Dear Freddy Mercury,
I love to ride my bicycle. Recently the mission got rearranged and we
now belong to the Longview zone. The zone now spans across more than a third of
the entire mission. It is over 300 miles from north to south. Our exchanges
monthly are now in Longview, so halfway mark is Omaha, Texas which is about 60
miles away. That means a 120 mile round trip on top of the normal amount of
miles that we would use in a day. Then the best part is doing it again the next
day to exchange back. I have said all of this to let you know that I and my
trusty companion have been riding our bikes for the past 5 days in preparation
for the miles that we will be using this Friday and Saturday. I have had two
flat tires in the past 24 hours and I have sweat more than I ever have in my
entire life. I almost want to line the inside of my shirts with sponges so at
the end of the day I can wring them out into a bucket and measure how much I
have perspired. Pretty sure that it would be in the gallons.
Other than riding our bikes, nothing too exciting has happened. We
have met a lot of interesting people as we have been riding. One lady just
yesterday stopped me and asked, "HEEEEEYYYY!!! Are you a preacher?!"
Response: "Well, no, I am a representative of Jesus Christ. I teach people what
He taught and invite them to do the things that He asks us to do." " Oh well,
I'm a preacher!" Response: "Oh that's wonderful, which church to you
preach at?" "Umm, well, I just preach to anyone who wants to talk about
Jesus." Response: " Well that's good. As representatives of Jesus Christ we
try our best to invite people to come closer to him. Would there be a time that
my friend and I would be able to sit down with you and your family and discuss
ways that we can draw nearer to the Savior?" " HEEEEYYYY!!! GUESS WHAT?!...I'm
a cop too! Did you know that?! Did you know?!" At this point in the
conversation I felt pretty good assuming that this lady was either heavily
intoxicated or was mentally unstable. Well, I guess either way she was mentally
unstable. Regardles, we gave her a card with our number on it and invited her
to check out Mormon.org. One of the many perks of riding a bicycle.
I did give a talk in sacrament meeting. That was interesting. I was
asked to give one last week, but the Branch President had made a mistake and
wanted me to give one this past Sunday instead. Well, to be frank, I forgot.
So...I gave the same talk that I had prepared the week before. People seemed to
like it, and it went well with what the speaker from the High Council said, so I
guess it was alright. Glad to report that I only broke down in tears
once.
This week is going to be really stressful. I can just feel it.
"Don't you think I feel it?!?" We have to temporarily move in with our Branch
President for two weeks because the members that we live with have family coming
to stay for a family reunion. One of the families has a 13 year old girl= no
bueno for los missioneros. So that will be a fun experience. It pretty much
means that I will be packing to come home this weekend so that I don't have to
pack my life up twice in 3 weeks. It wouldn't really make sense to pack,
unpack, and then repack everything 2 weeks later. Anyways...don't worry, not
trunky. Just hate packing. Sorry that this is a boring letter. I think that
the sun has fried my brain; and well, would you look at that, time to go back
out and ride in it some more.
Love y'all like a sunburn, it's on fire.
-Elder McNinch
PS- I have found that the most awkward tan line as a missionary is not the
one that comes from wearing collared shirts. It is in fact the tan line on your
face that comes from the straps of your helmet.
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