Killing Off A Comp

 

 I should explain the title... killing off means that my companion finished his mission. No need to worry. 

 The process of killing off Elder Jaszkowiak was interesting. For the couple of days before he went home, missionary work sort of got put on hold because there so much crap we had to make sure got done. Elder Jaskowiak had an extra large bike and he wanted to take it home. Well, in order to do that we gotta go get a big old bike box to fit the thing. Usually what you do for that is that the Office Elders assigned in our mission get us said bike box, but they screwed the whole thing up by giving us too small of a box. That was frustrating, so we ask them to get us a bigger box and guess what? They give us another box that was too small. I didn't know extra large frame was hard to understand but whatever. Jesus Christ is perfect, they are not. So for the last p-day where we are supposed to be celebrating and having a good time, we sat at a bike shop getting a big box because it was too late to bug the Office Elders about it again. So this event, as well as other errands such as making sure he has the proper things to go travel home, making sure all things sent home via home were complete, etc. Oh, and making sure he's not overwhelmed and freaking out about completing a 2 year long mission was a good portion of it. All these things contributed to the last two days being super busy and not for missionary work. I was sad to see him go though, when that dreadful day finally arrived. Him and I got along really well; no contention, no arguements, no nothing. Just good vibes and good times. I definitely wouldn't of minded a few extra transfers with him. We got a lot of work done in our 1-and-done transfer. Oh well. On to the next one. 

 Before I introduce my new comp, I should mention that since Hurricane Sally wrecked the bottom half of Alabama, our mission President didn't find it safe for us to travel on the day of the transfer to go pick up our new companions. Soooooo, to fix the problem, he pushed transfers 2 days over- to Friday. But, travel and flight plans for the dying missionaries didn't change at all so my comp still left the mission on Wednesday. What am I supposed to do? I don't get my new comp til Friday. Well, they had me stay in Cahaba with these 3 other missionaries I had never met before. What an interesting and fun experience that was. Elder Kelsey, Adamanzik and Higginson; what a fun group of dudes. Sometimes in situations where 2 sets of companionships stay in the same apartment it can be hard to stay focused and get effective work done. Not this time around though, we got straight to work and had a blast while doing so. It was a little weird though when I woke up in the morning. I shower, get ready, then I go to the kitchen to get some breakfast. There I see one of the Elders wearing absolutely nothing making eggs and bacon. It feels like middle school locker rooms all over again. Those are not good memories and this was not one either. I guess that's just the thing he does according to his companion. Really really weird.

 Now, I'm with Elder Rasmussen and we're working together great. I was worried about it, but it's going very smoothly. He's from Manti, Utah and has been out for 15 months. I don't think I'll be staying in Northport for much longer so I'm just making sure he understands the area enough so if I dip, he'll be alright. 

 That's kinda it guys. A fairly action-packed week if I say so myself. Let's hope for a great transfer with a new 

comp, yeah? 

Have a blessed day,

--
Elder Batman

Teaching The Blind

 

 I couldn't even tell you how many people canceled on us this week. We set the appointment, even call them a few hours before to make sure they are still down, they say yes, and then they aren't home...🤔

Its alright. We're only offering a simple gift that'll bring you everlasting happiness. No big deal flaking on that. But hey, there's always a guy we can always count on to never flake on us. Well, that's because there really isn't a possibility that he won't be home. It's because he can't see. The dude is blind. Blind and has a pretty bad short term memory. A killer combo indeed.

 His name is H,  he's been taught by missionaries for a fricken long time and still has to be reminded who Joseph Smith is. He's like 51 years old I think? Anyway, he just lives at home by himself which I have no idea why. Well... he does have a dog named Cash that he sorta screams at half the lesson. You may wonder, why are you using your time with him if it doesn't seem to be going anywhere? It's a good question. He has it rough. Sometimes when we come over he seems pretty down in the dumps. But, by the time we leave he perks up quite a bit and can't wait for us to come back. That's when I realized that we as missionaries are not just about the amount of baptisms we get. Jesus Christ when on the earth went about "doing good" (Acts 10:38) and that's exactly what we are doing. We are making this old man's day even if he doesn't remember squat. So we'll continue to do that. 

  Nowadays, the main goal for me is to make sure my companion, Elder Jaszkowiak, gets the best last run of missionary work before he goes home in a week. We've been pushing eachother and its been fantastic. We run down the hefty list of members and just annoy the heck out of them by calling them over and over until they answer. Then we just ask them to feed us because we don't get fed as much (we are not starving, no need to worry). Our Mission President has been pushing the idea of strengthening the members, making sure they have solid testimonies. That's what we do. 

 I went fishing today for Pday, that was alright. We didn't catch anything, not even a bite. Glorious. But then we went to the gym at the church and played Gator Ball. It's a big thing down here, basically hand ball from Middle School PE class but you use your feet. Yeah idk how else to explain it. That's a blast and a half. The AC in the gym at the church doesn't work and it is super humid so we're basically playing sports in a sauna. I'm sweating in a lot of weird places. 

 What else... hmm. I don't know, can't really think of much else interesting? Just a lot of swapping manly stories with my companion from my past life and missing girls. 

Love y'all
--
Elder Batman