So You Think You Can Dance - Week 97

Out with the old and in with the new. President and Soeur Poznanski are dead dead dead dead in Angers. They've officially kicked the bucket. I sure am going to miss them. They have been fantastic! President Babin and his wife came in on Friday, and we'll get to meet them tomorrow at another conference in Brussels.

Meanwhile, the members at the church might want the Elders to be dead as well, since Belgium and the United States are playing in the World Cup tomorrow night. The members were spittin' some fire at church yesterday. "If the Americans win on Tuesday, we're not talking anymore." "You've eaten your last meal in OUR household." "If you guys win the match, you're all coming over to my house for a barbecue. I figure I'm not taking much of a chance though." You guys are joking, right? Right? The primary kids got particularly fierce and really enjoyed taunting us. We responded by drawing a big Uncle Sam and American flag on the chalkboard, which is probably an example of why Europeans think American pride is obnoxious. Oh, and the Sunday meetings were good too.

Elder Price and I got to hang out and work together while our companions went to Brussels to exchange their drivers' licenses. We got to eat at a member family's house for lunch, and they gave us a huge bag full of hundreds of cherries they picked from a tree. Good thing too, because we ran out of food at the end of the week and ended up having two meals of 100% cherries. We eventually ran out of cherries too, and on Sunday night, upon seeing our options in the fridge, Elder Price and I resolved to eating five onions for dinner.

We got a phone call on Friday morning from an older lady who needed help upkeeping her yard, so we suited up and headed over. She had two lawn mowers, but one ran out of gasoline and the other was electric powered, and the cord couldn't reach across the yard. So, Price and I were faced with the task of figuring out how our lawn-mower-less selves could cut the grass. We eventually found a big, old sickle in the lady's basement, and we got to work reaping all the long grass with the giant blade. It was probably 50% service and 50% fun. 

On Saturday, Elder Rodriguez and I were out on the other side of the city trying to visit a less active when it started pouring rain like nobody's business. We had no choice but to run through the torrent for the 20 minutes required to get home, and we were soaked through after a few minutes. While we were speed walking the last leg of the flight home, an old lady saw us from a parking lot and chased us down. She apparently didn't care about getting soaked, because she came over and told us about how she used to be taught by the missionaries and went to church a number of times. She didn't want to be taught again, but thought to take the time and talk to us. 

Right after the lady stopped and talked to us, we walked passed a crazy dude dancing in the rain in the middle of the street. He had some leg-armor looking thing in his left hand and a weird hat on his head. He saw the two Mormons walking passed, and decided to jump in front of us and dance (or "wiggle and spasm" would be more appropriate) in front of us so we couldn't get passed. Somehow, all the insane people know the missionaries and they're the only ones besides members who call us "Elder," and he was no exception. He shook our hands with his right hand, at which point we both noticed he was holding a big kitchen knife. He kept dancing, made a joke, and then ran away. Whatever dude.

At the end of the email last week, I mentioned "B", the ex-wife of a less-active member. Elder Price and I taught her again this week and ended up scheduling a baptismal date with her for later in the month of July. All was going well with her, until yesterday when she didn't come to church. Elder Rodriguez and I were admittedly disappointed she wasn't there and didn't answer our phone call, so we decided to give her some time. Yesterday night, while we were out knocking on doors in a little city, "B" called us to tell us that her little son has been in the hospital for the last couple of days due to a sudden lung problem, which was why she wasn't able to come. As far as excuses go, that's a pretty valid one. However, now she's back on track. Score!

Cross your fingers. We sang the Star Spangled Banner this morning for good luck. USA! USA! USA!

Elder Wilson


(a new camera means more photos. Yay!)

The view from our apartment

The Citadelle de Namur seen from our window

Lawn mowing anyone!

Look what I found! Splashy's twin! (Trevor's car at home is nicknamed Splashy)