The Zoo...

Hello Everyone,

Well, I am here to tell you about the zoo. And missionary work. But probably the zoo first because it was pretty cool.

First off, our ward mission leader here, Brother Clawson, manages the Louisiana Purchase Zoo here in Monroe. He let us go for free today, so all 8 missionaries in our district went.

The best part?

Holding an alligator.

He was a little one, but still, I got to hold a gator. It was pretty awesome :D  I will send pictures as soon as I can. I am kind of currently without a way to get them to the computer at the public library. But soon! I also got to pet a red tailed boa constrictor. Very enjoyable. They feel so cool! I wish I could have got a picture with it around my shoulders, but the lady wouldn't let us, which is understandable.

I think I took around 200 pictures or so. Hahaha, my 16 GB memory card was next to empty when I started. Lions, tigers, bears (okay, I didn't take a picture of the bear...but still), monkeys, gators, etc etc. Pretty fun time.

On to the gospel though!

We finally had someone in church this past Sunday. Although no one is currently set with a baptism date right now because no one came to church who had a date. Never fear though! Our amount of lessons was up this week, although our number of new investigators was slightly lower then it should have been. Considering it started out as a pretty challenging week with a lot of bike issues, I think it was a pretty good week. I feel good about it at least.

My bike issues are quite the story. So my crank arm fell off on my bike on Tuesday. Not that big of a problem as it has happened most of my mission (I was hoping the new crank arm I got when I first got to Monroe would fix it... no luck though). The problem was that I didn't have any tools to tighten it with me when it started happening, and then when the bolt fell all the way out, I lost it and couldn't find it. Well, we walked homeward and stopped at WalMart to buy a tool so I could fix it next time. A member from the West Monroe ward (who is actually from the Texarkana ward originally. He was on his mission when I was there. I know his family though) saw us and gave us a ride home. (blessing!!)

The next day, we biked to the bike shop (kind of fun to bike scooter style and also one legged... Elder Crockett still can't figured out how I did it...haahaha). They put my crank arm back on and didn't charge me anything for the labor or the bolt. (blessing!) So we went on our way. We stopped at a part member family's house and they didn't answer the door, so I sat down to pet the dog that always comes and sees us when we are there. Well, I split the seat of my pants when I sat down. Luckily Elder Crockett had a sewing kit in his back pack (blessing!) So we decided to bike to a member's house (with whom we had an appointment at 5pm anyway... this was about 2:45) so I could use her bathroom and sew up my pants. So we were biking down there (I was trying to sit down the whole time as much as I could) and a lady stopped us and asked for a bible. We talked to her for a second and gave her a Book of Mormon (blessing!). We then started biking again, as we weren't far from our destination now. Well, as I started biking again, my tire had gone flat. So here I am with ripped pants (not too bad, so that is a blessing, but still...) and a flat tire. So we walk/ride to the member's house. We finally make it there and I excuse myself to the restroom for a few minutes to sew up my pants. Luckily I can sew a little. (BLESSING! hahaha) Well, I was able to fix my pants so I came back out and started on my tire. I couldn't see any stickers or anything else in it and didn't feel anything so I put a new tube in (Elder Crockett had two spare ones in his bag... blessing!). We didn't have a pump though. We were able to catch the maintenance man there though and he could fill it up about halway with his broken air compressor (blessing!). We talked to our member for a bit and then went on our way. We stopped at a mechanic shop just as they were closing up and they filled it all the way up for me. (blessing!) We went on our way as we had a 6:30 appointment on the north part of town with our ward mission leader. Well, we are about to our apartment when my back tire (the same one) goes flat again. So we walk it to the apartment and the Zone Leaders come and pick us up and take us to the meeting (blessing!)

The next morning I fix the tire again. Still can't see a problem. Well, we bike to the church for interviews with our mission president (which went well). We have district meeting. We go to lunch at Wendy's. Come out of Wendy's... and flat tire. So we walk to a member's house who wasn't too far away (we stopped and set up an appoint with an investigator along the way, which went well the next day. Blessing!). The member ended up taking us to WalMart and we just replaced the bike tire on my bike. Not the whole rim, just the tread and whatnot. Anyway, it works great. (blessing!) Friday the seat came loose though and then the handle bars yesterday, but those were easy to fix as I have the tools now.

Also, Elder Crockett bumped into me twice and fell once into the street. No cars were coming and he was okay (blessing!).

So, moral of the story? Keep up your prayers. They are working! The Lord is great and chooses to bless us. :) Anyway, I need to wrap this up. I love y'all! Keep up all the great work back home. I know we are trying hard out here.

Love,
Elder Dwight Mendenhall

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