Downtown Druggies

Take a brief summary!

1- Mini golfing on P-Day! Guess who got the highest score? XD

2- Interviews with President on Tuesday 

3- Mustard Seed

4- Christmas Zone Conference! 

4.2- Freezing rain :l

4.4- Zone Conference talks

4.6- Christmas lunch/dinner

4.8- Sports with half the district! The Cowleys were ruthless! 

5- Instant miracle :')

6- More Mustard Seed

7- Some weekly planning 

8- Fun at the Friesens! 

9- Ward Party! It was so awesome!  (Also a very dark joke; apologies in advance. XD)

10- Interesting service and possible scariest day of my life. Definitely the scariest day of my mission! (Disclaimer: The paragraphs about Saturday will refer to drugs, smoking, and defecation. Read at your own risk.) 

11- Christmas decorating at the Richardsons! 

12- Awesome talk at church!

1- Okay, I kind of enjoy mini golf. If you don't play to win, it's fun! We went to this place called Monster Mini Golf--and maybe accidentally drove out of our area for part of the trip. *nervous laughter*  It was pretty cool, though! It was indoors and there were black lights so everything with light colors glowed neon! Including our golf balls, luckily. We split up into a couple groups and did our best to play. XD  Some were definitely better than others. Pretty sure Elder Miller got the lowest score. He was somewhere in the 60s. I scored a whopping 106! XD  I beat everyone else by a good dozen points, at least. But, if you understand golf, you'll know that more points is actually bad. I didn't get a hole in one, but I was proud to get a couple birdies! (I think that's the golf term for a hole in two?)

2- Nothing more nerve-wracking than an interview with President Cowley! He asked us to come to the mission office on Tuesday. That was actually a blessing, though, because there was a lady that invited us over at the same time as the interview. We learned after we scheduled our visit that she has bedbugs. *nervous laughter*  So... when President told us about interviews, we jumped on the excuse not to go to a house with bedbugs. We called the lady and had a phone lesson with her instead. She was very understanding when we told her our mission President was going to meet with us. I've never been more glad for an interview!

3- We made popcorn chicken, rice, and veggies at the Mustard Seed. I ended up mixing 'Moonshine' barbecue sauce into the chicken. XD  It was a pretty good day! We had some leftover food, so we got to take a bit home. The popcorn chicken made a pretty good dinner, and we still have some left! :)

4- Zone Conference was amazing! A bunch happened, so I'm kind of breaking it up. Also, I like even numbers better than odd numbers, hence the decimals. XD

4.2- There was a bad freezing rain storm the night before Zone Conference. We were worried we wouldn't be able to go. The Cowleys told us in the morning that Zone Conference would be delayed by two hours. Instead of starting at 9:00, it would start at 11:00. Sister Marsmaker and I got ready for the day, then chipped the car out of a sheet of rippled ice. The rain had frozen in cool patterns on the car. Unfortunately, it also turned the parking lot and roads into ice rinks. We drove very slowly and made it to Zone Conference a little early! The parking lot there was treacherously slick, though!

4.4- The talks at Zone Conference were awesome! One of my favorite things that President Cowley told us was an analogy about an orange tree in his backyard. He and Sister Cowley grafted a lemon tree branch to it. The lemon branch still grows lemons, even though it's growing out of an orange tree! He was telling us that we need to graft ourselves to the Savior. To me, that means that we can graft ourselves to Christ by aligning our purposes with him, but we can still be ourselves. :)

4.6- After a couple talks, we went to have a big Christmas lunch/dinner! There were mashed potatoes, turkey, roast veggies, salad, and fancy desserts. Oh, also pretty tasty rolls! All the Sisters in our district/zone sat together and had fun chatting while we ate. I ended up getting seconds because everything was so good! A couple dozen Elders got seconds, but I was one of the only Sisters to do so. I was a tad self-conscious... XD

4.8- We played a couple interesting 'sports'. One was called Lightning. Everyone got into two long lines by the basketball hoops. Two people shot basketballs. Whoever made a basket moved on and whoever was behind a person that scored was out. (At least, that was my understanding of the rules, because everyone yelled that I was out after the Elder in front of me scored. XD) Sister Cowley got pretty far! She would smack her opponent's basketball away so they would have to run after it, then score.

4.8 The other game we played was more fun, but also more chaotic! We pushed some long tables into octagonal sort of shapes about fifteen feet across. The Cowleys had us all jump into the 'pens', then they threw in rubber balls about the size of basketballs. We had to small the balls to try to get people out. If we got hit in the feet or legs, we had to hop out of the table rings. If we hit the ball with our hands, or if it struck our upper bodies, we were still in. A few people got hit in the head. XD  I almost won a round, surprisingly! Not because I was good at hitting other people with the ball, just because my instinct in any sport is to dodge. I was the last Sister that round, and i was bouncing around like a rabbit on caffeine. XD  But I did eventually get hit and got out when there were maybe eight or so Elders left.

5- When we got home from Zone Conference, I was exhausted in every way possible. Physically, because I raced around during the sports. Mentally, because I was swamped with all the talks. Emotionally, because I was coming off an excited high from having fun with so many other missionaries. I was also spiritually exhausted because I had such an amazing experience! I will never again mock Ammon or other prophets for passing out after really spiritual experiences. I was dead on my feet! 

5- We had three video calls planned that evening. I said a quick prayer that I would have the energy to get through the lessons. Almost immediately, I perked up, felt a bit more awake, and was able to concentrate. I had just enough fumes in my tank to get through those three lessons. Then I scribbled in my journal, brushed my teeth, and crashed. I slept so soundly! XD

6- We went to the Mustard Seed again! This time, Justin gave us a little lesson on how to properly and safely use and sharpen knives. Apparently the way I cut potatoes worried him. He patiently taught us how to slice, cube, and chop the potatoes. Then, he demonstrated how to sharpen a knife without getting cut. We also sawed through some more frozen turkey. This time it had been thawing for a bit longer, though, so it wasn't completely frozen solid! XD

7- Yay, another Thursday! I was a little dead after planning, as always. But we wrote down some very specific goals for each day, and we've been looking at them every morning since to ensure they happen. We still haven't found anyone new yet, but we're not giving up!

8- I love going to the Friesens! Molly, the great Dane, now expects dog treats every time. XD  We read the kid's version of the chapter of Enos with them and talked a lot about prayer. It was pretty great! Cher even asked for a kid's Book of Mormon at the end of the lesson, so we'll get that for her some time this week. :)   The kids were telling us all about a blackout they had earlier in the week where they got to play with candles. It was also Sean's birthday! He gave us some cake. :D 

9- I loved the ward party so much! It was super creative! We got invited to tour Bethlehem! (And the surrounding area.)  When we first went in to the church, the Fortins sat at a desk to collect 'taxes'. (Food bank donations.) We wrote our names on a scroll to show we had paid our taxes. Then, we went into the gym and sat at tables to wait. There were awesome decorations and the lighting was really soft because it was mostly strings of Christmas lights. The tables had crayons, so all the kids were coloring on tabkecloths. I couldn't resist; I grabbed some crayons and started coloring too. XD

9- Sister Marsmaker and I sat with the Friesens. Sean told us casually that this was the first time he'd been inside the Londonderry chapel in a decade. Sister Marsmaker and I nodded like it was no big deal, but inwardly I was like, :O  ! 

9- Brother Hansen came and started our tour. He led us and the Friesens to the Relief Society Room, labeled Zarahemla. The Greep family was playing Samuel the Lamanite and the Nephites--who at this point in history were pretty bad. Samuel stood on a table and declared the signs of Christ's birth. He had a pretty neat costume! :)  Then, the other kids gave us balloon spears to try throwing at Samuel. They were balloon-animal-type balloons. No matter what we did, we couldn't hit Samuel. The balloons kept fluttering to the ground. Brother Hansen popped on one the ceiling by mistake. XD  Also, the Nephites told us that they eventually ran out of stuff to throw, and started collecting the balloons. Lucas Friesen was like, "No you didn't!" and kept trying to throw more balloons. XDD 

9- We then went to Nazareth, I think. Mary and an angel quoted scriptures and witty jokes. Unfortunately, I can't remember all of them. But it was a neat presentation. Next was the shepherds' field, where some shepherds told us about the new star in the sky and how they got to see baby Jesus. :)  We went to another room labeled Bethlehem, where a different Mary and a girl playing Elizabeth talked about their babies. (Jesus Christ and John the Bapstist)  Elizabeth was played by a little girl--I think about 10. She kept cracking jokes like, "I'm Mary's much older cousin," and "Yes, you had to ride an animal, Mary, but I bet you weren't 88 when you gave birth!" XD

9- The last room was probably my favorite. It was labeled 'The East'. Bishop Johnston and his wife played a Wise Man and Wise Woman. XD  They made so many jokes, I was sniggering the whole time! Sister Johnston was like, "Why would you give a child Myrr as a gift? That's embalming oil!"  

(Breaking up dialogue again. It just looks wrong to have multiple people speaking in a single paragraph, and it gets confusing.)

Bishop was like, "I did it to symbolize the child's impending death."  

Sister Johnston snorted. "I bet his mother was right there too!"

Bishop nodded. "Yes, she was! She appreciated it." 

I was laughing so hard. They were quite the comedic couple, and they had excellent costumes! The last joke was pretty dark and subtle, but it made me laugh the most. (I apologize for my morbid sense of humor, but I can't resist adding this one!) 

Bishop and his wife were complaining about King Herod. Then, Bishop was like, "And his daughter-in-law is a real piece of work too! Herodias thought she could order anything on a silver platter!" 

(For those of you who don't get that, it's a reference to poor John the Baptist. :(  )

I complimented Bishop on the joke. He said he hadn't made the script but that he liked the joke too. Brother Hansen later told me that the John the Baptist joke went 'right over most peoples' heads' and I lost it laughing again. XD  

10- Okay, maybe I shouldn't write about this... but I definitely don't want to forget it. So... we got a service referral. A lady coming out of a bad situation was begging for help moving in. She's a bit older and can't lift a lot of boxes on her own. We lived closest to her, so we offered to come. We had a big block of open time on Saturday, so Sister Marsmaker and I contacted her and went over.

10- We drove around for a while and had a hard time finding the address. Turns out, Edmonton has a Chinatown! We didn't want to drive through it because because looked kind of sketchy, though. Old buildings, peeling paint, lots of garbage and mysterious things littering the sidewalk... We pulled over, then called the lady to confirm her address. She was incredibly grateful that we were coming. She gave us her correct address, then said, "Sorry I live in a bad neighborhood. It's all I could afford. I feel bad asking you to come here, but I really need the help." 

10- Anyone else hearing alarm bells in their head yet? I was a tad nervous, but not too much at first. We looked at the address and it was pretty close, so we parked the car and decided to walk. I almost left my bag in the car, but something told me to bring it with me. We walked really slowly and cautiously down the sidewalk because it was a sheet of ice. The temperature hasn't been above freezing all week, so the freezing rain just left a thick film of ice over everything. Roads, sidewalks, old snow. Everything was slick!

10- As we walked, I started seeing cigarette butts (hee hee, butts XD) and broken bottles on the ground. I tried not to think too hard about them. We crossed a couple streets, almost fell a few times on the ice, and rounded a corner. Some cops were checking out a building across the street. I tried not to stare, but that made me nervous. We passed a couple people and gave them cheery greetings. They gave us cold, silent, unfriendly stares. I clutched my phone and tried to hide it with my sleeve. I was using it to navigate to the address, but I didn't want to flaunt my phone in that neighborhood just in case.

10- We reached the apartment. There were a couple people outside huddled in some cardboard boxes. (Tall, grandfather-clock-size boxes) I felt bad for them, but also confused because they had an enormous flat-screen computer. They were muttering and making odd, jerky movements. I was praying that they wouldn't try to approach us or anything. 

10- Sister Marsmaker told me that if I felt unsafe, we could leave. I stubbornly insisted that we stay to help. My nerves were starting to fail me, though, especially when I saw something unpleasant out of the corner of my eye. I looked closer, then wished I hadn't. A large pile of excrement lay on the corner of the apartment porch. I leaned over to Sister Marsmaker and whispered, "That looks human." She gave me a grim nod. We waited a couple more minutes, but no one answered the door.

10- I hesitantly pulled out my phone again, then called the lady we were supposed supposed be helping. I kept the call short and stuffed my phone back in my pocket as quickly as I could. The people huddled by the computer got up and started staggering around. They claimed one corner of the porch--luckily not the one heaped with feces--and began to loudly argue. I didn't understand some of the words they were using--and something told me I didn't want to.

10- "They're arguing about drugs," Sister Marsmaker breathed in my ear. The druggies kind of started fighting, and I was just about to suggest leaving again, but the lady that we were going to help came to the rescue. She let us in, and I almost doubled over choking because the whole place reeked of cigarette smoke. We went into her tiny apartment. It was only four rooms. :(   I felt pretty bad for her... It was chock-full of boxes that a moving company had just dumped haphazardly.

10- Sister Marsmaker and I didn't want to stay long, but we also wanted to help. We moved as many boxes as we could. The poor lady couldn't lift very much, but she directed us. We got to hear most of her life story, and by the stars, has she been through the wringer! I felt so bad for her. :(  She had some cute, curious cats, though! One of them was a gray somali, which is a kind of cat I would love to have! Somalis are longhaired abyssinians. They're such gorgeous cats! 

10- The lady was kind of a hoarder... A lot of boxes were mislabeled. One said 'makeup'. We opened it to find a bunch of toiletries and CDs with interesting covers that I would not have expected a sweet old lady to be interested in. She also collected old, slightly creepy China dolls. There was a box of marionettes, and she pulled them out to demonstrate her skills in ventriloquism. It gave me the willies because puppets are cReEpY, but I feigned interest. *nervous laughter*  She also collected ceramic fairies, random things with dragonflies on them, lace drapes, and a few other eclectic bits and bobs.

10- I ended up sweeping her closet and most of the floor. There were clumps of cat hair, cat litter, and shredded scraps of cardboard all over. The cats loved chewing boxes. They chewed open a bag of cat litter too, but luckily it didn't spill too much. We moved some things in the closet, unpacked a few boxes, and made a bit of a dent in all the stuff, but there was still so much... 

10- Also, there were literally bars on the lady's windows. That's how bad the neighborhood was... It made me think of Ron from Harry Potter saying, "They were starving him, mum! There were bars in his window!" And then Mrs. Weasley being like, "You'd best hope I don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley!"  I wasn't laughing while we were there, though. Just a slightly humorous side note to an otherwise stressful, scary, sketchy day.

10- At the end, she asked us to put some old cooking trays on top of her cupboards. Neither of us were tall enough, so I got a chair and stood on it. Even then, I couldn't see the top of the cupboard, so I was arranging the trays by feel. One of my hands touched something weird. I pulled it back on instinct, and a box of rodent poison was stuck to my fingers. 

10- It looked old. The label was flaking off and whatever toxin was inside was all congealed and nasty. But old rodent poison still kills! In fact, sometimes it's more efficient, because rat and mouse poison used to be made from cyanide and/or strychnine. If you know anything about toxins, that's bad. Cyanide and strychnine don't just kill rodents--which is why a lot of rat poisons got discontinued a few years ago.

10- I kind of freaked out. I kept my hand close to myself and didn't touch anything with it. I was scared to touch my face especially. Sister Marsmaker shared a comforting scripture with the lady, then we got our stuff and left. I told Sister Marsmaker about the poison, and she poured some water over my hands so I could at least scrub them a bit. Luckily, when we left, the crackheads had wandered off somewhere. We passed a few other people doing very bizarre things. They were clearly under some sort of influence, but none of them approached us or tried to talk, so we just walked quickly past.

10- The car ride home was so long... It was about half an hour. You don't realize how much you use your hands until you consciously try not to use them! My nose was itchy and I needed chapstick so bad! I just tried to focus on other things so I wouldn't touch my face. When we got home, Sister Marsmaker opened the doors for me, then I ran in and scrubbed my hands with hot, soapy water for a while. After that, we changed, flung all our stuff ij the washer, and showered. We both smelled like cigarette smoke. 

11- Luckily, the rest of the day was pretty good! After we cleaned up and mentally recovered from the 'service', we went to the Richardsons. We helped them set up and decorate a Christmas tree, then Sister Richardson made us a tasty potato casserole! Emma was also playing songs for us on a guitar and a keyboard. She's pretty talented! Then they played a song for us that was probably not mission approved, but made me laugh. I think it was called "The smokehole of our teepee." It's a hilarious (and slightly dark) song about Santa getting stuck in a teepee's smokehole, and the resulting aftermath. XD

12- Welp, that's about it! Long email. XD  Church was great! We studied a talk called 'Worthiness is not Flawlessness'. I loved it! There were some amazing quotes, including my favorite: "God loves us as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us that way."

Hope everyone is doing well! I haven't frozen yet, although today is one of the coldest days I've experienced! :l  Please stay safe, pray always, and listen to every prompting you receive, no matter how small!

Pictures: They always send out of order. XD

Sister Marsmaker and I by some of the decorations for the ward Christmas party! Cute pancake shaped a bit like a duck. XD  My comp and I bundling up for the cold!  Decorations sent by my wonderful mom for our apartment! And also a Zoom call with all the other Sisters. :D