President Cook's last Conference

June 8, 2016
    Today was a super relaxed p-day.  We didn't really do anything other than buy our stuff, sleep, and exercise.  That and clean the house.  Actually, Elder Diaz and I cleaned.  The whole day was pretty dull actually. 
Miracle #669 We ended up being able to find and internet cafe.  The other real miracle was learning that my trainer met my son in the MTC in Provo on E. Huaiqinirs last day there. 
    The funny part of the day was quite possibly working out with Elder Diaz tonight. He can;t take its ll so he was collapsing the entire time.,  This last Sunday, the bishop gave an assignment to one of our less active members to speak in church. Tonight we learned that he has been so nervous that he hasn’t been able to eat.  We were able to calm him down and help him write his talk. 
June 9. 2016
    Today was a pretty different day.  this morning I did my insanity for and hour and a half, followed by some yoga.  I barely made it to my personal studies on time, but I did.  I don’t think that my legs have hurt this badly for a very long time.  We had morning contacting wth the posters in the Feria, an that wasn’t very good.
Miracle #670 We had a division with a member who I used to got on divisions with in the beginning of my mission.  We had a great lesson.
    There were a few funny parts of the day today.  One was the results of the lunch we ate today.  We were given lentils and they had a very harsh effect on my intestinal tract.  My comp. definitely suffered. The other funny part of the day was when we bought sushi which came with wasabi.  No one realyliked the wasabi so we played rock paper scissors to see who would eat ALL of it.  I lost.  It was not good.
June 10, 2016
    Today was a day.  This morning we came to the conclusion that we needed some help from the zone leaders with our “companionship.”  We ended up having a very long conversation with was full of lots of good suggestions.  Elder M. is a good kids and he tries so hard, but everything is really hard for him.  Work was hard because Chile played in a major soccer game today.  The streets looked like a zombie apocalypse hit.  The only real productive thing that we did before the game was offer and ask permission to put up flyers about an English class.
Miracle #671 The conversation we had as a house made today a lot more enjoyable.  Also we found a person to visit with during and after the big soccer game.
    The funny part of the day today was probably running home at the end because we were short on time.  For probably the first time in my entire life, it was easy for me to run.  Not so easy for my comp. though. I told hi to tell me when he got tired so that we could take a break, but he waited until the breaking point where he was wheezing and puffing.
June 11, 2016
    Today we spent a lot of our day putting up invitations to our English class that we are starting.  It was kind funny because we made the invitations in the time that we are supposed to be doing our missionary correlation meeting.  Our ward mission leader never showed up to the meeting, so we made use of our time to make the flyers. We wanted to put an American flag and a Chilean Flag on our posters, but the internet is so perverse that we couldn't even look those things up without garbage coming up online.  I am not ready to face that when I get home.
Miracle #672 To me, it has been an absolute miracle to live in the same house as Elder Diaz again.  Talking to a friend really helps in good times and bad.
    The funny part of the day was probably being in a lesson and not being able to keep my eyes open.  For a solid 15 minutes my comp tried to control the direction of the lesson and it was rough.  We made it through.  Tonight was the priesthood session and President Cook’s counselor gave a really good talk at lightening paced Spanish.  It was super engaging and powerful.  Right after that, the stake president spoke and it was the complete opposite.  He spoke very slowly with long pauses for dramatic effect.  It was a snoozer. 
June 12, 2016
    Today was a better day.  Elder M. and I talked a bit more about how to improve in everything that we are doing,.  He made lots of straight up excuses for why he was doing things he shouldn’t be, or not doing things that he should be.  Now I understand why it would tick my Dad off so much when we would make excuses or lie to him.  Trust is such an important part of a working relationship.  The good thing about my comp is that he was able to express himself and his doubts and concerns.  He has the desire to to the right things and that is super important.  I realized that I have learned a ton today when I surprised myself at not reacting, over reacting, or correcting.  I just listen and took it all in.
Miracle #673 We had some really good contacts while we were chatting.  Not only do we have good futures, but I understand my comp a whole lot better now.
    The funny part of the day for me was during a family home evening lesson that we had.  We used a really cool example with a match, a wet piece of bread, and water.  If you put the piece of bread in a dish of water, then put the match in the bread like a candle, and cover it all with a glass, the vacuum created by the burning match sucks up all the water. Using Matthew 6:33, you can compare this to centering your life on the light of Christ and all the rest just comes together. The funny part of the activity was when the object lesson almost failed due to the staleness of the bread.  In the end it worked out.
June 13, 2016
    Today was a pretty dang good day.  This morning we left before 7:00 to do morning contacts and miraculously I took out 3 referrals in an hour.  One was for our mission, one for our sector, and one in another mission.  We came back to the house and did our studies.
Miracle #674 In every single lesson today we had a member present!  For the first time almost a month, I felt the strong presence of the spirit while teaching a lesson.
    The funny part of the day was playing the game in family home evening we held today.  It was the game where you fill a bottle cap with water and then pick a topic.  One person gets the cap and walks around to he other people in the circle who try to say a different thing that fits the subject.  If someone repeats or guesses the thing that the person with the water guessed, then they get a face full of water.  Everyone got wet and seemed to have fun. 

 June 14, 2016
    Today was the longest conference of my entire mission.  It went from 10 AM until 7 PM.  It was evident that this was the President’s final address to us.  His message was based on what WE needed to do when we got home.  (REALLY!) I think that he wanted to leave his last words of advice with all of us. Not going to lie, I got more than a little bit trunk from listening to him.  The other trunk part was listening to the elders give their final testimonies who are only one transfer ahead of me!  I must admit that between this conference and the online orientation for the U of U, I am not exactly focused on the work.
Miracle #675 Today was the first zone conference that I didn’t fall asleep in.  That and I was super spiritual and emotional.
    Today was more spiritual than funny. I am extremely grateful for the time I have been able to serve with President and Sister Cook. Today they were asked a question and the answer sent tingles through me.  The question was, “How do you measure your success out here on the mission.  The response was, “We will measure our success in 20 years when we can see your activity and service in the church.”  I cannot even imagine who I would be or how I could have made it without President and Sister Cook.
    There were a few things that really stuck out to me from the conference.  1. When President Cook talked about arrogance, he made a few comments that impressed me.  One was that arrogance and pride do not approve of diversity: in race, in opinion, in abilities, and in work ethic. An arrogant person does not value what others have or can do, only what they have and can do.  To illustrate this principle, President Cook said that only men plant lawns, God plants meadows with all the implied natural beauty.  If I can internalize that, I think it will really help me in my life.  2. The second thing that I learned was that repentance only redeems us from the eternal consequences of our actions not from the temporal ones.  3. The third thing that I learned was that everyone in their lives will have a crisis  of their faith…kindof scary.
    When President talked about doubts and how they can challenge our faith, I started thinking about my own faith and doubts.  I have never and never want to let them influence the firm belief I have that this is the church of Jesus Christ and that HE is at the head.  I know that because of Christ’s atonement, I have been forgiven of my errors and strengthened in my weaknesses.  I am a little bit nervous for then next stage in my life because it really is intimidating.  But I have a great family to help me out and God wants my success more than anyone.

Rainy and Cold Again

Flooding in our apartment.

June 1, 2016
    Today was a fairly decent p-day.  Our zone played soccer again, but I helped with a tiny barbecue that we decided to do and played around doing some calisthenics.  The activity lasted a long time, so we didn’t have time to do much else.  I bought everything that I really need for the month except my weekly fruit.  It was pretty weird getting an email today from Mom about the details of my school registration and the classes that I am going to be taking.  It is freaking me out a bit how fast this is sneaking up on me. 
Miracle #662: This last week my Dad took a hard fall over the handlebars of his bike, which to me is miraculous because had that happened to him right before I left on my mission, he might have been seriously hurt.  His recovery in just 2 years has been remarkable/miraculous to me.
    The funny part of the day was probably when one of the kids from a family we teach came running downstairs with a bottle of shoe-shine and started polishing our shoes for us.  At that moment, I realized how long it had been since I polished my shoes.  They definitely needed a good shine and it was just kind of nice to have this little service given to us.
June 2, 2016
    Today was rather a dull day.  This morning I did minimal exercise and had a fairly normal personal study.  Our comp study wasn’t the greatest.  After weekly planning, we went to lunch where we stayed for way too long. I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal because it was raining heavily and very cold, and we didn’t have any appointments. No one will open their doors for us when the weather is like this.  After lunch, we had a lesson with a super ADD little kid and his family.  My comp wanted to lead the lesson, but he wasn’t dominant enough to control the situation and in the end it turned out poorly.
Miracle #663: This evening the whole house got together and helped to clean up.
    The funny part of the day was when I heard one of my ex-missionary leaders cursing about one of the sister missionaries.  It was really so shocking that it was funny to me.  I can’t really thing of any other funny things that happened today.  Well, I guess that it was kind of fun to have a push up competition with a kid who is entering the Chilean air force.  He managed to do about 15 pushups in a minute and his dad did around 14, and then his MOM did the same number as his dad.  I am super proud of my Dad because he always could trash me in pushup competitions when I was a kid.  What a boss. 
June 3, 2016
    Today it RAINED. ALL. DAY. LONG!  This morning we left to do early morning contacts.  That was a cold and fruitless effort, but afterwards we had some good studies where I had time to reflect on a great conversation that Elder Diaz and I had last night.  I realized that I am winding myself up into a giant ball of stress and it is not healthy.  I need to calm down or I will be miserable in this companionship for the rest of my mission.  I don't know if relaxing is the answer, but for a little while this morning that is what we did and it helped me a ton as far as our companionship goes.
Miracle #664: We were in lessons all afternoon long which kept us out of the rain for the most part.
    We had a very interesting afternoon today. The first lesson of the day was with an old investigator who is super interested in going to church.  The second lesson was the second lesson for the referral that we checked out on Monday.  She has so many doubts about the need for a living prophet and it is probably the first time that I have taught someone with a very specific doubt.  The last lesson was actually a visit with a less active member who happened to have a friend visiting at the same time.  It so happened that her friend was someone who we had street contacted before.  She helped us out in the lesson quite a bit.
June 4, 2016
    Today was all right.  It started with a 9:00 AM ward missionary meeting that actually began at 9:45.  It was so very long, but also decent.  After the meeting, we did our studies and everything that has to do with a typical morning.  Before starting the legit workday,. we went to a lunch and it would see as though the family forgot that it was FAST Sunday tomorrow and gave us a very small lunch.  So, we had to get something to eat after our lunch appointment.  Today we contacted quite a bit.
Miracle #665: We found 3 people in the most unreceptive part of our sector.
    Contacting with my companion was almost humorously impossible today.  He just loves to interrupt me with unrelated comments.  The really funny part of the day was helping a few people get a cat out of their engine.  That was a stubborn little cat.  Apparently this cat has been bothering them for months now.  The other funny part was falling asleep in one of our lessons for a minute or two.  I haven’t done that for a long time.  It felt like a 2 hour long nap, it was so refreshing.
June 5, 2016
    Today was the coldest Sunday yet this year and in Chile, or at least in Santiago Sur, when it is cold, no one goes to church or even bothers to wake up for that matter.  The lady that we were supposed to eat lunch with makes really horrible and unhygienic food (like full of animal hair), so we made an excuse that we had lunch planned somewhere else.  We really just went home and cooked our own lunch.  We studied for a little bit in the afternoon and then we went to an open house in a chapel near here.
Miracle #666: During our entire open house, 45 or so referrals were taken out.  For our part, we got 3 in a little over an hour that we were there.
    The fun part of the day was going to visit Hermano N. this afternoon.  He made us an amazing pizza with his years of chef know-how and we had a very good conversation and lesson about repentance.  He is a very good person, but he has made a ton of mistakes that he wants to fix.  Other than that, there really wasn’t a fun part of the day.  I had to do the calls with our DL and it was hard to not get frustrated with him.  I was just being straight up with him and he went all mother hen/nazi ruler on me.  Yeah, I have been out too long to get flustered by that nonsense.
June 6, 2016
    Today was fairly decent.  This morning we took my companion to the hospital to get some blood and urine tests done because of his inability to hold his urine.  I was a little bit worried about it so I called the mission nurse and she sent us to get tests.  We were at the hospital way too long.  On the way there and back we tried to take advantage of the opportunity to do morning contacts.  Back at the house, we had just enough time to study, workout, and go to lunch.
Miracle #667:  The very last 10 minutes of contacting led us to find a super open person who invited us to come to his house to teach him.  The lame part is that he actually lives in another mission.
    The funny part of the day was when we passed by Hermano N. to pick up another pizza that he made for us for family home evening.  We mentioned that my comp had to go to the hospital this morning so Hermano N. thought that the had a sick stomach.  Right at that moment my comp. started taking a bite of his chocolate candy bar and Hermano N snatched it out of his hands and hurled it out the door into the street. The only way to describe my comps face was, sad puppy. We were all laughing so dang hard.
June 7, 2016
    All things considered, today was pretty good despite the zone training meeting that felt like a ton of reprimands for me.  They talked a lot about making the transition to the flow of the new president and having a positive attitude towards all the changes that lie ahead.  I made the comment that if we aren’t obedient to our current president, how do we expect to be obedient to our new president?  The capacitation focused on doing whatever the new president asks, but the majority of the missionaries don’t even do everything that President Cook asks. Despite that NOT fun zone meeting, we went on to have a lot of pretty decent lessons today.
Miracle #668:  Our lessons today turned out quite well. Two people accepted the baptismal invitation and one of the set a date and everything.
    The funny part of the day was when President Cook gave me a call this afternoon.  I answered pretty tentatively and when he asked me what was wrong I said that I was scared.  He said, “Elder Colvin, why would you be scared of me, you know me.?”   I replied, “ Yeah, but you are in your death throws and I don’t know what you are capable of.”  After a good laugh he explained that he just needed me to do a favor for him and give someone a call. 
 

Lots of Lessons taught and learned

May 25, 2016
    Today was a good p-day.  We went to Santa Lucian bought some souvenir gifts for my family.  I spent a ton of cash on lapiz lazuli, which is a beautiful blue stone that is only found in Chile and Afghanistanl.  I tried to get gifts of things that can only be found in Chile and I think the I did pretty well.  Probably the coolest thing that I bought was for me.  It s a clock of South America made from stone where every country is a different kind of stone…and of course Chile is lapiz lazuli.  That was really the only interesting part of the day.

Miracle #655: We met a guy who had been taught by the missionaries before and during our conversation I felt the impression  that this guy had already received an answer to his prayers.  When I asked him about it, he confirmed that he had.
    The funny part of the day was probably waking everyone up this morning because they wanted to exercise with me.  Everyone is pretty dead from doing the work out.
May 26, 2016
    So today we did divisions with the district leader and I got sent off to their sector.  I was stuck with an elder who was very sick with the flu.  We still went out to work, but he didn’t think he should contact people when he was so sick.  I agreed, so we just walked around and that made it a super long day.  It was pretty fun getting to know Elder Crane though, so it wasn’t an unpleasant day.  After the very last lesson, we went home a little early to help Crane avoid  getting more sick from the cold.
Miracle #656: The house that I am in right now had a bunch of left over workout stuff from other elders.
    The funny part of the day was just how filthy this house is and how much unclaimed crap there is in it.  Tonight I basically went through all the healthy food left in the house and claimed it. 
May 27, 2016
     Today was interesting. The first thing that happened was that a we were meeting back up for the divisions, Elder Crane and I were chewed out for wanting to meet up kind of late.  So we hurried up and got to the meeting point on time. Elder Dowdy and my companion weren’t there so we just started walking to our house thinking that we would meet them somewhere in between. We made it all the way to our house just to find them talking to the Zone Leaders about girls. Okay….whatever. I just have to stay chill and not let that stuff bother me.
Miracle #657: A member in our ward called us to ask us if she could do visits with us.  Luckily, we had a lesson to go to, so she went out with us.
     The funny part of the day was when all of us just crashed after lunch.  I slept for almost 30 minutes and felt so groggy afterwards.  After that we did our weekly planning in which we had a pretty good companionship inventory. 
May 28, 2016
    Today started out with a pretty big waste of time by gong over to another mission house to celebrate someone’s birthday with a breakfast and a group study.  We were there for over 2 hours…ughh. Right after that we went to do what ended up being a very rewarding service project where we cleaned the house for an elderly woman with a deformed right arm.  The house took a lot of work but it was really great to see the improvement afterwards.
Miracle #658:  My comp. made the calls today of his own choosing and we got a lesson from it.  It is great to see how quickly my companion is rewarded for his efforts.
    The most productive part of the day to me was when we stopped back by the house and we stopped to plan one of our lessons.  My companion and I had a little discussion about how to plan well and how we could change to improve our lessons.  In the end we were on the same page and the lesson turned out to be a good one.
May 29, 2016
    Today was super rainy.  This morning we had a ward council that ended up basically just being a ward missionary meeting.  It was fairly productive and a good way to start the Sabbath.  We had 2 investigators show up to church today and miraculously one of them was I. I have really high hopes for him.  I feel like he is one of the reasons that I was sent back here. After church, we went to lunch and the rain started coming down in buckets.  None of us had umbrellas and my shoe aren’t waterproof anymore so we all got soaked to the bone.  Right after lunch we stopped in to see J.  where we admittedly wasted time while it rained.  In the end I learned some important information about his situation that is going to help me to help him progress.
Miracle #659: One of our plans from last nights planning meeting worked out and ended up getting  a new investigator, P.
    The funny part of the day was trying to make small talk to get to know P. He and I would be talking and my comp would come in with something completely off topic and off the wall.  We would laugh uncomfortably and just keep talking when he finished.
May 30, 2016
    Today was a very long day.  In the morning, we did our normal routine and even did a comp study.  Comp study was like pulling teeth.  We spent a long time talking about inspired questions and how we can help people to think and invite the spirit into their hearts.  My comp. is struggling with this concept, but he is trying really hard and has a strong desire to be a better missionary.
Miracle #660:  I felt like we needed to contact a referral that we received and as we approached her door, she arrived  home.  She was eager to set an appointment with us for a lesson tomorrow.
    The funny part of the day was probably our lunch.  First off, the zone leaders got there 40 minutes late which sucked because we wanted to share a little message with the family that we planned.  It didn’t turn out anything like we planned. Oh well.
May 31, 2016
    My companion is interesting.  Sometimes he reminds me of a sweet innocent little kid. He tries so hard to do the right things and he really is a nice person.  He has had a hard life with lots of bullying and isolation (partially self-inflicted), so I really want him to feel accepted.
Miracle #661: I. accepted our invitation to talk to his wife/partner about getting married.  That invitation has been really difficult for him ever since I met him almost 2 years ago.
    The fun part of the day was eating lunch with a member in this ward who reminds me of my brother-in-law, Parker.  He wear the same style of glasses and has the same hipster vibe.  He was excited to show me his collection of vinyls and his record player.  Apart from that, I was pretty glad to have lessons almost all day.  It is nice to see how patient people are with the awkwardness of my companion.  They are very comfortable and accepting of his differences.

A Good 10 Days

May 18, 2016
    Today was a fairly decent p-day.  We didn’t have any plans whatsoever, so i went to the mission office to practice piano with the music I got in my package.  I couldn’t even play any of it!  The Prokofiev was 100% impossible even at a slow tempo.  The Debussy is going to be hard, but I know that I should be able to do it.  I don’t know how i am going to ever practice for the audition because our chapel only has a small keyboard.  After that we just really chilled at the house.  I worked out, ate, and took a little nap.  The work day was pretty fun.  First we went to visit J., who went all sensei on me as far as exercises go. Then we went to family home evening with B. and her mom, R.
Miracle # 648: R. ended up loving the family home evening (at first she didn’t.)
    The funny part of the day was when J. gave me a ton of high protein foods like tuna and garbanzo beans. 
May 19, 2016
    Time is so weird.  I really hope that it speeds up.  Today was a good day, but it just dragged on.  This morning we did our weekly planning and due to the tiny number of people we teach, it was probably the fastest planning that I have done in a year.  After that we went to lunch with someone named M.  She is not all there and someone told her at one point that the missionaries need a lot of food.  Every month we dread eating at her house because there is just a ton of bad food that we have to eat.  I convinced her that I am sick, so I didn’t have to eat much, but the other elders had to stuff themselves so full that we all had to go back to the house for them to recover.
Miracle #649: We had 2 lessons planned with future investigators and they both  worked out, including a followup lesson for next week.
    The funny part of the day was probably the dessert from the lunch.  It was peaches with cream on top.  I was prudent enough to try the cream first because it appeared very very expired.  But Elder Diaz was a little less lucky because he just mixed the peaches with the cream and almost made the sister mad because he couldn’t bear to eat it. 
May 20, 2016
     Today was slightly shorter than normal according to my internal clock.  This morning I had some fun doing a few strength tests to see my progress.  I did really well so that made me happy for most of the day.  

We had to hang around the house until lunch because there were workers in the house fixing a few things.  The zone leaders were somewhere else, so it fell to us.  After lunch, I got some advice from Elder Diaz on how to best help my comp.
Miracle #650:  Using Elder Diaz’ advice, I was able to communicate with my comp for most of the day.
    The funny and worrying part of the day is that my comp had to use the bathroom 3 times this afternoon without drinking a drop since noon.  I am genuinely concerned about him because it is just not normal to pee that much.
May 21, 2016
    Today was a decent day, kinda.  In the beginning of the day my comp kept interrupting me during every single one of my contacts. Then we were having a great lesson and he cut me off in the middle of my testimony during the most spiritual part of the lesson.  It was just very strange.
Miracle #651: Over a year and a half ago, my trainer and I contacted a less active member one time.  Then after that, we could never find him again. About a week ago I felt a very strong impression to stop by to try to visit him.  We talked to his wife, who I vaguely remembered.  She told me that he would be home this week.  Well we visited with him today, and as it turns out, he remembered me and told me that I was the last missionary he had spoken to.  He was touched that I remembered him and after listening to our message, he promised to go to church. 
    The funny part of the day was probably buying lunch because the other elders wanted to have chicken tenders and french fries. I decided on sushi, but my comp is so cheap that he wanted to make his own french fries.  We were all done eating and my comp was still preparing his food. It took him about an hour.  I was chill about it, but the other elders were pretty irritated.
May 22, 2016
    Today wasn’t bad at all.  Yesterday’s miracle didn’t show up at church (big surprise.)  Other than that, the day wasn’t bad.  This morning I got to see my little hyperactive friend, Maxi.  He was so happy to see me that he did not pay any attention in church at all.  This sector is doing a complete about face. I work a lot smarter that I used to so I can see more results than I did before.  This is the fastest time that I have picked up a new place and gone to work.
Miracle #652: My companion and I are experiencing more unity every day.  I still get interrupted a lot, but it doesn’t bother me.
    The funny part of our day was talking to one of the members of our ward about his mission which was cut short for health reasons.  He had a really hard mission.  He explained to me how he was in the jungles of Bolivia and they were constantly having to change houses and bail on contacts because the women would literally run around naked.  I just looked at him in shock and said, “are you serious?”  With a straight face he said, “Yeah man, but it was the jungle so it was normal.” 
May 23, 2016
    Today was better.  My companion has progressed a lot.  He is not uncomfortable doing contacts anymore.  Today we had a decent number of people to visit and only a few fell through.  We visited my favorite person in this sector today and had a cool lesson with him.  What I like about talking to him is that he always leaves me with things to think about.  Last time he made me reconsider my attitude towards my exercises and change it a bit.  It was very helpful.
Miracle #653: Through my companions own initiative, we found a super cool new investigator.  I am proud of him.
    The funny part of the day was probably the pain after exercising.  I didn’t think that my arms hurt that bad until my companion lightly punched me in the arm to see if it would hurt.  I was surprised at how much it hurt, so surprised that I think a tear or two slipped out.  This evening we had a study group with our zone leaders where they taught us about how to be more dedicated missionaries and one of the topics was exact obedience.  Ironically, when they brought that topic up it was 30 minutes past curfew. 
May 24, 2016
     Today was a good day with my comp.  The real day started with my last interview with the president.  It was a good interview.  Afterwards we had to go out and get lunch and return to the chapel where the interviews were being held in order to give the lunch to the zone leaders.  The poor guys ended up not being able to eat anything until 5:00 pm.  We got out to work and in the beginning of our day almost all of our plans fell through.
Miracle #654: Today we got a member to go with us to a lesson that is so far away that we would have had to walk for an hour if he wouldn’t have taken us.
    The fun part of the day was when my comp bought 2 little sweet treats that have a free prize inside of them.  Both of them had a sticker for another sweet treats!  I wish that I could eat like that sometimes, but my metabolism just won’t let me get away with that.
    It was also pretty fun chatting with this one member while my comp tutored someone in math. 

My zone leaders are either very spiritual or very sleepy...they have been like this for 30 minutes.

Staying in the game

May 11, 2016
    This p-day was kind dull, but we/I got to know the whole zone a bit.  The zone played soccer and ate some super greasy sausage things.  I was able to do an insanity routine and talked to other elders who didn’t want to play soccer.  I bought  all of my  food for the month and some fruit for the week.  Something interesting happened while we were in the super market.  This group of super ghetto kids started to go through the line and jokingly tried to just walk through by making an excuse to walk out without paying.  The guards (yes they have security guards here in supermarkets) started to stop the kids and in order to slow them down a little, I just stepped in front of them and held them back.  When the guards patted them down, about 30 bottles of shampoo fell out of their pockets and clothing. The funny part is that the kids just walked away from it all as if nothing happened.
Miracle #641:  We went back to a family that I found when I was here the first time and they are now showing a lot  more interest.
    The funny part of the day was seeing how horrible the elders have been at keeping the area book updated in the past year and a half.  To be honest, the area book is awful and I am not looking forward to fixing it.
May 12, 2016
    Well today was pretty fun for me.  This morning I had to go with Elder Diaz to downtown Santiago to go and do Visa stuff because he needed his second Visa.  Traveling on public transportation stressed me out so much that I get exhausted.  By the time we got home, we were starving for lunch which meant that I ate too much too fast and then got a huge stomach ache.  I suffered for about an hour before going out to work.  The work day was pretty dang good.  We started and ended with a formal lesson and in between we worked hard on contacting.
Miracle #642:  I was able to help my companion see the importance of contacting in the street where we found two good people to teach.
    The funny part of the day was just talking to the last lesson’s family.  We visited for about an hour, which was much longer that we should, but was really good.  They remembered a lot about me and they were super kind to me.  They even gave me a kilo of tuna fish. 
May 13, 2016
    Today was a good day I guess.  There really isn’t much to tell about the day.  My companion really struggle with contacting.  He stresses so much about having to actually do a contact that he completely forgets that he is talking to a person.  I feel like most of my companions have huge struggles with this concept of contacting.  There must be some reason that I keep getting companions like this, but I haven’t figured out the reason yet.
Miracle #643:  We were able to do the little service today and set up another service for tomorrow.  I have done very few service projects lately and I miss it.
    The funny part of the day was visiting a family in our ward who has had family members in over half of my wards.  The parents of one of the ward members are from Capitan Avalos and it was pretty funny talking to them.  Everyone here makes a big deal about how skinny and fit I am (compared to when I started my mission.) They asked me how I did it, and when I told them diet and exercise, they were pretty impressed. Chileans aren’t particularly into fitness or healthy diets.
May 14, 2016
    Well today was pretty good.  At around 9 AM we had our meeting with the ward mission later after which we went to do contacts in the street market with posters about the family.  It turned out unusually well.  Between 12 missionaries, we took out 23 referrals in just one hour.  After the contacts, we studied a little bit, went to lunch, went to a service project (which sadly was completed by the time we got there,) and then we went to the house to finish our weekly planning.  I spent some dreaded 2 hours working on the area book this afternoon and now it is acceptable.  
Miracle #644: In 2 hours we had 3 contact lessons and we were excited abut that.  My companion is starting to see how great contacting can be.
    The funny part of the day was watching how little bladder control my comp has.  I am a little worried about him actually cause it doesn’t seem normal to have to go to the bathroom 3 times in a hour.  The fun part of the day was breaking open my very first coconut and drinking the water/milk out of it. 

 May 15, 2016
    Today was the best ward council that I have ever had in my entire mission.  I can’t believe how much this ward has progressed since my training.  It is sad to me that I know the ward better than my companion.  He made the typical excuse that he is in his training still, but everything that I know about this ward comes from the time that I was in my training here a year and a half ago.  It is super frustrating to be in the last 12 weeks of my mission and to not be able to work as hard as I can.
Miracle #645:  This week we doubled almost all of the key indicators from the last week. 
    The funny part of the day was right after we had a contact lesson and my comp lost all motivation whatsoever.  Today I made the decision that we would take turns calling the shots every other day.  Whoever had the phone in the end decided where we would go.  We had plans to contact, but my comp was in charge of making decisions so he chose to just walk around instead.  I just went along with it because it was his day to lead.  I am just going to be chill on his days, but on my days I plan to lead efficiently so my comp can see how to do it.  My comp is a good kid who wants to work and gets out of the house on time, but he hasn’t figured out how to work efficiently.
May 16, 2016
    Today was okay.  I was leading but the lessons were very hard to control and ran way too long.  They were good lessons at least.  We started the day with contacts and we were even able to teach a contact lesson.  After that we went to a less active member’s house and had a good lesson with him.  Then we had a great lesson with some young women who were recently baptized and who had some doubts that we were able to address.
Miracle #646:  I found something to talk to my companion about that he will respond to…Anime.  It may not be the best topic of conversation, but it gets him to open up and start talking.
    The funny part of the day was probably when my comp tried to do insanity with me.  He struggled, but he tried.  The other fun part of the day was doing a service project cutting grass.  Here they do not use lawn mowers but instead use pruning sheers. It’s entertaining to say the least. 
May 17, 2016
    Today was rough.  My comp was leading and all we did was walk as much as possible.  We did very little contacting, but despite that we had some very good contacts and even did a division.  In order to explain the miracle of the day, I have to explain the back story.  I am not thrilled about spending my last 12 weeks not working hard or smart.  Today I hit a breaking point so I sat down on a part bench with my companion and talked to him about my concerns.  I shocked myself about how much love I showed to my companion as I talked to him gently.  He still broke into tears and was pretty distraught.  I told him that we had two options, pray and go to work, or go to the house and keep talking it out.
Miracle #647:  My comp, like a real trooper, decided to pray and go to work.  As an answer to his prayer, HE contacted a super receptive less active member on the street.  It was the first time I have seen him do a real contact and it WORKED!
    There wasn’t really any particularly funny parts of the day, but I am hoping that today can be a turning point for my comp.  He is a good kid.  He is just super nervous and tense when he is contacting.  Oh, I forgot, there was a funny part of the day.  Today I got my final package from home.  It had everything in it that I wanted and a little surprise.  It would seem that my package “broke” open while in route. The mail officials thought that someone else’s package was part of my package and shoved it inside.  It was a tempered glass screen protector for an iPad. I think that it was a subliminal message about what I need to buy when I get home.
 

New Sector/New Companion

May 4, 2016
    Today was a pretty good p-day, but it was supposed to have been better.  We were going to go on a hike, but in order to do the hike we had to get up at 5:15.  Sadly, our alarm did not go off and we woke up at 6:40.  We decided to just go to the super rich supermarket and the mall for our p-day.  It was fairly fun, but I didn’t get much except for a jar of peanut butter. Usually I eat a jar way too fast, but someone gave me the tip to blend peanut butter with half cooked carrots.  I tried it and it turned out better than I thought it would.  Essentially it tastes like weak peanut butter. 
Miracle #634: We finally found out the specific need of one of our investigators in a lesson that we taught today. 
    The funny part of the day virtually was non-existent.  Nothing funny happened.  I guess that it was kind of funny when someone treated us like crap and I said, “thanks for being so kind and representing your country so well to us.”  They then tried to make excuses  and we just left.
May 5, 2016
    I am so exhausted. My body is literally not moving like I want it to.  We did end up having a pretty good day.  We did have a few problems between us and with being punctual for work.  The worst part of being dog tired today was that we had to ride more or less 15 miles.  I faded out.  I had zero energy while contacting and making the calls to our district tonight.
Miracle #635  We got 3 division in one day.  That’s not unheard of, but in this sector recently it has proved nearly impossible. 
    The funny part of the day was probably just being so tired that I was finding it difficult to balance on my bike.  I felt like a drunk driver.  Luckily the air was cold today so that helped to keep me alert and alive.  The other funny part of the day was tying to contact a Haitian.  He didn’t understand Spanish at all.  The we asked him where he was from, he said San Bernardo.  We tried communicating with him, but it did not work out at all. 
May 6, 2016
    Today was interesting.  It ended up being a pretty good day.  This morning we helped a member learn English for a little while.  I figured out that I am kind of good at helping people pronounce the sounds in English.  I thought to ways to explain all the sounds that they had never heard of, but made it so that they are able to pronounce the sounds.  After that we went to lunch which turned out to be a funny fiasco.  We taught a few lessons in the afternoon and then we prepared for the ward activity which was a family home evening for the entire ward.
Miracle #636 The activity was a huge success.  The game that we played at the end was fun for the entire ward.  Our best investigator came with her daughter.
    The funny parts of the day were: 1. When we got confused about where we were eating.  We were told that we would eat with Hermana Sandra and the only Sandra that I knew was our investigator.  When we showed up at her house for lunch, there was a long and confusing conversation. 2. The other funny thing that happened was at the ward activity.  This activity was entirely planned by the missionaries (me and my companion), but the ward mission leader didn’t even come. 
May 7, 2016
    I thought that today was going to be a lot longer than it ended up being.  This morning was not user productive, but for me it was good.  I got a little spiritual recharge and Elder B. and I talked about how we can improve our work together in the future.  Right after a tiny lunch we went to the mall and did contacts with the Maestranza Elders. We used a poster thing about the “For the Strength of Youth”.  Elder R. really did not want to be there, so for an hour and a half he just stood there silently sulking.
Miracle #637 I had two miracles today.  The first one was getting 6 referrals from doing contacts.  The second one was having two boys who we are teaching who actually did their homework and payed attention to our lesson.  It was a complete change in the way that they behaved in the previous lesson.
    The funny part of the day was getting a call from the president.  He talked to both of us and told me that I would be going back to my very first sector to finish my mission.  I am going to have a Chilean missionary just out of training.  The funny part is that Bushman gets to train again.  He only has three transfers left in his mission and he will spend 2 of them training. I think that president thinks that Bushman is going home early so that he can start school and play football, but Bushman isn’t planning on leaving early. 

May 8, 2016
    I really had no idea that this ward loved me, in fact I wasn’t sure they even liked me.  When I told them that I was leaving, I didn’t expect them to come to me personally to say goodbye.  It was touching to me. 

The rest of the day was either saying goodbye or calling my family for mother’s day.  The call with my family today was super fun and made me feel very trunky.
Miracle #638  I think that this time around was the first call home that I didn’t cry. 
    The funny part of the day was probably just chilling with my family for an hour.  I am really excited to be able to play with everyone for a week before I have to start school.  Dad is planning a family vacation and everyone will be there.  Hearing about all the stuff that I have to do when I get back kind of scares me a little bit.  I only have three more months of missionary work, and then I have the rest of my life to do whatever I want. I am going to pray every day for the strength and energy to keep going and finish strong. 

May 9, 2016
    Today was pretty decent as a last day in my sector.  This morning we had our district meeting where the Zone Leaders told us last minute that we were going to be teaching the whole zone.  Technically I guess that they didn’t even tell us, they just gave us the time in the meeting.  After the district meeting, my comp had a meeting for trainers and I didn’t have a companion so I stayed in the office and helped out with some of their chores.  Elder Nelson is in the office right now so we caught up while working out in the storehouse.

Miracle #639 We had a good workday of 3 lessons and a division even though we started working at 5:00 PM.
    The funny part of the day was finding out that tomorrow we have to leave the house by 6:20 in order to meet up for the training activity at 8:00 at the temple.  They have to take the poor newbies and go contacting in the subway.  I guess the idea is to shock the new missionaries into the idea that they are on a mission now.  I am super excited for tomorrow.  I am going to live in the same house as Elder Diaz who will be my new Zone Leader.  I have a new adventure ahead of me in a not-so-new sector.
May 10, 2016
    Today was my first day back in Ducaud and it was pretty entertaining.  This morning we had to leave super early and most of the morning felt like I was in a dream.  I was very surprised that I remember so many people, and equally surprised that so many people remembered me.  We visited a few members and went to a little ward activity in the chapel. 
Miracle #640 I am going to be able to help my companion a ton with the work in this sector because I remember it so well.
    My new companion is Elder Morales from Chile.  I am only his second companion in the field.  He is still a little bit lost.  He is a really nice person, although he is odd. He does like to talk, so we should be able to get along.  I am really starting out way more tired than I should be though.  I am just worn out. For several hours today I felt like I was a walking zombie. Unfortunately, we are assigned to the rich part of this ward and so the people don’t pay too much attention to what we are saying. 

More up and downs

August 27, 2016
    Today was a fun p-day!  We woke up at around 6:00 am to go do a bike/hike up Cerro Chena in the dark so that we could watch the sunrise over the Andes.  We want with a member in our ward and let me say that it was a hard hike.  First problem was hat the park at the base of the hill was closed so we had to sneak in through an pen back entrance.  We used a back trail that was really steep.  We rode the first part, and then the others gave up with their bikes and hiked the rest.  I pushed my new mountain bike straight up the face of the hill and it just about killed me. 

The funny part of the day was on the way back down the hall.  Our tires are made of ridiculously soft rubber so the thorn patches wrecked our tubes. My front tire got five little holes and my back tire had 2 holes.  When we got to the house, it took forever to fix them.  While we were up on the top of the hill, we read the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount and had a nice conversation about humility. 

Miracle #627: We were contacting and met a man who in the past met with the missionaries, read The Book of Mormon three times, but never quite got baptizes.  He let us in to teach a little lesson.
    We also had a lesson with the R. family.  They really enjoyed it and they talked to us a lot about personal family issues.  In the end of the lesson, they held a family council and set some goals.  It was not that spiritual of a lesson, but it was very individualized and needed.

April 28, 2016
    Today was rough for me.  This morning we did a decent service project where we turned a big tree.  The guy we helped out was an older gentleman and it would have taken him a very long time to do it himself.  We got it done in under an hour.  After that, we had to go inspect the zone leader’s house.  It was cleaner than I have ever seen it!  They then came to inspect our house which is dirtier than normal, but still very passable. After lunch, the craziness started.  We had lessons really close together time-wise, but geographically way far apart.
Miracle #628: On the new bikes, we made a normally 30 minute trip in just 20 minutes. 
    There wasn’t any truly funny parts of the the day today unless you count the dog that almost bit my my leg.  Today I just got down on myself for letting things get to me and for not being as focused as I should be.  I guess that I am just having one of those “sick of everything” kind of days.  I am just kind of feeling checked out lately and can’t seem to muster the energy for the work. I will probably be better in a day or two.  I need some kind of recharge so I can kick it back into gear.
April 29, 2016
    Today was only slightly better than yesterday.  This morning I just didn’t care about much.  I let my pride rule and the worst part is that it didn’t even bother me.  I am pretty tired of passive companions who have no energy or enthusiasm.  Who I work with really affects me a lot more than it should. I really need my last companion to help to motivate me so that I can finish strong. I really hope that I can get back into the swing of things soon.
Miracle #629: We were still able to find someone by contacting today.  By the end of the day, I was feeling a little bit better.
    The funny part of the day today was trying to set up division with members.  It is almost comical how impossible it is.  Other than all of that, at least one of the lessons that we taught had a good understanding of the lesson we taught about temples. 

April 30, 2016
    Today was better. This morning I went hardcore on my exercises and that helped banish a lot of my negative feelings.  The rest of the day was a lot more lame but I felt more relaxed facing it all.  The highlight of today is that I was able to go back to Los Pensamnientos to see someone that I found over a year ago finally get baptized!  They are a great family: Jessi, Sara, and Cristal and Jesse’s mom.  I am not sure how they remember me, but they certainly do.  They specifically requested that I attend the baptism, so that made me feel good.
Miracle #630: Because of the small size of this mission, I have been able to go back to old sectors to see around 10 people who I have helped teach, get baptized. 

    The funny part of the day was lunch which was supposed to happen at 1:30.  When we got there, the parents weren’t home and at 2:30 they told us that the were going to have to drop the food at our house at 3:30.  The other funny part of the day was contacting in someone else’s sector in an activity planned to help their sector.  It’ a pretty dang rich area and for kick and giggles we only contacted the richest houses.  To our great amazement, we found 3 people in under an hour!  That is completely unheard of.  In the end, it was a good day.
May 1, 2016
    Today was a long day, but a good one none the less.  I am kind over my irritation.  We didn’t have very many of the people we teach in church today. Our lunch appointment gave us a very tiny little bag of food so after church we went to our house and studied and ate.  We left to work in the afternoon and basically had nothing planned all day.  But, there was a ward activity to visit the less active members so we helped out with that and got a lesson out of it.
Miracle #631: We want in to this dead-end street that I have passed a ton of times in the 5 months that I have been here.  We had a street lesson and found a new person to teach!
    The funny part of the day was probably reminding all of the organizations about their assignments for an upcoming ward activity that is supposed to happen on Friday.  When we reminded all of the men’s organizations, they said things like, “Oh that right, “ or “I forgot about that.”  But when we talked to the women, they just waved us of saying “Yeah, we have already taken care of it.”  I know that women are generally more organized that men in the states, but down here the contrast is even more dramatic.  Men are just ridiculously unreliable and flakey. 

May 2, 2016
    Today was pretty fun day on divisions.  I still stayed in the sector (big surprise), but I had fun with Elder Rubio.  We started it all off with a lesson with a member present.  Afterwards, our plans all fell apart and we ended up doing contacts for a little while. We managed to get a lesson out of that.  Then the sister missionaries from Quimey ward with their bikes.  I am NOT going to miss being the mission bike mechanic. 
Miracle #632: The very last contact we did invited us back for a visit tomorrow.
    The funny part of the day (was also the unacceptable part of the day) was wen Elder R. started to watch a Zumba Dvd.  I told him not to even turn on the dvd player, but he did.  I must admit that I got distracted when he would show me what he was watching, but I just tried to focus on my own thing.  He is just a latino man.  I am not sure why latinos are so hot blooded, but they are. Another funny part was when I ran into a fence for no apparent reason. Other than that, today was pretty boring overall. The Chileans treated us like dirt today, dirtier dirt than usual.
May 3, 2016
    Today was a good day.  I felt a lot better after the zone training meeting.  For once, I really felt like the ZL’s talked about pertinent things.  After the meeting we went to lunch and ate a deep fried lunch.  I am not used to eating so much oil and I felt sick afterwards.  The rest of the day was kind a let-down.  We had 3 divisions planned but none of them worked out.  There was one really good lesson today that makes the miracle 2 days in a row.
Miracle #633:  The contact from yesterday was actually there and we had a really spiritual lesson with her.  She is going to be great to teach.
    The funny part of the day was probably trying to focus during the miracle lesson because the woman is not bad looking and with as much time in the mission as I have, even the ugly girls are looking pretty good. #missionarygoggles.  Another thing happened today that was sort of funny.  My comp fell off his bike.  He was in front today and at one point he looked back at me and drifted into the sidewalk where he skidded for a little bit and then bit it pretty hard.  I am convinced that if you ride as much as we do, you are going to have a wreck. 

A pup named GRINGO

April 20, 2016
    I wish that the zone leaders wouldn’t lie to us.  Today they told us that the zone activity was going to be playing a bunch of different game together so I thought that it would be fun to do something different together.  But, when we got there, it was soccer, AGAIN!  We had to leave a little bit early because of planned lesson, which got us out of soccer.  (The lesson ended up falling through.)
Miracle #620: We taught with a young man in our ward named Roger.  He is a good kid.
    The funny part of the day was probably finding a scripture that says that physical exercise are good for little.  1 Timothy 4:8.  I thought it was funny because I had just finished a workout when I read it. The other funny part of the day was when Dude, the mission dog, started chasing the ball during the soccer game.  People were tripping over him and he got nailed in the face by the ball several times.  But he just kept playing.  It was pretty entertaining to watch.  For the most part it was a pretty pointless p-day.  I shouldn’t have counted, but I did…14 more p-days to go.  The sad part of the day was that V. had to go back in the hospital for her heart. 
April 21, 2016
    Today was quite possibly the most fun division of my entire mission.  I was with Elder Jones from Idaho.  We worked really well together and we ended up getting 6 lessons.  The first lesson was with someone named M. who is a new investigator of ours.  He is very interested in learning more.  After that, we went to do our rounds in the sector out in the boonies.  Th most fun part of that was the fact that Elder Jone’s bike had shocks on the front just like mine so we went on back roads at full speed.  It was exhausting, but very gratifying especially when we passed a car.

Miracle #621: Elder Jone and I taught as if we had been comps. for a long time.  It was the best dynamic I have felt on the mission.
    The funniest part of the day was when we descended from a foot bridge using this 100 foot or longer ramp.  When you come down the ramp, you ave to pass over a little section of grass which has a few trees and then jump onto the road.  We were going about 30 km/hour when Elder Jones got smacked in the face by a tree branch.  It cut up his nose and cheek pretty badly. We joked about it a lot and it was way fun.

April 22, 2016
Today Elder Jones and I woke up early at 5:30 so that we would have enough time to study before workers were supposed to arrive to paint the house.  Elder Jones was way into workouts before his mission so he wanted to do some exercises with me.  I invented a back and chest workout so we went to town.  After ending the divisions, Elder B and I had a missionary correlation meeting and an eternal lunch.  I don’t have a watch (because I left it in the temple), so it was really tough for me to get through the day on time.
Miracle #622: We were able to coordinate a visit with the sisters to visit a family that I first taught when I got to this sector.  We told the sisters to pass by, but they never did.  The lesson turned out really well.
    The fun part of the day was giving a baptismal interview in a sector that is 10 km away.  It was a 30 minute ride to get there, but when we finished the interview, we only had 10 minutes to get to the lesson mentioned in the miracle of the day. We basically sprinted all the way back and did the ride in about 20 minutes.  We got to the lesson with our faces literally dripping in sweat.
April 23, 2016
    Today was good I guess.  In the morning I cleaned the house for an hour from the mess the painters left.  It still irritates me to clean up after other people.  The area book is way behind because I haven’t done it for a couple of days now.  I wish that stuff like that wouldn’t bother me.
Miracle #623: While it was raining, we had lessons indoors almost all day long!  It stopped raining right when our lessons started to fall through.
    I finally talked to my companion about some of the things that have been bothering me and it went really well.  I realized that I have been with Latin comps. for so long that I have become afraid of discussing problems through with my companions.  I thought that if I talked to my companion, he would get irritated with me and shut down.  That didn’t happen at all and now I feel dumb for not talking to him before. 
April 24, 2016
    Today was a decent end to the work week.  Church was pretty much normal.  this week we talked to more members about leaving with us to do visits so I think that this next week will be better that the last one.  We finally got our goal of having 4 investigator come to church, so that was pretty cool.  The rest of the work day was just unplanned visits and contacts. In the end, we were able to accomplish our goal for the lessons which made me pretty happy.
Miracle #624: The sister missionary sent us to a really good reference who they were teaching in our sector. 
    The funny part of the day was probably during the calls this evening. We talked to the sisters last…mistake.  One of these sisters just talks on forever and we literally could not get her to stop talking.  There were 2 funny parts of the call to me; 1.  they found 8 Haitians in their sector and they all went to church. This is funny to me because all of the Haitians are men and these two sisters happen to be the prettiest in the mission (and one of them is a flirt).  2. The sister, who are sister training leaders, started talking about another companionship of sisters who aren’t in our district. We have no reason (or desire) to hear about what they told us.
April 25, 2016
    Today was frustrating at first but super funny in the end. This morning we did morning contacts while it was like 40 degrees F.  I have lost a lot of resistance to the cold that I used to have.  The frustrating part of the day was setting up division with the zone leaders and they wanted Bushman to go to their sector.  When I told them that I have not left my sector for 2 months, they ignored me and said that I was going to stay.  UGH!  The other frustrating thing was when my comps tire popped, again.  Then started the funny stuff.
Miracle #625: We saved a street puppy. While we were contacting, a little street puppy came up to us and curled up at my feet and immediately won my heart.  It was adorable and I felt badly for the poor little thing.  Elder Johnson put the puppy in his bike helmet making him even cuter.  We decided to try to find him a home. On our very first contact we found a good family who adopted the puppy.  The best part was that they named the puppy “Gringo.”

      The funny part of the day was lunch.  The family had arranged to give us lunch in one of their houses, but they locked themselves out of their house so I was told to jump the fence and try to get in through an upper window, which of course I gladly did. I ended up climbing onto their roof in order to reach the window. 

      The final notable part of the day wasn’t funny.  An investigator gave us some green tea to drink.  When I realized what it was, I politely put is down and taught about the Word of Wisdom.  It worked out well in the end.
April 26, 2016
    Today we got our new bikes!  The day started off with a pretty spiritual district meeting where we taught the entire zone.  It was mostly improvised, but is was way good.  We then went straight to our family home evening lunch that we had planned with some less active members where we cooked sushi.  Not gonna lie, it was pretty tasty.  

After lunch we got a call from the office telling us that they had our new bikes.  WOO HOOOOO!  After 7 months, we got new Treks ( and I will probably be leaving in 2 weeks.) I will enjoy them immensely for the time that I have left!

Miracle #626: We got the new bikes right after finding out that my comps axle broke and he has a broken spoke.
    The funny part of the day was being force to cut a birthday cake for Elder Johnson because I cut the last missionary cake pretty well.  The other fairly funny part of the day was convincing Johnson to work out with me this morning.  I just destroyed him, but the entire time he was making jokes and making me laugh.