryer and no quarters to go to the Laundromat. AND seeing as I’m a hot sister missionary without a car I can’t just run to Wal-mart to get some new ones, for more reasons than just not having a car. So my companion who claims to have washed her clothes in a stream growing up taught us how to wash our clothes in the tub. Totally legit. A couple days ago I had just a couple things to wash so it wasn't so bad, but last night I got wicked excited and dumped all two weeks’ worth of clothes in the soapy water. And once they are in they are in, there ain't no turning back. By the end my hands were all pruney and they hurt something fierce. While I was washing away in the bathroom my kind companion set up a little makeshift clothes line on the balcony. I was freaking out because I thought maybe it would rain and then maybe they would blow away and then maybe someone would steal them. She calmly said I was a crazy woman and that nothing would happen to them. I trusted her and put them out there, this morning when the alarm went off at 6:30 I jumped out of bed and ran out to the balcony and they were gone!!!! Just kidding, they were all still there drying away nicely. I didn't think they would dry outside because it is so humid but they actually dried a lot faster than sister P’s who washed hers just before me and hung them in the house... imagine that.

So when we got here we didn't really have any information on former investigators or who they were working with or anything. The elders left a TON of teaching records with names but no info on how to contact them so it has been kind of a difficult start. They did leave a note that said to check on a girl named Z, so I gave her a call. She said that she was REALLY busy but that she would be in church. She indeed came. We have been trying to get a hold of her for the last week and yesterday we were finally able to go see her. She is SWEET. She is a senior pre med student from C. She just took the MCAT and has a crazy man schedule. We talked to her last night and man, she is up against some odds. She said that only 1% of international students get into med school because they can’t take out loans so they have to send a bank statement for proof that they can pay for it. International students also can only attend private med schools so it is like ridiculously expensive. She has already done her 4 years of pre med and is graduating this year so she can't really just change her mind. She is taking ridiculous amounts of classes + research + service + she is the director of a pre med organization on campus. It made my anxiety level go up just talking to her about it. Remember when I wanted to be a dentist? Ha-ha! Hahahaha!Anyway, we went into the lesson with the plan to talk A LOT about the atonement and how Christ can help her overcome these problems she is having and stuff like that. But my dear companion started telling her about her conversion and how having the Holy Ghost with her really helped. Oh man, it was like the heavens opened up and a beam of light came down. So we somehow switched topics and taught her about how she can feel the Holy Ghost now but it is not a permanent thing but with baptism we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and have it with us all the time. She really understood that and said that that is something that she wants to work towards. She was concerned that she had already been baptized so we taught her about authority and she definitely understood that. She is a sweet girl. We didn't set a date with her but hopefully in the next couple of weeks she will be baptized. Oh joy!

Moving along, today is game day…here… at…UF. At 9:45 this morning while we were walking to campus to do our emails the party had already started. These people are serious about their tailgates. we saw more than one big old flat screen set up with a dish in the back of someone’s truck/under a canopy/on the grass. One was even showing the race! How nice. I was going to stop and ask who was winning but I thought I had better not. There are already loads of red plastic cups scattered all over the place, but that might have been from last night’s party :). The funny thing about it is that they are all old people just chilling waiting for the game to start, which doesn't start until 7. I would imagine you would need to be early to such a party so you could get a good spot. But seriously, they are everywhere. I didn't think that people would be allowed to park their RVs on the grass right outside the library. Nay my friends, it appears as though the rule is "where you can park it you better park it". I would imagine things get pretty crazy closer to kick off. Tragically I will be partaking in some spiritual nourishment via the relief society broadcast so I won’t be able to see the party. It’s really not a tragedy; I am actually pretty excited about it. I missed it last year because of a baptism that the elders in the ward were supposed to have that didn't go through. I think that was the night we were enlisted to fill the font and then drain the font as the baptism didn't happen. I got to go swimming in the font to unplug it. Usually the person doing the baptizing unplugs the font but you know, sorry about the pointless story. I am very excited for tonight. It will be like we are all watching it together. Precious!

We do this thing called tabling. We have a booth that LDSSA sponsors that we chill at a couple days a week. There are also a lot of other religious fanatics that join us. There is a nice man that the elders warned us about named Mr. R. Mr. R is not so nice. He is with some campus ministry group and he enlists little minions that don't know any better to hold a cross that says "do you know where you are headed?" pointed right at us while passing out some anti literature. It really is quite humorous. one of the poor little girls came over to talk to us the other day and we got her all sorts of confused about the life Mr. R has her leading. She handed us a little paper with a picture on the front that was CLEARLY Joseph Smith. I said "who is this?" and she said some random name and then informed us that it was the person who started our church. I started laughing and had to walk away to regain my composure while the other three talked to her and set her straight a little bit. Their whole thing is that if our doctrine is correct than really we are damning ourselves to outer darkness and THEY will all go to the third heaven. Which I totally don't get, but whatever. The worst part about him is that he will go up to people we just got done teaching and unteach them! The awesome part about all the crazed anti lunatics that try to save us is that the more they try to save our souls the stronger my testimony gets about what we know. I talked to a man the other day for a good hour about mitochondrial DNA and how the time line just doesn't add up with the tribes of Israel coming here and stuff. By the end the only thing that I could tell him was that his Heavenly Father loved him and that he had best get some stuff figured out in his life. It is strange how people who are SO set on changing you and proving a point only drive what you know deeper into your heart. I kind of like it.

I could go on and on about this strange land but for know I will leave you be. Next week I am sure that I will have much more to tell you, but until then, I bid you adieu. Have a happy sappy week.